ANNIHILUS/DEFILE versus
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
World War 3 Part 1: Life in Wartime (Marvel)
Where: Fantastic Four #13 When: November 1997
Why: James Robinson How: Mike Wieringo

The story so far...
Two very distinct worlds collide as battles with cosmic forces undo all that is, and redefine it as all that could be. Marvel's mightiest heroes, having been trapped in a parallel universe of Franklin Richards' creation, soon find themselves thrust into yet another existence, this time along side the heroes and villains of Wildstorm.

This new world leaves behind the threats of Galactus and Damocles, creating it's own new history of turmoil.

Asia and Europe have fallen to alien invaders, as the Daemonites and Skrulls form an unlikely alliance with a traitor to all humanity -- Dr. Doom. Together, their technologies and inherent abilities allow them to infiltrate the rebellious remaining walks of life, creating a grim new world of distrust, chaos and war.

Previous Form:
Mr. Fantastic (#10): Victorious over Iconoclast, Frightful Four & Sinister Twelve.
Invisible Woman (#17): Victorious over Iconoclast, Frightful Four & Sinister Twelve.
Annihilus, Defile, Burnout & Maul: Each making their first appearances in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Maul 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Annihilus 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Defile 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Maul 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Annihilus 6 (Mass Destruction)


So, once again we dive into the unfamiliar waters of Wildstorm comics. It's all become a bit Marvel lately, and while I'm much better exposed than that might lead you to believe, Wildstorm's properties remain something of an unknown quantity for me.
Yes, berate as you please.

This particular Fantastic quarter consists of an even split between traditional and Wildstorm. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman remain in tact, while Burnout and Maul step in as entirely plausible replacements for the Human Torch and Thing.
Actually, if you didn't take the time to read the issue, you'd be forgiven for assuming they'd slapped a late goatee on the Torch, just to go along with the contemporary beat of the Heroes Reborn philosophy.

For the most part Burnout and Maul fulfill much the same duties as their counterparts. Maul has the distinction of sliding his intelligence in relation to his strength, making him a little bit more like a controlled Hulk than the Thing, but otherwise, he's supplying the muscle for this team.

One of the great things about Annihilation was the way it amped up Annihilus from a regular annoyance, to an A-list cosmic threat. We can't really consider that the definition of Annihilus, but it's nice to acknowledge that potential.

Here, Annihilus and Defile present an atypical villain threat.
Escaping the Negative Zone to wreak a brief wave of destruction is nothing new for Annihilus, nor is thwarting it new to the Fantastic Four. Not that the threat should ever be discounted, but it's not until Annihilation Wave that you could ever consider picking anyone but the FF, here.

The Math: Fantastic Four (Total) Annihilus/Defile (Average)
The Pick: The Fantastic Four

What went down...
Returning from an expadition to the Negative Zone, Mr. Fantastic and his fellows are excited to have gained further knowledge, despite failure to recover their missing ally -- Benjamin J. Grimm aka The Thing.

Richards instructs his teammates to begin the process of closing the doorway to the Zone, while he prepares to contact SHIELD about their findings.
Before Richards can even get a dial tone, their Negative Zone pursuers burst through the gateway between dimensions, bringing lethal intent with them.

Pledged to prevent the leaking of knowledge, the two otherworldly invaders go straight to work. Before Burnout or Maul can activate their powers, the two are sent hurtling through the air by their attackers.

Richards orders the Invisible Woman to continue the closing process, while he attempts to wrangle Annihilus and Defile back into the Negative Zone. Fortunately for Mr. Fantastic, Burnout and Maul recover from their spill, ready to step up to the challenge. Annihilus declares his "small" foes barely worth the sport, but Annihilus is soon forced to eat his words as Maul expands to deliver a giant knuckle sandwich!

Disgusted by the notion of a one-punch defeat, Annihilus prepares to vault off of his buttocks back into battle, but before he can do so a jet of flame pushes him back through the portal!

Meanwhile, as Invisible Woman attempts to hide from sight while initiating the shutdown sequence of the N-Zone portal, Defile comes to menace her. Using his Daemonite senses, he looms over the occupied Sue Storm with evil intent, but soon finds himself tangled in the rubbery limb of her lover, Mr. Fantastic!

The FF leader thoroughly wraps up his foe, able to overcome Defile's impressive strength through sheer leverage. Using his bendy spine, Richards maneuvers the monster back to the portal, and sends him through at the cost of his own safety.

With Defile through just in the nick of time, Richards finds himself on the wrong side of the dimensional gate as it begins to close. He stretches a hand back desperately, finding Maul, who has strength enough to whip the elastic man back into the right dimension at the very last second.
A flash of spectacular white light serves the backdrop as the doorway closes!

The team regroups, victorious against the Negative Zone menace.

The hammer...
The winners through strength of teamwork, the Fantastic Four!

As you might imagine, I chose this entry as something of a bridge between the Heroes Reborn comics we've been discussing lately, and the pencils of Mike Wieringo. There's probably a good chance you've already learned of his shocking death just a few days ago.

I didn't know Wieringo personally, but like many regarded him as one of the many fantastic pencillers working in superhero comics over the past decade.

For me, I probably connected with his energetic pencils mostly through his Spider-man work, but could not escape his influence on books like the Flash, and of course, Fantastic Four. Rightly or wrongly, he's the artist I most identify with giving Thing teeth, which is just a weird little tidbit.

Like many, I'll certainly miss the vibrance of his artwork. He was, with no conceit, part of the contingent of mainstream superhero artists who managed to compromise the so-called photo realistic with a more cartoony, and animated approach to pencilling, which was something I greatly appreciated.
I won't say much more, suffice to say, it's a tragic loss for his friends and family, and the comic book community as a whole.

On a lighter note; you may recall the last entry [Fantastic Four #6] where I described the Heroes Reborn: Fantastic Four run as a great collection for fans of the movie, or new readers in general, to get initiated with the characters.
I've obviously been championing the ninties somewhat lately, and as much as I feel Heroes Reborn is worth defending, this is probably where the wheels undeniably fall off.

There might have been a nice enough story here, but the thirteenth issues of the four Heroes Reborn titles live up to the number's dread. I could be wrong, but the way I remember events panning out, each book was only announced for a year's worth, twelve issues each. Presumably, if that was the case, these issues represent a final chance to milk a little extra out of sales all round, and for Wildstorm to slip it's characters into the larger audience, who might not otherwise be reading these characters.

We haven't really touched on the fact that the Heroes Reborn story was built out of the shock commissioning Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee at Wildstorm Comics to return to Marvel, (years after their Image coup), to tackle the sinking core properties of the Marvel Universe.

The deal presented mutually beneficial advantages, among those, the chance for Marvel to come into contact with the Wildstorm digital colourists who were doing a lot of impressive work through the mid-nineties.

After an already garbled crossover amongst the four titles, which featured time travel antics facilitating multiple battles with Galactus and his heralds, World War 3 was not really the ideal way to go out. Establishing a new reality (akin to the Amalgam characters) through flashbacks and vignettes is interesting, if not very effective. Though informative, it isn't terribly exciting, and asks a lot of a reader who may not really be all that interested in investing in what will be a short term spark of four-colour mayhem.

Through the mess of this character shuffle we get a glimpse of another surprisingly topical happening -- paranoia in this dystopian future over the potential infiltration of Skrulls. Something we expect to be dealing with in the coming year with Marvel already alluding to just such a problem in the pages of New Avengers, (written by Brian "Sugartits*" Bendis).

Makes you think!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4
[Not the best written issue in the history of the FF, but a fine representation of Wieringo's kinetic pencils, and stretching influence across Marvel's properties.]

* Not an actual nickname for Bendis.

MR MAJESTIC versus CAPTAIN ATOM
A Scream Across the Sky (Wildstorm comics)
Where: Captain Atom: Armageddon #1 When: December 2005
Why: Will Pfeifer How: Giuseppe Camuncoli

The story so far...
Nathaniel Adam, a former soldier, was subjected to an experiment that left him encased in an indestructable alien alloy that was the material for the ship in which he was to have travelled. From that day forward he became the explosive superpowered agent: Captain Atom!

After years with the Justice League, Captain Atom eventually returns to the military under the Luthor administration, and when a Kryptonite meteor is heading straight for the Earth, is commissioned to pilot a ship to preemptively destroy the threat.

Captain Atom is successfully, but the explosive destruction of his ship throws him hurtling forward through time until, with his skin suffering damage, he finally comes to a stop in a strange and unfamiliar world, with an equally unfamiliar appearance: and in this new world, he's far from welcomed.

Previous Form:
Captain Atom & Mr. Majestic: Neither character has yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Majestic 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Mr. Majestic 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Mr. Majestic 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Captain Atom 7 (Solar Power)


Well, I've gone out of my comfort zone again, this time with far more positive results than the last entry. [Strange Tales #111]

I can't say I've ever had any real interest in Wildstorm in any of it's incarnations. The Authority and some of the stuff done with those characters has at least appeared interesting, but never enough to finally wrench me away from properties I've previously invested in. In fact, prior to this, the only other encounters I've had with Wildstorm characters have been arcs in Superman and Fantastic Four, so I'm entirely unlearned.

Fortunately for the tape, Mister Majestic is an entirely accessible character.
In fact, anyone remotely familiar with Superman (or maybe even Sentry) could have enough information to deduce their way to some reasonable expectations for the character. Sure, there are some considerable differences, but as I love to scream violently at children, you do not need the forty-year history to understand a single, twenty-four page story. You just need to know how to read.

Captain Atom and I aren't exactly bossom buddies, but we're familiar enough to know passing info of each other. I know that he's a hero that's struggled to ever really extend himself above supporting B-character to more prominent characters in the DC Universe. I also know that he has a lot of potential, both destructively and conceptually.

I like to give Captain Atom the same benefit of the doubt I give to Martian Manhunter, and just assume that he can hover around the Superman level of strength and capability, but has been hindered by popularity contests.
Not that you can't readily find stories to back that theory up. It's just, for the purposes of the tape, I'm sure some would argue his strength doesn't quite come up to that par.

Given the nature of these characters we can deduce it will at least be a very close clash. The bredth of capabilities at Mister Majestic's disposal means he should come into a fight like this with the advantage. It's really about Captain Atom stepping up to that, and avoiding succumbing to the onset of power.

Unlike Superman, Majestros exhibits more chi-styled energy attacks, on top of the standard eye beams. Still, as impressive as Majestic gets, Captain Atom's key to victory has to be tapping into that invincibility, and really driving home with the wealth of energy inside him. That said, it might truly be too close to call! Adding to the variables, the fact that in this particular story, Captain Atom has apparently lost his alloy whilst being infused with a taste of the Void power.

The Math: Mister Majestic (Super Class)
The Pick: Mister Majestic

What went down...
Emerging from the rubble of his crash landing, Captain Atom has little time to explore his new appearance. His arrival has not gone unnoticed, and Mister Majestic apparently has some opinions to be made -- with his fists!

Captain Atom, taken somewhat unawares, suffers the consequences of this strange world, alien to him. Majestic's unceremonious attack serves as the first clue to the nature of a world lacking of DC morals and values.

The battery continues, Majestic declaring his Kherubiam will to protect at all costs. His philosophy is reflected in property damage as he sends Captain Atom flying through the rubble of a building, before sending him off with a staggering left hook that leaves Atom to land on a car below. It is crushed.

Surviving the impact relatively unscathed, Atom's concerns shift from his unfamiliar surroundings to more instinctive issues. Majestic swoops down directly into the path of Captain Atom's unbridled rage.

The blast leaves a smoking Majestic on his knees before the power of Captain Atom. He makes his own decree about the nature of his powers and strength: "My name is Captain Atom. As in A-Bomb... As in nuclear fission... As in... The end of the world."

With his declaration, the Captain raises his glowing hands above his head and strikes down at the floored Mister Majestic. The force of the impact sends the caped Kherubian shattering through the road and into a plummet far beneath the surface Earth.

Believing from his own perspective he has put a stop to a potential public menace, the Captain turns to the people adjacent to the street looking for accolades, but instead is met with fear and loathing.

Confused and certain that he isn't home, Captain Atom takes to the skies with the question, "Where am I?"

The hammer...
The winner by knock-down -- Captain Atom!

Initially I was fairly shell shocked after reading this issue.
As I mentioned in the opener, I wasn't at all familiar with the Wildstorm Universe going in to this series, and somewhere amidst the reviews and second-hand opinions I got a very different impression of what I was getting myself in to.

The shock came when I found myself reading a superhero book.
Okay, sure, I knew there were superheroes involved, but I mean this is a superhero book. There just aren't any two faux-intellectual ways about it, this makes no effort to make a commentary on the nature of humanity or superheroes, this just serves up a smackdown-fest and a whole lotta plot.

Having long since digested that fact I can definitely say it's a damned good superhero comic! Giuseppe Camncoli pencils up a storm with a firm grasp on the margins of human subtlty that go along with this far-out, in-your-face action piece. It dances a line somewhere between cartoon and from-life, and is slick and smooth, beautifully complimented by inks by Sandra Hope, and colours from Randy Mayor. It really is, visually, the total package.

While the script might not set the world on fire twenty years from now, this is one of the best first-issues I've read in a long time! In a decade bogged down in "slow-burn" opening issues that take excessive amounts of time to look at, but not elaborate on pieces of the puzzle, this one is a real treat.

Where something like the recent Omega Flight meanders around the anticipation of the formation of a new team (for a few issues), this one dives in head-first to give you more than enough information and development to feel satisfied.
We open with stylistically attentive recaps on recent events for Captain Atom, which tie everything together, while also lamenting on the parallels between his current predicament, and perennial origins.

If I had to have a gripe about the series, it would be to the very core of the concept. Armageddon alludes to a prophecy from the Wildstorm Universe, and an editorial decision to reboot the Wildstorm Universe under new direction as an off-shoot world existant within the DC megaverse.

While I have no allegiance to what has come before in the Wildstorm books - in fact, probably quite the opposite, given the relative disinterest in characters that appeared generic and uninspired - I'm never a fan of stop-starting an established canon in the interest of making it so-called "new reader friendly."

It might be a heavy-handed approach to a medium built on a pinch of salt, but I don't think history should be taken lightly. I would rather my art imitate some elements of life, and with rare exception, I don't think time and history should be omitted from the list.

I also had hoped that this might be a slightly more unique way to metatextually tie the DC/Wildstorm knot, forming a relationship between imprint and character that would prove mutually beneficial. Captain Atom lends what little DC "name" he has to the smaller branding, and Captain Atom gets a chance to be a big fish in a smaller pond, and lift his own stock somewhat.

It might have been a more superficial take on things, and I suppose there's every chance it might have upset existing Wildstorm fans even more than what eventuated, but... I don't know. As much as I enjoyed what I read, it just wasn't at all what I had expected. Still, a very enjoyable first issue!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 6