DAREDEVIL versus ABSORBING MAN

Alone Against The Absorbing Man! (Marvel)
Where: Daredevil #360 When: January 1997
Why: Karl Kesel How: Cary Nord

The Story So Far...
To the world at large -- the Avengers and Fantastic Four are dead. Seemingly killed in their battle to end Onslaught's conquest of New York City. In truth, they are merely lost in a pocket dimension of a child's creation -- but that hasn't stopped sinister forces seizing upon their absence!

Believing he is unopposed in a world without its mightiest heroes -- The Absorbing Man has come to the Manhattan Diamond Exchange to help himself to a small fortune. The only one standing in his way is a man without fear or a hope in hell of matching him: Daredevil!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Absorbing Man 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Absorbing Man 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Daredevil 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Daredevil 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Absorbing Man 2 (Projectile)
Total: Daredevil 26 (Metahuman)

It started with a random social media post -- and in our last entry we explored the potential for street-level heroes to overcome the likes of The Wrecker!

Daredevil is no stranger to a mismatch -- and today we're looking at a big one -- which will perfectly help us determine whether or not the Man Without Fear should be able to take down opponents who've gone toe-to-toe with Thor!

Absorbing Man has come to regard the Hulk as an arch-nemesis, while also applying his super-human strength against The Avengers and Spider-Man, but his career in super-villainy started as a foe for Thor.

Just like The Wrecking Crew; Carl "Crusher" Creel owes his strange powers to enchantment from the Norse Gods. In his case, it was Loki, god of mischief, who chose him to receive a formula that enhanced his durability, and allowed him to take on the properties of anything he comes in contact with.

Much like Thunderball; Absorbing Man favours an enchanted wrecking ball & chain as his primary weapon, which gives him a steady supply of steel to absorb for added strength and durability -- but can also take on the same properties as whatever Creel absorbed. He also gains added reach and bludgeoning power.

Our statistical analysis [above] deems Daredevil's diverse skills generally more advantageous -- but it's safe to say Absorbing Man is in a completely different weight class when it comes to pure strength. Not that that'll stop DD trying! The Man Without Fear has made a career of standing up against overwhelming adversaries -- with mixed results.

Look no further than his fight against the Hulk, which inevitably ended with defeat. He was also bested by the stone-skinned Tombstone when they fought a mismatch of strength in Portugal. Evidence that DD has no business tangling with the likes of Wrecker or Absorbing Man. Yet! Sometimes Daredevil defies the odds!

He was able to withstand the supernatural horror of Blackheart with a little help from a similarly mismatched Spider-Man. He showed speed & agility are key to survival, while defending his friends from an escaped Carnage. He even turned the tables in a two-on-one rematch with Tombstone and Matador -- relying on physical and tactical prowess to turn his opponent's advantage into weakness!

In addition to evasion, Daredevil has also showed great potential to use the urban environment against a superior adversary, such as when he improvised weapons against Klaw in their first encounter.

Our limited record shows Absorbing Man is susceptible to creatures great and small. He paled into insignificance in the crossfire between Ultron and Galactus, while showing vulnerability in his mortal form during a losing tag team contest against Wasp and Ant-Man -- arguably an even greater mismatch!

The Tape: Daredevil Ranking: Daredevil (#8)

What Went Down...

Absorbing Man is utterly unafraid as he bats Daredevil aside with a fist made of red brick.

Before the hero even has a moment to recover -- Absorbing Man's brick & mortar wrecking ball comes crashing down dangerously close to Daredevil's legs!

The Man Without Fear keeps clear of the crushing impact and takes none too kindly to Creel's name-calling.

While the patter of banter keeps Absorbing Man on his toes - a fistful of pearls takes him off his feet! An improvised projectile sourced from the wreckage of the Diamond Exchange.

Absorbing Man may have slipped on the tiny spheres, but he's fallen within reach of the Diamond Exchange guardsman's loose sidearm.

He clutches the pistol with trigger in finger -- but gunning a man down isn't Crusher Creel's style. Daredevil detects the shift in temperature as Absorbing Man transforms from a man made of warm, earthy brick clay -- to cold, hard gunmetal.

Absorbing Man hurls his hardened ball & chain, but the nimble Daredevil leaps clear and lands on top of a Coca Cola vending machine. It's a temporary respite as the wall behind him gives way and he tumbles off the falling machine.

While Daredevil crawls through busted chunks of wall and ceiling from a nearby bar -- an off-duty cop enters the fray intent on serving & protecting.

With Absorbing Man shedding his metallic skin, he appears vulnerable to Detective Danny Levin's police issue firearm -- but quickly spinning to a nearby newsstand on the street, Absorbing Man solves the problem with a stack of today's headlines.

Three bullets pierce through Absorbing Man's body -- but the paper-thin form is utterly unaffected by their flesh-rending trajectory! They pass harmlessly through his left hand and chest, like something out of a cartoon.

He stretches his arms above his head and prepares to launch his paper body at the bewildered police detective -- but like yesterday's news, his solution to bullets fails to stand up to the latest breaking development in the form of Daredevil

The black & white villain gets red all-over as Daredevil takes full advantage of his flimsy frame -- folding him up by dropping, both feet first, from overhead!

DD stands triumphantly over the flattened felon, but the upper-hand is short-lived as Absorbing Man takes on the properties of the concrete street his flat-body is pinned to!

The return to a more substantial three-dimensional figure pops Daredevil off Absorbing Man's back, toppling him away from the looming villain.

The hero advises his law enforcement ally to fallback to safety, while the grinding of the Absorbing Man's concrete skin and heavy steps betrays his fast movement toward Daredevil's back. The hero senses him and takes evasive action!

A simple shift in weight allows Daredevil to turn Absorbing Man's momentum against him -- flipping him overhead and onto his back.

The Absorbing Man is barely slowed by the maneuver, but Daredevil finds a surprisingly effective alternate method for bruising him -- attacking his ego: "Don't worry, Detective -- Creel isn't much more than a super-powered paper towel! Now if his girlfriend Titania was here --"

The barb riles Absorbing Man up to prove something, but he still falls for the oldest trick in the book when Daredevil makes like Titania has just arrived behind him. A momentary lapse in concentration that leaves the human Creel wide open!

A right cross catches the distracted Crusher by surprise, and Daredevil keeps him from thinking about absorbing anything with a fast follow-up -- a straight shot!

Crusher cuts off the comeback. He grabs a tight grip on Daredevil's left wrist, while an unfortunately placed food cart provides a deadly new source of power from the street -- hot barbecue coals, still burning!

The searing agony of the smoldering hold rips pain through DD's arm!

A stray brick from the rubble of the battlefield gives Daredevil the means to rapidly free his hand. He smashes it over Absorbing Man's wrist -- snapping the hot coal hand from its glowing appendage!

Absorbing Man's none too pleased to lose his hand, but years of fighting the most powerful heroes in the world have taught him how to reassemble himself when a substance causes him to break apart.

Unsatisfied with the vulnerability of burning coal -- Absorbing Man grabs hold of a diamond bag and burns through to the loot. The contact with his skin is all he needs to transform his entire being into nigh unbreakable, living diamond!

It's Daredevil's turn to do the absorbing -- taking the impact of a vicious double-fisted diamond punch!

DD does his best to roll with the punch, but is left vulnerable to a vicious double-slap as the Absorbing Man snaps his hands backwards on arms outstretched!

The man of diamond swings his mighty wrecking ball, but his hulking figure towers over an evasive Daredevil.

DD survives his near-miss and decides to call it quits: "Sorry, Creel -- that doesn't sound like my kind of fun! I'm out of here!"

Scoffing at the hero's cowardice, Absorbing Man reels back with his ball & chain and hurls it like a deadly missile at the fleeing figure!

Demonstrating a change of heart that betrays his true intentions; Daredevil somersaults backwards with the straight-bodied grace of a gymnast -- and perfectly times his landing to catch the chain in mid-air!

With the Absorbing Man rapidly charging towards him, Daredevil doesn't have the time to reach out with his radar senses to find the exact flaws in Creel's diamond body -- but he knows they're there, so he swings blind and hopes for the best!

The reverberating collision rings DD's hyper-sensitive ears as he swings the ball & chain into Absorbing Man's body - a wide open target as Creel brings his diamond fists down over Daredevil like two hammers! The ball shatters!

Daredevil's legs go numb, but at least he's in one piece. Absorbing Man finds his diamond arm has been cracked clean off by the impact!

A diamond hand begins dragging its dismembered arm around the battlefield -- and Daredevil is to warn out to contend with twice the threat.

He desperately asks Detective Levin for his gun and finally starts applying his radar sense. With no other hope, DD begins slamming the butt of the gun handle into Absorbing Man's furious diamond body. Again and again, darting in and out to avoid a knock out, and chip away in search of the fatal flaw in the diamond!

The gun chips away pieces from Absorbing Man's remaining bicep, his hand, his jaw, his cheek, his back, his chin. All as DD struggles to remain conscious through a haze of exhaustion and tasting blood & sweat. It's exhausting - but worth it!

Daredevil can barely stand, but it's the Absorbing Man who won't survive another step. He looks down to discover his left hand has joined his right arm somewhere on the ground, with a massive cavity leaving his severely damaged diamond mid-section on the brink of cracking his body in half!

The Hammer...

He may have "taken out Earth's Mightiest Heroes" in the past, and be able to reassemble his broken body from fractured pieces, but on this day Absorbing Man was worn down and defeated by the Man Without Fear - Daredevil!

Creel is carted away in power-dampening restraints thanks to an emergency call by Detective Danny Levin, who lent the assist, and called in back-up while the fight was still raging. He's not as bad as he dresses, folks.

To the best of my knowledge; Daredevil #360 has never been held in special regard, but when you get right down to it, the disparity in weight class, and underdog success story, is comparable to a legendary example like Spider-Man versus the Unstoppable Juggernaut. A major upset victory for a street-level hero.

I suppose the novelty of that sort of thing had worn off around a decade and a half after Spidey's memorable win, but I think there are probably some other factors too, such as this brief era of Daredevil being lost between the quickly-regretted early nineties armor period, and the reboot with Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada. There were only twenty more issues of the original run after this one.

There's also the shadow of Frank Miller to consider. Daredevil #360 itself includes internal monologue references to two better remembered mismatches: the Miller-drawn fight against the Hulk, and his much earlier stand against Sub-Mariner. Two famous battles DD ultimately lost, as a matter of fact.

Beating Absorbing Man should therefore perhaps distinguish this battle, but truth be told, it also isn't the first time he's overcome significant odds against a super-villain, and the Miller influence may have cemented Daredevil in many minds as a down-trodden hero, notable for his noir-tinged street struggles more than his over-the-top super-hero triumphs.

That would certainly explain the reaction I saw to a recent issue where Daredevil and Elektra defeated The Wrecker. A social media post that described it as a "career low" for the villain -- capturing my imagination in the process, and setting us on a path to study the case further.

In our previous feature we looked at The Wrecker against some of Daredevil's friends, and now we can observe a similar scenario from the other side, showing Daredevil is certainly capable of enduring and cutting down an opponent of Thor.

There is the qualitative measure to make. There are a few blows here you might not expect Daredevil to survive, as illustrated, but I think we should allow for a little artistic license in these matters. Which is to say, I don't have any real qualms with Daredevil staggering wobbly legged away from a well-earned, inventive win.

Actually, to be honest, my bigger problem has always been depictions of Absorbing Man sustaining critical injuries. At this point, it's just a fact of the character, but I've never been completely at easy with the concept of losing half his head, or massive section of internal organs, just because he happens to have transmuted his body into another substance.

Absorbing Man's powers are magical and it's kind of absurd that I would have this hang-up, but isn't turning himself into a man of living steel super-power enough without adding molecular re-integration of broken off pieces? Isn't it dramatically more interesting if he needs to assess the risks of taking on the properties of fragile materials -- or suffer their consequences?

Granted, there is always going to be the issue of creative restraint, and the pitfalls of some bright spark inevitably deciding they're the one who should break the toys Kirby built. Maybe we just can't have nice things and I should accept that part of Absorbing Man's repertoire is piecing himself back together again.

On a positive note - I really enjoyed the inventive use of his powers in this issue. I can't think of many other times he's taken on the form of paper, and it was a somewhat elegant way for Creel to quickly avoid dealing with gunshot wounds. I'm not sure that it makes sense his body would flatten out like a Freddy Krueger gag from A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, but again - a little artistic license.

The issue takes place in the wake of Onslaught, and while it's a fairly basic big superhero fight issue, I do appreciate the way it leverages the apparent deaths of The Avengers and Fantastic Four, to give Daredevil his big moment, while showing the threat of villains emboldened by a perceived lack of opposition.

That's one of the unique pleasures of shared-universe superhero comics and I probably would've enjoyed seeing even more of it, at that time. There was a bit of it going around, but beyond The Thunderbolts, it didn't seem to be a primary focus. They weren't spinning another Acts of Vengeance style crossover out of it.

Of course, I wasn't paying attention to every series at that time. In fact, this era of Daredevil was something that largely passed me by, which has made it a real pleasure to go back to and re-discover all these years later. It might be my preferred vein of DD, swinging the pendulum back in the bombastic superhero direction, much like Ann Nocenti's work after Miller.

As luck would have it, there's actually another Daredevil mismatch from around this period that I'd like to explore, but in our next entries I think we'll continue expanding The Wrecker file, and perhaps dive into some other topics that have been tickling my fancy lately. I'm trying to be a little less scattershot, while maintaining the human touch. Absolutely no "AI" generated content here, buddy!

You'll be able to find out if I stuck to my plans, and flex your mind muscle, by following links throughout this post to discover topics you're interested in -- or by diving in to the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Crossovers are right down the bottom.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has been serving superhero smackdown for well over 700 fights and ranked more than 1000 of your favourite characters! If that sounds like a good thing to you -- I'd really appreciate it if you considered getting involved on Patreon. It's free to follow and a Tier 1 sub is a great, cheap way to support 100% man-made, farm fresh niche content.

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Winner: Daredevil (w/ Detective Danny Levin)
#8 (--) Daredevil
#669 (new) Det. Danny Levin [+1 assist]
#1039 (-340) Absorbing Man

KANG versus SPIDER-BOY

Too Many Heroes -- Too Little Time! (Marvel/DC)
Where: Spider-Boy Team-Up #1 When: June 1997
Why: RK Sternsel How: Ladronn

The Story So Far...
When twin primordial entities recollected their dissipated conscious energies and regained each other's notice -- they turned to pit the warriors of their respective universes against one another in a battle to the death!

In an effort to contravene these dire circumstances, beings from both worlds -- The Living Tribunal and The Spectre -- clasp hands to forge a new universe comprised of elements of both.

Thus, for a fleeting instant, all of history unfolds to tell the tale of a new existence in The Amalgam Age! In this reality: General Thunderbolt Ross leads efforts to bioengineer a successor to the World War II super-hero known as Super-Soldier. Under ill-fated scientist, Peter Parker, Project Cadmus successfully creates a prematurely woken clone who becomes the sensational Spider-Boy!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Kang 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Kang 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-Boy 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Kang 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Spider-Boy 2099 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Spider-Boy 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Kang 5 (Lasers)
Total: Kang The Time Conqueror 29 (Metahuman)

Spider-Boy is the Amalgam Comics synthesis of Marvel's Spider-Man of the time, Ben Reilly, and the half-kryptonian DC Comics clone, Superboy!

Named Pete Ross for the Project Cadmus scientist who led his creation, Peter Parker, and his adopted guardian, General Ross; Spider-Boy uses his innate powers to manipulate gravity to walk on walls and fight crime.

He also possesses enhanced strength, speed, and agility, and a Cadmus designed gun that shoots adhesive webs -- complimenting his swinging style as Spider-Boy.

Before his "Uncle Gen" was gunned down in the street by a mugger, he bestowed upon the young clone wise words Super-Soldier once told him. A mantra Spider-Boy lives by, albeit with his own twist of tabloid chasing antics: "With great power does come great responsibility... and way too much fun!"

Spider-Man and Superboy fought during the Marvel versus DC crossover event, but combined they are one of the Amalgam Universe's greatest heroes -- inspiring following generations as far as the in-fiction future of 2099!

Of course, time is of no consequence to the mysterious cloaked spectre that is Kang, The Time Conqueror!

He is the combination of Marvel's Kang and DC's Time Trapper -- and his reach is just as grandiose as each of his two halves! As we'll soon see: The Time Conqueror is aware of the omniverse beyond his composite reality, and aims to access the nexus of powers inherent within the Amalgam hero.

The Tape: Kang The Time Conqueror Ranking: Draw (Not Ranked)

What Went Down...

As Spider-Boy successfully sends a mortally wounded samaritan to the relative safety of the Phantom-Negative Zone, he's shocked to learn from Vance Cosmic, and the future Legion of Galactic Guardians, that the young man will not emerge until the year 2099 -- a century from the present!

Shocked and baffled by their cavalier attitude towards the grim fate, Spider-Boy becomes even more perplexed as his 2099 allies appear to become frozen like statues. A sign that the grim spectre chasing him through time has arrived!

As the looming figure sizzles into view, its cloak hood falls to reveal the green & purple helmeted visage of Kang The Time Conqueror!

Having dragged Spider-Boy into the non-space of Limbo -- Kang now takes control of his target, wrapping massive gauntleted hands around his forearms, with a mad scheme to use the young hero to conqueror the very omniverse!

Kang reveals that Spider-Boy is a vital, primal living nexus of realities!

Powerful energies begin to glow like a seam down Spider-Boy's center as The Time Conqueror attempts to pull him apart, separating his amalgamated life energies to gain access to all realities through time and space!

As the process takes hold -- Spider-Boy begins to split into two separate beings: the confounded Spider-Man of the Marvel Universe and an equally confused Superboy from the DC Universe!

Despite Kang's seemingly imminent success -- a time square opens in the Limbo dimension -- producing yet another, fully masked Spider-Boy!

The mystery Spider-Boy uses the two heads of his splitting counterpart to vault out of the temporal transport and deliver a devastating two-footed kick to Kang's face!

The violent blow sends Kang reeling and frees his grip on the original Spider-Boy!

The masked version swings around the falling Time Conqueror, calling for his predecessor to lend a hand to quickly put the time-fiend on ice.

Having pulled himself back together, Spider-Boy produces his web gun and unleashes a steady stream of webbing in unison with his mysterious counterpart, who sprays organic webbing from his two forefingers!

With the villain successfully subdued in a bodily cocoon of webbing -- the twin heroes aim to at last unmask the scourge of time!

Spider-Boy rips the helmet from his head, unmasking Kang's true face as Chronos-Tut, The Time Pharoah! An enemy once defeated by the Challengers of the Fantastic when he attempted to turn Washington DC into ancient Egypt!

Unbeknownst to the heroes, in unmasking Kang they damaged his masks circuitry -- shattering his ability to control the omniversal forces that maintain Limbo!

A spectacular building of energies signals the collapse of Chronos-Tut's scheme!

He radiates with power until at last it explodes -- consuming Chronos-Tut and blasting both Spider-Boys back to the Project Cadmus laboratory found deep within the subterranean corridors of Fantastic Mountain!

Now mere moments after triggering the Phantom-Negative Zone device, Spider-Boy learns of the true significance of his unexpected ally: He is Mig-El Gand -- the injured boy who will spend a century in the pocket dimension, before emerging to receive the life-saving spider DNA serum that turns him into Spider-Boy 2099!

The Hammer...

For a fleeting moment I thought we had a fourth wall breaking appearance by Marvel's bona fide Kang The Conqueror, but the unmasking of Chronos-Tut confirms this is an Amalgam combination of Kang and DC's elusive Time Trapper.

I'm basically repeating thoughts from Kang's Heroes Reborn entry, but an intrusion into the Amalgam Universe really could've worked!

There are a variety of explanations for how he might've escaped the combination of universes. From his frequent visitations to the Limbo realm, to his existence as a time-displaced traveler from a distant future; the means for Kang to step beyond the consequences of causality -- and a present day that merged Marvel and DC -- were there to be exploited.

Kang The Time Conqueror, aka; Chronos-Tut, The Time Pharoah, might not exist beyond Amalgam Comics, but nevertheless possesses an awareness of its unique composite reality, as we saw in his efforts to divide Spider-Boy back into his original components of Spider-Man and Superboy.

As a matter of note: The great Ladronn draws what looks like a fairly classic Spider-Man, which seems to suggest Spider-Boy owes his Marvel side to Peter Parker, even though it was Ben Reilly in the webs when the two universes clashed, and first produced the combined reality of the Amalgam Universe in 1996.

By this point it had been revealed Peter Parker wasn't the clone that everybody was led to believe he was. This shouldn't have any real consequence for Spider-Boy, and should probably be regarded as a mistake, but we're hardly going to hold against the artist. Ladronn's Kirby-infused pencils are always an absolute treat!

Spider-Boy Team-Up #1 is an all-around tour de force, with Roger Stern and Karl Kesel (credited as the Amalgamated "RK Sternsel") cramming every single page chock full of ideas brought to life with Jose Ladronn's masterful touch. It's really hard to believe it's only a 22-page comic! There's just so much!

Twin rollcalls for the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099 playfully poke fun at DC's unstable Legion of Super-Heroes, while also casually tossing off a couple dozen awesome new Amalgam characters, including personal favourites: 'Lectron (Electro & Lightning Lad), Timberwolf By Night (Werewolf By Night & Timber Wolf), Cannonfire (Cannonball & Wildfire), Multiple Maid (Multiple Man & Triplicate Girl), and Sparkler (Dazzler & Spark).

It's an absolute smorgasbord of sparklingly brilliant ideas before you even reach the punctuating piece de resistance of Spider-Boy 2099, whose origin is actually told before your very eyes throughout the entire issue, using the reality & time bending plotlines to trick you into thinking it's a B-story, fusing elements of Mon-El, and the recently cancelled Spider-Man 2099, to create Mig-El Gand!

Perhaps the only criticism of this issue, like many of the best Amalgam one-shots, is that it really makes you want to continue reading more of these characters!

DC and Marvel collaborated on two complete waves of Amalgam Comics across 1996 and 1997, along with a sprawling catalogue of stand-alone crossovers, such as Green Lantern/Silver Surfer, but more consequential storytelling was limited to the original DC versus Marvel/Marvel versus DC mini-series, and two four issue spin-offs starring a joint-owned hero: DC/Marvel: All Access and Unlimited Access.

Those books gave us even more fun crossovers between the two companies, but Spider-Boy Team-Up might've been a fantastic series to continue, allowing them to introduce even more brilliant mash-up concepts, while doing more to showcase the heroes & villains introduced across in the earlier Amalgam Comics wave.

Alas, these kinds of crossovers appear to be in the distant past, and Spider-Boy will be one of the few variations of Spider-Man that will not be appearing in the upcoming animated theatrical blockbuster: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

I guess that just makes it all the more perfect that we can talk about it here!

Sometimes I kind of view Amalgam characters as a little bit of time wasted given that their existence is limited and they'll rarely advance beyond one or two entries on the site, but here revisiting Spider-Boy, I'm reminded of just how much fun the whole experiment was. It literally had me running to the stands back in 1996!

There's actually quite a few Spider-Boy battles we can return to, and if you'd like to help make that possible, consider becoming a supporter on Patreon! As a thank you you'll unlock access to additional updates and a new Discord server, while also helping to make everything that appears here possible!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 iconic characters! You can find them all by following links throughout each article, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Scroll through to the bottom to find crossover publications, such as Amalgam Comics, and much 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: Spider-Boy & Spider-Boy 2099
#360 (new) Spider-Boy (Peter Ross)
#361 (new) Spider-Boy (Mig-El Gand)
#1007 (new) Kang The Time Conqueror (Chronos-Tut)

SUICIDE SQUAD versus PEACEMAKER versus MAJOR FORCE

"Death Game" (DC)
Where: Suicide Squad #28 When: May 1989 Why: Kim Yale & John Ostrander How: John K Snyder & Karl Kesel

The Story So Far...
A conspiracy known as "The Janus Directive" has ignited a secret war between rival covert military departments: Task Force X, Project: Atom, and Force of July.

Each suspects the other of plotting the attack, but the first shots were fired by Amanda Waller, whose pre-emptive counterstrike decimated The Force of July at the hands of her Suicide Squad. An act that arouses the suspicions of her allies in Checkmate.

The intelligence agency deploys Peacemaker to intervene in an assassination plot to safely detain Dr. Heinrich Megala of Project: Atom. Now their headquarters in the Koning Industries building is ground zero for a meta-human frontal assault as Project Atom's Major Force and the Suicide Squad launch separate attacks!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Major Force 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Lashina 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Vixen 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Major Force 6 (Generator)
Agility: Vixen 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Lashina 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Major Force 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Major Force 32 (Super)

Usually battle lines can be drawn between two sides, and indeed this fight does start as a one-on-one encounter, but the intrusion of a definitive third-party has led to a Secret Wars on Infinite Earths first -- a three-way conflict!

The Suicide Squad are: Vixen, Duchess, Shade the Changing Man, and Count Vertigo. They're charging into the middle of a violent showdown between Project: Peacemaker's top man, and the sadistic military powerhouse of Project Atom.

Peacemaker is a bit of an ironic moniker. Christopher Smith was imprisoned for war crimes when he was directed by erroneous military intelligence to massacre a village of innocents. He was paroled on the condition he join Project: Peacemaker - an elite, secret anti-terrorism police force.

The son of an Austrian Nazi war criminal; Smith is haunted by visions of his father that compel him towards extreme acts of personal success. He channeled this into atoning for he and his father's crimes, using his family fortune for philanthropic charity work, and to fund his activities as the extreme soldier Peacemaker. He's working as a freelance agent of Checkmate at the time of today's battle.

Major Force is another cast-off of the military-industrial complex. US Air Force Sergeant Clifford Zmeck was court-martialed and convicted of murder & rape, but found a reprieve from a life sentence via Project: Atom. After their failures coating another test subject in alien metal and exposing him to a nuclear blast, they gave Zmeck a triple layer and attempted the experiment again.

Zmeck also appeared to perish in the blast, but was actually caught in the same Quantum Field that claimed Nathaniel Adam, thrusting them both into the future whilst fusing their bodies with the alien metal, granting them flight, super-human strength, speed, durability, and quantum energy blasts.

The Suicide Squad should be able to pin down the gun-toting, jet-packing Peacemaker, but Major Force represents a major challenge for all parties involved.

Duchess, who is in actual fact the New God Lashina, might be able to withstand his strength and power blasts. Vixen can also add extra muscle by channeling the strength of an elephant & rhino like she did when defeating the Russian super-spy Stalnoivolk in Suicide Squad #43.

Shade the Changing Man and Count Vertigo attack perceptions by projecting a vision of fear, and disorienting sonic pulse, respectively. Peacemaker's helmet might be able to repeat Batman's method for blocking out Vertigo's powers, but Shade's M-Vest could prey upon his visions. We'll just have to see how either interacts with the quantum powered Major Force!...

The Tape: Suicide Squad Ranking: Vixen (#74)

What Went Down...

In the wreckage of the Koning Industries building, Major Force gleefully awaits the attack of Peacemaker. He's coming in hot -- jet-packing through the sky with high-powered blaster at the ready!

Peacemaker hones in like a heat-seeking missile -- blasting Major Force through the air with gun blazing!

Major Force rolls with the blow, regaining his footing with a sadistic smile as he charges both hands with dark quantum energy and delights at the prospect of a new "playmate".

He slams his hands together, sending bursting shocks blasts into the sky, but Peacemaker manages to rocket above the danger and remain focused!

Before Peacemaker can make good on his threat to kill Major Force -- the Suicide Squad arrives to pacify the conflict with extreme prejudice!

Vixen orders Count Vertigo and Shade the Changing Man to target Peacemaker, who doesn't immediately open fire on the unknown assailants.

He quickly gets an answer to their status when Vertigo engulfs him in a disorienting field that causes him to lose his bearings and head into a downward spiral!

Shade keeps the pressure on Peacemaker as he crash lands into the wrecked Koning building. His strange M-Vest projects a warped vision of Wolfgang Schmidt in SS uniform -- the imaginary picture of his father that haunts Peacemaker!

Rattled by the sight, Peacemaker is defenseless as Shade swoops around him and extends a massive projected fist from the cackling Nazi!

Duchess follows Vixen's direction to target Major Force, keeping him distracted by stepping up with a powerful hand cannon of her own devious design.

The Major welcomes the weapon, confident his alien metal shell can withstand the blast.

Force absorbs the almost point blank blasts straight to the torso, laughing as each of three rounds does almost nothing to impact him.

He takes great delight in taking his "shot", first punching Duchess in the face with a straight right, then delivering a side kick to the stomach, and finishing the combo with a close range uppercut!

Duchess wipes her mouth with a forearm and tosses away her gun. She tells her teammates to proceed with their mission while she takes care of her "meat".

"Hah! I finally found someone who won't break the first time I hit him! Okay worm -- let's match fists!"

A wild right hook checks Major Force across the jaw with a KRAK!

Lashina follows with a high kick -- maybe a roundhouse -- unaware that across the battlefield Peacemaker is watching.

Crawling through the wreckage, he imagines his father's chastising. It spurs him onward, first to his knees and then back toward his gun. He'll prove his isn't a weakling by lining up both his enemies and making the shot!

A massive explosion erupts a blaze around the battlefield as it blasts through the crumbling Koning building and topples Duchess, Major Force, and even the weakened gunman -- but was Peacemaker really responsible?!

His two awesomely powerful targets are first to stir. Major Force tries to get off the ground, cracking wise: "Oof! What was in that last punch, baby?"

Duchess doesn't take credit for the blast, but finishes him off with a rabbit punch!

Vixen and Shade emerge from the raging inferno carrying a badly wounded Count Vertigo. Turns out he caught a face full of explosion when the Squad's true target -- the diabolical Doctor Heinrich Megala -- blew up. A suicide-doppelganger!

The forcefield of Shade's M-Vest kept Vertigo from being fatally wounded, and allows the rest of the team to walk away having won the battle, if not the war.

The Hammer...

The Suicide Squad clearly emerges victorious -- even if their ultimate objective to detain Doctor Megala wasn't achieved.

Per the standard format we could have reviewed this as the Suicide Squad against mutually hostile targets Peacemaker & Major Force.

I generally prefer to keep the battelines drawn down two sides, but in this one it just felt a bit more interesting and honest to acknowledge a three-way conflict. Peacemaker and Major Force never even inadvertently collude, with the former lining up his shots against MF and Duchess right until the end.

It's actually a key plot point that everyone's at each other's throats: The Janus Directive is an 11 issue crossover weaving through the pages of Suicide Squad, Checkmate, Manhunter, Firestorm, and Captain Atom. It's a paranoid superhero-thriller that turns DC's various military and intelligence agencies against one another in a private war.

If you're acting under the misapprehension that any era of comics was apolitical, the post-Crisis DCU will be a particularly rude awakening. These comics were rife with political intrigue and commentary, and there were plenty of politically motivated and analogous agencies to get involved in The Janus Directive!

The first shots are fired when Amanda Waller fingers either The Atom Project or The Force of July for planning a violent power play against their departmental rivals at Task Force X: overseer of the Suicide Squad.

She doesn't know which agency it will be, and seeks to recruit Checkmate and Project: Peacemaker as part of a pre-emptive counterstrike led by the Squad.

"The Wall" refuses to reveal the source of her information, and the extreme nature of her actions arouses suspicion from Checkmate, turning them against her as the conflict escalates -- and with good reason, too! She's actually enacting plans revealed by a doppelganger who was supposed to have replaced her!

Waller initiates the Janus Directive to avoid alerting the conspirators that she's thwarted their replacement attempt, while also using covert resources, such as Manhunter, to uncover the mastermind behind it all: Kobra!

It might sound a little complicated, but it's a testament to the complimentary relationship between the various DC series involved, many written by John Ostrander, and the value packed into each issue at the time. This is a certainly crossover that enhanced each series it overlaps with, injecting colour and extra excitement into sometimes more sedate worlds.

Suicide Squad is and was a jewel in the crown of the time, and I find myself coming back to it regularly with greater appreciation. A lot of its strength is in the ebb & flow of A & B plots, accumulated reference, and the flexibility of the material to blend espionage, costumed super-heroics, and everything in between.

It's kind of awesome that we're looking at an issue that casually brings together a gun-toting earthbound New God in camo pants (Duchess, aka; Lashina), a Charlton acquisition (Peacemaker), and an oddball Steve Ditko creation (Shade the Changing Man). Fruits of earlier stories and a little happenstance.

I hope to take a closer look at some of these characters in the future, but if you'd like to draw your own conclusions you can find the entire crossover collected in the Suicide Squad Vol. 4: The Janus Directive.

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked well over 1000 characters! You can find them all by diving deeper into the Secret Archive: a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Or follow links throughout each post to discover more from your favourite characters, creators, and subjects!

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Winners: Duchess, Shade the Changing Man & Count Vertigo
#191 (+370) Lashina (Duchess)
#348 (new) Shade the Changing Man
#366 (+266) Count Vertigo
#617 (new) Doctor Megala Imposter [+1 assist]
#73 (+1) Vixen [+1 assist]
#959 (new) Major Force
#960 (new) Peacemaker