Plenty of fascinating characters and compelling stories have come from comic books, but there's something else the medium does extremely well: action scenes. Unlike TV and movies, a script is only limited by how much the artist can handle. There's no budget, so they can go as big, explosive, and dramatic as they want to when everything begins to hit the fan.
Every week, we get more and more of these cool battle sequences, and every single Friday, we'll be here to highlight three of our favorite ones. It's never an easy choice and there's always plenty of comics that deserve love, so if your top choice isn't below, go ahead and give it some praise in the comments section.
Just so you know, the Deathstroke highlight is pretty bloody. The faint of heart should probably go ahead and skip that one.
AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS #3
The first highlight comes from Rick Remender, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Matt Milla, Laura Martin, and Edgar Delgado. The third chapter of Marvel's latest big event kept moving forward with heavy action, but this time around, Red Onslaught and his two mighty Sentinels had to battle villains, not heroes! The Avengers and the X-Men have fallen, but Magneto has formed a new team -- one which Red Skull didn't expect. Those two towering robots are programmed to handle some of Earth's most popular heroes, but this crew? Let's just say it doesn't go well for the two titans.
The Sentinels may be durable and have projectile attacks, but their eyes are weak points and this is something the fiends take full advantage of. Above, you witnessed Carnage rip an eye out, but there's still one eye left, right? The powerful team of Loki, Doctor Doom and Magneto have no trouble handling what remains and the Sentinel goes down for the count. But there's still one left and Jack O'Lantern, Carnage and Sabretooth aren't making much progress. Absorbing Man views this as his moment to shine, both literally and figuratively. The dude becomes adamantium and lets loose against the Sentinel's eye. The poor robot never stood a chance, did it?
AXIS is a crowded event. Well, events tend to be huge and incorporate as many characters as possible, but Yu has to deal with a big team of villains (there's ten of them), Red Onslaught, two enormous Sentinels, and the Avengers and X-Men. There's a lot of characters in the script, plenty of powers put to use, and a ton of action. Yet none of it looks rushed. So, even if you're not a fan of the story, it's tough not to appreciate how much effort went into making the chapter look good. Anyway, the tall robots have been taken out, there's still the tiny matter of toppling Red Onslaught. Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch need to complete a spell to win the battle, but the big bad unleashes his telepathy and begins to control the villains. Luckily for the two magic users, Evan, a young clone of Apocalypse, is there to give them some much-needed help.
We all know Red Skull won't complete his mission, but how is he brought down and what does that mean for the heroes? Love or loathe big events, there's some significant developments in here and they're sure to play a big role in the 616 universe's future.
DEATHSTROKE #1
The first issue of Tony S. Daniel's DEATHSTROKE has arrived and guess what? It's pretty awesome! There's a really impressive layout of Slade Wilson killing several targets in Russia, but that was in the preview and you've probably already seen it. It's not long before he's the one in danger and that's where we'll begin the highlight! The mission was a trap and now a villain named "Possum" (we swear he's more dangerous than he sounds) has the mercenary at his mercy. Possum equips both of Deathstroke's blades and doesn't hesitate to begin slicing.
Brutal stuff. Slade's getting turned into sushi, but come on, this is Deathstroke the Terminator we're talking about! Even if he's getting sliced and diced, the dude just doesn't know how to stay down. How he gets out of this scene is vicious -- seriously, Daniel's made it a gruesome panel -- and, before Slade can catch his breath, he has even more goons to deal with. Luckily for him, they stand no chance whatsoever against him.
You're getting a good look at these images, right? Daniel -- along with inker Sandu Florea and colorist Tomeu Morey -- made quite an impact with this first chapter. Sure, the story has a good cliffhanger and there's enough intrigue in the story, but these pages really are something else. The dude went all out with this one and it shows. Here, we'll be nice and give you another example of this great artwork. The below panel is just part of a page in which Deathstroke takes out multiple goons and you can see the focus isn't just on the characters; there's still plenty of attention given to the city and the cloudy sky.
Again, we're only showing you part of the action. There's still so much more glorious artwork for your eyes to appreciate and the story's off to a pretty interesting start. Go ahead and check this one out, Deathstroke fans.
ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER #8
Our final highlight comes from Felipe Smith, Damion Scott, Cory Hamscher, and Val Staples' latest issue of ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER. In this chapter, the new Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes and Eli W. Morrow) come face to face with the iconic Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze (or should we say skull to skull?). This new Ghost Rider has done some pretty impressive things in combat, but he appears to be pretty outclassed by Blaze.
If you've been following the book, then you know Eli isn't exactly the kindest spirit around. Reyes means well, but Eli tends to be more of a jerk, so you can bet he won't be inclined to surrender or talk it out, especially when Blaze is beginning to reveal his dark past -- something he obviously wants to keep from Reyes. He attempts to get rid of Blaze, but that only results in another slam. Clearly, Blaze would have been an excellent wrestler.
Smith's developing a fast-paced story and fun story, but it was Tradd Moore's frenetic and over-the-top artwork that made the opening arc really pack a punch. Luckily, this art team did a fine job keeping the tone and style similar. It's still loaded with energy, includes similar layouts, and the action is creatively handled. That's more than evident when the new Ghost Rider seemingly decides to leave the fight, but it's all part of the plan to fool Blaze and make him oblivious to what comes next. Avert your eyes, Blaze fans!
What else is revealed about Eli and how does this battle impact Robbie? Plus, there's more developments with the "Blue Krue!" The fight between these two intimidating characters doesn't go on for much longer, but there's no need to worry because it looks like we haven't seen the last of Blaze in this series and the way the fight ends makes us wonder how the classic Ghost Rider will proceed.
What are your top three fights from this latest round of new comics? Support what you love and tell the world below! 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!