CARNAGE versus NEW AVENGERS

Breakout! Part Two (Marvel)
Where: New Avengers #2 When: February 2005
Why: Brian Michael Bendis How: David Finch

The Story So Far...
A sequence of violence and tragedy leads The Avengers to officially disassemble, but their absence creates a gaping hole in the heroic fabric that demands it be filled!

When Electro is hired to stage a breakout at the high-tech SHIELD prison, The Raft, he plunges the city of Manhattan into darkness, and frees eighty-seven of its most dangerous super-criminals!

Fate conspires to bring together a team of New Avengers to thwart the breakout! Former Spider-Woman Jessica Drew is on the island as an Agent of SHIELD, while Luke Cage was accompanying Daredevil in his civilian identity of blind lawyer Matt Murdock. When the breakout begins - the trio must fight for their lives as the serial killing Carnage stalks the shadowy halls beneath the island, but the deadly symbiote isn't the only one lurking in the dark...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Luke Cage 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Queen Veranke 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Luke Cage 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Queen Veranke 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Daredevil 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Queen Veranke 3 (Explosives)
Total: Queen Veranke 26 (Metahuman)

Being trapped at close quarters with a fleet of escaping super-villains is bad enough. When one of those escapees happens to be the symbiote-wearing serial killer Carnage -- you know you're in real trouble!

The heroes are: Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, and Jessica Drew, with The Sentry.

This small group happens to be on hand when the breakout occurs. They aren't technically Avengers yet, but this experience will pull most of them into the orbit of a new team to be assembled by Captain America and Iron Man.

Blind lawyer Matt Murdock is better known as Daredevil, whose keen radar-senses, agility, and skilled martial arts mostly offer evasive tactics that might provide a useful distraction for an opponent like Carnage.

Luke Cage is the power player of the opening trio. Along with his super-human strength and durability, his unbreakable skin has proven resistant to symbiote attack, as was later seen in New Avengers #36. That means he should at least be able to tackle Carnage head-on and offer his teammates some defense.

SHIELD Agent Jessica Drew is better known as Spider-Woman, but little do the heroes realise she is in actual fact the shape-shifting Skrull Queen: Veranke! 

Like the woman she's imitating, Veranke has great strength, agility, and wall-crawling abilities comparable to Spider-Man, but has the added imitated talent of generating bio-electricity into stinging venom blasts.

We saw Iron Man use an electric charge to fend off Venom in Iron Man #302, but the symbiote was relatively undeterred. The aliens' real weakness is fire and high-powered sonics, but as we saw when Silver Surfer confronted Carnage, the intelligent symbiote also knows to fear more broad threats to its survival.

The ace in the hole - or rather, a Raft cell - is The Sentry, whose "power of a  million exploding suns" is still nebulously defined at this point, but will make light work of The Thing and Hulk a few years later.

Sentry, aka; Robert Reynolds, will need to be motivated to leave his cell and risk reviving the dark alter-ego of his powers, The Void, but once free we know he can stare down a symbiote without too much trouble. If you know anything about the character or this fight, there's a pretty good chance you know what's coming...

The Tape: New Avengers Ranking: Daredevil (#8)

What Went Down...

With a full scale riot raging across The Raft; Matthew Murdock leads his partner and protection detail deeper into the facility. He pleads with the silent occupant of a dark & lonely prison cell: "Mr. Reynolds, please, we could really use your help."

His words appear to fall on deaf ears and with danger lurking beyond them at every turn, he asks SHIELD Agent Jessica Drew to show them to the stairs.

A spark of her Spider-Woman "venom blast" helps light the darkened corridor, but not enough to alert Luke Cage or the other bewildered agents of the toothy grin lurking in the shadows behind Foggy Nelson.

Foggy's indignant concern for "insanity" catching up with them is an unfortunate irony as the serial killer Carnage steps into the light. His large extending hand and symbiote strands curl in the air around the hapless lawyer.

Murdock charges to his friend's aid while Jessica Drew fires a venom blast directly at the murderous symbiote!

Whipping tendrils miss all but the strongest of the group. Luke Cage takes a direct hit to the gut, but against his toughened skin all that tears is his shirt!

Cage does his best to grapple with darting pseudo-appendages while Carnage sets his sights on Spider-Woman and any "one" of her internal organs.

Matt Murdock rushes Foggy to the relative safety of a nearby empty cell and orders him not to open the door under any circumstances. The terrified lawyer complies, entrusting his fate to the man without fear like so many times before.

Many wild tendrils fill the dark and narrow corridor with spastic chaos, searching for any unfortunate target they might strike. Murdock is easily knocked off his feet as one of them slaps him violently.

Agent Drew warns her compatriots of the symbiote's ability to feed off the people it makes contact with. The warning appears to inspire Carnage to lunge toward the shooting guards and make "easy snacks" of them.

Carnage continues trying to pierce Luke Cage's unbreakable skin in vain, while Agent Drew blasts his back with venom blasts to no avail.

Recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, Murdock tells the Spider-Woman to grab the guards and make a run for it. He doesn't notice the hulking figure approaching behind him to make matters much worse: Mister Hyde!

Any pretense of the blind lawyer is dropped as Matt Murdock is dragged into a one-on-one battle with his old adversary, calling upon his radar-like senses and years of martial arts as Daredevil to deal with the threat.

Meanwhile, a slightly bewildered Luke Cage continues to wrestle with Carnage. 

Agent Drew, still blasting the symbiote with her bio-electric stings, informs him that the villain usually deals with Spider-Man -- a second course Carnage hopes to sample once he's finished devouring his present company. Drew moves in closer to feed the symbiote a direct venom blast down its gaping maw!

Still completely unaware of how the Raft breakout happened, or the rampage of its 87 inmates raging on the surface above; Agent Drew redirects her focus to finding an escape, and calling for much-needed reinforcements.

Her prayers are answered as Robert Reynolds steps confidently through the corridor. Imprisoned in his tattered yellow uniform, the forgotten Sentry is none the less a vision of a hero as he stands before Carnage and catches a symbiote tendril with the palm of his unflinching hand.

It is the calm before the storm as reality is bombarded with the impossible power of a million exploding suns! A barrage of explosions blast through the lower levels of The Raft and into the night sky where The Sentry soon flies!

Clouds part as The Sentry carries Carnage toward Earth's outer atmosphere and silently ends the killer's rampage!

No scream is heard as Cletus Kasady is ripped in two at the waist, and the red symbiote flitters helplessly against a backdrop of stars and a blue planet. The cold reality of defeat like Carnage has never felt before!

The Hammer...

I'm guessing the majority of people reading this were already aware of The Sentry flying to space to rip Carnage in two, but I'm not so sure everybody knows there was an entire struggle before that.

The Sentry's attack was one of the most talked about moments of 2005. It was an immediate sensation! A "meme-able" lightning rod for the otherwise visually muddy prison riot intended to deliver us to a fresh perspective on a Marvel mainstay: The New Avengers.

All these years later it's almost hard to remember it was a controversial time for what is now one of Marvel's biggest mainstream brands.

Writer Brian Bendis took a wrecking ball to the classical lineup, abruptly launching a series of deadly attacks from within and without as Avengers Disassembled.

The violent affront riled up longtime fans who were dismayed to see Avengers (Vol.1) come to an abrupt end after a forty-two year run with only one year-long interruption. The revamp was an even bigger departure than The Ultimates, which had retooled the slightly stuffy Avengers concept with edgy modern politics, and uniform seams, for the en vogue Ultimate Marvel imprint in 2002.

This was hardly the first time The Avengers had dealt with upheaval in their lineups, but unwritten rules were clearly being violated.

The knock on the New Avengers strategy was that it was "JLA-ing" the group. The addition of iconic Avengers holdouts like Spider-Man and Wolverine -- and the Superman-analogous Sentry -- contributed to the comparison. These were independently popular characters associated with other offices.

In practise the "New" relaunch wasn't quite as all-star focused as Grant Morrison's '97 Justice League, nor was it a refinement of a classic model. It was a major departure from what was broadly understood as "Avengers™".

Spider-Man had flirted with membership many times in the past, but always swung away from most groupings with Reserve status at most. He was the star of Marvel Team-Up and the centre of the Marvel Universe, but a perennial solo act at the end of the day. His change of heart comes after being mobbed by Raft escapees in the opening New Avengers issues -- a fight for another day.

Daredevil did a more convincing job staying solo by flat-out turning down Captain America's recruitment offer after Raft riot clean-up. It turns out this was an accidental bit of consistency as DD's incumbent secret identity as mystery man "Ronin" was widely guessed by fans, publicly spoiled by a news outlet, and clashed with ideas for ending Bendis' acclaimed DD run with Murdock in prison.

Slow starts were a writer trademark, but it turned out a lot of parts would be sold separately during the chaotic assembly of the New Avengers.

Extensive pre-promotion had featured art of the entire group -- including an affectionately referred to "bubble boy" that was replaced with what became the Ronin design. That made it surprising when Wolverine and Ronin didn't appear for five or more issues. Spider-Woman, it would turn out, was actually a Skrull in disguise all along, and Sentry didn't come back down to Earth until the second story arc, which focused on his formal introduction to the Marvel Universe canon.

Prior to this The Sentry had effectively existed unto himself. His secret history was told with isolated one-shots and mini-series in 2000. It was writer Paul Jenkins' millennium hoax, which supposed that the character was a forgotten creation from Marvel's classic pantheon. A sort of 'Superman with headaches', as Marvel likes to describe of its heroes, with an elaborate backstory.

Without the burden of consequence, Sentry's secret history had been able to rewrite the status quo for several heroes. He was Mister Fantastic's best friend, mentored Angel, made Hulk a beloved public figure, and got Peter Parker a Pulitzer prize for photography. All undone when knowledge of his existence was erased to avoid unleashing his dark nemesis and alter-ego: The Void.

Officially bringing the character into the on-going Marvel Universe seemed like a risky proposition to many, but also an interesting challenge. The bombastic defeat of Carnage gave him a major scalp upon entry, but the glib dismissal of a nineties hangover wasn't enough to convince everyone the idea could work.

After Civil War Sentry passed through the ranks of the registered "Mighty" Avengers, before a direction leaning into fans' disdain placed him among the villainous Dark Avengers. An epic battle in World War Hulk proved to be a rare highlight during the short run, but after just five years, his death in Siege was a widely expected foregone conclusion. A fail state brought about by a long awaited return of Thor, and short-lived shift towards a somewhat traditional Avengers.

If you'd like to experience The Sentry's re-entry into the Marvel canon, and the dawn of the New Avengers, you can check out today's featured fight in its entirety collected in New Avengers: Breakout or New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection Volume 1.

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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 complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

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Winner: The Sentry (w/ Luke Cage, Jessica Drew & Matt Murdock)
#71 (+51) The Sentry
#8 (--) Daredevil [+1 assist]
#9 (--) Luke Cage [+1 assist]
#194 (+101) Queen Veranke [+1 assist]
#133 (-12) Carnage (Symbiote)
#145 (-10) Carnage (Cletus Kasady)

Hero of the Week 2010 #19: The Sentry

THE SENTRY (Marvel)
Real Name: Bob Reynolds
First Appearance: The Sentry #1 (September, 2000)
Group Affiliation: Dark Avengers, Avengers (former)
Gaming Credentials: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (2008); Marvel vs Capcom 3 (TBA); Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (TBA)
Infinite Wars Ranking: #93


Big news in the gaming-comics world this week was official confirmation of Captain America and Deadpool as playable characters in Marvel vs Capcom 3. Even bigger than that was developments in Marvel's Siege -- a series undoing the power trip of Norman Osborn, aka; Iron Patriot aka; Green Goblin, who rose to power in the Marvel Universe when an alien shape-shifter invasion created doubt about, and made a scapegoat of, former dominant power, Tony Stark. Siege is the culmination of five years worth of rolling plotlines that disassembled the classic Avengers, pit the heroes against each other in a civil war, led to Osborn's dark reign of wolves in sheeps clothing, and now comes back around to a "Heroic Age" that reinstates the classic trio of Cap, Iron Man, and Thor as heads of the Marvel superhero fraternity and Avengers franchise.

Siege will also be remembered for pulling the pin on one of Marvel's most loaded characters, both in the sense of bringing about his (un)timely demise, but also in revealing the long suspected nature of his ability to be evil.

The Sentry came from not-so humble beginnings.
In fact, in 2000, the character was launched as one of the unsung creations of the Marvel Era, supposedly forgotten on the scrapheap of ideas that led Stan Lee to co-create the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-man, Hulk, and the various other superheroes that have made him a legend.

In truth, The Sentry was created by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, and Rick Veitch; the result of a metamorphasis that began with a simple pitch about a flawed tired everyman hero, which turned into the hoax of the new millenium.

To embellish their fantastic claim of an undiscovered pre-FF Stan Lee hero, Jenkins and Lee, who had garnered attention for their Marvel Knights Inhumans mini-series, were granted the opportunity to create a false history for the character. Through various one-shots and mini-seres, the saga of Robert Reynolds, aka; The Sentry, was laid to bare, connecting him to all of Stan Lee's greatest Marvel creations, with unforseen results. He became a great friend to the X-Men's Angel, Mr. Fantastic, and Hulk -- even exhibiting a calming effect on the latter that made he and the green goliath an unstoppable crime-fighting duo!

The Sentry experiment was completed with a conclusion that justified it all as Marvel canon -- an end that revealed the Sentry's penchant for creating a dark mirror of his impossibly powerful and heroic self -- The Void! In a final moment of self-sacrifice, the Sentry completed the meta-hoax of his fictional creation, erasing himself and all references to him from the Marvel canon with the aid of Dr. Strange and Reed Richards. With the true nature of the project revealed and the story concluded, it would seem that was the end of The Sentry's saga, but when Brian Michael Bendis relaunched the Avengers in 2005, he set about to bring the character back to the forefront of a Marvel Universe he had dominated in a history that never was.

It might sound like a pretty reasonable idea to bring a character of such fanciful fiction into the Marvel Universe, but for a new generation of readers that had been recruited through the launch of millenial projects like the Ultimate comics, and longer serving readers too, it would prove a tough sell.

The Sentry was uncovered during the first arc of New Avengers, which started with a breakout at the super human prison, The Vault. Here, the Sentry made his shocking return to the Marvel universe, bearded and tired, bursting with the power of a thousand exploding suns. The exact nature of his unfathomable powers had never quite been defined in the quaint adventures explored by Jenkins and Lee, so it was to be a memorable demonstration for fans when, on 'return', the Sentry demonstrated his abilities by flying long reviled nineties creation (by Bendis and a vocal majority of jaded comics readers), Carnage, into space, where he tore him asunder.

This single event not only introduced the hero as a penfing prospect of the newly reassembled Avengers, but also confirmed that everything we'd been told by Jenkins had happened, and that the Marvel Universe was now a world of mixed histories. A fact that came to the fore in Siege: Fallen Son, which revelled in the hollow sentiments of a universe more aware of The Sentry's heroic triumphs than a good many readers.

The character and his secret history was explored through mini-series and continued adventures in various Avengers titles, but the more the Sentry was exposed to the readership, the less liked he seemed to become. By 2010, many prominent comics commentary sources were [humorously] offering a bounty to any Marvel writer who'd finally return The Sentry to the nothingness from whence he came -- such was the struggle to sell this concept to a readership under the illusion that their most familiar heroes were defined by weakness.

The Sentry, clad in primary colours and large S insignia, was a none-too-subtle analogue to DC's Superman -- a character many credit as the start of dominant superhero culture. Borrowing from the Superman archetype is nothing new in comics [I've done it myself], but for Marvel Comics, this was, in many ways, their first longterm mainstream attempt to enfuse the classical superhero with their own brand of flaws and foibles. The result -- an emotionally disturbed individual whose fragile psyche was as dangerous to the success of a mission as kryptonite and magic.

I personally regard the assumption that Marvel is somehow unique in their application of character flaws as a massive misconception. In the internet age, ideas like these have been propagated to be an interesting discussion piece embraced as fact by the uninitiated and unconfident, alike. In some ways, I think The Sentry is a karmic reflection of this widespread illusion of the Stan Lee superhero model, which gave these fans the logical realization of what they were claiming. Ironically, while I frown upon spreading this myth of Marvel's uber-humanity versus DC's capes, I actually find the Sentry an interesting concept -- one that never got time to be explored to it's fullest extent.

The Superman model raises so many questions, it's supported series from every major publisher, and a good many independent obscurities as well. Alan Moore tackled the subject with Rob Liefeld and Supreme; Marvel's had a crack with various analogues, including various incarnations of Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme; Mark Waid and BOOM! Studios have exploded with their dark take, Irredeemable; and DC themselves have even explored the adaptive relevance of the character with popular stories like The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, and Superman: Red Son. Each story tackled elements of Superman's relevance to ultimate power, alien perspectives, paranoia, nature vs nurture, judicial systems and law enforcement, government responsibility, legacy, and iconography. The Sentry, unfortunately, struggled to reach these lofty topics, bogged down in the assumption that the summary of his character was his emotional flaw and penchant for bursting into tears and explosive panic attacks mid-battle -- an interesting idea, but one that blew up in Marvel's face, to a large extent.

The Sentry is the US Government's Deus Ex Machina when Hulk lays waste to New York City in World War Hulk.

The Sentry had his highlights. Like the many fantasy fight debates about whether or not a certain hero could combat Superman; The Sentry's battles in the Marvel Universe satisfied the basic lust for competition that exists in many readers. If nothing else, The Sentry succeeded in delivering some exciting action moments that will be remembered by many fans fondly, including his last-issue showdown with Hulk in World War Hulk, and even last minute bouts with Thor and Ares in Siege.

It seems entirely likely that The Sentry might return at some point in the future, reprising his out-of-control role as The Void. For the time being, it seems there'll be very little love lost for many readers, who've viewed the past five years cynically with few reasons to think otherwise. This was potentially a very interesting subject -- the existence of a Marvel Superman -- but in the end, the character is one that remains waiting to be redeemed, without the burden of similarities to other Superman analogues like Mr. Majestic, or Miracleman (aka; Marvelman). It remains to be seen whether or not The Sentry might get a second shot at life through games like Marvel vs Capcom 3, or the just announced MMO, Super Hero Squad Online. I'd call those odds a longshot, at best.

The death of Sentry and end of Norman Osborn's Dark Reign has brought about a Heroic Age in Marvel Comics, but before sunbursts takeover the lay of the land, you can check out Siege #1-#4 for all the important action. Further details lie in final issues of Dark Avengers and Avengers: The Initiative, and for those that appreciated the character, an elaborative farewell lies in Siege: Fallen Son. You can find more information on all of that at Marvel.com and good comics retailers.

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Originally posted: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9030579

AVENGERS versus OLYMPUS GROUP
Gauntlet (Marvel)
Where: Incredible Hercules #128 When: June 2009
Why: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente How: Dietrich Smith

The Story So Far...
Rising to power off the back of a smear campaign against former Director of SHIELD, Tony Stark; Norman Osborn becomes the new lynchpin of an American whose trust in heroes has been replaced by paranoia and fear. Pursuing his own sinister lust for power, Osborn recreates himself as the Iron Pariot to lead a team of Dark Avengers against the very evil he was once, and still is, a part of.

After seizing control of Olympus Group - the corporate identity of the gods - from Zeus; Hera earns the attentions of Osborn, and his agents of HAMMER, with a product called Continuum®. Despite the makings of a perfect match, the two powers are unable to reach a mutually beneficial business agreement, leading their respective groups into a head-long collision!

The events turn Athena, Hercules, and Amadeus Cho into unlikely allies of the Olympus Group, despite Hera's bitter jealousy over a prophecy of Athena's ascension to greatness, and her disdain for Zeus' son. Thus, the great heroes join Olympus Group in a battle against the Dark Avengers!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Sentry 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Patriot 5 (Professor)
Speed: Sentry 6 (Superhuman)
Stamina: Pluto 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Captain Marvel 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting: Ares 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Sentry 7 (Cosmic)


- The Dark Avengers are: Iron Patriot, Ms. Marvel, Ares, Sentry, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Wolverine, and Spider-man.

When several individuals within the superhero community were revealed as Skrull impostors, a battle of paranoia forced heroes previously divided by their own civil war, to battle together against a Secret Invasion. Though the heroes emerged victorious, the mass corruption incurred within SHIELD allowed then Director for the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Norman Osborn, to stage a coup.

After branding Tony Stark a traitor and coward, Osborn set about rearranging his world as a dark reflection of Stark's. His reign quickly began with the disbanding of SHIELD, in favour of his own organization, HAMMER, before attentions were turned to the Avengers. Incorporating members of his Thunderbolts team, Osborn reimagines their public face as palatable identities associated with heroics.

Mac Gargan becomes Spider-man; Daken adopts Wolverine; Bullseye is Hawkeye; Noh-Varr upgrades to Captain Marvel; Moonstone becomes Ms. Marvel; and Osborn himself creates an iconic identity to fill the void typically filled by a symbol, utilizing Stark's armor designs and a motiff inspired by Captain America, to become the Iron Patriot. Existing members of the team, Ares and Sentry, remain on this newly formed incarnation of Dark Avengers.

- The Olympus Group are: Hera, Typhon, Pluto, and Delphyne Gorgon, who are accompanied by Hercules, Amadeus Cho, and Athena.

Founded by Zeus; the Olympus Group was designed to maintain contact between the gods of Olympus, and the human world. The corporation represents a modern redefinition of the power and influence of the gods. Prominent membership is held by Hebe, Huntsman, Typhon, Pluto, and Hera, who usurped control of the corporation upon Zeus' death. She manipulates the group to her own ends, in particular, in pursuit of her son by marriage to Zeus, Hercules.

Hercules is the demigod spawn of king of the Olympian gods, Zeus, and Alcmena; the mortal daughter of the king of Mycenae. Despite a conspiracy perpetrated by Hera and Luciana to prevent the birth; Hercules was born after seven days of labor, to rule those around him, by the decree of Zeus. The mammoth child would indeed traverse many perils to grow into a mighty leader of men, whose strength became the stuff of legends.

Math: Dark Avengers Ranking: The Sentry (#91)

What Went Down...
When the Dark Avengers descend upon the Olympus Group, Hercules and his fellows become unlikely allies to their godly enemies. They have little choice, quickly thrown into the fray against their Dark Avengers counterparts.

Confronted by the on-coming blur of the Sentry, Hercules is quick to enact an offensive-defensive by catching his opponent's cape on the fly-by, only to toss him through the levels above like a blonde olympic hammer!

Ares; half-brother to Hercules and god of war; enters the battle to defeat his brother, disappointed to unexpectedly find Olympus Group alongside his familial nemesis. With promise of reprimand for his deceptive team leader, Ares topples Hercules and Athena with a grenade, unaware of Typhon's looming presence.

The giant clutches Ares by the skull amidst a swarm of serpents.
Remembering his slain brethren from ancient battles waged by Olympus, Typhon vengefully dominates the god of war, driving his head into the Earth beneath.

Meanwhile, Typhon's ally and Olympian god of the Underworld, Pluto, descends upon the impostor Wolverine with a macabre glee. He taunts the clawed mutant with "December 27th," a unique insight into the destined date of Daken's death. In retaliation, he drives his claws through Pluto's body, successful in amusing the immortal god. The dead rise at Pluto's command to join the fight on his behalf.

Pluto's presence stirs a plot in wise Athena, who recognises an opportunity to obtain power to rival Hera in her uncle's absence from the Underworld. While Hercules sends Noh-Varr flying with a left hook, she beckons for a strategic retreat, made difficult by a spray of webbing from the symbiote Spider-man.

While Athena grapples with the tangled goop, Hercules snatches who he believes to be his former ally. Sending his fist toward the web-slinger's face, he soon learns the truth as Venom manifests a familiar toothy gape to catch the punch.

When the Sentry attempts to reenter the fight, the symbiote's unwieldy grip gives the prince of power a convenient weapon to defeat two Avengers with one blow. He clubs the Sentry out of the air, following with a devestating uppercut through Venom's skull to Sentry's!

Across the warehouse, Delphyne Gorgon battles valiantly against the phony Ms. Marvel with a machine gun. The weapon proves useless against the powers of a Kree Moonstone that deflects the bullets and retorts with a powerful energy blast. Concerned for his crush's safety, Amadeus Cho retrieves the enchanted Aegis chestplate from Athena's recently deceased warrior, Trey Rollins.

Descending to finish the job, Ms. Marvel failed to notice Amadeus sneaking up behind her. With the chestplate clasped to her body, the Kree gravity stone causes a massive feedback of energy.

Cho failed to receive the kudos he might have anticipated, but while he and Delphyne are able to share a moment, it's quickly cut short by the arrival of "Hawkeye."

Summoned to retreat by Athena, the boy genius leaves his Amazon girlfriend to fight her own battle. The gorgon succeeds in cutting Bullseye's arrow from the air, finding opportunity for a close quarters exchange with the range marksman.

Outside the warehouse, Hercules continues his battle with Sentry and Venom.
The symbiote chomps the top of his head, while Sentry sends the trio airborne with a flying tackle. Driving Hercules into the ground, he inadvertently frees the prince of power of Venom's mouth whilst doing his damage.

The Olympian enters into a test of wills with Sentry, grappling with "the power of a million exploding suns." Hercules succeeds in breaking the stalemate with a swift knee to Sentry's groin, giving him the edge necessary to toss Sentry into a collision course with the airborne Venom!

Amadeus Cho reconvenes with his partner in adventure, delivering Athena's plan for evacuation to the reticent warrior. Despite his objections, Hercules sees reason in their plan, agreeing to leap into the surrounding waters with the intent of sinking a nearby ship. It is a feat all too easy for the Olympian powerhouse.

In the Olympus Group warehouse, the tides begin to turn when Hera uses her magics to restrain Typhon who is still grappling with her son, Ares. Norman Osborn seizes the opportunity, swooping in to fire Iron Man-esque plasts into the unsuspecting woman's back. Despite impending victory, the cries of innocent citizens draw Osborn's attention, forcing him to live up to the Iron Patriot ID.

In the interest of maintaining their public facade, Iron Patriot orders the other members of his "Avengers" to assemble to rescue the drowning patrons. While the Avengers earn their promotional support, Ares negotiates a truce between the two groups he holds allegiance to. It's an offer Osborn cannot refuse as the god of war threatens to join his mother should the battle continue.

The Hammer...
The only conundrum bigger than deciding what tense I'm writing in, is the question of who emerged victorious in this issue! It gets a little tricky when the context of these reviews becomes about the efforts of a team. Sentry and Venom certainly weren't particularly successful against Hercules, but then, the Avengers did redeem themselves toward the end of the fight.

To avoid complication, I think the best interpretation for our much beloved records is the literal conclusion of a draw.

Despite recently making some ground in our updating deficit, we're once again falling spectacularly behind schedule.
After enthusiastically choosing Incredible Herc' over a couple of other options, I thought we might've been on a role, but on reflection, I suppose there's a comment in these recent delays.

Hercules fell unfortunately under represented in last year's competition, failing to accurately capture the exciting rise of both the character and his titular role as usurper of Incredible Hulk, in 2008.

This late visitation to the series really doesn't adequately represent what made it great in the last year. Ironically, since deviating into more specific storyarcs, the title appears to have lost some of it's fun-loving lustre, pursuing structural concepts that threaten to bog Hercules down in tiresome mythology derivations, over the more accessible format of superhero fisticuffs. I say that with a hint of reserve, not wanting to be mischaracterized as a foam drooling neanderthal interested exclusively in the violence central to the site concept.

I think it could be debated as fact that literal mythology has often dragged superhero comics into low selling ruts. My best guess, there's just something about two rights making a wrong. As any mainstream apologist will gladly tell you, these superheroes we flock to are effectively the modern equivalency of the gods and heroes of ancient civilization. It's a fair comparison given the winding fates of individuals well known for their unique abilities, or iconic dressing.

It's a compromise of knowing irony to celebrate Hercules as a Marvel character, while denouncing the surrounding components of his mythology. Perhaps it's the modern familiarity of the character, through television and cinema, that makes Hercules a more palatable facet of the Greek epics. Or, perhaps, it's the ease through which Hercules makes a natural transition into the [now] traditional, simplistic, modern construction of a "superhero," that makes him more successful than more complex legends associated with higher ideals.

What ever the reason for friction between superheroes and mythology, it certainly feels evident here. Despite their distortion through the conventions of the Marvel universe, the other gods feel somehow generic and under developed in this colourful issue. The real attraction is undoubtedly the first opportunity to get the Dark Avengers onto the Infinite Wars -- something important to 2009!

As many of us anticipated, the Dark Avengers stemmed directly from the same concept that gave us the Thunderbolts. In fact, it wouldn't be unreasonable to describe the group as the last crop of T-bolts ('Faith in Monsters') promoted.

It was in 1997 that we were first introduced to this version of the concept of villains diguised as heroes [Incredible Hulk #449]. It began as a plot hatched by Baron Zemo and the former Masters of Evil, coinciding with the apparent deaths of the Avengers and Fantastic Four (via Heroes Reborn), but ended with success enough to propel several pretenders into legitimate heroic roles, and spawned other reinterpretations of the team and it's duplicitous line-up.

It'd be nice to believe the "Dark Reign" "status quo," introduced line-wide by Marvel comics, might actually have some staying power, but one tends to be validated in feeling jaded toward these gimmick-laden high concepts. Just like Tony Stark's stay at the top was ultimately brief, so too does it seem inevitable than the mentally unhinged lynchpin, Norman Osborn, will be overthrown from his position as supreme commander of international intelligence and heroics.

It's not what I'd call a delicate concept, but it has a simplistic brilliance that makes all of these inevitable guest appearances so delicious. It's wonderful to see how these established characters can react en masse to the introduction of new(ish) concepts more forthcoming in-fiction than Thunderbolts.
Pak and Van Lente clearly aren't given a lot of room to contribute to the building mythology of the Dark Avengers, but they play with some enjoyable moments, particularly Hercules' overstated reaction to the villainous turn of the likes of Spider-man (whose true identity, as already noted, is soon revealed).

It's a much more subdued affair than Pak's epic battle in World War Hulk [#5], but there's also the fanboy moment of another heavyhitter clashing with Sentry. It suffers from the typical symptoms of a corporate shared universe, but it's worthy of note, even if only for the inevitable confusion over exactly where the boundaries of Sentry's powers lie. Unrelated, but similarly abbreviated, is Hercules' brief encounter with Ares, who has been a regular sparring partner not just in recent Marvel appearances, but throughout legend (and Kevin Sorbo).

A critical eye could easily look at this issue as an unnecessary deviation.
Honestly, on-going plot progresses at an absolute minimum, stopping briefly to close out tangential sub-plots connecting Olympus Group to the central premise of HAMMER (and Norman Osborn), and offering brief character beats. The big benefit to Incredible Hercules is a set-up for a trip to the Underworld in the next issue. Personally, I think the roadtrip adventuring that led the series through a fun packed series of character-spots and fights, was actually a strength.

The Dark Avengers might be primed for a catalogue of intrusions into other series over the next few months, but the bigger picture is more forgiving. One of the all too often forgotten joys of modern superhero comics is the indulgence in concepts across multiple stages. While we learn very little about the group in this issue, it's none-the-less valuable in building context for their prevelance. You might call it an exercise in economy of reputation, space, and time.

Writing doesn't feel as fluid as it did under the exclusive scripting of Greg Pak, and the art is decidedly less attractive than the likes of Clayton Henry or Jim Cheung. Never the less, it seems this is still a title worth checking out, even if only to make up your own mind. Upcoming storylines promise to entertain a variety of high concept pitches, including what appears to be a Thor-empowered Hercules.
Sure to be an interesting twist on the old rivalry.

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4

While the Infinite Wars plays catch-up, why not find yourself some reading material to keep you busy between updates? The Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe contains collections featuring most issues reviewed in the Secret Archives, including issues like Incredible Hercules #128, which is too present to be available at the time of this posting. By using purchase links provided anywhere on the site, you help sponsor future entries, whilst benefitting from the price and service associated with the Amazon name. Not quite a Herculean task!

MIGHTY AVENGERS versus
SECRET AVENGERS
The Trust: Part Five (Marvel)
Where: New Avengers #36 When: January 2008
Why: Brian Bendis How: Leinil Yu

The Story So Far...
Once, the gods and heroes could be trusted to protect humanity in it's time of need, but when the least of their kind entered into a battle that cost the lives of hundreds, a new control was demanded by a traumatized public.

For men like Tony Stark, the prospect of thorough screening and training became a price he was all too willing to pay to repent for the willful negligence of he and his fellows. Trusted powers whose morals had come to harbor cosmically volatile forces within their quarters. A philosophy that puts him at odds with both those who have reasons to hide, and those with a strong belief in the privacy and trust earned by the super-powered guardians.

Divided, Earth's mightiest heroes continue in two factions. Stark's Avengers hunt their secretive counterparts, distracted from the evils the underground heroes continue to pursue with clarity. It is the Secret Avengers who learn of The Hood's play for Kingpin of Villains, and the emergence of a Skrull incursion. Neither, however, could have hoped to anticipate a Latverian satellite position above the Earth. A weapon containing a symbiote bomb that escapes it's master's control and sends an infestation of madness to New York City as an unprepared Secret Avengers is possessed and thrown into battle with their counterparts.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wonder Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: The Sentry 6 (Mach-Speeds)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Ares 7 (Warrior)
Energy Power: The Sentry 7 (Cosmic)


- The Mighty Avengers are: Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, Sentry, Black Widow, Ares, accompanied by Luke Cage and Wolverine.

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.

After the superhero Civil War, the team was segregated between those heroes supportive of the Superhuman Registration Act, and those opposed. The Avengers continue officially as a government agency led by the registration's leading advocate, Tony Stark, who was also appointed Director of SHIELD.

- The Secret Avengers are: Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Ronin, Echo, Spider-man, and Wasp.

Confronted with a government intending to pit him against the reluctant and unwilling in a mandatory Superhero Registration; Captain America throws his training and leadership against SHIELD and the US Government to instead lead a resistance against the movement. These Secret Avengers emerge to protect those who have pledged their lives to protecting the innocent, intent on preserving their right to anonymity.
Among the most prominent of the ready and willing to join the Captain's cause are; Hercules, Goliath, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Falcon, Cloak, Dagger, and Cable.

Captain America's surrender to Tony Stark during the superhero Civil War, and subsequent assassination, galvanizes the efforts of an underground team allowed leniency by the powers-that-be. Thus, the Secret Avengers continue on in the memory of their leader, dedicated to the same justice they always sought.

Additional: The Secret Avengers are possessed by alien symbiote creatures similar to those warn by Mac Gargan and Cletus Kasady. The creatures have dramatically reduced their reasoning, while enhancing their strength.

Math: Mighty Avengers Ranking: Spider-man (#2)

What Went Down...
Watching their government sponsored counterparts descend to the streets below, the Secret Avengers witness panic in the streets as the results of a symbiote bomb wreak havoc with innocent bystanders. Before they can intervene, the Secret Avengers themselves become possessed by alien creatures, save Luke Cage, whose impenetrable skin may be the reason for his safety.

Set upon by his fellows; Cage struggles as symbiote-possessed Ronin, Spider-man, and Echo launch and acrobatic assault against him. Even his best friend, Iron Fist, throws a taloned swipe that would kill an ordinary man! Overwhelmed by the pummelling of all but Wolverine, Cage briefly loses consciousness.

When Power Man comes to, he is greeted by Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel of the "Mighty" Avengers. With the streets of Manhattan filled with the symbiote possessed, all grudges are dropped as Cage joins the fight that has also claimed Wasp, in giant-form, from the Mighty team.

Contending with Giant-Woman and a cluster of anonymous symbiotes tossed by the towering creature; Iron Man attempts to make an escape, seeking to resolve the threat from it's source. He leaves behind two teams, at odds, but on the common grounds of doing all they can to protect the innocent.

The Sentry waves a street lamp at clambering creatures, while Luke Cage relies on his own unbreakable fists to fight back against the hordes. He's joined by Wolverine who remains unclaimed by the symbiote clinging to his body, racked with pain as his mutant healing factor keeps the creature at bay, allowing him to turn those skills against the other aliens.

The sixty-foot Giant-Wasp symbiote crashes to the ground, walloped with the super-strength of the Sentry. Ares, Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel do the same, using their impressive powers to tackle multiple creatures at once! Wolverine's efforts prove equally as effective as he topples the creatures with mortal fists.

Fighting despite the endless numerical advantage of the swarm, the heroes are rewarded. Just as sudden as the infestation had begun, the symbiotes disappear in an instant, the handy work of Iron Man, Director of SHIELD!

The Hammer...
As far as conclusions go it's a scrappy one, but I give you your year-end winners: Iron Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine, and the Mighty Avengers!

This is ordinarily where we reflect upon the issue with a conversation topic, but for a simple example of superhero smackdown, there are an awful lot of implications from this one issue. The convergence of ideas come from before and after, this issue being part of the transitional period from Civil War, to Secret Invasion.

In a year defined by the "Invasion" with little compromise, this issue of New Avengers reminds us of many things sorely absent from Marvel's 2008.
In fact, they're all fairly simple principles that reflect quite negatively on Brian Bendis' second attempt at a Marvel-wide crossover. Working against him was a promotion that suggested something far more involving, something resembling the Skrull invasion never quite seen to it's logical conclusion. Instead, Secret Invasion amounted to something resembling Infinity War, built out of specials dealing with super-powered Skrulls in the various subsets of Marvel characters.

Like the many writers who picked up themes and concepts from the central plot, Bendis himself expanded the event through threads in the two Avengers titles.
Here, we were again reminded that within Brian Bendis is the capacity to deliver a satisfying superhero story. It would be unfair to drudge up the old theory that Bendis can't handle groups of characters, but it seems entirely convincing that directing the larger picture is not his particular forté. [See also; House of M] It is merely an unfortunate coincidence that these bungles both include large casts.

A tendency to humanize characters - sometimes to the point of losing their character (and differentiation) all together - invariably makes the New Avengers the stronger of the two titles. Alas; each positive seems to come equipped with it's own undermining 'Void' alter-ego, such as New's thematic consistency of often failing to actually deliver the titular grouping.

These problems, of course, do not exist in today's feature issue.
In stark contrast to the dragging inanity of Secret Invasion, the much-hyped symbiote bomb delivers almost too little. Resolved over the course of a couple of issues with fist-pounding simplicity, it is everything the major crossovers of recent years have not been, (from either company). In some ways, I almost wish the Skrulls and Symbiotes could've switched places. A couple of simple battles to resolve the invading super-Skrulls would have been far more palatable, particularly if the dramatic potential of symbiote-infested heroes could've been fulfilled in the traditional crossover model. The model that exacerbated the very worst about Secret Invasion.

Looking back on year through the first issues print-dated 2008, we recognise an event that was much more fun to anticipate than deal with. So, what of 2009?

Marvel appears to be going back to the well again, this time repackaging Acts of Vengeance with a smoother, more organic transition than some recent concepts. Dark Reign is described as a new 'status quo', rather than an event.
While the terminology immediately makes it difficult to feel anything but cynical, it does have the benefit of drawing directly from events outside of the best forgotten Skrull invasion. Norman Osborn's path as a character has made the disappointment of his late nineties resurrection all the easier to swallow, drawing heavily on the 'wolf in sheeps clothing' motiff of the Thunderbolts.

Bendis' "Dark Illuminati" might finally give breathing space to The Hood, whose play for Kingpin of Villains fell disappointingly to the constant interruptions of the Skrull crossover, and other indulgent distractions. With DC's investment across the street with Grant Morrison and a similarly themed direction for Libra, it's been all the harder to take The Hood seriously in his bid to rise from urban thuggery, to mastermind status.

2009 will be a real acid test for Marvel's simmering concepts and ability to bounce back from such an awful lynchpin. As far as the Infinite Wars is concerned, despite noteworthy triumphs, Marvel conceded 2008 to a DC that started slow. Is that about to change? We'll be keen to see!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

Want to start the new year with the best of 2008? Looking for after-Christmas bargains? Check out "The Trust" in collected format! By using Amazon purchase links on the Infinite Wars you help support our tireless efforts! The Gift Shoppe also contains collected versions featuring most reviewed titles from the three years of Secret Archiving! Stay tuned for more belated review on the year that was, continuing with yet another exciting secret war, deviating from the events that drove 2008!