GREEN LANTERNS versus HOUSE OF ZOD

Zod's Will Part One: First Contact (DC)
Where: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #37 When: March 2018 Why: Robert Venditti How: Rafa Sandoval

The Story So Far...
The Guardians of the Universe have reinstated their post as overseers for the Green Lantern Corps, and while John Stewart contemplates quitting the ranks over a history of indiscretions, Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner continue to fly the beat as Green Lanterns of Sector 2814.

A routine investigation into reported unauthorized resource exploitation on the planet Jekuul brings the pair to a primitive civilization making unexpected advancements. The beginnings of construction signal an occupation by the unlikeliest of welcome parties: Zod!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Zod 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Eradicator 5 (Professor)
Speed: Zod 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Zod 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Zod 4 (Trained)
Energy: Hal Jordan 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: General Zod 33 (Super)

The Green Lantern Corps are: Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner.

Two Lanterns are on call to investigate this case. Hal and Kyle have a complicated history; the latter becoming the last Green Lantern after Jordan completely wiped the Corps out under the influence of Parallax; but they're buddies now.

After Hal's "rebirth", the pair worked together to stop Sinestro and his Yellow Corps bringing war to Earth, but the ringless fisticuffs used to settle that score probably won't help them against today's super-powered adversaries!

The House of Zod are: General Zod, Ursa, Lor-Zod, and Eradicator.

This family of Kryptonians is headed by the militant despot General Dru-Zod, who was banished to the Phantom Zone before the destruction of his home planet, Krypton. He's cruel & violent, representing a hopeless counterpart to Superman!

We saw General Zod lead an army of Kryptonians against Superman and the Earth back in Action Comics #846, so it isn't unreasonable for the Green Lanterns to suspect invasion and exploitation of the primitive Jekuul inhabitants.

We know Zod and his family are tough enough to stand toe-to-toe with Superman, but what about the most powerful weapon(s) in the universe?

Our closest reference was when Guy Gardner wielded his Qwardian yellow ring against Eradicator in Action Comics #688. Not quite a Green Lantern and not quite Kryptonian, but the pair are at least proof positive that energy rings can hold up against a physical powerhouse in the mould of Superman.

The Tape: House of Zod Ranking: Hal Jordan (#24)

What Went Down...

General Zod casually approaches the two Green Lanterns investigating his nearby construction, extending a welcome, and a willingness to explain the circumstances of his new home on planet Jekuul. The startled Lanterns are not convinced.

Hal Jordan immediately recognizes the Z-shaped crest on the man's chest and springs into action -- slinging his ring to form a giant vice around the General!

Amidst the confusion - Jordan reverts to an intention to arrest the known villain, whose presence has caught both he and Kyle Rayner by surprise, and is presumed hostile. Zod denies any crime has been committed.

A strain begins to emanate through Jordan's ring. "Lantern, do you know what I missed most during my years imprisoned inside the Phantom Zone?"

Drenched in the yellow sunlight of Jekuul -- General Zod throws his arms wide and breaks free from the hard-light construct holding him in place!

Jordan orders Kyle Rayner to make a hasty exit to recruit back-up, but even if he wanted to leave -- he never had a chance. A dark blur is upon him in seconds as Ursa uses her Kryptonian super-speed to hit him in the face like a freight train!

Her son, Lor-Zod, and the Eradicator, float with her overhead, as the Green Lanterns suddenly find themselves surrounded by super-powered Kryptonians!

Back-to-back with his partner, outgunned and outnumbered, Hal Jordan calls an audible, choosing the two targets on the left, while he forms an energy shield shaped like a jet fighter -- and flies straight into battle!

Kyle creates a giant-sized armored samurai as he launches himself at mother & son, while Jordan's plane takes double-barreled eyebeams, on a course towards Zod and Eradicator!

With a single, almighty punch -- Ursa smashes the gigantic samurai, shaking its hard-light armor plates loose with a rippling impact that ejects Kyle out the back!

Jordan fares a little better, losing a wing from his plane, and part of the fuselage, but aiming true for his target.

He pulls back his fist and charges up the ring as he closes in on General Zod and the remains of his plane break over the target -- but even a powered-up punch is child's play for the sun-charged General!

"So this is the self-proclaimed "most powerful weapon in the universe.""

Zod's cold confidence spells a foregone conclusion as he delivers a short uppercut at super-speed, bloodying the Green Lantern's mouth & nose, knocking him out cold and falling to the ground below.

Things aren't going any better for Kyle Rayner. A curious Ursa delivers a callous punch to the gut, wondering why the Green Lanterns would use a ring, rather than armor, a gun, or "a blade, at least".

A snap of her elbow backhands Kyle, sending him head-first into the rocks and dirt of Jekuul.

A flying right-hook knocks the mask from his face, and another sprays his blood across the air. General Zod grabs her fist and tells her "enough."

Deemed "tenuously" alive by the Eradicator's scan, Hal Jordan does his best to attempt an alert to Corps headquarters, but to no avail. Communications have been jammed. General Zod has prepared for this moment, though the Green Lanterns' discovery has come sooner than anticipated.

The Hammer...

I've always kind of accepted that, although messy, Crisis on Infinite Earths set about solving some things...

It revised & refined seminal concepts created without generational foresight, streamlining worlds accumulated through time and corporate acquisition, into a single reality capable of sustaining & exploiting enduring, coexisting pop culture icons.

I think we've come far enough to say the New 52 reboot solved very little. In fact, it might be the inverse opposite of Crisis, causing a lot of ugly and unnecessary problems, reinstating confusion, and generally creating a rift in the DC Comics canon that makes it very easy to invest much less interest. A "jumping off" point.

The New 52, and its marketing department pseudo-reboots, have been the kind of undertaking that makes a guy wonder if Superboy-Prime has lived long enough to become the hero the DC Universe needs -- but I wouldn't say it's all been bad.

Movies would have you believe General Zod is an integral part of the Superman mythos, but his comic book footprint was actually relatively small until recently. There were only a handful of issues between Zod's 1961 introduction in Adventure Comics #283, and big screen debut in Richard Donner's Superman.

As the lead antagonist of 1980's Superman II, Zod left an indelible mark on the broader consciousness, but the obscurity of a character already best known for his imprisonment in the Phantom Zone was exacerbated by the post-Crisis reboot, which sought to restore Superman's status as "Last Son of Krypton" -- the sole survivor of his doomed home planet.

Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, wasn't fully reinstated as Superman's cousin until 2004, and attempts to resolve the disparity between mainstream awareness of General Zod, and comic book canon, was clumsy and inconsistent.

The most egregious revival of Zod was 2001's Russian super-villain of the same name, with a fever-dream stopgap in the highly publicized '04 For Tomorrow story, before goggles & grey became Kryptonian chic with Richard Donner himself collaborating with Geoff Johns on a shaky, but full-fledged comeback, in 2007.

Despite the looming influence of Terence Stamp's performance in films, no real consensus seemed to be reached about design or characterization, even when Zack Snyder reprised the character for 2013's bleak, and generally unhelpful, live-action cinematic franchise-starter, Man of Steel. Which presents a rare problem the New 52 era of comics could -- and maybe even did -- solve.

This dark haired, bearded Zod clearly isn't Terence Stamp, but there's a sense of acknowledgement in the design that also builds on elements of Jim Lee's mirrored zed emblem, and Adam Kubert's shock-haired interloper.

It feels like this Zod exhibits a stage of revision and refinement that's approaching a definitive incarnation -- a rarity for this era of DC Comics.

Along with just being an intuitive place for a super-powered alien criminal to turn up; The House of Zod's showdown with Green Lantern feels like another knowing reference, calling back to their 1979 encounter in Green Lantern #122 & #123.

It's not necessary to box the character into past appearances -- and they haven't -- but in an era of confusion and book burning, it's nice to feel like there's some knowledge and awareness informing what's going on. Although, again, I wouldn't want to downplay the natural intuitiveness of moving these characters away from Superman, and into a collision with DC's resident space cops.

Of course, in doing so, this also satisfies the increasingly familiar trope of the evil Superman, without any of the baggage that deteriorates Superman himself, or the innate concept of a true villain with absolute power.

To some extent this scenario satisfies the dream match of Superman vs Green Lantern, and the question of what Superman might do with his powers if he was a militaristic conqueror of worlds. The only difference is exploring and expanding upon General Zod in the DC Universe is ultimately far more satisfying and valuable than a less convincing tangent, like Injustice.

That seems to be part of the conceit of this appearance, which in my estimation, places a little bit too much of a premium on the unbridled power of the "bad guy Supermen". The Lanterns are pretty soundly outmatched, which doesn't gel with past appearances, and downplays the powers of the Green Lantern ring.

If Ursa was smacking Kyle Rayner in the face like this, I feel like he should have more to worry about than a bloodied lip. I'm not sure if this a conceptual problem stemming from the script, or an aesthetic conceit. The Lanterns are depicted as having energy shields around them, but it's a little subtle for my liking, and the pencils don't quite gel with my conception of that shield completely surrounding the body (and face), rather than just being a two-dimensional outline.

Rafa Sandoval's action is dynamic, but the layouts are a little bit all over the place. The balance of detail in panels shifts from a little cluttered, to a little sparse -- unconscious habits I associate with digitally created comics. I could be presuming too much, and on the whole, it's a solid read, with good clean lines.

This is only the first chapter of this arc of Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps, though. There's more to talk about and I'd like to come back to examine more of this story, and perhaps past battles. By becoming a supporter on Patreon you can help make that possible, while also unlocking access to additional updates, the new Discord server, and sponsored content like Rank & File Top 10!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has recorded over 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 characters! Find them all by following links throughout each and every post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winners: General Zod & Ursa (w/ Eradicator & Lor-Zod)
#124 (+109) General Dru-Zod
#362 (new) Ursa
#654 (--) Eradicator [+1 assist]
#651 (new) Lor-Zod [+1 assist]
#27 (-3) Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
#87 (-6) Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

JUSTICE LEAGUE versus DARKSEID

Rock of Ages Part Five: Twilight Of The Gods (DC)
Where: JLA #14 When: January 1998
Why: Grant Morrison How: Howard Porter

The Story So Far...
Hard light holograms simulating the seven core members of The Justice League are just the beginning of their problems when a new Injustice Gang is formed by Lex Luthor!

The wealthy businessman has come into possession of a rare and powerful stone that allows him to control an alien prisoner and his Injustice Gang teammates. He thinks it might just be the ultimate weapon -- but in its many guises The Worlogog is the key to initiating cosmic armageddon!

Aquaman, Green Lantern, and The Flash find themselves thrust through time & space by the New God Metron in an effort to destroy "The Philosopher's Stone", but when they arrive fifteen years into the future they discover its destruction has brought humanity to the brink of annihilation!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Darkseid 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Metron 7 (Infinite Wisdom)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Darkseid 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Wonder Woman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Darkseid 36 (Cosmic)

What happens if evil finally wins? It's a question every comic book reader has pondered, and a few too many contemporary storytellers are willing to answer.

In 1998 JLA struck the right balance with a dark future dominated by evil New Gods in Rock of Ages. This Justice League are: Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Swarmtrooper 000830, and Wally West.

The tattered future League aren't entirely the heroes you remember. Huddled in the underground Detroit JLA Bunker, they represent the last remnants of the JLA gathered by a time displaced Aquaman, who now inhabits his future-self.

Joining him from fifteen years in the past is Kyle Rayner, whose body has been converted into a techno zombie-like Swarmtrooper sans Green Lantern ring, and Wally West: a pale shadow of his former self, now disconnected from the Speed Force, and reduced to a sickly, overweight firepit builder in the Keystone Ghetto.

Their first ally from the future is Wonder Woman: a battle-hardened, armor-clad survivor who'll die before the Zombie Factory takes her. They're also joined by Green Arrow, Atom, Argent, Azteka, and a reprogrammed Amazo, all of whom have roles to play in coordinated strikes away from the rest of the team.

Batman was believed taken some eight years prior, but it turns out he endured years of physical and psychological torture, overthrowing Desaad to remain embedded under deep cover for two months disguised as his captor. He's perfectly positioned to formulate a plan to strike at the heart of Darkseid!

Darkseid is a New God of unspeakable evil whose pursuit of domination is as likely to be directed as his own subjects as it is his enemies! Born Uxas, he reinvented himself with the murder of his mother and conquest of the planet Apokolips!

He seeks ultimate power through the Anti-Life Equation, believing fragments of its solution to lie within the recesses of the human mind. This has drawn him toward the Earth many times before, making playthings of its mightiest champions!

His powers dwarf the godly pantheons, but he has never the less known defeat. We saw Superman and Batman overcome him in Superman/Batman #42, and his son Orion fulfilled destiny by ripping Darkseid's burning heart from his chest in the explosive battle of Countdown #2! He died of his wounds, but Darkseid and the New Gods always find a way to return to life...

The Tape: Justice League Rankings: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

In a ship hovering over the ruined city of Metropolis: Darkseid awaits the arrival of his vile inquisitor Desaad. The New God of evil doesn't yet know his agent was replaced months ago by The Batman -- and he's bringing a new Justice League!

Batman leads the heroes through the Boom Tube, tossing scattered grenades ahead. The Apokolips-based technology fills the room with a dense "theotropically engineered" fog that baffles even the perceptions of Metron!

Darkseid erupts with furious bemusement while the League rushes purposefully through the smoke to their carefully planned destinations.

Wonder Woman elects to hold Darkseid, and the massive cube now called Granny Godness, at bay. She only promises an undisturbed minute or two. It takes mere seconds for Batman to reach The Mobius Chair and startle Metron.

The Dark Knight tempts Metron with the promise of undiscovered knowledge. He dares the New God to use his limitless power to become human for but a moment. Just long enough to record data most elusive to gods: mortal feelings.

While Metron considers the ease with which he could convert himself to a human approximation -- Wonder Woman harnesses defiant rage to fight for humanity!

"I'LL DIE BEFORE I BOW TO YOU!"

The Amazon's vow is dismissed with cold agreement. Darkseid swats her away with the back of his hand, quite certain that she will die. Not by him, though. He has trusted followers to carry out such menial tasks.

Metron was never one to get his hands so dirty. Now flesh and blood, he discovers the sensations of weight and "ceaseless particle movement". He seeks the value of recording feeling. Batman gives him a crash course in pain.

A stiff right hand stuns Metron and allows Batman to fill the gods' vulnerable mortal form with powerful hypnotic drugs. Metron will now be completely pliant and ready to obey their every instruction.

Batman leaves Metron and his Mobius Chair to the time-displaced Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Flash. He trusts that a new fate will be made in the past, so that this doomed existence could be unwritten. The chair takes them back.

Still in the damned future: Darkseid summons his Grandmother Box to destroy Wonder Woman.

With all the heinous cruelty of the living Granny Goodness, the machine opens a Boom Tube to the molten core of Apokolips -- and teleports a direct stream of firepit energy directly at the Wonder Woman!

The Amazon ricochets through the halls of the dark aerial fortress.

Granny Goodness turns her red lens towards Batman, but before she can enact any cruel disciplines -- Wonder Woman smashes through the Grandmother Box's shell in a final furious blaze of glory!

Batman hurls his batarang through the gaping chasm of what's left of the murderous machine. His aim is true -- cutting a perfect line -- but the weapon explodes with indifference against the impenetrable shield surrounding Darkseid.

The Batman instructs an unseen Atom to do what he can about it. Maybe the guerilla scientist hears him, maybe he doesn't. It hardly matters with Swarmptroopers flooding into the chamber to surround him.

Darkseid condescendingly wonders if this dark individual is known to him, and what he could think his "pathetic display" would achieve. The New God still doesn't fully grasp the scale of Batman's deception and his planned "display".

The Dark Knight kneels over Wonder Woman's motionless body and whispers, "We did it." Then he tells Darkseid that they've shared a few laughs, but now he's taking everything. The dark god need only look up to see the beginning...

Somewhere within Darkseid's Zombie Factory: the young hero who answers to Azteka flips a switch on her belt. It unleashes the destructive power of her four-dimensional battery's energy! The explosion rips through The Moon base!

As masses of humanity begin to awaken from the nightmare of Anti-Life, Darkseid confesses his respect for such a small being's ability to hurt him.

Darkseid's mercy is expressed through the red beams that dart jaggedly through the room until they reach their intended target.

Batman will suffer The Omega Effect, but not before he hurls a final insult at Darkseid. A bitter truth: that Darkseid finds himself surrounded by "maggots" because he did what he said he would: "You recreated the whole world in your image ... and what you see is your own ugly faaaaa--"

The last word trails off as Batman ceases to exist -- lost in a cloud of sizzling red particles. To where or when, even Darkseid does not know. It simply is.

The Hammer...
The fight does not begin or end with the death of Wonder Woman, and defeat of Batman.

The Justice League's last stand is part of a three-pronged attack fought over multiple arenas, including a second front over the skies of Metropolis.

Batman's attempt to relay intelligence to Atom will play out minutes after he suffers The Omega Effect: an ambiguous fate that sent him through ancient history, and multiple lives, when it happened again in Final Crisis.

It could be argued that the arrival of Atom & Green Arrow minutes later is part of a single coordinated strike, but it functions as part of a very separate sequence, which we'll examine as Round 2 when we reconvene in the future.

I suppose efforts to send Aquaman, Green Lantern, and The Flash back to then-present 1998 could be considered an additional front -- if we take Doc Brown's advice and think of it fourth dimensionally. Otherwise, it's a pre-emptive strike that will render this entire future moot once the Philosopher's Stone (or Worlogog) is protected.

That just leaves Argent & Azteka's attack on the "Zombie Factory" Moon base unaccounted for. We caught an indirect glimpse of it during the fight recap. If you'd like to see more of that one, you can contact me through the various available channels, including Patreon. It's interesting, but incredibly brief.

Here in the grim future (or past) of 2021: it seemed appropriate to finally touch upon Rock of Ages for the imminent release of Zack Snyder's Justice League.

It's not so much a celebration as a comparison. Both stories have superficial similarities, but play out with significantly different quality, priority, and context.

Snyder restores his original vision with a four hour runtime that shares some of the dark palette seen in the now-classic JLA comic arc, but apparently benefits from little of its levity, brisk optimism, or inventive comic book genius.

Grant Morrison takes cues from the high concept mastery of Jack Kirby and bakes it with the dizzying excess of late 90s comics. Nothing is held back, allowing JLA Rock of Ages to be many things to many people, if a little cluttered and hurried.

The story is bookended with Lex Luthor and his Injustice Gang, whose plan sets the possible dark-future into motion. It is told in two dedicated issues after an excursion through Wonder World, and a multiverse of strange and chilling realms. The beginning and end, rooted in an exciting and turbulent contemporary DC Universe, anchor the darkness with colour and the joy of good superheroes.

I would argue Morrison perfected his New Gods epic with Final Crisis. It revisited similar concepts with slightly more clarity and breadth despite a "channel changing" style that incorporates many more players and series than Rock of Ages. It also can't be understated how Morrison's work benefits from interplay with itself, and how both stories benefit each other. The guy really knows what he's doing!

The depiction of Wonder Woman in this grim future is interesting. I didn't find myself able to include some of Howard Porter's most dynamic depictions of the Amazon. In truth, she is frustratingly out of focus, even when she leads the fight against Darkseid, and rips through his sinister servants.

The helmet and armor design reminds me a little of Big Barda, but behind its gold and silver plating is a story of battle-hardened survival and withdrawal into violent warrior culture. It should read as a contrast to the superhero, but here in 2021, I can't help but notice how much this seems like the contemporary depiction of Wonder Woman. A bit like Kingdom Come, it feels like its dark example has been ignored, serving as precedent & inspiration, instead of warning.

I've written about the struggle for a definitive Wonder Woman, and the intuitive emphasis of her Amazon warrior's heritage, but today's battle, with all its sound and fury, gives me a moment's pause to consider the finer points of her status as an ambassador for peace. There may still be much work to be done.

In-fiction, the grim future of Rock of Ages ultimately doesn't matter. It's obliterated from within by Orion and the Genesis Box before our time travelling heroes even set things right. Which is good. Because as tempting as it is to wonder about the darkest outcome -- the inherent beauty of superheroes is their ability to always prevent it. Wanting anything else is just madness. Anti-Life.

The phenomenon of Zack Snyder's Justice League has been a little off-putting in total. The zealous fervor of its most die hard cultists un-ironically recalls the edicts of Darkseid himself. A ravenous pack dedicated to nothing but the darkness of Snyder's vision and the inevitability of consuming more of it. Dark Snyder is.

I've pretty much had my fill of middling to disappointing adaptations and their expanding circumference of influence. As a consumer I want more from my purchases, and as a fan I crave better days of inventive, colourful superheroes.

DC Films President Walter Hamada referred to the Snyder Cut as a "storytelling cul-de-sac". I don't think that was a comment on its creative vision, but I wouldn't be opposed if it was, and hope in the face of dangling plot threads it can live up to that designation. The new cut may restore an acceptable degree of coherence to the plot, but I find it very hard to believe it is the best the Justice League can be.

Of course, the dark future of Rock of Ages isn't the best they can be, either.

If you find yourself feeling similarly, and want to experience the entirety of today's featured battle, you might like to check out JLA: Rock of Ages collected in JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 or JLA Rock of Ages. Using Amazon purchase links provided will not only net you a good deal, but also help support the site.

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has eatured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by diving into the Secret Archive for an index of battles by publisher, series, and issue number -- or discover the joy of following links throughout this post to other stories.

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Winner: Darkseid
#119 (+287) Darkseid [+1 kill]
#466 (+6) Granny Goodness [+1 assist] [+1 kill]
#609 (new) Metron [+1 assist]
#1 (--) Batman
#10 (--) Wonder Woman [+1 kill]
#25 (--) Aquaman [+1 assist]
#34 (--) Flash (Wally West) [+1 assist]
#75 (--) Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) [+1 assist]

JUSTICE LEAGUE versus CAPTAIN MARVEL

Seduction of the Innocent (DC)
Where: Underworld Unleashed #3 When: Late December 1995 Why: Mark Waid How: Howard Porter

The Story So Far...
What is the price of the heart's desire? The devil Neron has waged a campaign of temptation and corruption in an effort to amass immortal souls. With his growing power he seeks the ultimate prize: the corruption of a pure soul!

Having empowered an army of villains who accepted his offer, it seems Neron has achieved his goal when Superman disappears, and evil sweeps the Earth. Thus, a team of heroes volunteers to descend into the depths of Hell itself!

Guided by Blue Devil, the heroes face increasing challenges as they descend through each layer. Only their mightiest make it to the underworld throne of Neron himself, but in doing so, they face the greatest challenge of all: the darkness that dwells deep within them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Flash 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Captain Marvel 6 (Generator)
Agility: Martian Manhunter 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Wonder Woman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Martian Manhunter 36 (Cosmic)

The Justice League are: Wonder Woman, Warrior, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter.

We know that Captain Marvel's no stranger to fending off the challenge of a wayward hero, or two. The classic meta-rivalry with Superman has played out in battles from Action Comics Annual #4, Kingdom Come #4, Superman #216, and Superman/Batman #4. They've always been fairly equally matched.

That last one was a tag team tussle that also featured Hawkman and Batman, but even that's just a taste of what the big red cheese is up against today! We're talking Captain Marvel alone against five of the Justice League's heaviest hitters -- all driven to extremes by the corrupting influence of Neron, and the naturally corrupting environment of the lower depths of Hell!

Fortunately, Captain Marvel's innate good proved uniquely resilient during the group's trek through the many layers of Hell. He's passed the darkest trials with flying colors, despite having his left arm in a sling. The stamina of Atlas will be stretched to its limit, but he has a natural edge against the evil of this realm.

Wonder Woman poses a physical challenge approximate to Superman, but the strength of Hercules & power of Zeus have always proved up to the challenge. Marvel has nothing to fear from the lasso of truth, but it might be useful against the corrupted heroes. Wonder Woman won't give up the lasso without a fight, but we saw Storm defeat her with a lightning strike in Marvel versus DC #3.

As long as the wizard's magic lightning can reach him in Hell, Marvel has the option to dodge it, frying nearby targets with the "lightning ambush". Against this group it might only work once, but once is all he'll need.

That trick probably won't work on The Flash. His phenomenal momentum will require Captain Marvel to push the speed of Mercury to its limit if he's going to keep up. If he can anticipate the speedster's attacks, he should be able to shut him down easily without needing to sacrifice the lasso, should he have it.

Warrior and Green Lantern have the biggest firepower of the five corrupted heroes. As Warrior: Guy Gardner could possibly go hand-to-hand with Captain Marvel, but his Vuldarian powers mean he can just manifest energy weapons from his body. Couple that with Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern ring -- and Cap's probably going to take at least a few hits. Hopefully the courage of Achilles will help him face it down with the savvy to turn their fire against one another.

That just leaves Martian Manhunter, whose presence at the lower levels probably means Hellfire hasn't slowed him down too much. As we saw in Green Lantern #44, the combat potential for a corrupted Martian Manhunter is chilling! However, that weakness to fire means Cap may be able to stall him relatively easily by directing Warrior's plasma blasts, or resorting to the lightning ambush.

Temporarily neutralizing Martian Manhunter prevents him avoiding the lasso of truth. If Marvel can use that, he might be able to lift the haze of darkness and set Martian Manhunter the task of telepathically helping the others.

Identity Crisis #3 remains one of the great examples of how a lone fighter can use clarity and tactics to turn the numbers advantage of the Justice League against them. Captain Marvel has the necessary skills to make it happen, but he's fighting hurt against overwhelming odds. Let's see what happened...

The Tape: Justice League Ranking: Wonder Woman (#15)

What Went Down...
In the depths of Hell itself, at the foot of Neron's throne, the Justice League's souls lie bare. The darkness draws their very worst selves to the surface, leaving only Captain Marvel unaltered -- besieged by his corrupted allies!

The group rushes the stunned hero before he can act. Warrior pours on the power, blasting at Captain Marvel's mighty mid-section, while Wonder Woman throws an uncompromising left across his exposed jaw!

The Captain desperately tries to put some distance between himself and his friends, narrowly flying above the path of a rampaging Flash! He appeals to the heroes' better nature and the greater good they're there to serve -- but it's for naught. Neron laughs, feasting on Captain Marvel's despair as he tempts a fight.

The demon Blaze watches the fight unfold, shackled at the side of Neron's throne. Her presence there is meant to weaken Captain Marvel, but she quietly launches an act of defiance, restoring his full powers!

Without warning: Captain Marvel feels his broken arm mend -- a miracle in the pit of Hell! He doesn't stop to question the unexplained stroke of luck. With Wonder Woman on the ropes, he curls her lasso of truth around a stalagmite and pulls it taut -- clotheslining The Flash and Martian Manhunter in mid-flight!

Suddenly a spiked mace clobbers Captain Marvel from behind -- a weapon manifested by Warrior!

The frustrated hero doesn't want to fight his friends, but their aggressive attacks are leaving him little choice. Warrior fires a double barrel blast from twin arm cannons, but Captain Marvel manages to duck it, leaving the friendly fire to take out Green Lantern!

Neron plays with the besieged Captain Marvel's mind, needling him to fight back -- to kill! Marvel throws his arms out at the surrounding Leaguers and takes down the Martian Manhunter with his hands around his throat!

Earth's mightiest mortal pins the Martian to the floor while Neron eggs him on to get mad - to end it - to kill! For a moment, it seems as if Captain Marvel may actually succumb to rage. Yet, even in the depths of Hell there is still hope!

Blue Devil explodes from the ground seeking vengeance against Neron! The distraction inspires the demon's guest, James Jesse - The Trickster, to take action! He sees an opportunity to end Neron's tyrannical rise and rushes to Captain Marvel's side. There, he relays something overheard, that Satanus knew of a single word that could bedevil the devil that is Neron.

With Martian Manhunter still in his clutches - Captain Marvel stops to think, and then he smiles. With The Trickster urging him for an answer, the big red cheese whispers the wizard's name and summons his lightning!

The mystic bolt rips through the infernal domain with an all mighty BOOM!

When the dust and electricity settles - the veil has been lifted from the Justice League! Wonder Woman just barely remembers Captain Marvel fighting to save them, as if it were a distant nightmare. With Billy Batson hiding in the dark, the Justice League regroup and ready to take on Neron!

The Hammer...
Under scrutiny this isn't necessarily a straight forward result! Captain Marvel didn't really want to fight his friends, and spent most of the battle in evasive maneuvers. He ultimately did use muscle to put them on the ropes, ending it relatively peacefully by calling down Shazam's lightning. A tactical victory!

It might've gone a much darker way if The Trickster hadn't provided a moment of clarity for Captain Marvel. Blaze also supplied the assist via a power boost that healed Cap's busted arm, and helped turn the tables. Head to the bottom of this entry for a complete update to the Fight Club Rankings.

In last week's feature I mentioned I've been getting a little tired of hero-on-hero violence. Kind of amusing that we'd rush straight into Captain Marvel vs The Justice League. I actually meant the problem more so from the perspective of current publishing trends, but I admit it seems like a bit of an about face

Underworld Unleashed #3 partakes in its fair share of clichés, including the temporary possession of heroes for a good guy melee. It also just so happens to support another of last week's points, though. Namely, the depiction of Captain Marvel as a staunchly good-natured individual in a world of modern moral greys.

It's important to remember the nineties were a pretty grungy time in comics. Look no further than the fact that DC were publishing a major line-wide event that sent its greatest heroes into the pit of Hell as proof-positive of that!

Underworld Unleashed was a crossover created in the years following the Death of Superman, breaking of Batman, and fall of Hal Jordan. It provided a stylistic response to the explosion of a new wave of anti-heroes coming from Image Comics and Spawn, while also continuing the trajectory begun by its hero-killing headlines. In a world that had already seen Superman pummeled to death, it only made sense a banner event would focus on the empowerment of villains.

This wasn't quite the type of role reversal we're seeing regularly in current issues from DC and Marvel. Issues like Steel #21 showed how villains were being powered-up by Neron, but most of the tie-ins kept to the standard dynamic of hero defeating villain. It was all about Metallo getting a modern update -- not Lex Luthor becoming a celebrated member of the Justice League.

Golden & Silver Age morality was pretty well out of fashion, but against all odds, DC had a pocket of pure retro nostalgia in The Power of Shazam!

After a few aborted attempts, it was Jerry Ordway who set about re-defining the post-Crisis realities of Captain Marvel and the Shazam Family, spawning a series in 1995 out of the success of a Power of Shazam one-shot, from the year prior.

Ordway and artist Pete Krause took Captain Marvel forward with a modern sensibility, but it was all infused with a defiant sense of retro charm. By the end of the first year, the series established the Marvel Family, Tawky Tawny, and a Fawcett City encased in a literal magic bubble that gilded it with a 1940s sheen.

For all the foibles of the nineties, it was a decade that allowed for occasionally drastic deviations of individuality. So while the other DC heroes were delving into various shades of darkness, Captain Marvel's squinty eyed view of the world was able to take center stage in the main Underworld Unleashed mini-series.

Captain Marvel's aw shucks, 1950s innocence was positioned as the exception it really was, making it the ultimate prize for a devil like Neron, as well as the perfect weapon against him. When the other heroes succumb to corruption, Captain Marvel remains a reminder of heroes who were (and are) pure of heart.

It's a wonderful, almost subversive idea piloted by writer Mark Waid, who I have to imagine was a major supporter for this type of Captain Marvel, if not the actual source for it. He flipped the script with Cap's portrayal in Kingdom Come, but that functioned both as a deliberate in-story betrayal of the character's ideals, and a larger warning against the pitfalls of violent anti-heroes.

A fake out that the "pure soul" Neron seeks is actually Superman's is a little less successful when you recall a similar dynamic already played out a couple of years prior, during The Darkness Within story. I wouldn't fault them for being consistent with the two heroes' point of difference, though.

Ultimately, in the modern age, perhaps a corporate-owned icon as big as Superman can't afford to live up to the reputation of being comics' ultimate boy scout. However, Underworld Unleashed and The Darkness Within both show us how satisfying it is when Captain Marvel does, as narrative and characterization.

Furthermore, when a guy like Zack Snyder, clearly scarred by the darkness prevalent in our times, insists its a fantasy to believe superheroes can exist without lying, embezzling, or killing, the example of Captain Marvel becomes all the more important. This is a fantasy, and after 80 years of reinforcing a stand against cruelty and injustice, I can't think of anything more "grown up" than accepting that. To presume there is no alternative to corruption - even in a fantasy - may be the very reason so much of this world has succumbed to it.

For all the talk of Shazam! bringing levity to the DC Extended Universe (now in theatres), I can't help but be disappointed that it lacks the unique, singular vision of Ordway & Krause's Power of Shazam, and the incorruptible innocence that sets Billy Batson & Captain Marvel apart from the rest.

Underworld Unleashed seems to be currently out of print, but you can navigate to Amazon via the purchase link provided to seek out current alternatives. If you do find something you like, you'll help support Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

Seek and discover more interesting corners of the comic book multiverse by diving into the Secret Archive! There you'll find every featured fight indexed by publisher, series, and issue number! You can also subscribe on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links inspired by the topics of the day. Be sure to like, share, or retweet your faves!

Winner: Captain Marvel
#45 (+30) Captain Marvel
#555 (new) Trickster
#556 (new) Lady Blaze
#16 (-1) Wonder Woman
#28 (-2) Martian Manhunter
#30 (--) Flash (Wally West)
#75 (-6) Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
#128 (-7) Warrior (Guy Gardner)

GREEN LANTERN versus KILLER FROST & EFFIGY

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The distraction gives Effigy the opportunity he needs to escape!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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