SKRULLS versus WOLVERINE

Eve of Destruction (Marvel)
Where: X-Men #90 When: July 1999
Why: Alan Davis & Terry Kavanagh How: Alan Davis

The Story So Far...
When a trans-dimensional being called Ejulp recruits the X-Men to defend his domain from the unstoppable Juggernaut -- he inadvertently flings them through time & space to a long time ago on a distant planet!

Confusion abounds as the X-Men encounter fallen comrades, erstwhile allies, and even versions of themselves -- but this is no ordinary product of time travel. They are in the domain of the shape-shifting Skrulls -- and the lost world of Tarnax IV!

They are inadvertently deposited on a training moon orbiting the Skrull Throneworld as the great Devourer of Worlds Galactus approaches! Now the X-Men race to change history to save the lives of untold Skrulls -- and themselves! They just have to convince the Skrulls to stop trying to kill them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Abomination 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Green Goblin 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Britain 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Wolverine 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Havok 5 (Lasers)
Total: Captain Britain 29 (Super)

Skrulls specialize in covert infiltration and subterfuge, but what good is a disguise when your opponent can sniff a fake out from a mile away?

Wolverine already knows he's knee-deep in shape-shifters, so he's on alert to suspect even the most convincing doppelganger, but these particular Skrulls aren't just copying the appearance of other powerful figures!

Skrull science is capable of bestowing copied super-powers, technology, and specialist training upon their agents. There are several well-known super-powered Skrulls, chief among them: Kl'rt the Super-Skrull and Paibok the Power Skrull.

Wolverine's up against engineered spies in training, so he at least won't have to worry about seasoned, multi-powered super-heavyweights like Super-Skrull. He does, however, have some powerful imitators to contend with.

The Skrull spies are patterned after: Captain Britain, Havok, Green Goblin, Medusa, and Abomination.

This is the Captain Britain who stands toe-to-toe with Juggernaut, and we all know Abomination as the arch-nemesis of Hulk. Wolverine is no stranger to tangling with those adversaries as well, but usually he only has to contend with one of them. This pairing of powerhouses alone poses a significant challenge!

Add the abilities/arsenal of Havok and Green Goblin for some extra ranged fire power, while Medusa's Inhuman prehensile hair locks down the mutant's mobility, and he's running out of options real fast!

Wolverine's best bet may be immediate surrender to a berzerker barrage to mercilessly wield his adamantium claws against the alien menace.

Animalistic ruthlessness has been the equalizer in his outnumbered battles against The Hellfire Club, Lady Deathstrike and her cyborg Reavers, The Hand, and even The Fantastic Four! Will it make the difference again? Let's find out...

The Tape: Skrulls Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

Familiar faces surround, but he isn't amongst friends. Wolverine, claws out, fights for his life in an arena designated "Stage-Earth". Only it has nothing to do with Earth. It's just another lie. A testing ground for Skrull spies to hone the skills they've stolen from Earth's heroes and villains.

He throws himself through the crowd -- leading claws on his left hand slashing at a face imitating the mask of the Green Goblin, while his right hand trails behind, having already raked against an imitation Captain Britain.

They might not be the genuine articles, but each of these doppelgangers shares the might of the people they imitate. They're still training, but they're dangerous.

His mutant healing factor is already working to stitch pierced flesh back together when a thick shock of hair wraps around Wolverine's torso!

His instincts are almost as sharp as his claws. A single slash is all that's needed to separate the attacking Skrull from her living, prehensile Medusa hair!

One threat quelled gives way to another. A Skrull with the rampaging strength of The Abomination puts an end to Wolverine's stand -- driving him into the ground!

The crushing slam of Abomination's fist leaves the X-Man dazed & confused!

He can hardly process what he's seeing as another hand grabs Abomination by the wrist and hoists him over head.

A head with another familiar face. One that hits a little too close to home.

John Proudstar -- a comrade at arms who perished by Wolverine's side. A short-lived X-Man, accompanied by Shadowcat. Reinforcements!

Blasts of energy stream towards the phony Havok, Green Goblin, and Captain Britain, as Skrulls with the faces of other deceased heroes -- Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel -- come charging to the rescue!

Mar-Vell kicks Green Goblin in the face while blasting Havok with cosmic power, as Adam Warlock directs a full mental energy bolt to subdue Captain Britain!

They're Skrulls. Each and every one of them. Empowered with super-normal abilities taken from well-known counterparts, but there's not much use for infiltrating society with a dead man's face. Spies who can't hide in plain sight.

The genuine Shadowcat helps untangle Wolverine from Medusa's hair. Thunderbird makes sure the Abomination Skrull has been slammed unconscious, while Warlock drops Captain Britain next to the other bodies.

The Hammer...

It looked like Wolverine was on the ropes, but we'll never know if he could've turned it around on his own. Kitty Pryde showed up with Thunderbird, Adam Warlock, and Captain Marvel Skrulls to make the big save!

There's a whole lot more Skrull on Mutant action in this issue, with the rest of the X-Men battling elsewhere, and our unlikely quintet sticking together to fight towards an exit.

I kinda like the idea of deep-cover Skrulls whose imitation is engineered to be so complete and convincing that it's permanent.

Taking away the common ability to shape-shift is a pretty heavy-duty fate for a Skrull, and the predicament it leaves agents in, whose double has very publicly met their demise, is kinda interesting. Not that it stopped later iterations once Marvel Comics truly fulfilled a revolving door of death.

I suppose these permanently altered Skrulls become a mutant caste in a vaguely analogous fashion to our X-Men. Thematic consideration that bridges the gap between these two groups -- even if Wolverine remains guarded as he receives help from his apparent saviors, who are further ostracized by their correct belief that the X-Men are trying to warn the Skrulls of impending doom.

Wolvie's canny enough to know you can never let your guard down when dealing with Skrulls, and indeed, the next time we see him -- on a hijacked Skrull ship as the X-Men are emerging from "cryo-stasis" on the way back to present-day Earth -- he has been replaced by a Skrull doppelganger. Shades of an Alien 3 fast-one.

As I've mentioned in the past: 1999 was the first real down period for my comics reading, but the significance of this story extends in both directions, continuing into the mildly interesting reveal that the real Wolverine has become Apocalypse's Horseman of Death, and backwards to 1983's Fantastic Four #257, when Nova led Galactus to feast upon Tarnax IV - the Skrull Throneworld.

If you really wanted to do some mental gymnastics, you could further weave this episode into the contemporary significance of Secret Invasion, which continued to reckon with the destruction of Tarnax IV, and led to multi-powered Skrulls created after its own retro-active fiction - an encounter with The Illuminati.

We might reason the Secret Invasion super Skrulls are all part of the same program that created the permanently altered spies seen today, destined for obsolescence. It can be debated if a second Mar-Vell Skrull appearing during that event supports this theory, or challenges it. It might've been nice if it were the same Skrull, but this one appears to die later this issue, and they went with a more recognized blonde version of Mar-Vell for the 2007 "return".

Thinking this much about Skrulls in relation to the X-Men is kind of an odd fit, and I wonder how it all came about. Even taking previous space adventures into account - returning to a then-sixteen year old issue of FF is quite a leap.

Maybe it speaks to the slight chaos of Marvel at the turn of the millennium. A time that sometimes felt like creative freefall as the content of comics negotiated a transition from familiar styles and subject matter, to slightly new approaches.

X-Men #90 feels more consistent with the slightly old-fashioned vein that ran through Marvel into 2001 and the space-centric Maximum Security event. It butts up against a grounding of the X-Men, with deeper investment in their natural habitat of frictious co-existence between mutants & humans, and the coming of Grant Morrison's New X-Men. Both fuelled by the X-Men movie in 2000.

Amusing that the next most prominent X/ET encounter that comes to mind is the Shi'ar Imperial conflict in New X-Men, 2002. Something about that Great British diet of sci-fi keeping the space classics in the minds of Morrison, and Alan Davis?

The presence of Captain Britain feels like a quirk of Davis' dual role as plotter & penciler. I wonder if he may also be the key to the entire Skrull affair. I certainly enjoyed his brief time on the first three issues of Fantastic Four (Vol.3), introducing the Kirby-inspired Iconoclast, and revisiting the classic Super-Apes & Red Ghost. Perhaps Galactus and Skrulls were unfinished business.

Davis has a pretty safe & soft style, and it's pleasant here in the colourful world of classically-tinged X-Men. I don't particularly love this issue or time period, but it's fairly inoffensive, and I hope to explore more in the future.

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Winners: Thunderbird, Warlock, and Mar-Vell Skrulls (w/ Wolverine & Shadowcat)
#364 (new) Thunderbird (Skrull)
#365 (new) Adam Warlock (Skrull)
#366 (new) Captain Marvel (Skrull)
#5 (--) Wolverine [+1 assist]
#126 (--) Shadowcat [+1 assist]
#1014 (new) Captain Britain (Skrull)
#1015 (new) Havok (Skrull)
#1016 (new) Green Goblin (Skrull)
#1017 (new) Abomination (Skrull)
#1018 (new) Medusa (Skrull)

X-MEN versus DEATHSTROKE

Apokolips... Now (DC/Marvel)
Where: Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1 When: 1982 Why: Chris Claremont How: Walt Simonson

The Story So Far...
Nightmares plague the young heroes of the X-Men and Teen Titans. The memory of fallen comrade Phoenix haunts the mind and heart of those who loved her, while a universe away, her flaming visage inspires terror.

Across the gulf of space, Darkseid contemplates the means to penetrate and harness the supreme power of The Source Wall. His plan: to send his agents to collect the residual psychic energies left on Earth by the cosmic Phoenix entity.

Flanked by an army of Para-Demon soldiers, Deathstroke accepts the mission to lead them in a quest to accrue cosmic energy. A task that could only inevitably draw the attention of the Uncanny X-Men!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Colossus 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Deathstroke 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nightcrawler 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Nightcrawler 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Deathstroke 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Cyclops 5 (Lasers)


X-Men are: Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Sprite, Nightcrawler & Wolverine.

The glaring issue here is an apparent mismatch in numbers, but we can pretty quickly address that. Deathstroke is working in the employ of Darkseid, which has given him access to an army of Para-Demon shock troops. Not that he necessarily needs them!

Deathstroke The terminator is Slade Wilson: A career soldier who was subjected to secret military experiments designed to create the ultimate super-soldier.

The result granted Wilson access to 90% of his brain capacity, unlocking significant cognitive abilities including; increased reaction time, reflexes, tactical brilliance, learning enhancement, memory retention, and more. These skills are best demonstrated by his supreme fighting ability. Deathstroke is versed in multiple hand-to-hand combat techniques, martial arts disciplines, and weapons training, including his weapon of choice: the sword.

We saw just how dangerous a combatant Deathstroke can be  in Identity Crisis #3, where he single-handedly fought the Justice League to a standstill! In that instance, speed and tactics were his deadliest weapons, as he systematically neutralized each hero. He anticipated and thwarted Flash, silenced Zatanna, clipped Hawkman's wings, bagged Black Canary, and so on.

There's an obvious comparison to made there for the challenge of the X-Men - a group who won't even have the benefit of familiarity with Deathstroke's tactics!

He possesses an increased healing ability, allowing him to recover from near fatal injuries much quicker than an ordinary human being. That's not only an obvious comparison to Wolverine, but a confidence builder against the mutant's adamantium laced claws. Can Deathstroke's sword withstand their legendary cutting power? It may not need to, having the advantage of reach over claws!

Nightcrawler could be an interesting fencing partner for Deathstroke, given his famed fondness for sword fights. He may be outclassed by the superior soldier, who would certainly be more ruthless, and able to anticipate his moves. Even if he were to incorporate his mutant gift of teleportation.

Organic steel skin and super-human strength mean Colossus has muscle and durability on his side, but Deathstroke's arsenal, speed, agility, and Parademon back-up are mitigating factors. Parademons are also Deathstroke's best option for neutralizing Storm's control of weather phenomena, and/or busying Cyclops.

At this point in X-Men history, Kitty Pryde was an inexperienced young teen, but her powers of intangibility arguably make her the biggest X-factor of this fight! The Terminator's 90% brain function may come up with a strategy to turn her abilities against her, or at least neutralize their offensive potential, but he can only do that if he identifies them before they make the difference!

We've seen one X-Man be the game changer many times over the years, tipping the scales in battles with: Nimrod [Uncanny X-Men #194], Magneto [X-Men #25], Xorn [New X-Men #150] and The Lizard [X-Men: First Class #2]!

We also saw Kitty Pryde play a major role in X-Men Annual #6, when this era's X-Men came close to getting the better of Count Dracula! The divided team only managed a draw in the '82 annual. Let's see how they did here...

The Tape: Wolverine Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...
On a very particular butte in New Mexico: Deathstroke commands an army of Parademons in the erection of a massive "Psi-Phon" tower. They're collecting the residual psychic energy left by The Phoenix - but they're about to get more than they bargain ford!

Wolverine manages to sneak up on an unsuspecting Deathstroke to ask if he's got a light. The Terminator answers with a swing of his sword, but Wolverine is prepared! He ducks the weapon and returns fire with the adamantium reinforced backside of his fist! Deathstroke is sent flying!

While Wolverine deals with their leader; Cyclops blasts the Parademons who're guarding the towering machine. The X-Man orders its destruction - a simple feat for the super-human strength of Colossus!

The steel-skinned Russian upends the gigantic machine, toppling several Para-demons in the process. Storm helps in the task, sweeping more Apokolips soldiers away with an uncanny gale-force wind!

Sprite does her part, emerging from the rocky desert in front of a gun-toting Parademon. The distraction allows Nightcrawler to teleport in for a surprise attack that disables the villain!

Across the battlefield, Deathstroke studies the X-Men in action - aware of their reputation. His keen reflexes allowed him to avoid a knock-out from Wolverine's earlier blow. He takes advantage of being the loose man, targeting airborne Storm with a rifle that fires a fear ray! The sudden onset of severe claustrophobia sends Storm hurtling earthbound!

The Parademons rally, catching Sprite, Nightcrawler and Wolverine with a noxious Toxi-Cloud Grenade! Relying upon superior numbers and technology, one of the soldiers takes out Cyclops with an energy disperser bolt gun!

Colossus is the last X-Man standing and sets his sights on Deathstroke. The mercenary braces for the charging mutant and goes low - turning his metallic momentum against him! Close to the edge of the butte - Colossus is sent tumbling over the side toward the desert below!

With victory in hand, Deathstroke and the Parademons take their opponents prisoner and open a boom tube for Darkseid's throne room in The Wall.

The Hammer...
We couldn't end 2016 without one final return to a battle between DC and Marvel Comics! After all, this was a year that marked the 40th anniversary of the character crossover that started them all: 1976's Superman versus The Amazing Spider-man!

It took five years for the two publishers to arrange a sequel issue, once again pitting their mascots Superman and Spider-man against corroborating villains. Doctor Doom and Parasite were the offending bad guys, but this time Wonder Woman and Hulk were along for the ride, too.

Hulk would return later in '81 to headline another crossover special - head-to-head with Batman in a mismatch of television and comics icons. The original three oversized issues offered a fair spread of characters from both unvierses, but no single special had the scope of the inter-company crossover published in 1982: Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans!

The ambition of Chris Claremont and Walt Simonson's teen team crossover went far beyond the cosmic trappings of its own set-up. The threat posed by Darkseid is arguably the biggest of any of these stories, but it was its function as a sequel to The Dark Phoenix Saga that makes it more than any ordinary one-shot.

The New Mexico setting in today's featured battle recalls a specific tender moment shared between Cyclops and Jean Grey in Uncanny X-Men #132. Though only a couple of years removed, that's still a pretty deep cut for an inter-company crossover -- and it isn't the only one! The entire premise plays upon Darkseid's minions revisiting those key locations touched by Phoenix's power.

The X-Men and Teen Titans were obviously twin hot properties in 1982, but I think the choice of using significant canon probably helped make this the popular crossover it was. Superman/Spider-man had spectacle, Batman/Hulk a curiosity factor, but this one had both -- and a story that seemed to elevate its importance, even for me - a confessed teen hero hater from school age.

Of course, no inter-company crossover is complete without an interesting title fight. Learning from reactions to the '76 Versus title; DC and Marvel made the wise choice to replace their combative preposition with a more applicable conjunction: and.

The cover gives no reasonable expectation that the X-Men and Titans will fight -- but that doesn't mean they didn't have a perfect bout up their sleeve! Just a couple of years old, and a couple more away from the heights of The Judas Contract; Deathstroke The Terminator was already a pretty perfect opponent for morally conflicted mutant hardass - Wolverine!

If you followed the feature fight, you know Wolverine effectively got the drop on Deathstroke, but failed to finish the job. Does that sound like the best there is at what he does? Hey, it goes both ways. The Terminator -- as he was known almost four years before the movie -- may have toppled the X-Men, but there's a more physical rematch before issue's end. A battle we'll no doubt look closer at in the future.

It's a small wonder we didn't see a third decider when it came time for DC and Marvel to pit their characters against one another in a long awaited, all fighting crossover spectacular: DC versus Marvel/Marvel versus DC! It probably couldn't have been more controversial than the battle we got: Lobo versus Wolverine.

It speaks to the mystique of Deathstroke for the longest time, whose solo series was coming to an end in 96. It seems he didn't penetrate the DC Universe in any lasting, meaningful way until the mid-2000s. Even after sixty issues of mercenary escapades, he always seemed anchored to the Teen Titans. A factor that's fast fading, with the mainstream preparing for test footage to turn into a full fledged feature film appearance in DC's The Batman.

As we put 2016 behind us, Hollywood is telling tales of ascent and descent for these two comic book icons. With Logan, Hugh Jackman expects to retire his iconic performance as Wolverine after seventeen years on screen. On the flip side, Joe Manganiello has begun training to bring a new icon to screen. Will he inherit the mantle of big screen bad ass that Wolverine vacates?

We end the year celebrating the past whilst looking towards an uncertain future!

I hope we'll be together for more Secret Wars on Infinite Earths in 2017. If we aren't, you can relive all the featured fights from 2016, including our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of DC versus Marvel, back in April! To find even more classic battles and inter-company crossovers scroll down the Issue Index!

Winner: Deathstroke
#94 (+208) Deathstroke
#5 (--) Wolverine
#42 (--) Storm
#66 (-1) Cyclops
#91 (-21) Sprite (Kitty Pryde)
#357 (-13) Colossus
#508 (-134) Nightcrawler

X-MEN versus DRACULA
Blood Feud! (Marvel)
Where: X-Men Annual #6 When: 1982
Why: Chris Claremont How: Bill Sienkiewicz

The Story So Far...
It has been quite some time since the X-Men battled the lord of vampires, but when Storm dreams of Dracula's dark embrace, and the blood of her fellows, she knows the man who once possessed her soul beckons her.

In England, the wind-rider finds Dracula's newest lady, the recently turned Rachel van Helsing, and a master who still holds power over her once vampiric heart. Storm is recruited by the dark lord to steal the Montesi Formula from the sacred lands of Castle Pendarrow, giving Dracula control over the means to obliterate vampires everywhere.

Despite her expertise as a thief, Storm finds herself set upon by fellow X-Men, Kitty Pryde and Colossus, each with a murderous intent to stop her. Their battle leads a wounded Storm once more to the arms of Dracula, and the X-Men to her!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Dracula 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Dracula 5 (Tactician)
Speed: Wolverine 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Dracula 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Nightcrawler 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Cyclops 5 (Lasers)


- The X-Men are: Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Storm.

The emergence of the mutant X-gene brings with it mixed blessings as humanity finds itself confronted by the next stage in human evolution. As individuals begin to manifest inherent superhuman abilities, two men; Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr; find themselves at a philosophical crossroads where education would be concerned. In contrast to his counterpart, Xavier uses his family fortune to found the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, using his knowledge and powers to train and educate mutant pubescents struggling with their abilities.

Xavier's original class consisted of Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy, and Warren Worthington III, but would soon expand exponentially proportionate to team's activities as a covert paramilitary force protecting humanity from those who would misuse their power. Among the prominent new recruits; Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Storm, Rogue, Havok, Dazzler, Gambit, Emma Frost, and for a short time, even Magneto.

They fight to protect the very people who fear and hate them, defending against the menace of alien invasion, cosmic crisis, and the mutants who would use their gifts for evil. Regular enemies include; Magneto, Apocalypse, Sentinels, the Hellfire Club, Brotherhood of Mutants, Juggernaut, and other.

- Born to Transylvanian nobles in the fifteenth century, Dracula truly began during war between the factions of Wallachia and the Ottoman Turks.
When mortally wounded by a warlord named Turac; Dracula was taken prisoner by the Turks who raped and pillaged Dracula's family and kingdom. A gypsy woman named Lianda took revenge upon the imprisoned Dracula for his mistreatment of gypsies, spreading the curse of the vampire, rather than healing him.

Dracula prospered with the enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and mystic abilities of the vampire. He turned and defeated Turac, before destroying Varnae and Nimrod, to succeed the latter as Lord of Vampires, and enhance his powers.
Among his strange abilities; hypnotism, metamorphosis (bats, wolves, mist), influence over weather and vermin, and rapid healing.

Among the many enemies Dracula has accumulated throughout the centuries of his long life: Abraham van Helsing, Apocalypse, Mephisto, the N'Garai, Dr. Strange, Frankenstein's Monster, the Werewolf, Blade, Hannibal King, the X-Men, and his own descendant, Frank Drake.

Math: X-Men (Ttl) Dracula (Avg) Ranking: Wolverine (#6)

What Went Down...
Recovered from the wounds of her mission, Storm finds herself at the mercy of Dracula! The Lord of vampires prepares finally to turn Storm once more and assure her subservience, but before he can sink his fangs in, a blast of energy staggers him away from the African mutant's throat -- an optic blast!

Cyclops and Wolverine march valiantly into Dracula's lair, but they do not find the vampire helpless! He pulls a sharp spear from the manor wall and tosses it with super-human strength! Cyclops, unable to move quick enough to avoid the weapon, is saved by the intervention of adamantium claws that swat just in time to knock the airborne missile away.

Led by a bamf, Nightcrawler appears to catch the spear in mid-air, disappearing only to reappear atop an unsuspecting Dracula! The nimble mutant drives the spear through the vampire's chest, teleporting away too fast for retribution!

As Dracula stumbles clutching at his chest, his slave, Rachel van Helsing, races to her master's aid! She rips the spear from her Lord's chest and charges Cyclops with inhuman speed. The X-Man is quick himself, reacting with a judo toss that topples the vampiress, but fails to slow her transformation to mist. Free of form she swirls around Cyclops to gain the upper hand!

While Colossus and Kitty burst through the wall to confront Dracula, Cyclops continues to grapple with van Helsing, who now takes the form of a wolf! Despite the immense strength advantage, it gives a solid target for Cyclops to hammer with the unrelenting power of his optic blast!

Meanwhile, Dracula attempts to pit his own enhanced strength against the powerful Russian, Colossus. He tosses a coffin that passes harmlessly through the phasing Kitty Pryde, and crumbles beneath the impact of Colossus' fist!

Overwhelmed by their growing numbers, the vampire Lord flees the X-Men, disappearing into a hidden passage leading to his underground catacombs.
With the comfort of a tighter arena, Dracula anticipates picking his opponents off, recognising an uncharacteristically violent Kitty Pryde as his greatest threat.
Kitty Pryde phases through the wall and beckons Colossus, as if confirming Dracula's suspicions.

The Hammer...
As if to prolong the value of this giant-size issue, we've got to call this instalment of the battle a draw, folks! A brief pause follows the battle, before the action resumes in the catacombs below, and it's likely there that we will revisit the issue sometime in the future! Whatta slap in the face, huh?
[NOTE: No stat for Storm due to total inactivity. Kitty Pryde is possessed by Dracula's daughter, Lilith.]

It's October, so we're dwelling in the depths with the dark and deadly in the lead-up to Halloween!

X-fans will know the 1982 annual marks a rematch between the X-Men and Dracula, who met previously in the year in July's X-Men #159. While we have not featured this confrontation, the results of a world where the X-Men were unable to defeat the Lord of Vampires was the subject of What If...? #24.

The integration of literary characters into superhero universes always holds some fascination for me. Modern comics fans might have managed to remain oblivious to Dracula's presence in the Marvel Universe, and it wouldn't have been difficult. Even in the character's prime as star of Tomb of Dracula the character largely remained segregated to his own world, clashing chiefly with Marvel horror characters, and his own regular antagonists, like Blade and Frank Drake.

It makes a lot of sense to include available iconic characters into a superhero comic. DC have assembled a brightly colored army of assimilated properties and continue to do so, establishing a fairly obvious example of precedent.
Literary classics like Dracula have much the same instant recognition and unique trademarks that make them as justifiable an addition as any other superhero property. The lure of 'Dracula V the X-Men' is as intriguing a prospect as 'Superman V Captain Marvel.'

Yet, for some strange reason, I find these characters always stick out.
Perhaps it's the fact that the translation to comics often brings with it similar alterations to those experienced in the adaptation of comics to film. The familiar, often with good intentions, becomes a distorted betrayal of what initially made the property what it is. In the case of Marvel's Dracula, the decision to include a wide array of abilities from various pre-existing mythologies, and the communication of some of these abilities in superhero terms, somehow feel odd.

Also betraying Dracula is the longterm commitment of characters in an on-going design managed by multiple persons, and generations. The subject of this annual, the Montesi Formula, was eventually unleashed in the pages of Dr. Strange, living up to the promise of obliterating all vampires in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, this included Dracula, who was unsurprisingly resurrected sometime later, along with Lilith, and other popular characters.

When this additional layer was added to a character already designed for resurrection, it feels as if a uniquely comic book device has undermined the character. It is an unnecessary second-guessing of facts that all too often litters comics, even in the modern era.

I've never been a big reader of Marvel's Dracula, despite being as enthusiastic about monsters and mythology in my childhood, as I was superheroes.
Occasional crossover battles like this one have aroused my interests to moderate results. The annual reads unmistakably like a classic Claremont issue of X-Men, and for that it cannot be failed. Though far less remembered than the original confrontation between Dracula and the X-Men, it's a fun oddity to remember in the X-Men's decades of adventures.

We're in a rush, so I'll leave further conclusions to you, good readers!
Bill Sienkiewicz is dated, but competent with his artwork. Small experimentations are visible, as are tone sheets, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. It all feels slightly seventies, but I guess you can't begrudge an '82 annual for that.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

Despite her absence from this particular battle, Storm fans will want to hunt this issue down for a Giant-Size exploration of an important part of her history. Alas; it'll be the back issue bins for thee, as far as I know. If you're looking for more X-Men purchases, you might find something of interest in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe, where collections of most issues reviewed on the Infinite Wars are available for online purchase! By using purchase links provided, you help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars, which is good! Yay!

COLOSSUS versus ORD
(Marvel)
Where: Astonishing X-Men #5 When: November 2004
Why: Joss Whedon How: John Cassaday

The Story so far...
The mutants are once again confronted with question of their existance when an biological process is announced that claims to be able to reverse human mutations. While the X-Men grapple with the implications of weaponization of the so-called "cure", and the immoral means by which it's devised, another menace lurks in the background.

Coming from across the stars, an allien warrior called Ord has a mission to prevented the foretold destruction of his planet, the Breakworld, at the hands of a human mutant. Ord's machinations are soon revealed to be far deeper, tying him to the sacrificial death of an X-Man, Colossus, and the creation of the cure, an ultimate tool of genocide.

While the X-Men attempt to infiltrate the company making the cure, Benetech; Kitty Pryde goes deeper into the company compound where she makes a shocking discovery -- her former lover Peter Rasputin, aka; Colossus, is alive...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Colossus 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Ord 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Ord 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Ord 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Draw 1 (None)


- A humble farmer growing up in his native Russia, Piotr Rasputin harbored a powerful secret deep within his adolescent body. When an out of control tractor threatened the life of his little sister Illyana, Piotr transforms from loving brother, to steely mutant capable of crushing the machine in it's wake.

Recruited by Professor Charles Xavier, Rasputin travels to America, where he becomes part of a new collective of International recruits into the secretive paramilitants, the X-Men. His mutant ability to transform himself into a powerful being of organic steel grants him super human strength and durability.

When Beast discovered a cure for the deadly Legacy Virus, Colossus voluntarily sacrificed himself to enable the airborne dispersal of the antigen. Motivated by the prior death of his sister, Colossus' ashes were taken to his native Russia to be strewn per his request before his heroic sacrifice. The cremated body would soon be revealed to be a duplicate placed by the villain, Ord.

- Ord is a warrior from an alien race hailing from a planet called the Breakworld, where advanced technologies have conquered death and fate. He travels to Earth when the people of the Breakworld discover their future will come to an end by the hand of a human mutant, possibly a member of the X-Men.

Ord confronts the X-Men head-on, utilizing superior strength, speed, durability, senses, and an advanced healing ability. Combined with these natural talents are weapons and armor made of impossibly strong alien materials, and extensive training in combat, including the use of a razor-edged disc weapon.

Ord is also able to subversively utilize human science to influence the development of a mutant cure, based on the genetics of select mutants themselves. The volunteer and weaponization prospects of the cure are presumably part of Ord's agenda to engineer the self-destruction of the mutant species.

The Math: Ord Ranking: Colossus (#217)

What Went Down...
Confronting human Benetech scientist, Dr. Kavita Rao, the X-Men suddenly find themselves under siege from the alien powerhouse, and architect of their turmoil; Ord. The warrior challenges Wolverine, Beast, and Emma Frost, drawing a circular blade he warns is capable of cutting through even Frost's diamond form.

An unlikely ally presents behind the threatening Breakworlder, as Kitty Pryde struggles to phase Colossus, who has just been freed from years of imprisonment, from the lower depths of the Benetech facility. Unawares; Ord doesn't see his retribution coming for his involvement in Colossus' resurrection...

Colossus is reenergized as he vengefully drives his steel fist into the spine of the alien, Ord. The Breakworld warrior retaliates, swinging around with a backhanded swat that Colossus blocks with a spray of sparks.

Metal meets metal once more, again spraying sparks as the gauntleted fist of the alien attacked clashes with Colossus' metallic face. The blow comes with taunting insults, which serves only to provoke, as Colossus punctuates his attacks.

He begins by snatching Ord in a wrist lock, which gives him leverage to swing the alien invader around like a ragdoll, first into the floor, and then the facility wall. Then, with one final exclamation, Colossus drives his fists into Ord's defeated body...

KNOCKOUT!!!
The Hammer...
Alive and made of rage, your winner, Colossus!

If you thought you heard an echo just now, it might be the sound of knock-out blows being struck around the entire comics blogosphere!
Each Friday while we continue to bring you the best and worst of comics canonical clashes, Bahlactus unites the blogosphere in cosmic war as per the power meme, Friday Night Fights! Get a taste of the Infinite Wars, and then head over to the big-B for more prize-fights!

You might be intrigued and delighted by our decision to dive into the Eisner-Award undermining series, Astonishing X-Men. I've got to be honest, the first of our weekly Cover to Cover features [Endangered Species Round 1] was facetious about the status of Marvel's merry mutants, but my contempt for Astonishing might be a little more on the genuine side. Pause for gasps.

Here's the perfect thing about the Astonishing X-Men audience: the newbies are getting in on a reasonably safe jump-on point. It's not what I would recommend, but even I would have to admit that as far as transitioning from the movie theatre to the comic shop, Astonishing makes for decent training wheels.

Then you've got the two pre-existing fanbases flocking to the title. For the Whedon fans, it's more of Whedon's vaguely characteristic writing, complete with cutesy exchanges and self-aware exchanges of the meaningless. Likewise, for the X-Fans, it's a rote exercise in repetition as Whedon regurgitates a highlight reel of character exchanges, plot point, and conflicts from X-Men stories passed.
Needless to say, I find neither fandom terribly admirable.

For me, the first six issues were an unfortunate blip on a very big Christmas of comics. I was otherwise quite happy swimming in issues of JSA, Hawkman, Detective Comics, and Daredevil. It was a very good time for comics, a great time to be assimilating into the DC universe, and particularly, a good time for Batman [a topic for another time]. Astonishing X-Men was an interest in testing the water that was unfortunately extended by over zealous giftors to the monetary waste of four extra issues. Bummer.

I'm reluctant to refer to myself as an X-Fan, because I honestly believe there's very likely a group of folks googling "X-Fan" for the sole purpose of accosting anyone claiming the title. There's no chance I'm going to lock horns with an avid X-Fan, for reasons both of a knowledge and hygene based nature. [Cheap!]

That said, I have a passing knowledge of the garbled X-history, and a passing interest in those characters. Like a good many; the intertwining devolution of crossover stories starring dull peripheral characters led to my distance, at least until the blessing of Grant Morrison's stellar run [New X-Men #124, #150].

Morrison's take on the X-Men features, what I believe, was the logical succession of the X-Men legacy. Stories featured the moving foward of human-mutant relations to feature more diversity in opinionated factions, the beginning of acceptance of mutants, and a variety of other stories that managed to move the franchise forward in ways not really seen since the 1970's.
Merging design conecpts from the feature films, and the comics, the series arguably presented a happy medium between both, and I know of examples where that enabled very happy introductions to the comics version of the characters.

A sticking point for me is death and the X-Men.
Despite having the ring of a European arc of X-stentialism, I'm one of those guys that grows increasingly despondent and dissatisfied by the use of death as a device in modern comics.

I'm not jaded enough to throw my hands in the air in an act of dismissal, but it's undoubtedly one of the lasting undermining qualities of children's fiction.

Obviously companies place great weight in the use of franchise characters, and are unlikely to properly service those that aren't existant within the central canon of the shared universe, but then, that's my point. As much as I have always been a big fan of Colossus as a character, the severity of death outweighs my regret for the decision to kill him.

Thus, if I wasn't already pre-destined to bare a grudge against the content of Whedon's work, the resurrection of Colossus was sure to seal the deal. Honestly, part of me still holds out a hope that the Skrull invasion will reveal this Colossus to be part of the infestation [of the mutant community]. That seems unlikely.

Top 25 Mutants
#1 Wolverine
#2 Sub-Mariner
#3 Beast
#4 Storm
#5 Kitty Pryde
#6 Rogue
#7 Jean Grey
#8 Angel
#9 Ice Man
#10 Cable
#11 Cyclops
#12 Gambit
#13 Tabitha Stevens
#14 Gorgon
#15 Cannonball
#16 Forge
#17 Sunspot
#18 Banshee
#19 Franklin Richards
#20 Jubilee
#21 Unus
#22 Professor X
#23 Scarlet Witch
#24 Colossus
#25 Rachel SummersAt the risk of going through this entire diatribe without justifying my distain for this incarnation of Astonishing; it's worth diving into our two years worth of cumulative stats to measure the top twenty-five mutants. We did this in October [Power Man & Iron Fist #90], and if you're inclined to compare lists, you'll note that not much has changed.

Messiah Complex has been a multi-title crossover that's stirred the interests of many lost X-fans not already convinced by creative shifts in the core X-Men titles [such as Brubaker].

I can't say I've been likewise inclined, but consider this entry a little bit of Infinite Wars housekeeping. We've had the opportunity to make a very diverse start to the year, and a current lull in major events gives us a chance to play catch-up on properties not acknowledged through late 2007.

This issue has actually been on the request list since the beginning, too. When I first started seriously floating the concept of a site like this [2004], Ord battles were among the most recommended contemporary examples. So, I guess this is not only an attempt to represent zeitgeist, but also fullfil a shred of the design of the fanbase.

If I really had to crack down and observe the content, I couldn't say I hate these issues. I like them enough to slot them neatly behind the rest of the X-Men comics I've owned over the years, and there's a chance that; as the X-titles dig themselves into a new hole with boring characters, dodgy crossovers, and various other typical mistakes; I might come to like these issues. Although, like Skrull-Colossus, that seems unlikely.

I admit to being slightly reactionary to the insanely dedicated and fawning audience that follows Whedon from cutesy niche project, to cutesy niche project. I've never been terribly interested in the reference heavy fast talking of his characters, nor the genre influenced antics of his TV projects like Buffy and Firefly. Much of that disinterest carries through to the comics, but that base familiarity with the X-Men inspires venom at the sight of issues I could only describe at the time as irrelevant and/or twenty-years redundant.

Reprints of back issues should probably be stealing from this top ten title, but it isn't. Given the critical acclaim, (including several years of increasingly dubious success at the Eisner Awards), I know this won't be a popular opinion.
I suppose that's just another issue for which the title becomes a posterboy; referring, of course, to the sheep herding that has become the modern comics fanbase, typified by X-Fans. I've got to be honest, too. Cassaday just doesn't impress me like some. Not on this, at least.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong.
For certain, I am tired, and I'm going to have to cut the discussion here. If you're one of those vocal X-Fans, head down to the comments and lodge your own opinions! It won't be anything I haven't heard before, but go for it, guys!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 3.5

Want to spite me by voting with your dollar? Like what you've seen and want to investigate further? You can play catch-up by heading over to Amazon and picking up the trade! I might not like it, but lord knows I'm not above selling it to you! By using the provided Amazon links you help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars. The story's called Gifted, so, y'know, maybe you could even buy it as a gift! Although, to avoid my situation, maybe check with the recipient before they use it as fodder to bitch on the internet about.

N'GARAI DEMON versus KITTY PRYDE
Demon (Marvel comics)
Where: Uncanny X-Men #143 When: March 1981
Why: Chris Claremont & John Byrne How: John Byrne

The story so far...
It was long ago that the grounds of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters saw the sprouting of a demonic totem connecting to the world of the N'Garai -- a Cairn, the bridging gateway for these demonic creatures to spew forth into our world and wreak havoc.

Storm and her fellow X-Men were able to overcome the N'Garai who attacked them, but months later a N'Garai demon emerges once more on the grounds on Christmas eve, seeking to bring misery to the mutants of the X-Men mutant academy.

Alone in the mansion while the other X-Men spend down time with their loved ones, Kitty Pryde decides to direct her misery toward training in the Danger Room. Her session is interrupted by an alarm alerting her of the intrusion, and her investigation leads her to the greatest workout of her career -- one-on-one battle alone against a N'Garai demon!

Previous Form:
Kitty Pryde (#51): Involved in defeats of Wolverine, Nimrod, Punisher & Mr. Sinister.
N'Garai Demon: The N'Garai have not been featured before in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Kitty Pryde 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Kitty Pryde 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Kitty Pryde 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Kitty Pryde 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Kitty Pryde 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Kitty Pryde (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Kitty Pryde 1 (None)


So, it's around about the right interval to encounter another face-changing Infinite Wars rule that will reinvent the way in which you look at our rankings system. Okay, maybe not, but it's worth noting, none the less.

In the case of non-specific characters representing autonomous entities or groups (like The Hand), we do not recognise individuals. The only statistical impact made by characters like these is if they appear as a group, thus affecting result in the team rankings, or traditionally, by reflection on their opponents.
Exceptions to this rule are represented by The Doom Denouement Decree.

Because he isn't represented as a singular entity, and the chances of revisiting the N'Garai are fairly slim, the stats above only represent Kitty Pryde. These are not indicative of the total dominance of the Shadowcat character in combat.

Quite the contrary could be said of this example.
Kitty Pryde has suffered fairly an ebb and flow in characterization, being expanded as a SHIELD agent trained heavily in martial arts, to returning again to her perpetual inprisonment in pubescence. Because of that constant constraint on the character, I have no choice but to recognise the limitations set upon her by the many writers who have handled her -- to a degree.

As it happens, this particular encounter is quite early in her career, back when she was progressing through the teen years to earn her place on the X-Men. In the same way Jubilee faced a right of passage [Adventures of the X-Men #7], this story represents a turning point in the character.

Never the less, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.

A N'Garai Demon is nasty stuff, and considering Kitty Pryde's mutant gifts are essentially defensive in nature, it's difficult to mount a logistical argument for her victory in this situation. Her fighting skills, in our opinion, are moderate, although at this stage in her career, yet to be developed.

One would even question her tactical capabilities, although in a more contemporary setting that would be a far less relevant issue. I'm afraid, for all of the Pryde pride, I just can't come up with a reason to tip Shadowcat on the merits of her abilities on paper.

The Math: Non-Applicable (Footsoldier Non-Entity Clause)
The Pick: N'Garai Demon

What went down...
Not wanting to alert the police to a false alarm, Kitty Pryde takes it upon herself to investigate intruder alert, despite protocols put into place by Professor Xavier and the senior X-Men.

Exploring the mansion, she finds a broken skylight in Storm's indoor conservatory where the plants all appear to be dead. Her curiosity aroused by the speed of the plant's decay, Kitty Pryde's suspicions based on goop on the floor are soon realised when she finds herself face to face with the hideous form of a N'Garai demon!

She narrowly avoids it's long, slashing limb, using her phasing abilities to flee through the floor. Unfortunatley for her, the taloned claw of the demon rips effortlessly through the mansion floor, following her into the hall below.

Using her powers of intangibility, Kitty flees through the improbable space of the X-mansion's reinforced walls, but they shred like cardboard before the might of the demon's grasp. His claws, as sharp as adamantium, allow him to make chase regardless of where the young mutant runs.

Hoping to use intelligence in the face of brute strength, Kitty uses evasive tactics designed to fool even the keen senses of Wolverine. She drops through the stairs into storage space, waiting patiently to see if the creature is aware enough to deduce where her disappearing scent could go.

Just as she decides to brave the vacuum and reach for the telephone, the demon appears to give her the fright of her life! With tactical precision it smashes through the door behind her, trapping her in the ultimate sneak attack!

It's claws slash through body and she screams, "but does not die."
Phasing at the last moment, Pryde lives, but is shocked to find herself in pain from the attack. The result leaves her right arm numb and hanging lifelessly, now more an inconvenience than part of her potential arsenal.

Unable to escape injury in her ephemeral state, Pryde heads for the most accessable weapon available to her, the aptly named -- Danger Room!
She punches in the input commands for the most dangerous setting she knows, just as the demon proves it's intelligence, bursting through the reinforced doors of the Danger Room command centre.

The lunging creature pushes her back over the console, through the apparently unbreakable viewing glass. She lands on the training room floor with a thud, leaving herself open to the killing blow prepared by the vile creature.

Ready for a main course of Sprite, the demon finds itself walking into the wile plans of the young mutant, instead, a mouthful of pneumatically launched metal rods!

The demon looks to mount a defense with the Danger Room itself, ripping at the floor to create a sturdy shield. Unwittingly the move interferes with the room's settings, potentially affecting the safety settings. It soon finds out just how much, suffering under roasting fires reminiscent of it's home.

Kitty Pryde realises the mounting danger fingers her, too, and notes that while phasing will protect her from the physical threats of the Danger Room, it will leave her still developing mind fatigued and vulnerable to other attacks.

The room's attack systems go AWOL, unleashing a wide array of cannons, explosives and energy rays!

Kitty Pryde tries to lure the determined demon into the line of fire, where her intangibility would protect her from the full brunt of fatal injury.
She successfully brings it to the centre of the action, but a random energy pattern forcefield wall puts an end to her plans. It's complex design requests great concentration from her, a luxury she does not have.

Narrowly avoiding the demon's wild slashes, Kitty plots an evasive course, again narrowly escaping certain doom at the menacing touch of the demon.

She navigates her way to a more vulnerable area of the wrecked Danger Room, feeling the effects of the draining chase, unsure of the level of injury sustained by her opponent - it's cries, easily born of rage, as much as pain.

Sprite drops through the floor, and stumbles her way toward a monocar that leads to the X-Men's hangar room. She gets barely halfway when the demon, still in hot pursuit, bends the track and forces her car from it's rails.

Making the rest of the trip on foot, the exhausted mutant takes full advantage of her phasing abilities, entering the Blackbird aircraft via shortcut directly through it's base. Inside, she prods at the controls which she had relcutantly received training for. Struggling to recall her training under such intense pressure, it's at the very last minute that she finds the means of ignition!

With no time to spare, the demon lurks with menace behind the ship, walking directly into the blast of flame produced by the immensly powerful turbines that power the incredible craft! Having been improperly started, the stress destroys the craft, ending the offensive-defensive maneuver.

Emerging from the plane, Kitty searches for the remains of the N'Garai, only to find herself staring down a clawed hand reaching from the resulting flames!
Lucky for her, it is the last exertion of energy, before the creatures burns to nothing.

The hammer...
The winner, by Blackbird infernal toasting - Kitty "Sprite" Pryde!
She's able to have herself a relaxing shower, before greeting her returning teammates, who bring with them her parents! Though a little stunned by the state of her attic plants, and the rest of the room, Storm is very proud of the young student.

And with that, we conclude our look at young women coping with invasions of the X-Mansion. I don't know if there's anything to really conclude from this, but it's certainly been an interesting theme to pursue.

You might wonder exactly what it is about these damsels in genetic distress, who seem find themselves regular targets of home invasion. If you've just joined us, you might want to go back and revisit the Jubilee/Sabretooth [Adventures of the X-Men #7] and Rogue/Sinister [Ultimate X-Men #49] entries, where we featured following infiltrations of the X-Mansion.

In the case of the Jubilee entry, if you have keen senses like the lupine Wolverine, you can literally smell the Claremont and Byrne all over Macchio's script. It's a none too subtle homage that builds on story from the cartoon series, featuring similar points of entry for the villains (Storm's skylight), a Danger Room trump card, and a last minute claw-scare, reaching from the final flaming frame of the villain's defeat.

While lacking the direct references, Brian Vaughan's Ultimate X-Men story comes full circle to reaffirm the validity of the concept, which in truth, has probably been seen even before examples like Juggernaut storming the mansion in the earliest adventures of the original team. Home invasion is by no means a new invention of the mutant menace.

Certainly, when dealing with children of any age or gender, a major milestone is the decision of leaving them home alone. It's no small wonder that the X-Men, built on gifted youngsters, have revisited this theme time and time again. It's a logical way of really bringing the test of readiness to the students, and is a dramatic device infinitely relatable to both those who have experienced such scares, and those who have only imagined it.

For female characters, it is perhaps an even greater proof of worth.
These are characters almost universally characterized as weak and timid through their formative years, events such as these providing the opportunity to force the characters to make their stand in a believable transition. The homeground advantage is the crutch which facilitates the next step of combative credibility.

I like this story. I like the simplicity of it's design, and the effectiveness with which it employs a specific spin on the technique of using a character's credibility to put another character over. I think this is deserved of it's reverence in the history of Uncanny X-Men stories.

It was actually among the very first X-Men stories I was exposed to.
Far more interested in the brightly coloured escapades of Spider-man, Batman, Superman or the Fantastic Four, this issue always stood out as an abberation.

It didn't make an X-fan out of me. Actually, I was never really much of an X-Men fan until the nineties and the explosion surrounding the cartoon and reinvention of the branding. Even so, despite all the things working against it, like the distinct lack of more prominent characters, this story managed to work it's way into my young psyche. This single, done-in-one, Kitty Pryde, "Sprite" story.

Of course, just to spoil the emphasis of that point, I have little to no interest in the Kitty Pryde character today, and could not feature the character without slipping in a note of distain for the furor surrounding Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men. A title so thoroughly dependent on this era of Claremont/Byrne comics, that it reads thoroughly redundant, with that extra special slice of wanting to be too cute for it's own good, that only Whedon can bring.

Nominations of Astonishing remains the acid test for the corrupted credibility of the Eisner awards. You maniacs. Damn you. It was Earth.

It's not all negative though. Whedon deserves credit for at least recognising what works about the characters, and pushing the positive presence of Kitty Pryde. I don't know if he quite does it in the best way, putting a spin on the character distinct from Buffy, the character he's famous for, but still a little bit... young for my liking. It has been twenty-five years since this tale, afterall.

With that bombshell, I think it's just about closing time!
I am, as always, quite exhausted, but enjoying continuing working on new projects. If you haven't already bought yourself a copy of The Kirby Martin Inquest, you should dart over to Nite Lite Theatre where you can get yourself an affordable copy on online order! Rich L, along with a couple of other sites, will hopefully be carrying some reviews of the book very soon.

Speaking of plugs, it is Friday, which means it's the chance for all of us to wave our flags in the name of Bahlactus! He was pretty slack last week, forgetting to include our Christmas sweetening feature [Powerman & Iron Fist #66]
Let's hope his cosmic awareness is on the game this week, ready to devour the Infinite Wars as featured from the secret earth! electricalgoldfish was ready, and we have to throw thanks out to her! Cheers!

Now, I have to go rid myself of this damned demon ripping up my architecture, and get some sleep before coming back for more Infinite Wars!

NOTE (Nov 29, 2007): The purchasing public should be informed that Marvel Essentials collect black and white versions of reprinted materials. Though this issue is contained within, it will appear different to that which is featured here. Consider yourself informed!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5
[A classic Claremont and Byrne X-tale of single issued proportions! A ham like me could miss the presence of Colossus and Wolverine, but it's undeniably one of the great tales. Newbies would do well to check themselves for a lesson!]