ANTI-MONITOR versus SUPERMAN, DOCTOR LIGHT & SUPERGIRL

Beyond The Silent Night (DC)
Where: Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 When: October 1985 Why: Marv Wolfman & Robert Greenberger How: George Perez

The Story So Far...
Manifesting on a moon of the anti-matter universe of Qward: The Anti-Monitor channeled that dimension's energies into fulfilling its ultimate domination. Sensing his equivalent, The Monitor, in a positive universe, he then set his sights on inter-dimensional conquest that resulted in their mutual dormancy for eons.

This slumber was broken by the experimental hubris of scientist Kell Mossa, who inadvertently roused the Monitors while attempting to learn the secrets of the universe. This allowed Anti-Monitor to enact a plot to destroy all universes comprising positive matter. Thus begins the Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Scouring the multiverse, The Monitor assembles heroic powers to fight the threat of existential annihilation. With some worlds now saved, Mossa channels positive and negative matter to guide the heroes through the universal membrane -- to confront the verge of the Anti-Monitor's hidden fortress!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Anti-Monitor 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Anti-Monitor 6 (Genius)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Anti-Monitor 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Doctor Light 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Superman 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Anti-Monitor 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Anti-Monitor 33 (Super)

When it comes to cosmic threats to the DC Universe it doesn't get much bigger than the Anti-Monitor! His aims threaten to unmake reality itself!

We saw The Flash take down his Anti-Matter Cannon in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8, but the only time we've actually recorded Anti-Monitor in battle was much later, when he returned as part of the Sinestro Corps in Green Lantern #25.

In that epic encounter, it took the combined efforts of the Guardians of the Universe, Green Lantern Corps, Earth's heroes, and one of the Anti-Monitor's own teammates, to destroy him! It bodes well that it was Superboy-Prime who struck the final destructive blow -- but we're getting way ahead of things!

Superman is the primary target in today's featured battle, but he isn't alone!

Japanese scientist Kimiyo Hoshi was studying the anti-matter phenomenon when she was struck with a beam of ionic energy passing through an unstable star in the Vega system. The cosmic force was enacted by The Monitor, who turned her into a new soldier for good - the photonic hero Doctor Light!

Kimiyo Hoshi shouldn't be confused with the villainous Arthur Light, even though her costume and powers bear some similarity. This Doctor Light is determined to the point of arrogance, unwilling to suffer fools as she applies her knowledge of science to mastery over energy and light-based powers.

Doctor Light can offer Superman powerful support against the awesomely destructive energies wielded by the Anti-Monitor. Her ability to move as light particles can also compliment one of their few advantages over the awesomely powerful anti-matter entity -- superior speed!

We've seen Superman keep pace with Barry Allen [Flash: Rebirth #3] and Wally West [Flash #209], and if he can use that speed in combat he could tactically wear Anti-Monitor down. Strength and durability alone probably won't cut it this time, but there will be extra muscle on its way once the fight begins.

When Supergirl enters the fray, she effectively doubles their power! We saw her go toe-to-toe with Captain Marvel in Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, and Martian Manhunter in Adventure Comics #450! She'll also revisit the conflict with Mary Marvel decades later in Final Crisis #6!

With both Superman and Supergirl fighting, it's conceivable the Anti-Monitor could be damaged sufficiently to be defeated. The extra hands mean he can be subdued and tag teamed, with Doctor Light weaving in and out, as well. Will that be the case? Only destiny can decide this one! Let's meet their fate...

The Tape: Superman, Doctor Light & Supergirl Ranking: Superman (#5)

What Went Down...
Penetrating the deepest sanctum of the great cosmic fortress: Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi and Superman stand in awe of a massive mechanical solar collector. While Doctor Light examines its advanced technology, Superman closes in to begin its ultimate destruction -- unaware of the figure lurking behind him in the shadows!

Pain racks his body like never before as Superman is engulfed by the Anti-Monitor's awesome power! Here, his incredible strength and invulnerability will count for nothing. He is a mortal opposing the powers of a virtual god!

Kal-El's cry of agony echoes through the fortress, heard from afar by the super-humanly sensitive ear of Supergirl. She abandons the battle outside and follows the sound, but its Doctor Light who comes to his aide first.

Anti-Monitor effortlessly backhands Superman across the chamber and through a nearby wall. When Doctor Light attempts to intervene, her point blank beams of energy do nothing to deter their target. Anti-Monitor shows her how it's done!

He renews his pursuit of Superman, looming over the Man of Steel as his giant clasped hands smash against the Kryptonian's face! Every strike is another blow delivered to the hopes of the multiverse!

The cosmic titan stands ominously over the bruised Superman with his face obscured in smoldering energy. He means to deliver a finishing blow, but didn't count on Supergirl smashing through the halls of his fortress!

Faster than a speeding bullet she flies directly at the Anti-Monitor to deliver a devastating left hook! She keeps him off balance, following with an all mighty right that sends him smashing through another stone wall!

The advantage is short lived. Anti-Monitor swings wildly, launching Supergirl across the fortress with a furious left!

The enraged Anti-Monitor fires a beam of energy that catches Supergirl's limp body before she can land. She's sent tumbling in the air like a rag doll!

Promising death, he turns his attentions back to the wounded Superman -- but again the Anti-Monitor will be denied! Supergirl doggedly digs her heels in and rips the stonework up like a proverbial rug -- staggering the cosmic monster and sending his hand blasts harmlessly off course as he loses footing!

The Girl of Steel darts across the rubble to pour on punches from a mounted position. The strength and fury of her devastating blows begins to crack the Anti-Monitor's life-shell armor. He retaliates with a wild blow to the face, but the damage is already done! Power pours from his destroyed body!

With his power quickly waning, the Anti-Monitor must seize his opportunity to destroy his enemies and the worlds they come from.

As his body burns with leaking energy, the heroes huddle together, and Supergirl recruits Doctor Light to flee with her injured cousin while she plots a final desperate stand. She throws herself at the burning figure like a torpedo!

The trajectory takes the warring figures on a collision course with the solar collector machine - destroying it! Supergirl refuses to stop, still smashing her fists into the Anti-Monitor as they both burn within the machine's core!

Horrified, Doctor Light feels compelled to help the brave heroine -- but Supergirl desperately orders her to go. A momentary lapse that gives Anti-Monitor the chance he needs to lock his arm around her and unleash his raw power!

Superman can only watch in horror as untold cosmic energies completely consume Supergirl's body and a solid beam blasts right through her!

Anti-Monitor makes a desperate escape, running for a nearby ship as his body begins to fail him. He lives to fight another day. Supergirl will not.

Superman cradles his cousin's broken and bloodied body as her indomitable will at last begins to fade. She tells the Man of Steel not to cry. His example taught her to be brave - and she was. She dies knowing Anti-Monitor's machines were destroyed and the lives across multiple worlds were saved. 

The Hammer...
Supergirl's act of supreme sacrifice succeeds only in delaying the Anti-Monitor, who fled on the brink of destruction, but will return in the next issue fully healed, and wearing a newly formed shell that is his iconic armored design.

The battle and its result provides the first in a one-two punch of iconic deaths that set the stakes of Crisis on Infinite Earths apart from other events of the era. It was immediately followed with the death of Barry Allen, whose grim fate was prophesied in a much earlier issue.

In spite of a premise that could've easily incorporated their quick resurrection into a newly formed DC Universe; the deaths of both Supergirl and The Flash were granted an immediate and sustained sense of consequence. Dead was dead. At least for a while.

The Flash was at least permitted to have existed within this new universe's secret history, but his death quickly became a crucial part of the modern canon. Barry Allen was part of a slightly re-tooled Justice League origin, and would be paid frequent homage through the legacy of his successor, the former Kid Flash: Wally West. This new Flash struggled to understand the details of his mentor's death, but continued to honor it. No such luck for Supergirl, though...

The initial conception for Superman in the post-Crisis DCU was one of a mythic 'Last Son of Krypton'. Kal-El's world had become abundant with derivative survivors from his dead home planet. The reboot was an opportunity to restore his status as a one-of-a-kind icon, completely excising Supergirl from his reality.

Of course, it didn't take long for the merits of a Girl of Steel to be reconsidered.

It would still take until 2004 for Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El to be reinstated into the modern post-Crisis canon, but a facsimile was created in her stead fairly quickly: a compromised version conjured from a character minted just a couple of years before the Crisis rebooted history.

Matrix was a shape-shifting "protoplasmic" lifeform engineered in a pocket universe by a heroic alternate Lex Luthor. When she was thrust into regular adventures in the new DCU, she was entangled with a Luthor who had been masquerading as his own son. Her disguise was much simpler, inventing a Supergirl for a universe that had only known Superman.

The new Supergirl proved an adequate replacement, but inherently susceptible to high levels of continual convolution. Efforts to separate her from Kryptonian history, while still patching together familiar Supergirl tropes, just made things increasingly messy. Eventually she would have to go.

The argument for keeping Superman alone in the universe is a tempting one, but over time I've come to see more merits in a DC Universe with Supergirl in it.

The modern age has become increasingly fixated with darker impulses that challenge the fundamental core of Superman as a character. Supergirl, like other derivations of Superman, offer the perfect vessels for exploring alternative perspectives of Superman's experience, without interrupting or corrupting his status as an icon of truth, justice, hope, and aspirational American ideals.

Supergirl expands the DCU and Superman's world with her own adventures and canon, while also offering the opportunity to explore a Kryptonian who is younger, more impulsive, less experienced, and at the same time more versed in Superman's lost home world, and its traditions. These details, and an innate feminine perspective, have continued to make Supergirl an interesting character in multiple mediums. I can't help but think of the current TV series - a shining example of the value of the character, and the enjoyment she can provide.

Supergirl's death fighting Anti-Monitor was a pretty epic, bad ass way for the Silver Age version of the character to go out. I love seeing her refuse to back down - again and again. Does the headband somehow make it even more bad ass? I think so. I've got a real soft spot for it. It's a little eighties aerobics, but I dig it. It's a shame it had to die, but I'm glad it wasn't permanent.

That about wraps it for 2019. It's been a long year with some great fights and I'm bushed! Make sure you check out the 2019 Feature Fight Recap to revisit and vote for the best battles of the year. This battle technically kicks off Season 2020, so make sure you stick around for more Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

If you'd like to check out Crisis on Infinite Earths for yourself, you can get yourself a deal and support the site by checking out the Amazon purchase link provided. If you don't see it, you may need to adjust your settings.

You can find more featured fights from the DCU and Crisis by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive! You'll be able to monitor a complete index of battles ordered by universe, series, and issue number!

You can also get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure to like & share your faves! Happy holidays!

Winner: Anti-Monitor
#350 (+240) Anti-Monitor [+1 kill]
#5 (--) Superman
#71 (-2) Supergirl
#894 (new) Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)

MARVEL FAMILY versus EARTH-ONE HEROES

3 Earths! 3 Deaths! (DC)
Where: Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 When: September 1985 Why: Marv Wolfman How: George Perez

The Story So Far...
When Psycho-Pirate is imbued with enhanced powers by the Anti-Monitor, his emotion-manipulating influence can now span three entire worlds!

While Earth-X, Earth-Four, and Earth-S are besieged by a destructive wave of anti-matter -- the Psycho-Pirate turns heroes into agents of their world's own demise!

On Earth-S, the Marvel Family are stoked into a blind rage that convinces them the red skies of impending doom have been created by their former allies from Earth-One! It's up to Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and the Teen Titans to fend off this world's mightiest mortals long enough to save it!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Captain Marvel 6 (Generator)
Agility: Black Canary 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Wonder Woman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Supergirl 5 (Lasers)
Total: Captain Marvel 30 (Super)

The Marvel Family are: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, and Uncle Dudley.

The Marvel Family are the magically powered heroes of Earth-S. Led by Captain Marvel, they draw their might from a pantheon of gods & legends by speaking a magic word that will summon the transformative lightning of Shazam!

We've seen the Marvel Family fight together against the dastardly Doctor Sivana in DC Comics Presents Annual #3, and again against his Monster Society of Evil in the modern-classic Earth-S flashback of Convergence Shazam #1.

The heroes of Earth-One are: Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Changeling, Kole Weathers, and Black Canary.

The impromptu gathering boasts members of the Justice League of America and Teen Titans, but they'll still have their work cut out for them against an assembly as powerful as The Marvel Family!

Wonder Woman can match the Marvels blow for blow, but her Fight Club record hasn't been flattering. She was part of the JLA halted by Captain Marvel's lightning while entering Hell in Underworld Unleashed #3, and defeated by Mary Marvel in a reprisal of today's encounter in Final Crisis #3. Lightning was also a feature of her defeat by Storm during the crossover of Marvel versus DC #3.

Supergirl shares most of the same powers of her famous cousin, but she had similar issues when fighting the dark Mary Marvel in Final Crisis #6. Their tie was only broken by the intervention of Captain Marvel Jr, who's fighting by his adopted sister's side this time!

Captain Marvel has had many run-ins with Supergirl's famous cousin, where the magic lightning has been revealed to be a potent weapon against Kryptonians, if dodged at super-human speed! The best example is Kingdom Come #4, which also reveals the potential to turn the transformational bolt against its caller!

Black Canary and her ear-piercing canary cry will be an X-factor in the battle, as will the animal-based metamorphosis of Changeling, (aka; Beast Boy), and the crystal-generating powers of Kole Weathers.

Kole predominantly offers strong defensive capabilities, while Changeling can add a degree of muscle to Wonder Woman & Supergirl via large animal transformations. With the addition of Black Canary's targeted audio disorienting, the group could seize an upset against their magic match-up! Let's see...

The Tape: Earth-One Heroes Ranking: Wonder Woman (#16)

What Went Down...
Black Canary only has seconds to react as a giant green elephant announces its impending arrival through the brick wall at her back! The animal is Changeling: shape-shifting Teen Titan who's been hurled violently by an unseen assailant!

Supergirl hovers over the young hero as he reverts to human form, skidding through the city rubble that litters the street. She checks on his well being, but is quickly set upon by the powerhouse responsible for attacking: Captain Marvel!

Earth's mightiest mortal blazes a trail across the battlefield like a human missile, mistakenly under the impression Supergirl and her Earth-One comrades have taken to evil! He charges her -- only to be caught with an aerial uppercut!

Fearing for her life, the young heroine attempts to reason with the rampaging Marvel. She appeals to his better nature, insisting his mind has been influenced by an unseen force. Squatting amongst the wreckage of the city -- Captain Marvel rejects her pleas as unacceptable lies!

Firmly believing Supergirl has unleashed the anti-matter cloud consuming his world, Captain Marvel ignores her shared experience and desire for help -- clenching both fists to pound the ground with the strength of Hercules!

The shockwave of Captain Marvel's blows topples a nearby building over Supergirl's head, but she doesn't join the bird-shaped Changeling in flying retreat. Instead, the girl of steel redoubles her efforts to fly through the building and collide with Captain Marvel to end his uncontrolled rage!

On the ground below, Black Canary theorizes the emotional manipulations of Psycho-Pirate must be responsible for Captain Marvel's uncharacteristic rage.

Before she can act on her theory, the street-level hero is struck by the awesome vision of a giant crystal barrier! Kole Weathers wields it to prevent the city's denizens from rushing into the anti-matter field. As she does, the mysterious Harbinger appears at her side to enact a ritual she cannot comprehend.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman attempts to tame a befuddled Mary Marvel by holding her in the lasso of truth. Mary resists, tugging at the golden rope while taken by the same emotion-warping madness as Captain Marvel!

The rage is shared by Captain Marvel Jr, who rockets through the air to catch Wonder Woman by surprise and rescue his sister!

Fate turns once more as Black Canary suddenly sends a sonic shriek emanating through Mary and Marvel Jr's ears!

The Marvels clutch their ears in agony, begging for a reprieve as the focused canary cry rattles them to their very core!

With Uncle Dudley caught in the coiled snake form of Changeling, Wonder Woman declares the Marvel Family "on ice". The victory pales in significance as Harbinger communes with the universe in an event of cosmic significance.

The Hammer...
It was a close call, but Black Canary comes through with the sonic cry that allows Supergirl, Changeling, and Wonder Woman to wrap the Marvel Family up! A hard fought win with great significance!

Supergirl and Captain Marvel stare in awe as the cloud of Psycho-Pirate's influence lifts, and the anti-matter void threatening Earth-S disappears! Against overwhelming odds -- the world is saved!

This was the moment that effectively assured the Marvel Family would continue their adventures into the new, composite DC Universe that would emerge from the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Not that it was an entirely smooth transition!

The wholesome qualities that defined classic Captain Marvel made him one of the first targets for harsher modern sensibilities, and the evil New Gods who represented their darkest extremes in-story.

In Legends #1: Captain Marvel was tricked into believing he'd used his magic lightning to kill a villain called Macro-Man. Now more tied to his youthful alter-ego, Captain Marvel was effectively retired by Billy Batson's loss of faith in himself, and his mighty magical powers.

Of course, Billy naturally gets wise before the end of the DCU defining mini-series, becoming a founding member of the new Justice League alongside Black Canary. With any luck, we'll get the chance to look further at the battles found in Legends, and the subsequent series that led to Justice League International.

In the mean time, we can technically close the book on a year of featured fights for Season 2019! Today's battle was inspired by the upcoming television version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which will feature a cavalcade of live-action cameos and callbacks across episodes of Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, and Arrow.

You can dive deeper into the original Crisis on Infinite Earths by following the tag link, or by exploring the Secret Archive for a full index of entries in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

Hold the fate of the multiverse in the palm of your hand by checking out collected editions of Crisis on Infinite Earths! By using the Amazon purchase links provided you can get yourself, or a loved one, the perfect holiday gift -- and support the site at no extra cost to you!

Stay tuned for more fabulous fisticuffs and the chance to vote for the best featured fights of 2019! Thanks to everyone who's finding Secret Wars on Infinite Earths and helping spread the word by liking & sharing daily links via Twitter and Facebook!

Winners: Black Canary, Supergirl, Changeling & Wonder Woman
#15 (+1) Wonder Woman
#38 (+16) Black Canary
#70 (+41) Supergirl
#330 (new) Changeling (Garfield Logan)
#567 (new) Kole [+1 assist]
#46 (-3) Captain Marvel Jr
#49 (-2) Captain Marvel
#125 (-13) Mary Marvel
#353 (-27) Uncle Dudley

BATMAN versus JOKER

Time and Time Again! (DC)
Where: Crisis on Infinite Earths #2 When: May 1985 Why: Marv Wolfman How: George Perez

The Story So Far...
As the barriers of time and space blur into insignificance and cosmic forces conspire to shape reality; a night in crime ridden Gotham City appears like any other...

A spate of murders have Batman on the hunt for a brazen killer. The last victim's appointment book: containing a vital clue that points to Plymouth Films and their next big production - Captain's Hill.

The movie title points to the resting place of one Miles Standish, whose last descendent holds the multi-million dollar rights to silent comedy films. As death lingers in the air, Batman races to stop The Joker from claiming his murderous prize -- unware he's a step closer to solving an even bigger mystery!

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


It's a story called "Time and Time Again" and it perfectly encapsulates the battle we have before us! There are over 820 ranked characters from ten years of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths -- and no two of them have met more frequently in featured fights than The Batman and The Joker!

The two most famous encounters come from The Dark Knight Returns #3 and Batman #614. Both stories show Batman overwhelmingly triumphant in the physical domain, but compromised by the Joker's unrelenting assault on the psychology and morals of The Dark Knight Detective. The hypothetical future of Dark Knight Returns frees the story to end in Joker's self-inflicted death, while the canon plot of Hush sees a Batman contemplating the finishing blow - but ultimately saved from his own anger by Commissioner Gordon.

More frivolous examples come from Detective Comics #781 and Justice League of America #15. The stakes of these stories are less dire, the themes less bold. These are the passing encounters of the superhero and super-villain: arch-nemeses destined to meet episodically ad infinitum. The Detective Comics fight is a personal favourite - a snow covered prison brawl between inmate Joker and his looming interrogator.

The JLA issue is more about The League fighting their Unjust counterparts. Batman appears as a monolithic shadow over an unconscious Joker. An off-panel reprisal of the same old story, flippantly punctuating the action with the benefit of a common understanding -- Joker is no match for Batman.

Of the seven fights featured in the past, Batman has won all seven.

In the animated series episode Christmas With The Joker, and in the Academy Award winning performance by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, multimedia canonizes the mismatch on film.

In the cartoon, Batman's adventures have alluded to his life's training in the martial arts under the great masters of Japan. His past haunts him in battle with deadly ninja. In 2005's Batman Begins, the determination of a young Bruce Wayne again leads him far East, where he is indoctrinated into The League of Assassins, and again demonstrates intense learning of deadly martial arts.

The competitive match-up of the modern super-ninja and his clownish lightweight nemesis isn't especially compelling, but the dynamic of their seventy year arch-rivalry is evergreen! It's steeped in psychology and circumstance, and has been interpreted a great many ways over the decades.

Joker has relied on weapons, traps, musclebound henchmen, chemistry, anarchy, misdirection, and Batman's capacity for selflessness to elude capture, or eke out occasional victories. Batman is always triumphant in the end. Who would win? The real question is - what went down? Let's find out!

History: Batman (7-0-0)
The Math: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
As cosmic dominoes topple beyond, a dark night falls over a solitary mansion on a secluded hill. The night air is cut by the sound of murder! The grinning victim's provocation: Estate inheritance of comedy rights possessed by millionaire silent film owner, Harold J. Standish III. The Joker is getting into the movie business!

The plot comes with a killer twist in the Third Act: A heroic entrance for a Dark Knight Detective whose dogged analysis of clues has led him to Joker's final victim! The Batman smashes through a nearby mansion window - launching himself at the unsuspecting Clown Prince of Crime!

A gloved fist collides with Joker's ghastly grin, sending him to the ground with a single right hand! Surprised, but not unprepared, Joker compliments The Batman for his unwavering abductive reasoning -- dousing him in adhesive sprayed from a novelty flower gag!

Covered cape to cowl in copious amounts of the restrictive goop; Batman drops to his knees and struggles to reach for solvent stored in his trusty utility belt!

As he does, the cackling clown twirls the .45 caliber pistol he already used to kill Mr. Standish, promising a remedy for Batman's stiffening joints. Things look dire for The Dark Knight -- but then something very unexpected happens!..

Without warning - The Flash appears!

Arm out stretched, the Scarlet Speedster cries out for help! His apocalyptic plea falls on deaf ears as The Joker, panicked, points his gun and begs for clemency.

The crime clown sees conspiracy between the Central City Speedster and his usual Gotham City sparring partner. Looking for a way out, he fires wildly with his pistol - and then goes for the super-adhesive. A batarang cuts him off!

Batman looms over The Joker as the chemical reaction between solvent and glue surrounds him in smoke. It seems the day is won, but again, the ghostly vision of The Flash speaks desperately of the world dying around him!

Distracted by the bizarre re-appearance of The Flash after he'd been missing for some time, The Batman allows Joker to make a mad dash for the exit! There are forces far greater than crime and law at play. A crisis on infinite earths!

The Hammer...
What started as just another battle between hero and villain ends as something very different! Batman had the upper hand, but The Joker got away. They both got a few good licks in. For the purposes of The Comic Book Fight Club we're calling this one a draw -- but the fight is only part of the story.

Playground lore always had it that Batman was remarkably uninvolved in the cosmic reorganizing of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's certainly a far cry from the stories that came in the years and decades that followed!

By the time of Final Crisis (2009), major plot points were revolving around a Batman whose tactical and fighting brilliance made him equal with gods! Ironically, it's through the similar vision of controversial Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, that many fans are waking to Batman's brush with the Crisis.

The foreshadowing of Flash's ultimate fate is a classic comic book moment!

Even read with foreknowledge of the series; the way the initial Flash vision intrudes upon a familiar status quo is sudden, unexpected, and drenched in apocalyptic foreboding! With any luck, you may have even been stunned by The Flash's sudden appearance while making your way through this very article.

The Flash's story is certainly one of the strongest in a maxi-series defined by its chaos. The future echo of unclear significance, but it sets a suitably ominous tone for the epic that unfolds. The true horror of Flash's ghostly appearance won't become certain for another six issues. Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 closes the loop, confirming every earlier dread with spectacular results!

In Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck's Batman experiences "knightmare" visions of a dream world in ruin. Flash appears in the dream to warn of what seems to be an apocalyptic future influenced by Darkseid and an evil Superman. Its function of foreboding is effectively the same, but its position is the opposite -- a threat to a cinematic universe yet to be assembled. A much simpler preposition than the end of multiple universes created over several decades.

It was thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths that we, the modern readers, had the luxury of a densely populated singular DC Universe. Acting as a deconstruction and construction of superhero existence, the series is undoubtedly significant, but it's also unruly and unfocused throughout. Sifting through dense pages of the end of the world can be a lot of fun, but may not make the best first impression for a movie-going audience conditioned to expect streamlined tales.

It helps that the "pre-Crisis" multiverse was essentially defined by the dispersal of characters across different worlds. This isn't a series inundated with repeating counterpart versions of one or two characters. The worlds may not be in sharp focus, but their peril is clear, told through the scrambling of dozens upon dozens of individually familiar heroes.

The scattershot nature of the action isn't especially favourable for a blogsite built on quantifying superhero exhibition bouts, but I'm excited about going beyond the concise for future installments. Superhero comics have always been at their best, I think, when they can be read and dissected in different ways.

Those future feature fights can be found by following the Crisis on Infinite Earths tag, or by scrolling alphabetically through the Issue Index Archive! There you'll find hundreds of other featured fights from Infinite Earths! This past Monday's Hero of the Week also concerned the legacy of Crisis on Infinite Earths and may be of interest!

If you've had enough of reading about the seminal maxi-series and finally want to take the plunge, you can do so by using the Amazon purchase link provided for your convenience [right]. Doing so helps keep the secret wars infinite. You can also help by sharing relevant links around the web!

All willing, The Comic Book Fight Club will continue in July with a special focus on what happened some of the other times DC Comics decided it was time for a rebirth. Some of the results may surprise!

Winner: Draw
#1 (--) Batman
#359 (--) Joker [+1 kill]
#14 (--) Flash (Barry Allen) [+1 Assist]

FLASH versus ANTI-MATTER CANNON

A Flash of the Lightning! (DC)
Where: Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 When: November 1985 Why: Marv Wolfman How: George Perez

The Story So Far...
Ten billion years ago, a mad act of godlike impetuousness set into motion events that would threaten all of reality! The Oan scientist Krona dared to witness the creation of the universe and in doing so triggered the existence of a second, mirrored duplicate: the Anti-Matter Universe!

In this reality of darkness and evil there would be born a creature on the planet Qward known as The Anti-Monitor. Through his many meditations he would come to notice his counterpart born simultaneously in the world of positive matter. Sensing this existence he sought to snuff it out -- igniting a perfectly matched war with his brother that sent both into dormancy with the strike of a final powerful blow!

Billions of years later, another seeking the secrets of the origin of all things unleashes chaos anew. In exposing his matter universe to anti-matter he condemned it to total destruction! This Pariah watches on as The Anti-Monitor reawakens and draws his plans against an entire Multiverse!

Worlds will live. Worlds will die. Great heroes will fight to defend their world and the worlds of others. Those that fall may never come to realize the true threat they faced. Reaching out from beyond space Anti-Monitor faces few. The Flash will witness this face of evil and the weapons he assembles. The Flash will fight.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Anti-Monitor 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Anti-Monitor 6 (Genius)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Anti-Monitor 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Flash 2 (Average)
Fighting: Flash 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Anti-Monitor 7 (Cosmic Power)


Oh, boy! Flash -- what have you got yourself into this time?...

It's not often The Comic Book Fight Club features an inanimate object, but that's the target in today's classic fight! The Anti-Matter Cannon is, of course, a tool of the Anti-Monitor: a being of immense cosmic power who needs to be evaded if our hero is to be successful. Since quantifying the machine would be a little on the underwhelming side, our Tale of the Tape demonstrates the threat posed by its master -- who looms nearby with the home field advantage!

If anyone can reach a target before being detected -- it's the Flash!
He moves as quick as his namesake -- applying his skills in more ways than just moving quickly between Point A and Point B! As well as reaching speeds beyond sight; Flash can vibrate his molecules with enough intensity to allow them to pass through solid matter! It's all thanks to the lab accident he suffered in his career as police forensics scientist Barry Allen. This put him in touch with the phenomena known as the speed force! The rest is a red blur of comics history.

We've only seen a small slice of Barry Allen's adventures as the scarlet speedster on The Comic Book Fight Club, but he's come up against some impressive foes along the way! When the alien Appelaxians arrived on Earth, Flash took out Fire Giant and Wood King in a double header that launched the Justice League [Secret Origins #32]! He also outran Superman [Flash: Rebirth #3], and helped Batman rough him up in The Dark Knight Strikes Again #1! Even Green Lantern couldn't keep up - his ring just too slow when Flash was tricked into attacking in Green Lantern #44!

Of course, when it comes to demonstrations of power it's hard to top Anti-Monitor! His only previous appearance on the site had him at the center of a cosmic war, where it took The Guardians of the Universe to stop him [Green Lantern #25]!

In today's battle: Flash has taken the precaution of keeping Anti-Monitor pre-occupied by cajoling Psycho-Pirate into turning The Thunderers of Qward against their master! This leaves Flash alone with their creation -- the Anti-Matter Cannon: a machine harnessing concentrated anti-matter. His goal is to infiltrate the core and reverse the energies until they overloard. A gambit that will very likely kill him, even if he succeeds. Lets see how he did.

The Tape: Anti-Monitor Ranking: Flash (#15)

What Went Down...
Qwardian Thunderers shower an already damaged Anti-Monitor with bolts of lightning. All part of a distraction plan hatched by The Flash! With the threat neutralized, he races toward the smooth metallic shell of the Anti-Matter Cannon! Vibrating at intense speeds he phases into the core chamber and stands in awe of its power source: concentrated anti-matter!

At close proximity, Flash feels his energy draining. He knows if he doesn't act quickly he'll be too weak to save the universe -- but if he does act, it will very likely mean his life! With so much at stake, the hero has no choice.

Flash does what he does best and begins to run. He contemplates all the things he's fighting to save. His loved ones, the present, the future - the universe! He feels his legs grow heavy and tired, but still he pushes harder. Faster!

As he rushes against the flow of anti-matter his mind wanders - or does it sharpen? He thinks of loving parents. Of his nephew, the Kid Flash Wally West. His beloved Iris. Of friends: Ralph & Sue Dibny, Hal Jordan. Of the people he knows he must leave behind. He hopes they'll understand his sacrifice as pain sears through him. Still he runs faster!

The Anti-Monitor senses the disturbance. He knows the cause. The Flash has already succeeded in destroying the cannon's outer casing. Its energy blasts out, rendering the machine useless! Anti-Monitor curses the speedster. What can even he do to a deadman? Faster and faster - The Flash runs!

Was it the Anti-Monitor opening a temporal portal, or merely the intensity of The Flash's speed that dislodged him in time? He feels himself slipping backward. He witnesses events that have already occurred - Kid Flash, The Joker, Batman!

Flash's face begins to wrinkle and wither. There's no stopping now! The Flash has run at speeds never before reached! His body is failing! Still he runs!

The Anti-Matter Cannon explodes! The Flash fades to nothing, The world is saved -- for now, at least. The Flash will run no more. Barry Allen is dead.

The Hammer...

So -- who won? We've deliberated over results similar to this one in the past. The Flash clearly destroyed the Anti-Matter Cannon, but he died doing so. Can he therefore really be called a winner? The ruling here is: yes. It may not be pretty, but in this circumstance, self-sacrifice was a valid and successful winning tactic. For his role in constructing the life or death scenario, the record will show Anti-Monitor credited with Flash's death, even though he was not directly involved.

Quite the way to start the new year - no?

Tackling the Death of Superman last week [Superman #74] inspired me to come back to one of superhero comics' earliest examples of an event driven character death. For a quarter of a century, the consequences of Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 managed to stick! When they killed Barry Allen they meant it -- and the impact of his heroic demise was second only to its legacy.

In some ways, I think this is a rare example where today's fight log makes the actual event look a bit more impressive than it actually was. What you see above takes place over all of four pages. There's some set-up early on, and perfunctory action immediately preceding, but it all boils down to a small moment for such a beloved character's end. Of course, that is part of the point. Barry Allen is alone and there's no logical way any of his loved ones will know what happened, or why. There's emotional gravitas in that, but George Perez is also packing so much into his layouts, the drama is a little bit removed.

I mentioned the importance of legacy. Over the years that followed Crisis on Infinite Earths - this moment in particular would become a touchstone of DC Comics mythology! The sacrifice of Barry Allen was epic in its importance! Sure, he saved the day, but that happens every month. The reverence subsequent stories paid elevated four pages into the most important moment in modern comics history. Which is probably why it managed to stick for twenty-four years!

The passing of the torch to Wally West -- The Flash from 1985 to 2010 -- was an obviously important part of keeping the story alive. Wally West's graduation from Kid Flash to red suited new generation made a world of sense, and always felt in tribute to the hero whose stories spanned the Silver Age: 1956-1985.

For me, some of the greatest myth building around The Flash's death came from a retellifng in Secret Origins Annual #2 (1988). There, the mythic drama was heightened in every sense! The late great Carmine Infantino drew a speeding Flash leaving his material body -- becoming an abstracting ghost of energy.

In the Secret Origins version, Flash is chasing the Anti-Matter Cannon's true power -- a tachyon moving at many hundred times the speed of light! Visualized dditions like these better quantified The Flash's objective and transforming reality. As in Crisis, his speed becomes so great he starts to move backward through time, re-experiencing his life in reverse, until he's pure energy -- a living lightning bolt! Which, as fate could only have it, strikes a police forensics lab and a man called Barry Allen.

As myth building goes, I always loved the idea that the moment of Flash's death could simultaneously be the genesis of the lightning bolt that sparked his origin! It's an optional extra from a fantastic story: written by Robert Loren Fleming, and vitally depicted by Infantino.

As to whether or not it was worth tearing this mythology down to bring the Barry Allen Flash back in Final Crisis and Flash: Rebirth -- I'm torn.

Wally West was The Flash when I started Secret Wars on Infinite Earths ten years ago. At that time, the only comic book deaths you could count on were: Bruce & Martha Wayne, Uncle Ben Parker, Gwen Stacy, Bucky, Jason Todd and Barry Allen. All characters who've been exhumed in one fashion or another, with perhaps the exception of Uncle Ben.

The negative of undoing The Flash Crisis death is the simple loss of an amazing moment, and a shining example of how our heroes of yesterday can graduate to become the legends of today. Of course, I'm the first person to lament the loss of The JSA and other classic characters. In fact - one of the strange ironies of life after Barry Allen was the solidification of the "Speed Force" mythology and the strengthening of Jay Garrick's generational influence as the first Flash.

As a reader of less than thirty years, Wally West was The Flash throughout most of my lifetime, but reprints and back issues meant Barry Allen was The Flash I knew best. In that respect, he's still the definitive article - a cut above the new kid. So, I can understand the appeal of bringing him back. Especially when the issue is the Green Lantern equivalent, where Hal Jordan was never surpassed by the otherwise serviceable Kyle Rayner. Restoring the iconic Silver Age version there was a no brainer! Aren't both things equal?

Perhaps the biggest disappointment is everything that came after Flash's return.

Eighties maxi-series events like Crisis (and Secret Wars) canonized the infliction of the modern comics crossover. The nineties burnt it out with tangled webs, only for the double-ohs to dig it up and find a more measured approach. Years of event based storytelling broke the camel's back and started a diminishing cycle of meaningless temporary deaths, and clumsy high-concept reboots. The Death of Superman arguably has more to answer for that -- the proverbial "Pandor's box" -- but it's all inter-connected. Or at least, it used to be.

In 2009, Flash was ultimately a harbinger for another Crisis-like catastrophe -- the much less interesting and read Flashpoint. Which, like Crisis, rebooted the DC Universe as "The New 52" -- but unlike Crisis, further complicated the DC reality and interrupted iconic versions of the character already refined by post-Crisis reordering. Now everything is an event - and nothing is an event.

I hope everyone is having a happy new year! If you've enjoyed the return of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths I hope you'll help get the word out that we're back and fighting in 2016!

Winner: Flash
(+2) #13 Flash
(--) #489 Anti-Monitor [+1 kill]