MASTERS OF EVIL versus AVENGERS

A Gathering of Evil! (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #222 When: August 1982
Why: Jim Shooter & Steve Grant How: Greg LaRocque

The Story So Far...
While Wasp and The Avengers welcome their newest recruit to the halls of Avengers Mansion -- one of their old adversaries begins drawing plans for recruitment of his own for a new team of Masters of Evil!

Egghead begins his scheme by sending a missile to Atlantis, destroying the prison that holds Todd Arlis aka; Tiger Shark. From there, the first recruit attacks the super-villain prison facility at Ryker's, freeing Whirlwind, Scorpion, and Moonstone.

In exchange for their freedom, the team agrees to serve Egghead in his scheme for power & fortune, but old grudges die hard, and Whirlwind can't help but take a day trip to Avengers Mansion to seek revenge against The Wasp. A decision that forces The Masters of Evil to make their presence known ahead of schedule!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Hawkeye 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Moonstone 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Scorpion 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Thor 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Thor 5 (Lasers)
Total: Thor 32 (Super)

The Masters of Evil are: Moonstone, Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, and Scorpion.

This powerhouse foursome is acting under the direction of Egghead, but a lack of cohesion is evident from the very outset. Whirlwind goes rogue looking for payback, but he'll get more than he bargained for once Avengers assemble!

The Avengers are: Wasp, Hawkeye, Thor, and She-Hulk.

Thor tops several categories of The Tape with godly might, but on average these Masters of Evil outpace at least half of The Avengers here, and there's a pretty compelling case for their path to victory.

Moonstone gained cosmic might from a Kree gravity stone that grants her super-human strength, durability, flight, energy blasts, and various other tricks. She could probably occupy Thor alone, as we saw when she battled the Asgardian-powered Bulldozer and Piledriver during Thunderbolts #1.

Either Tiger Shark or Scorpion could run interference on She-Hulk, with the former's history of battling the Sub-Mariner making the most compelling case. His ability to withstand the ocean depths, and Namor's strongest blows, as in Marvel Team-Up #14, spells an underrated powerhouse of the Marvel Universe.

That would free up Scorpion to try swapping his hatred of Spider-Man for the Wasp. She doesn't have the strength to cause an abrupt upset, but as we've seen before, her speed, agility, and bio-electric stingers can beat big opponents.

Whirlwind might be best suited to blowing Wasp off course, but she's always seemed to have his number. He might have better luck disrupting the flight of Hawkeye's arrows. His armor has gone head-to-head with Iron Man, and his fast twirling could probably deflect most standard trick arrows. Let's find out...

The Tape: Masters of Evil Ranking: Thor (#20)

What Went Down...

When Janet Van Dyne jumps into her town car for home, she finds faithful driver Carrothers replaced by arch-nemesis David Cannon -- aka; Whirlwind!

Like his namesake, Whirlwind whips around to grab hold of his intended target, but he's left holding a designer shall as Wasp activates the Pym Particles in her suit that cause her to shrink to insect size -- and bio-electric blast Cannon in the face!

On his way back to Avengers Mansion -- Hawkeye notices something amiss in the stationary vehicle and slips his bow to the ready.

Before he can finish producing an arrow from his quiver -- the archer is suddenly hit with a powerful beam of energy fired from overhead!

The voice that follows turns its ire not toward the downed Avenger, but rather the helmeted Whirlwind now fleeing from the vehicle. Moonstone lands on the street, joined by her fellow new Masters of Evil -- furious at their teammate for going rogue against The Avengers!

Wasp comes to Hawkeye's aid, buzzing through the air only to be swatted by Tiger Shark!

Recognizing the motley crew of villains and their superior powers, Hawkeye uses Wasp's distraction to quickly fire off a signal flare arrow before being blasted again by Moonstone!

Fortunately for Hawkeye -- the signal reached an Avenger capable of evening the score! His mighty hammer preceding him as it flies through the villainous foursome, scattering them like skittles!

Thor descends from the sky with hammer now in hand -- bringing it slamming into the road with enough force to topple the Masters of Evil again!

The thunderous shockwave is enough to stir a sleeping Avenger, who hears the commotion of Moonstone taking to the skies and firing her beams at Thor.

Scorpion seizes upon the opportunity of a staggered thunder god, charging in to smack Thor violently through the air with a powerful tail swipe!

That's all She-Hulk needs to see to smash through her Avengers Mansion window and race into battle!

Tiger Shark is sent flying back-first into the perimeter wall as She-Hulk reaches the gate, but it's Wasp who meets her on the street to stop the gamma-irradiated Avenger from entering the struggle -- lest she ruin the designer outfit borrowed from Janet Van Dyne's personal wardrobe.

Shulkie scrambles to carefully remove her borrowed garments while Thor swings his hammer to deflect more beams from Moonstone -- and Tiger Shark turns Wasp's abandoned town car into an airborne projectile!

The car finds its target, reduced to twisted metal and broken glass as it collides with Thor in a car-on-man traffic accident!

Wasp unleashes her stinging bio-electric blast while flying around the back of Scorpion's neck, shouting a wellness check to her godly teammate.

Relatively unharmed; Thor shrugs off the wreck and returns his ire to the direction of the villains, but Tiger Shark insists The Masters of Evil should fear nothing from the thunder god's strength.

The sub-aquatic scourge insists a coordinated effort can reduce the lone powerhouse to hamburger meat, but his focus fails to take into account She-Hulk -- who catches Tiger Shark by surprise with a knockdown blow from behind!

Hawkeye rejoins the group, firing an exploding arrow at the twirling tornado of Whirlwind -- knocking the swirling villain out of orbit as The Avengers square off with the newly outnumbered Masters of Evil!

Moonstone calls for evasive actions, but is cut-off as Wasp buzzes around the floating villain and blasts her with a bio-electric sting!

She-Hulk is ready to wallop Moonstone as she drops out of the air -- and is sent careening into a flat-footed Scorpion!

Thor makes sure Scorpion and Moonstone aren't getting up as The Avengers celebrate the victory with their newest recruit, and an armored NYPD truck arrives to cart the villains off.

The Hammer...
A triumphant team effort is capped off by She-Hulk as she proves the value of having extra muscle -- even on a team that boasts the Asgardian might of Thor, God of Thunder!

The Avengers all had their parts to play, but it's obviously an action-packed welcome to the team for She-Hulk in particular, who was their newest recruit as of a roster drive in Avengers #221. You probably know it: the red cover with white grid of prospective new members.

She-Hulk is a Wasp find -- the only one to accept admission from a meeting to bring another woman into the Avengers fold that also included: Invisible Girl, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Dazzler. All candidates who find their ways to other versions of the Avengers (assuming you include Dazzler with A-Force).

Hawkeye rejoined at the invitation of Captain America & Iron Man as well, and the skirmish outside Avengers Mansion in #222 serves as a chance to smooth things over with She-Hulk, whose pink Cadillac he fried with an electric impulse arrow after she cut off his cab in traffic, in the previous issue.

Hawkeye is obviously at home with the Avengers after a couple of decades of association, and despite the initial friction, it turns out She-Hulk is a perfect fit too.

Typically the less volatile counterpart to Hulk, she thrives in the social dynamic of the Avengers, pairing instantly well with fashion-conscious Wasp as a character in need of a more permanent costume.

That may be a precarious premise for pairing a couple of female characters, but you know I enjoy Wasp the fashionista and the modern sensibility of She-Hulk matches it well. A case where the conceited push to balance the Avengers line-up with additional femininity pays off a treat, benefitting from She-Hulk's tenure as a solo hero, and perhaps the keen intuition of plotter & then-Editor in Chief, Jim Shooter.

As a piece of Avengers history this is all very interesting, but the thing that made the cover -- and really gets me jazzed -- is the oddball grouping of villains who formed this short-lived new Masters of Evil.

Long time readers will know I have a particular taste for good quality second-tier villains, and this one-time gathering brings Scorpion into the super-villain big leagues, seeing him bat at Thor in a brief detour away from his usual sparring with arch-nemesis Spider-Man.

Scorpion'll be back menacing the web-slinger in his next printed appearance, but in a couple of decades he'll team with Moonstone again, under the guise of Venom, as members of the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers [see; Thunderbolts #111, Nova #3, and Incredible Hercules #128]. An interesting relationship branch for a couple of characters who don't otherwise have much to do with each other.

Moonstone and Tiger Shark stick around with Egghead in the short term, joining the next Masters of Evil line-up in Avengers #228. That one continues the brief advancement a spider-villain as well, but those are details for another day.

Tiger Shark is another bad guy I get a kick out of seeing, especially when he's out of the water away from his usual issues with Sub-Mariner. What can I say? This is the fun of long-running superhero comic books!

If you agree that this is fun -- you can find more from your favourite heroes and villains by following links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue!

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Winners: She-Hulk, Wasp, Thor, and Hawkeye
#17 (+3) Thor
#39 (+14) Wasp
#87 (+69) She-Hulk
#88 (+70) Hawkeye
#413 (-61) Moonstone
#434 (--) Scorpion
#980 (-193) Whirlwind
#981 (-294) Tiger Shark

SUB-MARINER & SPIDER-MAN versus DR. DORCAS & TIGERSHARK
Mayhem is... The Men-Fish! (Marvel comics)
Where: Marvel Team-Up #14 When: October 1973
Why: Len Wein How: Gil Kane

The story so far...
When an innocent tourist is set upon by thugs in a New York City night, a friendly neighbourhood Spider-man is more than willing to intervene in the name of good. But Spidey and the crooks didn't count on one thing!

The stranger turns out to be none other than Namor the Sub-Mariner, and interested only in his own objective, it's Spidey who soon becomes the victim as Namor attempts to fight his way through the suspicious web-slinger.

With their differences resolved, Spider-man agrees to aid the noble Sub-Mariner in a quest for Tigershark - the vile villain responsible for murdering Namor McKenzie's frail, human father.
Events lead the two to track Dr. Dorcas who has teamed with Tigershark, and apparently prepared a trap to welcome to the two heroes...

Previous Form:
Sub-Mariner (#162): Namor has struggled to gain victory, going down to Wolverine and Aquaman.
Spider-man (#2): Successful team ups with Iron Man and the Avengers have led Spidey to second-top.
Tigershark & Dr. Dorcas: This is the first time these characters have been featured.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Sub-Mariner 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Dr. Dorcas 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Sub-Mariner (Marathon Runner)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Sub-Mariner 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Dr. Dorcas 2 (Projectile Weapons)

Well, it's pretty clear from the get-go: Spider-man and Sub-Mariner have a victory coming their way. This can be ascertained not just from the statistics listed above, but from the fact that one of the villains' names is Dorcas.
Dorcas; not to be confused with Dr. Dorkus or Dr. Dork-ass.

While Dorcas certainly weighs in on the obligatory intelligence meter, he does so with the burden of a deranged obsession - the hallmark of a reputable intelligent villain. In this particular case, his interests and foibles revolve around the sub-aquatic.
He does bring mutated Men-Fish to the table, which he calls The Aquanoids, and also the technology which managed to capture SM/SM before this fight.

Tigershark, though not well respected and lacking entries both on Wikipedia and Marvel's own wiki system, is actually a formidable opponent.
Tigershark is probably about as close as you come to an arch-nemesis for the Sub-Mariner, and even then, the two somehow managed to put their differences aside somewhere in the mid-nineties.

That said, Tigershark possesses strengths and abilities comparable to that of the Sub-Mariner himself. If anything, Tigershark may have the edge as an average joe, relatively devoid of pomposity and verbiage.
Of course, balancing the equation is Namor's capacity for rage and the inexplicable powers, like eel-style electric charges... I tend to prefer to ignore those.

However, Namor's strength is worth noting.
While I clock it at a strong five, Sub-Mariner can frequently extends himself to duel and even best the likes of the Hulk, Thing, and many other characters that would be considered invulnerable [6].

So, what about Spider-man? Well, we all know Spidey by now.
We can assume Sub-Mariner can handle Tigershark, and Dr. Dorcas really isn't too much a problem. The Aquanoids? They aren't even considered worthy enough to have individual names, so I think this one's a given.

Average: Sub-Mariner & Spider-man 27 (+7.5)
Overall: Sub-Mariner & Spider-man 54 (+15)
The Pick: Sub-Mariner & Spider-man

What went down...
Having utilized the... sea-cock to lash the unconscious Namor with rehydrating ocean spray -- the team are quickly back in business, Namor swatting through the glass that encased Spider-man like it were a child's bug jar.

Upon returning to their evil den, Dorcas and Tigershark proceed to crap their pants. Dr. Dorcas exclaims his disbelief in such an escape, to which Tigershark remarks, "Yeah -- you just keep tellin' yourself that, Dorcas. Me -- I'm getting outta here!"

Subby takes flight in pursuit of his mortal enemy, leaving Spider-man to deal with Dr. Dorcas. An apparent mismatch, until Dorcas springs forth his mighty Men-Fish, collectively called - THE AQUANOIDS.

While Spidey finds himself ensnared in an octopus-like tentacle, Namor catches up with the dirty rat who killed his father.
The two exchange insults before coming to blows, but when they finally hit, they go at it like a couple o' bulls.

The two titans of the sea fight their way into the back area of the underwater lair, but the edge so swiftly taken by the Sub-Mariner begins to lessen as he finds himself dehydrated under the extreme lights.
He realises this all too late as Tigershark unloads a devestating assault, kicking him through what appears to be an emtpy set of shelves!

Ever the tenacious warrior, Sub-Mariner fights on whilst pondering how Tigershark is able to keep his cool.
Through tussling, he realises trickery lies beneath the surface and tears away at the orange and purple costume of the Tigershark -- revealing a reserve of life-giving water!

With his plan foiled, Tigershark suffers one mighty punch from the Atlantean ruler that knocks him all the way into a load baring wall. As Namor watches on, the very structure they stand in begins to crumble upon his enemy's unconscious body.

Meanwhile, Spidey is making light work of the quartet of mutant Men-Fish, using various uppercuts and acrobatics to do away with them.

With the structure crumbling around them, Sub-Mariner hurries his ally into the tube which brought them to the depths via a decoy ship.
The two diver overboard, making a swim toward some nearby rocks. They have premium seats as the ship explodes, signifying the destruction of Dr. Dorcas' lair.

Gazing upon the glorious fireworks, Namor wonders if perhaps his father would have preferred a peaceful resolution. A question that may never have an answer.

The hammer...
Ha! Never have I had a greater pleasure than crowning Namor and Spidey victors over Dr. Dorcas, Tigershark and the Aquanoids!

This at least makes up for the loss to Wolverine, which I kinda feel may have been a harsh and possibly incorrect judgment.

Never the less, the updates continue with only twelve days left of 2006.
I can't imagine catching up before the end of the year, but I'm gonna give it a red hot go anyway, for you. The readers! Shucks.

To facilitate that I'm working on the fly with issues that grab my attention, and enthusiasm. A bit of a hiccup part way through this one, but still an all-time favourite issue of mine.
Not just a favourite, but a childhood favourite.

Sub-Mariner's one of those characters I consider 'mine,' and this is probably one of the issues that really helped define the character for me. I couldn't really say what it is about the issue, either.
Like Daredevil #132, this seventies book distinctly lacks the qualities of highbrow poetry. Yet, somehow, there's a resonance with this issue that really rings true to this day.

Perhaps it's the pathos of the Sub-Mariner character, who despite great power, seeks to avenge a death he can never change. The fact that this awful event brings him to the streets where he comes into conflict with Spider-man, and therein even admits the follies of previous occasions when he came to the land with war on his mind.
The issue really highlights the duelling qualities of Namor as the original Marvel loner, but also as the 'Kevin Bacon' of the Marvel universe, as he teams with Spider-man. A trait he and fellow pseudo-loner Spider-man have in common.

Plus, even away from the story, full credit to W. Howard and Glynis Wein who take care of inks and colours, respectively.
Gil Kane lays down masterful pencils, but what really sells the issue for me is the flat, vivid colouring and solid inks. Something you may have come to realise I'm a big fan of.
These two pieces of the puzzle really help drive a truly graphic story, willfully indulging in the cartoony qualities, without sacrificing respect for visual accuracy and tone.

The opening scenes where a trenchcoat/hat Namor is attacked by thugs in a back alley, while littered with purples, blues and yellows, still manages to have the urban grit just such a scene demands.
It's got it's weaknesses, but this is still a great comic, and I think those street scenes in particular have impressed an idea of Namor upon me that is perhaps not well recognised anymore.
Lest we forget he spent quite some time on the streets of New York as a vagrant.

That's about enough from me, though.
Hopefully you'll be hearing from me again very soon. Cheers, happy holidays!

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 4.5