katanahime

[katanahime]

Absolutely no one:

Tim Drake: You can't just be Batman, you have to Batman correctly

[katanahime]

Honestly, Young Justice (98) truly was the Teen Comic Of All Time

Like

Beyond all the crazy shit that happened we like to talk about because it's so frickin entertaining

Oh, yeah, and I know what yours are! You just wanna crab crab crab! You even complain about how the guys act when they're hanging with each other! So they rank on each other, razz each other...that's how normal teen guys are! Siblings, too! Didn't you guys have buds or sibs when you were teens? Guys you could bust on and know it didn't mean anything? No, probably not! I bet you were all only children, or felt isolated, or busy "training" and stuff. I bet none of you can lay claim to knowing what a normal teen life is supposed to be! Geez, you're so judgmental, I wanna puke!

Part of growing up is learning how to survive in the world. Naturally, we all want to know that our parents love us and want to watch out for us. And yes, there have been tragedies that are related to teens. But the result has been paranoia. Teens have replaced postal workers as America’s clichéd powder kegs. Either we’re “dangerous,” or else so helpless that we need schools turned into armed camps to “protect” us. And freedom of expression becomes completely stifled, lyrics to music become suppressed, and everything gets blamed on Marilyn Manson or something. It’s like…everyone likes to look at things as black or white, except there are hues of grey and it’s all somewhere in the middle. Well, that’s what teens are–in the middle of being kids and being adults. Except we’re not as cute as kids, and adults condescend to us. Treat us like kids while expecting us to be adults. No, “act” like adults. That’s what we’re told. Like it’s all a game. And it’s like adults are saying, “we have to help teenagers so they don’t napalm a nursery school or something.” Well, y'know what? We’re not the enemy. And we’re not babies to be protected! Maybe, like, what we need is less protecting and more being listened to.

It's hard to think of anything like it that had THIS much respect for its target audience. The real kind of respect that comes from understanding the actual problem instead of some flimsy "we can do it" shit.

👏👏👏

Completely GOATed. We miss you, Peter David, you were a Real One.

[katanahime]

Young Justice actually just does. The most fantastic job of handling and writing these teenagers, and actually right before Sins of Youth - technically part of the lead-up to it, Cassie has this absolutely stellar speech about it-

Part of growing up is learning how to survive in the world. Naturally, we all want to know that our parents love us and want to watch out for us. And yes, there have been tragedies that are related to teens. But the result has been paranoia. Teens have replaced postal workers as America's clichéd powder kegs. Either we're "dangerous," or else so helpless that we need schools turned into armed camps to "protect" us. And freedom of expression becomes completely stifled, lyrics to music become suppressed, and everything gets blamed on Marilyn Manson or something. It's like...everyone likes to look at things as black or white, except there are hues of grey and it's all somewhere in the middle. Well, that's what teens are--in the middle of being kids and being adults. Except we're not as cute as kids, and adults condescend to us. Treat us like kids while expecting us to be adults. No, "act" like adults. That's what we're told. Like it's all a game. And it's like adults are saying, "we have to help teenagers so they don't napalm a nursery school or something." Well, y'know what? We're not the enemy. And we're not babies to be protected! Maybe, like, what we need is less protecting and more being listened to.

In my opinion, the best speech about how teenagers are treated I've ever seen in a piece of fiction.

This story came out originally when I was 14. I wish everyone had this story when they were 14.

One thing I really do love the Sins of Youth storyline in YJ98 is that really does show how good at Young Justice are at being superheroes.

Because all the adults get de-aged and it’s absolute chaos and they can barely keep their shit together and Young Justice wonders if they’re that bad and the answer is “actually no you’re not, you’re actually doing pretty solid for your age in experience and you’re being held up to an unfair standard that invites more criticism to your actions”

It’s also a fascinating exploration of how adult anxieties are unfairly projected on to teenagers and while they of course still have room to grow and change and mature, the kids are, in fact, alright and actually capable individuals who do need support and guidance but aren’t helpless idiots by any means

[katanahime]

Rain.

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Yep! If Tim fundamentally disagrees with Batman, he won't do it. He's also incredibly savage sometimes. He also treats basically all adults this way. If he were obedient, he never would have become Robin in the first place. He functions off The Audacity.

The New Teen Titans #71

I saw someone say that Tim Drake is a bad Robin because he's obedient and ...where would people get that idea? So when I read this I felt vindicated. Dick is right Tim Drake doesn't blindly follow, he gives people respect but will do things his way if he believes they're wrong. This includes Batman, if Bruce is being stupid Tim will call him out. I have no idea where fanon got this idea that Tim is an obedient follower but it's completely made up.

[katanahime]

this took so long to make I forgot what I wanted to title it

(version without logos + just the inks under the cut!)

also:

14. fucking. hours. oh my god

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I need the idea of hierarchy between the justice league and the Titans to die in fire.

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re: that butch leather bat chick panel

have you perhaps drawn a butch Cass in a leather jacket before...i feel like you have but I can't find it :( if not I'm putting in a formal drawing request!!! LOVE YOUR WHOLE BLOG SM

butch leather bat chick u live forever in my head

[katanahime]

According to Know Your Meme, on August 18th, 2005, Erwin Beekveld brought forth this work into the world. HAPPY TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY, THEY’RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD.

[katanahime]

Batman #457 (published Dec 1990) | Robin #123 (published Apr 2004) | Batman (2016) #128 (published Dec 2022)

(if you haven't read Failsafe, don't be confused by the costume on the last one, I assure you that is certified Real Bruce)

Another mini-post while the main Bruce & Tim post is still cooking. As a little reminder of what Bruce is actually like toward Tim and that this applies in a broader sense - completely different time periods and writers at play. Rather than a narrow one-off scope people get hung up on.

[katanahime]

hate the exclusion of cass from batkids, fucking draw her w her brothers people

[katanahime]

I also think people can be unnecessarily critically reductionist of what is actually displayed in certain modern comics.

For instance, I've seen the crit of "To Live And Date In Gotham" in regard to Tim like he didn't display any normal Tim traits and instead is "just good at dating now" or something.

When actually in the comic, his initial reaction to the idea that he's good at that is "you have the wrong Robin" and the skills actually displayed are: knowing Gotham City really really well, and having connections with people in any given part of the city. Which is actually. Kind of the most Tim thing ever. Just repackaged for a cute little Valentine's Day comic (and with Ariana Dzerchenko back out of left field, which I appreciate even if you can't drop her knowing his ID on me like that without explanation).

Comics aren't perfect, but they never have been, and not everything written is going to exactly be to anyone's taste all the time.

There's a lot of things and character relationships I miss and wish got acknowledged and etc, etc, but I'm sick of people acting like absolutely nothing has improved since N52 when things have massively improved, actually.

Feeling a little tired of the ‘DC can’t even get their writers to read comics!’ joke going around.

Aside from one particular stand out with a title launching who mouthed off to the media, and my general complaints that Jeph Loeb tends to have vaguely heard rumours of what’s happened on titles since he last wrote them, pretty much everyone else writing for DC at the moment is writing characters they care about, in ways that are pretty clear they’re engaging with existing stories? We are no longer operating in “you can’t have your heart’s desire run” territory.

Like at BEST maybe you can say Torunn Grønbekk hasn’t yet shown how much she actually knows about Selina’s other stories, right now.

And look, I think there are grounds to say various writers haven’t necessarily read ALL of the comics associated with a certain character, or they have read and preferenced different runs to the fan default ones, but saying they don’t read comics for most of them is farcical. (Yes I know you’re all thinking Tom King at me, but also it’s extremely evident from King’s output that he’s interested in and reads comics. Generic You just don’t like his interpretations, characterisation and the way he engages with storytelling. If nothing else, I guarantee to you King has read every single comic ever listed as a Bruce/Selina highlight, multiple times)

You’re telling me at a time when Mark Waid is writing potentially the nerdiest thing possible, Phil Jimenez just swooped in to fix Donna up (again), Tate Brombal is busy trying to reconcile four contradictory Shiva backstories, Ram V is asking for and getting niche titles to write as runs, Jeremy Adams can’t help himself from going ‘but what if THIS dead/forgotten/lost child character was on page?’, Kelly Thompson is busy mining the lists of women she can use, etc, that DC writers don’t read comics? Tom Taylor, who just spent three years working out his feelings about how much he wanted his own fix-it fic of the Devin Grayson Nightwing run? Looool.

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the new suit !!!

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made this last night after i had 5 instagram stories in a row abt cass/batgirl in general

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Tim is obviously obsessed with Dick but an important part of their dynamic is that Dick is also obsessed with Tim, they’re freaks about each other, peak sibling dynamic

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Forget kryptonite needles or clip on earrings, I had a vision from god and I needed the world to know

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*inhale*

Anything Tim says about Jason while he was Robin before Jason comes back is not about Jason at all.

The first time you see Tim thinking about Jason, he is admiring him and it's in a very specific, very relevant way.

"A normal kid...like me"

Tim is very much of the opinion that Dick Grayson is someone extremely exceptional and that Dick's performance as Robin is not something he can live up to.

So

Dick = exceptional Jason = like me Jason = dead How do I not = dead

It's not about Jason, it's about Tim desperately trying to give himself some agency over his ability to not die. It's about convincing himself that he hasn't made a terrible fucking decision. Because you know who is kinda naturally reckless? Tim. So he thinks "if I'm going to be reckless here, I'm going to die"

He is preemptively blaming himself for his own hypothetical death

It isn't about Jason, whom he did not know at all

And sick to death of people exclusively blaming the one person who said shit about Jason's death that was both 1) a kid and 2) didn't personally know Jason and therefore 3) had zero way to know better about how Jason actually behaved

Double sick of people trying to claim Tim came up with this all on his own "before" anyone else said anything to him. Who do you think told him how Jason died? God? Tim wasn't there!

Was there a problem with the narrative framing not giving the impression that Jason fully being reckless was wrong? Yes. That was, in fact, a problem. Direct the issue at that problem. Thank you.