In this feature, I examine comic book fights that were particularly notable in the wrong side winning (or at least that the fight wasn't won the "right" way). This really isn't a big deal, of course, as it doesn't really matter if the "wrong" person won a fight. But it's fun to talk about!

If you want to suggest a fight for future inclusion in this feature, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Don't suggest a fight in the comments!

For the latest fight, we'll do a follow-up from last week's silly trouncing of the X-Men by Spider-Man with an even SILLIER trouncing of the X-Men by the winsome Wasp!

The Wasp has certainly improved a lot as an offensive threat from the early days, when Stan Lee pretty much wrote her as a pathetic waste of space, right from the first issue of the Avengers, when Hulk took her out with a bellows...

Her big power increase came in the late 1970s, when Chris Claremont gave her the old Ray Palmer Atom ability to have her normal strength, just condensed into the size of a wasp. This ability was rarely actually used, but it existed.

Her wasp stings have changed over the year from, in effect, a pellet gun to an actual stinger to bio-electric blasts. In that same Marvel Team-Up story where Claremont increased her strength, he made her sting stronger. So I'm only using examples after that.

Gauging the strength of the blasts is difficult, though. It takes out these stooges in Avengers #219...

But does nothing against the Shadow Lord in Avengers #207...

or one of the Weatherman in Avengers #209...

But who the heck knows what those guys' respective deals were? The one dude had armor on and the other guy had the power of his home or something weird like that, so who knows?

More telling is this bit from Avengers #222 (plotted by Jim Shooter), where she blasts Whirlwind right in the face without his helmet on and it barely fazes him...

EXTREMELY on point is this bit from Avengers West Coast #60, where the Wasp blasts Magneto DIRECTLY IN HIS EAR and he shrugs it off (got to love that "Smacking yourself in the head" strategy he employed)...

(By the way, "crushed by the Scarlet Witch's high heel boots" would likely not even be in the top ten most embarrassing ways the Wasp has nearly died over the years)

The X-Men are, well, the X-Men. You know them. They're pretty good. Just not nearly as good as Spider-Man, of course. So now on to the fight!

So in Secret Wars #4, by Jim Shooter, Bob Layton and John Beatty, the X-Men ran away from the heroes to join up with Magneto, who had been shacking up with Wasp at the time. As it turns out, the Wasp was just biding her time until she could escape and, of course, kick the X-Men's collective asses...

(Really? HITLER, both Janet AND Charles? Seriously?)

First off, what the heck is even HAPPENING in the panel where she knocks Wolverine down? He's in front of Colossus, so she knocks Wolverine back, but that somehow has Colossus falling to the ground in FRONT of him?

Secondly, Rogue has the powers of Ms. Marvel, so a Wasp blast shouldn't knock her down like that.

Thirdly, THESE AREN'T EVEN HALF POWER STINGS!!!!!

Fourthly, I love how the Wasp doesn't just kick their ass, she points out that she could have easily done WORSE to them if she felt like it! "Yeah, I could have just flat out murdered the X-Men if I had felt like it."

Secret Wars was not a good time for the X-Men.

Then again, besides kicking the X-Men's ass, it wasn't the Wasp's finest hour, either, as...

A. Even though she's the leader of the Avengers, she figures, "Eh, who would follow me when Captain America is around?" It's honestly not a terrible point, but it's still a bit of a blow to the ego...

and...

B. She gets straight up MURDERED by the Wrecker using a laser beam from a vehicle he found (luckily, a healer brings her back to life soon aftewards)...

(On a tangential point, after the Wasp backs Captain America for leader of the whole group of heroes, he looks to see if Professor X would like the gig...

Really, Wolverine? You DO know that Hawkeye is standing just a few feet away, right?)

Okay, that's it for this week!

If you have other fights you'd like to suggest, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. DON'T suggest future fights in the comments section!