GREEN LANTERN versus SUPERMAN

The Enemies Among Us (DC)
Where: Superman/Batman #30 When: November 2006 Why: Mark Verheiden How: Ethan Van Sciver

The Story So Far...
An unknown force has unleashed a torrent of troubles upon Superman & Batman as they find themselves attacked by forgotten threats from the past -- and even their own allies!

After a strange turn by Martian Manhunter, the World's Finest duo have endured an assault from the Green Lantern and The Creature That Cannot Die, but even as Hal Jordan returns to his senses, they are instantly set upon by yet another friend when Kilowog arrives wielding not only his power ring, but also John Stewart's!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach-Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Superman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Kilowog 4 (Trained)
Energy: Kilowog 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Superman 33 (Super)

We're back on the beat to find out how Green Lantern fares in a fight against Superman. A hero-on-hero match-up inspired by Howard Stern and his interview with DC Studios CEO & Co-Chairman, James Gunn, which captured the imagination of fans around the world -- and sparked rampant debates about who would win!

We've already seen that a Green Lantern can give Superman something to think about, but when Hal Jordan was turned against his teammate in the previous issue, he managed to shake the corrupting influence on his mind and ring before things went too far, ending the conflict peacefully.

Of course, there's more than one Green Lantern in the intergalactic GL Corps, and when that fight wrapped up -- Kilowog showed up to pick another one!

Kilowog is a designated Green Lantern of Sector 674, but you also might remember him from his time as a member of the Justice League. He settled on Earth after the destruction of his home world, Bolovax Vik - and the apparent murder of his entire race, when a new planet was destroyed by Sinestro.

In addition to his power ring, Kilowog is naturally incredibly strong and durable, with extensive combat training and practise in hand-to-hand fighting. He's a keen military strategist, with extensive knowledge in tactical strategies, genetics, and mechanical engineering. An all-rounder who helps train new Green Lanterns as Corps drill sergeant -- and should be an interesting test for Superman!

Although The Man of Steel is renowned for his Kryptonian might, he's no stranger to facing a physical adversary who can match him. He's tasted defeat at the hands of Orion, Lobo, and even Marvel's Venom, in addition to struggles with Blockbuster and Equus. Interesting studies, but an incomplete picture for today's match-up.

Our closest comparisons are Guy Gardner going a few rounds with Eradicator before they reached a mutual ceasefire, and more compellingly: the brutal defeat of Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner by General Zod and his family.

The planet Jekuul has two yellow suns, which may've boosted Zod's powers, but in today's fight -- it's Kilowog who's packing double the arsenal, having already stolen John Stewart's ring and added it to his own!

Will double the jewelry equal double the power for the physically imposing alien Green Lantern? Or could Superman do as he did with Hal Jordan and hold out long enough for the corrupting influence to leave Kilowog?

They fought on the same side when the Sinestro Corps brought Warworld and Anti-Monitor to Earth. Let's find out what happened when they fight each other!

The Tape: Superman Ranking: Superman (#3)

What Went Down...

Batman pushes himself off the dirt, still reeling from the sudden impact of a massive green energy blast that scattered he, Hal Jordan, and Superman across the desert.

The Bat tries to warn Superman of the threat coming from behind -- but it's already upon him! The alien Green Lantern, Kilowog, standing sneering with Superman's head firmly beneath his boot.

Possessed by the call of an unknown influence -- Kilowog unleashes the energy of two Green Lantern's rings upon a Superman who is apparently deaf to the message!

The blast of green energy - and mystery of the possessing call - keeps Superman rattled enough for Kilowog to punt him across the open desert!

Batman can only watch as Kilowog pursues the fight away from he and Hal Jordan -- a human Green Lantern who, until mere moments earlier, had also come under the spell of the mysterious mind-altering message, and turned against his friends.

Kilowog is swiftly upon The Man of Steel, who crash landed into a fringe area of a government alien-holding facility. The hulking Green Lantern looms over Superman, who sits stunned amongst twisted metal and a leaking pipe.

Kilowog grips Superman's head in his large fingertips and compels him to look within -- to the deeper subconscious of his inner psyche.

The mind games warp Superman's perception of himself -- so much so that when he gazes upon his own reflection in the pooling leak from the nearby pipe -- he doesn't see the usual chiseled features of himself. Instead, the strange piercing glare of a sinewy pink, fanged alien looks back -- a different version of himself!

Kilowog keeps pressing. Urging the Last Son of Krypton to "remember" his arrival on Earth. His "true" face when his rocket landed and the Kents discovered him a crying infant. The 'alien nature that's been inside him all along'.

As Batman catches up with the pair -- the damage is already done. Superman has been twisted by the same mysterious force warping friends into enemies. Believing himself to be an alien source of revulsion -- Superman turns on Batman!

"I'm tired of the way you look at me, like I don't belong. Sick of the fear in your eyes."

Superman's eyes glow a furious red -- charged with barely contained heat vision as he lifts Batman off the ground by his throat.

"Look at the way you attacked the Martian Manhunter. All the times he's risked his life for the people of this planet... but even now when you see him, you want to look away."

Kilowog stokes the fire of the Kryptonian's alienation, but the manipulation is balanced by Batman's choked reminder of a creed of 'strength tempered by truth and justice'.

The Man of Steel breaks his hold and tosses his friend aside with a hurried moment of renewed clarity: "Batman, get away. Now."

Kilowog expresses disappointment at Superman's supposed weakness -- his failure to accept superiority over humans. He charges the power of his two Green Lantern rings and prepares to do what the Kryptonian will not, but before he can kill The Batman -- Superman grabs him by the wrist and heads for the outer atmosphere!

While Superman grapples with Kilowog's ring arm amongst the stars -- Batman reconvenes with the human Lantern, Hal Jordan, to assess their situation from the planet below.

GL knows a tour through the Milky Way won't slow Kilowog down, but Batman looks to the sky with fear that the alien Green Lantern may not be the real threat.

Meanwhile, Superman continues to duke it out with Kilowog as they drift further away from the planet Earth.

The combatants tumble through space with rippling green energy dancing around them. The Man of Steel delivers a rising uppercut with his left fist! A stiff left cross keeps Kilowog reeling as they career towards the Earth's Moon!

Rocks and dust kick up in the low-gravity atmosphere as they smash into the Moon's crust. Green Lantern energy swirls around them while Kilowog rallies and throws his fists into a tangle of limbs.

Despite his mind being compelled by invisible hands -- Kilowog shows tremendous clarity about Superman's intention to keep their fighting fury from harming the innocent denizens of Earth. A dedication to protection that the Green Lantern's twisted mind now considers a terrible waste.

With his body encased in energy -- Kilowog delivers a left haymaker!

The blow sends Superman uncontrollably flying back across the Moonscape!

When the Green Lantern finally catches up with his opponent, he finds Superman on his knees in the dust of the lonely celestial satellite. He grants one final chance to heed the call of the "glorious" distant message that unites against humanity -- a message that drove Hal Jordan to kill Superman should he refuse.

Away from the "babble" of humanity - Superman does not refuse. Batman's fears are realised. Red heat vision streams from Superman's eyes as he turns with arched eyebrows and a tense jaw, rejecting his adopted humanity: "... from this moment forward, Earth belongs to anyone with the strength to TAKE IT."

The Hammer...

We're investigating the much-discussed match-up of Green Lantern versus Superman, but just like the battle in the previous chapter -- we come away without any concrete results.

Superman may have ended the fight on his knees, but neither Kilowog nor he did anything decisive enough to reach any convincing conclusions.

Instead, our featured fight played out as a battle of wills, with Superman succumbing to the same mind-altering alien influence that enthralls his opponent. This becomes another entry into the "Evil Superman" file -- even if a major component of our fight remains Superman's intent to protect others by taking the battle elsewhere. Always a welcome character-driven nuance.

As noted in The Tape section: These spotlights are inspired by discussions with DC Studios CEO & Co-Chairman, James Gunn, who ignited extensive debate and speculation across fandom after discussing the Green Lantern's powers relative to Superman's, during appearances on radio and podcasts.

Most fan talk has been focused on human GLs like Hal Jordan -- but we all know there's a lot more to The Corps than Sector 2814! I couldn't resist following up our previous entry with this widely overlooked battle featuring alien GL - Kilowog!

The burly Bolovaxian has been one of the neglected heroes here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, despite being remembered fondly for his significance in the post-Crisis period of late eighties/early nineties DC Comics.

It was during that time that Kilowog crossed paths with Despero, helping the Justice League stop his violent rampage with an improvised device that switched the tyrant's mind with L-Ron -- trapping Despero in the robot's body.

If that episode wasn't galling enough for the villain -- he later found himself imprisoned on Oa by the Green Lanterns, having failed in another attempt at revenge against the League. Which ultimately brings him back to Earth in The Enemies Among Us, attempting to enact a new scheme against the Justice League, Green Lanterns, and Earth as a whole!

This time Despero is assisted by self-righteous, planet-conquering aliens he deceived into believing humans are morally unworthy of existence. They attempt to eradicate the species by turning Earth's powerful extra-terrestrial populus against humanity, allowing Despero to remain hidden throughout the earlier chapters, as the likes of Kilowog and Zook do the fighting against Superman, Batman, and another GL - John Stewart.

I've been enjoying revisiting issues of Superman/Batman with fresh eyes, but this story speaks to the series' inconsistency, particularly into the second year.

Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness launched the tandem title in 2003 with bombastic appeal and significance to mainline publishing, but after a Michael Turner-drawn origin story for a new post-Crisis Supergirl, the second year establishes a looser Silver Age approach that becomes even more potent in The Enemies Among Us.

The Mark Verheiden arc, splitting pencil duties between multiple artists, rests heavily on forgotten period references for the first few issues, and aside from some residual paranoia from the post-Identity Crisis years, it all feels a little too vague for its own good. A needless mystery that probably would've played out a lot better if it cut to the chase in about half as many issues.

Lost in this soup of mystery, action, and guest characters is the fleeting concept of a Superman whose origin is twisted into a very different alien story.

It's the kind of kooky boilerplate concept that feels right out of a classic issue of World's Finest, and while that might not seem like the most exciting plot, it has a good visual hook with the alien Superman (seen in his reflection), and might've been a useful way to sharpen the focus of the issue.

The horror of the 'alien Superman' was apparently strong enough to make the cover, where we can see Pa & Ma Kent horrified by the child they've discovered in its space pod, but the whole thing really only plays out over two pages. Granted, it's at least fun seeing Superman battle Green Lanterns in the guest parade, rather than a simpler issue built on a confused Man of Steel up against Batman.

The two title characters turning on each other, or their friends, is a consistently recurring trope throughout the Superman/Batman series. We saw the rivalry play out when Kryptonite Man possessed Batman, in the very appropriate meta Who Would Win? issue, and it will indeed happen again during the climax of The Enemies Among Us. A conflict for another day.

If you'd like to see more entries from Superman/Batman on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths be sure to drop a comment and consider getting involved on Patreon.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has been serving superhero smackdown for well over 750 fights and ranked more than 1000 of your favourite characters! If that sounds like a good thing to you -- I'd really appreciate it if you considered supporting the project. It's free to follow on Patreon, and a Tier 1 sub is a great, cheap way to support 100% man-made, farm fresh, fightin' niche content.

Explore more of your favourite characters and topics by following links throughout each article. You can also find a complete index in order of publisher, series, and issue number in the Secret Archive. A great way to increase your Intelligence stat!

You can also get daily recommendations inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share to help boost the signal -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. In brightest day, in blackest night, no Patreon subscriber shall escape my sight!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#3 (--) Superman [+1 draw]
#179 (+7) Green Lantern (Kilowog) [+1 draw]
#1 (--) Batman [+1 assist]

GREEN LANTERN versus SUPERMAN & BATMAN

The Enemies Among Us (DC)
Where: Superman/Batman #29 When: October 2006
Why: Mark Verheiden How: Ethan Van Sciver

The Story So Far...
The past is coming back to haunt Batman and Superman! An unprovoked attack from Martian Manhunter precedes deadly affronts from Titano, Parasite, and Doctor Phosphorus -- all old adversaries who are dead or long since dealt with!

A tense meeting with Martian Manhunter confirms Batman's suspicions that he may be dealing with a shape-shifter, but when Green Lantern lends Superman a hand to deal with a returning Caveman from Krypton -- it quickly becomes apparent that Hal Jordan himself has turned against them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach-Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Superman 33 (Super)

When DC Studios CEO & Co-Chairman, James Gunn, was a guest of The Howard Stern Show a few months ago -- he inadvertently ignited a debate amongst fans over who would win in a fight between Green Lantern and Superman.

Traditionally the pair of DC heroes are charter members of the Justice League, but there have been a handful of notable battles between them. All of this despite the fact that Superman himself was once considered a potential candidate to receive the ring and join the Green Lantern Corps as guardian of Sector 2814!

This one generally boils down to whether or not the super-human strength and physical feats of The Man of Steel can match the indomitable willpower of energy constructs made by a Green Lantern.

A Green Lantern has to be able to respond to dangerous inter-galactic phenomena while policing a vast array of powerful alien species. That means light constructs need to be pretty tough. Case in point: Hal Jordan was able to smack the Hulk around when the Marvel hero was accidentally displaced in time & reality.

We haven't studied today's particular featured match-up, but we do have some good cases of similar conflicts.

Guy Gardner went to war with Eradicator during the period when Superman was thought dead, and replaced by an engineered doppelganger. Guy wielded a yellow Qwardian ring at this time, similar to GL's, using all the basic tactics of a Lantern to match the Superman facsimile until a mutually agreed upon ceasefire.

Conversely, things went awry when Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner were deployed to the planet Jekuul, discovering Eradicator, General Zod, and his family living with all the benefits of Kryptonian physiology under a yellow sun. This powered Zod and his family up to Superman levels -- allowing them to shatter light constructs, and strategically disarm the Lanterns with extreme prejudice.

I say a Green Lantern should be able to handle himself and lock down a super-powered threat, but we've seen that it can go both ways. With Batman in tow, Superman has a sharp tactical mind at his disposal, but they're up against a seasoned pro in Hal Jordan, and as we'll find out -- he isn't acting alone!

The Tape: Superman & Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

Batman scolds Superman for arriving to his own rendezvous late as The Man of Steel touches down behind the hangar of a quiet alien containment facility.

The reaction draws confusion from Superman, who didn't ask Green Lantern to arrange any meeting with The Dark Knight. In fact, they didn't discuss Batman at all when the Lantern helped detain the notorious Caveman from Krypton -- one of several alien threats from the past coming back to haunt them.

Batman's suspicion is immediately aroused, but he can barely finish the thought as the ground begins to rumble and bulge a path from the hangar towards them!

A massive ball of green energy explodes from the ground beneath their feet!

Batman manages to jump clear of the blast moments before it happens -- while Superman stands firm to absorb the brunt of the attack!

Suddenly Superman finds himself under fire as green lasers begin piercing the air and shooting at him!

Batman darts behind the quizzical and besieged Man of Steel -- heading for the shadows of another nearby building. Green lasers dance around The Dark Knight, cutting through the hangar as he appeals to his old ally to talk to him.

Instead, Batman is thrown back as the ceiling caves in under the awesome size and weight of Green Lantern's old one-time foe -- The Creature That Could Not Die!

Meanwhile, Superman finds himself in the turncoat Lantern's sights as he notes the pugilistic heft of Jordan's weapon from a position on one knee!

"Power rings always did... pack a heck of a punch."

The Green Lantern blasts through the hangar doors of his hiding place and flies a beeline towards his target!

Surrounded by a protective shield of energy and five giant glowing arms -- he takes the fight straight to Superman!

Superman is swept off his feet as the Lantern's extended fist guides him like a human missile -- and a barrage of green fists pummel and batter the Kryptonian!

The struggle sends them skipping out into the empty desert -- bouncing off the dirt as Superman exerts himself against his erstwhile teammate, and attempts to bring their flight to a halt. He wants to know why he's attacking them.

Hal points his ring to the night sky as its energy begins to ripple and extend.

Back at the base: Batman does his best to stay clear of massive pink limbs whipping towards him. They shatter the floor as he jumps clear!

Superman and Green Lantern blast back to the base -- concerned that Batman might be in trouble. They crash through the building, finding Batman standing safely beside the unconscious behemoth of The Creature.

It seems the cloud of influence over Hal Jordan has passed, but The Batman rushes him -- grabbing GL's ring hand with his left, and the front of the Lantern's uniform with his right.

Jordan remains passive in Batman's grip, mounting no defense as he removes his power ring and reveals the belief that the entire episode wasn't just a corruption of the man -- but also the Green Lantern power ring!

The Hammer...

We came here to find out who wins when Green Lantern fights Superman, but it looks like we've gotten ourselves tangled up in a far more complicated situation! Before we get into all of that, let's take a moment to outline what brought us to this scenario in the first place:

DC Studios CEO & Co-Chairman James Gunn made headlines weighing-in on Green Lantern vs Superman, but it was actually radio shock-jock and noted comic book fan, Howard Stern, who initiated it, while the pair discussed the upcoming live-action Lanterns series during the September 10th edition of Stern's show. Stern mused: "You know, no one's ever done a great job with Green Lantern. I was a Green Lantern fan, and I don't think-- Y'know, he's got pretty cool super-powers. He could pretty-- I think he could beat up Superman, in a weird way. Don't you think?"

Gunn responded, "Absolutely, absolutely. I think he's pretty-- he's pretty powerful. I think that a good strong match between Superman and uh, Lantern, uh -- any of the Lanterns -- would be great." A sentiment he repeated the next day while answering fan questions during the Peacemaker Official Podcast, "I definitely don't think Superman would beat against, beat Green Lantern."

Social media and fan communities lit up with their own speculation and takes on the match-up, but as you know, in these parts we prefer not to ask who would win a fight - but who did win a fight. The kind of thing that helps settle some of these arguments and put it all into a kind of perspective. Even if we all know the needs of a story will ultimately override any presumed "correct" answers.

I frequently saw a page from today's featured issue doing the rounds during fan discussions, so I figured it would be as good a place as any to start. A chance to provide some missing context to the jpeg, which showed Green Lantern using his power ring to pummel Superman, but offered no actual conclusions or details.

Here we can illuminate the attack: Superman was caught off guard, holding back during the skirmish, and ultimately wasn't even actually defeated by Green Lantern, who was acting under the influence of mental corruption.

The source of that corruption is the mystery at the heart of the entire Enemies Among Us six issue story arc. A pretty bloated and vague tour through Silver Age references like Zook: a cutesy, shape-shifting alien who hung around Martian Manhunter in the 1960s, but according to this story, left Earth after Batman snapped at the Manhunter to keep him quiet during a Justice League meeting.

It was Zook who was assuming the form of obscure old enemies like the Caveman of Krypton and Creature Who Couldn't Die, having been drawn back to Earth by the mysterious psychic "call" radicalizing aliens on Earth into an armada against humanity. His dated references speak to time spent away (and out of publication). We'll take a closer look at Zook's involvement in all of this another time.

The corrupting call is perpetrated by a species of alien conquerors who have been convinced by Despero that humans are morally unworthy of existing.

Despero met the aliens while imprisoned by the Green Lantern Corps on Oa after his last attack on the Justice League during Crisis of Conscience. Which might explain why Hal Jordan and his ring were early targets for manipulation in today's story, and why Superman/Batman #29 also ends with the bombastic arrival of another hostile Lantern & alien -- Kilowog!

Which brings us back to James Gunn's remark about "any of the Lanterns" being a match for Superman! It's not just Hal Jordan crossing swords with his fellow Justice Leaguer, and in the next issue of Superman/Batman, it's Kilowog's turn.

Just like our recent series spotlighting Daredevil and The Wrecker -- I rather like the idea of exploring the Superman v Green Lantern dynamic further!

There are plenty of examples of Green Lanterns testing their might against The Man of Steel -- and I just happen to have several of 'em. So this could be a project we revisit heading into the 20th Anniversary of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

Season 2025 technically ends with November, so this is probably our last entry of "this year". It's been a tough one. Only you can make sure there are many more years to come and more features in 2026! Support the project on Patreon this holiday season to spread a little cheer and ensure next year is a big one! It's free to follow, and a Tier 1 sub is a great, cheap way to support 100% man-made, farm fresh niche content.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has been serving superhero smackdown for well over 750 fights and ranked more than 1000 of your favourite characters! You can find em all by exploring the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

Explore more of your favourite characters and topics by following links throughout each article. Flex that mind muscle and go on a journey of discovery with every link you hit!

You can also get daily recommendations inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share to help boost the signal -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. In brightest day, in blackest night, no Patreon subscriber shall escape my sight!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#3 (--) Superman
#30 (+1) Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
#1 (--) Batman [+1 assist]

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.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by following on X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

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

BATMAN versus PENGUIN

Snow and Ice Part Two: Bird of Ill Omen (DC)
Where: Detective Comics #611 When: February 1990
Why: Alan Grant How: Norm Breyfogle

The Story So Far...
The Penguin is dead. Claimed by a heart attack in Gotham Penitentiary while working out in the gym. An ignoble death for a man whose final will & testament pledges protection to the bird species from which he took his criminal alias.

The Batman attends his funeral with other friends, rivals, and enemies, breaking with taste and tradition to diligently verify the legitimacy of Oswald Cobbleplot's demise. The corpse is genuine -- but its slumber is not. The Batman is right to harbor his suspicions.

By night, The Penguin's men exhume his body, and although they at first fail to stir him from the hypnotic state mimicking death -- they soon spring Mortimer Kadaver from prison. His role in putting The Penguin under is quickly undone with the utterance of a simple code word, allowing the pair to begin a fresh crimewave with The Penguin beyond suspicion.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 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 (Projectiles)
Total: Batman 29 (Metahuman)

Batman has one of the most famous rogue's galleries in comic book villaindom, and although The Penguin has always enjoyed a certain iconic status, modern times haven't always been especially flattering to his combat potential.

Once upon a time this criminal mastermind reigned supreme as one of Batman's premiere opponents, but as The Dark Knight has become increasingly associated with almost super-human levels of peak physical & mental conditioning -- Oswald Cobblepot has found a more comfortable niche as a businessman and overseer.

The Penguin therefore differs from some of Batman's more maniacal arch-villains in cold calculating. He's a rational actor, wielding tactical brilliance to manipulate the ranks of organized crime, politics, and high society -- eventually maintaining the facade of a legitimate businessman as owner of The Iceberg Lounge.

One way Penguin deals with physical opposition is to recruit hired muscle. We saw him call upon Girder and Double Down during a visit to Keystone City in The Flash #210. He also recruited Jonathan Crane for an operation that led to the psychologist's transformation into the rampaging Scarebeast.

Far from helpless, Penguin also typically travels with an arsenal of personal firepower. His famed trick umbrellas come with a variety of munitions, blades, or gasses, as was unleashed against Green Arrow in Justice League of America #135.

We generally expect Batman to defeat most opponents in the end, but planning and resources can get the better of him -- especially in one of his more street-level outings.

The Batman himself almost undid his dominance over Rick Flag by infiltrating the secret Belle Reve Prison headquarters of Task Force X. Caught in the lion's den, he only escaped Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad through negotiation.

Master planners Bane and Hush stacked the deck in their favor by running The Batman ragged before respective showdowns in Batman #497 and Batman #619. Pawns in their scheme, Riddler and Harley Quinn, proved capable of testing The Dark Knight in their skirmishes as well, in Batman #490 and Batman #613.

So, will this be one of those circumstances? Has The Penguin planned the ultimate humiliation for Batman in this installment? Let's stop speculating and find out!

The Tape: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

With a spring in his step, a sack full of cash over his shoulder, and a tune whistling from his lips -- The Penguin descends a fire escape ladder on his way to another escape from the back of the freshly robbed First Gotham Bank.

He has just unburdened himself of his partner-in-crime, Mortimer Kadaver, but The Penguin's troubles are only just beginning. As he begins to load his loot into a getaway car -- a cold voice growls from the street light overhead: "Hi."

The startled Penguin leads with his umbrella gun as he twirls to meet the grim figure descending from above.

His hat falls away and for the briefest of moments The Penguin locks eyes with his hunter, but he does not lose his composure.

The Penguin welcomes the diving Bat with open arms -- using the Dark Knight's own momentum to redirect him with a backwards roll and kick of his legs.

The toss sends Batman hurtling into nearby trash cans -- a painful reminder that appearances aren't everything where the stout, but physically capable Penguin is concerned. His choice of accessory hides deadly potential, as well!

From the end of Penguin's umbrella blasts a wild spray of gunfire!

Batman dodges and weaves to keep clear of the shots, but he knows he can only keep the feat up for so long!

With a single fluid motion The Bat dances around the bullets, while also collecting one of the nearby trash can lids to fling towards his foe!

The broad metal disc collides with The Penguin's skull -- creating an opening!

The Batman seizes his opportunity -- closing in with a knock-out punch!

The Hammer...

Our first look at a classic rivalry gives us a surprisingly competitive street fight.

I have to admit, I'm not entirely at peace with the image of a judo-rolling Penguin, but for the most part I find this a pretty acceptable outing.

Batman dancing between short-range gunfire might be stretching credibility to its absolute breaking point, but there's still a lot to like about the balance of ruthlessness and iconic Penguin gimmickery in this portrayal. I'll gladly take reality-bending super-human feats if it means indulging in the fantasy of trick gun-umbrellas and exciting comic book imagery.

Norm Breyfogle has to be right up there with Jim Aparo as one of the great, iconic Batman artists. They both have terrifically stern, angular takes on The Dark Knight, who remains firmly rooted in the world of superheroes, but can disappear into highly stylized urban shadows, and moody pulp page layouts.

There's something about Breyfogle that reminds me a little of Sal Buscema, as well. Another favourite artist of the late eighties/early nineties who trades in sound fundamentals, instantly identifiable exaggerations, and a flair for big action and expressive characters. Guys who really make comics a singular experience.

We're back in one of my favourite years: 1990. A time especially significant for Batman as a character and brand, still riding the phenomenon of mainstream mania sparked by the 1989 feature film, while DC Comics continues to navigate the on-going creation of a new normal for a post-Crisis DC Universe.

I think fondly of picking up issues of Batman and Detective around this time, in places like the city train station, where I would exit past the newspapers caged outside a narrow hole-in-the-wall convenience store, new issue gripped in my hot little hands, and daydream about Batman and The Joker fighting across an overhead foot bridge. There was a touch of Gotham in that place, with its old fashioned wooden phone booths & polished coat hangers, and rain-soaked winter commuters whom I could swear were wearing hats and trench coats, but probably had something a little less sophisticated in style for a 1990 wardrobe.

The classic rogue's gallery was ripe for a rethink around this time, and Bat-fans were eating well, with all the major villains represented and near the peak of their powers. A period of re-establishment that laid a strong new foundation for the decades to follow and build upon.

The Penguin is still leaving a trail of clues for Batman in this issue, citing the idea that a crime spree wouldn't have any thrill if nobody knew who was doing it, but he's taking a break from ornithological fixations to go after cold hard cash, and more notable, "snow" and "ice" -- street names for cocaine and diamonds.

I suppose there's nothing too unusual about that, but it does feel a little like this issue is participating in a broad process of evolution that will advance the Bat-mythos, and take The Penguin toward a more hands-off approach, arriving a decade later as something of a power broker ensconced in a world of luxurious gimmicks -- namely The Iceberg Lounge -- rather than actively pursuing gimmicks, like exotic birds.

Not that I'm at all opposed to Oswald Cobblepot's specialist interests and proclivity to acquire the finest things through criminal methods. There are just better opponents to be out on the streets trading blows with Batman, and the idea of flaunting clues for attention feels more at home with Riddler, or perhaps Joker.

This process of refinement, and commitment to the unique accumulating culture of comic books, was & is one of the pleasures of the era.

You could really count on the comics back then; resistant to even the massive cultural impact of Michael Keaton's Batman, and Tim Burton's later vision for a grotesque sewer-dwelling Danny DeVito that we never fully suffered in comics. Even the enduring all-black rubberized Bat-costume was never fully executed in the comics, even if there was some experimentation with colouring and design.

The Penguin was a brilliant visual right out of the gate in 1941, and the details of that design were largely retained as well -- even in the face of modern fashion sensibility, which admittedly, had room for gorgeous retro as part of its variety of styles, but still contained the pressures of aggressive disposal in pursuit of the hot new thing.

If there were any outside forces that influenced Penguin - it was the Batman animated series: A show that was embraced by comicdom for its high-quality retro vision, which itself was heavily and intuitively influenced by comic book sources.

For lack of a better term - the cartoon was one of "ours", even as it navigated its own necessary evolution of design and characterization, before eventually losing its way in the later iterations.

I don't like to spend too much time here railing against the present, but I invariably return to the subject, because I do wish current comics showed more of that consistent old resiliency and dedication to refinement, without falling in to a complete regression into dead-end nostalgia.

It weighs particularly on my mind as we endure our current Batman mediascape, steered unconvincingly, but with baffling acclaim, by Matt Reeves' decidedly less comics-intelligent, pathetically cliche post-Nolan pubescent fan-fiction, The Batman, and the current Penguin spin-off series starring Colin Farrell on MAX, which I admittedly haven't seen much of. I'm not sure it would improve my mood.

The temptation of the British gangster pursues a version of The Penguin that ultimately seeks to diminish the things that make him interesting. This version is cut from a cloth notably worn by the Batman Arkham video games, which are very good, but slightly cringeworthy for the 'edgy' grime of their aesthetic, pulling on outside influences, like roles played by The Long Good Friday actor, Bob Hoskins, in addition to a wide array of Batman comics and multimedia.

These efforts in other mediums forget that there is a big wide world of characters, and in the case of Farrell's portrayal, the addition of scars further infringes on other characters, and by design works to make The Penguin far less special.

It can be very interesting to flesh out a character or idea by pulling on intuitive similarities to outside reference, but done indelicately, without firm understanding and appreciation for the original source, it can quickly become a self-defeating fool's errand, gradually making everything in our world increasingly bland and flavourless. We can find British thugs in any number of other places - but there's really only one monocle-wearing, top hatted, umbrella-packing, dapper Penguin.

Superheroes and their prolific blockbuster adaptations have been particularly endemic of this problem, but it's something palpable throughout all western pop culture, which seems to have lost far more than it has gained in the last couple of decades. A depressing reality for fans & viewers -- and the industry itself.

I find myself increasingly believing comics should be read backwards and forwards. The best of the past and the potential of the future.

If you'd like to know more about either, perhaps you'd consider joining me in my explorations by becoming a supporter on Patreon. With well over 700 featured fights and more, Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has mused a great deal through the highs & lows of recent comics. With your help, we can continue to do more!

You can find all the superhero smackdown reports for free by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting links to your favourite topics found throughout each entry.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Batman
#1 (--) Batman
#1084 (-7) The Penguin