IRON MAN versus MAGNETO

Family Reunion (Marvel)
Where: Avengers West Coast #57 When: April 1990
Why: John Byrne How: John Byrne

The Story So Far...
The emotional strain of learning her children were plied from the fractured energies of Mephisto -- only to lose them to the reincorporated devil -- takes a terrible toll on the Scarlet Witch!

Estranged from an emotionless, reconstructed Vision, she suffers a mental break -- but not alone! Magneto returns under the manipulations of Loki to reclaim his daughter and ease her from her suffering. A family reunion that inevitably pits the Master of Magnetism against Wanda's most trusted allies - The Avengers!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Iron Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Iron Man 4 (Trained)
Energy: Magneto 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Iron Man 31 (Super)

At some point every fan wonders the same thing: What happens if Iron Man fights the Master of Magnetism? It's a done deal, right? Magneto controls metal, Iron Man relies on a metal suit. Case closed. Well, not so fast hotshot...

Tony Stark may have made his first suit of armor out of iron, but times change, and as most of the planet learned through the hugely successful live-action film series -- he's not so much an iron monger as a master of industry and technological advancement (with a flair for weaponry).

This all comes down to your definition of an "Iron Man", and the simple truth is, like a lot of metal products in our modern way of life, his suits probably contain many non-ferrous materials, such as plastics, fiberglass, carbon fibers, and titanium alloy. The net result is a suit that can probably handle magnetic fields without too much trouble -- especially if he has time to prepare.

Let's assume Iron Man has super-durable plastic armor ready to go and any elemental advantage Magneto might have is null & void. What then?

Well, just because Iron Man isn't a walking lump of metal doesn't mean there isn't plenty of iron to go around!

Magneto has made a career out of turning found objects, and his environment, into a weapon. He's hurled broken machines at the Sub-Mariner, skewered Quicksilver with a flagpole, encased his students in X-Mansion wreckage, and flung industrial scrap metal & cranes at a cosmic-powered Spider-Man!

If that's not enough to give Iron Man a good fight, we've also seen Magneto use his metal-bending powers to craft his own makeshift suit of armor in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. A defensive & offensive addition to his trademark helmet.

In a real pinch he can manipulate people through the iron in their blood, or even disrupt the Earth's magnetic axis, but he isn't walking around doing these things, so we'll put the theory aside and get practical on this Marvel main event.

The Tape: Iron Man Ranking: Iron Man (#3)

What Went Down...

A portion of the cottage floor - where Vision and Scarlet Witch had set up home on the Avengers compound - becomes a makeshift platform as Magneto blasts clear of the domestic dwelling, riding it skyward with his daughter & son in tow.

Wonder Man hopes to make pursuit, but The Avengers have just stared defeat in the face. Hank Pym insists they come up with a plan, but nobody told Iron Man that!

The Golden Avenger makes his high-flying arrival -- spotting Magneto and his erstwhile teammates, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, making their bombastic escape! He contemplates their complicated history and makes chase!

Sharing the misapprehension of the public that there is a new man inside the Iron Man armor -- Magneto dissuades The Avenger from engaging with them. He feels they have no quarrel, but the armored hero is not about to back down.

'You make me sad, Iron Man. My purpose in life is the preservation of mutantkind, not the destruction of humanity. But if you insist upon placing yourself in the status of an enemy...'

Iron Man strings along the illusion that he's a new opponent, hoping to take tactical advantage of Magneto under estimating him. When the Master of Magnetism inevitably strikes -- he does indeed assume too little of his foe.

Though his aim is true -- Magneto's blast has no effect on Iron Man!

The Avenger flies clear, spiraling overhead to trade condescension with his opponent, safe in the knowledge that his armor's "ferrous polymers" have been treated with a "special demagnetizing agent".

Magneto can do nothing directly to harm the armored hero.

As he glides through the clouds, Iron Man appears to have the upper hand, but Magneto is not the only person on the floating chunk of floor.

With a simple gesture of her hand, Scarlet Witch casts a hex spell that answers the question of what would happen if his automatic systems suddenly suffered a massive failure.

Iron Man begins to plummet!

Quicksilver races to petition for capture, but the speedster is too slow. His sister's hex spell has already sent Iron Man plunging towards the Earth below.

Magneto observes the unfortunate irony. That he might have been able to reach out with his mutant gifts to save the falling Avenger, but the protections against his powers leave him as powerless to rescue as he is to assault.

The Hammer...

Lucky for Iron Man the specifics of Scarlet Witch's hex don't affect his onboard parachute -- which allows him to crash through the glass ceiling of a North Hollywood condominium unharmed. Faux pas!

Although his landing is relatively safe, it's a pretty humbling defeat -- just not from the opponent we were all focused on.

There are better examples of Magneto fighting Iron Man -- including a more compelling rematch a few issues later in Avengers West Coast #60, but this encounter does provide a short, sharp response to the elemental component that makes it a popular point of curiosity.

In the end: Magnetism just isn't a big factor!

As noted in The Tape; time and technological advancement only makes this an easier issue to explain away. These days we encounter strong, durable nonferrous materials in our day-to-day lives all the time. In the pages of 1990, writer-artist John Byrne was content to keep it vague, citing the ol' "demagnetizing agent". A bit dodgy in vernacular, but good enough in principle.

I'm sure we'll be citing it when we return to the Iron Man/Magneto match-up in its earlier and later incarnations. I'm particularly interested to look back at their first meeting: A bizarre episode from Magneto's wilder days that may or may not challenge his affirmation that he's not about 'destroying humanity'.

Interestingly enough, in today's fight Tony Stark is maintaining the lie that a new man now inhabits the Iron Man armor. That was actually the case in a prior face-off when Jim Rhodes was wearing the red & gold during Secret Wars. Not that Iron Man, or Magneto, would necessarily know to correct the other. That, and perhaps Byrne isn't really concerned with the "toyetic" 12-issue maxi series. I don't know.

Our featured fight is bookended by two far more compelling battles within the same issue, but since I've got Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection on my mind, I was a little more interested in coming down the centre for the marquee fight with two characters who feature prominently in those games. At some point, we'll come back to see how the other Avengers fared in their skirmishes.

As for Scarlet Witch -- it's not a very flashy demonstration of her powers, but still a chilling display of how quickly & effectively she can disarm an opponent given the right mindset.

On approach, Iron Man had considered the possibility that Scarlet Witch may have reverted to her earlier days with The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but apparently still wasn't expecting to be magically kayoed by her hex powers. His bad!

This is part of a Dark Phoenix-style heel turn for the heroine, which sees her getting a little more assertive in ways that will make Magneto uncomfortable soon enough. A tangled web that positions her between the machinations of Mephisto, Loki, and Immortus, in addition to her father.

The least complicated elements of this general storyline were inspiration for the WandaVision television series, and have been recurring in storylines such as House of M, but not the Marvel vs Capcom games...

Despite Marvel Super Heroes being loosely adapted from The Infinity Gauntlet - where Scarlet Witch teamed with Cyclops and Iron Man - she still hasn't appeared playable in the long-running Capcom crossover series. That's presumably a reflection of the challenges in translating vague magical powers into unique, visual game mechanics -- especially when those abilities depend on subverting the strict rules that govern day to day life, and well-balanced fighting games.

This speaks to my general theory that superhero fighting doesn't really translate well to the side-to-side arena of standard fighting games. It thrives in chemical interaction, environmental conditions, and is ultimately determined by narrative consideration that has little regard for tournament-ready balancing.

Yet, the bombastic, hyper-kinetic, hyper-visual explosive style of Capcom's Marvel video games certainly do a good enough job at making that type of superhero fighting a very good time!

I'm tremendously pleased I'll be able to play all of those classic fighting games again with the convenience of still-current hardware, and I wonder if we might see a brand new follow-up to 2017's slightly underwhelming Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite sometime in the near future. With a big enough roster, perhaps we might see Scarlet Witch finally make the cut. That could be interesting.

If you'd like see more from Scarlet Witch, the Capcom characters, or some of the other follow-up subjects I mentioned throughout this section -- perhaps you'd like to become a supporter on Patreon. In addition to having a tremendously positive effect on me and my ability to produce these entries -- you'll also get my ear to help inspire future choices even at the lowest tier.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 700 fights and ranked more than 1,000 characters! You can find them all for free by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting links to your favourite topics found throughout each entry.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to 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 Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Special note for you rankings watchers: Quicksilver is present throughout this battle, but doesn't really have a lot to contribute outside of a too-late reaction that might've helped Iron Man. For that reason, we aren't going to count any result for him. You can find rankings updates at the bottom of all new entries.

Winner: Scarlet Witch (w/ Magneto)
#164 (+293) Scarlet Witch
#90 (--) Magneto [+1 assist]
#4 (--) Iron Man

AVENGERS versus KANG THE CONQUEROR

First Blood (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #2 When: December 1996 Why: Rob Liefeld, Jim Valentino & Jeph Loeb How: Chap Yaep

The Story So Far...
Facing apparent death in their battle against the psionic entity called Onslaught -- The Avengers and Fantastic Four were whisked to the safety of a pocket dimension created subconsciously by naive mutant Franklin Richards.

Beginning their lives anew with no knowledge of their true history: The Avengers are founded under the direction of Nick Fury and SHIELD, to act as a global peace-keeping force against super-powered threats also newly manifesting on this Counter Earth.

Bolstered by the addition of Captain America and Thor; The Avengers are a powerful assembly whose legend will inevitably continue into the distant future. A future ruled by Kang The Conqueror, who has travelled through time to defeat history's mightiest heroes!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Kang 6 (Genius)
Speed: Captain America 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Hellcat 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Kang 5 (Lasers)
Total: Kang The Conqueror 29 (Metahuman)

The Avengers are: Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Vision, Swordsman, Scarlet Witch, and Hellcat.

Starting from scratch in the pocket universe -- these Avengers are still relatively new to working with each other. They just recruited Thor in the previous issue, when he saw through his brother's manipulations, and helped to defeat him.

Scarlet Witch was key to their victory, using hex powers to turn Loki's spell back against him, but it remains to be seen how her awesome magicks will affect the futuristic technology of Kang The Conqueror.

This time Kang hails from the even farther flung future of the 31st century: a variant conjured to this universe by Franklin Richards based upon his distant descendent -- the time travelling Nathaniel Richards, who is typically cited as having conquered the 30th century.

It was that Kang who deployed the Avengers to Limbo to destroy a facsimile of himself in a quest to consolidate power by eliminating all Kang variants diverging from his prime timeline. A feat achieved with advanced technology that allows him to effortlessly traverse time and space.

Kang is also outfitted in advanced armor, which grants him super-human strength and durability, gravity-defiance, defensive force-fields, and an arsenal of weaponry capable of deploying concussive blasts and other attacks.

Captain America's tactical savvy should help the team coordinate, but it's Thor who offers the most obvious counter-attack to Kang's incredibly powers.

We've seen The God of Thunder face similar versatile threats from The Mandarin, Nebula, Super-Skrull, Thanos, Juggernaut, Doctor Doom, and even DC's Superman and Captain Marvel! Will he be the difference maker? Let's find out!

The Tape: Avengers Ranking: Captain America (#7)

What Went Down...

The appearance of a massive spaceship floating over New York City prompts Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury, to activate his Avengers for a full investigation, and if necessary, neutralization of any emerging threat.

Captain America doesn't much like the cut of Fury's jib, but with Scarlet Witch and Hellcat already in the field, the team is quick to mobilize against a mysterious individual already in the process of engaging the women.

A simple gesture directs a blast of energy that engulfs Scarlet Witch and Hellcat!

The remaining Avengers arrive just in time to witness the assault. Cap discreetly makes sure Hawkeye has a clean shot, but Thor is too incensed to give the archer opportunity to strike first. Kang invites it with no clearer motive: "Your move."

The God of Thunder obliges -- tossing his mighty hammer Mjolnir!

Remarkably the weapon stalls beyond Kang's outstretched hand, igniting with sparks of electricity as it collides with a force-field surrounding him!

Captain America recognizes the danger and orders Hawkeye to try to rally Scarlet Witch to make use of her awesome magicks that stopped Loki.

Swordsman sees the need for a distraction to give Hawkeye a clear run, but his attempt to take the initiative is immediately squashed, much to Captain America's chagrin. Swords are simply no match for Kang's advanced technology!

Cap tries to restore order so the team can regroup, but Thor refuses to yield.

"Do what thou must, Captain. But, no being, mortal or god, may take the fabled Mjolnir from my side -- and not rue the day!"

The thunder god brings down the very heavens, dive bombing Kang in blaze of lightning that explodes around the force-field bubble, and rips through the surrounding earth!

The Avengers feel the fallout as Scarlet Witch does her best to shield she and Hellcat from the erupting energies. As she struggles, The Witch compels Hawkeye to help the rest of the team, even as he finds himself lacking any clear shot.

Captain America rallies Vision and Hawkeye to his side for a final stand.

Hawkeye sends the first salvo, much to Kang's amusement.

The arrow sails straight and true, inevitably striking Kang's force-field -- but this "toy" contains a thermite incendiary tip that burns through bubble and deactivates the defensive barrier!

Captain America throws his mighty shield -- knocking Kang off his feet, while Vision takes the order to glide toward the threat and neutralize it by phasing through his body to cause him discomfort -- and submission.

Alas, Kang's futuristic defenses are vast and many. Before the android can shift his density, The Conqueror orders his ship to open fire -- blasting Vision with a massive explosion!

Thor gravely returns to the battlefield, mournfully coming face to face with Kang under the belief that his new comrades have perished. He vows to avenge his fallen allies by spilling Kang's blood.

The ferocity and power of Thor's attack is enough to cause even Kang alarm.

He desperately calls for assistance from his ship as Thor rains down bareknuckle blows against his restored force-field!

A beam of energy blasts Thor from behind and surrounds him in another bubble that is dragged towards the ship. A futuristic assault that allows Kang The Conqueror to claim the thunder god as trophy in victory.

The Hammer...

Remembering that Kang featured prominently in this issue, I figured it might be fun to go back to Heroes Reborn to take a fresh look. After all, he's given pride of place as the first real threat to the pocket universe's fully formed Avengers, after they were deployed to Norway, and recruited Thor from the side of Loki.

Some of Heroes Reborn reads like a prototype version of Ultimate Marvel, and I guess that includes the highs and lows, as Kang The Conqueror is reduced to a far less interesting villain, coming from the distant future of the 31st century for the expressed purpose of impressing Mantis by beating up history's famed Avengers and nothing much more.

It's kind of a weirdly underwhelming take on what could've been a very unique and interesting villain. One whose status outside the present-day Marvel Universe could've allowed Kang full knowledge of the battle with Onslaught, and the false new reality that was created to contain the heroes.

There doesn't appear to be any acknowledgement of the fact that Loki was accidentally sent to Limbo in the prior issue. A domain notably claimed by Kang The Conqueror in past issues of Avengers, and a natural means for alerting him to the existence of the Heroes Reborn universe.

Kang might've used his unique awareness to attempt to conquer this world and use it for his own ends -- or perhaps escape it, having been accidentally caught by Franklin Richards while travelling from the future, rather than simply being a facsimile created within the world to occupy the heroes before their return.

In that situation Kang could've been key to unravelling the mystery of this new reality, investigating the lost history of The Avengers and Fantastic Four. He could've been a pivotal figure in the whole affair! Granted, that was a role reserved for Doctor Doom, and Kang probably didn't quite have the cachet to demand that level of attention at the time. That wouldn't come until a few years later when Kurt Busiek devises the epic Kang Dynasty -- a year-long story that put Kang back on top with his conquest of the present day.

Exactly how much clarity or planning was going into the pages of Heroes Reborn's Avengers Volume 2 is not evident, and difficult to gauge.

Three hands in writing might not have helped artist Chap Yaep, whose pencils are frustratingly unfocused throughout the battle of Avengers #2. His staging too often centers around unimportant aspects of subject matter, passing up opportunities for dynamic narrative shots of characters in action, in favour of messy layouts filled with dead space, awkward zooming, literal voids, and splashes of relative inaction.

Layouts are unmistakably Liefeldian, but storytelling particularly dips here, held together by script and/or dialogue credited to Jim Valentino (script), and Jeph Loeb (dialogue), respectively. Without their words scenes become less clear.

As I recall, things settle down in the next issue, and continue to improve when Ian Churchill joins the team in Avengers #4. Even so, it isn't wildly surprising that Marvel chose to sever ties mid-series with the Rob Liefeld portion of their Image-produced Heroes Reborn titles. There is an unmistakable air of chaos and waste. A sense of carelessness, and things just barely being held together by a ballooning creative team.

The editorial shakeup reportedly happened at issue #6, and will become evident in credits for Avengers #8, when Walt Simonson formally takes over writing duties, introducing a second contrary Thor to the equation, and generally restoring more normalcy to the Avengers and their portrayals ahead of their imminent repatriation to the main universe in Heroes Reborn: The Return.

The second Thor highlights the potential complication the Heroes Reborn universe adds to our rankings, but per the rules of alternate realities, we consider these to be off-shoots connected to the main character, unless otherwise stated.

No doubt we'll return to explore more from Heroes Reborn some time in the future, as well as more from Kang The Conqueror. If you'd like to see those things and more you should follow links to topics throughout this post -- or check out the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 700 battles and ranked more than 1,000 iconic characters! You can make sure there are many more to come by becoming a supporter on Patreon. As a thank you for your patronage you'll find additional updates and multiple tiers to sponsor more feature content.

Get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter and Facebook, or by becoming a freebie follower on Patreon. Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Patreon!

Winner: Kang The Conqueror
#420 (+564) Kang The Conqueror
#7 (--) Captain America
#17 (--) Thor
#90 (--) Hawkeye
#125 (-20) Hellcat
#155 (-7) Vision
#441 (-1) Scarlet Witch
#991 (-336) Swordsman

AVENGERS versus MODOK & AIM

The Girl From Gamma Gamma Gamma (Marvel)
Where: She-Hulk #1 When: May 2004
Why: Dan Slott How: Juan Bobillo

The Story So Far...
Jennifer Walters lives a charmed life. She parties by night, wins court cases by day, and when she isn't doing either of those, she becomes the Sensational She-Hulk, enjoying all the privileges of an Avenger with superhuman strength, free parking, and residence at Avengers Mansion.

Consultation with a blood specialist has helped the ace attorney crack her latest case against the man responsible for improper storage of Antarctic Vibranium, but closing arguments have to wait when an Avengers Emergency calls She-Hulk into action!

MODOK and Advanced Idea Mechanics are up to their old tricks, targeting the Earth for a deep freeze from the upper atmosphere, but the low gravity battle is just the beginning of She-Hulk's troubles.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Iron Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: MODOK 5 (Professor)
Speed: Wasp 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Captain America 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Scarlet Witch 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Iron Man 31 (Super)

The Avengers are: Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, and She-Hulk.

The Avengers have a strong line-up, but don't count MODOK out just yet! He's flanked by a small army of Advanced Idea Mechanics agents, with Blizzard strapped in to a machine designed to amplify his freezing powers on a global scale!

Blizzard is Donald Gill: the second villain to assume the alias after receiving a cryogenic battlesuit from Justin Hammer. He used his ice-projecting powers to help fight Iron Man and War Machine as part of Hammer's private army.

MODOK might look a little funny, but in previous entries we've documented him dominating a troubled Abomination, brain-blasting Cable, and turning heroes into mind-controlled pawns in the all-star all-ages version of Avengers Adventures, which also saw the kid-friendly villain mutate them into MODvengers.

The team assembled today are well versed in the art of saving the world and beating back bad guys. She-Hulk herself has stared down the threat of Thanos on multiple occasions, teamed with Hercules to best the mythical possessed Bran the Blessed, and will eventually defeat the Champion of the Universe.

How will it all go this time around? Let's get to finding out!

The Tape: Avengers Ranking: Iron Man (#4)

What Went Down...

His orbital space platform is already destroyed when MODOK shouts defiantly into the void that his cryo-cannon is still functional.

AIM soldiers float scattered high above the world as the Avengers scramble to prevent the ultimate attempt at techno-orbital espionage.

Leading their effort to save the world is the ever tenacious Captain America, who wields his mighty shield against the yellow clad science-terrorists, while desperately seeking to rally an Avenger to take out the advanced freeze gun.

Wasp and Vision contend with AIM agents, blasting the floating horde, while Iron Man does his best to reach the hostile tech -- even though his repulsor rays cannot breach MODOK's shield bubble.

She-Hulk makes a dive for the bubble as the gunner strapped to the cannon takes his shot.

The cryo-cannon channels the freezing powers of Blizzard to unleash a gigantic freeze ray in the direction of the Earth. The only thing preventing its success -- Captain America's unbreakable shield and will to hold it!

The vacuum of space somehow diminishes the freeze-ray's effects, but if it hits the Earth's atmosphere the world is at risk of a sudden winter!

With the threat of an ice age looming, She-Hulk slams her fist into the translucent shield bubble! Once! Twice! Again and again until at last it breaks!

She reaches in -- grabbing hold of a cable that tethers Blizzard to MODOK!

The mighty muscle of She-Hulk rips Blizzard out of his position mounted on the cryo-cannon and sends he & MODOK helplessly swinging through the vacuum.

She turns the villainous pair into a living wrecking ball, swinging MODOK & Blizzard through the yellow cluster of floating AIM agents -- breaking her own booster pack in the process!

MODOK disengages the line with a mental blast and activates the booster packs in his exo-suit.

An order for "Retreat Plan Omega" begins the escape operation, sending a scattered AIM swarm rapidly blasting for freedom -- thrusting She-Hulk booster-less in the direction of Earth in the process!

Fortunately, Hercules jumps into action to make the save, gently catching She-Hulk with mighty arms and a functioning pack. He agrees enthusiastically to a victory party as they hover above the big blue planet.

The Hammer...

The world is saved from a second ice age thanks to the tireless efforts of She-Hulk and The Avengers!

Despite the planetary threat posed by AIM's dismantled machines, it's actually a relatively small battle, driving MODOK and Blizzard into a desperate retreat in only two action-packed pages.

It serves as a little taste of a typical day in the life of She-Hulk, who literally had to leap from the courtroom, abandoning her duties as a lawyer mid-trial, to serve the greater good as an Avenger.

These dueling responsibilities are catching up with the partygirl hero, whose work/life balance is spiraling out of control -- even if she doesn't realise it!

A one-two punch will bring her down to Earth when Captain America and Wasp politely evict her from Avengers Mansion for abusing the facilities (with a string of impromptu overnight guests), and she loses her civilian job after opposing council argues saving the world meant compromising the jury by eliciting gratitude.

All of this will see Blizzard finding She-Hulk drowning her sorrows the next night in a bar. A chance to settle the score for ruining his shot at the big time -- at least until She-Hulk effortlessly busts out of an ice straitjacket. Fortunately for him, she'd rather share a drink than deliver a pummeling on his way back to The Vault.

Fun stuff from the now legendary 2004-05 She-Hulk series by Dan Slott and Juan Bobillo. An instant favourite of the time that provided a succinct blueprint for last year's Disney+ live-action series with its perfect blend of superhero sitcom, and court room drama.

In fact, once I got my eyes to stop rolling from the sheer absurdity of it all, I couldn't help but be amused by supposed backlash to She-Hulk twerking on the show. Consternation that echoes Captain America and Iron Man's quiet chat about She-Hulk's wild partying during their victory celebration in She-Hulk #1.

Of course, the Avengers leadership were more concerned about structural integrity and security at Avengers Mansion, and less worried about whatever petty crap people were supposedly complaining about on Twitter.

Good humor and empowerment was part of She-Hulk's identity for a couple of decades prior to this, through her bawdy solo series under John Byrne, and tenures with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. We got a little taste of it when she grappled with wardrobe and lodging concerns back in Avengers #222, while also laying the smackdown on Moonstone and Scorpion.

Slott continued a down to earth depiction of She-Hulk that had helped distinguish the character from her rampaging cousin (and earlier "Savage" period), serving up a classic dose of Marvel's "heroes with headaches" with personality all its own.

It was eminently disappointing when Marvel shortened the run to just twelve issues, but that also made it a tight tome, sealed away as a definitive take on the character, and some of Slott's best work. This was before the writer let loose on knowingly prickly subjects, teasing out fresh and intuitive takes on Marvel canon, rather than leaning in to some of its more disruptive urges.

Juan Bobillo delivers all the right beats with a bubbly penciling style atypical for the time, but perfection with its strong expression and performance, and lively sense of energy. Some of his superhero designs go quirkily off-model throughout the series, but as long as they're in these pages, sing in synch with all the fun.

Some of this volume's best elements don't exactly compliment our fight-fixated format, but today's MODOK feature is the kind of curious aside that I love to get on the record. If you're looking for something a little bit harder hitting, there's always our early spotlight on She-Hulk's challenge of Champion of the Universe, and their inventive subsequent rematch.

If you'd like to find more from the topics covered today, you can follow links throughout this post, or discover more wonders by diving into the reference banks of the Secret Archive. That's where you'll find a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 heroes & villains! Be a hero and support the project by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. As a thank you for your generosity you'll find additional updates, as well as options to shape the course of future articles!

Get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter and Facebook, or by becoming a freebie follower on Patreon. Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Patreon!

Winners: She-Hulk & Captain America (w/ Iron Man, Wasp, Vision, Hercules, and Scarlet Witch)
#56 (+32) She-Hulk
#7 (--) Captain America
#4 (--) Iron Man [+1 assist]
#39 (--) Wasp [+1 assist]
#148 (--) Vision [+1 assist]
#154 (--) Hercules [+1 assist]
#439 (--) Scarlet Witch [+1 assist]
#145 (-11) MODOK
#982 (new) Blizzard (Donald Gill)

HERO OF THE WEEK: SCARLET WITCH #425 (Marvel)
Real Name: Wanda Maximoff
Battles Recorded: 7
Wins: 1  Losses: 4  Ties: 2
Win Percentage: 14.3%
Recent Opponents: Freedom Force, Magneto, Thanos
First Appearance: X-Men #4 (March, 1964)
Patron: Become a Tier 2 Patron to choose a Hero of the Week!

In her youth Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro were rescued from hostile villagers by Magneto. Born with a gift for effecting improbable events through her natural acumen for hex magic; Scarlet Witch joined the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants under Magneto's guidance, but after battling the X-Men, turned over a new leaf as an accepted charter member of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" - The Avengers!

Elizabeth Olsen stars as Scarlet Witch in the Disney+ television series: WandaVision. The show is very loosely inspired by storylines from the second Vision and The Scarlet Witch mini-series, and issues of Avengers West Coast, among others. The 9 episode series is Olsen's fifth outing as the character after appearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and the Avengers sequels Infinity War and Endgame. She will return in the upcoming Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness.

Did You Know: As an adult Wanda learned Magneto was her true father, but this too was challenged decades later when a spell targeting her bloodline failed to impact Magneto. The High Evolutionary led her to believe The Maximoffs were her true parents all along, and she is not a mutant.

Fight Club Remarks: There has always been an element of chaos and uncertainty surrounding Scarlet Witch's powers. There is still a lot of work to be done to explore the full potential of her abilities.

Featured Fights:
- X-Men versus Sub-Mariner & Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (X-Men #6)
- Magneto versus Quicksilver, Vision & Scarlet Witch (Vision and The Scarlet Witch #4)
- Avengers versus Symbiote Thor (What If...? #4)
- Freedom Force versus Avengers (Avengers #312)
- Wonder Man & Scarlet Witch versus Grim Reaper (Avengers West Coast #65)
- Scarlet Witch, Cyclops & Vision versus Thanos (Infinity Gauntlet #4)
- Iron Man & Force Works versus The Mandarin (Iron Man #312)
- Avengers versus Galacus (What If...? #70)
- Avengers versus Thor & Loki (Avengers #1)
- Teen Titans versus Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Unlimited Access #3)
- Avengers versus The Destroyer (Thor #1)

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FREEDOM FORCE versus AVENGERS

Has The World Gone Mad?!? (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #312 When: December 1989
Why: John Byrne How: Paul Ryan & Tom Palmer

The Story So Far...
Frustrated with routine defeat at the hands of their heroic enemies: Loki gathers a cabal of powerful masterminds to orchestrate an unexpected and new paradigm!

With the combined resources of Doctor Doom, Red Skull, Magneto, The Mandarin, Wingless Wizard, and The Kingpin -- Loki redistributes villainous forces in successive acts of vengeance to disorient and defeat their adversaries!

The Avengers are still divided and reeling from the destruction of their Hydrobase when Avengers Park receives an unexpected visit from Freedom Force! The crooks turned feds have come to evict The Avengers from their subbasement HQ by any means necessary!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Blob 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Hank Pym 6 (Genius)
Speed: Wasp 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Blob 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Wasp 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Falcon 4 (Trained)
Energy: Scarlet Witch 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Vision 26 (Metahuman)

Freedom Force are: The Blob, Pyro, and Avalanche.

All three were members of Mystique's Brotherhood of Mutants before receiving pardons for their crimes in exchange for enlisting as government agents.

Both incarnations of the trio are best known for their run-ins with the X-Men and X-Factor -- which hasn't left them with a particularly spectacular reputation.

In fight card terms you might think of them as the upper mid-card. Reliable opponents with enough cache to match-up against some of the big names, but unlikely to advance. Or are they...? We're about to put that theory to the test!

The Avengers are: Henry Pym, Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon.

So far the immovable Blob is the only member of Freedom Force we have on record. He was with The Brotherhood when they clashed with DC's Teen Titans in Unlimited Access #3. Blob was more than a match for Robin's martial arts.

Fred Dukes is an unfeeling mass of human flesh who is incredibly strong, durable, and able to manipulate his density. Unlike Vision, Blob doesn't exhibit powers of intangibility, but he can similarly increase his mass to become almost impossible to move, and physically powerful.

His teammates are St. John Allerdyce aka; Pyro and Dominikos Petrakis, aka; Avalanche. The frequent pairing are expert range fighters, utilizing Pyro's ability to manipulate fire with animated results, and Avalanche's seismic waves.

Scarlet Witch wields hex magic with relative impunity, but the results aren't always predictable. Early in her career, in X-Men #4, she caused the earth to move under Cyclops' feet. Energy-based hex bolts stalled Magneto in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4, but couldn't topple Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet #4.

Pyro cannot generate fire himself, but is immune to burns, so relies on wrist-fed flame throwers to supply him with ammunition. Avalanche can generate powerful vibrational impulses, but is incapable of directing them through organic matter.

Falcon and Wasp can fly over any earthquakes to deliver smackdown and stinger blasts. Hank Pym isn't changing size so much in these days, but should be able to shrink down any problems that arise -- or find a miniaturized tool to handle the job. Let's see how they handle it...

The Tape: Avengers Ranking: Wasp (#53)

What Went Down...

Touching down in Central Park -- Freedom Force depart their government issued helicopter and start pushing their way through the public. Their search for The Avengers takes them to the team's statue and trips their security monitors.

Vision flies on ahead, passing intangibly through the levels of The Avengers' underground sub-basement headquarters, gliding towards the park above.

He greets Freedom Force with a cordial offer of assistance, but is left perplexed by Blob's colourful and bullish request to evict The Avengers from their base. The synthezoid's confusion leads Blob to an inevitable act of violence!

The powerful punch sends an unprepared Vision hurtling into the stone of Captain America's statue. It shatters at the legs, but Vision quickly recovers and torpedoes towards The Blob -- only to bounce off his ample torso!

The Vision lands at the base of the Avengers statue momentarily stunned.

Blob closes in to grab the front of Vision's cape, but before he can deliver a knock-out blow -- the statue shifts to reveal The Avengers assembling in the park!

Falcon leads the charge to rescue Vision with the miniaturized Wasp flying right behind him, but even the airborne Avengers aren't safe from a counter-strike from Avalanche!

The focused vibrations rip through the ground and kick up a wave of concrete that knocks Falcon out of the air and topples the rest of the Avengers!

The knockdown leaves the team vulnerable to a follow-up assault by Pyro, who sends dancing flame circling around them in the air.

Hank Pym orders the team to spread out, and Wasp takes advantage of the chaos to sneak up on Pyro unnoticed and strike with her stinger blasts!

Pyro quickly whips around, spraying fire from his wrist-mounted flame throwers in an effort to exterminate The Wasp. The diminutive Avenger proves too agile and tiny a target for the hotheaded mutant!

Falcon flies in for the assist -- smacking Pyro across the face with his winged fist!

Falcon is over confident when Pyro calls upon the assistance of Avalanche. He assumes the mutant's shockwaves won't harm him, but Avalanche is more than capable of generating devastating tremors in the inorganic matter of his wings!

Another statue is toppled by the blast as Hank Pym sneaks up behind Avalanche and fires a gas pellet from a previously shrunken gun.

Gas wafts into Avalanche's helmet and he starts choking, but things get even worse for the Freedom Force fighter when Scarlet Witch turns the ground against him -- collapsing it beneath his feet with a hex!

Vision congratulates his wife on neutralizing the threat while grappling with the powerful arms of The Blob! He attempts to break the stalemate by plunging his intangible arm into Blob's chest -- but Blob's shifting mutant density neutralizes the limb and forces it to become trapped!

Another Avengers statue bites the dust as Blob pivots his body -- violently swinging Vision's body like a rag doll through the stone tribute!

Scarlet Witch is overwhelmed by the carnage, unable to direct her hex magic to defend against the toppling of the main Avengers statue. Fortunately, Falcon sees the danger coming -- and flies in to make the save by flying her clear!

Another winged Avenger comes to their teammate's rescue when Hank Pym finds himself struggling to keep ahead of Pyro's flame. Wasp refocuses her attack on Pyro's flame throwers -- severing the fuel line to cut-off half his ammunition!

Pym digs into his miniaturized arsenal to produce a shrunken flame thrower and takes the opportunity to clog Pyro's remaining flame thrower with fire retardant foam! A volley of stinger bolts sends him running!

Vision resorts to energy projectiles as well -- firing laser-like eyebeams -- but still finds himself too evenly matched with the immovable might of The Blob.

Hank Pym calls an audible, ordering Vision clear while he rushes in to try to solve the problem with a liberal dosage of Pym Particles.

They suddenly start to reduce the bulging Blob to a fraction of his ample size -- but such incredible density focused on a small area has the unforeseen consequence of sending him plummeting through the ground to the subway!

Things get more out of hand when Avalanche successfully directs a quaking blast at Falcon -- shattering his wings!

Falcon careens into a nearby vehicle, while Scarlet Witch tumbles onto the road!

Vision glides towards the trouble, summoning Avalanche's attention with a blast of eyebeams over his shoulder. The Freedom Force fighter acts on his curiosity, unleashing a devastating vibrational wave at the synthezoid in an effort to find out how much of his body is resonantly inorganic.

The force rips through Vision's body -- shunting and distorting the mechanical parts at sickening odds with his biological matter!

Vision drops from the ground suffering self-diagonized massive internal damage. For a horrifying instant Scarlet Witch believes her synthezoid husband has once again been destroyed. She brushes Avalanche off and rushes to Vision's side!

It seems as if Scarlet Witch is about to unleash the unshackled power of her hex magic, but before she can -- Falcon rushes in to shove Avalanche and sock him with a hard right hand.

Hank Pym keeps up the pressure by charging Pyro with a large shield -- while Wasp continues zapping him. The double team sends Pyro seeking the unlikely assistance of New York City Police!

Pyro cites his status as a United States Government enlisted agent to order the Avengers' arrest -- but at that moment Captain America drops out of the sky from a helicopter to call Freedom Force's credentials into question!

The revelation sparks a brawl amongst angry New York bystanders who debate the merits of The Avengers and their recent relocation to Central Park!

The ruckus provides enough distraction for Avalanche to unleash another quake that knocks everyone over and covers he and Pyro's escape to their helicopter.

The Hammer...

Did that seem like an abrupt and chaotic finish to anyone else?

Just when it seemed like Scarlet Witch was about to go hogwild with hex magic -- the situation turns into a donnybrook, and Captain America literally falls out of the sky just in time to strip Freedom Force of their government-issued bona fides!

It's hard to tell if this is just the chaos of Acts of Vengeance and the frenetic storytelling of the time -- or if it hints at the chaos magic of Scarlet Witch subtly manipulating events around her.

Vision certainly seems to recover awfully quick, stepping in to discourage Scarlet Witch from bringing Freedom Force's escaping helicopter down in proximity to the populated city. Good quality synthezoid self-repair systems, or something else?

Avengers #312 is loosely sandwiched between Avengers West Coast issues that have been telling the story of Wanda Maximoff's gradual unravelling. In fact, she was virtually comatose in the concurrently released Avengers West Coast #53, but rallied to action when Hank Pym told her Vision was in danger (again).

The synthezoid had to be reconstructed after government agents dismantled him in Avengers West Coast #43, introducing the cold, white Vision seen in today's featured fight after he was rebuilt. This was just one in a series of orchestrated life-altering events straining the Scarlet Witch's mental state.

When Master Pandemonium returned to kidnap the couple's children in Avengers West Coast #51: Scarlet Witch was soon confronted with the revelation that the twin boys were never actually real -- and their essence was returned to Mephisto by the swift magical intervention of Agatha Harkness.

The move curtailed the forces of demonic evil, but pushed Scarlet Witch into the waiting arms of Magneto, who was plotting a reunion with his daughter from the nearby shadows. Magneto himself was a pawn in Loki's grand scheme, which brought the Master of Magnetism into a a cabal of masterminds as part of Acts of Vengeance, and ushered Wanda towards a period of dangerous darkness. This too played into over-arching manipulations by the time monitoring Immortus.

It all plays out a bit like a version of John Byrne's Avengers branded Dark Phoenix Saga with the complication of external crossovers. At its core: it is another case of a fiery redhead driven mad by her absolute power. It might sound rote described that way, but it is actually a period I very much enjoy. There's a lot to like.

I get a kick out of the not-quite-ragtag lineup of Avengers who're on call in this issue. It's a West Coast vibe and some of them will be flying back between issues. The logistics are sloppy, but it's too good not to go with it.

As much as I like Giant-Man or Ant-Man, there's a strange appeal to Hank Pym when he's in pulp adventurer mode,  his utility belt filled with shrunken gadgets. Falcon is good value, too. It's slightly amusing that he's the only one uncoupled until Captain America shows up. Paul Ryan makes everyone look good.

Acts of Vengeance was always one of my favourite Marvel events and we'll have to make a point of coming back to it. It was an exciting time for villains crossing branded lines at a time when that really meant something. We'll take a closer look at the felonious Freedom Force, too. Maybe in their traditional context.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by diving into the Secret Archive for an index of battles by publisher, series, and issue number -- or discover the joy of following links throughout this post to other stories.

If you'd like to check out today's featured fight in its full context you can find it collected as part of Avengers: Acts of Vengeance or Avengers by John Byrne. Use Amazon purchase links provided to do any of your online shopping and you'll not only get a great deal -- you'll also help support the site!

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#53 (--) Wasp
#76 (+4) Hank Pym
#141 (--) Vision
#425 (+1) Scarlet Witch
#464 (new) Avalanche
#465 (new) Pyro
#618 (+270) Blob
#984 (-1) Falcon
#7 (--) Captain America [+1 assist]