DEATHSTROKE versus BIRDS OF PREY

Perfect Pitch Part Five (DC)
Where: Birds of Prey #90 When: March 2006 Why: Gail Simone How: Paulo Siqueira & Adam DeKraker

The Story So Far...
Calculator has become the central nervous system behind unionized villains of The Society. Marshalling a network of criminals, information and intelligence, he helped create the ultimate force in organized crime -- but his online dominion is challenged by one white hat hacker: Oracle!

New incarnations of Hellhound and Black Spider failed to bring down Oracle's associates, The Birds of Prey, after torturing Savant, but one of the perks of The Society is having access to a near limitless army of super-villain back-up!

Deathstroke has his sights on terminating Black Canary and Huntress while they attempt to evacuate casualties of their last battle!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Deathstroke 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Savant 5 (Professor)
Speed: Deathstroke 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Deathstroke 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Black Canary 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Deathstroke 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Huntress 3 (Explosives)
Total: Deathstroke 26 (Metahuman)

Calculator called in one of The Society's best available mercenaries to provide back-up! Deathstroke showed just how deadly he can be when he impaled Phantom Lady during a Society hit on the Freedom Fighters in Infinite Crisis #1!

Being deployed alone against a group of heroes shouldn't be an issue. He was largely able to manage the X-Men alone when they crossed over in Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans. He also famously and single-handedly set about dismantling the Justice League in Identity Crisis #3!

The Birds of Prey are: Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Creote, and Savant.

The Identity Crisis battle still hangs over Black Canary in this encounter. He tied an airtight rubber mask over her head to silence the canary cry, and cuffed her to prevent any hand-to-hand reprisals. He utilized thorough tactics to beat the odds and systematically work his way through the likes of Flash, Zatanna, Hawkman, and Green Arrow.

We saw Green Arrow win his rematch with Deathstroke in Green Arrow #62, which highlighted the benefits of knowing the enemy and changing up the play.

Her sonic canary cry remains her best advantages over Deathstroke. We saw its power bring the Marvel Family to their knees in Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, and dissipate Shadow Thief in Justice League of America #15. She also defeated Giganta in the latter issue, using agility, and Cheshire, with fighting technique.

After their last battle, The Canary will know not to rely on her sonic attack. Like Green Arrow, she'll look to use her own tactical and combat skills to match The Terminator as best she can, while working to undermine his meticulous style.

In Underworld Unleashed #3, we saw Huntress help turn the tables against a cadre of super-villains with reckless abandon. Her improvised use of explosives seemingly endangered Black Canary, but it was a calculated risk that also got her out of harm. That ruthlessness could compliment Canary during this fight!

Lady Blackhawk is en route at the start of the fight and could provide air support to clear Deathstroke if things go bad. Savant is wounded from being tortured, and Creote will likely stay with him.

The Tape: Birds of Prey Ranking: Black Canary (#38)

What Went Down...
On a lonely rooftop in Gotham City the Birds of Prey drag their wounded topside to await transport. When they get to the rain spattered roof they soon find The Society had a third man watching over proceedings: Deathstroke!

With a drawn sword already in his hand, Deathstroke offers the Birds a chance to leave the injured Black Spider and go freely. Black Canary spits the offer back in his face and shows him the difference between the last time he humiliated her in combat and now -- this time there aren't any Justice Leaguers in the way!

Huntress fires off three bolts from her crossbow while Black Canary launches into a leaping kick that catches Deathstroke by the side of the head.

Internally, Canary knows she was allowed to strike first so Deathstroke could show he won't be so easily hurt. She keeps him busy, talking trash about finding a way to beat him after their last encounter. In her mind, she remains trained on one thought: the three seconds of distraction that will allow her victory.

Deathstroke fires back with an uppercut that sends the Canary airborne and reminds her just how hard his super-soldier enhancements can hit!

Huntress jumps back into the fray, but Deathstroke blocks her punch and effortlessly swats her away with the backhand of his sword-wielding fist! The deals are off the table. Now he's playing for keeps!

Without warning -- Creote rushes across the rooftop at Deathstroke!

With no regard for his own life, the Russian special forces soldier attempts to grapple with Deathstroke. He seeks only to hurt the mercenary for the pain he and The Society inflicted upon his beloved Savant!

The impassioned assault tangles Deathstroke up for a moment, but is soon remedied with a backwards rolling judo toss.

Black Canary takes the opportunity to rush in and feint for the canary cry, allowing Deathstroke a pre-emptive strike that snaps the bone in her arm. It would've choked the voice in her throat -- if that were her true intent...

The gambit was merely providing distraction while Huntress snuck up from behind and attacked his vertical base with a low strike! The low blow provides the three seconds needed to extend two fingers, cut across Deathstroke's blind side, and thrust her digits into his good eye!

Blood spurts from The Terminator's mask and he recoils, swinging his sword wildly to push Black Canary back! She dedicates the strike to Phantom Lady.

Deathstroke pivots toward the edge of the rooftop and resumes a prepared stance. Canary's eye poke of doom didn't puncture the eyeball. It will heal -- not that he needs to actually see to kill any of them. Canary knows it, too.

Canary threatens to blast Deathstroke from the roof with her canary cry if he goes for his gun, but he's not convinced she'll be fast enough. The stand-off is suddenly interrupted by Lady Blackhawk, who appears on the fire escape behind Deathstroke with pistols drawn. She under estimates his ability!

Blackhawk's warning gave Deathstroke a location. He expertly twists his body around, disarming her with a twisting kick that carries him from the roof edge, onto the target and iron ledge. In seconds his hand is around her throat, dangling the pilot precariously over a multi-story drop!

The pouring rain tests his gloved grip and Black Canary has no choice but to concede to Slade's leverage. "Dammit. He wins. He always wins", she thinks spitefully. He commends her for almost beating him. Then: the unexpected!

Gunfire sprays the air, catching Deathstroke by surprise! The discharge sends him falling backwards over the fire escape rail with Lady Blackhawk!

The Canary throws herself forward to pull Lady Blackhawk back to the safety of the rainy rooftop. There, Savant sits worse for wear wielding one of Black Spider's smoking pistols. A favour to end his association with Oracle.

The Hammer...

It looked like a done deal when Deathstroke literally had them on their knees, but Savant managed to exploit the hard work of the Birds of Prey to pull out a slightly dubious last minute win!

This is essentially one of the follow-up battles to Identity Crisis #3, which drastically increased the stock of Deathstroke, and set up about a half a dozen legitimate rematches with various heroes.

Green Arrow in particular came out of Identity Crisis poised to become one of Deathstroke's new arch-rivals (or vice versa). This consequently made their rematch in Green Arrow #62 all about GA taking the master mercenary down. It established the pair as equals by flipping the script on Deathstroke's tactical foresight, showing Green Arrow could match him in planning and execution.

Not so in Birds of Prey #90, which delivers Deathstroke to Black Canary in overlap with events already unfolding in the series, and DCU at large. Primary is Calculator's obsession with besting Oracle, while the expanding influence of The Society also plays out, as it was in various other titles.

Both issues do a good job of juggling the lead protagonist's credibility against the newfound status of Deathstroke, but Birds of Prey dares to allow its hero to all but fail in service of the villain. Black Canary took him to the very edge, but with a broken arm and her allies in peril, she was forced to tap out.

For the purposes of our record: Savant will go down as victor, but he functions more like an exit strategy for the story. His eleventh hour gun spray credibly takes Deathstroke off the board without undermining his win. It was a fluke, but at least nobody got hurt (or killed).

It probably would've been more satisfying to just see Black Canary pull off the win, and really get justice for Phantom Lady's death in Infinite Crisis #1, but there's something to be said for the tenacity of the hero who comes up short, and keeps trying. They had a much toothier fight a year later in the Green Arrow & Black Canary Wedding Special, but that's a battle for another day.

Late last month we saw Black Canary and Huntress fighting together in Underworld Unleashed #3, but this is the first time looking specifically at the Birds of Prey series. A pretty ingenious way of getting the most out of a group of Gotham adjacent characters like Black Canary, Huntress, and Oracle.

A callous summary might have called it DC's answer to Charlie's Angels, but that doesn't capture the texture of the series, helped in part by the storied history behind leads Black Canary and Oracle, and the growth of the series. It isn't really 'the chick book' either, although it might be a fashionable compliment to say that it is. There's a fairly natural congregation of female acquaintances that makes good use of the platform, incorporating the likes of Lady Blackhawk, and building logical relationships between various heroes. Good stuff.

The world is now discovering a version thanks to the theatrical release of Birds of Prey featuring Harley Quinn. If you'd like to discover the comics, you can check out today's featured fight in Birds of Prey Vol. 5: Perfect Pitch. Use the Amazon link provided and you'll help support the site at no extra cost!

You can find more from the characters featured by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights by publisher, series, and issue number.

You can also get daily links to fights by following Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook. If you like what Secret Wars on Infinite Earths is about and want to see it prosper you can now support the project via Patreon.

Winner: Savant (w/ Black Canary, Huntress, Creote & Lady Blackhawk)
#332 (new) Savant
#38 (--) Black Canary [+1 assist]
#180 (+151) Huntress [+1 assist]
#574 (new) Creote [+1 assist]
#575 (new) Lady Blackhawk [+1 assist]
#78 (-7) Deathstroke

GOTHAM HEROES versus BLOCKBUSTER, METALLO & GORILLA GRODD

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

The Story So Far...
Hell has a new ruler and his name is Neron. This powerful devil comes baring a simple offer to those who will take it: great power in exchange for their immortal soul!

The demon's temptation lures many whose heart is darkened by desire. Roland Desmond receives the power of Blockbuster with the retention of a brilliant criminal mind; John Corben accepts the ability to summon a new Metallo body from nearby metals so he'll never be crippled again; and Gorilla Grodd enhances his powerful mind with the knowledge to take control of Gorilla City.

While the most powerful members of the Justice League enter the underworld on a mission to stop Neron -- his army of villains spread chaos and terror across a troubled Earth. The remaining heroes of Gotham City must scramble to stop the enhanced villains as they attempt to hijack nuclear weapons!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Metallo 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Gorilla Grodd 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Metallo 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Robin 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Metallo 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Batman 29 (Metahuman)

The Gotham City heroes are: Batman, Robin, Black Canary, and Huntress.

A formidable foursome for the streets of Gotham, but today they face a trio of freshly supercharged super-villains who sold their souls to the demon Neron in exchange for greatly enhanced super-powers!

Blockbuster is Roland Desmond: criminal mastermind and brother of Mark Desmond. Like his brother, Roland possesses greatly enhanced super-human strength, but thanks to his pact with Neron, he no longer suffers the reduction in intelligence associated with the Blockbuster formula!

Metallo is John Corben: mortally injured criminal turned into a cyborg powered by kryptonite. Along with super-human strength and durability, his cyborg body could fire radiation beams from his kryptonite heart. Neron's offer granted Metallo the added ability to adapt and construct a body from any metallic objects in his vicinity -- meaning he could never be stopped!

Gorilla Grodd is an ape of Gorilla City who possesses incredible strength, intellect, and vast telepathic abilities. His deal with Neron restored lost psionic powers and granted him knowledge of the whereabouts of an ancient talisman that would allow him to challenge King Solovar for rule over Gorilla City.

All three villains possess strength levels that put them in a weight class above their mortal opponents. They usually contend with the likes of Superman and The Flash, but their enhanced durability also means the Gotham City heroes can utilize some of the most powerful weapons in their arsenal!

Batman used high explosives to defeat the robotic menace of Amazo in Batman #637, and slow a possessed WayneTech Rescue OGRE in Batman Confidential #2. We saw Metallo inadvertently destroy one of his post-Neron bodies in Steel #21 when he absorbed plastic explosive into his body.

Gorilla Grodd used The Heart of Darkness talisman to bring Supergirl into his ape-tribe in Supergirl #3, and telepathically turned the entire Ultramarine Corps against the Justice League in JLA: Classified #3. The latter issue also showed that Batman was able to overcome Grodd with guile and bat-weaponry!

With their combined strengths and intellect, the bad guys should have the advantage here, but all three have shown a propensity for losing in the end.

All four Gotham heroes have acrobatic abilities that should keep them out of harms way. Black Canary is arguably the ace in the hole, with her sonic canary cry shown to be powerful enough to vex the Marvel Family [Crisis on Infinite Earths #6], and Shadow Thief & Giganta [Justice League of America #13]!

The Tape: Gotham City Heroes Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
A Gotham City bridge plays host to nuclear warheads while city-wide gridlock interrupts the government convoy. Their position was expertly predicated and planned by Major Disaster, whose associates are on site to topple the truck!

Blockbuster, Gorilla Grodd, and Metallo appear moments from success when Batman and Robin descend upon the bridge to spoil their plans!

Robin drops onto Blockbuster with a boot to the back of the head, sending him hurtling towards the waiting feet of a grounded dark knight. Batman lets momentum and gravity do the work, launching Blockbuster off the bridge!

While that's happening, Black Canary joins the battle with a swift flying kick to the face of Gorilla Grodd! Its a short-lived advantage, lost as Grodd unleashes a violent telepathic assault that sends her recoiling with a cry of agony!

Huntress swings across the bridge, surprising one of the convoy drivers by snatching his belt of grenades. She glides above the battle and pulls the pin, sending half a dozen explosives plummeting towards the villains!

Metallo spies the heroine swinging overhead, but fails to take her attack seriously enough to avert disaster. The grenades hit their target, blasting Metallo and Grodd -- and catching Black Canary in the shockwave!

Robin has Black Canary's wellbeing covered, calling for her to go limp so he can catch and break her fall. No such luck for the bad guys, who were blown clean off the bridge and disappeared into the waters below!

The Hammer...
It was a risky play on a populated bridge, but Huntress' grenade gambit won the day for the heroes in the end. It was even good enough to get a rare compliment out of Batman!

The battle is an otherwise easily overlooked, quick three-page episode that shows some of what's happening on Earth while the Justice League are descending into the depths of Hell.

Underworld Unleashed #3 more famously contains a battle between the corrupted JLA and Captain Marvel, as well as the ultimate confrontation with the arch-villain Neron. Nice battles from a mid-nineties DC event, but sometimes it's the small, forgotten moments from these big crossover events that can be the most fun to revisit!

Underworld Unleashed was an event with a grand purpose. Neron was essentially the demonic personification of the publisher's intent to revamp and refurbish some of their pantheon for the extreme nineties. Branded crossover issues turned a spotlight on jazzed up foes who'd sold their soul for new and improved powers, setting them loose on unsuspecting opponents.

By keeping the core event title to a tight three issues, and letting concise tie-ins exploit revamped villains in sometimes unexpected match-ups, Underworld Unleashed had some of the charm that made Acts of Vengeance a good time.

Gorilla Grodd didn't change too much, but the featured trio are a nice sampling for what it was all about. Metallo and Blockbuster were a couple of the updates I remember enjoying at the time. Both found their way into unlikely interactions with Steel, who was a character I was pretty enthusiastic about. We've covered Metallo's appearance in Steel #21, and I'd like to get to Blockbuster as well.

This is the first time the Roland Desmond incarnation of Blockbuster has found his way onto Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. Thanks to Neron, he fulfills the question of what it would be like for Blockbuster to retain strength and intellect.

Mark Desmond served a purpose as a super-strong villain who could run into Batman for cheap thrills. He was a serviceable stand-in for Marvel's Hulk, but it was fair to say the character was running its course. Using his brother to change things up gave DC a surprisingly fun twist, unleashing a powerful mastermind who'll be best remembered as the Kingpin to Nightwing's beleaguered vigilante.

Today's fight also marks the ranking debut of Huntress, who herself is a twist on an old idea. Helena Wayne made sense as the daughter of Batman & Catwoman in a pre-Crisis Earth-Two that showed the second generation coming into their own, but once DC rebooted there was cause to retool.

Helena Bertinelli is undoubtedly my preferred Huntress. Daughter of Gotham City mobster Franco Bertinelli, she witnessed her family's murder by hitman as a child, and vowed to dedicate herself to the fight against organized crime as an adult. She's a semi-inversion on the Bruce Wayne story with her own quirks.

Huntress would become a frequent collaborator with Black Canary as part of the Birds of Prey, who you'll probably know are headed to theatres on February 7th.

With any luck we'll be talking more about Huntress and the Birds of Prey in upcoming featured fights. For now, we record a debut win for the purple bird.

If you'd like to find more from the characters featured today you can follow links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights ordered by publisher, series, and issue number!

You can also subscribe on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to superhero smackdown inspired by the topics of the day. If you like Secret Wars on Infinite Earths and want to see it prosper you can now support the project via Patreon.

Winners: Huntress, Batman & Robin (w/ Black Canary)
#331 (new) Huntress
#1 (--) Batman
#23 (+10) Robin (Tim Drake)
#38 (--) Black Canary [+1 assist]
#400 (-10) Gorilla Grodd
#896 (new) Blockbuster (Roland Desmond)
#936 (-18) Metallo