The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

http://foxhugh.com/2013/05/07/the-36-stratagems-as-portrayed-in-comic-books/


Introduction
I first heard of The 36 Stratagems when I was working on a comic book story with Bruce
Lee in 1974. The story was eventually published in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #14
(see cover above). Bruce Lee envisioned a story that revolved around stratagem three of
the 36 Statagems Kill with a Borrowed Knife that entails using the strength of another
to defeat your enemies. Bruce knew me from my cinema work in which I played the role
of an evil psychologist turning nice Hong Kong girls, among others, into killing machines
or worse in the The Evil Dr. Fox series produced by Shaw Brothers Studios. We had
tried again and again to make a Bruce Lee vs. Dr. Fox movie in Hong Kong without
success.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

The comic book was definitely a plan B. There was a metafictional aspect to our comic
book collaboration since Bruce Lee would more or less be playing himself in the comic
book story. I had played heavies in various B films in Hong Kong before the success of
the mad psychologist Dr. Fox series. In hindsight, I realize that using my actual last
name as that of the character in that series was probably not a good idea. I actually was a
professor working as an English teacher in a Hong Kong university language center. I did
some acting on the side to earn extra money and because acting was also a lot of fun. I
would like to take this opportunity to separate fact from fiction.
The real Dr. Fox cannot do the incredible kung fu stunts that are seen in my movies. I do
have some knowledge of martial arts but I am more a theoretician than a practicioner:
Fox Martial Arts Taxonomy
The real Dr. Fox knows absolutely nothing about brainwashing. If you want to learn
English then give me a call but if you want to brainwash your ex-girlfriend to fall in love
with you again then I am the wrong person for that task. Metaschizophrenia, the Bureau
of Intelligence Synthesis and corrective reality are all fictions and not real!
A stratagem is often used as a synonym for the word strategy and this is an incorrect
use of the term. A stratagem is more correctly defined as a ruse. However, I think the
term ruse is simplistic when applied to the term stratagem. Based on the historical usage
of the word, I would describe a stratagem as a ruse used for military and/or political
purposes. Also, a stratagem is a ruse that has been used for purposes other than mere
monetary gain unlike a confidence trick. For example, the Spanish prisoner con is
basically the same as 7) Create Something Out of Nothing. Turn something that is not
substantial into reality stratagem in the list of stratagems below at an operational level
but the contextual historical background is totally different. Operational similarities
aside, the contextual background of the ruse given to the potential user is important for
easy applicability. A con man may have trouble understanding an operation given in a
military context. A military officer might have trouble applying a con explained within a
monetary context to a military situation. One of the recurring plot lines of modern fiction
is having cons that are generally used for criminal purposes for government goals as is
the case in the popular franchise Mission Impossible. However, translating operations to
a different context may not be as easy as the mentioned franchise suggests.
I would also like to contrast a stratagem with a ruse of war. For example moving
landmarks to confuse the enemy is clearly a ruse of war but I would not call it a
stratagem. Historically, a stratagem has a larger goal than the mere temporary confusion
of the enemy. Perhaps a stratagem is a ruse of war with strategic rather than tactical
intent. I would define a stratagem as a ruse of war with strategic intent. In short:
1) A con is a ruse for monetary gain.
2) A ruse of war is a ruse for tactical military gain.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

3) A stratagem is a ruse for strategic military and/or political gain.
I would like to apply this system of ruse classification to a particular historical example
that would have been difficult to classify prior to this article.
In Operation Bernhard, the Nazis counterfeited British pounds in order to destabilize the
British economy. Was Operation Bernhard a con, ruse of war or a stratagem? Certainly
Operation Bernhard was a ruse. I would argue that Operation Bernhard was not a con
since the objective was political and not monetary. If the goal was to supply Nazi agents
with local money in Britain then it would be a ruse of war. Since the goal was strategic
then I would say Operation Bernhard was a stratagem and specifically: 2) Besiege Wei
to Rescue Zhao. Attack their Achilles heel in the list below.
Feudal Chinese military strategists suggested the study of stratagems as part of basic
military education. The 36 Stratagems is an essay that explains stratagems in detail. This
essay shows how the 36 stratagems have been portrayed in comic books. The author of
this essay doubts the comic book writers were aware of the Chinese text on this subject
but learned about the stratagems indirectly and used them largely for plot purposes rather
than edification. An essay of how the 36 stratagems have been used in comic books
provides an interesting extension of literary criticism and how theories other than literary
theory can help us understand modern media such as comic books.
The 36 stratagems are traditionally broken into six categories with six stratagems per
category. I find the categories are largely useless and create logical confusion. The
rationale for the six categories probably has more to do with Taoist aesthetics than any
operational logic. For example, #31, the honey trap is under the category six of
Desperate Stratagems but this stratagem could just as easily be classified under
category two, Enemy dealing stratagems. For the purposes of utility, the categories
have been deleted and a simple 1-36 list has been used instead.
The Original 36 Stratagems Contemporary Maxims
1) Cross the Sea by Deceiving the Sky. Act in the open, but hide your true
intentions.

This is the use of a series of false alarms so that when you actually attack then you will
have the element of surprise. Supervillains dont use this stratagem very much since
every time they move then they get caught because of the dictates of a media were the
good guys always win. However in Worlds Finest #88, the J oker and Lex Luthor
commit a series of crimes that are actually Mechano-Men stunts and not crimes. In his
first appearance in Action Comics V1, #51, the Prankster gives money to banks in
apparent bank robberies until he decides to start robbing banks instead when the guard of
the banks is let down. The con version of this stratagem is a Kansas City Shuffle.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books


2) Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao. Attack their Achilles heel.

Lex Luthor has used Green Kryptonite to attack Superman at least a hundred times. At
this point the idiom Kryptonite to signify an Achilles heel is probably better known than
the original antecedent idiom. This only works if the bad guys know the fatal weakness
of the super hero. There can be an irony to the Achilles heel of a superhero as a plot
device. For example, Daredevil is more vulnerable to sonic attack due to his enhanced
hearing but this has been kept secret by Daredevil.
The Achilles heel of most superheroes is their loved ones. The Injustice: Gods Among Us
explores a universe in which the J oker has killed Lois Lane, Supermans unborn son and
most of Metropolis. In the comic book, not the video game, that is ongoing, Superman
seems to be on the path of creating a dictatorship. In the comic book, the US government
attempts but fails to keep Supermans adopted family, J onathan and Martha Kent in a
Mirror Master dimension but this attempt fails. Superman emerges angrier than ever due
to this attempt by the US government. The problem of the loved ones Achilles heel is
that once you used up loved ones then your enemy is enraged and stronger than
ever. This seems to apply to real life to some extent.
Iron Man had his armor hijacked by a Hypersonic Scan Transmitter. J ustin Hammer used
the hijacked armor to kill an Ambassador while Iron Man was in the armor and
effectively framing Iron Man for murder. Overall, super villains are constantly looking
for the weakness of their favorite super hero and will attack such a weakness without
mercy.
Green Lantern has a green Power ring that is one of the most powerful weapons in the
DC universe but the Power ring has an Achilles heel and that is that the Power ring is
unable to affect objects colored yellow. Sinestro had a yellow Power ring which in turn
was ineffective with objects colored green! This is cute use of the Achilles heel plot
device but does seem a little too much in a modern context. The Earth 2 Green Lantern,
Alan Scott, has a Power ring unable to affect wooden objects. Green Lanterns have a
weapon of incredible power so the only way a fight with bank robbers could not be
totally one sided and interesting was to introduce a ridiculous Achilles heel.
Mon-El is a Daxamite. Daxamites are about as powerful as a race as Superman who is a
Kryptonian. However, the Achilles heel of Daxamites is a vulnerability to even small
traces of lead. Presumably this plot device prevents the Daxamites from taking over the
DC universe. In a similar manner, the Martian Manhunter is more or less as powerful as
Superman but is vulnerable to fire! DC first used Kryptonite to allow interesting plots
with a being as powerful as Superman and then continued this practice with Green
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

Lantern, Mon-El, and the Martian Manhunter. This use of a very fine tuned Achilles heel
is a hallmark of the DC Silver age and seems forced nowadays.
3) Kill with a Borrowed Knife. Attack using the strength of another person.

In Avengers, Vol1, #1, Loki tries to trick the Hulk into fighting Thor but instead ends up
creating the Avengers. Loki bailed out the Cobra and Mr. Hyde and doubled their
powers and aimed them at Thors Achilles heel, the current love of his life J ane
Foster. Loki has created super villains to fight Thor including the Absorbing Man. Loki
tricked the Silver Surfer into fighting Thor (Silver Surfer, V1, #4). Loki in Acts of
Vengeance attacked the Avengers by creating a team of super villains who in turn used
even other super villains to attack the Avengers. Lokis true goal was to hurt his half-
brother Thor.
Daredevil used HYDRA to destroy the Kingpins organization in the Last Rites story arc
(Daredevil #297-300). The Kingpin nearly destroyed Daredevil in the Born Again story
line earlier via a series of stratagems so there is a plot symmetry in Daredevil striking
back against the Kingpin using a stratagem.
Darkseid has supplied advanced weaponry to Intergang in order fight Earths superheroes
and to track down the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid also created an incarnation of the
Secret Society of Supervillains and kept his involvement secret from the supervillains for
an extended period of time. Darkseid knew many supervillains are interested in loot
rather than the larger strategic goals he had.
J ustin Hammer supplied advanced technology to Iron Mans adversaries in exchange for
fifty percent of the loot the supervillains stole. J ustin Hammer also used stratagem #2 to
attack Iron Man.
The Silver age Lex Luthor joins with Brainiac in the Crisis of Infinite Earths to form an
army of supervillains. The Modern age Luthor creates the Parasite, Bizzaro and the
cyborg Metallo. The Infinite Crisis Luthor creates the Society of Supervillains.
4) Relax and Wait for the Adversary to Tire Himself Out. Await leisurely the
exhausted enemy. Exercise patience and wear them down

Doctor Octopus unsuccessfully tried to wear Spider-Man down using the newly formed
Sinister Six who attacked Spider-Man one by one in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual
#1. Doctor Octopus hoped that the exhausted Spider-Man would be defeated when he
attacked Spider-Man last.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

In The Dark Knight Returns, Batman uses this stratagem to fight Superman. Batman
attacks Superman with an otherworldly Batmobile, followed by cruise missiles and
finally has Green Arrow shoot Kryptonite tipped arrows to weaken Superman sufficiently
so that Batman with his exoskeleton can give Superman a beating before Batman appears
to die of self induced heart attack.
5) Loot a Burning House. Hit them when they are down.

Attack the enemy when they have internal difficulties. The Kingpin literally blew up
Daredevils house after framing him for bribery, destroying him financially and overall
attacking him as Matt in the Born Again story arc. The Kingpin muses that a destroyed
Daredevil might serve him! The Born Again story line also illustrates stratagem #2 and
the use of interlocking stratagems, stratagem #35.
Norman Osborn looted Tony Starks armory and created the Iron Patriot armor from the
loot. Divide and rule! Comic books need fights and fights between super heroes like
Thor and the Hulk are always popular. You see a lot of temporary misunderstandings
between super heroes but after the mandatory six to ten panel fight, the misunderstanding
is patched up and the heroes unite to fight the supervillain that created the conflict in the
first place.
6) Make a Feint to the East While Attacking in the West. Fake to the right; attack
to the left.

Ozymandias was defeated by the Comedian during their first fight due to a feint. The
Prankster in the Modern Age acts as distraction-for-hire for Superman for a fee while
criminals commit crimes. Batman has been known to miss with his Batarang because
he is actually going for a ricochet shot. Daredevil does the same thing as Batman but
with his Billy Club not a Batarang.
7) Create Something Out of Nothing. Turn something that is not substantial into
reality.

Vaporware is the modern equivalent of this stratagem. The Prankster copyrights the
English language and then charges fees for use of the alphabet! Ozymandias tricks the
world with a fake alien in order to unite the world in a war against the aliens and stop
WW III from happening.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

8) Secretly Utilize the Chen Cang Passage (CNC). Pretend to Advance Down One
Path While Taking Another Hidden Path (LB). Pretend to care about an issue and
later give it up to get what you really want.

This stratagem is a more specific version of 6) Make a Feint to the East While Attacking
in the West. Fake to the right; attack to the left. The difference is that beyond
misinformation there is the use of physical baits such as a decoy. Iron Man, Loki and Dr.
Strange all have the ability to make mirror images of their own image in order to confuse
the enemy. If you try to touch the mirror copy then your hand will go through the copy
and the copy cannot interact with the enemy so the illusion only creates temporary
confusion. This is a type of illusion whether the origin is holographic science in the case
of Iron Man or magic in the case of Dr. Strange and Loki. This power is used in an
irregular manner with the characters mentioned.
Mirror Master uses the power in a more consistent manner in order to flee from the Flash
who has super speed. The Mirror Master will often make multiple holograms of himself
that flee in different directions. Flash is fast enough to chase all the holograms so this
rarely works but this doesnt stop the Mirror Master from using this trick again and again.
A slightly different version of this stratagem is the use of robotic copies. When dealing
with Doctor Doom, you never know if you are dealing with Doctor Doom or a robotic
copy of Doctor Doom. While you are dealing with the Doctor Doom robot, the real
Doctor Doom can be watching from afar and coming up with some other counter
plan. Robots that are created by Doctor Doom that are exact replicas of Doctor Doom are
called Doombots.
S.H.I.E.L.D makes extensive use of Life Model Decoys (LMDs). Nick Fury LMDs serve
a similar function for Nick Fury as Doombots for Doctor Doom. In the case of Doombots
and LMDs the problem of controlling the robots has been a plot device. Your robotic
copy can try to supplant the original! Max Fury is an LMD that has played a prominent
role in the Marvel Universe.
Tony Stark (Iron Mans secret identity) is probably the second greatest user of LMDs
after Nick Fury. Tony Stark was paralyzed and used the Neuromimetic Telepresence
Unit 150 (NTU-150) to act as a remote controlled version of Iron Man.
In the film X-Men: The Last Stand, Magneto has Multiple Man make multiple copies
of himself and the copies act as a decoy while the real Brotherhood escapes.
9) Watch the Fire Burning from Across the River. Allow them to fight your other
enemy while you rest and observe. Later, defeat the exhausted survivor.
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books


Ultra Boy, of the Legion of Super-Heroes, used covert means to trick Mordru into
attacking Glorith in order to stop Glorith from taking over the universe (Legion of Super-
Heroes Annual (vol. 4) #1).
10) Conceal a Dagger in a Smile. Befriend them to get their guard down, then attack
their weakest point.

The Batman has some very charming enemies. The J oker often smiles and even laughs
as he kills his victims. The J oker also likes to make his victims smile while they die as
well with his patented J oker venom. The Riddler is another smooth talking rogue that is
an enemy of Batman. Ras al Ghul treats Batman as a worthy opponent and calls Batman
detective out of respect.
Ras al Ghul has a daugher, Talia al Ghul, does more than smile for Batman and has
given Batman a son! Talia seemingly becomes an ally of Luthor and runs LexCorp while
Luthor is President but secretly sells LexCorp to Wayne Enterprises in order to ruin Lex
Luthor. However, Talia is a ruthless criminal that will fight Batman.
Ozymandias is very genial even as he battles Rorschach, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre.
11) Sacrifice a Plum Tree to Save a Peach Tree (RM). Let the Plum Tree Wither in
Place of the Peach Tree (TF). Trade up! Take a small loss for a large gain.

Super villains are more than willing to sacrifice henchmen for any sort of advantage or
just kill them for fun. Probably the worst super villain boss is the J oker who gets a kick
out of shooting, electrocuting and poisoning henchmen left and right.
12) Take Away a Goat in Passing. Take advantage of every small opportunity.

The Taskmaster is an interesting super villain who decided a lot of small opportunities
with small risk is a better idea than the big score. The Taskmaster runs a school for
henchmen. In general, super villains do not think small and do pass up small
opportunities. The biggest opportunity that super villains pass up is licensing their
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

technology. If the technology is stolen then this makes sense but in the case of criminal
masterminds like The Mad Thinker and Egghead, you have to wonder why they dont
focus on being a the next Bill Gates rather than wasting their time on crime.
13) Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake. Stir things up before beginning to negotiate
for your true interests.

Ok, this is the application of stratagems to a type of genre that generally relies on fist
fights for plot development. No one said this task would be easy. I am going to revise
this as distraction as a tactic or even super power in a comic book. Deadpool has
officially been classified as a character with the super power of distraction by a major
super villain, Taskmaster. Spider-Man consistently keeps up a line of personal to funny
chatter while fighting that unnerves opponents.
14) Raise a Corpse from the Dead (LB). Borrow a Corpse to Return the Soul
(TF). Revive a dead proposal by presenting it again or in a new way.

This stratagem means take something from the past and giving it new relevance. I guess
the Chinese knew endless reboots of everything from Spider-Man to Iron Man were
going to be part of the future! This may be number #14 in the list of stratagems but in
comic terms this stratagems is number #1!
Comic books love updating old weapons! The Atomic Knights use medieval armor after
WW III! Hawkman likes to use archaic weaponry. Green Arrow and Hawkeye use trick
arrows. Batman uses Batarangs, boomerangs and shurikens, in his utility belt. Captain
Boomerang and Boomerang use trick boomerangs. Whiplash uses a technologically
enhanced whip. Wonder Woman has her Lasso of Truth. Comic book heroes and villains
delight in taking and old weapon and adding new technology to the weapon so a trick
version of the weapon is created.
15) Lure the Tiger out of the Mountain. Seek a neutral location. Negotiate after
leading them away from a position of strength.

Super heroes dont really rely on forts and mazes to take care of their enemies. Batman
has the Batcave and Superman has his Fortress of Solitude. However, the last thing super
heroes want is supervillains visiting their lairs. Incredibly the opposite happens and super
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

heroes wander into the stronghold of villains all the time. At least once every three years,
the Fantastic Four visits Latveria the stronghold of Doctor Doom. This is not just a lair
but a whole country that Doctor Doom controls so probably visiting Doctor Doom in
Latveria is not a good idea but that doesnt seem to deter the Fantastic Four in the least.
Doctor Doom may have a nation on his side but Luthor tops that big time by having a
whole planet on his side! In the Silver age, In Superman Vol 1, #164, Luthor challenged
Superman to a fight on Lexor. Lexor is a planet that has a red sun so Superman has no
powers on Lexor! Also, on Lexor, Luthor is a hero and Superman is considered a
villain! In Superman, Vol 1, #168, Luthor even manages to find some ancient technology
that allows him to temporarily gain super powers on Lexor! Lexor is an extreme example
but supervillains are often luring the super heroes into their lairs in order to have them
fall into some death trap or another. This is especially the case with Batman.
Arcade is an assassin for hire that uses custom built amusement parks filled with deadly
traps named Murderworlds in order to kill superheroes. Arcade has a sporting side and
does deliberately leave a small chance for escape from his deathtraps. Arcade at one time
or another has tried to kill Adam X , Angel, Apex, Avengers Academy, Chase Stein,
Colossus, Courtney Ross , Darkhawk, Dazzler, Deadpool , Doctor Doom, , Excalibur ,
Gambit , Green Goblin, Hazmat, Hercules, Human Torch , Iceman, Impossible Man.,
Iron Man, J ohnny Blaze, J uston Seyfert and his Sentinel, Kid Briton, Meggan, Mettle,
Micronauts, Nara, Nico Minoru, Nightcrawler Northstar,, Red Raven III, Reptil,
Shadowcat, Shatterstar, Spider-Man, The Thing, Wolverine, X-23 , X-Factor, X-Force ,
X-Men and the Young Allies.
Deathtraps are a comic book clich and part of the clich is the supervillains monologue
that allows the super hero time to escape. Why doesnt the supervillain just shot the
capture super hero? The answer is that the super hero needs to escape for plot purposes.
16) Let the Adversary off in order to Snare Him. To Capture the Enemy, First Let It
Go (RM). Do not arouse their spirit to fight back.

In Silver Surfer Vol 1, #5, there is a Tales of the Watcher back story, titled Run Roco
Run. Roco ends up serving a life sentence in J upiter but is hypnotized into believing he
has escaped and therefore no longer tries to escape! This story is a retelling of Run,
Rocky, Run! drawn by Bob Forgione in Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series) #26
(December 1961).
17) Toss out a Brick to Attract a piece of Jade. Toss out a Brick to Attract Jade
(RM). -Trade something of minor value for something of major value.

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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

In Irredeemable, the Hornet gives the Vespan aliens a list of other habitable planets that
they can conquer in exchange for leaving Earth alone and imprisoning Plutonian, a super
hero gone bad. Hornet is ironically a Batman type super hero without super powers but
via this stratagem turns an alien invasion around and defeats the Superman type hero
Plutonian. With the right stratagem, the weakest member of the team physically can be
the most important team member in terms of results.
18) To Catch Bandits, Nab Their Ringleader First. To Catch the Bandits, First
Catch Their Ringleader (RM). Convince the leader and the rest will follow.

Supervillains do love to kidnap the President of the US. Occasionally, supervillains take
over the UN in order to blackmail the whole world and not just the US. Overall, the
comic book world of super heroes and supervillains is very egalitarian and chaotic. For
example, Superman isnt really the leader of the super heroes but kind of a moral
guide. Reed Richards is supposed to be the leader of the Fantastic Four but he definitely
has to run things by the other members especially his wife the Invisible Woman. The
Avengers has a rotating leadership but Captain America generally acts as an informal
leader on the battlefield at the tactical level. The X-Men do have a real leader, Professor
X and occasionally Professor X is targeted as a leader.
There is no real leadership structure for the supervillain side either. Norman Osborn did
create the Cabal which led to the Dark Reign storyline. The Cabal did effectively control
most of the supervillains in the Marvel Universe and Hawkeye did try to assassinate
Osborn (Dark Reign: The List Avengers) and hoped that this would bring the Cabal
down but failed. Lex Luthor became the President of the US and during that period could
call on an army of supervillains in order to take out Superman and Batman but that didnt
last long. Leadership for both the bad guys and good guys in comic books is a network
lacking central nodes that can be removed to take down the whole system.
19) Remove the Fire from under the Cauldron. Eliminate the source of their
strength.

The source of power for some super heroes is certain environmental conditions. If you
cant find any Kryptonite then you can always remove the yellow sun which is the source
of Supermans powers. Lex Luthor does this to Superman twice in Superman Vol 1,
#164 and #168. In Worlds Finest, Vol 1, #163, the villain J emphis turns the yellow sun
of his planet into a red sun via atomic explosions activated by a button on his person.
DC has Aquaman who will lose his strength and die if he is out of water for extended
periods of time. So of course super villains are always trying to dry dock
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

Aquaman! Marvel has Namor the Submariner and has a similar weakness to Aquaman
but while Namors strength will diminish out of water, Namor will not die out of water.
Green Lantern has a Power ring that is one of the most powerful weapons in the DC
universe. However, the power ring needs to be recharged every 24 hours from a battery
that looks like an old style lantern. Hide the lantern and you can take out the Green
Lantern. Problems with the lantern are a central plot device in Green Lantern V1, #9,
#20, #32, #74, and and #116. If you want to take down the whole Green Lantern Corps
then take out the Central Power Battery which charges all the other lanterns. When Hal
J ordan went mad temporarily, he destroyed the Central Power Battery and effectively
destroyed the Green Lantern Corps.
The best article on the internet about comic book weapons at:
DC vs. Marvel: Weapons
20) Muddle the water to catch the fish (TF). Gathering Fish from Troubled Waters
(LB). Do something surprising or unexpected to unnerve them, and then take
advantage of that situation.

The J oker does crazy stunts that keep Batman and other supervillains off
balance. Deadpool is a Marvel supervillain that does similar stunts. Crazy gives
supervillains an advantage in the comic book world.
21) The Cicada Sheds Its Shells. The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell. The Cicada
Sloughs Its Shell (RM). When you are in trouble, secretly escape.

The idea is to escape but leave the lights on so the enemy still thinks you are home. In
the Young J ustice TV series, most of the J ustice League and all of the heavy hitters have
to appear before an off planet court. In episode #33 titled Depths, Young J ustice
impersonates the J ustice League at a Mars satellite launch in order to fool any super
villains that might be watching into thinking the J ustice League is still on Earth.
22) Fasten the Door to Catch a Thief. Lock the Door and Catch the Thief (RM).
Completely destroy them by leaving no way for escape.

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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

Prisons are largely ineffective in comic books since jailed supervillains do not make good
reading. Arkham Asylum seems to be a place where the J oker rests between bouts with
Batman rather than a place of incarceration. An extreme solution to problem of bad guys
breaking out of jail in the DC universe was explored in the Salvation Run
miniseries. The DC supervillains are imprisoned on a distant planet. The same off planet
imprisonment solution was applied to the Hulk but failed spectacularly in the World War
Hulk story arc. Over in the Marvel universe, Iron Man decides enough is enough and
with Reed Richards creates a prison in the in the Negative Zone labeled Project 42.
23) Befriend a Distant State While Attacking a Neighboring State. Befriend Distant
States While Attacking Nearby Ones (RM). Build strategic alliances with others
that will give you the upper hand.

In the TV series, Young J ustice, The Light is a group of supervillains that ally themselves
with the Reach, aliens, that they plan to betray after they destroy the J ustice League and
Young J ustice i.e. superheroes on Earth.
In Irredeemable, the Hornet makes a deal with Vespan aliens to take out, a super hero
gone bad, named Plutonian. Hornet also gives the Vespan a list of other habitable planets
that they can conquer in exchange for leaving Earth alone and imprisoning Plutonian.
24) Borrow a Safe Passage to Conquer the Kingdom of Guo (LB). Attack Hu by a
Borrowed Path (RM). Temporarily join forces with a friend against a common
enemy.

Spider-Man has had any number of temporary team ups with any number of superheroes
in Marvel Team-Up for plot purposes but generally the rationale if any is offered is
stratagem 24. Batman basically does the same thing over at DC albeit not as consistently
as Spider-Man in The Brave and the Bold comic book series starting in issue #50, volume
1, and more notably in the TV series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In general, Super
heroes are better team players and friends than super villains.
Supervillains are always trying to betray their partner. Marvel had a title named Super-
Villain Team-Up and actually generally ended up being the super villain betrayal of their
team member. The Secret Society of Supervillains has always been much more unstable
than their counterpart the J ustice League. Norman Osborn was very briefly able to unite
the Marvel supervillains via the Cabal but that system soon broke down in part due to
psychic sabotage of Osborns sanity by Loki, a fellow Cabal member. Any favor done
by one supervillain to another super villain must be treated with suspicion. For example,
in Superman, Vol 1, #167, Luthor increases Brainiacs intelligence from a 10
th
level to a
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

12
th
level but puts in some hardware in Brainiacs computer brain that allowed Luthor to
control Brainiac!
25) Steal the Dragon and Replace with the Phoenix (CNC). Steal the Beams and
Pillars and Replace Them with Rotten Timber (LB). Steal the Beams and Change
the Pillars. Sabotage, incapacitate, or destroy them by removing their key support.

If you take the saying literally which is not necessarily correct then Catwoman has been
known to leave a fake jewel in the place of a real jewel she has stolen so the owner
doesnt know they have been robbed. Supervillains love to blow things up. That is kind
of what comic book supervillains do and there are too many examples to list here.
26) Point at the Mulberry Tree but Curse the Locust Tree. Convey your intentions
and opinions indirectly.

The Riddler literally talks in riddles. The Etrigan the Demon talks in rhyme and his true
message is difficult to understand. These are not so much examples of ruses but aspects
of the characters of the villains presumably created to make them more interesting.
27) Feign madness, but keep your balance. Pretend to be a Pig in Order to eat the
Tiger (CNC). Play Dumb (LB). Feign Ignorance and Hide Ones Intentions
(RM). Play Dumb, then surprise them. Let them underestimate you.

Superheroes often have secret identities. Clark Kent is the secret identity of Superman
and in order to fool Lois Lane, among others, Clark will play the part of the bumbling
idiot. Bruce Wayne is the secret identity of Batman. The role of Bruce Wayne is played
in such a way as to convince others that Bruce Wayne cannot possibly be Batman. Bruce
Wayne often feigns drunkenness in particular. Bruce Wayne has been know to use
models who dont speak English as alibis. Tony Stark is the secret identity of Iron Man
but is not feigning drunkenness but actually has a drinking problem and is probably a sex
addict problem as well.
My last name is fox and I am going to translate this stratagem as the idioms clever as a
fox or crazy like a fox. Batmans enemy, the J oker is probably actually crazy rather
than pretending to be crazy but do not underestimate the J oker! Batman has a lot of
enemies that appear crazy but are actually pretty effective as super villains. Two-Face
has some sort of personality disorder that causes him to flip a coin during crucial
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

moments in the struggle with Batman. The Riddler has a compulsion to leave a riddle
about his crime before doing the crime. Announcing your crime however cryptically is
probably not a good characteristic of a criminal. The list Batman enemies that suffer
from criminal insanity just goes on and on and about half his enemies are housed in the
Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane and actually belong there rather than faking
madness. What we learn from Batman is that being nuts might actually give you an
advantage in martial situations. The Batman nutcase situation differs from this stratagem
in that his opponents are really crazy rather than feigning craziness.

28) Remove the Ladder after your ascent (LB). Lure the enemy onto the roof, then
take away the ladder. Cross the River and Destroy the Bridge (CNC). Lead them
into a trap, then cut off their escape.

Luring Batman into death traps is a Batman clich at this point. The Batman TV series
used a death trap cliffhanger in a formulaic manner that became boring over time. The
nemesis of Austin Powers, Dr. Evil has a pathological need to use death traps. The son of
Dr. Evil, Scott Evil states the reason he never kills Austin Power is Because you never
kill him when you have the chance and youre a big dope.

29) Decorate the Tree with Fake Blossoms. Flowers Bloom in the Tree (RM).
Reframe deceitfully. Expand the pie with objects of little value.

When Doctor Doom was a young and fun loving gypsy, he sold luxury goods that
appeared to be of great value to the local nobility using sorcery. When the luxury goods
disintegrated then the local Baron was not happy!
30) Turn Yourself into a Host from Being a Guest. Host and Guest Switch Roles
(RM). Turn your defensive and passive position into an offensive and active one.

This is a bit of a stretch but super hero sidekicks start out as the guest of the super hero
and then often become super heroes in their own right. However, the original super hero
almost never retires. Robin can become Nightwing but Batman isnt going
anywhere! The best article ever written on the topic of comic book sidekicks at:
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

DC vs. Marvel: Sidekicks
31) Use a Beauty to Ensnare a Man. The honey trap. Beauty Trap (RM). Provide
alluring distractions.

Obadiah Stane used Indries Momji as a honey trap to destroy Iron Man. Indries Momji
causes Stark to fall in love with her and breaks his heart in order to cause him to resume
his alcoholic ways leaving Stark Industries and its Iron Man technology easy prey for
Stane. Loki used Lorelei in For the Love of Thor story line to manipulate Thor. In the
1978 graphic novel by Stan Lee and J ack Kirby titled the Silver Surfer: The Ultimate
Cosmic Experience, Galactus created a golden clone, Ardina, of his true love Shalla-Bal,
with Silver Surfer powers in order to successfully force the Silver Surfer to become his
herald again.
32) Open the Gate of an Undefended City. The Empty City Stratagem (RM).
Deliberately displaying your weakness can conceal your vulnerability.

In The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Batman muses how he has a bright yellow
target on his chest so the bad guys will aim at his chest where he has a bullet proof vest
rather than his difficult to armor head.
33) Use Adversarys Spies to Sow Discord in Your Adversarys Camp. Turn the
Enemys Agents against Him (RM). Provide inaccurate information to mislead
them, especially through informal channels.

In Fantastic Four #2, Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four pretend to be
Skrull spies and trick the Skrull captain with pictures from J ourney into Mystery and
Strange Tales into believing Earth is defended by monsters.
34) Inflict Pain on Oneself in order to Infiltrate Adversarys Camp and Win the
Confidence of the Enemy. Self-Torture (RM). Appear to take some hits. Feign
weakness while arming yourself.

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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

In The Dark Knight Returns, Batman pretends to die of a self induced heart attack in
order to fake his death and get off the radar. This is the third instance of the use of a
stratagem in The Dark Knight Returns and perhaps this is one of the reasons among many
this work is a masterpiece in the world of comic books.
In researching this stratagem I found out there is a lot more self inflicted pain in comic
books than I would have imagined! Captain Carnage pretended to be a super villain in
order to get beaten up presumably for masochistic reasons in the Watchmen
universe. Etrigan the Demon also presumably has masochistic tendencies. Penance has a
superpower that requires pain on his part to work! When the flesh of Penance is raked
with one of the 612 internal bolts in his suit, he can project explosive blasts from his
body! OMG! Who comes up with these characters? Odin sacrificed his right eye to gain
wisdom from Mimir as how to stop Ragnark (Twilight of the Gods) in Thor #274
(August 1978).
35) Lead Your Adversary to Chain Together Their Warships. Stratagem on
Stratagems (RM). Devise a set of interlocking stratagems to defeat them.

The Kingpin discovered Daredevils secret identity (Matt Murdock) in the born Born
Again story arc. The Kingpin then launched several lines of attack at the same time. The
Kingpin uses his influence to have the IRS freeze Murdocks accounts. The Kingpin also
has the bank foreclose on his apartment. Finally the Kingpin coerces police lieutenant
Nicholas Manolis to testify that he saw Murdock pay a witness to perjure himself. The
Kingpin overreaches himself when he blows up Daredevils house. At that moment
Daredevil realizes the Kingpin is behind the attacks on Matt Murdock and must know his
secret identity.
36) Retreat is the Best Option. If All Else Fails, Run Away (RM). Purse your
BATNA.

Old Man Logan decides that when faced with a world that the super villains have taken
over then its time to retreat to a little patch of land rather than get killed. Old Man Logan
does eventually get around to fighting another day and killing all the
villains! Supervillains run away from super heroes all the time but the reverse is rarely
true. Even allowing supervillains the option of retreat is considered an unacceptable
stratagem for super heroes. In Thunderstrike Vol 1, #2, the hero Thunderstrike allows the
J uggernaut to just go away rather than having the city get destroyed in a fight and is later
admonished by Captain America.
Conclusion
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The 36 Stratagems as Portrayed in Comic Books

What is surprising upon the analysis of stratagems in comic books is how rarely
stratagems are used by supervillains. If I was a super villain fighting the likes of
Superman and Thor then I would use every trick in the book. Even the criminal
masterminds like Luthor, the Kingpin and Loki do not use stratagems all that much. My
theory is that comic books are still largely a visual medium and its hard to draw a
stratagem. A fist fight is more interesting visually than a stratagem. Also, the comic
book writers may have a limited knowledge of stratagems. A systematic comparison of
cons, ruses of war and stratagems might yield interesting and synergic results
conceptually which in turn would have practical value in competitive situations.