WONDER MAN versus CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE

And They Shall Call Him... Champion! (Marvel)
Where: Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 When: 1982
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Ron Wilson

The Story So Far...
The Fantastic Four's Thing has earned a reputation as one of the universe's greatest fighters, having battled some of the most powerful beings of multiple galaxies! Enter: Proja - Promoter Supreme!

Charged with signing worthy opponents to challenge The Champion of the Universe -- Proja sees big box office potential in a main event match between The Thing and his client!

Madison Square Garden is the only arena in the world that could stage the once in a lifetime title bout, but you can't have a main event without an undercard! The Champ welcomes the challenge of some of Earth's most powerful defenders, but his pugilistic code swiftly eliminates Thor and Hulk from defending their planet.

Sasquatch did his best to test The Champ's ring awareness with brains and brawn, while the steely determination of the X-Man Colossus prompted The Champ to unleash a brutal beating. Now it's time for celebrity powerhouse Wonder Man to leave the film set and step into the ring as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Champion 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Champion 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Champion 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Draw 1 (None)
Total: Champion of the Universe 29 (Metahuman)

So far Earth's challengers have been a mixed bag! Doc Samson failed to make it out of training - kayoed by a sparring robot, while the royal Sub-Mariner plain refused to even respond to the lowly challenge, let alone train for it.

After side-stepping a disqualified Thor and delisted Hulk -- The Champion of the Universe finally showed everyone he's as dangerous as they say by knocking out Sasquatch, and pummeling Colossus into a forced stoppage!

Next on the card of Earthborn challengers is Wonder Man: a then-recently retired Avenger-turned-actor with super-human strength, durability -- and serious doubts about his own suitability as a contender!

Simon Williams was recruited into the Masters of Evil when his family munitions business, Williams Innovations, faced crippling competition from Stark Industries. Guilty of embezzlement and involvement with organized crime; the desperate and inexperienced business heir accepted help from Baron Zemo in exchange for subjecting himself to experiments with ionic rays and radioactive chemicals.

Deployed to The Avengers as a double-agent; Wonder Man's conscience eventually led him to align with the heroes for real -- but a brush with death would plague his psyche and destroy his confidence. The anxious hero eventually decided to leave super-heroics behind, but the call always brings him back to the fight!

Wonder Man is a heavyhitter to be sure, demonstrating his strength in a weight-lifting challenge with USAgent, and taking on later battles against a super-charged Ronan, a renegade Hercules, and symbiote-possessed Avengers.

He's got the ionic might to stand his ground, but at the time of The Champion's challenge it's Wonder Man's mental game that might be his biggest downfall.

Simon Williams never set out to be a super-hero -- now he's one of Earth's last hopes against potential annihilation. We saw him struggle with his resurrected brother in a spotlight from a later issue. So how did the Avenger-slash-actor fare when the spotlight is turned on him? Let's find out...

The Tape: Champion of the Universe Ranking: Champion of the Universe (#74)

What Went Down...
The gravity of the situation dawns on Wonder Man as he watches attendants carry an unconscious Colossus on a stretcher through the training room. He and The Thing are the only heroes left. "What will happen to the Earth if we also fail?"

The Avenger disappears as Thing tells him to forget the stakes: "Ya got a fight ta win! Think about that -- and nothin' else!" Wonder Man vows to do his best.

Alas, the harsh realities of the boxing ring quickly take their toll!

Clearly warmed up by his previous battles, The Champion of the Universe works swiftly to take control of the match. We join the fight shortly after the opening bell to witness a right hook that launches Wonder Man over the top rope -- and into an invisible force-field surrounding the ring!

The Avenger drops to the mat, doubled over on his knees and contemplating his reluctance to even be there.

Wonder Man doesn't want to be a hero. Doesn't want to fight. He knows he can't take much more punishment -- but the chants of the crowd reach beyond his inner doubts. The spirit of the people wills him to get back up. Slowly but surely, with agony tearing through his body -- he does!

Back on his feet, Wonder Man makes a bold show of things!

Seemingly frustrated with the struggle and adrenalized by the crowd -- Wonder Man grabs at the ring mat and tears a piece of it up!

The Avenger is apparently tired of playing by the rules, but it's the rules that have seen him undone. For damaging the ring he is immediately disqualified. Another hero fallen before the match could even be decided.

The Hammer...

As anyone who's paid to watch a fight knows - there is always the risk that a bout will end in less than satisfying fashion. That means another inconclusive result for our record books, but what about the rules of the competition?

On the surface of it - it seems frustration got the better of Wonder Man, ending the match in a disqualification, but there is an intriguing possibility of reading into this result as an easy way out of a fight he didn't really want to have...

When Colossus was brought through the training area after losing his match, The Thing had a clear impression of how the young X-Man "did 'imself proud". So we could assume there's a live feed showing waiting challengers each match. Which means Wonder Man would've known Hulk was disqualified for a similar outburst.

Ultimately, I think we're to take it all at face value. Yes, Simon Williams had deep seeded doubts about his ability and desire to fight, but the support of the crowd spurred him to find his heroic spirit, and despite looking more spry than Sasquatch after taking The Champ's punches -- the weight of the situation, combined with the restrictions of the squared circle, just got him riled up.

Stepping away from the page; we of course know this result is in service of setting up a main event collision between the series headliner and The Champion of The Universe! A match we've been slowly building toward as we've continued to return to Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 over the many years!

Since our last entry - a unique adaptation of Wonder Man has become a Marvel Disney+ streaming series, and even more appropriately, The Champion of the Universe has been revealed to finally be taking the obvious role of a video game final boss in the upcoming Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.

The Champ did make it into the Contest of Champions mobile game a few years back, but as a noted fan of Capcom's Marvel fighting classics, it always made sense to me that he would fit perfectly into the classic fighting format, either as a powerhouse sub-boss, or as the engine for the entire game, as in Marvel Tokon.

Actually, Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes, with its Infinity Gem system loosely inspired by The Infinity Gauntlet, always seemed like a good place for The Champion to slot right in as a sub-boss. Particularly given his later association with the Infinity Stone of Power, seen as a pivotal plot point in his fight with She-Hulk and the all-important rematch.

The Champ also could've worked well in a new Marvel vs Capcom game, if Arc System Works didn't beat them to it for Tokon. It might've been nice to see Balrog (aka; M.Bison, aka; "Boxer") make some kind of appearance there. Heck. I don't particularly need to see Wonder Man in a fighting game roster, but the thought occurs that he was Johnny Cage before there was a Johnny Cage! Note that The Avenger slash actor is fighting with his sunglasses still on in our feature.

Next time we see The Champion of the Universe, it will no doubt be his classic main event blockbuster with The Thing -- but this won't be the end of our fun with Tryco Slatterus. There's a whole other card I'd like to explore in future entries!

If that sounds like a good idea to you - consider supporting the project on Patreon. Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has been serving superhero smackdown for well over 750 fights, ranking more than 1000 of your favourite characters with detailed information resources and review all free for your convenience!

You can find the entire fighting history, including more bouts from Marvel Two-In-One and all future entries, by diving in to the Secret Archives! That's a complete index of every featured fight in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Or simply follow links throughout each feature to find more from your favourite characters, series, and subjects. That's how you become the ultimate fighter!

You can also get daily recommendations inspired by popular topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share to help boost the signal -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. Ring the bell and get in the ring!

Winner: No Contest (Draw)
#71 (+3) Champion of the Universe [+1 draw]
#76 (+6) Wonder Man [+1 draw]

DARK CLAW versus HYENA

Through a Glass Darkly (DC/Marvel)
Where: Legends of The Dark Claw #1 When: April 1996 Why: Larry Hama How: Jim Balent

The Story So Far...
When twin primordial entities re-collected their dissipated conscious energies -- they became aware of each other once more and turned to pit the warriors of their respective universes against one another in battle to the death!

In an effort to contravene total annihilation, beings from both worlds -- The Living Tribunal and The Spectre -- clasp hands to forge a new universe made of elements of each.

Thus, for a fleeting instant, all of history unfolds to tell the tale of a new existence in The Amalgam Age! In this reality: Logan Wayne was orphaned until he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and submitted to the Weapon X Project. They gave him claws and metal bones, triggering his mutant healing factor, but also an arch-nemesis in the psychotic Hyena. Now he fights crime as Dark Claw!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hyena 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Dark Claw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Draw 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Dark Claw 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Dark Claw 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Hyena 3 (Explosives)
Total: Dark Claw 27 (Metahuman)

What do you get when you combine the mutant ferocity of Marvel's Wolverine with the gothic detective vigilantism of DC's Batman? A team-up between the two publishers answered this question and more with Dark Claw & Amalgam Comics!

Logan Wayne witnessed the mugging murder of his parents at age 5 and was sent to live with his uncle in Alberta, Canada. When poachers left the mountie for dead - Wayne fell into the custody of nuns. When he came of age he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. From there he entered the Weapon X Project: a secret experimental program designed to create the ultimate killing machine.

Weapon X was erased from all records, but not before it endowed Logan Wayne with retractable blades over his fists, laced his skeleton with unbreakable adamantium, and triggered a mutant healing factor!

Despite all these gifts, and years of tactical combat training, Wayne's unshakeable conscience rendered him a failure as a living weapon. Something his arch-nemesis and fellow Project X subject excelled a little too well at!

Hyena was once Creed H. Quinn -- another RCAF volunteer submitted to the Weapon X project. He received similar enhancements, with talon-like claws for fingernails, enhanced durability & healing, but also green hair and a grinning insanity that won't be satiated until he kills the man he blames for it - Dark Claw!

Hyena combines the animalistic physicality of Sabretooth with the scheming madness of The Joker. There are aspects of both, but in terms of fighting style, he borrows more obviously from the Marvel side, complimenting size & strength with an arsenal of guns, laughing bombs, and deranged minions known as The Pack.

The arch-rivalry has the tooth & claw scrapping of classic Wolverine & Sabretooth battles, but the New Gotham setting and dogged pursuit gives it a Batman & Joker flourish. Of course -- this actually isn't the first time we've covered the pair!

Super-Soldier helped Access and Dark Claw defeat Hyena in DC versus Marvel #4 after the Amalgam Universe burst into existence in Marvel versus DC #3! We also saw the lengths Dark Claw will go to when he used a bazooka to apparently kill Ra's-A-Pocalypse during a flashback sequence in Dark Claw Adventures #1.

Those entries were nice, but this is our first full-fledged feature for Dark Claw, so let's wrap up the theory and get into seeing what they're are all about!

History: Dark Claw (1-0-0)
The Tape: Dark Claw Ranking: Dark Claw (#183)

What Went Down...

Extra! Extra! Tomorrow's headlines will be written with bullets as gunfire ricochets off the Gotham Gazette printing presses -- and Dark Claw charges over whirring reems of paper with adamantium talon-blades drawn!

The Clawed Crusader fearlessly dives over Hyena's still-blasting machine pistol to join the madman on a suspended walkway!

At close quarters, the Cackling Canine tries to distract with verbal mind games, but Dark Claw is unwavering in his assault -- dismissing cryptic allusions to grand schemes with disinterest and a slash of his claws.

The resulting blood spray is enough to fulfill the juvenile clue that brought the Darknight Defender to the printing plant: "Black and white and red all over."

Hyena staggers but hits a high kick to Dark Claw's face that brings the hero perilously close to the walkway's guardrail. Dark Claw launches himself in kind, into a jumping shoulder bump that sends them both crashing through the rail on the opposite side. They fall.

The pair bounce off a spinning roller and hit the ground hard!

Hyena recovers first -- throwing Dark Claw across the factory floor into the unforgiving steel and concrete that gives the printing plant its structure. Metal beams and newsprint spill across him, pinning Dark Claw as Hyena prances away with a smile and a pointless spray of uzi fire into the air.

As Dark Claw gingerly pushes himself off the ground and holds his head -- a voice checks-in over his mask radio: "Hey, old man! Your life-function readings are looking kinda skronky!" Nothing a mutant healing factor can't handle.

Dark Claw warns his sidekick to be prepared for Hyena as she hovers outside in the Claw-Copter: "Keep your eye on the horizon and check your six, Sparrow... The Hyena is heading for the roof, so be prepared to cover me!"

The Darknight Defender races through the printing plant, catching up with Hyena as he's scaling the stairs to the upper levels.

A volley of grenades greets the hero on the landing, but he manages to stay clear of the blasts and maintain chase.

Hyena has nowhere left to run with his back against a tall glass window and Dark Claw's adamantium talons approaching fast. He wants to play!

The Clawed Crusader lunges at his nemesis -- slashing his claws across Hyena's face while sending the pair smashing through the window!

They continue clawing at each other as momentum carries them across the divide between buildings. Glass fragments trickle and fall towards the bustling, car-filled street below as hero and villain remain locked in mortal combat!

They hit the Zest Cola sign on the opposing rooftop with a shower of sparks!

Dark Claw presses his advantage, holding Hyena over the void of the rooftop ledge with a fistful of shirt. The grim vigilante isn't playing around: "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just cut your throat and drop you into traffic!"

It looks like the end of the line for Hyena's madness -- but suddenly the precarious ledge is alive with gunfire!

From an overlooking verge on the opposite building stands The Pack: Hyena's loyal gang of punks and sickos -- covered in piercings & chains and armed to the teeth with a heavy duty arsenal of high-powered blasters.

They open up with all barrels -- forcing Dark Claw to evade as Hyena steps back and enjoys the show!

Dark Claw nimbly drops to a lower roof and flips clear of the two-stacked mega blaster shots, but as he goes on the run -- The Pack unleash the heavy artillery!

Rockets explode the roof from underneath Dark Claw and he desperately leaps!

Fortunately -- his faith finds the waiting tyre of a chopper!

Sparrow, Dark Claw's loyal sidekick, kept her eyes on the horizon true to their communication. She was ready & waiting to swoop in to make the save!

The fiery youth takes the Claw-Copter around for a strafing run, but Dark Claw abruptly grabs the controls and sends them flying skyward.

The Pack has heat seeking missiles. Better to live to fight another day than try to take them in the city.

The Hammer...
As Dark Claw takes Sparrow and the Claw-Copter on a strategic retreat -- they're forced to make another abrupt turn to avoid the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier speeding through New Gotham airspace to (or from) an unknown destination.

Could this be a subtle clue that SHIELD Director Bruce Wayne is responsible for covertly deploying The Huntress, Carol Danvers, to Logan Wayne's penthouse loft in the "artsy-trendy" part of town? Or is this simply a playful editorial nod to the two Amalgam characters inspired by Batman? Questions to answer another time!

Today we're going all-in on what was probably the DC/Marvel remix that excited me the most. I don't exactly remember how I found out about it. Maybe it was in-house ads in other books, the hot tip from Tony at the comic shop, cards, or just a chance sighting at the newsagent. Either way -- I literally ran through the supermarket complex to grab my copy before they sold out!

On top of a mostly still-vibrant time for series like X-Men, other then-recent efforts, like Green Lantern/Silver Surfer, did wonders to bolster confidence and fuel interest in more crossovers. This was despite the impending industry decline that apparently brought about this inter-company ceasefire in the first place.

By 1996 the two major publishers were going all the way with their partnership. The DC versus Marvel/Marvel versus DC crossover offered readers long awaited dream matches between favourite characters -- but Amalgam Comics opened things up to the excitement of something new and different!

In our last entry we talked about the internet era preoccupation with new readers afraid of approaching American comics, but enduring interest in Amalgam very quickly exposes how absurd the anxiety is, and how comics are best read in all directions.

Sure, these characters had no actual future or past to concern yourself with, but each Amalgam issue is created as if it was the latest in a monthly series. They're paradoxically completely stand-alone experiences, yet largely interesting because of all the baggage that comes with at least two long-running characters.

These days the "multiverse" has been abused and worn out with a litany of half-baked hack jobs -- but back then the novelty of DC and Marvel combining into a whole new universe was an irresistible curiosity! What would the world look like? Who's combined? How do their stories blend? What's the plot of each issue? "Good question." Just discovering & identifying characters was a big part of the fun!

Dark Claw stood at the front of the pack -- one of the few Amalgam characters who first appears on the final page of DC versus Marvel #3.

Unlike Amazon, comprised of Wonder Woman & Storm - or Spider-Boy, a blend of Superboy & Spider-Man; Dark Claw wasn't the product of characters matched up in the fighting crossover. Those bouts were Wolverine vs Lobo and Batman vs Captain America. Fine combat partners, but when it came time to merge the worlds, we got a collision of the two company's most popular icons of the time.

The visual design instantly sold the character as a surefire fan-favourite: Heavy on the Wolverine, with flared masked and metal claws, embellished by the romantic darkness of Batman and his flowing cape. This only gets more effective when Jim Balent goes all-out for the solo Dark Claw comic, creating blockbuster action and moody atmosphere with colourist Pat Garrahy.

They were colouring Batman pretty dark in those days, but Dark Claw's black bodysuit arguably skews more Hollywood than comic book -- not that any of these characters were beholden to a simplistic formula based on their inspirations. For an ostensibly cheap gimmick - there are a lot of solid, earnest creations here.

The great Larry Hama would go on to write some Batman stories a couple of years after Legends of the Dark Knight #1, but his hand seems to favor the Marvel side with Dark Claw, perhaps leveraging his many years writing and fleshing out Wolverine's backstory.

This was all under the watch of legendary editor Denny O'Neil, and we can only speculate if there were other hands involved in the creation of Dark Claw between the various crossovers. It is interesting to note that Hama was still on Wolverine in 1996 though, and revisits the hits as Weapon X provides much of the foundation for Dark Claw's history, beyond the simple riff on the murder of the Waynes.

Things get pretty tangled as Logan Wayne's childhood custody is bounced around between tragedies, and North American national borders, eventually arriving at a fog of espionage and deep cover, and a bitter rivalry very much in the mold of Wolverine and Sabretooth. Much of this is uncovered by Huntress in this issue, but she too exists under a veil of contrived uncertainty.

These characters are so deep under cover - even they can't reveal the truth with absolute clarity. A convenient way to avoid any gaps or inconsistencies, I imagine, but also a page taken right out of the playbook of early nineties Weapon X, and Wolverine's decades of lost memories, and false implants.

Dark Claw's present-day is where the Batman influence is more present. His status as New Gotham's premiere "techno-wizard, painter, sportsman, and walking enigma" borrows some of the best bits from the urban gothic playboy of Bruce Wayne and Batman. His dogged pursuit of Hyena owes more to Batman, even if his temperament takes crime-fighting a little further. The best there is, etc.

A case can be made that Dark Claw closely resembles Tim Vigil's Faust: a hyper-violent, hyper-erotic independent anti-hero from the late eighties. Cartoonist Kayfabe did a good job covering that, and the similarities are certainly there - deliberate, or not. Jim Balent's independent work on Tarot feels like it could have a table at the tamer independent erotica end of artist's alley, but I don't know if the two had any connection.

At the time, Dark Claw's design always reminded me of a curious 1990 story in Detective Comics about an in-fiction unauthorized comic about Batman. It had a very exaggerated approach to the Bat-mythos as interpreted by a Gotham City comic book artist. In this version, Simon Petrach was the benefactor of Lucifer in a war on crime, and come to think of it, it may have been a riff on Faust as well!

Of course, Faust doesn't have a sidekick -- but Dark Claw makes full use of the odd couple dynamic of Wolverine & Jubilee, and the iconography of DC's Dynanic Duo. Batman & Robin were back in favour at that time thanks to Tim Drake, The Animated Series, and Batman Forever. There's even a little bit of The Dark Knight Returns and Carrie Kelley in Dark Claw & Sparrow, but that might be baked into the mix with Jubilee.

When you boil it all down - it's a fantastic arrangement and blending of existing pieces to create a greater sum than the parts. You don't have to know the ins & outs to appreciate the adventure, and chances are you know the broad strokes, but it is all the sweeter if you see the artistry in every decision and exploitation. It's in these details, as well as the unique and surprising flourishes, that we see the joy of human creation, and how it often differs from the plagiaristic practises of so-called "generative artificial intelligence".

Put it all together and it's just cool. It's that simple. Back in the day, I wanted to see more from Dark Claw and the Amalgam characters. Fortunately, in 1997, there was a second wave that included a cartoon-inspired Dark Claw Adventures, and here in 2025, we've just seen the surprise return of Dark Claw in Batman/Deadpool! So who knows what the future might hold!

If you'd like to see more Dark Claw here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths be sure to drop a comment and consider getting involved on Patreon.

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 supporting the project. It's free to follow on Patreon, and a Tier 1 sub is a great, cheap way to support 100% man-made, farm fresh niche content.

You can find deep dives into more characters and their exploits in the Secret Archive. That's where we file every featured fight in order of publisher, series, and issue number -- crossovers are towards the bottom for easy discovery.

Alternatively, you can explore your favourite characters and topics by following links throughout each article. Flex that mind muscle and go on a journey of discovery! That exploration is the joy of comics!

You can also get daily recommendations inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share to help boost the signal -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. So be a techno-wizard and invest!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#170 (+13) Dark Claw
#670 (new) Sparrow [+1 assist]
#683 (+41) Hyena

WRECKER versus DAREDEVIL & ELEKTRA

"Rites of Reconciliation" Part Five (Marvel)
Where: Daredevil #24 When: October 2025
Why: Saladin Ahmed How: Jose Luis Soares

The Story So Far...
When The Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk, disappeared from New York City, he left a power vacuum in Hell's Kitchen soon filled by a mysterious European syndicate known as Nouvelle Direction.

They use their considerable resources to marshal local mercenary forces against Daredevil's opposition, but the Taskmaster soon finds himself unsatisfied with his contract when Elektra arrives to fight at Daredevil's side.

As the heroes put aside their latest tensions to investigate the unfolding drama, they find somebody else is hunting Nouvelle Direction's top players. The mutilated corpse of ND's Regional Vice President is accompanied by an ominous quote from Job 5:17 - "Chastening of The Almighty". With little to go on and Taskmaster's trail cold the pair's search for answers leads them to The Bar With No Name...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: The Wrecker 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: The Wrecker 6 (Generator)
Agility: Daredevil 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Daredevil 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: The Wrecker 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Draw 26 (Metahuman)

How many Daredevils does it take to screw over a Wrecker? Technically we've got two of 'em today as our most recent entries bring us to a battle that's been on my mind ever since an innocent tweet came across my feed.

Dirk Garthwaite received enchantment from Karnilla the Norn Queen when she mistook the violent burglar for Loki during a home invasion. He's been a super-powered thorn in Thor's side ever since -- sharing his magic with The Wrecking Crew to create a quartet of heavyweight mercenaries menacing Marvel's heroes.

The Wrecker is typically at the peak of his powers when he's running solo - as we saw when he brutally roughed up The Thing -- but even when his magical might is divided, The Wrecking Crew are formidable enough to very nearly beat the gamma-irradiated Sasquatch to death!

This spells trouble for our street-level heroes, but they aren't without their hopes!

"Citizen V" proved agility & skill were enough to stand toe-to-toe with The Wrecker when The Thunderbolts clashed with The Wrecking Crew in their first public fight. Atlas was able to match their muscle, but Mach-1 secured victory when Songbird helped contain concentrated knockout gas deployed from his armor.

The gas gambit came into play again when The Punisher helped Deadpool & Spider-Man turn the tables against The Wrecking Crew with heavy artillery from the Unicorn's Power Horn and Klaw's Sonic Disruptor. Hobgoblin's gas took out most of them, while Deadpool proved Wrecker's enchanted crowbar doesn't share the protections of Thor's hammer, finishing the ringleader with his own weapon.

Finding ways to turn strengths into weaknesses is a great way to equalize a situation against a super heavyweight opponent! We saw Daredevil do just that against another enchanted Thor villain when he wore down the Absorbing Man!

The Man Without Fear is no stranger to defying the odds, fighting above his weight class against the likes of Klaw, Wolverine, and Tombstone. He's even stood his ground against the Hulk -- albeit in a losing effort. Fortunately, Matt Murdock isn't the only Daredevil competing in today's featured fight!

Elektra has been going by the moniker at this time, sharpening her skills as the guardian devil of Hell's Kitchen during & after Murdock's latest stint in prison.

Our Elektra file is as neglected as Wrecker's, but we've seen how DD & Elektra worked well together while defeating Bullseye, in addition to her highly skilled martial battles with DC's Catwoman, and Wolverine. She and Selina Kyle also matched the overwhelming strength of Abomination during the chaos of the crossover -- an inconclusive result that might otherwise bode well.

Elektra's training with Stick and assassination techniques makes her a threat to any opponent. Whether or not they surpass Daredevil is a debate for another day. Today we merely seek to see what happens when these two martial masters pit their skills against the supernatural might of The Wrecker!

The Tape: Daredevil & Elektra Ranking: Daredevil (#8)

What Went Down...

The Bar With No Name: a travelling hive of scum & villainy. Sometimes necessity requires it change its location, but it's always a font of information connecting directly to the criminal underworld. When answers run dry, or certain ne'er-do-wells need to be located -- this is the place to come.

Daredevil and Elektra stride directly into the establishment as they have done many times before. They state their intention: information about Taskmaster and his client Nouvelle Direction. This time they are over-confident.

From the shadowy periphery steps one of the many questionable patrons, but The Wrecker does not plan to provide information. A side door offers cover until he was ready to emerge to catch Daredevil by surprise with his enchanted crowbar!

DD lets out a pained yell as his back and shoulders take the brunt of an overhead clubbing strike. The kind of direct blow that's given gods pause for thought!

The Man Without Fear hits the ground face down, flat & hard. Elektra is there to come to his aid -- Hell's Kitchen's newest "Daredevil".

She leaps at The Wrecker with a sai in each hand, slashing one of the tempered blades downward against the deadly enchanted weapon.

The Wrecker swats her weapon away like a grand slam slugger, but slides one hand towards the hooked end to hold it steady against a direct strike!

The direct approach would probably skewer any normal man, but the enchanted crowbar effortlessly directs Elektra's lunging stab away from its target.

This isn't any random attack. The Wrecker reveals his status as muscle for hire. An old fashioned super-villain henchman for the gig economy. No danger of the entire Wrecking Crew attending this one. Nouvelle Direction just needed one good man. A two on one barroom brawl, but Elektra plans to settle it herself.

The former mercenary thrusts her tool of trade once again -- but this time it tags the exposed belly of The Wrecker. The price for pulling his crowbar back with both hands behind his head.

The pain sends The Wrecker into a rage!

He wraps both hands around the hilt of his magical bar and once again swings for the fences. A careless technique that's easily avoided by an elite level gymnast.

Elektra drops evasively to the floor, with her left arm bracing herself.

The lean allows her to avoid a wild follow-up, cartwheeling clear with speed and agility. The Wrecker shatters the ground beside her with a winding overhead that actually hits something this time. The floor can take it.

Wrecker, on the other hand, is driven to a mad rage!

Like a bull in a china shop -- he charges forward with another overhead clubbing strike that cuts straight through the serving counter! Elektra has no trouble vaulting gracefully straight over him.

It's another pointless attack, but it isn't without its consequences. Daredevil watches keenly with his radar-like senses tracking every detail.

His muscles tighten as his body intuitively assumes a crouching ready position. He heard a click. A faint one. Coming from The Wrecker's right wrist. An old injury? Wear and tear from years of smashing his weapon against unbreakable foes?

The Guardian Devil sees his opportunity to strike and goes for the weak spot!

This time The Wrecker lets out a throaty yell of agony!

Daredevil swings both his billy clubs upward against the motion of The Wrecker's strikes. The reinforced batons aim to break the bone, but at the very least cause significant pain.

With the ruthlessness of an assassin Elektra sees her opportunity to continue with a team assault. She throws her weight into a side thrust kick to Wrecker' gut!

The super-villain is knocked backwards, but is immediately struck with a billy club thrown straight at his spine!

Elektra keeps the punishment coming -- delivering a roundhouse kick that busts The Wrecker's lips and knocks him flat on his back!

It might not be a kayo, but it's enough to end the fight. The Wrecker stays down.

The Hammer...

At last we're here! It's probably no surprise that a match-up like this would pique my interest and find its way to The Comic Book Fight Club, but Daredevil (Vol. 8) #24 has taken on special significance since a harmless passing remark came across my X (aka; Twitter) feed -- and inspired an exploration into one of my favourite villains!

As we've just seen: Elektra and Daredevil teamed-up to take down The Wrecker, which THOR CORP community poster, Jered McCorkle, felt was a "career low" for "[a] once powerful and threatening Thor foe". I include this person's name for credit, not to harass them. It genuinely intrigued me.

Our Wrecker file had been sadly neglected, so in preparation for taking a look at the offending battle, we broadened the record and cracked into the backlog.

First we took a sample of street-level heroes against The Wrecking Crew with an issue that narrowly missed providing direct precedent. Then we explored how Daredevil fared against another enchanted weapon-wielder who regularly fights Thor. It probably would've made sense to finish with the thunderer himself, but instead, we deviated to look at The Thing versus The Wrecker to get a taste for the kind of heavyweights he frequently faces, and destruction he can wreak.

All in all it's been a very fun journey. A wonderful excuse to dig in to some old favourites -- and even make the leap to purchasing a new issue!

I don't encourage readers to behave like "goblinized" sports-freaks who regard comics with stats and fight cards -- but I do think this little exercise has been a nice example of what reading comics can be all about.

Sometimes new readers still aren't sure where to start, or how to proceed. From that uncertainty grew a mythic impression that comics can be impenetrable, or that the focus should be on an agreed upon, isolated canon of stagnant collected stories or "graphic novels". Of course, that's not really how most fans got into the medium until relatively recently, and I think it's ultimately very limiting. I've been a lifelong back issue reader and it's brought me a lot of joy.

Back in the day you just started with an issue that caught your eye, or landed in your hands, and then began tugging at threads & leads to explore in all directions and develop a sense of your own tastes. You actually just wanted to read and organically learn more -- if you can imagine such a thing!

New issues are typically a good place to start, but I admit, these days it isn't always a sure thing, with some series doing a poor job at delivering more than an incomplete chapter. While this was clearly Part Five of an on-going story arc, I'm at least pleased to have found some of that old satisfaction in today's featured issue.

At $4.99US, I wouldn't call it an impulse buy at the counter, but the contents kind of remind me of the good old days of dropping in on an adventure with a favourite character, and worrying about the rest later. Yes, there is a larger plot at play, and I could seek it out, but I still got a reasonable taste of Matt Murdock's current predicaments, and a good slice of action. A complete piece.

About the only thing missing here is a bombastic cover hyping the showdown between The Wrecker and the two Daredevils. I got the regular John Romita Jr cover [pictured top of article], which has an almost mid-2000s style of generic pin-up. It's important to acknowledge that this is actually a return to the "real" DD costume after a recent relapse into 90s armor, and all those other needlessly busy (or blackened) designs you may have seen. It might've been nice to have some copy text about that on the cover, but it's not really necessary.

Obviously Elektra is in the midst of a phase of running around in her version of a Daredevil costume. While the design isn't terrible, I personally see it as a bit of a downgrade. Taking on Matt's identity might've worked in a slightly tired redux of filling the void he leaves while in prison (again), but continuing to wear his clothes & moniker is unbecoming of an established icon. It does nothing for Elektra to disappear into somebody else's shadow. It's a weak place to find the character and we all know it won't last. Probably time to get over it and stop doing these prolonged character assassinations?

As for whether or not this was a new low for The Wrecker -- I come away from the issue kind of seeing it both ways...

There's nothing here to describe The Wrecker's powers being diminished. I'm not aware of anything like that being established in recent years. So I'm a little uneasy about Elektra drawing blood so easily, and bones being the weak spot to be exploited by DD. We know Wrecker throws down with the likes of Thor and The Thing! He's double tough - with durability that should match! Not so easily beaten!

I also wonder if Daredevil took that crowbar shot a little too easy, but we should allow some license for a seasoned fighter rolling with the punches, just like we did during his fight with Absorbing Man. Even if those "punches" are actually a sneak attack from a magical crowbar dangerously close to his head & neck.

Of course, this criticism assumes a lot about how thoroughly the good guys win.

The Wrecker clearly took a kicking and went down. That's not in dispute. He is still talking, however...

He might be lying flat on his back, but he doesn't seem too bothered about it. In fact, there's a bit of a demented smile there! He's just a hired hand, after all. In his own words: a 'contractor' not 'an employee'. He doesn't know anything. Can't tell the heroes anything. May not even be all that invested in the fight!

Maybe it borders on "quiet-quitting", but The Wrecker's job is essentially done. So perhaps he could keep fighting but is content to leave it at that. Maybe this isn't the humiliation it might otherwise appear to be.

Zooming in on the details: I find it interesting that, although the conceit of a bum wrist might seem like a bit of an easy out for the obvious mismatch -- it does kind of call back to our featured fight against The Thing.

Ben Grimm can obviously apply significantly more pressure to a wrist lock, but perhaps that prior episode is exactly why there really is a nagging injury.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about those kinds of injuries creeping in to super-hero stories, but it would at least be an attentive solution, rather than a cheap out. A more functional sense of consequence and verisimilitude than the more severe crippling of Doctor Octopus some years back. An interesting concept that really demanded more commitment than was perhaps every realistic.

All in all, I don't think this loss is irreparable damage to The Wrecker's reputation, but it's a very casual defeat in execution. A far cry from a dramatic overcoming of the odds like Spider-Man besting Juggernaut, or even DD beating Absorbing Man. Which may speak to the fact that these kinds of upsets have happened a lot and might not be as logical any more.

To really gauge where it sits in the pantheon of The Wrecker's defeats we'd have to explore more -- something I honestly wouldn't mind doing. We will probably switch gears for our next updates, but if you'd like to see more from The Wrecker and his Crew be sure to drop a comment, or get involved on Patreon.

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 supporting the project 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.

You can find deep dives into all these characters and their exploits in the Secret Archive. That's where we file every featured fight in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Alternatively you can explore your favourite characters and topics by following links throughout every post. Flex that mind muscle and go on a journey! That exploration is the joy of comics!

Get daily recommendations inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share to help boost the signal -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. A sixth sense even more penetrating that DD's radar!

Winner: Elektra & Daredevil
#8 (--) Daredevil
#61 (+34) Elektra
#457 (-4) The Wrecker

THING versus WRECKER

RAGE (Marvel)
Where: Fantastic Four #355 When: August 1991
Why: Danny Fingeroth How: Al Milgrom

The Story So Far...
The Thing's feeling down and his funk has brought him to the Lower East Side slums of his old stomping grounds. He's so bleak he doesn't even care about the kids whipping bricks at him as he skulks toward the stairs of 7135 Yancy Street -- the apartment block he grew up in!

A new family lives there now, but after accidentally scaring the tenant, and a run-in with her feisty son Raul, it's a trip down memory lane as Ben Grimm finds himself a house guest for home cooked meal, and the adoration of little Javier Garcia.

Unfortunately for all, The Wrecker's mood hasn't been good since the passing of his mother, and after shaking down "Weasel" for information about his recently incarcerated turncoat teammate -- The Wrecker is coming to Yancy Street to bust his old buddy out of a secret secure prison cell -- and nothing's going to stop him!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Thing 3 (Straight A)
Speed: The Wrecker 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: The Wrecker 6 (Generator)
Agility: The Wrecker 2 (Average)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: The Wrecker 4 (Arsenal)
Total: The Wrecker 26 (Metahuman)

In our previous update we explored the role of powerhouses as mountains for an underdog to scale -- but what happens when the challenger is an equal threat?

The Thing is one of Marvel Comics' premiere bruisers! Bombarded with cosmic rays - space pilot Benjamin Grimm was transformed into a rocky monster with super-human strength, durability, endurance, and a heart of gold.

Thing defends the world from earthborn dangers and extra-terrestrial terrors as a founding member of the Fantastic Four! His adversaries typically originate from, and wield powers of, the realm of science -- so the magical enchantment that fuels The Wrecker and his crowbar will be a bit of a change of pace.

The only time we've observed Thing against a magical opponent was when Luke Cage was turned against his old friend, and Avengers teammates, by the mystic Agamotto. Thing helped subdue the possessed hero by matching his mystically enhanced strength with brute force -- something he's done countless times against some of the grandest opponents in the Marvel Universe!

The Wrecker is famously an arch-nemesis for Thor -- but don't think that puts him in a weight class significantly higher than The Thing!

With his famous indomitable will to call upon, and the keen strategy of Mister Fantastic; Thing was able to endure the crushing pressure of journeying to the center of Thor's old adversary, for a memorable defeat of Ego The Living Planet!

Thing has also matched muscle with everyone from Hulk, Rhino, Doctor Doom, Paibok the Power Skrull, his own Infinity Doppelganger, Super-Skrull, The Adaptoid, and a sixty-foot tall mummy called Gomdulla! He can fight above his weight class, and win, lose, or draw -- he always leaves a lasting impression!

We've seen The Wrecker and his Crew make mincemeat out of Sasquatch, and their battle with The Thunderbolts showed that it takes more than brute strength to bring them to a stop. A straight fist fight doesn't necessarily favour The Thing, but as we saw in another recent entry -- The Wrecker's enchanted crowbar can be wielded by another. That's one tactic Thing might be able to use to turn the tables.

We've looked at the record and done some theorizing. Now it's time to find out what actually happened when The Wrecker came to Yancy Street!

The Tape: The Wrecker Ranking: The Thing (#11)

What Went Down...

In a hidden, high-security basement prison bunker -- The Wrecker closes in on his former teammate Thunderball! The erstwhile Crewman is without his famous ball & chain, or the enchantments that grants him his super-human powers. Just Dr. Eliot Franklin, alone with the lights out, and a failed electrified bed frame.

All hope seems lost for the powerless turncoat as The Wrecker approaches striking distance when suddenly -- it's The Wrecker sent hurtling by a powerful blow!

To The Wrecker's surprise -- The Thing stalks through the darkness, but his fists aren't raised for the simple sake of saving Thunderball. It's righteous anger that fuels his fury! For the innocent people who lost their homes and lives to the wanton destruction of The Wrecker's warpath through Yancy Street!

Thing hammers his fist toward the floored Wrecker -- but the villain's enchanted wrecking bar blocks the heavy blow!

Wrecker fires back -- rising to his feet to strike Thing across the chest with the mighty crowbar! The pain inflicted stuns Thing, allowing Wrecker to collect Franklin in his left hand, and escape through the hole in the ceiling!

On the street, Wrecker raises his bar in preparation to beat Franklin to a pulp -- but a huge chunk of concrete knocks the weapon out of his hand!

Thunderball takes the opportunity to make a run for it as The Thing marches across the street with fists raised. He wants to test the villain without his magical crowbar. The Wrecker gladly runs into the fray!

Clutching both hands together -- The Wrecker strikes with a polish hammer that topples the Fantastic Four's powerhouse!

He had no real issue with Thing before, but now that Thunderball has escaped his clutches once more -- the leader of the former Wrecking Crew is developing a real dislike for his rocky adversary.

He reaches for his nearby wrecking bar -- just in time to swing it directly into the mid-section of an oncoming Thing!

Thing lets out an agonized yell as the impact of the bar echos boomingly between the remaining buildings.

Wrecker wraps both hands around the hilt of his crowbar and raises it overhead to bring the curved end smashing down into the Thing! The devastating blow elicits another pained grunt!

Wrecker gloats over his opponent as Thing lies on his side on the street like a prize fighter struggling to get back up.

"Hah! I'm beatin' ya, Thing! And ya know why? 'Cause I'm not lookin' to anyone for help! I'm doin' it alone -- just me and my wrecking bar!"

The villain wallows in epic self-pity and self-aggrandizing as he dwells on the recent passing of his mother and Thunderball's failed attempt to turn against him with the rest of The Wrecking Crew.

"So, a bunch'a pathetic nobodies died here today? So what?! The world's done me enough wrongs -- I got lots to pay it back for!"

Thing is disgusted by Wrecker's callous, self-important disregard for life. He may be hurting from the enchanted crowbar, but he's heard enough!

Safe in the knowledge that the inhabitants had just been evacuated -- Thing grabs Wrecker by the ankle and throws him at the wall of a nearby tenement!

Wrecker crashes into the structure, but with a simple flex of his shoulders -- he shrugs the rubble and crumbling building off like it was nothing!

They tie up again, and for all his might, The Thing finds himself teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed by the mystical strength of his opponent. He cannot maintain his wrist lock any longer -- The Wrecker breaks free and violently peppers him with punches and jabs from his crowbar!

The frenzied assault is merciless and unrelenting! A swiping strike to the face, an overhand clubbing blow to the right shoulder, a grand slam swing to the left side, a devastating two-handed overhead to the shoulders and back of the head!

Thing does his best to cover up, but the god-like hits take their toll!

The Thing begins to shrink under the impact of yet another clubbing strike from the wrecking bar. Police holding back a crowd of onlookers share in the horror of witnessing their beloved hero succumb to approaching defeat.

Wrecker gleefully swings his bar with one hand into The Thing's exposed side, delighted as the prospect of killing the hero and perhaps even showing mercy to what remains of besieged Yancy Street.

He raises the enchanted crowbar high overhead and once again brings it crashing down upon The Thing -- a direct strike right to the head! Thing winces but at last sees his carefully cultivated opportunity to pounce!

Thing throws his right hand out with lightning speed and precision!

He grabs a good hold of Wrecker's wrist and squeezes it tight.

It was a dangerous game, and with a couple more good shots they really might've been writing Ben Grimm's obituary -- but the high stakes have paid off. Thing covered up and took as much as he could, baiting Wrecker to get overconfident and careless.

Wrecker desperately pounds his free hand against Thing's shoulder, but the rapid punches do nothing. The dope has been successfully roped! Thing grabs hold of the other wrist and keeps squeezing!

Wrecker drops to one knee as Thing lords over him and keeps squeezing.

The pressure grows so great The Wrecker drops his crowbar!

For a moment the villain snaps and starts snarling: "So what?! I told ya before. I don't need the bar to beat ya! I'm still gonna kill ya! Just let go 'a me!"

It seems like the last ditch threats of a man pleading on his knees, but remarkably -- The Thing obliges. He releases his grip, but it's no act of mercy. He's just freeing his hands up...

Thing winds back with his right hand and delivers an all mighty knockout blow!

Wrecker is launched across the street and lands unconscious, where SHIELD agents are ready to lock his enchanted crowbar in adamantium containment, and collect him with "energy-sappers" for transport.

The Hammer...

It wasn't quite a textbook execution of the Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope technique, but The Thing successfully endures a pummeling -- only to turn the tables in similar fashion, by lulling The Wrecker into a false sense of security. Then it's full-scale clobberin' time!

The tactical win spares both Dr. Eliot Franklin, and most of Thing's old stomping grounds, but not without some shocking casualties!

Wrecker's violent incursion may've targeted an ostensibly abandoned Yancy Street building, but the attack also inadvertently shook the neighbouring apartments to their foundations -- instantly killing some occupants in the resulting collapse, while injuring many others as well.

It's an unusually brutal illustration of the potential for collateral damage when gods & monsters wage their private wars on the streets of the Marvel Universe. A realm The Thing remains earnestly tethered to, despite his cosmic adventuring.

He's able to help some in the building, as you would expect any good hero to, but the Garcia family -- who now lives in his childhood apartment and kindly offered to share a meal -- suffer the greatest of tragedies when their youngest, little Javier, can't be saved by medics, and succumbs to his injuries in the aftermath.

It's a surprisingly grim episode for an otherwise fun & dandy superhero slugfest, but we observe a simple morality tale of personal choice & accountability through the innocent eyes of the child, and the callous self-centeredness of The Wrecker.

The Thing's commitment to doing good against overwhelming odds elevates him from his monstrous appearance and humble beginnings, while The Wrecker can only expect to be regarded with disdain and incarceration for his pathetic disregard. Wrecker is the simple-minded malcontent who cannot see beyond himself and his own shallow self-pity. A tale as old as time we can all still learn from in our age of algorithmically curated echo chambers, and social unrest.

Indeed, it's sometimes disheartening to see even the superhero concept twisted and subjected to the demands of a loss of moral integrity and aspirational fantasy. Here, in a single-issue story from thirty-four years ago, we see The Thing choose the greater good of helping save lives before indulging the base entertainment of the superhero slugfest. A serve of responsibility with great power.

Here on The Comic Book Fight Club we're also seeking to learn more about The Wrecker's status and capabilities. It's an initiative that all started because of a harmless social media post -- arousing my curiosity, and long-held desire to look more at some of these now-classic battles against a favourite badguy!

Essentially it boils down to an assertion that The Wrecker losing a fight to Daredevil and Elektra was a career low. We've come at it from the perspective of whether or not street-level heroes can challenge The Wrecker, and whether or not Daredevil can rise to an enchanted powerhouse. This time around I thought we should take a look at how Wrecker handles a high-level opponent. A chance to see the peaks he regularly operates in, before we come back down to Earth again for the recent, offending battle.

I could've gone with any number of classic matches against Thor, and one day I'm sure I will, but Fantastic Four #355 has been burning up my desk, and the To Do List, for far too long. It's also a topical choice in a year that saw the Fantastic Four enjoy a revival kicked off by the release of Fantastic Four: First Steps. Let's face it -- I also really like the issue and just wanted to finally dive into it.

I've been enjoying the heck out of the late eighties and early nineties lately, particularly from Marvel. The characters, the melodrama, the action. The bombastic art style and vivid colours. A foot in the classics, but inching ever closer to what we come to regard as the modern comic book.

Al Milgrom does some great work here on pencils. I don't know that the isolated panels I've scanned can really do it justice, but I invite you to luxuriate in that last kayo panel. If The Wrecker were just breaking the border -- and maybe a couple of teeth -- it'd be a face-belter right out of the Sal Buscema playbook. Hey. Don't tempt me, fanboy! You know I'm always on a razor's edge for our pal Sal!

Under the intense scrutiny of our premise, I actually might cast some aspersions about Thing so brazenly absorbing as much punishment from the enchanted crowbar as he does. I've also got questions about the genius who thought to hide a former super-felon in the basement next door, but one problem at a time...

The Wrecker is at the peak of his strength at this time, having re-absorbed the totality of his enchanted strength from the rest of The Wrecking Crew, who are kinda on the outs with ol' Dirk Garthwaite, since trying to steal the rest of his power from themselves. That means those are some pretty heavy duty shots Thing's absorbing - and it may stretch the credibility of the battle ever so slightly.

Danny Fingeroth's script does offer lip service to the potentially fatal consequence of the strategy, but I think there are roughly three takeaways here:

As we build our record of The Wrecker's combat history, the reality may not be quite as impressive as we like to think. Conversely, this could also serve as a nice reminder of just how powerful and durable The Thing is! A fact that's been diminished over a couple of decades of bad movies, and even worse deliberate corporate mismanagement. Let it be known: Juggernaut may be unstoppable -- but a foundational principle of Marvel Comics is that The Thing doesn't quit!

The third option is that the practical necessities of a functional shared universe of super-heroes and super-villains means the bad guys lose. They lose a lot. Even when they seem impossible for a hero to defeat -- their apparent superiority only functions to make a greater mountain to scale, a more impressive dragon to slay.

For a guy like Ben Grimm usually you need somebody on the scale of Champion of the Universe, or Ego The Living Planet, to make that kind of grandiose stand, but perhaps a full-powered assault from The Wrecker is just as impressive a feat.

Your mileage for Thing's periodic moping sessions may vary, but I enjoy the human tale here of Ben Grimm revisiting his old stomping grounds. It's fun to see peeling back the shocking secret that he was once a member of the Yancy Street Gang and even tagged the apartment hallway -- at least until his father smacked him straight. We don't condone violence against children or anything like that, but it's nice that Benjy got his head on straight, and grew up right, despite the abuse.

These are some pretty heavy themes, dealing with class structures, child abuse, gang violence, tragedy, and even the death of a minor, but it's handled with a certain light touch. Again, I think of the fetishization of the "Evil Superman" in series like The Boys, where so many have managed to completely overlook the utter contemptibility and pathetic core behind those fragile, juvenile figures.

I find myself nostalgic for a simple thrill. The kind of comics they just don't seem to make any more. A single issue tale with a favourite character. A cheap impulse purchase, with a heroic lead, and a general sense of good. Not a multi-year commitment to the temporary decimation of an icon, or the "realistic" loathing of one character for another. Not even a well-meaning but hyper-fixateded, clumsy social message of the day. Just mature storytelling. Fiction for what it is. Completely bear and unashamed. Unique, wholly realised, and a quick bit of fun.

Back issues are where I'm finding my thrills, but in the interest of getting this thing moving, I think our next stop will be the offending issue of Daredevil from the year 2025. We'll go straight to the source to see just how bad it is, and maybe then we'll reconvene, because you know I want more Wrecker on the record, but there are also other subjects I'm interested in, in addition to random odds & ends.

There are plenty of good stories & battles from all years and you can find them in the Secret Archive! That's where we keep a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. If you'd rather find more from your favourite characters & topics you should hit up links throughout posts to discover more. Just don't forget to flex your mind muscle and see what else is there!

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.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to X (aka; Twitter)! 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 X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber. Yancy Street Gang members welcome!

Winner: The Thing
#9 (+2) The Thing
#453 (-14) The Wrecker
#441 (+2) Thunderball [+1 assist]