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Best New Comic Book Battles This Week: 11/30/12

Venom pummels a gang, the Ninja Turtles duke it out with Slash, and Wolverine tries to claw young Cyclops!

Let's get ready to rumble! Sorry, had to. Thanks for checking out this week's edition of Best Battles and hopefully your eyes will be pleased with the latest slugfests.

This week, artwork by Marco Checchetto and Fabio D'Auria made VENOM an obvious choice, the Ninja Turtles engaged in a boisterous brawl, and Wolverine is pushed aside not once, but twice by teens! Once again, the Honorable Mentions section is packed as well.

As much as I'd like to, I don't have the time, money or attention span to read every single new comic. So, if there's a battle that you loved and it's not on this list, you're more than welcome to chat about it and share scans of said fight. But in the meantime, here are my top 3 battles this week!

There's minor spoilers here, so tread carefully!

Venom vs Harkspur Brood goons (VENOM #27.1)

Once a bully, always a bully. Using rubber bullets isn't showing mercy, Eugene, it's only prolonging their suffering. This was a vicious issue for the symbiote's latest host -- both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately for these goons, they were on the receiving end of Flash's internal temper tantrum and he enjoyed the savagery every little bit.

DAT ART!
DAT ART!

The gang of Satan worshiping humans was clearly outmatched against the superhuman anti-hero, but that don't stop him from giving the group a warm dose of humiliation. Simply put, this isn't a fair fight at all. Even if they were armed to the teeth with sonic weapons, I doubt these chumps would stand much of a chance at all. Venom's out to hurt, and he definitelyfollows through.

Oh, snap! +5 cheesiness.
Oh, snap! +5 cheesiness.

Venom came for information, but in the end it was clear he really went there to unleash. The man has been through massive trials since Rick Remender kicked off the series, and while he's trying to right his past wrongs, it's clear he's making the same mistakes all over again... but this time against people more deserving of his hatred.

Venom ain't got time for your jibber jabber!
Venom ain't got time for your jibber jabber!

As if the arm snap wasn't bad enough, Flash later visits the poor guy in the hospital and ragdolls him around the room for a bit.

TMNT vs Slash (TMNT #16)

Go, Ninja!, go, Ninja, GO! Seriously, go! Get outta there or Slash is going to rip you apart! The team is trapped underground with the powerhouse, Slash, and taking him down won't be easy. One by one they attempt to do what they can, but Slash proves be too much for them.

You got
You got "FWAK'd," Raph!

I love the Turtles, but I'm not going to lie.. seeing Slash embarrass them was incredibly enjoyable. The team manages to eventually subdue the creature, although it proves to only be a temporary solution and Slash promptly overpowers the four Turtles.

Sewer Rodeo is a bit more intense.
Sewer Rodeo is a bit more intense.

"Wahhhhh Andy Kuhn's art," says a lot of Viners. Yeah, the dude has some wonky facial expressions, but hopefully you can appreciate his work more after feasting your eyes on these panels. Change is tough to accept,

A ninja star to the face is never fun. Just ask Butters Stotch.
A ninja star to the face is never fun. Just ask Butters Stotch.

I know I usually don't hesitate with spoilers over how the fights conclude (after all, the warning is in the intro for a reason), but if you want to know what happens... BUY THE ISSUE! This series deserves your love and if that will get IDW an extra copy or two sold, then I'll consider this a victory.

Wolverine vs Classic X-Men (ALL-NEW X-MEN #2)

'Best Battles' isn't just about violent or adrenaline rush inducing fights. Bloodshed and brutality isn't a mandatory requirement here. Sometimes, a quick but highly amusing encounter can stand out above the rest. And mark my words, if Aunt May smacks someone again, it'll make the list. In the meantime, seeing Wolverine shamed by the young X-Men from the past will have to do.

Communicating isn't what he does best.
Communicating isn't what he does best.

Their scent makes James go wild and, much to no one's surprise, lunging and screaming at a team of characters with assorted powers wasn't the best idea. Jean uses her telekinesis to hold a confused Wolverine stationary and Cyclops doesn't hesitate to jump on the opportunity.

Believe it or not, this isn't written by Garth Ennis.
Believe it or not, this isn't written by Garth Ennis.

Hardly one of Wolverine's most flattering appearances, but it's still nowhere near as humiliating as how Garth Ennis treated him over in Punisher's books (a shotgun to the groin is a bad time). At least Iceman was kind enough to break the runt's fall.

But hey, Wolverine is their elder and will put them in their place verbally, right? Oh wait...

Give that man a pillow.
Give that man a pillow.

Truth be told, as embarrassing as it seems, this really isn't a bad showing for Mr. Howlett. Considering he lunged at the group out in the open, it's totally logical that the team of various and immensely useful powers would quickly knock him around a bit. Throw a bloodlusted Logan in a forest with that team though and the odds won't be in their favor.

Honorable Mentions:

Want more action? Here's the previous Best Battles:

Well, those are my top 3. What about you?
Well, those are my top 3. What about you?

Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment. Follow him on Twitter for early spoilers about his picks every week.

55 Comments

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theTimeStreamer

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Edited By theTimeStreamer

doesnt wolverine have barriers put in place by chuck? how would a 19 year old jean grey bypass them? felt odd.

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TrueIlluminatus

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Edited By TrueIlluminatus

The lack of Strange spanking the Avengers is distressing.

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SoA

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Edited By SoA

venom over dr strange vs the new avengers??? are you serious??? lol

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@SoA said:

venom over dr strange vs the new avengers??? are you serious??? lol

@Illuminatus said:

The lack of Strange spanking the Avengers is distressing.

The drastic art change-up for each 1v1 was way too jarring for me and really took away from the experience... not to mention quite a few of those 1v1s were fairly lackluster IMHO.

In the end, these are my 3 favorites and, just like every other time, I ask for you guys to discuss what your picks are. Loved the Doctor Strange fight? Feel free to discuss why. Me? I found Venom 27.1's conflict to be far more satisfying and that's why I opted to spotlight it.

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TrueIlluminatus

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Edited By TrueIlluminatus

@k4tzm4n: k4tz, I'm just giving you shit. You don't need to bust out the, "This is only my opinion!" stuff, man. It's not like I'm a member of the US Congress and you're from a credit-rating agency or something.

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gunmetalgrey

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Edited By gunmetalgrey

Darn.. and I was looking forward to seeing the pics of Thor fighting Voldemort too..

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@Illuminatus: Meh, I know this is likely going to be a re-occurring topic of conversation for this one, so I just want to get my response out there right away.

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DocFatalis

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Edited By DocFatalis

Isn't wolverine supposed to be nigh immune to TP attacks?

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@gunmetalgrey said:

Darn.. and I was looking forward to seeing the pics of Thor fighting Voldemort too..

Ha, I thought the same thing while reading that issue.

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Loki2u

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Edited By Loki2u

I love this segment each week.

Oddly enough, I enjoy seeing the battles from titles I don't get just to check out the other artwork that's out there! I'm a very story driven reader, but if the artwork is something I like, I will pick up a title based off of that to sample it for a while.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

I hate Wolverine as much as the next man but should Jean really be able to do that?

Also poor turtles :(

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soundjam

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Edited By soundjam

Maybe I read it wrong, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jean's scent that made Wolverine go crazy. I just kinda assumed that seeing as Cyclops is kind of a war criminal right now that he was attacking Scott.

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salmy

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Edited By salmy

I was hoping for Toni vs the vampire in chew. I didn't even know that was coming and is easily my favorite book of the week.

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HellionVulcan

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Edited By HellionVulcan

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

I hate Wolverine as much as the next man but should Jean really be able to do that? Also poor turtles :(

To make wolverine sleep yup but to read his mind & go through his life memory's nope as thats two different skills that take training for but still it was cool for her to do lol,i mean Professor X struggled doing it & hes of the highest order look at him vs phoenix cyclops ..

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous
@HellionVulcan

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

I hate Wolverine as much as the next man but should Jean really be able to do that? Also poor turtles :(

To make wolverine sleep yup but to read his mind & go through his life memory's nope as thats two different skills that take training for but still it was cool for her to do lol,i mean Professor X struggled doing it & hes of the highest order look at him vs phoenix cyclops ..

I know Logan is already resistant to TP and he recently receved training from Kid Omega to strengthen that so it seemed kind of weird
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Hiddensix

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Edited By Hiddensix

no Batman inc ? Damian being Batman was bad ass !

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Teerack

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Edited By Teerack

Novice Jean being able to break through mental defense Xavier and Rachel created the first day she learns she's a telepathic That's not bull**** or anything...

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kid Apollo

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Edited By kid Apollo

ohhhh man, im loving the art on TMNT!

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Baberaham_Lincoln

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good to see Wolverine get his ass smacked... grrrrrr that fluffy regenerative bum bum 0.0

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Crimsonlord53

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Edited By Crimsonlord53

Just remember what kind of mental state wolverine would be in coming face to face with the teenage X-men.

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PlasticBag

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Edited By PlasticBag

@k4tzm4n: Is it PIS that Dr Strange was able to take them all on? I've seen some saying that. Also who did he take on? And how?

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xtremekidx

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Edited By xtremekidx

1.thor v god slayer

2.calvin vs random talon

3.OGL XMEN vs WOLVERINE

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Zeeguy91

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Edited By Zeeguy91

What? How is Flash's fight against Gorilla Grodd not up there? That fight was awesome. It deserves more than an honorable mention, IMO.

But I agree. Those fights in both Venom and All New X-Men were great.

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Arevish

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Edited By Arevish

I SWEAR BENDIS I'LL SNIKT YOU TO DEATH.

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Billy Batson

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Edited By Billy Batson

K4tz, wouldn't it be better if you made a master list of previous articles as a blog and link it instead of all the articles? Would save some time :p

BB

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abeyance

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Edited By abeyance

@Teerack: I found it's best not to think about it. Marvel switch up their heroes' skills and abilities based on popularity and current events, not by canon attributes they've displayed.

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reignmaker

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Edited By reignmaker

@Zeeguy91 said:

What? How is Flash's fight against Gorilla Grodd not up there? That fight was awesome. It deserves more than an honorable mention, IMO.

Because for some reason we needed to be subjected to Andy Kuhn's art again. I'm sorry, but when I'm paying $3-4 for a comic book I like to receive artwork a little more advanced than something I can doodle myself. I like the Turtles too, but that's just unacceptable to me.

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Arevish

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Edited By Arevish

@DocFatalis said:

Isn't wolverine supposed to be nigh immune to TP attacks?

Do you think they care?

No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided

Explain this Bendis, please.

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trapyoung

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Edited By trapyoung

1. Thor v God Butcher 2. Henry and Pearl v Hattie

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DanialCarroll

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Edited By DanialCarroll

Is that really how bad the interior art of TMNT is? And to think I was tempted to buy it in trade. It's particularly bad when right above that panel from All New X-Men. Yick.

Anywho, I personally think Flash vs Grodd was the best battle of the week. That Grodd is damn scary.

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SynCig

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Edited By SynCig

Oh the art in Venom is sooooo sexy! haha. : p

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TDK_1997

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Edited By TDK_1997

Wolverine has became a really disturbing and dumb character which is really bad.How can Marvel do such stupid $h!1 with him!

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Super_SoldierXII

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Edited By Super_SoldierXII

They really had a good time with Wolverine on that one.

I understand they wanted the young team to make a splash. I understand one of the best ways to do so remains jobbing out Wolverine.

But I dislike showings that take a purported martial master and have him scream and growl like an idiot, thereby forecasting his attack, then leaping into the air like some monkey ... going rabid on a bunch of kids?

If you have a headmaster of a school pulling that donkey crap, attacking kids with twelve inch claws first, asking questions second, you put him down. It's just stupid writing IMHO.

As soon as we think smart Wolverine is making a comeback, old dumb Wolverine keeps popping back like a bad habit. As a fan of the character (when written correctly ... which is still far too rare for my tastes) I kinda take exception to the whole thing TBH. Not just cuz he got owned, but the manner in which he did.

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RedheadedAtrocitus

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Did they really have to make Logan '@$$ up, face down" when they had him slump into sleep on the floor? lol I mean its hilarious and all but wow, so wrong at the same time. Teehee...

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selinaky

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Edited By selinaky

Thor vs God Butcher was awesome.

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@Billy Batson: Thanks, but it really takes no time at all. I just copy/paste the link from the last feature and update it with one additional link. When it reaches over a dozen I think I'll just conceal them in a spoiler tab to take up less space or perhaps take up your suggestion.

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evilvegeta74

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Edited By evilvegeta74

Nice!

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OmegaHans

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Edited By OmegaHans

Did Logan just get shut down by a young...

*facedesk*

But anyways... yknow for a second there I thought that was Tokka. Guess now Slash looks like Tokka.

The old PlaymatesToys figures used the same model repainted I recall.

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Lokheit

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Edited By Lokheit

At first I atributed what happened to Logan wasn't TP, but TK shaking his brain to make him unconscious.

But then Jean read his mind... Maybe she did it AFTER KOing him so his defenses weren't ready?

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reignmaker

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Edited By reignmaker

@Super_SoldierXII said:

They really had a good time with Wolverine on that one.

I understand they wanted the young team to make a splash. I understand one of the best ways to do so remains jobbing out Wolverine.

But I dislike showings that take a purported martial master and have him scream and growl like an idiot, thereby forecasting his attack, then leaping into the air like some monkey ... going rabid on a bunch of kids?

If you have a headmaster of a school pulling that donkey crap, attacking kids with twelve inch claws first, asking questions second, you put him down. It's just stupid writing IMHO.

As soon as we think smart Wolverine is making a comeback, old dumb Wolverine keeps popping back like a bad habit. As a fan of the character (when written correctly ... which is still far too rare for my tastes) I kinda take exception to the whole thing TBH. Not just cuz he got owned, but the manner in which he did.

Yep. I took a screen grab. Going to use that when yet another person on the battle forums tries to flaunt Logan's amazing martial arts pedigree. I've seen too many comics where he enters fights like a raging buffalo to give his so-called technique that much credit.

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Super_SoldierXII

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Edited By Super_SoldierXII

@Reignmaker:

He's not written well far too often I agree, and suffers great inconsistency. But so do many of the icons.

2012's been a great year for him feat-wise, for the most part. And in general, he has some extremely solid martial showings ... I daresay more than the inverse. Look in this thread alone, and you'll see that someone posted scans highlighting how and why Wolverine getting put to sleep by a young Jean Grey was horsesh!t writing (to lend one example).

So often, for every low end showing, there are three or four to contradict.

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GothamRed

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Edited By GothamRed

@theTimeStreamer: Chuck's dead, that could explain it

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SoA

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Edited By SoA

@k4tzm4n: but it was just venom pounding on some thugs ,Doc Strange taking on his team (i actually liked the different art each fight) was what super hero comics are all about : one dude with powers taking on another(or more!) with powers , I've never seen doc strange in action really ,besides wwh and his beginning stint with the new avengers so for me i was blown away .

also i posted before reading my DC haul for the week so i also nominate the batman /scarecrow fight, forgive me for using SPOILERS seeing a drugged up(and slightly impaled ) bruce fight off a maniac like scarecrow was pretty cool especially when he used his grapple gun to pin scarecrow to the ceiling so he can get some distance and surviving a michael bay-esque explosion lol, the ending was very freaky .

flash vs grodd made me worry what damage a 1000 lbs gorilla can do with super speed ,but this title and aquaman are my surprise favorites from DC i don't read gambit and i felt the other fights not too big and extravagant.

on a non-related note i might check out tmnt , i thought the title was aimed at young kids but seeing leonardo chuck a throwing star at slash's face makes me think otherwise.

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DJ1107

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Edited By DJ1107

Bendis made a hiccup with Wolverine....Still better then Chuck Austins run or having Greg Land on art duties.

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YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

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@k4tzm4n: Great work! Especially loved the TMNT battle.

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BatWatch

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Edited By BatWatch

Fun as always.

Venom looks amazing. I hope I get around to picking up a trade at some point.

As someone with no attachments to the turtles previous artist, I thought the are looked fine.

Classic X-Men looks like a lot of fun.

I did not think the Talon vs. Orchard battle was particularly exceptional. It was solid with a great finish (watch out for metal roofs), but the fight itself was just kind of meh. Here is my Talon Review.

The Dark Knight #14 was a horrible issue, but the fight was pretty cool just for its sheer brutality. I do think Crane would have bled out in less than ten minutes, and lets not even talk about how he was able to continue talking normally. Here is my Dark Knight Review.

@Hiddensix said:

no Batman inc ? Damian being Batman was bad ass !

Agreed. Future Damian vs. Joker Zombies deserved an honorable mention.

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator
@BatWatch: Sadly, I was unable to get my hands on a copy on the latest Batman Inc.  I wouldn't feel right putting something in the honorable mentions if I haven't read it yet.  
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scuzz2.0

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Edited By scuzz2.0

The Wolverine thing bugged me. I mean what was his plan? Murder Cyclops in the garden of his school? What if it was the present day cyclops and he was there to turn himself in? that would have been straight up murder! someone has to put Wolverine in jail!

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BatteredArmor

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Edited By BatteredArmor

lol @anxm

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WWAJfan

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Edited By WWAJfan

loving me the Venom beat down, if you havent read the latest issue (27.1) read it XD

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