Hey there, action junkies! Want to hear something awesome? It's Friday! What better way is there to celebrate than by reliving the most excellent fights in this week's new comics, right? We've got a nice dose of variety for you, too. First off, we have a match between two skilled hand-to-hand combatants. Then we'll get to check out massive brawl between monsters. And, last but not least, we'll chime in on a fight between two powerful characters in the DC universe.
"Hey, why isn't a fight I love being highlighted and/or listed in the honorable mentions? What gives?!" It's possible we didn't read that issue (A LOT come out each week, after all), or we didn't dig it as much. So, be sure to make suggestions in the official Best Battles Discussion Thread from now on to put this stuff on our radar. We review that before writing this weekly feature and do our best to get our hands on the issues suggested.
DAREDEVIL #2
The second chapter of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's latest volume of DAREDEVIL featured Shroud, a character that isn't very popular, so don't feel too bad if you have no idea who is he. Clearly, Waid is aware of this because he finds a natural way to fit in discussing the character's origin story and basic abilities. So, what forces this fellow to clash with The Man Without Fear? Well, it turns out Shroud isn't very pleased about Matt Murdock's move to San Francisco. Shroud considers the city his turf and wants him to back off. Obviously, that's not going to happen and the two begin to scuffle instead of, you know, talking it out like normal people.
What makes Waid's time with Daredevil particularly cool is the strong emphasis on Daredevil using his radar to make him a superb detective. It's constantly on display in this book and, in fact, how these two first met is a great example of it. You see, Shroud was lurking on Daredevil's roof as the hero was inside with company. Despite socializing with them, Murdock could not only hear Shroud on his roof, but could also determine the attire he's wearing. Waid also gives credit to Murdock's hand-to-hand abilities -- and understandably so because the dude's a very gifted fighter. As you can see from the captions, we get to dive inside Murock's head as he's locked in hand-to-hand combat and he's constantly examining his foe.
Samnee's energetic and fun artwork is such a strong compliment to Waid's script. It does a fine job honing in on each and every strike, just like Daredevil is doing in is own head. Speaking of which, you probably noticed Matt's being quite descriptive with the moves. He can tell his opponent is skilled, and, so far, our hero's been striking and defending with his right hand. He's doing this because he knows his opponent is likely reading him as well, so this was all an attempt to trick Shroud into believing he favors his right arm. The play worked and when Murdock gets an opening with his left fist, he makes sure it counts.
Shroud's lost the battle, but the issue is hardly over. The character has an ace up his sleeve and it forces Murdock into an uneasy alliance with him. But can Shroud be truly be trusted? Well, of course not, but don't you want to see how it all plays out?!
GODZILLA: RULERS OF EARTH #11
Godzilla, the King of Monsters, had a pretty rough time in the new issue of IDW'S GODZILLA: RULERS OF EARTH. Written by Chris Mowry and with art by Matt Frank and Priscilla Tramontano, this chapter placed the iconic Kaiju in an incredibly unfair fight. Sure, we all know the beast is crazy powerful, but here, it's a two-on-one fight against two underwater monsters. Naturally, it doesn't start on a strong note for Godzilla.
Will Godzilla break free and give these two opponents a well-deserved beatdown? Will the titan unleash its atomic breath, blasting its enemies away from it? Unfortunately for Godzilla, neither of those things happen -- at least not yet. Instead, another enemy Kaiju joins the fray and, as Godzilla's restrained, this new fiend delivers an absolutely vicious strike to its belly.
What a bunch of miserable cheaters, right? As if two versus one wasn't fair enough, they had to call in back up just to stack the odds even more. However, they're messing with the King of Monsters, and not even a fierce stab to the tummy will incapacitate this beast. Not only is Godzilla still good to go, but the creature then shows them who's boss. Godzilla dishes out some atomic breath and then uses their numbers against them by throwing them into one another. But Godzilla's streak is stopped when yet ANOTHER Kaiju enters the battle and punches poor ol' Godzilla in the face. So begins the savagery.
Does Godzilla slaughter them all? Does a third party intervene? Does this also make you really, really want to see the new movie in IMAX? Well, you'll just have to read the issue to get all of the details! Plus -- and I know it's hard to believe -- this isn't the only awesome fight in the issue, either. The book kicks off with a pretty epic brawl in Paris and it even destroys one of the city's landmarks. Which one, you ask? Well, like I said, go buy the issue to find out!
AQUAMAN #30
Jeff Parker's run on AQUAMAN dishes out quite a rumble between two heavy-hitters: Aquaman and Hercules. The latest issue, illustrated by Paul Pelletier and colored by Rain Beredo, revolves primarily around these two super-strong characters duking it out. The son of Zeus has only one thing on his mind: revenge. His mind has been twisted and he wants nothing more than to make Atlanteans suffer. Arthur Curry has the misfortune of being his punching bag and the two powerhouses wind up taking quite a tumble.
When you have two absurdly powerful characters constantly tackling one another into the Earth, it's going to take a bit of a toll. Shortly after this fall, the two smash into a wall and it causes a whole lot of rubble to come crashing down on them. The Demigod eventually recovers from the wreckage, but he sees that his massive body protected Arthur from the debris. He views this as being manipulated yet again (read this issue and #29 to find out why) and then attempts to strangle Aquaman to death. Arthur has very gifted physicals, but to get out of this situation, he'll need to use his wit. Keep in mind, it has been a long time since Hercules has encountered an Atlantean and, if you know your DC history, then you know they were once surface dwellers. Such isn't the case anymore, but he's completely oblivious to that.
Poor, poor Hercules. Now that Arthur's back in the water, the fight can finally turn back in his favor. Right after the Demigod dips him in, Arthur rocks Hercules' face with a crazy powerful punch. So powerful, in fact, that it sends the big man flying and he eventually smashes back into the ocean. Now, Arthur has him right where he wants him.
Okay, it's pretty obvious who's going to win at this point, but Parker makes sure it's one hell of a victory. Plenty of hits are thrown -- and plenty were thrown that we didn't reveal to you -- so, if you want to see the full clash between Aquaman and Hercules, do the right thing and pick up the issue!
More battles that are full of win can be found in the following new issues:
- ELEKTRA #1
- DEAD BODY ROAD #5
- JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #0
- TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #33
- JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #30
- INJUSTICE: YEAR TWO #8
- UNCANNY AVENGERS #19
- THE WALKING DEAD #126
- UBER #11
- LARFLEEZE #10
That's it for this week, friends! What are your top three fights from this latest round of new comics? Also, don't forget to make nominations every week in the official thread or tell us via Twitter. See you next Friday. Oh, have a good weekend, too!
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