SUPERMAN & BATMAN versus LEX LUTHOR

The World's Finest Part Five: State of Siege (DC)
Where: Superman/Batman #5 When: February 2004
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Ed McGuinness

The Story So Far...
A chunk of the devastated planet Krypton is hurtling on a collision course towards the Earth! US President Lex Luthor has declared Superman public enemy number one as the man he holds responsible for the global threat!

The President sends friends & foes alike to hunt the weakened Superman, but with Batman by his side, they've evaded them all. Not that that has stopped Luthor announcing their successful capture to the world!

Believing their mentors to be held captive in the White House, the heroes' respective protégés stage a daring rescue mission that ends in their capture. Now with the world and their charges lives hanging in the balance -- Superman & Batman storm the Oval Office to confront a President on the brink of insanity!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Lex Luthor 6 (Genius)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Superman 5 (Lasers)
Total: Superman 33 (Super)

Superman and Batman generally outclass Lex Luthor in most categories, but the genius scientist and businessman has a trump card in 2004 that can instantly render them completely impotent: He's President of the United States!

For a couple of career good guys like the "World's Finest" that presents one heckuva problem. Attacking the President means publicly assaulting the very institutions they've sworn to uphold. Luthor may be a self-serving egomaniac, but the risks of forcibly removing him from office are great and many!

At another time in his life Batman actually defended Lex Luthor, from a rogue WayneTech droid, in Batman Confidential #2. He could probably find a way to dismantle Luthor's trademark powersuit, but if he really wants to take President Luthor down, he's probably best doing it as a detective, using his skills to find the necessary evidence to warrant intervention from appropriate political institutions.

Superman smashed Luthor's armor to smithereens in Justice League of America #15, but his dedication to truth, justice, and the American way isn't likely to include assaulting the Commander in Chief, either. He too may be better suited to using his skills as a journalist to expose Luthor's political misdeeds.

Of course, let's be honest: This is the Comic Book Fight Club and we're here for a battle -- not an investigation! Luthor won't go quietly and he's got the weapons to make sure he doesn't have to!

In Supergirl #3 we saw his malice unleashed with the benefit of that iconic green & purple powersuit, and intimate knowledge of synthesizing kryptonite. That's the kind of thing that can prove a real problem for Superman, too.

In 52 #40, Luthor opted for temporary super-human augmentation to torture John Henry Irons, aka; Steel. Batman might be able to watch Superman's back, but if Luthor goes down this road, he can end Batman's assistance in an instant!

Together they've brought down Bloodsport & Deadshot, tag teamed Darkseid into submission, and helped the Justice League stop the Injustice League, Ultramarine Corps, and Mongul -- but can they bring down a corrupt government? Let's find out!

History: Superman & Batman (1-0-0)
The Tape: Superman & Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

Standing over the beaten bodies of his enemies: President Luthor rolls up his sleeves and smiles gleefully. He quotes Macbeth with a green glint in his eye, "Blow, wind! Come, wrack!" A bitter call for chaos and the unravelling of order.

As if to answer: a red and gold blur swirls around him, spiriting away the young defeated heroes at the President's feet.

He stands alone in the darkened Oval Office for a moment before a mighty backlit figure confronts him!

Captain Marvel stands silently as the President quizzes him on the disappearance of two apprehended fugitives. Luthor lords his presidential title like a weapon, warning the Captain he's "nothing" as he strides confidently toward the President.

Hoisted from the ground Luthor at last realises he is not in the clutches of Captain Marvel. He tears the lightning crest from his attacker's chest and exposes the staggering truth: the man before him is one of the missing fugitives -- Superman!

The Man of Tomorrow remembers his youth spent on the farm, and an adopted father who taught him the necessity of killing a fox who enters the chicken house lest you risk the deaths of more chickens. His eyes glow red with restrained heat.

Staring death in the face, Luthor bargains for his life by preying upon Superman's better nature. He warns of grave consequences. Not only a hunt to bring down Superman, but a bitter distrust that will effect all allied super-heroes.

At that moment a shadow separates from the darkest corner of the room.

The Batman will not stop Superman if he chooses lethal force. The weight of Luthor's evil is too great. The Dark Knight Detective even offers an antidote to the President's threats: "There are ways we could make it look like an accident. Or better still -- as if he'd disappeared without a trace."

President Luthor nervously calls it a bluff. Batman sternly suggests otherwise.

Superman asks if their comrades are safe. Batman confirms the youthful heroes and Krypto have been successfully freed and evacuated. That's enough to satisfy the Man of Steel, who hurls Luthor across the tainted Oval Office.

Superman and Batman make a silent exit, but for The President of the United States the battle is not over. He snarls his title with widened furious eyes and indignant entitlement. For him, this is far from over...

The Hammer...

In review this is really more of a prelude to the battle that unfolds in the following issue. President Luthor is poised to blow his stack big time, and this incident is the trigger that finally pushes him past arrogant hubris into all-out insanity.

As soon as the heroes are out of the building he's injecting himself with a glowing green concoction of venom & kryptonite, and suiting up for a very public battle!

Does today's feature really constitute a fight? Yes & no. We clearly see Superman has Lex dead to rights almost immediately, but chooses to walk away just as fast.

It's a relatively passive outcome. Secure in the knowledge that the higher purpose of The Man of Steel's presence has been achieved. Batman confirmed the rescue of their respective youthful charges, who themselves were captured breaching the White House attempting an ill-fated, ill advised rescue of the World's Finest.

President Luthor had prematurely announced the arrest of Superman & Batman in the hopes of drawing them out. At this point Luthor had no way of knowing the duo had turned the tables on their would-be captors -- Captain Marvel & Hawkman -- some time after suffering an apparent defeat in issue #4. This allowed Superman to disguise himself when gaining entry to the White House.

Deceptive in its simplicity: Public Enemies presents a layer cake of priorities and reference throughout, offering bombastic Ed McGuinness action on the surface, in service of more intricate plotlines deeper down.

In total the story is the ultimate endgame to the Luthor Presidency, beginning with a giant kryptonite meteor hurtling towards the Earth, and Luthor's attempt to publicly & officially hold Superman accountable for the destruction it will bring.

Luthor professes to wield the truth, but is lying to the people -- manipulating the situation to pursue his own agenda & self-interests. Savvy readers knew it was always going to end something like this. It was just a matter of how far Luthor would go, and to what extent he would be allowed to abuse Presidential resources. The cost of his corruption ultimately threatens the entire world, leaving Batman & Superman to work towards an actual solution that will eventually call upon Captain Atom, and lead to the Armageddon imprint crossover series.

Nothing about this superhero story seemed overly dangerous in 2004, but when I started writing this entry in anticipation of the United States Presidential Election at the end of 2020, and continued into January, it became shockingly apparent it would take on new relevance after the attack on the United States Capitol.

I was sensitive to the fact that it had become a very serious subject. Although I'm not American, the site has a large base of American readers, so I decided to delay while we all processed what had happened. Midnight entries on a comic book blog about superhero brawls just don't strike me as a very good place for serious political discourse. Accepting that some opinions and forums simply don't matter is the kind of discerning that could probably help us all a great deal.

That said, there's also no denying the political undercurrent that runs through superhero comic books throughout history. Seminal pulp-infused heroes like The Phantom weren't entirely apolitical in their globe-trotting battles against cruelty and injustice, and if there's a single big bang event that gives us the DC and Marvel Universes: it's World War II. It was pretty much a non-stop free for all of punching Nazis from there! In fact, one of the most famous punches in comics was delivered to a very notable politician -- German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Good form, Cap!

By the mid-2000s of Public Enemies, Nazis were still evergreen punching bags, but superhero comics were also looking at contemporary concerns, exploring the political & ethical dilemmas of contentious domestic/foreign policies by President George W. Bush. Essentially 'with great power comes great responsibility' applied on a global geo-political scale.

It was that kind of thinking that informed aspects of Mark Millar's blockbuster millennium comics, like The Ultimates and Civil War, and led Warren Ellis to rather cannily make the simmering tension of domestic terror the primary antagonist of his Iron Man story: Extremis. All of these works later went on to be major influences on the Iron Man films, and Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.

Lex Luthor actually had to defeat W Bush on his way to becoming President in the DC Universe 2000 election, but by the time it was all unravelling in '04, his efforts to vilify Superman based on a lie, and deploy heroes and villains in pursuit of violent reprisal, infused his broad comic book villainy with the subtext of Bush's war on terror, and invasion of Iraq. Both were broad mood setting influences, and common targets for critique, for a lot of American pop culture at the time.

It's become curiously common for some folks to insist that comics from this recent era, or slightly earlier, weren't "political". An unconvincing argument that usually seems to be acting as a political statement, or nostalgia for the innocence of youthful ignorance. The latter of which, admittedly, isn't entirely wrong.

Superheroes were constructed to be champions of social justice and examples for moral upstanding. Although more modern eras grew entangled in subversions, at its core the superhero is a simple premise. They adhere to selfless standards of good and decency in a world that lacks the complexities and uncertainty of reality.

We can have absolute confidence in Superman & Batman acting as heroes, and Lex Luthor a villain. The evidence for this has been provided monthly for nigh on eighty years by their creators. Our heroes' motivations are largely selfless, lacking self-indulgence or flippant enjoyment in their actions, and presumed to come with a good study of hard evidence and fact. Luthor operates on greed and spite.

Jeph Loeb appeared to dabble in extremes of superhero violence throughout this time, sometimes gratuitously, but ultimately with the thesis, as it is in Superman/Batman #5, that heroes do not kill.

Restraint is a key feature that guides them in their effort to do right. They do not enter the White House lightly. Even Batman, who is shown here flirting with lethal force in the face of dire evil, as he did in Batman #614, accepts restraint. Murder is not how you deal with a corrupt, elected official. Extreme violence is not the choice of the super-hero.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a pretty decent work of fiction and I'm sure we'll return to some of its less contentious battles some time in the future. I would particularly like to look more at the assembly of military connected heroes, and the captured youngsters who set today's action into motion.

If you'd like to get ahead of me and see the full picture for yourself you can check out one of the available collected editions of the story. By using the Amazon purchase links provided to do any of your online shopping you'll not only find a good deal -- you'll also help support the site at no extra cost to you!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a free and complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

If you enjoy having all this fun stuff to read and want to support the continued growth of the project you can become a Patreon backer. As a thank you for your contribution you'll unlock extra updates, polls, and options to select your own custom topics for future articles!

Get free daily links to smackdown inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing on Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to like, fave, and share posts, and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday!

Winner: Inconclusive
#4 (--) Superman
#134 (+6) Lex Luthor
#1 (--) Batman [+1 assist]

CAPTAIN MARVEL & HAWKMAN versus SUPERMAN & BATMAN

Public Enemies Part Four: Battle On (DC)
Where: Superman/Batman #4 When: January 2004
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Ed McGuinness

The Story So Far...
A giant piece of the destroyed planet Krypton is hurtling towards the Earth! The humongous meteorite threatens all life on Earth, but President of the United States Lex Luthor has a plan to thwart what his government claims is a proven attack orchestrated by Superman!

 

Uniting with Batman; Metropolis' Man of Tomorrow helps devise a plan to stop the celestial threat, and undo Lex Luthor's corrupt political scheme once and for all -- becoming a wanted fugitive in the process!

 

With a bounty on their heads, the World's Finest evade attacks from some of the most notorious figures in the criminal underworld, before fending off a team of government enlisted heroes. When an accident during the fight causes mass destruction in Tokyo, the big guns of the Justice Society of America finally agree to step in to take the pair down safely and quietly at the rest of Wonder Woman. Enter the JSA's hand-picked heroes for a showdown in the snowy mountains of Japan: Captain Marvel & Hawkman!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speeds)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Hawkman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Superman 5 (Lasers)

Over the past month we've seen instances of The Man of Steel getting the better of Captain Marvel [Kingdom Come #4] and Hawkman [Justice League of America #200] individually. So what happens when the battle escalates to titanic tag team proportions? That's what we aim to find out today as the JSA deploy their two most perfectly suited enforcers for an explosive two-on-two encounter with the JLA's finest: Superman & Batman!

Captain Marvel and Hawkman know each other relatively well, but the edge of familiarity likely has to go to the defending team.

Superman & Batman don't always see eye to eye, and the reason their occasionally bitter rivalry gets so volatile isn't just rooted in difference -- but because they know each other so darn well! When they're fighting on the same side that spells bad news for any opponents! Just take a look at past skirmishes with: Darkseid [Superman/Batman #42], Atomic Skull [Superman/Batman #21], Mongul [Infinite Crisis #1], and inhabitants of a universe where they conquered the world: Green Arrow [Superman/Batman #14] and Freedom Fighters [Superman/Batman #15]!

They haven't conquered the world in today's feature, but their fellow heroes are operating under the instruction that it's a possible goal. This means Captain Marvel & Hawkman can put some of their reluctance aside when fighting. An argument can be made that this allows them to fully exploit key advantages they hold over their counterparts.

As we saw in Superman #216: Captain Marvel & Superman match-up pretty well, but the magic strength of Hercules and power of Zeus gives Cap the slight strength advantage needed when employing his ruthless lightning ambush. Nth metal enhancements ensure Hawkman has a decided strength advantage over The Batman, as well. If he can use his medieval arsenal with impunity, even the ever-resourceful Batman could quickly find himself at a deadly disadvantage!

Switch it up and things get even worse for Batman, who won't have kryptonite to fall back on fighting the magic of Shazam, the way he usually does against Superman. Play that scenario out and the best Superman can hope for is a drag out one-on-one fight with the big red cheese. With a kryptonite meteor heading for the Earth, that's not an ideal place to be.

The Tape stats noted above show Superman & Batman have versatility over the specialist skills of their opponents, but the only way to know for sure is to let the fight play out! Let's see how it went...

The Tape: Superman & Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

Touching down with Powergirl & Katana en tow; Superman & Batman draw their plans to save a world they've been accused of threatening. Knowing the battle is far from over, they charge their juniors with a vital mission. They will not be able to execute it. A streaking red blur confirms it.

A weighted net ensnares The Batman, followed by the descending shadow of the winged Hawkman! He commands the outlaw heroes to honor their past and make it easy. Standing boldly over his fallen target, Captain Marvel echoes the sentiment -- reminding Superman he's beaten him before and will do so again.

Superman chooses non-compliance, blasting Captain Marvel in the face with an explosion of heat vision! His words scold as harshly as the heat, challenging the Captain for accepting President Luthor's orders!

While the super-powers collide, Batman gets to freeing himself from his netted prison. A cutting tool makes light work of the snare. Hawkman warns him to stay down. An interesting choice of words.

Superman and Captain Marvel come to super-human blows. The Man of Steel reviews his opponent's innate advantages. Toe-to-toe his magic power gives Captain Marvel the edge. A straight right to the jaw punctuates the point, before a stinging left follows directly at Superman's face!

Meanwhile, Batman observes Hawkman's obvious advantage: flight. As the winged warrior swoops with trademark fixed mace in hand, Batman attempts to turn the tables - firing his grappling cable around his flying foe!

The Bat succeeds in grounding Hawkman for a moment, but any advantage is short-lived -- the power of his mighty wings too great for the tensile strength of the chord! The recoil sends Batman flying!

Clearly struggling against their respective opponents: Batman calls for a "castling" strategy - a switch of King and Rook.

To facilitate the exchange, Superman catches Captain Marvel's next blow and uses the leverage to toss him in the direction of Batman! The Bat gets a kick in, directing Marvel's careening body into the snow -- while in the blink of an eye Superman goes airborne, collecting Hawkman at mach speed!

The Man of Steel heads for the Earth's upper atmosphere with a note of regret, intending for Hawkman to blackout. The veteran scoffs his target's arrogance, knowing full well what Superman & Batman are attempting. Far from done, he introduces Superman to his glove: The Claw of Horus!

The Claw draws its power from the Earth's magnetic core -- allowing Hawkman to hit Superman with the force of the entire planet! The blow sends Superman plummeting back down to Earth with extreme prejudice!

While below, Batman investigates Captain Marvel's impact. Instead he discovers young Billy Batson in the snow with a cut on his forehead. The Dark Knight checks on his opponent's mortal counterpart. When Batson whispers the magic word "Shazam" a magic bolt of lightning strikes the Earth to transform him back into the big red cheese Captain Marvel!

With Batman slumped over his shoulder, Marvel re-joins Hawkman - who stands over an unconscious and wounded Superman! Victorious!

The Hammer...

Did you see it happening? Our winners are very much Captain Marvel & Hawkman, but there's more to this story than meets the eye...

If you followed the recap, you may have noticed the absence of Powergirl and Katana - who exited just as the fight started.

 

This was the real key to victory, as Superman and Batman's ultimate goal in the fight was to ensure they were left unhindered. It's all part of a larger plot to avert the disaster President Lex Luthor has accused Superman of causing. The very reason they were in remote Japan - home to the industrious Toyman.

Fans of the Public Enemies story will know Captain Marvel & Hawkman's victory is short-lived. Somewhere between the end of the fight and Superman/Batman #5, the title duo blindsided their opponents while their guards were down, in order to steal their identities. This allows the fugitive Superman & Batman to confront Luthor at close proximity, and rescue their protégés, who had responded to premature news of their capture.

It's a contrivance almost purely for the reader's sake -- just barely functional enough in the bigger picture to make its convincing execution worth the while. It got us a kickass fight between rival heroes, and gave half a subsequent issue to a fun group of young heroes. Not bad!

 

It doesn't hurt that the whole affair is deliciously rendered by a master team of artists. I'm a big fan of the world according to Ed McGuinness. He was a natural fit for Superman, and I think a surprisingly effective and maybe underrated Batman artist, as well. He doesn't do it alone, of course. He's brought to his very best by inker Dexter Vines, with perfect, wet paint colors from Dave Stewart. The end result is big, bold, powerful and wonderful to look at.

 

It's easy to forget that a Superman/Batman team-up book was a slightly sketchy proposal in 2003, especially on the back of Jeph Loeb's instrumental rekindling of the Batman v Superman rivalry that same year [Batman #612]. McGuinness played a big part in successfully selling the dynamic of character examination under big action frivolity that underscored much of Loeb's run. There's positive and negative, but it gave something back to the introspective superhero comics of the time. If DC's upcoming Rebirth intends to address things that are missing - this balance of elements, characters, fun, stakes, and Ed McGuinness' pencils are all good places to start!

 

Ironically, some of McGuinness' least effective pages take place during the Captain Marvel/Hawkman fight. The intention of certain action sequences aren't as clear as they should be. These panels leave a lot of vague, uninteresting, dead space. Some of this seems to be in service of not calling attention to Hawkman's trump card - The Claw of Horus. It works, giving the reveal impact without obviously holding his hand behind his arm, but it may've pressured the Captain Marvel "Castling" sequence into some flat panels.

 

Something I do like about the Superman/Hawkman sequence is how well it plays off the fight in Justice League of America #200. That time Hawkman was left for dead floating unconscious in space. This time he was prepared!

 

Some may argue the surprise twist in Superman/Batman #5 invalidates the victory demonstrated in today's feature, but the result is never explicitly disputed. The outcome is merely overturned by a second, unseen skirmish. By hook or by crook, Captain Marvel & Hawkman did defeat Superman & Batman as we saw. Secret Wars on Infinite Earths bylaws typically dictate results should be determined by issue cut-off. The facts of the case just so happen to support the result, either way.

 

Which pretty much takes care of that! It also wraps up our run of Superman's battles with heroes for this month! It won't be the last time we take inspiration from the March 25th release of Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice, though! There's a third hero set to play a feature role and they'll be tag teaming with one of the other most talked about heroes coming soon to theatres. If you guess this unlikely pairing -- you'll deserve a no prize! 'Nuff said!

 

As always, you can find more Superman & Batman battles by following the links, or checking out the Issue Index Archive.

Stay tuned for more Hero of the Week and Old Comics Wednesday portal picks, too! Wanna read the comics you've seen here yourself? Use Amazon purchase links provided to support the site! Be sure to tell your friends, too!

Winners: Captain Marvel & Hawkman

(--) #1 Batman

(--) #4 Superman

(+8) #27 Hawkman

(+222) #100 Captain Marvel

HULK versus RULK
Blood Red (Marvel)
Where: Hulk #6 When: November 2008
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Ed McGuinness

The Story So Far...
Investigation into the shooting-murder of gamma-irradiated Russian superhuman, Abomination, reveals an unexpected twist: a gun-toting assasin dubbed, Red Hulk!

The powerhouses of the Marvel Universe are drawn into battle as the Red Hulk continues his murderous rampage across the globe! Having defeated regular Hulk grapplers; Iron Man and She-Hulk; the Red Hulk inevitabily comes face-to-face with the original when his battle with a newly transformed Rick Jones, aka; A-Bomb, frees Bruce Banner from a military cell.

In a clash that threatens to destroy San Francisco via the resulting earthquakes, the two Hulks clash in an epic, gamma fuelled showdown.
Shockingly, "Rulk" proves the superior in every respect, over powering and out-fighting his predecessor with bone-shattering results! Fortunately for the city by the bay, the battle attracts the attentions of the Norse god of thunder, Thor! However, even the endless gulf of space fails to contain the fury of Rulk, who defeats and escapes Thor, making an uncontrolled descent to Earth! If Rulk survives his fall back to Earth, the Hulk will be waiting...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Rulk 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Hulk 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Hulk 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Rulk 3 (Explosives)


- Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a slight and insignificant scientist, lives slavishly dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, as funded by the United States military.
Though Banner justifies his goals as means for peace, he becomes one of America's leading weapons designers after inventing a gamma radiation bomb.

During preperations for a test launch in the desert, Dr. Banner spots a reckless youth on the testing ground, and in a moment of magnificence, knowingly throws himself on a bullet that would grant a far crueller fate than death.
Bitterly aware of the Communist conspiracy of his fellow scientist, Banner struggles to usher he and the boy to safety while his colleague continues to countdown the launch.

After succumbing to an ordinarily lethal doses of gamma radiation, Dr. Banner soon finds himself undergoing a horrific transformation. Originally by night, but soon triggered by rage or unease, Banner discovers the superhumanly strong alter-ego within himself, dubbed simply - the Hulk!
As the Hulk, Banner's brilliance is reduced to a childlike lumbering, while his slight frame conversely comes to possess size, strength, and durability never before imagined.

Hulk has no specific known weaknesses, but is fiercely protective of the few who earn his favour. Though generally good hearted, Hulk is prone to wild rages and varied personalities, particularly provoked by any challenge to the identity of his persona, particularly where matters of his physical dominance are concerned. This provocation comes to the fore when he encounters his red counterpart, "Rulk," with whom he shares an immediate hatred. Hulk is able to sense Rulk at a great distance, detecting his unique gamma radiation.

- The creature known as "Rulk" remains a mystery to the heroes he bedevilled in his early appearances, but his true identity is known to a select few, namely those who helped create him in secret -- Thunderbolt Ross and Doc Samson.

Created into a world that had already survived an intelligent Hulk's declaration of war, and successfully imprisoned a powerless Bruce Banner; Rulk made his debut not battling against the green goliath he was designed to oppose, but rather, in Russia, where he used advanced weaponry to kill Hulk's nemesis, Abomination.
This activity brought Rulk's existence to the attentions of many interested parties, including then-Director of SHIELD, Tony Stark. The Red Hulk subsequently rampaged through Wendigo, Stark's SHIELD Helicarrier, She-Hulk, and Stark himself in his Iron Man guise, before butting heads with A-Bomb (Rick Jones) in a clash that freed and revived Bruce Banner in a familiar child-like state, as Hulk.

Rulk possesses strength, speed, and endurance to rival any of Bruce Banner's transformations, minus any of the customary strength fluctuations associated. Instead, Rulk's rages trigger an increased emission of radiation, and intense heat. Red Hulk also differs in maintaining a cunning intelligence, and combat training, complimentary to his aggressive and sadistic manner.

Math: Draw Ranking: Hulk (#5)

What Went Down...
Emerging from the massive crater caused by his landing, Rulk finds the Hulk waiting eagerly for a rematch. Despite getting the jump on his Red nemesis, Hulk finds the tables quickly turned, having his chokehold countered with a kangaroo-esque dropkick!

Hulk resists his opponent's following advances, declaring his intent with a straight shot to the face and a short uppercut. His simplistic babblings reveal a desire for vengeance, maybe even justice, as according to his own confused perspective. Alas, this grander goal fails to save him from the Red Hulk's persistent bullying.

Rulk brings his massive hands colliding together with Hulk's skull sandwiched between. The devestating blow stuns the green goliath, leaving him wide open to a crossing hook that punctuates Rulk's merciful offer to kill him quickly. It's a threat the raging Rulk might have followed through, if not for an interruption...

Returned from his defeat in space, the mighty Thor lets his blessed hammer, Mjolnir, do the talking for him. With the hammer's enchantments restored by the weight of Earth's gravity, Thor unleashes his full fury upon the Red Hulk, launching an attack with unforgiving blows to the jaw and knee!

A-Bomb, the gamma-mutated Rick Jones, arrives on the scene while Hulk recovers from the blows he already suffered. Watching Thor collide with his newest nemesis, the Hulk declares himself the only one who can beat his crimson doppelganger. It is unclear if his inflection is of capability, or right.

As he so often has throughout his partnership with Bruce Banner/Hulk, Rick Jones provides vital clarity to the jade giant, providing him with a course of deduction that inspires in the simpleton, a strategy!

Hulk launches himself between Thor and Red Hulk, tackling his dark mirror amidst a field of crackling lightning. A-Bomb stays the thunder god's hammer, explaining to him the necessity for Hulk to overcome this challenge alone. Thor reluctantly steps aside, allowing Hulk a final chance at personal redemption.

Having, by his own admission, nearly suffered defeat by Thor's hand, the Red Hulk rallys to once again get the better of his opponent. Rulk delivers a verbal spray, mocking Hulk's inability to strategize in battle, while pounding away at his mid-section with two devestating body blows!

Rulk smoulders a little more with each blow as he unleashes a storm of punches and rage, his irradiated body converting both into radioactive heat. As his body reaches breaking point, the Red Hulk learns a harsh lesson in Hulk's cunning.

Dazed by the build up of heat, Rulk throws a final punch that puts him on the ropes. With that, an enraged and empowered Hulk unleashes the entirety of his strength on an exhausted Rulk that sends the villain hurtling through the air as a result of one single knock-out punch!

Green Hulk is strongest one there is.

The Hammer...
Supplying the vital assist is Thor and A-Bomb, but I give you the last man standing -- Hulk!

As you might've noticed from the post-date, we're continuing our overdue look back on the characters that finished 2008 on top, here on the Infinite Wars. In an effort to speed the process up, we won't be featuring the entire top ten as originally planned.

It's very fitting that we managed to stay on target with the Hulk however, as he's currently starring in Marvel's direct-to-video animated double feature, Hulk Versus. It seems very unlikely that anyone would not know, by now, that the shorts bring Hulk into fully animated battles with two of his classic sparring partners -- Wolverine and Thor.

A site like ours is uniquely primed to appreciate the simplicity of a project like Vs, but the beauty is in the story that goes much farther than a simple case of superhero smackdown. This is where Hulk Vs outshines it's most recent comics counterpart, launched in 2008 with Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness.

Anyone tracking the weekly shipping lists would've seen our excitement for the new series turn quickly to dismay. Hulk has meandered from month-to-month, serving little plot to accompany it's chain of headlining superhero match-ups.
As already mentioned, we are somewhat uniquely skewed to appreciate a series dedicated to the exploits of warring superpowers, but even the Comic Book Fight Club demands more of a story - and battle - than an endless parade of foes.

The greatest crime committed by Loeb is arguably the detachment of the series from events that recently occurred in the Greg Pak event-epic, World War Hulk.
Despite being presented as a similar action-adventure to the current line-up; World War Hulk actually managed to invest in the relationships of characters, exploring aspects that could have potentially redefined the basic landscape of the Hulk universe upon the hero's return from space (Planet Hulk).

More frustrations come from one of the few plot points explored in the series, the secret identity of a new "Red Hulk." Rulk, as he has come to be known, remains obscured from readers, despite promises that by this sixth issue, the truth would be known. Writer Jeph Loeb claims enough information was revealed to make assumptions, but a year later, the series still makes very little effort to come clean with the identity of it's character. This isn't necessarily an inherent problem, but given the series' reliance upon this mystery as it's core story, readers are more than entitled to feel frustrated.

I could not rightly described "Hulk" as a good comic.
Having had a few tastes over the Christmas break, however, I do find myself reassessing because, as frustrating as the construction of the series might be, it isn't necessarily a bad comic, either...

Despite clashing with some of Marvel's most iconic heroes, the entirety of Rulk's contribution lies within the pages of Hulk issues, touching the Marvel Universe in only imaginative ways. Rulk appears curiously comparable to Loeb's 2002 DC creation, Hush, in that they have both been shallow creations bound almost exclusively to the relevance of their initial stories. Not explicitly revealing Rulk's identity might even be a response to the volume of negativty expressed toward Hush's anti-climactic reveal, contrasting Loeb's use of ambiguity in more popular Batman tales, like The Long Halloween.

If I'd been reading all along, I imagine I'd still feel the negativity I had writing previous monthly release blurbs. With only a couple of tastes to go on, however, I find I'm enjoying what I read despite myself. Picking random issues to browse leaves little important information to be pondered, this is obviously a plodding comic of little longterm significance. I don't have all the pieces to try to draw my own conclusions about the status of Rulk's mystery identity, but I also don't feel that's really an interesting enough topic to rectify.

If you're an avid Infinite Wars reader, then you might find the positive.
Observing Marvel's past forty years of superheroes in a context comparable to an oversized fighting competition, we see Rulk in a different light.
He's the young raging bull, fixing to be a contender before any of us are ready to accept him. Part of me wants to go back and track the fights through every issue, just to capture Rulk's meteoric rise through the battling ranks of the Marvel Universe. That, for the time being, is where the value of the character lies.

Ed McGuinness is a joy to behold.
His bold, clean lines compliment the bulky giant-size aspects of Hulk and all of his current supporting characters. I'd be inclined to say he's honed his craft to surpass anything he could've achieved ten years ago, (ie; Deadpool #4).


Unfortunately, I would have to cast some doubt on Dexter Vines, whose inks don't seem to serve the artwork as well as others have. I find I prefer a very slick and confident black on McGuinness' work, but against some colour choices, the blacks look occasionally too heavy handed, and then a little bit liney.

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4

Have an insatiable lust for combat? A morbid curiosity about the Red Hulk's identity? Get the whole story in one gut-busting block with the first trade, available soon! You'll find that, along with many other collections of varying quality, in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe! By using purchase links provided on the site, you not only benefit from Amazon's service and prices, but also help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars. Which means more fighting! Hey, speaking of which, why not pick-up "Hulk Vs" while you're at it, now on DVD!

JUSTICE LEAGUE versus ULTRAMARINE CORPS
Seconds To Go (DC)
Where: JLA: Classified #3 When: March 2005
Why: Grant Morrison How: Ed McGuinness

The Story So Far...
With the Justice League trapped on a mission to the infant universe of Qwewq; it's up to the International Ultramarine Corps to respond to disaster in Africa!
Gorilla Grodd, having allied himself with the mysterious cosmic being, Neh-Buh-Loh, has begun a path of destruction intended for the entire Earth!

The Ultramarine Corps quickly find themselves overwhelmed by Grodd and his ape-army, leaving the Knight's sidekick, Squire, to make a call to her mentor's American counterpart - The Batman! The Dark Knight summons his secret arsenal of bizarre and alien technologies, as well as the resources of the League itself, in an effort to rally against Grodd and the Nebula Man.

He leaves Squire to make contact with Qwewq, leading an inhuman proxy-League to distract from the true team's absence. His automatons prove insufficient in battle with the Corps; now under the manipulation of Grodd. With Batman defeated, the Justice League are needed more than ever, but will their escaped from the infant universe come too late?...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Nebula Man 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Gorilla Grodd 5 (Professor)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Goraiko 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Glob 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Wonder Woman 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: The Master 7 (Cosmic Power)


- The Justice League of America are: Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.

Born of necessity; the Justice League represent a coordinated effort by the world's finest heroes to protect and serve in the many iterations of their regional representation, and on a global scale. Boasting some of the planet's most powerful humans and extra-terrestrials, the League is equipped to combat any threat that should overwhelm the individual efforts of their member, or conventional defenses of the world's nations.

The League is classically defined by the core membership of it's founding members, affectionately referred to as the big seven. Overseen by stalwarts, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, they are; Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Several of these members would come to be succeeded by others baring their name, Wally West and Kyle Rayner, while many other heroes would come to be prominently listed with the group; Hawkman, Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, and others.

- The Ultramarine Corps are: The Knight, The Master, Goraiko, Vixen, Fleur-de-Lis, Olympian, Jack O'Lantern, Glob, Kid Impala and Tasmanian Devil; all acting under the influence of Gorilla Grodd and Neh-Buh-Loh.

Originally conceived as a government funded alternative to the Justice League of America; the original team of Warmaker One, Flow, 4-D, and Pulse 8 came to realise, during battle with the JLA, that General Wade Eiling, their superior officer, was insane. Consequently the team rebelled against the the United States. Repulsed and distrusting of government influence, the team construct a man-made city hovering over Uruguay called Superbia, where they invite similarly despondent heroes from around the world to join their cause.

The Math: JLA (Avg) Ultramarine Corps (Ttl) Ranking: Batman (#2)

What Went Down...
The Justice League return to their home Earth in the nick of time, as Gorilla Grodd sets the mind-controlled Ultramarine Corps on a world now unprotected!

Goraiko is first to make it's presence known as the Japanese giant descends on a city braced for chaos. The monster's leaping rampage demolishes massive chunks of the city, making John Stewart's return the perfect solution to architectural catastrophe!

Using the energy of his Green Lantern ring, and a little professional know-how, Stewart sets about scaffolding and repairing the structures now threatening lives in Goraiko's wake.

Below; the Flash uses his manipulation and transference of the Speed Force to protect endangered citizens at street level. "Spinning their molecules like plates," the Flash is soon forced to deviate to rescued his own teammate, who suffers a reality-warping attack from The Master, whose Quantum Keyboard allows him to momentarily reinstitute the yellow 'parallax' flaw of his power ring.
Rescued by Flash, GL promptly returns with a flying uppercut for the Master!

Wonder Woman leaves Aquaman use of her invisible jet, descending to tackle the physical onslaught of former-Leaguer, Vixen, and Fleur-de-Lis. Aquaman's objective is a more specific one: to seek-out and pacify a little Japanese girl in a sensory deprivation tank, from whom Goraiko psychically manifests.

Meanwhile; Batman remains at the mercy of Gorilla Grodd, who takes great pleasure in taunting him with the promise of a world left in ashes by he and his ape world order. With Batman literally on a spit, Grodd roasts the dark knight, while recounting his prophecized fall and disgrace in ape culture. Grodd turns his back for just a moment, but it proves all the time Batman needs to free himself.

The dark knight turns the tables on his captors, knocking several of Grodd's soldiers out, before throwing a kick to Grodd's mid-section that both man and monkey can appreciate equally. "There goes the dynasty."

Above the Earth the Martian Manhunter uses telepathy to scan for Goraiko, but soon finds he is not alone. From atop an orbitting satellite Olympian tosses a discus with superhuman strength, knocking the Manhunter from Mars into a descent toward Earth. The reentry process plays upon his fears and weaknesses, heating his body to burning temperatures!

Olympian follows the fallen Manhunter to Earth, where he lays the finishing blows in the very crater of his landing place. There, he leaves the Martian to die alone, a fact he gloats when coming face-to-face with Aquaman, who takes leave of Wonder Woman's jet to deal with the water-monster, Glob.

Amidst a downpour, Wonder Woman finds combat of her own.
The Amazon's speed and strength gives her the edge as she fights back the Corps' mounting forces. A well timed jump leaves the super-speeding Kid Impala to spear tackle Vixen, while the Amazon's brute strength takes care of the sword wielding French heroine, Fleur-de-Lis, with a knock-out blow!

Wonder Woman puts her golden lasso of truth to good work, using it against the animalistic brute, Tasmanian Devil. It's magic ability to force the truth from anyone ensnared reveals the Devil's true nobility, seeing an end to Vixen and Impala with a deft blow from his fist.

Aquaman continues the confrontation with Olympian, meeting his spear with a weapon of his own! His trident fails to pierce the flesh of the godly powered Corpsman, but provides sufficient lead-in for an uppercut that leaves the Greek out cold! "You hurt J'onn? That was stupid."

Elsewhere; having captured Grodd, Batman reveals the assistance given to him by the disembodied spirit of the previously destroyed Warmaker One. The energy-based human is able to warn the detective of incoming intereference from his British counterpart, the Knight, and the Irish, Jack O'Lantern.

The Batman proves a match for the two man assault, but the arrival of Knight's sidekick Squire proves the turning point in their struggle. The youngster, piloting a Bat-spacecraft, lifts the veil of manipulation from Knight's mind, giving him will enough to wrench the controlling Sheeda imp from his neck, and squash it!

Meanwhile, the Man of Steel does battle with Neh-Buh-Loh, who reveals himself to be the adult incarnation of the sentient universe of Qwewq! Though his powers are incomaprable, the Nebula Man suffers Superman's powerful blows.
Claiming his alliance with Grodd as a successful test of the League's powers, Nebula Man makes an exit, with an ominous prophecy of chaos to come.

Across the Earth, having recovered from Olympian's attack, the Martian Manhunter reconstitutes and descends on Goraiko, who continues to march through populated cities. J'onn arrives in time to bare witness to the fruits of Aquaman's efforts, which make good use of the worldly monarch's linguistic skills!

With Grodd's army rounded up, and all threats to the Earth brought to an end, the League are able to liberate the remaining members of the Ultramarine Corps.
All in a day's work!

The Hammer...
Damn you to hades, Ed McGuinness! More on that later, but first, there you have it folks! The Justice League triumphant!
Hopefully that helps balance an otherwise minimized presence of the JLA in the Wars.

So, if you've been with us the past couple of weeks, there have been two seemingly contradictory lines of discussion converging on the Infinite Wars. With our focus on super-teams now at an end, I feel the challenge has been set to somehow reconcile these points regarding modern stories and traditional values. Fortunately, I have Grant Morrison to help me do exactly that!

Amongst many readers, typically Americans with fairly singular reference points, Morrison has a reputation for being a confusing shamanic nutjob. I tend to attribute that mostly to the ignorance of a readership I can feel very negatively toward, but at the same time, maybe it's unfair to expect Morrison's subversity to be readily recognised in an industry that does still seem to be debating the either, or the or.

I tend to write these discussions as they come, so it was quite by accident that I found myself at this juncture. Through the past few entries [New Invaders #1, JSA #64, Defenders #43] I've talked about the traditionalist positives of investment in characters and their history, and to that end, I think I've been very consistent. At the same time, I've also made disparaging remarks about the modern state of comics, and glamorized modern interpretations.

It's in the context of the either and the or that these seem to be polar opposities. Exposing myself recently to the Phantom fanbase, I got a very stark reminder of how exclusively fans can interpret qualities and elements from historic storytelling, and completely disengage them from modern filters.
The irony, perhaps, is that like a lot of the less admirable fans, I too feel the Phantom should change very little, although, the divergence comes from the interpretation of exactly what that means.

Morrison is not dissimilar to Geoff Johns in his ability to dust-off vintage comics and spin them in a contemporary context. In isolation, this is the simple point that's being made here, but unlike Johns, Morrison tends to be more apt at marrying the traditionalist tendencies of American superhero comics with more vibrant and contemporary influences.

This issue goes so far as to almost describe Morrison's desire for balance.
In chastizing the shamed characters of the story, Morrison directs what is almost certainly his own philosophy, through the voice of Superman. He describes the irrelevance of day-to-day procedure in fantastical fiction, reflecting the often single-minded thought processes of modern comics readers, who all too often observe their stories with the trendy contextually naive hi-brow of CSI-style procedural interpretation. I mean the silly TV show, too. Not the real-life organizations it's often confused with.

"These "no-nonsense" solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel," says Superman.

Again, I don't want to appear to be contradicting myself with a similarly single-minded notion that all fiction should be elastic.
Morrison himself, despite bucking against the trends of a post-80's stoicism, writes a short-spoken Batman who's deliciously gritty and internalized, to a degree that puts All-Star Batman & Robin's Miller to shame! Then again, to better describe the point, he does so fully acknowledging the absurdity of the character whose cabinet includes a Dr. Who Dalek, the Lost in Space robot's claw, and an Apokalips designed boom tube gauntlet.

"I'm opening the sci-fi closet, Alfred. Don't tell my friends in the G.C.P.D. about this. Robin and the others can watch Gotham for me tonight. I have a feeling things are about to get strange." - Batman prepares.

With McGuinness on pencils, Morrison's League are mostly distilled to what you'd expect of them, albeit, in a very sexy and modern package. They are exactly as they should be, yet, Morrison, who feels so much like a genuine fan of the fiction and characters, milks more out of them than you often see.
Amidst discussions about Aquaman [like; A League of their Own!] I get a little thrill out of Aquaman speaking Japanese; or Wonder Woman using her lasso to circumvent mind-control. These themselves do well to explain the way Morrison brings the traditional and contemporary schools of thought together, but it's even more poignantly described in the League's relationship with the Corps; a group of heroes who number quantum manipulating reality sculpter, and the haiku/algebra spouting psycho-manifestation of a child in a sensory deprivation chamber.

Morrison brings the old and the new together beautifully, and that's really where the Infinite Wars lies. History has it's place and it's firm importance on the way in which we interpret our stories today, but those rules of the fiction don't necessarily have to be as binding as they're so often interpreted.

Also, to bring it back to the beginning, damn Ed McGuinness for his part in the matter. The superstar artist crossed back to Marvel not too long ago, to sign an exclusive contract that will no doubt keep him at the House of Ideas for a couple of years. Which means there's almost certainly no chance of seeing his bold, but simple pencils gracing any of Morrison's scripts any time soon.

In a way I think McGuinness also does well to punctuate the notion of the old and the new together. Though his art evokes similarly Japanese underpinnings to elements in Morrison's writing, there's an undeniable presence of traditional American comics, and the strength of simplicity in the form.
The guy might have been born to draw the Hulk, but damned if I'm not going to miss the prospect of more in his catalogue of significant DC work. Especially with Morrison rising to the helm to police creative direction with Final Crisis.

Speaking of DC events, it's worth noting, for you avid Googlers out there, that this issue of JLA: Classified ties quite directly into Morrison's last major event; Seven Soldiers of Victory. That series details not only the continued menace of Neh-Buh-Loh (Nebula Man), but also the incursion of the Sheeda, and the results of the Ultramarine Corps inhabitance of the infant universe, Qwewq, that grows up to be Neh-Buh-Loh. (Here's a hint; their role as the hero-less universe's new protectors doesn't go so well...)

The Fight: 6 The Issue: 6.5

This is comics! Morrison is at his absolute finest with this Justice League, and you can get the full story, as well as the collected JLA/Wildcats, all in the one JLtrade from Amazon! Amazon not only feature some insane pricing, but by using purchase links provided on the site, you help fund future entries into the infant universe of Infinite Wars!