AVENGERS versus KANG THE CONQUEROR

First Blood (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #2 When: December 1996 Why: Rob Liefeld, Jim Valentino & Jeph Loeb How: Chap Yaep

The Story So Far...
Facing apparent death in their battle against the psionic entity called Onslaught -- The Avengers and Fantastic Four were whisked to the safety of a pocket dimension created subconsciously by naive mutant Franklin Richards.

Beginning their lives anew with no knowledge of their true history: The Avengers are founded under the direction of Nick Fury and SHIELD, to act as a global peace-keeping force against super-powered threats also newly manifesting on this Counter Earth.

Bolstered by the addition of Captain America and Thor; The Avengers are a powerful assembly whose legend will inevitably continue into the distant future. A future ruled by Kang The Conqueror, who has travelled through time to defeat history's mightiest heroes!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Kang 6 (Genius)
Speed: Captain America 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Hellcat 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Kang 5 (Lasers)
Total: Kang The Conqueror 29 (Metahuman)

The Avengers are: Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Vision, Swordsman, Scarlet Witch, and Hellcat.

Starting from scratch in the pocket universe -- these Avengers are still relatively new to working with each other. They just recruited Thor in the previous issue, when he saw through his brother's manipulations, and helped to defeat him.

Scarlet Witch was key to their victory, using hex powers to turn Loki's spell back against him, but it remains to be seen how her awesome magicks will affect the futuristic technology of Kang The Conqueror.

This time Kang hails from the even farther flung future of the 31st century: a variant conjured to this universe by Franklin Richards based upon his distant descendent -- the time travelling Nathaniel Richards, who is typically cited as having conquered the 30th century.

It was that Kang who deployed the Avengers to Limbo to destroy a facsimile of himself in a quest to consolidate power by eliminating all Kang variants diverging from his prime timeline. A feat achieved with advanced technology that allows him to effortlessly traverse time and space.

Kang is also outfitted in advanced armor, which grants him super-human strength and durability, gravity-defiance, defensive force-fields, and an arsenal of weaponry capable of deploying concussive blasts and other attacks.

Captain America's tactical savvy should help the team coordinate, but it's Thor who offers the most obvious counter-attack to Kang's incredibly powers.

We've seen The God of Thunder face similar versatile threats from The Mandarin, Nebula, Super-Skrull, Thanos, Juggernaut, Doctor Doom, and even DC's Superman and Captain Marvel! Will he be the difference maker? Let's find out!

The Tape: Avengers Ranking: Captain America (#7)

What Went Down...

The appearance of a massive spaceship floating over New York City prompts Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury, to activate his Avengers for a full investigation, and if necessary, neutralization of any emerging threat.

Captain America doesn't much like the cut of Fury's jib, but with Scarlet Witch and Hellcat already in the field, the team is quick to mobilize against a mysterious individual already in the process of engaging the women.

A simple gesture directs a blast of energy that engulfs Scarlet Witch and Hellcat!

The remaining Avengers arrive just in time to witness the assault. Cap discreetly makes sure Hawkeye has a clean shot, but Thor is too incensed to give the archer opportunity to strike first. Kang invites it with no clearer motive: "Your move."

The God of Thunder obliges -- tossing his mighty hammer Mjolnir!

Remarkably the weapon stalls beyond Kang's outstretched hand, igniting with sparks of electricity as it collides with a force-field surrounding him!

Captain America recognizes the danger and orders Hawkeye to try to rally Scarlet Witch to make use of her awesome magicks that stopped Loki.

Swordsman sees the need for a distraction to give Hawkeye a clear run, but his attempt to take the initiative is immediately squashed, much to Captain America's chagrin. Swords are simply no match for Kang's advanced technology!

Cap tries to restore order so the team can regroup, but Thor refuses to yield.

"Do what thou must, Captain. But, no being, mortal or god, may take the fabled Mjolnir from my side -- and not rue the day!"

The thunder god brings down the very heavens, dive bombing Kang in blaze of lightning that explodes around the force-field bubble, and rips through the surrounding earth!

The Avengers feel the fallout as Scarlet Witch does her best to shield she and Hellcat from the erupting energies. As she struggles, The Witch compels Hawkeye to help the rest of the team, even as he finds himself lacking any clear shot.

Captain America rallies Vision and Hawkeye to his side for a final stand.

Hawkeye sends the first salvo, much to Kang's amusement.

The arrow sails straight and true, inevitably striking Kang's force-field -- but this "toy" contains a thermite incendiary tip that burns through bubble and deactivates the defensive barrier!

Captain America throws his mighty shield -- knocking Kang off his feet, while Vision takes the order to glide toward the threat and neutralize it by phasing through his body to cause him discomfort -- and submission.

Alas, Kang's futuristic defenses are vast and many. Before the android can shift his density, The Conqueror orders his ship to open fire -- blasting Vision with a massive explosion!

Thor gravely returns to the battlefield, mournfully coming face to face with Kang under the belief that his new comrades have perished. He vows to avenge his fallen allies by spilling Kang's blood.

The ferocity and power of Thor's attack is enough to cause even Kang alarm.

He desperately calls for assistance from his ship as Thor rains down bareknuckle blows against his restored force-field!

A beam of energy blasts Thor from behind and surrounds him in another bubble that is dragged towards the ship. A futuristic assault that allows Kang The Conqueror to claim the thunder god as trophy in victory.

The Hammer...

Remembering that Kang featured prominently in this issue, I figured it might be fun to go back to Heroes Reborn to take a fresh look. After all, he's given pride of place as the first real threat to the pocket universe's fully formed Avengers, after they were deployed to Norway, and recruited Thor from the side of Loki.

Some of Heroes Reborn reads like a prototype version of Ultimate Marvel, and I guess that includes the highs and lows, as Kang The Conqueror is reduced to a far less interesting villain, coming from the distant future of the 31st century for the expressed purpose of impressing Mantis by beating up history's famed Avengers and nothing much more.

It's kind of a weirdly underwhelming take on what could've been a very unique and interesting villain. One whose status outside the present-day Marvel Universe could've allowed Kang full knowledge of the battle with Onslaught, and the false new reality that was created to contain the heroes.

There doesn't appear to be any acknowledgement of the fact that Loki was accidentally sent to Limbo in the prior issue. A domain notably claimed by Kang The Conqueror in past issues of Avengers, and a natural means for alerting him to the existence of the Heroes Reborn universe.

Kang might've used his unique awareness to attempt to conquer this world and use it for his own ends -- or perhaps escape it, having been accidentally caught by Franklin Richards while travelling from the future, rather than simply being a facsimile created within the world to occupy the heroes before their return.

In that situation Kang could've been key to unravelling the mystery of this new reality, investigating the lost history of The Avengers and Fantastic Four. He could've been a pivotal figure in the whole affair! Granted, that was a role reserved for Doctor Doom, and Kang probably didn't quite have the cachet to demand that level of attention at the time. That wouldn't come until a few years later when Kurt Busiek devises the epic Kang Dynasty -- a year-long story that put Kang back on top with his conquest of the present day.

Exactly how much clarity or planning was going into the pages of Heroes Reborn's Avengers Volume 2 is not evident, and difficult to gauge.

Three hands in writing might not have helped artist Chap Yaep, whose pencils are frustratingly unfocused throughout the battle of Avengers #2. His staging too often centers around unimportant aspects of subject matter, passing up opportunities for dynamic narrative shots of characters in action, in favour of messy layouts filled with dead space, awkward zooming, literal voids, and splashes of relative inaction.

Layouts are unmistakably Liefeldian, but storytelling particularly dips here, held together by script and/or dialogue credited to Jim Valentino (script), and Jeph Loeb (dialogue), respectively. Without their words scenes become less clear.

As I recall, things settle down in the next issue, and continue to improve when Ian Churchill joins the team in Avengers #4. Even so, it isn't wildly surprising that Marvel chose to sever ties mid-series with the Rob Liefeld portion of their Image-produced Heroes Reborn titles. There is an unmistakable air of chaos and waste. A sense of carelessness, and things just barely being held together by a ballooning creative team.

The editorial shakeup reportedly happened at issue #6, and will become evident in credits for Avengers #8, when Walt Simonson formally takes over writing duties, introducing a second contrary Thor to the equation, and generally restoring more normalcy to the Avengers and their portrayals ahead of their imminent repatriation to the main universe in Heroes Reborn: The Return.

The second Thor highlights the potential complication the Heroes Reborn universe adds to our rankings, but per the rules of alternate realities, we consider these to be off-shoots connected to the main character, unless otherwise stated.

No doubt we'll return to explore more from Heroes Reborn some time in the future, as well as more from Kang The Conqueror. If you'd like to see those things and more you should follow links to topics throughout this post -- or check out the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winner: Kang The Conqueror
#420 (+564) Kang The Conqueror
#7 (--) Captain America
#17 (--) Thor
#90 (--) Hawkeye
#125 (-20) Hellcat
#155 (-7) Vision
#441 (-1) Scarlet Witch
#991 (-336) Swordsman

MASTERS OF EVIL versus AVENGERS

A Gathering of Evil! (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #222 When: August 1982
Why: Jim Shooter & Steve Grant How: Greg LaRocque

The Story So Far...
While Wasp and The Avengers welcome their newest recruit to the halls of Avengers Mansion -- one of their old adversaries begins drawing plans for recruitment of his own for a new team of Masters of Evil!

Egghead begins his scheme by sending a missile to Atlantis, destroying the prison that holds Todd Arlis aka; Tiger Shark. From there, the first recruit attacks the super-villain prison facility at Ryker's, freeing Whirlwind, Scorpion, and Moonstone.

In exchange for their freedom, the team agrees to serve Egghead in his scheme for power & fortune, but old grudges die hard, and Whirlwind can't help but take a day trip to Avengers Mansion to seek revenge against The Wasp. A decision that forces The Masters of Evil to make their presence known ahead of schedule!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Hawkeye 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Moonstone 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Scorpion 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Thor 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Thor 5 (Lasers)
Total: Thor 32 (Super)

The Masters of Evil are: Moonstone, Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, and Scorpion.

This powerhouse foursome is acting under the direction of Egghead, but a lack of cohesion is evident from the very outset. Whirlwind goes rogue looking for payback, but he'll get more than he bargained for once Avengers assemble!

The Avengers are: Wasp, Hawkeye, Thor, and She-Hulk.

Thor tops several categories of The Tape with godly might, but on average these Masters of Evil outpace at least half of The Avengers here, and there's a pretty compelling case for their path to victory.

Moonstone gained cosmic might from a Kree gravity stone that grants her super-human strength, durability, flight, energy blasts, and various other tricks. She could probably occupy Thor alone, as we saw when she battled the Asgardian-powered Bulldozer and Piledriver during Thunderbolts #1.

Either Tiger Shark or Scorpion could run interference on She-Hulk, with the former's history of battling the Sub-Mariner making the most compelling case. His ability to withstand the ocean depths, and Namor's strongest blows, as in Marvel Team-Up #14, spells an underrated powerhouse of the Marvel Universe.

That would free up Scorpion to try swapping his hatred of Spider-Man for the Wasp. She doesn't have the strength to cause an abrupt upset, but as we've seen before, her speed, agility, and bio-electric stingers can beat big opponents.

Whirlwind might be best suited to blowing Wasp off course, but she's always seemed to have his number. He might have better luck disrupting the flight of Hawkeye's arrows. His armor has gone head-to-head with Iron Man, and his fast twirling could probably deflect most standard trick arrows. Let's find out...

The Tape: Masters of Evil Ranking: Thor (#20)

What Went Down...

When Janet Van Dyne jumps into her town car for home, she finds faithful driver Carrothers replaced by arch-nemesis David Cannon -- aka; Whirlwind!

Like his namesake, Whirlwind whips around to grab hold of his intended target, but he's left holding a designer shall as Wasp activates the Pym Particles in her suit that cause her to shrink to insect size -- and bio-electric blast Cannon in the face!

On his way back to Avengers Mansion -- Hawkeye notices something amiss in the stationary vehicle and slips his bow to the ready.

Before he can finish producing an arrow from his quiver -- the archer is suddenly hit with a powerful beam of energy fired from overhead!

The voice that follows turns its ire not toward the downed Avenger, but rather the helmeted Whirlwind now fleeing from the vehicle. Moonstone lands on the street, joined by her fellow new Masters of Evil -- furious at their teammate for going rogue against The Avengers!

Wasp comes to Hawkeye's aid, buzzing through the air only to be swatted by Tiger Shark!

Recognizing the motley crew of villains and their superior powers, Hawkeye uses Wasp's distraction to quickly fire off a signal flare arrow before being blasted again by Moonstone!

Fortunately for Hawkeye -- the signal reached an Avenger capable of evening the score! His mighty hammer preceding him as it flies through the villainous foursome, scattering them like skittles!

Thor descends from the sky with hammer now in hand -- bringing it slamming into the road with enough force to topple the Masters of Evil again!

The thunderous shockwave is enough to stir a sleeping Avenger, who hears the commotion of Moonstone taking to the skies and firing her beams at Thor.

Scorpion seizes upon the opportunity of a staggered thunder god, charging in to smack Thor violently through the air with a powerful tail swipe!

That's all She-Hulk needs to see to smash through her Avengers Mansion window and race into battle!

Tiger Shark is sent flying back-first into the perimeter wall as She-Hulk reaches the gate, but it's Wasp who meets her on the street to stop the gamma-irradiated Avenger from entering the struggle -- lest she ruin the designer outfit borrowed from Janet Van Dyne's personal wardrobe.

Shulkie scrambles to carefully remove her borrowed garments while Thor swings his hammer to deflect more beams from Moonstone -- and Tiger Shark turns Wasp's abandoned town car into an airborne projectile!

The car finds its target, reduced to twisted metal and broken glass as it collides with Thor in a car-on-man traffic accident!

Wasp unleashes her stinging bio-electric blast while flying around the back of Scorpion's neck, shouting a wellness check to her godly teammate.

Relatively unharmed; Thor shrugs off the wreck and returns his ire to the direction of the villains, but Tiger Shark insists The Masters of Evil should fear nothing from the thunder god's strength.

The sub-aquatic scourge insists a coordinated effort can reduce the lone powerhouse to hamburger meat, but his focus fails to take into account She-Hulk -- who catches Tiger Shark by surprise with a knockdown blow from behind!

Hawkeye rejoins the group, firing an exploding arrow at the twirling tornado of Whirlwind -- knocking the swirling villain out of orbit as The Avengers square off with the newly outnumbered Masters of Evil!

Moonstone calls for evasive actions, but is cut-off as Wasp buzzes around the floating villain and blasts her with a bio-electric sting!

She-Hulk is ready to wallop Moonstone as she drops out of the air -- and is sent careening into a flat-footed Scorpion!

Thor makes sure Scorpion and Moonstone aren't getting up as The Avengers celebrate the victory with their newest recruit, and an armored NYPD truck arrives to cart the villains off.

The Hammer...
A triumphant team effort is capped off by She-Hulk as she proves the value of having extra muscle -- even on a team that boasts the Asgardian might of Thor, God of Thunder!

The Avengers all had their parts to play, but it's obviously an action-packed welcome to the team for She-Hulk in particular, who was their newest recruit as of a roster drive in Avengers #221. You probably know it: the red cover with white grid of prospective new members.

She-Hulk is a Wasp find -- the only one to accept admission from a meeting to bring another woman into the Avengers fold that also included: Invisible Girl, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Dazzler. All candidates who find their ways to other versions of the Avengers (assuming you include Dazzler with A-Force).

Hawkeye rejoined at the invitation of Captain America & Iron Man as well, and the skirmish outside Avengers Mansion in #222 serves as a chance to smooth things over with She-Hulk, whose pink Cadillac he fried with an electric impulse arrow after she cut off his cab in traffic, in the previous issue.

Hawkeye is obviously at home with the Avengers after a couple of decades of association, and despite the initial friction, it turns out She-Hulk is a perfect fit too.

Typically the less volatile counterpart to Hulk, she thrives in the social dynamic of the Avengers, pairing instantly well with fashion-conscious Wasp as a character in need of a more permanent costume.

That may be a precarious premise for pairing a couple of female characters, but you know I enjoy Wasp the fashionista and the modern sensibility of She-Hulk matches it well. A case where the conceited push to balance the Avengers line-up with additional femininity pays off a treat, benefitting from She-Hulk's tenure as a solo hero, and perhaps the keen intuition of plotter & then-Editor in Chief, Jim Shooter.

As a piece of Avengers history this is all very interesting, but the thing that made the cover -- and really gets me jazzed -- is the oddball grouping of villains who formed this short-lived new Masters of Evil.

Long time readers will know I have a particular taste for good quality second-tier villains, and this one-time gathering brings Scorpion into the super-villain big leagues, seeing him bat at Thor in a brief detour away from his usual sparring with arch-nemesis Spider-Man.

Scorpion'll be back menacing the web-slinger in his next printed appearance, but in a couple of decades he'll team with Moonstone again, under the guise of Venom, as members of the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers [see; Thunderbolts #111, Nova #3, and Incredible Hercules #128]. An interesting relationship branch for a couple of characters who don't otherwise have much to do with each other.

Moonstone and Tiger Shark stick around with Egghead in the short term, joining the next Masters of Evil line-up in Avengers #228. That one continues the brief advancement a spider-villain as well, but those are details for another day.

Tiger Shark is another bad guy I get a kick out of seeing, especially when he's out of the water away from his usual issues with Sub-Mariner. What can I say? This is the fun of long-running superhero comic books!

If you agree that this is fun -- you can find more from your favourite heroes and villains by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue!

Like what you see? Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has been serving superhero smackdown, review, and commentary since 2005. We've featured almost 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 iconic characters! Consider becoming a supporter on Patreon to back future installments and unlock more possibilities!

Get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing via Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday!

Winners: She-Hulk, Wasp, Thor, and Hawkeye
#17 (+3) Thor
#39 (+14) Wasp
#87 (+69) She-Hulk
#88 (+70) Hawkeye
#413 (-61) Moonstone
#434 (--) Scorpion
#980 (-193) Whirlwind
#981 (-294) Tiger Shark

HAWKEYE & SANDMAN versus DOCTOR OCTOPUS & MADAME MENACE

Even an Octopus Needs Arms (Marvel)
Where: Solo Avengers #17 When: April 1989 Why: Tom DeFalco & Ralph Macchio How: Al Milgrom & Don Heck

The Story So Far...
An anonymous tip to Avengers HQ brings Hawkeye to a late night rendezvous in a Los Angeles waterfront warehouse.

From the shadows of the rafters overhead he spies the trappings of an illegal hi-tech arms deal, but fails to notice the hulking presence lurking up behind him! Lucky for him it's just the one who called it in -- The Sandman! 

Unsure of his status as a reserve Avenger, Sandman summoned fellow ex-con Hawkeye in the hopes he could get a helping hand taking down Madame Menace while on mission for Silver Sable. Hawkeye's none too happy to do the job of a mercenary, but with a high-profile buyer entering the picture these Avengers must assemble to thwart the exchange!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Sandman 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Doctor Octopus 5 (Professor)
Speed: Hawkeye 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Sandman 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Sandman 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Hawkeye 4 (Trained)
Energy: Hawkeye 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Sandman 26 (Metahuman)

Hawkeye and Sandman might seem like an unlikely team-up, but in 1989 the Spider-Man villain had put petty crime behind him to work as a member of Silver Sable's altruistic mercenary group, The Wild Pack, while also earning reservist status with The Avengers. Quite a turnaround!

William Baker's ability to shift his body from a state of rock-hard compressed sand, to a trail of fine granules, makes him a powerful and versatile ally -- but it's also his past affiliations with the Sinister Six and Frightful Four that gives him unique intelligence insights into the criminal fraternity.

Sandman is certainly no stranger to Doctor Octopus: the "Master Planner" who recruited him into the original lineup of the Sinister Six.

Doc Ock can usually count on outsmarting or manipulating a heavy like Sandman, but the focused power behind his electronic octo-arms, which've been known to smack around the Hulk, won't do him much good punching through fine sand!

The brilliant mind of Otto Octavius is certainly ingenious enough to devise other means of disrupting Sandman's unique physical composition. We saw his arsenal of machines reach an apex in Amazing Spider-Man #600, but that was after a total loss of mobility. Traditionally he seems to travel light, which is one reason he's out shopping for weapons designed by the equally brilliant Madame Menace.

Menace, aka; Sunset Bain, is a genius with special acumen for advanced machine engineering. As founder of Baintronics Incorporated, she was a rival and former flame for Tony Stark, who also used her unique electro-magnet tech and sonic disrupter cannon in pursuit of Machine Man and Jocasta.

Hawkeye might not be able to match today's opponents in invention, but he does have a quiver of trick arrows packed with his own high frequency sonic emitters, and various other useful devices for disrupting the designs of evil-doers.

We haven't profiled Hawkeye as much as we should, but we've seen him draw his bow against the likes of USAgent in Invaders #0, The Destroyer in Thor (Vol.2) #1, Hulk in Avengers (Vol.2) #4, and even Galactus in What If...? #70!

He and Sandman have teamed up prior to today's battle, but it's anyone's guess if they'll be able to stay on the same page long enough to beat a duo as dastardly as Doctor Octopus and Madame Menace! Let's get into it!

The Tape: Sandman & Hawkeye Ranking: Hawkeye (#156)

What Went Down...

Signaled with a single beam of light: a helicopter touches down on the docks to produce a sturdy figure hidden beneath a hat and trench coat.

The mysteryman strides into the waterfront warehouse carrying a briefcase filled with payment for a shipment of Madame Menace's finest state-of-the-art arms -- even though he's secretly packing four deadly hi-tech arms beneath his coat.

Watching from the rafters overhead, Sandman informs Hawkeye that he's only been ordered by Silver Sable to take out the seller -- which lights a fire under the Avenger, who draws his bow and gets to work firing on buyer & seller both!

Henchmen representing both parties point their pistols skyward and send a volley of bullets and energy blasts in the heroes' direction!

Hawkeye quickly drops clear of the fray and lets Sandman harmlessly absorb their blasts. Sandman extends his torso to send himself streaming toward the lower levels like a massive rock-hard piledriver!

The impact of a compressed column of sand making touchdown topples Madame Menace's masked minions with a mighty tremor!

The unexpected appearance of an old ally is enough to raise the ire of Otto Octavius, who rips away his trench coat disguise to reveal the telescopic arms of Doctor Octopus!

Hawkeye rides a zip line straight through a pack of heavily armed mooks, giving them the broadside of the bottom of his boots as he touches down and runs through a brief mental recap of Avengers files on Doc Ock.

The archer tries his luck with a double shot at the buyer, but Doctor Octopus has arms to spare -- catching one arrow with a mechanical claw, while blocking an exploding variety with two of his other arms crossed over.

Meanwhile, Sandman finds himself under assault from high-tech sonic disruptors that fire from a caterpillar cannon tank, and a handgun wielded by its driver.

The blasts punch right through his chest, but Sandman fans his particles even more broadly to wash his attackers away with a tidal wave of sand!

As quickly as he dissipates Sandman pulls his particles back together, forming a tightly compressed, gigantic hammer-fist that smashes through the cannon barrel to sheer its gunhead off and leave twisted metal in its wake!

Hawkeye calls for a few "pailfulls of yourself" from his powerful ally, but Sandman is sticking strictly to Silver Sable's orders. He's just here for the seller and that means the archer is on his own, desperately leaping clear of Doc Ock's tentacles!

Madame Menace is more willing to get involved, joining her minions to surround Sandman with advanced turning fork guns that send a powerful high pitched frequency resonating through his particles -- and the ears of all who hear it!

A recent bout of hearing loss gives Hawkeye an unexpected edge. He deactivates the hearing aids in his cowl and holds his nerve long enough to draw his bow and shoot the sonic weapons out of enemy hands!

The distraction gives Doc Ock the opening he needs to sneak up on Hawkeye with his long reaching tentacles!

The archer is helpless as he's yanked into the air by the telescopic metal limbs, but this time his cries for assistance won't fall on deaf ears!

Sandman pulls himself together and steps up to repay his Avengers ally for the earlier save. He hoists the tank over his head and dares Doctor Octopus to use his extra arms to play a little catch!

Doc Ock has no choice but to drop the archer and take evasive action, raising himself as the massive machine flies dangerously past to crash through the warehouse wall!

Madame Menace calls the operation untenable and invites Doctor Octopus to reconvene at another time. The buyer agrees, joining her in a hasty exit through the damaged wall -- but Sandman isn't letting them off the hook that easy!

Madame Menace gets airborne with a jet pack and summons some more hi-tech support, this time in the form of a massive flying mechanical hand that smashes through Sandman's body right as he's about to capture her!

Sandman will pull himself back together, but the delay is enough to give Madame Menace free passage to the night sky.

Hawkeye hopes to prevent the same exit for Doctor Octopus, who scrambles to his descending helicopter on extended octo-arms.

With a daring leap from the warehouse roof -- the archer catches the end of one of Doc Ock's arms, but it's a futile effort. Already latched on to the helicopter with two of his arms, the Doctor uses his free tentacle to swat Hawkeye loose.

The blow sends Hawkeye into a plunging freefall, but Sandman has his back once again, launching into a geyser of sand that catches the Avenger and brings him safely back down to the docks.

The Hammer...

Sandman and Hawkeye may have managed to drive Madame Menace and Doctor Octopus into a hasty retreat, but both sides got their licks in right to the finish, leaving us with no conclusive winners.

Of course, Sandman lays the blame for failing to complete his mission on Hawkeye, who he insists is also working for Silver Sable. A fun little callback to prior team-ups in Solo Avengers #3, and #6-7, in terms the Avenger strenuously objects to.

Truth be told, it might not have been such a bad idea for Hawkeye to join up with The Wild Pack eventually. He would've lent a little extra star-power to the group when they got their own series in 1992, freshening up his own circumstances after Solo Avengers had become Avengers Spotlight, and run its course with other characters in '91.

Solo Avengers had basically functioned as a Hawkeye version of Marvel Team-Up, but by having two feature stories you also got some other interesting Avengers tangents, starring Black Widow, Falcon, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, and more.

Hawk' has a fun, bantering dynamic with Sandman, whose good-natured belief he shares a bond of brotherhood with his fellow ex-con provides just the right amount of common ground, with odd couple friction.

For Hawkeye, his early days on the wrong side of the law are a long and distant memory, and while he'd probably rather not have Sandman palling around, he just can't turn his back on the Avengers reservist, who could clearly benefit from a little guidance in his venture into heroic redemption. Or at least his intel.

Sandman has a long and tenured heart of gold, but he'll inevitably slip back into causing trouble for Spider-Man and friends on the wrong side of the law.

He and Hawkeye never quite stoke up a lasting relationship, but they did eventually collaborate again when Hawkeye recruited him for a two-issue team-up with his band of former-villains in Thunderbolts #40. Another example of utilizing Sandman for information, and a nice nod to shared history from writer Fabian Nicieza, even if he couldn't make it a permanent fixture.

Longtime readers know these are the interesting little connections I enjoy. Asides that make a series like Solo Avengers a whole lot of fun by taking full advantage of a chance to spotlight an unusual team-up, irregular foes, or in this case: both.

Today's feature fight has been on my desk for a long time, and the convergence of the live-action Disney+ series, Hawkeye, with the theatrical release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, has made it the perfect time to finally take a look!

I've really been wanting to expand the Doc Ock file for quite some time. Although I enjoyed the experimental development of Amazing Spider-Man #600 - what we really need to examine is more of the classics! This was a good start, but hopefully we'll find time to explore Otto Octavius with a bit more focus.

I also wouldn't mind coming back to Madame Menace. She isn't one of the first Marvel Comics combatants you might think of, but she's had some interesting exploits over the years. This is her rankings debut, but if you'd like to find future entries, or more from any characters featured, follow links throughout this post.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 650 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by exploring the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue!

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#156 (--) Hawkeye
#428 (+3) Sandman
#479 (new) Madame Menace
#967 (+5) Doctor Octopus

AVENGERS versus LUKE CAGE

(Marvel)
Where: New Avengers #2 When: September 2010
Why: Brian Michael Bendis How: Stuart Immonen

The Story So Far...
For years the Avengers were torn apart by philosophical differences that erupted in Civil War. A secret invasion by Skrulls exposed holes in the new regime, allowing Norman Osborn to replace SHIELD as the corrupt Director of HAMMER! His tyranny went unnoticed until finally a siege on Asgard exposed the true evil!

With Osborn ousted in disgrace, Captain America is a natural choice to assume responsibility for SHIELD and a holistic approach to the superhero community. Thus, a new heroic age begins for The Avengers!

Having bought The Avengers mansion for $1 at the behest of Tony Stark, all seems well for Luke Cage and his new, fully authorized Avengers team! At least, until Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom crash the housewarming in search of The Eye of Agamotto that's spontaneously appeared in Cage's hands!

Magic is afoot as strange forces manipulate The Avengers in a grand design they have no way of knowing about. Now they'll have to fight each other if they're to keep the universe safe long enough for Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Voodoo to do something about it!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Dr. Strange 5 (Professor)
Speed: Iron Fist 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Iron Fist 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Agamotto 7 (Cosmic)


The Avengers are: Thing, Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Wolverine, Mockingbird, Spider-man & Hawkeye.

Under ordinary circumstances, this incarnation of The Avengers would look to Luke Cage as their fearless leader. Alas, circumstances have it that he's been possessed by an agent of the mystic entity Agamatto!

Agamotto is a founding entity of the paths of magic, spawned from the elder goddess Oshtur. He is perhaps best known for his creation of powerful mystic artefacts: The Eye of Agamatto and The Orb of Agamotto. Both are frequently called upon in the arsenal of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme - Dr. Stephen Strange!

At the time of this episode, Dr. Strange has relinquished his post as Sorcerer Supreme, surrendering the mantle to Brother Voodoo. Voodoo was in command of The Eye of Agamotto, but saw fit to transport it to Luke Cage and The Avengers when he was attacked by two possessed agents of Agamotto: Daimon Hellstrom and Dr. Strange himself!

Along with their possessed teammate, The Avengers will have to contend with Hellstrom & Strange! Cage has grown to approximately thirty-feet tall and is showing signs of his already impressive strength being augmented. We saw Cage get the better of his teammates when they were infected with alien symbiotes [New Avengers #36]. Bad news all around!

Fortunately, the group have just added two high-level powerhouses to their ranks: Thing and Ms. Marvel! Both have the durability to pick up the defensive slack for the rest of the team. They also have the power to fight back!

The rest of the team aren't especially well suited to facing off against the magic of Dr. Strange and Son of Satan, but they have been in situations like this before. The group fought off The Hood (augmented by Dormammu) in New Avengers #54, albeit with the help of Strange and Hellstrom.

It's the numbers of The Avengers against the chaos and uncertainty of Agamotto's magic! That's spells a recipe for uncertainty if there ever was one! Let's dispense with the incantations and find out how it all went down!

The Math: Spider-man Ranking: Spider-man (#2)

What Went Down...
Chaos erupts in Avengers Mansion as the heroes are confronted with the sudden appearance of The Eye of Agamotto and hostile Dr. Strange & Son of Satan! The team scrambles to reorient themselves, unsure of the exact nature or intent of the magical threat that has also transformed their leader into an angry giant!

Wolverine tells The Thing to grab The Eye of Agamotto and make a run for it, choosing the team's newest recruit for his phenomenal strength and rocky hide! He makes a grab for it, but is sent hurtling out of Avengers mansion with a blow from his gigantic magically charged friend!

Jessica Jones unloads care of her and Cage's daughter to the arms of Spider-man, who makes a run for the stairs to get the baby out of danger!

Meanwhile; Iron Fist launches a fly kick in Daimon Hellstrom's direction, Ms. Marvel hovers over a toppled Luke Cage, and Wolverine pounds on Dr. Strange's chest with a fist full of adamantium! All of their efforts are temporary measures in an effort to keep the possessed heroes from the mystic talisman!

Hellstrom clobbers Iron Fist, Luke Cage tugs at Ms. Marvel's hair, and Strange wrestles with Wolverine -- each in a mad dash for The Eye!

Retired heroine Jessica Jones reaches into her untapped super-human reservoir to launch herself at her possessed husband! The super-human uppercut knocks him backward and launches The Eye of Agamotto into the air!

Wolverine catches the magic artefact and hurls it out the window as far as he can! Ensuring the possessed mystics cannot take chase, he rushes them with a calculated thrust of his claws! The unbreakable metal slices into their chests!

Outside the mansion, The Eye lands in the middle of a picnic in a nearby park! The giant-size Cage, Thing and Ms. Marvel take chase - prompting a terrified citizen to throw it into the air!

Ms. Marvel's aerial abilities allow her to snatch the amulet just as Cage and Thing are making a grab for it. The development gives Thing a chance to even the score with a haymaker that sends Cage flying!

Jessica Jones arrives on the scene to leap on her husband once he's landed. She desperately tries to reach the man she loves, but his words don't match his actions - an uppercut that sends the former Jewel flying through the air!

When the possessing entity fails to convince Thing and Iron Fist that it is the voice of their friend Luke Cage, the creature issues an ultimatum: Give him The Eye of Agamotto and he will return Cage. Ms. Marvel counters with an ultimatum of her own: leave Cage or she'll smash The Eye into a million pieces!

The spirit lunges at Ms. Marvel with Cage's gigantic arms outstretched, incidentally launching Thing and Hawkeye into the air. Marvel effortlessly avoids the attack and returns fire with a super-charged hit of her own!

Even though the possessed Cage eats a hard shot, he's still able to wrap a giant hand around Ms. Marvel! She loses her grip on The Eye, but Iron Fist makes the running play with Thing taking chase in the distance!

Sick of the demonic possession - Iron Fist turns and thrusts his mystically charged weapon-hand into Cage's gigantic chest!

Cage goes down hard and Thing jumps on top of him to make sure he stays down with a massive right cross! Jessica Jones and Ms. Marvel hover in support.

The recovered and healed Dr. Strange & Daimon Hellstrom follow Wolverine urgently to the battlefield! They arrive as Doctor Voodoo teleports onto the scene and the possessing demon leaves Luke Cage's body, transferring to the victorious Iron Fist! A revoltin' development as the fight comes to an end!

The Hammer...
Delivering a knock-out blow to a giant possessed Luke Cage probably made Iron Fist an attractive host for Agamotto! He disappears into the other realm of the Vishanti with the hero's body, just as Doctor Voodoo enters the scene -- the story to be continued!

It's an added detail that doesn't impact our result: The Avengers victorious against their possessed comrades!

The victory is shared with Wolverine, Thing, Ms. Marvel and Jessica Jones, who all contributed to the win in a pro-active manner. Mockingbird stopped to film the possession on somebody's phone, which I'm sure has tactical value. Hawkeye was there, but doing his best Where's Wally throughout. I genuinely wonder if Stuart Immonen forgot all about him while drawing the issue. It's almost comical when he appears floating in mid-air in the latter third of the issue. Spidey was on baby duty and generally loafed about, as well.

The line-up reflects a blended group mostly made from the street-level Secret Avengers who formed after Civil War. Ms. Marvel is the biggest trade from the more traditional "Mighty" Avengers. Thing was the most surprising addition, despite a similarly brief stint in the late 80s launch of West Coast Avengers.

We talked about the idea of "JLA-ing" the Avengers in our last entry, concluding that the original 2005 New Avengers line-up didn't really go there.

By the time this second volume was launched in 2010, there was much more credence to the idea of a non-traditional, all-star line-up of disparate pre-established acts. Spider-man, Thing, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Dr. Strange (who eventually made his stay permanent) are a very JLA arrangement.

Much like the JLA; the successful Avengers began to expand beyond their core team formulas. The "Heroic Age" relaunch maintained a brand-traditional Mighty Avengers, while also installing a third "Secret Avengers" title in the oddball hodgepodge mould of The Defenders.

In the years that followed The Heroic Age, the lines between Avengers groups would blur further. Famous hold-outs like Daredevil would join the team. Even the X-Men, who had a few unique ties through heroes like Beast and Quicksilver, would finally be more aggressively blended through the Uncanny Avengers!

The net result is what opponents of Avengers Disassembled and the original New Avengers were afraid of all along: The demise of identity and a tradition.

Thanks to the success of Marvel's blockbuster film franchises, "Avengers" has become synonymous with the company. Almost interchangeable with Marvel itself. Yet, ironically enough, it's the movies that have to date best represented the traditional flavour of The Avengers: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, Hulk and so on.

In comics: It's now a lot easier to name characters who haven't been part of the monstrous Avengers uber brand. It's a muddying of the waters that's affecting many of Marvel's mainstay brands, extending to the dilution of individual characters who now share their identity with multiple alternate characters [see; Hero of the Week: Dr. Doom].

The traffic hasn't been exclusively one-way, though. Earlier this year, Marvel relaunched Power Man & Iron Fist for a new age, restoring the Heroes For Hire to their iconic buddy team roots away from The Avengers! The result is one of the more exciting, upbeat offerings reinvigorating the classics while also revamping them!

Luke Cage is also part of a reinvention of the Marvel identity on screen! September 30th marks the official launch of a thirteen episode live-action Netflix series! Mike Colter stars as the man with bulletproof skin, who we've been celebrating all throughout September on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

This celebration helped Luke Cage break into the Comic Book Fight Club Top 10 [see; Cage #3] at the expense of perennial favourite The Thing! The ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing fell to #11 as a result of Cage reaching #9 -- an unplanned result that made today's pre-scheduled feature fight all the more interesting!

Fans of the rankings will be excited to know Thing's shared victory returns him to the Top 10 just two weeks after he fell out! The defeat isn't enough to disrupt Luke Cage's spot at #9, though. Instead, it's Daredevil who will be shunted down from #10 to #11! Keep scrolling to the bottom of this update to see where all the characters finished in the ranks!

If you'd like to get the full experience of today's feature fight, use the Amazon link provided to purchase the collected edition! Doing so helps keep the wars infinite!

You can find more spotlights on Luke Cage, The Avengers and the individual characters by following character links, or diving into the Secret Issue Index! There you can browse battles by series, issue and publisher!

Stay tuned to Hero of the Week for a final spotlight on Luke Cage! Then be here in October as things start to get a little spooky for Halloween!

Winners: Iron Fist, Wolverine, Thing, Ms. Marvel & Jessica Jones
#4 (+2) Wolverine
#10 (+1) Thing
#30 (+10) Iron Fist
#76 (+53) Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
#92 (+197) Jessica Jones
#2 (--) Spider-man [+1 Assist]
#120 (-2) Hawkeye [+1 Assist]
#407 (+79) Mockingbird [+1 Assist]
#9 (--) Luke Cage
#65 (-2) Dr. Strange
#101 (-12) Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom)
#807 (new) Agamotto