THE HOOD versus TIGRA
The Trust: Part Four (Marvel comics)
Where: New Avengers #35 When: December 2007
Why: Brian Michael Bendis How: Leinil Yu

The story so far...
Parker Robbins, aka; The Hood; has begun a quest to become the kingpin of supercriminals, and with Earth's mightiest heroes divided after the civil war, and harboring suspicions of a Skrull incursion; his success rate is high.

After suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of the Avenger, Tigra; underworld stalwart and longtime Punisher adversary, Jigsaw, finds an invitation waiting for him, after an adrenaline fuelled getaway. Tired of his many defeats, the hideously scarred hitman ventures out to become part of the Hood's organization.

As a show of power to the heroes, and a gesture of good faith to the pledging Jigsaw; the Hood turns his many powers to seeking out Greer Grant, better known as registered Initiative agent; Tigra. Privvy to a great many secrets, the aspiring kingpin of supercrime has no trouble locating the feline fatale, and sets out to exact retribution.

Previous Form:
Tigra (#253): Joined the Pro-Registration Avengers on their domination of the Anti-Registrants.
The Hood: Making his debut in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Tigra 2 (Average)
Intelligence: The Hood 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Tigra 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 3 (Strong Willed)
Agility: Tigra 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: The Hood 4 (Explosives)


- A career thief; Parker Robbins would fullfil an underlying lifetime ambition to become a supervillain when, whilst robbing a warehouse said to contain unspecified treasures, is revealed to house the demon Nistanti.

After taking the demon's mystically charged boots and cloak, Robbins would soon discover he was in possession of powers that could elevate him to a status comparable of his villainous inspiration, Electro.

As The Hood, Robbins is capable of defying gravity by effectively walking on air, can turn invisible for as long as he can hold his breath, is capable of generating energy bolts, and continues to carry his weapon of choice, two hand pistols.

Perhaps inspired by Wilson Fisk; the Kingpin of crime his father had worked with; Robbins has begun a path to form a unified network of super powered criminals. With the aim of becoming the Kingpin of Supervillains, the Hood relies on guile and cunning, as much as the unique application of his mystic powers.

- Originally beginning her career with the costumed enhancements designed by Dr. Joanne Tumulo; Greer Grant embarked on a crime fighting journey as simply the Cat. Her adventures would bring her into confrontations with the terrorist organisation, HYDRA, and after being mortally wounded in such a battle, Grant would soon discover Tumulo's secret origins despite her death.

Rescued by the ancient reclusive race of Cat-People, the dying Greer Grant was granted a second chance at life, and the super human abilities of the legendary mystic champion, the Tigra! Possessing speed, strength, reflexes, and senses far keener than mere mortals, Grant becomes a brand new hero, and eventually becomes a stalwart of Earth's mightiest heroes - the Avengers!

The Math: The Hood The Pick: Tigra

What went down...
Doing her best to negotiate the opportunity to remain active in New York; Greer Grant strolls home after a long day on the beat as a registered superhero.
A transfer to Arkansas is about to become the least of her problems, as she transforms from woman, to Tigra, sensing the presence of an unwelcome guest in her humble abode.

The Hood emerges from invisibility, and immediately splatters the unsuspecting heroine's blood with the butt of his gun. The pistol whip maneuver knocks Tigra off her feet, leaving her open to a following shove that puts her face through her boutique mirror.

A second pistol whip on the way down further stuns the registered Avenger, but the fight isn't yet taken out of the mythic hero. From the floor she slashes wildly with her feline claws at the ready, but the Hood is wile enough to call upon his powers of intangibility just in the nick of time.

With unforgiving precision Parker Robbins fires a single bullet that hurtles into Tigra's knee. The Hood snatches Tigra by the hair and dials a number on a cellphone while reciting the address and details of her beloved mother.

Having heard the concerned voice of a mother, the Hood snaps the phone shut, and delivers his manifesto to Tigra. In no uncertain terms he demands Tigra's unquestioning obediance in exchange for her mother's safety, to be observed however, and whenever he demands, with the inclusion of leaving his villainous recruits immune.

Through a haze of pain and blood, Tigra pleads for the Hood to stop.
The aspiring Kingpin repeatedly asks the heroine if she "Got it?", beating her every time she fails to answer with anything less than a certainty.

Each horrifying blow is captured on videotape by the sneering Jigsaw; highlights to be paraded at the gathering of villains as proof of The Hood's intentions to take the fight to the heroes.

The hammer...
Suffice to say The Hood is on the road to becoming every bit the supervillain kingpin he hopes to be. Of course, with unconditional backing from the writers controlling your destiny, that's hardly surprising. Ohhhh, lifting the curtain to spoil the magic!

The Infinite Wars are governed by a good many things, and while there are many a classic fight that's gone unnoted thus far, there are certain battles we feel an obligation to cover. This one is among them.

I decided an early Christmas present was in order, to catch up on some of my New Avengers reading. These issues probably weren't at the top of my wishlist, but I decided the cost was worthwhile, given the sheer prevelance of this very battle. It was during House of M hype that someone infamously said events would 'rip the internet in half', and while Hawkeye's interdimensional return to life was met with mostly an indecypherable groan, it was the brutalizing of Tigra that made the internet stand up and start talking.

It should be well documented that Bendis' work traditionally attracts a fairly critical eye in these kinds of reviews. As one of the most talked about and analysed writers in mainstream comics, it's particularly easy to be enthusiastic about taking a look at a piece of his work in the positive, or negative, particularly given the polarizing nature of his output.

Blatantly bucking against a popular fanboy terror of speaking out of turn; I'm generally not too worried about being wrong. I think, as a man of intelligence and season, I can make reasonably good assessments of things based on information available, and do so with a willingness to admit error.

A few months ago I gladly indulged in the hype surrounding this event, even despite being vividly familiarized with the broad specifics of the issue. Ultimately it was a harmless gag [Poor, poor Tigra] referring, without much success, I assume, to the undeniable influence Frank Miller has had on Brian Bendis' writing.

Bendis is far from my favourite person in the world, with different ideals and standards than my own. That said, as a writer, he often meets on a similar ground as myself, and it's here that I inadvertently defend his work, as somewhat expected [Daredevil #75].

Much of the so-called "feminist" criticism of this issue came from the brutality by which Tigra was disarmed, the degree by which she was seen to retaliate, and the sinister undertones that even potentially implied pseudo rape.

While I'm not inclined to deliberately attempt to undermine those opinions, I do find myself somewhat steered by the same law of logic that prevents me from mercilessly heckling Bendis at every available opportunity. I feel obligated, particularly to the uninformed readers who seek the high-priced value of accuracy in the Infinite Wars, to review good as good, bad as a bad, red as red.

Again recalling Bendis' fairly obvious connection to history established by writers like Miller; we track back through New Avengers back issues, where one of the most famous depictions of murder with a phallic metaphorical undertone, was recreated not once, but twice, without much recourse.

Granted, the circumstances were less overtly sinister, and the exchange between two female characters, but while this potentially undermines the consistency of outraged muckrakers, I hope to purvey a different point. A point about the consistency and context of this world that has presented the videotaped beating of a superhero.

Ultimately, I don't think Bendis' writing makes any effort to factor the character's sex into the scenario. While it would be fair to draw sexualized conclusions from the scene, the barebones of the action are that of an ambush attack on a hero of a fairly low grade power. As you'll observe in the tape, we rate Tigra in a class beneath The Hood, whose powers are far more versatile than Tigra's basic human upgrades.

This could potentially have been an assault on any number of male characters, with Frank Castle mentioned immediately after the scene. Granted, the same statement of intent could've been made with such a character, he traditionally isn't inclined to be subject to manipulation, which is the secondary intent of this scene. Tigra, a character seen to have shifting alliances in many stories recently, now finds herself forced into a corner to obey the villains.

To again refer to well known references in Bendis' creative repetoire, The Shield comes to mind. A cop series differentiated by it's uncompromising depiction of the urban warzone, and the harsh interactions of humans within it.

So, is the material offensive? Ultimately, at best I could indulge an argument of content in a mainstream superhero comic, but to anyone looking, the book does clearly bare the Marvel rating of A for Adult*. Whether or not it's fair to direct one of your A-list superhero team books to a mature audience is debatable, particularly in a world where Marvel have been smart enough to produce a growing line of kid-friendly Adventures books, the Avengers included.

*EDIT (Dec 8, 2007): Matt rightly points out that I really should've checked up on the Marvel ratings. A is an unspecified category recommending readers be age nine and up. I wouldn't be up in arms, but I would agree that this kind of violence might be a bit better managed to readers thirteen and up.

I personally enjoy and feel the gritty reality of the world these heroes live in is crucial to the legitimacy of the genre. If superheroes are going to maintain their majority stock in the medium, they have to be seen to be earning it, and as most fans well know, the sok, pow, shazam of days past is embarassingly referred to as 'the sound of comics trying to grow up.'

No, this kind of material isn't the mark of maturity or good writing.
It's simply a facet with very specific real world references that good writing can latch on to, and represent for a quota I think is essential if anyone is to take these worlds of super criminals seriously. Bendis juxtaposes this brilliantly with his dismal superhero outings in the first twenty-or-so issues of the New Avengers titles, pressed up against this latest array of on-going, fluid, grounded takes on the Avengers characters and the perils they face.

He may be an absolute tit, but I think it's an unfair, and preconvinced agenda that comes to a comic like this, and completely overlooks it's context and reality. Maybe, like my own (initially), some opinions are based only on the information available from second-hand sources. Sources that perhaps don't expand the context, or highlight images like the shadowed portion of the assault, or the gathering of supervillains who revel in the modern, YouTube happy slap style screening of the incident.

We've discussed it before [Superman/Batman #15], but I think it bares repeating: Like action movie stars, the best characters are the ones who are affected by the perils that surround them. Likewise, to shy away from the great evils that exist out there, is to discount the acknowledgment and bredth of the heroes who face them. Without crime to overcome, the hero is meaningless.

And that, no doubt, is not the last you'll hear of the Tigra affair.
Be encouraged to lodge any opinions you might have, and stay tuned for, what I hope, will be some interesting furthering of the discussion. We'll have to wait and see how that one pans out.

Meanwhile, as if this massive entry wasn't a big enough deal as it was, it's also the epic night of fights! Let The Hood's message ring out to the superheroes and Bahlactus alike, for the new Kingpin of Super-Crime means business!
Do you mean business? Once you've finished browsing the annals of the Infinite Wars, why not check yourself in to a world of pain perspective, as per Friday Night Fights!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5

Leinil Yu continues to be an aboslute treat on this book, delivering kinetic, sketchy inks. Dave McCaig joins Dave Stewart for a colour palette by scanner struggles to come to terms with, but consider that a compliment more than a complaint! It's too early to find this work in trade, but you might like to check out the previous arc while you wait! Sweet Christmas!

FANTASY FIGHTS: DC/MARVEL ROUND 2!
By popular demand, the Infinite Wars are about to go where they've never been before! After two years of comprehensive canonical fight fact coverage, we're delving into the fictional world of fantasy fights, because you demanded it!

In the spirit of the immensly popular '96 DC/Marvel crossover event, we're pitting fifteen of each company's most relevant characters to 2007 against one and other! Stay tuned as we take a look at the imagine struggles of the superhero stars that have propelled the Infinite Wars across two full years of fisticuffs!

CATWOMAN versus TIGRA
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Catwoman 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Catwoman 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Tigra 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting Ability: Catwoman 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Draw 1 (None)


The Hook...
As is typical of the Infinite Wars; we're servicing several different objectives when indulging in the age-old art of fantasy fights. Sure, we get to have some speculative fun, and we get to do something that's a little bit different, without being radically removed from our usual regime. That said, at the spine of it all is a partial intention to reflect on characters that have had significant roles in 2007.

It was mere months ago that Tigra made headlines for, quite possibly, the first time in the character's existence. It was as a victim. And to questionable benefit for Marvel/Bendis' latest silly playtoy; would-be supervillain kingpin, The Hood; that Tigra was demoralized and physically destroyed [in a much less disappointing way than the now late, and apparently NO LONGER peacefully reformed, Phillip Masters -- if I do say so myself - Mastermind Mike]

Catwoman, as we all know, has had plenty of criminal underworld problems of her own, albeit with much more resonating results. She fell pregnant, took a year off, and ultimately gave up a child that would live under constant threat if she were to keep it. I think there may have been a faked death in there too, although, I don't know how that factors into Gotham Underground, Batman & The Outsiders, OR Salvation Run. Suffice to say, at the very least, no one can argue Catwoman's status in Season 07/08!

You might say the theme here is of sexually empowered female superheroes. Maybe it's of characters who've repeatedly played the double agent in recent times of Civil Wars, Amazonian Attacks, and societal unions between villains.
Ultimately, this is two characters on roughly equal terms of a feline nature, and in the tradition of DC vs Marvel, that's all we need.

The Math: Catwoman (Champion Class) Ranking: Catwoman (#27)

The Battle...
Having done this dance before [vs Elektra] and suffered the bruises of a total mismatch; Catwoman doesn't stop to resist, question, or even contemplate the nature of this battle. In the grimey shadow of an alley, Catwoman descends upon her scantily clad counterpart.

The element of surprise proves less prominent that it seems as Tigra, having sensed the Catwoman in the shadows with her keen animal senses, rolls through the attack to toss her opponent into the adjacent brick wall.

Catwoman is on her feet fast, as the two circle in the darkness like alley cats sizing each other up. Acrobatics are abandoned as these two street level vixens collide in an exchange of fists, kicks, and unforgiving claw swipes.

Relatively evenly matched, the two leap backward, putting distance between them while they both attempt to restrategize. With Catwoman being perhaps the slightly more skilled of the two, she easily evades the more primal brutality of Tigra's attempt to press her agility and strength.

Playing for keeps; Catwoman reaches for the whip with absolutely none of the irony you might expect. With the fate of a world on the line, Catwoman lashes as the readily exposed flesh of Tigra, slicing her into submission. With her opponent on the ropes, Catwoman delivers a title winning knock-out blow.

Leaving her opponent bloodied and hanging by the whip from a fire escape; Catwoman walks away with a smirk; "Honey, don't you know fur is murder?"

The Hammer...
For me, one of my favourite elements of the Catwoman character is without a doubt her sly wit and radiant, oft-times cheeky, confidence. As a writing exercise I chose to respond to recent developments by playing the scene much harsher, and to the point. Something I personally regard as a plausible, street level scrap between two seasoned urban fighters.

Tigra's choice of attire which amounts to less than a typical bikini is hard to go past, especially against today's utilitarian Catwoman. I don't know if the furr gag is quite as sophisticated as Catwoman should be, but it was an easy gag, and I'm going to cop-out and blame it on trying to bang this out past deadline.

I'm trying to look at more balanced combat, and while I give the fight to Catwoman, I think it's much more evenly matched than her pseudo-canonical throwdown with uber assassin, Elektra. Thief somehow doesn't quite measure up, no matter the medieval association.

Agree, disagree, or think I've overlooked something obvious in my haste? Be sure to drop a comment and let us all know how you would've done it, or if there might have been a better opponent for either, or!
WINNER: Catwoman

2 versus 0

GHOST RIDER versus THE AVENGERS
Three Angels Fallen! (Marvel comics)
Where: Avengers #214 When: December 1981
Why: Jim Shooter How: Bob Hall

The story so far...
Johnny Blaze is a man both cursed and privileged with the power to become a demonic spirit of vengeance called the Ghost Rider. As Ghost Rider his whim is unpredictable, and it's this volatile nature that has led him into isolation as a wandering soul without a home.

When he spots billionaire playboy Warren Worthington III speeding through the desert, the Ghost Rider takes over and challenges his former Champions teammate to a race which sees the winged mutant hospitalized with severe injury.

The Avengers are alerted of the demon's warpath, and thus they arrive in the desert area of Alakali Flats to investigate and bring the Ghost Rider to justice.
But the Ghost Rider is busy looking for Warren Worthington, and he intends to take anyone who would protect him to justice. Will the Avengers find him in time, or will he find them?!...

Previous Form:
Ghost Rider (#55): Ghost Rider earned his first victory teaming with Spidey against The Trapster.
Capain America (#6): Cap has victories against characters like MODOK, Baron Zemo, Bane, Wolverine & The Punisher.
Thor (#19): Recently suffered a defeat by way of the Symbiote and Avengers.
Iron Man (#4): Iron Man has victories over Diablo, Hulk, Captain America & She-Hulk.
The Avengers [#2]: The Avengers recently beat the Venom symbiote and She-Hulk.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thor 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Tigra 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Thor 6 (Generator)
Agility: Tigra 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Captain America 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Iron Man 5 (Lasers)

I think I've always had a tendency to underestimate the Ghost Rider's abilities, perhaps because of my slant toward the street bound Dan Ketch host of the nineties. I think around this period of the seventies and eighties Ghost Rider was probably a more hopeful A-lister in waiting, and packed the power to match it.

His powers are certainly versatile, but then you have to take a look at the assemblage of heroes who are representing the Avengers on this occasion; Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Tigra.

Thor and Iron Man are two heavy hitters here, and certainly each has a pretty hefty statistical advantage over Ghost Rider. As the tape shows, they outweigh him in terms of brute strength, and the bredth of their energy related powers dwarf even Ghost Rider's hellflame.

Iron Man as a man in machine is more vulnerable, particularly to the vengeful aspects of the character. Lord knows by now Tony Stark has enough sins to bury him, if Ghost Rider were to turn his penance stare on him today.

Thor, as a God, is presumably less vulnerable to Ghost Rider's attacks, assuming there would even be things to be capitalized on like the weighing guilt of sins.
Even if the Rider were able to roll through the more vulnerable tagerts of Captain America and Tigra, it may come down to Thor, if not the double team of Thor and Iron Man. Two guys who've gone head to head with the Hulk.

The Math: Avengers (Total) Ghost Rider (Average)
The Pick: The Avengers

What went down...
The menace of the hero presents itself long before the Civil War as a child dangles helplessly from a watertower dressed in a red cape in imitation of the mighty Thor! Fortunately Johnny Blaze is on the scene and gives in to the fantastic power of the Ghost Rider in order to save him!

Unfortunately... the indepedent will of the Ghost Rider demon isn't terribly interested in saving the foolish child, leaving the job to the red and gold visage of Iron Man, who happens to show on the scene just in the nick of time!
[Planting the seeds for the need for registration? I DIGRESS! -- Muckraking Mike]
Miles away on a freeway, a motorcycle riding Captain America (with Tigra entow) happens upon the Ghost Rider's flaming hellcycle!
Ghost Rider employs his daredevil riding skills to navigate the narrow gap between a semi-trailer and on-coming traffic, as he dares the Captain to pursue.

Tigra and he follow the Rider into to the desert, but find themselves facing rock in a box canyon as Ghost Rider defies gravity, driving vertically up the cliff face.
The two avengers spill onto the dirt, bailing from the crashing cycle, leaping out of the pan into the hellfire. They suffer the hellish freeze of Ghost Rider's vengeful burn.

The action of the flames alerts Iron Mans' sensors, and he sweeps in to investigate. The Ghost Rider is none too pleased to suffer another fool. He surfs his speeding hellcycle and uses it to launch himself into the air at the golden Avenger.

Though shielded from principle attack, Tony Stark does not have the foresight to seal the gaps on his helmet, allowing him to succum to the unrelenting fire of Ghost Rider's fury.

He plummets to the ground as Thor arrives on the scene.

Thor talks a big game and Ghost Rider isn't buying into it, impatiently spraying the Norse god of thunder with fire from his eyes. The magical pyre does little to the hull of the mighty Thor of Asgard, who attacks in kind with the tossing of his worthy hammer -- Mjolnir!

Ghost Rider, aware of the threat, leaps atop his hellcycle and flees from the airborne hammer. As he builds momentum he finds himself putting distance between he and the hammer, until it appears to reach the apex of it's flight.

As the enchanted hammer turns to reach he summon of it's possessor, the cunning demon snatches the handle and allows himself and his cycle to be dragged behind!

Unable to control the hammer himself, he pops his wheel, riding the flaming bike up into the face of the waiting Thor. The two heroes spill into the air, but Ghost Rider is the one nimble enough to land in stride on his cycle, leaving the thunder god to suffer his bruises.

The Avengers regroup from the attack as Ghost Rider rides into the desert.
Captain America inspires the troops, lending support to Tigra and Iron Man, each fearful of the Rider's touch, having felt first hand the effects of his flames.

The team cuts the spirit of vengeance off at the pass, and Iron Man springs the attack with an uncompromising repulsor ray to the face that dismounts the demon from his hellish vehicle.

Shaken but not stirred, Ghost Rider hurls flame at the fearful Tigra, but Captain America is ready, anticipating the attack to the weakest link!
He defends the feline heroine, and collides with the fiend in a thunderous exchange!

Furious, Ghost Rider pursues the attack, but an unlikely individual steps into the battlefield. Bandaged and in a sling, Warren Worthington approaches his former teammate from the short-lived Champions.

He supposes that the Ghost Rider's lust for vengeance becomes lest caring as Johnny Blaze finds himself increasingly depressed and dissatisfied with his life.
The Angel reaches out to the demon, and pleads for the courage of the man inside to reemerge and quell the demon's rage.

And once again, Johnny Blaze returns.

The hammer...
Despite the peaceful resolution, I'm going to give this one to Ghost Rider based on points. He pretty well manhandled each member of the Avengers, including Thor -- a god!
The assist goes to Angel too, for his participation in ending the fray.

Well, if you've been with us at the time on the site you'll know I've been unwell, and then blogspot ate my Wednesday post.
I'm going to endeavor to rewrite the exciting entry from What If Wednesday, but I'm still a bit under the weather, so if it doesn't get done before the Punch-Up, my sincerest apologies.

I have to admit to mixed feelings about this particular issue. It's almost the perfect action comic for this site, and yet, it lacks the charm of some of the other unauspicious superhero fights we've had previously.

I guess part of what's awful about it is that it centers around highlighting the fact that the Angel is utterly hopeless when it comes to a fight.

When writers were handing out secondary mutations in the X-Men books, how this guy got healing blood over some sort of offensive attack completely escapes me. I guess it's kinda fitting.
Put aside any clever Angel/pacifist-martyr connections for a moment, and just think about the fact that his body is continuing to go with what it knows.

The worse he gets injured, the more the team around him benefits!
'Wow, open up an artery Warren! The Beast just got a concussion! If we heal him, we might still stand a chance!'
Way to send a positive message to the kids, guys.

Jokes aside, this is one of the few encounters I've actually had with Jim Shooter as a writer. Somehow, despite his alleged reign of terror, I've run afoul the guy's writing very rarely. It's safe to say you would believe he started writing as a kid... I joke, I joke!

It's a simple comic from a simpler time, and it shouldn't be judged too harsh.
This was a time when Ghost Rider was hopping around the place like a pseudo-Wolverine. A nomadic character without a home, who was popular, and was inherently capable of being thrown into a fight with just about anyone!

In the seventies and eighties, Ghost Rider made even Namor look level-headed!

This book comes amidst the infamous story about the divorce of Hank Pym and his wife, the Wasp, after he assaulted her.
I've never actually read the story in any kind of complete capacity, and as hokey and out of place as it seems in a universe of fisticuffs, I still think it's fairly regarded as a key moment in Avengers history.

So, with something that heavy going on, maybe it was a good time for an issue like this. Maybe contemporary comics could benefit from the odd issue like this!

Or not...

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 3.5

THE AVENGERS versus THE SECRET AVENGERS
Civil War (Marvel comics)
Where: Civil War #3 When: September, 2006
Why: Mark Millar How: Steve McNiven

The story so far...
As the stars of a new superhero reality television programme, the New Warriors have embarked on a journey already of a controversial nature, but when a fight with some villains escalates the Marvel Universe will be rocked forever.

When amped up villain Nitro uses his explosive powers, there are far more casualities than the heroes, and far younger. A nearby school is wiped out, and thousands mourn the deaths of their children.

For the first time ever, the question of hero registration is answered with swift action. Leading the initiative, along with SHIELD commander Maria Hill, is Tony Stark - aka Iron Man.

Registration is mandatory. Those who do not declare, will be declared by Iron Man and the various registered heroes who are obligated by law to server and protect.

Previous Form:
Captain America Annual #9: Cap bitterly challenges a possessed Iron Man.
Marvel Team-Up #145: Jim Rhodes teams up with Spidey against Blacklash.
Captain America #6: Cap and Cable do battle with the forces of AIM.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Athlete)
Stamina: Vision 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Hercules 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

It's been a couple of weeks since the last update. I'm doing this one now on Nov 6, having actually done a November update a couple of days ago.
I'll have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to this entry when I realised exactly what I was dealing with. I suppose it's worth establishing first up, exactly what we're dealing with:

Pro-Registration (Avengers)
Atlas
Black Widow
Doc Samson
Invisible Woman
Iron Man
Joystick
Mach-V
Mr. Fantastic
Ms. Marvel
Radioactive Man
She-Hulk
Spider-man
Thing
Thor-Clone
Tigra
Yellow Jacket
Wasp
Wonder ManAnti-Registration (Secret Avengers)
Cable
Captain America
Cloak
Dagger
Falcon
Goliath
Iron Fist
Hawkeye Jr
Hercules
Hulking
Luke Cage
Patriot
Stature
Vision
Wiccan




Okay... That's a lot of characters... Which made doing the stats pretty overwhelming. But, this is the website that's supposed to indulge in these discussions, so I'm going to try not to cheap out on you too much.

I think you can pretty much take one universal fact here, that does seem to be pretty indisputable - The Pro-Registrants have the Anti outnumbered.
This is particularly telling when you take into account the power the pro-team is packing. Characters like Hercules and Captain America are great allies to have, but against a force with the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, Iron Man, Doc Samson and other heavy-hitters, it's just tough to bet against them.

By the nature of the argument, I suppose, the anti-registrants are chiefly street level characters, who really have very little business duking it out with the combined forces of the establishment.

The core Secret Avengers team of Goliath, Iron Fist (DD), Cap and Hercules isgreat for punking out Vulture's latest team of Sinister Six, but against an organized group of characters who can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, they're kinda outmatched.
Just for clarification's sake, we're talking about characters like Thing, Doc-Samson, She-Hulk, Atlas, Iron Man... A mighty shield can only do so mcuh against that, and that's not even acknowledging the fact that half the Secret Avengers' allies are the Young Avengers. Against their seniors, you'd have to think experience counts for something.

It seems ill-conceived for Cap to lead this ragtag mob into a head-on collision with Iron Man's forces, and I guess that's perhaps a highlighting point.
This is not a planned confrontation. This is a trap, and a damned good one.

You can never count out Captain America all-together alone, let alone with an army of troops to be inspired. The numbers make it hard to tip against anyone else, though.

What went down...
I'd have to admit, this is probably a somewhat boring section more often than not. Summaries of what's going on the page are never going to be as interesting as seeing it, especially since sometimes I'm just not that interested anymore.

No WWD has ever been as injust as this one, though.
The team of McNiven, Dexter Vines, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell make this one of the most amazing looking books I have ever read. This truly is artwork that can not be done justice by dull descriptions such as mine.
Never the less, I attempt to at least relay the events of the fight, for future prosperity.

After hearing a call over the police radio, the Secret Avengers rally their troops to converge as Geffen-Meyer Chemicals, where a tragedic accident has said to have left three to four hundred factory workers in peril.

Scanning his info-net, Cable finds nothing in terms of panic signals or other indicative informations. It's this, coupled with a nasty find, that lead the soldier of the future two twig first. Geffen-Meyer is a subsidiary of Stark Industries, and this scenario is purely for their benefit.

Darts fly dramatically from the sky, burying in the backs of Cloak and Wiccan, an attack to designed to prevent mass retreat. An ambush.
SHIELD helecopters and soldiers descend on the area ans the heroes gather in the presence of pro and anti groups.

Tony Stark attempts to reason with his old friend and ally, and with each faction standing tensely, Iron Man extends his gauntlet in the name of the greater good -- and Cap returns the favour.
"All right! Way to go, Wing-Tips! Didn't I say this was all gonna work out fine?," pipes Spider-man, just as Stark notices something attached to his metallic outer-hand.

As the SHIELD Electron-Scrambler, designed as a contingency against Iron Man, and given to Cap by the renegade Nick Fury, fries the Iron Man armor, Cap springs into action with Black Goliath following suit.

As battle begins, the heroes peel off into various pairings.
Goliath/Yellow Jacket, Atlas/Stature, Ms. Marvel/Cage, Cable/Radioactive Man, Wonder Man/Hercules, Thing/Hulking, Spidey/Patriot...

Iron Spidey intercepts Captain America's shield, and uses it against men he once called friends. Iron Fist (DD) and Vision go down, as Thing gets the better of the Young Avenger, Hulking in the mid-ground.

Cap and Patriot go back-to-back, as Spider-man fades from sight.
Cap explains the stealth function built into the Stark-produced Iron Spider-man outfit, and then has opportunity to feel the full effects of the suit, as Spidey rematerializes right infront of him - using the shield against him!

Meanwhile, Iron Man is rebooting his fried armor, and as Cap fights back against Spider-man in the foreground, IM looms rather ominously with his suit fully functional, and ready to torpedo into the fray.

Hercules, battling Doc Samson, does his best to warn Captain America of the incoming attack, but IM's speed gives him the opportunity to plow the patriot through a partially demolished brick wall.

Cap tries to continue the good fight, but the spiritual leaders of the opposing forces are poorly matched. Stark totes the armor's knowledge of Cap's arsenal of moves as he drives his gauntlets into Captain America.
Blow after blow reigns down, with little regard for the distinct margin between the suit of armor's strength, and the Captain's.

"Out of my way, you filthy traitors! He's killing him in there!"
In one of the less 'widescreen' moments, but also most inspiring, Hercules tosses Samson aside, and barrels through She-Hulk and Spider-man with the objective of saving Captain America.
"HOLD ON, CAPTAIN! I'M COMING!"

From the safety of the SHIELD Helicarrier, Maria Hill gives the order to initiate "codename lightning," as a result, Hercules does not have the opportunity to reach his target.

Hawkeye, Cage and Dagger are caught up in the lightning swirl also, as rain begins to fall on the battlefield.
Cable and Iron Fist gaze up to the pouring sky and gaze upon a sight they never expected to see.

They gaze upon a dead God.
They gaze upon Thor.

The hammer...
After Civil War #4, we all now know of course that Thor was in fact a clone manufactured by Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man, and no doubt in the future if I end up getting a hold of the issue, we'll talk some about that.

This is really a difficult situation as far as drawing a usual conclusion. With unfinished fights like this, I think it's best to just consider the end of the issue a cut-off point, thus, it's with no uncertainty that we call the Pro-Registration team he winners.

I probably talked out some of my key feelings on the Civil War during the entirely unrelated review of Thing against the Frightful Four [Fantastic Four #129], and I'm very keen to get this overdue update online, so I'll try to be brief.

I guess what Civil War #3 indicates particularly well is just how mismatched the two sides are at this point in the story. Likewise, it further highlights the lengths at which Captain America is going to fight against a system in which he's already practically involved with.

I mean, I think it's safe to say Cap's stance is one of principle and understanding, rather than one of necessity. He himself could probably be counted among the very first heroes to be techncially registered, purely by his very nature. It's a problem he's run into in the past when he's disagreed with decisions of an establishment, and has been forced to handover the property and trademarks of the government if he wishes to continue superhero-ing.

Even though Cap is probably the majority sentimental favourite, Civil War #3 goes lengths to highlight just how pig headed his stance of principle really is.
The very first scene sees one of the group of children he's leading into battle get taken down. With death right at the heart of this matter, and also all the recent history for the Avengers, there's definitely a negative light to be cast on Captain America and his team's actions.

There's not a lot I can say that hasn't already been said, but I think, when you stop thinking about the pro-registrants who are justly viewed as antagonists, and forget about the victimization of the anti-resgristrants, the other point is there.

Iron Man's team is right because in a Marvel universe where reality is being emphasized, security is what we would want. Likewise, Captain America is turning on his country to the point of blind vendetta, ignoring what is potentially the greater good, and leading this kids into a fight, rather than keeping them safe from the establishment.

The justification comes from the previous discussion [again; FF #129], because these are people reacting to tragedy, but ultimately... Is this the way Cap should go?
Probably not.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 6

NEXT UP: The latest top five, and an all new feature in the long overdue September punch-up!