FREEDOM FORCE versus AVENGERS

Has The World Gone Mad?!? (Marvel)
Where: Avengers #312 When: December 1989
Why: John Byrne How: Paul Ryan & Tom Palmer

The Story So Far...
Frustrated with routine defeat at the hands of their heroic enemies: Loki gathers a cabal of powerful masterminds to orchestrate an unexpected and new paradigm!

With the combined resources of Doctor Doom, Red Skull, Magneto, The Mandarin, Wingless Wizard, and The Kingpin -- Loki redistributes villainous forces in successive acts of vengeance to disorient and defeat their adversaries!

The Avengers are still divided and reeling from the destruction of their Hydrobase when Avengers Park receives an unexpected visit from Freedom Force! The crooks turned feds have come to evict The Avengers from their subbasement HQ by any means necessary!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Blob 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Hank Pym 6 (Genius)
Speed: Wasp 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Blob 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Wasp 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Falcon 4 (Trained)
Energy: Scarlet Witch 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Vision 26 (Metahuman)

Freedom Force are: The Blob, Pyro, and Avalanche.

All three were members of Mystique's Brotherhood of Mutants before receiving pardons for their crimes in exchange for enlisting as government agents.

Both incarnations of the trio are best known for their run-ins with the X-Men and X-Factor -- which hasn't left them with a particularly spectacular reputation.

In fight card terms you might think of them as the upper mid-card. Reliable opponents with enough cache to match-up against some of the big names, but unlikely to advance. Or are they...? We're about to put that theory to the test!

The Avengers are: Henry Pym, Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon.

So far the immovable Blob is the only member of Freedom Force we have on record. He was with The Brotherhood when they clashed with DC's Teen Titans in Unlimited Access #3. Blob was more than a match for Robin's martial arts.

Fred Dukes is an unfeeling mass of human flesh who is incredibly strong, durable, and able to manipulate his density. Unlike Vision, Blob doesn't exhibit powers of intangibility, but he can similarly increase his mass to become almost impossible to move, and physically powerful.

His teammates are St. John Allerdyce aka; Pyro and Dominikos Petrakis, aka; Avalanche. The frequent pairing are expert range fighters, utilizing Pyro's ability to manipulate fire with animated results, and Avalanche's seismic waves.

Scarlet Witch wields hex magic with relative impunity, but the results aren't always predictable. Early in her career, in X-Men #4, she caused the earth to move under Cyclops' feet. Energy-based hex bolts stalled Magneto in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4, but couldn't topple Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet #4.

Pyro cannot generate fire himself, but is immune to burns, so relies on wrist-fed flame throwers to supply him with ammunition. Avalanche can generate powerful vibrational impulses, but is incapable of directing them through organic matter.

Falcon and Wasp can fly over any earthquakes to deliver smackdown and stinger blasts. Hank Pym isn't changing size so much in these days, but should be able to shrink down any problems that arise -- or find a miniaturized tool to handle the job. Let's see how they handle it...

The Tape: Avengers Ranking: Wasp (#53)

What Went Down...

Touching down in Central Park -- Freedom Force depart their government issued helicopter and start pushing their way through the public. Their search for The Avengers takes them to the team's statue and trips their security monitors.

Vision flies on ahead, passing intangibly through the levels of The Avengers' underground sub-basement headquarters, gliding towards the park above.

He greets Freedom Force with a cordial offer of assistance, but is left perplexed by Blob's colourful and bullish request to evict The Avengers from their base. The synthezoid's confusion leads Blob to an inevitable act of violence!

The powerful punch sends an unprepared Vision hurtling into the stone of Captain America's statue. It shatters at the legs, but Vision quickly recovers and torpedoes towards The Blob -- only to bounce off his ample torso!

The Vision lands at the base of the Avengers statue momentarily stunned.

Blob closes in to grab the front of Vision's cape, but before he can deliver a knock-out blow -- the statue shifts to reveal The Avengers assembling in the park!

Falcon leads the charge to rescue Vision with the miniaturized Wasp flying right behind him, but even the airborne Avengers aren't safe from a counter-strike from Avalanche!

The focused vibrations rip through the ground and kick up a wave of concrete that knocks Falcon out of the air and topples the rest of the Avengers!

The knockdown leaves the team vulnerable to a follow-up assault by Pyro, who sends dancing flame circling around them in the air.

Hank Pym orders the team to spread out, and Wasp takes advantage of the chaos to sneak up on Pyro unnoticed and strike with her stinger blasts!

Pyro quickly whips around, spraying fire from his wrist-mounted flame throwers in an effort to exterminate The Wasp. The diminutive Avenger proves too agile and tiny a target for the hotheaded mutant!

Falcon flies in for the assist -- smacking Pyro across the face with his winged fist!

Falcon is over confident when Pyro calls upon the assistance of Avalanche. He assumes the mutant's shockwaves won't harm him, but Avalanche is more than capable of generating devastating tremors in the inorganic matter of his wings!

Another statue is toppled by the blast as Hank Pym sneaks up behind Avalanche and fires a gas pellet from a previously shrunken gun.

Gas wafts into Avalanche's helmet and he starts choking, but things get even worse for the Freedom Force fighter when Scarlet Witch turns the ground against him -- collapsing it beneath his feet with a hex!

Vision congratulates his wife on neutralizing the threat while grappling with the powerful arms of The Blob! He attempts to break the stalemate by plunging his intangible arm into Blob's chest -- but Blob's shifting mutant density neutralizes the limb and forces it to become trapped!

Another Avengers statue bites the dust as Blob pivots his body -- violently swinging Vision's body like a rag doll through the stone tribute!

Scarlet Witch is overwhelmed by the carnage, unable to direct her hex magic to defend against the toppling of the main Avengers statue. Fortunately, Falcon sees the danger coming -- and flies in to make the save by flying her clear!

Another winged Avenger comes to their teammate's rescue when Hank Pym finds himself struggling to keep ahead of Pyro's flame. Wasp refocuses her attack on Pyro's flame throwers -- severing the fuel line to cut-off half his ammunition!

Pym digs into his miniaturized arsenal to produce a shrunken flame thrower and takes the opportunity to clog Pyro's remaining flame thrower with fire retardant foam! A volley of stinger bolts sends him running!

Vision resorts to energy projectiles as well -- firing laser-like eyebeams -- but still finds himself too evenly matched with the immovable might of The Blob.

Hank Pym calls an audible, ordering Vision clear while he rushes in to try to solve the problem with a liberal dosage of Pym Particles.

They suddenly start to reduce the bulging Blob to a fraction of his ample size -- but such incredible density focused on a small area has the unforeseen consequence of sending him plummeting through the ground to the subway!

Things get more out of hand when Avalanche successfully directs a quaking blast at Falcon -- shattering his wings!

Falcon careens into a nearby vehicle, while Scarlet Witch tumbles onto the road!

Vision glides towards the trouble, summoning Avalanche's attention with a blast of eyebeams over his shoulder. The Freedom Force fighter acts on his curiosity, unleashing a devastating vibrational wave at the synthezoid in an effort to find out how much of his body is resonantly inorganic.

The force rips through Vision's body -- shunting and distorting the mechanical parts at sickening odds with his biological matter!

Vision drops from the ground suffering self-diagonized massive internal damage. For a horrifying instant Scarlet Witch believes her synthezoid husband has once again been destroyed. She brushes Avalanche off and rushes to Vision's side!

It seems as if Scarlet Witch is about to unleash the unshackled power of her hex magic, but before she can -- Falcon rushes in to shove Avalanche and sock him with a hard right hand.

Hank Pym keeps up the pressure by charging Pyro with a large shield -- while Wasp continues zapping him. The double team sends Pyro seeking the unlikely assistance of New York City Police!

Pyro cites his status as a United States Government enlisted agent to order the Avengers' arrest -- but at that moment Captain America drops out of the sky from a helicopter to call Freedom Force's credentials into question!

The revelation sparks a brawl amongst angry New York bystanders who debate the merits of The Avengers and their recent relocation to Central Park!

The ruckus provides enough distraction for Avalanche to unleash another quake that knocks everyone over and covers he and Pyro's escape to their helicopter.

The Hammer...

Did that seem like an abrupt and chaotic finish to anyone else?

Just when it seemed like Scarlet Witch was about to go hogwild with hex magic -- the situation turns into a donnybrook, and Captain America literally falls out of the sky just in time to strip Freedom Force of their government-issued bona fides!

It's hard to tell if this is just the chaos of Acts of Vengeance and the frenetic storytelling of the time -- or if it hints at the chaos magic of Scarlet Witch subtly manipulating events around her.

Vision certainly seems to recover awfully quick, stepping in to discourage Scarlet Witch from bringing Freedom Force's escaping helicopter down in proximity to the populated city. Good quality synthezoid self-repair systems, or something else?

Avengers #312 is loosely sandwiched between Avengers West Coast issues that have been telling the story of Wanda Maximoff's gradual unravelling. In fact, she was virtually comatose in the concurrently released Avengers West Coast #53, but rallied to action when Hank Pym told her Vision was in danger (again).

The synthezoid had to be reconstructed after government agents dismantled him in Avengers West Coast #43, introducing the cold, white Vision seen in today's featured fight after he was rebuilt. This was just one in a series of orchestrated life-altering events straining the Scarlet Witch's mental state.

When Master Pandemonium returned to kidnap the couple's children in Avengers West Coast #51: Scarlet Witch was soon confronted with the revelation that the twin boys were never actually real -- and their essence was returned to Mephisto by the swift magical intervention of Agatha Harkness.

The move curtailed the forces of demonic evil, but pushed Scarlet Witch into the waiting arms of Magneto, who was plotting a reunion with his daughter from the nearby shadows. Magneto himself was a pawn in Loki's grand scheme, which brought the Master of Magnetism into a a cabal of masterminds as part of Acts of Vengeance, and ushered Wanda towards a period of dangerous darkness. This too played into over-arching manipulations by the time monitoring Immortus.

It all plays out a bit like a version of John Byrne's Avengers branded Dark Phoenix Saga with the complication of external crossovers. At its core: it is another case of a fiery redhead driven mad by her absolute power. It might sound rote described that way, but it is actually a period I very much enjoy. There's a lot to like.

I get a kick out of the not-quite-ragtag lineup of Avengers who're on call in this issue. It's a West Coast vibe and some of them will be flying back between issues. The logistics are sloppy, but it's too good not to go with it.

As much as I like Giant-Man or Ant-Man, there's a strange appeal to Hank Pym when he's in pulp adventurer mode,  his utility belt filled with shrunken gadgets. Falcon is good value, too. It's slightly amusing that he's the only one uncoupled until Captain America shows up. Paul Ryan makes everyone look good.

Acts of Vengeance was always one of my favourite Marvel events and we'll have to make a point of coming back to it. It was an exciting time for villains crossing branded lines at a time when that really meant something. We'll take a closer look at the felonious Freedom Force, too. Maybe in their traditional context.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by diving into the Secret Archive for an index of battles by publisher, series, and issue number -- or discover the joy of following links throughout this post to other stories.

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#53 (--) Wasp
#76 (+4) Hank Pym
#141 (--) Vision
#425 (+1) Scarlet Witch
#464 (new) Avalanche
#465 (new) Pyro
#618 (+270) Blob
#984 (-1) Falcon
#7 (--) Captain America [+1 assist]

INHUMANS & VISION versus QUICKSILVER

Spring Fever (Marvel)
Where: Vision and Scarlet Witch #10 When: July 1986 Why: Steve Englehart How: Richard Howell

The Story So Far...
Maximoff family drama returns to the legendary moon city of Attilan when a barely conscious and mortally ill Crystal reveals the terrible truth to her husband -- she has been unfaithful!

A quick temper and super-human speed get the better of Quicksilver as he rapidly attempts to murder the man, his sister's human realtor Norman Webster, and stage a military coup against the Inhuman royal family who chooses to defend his life.

Furious at the perceived betrayals of his wife, the insular Inhuman kingdom, and even his sister and teammates, Scarlet Witch & Vision -- he races for the barren surface of the moon. The Inhumans refuse to leave him with his thoughts of shame and revenge, though. Black Bolt leads a party to bring him back -- but the hot-headed Quicksilver won't be rescued quite so easily.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Vision 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Vision 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Quicksilver 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Vision 6 (Generator)
Agility: Gorgon 2 (Average)
Fighting: Gorgon 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Black Bolt 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Vision 26 (Metahuman)

The Inhumans are: Black Bolt, Medusa, and Gorgon, with Vision.

The key to beating Quicksilver is shutting down his speed & mobility and we've seen that done a variety of ways.

Run-ins with the DC Universe have showed there's a limit to Quicksilver's speed and reaction time. The Flash was too fast in his victory in Marvel versus DC #2, and even Impulse kept one step ahead in Unlimited Access #3!

Quicksilver ran rings around Cyclops' optic blasts in an early battle, but Jean Grey used her telekinesis to lift him off the ground -- and literally shake him into severe disorientation. A similar result could theoretically be achieved by Medusa, who's used her tendril-like hair to ground The Wizard, and grapple with Thanos!

Reach and strength played equal roles when Apocalypse used his malleable body to rapidly extend a giant fist into Quicksilver's path and knock him out!

Vision arguably has the best combination of abilities to recreate this method. Increased density gave his punch enough power to rattle Thor, and total intangibility allowed him to impress Thanos with an unexpected ambush.

Quicksilver's own father, Magneto, has proven to be one of his most ruthless opponents over the years. The Master of Magnetism used an improvised spear to pin him down in Vision and he Scarlet Witch (Vol. 1) #4, and the invisible will of pure magnetic force in X-Men (Vol. 2) #25!

Inhuman ruler Black Bolt possesses the nearest equivalent to an invisible, irresistible force that can stop Quicksilver in his tracks. With the slightest utterance his voice can demolish mountains. We saw that demonstrated when he levelled Mt Rushmore and a symbiote-possessed Thor in What If...? #4!

For Quicksilver dealing with these threats is as a simple as keeping ahead of them. If he can use the terrain and get the drop on his attackers he can beat them before they even know what hit them -- but will he? Let's find out...

The Tape: Inhumans & Vision Ranking: Black Bolt (#169)

What Went Down...

Black Bolt leads his royal family across the surface of the moon, guided by heat residue interrupting the electro-magnetic energy field. Through Medusa, he alerts the flying heroes to their approach -- but Quicksilver moves fast to ambush them!

By running rapidly in circles -- Quicksilver creates a spiraling updraft that disrupts the artificial atmosphere and gently jostles the heroes floating through it. A cushioned courtesy he won't extend further if they continue to follow him. Follow they do!

Vision and Medusa try to reason with him, but Quicksilver is hotheaded and too freshly spurned to think of anything but shame and revenge for his wife's infidelity.

He feels alone. Indeed, Gorgon confronts his outsider status amongst the fiercely guarded clan of Inhumans -- and the unique approval he gained within it.

Quicksilver rejects the gesture of acceptance and kinship -- counter-shunting a diving Gorgon with a charging shoulder!

The speedster blasts past his would-be restrainer, racing into the line of the Vision and his "solar beam" laser beam.

Quicksilver's mutant gift of speed proves too fast for even the android's artificial eyes to keep up with! However, the attention the attack draws proves useful for keeping Quicksilver distracted enough to overlook Gorgon raising his knee!

The Inhuman slams his foot -- sending a violent shockwave through the surface of The Moon that  unsteadies the runner's path.

He stumbles and rolls, but returns to his feet in record time and runs a path straight toward the source of his trouble. A speeding punch launches Gorgon hurtling uncontrollably across The Moon!

Quicksilver is too busy admiring his handiwork to notice Medusa creeping up behind him in the cloud of dust.

Long tendrils of red hair suddenly clasp around him, locking his body in the powerful embrace of the Queen's prehensile locks!

For a moment there appears to be no recourse as Quicksilver is completely engulfed by the living strands of hair. He cannot hope to resist the strength of its grasp, but he can spin at such incredible speed he twirls Medusa away!

The cries of his Queen are enough to stir Black Bolt to drastic measure.

Having observed with dismay from the vantage of the craterous battlefield's edge, the silent monarch resolves to bring an end to the conflict with but a word. Such is the staggering power of the Inhuman King's rarely heard voice!

A thunderous sonic blast rips across The Moon causing all within the targeted crater to fall! It is but by the grace of The Moon's otherwise lack of oxygen that Black Bolt's voice did not unleash far greater damage.

The flooring cry does not alone achieve the goal of stopping Quicksilver, but it does allow Vision to grab the speedster's arm in a vice-like grip and increase his density to 70 tons. Enough to resist any force that might resist.

The Hammer...

Heavy themes and heavy metal as Black Bolt uses the epic power of his voice to bring Quicksilver to a crashing halt -- and Vision uses synthezoid super-density to make sure the speedster can't escape his android grip!

Bad times for Pietro Maximoff just a year after Vision and Scarlet Witch (Vol. 1) #4 seemingly rounded out his perfect family with the long awaited identity of his true birth father. A hard fall, but not necessarily a completely unexpected one.

Pietro & Crystal were married in 1974's Fantastic Four #150 after a whirlwind romance first revealed in Fantastic Four #131.

The pair had met when the Inhumans rescued Quicksilver from mortal injuries sustained at the hands of Sentinels in Avengers #104. They fell in love while Crystal nursed him back to health -- a fact that didn't sit well with her then-boyfriend, Johnny Storm, when he made an unannounced return to Attilan!

Today's featured issue conveniently recaps these events, albeit glossing over Pietro's status as the proverbial "Other Man" when their relationship began.

Despite his apparent devotion to his wife, and their daughter Luna, Quicksilver's arrogant neglect ultimately plays a significant role in pushing Crystal to seek casual affections in the arms of another man. In this case, the human realtor she met at a party hosted by the title heroes of Vision and Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #6.

Does this mean Crystal will always have a wandering eye? Is Quicksilver too much of a raging jerk to settle down? Questions the issue leaves the reader with once Scarlet Witch helps Crystal recover from an overdose of anti-pollution serum, and Quicksilver returns post-battle only to reject his unfaithful wife again, and run.

The pair did reunite a couple of years later in Fantastic Four Annual #21, but the decades that followed would be a rocky road of attempted reconciliations and periodic estrangement.

Fellow Avenger Black Knight was briefly a rival for Crystal's affections. but the final unravelling of her relationship with Quicksilver came when he stole the Inhumans' Terrigen Mist after losing his powers to the Mutant Decimation event.

It's kind of sad that what once seemed like a budding Marvel relationship became such a prolonged exercise in doomed romance, but it's interesting the way it sustained and developed appearances by the characters involved.

It's particularly interesting to track Quicksilver as an early X-Men villain who, along with Scarlet Witch, became an entrenched fixture of the Avengers, only to have a brief blip in the world of the Fantastic Four, and carry on recurring in each.

If you'd like to see more from this episode in Quicksilver's life, and the smoother marriage of Vision & Scarlet Witch, you can find a couple of collected editions that will give you the full issue and more! Avengers: Vision & Scarlet Witch - A Year In The Life focuses on their second mini-series, while Vision & Scarlet Witch: The Saga of Wanda and Vision packs in both mini-series, with a couple of extras.

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The Comic Book Fight Club has featured well over 600 battles and ranked more than 1000 characters! You can discover them all by exploring links throughout each entry, or by diving into the Secret Archive for a full index in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

Subscribe and follow on Twitter and Facebook to get free daily links to superhero smackdown based on the topics of the day! Today's battle choice was inspired by the live-action Disney+ series WandaVision, featuring Evan Peters as Quicksilver!

Winners: Black Bolt & Vision
#99 (+70) Black Bolt
#141 (+277) Vision
#351 (+6) Medusa [+1 assist]
#606 (new) Gorgon [+1 assist]
#1000 (-1) Quicksilver

HARDAWAY versus MUTANT LIBERATION FRONT

Liberation Through Subjugation (Marvel)
Where: X-Force #27 When: October 1993
Why: Fabian Nicieza How: Matt Broome

The Story So Far...
Sprung from the Roanoke Maximum Security Federal Penitentiary -- The Mutant Liberation Front has returned to serve the whims of a mysterious new revolutionary called Reignfire!

The first mission under their new leader is a demonstration of power and intent! The United States government has begun development of a new anti-mutant elimination program dubbed Project: Wideawake. The MLF will strike at its heart by kidnapping and assassinating program director Henry Peter Gyrich -- they just need to get to him first!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Forearm 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Tempo 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Forearm 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Hardaway 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Moonstar 4 (Trained)
Energy: Locus 5 (Lasers)
Total: Moonstar 20 (Champion)

Basketball fans of the era might remember Golden State's Tim Hardaway for his killer crossover -- but this Hardaway is a golden killer of a very different kind!

He's basically the answer to what if the T-1000 came from the early nineties instead of the future? A prototype cyborg working for Henry Peter Gyrich; he was intended to be the first in a series of mutant-slaying "biosentries" that never eventuated.

Hardaway is fast and agile, despite a bulky torso encumbered by metal housing, and tubes that supply various cybernetic enhancements. He can evade sensory attacks with automated scanners, while shape-shifting liquid metal limbs offer him diverse offensive options including various blades and bludgeoning configurations.

The Mutant Liberation Front are: Wildside, Tempo, Reaper, Forearm, Moonstar, and Locus.

Although he is still human, Hardaway's cybernetics should negate the psychic weapons used primarily by Wildside and Moonstar. Their telepathically induced visions are easily seen through by circuits and electronic sensors.

Forearm might be able to outmuscle Hardaway's enhanced strength, while a well placed swing of Reaper's scythe could potentially cut through very prominent tubing extending from Hardaway's helmet and arms. That could presumably interrupt some of his cybernetic functions.

The real aces in this deck seem to be Tempo and Locus.

Flight and energy blasts give them equal maneuverability and ranged potential, but its their unique mutant powers that are the most compelling.

Tempo's ability to manipulate time in a focused area was usually used for speed and could severely slow Hardaway's processors. If that doesn't work: Locus could simply teleport him somewhere perilous -- or parts of him!

The Tape: Mutant Liberation Front Ranking: Moonstar (#609)

What Went Down...

Wildside mocks the lifeless flesh & bone of the freshly killed security guard he's holding in his hands. Even his own teammates Tempo and Forearm react with scorn, but Reaper would rather his bloodlust be sated by someone other than him.

Forearm is settled by the relief of only finding human security guards standing in their path. He doesn't notice the shadowy figure watching from the treetop above.

Observing from his own vantage point in a surveillance room: Henry Peter Gyrich orders the activation of his prototype killer -- a cyborg called Hardaway!

Hardaway bares his long talon-like claws and leaps into action -- slicing through Forearm's exposed back just as the so-called liberator is remarking on expecting better security.

Reaper is the first to react, but he doesn't even see who hit him!

Hardaway announces himself as the first of an army of biosentries who will end mutant life. His metallic cyborg limbs shift and twist, reshaping themselves into a giant fist and long scythe! Reaper drops, narrowly avoiding the blade's swing!

Tempo activates her temporal flux in an effort to slow the cyborg down, and orders Wildside to attack his senses. Psionic assaults Hardaway can adapt to by switching to machine-controlled cybernetic systems!

His bearings restored: Hardaway extends a liquid-metal arm high into the sky and snares the airborne Tempo with a massive hand! It proves a temporary measure.

The cyborg's metallic skull erupts with energy as a neural arrow suddenly pierces his mind! An attack that signals the arrival of Moonstar and Locus!

The perfect timing saves Tempo from being crushed by the cyborg's discomforting grip.

Hardaway drops face-down on the ground, wracked with the horrifying agony of reliving his wife and son's deaths. The torturous living nightmare of Moonstar's neural weapons!

Locus steps in to end the suffering in the most violent way imaginable.

Hardaway screams a bloodcurdling duet only possible of a being who is both part man and machine, his body and cybernetics sliced in twain as Locus teleports part of him to another location!

The Hammer...
If it seemed like Hardaway might be an exciting new find you'd never heard of -- I'm afraid I have some bad news...

By teleporting the lower half of his body someplace else: Locus ended the "biosentry" program before it ever really started. A textbook one hit wonder who made his first & last appearance in X-Force #27.

I didn't really expect to find myself talking about the Mutant Liberation Front, but Marvel's recently announced X-Men Vote got me enthusiastically rummaging through back issues for something a little bit different.

The fan survey will decide the final member of a new Krakoan Age X-Men team based on the most popular choice from: Banshee, Forge, Polaris, Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Marrow, Strong Guy, Armor, and Tempo.

There are a few characters there we haven't featured at the time of this writing, but of all the options on the poll: Tempo ranks as the most unusual.

The image they used is what I presume to be a more recent design. It kinda looks like one of Moonstone's old castoffs - a tight gold helmet with fin. A pale shadow of the joyously absurd buckethead from her original appearances!

My clearest memories of Tempo have always revolved around that helmet. I didn't even fully realise the nature of her powers. It almost seemed to be she could fly and move fast. Like a human bullet. I didn't realise she was manipulating time.

The bullet-like helmet reminds me slightly of the ridiculousness of Juggernaut, but its flat base gives it even more clunky charm.

For a while it seemed like it existed purely to be crumpled. As if every artist was keen to render a human head inside geometrically dented metal. That kind of thing seemed to reoccur in X-Force a lot, but maybe I'm exaggerating.

I wasn't a faithful reader, so it might be coincidence that every time I found an issue accidentally in my possession, it involved one of the MLF -- usually Reaper -- losing a body part. A Liefeldian trope presumably held over from the boyhood trauma of seeing Luke Skywalker's hand severed in The Empire Strikes Back.

By 1993 Rob Liefeld had long since departed for the co-founding of Image Comics, but the first page credits of X-Force #27 promise "AN X-F 911 IYF JAM" that feels very indebted to him.

Even a new creation, like Hardaway, seems like it would be right at home in any Extreme Studios Rob Liefeld series. It kinda smacks of something you might see in Silvestri's CyberForce too, though.

Locus is one of the only other characters in X-Force #27 that hasn't been directly touched by Liefeld. She's another new creation, making her first appearance not only in this issue, but in the fight featured in today's article.

She isn't given any special introductory consideration. She just shows up with Moonstar as if an already established character. That might imply a frivolity to the action and a general indifference to storytelling, but it also speaks to the wild and fast-moving times of the early nineties. It's kind of a nice way to do it. Pair the newbie up with established characters and sort out the detail later.

Locus might not feel particularly Liefeldian as a design or concept, but her abrupt introduction does. The original MLF kinda showed up out of nowhere, too. A late afterthought to an out-of-place Vulture appearance in New Mutants #86.

I kinda like Locus. She's an upgrade from the MLF's previous teleporting transport character - the blank-faced Zero. She also provides a distinguishing flourish for a new era of the MLF: re-formed under the directive of new mastermind Reignfire.

I like the general idea of a "Mutant Liberation Front", but in any of their incarnations they seem to largely function as a stock-standard troupe of sadistic super-villains. The idealism seems lost beneath the carnage and eviscerating, even when their target is a notorious mutant-hater like Gyrich.

At some point in the future we'll return to look more closely at the MLF and their extreme brand of mutant mayhem. With introductions out of the way, we can see how they perform against X-Force themselves!

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Winners: Locus & Moonstar
#207 (new) Locus [+1 kill]
#358 (+251) Moonstar
#602 (new) Wildside [+1 assist]
#603 (new) Reaper [+1 assist]
#604 (new) Tempo [+1 assist]
#605 (new) Forearm [+1 assist]
#947 (new) Hardaway

BRONZE TIGER versus BATMAN

The Vengeance Vow! (DC)
Where: Detective Comics #485 When: September 1979 Why: Denny O'Neil How: Don Newton & Dan Adkins

The Story So Far...
The path of The League of Assassins has drawn Batman to the circus for a night of murder!

Under the big top the Dark Knight joins owner Kathy Kane for a battle with League thugs, but the main attraction is still yet to come!

For unknown reasons the former Batwoman has been targeted and The League has sent one of their deadliest assassins to complete the mission! Brainwashed into following their every order: The Bronze Tiger intends to see that The Batman doesn't get in the way of seizing their prey!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Bronze Tiger 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Draw 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Batman 29 (Metahuman)

For a long time we've talked about Bronze Tiger and his famous victory over Batman. It was once one of the character's greatest claims to fame -- instantly affording him credibility as one of the DCU's best hand-to-hand combatants.

In context it was a source of great shame for Benjamin Turner: a skilled martial artist whose fighting prowess was twisted to serve The League of Assassins.

Penance for his actions whilst brainwashed led Bronze Tiger to join the Suicide Squad. His knowledge of nerve holds employed to control the Enchantress during the first mission when she threatened to go rogue in Legends #3.

So skilled is Bronze Tiger that he was even able to hold his own against the super-powered Stalnoivolk just by using speed and technique. He memorably teamed with Vixen to take the Russian down. Of course, no clash better represents his fighting spirit and skill than his first battle with rival Ravan in Suicide Squad #2.

Batman is broadly presumed to be one of DC's standard-bearers for high-level martial arts. He isn't the best practitioner, but he is one of them. Despite this fact -- or perhaps because of it -- most of the challengers we've observed have been super-human mountains to climb, rather than hand-to-hand equals.

Bronze Tiger's Suicide Squad teammate, Rick Flag, is a soldier trained in unarmed combat techniques, but found himself inevitably outmatched whilst brawling with Batman in Suicide Squad #10. Marvel's resident super-soldier Captain America fared a little better until fate upended him in Marvel versus DC #3.

Bane holds one of the most famous victories over The Dark Knight, but despite his fighting prowess, the back-breaking win in Batman #497 relied on performance-enhancing drugs and pre-emptively exhausting Batman, rather than skill.

Batman is a stalwart of the top of the Comic Book Fight Club rankings, but the only way we can really find out whose martial arts is supreme is to take a look!

The Tape: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...

A warm reunion between old acquaintances is cut short when The Bronze Tiger steps into the big top of Kathy Kane's circus!

Flanked by knife-wielding assassins: Bronze Tiger announces himself and the trio's intention to take the woman.

Batman stands defiant. Bronze Tiger will have to get past the Dark Knight if he wants to claim Kathy Kane. A challenge he's all too happy to take.

In the blink of a tiger's eye the cat-masked fighter moves at Batman with lightning speed and precision!

He feints a punch at Batman's head, but finds The Dark Knight's reflexes just as fast as his own! Batman blocks the blow with an instinctive sweep of his forearm and elbow. A strong defense -- but not enough against a master martial artist!

Bronze Tiger responds to the block in an instant, whirling his body to bury a stiff straight kick deep into Batman's gut!

The devastating blow forces even the steely composure of Batman to break. He has no choice but to sink to his knees as oxygen leaves him and his vision begins to blur. His mind a thumping drum as he fights to maintain consciousness.

Before the darkness overwhelms him he is witness to the glint of a knife as it darts upward and suddenly down. Kathy Kane's cry is the last thing he hears, distant as he slips into unconsciousness.

When he recovers mere minutes later a trail of bloodstained sand leads him to a grim discovery: Kathy Kane has been murdered! Dead, still clutching the costume she once wore as Batwoman. Another soul lost at the circus.

The Hammer...

As fights go it was awfully brief. It hardly seems fair! A split-second decision costs Batman victory and Kathy Kane her life. Such is the grim reality that life should be so fragile. A single lapse is all it takes to end a very precious thing indeed.

Bronze Tiger secured his victory with the abrupt execution of only two definitive offensive strikes: a punch and a kick.

This isn't the main event of Detective Comics #485. More of a primer for their inevitable rematch come issue's end. Yet in some ways its the encounter that feels most applicable to later claims to fame. A necessary piece of a larger puzzle.

It may feel short of a legendary comic book showdown, but the brief exchange has all the technical hallmarks of an adrenalizing prize fight finish.

Occurring within the confines of a single page: this skirmish is a study in martial arts precision. A simulation of the real-time combination of chess-like tactics and physical intuition that resides deep within the best of modern mixed martial arts.

Batman shows strength and skill in blocking Bronze Tiger's aggressive opening strike. The sweeping elbow shows instinct and training. He's ill prepared for the follow-up, but I'd be reluctant to characterize that as a lack of foresight.

Bronze Tiger allows the sweeping block to deflect his fist and continues through the punching arc, turning the momentum of the twist into a penetrating sideways thrust kick. The shift from right hand to left foot happens in less than a second, requiring only a 180 degree pivot. Batman is good, but Bronze Tiger is better!

By 1979 the world had already loved and lost Bruce Lee. The phenomenon of his movies in the United States, particularly the Warner Brothers co-production, Enter the Dragon, had directly inspired a wave of martial arts enthusiasm, and comic book creations like Shang-Chi, Richard Dragon, and Bronze Tiger himself.

"Sensei" Richard Hill is credited for providing martial arts advice to this story. It would be a few years before Batman would become the infallible fighting machine of modern interpretation, but the seeds of Frank Miller's Dark Knight can be seen forming under Denny O'Neil's attention to researched combat, and gritty detail.

Of course, artists Don Newton & Dan Adkins were charged with putting the action onto the page, and they do a good job communicating the kinetic information so it's clear to understand, and reasonably pleasing to look at.

You may have noticed I've scanned and included panels from the 1991 Tales of The Demon trade reprint, where Adrienne Roy's colours, if unaltered, really pop against the thick black inks of the era. I particularly enjoy the oranges used for Bronze Tiger, and although I prefer a black Bat, the blue works nicely, as well.

At some point we will reconvene to take a closer look at the Batman/Bronze Tiger rematch. I'd also like to revisit the preceding battle with Kathy Kane, which would be her last. The erstwhile red & yellow Batwoman isn't a character I have a great deal of affection for, but her ignoble end warrants another look.

This entry is inspired by the release of the animated DC feature Batman: Soul of the Dragon -- a seventies-infused kung fu thriller that unites a young Batman with DC's martial arts icons. If you enjoy the basic premise, I strongly recommend the "Return of the Fearsome Fangs" episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold.

If you'd like to see today's featured fight in its full context - you're in luck! The collected Batman: Tales of The Demon received a new printing in 2020! Shop with the Amazon link provided and you'll not only get a good read delivered to your door -- you'll also help the site at no extra cost!

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured over 650 battles and is counting down to ranking our 1000th character! You can check out some of the ranked fighters in the 2020 Rankings Recap, or just revisit the Top 20 Fights of 2020 and Featured Fight Recap. Or explore the Secret Archive for a complete index of every featured fight organized by publisher, series, and issue number!

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Winner: Bronze Tiger
#41 (+15) Bronze Tiger
#1 (--) Batman
#941 (new) Kathy Kane