RICK FLAG versus BATMAN

Up Against The Wall (DC)
Where: Suicide Squad #10 When: February 1988
Why: John Ostrander How: Luke McDonnell

The Story So Far...
There's something not quite right about Belle Reve Prison and it's newest inmate: Matches Malone. Neither is what they seem and they're about to collide in a clash of wills!

Malone is in actual fact The Batman: Deep undercover, and intent on exposing what's really going on within the fortress stronghold of the Lousiana prison! Elementary for one of the world's greatest detectives and escape artists!

Having acquired the information he seeks, Batman stages his exit, but not without raising the alarm. Having faced down the female fury of Duchess and the gun scope of Deadshot - freedom is in sight, but the Suicide Squad have one more taskmaster to throw at him! Enter: Colonel Rick Flag!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Batman 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnastic)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Arsenal)


Colonel Rick Flag is a career soldier with ties to the original Task Force X and Suicide Squadron. The exact details of his early military career are unclear, but his unwavering dedication to the job, and years of experience, were evidenced in his role as field leader of a new Suicide Squad.

Created under Amanda Waller's Task Force X; The Suicide Squad forced Flag to accept command of a team of convicted super-criminals who accepted black-ops missions in exchange for an expunged record. His personal recruits included the deprogrammed assassin Bronze Tiger, and cavalier mercenary Deadshot.

We saw Flag bravely provide a guiding hand to Deadshot during the team's first field mission: A takedown of the burning behemoth Brimstone [Legends #3], who was an unstoppable living weapon sent to Earth by Darkseid!

Flag's role was strictly leadership, but thanks to the division's superior intel, his group succeeded where the Justice League of America had failed [Legends #2]! Had the mission required, he could've called upon expert hand-to-hand and firearms combat training. His two offensive options against the likes of Batman!

When it comes to tactical and combative expertise - few are better than The Dark Knight! We've seen Batman put on hand-to-hand clinics with renowned opponents like: Captain America [Marvel versus DC #3], Bullseye [DC versus Marvel #1], The Knight [JLA: Classified #3], Slam Bradley [Catwoman #22], Victor Zsasz [Detective Comics #796], and Killer Croc [Batman #621]. He's even relied upon fighting skills to face super-threats like: Amazo [Batman #637], Captain Marvel [Superman/Batman #4], Scorpion [DC/Marvel: All Access #3], and New God of evil himself - Darkseid [Superman/Batman #42]!

Suffice it to say: Rick Flag is up against steep odds! He does have a tactical advantage in this particular situation, though!

Batman has infiltrated the secret Belle Reve headquarters of Task Force X. To do so, he's already had to run a gauntlet of armed guards, new recruit Duchess (formerly of the Apokolips Female Furies), and old arch-enemy: Deadshot! It's a strategy Bane famously used to run Batman ragged before securing supreme victory - the famous "breaking of The Bat" - in Batman #497!

Granted, Bane's approach involved releasing dozens of the deadliest inmates from Arkham Asylum. That forced Batman into an exhaustive chase across Gotham City. In Belle Reve Prison, his shortlist of opponents are all in close quarters. That means less leg work, but more intense action, and a home field advantage where the lockdown security of the prison could force Batman into an unwinnable situation!

The Math: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
Leaving a trail of defeated operatives, Batman sprints through the shadows of Belle Reve Prison. Approaching the main gate, he hears an apologetic voice...

Colonel Rick Flag dive tackles Batman from behind! The impact takes his legs out from under him, sending both to the floor.

Flag leans into his fist as he extends over The Dark Knight Detective's shoulder, pressing the advantage. Batman reverses the position, throwing his elbow back directly into Flag's exposed jaw!

The Batman uses the opportunity to rise to his feet. Both men hunching over, the pair of fighters square each other off at breaking distance. They move in!

Batman and Flag both lead with the backside of their left fist. Their forearms collide in a firm stalemate. Batman rockets his right fist into play, but Flag is able to curl his left arm up to block and sweep away from his face!

They lean into each other -- foreheads pressing like the locked horns of two bulls! Flag throws a probing right hand in the rib direction of Batman's body. The Dark Knight opts instead for a fist full of t-shirt. He pulls Flag toward him!

The gambit gives Batman the opening he needs to nail Flag with a devastating uppercut! The blow sends the Colonel sprawling to the ground! As he scrambles on all fours, The Batman leaps - cape extending like a giant living shadow!

Just as it seemed the fight was entering the end game - a volley of gunfire rings above both men's heads! They stop in their tracks!

The shots come from the gun barrel of Amanda Waller! Backed by Duchess, Deadshot, and the Belle Reve Warden and personnel who were taken out earlier - she challenges The Dark Knight!

He questions her methods. She draws parallels. Batman invokes the tax payers who unwittingly fund her squad of unreformed criminals. She trades a secret for a secret: The Batman had to go under deep cover to infiltrate the prison facility. He wasn't wearing gloves the whole time. She'll keep his secret identity if Batman agrees to keep theirs. The begrudging bargain brings Batman's excursion to an end. He's free to leave.

The Hammer...
While it looked as if Batman was getting the upper hand in the fight, we have no choice but to call this battle a draw!

For their role in bringing about a neutral conclusion to the outcome: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Duchess, bespectacled John Economos, and moustached guard J. Daniel "Murph" Murphy have earned an assist.

I tend to think of the outcome in terms of the first Rocky. Just going the distance with Batman is as good as a win for Rick Flag.

If you thought he'd be happy about his team's intervention in the skirmish, though, you've got another thing coming!

It's one of the interesting dynamics of the Suicide Squad team. Flag may be a career soldier with trouble in his past, but he isn't worlds apart from Batman when it comes to judging the covert employment of his super-villains teammates. He respects Batman, touting The Dark Knight's valor over the self-serving moral ambiguity of his team. An ally 100% committed to his team, even if he doesn't really like them.

Batman is a welcome presence throughout the issue. His break-in under the guise of frequent alias Matches Malone is a lot of fun. The way Amanda Waller uses it to turn the tables -- threatening to uncover Batman's secret identity through his need to go gloveless -- a great power play!

Did Batman really expose himself so carelessly? This isn't quite the invincible, omnipotent planner that Batman would become, but it is a tough ask to accept that he didn't have some kind of plastic fingertip covers, or the like.

His infiltration sets up an action-heavy escape for most of the issue. He runs through the guards, Duchess, and Deadshot, before being jumped by Rick Flag in the featured fight. I'm sure we'll aim to revisit the issue for those other fights. The battle with Duchess (aka; Lashina) is definitely one we'll need to document!

My only real complaint of this milestone issue is that the action seems to get away from penciller Luke McDonnell. It falls apart particularly in the Flag fight, which suffers from indistinct actions in a broken down, blow by blow battle.

It's no doubt the layouts are supposed to show the inching strategy and effort of the two fighters. An attempt to demonstrate Flag's ability to match Batman hand-to-hand, at least for a while. The exact movements are just a little too hard to discern from the artwork. The repeating, thin panels perhaps better replaced with a more dynamic impression of a short fight. I'm not sure.

McDonnell does great work throughout the early issues of Suicide Squad. I think his stylized photo-realism really creates an iconic look for the series. It's of the same cloth as Kevin Maguire's pencils, but lays on heavier shadows and slightly less super-heroic dynamism in scenes. This plays out well when "Matches" is setting his plan into motion in the empty prison. The way Batman slinks down the corridors and toward the reader in a two-thirds page reveal - awesome!

Want to see the whole issue for yourself? Pick up the collected edition by using the Amazon link provided for your convenience to the right! Like the tax dollars that fund the Suicide Squad, your purchase helps keep the wars infinite!

August is Suicide Squad month on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. Check back for Friday Night Fights and Hero of the Week updates featuring the characters from the movie and beyond! You can find even more features by infiltrating the Secret Issue Index!

Winner: Draw
#1 (--) Batman
#370 (+125) Rick Flag
#95 (--) Deadshot [+1 Assist]
#406 (+61) Amanda Waller [+1 Assist]
#497 (new) Lashina (Duchess) [+1 Assist]
#498 (new) John Economos [+1 Assist]
#499 (new) J Daniel Murphy [+1 Assist]

JUSTICE LEAGUE versus
INJUSTICE LEAGUE
Unlimited Chapter 4: Unleashed (DC)
Where: Justice League of America #15 When: January 2008 Why: Dwayne McDuffie How: Ed Benes

The Story So Far...
The matrimonial union of Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen -- better known to the world as Black Canary and Green Arrow -- should have been one of the happiest occasions on the Justice League calendar. Instead, it was to initiate a new incarnation of the Injustice League into being, marking another in a long line of personal attacks suffered by the heroes in recent years.

Organized as an "unlimited" version of the team by Lex Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah; the League of criminals forms as a response to the dissolving Society of Supervillains. With motives of widespread corruption and protection of crooks, the Injustice League strikes with startling success.

Having captured the JLA, the Injustice League holds their nemesis in captivity with the intent of executing them, but despite their consumate planning they failed to take into account the legacy of an atomic hero called Firestorm!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Lex Luthor 6 (Genius)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speeds)
Stamina: Shaggy Man 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Shadow Thief 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Deathstroke 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy Power: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic)


- The Justice League of America are: Black Canary, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Red Arrow, Hawkgirl, John Stewart, Geo-Force, Vixen, Hal Jordan, and Firestorm.

Born of necessity; the Justice League represent a coordinated effort by the world's finest heroes to protect and serve in the many iterations of their regional representation, and on a global scale. Boasting some of the planet's most powerful humans and extra-terrestrials, the League is equipped to combat any threat that should overwhelm the individual efforts of their member, or conventional defenses of the world's nations.

The League is classically defined by the core membership of it's founding members, affectionately referred to as the big seven. Overseen by stalwarts, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, they are; Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Several of these members would come to be succeeded by others baring their name, Wally West and Kyle Rayner, while many other heroes would come to be prominently listed with the group; Hawkman, Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, and others.

- The Injustice League are: Lex Luthor, Dr. Light, Giganta, Shadow Thief, Mr. Freeze, Fatality, Killer Frost, Gorilla Grodd, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke, Cheetah, Joker, Chesire, Shaggy Man, and Volcano Man.

Formed originally by a bored alien despot, Agamemno; the Injustice League exists as a none-too-subtle counter response to the premiere superhero collective of the DC Universe, the Justice League. Their original membership consisted of Kanjar Ro, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, Sinestro, Penguin, Dr. Light, Chronos, Black Manta, Felix Faust, and Mr. Element.

Sometime after his interdimensional doppelganger galvanized the criminal community as The Society, Lex Luthor reformed the League with a large group of villains, intending to utilize their powers as a protection unit. His true motives behind the formation of the team remain secret, but when the Earth's villains are banished to the planet Salvation, Luthor is prepared to lead them to safety.

Math: Injustice League (Ttl) Justice League (Avg) Ranking: Batman (#2)

What Went Down...
Lex Luthor, armed with powersuit and kryptonite knife, looms over a battered Superman with victory seemingly imminent. That is, until Firestorm arrives to transmute the life-sapping alien shiv into a harmless carbon-based toy!

Unaware of the young hero's efforts to free an imprisoned Justice League, Luthor gloats over the numerical superiority of his collective. Killer Frost is the first to strike, firing ice that easily countered with Firestorm's nuclear heat.

Dr. Light joins the femme fatale to lend a little extra power, but Firestorm is not without his own impending back-up... Having freed himself and the team with a ballpoint pen supplied by Firestorm - Batman marches the JLA into a rematch with their sinister counterparts!

Acting team leader, Black Canary, immediately makes her presence felt, dissipating Shadow Thief with the blasting echo of her canary-cry.
She promptly turns her attentions to grappling with Cheshire, while some members of the Injustice League opt to make an escape, left to run free in favour of strategic grouping by the JLA.

Canary tosses her opponent into Cheetah, leaving Chesire to attempt an escape into the surrounding swampland of her own. Hawkgirl borrows some of Red Arrow's hollowpoints to account for the absence of her mace, suggesting the archer might be going soft on his former flame.

Told not to pursue Mr. Freeze or Deathstroke; Wonder Woman takes the initiative to swing back around to aid Firestorm with a knock-out blow to Killer Frost!

Still unconscious, Black Lightning finds himself with the talon-like fingernails of Cheetah at his throat. Seemingly out of the game, the hero awakens, responding to Cheetah's threats with an unforgiving electrical charge!

Green Lantern joins the fray, forming a green force bubble to fend off the combined attack of Fatality's yellow Qwardian powerring, and Dr. Light's light manipulations.

Red Arrow lends the assist, firing a warning arrow into Fatality's hand with the promise of a second to the forehead. Undeterred by the hero's threats, it's Firestorm who puts the Xanshian warrior down by using his matrix powers to turn the Qwardian ring's energy against her!

Wonder Woman turns her Amazonian super-strength to Gorilla Grodd, swatting him into submission with a devestating three-fist combo! Alas; the attention required by the Gorilla leaves her wide open to a sneak attack by the Shaggy Man! Meanwhile, Wonder Woman's arch-nemesis, Giganta, challenges Black Canary to a one-on-one tussle.

The Canary narrowly vaults over Giganta's giant piledriving fist, using her bodyweight to snap back on the fifty-foot woman's oversized thumb! Having the proportionate dimensions of a skyscraper turns out to be a horrible disadvantage when Black Canary unleashes her sonic scream on the giant-woman's eardrums. As she passes out, Lex Luthor narrowly avoids being crushed by his ally.

Vixen, having absorbed the powers of Superman, launches into battle with Volcano Man, withstanding the burning sear of his rocky body to deliver a two-fisted polish hammer! The Volcano Man gets a taste of the Earth as the mimicking hero uses Kryptonian power to grind his head into the ground with a super-fast boot, before returning the powers to their original vessel.

Armed with the razortips of two red arrows, she easily slices through the animated fauna at the command of Poison Ivy. Not so easy, however, is the renewed assault launched by Fatality on Red Arrow and John Stewart!

While Black Lightning and Firestorm tend to a damaged Red Tornado, Gorilla Grodd launches a charging assault spotted by the legless android. Firestorm creates a brickwall to slow the charge, but Grodd easily pounds through it. Just as the rampaging beast reaches his prey the ground suddenly opens up by the will of Geo-Force, who entraps Grodd by closing the chasm!

With the tide definitively turning, Cheetah seems to come to the aid of an unconscious Dr. Light, but as soon as he gets to his feet, it is Cheetah who rakes her claws through the doctor's back!

Light's past comes back to haunt him at the least likely of moments, but before Cheetah can deliver the killing stroke to the sex offender, Wonder Woman intervenes to deflect the slash. The Amazon talks her arch-villain down, only to have Firestorm swat her unconscious with an energy blast.

Meanwhile, with his powers restored, Superman interrupts an aerial skirmish between John Stewart and Lex Luthor, to challenge his arch-nemesis.
Hal Jordan arrives to join his fellow GL Corpsman in gripping the kryptonite gauntlets on Luthor's suit with the energy of the power rings, giving Superman the chance to deliver a knock-out blow.

The defeat of founding members, Luthor and Cheetah, puts an end to the Injustice League's antics. Batman, who had been conspicuously absent from the fight, arrives with the final member of the founders, the Joker, having ignored a direct order from the team's newest leader, Black Canary.

With the unconscious collection of the villains at their feet, the question of what to do with them becomes the JLA's most pressing concern. It's then that Amanda Waller leads her ragtag team of reformed villains into the room, waving an official warrant in the generation direction of the heroes!

The Hammer...
Okay, you probably figure it's a pretty clear case of the Justice League taking the victory here, but the end of the issue includes an additional twist. For the villains who appeared to escape, a seven-issue maxi-series earns them an off-page defeat at the hands of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad for the assist!

Unbenknownst to Bane, Deadshot, Blockbuster, Plastique, Count Vertigo, Bronze Tiger, Multiplex, and Captain Boomerang, a good number of them are slated to join the captured villains on a prison planet called Salvation. All part of the Salvation Run event that defined much of the DC villains' 2008.

For November on the belated Infinite Wars, this issue made for a great opportunity to stop in with a good many playable characters from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. While we can't help but offer a somewhat damning assessment of the final product, we are still quite enthusiastic about the properties surrounding the game. Of the heroes and villains appearing in this issue, you can so far play as: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Deathstroke, Joker, and Lex Luthor. Downloadable characters may emerge before the end of the year.

With the Infinite Wars a horrid two weeks behind schedule once more, our unforgiving agenda quite naturally lands us with an epic battle between two mammoth teams. I'm sure there was a lot of commentary that could've made for some interesting and ponderous discussion, but as has been a bit characteristic of our second-half of 2008, you might have to make do without the best of us.

I wouldn't be quite as harsh on the heavily editorialized nature of the series, but would have to agree with some other reviewers' sentiments that the Meltzer-reboot of JLA as a series has failed to really present the A-list title you would expect. Marvel's New Avengers has suffered a similar deterioration, but holds on stronger to the focus of it's characters and an independent story.

In the end the biggest negative is the burden that seems to filter through to McDuffie's script. I'd like to think it isn't his public acknowledgment of frustration that's colouring this interpretation of the issue which feels much less inspired than other superhero skirmishes we've seen from McDuffie, or other writers. The team and adventure feels like a restrictive checklist of required beats.

At the end of the day, a sizable portion of the mainstream audience has been reacting negatively to this editorial vision. While it might not be benefitting JLA as much as one would like, Dan Didio's corporate ship feels cohesive and logical. I simply couldn't fault the issue for being connected to events that contribute to the saga of the DCU and the League as a vital component of that Universe.

Cheetah's sudden betrayal of Dr. Light reads like an awful pro wrestling plot twist, but as described in our Final Crisis #1 review, is an appreciated acknowledgment of a major event that's felt like the elephant in the room every time Dr. Light makes casual appearances in titles like Teen Titans, Green Arrow, or Superman/Batman. Light, of course, suffered a more torturous penance for his sexual assaults under the vengeful gaze of The Spectre -- a fate befitting of one of the most vile criminals DC has seen, depending on when you've read him (post-Identity Crisis). Wonder Woman's speech feels as ham fisted as Cheetah's attack, but with that vital acknowledgment of his crimes, it feels much easier to respect and enjoy Light's tumultuous career over the past few years.

The Infinite Wars will be back again with more Mortal Kombat and DC Universe features in the coming days, including the follow-up to our MK spotlight, this time with the characters from the DCU portion fo the recent game. Stay tuned!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4

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