Previously on Squadron Supreme: Nighthawk attempts to recruit Master Menace to help him take on the Squadron, and Master Menace was like, "Nope. I'll beat 'em on my own." Menace then summons an alternate universe Hyperion to infiltrate and tear down the Squadron from within. However, the alternate Hyperion renegs when he falls for Zarda, secretly killing her elderly husband.
The cover is really awesome. It features two Hyperions fighting in front of what looks like a ruined Mount Rushmore, the Squadron reacting to this in shock. The cover promises a battle between the two Hyperions...and it will be to the death. Boy, do we get that here.
"The Clash"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Bob Hall
Inker: Sam DeLa Rosa
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: "Max" Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with the Whizzer running through a city.
We also get a bit of a glimpse of his origins. Stanley Stewart was once an ordinary mail carrier, who liked to jog. One night, he ran through a strange fog, and he discovered that he could run faster and farther than any mortal man. He had decided to become a costumed crimefighter, and had originally intended to become the Boomer, but his wife said that name was stupid. So, he became the Whizzer. And he wears a yellow costume. Yes, make the jokes. I'm guessing that particular joke isn't a thing on Earth-712.
Stewart is enjoying himself, as his work lately hasn't really been giving him time to just go running for fun. However, his day of fun would be interrupted. On the other side of town, two of his old enemies are robbing a bank.
Meet Rustler and Bollix. I've heard theories that they were supposed to be nods to Terra-Man and Sportsmaster. The police can't catch them because they have the forcefield belts (remember those?) that protect them from harm. Whizzer tries to help, but the belts manage to knock him back, too. Whizzer cleverly finds a way around that.
Yup, he decides to dribble them like basketballs to the police station. I love comics. They get locked up, bragging that with their forcefields, they can't be touched...nor can they be B-Modded. However, Whizzer reminds them of something. Turns out after 96 hours of constant use, the forcefield belts' power source burns out. Also...they can't touch anything outside the forcefields...like food.
Speaking of the force belts, the scene switches to one of the new factories for manufacturing them. Tom Thumb and Shape are about to go to lunch when the Whizzer tells thumb about his misadventure. We then check in on Blue Eagle and Quagmire. Quagmire flirts with a female employee, and Blue Eagle gets really mad about that.
Quagmire tries to defend himself, saying that because of the B-Modding he was forced to undergo, he can't do anything wrong anymore even if he wanted to. He eats a fist from Blue Eagle. Quagmire taunts him about it, and Eagle angrily flies off. While in the air, he thinks about his actions and realized that he's been distracted about Lady Lark being B-Modded and quitting the Squadron, and it's made him much more tense. Yeah, he totally has a thing for her.
When he flies back, he learned there was an accident at the factory. A vat of highly concentrated tranquilizer gas got accidentally punctured, and Quagmire got thirty people out by himself. Unfortunately, he also took a massive dosage of the gas...and he's not looking good. A horrified Blue Eagle blames himself for this and takes Quagmire to the hospital.
At the hospital complex in Squadron City, Dr. Decibel is examining Arcanna. He's confused by this, as Arcanna doesn't seem pregnant to him. She's not showing.
Yeah. Arcanna wants to remain on active duty, so she hid her pregnancy from the Squadron. She hated being treated like "spun glass" when she had her last child. Uh, Arcanna, maybe the reason the Squadron took you off active duty during your last pregnancy is because maybe they were afraid you'd get hurt fighting a supervillain and end up suffering a miscarriage or something? I'm just saying, that possibility is preventable. Despite this, Dr. Decibel is ordered by Arcanna to keep it quiet, and due to his B-Modding, Decibel must obey.
The scene then shifts to Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, and Lamprey heading towards Squadron City. The three had just done some crisis intervention, and Hype is in a great mood. He zips ahead, and Spectrum notes that Hyperion moved on Zarda quicker than this. Lamprey mentally notes something. Due to the nature of his energy-siphoning powers, he can sense energy, and he noticed that Hyperion's is a bit off. However, he can't say anything. The Squadron believes the Hyperion they're working with is the real one, and as a result, he can't voice his suspicions.
Hyperion arrives at Squadron City, and he and Zarda have a bit of a romantic moment, briefly interrupted by Foxfire. But unbeknownst to them, they are being watched.
Yup. The real Hyperion is trapped outside the timestream, which looks like he's trapped in an infinite-sized cloud. Man, the Bleed is rather...misty. After recapping how he got there, and his attempts to break out, he sees someone in the endless mists.
Yup, it's Hyperion's old enemy Master Menace, who fled here after his plan, which he recounts to Hyperion because comics, went wrong. He's been trying to go back, but his armor is working fine. He realizes he needs a power source. The two realize they'll have to work together. Menace agrees as long as the Squadron leaves him alone. Hyperion can't promise that, so they go their separate ways. Later, Hyperion tells Menace he'll agree to the terms on one condition: Menace does nothing to interfere with them or the Utopia Program. Basically, we'll leave you alone if you leave us alone. Menace gives his word as a criminal. Hyperion fires his atomic vision at an induction coil on Menace's armor, and the two are able to return to Earth-712.
The two materialize over Menace's lab/castle. Yup, he owns a castle. I bet the inside's like a technological Wonderland. Hyperion drops him and flies off.
The funny part? Menace's armor is able to protect him from a fall even from a very high height. Hyperion was being a little troll. But to be fair, Menace did try to leave without him, so...yeah. Hyperion streaks towards Squadron City, vowing to make the fake Hyperion pay for what he has done.
In Squadron City, the team are having a meeting over Quagmire. Dr. Decibel reports that Quagmire is in a very deep coma, and treatment isn't helping him very much. Tom Thumb offers to start work developing an anti-toxin. And the meeting gets crashed.
712-Hyperion bursts in, demanding to see the 616-Hyperion outside, much to the shock of the Squadron. That is an epic entrance right there. 712-Hyperion decks 616-Hyperion with a Mighty Punch, sending him flying outside. 712-Hype explains about the imposter, then flies after him after warning the Squadron to stay out of his way. Zarda is horrified by this, and orders the Squadron to go after the Hyperions.
During the chase, Lamprey points out that he sensed that the energies 616-Hyperion had were off. He wasn't able to say anything because his B-Modding prevented him from doing anything that would betray a Squadron member...including revealing one was an infiltrator.
The two Hyperions brawl in the sky, their blows being described a like claps of thunder, ad producing sparks that light up the sky. Their brawl takes them to Mount Rushmore, or as it's called on Earth-712, Presidents' Mountain.
I just noticed something. The real life Mount Rushmore has the heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. But the Earth-712 version seems to have the heads of what looks like Benjamin Franklin and I think John F. Kennedy in the place of Jefferson and Roosevelt. Must've been some interesting alt-history going on in this world. Anyway, the battle between the two Hyperions devastates the landmark, reducing it to rubble.
Yes, that is 616-Hyperion holding up a giant stone nose. I love comics so much. The nose proves to be an ineffective weapon...mainly because it's made of stone and thus cannot produce excess snot, which would have at least helped with the gross-out factor. The two Hyperions then decide to do their own take on the Dragon Ball franchise's beam wars with their atomic vision.
The fireball created by their beams starts edging closer and closer to one of the Hyperions as the Squadron arrives. 616-Hyperion starts ranting that he is better than 712, screaming that he'll never give up, that he'd rather die than let 712 bet him. The atomic fireball heads right for 616, and it goes off. A furious 712-Hype goes up to 616 and starts laying Mighty Punch after Mighty Punch on his weakened counterpart.
A horrified Zarda orders Lamprey to drain 712-Hype's energy so he'll stop, but Lamprey can't. Due to his B-Modding, he can't use his powers on a Squadron member. Doctor Spectrum tries to hold him back with his Power Prism, but it's taking a LOT of effort on his part. Zarda is able to get 712-Hyperion to back off. The usage of his atomic vision has messed up his eyes, as he's only able to see spots. He explains that 616-Hyperion murdered Howard Shelton.
Zarda cradles 616-Hyperion, who is dying from the wounds he received in the battle. Blinded and in pain, he confesses his crimes to her. He admits that he did kill Howard Shelton and begs her forgiveness. With his dying breath, he tells her that he did genuinely love her. The comic ends with 712-Hyperion injured, and a sobbing Princess Power holding the liquefying corpse of 616-Hyperion in her arms.
This issue was really good. It helped subtly show more of the horrors of B-Modding the former Institute of Evil. Dr. Decibel couldn't speak up to prevent Arcanna from deliberately putting her unborn child in danger simply because she doesn't want to be treated like glass, nor could Lamprey expose the fake Hyperion early, possibly preventing the destruction of Presidents Mountain. The B-Mod device was created as form of reformation, and despite Tom Thumb's reassurances, it does strip the free will of its recipients to some degree. Amphibian was a prophet, and Nighthawk's fears were further founded.
It also gave an idea of just how devastating a battle between two beings as powerful as Hyperion could actually get. Keep in mind, Hyperion is a pastiche of Superman. You can pretty much assume that he is the most powerful being on Earth-712. Could you imagine what would happen if the two Hyperions ended up duking it out in a populated area? Man of Steel gave us an idea of what could happen.
Bob Hall returns for this issue, and his art game is really upped here. It looks so much better than the early issues he did. It's also a bit frustrating for two reasons: Where was this Bob Hall in those earlier issues, and why can't this mini keep a consistent artist? Otherwise that, the art was fantastic, and it was really nice to look at.
Next time, we leave Earth-712, and return to the mainstream Marvel Universe, where Captain America finds himself dealing with the crisis on Earth-712 as well as we ask the question: "Where did Nighthawk go?"...
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