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zechs27 (zechs27) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-25 15:14:00

Entry tags:

char: batgirl/cassandra cain, char: deathstroke/slade wilson, char: ravager/rose wilson, creator: ale garza, creator: andersen gabrych, publisher: dc comics, series: martial arts week, title: batgirl

Martial Arts Week: Cassandra vs Slade Round 2 with Cassandra vs Rose as a Bonus for Added Flavor

The last time they fought Slade toyed with her and given she wasn't his job didn't follow her. Now in Batgirl #63 that has changed. With Cass now causing all sorts of hijinks against Penguin the fowl fiend has decided enough is enough. With his new Society alliance he's asked for Slade be the one to end Cassandra's life. Thus sets the stage for round two bombing a place in an area of Bludhaven where Cass frequents setting the stage for round 2:

Cass knows all too well the man she's up against is very much like Bruce. That he has plans in back of plans. So she tries to lead the fight away from the burning building and the crowd to a place where she can fight him with no innocent life in danger by his hand.

And she fell right into Slade's clutches. #64 starts out with a flashback. Slade come's to tell Penguin he won't take the job but has someone else in mind that will, Rose. The rest of this issue is all about Cass vs Rose and the former realizing how their relationship is eeriely similar they are to her own father and herself. It took me a bit to figure out what to scan and what to leave out. This is truly an awesome fight. It pains me to remove so much of it out. Before it fully begins though, Slade snatches the sword Cassandra took from him the previous issue and watches as the fight erupts:

Cass knows she's playing into Slade's hands so decides to take the fight elsewhere to her level in the underground tunnels of this fortress. Slade realizes this and finds Rose warning his daughter to be on high alert.

Cassandra removes the sword from Rose's throat and stating how long she has with that sort of wound to Slade. He carries Rose off quickly to seek medical attention. Thus Cass escapes the handicap match, but not Slade's wrath as we all know his ultimate revenge upon her right before the end of 52.

(Post a new comment)

	daningram 2009-08-25 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Shame you can't show the whole thing, it was pretty well written. A nice fight that had action and foils! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	zechs27 2009-08-25 09:21 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah the first part was easy picking what to scan. When it came for #64 though dang that was tough. The fight was about 95% of the issue with 3% being on Slade/Penguin and the other 2% on a flashback Cass has on mission with her father. Make's me wish it was a double sized issue :P (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-08-25 09:57 pm UTC (link)
	I must say I never read this book , but now I'm interested. Trade/comp.s are available ????? (Reply to this) (Thread)

zechs27
2009-08-26 03:02 am UTC (link)

All of Gabrych's run is out in trade form. These two issues plus the Brotherhood of Evil arc (60-62) are all in a trade together called Kicking Assassins.

Before that there's Fresh Blood which was a crossover with Robin. Then the trade after this one is Destruction's Daughter which has #65-73.

Puckett and Scott's run is all but collected in various trade form but they're kinda hard to get. Alas to say the final arc and story of their run isn't in trade form yet. Neither is the middle run. You're going to have to go back issue hunting alas.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bariman1987 2009-08-26 05:33 am UTC (link)
	Kicking Assassins It's a horrible pun, but I love the name because it's so appropriate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-08-26 01:12 pm UTC (link)
	Wait, what's the pun? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bariman1987 2009-08-26 06:23 pm UTC (link)
	Kicking Assassins. It's a punne, or play on words. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-08-26 08:31 pm UTC (link)
	Ahaha! I never got that until now! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	meatwhichdreams 2009-08-26 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	And I love you for using that precise explanation. I would go so far as to say you've got krisma. Buckets of it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bariman1987 2009-08-27 10:09 am UTC (link)
	I keep my krisma buckets in a shed out back. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	omgwtflolbbqbye 2009-08-25 10:47 pm UTC (link)
	Man oh man. I really wish Marvel and DC have another cross-over just so we'd get a fight between Batgirl Cass and X-23... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	enerprime 2009-08-26 01:12 am UTC (link)
	That would go on forever. X-23 couldn't hit Cass thanks to her body-language ability. But nothing Cass can do could keep X-23 down, considering that Laura stayed concious with her whole torso slahed open by Lady Deathstrike. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	omgwtflolbbqbye 2009-08-26 01:17 am UTC (link)
	That's exactly how I saw it too. Like one of those old Chinese soap opera fights that stretches out for a week. But then again... Laura can go feral right? In which case she could just start going at Cass based on instinct and impulse, then her body language might become gibberish to Cass. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	enerprime 2009-08-26 01:26 am UTC (link)
	Good point. And considering her own fucked up raising, Laura's body language may be too different for Cass to properly read. X-23 may just have the edge in this fight. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	daningram 2009-08-26 01:57 am UTC (link)
	Not really. Going feral against a skilled enemy isn't a smart thing to do, and there are ways to turn a healing factor against someone. For instance, bones don't automatically heal correctly, especially if one were to hold them out of place. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

omgwtflolbbqbye
2009-08-26 05:31 am UTC (link)

Good thing adamantium doesnt break then...

The feral idea came from an issue of Wolverine though. Wolverine enters some dumbass fighting tournament, and the undefeated grand master is a psychic who reads people's minds and body language like Cass, and can read every move that someone intends to throw at him the instant they think of it or prepare to execute it.

The guy gets the upper hand for the whole match until Logan realizes the best thing to do is to let the guy keep pummeling him, to the point where he gets so hurt and angry he goes feral.

His brain shuts off and he just begins acting on wild impulses and instinct, and since there's nothing to read, Wolverine mauls the guy (to death I think).

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

daningram
2009-08-26 11:06 am UTC (link)

X-23 only has metal in her claws, not her bones, so it's a moot point ;)

The fight you're referring to was Wolverine vs. Mr. X. Mr. X was only a telepath, who used his powers to get an inside track against his enemies. His combat ability without relying on his powers was fairly lacking, hence Wolverine's ability to maul him.

Cass' skills are different. They're not straight fighting style recognition, so much as expert knowledge of body langauge. She can see he punch or attack coming in your stance, recognize the pattern that you're using to fight, and counter it.

Being feral wouldn't help much, in that regard. It might make one's style unpredictable yes, but would likely telegraph their body langauge a mile away.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	bariman1987 2009-08-26 05:36 am UTC (link)
	IIRC, in a fight between X-23 and Wolverine (they weren't friends yet), X-23 almost beat Logan because she kept shoving dirt in his wounds, preventing them from healing, so Logan would bleed out. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bariman1987 2009-08-26 05:37 am UTC (link)
	Nah, going feral wouldn't work. Instinct and impulse it still deciding what to do next, Cass would read that and act accordingly. Unless you're thinking the whole Beechen "throw out style" thing, eh... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2009-08-25 11:24 pm UTC (link)
	The art here is really suited to a kinetic series like Cass's. Well done, Ale Garza. (Reply to this) (Thread)

zechs27
2009-08-26 03:05 am UTC (link)

Yeah I really loved Garza's work on this series. All his fights where extremly well done. From these two, to the two Brotherhood of Evil fights Cass had, Onyx/Cass sparring, Canary/Cass sparring, and the brief fight Shiva had with Cass. All of whom where some awesome fights.

Pop Mhan took awhile but he as drew some great fights for the series. Namely Cass vs Mad Dog and the final Shiva/Cass fight that closed the series.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	blackdocs 2009-08-26 03:59 am UTC (link)
	REALLY loving the open-lined drawings of Batgirl flipping in slo-mo. Very awesome ^_^ (Reply to this)

jaybee3
2009-08-26 01:34 pm UTC (link)

I'm not a big fan of what's been done with Ravager since she the whole Terror Titans things and she left the Titans book (I find her back-up story unreadable) but more of what makes Beechan bad IMO is that in his Batgirl mini he had Cass and Rose be instantly antagonistic/hate each other (despite the events in the issue above) who just team up to kill their respective fathers - in reality I think there are few people who could really understand the kind of mental and physical abuse that Cain put Cass through other than Rose and vice versa (and I don't mean all those Cain "sisters" that Beechan invented either). Both of them are literal "Outsiders" looking in (Cass in the Batfamily, Rose in the TT) and given Rose's connection to NW and Robin, I'm surprised no writer has ever gone to the trouble of making them friends - something neither has a lot of.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	zechs27 2009-08-26 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah that's what I was hoping too when Rose appeared during Cass's mini. Maybe if we ask Miller he do it. (Reply to this) (Parent)