WOLVERINE versus SABRETOOTH
Evolution Chapter One: First Blood (Marvel comics)
Where: Wolverine #50 When: March 2007
Why: Jeph Loeb How: Simone Bianchi

The story so far...
They used to be friends, but over the decades the bloody feud between Wolverine and Sabretooth has grown to be one of the most bitter and thoroughly twisted conflicts in comics.

Having carved his way through lies and deceptions, Wolverine knows he isn't Sabretooth's son, clone, time travelling counterpart, or any other relation -- but he still just can't put his finger on what is true.

With glimpses of an ancestral history as a backdrop, Wolverine confronts Sabretooth at Xavier's Mansion, where he's staying as a member of the X-Men, not for the first time. Wolverine's mission? To finally put an end to the bitter hatred that inevitably brings these two monsters together, time and again.

Previous Form:
Wolverine (#4): Solo victories over Silver Samurai, Blade, Punisher & Winter Soldier.
Sabretooth (#341): Suffered defeats against Iron Fist & Jubilee.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Sabretooth 4 (Steroid Popper)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Sabretooth 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Wolverine 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Sabretooth 7 (Born Fight)
Energy Powers: Draw 1 (None)


There are just some classic feuds that get a fanboy all kinds of tingly, and damned if this isn't one of them! As far as brutal, scrapping throwdowns go, Wolverine and Sabretooth produce among the best. Maybe it's because they're such efficient fighters, or maybe it's because their healing powers allow them to go all-out, but together they always promise fireworks!

The way I see the tooth and claw debate is something like a good Japanese hero, because I like to think Sabretooth just has a bit of edge, and certainly our numbers reflect that. He's stronger, he's a little faster, a little bit more feral, a little bit more vicious -- but a whole lot more evil, too.

Like those great Japanese superhero styled archetypes, I like to think it's the good in Wolverine's heart and his determination that always gets him across the line against the odds. It's that inexplicable fire inside of him that pushes him to defeat the more powerful Sabretooth time and time again.

We could bounce it around a lot of ways, but when it's all said and done, it's going to be Wolverine. On paper, I'd love to be objective to the point where I could honestly expect Sabretooth to win, but history just doesn't suggest that.
I'd love to have access to every Sabretooth/Wolverine clash just to test that theory, because I'm sure Sabretooth's gotten plenty of licks in there, but for now, this one will have to suffice.

The Math: Sabretooth (Meta Class)
The Pick: Wolverine (Meta Class)

What went down...
Having snuck his way into the mansion, Wolverine bypasses small talk with X-Men leader, Rogue, heading straight for Sabretooth, who's watching television and scoffing beer from the comfort of a couch. Something that clearly doesn't sit terribly well with Wolverine, what with the murderous past, and all.

Wolverine tosses Sabretooth out the window of his room, forcing the fight onto him in the snowy cold of the Mansion grounds. Determined to put an end to things, Wolverine pops his claws and the two raging beasts go at it!

They each tag each other with gashing swipes, but it's Wolverine who comes out of it with the first attack bonus. He knocks Sabretooth back with a shot, following quickly by burying his claws deep in Sabretooth's shoulder.

Sabretooth uses the close quarters situation to his advantage, turning his superior strength and leverage on Wolverine. Like a human hammer toss, Sabretooth swings Wolvie around, sending him on an unsolicited fast ball special with malicious intent!

Wolverine comes back with a diving drop kick, throwing himself boots-first at his arch-nemesis to smash him through a tree.

Using his speed and agility, Wolverine's quick to his feet. Moving in once again for the claws, Sabretooth, equally as fast, turns Wolverine's momentum against him, driving him fast first into another tree with bloody results!

Sabretooth presses the advantage, wrapping both of his mighty, clawed hands around Wolverine's throat.
Squeezing increasingly tighter, he manages to push Wolverine's healing capabilities to the absolute limit, choking the life out of the smaller mutant scrapper.

Wolverine fades into memories of the sordid past shared with his blonde counterpart, before coming back out of it as his mangled throat begins to repair itself.

Wolverine quizzes Sabretooth on details of the past, while resuming his attack with a clawed fist to the face, bridging into a combination. Another slash to the jaw, finished with a diving knee to the jaw.

Sabretooth strikes back, digging his own finger-tipped claws into Wolverine's defensively exposed chest. Explaining the words that have haunted Wolverine from his past, "Quod Sum Eris," Latin for, I am what you will be.

With Sabretooth holding on tight, Wolverine defiantly shoves his fist beneath his jaw. Sabretooth warns against popping his claws, but ever the rebel, Wolverine pops them with a "SNIKT!" to conclude this installment of the fight.

The hammer...
There might be an argument on points here, but given that we don't actually see the fruits of the closing sound effect, I'm going to have to call this one a draw.

This fight, of course, infamously continues over five excruciating issues, all of which have not been purchased by my good self.
Right now that isn't really much of a statement, but you can rest assured, these are not purchases to be made in the near future. Well, maybe #55 for the decapatative conclusion, but otherwise, it sounds like some very disappointing filler from Loeb.

We've alluded before to the ire Jeph Loeb's name can inspire [Superman/Batman #14] whenever he's tackling a new story. Having reached noteriety with work like The Long Halloween, more recent, simpler works have come under heavy, oft questionable criticisms. Superman/Batman is a good example of a title that has suffered heavy criticisms from fans, regularly criticising it under terms outside of the work itself. Many seemed to approach those stories with a discomfort or distain for fun, four-colour superhero stories without broad consequence.

Here, we have a very different situation, and I'm afraid many of the defenses I would have thrown up for his recent DC works are completely irrelevent.

Wolverine suffers from several immediate setbacks, largely inherent to the publicity received for both Loeb's involvement, and the character itself. The major offender here is the promise to deliver the definitive, be-all-end-all conclusion to the Sabretooth/Wolverine feud, closing the lid on many of the unanswered questions, putting their hatred to bed once and for all.

Audio and print interviews expanded on that, really building up the expected granduer of the event, which promised not only to deliver a major milestone in the history of this story, but also the reunion of two beloved characters.

Unfortunately, this first issue meanders it's way through page after page of scripted scenes of under achieving battle between these two. Simone Bianchi, painted style artist on the book, and also a point of promotion, really doesn't do anything spectacular with these pages, cramming in a lot of brown, similarly set scenes in a lot of awkwardly shaped panels.

With the exception of the utterly disappointing further complication of their history, introducing an ancestral history of feral-humanoid creatures, the first issue reads entirely inconsequential. While that was entirely acceptable in something like the Superman/Batman stories, here we've already been promised consequence.

It seems to be a case of giving the story the stage it deserves - six complete issues - without actually expanding the materials in a way that builds and honors that grandeuer. It's a case of a stage without a fitting show, instead delivering six unfortunate issues of boredom and spite.

Bianchi certainly doesn't do a lot to help. I'm sorry to say it, but introducing a painted finish to a comic is not a ticket-to-ride. If that were ever a novelty fitting of an instant top ten seller, it's been well warn out by the many contributions that have come and gone in an era of the iconic works of Alex Ross, and gritty stylized books by Alex Maleev.

The fairly uninspiring artwork fails to justify the story in a way that, perhaps, even Ed McGuinness might have. Of course, Ed McGuinness pencils would've struggled to justify such large wastes of panel space, and hopefully encouraged a denser approach to the content by Loeb.

This story was supposed to do what so many others haven't, clearing away all the muddy, garbled confusion and misinformation surrounding these characters, boiling it all down to a final confrontation. Instead, this story seems to add to the list, screaming out for any excuse to ignore, revive, and do it right another time, with another creative team. Hopefully without killing Sabretooth.

I'm not about to condemn Jeph Loeb and jump from the ship screaming, but I think it's safe to say that on the merits of what's between the front and back covers, this is a monumental embarassment and failure to produce. Ed McGuiness, who pencils a bizarre fantasy dream-tale with Wolverine, shows up his contemporary with shocking results.

So, getting away from all the negativity, I should throw some shout-outs.
I've got to give thanks to Rich @ ComicByComic, for the mention of The Kirby Martin Inquest, which has a second issue I've been hard at work lettering.

Pedro Cruz, artist on KMI, is doing some regular sketches that you can check out there, and we're talking about maybe working on a mini-comic side project, which should be a lot of fun. While KMI is a paced, character-driven crime/superhero story, this side project might be a bit more up the Infinite Wars alley.

Before we go, you'll notice I copped out and just went with the post today.
Rather than waste time stalling behind, we'll just play the entries I'd like to do by ear. Tomorrow, as always, we'll have a great review, and then who knows!
Keep hitting us up, read through some of the archives, follow your favourite characters through the tags, and stay tuned!

The Fight: 2.5 The Issue: 3.5
[An unfortunate misfire from Loeb! The score average is brought up by the back-up story, which is the only justification for the price of admission here. Sorry to say, but it's definitely the worst read of the year. Disappointing!]

FANTASTIC FOUR versus PAIBOK
Whatever happened to Alicia?! (Marvel comics)
Where: Fantastic Four #358 When: November 1991
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Paul Ryan

The story so far...
After the Beyonder's secret war, the Fantastic Four's Thing opted to stay behind and continue his adventures. It was this act that nearly put a vital snafu to a secret plan launched by the Skrulls to infiltrate their enemies team.

Posing as Thing's blind girlfriend, Alicia Masters, the Skrull soldier named Lyja was forced to take a harsh turn, steering the affections of the Masters girl to an unlikely suitor -- Johnny Storm!

When Thing returned he eventually learned to live with the loss of his love, and was witness to the marriage vows of Johnny and Alicia, or so they thought. With Lyja revealed, the furious Johnny Storm leads the Fantastic Four on a mission to space to retrieve the captive Alicia, but little does he know the overseeing officer in the matter is a Skrull familiar, yet very different...

Previous Form:
Fantastic Four [#2]: Victories over Frightful Four, Iconoclast, Super-Skrull & Annihilus.
Lyja (#178): Lent Mr. Fantastic the assist against Sub-Mariner.
Paibok: Making his first appearance in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Paibok 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Thing 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Thing 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Human Torch 7 (Solar Power)


What's so familiar about Paibok you say? No? Think all Skrulls look alike?
Yeah, well, I've met your kind, and frankly I don't much care for it! Y'see, there are Skrulls who distinguish themselves through dangerous procedures. Procedures that bestow them with fantastic new abilities!

Kl'rt, the Super-Skrull, is the most familiar of these engineered Skrulls with the powers and abilities of the Fantastic Four. There is, however, another such soldier. One with powers comparable of X-Men -- Paibok, the Power Skrull!

Paibok's powers are fairly simple, but not to be discounted.
He can control and manipulate the formation of ice (ala Iceman), fire bolts of electricity (ala Storm), and has super strength and all that comes with it by way of the ability to change his skin into organic metal (ala Colossus).

I'm running a couple of days late, and it's just been an hour or so of the Blogger server being down, so I won't ramble on too much.

Lyja, having lived among them, is sympathetic to the Fantastic Four's plight, accompanying them fairly willingly to the Skrull station where Alicia Masters has been held. Though they are a fantastic five, Paibok easily overcomes the numbers advantage with a veritable army of Skrull soldiers on board.

The FF are pretty experienced with sweeping up swarms of Skrulls, and have earned their cosmic stripes slapping guys like Kl'rt around, so I'm probably going to have to say they're the better option.

Paibok's powers are impressive, but against a guy who has the effective properties of rubber (Mr. Fantastic), a guy with Hulk-level strength (Thing), and a guy who's made of flame (Human Torch).

The Math: Fantastic Four (Total) Paibok (Average)
The Pick: Fantastic Four (w/ Lyja)

What went down...
Powering to the andromeda galaxy aboard one of Reed Richards' spaceships, the Fantastic Four head for one of the many Skrull imperial ships. Arriving on board, they strip from their suits, ready to raise some hell!

The shape changing Skrulls imitate various alien animals and monsters, their efforts in vein, as the Fantastic Four do what they've done so many times before. The Torch burns them down; Mr. Fantastic wraps some Skrulls up and disarms them; Invisible Woman knocks some Skrulls out with her helmet under the veil of invisibility; and the Thing does what Thing does best -- clobber!


To the shock of the suspicious Human Torch, Lyja takes a gun from one of her fellow Skrulls and turns it against them, much to the horror of her commanding officer, Paibok, who watches from a control room.

The Skrulls mysteriously clear the deck, conveniently clearing a path for a massive rocky ball of ice! The descending chunk ushers in the arrival of Paibok - the Power Skrull - riding atop a platform of ice!

He leaps into the air, flying toward the team, where Mr. Fantastic steps up almost literally with his stretching ability. Wrapping his elastic arms around two jutting structures, he absorbs Paibok's forward momentum and flings him backward like a Skrull-borne slingshot!

Paibok flies through his flight path, coming back around for another attack.
Mr. Fantastic again engages the Power Skrull, using his outstretched arms to tie Paibok up, unprepared for an electric charged shock! His arms snap back, as he flees the flying Paibok who continues to blast electricity and ice.

Thing calls dibs on the Power Skrull, compelling Richards to stretch his way to the airducts, to go in search of Alicia Masters. Paibok welcomes the challenge, powering up to reveal his metallic transformation!

Thing and Paibok come to blows, Thing coming off second best to the metal plated super Skrull! Ever the hearty battler, Thing comes back for more, as Paibok reaches for a metallic column, ripping it from it's structural placing to toss at the rock-hided hero.

Thing pounds through the tech-filled column, and returns the favour to Paibok, knocking him back wit ha stiff left!
Down, but not out, Paibok resorts to his ice powers, blasting Thing at relative short range. He continues his forward march, resisting the gathering frost that builds to a thick layer of mushy snow and crystalizes to ice!

Bursting from the ice, Thing rips up the flooring right from under Paibok's feet!

Despite the attack, the tables manage to turn once more, Invisible Woman making the save for an unprepared Thing with an invisible force field!
She follows it up, encasing Paibok in an invisible force field, giving Paibok another opportunity to stretch his powerful limbs.

Revealing his bio-electricity was designed with Invisible Woman specifically in mind, he channels his power through Invisible Woman's forcefield, frying her into submission with many volts of energy!

Thing quickly comes to Susan Storm's ally, but Paibok delays their rematch, interested instead in executing the flaming brother of the Invisible Woman, who mows Skrulls down with lethal regard.

Sneaking up behind the battling hot-head, Paibok prepares to make a cowardly sneak attack from behind! Fortunately for Johnny Storm, his wife, Lyja, sees the attack coming, and continuing to grapple with her duty and her adopted him, she transforms into a Bierbeast to curtain the unrelenting electric blast!

Lyja drops to the floor motionless, finally breaking through his hate-filled conflict, to provoke the concern of her deceived husband, Johnny Storm.

Distracted by Lyja's traitorous turn, Paibok doesn't notice Thing sneaking up behind him to rip another massive column from it's barings to bring the house down! The roof crumbles atop the Power Skrull, with a morose Thing looking on with quiet distain.

Johnny Storm shares a tender moment with the dying Lyja, making peace with her and the deceptions he suffered. Though originally operating as a Skrull infiltrator, Lyja confesses her true love for the Human Torch, before fading in his arms. Her apparent death is precursor to a sudden return!

With the ship rumbling, Paibok emerges from the rubble. With the "War World" station about to reach critical mass, the Fantastic Four (under a force field produced by Invisible Woman) navigate their way back to their ship, reluctantly leaving behind the limp body of Lyja.

With Alicia Masters in his arms, Mr. Fantastic makes a rendezvous with his team at their ship, making a successful escape from the exploding space station with the rest of the team!

The hammer...
It was a close one on points, but I think you'd have to give it to the Fantastic Four! Lyja has to share in the victory, despite her apparent death at the hands of ex-jilted lover, Paibok.

It may please you to know Lyja actually survived not only Paibok's electricity, but also the explosion of the station! She returns to menace and join-up with the FF again, but as you may have noticed in the contemporary comics, Human Torch and she are estranged.

Running quite behind, I should remind everybody that this is yet another Marvel Ultimate Alliance Monday post, featuring the villains from the smash hit video game! Unfortunately, we won't be be featuring Titannus, the enhanced mutant Skrull from Robert Kirkman's Marvel Team-Up work. I neither have those issues, nor any money to buy them. If you would like to rectify that, you can scroll up the side menu and hit-up the PayPal donations site! Although, honestly, I'd probably rather buy some World War Hulk books...

I should get another thank you out to When Fangirls Attack, the index website with a vested interest in feminist and female-centric issues, cataloguing this time around our feature that discussed Jubilee [Adventures of the X-Men #7].
I've actually really enjoyed getting into a lot of the discussions and topics presented there, and you should see if there's something there for you. We here at the Infinite Wars certainly appreciate their support of our light hearted activities!

Actually, on a side note, working on the coming issues of The Kirby Martin Inquest [which is one of my reasons for being late] brought a nice opportunity to put a bit of WFA programming into practice -- adding a new prominent female character to the series. In earlier drafts there was a conceited reason to avoid female characters, but with a lot of that falling away in the final draft, I'm pleased to put a new spin on a role that would've been more typically cast as a male (a reporter).

Conveniently, the female touch actually brings with it an advantage - so that's been a nice bit of awareness rubbing off on me, and coming in very handy.
We could keep talking about women in comics, specifically damsel-in-distress syndrome with Alicia Masters here, and the weak characterization of Susan Storm. Or, we could even talk about Lyja's desperate attempts to court Johnny Storm's love, which has turned to bitter hatred -- but we won't.
I figure the fangirls only need to see so much of us. Allow them a break!

Instead, there's a prevalent issue in Marvel comics right now, and it conveniently coincides with this, and the last Ultimate Alliance post [Fantastic Four #6], and that's -- Skrulls!

If you've been reading New Avengers, or are just keeping abreast of superhero comics affairs, you'll be well aware that the Elektra who appeared as head of The Hand clan was in actual fact a disguised Skrull! [New Avengers #27]

Though intrigued and excited by the prospects of a mass infiltration of the Marvel universe, it was this issue of Fantastic Four, along with various others, that were the basis of criticisms that this simply isn't an original enough concept to be acceptable.
While the broad point stands, I think I've had the chance to rethink the issue, having reviewed some of the greater details within this issue. What's key here is that Alicia was replaced during the Secret Wars event, which begs a question providing complications for our rankings systems -- When was Elektra replaced? And by extension, when was whoever else replaced?

Issues of New Avengers: Illuminati, co-written by Brian "Nugget Loving*" Bendis and Brian Reed, detail retroactive inclusions of the secret meetings held by the Illuminati, and how their subversive strategums shaped certain subtlties in the Marvel universe. Among those was the provocation of the Skrulls, already being connected to the incursion we're seeing in contemporary Marvel stories, but could it be that the immediate follow-up, featuring The Beyonder, is the clue?

Dare we dredge up memories of the Ben Reilly Spider-Clone by implying the invasion began decades ago? Could it be that these mass switches actually occurred en masse, while the heroes were in a confused state flux having being plucked from reality by The Beyonder?!

There's also a question about the fate of the heroes that have been replaced.
Have they been lucky enough to remain in stasis somewhere in outer space, like Alicia Masters? For the sake of maintaining a copy, it's fair to assume the Skrulls would need a living reference, but you never know with these guys.

Is it not entirely possible that they've all been murdered? Or perhaps disected in the name of Skrull science, allowing them to develop the range and efficiency of how they grant special powers to the likes of Kl'rt and Paibok?

Theories for your consideration, good friends!
In the meanwhile, I should probably try to get some sleep before the sun comes up, because that's when I have to fight crime with the powers bestowed upon me by my hybrid heritage of Irish/Australian. Enter the drunken fist!

I might be doing a bit of retroactive revisions myself, trying to insert some of the many reviews of interest I've missed over the past couple of days. Continuing the free-flowing, interest based discussion of these entries, there's a lot to get to, and I'm finally keen to take a look at a couple of DC features, so fingers crossed I get to do that!

Thanks again to Women In Comics, and hopefully we'll continue to have a positive association with them, providing our own unique skew on women in comics. You'll certainly be seeing more at the end of the week, as we take a look at a certain X-Men classic mentioned in a previous entry.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4.5
[Square-bound, giant sized, and with a circular hole in the cover exposing the 4? The only thing tragic about THIS comic is the price tag -- $2.50US. Cheaper than most twenty-two page comics. Oh the agony! A great issue, with lots of bonus materials, including a fun little Dr. Doom short -- about retroactive continuity!]

* Not an actual nickname for Bendis.

SABRETOOTH versus JUBILEE
Rites of Passage (Marvel comics)
Where: Adventures of the X-Men #7 When: October 1996 Why: Ralph Macchio How: Andy Kuhn

The story so far...
In their last confrontation, Sabretooth and Wolverine battled in the snowy ranges of Alaska, where the X-Man was able to out maneuver his old foe to send him hurtling down an icey ravine.

Having finally clawed his way back to the surface, Sabretooth is madder than ever, and intent on getting revenge on his arch-nemesis.

Stalking his way across America, Sabretooth returns to the X-Mansion he once infiltrated under orders of Magneto. Ironically, the X-Men are abroad in Russia tending to matters concerning the master of magnetism, leaving Professor Xavier and Jubilee alone in the mansion -- with Sabretooth!

Previous Form:
Sabretooth (#326): Suffered a defeat at the hands of Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
Jubilee (#224): Went down to Robin during the inter-universe competition.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Sabretooth 4 (Steroid Popper)
Intelligence: Sabretooth 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Sabretooth 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Sabretooth 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Sabretooth 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Sabretooth 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Jubilee 3 (Explosives)


From one mansion incursion [Ultimate X-Men #49], to another! Just like last time, Professor Xavier has been taken out before the action could even get started, so we're going to take a look at this one as a one-on-one situation. Which is a little bit ridiculous, because, well, just look at those stats...

By way of the patented Haseloff tape, we see that Sabretooth represents one of the most well rounded fighters in the Marvel universe, moderately ranking in most areas, excelling in the field of combat, appropriate for this particular website.

Jubilee is... Jubilee. Granted, she's got several steps up on Angel, but her powers generally extend to wearing a yellow jacket and surrounding her hands with colourful pops of light. An "omega mutant" she is not.

Jubilee really has no business fighting Sabretooth. Well, okay, maybe we could come with something. I mean, Jubilee is a victim of her perpetual youth. It's reasonable to assume she'll grow up into a plasma-blasting bad ass. Maybe one day we'll find out Boom-Boom, Jubilee and Dazzler are all descended from neanderthal finger-sparky disco queens who invented fire and were mortal enemies of the Sabre-rine species Jeph Loeb introduced recently. But I digress...

Sabretooth almost certainly eviscerates Jubilee in the most horrific of ways, but this book's based in the 1990s cartoon universe, so we know that won't happen. On the integrity of this section, I cannot say Jubilee would win, but...

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

What went down...
Arriving on the mansion grounds, not even the stealthy Sabretooth can evade the X-Men's hi-tech security systems. With the alarm sounding, Professor Xavier is unable to pin point the intruder telepathically, forced to activate the defenses.
Sabretooth is able to call upon his mutant gifts and years of experience to survive the various nets and pits, making it to the roof of the mansion.

As Sabretooth halts a skylight shield mid-closure, Jubilee convinces a reluctant Professor Xavier to allow her to investigate. Scouring the levels of the mansion, Jubilee reports via contact pin, finding nothing out of place on the first two floors, but a trashed mess in Wolverine's bedroom.

When contact goes dead, Jubilee scrambles to Professor Xavier, piecing together the clues to deduce the identity of their intruder, just as she turns the corner to find Professor Xavier, bruised and in the hands of Sabretooth!

He tosses Xavier aside and makes chase of the fleeing Jubilee. She scrambles through the mansion slamming doors on her way, but the powerful Sabretooth is able to smash his way through with minimal resistance.

She slows the feral villain a little with her mutant generated plasma explosions. The move further provokes the volitile intruder, but buys Jubilee the space to duck into the control room for the danger room, where she had trained earlier.

Tapping a few controls, she smashes through the observation deck window as the looming shadow of Sabretooth is cast over the control room doorway.

Breathing down her neck, Sabretooth suggests Jubilee simply give in to the inevitable. With hand on hip, she wags her finger in mocking satisfaction for the plan she has hatched to use the X-Men's training facility as a weapon.

To Sabretooth's dismay, attack discs fire from the walls, striking him in the behind. The surprise punishment doesn't stop there, jets of flame adding a light toasting to the ill prepared Sabretooth, who suffers the brunt of the attack while Jubilee backflips through the obstacles.

With his mutant healing factor taking care of most of the damage, Sabretooth arrogantly congratulates Jubilee on her improvement since the last time they clashed. Before he can punctuate his sarcasm with a gutting, he finds himself sprayed with a super-adhesive that holds him in place as giant mobile walls begin to move toward him!

Jubilee, also ensnared in the sticky goop, taunts the enraged Sabretooth some more, before using her pyrokinetics to free herself and make a dash from the final press of the giant training trap.

Jubilee quickly returns to the embattered Professor Xavier, helping him to his hover chair. She recounts her triumph over both danger room, and super villain alike, but the wise Professor warns, "Don't assume anything where that maniac is concerned." A decided shift of opinion from the last time Sabretooth clashed with Jubilee, having taken up quarters to receive 'therapy' from the Prof.

Predictably, the Professor's ominous warning marks the charging entrance of Sabretooth, sans half his pants. No longer content with taking it easy on Jubilee, Sabretooth refuses to take chase, instead bringing the fight to his own terms by wrenching a computer console from the War Room floor.

Sabretooth's aim proves off, Jubilee swiftly ducking the incoming projectile.
She shows him how it's done, blasting him with more of her patented multi-coloured plasma bursts. Like red to a bull, the attack serves only to renew Sabretooth's attack.

Jubilee again calls upon her maneuverability. She ducks an unrefined lunge, and does equally well leaping a savage claw slash that misses her by inches, and puts the savage Sabretooth off-balance.
The break, having provided Jubilee another tactical opening, allows her the opportunity to expel her energies at the ceiling, bringing down a hail of computer junk and rubble atop the feral mutant marauder.

Seeming unstoppable, Sabretooth quickly emerges from the tonnes of rubble, finally getting his clawed hands on the wile X-Man. Having caught her ankle in mid-flight, he pins her to the ground, using his massive weight advantage to prevent another plasma blast, and give her nowhere to go.

He savours the moment, suffering a rebellious spit to the eye!
Enraged to the final point, Sabretooth raises his claws to deliver the killer blow, but the recovered Xavier manages to halt his murderours thoughts with a telepathic mind-blast!

With the situation dire, Jubilee gives her blast everything she's got, knocking Sabretooth backward to live wiring exposed by the console he tore up.
Her options becoming limited, she bravely charges full force at Sabretooth, knocking him back into the wiring! He lights up like a smouldering Christmas tree, but doesn't go down before delivering a final scare, reaching out in vein before collapsing unconscious.

The hammer...
Proving her value as an X-Man, the winner, Jubilee!

And who'd have believed it? Two X-Men features in as many weeks.
Features that didn't even contain Wolverine. What can I say? I'm not an Adventures fan, but those kinetic Andy Kuhn pencils lured me in for another dose of mansion mayhem!

I like to think the relaxed schedule has affored us the opportunity to approach these reviews something like a discussion. Even though we've seemingly thrown off the oppresive shackles of scheduled themes, you'll notice they're still weaving their way through the posts. I guess you can consider the empowered young female X-Man being the current topic of interest, but it's not going to stop here.

Certainly there are very specific beats in this story's script that really call back to the classic Uncanny X-Men #143, where Kitty Pryde finds herself alone in the mansion with a renegade demon from the N'Garai!

Like that classic issue the young mutants struggle in a condensened coming-of-age story, pitting them against overwhelming odds that would otherwise be swiftly dismissed by more senior X-Men. Like this issue of Adventures, Pryde used many of the same strategies to compensate for her offensive inadequecies against a much more powerful foe, but we'll talk more about that when we take a look at that famous issue.

Prompting this pseudo-discussion was a cocktail of Sabretooth's recent decapatation in the comics, and late night viewings of the 1990's X-Men cartoon, upon which this particular issue is based. As far as I know this isn't among the transcribed stories from episodes, but it does draw specifically upon the fourth episode of the series, Deadly Reunions, where Sabretooth infiltrates the Mansion on the behalf of Magneto, who more specifically combats Xavier for the first time in years.

In that episode, Jubilee is left alone, tricked into freeing Sabretooth of his shackles, and saved only by the intervention of Wolverine, who had stormed off previously in protest of Xavier's leniency for his old foe, while they battle Magneto on the basis of Xavier's history.

What's shameful about this story is how clearly it highlights Jubilee's lack of development through the nineties. While I wasn't a reader of Generation X, I think it's safe to say any headway made in those issues was minimal, as Jubilee fell by the wayside, a victim of perpetual youth.

Until now, it's perhaps only in the ill-fated M2 comics that anyone has made any attempt to develop Jubilee, those books recasting her as an adult member of a future Avengers. Although, even here, it should be noted that she's still sporting that ridiculous yellow coat, and fairly tame plasma based powers.

It seems a little obscure, but I'm pleased to see that Jubilee is at least appearing in some capacity, albeit under the guise of 'Wondra', in the pages of the new New Warriors book. Not only that, but she's taking on a more senior role within the team, which might be ambitious, but is certainly a positive step.

Maybe I'm too sentimental, but like Rogue [discussed Ultimate X-Men #49], it seems like such an injustice for a character who no doubt ushered many fans into the fold (via the cartoons), would fall so thoroughly from relevance.
I'm not really a fan of the character, so unlike Rogue, any personal connection is marginal, but it just [seemed] like such a typical case of dropping a ball of potential during play.

The utterly ill-conceived and disappointing Blade series, which recently came to an end, feels like another prime example of a failure to capitalize on properties developed prominently outside the existing fanbase.

Still, the clock's just ticked over to the AM, and I'm running late for our Monday appointment because of this, so I might bid you adieu before I get distracted by further tangential topics.

Before I go, I should direct you to the super-index site When Fangirls Attack, which is currently directing traffic to the last mansion-update. As a hub of all the feminist-based niche discussions, it's a very interesting source to visit and explore from time to time. It's a real pleasure to get a mention, as perhaps one of the less overtly intellectual blogs. Hopefully our superhero fisticuffs and interested musings are sufficient for their readers.

Also, I'm hard at work on the second issue of The Kirby Martin Inquest, so if you haven't already, see about picking yourself up a copy of the utterly affordable first issue. You can get link details from Nite Lite Theatre.
Just a day or two ago I got pin-up artwork from Chris Fason [Hero Happy Hour] that's looking super, and I'm very excited about the overall presentation of the book!

With that said, I'm bloody tired, so be kind if I'm a little late.
Also, yes, I have a new avatar. One that isn't a sissy looking Sentry.

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4
[Kuhn is one of the unsung heroes of superhero comics. A fast, fun and energetic story, complimentary to the cartoons, but easily handed to anyone uninitiated. A feint reminder of how disappointing it is Sabretooth's off the board!]

SINISTER versus THE X-MEN
The Tempest: Part 4 (Marvel comics)
Where: Ultimate X-Men #49 When: September 2004
Why: Brian K Vaughan How: Brandon Peterson

The story so far...
A mysterious serial killer called Sinister has been murdering mutants throughout the Manhattan district, raising the concerns of the X-Men. Though reluctant, Professor Charles Xavier solicits the deployment of six of his most notable and seasoned students in the pursuit of the killer.

Though Wolverine and Storm track Sinister to his lair, they are horrified to discover the killer has already eluded them, and unbeknownst to the youthful X-Men left behind, he's coming for them.

Unable to detect Sinister's presence, Professor X is unable to prepare his mutants for the threat that is coming for them. Dazzler, Angel, Kitty Pryde, Rogue and Ice Man will have to fend for themselves, or die trying.

Previous Form:
Angel (#36): Has defied logic to be ranked inside the top 300.
Iceman (#42): Aided Beast in the defeat of the Lizard.
Kitty Pryde (#50): Defeated a Hydra posessed Wolverine with lethal results.
Rogue (#54): Led the X-Men to a defeat against Nimrod.
Sinister & Dazzler: Each making their first appearances in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Rogue 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Sinister 6 (Genius)
Speed: Rogue 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Sinister 6 (Generator)
Agility: Ice Man 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Kitty Pryde 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Professor X 6 (Mass Destruction)


Some of the more astute readers of the Infinite Wars will have noted the absence of Ultimate Marvel titles, and perhaps even reached the deduction that I have a particular distain for them. While that wouldn't be far from the truth, we finally prepare to usher in this new take on Marvel's merry mutants.

For the most part these X-Men resemble their aged counterparts, lacking only the lengthy experience and control over their powers otherwise attained by the originals. That said, they remain a potent force to be sure, even with Angel dragging the team down.

The exact extent of Sinister's abilities are potentially untested, but there are noteworthy differences in the offensive of this character. Gone is the Darwinist mad scientist of immense intellect, in his stead, an ex-Oscorp employee who may very well have gone completely insane.

Believing he is in the servitude of one Lord Apocalypse, he uses good old fashioned .45 pistols to do his mutant hunting, with the added bonus of an ability to avoid detection, and a telepathic influence graphically represented by the classic red diamond on his forehead. It is something of an evil eye, one might say, allowing him hypnotic influence over his subjects.

These powers all make Ultimate Sinister a worthy adversary, but against the likes of Rogue, you have to wonder how far he's going to get.

Recalling the long hours spent in the danger room, this team of mutants has a well rounded foundation of powers to call upon in the name of team work.
Iceman provides a strong offensive/defensive role, capable of both protecting his fellows with icey walls, while also attacking with shrapnel attacks, and his own icey, rocky exterior. On the projectile front, Dazzler also brings her colourful pyrokinetics to the game.

Kitty Pryde's phasing powers potentially provided an elusive defensive for the team, being that she can share intangibility with whomever she comes in contact with. If unwilling to attempt to phase-attack Sinister for fear of succumbing to his evil eye, she can at the very least ensure the ammunition rounds of his forty-fives don't hit their marks.

Finally, there's Rogue, who even without the Ms. Marvel capabilities of her counterpart, remains a threat capable of gaining energy and abilities at the expense of her opponent. The only question concerning Rogue's power stealing, is whether or not she can cope with the dark insanity of Sinister's mind.

Professor Xavier is counted, but absent for the majority of this battle, falling victim to Sinister's brutality before the game really begins. Apparently immune to Xavier's telepathy, Sinister exploits the most mundane weakness in Xavier's arsenal -- stairs.

Angel is present, and summarily useless.
His mutant power? The ability to fly away.

The Math: X-Men (Total) Sinister (Average)
The Pick: The X-Men

What went down...
Sneaking in to the mansion undetected, Sinister counters Xavier's telepathic suggestion with his own, wealing the apparently helpless mutant out into the hall only to dump him down a staircase.

Ready to murder the battered mentor, Sinister is discovered with pistols drawn by the icey Bobby Drake -- Iceman! He calls Sinister to freeze, utilizing his mutant gifts to gather a frost around Sinister's hands, to freeze them.

Sinister shoots his way out of his freezing restraints, and continues the hail of bullets, striking Iceman in the chest! The ammunition cracks and shatters his chiseled chest with an explosion of ice!

Rogue wanders out of a hall to witness the shocking event, too shocked to avoid another two-shots from Sinister's guns. Even so, both she and Sinister are stunned to find her unharmed, until the hand of Kitty Pryde slides it's way up Rogue's leg from the floor.

Shadowcat drags her fellow X-Man down through the floor, pulling her to safety in the level below. Alone, Sinister begins the hunt again, relishing their resistence as though it were meaningless sport.

As he charges through the mansion, his guns are suddenly knocking from his hands by the swipe of feathered resistance. The unhinged man finds himself on one knee, bowing before an angel of earth -- Warren Worthington III.

Angel takes a superior attitude, surprised to find himself unafraid of Sinister once disarmed. Unfortunately for him, Sinister has tricks up his sleeves, and Angel finds himself the victim of his telepathic suggestion. He compells Angel to do the unthinkable -- choke himself!

Angel drops to the ground gasping for air as he crushes at his own windpipe.

Sinister gives a brief sermon on his interests in evolution, and beliefs in reincarnation rather than heavens and hells. Before he can satisfy his biological curiosities he's blasted through a window by a volley of coloured beams!

Freed of Sinister's suggestion, Angel finds himself rescued by tearaway student - Dazzler!
The punk rock plasma chick leaves Angel to finish Sinister off for daring to invade their mansion. Before she can strike the finishing blow, Sinister counters, wrapping her arms behind her back in a cobra clutch, whilst drawing a blade from concealment.

He puts the knife to her throat, sharing the prospect of finding out what colours she has inside of her, when a stand off is reached.

Believing Iceman to be dead, Rogue holds one of Sinister's own guns on him with the intent to fullfil an eye for an eye. Fortunately for Sinister, Kitty Pryde phases through the floor to join Angel's pleas for peace, informing her Iceman suffered a broken rib or two at best, his ice absorbing the impact of the gunshots.

With a potentially lethal hostage situation still before them, Rogue insists on taking the shot, much to the dismay of Worthington. Loathed at an X-Man taking a life, he grabs Rogue by the arm, catching the gap between her long glove, and short sleeved t-shirt.

The contact proves sufficient for Rogue to begin sprouting giant angel wings from her back, while Angel drops to the ground, suffering the sapping effects.

Sinister takes pleasure in the girl's inadvertent skill to incapacitate her fellows, provoking her rages further. She leaps from the window, swooping down to snatch Sinister by the shirt, to drag him into the air.

Asking for a reason not to drop him to his demise, Rogue soon learns the depth of Sinister's insanity. With glowing red eyes, Sinister dares her to drop him, influencing her with his powers of suggestion, believing he has the greater odds of survival, perhaps by way of further powers of invulnerability or healing.

Fortunately, as Rogue begins to fall under the evil charms, Storm descends, having arrived by Blackbird with the other mutants who had been sent to the city to track Sinister. She summons a mighty storm, breaking through the suggestion with clarity and confidence. She compells the southern belle to abandon her bloodlust, and return to Earth before her borrowed wings expire.

Though it takes some doing, Storm finally talks Rogue down from the edge of murder. Though Sinister continues to try to influence the young girls decision, she proves strong enough to resist, content with knocking him out with a stiff shot, before she and Storm return him to terra firma.

A few hours later, Nick Fury and his SHIELD operatives arrive to take Sinister into custody. While locked in the SHIELD Triskelion detainment centre, Sinister has a visit from his master, Apocalypse. Emerging from the shadows, the Lord asks of his unworthy servant suffocation.

Crazy, or frighteningly real?

The hammer...
With the assist from her fellows, Rogue leads the X-Men to victory over the mansion incursion of Sinister!

Y'know, this is kinda like having all the planets in perfect alignment. This entry represents a rare occurance for the Infinite Wars. One, I've indulged in reviewing an issue of an Ultimate title, and two, it's an X-book! Rare are the days when I would be compelled to review such genres outside of some kind of forced and labored theme.

Of all the things to lead to this conclusion, a restless late night viewing of a few episodes of the 1990's X-Men cartoon, and some scenes from the Brett Ratner directed, X-Men 3. Though each have their fanbases, they're not typically what I think you'd expect to provoke decision making on a blog like this.

It was the notable downscaling of the Rogue character in X3, and her Jim Lee inspired prominence in the cartoon that really brought me to this title.
As far as I know she's absorbed some of her Age of Apocalypse style role, currently serving as a team leader for the team in the adjectiveless title.

Even so, while watching the cartoon it occurred to me that Rogue isn't the character she used to be. I mean, particularly out of the eighties and into the nineties, Rogue got to be a pretty big deal! Rogue was a character you'd find on lunchboxes and in lists of kid's favourite superheroes, whereas now, even for her elevated status, it feels to me that the character has slipped into relative obscurity.

Perhaps that's mostly a symptom of her core association with the X-Men.
We've discussed before my feelings on the progression of the X-Men in the years post-Grant Morrison, which I feel have been a drastic series of steps backward. [New X-Men #124, #150]

On a whole, I would say the X-franchise has been generally squandered to the point of total irrelevance. Only through the integration of a character like Wolverine, who serves up a six degrees of Kevin Bacon special by officially joining up with the Avengers, do the X-Men even really hit my radar.

It's probably an even sadder occasion when Angel is one of your most prominent characters, earning some spotlight through his appearances in Incredible Hulk for the World War Hulk crossover event. I mean really, Angel?!

I suppose it's fair enough to say the movement of popular stories is cyclical, and attentions have been redirected to titles that were suffering during the X-Men's previous reign of prominence. Certainly the Avengers is a prime example of the shift in vitality, bringing those characters to the forefront in a way the X-Men seemed to be for large sections of the passed decade.

Also in mind, the discussion regarding feminine concerns in comics that perpetuates many niche movements in the blogosphere. While my interests are limited, it's a subject we've touched upon before [Spider-man Family #1, New Avengers #27, Superman/Batman #15], albeit also in the hopes of getting a link on When Fangirls Attack, because let's be honest: The hits wouldn't hurt!

Something that's always attracted me in particular to the Rogue character, apart from the skin-tight yellow and green spandex bodysuit, was the fact that her character was relatively well developed within and of itself.
It seems to be typical of super heroines to be excessively derivative of existing properties, often spinning out of male counterparts. Even at the best of times these characters struggle to maintain my interests, often suffering in general.

Supergirl is probably a prime example of an unconfident and confused approach to a character inherently weakened by a redundancy complex. Without getting cringe worthy tales of super menstruation, you struggle to imagine anything unique coming from a bubbly young Kryptonian girl that hasn't already been approached with the Smallville tales of a young Kal-el.

Something the mutant women have always exceeded at is outdoing those constraints, with characters like Rogue certainly owing a lot to the creative influence of Chris Claremont. With X-Men as a vehicle, Claremont seemed to successfully champion original female characters, notching up other noteworthy works with Storm, Jean Grey and perhaps the most beloved, Kitty Pryde.

It's hard to say whether there's really any basis of mysoginism here, or if it's just a case of cheap and easy writing.

The X-brand affords a writer the creative hook of imagining a specific fantastic ability. With it instantly comes all the conceptual baggage, good and bad, of mutant society, making for a very simple, one-step hook that appears unique on it's own merits.

It more efficiently serves the purpose of spinning a character out of Superman, or the Hulk, or Batman, or Captain Marvel. Instantly granting a character a sense of identity, without distracting or lending the concept to lesser interpretations based purely on a big red S, or green hair.

Rogue definitely remains a great example of how the mutant hook presented a fairly basic slate of an idea, but eventually expanded it through the tugs and pulls inherent to that universe. It took some time, but like a Scarlet Witch, Rogue grew beyond the timid and uncertain young girl, to join the more assertive and well defined characters.

Seen here, developments derivative of the character conflicts Rogue experienced under the guidance of writers like Claremont. Rogue grapples with emotional concerns regarding her powers, and how her interactions with her friends can be potentially dangerous; while also struggling with her own rages and connection to the dark side. Certianly her association with Mystique in the core universe a defining quality to her interpretations here, and even in something like the X-Men: Evolution cartoon.

Layers like these have made Rogue one of the enduring characters to come from the 1980s. I only hope she becomes that significant, to me, again.

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4
[Vaughan fails to fullfil the excellence expected of his less mainstream projects, but competently lives up to the contemporary styles of the Ultimate brand. Skims over character, falling a little 2D as it grabs at broad strokes of concepts.]

NOTE: Prof. X also takes a defeat. Storm's involvement, inconsequential.

POWER MAN & IRON FIST versus
CONSTRICTOR & SABRETOOTH
The Jade Tiger! (Marvel comics)
Where: Power Man & Iron Fist #66 When: December 1980 Why: Mary Jo Duffy How: Kerry Gammill

The story so far...
Colleen Wing and Misty Knight are the freelance private investigators behind Nightwing Restorations. The job has taken them into the criminal black market trade of rare and exotic artifacts.

When they find their way into the bowels of the criminal's lair, the Nightwing investigators find themselves biting off more than they can chew as they stare down the menace of hired mercenaries, the Constrictor and Sabretooth!

Though Colleen Wing manages to escape, Misty Knight is thrown into the airtight safe that houses the many rare goods. Thus, Wing must seek out the aid of the Heroes for Hire, Powerman and Iron Fist, to formulate a rescue mission!

Previous Form:
Iron Fist (#96): A solo tie against Daredevil, with team-up victory over The Hand.
Power Man (#98): Avengers victory against The Hand, with defeats to Charnal and Iron Man.
Colleen Wing, Constrictor & Sabretooth: Each making their first appearances in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Luke Cage 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Iron Fist 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Iron Fist 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Sabretooth 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Iron Fist 4 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Sabretooth 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Constrictor 3 (Explosives)


They just seem to keep coming up. Combinations, characters and comics you would just assume we'd have featured in over a year and a half, and yet, this marks the first outing for Powerman and Iron Fist as the Heroes for Hire!

What a great coming out it is too, because they're pitted against the overwhelming debut tag team combination of SHIELD agent gone bad, Constrictor; and the feral mutant menace, Sabretooth!

We'll talk more about how fantastic this comic is later, but for now, who's going to win this fight? Well, they're two very different pairings, to be sure.

Sabretooth and Luke Cage are bringing the physical strength to this fight. Each possesses enhanced strength that has been known to range everywhere from a human and peak physical conditioning, to the definition of super strength.
You'd think putting these guys up against each other you'll reach a stalemate of sorts. If I had to give it to someone, it's going to be Luke Cage.

Durability is key to the strengths of Powerman and Sabretooth both, but their resistance levels vary in the way they survive. Luke Cage's super-tough hide means he can resist damage without harm, while Sabretooth is more of a marathon player, his healing factor keeping him in the big picture, but leaving him susceptibale to short term defeats. A trait we've seen in Wolverine.

Up against Constrictor, Iron Fist is going to struggle.
As a keen martial artist, the Fist fights at close quarters, and with those lengthy adamantium tendrils, the Constrictor is going to be able to keep his distance.

Other than some negligable armoring, the Constrictor's fighting capabilities are limited to his coils, which can become electrically charged, and his combat training from days as an agent of SHIELD. So if the Fist can close the gap, it's almost a certainty that Constrictor will go down.

Fortunately there's strength in numbers for the Heroes for Hire, since a shaken Colleen Wing is able to accompany them back to the villain's lair. Her samurai training makes her a tough customer, and while she might not be able to sever the adamantium coils of the Constrictor, she can certainly tie them up sufficiently to close the gap herself, or provide the opening for Iron Fist.

For the villains to win, they just have to press their advantage.
This fight is really in the hero's court, but I think they have the experience and expertise to handle it.

The Math: Heroes for Hire (Total) Constrictor/Sabretooth (Average)
The Pick: Heroes for Hire

What went down...
Having found her way to the Heroes for Hire, Colleen Wing leads them back to the base of the villains dealing in rare art. With an army of gun toting thugs, they survey the situation from across the street, assessing the best way to infiltrate the building without arousing the thugs' attentions.

Before they can pool their resources, Iron Fist disappears from the group, utilizing his training in the art of Ninjitsu to slink across the street unnoticed by cover of shadow. He sneaks right under the crook's noses, silently infiltrating the building, while across the street...

... Luke Cage decides to forego silent entry, using his brute strength and resilience to storm the building, drawing the fire of well over half a dozen crooks. Colleen joins him, using her sheathed sword as a non-lethal weapon to wrack up her own scalps, before the two reach the front entrance.

Already inside, Iron Fist uses the move that earned him his name to smash through the interior vault's door, where he finds a near unconscious Misty.

Unfortunately for the good guys, the rabble raised by Cage and Wing brings the intervention of the Constrictor. Wing draws her blade, but suffers an electric charge for her troubles, the zap channeled through her metallic blade.

Furious, Cage stalks toward the villain, resisting the whipping prod of the adamantium coils until Constrictor amps up the power to unleash an electrical charge that, he proudly boasts, once felled even the incredible Hulk!

Cage survives the hit, but the powerful charge is enough to put the fear of god even into his mighty heart! He takes evasive action, as the Constrictor lordes his advantage.

Elsewhere, Iron Fist helps Misty Knight from the vault, crediting Cage and Wing's attack as a diversion. All is going well until a gruff voice peeks from the gloom, and the heroic pair turns to find Sabretooth perched atop an armless sculpture!

Having heard the crackling of the iron fist with his animal-like senses, Sabretooth came running for a chance at payback for a previous encounter with Iron Fist.

Sabretooth launches himself at Danny Rand, who selflessly pushes Misty Knight aside to take Sabretooth's momentum and use it against him with a Judo styled toss.

Sabretooth hits the adjacent wall hard, but it's not nearly enough to stop the berzerker rage of the feral mutant. He charges back with claws at the ready, halted just barely by the speedy hands of the Iron Fist!

His hands held, Sabretooth continues to pursue his prey, gnashing wildly at Iron Fist's chest. His bites tear a piece of fabric from the green and yellow costume, and serve to rattle even the cool combatant in Iron Fist.

Doing his best to emulate his partner, Luke Cage is having even less luck with the Constrictor. Utilizing the art of "nin-whatchama-callit", Cage does his best to evade detection by hiding behind various crates and artifacts littered throughout the holding space. Alas, Cage's skills in the way of invisibility are lacking.

Constrictor taunts Power Man, giving him credit to believe sneaking is below him. His taunts of waiting for Cage to die of pneumonia, as an exposed pipe pours water over him, are enough to again stir the bravado of Cage.

Back up stairs, Iron Fist is stirring his own battle, tossing Sabretooth into a suit of armor. All looks good, but it places Sabretooth by the light switch. In the dark, Iron Fist is at the mercy of Sabretooth's keen senses.

Iron Fist does his best to feel out his opponent, but soon feels the slashing sting of Sabretooth's mutant claws. Leaping from the darkness, Sabretooth slashes at his back, dropping him with full force.

Misty Knight can do nothing but watch in horror as Sabretooth lurches from his squat position, looming over a fallen and apparently defenseless foe.

With little regard for honor, Sabretooth offers to give Misty the hero's heart as a memento of her feelings, but before he can make good on his promise of butchery, yellow bootied feet spring forth!

With lightning speed, the cunning Iron Fist launches at Sabretooth with a kick to the face, followed with a stiff right that knocks the murderous mutant silly before he hits the ground!

Rand reveals a sneaky plan to roll through Sabretooth's attack, and lure him in with a little animal trick of his own -- playing possum! With the entirety of his strength behind the blows, Iron Fist succeeds in putting Sabretooth down for good.

Elsewhere, Power Man charges at the Constrictor soaked in water from a pipe exposed during his evasion. The Constrictor makes good on his name, wrapping Cage up in his unbreakable coils before unleashing the full electrocuting force they channel.

Though super-durable, even Cage sweats it out under the concussive power.
Running out of options, he uses the last of his strength to yank Constrictor off his feet by the coils, and swing him around the room!

Like a super villain hammer toss, Cage hurls the Constrictor at the exposed water pipe, turning his electrocution powers against him! Unable to cease the power before impact, Constrictor fries by his own hand!

Fortunately for the villain, his suit provides insulation, but Sabretooth and he are left helpless for the police. And Nightwing Restorations can notch up another successful case, retrieving the Jade Tiger they were hired to find.

The hammer...
Sweet Christmas! It's a victory for the Heroes for Hire, with an assist from Colleen Wing! A good result all round, not just for the gang, but for us. This is one of those issues that's just been sitting on my pile for so long, it was about time we looked at it.

What really pressed the matter was the recent death by decapatation of Sabretooth in Jeph Loeb's conclusion to his disappointing Wolverine/Sabretooth encounter, Wolverine #55.

We were supposed to have already had a look at a couple of other Sabretooth features by now, but I suppose it's serendipity that we start with one of his more conspicuous appearances. The movie-going kids will be interested to know that this was only Sabretooth's second appearance, having faced off against Iron Fist some fifty issues previous!

It would be some years before Sabretooth would become forevermore bound to the Wolverine character, as their histories were developed and intertwined.
For the uninitiated, it should also be noted that Wolverine made his first appearance far away from the mutant mire, showing up in Incredible Hulk #180.

Sabretooth would go through many iterations throughout his thirty-year career in comics, meeting his end while an active member of the X-Men, an unlikely position he has taken more than once. More often than not, Sabretooth's prevailing brutality and lack of true goals have been the difference between he and Wolverine.

We actually see in this issue one of the things I like about Sabretooth, and a tangent by degrees to what's been great in Ed Brubaker's Daredevil.
It seems I just can't help but bring it all back to mercenaries and street-level villains. I guess that's just something I really enjoy and feel passionate about, and I'm sorry that the Sabretooth character won't be a part of that scene.

Well, I say won't, but it probably shouldn't be any less likely that a character with a healing factor would come back to life. Even if his death involved decapatation with a magic sword capable of nullifying healing powers.

But to get back on point, it's the existence of these recurring mercenary characters, whose motivations are malleable to a story or situation, that is something I find so enjoyable about these characters. Ed Brubaker is doing it better than ever in Daredevil, currently utilizing characters like Mister Fear and the Enforcers to great effect.

Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, the title he's been co-writing with Matt Fraction, Immortal Iron Fist, has lacked this kind of look at the Marvel underworld. Looking at this particular issue really brings up how much I'd enjoy seeing that kind of approach to Iron Fist, but it's been the prerogative of Fraction and Brubaker to steep Iron Fist in a new, retroactive history.

There's a lot of literary and pulp precedent for the work they're doing.
Shades of various pulp characters with ties to the orient, and the famous successive nature of characters like The Phantom have been strongly swirled through, while the Iron Fist mythology grows, combining it's kung-fu heart with various styles and eras. Fun, but maybe not the Iron Fist for me.

It's this more superhero styled Iron Fist that interests me.
The type of character that will cross swords with Sabretooth, and other characters of this kind. A character whose yellow and green togs specifically relate to the simplicity of a combative superhero life; rather than tangential colours representative of a clan that somewhat strips the character of his individuality.

Still, this is really more of a personal desire, and not necessarily a sleight to the work. Certainly I can find something more along those lines in the pages of New Avengers, where Power Man and Iron Fist have been reunited as part of the secret team of Avengers pursuing less cosmic or overly super challenges.

Brian "Lemon Lumps*" Bendis is bringing the corner of the Marvel universe I so keenly enjoy to the New Avengers, as he transitions out of the Skrull-Elektra story, into a new tale starring The Hood, who's aspirations are to become Kingpin of Super Villains.

In a lot of ways this is exactly what I'm talking about, although, we bring the point back to the original motivator - Sabretooth's death - by expressing some disappointment in the way The Hood's story has begun. A collected auction for a mysteriously inoperative Deathlok is the scene where the Hood stakes his claim, assassinating auctioneer The Owl as a way of sending a message.

It's another case of an unfortunate loss of a valuable character, but like Sabretooth, I suppose we can assume there's every chance The Owl will reemerge. It's just a shame that such an unrealistic tact has to be taken for the continued interests of these characters. Lord knows there's no easy way to bring a character back from the dead, as we're seeing with the announced time slip of the 1940's Invaders in the upcoming Invaders/Avengers, that will see a return for Captain America.

But that might be a subject for another time. I think I've awkwardly crammed enough discussion into this Friday's conclusion. Verily, let there be one more item discussed, for it is Friday, and the cosmic decree of Bahlactus rings true!

So it is written, so too must it be that Bahlactus surveys all combat on this night of fights! Though we may claim our place among the first, let all know that the bloggerverse is watching Bahlactus, and he is watching back!... Or something...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5
[Like previous entries from 1980, a thoroughly enjoyable superhero romp full of action, excitement and super villains! I wouldn't have it any other way!]

* Not an actual nickname for Bendis.