WOLVERINE versus CAPTAIN AMERICA
Dances With Werewolves (Marvel comics)
Where: Captain America #405 When: Late August 1992 Why: Mark Gruenwald How: Rik Levins

The story so far...
Having escaped the feral clutches of lycanthropy before, Captain America finds himself once again strapped to the table of the evil Dr. Nightshade. Intent on turning him permanently, she injects her formula, incurring immediate results.

The feral Captain America proves strong enough of will to resist the influence of Dredmund; Nightshade's partner in crime, and self-proclaimed lord of Werewolves.

Confused and disorientated, the turned Captain America sprints into the surrounding Massachusetts wilderness, his super-soldier body origins giving him an edge against the opposing werewolves. Unlucky for him, werewolves aren't the only feral creatures in the wilderness: Enter the Wolverine!

Previous Form:
Wolverine (#4): Killed Cap in an alternate reality, having already hacked off a few limbs.
Captain America (#5): Aided SHIELD and the X-Men in putting Wolverine down.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Captain America 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Captain America 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Draw 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Captain America 2 (Projectile)


So, you remember in that last entry [Captain America #408] I mentioned Captain America was battle fatigued? Yeah, well now you have at least some clue why.
After being turned into a werewolf by Nightshade, Cap snaps free of his shackles and bounds off into the village, where Dredmund turns a bunch of innocent bystanders, and sends them off in pursuit of the Captain. Not that any of that particularly matters, just needlesly elaborating.

These guys have a history together that continues to develop as pieces of Wolverine's missing past continue to surface in stories like the current arc in Wolverine: Origins, featuring WWII encounters between the characters.

On our watch, the first time these two met in opposition was back in our very first entry! [Wolverine #25] saw a Hydra controlled Wolverine finally put down by the intervention of Captain America, but not before he took the X-Men to task, and murdered gay-icon, Northstar. Ouchie!

Wolvie got the chance to even the score up in a What If [Wolverine was never deprogrammed?] spinning out of the same story. In this world, Wolverine was able to evade the finishing blow and hack himself a tasty, side of patriot.
In this world he's able to take the wheelchair bound Captain out. Not sure if that really means anything, but it fills the tape, and gives you somewhere else to go.
If you don't mind breaking a bit of kayfabe, it's fair to see how Captain America has the almost impossible advantage: Harmlessness.

In times of International war, who knows? But in his adjustment to contemporary life, Captain America made the decision never to take a life unless entirely necessary. That makes him a much more child-friendly victor when fighting a man whose chief offense is metallic, eviscerating claws that extend from his wrist.

On the page, it could just about go either way.
Each character is supremely skilled in military maneuvers, and both are capable hand-to-hand combatants. Wolverine, more inclined to feral rages and brazen arrogances, is more likely to put himself in a losing position, comfortable in the fact that his healing factor will keep him in the hunt for a later opportunity.

Both men are one-man army corps (*cough*), but Cap probably comes to mind more immediately when you think piles of Hydra goons. That said, despite all this evidence, he has one of the highest loss percentages in the Infinite Wars, currently sitting at an anchoring 37.5% (versus Wolverine's 23.8%).

The Math: Captain America (Meta Class)
The Pick: Captain America

What went down...
With his strength and agility enhanced even further, Captain America swiftly evades the oncoming attack of Dredmund's wolven followers. He sprints further away from their growls, coming across a "man with long claws," who is lost in an entirely different haze of animal ferociousness.

Instincts and muscle-memory give Cap-Wolf mind to call upon the defensive aid of his shield as Wolverine slashes wildly with his adamantium laced claws. They rake across the vibranium alloy of the shield, literring the ground with sparks.

Cap-Wolf grapples with the raging Wolverine, wrapping his own clawed fingers around the mutant's wrists to defend against his wild slashing. Through the red fog of his feral transformation, the Captain tries to communicate with the berzerker Wolverine, trying to find audible understanding.

Though Wolverine pauses for a moment to exchange snarls, it proves a costly opening for the lycan-Captain. Wolverine connects with his adamantium claws, opening up Cap-Wolf's shoulder with a deep gash.

The pain of the wound only stirs Captain America's animal urges further, sending him into a reactionary rage that he cannot control. With reflexes enhanced by both lycanthropy and super-soldier serum, he lashes out with a clawed slash!

Blood sprays, and Wolverine is momentarily blinded by the slashes across his eyes. Before his healing factor can stitch them up, Cap-Wolf hoists the spandex-clad mutant above his head, and with the villager werewolves closing in, hurls him in an unsolicited variation of the fast-ball special!

Cap will almost certainly be hearing from the X-Men lawyers, but as far as the battle goes, he is free to gallop deeper into the woods, victorious!

The hammer...
Bringing it up two-to-one in his favour over the clawed X-Man, your winner, by a snout -- Captain America!

If you're a regular reader of the Infinite Wars, you'll already know that Captain America is eventually freed from his curse of science, and goes on to kill a weird, spacey clone, and takes the Falcon out to dinner. Okay, that last part I made up, but y'know, the rest is true... If you missed it, you can find it here.

Much like the afforementioned previous issue of Captain America, this one contains a handful of additional fights. With our new format, no doubt you'll be seeing some of the quick fixes in the near future, along with some other battle featuring more obscure characters, like Dr. Druid. Until then...

This is usually the part where the feature would somehow flow into some point of discussion. Maybe some sort of recap of recent comics history, a perspetive of reflection upon something contemporary, or maybe even a rant about making the Sub-Mariner kingpin of crime. Unfortunately, the relevance of Man and Wolf is questionable beyond the geek-chic of a werewolf Captain America.

Why go there? Heck, what kind of a website would we be if our statistics weren't coming from every avenue, regardless of long term impact or relevance?
We got here through Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays, and we stayed here because, well, I just felt like it. Maybe it was because President Bush is currently all over the place with the APEC summit, or maybe it was just the chance to see another hero-v-hero battle with Captain America AND Wolverine involved.

Actually, to be fair, this clash does bring us to one of the long debated facts of comics history.

If you've been following along at home, you'll no doubt be aware of the Alex Ross headed project set to bring a time travelling Invaders trio [Captain America, Namor, Toro] to the post-Civil War present.

The team, fresh from the Second World War, represent a younger, more battle-ready generation of heroes from the past. Among the many noteable comparisons we can expect, will be more aggressive and pro-active heroes than we may otherwise be used to, even in a time when heroes hunt and imprison each other.

If you're one of the many new schoolers hitting us up, you may not have ever stopped to consider the violence perpetrated by the heroes of the 1940s. A popular, if non-specific reference, is often then teen icon, Bucky, who as sidekick of the super-soldier Captain America, was to regularly have appeared toting an automatic weapon, gleefully mowing down hordes of Germans, or Japanese.

There's a contention between factions that argue exactly what it means to be a "superhero," and exactly how that translates to the wholesome, star-spangled heroes of the Second World War.

Idealists tend to prefer to consider the mark of the hero's worth by his ability to fight the good fight, without ever needing to take a life, however, that particular slant has a way of reinventing history, rather than honoring it.

I personally fall somewhere in between. I'm without a doubt a traditionalist, but at the same time, I can't help but be interested by the prospects of moral diversity in heroes. I like the idea that perhaps we can have it both ways, and that it's perhaps even greater to measure Captain America as a hero who survived bloody war times, and made the choice to take advantage of what is essentially a second-life, and do something truly extraordinary with it.

Speculation surrounding the Invaders/Avengers time-spanning crossover mini has been too distracted by teaser images to worry about the degree of violence that may accompany these battling Invaders. The earliest promotional shot used the central image of Captain America as a teaser for his apparent "return."

This, of course, has since been revealed to be a tagential return for the character, but the inevitable question remains: When, and how, will Captain America return to the Marvel universe?

Fans seem resigned to the fact that of all the heroes to stay dead, Captain America is among the least likely. This time around probably doesn't seem like the occasion to do it. Still, despite his death, Cap remains as hot a property as ever, with promise of a film sometime after the 2008 Iron Man feature sitting gingerly on the horizon. Can it be long before the mass media has a chance to spoil his return, in the same way they spoiled his death? Time will tell.

Bahlactus may tell, too, for he sees all, sucka!
It's Friday Night, which means, barring confusion and lack of concession for my time difference (living in the future, as I do), he may well be seeing us!
Bahlactus remains a cosmic force- neither hero nor villain- dedicated to the consumption of all things fight!

Gaze upon him and tremble... Before a two week hiatus!
If you're looking for a fight fix during the break, be sure to stop by!

Wrapping up with the plugs, you can also catch more sketching goodness from Pedro Cruz, who has returned from his travels abroad. I got to get giddy like a schoolgirl over being an author on a blog that wasn't mine for a week while posting for him while he was away, and you know what else has me giddy like a preteen? The Kirby Martin Inquest #1, which is on sale at Nite Lite Theatre.

If you haven't, you should do the right thing, and go get yourself a copy.
It's only $2.99 through the ever-snail paced ComixPress. They may be slow, but really, aren't they just making it all the more exciting? Wheeee!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 3
[The #408 review highlighted presumed editorial interference impeding on the story. As "Billycomics" so rightly pointed out, it really wasn't the most stellar story to begin with. A fun nineties comics, not at all worthy of the flame breathing hatred of some, but likewise not about to win any awards.]

DOPPELGANGER versus CAPTAIN AMERICA
Dark Dawn (Marvel comics)
Where: Captain America #408 When: October 1992
Why: Mark Gruenwald How: Rik Levins

The story so far...
The deadly Nightshade teams with Dredmund, lord of the werewolves, in a sinister scheme to turn the people ofMassachusetts into werewolves -- including the super-soldier himself, Captain America!

Fortunately for him the combined might of he, Man-Wolf John Jameson, Wolfsbane, Wolverine and others sees the day saved, but before Cap can be cured of his lycanthropy there's another shocking surprise in store!

Unbenknownst to he, a secret war is being waged by the evil spirit of Adam Warlock, Magus! Creating sinister doppelgangers of Earth's greatest heroes, Magus sends his shadows out to do battle with their counterparts.
Suffering fatigue of battle and Nightshade's cure, can Cap defeat his dastardly doppelganger, or is it curtains for America's greatest warrior?

Previous Form:
Captain America (#6): Victories over Wolverine, Baron Zemo, Punisher & Mr. Hyde.
Doppelganger: The Magus-born Spidey doppelganger endured beyond Infinity War to defeat Spider-man.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Captain America 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Captain America 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Captain America 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Captain America 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Captain America 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Captain America 2 (Projectile)


Okay, I'm really tired, and evil-clone month isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds.
Actually, for those who look back on the nineties with contemporary chagrin, that probably isn't news. It was nice enough for the time, if a little awkward, but lordy, I'm tired, running a little lazy on point, and this just isn't a hook.

So, anyway, as you can see, I've cheaped out on mugshots and rather than poll the doppelganger's strengths I've just served you up the ratings as we see them for Captain America. If you want a reference point to debate the accuracy of these rarely discussed ratings, you can check yourself into school and hunt down the patented scientifically proven Haseloff tape system.

As for the business, well, yeah... Captain America, who has spent the best part of a few months turned into a werewolf, wraps things up by demanding a cure. Werewolf Cap... fighting an evil clone with a jagged (John Walker-esque) shield and a fangy grin... I just... I'm at a loss for words, ten-to-midnight.

Good triumphs over evil. No one sees an evil Captain America on a cover and expects for even a second that he's going to win. Especially not when it's an Infinity War tie-in. It's a little bit ridiculous, a little bit fun.

The Pick: Captain America

What went down...
With the lycanthrop cure administered and effective on John Jameson, Cap lies on Nighshade's table and prepares to receive it himself. Unlucky for him, a mysterious evil doppelganger appears out of thin air!

The evil Captain swats Jameson, sending him sprawling into Nightshade.

The move bumps her hand holding the syringe that contains the cure formula, prodding it by accident into the true Captain America. Despite the unexpected prick, Cap is able to sweep Nightshade off her feet, narrowly avoiding the spike prongs of the dark clone's shield.

Suffering the effects of not only the battle of the wolves, but also now the reversing effects of the serum, Cap goes on the defensive. He's able to defend against the airborne spike-edged shielf of his dark mirror image, but weakened, cannot avoid deflecting it into the path of his allies!

Moonhunter pulls back the recently cured John Jameson, just narrowly avoiding a decapatating meeting between human flesh and mystery metal!

Attending the badly wounded Dredmund, Dr. Druid watches on as the evil Magus clone throttles the weakened Cap-Wolf as he begins to revert into his human form.

Though unable to intervene, the occult Dr. Druid is able to inform Captain America's curiosity, revealing that the evil doppelganger exibits no living energies or human traits -- a mere manifestation of evil!

The news is liberating to the Captain who, as a werewolf, has grappled with the darkness of the animalistic brutality that the transformation incurred. Ever unwilling in this sophisticated age to take a life, the Captain more freely launches his assault against the lifeless mirror image.

With the last of his energy, Captain America launches his legs into the air with the strength of a super-soldier! The move vaults the dark clone into the air, where he finds the blade of his own spike-edged shield that had buried itself in the adjacent wall after being deflected.

The spikes buried into the base of it's skull, the evil Captain America fades away like a ghostly apparition -- as though it were never even there!
"Mondo Spookioso," indeed, Moonhunter!

The hammer...
Proving you can accept no substitutes -- Captain America!

This is, of course, part of the on-going Monday series of posts featuring the villains from the Marvel Ultimate Alliance videogame, still available and expanding across multiple platforms.

Gamers will recall the latter stages of the game where they encounter dark versions of the playable characters in a world reenvisioned by a near omnipotent Dr. Doom. Though not traditional villains, it gives us a chance to take a look at some of the obscure, less important battles featuring heroes from the games, tackling evil versions of other heroes.

With recent entries, [Legends #1], we've been talking a bit about crossovers and their origins, with events like the featured Legends, and the similarities between more recent events like Infinite Crisis. We didn't really bridge out of that into the positives and negatives of crossover events, but I think it's safe to say this particular issue of Captain America is a great example of how an obtuse editorial mandate can really interrupt in a negative way.

No disrespect to Gruenwald, who I was surprised to find hasn't been featured in the Infinite Wars until now, but yeesh. Not many books come to mind where an event has so awkwardly been crammed into a story, and if you scroll back up to the tape and examine the featured panel, you might be able to appreciate that.

I mean, that is literally the extent of the introduction.
The issue opens with a fairly clunky, but no doubt appropriate conclusion to a storyarc that has run over a few issues of Cap, and then absolutely out of nowhere this trailing conclusion is assaulted, conceptually and fictionally, by the presence of this borish, wacky off-shoot from a story that's presumably happening in a galaxy far, far away from Massachussets.

I'm actually going to give Infinity War tie-ins a bit of credit.
As you'll see over the course of this month - because we're not done with them - they're actually a nice enough, one-off bit of fun, and this issue's third-page "suddenly" doesn't do the high concept of evil doppelgangers justice. It just really paints a glaringly obvious picture of how this kind of intrusive editorial storytelling can go horribly wrong.

It reads like Captain America had reached a crossroads. There's an on-going effort to connect this cosmic event to the powers that are going to be involved.
Captain America is one of those key moving parts, in what will eventually unfold into a weird, paranoia driven precursor to the Civil War scenarios, so you want to enlighten readers to that connection. You want to give them a taste of what's to come, but it seems to be done at the expense of a solid ending to a previous story, which perhaps already had it's own shakey merits to begin with.

I'm not going to presume that anything was forced on Gruenwald, but it's a familiar enough name to think this isn't wholely representative of the quality of work that Mark G is capable of. To his credit, he manages to put a slightly better slant on his product with two back-up stories, one in particular that features Crossbones that is tittilating in it's villainous simplicity.

It's a quirky back-up we'll probably see in a quick fix sometime in the future, that features just a scene and vibe almost reminiscent of a seventies martial arts exploitation movie, or something. It's almost a little bit Van Damme-classic.

It's interesting to note that the Nightshade character, who is arrested and taken away by The Jury, has most recently resurfaced as a member of MODOK's 11 in the recent Super Villain Team-Up revamp. You're not getting a lot of backstory out of this entry, but I like to think we can always be a referencial touchstone for you to seek out, and familiarize yourself with all things superhero.

I can't say a lot more about this issue specifically.
It probably represents one of the periods where Captain America was most lacking direction. Cap-Wolf represents substantially less a fond memory than would-be action figure changes like Cosmic-Spidey or Frog-Thor. I think we should be thankful that the character was able to really find purpose and stature worthy of the sixty-years of service, before his untimely assassination in a story that was debatably a spin-off from Civil War. [Captain America #25]

I think even those tired of the Civil War conflict would have to agree, it represents a creatively fruitful and superior model for the crossover story. A method that unfolds organically to reshape the conceptual foundation for the world in which the characters operate, rather than forcing obscure reference onto a story.

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 3.5

[Not at all a great representation of the Infinity War storyline, or the character. From a housekeeping perspective, we've filled in a missing year in our reference tags for the nineties. Yay! Now I need to get some damned sleep...]
NOTE: No stats for Moonhunter, Jameson or Nightshade, who are essentially bystanders. An assist for Dr. Druid on the basis of crucial intelligence.