HAWKMAN/HAWKGIRL versus SOLOMON GRUNDY
Earth and Sky (DC comics)
Where: Hawkman #33 When: December 2004
Why: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti How: Andy Smith

The story so far...
Hawkman and Hawkgirl have made the trek from their new home in St. Roch to visit The Big Apple, New York City; where meetings are held by the Justice Society of America.
The pair decide to follow-up a lead on a mysterious "golem" from Batman, but get more than they bargained for when their flight is interrupted by an exploding helicopter in the Manhattan airspace!

The chopper, carrying a very special cargo, was on it's way to an experimental research facility on Riker's Island. A Dr. Kinetti conducts experiments that seek to learn more about the super-criminal mind and physiology, but his unorthodox and wreckless behaviour has unleashed one of these evils, and he's none-too-pleased. Born on a Monday, he is -- Solomon Grundy!

Previous Form:
Hawkman (#30): Harsh victories over the St. Roch killer, and Matter Master.
Hawkgirl (#196): Aided Hawkman in his pursuit of the St. Roch killer.
Monolith/Solomon Grundy: Each making their debut in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Monolith 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Hawkman 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Hawkgirl 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Solomon Grundy 6 (Generator)
Agility: Hawkgirl 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Hawkman 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Hawkman 2 (Projectile Weapon)


- At the root of Hawkman and Hawkgirl's fantastic crime-fighting abilities lies the Thanagarian alien Nth Metal alloy, which makes up his belt and portions of his costume. The metal is responsible for Hawkman's flight, while his wings regulate and control his movement in accordance. The Nth Metal also enhances strength and speed, maintains body temperature in extreme conditions, and grants it's wearer dramatically increased healing abilities for even severe wounds.

Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl are part of a cyclical series of reincarnations that see the two star-crossed lovers destined to die whenever they may come together. Memories of past lives have influenced the contemporary Hawkman, and are in part attributed to his favouring of medieval weaponry.

- It was during the 1930s that a man was murdered by the mob, and his blood was used to raize a mythological golem to protect the innocent. This golem would be simply called, the Monolith! As a force for justice the Monolith would act without control, but freed from his prison beneath the city, he would emerge in the modern age once more as a beacon of justice.

The Monolith's clay body possesses super strength, durability and endurance.

- The true origins of Solomon Grundy are unclear, but it is widely believed he is the spirit of wealthy merchant, Cyrus Gold, who is said to have been murdered in the late 1800's and dumped in Slaughter Swamp. Rising from the marsh, Grundy becomes an undead force that would come to menace Batman, Green Lantern, and both the Justice Society and Justice League.

Grundy possesses superhuman strength and endurance, and a penchant for returning from even the most fatal of scenarios. His personality is seen to shift after many of these lethal experiences, usually with minimal higher brain functions, reducing him to a lumbering and disgruntled monster.

Due to his marshy origins at Slaughter Swamp, Solomon Grundy has been seen to possess the ability to negate the Green Lantern's ring by way of it's weakness for things made of wood. This is presumably due to the bark and debris from the bog that saw his formation.

The Math: Hawkman/Hawkgirl The Pick: Solomon Grundy

What went down...
The power of the Nth Metal gives Hawkman the strength to stay an airborne car's path as it hurtles toward innocent bystanders on the New York street. Responsible for the vehicles path, a disgruntled Solomon Grundy emerging from the smouldering rubble of the crash transport helicopter.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl swoop down in unison to pacify the situation, jumping into the fray mace-first. The whack does well to send a collared Grundy hurtling down the bricked street to an impactful halt. Despite the offensive, Grundy seems content to merely defend himself with the fling of a manhole cover, and a grouchy request to be left to his own devices.

The metal cover, dodged by the nimble Hawksters, hurtles like a deadly discus toward innocent unlookers. Only the intervention of a massive stoney grey hand saves them, as it plucks the disc of doom from the air.

Batman's golem, the Monolith, steps onto the street with an awkward warning for the JSA heroes, but he proves too great a distraction. The surprisingly mobile Grundy is upon them in an instant, snatching the two hawk-heroes in his giant mits to lift them menacingly into the air.

The Monolith is compelled to aid them, attacking with a super-sized left hook that sends Grundy, with Hawkman and Hawkgirl still in-hand, hurtling once more into a nearby building. Grundy soon emerges, with no concept for the irony of his claim, "Grundy hate monsters!!!"

The two musclebound re-animated figures come to blows in the street as Dr. Kinetti emerges, having held a talk on his project with costumed and super powered villains nearby. He attempts to organize his resources to recapture Grundy, but his clandestine appearance does not go unnoticed.

Grundy shrugs the Monolith off, tossing him into a stationary car, before charging toward the doctor responsible for poking and prodding him. The distraction is sufficient to this time give Hawkman and Hawkgirl the upperhand, launching a surprise attack, once more with their fixed maces.

The blows are enough to floor the unwitting Grundy, but fail to keep him down. Despite repeated strikes, Grundy is able to rise from the ground to swat the heroes on an out-of-control trajectory.

The Monolith thunders in from behind for a sneak attack that rocks Grundy into an abandoned hotdog stand, but Grundy is able to use back-against-pavement to launch Monolith away from him with his powerful legs. The bulky golem comes to a crash landing, taking Hawkman down with him!

Agreeing to work with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Monolith takes orders to attack the situation with strategy. As Grundy again rampages toward a stunned Kinetti, the Monolith takes advantage, grabbing Grundy by the shoulders to turn him into a devestating left hook!

With Grundy rattled, Hawkman and Hawkgirl swoop in for another mace attack, knocking Grundy to the ground.
Before he can rise once more as he so often does, the Monolith puts the exclamation point on it, slamming his rock-like fist into Grundy's skull against the pavement!

With the police finally showing on the scene, the Monolith disappears into the shadows of the surrounding buildings.
Rather than pursue, Hawkman opts to return the golem's favour, allowing him to disappear into the night.

The heroes chastise the dubious Dr. Kinetti for his mishandling of the volitile Grundy, and flutter away to catch a movie, before returning to St. Roch.

The hammer...
So kids, did we all learn the value of teamwork? I hope so, because it earned Monolith, Hawkman and Hawkgirl all victory!

Y'know, like many a comic fan, I can be a little pedantic sometimes. I like taking a look at things with an expected level of detail, like for instance, the thorough inclusion of names, dates and details for our reviews. Like Batman's never-ending war on crime, I like to think the Infinite Wars might make some difference when it comes to finding what you want. I want to provide a resource as much as I do an entertainment outlet, specifically catering to those 'hey, didn't he fight that guy back in...' moments. Thus, it's with great pride that I take note of all the hits coming in from specific issues searches.

In fact, when checking some of those very searches, I'm pleased to the Infinite Wars even manage to rate among the top, beating down some of the incidental and unrelated results from dodgy merchants, and lifeless spam-sites.

Of course, with all of that in mind, it's easy to forget that there's a spine of trivial fun to what we do on the Infinite Wars. In amongst the bouts of musing and commentary, it's our sports league approach to superhero fisticuffs that helps differentiate us from the countless other superhero comic book blogs.

With fun in mind, I plucked this issue of Hawkman that's been on the to-do pile for quite some time. Why? Pretty much no other reason than, it's fun.
Well, that and the loose Halloween theme we've got going on. Solomon Grundy is one of those characters that just hasn't managed to make it on the site, but has always been a character I wanted to get into the mix. He's a great character!
A passing affection for the Alan Scott Green Lantern helped endear the Grundy character to me, but I would have to fully submit that it was the award winning Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale Batman collaboration that really won me over.
Some might say this version of Grundy walked a little close to the incredible Hulk, but I like to enjoy it free of that comparison. Grundy as a benign presence beneath Gotham City really strikes a chord with me, and has even influenced some of my work with a golem character of my own, the Spirit of Chernobyl.

I suppose that's an endearing quality common to a lot of monster figures throughout the history of literature, perhaps most notably Frankenstein's Monster, the inspiration for the Hulk. It's inherently interesting to find humanity in the most unlikely of places, often staging a platform for reflecting humanity's own evils in the glint of a dark monster's eye.

It was interesting that Palmiotti and Gray did not follow up on such a theme, which is suggested in the underlying treatment of Grundy, by Dr. Kinetti. This is clearly an over zealous presence, interested in pursuing his own glory at the cost of villains as a commodity. Grundy's disposition in this issue, though dangerous to the innocent, is immediately sympathetic, given the alluded torture suffered at the experimental Riker's facility. Perhaps a follow-up exists elsewhere, but I am not aware of such a story.

It's probably worth noting that the Monolith featured a follow-up, despite cancellation of the series in 2005. The character emerged once again as a protector of the people, present in Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven.

I enjoyed this one! I like Hawkman, I like Solomon Grundy, and this was an entry purely about superhero fisticuffs. The Infinite Wars represent many things, but I hope this entry, while providing a few morsels of information, reminds us all that it's about having fun!

... And also selling comics. If you haven't already, be sure to check out The Kirby Martin Inquest from Nite Lite Theatre, available online through ComixPress for the low price of $2.99 plus shipping. Cha-ching! ;-p

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 4
[Tomorrow we'll be singing our battlesong in chorus with the rest of the blogosphere as part of Bahlactus' inevitably Halloween themed Friday Night Fights. Not to be confused with the "original" Infinite Wars: Friday Fight Nights. (Ooo, rivalry!) Stay tuned as we continue our vaguely Halloween themed posts, perhaps even beyond the thirty-first. Why not? But now: I SLUMBER!]

COVER TO COVER: SPOOKTOBER SPECIAL!
A little bit of a rethink for the Cover to Cover back issue feature. Rather than slogging through the back catalogue, I thought it might be nice to try to use themes to isolate certain groups. So, while I take a quick breather before continuing the Halloween entries, why not check out some of these past reviews with a spooky theme?

Uncanny X-Men #143 (March 1981)
"Demon" Claremont/Byrne
'Tis the season to be jolly! As the X-Men fan out of the mansion to join up with loved ones, Kitty Pryde is left alone in the mansion.

What begins as a great opportunity for a shower, turns into a horror scene as the dreaded N'Garai demons sprout another totem on the X-Mansion's grounds, and one of their demons has come for Shadowcat!

Like a classic slasher flick, Kitty has to rely on her wits as the Mansion becomes a labyrinth in which she desperately tries to lose her hunter. Is Kitty ready to become a full fledged X-Men, or will this deadly confrontation with the N'Garai Demon see her losing her head?

What if...? #24 (April 1991)
"What If... Wolverine had become Lord of Vampires?" Thomas/Lofficer/Morgan
Come as the Watcher shows you a world not so different from our own, where Wolverine was able to resist Dracula's hold and defeat him to become lord of vampires!

It begins with the X-Men, but eventually Wolverine and his hordes of vampires are able to selectively turn and feed on their pick of Marvel heroes! New York City becomes a quarenteen zone, but a few brave warriors continue to take the fight to the vampire legion!

With the help of the spirit of Dr. Strange, Frank Castle aka; the Punisher, does his best to avenge humanity, and put an end to Wolverine's reign as vampire lord!

Justice League Unlimited #14 (December 2005)
"Everbody Limbo!" Beechen/Barberi
The Demons Three; Abnegazar, Ghast & Rath are up to no good, and Deadman's going to need some help if the afterlife of Limbo is going to be saved from their scheme!

Heading back to the land of the living, the spirit Deadman seeks the aid of the Justice League, but in situations such as these it's not Superman or Wonder Woman, but the occult collective of the Trenchcoat Brigade that need answer the call!

Travelling together, this unlikely motley group of demons, magicians, sorcerors and angels travel into the realm between heaven and hell. Can they possibly restore the balance, or does evil have a trump card up it's sleeve?

Marvel Zombies #1 (February 2006)
"Marvel Zombies Part 1 of 5" Kirkman/Phillips
When Reed Richards discovered a means to contact an older version of himself in a parallel universe, he could never have dreamed that it would lead to the evolution of one of the most destructive cosmic forces in the multi-verse!

Come back to where it all started, as the macabre Marvel Zombies find themselves stranded in a world where most humans are already devoured. Between the zombies and their crushed hopes -- Magneto; mutant master of magnetism! Can he possibly survive the onslaught, or will he be a valuable source of iron for our former-heroes?
Spidey and the undead gang are just dying to show you!

Batman #663 (April 2007)
"Clown at Midnight" Morrison/Van Fleet/Klein
A funeral procession for a clown is slaughtered by an unseen killer, all former agents of the sinister Joker!
The murerous clown prince of crime is back to his old tricks, having recovered from a pointblank gunshot to the face! What evils lurk behind the healed grin of the Joker?

The Batman is about to find out as he follows the Joker's grim and deadly line of clues to the mental hospital where he intends to unveil his newest iteration.

Batman and Joker comes to blows in one of their eeriest encounters to date, in this rare prose edition of the Batman series, as envisioned by Grant Morrison, writer of the original Arkham Asylum series!

WONDER MAN versus GRIM REAPER
"Whatsoever a man soweth..." (Marvel comics)
Where: Avengers West Coast #65 When: December 1990 Why: Roy & Dann Thomas How: Paul Ryan

The story so far...
Eric Williams was the black sheep of the industralist dynasty that would eventually see his favoured brother, Simon, inheret their fortune and business, while Eric would pursue a life of crime with the Maggia organization.

Having been turned into the ionically charged Wonder Man by Baron Zemo, Simon would apparently sacrifice his life saving the Avengers he had been sent to destroy.
Distraught over his brother's apparent passing, Eric turns to his Maggia contacts which lead him to the Tinkerer, who helps design his scythe weapon as part of the murderous alter-ego of the Grim Reaper.

Wonder Man would eventually return, having only been in a coma, and the two would have mixed relations in the years to come. Eventually, after a plot to destroy Vision and Wonder Man, Eric comes to realise the error of his ways and dies during his escape, but the Williams seem to have a habit of coming back...

Previous Form:
Wonder Man (#203): Was among the pro-registration Avengers during Civil War.
Scarlet Witch (#162): Has had mixed team results with the Avengers and Brotherhood.
Grim Reaper: Eric Williams makes his Infinite Wars debut.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Wonder Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Grim Reaper 2 (Average)
Speed: Wonder Man 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Grim Reaper 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Grim Reaper 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Wonder Man 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Grim Reaper 4 (Arsenal)


- As a result of tampering by Baron Zemo, Wonder Man possesses a build up of ionic energies that power his body in strange ways. He possesses superhuman strength, durability, stamina and speed.

Over the years Wonder Man's ionic energy has built-up to allow him means of wingless flight, retiring the limited rocket belt that was a staple of his garb. Likewise, after exposure to a Kree bomb, he was further mutated to allow energy projection, and limited shape shifting capabilities.

- Accompanying Wonder Man is the Scarlet Witch, who during this period was powerless after being apparently stripped of Nexus energies granted by Immortus, that greatly inhanced her inherent hex abilities.

- Grim Reaper began his career with the exclusive employment of technologies, but his association with the super villain community eventually led him to aquire powers mystic in nature. They would be in full force when, after passing, Eric Williams was resurrected by his associate, Nekra. Reanimated, this undead Grim Reaper requires the energies of human life to maintain his existance, and that is where our story begins...

The Math: Wonder Man The Pick: Wonder Man

What went down...
Having been risen from the grave, Eric Williams murders the woman responsible for his return to feed on her life energy. He travels through Californian backroads, coming across a naive Satanic death cult operating in an abandoned bunker.
Taking full advantage of the youths inside, Grim Reaper slaughters the entire lot, absorbing their energies to sustain his "life." A young girl manages to escape.

Running to civilization, the bloody girl manages to reach a diner where Wanda Maximoff and Simon Williams just happen to be enjoying an evening out, before dying on the floor. The pair of Avengers make arrangements to accompany local law enforcement, exercising the broad jurisdiction afforded to them as government sponsored heroes.

Wonder Man heads into the bunker first, leaving the powerless Scarlet Witch with the local police. Expecting to find the scene of a gang struggle, Wonder Man is shocked to instead discover the desiccated remains of the cult members -- and the resurrected visage of the Grim Reaper -- his deceased brother!

Wonder Man charges at his brother, using a table to pin him against the wall while keeping distance between them. The brothers skip pleasantry, the Reaper revealing the nature of his primal goal to sustain life, whilst smashing through the table with his enhanced undead strength.

Summoning responsibility not always characteristic, Wonder Man sends his brother hurtling into the wall with a super-left straight punch, declaring responsibility for his brother's machinations.

The battle within the bunker sends a rumble to the outside, tipping Scarlet Witch and the armed cops off to events unfolding. They rush to Simon's aid, finding Wonder Man unintentionally airborne as he slams backward into the doorway.

The police open fire on the rampaging Reaper, but their bullets have no slowing affect on the already dead Williams brother. Driven by apparent survival instinct, as much as resentment, the Reaper presses on, tossing the officers aside.

Convinced the murderous creature attacking him could not be his protective brother, Wonder Man decides to allow the Reaper's scythe to penetrate his protective aura, believing his ionic invulnerability will protect him.

To each brother's surprise, when life-draining scythe meets ionically-charged flesh, a reverse effect is seen. The Grim Reaper's face gapes with surprise as his precious energies are drained from him, expelling into the body of Wonder Man, who feels an overwhelming rush of cold evil welling inside him.

Once again in need of life energies to sustain him, Grim Reaper turns his attentions to the powerless Wanda Maximoff and her impotent armed guard.
When and attempt to summong a hex spell fails, the Scarlet Witch opts for a more tactile defense, knocking over the single lantern lighting the bunker.

Rim-lit by the moonlight, the Grim Reaper is distracted sufficiently to allow Wonder Man to return to the fray. He reaches out to his brother with the backing of advanced technology and scientific minds afforded by the Avengers. The Reaper proves uninterested, intent instead on pursuing his base needs for life.

The Reaper flees into the night, leaving Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch and the policemen to only imagine what evils are yet to come.

The hammer...
Ah, we've seen it all before in the Infinite Wars! An inconclusive result that leaves us without a clear winner. Though Wonder Man was clearly shaken by the energy dispersed within him, I think it was clearly he who got the better of the Reaper, so I'm giving it to him on points, with the assist to the powerless Scarlet Witch.

If you're wondering, yes! This is the first of our shakey, vaguely halloween themed posts for the rest of the month! With any luck Satanic cults and a resurrected death themed villain, now walking the earth with the soul intent to feast on the living will prove sufficient for your spooky superhero intake.

I'm not particularly attached to the Wonder Man character, [or Scarlet Witch, for that matter], but this is one of those comcis I always like to come back to.
I think it's becoming clear I have a subconscious affinity for Paul Ryan, and certainly mainstream Marvel superhero comics from the nineties.

Talking about USAgent recently, I couldn't help but think back to this issue which, despite spending most of it's time on the WM/SW couple, manages to slip in a great little friction-filled bout of fisticuffs between fierce rivals, Hawkeye and [USAgent]. It's a fairly classic superhero writing style that peppers the incidental around the story, largely absent from today's comics, (in this form), probably for the better.

What has carried through is the penchant for resurrection in superhero fiction.
In the absence of a solid discussion point, I again turn to the cumulative statistics of the Infinite Wars that show us just how prevelant death and resurrection has been to characters of all levels.

Top 25 Dead-Heads:
#1 Captain America
#2 Superman
#3 Mr. Fantastic
#4 Thor
#5 Ultimate Beast
#6 Green Arrow
#7 Catwoman
#8 Red Hood
#9 Iron Fist
#10 Hawkman
#11 Elektra
#12 Ben Reilly
#13 Winter Soldier
#14 Flash
#15 Jean Grey
#16 Cyclops
#17 Dr. Doom
#18 Hawkeye
#19 Black Bolt
#20 Lyja
#21 Raiden
#22 Black Mask
#23 Death's Head
#24 Noob Saibot
#25 DeathlokMany prominent characters in both the Marvel and DC universes have spent an extended period on the other side.

Wonder Man numbers among the characters so intimately associated with death, it's become the point of comedy.
Much like a Jean Grey or Magneto, any threat to the character and their mythology is completely nullified by the on-again, off-again nature of death in superhero comics.

Likewise, the dead pool is currently speculating how long the upcoming Captain America's tenure can be, with the expectation that the return of Steve Rogers as the Captain is all but inevitable. Yes, that's even with guarantees from editorial and writer that the character will not make a return any time soon.

Which, I suppose, highlights the nature of the medium, and the way the relationship between concept, creator, and reader has blurred the lines of what does and doesn't work.

Death as a plot device has been a tittilating detail of popular fiction for as long as it's existed. The mythological qualities of the resurrection resonate with all walks of life, and it's difficult to deny the power of such a return under the right circumstances. Captain America, a character built upon iconic ideology, stands to expand his legend in ways never before explore by returning from the dead.

Imagine the creative possibilities presented by exploring the messiah qualities of a hero who sacrificed himself for freedom in the face of Tony Stark's oppression. Captain America was seen to be forgiven by the people who'd come to fear him, to a degree, but could his return sway them totally? Food for thought, and some interesting stories should Marvel as a company be inclined to approach that side of it.

Does any of this make it right, though? Does one story prospect make-up for the countless unnecessary deaths that have stripped superhero comics of the air of legitimate threat?

I suppose we can bring our discussion full-circle, coming back to the style of superhero story telling that favours awkward inclusions of characters in no direct relation to the story being told. Sure, it's fun to look back on a heavy handed two-page tiff that awkwardly jutts before the story, but perhaps that kind of story telling is best left in the past.

Likewise, death as a story 'middle', a problem to be solved, is perhaps best left in the decades behind us, where such a thrill might have even carried a question mark. The disenfranchised have contributed to an adult conceit in comic books, and as part of 'growing up', it might be time to put forward finite consequences on the actions portrayed within these books.

If these characters are destined to live forever, it might be time we stopped kidding ourselves. Have an opinion on death in comics? Drop a comment!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4.5
[Imagine if on Halloween, every comic superhero and villain that has returned from the dead suddenly turned into a mindless, blood-thirsty zombie! What would we have then? Anarchy? Bloodshed? Mass casualty? Perhaps just thirty-six variant zombie covers for the month of October... Oy!]

BLACK PANTHER/STORM versus DR DOOM
World Tour Part One: Holiday in Latveria
(Marvel comics)
Where: Black Panther #19 When: October 2006
Why: Reginald Hudlin How: Scot Eaton

The story so far...
It was the wedding of an African king and goddess on Earth bringing together not only powers of political and mutant natures, but also the fractured superhero community of America, who partook in a brief cease-fire for the occasion, leaving their ideals at the door.

Wakanda's Black Panther, and the Kenyan mutant, Storm, would not only marry as lovers, but as two potential world powers the likes of which the world have never seen. Thus, the honeymoon is over quickly as the couple head to Latveria to respond to a message of concern from Victor Von Doom.

Responding to Doom's invitation to air greivances of international paranoia for the couple's power, and their relations between an America in the wake of the registration civil war; T'Challa and Ororo make the trek to Castle Doomstadt.
Slightly repulsed by Doom's dictatorial hold, the couple maintain diplomacy for the beginning of their world tour, prepared to fight if necessary.

Previous Form:
Black Panther (#231): Joined the Fantastic Four and Doom in battle against Super-Skrull.
Storm (#24): Team victories over Ahab & Atlantis, with a solo over Wonder Woman.
Dr. Doom (#56): Doom has orchestrated victories over Thing and Silver Surfer.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Dr. Doom 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Dr. Doom 6 (Genius)
Speed: Black Panther 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Dr. Doom 6 (Generator)
Agility: Black Panther 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Black Panther 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Storm 5 (Lasers)


- T'Challa is the monarch of the African nation of Wakanda, rich in vibranium. As ruler he has inherited not only the responsibilities of a country, but also the power and training of the Black Panther. This includes physical training to the peak of human conditioning, enhanced primal senses, advanced tracking skills, and impressive speed and agility.

Black Panther also possesses a wide arsenal of weaponry of his own design, stemming from a keen intellect with specific penache for mechanical engineering. Though typically reliant upon his natural fighting skills, the suit has commonly included claws, throwing weapons, and climbing equipment.

Black Panther is also a keen analyst and strategist.

- Ororo Munroe is a former leader of the X-Men, and mutant once worshiped in her native Kenya as a goddess for her powers to influence weather as Storm.

Her inherent mutant powers include the ability to ride controlled gusts of wind that facilitate flight, direct bolts of lightning at intended targets, summon arctic winds and snow, and control fog. Storm is also a well trained fighter in hand-to-hand combat, though not typically known for it.

- As monarch of Latveria, Victor Von Doom possesses much of the same power and responsibility as Black Panther. Doom's total control over his tiny European nation perhaps provides him with greater funds, allowing him to better exercise his defensive inventions to include an army of doombots, and many other cover weaponries.

Like T'Challa, Doom is a keen strategist, often employing an array of contingency plans, and Doombot decoys to manipulate situations to his favour.

Doom is also versed in the mystic arts, making for a dense defensive against all attacks. Doom's greatest weaknesses remain his total arrogance, and obsession with arch-nemesis, Reed Richards. Even so, these weaknesses are likewise prevelant in any analysis of his strengths, proving to be great motivators for Doom's preemptive strategies.

The Math: Dr. Doom The Pick: Dr. Doom

What went down...
Doom greets his guests with a conventional wedding gift, glasswork from Lalique, a token gesture and metaphor for Doom's opinion of the world -- beautiful but fragile. On this premise, Doom puts forward his political concerns in a climate created by the superhero civil war, regarding Tony Stark, SHIELD and a United States government at war.

Unwilling to indulge Doom in theatrics, Black Panther, having seen through the automaton that greeted he and his queen, demands the real Doom show himself. The lack of human musk the catalyst for the reveal, Doom acknowledges the fault of his perfections. It's a point that raises the race card, and a caged clash of machismo between the two world powers.

Doom rights the derailed meeting, proposing an unlikely alliance between Wakanda and Latveria as nations with superpowered interests. Despite a convincing argument of negative world views, T'Challa and Ororo respectfully decline Doom's proposals, a rejection that incurs the ire of Doom.

Like termites from the woodwork, an army of Doombots emerge from every crevice and cranny of Castle Doomstadt. Accepting the inevitable, Black Panther and Storm begin tearing through the automated visages of Dr. Doom.


Storm calls down a bolt of lightning to strike the true Doom, recalling a debt owed from a previous encounter. Alas, Doom's technologies ensure he is unharmed by even the unfiltered power or nature.

Directing Storm to turn her powers on the army of robots, Black Panther opts to meet Doom's arrogance on more personal grounds, revealing hidden armor from within his costume. Doom is unimpressed, prompting a further battle of wills.


Doom meets Panther head-on in a contest of hand-to-hand, and verbal combat.
The Panther proves the victor, pressing the advantage of his superior fighting skills, along with testosterone driven trivia regarding the origins of his armor.

Meanwhile, Storm continues to call upon lightning to cut through the endless hordes of Doombots that confront her. The Panther emplores Doom to keep the fight between the two of them with a stern warning that Doom finds uncompelling, under the illusion of total dominance from within his fortress.

In response, the Panther remotely activates his jet outside. Doombots respond with force, but the Panther's trump card proves to be an Electro-Magnetic Pulse that obliterates the function of the Doombots stationed, and reduces Latveria to a blackout.

Black Panther boasts the crippling effects of his EMP, but under estimates Doom's enginuity.
Assuming his armor would be likewise effected, it is a harsh correction when Doom leaps freely at his foe, unhindered and with the fury of an entire nation.

The left hand of Doom sends Black Panther flying through the air into shelving and trinkets. The Latverian continues the assault, pursuing right that again sends the light-armored Panther airborne.

With T'Challa by the throat, Von Doom parades his strengths and the marvels of his highly sophisticated armor. It is the intervention of Storm and a massive gale force wind that frees the Wakandan King, whose pride is wounded far greater than his body. He lashes out as his queen for interfering.

Slumped against the debris of his possessions, Doom mocks T'Challa's romantic tiff. He compares the marriage to his own travels in hell, remarking, "I escape from Hell. But you -- You have willingly entered it! Hahaha..."

With that, the King leaves with his Queen, and the two reconcile with a kiss and a little comedy gold; "Not everything can be resolved with a kiss, Ororo." "How do you know? Did you ever try and kiss Doom?"

The hammer...
And after a hard fought battle, Storm and Black Panther walk away with a well earned win. This makes Doom 1-3 in our month of Doom, a special extension of Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays.
If you're just joining us, or a regular, look forward to next month's Punch-Up where we'll be doing a recap of all the characters featured.

You can also look forward to a vaguely spooky theme as we spend the rest of the month featuring the darkside in the countdown to all hallow's eve. For the sake of my own justification, I like to think Doom is vaguely appopriate for Halloween, what with the spooky armor, European accent, and gnarly Kreuger-esque facial burns.

Speaking of horrors, we spent some time during the lead-up to the wedding speculating how it might effect the characters, but haven't really revisited the situation since. For those who don't know; Black Panther and Storm made international press headlines when Marvel announced their wedding in 2006, which eventually unfolded in the pages of Black Panther [#18].

With the Panther having endured mixed reactions for a new on-going series, it was Storm who seemed likely to benefit the most from the high profile marriage. The X-Man had fallen into relative obscurity as the X-franchise rolled on with the inclusion X-Treme to an already bloated franchise.

I think it's safe to say, to some degree, it turned out as expected.
The couple were thrust into a prominent spotlight with a replacement spot on the Fantastic Four, giving Reed Richards and Sue Storm an opportunity to reconcile in the aftermath of the Civil War. Unfortunately, to some, this tenure has been cut short in favour of returning Reed and Sue to fulltime membership for a run with high-profile creators, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch.

In the most recent episode of the iFanboy podcast, the subject of marriage in superhero fiction was [again] raised by a fan letter. The iFanboy gang have shared an opinion much the same as Doom, referring to marriage as a creative blanket, likely to smother the interest that brought A and B together.

For the most part it's hard to fault their examples.
Characters like Jean Grey and Cyclops benefitted little from their union, likewise it's debatable if the Superman/Lois Lane relationship ever lived up to the hype of the pre-game entertainment. Of course, these are references all foot-noted by certain handicaps not at all inherent to the marriages themselves.

The X-Men series, particularly through the nineties, has always had a tenuous relationship with "good writing", and as one of the most visible pop culture references in corporate America; Superman struggles with development in any sense, let alone some of the more interesting conclusions to be reached through a married character in his predicament.

I'm almost universally an advocate of the theory that anything can work given the right circumstances, and certainly marriage falls swiftly into that category.
I would probably cite Black Panther/Storm as one of the better marriages to come of recent years. Aside from the fact Storm didn't feel it necessary to stab T'Challa in the neck on their wedding night -- you have two characters who otherwise teeter around the B-list, benefitting from the sum of the two parts.

Top 25 Knot-tiers
#1 Spider-man (Mary-Jane)
#2 Batman (Catwoman)
#3 Wolverine (Madame Hydra)
#4 Superman (Lois Lane)
#5 Mr. Fantastic (Sue Storm)
#6 Black Adam (Unknown)
#7 Invisible Woman (Mr. Fantastic)
#8 Daredevil (Milla)
#9 Green Arrow (Black Canary)
#10 Luke Cage (Jessica Jones)
#11 Storm (Black Panther)
#12 Wasp (Yellow-Jacket)
#13 Flash (Linda Park)
#14 Flash (Iris West)
#15 Guile (Julie)
#16 Jean Grey (Cyclops)
#17 Yellowjacket (Wasp)
#18 Wonder Woman (Steve Trevor)
#19 Cyclops (Jean Grey)
#20 Ken Masters (Eliza)
#21 Atom (Jean Loring)
#22 Black Bolt (Medusa)
#23 Banshee (Maeve Rourke)
#24 Medusa (Black Bolt)
#25 Vision (Scarlet Witch)Creatively things might have cooled down with the meshing of franchise [with FF], but the underlying potential of a political power o this nature remains.
This very storyline, World Tour, highlights the diversity of characters they can logically come into contact with, not only big hitters like the Sub-Mariner and Dr. Doom, but also peripheral extensions, particularly of the American hero contingent that Black Panther inevitably came into conflict with.

It's in titles like DC's Checkmate where the pseudo-political meets superhero in a fashion that is just the kind of thing I could see the Black Panther title carrying, if the characters are able to overcome their obligatory appearances elsewhere.
Of course, Storm was always going to have her obligations to the X-Men in the background, particularly given the freedom afforded to superstar creators like Millar [or Ed Brubaker], but with any luck a dedicated focus on the pair will eventuate [as opposed to just focus on Storm's pair... o' buttcheeks].

The "Spider-Marriage" is always a hot topic of debate, and I fall on the side of liking it. For my money, there's absolutely nothing you really need from a swinging bachelor Peter Parker, that can't still be translated into a contemporary Spider-man. Many of the people against the Spider-Marriage refer to what supposedly made the character great in his earliest incarnations, ignoring the conflicting fact that "nerd" Parker preceded the 'scarlet date pimp'.

In the most recent case of Civil War, where the greatest ramification of Peter Parker revealing his identity was the threat to his wife and aunt, I think the drama probably had a greater weight to it than if MJ was just a girlfriend.

Regardless of the specifics, however, I feel characters need to develop and move forward, and marriage is just a part of that. There is nothing inherent to a marital situation that should close off a superhero whose drama chiefly comes from the changing world they live in, and the many threats real and imagined within it. I think this is true for Black Panther and Storm, and I hope the characters can develop in a way that is more central and specific to them.

Of all the super-marriages, they may just be primed to be the ones that make the most sense, to the most people. With celebrity power-couples just barely a topical reference point, the political pairing of these two has a context everyone can relate to, which is perhaps the factor missing from something like the stagnant Superman-marriage.

NOTE: Another marriage that proved to be successful was the Phantom's marriage to sixty-year sweetheart, Diana Palmer. Of course, the Phantom's relevance to American comics readers unfortunately undermines that point.

NOTE #2: Had that trouble with scanning that makes us seem unfortunately human and makes the artwork look water-damaged and streaky. Apologies to anyone with a violent aversion to unsolicited vertical lines.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 5.5

[It's worth noting that Eaton's artwork here is quite superb, with Andrew Hennessy's inks and Dean White's colours occasionally letting it down. Pages with confident blacks, and solid colours are vibrant and exciting, while others appear a little washed out, and sketchy. The black and yellow of Storm's costume is especially vibrant in flatter looking scenes!]

QUICK FIX DOUBLE FEATURE: Sadler's Tournament
BIRDIE versus DAN HIBIKI
Sampled Fighters (Group TAC/Capcom/Manga)
Where: Street Fighter Alpha When: 1999
Why: Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Joe Romersa, Reiko Yoshida, & Kirk Thornton How: Kazuyuki Ishikawa, Ryûzaburô Ôtomo

Quick Fix...
Capcom declared a megaton bomb for an upcoming announcement, and on the basis of that promise a lot of fans quickly guessed what was coming.
Even before the clues, the Infinite Wars made speculation about the likelihood of a new game [The New Challengers], but even if it was pre-expected, the impact of Street Fighter IV's confirmation could not be squashed!

If you consider the fact that the first two iterations of Street Fighter III came out in 1997, this means it's effectively been ten years since the last major step forward in the Street Fighter franchise! We'll take a closer look at SF4 in the second half, but first...

We've talked a lot in-reference to the tournament aspect of Street Fighter, particularly in regards to the direction of the series from UDON. I thought now might be as good a time as any to examine that aspect a little closer, considering it is the driving force between the entire line of games to this point.

What really brings this to mind is the fact that both comic and celluloid alike have largely overlooked the tournament structure the characters are best known for. To their credit, constraining the diverse and exciting cast of SF characters to a single thematic device or location might not be the best use of them. Never the less, the tournament remains one of the largely unrepresented qualities.

Actually, more to the point, it's the quality of a sport that I feel is the most lacking. To be fair we have seen competition moments like Zangief/Blanka or Honda/Dhalsim in the SFII animated movie, or even Zangief/Shun and Vega/Dan in Sadler's preliminary tournament halfway through the SFA movie.

Street Fighter operates on a delicately balanced logic set that marries elements of the real world to it's own fiction. Within that fiction is a culture of fighting that exists worldwide in a regional context, from which many of the fighters are plucked for Bison's initial machinations. Style-specific leagues are acknowledged for characters like Mika and Zangief, from pro-wrestling; likewise, Ken Masters represents one of the fighters well known for being a champion in his sport.

It's this wider sports league culture that I'd like to see more of, particularly in something like the UDON series, which has the benefit of being a monthly, on-going affair. It would be great to see many of the characters existing more explicitly, or even incidentally, within the confines of large fighting efforts -- which exist from within the source material, if only by reference.

The games, of course, revolve around plot-centric gatherings that detail character motivations, and of course the schemes of big bads like, M. Bison [or, yes, Vega in Japan, if you want to wave the CapcomUSA ownership].

The Alpha movie picks up themes from the Alpha games in the vaguest of senses with the original character, Dr. Sadler, representing Shadaloo in the search for fighter data. It's a plot point from Cammy's story in the Alpha games, and was similarly represented by monitor cyborgs in the Street Fighter II movie.

In Alpha's conclusion, Sadler brings fighters together for his second tournament for the movie, this one held at an isolated fortress in the desert. Here, Sadler is able to mine the energies of fighters with a complicated array of technologies, draining them of life and intellect in the desire for power.

Gathered with the lure of cash, street fighters of varying classes including; Ken, Chun-Li, Guy, Birdie, Sodom, Ryu, Dhalsim, Adon, Rolento, and Dan.

Left to decide their own fate, Dan Hibiki, [having survived a brutal encounter with Vega in the preliminary tournament], makes an open challenge to any of the gathered fighters. It is the Shadaloo street thug, Birdie, who answers the call.

Hibiki immediately opens the account, firing off a gadou-ken energy attack that dissipates centimeters from his hand, leaving the competition bemused.

The incompetent and over-confident fighter is quickly off his feet, wrapped in the choking grip of Birdie's chain attack! The jovial brit punk cackles heartily at the foolhardy struggling of his pathetic opponent. He puts an end to it, tossing Hibiki into the air, only to yank him back earthbound to a hard defeat.

Birdie is taken away to a holding cell by some of Sadler's goons, to await his reward while waiting for a complete list of first-round winners to form. Or at least, that's what he believes, the truth actually being a fate worse than death.

As you can see, it's the fighting/sports culture that so readily brings these characters together. Having familiarized himself with many fighters at the initial, apparently well publicized fight (it's the reason Ken returns to Japan), Sadler is able to have his pick of the punch. Which inexplicably includes Hibki...

The Fix: 5 The Film: 5.5
Winner: Birdie

[Unfortunately, it's this scene that features the most characters from the games, and even then most are reduced to set-dressing or action snippets without dialogue. Birdie proves an unusual inclusion, operating without the trinkets of familiar characterization. Likewise, he really highlights that this is two "OAV" releases spliced together, with the viewer asked to root for him, despite having no prior appearance.]

---

KEN MASTERS versus SODOM
Sampled Fighters (Group TAC/Capcom/Manga)
Where: Street Fighter Alpha When: 1999
Why: Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Joe Romersa, Reiko Yoshida, & Kirk Thornton How: Kazuya Ichijô, Masao Fuda

Privvy to intelligence derived from Chun-Li's interpol investigations, Ken and the gang decide to investigate further, concerned for Birdie's fate. If you want more discussion about SF4, scroll ahead y'dirty scamp!

MEANWHILE, back at Sadler's desert laboratory; Ken, Ryu and Chun-Li are suspicious about what is unfolding at the tournament. To save his friend facing battle and the lure of the dark hadou, Ken takes it upon himself to challenge a fighter to gain them entry to Sadler's fortress.

The American tragic for Japanese culture, Sodom, is the one to answer the challenge. The two clash in the air, with Ken presumably delivering a swift kick that sees the much larger fighter felled before his sai can even come into play.

The US champ's quick fix victory gives the heroes the access they desire, but what they find is a nightmarish future that could easily be their own. That, however, is a story for another entry!

When one stops to ponder that we're looking forward to a fourth installment twenty years after the first, it's a little bit odd. SF has, of course, maintained a consistent presence through add-on series like the complicated-pseudo-prequel series of Zero/Alpha game; the approach at 3D polygon renders in the EX games; and the classic hyper-kinetic battles with characters from the Marvel and SNK universes in various Versus games.

Even so, perhaps what makes Street Fighter's success with only "three" games to date is that they've endured despite a distinct lack of clarity and forward momentum with their storylines. As the degrees of difference between games and capabilities narrows, story is becoming more and more important to the medium. On reflection, it's almost surprising video games as an entertainment institution were able to get by so long on such thin plots and convoluted storys.
Then, I suppose this is where the video game stops being a child's toy, and grows up to become the mass marketed home entertainment system.

For my money, Street Fighter IV needs to represent progress in as many ways as it needs to remain faithful to what's come before. Time and again SF games have learned the necessity to include the classic characters, the most prominent example being the EX and III entries, which introduced large casts of new characters, who wholely disregarded much of what made the SF characters so great.

SFIV needs to do several things to ensure it's viability as a contender in a current market where even Mortal Kombat has overcome it's past handicaps:

- A new villain
Central to any beat 'em up is a final boss, and for the sake of maintaining a coherrent plot, I think it's important that Bison remain shelved in favour of a new villain. Unlike previous attempts, this will mean both examining the larger context of the story, and recognising how that can translate to a character that is suitable for the Street Fighter logic.

- Clarification
Promotional work has included the tagline "a new beginning", and for this to really be true, it's time for CapcomUSA to take the bull by the horns and establish firm canon. This means clearing dangling threads like Akuma/Ryu's relationship, and other minor details still squabbled about amongst fans.

Some characters I'd
like to see return:
Adon
Balrog
Birdie
Dan Hibiki
Dee Jay
Joe
Karin Kanzuki
Ken Masters
Mike
Rainbow Mika
Ryu
Sagat
Sakura Kusanago
Vega
Zangief- Motivations
Everyone loves seeing their favourite characters lumped into massive rosters, but if this is really going to be a new beginning, each cast member needs a good reason for being connected to this new chapter. That might be something as simple as being a stalwart of the fighting circuit (re; sports culture), but it needs to be well considered. If Bison is dead, he needs to stay dead. The characters deserve strong motivations.

- Endings
I would really love to see CG or conventionally animated FMV endings for each character, but I'm going to assume the company that has been reluctant to invest in a nostalgia brand might not have the cash to go there. Then again, the excuse that SF wasn't a viable investment might have been a diversion to delay the game for the twentieth anniversary... Roughly...

Either way, connecting again to the importance of clarity and story, every character should have a solid ending. Nothing is more embittering than playing through a game only to discover there is nothing more than an arcade experience to be had. This is not the reason gaming has gone home to consoles.

Regardless of the outcome, Street Fighter IV is hugely exciting, and I greatly look forward to it. Hopefully it can garner enough attention to warrant more regular sequels in a similar fashion to the Tekken and MK sequels.

If you haven't seen the trailer yet, you need to get yourself on YouTube, or head over to Street Fighter World, where they've got it on the main page in a higher quality format. It's truly awe inspiring, and a true tease for the SF fans!

The Fix: 3 The Film: 5.5
Winner: Ken

[Ken and Ryu are currently being featured in the teaser trailer for Street Fighter IV, which can be found at the new official home of Street Fighter: SF World! As we continue to sponsor the Capcom characters on the weekends, Ken positions himself as a stronger contender for a top spot, lurking behind Guile and Ryu!]