Looks like we have another full-issue throwdown on our hands! Let's hope they can sort out their differences and all get together for a slam bang finale in the last 10 pages! Here are some closer looks at the stories included in this Anniversary Issue:
Awesome work, as usual! (Query: I went back over all of the Freedom Fighters covers and saw that none of them have an entry for Black Condor...? I'm assuming there's some story there that I've missed. If you've already mentioned it somewhere, you don't have to go over it again. I just couldn't find it in the comments of the associated covers.)
ReplyDeleteHe has only appeared as part of a team, he'll get a label if he appears solo.
ReplyDeleteAh, makes sense!
DeleteWell, in those match-ups, I can confidently predict that Black Condor is going to get his butt well and truly whipped. ;)
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, "The first Black Condor has the mutant ability to fly, although no limits are known as to speed, duration or altitude. Sometime after arriving on Earth-X, it became apparent that his mutant powers also included limited telekinesis abilities, most notably mind-over-matter. At times, the Black Condor carries a ray gun, the origin of which is unknown. When used, it fires a black force beam of adjustable power capable of stunning a man or breaking a brick wall. He is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and an Olympic level athlete." So between the TK and the black force pistol, he'd at least *annoy* Iron-Man (lol)!
DeleteOh, man! This is so much better than my wild guess, yesterday!! :-)
ReplyDelete[Pauses to take a breath and calm down.]
Panel-by-panel analysis.
Cap vs. Uncle Sam? Understandable that one patriotic figure would go after the other. Still, I might have to give the initial edge to Sammy-boy. As I recall that he was able to grapple with the Golden Age Superman on a pretty even basis during the now-classic JLA/JSA team-up that first reintroduced these Quality Comics Golden Agers.
Vision vs. the Ray? Unless the latter proves vulnerable to the former's old semi-solidified-arm-through-the-upper-torso trick, I have to give the initial edge to the Ray. Especially as Vizh would inadvertently be boosting his power with any kind of solar head-gem blast!
Wasp vs. Doll Man? Yeah, she's got wings and stinger blasts. But, he's got way more experience at shrunken combat than even Hank Pym does! So, I have to favor him winning, more.
Iron Man vs. Black Condor? I agree with Reg Aubry's analysis. For all we know, that ray gun side-arm might be a conduit to the Darkforce Dimension. And stuff from that dimension has been canonically depicted as having the adhesive consistency of pre-chewed black licorice!
Hawkeye vs. Phantom Lady? A little tougher to judge. She has that black-out beam of hers (which normally would affect everybody but Dr. Midnite). Plus, the ability to go as intangible as the Vision (derived from teleporting to pre-Crisis Earth One back in the Late Silver Age). So, those two factors might initially make one think that Hawkeye and his trick arrows don't stand a chance. But, let's not forget that Hawkeye gave Iron Man quite a run for his (considerable amount of) money during their now-classic mistaken identity slugfest! So, who knows? He might even have been inspired by the Vision's intangibility to come up with a suitably counter-active arrow for that.
Thor vs. the Human Bomb? I doubt that even Roy Lincoln's explosive touch could blow up Mjolnir. At least, not to the proverbial smithereens! Plus, he has to make physical contact with a solid object to exert that power. And Thor could simply whip up a small twister to spin HB round and round till he's too dizzy to see straight.
In short, then? I have to favor the FF winning four out of six rounds. With Thor winning the sixth one and the fifth one...emotionally deadlocked.
P.S.---maybe you could do Sinister Six vs. the Inferior Five for STF #5150 (with the Creeper vs. the Toad as a back-up tale)?
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolute treat!
ReplyDeleteSome of those one-to-one fights are particularly intriguing. Wasp vs Doll Man. Those two aren't so much short as concentrated.
Cap vs Uncle Sam? What they is a time-out - and an independent observer - the Watcher? - to rule on what is the best patriotic costume. And then the winner gets to square off against The Shield.
This looks like a Silver Age incarnation of the Avengers, which would line up nicely with when the Freedom Fighters were having their interactions with the JLA. Nice choice, that.
ReplyDeleteThe images have an odd look to them, as most of them appear to be hand-drawn images over semi-photo-realistic backgrounds. It's consistent enough, though, that it looks less like a flaw than a simple artistic choice; an entire comic done like that would probably get some criticism, but not from me.
I do note that on the main splash image Cap is the only Avenger facing away from the Freedom Fighters. That could be a hint that, inside, he and Sam came to an agreement, and the Freedom Fighters have the opportunity to show how they were set up, possibly by a group of Skrulls.
What Bob Greenwade said. :-)
DeleteBasically, It is always what Bob Greenwade said, unless other wise noted (Im a different anon.)
ReplyDeleteWell, almost always. ;-)
DeleteI wonder if the Red Skull, and/or some of Cap's other Ratzi foes, might want to discredit a team of WW2 patriotic super-heroes.
ReplyDeleteStands to reason. And I think Bob Greenwade would be the first to agree with me.
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