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Best New Comic Book Battles This Week: 10/19/12

Hawkeye puts his trick arrows to work, Ninjak tries to survive against X-O Manowar, and Harbinger has an absolutely harsh fight.

It's Friday and that means it's time to get your action fix!  Welcome back to Best New Comic Book Battles This Week and you're in for quite a treat.  We have Hawkeye in his birthday suit, a ninja taking on a powerhouse and a vicious battle from HARBINGER.  Remember, if your battle didn't make the cut you're more than welcome to talk about your favorites and share scans for all to enjoy! 
  
Without further ado... let's get ready to rumble, Viners. 
 

Hawkeye vs  Tracksuit Vampires (HAWKEYE #3)  

Nude Clint Barton, bro!  Matt Fraction's latest issue is simply a brilliant and fun ride.  Best of all, there's stellar action spanning the entire time.  The "Tracksuit Vampires" are after a nameless redhead, and Clint Barton is far too much of a gentlemen to let them take her (even though he's cheating on Spider-Woman?).  Potential scumbaggery aside, seeing a naked Clint Barton wielding a lamp against goons is something you must read.  Also, that's quite possibly the best use ever of Hawkeye's mask.
You can't unsee this.      
You can't unsee this.      
Remember that huge assortment of trick arrows Clint has?  Yeah, they're all put to use here.  Some in a hilariously ineffective manner, others with devastating results.  A bola might prove well against a person's ankles, but against an assault rifle?  Bro, seriously, bro?  The sonic arrow is equally ineffective, as the screaming weapon harmlessly soars past the gunman.  However, explosive arrows will cause chaos during the high speed chase and I've never seen better use of a putty or cable arrow before.
           
           
But at the end of the day, one trick arrow rises above the rest and warrants your unyielding repsect.  And that arrow, fine reader, is the boomerang arrow.  Why?  Because boomerangs, that's why.  

Aric vs Ninjak (X-O MANOWAR #6)

It's the age old debate of skill versus power.  In this case, we have Aric, a man sporting one of the most powerful armors in the universe, versus Ninjak, a man who's disputably one of Earth's deadliest assassins.  Ninjak's previous victory was due to catching Aric armorless.  Good fortune isn't on Ninjak's side this time, no longer having the luxury of facing Aric the human... and instead going head-to-head with Aric in his oh-so powerful armor.   
 
To make matters even worse, they're in the confined space of a plane.  Time to bring your A-game or end up blasted apart like those fellows in the woods, Ninjak.  Luckily for the super cool (yes, super cool) assassin, he does just that and manages to survive by using his brain, talent and a little bit of luck. 
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Aric's a talented warrior, but his opponent lives up to his reputation as he dances around incoming strikes, proving to be virtually untouchable.  Eventually through, Ninjak realizes his blades and throwing weapons are doing nothing more than annoying Aric like a gnat around a person.  But within the space of a plane, there's only so much he can accomplish.  Despite Ninjak being the villain, you can't help but root for him since he's at such a huge disadvantage in this scenario.     
      
      
Ninjak tries to escape, but the ancient warrior finally gets his hands around his neck.  The game of cat and mouse appears to be over, but Ninjak's quick reflexes allow him to divert the blast, narrowly saving his life.  He then realizes what needs to be done... he needs to get the hell out of there.  
      
      
The battle proceeds to the cargo area and Ninjak quickly makes his exit.  Seeing as X-O Manowar can not only fly incredibly fast, but also fire energy blasts, Ninjak's effort could be a futile one.  Thankfully for him, Alexander stops X-O from pursuing and informs him about the far more important matters at hand. 

Peter Stanchek vs Harbinger Foundation (HARBINGER #5)

It's truly a shame my scans couldn't duplicate the dialogue because there really are some fantastic remarks in here.  Oh well, moving on.  First off, Peter takes on Hidden Moon, a man that can disable his powers.  As you can see below, a powerless Pete doesn't stand much of a chance and suffers a vicious beating. 
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A poisonous needle to the neck later and Peter has a brief opening... and man oh man does he capitalize on it.  The young psionic  goes to town on Moon's face with a blunt weapon, and I'm not going to lie, it's extremely painful to watch.  What's left of Moon's face is a rather disturbing image.
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Seeking revenge, Peter then crashes back into Toyo Harada's Harbinger foundation.  Not exactly the most brilliant tactical move considering there's a whole slew of pscionics ready to dish out some pain.  His actions are understandable, though, because of the loss he's just experienced.  Despite being beaten to a pulp, Peter survives the assault by collapsing the roof and then being saved from his imminent death by the fangirl, Faith.
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Honorable Mentions: Carnage vs Microns, Nightwing vs Goons 
 

 

 
Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment, bro.