The Daily Debater(Back in Business!!)

@masterbuster666@sirfizzwhizz@asgardianweapon @thor-parker

@darthor@hellothere5432@ouroborik@battle123axe@geekryan

@rac95@frozen@mike_strike10@sirkaboom15@blackspidey2099

@godlyshinigami@pyrofn@kangconquers@terry2012@supremegeneration@higherpower

@kevd4wg@punyaamrit@kaijuking@killerboi@ultraphoenix@maestromage

@chronicplane@thevoidofdeath@themadtitan6000

@teefurtree@majinblackheart@princesscadenza@noone1996

@del_torro@jashro44@beatboks1@maalik@lettsplay10

@god_spawn@sweatboy@koays

@byondeon@cheatcode@themidnightking@xthemanofmightx

@blackpantherisb@novaprime2@vinervvvvv@eredin12

@achillesspawn@death4bunnies@deadmanwalkin@darthjhawk@kurt_saulenne

@manofmanynames2@killianduclark

@slash03@life_without_progress@destinyman75@mooty_pass

@thealtone003@americanspeeddemon@sirkaboom15@mr-yes@xebec @italian007

Here we have an interesting Star Wars gauntlet by @ieatnettles. One that appeals to many different types of fanbases. It seems to be time to match SW against a more expansive audience.

Now, we have a fun matchup for our anime fans out there. @sixpathsofcapra puts two very versatile characters against each other,. With how popular JJK has been on this site, it only makes sense to get some people in on this conversation.

Maybe I don't get it, but Viners love their Halloween themed battles, especially at this time of the year, and this is one of them. @kreigastartis represents Riddick, Vin Diesel's 2013 movie version, opposite to @jaylinfreeman representing a Halloween classic in Michael Myers. The CaV just started, with the latter user having made their first move. Check it out for more!

This is a battle between warriors, a pyrokinetic soldier and a mech, from two distinct anime franchises, Fire Force and Gundam. Arthur Boyle is represented by @killerqueen, while RX-0 Unicorn is represented by @chris2kzombieki, who opened the debate less than a week ago. Battles between man and technology are always interesting to me, and as far as I can tell, with no prior knowledge on either opponent, this is one difficult machine to take on. Keep in touch if you like the concept too.

@geekryan's Corporate Wars Tournament hasn't been successfully held since 2020, but it's finally back! One of the most intriguing, fun and diverse tourneys on ComicVine is already underway, with the six matches of the first set including scenarios such as a hostage rescue, a search and destroy situation, and protecting an NPC. The teams of the participants, most of them well known in the Battle forums, are equally inventive, combining characters from verses like Mortal Kombat, DC, Marvel, Avatar, FMA, Harry Potter and so on. Creativity in team making, careful planning and matchups all factor in to eventually decide a final winner. All debates have started and the links can be found in the final post of the above page (#287). Tourneys are particularly easy for readers to follow because there's a set schedule, so make sure to not miss out!

Wow! Spider-Man has many versions, but I decided as a minor detour from my epic disrespect threads that I would instead cover a fairly unique and fairly strong edition of the character that many people simply do not know about. I do a good job of explaining who the character is and why he should be respected; nothing more or less needed, really.

MCU Gorr may have been of questionable quality in his debut movie. That said this RT arguably did even more justice to the character than anywhere in that movie, so there. @justneedhelp definitely didn't need help making this any better than it could've been, that's for sure. Another solid RT out from him.

Another epic mystic RT by the always on-form @wastelandman once again. This time he's covered SEVEN characters at once in the form of the Salem Seven, a fairly obscure villain group that mostly got random appearances despite starting off as a potential spin-off from appearing in Fantastic Four comics. A great group of mid-tiers indeed.

Lore. It's a four letter word on its own, but means so much more in more vague and mystical circles. The Elder Scrolls is a verse that people have been able to scale insanely detailed chains around using the power of novel statements to basically make everyone there at least universal if not more. It is the existence of threads like these then that focus purely on the physical that will provide some tangible sanity to those looking from the outside in. @bendtome

This is a battle that, as classic Marvel would say, is SO TITANIC, SO INCREDIBLE, SO SENSES-SHATTERING, that even though it takes up the entirety of this issue, it actually takes up a good chunk of issue 14 and continues into issue 16. But issue 15 is the bulk of it and is the most entertaining. Like it? Go buy it and the other issues, of course!

The creator: Jack Kirby wrote and drew the issue.

The participants:

• Ikaris, chief warrior of the Eternals, capable of various energy beams, significant superhuman strength and a nearly indestructible body, flight, and (although we don’t see them here) various psychic and matter-manipulation powers.

• Sersi, the Eternal that Circe of the Odyssey was supposedly based on, who also possesses all of Ikaris’s powers but focuses especially on matter manipulation and illusion casting.

• Makkari, also an Eternal, possessing lightning speed.

• Cosmic Hulk, who…was a college science project based on the in-universe comics version of the Hulk gone wrong? (This reference to the Hulk comic "character," and even the fact that it's a Hulk robot instead of the actual Hulk, was due to the fact that the Eternals series, at this time, was only tangentially part of the rest of the Marvel universe, and was playing footsie with the idea of being in a universe slightly removed from it, a concept that now seems hard to grasp to modern readers, given that the Celestials, which were introduced in this series, are now so integral to Marvel cosmology).

Basically Cosmic Hulk is a robot who can absorb cosmic energy to become close to the Hulk’s own strength and durability. In this case, he got power from the Eternals' Uni-Mind.

We join the battle in mid-fight. Ikaris busily blasts away at Cosmic Hulk while making sure he has time to make misogynistic comments about Sersi’s easily-snapped neck.

Sersi goes for the smart attack, and tries to one-shot Cosmic Hulk by changing him into stone made of “heavy density molecules” (Kirby was always big on these pseudo-scientific terms). It works!

Until it doesn’t. Cosmic Hulk somehow changes himself back into his normal state. Ikaris, always a jerk, throws off another line showing how little he thinks of Sersi’s ability to take care of herself.

Of course, this plays out in reality as Sersi is quickly captured by Cosmic Hulk.

Makkari (here spelled "Makarri") shows up in this hilarious ship, which dodges a spire that Cosmic Hulk throws at it.

Then Makkari takes the initiative and, in a nice move, rams Cosmic Hulk with the ship at great speed.

Cosmic Hulk returns the favor when he whiffs a punch at the ship but the shockwave that comes purely from the movement of his arm through the air knocks the Eternal ship back like a pinball.

Then in a funny moment, Ikaris, who got smacked pretty hard by the Cosmic Hulk a couple minutes ago, gets mobbed by a gaggle of reporters who want him to take just “one minute,” because he’s not busy or anything, to give them some play by play.

Sersi, meanwhile, continues to be the brains of the Eternals bunch, and has Cosmic Hulk on defense by surrounding him with fire and bizarre monsters.

But after telling her "Bravo," Ikaris decides it’s time to step in and, you know, put her down, MAYBE because as he says the fight is destroying the city, or just possibly because he is, as Sersi says, an “arrogant male” who can’t stand the fact that she’s actually affecting Cosmic Hulk and Ikaris isn’t.

At this point the army gets involved and Cosmic Hulk smashes some more of the city. I guess Ikaris was both misogynistic and correct about the collateral damage.

Ikaris decides to tell Sersi to leave again, this time backed up by Makkari, because it’s not like she was the only one doing anything useful here or anything. Then Zuras, the Zeus-like leader of the Eternals gets involved, and things move on to a conclusion in the next issue.

All told, this is a fun and absurd battle with a lot of goofy ‘70s social context (I didn't even include all the "alas, I am so weak" comments by Sersi). It shows that even a college-prank copy of the Hulk (granted, with a comic power boost...ok, there's a little more retconned backstory to it now) can walk all over a group of Eternals, who are no pushovers themselves. Jack Kirby’s art is, at this point in his career, pretty stylized, with some of the visceral impact of his art from the ‘60s but also an increasingly baroque set of graphic shorthands that can look pretty silly (and borrow as much from Roy Lichtenstein pop sensibility as Lichtenstein did from guys like Jack)--for instance:

His writing, like that in the more or less coeval Devil Dinosaur, is also full of eccentric ideas and bombastic dialog that simultaneously show that maybe Stan Lee was not a totally useless part of their team back in the ‘60s (as Jack increasingly stipulated around this time), but they're also are pretty entertaining to read.

@masterbuster666@sirfizzwhizz@asgardianweapon @thor-parker

@darthor5432@ouroborik@battle123axe@geekryan

@rac95@frozen@mike_strike10@sirkaboom15@blackspidey2099

@godlyshinigami@pyrofn@kangconquers@terry2012@supremegeneration@higherpower

@kevd4wg@punyaamrit@kaijuking@killerboi@ultraphoenix@maestromage

@chronicplane@thevoidofdeath@themadtitan6000

@teefurtree@majinblackheart@princesscadenza

@del_torro@jashro44@beatboks1@maalik@lettsplay10

@god_spawn@sweatboy@koays

@byondeon@cheatcode@themidnightking@xthemanofmightx

@blackpantherisb@novaprime2@vinervvvvv@eredin12

@achillesspawn@death4bunnies@deadmanwalkin@darthjhawk@kurt_saulenne

@manofmanynames2@killianduclark

@slash03@life_without_progress@destinyman75@mooty_pass

@thealtone003@americanspeeddemon@sirkaboom15@mr-yes@xebec @italian007

@blackspidey2099 made this interesting battle between Utgard-Loki and Utgard-Thor vs Phoenix and Legion that has a lot of intense and interesting back and forth, even if it is largely unrelated to the topic. I also appreciated Raj's Lance Bastro-style chaining of mythological/story references, in this case about the Utgards instead of Cytorrak. Come for the Utgard, stay for the getting into the weeds of the Phoenix, then come back for the Utgards again?

This battle by @princex is the most in-depth anime battle that came up in the last two weeks, busting out a quick 7 pages of what seemed like mostly reasonable argument along with the expected comments about people feeling like they lost their soul reading the other person's post. There's also some interesting discussion about translation as sometimes comes up in manga.

Obviously I'm going to endorse all of these given they have immensely high quality debaters involved and most already have a post or so done: check them out if you want! We are currently at the quarter-finals and things are picking up well if I do say so myself.

New threads include some really cool mixes of new and old talent that I'm proud to have on board for the rebooted version.

Emperorthanos has been a huge help with just general upkeep and whatnot, so I want to give a big thanks to him here as well.

With that said, please do enjoy the new threads and make sure to vote when they are done!

For this one I wanted to mix things up and discuss something a little bit different...

Of the Avatar fandom on CV, two that have stood out have been ANTHP and Arcus1, namely in regards to their standing in the community. The idea of them starting and finishing a CAV (especially ANTHP, who's been off and on for a good long while) while interesting didn't seem totally realistic, to be fair to them.

Really, who would've thought it could have been done? And yet, it's been finished all the way to voting.

Usually we'd have to deal with delays (which, to be fair, this did have!) but it's gotten to the finishline and as a result became a very obvious candidate to stick on here from the possible selections at the time.

Massively suggest reading through this one in particular; surprising amounts of nuance to be had.

Battling for the last featured spot here was this matchup if only because of the interesting contrast between the two teams given it's a Batman/Batman battle!

At the very least I think Chris' post to start off is interesting enough in regards to what he's putting on the table here. I'm not yet convinced by Arkham scaling (especially with the nebulous lore recently for that lad) but it is interesting to see if it can be applied in such a way that it actually looks legit compared to comic scaling. It's a interesting test and I hope it can pass etc

Do give this a watch as well if you can.

An Awesome RT of a fearsome and iconic character. About time this dude gets some respect! One of the very best RTs from one of the very best, @professorrespect

The Shadow King is a psychic, multiversal entity with a complicated backstory, including several retcons. Although his first host was Amahl Farouk, a telepath with ties to Storm and Charles Xavier, he has taken on other hosts and has been host-less as well. He has been a recurring villain for the X-Men and a huge threat to the world on several occasions. There's a good reason why many of the X-Men's most powerful psychics, including Charles Xavier, have almost succumbed to his immense telepathic power.

This RT is totally complete, detailing all of Shadow King's feats with hosts and while host-less, as well as demonstrating Amahl Farouk's own telepathic powers sans the Shadow King using him. Current, detailed, and accurate, which are all of the essential parts of a great respect thread.

RT from @PsiViners319.

Although his most common foe has always been the Hulk, the psychic alien Xemnu has had dealings with Dr Strange and Moondragon as well. Equipped with physicals capable of matching the Hulk, telekinesis, telepathy, and hypnosis, Xemnu has proven himself to be a threat to psychics and non-psychics as well, with several attempts at controlling all of the Earth.

An excellently formatted, updated, and complete respect thread for a cool character that deserves more attention. It also does a great job at clearing up the differences between Xemnu's hypnosis and his telepathy.

Another RT from @PsiViners319.

Last week a New Forum Board was created called "Feats and Analysis", the forum has been slowly picking up and I wanted to write a few words about this new board. As I'm sure many of you have noticed in the past few months the Gen Discussion Board was mostly filled with a lot of battle-adjacent threads. Threads that are not actual battles but are related to versus debating in some way. For a time we had the all-encompassing Can X Do This thread but that wasn't used as often and people still create these threads just in another forum. As mods, we discussed the idea of creating a separate Board for these threads something we have seen in other forums such as KmC and Spacebattles. The main goal was to get Gen Discussion to be more focused on Media discussion aside from battles, while this new forum is for the threads that are related to battles but don't belong in the battle forum. An example of the types of threads that should be posted are "Can X Do This" threads, Power Scaling Threads, or even just discussing new feats. The hope is that the forum starts to go grow and become active enough that we can have lengthy discussions. I would like to thank Dtoast for making it even possible, he has been an active staff member who made this change even possible.

@masterbuster666@sirfizzwhizz@asgardianweapon @thor-parker

@darthor5432@ouroborik@battle123axe@geekryan

@rac95@frozen@mike_strike10@sirkaboom15@blackspidey2099

@godlyshinigami@pyrofn@kangconquers@terry2012@supremegeneration@higherpower

@kevd4wg@punyaamrit@kaijuking@killerboi@ultraphoenix@maestromage

@chronicplane@thevoidofdeath@themadtitan6000

@teefurtree@majinblackheart@princesscadenza

@del_torro@jashro44@beatboks1@maalik@lettsplay10

@god_spawn@sweatboy@koays

@byondeon@cheatcode@themidnightking@xthemanofmightx

@blackpantherisb@novaprime2@vinervvvvv@eredin12

@achillesspawn@death4bunnies@deadmanwalkin@darthjhawk@kurt_saulenne

@manofmanynames2@killianduclark

@slash03@life_without_progress@destinyman75@mooty_pass

@thealtone003@americanspeeddemon@sirkaboom15@mr-yes@xebec @italian007

An elimination style Battle tournament, hosted by @skywalker95, where you get to debate and choose among some of the DC and Marvel universes' most powerful superhero couples. From Mera and Aquaman to Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, this is a month-old thread that has taken off with plenty of followers and has reached the second stage already. If you're interested, give it a go!

An animated battle, courtesy of @arcus1, pitting two formidable psychic ladies of two very popular and fresh animated comic book shows against one another. X-Men 97 has won the hearts of many longtime fans and it's still ongoing, so the feeling of coming back to a thread with updated info and new appearances for the characters every week is a classic you shouldn't miss.

Like the above, this thread made by our own @owie pits two fresh animated show female warriors against one another, this time in a purely Star Wars theme. There's three rounds testing a variety of combat categories, from unarmed fighting to sabers and prowess in the force. The thread hasn't picked up yet, so be the first to drop a take!

KingCrimson's Low-Mid Tier PYP Tournament is underway! I decided to highlight this particular match between SFW and Kreig because it's interesting, features two very well-known debaters, and it is the match that is closest to going to votes. However, you can check out this post for the links to all of the other first round matches.

A highly-anticipated CaV between two of the Avatarverse's most prominent debaters. Though only Tek's opener has been made so far, I can already tell this is going to be a wildly fascinating and intense debate, pitting two of Avatar's top waterbenders against one another. If you enjoy The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, this is a CaV you will not want to miss.

The Corporate Wars 2024 tournament is in the semi-finals stage, with two matches to check out:

1) Viking1205 vs. Pizzagod342 vs. Higherpower: a 1v1v1 match, with the mission being a unique one called "Telepath". This battle involves a variety of characters across many different mediums, so there will certainly be something that tickles your fancy.

2) KingCrimson vs. Chris2kzombieki: a more simple 1v1 match with an "Escort the VIP" mission. Three manga characters against two video game characters.

I have been producing more RT's now from the vault of stuff I had on characters; in this case Empath and Gilgamesh, both massively underrated characters that tend to be overlooked more often than not. Check them out to grow your brain immensely

@wastelandman is one of the billy GOAT's when it comes to making actually good Reddit-style link based RT's (which is shocking because I usually am pretty sceptical of them) and his latest one on the goofy Fallout series is no exception to this streak of sheer quality. Great quality links, concise text, and actually cited! Very much worth a look in here as always.

More of a Wikipedia page than a regular RT, but still immense in the sheer amount of knowledge for Vader shown off here. Every showing from random collector cards and dodgy websites to official documents are shown off to get over just how imposingly strong Vader is and then becomes over the course of the movies alongside it being in solid order by it being chronological, so no weird skipping around between movies. It's a fairly good resource that aims to show off Vader's progression more-so than perhaps anything before it. Not a easy task, but I'd say it gets accomplished here nicely.

provided by @owie

The new volume of Transformers has gotten almost universal praise for its visceral visuals and its thoughtful character development, with a massive amount of G1 fanservice as the cherry on top. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson, and with the first arc drawn by him and the second by the also excellent (although not quite at Johnson's stratospheric levels) Jorge Corona, the series has had some of the best, most brutal fight scenes I've seen in a while--certainly among giant robots. Warren has a sense of the particulars of a battle--he understands that a fight is best brought out by the specifics of what one character does to another. Making a battle come alive isn't about posing (although there are plenty of dramatic poses), it's about the exact way one character manages to damage another one, and what effect that has on a fight. I've gotten really tired of scenes in other comics where there's a giant double page spread with fifteen characters all just in mid-pose in relation to one another, but nothing is actually happening--there's no real feats, there's no damage or effects, it's just "here's a battle, guys!" Johnson will have none of that. His work has always been great--I recommend his Beta Ray Bill--but after making Do a Powerbomb, his series about amped up sci-fi/fantasy pro wrestling, he has incorporated formal wrestling moves into his work, as we see in splendiferous wonder here.

Basically, you should be reading it. I usually do battle breakdowns where I show the details of a single fight. Instead, I am here just showing you some of the greatest hits of the fights from the first 8 issues. This is an unabashed scan-dump and full of spoilers. What you will see: Transformers doing pro wrestling moves, beloved Transformers getting one-shot killed, and multiple humans getting squished by Decepticons. It's no-holds barred and fun as hell. Buy it.

provided by @owie

The Eisner nominees are out. There's a lot of nominations for Image and DC, only a handful for Marvel, and a quite a few for Kelly Thompson, whose work has really been stellar in the last couple years. (Fantagraphics and IDW also did very well.)

Who would you vote for in any of the categories below? Who should have been nominated and was left out? And of course our top concern, what overlap is there between comics with high-quality art/writing and high-quality battles?

You can see the Eisner site here. I'll also copy all the nominees below. The winners will be announced at the San Diego Comic Con on July 26. Protip: unlike the Oscars, anyone going to SDCC can just go to the Eisner ceremony, it's free and open to the public. I've gone the last couple years, it's a cool thing to see all the stars of the industry in one place.

Best Short Story

“Friendship Is Forever,” by Sam Maggs and Keisha Okafor, in My Little Pony 40th Celebration (IDW)

“The Kelpie,” by Becky Cloonan, in Four Gathered on Christmas Eve (Dark Horse)

“The Lady of the Lake,” by Joe S. Farrar and Guilherme Grandizolli, in BUMP: A Horror Anthology #3 (BUMP)

“Talking to a Hill,” by Larry Hancock and Michael Cherkas, in Comics for Ukraine (Zoop)

“World’s Finest, Part 1,” by Tom King and Belen Ortega, in Wonder Woman #3 (DC)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Horologist, by Jared Lee and Cross (Grim Film)

Nightwing #105, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Star Trek: Day of Blood—Shax’s Best Day, by Ryan North and Derek Charm (IDW)

Superman 2023 Annual, by Joshua Williamson and others (DC)

Sweet Paprika: Black, White, & Pink, by Mirka Andolfo and others (Image)

Best Continuing Series

Birds of Prey, by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Basto Romero (DC)

Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC Comics)

Shazam! by Mark Waid and Dan Mora (DC)

Transformers, by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image Skybound)

Wonder Woman, by Tom King and Daniel Sampere (DC)

Best Limited Series

The Cull, by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis (Image)

Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons, by Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda (IDW)

Kill Your Darlings, by Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Robert Quinn (Image)

PeePee PooPoo, by Caroline Cash (Silver Sprocket)

Superman: Lost, by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan (DC)

Best New Series

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, by Patrick Horvath (IDW)

Black Cloak, by Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren (Image)

Local Man, by Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs (Image)

Phantom Road, by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernández Walta (Image)

Somna: A Bedtime Story, by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay (DSTLRY)

Best Publication for Early Readers

Bigfoot and Nessie: The Art of Getting Noticed, by Chelsea M. Campbell and Laura Knetzger (Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House)

Burt the Beetle Lives Here! by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press)

Go-Go Guys, by Rowboat Watkins (Chronicle Books)

The Light Inside, by Dan Misdea (Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House)

Milk and Mocha: Our Little Happiness, by Melani Sie (Andrews McMeel)

Tacos Today: El Toro & Friends, by Raúl the Third (HarperCollins/Versify)

Best Publication for Kids

Buzzing, by Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman (Little, Brown Ink)

Mabuhay!, by Zachary Sterling (Scholastic Graphix)

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir, by Pedro Martín (Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin Young Readers)

Missing You, by Phellip Willian and Melissa Garabeli. translation by Fabio Ramos (Oni Press)

Saving Sunshine, by Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Publication for Teens

Blackward, by Lawrence Lindell (Drawn & Quarterly)

Danger and Other Unknown Risks, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House)

Frontera, by Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo (HarperAlley)

Lights, by Brenna Thummler (Oni Press)

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story, by Sarah Myer (First Second/Macmillan)

My Girlfriend’s Child, vol. 1, by Mamoru Aoi, translation by Hana Allen (Seven Seas)

Best Humor Publication

How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone, by Alex Norris (Candlewick/Walker Books)

I Was a Teenage Michael Jackson Impersonator, and Other Musical Meanderings, by Keith Knight (Keith Knight Press)

It’s Jeff: The Jeff-Verse #1, by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru (Marvel)

Macanudo: Optimism Is for the Brave, by Liniers (Fantagraphics)

The Yakuza’s Bias, by Teki Yatsuda. translation by Max Greenway (Kodansha)

Best Anthology

Comics for Ukraine, edited by Scott Dunbier (Zoop)

Deep Cuts, by Kyle Higgins, Joe Clark, Danilo Beyruth, and others (Image)

The Devil’s Cut, edited by Will Dennis (DSTLRY)

Marvel Age #1000, edited by Tom Brevoort (Marvel)

The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics, edited by The Kao, Min Christensen, and David Daneman (Andrews McMeel)

Swan Songs by W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image)

Best Reality-Based Work

Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? by Chris Oliveros (Drawn & Quarterly)

Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century, by Adrian Matejka and Youssef Daoudi (Liveright)

Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali, by Marc Bernardin and Ron Salas (First Second/Macmillan)

Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood, by Samuel Machado and Cynthia Sousa Machado with Steven M. Wise (Island Press)

Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy, by Bill Griffith (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Memoir

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam, by Thien Pham (First Second/Macmillan)

A First Time for Everything, by Dan Santat (First Second/Macmillan)

In Limbo, by Deb JJ Lee (First Second/Macmillan)

Memento Mori, by Tiitu Takalo, translation by Maria Schroderus (Oni Press)

Sunshine: How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Scholastic Graphix)

The Talk, by Darrin Bell (Henry Holt)

Best Graphic Album—New

Ashes, by Álvaro Ortiz, translation by Eva Ibarzabal (Top Shelf/IDW)

Eden II, by K. Wroten (Fantagraphics)

A Guest in the House, by Emily Carroll (First Second/Macmillan)

Parasocial, by Alex De Campi and Erica Henderson (Image)

Roaming, by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise Treasury Edition, by Tradd Moore (Marvel)

The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)

Hip Hop Family Tree: The Omnibus, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Orange Complete Series Box Set, by Ichigo Takano, translation by Amber Tamosaitis (Seven Seas)

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott (DC)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Bea Wolf, adapted by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet (First Second/Macmillan)

#DRCL midnight children, vol. 1, based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, by Shin’ichi Sakamoto, translation by Caleb Cook (VIZ Media)

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow over Innsmouth, adapted by Gou Tanabe, translation by Zack Davisson (Dark Horse Manga)

The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey, adapted by Chaiko, translation by Dan Christensen (Magnetic)

Watership Down, by Richard Adams, adapted by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin (Ten Speed Graphic)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Ashes, by Álvaro Ortiz, translation by Eva Ibarzabal (Top Shelf/IDW)

Blacksad, Vol 7: They All Fall Down, Part 2, by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Europe Comics)

A Boy Named Rose, by Gaëlle Geniller, translation by Fabrice Sapolsky (Fairsquare Comics)

The Great Beyond, by Léa Murawiec, translation by Aleshia Jensen (Drawn & Quarterly)

Shubeik Lubeik, by Deena Mohamed (Pantheon Books/Penguin Random House)

Spa, by Erik Svetoft, translation by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

#DRCL midnight children, vol. 1, based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, by Shin’ichi Sakamoto, translation by Caleb Cook (VIZ Media)

Goodbye, Eri, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)

The Horizon, vol. 1, by JH, translation by ULTRAMEDIA Co. Ltd. (Yen/Ize Press)

My Picture Diary, by Fujiwara Maki, translation by Ryan Holmberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

River’s Edge, by Kyoko Okazaki, translation by Alexa Frank (Kodansha)

The Summer Hikaru Died, vol. 1, by Mokumokuren, translation by Ajani Oloye (Yen Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Dauntless Dames: High-Heeled Heroes of the Comic Strips, edited by Peter Maresca and Trina Robbins (Sunday Press/Fantagraphics)

David Wright’s Carol Day: Lance Hallam, edited by Roger Clark, Chris Killackey, and Guy Mills (Slingsby Bros, Ink!)

Popeye Sundays Vol 3: The Sea Hag and Alice the Goon, by E.C. Segar, edited by Conrad Groth and Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies 1932-1935: Starring Bucky Bug and Donald Duck and Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies 1935-1939:Starring Donald Duck and Big Bad Wolf, edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)

Where I’m Coming From, by Barbara Brandon-Croft, edited by Peggy Burns and Tracy Hurren (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

Adventures Into Terror: The Atlas Comics Library, vol. 1, edited by Michael J. Vassallo (Fantagraphics)

All-Negro Comics 75^th Anniversary Edition, edited by Chris Robinson (Very GOOD Books)

The Ballad of Halo Jones Full Colour Omnibus, by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson, edited by Olivia Hicks (2000AD/Rebellion)

The John Severin Westerns Featuring American Eagle, edited by Michael Dean (Fantagraphics)

Michael Golden’s Marvel Stories Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best Writer

Stephen Graham Jones, Earthdivers (IDW)

Mariko Tamaki, Roaming (Drawn & Quarterly)

Tom Taylor, Nightwing,Titans (DC)

Kelly Thompson, Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, Black White and Redder (DC); Black Cloak, The Cull (Image); It’s Jeff, Captain Marvel (Marvel)

Mark Waid, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Shazam!,World’s Finest: Teen Titans (DC)

G. Willow Wilson, Poison Ivy (DC); Hunger and the Dusk (IDW)

Best Writer/Artist

Emily Carroll, A Guest in the House (First Second/Macmillan)

Bill Griffith, Three Rocks (Abrams ComicArts)

Daniel Warren Johnson, Transformers (Image Skybound)

Mokumokuren, The Summer Hikaru Died, vol. 1 (Yen Press)

Zoe Thorogood, Hack/Slash: Back To School (Image)

Tillie Walden, Clementine Book Two (Image Skybound)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Jason Shawn Alexander, Detective Comics (DC); Killadelphia, with Germán Erramouspe (Image)

Tula Lotay, Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder (Comixology Originals/Best Jackett)

Inaki Miranda, Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons (IDW)

Dan Mora, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Shazam! (DC)

Chris Samnee, Fire Power (Image Skybound)

Jillian Tamaki, Roaming (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Jason Shawn Alexander, Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Love Studios)

Chaiko, The Monkey King (Magnetic)

Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad, Vol 7: They All Fall Down, Part 2 (Europe Comics)

Liam Sharp, Nocterra: Nemesis Special (Best Jackett); Starhenge: The Dragon and the Boar (Image)

Martin Simmonds, Universal Monsters: Dracula (Image Skybound)

Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: Her Little Reapers (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Jen Bartel, DC Pride 2023, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 (DC); Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #1, Demon Wars: Scarlet Sin #1, Scarlet Witch #9, Sensational She-Hulk (Marvel)

Evan Cagle, Detective Comics (DC)

Jenny Frison, Alice Never After #1, BRZRKR: Fallen Empire #1, and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1–2, Poison Ivy #8, #12 (DC)

E. M. Gist, Expanse Dragon Tooth #1, Something Is Killing the Children #28 & #34, Wild’s End, vol 2 #4 and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Amazing Spider-Man #23, Doctor Aphra #36, Moon Knight #3, Nightcrawlers #1, Wolverine #38 (Marvel)

Peach Momoko, Demon Wars:Scarlet Sin, various alternate covers (Marvel)

Dan Mora, Coda #3, Damn Them All #4, MMPR 30th Anniversary Special #1, Rare Flavours #3 and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Outsiders #1, Poison Ivy #9, Shazam!,Titans #1 (DC)

Best Coloring

Jordie Bellaire, Batman,Birds of Prey (DC); Dark Spaces: Hollywood Special (IDW)

Matt Hollingsworth, Captain America,Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Punisher (Marvel)

Lee Loughridge, Red Zone (AWA); Edgeworld, Grammaton Punch, Nostalgia (Comixology Originals); The Devil’s Cut, Gone, Somna (DSTLRY); Star Trek (IDW); Killadelphia (Image); Hunt. Kill. Repeat. (Mad Cave)

Dave McCaig, The Sacrificers (Image), The Walking Dead Deluxe (Image Skybound)

Dean White, Conan the Barbarian (Titan Comics)

Best Lettering

Lauren Bowes, Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes (Titan Comics)

Emily Carroll, A Guest in the House (First Second/Macmillan)

Bill Griffith, Three Rocks (Abrams ComicArts)

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber, The Witcher: Wild Animals, and others (Dark Horse); Batman: City of Madness, The Flash, Poison Ivy, and others (DC); Black Cat Social Club (Humanoids); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (IDW); The Cull, What’s the Furthest Place from Here? (Image); and others

Richard Starkings, Barnstormers: ABallad of Love and Murder, Canary (Comixology Originals/Best Jackett); Parliament of Rooks (Comixology); Astro City,Battle Chasers (Image); Conan the Barbarian (Titan Comics)

Rus Wooton, Monstress, The Sacrificers (Image); Fire Power, Kroma, Transformers, The Walking Dead Deluxe, Universal Monsters: Dracula, Void Rivals (Image Skybound); Hunt. Kill. Repeat., A Legacy of Violence, Nature’s Labyrinth (Mad Cave)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

The Comics Journal #309; edited by Gary Groth, Kristy Valenti, and Austin English (Fantagraphics)

“The Indirect Market,” by Brandon Schatz and Danica LeBlanc, comicsbeat.com

Rob Salkowitz, for Forbes, ICv2.com, Publishers Weekly

SKTCHD, by David Harper, www.sktchd.com

SOLRAD: The Online Literary Magazine for Comics, www.solrad.co (Fieldmouse Press)

Best Comics-Related Book

Bryan Talbot: Father of the British Graphic Novel, by J. D. Harlock and Bryan Talbot (Brainstorm Studios)

Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography, by Dave Gibbons (Dark Horse)

Flamed Out: The Underground Adventures and Comix Genius of Willy Murphy, edited by Mark Burstein (Fantagraphics)

I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future, by Michael Molcher (Rebellion)

The Pacific Comics Companion, by Stephan Friedt and Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

Thalamus: The Art of Dave McKean (Dark Horse)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Asian Political Cartoons, by John A. Lent (University Press of Mississippi)

The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men, by J. Andrew Deman (University of Texas Press)

Desegregating Comics: Debating Blackness in the Golden Age of American Comics, edited by Qiana Whitted (Rutgers University Press)

If Shehrazad Drew: Critical Writings on Arab Comics, by George Khoury-Jad (Sawaf Center for Arab Comics Studies and American University of Beirut Press)

In Visible Archives: Queer and Feminist Visual Culture in the 1980s, by Margaret Galvan (University of Minnesota Press)

Super Bodies: Comic Book Illustration, Artistic Styles, and Narrative Impact, by Jeffrey A. Brown (University of Texas Press)

Best Publication Design

Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein boxed set, designed by Mike Kennedy (Magnetic)

Gratuitous Ninja, by Ronald Wimberly, designed by Chloe Scheffe (Beehive Books)

Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes, designed by Donna Askem (Titan Comics)

Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind, designed by Josh Bernstein and Rob Schwager (Z2)

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun First Stall Box Set, designed by Wendy Chan (Yen Press)

Best Webcomic

Asturias: The Origin of a Flag, by Javi de Castro, https://www.javidecastro.com/asturias-the-origin-of-a-flag

Daughter of a Thousand Faces, by Vel (Velinxi), https://tapas.io/series/daughter-of-a-thousand-faces/info (Tapas)

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe, https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/s3-episode-226/viewer?title_no=1320&episode_no=231 (WEBTOON)

Matchmaker, vol. 6, by Cam Marshall at https://matchmakercomic.com/. (Silver Sprocket)

3rd Voice, by Evan Dahm, https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/3rd-voice/list?title_no=828919 (WEBTOON)

Unfamiliar, by Haley Newsome: https://tapas.io/series/unfamiliar/info (Tapas)

Best Digital Comic

Blacksad, Vol 7: They All Fall Down, Part 2. by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Europe Comics)

Friday, by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin, vols. 7–8 (Panel Syndicate)

Parliament of Rooks, by Abigail Jill Harding (Comixology Originals)

Practical Defense Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)

A Witch’s Guide to Burning, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Instagram.com/aminder_d)

@blackspidey2099: @jimohkolawol10

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An ongoing tournament by @TheDevil98, which pits some of DC's most prominent street-tier fighters against each other in 1v1 matches. Although there isn't much debating going on in the thread, it's still interesting to see what Viners think about some of the popular DC characters, as well as some of the lesser known ones. I have been actively participating in this tournament and I have found some of the outcomes to be pretty surprising. Definitely a fun, little tournament to check out, which you can vote in as well. I'm very curious to see who takes the top spot.

With Season 4 of The Boys set to premiere this week, and Season 2 of Gen V currently being filmed, I figured now would be an excellent time to bring attention to this thread created by @RegentM. It features the 7 main characters of Gen V taking on various Supes from The Boys, one at a time. With 14 rounds in this gauntlet, it's cool to see which Supe people believe is simply too much of a threat for the team to lose to, even while outnumbered 1 to 7. I highly suggest checking this thread out if you are a fan of The Boys universe.

What would happen if the main seven members of the Justice League took on a group of Marvel's most powerful female heroes? This thread by @NovaPrime2, which features individual 1v1 fights as well as a team fight with bloodlust and minimal prep, might give you some answers! The female heroes of Marvel in question are: Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Captain Marvel, and Invisible Woman. But how do they match up to the raw physicals, powers, and versatile gear of the Justice League? Take a peek to find out, but do be aware that some of the debate is centered more on versions/canonicity than the actual fight itself.

This has really everything I'm looking for in a head to head debate. Classic characters, big strategies, tons of complex hax with debatable interactions, and bigtime prep with all kinds of fun questions about whether it would work (as there are with all prep strategies). These are two fantastic debaters (@higherpower and @kevd4wg) who know exactly what they're doing, and it's a pleasure to read. Check it out while it's open!

Another debate that's currently open for votes, so jump right in. This one ended up getting done early with only 2 posts each. It's an interesting match between two excellent debaters (@thedailybagel and @the_hajduk) and two very skilled martial artists who both have move-copying abilities. So far all the voters are having a really hard time deciding which one to go for, which tells you right there that it's worth a read.

@the_hajduk is in another CAV with two characters with similar fighting styles, this time two snipers (like the previous debate, this one is also Marvel [represented by @sirfizzwhizz) vs Metal Gear). This debate is just getting started but should be equally interesting. The posts are pretty straightforward and to the point so it's a fairly quick read and a good way to get informed on the characters. Again, two strong debaters on a fun topic.

Mostly continuality work this time, namely focused around long term projects like Rhino AND Bullseye! Rhino is the first attempt at putting together a full chronological RT out of the parts that I usually throw out there segmented because of CV's awful image limits preventing longer threads from being made. I have to say that the reception has been great, so I'll probably think about making more in the future.

Bullseye is one of my favourite characters both feat/character-wise and I was really wanting to finish up his showings so that there could finally be a up to date and comprehensive version of his RT out there.

Wow! Urthona was a character I had been suggested so @wastelandman covering him was a cool surprise and it turned out pretty solid as you can imagine from what they usually end up doing. Pretty fun thread to go through and about a character that barely anyone truly knows about, perfect for RT's tbh.

This is all about the new Transformers run and as per expected it has attracted plenty of attention not just for the quality of the run, but for covering the characters also. @chris2kzombieki has taken the epic task of constructing RT's for the characters involved, starting off with big Prime!!! I think this is fairly solid for what it is and I'm looking forward to future additions whenever they come out.

Yes, today's battle is a battle of Galactus's gut! Can he eat Wraithworld, home of the Dire Wraiths, or not? The answer, as they say, shall surprise you!

The story starts off with Rom having made a deal with Galactus, where Galactus will save Rom's homeworld of Galador if Rom leads Galactus to another legit planet. Galactus is in a surprisingly expansive mood and is good with this plan. He is a little annoyed with his current herald, Terrax, and gives him an errand. What I like is that writer Bill Mantlo was clearly busting out the thesaurus here, having Galactus call Terrax "molder of the marl"--clearly trying to show off a vocab word.

The rest of the Spaceknights are like "ROM! How could you join the bad guys and be a herald of Galactus!?" But Rom counters with (paraphrasing here) "AHA! but what if I led him to ... [dum dum dum!] WRAITHWORLD, home of our enemies!!!!" The other Spaceknights basically all cry out "LOL that's great!" (I like that one literally says "'Tis a stroke of genius!" when no other Spaceknight has used the word "'tis" in the entire series.)

So they all go up to Galactus's ship. I'm including this just because it's a cool teleportational visual effect.

Rom flies along outside and reminds Galactus of the Surfer. In fact, he thinks, "Rom seems his equal in every way!" This is a pretty great example of why statements don't always work for battles/scaling. Because as much as I am a fan of Rom, he is not even vaguely close to Surfer's equal in any way.

So. We finally get to the Dark Nebula, where the Wraith's planet is. The sun is magic, and actually makes space colder than space, which is already only 2.7 degrees above absolute zero. So I guess Wraith space is somewhere between 0 and 2.7 degrees above absolute zero. Bring a sweater!

Terrax goes off to check it out and comes back almost right away, freaking out. Galactus is like "what kind of world is this?" and Rom basically trolls him with "oooooh, I thought Galactus was a tough guy. Can't eat this world, tough guy?" And Galactus literally says "I can stomach any world." There's a claim for you.

Turns out, however, that Wraithworld does actually suck. Acid rain, volcano ash, earthquakes.

Galactus decides to suck the energy out of the Black Sun instead of the lifeless planet, but then--oh no, Galactus didn't think to protect his equipment against the destructive fury of...acid rain. That's an Act of God for ya in insurance language. Ya need a separate rider to be covered for that!

Galactus finally figures out what was going on, a little too late.

But the world is actually sucking his energy instead of the other way around.

He decides to just go straight to the source and suck out the Black Sun's energy directly, without equipment.

But look out! Deathwings! One of the cheesiest-named and generally goofiest creatures in Rom, but also pretty damn tough and embued with a lot of Wraith magic. A dozen of them attack Galactus, and...

He does not fare super well. They actually trash his armor (which had already been pitted by the acid rain), and he just straight up admits that he can't beat the Dark Nebula.

He fixes his costume with a costume-fixing machine, as one does, and then when Rom basically does a Nelson "Ha-ha!", Galactus actually LOLs himself.

And that is the story of how the Dire Wraith's world is more powerful than Galactus. See the Annihilators miniseries to see if the cosmic super-team fares any better.

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Seeing as the definitions of "Omega level" have changed wildly even over the last few years, it's interesting to see a tournament like this that is more liberal with the definition than what many of the writers would even consider as such. As a result we get this really unique stipulation where characters are pushed to their feasible limits, making what would be considered as samey/already done matchups a bit more fresh and unpredictable.

CV really likes their tournaments right now so we also have this teambuster version that's been going strong for 6 pages! Given my rep for extensively covering the kind of characters that Devil has thrown into the brackets here it's always entertaining to go through and see what exactly the general consensus on these characters has become at present. Certainly some surprising picks for sure; cool to see that comics in 2024 are still going strong.

A very detailed and wacky cosmological thread that has a ton of info on things that many users probably didn't know about in the first place. I'm not a particularly fond fan of deep-dive cosmological stuff like this but I won't lie, this thread was fairly entertaining and one of the few threads that's kept being significantly relevant despite being made more than 7 days ago. Definitely one to keep watching.

ProfessorRespect says: Obviously I'm gonna go over the HTT as it continues seeing as it is CV's oldest and most well-known tourney of them all. This time it's at the semi-finals, pairing with two comic debating powerhouses in @emperorthanos- and @kevd4wg alongside some new blood with @thenamelessone taking his unconventional DMC-orientated strategy to its limits against 3x HTT champion @chimeroid! I have to say that I've been really proud of the way that the HTT has turned out after the 2 year absence of it on the site, it's definitely been a blast hosting and seeing so many show up for it. Definitely looking forward to the next one already.

Low Mid Tournament - Round 2 - KingCrimson vs KriegAstartes

Low-Mid Tournament - Round 2 - GeekRyan vs Defiant_Will

Run by KingCrimson. (@kingcrimson @kreigastartis @defiant_will)

This is a solidly in-depth debate that's taken a whole to kick off properly but I'm still confident this has reached its conclusion. As much as I solidly disagree with @the_hajduk's conclusions and MGS scaling he's still entertaining enough as one of the only dedicated MGS debaters on the site and @sirfizzwhizz helps to make this a enjoyable read that only just opened as of writing.

Ultimate Hawkeye is basically a budget Bullseye but I wouldn't lie, he's still pretty cool. Having SFW reliably rep him in stuff like this is similarly nice. It helps that I'm a big fan of sharpshooting characters and this being a CaV mostly composed of that easily gives it a place on this list. We discussed this last week but now it's open for votes so we're including it again!

A complete, detailed, and updated RT from @psiviners319 for one of the most powerful mutants. An Omega-Level Telekinetic with high-tier telepathy, a faith / self-confidence amp, teleportation, immortality, and more. Whether he's an ally or enemy of the X-Men, he isn't someone to be messed with and can definitely hold his own against the greatest mutants around.

Finally, Exodus gets the full respect he deserves.

Known as Qimir (but also referred to as The Stranger and The Master), the main antagonist of The Acolyte series on Disney+ has shown himself to be a formidable dark side user and lightsaber duelist, even though the season isn't done yet. Presumedly a Sith Lord in the High Republic era, I am confident that there is a lot more to him than meets the eye. His reveal came as a bit of twist and surprise given his previous role in the show.

This RT by @thevivas showcases his feats thus far into the series, though I am sure it will be updated with all his feats once the season is done. Obviously this RT contains spoilers if you are not up to date.

Cecilia Reyes is a lesser known mutant and member of the X-Men, whose primary role is often that of a doctor. Her mutant gift allows her to create what is referred to as a "psioplasmic bio-field", which is essentially a passive/automatic tactile force field. With training, Cecelia has learnt to extend the field as well as use it for offensive purposes.

Fun fact: Cecilia Reyes appeared in FOX's The New Mutants film.

Not many comic book readers know about Cecilia, and she is an interesting character, so I'm glad that @scarlet_wiccan gave her some acknowledgement with this RT.

That's a lot of names, I know. Here's the deal. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 96, by Marvel stalwart Al Milgrom as both writer and penciler, was the culmination of several issues dealing with many of the characters above. Silvermane, already more or less equal to Spider-Man in combat already, had been amped by Dagger's light. Dagger was in a coma because Silvermane was draining her, and Cloak was weak because of his lack of Dagger's light. Meanwhile the Black Cat had recently gotten her bad luck powers from the Kingpin but didn't want Peter to know. And The Answer, a villain whose power was the ability to have an "answer" to any situation, had been working for the Kingpin for a while as one of his new top consiglieres.

The Answer explains a lot of that here, in a classic "The Answer" way.

Silvermane has gone nuts from Dagger's light and is desperately seeking her. Kingpin brought Dagger into his tower so he can use her power to save his wife, Vanessa.

But, Cloak, Spider-Man, and Black Cat show up to save Dagger. Cloak can be a pretty tough character to beat (and should get used in the forums more, IMHO), being able to teleport, go intangible, and BFR his opponents. But The Answer just punches him and knocks him out, which I guess is an example of his Answer powers, although it's not really specified?

Kingpin tries to retreat behind a massive metal door, which he explicitly says was "built to be proof against strength as great as even Spider-Man's!" Peter manages to keep the door from closing, however, thus avoiding the door's durability, and he and Felicia jump inside. Fisk is still impressed by this feat.

Fisk smartly manages to avoid Black Cat's bad luck powers by only acting defensively (this was a thing then) and incaps her with Cloak's cloak. More impressively, however, Silvermane shows exactly how much he's been amped and trashes the entire door that was built to withstand Spider-Man with what seems like one hit (since there's only one "Ka-thoom!" sound effect). Now Silvermane is already considered to be a little stronger than Peter, but he simply trashes that door, ripping it off the wall and crumpling it to the ground. I mean, damn.

So an impressive feat for the Maggia gangster cyborg. But then we get an equally impressive feat from Kingpin. He takes on Silvermane on his own. He loses, I don't want to sugar-coat that, but after what Silvermane just did, he shows ridiculous durability. Depending on how you read the scan, Fisk takes 4-5 hits from Silvermane, who is enraged and not holding back, whose blows are, again, capable of seemingly one-shotting a massive metal Spider-proof door--and they make a similar "Ba-Tooooom!" sound effect when he and Kingpin hit each other. That's some serious durability from Fisk. (Fisk took similar hits from Peter back in the day, but this is a step up.)

In fact, as contrast, Spider-Man then gets in the act and isn't able to do any better against him.

Realizing that none of these people can defeat Silvermane, The Answer realizes that the only way to stop him is to end his connection to his power source--Dagger. The Answer then literally becomes the answer to the problem, sacrificing himself by letting Dagger drain his light, returning herself and Silvermane to normal.

Later on The Answer turns out to not be dead, and Silvermane eventually becomes a (pretty funny) joke, with his head driving around in a remote control car in the Super Foes of Spider-Man.

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In this battle by@hugejonumber we put the strongest in a rematch. Now, many people know about the conclusion to their first epic matchup. This battle asks the question if varying time periods change the result. @thenamelessone and @aaronyogurt are starting this thread off with some really good points. Definitely worth a read!

Next, we have a battle by @andromeda1001. It is always fun to include an unorthodox matchup. Powergirl and Supergirl are both incredibly strong characters. However, Namor is one that is debated in the comic community. Does he belong here? Or does he fall to overwhelming power?

@firefly489 Comes in at the end with an absolutely stacked matchup for comic enthusiasts. Big matches like this getting attention are rare. Thankfully, there seems to be plenty of engagement in the thread. Definitely worth the time to contemplate which theme team wins.

This was a fun blend of Marvel/indie characters with a ton of strong exchanges! SFW is a colourful character but his debates are almost always entertaining and this is no different, especially since I think the shorter length (2 posts instead of 3) makes it a lot more comprehensible to get through.

Alongside his HTT debates ET has been on a small streak of repping and defending DC teams as one of the last old-school debaters to be around when they arguably had some of the best doing so. Bagel is similarly in that same situation and so we've as of current had a pretty good run of posts between the two.

Maybe the fastest CaV ever? Considering most of these tend to go on for centuries (or at best, decades) having this start and finish in a single day was very refreshing to see. The quality of said CaV is.....well maybe less so, but I admire the efficiency here at the very least.

Created by @viking1205, this thread documents and thoroughly analyses the accolades and accomplishments of one of the greatest known Avatars, Roku, just after the release of the new Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku novel, and months before the upcoming The Awakening of Roku. Dedicated to a character widely regarded as sitting at the top of the bending hierarchy, you can check this one out if you want to familiarise yourself with the standing and power levels of an Avatar.

This thread, courtesy of @thesubline breaks down the abilities and skills of a beloved Star Wars character recently put on the spotlight thanks to her live action show, Ahsoka (and not Ashoka!) Tano. Through her lightsaber and her physical might, her telekinetic abilities and swift, elegant fighting style, this is a character proudly representing the Light side of the Force. Make sure to check this one out!

This respect thread, written by @gioppy37 and recently updated, is dedicated to a classic Star Wars character and Jedi Master, Obi Wan Kenobi. It's a broad list of feats (in the form of YouTube hyperlinks) regarding his displayed and implied merit in lightsaber duelling, physical ability, the Force and more. I particularly like that the user gave shout-outs to others' threads that were helpful to them, which is a healthy but not particularly common practice.

You may be familiar with many of Batman's infamous contingency plans usually put forward for his superpowered allies of the Justice League. But did you know Bruce Wayne created one for himself too? And did you know that that same contingency plan created one for itself also? Inception much? In this thread, @thedevil98 briefly discusses FailSafe, a pseudo-Batman essentially designed as a Bat-family-buster. Feel free to check this one out.

The last three sections will be collections of respect threads written by common suspects, such as our own @professorrespect over the course of the past two months. This one lists threads for Silver Dagger, some E-list Doctor Strange antagonist who turns out to be quite formidable in battle, the Stark Sentinels MKII, some of Tony Stark's secret weapons, the Zero/X-Sentinels, adamantium skeleton clones, the Impossible City, a sentient Avengers HQ, and last but not least the Sensei, a legendary martial artist and father to the famous Ra's Al Ghul. A grand variety to choose from, or you can just dig in on the entire collection if you wish.

In this list, @rocketinspace talks about obscure, early Earth-616 characters Doctor Nemesis, Thermal Man and Dreadknight, antagonists to some famous Avengers such as Ant-Man, Thor and Iron-Man. Pym particles, doomsday weapons, and pseudo-magical technology are just some of the things you'll notice in these respect threads. These guys have few appearances but fairly decent feats for their respective tiers, so you can give those a read if you like reading about unknown comic-book supervillains.

Final catalogue of three, courtesy of @breakofdawn, comprehensively breaks down video game characters, two teams from the Halo series and one character from Destiny. Alpha-Nine is a fireteam of Super Soldiers consisting of Edward Buck, Dutch Miles, Romeo Agu, Mickey Respo and Rookie Doherty, while the Noble team is six soldiers representing the best of the best of humanity. Their power level and skill sets is more or less what you'd expect from them. In contrast, there's Mara Sov, an immortal witch Queen with mighty powers and an even mightier cunning. If you're into video-game debating, you can check these ones out!

American Flaggwas a fairly long-running, critically acclaimed independent comic published by First Comics. Howard Chaykin did both the writing and the art. His visuals and writing are both idiosyncratic and stand out as effective, clear carriers of his artistic voice. His art is a triple-threat: his design sense is really strong; each page’s composition is something you can just sit and marvel at. His mark-making makes each line count and come alive. And his sense of anatomy, the figure, and the face makes each human come across as an individual person standing in real space. The writing is an often ironic critique of pretty much every political and social dynamic that existed when the book came out in 1983, from race to big-party politics to Reagan capitalism. It feels like a slightly less cryptic Thomas Pynchon mixed with James Bond. On the other hand, it has all the hallmarks of a white guy of those times who’s trying to make a point about how he’s open-minded and a straight-shooter and ends up with a we’d look at today as a bunch of racist, sexist tropes in the process (think Sin City--Flagg spends a lot of time with ladies wearing garter belts for no reason). But if you’re looking for something offbeat, well-done, and a singular voice, it’s definitely worth a read.

The lettering is also really unique and well-done, you’ll see for yourself in the scans. It’s the final bow on top of the art.

The main character, Reuben Flagg, is what passes for the law in a world that is basically run by corporations. Society has more or less devolved into pockets of violence (good luck telling the terrorists from the good-faith rebels) and hyper capitalist manipulation. He’s a normal human with some slightly futuristic gear, and it’s his job to fight off the gangs, protect the powers that be whether he likes them or not, and figure out if there even is a right thing to do.

What we’re going to do here is check out most of his fights from the first three issues.

In issue 1, Flagg has just joined up as a new deputy (he’s essentially a mall cop in a world where everything is a mall, or “plex”). One thing they do is fight off the “gogangs” at the exact same time every weekend. It’s more of a ritual than a fight. The “cops” use rubber bullets and “snowballs”—sleep drug pellets. Flagg helps out in fighting off the gangs.

Then they fight them off again the next week. In between, one of the gang members made it clear that the whole thing is staged and that the cops pay a bribe to the gogangs to not really fight back. Flagg doesn’t like it and tries to truly defeat the gangs. Here he leaps into action with his two signature weapons, buzz-knucks (electrified brass knuckles) and a transparent shield whose qualities I don’t think are ever exactly defined. However, he uses the shield offensively and defensively, often using it to smack a swath of people. Here, he makes quick work of the main gogang leader.

In issue 2, he and his team get in a fight protecting the (corrupt but entertaining) mayor against some religiously-oriented gangs, again using the snowballs and some vehicular combat.

Then he gets sucker-punched by a “friend” with some buzz-knucks, letting us see how effective they are as he lays on the ground unconscious for some time.

Later, he fights some terrorists in a field. He uses another signature weapon, “nachtmachers,” which create a globe of blackness around a target. However, you can still see if you have the right goggles. One of the bad guys kills the other by accident and Flagg kills the other when he punches him in his suicide-cyanide tooth.

In issue 3, he again fights off some guys in a car chase. Then he beats up Cyril (the original gogang leader) with his buzz-knucks again, almost knocking him off a bridge.

Finally, he gets in a fight with a government agent. Flagg’s friend, a talking cat (yep, no real explanation to this) distracts the bad guy and Reuben charges him. The guy is a pretty decent fighter—the best in the series so far—but Flagg flips out and beats the crap out of him with his bare hands (and a chair).

Overall, Flagg is by no means a top (or even medium) streetleveler, but he fights with verve and a certain brutality, and even his losses have an entertaining humanity to them. The fights aren’t about feats, they’re about visual dynamics and style.