It was the now-iconic and hilarious scene when Batman knocked out Guy Gardner with one punch in Justice League Vol. 1 #5 that made the "one punch" infamous. The single punch not only showed how effective Batman was but also how utterly useless the abrasive Guy Gardner was at that time.
One of the largest challenges for comic writers is to provide compelling villains for heroes to oppose. When characters can juggle planets, control the weather or exist at the zeptosecond, finding challenging villains can be hard. However, there were some fights that were extended well beyond credibility and should have ended with one well-placed punch from the hero.
10 Paste Pot Pete vs. The Human Torch (Strange Tales Vol. 1 #104 1963)
Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, encountered Paste Pot Pete when he was robbing a bank. Pete escaped on a motorcycle but the Torch found him just as Pete stole a missile from the military to sell. Pete glued Johnny to the rocket but Johnny escaped. Johnny stopped Pete by melting his truck. Pete escaped again by snagged a plane with his glue and flew off.
The Human Torch’s resting flame burns at 780 degrees Fahrenheit. The melting point of glue is 356 degrees Fahrenheit. Even a supposed “super-adhesive” should have melted on contact. Also, Pete was just a normal man on foot carrying an open bucket of paste. And the Torch can fly! This should have ended in a fiery second.
9 Flash vs. Trickster (Flash Vol. 1 #113 1960)
James Jesse was born into a famous circus aerialist troupe but was afraid of heights. He created a pair of shoes that allowed him to walk on air to overcome this fear. Jesse, calling himself The Trickster, used the shoes to rob a plane in mid-flight. Pursued by the Flash, Jesse got away and was only captured when Flash deduced that the Trickster must be a circus performer.
The Air Walker shoes may allow Trickster to “fly” but he moves at the speed of a normal human. Also, it is a canonical fact that Trickster had a “glass jaw”. Blue Devil once flicked Jesse on the chin with one finger and knocked him nearly unconscious.
8 Captain America vs. The Death Throws (Captain America Vol. 1 #317 1986)
In New York City, Hawkeye and Mockingbird investigated the escape of Crossfire, thanks to the Death Throws. They later turned up at Steve Rogers' apartment. A message on Captain America’s Hotline sends him and Hawkeye to an abandoned railroad station where they are ambushed by the Death Throws. Thanks to the arrival of Mockingbird, they defeat half the team but the rest flee.
Captain America is the absolute peak of human perfection. And this was a team of jugglers! Granted, they were juggling things that were on fire, razor-sharp and exploding, but still…jugglers! And there were two other very skilled Avengers there. More than enough to beat them.
7 Superman vs. Master Jailer (Superman #331 1979)
Carl Draper created the Mount Olympus Correctional Facility to house super-villains. Superman made some modifications and was given full credit by the press. Jealous, Draper became the Master Jailer and used a key chain that mimicked the powers of the Parasite, Metallo and the Atomic Skull to rob Superman of his powers and imprisoned him. Draper then kidnapped Lana Lang. Lang destroyed the key chain and Superman captured Draper.
Without using the powers of three of Superman’s strongest foes, the Master Jailer was just a very smart man in a very silly costume. On his own, he was no match at all for Superman. If anything, he seemed like a Batman villain in the wrong city.
6 Storm vs. Dr. Doom (Uncanny X-Men Vol.1 #147 1981)
Dr. Doom had captured Arcade and his assistant Ms. Locke had kidnapped friends and family members of the X-Men to coerce them to rescue Arcade. Doom easily captured the X-Men and turned Storm into a living statue. This triggered her extreme claustrophobia and she subconsciously created a storm that eventually engulfed the planet. The X-Men escaped and freed Storm but she was enraged nearly beyond reason.
Storm, at that moment, was as close to a goddess as existed outside of Asgard. She was on par with the Phoenix Force in her fury and Doom was just a brilliant man in advanced armor. Had Colossus not stopped her, she could have easily made Doom a dead man in a tin can with a single lightning strike.
5 Starman vs. Blockbuster (Starman # 9 & 10 1989)
Will Payton, the new Starman, encountered Roland Desmond, the new Blockbuster tearing up a restaurant. Blockbuster brought the building down around them and disappeared. Starman fought Blockbuster again and Blockbuster knocked Starman through three buildings, rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, Batman traveled to the Southwest to recapture Blockbuster. Starman and Batman team up to take out the Blockbuster and save a busload of children that he kidnapped.
Starman was essentially turned into a sentient star after he was struck by cosmic energy. Blockbuster is just a steroid abuser taken to the superhuman extreme. This should have been one page of Starman dropping an unconscious Blockbuster at Commissioner Gordon’s feet in Gotham.
4 Spider-Man vs. Typeface (Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2 #23 2000)
Gordon Thomas was a soldier who lost his brother in a foreign conflict and upon returning home, his wife divorced him. Gordon becomes a sign maker but was laid off. Angered by the endless cycle of troubles that occurred, Thomas became a super-villain named Typeface and drew letters on his face as his disguise. He begins beating up local thugs which drew Spider-Man’s attention. Shockingly, Typeface defeated Spider-Man in their first encounter and escaped.
Spider-Man has actual powers, including super-strength, speed, and agility. And Typeface has no powers…at all. He is just a former soldier armed with large letters. Spider-Man should not have to need more than eight panels to deal with Typeface.
3 Green Lantern Kyle Rayner vs. Sonar (Green Lantern Vol. 3 #67)
The new Sonar was destroying the streets of Manhattan but the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and the Flash Wally West couldn’t stop bickering long enough to stop him. Even when they caught the villain, they would start bickering and Sonar would escape again. The pair finally worked together and captured Sonar and agreed to try to get along better to continue the tradition of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan.
None of the “Sonars” have been particularly skilled villains. Wally had been a hero since he was a teenager and Kyle took on much more powerful villains recently. The fact that Sonar was tossing these two around is unbelievable.
2 Thor vs. Iron Man (Thor #3 2007)
Thor traveled to New Orleans to look for his fellow Asgardians, who were trapped in the bodies of humans. Iron Man confronted Thor and told him that he needed to register in accordance with the Superhuman Registration Act. Thor pummeled Iron Man with lightning bolts and then, grabbed Stark by the neck, ripped off his face mask and said that he needed to relearn the difference between a God of Thunder and a man in a metal suit.
It was pretty obvious that their former friendship was the only thing that kept Thor from utterly destroying Iron Man instead of simply disabling his armor. Given that a single lightning bolt has a billion joules of energy, a single bolt should have killed Stark in an instant.
1 Any Physical Fight Between Batman and the Joker
Batman and the Joker are one of the longest-running antagonistic pairings in comics. At their core, Batman is about control, order, and justice. The Joker is about chaos, upheaval, and anarchy. The Joker is most effective when he provides a mental challenge for Batman and his associates and shake up their calm, ordered world.
Batman was an Olympic level athlete who has trained his body to the absolute peak of human perfection. He was the best melee fighter on Earth. Joker was an extremely skinny lunatic with no fight training at all. Even including the extra strength and crazy fighting that insanity affords, any physical altercation between these two should be over before the page break.