Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

NEW WARRIORS & THOR versus JUGGERNAUT

The New Warriors (Marvel)
Where: Thor #412 When: Mid-December 1989
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott

The Story So Far...
As Loki convinces the ranks of the world's deadliest super-villains to exchange resources & opponents in a series of coordinated "Acts of Vengeance" -- he saved the most unstoppable surprise challenger for his half-brother Thor!

When Juggernaut is plucked from maximum security confinement in England's Crossmoor Prison and teleported back to New York City -- he's more than happy to lay waste to an unprepared God of Thunder who soon succumbs to his might!

Now the only thing standing in the way of Juggernaut and Loki's supreme victory over Thor is an all-new ragtag group of youths called The New Warriors!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Juggernaut 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Night Thrasher 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nova 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Juggernaut 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Speedball 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Night Thrasher 4 (Trained)
Energy: Nova 5 (Lasers)
Total: Nova 33 (Super)

The New Warriors are: Night Thrasher, Marvel Boy, Nova, Namorita, Firestar, and Speedball, with Thor.

Thor met his match against an unstoppable force in the previous issue, but lucky for him -- there's a new generation of New Warriors hittin' the streets to make it safe for regular folk like you & me - and freshly clobbered gods of thunder!

The next wave of justice is led by Night Thrasher, aka; Dwayne Taylor: heir to the Taylor Foundation, whose fortune allows him to design & build advanced armor and weaponry. He's a skilled fighter and tactician, hellbent on fighting crime, who can do things with a skateboard you wouldn't believe!

Night Thrasher built a team out of promising young heroes, starting with Avengers hopeful Marvel Boy, whose powerful mutant telekinesis was triggered by his time travelling future-self: Major Victory. He was deemed too inexperienced for the A team, but in an alternate future, he's one of the great Guardians of the Galaxy!

If that sounds pretty cosmic - check out Nova! Richard Rider received the powers of Nova Prime when an alien selected him to inherit the helmet of planet Xandar's intergalactic lawmen. His future exploits will pit him against an Infinity Gauntlet wielding Thanos, the deadly Annihilation Wave, and The Thunderbolts!

One of those T-Bolts was the former Speedball, whose accidental exposure to extra-dimensional forces irradiated him with energy that surrounded his body with a kinetic field. The slightest move can send him into a hyper-ballistic ricochet that turns his ultra-durable body into a living projectile!

Not to be outdone: Namorita soars the skies as easily as the seas, possessing super-human strength, durability, and ankle wing-assisted flight in the same vein as her famous elder cousin - Namor, the Sub-Mariner! The daughter of Namora is at her strongest underwater, but still packs a punch as a team powerhouse!

Her elemental opposite, but a trusted teammate, is  Angelica Jones, aka; Firestar -- a pyrokinetic mutant whose mastery of microwaves can generate intense heat, directed flames, and allows her the means of levitated flight.

An impressive line-up making their combat debut, but they face the magical might of Juggernaut! A force so powerful it has stood up to Colossus, Nimrod, Captain Britain, Hulk, The Avengers, and even DC's Superman and Wonder Woman!

Fortunately for the youngsters, he's also been a proving-ground stalled by seemingly weaker challengers, such as Spider-Man, Siryn & Deadpool, and the Teen Titans! Could the New Warriors join that list? Let's find out!

The Tape: New Warriors Ranking: Juggernaut (#57)

What Went Down...

Juggernaut teeters on the edge of being insulted as he finds himself confronted by a motley crew of young heroes leaping to the aide of a barely conscious Thor!

The New Warriors stand their ground, but Speedball is a little too eager to throw himself into the action. He launches himself like a hyper-kinetic ballistic bouncing ball, but even though he attacks rapidly from different directions -- Juggernaut finds him with the back of his hand!

Firestar shows compassion for Speedball as he's launched out of the borough, but Night Thrasher is all business -- condemning his brash teammate while ordering Namorita and Nova to protect Thor from the oncoming Juggernaut.

The flying powerhouses are already one step ahead of their fearless leader, sourcing a nearby iron girder to wrap Juggernaut up in the metal bar!

Carrying each end, they smash into the unstoppable villain, bending the bar around him -- but even with his arms pinned by his sides Juggernaut will not be waylaid!

A simple flex rips both arms free -- reducing the girder to tiny pieces of scrap metal as it shatters and launches concussive shrapnel at Nova and the Atlantean!

Marvel Boy contemplates calling in the Avengers or Fantastic Four, but Night Thrasher is hellbent on proving himself and the team. He tells MB and Firestar to get Thor clear and jumps on his hi-tech skateboard to leap into the fray!

Thrasher ducks under Juggernaut's arm as he zips past at blistering speed, but the amused villain cuts off a comeback and encourages the youngster to go live his best teenaged life -- launching him from his skateboard with a ground pound!

The directed tremor pops rider and board both into the air, but the highly trained Night Thrasher simply redirects his body weight to flip back to his nimble plank -- and drive it base-first into Juggernaut's face!

It's a high impact -- but the magical might of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak means it barely even registers with the stalking villain.

Night Thrasher keeps up the offensive, skating around the rubble-filled battlefield to keep out of arm's reach, while pelting the Juggernaut with acid bombs and concussion grenades in search of a weakness!

Completely unfazed, Juggernaut simply continues his march toward his target -- flippantly turning his back on the young nuisance.

Enraged -- Night Thrasher rides his board straight for the enemy and leaps onto his shoulders! His obsession with stopping crime is as unstoppable as his foe!

The armored young hero keeps a mounted position over Juggernaut's helmet and unloads with a furious flurry of punches!

For all the good it does, he's playing for keeps: "I won't rest until I've found a way to make you pay! TO MAKE YOU ALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!"

Thrasher's complete focus robs him of the perspective to recognize just how in danger he is! Fortunately, Firestar spots the trouble from the skies over a nearby trainyard, and makes a beeline for her imperiled teammate!

Juggernaut snags Night Thrasher by the ankle and swings him around overhead, but Firestar is there to take custody and fly him to safety before it ends poorly.

The distraction of Firestar flying away gives Namorita and Nova a chance at a second attack!

Two train cars cast a shadow over Juggernaut, but he can't react fast enough to avoid the full brunt of their force as Namorita and Nova hurl them at him!

The trains collapse on impact -- engulfing Juggernaut in dust!

Firestar helps talk Night Thrasher down as they glide overhead, while Speedball makes his return to the rest of the team relatively unscathed. It looks like a clean win, but the New Warriors are counting their victories prematurely.

Juggernaut explodes from beneath the train cars -- filling the air with fragments of wood and metal as he throws them asunder!

It's an impressive display of raw strength, but it also provides Marvel Boy with an entire arsenal of airborne weapons!

The telekinetic mutant directs the wreckage fragments to the lumbering Juggernaut -- surrounding him in jagged pieces of wood, metal, and concrete.

The debris field proves an irritant at best, but otherwise does little to slow the unstoppable. Fortunately, its true purpose was as distraction for the airborne Firestar to get into position!

The Juggernaut is bombarded with microwaves from the sky as Firestar unleashes her mutant powers against his attire!

The intense heat generated by the waves renders Juggernaut's costume glowing white hot -- but still he marches undeterred!

Night Thrasher orders Firestar to direct her microwaves at the villain's heart, but she cannot bring herself to resort to an act of murder. It appears the New Warriors have failed, but then comes the flash of lightning and boom of thunder!

The Mighty Thor has recovered from their first round and draws Juggernaut's attention with Mjolnir raised to summon fire from the heavens!

Juggernaut remains confident as ever: "C'mon, pal. You may as well accept the inevitable! Nothing can stop the Juggernaut from squeezing the life out of you!"

Thor is no more concerned than he, dropping humbly to one knee as he calls upon the fury of the storm from the skies overhead. They respond to the gods' call, sending devastating lighting crashing to the earth where Juggernaut stands!

For a moment the New Warriors are blinded by the light, but when it dissipates they find the Juggernaut still standing -- smoldering and annoyed!

He begins the march toward his opponent, but Thor is no longer willing to indulge his enemy.

Where lightning alone failed -- the very god-force that flows through Thor's veins unites with the power of his enchanted hammer to unleash an unbridled energy the likes of which has challenged Galactus and The Celestials!

The destructive blast does not obliterate the Juggernaut -- but it does push him back -- defying the magic of the Crimson Gem that renders him unstoppable!

As he plants his foot to try to regain forward momentum -- the concrete foundation beneath him gives way -- and Juggernaut falls into a massive sinkhole!

Nova and Namorita leap into action, flying armfuls of steel girders into the gaping void. Then Firestar reduces them to a slurry of molten slag that quickly fills every nook and cranny until it rapidly cools under a frigid wind summoned by Thor -- and encases Juggernaut in a metal prison!

Knowing full well that Juggernaut will break free soon enough; Thor uses his hammer to warp the fabric of time & space itself -- banishing the massive metal shard to an unknown asteroid in distant outer space.

The Hammer...

When Juggernaut explodes out of his temporary metal prison moments later -- he's already been deposited alone in the starry void of space by Thor. Mission failed, as far as Loki's concerned.

Juggernaut was unwittingly recruited into the Acts of Vengeance by the trickster god, who plucked him out of British maximum security after a run-in with Captain Britain and Excalibur, in the hopes his unstoppable power would destroy Thor -- Loki's half-brother.

As per the setup for today's featured fight; Juggernaut made a pretty good go of catching Thor unprepared, and from the floating asteroid he's been deposited on, he vows to inevitably find a way back to Earth to get even with the thunder god!

Long time readers will know Acts of Vengeance has always been one of my favourite banner events from Marvel Comics - and this particular issue has always beamed brightly as a personal favourite. An issue I grabbed off the racks back in those heady days of a monolithic wall of new releases at the local newsagent!

It's a small wonder I've never made the time to pull out my second copy -- a back issue purchased at a reasonable price a few years ago, to replace a well worn, and possibly lost, original copy. It's a bona fide favourite, but I suppose those are the ones I sometimes keep away for myself, or for special occasions.

Over on X (aka; Twitter), the fine purveyor of NewWarriors.com was kind enough to go out of their way to recommend our humble Fight Club to the comic book masses still hanging tough on the micro-blogging social media service. That was enough of an excuse for me to finally dig this issue out and go hog wild!

In case you somehow haven't been checking out the dedicated dotcom [I'm sure you will now!]: Thor #412 serves as the first full appearance of the New Warriors - in action after their debut cameo at the end of Thor #411.

It's a pretty darn strong debut for a new group, comprised of a small handful of Marvel's youthful odds & ends, and their newly created leader - Night Thrasher!

Thor #412 certainly ingratiated the team with me as a young reader, who might've only vaguely recognized one or two of the characters from chance encounters with some other stray appearances, or promotional artwork in something like Marvel Age.

I suppose Firestar had some shine coming from the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends animated series, and Speedball was a still-recent conceited effort to create a new young hero with his own title -- having brought Steve Ditko back into the Marvel fold some twenty years after he helped create icons like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange -- but the rest were pretty obscure to a young reader in early 1990. Hangovers from the seventies and issues of Defenders or Sub-Mariner.

Of course, Night Thrasher is a brand new creation, so it's little wonder he gets the most time to shine in the fight, even as the rest of the team have their moments. He's in danger of appearing unhinged or reckless, but they maintain the fine line of creating interest without rendering the hero a lost cause.

I'm sure the cover had a great deal to do with drawing me in. Obviously Thor was an established major attraction, but the colourful group of characters ripping through a bold turquoise background surely popped off the stands when I was browsing the wall to make my choice for a single comic purchase as a small boy.

Joe Sinnott is credited with finished art over Ron Frenz story & pictures, and while I can't accurately break down the division of labour, I can say that images from this comic left an impression on me for years to come.

Mark Bagley will arguably take ownership of the characters as soon as the New Warriors series launches a few months later, but the first impression made here is indelible. The storytelling - keeping a dazed Thor at the centre of concern - is economical yet urgent. The action is bombastic, but always easy to follow. The renderings of characters clean & attractive, especially in the big heroic spreads that open the issue. It all comes together to make a very strong impression.

It's kind of the same playbook used years later to introduce The Thunderbolts in Incredible Hulk #449, before the group spun-off into their own first issue a few months later. You've got a similar rub of appearing in a marquee series, albeit without the title character also being the overwhelming challenge they face. I think the New Warriors did it much more convincingly, though.

Of course, as much as the New Warriors are the big breakout heroes of the story -- this appearance of Juggernaut was also massively informative to my impression of the character moving forward.

Ever since Spider-Man fought the unbeatable foe, and won, in Amazing Spider-Man #230, Juggernaut has kinda been ripe for taking an L to put other characters over. I wonder if writer Tom DeFalco and his artists were conscious of that when putting the issue together, because right from that opening splash page: a slightly bewildered Juggernaut, gazing blankly out from under his reflective red-brown helmet, looks big, strong, and not to be trifled with!

He's rarely been as convincingly unstoppable as he is in this issue, even if it's under opposition from heroes who are largely in one, two, or even three weight classes below him. The palpable danger he presents only goes further to enhance the young heroes who are making their debut, and doing everything they can just to stop him getting hands on a severely dazed Thor.

So, who actually won? This one gets a little tricky...

Juggernaut will always come back eventually, but lets assume we all understand that a fight can end with simple defeat, rather than permanent incapacitation.

Spider-Man secured his famous win by submerging Juggernaut in construction concrete -- not dissimilar from what happened in today's fight. The only difference is, we know Juggernaut broke free from the hardened steel within moments of being sealed, ready to fight on. It then becomes a question of whether or not teleporting him to a distant space body constitutes an act of victory, or avoidance.

Because Juggernaut never really showed significant signs of defeat, and was very much ready to continue brawling when he emerged from his steel cocoon -- I'm inclined to call this one a draw. Thor and the New Warriors did their best to get the better of Juggernaut, but he was barely even stalled. Tough break!

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Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#19 (--) Thor
#125 (+2) Nova
#503 (new) Firestar
#504 (new) Namorita
#505 (new) Night Thrasher
#462 (--) Speedball [+1 assist]
#518 (+84) Marvel Boy (Vance Astro)
#57 (--) Juggernaut