COSMIC POWERS versus TYRANT

Long Live Tyrant! (Marvel)
Where: Silver Surfer #82 When: July 1993
Why: Ron Marz How: Ron Lim & Tom Christopher

The Story So Far...
Eons ago a biomechanical entity known as Tyrant was created to serve Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. When Tyrant developed an independent taste for interplanetary conquests -- Galactus was compelled to intervene in the name of maintaining balance in the universe.

So powerful was Tyrant that the ensuing battle did untold cosmic damage! The conflict was only ended when Galactus stripped his servant of much of his cosmic energy, banishing him to the darkest corners of existence, where he was expected to remain.

Not unlike his master, Tyrant learned to sustain himself by siphoning cosmic energies. After eons of restoring his lost power, Tyrant returns to a path of conquest, now commanding an awesome army of robot soldiers! Even the greatest cosmic heroes fall before him, becoming new sources of power, but the self-sacrifice of a captured Jack of Hearts releases the cosmic assembly from captivity. Now they unite their powers to fight together against Tyrant!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Tyrant 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Tyrant 6 (Genius)
Speed: Silver Surfer 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Tyrant 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Ganymede 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Morg 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Tyrant 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Tyrant 38 (Cosmic)

The cosmic powered team-up includes: Silver Surfer, Ganymede, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Terrax, and Morg.

It's tough to imagine any force standing up to such an awesome assembly of cosmic powers -- but that's exactly the scale of threat posed by Tyrant!

He's an immortal, nigh invulnerable biomechanical menace, capable of going ten rounds with Galactus and living to tell the tale! Silver Surfer has turned against their former master many times in the past, but could only dream of such success, surviving with his powers only by the good grace of Galactus!

Terrax and Morg are more recent heralds of Galactus, boasting phenomenal strength and durability. This is our first entry for Morg, but we've seen Terrax give DC's Green Lantern serious trouble in the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer crossover! Unfortunately, Terrax and Morg are also highly combustible mortal enemies -- just as likely to kill each other as they are a mutual enemy!

Acts of valor define Beta Ray Bill, whose noble spirit defeated Thor, and proved worthy of lifting his enchanted hammer in Thor #337! These days he has his own mighty mystic hammer called Stormbreaker. He used it to come to blows with Silver Surfer some years later, in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2, but can always be counted upon to fight the good fight!

Gladiator's loyalties lie primarily with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, but as long as Empress Lilandra rules, that usually means preserving the greater intergalactic good! We've seen his impossible strength dominate the Fantastic Four [Fantastic Four #249] and X-Men [New X-Men #124]. He should be a powerful ally!

The X-factor is Ganymede, who represents one of the last vestige of an ancient order known as The Spinsterhood. These powerful female warriors were sworn to battle Tyrant, and claimed responsibility for his early defeat.

In the prior issue, Ganymede mistook Silver Surfer for one of Tyrant's minions, but with mistaken identities out of the way, she could be the fighter to guide this awesome assembly to victory!

Silver Surfer alone has beaten cosmic opponents like Ronan the Accuser [Silver Surfer #13], Nebula [Secret Defenders #10], Super-Skrull [Fantastic Four #6], and Green Lantern [Marvel versus DC #3]. The group fell as individuals, but fighting together should neutralize Tyrant's robot army and challenge the conqueror himself! Let's see if they managed it!

The Tape: Cosmic Team-Up Ranking: Silver Surfer (#35)

What Went Down...
With a violent act of defiance - Jack of Hearts sacrifices his energies in a single devastating explosion! As the smoke clears, a collective of the most awesome cosmic powers stands assembled - freed from the shackles of Tyrant's matrix!

Silver Surfer leads the charge, vowing to honor Jack's sacrifice and end Tyrant's march of conquest. The techno-villain welcomes their assault -- unflinching as the Surfer's cosmic power blasts at his face! Tyrant has the confidence of an army of robotic soldiers flooding into the chamber.

The robots seize the Silver Surfer on Tyrant's behalf and drag him into the battlefield with the other cosmic powers. Regrouping, Surfer seeks attendance for the depleted Jack of Hearts, but nearest Terrax refuses to risk himself for another. Ganymede volunteers, slipping away to find Jack of Hearts in tact, but suffering grievous injuries. She's soon kicked aside by an attacking soldier!

Silver Surfer continues his obsessive rant against Tyrant. He blasts a path to the villain and attacks with a charging overhanded punch to the face! Tyrant mocks his boast to be the last man standing and unleashes his chilling power!

As Surfer is blown clear, Beta Ray Bill steps up to turn mystic Asgardian Uru against the mechanoid menace. He hurls his hammer Stormbreaker for a direct hit against Tyrant's chest -- but it doesn't even move him!

Gladiator stands with Bill as he receives his returning hammer in utter disbelief. The Praetor of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard has seen many impressive battles and continues undeterred as he turns his unbridled power against Tyrant!

Across the battlefield: Ganymede demonstrates the unique preparation of her Sisterhood. In a whirlwind of speed and agility she cuts robotic soldiers down with her gleaming staff! It seems victory will give her time to tend to Jack of Hearts, but yet more troopers are already descending upon her!

The Silver Surfer flies in to attack the reinforcements with his power cosmic, urging Ganymede to get Jack to safety. She agrees, but solemnly vows to return to the battle she was born to fight. Not all who are present share her dedication!

Brute strength has allowed Terrax to rip and smash through the robotic hordes with relative ease -- until Morg launches a sneak attack from behind! The tackle sends the two Heralds to Galactus bouncing into a grudge match all their own!

As Stormbreaker pierces through a line of soldiers, Beta Ray Bill notes the tide of battle is taking them further from their objective. Gladiator and Silver Surfer agree, recognizing it's up to the three of them to mount an attack on Tyrant!

The villain welcomes the charge led by Silver Surfer's power cosmic. He invites the inevitable end of their deaths: first claiming Beta Ray Bill with an overhand strike that smashes him face-first into the ground.

The concussive impact turns Bill into a projectile - hurled directly at Gladiator!

Tyrant presses his attack against Gladiator, blasting the Shi'ar Guardsman in the face with high-powered eye beams. He recoils, but defiantly refuses to fall!

Clutching his face, staggered, Gladiator is totally unaware Tyrant is looming over him. With a wild swing of his left fist - the conqueror finishes his opponent with an all mighty kayo! As he does -- Silver Surfer blasts him again!

Again the Surfer boldly proclaims his necessary victory, but Tyrant swings his fist backward -- swatting his forearm into the Surfer's flight path! The blow knocks the cosmic rider to the ground, but he does not yield - with good reason!

Ganymede returns to the battle without warning - gaining the element of surprise as she strikes with her spinster's staff! The special weapon bathes Tyrant's skull in raw energy that elicits a shout of pain and shock!

Alas, the upper-hand is short-lived! Tyrant immediately knocks her out with an eyebeam blast. The better to savour the demise of the last of the Sisterhood.

Though unsuccessful; Ganymede's attack gave Silver Surfer the time he needed to recover. He stands, fists pulsing with the power cosmic as he readies his attack. Tyrant smolders with his own energies as Silver Surfer bathes him in raw cosmic power! The unfathomable projection would surely decimate any ordinary being -- but Tyrant is unscathed as he returns fire with precision accuracy!

The deadly beam knocks Silver Surfer from his feet, tossing his chromed body to the surrounding wreckage. The most powerful challenger at last joins his fallen comrades, speckled with smoke and dirt. Tyrant is unchallenged!

The Hammer...
It feels like it's going to be a pretty cosmic year - so I figured we'd kick things off with an epic cosmic battle! The all-star line-up of cosmic powers doesn't get much bigger than this -- which says a lot about the threat level of Tyrant!

Introduced an issue prior, in Silver Surfer #81: Tyrant feels roughly created as the next in a succession of major cosmic threats of the early nineties. This was two years after Thanos dominated all existence in The Infinity Gauntlet, a year after The Magus unleashed evil doppelgangers in Infinity War, and concurrent with the beginning of The Goddess' superhero holy war in Infinity Crusade.

It's always a tough ask to suddenly come up with a convincing new threat of even greater danger. I think Ron Marz and co do a pretty good job of pulling it off. It was risky to sew Tyrant's backstory into ancient, untold corners of the universe, but it's worth it for the return of Galactus right after Tyrant wins!

His impending arrival is gradually teased over the course of the super-sized issue. Readers had seen Galactus face renegade former heralds before, but that wouldn't necessarily know what was coming, or that Tyrant has the distinction of facing his former master as an equal. Their battle is ultimately waged in words: a tense negotiation designed to avoid the catastrophic cosmic destruction their powers have unleashed once before.

Neither is willing to concede defeat, but it also simply doesn't benefit them to emerge into a broken universe. I really enjoy the concept of a villain who knows and respects his opponent enough to choose not to fight. They've effectively played the battle out in their mind and no the consequence. Neither is willing to concede defeat, but it simply doesn't benefit them to emerge into a broken universe. It's almost a sci-fi twist on evenly matched masters of martial arts.

Actually, coming back to the issue today, the shifting allegiances and tangled histories reminded me a little of Dragon Ball. The brutality of Jack of Hearts and his self-sacrifice reminded me of similar scenes. The way each hero falls away slowly and rallies, only to fail, feels familiar to DBZ. There's even something vaguely Frieza about the way Tyrant's power is presented. Just a little bit.

I wouldn't call Tyrant a villain for the ages, but I like the way he takes from the existing Galactus, but also gives to another new creation. Ganymede had an issue head-start, and builds the myth of Tyrant, while also existing because of it. Her design is pretty damn early nineties, but I kinda dig it. She's got a cool, new age witch meets gymnast thing going on. In this setting, it stands out.

Today's battle is also the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths debut for Morg: the then-current Herald of Galactus who Tyrant requests to retain as a power source in his negotiation with The Devourer. Galactus refuses at first, but it's a chance Tyrant doesn't miss to stick it to his old boss (and creator).

The side battle between Morg and Terrax follows up on hostilities between those two Heralds, and is hopefully something we'll get a chance to look at in more detail in a future battle. For now, it's time to update the Fight Club rankings for the first time this year!

Such a shame to start with a big drop for a couple of our cosmic all-stars, but hopefully Beta Ray Bill and Gladiator will bounce back! Both were teased for this month's all-new relaunch of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and I'm hoping they'll be in there with the Silver Surfer and some other top characters.

If you want to explore more from these characters and the Marvel Universe, be sure to explore links throughout this post, or dive in to the Secret Archive of featured fights! You can also discover more by following on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to throw in a like or share! Happy new year!

Winner: Tyrant
#317 (new) Tyrant
#35 (--) Silver Surfer
#321 (-181) Beta Ray Bill
#329 (-159) Gladiator
#868 (new) Ganymede
#869 (new) Morg
#883 (-186) Terrax

TERRAX versus GREEN LANTERN
Unholy Alliances (DC/Marvel)
Where: Green Lantern/Silver Surfer When: December 1995 Why: Ron Marz How: Darryl Banks

The story so far...
The day begins as simple as it can for any cartoonist-slash-intergalactic lawman. Using his alien ring, Kyle Rayner stencils designs, when he is rocked without warning from his drawing table by an explosion! Thus, the Green Lantern charges his ring before flying to investigate!

As Kyle Rayner discovers the granite alien Terrax, he could not possibly conceive the interdimensional ballet occuring across space. In another world, a chrome warrior suffers a similar fate, happening upon a destructive warrior that appears to be more machine than super-man.

The truth can wait! As protector of truth, justice, and the space ways, Green Lantern must summon all his powers to defeat the cosmically charged Terrax.
Still inexperienced, Rayner may be facing the biggest challenge of his short career, but little does he know, the grand plot designs an ally in the wings!

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Terrax 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Green Lantern 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Terrax 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Terrax 6 (Generator)
Agility: Green Lantern 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Terrax 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Draw 7 (Solar Power)


- On the planetoid Birj, Tyros was the tyrannical ruler of the city Lanlak. It was his legendary callousness that brought him to the attentions of the space faring devourer, Galactus.

Believing the betrayals of his former heralds to be weaknesses brought about by their underlying compassion, Galactus seeks an alternative to mercilessly scour the universe for sentient planets upon which he can feed.

Granted a portion of the legendary power cosmic, Tyros was reborn as Terrax the tamer!
Along with the standard benefits of cosmic power; super strength, durability, ability to survive travel through space, energy blasts; Terrax' inherent abilities to manipulate most forms of rock and earth, were further enhanced.
Terrax was also granted a cosmic axe, which contributed greatly to his already impressive fighting skills.

Ultimately Terrax' selfish ambitions would see him turn on his master as many before, leading him to become a feared warrior in his own right.

- Having succumed to the effects of the Parallax entity; Earth's most famous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, would lead a grief stricken rampage against his fellows in a bid to gain power enough to resurrect his obliterated city.
At the cost of the few survivors, the Guardians of the Galaxy would pool their energies to create one final, immensly powerful ring, which would be sent out into the universe with the last surviving Guardian from Oa; Ganthet.

The ring would come to be the inhereted by Kyle Rayner.
The young graphic artist's imagination would make him an ideal recipient, his creative mind opening up a realm of possibilities to the ring's powers of solid manifestation. These iconic Green Lantern powers would come to Rayner with the added responsibility of being the last of the Corpsman - a footnote that would continue to be a part of his education right until the return of the Corps.

The Math: Terrax Ranking: Green Lantern (#255)

What went down...
Knocked from his desk by a powerful explosion, Rayner charges his ring before leaping into action as the crab-masked Green Lantern! He soon discovers the blast to be for his benefit, designed to lure him into the open of his Greenwich Village stomping grounds, and into the sights of Terrax the tamer!

Despite being a completely alien quantity to his interdimensional foe; Terrax declares war on the Green Lantern, as the described "only obstacle" in his quest to conquer the parallel universe.

Taking exception to the notion of having the universe conquered on his watch, the inexperienced Green Lantern summons his ring's energies into an energy blast, but is struck by a rising stream of earth before he can discharge it!

Turning metaphor into reality, Rayner visualizes Terrax' cosmic strength and earth-moving abilities and returns them in kind, fashioning his ring's power into a literal bulldozer. The make-believe machine ploughs through the rubble caused by Terrax' attacks, but is swiftly cut down by the cosmic axe he grinds.

Rayner ejects to safety, inventing advanced weaponry to fire green bolts.
Alas, they go to waste, easily absorbed by Terrax' cosmic axe, as he drifts through the air atop a psionically manipulated chunk of earth.

Unable to stem Terrax' charge, Rayner is again reduced to defensive, narrowly escaping decapitation as the cosmic axe continues to press it's advantage as the superior weapon.

Rayner spits wit, mocking his foe's intent to inflict injury. It's quickly the Green Lantern who is made the fool, suffering a chunk of rock to the back of the head, highlighting Terrax' experience as a well rounded warrior.

As Terrax closes in for the kill, Rayner manages to slip in a final gag, a reference to Superman. At that moment a massive beam of energy blazes down from the sky to knock Terrax off his feet -- not the heat vision ray of Superman, but rather the unlikely energy projection of Thanos!

Recognising his attacker as the man who actually sent him to the DC universe; Terrax launches a renewed attack, this time at the mad Titan!

Thanos, riding on board a giant throne, catches the cosmic axe inches before it strikes his head.
In a display of power that is not lost on the Green Lantern, Thanos channels his own energies back through Terrax' axe, sending feedback that flash fries the former herald of Galactus!

With Terrax unconscious, Thanos reaches for dials on his throne, to send the cosmically powered warrior back to the universe he belongs in.

From here, the mystery behind Thanos' appearance is revealed. Courting the interests of Kyle Rayner, Thanos dismisses Terrax' claims of familiarity as the rantings of a deluded madman with aspirations of impossible universal conquest.

Proving his intergalactic intelligence to be well researched; Thanos makes an attempt to recruit Rayner and his GL power ring in an effort to maintain the balance of reality. He plays to facts vaguely true, declaring a rift created by a DC character, who has crossed over in an effort to pursue his own agendas -- the fallen Green Lantern -- Hal Jordan!

The hammer...
Two years into the Infinite Wars and somehow we're still servicing the introduction of characters onto the site. Unbelievable!
Under represented entrants include today's winner, Thanos; the assisting Kyle Rayner; and Infinite Wars first-timer, and the narrowly defeated -- Terrax!

It's the holiday season and we're running late again, so, as is often the case in these situations, I'm going to say I'm going to try to wrap this up reasonably quickly, but will probably take more paragraphs than is necessary.

Riffing on the opening sentiments, it's just amazing that two years of Infinite Wars still affords us so many opportunities to have 'firsts.'
Whilst swathing about in the Christmas festivities, it dawned on me that the last two Decembers [2005, 2006] we didn't do the X-Mas thing. Sure, there were a lot of reasons why, but if you're like me and are curious what filled that void, the closest posts were: Dark Knight Returns #4; Spider-man Unlimited #1; and Superman/Batman #21. Not terribly festiv!

Projecting ahead, on the best-case assumption, we'll have a whole bunch of materials for you to read on Christmas Day, and if you haven't already, you should use the 'older posts' tab at the bottom of the front page to check out the mass of materials that have been all over the Infinite Wars lately.

One of those materials has been the Fantasy Fights, which have provided a point of inspiration in the absence of alternatives. It was during Round 9, earlier in the week, that the continued lack of representation for the character did nothing to reflect his status spinning out of Countdown, the Search for Ray Palmer specials, and of course, Sinestro Corp Wars, which featured a spotlightingthat saw Rayner's role to Jordan reversed, as he became compromised as the Parallax host.

Financial constraints have kept the Infinite Wars from making direct reflections of the comics atmos, so consider this, all you Rayner fans, a faint gesture to represent the character's ascendance in 2007. For the critics, the obligatory Lantern-gets-hit-in-head shot.
It's not quite 'unmngha', but I think it does the job.

My outsider perspective of the character's Countdown role in the second half of '07 would be comparable to what 52 did for Black Adam, making him our site-sponsored MVP.

This crossover issue has been requested in the past, and as a special entry I've held off until this point, but there's an added layer of personal significance that makes this one of my favourites.

As far as these things go, it's got a lot going for it!
It precedes the ever popular DC vs Marvel mini-series to introduce iconic elements of that story, while also setting the scene for a Silver Surfer rematch which recalled their meeting, and presented them with familiarity.

It also packs an interesting array of characters. Sinestro Corps fellow, Hank Henshaw, is present as Terrax' misplaced counterpart in the Marvel universe; while the Parallax-Hal Jordan plays the Thanos to Silver Surfer's hero spot.

As a story there isn't a lot to it. We've come to refer a great deal to cause-and-effect comics, and contrivances aside, this is very much a case of that in it's simplest form. The cosmic scope lends a believability to the extension of desires that sees the villainous quotient of Parallax and Thanos attempting to exploit foreign powers for their own maniacal gains. Fights ensue.

For me, it was one of the first times I really felt convinced by digital colouring. While it lacks the grit of contemporary colouring styles, Digital Chameleon's work compliments the standard superhero pencils of Darryl Banks, presenting confident colours, and a hand tailored attention that sets it apart from lesser digital efforts characterized by lazy gradiant effects.

It's interesting to see experimentation in the Silver Surfer, using coloured lines in place of traditional blacks for details in his face and reflections. It's highly questionable whether or not the effect is successful in capturing the chrome of the character, but it's a design I wasn't familiar with prior, and quite enjoyed.

Likewise, my scans fail to capture the delightful dotted colouring of Terrax. It's a colouring style I've seen years prior in Marvel's work, but it's on the palette of this vibrant prestige format paper that the well contrasted palette of cosmic blacks, and bright colours, really show off those finer details. Like the Surfer, I'm not sure the dotted pattern achives any kind of granite effect for Terrax, but it's an intriguing visual that gives him a suitable otherworldy quality.

For me this comic represents not just a really fun time, but also a moment of personal triumph. It was at the peak of an Australian summer heatwave, without any kind of air conditioning, that I was gripped by an allergenic fever.

Upon arrival at a hotel the change was almost instant, and although still a little shakey, I decided to wander down to the hotel newsagency. It was quite a novelty, this tiny winding store, with it's location adjacent to the side-entrance valet drop-off. It was there that I first encountered and bought this comic, and despite fever yet to come, it remained a beacon of that positive change.

And there you have it, folks. DC and Marvel; Green Lantern and Silver Surfer; uniting their powers to do great good in this world!

Hopefully this little entry will satisfy many of you, particularly those who've been searching for this, and more Thanos, in the Infinite Wars. I know some of you are out there, and even though Rayner failed to pick up the win, there's still plenty of fodder in this special alone, so no doubt we'll be seeing more in the future. For the time being, happy holidays all, and stay tuned!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 6.5

There'll be plenty more from this very special DC/Marvel crossover, but while you wait, remember to check out more from the Infinite Wars Fantasy Fights! Be sure to hit up the poll and vote for who you think will win overall, and feel encouraged to lodge your opinion in the comics section here, or anywhere else!