SASQUATCH versus CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE

And They Shall Call Him... Champion! (Marvel)
Where: Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 When: October 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 in this universe - and beyond! Enter: Proja - Promoter Supreme!

Charged with signing worthy opponents to face The Champion of the Universe; Proja sees big box office potential in a match between Thing and his client! Madison Square Garden is the only arena in the world that could stage this once in a lifetime title bout, but you can't have a main event without an undercard!

Thor was disqualified when he brought his enchanted hammer into the ring, and Hulk was deemed too much of a brute to be allowed to compete. Now it's up to Alpha Flight heavyweight Sasquatch to bring brains and brawn to blows against the fresh fists of The Champion!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Champion 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Sasquatch 6 (Genius)
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)

Champion of the Universe came into this with a lot of fanfare and bluster, but at this point you'd be within your rights to wonder if it's all just hype. Let's take a closer look at the tournament so far to see exactly what's happened!

Two heavyhitters were taken out before the action even started: Doc Samson was knocked out cold by his training robot, and Sub-Mariner refused to fight on grounds of not lowering himself to "such folly".

When Thor finally stepped into the ring to begin proceedings, he was swiftly disqualified for bringing a hammer to a boxing match. It was a no contest with Hulk as well when he was deemed too much of a brute to compete!

So far it seems like all The Champion has done is talk trash, and duck & dodge his most powerful challengers with technicalities. So what's he gonna do next? Disqualify his opponent on grounds of fur constituting illegal body covering?!

We know from future reference that Tryco Slatterus actually is the real deal. All you've gotta do is check out the way he dominated She-Hulk in their first match to see that! Don't count his next opponent out, though. This time it's different!

Sasquatch answers the question of what would happen if the Hulk retained the brilliant mind of a scientist. He's a professor of physics whose experiments with gamma radiation gave him super-human strength with total control.

So far Sasquatch has an 0-1 record on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, but that loss only came after he stood his ground against all four members of the mystically powered Wrecking Crew in Omega Flight #1!

Dr. Walter Langkowski is pretty impressive, and although he's regarded as a strongman and brawler, his background as a professional football player means he should understand the competitive conditions Champion demands. Can he put it together with the fate of the Earth on the line? Let's find out!

The Tape: Champion of the Universe Ranking: Champion of the Universe (#337)

What Went Down...

Sasquatch materializes in the ring an instant after Hulk has disappeared for disqualification. The Champion is beginning to lose faith in Earth's challengers, but his spirits rise when Sasquatch side-steps the first punch!

Sensing a need to keep The Champion off balance, Sasquatch slips around him with a go-behind into a high waist lock.

The wrestling-style tactic falls flat with The Champ, who'd expect the referee to break it up -- if he didn't solve his own problem with a shrug of the shoulder, and thrust of his forearm in Sasquatch's general direction!

Champion follows it up with a wild left that hits deep and launches Sasquatch backwards into the ropes. He callously urges Sasquatch to fight back. He does!

Having played possum to try to expose hidden motives for The Champion of the Universe's game, Sasquatch decides to stop holding back. He bounces off the ropes and leaps with momentum towards a finishing blow -- or so he thinks!

The wild trajectory of Sasquatch's jump takes him straight into the sweet spot of The Champion's devastating left hook! There's nothing he can do to stop the impact as Champ's glove smashes against his jaw!

The phenomenal power of the perfect strike leaves Sasquatch out on his feet -- keeling over for a ten count. The biggest challenger, the hardest to fall!

The Hammer...

A valiant effort from Sasquatch in the first real fight of the tournament, but Champion of the Universe is clearly still the undisputed champ! His pugilistic power was just too much for Sasquatch's catch-as-catch-can confusion.

Champion really needed a convincing win after two non-starters with Thor and Hulk. Boy did he get it! That last shot of Sasquatch doubling over, drool pouring from his mouth, is a pretty effective and haunting image.

Something about the bluntness of it really sells the utter devastation of The Champ's last blow. It's fairly unusual to see a character like Sasquatch look so physically pathetic. The heavy shadow enhances the drama, while Champion's idle posture conveys how utterly unconcerned he is with his defeated foe.

I presume there was some concern with the depiction of blood throughout the issue. I don't think its absence hurts any of the fights, though. That stream of saliva might be even more disturbing. Blood can happen from an incidental blow to the brow or lip, but to drool like that you need to be completely slack-jawed!

Top marks to artist Ron Wilson for creating such a distinct and dramatic image for the third bout. We've already seen him create a different style and character for each battle, with three more to go. That shouldn't be taken for granted!

Sasquatch might seem like a slightly unusual contender through today's prism, but in 1982 he was still a fresh and exciting addition to the Marvel Universe, having debuted early in the Claremont & Byrne run on X-Men, in 1979.

It was some clever booking to have Sasquatch step into the ring right after Hulk was eliminated for being too much of a brute. Sasquatch immediately addresses what might've happened had Hulk retained greater clarity and intellect. I would presume that might also be the reason Doc Samson was taken out before the fighting even began. They're both gamma irradiated powerhouses.

I don't quite buy the self-sacrificing stalling tactic to find out Champion's "real" motivation for threatening the Earth, but it at least gave Sasquatch fans an argument to save face for his ultimately brutal beating.

Sasquatch was also a competitor in the Contest of Champions just a month or two prior to Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7. Which happens to be one of the reasons we've finally come back to revisit the boxing tournament! He's currently appearing in our unofficial sequel! You can check out The Contest: Swamp Thing vs Sasquatch for all the details on how that works, and what went down!

When next we reconvene to Madison Square Garden we'll be seeing if the steely mutant mettle of Colossus can bring an end to the reign of Tryco Slatterus as Champion of the Universe! I hope you'll be here to join me when it happens!

At the time of this writing, the majority of sporting leagues have been put on indefinite hold while the world faces the deadly spread of COVID-19. I'll be doing my best to keep the fight alive with the usual superhero smackdown.

If you need a sporting distraction: you can find well over 600 featured fights on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths! They're indexed in the Secret Archive in order of publisher, series, and issue number. You can also discover more by following links throughout this post, or getting daily updates via Twitter and Facebook!

If you like what Secret Wars on Infinite Earths is all about, and want to help it succeed, you can contribute to the project via Patreon. Patrons receive inside access to the schedule and special request feature articles. Not to mention my eternal gratitude and continued survival!

Winner: Champion of the Universe
#109 (+228) Champion of the Universe
#920 (-231) Sasquatch

THE CONTEST: SWAMP THING versus SASQUATCH

It had to happen! The Grandmaster has watched the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths for many years and now he comes with a challenge: I must select 12 heroes & villains from the DC Universe to do battle against his Champions of the Marvel Universe! Grandmaster's team competed in the first Contest of Champions and set an allowance of 5000pts based on fixed Fight Club Rankings. Each battle will be decided by you in fantasy fight polls held on Twitter, Facebook and Patreon!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Sasquatch 6 (Genius)
Speed: Sasquatch 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Swamp Thing 6 (Generator)
Agility: Swamp Thing 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Swamp Thing 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Swamp Thing 33 (Super)

With the last fight the score with The Grandmaster was evened, but I've already spent over a fifth of my allowance just for that! I've got to start looking for some bargain recruits to conserve points for the big fights still ahead. Today's Contest is a challenge, but I think I've got a good contender!

The Grandmaster looked globally when he recruited for the original Contest of Champions, and he found a powerhouse with brains to match his brawn in the cold of Canada. Dr. Walter Langkowski is a brilliant biophysicist whose experiments with gamma radiation turned him into the Sasquatch!

Sasquatch very literally answered the question of what it would be like if the Hulk could retain the brilliant mind of Bruce Banner. He can transform at will, retaining his intellect when he becomes a super-strong, super-durable, shaggy beast. He's even fought toe-to-toe with the Hulk, and we saw him make a commendable stand against all four members of The Wrecking Crew in Omega Flight #1!

Sasquatch is clearly a brawler to be reckoned with, but I think Swamp Thing transcends brawling!

As an avatar for "The Green"; Swamp Thing is in touch with all things in nature. His body is literally comprised of vegetation, giving him the strength of the mightiest oak - and the regenerative powers of the most stubborn weeds. He can also call upon local flora to attack and ensnare his opponents, and that's what I'm counting on making life very difficult for Sasquatch.

Swamp Thing's been greatly under represented here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, which means he's a steal at just 52pts. His current low ranking of #902 is due to a single recorded battle ending in unlikely defeat to Scarecrow in Swamp Thing #19. There, Scarecrow managed to trigger the fear-inducing formula that could chemically effect Swamp Thing. An unlikely risk against Sasquatch!

I think Swamp Thing can go pound-for-pound with Sasquatch, but if he happened to come out second best in a trading of blows, I think he'll regrow any damaged parts, and call unleash surrounding plant-life to tangle Sasquatch up!

The Verdict...

I knew Swamp Thing had the potential to be a powerful favourite in this match-up, but would his vast mastery of "The Green" come into play in a brawl against the mythic man-beast Sasquatch?

@DCWorldSwampy didn't need convincing, seeing it fairly one-sided: "Swampy, hands down." The Sentry & The Void - Nazar echoed those sentiments: "Swamp Thing. Easily too." Their certainty about Swamp Thing's powers reflected an early lead, but there were still questions.

Talking Alpha Flight offered a different perspective, focusing on the otherworldly aspect of Sasquatch's transformation as a potential equalizer: "People are giving it to Swampy bc they think of Sasquatch as a Hulk knock off, only a strong man. Sasquatch is actually one of the Great Beasts! Langkowski controls the body but Sasquatch is as supernatural as Swamp Thing".

Sam King felt location would be the deciding factor, noting: "Home field advantage is everything in this one!" @DaveWGeary took that thought even further, 'Are they on Earth? We know Swamp Thing suffers when distant from the Green.' He also had concerns about incarnations of each character, "Is it Walter's mind or has he lost to the [beast] again? Otherwise question can't be answered."

For the sake of debate, The Contest isn't rooted in any particular location. Exact incarnations are up for debate too, although Secret Wars on Infinite Earths always favours a loose, iconic impression.

In the end, it was probably the iconic regenerative and environmental powers of Swamp Thing that saw him through to a comfortable 65.8% majority via Twitter. Technical issues on Facebook meant there was no alternative to challenge that figure.

That means the monster mash of Round 3 goes to Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

We'll be back for Round 4 later this month! Keep your eyes on The Contest for the latest battles, and on Twitter, Facebook, and Patreon for regular updates. You can also tell me how you think today's fight should've gone by posting in the comments, or on social media. I'd love to hear from you!

Winner: Swamp Thing
The Grandmaster: - 1
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: - 2

<< Contest: Green Lantern vs Darkstar    [Home]    Contest: Plastic Man vs Blitzkrieg >>

SASQUATCH versus THE WRECKING CREW
Alpha To Omega (Marvel comics)
Where: Omega Flight #1 When: June 2007
Why: Michael Avon Oeming How: Scott Kolins

The story so far...
Suffering a defeat that saw the death of most of it's members, Alpha Flight came to an end with the attack of the being known as The Collective.

The only survivor, Sasquatch, retreats from the life led as a superhero to return to his first love of science, but as the Americans begin to crack down with the advent of their Hero Registration Act, problems begin to creep across the boarder to Canadian soil.

The Canadian government, with aid from the US, seeks to reform the team around Sasquatch as Omega Flight, the last chance to prove once and for all Canada is worthy of a super team. However, before the team can gather, Sasquatch finds himself thrust back into action as the Wrecking Crew roll into mapleleaf country, looking to raise rabble without opposition.

Previous Form:
The Wrecking Crew [#24]: Defeated by an early incarnation of Thunderbolts.
Sasquatch: Making his first appearance.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Wrecker 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Sasquatch 6 (Genius)
Speed: Bulldozer 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Piledriver 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Piledriver 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Thunderball 4 (Arsenal)


Alright, so I'm not a big Alpha Flight fan, but I can get behind what they're about. One of the greatest contradictions of mainstream superhero comics is the relative lack of diversity amongst their powers, with the improbable majority of radiation leaks and magic infusions occuring in the United States.
From that perspective, I think Alpha Flight is a good thing. Omega Flight, ironically, not so much, but it's inclusion of US mainstays into the mix is the least of it's problems. More on that later.

I like the Wrecking Crew. For the most part they're a pack of poorly designed super-thugs, but I like them, I think they're a good bit of fun, and I quite enjoyed the last time we took a look at them. [Thunderbolts #1]

In the painstakes they're a mob of heavy hitters that make even Thor blush, each possessing their own Nordic enchantments on an assortment of cheesy, suitably thematic weapons. Wrecking balls, crowbars, standard fare for a team of mooks pitting their hopes on the market value of a brand built on construction.

Some minor fluctuation aside, Sasquatch is a Hank Pym-level intellect with a Hulk-level body, give or take some fur. When it comes to combat he's no slouch, but in the way Hulk can rise to the challenge of a god like Thor, I'm not terribly confident in Sasquatch's mythic abilities.

Considering each member of the Crew derives their powers from Norse god-power, that doesn't bode well for ol' saskie. For Sasquatch to stand any chance against a team of this level it would require surroundings that could facilitate an intelligent strategy, that might see him pick each member off one by one in a stealthy Canadian Wolverine-fest. Or, failing that, Alpha Flight would have to come to his aid, which completely evens the stakes.

Alas, this battle is schedule for Sasquatch alone, so there's little to no argument for Sasquatch to debut with a victory in the Infinite Wars. Still, as the only survivor of The Collective's slaughter, he can probably at least look forward to a bout of unconsciousness, before returning to his survivor's guilt.

The Math: The Wrecking Crew (Total) Sasquatch (Average)
The Pick: The Wrecking Crew

What went down...
Rolling into Canada and raising hell seems to be the best plan the Wrecking Crew have ever pulled off until they step out of the bar they've spent the night terrorizing.

Bulldozer takes a shotgun blast from a nervous resident, but his cackling is cut short by something descending from amidst the rain. "Hey, what is that?

Their celebrations for the absence of familiar heroes are cut short when Sasquatch lands with destructive results. Like a cartoon nail, Bulldozer is buried in the ground by the force of Sasquatch's landing.

Piledriver makes remark of current affairs, having believed Sasquatch had died with his fellows in the slaughter of Alpha Flight. Sasquatch snarls something in response, and The Wrecker kicks off the action once more with a promise to clarify the situation, raising his enchanted crowbar in the air.

Sasquatch puts the Wrecker down hard, using his speed and reach to great effect with a swiping attack. He fields further speculation about whether or not he's a clone, keeping Wrecker and his enchanted crowbar underfoot until Piledriver initiates a rush attack.

Sasquatch takes the hit, and lets loose with emotion, defying the Wrecking Crew's intentions to roll into a defensless Canada.

He stalks confidently back into battle with the Wrecker, but suffers a chain garotte from behind from Thunderball.

Wrecker and Thunderboll lay into the Alpha Flight survivor with unrelenting blows. In desperation, Sasquatch lashes out with his claws, raking at Thunderball's eyes sufficiently to temporarily blind him.

Free from restraint, Sasquatch pounds the ground, scattering the members of the Crew, while he has flashbacks of the demise of his team at the hands of The Collective. The memories drive him into a feral rage, but before he can act on them, a truck hurtles through the air toward him.

The truck explodes, putting Sasquatch down for the count.
Ever the villainous types, the Wrecking Crew seek retribution in blood, all four members laying into the fallen Sasquatch with murderous intent.

The hammer...
The winners by knock out, the Wrecking Crew!
This marks their second outing as a unit, and their first victory, after suffering a defeat in another series starter. Which contrasts the way to start a superhero comic; either with a strong initiation at the expense of an established threat (ie; the Wrecking Crew) with bigger, perhaps brand new threats to follow. Or, like this issue, you start the hero in peril, building up to ultimate victory at the end -- like a Rocky movie. With any luck Omega Flight will end with Sasquatch single-handedly ending the war on terror, uniting all mankind in celebration.

Of course, to do that, all mankind would have to avoid buying Omega Flight.

Alright, I'm not usually one to use this forum as a means for baseless bickering, and comfortable with my tastes, it's rare I actually buy a bitter disappointment, but this is the exception that proves the rule. The issue itself isn't terrible, but if you've been following us over the past few weeks, you'll have seen the discussion about series beginnings including their opening storyarcs. [Captain Atom: Armageddon #1, Batman #608, Avengers #1, Nova #2, Avengers #4, DC: The New Frontier #2]

Omega Flight has become the measure of how not to start a series, particularly a title ultimately designated 'mini-series' status, but in truth there are a lot of other perpetrators. The posterchild of the painfully slow burn has to be Brian Bendis, whose original New Avengers work calls back to this in a big way, and in a solo perspective, Ultimate Spider-man also begins in much the same track. Unfortunately for USM, that sort of thin story telling has continued, while New Avengers has, for the time being, found it's footing somewhere in the late twenties.

Omega Flight gets the big red X for simple lack of progression in storytelling.
There's a lot of talk about 'writing for the [five/six issue] trade', and as a writer I can fully understand and support the notion of writing to a strength of the medium, but not like this. Not when you have your team on the cover, and meander through a single adventure that doesn't see the team forming until somewhere well past the half-way point.

Personally, I have some issues with Scott Kolins' output over the past few years, starting somewhere around covers on New Invaders and interiors for the ill-fated Marvel Team-Up. I couldn't falter Kolins for that, given that he, for the most part, competently tells what little story there is here, but it doesn't help matters.

Likewise, on the flip side, every time I see Mike Oeming's name on a Marvel character, I can't help but slump my shoulders when it's a writing credit.
Though essentially regarded for affectionately aping the Bruce Timm style, Mike Oeming's strengths as a story teller remain at the tip of a pencil. His gritty minimalist pencils are the kind of stylized approach I long to see at a Marvel drifting farther and farther from the early 00's that saw successful creative experiments like Grant Morrison's New X-Men, X-Statix, and various other wins.

I mention New Invaders, and really, that's probably the kind of book I'd hoped to find here. Not just because of the obvious US Agent connection, but because it felt like it had the opportunity to operate on the fringes of the Marvel universe, delivering stories with familiar characters, in slightly less familiar settings.

Never before has this been a more valuable juxtaposition than with the advent of the superhero Civil War. To be fair, Omega Flight does successfully differ itself from the superheroc conflicts of the core Marvel titles, but it does so with such frivolity that I'm positively surprised, and maybe even a little appalled by the titles selling far less than it.

What really prompted this entry was my browsing over sales figures for June 2007, which highlighted what I consider to be a disappointing fact of this particular industry. A fact that quality, at the end of the day, is meaningless, and that for all the talk of many, the money is not where the mouths are.

Some of the surprising titles selling less than Omega Flight: Iron Fist, She-Hulk, Spider-man Family, Detective Comics, Green Arrow, The Spirit, Checkmate, Catwoman, Ex Machina, Blue Beetle. That isn't even delving into the regularly neglected titles from publishers that aren't Marvel or DC. Poor form, direct market. Poor form.

I don't want to go over the top. I'm not about to blame Omega Flight for the numbers on those other books, because I think I've been scathing enough of it's legitimate faults, but I think it's worth setting in stone. This is not good comics writing. This is not even slowburn comics writing. This is not for me.

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 3
[Average first issue to a meandering, thin series. An unfortunate distraction from Mike Oeming's pencilling work. Some fun action for fans of the characters, but otherwise a book for the hall of shame. Sorry guys.]