MAN-THING versus HULK

... And Man-Thing Makes Three! (Marvel)
Where: Incredible Hulk #197 When: March 1976
Why: Len Wein How: Sal Buscema & Joe Staton

The Story So Far...
Battle with The Abomination onboard an out-of-control rocket leaves Hulk hurtling uncontrollably earthbound through the planet's atmosphere.

Crash-landing in the Florida Everglades -- the Hulk burns with anger & confusion as he resumes his lonely existence beneath the watchful gaze of a silent, shambling beast.

In the bosom of the swamp, Hulk finds hostile reptiles, but reverting to Bruce Banner briefly, he makes the acquaintance of a timid mute troubled by an anachronistic mob of pirates. These wretches are exhibits in The Collector's collection and now Hulk will face his prized champion in mortal combat!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Man-Thing 2 (Average)
Speed: Hulk 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Hulk 2 (Average)
Fighting: Hulk 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Man-Thing 2 (Projectiles)
Total: Hulk 26 (Meta-Human)

Those who know fear burn at the Man-Thing's touch, but what's a little scolding to a Hulk who just burst into flames passing through Earth's atmosphere?

He launched a tactical pre-emptive strike when facing the fire of the Human Torch back in Fantastic Four #12, but decades later stood face-front relatively unscathed against the nuclear inferno of Red Hulk.

Hulk is far more prone to rage than fear, but he's facing a pretty weird opponent in circumstances well beyond his usual scope of operation, so let's not completely rule it out.

Of course, despite a fairly monstrous visage, the Man-Thing is actually a relatively kind natured creature, instinctively driven by a powerful sense of empathy, as well as sometimes preying upon the fears of those who misunderstand him. In many ways he's actually quite a kindred spirit for the Hulk.

The once brilliant biochemist, Dr. Theodore Sallis, is become a primitive protector of the innocent, and guardian to The Nexus of Realities found in the Florida Everglades that formed his new body.

It's a station that put Man-Thing on the frontlines of repelling the zombie plague of Earth-2149: home of the Marvel Zombies, where Hulk became one of the deadliest plague carriers to visit other worlds, and devour powerful opponents.

It seems even as a decaying zombie: Hulk is strongest one there is, but Man-Thing is only in this fight because of The Collector's influence, and that opens this fight up to a whole range of unexpected twists. Let's see what happened...

The Tape: Hulk Ranking: Hulk (#6)

What Went Down...

From the depths of the Everglades emerges the grim visage of The Collector!

Arriving to claim ownership of a freshly beaten mob of salty pirates, he inspires terror in the face of their mute victim. This is enough for the Hulk to match his newfound friend's fear with rage -- swiftly redirected by The Collector towards another figure suddenly appearing: His champion -- The Man-Thing!

At his master's behest the towering swamp monster marches toward a bewildered Hulk -- smacking him with the back of his mossy hand!

The hit only staggers Hulk for a fleeting moment.

The green goliath charges angrily towards Man-Thing to strike back in kind -- only for his massive fist to punch straight through the slimy vegetation of the creature's unharmed body!

Once again Man-Thing seizes upon Hulk's confusion as The Collector barks orders to strike!

With his marshy hands clasped, the Man-Thing brings them suddenly rising to Hulk's jade jaw with a powerful hammer-like two-fisted uppercut!

The Hulk's rage only grows as his primitive mind grapples with the situation. He had no reason to fight Man-Thing before, but now he will punish the creature for daring to attack!

While the Hulk swings his mighty fist like a wrecking ball through Man-Thing's mushy mid-section -- The Collector aims to stack the deck in favour of his indentured champion...

The elder of the universe casts the light of the fabled Philosopher's Stone on a fearful nearby mute, whose silent witness contorts into an expression of twisted horror as his existence is unmade -- reverting to a creature of oozing clay!

Completely under The Collector's influence, the living Glob is now directed to join the fight -- catching Hulk by surprise with a sneak attack!

The clubbing blow from behind drops the Hulk to his knees, but he soon puts wild eyes on the Man-Thing's unexpected accomplice.

With frustration and anger boiling over, the Hulk aims to smash this newest challenger -- only to find his fist once again glides ineffectually through its target!

With only a clay-soaked hand to show for his aggression, Hulk stares at his fist with existential dread. "Bah! You are made of clay -- like carrot-nose is made of slime! How can Hulk fight clay and slime? HOW??"

The creatures callously ignore Hulk's frustrated quandary, showing him the hard side of their marsh and mud with synchronous punches!

The shambling monsters approach their toppled foe and loom silently for a moment -- before The Collector once again rallies their attentions to an attack!

The Glob locks his arms around Hulk's chest while Man-Thing delivers clubbing overhead blows.

Hulk flails wildly in an attempt to repel his attacker and escape the hold, but the Man-Thing cradles Hulk's head and plunges it into his swampy chest!

Hulk continues to fight, his mighty lungs affording him more time than any mortal man, but even he can only last so long, especially once caught by surprise.

The Man-Thing silently holds Hulk's head within the suffocating bog of his own body.

Slowly but surely Hulk's thrashing begins to subside. As he succumbs to passing out, his arms fall limp and he drops to the ground, unconscious at the feet of the motionless Man-Thing and The Glob.

The Hammer...

The Collector's pirates come to gather the bounty of a defeated Hulk -- five or six of them struggling to lift his mighty figure as they're led to the private quarters of Collector's possessions.

You might not know it at a glance, but this marks something of a reunion for Hulk and one of his old adversaries.

The Glob first appeared in Incredible Hulk #121 when escaped convict Joseph Timms was accidentally doused in radioactive waste dumped into a swamp by the rampaging Hulk. The mugshot [pictured above] shows a portion of that dramatic 1969 cover by artist Herb Trimpe.

The Glob butted heads with the jade giant a couple more times, before passing through geographic convenience to the domain of today's marquee main eventer and inadvertent tag team partner: Man-Thing!

The Glob and Man-Thing became Florida Everglades sparring partners in the ever-famous Giant Size Man-Thing #1! A series of body horrors having taken The Glob from short-lived servitude to The Leader, to becoming a golden brain -- his body reconstituted under the command of Yagzan and his Cult of Entropy.

It all gets a little weird, but weird is what you get when you're dealing with re-animated monster men-things made from swamp muck and mud!

With slamming Sal Buscema on pencils this can't help but be big time super-hero smackdown, but it manages to be subdued enough to bog Hulk down in the mire of a horror genre monster mash. Just what would hit the spot this spooky season!

Hulk was born from a disaster of the super-hero atomic age, but we can't forget he began life as a figure of horror. A Dr. Jekyll and Frankenstein's Monster hybrid, a literalized creature by night lurking in the shadow of the human psyche.

Even after he was brightened up and entered into crossovers with Marvel's heroes of science, Hulk remained a monosyllabic beast, trading blows with the likes of The Thing, as if fulfilling the promise of late stage classic Universal horror movies with even bigger monsters, and bolder technicolour brawls.

We never seem to have enough Hulk on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, and with Halloween drawing near -- and Man-Thing making waves with a successful live-action return in Marvel's Werewolf By Night special -- it seemed like the perfect time to dig up today's classic back issue.

It's a very different dynamic to Hulk's fight with Jack Russell in Incredible Hulk #362, but there's a similar thrill reconnecting with that classic horror vibe. I'm enjoying building our file of the more macabre side of the superhero universes.

If you'd like to find more from your favourite horrors you should follow links throughout this article, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 characters! If you like what we're all about and want to see more entries you can help make it happen by becoming a supporter on Patreon!

Patrons will unlock additional updates and be able to sponsor featured content including Top 10 Rank & File lists, featured fights, and more as a thank you for helping support me and the project.

You can also get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing via Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday! It's also completely free to follow on Patreon for more updates!

Winners: Man-Thing & The Glob
#353 (new) Glob (Joseph Timms)
#415 (+475) Man-Thing
#629 (new) The Collector [+1 assist]
#6 (--) Hulk

ULTRAMAN versus DOCTOR FATE, ROBOTMAN & SUPERMAN

"Master of Worlds and Time!" (DC)
Where: All-Star Squadron #15 When: November 1982 Why: Roy Thomas w/ Gerry Conway How: Adrian Gonzales & Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
The year 1942 is a mere page in history for the villain known as Per Degaton. From 1947 he moves effortlessly through time to rewrite events in favour of his own designs for global domination.

Returning to the Second World War with nuclear missiles acquired from 1962 Russia -- and members of the once banished Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 -- Degaton launches a fresh assault that draws the attention of the All-Star Squadron and their future counterparts in the Justice Society & Justice League!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Robotman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach-Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Superman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Ultraman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Doctor Fate 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Ultraman 34 (Super)

It's a crisis of multiple Earths! From the morally inverted world of Earth-3 comes Ultraman: Sinister Kryptonian leader of The Crime Syndicate of America -- now working for Per Degaton in exchange for freedom from imprisonment in limbo!

Ultraman shares much the same story and invulnerability as Superman, with the vital difference that he gains his powers from the radiation emitted by fragments of his home planet -- the very Kryptonite that weakens Superman!

Ultraman's body can store Kryptonite radiation to retain his powers long after exposure, with potential for residual side effects of sapping Superman, but fortunately for him he's joined by Robotman of Earth-One's All-Star Squadron, and his contemporary from Earth-Two's Justice Society, Doctor Fate!

Robotman is Robert Crane: a brilliant scientist who helped design a functioning robotic body capable of sustaining a human brain. Crane was mortally wounded during an attempt to steal the robot, transplanted by his partner to become a metal powerhouse with the All-Star Squadron once World War Two broke out!

Doctor Fate isn't afraid to fight in the trenches either, as we saw when he clashed with Hawkman, but the true scope of his power goes well beyond trading punches, wielding the might of order against occult threats like The Demon's Three, and the Lovecraftian horror of Morgauth!

Ultraman possesses considerable willpower but has no natural defenses against reality-defying mysticism and magic. His considerable will may resist, but Fate's magic could affect him as easily as Clea's belt controlled Superman and that may be their best bet if Superman can't go toe-to-toe with the powerhouse.

The Tape: Doctor Fate, Robotman & Superman Ranking: Superman (#4)

What Went Down...

Superman carries Robotman under his arm as they follow Doctor Fate into the outer atmosphere towards their target: Degaton's anachronistic orbital satellite!

They get to work tearing the technology apart, but as they search for a means to trace their opponent, Robotman stumbles upon a lead box and pulls it open before Superman can object -- bathing the Man of Steel in the content's green glow!

Superman begins to drift helplessly, but before Robotman can hurl the Kryptonite rock into the airless void -- Ultraman swoops in to snatch it from his hands!

"You can't hurt me with fancy words, Fate -- and I'm nobody's lackey! As for Kryptonite -- why, that's like mother's milk to me, see?"

Doctor Fate springs into action, summoning the powers of life and order to blast Ultraman with magical force!

The esoteric assault has no effect on the Crime Syndicate's superman, who laughs off the notion of order and bursts toward Fate to deliver a vicious left hook!

Doctor Fate's "eldritch aura" protects him from the full crushing force of the punch -- but he still drops lifelessly to his back on the satellite.

Thus, Ultraman turns his attentions to the last hero standing.

Robotman meets his opponent gladly, rushing in for a clean shot -- but his charging punch falls short of a dodging target.

Ultraman steps back to avoid the hit and grabs hold of Robotman's extended arm to wrench it out of its socket!

Literally disarmed but not out of the fight, Robotman takes the surprising measure of leaping from the satellite!

Ultraman is disappointed to have his prey slip away, but sees no reason to bother himself with finishing what the gravitational pull of Earth will do for him.

He fails to consider that the one-armed Robotman is drifting in the direction of Superman -- and can still manipulate the wires protruding from his arm socket to take hold of the Kryptonite rock that keeps The Man of Steel unconscious!

While the metallic all-star works to assist his ally; Ultraman gets to work attempting to fix Per Degaton's satellite -- only to be interrupted again by the magic of Doctor Fate!

The powers of order clutch metal and wires, preventing Ultraman from making the necessary repairs to resume successful spying on the heroic assembly of the All-Star Squadron, Justice Society, and Justice League back on Earth.

A tap on the shoulder alerts Ultraman to the awakening of another hero, too!

Superman unleashes a haymaker that sends Ultraman hurtling across the satellite!

Fully revived thanks to Robotman's heroics -- he glides across the orbital battlefield to sink his right fist into Ultraman's mid-section!

With Ultraman falling to his knees, Superman grabs the tuft of the villain's cape to hold him up for a right hand that launches him into space!

The Hammer...

You may have noticed I used a Frank Quitely image for our Ultraman mugshot in The Tape section. You almost certainly know it. It adorned the stark white cover of JLA Earth-2: a 2000 collaboration with Grant Morrison that reintroduced and defined The Crime Syndicate for a new generation. An image many will instantly recall, but objectively lacks the hallmarks of instantly identifying a character, once cropped.

If I could think of, or find, a suitable rendering by Doug Mahnke, it would've been my preferred option. His work on Final Crisis: Superman Beyond has imprinted itself in my mind as the definitive Ultraman. He simultaneously brings Quitely's design -- with removed wide collar, and added yellow background to the upward point of a bordered U symbol -- closer to modern Superman, while also infusing it with an instantly identifiable demeanor & baring all Ultraman's own.

Mahnke's Ultraman could never be mistaken for a displeased Superman.

His Ultraman oozes hostility. He's all teeth, eyes, brow, and bulging muscle. Even united with fellow supermen against a common threat at the edge of reality that could destroy them all -- he seethes with derangement & unfocused aggression. He is Superman unchained, untethered, and always on the verge of evil.

When Morrison and Quitely revived Ultraman for the modern age, the internet was propagating a notion that Superman was 'too good'. A boy scout who never loses or breaks bad, and is therefore 'unrelatable'. Posed as a bad thing -- apparently.

Twenty years on, that always dubious meme has evolved into a preoccupation with Superman as antagonist. A tearing down of the heroic aspirational ideal in favour of base thrills, mortality, and selfish audience validation.

The Boys' Homelander examines this phenomenon by holding a mirror to the dark impulses that fuel some of the contempt for Superman. It's a critique of the audience as much as DC's American ubermensch, and the worlds they occupy.

More contemptible is DC's own 'bad guy' Superman: The star of the Injustice video game and tie-in franchise, whose only push to become a murderous tyrant was the death of Lois Lane and their unborn child, at the hands of a decidedly unmotivated Joker. A sophomoric and simplistic conceit to prepare the game's premise, hamfistedly initiated without evident reference or subtext. A road leading nowhere. An erosion of the company's own world-famous mascot in a multimedia franchise intended to reach gamers, and a non-traditional audience.

DC Comics already has its fair share of evil Supermen. Characters ordained as true villains, ripe with potential to whole-heartedly explore and commit to the concept of an amoral Superman in direct opposition to the genuine article.

Analogous villains like General Zod and Bizarro not only present the idea of Superman's powers gone bad, but also in turn contribute to the original characters' world, and larger fabric of the DC Universe, developing new nuances and ideas beyond mere alternate realities.

Ultraman is closer in step with the Injustice concept, with just a little bit more going on to better differentiate -- and commit -- to its basic premise. This outright commitment to flip the moral polarity of characters may seem simplistic, but lacks the metallic after-taste of every pubescent boy's notebook fantasy of what would happen if his heroes broke bad and fought each other.

Let's not forget where we are. I'm certainly not opposed to the simple thrill of a superhero brawl, but as I mentioned in the last entry, I've grown more than tired with the ugly, cheesy cliche of stripping heroes like Superman of their heroic core. Intelligent people see through the flimsy facade, and can almost certainly accept and understand that which is presented as true to their fiction. There are heroes and there are villains. Good will triumph over evil. Get on with it!

I also found myself reevaluating some of my feelings about the DC multiverse, but that's something we can get into next time. For now: it's been nice to take in a simple bout with some interesting characters like Doctor Fate and Robotman!

If you'd like to find more battles with some of DC's pantheon of other heroes & villains you can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive! That's where you'll find a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranking well over 1,000 characters! If you like what we're all about and want to see more topics tackled you can help make that happen by becoming a Patreon supporter!

Patrons help keep projects like this up and running, and as a gesture of gratitude you'll unlock additional updates, options to sponsor article content including featured fights and Top 10 lists based on the Fight Club Rankings. Keep reading to the bottom of this page to check out today's major rankings update!

You can also get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing via Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday!

Winner: Superman (w/ Doctor Fate & Robotman)
#3 (+1) Superman
#160 (--) Doctor Fate [+1 assist]
#626 (new) Robotman (Robert Crane) [+1 assist]
#974 (new) Ultraman