Azure Priest, I'm not sure who you're talking about on the Keenspot. It's someone else.
EonKnight, name one book or comic that is realistic? The entire
Rain series, anything by Steve Barnes or Steve Perry,
Child of Fire, C. J. Cherryh's
Paladin, if you want a vaguely Japanese one, Paul Zimmer and his sister Marion Zimmer Bradley, Poul Anderson and Brian Azzarello to start with. It doesn't have to be photorealistic gore-porn. There can be Hong Kong wires, magic spells and fifty pound broadswords. I just find it jarring when it violates the basic
emotional logic of someone fighting for her life.
Brion, I'll approach it from a different angle. These sorts of stops in the action are an easy way to keep the action going when it would come to an abrupt end.
I can certainly understand Bad Guy With a Stick acting the way he does. He thinks he's unbeatable and doesn't have to take it seriously. And since he's getting a lot of emotional satisfaction out of lording it over the frightened sheep it's in character. Beat 'em up. Gloat. Take your time and enjoy it.
What doesn't make sense is Bern. She's a professional fighter. She believes the only way she and people under her protection will survive is by stopping the Bad Guys. She's already been pretty badly banged up. It doesn't make sense that she'd get in one good shot which doesn't end the fight and then trade a little repartee, stop, strike a pose point her sword at BGWaS and wait to see what happens next.
Take an analogy near to your heart. Imagine the scene around a poker table. All the players are professionals. Some of them have WSOP bracelets. The cards are dealt. Some smile. One groans. The rest turn a little pale.
Even if it's "just" a comic book wouldn't it jar you a little?
It's not just this fight in Flipside, and it's not just you. It's endemic in the genre, a first cousin to
Somewhere a Dog Barked.