Despite being a fan of Cutthroat, by popular acclaim--and I honestly can't disagree--he gets his clock cleaned by the old-timer Wizard! But really, I don't care how sharp your knife is, when you're going up against a guy who can casually swing around yard arms from a 19th century sea-going vessel, you're just out of luck.Wizard wins!
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!
Last week's fight turned out to be a pretty simple affair to decide. Nighthawk's first (text-only) story depicts him possessing at least potentially superhuman strength (e.g., he rolls a "huge boulder" over the entrance to a cave) and endurance (e.g., he performs the boulder trick after having pursued a Nazi airplane on foot!).
Unfortunately, the fight parameters specify that we're looking at Night Hawk (Nope, not a mistake. The spelling of his name changes from the first story to the second) as he was depicted in All New Short Story Comics #1. By this time, wealthy playboy Jack Filan has become a lot more human. While he possessed no powers, Night Hawk was very strong and acrobatic.
Unfortunately for Night Hawk, however, he just doesn't demonstrate enough battle savvy to take down Cutthroat. Despite the fact that Daniel Leighton (Cutthroat) had no superpowers either, he did carry a range of weaponry other than his fists--chief of which was his adamantium-edged blade.
Furthermore, the principle appearance of Cutthroat we're supposed to be consulting (Captain America #395) depicts him as the lone-survivor of a free-for-all to the death between a skilled ninja (Deathstroke) and a super-powered brawler (Mangler).
Finally, given the fact that this fight breaks out on a playground, I think it's more than safe to assume that if Cutthroat could just take out Night Hawk on the basis of sheer fighting ability, he'd just seize a kid as hostage and force the hero's submission to save the child's life.
Sorry, Jack, but there's no other plausible outcome than: Cutthroat Wins!
This fight takes place in a riverside city, interwoven into a majestic old-growth forest. The vast majority of buildings have been built with many natural elements to keep in line with the forests.
The skyline is littered with impressive skyscrapers and there is no place on earth with anything like this. Technology thrives here. New cultures have left their mark. What historically was a city of few cultures has grown into a large melting pot and it's this that unites the 5 million people to this day.
It's this multicultural identity that has truly left its mark. Hundreds of food carts, gastropubs and clubs offer a plethora of culinary choices and those who feel hungry for something else can enjoy concerts, musea, musical activities or one of the many other recreational venues.
Round 1, Match 2 results
I really like both of these characters. As such, I honestly tried to give them both a fair shot...but I just can't envision any way that Miss Melee doesn't come out the winner of this fight.
Jose was a tough dude...no question about it...but he's essentially just a brawler with a lot of heart. He's Rocky Balboa with nunchakas. True, several of the sites reference his "martial artist" skill...but that appears to primarily be thinking in terms of boxing.
While a solid boxer is nothing to sneeze at, this doesn't appear to be anywhere near the level of martial arts mastery we see in Miss Melee.
I also think we have to consider the difference in outcomes of Gangbuster's battle with Combattor (i.e., he got his spine broken) and Miss Melee's show-down with S.A.B.R. (i.e., she's roughed up, but ultimately victorious). Admittedly, however, Miss Melee got a critical timely assist from Kid Melee that saved her bacon...so I doubt you could make the case for MM strictly on the comparison of those who battles.
The dehydration limiter could've made a difference, but I'm going to engage in a little speculation and guess that the chi-force (or whatever Miss Melee tapped into to overcome S.A.B.R.) can also be applied to sustain her physical endurance for awhile. That doesn't seem too far afield of standard comic book lore, and since Gangbuster has nothing comparable to appeal to...I'm going to have to say "Congratulations, Miss Melee! You're going to the second round!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Round 1, Match 3
Round One's third match pits a hero against a villain for the first time this season. Specifically, we want to know how Chesler's Golden Age Night Hawk (as depicted in All New Short Story Comics #1) would fare against Marvel's Cutthroat (as depicted in Captain America #395)
Night Hawk as depicted in All New Short Story Comics #1 (Jan 1943)
