Huntress fights....the original Huntress?

[aeka]

From All-Star comics 72: 5 pages.

The JSA fights Thorn in an effort to keep her from killing a Keystone City judge when Wildcat gets overconfident and tries to take her out himself. Unfortunately for Cat, Thorn poisons him before he has a chance to scratch her and ends up needing medical attention. While the JSA worries for the safety of their comrade after learning that the judge from earlier died from the poison, the doctors point out that the only chance they have for saving him is to get a sample of the poison that was used on him, and the Icicle's freeze ray gun from an earlier encounter. Green Lantern decides that the JSA will go after thorn and that Huntress should be the one to retrieve the freeze gun since shes' the only other member of the group with no special powers. Naturally this doesn't sit well with Hunts.







Thorn takes out both Flash and Green Lantern and escapes, but not before Power Girl manages to get a hold of one of her poisonous thorns.





Continuing on from All-Star Comics 73: 6 pages.







Green Lantern decides to check up on Huntress using the ring's beam on the telly and sees that Thorn had recruited the more villainess Huntress to take out her namesake. Green Lantern realises he made a mistake sending baby Huntress to fetch the freezer gun by herself and goes to her rescue.







This story proves that Paula Brooks had two things working in her favour: (1) this Huntress was raised by Batman, and (2) she attacked Helena very early in her career when she was still a noobie at the whole superheroics lifestyle.

The alternative would have meant this fight would have been over the minute Helena got a hold of that gigantic axe dangling from the ceiling, or some other equally blunt object. Or heck, even a more experienced Helena wouldn't have loosened her grip on that neck until she passed out.

And for anyone who was expecting a battle between the two Helenas, I too deliver:



In a fight between Helena W and Helena B, I'd put my money on Helena W outsmarting the more impulsive Helena B. As unpredictable and excessively violent as Helena B can be, there's no denying that Helena W would have learnt the value of using strategy with opponents like these (and even moreso if she had Batman for a dad).

Then again, I don't honestly see these two ever fighting unless they found themselves in a situation similar to the JLU episode Grudge Match, then that'd be an interesting fight to see then.

Comments

[jeyl]

I've always hated the trope where in action movies, men fight the men, women fight the women. Especially when every single one of the lady battles ends with the victor calling the loser a bit** (Total Recall, Torque, Die Another Day). But this? This is just lazy!

Still, kudos for no belly windows on either of them.

[aeka]

And I do love how almost all discussion on Huntress goes back to Helena B's belly window, but no one ever seems to comment on the fact that Helena W's costume leaves her femoral arteries, lungs, and heart vulnerable to bullets, knives, bolts, and other pointy objects. >.o

[kenn_el]

Yes, but Helena W was a victim of the Seventies, whereas Helena B eventually grew out of her knockoff and donned a relatively practical costume that protected her when she was shot in the gut (with Jim Gordon juxtaposing the incident against his daughter's shooting at the time), and then almost immediately started wearing a something which would afford no protection over that area whatsoever! It's akin to Barbara Gordon deciding to share an apartment with a total stranger. Something seriously off about the Batwomen.

[aeka]

Helena B eventually grew out of her knockoff and donned a relatively practical costume that protected her when she was shot in the gut

Not by much since she was still seriously wounded from the encounter. But yes I do agree that going from a full body suit to one that barely covers you isn't a good idea, especially if you last one didn't do much to protect you.

Still I don't see how Helena W being a "victim of the 70's" makes her less vulnerable to injury given the parts of her body her costume exposes. In these pages alone if it wasn't for her dodging the other Huntress's bolts, she'd be in trouble.

[kenn_el]

I'm just saying that Helena W's costume was never touted as being 'practical', as it clearly wasn't. Helena B's shooting and subsequent costume change happened in an era where writers/artists attempted (with varying degrees of success) to explain why the characters wore what they did, which made it even more jarring.
(I haven't read that issue of Gotham Knights in a long time, but my impression was that the kevlar in her costume DID work well in preventing permanent damage.)

[auggie18]

The last Die Hard movie did a pretty good job averting that. Maggie Q spent most of the movie kicking Bruce Willis's ass. It's a pity she didn't end up being the main villain instead of...


...um...


...y'know, the only part of that movie I actually remember is Maggie Q kicking Bruce Willis's ass.

[mrstatham]

Timothy Olyphant. Boring hacker villain. Can't even remember the dude's name as a character in the film.

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

I guess the artist didn't read the part of the narration that said Thorn was a "blazing brunette."

Maybe it's just the hair, but that last panel looks like someone just said, "The real Huntress is...That Girl."

[eyz]

I love that pic of the two Huntresses fighting!
It's pretty fun to have a look at both of them next to each other.

Which reminds me of this cover:

Always loved these sort of face downs.

[skjam]

I'm just amazed by Paula's balancing skills at the end of the first issue. You try standing like that on a globe.