BEAST versus CORPORATE SPY

The Beast! (Marvel)
Where: Amazing Adventures #11 When: March 1972
Why: Gerry Conway How: Tom Sutton

The Story So Far...
Of all the mutants who joined Charles Xavier's X-Men -- Henry McCoy was a gifted youngster, indeed. Possessed of both brilliant brain and brawn, he excelled as magnificently in the laboratory as the battlefield. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that he was the first of Xavier's original class to leave the Westchester School.

Recruited by The Brand Corporation to participate in a highly secretive think tank; McCoy sets out to continue his research into genetic mutation with the benefit of state-of-the-art facilities.

Alas, those same cutting edge resources attract a web of espionage, provoking the former X-Man to take drastic measures to disguise his mutant nature while thwarting a late-night break-in. A decision that will forever transform him into his most literal namesake -- The Beast!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Beast 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Beast 6 (Genius)
Speed: Beast 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Beast 3 (Strong Willed)
Agility: Beast 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Beast 2 (Average)
Energy: Beast 1 (None)
Total: Beast 26 (Metahuman)

You may know him as an erudite & mild-mannered mutant scientist, or perhaps the more recent conspiring geneticist whose morality teeters ever more precarious -- but this incarnation of Dr. Henry McCoy is a different Beast all together!

Fangs, fur, and anger define our hero in this outing, as we find him at the beginning of an amazing new chapter! A moment when he chose to consume a serum of his own making that triggers a shocking second stage in his own natural mutation! A decision that would change his life forever...

Originally The Beast merely possessed enlarged hands & feet, enhanced strength, and fantastic agility. Mutations that brought him to the attention of Charles Xavier, who recruited him as one of his first class of costumed X-Men.

In this classic guise, Beast was powerful and nimble, battling Sub-Mariner and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, going toe to toe with Skurge The Executioner, and wrestling the lethal Lizard in the swamps of Louisiana.

Possessing both brains and brawn, McCoy continued to study in the fields of biology and genetics while adventuring, maintaining a specific interest in human mutation. Recruited by The Brand Corporation, he successfully isolated a hormonal extract that was the chemical cause of so-called "homo-superior" development.

The extract, if consumed, could trigger a mutation in a human subject, reversable if treated by antidote within an hour. A factor that led McCoy to attempt a Jekyll style temporary transformation to obscure his identity while thwarting Bennie: a spy for the Secret Empire masquerading as a Brand security guard!

The transformation further exaggerated McCoy's mutation, reducing him to a dark, silver-grey furred primitive man-Beast. He gained even more pronounced animal-like strength & agility, endurance, and accelerated healing capable of enduring multiple gunshot wounds! It also robbed him of his mental clarity and intelligence, unleashing a wild, instinctive rage in moments of stress.

This is a far cry from the blue-furred Beast that cared enough for his fellows to throw himself at Apocalypse and lock up with Spiral! It's even a very different breed to the cat-like Beast who tore through the Shi'ar Imperial Guard and Magneto-impersonating Xorn with brilliant precision after further mutating.

So how does he handle a Secret Empire spy in his first outing? Let's find out!

The Tape: Beast Ranking: Beast (#55)

What Went Down...

Bennie, he thinks to himself, "Just play this game right -- and you're home free!" A security watchman, dragging a cigarette as he prowls through the gloom, walking the empty midnight paths of The Brand Corporation lot.

He fights the uncanny feeling that someone's watching. He tells himself it's just nerves, but maybe Bennie's more intuitive than he thinks. Maybe on some sub-conscious level he can sense the dark creature walking the powerlines and skipping between rooftops just over his head -- watching his every move.

He casts his flashlight over a massive metal door. The classified entrance to Genetic Research Subdivision 12 -- "home free".

From inside his jacket, he produces a small leather pouch that unfolds to reveal a fantastic device. A small arc welder, unleashing focused heat on the steel door that briefly fills the emptiness with a shriek -- until its seal is at last breached.

The watchman moves to enter the dark of the facility, but on this night the creature that watches him will not allow it! From overhead -- The Beast pounces!

Bennie panics as he's dropkicked to the ground and The Beast -- still adjusting to his newfound strength -- effortlessly hurls him into nearby machinery!

The false guard -- a spy -- desperately draws a handgun.

The Beast orders him not to shoot with a deliberate, growling cadence as he charges towards the gunman. It falls on deaf ears.

The terrified man squeezes the trigger and The Beast's skull is creased as he contorts his massive body in a desperate bid to avoid being hit! His arm -- thrown outstretched -- shunts the spy through the air into more machinery.

Horrified and bewildered by the sight confronting him -- Bennie keeps shooting!

The Beast lunges once more towards the gunman, absorbing his shots directly to his torso. It ignites a fire across his furry chest -- a chorus for the throbbing percussion of pain that pounds in his head!

Enraged, but enduring -- The Beast vaults himself on one hand to deliver a furious dropkick to the shooter!

Suddenly the night air is filled with the whip of bullets as a swarm of soldiers rushes the gates of Genetic Research Subdivision 12!

The Beast's night of action has been for nothing. He could have left the alarm to alert better suited men to the break-in. His heart fills with rage, but instinct compels him to use his incredible agility to leap into the shadows, remaining hidden from the armed forces coming from outside.

Beast hides among the machines while Bennie foolishly tries to trade shots with no less than eight heavily armed soldiers! His fear seals his fate!

The Hammer...

We're wandering off the beaten path to visit upon a classic I've been enjoying in my reading time, which I might argue is an often-underrated piece of the Marvel horror comics boom. Perfect subject matter for the Halloween season!

Amazing Adventures #11 is a famous issue for fans of the X-Men, and I was very excited to finally get a chance to read my own copy, albeit in a reasonably priced Epic Collection I picked up on sale.

The journey was long. I can't tell you how many times I saw that cover reprinted in places like Wizard Magazine. Often cited for its significance in the development of the Beast character; I'm pretty sure there was a lauded copy hanging over the comic store I used to frequent as a youngster, where I intuitively understood it was the moment the classic 'big foot' Beast became the hairy icon.

Despite all this, no amount of trivia, osmosis, or passing familiarity could prepare me for just how exciting the shift in tone & style of the interior pages really is!

Some of us might be prone to remembering some of the stuffier and more clunky comics produced throughout the 1970s, but I would rank this era of Amazing Adventures somewhere in the company of Jim Starlin on Captain Marvel, and Jim Aparo drawing Aquaman, for revelatory experiences from the decade.

This was the era when X-Men was on life support. A strange and unfathomable period that ran from the end of 1970 to 1975, when the series reprinted issues by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creating a gap between X-Men #66 and #94 where no original stories were produced. This was basically Classic X-Men -- but the main title itself was taking four years off for reruns less than a decade old!

To the benefit of us all -- somebody clearly saw the potential in the characters and brand. They kept them alive long enough to reach the new era sparked by Giant-Size X-Men #1, utilizing occasional guest spots in those intervening years, with one character chosen for a shot at spinning out into his own adventures!

It's pretty wild to think Beast was the breakout hero, but it's a little less surprising when you see how radically different his spin-off into Amazing Adventures was.

The midnight setting, and deep inks, immediately cast the adventure in a very different light. This is a darker, edgier, more atmospheric outing from the very first page. You can see it in the featured fight recap [above].

Ostensibly a complete rethink; Amazing Adventures #11 repurposes Hank McCoy for a genre-bending horror, sci-fi, espionage, romance book, with trace elements of super-heroics.

The horror element is what stands out most, especially in this first issue, but it almost feels like they're hedging their bets on any genre becoming the hot new fad to carry the character forward. All options are available, even if it quickly begins returning to superhero roots in the next couple of issues.

Hank McCoy isn't exactly James Bond, but the reference is self-evident as his work in genetic research immediately overlaps with the Mata Hari of it all. Hank gets pretty hot & heavy with assistant Linda Donaldson toot suite, adding a whole lot of angst & drama to the series as he attempts to hide his transformation in subsequent issues, while Donaldson pursues a relationship, working for the same Secret Empire behind our hapless featured fighter, Bennie the Corporate Spy.

I can't help but think of our collectively regained familiarity with the story of Oppenheimer to further contextualize the rapid romancing going on with our science hero. Cillian Murphy's portrayal reminded us all of the perils of lusty nerds in possession of state secrets. Not that it's an isolated incident in Marvel Comics.

This type of overlap between frontier science, espionage, and ways of the heart draws very obvious comparisons with the earliest issues of Incredible Hulk, not to mention its notable twist on horror-tinged classic creature features.

Both begin with Jekyll & Hyde transformations, but while Bruce Banner becomes a Frankenstein type, Beast is more like the Wolfman. Unsurprising then that the two characters are drawn together when Beast's solo outing extends beyond the short-lived starring spot in Amazing Adventures. A battle we will surely spotlight.

Hulk will be naturally drawn into a resurgence of horror comics in the seventies, but Beast quickly drifts back to the world of super-heroics, becoming an Avenger, and reconnecting with the X-Men. Which is probably why the character's horror bona fides, and role in the revival, aren't talked about as often as they could be.

1972 is a significant time for horror in comics -- especially at Marvel. They were starting to unravel the restrictions imposed by a Comics Code Authority entrenched in the 1950s, and Frederic Wertham-led book burnings.

Morbius, The Living Vampire had debuted as an antagonist under the cover of the massive success of Spider-Man in 1971, while Werewolf By Night played it more straight -- introduced just a month prior to this new Beast, in '72.

A new wave of horror was coming for our children and I'm sure they were all incredibly grateful for it! Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, and subsequently Blade, Son of Satan, and more followed the trend. A cavalcade of enduring horror-hero icons who've stayed the course for the company, which is something Beast didn't really do within the genre.

Yet, in this foremost issue of the revamp, it's the animalistic quality of Beast that is really apparent. His loss of self is integral to the drama. Evocative narration puts the reader in the mind of the transformed, keeping us intimately aware of his snarling lips, fangs, and uncontrollable urges. It is we, the reader, who is culpable for the chaos and bloodshed of this dark night.

Key to the thrills of the episode are the pencils of Tom Sutton, whose figures and layouts are a perfect fusion of horror comics and superheroes, rendered under heavy inks by Syd Shore. Colours are uncredited, but vital to the episode as well.

Like the Hulk before him, this version of Beast will undergo a colour change, from a grey-ish hue of purple this first outing, to his more iconic blue fur a few issues later. I like the 'dark, silver-grey' that evokes the werewolf, but there's no denying that the blue is more memorable. I don't know if this change was for style, or a similar issue with maintaining grey consistency in printing that turned Hulk green.

In the end, I wonder which force was strongest to push Beast away from the horror flavour of this story. It's interesting, but probably not quintessential or unique enough to keep the character rooted. Morbius is the better monster-scientist, and Werewolf By Night the better man-beast. With John Jameson becoming the Man-Wolf a year after this, there probably just wasn't enough room to warrant a Beast remaining in the darkness.

I think this issue is awesome and I'm very pleased to have finally be able to enjoy it and share the experience with you. I very much hope to return to more of the Beast's solo outings at some point in the future. If that's something you think I should do sooner, you might like to consider supporting the site on Patreon.

Henry McCoy needed corporate backing to do his research into mutant enzymes and with your help we can learn the secrets of superhero smackdown! Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has already documented well over 700 battles and ranked more than 1,000 of your favourite characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for an index ordered by publisher, series, and issue number.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by following on X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#55 (--) Beast
#1033 (new) Bennie

BATMAN versus SOFIA GIGANTE FALCONE

Peace (DC)
Where: Batman: Dark Victory #13 When: December 2000 Why: Jeph Loeb How: Tim Sale

The Story So Far...
The mystery of a new killer grips Gotham City in the wake of The Holiday murders. The months melt away as The Hang Man stalks the ranks of law enforcement, pinning a crude scribbling of the children's word game to their victims, written on documents taken from the desk of Harvey Dent.

The scarred former District Attorney has gone underground as the walls of suspicion and his enemies begin to close in around him. Former ally, Batman, is on his trail, but the man now dubbed "Two-Face" is busy with his own investigation, and the pair will inevitably reach the same conclusion, leading to a showdown with Sofia Gigante Falcone!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Batman 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Batman 29 (Metahuman)

The Batman has had no shortage of run-ins with organized crime figures, but finding a comparison for the heiress to the Falcone Crime Family is no mean feat.

Sofia Gigante Falcone is one of a kind. The daughter of notorious Gotham City crime boss Carmine Falcone, she was much closer to her father than her mother, Luisa. Sofia inherited The Roman's cunning and determination, navigating mob rank with the benefit of a physically imposing stature and demeanor.

It's difficult to do Sofia Falcone's domineering size and aura justice. She is a truly powerful woman in every sense of the word -- but by the time of Batman: Dark Victory, she is carrying the literal & figurative scars of The Long Halloween.

The Holiday Killer's campaign against organized crime pushed Sofia to extremes and ended with her shocking plunge from the balcony of the Falcone Penthouse.

Catwoman's bola inadvertently saved Sofia from falling to her death, but in doing so, swung her uncontrollably through plate glass windows that sheered the right side of her face off, and left her wheelchair bound -- or so it seemed.

Cosmetic surgery, wigs, and a steel frame rebuilt Sofia's appearance, but rumors of her crippling physical injuries were greatly exaggerated. In fact, the wheelchair is a mere cover for her campaign as The Hang Man Killer: a serial murderer whose hanging modus operandi speaks to the physical strength of Sofia Falcone.

She isn't enhanced to the degree of Bane - who combined stratagem, training, and Venom augmentation to famously break the bat - but certainly possesses the natural physical attributes to give Batman a run for his money.

We know he can handle himself against the likes of a Venom-enhanced Riddler, Killer Croc, Fatman & Little Boy, and even Marvel's peak physical specimen, the super-soldier Captain America. How will he handle Falcone? Let's find out!

The Tape: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

Gotham City burns from the inside out as the gas lines ignite, and Harvey "Two-Face" Dent crawls desperately through the labyrinthine sewers beneath.

Dent pulls himself across the stone, emerging from a metal hatch without noticing the dark figure hidden in the flames. A noose drops around his throat and yanks him toward the pipes overhead. On the other end of the rope - a hulking shadow, emerging through the flames as it sheds the metal frame around its head.

His executioner steps into the light -- Sofia Gigante Falcone, The Hang Man Killer.

The seemingly crippled crime boss almost fooled them all. They never suspected the woman in the wheelchair. She towers, completely capable and unencumbered, strong enough to hold a grown man off the ground by a rope around his throat.

Dent spits in Sofia's face. She yanks the rope and buries her right fist in his gut.

A razor-sharp batarang cuts the air and slices the rope. Two-Face drops.

The Dark Knight descends into the burning sewer tunnel, gliding over Sofia Falcone. A short uppercut knocks her back as he works through all the clues in his mind, unravelling and revising the inevitability of her guilt.

The powerful crime boss is disgusted that Batman would protect the Two-Faced former District Attorney. Falcone is more than able to match his blows, scuffling with a leading left that becomes an upward strike.

The Batman delivers a straight kick to her chest to wind the giant.

He follows rapidly with a precision nerve strike delivered with straightened hand.

A stiff uppercut completes the combination to end the Falcone Crime Family.

The Batman appears triumphant, but then --

Suddenly -- a gunshot rings out in the tight sewer tunnel and Sofia Gigante Falcone's grimace goes limp. Her eyes widen, dumbstruck, as blood bursts from her forehead. The Hang Man has been hit.

A noose drops around her neck, pulling the corpse away from Batman and toward those pipes running along the top of the sewer tunnel.

Falcone's body provides counterweight as Two-Face leaps to a lower level of the tunnel system, dangling from the other end of the rope in escape.

"You wanted it to end, Bats. So did I."

The pipe bursts as chunks of the old sewer system begin to collapse and fall away. Fire engulfs the underground. The Hang Man has been stopped, but it's not over. Not yet. Two-Face is still on the loose and The Batman has a cave to defend.

The Hammer...

It's been a while since I've revisited Dark Victory, but I remember a lot of it quite well. Not just through the ripples of its influence in the adaptations of Christopher Nolan, or the recent HBO live-action Penguin series streaming to MAX, but from the impact of that very first read some twenty-plus years ago.

The Long Halloween had passed me by, but I read vicariously through the pages of Wizard Magazine, where the hottest Batman story of the mid-late nineties was the source of much speculation and excitement. It got me excited, too!

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale quickly became a must-read partnership as I reinvested myself in DC's Dark Knight -- a lapsed favourite from earlier childhood. Naturally, a collected edition of The Long Halloween became an instant favourite. I cherish it still. It's on top of a tall stack of comics on my desk right at this moment.

I still consider the two maxi-series to be among the very best Batman stories on offer. Individually, or together, they address the greatest aspects of the character, and his surrounding world. Masterworks ripe for study and enjoyment.

There is the thrilling tour through the iconic rogue's gallery that offers instant amusement and all the action you could want. Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent intersect with the conflict between organized crime and these new "freaks" in Gotham City. Dent's fateful transformation into Two-Face is retold, becoming an actualized transition between the two paradigms, nestled within an unfolding crime caper that fulfills the old fashioned pulp fiction of Detective Comics, while also addressing the oft-neglected mystery-solving of The Dark Knight Detective.

Loeb & Sale's work builds directly on a foundation of Year One, but surpasses it in a great many ways, better reflecting a definitive version of the superhero, while adapting the montage technique of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's four issue classic to create a monthly timeline that plays directly into the story.

The overarching threat of "The Long Halloween" is a veiled antagonist, The Holiday Killer, who strikes but once a month -- just like comic books. In Dark Victory, it's the mysterious Hang Man who terrorizes Gotham by calendar.

The layers are many, and that doesn't even begin to address the immediate appeal of Tim Sale's artwork, complimented beautifully by the colours of Gregory Wright. The collaboration with Sale is impeccable, creating an unrivaled mood for Gotham City and its many haunts. You see it in every gloomy night, grand interior, and stone-walled sewer tunnel.

The penciler's layouts, designs, and expressive characters are on another level. Cinematic, beyond merest reality, yet believably grounded in it.

I recall listening to an interview with Fanboy Radio, where Sale waxed romantically about his real-world inspiration for Catwoman -- a character he and Loeb revisited with the sequel mini-series, Catwoman: When In Rome.

I wouldn't ordinarily skip straight to the conclusion of the second series, but I settled on today's featured fight for its reflection of all of Sale's skills. In particular, I wanted an entry that captured the grandeur of his vision for Sofia Gigante Falcone, who seems underserved by the recent live-action casting of diminutive, slight, and conventionally glamorous, 5'2" Cristin Milioti.

I've already expressed misgivings about the entirety of The Penguin spin-off and its origins in The Batman. Not having seen the show, I wouldn't want to be too outwardly venomous towards Milioti's portrayal, but I think the panels included in today's entry speak to the vast disparity between the originating comic book character, and Hollywood's all too typical choice for females in these projects.

Towering and scarred, wearing that heavy trench coat, there's obviously a lot of dramatic exaggeration going on in this final chapter of Dark Victory, but for anyone who has read both series throughout, you will recognise Sofia Falcone as an archetype that exists in life. A powerful, physically imposing Italian woman, with strong features. A distinct and appropriate choice for the character, whose domineering presence looms literally & figuratively over both stories.

With so much of contemporary cinema caught up in social concerns, it's a little dismaying to see female characters with unique characteristics, be they body-type or age, regularly supplanted in live-action with more standard types.

Marisa Tomei as Aunt May might be the most egregious example of this time, but I also think of DC's Amanda Waller, who is yet to have the robust physicality of "The Wall" seen in classic comics in any of her live-action portrayals.

Put simply: Sofia Gigante Falcone would crush her live-action counterpart in much the way she squeezed Riddler's head to the point of bleeding.

A fantastic character, who like other key figures in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, is irreversibly corrupted by Gotham City and her own obsessions, driven to becoming one of the very "freaks" her family so detests. Thus, The Hang Man Killer is hung by her own noose. A perfect, ironic end, punctuated with a gunshot to the head to seemingly rule out another miraculous return from the dead.

Of course, this isn't actually the end. There was The Long Halloween Special in 2021, and now Jeph Loeb has collaborated with another excellent Batman artist, Eduardo Risso, to begin Batman: The Long Halloween - The Last Halloween. A final chapter that pays homage to Tim Sale, who passed away in June, 2022.

It still hits me pretty hard to think about that.

I didn't know the man personally, but his work has been tremendously important to me. Having neglected talking about these favourite series all these years, I finally started working on an entry for Halloween 2021, but when I couldn't confidently describe a detail in the story, I wanted to seek clarification from the source. Just over half a year later, I understood how poor my timing must have been. That entry, or any others, just became a little too hard to think about.

We're blessed to have Sale's work adorn Last Halloween covers. His unmistakable hand still a part of the project. I think fondly not just of his work on The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, but also his covers for Detective Comics, which were as exciting at times as the interior issue itself.

One day I will return to that unfinished 2021 entry, and other memorable moments from The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, but for now I'm taking a break.

You can find relevant entries, past and future, by following links throughout this article, or by diving in to the Secret Archive. That's where every featured fight is filed in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Starting with DC, you'll be able to find plenty of Batman right near the top, but I also recommend following the Tim Sale label for some of his other fantastic works, at DC and elsewhere.

If you'd like to see me return to this subject sooner than later, or any other topic that strikes your fancy, you might like to become a supporter on Patreon. This is a fine way to get my ear, but also just help keep us all in the fight. With over 700 battles detailed, and many more subjects covered, Secret Wars on Infinite Earths is determined to be a free resource to anyone who might have use for it.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by following on X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Two-Face & Batman
#152 (+297) Two-Face [+1 kill]
#1 (--) Batman
#1032 (new) Sofia Gigante Falcone

BATMAN versus PENGUIN

Snow and Ice Part Two: Bird of Ill Omen (DC)
Where: Detective Comics #611 When: February 1990
Why: Alan Grant How: Norm Breyfogle

The Story So Far...
The Penguin is dead. Claimed by a heart attack in Gotham Penitentiary while working out in the gym. An ignoble death for a man whose final will & testament pledges protection to the bird species from which he took his criminal alias.

The Batman attends his funeral with other friends, rivals, and enemies, breaking with taste and tradition to diligently verify the legitimacy of Oswald Cobbleplot's demise. The corpse is genuine -- but its slumber is not. The Batman is right to harbor his suspicions.

By night, The Penguin's men exhume his body, and although they at first fail to stir him from the hypnotic state mimicking death -- they soon spring Mortimer Kadaver from prison. His role in putting The Penguin under is quickly undone with the utterance of a simple code word, allowing the pair to begin a fresh crimewave with The Penguin beyond suspicion.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Batman 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Projectiles)
Total: Batman 29 (Metahuman)

Batman has one of the most famous rogue's galleries in comic book villaindom, and although The Penguin has always enjoyed a certain iconic status, modern times haven't always been especially flattering to his combat potential.

Once upon a time this criminal mastermind reigned supreme as one of Batman's premiere opponents, but as The Dark Knight has become increasingly associated with almost super-human levels of peak physical & mental conditioning -- Oswald Cobblepot has found a more comfortable niche as a businessman and overseer.

The Penguin therefore differs from some of Batman's more maniacal arch-villains in cold calculating. He's a rational actor, wielding tactical brilliance to manipulate the ranks of organized crime, politics, and high society -- eventually maintaining the facade of a legitimate businessman as owner of The Iceberg Lounge.

One way Penguin deals with physical opposition is to recruit hired muscle. We saw him call upon Girder and Double Down during a visit to Keystone City in The Flash #210. He also recruited Jonathan Crane for an operation that led to the psychologist's transformation into the rampaging Scarebeast.

Far from helpless, Penguin also typically travels with an arsenal of personal firepower. His famed trick umbrellas come with a variety of munitions, blades, or gasses, as was unleashed against Green Arrow in Justice League of America #135.

We generally expect Batman to defeat most opponents in the end, but planning and resources can get the better of him -- especially in one of his more street-level outings.

The Batman himself almost undid his dominance over Rick Flag by infiltrating the secret Belle Reve Prison headquarters of Task Force X. Caught in the lion's den, he only escaped Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad through negotiation.

Master planners Bane and Hush stacked the deck in their favor by running The Batman ragged before respective showdowns in Batman #497 and Batman #619. Pawns in their scheme, Riddler and Harley Quinn, proved capable of testing The Dark Knight in their skirmishes as well, in Batman #490 and Batman #613.

So, will this be one of those circumstances? Has The Penguin planned the ultimate humiliation for Batman in this installment? Let's stop speculating and find out!

The Tape: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

With a spring in his step, a sack full of cash over his shoulder, and a tune whistling from his lips -- The Penguin descends a fire escape ladder on his way to another escape from the back of the freshly robbed First Gotham Bank.

He has just unburdened himself of his partner-in-crime, Mortimer Kadaver, but The Penguin's troubles are only just beginning. As he begins to load his loot into a getaway car -- a cold voice growls from the street light overhead: "Hi."

The startled Penguin leads with his umbrella gun as he twirls to meet the grim figure descending from above.

His hat falls away and for the briefest of moments The Penguin locks eyes with his hunter, but he does not lose his composure.

The Penguin welcomes the diving Bat with open arms -- using the Dark Knight's own momentum to redirect him with a backwards roll and kick of his legs.

The toss sends Batman hurtling into nearby trash cans -- a painful reminder that appearances aren't everything where the stout, but physically capable Penguin is concerned. His choice of accessory hides deadly potential, as well!

From the end of Penguin's umbrella blasts a wild spray of gunfire!

Batman dodges and weaves to keep clear of the shots, but he knows he can only keep the feat up for so long!

With a single fluid motion The Bat dances around the bullets, while also collecting one of the nearby trash can lids to fling towards his foe!

The broad metal disc collides with The Penguin's skull -- creating an opening!

The Batman seizes his opportunity -- closing in with a knock-out punch!

The Hammer...

Our first look at a classic rivalry gives us a surprisingly competitive street fight.

I have to admit, I'm not entirely at peace with the image of a judo-rolling Penguin, but for the most part I find this a pretty acceptable outing.

Batman dancing between short-range gunfire might be stretching credibility to its absolute breaking point, but there's still a lot to like about the balance of ruthlessness and iconic Penguin gimmickery in this portrayal. I'll gladly take reality-bending super-human feats if it means indulging in the fantasy of trick gun-umbrellas and exciting comic book imagery.

Norm Breyfogle has to be right up there with Jim Aparo as one of the great, iconic Batman artists. They both have terrifically stern, angular takes on The Dark Knight, who remains firmly rooted in the world of superheroes, but can disappear into highly stylized urban shadows, and moody pulp page layouts.

There's something about Breyfogle that reminds me a little of Sal Buscema, as well. Another favourite artist of the late eighties/early nineties who trades in sound fundamentals, instantly identifiable exaggerations, and a flair for big action and expressive characters. Guys who really make comics a singular experience.

We're back in one of my favourite years: 1990. A time especially significant for Batman as a character and brand, still riding the phenomenon of mainstream mania sparked by the 1989 feature film, while DC Comics continues to navigate the on-going creation of a new normal for a post-Crisis DC Universe.

I think fondly of picking up issues of Batman and Detective around this time, in places like the city train station, where I would exit past the newspapers caged outside a narrow hole-in-the-wall convenience store, new issue gripped in my hot little hands, and daydream about Batman and The Joker fighting across an overhead foot bridge. There was a touch of Gotham in that place, with its old fashioned wooden phone booths & polished coat hangers, and rain-soaked winter commuters whom I could swear were wearing hats and trench coats, but probably had something a little less sophisticated in style for a 1990 wardrobe.

The classic rogue's gallery was ripe for a rethink around this time, and Bat-fans were eating well, with all the major villains represented and near the peak of their powers. A period of re-establishment that laid a strong new foundation for the decades to follow and build upon.

The Penguin is still leaving a trail of clues for Batman in this issue, citing the idea that a crime spree wouldn't have any thrill if nobody knew who was doing it, but he's taking a break from ornithological fixations to go after cold hard cash, and more notable, "snow" and "ice" -- street names for cocaine and diamonds.

I suppose there's nothing too unusual about that, but it does feel a little like this issue is participating in a broad process of evolution that will advance the Bat-mythos, and take The Penguin toward a more hands-off approach, arriving a decade later as something of a power broker ensconced in a world of luxurious gimmicks -- namely The Iceberg Lounge -- rather than actively pursuing gimmicks, like exotic birds.

Not that I'm at all opposed to Oswald Cobblepot's specialist interests and proclivity to acquire the finest things through criminal methods. There are just better opponents to be out on the streets trading blows with Batman, and the idea of flaunting clues for attention feels more at home with Riddler, or perhaps Joker.

This process of refinement, and commitment to the unique accumulating culture of comic books, was & is one of the pleasures of the era.

You could really count on the comics back then; resistant to even the massive cultural impact of Michael Keaton's Batman, and Tim Burton's later vision for a grotesque sewer-dwelling Danny DeVito that we never fully suffered in comics. Even the enduring all-black rubberized Bat-costume was never fully executed in the comics, even if there was some experimentation with colouring and design.

The Penguin was a brilliant visual right out of the gate in 1941, and the details of that design were largely retained as well -- even in the face of modern fashion sensibility, which admittedly, had room for gorgeous retro as part of its variety of styles, but still contained the pressures of aggressive disposal in pursuit of the hot new thing.

If there were any outside forces that influenced Penguin - it was the Batman animated series: A show that was embraced by comicdom for its high-quality retro vision, which itself was heavily and intuitively influenced by comic book sources.

For lack of a better term - the cartoon was one of "ours", even as it navigated its own necessary evolution of design and characterization, before eventually losing its way in the later iterations.

I don't like to spend too much time here railing against the present, but I invariably return to the subject, because I do wish current comics showed more of that consistent old resiliency and dedication to refinement, without falling in to a complete regression into dead-end nostalgia.

It weighs particularly on my mind as we endure our current Batman mediascape, steered unconvincingly, but with baffling acclaim, by Matt Reeves' decidedly less comics-intelligent, pathetically cliche post-Nolan pubescent fan-fiction, The Batman, and the current Penguin spin-off series starring Colin Farrell on MAX, which I admittedly haven't seen much of. I'm not sure it would improve my mood.

The temptation of the British gangster pursues a version of The Penguin that ultimately seeks to diminish the things that make him interesting. This version is cut from a cloth notably worn by the Batman Arkham video games, which are very good, but slightly cringeworthy for the 'edgy' grime of their aesthetic, pulling on outside influences, like roles played by The Long Good Friday actor, Bob Hoskins, in addition to a wide array of Batman comics and multimedia.

These efforts in other mediums forget that there is a big wide world of characters, and in the case of Farrell's portrayal, the addition of scars further infringes on other characters, and by design works to make The Penguin far less special.

It can be very interesting to flesh out a character or idea by pulling on intuitive similarities to outside reference, but done indelicately, without firm understanding and appreciation for the original source, it can quickly become a self-defeating fool's errand, gradually making everything in our world increasingly bland and flavourless. We can find British thugs in any number of other places - but there's really only one monocle-wearing, top hatted, umbrella-packing, dapper Penguin.

Superheroes and their prolific blockbuster adaptations have been particularly endemic of this problem, but it's something palpable throughout all western pop culture, which seems to have lost far more than it has gained in the last couple of decades. A depressing reality for fans & viewers -- and the industry itself.

I find myself increasingly believing comics should be read backwards and forwards. The best of the past and the potential of the future.

If you'd like to know more about either, perhaps you'd consider joining me in my explorations by becoming a supporter on Patreon. With well over 700 featured fights and more, Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has mused a great deal through the highs & lows of recent comics. With your help, we can continue to do more!

You can find all the superhero smackdown reports for free by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting links to your favourite topics found throughout each entry.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Batman
#1 (--) Batman
#1084 (-7) The Penguin