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One of the staples of super hero comics almost since the beginning was
having stories where two heroes fight each other, either because one of them was
mind controlled, there was some misunderstanding or even because their two
equally important missions ran counter to each other. Here is a quick count
down of some of my personal favorite stories like that.
- Spider-Man vs. Powdered Toast Man (Slott): Okay- this issue was great. It
took an old Lee-Kirby standby plot wherein Hero A (in this case Powdered Toast
Man) gets mind controlled and his friends (in this case Ren and Stimpy) must
join forces with Hero B (a certain friendly neighborhood Spider-Man) in order to
stop the real villain from running amok. Or something like that. Only instead
of playing the whole scenario as serious gig- as almost any writer worth their
salt has- Slott plays it for laughs including the idea that every Marvel title
that wants to survive more than six months has to have a Spider-Man or Wolverine
guest appearance. I guess Spidey drew the short straw. Personally, I would
have loved to see Wolverine strapped to one of those Barry Windsor-Smith helmets and
Stimpy putting on his Stinky Wizzleteats album but it was not meant to be.
- Multiple Man vs. Multiple Man (David); The first time Peter David did this
fight way back in his first X-Factor run it was a full on drag out fight with
hundreds of Madroxes (Madri?) going nuts all over Washington DC. It was also
a gag a minute fight including riffs on the Rocketeer movie which had just come
out at the time. (Gee- I wonder who wrote the novelization of that movie. Any
guesses?) Anyway, it was really quite fun and even kind of silly with just
enough of a dark edge to assure the readers that they were indeed reading an
X-book. It's made all the more bizarre because in those days any impact could
cause Madrox to duplicate and cause the fight to go longer and longer and
longer. It must have been a pain in the butt to draw but it was sure a fun
read.
- Mass Master vs. Engergizer (Simonson, L): These two fought throughout the
entire Power Pack series but Louise Simonson made it seem natural They didn't
fight because they were mind controlled or were at cross purposes to each
other. They fought because they are siblings and that's what siblings do. I
know my sister and I did. We still do- when her kids aren't around. We can't
set a bad example after all. Well--she can't anyway. It was simply wonderful
to read and felt so real.
- Stealth vs. Vril Dox (Grant): These two hated each other from the get go. It
was sheer and brutal hatred with knives, guns and tire irons. Their fight was
inevitable. However it's how that fight ended that made it memorable- in a way
the comics code really didn't like and not because of the violence. Though
their sleeping together was inevitable too The way it was mixed together in
such a twisted way made it stick with you.
- Supergirl vs. Steel (David): I've said it of this issue before: what makes
this issue great is that Steel and Supergirl are both proteges of Superman.
Both fight a battle for truth, justice and the American way. This battle is as
much one of ideas as it is of fists. Is censorship- even of a group like the
KKK- something the House of El can get behind? The brute force battle- that's
very quick and very decisive. The other battle is not so clear cut and has no
winners. Nor should it- because if it did we'd all be in trouble.
- Thor vs. Beta Ray Bill (Simonson, W): We've all read the words on Marvel's
Mjolnir: 'Whoever wields this hammer shall possess the powers of Thor.' What
would happen if someone other than Thor were found worthy of wielding it? That
was the very idea the struck Walter Simonson. Its scope is Kirbyesque as it
can get- but the results are pure Simonson. Thor learns yet another lesson and
in the end gains a friend. Really, this one makes the list not so much
because of the writing but because it's amazing just to look at it. It's got
flames, weird looking asteroids, vikings flying unprotected in space and a guy
who looks like Barney mated with an orange and was left to play in a room with
more steroids than the entirety of Major League Baseball.
- Changeling Vs. Halo: (Wolfman and Barr): What happens when a hormone crazed
teenage boy and a sweet girl next door type fight right up to the point where at
least some members of both teams are beginning to realize it is all a
misunderstanding? Well, Changeling showed off and actually proved more reliable
than he ever had. He gets what he really wanted out of the fight.
Unfortunately- it takes the old faking a drowning to steal a kiss by CPR
routine to accomplish. (After seeing many attempts in real life- I've never
seen it work.) The sad part is- if he hadn't made such a stupid move- even
Halo had to admit she probably could have really fallen for a guy like him.
Poor, poor stupid Gar.
- Spider-Man vs. Hulk (Lee): Okay- on the surface 'To Be An Avenger' from
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3 is a typical Marvel David (or in this case Peter)
vs. Goliath (who happens to be green) story. It displays three interesting
traits. It is an earlier case of just how much of an ass Tony Stark can be. If
he had simply told Spider-Man the reason they wanted him to catch the Hulk- the
story would have ended very differently. Spider-Man would have been an Avenger
in the 1960s. Secondly- it reveals just the type of young man Peter Parker
is; one who is willing to do what is right even when that is not what's best
for him. Thirdly- in most Hulk guest appearances of the 60s, Hulk was clearly
either an antagonist or a dupe of the real villain. Here- he is a character you
end up feeling genuine sympathy for. I applaud Stan the man for this... for
making Iron Man the real villain of the story that he was barely in.
- Grey Hulk vs. Green Hulk vs. Bruce Banner (David): Technically- this fight
never happened. It was all in Banner's head. Only the damage done to the
landscape in there did hinder the chances of all three (or was it one) of them
to survive. It's also one of those rare fights with a lasting impact on the
series. It gave birth to Bruce Banner's mind in Hulk's body which remained the
status quo for several years and most of the remainder of Peter David's run.
It also proved that internal conflict on a comics page didn't have to be a bunch
of angry thought balloons coming out of one character's head in different
fonts.
- Guy Gardener vs. Batman (Giffen and DeMatteis):This one has everything.
Both participants are acting perfectly in character. There was no mind control,
evil twin, clone or robotic duplicate cop out. The fight brought a whole new
dimension to the characters. It had pathos. It had angst. It had real
suspense. It was a fight that changed everything. It was that moment where this
now classic run on Justice League went from a title with a lot of potential that
was somewhat lacking in direction to Mr. Giffen and Mr. DeMatteis knowing
exactly what they wanted the book to become and just going for it full throttle-
damn the torpedoes. It was the moment: 'Bwhahahahahahahaha!' was born.
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