COLOSSUS & X-MEN versus OMEGA RED

Red Death (Marvel)
Where: X-Men Adventures #4 When: May 1994
Why: Ralph Macchio How: John Hebert

The Story So Far...
At a snow-covered base near the Black Sea, somewhere in the Caucasus region between Ukraine and Georgia, a sudden power surge disrupts a signal relay, which in turn causes critical failure of complex computer circuitry designed to contain a living weapon!

With this subtle act of electrical sabotage a sleeper is awoken: Omega Red is unleashed upon a former Soviet Union to be a tool of military hardliners committed to restoring their empire.

Omega Red's violent path of conquest takes him towards a small farming region once home to Russian expatriate and mutant Piotr Rasputin. Having sought the aid of the X-Men - but only found Jubilee - Colossus accepts a desperate flight to his homeland in the hopes of rescuing his beloved family!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Colossus 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Omega Red 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Wolverine 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Rogue 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Storm 5 (Lasers)
Total: Wolverine 26 (Metahuman)

The X-Men are: Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, and Jubilee, with Colossus.

Fans of the animated series will know Colossus wasn't a full-fledged member, but an acquaintance of the X-Men, who befriended him after a case of mistaken identity in Series 1 episode "The Unstoppable Juggernaut", which was also adapted as X-Men Adventures (Vol.1) #8.

Otherwise he's the hulking hunk of Russian organic-steel you know and love, and although he initially only has Jubilee to rely on, a note left at the mansion quickly gets the attentions of the other X-Men - particularly one who knows what they're up against!

Arkady Rossovich was a murdering scumbag even before he developed a mutant "death factor" that protected him from execution for his crimes.

The disgraced Spetsnaz GRU agent fled to Europe, but was soon reclaimed by the KGB, to be submitted to the Cold War era Soviet Super-Soldier program. Mutant healing abilities would allow Soviet scientists to implant cybernetic enhancements, as well as retractable, prehensile tendrils made of carbonadium: a Soviet alternative to the more costly and difficult adamantium metal.

Carbonadium is radioactive, but Omega Red could resist lethal poisoning with his mutant ability to absorb life force from other humans. He also possesses super-human strength, stamina, durability, and can emit "death factor" pheromone spores capable of weakening, or killing, anyone in his close proximity.

Colossus out muscles Omega Red, having stood toe-to-toe with the likes of the Juggernaut, Apocalypse, and Ord. He'll be a good compliment once Wolverine is on the scene, bringing past knowledge of Omega Red from his days with Team X, and razor-sharp adamantium claws that've cut plenty of cyborgs down to size!

Wolvie's healing factor is also useful when resisting Omega Red's life-draining, but it's unclear if he can inflict enough damage to negate a stale-mate similar to Wolverine (Vol.3) #50. We've also seen both Colossus and Wolverine taken out of the fight by having their energy absorbed in Uncanny X-Men #194.

Who did they willingly turn their essence over to? The power-absorbing Rogue, of course! She too could resist Omega Red's life-draining if she can get her hands on him and take his power. Making it all the easier for her and the rest of the team to put a serious hurt on! Will it happen that way? Let's find out!

The Tape: X-Men Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

Having learned of the imprisonment of Colossus' parents from his sister Illyana -- the mighty metal mutant, and Jubilee, follow her to a Stalin era gulag reopened under the commission of Omega Red!

Jubilee channels X-Men leader Cyclops to consider a strategic option, but Colossus has no patience for looking at "angles" while his blood boils at the raw sight of injustice.

He quite literally "steels" himself, activating the natural-given skin that allows him to fearlessly charge towards the gulag -- welcoming the oppressors to fire at will!

The soldiers' bullets ricochet harmlessly off Colossus' metallic hide and even an artillery shell fired from a tank cannot stop the righteous Russian!

He runs all the way to the heavy machine, and tackles it head-on, turning the weapon against its masters by tossing the tank straight through the gulag gates!

Jubilee begrudgingly joins the charge, blasting plasma fireworks at any incoming soldiers as she storms the gate. "Okay -- looks like we'll save the subtlety for another day! Thanks for listening, Petey! You dork!"

Colossus does not respond, or join Jubilee in her dash. Instead, he is transfixed by the horrifying presence that has cast its shadow behind him -- Omega Red, with one of his coils of death wrapped around the young Illyana Rasputin.

The second coil snakes around Colossus' body, lifting him off his feet as his strength is slowly drained and he fights against the tendril's crushing squeeze.

It seems Colossus is alone to face his fate, but salvation arrives not a minute too soon. The X-Men are here -- and Wolverine has come to settle an old score!

Omega Red immediately drops Colossus and turns his attention to the voice from his past -- sending his wrist-tendrils looping around the charging Wolverine!

They tighten before the X-Man can reach his target and make good on threats.

Wolverine struggles to resist, but machismo gives way to a fading spirit as the coil begins its deadly draining of life energy. Omega Red taunts.

"Perhaps I shall have your corpse stuffed -- mounted in Red Square... A symbol of my triumph over... Eh? That shadow! What can it be?"

Wolverine is no more alone than Colossus! Rogue arrives overhead with a tank in hand to bring it slamming down on Omega Red's body!

The X-Men regroup under the scornful eye of field leader Storm. She worries for the recklessness of Rogue and Jubilee, while Wolverine clues Colossus and the team into his long history with the "Soviets' Super-man".

At that moment, Omega Red pushes the tank off his body!

Colossus and Wolverine race to meet him, but once again Omega Red's long reach holds the mighty Russian at bay and snatches Wolverine into the air!

The X-Man desperately tries to rake his claws across Omega Red's eyes, but his futile efforts aren't for nothing!

With his tendrils occupied, Omega Red is wide open to the flying figure of Rogue!

She drives her shoulder into his back like a battering ram, and he drops his weakened prey to instead wrap both deadly coils around her!

To the Soviet Super-Soldier's shock -- Rogue is completely unfazed by the life-draining attack! Her own mutant power to absorb life force appears to completely cancel out Omega Red's deadly ability!

Unaffected, Rogue is able to shrug the binding cables off with her super-human strength, but before she can resume the attack -- Darkstar arrives in the sky!

Omega Red orders his flying comrade to take care of Rogue, but Darkstar does not share his violent vision for Russia's future.

Having observed Storm's apparent command of the weather, she implores the X-Woman to summon the deepest cold if she's able and direct it at Red.

Rogue obliges Storm with a full nelson to hold Omega Red in place while the weather goddess directs the arctic winds to blast a bitter cold directly at him!

The villain can only shout broken dreams of glory as his body temperature begins to cool and he's returned to the icy frozen state that held him before saboteurs ended his suspended animation. The terror on the Caucasus is ended.

The Hammer...

The intervention of Darkstar not only handed Storm the means to end Omega Red's rampage, but also ensures his collaborators in the attempted coup will be brought to justice by modern Russia.

You may've noticed a colouring error [above] that makes it seem as if Storm is shouting to herself. The center panel is obviously intended to be a close-up of Darkstar, who I always wished could've had a more active role in the story, but is reserved for a final act twist.

Everyone has a bit more to do in the animated episode, which spreads the action over two separate battles, allowing Darkstar to get involved much sooner and witness everyone's abilities, to more intuitively suggest an outcome to Storm.

If you thought it was a little off that Rogue's powers would cancel out Omega Red's without any contact to her skin -- you won't be surprised to find that she actually does succumb to the life-draining coil in the animated version. Granted, this only raises further questions about how the tendrils actually work.

In this instance I'm not sure the source material is entirely helpful at clearing anything up. The exact details of Omega Red's abilities generally feel a little slippery in the mainline comics, as well.

The Cold War inspired villain had immediate appeal on the strength of a bombastic Jim Lee design, but a hodgepodge of oh-so nineties invulnerabilities and death-dealing powers have arguably made the character unwieldy in a narrative context, leading to inconsistent conclusions throughout the years.

Putting him back on ice was a clean way to wrap up a robust done-in-one story, but the way it comes about feels a little bit dubious. Maybe if Iceman were on the team it would be an easier sell, but even that speaks to the difficulty of leaving Omega Red in play.

There are a lot of interesting differences between the November 1993 broadcast episode and its X-Men Adventures comic book adaptation.

Despite the episode name appearing on the cover, the comic story is titled "Red Death", wielding that most taboo of words as far as Saturday morning cartoons of the era were concerned. An otherwise trivial difference -- especially for a series that dealt with death in its very first plotline! This one's for you, Morph!

More substantial is Omega Red's release from suspended animation: an act of sabotage in the comic, while in the animated series, anonymous hands confidently manipulate the controls. A deliberate escalation contextualized by scenes of tanks and storm troopers invading a city already under siege.

The comic version also flirts more specifically with the geo-politics of the story, establishing a slightly more deliberate locale than the ambiguous Russia of the cartoon. We still don't quite know which "sovereign nation" Colossus and the Rasputin family come from, but the comic-given geography of a "small city in the Caucasus" of the former USSR seems to imply it's probably Georgia, or Armenia.

Despite the narrative-driven change to Colossus' Siberian comic book upbringing; trifling with the specifics of Communist politics probably wasn't high on anyone's agenda. The Cold War had ended a few years prior, and Rocky IV was almost a full decade behind us. American comic books will always love a good Russian villain, but most people were probably hoping to just move on from the looming threat of mutually assured atomic destruction.

That might be the reason Omega Red is ultimately depicted as hostile to almost everybody -- including the Soviet Generals he's supposed to be serving!

This version of Arkady Rossovich is harder than hardline. He intends to install himself as the iron ruler of a new empire. An expressed delusion of grandeur that seems to be a catalyst for the reserved Darkstar to finally reveal her true allegiance, and act against her military superiors. Russians aren't all evil, buddy!

All in all, both the comic and cartoon do a good job of cramming a whole lot of stuff into a pretty succinct story. There are things I like about both versions. The Series 2 episode was always a memorable favourite, but I think the twenty-two page comic does a good job of amending some of its pacing issues.

Marvel's Ralph Macchio [not THAT one] always did a good job on the various Adventures titles, and the intensity of John Hebert's pencils really helped push back against the innate second-class status of a book adapting a cartoon. His work, with its straining tendons and broad muscle, feels right at home with the look of the show, and contemporary X-artists like Lee, Andy Kubert, and maybe even Leinil Yu, while also being very identifiable.

Macchio later took the series into original stories in Adventures of the X-Men, and bridged the animated shared universe with Marvel Adventures. Continuations well worth your time, especially while you're eagerly anticipating the upcoming revival of X-Men '97 on Disney Plus -- which recently added definitive Wolverine voice actor Cal Dodd!

Dive deeper into your favourite characters by following links throughout this post, and discover more from the multiverse by exploring the Secret Archive for a complete index in order of publisher, series, and issue. You can also catch up on the 2021 Rankings Recap and Top 20 Fights of Season 2021!

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Winners: Storm & Rogue (w/ X-Men & Darkstar)
#34 (+4) Storm
#46 (+26) Rogue
#446 (+5) Darkstar [+1 assist]
#5 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#435 (--) Colosssus [+1 assist]
#369 (+23) Jubilee [+1 assist]
#361 (+9) Magik (Illyana Rasputin) [+1 assist]
#967 (new) Omega Red

AVENGERS & X-MEN versus RONAN

Whatever The Cost! (Marvel)
Where: Maximum Security #3 When: January 2001
Why: Kurt Busiek How: Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
A sudden global surge in extraterrestrial conflict reveals a master plan by the Intergalactic Council of empires to declare Earth a prison planet!

Encounters with the Kree, Skrull, Shi'ar, and more have earned humans a meddlesome reputation. To further delay them from reaching beyond the stars, the untamable scum of the universe are now interned to keep Earth busy. Energy lattice surrounds the solar system in an effort to contain humanity and the prisoners from further interference.

With the Kree seemingly conquered by the Shi'ar Empire, Ronan The Accuser was appointed overseer of the new prison planet, but in truth he has conspired to launch a new Kree uprising. With the mutated Ruul army at his command, and an infestation of the Earth by Ego feeding him unlimited power, Ronan stands poised to lead the Supreme Intelligence to ultimate victory!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Ronan 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Goliath 6 (Genius)
Speed: Nova 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-Man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Ronan 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Ronan The Accuser 34 (Super)

Earth's heroes are: Thor, Warbird, Sub-Mariner, Wonder Man, She-Hulk, Goliath, Hercules, Thing, Beta Ray Bill, Rogue, Colossus, Sunfire, with USAgent, Quasar, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Nova, Namorita, Speedball, Triathlon, and Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Silver Surfer.

Several other heroes can be seen teleporting into action with Quasar, but for the sake of clarity, we're only focusing on those identifiably involved in the battle. This includes support troops led by USAgent fighting on the ground.

Ronan The Accuser has been dramatically augmented by Ego, who has begun to infest the Earth. The flow of power Ego supplies adds to Ronan's already impressive Kree might, and results in a massive increase in his physical size.

Working on the Ego problem are Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and Bruce Banner. They've built a machine to repel the infestation, and drain Ronan's power by funneling it into a captive host. Silver Surfer has volunteered for the potentially lethal absorption, but it means he's taken out of the battle.

Silver Surfer's absence from the fight will be felt. We saw him beat Ronan back in Silver Surfer #13, but there are still plenty of other heavy hitters on the field who have credentials beating some prominent cosmic opponents!

Thor can match his hammer against Ronan's Universal Weapon, having used it to best Super-Skrull in Thor #465. Warbird (Carol Danvers) gained her powers from the Kree and has a late win over Thanos [FCBD Civil War II #1]. She-Hulk performed the rare feat of defeating Champion of the Universe in She-Hulk #8. Sub-Mariner was one of the first heroes to valiantly face Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet #4, joining She-Hulk in a noteworthy grim stand. Even Colossus has memorable cosmic face-offs, including a win over Ord in Astonishing X-Men #5!

Thing has made a career of taking on the universe's deadliest fighters. His renown across galaxies was built on battles against Ronan himself, The Champion, and villains like Ego, The Living Planet [Fantastic Four #235], Gladiator [Fantastic Four #249], Paibok The Power Skrull [Fantastic Four #358], and even his own Magus created Doppelganger [Fantastic Four #367]!

The heroes can also count on the aide of Beta Ray Bill, who was interned on Earth as part of the intergalactic council's designation as a prison planet. Beta Ray Bill famously defeated Thor in Thor #337, proving worthy to wield Mjolnir before Odin granted him his own hammer: Stormbreaker. He once fought Silver Surfer to a standstill in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2, and fought valiantly by his side against the unstoppable Tyrant in Silver Surfer #82!

This all spells one phenomenal fighting force, but will it be enough to mitigate the incredible power boost received by Ronan The Accuser? They're literally fighting a man with the power of an entire planet -- and a Kree army!

The Tape: Earth's Allied Heroes Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...
A sudden flash of light signals the arrival of Ronan The Accuser. He hovers menacingly in the air, a towering titan gazing down at the aggravating heroes who have begun to threaten his power source.

With a gesture of his Universal Weapon, he summons an army of Kree imperial soldiers, and warns Earth's heroic brains trust that they will be destroyed if they reactivate their machine. Then -- another flash of light: the cavalry!

Quasar teleports a troop of heroes over thirty-strong and when Ronan  threatens to kill them all -- USAgent steps forward to order the heroes against him. They swarm the giant-sized Accuser!

Thor, Wonder Man, and Warbird come in high with blows to the head and face, while Sub-Mariner contends with the giant's right arm, and Beta Ray Bill and Goliath lock up the left! Working the body is Hercules and Colossus, while She-Hulk and Thing come in hot from below as the giant threatens to lose footing!

Around Ronan's feet, Kree soldiers scurry as they contend with the heroes' support forces. USAgent bats at a small group, while Spider-Man, Wolverine, Nova, Triathlon, Namorita, Speedball, and Captain America do the same!

Overhead: Ronan delivers his first decisive blow as he targets Thor with his own hammer-like weapon and unleashes the planetary force of Ego!

With a wild backhanded chop, The Accuser dispatches with Beta Ray Bill, Hercules, and Sub-Mariner! He then turns his attentions to the ionic Wonder Man and brings his massive Universal Weapon slamming down upon him!

USAgent bats a Kree soldier with his photonic shield and contemplates the fragility of humanity's hopes against the invaders, while across the battlefield Mister Fantastic rallies the Thing and Human Torch to defend their ace.

Bruce Banner and Iron Man finish loading the Silver Surfer into their device and in an agonizing instant Ego's incredible power begins flooding into his body! His back arches, while on the horizon the infested landscape that is Ego begins to contort violently -- and Ronan The Accuser begins to shrink!

Ronan is caught completely off guard as his unfathomable power weakens ever so slightly and his mass begins to reduce. The sudden change signals the opportunity for the heroes to strike!

Rogue calls out his sudden weakening, with Thor, Warbird, Wonder Man, Sub-Mariner, Beta Ray Bill and Colossus rushing in to capitalize!

The Silver Surfer betrays his struggle as he begins to moan and his chrome skin burns ever brighter with blistering energy. Iron Man can see the strain is too great, but before any of the genius heroes can act -- Silver Surfer is torn free!

His smoldering and cracked body falls limply to the ground even as he attempts to volunteer for another try. The words catch in his throat as he passes out. There will be no reprieve for The Surfer.

From the air above, Quasar spots the brains trust of Banner, Richards, and Iron Man gathering over the exhausted cosmic rider. He scans the horizon, taking in the vista of his home planet Earth, then leaves Nova battling the Kree warriors.

It seems Silver Surfer's power cosmic could not contain the energies absorbed from Ego, but Quasar assures Reed Richards that his quantum power is more adaptive. Knowing the risks, he volunteers to be strapped into the machine and the draining process begins anew!

Sensing the sudden pull of his energy once more -- Ronan lashes out wildly by swatting Thor, Rogue, and Sunfire out of the air! The Kree Accuser can tell that the drain is more smooth than before, hastening his desire to find the cause.

Still gigantic; Ronan stomps across a smoking battlefield littered with the beaten bodies of Thor, Hercules, and more. He sets his sights on the machine attacking Ego's infestation of Earth, and prepares to battle Earth's last line of defense!

The Hammer...

Ronan does a very convincing job of cleaning house before setting his sights on the next challenge. The battle is won, but the war is certainly not over!

War is very much the tone here. I think the more superhero universes became proliferated with identifiable characters - the greater the desire to see a war-like scenario. Several series tried it. There are obvious echoes of Operation: Galactic Storm and Infinity Gauntlet in this one. I can't help but think of Annihilation as well, which took the hell of cosmic warfare even deeper into the trenches.

1984's Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars may be the most recognized example of conflict between warring Marvel factions, but that was much more about isolating defined sides and smashing them together like (tie-in) toys. Speaking of which: Isn't it about damn time we featured the site's namesake? I digress...

In a continuum of those memorable Marvel events, Maximum Security makes a lot of sense. Through the prism of published releases in 2001, however, it reads almost anachronistic.

The event feels like the last gasp of a movement begun with the soft Heroes Return reset of 1998. There's a colourful, fluffy house style in the artwork, and a confluence of references to Marvel's favoured past, and the character designs of the misguided mid-90s and probing millennium. All would soon go away.

Indeed, the concluding issue of Maximum Security may be cover dated 2001, but it very much belongs to the final throes of 2000, when it actually hit racks.

The release of the first X-Men movie that same year is arguably what changed comics forever. It was a foundation stone for the next two decades of superhero domination in cinema, but it would also influence two of the defining releases of 2001: Ultimate X-Men, and Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely's New X-Men.

Both were incredibly intriguing in their own way, participating in a movement towards more sedate art direction, and denser character work. Everything was being deliberately rethought. Designs got blacker, and bombastic super-heroics were taking a slight step back as written concepts took greater focus.

I was vaguely aware of the Maximum Security crossover unfolding when it came out, but it didn't connect with me. It seems like every ardent comic book fan has a lull in their reading, and for me, it was very much 99-2000. They were generally exciting times, and other interests just started to eclipse a lifetime of reading comics.

In hindsight, Maximum Security was a little old fashioned, but I think if I'd taken the time to look closer, I would've enjoyed it. It was certainly an interesting piece of history to revisit when I picked up back issues many years later.

Three issues doesn't give the core mini-series a lot of room to expand upon a fast moving plot, but there are, of course, many tie-in issues that focus closer on relevant characters and spillover. There may be no better marker of time than Gambit #23: a series I frequently forget even existed.

Ronan The Accuser stands out as a main villain, which feels like a culmination of sorts. Growing up I'd always thought of Ronan as a big deal (and a classic Fantastic Four villain), but under scrutiny it becomes apparent his appearances were steady, but infrequent. He's really more of a Captain Marvel character, and for many years he hung his accuser's hat on the legendary Kree-Skrull War.

At the start of Maximum Security he poses as another banished alien forced to warden the Earth prison. A dirty tactic, but a nice set up for his coming out as a literal big bad. It's fun to see him swatting around some of the heaviest hitters in the Marvel Universe, even if the interactions are a tad impersonal.

I'll look forward to returning to the next phase of the battle in the future, when the other, more surprising featured character comes back to the fore: USAgent!

In the mean time, Blogger restrictions means this entry will only appear tagged for the fighters featured tackling Ronan. For most of the others, we have an assist stat that acknowledges their support role. You can check out the updated character rankings and results at the bottom of this post.

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 950 characters! You can find them all indexed in the Secret Archive by publisher, series, and issue number. Or simply discover more wonders by following links throughout this and other feature articles.

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Winner: Ronan The Accuser
#398 (+286) Ronan The Accuser
#613 (+279) Ego The Living Planet [+1 assist]
#31 (-1) Sub-Mariner
#32 (--) Thor
#35 (--) Silver Surfer
#49 (-2) Warbird (Carol Danvers)
#70 (-12) Rogue
#74 (-3) Wonder Man
#80 (-6) Goliath (Hank Pym)
#145 (-1) She-Hulk
#400 (-56) Beta Ray Bill
#419 (-7) Hercules
#423 (-3) Colossus
#591 (-137) Sunfire
#2 (--) Spider-Man [+1 assist]
#3 (--) Iron Man [+1 assist]
#4 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#6 (--) Hulk (Bruce Banner) [+1 assist]
#10 (--) Mister Fantastic [+1 assist]
#12 (--) Thing [+1 assist]
#115 (+1) Nova (Richard Rider) [+1 assist]
#130 (+2) USAgent [+1 assist]
#428 (--) Speedball [+1 assist]
#614 (+282) Quasar [+1 assist]
#922 (new) Namorita [+1 assist]
#923 (new) Triathlon [+1 assist]

HELLFIRE CLUB versus X-MEN

Salvation (Marvel)
Where: Uncanny X-Men #209 When: September 1985 Why: Chris Claremont How: John Romita Jr & P Craig Russel

The Story So Far...
Tensions between the Hellfire Club and X-Men reach breaking point when the X-Man of the future, Rachel Summers, infiltrates the Inner Circle to avenge a fallen comrade by assassinating their Black Queen!

The attempt on Selene's life ends with a killing blow, but it's Wolverine executing lethal force against the renegade Summers. True to her mantle as Phoenix, however, the young mutant refuses to die, sending the Hellfire Club on a hunt for the wounded girl in Central Park!

The X-Men engage the Inner Circle in a battle for their teammate, but they aren't the only interested parties! As the heroes struggle to stay above ground, another threat descends from the sky: the Sentinel of the future - Nimrod!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Colossus 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Selene 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nightcrawler 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Sebastian Shaw 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Nightcrawler 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Storm 5 (Lasers)
Total: Wolverine 26 (Metahuman)

The Hellfire Club are: "Black King" Sebastian Shaw, "Black Queen" Selene, "Black Bishop" Harry Leland, "Black Rook" Friedrich von Roehm, and Tessa.

Representing the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, these are some of the most powerful representatives of the venerated and clandestine organization.

The only member to have appeared previously in our record is the rotund Harry Leland. His mutant ability to inflict dramatic gravitational fields famously sent Wolverine plunging through a building and into the sewers in X-Men #132.

Sebastian Shaw can absorb kinetic energy directed at his body and convert it into a source of increased super-human strength and durability. Direct attacks literally make him stronger, making him a difficult opponent to contend with!

Selene combines vast mutant gifts with the knowledge of ancient magic. By draining the lifeforce of others she can extend her life and enhance her strength & powers. She's a powerful telepath able to influence others, generate psionic bolts, pyrokinetic fire, and telekinesis. She can also manipulate inanimate objects to make them do her bidding!

Selene also holds sway over Friedrich von Roehm, whose bloodline is tainted with that of the werewolf! Unlike usual lycanthropes, he relies on the mental powers of Selene to trigger his transformation. This grants him increased strength, speed, agility, and claws, but also reduces him to a feral state.

The X-Men are: Storm, Shadowcat, Rogue, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Phoenix, with Callisto and Caliban.

Recent events have left the team in pretty bad shape! When we join the fight there are only two X-Men still active on the battlefield. Team leader Storm is one of them, but even she's lost the use of her mutant weather powers from a prior incident. Shadowcat is by her side - one of the few ready for action.

Wolverine is still recovering from his battle with The Reavers, as well as a very recent attempt to kill Rachel Summers, who was on a murderous warpath with her Phoenix power. She's clinging to life somewhere nearby, but Wolverine is still back at base in the Morlock tunnels, having missed last issue's skirmish.

Rogue took the brunt of the lead-in battle and accidentally absorbed the powers of Colossus while trying to save him from being plunged deep into the Earth! The last time Rogue enhanced her strength with Colossus' power she was able to take down Nimrod! That's a pertinent example of her might after permanently acquiring the powers of Ms Marvel.

With flight, Rogue can be evasive while striking at the strongest members of the Hellfire Club. Wolverine and Nightcrawler may've been jumped by the Inner Circle in X-Men #132, but Wolvie got his revenge against their masked guards in X-Men #133! They can handle the likes of Von Roehm and lingering minions.

If Phoenix gets in the game she can neutralize Selene, but recent history might just turn her against the X-Men! Tip the scales and the X-Men are in serious trouble! We saw a similar line-up upset by Deathstroke and Parademons during a DC crossover in Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1! Let's see...

The Tape: X-Men Ranking: Wolverine (#4)

What Went Down...
The cold mechanical visage of Nimrod hovers silently over Central Park like a spectre of death. The assembled combatants can only watch in awe as they anticipate the inevitable fight for their lives that awaits!

Somewhere across the battlefield, Rachel Summers stirs, clinging desperately to consciousness in a bid to aide her friends. Storm and Shadowcat are the lone X-Men still standing, surrounded by hostile members of the Hellfire Club.

Despite their predicament, Storm smiles wryly as the ground begins to tremble beneath her feet. Her mutant weather powers have been lost, but she doesn't need them to know the vengeful storm front rising from the depths!

Rogue's return stuns the Black Bishop responsible for her quest to the depths and sends the Hellfire Club scrambling! Storm takes the opportunity to order Shadowcat to phase down to the lower depths where Colossus is still trapped under the heavy weight of Harry Leland's gravitational powers.

Storm doesn't notice the masked Hellfire Club snipers gathering in the surrounding bushes -- but Callisto does! The morlock dives to knock Storm clear of the shot. Nightcrawler and Wolverine teleport in at just the right time to reacquaint themselves with their old enemies. The guardsmen run!

With a shower of turf clearing: Sebsatian Shaw charges at Rogue, undeterred by the doubled-strength she gained by absorbing Colossus' power! She narrowly avoids his punch, leaving a nearby oak to snap under its impact!

Rogue knows she can't use force to stop Shaw, but she can redirect his power toward another threat. She launches him across the battlefield on a collision course with Nimrod! The Sentinel of the future is prepared!

Nimrod is able to "reverse [the] target's gravimetric polarity" before he makes impact -- repelling the Black King from the very surface of the planet!

Delighted at her rival's plight; The Black Queen attempts to curtail Nimrod's advances with her ability to manipulate inanimate matter.

Shocked to find she has no effect on the robot's body, Selene resorts to wrenching boulders from the earth to destroy it. Once again futuristic processors analyze the threat and neutralize it - reducing the great rocks to slag with a beam fired from Nimrod's chest!

X-Men and Hellfire Club pause to contemplate the eerie robot alike. Callisto tests the sniper's high-tech weaponry on the robot, but it leaves little more than a scratch! Enough to encourage Storm to propose a team-up with her enemies.

Friedrich von Roehm violently rejects the proposal -- launching himself at Storm with the savage fury of a beast!

The Black Rook takes the X-Men's leader to ground, but is swiftly swatted away by the back of Wolverine's fist!

Von Roehm locks his eyes on Wolverine with grit teeth and readies to answer the challenge. Once again he launches himself, ready to test claw against claw -- until a massive beam of energy consumes him in mid-air!

What lands is a mere pile of disintegrated ash! Nimrod takes Rook!

Storm reiterates her proposal for an alliance with the Hellfire Club - appealing to the remaining membership's survival instincts, while Rogue engages Nimrod in the sky above. For a moment the heavens whip her with sudden wind and rain!

The last time Rogue absorbed the mutant power of Colossus she was able to defeat Nimrod. Before she can attempt another miraculous victory -- the borrowed organic steel of her skin begins to fade! It's all she can do to keep ahead of Nimrod's energy blasts! A deadly game of keep-away with one inevitable outcome!

The Sentinel of the future tracks Rogue's movements and calculates a course based on velocity and maneuverability. There's nothing she can do as the air before her is filled with a "shockweb". She fries in a dazzling explosion of light that leaves her plummeting back to earth, unconscious and smoldering.

The dramatic demonstration is enough to persuade Selene, Harry Leland, and Tessa to accept Storm's offer.

The Hammer...

Until an alliance is reached between the X-Men and Hellfire Club, there are technically three factions acting upon today's battle -- all equally hostile to each other! That makes lodging the result a little trickier than usual, but a clean conclusion can be reached...

The majority of casualties in today's battle were suffered by the Hellfire Club, but they aren't alone in defeat. The X-Men were either ineffectual, or as in the case with Rogue, trounced by the futuristic weaponry of Nimrod! Victory therefore belongs to the time travelling killer robot.

You could reasonably argue that Uncanny X-Men #209 contains a single continuous battle beyond what's described above. There is, however, a very distinct break in the action that allows the dynamic to be completely redrafted.

Round 2 begins anew when the surviving forces unite to engage Nimrod. Or Round 3, as it were, given this all began in the issue prior. At some point in the future we'll take a closer look at what went down.

Forgive me if I now give in to the temptation to shout: "It's Nimrod!!"

If you're a fan of the nineties X-Men cartoon you'll probably understand where I'm coming from. There were a lot of quotable lines to come out of that wonderful show. The over-the-top identification of Nimrod comes from the first half of their unique Days of Future Past two-parter. It's a little Mugatu in its blunt declaration of the obvious, but it works in context.

Nostalgia has weighed heavily on the X-Men for a long time now. The commercial highs of the nineties seem very visible at the moment, but the franchise arguably struggles most with the source material that inspired the cartoon. That seems true of the future-set Powers of X, which showed its hand with new character designs that promised the return of something like Nimrod.

In the past I've regarded nostalgic regression as a bad thing for the X-Men, but after a decade of mediocrity and brand assassination, this seems like a reset that's overdue. It's a reinvestment in what's good about the X-Men, rather than the ill timed rehashing of past reboots, like Whedon's slide-inducing Astonishing.

There's something oh-so deliciously eighties about Nimrod. He's a marshmallow of a Sentinel, what with his big, white, ill defined humanoid body, and hot pink highlights. A character that could be a source for ridicule - if he wasn't so successfully defined as a credible threat in appearances like today's battle, and the earlier confrontation of Uncanny #194.

Nimrod was arguably played out by the time he merged with Master Mold to make Bastion in the late nineties (or whatever that was about), but now that we've now caught up to the dreaded events of Days of Future Past and it's Sentinel ravaged future of 2013 means there's fresh perspective. Treating that once looming threat at present-day is an exciting prospect. Timeline be damned.

Chris Claremont's collaborations with John Romita Jr arguably rival his earlier works with Byrne. There's obviously a tremendous debt of reference owed, but out of that comes a refinement, and loose change in style that I really enjoy.

I love the livewire approach evident in the plotting of this run of mid-eighties issues. Nimrod lingers as a developing sub-plot that occasionally comes to the fore, while a strong lineup of X-Men deals with threats like the Hellfire Club, and their own internal conflicts. It doesn't make for a strong, singular tome like Days of Future Past, but it exploits the serial nature of comic books thrillingly.

The face-off between Wolverine and Rachel Summers in the issues leading to today's fight is really something to behold! Gritty, urgent images from JRjr radiate off the page. It's still a little herky-jerky in the initiation of certain events, but the fact that so many other ideas are firing and layered into the flow of events only enhances the reality of a character like Nimrod.

It's a pretty great time for the occasionally inconsistent X-Men lineup, too!

Rogue will arguably reach another gear as the Jim Lee pinup of the nineties, but better stands out as an MVP during this period of mid-eighties punkish, brooding growth. The brash icon she'll become is earned in these issues where she's still developing into the fullest potential of her powers, and her role as a hero.

Her ability to absorb the powers of teammates like Nightcrawler and Colossus is a winning visual-concept with an all-time cool-factor!

The fact steel-skin Rogue is reprised so quickly after #194 shows they knew what they had. The gimmick becomes a dramatic tool in this issue, triggered inadvertently as Rogue tries to save Colossus from his sinking fate. It comes a bonus sugar rush. The kind of idea you love to see, but a writer can't go to every time -- no matter how much they want to! Restraint keeps it special.

I actually pulled this issue out in the hopes of talking more about Colossus, but it looks like that will just have to wait until next time!

If you want to get more from the X-Men and characters featured today, you should follow links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a full index of featured fights ordered by publisher, series, and issue number!

At the time of this writing it's been difficult to find a collected edition containing Uncanny X-Men #209. The black & white Essential X-Men Vol.6 is tough to find, but if you do any shopping via the Amazon affiliate link provided, you'll help support the site at no extra cost to you!

You can also get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook! Be sure to like and share your favourite fights!

Winner: Nimrod
#348 (+257) Nimrod [+1 kill]
#49 (--) Storm
#349 (-39) Harry Leland
#885 (new) Callisto
#886 (new) Selene
#887 (new) Sebastian Shaw
#888 (new) Friedrich von Roehm
#889 (new) Tessa (Sage)
#4 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#890 (-5) Nightcrawler [+1 assist]

ROGUE versus AVENGERS
What if Rogue possessed the power of Thor? (Marvel)
Where: What If...? #66 When: October 1994
Why: Simon Furman How: John Royle

The Story so far...
It has long been theorized that for every defining decision made in life, there are infinite worlds where each possible and even improbable outcome is played out. This is truth, and the Watcher is pledged to observe and record the events on each, including a world where a woman stole the power of Thor, becoming a goddess unto herself!

Long before she was a charter member of the X-Men. the mutant called Rogue joined her mother, Mystique, in the formation of a new Brotherhood of Mutants. Disillusioned by the birth of her spirit stealing powers, Rogue willingly submits to the terrorist actions of Mystique's group, which eventually brings them into conflict with the Avengers!

In our world Rogue permanently absorbed superhuman traits from Ms. Marvel, granting her enhanced strength, speed, and flight, and the burden of living with actions that left Marvel comatose. In another world, however, events take a considerably different turn, and a remorseless Rogue crosses a line from which she will never be able to return, and neither will Thor...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Beast 6 (Genius)
Speed: Beast 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Beast 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting Ability: Thor 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Thor 5 (Lasers)


- The Avengers are: Thor, Spider-Woman, Vision, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Beast, and Jocasta.

Plotting against his half-brother, the Norse god of mischief, Loki, uses illusions to manipulate the rages of the green goliath known as the Hulk!
The scheme is intended to draw Thor into a combative trap, but Loki's plans come unravelled when a distress call from Rick Jones is picked up not only by Thor, but also the Wasp, Ant-Man, and Iron Man! Despite initial misunderstandings, the unlikely team forms an alliance and easily defeats the god of mischief - thus, the Avengers are born!

Though their adventures would see the roster subject to change, the growing number of associated heroes would only lend credence to the claim that they are Earth's mightiest heroes! United, the many iterations of the Avengers would face foes of minor, or cosmic natures, always willing to put their lives on the line for the greater good, a philosophy embodied by charter members like iconic early recruit, Captain America.

Though the eventual issue of superhero registration would split the team on principle, both sides would ensure the Avengers name would live on.
In an official capacity, Tony Stark leads the team as officially registered operatives of SHIELD; while a collective of street level heroes, including the likes of Dr. Strange, Power Man, and Spider-Man, fight the good fight in secret.

- A tumultuous and unstable childhood in Mississippi masked a dark secret in the history of a girl named Anna Marie. Unbeknownst to her, a genetic time bomb was ticking away, destined to awaken during pubesence and the moment of her first, and last kiss. Upon discovering an innate mutant ability to drain the energy and mind of other living beings upon skin contact, this fragile young girl became the withdrawn woman known as Rogue.

Manipulated by her birth-mother, Mystique, Rogue would become a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, and during this time undergo another transformation. Battle with Ms. Marvel would grant Rogue superhuman strength and the power of flight as a result of extended contact between the two.
This milestone occurance would leave a lasting guilt with Rogue, and help shape her into the woman she was destined to become, as a member of the X-Men.

The Math: Avengers Ranking: Thor (#17)

What Went Down...
This story actually omits the Watcher, instead revealing this tangent from the perspective of the precognitive mutant called Destiny, whose premonitions give her insights into the many likelihoods of any decision. It is she who foresees a dreadful future as Rogue does battle with Earth's mightiest heroes.

The battle already in progress, Spider-Woman blasts desperately at the grinning villain who keeps a palm to Thor's face. Like a superhuman leech, Rogue draws upon the godly energies of the Norse storm deity, gaining his invulnerability.

The Avengers rally their forces under the field leadership of Vision. The synthoid approaches Rogue, who is contemplating the dangers of holding on to her prey too long. Her focus remains unbroken as Vision phases his arm through her gut, increasing his density to near normal - a move that would render pain and unconsciousness on most ordinary adversaries, but not a god.

Suddenly Rogue recoils from Thor, screaming as raw energy beams from her eyes and mouth. Seeing an opening, Vision directs the Avengers to attack in her moment of weakness, but this serves only to snap Rogue out of her daze. She swats Vision with the super human strength of a god, whilst shrugging off the stinger blasts of Spider-Woman.

The Vision's synthetic body is reduced to spare parts as he hurtles through the Avengers perimeter, reaching a crash landing inside the headquarters mansion, much to the shock of his wife, Scarlet Witch.

Outside; Hawkeye, Spider-Woman and Wonder Man do their best to pool their powers, but it's a similar scene as Rogue turns the strength of the Avengers' powerhouse against them. With a mighty Norse blow, the villainness sends Wonder Man on a similar path to Vision. Merciless in her march, Rogue hoists a vehicle through which WM had crashed, and brings it crashing down upon him with interest!

Beast and Jocasta leap from within Avengers mansion.
In another world Beast and Rogue would be great friends and teammates with the X-Men, but here, the only contact between them is offensive. Rogue swats the bounding Beast, leaving him to crash across the battlefield.

Despite quipping in Thor's unique tongue, very little of the Avengers' thoughts penetrate Rogue's mind as she rampages against the heroes. In a single blow the superhuman southern belle brings her fists down upon the street, causing a quake that rattles the foundations of adjacent buildings, burying Hawkeye and Spider-Woman beneath a shower of rubble!

Jocasta next feels Rogue's wrath, as her energy blasts are easily shrugged off, and her metallic casing is penetrated by Rogue's invulnerable fist. In a frenzy, the mutant rips away at Jocasta's circuitry, revelling in her powers, until it clicks.
With the rush of combat and the absorption of power settling, Rogue begins to feel the weight of her actions.

As Wonder Man frees himself from his burial beneath a van, he bares witness to a terrifying sight. As Rogue struggles to formulate a plan of action, she reaches for Thor's hammer, and despite it's many enchantments against evil, she lifts it effortlessly...

The Hammer...
In true What If style, it's a devestating victory for the magnificent mutant, Rogue! For those who love their supet stock; though she leaves Thor technically in a coma, we're going to notch it up at a third kill stat (for Vision, Jocasta), making Rogue one lethal customer!

If you've been following this month's Cover to Cover, you'll already know we've been throwing the X-Men a bit of overdue goodwill in a month of good house keeping. A lot of overlooked items are getting checked, and this issue actually fullfils a few of them. I mean, sure, there's that X-Men connection, but there are a few other influences on this particular selection.

She-Hulk and She-Thing? Why, they're old friends of the Infinite Wars!
She-Thor on the other hand, was something that managed to completely stay below my otherwise marvelous Marvel radar! It was over on Comic by Comic that the loveable Rich Lovatt whipped this doozy onto the board in an unashamed celebration of the spin-off character currently appearing in The Initiative.

As much as I would have loved to meet his challenge to feature the lightning wielding lass, I haven't had any opportunity to pick up the Initiative title, nor was I reading Thor at the time. I suppose you could've surmised that already, given that I didn't even know who she was, but I digress... Because sure, I don't have that she-Thor, but I do have Rogue! Compromise!

It might disturb some readers to know that Thor actually has a bit of a history with gender-bending tales. At various times, including the post-apocalyptic future of Earth X, Thor has been transformed into a woman to learn humility. This action in itself has probably had sexist undertones, but no doubt it's a predicament some other folks might like to see handed down to the less considerate in the comics reading community. Lessons in humility could be learned by all, as fanboys worldwide discover an anthemic meaning in Madonna's, For a Girl.

Of course, this issue of What If features a tale about Thor becoming a woman in a much less literal sense. I had actually wanted to feature this issue the last time we hovered around Rogue, late last year [Ultimate X-Men #49].

With the exception of a period of bliss during Morrison's run, which was surrounded by other contributions by folks like Joe Casey and Brian K. Vaughan, the X-Men have been on a downward spiral into the creative bowl for a couple of decades. Incestuous storylines gave way to self-referencial nightmares, and constant revamps eventually gave way to a bland blue and yellow goop that darkened as it decayed in and around the already mentioned New X-Men.

During this period of foul characterisation and garbled plot, it was especially surprising to see the decision to cull the mutants to a rough-estimate of one hundred and ninety-eight, give or take a few astute fanboy observations. Editorial saw hope in minimizing the mutant menace, rather than using the palette of characters available to move forward with edicts to steer away from mistakes passed.

Somehow, amidst the chaos, Rogue was a character who managed to rise through the ranks. Hovering between fashion faux pas of the bland black and red outfit newer readers might recognise, and the daggy vintage of the white striped green cloak, Rogue took on a position of leadership in the X-Men that isn't unreasonable for a senior member. As the teams were fragmented by creative drafts, the favourite uncle of the X-verse was able to steer Rogue through some sort of progression, taking her beyond the timid swirl of frustrations and inadequacy that had characterized her in the recent past.

If you've jumped onto the X-Men with Messiah Complex, that last description might have you a little confused about timelines. Alas, it seems Rogue's inadequacies have again been pushed to the forefront. It's too soon to tell for sure if this will be a lasting tale of morose brooding, or a mcguffin in a much larger tale, but it's exasperation of the Nth degree.

Against all odds, the X-Men have come back to the forefront of a lot of readers' lists with Messiah Complex. The story, which for all intents, seemed to meander it's way through a messy conflict featuring some of the enduring, but thoroughly boring personalities still living in the X-Men Universe. Mystique, stripped of the good that came from her solo adventures under Vaughan, is again a thinly motivated mutant terrorist leading a band of evil mutants whose names I do not know, or want to know. As critical as I am of Joss Whedon's "Astonishing" X-Men contributions, you probably have to give him credit for using his moxy to remain removed from the mess of the core titles. Not that he isn't guilty of similar crimes, relying heavily on the past in equally frustrating, but much less unattractive ways.

Somewhere in the maelstrom of all this, Rogue has undergone some sort of transformation. Honestly, the ham-fisted Christ-allagory not even considered, this whole mutant-zero baby story just reminds me of everything that screwed the pooch. Without granting service to a story that seems to reboot the X-Men yet again, it sounds like Rogue will again become a character distanced from those around her, with motivations uncertain because of the influence of Mystique, who is now said to be the only remaining bank of memories absorbed.

I don't mean to be overly negative, and we've been coming down on a lot of topics a lot lately. It should be noted that the issue reviewed, though not perfect, is one of many great issues of the now classic series. In fact, the conclusion of the story, which is something I hope to revisit in the future, paints exactly the kind of contrasting picture I'd like to see of this character.

Rogue managed to work her way through the punkish rebellion of her earlier years, but the hurdle of brooding melodrama is a foe proving most worthy.
This roughly amounts to our discussion the last time we looked at Rogue, and I'm not sure I have an easy, or specific solve. Without even getting into the design innovations of soft-latex bodysuits, I want to say there's forward momentum to be granted to the character. I want to say there's some sort of momentary light at the end of her tunnel, even if on-going stories throw up new hurdles.

What about you, fearless reader?
What are your thoughts about the progress of one of Marvel's franchise mutants? Has the character's depiction in the feature films only hindered any chance of development, or is there still hope for Rogue when she returns in the rebuilding series, X-Men: Legacy, dedicated to a new team post-Professor X's shooting.
Make your feelings known by hitting up the comments, where all remarks are welcome!

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 4.5

Unfortunately neither this issue of What If, nor the story it's based upon, Rogue's first appearance in Avengers Annual #10, have been reprinted recently. If you're lucky, you might be able to hunt down a copy of "X-Men: Famous Firsts" or "The Greatest Battles of the Avengers" on Amazon. By utilizing links provided on the Infinite Wars for purchases, you help support your favourite comic book fight blog! Yay!