Thanks for checking out our latest edition of Best Battles in New Comics! We're about to offer you a glimpse of our three favorite action scenes from the latest wave of new issues. Honestly, it was very tough narrowing down the options. From the Big Two to brand new indie titles, there was a ridiculous amount of fighting going on in the most recent comics. It wasn't easy, but we finally managed to select three to highlight and we hope you'll enjoy them every bit as much as we did. And if not, well, maybe we'll win you over next Friday.
If you're not a fan of the battles we picked, we encourage you to praise the one you have in mind instead of just posting something like, "why isn't ___ in here?" It just may motivate someone to check out the comic, after all. Also, we have a discussion threadfor this segment and check it frequently on Wednesdays and Thursdays. So if there's a fight you like in a new comic, be sure to recommend it in that thread before we write the feature.
*The final highlight isn't for the faint of heart*
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GRAYSON #1
Whether you like it or not, Dick Grayson, the man formerly known as Nightwing, is now beginning his career as a spy. Seeing as he's agile, incredibly skilled, and was trained by the world's greatest detective, something tells us he should be a pretty good fit for the job. The new series kicks off its first chapter with an action-packed mission. We have mixed news for you if you took a look at the cover and said to yourself, "I don't want to see Dick Grayson use a gun!" Yes, he technically does use a pistol in this opening chapter. However, he doesn't use it the way you'd expect him to. Who needs bullets when you've been trained by Batman to be a master with throwing weapons?
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The operation on the train is good fun and shows how slick Grayson can be, but things take an especially exciting turn when he bumps into a majorly dangerous character: Midnighter. If you should know one thing about the guy in leather, it's that his abilities as a hand-to-hand combatant are no joke. Luckily for Grayson, he isn't exactly a slouch in this department, either.
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After seeing this turn of events, there's likely a few Midnighter fans out there that are scratching their heads. Yes, Grayson's a good fighter -- exceptional, in fact -- but Midnight's on a ridiculously high level when it comes to battles. However, it's soon revealed that Midnighter's just having a bit of fun observing his opponent and eventually stops holding back.
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Now that Midnighter's "pissed off" and no longer toying around, how is the first Robin going to get out himself of this one? Trying to take this guy down in a melee is an uphill struggle and then some, so what could he possibly do to defeat this deadly dude? Or is he unable to do so all by himself? As always, you'll just have to read the whole issue to get all of the details. And, let's be honest here, who isn't at least curious to see the beginning of Grayson's new path?
ALL-NEW X-MEN #29
Remember when Kitty Pryde called Professor X a jerk? Well, she should have been talking about the child he has in an alternate future with Mystique, because that guy is a total jerk and definitely deserves the insult. Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen's latest chapter of ALL-NEW X-MEN opens with Young Xavier dishing out some harsh revenge against the past and present X-Men. As he diverts all of his attention to making the various mutants suffer, he remains oblivious to one lethal character that's sneaking up behind him: X-23!
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Even after Jean Grey follows up with a blast of her own against the villain, the fight is far from over. It wouldn't be a highlight in Best Battles otherwise, right?! Raze, the alternate future child of Wolverine and Mystique, leaps into the fray and begins to slash away at X-23. As these two battle -- and poor Laura gets kicked in the noggin -- this gives Xavier a moment to recover. And a moment is all he needs to use his powers to make all of the mutants turn against each other. Now, prepare your eyes for splash page greatness!
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We don't want to spoil any of the issue's big twists and turns, but it's safe to say you know all of the mutants don't actually kill one another, right? Okay, cool. So, there's a few developments with Xavier along the way -- stuff we totally don't want to ruin for you -- but another character still remains as a threat: Raze. The shape-shifter taunts X-23 into another fight, but Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, won't allow any of that nonsense to continue. In case you forgot just how forceful those conclusive blasts of his can be, here's a nice example of the punch these projectiles are packing.
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What happens to Charles Xavier II? Who's behind Xorn's mask? It's the final chapter of the Future Brotherhood's battle with the current and young mutants, so you definitely don't want to miss it if you've been following along with all of the X-Men's crazy adventures!
SPREAD #1
Imagine if Quentin Tarantino rebooted John Carpenter's The Thing. It sounds like a massively graphic dose of horror and action, doesn't it? Well, that's basically what Justin Jordan and Kyle Strahm's new Image title SPREAD is like! Here's all you need to know: it's years after these frightening creatures have, well, spread across the planet and humans are struggling to survive. Our main character, No, is immune to the spread, but they're still more than capable of killing him with their pointy and jagged parts. Luckily for No, he knows how to take care of himself and is more than handy with a blade.
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These monsters aren't the only threat wandering around. There's also a group of humans called Raiders and the name pretty much says everything you need to know about them, right? But before No bumps into those cruel people, he still has this horrifying creature to deal with. Cutting off its "eyes" was a good start, but that won't keep the thing down for the count. Like we previously said, No's good with a blade, so he knows how to make his attacks count.
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Remember those Raiders we told you about? They're about to rudely pop into No's world. One of them is an archer named Amell (maybe an Arrow nod?) who claims he never misses. He takes aim at No and releases the arrow. No, with his trusty blade, swats away the projectile at the very last second and appears to do so with total ease. The creative team then proves our protagonist is a formidable dude and has him absolutely obliterate these bad people. Things are about to get vicious.
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What else does this new and creepy world have to offer? And what's the deal with the baby on the cover? If this terrifying and violent issue sounds like something you'd maybe want to check out, we strongly recommend giving it a shot. It did receive a 5-star review, after all.
Honorable Mentions
- DEADPOOL #31
- BIRDS OF PREY #33
- RAI #3
- DEATH VIGIL #1
- 100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: SPIDER-MAN #1
- BATGIRL #33
- NIGHTCRAWLER #4
- GREEN LANTERN CORPS #33
- ALL-NEW INVADERS #7
- ARMOR HUNTERS #2
- SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1
- NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #1
- AMAZING X-MEN #9
- INJUSTICE: YEAR TWO #14
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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 and have a good weekend!