SUICIDE SQUAD versus PEACEMAKER versus MAJOR FORCE

"Death Game" (DC)
Where: Suicide Squad #28 When: May 1989 Why: Kim Yale & John Ostrander How: John K Snyder & Karl Kesel

The Story So Far...
A conspiracy known as "The Janus Directive" has ignited a secret war between rival covert military departments: Task Force X, Project: Atom, and Force of July.

Each suspects the other of plotting the attack, but the first shots were fired by Amanda Waller, whose pre-emptive counterstrike decimated The Force of July at the hands of her Suicide Squad. An act that arouses the suspicions of her allies in Checkmate.

The intelligence agency deploys Peacemaker to intervene in an assassination plot to safely detain Dr. Heinrich Megala of Project: Atom. Now their headquarters in the Koning Industries building is ground zero for a meta-human frontal assault as Project Atom's Major Force and the Suicide Squad launch separate attacks!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Major Force 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Lashina 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Vixen 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Major Force 6 (Generator)
Agility: Vixen 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Lashina 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Major Force 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Major Force 32 (Super)

Usually battle lines can be drawn between two sides, and indeed this fight does start as a one-on-one encounter, but the intrusion of a definitive third-party has led to a Secret Wars on Infinite Earths first -- a three-way conflict!

The Suicide Squad are: Vixen, Duchess, Shade the Changing Man, and Count Vertigo. They're charging into the middle of a violent showdown between Project: Peacemaker's top man, and the sadistic military powerhouse of Project Atom.

Peacemaker is a bit of an ironic moniker. Christopher Smith was imprisoned for war crimes when he was directed by erroneous military intelligence to massacre a village of innocents. He was paroled on the condition he join Project: Peacemaker - an elite, secret anti-terrorism police force.

The son of an Austrian Nazi war criminal; Smith is haunted by visions of his father that compel him towards extreme acts of personal success. He channeled this into atoning for he and his father's crimes, using his family fortune for philanthropic charity work, and to fund his activities as the extreme soldier Peacemaker. He's working as a freelance agent of Checkmate at the time of today's battle.

Major Force is another cast-off of the military-industrial complex. US Air Force Sergeant Clifford Zmeck was court-martialed and convicted of murder & rape, but found a reprieve from a life sentence via Project: Atom. After their failures coating another test subject in alien metal and exposing him to a nuclear blast, they gave Zmeck a triple layer and attempted the experiment again.

Zmeck also appeared to perish in the blast, but was actually caught in the same Quantum Field that claimed Nathaniel Adam, thrusting them both into the future whilst fusing their bodies with the alien metal, granting them flight, super-human strength, speed, durability, and quantum energy blasts.

The Suicide Squad should be able to pin down the gun-toting, jet-packing Peacemaker, but Major Force represents a major challenge for all parties involved.

Duchess, who is in actual fact the New God Lashina, might be able to withstand his strength and power blasts. Vixen can also add extra muscle by channeling the strength of an elephant & rhino like she did when defeating the Russian super-spy Stalnoivolk in Suicide Squad #43.

Shade the Changing Man and Count Vertigo attack perceptions by projecting a vision of fear, and disorienting sonic pulse, respectively. Peacemaker's helmet might be able to repeat Batman's method for blocking out Vertigo's powers, but Shade's M-Vest could prey upon his visions. We'll just have to see how either interacts with the quantum powered Major Force!...

The Tape: Suicide Squad Ranking: Vixen (#74)

What Went Down...

In the wreckage of the Koning Industries building, Major Force gleefully awaits the attack of Peacemaker. He's coming in hot -- jet-packing through the sky with high-powered blaster at the ready!

Peacemaker hones in like a heat-seeking missile -- blasting Major Force through the air with gun blazing!

Major Force rolls with the blow, regaining his footing with a sadistic smile as he charges both hands with dark quantum energy and delights at the prospect of a new "playmate".

He slams his hands together, sending bursting shocks blasts into the sky, but Peacemaker manages to rocket above the danger and remain focused!

Before Peacemaker can make good on his threat to kill Major Force -- the Suicide Squad arrives to pacify the conflict with extreme prejudice!

Vixen orders Count Vertigo and Shade the Changing Man to target Peacemaker, who doesn't immediately open fire on the unknown assailants.

He quickly gets an answer to their status when Vertigo engulfs him in a disorienting field that causes him to lose his bearings and head into a downward spiral!

Shade keeps the pressure on Peacemaker as he crash lands into the wrecked Koning building. His strange M-Vest projects a warped vision of Wolfgang Schmidt in SS uniform -- the imaginary picture of his father that haunts Peacemaker!

Rattled by the sight, Peacemaker is defenseless as Shade swoops around him and extends a massive projected fist from the cackling Nazi!

Duchess follows Vixen's direction to target Major Force, keeping him distracted by stepping up with a powerful hand cannon of her own devious design.

The Major welcomes the weapon, confident his alien metal shell can withstand the blast.

Force absorbs the almost point blank blasts straight to the torso, laughing as each of three rounds does almost nothing to impact him.

He takes great delight in taking his "shot", first punching Duchess in the face with a straight right, then delivering a side kick to the stomach, and finishing the combo with a close range uppercut!

Duchess wipes her mouth with a forearm and tosses away her gun. She tells her teammates to proceed with their mission while she takes care of her "meat".

"Hah! I finally found someone who won't break the first time I hit him! Okay worm -- let's match fists!"

A wild right hook checks Major Force across the jaw with a KRAK!

Lashina follows with a high kick -- maybe a roundhouse -- unaware that across the battlefield Peacemaker is watching.

Crawling through the wreckage, he imagines his father's chastising. It spurs him onward, first to his knees and then back toward his gun. He'll prove his isn't a weakling by lining up both his enemies and making the shot!

A massive explosion erupts a blaze around the battlefield as it blasts through the crumbling Koning building and topples Duchess, Major Force, and even the weakened gunman -- but was Peacemaker really responsible?!

His two awesomely powerful targets are first to stir. Major Force tries to get off the ground, cracking wise: "Oof! What was in that last punch, baby?"

Duchess doesn't take credit for the blast, but finishes him off with a rabbit punch!

Vixen and Shade emerge from the raging inferno carrying a badly wounded Count Vertigo. Turns out he caught a face full of explosion when the Squad's true target -- the diabolical Doctor Heinrich Megala -- blew up. A suicide-doppelganger!

The forcefield of Shade's M-Vest kept Vertigo from being fatally wounded, and allows the rest of the team to walk away having won the battle, if not the war.

The Hammer...

The Suicide Squad clearly emerges victorious -- even if their ultimate objective to detain Doctor Megala wasn't achieved.

Per the standard format we could have reviewed this as the Suicide Squad against mutually hostile targets Peacemaker & Major Force.

I generally prefer to keep the battelines drawn down two sides, but in this one it just felt a bit more interesting and honest to acknowledge a three-way conflict. Peacemaker and Major Force never even inadvertently collude, with the former lining up his shots against MF and Duchess right until the end.

It's actually a key plot point that everyone's at each other's throats: The Janus Directive is an 11 issue crossover weaving through the pages of Suicide Squad, Checkmate, Manhunter, Firestorm, and Captain Atom. It's a paranoid superhero-thriller that turns DC's various military and intelligence agencies against one another in a private war.

If you're acting under the misapprehension that any era of comics was apolitical, the post-Crisis DCU will be a particularly rude awakening. These comics were rife with political intrigue and commentary, and there were plenty of politically motivated and analogous agencies to get involved in The Janus Directive!

The first shots are fired when Amanda Waller fingers either The Atom Project or The Force of July for planning a violent power play against their departmental rivals at Task Force X: overseer of the Suicide Squad.

She doesn't know which agency it will be, and seeks to recruit Checkmate and Project: Peacemaker as part of a pre-emptive counterstrike led by the Squad.

"The Wall" refuses to reveal the source of her information, and the extreme nature of her actions arouses suspicion from Checkmate, turning them against her as the conflict escalates -- and with good reason, too! She's actually enacting plans revealed by a doppelganger who was supposed to have replaced her!

Waller initiates the Janus Directive to avoid alerting the conspirators that she's thwarted their replacement attempt, while also using covert resources, such as Manhunter, to uncover the mastermind behind it all: Kobra!

It might sound a little complicated, but it's a testament to the complimentary relationship between the various DC series involved, many written by John Ostrander, and the value packed into each issue at the time. This is a certainly crossover that enhanced each series it overlaps with, injecting colour and extra excitement into sometimes more sedate worlds.

Suicide Squad is and was a jewel in the crown of the time, and I find myself coming back to it regularly with greater appreciation. A lot of its strength is in the ebb & flow of A & B plots, accumulated reference, and the flexibility of the material to blend espionage, costumed super-heroics, and everything in between.

It's kind of awesome that we're looking at an issue that casually brings together a gun-toting earthbound New God in camo pants (Duchess, aka; Lashina), a Charlton acquisition (Peacemaker), and an oddball Steve Ditko creation (Shade the Changing Man). Fruits of earlier stories and a little happenstance.

I hope to take a closer look at some of these characters in the future, but if you'd like to draw your own conclusions you can find the entire crossover collected in the Suicide Squad Vol. 4: The Janus Directive.

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked well over 1000 characters! You can find them all by diving deeper into the Secret Archive: a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Or follow links throughout each post to discover more from your favourite characters, creators, and subjects!

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Winners: Duchess, Shade the Changing Man & Count Vertigo
#191 (+370) Lashina (Duchess)
#348 (new) Shade the Changing Man
#366 (+266) Count Vertigo
#617 (new) Doctor Megala Imposter [+1 assist]
#73 (+1) Vixen [+1 assist]
#959 (new) Major Force
#960 (new) Peacemaker

BRONZE TIGER & VIXEN versus STALNOIVOLK

The Phoenix Gambit: Part Four Black Queen's Mate (DC)
Where: Suicide Squad #43 When: July 1990 Why: John Ostrander & Kim Yale How: Geof Isherwood

The Story So Far...
The Suicide Squad have been dissolved, and Amanda Waller imprisoned, but political unrest in the Eastern European nation of Vlatava has forced the powers that be to reactivate their expendable black-ops force!

Now operating as a fully autonomous outfit under Waller's command; a team, partially reassembled by The Batman, infiltrates Vlatava under the guise of going freelance to a global market!

Russian General Kaligari agrees to hire Waller under strict conditions, working to expedite hardline aggressions against the deranged Count Vertigo, and his Vlatavian resistance. In truth, the Squad work against the Russians, aiming to bring in one of their toughest agents -- the man wanted in connection to an assassination in Gotham City: Ivan Illyich Gort - Stalnoivolk!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Stalnoivolk 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Bronze Tiger 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Vixen 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Stalnoivolk 6 (Generator)
Agility: Vixen 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting: Bronze Tiger 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Draw 1 (None)
Total: Stalnoivolk 25 (Champion)

It's a classic case of speed and skill against brute strength! The martial arts mastery of Bronze Tiger is unleashed by Amanda Waller with a mission to prove that even an invulnerable man can succumb to the right technique!

Bronze Tiger's target is a Secret Wars on Infinite Earths newcomer: Ivan Illyich Gort, aka; Stalnoivolk - translated as "Steel Wolf"!

Gort is the product of Soviet experimentation during the Second World War. He was born in the early 1900s, but his aging was drastically retarded by the process that also granted him phenomenal super-human strength, endurance, and stamina.

He could have been the first of many, but Stalin ensured his Steel Wolf would hunt alone. The fiercely loyal Soviet super-soldier participated in hostilities in Ukraine, only to be exiled to Siberia after the war. He was eventually recalled to action by the cold and calculating Major Zastrow, to participate in his covert super-human group Red Shadows.

Today we find Stalnoivolk operating under Zastrow to suppress rebels in Count Vertigo's homeland of Vlatava. He's best known for confronting the suspected nuclear threat of Firestorm, and covert operations of the Suicide Squad. As it so happens -- today: he is the Suicide Squad's covert operation!

Bronze Tiger is fighting master enough to challenge most strong-man types, but it's fair to say there's an air of mismatch when he goes up against Stalnoivolk.

It also doesn't help that Ben Turner isn't in the best of mental states, having been severely rattled under interrogation from Sargent Steel, before the Suicide Squad were officially disbanded as a government operation. The cold control he exhibited fighting Ravan in Suicide Squad #2, or taking care of Enchantress in Legends #3, is replaced with a recklessness that could prove dangerous.

His former lover Mari McCabe, aka; Vixen, secretly has his back, but in his current state The Tiger has no desire to call upon her assistance. She isn't exactly thrilled with the idea of offering it, either. The Ben Turner she once loved is a memory replaced by a man haunted by past misdeeds.

Which is a shame, because Vixen is arguably the better match-up for Stalnoivolk. Her ability to channel the morphogenetic field through her tantu totem means she can emulate characteristics of the strongest animals. That allowed her to go it alone against Professor Ivo and his androids in her own moment of darkness [Justice League of America #261]. She's also gone toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman in JLA: Classified #3, and Volcano Man during Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #15!

If Bronze Tiger and Vixen can get on the same page, they should be able to match the brute force of Stalnoivolk. If they don't, there's a real danger they'll just get in each other's way! The combined stats favour the Suicide Squad duo, but do not count out the simplicity of Stalnoivolk's power!

The Tape: Bronze Tiger & Vixen Ranking: Bronze Tiger (#79)

What Went Down...

Walking the streets of Vlatava; Stalnoivolk receives a call summoning him back to Red Shadow headquarters. It sufficiently distracts him from the figure leaving the shadows behind him. The mystery man strikes with deadly precision!

The blow to the base of the skull manages to send Stalnoivolk to his knees! The attacker is Bronze Tiger -- and he doesn't believe in true invulnerability!

Stalnoivolk defiantly digs his fingers into the concrete sidewalk beneath him and hurls the rubble at his looming attacker! He manages to catch Bronze Tiger by surprise -- momentarily blinding the martial arts assassin!

The Russian powerhouse rushes to capitalize on his gambit, but the Tiger can sense his movements. He vaults over the hulking super-soldier, buying enough time to regain his vision!

With clear sight on his target - Bronze Tiger responds with a furious flurry of targeted strikes! He hits a knee, the jaw, the back of the skull -- all in an effort to bring the "steel wolf" down!

The Tiger finishes his combo by thrusting both feet at Stalnoivolk's face -- but the Russian super-soldier catches him by the ankles! He's getting annoyed!

Luckily for Bronze Tiger, his Suicide Squad teammate and ex-lover Vixen has been following him. She leaps from the rooftops above and summons the charging power of a wild rhinoceros - targeting Stalnoivolk's steel back!

The super-human sneak attack involuntarily arches Stalnoivolk's back, releasing his grip on Bronze Tiger! The martial artist spills to his back, but wastes no time reorienting to capitalize on the unexpected assist!

Vixen channels a stampeding elephant into her punch as she strikes the wolf of steel's skull for the umpteenth time! At that same moment: Bronze Tiger thrusts his heel into Stalnoivolk's chest at full force!

The Russian finally falls! Invulnerable, but not undefeatable!

The Hammer...
At last we can answer the riddle: How do you defeat an invulnerable Steel Wolf? With the pure power of a stampeding elephant, and the striking ferocity of a tiger, of course!

After deep diving into Black Panther's origins last month; it might seem as if we're keeping up a theme of featured feline fighters. It's mostly a coincidence of what I've been reading lately, and maybe a little bit of influence from the recent Winter Olympic Games. I saw a whole lot of foulplay from Russians during the games. What's with that, any way?

The thought occurs that Bronze Tiger would be a very interesting opponent for Black Panther, should we ever get another round of DC versus Marvel fantasy fights! He's kind of a fusion of the physical discipline and mastery of Bronze Tiger, and the animalistic spirituality of Vixen!

Fans have often posited Black Panther works well as a counterpart for Batman, but there's no shortage of those. Who could resist a "cat fight" between two hand-to-hand masters of Black and Bronze?... Speaking of which: we really will have to get to Bronze Tiger's famous fight with Batman sometime soon!

As noted: I've been busied with the pages of Suicide Squad of late, reliving some of their classic conflicts from the back-half of the memorable run.

The Cold War was basically deemed done & dusted by this time in the series, but with a character as fun as Stalnoivolk, who wouldn't want to go back for another round of Soviet espionage and hostility? Facebook trolls and nudging speed skaters pale in comparison to the man dubbed Steel Wolf!

Regular readers know I love a good, simple second tier villain, and the bushy moustached Stalinist fits the bill perfectly! He's a great no frills kinda bad guy! A WWII relic who almost serves as a Russian counterpart to a 1940s Superman.

Stalnoivolk is a "man of steel" from behind the iron curtain - just as capable of leaping tall buildings, or out-pounding the powerful surf, as early era Supes! Like classic era Superman, he also doesn't do much more than take a good punch - or deliver one! The presentation is more austere, but that's both part of its charm, and the effectiveness of the character as a threat of will.

John Ostrander apparently created Stalnoivolk as a Firestorm villain, but he's arguably at his best as a threatening presence stalking the periphery throughout his Suicide Squad run. The Russian shows up pretty early as a continuation of threads from the first year's mission to Moscow [which went poorly]. 1990's "Phoenix Gambit" may come at a time when Cold War tension was losing topical relevance -- but it was the showdown readers had to have been waiting for!

The fight described is an action-packed moment of triumph for two of The Squad's best heroic characters, but it also shows the breakdown of their one-time romantic relationship.

The modern Bronze Tiger is fairly inseparable from Suicide Squad, but their mutually shared arc also did a lot to move Vixen forward after the final days of the Detroit era Justice League [see; Vixen versus Professor Ivo]. She goes into the Suicide Squad an emotionally broken hero, and comes out of it stronger. An inverse to the Bronze Tiger story, which finds him broken by Sarge Steel's grilling amid the governmental dissolving of the Squad in the previous story arc. It also plays to his earlier days brainwashed by the League of Assassins.

Ostrander [and Yale]'s Suicide Squad is a great time just about anywhere you might drop-in, but as I'm finding out while I fill in gaps, it's much more satisfying read in its entirety!

The accumulation of character development, sub-plots, and high concepts is really fantastic. In many ways, the content feels very relevant to our present world. Yet I'm not entirely sure if the long form spread would lend itself to the more timid aspects of our present pop culture.

If you've enjoyed dipping a toe into Suicide Squad with today's featured fight, you can currently seek out trade paperback collections for most of the original run. Using the link provided [right] will even help support the site at no extra charge to you!

As always, you can find plenty more action by following your curiosity to links littered throughout this post, tags down the bottom, or by plunging into the Secret Archive for an index of every fight organized by publisher, series, and issue number!

You can also subscribe to Secret Wars on Infinite Earths via Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day! A like and a share is a great way to spread the word and support the site!

Winners: Vixen & Bronze Tiger
#48 (+31) Bronze Tiger
#69 (+49) Vixen
#845 (new) Stalnoivolk

VIXEN & MARTIAN MANHUNTER versus PROFESSOR IVO

Last Stand (DC)
Where: Justice League of America #261 When: April 1987 Why: J.M. DeMatteis How: Luke McDonnell

The Story So Far...
One defeat too many has left the Justice League of America in tattered ruins. While the evil machinations of Darkseid plot to make outlaws of heroes, their enemies attack unabated by the whims of fickle law.

Professor Ivo and his mechanical menaces have plagued the Justice League for longer than they care to remember, but the divided heroes have never been more vulnerable, nor the villain ever more bloodthirsty!

Already Ivo's android assassins have seen to the deaths of Vibe and Steel, and made chilling attempts on the lifes of Gypsy, and the Martian Manhunter. With the rest of the team gone or resigned, Vixen stands alone to seek vengeance for her fallen allies! Her keen animal senses and savagery will ensure she stalks out her prey, but whose death will result when she finds Professor Ivo's lair?

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Martian Manhunter 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Martian Manhunter 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Martian Manhunter 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Vixen 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Martian Manhunter 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Vixen 4 (Trained)
Energy: Martian Manhunter 5 (Lasers)


I would've been really disappointed to finish 2016 without returning to this now classic encounter! It represents an interesting transitional period in Justice League history, where the infamous Detroit team was to finally make way for a glitzy group, newly assembled in the pages of post-Crisis event: Legends.

Legends #2 was the last time we saw this version of the JLA, suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of Apokolips demon-seed: Brimstone!

In that city shattering battle, Martian Manhunter was caught off guard by the firey beast. Rushing in without thought to his own vulnerability (flame), he was overwhelmed by debris that also buried Vixen, and the rest of the League: Elongated Man, Gypsy, Vibe, Steel, with allies Firestorm and Cosmic Boy.

In the wake of their humiliating defeat, the League veered towards disbanding as President Reagan issued an order to outlaw superheroes. Martian Manhunter favored accepting the decree, Elongated Man departed amidst in-fighting, and everybody but Vixen sort of went their own way. Good news for Professor Ivo, whose evil androids were able to pickoff Vibe and Steel - both killed!

Fearing death; Anthony Ivo has obsessively sought to attain immortality. His pursuit brought him into conflict with the JLA, whose powers he once hoped to steal, believing they could unlock infinite life. He and his androids are making their Secret Wars on Infinite Earths debut, but the instrument of his earliest attacks on the League has appeared before: Amazo!

The power stealing Amazo has been known to act independently, and the increasingly mentally unstable Professor Ivo has become victim to the whim of his other robotic creations -- including his own doppelganger. The duplicate Ivo is responsible for the murders, but Vixen doesn't know - or care - about that.

As one of the last standing members of Justice League Detroit, Vixen has given in to her primal rages -- seeking vengeance for her comrades alone! Her ability to channel the innate skills of animals makes her a pretty tough customer, but alone against an army of killer androids, she might be in trouble!

Good thing former detective Martian Manhunter has also picked up the trailer to Professor Ivo's secret underground lair! He'll be making the save, and helping tip the scales in favour of the heroes. His Martian weakness to fire isn't ideal, but his phenomenal strength and molecular malleability means he can make light work of Ivo's tin soldiers, as long as they don't combust.

We've seen the trouble fire can cause Martians in DC: The New Frontier #2, and Final Crisis: Requiem #1! We've also seen plenty of Martian toughness, as well. He took down Appellaxian Stone God in Secret Origins #32, helped fight Doomsday in the guise of Bloodwynd [Superman #74], and caused Green Lantern & Flash a whole lot of trouble as a Black Lantern [Green Lantern #44]!

We haven't seen as much of Vixen thus far, but she has gone toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman [JLA: Classified #3] and Volcano Man [Justice League of America #15]. So it doesn't look too bad for the heroes! Let's see how it went...

The Tape: Martian Manhunter Ranking: Martian Manhunter (#32)

What Went Down...
Stalking through filthy city sewers, Vixen searches solemnly for her prey. Deep within the stone laden labyrinth - a familiar scent, drawing her deeper into the twisting underworld. Soon - a light emanating from a small grate. She pushes it in and descends into a small room, where Professor Ivo waits with a banquet.

Vixen makes her lethal intent clear while Ivo offers questionable pleasantries in exchange. Seemingly resigned to his fate, he asks for Vixen's company as last request of a condemned man. She hurls her cup of poisoned tea in his scaly disfigured face and reaches for his throat. An attempt at kindness, he calls it...

Suddenly the room fills with a dozen shirtless men - each an exact duplicate of the last! Vixen's keen sense of smell detects the distinct absence of humanity among them. Androids: programmed to kill, just like the ones who killed her Justice League friends!

Vixen goes to ground as the automatons surround her. She springs upward suddenly, delivering an all mighty uppercut! A knee to the stomach! A leaping face jam! A vicious decapitation! She is at one with her animal instincts.

She swings her fists wildly, separating two more of the android's heads!

Professor Ivo watches the battle coldly, expressing surprise. He didn't expect to see Vixen winning! These androids weren't programmed specifically like the ones that killed Vibe and Steel. Ivo corrects the deficiency, searching out Vixen's computer file to broadcast the necessary tactical attributes to his army.

The androids overwhelm Vixen, rushing in a pack. An android strikes with a backhanded fist. Another with a clubbing blow. They all lean in, throwing fists like a pack of wild dogs. Fear takes Vixen as she contemplates her own mortality. Significantly outnumbered, she anticipates her own coming death.

Then, the door to Ivo's lair suddenly explodes with an angry call of his name! The Martian Manhunter has also tracked the villain in search of justice! Refusing to accept another teammates demise - he marches through the android horde, furiously toppling and crushing the robotic men!

Professor Ivo fears and respects the "real" Leaguer who's beaten him so many times before "to a pulp". Searching for a means to defend himself, he recalls the Martian weakness to fire. Wielding a super-charged lighter, he bathes the distracted Manhunter in strength sapping flame!

Meanwhile, surviving androids observe that Vixen has no apparent life signs. Their programming is astute enough to warrant a second networked scan, but it fails to protect them from Vixen springing back to life! With a vaulting thrust of her legs she sends the two robotic men hurtling across the underground room!

The action distracts Ivo enough to give Martian Manhunter the break he needs to strike the villain! The Professor begs for mercy, inciting anger in the soulful Martian. He vows to teach him about pain and fear, but cannot bring himself to harm such a feeble opponent. An affliction Vixen does not share!

The grieving hero lunges at Ivo, wraps her hands around his throat, and snaps his neck -- revealing severed wiring and microchips. Another android!

Discarding the sophisticated facsimile, Vixen marches across the chequered floor towards a door that hides the true Professor Ivo! Not the conniving master of machines, but rather a feeble prisoner of his own creations.

Gripped with fear and insanity, the raving Professor is as afraid and ashamed of the actions of his own androids, as he is of the death he believes Vixen intends to inflict. Recognizing his torment and anguish, the heroes grapple with their own emotional needs, unable to direct a hate they cannot discard. They face the pointless deaths of their allies together. The final victory of the Justice League.

The Hammer...
It's a somber, quiet end for the Detroit era of the Justice League of America, but at least it comes with Vixen and Martian Manhunter victorious! As fitting a conclusion as possible to an obvious house-cleaning for the impending and iconic "International" re-launch.

This is another one of the issues I would've been very disappointed not to find time for. We spent a lot of the past year revisiting this period of DC Comics, in particular the concurrent mini-series Legends. I talked about this particular issue during the Vixen Hero of the Week - and here it is!

Justice League of America #261 purports to be "Chapter 21" of the Legends saga, but to even call it tangentially relevant to the main story would be very generous! If you were only reading the six issue Legends series, your final impression of the Detroit League would've come from their crushing defeat by Brimstone in Legends #2. Vibe and Steel are still alive, but you'd be forgiven for thinking they'd died buried beneath the rubble of Brimstone's rampage. 

For a series that will ultimately conclude with the assembly of the new Justice League -- (more star-studded than the last) -- it gets the job done. The focus of Legends is very much on the post-Crisis lay of the land, and the new mix of icons and acquisitions who'll be front and centre in DC's new era. There's very little time for romancing the outgoing B-league team, which makes the gratuitous "Chapter 21" tie-in branding very well meaning, if a little misplaced.

Martian Manhunter is the only Detroit hero who makes his way to a new featured role in Legends. He's a shape-shifting stand-in for President Reagan, who earns the government's trust for mistakenly vilified superheroes. He will continue to lend quiet dignity and soul to the new Justice League, offering the only real through line for enduring fans.

It might've been nice if Vixen could've tagged along, but I wouldn't want to downplay the justifiable unpopularity of the Detroit characters at that time. Fortunately, Vixen's newfound precarious existence, and the hard edge gained in this final JLA story, made her well suited to joining the other team that spun out of Legends: The Suicide Squad!

Her admission to The Squad strikes me as a pretty canny use of the character. It has a nice sense of symmetry: a diverging fork in the road for the final two Leaguers left standing at the end of Volume 1. It also allowed for further exploration and definition of a broken character. When the two teams meet and fight in Suicide Squad #13, there's a great moment of Martian Manhunter and Vixen quietly sharing a tender embrace -- much as they did at the end of today's feature fight. A sentimentality that's appreciated in both examples.

Of course, even JLA #261 was hastened to sell the 'New era of greatness for The Justice League' coming the following month! That iconic Kevin Maguire cover sure does a good job of pitching it, as well. It's tough for Gypsy and Vibe to make much of an impression when you've got Batman, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Black Canary and Green Lantern scowling at you!

Thirty years later, I'm still pretty sold! By some bizarre twist of fate, the culture is in a place where the Detroit League has actually found a loyal audience on television! I'd like to say that's a good thing, but it tends to say more about how mediocre superhero TV is. With a less than impressive movie version on its way, you're reminded how it feels to long for the JLA done right!

There is definitely worthwhile material to be found in this period of the Justice League -- today's feature issue being one of the fine examples. That said, it could never be considered any kind of adequate standard for what the concept should be. The League doesn't always need to be the "Big Seven", but the best versions will always be hung on a cast of senior most iconic heroes, working toward an informed higher goal, and a greater good for humanity.

It's hard to know with any faith what really matters to DC Comics in 2017, but I'll sign-off with a warm thought. Just as Martian Manhunter and Vixen were able to share a moment built on the importance of their shared history, we can do the same. Knowing that these characters were part of a pretty great issue!

If you'd like to share more moments from Justice League of America, or any of the characters mentioned in this article, be sure to follow links provided for your convenience! You can sharpen your focus by targeting past features by publisher, series and issue in the Secret Archives Index!

If you like what you see, be sure to hit the G+1 button located just South of this article's text. Be sure to tell your friends all about the wonderful world of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths while you're at it. Every bit helps keep the wars infinite!

Winners: Vixen and Martian Manhunter
#22 (+10) Martian Manhunter
#115 (+231) Vixen [+5 kills]
#812 (new) Professor Ivo

HERO OF THE WEEK: VIXEN (DC)
Real Name: Mari Jiwe McCabe
First Appearance: Action Comics #521 (July, 1981)
Fight Club Ranking: #344

Featured Fights:
- vs BRIMSTONE: Legends #2 (Dec 1986)
- vs JUSTICE LEAGUE: JLA: Classified #3 (Mar 2005)
- vs INJUSTICE LEAGUE: Justice League of America #15 (Jan 2008)

An unexpected result of spending time with the Suicide Squad this past August was digging back into the DC Comics of the post-Crisis eighties. Along with the issues of Suicide Squad and Legends that were featured, I also spent some time re-reading JLA. This was the period when the Justice League underwent a major revamp - relaunching with the eclectic all-star group eventually known as Justice League International.

JLI was a revamp necessitated by the small scale, urban-minded adventures immediately preceding it -- the infamous "Detroit" era of the League. We saw one of their last outings as a group in Legends #2, but the real end for the JLA came shortly after, when there were just two members remaining: Martian Manhunter and our Hero of the Week - Vixen!

Vixen hasn't been a character I've thought a great deal about over the past twenty years, but it seems one good turn deserves another! Comic Book Resources reports Vixen is about to make another comeback to the JLA starting with a spotlight special: Justice League of America: Vixen #1.

The copy reads a bit like pandering catch-up to Marvel's Black Panther hype, but it does allude to a time in Vixen's life when things weren't so bright. That's ultimately what engaged me the most in my journey back to the eighties!

Where most of the Detroit era League flitted into obscurity, Vixen instantly became a more interesting character by personifying the pathos of that era's demise. She mourns lesser JLA heroes Vibe and Steel -- killed off in a plot by Professor Ivo. Volume 1 of Justice League of America ends with a roar when Vixen descends into the underworld of the city gripped by a lust for revenge.

Vixen's crusade to take down Ivo borders on a suicide mission, which may've been the inspiration for her admission into the Suicide Squad. It's another example of that series' wonderful ability to play with the meta-text of characters who aren't thriving, but aren't necessarily ready for cancellation! It plays particularly well when the Justice League come to blows with the Squad. While others fight, Vixen shares a tender moment with Martian Manhunter - the only Leaguer who was there to the end.

It would've made a lot of sense to keep the African heroine around for the Justice League International run, but the path she ultimately took made her a much more interesting, complex character than before. A compliment to the otherwise serviceable concept of a character who can channel the powers of a pantheon of animals.

Vixen is also starring in an animated series spun out of TV's Arrow. It's significantly cooler than its mediocre TV universe ties, but for real thrills I recommend Batman: Brave and the Bold. It's generally one of the best DC cartoons around, notable for playing with references from the forties all the way up to today. They develop a very fun relationship with B'wana Beast. Well worth a look!

<< Hero of the Week 10/17: Wolverine       [Home]       Hero of the Week 10/03: Luke Cage >>

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA versus BRIMSTONE

Breach of Faith! (DC)
Where: Legends #2 When: December 1986
Why: John Ostrander & Len Wein How: John Byrne

The Story So Far...
From distant planet Apokolips, the New God Darkseid and his minion Desaad curse the heroes of the world known as Earth. Their designs for destruction have been thwarted one too many times by the meddlesome mortals. Thus, they plan Operation: Humiliation to destroy them in body, mind and spirit!

Born from a techno-seed planted in a nuclear reactor, Brimstone is a burning goliath on the frontlines of the attack! He decries the heroes as false gods with a gospel of Darkseid, declaring himself a fallen angel to cleanse the sinners. His march of destruction laying waste to New York, Firestorm and Cosmic Boy!

Fortunately for Firestorm, he knows a team of heroes who can help him even the odds against the towering inferno! Thus, the Justice League of America enters the fray to try to stop the monster before he burns the town!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Brimstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Elongated Man 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Steel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Brimstone 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Martian Manhunter 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Gypsy 4 (Training)
Energy: Firestorm 6 (Mass Destruction)


The Justice League of America are: Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Vibe, Vixen, Steel and Gypsy, with Firestorm and Cosmic Boy.

You may know this JLA arrangement by reputation as the short-lived, infamous Detroit era team. They're an eclectic mix of classic membership, cast-offs, and unusual new characters. They're held together by the leadership of Martian Manhunter, who inherited the role from Aquaman after he stepped down.

They've been summoned to today's feature fight by Firestorm, who we saw hit a big flaming wall when he took on Brimstone just an issue earlier, in Legends #1! They gather around time displaced hero of the 30th century, Cosmic Boy, who also tried to put a stop to Brimstone's warpath in the last issue. Just who is this walking, talking towering inferno that's giving everybody so much trouble?

Brimstone is a weapon on the front line of Darkseid's Operation: Humiliation - designed to defeat and discredit the mightiest mortals of Earth! He was born from a techno-seed in the heart of a nuclear reactor, exploding in size to stand equal to the skyscrapers of New York City. He is sentient plasma, commanding super-human strength, intense heat, and flame manipulation.

For a team whose primary heavy hitter is the Martian Manhunter -- a giant flaming monster is a definite cause for concern! Even at his most valiant, the Superman scale powerhouse is all but eliminated from offensive consideration by his fire weakness. We saw burning church curtains freeze him in his tracks in DC: The New Frontier #2, a contrast to his disguised participation in an early fight with Doomsday [Superman #74]!

Elongated Man, Vixen, and Gypsy are also pretty much out of their depth. It would take an inventive combination strategy to make use of their individual powers of elongation, animal mimicry, and projections.

Steel (Henry Heywood III) -- not to be confused with armored hero John Henry Irons -- may be able to withstand Brimstone's heat, and exert enough physical strength to move the beast. Likewise, the sonic shockwaves projected by Vibe could effect some physical motion. Combined with the nuclear powers of Firestorm and magnetic field manipulation of Cosmic Boy - they have a good shot to attack Brimstone. Can they possibly beat him, though? That's what we're about to find out!

The Math: Martian Manhunter Ranking: Martian Manhunter (#29)

What Went Down...
Abandoned vehicles litter an empty Manhattan street. Standing over these tokens of human insignificance - the burning giant: Brimstone! He cries out the manifesto of a fallen angel - a false prophet sent by Darkseid to "cleanse" the world of sinners, graven idols and false gods. Lies to discredit Earth's heroes!

Incensed by the burning behemoth's challenge, the Martian Manhunter leaps into the air to meet it head-on! Ordinarily his natural gifts of strength and power would afford him a rash attack, but his actions are without thought! Elongated Man desperately tries to warn him - Brimstone is his very weakness personified!

The warning reaches Martian Manhunter just in time. He pulls back from his airborne attack at the last minute! A near miss for a man vulnerable to fire!

Vibe steps up to take advantage of the long range application of his "vibratory powers". He sends a powerful shockwave directly at the feet of the giant!

The blast knocks the giant off balance! He tumbles backward into the buildings surrounding -- making Vibe the first man to knock Brimstone off his feet!

Undeterred, the creature spews his villainous gospel. Forging a sword of pure flaming plasma, he lashes out at a nearby skyscraper!

The demolished building becomes a curtain of debris descending upon the assembled Justice League. Martian Manhunter goes on the offensive, to use his phenomenal strength to smash through the threat and defend his team.

Cosmic Boy begins to affect a magnetic field of some kind. Firestorm tries to mount a defense, as well. It's all for naught. There's simply too much building!

The skyscraper tumbles down directly upon the League. Burying them alive!

The Hammer...
Another battle, another victory for the blazing behemoth: Brimstone! Can anyone hope to stop his self-righteous rampage? Another grouping will make an attempt when we venture into the dirty deeds of the Suicide Squad - next week!

The curbed villainy of the Squad's should provide smooth transition from the month of July. By virtue of coincidence, it's been the bad guys winning all month in our featured fights. The theme of DC's past Rebirths has meant revisiting stories dedicated to breaking down heroes in order to rebuild them. In the case of Legends, we see here the effective deconstruction of the Detroit era Justice League. Not quite the last hurrah, but the transition.

Things would actually get much worse for this JLA in their final starring issues of Justice League of America. An attack by Professor Ivo's androids whittles the Detroit League to its final standing members: Martian Manhunter & Vixen. They fight, in particular, to avenge the death of Steel. Their loyalties are then divided.

As Legends and "Operation: Humiliation" unfolds over six issues, a new Justice League will begin to form itself - the iconic "Justice League International". Not before Amanda Waller will assemble her first collection of leashed villains and rogues as Task Force X, aka; The Suicide Squad. That's where Vixen finds herself, while the Martian continues on as the soul of the JLA. A position sorely lacking from first impressions of the cinematic Justice League.

These ties between the fledgling DC cinematic universe of 2016, and the post-Crisis "Rebirth" seen in Legends are interesting to compare and contrast.

In design and detail, the movies based on DC Comics have seemed eagre to run from their comic book sources. Even as the boldest and brightest of the culture rises to the top, Hollywood's reluctance to fully embrace four-colour superheroes has snaked its way throughout.

Marvel can be given more credit for turning red and gold armor into superhero chic, but even they've been guilty of shying away from their own colour and imagination. DC have just had a knack for going much further, turning their heroes into detestable funhouse mirror reflections of classic characters. A path they carried into print in the dour New 52 -- a line-wide shift to suit the comics to their adaptations. A creative cultural downward spiral.

The Legends mini-series isn't really strong enough to escape the shadow of the comics it spawned. The slapstick superhero fusion of the Justice League launched by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire is iconic to this day. The shadowy inter-personal drama and intrigue of John Ostrander's Suicide Squad -- inarguably responsible for launching and defining a phenomenon. Even so, the foundation of world building and arrangement Legends provides is in many ways a perfect road map for today's franchised cinematic landscape.

Unique, independently constructed visions of each film property is an appealing conceptual difference for DC, even if its returned severe disappointment, so far. An intricate tapestry isn't what we need more of -- but some Legends-like planning might have helped. Rather than perpetuating the ink stain of Man of Steel, Dawn of Justice might've been better served laying the groundwork for both the Justice League and the Suicide Squad. A very different film, with an end goal to pit the two teams against each other, rather than the rumored stepping stone of Steppenwulf before a presumed New Gods offensive.

We haven't actually explored much of the Legends mini-series at all, but for an example of how it builds to the two super-teams, you might like to flash back to another featured fight from Legends #1: Flash vs Deadshot. The early skirmish puts Deadshot in incarceration, to be recruited later on for the Suicide Squad. A sequence of introduction and construction the movies could've benefitted from.

Of course, I'm assuming that Legends wasn't an inspiration behind DC's initial films. The similarities found, more likely a presumed happy accident massaged by convergent evolution. Multi-picture franchises are just a fact of the box office thanks to the esteemed competition. The studio: ripe with old, stalled projects to benefit from the new world order. Justice League is an old goal that almost happened in the mid-2000s under George Miller and a plot inspired by Infinite Crisis (and Project OMAC). Suicide Squad: a mutation of rumored pitches like David Goyer's Supermax - a movie about Green Arrow imprisoned with villains.

I'm sure we'll be talking a lot more about these topics in August. Stay tuned for Friday Night Fights, and the inevitable walk through Hero of the Week.

In the mean time, we say hello to the Detroit Justice League for the first time on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths -- and good bye, as they face disbanding after the events of the featured issue!

If you'd like to get ahead of the game and see the story in its full context, you can check out the collected edition via Amazon purchase link provided! You can also rummage through the back issues of past features in the Issue Index Archive to uncover more! Both go a little way to helping keep the site going!

Winner: Brimstone
#92 (+197) Brimstone
#30 (-1) Martian Manhunter
#291 (-174) Elongated Man
#341 (-11) Vixen
#793 (new) Vibe
#794 (new) Cosmic Boy
#795 (new) Gypsy
#796 (new) Steel (Henry Heywood III)
#806 (-14) Firestorm