Re: ISHTAR VS. INDEKS #16: THE FINALE!
I think it would be correct to say that Metrobay mind control is more powerful than Victory City mind control. Generally speaking people subjected to Metrobay-style mind control are turned into robots, and it doesn't seem like the subject can resist at all just be force of will. Ishtar actually could not resist Hypnotica's power at all, she just blocked it with a magical spell (analogous to the goggles Max Indeks wears in the Hypnotica series to resist her power). In my comics, mind control is more a matter of emotional manipulation, and not as automatic.
In terms of overall level of superpower, I think Victory City heroines are probably more powerful mainly because I am a bit more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan (I really like both, though). DC heroes, at least the most powerful ones like Superman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, have cosmic levels of power (at least in some interpretations), but also one or more weaknesses that make them vulnerable. The Martian Manhunter has a bunch of high-level superpowers, any one of which would qualify someone to be a superhero. At the same time, he's afraid of common fire. Metrobay heroines are I think more like Marvel heroes. I don't think Valiant Grrl is imagined as being strong enough to lift a battleship (I might be wrong). That said, if I ever portrayed, for example, Brickhouse and Valiant Grrl going toe to toe, like if one or both were mind controlled (hard to imagine
), I would make them evenly matched. I would probably give Brickhouse the edge in strength and toughness, but Valiant Grrl the edge in speed and fighting skill.
Ishtar got beat in MCTek's story because Von Ick used iridite energy, which kind of works like Kryptonite for Ishtar. I know Ishtar gets beat a lot in these stories, but for certain logical reasons that's kind of how it has to be, most of the time. The reason is that if an enemy faces Ishtar, and does not neutralize her fairly quickly (like Von Ick did), she will use her vast power to neutralize them, and then the story's over.
In the near future, the stories I do will be shorter. It's been kind of a hard slog getting IShtar vs. Indeks to it's conclusion, and working on the Never-Endign Story (AKA the Prospero saga
). I'm not even sure yet what the next story will be, but I've really enjoyed Ashley as a character so I'm pretty sure I'll be using her.