User blog:Killermoves/Chas Chandler (Hellblazer) vs Ken Clarkson (X-O Manowar)

In the lore of comic books, what lies behind a strong superhero is an equally helpful sidekick. Whether he be a boy wonder who always has the caped crusader's back in fistfights, a computer wizard always keeping an eye on a former vet turned vigilante, or some clumsy fatso who bumbles his way with his plastic-powered idol. Superheroes are as compelling or powerful as their sidekicks and other supporting cast.

And so today, let us pit two of the lesser-known, but equally influential superhero sidekicks in comic book history! Both these two are just like us normal human beings, who got caught up in extraordinary situations courtesy of their super-powered buddies.

Chas Chandler, the hapless taxi driver of John Constantine

vs

Ken Clarkson, X-O Manowar's cunning business associate

WHO IS DEADLIEST?!

Chas Chandler
Chas Chandler is a middle-class cabbie working in the streets of London who is also a close friend of the magus John Constantine. He is the longest surviving member of John Constantine's cast and is one of John's oldest and most loyal friend. Chas Chandler first met John Constantine when they were young, when the magus decided to lodge in the Chandler's apartment. There, John Constantine saw the abuse that the young Chas had to endure from his insane mother and so decided to help him out. By rescuing him, Chas Chandler indebted himself to Constantine and he would later assist the magus in many of his supernatural adventures. John Constantine tends to use Chas for mostly mundane reasons, like driving him around town for free, or taking him home whenever he gets drunk. Although Constantine would try to keep Chas away from his dangerous line of work, Chas would inevitably get entangled from time to time.

Chas Chandler had helped John Constantine numerous times before, especially during their fight against the birth of the anti-christ, and the battle against the Beast. John would also help out Chas in times of trouble, such as when Chas' granddaughter was afflicted with a magical curse that was ravaging the world at that time. However, Chas' relationship with Constantine had more negative effects on his life, with Chas loosing many of those he cared about, and the two would go on to have a rocky relationship throughout the Hellblazer's career.

In a time when sidekicks were seen as young teenage kids, what made Chas Chandler unique was that he was just a normal middle-class man who gets mixed up with the extraordinary life of his friend.

Weapons

 * Baseball Bat: A typical baseball bat used to bash people. As a seasoned street-fighter, Chas knows very well on how to use this.
 * Ace of Winchester: A supernatural lever action rifle that has been used throughout Hellblazer to fight against demons, vampires and other supernatural being. It fires magically-infused rounds that can punch harder than normal bullets. Chas Chandler once used it to blow Swamp Thing's head off with just one shot which actually stunned the elemental. It functions similarly to an ordinary Winchester rifle.
 * The Knowledge: A magical spell created by Barnaby Magnus, who was one of the first cab-drivers in London, and something that all cab drivers must memorize by heart to be able to navigate the city (although they didn't know of its magical properties at first). It is a powerful curse that can entrap and seal-off demons, as well as being able to separate the soul(s) from a person's body. Chas famously used it to defeat the demon Tuma-el. Although powerful, it takes a lot of time and effort to perform with a lot of complicated incantations, drawings and rituals.

Ken Clarkson
Ken Clarkson was just a normal businessman when his life changed after meeting an armored superhuman from outer space by the name of Aric of Dacia. Aric was a Visigoth warrior from the time of the Roman Empire who was abducted by an extra-terrestrial species called the Spider Aliens. After spending years as a captive of the Spiders, Aric escaped by stealing their advanced war armor, fighting them off with it, and flying off to space. When he finally returned to earth, almost 2 millenia have passed and the world has changed from the last time he's seen it. And so the barbarian asked Clarkson's help in adapting to this new era.

Throughout the earlier arcs, Ken and Aric's relationship started off with a bad start. In the beginning, Ken saw Aric as nothing more than a dumb barbarian while Aric saw Ken as a mere weak sissy. During that time, their friendship was filled with fighting, insults and even betrayals. But they soon found mutual respect to one another throughout their adventures, as Ken's cunning, intellect and soft gay personality complimented Aric's brutish strength, power and macho combat skills. They soon worked together in not only fighting the spider aliens, but also in taking over the Orb Industries, and fighting other superpowered menaces from the Valiant Universe.

Fun fact: Ken Clarkson was one of the earliest openly gay primary characters in comic books.

Weapons

 * Knife: A simple combat knife that Ken can use to stab and throw. Looks to be a double-edged blade similar to a Fairbairn–Sykes knife.
 * Fire Light: A very powerful and advanced pistol designed and used by the Spider Aliens. The fire light pistol shoots a powerful beam of super-hot laser that can penetrate a human torso, destroy vehicles and amputate limbs like arms and legs.
 * Metallic Arm: Ken lost his left arm during his first encounter with the Spider Aliens, and so Aric created a metallic arm using his armor to serve as Ken's prosthetic. This metallic arm is made up of super tough shanhara metal which is similar to the advanced war armor that Aric wears, and like the armor it can block hits from all sorts of firearms and alien weaponry. The arm also has super strength that can bash through concrete and crush bone, an automatic self-defense mechanism that protects the user even when he's not aware of the danger, and healing properties that can patch up any kinds of wounds.

X-Factors
None of these two have any sort of military, law-enforcement or other combat training, but Chas Chandler has trained in martial arts during his youth (which John Constantine hilariously called Chas' tae-kwon-do-wrench). Ken on the other hand, lacks any sort of training since he lived most of his life as a mere civilian and businessman. He probably had some combat training with Aric, but this is just speculation, and even if he had it probably wasn't that long.
 * Training

Both of these character's physicality came from different reasons. As someone who knew martial arts and an avid street-fighter, Chas is pretty strong even for his old age. He can easily take on a group of thugs even if he is outnumbered, and he once survived a fight with the demon Tuma-el with nothing more than his fists and toughness. Unlike Chas, Ken is obviously below peak-human performance since he lacks bodily training, but he makes up for it because of his mentallic arm that gives him superhuman strength, durability and healing factor. With his arm, Ken can easily take on a gang of criminals and army of aliens with ease.
 * Physicality

These two guys are really frigging tough. Chas Chandler can survive all kinds of beatings, either taking hits from multiple opponents at once, or a damn fistfight with a demon-possessed human. He almost got his soul sucked by the demon Tuma-el and after their fight he just walked it off like it was nothing. Ken Clarkson is a durable guy as well since he has survived not only beatings but also being captured and tortured by aliens and other superpowered beings. During his first contact with the Spider Aliens, Ken had to go through getting his whole arm cut off, and the aliens hanging him on his feet afterwards, just to use him as a bait for Aric. And during that time, he too had to fight against aliens with nothing more than his grit.
 * Durability

Chas, in a lack of a better term, isn't really that much of a genius. While he does have the wit to survive all the supernatural shenanigans that he had to go through, it was John Constantine who did more of the thinking and the strategizing. Ken is way smarter and more cunning, since his time as a businessman taught him the values of Machiavellism, deception and tactics. His intellect and planning, either before or during the heat of battle, actually saved the skin of X-O Manowar numerous times. Heck, he's smart enough to operate alien weaponry without any prior knowledge on how to use them.
 * Intelligence

Read First

 * Battle takes place in a neutral battlefield of Arlenes, France. Chas Chandler was accompanying John Constantine to conduct an exorcism there, while Ken Clarkson was with Aric as they attend a business convention. The two would inevitably meet each other in the streets.


 * This will be a classic no-holds bar battle. No one is allowed to have any preps whatsoever.