FNF (Championship Bout)

Championship Bout

Jesse Black Crow should be the poster-child for the concept of "home field advantage."  Based on reader feedback, Marvel's mystic Navajo hero comes out the tournament champion.  Honestly, I don't see why this should be the case.

In the specified story (Daredevil #225), Black Crow really doesn't demonstrate much in the way of fighting prowess.  As a matter of fact, he doesn't fight at all!!  He doesn't do anything really except watch Daredevil fight the Vulture and then talk to a rock. 

The Voice, meanwhile, single-handedly takes down a gang of insurrectionists (and a building to boot!), and what's he get?  Bupkis.  It's a tragedy, I tell ya...but it is what it is.  Congratulations, Black Crow.  You are the final champion!

FNF (Semifinals): M2 result and Final combatants

Semifinals Match 2

Hobie Brown's luck finally ran out this week.  There's just no way I can see to legitimately award the win to Prowler.  Not only does the Voice have the edge in terms of variety of powers, in the specific issues referenced he comes off clearly the better.  Where the Voice more or less single-handedly collapses a building and fights of a small legion of thugs, the Prowler is badly beaten in a fight with a single guy (though, admittedly, the single guy is Spider-Man) who isn't even trying to hurt him.


When you add the fact that this fight is taking place in an active war zone, you've gotta believe that time would be of the essence.  Whoever's gonna win this needs to take care of business fast.  It seems obvious to me that the Voice goes to the championship!

FNF (Semifinals): M1 result and Semifinal M2 combatants

Semifinals Match 1


So for the first time in this entire tournament, I must lament a tragic miscarriage of justice.  The readers (whose judgment I committed to respect) have picked Black Crow as the winner.  I whole-heartedly disagree and would offer the following reasoning:

One of the premises of this fight series is that we're judging the combatants based on how they performed in specified issues.  Despite his more expansive and impressive-sounding power set, the only thing I saw Black Crow do in Civil War #6 - 7 was take a vicious backhand from the Taskmaster.

Meanwhile, Ion fights off the Chemo-Golem along with a varied assortment of other super-villains and henchmen in MOST #1. Ion may be unknown, but he deserved this win.  Oh well, I guess that's politics for ya.  Better luck next time, kid.

 

FNF (Quarterfinals): M3 result and Semifinal M1 combatants

Quarterfinals Match 3

First, my apologies for being over a week late with this post.  I've experienced a lot of internet disruptions recently, but they are (hopefully) now resolved.

Second, calling this fight was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. Maybe readers felt similarly conflicted, because this was the first time in a while that I received no reader feedback.

Ultimately for me, this one boiled down to a literal coin toss. Thus the winnah and last semifinalist is:  THE PROWLER!

FNF (Quarterfinals): M1 result and M2 combatants

Quarterfinals, Match 1 results

This is a fight where I the setting makes a lot of the difference.  Both heroes have an impressively broad range of abilities/powers.  The Wizard's, however, are uniformly explained within the referenced comic (Top Notch #1) as being the result of his "super-brain."  The Black Crow, in contrast, is mystically-powered by the Earth Spirit.

Since this fight is taking place in an undersea cave "full of great mystical power," I just can't see how the Black Crow wouldn't have an obvious advantage here.  My judgment:  Black Crow is going to the semis!

 

FNF (Round 2): M6 result and M7 combatants

Round 2, Match 6 results

I would've given this one to Mockingbird.  She's SHIELD trained...that's nothing to sneeze at.  Second, the fight is taking place on the Helicarrier.  It would seem to me she'd have whatever "homefield advantage" there might be.  Third, the woman has held her own with the Avengers going up against Avengers-level foes.  I'm just not sure how much time Prowler has spent fighting in that league.  Finally, in the specified issues, the most Prowler does is take on the Black Fox, an aging basically non-violent European cat burgler.  In contrast, Mockingbird spent the referenced issues helping the West Coast Avengers go up against a bevy of old Eastern Bloc villains.

However, in this tournament votes trump the judgements of your benign blog master.  Much to my surprise and chagrin, the audience far and away awarded this one to Prowler.   Hobie Brown goes to the next round!

 

FNF (Round 2): M1 result and M2 combatants

Round 2, Match 1 results

As befits moving to the second round, this match was really difficult to call.  In terms of straight-up hand-to-hand combat, I think you've got to give the win to Miss Melee.  After all, in her referenced adventure (Miss Melee #1) she single-handedly takes down a small army of ninjas!

However, in his referenced adventure, Black Crow gets the better of two super-powered individuals both of whom have pretty fierce hand-to-hand combat skills (i.e., Spider-Man and Puma). 

Despite subsequent stories which depict Miss Melee executing some impressive chi-powered feats, that's not really depicted in MM #1. Spectacular Spider-Man #192,  in contrast, shows Black Crow making generous use of his mystic powers.

Since the specified location (i.e., a vacant rugby pitch) doesn't seem to grant any particular benefit to one combatant or the other, I'd have to assume that Black Crow would come out the winner.  BC moves to Round 3!

 

Round 2, Match 1: Black Crow vs. Miss Melee

Round 2, Match 1

Our second round begins by pitting Marvel's Black Crow (a surprise winner from round 1, thanks to votes from readers) against Rob Johnson & Ariel Guadalupe's  mighty momma, the magnificent Miss Melee!

Black Crow as depicted in Spectacular Spider-Man #192 (Sep 1992)

Background on Black Crow

•  Spectacular Spider-Man #191-193. supermegamonkey.net

Miss Melee as depicted in Miss Melee #1

Background on Miss Melee

• Miss Melee #1 (Sep 2015 - Jan 2016).

Setting
This fight takes place on a vacant rugby pitch.

FNF (Round 1): Camaleao Cinzento vs. Black Crow

Our inaugural Friday Night Fight pits Cadu Simões & Ricardo Marcelino's Camaleão Cinzento (Grey Chameleon) against Marvel's Black Crow.

Black Crow (as depicted in Captain America #292 (April 1984)

Background Info on Black Crow

•  Black Crow. ComicVine.gamespot.com
• Captain America #292. Supermegamonkey.net
• Captain America Vol 1 292. Marvel Database 
• Captain America #291 (v. 1).  The Complete Marvel Reading Order

Camaleao Cinzento (as depicted in any issue)

Background Info on Camaleo Cinzento

• Camaleão Cinzento. Public Domain Superheroes Wiki
• Camaleão Cinzento (Grey Chameleon). Internationalhero.co.uk
• Director's Version #03. HomemGrilo [Portuguese source] 
• Tira 61 – Jogada de Marketing IV. HomemGrilo [Portuguese source]

Setting
This fight takes place on a habitable exoplanet with an an average surface temperature of about 73° Fahrenheit. The combatants stand on a flat area strewn with diverse bluish stones.  There is a large body of water in the distance.  The air is warm and humid and the sky is overcast.

The stones are covered in a climbing plant with tiny leaves shaped like arrowheads. A strange creature with a scaly black hide, clawed feet, and a dimetrodon-like fin growing out of its back feeds on the the plants.

Next Step
So here's how this will work.   I'm going to embed a poll in the sidebar giving everyone a chance to vote on who they think should win.  Next Friday, I'll respond to the votes (assuming there are any) with my judgement on who would win and why.  Finally, whichever character has the most votes will advance to the next round.  Everybody clear?