Batman vs. Guy Gardner...one punch Justice League #5 by Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire





No words needed to describe this one, but it does remind me of the line from the Breakfast Club, "two hits, me hitting you, you hitting the floor"

-M

It was the first one I thought of, and was earmarked for #1 until I remembered the choice that wound up #1.

-M

Afer seeing that last panel, I want to pull this book out and read it.

2. New X-Men versus Original X-Men

by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum
X-Men #100 , May 18 1976


Have the New X-Men been betrayed by Professor X (yet again?) and forced into fighting the original team? It’s a fatal face off as Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, Havoc and Polaris confront Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Banshee as Xavier screams from his wheelchair for his X-Men to kill the imposters. All of this occurring in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s space station where the New X-Men had been taken to and held captive by Stephen Lang’s newest generation of mutant hunting Sentinels.
The New crew are at a distinct disadvantage and holding back against their fellow/former team mates as they must be under mind control somehow.


Dave Cockrum delivers the artistic goods as we are treated to the dexterous match up of Beast and Nightcrawler bouncing off the walls and everyone. Cyclops blasts Nightcrawler. Wolverine attempting to turn Iceman into so many ice cubes before Angel tosses Wolvie into Colossus and Colossus returns the favor with tossing Wolvie right back at him in the good ole’ Fastball Special which provides Havoc an open shot at Colossus. Ironclad Rasputin takes it in stride while striking back with a steel beam knocking Havoc across the room. Marvel Girl and Polaris pin Storm under debris as Banshee comes screaming in for the rescue.



During the entire struggle the New X-Men keep trying to talk sense into their friends of the original team to no avail. Wolverine finally confronts Professor X, calling him out and suddenly Xavier rises up from his wheel chair to stand and punch Wolvie. While down (but not out) Marvel Girl mentally attacks Wolverine and he can’t think for the pain burning through his mind and with only his “instincts” left to guide and push him forward the man with adamantium bones goes feral while saying he is like an animal and doesn’t know from face, he knows from scents, voices and feelings and that he recognizes now that Marvel Girl is NOT Jean Grey as he strikes with his claws and disembowels her.



Everyone is in shock as Banshee asks the Bloody Homicidal Maniac if he knows what he has done and Lang shifts camera shots for a full screen pull back revealing Wolvie standing over Marvel Girl with mechanical guts spewed forth as he says he has met the enemy and they Ain’t us! The real Cyclops and Marvel Girl break free from their test tube imprisonment as the New-X-Men, who are no longer holding back against their “supposed” friends blast away destroying these robots in minutes. All rush off the space station in a space shuttle as a solar flare erupting envelopes them in the final panels cliff hanger ending…which of course leads to a whole different story!



But daaaaaaaang, what a celebratory 100th issue anniversary! And a splendid friends versus friends fight of original versus new. A fight that of course every fan would want to see and read at some point, and it’s delivered in fast and furiously entertaining style! This was a breath taking stunning issue fresh off the stands for me and from here on the New X-Men only keeps getting better.

Also, I'm not going to be available to post my #1 pick tomorrow, so I'm putting it in this thread.

1. Electra vs Bullseye (Daredevil #181, 1982)

Writer/artist Frank Miller struck gold in the early 80s, moving Daredevil away from gimmicky super-foes and into a combination of wuxia and noir. Miller became a master of wordless, balletic fight sequences, and any one of them could have been featured here. I already featured Daredevil in one of my previous selections, so this time I’ll choose his romantic interest, the assassin Elektra getting the wrong end of the stick—or rather, her own sai—from Bullseye, who proves as deadly with melee weapons as with the ranged attacks that give him his name.

2. Hawkeye vs. the Collector
Avengers #174

In the middle of the Korvac Saga, with the Avengers just waking up to realize they are facing a threat that could alter or destroy reality itself, members of the team start mysteriously vanishing without warning, fading into thin air right before our very eyes. With just a few Avengers left standing, the remaining members of the team finally figure out that their members are being abducted by The Collector. They find his spaceship and launch an attack to rescue their teammates, with the fate of the universe at stake. Fail, and Korvac will have free reign.

But The Collector is ready for them. Thi sis what he does, after all. One by one he captures or neutralizes every member of the team, until there's just one left standing: Hawkeye, who The Collector calls the weakest Avenger of them all.




And then Clint has to take down one of the Elders of the Universe by himself, or else reality itself falls. No pressure!!




In the end, Hawkeye manages to outwit the Collector and defeats him. The Avengers are released, and they learn the truth behind Korvac, allowing them to ultimately defeat him (sort of) in #177.

Hawkeye is one of my favorite characters, thanks in large part to moments like this — where just a regular guy with no powers at all goes toe to toe with the most cosmically powerful beings in the universe, all on shear chutzpah and force of will.

Number 2 is Master of Kung Fu #106. It is the climax of Doug Moench and Gene Day's revisiting where it all began, as Carlton Velcro, Chi's adversary in the first regular Moench & Gulacy story, turns up alive and looking for vengeance, with 2 Razor Fists. Shang has defeated one and learned the location of Velcro's fortress. Now, he and Leiko infiltrate it and fight their way through Velcro's mercenaries, using swords and wearing armor. Chi kicks booty, then runs up against Razor Fist #2 and is kicking his hinder, when Velcro shoots him dead, in an attempt to kill Shang Chi. Now he has to face Chi, who strips off his armor to fight the madman. Velcro has bionic components, thanks to the explosion at his base, in the original story. This includes a nasty bladed arm weapon. Shang Chi takes the fight to him, despite the weapon, because he knows that Velcro's fear is his undoing.




Velcro relents and surrenders and Chi takes him alive, is reunited with Leiko and Reston & Tarr, who have finally arrived with the cavalry.

Moench and Gulacy had been on a nostalgic look back at the glory days of the comic, revisiting Juliette and the Cat, as well as Velcro and Razor Fist. This was pretty much an attempt to revive the fortunes of the series and Day was the perfect artist, capturing the cinematic stylings that made Gulacy so great, while bringing his own style to the book. Sadly, Day would pass away from a heart attack, just as he was really starting to make noises, at Marvel (after a long career in the indie world and fanzine community). This fight builds and builds, as Shang Chi and Leiko face their past and work towards a future, after turmoil. It is symbolic of both the life of the book and the characters.