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

AVENGERS versus THOR/LOKI
Awaken the Thunder (Marvel comics)
Where: Avengers #1 When: November 1996
Why: Jim Valentino & Rob Liefeld How: Chap Yaep & Rob Liefeld

The story so far...
Onslaught, a psychic manifestation of powerful telepath, Professor Charles Xavier, has been defeated. The cost, it seems, is the lives of Earth's mightiest heroes: the Avengers, but unbeknownst to the world their heroes have been reborn in a pocket dimension created by super-mutant: Franklin Richards, son of Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic.

Completely unaware of their fate, the heroes emerge from their new surroundings and origins, as if compelled by destiny itself to fulfill their roles as the great heroes they were intended to be. Surrounding the reawakened super-soldier, Captain America; Vision, Hellcat, Swordsman, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch are assembled again for the first time as -- The Avengers!

SHIELD rally their team of superheroes to Norway, where archaeologist Donald Blake has unearthed what he believes may be the Norse god of thunder, Thor, and his enchanted hammer Mjolnir. Unable to break the amber that entombs him, the Avengers step up to the plate, but are they opening Pandora's box?...

Previous Form:
Captain America (#9): Had a Heroes Reborn victory over MODOK and Baron Zemo.
Vision (#217): Appeared as a member of the Secret Avengers during Civil War.
Avengers [#2]: Recently defeated by The Destroyer.
Thor (#20): Suffered a harsh defeat against the Asgardian Destroyer.
Loki: Has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Loki 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain America 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Hellcat 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Thor 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Scarlet Witch 7 (Solar Power)


This has by no means been an easy entry to approach. As much as it might have to do with the excruciatingly pointed Liefeldian noses, it's also to do with the Liefeldian concept.

Okay, okay, no. I'm not going to go there the entire review, but this is probably one of those times I'd actually do it. What makes tackling this tale of the tape difficult (and the last input of the month), is the fact that this issue features a duplicate Thor, unique to this universe, and a character called Swordsman, who was later revealed to be Lielfeld-original; Deadpool. Which, is very neat, but also presents a difficult situation for the statistics where we have a counterpart unique to this dimension, which was supposed to be contained within our own and therefore controlled by who is and isn't present in our dimension. Ugh.

We know that a Thor and Loki are teaming up here, which is always going to be a pretty rough ride for the Avengers. Thor is in the upper echelon of powers, proficient in the art of war, rabble raising and general drunken disorder.
Loki has lots of little jinx and hex powers, and can generally stir anyone already in a frenzy to act in his favour, ever the deceiver. So, with an amped up Thor that's been trapped in amber in Norway for years, yeah... That's gonna be some situation the Avengers are stepping in to.

This is not by any measure the most impressive order of Avengers, either.
Captain America, Vision and Scarlet Witch represent some of the classic heavy-hitting old guard, while Hawkeye is also in tow, looking a bit more like Wolverine without all the potential for lethal force and unbridled bad assery.

Then there's the unmistakingly Liefeldian twist of the afforementioned Swordsman who is ultimately revealed to be this world's version of Deadpool, sometime after he gets his hands crushed by the Hulk. And, to top it all off, a feral Hellcat joins the team, looking not unlike Liefeld favourite Feral from the X-Force. Why the transformation in this universe is a question for the ages.

So, with such a ragtag grouping of Avengers, you'd probably struggle to pick them against Thor alone, let alone Thor with the moustache twirling Loki coaching from the sidelines. Vision and Scarlet Witch represent the greatest attack, Vision providing a physical obstacle for the super-powerful Thor, while Scarlet Witch might capitalize on the distraction to do away with the thunder god through her own mystic means.

Although, due to the magical nature of Thor, and the enchantments of Loki, Scarlet Witch might be too timid to fully realise her powers here.
Captain America will no doubt give his all in battle and as a team leader, but within the statistical confines of the tape, he and his human-level fellows are out in the cold. I guess that explains why they were quick to recruit professional asshole and generally smug prick, Tony Stark -- aka Iron Man.

The Math: Avengers (Overall) Thor/Loki (Average)
The Pick: Thor/Loki (Hard to go against them...)

What went down...
Having freed Thor from his amber prison, the Avengers are riding pretty high on their first victory, but the furies soon shift as Loki, having followed the Avengers' activities for some time, reveals himself to his confused half-brother.

Loki quickly seizes the opportunity, spinning a yarn about the fictional treachery of the Avengers who reduced Asgard to rubble. Though Captain America objects to the unjust act of lying, the enraged Thor is unreceptive, content instead to gather his strength for an old time ass whooping.

Cap's shield proves mighty enough to withstand Thor's pounding fists, but Swordsman and Hawkeye prove decidedly less resilient toward Loki's mystic blasts that send them hurtling across the battlefield.

Hellcat comes to the aid of the Captain, landing on Thor's shoulders, but the warrior god of thunder swiftly tosses her away and into the dawdling Scarlet Witch. Hellcat's new appearance serves only to further cast the group as villains, the Nordic Thor presuming her to be a demon.

Vision, manipulating himself to super density, steps up to the plate to strike the chiseled jaw of the thunder god. Taken aback by Vision's assault, it's the scheming Loki that comes to the aid of his brother, frying Vision's circuitry with mystic bolts of pink lightning. A ploy to further his own wile goals.

Assured by Loki's aid, Thor turns his attentions to the star-spangled Captain America once more. The Captain continues to emplore Thor with their innocence, but it is the inevitable treachery of Loki that finally lifts the veil of deceit from Thor's eyes.

As Loki attempts to attack Thor while his guard is down, Captain America swiftly intervenes, shielding Thor from Loki's spectacular attack.

Knocked down by the attack, Thor is reunited with his mystic hammer, Mjolnir, and thusly his memories come flooding back. With Loki having shown his true colours, Thor quickly realigns himself with the Avengers, who he now recognises as just and true warriors.

Thor menaces his half-brother, well ready to commence once again with a kicking of the ass, but Loki finds himself a bittersweet rescue from his brother's wrath.

The Scarlet Witch summons her fantastic mutant-enhanced mystic powers to absorb Loki's spell to transport Thor to limbo, and turns it back on the god of mischief. Loki's brief reign of terror comes to an abrupt end as he is sucked into his own vortex, doomed to occupy the non-space of limbo.

With the battle finished, Thor struggles to remember his past, but can only recall an onslaught that required great sacrifice. With his mind foggy, and the power of a god, Captain America takes it upon himself to invite Thor into the team as it's newest member, to which the Norse god gladly accepts.

The hammer...
Thor pulls a siwtcheroo to aid The Avengers to victory against this week's Ultimate Alliance feature villain: Loki!
Just in case you forgot what we were doing here, Mondays are of course dedicated to the villains of the popular multi-platform video game, and after several months of Mondays we're finally approaching the business end of that particular thematic device! Yay!

Heroes Reborn is a period in comics generally looked back upon with a flavour of negativity. Reactions range everywhere from bitter contempt, to violent indifference. Granted, this is probably one of the many examples of perpetuated opinions spreading amongst a community of both the informed and the uninitiated, it's fair to say that it isn't all bad press for the sake of it.

Still, it's interesting to take a look at some of the parallels between the work of Heroes Reborn and some of the conceits of later, better regarded works.
The Ultimates is something that always comes to mind when I think back to this very introductory issue of the Heroes Reborn Avengers.

The discovery of Thor is regarded with some scepticism from the beginning, despite the unlikely feat of a man surviving being imprisoned in a chunk of clear amber. In this respect, it perhaps ironically recasts Thor in the position of man-out-of-time to be unfrozen by the Avengers, while Captain America is the chief sceptic regarding the man's true origins.

The Captain continues to question the validity of Thor's claims, ultimately deciding to humor his delusions while inviting him to join the team. A situation that seems to quite strongly echo the future work of Mark Millar in The Ultimates, not that I would suggest any kind of shenanigans.

Actually, I think there's an obscure sense of satisfaction to be taken from the parallels between these books and the Ultimate line of comics, which enjoy a steady regard, despite becoming more and more like their predecessors.

It feels like there's been a lot of talk about first issues recently on Secret Earths, and despite it's failings, this actually represents a pretty decent first issue, I think. The specifics of the writing style and artwork aside, we get a super-sized issue that divides neatly between introduction to the lead characters (through the eyes of the lurking ghostly villain, Loki, who trapses through their SHIELD headquarters), and a second-half of action. Granted, the action leads to a fairly still conclusion, but I think I'd take a closed ended first issue over the Omega Flight styled meandering of several issues of contemplative nothing.

Obviously criticisms can be drawn regarding a writing style that went out at the turn of the century, along with the likewise bombastic design sensibility of Rob Liefeld, who crams classic designs with naff, blandly indifferent characters that are bitterly reminiscent of many early Image superhero characters.

This issue doesn't escape the wrath of retroactive clutter, either.
Though apparently a concept readily explained by Kurt Busiek, the shift between this barbaric Thor, and something more familiar to classic readers, toward the end of the series feels less like a story, and more like an early effort to start sweeping the mistakes of the present-past aside.

Much of this incarnation of the Avengers goes unrecognised today.
Swordsman and Hellcat's involvement in the team is largely forgotten, in no small part due to further tampering. The already mentioned Swordsman-Deadpool fiasco needs little more elaboration, other than to direct the interested to the mini-series, Heroes Reborn: The Remnants.

I'm not about to bitterly despise this book, or this particular era of comics, because I actually enjoyed a lot of it. I give it a great deal of credit for being the Ultimate comics before the Ultimate comics, with a more forthcoming connection to the classic materials, that is a silent trend gripping Ultimate books today, stripping them of their identity (and instant sales value).

For those who missed out, I can only hope that while I have readily acknowledged some of the faults, you can also recognise that this is a very fun, action-packed issue of Avengers vintage. Vintage that just didn't mature terribly well...

Before we fade away, we should note that as the only two characters unable to mount an offensive (beyond participating in group poses), Hawkeye and Swordsman receive but an assist stat for this particular performance.
AND -- due to the streamlining rule that alternate universe counterparts be lumped in with their originals, the Swordsman stat goes to Deadpool. If you've hitched here through the Deadpool tag, hopefully a word search has cleared up why.

EDIT (October 4, 2007): Swordsman has been relisted as his own character, as per the Superboy-Prime Directive. These stats have been removed from Deadpool's listing.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4.5
[Not at all a revolutionary moment in comics history, but obscurely important and perhaps even influential on the future landscape of these characters, and the way in which they might be handled. Action, pose-heavy read.]

IRON MAN versus CAPTAIN AMERICA
The Terminus Factor Part One of Five: You are what you eat (Marvel comics)
Where: Captain America Annual #9 When: 1990
Why: Roy Thomas & Dann Thomas How: Jim Valentino

The story so far...
When Sherlock Holmes isn't cracking cases, he shoots heroin. Which is, frankly, why Holmes is nothing but a skinny elbowed English nancy.

Scoffing the most lethal of dangers, Captain America decides to volunteer for an experimental mission to pilot a Stark funded vessel to the center of a newly formed volcano. Why? Well, formerlyto protect Persephone-1 from sabotage, but really, just because he's that good. Human, too.

Things get ugly when a cybernetic egg planted by Terminus begins to crack, and a glowing lot of weird stuff starts to wreak havoc on the mission.
Only by the intervention of Iron Man (who just happens to turn up as Mr. Stark disappears...) do Cap and the pilot escape with their lives -- but so too does the Terminus goo!
Hitting a local waterstream has a strange effect on the fish that swim through it, and subsequently the bear who eats the fish, and so, Terminus enters the circle of life... and the water supply.

Previous form:
Iron Man #2: Iron Man battles Hulk to a standstill.
Captain America #6: Captain America and Cable do battle with AIM.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Iron Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain America 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Captain America 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Iron Man 5 (Lasers)

It seems like it's been a while since we've had a straight one-on-one.
I guess it seems appropriate that the Civil War theme provide the first in a while. These two guys are arguably among the top tier of Marvel characters, stalwarts of the Avengers, and most recently, leaders of two different camps of thought.

Captain America isn't necessarily the most free-thinking sunnuva gun in town, but he represents the broadest sense of right, and the ideals of what all men aspire to. In many respects he's what America wants to be in the world, as opposed to what it is. He's a guiding symbol of good, who never backs down.

Stark, both in Civil War, and in general, probably represents more of what America really is. He's a character who made his early life producing technological advancements in weapons, and has essentially built a fortune by neglecting extrapolation beyond what serves his immediate goals -- which means ignoring the potential consequences around him.

Both characters exhibit an All-American iron will, but as the stamina readings show, Iron Man just has a little extra technology to back it up.

Wolverine might have a better PR agent, but Cap is truly the best there is at what he does, and he's about as close to human as you can get, without relying upon gadgets, or iron suits of armor. This guy has all the experience and grit to fight overwhelming odds, and plenty of times he'll even come out on top.

Iron Man's equipped to go toe-to-toe with pretty hefty opponents too, mind you.
The red and gold has regularly diced with the likes of Fin Fang Foom, the Mandarin, Titanium Man, and The Hulk.

So, what does all of that mean? Well, Cap may have taken down Japanese kamikaze pilots, and dropped a few Nazi tanks in his time, but neither of those had the maneuverability or firing power of Iron Man. Nor did they have the ability to out grapple him with hydraulic muscle.

He'll always be a sentimental favourite, but against Iron Man? We salute you anyway, Cap.

What went down...
Washington state has more resaons than a newly formed volcano for a couple o' Avengers to visit. You guessed it! It's time for the annual Georgeville trout feast!
Cue ominous music. Oh yes, that trout*.

Cap's a bit more manly than the silver spoon, so he doesn't bother with any food, but IM goes and sits by himself to chow down on some fresh, local trout.

As Cap is putting the moves on Dr. Napier (the Persephone-1 captain), some schmuck in a suit turns into "... a snarling animal -- leaping at us --!"
Napier makes her alliances known by calling Iron Man for help, claiming Captain America needs help, which promps Cap to machismo the guy head-first into the pavement.

As an angry mob starts to form, crazy eyes Iron Man shows up on the scene.
Snarling ponytail suit guy got the jump on Cap, but Iron Man is a drunk, so he's well prepared to backflip, snatch up the damsel in distress, and forward flip his way through a double barrage of repulsor rays.

In the commotion some powerlines become severed, and some of the raving mob start to head toward them with no sense of repercussion. Cap is there to save a zombified kid, as some guy in lime green pants gets fried.
Cap dumps the kid in a barrel of ice, as Iron Man descends into the mob.

Cap, recognising Iron Man as a threat, tries to take him out quick with a swift toss of his mighty shield. IM goes down, and much to the surprise of the Captain, the mob descends on the Golden Avenger!
Meanwhile -- to his further surprise, the kid he dumped in the ice has returned to his senses. This prompts an idea, and also an impromptu opportunity to cop a feel of Napier's arse, as he ushers her into their helecopter with the rather conspicuous line, "Don't wory about us getting lonely..."

Back in the street, Iron Man blasts his way free of the ravenous mob, and cuts the chopper off as he flies over the snowy mountains.
A direct hit overhead to the main propellor ensures the craft head straight for terra not-so firma.

Emerging from the crashed vehicle relatively unscathed, Cap leaves Dr. Napier and challenges Iron Man to, "-- COME AND GET ME!"

Iron Man does just that, but Cap is able to backflip clear.
After getting nothing but net, shellhead decides to drive it to the hoop, and nails Cap square on the kisser with a swooping left hook.
Showing no fear, Cap eggs Iron Man on, taking a backhand that sends him flying again.

As the Captain continues to provoke the supreme assault from his ally, Dr. Napier could be forgiven for wondering if Cap was going crazy too, but alas, no
For Captain America is not without a plan!

Iron Man throws all the energy blasts he has, and then follows it up with a torpedo dive, knocking Cap a little sillier, as he plants himself deep in the snow. [Ding! Ding! Ding!]

Cap tosses his shield, and knocks Iron Man back momentarily, but the armored Avenger strikes back with a vengeance!

Cap spills over the edge of a mountainous cliff, and hanging on for dear life as the zombified villagers below watch, Iron Man blasts at the very piece of Earth Cap is clinging to!

As the sentinel of liberty begins to fall, fall, fall to his demise, something happens! The icey effects of the snow finally snap Tony Stark out of his maddened haze, and with no time to lose, he swoops down and catches the tiny patch of Earth and scoops Captain America up to safety!

The villagers gradually return to normal, and the day appears saved, but Cap and Iron Man are forced to ponder whether or not the menace of the glowing Terminus goo was indeed through.

The hammer...
Even though things ended peacefully, I've got to give this one to Iron Man based purely on points. Though Cap was ultimately able to pacify his sinister urges, Iron Man thoroughly had his number, and it was only by his will that Cap survived the fall from a cliff.

I had an interesting discussion recently about Captain America, and whether or not he has credibility as a military figure, and that ultimately led to a discussion about Civil War, which leads me here.

The conversation actually began when I said I felt Ultimate Captain America had a militant credibility that I felt the regular "616" Cap had long since lost.
I guess, honestly, there are two contributing reasons for that opinion. One is the stereotype of the fighting soldier as either a hardass drill sergeant, or a mindless jarhead. The other, perhaps the more legitimate half of the argument, is the fact that since his revival in the sixties, Captain America has spent his time devided between his roles as superhero, and ideal.

On this, my friend and I were able to agree - Captain America is an ideal - but our opinions largely diverged on whether or not his role as an ideal had superceded his credibility as a militant figure.

Personally, I err on the side of there being a distinct necessity for them to be exclusive. While a soldier may be inclined to go AWOL given the right motivation, and perhaps do so justfully, I still think there is an inherent responsibility to rank, order, and thought processes that might not necessarily reveal outcomes potentially disasterous.

For example; I feel Captain America's ideals in the Civil War scenario representative of his role as the ideal that all mean, of all colour and creed, should/would like to live up to. They are not, however, the actions of a man considering his responsibility to queen, country and greater good.

I would like to think many of us, when distancing ourselves from the material, would ultimately acknowledge that registration is a good idea. That, in the real world, it's exactly the kind of law we would each wish to see enforced and monitored to the greatest degree. This is particularly relevent, as discussed in a previous 'Hammer,' in a post-tragedy scenario.

What I think, logically, we would disagree with, is the way in which anti-registration heroes are being hounded, imprisoned and attacked with extreme prejudice.
Likewise, allowing Captain America a shred of his all-American dignity, I believe he would object to the methods used, but assuming a military role, as opposed to the role of an uber-idealistic superhero, would oppose via due process.

I doubt the thought process of a man who is almost as viciously opposing the registrants, as they are his camp. This is a man who has almost gone to the lengths to lead children (Young Avengers) into a war with his own country. This is a man putting the needs of certain individuals above the needs of the public, which has just recently lost thousands, many of whom were children.
This, in my estimation, is not the approach of a character with military credibility. This is a character who has filtered through the superhero mould, and abandoned process in favour of ideal.

And maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Also not a bad thing: Jim Valentino's pencils!
Maybe not as realistically tight as some of the contemporary best, but this is not the line I imagine when I think of a man who joined the co-founders of Image comics, and created the oh-so nineties character - Shadowhawk.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

NEXT: We round the month out with the one we've been waiting for - Cap and his supporters versus Iron Man and his supporters. Do not miss it!