ETERNALS versus SILVER SURFER & SUPER-SKRULL

Adam (Marvel)
Where: Silver Surfer Annual #1 When: 1988
Why: Steve Englehart How: Joe Staton

The Story So Far...
Parting ways with Nova, the Silver Surfer returns to Earth on a mission of mercy -- only to inadvertently happen upon the re-manifestation of the Super-Skrull in outer space!

Intent on keeping his presence hidden, the Super-Skrull engages The Surfer in battle, but their conflict is soon ended by the intervention of another unexpected party.

The Eternals have agreed to capture the Silver Surfer and map his unique genetic code so that The High Evolutionary might use its information to advance the human race to its next phase of existence. Neither Surfer nor Skrull is a willing participant, making fighting allies of the pair held captive in the Greek mountains!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Super-Skrull 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Thena 5 (Professor)
Speed: Makkari 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Karkas 6 (Generator)
Agility: Super-Skrull 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Ikaris 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Silver Surfer 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Silver Surfer 37 (Cosmic)

The Eternals are: Ikaris, Makkari, Thena, and Sersi, with Karkas.

At the dawn of humanity esoteric space gods known as Celestials visited upon the Earth an evolutionary nudge that spawned two genome variants: homo-immortalis and homo-descendus -- better known as Eternals, and their grotesque subterranean shadows, The Deviants.

The Eternals chose to sequester themselves, eventually settling in the mountains of Greece in a secluded, highly advanced city called Olympia. From there they served as secret guardians to Earth, in a pact with their counterpart Greek gods, using innate cosmic powers to suppress the Deviants and shepherd humanity.

Although Eternals draw from a mutual source of ability, each specializes in using their natural gifts in unique ways: Ikaris is strong and projects powerful energy, often from his eyes. Makkari has mastered moving at phenomenal speed. Thena is a study of ancient knowledge and fighting techniques, wielding energy & weapons. Sersi is an expert of transmutation and psionic projection.

Silver Surfer received similar gifts when Galactus bestowed upon him the power cosmic. The erstwhile Norrin Radd is no stranger to battling other god-like beings, as we saw when he clashed with Norse powered Beta Ray Bill in Godhunter #2, and Thor himself in the alternate reality of What If...? #70.

Although the Silver Surfer has defeated Ronan The Accuser on multiple occasions, such as Silver Surfer #13, he was overwhelmed when attempting to siphon the augmenting energies of the Kree Empire and Ego during Maximum Security #3.

This might suggest the Eternals' ability to pool their respective power into a single Uni-Mind might cause The Surfer some trouble. Fortunately for him, he has the one-man army of sometimes enemy turned ally Super-Skrull by his side!

Super-Skrull succumbed to Thor's lightning in Thor #465, but displayed a portion of his multi-faceted might while over-powering Ms Marvel in Marvel Team-Up #62.

With the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, Kl'rt commands super-strength, rubber malleability, scorching flame, invisibility, and force-fields to devastating effect. If he stays on the same page as Silver Surfer they should be able to match the Eternals and their Deviant powerhouse Karkas. Let's see if they did...

The Tape: The Eternals Ranking: Silver Surfer (#31)

What Went Down...

Held captive in separate translucent cells: Silver Surfer compels Super-Skrull to renew efforts to escape, while he does the same. Their simultaneous assault on the "Sunset" and "Sunrise" Pyramids will cause their linked fates to be freed.

Super-Skrull wields the outward pressure of invisible projected forcefields, red hot flames, and monstrous strength, while Silver Surfer radiates with awesome power cosmic. All at once their prisons are shattered as The Surfer makes the difference!

The Eternals are awestruck by their gleaming guest's power, but not all are as reluctant as Karkas to engage him.

Ikaris vows to complete their sworn task of mapping The Surfer's genome, raising a hand to demonstrate his own cosmic power with a blast of energy.

Silver Surfer blocks the attack with an extended hand, while summoning Super-Skrull to his side.

The Skrull is surprised to find his erstwhile adversary seeking to help him despite an earlier attack. Their alliance of convenience is of obvious appeal as the Eternals mobilize for a coordinated strike.

Thena surrounds the Silver Surfer in a smoldering projection from her eyes, while the fast-moving Makkari staggers Super-Skrull with a flying kick to the face!

Super-Skrull keeps his footing and immediately returns fire with an uppercut that channels the augmented strength of The Thing into knocking Makkari into the air!

The Surfer launches a counter-attack of his own -- forcing Thena to leap nimbly clear of a burst of cosmic energy that crashes into the ground.

Karkas charges in to intervene, heeding Ikaris' order to be on guard with eyes on a strong offense. He wraps his hulking arms around the Silver Surfer, overwhelming the space-faring hero with the powerful grapple.

Makkari demonstrates his incredible speed -- literally running rings around the Super-Skrull while effortlessly avoiding jets of flame. Sersi takes advantage of the distraction, introducing the Skrull to the agony of her own energy projection!

The Surfer erupts with cosmic power as well, freeing himself from the oppressive grip of Karkas -- only to turn into the direct path of Ikaris' eye beams!

Meanwhile, Kl'rt channels more of The Thing's strength -- transforming his legs into powerful rocky piledrivers. He slams his foot to the ground, sending a devastating localized shockwave that topples Sersi and Makkari!

Seeing the rest of the Eternals focused on his teammate, Super-Skrull surrounds himself in fire and takes flight in an effort to seize his opportunity for escape.

The Surfer can only shout at the treachery, held unerringly by mighty Karkas in the point blank gaze of Ikaris' devastating eye blasts!

An opportunity presents itself as Ikaris responds to the Skrulls' escape,  commanding Thena and Makkari to use their speed to take chase. The Surfer takes advantage of the distraction, summoning his board to carry him out of Karkas' arms and crashing straight through Ikaris!

In the skies above Olympus, Super-Skrull channels the fire of the Human Torch with urgency, but he knows he cannot match the speed of his pursuers. Makkari and Thena rapidly close in -- when suddenly a silver streak divides them!

The cosmic rider stands stridently on his board with the gathered Eternals at his face, and the Super-Skrull at his back.

The Surfer confounds Kl'rt once more with another unexpected effort to help. He compels the Super-Skrull to complete his escape, reminding him that the entire Skrull race was robbed of their natural shape-shifting abilities while he was lost in a swirl of deconstructed atoms in Earth's Van Allen radiation belt.

With the responsibility of his species' "prime-heritage", Super-Skrull accepts Silver Surfer's gift of hope and gesture towards justice, uncertain that he or his Empire will ever be able to repay the act. The Surfer accepts this, hoping that the restoration of Skrull power will at least end their renewed war with the Kree.

Uncertain of Earth's future, and the true nature of the Eternals' seemingly impossible history, Silver Surfer and his would-be captors reach a mutual respect and understanding. Ikaris bids him godspeed, accepting that The Surfer will not assist the High Evolutionary in tampering with the advancement of nature.

The Hammer...

This strikes me as a fairly honest way to induct the Eternals into our combative corner of the web. Their Marvel Studios debut has brought newfound attention, but like a lot of folks, I've mostly experienced them as obscure guest characters in preferred series, or occasionally glanced back issues that never quite made it into the collection.

Ikaris had the bearing of an adventuring front-man for a Marvel super-group, but his basic design was also dangerously underwhelming. Kind of like one of those knock-off He-Man toylines, or a cartoon from anywhere in the sixties to the eighties that just wasn't as legit as the hits. The set-up of the dichotomous Deviants as their all encompassing, monstrous villains didn't help.

The high-concept premise is actually the kind of straight forward that works, but The Eternals lacked the immediate visual appeal, or otherworldliness, of other Jack Kirby creations. Accessibility almost worked against them, in an ironic sort of way.

The New Gods are famously a similarly difficult rite of passage for uninitiated readers, but once that threshold of Kirby appreciation is crossed, the barrier to entry unfolds into a far more indulgent and vivid experience than The Eternals. Its higher degree of difficulty is in some small way part of the reward.

The Eternals may be simpler than the New Gods, but in that regard they also overlap with the niche of a super-powered secret society living in seclusion already occupied by The Inhumans. The latter is couched in its own difficulties of grandiose royal family, but benefits from deeper ties with a popular mainstream gateway series like Fantastic Four.

It's easy to see how Eternals could be overlooked by the publisher, and passed up by readers, but that's not to say they're without their charms.

With just a little bit of effort comes the reward of something interesting, and if you took a chance on an issue like Silver Surfer Annual #1, you got a gentle, action-packed introduction to a classic quartet who've watched the world for a million years, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Greek gods like Hercules.

The scope of their history and lifespan, and weight of purpose on their potential, is something that sets the Eternals apart from the grounded genetic discourse of the X-Men. Rather than dwell analogously on the contemporary concerns of racial politics or personal identity, The Eternals flirt with grand existential concepts of the meaning of life itself, and the fantasy of classical ascended super-humans.

This cosmic philosophizing meshes well with Silver Surfer, who's always at his best contemplating the vastness of space with a soulful, almost zen sense of perspective on life.

He plays an interesting role in the conflict with the Eternals, assuming a position of extreme advocacy for the individual, which almost defies his more familiar sense of altruism. Here he not only fights to deny humanity its potential for ascension through the mapping of his chrome-tinged cosmically altered genome, but also does everything he can to secure Super-Skrull's freedom for the sake of restoring the Skrull species to their natural state of deceptive shape-shifting.

It's all a little bit Star Trek Prime Directive, essentially boiling down to superior beings allowing nature to take its course, rather than endorsing the eugenic experiments of the High Evolutionary, who sets the entire plot into motion as part of the banner event for 1988 Annuals, The Evolutionary War.

The second volume of What If? begins with a pretty wild story that explores a reality where the High Evolutionary "won", and The Eternals ultimately merge with Inhumans, and evolved mutants, to take on the cosmic entities that define the universe, after killing Galactus. Humanity uniformly develops big heads, and Daredevil becomes one of the last men on Earth, forging a friendship with Vision.

It might not be as strange as it sounds, but it's a typical dark fate for a What If? story. Something we might look at some time in the future. I'd also like to return to more of the Eternals, having enjoyed today's featured battle, and more of the Evolutionary War, which has an interesting appearance by an adversary who share centuries with the Eternals - Apocalypse.

If you'd like to see that sooner than later you can become a backer on Patreon to sponsor your choice of future feature. As a thank you for supporting the project you'll unlock additional updates, polls, and options for customized articles.

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

You can find today's featured fight by checking out collected editions of Essential Silver Surfer Vol. 2 or The Evolutionary War. Use the Amazon purchase links for any of your shopping and you'll not only discover a great deal -- you'll also help Amazon support the site at no extra cost to you!

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Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#31 (--) Silver Surfer
#145 (+4) Super-Skrull
#445 (+152) Sersi
#475 (new) Ikaris
#476 (new) Karkas
#477 (new) Makkari
#478 (new) Thena

SPIDER-MAN & SILVER SURFER versus CARNAGE

Savage Rebirth! (Marvel)
Where: Amazing Spider-Man #430 When: January 1998 Why: Tom DeFalco How: Joe Bennett

The Story So Far...
The suits at the Ravencroft Institute are looking for ways to cut back on spending, and newly appointed Mr. Pogue figures the first place to start is maximum security dedicated to a single inmate.

The administrator reasons Cletus Kasady will be none the wiser if they disarm the costly hi-tech network of concentrated microwave generators that keep Kasady's alien symbiote at bay -- but he's dead wrong! Now Carnage is on the loose, and the blood of Martha Robertson -- wife of Bugle EIC Robbie Robertson -- is his chosen medium for sending a message to his enemies: Carnage Rules!

Peter Parker promised his wife Mary-Jane he'd stay out of costume while Norman Osborn's Daily Bugle holds a million dollar bounty on his head, but with great power must come great responsibility! The web-slinger heads out to stop another citywide slaughter -- even though he's never been able to beat Carnage alone!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Silver Surfer 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Spider-Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Silver Surfer 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Silver Surfer 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-Man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Silver Surfer 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Silver Surfer 37 (Cosmic)

Spider-Man has more than his fair share of lethal foes, but they don't come much deadlier than Carnage!

The symbiote-bonded alter-ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady has always had the better of the web-slinger, necessitating team-ups with the likes of Venom just to try to keep the slaughter to a minimum.

Venom carried the load when they worked together to end the Maximum Carnage crossover in Spider-Man Unlimited #2, but not before their alliance came off second best in Spider-Man #35.

Earlier still, Spidey took a brutal shot to busted ribs in Web of Spider-Man #101, in a battle that also featured Carnage's demented adopted family, and seemingly claimed the life of the light-bringer, Dagger.

Despite a svelte appearance; Carnage has always possessed far greater strength than Spider-Man, wielding it with a variety of symbiote transformations, such as double-edged axe-hands, long bladed fingers, talons, tendrils, and extending limbs. A literal murderers row of effective killing implements!

He might not have much luck cutting through the chrome skin of Spider-Man's surprise partner, though. Silver Surfer is in a whole other league, possessing the power cosmic that's bested Ronan The Accuser, Nebula, Super-Skrull, and even DC's Green Lantern!

We've only seen symbiotes go cosmic a couple of times and the results have been mixed. Venom was a surprising match for an unfamiliar Superman during their initial crossover in DC/Marvel: All Access #1. The cosmically powered Nova was better prepared to blast Mac Gargan while fighting the Thunderbolts in Nova #3.

Our best reference may be the zombie Spider-Man of Earth 2419, who was able to use the Silver Surfer's power to blast a hole clean through Venom. The transfer of power raises a raft of other issues, but it broadly suggests it shouldn't be too hard for The Surfer to exploit Carnage's weakness for fire and sonic disturbance.

The Tape: Spider-Man & Silver Surfer Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...

A thin web line shoots from the heavens at the vital moment as Carnage tosses a car towards an illegally parked businessman. Spider-Man yanks the man clear of danger and leaves him webbed to a building out of the symbiote's reach.

Hero and villain might see eye to eye on parking violations and handicap spaces, but the prospects for a peaceful surrender are slim to none. Carnage is on the loose and seeking fresh thrills from his old sparring partner!

Spidey bounces off the roof of an empty parked car, narrowly avoiding a long and jagged limb -- it smashes the canopy flat!

No such luck on the second attempt. A quick, slashing uppercut catches Spider-Man in mid-air and sends him slamming into another vehicle!

Nearby spectators debate fleeing the scene to avoid becoming statistics in another Carnage killing spree, but a couple of the more opportunistic types decide to gamble their fate on claiming a Daily Bugle bounty from Spider-Man's corpse.

Carnage overhears the onlookers, and taunts Spidey with the public's plans to profit from his untimely demise.

The villain throws two symbiote-extended hands that smash through car windows directly behind Spider-Man. An accidental miss? Or a means to secure a grip of the mangled vehicle and toss it casually in the direction of the callous profiteers?

As the public runs for their lives from the airborne vehicle -- a chromium skinned figure happens to glide gracefully through the sky overhead.

Lamenting humanity's penchant for violence; Silver Surfer never-the-less vows to bring aid upon the beleaguered Spider-Man he spots down below!

Carnage moves menacingly upon the spider with a stop sign hoisted over his head, but a simple bolt of cosmic energy renders the makeshift weapon non-existent!

The snippy serial killer turns to tell the cosmic herald to butt out of his blood feud, but as the identity of the silver stranger dawns upon him -- the symbiote recognizes the descending figure as well!

Fear is the last thing Cletus Kasady feels as the living red costume suddenly explodes from his body!

A thick red stream of living ooze curls through the air, arching towards a nearby storm drain, leaving the naked quivering body of its human host in the street.

An unbreakable bond is seemingly severed, and with a key word from Spider-Man -- the Silver Surfer immediately knows what he has just witnessed!

Familiar with the all-consuming threat the symbiote poses to the planet: Silver Surfer uses his cosmic power to evaporate the street beneath him and take up pursuit of the fleeing alien through the sewers.

On the surface; Spider-Man attempts to learn more from Kasady. The killer is racked with panic by the overwhelming sense of suddenly being alone -- and the residual terror & loathing felt by the symbiote.

The creature's shared race-memory is all too aware of the Silver Surfer from his years spent as herald to the devourer of worlds. For the destruction of one of its home planets, the symbiote desires revenge, and there's only one way it can defeat the Silver Surfer -- by becoming him!

The red symbiote springs its trap - catching the Silver Surfer by stretching suddenly to cover the entire space of the sewer before him.

What emerges from beneath the street is something truly terrible. A cosmic horror driven to its basest instincts by madness and bloodlust. The Surfer has fallen prey to the symbiote -- now there is only The Carnage Cosmic!

The Hammer...

So we witness the chilling birth of The Carnage Cosmic: a concept that tickles the fancy of every fanboy who's ever wondered what would happen if a symbiote bonded with a more powerful host.

In the last decade Marvel has made an unfortunate habit of these kinds of character mash-ups, but back in 1998 this kind of fusion was unheard of! It struck like a bolt from the blue, and the legend of its two issue impact has managed to continue to capture the imagination -- or what's left of it -- of readers to this very day!

So what exactly happened? Let's break it down as simply as possible to suit the needs of our humble Comic Book Fight Club:

Silver Surfer showed up and put the fear of god(s) in Carnage, which sent the symbiote scrambling, and left Cletus Kasady quivering in the street in his birthday suit. The method is unorthodox, but that constitutes a win -- over Cletus.

The Carnage symbiote latched onto The Surfer, essentially switching sides to join the winning team. That's gonna require an update to the rankings.

We always had the wherewithal to rank & record the Venom Symbiote as a separate entity from Eddie Brock. After all, it famously started with Spider-Man, and has found a few other noteworthy hosts along the way. The same should've been true of Carnage, but because of the strong bond between the red symbiote and Cletus Kasady, we've never had to make that distinction -- until now.

Enthusiasts will know this wasn't the first time the Carnage symbiote latched on to somebody else. Ben Reilly had a similarly brief turn as "Spider-Carnage" a couple of years prior, during his time as Spider-Man.

The chance encounter between Carnage and Silver Surfer was, however, one of the first times we were encouraged to think of he and Venom in a cosmic context.

It was inevitable that we would one day discover more about the alien origins of the symbiotes, but after the black costume's formal introduction in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8, we were rarely asked to ponder its life beyond Earth.

As the living suit worn by Peter Parker and Eddie Brock; the black symbiote was a means to a super-powered ends. Its passage from one host to the next created a novel origin story for a super-villain, who in turn became a popular anti-hero, but remained predominantly preoccupied with earthbound concerns.

Even the introduction of Venom's alien offspring didn't venture too far beyond the simple thrill of a new, more extreme menace for both Spider-Man and Brock to deal with. Maximum Carnage brought the villain into the purview of some unusual opponents, but its strangest alliances never breached the cosmic.

Venom's ambiguous backstory begged many questions, but I appreciate the clean simplicity of life before the all-answering and consuming creation of Knull.

Connecting the symbiotes' past with Silver Surfer and Galactus was a nice bit of world building that didn't go too far. It has an amusingly ironic symmetry, similar to the Marvel Zombies meeting Galactus, with a bit more respect for Marvel's established food chain. Building backwards, without disrupting the balance and control of one or two characters, was a palatable way to explore.

It makes sense that we should think of infestation as a planetary concern, but the existential parasitic threat was mitigated by limiting asexual reproduction to "once per generation". Even the threat to the individual seemed to melt away as Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady became standard bearers for a successful bonding.

We eventually got more symbiotes, but their lack of traction in the larger public consciousness highlighted the pitfalls of opening the floodgates. It's a bit like the Alien film franchise, where returning to Earth was a looming hypothetical threat, but once that page was turned in the Versus Predator films, it was apparent just how dissatisfying anything less than total commitment to global peril really is.

Brian Bendis took a stab at having it both ways with his "symbiote bomb" in Avengers, but the entire episode seemed frivolous and inconsequential. There was still a cap on how far the outbreak could go, and even on this smaller scale the macro began to lose any sense of character or genuine intrigue.

The wisdom of the Alien films seems to have settled on keeping things personal. A less is more philosophy, consistent with the atmospheric horror of the 1979 original that many agree remains the best. As Josef Stalin put it, "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." The threat of Carnage is personal, but an Earth consumed with symbiotes has lost clear meaning.

If you'd like to get personal with Carnage you can find today's featured fight Amazing Spider-Man #430 and many more collected in Carnage Classic! Use the Amazon purchase link provided to do your shopping and you'll not only find a good deal -- you'll also help support the site at no extra cost!

You can form a more successful bond by becoming a Patreon subscriber. As a thank you for supporting the project you'll unlock cosmic knowledge of additional updates, polls, and options to sponsor your very own custom articles! Becoming a patron helps me survive and the site to thrive!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover more from your favourites by following links throughout this post, or by becoming one with the Secret Archive. That's where you'll find every featured fight indexed by publisher, series, and issue.

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

Winner: Silver Surfer (w/ Spider-Man)
#31 (+5) Silver Surfer
#2 (--) Spider-Man [+1 assist]
#121 (new) Carnage (Symbiote) [+1 assist]
#135 (-12) Carnage (Cletus Kasady)

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]

COSMIC POWERS versus TYRANT

Long Live Tyrant! (Marvel)
Where: Silver Surfer #82 When: July 1993
Why: Ron Marz How: Ron Lim & Tom Christopher

The Story So Far...
Eons ago a biomechanical entity known as Tyrant was created to serve Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. When Tyrant developed an independent taste for interplanetary conquests -- Galactus was compelled to intervene in the name of maintaining balance in the universe.

So powerful was Tyrant that the ensuing battle did untold cosmic damage! The conflict was only ended when Galactus stripped his servant of much of his cosmic energy, banishing him to the darkest corners of existence, where he was expected to remain.

Not unlike his master, Tyrant learned to sustain himself by siphoning cosmic energies. After eons of restoring his lost power, Tyrant returns to a path of conquest, now commanding an awesome army of robot soldiers! Even the greatest cosmic heroes fall before him, becoming new sources of power, but the self-sacrifice of a captured Jack of Hearts releases the cosmic assembly from captivity. Now they unite their powers to fight together against Tyrant!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Tyrant 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Tyrant 6 (Genius)
Speed: Silver Surfer 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Tyrant 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Ganymede 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Morg 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Tyrant 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Tyrant 38 (Cosmic)

The cosmic powered team-up includes: Silver Surfer, Ganymede, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Terrax, and Morg.

It's tough to imagine any force standing up to such an awesome assembly of cosmic powers -- but that's exactly the scale of threat posed by Tyrant!

He's an immortal, nigh invulnerable biomechanical menace, capable of going ten rounds with Galactus and living to tell the tale! Silver Surfer has turned against their former master many times in the past, but could only dream of such success, surviving with his powers only by the good grace of Galactus!

Terrax and Morg are more recent heralds of Galactus, boasting phenomenal strength and durability. This is our first entry for Morg, but we've seen Terrax give DC's Green Lantern serious trouble in the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer crossover! Unfortunately, Terrax and Morg are also highly combustible mortal enemies -- just as likely to kill each other as they are a mutual enemy!

Acts of valor define Beta Ray Bill, whose noble spirit defeated Thor, and proved worthy of lifting his enchanted hammer in Thor #337! These days he has his own mighty mystic hammer called Stormbreaker. He used it to come to blows with Silver Surfer some years later, in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2, but can always be counted upon to fight the good fight!

Gladiator's loyalties lie primarily with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, but as long as Empress Lilandra rules, that usually means preserving the greater intergalactic good! We've seen his impossible strength dominate the Fantastic Four [Fantastic Four #249] and X-Men [New X-Men #124]. He should be a powerful ally!

The X-factor is Ganymede, who represents one of the last vestige of an ancient order known as The Spinsterhood. These powerful female warriors were sworn to battle Tyrant, and claimed responsibility for his early defeat.

In the prior issue, Ganymede mistook Silver Surfer for one of Tyrant's minions, but with mistaken identities out of the way, she could be the fighter to guide this awesome assembly to victory!

Silver Surfer alone has beaten cosmic opponents like Ronan the Accuser [Silver Surfer #13], Nebula [Secret Defenders #10], Super-Skrull [Fantastic Four #6], and Green Lantern [Marvel versus DC #3]. The group fell as individuals, but fighting together should neutralize Tyrant's robot army and challenge the conqueror himself! Let's see if they managed it!

The Tape: Cosmic Team-Up Ranking: Silver Surfer (#35)

What Went Down...
With a violent act of defiance - Jack of Hearts sacrifices his energies in a single devastating explosion! As the smoke clears, a collective of the most awesome cosmic powers stands assembled - freed from the shackles of Tyrant's matrix!

Silver Surfer leads the charge, vowing to honor Jack's sacrifice and end Tyrant's march of conquest. The techno-villain welcomes their assault -- unflinching as the Surfer's cosmic power blasts at his face! Tyrant has the confidence of an army of robotic soldiers flooding into the chamber.

The robots seize the Silver Surfer on Tyrant's behalf and drag him into the battlefield with the other cosmic powers. Regrouping, Surfer seeks attendance for the depleted Jack of Hearts, but nearest Terrax refuses to risk himself for another. Ganymede volunteers, slipping away to find Jack of Hearts in tact, but suffering grievous injuries. She's soon kicked aside by an attacking soldier!

Silver Surfer continues his obsessive rant against Tyrant. He blasts a path to the villain and attacks with a charging overhanded punch to the face! Tyrant mocks his boast to be the last man standing and unleashes his chilling power!

As Surfer is blown clear, Beta Ray Bill steps up to turn mystic Asgardian Uru against the mechanoid menace. He hurls his hammer Stormbreaker for a direct hit against Tyrant's chest -- but it doesn't even move him!

Gladiator stands with Bill as he receives his returning hammer in utter disbelief. The Praetor of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard has seen many impressive battles and continues undeterred as he turns his unbridled power against Tyrant!

Across the battlefield: Ganymede demonstrates the unique preparation of her Sisterhood. In a whirlwind of speed and agility she cuts robotic soldiers down with her gleaming staff! It seems victory will give her time to tend to Jack of Hearts, but yet more troopers are already descending upon her!

The Silver Surfer flies in to attack the reinforcements with his power cosmic, urging Ganymede to get Jack to safety. She agrees, but solemnly vows to return to the battle she was born to fight. Not all who are present share her dedication!

Brute strength has allowed Terrax to rip and smash through the robotic hordes with relative ease -- until Morg launches a sneak attack from behind! The tackle sends the two Heralds to Galactus bouncing into a grudge match all their own!

As Stormbreaker pierces through a line of soldiers, Beta Ray Bill notes the tide of battle is taking them further from their objective. Gladiator and Silver Surfer agree, recognizing it's up to the three of them to mount an attack on Tyrant!

The villain welcomes the charge led by Silver Surfer's power cosmic. He invites the inevitable end of their deaths: first claiming Beta Ray Bill with an overhand strike that smashes him face-first into the ground.

The concussive impact turns Bill into a projectile - hurled directly at Gladiator!

Tyrant presses his attack against Gladiator, blasting the Shi'ar Guardsman in the face with high-powered eye beams. He recoils, but defiantly refuses to fall!

Clutching his face, staggered, Gladiator is totally unaware Tyrant is looming over him. With a wild swing of his left fist - the conqueror finishes his opponent with an all mighty kayo! As he does -- Silver Surfer blasts him again!

Again the Surfer boldly proclaims his necessary victory, but Tyrant swings his fist backward -- swatting his forearm into the Surfer's flight path! The blow knocks the cosmic rider to the ground, but he does not yield - with good reason!

Ganymede returns to the battle without warning - gaining the element of surprise as she strikes with her spinster's staff! The special weapon bathes Tyrant's skull in raw energy that elicits a shout of pain and shock!

Alas, the upper-hand is short-lived! Tyrant immediately knocks her out with an eyebeam blast. The better to savour the demise of the last of the Sisterhood.

Though unsuccessful; Ganymede's attack gave Silver Surfer the time he needed to recover. He stands, fists pulsing with the power cosmic as he readies his attack. Tyrant smolders with his own energies as Silver Surfer bathes him in raw cosmic power! The unfathomable projection would surely decimate any ordinary being -- but Tyrant is unscathed as he returns fire with precision accuracy!

The deadly beam knocks Silver Surfer from his feet, tossing his chromed body to the surrounding wreckage. The most powerful challenger at last joins his fallen comrades, speckled with smoke and dirt. Tyrant is unchallenged!

The Hammer...
It feels like it's going to be a pretty cosmic year - so I figured we'd kick things off with an epic cosmic battle! The all-star line-up of cosmic powers doesn't get much bigger than this -- which says a lot about the threat level of Tyrant!

Introduced an issue prior, in Silver Surfer #81: Tyrant feels roughly created as the next in a succession of major cosmic threats of the early nineties. This was two years after Thanos dominated all existence in The Infinity Gauntlet, a year after The Magus unleashed evil doppelgangers in Infinity War, and concurrent with the beginning of The Goddess' superhero holy war in Infinity Crusade.

It's always a tough ask to suddenly come up with a convincing new threat of even greater danger. I think Ron Marz and co do a pretty good job of pulling it off. It was risky to sew Tyrant's backstory into ancient, untold corners of the universe, but it's worth it for the return of Galactus right after Tyrant wins!

His impending arrival is gradually teased over the course of the super-sized issue. Readers had seen Galactus face renegade former heralds before, but that wouldn't necessarily know what was coming, or that Tyrant has the distinction of facing his former master as an equal. Their battle is ultimately waged in words: a tense negotiation designed to avoid the catastrophic cosmic destruction their powers have unleashed once before.

Neither is willing to concede defeat, but it also simply doesn't benefit them to emerge into a broken universe. I really enjoy the concept of a villain who knows and respects his opponent enough to choose not to fight. They've effectively played the battle out in their mind and no the consequence. Neither is willing to concede defeat, but it simply doesn't benefit them to emerge into a broken universe. It's almost a sci-fi twist on evenly matched masters of martial arts.

Actually, coming back to the issue today, the shifting allegiances and tangled histories reminded me a little of Dragon Ball. The brutality of Jack of Hearts and his self-sacrifice reminded me of similar scenes. The way each hero falls away slowly and rallies, only to fail, feels familiar to DBZ. There's even something vaguely Frieza about the way Tyrant's power is presented. Just a little bit.

I wouldn't call Tyrant a villain for the ages, but I like the way he takes from the existing Galactus, but also gives to another new creation. Ganymede had an issue head-start, and builds the myth of Tyrant, while also existing because of it. Her design is pretty damn early nineties, but I kinda dig it. She's got a cool, new age witch meets gymnast thing going on. In this setting, it stands out.

Today's battle is also the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths debut for Morg: the then-current Herald of Galactus who Tyrant requests to retain as a power source in his negotiation with The Devourer. Galactus refuses at first, but it's a chance Tyrant doesn't miss to stick it to his old boss (and creator).

The side battle between Morg and Terrax follows up on hostilities between those two Heralds, and is hopefully something we'll get a chance to look at in more detail in a future battle. For now, it's time to update the Fight Club rankings for the first time this year!

Such a shame to start with a big drop for a couple of our cosmic all-stars, but hopefully Beta Ray Bill and Gladiator will bounce back! Both were teased for this month's all-new relaunch of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and I'm hoping they'll be in there with the Silver Surfer and some other top characters.

If you want to explore more from these characters and the Marvel Universe, be sure to explore links throughout this post, or dive in to the Secret Archive of featured fights! You can also discover more by following on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to throw in a like or share! Happy new year!

Winner: Tyrant
#317 (new) Tyrant
#35 (--) Silver Surfer
#321 (-181) Beta Ray Bill
#329 (-159) Gladiator
#868 (new) Ganymede
#869 (new) Morg
#883 (-186) Terrax