Battling Blondes: Round 5 - Saucy Sidekicks

After several weeks hiatus, we continue with our duel to the definitive defeat of either Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt or the Web aka Professor John Raymond. The score thus far is 2-1-1 with T-bolts two wins to Web's single score and a tied first round. Why do we continue to return to these two? Maybe because they are cool... timeless... rad... awesome! They typify the potential excellence of superhero comics when non super-powered men have the nerve to wear brightly clad plumage and exert their mental superiority!

This time we once more shift gears to the saucy sidekicks of our duo of daring do-gooders, and without a doubt both Tabu and Rose definitely can kick the daring dudes in the side where it counts like nobody's business. As in, they can at times be pains in the butt... but our blonde bombshells will still stand by them in good times and bad. And they know that Rose and Tabu will do the same for them. We see this in today's stories and whether they will prove a help... or a hindrance?

While Tabu seems to have what it takes... he trained in the same mountain fortress by the same masters as Pete... it seemed he never had quite enough for mano y mano with the MAN bolt. And he succumbs to a poison planted by their arch foe, the Hooded One. At times he was more a liability than an asset to our blonde battler!

Rose, however, could easily hold her own against any guy whom she came across, and typically left her man John on his knees scrubbing the floor. Here she trains to one up her costumed husband. And she would soon engage in similar covert activities in a new alias!

Launching into action, Thunderbolt crossed the globe and heads to his native Himalayas to locate the cure to his friend's ailment. He comes upon Mongolian bandits and dinosaurs in a secluded valley in order to save his friend. And save him he does, escaping the death trap laid out by the One who is Hooded. However he would seek revenge later using some automatons to do his bidding!

Assuming the identity of "POW" Girl (this was, after all, the "pow wham bam" era of TV's Batman), Rose quickly ended the threat of the Stunner, after hubby already cleaned up after Mr. Scare and his gang of generic thugs. She later considers continuing her heroic adventures... although this proved short lived, much to the Web's unknowing regret (since he never did learn that his wife aided him that evening in her gaudy get-up)! EEK!

Battling Blondes Rating

1.) Story Drama: Thunderbolt wins this category, since Tabu's life is in jeopardy and he has to race against the clock to save his friend. How he does this given the swiftness of the disease and the distance from North America to Asia... well that is left to your imaginations to reconcile!

2.) Imaginative Use of Abilities: Thunderbolt's will power wins out against the Web, who can't seem to face up to a return bout with his twin adversaries. I mean... if he can't face them then dinosaurs would've been the end of our webbed warrior! GASP!

3.)Adversary: The Stunner had a neat gimmick going for him which really seemed to work in his favor, while the Hooded One basically created a setup of superior numbers to try and take down his foe. He would have better and more creative outings then this, while Stunner's one time appearance cemented his success as a one hit wonder. Web wins this.

4.) Intangibles that Worked: This one is all in the sauciest of sidekicks, Rose, who kicks Stunner into tomorrow and kick starts the Web's affections for his long suffering (or sufferable?) wife. She adds a flair to this strip that would've definitely made it all the more endearing. Alas, she also was a one hit wonder in this alias. Still, she bags this for her boy!

And so, yet another tie performance! Will the Web come from behind? Will Thunderbolt finally triumph? Stay tuned!