DAREDEVIL versus HULK
Blind Alley (Marvel comics)
Where: Daredevil #163 When: March, 1980
Why: Roger McKenzie How: Frank Miller

The story so far...
A swanky New York City fundraiser dinner in an expensive high rise appartment may require the attentions of attorney at law, Matt Murdock -- but when the pounding thud of a monstrous heartbeat echoes from the streets below, the Catholic has no choice but to abandon all fun and become -- DAREDEVIL: the man without fear!

Facing a confused and violent Hulk in a back alley, Matt Murdock manages to connect with the beast and calm him down. Thus, Bruce Banner becomes a temporary ward of the blind lawyer, who tries to help him through his struggle.

Banner attempts to escape the densly populated metropolis, but the charm of the New York subway and it's commutors eventually proves too much.
Ergo, the Hulk is unleashed upon an unsuspecting city.

Recommended reading:
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk: A rare and unlikely meeting for the two characters in this TV movie.
Deadpool #4: Hulk faces Deadpool, a character comparable to Daredevil.
Marvel Comics Presents #49: Daredevil versus Scope, a man much larger than he.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Hulk 6 (Generator)
Agility: Daredevil 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Hulk 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Daredevil 2 (Projectile Weapon)

Okay, whilst cruising the net recently I ran afoul a discussion that seems to come up periodically. It's one of those arguments that seems to get settled, but always manages to pop up again somewhere else.
It's the matter of the super strong, and the super fast.

Here Daredevil is uncomfortably denoted the speed rating of four, which is described in terms of running speed, even though this pertains more to the reaction and physical speed of the character, rather than his sprinting strengths.

There seems to be some confusion over the potential for characters like the Hulk (or Thing), that display incredible muscular power, but err on the side of lumbering, rather than speeding.
I suppose there are many things to consider, not the least of which, is comic book physics.

When it's all said and done, no matter how realistic these stories become, there are comic book laws that help steer the dramatic potential of any given character pairing, or story.
Quite relevent here is the balancing law of strength and speed. David overcomes Goliath through one of two contrasting abilities -- strategy, or speed. These two factors are inevitably the equalising factor when any giant is faced by a lesser character.

Ultimately, Hulk's mass probably does denote a relative speed, because he isn't hindered in movement by his bulky figure and musculature.
His incredible leaps are attributed to the sheer muscular strength of his legs, which is a stretch that doesn't really denote any inate speed, even in comic physics.
He lacks the 'fast twitch fibres' and general agility of a speedster. That said, like the Rhino, over a larger distance, the Hulk could no doubt throw his weight into a sprint of tremendous momentum.

How does this relate to a fight with Daredevil?
Daredevil, like any David, is going to be relying on speed and guile against a creature like the Hulk. Hulk's ability to thwart Daredevil's attack is reliant upon his ability to react to the greater speed and agility.

Daredevil is an extremely skilled fighter, and could no doubt out-maneuver the Hulk for quite some time.
Given the urban surroundings, some of that energy might be expelled in efforts to protect innocents. Likewise, those surroundings could be used by the Hulk as weapons, and a way to contain the movements of the blind lawyer.

When the smoke settles, there are very few general measures that give Daredevil the advantage. The Hulk is simply too powerful in the broadest sense, and try valiantly as he may, Daredevil has no business beating the Hulk.

What went down...
Finding himself trapped in a busy subway car, the Hulk bursts forth through the lower levels of New York, up, up to street level.

With traffic backed up, Daredevil is the only man within his vicinity to hear and know the true horrors that wait up ahead.
While the Hulk tosses cars and bends street lamps, the man without fear leaps into action to once again quell the rages of the rampaging Hulk!

Daredevil's efforts to use brain over brawn are thwarted when a well-meaning NY police officer opens fire on Hulk while his back is turned.
With the connection lost, Hulk swats Daredevil away, assuming he was trying to trick him into an ambush attack.

With the policeman's life in peril, DD springs to life to deliver a swift flying kick.
He continues to try to reason with the man-monster, using his agility to duck and parry his lumbering blows.
DD attempts an offensive, swinging his billy club into the Hulk's nose, but it has no effect. Hulk snatches DD by the wrist, and flings him into the air like a ragdoll.

DD hits the side of a building, and tumbles down to a roof below with a splatter of blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
Lucky to have survived a physical encounter with the Hulk, the man without fear rallies himself in the interest of the greater good, and his own dignity!

Hulk, still freaking out in the middle of an inter-section, starts shouting accusations at the skyscrapers, believing his predicament to be some kind of evil plot set-up by his alter-ego, Bruce Banner.
Fairly desperate by this stage, Daredevil does the only thing imaginable: He drives a bus into the Hulk.

The machine ultimately comes off second best, with DD flying out through the windshield as the bus makes contact [always buckle your safety belt, kids! - Mike].

Hulk tears the bus to smitherines, giving Murdock the time he needs to recover and make a second attempt at subduing the Hulk through mental and physical means. (Kinda sending mixed messages there, aren't you DD?)

Daredevil unloads with all the speed and skill he has, all the while desperately trying to calm Hulk down enough to realise he is not the victim of banner, but rather Banner himself.
Never the less, fearless as he may be, this man is no match for the Hulk.

Hulk again sends DD hurtling away, swatting him through a fence into a nearby alley.

Barely conscious and unable to stand, Daredevil feels the Hulk looming over him via his radar senses. He continues to plea with the Hulk for better sense, and as the beast stands over him with a slab of concrete, ready to crush the Hell's Kitchen hero, something twigs.

As the world falls out from underneath him, Daredevil collapses into unconsciousness, while the Hulk shows mercy for the 'puny human,' leaving him to resume a quest for his own inner devils.

The hammer...
Despite resisting the killer blow, Hulk comprehensively dominated his oponent, and is clearly the victor here.
Not only did he beat the snot (and blood) out of DD, but he also fascilitates a panicked slip by a friend, who pleas for authorities to protect "Ma--" from the Hulk. Not something you want your friend doing if you're Daredevil, and Ben Urich is within earshot.

This issue isn't by any means Shakespeare, but damned if it isn't what Secret Earths is all about. It's fun! It's exciting! It's action packed! Heck, there's even a little bit of story in there to boot.

There are a lot of traditions in comics that are now frowned upon by the self-conscious and embarrassed. People who refer to graphic novels instead of comics. People who don't want to indulge or invest in characters and stories. People who cower in fear, and cover their eyes and ears should any fan explore upcoming projects purely from the realm of speculation.

These people suck. If you see them, do as they wouldn't, and engage in an act of mindless brutality. Bend them backwards over a mailbox, or drive a bus into them! Show them what made superheroes the dominant species in the comic book format... and then get yourself a damned good lawyer, because no doubt they know some poseur lawyer who is a huge fan of graphic novels.

But seriously, there isn't really a lot to say about this particular issue. It is what it is.
The Hulk, a character who has no real business entering the world of Daredevil, is placed in the middle of a populated city. Daredevil, a character who has no business approaching the Hulk, tries to stop a rampage of chaos.

It's just fun.
Two unlikely opponents against one and other, in an old fashioned spit-fister.

Just so I don't wrap things up here without any reference to the issue specific, eagle-eyed fans will have already spotted a young Frank Miller on pencils.
This is, of course, before Miller developed a more stylized look, adopting more of an asthetically commercial Marvel pencil.
It's not terribly flashy, but Miller shows great sense of action and movement.

[EDIT: And I assure, despite my choice in panels to scan, there ARE many backgrounds littered throughout the entire issue. That's just an obscure coincidence. - Mike]

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4

NEXT: The clash of the titans! Captain Marvel versus Superman!

IRON MAN versus DIABLO
"When strikes Diablo"
Where: Iron Man #159 When: June 1982
Writer: Roger McKenzie Artist: Paul Smith

The story so far...
Once upon a time, the Fantastic Four battled and captured the diabolical alchemist called, Diablo.

Fearing the Fantastic Four under estimated the foe, Dr. Strange went about casting a spell that thwarted Diablo's escape efforts. For Diablo, it felt as though he were in an endless freefall, until his memory was no longer his, and in his stead stood only Al Bido, Stark International janitor.

With his supressed memories reemerging, Diablo uses his vantage point to take full advantage of the fantastic chemical facilities granted to him at Stark International. Thus, the invincible Iron Man is forced into action anew, to protect his own company.

Tale of the tape...
Iron Man's one of those characters that has such a sliding scale of abilities, it can be pretty tough to really nail down what his capabilities are. I tend to think there's a generally accepted standard for a good [Tony Stark] Iron Man, so hopefully you all tend to agree.

Strength: 5 (Super strength)
Intelligence: 5 (Professor)
Stamina: 6 (Generator)
Energy Powers: 5 (Lasers)

Generally the Iron Man armor grants Tony Stark some pretty standard strengths.
By means well disguised, the armor greatly increases his strength both defensively, and offensively, enabling him to lock up with some of the toughest of bruisers in the Marvel universe.
The armor also provides a fairly comprehensive arsenal of attack weapons, the best known of which are his trademark "repulsor rays". There are also variations on this weapon ranging from retractable shoulder mounts, and chest beams.

As time has gone by, the lifespan of the armor's power has increased exponentially, ranging from various fuelling methods, including solar power. This in turn has greatly increased the stamina of an armored Stark not suffering from physical ailments.

Of course, Stark isn't without his own strengths, as both experienced in the suit, and also the brilliant mind who created it. Engineering tasks are often easily dealt with, even by shortcut methods, and most variables are accounted for.
Strengths not seen in others to don the armor, like Happy Hogan and Jim Rhodes.

Intelligence: 5 (Professor)
Energy Powers: 4 (Arsenal)

Of course, Diablo is not without his own strengths, largely stemming from his own intellect. As a brilliant alchemist, Diablo is capable of utilizing the most base of elements with twisted, and demented results.

To reflect his potential for chemically enduced carnage, he has an arsenal rating for energy powers. Though potentially capable of a higher rating, generally Diablo's choices seem to be less of an explosive persuasion, and more inclined to the animation of creatures like the Dragon Man.

Of course, the nature of Diablo's creatures, as powerful as they are, lend themselves to termination. Heroes like Iron Man, generally unwilling to kill, are far less concerned where the magically animated are concerned. Although, I'm sure that raises many ethical questions, of which Iron Man should probably consider.

Ultimately, against a character like Diablo there are a lot of potential variables, and the most unlikely of elements could play a crucial part. Traditionally iron is one of the most powerful minerals of the occult, so against Diablo's alchemist powers, he may just be safe.

Regardless, given his track record, Diablo is a one-time A-lister who didn't have the stuff to do more than play a regular annoyance to the Fantastic Four.
Iron Man's a safe bet.

What went down...
Doing away with the psychiatrist that unlocked his supressed memories; Diablo uses his alechemist's bag of tricks to disguise himself as Tony Stark to send all laboratory scientists home, opening to him a veritable funhouse of possibilities.

When the call comes out, Stark leaps from his armor workshop to do battle with the mysterious threat posed by previously mild-mannered, Al Bido.
When Iron Man arrives to rip the sealed doors of the chemical reasearch lab open, he finds himself confronted with a two headed monster - literally - unlike the hangover of those drunken one night stands.

With security firing on the dragon beast, Iron Man draws it's attentions away, taking a superheated blast of fire breath. The protective properties of the armor ensure his safety, allowing him to strike back with disintegrating results.

Entering the darkened laboratory, Iron Man falls victim to an attack at the hands of the lurking Diablo, encased in a block of solid ice!
While Diablo gloats and lines up his next target, the Fantastic Four, the ever crafty Tony Stark uses the armor's thermal units to weaken the ice and blast free.

Diablo hurls tornado "devil dust" in Iron Man's general direction, forcing the battle outside as Iron Man tries to escape, only to find a sentient elemental fire chasing him down and clinging to his armor.
He turns the two weapons to his advantage, using the whirling winds of the devil dust to douse the flames, and then his repulsor rays blow the dust out of orbit.

Diablo continues his bizarre assault, giving life to the very sidewalk below, raising a monolith of concrete. The creatures smacks Iron Man around, battering him like a ragdoll, before moving in for the killing stroke.

The creature slams down at the floored Iron Man, but the creature's weight drives the invincible Iron Man through the ground into the levels below. The two plummet down, down, down, through each level, as Diablo explores what is unearthed.
There, he makes a discovery most terrible - Tony Stark's Iron Man workshop!

Using his evil science, Diablo animates previous incarnations of the Iron Man armor ranging from the original bulky suits, to the previous incarnations of his current, streamlined outfit.

Beneath a hail of armored punches, Stark finds himself mobbed by his own creations - doomed!
Or is he? Without the heart Tony Stark brings to the suit, the armor proves ineffective, falling before their master one by one, leaving only Diablo and a very angry Iron Man.

Diablo proves more resourceful than one might think, using Iron Man's untamed aggression to toss one of his potions that turns the air around his opponent into a binding, dense gas.

Believing him restrained, Diablo reaches in to unmask the golden avenger, unaware of Stark's security measures. When he hand meets contact with the visor, he finds only unforgiving, untamed electricity.

With Diablo defeated the gas wears off, leaving only a call to the Fantastic Four to take the villain away.

"Aw, them playboy types're all the same, Susie. Not a care in the world. Right, Iron-Pants?"

If only you knew, Thing!

The hammer...
Undoubtedly the win goes to Iron Man, despite having a pretty rough time of it. Perhaps I under estimated Diablo, in the same way the Fantastic Four did, the first time they had him in custody.

It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Marvel Civil War affects the relationship between these a-list heroes.

Details of the event are as yet sketchy, but a lot of theories point toward a rift between the heroes on policy regarding the registration of superhero secret identities. A theme seen in various ways in superhero stories past, including Powers storylines by the ever-involved, Brian Michael Bendis.

One tends to imagine that won't be the case, particularly with characters like the publicly known Fantastic Four appearing alongside Iron Man, who appears to be the head of the faction opposing Captain America.
Having gone public with his identity as Iron man, Tony Stark served as American secretary of defense, before reconvincing the populous he was no longer Iron Man, resigning in the aftermath of the events of Avengers: Disassembled.

Regardless, Iron Man remains a long standing favourite character, who really seems to still have wells of untapped potential. Warren Ellis' recent (oft delayed) run with hotshot artist, Adi Granov (see Iron Man profile pic), seemed to elaborate on some of the greater potential of the technologies involved in Iron Man, but the title does seem to remain forever stooped in the superhero culture that cultivated the character.

Although understanding the desire for identity away from the mecha themed Japanese manga characters, one does tend to wonder if Iron Man could benefit from an injection of that techno-pop, cyberpunk culture.

Perhaps Iron Man remains at his core a reflection of American mechanical, and technological manufacturing. Not necesarily renowned for it's longevity, or it's total effectiveness, much like Iron Man's ever changing armor styles.

Love him or hate him, it's great to have Iron Man officially on the board at Secret Earths!

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 3

NEXT: A battle for the human race! Flash versus Quicksilver!