BIZARRO & PARASITE versus MON-EL & GUARDIAN
Man Of Valor: Part Two (DC)
Where: Superman #695 When: February 2010
Why: James Robinson How: Bernard Chang
The Story So Far...
The creation of a new planet populated with Kryptonians leads the world's governments to outlaw all survivors of the distant planet save for Superman. To curb tensions, the Man of Steel chooses to relocate to New Krypton, leaving Earth in the hands of capable understudies.
Hailing from the planet Daxam: Mon-El is a man aspiring to write a new history for himself as a hero of Metropolis. Possessing similar powers to Superman under Earth's yellow sun, he dedicates himself to following the Man of Steel's heroic example as a man of Valor.
Having escaped the clutches of Gen. Sam Lane and Project 7734; Mon-El is at large in the city, where he'll be forced to battle the monster who helped him escape: Parasite! Too bad he's already been battling Bizarro and is now caught between both!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Bizarro 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Guardian 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Mon-El 5 (Super-Speed)
Stamina: Bizarro 6 (Generator)
Agility: Guardian 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Guardian 4 (Trained)
Energy: Mon-El 5 (Lasers)
Total: Mon-El 28 (Metahuman)
We've got a titanic tag team coming to fight in today's feature, and three big characters debuting on the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths! We've gotta know what we're dealing with. Let's take a look at the players!
Bizarro needs no introduction! Or does that mean, he does need one..? He's the confused, backwards-meaning doppelganger of Superman who hails from a Bizarro World full of twisted inversions! Despite flipping conceits of the world on their head; Bizarro possesses much the same super-strength and invulnerability of Superman! He used that might to pummel Human Bomb to death in a bloody encounter back in Infinite Crisis #1.
Parasite is another classic arch-villain to Superman! This incarnation is Rudy Jones: a shady STAR Labs janitor who was accidentally exposed to a rare type of radiation. The material mutated his body so it metabolizes energy, allowing him to sate his constant hunger by draining the life and powers from his victims. Doing so can temporarily grant him their abilities, and also increase his own super-human strength and durability.
Where: Superman #695 When: February 2010
Why: James Robinson How: Bernard Chang
The Story So Far...
The creation of a new planet populated with Kryptonians leads the world's governments to outlaw all survivors of the distant planet save for Superman. To curb tensions, the Man of Steel chooses to relocate to New Krypton, leaving Earth in the hands of capable understudies.
Hailing from the planet Daxam: Mon-El is a man aspiring to write a new history for himself as a hero of Metropolis. Possessing similar powers to Superman under Earth's yellow sun, he dedicates himself to following the Man of Steel's heroic example as a man of Valor.
Having escaped the clutches of Gen. Sam Lane and Project 7734; Mon-El is at large in the city, where he'll be forced to battle the monster who helped him escape: Parasite! Too bad he's already been battling Bizarro and is now caught between both!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Bizarro 6 (Invincible)Intelligence: Guardian 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Mon-El 5 (Super-Speed)
Stamina: Bizarro 6 (Generator)
Agility: Guardian 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Guardian 4 (Trained)
Energy: Mon-El 5 (Lasers)
Total: Mon-El 28 (Metahuman)
We've got a titanic tag team coming to fight in today's feature, and three big characters debuting on the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths! We've gotta know what we're dealing with. Let's take a look at the players!
Bizarro needs no introduction! Or does that mean, he does need one..? He's the confused, backwards-meaning doppelganger of Superman who hails from a Bizarro World full of twisted inversions! Despite flipping conceits of the world on their head; Bizarro possesses much the same super-strength and invulnerability of Superman! He used that might to pummel Human Bomb to death in a bloody encounter back in Infinite Crisis #1.
Parasite is another classic arch-villain to Superman! This incarnation is Rudy Jones: a shady STAR Labs janitor who was accidentally exposed to a rare type of radiation. The material mutated his body so it metabolizes energy, allowing him to sate his constant hunger by draining the life and powers from his victims. Doing so can temporarily grant him their abilities, and also increase his own super-human strength and durability.
This terrible twosome clearly spells trouble for the fine folks of Metropolis, particularly as Superman is off-world visiting New Krypton! Fortunately, the Man of Steel's slack is picked up by some powerful friends!
The man known as Mon-El (or Valor) is in fact Lar Gand of the planet Daxam. Much like Kryptonians; Daxamite bodies process the radiation of Earth's yellow sun, manifesting incredible abilities in the process! Mon-El possesses roughly equivalent powers to Superman, including: phenomenally enhanced strength, speed, stamina, durability, heat vision, and flight.
Unfortunately, an innate weakness to lead will send a Daxamite into acute anaphylaxis. That means speeding bullets are best left dodged! The widespread use of lead in human life means Mon-El is constantly at risk, but treatments supplied by allies such as Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, or Superman protect him to varying degrees. To deal with unexpected power loss, he received hand-to-hand combat training from The Guardian!
James Harper was a cop that took up the costumed vigilante game when criminals skirted the law one too many times! A gifted natural athlete with impeccable genetics; Guardian came to keep company with the Justice Society of America and All-Star Squadron! He served during the Second World War and was so impressive: Project Cadmus created a youthful clone to serve as head of security in the modern day. The clone escaped, replacing the original Jim Harper after he was murdered while investigating Cadmus.
Bizarro & Parasite are big time threats individually -- making them a potent pairing for a potentially powerless duo! Even at full tilt: Mon-El would have his work cut out for him fighting both bad guys alone!
Speed, agility, and finesse are the obvious advantages Valor and Guardian can leverage to turn the tables on their super-powered opponents. A game of keep-away minimizes the impact of Parasite's power-stealing. Fast maneuvering is one way they might be able to turn Parasite against a clumsy Bizarro.
The Tape: Mon-El & Guardian Ranking: Bizarro (#149)
What Went Down...
With his Daxamite powers failing him: Mon-El draws upon hand-to-hand combat training from Guardian to prepare for the oncoming threat of Bizarro and Parasite! As the Superman-esque villain swoops toward his target -- Mon-El slides along the Metropolis street to turn Bizarro's momentum against him!
The deft maneuver sends Bizarro flipping out-of-control into Parasite! It also buys enough time for Guardian and the Science Police to arrive on the scene. They offer a cover of gunfire while Mon-El collects himself and his super-powers.
Restored - Mon-El leaps through the air to deliver a flying punch to Bizarro!
With Bizarro taken care of; Metropolis Science Police handle Parasite, ensnaring him in energy rings that render his powers painfully uncontrollable. He howls in agony and fear for his fate returning to General Sam Lane. He finds little sympathy from his present captors.
Meanwhile, Mon-El takes to the skies with Bizarro, hitting him with fists of steel and point-blank blasts of heat vision!
As the aerial duo rise above the Metropolis skyscrapers and even the clouds -- Bizarro slips loose and makes a break for Bizarro World! In his twisted speak, he threatens to return with a Bizarro counterpart of Mon-El!
As Bizarro streaks into outer space, Mon-El opts to return to Earth, leaving the villain to return to his distorted mirror world.
The Hammer...Victory can come in many different forms. In this case: it's a judo flip that sets Parasite up to be detained by the Science Police, while Bizarro runs to outer space to escape from a Mon-El beating!
Three Science Police officers shared the win, using advanced tech to detain Parasite in energy rings. One is identified as Officer Blaylock, while the other is Officer Romundi, aka; Car-Vex -- a Kryptonian sleeper agent embedded in the SP by General Zod!
Mon-El and the Science Police may've got the glory, but that takes nothing away from their ally The Guardian. It was his teachings that gave Mon-El the ability and confidence to stand his ground when his powers were failing. Guardian also bought Mon-El valuable time he needed to recover, leading the charge against Bizarro with hi-tech pistols once he and the SP reached the scene.
I'm not talking Guardian up to influence the result -- but the DC hero is appearing as part of our unofficial sequel to Contest of Champions. You can check out The Contest: Guardian vs Defensor for more on what that match-up entails, and how the result will have panned out.
Today's featured fight will hopefully provide a little extra context for the slightly obscure hero. Guardian has undergone several revamps since his 1942 debut, struggling to maintain metropolitan relevance under the shadow of Superman.
As the other shield-wielding hero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, he runs the risk of being thought of as second-rate. I think there's a certain charm to this type of heroic go-getter, though. World Against Superman was a nice chance to give a character like this more time to breathe. Even if he's obviously playing second-banana to another second-fiddle in this particular story.
I actually originally wrote most of this entry a couple of years ago, when Mon-El was appearing on the CW's Supergirl series. For one reason or another I didn't finish, but was eager to return to the file, both to touch upon Guardian, and make note of the other major characters appearing in the short skirmish.
This is a triple-debut for Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: registering the first recorded battles for Guardian, Mon-El, and Parasite! 2020 continues to be a big year for adding more characters to the already robust Fight Club Rankings!
It's a little bit of a surprise these characters weren't touched upon sooner. Parasite in particular ranks among Superman's best known villains. The ones that aren't Lex Luthor or Brainiac, that is. His teaming up with Bizarro is fun, but hopefully we'll get a more substantial battle on the record.
I'm also interested to look more closely at the star of this story. Mon-El, for all intents and purposes, is another stand-in for Superman, and I'm interested to explore what makes him distinct in a DCU increasingly flush with stand-ins, if indeed anything actually does.
If you'd like to get a taste of Mon-El and Guardian for yourself, you can read this issue collected in Superman: Mon-El - Man of Valor. Use the Amazon link provided and you can get yourself a good deal while Amazon supports the site at no cost to you!
You can find more superhero smackdown by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights organized by publisher, series, and issue number. Or discover new and exciting outcomes by following links throughout each post!
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has documented well over 600 comic book battles and counting! If you like reading about superhero smackdown, you can help make it all possible by subscribing to Patreon. Patrons receive illuminating schedule updates, special request options, and extra voting polls.
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Winners: Mon-El & The Science Police
#335 (new) Mon-El
#336 (new) Car-Vex
#337 (new) Science Police Officer Blaylock
#338 (new) Guardian (Jim Harper)
#341 (-149) Bizarro
#917 (new) Parasite (Rudy Jones)
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