COLOSSUS & X-MEN versus OMEGA RED

Red Death (Marvel)
Where: X-Men Adventures #4 When: May 1994
Why: Ralph Macchio How: John Hebert

The Story So Far...
At a snow-covered base near the Black Sea, somewhere in the Caucasus region between Ukraine and Georgia, a sudden power surge disrupts a signal relay, which in turn causes critical failure of complex computer circuitry designed to contain a living weapon!

With this subtle act of electrical sabotage a sleeper is awoken: Omega Red is unleashed upon a former Soviet Union to be a tool of military hardliners committed to restoring their empire.

Omega Red's violent path of conquest takes him towards a small farming region once home to Russian expatriate and mutant Piotr Rasputin. Having sought the aid of the X-Men - but only found Jubilee - Colossus accepts a desperate flight to his homeland in the hopes of rescuing his beloved family!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Colossus 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Omega Red 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Wolverine 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Rogue 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Storm 5 (Lasers)
Total: Wolverine 26 (Metahuman)

The X-Men are: Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, and Jubilee, with Colossus.

Fans of the animated series will know Colossus wasn't a full-fledged member, but an acquaintance of the X-Men, who befriended him after a case of mistaken identity in Series 1 episode "The Unstoppable Juggernaut", which was also adapted as X-Men Adventures (Vol.1) #8.

Otherwise he's the hulking hunk of Russian organic-steel you know and love, and although he initially only has Jubilee to rely on, a note left at the mansion quickly gets the attentions of the other X-Men - particularly one who knows what they're up against!

Arkady Rossovich was a murdering scumbag even before he developed a mutant "death factor" that protected him from execution for his crimes.

The disgraced Spetsnaz GRU agent fled to Europe, but was soon reclaimed by the KGB, to be submitted to the Cold War era Soviet Super-Soldier program. Mutant healing abilities would allow Soviet scientists to implant cybernetic enhancements, as well as retractable, prehensile tendrils made of carbonadium: a Soviet alternative to the more costly and difficult adamantium metal.

Carbonadium is radioactive, but Omega Red could resist lethal poisoning with his mutant ability to absorb life force from other humans. He also possesses super-human strength, stamina, durability, and can emit "death factor" pheromone spores capable of weakening, or killing, anyone in his close proximity.

Colossus out muscles Omega Red, having stood toe-to-toe with the likes of the Juggernaut, Apocalypse, and Ord. He'll be a good compliment once Wolverine is on the scene, bringing past knowledge of Omega Red from his days with Team X, and razor-sharp adamantium claws that've cut plenty of cyborgs down to size!

Wolvie's healing factor is also useful when resisting Omega Red's life-draining, but it's unclear if he can inflict enough damage to negate a stale-mate similar to Wolverine (Vol.3) #50. We've also seen both Colossus and Wolverine taken out of the fight by having their energy absorbed in Uncanny X-Men #194.

Who did they willingly turn their essence over to? The power-absorbing Rogue, of course! She too could resist Omega Red's life-draining if she can get her hands on him and take his power. Making it all the easier for her and the rest of the team to put a serious hurt on! Will it happen that way? Let's find out!

The Tape: X-Men Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

Having learned of the imprisonment of Colossus' parents from his sister Illyana -- the mighty metal mutant, and Jubilee, follow her to a Stalin era gulag reopened under the commission of Omega Red!

Jubilee channels X-Men leader Cyclops to consider a strategic option, but Colossus has no patience for looking at "angles" while his blood boils at the raw sight of injustice.

He quite literally "steels" himself, activating the natural-given skin that allows him to fearlessly charge towards the gulag -- welcoming the oppressors to fire at will!

The soldiers' bullets ricochet harmlessly off Colossus' metallic hide and even an artillery shell fired from a tank cannot stop the righteous Russian!

He runs all the way to the heavy machine, and tackles it head-on, turning the weapon against its masters by tossing the tank straight through the gulag gates!

Jubilee begrudgingly joins the charge, blasting plasma fireworks at any incoming soldiers as she storms the gate. "Okay -- looks like we'll save the subtlety for another day! Thanks for listening, Petey! You dork!"

Colossus does not respond, or join Jubilee in her dash. Instead, he is transfixed by the horrifying presence that has cast its shadow behind him -- Omega Red, with one of his coils of death wrapped around the young Illyana Rasputin.

The second coil snakes around Colossus' body, lifting him off his feet as his strength is slowly drained and he fights against the tendril's crushing squeeze.

It seems Colossus is alone to face his fate, but salvation arrives not a minute too soon. The X-Men are here -- and Wolverine has come to settle an old score!

Omega Red immediately drops Colossus and turns his attention to the voice from his past -- sending his wrist-tendrils looping around the charging Wolverine!

They tighten before the X-Man can reach his target and make good on threats.

Wolverine struggles to resist, but machismo gives way to a fading spirit as the coil begins its deadly draining of life energy. Omega Red taunts.

"Perhaps I shall have your corpse stuffed -- mounted in Red Square... A symbol of my triumph over... Eh? That shadow! What can it be?"

Wolverine is no more alone than Colossus! Rogue arrives overhead with a tank in hand to bring it slamming down on Omega Red's body!

The X-Men regroup under the scornful eye of field leader Storm. She worries for the recklessness of Rogue and Jubilee, while Wolverine clues Colossus and the team into his long history with the "Soviets' Super-man".

At that moment, Omega Red pushes the tank off his body!

Colossus and Wolverine race to meet him, but once again Omega Red's long reach holds the mighty Russian at bay and snatches Wolverine into the air!

The X-Man desperately tries to rake his claws across Omega Red's eyes, but his futile efforts aren't for nothing!

With his tendrils occupied, Omega Red is wide open to the flying figure of Rogue!

She drives her shoulder into his back like a battering ram, and he drops his weakened prey to instead wrap both deadly coils around her!

To the Soviet Super-Soldier's shock -- Rogue is completely unfazed by the life-draining attack! Her own mutant power to absorb life force appears to completely cancel out Omega Red's deadly ability!

Unaffected, Rogue is able to shrug the binding cables off with her super-human strength, but before she can resume the attack -- Darkstar arrives in the sky!

Omega Red orders his flying comrade to take care of Rogue, but Darkstar does not share his violent vision for Russia's future.

Having observed Storm's apparent command of the weather, she implores the X-Woman to summon the deepest cold if she's able and direct it at Red.

Rogue obliges Storm with a full nelson to hold Omega Red in place while the weather goddess directs the arctic winds to blast a bitter cold directly at him!

The villain can only shout broken dreams of glory as his body temperature begins to cool and he's returned to the icy frozen state that held him before saboteurs ended his suspended animation. The terror on the Caucasus is ended.

The Hammer...

The intervention of Darkstar not only handed Storm the means to end Omega Red's rampage, but also ensures his collaborators in the attempted coup will be brought to justice by modern Russia.

You may've noticed a colouring error [above] that makes it seem as if Storm is shouting to herself. The center panel is obviously intended to be a close-up of Darkstar, who I always wished could've had a more active role in the story, but is reserved for a final act twist.

Everyone has a bit more to do in the animated episode, which spreads the action over two separate battles, allowing Darkstar to get involved much sooner and witness everyone's abilities, to more intuitively suggest an outcome to Storm.

If you thought it was a little off that Rogue's powers would cancel out Omega Red's without any contact to her skin -- you won't be surprised to find that she actually does succumb to the life-draining coil in the animated version. Granted, this only raises further questions about how the tendrils actually work.

In this instance I'm not sure the source material is entirely helpful at clearing anything up. The exact details of Omega Red's abilities generally feel a little slippery in the mainline comics, as well.

The Cold War inspired villain had immediate appeal on the strength of a bombastic Jim Lee design, but a hodgepodge of oh-so nineties invulnerabilities and death-dealing powers have arguably made the character unwieldy in a narrative context, leading to inconsistent conclusions throughout the years.

Putting him back on ice was a clean way to wrap up a robust done-in-one story, but the way it comes about feels a little bit dubious. Maybe if Iceman were on the team it would be an easier sell, but even that speaks to the difficulty of leaving Omega Red in play.

There are a lot of interesting differences between the November 1993 broadcast episode and its X-Men Adventures comic book adaptation.

Despite the episode name appearing on the cover, the comic story is titled "Red Death", wielding that most taboo of words as far as Saturday morning cartoons of the era were concerned. An otherwise trivial difference -- especially for a series that dealt with death in its very first plotline! This one's for you, Morph!

More substantial is Omega Red's release from suspended animation: an act of sabotage in the comic, while in the animated series, anonymous hands confidently manipulate the controls. A deliberate escalation contextualized by scenes of tanks and storm troopers invading a city already under siege.

The comic version also flirts more specifically with the geo-politics of the story, establishing a slightly more deliberate locale than the ambiguous Russia of the cartoon. We still don't quite know which "sovereign nation" Colossus and the Rasputin family come from, but the comic-given geography of a "small city in the Caucasus" of the former USSR seems to imply it's probably Georgia, or Armenia.

Despite the narrative-driven change to Colossus' Siberian comic book upbringing; trifling with the specifics of Communist politics probably wasn't high on anyone's agenda. The Cold War had ended a few years prior, and Rocky IV was almost a full decade behind us. American comic books will always love a good Russian villain, but most people were probably hoping to just move on from the looming threat of mutually assured atomic destruction.

That might be the reason Omega Red is ultimately depicted as hostile to almost everybody -- including the Soviet Generals he's supposed to be serving!

This version of Arkady Rossovich is harder than hardline. He intends to install himself as the iron ruler of a new empire. An expressed delusion of grandeur that seems to be a catalyst for the reserved Darkstar to finally reveal her true allegiance, and act against her military superiors. Russians aren't all evil, buddy!

All in all, both the comic and cartoon do a good job of cramming a whole lot of stuff into a pretty succinct story. There are things I like about both versions. The Series 2 episode was always a memorable favourite, but I think the twenty-two page comic does a good job of amending some of its pacing issues.

Marvel's Ralph Macchio [not THAT one] always did a good job on the various Adventures titles, and the intensity of John Hebert's pencils really helped push back against the innate second-class status of a book adapting a cartoon. His work, with its straining tendons and broad muscle, feels right at home with the look of the show, and contemporary X-artists like Lee, Andy Kubert, and maybe even Leinil Yu, while also being very identifiable.

Macchio later took the series into original stories in Adventures of the X-Men, and bridged the animated shared universe with Marvel Adventures. Continuations well worth your time, especially while you're eagerly anticipating the upcoming revival of X-Men '97 on Disney Plus -- which recently added definitive Wolverine voice actor Cal Dodd!

Dive deeper into your favourite characters by following links throughout this post, and discover more from the multiverse by exploring the Secret Archive for a complete index in order of publisher, series, and issue. You can also catch up on the 2021 Rankings Recap and Top 20 Fights of Season 2021!

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Winners: Storm & Rogue (w/ X-Men & Darkstar)
#34 (+4) Storm
#46 (+26) Rogue
#446 (+5) Darkstar [+1 assist]
#5 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#435 (--) Colosssus [+1 assist]
#369 (+23) Jubilee [+1 assist]
#361 (+9) Magik (Illyana Rasputin) [+1 assist]
#967 (new) Omega Red

SABRETOOTH versus JUBILEE
Rites of Passage (Marvel comics)
Where: Adventures of the X-Men #7 When: October 1996 Why: Ralph Macchio How: Andy Kuhn

The story so far...
In their last confrontation, Sabretooth and Wolverine battled in the snowy ranges of Alaska, where the X-Man was able to out maneuver his old foe to send him hurtling down an icey ravine.

Having finally clawed his way back to the surface, Sabretooth is madder than ever, and intent on getting revenge on his arch-nemesis.

Stalking his way across America, Sabretooth returns to the X-Mansion he once infiltrated under orders of Magneto. Ironically, the X-Men are abroad in Russia tending to matters concerning the master of magnetism, leaving Professor Xavier and Jubilee alone in the mansion -- with Sabretooth!

Previous Form:
Sabretooth (#326): Suffered a defeat at the hands of Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
Jubilee (#224): Went down to Robin during the inter-universe competition.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Sabretooth 4 (Steroid Popper)
Intelligence: Sabretooth 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Sabretooth 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Sabretooth 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Sabretooth 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Sabretooth 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Jubilee 3 (Explosives)


From one mansion incursion [Ultimate X-Men #49], to another! Just like last time, Professor Xavier has been taken out before the action could even get started, so we're going to take a look at this one as a one-on-one situation. Which is a little bit ridiculous, because, well, just look at those stats...

By way of the patented Haseloff tape, we see that Sabretooth represents one of the most well rounded fighters in the Marvel universe, moderately ranking in most areas, excelling in the field of combat, appropriate for this particular website.

Jubilee is... Jubilee. Granted, she's got several steps up on Angel, but her powers generally extend to wearing a yellow jacket and surrounding her hands with colourful pops of light. An "omega mutant" she is not.

Jubilee really has no business fighting Sabretooth. Well, okay, maybe we could come with something. I mean, Jubilee is a victim of her perpetual youth. It's reasonable to assume she'll grow up into a plasma-blasting bad ass. Maybe one day we'll find out Boom-Boom, Jubilee and Dazzler are all descended from neanderthal finger-sparky disco queens who invented fire and were mortal enemies of the Sabre-rine species Jeph Loeb introduced recently. But I digress...

Sabretooth almost certainly eviscerates Jubilee in the most horrific of ways, but this book's based in the 1990s cartoon universe, so we know that won't happen. On the integrity of this section, I cannot say Jubilee would win, but...

The Math: Sabretooth (Meta Class)
The Pick: Sabretooth

What went down...
Arriving on the mansion grounds, not even the stealthy Sabretooth can evade the X-Men's hi-tech security systems. With the alarm sounding, Professor Xavier is unable to pin point the intruder telepathically, forced to activate the defenses.
Sabretooth is able to call upon his mutant gifts and years of experience to survive the various nets and pits, making it to the roof of the mansion.

As Sabretooth halts a skylight shield mid-closure, Jubilee convinces a reluctant Professor Xavier to allow her to investigate. Scouring the levels of the mansion, Jubilee reports via contact pin, finding nothing out of place on the first two floors, but a trashed mess in Wolverine's bedroom.

When contact goes dead, Jubilee scrambles to Professor Xavier, piecing together the clues to deduce the identity of their intruder, just as she turns the corner to find Professor Xavier, bruised and in the hands of Sabretooth!

He tosses Xavier aside and makes chase of the fleeing Jubilee. She scrambles through the mansion slamming doors on her way, but the powerful Sabretooth is able to smash his way through with minimal resistance.

She slows the feral villain a little with her mutant generated plasma explosions. The move further provokes the volitile intruder, but buys Jubilee the space to duck into the control room for the danger room, where she had trained earlier.

Tapping a few controls, she smashes through the observation deck window as the looming shadow of Sabretooth is cast over the control room doorway.

Breathing down her neck, Sabretooth suggests Jubilee simply give in to the inevitable. With hand on hip, she wags her finger in mocking satisfaction for the plan she has hatched to use the X-Men's training facility as a weapon.

To Sabretooth's dismay, attack discs fire from the walls, striking him in the behind. The surprise punishment doesn't stop there, jets of flame adding a light toasting to the ill prepared Sabretooth, who suffers the brunt of the attack while Jubilee backflips through the obstacles.

With his mutant healing factor taking care of most of the damage, Sabretooth arrogantly congratulates Jubilee on her improvement since the last time they clashed. Before he can punctuate his sarcasm with a gutting, he finds himself sprayed with a super-adhesive that holds him in place as giant mobile walls begin to move toward him!

Jubilee, also ensnared in the sticky goop, taunts the enraged Sabretooth some more, before using her pyrokinetics to free herself and make a dash from the final press of the giant training trap.

Jubilee quickly returns to the embattered Professor Xavier, helping him to his hover chair. She recounts her triumph over both danger room, and super villain alike, but the wise Professor warns, "Don't assume anything where that maniac is concerned." A decided shift of opinion from the last time Sabretooth clashed with Jubilee, having taken up quarters to receive 'therapy' from the Prof.

Predictably, the Professor's ominous warning marks the charging entrance of Sabretooth, sans half his pants. No longer content with taking it easy on Jubilee, Sabretooth refuses to take chase, instead bringing the fight to his own terms by wrenching a computer console from the War Room floor.

Sabretooth's aim proves off, Jubilee swiftly ducking the incoming projectile.
She shows him how it's done, blasting him with more of her patented multi-coloured plasma bursts. Like red to a bull, the attack serves only to renew Sabretooth's attack.

Jubilee again calls upon her maneuverability. She ducks an unrefined lunge, and does equally well leaping a savage claw slash that misses her by inches, and puts the savage Sabretooth off-balance.
The break, having provided Jubilee another tactical opening, allows her the opportunity to expel her energies at the ceiling, bringing down a hail of computer junk and rubble atop the feral mutant marauder.

Seeming unstoppable, Sabretooth quickly emerges from the tonnes of rubble, finally getting his clawed hands on the wile X-Man. Having caught her ankle in mid-flight, he pins her to the ground, using his massive weight advantage to prevent another plasma blast, and give her nowhere to go.

He savours the moment, suffering a rebellious spit to the eye!
Enraged to the final point, Sabretooth raises his claws to deliver the killer blow, but the recovered Xavier manages to halt his murderours thoughts with a telepathic mind-blast!

With the situation dire, Jubilee gives her blast everything she's got, knocking Sabretooth backward to live wiring exposed by the console he tore up.
Her options becoming limited, she bravely charges full force at Sabretooth, knocking him back into the wiring! He lights up like a smouldering Christmas tree, but doesn't go down before delivering a final scare, reaching out in vein before collapsing unconscious.

The hammer...
Proving her value as an X-Man, the winner, Jubilee!

And who'd have believed it? Two X-Men features in as many weeks.
Features that didn't even contain Wolverine. What can I say? I'm not an Adventures fan, but those kinetic Andy Kuhn pencils lured me in for another dose of mansion mayhem!

I like to think the relaxed schedule has affored us the opportunity to approach these reviews something like a discussion. Even though we've seemingly thrown off the oppresive shackles of scheduled themes, you'll notice they're still weaving their way through the posts. I guess you can consider the empowered young female X-Man being the current topic of interest, but it's not going to stop here.

Certainly there are very specific beats in this story's script that really call back to the classic Uncanny X-Men #143, where Kitty Pryde finds herself alone in the mansion with a renegade demon from the N'Garai!

Like that classic issue the young mutants struggle in a condensened coming-of-age story, pitting them against overwhelming odds that would otherwise be swiftly dismissed by more senior X-Men. Like this issue of Adventures, Pryde used many of the same strategies to compensate for her offensive inadequecies against a much more powerful foe, but we'll talk more about that when we take a look at that famous issue.

Prompting this pseudo-discussion was a cocktail of Sabretooth's recent decapatation in the comics, and late night viewings of the 1990's X-Men cartoon, upon which this particular issue is based. As far as I know this isn't among the transcribed stories from episodes, but it does draw specifically upon the fourth episode of the series, Deadly Reunions, where Sabretooth infiltrates the Mansion on the behalf of Magneto, who more specifically combats Xavier for the first time in years.

In that episode, Jubilee is left alone, tricked into freeing Sabretooth of his shackles, and saved only by the intervention of Wolverine, who had stormed off previously in protest of Xavier's leniency for his old foe, while they battle Magneto on the basis of Xavier's history.

What's shameful about this story is how clearly it highlights Jubilee's lack of development through the nineties. While I wasn't a reader of Generation X, I think it's safe to say any headway made in those issues was minimal, as Jubilee fell by the wayside, a victim of perpetual youth.

Until now, it's perhaps only in the ill-fated M2 comics that anyone has made any attempt to develop Jubilee, those books recasting her as an adult member of a future Avengers. Although, even here, it should be noted that she's still sporting that ridiculous yellow coat, and fairly tame plasma based powers.

It seems a little obscure, but I'm pleased to see that Jubilee is at least appearing in some capacity, albeit under the guise of 'Wondra', in the pages of the new New Warriors book. Not only that, but she's taking on a more senior role within the team, which might be ambitious, but is certainly a positive step.

Maybe I'm too sentimental, but like Rogue [discussed Ultimate X-Men #49], it seems like such an injustice for a character who no doubt ushered many fans into the fold (via the cartoons), would fall so thoroughly from relevance.
I'm not really a fan of the character, so unlike Rogue, any personal connection is marginal, but it just [seemed] like such a typical case of dropping a ball of potential during play.

The utterly ill-conceived and disappointing Blade series, which recently came to an end, feels like another prime example of a failure to capitalize on properties developed prominently outside the existing fanbase.

Still, the clock's just ticked over to the AM, and I'm running late for our Monday appointment because of this, so I might bid you adieu before I get distracted by further tangential topics.

Before I go, I should direct you to the super-index site When Fangirls Attack, which is currently directing traffic to the last mansion-update. As a hub of all the feminist-based niche discussions, it's a very interesting source to visit and explore from time to time. It's a real pleasure to get a mention, as perhaps one of the less overtly intellectual blogs. Hopefully our superhero fisticuffs and interested musings are sufficient for their readers.

Also, I'm hard at work on the second issue of The Kirby Martin Inquest, so if you haven't already, see about picking yourself up a copy of the utterly affordable first issue. You can get link details from Nite Lite Theatre.
Just a day or two ago I got pin-up artwork from Chris Fason [Hero Happy Hour] that's looking super, and I'm very excited about the overall presentation of the book!

With that said, I'm bloody tired, so be kind if I'm a little late.
Also, yes, I have a new avatar. One that isn't a sissy looking Sentry.

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4
[Kuhn is one of the unsung heroes of superhero comics. A fast, fun and energetic story, complimentary to the cartoons, but easily handed to anyone uninitiated. A feint reminder of how disappointing it is Sabretooth's off the board!]

JUBILEE versus ROBIN
"The Showdown of the Century!"
Where: Marvel versus DC #3 When: April 1996
Writer: Ron Marz Artist: Dan Jurgens

The story so far...
Life in the DC and Marvel universes has always been tough, but when cosmic events conspire to endanger both, the heroes of both Earths face a secret crisis that could destroy them all.

Before time two cosmic entities existed, sexless brothers representing the two sides of all that is, was, and will ever be.

Turmoil between the two brought about an end to things as they once were, but in the aftermath their energies were dissipated into space, becoming part of the multi-verse.Cosmic instabilities, as a result of the actions of various beings of different realities, created instabilities. After eons of recollecting their fragmented thoughts, the two brothers turned, and remembered their existence.

Now they pit their warriors against one and other.

Tale of the tape...
Hmmm... well, as offensive as the result of Namor/Aquaman was, I have to say this is the fight I looked forward to the least.
I've mentioned previously that this mini-series is almost a time capsule into the past, looking back on an era in flux, often for the worst. I don't know if this is the worst, but the creative decision to give Jubilee and Robin more screen time than the Flash, Silver Surfer, Elektra and several other characters held in high regard has to be questioned!

It was a sweet touch having the two youngsters stoking some kind of romantic embers as the world's merged, but these are still two characters that generally don't interest me. Particularly Jubilee, who seems quite obselete in a world of Boom Boom, and Joss Whedon's reverted Kitty Pryde.

Junior Batman no doubt has the edge of Jubilee, whose highlights and milestones generally revolve around getting into trouble, and introducing new plot points. Though renowned for their own status as the boy hostage, Tim Drake has probably exceeded his predecessors in the proactive department, and avoided danger relatively well.

Intelligence: 4 (Tactician)
Agility: 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: 5 (Martial Artist)

With skills across the board that impress even the mighty Batman, you tend to have to wonder whether or not Jubilee stands even a minute chance on paper.
Robin certainly has her covered tactically, and from a fighting perspective, his rigorous training with the Bat leaves Jubilee's carnival sessions in the danger room for dust.

Energy Powers: 3 (Explosives)

The most generous Jubilee fan would have to acknowledge her only real advantage here as having inherent mutant powers on tap. Of course, relying on her hands, which have been so effectively restrained in the past, you'd tend to think Robin shouldn't have any problem.

The only questionable factor I can see is whether or not Robin has legitimate feelings for Jubilee.

Since the purpose of the tale of the tape is to speculate based on generally accepted facts, I'm going to ignore the doe-eyes made in previous issues of this mini-series, and say Robin would never fall in love that easily. Especially not with the fate of the universe on his green shoulder pads.

Thus, we can safely conclude - Robin takes this, and then helps Aquaman strategize before his fight with Namor, because he has so much time left.

What went down...
Unlike other characters, Jubilee and Robin are actually together before being transported. This of course picks up on the inspired decision to have the two stylistically similar characters form some kind of relationship during the displacement of realms.

As with previous battles, the two representatives are transported to a fitting location; this time a giant toy store. Right out of the sixties stories.

The two young heroes share a kiss, and then get straight to business. No, not that kind of business.
Jubilee lets the sparks fly, firing off a whole bunch of her trademark explosive plasma bursts, as Robin uses his acrobatics to flee. Though seemingly cowardly, the cunning Robin does more than runn from a girl - he disappears into the shadows.

As Jubilee foolishly stumbles around calling out to her foe, Robin draws a batarang and prepares his plan. The dark celebate training of the Batman - stronger than love, or just cause for more questions?

Either way, a flapping cape descends from the shadows, prompting Jubilee to move in for the kill - only to be sprung from behind by the ever tricky, Boy Wonder.

Descending from the rafters, Robin wraps Jubilee up in rope, leaving her hanging upside down like a rabbit caught in the wild.

Robin jumps down and shares a tender moment, relenting his trained focus to see if his opponent were unharmed. Isn that sweet? The guy is such a little misogynist he didn't even think the girly worthy of a punch!

The hammer...
Robin emerging there, quite unquestionably the winner.

Obviously I'm not the biggest fan of either character. I generally don't mind Robin in his own context, but find him a brightly coloured distraction and diluting agent when coupled with the Batman.
I think in the lifespan of the characters Robin has probably reached a stage where he can quite succesfully soar on his own, while also pitching in his team efforts with the likes of the Teen Titans.

Well illustrated in strong stand-alone stories like the Batman Begins featured film; Batman works at his finest alone. A majority of the pathos, and the bittersweet intrigue of the character surely comes from his solitary nature, which the bat-family betrays.

When marketing potential is put aside, and we kill off the likes of the Spoiler and Huntress; I think it's fair to recognise the likes of Alfred and Catwoman are perhaps the only on-going suitable supporting characters, on a personal level, for a character like Batman.

Jubilee on the other hand, not so much.
Of course, Jubilee's involvement in DC versus Marvel did produce on moment of brilliance, and that's surely the Carrie Kelly inspired, Sparrow, featured in the Amalgam Dark Claw comics.

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 4

NEXT: She-Hulk versus The Champion of the Universe!