Western comics’ and manga’s biggest heroes take geekdom’s eternal feud to the mic.
Popular YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History recently returned from hiatus, and in their second week back they’ve finally pulled the trigger on one of the most-requested battles in… well, pretty much any arena in popular culture where the word “versus” is concerned: Goku vs Superman.
A now three season collaboration between YouTube personalities Nice Peter and Epic Lloyd, ERB has been one of the most hyped internet series of recent memory. While their primary focus is matching actual figures of classical and recent history in comedy rhyme-offs (the sly joke being that, under all the puns and smack-talk, they’re actually quite literate about actual history), the series also frequently mixes modern celebrities and fictional characters into the fray; either against historical figures (Wright Bros vs Mario Bros, Joan of Arc vs Miley Cyrus) or against eachother (Batman vs Sherlock Holmes, Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali.)
Though there’s never actually been a crossover between the two characters in their respective print media (and Superman will crossover with just about anyone,) the prospect of the two alien-born bruisers squaring off has been one of fandom’s most popular imaginary pairings for about as long as the world outside of Japan has been aware of the Dragon Ball franchise; inspiring endless fanart and one of the most popular episodes of Death Battle.
Source: ERB
