Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

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!

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