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.

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

DEADSHOT versus BLOODSPORT

World's Finest: Year Ten - War of the Worlds! (DC)
Where: Batman & Superman: World's Finest #10 When: January 2000 Why: Karl Kesel How: Dave Taylor & Tom Morgan

The Story So Far...
Simultaneous breakouts at Stryker's Island Prison and Arkham Asylum spell double trouble for Metropolis and Gotham City. Some of the deadliest super-criminals from both cities have been let loose -- and the twins responsible are inspiring a turf war that could tear Gotham apart!

Leading a first-wave assault on the Gotham City docks is the ultimate gunman whose arsenal will never run out of ammunition. Bloodsport is just one of the Metropolis super-powers who've come to take over, but little does he know he's stepped into the sights of Deadshot!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Deadshot 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Deadshot 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Deadshot 3 (Strong Willed)
Agility: Deadshot 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Deadshot 4 (Training)
Energy: Bloodsport 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Deadshot 23 (Champion)

They say Deadshot doesn't miss, but will the master marksman be able to make the perfect shot when his opponent is quicker on the draw? That's the challenge he faces against the man of a thousand weapons: Bloodsport!

Robert DuBois was plucked from obscurity by Lex Luthor, and outfitted with state of the art technology that allows him to teleport any weapon imaginable directly into his hands. This even included a gun that fires kryptonite needles when he was first deployed to hunt and destroy Superman!

In theory that means Bloodsport has a limitless arsenal and more firepower than Deadshot, but as The Tape stats show -- that's really his only clean advantage.

DuBois lacks Deadshot's finesse and expertise with arms. In Suicide Squad #6 we saw Deadshot's perfect aim when he creased the skull of an airborne Enchantress with a non-lethal shot fired from a significant distance!

That also shows Deadshot is cool under pressure, performing under immediate threat of Rick Flag and oncoming soldiers. The stakes were just as high in Legends #3 when he used a single-shot laser gun to bring down the rampaging Apokolips beast Brimstone.

Some of his cool nerve can be attributed to an apparent death wish, but Floyd Lawton's jaded outlook isn't nearly as volatile as Bloodsport's!

DuBois espouses the virtue of soldiers who've served their country, but he never actually went to war himself, despite verbiage to the contrary. In truth he was a "draft dodger" who fled to Canada, leaving his younger brother Mickey to take his place, and lose both arms & legs in action in Vietnam.

Suffering a psychotic breakdown that took him on several tours through Canadian psychiatric care; Bloodsport ultimately channeled his self-loathing into aggression towards perceived symbols of modern American apathy. The epitome of this was Superman, but he makes no bones about gunning down civilians, either.

There's a case to be made that speed might be used against Deadshot. He was admitted to the Suicide Squad only after The Flash took him down in Legends #1. On the other hand, fast shooting saved his neck when the Manticore had him pinned down in Suicide Squad #2.

Bloodsport's hopes really rely on coming in guns blazing. Otherwise, he appears to lack any real training or the combat skills necessary to outfight Deadshot.

The Tape: Deadshot Ranking: Deadshot (#72)

What Went Down...
Bloodsport shouts a warning of "incoming" as he unloads with a massive hi-tech blaster cannon on the Gotham West Side docks. It is a courtesy with a purpose -- the shot itself a warning of sorts, that "Metropolis Muscle" is taking over!

"GOT YOUR ATTENTION, PEOPLE? GOOD! 'CAUSE FROM NOW ON, THESE DOCKS ARE RUN BY METROPOLIS MUSCLE! WE CLEAR?"

The message is heard loud and clear, but Gotham's criminal underworld have been warned of the incursion and come prepared.

No sooner has Bloodsport finished his bold declaration of takeover, than Deadshot has a wrist-mounted gun barrel pointed at the back of his head.

He calmly orders Bloodsport to drop the massive cannon.

The Metropolis gunman complies, but for someone who can will any weapon into his hand with a mere thought -- disarming is a temporary predicament.

Bloodsport's hand begins to glow a familiar blue as he wonders which of them would be faster on the draw: He with his "arms-transporter" -- or Deadshot with his trademark wrist-mounted magnum?

The marksman either doesn't see it coming, or simply allows a futuristic pistol to materialize in Bloodsport's hand to indulge a shootout. Bloodsport twirls around as soon as the gun is in his hand and opens fire!

Bloodsport manages to get off three shots as he dives to his right, but Deadshot leans clear and aims true -- shattering the gun in Bloodsport's hand with a single crack shot!

In an instant Bloodsport fills his other hand with another gun and fires wildly. He may not have Deadshot's expert aim, but he reckons that toppling a brick wall directly behind him with superior firepower will finish him just fine.

Deadshot stands his ground and invites Bloodsport to join him in Hell.

Before the Gotham local can make good on his threat, two caped crusaders come swooping out of the blue to bring their deadly battle to an end!

Superman grabs Deadshot and pulls him clear of the brick debris, while Batman swoops down from above to silence Bloodsport with an overhead kayo!

The Hammer...

If you were hoping for a definitive answer to who the superior gunman is: I'm afraid you'll have to keep wondering! This was an issue of World's Finest, and the title pairing of Superman & Batman swooped in to steal the win.

Although published with a cover date of 2000; the conceit of the World's Finest mini-series means it's set sometime in the past. The majority of each issue takes place in a different subsequent year, which means around sixty years of publication history was consolidated into an adjusted ten year timeline.

The penultimate issue touched upon the aftermath of Death of Superman and Knightfall, but it seems World's Finest #10 also might take place somewhere in what would've been the real-time publishing period of the early nineties. It's a little difficult to say for sure, and Bloodsport's presence is the primary reason.

Robert DuBois was gunned down violently in a 1995 issue of Adventures of Superman. He doesn't make any subsequent appearance before 2000, which seemed to reinforce his untimely death.

Steel also makes an appearance in World's Finest #10, wearing what looks like his original S shield armor, but might be a later version adopted around '97. The latter would sit better with the involvement of the villain Riot, who debuted in 1996, in Superman: Man of Steel. Either way, somebody clearly got confused.

Death being what it is in modern day comics: the permanence and status of Robert DuBois' death has been a little difficult to track ever since.

Another Bloodsport appeared on the scene in 1993 with significantly different prejudices. There may also in fact be a third unidentified Bloodsport who just happens to look almost identical to Robert DuBois.

It's difficult to know for sure if there actually is a lookalike, or if World's Finest #10 merely began a chain of confusion that continued with later creators, who presumably wanted to call back to the slightly obscure early post-Crisis villain, but didn't know or care that he was dead.

The line wide relaunch of the New 52 definitively restored Robert DuBois to the new canon, allowing him to make a couple of appearances in The Flash. It seems safe to assume he'll be sticking around now that Idris Elba has been revealed as a live-action Robert DuBois in next year's The Suicide Squad movie.

The fact that it was long rumored Elba would replace Will Smith as Deadshot made today's featured fight a particularly fun battle to dig up from obscurity.

I have to imagine the film will inspire DC Comics to utilize the character much more, possibly setting up for a future rematch with Floyd Lawton, assuming he returns from whatever nonsense has befallen him. It wouldn't surprise me if the comic follows the movie's lead and swaps Bloodsport in very soon. That tends to be the way things work, these days.

It actually strikes me that the relative obscurity of Bloodsport will work in favour of both the filmmakers and DC.

The choice offers a low risk way to reinvent a character, and potentially mint a new lasting icon in the process. It's also a much more pleasing and genuine way to address ethnic diversity in comic book films, as opposed to casting against type as they did for Deadshot.

Bloodsport may seem like a bit of a nothing character, but in the future we may take a closer look at his first appearance to uncover what is a surprisingly strong debut for an otherwise forgotten villain. I've certainly overlooked the character all these years, but it's probably no surprise the John Byrne introduction works. We'll talk more about the glaring Van Damme connection, too. I know you saw it!

In the mean time: Bloodsport becomes the 987th character added to the Fight Club Rankings!

You can check out adjusted ranks for all featured characters at the bottom of current updates. Follow links throughout this post to discover more from each combatant -- and many more!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 650 comic book battles and you can find them all in the Secret Archive! Links are indexed by publisher, series, and issue number. Or subscribe on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to superhero smackdown inspired by the topics of the day. Don't forget to like & share updates if you do!

If you'd like to read today's featured fight for yourself, you can check it out in the now out-of-print Batman * Superman: World's Finest collection. Using the Amazon link provided to shop will do a fine job of helping support the site.

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Winners: Batman & Superman
#1 (--) Batman
#5 (--) Superman
#80 (-8) Deadshot
#933 (new) Bloodsport (Robert DuBois)

THOR versus THANOS

The Final Morning (Marvel)
Where: Thor #25 When: July 2000
Why: Dan Jurgens How: John Romita Jr

The Story So Far...
At the very dawn of time an alien sorcerer named X'Hoss foresaw the coming of The Designate and the elevation of all life to greatness.

To protect The Designate from those that would attempt to destroy her, he crafted three objects of immense power: The Illumination Stone, The Map of All-Ending, and The Chalice of Ruins.

These artifacts were soon corrupted by demonic forces so that their union with the tears of The Designate could command power over death itself. It is this knowledge that leads The Mad Titan, Thanos, on a new quest to indulge his obsession and flatter the attentions of Death herself.

In league with the loathsome Mangog; Thanos has brought the universe to the brink of Ragnarok. On a tiny ice planet, Thor lies beaten and broken, but across the gulf of space his poisoned father Odin conspires to arm him with one final reprieve. He need only survive long enough to receive it...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Thanos 5 (Professor)
Speed: Thor 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Thanos 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Thor 2 (Average)
Fighting: Thor 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Thanos 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Thanos 34 (Super)

Everyone knows Thor is one of the most powerful Avengers -- but even a God of Thunder is given grave pause by the cosmic malice of Thanos!

For a time it was thought Thanos could not die: true after he was rejected by Death herself. The notion was temporarily challenged however when Drax had his long awaited revenge by removing Thanos' heart in Annihilation #4. It took a cosmic cube to put him back down after being briefly resurrected in Guardians of the Galaxy #25. A more lasting return soon followed.

In today's battle Thanos has become a bringer of death. He has collected fabled artifacts of grim power and potential: The Chalice of Ruins, The Map of All-Ending, The Illumination Stone, and even the tears of Tarene The Designate. From this collection his will now becomes a vast coda to life itself!

All hope seems lost, but this isn't the first time Thanos has brought the universe to the brink of extinction. In his most famous quest The Mad Titan achieved nigh omnipotence by assembling the cosmic infinity stones into the Infinity Gauntlet.

Eric Masterson was in command of Mjolnir, and the might of Thor, at that time, lending his hammer to a fruitless first wave which convinced Thanos to indulge in a fairer form of combat. Thor's godly strength was then used to batter Thanos convincingly until he put distance between them by flinging the erstwhile Thor into space. When the stand-in Thor returned to fight by the side of Spider-Man, he was turned to glass and shattered for his trouble.

This time it's the one true Odinson going into battle -- but there may be some doubts about the nature of the Thanos he faces.

It's alleged in the 2002 Infinity Abyss mini-series that Thanos created a series of duplicates intended to test potential enemies and allies. These "Thanosi" clones were deemed imperfect, carrying out lesser visions of his plan. This basically seems like a device for explaining away inconsistent portrayals of Thanos.

The genocidal Titan that Thor's facing today clearly lives up to Thanos' most terrifying potential. His scheme and its destructive threat is not dissimilar from Infinity Gauntlet and you should not look upon this version as greatly inferior.

Thor has confronted many cosmic adversaries over the years, finding mixed results. The supposed daughter of Thanos, Nebula, proved capable of holding him at bay in Avengers #315, while Drax fought a mad Thor to an inconclusive result in Warlock and The Infinity Watch #21. An Ego-powered Ronan The Accuser went one better, swatting him aside in Maximum Security #3!

The potential for cosmic adversaries to subvert Thor's enchanted hammer is an eventuality that cannot be overlooked. Champion of the Universe was able to move Mjolnir by manipulating space around it in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7. The most famous example remains Beta Ray Bill, who proved worthy of wielding Mjolnir and turning its power against its master in Thor #337.

Thanos seems unlikely to lift Mjolnir any time soon, but The Mad Titan has enhanced himself with considerable magic and cosmic power. The odds seem very much stacked against Thor, having already been beaten severely, and forced to battle Thanos' ally Mangog. Let's see how he does...

The Tape: Thanos Ranking: Thanos (#11)

What Went Down...
Thanos romanticizes the embrace of death as a dazzling wave of destructive energy erupts directly from his hand and out into the cosmos.

Thor makes his grim approach from behind, stomping determinedly through snow with Mjolnir twirling at his side. He shouts indignant condemnation for Thanos' unthinkable disregard for life -- and pays dearly for his passion.

Thanos engulfs Thor in a punishing shower of excess energy. As he does, the first wave of death exterminates 41 billion lives on the planet Parsikon IV!

Only the Mad Titan and a badly damaged Rigellian Recorder are witness to the breadth of carnage now unleashed. The robot Recorder is without emotion but experiences something approximating regret. Thanos delights at his handiwork.

Racked with agony: Thor defiantly endures the spillover of energies and vows to stop Thanos. The Thunderer's bravery is true, but Recorder knows he is unlikely to escape the devastating forces acting against him.

Though pledged to record all events: the legless machine drags itself towards peril, preferring to offer what little assistance it might than survive to bear witness to the end of sentient life itself. It reaches out and is consumed.

Thor honors Recorder's sacrifice, shouting his name into the night and swearing to avenge him. His passionate cries grate on the ears of the traitor Tarakis.

The former Grand Vizier to Odin asks permission to end Thor's life. A final irony as an unseen stream of cosmic flame shatters his very existence!

The destruction of Tarakis signals the arrival of an emissary of Odin: Firelord!

The Xandarian herald carries armor infused with the blessings of Odinforce. He knows he is not powerful enough to enter Thanos' energies, but a cosmic blast may free Thor from its deadly embrace -- at the risk of killing him.

Firelord tosses Thor an enchanted belt to increase his resolve -- then dares to fire upon the beleaguered Odinson.

The explosion of colliding energies successfully throws Thor's body clear of the relentless fire holding him in place. For a moment his mighty body lies in the snow - smoldering and motionless. Then the Odinson begins to stir!

Firelord hands over the special armaments forged by blacksmith Jagrfelm at special order of Odin himself!

The strength doubling belt of power wraps around Thor's body, while a barbed gauntlet extends all the way up to his bicep, and a great spiked shield obscures his torso from sight. Even Mjolnir's might is enhanced with additional Odinforce!

Reinvigorated by the power of his new armaments: Thor immediately launches his assault -- hurling Mjolnir at a disinterested Thanos.

The hammer bounces against the unfathomable forces surrounding Thanos. It is enough to regain the Mad Titan's attention. He turns -- unleashing a maelstrom of power that radiates across the icy planet with violent consequence!

Firelord does his best to protect himself and Tarene, while Thor relies on his new shield to bear the brunt of the incredible onslaught. The impact pushes him across the battlefield -- driving his body into a frozen cliff side!

The God of Thunder emerges from the mountain depression and challenges Thanos to settle the battle, not with distant shots, but with their own fists -- as gods and warriors would do. Thanos refuses!

Again the enchanted shield protects Thor from the awesome force of Thanos' mystically enhanced power! The thunder god presses against his eye beams, striding slowly but steadily towards their source.

The shield begins to fray at the edges and crack, but still it holds as Thor wills himself and the metal disc forward. It begins to shatter, sending devastating shards around him, but Thor is unshaken in his mission to defend all life!

Soon, the shield is no more -- but Thor has reached his target!

With a warrior's decree he swings wildly with Mjolnir! The spectacular blow demands the attention of Thanos once more, but still the Mad Titan refuses to fall!

Thanos throws an all mighty right hook, but Thor returns fire with a staggering left that allows him to slip behind and strike the back. Thanos throws massive fists like clubs as Thor moves back in front. He connects with Thor's jaw!

The Mad Titan compares his godly adversary to a mere insect. Thor steels himself to be an insect that bites: reaching with his enchanted gauntlet to clutch the Illumination Stone that's hung around Thanos' neck.

The Titan's demeanor changes from arrogance to desperation, but there is nothing he can do to stop Thor crushing the gem in his armored fist.

The artifact explodes with a final roar of power as Thanos' grip on death suddenly ends! This time it's Thanos who yells into the night. Thor orders he be silent -- issued with the full brunt of Mjolnir's enchanted uru.

First a direct blow to the body softens Thanos up. Then an uppercut staggers him, before the might of Mjolnir is brought crashing down upon his head with the righteous indignation and fury of a warrior god defending life itself!

Thanos lands facedown in the snow, still smoldering with power, while Thor stands hunched beyond him in grim vigil, prepared to smith him again and again if needs demand it. The Mad Titan doesn't stir -- until an amazed Tarene steps forward with tears in her eyes.

The billions across space who lost their lives weigh heavily on Thor, and inspire The Designate to weep. It is said without the protection of The Stone of Illumination her tears will burn evil as if it was cast to the fires of Hell. She wipes her tear sand allows them to fall to Thanos who is consumed in flame.

The Hammer...

There was a certain grandeur when the final chapter of Death of Superman went to full and double-page spreads, but I dare say Thor #25 just might be the most epic thing Dan Jurgens has ever written!

It certainly doesn't hurt that John Romita Jr is absolutely drawing his arse off, as well! This is the JRjr you remember from World War Hulk, but today's fight, and the drama leading up to it, is laden with such beautiful poetry and glorious crescendo -- it's on a whole other level!

The sense of rising hopelessness as Thor struggles to return from a previous bitter defeat, and his allies become little more than spectators, reminds me of the saga-defining cosmic battles from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z.

Even the way allies continue to make small but vital contributions, such as Firelord delivering Odin's armor and killing Tarakis, seems very in keeping with DBZ. It was a pop culture phenomenon around this time, but I'm not sure it was a deliberate reference. Even if it was, the manga (or anime) never felt quite so heavy with epic Nordic tragedy. This issue is really something else!

Which makes it seem such a shame to undercut the battle's legitimacy by later reframing Thanos as an imperfect clone [as defined in The Infinity Abyss].

His motivations might be slightly regressive, but the only real incongruity is probably Thanos' apparent destruction when the fight is over. Otherwise, the epic battle and its intergalactic stakes feel very worthy of the one true Thanos! This certainly isn't the fall to Earth of his earlier appearances opposing Ka-Zar.

Not that I'm doubting the wisdom of Jim Starlin, mind you. If anything, this is probably another indictment on the assassination of a popular character. It isn't explicitly stated that Thanos died, but it certainly wasn't his usual graceful exit.

The situation reminds me ever so slightly of Mysterio's death a year prior in Daredevil #9. Thanos wasn't nearly the same subject of ridicule, but this was nearly a decade on from the highs of Infinity Gauntlet. Marvel cosmic was on the decline in general, and Thanos might've started to feel a little played out by 2000. Killing the character would be a mistake, but a big sendoff makes sense.

Whether he meant to kill off, or just sideline Thanos, I do greatly appreciate that Dan Jurgens put something back into the Marvel Universe.

The mythology of The Designate, and the artifacts used in this battle, were put into place very abruptly - just a few issues before this - but I think they worked reasonably well within their context. The grandiose opera of these issues do a lot to accelerating the meaning and credibility of everything involved, while expanding the theo-cosmic world of Thor and the Asgardians.

It's always cool to see Firelord get in the mix, and he's a very natural guest as a well established adversary to Thanos. We'll remember his team-up with Eric Masterson during Infinity Gauntlet, and role as a regular supporting character in Thanos adjacent issues of Silver Surfer. As a matter of housekeeping: he'll share the win with Thor for slaying Tarakis during the battle.

I rather like Tarene in these early issues, as well. There's something about the simplicity of her whitish attire that rather appeals to me. It seems like a bit of a shame that she was quickly remodeled as "Thor Girl" -- a female version of the main title hero -- when she had her own ambiguous, but otherworldly qualities here in these first appearances. It might've been nice to retain that, even while expanding her beyond a weeping Pariah/Harbinger type.

Before we wrap this massive entry, I should also note that by an act of pure serendipity, I happening to be listening to Jocelyn Pook album Untold Things while writing this entry. I don't usually soundtrack reading comics, but it turned out to be a very inspiring compliment to the super-sized issue. If you give it a listen, you might understand what I'm getting at.

If you want to get more of this type of Thor you can check out entries for Thor (Vol.2) #1 and Thorion of the New Asgods #1. Both feature big godly action by John Romita Jr. You can also discover more by following other links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 650 battles and ranked well over 900 characters! If you like what it's all about and want to support the project you can be hero and donate via Patreon. As a thank you you'll receive special acknowledgement, extra updates, voting polls, and custom articles.

You can experience today's featured fight for yourself by checking out one of the collected editions of Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus or Thor by Dan Jurgens & John Romita Jr Vol.4.

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Winner: Thor & Firelord (w/ The Designate)
#21 (+11) Thor
#403 (+528) Firelord [+1 kill]
#471 (new) Tarene [+1 kill] [+1 assist]
#596 (new) Rigellian Recorder [+1 assist]
#11 (--) Thanos [+41,000,000,000 kills]
#932 (new) Tarakis

GREEN LANTERN versus KILLER FROST & EFFIGY

Burning Desire (DC)
Where: Green Lantern #127 When: August 2000
Why: Jay Faerber How: Ron Lim

The Story So Far...
Ever since she recreated the accident of science that turned her late friend into a super-villain -- Dr. Louise Lincoln has been known to the world as the second coming of Killer Frost!

Captured by the Department of Extranormal Operations, Killer Frost was put on ice for transport, but when the truck overturns on a dirt road, she's free to suck the warmth from the guards' bodies!

Aided in her rescue by passing hothead Effigy, Killer Frost finds the perfect source of heat to fuel her newest cold front of crime! So perfect is the dastardly duo, they strike up an instant romantic chemistry. Bad news for Green Lantern - who also happens to be passing by, and wants to bring them both in!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Killer Frost 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Killer Frost 5 (Professor)
Speed: Killer Frost 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Green Lantern 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic)


It's a greenlight on a new year and the free for all is taking us wherever whim blows! What better way to shake off the Holiday frost than with a warm light?

When the Green Lantern Corps was slaughtered by a Parallax possessed Hal Jordan -- surviving Guardian, Ganthet, sought Kyle Rayner to be the bearer of a power ring as the last Green Lantern!

The young hero was thrust into a universe of Earthbound super-heroics and intergalactic responsibility! The learning curve of this cosmic legacy was a steep one. Rayner was quickly confronted by powerful forces from far-off galaxies -- even thrust into confrontations with the Marvel Universe in his early adventures!

We saw Green Lantern rescued by Thanos in a staged battle with Terrax during the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer crossover. GL later suffered defeat at the hands of Silver Surfer when friends were forced to fight for the survival of their respective universes in Marvel versus DC #3!

Surviving these encounters, and many more, Rayner would go on to gain valuable experience fighting alongside Golden Age mentor Alan Scott, Wonder Woman, Superman and the new Justice Leage of America, as well as his friend and studied generational peer Wally West - third generation hero: The Flash!

Of course, heroes aren't the only ones to inherit a legacy from predecessors...

In the case of Killer Frost: Dr. Louise Lincoln was confronted with the chilling transformation of her friend and colleague Crystal Frost. Held hostage; Lincoln was recruited to aid in curing the ailing super-villain, who was dying as a result of her unique physiology. In a spectacular final showdown with Firestorm, the original Killer Frost perished!

Lincoln recreated the experiment that altered her colleague, becoming the new Killer Frost in the process! She gained the same ability to project freezing cold and ice, whilst suffering the same insatiable desire to consume heat.

The only record of Killer Frost we have so far comes from Justice League of America #15, when she battled the new Firestorm as a part of the Injustice League. With help from Doctor Light, Frost had her nemesis pinned down, but the arrival of the JLA led to her being knocked out cold by Wonder Woman!

Similar circumstances to the Society team-up that introduced Effigy to the fighting ranks via Final Crisis: Requiem! In that battle, Effigy's fire powers were utilized by Libra to eliminate the Martian Manhunter!

Effigy is Martyn Van Wyck: A troubled youth whose miserable existence was turned upside down when he experienced an alien abduction. Taken by The Controllers, he was the subject of wanton experimentation that ultimately granted him the ability to project and control fire! Lashing out with his powers, Effigy would have frequent run-ins with Kyle Rayner and The Controllers.

Rayner hasn't had a whole lot of experience fighting Killer Frost, which puts him at more than a numbers disadvantage. Effigy's flame can power up Killer Frost in a snap -- bad news for Green Lantern! Worse - if the hard light constructs of his ring also give off enough heat for Killer Frost to suck them in!

We know Kyle's a tough customer. When he and Hal Jordan ran out of charge during the Sinestro Corps War, they resorted to fighting Sinestro in a down and dirty fist fight [Green Lantern #25]! So if things go south fighting Killer Frost, at least we know he isn't gonna quit!

One of the distinguishing traits of Kyle Rayner's use of the Green Lantern ring is his imagination. He's an artist by trade and can get pretty inventive with his use of, what was called at the time, the most powerful weapon in the universe!

Even if the ring itself can't be used offensively, Rayner should be able to protect himself from the extremes of cold and heat, and find some way to work with what he has to put the bad guys down! Let's see how he did...

The Tape: Green Lantern Ranking: Green Lantern (#108)

What Went Down...
Green light bathes would-be lovebirds Effigy and Killer Frost, signaling the unwanted arrival of the Green Lantern!

He projects a spotlight construct from his cosmic ring, descending to address the nearby devastation of an overturned DEO truck, and burning forest. Effigy tries to talk his nemesis into leaving him alone, but Killer Frost isn't interested in words!

A sudden blast of ice encases the young Green Lantern, sending him plunging like a stone into the roaring waters of the Niagara! Frost keeps up the cold, turning the entire river into a giant frozen grave!

Effigy celebrates the swift actions of his new squeeze, and the pair take flight. Meanwhile, the frozen river they left behind begins to crack -- breached by a glowing green buzzsaw!

A tender, airborne moment between villains is rudely interrupted when a chain and anchor materializes around Effigy's ankle!

The sudden stop sends Killer Frost flinging from Effigy's arms -- but she's able to slow her fall to a stop, forming a massive ice column in the night air beneath her! At the same time, Effigy burns the anchor from his leg.

Looking to even the numbers, Lantern Rayner creates a gigantic hairdryer to melt his icy new foe -- surprised to find the beam of heat to Killer Frost's liking.

GL has no time to act on his observation -- spontaneously ensnared in a vice made of fire!

Rayner summons his willpower to prise himself loose and leaves a green streak across the night sky as he flies away from the fight!

Effigy collects Killer Frost and marvels at the hero's apparent cowardice. Having dealt with more than her fair share of superheroes, Killer knows Green Lantern won't be gone for long. Admonished -- Effigy flaunts his earlier rescue of the villainess. Their bickering distracts them from the looming shadow overhead!

Green Lantern returns with a massive deposit of ice collected from the thawing, frozen Niagara! His snow plow construct dumps the mass of snowy ice on top of the two villains -- but Effigy is able to melt his way through!

He charges the hero with a burning rage, but flies straight into a grand slam from a green baseball bat!

The blow sends Effigy hurtling back to the river bank! The trajectory gives him time to take Killer Frost's words into account. Knowing Green Lantern won't stop pursuing him, he abandons concern for his love interest and devises a new plot!

Reaching out to the nearby highway -- Effigy sends a focused inferno toward an unlucky motorist. The blaze threatens to reduce the car to slag, forcing Green Lantern to abandon chase and focus on rescuing the driver!

The distraction gives Effigy the opportunity he needs to escape!

The Hammer...
As ever we come to a conclusion in need of definition. Effigy may've made his escape, but he did so in defeat. Killer Frost never emerges from beneath the snow and ice. Green Lantern is victorious!

It seems I find myself spontaneously enjoying some unexpected corner of comics every Holiday/New Year. Last year, I was jiving on X-Men during X-Mas. This year it seems to be Green Lantern that's stoking the flickering flame of my love for American superheroes.

When I say Green Lantern -- I specifically mean the Kyle Rayner years. A time in GL history I mostly observed from a distance -- mildly interested, but not actively reading. My mid-nineties tended toward Marvel standards (Spider-man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man), a helping of The Phantom, and more Steel than you could ever reasonably expect.

I'd grown up a fan of Hal Jordan, but wasn't compelled to start any forest fires over the prospect of his replacement. The now largely forgotten phenomenon of H.E.A.T. -- "Hal's Emerald Attack Team" -- seemed more than a little weird. Even if I understood where the petitioning fan club was coming from.

I certainly didn't particularly like or admire the idea of Hal Jordan going bad. I was just nonplussed. By this point, Superman had already died and returned, Batman had been broken, and it was all getting pretty passé.

The nineties weren't short of preoccupations. We weren't that far removed from the proliferation of Guy Gardner, not to mention the sprawling concurrent tales of The Corps. A lot of Green Lanterns had pulled focus over the decades since Hal and his peers replaced golden ager Alan Scott. The times seemed ripe for somebody new. Even if Jordan's continued appearances as Parallax made it seem the door was always open for an eventual return. (Even after he died).

Ironically, this actually was the one that stuck for a while. Sure, Green Lantern: Rebirth reset the status quo in 2005, but that was a good eleven years after Jordan went homicidal! Many of those in the non-stop nineties - no less!

Jordan had his flirtations with moral redemption, and a handful of years as The Spectre, but that only impacted the era of Kyle Rayner if you wanted it to. For all the sound and fury surrounding the handover - the new GL was a success.

As I revisit back issues now, I see first-hand how Ron Marz and his collaborators reinvigorated the whole concept. Pretty early on there were comparisons to Spider-man, but that shorthand only speaks to aspects of a broad template.

Yes, the new Green Lantern was a young hero living in a big city. He was dealing with rent, relationships, and the innate responsibilities of his newfound power. That responsibility, in and of itself, was a product of a continuum that wasn't abandoned in the way some felt, at that time.

The wholesale slaughter of The Green Lantern Corps was a shortsighted move, but stripping the mythos down to the important parts made some sense.

Viewed through the eyes of today's constant reboots and origin stories, it's actually a pretty straight forward, back to basics soft reboot. Rayner refurbished the character with a contemporary outlook & aesthetic, created an entry point for new readers, and made the journey of reinvention a part of the story.

Making one Green Lantern special again helped focus a series that spent the post-Crisis early nineties ballooning exponentially, instead of pruning. There was nothing wrong with The Corps, but being able to identify the Green Lantern as a single iconic hero had its upside. It'd been a while, and it paid off when Grant Morrison spearheaded an all-star, back-to-basics relaunch of the JLA.

Kyle Rayner standing on his own in early stories helped establish the character in a similar mold to Wally West as The Flash, but when JLA put him next to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the gang, in '96 -- it took the next step to sewing the new Green Lantern into the fabric of an iconic DC Universe.

I don't regret DC's shift in the 2000s toward reinstating and refining their most iconic versions of characters. The way things ended with Hal Jordan never sat well, and there's a status to classic characters that can never be recreated.

I do wonder what it would've been like had the third generation continued uninterrupted, though. Flash and Green Lantern showed it was still possible for corporate superheroes to advance successfully into a new age. An age that didn't require hard reboots like Crisis on Infinite Earths, or The New 52.

The choice to turn away from that advancement wasn't necessarily the wrong one, but it arguably demands that they focus all efforts on sustaining the icons. A deadlock that can never truly allow them to commit to advancing beyond a certain point. Which tends to result in awkward reboots and rejectable jumping off points like The New 52, and even the current second Rebirth era.

Of course, grousing about the current state of comics isn't what brought us to this entry. I'm pleased to be adding new data into our Comic Book Fight Club record for Rayner rogue Effigy, and Killer Frost. Don't ask me why, (I don't know the answer), but I've been on a little bit of a Killer Frost kick, as well!

Looking for more from any of the characters or series featured today? Follow links throughout this post, or dive in to the Secret Issue Index of past fights to search via publisher, series and issue number! If you like what you see, be sure to hit the G+1 button, or share the link via social media!

Winner: Green Lantern
#62 (+46) Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
#318 (-40) Effigy
#826 (-79) Killer Frost