HUMAN TORCH versus SPIDER-MAN
A Day at the Races (Marvel comics)
Where: Fantastic Four #543 When: January 2007
Why: Paul Pope How: Paul Pope

The story so far...
Famous glamour boy and superhero, Johnny Storm, is heading down to the weekend racetrack to tear up the track in his custom hotrod, which is a good thing too!

Peter Parker, ever at the mercy of his Daily Bugle boss, J. Jonah Jameson, has orders to bring in new photos of Spider-man as well as commercial newsgrabbers like the flaming hothead from the Fantastic Four!

Looking for a better vantage point for shots of the race, Parker hits the webs as Spider-man, but when Johnny spots him from the racetrack, it looks like it's more than rubber that's going to get burned! Let the rivalry continue!

Previous Form:
Spider-man (#1): Recent victories over the likes of Rhino, Shocker & Green Goblin.
Human Torch (#13): Aided Spidey in defeating Mysterio, Wingless Wizard & the Sinister Twelve.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Spider-man 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Spider-man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Spider-man 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Human Torch 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Human Torch 7 (Solar Power)


I know, I know! More Spider-man! Hey, it's not like Spidey isn't a hot favourite right now with the readers, but in my defense, I picked the FF features before Web-Slinging Wednesdays kicked off, so I didn't at all anticipate the sheer saturation of the character. To those arachnaphobes out there, an advanced apology!

So, there's the matter of a little thing we all like to call the tape!

There's always those result changing details that are unique to certain combinations of characters. The things that aren't rated by the patented, ever-reliable Haseloff system. Things like certain chemistry and rivalries between pairs of heroes and villains that bring history and emotions into it.

So, those of you coming out of the theatres still chuckling over the antics of Johnny Storm and his rocky pal, the Thing. Imagine the friendly rivalry between those two, and then make it a little bit more bitter, and you'll roughly have the relationship between the Human Torch and Spider-man.

They were both two of the youngest heroes to come from the 1960s modern era of Marvel comics, and they've both gone a ways to grow-up, but when they get together, you're never quite sure if all that maturing will be for naught.

At the end of any day, Human Torch's fantastic fire powers make him a pretty tricky adversary for Spidey. Special concoctions aside, he can burn-up Spidey's synthetic webbing, as well as any part of him, should Spidey go close-quarters.

No matter how heated their confrontations get, you can usually count on Johnny being the decent human being. He's not about to reduce Spidey to smouldering ash, or put him in the burns ward, but that doesn't mean victory isn't his.

It generally comes down to the practical jokes with these two, and that's where the trusty Haseloff system comes good again. Y'see, Spidey's a natural born prankster, and the tape clearly shows it: He can scale any type of surface with ease, giving him an all-access pass to just about anywhere, and an easy and silent escape route.

Plus, Spidey's got that freaky agility for hiding things in hard-to-reach places -- and his spidey-senses ensure any prank will be set-up with ninja-like precision, because nobody can walk-in at an unexpected moment and bust him!

So, after all that? Well, it's probably fair to say in a fight it's fifty-fifty, but for the sake of the argument, I guess I'll make my call...

The Math: Spider-man (Meta Class)
The Pick: Human Torch

What went down...
Getting shoved around like a schmuck in the adoring crowd, Peter Parker tries desperately to get a shot of Johnny Storm and his entourage of Wyatt Wingfoot, Crystal and Gorgon, Johnny's Inhuman girlfriend and her royal guard.
Spying a radio tower, like any good Spider-man, he gets an idea... Big mistake!

Literally burning with rage, a miffed Johnny Storm bursts into flames upon spotting Spider-man, reducing his custom wheels to high-priced slag!
With his spider-senses alerting him of the danger, Spidey begins to swing down toward the track, but quickly regrets it.

The Human Torch circles Spidey leaving a trail of flames, promising to burn the mask from his face as soon as he puts out the hazardous fire from his car.
Using his cosmic-borne powers, Johnny sucks up the flames from the vehicle, and quickly goes about redirecting it toward the red and blue wall-crawler!

Spidey leaps and bounces around the on-coming racecars, as the Human Torch follows in the air blasting flame in a rage.

The Torch hits the ground, and catches Spidey in a swirling array of fire streams, but with the proportionate agility of a spider, Spidey leaps out of it in a dashing action pose -- great for the camera!

Flying around above the racing cars as they come around for another lap, Spidey does his best to further dodge the swirling assault of the Human Torch, and his deadly fireball projectiles of doom!

Feeling the all too serious burn of the Torch's flames, Spidey heads for the crowd, hoping to give the hothead a chance to cool off. Spider-man comes to a crouched landing at the feet of Crystal, inciting the Torch's further jealousy.

He rattles of a barrage of fireballs, which Spider-man easily deflects with a quick-smart web shield, but his cocky retort is short lived. Spidey mocks the attack as all too familiar, but this time it provides an unceremonious distraction...

His vision impaired by his trusty web-shield, Spidey is caught unawares by the Human Torch's incoming swooping boot attack! Mmm, tastes like burnt rubber!

Before the fight can continue, Crystal interjects, berating her flaming boyfriend.

"Hey, Butane-Breath, ever notice our fights always end with some sensible blonde tellin' us to cool it? Why don't we just take her advice and call it game-and-match?"

And as the Human Torch flames down and agrees, a peaceful resolution seems to have been reached, until... As they move to shake hands, Johnny Storm pulls his hand out at the last minute in a blaze of spitefilled glory!

And as Spidey web-swings away, "I'd join the Girl Scouts before I'd join any group that had you as a member, Popcorn!" And the next day, the Thing is able to pick up the baton at the breakfast table, reciting the headline, "Human Torch Wreckes Priceless Sports Car in Track Mishap, Disrupts Formula Race -- Pictures on Page Six."

The hammer...
No! Not a dream! Not an imagined story!
As Uatu so rightly proclaimed, it is in fact, a draw!

If you're looking for more Spidey/Human Torch odd couple fun you might like to check out their reviewed battle with Mysterio and the Wingless Wizard! [Amazing Spider-man Annual #4]

I had a few choices for the Human Torch when it came to solo battles, but I decided to go with this one; A) because it was the 45th anniversary issue spectacular, and B) because it represented something we haven't seen a lot of on Secret Earths, and that's the friendly rivalry.

The hero-on-hero fights are often the most popular on the site, but many of them revolve around much flimsier storytelling techniques like cosmic mandates, and cases of mistaken/misunderstood identity. This story, however, harkens back to the good old days of a Stan Lee style friendly rivalry, where two heroes could just legitimately rag on each other, even if it meant making up at the end to do the right thing for the good of mankind.

In some ways, this is perhaps the entry that will most resonate with the fans of Return of the Silver Surfer and the first movie, which hold the comedic timing of the FF and playful family dynamic as their strongest positives.
Hopefully through Fantastic Fridays we've been able to take a look over several of the familiar faces of the Fanatstic Four branding. Fun for fans new and old, and a positive entry point for those of you coming from the movie.

I mentioned elsewhere that one of the most surprising things about the new FF movie has been the lack of traffic it's generarted for us. Spider-man 3 and the Web-Slinging Wednesdays series brought in a barrage of hits, with many of you interested in facts and fun relating to Spidey, Sandman, and in particular, Venom!

Even the space faring Silver Surfer has struggled to attract the interests, which really makes you wonder about the appeal of these movies. I suppose the first movie proposed a strong demonstration of the mainstream appeal of superhero films, with many of the comics reading fans less than pleased with the treatment. I myself didn't see it until quite some time after release, on rental from Blockbuster no less, and I wasn't thrilled, either.

Even so, the film grossed over three times it's budget, putting an end to a box office slump at the time, and the expectant criticisms of many film critics and fanboys. Perhaps the strongest argument for the film's success would be the family contingent, with children presumably the driving force behind the success.

Which is something the Fantastic Four have always been good for.
During my childhood reading comics, the FF were always among the favourites, and maybe from this we can take a step back from the grim and gritty, ultra realism of other properties, and remember that the readers we so keenly seek, may want an opportunity to experience these properties like we did.

Even if most would have to agree, the film represents the greatest faux pas in comic film history. Dr. Doom represents one of the greatest villains of all time, lording even over big screen big bad, Darth Vader, a character the good Doctor is well known for having influenced. That's probably a discussion for the fifth Friday, though.

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5.5

NIGHTWING versus FIREFLY
War Games: Casualty of War Act 3 Part 3 (DC comics)
Where: Nightwing #98 When: December 2004
Why: Devin Grayson How: Sean Phillips

The story so far...
The vigilante called Tarantula has murdered Blüdhaven criminal mastermind Blockbuster, and by doing nothing to stop it, Nightwing has taken on the responsibility of the death in the harshest of ways.

While Grayson is trying come to terms with his inactions, the deaths of several major criminal bosses leads to an all-out gang war in Gotham City. With the violence spilling willfully into the streets, Batman rallies all of his available forces to put a stop to it, unwittingly placing additional stress on his former ward.

Charged with clearing Gotham-West, Nightwing heads out into the city, still troubled by the secret he keeps from the Batman. A welcome distraction comes in the form of a cluster of fires: The work of the pyromaniacal villain called, Firefly!

Previous Form:
Nightwing (#44): Team-up victories with Batman over Amazo and Two-Face.
Firefly: Has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Nightwing 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nightwing 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Nightwing 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Nightwing 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Nightwing 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Firefly 4 (Arsenal)


I don't want to upset the contingency of Firefly fans out there straight off the bat, but this guy isn't exactly what you'd consider a threat.

Okay, so Batman is the designate who gets to go toe-to-toe with Darkseid and what have you, but these guys are all street level. Which means I have to be honest and say sure, these are the guys who are going to deal with Firefly, and that makes perfect sense.

Even so, even if you don't let Nightwing into the 'with prep time...' club, you still have to assume he's going to be pretty well equipped to handle a guy in a bugsuit with a flame thrower.

For starters you've got a really obvious balance issue. Nightwing would, of course, be well versed in concepts of balance because if his lengthy martial arts training, and the bulky suit - which takes away Firefly's touch - with the big wings on the back is a keypoint for Nightwing to take the advantage.

While the Firefly suit protects against a lot of the basic non-lethal projectiles the Bat-family carry, because it doesn't have any major offensive function, it's a relative moot point. At the very least, Firefly probably doesn't have to worry about Nightwing using his flammable equipment against him, but then again... He's already tasted the blood of Blockbuster! HE COULD BE OUT OF CONTROL!

The Math: Nightwing (Meta Class)
The Pick: Nightwing (Sorry, Garfield...)

What went down...
From the rooftops, Nightwing easily spots Firefly as he enters a closed bar.
Making a bee-line for the offices upstairs, Firefly begins ransacking until he's interrupted by a voice from somewhere behind: The ninjaesque stealthy Nightwing!

The two discuss some matters of crimes comitted and the current employee survival-rate in the Gotham City underworld, before Nightwing uses his acrobatics to leap over a stream of flame thrown from Firefly's gun.

Hiding beneath the office desk, Nightwing protects himself from the barrage of flames before lifting the table and tossing it at Firefly! The suited villain somehow manages to duck the attack, shocked by the wanton violence of a Gotham City hero. It's at that point that he identifies Nightwing as "that Blüdhaven guy" and recalls that which Nightwing would much rather forget -- the murder of Blockbuster.

The front doors of the establishment swing open as Firefly is unceremoniously hurled from the building. Nightwing follows, a blazing inferno casting a dramatic light over him.

Firefly recovers and sprays off another jet of flame as the rain begins to come down, but Nightwing leaps it easily.

Firefly continues to blast his flames uncontrollably as the Gotham police roll up to the scene. Not that their presence is noticed on either of the costumed fighters.

Nightwing connects with a good left, but the helmeted Firefly quickly retorts with a clunky boot that knocks Nightwing back enough to leave him wide open for an unrelenting two-gun flame attack!

Nightwing does his best to roll-up, covering his body whilst moving offensively toward the subject. He does so successfully, sliding between the two flamethrower barrels to get right up into Firefly's face.

Nightwing nails Firefly at close quarters with a well placed elbow, but even as Firefly gets knocked silly with the following punches, the GCPD get their orders to shoot-to-kill any costumed characters on sight in response to the recent gang wars. Bad news for Firefly and Nightwing, alike.

With Firefly out on his feet, the unsuspecting Nightwing makes the tactical decision to use Firefly's armored suit and wings as a shield from the barrage of police issue slugs.

Nightwing rips one of the flamethrowers from it's connection to Firefly's suit, and tosses it toward the law officers, looking to buy some time -- it doesn't work.
Nightwing throws another left to keep Firefly on the back foot, but it leaves him open to renewed gunfire. Nightwing takes a tag to the leg.

Nightwing rips the remaining gun from Firefly's costume, and calls for the police to cease fire. Then, dragging Firefly like a ragdoll, he tosses them the threat and tells them to stop wasting their time.

Any momentary sanity quickly fails, as the GCPD again open fire on the unarmed Nightwing. Even with the injured leg, he proves agile enough to shoot a batline to the buildings above, using it to swing himself upward to the raining skies.

Finding salvation on a fire escape, Nightwing patches a contact to Batman.
There, with the rain pouring, Nightwing loses consciousness.

The hammer...
Despite suffering a crippling gunshot wound (and an appearance in a frustrating crossover), our winner is Nightwing!

As you might have just surmised, I wasn't much of a fan of the War Games crossover that spread across the bat-family books in 2004. Which provided a steady contrast to my opinion of the titles just previously. It's almost hard to imagine that a mere three years ago the entire comics landscape was a very different looking place.

At this point Infinite Crisis had not yet taken off, and I don't think anybody really knew what Civil War was going to be. This was a time where comics had been on an upswing thanks largely to strong, well built storytelling and character development.

Batman and Detective Comics, for me, represented two of the most exciting scenes in the industry. Likewise, Catwoman remained one of the sleeper hits of the early part of this decade. It was a pretty good time to be reading Batman.
The flagship title was sporting hyped storylines by Jeph Loeb and Brian Azzarello, which boasted pencilling collaborators like the top ten enducing Jim Lee, and the grim and gritty Eduardo Risso.

Meanwhile, Detective Comics was consistently among my favourite reads, with grey palette stories from the streets of Gotham. Something like a blend between the best early episodes of the animated series, and the kinds of characterizations and developments I might have imagined myself. It was a very enjoyable period, of two-six parters, and solo stories by talents that included Ed Brubaker and Brian Vaughan.

War Games was really the first big multi-title crossover to rear it's ugly head in a time that still considered the crossover to be one of the key components in the downfall of the nineteen-nineties. It seems, however, despite the exhaustian of company-wide events like Infinite Crisis and Civil War, the sands have shifted to point blame more to characters (like Ben Reilly), than the formula of the multiple title crossover itself.

As revolted as I was to realise I'd grabbed a handful of War Games issues, which marked the first conceited effort to avoid Batman and Detective after years of automatically buying; there was a silver lining.
I had wanted to have a look at Nightwing, which had been one of the titles I wasn't terribly interested in. While War Games represented something I specifically did not like, this particular issue presented the opposite within.

A lot of the features on Secret Earths have some sort of motivation or conceit to them. They're often a part of a larger plot or scheme, and connect to things before and after. In that respect they are quite unlike this crossover issue, which features the throwaway battle between Nightwing and Firefly.

This really could've been a fight with anyone. As far as I know there was no real significance put upon Firefly's intentions, or actions. This was purely a situation where a writer needed to display difunction in that area of town, while also pursuing the emotional story of Dick Grayson coming to terms with his part in the murder of a gangster.

This is a fun issue. A fight that need not be cast under any pretentions. This is about a superhero swooping in and whooping butt in the name of protecting the innocent.
This is exactly the kind of fight that belongs on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, and as simple a review as it provides, I greatly enjoyed it.

Devin Grayson proves competent, if not spectacular, while Sean Phillips' pencils range from phenomenal to average. Some of these scenes look truly amazing, with colouring by Gregory Wright that times is so dramatic, it really feels as thought it's an animated scene. All the while, other scenes appear awkward and clumsy, as though they were the results of a latenight cram session before Phillips' deadline.

A lot of people talk about Nightwing as a broken character. A character whose value falls somewhere in the middle of a triangle of Batman, Tim Drake and Jason Todd. I personally like to think there's more to the character than that, but we might save that discussion for next time...

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4

SPIDER-MAN versus RHINO
Let's Fall In Love (Marvel comics)
Where: Spider-man: Blue #2 When: August 2002
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Tim Sale

The story so far...
Bitten by a radio active spider; gawky high school nerd, Peter Parker, finds himself with the unlikely proportionate strength, speed and agility of a spider. With this new-found power, and his own inventive brilliance, Parker sets out to take on the ultimate responsibility of a vigilante!

As Spider-man, Peter comes into conflict with many others with rare and unique gifts. Men who would do great good, and great evil in this world. Men who would use their abilities to pursue him in personal grudges. Men who would hunt him like a rare and unique animal.

Men like the Rhino who, while being held under gas induced sedation, finds himself free to seek revenge on Spider-man after a mysterious enemy sets him free. Rampaging through the city, Rhino looks for payback, and the web-slinger is all too happy to oblige, but does he have it in him to defeat the Rhino again? Or will the mystery man step out of the shadows to capitalize? Stay tuned!

Previous Form:
Spider-man (#1): Overcome odds against Man-Ape, Tombstone, Scorpion, Carnage & Grey Gargoyle.
Rhino (#232): Comprehensively beaten by a well equiped Punisher.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Rhino 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Spider-man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Rhino 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Spider-man 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Spider-man 2 (Projectiles)


Geez, there have been so many Spider-man entries, I'm really starting to wonder what the point of this section is! The guy is sitting tight on only two losses from twenty-four battles, and really, like the song says, he's a Spider-man.
I don't know what the historical figures are, but for Spider-man to not come out the ultimate victor in any confrontation seems highly unlikely. Sure, he's a good hero.

Spider-man takes his lumps like any dramatic hero. He has defeats from which he can come back from to triumph over adversity. But the point I'm making is, even after taking a whipping from Sandman, or Green Goblin, or Rhino, when do you ever see Spider-man not wind up victorious?

One of the early conceits of the website - among the many motivations - was to test the theory that Batman is unstoppable. After 2007 it seemed very likely he was, but as we roll on through this year, maybe we start to see there's another ever present character who's beating everybody across multiple titles.

Rhino is a fairly one-trick pony: He's a muscle guy.
What works for Rhino is that, generally speaking, he's a pretty good muscle guy. Not the sharpest henchman in the drawer, and that's usually his downfall, but certainly worth throwing up against a Hulk or a Juggernaut or whoever you have lying around.

Spidey is a versatile character bringing speed, agility, smarts, strength and all of those fun powers to the table -- which means by the Haseloff system tape, he's a much better better bet than Rhino. But a simple truth remains. Rhino is a big deal. Spider-man should never have an easy time with him, and maybe should suffer more defeats than he perhaps has over the years.

I think we all know to expect Spider-man to win this one, but don't let the sun go down on the Rhino without giving him his props. Because he is worthy!

The Math: Spider-man (Meta Class)
The Pick: Spider-man (Sigh...)

What went down...
As the mysterious-manipulator plotting against Spider-man watches from the shadows, the Rhino stands amongst the rubble of buildings destroy with a bellowing demand, "I WANT SPIDER-MAN!"

Spider-man, like any good hero, is happy to oblige where lives would be threatened, swinging in with a devestating kick to the Rhino's neck!

He puts his agility to work as the Rhino charges within the confined space of the rubbled building alley, keeping it tight enough to allow Spidey to get another lick in. It isn't long, however, before Rhino gets a stiff shot in, nailing Spider-man with a big right hand!

Spidey lands on his ass and spews out a huge spray of webbing directly at Rhino's face, blinding him in mid-charge to allow Spidey to turn the tables. Vaulting over the blinded Rhino, Spider-man leaves Rhino to a fate his own:

Rhino charges into an already damaged brick wall, bringing the house down atop his horned head! The bricks tumble down with a rumble, leaving Spidey on a web to receive the compliments of the watching police.

With a tiny piece from Rhino's super-durable hide, Spider-man warns the police to hold tight while he disappears, fully aware that Rhino is down - but not out!

A quick stop to Dr. Curt Conners' lab later, and Spider-man becomes intimately aware of the inner workings of Rhino's leathery hide - composed of self-replicating genetics similar to actual rhino DNA composed with something similar to kevlar or adamantium [just in case you were wondering!].
With that, Spidey and Conners devise a means to disrupt the polymer!

Spidey returns to the scene with Rhino again roaring for revenge, while the police do their best to put him down with ineffective gunfire. Fortunately for all, Spidey has something a little more permanent up his sleeves - literally!

Rhino gets a face full of gooey webbing again, this time a special new orange blend from the fine people at Conners and Parker!

Unphased by the goop, Rhino charges at Spidey, who gives it both barrels, spraying away with the goopy orange liquid whilst using his proportionate spider-agility to leap over the rampaging Rhino!

Giving it both barrels, Spidey well and truly webs his adversary in the special webbing fluid, granting the luxury to slip down for a hilarious quip.

The webbing isn't strong enough to hold the Rhino, though, and he throws his arms up, tossing Spider-man over his head!

Though blinded by the webbing, Rhino's wild haymakers connect, first with a right, and then a left that sends Spider-man flying into a fire hydrant!
The busted hydrant leaves Spidey with a bump to remember, but it provides a convenient twist of fate. The catalytic webbing hadn't done the trick, but by introducing water to the compound it begins to take effect on the Rhino's hide!

The webbed areas of the Rhino's invulnerable costume begin to fall off in massive chunks, leaving him vulnerable - and naked - in the middle of the street! Not that that stops Spidey putting the finishing touches on the job in what he feels is a case of an overgrown bully getting his due!

A good one-two uppercut to finish, and the Rhino is out like a light, and freed of the costume that makes him so difficult to contain.

The hammer...
The hammer comes down once again in favour of Spider-man, with the victory by knock-out! Hard luck for the Rhino!

We get a lot of traffic from the uninitiated, and that's a good thing.
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths by no means represents an encyclopedia, but I like to think we can provide some interesting points of reference and informative tidbits.

New readers are drawn to the site for a number of reasons, and some of those are the major forces penetrating the mainstream consciousness. Things like the major motion picture adaptations [like Spider-man], or in other cases less direct connectors, like TV's Heroes.

Heroes seems to have quickly surpassed Lost as TV's number one action-based drama, featuring all the things we as comic fans know and love. Interesting characters, exciting scenarios, fantastic powers, and developing plotlines.

Interestingly enough both Heroes and Lost have had something in common - Jeph Loeb. Jeph Loeb is a writer who whose work has ranged from Arnold Schwarzenegger's militia vehicle Commando, to TV's Smallville, to comic works like Batman: The Long Halloween, which influenced director Christopher Nolan's work, along with writer David Goyer, on the feature film Batman Begins.

One of the characters on Heroes possesses the ability to paint the future, and this is where we reviewing Spider-man: Blue come full circle, because the artwork for that particular character [Isaac Mendez; played by Santiago Cabrera] was provided by none other than Tim Sale - artist extraordinaire on Spider-man: Blue (and The Long Halloween, for that matter).

Spider-man: Blue is one of three mini-series with the writer/artist team of Loeb and Sale, the others being Daredevil: Yellow and Hulk: Gray, each referring to colours featured in the characters unique looks, as well as emotions and events within the books.

Each story recounts events from the character's early careers in the sixties, with Spider-man: Blue retelling events that fall somewhere in the 40's of issues of Amazing Spider-man, written originally by Stan Lee.
The series puts it's own unique stamp on the events, including a new spin that supposes Kraven the Hunter is actually the master manipulator behind a string of reapparances of classic Spidey villains, before his triumphant appearance in Amazing Spiderman #47.

If you have the first Spider-man movie DVD with the extras disc, and spin-on you can actually see Loeb and Sale at Sale's drawing board, where if you look closely, you'll note that he is pencilling one of the pages from this very issue!
Particularly visible is the scene where Spider-man leaps over the Rhino, while spraying the (once coloured) orange webbing all over him from above.

So, there you have it! A little bit more of an informative Hammer to end this entry! As always I'm churning ahead to try to catch up, particularly if we're to do some of the exciting things I'd like to in July! Until then, cheers!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 5.5
NEXT WEEK: Marvel Ultimate Alliance Asgard sub-bosses: The Wrecking Crew!

ICONOCLAST versus FANTASTIC FOUR
Be It Ever So Humble... (Marvel comics)
Where: Fantastic Four #2 When: February 1998
Why: Scott Lobdell How: Alan Davis

The story so far...
After the battle with Onslaught, the world believed the Fantastic Four and Avengers had perished, but to the delight of the world, the heroes returned a year later to the world they had left behind.

Unfortunately for the Fantastic Four, life had moved on in their absence, and their base of operations had been liquidated and revamped as the headquarters for the new team of super heroes: The Thunderbolts.

In need of a home, Reed Richards moves his family to his storage facility on the highliy appropriate Pier 4, but even as he gives his loving wife a new tour of their base of operations - something sinister is lurking in the shadows. Peril waits not for the Fantastic Four, as the Invisible Woman finds herself targetted by a mysterious assassin from another world!

Previous Form:
Fantastic Four [#3]: Victories over Frightful Four, Secret Avengers & Sinister Twelve.
Invisible Woman (#32): Unsuccesful against Wolverine and Death's Head, away from the FF.
Iconoclast: Has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Iconoclast 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Invisible Woman 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Iconcolast 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Invisible Woman 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Iconoclast 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Draw 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Iconoclast 3 (Explosives)


Iconoclast represents an incredibly interesting and rare phenomenon in modern comics. That's the introduction of a character who is relatively interesting with allusions to an established motivation and history, but lacks any real definition.
What makes this particularly unique is that the character, as far as I know, and as far as I could find out, has never been followed up on.

In fact, even browsing Marvel's own Wiki-formatted database, there are not even any apparent references to the character, to be found. So, how to we measure such a character? Well, with some license, I suppose you could say.

It's not the first time we've analysed a character that hasn't appeared again in the broader medium, and as is always the case, we draw what we can from the pages in which they have appeared.

Perhaps the most distinctive technique exhibited by Iconoclast is his ability to exist somehow on two planes of existence. While he remains invisible and intangible to those of us in the regular realm, a character such as the Invisible Woman represents someone able to see and interact with that plane of being.

In that respect both Invisible Woman and Iconoclast are on relatively equal terms. Working in the Invisible Woman's favour are a few factors:
The Invisible Woman has the back-up support of one of the most seasoned teams in the Marvel Universe, which includes the brilliant mind of Reed Richards, inventor and thinker extraordinaire.

Invisible Woman also carries with her an inherent range of abilities thanks to her versatile application of forcefields and tactile invisibility. While she cannot fade from Iconoclast's sight, she can certainly rough him up with forcefield backed punches!

The Iconoclast appears to come, if not naturally, equipped with energy based "bio-blasts" with explosive results. Also working for the Iconoclast is an impressive degree of agility, and fighting skills that clearly rival the moderately trained Invisible Woman's.

If Reed Richards can get the rest of the team into the fight, then this becomes decidedly one-sided, but without the assistance of her team, it becomes much more difficult to say for sure that Invisible Woman would win. I'd like to think she has the broad tools, but Iconoclast makes for a convincing threat!

The Math: Iconoclast (Champion Class)
The Pick: Invisible Woman (Champion Class)

What went down...
Sue and Reed Richards share a hug in their son's bedroom when the Iconoclast makes himself known to Sue. He declares his intentions to "null" her before she can null him and his people. His hand begins to glow as energy builds in it, released in a massive explosion!

The Invisible Woman is able to protect her and her family with an invisible forefield, and while Mr. Fantastic consoles his son, Sue Richards' motherly instincts tell her to kick the Iconcoclast's arse!

Invisible Woman propels herself at Iconoclast with an invisible shield, extending beyond her fist to knock him through the window!

Mr. Fantastic quickly follows, initiating the appropriate security measures to see the broken window sealed, and his son protected from any other would-be invaders of the Pier-4 facility.

Out in the snow, Invisible Woman is knocked about by the Iconoclast, who not only remains invisible to Mr. Fantastic, but who also appears to have no effect on their surroundings, either. As he trails his wife's footsteps, he notes that there are no such accompanying imprints.

Mr. Fantastic leaps into the air stretching himself out to blanket the area in the hopes of ensuring physical contact with the Iconoclast so he can restrain him. Unfortunately he remains intangible to all but the Invisible Woman, thus provoking a more developed theory from Richards.
While he ponders the situation, a concerned Franklin Richards triggers the Fantasti-flare, alerting the attentions of the rest of the team who are busy messing around in the city.

As Reed begins to postulate, Sue continues to fend off the flaming attacks of the Iconoclast. Richards scoops his wife up and makes a stretched leap to put some distance between them, enquiring about any potentially valuable information.
As Richards reaches an epiphany, the Iconoclast makes contact, stretching Mr. Fantastic's stretchy gut out and around, before flattening him with a blow to the face.

As his own jaw stretches away from his face, Mr. Fantastic makes an intellectual note, "Apparently even though I am unable to "see" him -- or to affect him -- he has no such limitations -- OWNLPHN! -- in regards to harming me!

If I didn't know better, I would've thought Mr. Fantastic had just recalled his trumph seen in last week's Fantastic Friday entry against Sub-Mariner. OWNLPHN! [Fantastic Four #412]

Tired of the assault, Invisible Woman slams the Iconoclast with an invisible battering ram! Iconoclast, on the back foot, concedes his conflicted state, but reveals the stakes of too many millions of his people's lives.
Susan tries to stem his concerns, assuring him that he wishes for noone to die, but the word of a would-be tyrant means little to one so afraid. He slices through her invisible construct, and then shatters a defensive field she forms.

As the Invisible Woman falls to another blow, the Human Torch and Thing arrive on the scene. For the first time during the battle a footprint emerges in the snow, allowing Mr. Fantastic to deduce the effects of heat on the Iconoclast.

He instructs the Human Torch to send his heat in the direction of the print, resulting in the emergance of a shimmering figure that is the Iconoclast!
Visible to everyone, the Thing charges at their mysterious foe, but his fists find nothing but air. The ghostly apparition flings Thing into the air, and turns to meet Johnny Storm, who flames his way through the air in retort.

The Iconoclast's ghostly hand plunges into the Human Torch, seemingly intangible, but still capable of inflicting great pain on the flaming hero.

The Invisible Woman comes to the desperate aid of her brother, again the only member of the team able to see the threat.

She uses her invisible powers to yank the Iconoclast from her brother!
The Iconoclast voices his conflict again, as the Invisible Woman questions the necessity of the death of herself, or others. Despite his reluctance, the Iconoclast remains vigilant in his goals.

Again he punches his way through an invisible barrier with a glowing fist. Invisible Woman backs up, noting that with every field Iconoclast breaks, the weaker her efforts seem to become. She continues to back up, reaching the edge of the pier as the Iconclast smashes wall after wall.

Finally, Sue Richards springs her final gambit. Having retreated far beyond the edge of the pier to over the water, she peels back her invisible platform, leaving the Iconoclast to drop into the icey waters below. The Iconoclast plunges into the water with a spectacular explosion of steam and energy!

On the pier, Mr. Fantastic reveals he theory he shared with his wife while Human Torch and Thing provided a distraction. A theory that Iconoclast himself was not manipulating his existence on our plane of reality, instead he employed a technology in-built into his suit, that could presumably be shortcircuited with water.

Though the Fantastic Four make efforts to find and retrieve the Iconoclast from the river, Reed Richards' most advanced scanning technology cannot find him. And as someone or something watches their heat signatures, Richards predicts that eventually their invisible menace will return.

The hammer...
Of course, Mr. Fantastic was thus-far wrong, as the Iconoclast never returned after his defeat at the hands of Invisible Woman! Full assist to the rest of the team, too.

I don't think we've loitered too much around this period of history, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed this era of Fantastic Four. It represents a large chunk of an otherwise modest collection, following the heights of the Heroes Reborn storyline into something more familiar.

Heroes Reborn was the Ultimate line before the Ultimate line, without the benefit of long term commitment. In that respect it was a condensed retelling of the character's origins, and their first encounters with many of their most recognisable villains, all put under a microscope of thirteen issues in four different series. In it's own way, it was actually very good, and Ultimate fans will note many simiarlities with one or two ideas developed in those books.

Things had become pretty garbled and distracted by the mid-nineties, so apart from streamlining the major Marvel properties, this was an opportunity to take a good look again at the classics, and put them all back in the spotlight.

When the heroes returned [as part of Heroes Return], it was a chance to move away from that magnifying glass and come out fresh. This is where we arrive at Lobdell and Davis on the new Fantastic Four; a delightful take that clearly takes inspiration from the classic intrepretations of Lee/Kirby and beyond, but brings it to readers with what was a contemporary sensibility.

Heroes Reborn was perpetrated by Image founders Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld (and others), so it had it's own version of the gaudy of the nineties, complete with trimmings and gimmicks. While FF post-Heroes Reborn appeared to be moving away from that, it was only a year later. Only so much could change.

It's almost hard to look at Iconoclast without a little bit of cynicism.
Granted, he provided some positive creative decisions. It cast a spotlight on Invisible Woman as an individual, something that happened with some of the team on and off during this run [like Mr. Fantastic in issue #3].

He also made for a convenient villain in a story that was very much establishing the team's new base on Pier-4, that could provide action, without taking the story away from the new HQ, and without demanding the destruction of it. It's probably not the kind of story you could have told with Annihilus.

Even so, there's something about Iconoclast that almost reads like an opportunity to explore with the technology becoming available. It's almost like someone sat down in editorial, and proposed the idea of experimenting with creating a Predator-style invisible character, who can be seen as an exciting computer-generated silhouette of distortion.

Granted, I say that with cynicism, but not outright negativity, because I think it's a great thing to do. This was an application of the computer technology becoming available that far outshined experiments with colouring, and special effects, ala some of the less attractive issues of Steel that spring to mind.

Ultimately the Iconoclast ball gets completely dropped, and certainly there's still potential for that concept to be picked up and run with. The basic ideas speak for themselves, but there's room for a lot of interpretation there.

What's clear is Invisible Woman's potential threat to the millions of people that exist in Iconoclast's world. I know a lot of popular interpretations take that to be something along the lines of Joss Whedon's Breakworld story in Astonishing X-Men, but I've always felt it might be a bit more indirect than that.
Rather than imagining some grim future where Invisible Woman gives in to malice, or anything like that, I thought it might have been something far more innocent.

I like to think Iconoclast hails from a sub-dimension along the lines of the Microverse, and that Invisible Woman's powers somehow impact on their way of being. Something that subtly ties her to them and explains her ability to see and interact with Iconoclast, beyond just invisible people seeing invisible people.
Something more along the lines of a human unwittingly stepping on a family of tiny bugs, or something.

Anyway, we're still over a week behind (today being the 18th), so I'll shut it down here. Next week we continue Fantastic Fridays with a special look at the Human Torch! Stay tuned, folks!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5

THE SOCIETY versus FREEDOM FIGHTERS
Infinite Crisis (DC comics)
Where: Infinite Crisis #1 When: December 2005
Why: Geoff Johns How: Phil Jiminez

The story so far...
The world is in crisis, and the heroes are divided to fall, while the villains are united in a way never before seen.
The Justice League is falling apart at the seams, struggling to recover from events such as Wonder Woman's brutal execution of the traitorous Maxwell Lord, where she very publicly snapped his neck; and the death of Firestorm.

Heroes such as the members of Uncle Sam's Freedom Fighters do their best to pick-up the slack, but with a united front of evil willing to cross any lines, it becomes more difficult than ever.

Having received information regarding a transmission between Silver Ghost and Mirror Master; Uncle Sam leads his Freedom Fighters to a seemingly abandoned refinery where they believe the supervillains are organizing weapons for terrorist activity. Unfortunately for them, Uncle Sam's suspicions prove valid.
Now the team need not only put a stop to evil, but also fight to survive.

Previous Form:
The Society [#15]: Unsuccessful against the team of Batman & Red Hood.
Freedom Fighters [#19]: Slaughtered by the World's Finest; Superman/Batman.
Black Adam (#13): Undefeated after battles with the Four Horsemen of Apololips.
Dr. Light (#109): Present for Deathstroke's battle with the Justice League.
Psycho-Pirate (#255): Ultimately killed by Black Adam after this alliance.
Uncle Sam (#163): Unsuccesful in team-up with Wonder Woman against Batman/Superman.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Bizarro 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Dr. Light 5 (Professor)
Speed: Zoom 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Black Adam 6 (Generator)
Agility: Cheetah 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting Ability: Deathstroke 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Sinestro 7 (Solar Power)

I think you pretty quickly realise you're in trouble when you open the door and one of your guys gets shot through the chest. We'll get to that soon enough, but let's take a look at the daunting stats of the tape first up, which paint a pretty grim picture for the Freedom Fighters!

A team of nine villains is bad enough. A team of villains consisting of; Black Adam, Sinestro, Deathstroke, Dr. Light, Dr. Polaris, Zoom, Psycho-Pirate, Bizarro and Cheetah - even more bad news. A team of these particular villains as oganized by Lex Luthor, who is fronting a united new era for bad guys? Down right scary!

The tape indicate just how well rounded this particular team is. Nobody tips below a five, and even those come in the less common categories, and of the nine, seven of them register as the top characters in their respective category.
That isn't even taking into account things like the comparable strength levels of Black Adam and Bizarro, or the intangible forces controlled by Polaris, Light and Sinestro. Or even things as obscure, and difficult to measure, as Psycho-Pirate's emotive suggestions.

The Freedom Fighters are outnumbered, nine-to-six.
Among their rag-tag mob of heroes are most notably Uncle Sam himself, Human Bomb, Damage and The Ray. Their powers are strong enough to at least register where some of these villains are concerned; Sam bringing a degree of stamina and strength, while the Ray can control and manipulate light in a variety of imaginative ways.

The Human Bomb and Damage pose perhaps the greatest key to victory, but their potential also rests on the potential destruction of their fellows. If either of these atomic-scale heroes really unloads, to the point where they can defeat or waylay The Society, it will probably come at the final hour, with their fellows already fallen.

Black Condor really affects very little influence on this particular fight. Given the scope and brutal power of characters like Black Adam, Deathstroke and Sinestro, it's just simply not in the realm of possibility for a character like Condor to be of use. Likewise, Phantom Lady's illusions and Savate expertise are going to be of little use here.

The Math: The Society
The Pick: The Society

What went down...
Infiltrating the secret arms factory, the Ray uses his powers to manipulate the laser light grid that provides a net of security over the entrance, diverting the light to himself. With that, Human Bomb uses his powers to destroy the control panel for heavy blast doors, and as they open...

A blast of cynical yellow energy cracks it's way through the air, piercing the exposed chest of the unsuspecting Black Condor. Waiting on the other side of the door is the cream of The Society's villainous crop. An apparent ambush.

Bizarro ironically greets the Freedom Fighters with a misplaced Good-Bye, which is all too accurate, given the situation, as Sinestro sneers from beneath the glowing yellow energies of his fear-borne power.

Uncle Sam orders his troops to hold nothing back as they charge into battle with the murderous members of The Society.

The order is as good as worthless.
In a volley of violence and destruction the Society find themselves set upon by some of the deadliest villains known.

The Ray is the first to fall, victim of Dr. Light's similar, but apparently superior, powers.
He sucks the light from The Ray's body in a way that could only be imagined as incredibly painful.

Damage finds himself at the mercy of Zoom's fists, as he swirls around the hero in an unstable, translucent blur. Zoom promises to make them stronger heroes if they survive. His barrage triggers Damage's explosive powers, which send him hurtling out of the building.

Phantom Lady's illusion of invisibility proves to be of little value against the feline senses of Cheetah. She quickly sniffs the Freedom Fighter out, leaping atop her before ripping away at her flesh.

With the Phantom Lady pinpointed and bleeding, Deathstroke charges in with his sword to finish the job. He drives his blade deep into her chest as she rematerializes. Her final word is, "Why?"
For Deathstroke, it is simply a matter of professionalism.

The Human Bomb's explosion topples Sinestro, Dr. Light and Deathstroke, and he cries for them to get away from his fellows.
Shaken by Phantom Lady's death, the Human Bomb runs amongst the carnage before Dr. Polaris floats down to revel in the defeat.

"Oh, she's dead, Human Bomb. Didn't you hear that delicious shriek?"

Enraged, the Human Bomb tears at his protective suit.
If it is death and war that delights Polaris, then the Human Bomb shall deliver more than he can handle. The Human Bomb glows with energy and explodes, blowing Dr. Polaris clean out of the sky.

Bizarro, attracted by the "pretty lights", descends atop the Human Bomb.

Declaring his affections he begins to pound the Bomb's bare flesh, incurring massive explosions with every thunderous punch. For every blow with the strength of a Superman, Bizarro encourages an equal amount of explosive force, until eventually the Human Bomb begins to disipate.

Eventually, with his blood and chest covered in blood, Bizarro is disappointed. The Human Bomb stirs no longer. He has exploded for the final time.

"No more pretty lights."

In spite of the many explosions, the fight rages on amongst the surviving heroes and villains. Uncle Sam finds himself with the uneasy task of battling Black Adam, perhaps the strongest man present.

Adam flies like a human torpedo, knocking Uncle Sam into the air.
Cheetah catches him on the ground, clawing at his face while Zoom buzzes around like a ghostly apparition.

The Ray, alive but weakened by Dr. Light's attack, finds himself at the mercy of the otherwise uninvolved Psycho-Pirate.

As The Ray spits threats at Psycho-Pirate, the medusa mask begins to shift from it's blank state to a calm, comforting smile.
"Don't be angry. Don't be afraid."

The Ray, relaxed, gives in to the exhaustion, allowing himself to be dragged away for the purposes of one, Alexander Luthor, for whom The Society does their bidding.

The last of the Fighters to fall is the first to rally them - Uncle Sam. Though he continues to fight valiantly against overwhelming odds, he is far outmatched, numerically and super naturally.

Sinestro uses his yellow energies to blast at the patriotic hero, sending him hurtling into the air. He eventually comes to land in a swamp somewhere nearby, and while his story is not through, the Freedom Fighters are through, and the Society free to carry out their evil machinations.

The hammer...
Conclusively the winners: The Society!

Meanwhile, Uncle Sam's resumé isn't looking terribly impressive right about now. The last time the character was featured, he and his team were completely wiped out by the tyrannical might of Superman and Batman. [Superman/Batman #15]
This time around things went a little better for the Freedom Fighters, but even still, to come out with a fifty-percent survival rate isn't really all that impressive by anyone's means. Maybe the X-Statix are about the only team impressed by those figures... Yeesh...

At the time this particular issue - the first of a major mini-series at the core of a company-wide event - caused quite a bit of controversy. Given the promotion of the event, a large part of the concern was rating standards, with this issue baring no kind of forewarning for the violence contained within.
Of particular interest at the time was Phantom Lady's brutally depicted murder, which sparked the obligatory discussion of misogynism in comics, and questions of violence against women.

I'm not so much interested in the censorship of violence against one sex over another. We've discussed before that, in fiction, I think it's nice for that equality to exist. I sometimes feel the violence needs to be more prevelent for both sexes, to continue to remind us exactly what kinds of threats these superheroes are dealing with. But I digress...

What struck me immediately having just completed the review was that I was declaring a team who just slaughtered the superheroes - victorious!
I think with the features we've looked at over the past year and a half I've come to build up an association with the declaration of a winner. Usually, even in the cases of the hero losing, there's a certain degree of honor and thrill to it.

Declaring The Society victorious here, however, after killing the heroes the way they did. There's something that just doesn't feel quite right about that.

Not that it really has to go beyond that.
I'm not sure this particular cast of characters was really what you'd call invaluable to the DC lot, and to the company's credit they have continued a tradition of reinvigorating properties in the newest incarnation of the Freedom Fighters. It's not all new, of course. Uncle Sam found his way out of the swamp after compelling one of the new leads to find him, and they have an all new, all-government approach, at least to start with.

I guess there's a triumph to come out of the deaths of these heroes, at least in some kind of creative off-shoot of a way. I admit, I'm usually not one to advocate wanton slaughter of worthwhile characters, but at least they've stayed dead for this long, and an attempt to revitalize the concepts has been made.

Though the book is mostly a vignette-packed primer for the DC Universe as it was becoming heading into Infinite Crisis, there's also a fantastic battle running parallel to this one on the moon, featuring the 'DC Trinity', so hopefully some time in the future we'll get a chance to revisit the story from that perspective.

For now, I've got to check out and head to bed, and hopefully get back to catching up again soon. We've got FF action next-up, cheers!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5