THE PUNISHER versus THE X-MEN
What If... Wolverine had become the Lord of Vampires? (Marvel comics)
Where: What if...? #24 When: April 1991
Why: Roy Thomas & RJM Lofficier How: Tom Morgan

The story so far...
When the X-Men battled the menace of Count Dracula, it was only the strength of character of Ororo Monroe, Storm, who had been possessed by the fiend, that saved the lives of the mutant team. But what if Storm had remained under Dracula's spell?

In a world where just that has happened, Dracula finds more than he bargained for when he returns to raise the defeated X-Men from the dead.

Wolverine proves too strong a will for Dracula contain, and ultimately slays him, making the X-Man the new lord of vampires. Having mastered the powers of the vampire, Wolverine and his vampires go on the rampage. They declare into their number heroes and villains alike, whilst destroying anyone who is deemed a potential threat -- including Dr. Strange, who falls at the hands of the Juggernaut.

Though dead, Strange remains in his astral, and recruits one of the last 'super' humans alive to his cause: Frank Castle -- The Punisher.

Previous Form:
The Punisher (#53): The Punisher debuted recently with a victory over Rhino.
Wolverine (#3): Wolverine has had team victories against Nimrod and Xorn.
The X-Men (#1): The X-Men have victories over Magneto, Xorn, Nimrod, Wolverine and The Lizard.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Juggernaut 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: The Punisher 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nightcrawler 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Juggernaut 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Nightcrawler 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Cyclops 5 (Lasers)

Hey, didn't I tell you there would be more Punisher in the future? Oh, yes!

Okay, under ordinary conditions there's no doubt about this -- The Punisher is totally screwed. This particular gathering of X-Men includes: Colossus, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm, Juggernaut and Kitty Pryde, with the final threat being the big boss - Wolverine; lord of vampires.

The Juggernaut or Colossus alone are a big enough deal alone, with their super strength and durability factoring in at levels far and beyond the Punisher's wild imagination. But then you pile on top of that the tactical and ranged attack Cyclops brings to the table, the stealthy application of a ruthless Nightcrawler into the field, and the defensive/offensive potential of Shadowcat -- and you've got yourself a pretty formidable team-up of mutant vampires.

The Punisher isn't alone in this war on the undead.
Though he was tactically removed from the equation early in the piece, the presence of Dr. Strange lingers to coach Frank Castle in the best means to attack this mystic-borne offensive.

Which is actually a neat segue just to mention, this entry was prompted by a recent feature [Blade #5], in which Blade threatened to turn Wolverine into a vampire. Something, due to the psuedo-science of the matter, I think Wolverine's healing factor could've dealt with.
I did cite this issue as an example of opposing logic, and it should be noted that this outbreak is of the mystic variety. That is, the more traditional curse of the vampire, which I can handle. Immune systems generally don't get in the way of logic-defying magic spells and whatnot.

This highlights the potential advantage gained by the aid provided by Dr. Strange. I mean, if you're going to need a mystic solution to a pretty widespread problem, who better than Earth's Sorceror Supreme?

Plus, let it never be said that Frank Castle isn't an industrious murdering lunatic! Just recently we saw him come up with means to take down Rhino [Punisher: War Journal #3], which is well into the field of Colossus and Juggernaut territory.

Logically, against the sum of these characters, Punisher really is the longshot. I don't think I could pick him and still claim this section to be pure, but like Tombstone, Punisher is a guy who plays above his weight.
He's not quite in the field of Batman, but the guy can plan like a fox, and has a knack for coming up with the weaponry to carry out his ruthless plans.

Wolverine is really the big bad of this picture, running the show as the Lord of Vampires with not only his classic mutant resiliance and adamantium laced claws and skeleton -- but he also has the mystic strengths of the vampire. Metamorphosis into wolves, bats, and various other forms, as well as mist. Of course, this also brings with it the vulnerabilities of the vampire. Something Wolverine hasn't really ever had to deal with.

The Math: Wolverine and The X-Men
The Pick: The X-Men

What went down...
With his interactions with Dr. Strange providing renewed direction, The Punisher makes his way to Bleecker Street, the residence of one Sanctum Sanctorum, home to the former Dr. Stephen Strange and all his [un]earthly posessions.

As dusk arrives, Castle mows down the black clad wannabes of The Dark Order, a group of humans seeking to become humans. The brief struggle provides just enough time for the sun to set, which reveals the menace of the vampiric X-Men.

Storm and Cyclops go on the early offensive, firing off their respective projectile attacks, but the cloak of levitation provides Castle the maneuverability he needs to survive the assault.

He attacks the group with his arsenal of customized weapons, starting off with an entre of garlic grenades, before serving up a main course of silver bullets.
The hail of ammunition takes out the stunned Cyclops and Nightcrawler.

With his daily quota of silver shells spent, Dr. Strange offers a pep talk in light of Castle's negative outlook, but the stoic Punisher is in it for the hard yard.
While they chat, Storm in batform swoops down to attack the Punisher, but his silver-lined gloves prove more than a match. He tears her vampire wings to shreds, and fills her body with silver bullets before she even hits the ground.

Colossus, enraged by the slayings, charges in on the Punisher, toting the strength of his organic-steel skin as more than a match for his silver.
Punisher can't argue, but produces a cannon filled with holy water that boils even the chromed exterior of the mighty Colossus.

Punisher's natural physique and conditioning are enough for him to avoid the oncoming attack of the unstoppable Juggernaut, as he throws the weight of his crimson fist at him.

In an awkward position, Punisher finds himself with the weight of the Juggernaut looming over him. "I'll soon crush your silver gloves -- and the hands inside them -- like an eggshell!"
The Eye of Agamotto provides the opposing point, penetrating even the magical shielding provided by Juggernaut's Cyttorak powers. He's sent packing aflame.

Thus, with the Sanctum Sanctorum in sight, the final threat presents itself -- Wolverine; Lord of the Vampires!

He pops his claws and leaps into the fray, slicing Strange's cape away from Punisher's shoulders. Along with it goes the Eye of Agamotto, and Castle is down to his traditional, albeit modified, arsenal.

He fires off a round from his gun, but Wolverine's ability to turn to mist leaves him hitting nothing but dead-air. As Wolverine taunts him he throws his gun down and challenges the former X-Man man-to-man.

The Punisher remains a wile and worthy foe, even stripped down to weapons as quaint as a silver knife blessed -- by a priest!

He grapples with the stunned Wolverine, wrestling him toward the threshold of the spell-protected home of the former Sorceror Supreme.
Castle plants his silver-lined glove in the face of the mutant-vampire, and struggles to push him through the door, finally succeeding!

In the lion's den the Vampire Lord is considerably weakned.
Wolverine is able to block Castle's knife attack with his claws, but succumbs to something as mundane as a stiff left that sends him reeling into the wall.

Battling their way toward the room which contains the The Darkhold, which contains the fabled vampire-destroying Montesi Formula, Wolverine's strength continues to fade, and Punisher flaunts his superiority.
He plunges his knife into Wolverine's gut, leaving him to stagger back like little more than a wounded pup.

With Wolverine helplessly on the back foot, Castle towers over his prey and finally prepares for glorious victory, but at that moment -- a twist!

Her phasing powers apparently granting her intangibility even to Strange's magical spells, Kitty Pryde pops up through the floor to come to Wolverine's aid.

The teen X-Man interrupts just as Castle is in mid-swing, thus he is unable to stop the follow through as she again becomes tangible to push against him.

With her decapitated head before him, even The Punisher is shaked and disturbed by his actions. Perhaps finding resonance with the death of his own children, he pauses, contemplating the severity of his actions, and this leaves an opening.

In a rage, Wolverine plunges his adamantium claws deep into the Punisher's gut.

Any conventional armor he may have been wearing beneath his costume is moot against the cutting strength of Wolverine's razor sharp claws.

The Punisher bleeds out onto the floor, but victory comes at a terrible cost.
Mourning over Kitty Pryde's headless body, Wolverine perhaps regains a glimmer of humanity not seen since he had fallen to the vampire's bite.

The spirit of Dr. Strange leaves Frank Castle's lifeless body, and compells Wolverine to put an end to the carnage wrought by the evil he had absorbed.
Evil passed down from Vampire Lords long before he, or even Dracula.

Though he is barely able to speak it, Wolverine recites the Montesi Formula, and brings an end to vampires everywhere. They fall in the streets, and like a bad dream, fade from existence, leaving only their victims.

The hammer...
Though his X-Men were defeated, the winner of this bout, Wolverine! With assists going to all those X-Men, without whom it could not have happened. Yes, even though Wolverine ultimately redeemed himself in the end, by destroying himself.

As far as starting out What If Wednesday goes, I think this is a pretty damned fantastic way to go!

I was, as mentioned, prompted to feature this in light of references made during the Blade entry, but this also just happens to be one of the many issues of What If...? I look back on fondly. To this day it remains a point of distain when I recall recently appointed EIC, Joe Quesada's mention, during the cancellation of Mutant X, that alternate reality comic books just weren't relevent.

Further making that a bitter pill was the introduction of Exiles, but thank goodness he finally saw light. We may no longer have an on-going series, but the fifth week What If events have at least been a glimpse at what once was.
You'll probably see a couple of the last lot of What Ifs popping up in a Wednesday soon.

Though I'm trying not to adhere to any kind of will-sapping schedule, next week should be a lot of fun as we take a look at an issue of What If that has become particularly topical in light of Civil War. [And it features Punisher again!]

I had a couple of things in mind I wanted to talk about, but I've since forgotten them, and I'm up against the Wednesday deadline now, so I'll try probably keep this brief.

Setting himself up in 2007 to be a semi-regular appears to be The Punisher, who is a character I never really appreciated until these more recent years.
In my formative comic reading, I could never really get into a guy whose chief role seemed to be wandering around the docks stabbing and shooting goons.
Which, in hindsight, isn't such a bad thing, but I think as a kid it was mostly these kinds of stories, that had a lot of colourful spandex around them, that allowed me to at least be aware of the character.

As a Spider-man guest star, from his first appearance, to things I read and enjoyed like the David Michelinie/Erik Larsen team-up, Punisher was most relevent to me. I never really read War Journal or anything, although, I remember being quite transfixed by the image of a battle-damaged Castle riding a jetski with a setting sun for a backdrop.

Anyway, because of this disinterest in the character, I don't have a great many appearances by the character, but it's a joy to use Wednesdays to feature the character a bit more. There's a joke to be made by fanboys about What If stories forcing the Punisher in without justification, but more often than not I think it works. And that's the testimony of a guy who didn't care for the character anywhere, but!

Also, if you enjoyed seeing the Dr. Strange corner of the Marvel Universe, stay tuned for the regular Friday update where we're going to be featuring a first-timer on the site! It's not the Doc (who gets the loss here), but hopefully sometime soon we'll get some Strange up here, too.

Also feel free to drop a comment, with unregistered users now able to do so!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 6

SCORPION versus SPIDER-MAN
The Predator and the Prey Part One: The Monster Within (Marvel comics)
Where: Spectacular Spider-man #215 When: August 1994
Why: Tom DeFalco & Mike Lackey How: Sal Buscema

The story so far...
A millionaire China magnate and a genetically altered supervillain may not seem like obvious kindred spirits, but when Phillip Cussler Sr. emerges in the sewers to a raging Mac Gargan (aka; the Scorpion), the two strike up an unlikely relationship.

Cussler employs Scorpion's strength and criminal guile, with the promise that he can give the Scorpion the necessary guidance and cool-headed strategy to find purpose and strategy in combatting his problems, and the Spider-man.

With the Daily Bugle acting on behalf of Cussler Jr in the search for his father, Spider-man hopes to foil Scorpion's apparent hostage situation, unaware that Cussler is masterminding financial attacks on his own heirs. Also unaware that the Scorpion has a new power... strategy!

Previous Form:
Spider-man (#2): Spider-man has previous victories over Kraven the Hunter, Tombstone and Man-Ape.
Scorpion (#34): Gargan previously fatally defeated a disguised Space Phantom with the Venom symbiote.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Scorpion 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Spider-man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Scorpion 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Scorpion 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Scorpion 3 (Explosives)

Spidey's on-going rivalry with Scorpion is a pretty traditional off-setting of characters that are similar, yet so very different.

I guess you could equate these two to being something along the lines of Sabretooth and Wolverine. Scorpion, whose powers are arachnoid in theme also, is generally the larger and more powerful of the two, but Spidey's grit, determination, speed, and agility are generally the defining advantage in combat.

Likewise, Mac Gargan, as well spelled out in the intro, has never been a great thinker. Spidey, as is the case with many-a villain, is able to out strategize the Scorpion, to attain victory even in the most dire of circumstances.

Scorpion's key to victory is always his strength and raw aggression, which stems from a deep, personal hatred for the wall-crawler. He's mellowed with age, but Scorpion has always been a character of pathos who willingly thrusts his failings on Spider-man [and occasionally the man who funded his creation - J. Jonah Jameson -- Masterminding Mike].

Though possessing of amazing physical ability, Spidey is almost always portrayed as the far more agile and speedy of the two, lacking the cumbersome accessory of a prehensile tail. This, couple with strength capable of matching the Scorpion, makes Spidey the favourite every time, even on those occasions when the Scorpion comes equipped with an acid or plasma blast stinger.

The Math: Spider-man (Meta Class)
The Pick: Spider-man (Could you not?)

What went down...
Having levelled an assembly of some fifty-odd hired goons, Spidey trapses his way through the filthy muck of the sewers, cautiously aware of the apparent planning put into this plan. A plan that began with Scorpion's retreat into the sewers.

Scorpion charges into the fray, colliding with Spider-man at high speed!
Despite the brilliance of his coaching, Scorpion falls into the villainous folly of revealing his plans, remarking over confidently on the advantage he takes in the confined space of the sewers. Space that narrows the field of Spidey's maneuverability!

The two clash fist against fist, as Scorpion quizzes the web-slinger on the lack of quipping and witty banter. He gets an answer with a wild roundhouse that sends him flying. "Lettin' your fists do the talkin', ain't you?"

Scorpion retorts, using his tail to flick a chunk of solid concrete wall in Spider-man's direction. The silent Spider-man gladly meets it with a fist, sending shattered shards outward around him.

Distracted by the cries of Scorpion's henchman, attack elsewhere, Spider-man narrowly leaps an attack from the Scorpion's deadly tail.

With Spider-man pinned down and playing into the Scorpion's plan, he declares an end to the shenanigans. Unfortunately, it isn't he who puts the punctuation on the fight.

Spider-man channels all the stress and hate he's experienced over recent life events, which include Aunt May having a life-threatening stroke, and Scorpion suffers for it.

A thunderous left reigns down, following by a jaw breaking right uppercut, and another, and another, and yet another still, until Scorpion goes down like a bag o' bricks.

Thus, Scorpion stands exhausted, but victorious, despite the wile training of one Phillip Cussler Sr.

The hammer...
The winner by knock-out, and still champeen-- Spider-man!

Actually, I've got to say, despite my willing indulgance in Spider-man stories from the nineties, this result is unintentionally hilarious.
I guess it could be counted as a positive that it avoids the conventions of story telling, completely disregarding the build-up of Scorpion's renewed perspective and strategy.

This is a two-parter, but it really has very little to do with the Scorpion in the second chapter. So while you may have been expecting a triumphant Scorpion in part-one, what you actually get is yet another humilation for the Scorpion.
Which is kinda hilarious, if a little unfair to a character of such great potential.

These days you'll find Mac Gargan still in the super villain game, despite rediscovering his humanity in this issue (again thanks to Phillip Cussler), mooching around inside the slimey, symbiote-y togs of the Venom costume.

Some fans scoffed the turn of events that saw Scorpion discard his classic evil green, in favour of the contemporary glitz of oily black and crazy teeth -- but I actually kinda like it. Even if it's only superficial, it somehow feels like progress!

That said, I have to acknowledge a feeling of nostalgia whilst reading this issue. I actually hadn't read it in a while, and just grabbed it off the pile knowing it would fill the Scorpion quota for the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance theme we're running on Mondays.

I kinda miss even this version of the character, which is maybe not quite the original type for the character, but is still kinda close. These days Mac Gargan has lost himself to the Venom character, I think.
During the story that established the switch, Millar maybe wrote him a little less specific than he might otherwise have, servicing the story more than the character [Mark "Civil War" Millar service story over character?! Surely not! -- Muckraking Mike], which probably lent following characterizations to do the same, selling the Venom concept.

Of course, there's a canonical precedent for a change there, too, I suppose.
A character does give of themselves when bonding with the symbiote, but it's perhaps not usually this jarring. Because, yes. There is a Scorpion shaped green hole in comics now, and it won't be filled by anyone but Mac Gargan, but you know what? I wouldn't want it any other way.

Onward ho might Mac, as you become a new man and member of the Thunderbolts! Hoooooo!

If you're one who takes note of the tags, you'll notice the Clone Saga getting a mention. This is one of several issues that sort of ran as precursor to the story proper, featuring a C-story with a familiar looking chappy with the proportionate size, strength and agility of a spider, who manages to keep his face obscured until a couple of issues later. [The chap, of course, being Ben Reilly -- the original Spider-Clone, and brief replacement as Spider-man.]

And that, my friends, is about the sum of it!
Been a pleasure talking comics with you, and I'll see you Wednesday!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 5

STEEL versus LEX LUTHOR
Man Ain't Nothing But a Man (DC comics)
Where: 52 #40 When: April 2007
Why: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka & Mark Waid How: Keith Giffen & Chris Batista

The story so far...
Lex Luthor's everyman project appears to have discovered means of granting normal human beings fantastic powers through the use of an injectable meta-gene therapy.

The only side effects appear to be the development of superpowers, and in the case of John Henry Irons, the armored hero once called Steel, this means literally becoming a man of steel.

When his powers begin to dissipate, Irons realises Luthor's meta-gene not only has finite potential, but also a potential 'off-switch', which leads to the deaths of several experiment subjects. Thus, Irons shrugs off a bitter depression, and dons the Steel armor once more to confront the evil Lex Luthor.

Previous Form:
Steel (#18): Steel has victories over well known supervillains; Plasmus and Metallo.
Lex Luthor: Luthor had a cameo during Batman's battle with the OGRE droid.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Steel 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Lex Luthor 6 (Genius)
Speed: Steel 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Steel 5 (Marathon Runner)
Agility: Steel 2 (Average Human)
Fighting Ability: Steel 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Lex Luthor 4 (Arsenal)

The tape paints a pretty clear picture of how we rate Luthor on our scale.
As a guy who's arguably a top-tier DC villain, Luthor rates deceptively low, but regular visitors to the blog will be accustomed to how characters are capable of playing above their weight.

Luthor's speciality is in his intelligence, and that's how he's able to duke it out with the likes of Superman. The only problem with that is that in the bredth of his abilities, there isn't a lot more to pad out his potential in a fight.

Luthor's advantages are in his technology, like the powersuit, which was deemed too irregularly used to effect his strength rating. Likewise, his seemingly endless access to hired minions and other external aids are perhaps his greatest tools in a confrontation with any character, without even getting into something like his masterminding the gathering of The Society.

Steel's a character of great determination and intelligence, but against the likes of Luthor his greatest advantage may come down to brute strength.

Against the likes of Luthor, regardless of what arsenal has been called upon, Steel's potential to be a raging bull would probably be the key to victory, gaining the momentum-based victory.

The Math: Steel (Meta Class)
The Pick: Steel

What went down...
Having fought his way through Everyman and had his armor shattered whilst wearing it, Steel barges his way into Luthor's top story office with the use of his unique sledgehammer.

There, Luthor waits confidently with Natasha Irons, Steel's neice, beaten and well restrained. Her cries of warning are too late, as John Henry walks straight into a Superman style blast of heat vision.

Luthor, only coming to terms with his newly aquired powers, shifts to X-ray vision, gleefully enjoying his new abilities whilst examining his own skeleton.

Steel, unwavering, leaps back at Luthor literally steaming from the previous attack, with the fire sprinklers activating above.

He drives his hammer down atop the skull of the villainous former-President, but it is for moot.
The force of the blow piledrivers Luthor into the very floor, but as Luthor himself exclaims, he feels no pain from the potentially lethal blow.

Thigh-deep in the floor, Luthor wrenches the hammer from Steel's hands with but one of his own, and drives the handle shaft through Steel's exposed mid-section, impaling him on his own weapon.

As Dr. John Henry Irons pulls the hammer from his own gut, Luthor hovers out of his rut, striking his opponent with a fist packing super strength.

He swats Steel with an open backhand, taking delight in sending him through the wall, despite having only barely touched him.

Luthor professes his maniacal plans of world domination to the restrained Natasha Irons, noting the absence of the world's greatest heroes as opportunity to capitalise on the vaccuum of uncoordinated heroes.

To Luthor's surprise and chagrin, Steel again staggers back into the field-- a changed man. Luthor's self-obssession has full restored the man who built the armor, and John Henry Irons is again a man who recognises the value and reason for men who would be called super heroes. Men who fight for something more than themselves.

Luthor compells Steel to give up, "You have four broken ribs and a ruptured appendix. Your small intestine is leaking fecal matter into your bloodstream. Trust me... I have X-ray vision."

Despite his greivous injuries, Steel shows the determination of his namesake, holding his ground.

Luthor flies at the hero, who hurls his hammer seemingly in vain, as Luthor uses his explosive heat vision to blast a hole through the ceiling.
The hammer, as it turns out, actually strikes the mechanical chair which holds Steel's neice hostage. Set free, the female who once donned Steel armor of her own is able to recognise that Luthor's 'failsafe' for disrupting the exo-gene powers was an electrical pulse, and deduces that the atomic power source housed within Steel's hammer could permanently render the powers inert.

On the rooftop, Steel disengages his robotic hand, which explodes around the super-durable neck of Lex Luthor, who is coming to terms with the influx of sound and sights with his new heightened senses.

He doesn't hear Natasha fiddling with her uncle's hammer on the floor below, but he does feel it, as his body comes crashing down, bound once more by the laws enforced by gravity.

With the tables turned, Luthor spouts desperate threats as the fitter, more powerful of the two men declares his moral superiority.

Steel reveals that the everyman gene treatment was toxic, and would have killed Luthor in six months had his neice not nullified it's effect.

With the Teen Titans gathered below, the giant L atop the Lexcorp building comes crashing down to the evacuated ground floor.
Standing mightily atop the building, a triumphant pair of heroes, each barers of the Steel legacy, and victors over a would-be tyrant.

The hammer...
The winner by knockout, with the assist from his neice-- Steel!

Regular readers will know I've been on a kick of more recent comics lately, and I'm pleased to finally be a part of 52. I'm not sure I could have ever pledged my dollar to a year's worth of weekly comics, but I think I picked the right time to pop in for a visit. It sounds like things are wrapping up on a strong note, and certainly when I read the solicitation for what turned out to be nearly an all-Steel issues, I was chuffed!

If you track back to the one or two previous Steel appearances on the blog, you'll discover that he's one of my favourite DC characters, inspite of his relative obscurity. As one of the lead characters in the second-tier push of 52, I'm certainly very pleased with the concept, and the push to bring a guy like this back. I just wish we could be seeing him in active duty in the other One Year Later DC Universe titles.

I picked up four issues of 52, weeks thirty-nine through forty-two, and I've certainly been impressed with the quality of the books. The back-up origin features are a nice touch, particularly with what seems to be an effort to customize the artist to fit the character. #42's Green Arrow feature with Scott McDaniel art is a notable occasion, McDaniel being the current on-going artist on the character.

The art is probably what most sceptics would have been epecting to see suffer under the load of such a heavy schedule, but it looks to me like it's been handled brilliantly. The price of rotating artists seems to be well worth it, with Keith Giffen's direction seemingly giving the series an appropriate throughline. Although, I imagine a great deal of credit has to go to the inking and colouring teams, who although different, seem to be similar enough, perhaps by design, to maintain a consistency that prevents jarring from issue to issue.

It's difficult for me to really say how I feel about the broader scope of the 52 story, having only read the two issues, thus far. I'm certainly the type of reader who has no bones about jumping into the middle of a story, but I could see how it might benefit from a recap page of some sorts. Simple decduction and a willingness to go with the story should be enough to leap in, but is probably a rare trait among modern readers, and they may find themselves uncomfortable.

The anthology style in some of the issues is interesting, and I wonder if it may have made weekly reading a little tedious. Like some popular TV shows, it feels like it's only letting out insignificant movement in the story through dribs and drabs, but certainly it delivers in an issue like forty, which dedicates a great deal of time to wrapping up one of the plots.

One would imagine the combined might of Johns, Morrison, Rucka and Waid would be enough to place the necessary value on each of the stories.
Presumably the involvement of each writer overlaps, even if they tackled their own stories, or moments throughout the saga of 52.*

I'm struggling with what I could really say here that is something you don't already know. It's very much a what-you-see kind of book, and I can't elaborate a great deal. It doesn't excel, but it is strong enough that it's difficult to criticise.

I guess I leave you with the hope that DC isn't over extending itself with the announcement of Countdown, which will run every week for a year, this time rolling down from fifty-two down to one, in reverse order.

I hope post-52 we can see John Henry Irons back in active duty as Steel, and I hope the events of the new Countdown will not affect that.
Speculation has the regularly appearing 'multiverse' theory bobbing back up for Countdown, but I'd like to think DC and the writing team that is steering the cohesive ship are wise enough to recognise the negatives that far outweigh the potential cons.

I've poo-pooed the theory in the past, and I'll continue to do so, but I wonder what Countdown will entail. Certainly the promotional artwork has a lot of people talking, and I wonder if the featured heavy-hitters of the DC universe aren't indicative of a 52 style book that recaps the journies of the major heroes who were deliberately omitted from 52. As opposed to the theory that it represents the segregation of the heroes into their own universes.

Here's hoping!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

* The presumption that the writers crafted an overall outline for the story as a group is the reasoning for each writer being credited for this entire issue, which features only one storyline.

MONTHLY PUNCH-UP #15 (March 2007)
SLAM BRADLEY versus BATMAN
Wild Ride: Meanwhile (DC)
Where: Catwoman #22 When: August 2003
Why: Ed Brubaker How: Nick Derington & Cameron Stewart

Quick Fix...
Another big month for the site, and here we are at another opportunity to reveal just how full of shite I really am.
Batman returns with a vengeance to the site with yet another appearance, a mere month or two after I said it might be lights out for the dark knight. I bow!

Wanted to get some DC action up here for the Quick Fix at the very least, and where better was there to go for a quick tussle than Ed Brubaker's revolutionary work on the revamped Catwoman title? Actually, it was a nice opportunity to visit this series for the first time at Secret Earths, perhaps largely due to the fact it was driven by more than fisticuffs.

Ed Brubaker's come up a few times recently, mostly through his Daredevil work, but his status as darling of Marvel comics was preceded by some very solid work as one-half of the writing team of the critically acclaimed Gotham Central, and of course, as writer here on Catwoman.

I have to admit, a lot of what made this such an attractive read is the visual style, which owes a lot to Darwyn Cooke's role in kicking off this new approach to the character, but is followed through well by a team comprised of Cameron Stewart, Guy Davis, Nick Derington, Matt Hollingsworth and apparently a slew of others, whose significance blurs amongst all the issues.

The minimalist style popularized by DC through their animation, and embraced likewise in the comic books, plays superbly here to a fun, sassy and exciting read, without ever getting silly. In fact, for all it's simple charms, Selina Kyle is as sexy as ever, and the action hits just as hard in what was probably one of the strongest titles being published pre-Infinite Crisis.

This storyarc, Wild Ride, features various guests (such as the JSA's Wildcat and Captain Cold), with the throughline of a fun, road trip story. Various hijinks occur, delivering strong characterizations in all the featured roles in unison with tight-knit, quirky story telling.

Our bash-up brings us to a B-story featuring Slam Bradley, who finds himself on the questioning end of Batman, his rival as romantic interest for Selina Kyle aka; Catwoman.

Tensions between the two build, and Batman makes reference to a tawdy night spent between Bradley and Kyle -- and it's on!

Bradley charges furiously at the Batman, making the assumption that he'd surprised him, simply because he actually lands his punch square in the Bat's mouth. Not that he doesn't quickly find himself on the tread end of Batman's reflexes, getting a boot for his troubles.

The Bat warns the grizzled detective off of any further attack, but the testosterone probably makes the decision for him. Bradley rolls his sleeves up, and moves in with his dukes ready to do the talking.

Batman's superior fighting skills see him slipping from the jab with ease, delivering his own blunt force with a closed fist.

Slam continues his jealous rage. Batman strikes a pressure point, taking one of Bradley's arms away, before following it with a swinging kick to the back of the head. It sends Bradley slamming into a pigeon avery on the rooftop.

"Are we about done now, Bradley...?," Batman asks.
Slam responds with a bloody grin, "... Why...? You gettin'... gettin' tired...?"

The Batman lets Bradley take more of his medicine, but as the match-up continues to be more and more one-sided, Bradley's continuing to get up probably makes it's point. Batman laughs.

Batman gives Bradley credit due for his sheer determination, and leaves him to enjoy a cigarette on amicable terms.

I happened upon a review of this issue that described it as writing Batman better than he was in his own books. Personally, this isn't what I consider Batman to be, but that said, I enjoy the luxury afforded by this type of title to give the character that spin. A spin that allows him to knock around with an old detective and indulge in a laugh at the end of it.

I don't know if it's the fun nature of the title, or the blinding glory of the graphic presentation, or perhaps the luxury of following in Darwyn Cooke's mighty footsteps, but Brubaker shines here in a way I haven't seen.
The writing has that familiar compacted quality to it, working a lot of economy into the scripted page, as I would hope an urban superhero book would. However, it somehow feels much less laboured than the likes of Captain America, Daredevil or even the joint effort on Gotham Central.

Here the story unfolds with a relaxed whimsy that allows it a sense of fluidity, and natural flow that makes it a breeze to open, and a disappointment to close.

The Fix: 6 The Issue: 7
Winner: Batman

The Top Five...
Two months into a brand new top five system for 2007 doesn't leave a lot of room for change, and you could perhaps begin doubting the logic of abandoning the cumulative rankings. If you can be patient enough to read on to The Hammer, we'll talk a little bit about implementing changes to that, and hey... The overall top five isn't doing much either!

#1 Spider-man (+1) (7) (Marvel)
Class: [Meta] Last Opponent: [Magneto]
Win Percentage: [77.78%] Features: [9]

A tie with Magneto doesn't do much for Spidey's win percentage, but it's enough in these early stages to lift him to the top of the monthly top five! Yaaay!

I've got to be honest -- I'm on a realy Spidey high right now. What's weird is maybe that it has very little to do with the Spider-man 3 movie, or even the Back in Black promotional event in the comics. I'm just really enthusiastic about the Spider-man villains, and how well they seem to be being represented in the comics right now! It's a reneissance for villains that may have slipped into the B-list.

I got a stack of new comics, there's a handful of Spidey stories in there I want to get up on the site, there's a handful already on my to-do list. Secret Earths is liking Spidey a whole lot right now! Put your money here, kids!*

#2 Moon Knight (-1) (2) (Marvel)
Class: [Champion] Last Opponent: [Taskmaster]
Win Percentage: [100%] Features: [1]

Moon Knight remains in the top five, and honestly, at number two I can feel a whole lot less guilty about the whole affair.
Moon Knight is a great character, and akin to those so-called B-list villains I mentioned just moments ago, but he isn't a number one. Not based on that one quick fix against Taskmaster, at least... Let's be honest.

I wouldn't expect to see this guy sticking around on the top for too much longer. The Moon Knight title, for all it's positives, just seems to be dragging it's heels so poorly that even if there is going to be a fight -- chances are it's going nowhere.

Lord knows I was thoroughly disappointed by the 'Casualties of [Civil] War' issue, which features maybe four pages of the web-slinger, including the cover.
I'd love to invest in the Captain America guest-issue, but honestly, I'm not expecting much more than a similar cameo there. As far as I know, Moon Knight has been content to remain neutral, and with some assemblence of a story simmering in the background, these gratuitous guest-spots are meaningless.

#3 Red Hood (-) (2) (DC)
Class: [Meta] Last Opponent: [Brick]
Win Percentage: [100%] Features: [2]

Among the purists visiting, I imagine this is the most embarassing feature in the top five. Of the two returning sidekicks-gone-bad, I imagine the split falls more in the favour of Winter Soldier/Bucky, rather than Red Hood/Robin, but you know what? I'm not too fussed.

Though I didn't pick up the follow up to the battle with Brick, I feel the character has at least earned the circumstances by which he finds himself on our top five.

While the character has suffered under the barrage of crossover fever, he has managed to avoid languishing, and I think that's great!
It's just a shame that to keep the character afloat, Winick had to drag him over into a pretty cheesy villain team-up in Green Arrow. I guess that's what you get for being the chief proponent for his return.

#4 The Punisher (-) (2) (Marvel)
Class: [Champion] Last Opponent: [Rhino]
Win Percentage: [100%] Features: [1]

The Punisher lingers as a character we're only just seeing return to the superhero fight scene. Good to have him on board, and while I don't have a large stock to draw upon for the character, you can probably make a safe bet that he'll be popping up on the site again soon.

A great character who has thrived in his own corner, you couldn't knock his position, but it seems a little unlikely, at least in this world, that he'll survive slipping off the bottom of the pile.

#5 Beast (-) (2) (Marvel)
Class: [Meta] Last Opponent: [The Lizard]
Win Percentage: [50%] Features: [4]

Once more we finish up our top five examination with the intelligent, gentlemanly, and ever powerful - Beast!

It occurs to me that other than Wolverine breaking into his own home to fight Sabretooth, I don't have a whole lot of an idea what's going on in the X-corner of the Marvel Universe.
Brubaker, for all the positives highlighted in Catwoman, is taking the X-Men on a retro journey that is the exact opposite of what I'm interested in. Astonishing X-Men remains, in my opinion, a disgustingly overrated piece of derivative tot. And everything else is a bit below my radar, I suppose.

It may be sad, but at the number five spot, we'll almost certainly be saying goodbye to the mighty Beast.

Super Stock...
1. Batman (-) (DC)
2. Spider-man (-) (M)
3. Wolverine (+1) (M)
4. Iron Man (-1) (M)
14. Robin (+10) (DC)
16. Red Hood (-1) (DC)
18. Steel (-1) (DC)
19. Deadpool (+26) (M)
20. Beast (-2) (M)
27. Wasp (-) (M)**
28. Nightwing (-2) (DC)**
54. Catwoman (-) (DC)
69. She-Hulk (-) (M)
100. Bucky (Heroes Reborn) (-) (M)
193. Space Phantom (+1) (M)
194. Rhino (+1) (M)
195. Lizard (+1) (M)
196. The Joker (new) (DC)
198. Blade (new) (M)
200. Metallo (-2) (DC)
203. Taskmaster (-1) (M)
204. Magneto (-3) (M)
205. Brick (-3) (DC)


#22 The Sub-Mariner
Class: [Meta] Last Opponent: [The X-Men]
Win Percentage: [40%] Features: [5]

I try to do a lot of things through this humble blog o mine.
One of those things is to try to include some sort of perspective of where the written aspect of the story might come from. Granted, that isn't the chief exercise here, but I figure if I'm going to tote myself as a writer, I could at least try to exhibit some understanding of the process, and exploit it to my advantage.

If you noticed the inclusion of the Brother Eye satellite in the banner, it's purely for the inclusion of this section. This spotlight is an opportunity to type up the stats of a character perhaps not in the top five, and talk a bit more about my fabled Sub-Mariner pitch, which has been pepper referenced for quite some time.

So as a spine to this section, I'll be featuring the characters that are wrapped up in this sordid little pitch. Of course, I hope to reserve at least some of my secrets, in the vein hope that one day they may actually find themselves canonized.

Moving on, the crux of the idea is a four issue mini-series that would lead in to an on-going series, or at the very least a title that would last a year.
Much of the concept rests on, as tired a phrase as it is, changing the status quo of the Namor character, and realigning him in the Marvel Universe as a newly relevent, but readjusted character.

I began writing and conceiving this idea QUITE some time ago now, so it predates many of the developments seen in Civil War and other Marvel titles, although, as with all good ideas, it's reasonably malleable to move with those circumstances.

Opening this four issue mini-series, Sub-Mariner: Underworld, is the premise that young Atlantean women have been disappearing. The numbers of missing girls have grown to such that the crimes are brought before the Prince himself - Namor.

What surrounds this initial development is an opportunity for Atlanteans to debate topics as base as teen sub-culture, and the parental gap. This has actually become rather topical where I live, where a girl died recently and clues have been sought on her MySpace page, which is decked out in a gothic motiff with a few 'racey' pictures of the young teen.

As most of us net-savvy folk would know, this is not at all unusual to MySpace sub-culture, but it's amusing to hear of it spoken in such misunderstood terms in news bulletins. So, in that respect, some of the 'impetuous youth' angle bares immediate relevence, at least here. It is, of course, a fairly universal theme.

The idea is that, like human youths, some of the Atlantean teens and young women have been a bit rebellious. One of the dangers for Atlanteans is the attraction of the surface world, which raises other debats among the concerned groups, particularly the Sub-Mariner's own lengthy association with the surface.
As a Prince, you would have to imagine his status as a role model would certainly come under fire, and that's something that would be raised here, even though traditionally Atlanteans cannot naturally sustain themselves on the surface.

Ultimately Namor is spurred to return to the surface, following the few clues he has to New York City's seed urban side. A side of Marvel that the character isn't necessarily associated with, but is none the less aware of, be it through casual visits, or even 'the lost years', when Namor wandered the streets as a transient hobo without a memory.

A lot of the ideas draw on established pieces of fiction in the character's history, including much of the 'corporate Namor' era built by John Byrne.
It's my interpretation that Namor still retains many corporate and industrial interests on the surface world, and he would immediately make use of a room in an apartment tower. One of many surface homes he could potentially own.

The Civil War, prior to his involvement, but even now, helps guide the original idea that he would be steering away from the 'super' side of the Marvel universe.
His sense of royal responsibility and logic is that this isn't really something that he would involve the Fantastic Four with, for instance.

At a later date his relationship with the FF was to arise again, as he becomes needing of scientific advice, and opts for an unlikely source, rather than Reed Richards. Who, of course, is conveniently now characterized as being someone Namor would be less than likely to turn to.

I see Namor as a chivalrous kind of hero, and the kinds of urban struggles that go on in Hell's Kitchen and similar seedy sides of the Marvel urban underworld would present him with distractions. This was also to bring him into conflict with Daredevil, a character he battled in DD's early sixties adventures.

As a mini-series it would be nice if it could stand on it's own feet and date itself prior to Matt Murdock's incarceration, particularly as I had mind to use Iron Fist later on, and actually think his role as substitute-Daredevil fits quite neatly.
Never the less, a theme that would be picked up again in the on-going series would be Namor's difficulty in coming to terms with the way in which the surface world works.

In Atlantis his justice is swift and absolute, but Daredevil quickly informs him that he can't simply plow a would-be rapist spine-first into a brick wall.
The Sub-Mariner in urban New York becomes quite literally an allagory for the fish out of water. The on-going series would feature more of how he tackles this in a unique way, and actually draws largely on Matt Murdock's incarceration.

In the mini-series it's driven more by the story at hand, and it takes a turn as other characters inflict themselves on the Sub-Mariner's path.
And with that, I'll hopefully pick up next month and tell you more about where I would like to go with this story, that attempts much, but in a tight space.

The hammer...
Speaking of attempting much, 5000 hits was passed a week and a half ago, which is huge! This has been the biggest month yet for Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, and I want to send out a huge thanks to everybody checking the place out! Hopefully you're enjoying it, and those of you I see coming back, will keep doing so!

I was thinking about celebrating with some extra updates, and then I went out and picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which kicked me in a whole different direction.

I've had some developments on the personal front with a sick relative, so it might be a bit much to chew, but I'm going to attempt three updates a week. That's right -- three! Just to sustain that interest!

So the schedule reads something like this, for March Madness:
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays
Featuring villains from the video game that utilizes the largest assembly of Marvel Comics characters all in the one game. With Civil War being all about the heroes, it seemed like a great opportunity to take a look at the villains.
Even though the villains are the spotlight, expect the heroes fighting them to be characters from the game, just for that extra authenticity!

- What if Wednesdays
This was my original consideration, and hey, after we tipped 5000, why not?
Wednesdays will be all about alternate realities, including not just stories from the Marvel Universe, as the name implies; but also multiverse madness from the DCU. Not that I've got a whole lot of that, mind you...

- Friday Fight Nights
All these bonus updates will, of course, not be at the sacrifice of our usual random fun every Friday. We'll continue to feature patternless battles between characters from the Marvel and DC Universes, and maybe some place else, too.

Anyway, that's the plan guys, but as I said. I've got some personal things going on, so there may be some delays. We'll see how it plays out.

Hope everyone's having a great time, and stay tuned next month because I imagine with a fifth week special in there, we're going to have plenty of movement on the top five rankings!

All the best guys!

February Hit Count: 5208 (+1261)

* Secret Wars on Infinite Earths does not, in anyway, encourage or condone underage gambling. We believe in mocking those who undertake in such activities, and such was our intention. Stay in school.

** Result of a statistical anomaly that was rectified.

BLADE versus WOLVERINE
Vendetta's Echo (Marvel comics)
Where: Blade #5 When: March 2007
Why: Marc Guggenheim How: Howard Chaykin

The story so far...
When the so-called Civil War began amongst the heroes, Wolverine made a point of withdrawing, making a rare declaration of neutrality. Unfortunately, his bloodlust for the villain called Nitro sees him coming into conflict with not only the villain, but also diplomatic denizens of Atlantis.

Thus, Wolverine is dragged into the Civil War, as is Blade, albeit completely inadvertently.

While on the trail of Morbius, Blade is beset upon by SHIELD, revealing Morbius' status as a registered hero. Having been passed over by SHIELD, Blade is finally approached for registration in an effort to recapture a previously detained Wolverine.
SHIELD believe Blade to be their best shot at capturing the mutant Avenger, and in exchange for his services will grant him vampire-hunting amnesty. Thus, Blade hunts a new prey this night...

Previous Form:
Wolverine (#4): Wolverine has solo victories over Lobo, Lady Deathstrike and Silver Samurai.
Blade: Blade has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Blade 3 (Trained Athlete)
Intelligence: Wolverine 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Wolverine 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Wolverine 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Blade 3 (Explosives)

Straight off the bat the stats make this look like it's all Wolverine, but that really is not the case at all. In fact, while Wolverine may be deemed to have the edge in some of the above measured feats, statistically each fighter rates on the same level.

Characterization tends to paint Blade in a different light depending on where, when, and under who's watch he's appearing. I tend to like to think of him somewhere in between the various comic book incarnations, but skewed more toward the successful Wesley Snipes film vehicles. This means I've more than embraced the Daywalker moniker, regardless of whether or not it was nature or the nurture of Morbius that granted it to him.

This means Blade should be fully recognised as one damned tough customer!
As the saying goes, 'all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses.'
We're talking enhanced strength, speed, agility and some degree of heightened senses, particularly where detecting the supernatural is concerned.

These abilities are all comparable to Wolverine, and in fact, the Daywalker even possesses a greater capacity for healing. Of course, he probably couldn't survive a stake through the heart (or any other fatal point), let alone three of them.

They say Wolverine's the best there is at what he does.
Despite generally dismissing conventional technical attack, Wolverine is an instinctual and savage fighting presence. Blade's fighting process is far more refined, and he could certainly disarm and detain Wolverine, but whether or not that would be enough to cage the beast is hard to say.

Ultimately skills like a healing factor, reinforced adamantium skeleton, and six protruding claws included with said skeleton, make Wolverine a tough customer for any normal man. And though Blade may not be normal, he isn't extra ordinary either.

The Math: Wolverine
The Pick: Wolverine

What went down...
SHIELD are nice enough to point Blade in the direction of their prey, a tiny, poorly guarded hideout in Brooklyn. Blade notes, the security might not be much, but when you're Wolverine, what kinda security in the burbs do you really need?

Wolverine stumbles in to find Blade in his living room, and having just gone toe-to-toe with Omega Red, he's none too happy about the prospect of anything that doesn't involve a beer and a stretched out spot in his crib.

The two heroes compare cutting implements before Blade lunges into battle with his single sword, promising it will be all it takes to take the X-Man down.
Wolvie disagrees, taking a swipe out of Blade's jacket, but otherwise puts up little defense for Blade to impale him straight-up with his sword.

Reminiscent of many-a-scene [including recently featured Cable & Deadpool #36 - Memorisation Mike], Wolverine slides down the sword, making a point of the advantages of a healing factor.

The tips of his blades slice the face of the Blade, and Wolverine puts distance between the SHIELD mercenary with a cracking left hook.

With the pressure off for a couple of minutes, Wolverine yanks the blade from his gut, with a money-back guarantee that he'll stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Now, I know what some readers are thinking -- Wolverine is Canadian. Well, all the more reason to believe that guarantee is iron-clad.

A paragraph of weak comic relief later, Blade is firing off a round from his pistol into the healing torso of the healing mutant.
This proves to set him off, leading Wolverine to abandon his warrior's ironies, and abandon the sword in favour of a more frontal, berzerker attack.

With the mutant up in his grille, as they say on the streets, Blade doesn't back down, throwing out another cracking left.

It does little to phase Wolverine, who maintains a mount position and raises his extended claws above his head. With the half-vampire looking to become all dead, he makes one last ditch effort.

Tearing the mask from Wolverine's face, Blade produces a vial of vampire blood at puts it to Wolverine's neck. The enzymes in the blood promise to turn Wolverine into a vampire far more susceptible to being impaled.

Wolverine, ever the hard ass, scrunches his face up and smiles, offering not fear, but a challenge for Blade to do his worst.

Surprisingly enough Blade relents, and at this time you might think Blade is something of a pansy, but you'd be wrong. With the Wolverine unmasked he finally gets a good look and recognises the mutant for who he is - not an enemy - but an old friend, from long ago.

With that Blade relents, and tells SHIELD that if they've got a problem with Wolverine, they can go through him.

The hammer...
This is probably the kind of scenario that could garner a draw, but with a fairly one-sided battle I'd have to give this one to Wolverine even if only on points.

Before I move on, I'll insert one point I have with this conclusion.
In this world of the scientific viral vampire, what is it about vampire enzymes that supercedes the super-immuno qualities of Wolverine's fictional healing factor? This logic, which has been applied previously, [Marvel Zombies, What if... Wolverine: Lord of the Vampires - Marvelous Mike], seems thoroughly flawed, all other things considered...

And with that, it's good to finally have that summary over and done with. Couldn't tell you why, but that just wasn't a compelling read.
Maybe it was the overdone clichés, the warn out Wolverine-in-the-past flashbacks, or Chaykin's pencils that just took it out of me, dragged it around the back, beat the crap out of it, and then dumped it in the back of a cab.

It remains baffling after three feature films and a moderately well received television series, how Blade can remain such a dud in the comic books.
Previous attempts to capitalize on the character's new-found popularity have failed, and I'd have to say this latest effort from Guggenheim and Chaykin fails miserably. Maybe even worse than some of the previous shots.

I'd have to say, as conceptually great as Chaykin is, the pencils laid out in most of his recent work, if not all, is ugly. FUGLY, even.
Consistency in characters is distinctly lacking, particularly where the bizarrely conceived jaws are concerned. I mean no disrespect to the man, but Robert Z'Dar comes to mind, despite some angles depicting the characters in the more familiar, streamlined manner.

Also baffling is Chaykin's ability to make characters appear to gain weight between panels. Morbius, depicted hideously in his seventies garb (complete with frustratingly large red triangles for eyes), appears to not only be overweight, but chewing a mouthload of food whilst talking. Erstwhile, Blade appears to go from having a massive double chin, to not. And finally, Wolverine unmasked reveals not James "Logan" Howlett -- but rather a hairy John Belushi!

On the positive, the action is managed well, but it's amusing to recall early interviews with Chaykin concerning the comic upcoming, where he refers to lengths taken to keep his characters contemporary. There's a distinct dating to these issues that feels like something from the eighties. Certainly Blade lacks the contemporary cool of his big screen counterpart, well portrayed by Wesley Snipes, who should ideally be the model on which the character is based, within legal reason.

Who would have believed five years previous during the height of comics sales, that Blade would be the first hero to truly revolutionize Hollywood attitudes to comic book adaptations? The success of the character and first film was staggering, and owed much to a vision of the character that featured many of his modern comic traits, but took it to a refined, sleek and sexy place.

Why then, when the comics come knocking, is this what we find ourselves with?
Completing lacking is the solitary respect for urban-hero success stories, instead replaced by sales grabbing Civil War tie-ins, obtuse character cameos, and battles with Dr. Doom... Everything the movies were not.

I'm not saying the character should not operate within the Marvel Universe. I would quickly contradict myself, because some of his greatest appearances, if not all, have been moving in and around the urban characters that populate the Marvel Universe. Even characters as outlandish as Ghost Rider, Morbius and Dr. Strange.
But why oh why would this feature film success be apparently completely ignored? Even previous efforts, though similar to the films, have been likewise lacking.

Where's the artistic vision of someone like Alex Maleev? Where's the tight characterization and urban drama of a writer like Ed Brubaker? Where is the consideration to what made the character work so well on celluloid?

I guess this entry leaves more questions than answers, true believers.
One can't help but think to Mark Millar's Enemy of the State story, which was originally conceived as a Blade pitch. It may not surpass the high concept of this issue, but you have to imagine it would have had stoic, Wesley Snipes-style characterization going for it.

The Fight: 3 The Issue: 3.5

MAGNETO versus SPIDER-MAN
Cunning Attractions! (Marvel comics)
Where: Amazing Spider-man #327 When: Mid December 1989
Why: David Michelinie How: Erik Larsen

The story so far...
Tired of suffering defeats at the hands of their foes, the sinister arrangement of The Wizard, Magneto, Kingpin and Dr. Doom gather in an effort to orchestrate their combined efforts to guarantee their acts of vengeance.

Exchanging information and responsibility to combat their foes, it is ultimately Magneto here who steps up to the plate after the failure of Trapster and Titania to do the job on their behalf.

Meanwhile, Spider-man is coming to terms with the mysterious powers that have not only augmented his abilities, but given him brand new cosmic strengths that have him defeating opponents with never before seen ease!
Is this a positive new beginning for Spider-man, or will cosmic powers attract deadlier foes? With greater power must come greater responsibility!

Previous Form:
Magneto (#203): Magneto has been somewhat unsuccessful thus far.
Spider-man (#2): Spider-man previously used his cosmic power to defeat the Tri-Sentinel.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Spider-man 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Magneto 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Magneto 6 (Generator)
Agility: Spider-man 5 (Cat-like)
Fighting Ability: Spider-man 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Magneto 6 (Mass Destruction)

No sooner than we have the X-Men fighting Lizard [X-Men: First Class #2] than we arrive at this massive miss matching of foes: Spider-man vs Magneto!

For the sake of consistency our statistics do not change based on the circumstances of the fight featured, so there are some misleading facts described in the above 'tape.' This fight features a very different Spider-man.

These days Spidey has organic webshooters, so the amount of metal he's carrying around at any given time is pretty minimal. There's no immediate inherent threat there unique to Spider-man, but anywhere in the civilized world Magneto finds an arsenal at his disposal.
That's completely neglecting the master of magnetism's own mutant virtues. Abilities that occasionally fluctuate but include things like controlling the iron traces in human blood in various dastardly ways, and/or firing off magnetic pulses of concussive energy.

As far as I see, neither character really has any definitive edge over the other.
Spider-man's preternatural senses allow him pretty swift movement around situations Magneto could create, while his own attacks are fairly base, and would conversely have limited effect on Magneto.

Even so, I'd generally have to lean toward saying Magneto has Spidey licked.
Spider-man's one of the best heroes you can find in the Marvel universe, but Magneto is Magneto, and as we've seen in various recent features, he's not a mutant to be messed with.

Of course, as I mentioned, this isn't your typical Spidey-fight.
On the record, this one's Magneto's. Off the record, you have to completely reevaluate the situation when you take into consideration the omin-power that has embued the noble Peter Parker with fantastic cosmic powers as he becomes - Captain Universe!

We've seen this Spidey once previously on Secret Earths [Amazing Spider-man #329] where he averted another typically X-threat of a mystically charged Sentinel. You can reference that to get an idea of the kind of power we're talking about.

With the power of Captain Universe, Cosmic Spidey (as he's affectionately known) is capable of all kind of incredible feats!
He can fly, has enhanced human senses as well as having his own precognative spider-senses amped up in sensitivity. He can produce concussive cosmic blasts, and even in the days of the mechanical cartridge-loaded web-shooters, he could cosmically conjure a comparable compound out of apparent nothingness. Unlimited webbing, to the video gaming folks out there!

So, yeah... Magneto's in trouble, however:

The Math: Draw (Meta Class)
The Pick: Magneto

What went down...
It begins down at the docks, where Spidey is testing out his new cosmic powers, which include super strength enough to allow him to life a fully loaded barge at a scrapyard with ease above his head! The scrapped shells of cars prove a worthy measure as Spidey obliterates the steel with his cosmic hand-blasts, but unfortunately the attention warrants a call to the press from a scrapyard worker.

Contemplating Spider-man's role in the war between human and mutant, Magneto makes note that Spider-man may play an unwitting key role in the survival of either species. Which is nice, because so often he gets overlooked.
A TV in the park tips him off to the whereabouts of the web-slinger.

Before the arachnoid hero even knows what's going on, the barge is swept out of his hands, ushering the arrival of the master of magnetism - Magneto!

Magneto descends upon the hero, flinging a barrage of shrapnel and scrap metal at the hero. His spider-senses aid him in the dodging of the onslaught, but his cosmic powers prove to be the real advanage, allowing him to blast it out of the air piece by piece.

Spider-man flings himself at his mutant attacker, but Magneto's forcefield of magnetic aura protect him from the attack. Never the less, the might of the cosmic Spider-man proves enough to rattle even he.

Using their surroundings, Magneto flings a magnetic loading crane like a wrecking ball at the airborne wall-crawler. Spider-man swings around the obstacle with the aid of his familiar webbing, but Magneto amplifies the potency of the crane to the point where the iron in Spider-man's body is attracted.

Stuck between a crane and a hard place, Spider-man struggles as Magneto brings him down at speed toward the ground. Only by his instinctive use of his mysterious cosmic powers is he saved, changing the molecular composition of the crane from hard metals -- to fragile glass!

Magneto then hurls car bodies at the hero, whose preemptive senses again allow him the advantage of avoiding contact. Free from danger, Spidey uses his cosmic supply of webbing to form a giant baseball bat, swatting the airborne cars out of the park!

Feeling somewhat over the unprovoked attacks of supervillains generally not in his jurisdiction, Spidey then sets his offensive on the Magster himself.

Tangoing with one of the most powerful mutants on the planet seems do-able for a moment, but as Magneto attempts to repell the hero's attacks with his magnetic ability, Spider-man's heightened cosmic senses pick something up.

From his airborne vantage point he spies a cruise ship that fell hapless victim to one of Spidey's own homerun knock-outs with his webbing ball bat.

Deciding to abandon the fight to quash the disaster of his worst nightmares, he discovers the ability of flight, as he heads away from the docks toward the ship in peril.

The diversity of Spider-man's new powers tips Magneto off to his status as human, rather than mutant, and decides to abandon his interests.
Although, he does so, not without promise of a future encounter with the web-slinger, and new manipulations at the hands of the master of magnetism...

The hammer...
As Uatu so dramatically proclaims to the left there, it's a draw.
I can't even give it to anyone on points, the conclusion is clear.

Had this one on my pile for quite some time now. It's one of those many fights that, for whatever reason, got overlooked in 2006. Maybe because there was no conclusion, or maybe just because there have been so many other things going on. Nice to finally get it out there!

I've probably mentioned before how great my affection for this period in Spider-man history is. As much as I love Conway and Buscema, I have to willingly submit Michelinie and Larsen as one of my all-time favourite teams on the character. They just seemed to have story after story full of exciting action, great visuals, and a lot of fun that combined the characters and ideals of the original concept, with a fresh perspective.

Even some of the more casual readers visiting us are probably familiar with some of Todd McFarlane's work on Spider-man, which arguably established a whole new way of approaching the anatomy and style of the character, but pound-for-pound I think Erik Larsen took it, and did it even better.
For me, I think it's just Larsen's linework, which is far less crowded than McFarlane's Spider-man work. Here Larsen appears to lack some of what makes his work today so recognisable, and what hinders my enjoyment of McFarlane's stuff, is the overuse of lines, particular on the faces.

McFarlane isn't bad at drawing faces, but there's a quality to them all that makes them instantly recognisable, and slightly... Well, deformed is a misleading description, but perhaps just a little less than real. Which is ironic, I suppose, because what I'm really talking about is the cartooning simplification of what represents reality in comics.

It's not just the visuals that define this fantastic period of Spider-history, though. David Michelinie - where are you now? I think I heard something about Michelinie doing stuff at Marvel again, but the guy seemed to disappear from the radar after a lot of great work for the company, particularly Spider-man.

I couldn't tell you what it is about the formula, because it isn't particularly identifiable, and it won't hit you over the head with how clever it thinks it is like some of the more contemporary takes on 'good writing.' It just seems to accept itself and move very fluidly between fun cameos, fights and character moments.

Key point that come to mind aren't particularly important in the scheme of things, but appearances by Punisher and Graviton and the Tri-Sentinel just stick in my memory as great moments in Spidey's history. Moments we seem to have lost in this decade amidst the all-devouring gelatenous blob that is Civil War, and the inexplicably popular work of Ultimate Spider-man, built on a house of stuttering and disposable issues.

Actually, I was overjoyed recently to pick up an issue of Sensational Spider-man, which didn't even feature the web-slinger, instead handing the spotlight to Black Cat and Puma, two characters familiar in the era we're referring to here.

If any positive can be taken out of contemporary directions for Spider-man, it's that we seem to have well and truly left the over indulgent, poorly considered work of the mid-to-late nineties behind us.
We've gotten past the creative stablizing of the industry in the earliest part of this decade, too. [Alternatively referred to as the Jemas-period. - Matriculant Mike] And now we're heading, it seems, toward a balance between the two, indulging willingly in the efforts of the second and third tier characters again, but perhaps with some wisdom gained by the mistakes of the past.

Hopefully even though we didn't deliver a conclusive battle, you enjoyed this flashback never the less. I know I enjoyed flicking through the pages again.
Actually, y'know, my comic guy of fifteen-or-so years has closed up, but is selling off back issues. I wonder if he has any of these for sale...

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4