CAPTAIN MARVEL & SQUADRON OF JUSTICE versus SEVEN DEADLY ENEMIES OF MAN

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (DC)
Where: Power of Shazam #11 When: January 1996
Why: Jerry Ordway How: Pete Krause

The Story So Far...
The Wizard Shazam has been taken captive and held in the depths of the Netherworld by his evil demon daughter Lady Blaze. Only a powerful magic can restore him to The Rock of Eternity -- but Blaze has other plans!

Her agent, Black Adam, failed to prevent the resurrection spell that summons Ibis the Invincible and his amazing Ibis-stick to the modern age, but her allies of darkness continue to plague Fawcett City, and threaten to consume the heroic spirit of Captain Marvel!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are on the loose! It's up to Mary Marvel and Ibis to put a stop to their terror and return them to the statues Shazam created to hold them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Captain Marvel 6 (Generator)
Agility: Bulletman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Captain Marvel 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Ibis 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Captain Marvel 30 (Super)

It's good to have friends. People you can trust to pull you into line when the shadow of pride, or hatred, obscures your view. Captain Marvel can usually rely on the Marvel Family to have his back, but he's also got some other great friends in reserve, ready to lend a hand when the going gets tough!

The Squadron of Justice are: Ibis, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, Uncle Dudley, Tawky Tawny, and Bulletman.

Though not officially acting as The Squadron, these seven heroes are summoned for the expressed purpose of going man to man against adversaries that have plagued mankind throughout its history!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are: Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness, and Injustice.

More forthright incarnations include Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust, but today we feature the above list. By any name or configuration, The Seven Sins are some of the most ancient evils to vex humanity -- bad news for our heroes!

Ibis the Invincible is the one calling in reinforcements, which speaks volumes about the insidious threat! We saw his magic Ibis-Stick effortlessly remove Black Adam from play earlier in Power of Shazam #11, but this time his magic seems unable to simply sweep the problem aside.

To join Mary Marvel and he in the fight he'll imbue Uncle Dudley with the powers of Shazam, Tawky Tawny with unlimited life, summon Captain Marvel Jr from hospital, and even pluck Bulletman from the distant past! One opponent for even enemy -- assuming the spirits don't turn them against one another!

We saw Psycho-Pirate's influence befuddled the Marvel Family during the chaos of Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, and the evil New Gods corrupt Mary Marvel against Wonder Woman and Supergirl during Final Crisis, but it was only a month before today's battle that Underworld Unleashed #3 showed us that Captain Marvel's spirit is good & true -- resilient against the corrupting darkness of Hell itself!

Cap defeated the corrupt Justice League and an Eclipsed Superman before that, and who could forget the Marvel Family's fan-favourite triumph over the Monster Society of Evil from Convergence Shazam? With their friends beside them, how could they possibly lose? Let's find out how it went!

The Tape: Squadron of Justice Ranking: Captain Marvel Jr (#50)

What Went Down...

Dudley, Mary Marvel, and Ibis race from the subway underground to the streets above where they find a stampeding mob.

The frightened masses flee from the darkened figure of Captain Marvel who shouts "SHAZAM! SHAZAM!" in vain! A vile voice from within taunts Captain Marvel with the absence of the wizard's lightning, but the hero refuses to yield!

Ibis attempts to return the dark spirits to their place in The Rock of Eternity, while Mary Marvel rushes to support her brother. The Ibis-stick's magic somehow fails and Mary is met with a backward swing from her brother's possessed fist!

Mary endures to warn that the wizard Shazam is unable to answer their cries.

With that, Captain Marvel abandons his gambit and focuses on resisting -- aided by Ibis the Invincible, who uses his Ibis-stick to purge the corrupting spirits from Marvel's body and give them physical form!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man float through the air -- revealed!

Captain Marvel posits their solid presence may now allow for physical ushering back to The Rock of Eternity. A plan Ibis agrees could work -- if they even the odds a little!

With a simple command the Ibis-stick inducts Uncle Dudley, and the stuffed Tawky Tawny toy he's carrying, into the burgeoning Marvel Family!

A misunderstood remark from Mary soon adds Freddy Freeman to the team -- teleported instantly from the hospital in a body cast. A predicament soon remedied when Freddy says the name "Captain Marvel" and bursts free from the cast as an uninjured Captain Marvel Jr!

Bulletman makes seven as Ibis reaches into the past to bring forth an old ally for a new fight. It's not a minute too soon as terrified citizens cry for help from the stalking Enemies of Man!

The heroes fly valiantly into battle! Captain Marvel puts Uncle Dudley's nerves at ease with some calm assurance, whilst targeting the personification of Hatred with a snappy uppercut from his good arm!

Mary beats back Envy, with everyone doing their part to repel the wicked creatures! Bulletman with a flying fist! Tawky Tawny a pouncing paw! Captain Marvel Jr riding the bucking back of evil! Even Uncle Dudley has a stiff left for the vile spirits that remind him so much of bugs infesting Miss Wormwood's school!

Mary Marvel locks one of the stunned wraiths around the throat and drags it through the air towards a magical doorway!

The other heroes follow her advice, finding the stairwell within that leads to a hidden interdimensional cave. They brave the forces of eternity within to emerge in a hall of shattered statues.

Mary notices the absence of their ace player, but Ibis the Invincible has already made his way to the Rock of Eternity through other means. He steps forward with the squirming dark figure of Sloth in the grip of his left hand.

In his right, Ibis wields the awesome Ibis-stick, with magic enough to return the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man to the bondage of the seven corresponding statues created by the wizard Shazam himself!

The dark shadows are pulled back into figures that once held them -- trapped again as they previously were by the missing wizard and his old allies!

The Hammer...
The powerful magic of Ibis the Invincible saves the day, resealing the Seven Deadly spirits back in their statue prisons.

Perhaps he could've done it all on his own, but it's nice that he didn't have to -- sharing the victory in even measure with Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and their four courageous comrades!

You might remember I mythologized this issue, and Ibis' involvement, a few years back, following up with a closer look at his rousing return against Black Adam.

I thusly set out to revisit the action-packed second half in conjunction with the impending theatrical release of Shazam: Fury of the Gods, but it seems this much-loved comic was again destined to find me in a time of need, as I struggle with the somewhat sudden loss of a loved one, now exactly two weeks ago.

The Power of Shazam! #11 hits with the right balance of action, adventure, and nostalgia, filtered through the then-new lens of a series that would define Captain Marvel and his crew for the nineteen-nineties, even as it occupied its own insular world -- a retro reality where magic encases Fawcett City in anachronisms.

This battle sees the return of a lot of "old fashioned" ideas that are received with enthusiasm. Tawky Tawny is restored to the side of angels after serving as a pawn for Lady Blaze, and being ripped in half by Black Adam when he was turned back into a helpless stuffed toy. Even better: Bulletman is plucked from the past!

I've gotta admit: If Ibis had me jazzed for the earlier parts of this issue, it was Bulletman that I was most excited to see in this back half. He doesn't particularly stand out when the group battles the Seven Deadly Enemies, but the silver-helmeted hero is nevertheless a thrillingly unique visual throughout. I quite enjoy it when he light heartedly hastens Ibis to the conclusion: "Uh-- Can we cut the chatter... I'm an old man, and I can't do this all day!"

It's interesting that the Seven Deadly Enemies go very much in a different direction. These incarnations take forms reminiscent of HR Giger's Xenomorph from the Alien film series. It feels like a decidedly modern intrusion upon the old fashioned heroes and their retro-tinged world -- even as the fanged shadow forms are seen terrorizing decidedly nineties Fawcett City citizenry.

You could mistake this for the present intruding upon the past, but I don't see the nostalgia of Power of Shazam as regressive. I see it as still moving forward, but without a broad discarding of things. Retaining a character like Bulletman to give the present something it doesn't otherwise have, but still moving it forward in a modern context. Even if that context is in part an interesting culture clash.

The fight begins when Mary and Ibis convene with a semi-possessed Captain Marvel. His struggle, and attempts to call upon the wizard's lightning, directly reference his trip to Hell in Underworld Unleashed, which proposed the thesis that the good-natured Captain would be incorruptible -- or something close to it.

Released a month later: The Power of Shazam #11 honors this idea, even as it flirts with undermining it. Though the Seven Deadly Enemies briefly inhabit his body, they never quite gain control, and ultimately fall to a combination of Captain Marvel's will to resist, and the magic of the Ibis-stick.

Freddy Freeman's transformation into Captain Marvel Jr may momentarily seem like a lapse in attention as well, but his lightning presumably comes directly from Captain Marvel, and with a little help from the Ibis-stick. Remembering that his magic words are "Captain Marvel", unlike Billy & Mary's "SHAZAM".

The whole adventure is a happy time of good triumphing over evil. I figure we could all use a few more happy times like this. I know I sure could.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 characters! Find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number -- or by following links throughout each entry to discover more from your favourite topics or tangents.

Keep the good times coming by showing your support for the site on Patreon. As a thank you for becoming a patron you'll find additional updates and subscription tiers to sponsor featured content, including Top 10 Rank & File lists, and more.

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

Winners: The Squadron of Justice
#39 (+11) Captain Marvel Jr
#40 (+14) Captain Marvel
#77 (+63) Mary Marvel
#120 (+200) Ibis the Invincible
#121 (+213) Tawky Tawny
#138 (+252) Uncle Dudley
#357 (new) Bulletman
#991 (new) Pride
#992 (new) Envy
#993 (new) Greed
#994 (new) Hatred
#995 (new) Selfishness
#996 (new) Laziness
#997 (new) Injustice

ULTRAMAN versus DOCTOR FATE, ROBOTMAN & SUPERMAN

"Master of Worlds and Time!" (DC)
Where: All-Star Squadron #15 When: November 1982 Why: Roy Thomas w/ Gerry Conway How: Adrian Gonzales & Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
The year 1942 is a mere page in history for the villain known as Per Degaton. From 1947 he moves effortlessly through time to rewrite events in favour of his own designs for global domination.

Returning to the Second World War with nuclear missiles acquired from 1962 Russia -- and members of the once banished Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 -- Degaton launches a fresh assault that draws the attention of the All-Star Squadron and their future counterparts in the Justice Society & Justice League!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Robotman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach-Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Superman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Ultraman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Doctor Fate 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Ultraman 34 (Super)

It's a crisis of multiple Earths! From the morally inverted world of Earth-3 comes Ultraman: Sinister Kryptonian leader of The Crime Syndicate of America -- now working for Per Degaton in exchange for freedom from imprisonment in limbo!

Ultraman shares much the same story and invulnerability as Superman, with the vital difference that he gains his powers from the radiation emitted by fragments of his home planet -- the very Kryptonite that weakens Superman!

Ultraman's body can store Kryptonite radiation to retain his powers long after exposure, with potential for residual side effects of sapping Superman, but fortunately for him he's joined by Robotman of Earth-One's All-Star Squadron, and his contemporary from Earth-Two's Justice Society, Doctor Fate!

Robotman is Robert Crane: a brilliant scientist who helped design a functioning robotic body capable of sustaining a human brain. Crane was mortally wounded during an attempt to steal the robot, transplanted by his partner to become a metal powerhouse with the All-Star Squadron once World War Two broke out!

Doctor Fate isn't afraid to fight in the trenches either, as we saw when he clashed with Hawkman, but the true scope of his power goes well beyond trading punches, wielding the might of order against occult threats like The Demon's Three, and the Lovecraftian horror of Morgauth!

Ultraman possesses considerable willpower but has no natural defenses against reality-defying mysticism and magic. His considerable will may resist, but Fate's magic could affect him as easily as Clea's belt controlled Superman and that may be their best bet if Superman can't go toe-to-toe with the powerhouse.

The Tape: Doctor Fate, Robotman & Superman Ranking: Superman (#4)

What Went Down...

Superman carries Robotman under his arm as they follow Doctor Fate into the outer atmosphere towards their target: Degaton's anachronistic orbital satellite!

They get to work tearing the technology apart, but as they search for a means to trace their opponent, Robotman stumbles upon a lead box and pulls it open before Superman can object -- bathing the Man of Steel in the content's green glow!

Superman begins to drift helplessly, but before Robotman can hurl the Kryptonite rock into the airless void -- Ultraman swoops in to snatch it from his hands!

"You can't hurt me with fancy words, Fate -- and I'm nobody's lackey! As for Kryptonite -- why, that's like mother's milk to me, see?"

Doctor Fate springs into action, summoning the powers of life and order to blast Ultraman with magical force!

The esoteric assault has no effect on the Crime Syndicate's superman, who laughs off the notion of order and bursts toward Fate to deliver a vicious left hook!

Doctor Fate's "eldritch aura" protects him from the full crushing force of the punch -- but he still drops lifelessly to his back on the satellite.

Thus, Ultraman turns his attentions to the last hero standing.

Robotman meets his opponent gladly, rushing in for a clean shot -- but his charging punch falls short of a dodging target.

Ultraman steps back to avoid the hit and grabs hold of Robotman's extended arm to wrench it out of its socket!

Literally disarmed but not out of the fight, Robotman takes the surprising measure of leaping from the satellite!

Ultraman is disappointed to have his prey slip away, but sees no reason to bother himself with finishing what the gravitational pull of Earth will do for him.

He fails to consider that the one-armed Robotman is drifting in the direction of Superman -- and can still manipulate the wires protruding from his arm socket to take hold of the Kryptonite rock that keeps The Man of Steel unconscious!

While the metallic all-star works to assist his ally; Ultraman gets to work attempting to fix Per Degaton's satellite -- only to be interrupted again by the magic of Doctor Fate!

The powers of order clutch metal and wires, preventing Ultraman from making the necessary repairs to resume successful spying on the heroic assembly of the All-Star Squadron, Justice Society, and Justice League back on Earth.

A tap on the shoulder alerts Ultraman to the awakening of another hero, too!

Superman unleashes a haymaker that sends Ultraman hurtling across the satellite!

Fully revived thanks to Robotman's heroics -- he glides across the orbital battlefield to sink his right fist into Ultraman's mid-section!

With Ultraman falling to his knees, Superman grabs the tuft of the villain's cape to hold him up for a right hand that launches him into space!

The Hammer...

You may have noticed I used a Frank Quitely image for our Ultraman mugshot in The Tape section. You almost certainly know it. It adorned the stark white cover of JLA Earth-2: a 2000 collaboration with Grant Morrison that reintroduced and defined The Crime Syndicate for a new generation. An image many will instantly recall, but objectively lacks the hallmarks of instantly identifying a character, once cropped.

If I could think of, or find, a suitable rendering by Doug Mahnke, it would've been my preferred option. His work on Final Crisis: Superman Beyond has imprinted itself in my mind as the definitive Ultraman. He simultaneously brings Quitely's design -- with removed wide collar, and added yellow background to the upward point of a bordered U symbol -- closer to modern Superman, while also infusing it with an instantly identifiable demeanor & baring all Ultraman's own.

Mahnke's Ultraman could never be mistaken for a displeased Superman.

His Ultraman oozes hostility. He's all teeth, eyes, brow, and bulging muscle. Even united with fellow supermen against a common threat at the edge of reality that could destroy them all -- he seethes with derangement & unfocused aggression. He is Superman unchained, untethered, and always on the verge of evil.

When Morrison and Quitely revived Ultraman for the modern age, the internet was propagating a notion that Superman was 'too good'. A boy scout who never loses or breaks bad, and is therefore 'unrelatable'. Posed as a bad thing -- apparently.

Twenty years on, that always dubious meme has evolved into a preoccupation with Superman as antagonist. A tearing down of the heroic aspirational ideal in favour of base thrills, mortality, and selfish audience validation.

The Boys' Homelander examines this phenomenon by holding a mirror to the dark impulses that fuel some of the contempt for Superman. It's a critique of the audience as much as DC's American ubermensch, and the worlds they occupy.

More contemptible is DC's own 'bad guy' Superman: The star of the Injustice video game and tie-in franchise, whose only push to become a murderous tyrant was the death of Lois Lane and their unborn child, at the hands of a decidedly unmotivated Joker. A sophomoric and simplistic conceit to prepare the game's premise, hamfistedly initiated without evident reference or subtext. A road leading nowhere. An erosion of the company's own world-famous mascot in a multimedia franchise intended to reach gamers, and a non-traditional audience.

DC Comics already has its fair share of evil Supermen. Characters ordained as true villains, ripe with potential to whole-heartedly explore and commit to the concept of an amoral Superman in direct opposition to the genuine article.

Analogous villains like General Zod and Bizarro not only present the idea of Superman's powers gone bad, but also in turn contribute to the original characters' world, and larger fabric of the DC Universe, developing new nuances and ideas beyond mere alternate realities.

Ultraman is closer in step with the Injustice concept, with just a little bit more going on to better differentiate -- and commit -- to its basic premise. This outright commitment to flip the moral polarity of characters may seem simplistic, but lacks the metallic after-taste of every pubescent boy's notebook fantasy of what would happen if his heroes broke bad and fought each other.

Let's not forget where we are. I'm certainly not opposed to the simple thrill of a superhero brawl, but as I mentioned in the last entry, I've grown more than tired with the ugly, cheesy cliche of stripping heroes like Superman of their heroic core. Intelligent people see through the flimsy facade, and can almost certainly accept and understand that which is presented as true to their fiction. There are heroes and there are villains. Good will triumph over evil. Get on with it!

I also found myself reevaluating some of my feelings about the DC multiverse, but that's something we can get into next time. For now: it's been nice to take in a simple bout with some interesting characters like Doctor Fate and Robotman!

If you'd like to find more battles with some of DC's pantheon of other heroes & villains you can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive! That's where you'll find a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranking well over 1,000 characters! If you like what we're all about and want to see more topics tackled you can help make that happen by becoming a Patreon supporter!

Patrons help keep projects like this up and running, and as a gesture of gratitude you'll unlock additional updates, options to sponsor article content including featured fights and Top 10 lists based on the Fight Club Rankings. Keep reading to the bottom of this page to check out today's major rankings update!

You can also 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!

Winner: Superman (w/ Doctor Fate & Robotman)
#3 (+1) Superman
#160 (--) Doctor Fate [+1 assist]
#626 (new) Robotman (Robert Crane) [+1 assist]
#974 (new) Ultraman

AVENGERS & X-MEN versus RONAN

Whatever The Cost! (Marvel)
Where: Maximum Security #3 When: January 2001
Why: Kurt Busiek How: Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
A sudden global surge in extraterrestrial conflict reveals a master plan by the Intergalactic Council of empires to declare Earth a prison planet!

Encounters with the Kree, Skrull, Shi'ar, and more have earned humans a meddlesome reputation. To further delay them from reaching beyond the stars, the untamable scum of the universe are now interned to keep Earth busy. Energy lattice surrounds the solar system in an effort to contain humanity and the prisoners from further interference.

With the Kree seemingly conquered by the Shi'ar Empire, Ronan The Accuser was appointed overseer of the new prison planet, but in truth he has conspired to launch a new Kree uprising. With the mutated Ruul army at his command, and an infestation of the Earth by Ego feeding him unlimited power, Ronan stands poised to lead the Supreme Intelligence to ultimate victory!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Ronan 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Goliath 6 (Genius)
Speed: Nova 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-Man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Ronan 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Ronan The Accuser 34 (Super)

Earth's heroes are: Thor, Warbird, Sub-Mariner, Wonder Man, She-Hulk, Goliath, Hercules, Thing, Beta Ray Bill, Rogue, Colossus, Sunfire, with USAgent, Quasar, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Nova, Namorita, Speedball, Triathlon, and Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Silver Surfer.

Several other heroes can be seen teleporting into action with Quasar, but for the sake of clarity, we're only focusing on those identifiably involved in the battle. This includes support troops led by USAgent fighting on the ground.

Ronan The Accuser has been dramatically augmented by Ego, who has begun to infest the Earth. The flow of power Ego supplies adds to Ronan's already impressive Kree might, and results in a massive increase in his physical size.

Working on the Ego problem are Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and Bruce Banner. They've built a machine to repel the infestation, and drain Ronan's power by funneling it into a captive host. Silver Surfer has volunteered for the potentially lethal absorption, but it means he's taken out of the battle.

Silver Surfer's absence from the fight will be felt. We saw him beat Ronan back in Silver Surfer #13, but there are still plenty of other heavy hitters on the field who have credentials beating some prominent cosmic opponents!

Thor can match his hammer against Ronan's Universal Weapon, having used it to best Super-Skrull in Thor #465. Warbird (Carol Danvers) gained her powers from the Kree and has a late win over Thanos [FCBD Civil War II #1]. She-Hulk performed the rare feat of defeating Champion of the Universe in She-Hulk #8. Sub-Mariner was one of the first heroes to valiantly face Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet #4, joining She-Hulk in a noteworthy grim stand. Even Colossus has memorable cosmic face-offs, including a win over Ord in Astonishing X-Men #5!

Thing has made a career of taking on the universe's deadliest fighters. His renown across galaxies was built on battles against Ronan himself, The Champion, and villains like Ego, The Living Planet [Fantastic Four #235], Gladiator [Fantastic Four #249], Paibok The Power Skrull [Fantastic Four #358], and even his own Magus created Doppelganger [Fantastic Four #367]!

The heroes can also count on the aide of Beta Ray Bill, who was interned on Earth as part of the intergalactic council's designation as a prison planet. Beta Ray Bill famously defeated Thor in Thor #337, proving worthy to wield Mjolnir before Odin granted him his own hammer: Stormbreaker. He once fought Silver Surfer to a standstill in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2, and fought valiantly by his side against the unstoppable Tyrant in Silver Surfer #82!

This all spells one phenomenal fighting force, but will it be enough to mitigate the incredible power boost received by Ronan The Accuser? They're literally fighting a man with the power of an entire planet -- and a Kree army!

The Tape: Earth's Allied Heroes Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...
A sudden flash of light signals the arrival of Ronan The Accuser. He hovers menacingly in the air, a towering titan gazing down at the aggravating heroes who have begun to threaten his power source.

With a gesture of his Universal Weapon, he summons an army of Kree imperial soldiers, and warns Earth's heroic brains trust that they will be destroyed if they reactivate their machine. Then -- another flash of light: the cavalry!

Quasar teleports a troop of heroes over thirty-strong and when Ronan  threatens to kill them all -- USAgent steps forward to order the heroes against him. They swarm the giant-sized Accuser!

Thor, Wonder Man, and Warbird come in high with blows to the head and face, while Sub-Mariner contends with the giant's right arm, and Beta Ray Bill and Goliath lock up the left! Working the body is Hercules and Colossus, while She-Hulk and Thing come in hot from below as the giant threatens to lose footing!

Around Ronan's feet, Kree soldiers scurry as they contend with the heroes' support forces. USAgent bats at a small group, while Spider-Man, Wolverine, Nova, Triathlon, Namorita, Speedball, and Captain America do the same!

Overhead: Ronan delivers his first decisive blow as he targets Thor with his own hammer-like weapon and unleashes the planetary force of Ego!

With a wild backhanded chop, The Accuser dispatches with Beta Ray Bill, Hercules, and Sub-Mariner! He then turns his attentions to the ionic Wonder Man and brings his massive Universal Weapon slamming down upon him!

USAgent bats a Kree soldier with his photonic shield and contemplates the fragility of humanity's hopes against the invaders, while across the battlefield Mister Fantastic rallies the Thing and Human Torch to defend their ace.

Bruce Banner and Iron Man finish loading the Silver Surfer into their device and in an agonizing instant Ego's incredible power begins flooding into his body! His back arches, while on the horizon the infested landscape that is Ego begins to contort violently -- and Ronan The Accuser begins to shrink!

Ronan is caught completely off guard as his unfathomable power weakens ever so slightly and his mass begins to reduce. The sudden change signals the opportunity for the heroes to strike!

Rogue calls out his sudden weakening, with Thor, Warbird, Wonder Man, Sub-Mariner, Beta Ray Bill and Colossus rushing in to capitalize!

The Silver Surfer betrays his struggle as he begins to moan and his chrome skin burns ever brighter with blistering energy. Iron Man can see the strain is too great, but before any of the genius heroes can act -- Silver Surfer is torn free!

His smoldering and cracked body falls limply to the ground even as he attempts to volunteer for another try. The words catch in his throat as he passes out. There will be no reprieve for The Surfer.

From the air above, Quasar spots the brains trust of Banner, Richards, and Iron Man gathering over the exhausted cosmic rider. He scans the horizon, taking in the vista of his home planet Earth, then leaves Nova battling the Kree warriors.

It seems Silver Surfer's power cosmic could not contain the energies absorbed from Ego, but Quasar assures Reed Richards that his quantum power is more adaptive. Knowing the risks, he volunteers to be strapped into the machine and the draining process begins anew!

Sensing the sudden pull of his energy once more -- Ronan lashes out wildly by swatting Thor, Rogue, and Sunfire out of the air! The Kree Accuser can tell that the drain is more smooth than before, hastening his desire to find the cause.

Still gigantic; Ronan stomps across a smoking battlefield littered with the beaten bodies of Thor, Hercules, and more. He sets his sights on the machine attacking Ego's infestation of Earth, and prepares to battle Earth's last line of defense!

The Hammer...

Ronan does a very convincing job of cleaning house before setting his sights on the next challenge. The battle is won, but the war is certainly not over!

War is very much the tone here. I think the more superhero universes became proliferated with identifiable characters - the greater the desire to see a war-like scenario. Several series tried it. There are obvious echoes of Operation: Galactic Storm and Infinity Gauntlet in this one. I can't help but think of Annihilation as well, which took the hell of cosmic warfare even deeper into the trenches.

1984's Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars may be the most recognized example of conflict between warring Marvel factions, but that was much more about isolating defined sides and smashing them together like (tie-in) toys. Speaking of which: Isn't it about damn time we featured the site's namesake? I digress...

In a continuum of those memorable Marvel events, Maximum Security makes a lot of sense. Through the prism of published releases in 2001, however, it reads almost anachronistic.

The event feels like the last gasp of a movement begun with the soft Heroes Return reset of 1998. There's a colourful, fluffy house style in the artwork, and a confluence of references to Marvel's favoured past, and the character designs of the misguided mid-90s and probing millennium. All would soon go away.

Indeed, the concluding issue of Maximum Security may be cover dated 2001, but it very much belongs to the final throes of 2000, when it actually hit racks.

The release of the first X-Men movie that same year is arguably what changed comics forever. It was a foundation stone for the next two decades of superhero domination in cinema, but it would also influence two of the defining releases of 2001: Ultimate X-Men, and Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely's New X-Men.

Both were incredibly intriguing in their own way, participating in a movement towards more sedate art direction, and denser character work. Everything was being deliberately rethought. Designs got blacker, and bombastic super-heroics were taking a slight step back as written concepts took greater focus.

I was vaguely aware of the Maximum Security crossover unfolding when it came out, but it didn't connect with me. It seems like every ardent comic book fan has a lull in their reading, and for me, it was very much 99-2000. They were generally exciting times, and other interests just started to eclipse a lifetime of reading comics.

In hindsight, Maximum Security was a little old fashioned, but I think if I'd taken the time to look closer, I would've enjoyed it. It was certainly an interesting piece of history to revisit when I picked up back issues many years later.

Three issues doesn't give the core mini-series a lot of room to expand upon a fast moving plot, but there are, of course, many tie-in issues that focus closer on relevant characters and spillover. There may be no better marker of time than Gambit #23: a series I frequently forget even existed.

Ronan The Accuser stands out as a main villain, which feels like a culmination of sorts. Growing up I'd always thought of Ronan as a big deal (and a classic Fantastic Four villain), but under scrutiny it becomes apparent his appearances were steady, but infrequent. He's really more of a Captain Marvel character, and for many years he hung his accuser's hat on the legendary Kree-Skrull War.

At the start of Maximum Security he poses as another banished alien forced to warden the Earth prison. A dirty tactic, but a nice set up for his coming out as a literal big bad. It's fun to see him swatting around some of the heaviest hitters in the Marvel Universe, even if the interactions are a tad impersonal.

I'll look forward to returning to the next phase of the battle in the future, when the other, more surprising featured character comes back to the fore: USAgent!

In the mean time, Blogger restrictions means this entry will only appear tagged for the fighters featured tackling Ronan. For most of the others, we have an assist stat that acknowledges their support role. You can check out the updated character rankings and results at the bottom of this post.

If you like Secret Wars on Infinite Earths and want to see many more entries like this one: you can become a supporter on Patreon! Joining at the lowest tier unlocks additional updates and polling options, and generally makes everything possible. Do it because you like the site and enjoy my grateful survival!

You can also pitch-in and get ahead of the game by checking out the complete collected edition of Maximum Security on Amazon! Any shopping done via the embedded Amazon link will support the site at no extra cost to you!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 950 characters! You can find them all indexed in the Secret Archive by publisher, series, and issue number. Or simply discover more wonders by following links throughout this and other feature articles.

You can also subscribe to Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day. It's another way to discover more superhero smackdown. Be sure to like & share to join the fight!

Winner: Ronan The Accuser
#398 (+286) Ronan The Accuser
#613 (+279) Ego The Living Planet [+1 assist]
#31 (-1) Sub-Mariner
#32 (--) Thor
#35 (--) Silver Surfer
#49 (-2) Warbird (Carol Danvers)
#70 (-12) Rogue
#74 (-3) Wonder Man
#80 (-6) Goliath (Hank Pym)
#145 (-1) She-Hulk
#400 (-56) Beta Ray Bill
#419 (-7) Hercules
#423 (-3) Colossus
#591 (-137) Sunfire
#2 (--) Spider-Man [+1 assist]
#3 (--) Iron Man [+1 assist]
#4 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#6 (--) Hulk (Bruce Banner) [+1 assist]
#10 (--) Mister Fantastic [+1 assist]
#12 (--) Thing [+1 assist]
#115 (+1) Nova (Richard Rider) [+1 assist]
#130 (+2) USAgent [+1 assist]
#428 (--) Speedball [+1 assist]
#614 (+282) Quasar [+1 assist]
#922 (new) Namorita [+1 assist]
#923 (new) Triathlon [+1 assist]

MARY MARVEL & IBIS versus BLACK ADAM

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (DC)
Where: Power of Shazam #11 When: January 1996
Why: Jerry Ordway How: Pete Krause

The Story So Far...
The Wizard Shazam has been taken captive in the depths of the Netherworld by his evil demon daughter Lady Blaze! Only a powerful magic can restore him to the Rock of Eternity -- and the talking tiger doll Tawky Tawny knows where to find it!

Mary Marvel and Uncle Dudley are in a desperate race beyond the wizard's secret subway entrance to find a hidden chamber within his lair. There, they will uncover the Tomb of Ibis -- where a special magic lies in wait to be resurrected by the reciting of a special incantation!

Unfortunately for the heroes, Blaze has ensured another Marvel will be waiting for them in the underground catacombs. An ancient champion whose mighty magic was corrupted in Egyptian times - and now waits to bring their doom!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Black Adam 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Black Adam 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Mary Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Black Adam 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mary Marvel 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Black Adam 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Ibis 7 (Cosmic)


What happens when the powers of Shazam are turned against themselves? We saw sparks fly when Captain Marvel battled his corrupt predecessor in Hawkman #24 -- but what about Cap's kid sister Mary Marvel?

Originally, Mary derived her powers from a separate set of her own patron deities: The grace of Selena, the strength of Hippolyta, the wiles of Artemis, the speed of Zephyrus, the beauty of Aphrodite, and the wisdom of Minerva.

The Power of Shazam series of the nineties recast the transformative powers as derived from a mutual source, shared by Captain Marvel himself. Essentially Mary Marvel is a chip off the old block (of big red cheese), just about as powerful and swift as any other Marvel!

We saw just how mighty Mary Marvel could be when her powers were corrupted by the evil New Gods during Final Crisis. She was powerful enough to ambush and fight Wonder Woman, defeating her with a chemical agent in Final Crisis #3. She had Supergirl on the ropes during Final Crisis #6, at least until the intervention of Captain Marvel Jr, and a weakened Black Adam!

Centuries before Billy Batson was blessed with the power to become Captain Marvel, the champion of Wizard Shazam was an Egyptian named Teth-Adam.

His powers were derived from the Egyptian pantheon: The stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, power of Alon, and the courage of Mehen. Adam eventually allowed his powers to corrupt him and he turned to the side of darkness, becoming the Black Marvel.

Black Adam's conquests in the modern age have been swift and brutal. We've seen him effortlessly destroy: Kobra [JSA #51], Psycho-Pirate [Infinite Crisis #6], The Monster Society [52 #44], and Azraeuz [52 #45]. He defeated Uncle Sam while serving The Society [Infinite Crisis #1], but showed vulnerability when his strength was matched by Superboy-Prime during the same saga.

Ordinarily we'd probably consider Black Adam too powerful for Mary Marvel to defeat alone, but there's a third player in this equation! Today's feature fight takes place on the verge of the tomb of Ibis the Immortal! As possessor of the Ibis Stick, he commands near limitless magic, capable of achieving his merest whim!

If Mary Marvel can break the seal and summon Ibis to her aid, she no doubt stands a chance! Will she be so lucky? Let's see what happened...

History: Black Adam (1-0-0)
The Tape: Black Adam Ranking: Black Adam (#19)

What Went Down...
Mary Marvel bashes through a chamber wall to reveal an ominous sarcophagus marked with the symbol of the ibis bird. In the same chamber, Black Adam waits! The doll form of friend Tawky Tawny torn in twain in his mighty hands!

Lured by a pulsing energy emanating from the Egyptian funeral box, Adam grabs for its protruding ibis wand -- only to be dramatically repelled by its mysterious, awesome power!

Undeterred by Black Adam's wicked insinuations about Tawny's true loyalties, Mary continues on her quest to save the Wizard Shazam. She recites a spell before the sarcophagus: "Sibis eirsa ghitym... rulmseb royu morf..." The ibis wand emits waves of eerie light before the sarcophagus explodes open!

Surrounded by mist, a well dressed man emerges from the opened death box! He is Ibis -- possessor of the infinitely powerful Ibis-Stick! Bemused, he commands stunned Mary Marvel and her Uncle Dudley to explain their actions.

Informed of Shazam's dire predicament, Ibis immediately understands the significance of his magic slumber's end. Before the young Marvel can learn more about her strange new ally -- Black Adam revives!

Mary orders her friends to stay back while she handles the raging Black Marvel. Recovered from his earlier error, Adam now recognizes Ibis and no doubt has dark intentions. Mary blocks his looming fist with her forearm, impressing the villain with her fighting fearlessness!

She throws a mighty right hook, but Black Adam is unfazed by her brawn!

This time it's Ibis who orders Mary Marvel to fall back. Warned of Black Adam's treachery by the Wizard Shazam himself, Ibis knows he's not to be trifled with!

Ibis directs Black Adam to Hades -- his powerful Ibis-Stick able to fulfill his every whim! Beams of light shoot from its crest and strike the mighty villain!

In a haze of smoke and light, Black Adam dematerializes before their very eyes! A trivial feat for the incredible Ibis-Stick and its sighing master! Mary marvels at his banishment as Ibis begins the tale of his secret origins.

The Hammer...
By virtue of the passage of time alone, my tastes are becoming increasingly "retro". I don't really see it that way -- superheroes aren't exactly going out of style in 2017, and I'm a pretty young man -- but in the case of Ibis, there's no getting away from it!

I touched on the character briefly as a Hero of the Week last year, having just had a fun time reading this very issue (and others) during a power blackout. It was a fairly nostalgic experience unto itself, recalling youthful enthusiasm for reading comics by torchlight. These days you'd use a phone.

Power of Shazam doesn't really read like a comic from 1995 or '96. That's probably why, just a few years later, it was already being talked about with a hushed reverence. Just as fictional Fawcett City is placed under a spell that blankets its reality in a deep retro haze, so too does this comic embrace the power of nostalgia, with a few modern twists.

It's kind of hard to put a finger on eactly who this comic was targeted at. Golden Age retro would admittedly linger in comics right through to the 2000s, but it had mostly died out in mainstream pop culture by the mid 90s. I suspect the book was at least in part for readers old enough to miss the classic adventures of Captain Marvel and Family, who were thrust into the grittier predicaments of modern comics during Legends.

The acquisition of The Marvel Family by DC Comics in the seventies seems like it came with mixed fortunes. It finally allowed for bona fide battles between Captain Marvel and his court acknowledged inspiration: Superman. Fantasy fights that scratch an itch we all have, but seem to have ultimately doomed Captain Marvel to eventual obscurity, and a loss of identity.

Nostalgia's become a contorting beast in the 2010s. Mismanaged by exploitative corporate forces who don't quite understand what they're dealing with, or have misguided designs for updating an old brand with detached content. Hollywood have been at it for so long, some of the audience now demands this once reviled "reboot" approach to licensing. The infantalization of the audience, becoming its own negative force in a confused, stagnating market.

Most of the examples I'm alluding to come from the eighties and nineties, only occasionally impacted with the retro movements of those times, which infused the twenties through to the fifties with a neon chic. Much of the audience excited by Reagan era heroes probably won't dwell on, or even recognize, earlier cultural touchstones. Greasers and burger joints? 'OMG, so eighties'.

As much as I've learned to have deep misgivings about nostalgia and its potentially crippling effects -- I love a comic like Power of Shazam!

I'm a total sucker for the muted fantasy of a magicman in a suit and turban. An unabashed holdover from WWII era comics, which themselves were carrying over pulp ideas popular decades earlier!

I would argue American comics are always at their best when they're aware of, and in touch with, their history. I'm utterly repulsed by the modern predicament of constantly reliving (and retelling) the same stories, but I love the fantastic premise of a serialized character essentially unscathed by time.

In the case of Captain Marvel, I think a sustained squinty-eyed innocence must be viewed as the definitive characterization. He's a character who can be easily compared to Superman, and isn't burdened by the iconic status that demands The Man of Steel change with time.

As we've seen in Zack Snyder's movies, New 52 comics, and even popular spin-off properties like the Injustice video games -- there's tremendous pressure on Superman to be a bastard. Popular acceptance seems to demand an emotionally volatile, potentially dangerous mirror of our modern selves. A Superman prone to human weaknesses mistakenly ascribed as more "relatable". When did being "super" ever have anything to do with living down to us?

Even if Superman can still be a symbol for hope, goodness, and all that we should aspire to, he will always be a modern man. As long as he is modern - Captain Marvel doesn't have to be.

Captain Marvel can still squint and smile and be everything he always was -- not just as a hold over from the past, but as a point of difference. Characterization of a nice man in a nasty world, advancing without breaking.

Power of Shazam doesn't seem like a comic from 1995 or '96 -- but was! It was a part of the contemporary DC Universe. It occasionally crossed over with other characters and events that were going on in the DC Universe. A fun, good natured, "new reader friendly" comic told in a unique modern style. Hoo-ray!

Of course, variety is also the spice of comic book life. It takes all sorts to make a universe, and there's plenty to go around. Classic or contemporary, you can find more feature fights and musings in the Secret Archive Index! If you like what you see, be sure to hit the G+1 at the top of the page (or below this area), and share links via social media. Every bit helps keep the wars infinite!

Winner: Ibis (w/ Mary Marvel)
#301 (new) Ibis
#309 (+6) Mary Marvel [+1 assist]
#19 (--) Black Adam