#00s comics trading cards

[evilhorse]

Superman, Man of Steel Vs. System DC trading card game ad (from JSA Strange Adventures #3 circa December 2004)

[vertigoartgore]

Starman/Jack Knight by artist/co-creator Tony Harris (2002).

[tamapalace]

Bandai Namco US Details “Fun with Tamagotchi” 2024 San Diego Comic-Con Panel

Can you believe the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con is later this week? Bandai Namco US has just posted a video on their Instagram page that showcases the radian cards they’ll be handing out to all attendees to attend the panel they’re hosting.

The panel will feature Tara Badie, Tanya Sexton, Anita Komatsu, and Asaki Murakami. Now that is an impressive lineup! What’s the panel about? They’ll be talking about the world of Tamagotchi! Learning more about different Tamagotchi devices, tips, and you can play trivia to win exclusive prizes.

image source: SDCC_Swagyu on Twitter

If you’re attending the panel, don’t miss out on the holographic trading cards (pictured above) which are perfect additions to your Tamagotchi collection! The panel will be hosted on Thursday, July 25th, 2024 from 2:00-3:00PM PST in room 7AB.

[fredseibertdotcom]

We was chocolate before chocolate was cool. 

It was a great idea, before its time. Oh, and I didn’t exactly know what I was doing. 

The late 1990s and early 2000s saw me straying into some areas that were a result of my arrogance and ignorance. I haven’t written yet about my short, disastrous foray into comic book publishing, but it led into a fun, but equally calamitous venture. Chocolate bars. 

Long story, short, in 1997 I put together a few people to invest to save storied, but troubled underground comix publisher Kitchen Sink Press, founded in Princeton, Wisconsin, but relocated in Northampton, Massachusetts. In addition to comics, the company put out all sorts of artist tangential products like trading cards, cloisonne pins, and my favorite and their best selling product, R. Crumb Devil Girl Choco(late) Bars.  When it was clear that KSP was going to continue being a black hole of financial losses it shut down. Clearly, I had no idea how to usefully help the company, and my living in Los Angeles with the company 2,920 miles away didn’t help one bit. 

I’d lost a lot of money, including my wife’s savings and my kid’s college fund, and I really wanted to earn it back for my family’s sake. Fast forward, I did, but certainly not in the KSP spin off I conceived. 

For reasons best sorted out with a therapist, I love everyday objects that have cool images printed on them. Skateboards, T-shirts, posters, you get the idea. So the fact that chocolate bars are obsessions of a lot of people, no matter their age, gender, location, and the R.Crumb and Fabulous Freak Brothers bars being a hit that I felt KSP had ignored in their plight, I got the bright idea of partnering with a Massachusetts based KSP consultant to launch a company named True Confections, solely in the business of boxes of chocolate bars with cool images printed on them.  Can’t go wrong, right? 

As I write this post in 2024, it’s pretty common to find “cool” candy bars in gourmet markets around the country. But, that wasn’t the case in the 00′s. We came up with some pretty neat designs (a few of them above), and our sales team did pretty well too. We sold pretty successfully everywhere from Toys’R’Us to Home Depot to my local Santa Monica pharmacy (they could keep Devil Girl’s in stock!). But, we didn’t know how to source the bars with good chocolate at a good price, and of course, we had no idea how to ship the candy properly when the weather turned hot. Long story short, True Confections was eating money faster than KSP was, and honestly, I got sick of eating chocolate myself. 

It was fun while it lasted, but like I said up above, we were ahead of our time. 

And, as I’ve learned, over and over, a great idea is all well and good, but if you can’t execute... well, that’s that. 

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"SHE CAN CREATE INTRICATE HOLOGRAPHIC ILLUSIONS, PROJECT POWERFUL LASER BEAMS OR "DAZZLE" HER OPPONENTS..."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on pin-up art of Alison Blaire, a.k.a., "Dazzler," in full battle mode against the forces of Mojo in the Mojoverse, from "The Marvel X-Men Collection" Vol. 1 #1 (of 3 issues). January, 1993. Marvel Comics. Artwork by Jim Lee.

BONUS PICS: Front and back of trading card #85, Dazzler, from "X-Men" Trading Card Series 1 by Impel/Marvel, c. 1992. Artwork by Jim Lee.

Resolution from largest to smallest: 1489x2048 (2x) 1044x1600, & 1139x764.

DAZZLER OVERVIEW: "When you think of Dazzler, odds are you think of disco and rollerskates. If you're a fan of the the classic X-Men arcade game or animated "Pryde of the X-Men" pilot, then your definitive Dazzler might rock a blue bodysuit, headband and bomber jacket. Well, there's another Dazzler: Freedom Fighter Dazzler! Jim Lee's Dazzler redesign could have taken the mutant musician totally grunge, but instead she went full "Universal Soldier."

Dazzler's one of a few "Ex-X-Men" included in the set, a group devoted to characters -- like Magik and Sunspot -- who had recently left their X-teams. This card actually coincided with the debut of this rough-and-ready version of Dazzler. As her bio states, Dazzler's whereabouts were unknown prior to her return in summer 1992's "X-Men" #10. This is the version of Dazzler -- a freedom fighter commanding troops alongside Longshot in the Mojoverse -- that debuted in that story-arc. Fans wouldn't get all that much of Dazzler in the '90s, though, and once she returned in the '00s, this period of her history was mostly forgotten."

-- CBR, "Marvel Trading Cards: 15 Greats From X-Men Series I," by Brett White, c. November 2016

Sources: www.cbr.com/marvel-trading-cards-15-greats-from-x-men-series-i/#dazzler, www.yesteryearretro.com/2021/09/retro-scans-1992-marvel-uncanny-x-men.html, eBay, various, etc...

[battlfofendorr]

I was at a funeral this weekend for a member of a D&D group I belonged to back when I was in my twenties. It was a very diverse group - we had some members rotate out over the years, but the core group that stills meets up now and again to reminisce or trade book recommendations includes a black man, a gay guy, an autistic woman, a lesbian, a gentleman who was AFAB, an American Indian, an Alaska Native, and two white boys.

Let's just say we bonded over how not awesome the local comic/card/nerdshit shop treated us. Because that's more or less how we all met - the gay guy worked at the shop, and assembled a collection of misfits.

Anyway. When we weren't playing D&D, or video games, or walking around at 3:00 a.m. talking about life, the universe, and everything, we'd watch horror movies together. I think we all enjoyed having a safe place to be scared in. I don't know. I know there was a time I would have killed for them, but that was a decade ago. We've all changed a lot in the last ten years.

Not that much, though -- because at the funeral, we were hanging out near the grave chatting. It was a little awkward - we haven't all been at the same place in a long time, and none of us thought the next time we'd see one another was a funeral, let alone HIS, the guy who'd brought us all together as a group to start.

But there we were - like something out of a King book. The Losers Club reassembled.

And I must not have been the only one thinking about that, because in an awkward pause, the black guy announced, very loudly - enough that I'm pretty sure everyone in the whole area heard - that everyone knew it was the black man that got got first, not the gay one.

The mix of giggling and crying that follows can only happen with people you have known so well, for so long, it starts to feel like they are a part of you, too. You'd never have known it had been a decade just about since we were all together, the way we all leaned into our shared grief together.

Gods, but I loved them so hard, once. I guess that doesn't really go away, even when you all drift apart.

[nerdsworld]

FANATICS FEST NYC 2024: WWE

Let's try to unravel what went sideways at the autographs and photo ops sessions over the weekend with the WWE fans.

First of all the area they had the WWE celebrities was put in the wrong location,with this group having the largest fan base they should have been placed in the area where the Trading Card Vendors were,there was little to no foot traffic in that area.

Line Management was non-existent and would have made it hard if there was a medical emergency in the surrounding vending booths.

Also seems there was no "liaison" (at least two crew members) from the organization itself (not volunteers) to direct fans into which chute they should be going into for their photos.

With "Signing Conventions" which is probably the most expensive (for attendees) part of attending these events,you have to make sure your layout is not confusing to your crew members and attendees.

ATTENDEE PUTS FANATICS FEST ON BLAST FOR WWE PHOTO OPS FIASCO AND DISORGANIZED MESS!!!

If someone is running behind schedule (late) do NOT email or text attendees especially at the Javitz Center where your cell phone signal can be spotty depending on what location you are standing in.

USE TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and Facebook FIRST!

Once attendees get frustrated,getting to the event super early, tired from standing so long and not getting some sort of answer where to go.

You're asking for the weekend to be one pain in the ass for all involved,crew members and attendees who paid a lot of money to come to this event.

You are standing in line for your autograph morning session (10:10 am) that you arrived at the convention center super early for....just to hear the screams and opening theme in the middle of the showroom floor for Cody Rhodes when it's now after 11:00 am and his line is wrapping three times over.

"What's he doing over there?"

I was on the line waiting for Drew McIntyre (10:15 am session) at 9:30 am as soon as they let us in,he arrived late (10:50am) but I got my autograph around 11:15 and strolled over to FANATICS STAGE where Cody Rhodes was.👇🏾

Cody Rhodes autograph session was to start at 10:00 -11:00 am and then he was supposed to go over to the stage by 11:15am.

This is where everything went sideways.

What alternate universe were the event managers in charge of autographs and photo ops living in to give him an HOUR to sign all those autographs?

Any fan experienced with NYCC,FAN EXPO, SDCC or RHODE ISLAND COMIC CON,knows if the celebrity (more popular) is an HOUR late.

There is a good chance everything is going to get juggled around,that's why you only schedule (the one you want the most) for that day and leave the rest of your day open.

This is what happened with the Cody Rhodes autograph session,his HANDLERS should have IMMEDIATELY taken him to the autographs session and try to knock out as many as he could,since Drew McIntyre was late as well,it wouldn't have been as bad as it turned out for some fans.👇🏾

WWE is probably the only group that has fans that grew up with them (WWF like myself but I'm more for the old school wrestlers),current and next generation fans which is why they were the group that sold out for autographs and photo ops,if anything maybe the WWE needs to their OWN once a year convention.

Something to think about and who better to run it but the organization themselves.

Monday

08.19.2024

L.G

[missperrika]

Here setting up with Amanda Ahlstrom at O Comic Con! The booth features items from Stuff AEA Made including screen prints, buttons, pins, art trading cards, and original art work. Limited Commission slots open! Be sure to stop by: Mid-America Center [Friday 12:00-7:00, Saturday 10:00-6:00, & Sunday 10:00-4:00] @stuffaeamade

[acmeoop]

What’s Buzzin’?

Spider-Man Archives - Series 1 (2009)

#48 Spider-Man vs Swarm

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E2; Chapter Two, The Weirdo On Maple Street - [Pt. 4 - FINAL]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘠/𝘯, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

The three of us were invited to stay for dinner. Since there weren't enough chairs, they were kind enough to pull out an extra chair for me, so Dustin and I shared the end of the table, opposite Mrs. Wheeler. Nancy and I seemed to be the only kids who were eating.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay Mrs. Wheeler. The food is amazing!" I said, followed by another bite of mashed potatoes.

"You're very welcome, Y/n. And thank you." She said, with a kind smile.

She looked around and noticed the boys were just playing with their meatloaf.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" She asked.

"Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch," Dustin said a goofy smile on his face. There's a noticeable pause before he speaks again. "I don't know why." I breathe out a light chuckle and take another bite of mashed potatoes.

Lucas chuckles nervously. "Me, too."

"It's delicious, Mommy." Nancy bats her eyelashes and a quizzical look flashed across my face. I know that tactic. Hell, every kid knows that tactic, she wants something and she is trying to butter up her mom. But to see a Nancy of all people do that is almost laughable.

"Thank you, sweetie."

I look to Mike to gauge his reaction to his teenage sister's odd behavior towards their mom. I fight back a laugh when his actions closely resemble that of an adult in a movie who takes a drink of beer with a thousand-yard stare, trying to forget something said at that moment in time; only this time it's a glass of milk.

"So, there's this... special assembly thing tonight... for Will at the school field."

I furrow my brow in confusion and shock. 'Nancy is nice and all, but since when does she care about Will?' Then it dawned on me. I remember Mike complaining to us earlier about that "douchebag Steve Harrington" and how he and Nancy have been dating. And how he's been sneaking in and out of Nancy's room.

"Barb's driving."

My jaw clenches.

"Why am I just now hearing about this?"

'Because she wants to use my best friend's disappearance as an excuse to leave the house and suck face with her stupid boyfriend.'

"I thought you knew." She said, playing innocent. Mike and I look to each other knowingly and then at Nancy. Well, glaring was a better term for what I was doing.

"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found."

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there."

CLANG

I half drop, have threw my silverware on the table in a mix of shock and frustration. When everyone turns and looks at me silently, I quickly play it off with a chuckle.

"Heh, sorry about that. Lost my grip. I'm just thirsty." I say with an innocent smile as I hold up my water, gesturing to it before taking a large gulp.

Everyone but the boys seem to buy it.

Nancy continued and I had to bite my lip so as to not say anything.

"As I was saying, everyone is going."

Mrs. Wheeler sighs and looks to us, then back at Nancy.

"Just... be back by 10:00."

Nancy nods, happy with herself.

"Why don't you take Mike and his friends, too?" She suggested. We all panicked and spoke at the same time.

"No!"

"Mmm-mmm."

"I have a headache" I finished weakly.

"Don't you think you should be there? For Will?"

The four of us all spot Eleven walking down the stairs behind Mrs. Wheeler.

Mike nearly chokes on his milk while I accidentally inhale my water and I begin to choke for real. Mrs. Wheeler turns to see what provoked us so much but the mix of Dustin randomly slamming his fists against the table a few times and me going into a coughing fit was enough to grab her attention.

She looked between the two of us in shock. During my horrendous coughing fit, I was relieved to see El had gotten out of sight.

"Sorry. Spasm." Dustin says sheepishly.

However, it was still incredibly awkward seeing as it was quiet as and everyone just stared at me while I coughed obnoxiously. The coughs got less violent to a point where I could speak.

"Ahh..." cough. "I'm okay... really, I" cough. I hold up a finger and cough for a few seconds. I look up, a painful and sheepish look on my face as I awkwardly try and diffuse the tension. "Don't you hate that. Like, what can you do, wash it down with water?" I look around laughing weakly, but not for long because my awkward chuckles turn into more coughing and I groan. "Haha, ahawww god." I put hands on my knees and take a breather.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"El?" Mike called down the stairs. Mike and I had were able to sneak some food downstairs for her. Thankfully we found her down here, she was in the fort that Mike had made for her, fiddling with Mike's Supercomm.

"Hi, El!" I say with a smile as I walk over and kneel down next to her. Mike does the same and sets down the tray of food. Dustin and Lucas remain standing.

"We brought you some dinner,"

"Yep. No adults. Just us and some meatloaf." Mike replies.

She looks to me, then warily to Dustin and Lucas.

"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise." I assure her in a gentle voice. I turn for them and give them a look. "Right guys?"

Dustin gives her a goofy smile. "We never would've upset you if we knew you had superpowers." I roll my eyes and Mike turns around and swats Dustin in the shin.

I look back to El.

"What my brother meant to say was, they were just scared... earlier. That's all."

Lucas speaks up. "We just wanted to find our friend." I turn around and smile warmly at Lucas, mouthing a 'thank you'. He's a great person, he's just skeptical is all. And protective. He nods his head at me. I look back at El to see her face riddled with confusion.

"'Friend'?" She asks.

"Yeah, friend. Will?"

"What is 'friend'?" She asks.

Lucas starts to say something but cuts himself off, thinking better of it.

"Um, a friend-" He begins.

"Is someone that you'd do anything for." Mike finished for him.

"You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards," Dustin said, wistfully.

"And they never break a promise," Mike adds.

"Especially when there's spit."

"Spit?" She asked, looking concerned.

"A spit swear means..." Lucas spits into his palm and shakes Dustin's hand. "you never break your word. It's a bond."

I cringed, while Dustin looked at his hand in disgust. I turn back to El and smile.

"That's super important, because friends... they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know. A friend is someone you can trust completely."

She seems to be soaking up the information, then she looks at me and smiles.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We had all convinced El to come out of her fort. The three boys were huddled together whispering and I joined El at the D&D table. In fact, she sat where Mike sat during the campaign and I subconsciously sat where Will did on that night.

Although I was a little surprised to see how focused she became. She gently spread her hands along the table, her fingers touching the board.

The three boys walk over. "What's the weirdo doing?" Lucas questions. I give him a glare, to warn him. He clears his throat and corrects himself. "Sorry. Eleven."

I smile, silently thanking him.

"El?" Mike asks. She had her eyes closed for a short while and suddenly she opens them. She grabs Will's signature miniature, the cleric. I hold my breath in anticipation.

"Will." She says.

"Superpowers." Dustin whispered. Lucas rolled his eyes and Mike sat down between me and El, and started asking the questions that were on all our minds.

"Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?"

She set aside the cleric as I spoke up, my voice barely above a whisper.

"El?" She looks up at me. "Is there... is there anything, anything at all that you could tell us? Anything that you know about our friend?" I ask, my voice breaking. She gives me a sympathetic smile and clears the board by swiping her arm across the table. We all watch intently as she reaches forward and flips the board upside down.

We all stare at the board and then look to El as she grabs the cleric and slams it down in the center of the board. My stomach seems to drop in perfect sync with the miniature.

"I don't understand." Mike croaks.

The room is silent for a few moments as we stare at El, waiting for her response. "Hiding." Her voice came out in a whisper.

"W-Will is hiding?" I stammer.

She nods her head 'yes'.

My fingers subconsciously begin wringing together as I try and swallow all of this information.

"From the bad men?" Mike clarifies.

Her brows furrow ever so slightly as she shakes her 'no'. I take a deep breath.

"Then from who?"

She looks to her side and grabs another miniature, and places it next to the cleric. I let out a breath of air I didn't even know I was holding when I recognized the dreaded piece. We all look around to each other, a look of horror on our faces. Dustin puts his hands behind his head and I put my head in my hands as I try not to panic.

It was the Demogorgon.

[aluvian]

Rules: Tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by: @redteekal (Thank you SO SO MUCH for the tag. Mwah, mwah, mwah!!!) 💙💙💙

Favorite time of year: Christmas. I remember last year it was just me and Merlin (my dog) one evening. I had all the lights off except for those on the Christmas tree and the other various decorative ones we put up. One of my favorite instrumental Christmas music compilations was playing sofly in the background. I was curled up in one of the big chairs in the living room, a cup of hot cocoa in my hand, and Merlin on my lap. It was truly one of those moments of utter and complete happiness. I tend to have lots of moments like that during the holidays, and it's something I hold onto and cherish.

Comfort food: There's this cold seafood salad sandwich from a local restaurant, and it's called The Crabby Shrimp. I've been eating it since I was a little girl, and it's probably my favorite sandwich in the world. It's simple and unbelievably delicious. I usually order the smoked fish spread to go with it. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. My mouth is watering as I type all this. I'm hungry now lmao.

Do you collect something?: Oh yes! Comic books, Loungefly backpacks, different copies of the first Dune book (I hope to obtain a copy published in the 70s someday. I'm obsessed with the cover art from that decade), Disney trading pins, chopsticks, mini resin owl figurines, Ina Garten cookbooks, trading cards + candles + pins + menu cards from a bakery I'm obsessed with called Gideon's (they're based in Orlando and have the best cookies I've ever eaten and I LOOOOOVE their nitro cold brew iced coffees too), stuffed animals/plushies (I have a unique collection and will always add to it), figures/statues of my favorite fictional characters, fanart prints, vinyl records, Alex & Ani bracelets, and "The Art Of" books.

Favorite drink: A large McDonald's Coke. Truly the drink of the gods. Bad day? This will fix me. Inject it into my veins.

Favorite song: Truly one of the hardest questions anyone could ask me, tbh. I think I said a Def Leppard (my favorite band of all time) song last time, so I'll pick a different musical group this time. I don't know how many of you listen to the Bee Gees outside of their disco songs, but their stuff from the 90s and early 00s is AMAZING. I grew up listening to their albums from those years most above all their other music. Anyway, the song Embrace is on an album (This is Where I Came In) that came out in 2001, I believe. Hoo boy that is a really really good song. Probably my all time favorite from them.

Current favorite song: The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. My current go to when I'm not listening to my podcasts and can't figure out what music I'm the mood for.

Favorite book: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding. My mom bought it for me for Christmas my freshman year of high school. It's the first book I can actively remember being absolutely frantic to finish reading. I reread it several times a year. The day that book gets made into an animated series or a live action show is the day I ascend.

Favorite fic: OOF WHAT A QUESTION. I truly can't pick, because I have too many favorites, but I'll name one from each of the ships I currently read fic for:

Jaime x Brienne: the battlefield between us (isn't here tonight) by @robotsdance

MSR: Out of Rain by suilven

Royai: Juniper by sixpences

Neo x Trinity: Collateral Damage by nanda (nandamai)

JonMartin: A Measure Outside the Lines by Rend_Herring

Tagging: @kittsunegari @houseoftrinity @exquisitecashmere @genderqueer-klinger @absolutebearings @karrashi @viksworth @kriscynical @ussfaramir @hamster-on-fire and anyone else who wants to play! 💙💙💙

[evilhorse]

Daredevil movie cards promo card

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

Bentley's Basic Info

Name: Bentley Robert Murphy

Faceclaims: 60s - Luke Halpin, 80s - C. Thomas Howell, 00s - Jeremy Sumpter, now - Walker Scobell

Nicknames: Benny, Ben, (only by Vivien) Beemer

Age: 14

Date of Birth: March 13

Zodiac: Pisces

Birthstone: Aquamarine

Nationality: American, French, Polish

Sexuality: Bisexual

Birthplace: Born in the backseat of their dad's pickup, on their way home from Garden City, South Carolina

Current Residence: Gulf Winds Drive, St. Pete Beach, Florida

Schooling: Junior High (going into Freshman year of high school)

Occupation: Big Momma’s busboy when he wants to help

Talents/Skills: Anything relating to art is up his alley, he has a pretty great memory, and he has a natural way with animals and people

Birth order: Youngest

Siblings: Miles and Royce

Parents: Allen Michael Murphy and Dorothea Rose Witt-Murphy

Signature:

Height: 5’4” (current) and 5'10" (future)

Eye Color: Steel blue

Hair Color: Dirty blonde, but it looks light brown in the winter

Glasses or contact lenses: None

Distinguishing features: Loads of freckles, a scar on his neck from the car accident he was in with his mom, and a small birthmark on his collarbone (almost heart shape)

Mannerisms: Constantly bouncing his legs when sitting, always drawing on his hands or jeans when he's bored, biting the inside of his cheek when he's thinking too much.

Health: Allergic to jelly beans and shellfish, dyslexia, ADHD

Hobbies: Drawing, painting, collecting superhero trading cards and comic books

Greatest flaw (in their opinion): If someone were to ask, he would tell them it would be how he can be too easily distracted, but, in all honesty, he knows it's how often compares himself to his brothers. Who wouldn't? Miles is the oldest, strongest, coolest big brother anyone could ask for, and Royce is, by far, the smartest, meanwhile Bentley, in his own opinion, is just sort of... there. He finds it hard to not compare himself to them when, for as long as he can remember, that's all anyone did to him. Their dad compared them constantly, teachers compared their grades, and even their friends would "joke" about how dissimilar he was compared to his older brothers. Even though he knows he's the artsy one of the three and is loved regardless of the constant comparisons being made about them, Bentley can't seem to ignore the glaring contrasts between them, belittling himself internally far more than he ever lets on.

Best quality (in their opinion): How he blends into every crowd when he feels like being with certain people. He’s like a chameleon. With his friends at school, he's a certain way, whereas, at home, he's another. He blends into his surroundings in order to make others feel welcomed in his presence. At home, he can be whoever he wants - loud and proud, subtle and calm, or a mix of whatever he chooses - but he sort of enjoys seeing different facets of himself and experimenting with just how far he can go with them. He wants the people he likes to like him in return and enjoys hearing that he makes them feel comfortable around him, even if what they see in him isn't his full personality. Bentley sees nothing wrong with this - actually, quite the opposite - but he knows it can be a fast way to lose his sense of self if he lets it go too far.

Biggest fear: He isn't afraid to admit that one of his biggest fears is not being good enough - something tied to his deep-rooted issues with being compared to his brothers - but very few people around him know that he hates being alone. He thinks this started when he was in the car accident with their mom and he was stuck in the car, alone, for a few hours before the car was found and they were pulled out, but it never went away. Now that he lives with Miles, he's practically never alone anyway, but the fear is still there, and he hates when it flares up on some random Tuesday and he gets to the point where he feels like crawling into bed with one of his brothers just to feel safe. It makes him feel like a toddler, but he knows his brothers don't mind as they've told him such multiple times. It's just another part of him that they love, but he can't stand.

Favorite ice cream: Cake batter

Favorite color: Pale yellow

Favorite number(s): 13, 14, and 21 (his and his siblings' birthdays)

Favorite songs: Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, Golden by Harry Styles, and The Middle by Jimmy Eat World

Favorite movies: Spiderman (all of them, regardless of who’s playing Peter Parker, Flubber, every Star Wars movie (he can’t pick just one as they’re all perfect in his eyes), Cool Runnings, and Camp Rock

Favorite TV shows: Full House, Transformers (namely the original 80s show), Young Sheldon (Viv got him into it, but he doesn’t really care for the Big Bang Theory), The Andy Griffith Show, and pretty much any ghost show like Ghost Adventures or the original Ghost Hunters show that aired from 2004-2016 (even though they all give him the creeps, Bentley loves watching those kinds of shows and wants to try going to haunted places and talking to ghosts like they do)

Favorie books: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, the entire Percy Jackson universe, Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux, Click Here to Start by Denis Markell, and The Compound and The Fallout by S. A. Bodeen

Favorite video games: Psychonauts, Pokemon, and Legend of Zelda

A musical they love: Shrek the Musical and The Lightning Thief

A place they want to visit most: France and Canada

[thevindicativevordan]

On Supergirl

Figured I should put up my thoughts about Kara in the wake of her first film appearance being announced, and the final season of her TV show fast approaching. Short version is: Kara is very cool and DC needs to stop messing with her. 

My Introduction to Kara

I was introduced to Kara the way most millennials/Gen Zers were I imagine, via the Loeb Superman/Batman arc which brought the traditional Kara Zor-El Supergirl take into Post-Crisis continuity, after years of DC attempting to have a “Supergirl” without violating the editorial mandate that Kal needed to be the literal “Last Son of Krypton” (an example of one of the dumb ways DC fucked Kara over). Story goes that one day Dan Didio was in line at the Superman ride at Six Flags (I love that ride even though it’s stolen my glasses every time I’ve ridden it, even when I left them in a locker!). The ride had signs that talked about various Superman characters. Didio was reading the entry for Supergirl where it talked about her not being Clark’s cousin but instead some weird merge of alien shapeshifter, angel, and human girl, and he realized how fucking stupid that was, and he went back to the office and told Loeb to bring Kara back. 

Years later I would also be standing in line at the Six Flags Superman ride (probably at a different park location but who knows?) as a youngster and would read the new Supergirl sign that trumpeted that Superman had a cousin who shared all his powers, an update reflecting the new Loeb origin. I thought she sounded pretty cool, made a note to see if my library had any Supergirl stories next time I visited, then got on the Superman ride and promptly lost my glasses like an idiot because I wanted to take them off while I was riding and pretend I was changing from my “disguise” into Superman mid flight. My dad grounded me for this afterwards, but it gave me a funny story to tell at family get togethers and isn’t that what Six Flags is all about?

A month later (and with spiffy new glasses), my mom dropped me off at a new library next to where she worked, and they had one of the best Superman collections I’ve ever seen to this day. I was in heaven and while reading every Superman book I could find (I couldn’t check them out because I didn’t have a card, my mom’s card didn’t cover the area the library was in, and my mom wouldn’t have checked them out anyway since comics were “too violent”), I found the trade collecting Kara’s new origin. I read it and I thought both she and Superman were really cool, and Batman was a  punk who had to beat Darkseid by cheating, the loser. Turner’s art to my young eyes was the best I had ever seen, and the panels got engraved into my brain. 

I still get downright nostalgic whenever I see Turner Superman or Supergirl stuff. I also got my parents to rent the animated movie adaption of the Superman/Batman arc from Blockbuster (remember those?), and that sealed the deal. Seeing Kara hold her own against Darkseid convinced me she was as cool as her cousin. Next time my mom dropped me off at the library next to her workplace, I went looking for Supergirl stuff to read. I found the first volume of her new volume by Joe Kelly taking place after the Loeb arc and dove in.

It was... weird. 5 years later I might have enjoyed it but at the time I was majorly put off. Kara took a secret identity for a day and then ditched it because it was “stupid” and the kids bullied her. She was always getting into fights with Kal, and there was this weird plot that I couldn’t follow about how her dad had sent her to kill Kal, maybe or maybe not? Also she could grow crystals which I thought was dumb, and said she was stronger than her cousin which I couldn’t buy for a second given he looked like he was carved out of marble, and she looked like she relied on sunlight instead of food. I put the volume back on the shelf and kinda gave up on reading the character after that for a while. 

I followed her via the DC wiki updates just like I did Superman, and everything I read seemed dumb and convoluted. She was split in two, moped around a lot, made out with an alternate version of her cousin, and basically just flopped about the same way the rest of the Superfamily did during the 00s. Nothing made me think I had made a mistake dropping Kara until I read the latest update to her wiki page.

I was super into what I was reading about the Busiek/Johns era of Superman online. Lex was back and making a big revenge scheme that involved all the other Rogues! Old Superman Rogues were getting revamped and made cool again! Johns reintroduced Brainiac and made him a big threat, with Kal and Kara teaming up to fight him! Busiek was revamping Prankster and telling big ambitious Superman stories! For the first time in a long while, the consensus on the Internet was that Superman was good again. My “home” library had zero Marvel books and no Superman or Batman books, all their DC stuff was Flash or Green Lantern, mainly written by Johns. Insane to think back on now. My hopes that because Johns was involved with Superman, Superman books would show up at my library were fulfilled. They started bringing in Busiek and Johns collections, and someone there also ordered Sterling Gates’ first volume of Supergirl, and I checked everything out since I was old enough to have my own library card, and my parents were worried more about the violent video games I was playing rather than comics.

I read everything and loved it. I also really liked Gates’ take on Kara. She was still an imperfect teenager but she wasn’t insufferably angsty or constantly fighting with Kal. She was going to give the secret identity another try and Lana had “adopted” her. It’s funny remembering how I enjoyed all that given my current thoughts on how Kara should work, but it was great at the time. I liked Gates introducing new foes for Kara, some classic Superman Rogues adapted for her like Bizzarogirl, others crafted specifically for her like Reactron. Gates’ basically rekindled my enjoyment of Kara the same way Busiek & Johns rekindled my enjoyment of Superman.

Of course it ended terribly like everything Superman-related seems to.

I’ve got a whole post I want to do about New Krypton and what came after. In short that is the most blatant example of “hitting the reset button” that I’ve ever seen. All the potential got wasted, and afterwards everything except Lex’s Action Comics stuff just didn’t appeal to me. Gates got booted off Kara for Nick Spencer who ended up leaving himself later, a promising Teen Titans line-up with Kara on it didn’t happen, and the last proper Pre-Flashpoint Superfamily story was a crappy team-up with Doomsday against Bigger Doomsday (thank God for Cornell’s final Luthor/Superman confrontation at least). When news of the reboot arrived, I was honestly happy. The Superline needed an enema.

Controversial opinion time: I liked New 52 Supergirl. It’s weird because a lot of the stuff I hated about Kelly’s run was here, and a lot of the stuff I loved about the Gates’ run was not. This was angry, moody, emotional Kara again, fighting with Kal and not fond of Earth. But I was in my teens at this point, and I didn’t want happy go-lucky Superman or Supergirl. I wanted my heroes angry, scared of the future, ready to go out there and smash some cars. Morrison’s Action Comics was 100% my jam (still is once I really understood the deeper meaning beneath the work) and this Kara felt like a natural fit for this universe. Plus we got Asrar on art and that guy made it damn pretty to look at, lots of cool science fiction stuff going on, even with the dumb H’el storyline.

I loved all the new Rogues Kara got. I loved her new Fortress under the ocean. I loved how traumatized she was by the loss of Krypton, that she wanted more than anything to go home, that her cousin was like a stranger to her since they had been apart for so long. I found all of that incredibly relatable. A lot of the New 52 Supergirl stories might have been schlock but it was my type of schlock damnit, and I enjoyed it!

I kept with her New 52 series all the way through the Red Daughter Saga (which I loved). As someone who grew up on Johns GL (since that was the only comics my home library had), seeing a Supercharacter join a Lantern Corp was the hypest thing ever. I loved the finale about Kara finally letting go of her anger and losing the ring while smashing her foe into the sun, it was incredibly cathartic for me as an angry teen myself. I finally stopped following her series sometime after since I was no longer enjoying the Superline or really DC as a whole. It wasn’t until I heard that New 52 Superman died and the “old” Superman was back, that I checked back into DC.

DC Rebirth & How I Think Kara Should Work

I did not enjoy Supergirl Rebirth, and I think I’ll talk about my problems with it alongside how I think Kara as a character should work since the two are related. A pet peeve of mine that has formed over the years is this: I don’t like it when Superfamily members get turned into Clark clones. Kon wearing glasses and going to Smallville High. Kara going to high school and being involved in journalism. Jon more or less being written as a copy of his dad personality-wise. I hate that kind of stuff because it’s boring. What’s the point of a Superfamily if everyone is just copying Clark? It also doesn’t fit the characters especially in Kara’s case. Why the hell does she want to be a journalist? Were there journalists on Krypton? I don’t remember ever seeing one! Shouldn’t she want to be, I dunno, a scientist? That seems to have been the El family tradition, wouldn’t she have been groomed for that?

This one-off by Shea is honestly the only acceptable outcome for Kara going into journalism for me. She realizes she’s just copying her cousin and switches to something she wants to do. So Orlando copying the show, which already basically turned Kara into an expy of her cousin, just did not appeal to me at all. What had worked for me under Gates way back when was not clicking for me this time. I wanted to see Kara embody the principles of the S-shield in a different way than her cousin did. So I really enjoyed when Rebirth ended and we moved into the Bendis era with Andrekyo relaunching the title as Kara in space.

Kara in space has always felt like a good fit for me. Unlike Kal I’ve come to believe that Kara really shouldn’t be all that fond of Earth. For him it’s home, but for her it’s just where she ended up after her real home got destroyed. I think Kara works well as a sort of nomad, occasionally making stops back home to Earth to check on her cousin, but otherwise? She’s more comfortable out in space than she could ever be on Earth. Out in space she can be Kryptonian (which is what she should think of herself as in contrast to Clark being torn between his Kryptonian biology and human upbringing, and Jon/Kon identifying as human), be her true self, not have to pretend to be human to fit in. Kara founding a moon refuge was one of the best ideas for her that I’ve seen, I would love if DC made her Future State refugee center on the moon canon. I’m excited for more Kara adventures in space with the upcoming Tom King story.

Also love that her and Krypto are getting tied together, if they don’t want to use Krypto in Superman’s stuff, let her have him! Bring on cosmic adventurer Supergirl!

Personality & Other Traits

Kara to me should be more hot-tempered than her cousin. All the Superfamily members should have a temper in my opinion, I see that as the “Deadly Sin” of Superman and his family. But while Kal is like a simmering pot that will explode if it’s left cooking for too long, Kara is like dynamite. Light her fuse at your own peril because she will go off on you.

I also like the idea of Kara being rash. Kal’s got a maturity that came from over a decade of having to live with Lex Luthor constantly getting away with all his evil schemes. He’s patient because he’s been forced to be. Kara? If you ask for her help she’ll give it, but beware because she doesn’t really care about the long term impacts of her decisions. She’s an invulnerable teenager after all.

Really liked that Venditti Annual where Kara got tutored in history by a reincarnation of Hawkman. Kara having a passion for history is a neat trait, would be nice to see her teach Kal or Jon some Kryptonian lore, or have her lead a Kryptonian holiday celebration for the Superfamily because she’s the only one who remembers how to do it. 

Sexuality wise I know a lot of people ship Kara and Lena on account of the chemistry between the two in the show. I haven’t watched the show myself but I’m fine with making Kara bisexual, the Superfamily could use some LGBT+ rep, and Lena hasn’t done anything of worth as a villain, so undo that and throw the two together. If we’re letting Harley and Ivy get away with murder I think we can let Lena off the hook too, undo the Ultrawoman weirdness and put the two together. Could be fun seeing the two building that moon refuge together.

All in all I think Kara is a great character who is a stronger embodiment of the immigrant experience than even her cousin in some ways. I hope King does a good job with her, she’s treated better than her cousin on the film side, and that overall the 20s are a better decade for Supergirl than the 10s were.

[anunstablefable]

First Year Dorlene Headcanons:

Pumpkin Mistletoe originated from an old Jily comic I saw on Pinterest. Dorcas’ parents aren’t around, so she has a foster family. I can do a short story on that if you all want. lemme know

Dorcas and Marlene met on the train.

Marlene ran into Dorcas and Dorcas dropped her (huge) pile of books.

They each dropped to the floor and tried to pick up the books, their hands brushing

Both of them hide their blush and pass it off as nerves

They ended up sitting in the same compartment along with some small brunette named Alice and a curly haired girl with dimples who introduced herself as Mary.

They immediately hit it off, trade chocolate frog cards, debate over which quidditch team is better (Dorcas loves the Wimbourne Wasps, Marlene is a hardcore Puddlemere United fan).

Best friends for life

They sat together on the boats, and Marlene helped dry Dorcas off when the boat tipped and she gets wet

Marlene’s fingertips tingled with warmth when she grazed Dorcas’ hair

They find Alice and Mary, who have made friends with another girl with bright red hair that matches her red-rimmed eyes.

Lily Evans was the first of the group to get sorted

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Marlene looked over at Dorcas, who was shaking with anticipation (and was also worried she wouldn’t be in the same house as Marlene).

“Don’t worry Dory, we’ll both be put in Gryffindor, like Lily! The hat can’t separate us! Best friends, we are!”

Both of them ended up sorted into Gryffindor along with Mary, Alice, and a shy girl who introduced herself as Emmaline Vance.

The six of them joined the four other Gryffindors in their year: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and (to the surprise of all the purebloods in the school) Sirius Black.

They all joked and teased as they follow the red-haired prefect to the Gryffindor common room.

They meet the Lady who’s portrait guards the entrance, Marlene and Dorcas giggle at the bottle of wine she tries to hide.

Look at the size of these beds, Dory! Lets got the ones near the window.

The first day of class was terrifying and amazing

Charms was immediately Dorcas’ favorite, and Marlene loved Flying class.

They both agreed that Professor. Mcgonagall was a badass, and that they were lucky to have her as their Head

It turned out that Dorcas was excellent at Potions, and Marlene was hopeless at the subject.

Slughorn had to replace four cauldrons after Marlene destroyed them all.

Marlene loved doing her History of Magic homework, she soaked in date after date, war after war. She was the only one in their year who listened to Binns.

Dorcas despised History of Magic

They started meeting in the library on Thursdays to work on homework, Marlene needed help with Charms and Dorcas desperately needed help with History

Marlene soon decided that Library Dorcas was her favorite Dorcas; she loved the way the light reflected in Dorcas’ eyes, and she found herself glancing over the pages of her Charms textbook to watch Dorcas write

Halloween soon became one of their favorite times of year

The feast was brilliant, and they walked back with their arms slung over the others shoulders

The best part was watching Lily dump her pumpkin juice over James’ head after he tried to kiss her with “pumpkin mistletoe”

Fall was Marlene’s favorite season: perfect quidditch weather, the colors were beautiful, food tasted better, there was Halloween!!

Marlene very quickly added two new things to her list of Why Fall Is the Superior Season: the way Dorcas’ hair moved in the breeze, and that Dorcas loved to steal her sweaters to keep warm.

Soon enough the winter holidays came

Dorcas was staying at Hogwarts. She wasn’t very close with her foster family, and she didn’t like being around people during Christmas

Marlene was going to go home until she found out Dorcas was staying

She apologized to her Mum about twenty times for not going home

The girls had an absolute blast during break

They went ice skating on the Black Lake, and they ate a ton of food at the Christmas feast.

They developed a morning routine

Dorcas was an early riser, but Marlene hated getting up before 9:00.

Dorcas would go down to the kitchens and get them hot chocolate

(Dorcas and Remus had discovered the kitchens one day when they both went looking for chocolate.)

By the time she got back Marlene would be awake, and they would sit by the fire and drink their chocolate.

In a flash the holidays were over, and the other students returned one frosty January day

The days flew by, and soon it was Valentine’s Day

Dorcas watched as a Hufflepuff boy called Benjy Fenwick shyly approached Marlene and gave her a heart shaped card

She felt something tear in her chest, and she was startled by the feeling

She turned away before she could see Marlene glance at her, and nervously accept the card

She avoided Marlene for the rest of the day, not really knowing why.

She gave in after dinner, and just attributed it to jealousy.

After all, every girl wants a boy to get them a Valentine’s Day card, and it hurts when their best friend gets one and the don’t.

The year passed by in a blur.

Marlene and Dorcas both aced their exams (Marlene almost failed potions. She only just achieved a passing grade- with some help from Lily Evans)

The last day of school was difficult for them both

They spent the day by the lake

They had adopted their own tree near the lake

It was a small, droopy willow (not at all like another willow on the grounds)

They girls shed their robes and took of their socks and shoes

They splashed around in the water for a while before going back inside to find the other Gryffindors

I’m going to miss you so much, Marly. This summer is gonna suck.

It’ll be okay Dory! I’ll write you every day! Don’t worry, everything will work itself out.

The next day at the train was bittersweet

The girls all got sweets and chocolate

Dorcas and Remus each traded addresses, they had developed a friendship after the Great Kitchen Adventure

They parted ways a few minutes after they arrived at the platform

Marlene gave Dorcas a small side hug, breathing in her Dorcas smell.

It wasn’t enough for Dorcas, who knew her foster parents wouldn’t allow owls.

She pulled Marlene into a giant hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the other girl

Marlene melted into her, and a tear escaped Dorcas’ eye.

Hey, it’ll be okay. I’ll see you on the first, and we will talk all summer!

Dorcas didn’t have it in her to tell Marlene that the foster family wouldn’t let her trade letters.

She agreed, and quickly walked away, running at the barrier without looking back.

Marlene stared at the spot she had stood in for a moment before turning back to her mother and brothers.

It would be a long summer...

[radioactivelounge]

Episode 166: Roam if you want to

This ep we create the ultimate comics package holiday to take our minds off global lockdowns. But first, we need to talk the mystery resurgence of trading cards, the illuminati buying DC Comics, and argue about Mr & Mrs Smith.

SHOW NOTES:

00:00  Intro & News

53:49  Reviews:

- Marvel Universe series 3 & 4 trading cards

- Immortal Hulk: Flatline

- DC Future State

- Kaiju Score #2-3

1:33:36  Comics Kontiki Tour

2:08:10  BA’s PA

2:15:56  The Wolf of Yancy Street

This episode of the Radioactive Lounge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Player FM, direct download, or stream below. And buy your Rad Lounge merch in our Threadless store! Follow us @RadLounge on Facebook or Twitter, and send us your questions for BA’s PA at info@radioactivelounge.com