#Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB

[smillingcartoonist]

Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB! 1 #

Did Charles Biro really had a monkey on his shoulder like that !! was he really an comic book character ?!!

[thefailurecult]

[3rdvoice]

New letter column

--- Question about visual design... I believe that making stuff that’s fun and exciting to you, the author, is hugely important to staying engaged in a project. That said, there are times when the direction that most benefits the work isn’t the one that you’re most interested in. 1. How do you approach finding that balance self indulgent design/writing/whatever (things that you find personally appealing or enjoyable to draw) and design that’s less "fun" but serves a purpose. 2. When are "sacrifices"-- exchanging fun for variety or cohesion or flow-- worth it? How much do you think about "fun" when designing? --- Question about "secrets"... The story may not really be *about* the world’s secrets, but given your considerable, cross-platform efforts to avoid spoilers, them nonetheless seems important to what you’re trying to accomplish. 1. How important do you think "secrets" are to this kind of story. Would it be the same if you had a lore blog where you answered everyone’s burning questions? 2. How do you cultivate the self-discipline to avoid blabbing about your ideas. Maybe you don’t struggle with this, but I definitely do. C * September 9, 2024

I’m struggling a little with this framing around self-indulgence! I maybe don’t think of it in a parallel way to you. The whole thing is kind of self-indulgent to me… like cohesion, everything feeling of a piece and moving forward to build a big structure, this is self-indulgent, this is my aesthetic, basically. In terms of vis dev at least, I definitely HAVE built my approach around things I like to draw. I made this setting with room to mess around in ways I can’t predict… A lot of “staying engaged” for me, I have discovered after some thousands of pages of comics, is about planning in ways that don’t lock me in too tightly, and allowing the whole process to have some room for exploration throughout.

The avoiding revealing setting-details thing is firstly just a big central philosophical principle I have about this stuff, which maybe isn’t as widely-held as it used to be. Any story is about sequential information revelation… I am designing the story in every moment to reveal information in a particular order, and I don’t want to undercut the integrity and cohesion of the story by revealing things elsewhere out-of-order. This feels like a basic principle people making stories have kind of always had to abide by! You can’t rely on a reader knowing stuff about your story that’s outside of the text in question (I am interested in how habits of writers and readers seem to be shifting around this lately however). So it’s not ABOUT the secrets maybe, or calling them “secrets” puts too fine a point on it, but I am intentional with how things are laid out!

This info-revelation thing is maybe a little complicated by the literary device of the “INVENTED SETTING” that figures so loudly in my comics. The way we do invented settings lately depends on a shared illusion of an objective PLACE, with its own existence outside of the story. The TRICK, as a writer, is I think to see this illusion itself as something that serves the story. The thing LOOKS bigger than the story in order to lend gravity and evocativeness to the story, but it ISN’T bigger than the story. Or if it IS bigger, it’s only bigger in my own personal notes and inside my own personal brain, so in no way that is relevant to readers. I know that I have broken the rules and done word-of-god stuff sometimes in the past because the “real beyond the story” thing is compelling to me too! But I aim for this. The “self-discipline” question I don’t really have an answer for; it is always kind of a struggle but I’m interested in making comics because that is how I want to reveal the stuff, so that is how I reveal the stuff!

If I were to do a lore-blog it would be me on-the-spot making up answers to questions based on the broad setting-principles I’ve established for myself. It would probably be useful for me as a writing exercise, but I’d lock myself into all sorts of decisions I would later regret, or I’d agonize over how seriously to take material “canonized” in the lore blog. It would extend the space of the story beyond the bounds I’ve so far established, and make it flimsy and untenable!

Picking up on some of this thinking in an answer to another letter, will post in a few days.

lettercol archive

rice-boy.com

[crackinwise]

Look, here's why "Teen" CAN'T be Billy (and it'd make me extra pissed off if it is.) Spoilers for Agatha All Along and Marvel comics!

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Billy is a Scarlet Witch fanboy first and foremost. He's also a shameless nerd for all the Avengers, like Kamala Khan. Making his introduction be as an Agatha fanboy, even just as a con, is maddening. Why need her or help her get powers back when he'd know how dangerous she is to Wanda and himself by extension? He's already extremely strong on his own. Why nerf him?

For Billy to be here in search of Wanda, it means they would have majorly skipped his origin story. He had a new family he was born into and a team, adventures, love, all before he AND HIS BRO went to find Wanda. Hell, he thought she was dead like everyone else for a while.

Billy got Wanda back with FAMILY help. His brother Tommy. Uncle Pietro. Grandpappy Magneto. (I do understand the MCU won't let us have the last two.) A family quest to find family being turned into a Halloween Wizard Of Oz journey with an enemy would give me a migraine. They re-imagined House Of M so recognizably with Wandavision, so why would they fumble Billy's comics here?

There's no reason Billy's name or story would be forbidden to Agatha. Who would have made that spell? Why? Would she even recognize him when his last name is very different and family life has no connection to Wanda at all? I doubt he keeps blabbing to her that he's Wanda's son if he's really pretending to be Agatha's stan. (There's another theory of who Teen is that makes more sense for his name to be hidden, but his comics aren't in my wheelhouse.)

When Teen said a spell in the first episode, it was some Latin mumbling instead of his will. Billy in the comics, at least when he's still young, wills things to be in order to use his magic. He says what he wants like a mantra, out loud in plain words. I know the MCU might have nix'd this since he didn't do it in Wandavision either, but I still have hope they'll give it back. It shows how powerful he is, like his mother who could change all reality with an errant thought.

If the boyfriend calling was Teddy, that means they also skipped the couple growing closer on their team and the whole Skrull/Kree prince thing by this point in the timeline, and I'm just already so mad it's taken this long to even get one HINT of Teddy in the MCU, so if they really made his introduction be a neglected phone call I'll scream. He did stay home and worry and cover for the twins while they searched for their mom, but that's AFTER they'd established themselves as heroes and Teddy had his own family crisis. (They should have introduced him in The Marvels, I'm—)

No red in Teen's color scheme nor any resemblance to young Asgardian or Wiccan costumes. It's the weakest argument but the wardrobe dept usually gives us something. Billy had the color scheme in Wandavision and got to mimic his Wiccan costume besides (not the ugly galaxy pajamas they have him in nowadays). There's a promo poster that DOES have Teen in red with a headband, but it still seems off to me. Seems like a trick.

Granted, if Teen is really who most suspect to be another character close to Agatha, he doesn't have that color scheme either and I'd completely understand why...

Now stop making such smartass posts in the tag casually calling Teen "Billy" until we know. Because not only are you raising my blood pressure, but it's disrespectful to people who like to avoid untagged spoilers and you may just be setting them up for no reason. It's rude.

[windywallflower]

QUICK REMINDER

We're a small queer duo making comics and we have...???

THINGS YOU CAN READ FOR FREE????

AUGUSTINE

We've been telling folks this is kind of a Mad Max meets Greek Mythology, my brother said its more like a Disney's Hercules meets Borderlands-- all of these are absolutely wrong but we'd be lying if we weren't inspired by them all even just a little bit. Its queer, this group of misfits is a found family out in some junky little desert where the cash is literal liquid (water) and the people are rough around the edges. August and her team just want to be heroes but maybe pissing off rich people comes at a bit of a nasty price.

We're working on Chapter 2 right now and will be back to regular updates in August this year!! You have a whole honkin 75-page first chapter to read already!! HURRY!!

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PAINT THE TOWN RED

You want vampires? You want werewolves? You want them to kiss? You want them to flirt? You want that gross gooey shit that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside? Look no further, we're throwing a layer of sapphic over all of these babes and ripping the drama rug out from under them-- okay I'm losing my train of thought here.

Winny's never known much about the supernatural side of Merlot aside from the fact that werewolves exist, so what does she do when she suddenly becomes one? Well she sets up a shelter with her best bud Odile (also turned werewolf) and takes in visitors during full moons. Except one night a vampire stops at their doorstep... what are they even supposed to do with that?

We've got 3 volumes up on our shop and are now uploading them on a schedule to make the story free to read online!! We're nice like that.

--

THE SANITY CIRCUS

Hey so, you totally know what its like when you're living your life absolutely normally, totally unbothered, just having an average time living and then suddenly your best friend is actually a monster and your whole life goes to shit and you meet a shifter who turns into a seagull and I guess he's you're new best friend now and--

No? Well you can definitely learn what that feels like reading through 700-800 pages of Sanity Circus up riGHT NOW--

I know... its on hiatus... its not been updating REGULARLY--if I catch you making my partner feel guilty about it I'm breaking through your screen and kicking your ass. It's not dead, the whole ending is planned. Its gonna be killer I promise.

Now go read for a bit!!

BUT WAIT BEFORE YOU GO--

THINGS WERE GONNA BLAB ABT ON PATREON--

(and reasons why you should pledge-- you're getting like a 3-for-1 deal here we have so much to unpack, this is barely the tip of the iceberg!!)

Hey you mighta seen some of this... looks familiar...?? You should pledge and find out a little bit more, help us out making them all so we don't have to worry & stress about bills! Gosh wouldn't that be something~!

(We also have a shop, though if subscriptions aren't your jam.

AND WE ALSO HAVE A NEWSLETTER we update once a month for folks who might not be able to spend money right now, you can be in the loop of everything we're working on and what's coming up~!)

[nanaten]

I'm sorry for not requesting a drawing with this space, but I just have to ask... what is the appeal of Clausten? I am not trying to be mean or anything, I legit am very curious.

I can kinda understand Nesscas, it's the result of fledgling mother fans from Smash going "these two would be cute together" (at least that's how I always took it, apologies if that seems rude), but Clausten feels kinda like... those same mother fans finding out about claus and ninten and going "gasp! leftover stripe boys" and mashing them together like... idk what a good term is for this.

Again; sorry for misusing this space, i kinda just want to understand this ship. Not dogging on you or others for enjoying it, just wanna understand it.

I suppose while I am here, I guess I could request a doodle of Lloyd. Maybe of him blabbing about Superman comic stuff to Ninten or what have you. Lloyd needs more appreciation.

Also sorry this may be a mess to read, it was just kinda stream of consciousness

Hi! No need to apologise, I think this is a very good question!

I understand that the ship, on a basic level, doesn’t really make much sense at all! It began as a crackship enjoyed by a small percentage of the mother community and slowly developed into what it is now— a ship with many enjoyers, but not many that know exactly why they enjoy it.

I want to preface this by saying, I do not speak for every person who enjoys Clausten. I am just one of many, and this is all my personal perspective. Thank you for enquiring about it, honestly, because I love speaking about them. So, here we go!

First and Foremost: It’s a crackship— so more than any other reason I can give, it’s just plain fun! These are two characters I love and adore with my whole heart, so it’s just fun to have them interact, and of course, it’s fun to view them as a potentially romantic pairing! Ninten is my favorite character of all time, and Claus is my favorite in Mother 3 specifically, so it’s like a personal wish fulfilment to draw them together.

It’s fun to not take strict canon all too seriously. I pull my silly guys from the source material and I mess around with them whichever way I desire B).

I definitely don’t think it’s entirely fair to view Clausten as, like, Nesscas leftovers either, lol. Ultimately these characters are all very different in terms of stories, how they’re written etc, and both ships have very different qualities that make them loveable in their own right! Liking ships like Clausten has alot to do with how you view these characters— What do you gather their personalities are, how compatible would they be, etc? And the way I characterize Ninten and Claus, atleast in my head, make them very compatible. (Ninten being adventurous, outgoing, snarky, and boyish, and Claus being similar— but more reserved, and more careful as a product of his experiences.)

And finally— I really think them as people— not my own view of their personalities, but judging based on canon events— that the two are very similar, and could find solice in their similar experiences. I think the characters are weirdly connected, in a way, for starters— Claus, if you think about it, is Porky’s second Giegue/Giygas. A new puppet, a new ace, a new strength that he takes away the humanity of.

Ninten, being directly related to Giegue, who I can imagine feels somewhat responsible for the corruption of Giegue alongside what comes after the events of Mother 1 , is also connected in some way to Porky, and then Claus. This is basically an extended way of me saying “Their stories are linked in the overarching tale that is the Mother series”.

Claus’s feelings towards Ninten would be complicated initially, or atleast I think so— for his inability to defeat Giegue weirdly, inadvertently caused a chain reaction that lead to the events of Mother 3. (Giegue lives —> Invades Eagleland —> Porky Gets corrupted —> Giegue is then defeated by Ness and Co by going to the past but Porky Escapes —> Porky goes to the future, Mother 3 time —> The Plot Of Mother 3 Happens You Get It). The two’s distant but important connection in the story of the games leads to some extremely interesting food for thought, or at least I think so. How would Claus view the situation? How would Ninten feel after finding out what happened to Claus? How would the two bond over this weird experienced they’re both tied in?

And that is made all the more interesting to me when possibly viewing it in a romantic lense, or atleast something that could become romantic. It’s complicated and messy and there’s so much history behind the two, it’s interesting to think not only about how they’d meet and how they’d feel about eachother, but how they would handle romantic feelings— how a relationship between two very troubled people could work and be okay, and help them mutually heal.

All this is to say, they’re tied in the story and I think putting the two in a romantic relationship is very interesting. Also, it’s just fun :’)

(This post is a TOTAL mess, it’s midnight and I should be sleeping, but I got too excited to write about them hahaha. Thank you so much for the question! Also, I’ll make my next post a big lloyd appreciation, I like to draw him. Thanks again! X))

[artisticmenace]

Hii!! I keep forgetting but I always wanted to ask! On your intro page(?) it mentioned a project of yours called ‘those days’?

I’m REEEEAAALLY interested on learning more about it!!! Lore drop?

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR CENTURIES

so basically Those Days is a comic that i am currently making. its about two guys, Scott and Rodney who are both 58 and live in the midwest(because i do). Scotts sister Deb has just passed away so his great nephew, Danny comes down. The story is them telling him(and this chick named Candy, which im still figuring out how to introduce) about their life and how they met. I have over fifty issues written, but none released because after a while, it was kind of a chore, and i wasn't sure if anyone was interested! so THANK YOU SOOOOO MMUCH for asking about it!

Scott is based off of those "bad" kids that are actually really nice and are sort of vigilantes. Rodney is an easy bullying victim and even though he could totally do something about it, he doesnt.

this is very much a story about people and what they are and how your initial judgment is not always the correct assumption. its also very much how the key word in the last part of that is ALWAYS. its about life.

ill leave some character intros under the cut i case you want those too bc i could blab all day about them. scott and rodney may or may not be my sons. my boys. there will be art too. probably silly art. mostly the main group of characters. not their families though because i have barely drawn them(character design is tricky)

if you want to see all my silly drawings, they'll be tagged #those days comic or with the characters full name. but yeah THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT THAT!!! I HAVE MOTIVATION NOW!!!! ok character rant under the more heeeheee

This is Scott

Scott has quite possibly the worst rbf ever and he looks like a scary mean guy. he steals his moms makeup because he can and he wears black eyeshadow 24/7. in reality, hes very nice and also has depression. hes a male MANIPULATED and has 6 semi terrible ex gfs. he is sort of homophobic at the beginning which is important to his lore. but even being a sad son of a bitch he can still beat the hell out of someone with a baseball bat. which leads to my next point. hes an adrenaline junkie. another design thing im slowly figuring out is simplifying his tattoos. theyre all on his torso and theyre all flowers. he loves flowers.

ROOOODNEYYYYY!!!!!

a lot of the time im trying to figure out how to draw him better tbh. Rodney has a prey animal stare. and he behaves much the same. hes pretty chubby but hes also fairly strong. he is very much a victim of child abuse but instead of becoming a bully, he just kinda gives up. he doesnt really have motivations outside of survival and hes not sure why. in fact, the primary reason he stuck around scott after meeting him was because scott believed him immediately after he said he didnt do something and made him feel safe. under the surface of being a prey animal, hes also incredibly angry. angry about a lot.

LUCY CAMPBELL EVERYBODY!!!

i dont draw her a lot...

Lucy is scotts lesbian ex gf and best friend ever. she kind of pushes them together because she knows too much. shes incredibly easy to talk to and people would confess to basically anything to her. design wise she also has a terrible rbf and DONT BE FOOLED!!! SCOTT STOLE HER LOOK WITH THE EYESHADOW!!! she also has lots of tattoos and actually gave scott all of his.

JORDAN AND DIANE (theyre kind of a set)

again. barely draw them and diane has had a few revisions.

diane and jordan are very much gay and in love. diane's family is like. the only immigrant family for miles. shes very nice but fairly cynical. shes very used to the notion that she has to find her way in the world and that if she doesnt fight, she wont survive. jordan is anxious as hell and dianes sister HATES her because she knows that jordan is a lesbian and is in love with diane. jordan also doesnt know why or how shes alive.

edward! ive only drawn him once.

eddie is lucys adopted brother. hes brilliant and silly. also gay as hell. idk if youve realized but almost none of these people are straight. edward isnt a very developed character because he is very much a supporting static character.

clyde and parker

clyde and parker are the two main members of scotts gang. its not really a gang but it might as well be. they dont really become important until the whole 1992 thing. youll find out. clyde was scotts best friend for a long time before he started hanging out with rodney. they have some very complicated history. diversity win! clyde finds out that he, too, is bisexual and gets with eddie! i dont know if ill wver bring that up in comic.

so thats basically the main cast of characters youll see in the comic. THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!! SORRY I YAPPED SO MUCH HAHA.

the comic will be release on a separate blog called @thosedayscomic there isnt really much on there except a mini comic that takes place around 1996, scott and rodneys thirties. its just scott getting home from work and going to sleep haha.

[colorful-white-ideas]

These Crow Reboot haters are rearing their racist head as well. First they blab on about the disrespect to Brandon Lee, now they're throwing in the "oh my god the disrespect to the goth scene which is a distinctly WHITE subculture" for casting a FKA twigs as Shelly... Hey do they know Brandon Lee is fucking mixed lol

I have not come across a comment so explicit in their racism but I'm not surprised if you did because I did read some other "subtle" words about this new Shelly. Ahhh the way they have idolized and white washed their own sub culture is almost unbelievable.

And by white washed I mean not only the racist part but also the classism... Now suddenly all goths look one way : no tattoos like " rappers" they have "cool long hair" , "cool wardrobe" and they have the clear appearance of nice quiet guys.

Delusional.

You just need one ONE night at a goth club and you'll see people with normal clothes, the one with a lot of face piercings , some dressed like vampires , other with full face black & white make up , girls in tight leather attires and guys that seem out of a trailer park with tattoos like Bill in the new pic.

The "goths" want to be seen as "cool" by outside people, that's all , they are desperate for compliments ... they think they will stand out from the " current trends" if they have another Brandon Lee cosplayer in this movie. Someone "clean and decent ... "

I even got to read the stupid rant of the actress who played sarah in the '94 movie , she says that "the modern Eric Draven looks like the bad guys he is supposed to fight "

I'm sorry ? Why does he look like a criminal for these people ? Because of a bunch of tattoos ? Are they trapped in the 1950's ? it's fucking 2024 !

Also the way they talk about the new Shelly, saying " this one had a relationship with a drug mob and dies because of a deal gone wrong that's not my Shelley, she will never do that she was sweet and wanted a better world" 🙄

People think that you can only be a victim if you check all the boxes to be one. And no. Women , and people in general, can be tangled in very shady situations and even like that be absolute victims of people who are way more dangerous.

That is how this new movie will play , this is not the 1994 story done again. It's partially based in the comics with a modern touch, cause it's been 30 fcking years.

This is the tragic love story of 2 lost souls ( moderns Eric and Shelly ) who tried to get better overcoming addiction, fall in love in the process but didn't get to enjoy that new opportunity in life because of death... So Eric will return looking for revenge.

Why are people hating this new storyline, it sounds pretty similar to the one they love soooo much ('94) , oh yeah because they don't consider flawed people humans deserving of redemption.

Again. They are sooo out of the norm so accurate goth , that they are now on the conservative - purist end.

Uhh and don't get me started with the stupid posts the director of the 94 movie made ... That guy is an asshole.

[invisiblegarabgetruck]

AS SOMEONE WHO ALSO ADORES JERRY'S CHARACTER what do you think about the possibility of seeing doofus jerry in the show.... i don't think it'll happen for s7 but GODDD if it wouldn't be rad to see some day

FELLOW JERRY FAN

ahhhh, tbh I used to be against the idea of him showing up in the show. Because I feel like the show not gonna do him justice ( /_>\) (seriously, if he shows up and doesn't get treated seriously by the show at all. I'd evaporate on the spot.)

But! It'd be cool if we get like multi-episodes about him. Especially with how Jerry has changed so much, I would love to see how he would react to Doofus Jerry now T_T

Doofus Jerry's story in the comic was a self-contained series. So if he appears, could it be another big evil arc like Prime and Evil Morty? or just one story episode? (for me, just him showing up like an easter egg is enough to make me happy lol)

Will it ever happen? Uh........ at least not in S7 & 8 I think. I mentioned in the past that they never referenced the comic in the show only the other way around, turns out that I was wrong! They did! (According to the Wiki)

Okay, after this. it'll get a little long

A lot of people seem to think this scene from S3E7 after Evil morty won the election could be a small reference to Doofus Jerry. since The comic came out on January 25. while "The Ricklantis Mixup" aired on September 10 of the same year. then again the animation process is a long process and this line could be recorded long before Doofus Jerry's comics came out. And he might just say this to mock Morty (besides Jerry rent-free in Ricks's mind 24/7)

Another example is Glootie. he appeared in the comic first before appearing in "The Old Man and the Seat". but then the Season 4 promo dropped around that time. so it could just be the a promo thing.

lastly, and most interesting to me is The Vindicators. There is a comic about them in 2018 that features some new characters, which was redesigned and used in the mini-series in 2022!

(there is more. But I'm not putting all of that)

Sorry for the long blabbing! What I am saying is that they do reference the comic from time to time. Maybe when they are interested enough, they might make an episode about him!

[smillingcartoonist]

Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB! 1 #

[thefailurecult]

[matryoshkalex]

7.) Which iteration is your favorite?

17.) Which version of the Shredder is your favorite?

i know ive probably talked about these quite a bit but BOY do i like to ramble so thank u for the opportunity to blab some more :)

7.) there might be conflicting information about this on my blog lol but!! i think 2003 has always been my favorite iteration. i havent really gotten a chance to read any of the comics but i feel like my opinion might change then but!! for now 2003 is my favorite series because i feel like its got the best balance of the dark grit from the og stories and the humor that is so essential to tmnt. 2012 ive talked about endlessly bc its so important to me as my introduction to tmnt and its a very close second tied with rise. i was a little unsure about rise at first but GOD did those boys weasel their way into my little brain and make themselves a home there. all three are great for their art styles and different levels of humor versus serious plot.

17.) ooooh so this ones fun too since every iteration of shredder is so different! theres the ones where hes just some guy like in 2012 or some alien/demon,,,,, creature. so i thinkkkkk my favorite shredder has to be 2003 again bc im rewatching the series rn and the way he is so difficult to kill and causes them (especially leo) so much trauma in only the first season is. wild. rise is again a close second bc have you SEEN him?? the animation and fight sequences with him are amazing and i think feral demon shredder is so cool

thank you for the ask!!!

[mayamistake]

from Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB! V1 (2023)

[rondo-of-blog]

Holy Seven Subscriptions, Batman!

So I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately. Like, a lot of comics. I’ve been going out on a limb, and honestly? It’s paid off! Yes, I’ve gotten to read solid comic book storytelling recently - and lots of it. And what do I have to show for it?

Seven different subscriptions to DC comics series, and one to a Marvel comic series. :’)

[Spoilers for various comics! If you see the title of a book you don’t wanna get spoiled on, leave!]

If you’ve been following me for the past several months, you’ve probably heard me rave about the current ongoing Catwoman comic series as it’s been written by Tini Howard. You’ve probably also heard me blab about the latest Harley Quinn series since Tini Howard took it over. Both comics are absolute delights that I’ve had a blast with, but that I’ve also talked at length about, so… won’t be going into that. Not this time, at least.

And that includes you, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, also written by Tini Howard!

So what does that leave us? Well, why don’t we start with Batman! Written by Chip Zdarsky. At this point I really should start expecting it, but I keep being surprised by just how dang much I’m enjoying myself with this series! It’s got action, it’s got Batman coming down from the Moon to land back on Earth, it’s got it all!

With stories as convoluted as the series has been telling, I really would’ve thought it all would’ve come unraveled several issues ago—after all, how the hell could a story take Batman to the Moon, back to Earth, into another damn dimension, rapidly jumping through several damn dimensions, and then back to whatever we call main Earth??? By doing it all very well, apparently!

Next we have Poison Ivy, which I read on the glowing recommendation of my partner in life and in love, Cluster! I spent weeks telling them I’d get around to reading it eventually, then one day this past week I went and read all 13 issues that’re out right now. And what’s there to say about them? Well…

They’re great! They’re all fucking great! I’ve never blown through 13 issues so quickly, but G. Willow Wilson had such an impressive story to tell that I couldn’t stop for anything. Pamela’s great in it, so is Harley when she eventually shows up, and so is… Batman! Didn’t know he’d be part of this series, but it works!

G. Willow Wilson is another writer, like Tini Howard, where whenever I see her write a character I just want to see her write them all the time. I dunno, if perhaps they could just hand the keys to the whole damn DC Universe to these gals I think we’d be onto something!

Besides that, Cluster and I finally said “what the hell” and read through all 9 issues that’re currently out of The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing. The verdict?

It made us laugh~

To be more specific, Matthew Rosenberg does an excellent job of making a hilarious and entertaining Joker comic series that features a metric fuck-ton of Joker in it. There’s so much of The Joker, there’s actually two men called The Joker in it!… Or three. Well, the third one was impersonating the first one. Or is it the second one?

It’s these sorts of questions that any Joker series worth its seltzer would have readers asking! I’m really glad we’ve taken a chance on this series, after spending months joking about its very silly title that doesn’t seem to actually tie into the story itself so far. We’ll see if there’s any further developments on that front later!

Last month and this month, however, I started on two brand new limited series! Limited series that I wish were ongoing series, and that I hope end up becoming ongoing series when they hopefully do ridiculously-well! I am of course referring to the latest volume of Cyborg, and Steelworks!

For Cyborg, I’m really interested to see where it goes. Morgan Hampton made known his intentions of taking Vic in a direction we’ve not seen before, ahead of issue #1’s release, and the sudden death of Vic’s father Silas proved he meant it.

While Silas died very early on in the original continuity Vic lived in, his presence after the New 52 reboot was used to great effect in David F. Walker’s Cyborg issues. Lots of work was done expanding on their fraught relationship, but it looks like we’ve closed the book on that before it could reach a happy ending… or have we???

There’s a lot to take in, a brief appearance from the Titans that made my heart swell, and overall I felt like the first issue set us up nicely for a damn good story—one that, again, I’d love to see turn into an ongoing series, but we can’t have everything all the time.

Steelworks had another strong beginning with issue #1, which came out… this month! I’d been anticipating it since its initial announcement, and Michael Dorn did not disappoint in the writing department. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to Sami Basri and Andrew Dalhouse for their contributions in the art department (line art and coloring, respectively)!

It’s not every day I get to read a comic that just looks as good as comics used to back when I was taking good comic art for granted, but Steelworks #1 is a damn good-looking comic! With art this solid, there’s nothing interrupting me from getting sucked into the story - and damn if this isn’t the beginning of a story that immediately grabbed me!

Something that’s easy to take for granted, but that not every comic manages to pull off, is telling a story that wins you over on its ideas. Maybe this is just me being picky, but I’ve read a comic or two in the past year that’ve gone really hard on the moral core of a story that I just… really can’t relate to. You’d think superhero comics wouldn’t have such a hard time being relatable to someone who doesn’t want people to spend the rest of their natural lives rotting in prison or whatnot, but you’d be surprised.

Steelworks #1 starts with a bang. With ideas that’re bold, and probably outside the realm of what people usually look for in a superhero comic, but that I can honestly sympathize with. No one comes off as a two-dimensional cardboard cutout, everyone feels real and able to be connected with at least on some level.

It’s a limited series, but if it does well enough? Who knows what could happen. In this case, I don’t know that they could’ve gotten Michael Dorn for longer than just a limited series’ run, so there are benefits to the format!

So yeah. That’s now seven subscriptions to DC comics series, to only one that Marvel’s been able to put out.

Does DC know it doesn’t have to be winning so hard at comics? It would’ve been fine if they were just putting out a couple good series here and there, which I thought they were before I gave these other series a try. Turns out, they’re really putting out some quality shit!

And I still have Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor to start picking up next month! Geez!

I’m a very happy camper when it comes to comics, nowadays. Right now, I only have one comic series I pick up every month that routinely and utterly disappoints me. I may end up writing about it on this blog, in lieu of tweeting, what with how its fanbase just loves to tank my mental health with threats & harassment!

Until next time!

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By the way, you can now read the blog on my website, at https://feliciarondo.com/rondo-of-blog. Check it out! :)

[d-issent]

You guys ever thrown a massive tantrum over things not going your way, to the point that it actually ruins the lives of those around you?

Hopefully not - but Cora absolutely has.

While "Dissent" was focused mainly on the Mid Sodor Railway, I had planned to only show the railway in flashbacks throughout the story. A huge chunk of these flashbacks involved Duke, Smudger, Stanley, the railway's manager and his daughter Cora.

I've talked before about how; due to pretty shitty circumstances, my TTTE AU is focused on the engines being sentient and mobile enough to essentially make up for the lack of humans, hence why they're cyborgs and not trains. However for some people there's a pretty fine line between the engines being there to assist humanity and being there to replace humanity.

The latter is unfortunately what Cora believes. By the time the comic reaches the 80's, there is a definite but not aggressive effort to start phasing engines out of public service as humanity begins to recover from the chunk taken out of its population. However, Cora ultimately reaches a high enough position of power that she can speed up that process, so much so that it ends up being more like a total decommission effort.

However there was/is one engine who - in her mind, she had planned to spare, though to most everyone else, he got arguably the cruelest treatment from her - and that engine was Smudger.

Cora's initial grudge against the engines stems from when her father - the Mid Sodor manager, tried to introduce one into the family after the death of his wife, Cora's mother. Hence where Cora's mindset on engines replacing humans comes from.

It's essentially deep-set and unaddressed grief and anger all mixed up into one, big mess, and unfortunately quite a lot of engines get caught up in that mess, with Smudger being the one who bears most of the brunt. Unfortunately for Smudger, the fact that his personality chip didn't come with a set personality - and he's essentially like a sponge, soaking up little bits and pieces of everyone he's been in contact with - makes him stick out like a sore thumb in terms of the way he acts.

To put it simply, he's really not like other girls! And that isn't lost on Cora, he's a breath of fresh air for her. In her mind; each time she visits the MSR in the story, she's surrounded by cookie-cutter, mandated-personality engines with no individuality, she sees them as nothing else but soulless machines, until Smudger. In her eyes, he's the only one who could actually pass as human.

So! She develops quite the soft spot for him, a soft spot that quickly turns detrimental when she confesses to him that she dreams of a perfect world where humans outgrow the need for engines, by any means possible! But as it turns out, he doesn't actually appreciate being her "only exception," and he also doesn't appreciate her confidently saying that she wants all of his friends and coworkers scrapped, so he quits being his usual feisty and warmhearted self and tells her that to her face.

From that point on, the plot becomes kind of fuzzy, but I remember that she was actually the one who convinced the MSR's manager to convert Smudger into a generator after all of that. I imagine the manager was already thinking of putting him to some other use, because it was very evident by then that his prototype bodywork wasn't anywhere near as durable as the rest of the engines. But Cora's influence was the killing blow.

I honestly can't remember much about her motives? I think her intention was to stop Smudger from blabbing about her whole "perfect world" vision, but I think what she really wanted was a way to punish him for rejecting her, and also to get hold of his personality chip. Going the generator route meant that she could put his bodywork to some other use and then take the chip so she could maybe build him another body later? I don't actually think I got that far back when I first thought up the story! But she definitely wanted to keep him with her, regardless of what he wanted. Ironic, since his "individuality" and his "ability to think for himself" was what endeared him to her in the first place.

But - that's Cora! She was meant to be a kind of "surprise" villain, but if I'm honest it probably would've been obvious that she was no good. I think she was also responsible for decommissioning Stanley too, since he was actually the first engine on Mid Sodor to realise that she wanted them all scrapped. Though she probably had a much easier time convincing the powers that be to convert him into a pumping engine, as he was clearly unstable and still had the weaponry he'd used in the war just, sitting on his shoulders lmao.

If I remember more - I'll be sure to add onto this post. But, man it feels great to get some of these ideas down after 7 or so years.

[kakusu-shipping]

I’m making this post for me for my brain for my sorting little thinker

The Ideal Polycule is of course made up of three different Self Ships, of which have their own separate S/Is with different dynamics and personalities. I, the real human person who smooches the full polycule, am sort of the combination of the three of them.

This is just a quick summery post of them as separate S/Is and their story as it currently is in their own Universe. I don’t know how to summarize things so forgive me I’m long winded.

Does any of that make sense? No? Cool keep scrolling. If you somehow understood that and want to know more, keep reading. Uh also Spoilers for Assassination Classroom and Danganronpa

Doctor Emile Hides - Assassination Classroom

Age: 20-21

Gender: Agender - He/Him

Sexuality: Panromantic, Asexual

Self Shipped with: Koro-Sensei

Other Affiliations: Karasuma + Irina (Friends), All of class 3-E (Students)

Most Prominent Traits:

Klutzy

Comically Bad at Cooking

Still learning Japanese

Arrives Late to most everything

Classic “boy genius” trope levels of Smart

Emile came to be the stand in Nurse for class 3-E soon after their return from Okinawa, where his medical knowledge would have surely been useful during the poisoning incident. It was a decision made by Karasuma, and urged by Koro-Sensei. The kids do some dangerous stuff, they could use an on sight professional.

He is not an assassin, nor does he plan to try his hand at killing Koro-Sensei, he’s just a collage student studying abroad who was picked up by Asano as a “good enough” for E Class.

Immediately he was fascinated by Koro-Sensei, or “Koro-San” as he calls him, and began doing his best to study the unkillable teacher in between bandaging students. Emile’s focus was Biology, and he eventually filled an entire notebook with questions and drawings about Koro-Sensei and, without much thought, presented it too the teacher, asking if he’d be willing to answer them.

Koro-Sensei agreed, filling out most of the questions in the notebook.. in Kanji. Which Emile couldn’t read. He also swore the Doctor not to show the book to anyone else, which Emile had agreed too. This was Koro-Sensei’s way of helping Emile learn Japanese.

The two spent a lot of time together after that, Koro-Sensei offering to tutor Emile in Japanese after class, which eventually lead to Koro-Sensei flying Emile home most nights, as they’d study so long in the faculty room Emile would miss the last train home.

Emile eventually confesses his romantic feelings for Koro-Sensei after soon after Reaper Time, and while Koro-Sensei is hesitant for multiple reasons, the two end up an official couple, which Koro-Sensei then cannot keep to himself and blabs about to the entire class.

During Winter Break Emile stays with Koro-Sensei in the empty Class E building, and studying possible ways to keep him from self destructing. This becomes his obsession until mid February on his birthday when Koro-Sensei finally convinces him to put it down and spend what time they have left together.

Emile wasn’t on the mountain during Koro-Sensei’s final moments, he’s not an assassin, he couldn’t evade the military like the students. Instead he called Nakamura to his apartment the night the students where infiltrating the mountain and asked her to deliver to Koro-Sensei his Birthday Cake, the first successful thing Emile had ever cooked.

Post timeskip Emile has settled into being a Manga artist, rather than going fully into the Medical Field like he had been expected to with how smart he was. He joins class 3-E in cleaning up the mountain every year on Koro-Sensei’s birthday, and brings homemade sweets for them every year.

The Ultimate Collector V2 - Danganronpa 3 (Despair Arc)

Age: 16-18 (unclear)

Gender: Trans Man - He/Him

Sexuality: Frayromantic, Panromantic, Asexual

Self Shipped with: Teruteru Hanamura

Other Affiliations: The Ultimate Collector V1 (twin brother), Hifumi + Celeste Chihiro + Kazuichi + Sonia + Gundham + Chiaki (Friends)

Most Prominent Traits:

Socially Anxious to the point of occasional Mutism

Picky Eater

Comically bad sense of direction

Has everything one could ever need in his bag at all times

Very OCD and protective of his things

Emile is a very quiet, shy, introverted person who, upon being separated from his twin brother, tended to keep to himself as much as possible and blend into the background. Being an Ultimate at Hope’s Peak didn’t really matter to him, he’d preferred to stay in his room with all his things nearby.

Moving to the dorms on campus was extra hard for Emile. Despite his title as the Ultimate collector the school didn’t allow him to bring his entire collection with him. Being so far away from all his favorite things was just too much stress for Emile, causing him to shut down even more than he would have already.

Teruteru Hanamura was the only one in the class to notice Emile didn’t eat lunch and took the responsibility to keep his classmate fed into his own hands. Despite Emile’s blatant refusal to speak, he didn’t mind being spoken to, leading to Teruteru to slowly, through questions and trials and errors, to learn what things Emile could and couldn’t eat as he shared his lunch with his fellow student every day.

Teruteru got use to one sided conversations. He took pleasure in cracking a smile on Emile’s face with his jokes, or when he’d say something so awful the quiet student couldn’t stop himself from unfurling to give him a slap on the shoulder. The first time Emile had the courage to speak to Teruteru sent him over the moon.

Emile only got better through Teruteru’s friendship. Despite being easily everyone’s least favorite classmate, Teruteru was still able to worm himself and Emile into group activities, forcing the collector into social situations that slowly opened him up to the rest of the class.

The next year, when Emile’s brother joined the 78th class as The Ultimate Collector Again, Emile found himself opening up even more, mingling between both classes along with Teruteru. Even joining an anime club his brother, Hifumi, and Celeste had started. 

When the biggest most awful most tragic event in human history struck, Emile fell into Despair along side the rest of his class, but instead of becoming an ultimate despair like them, folded in on himself again, shutting down into himself, becoming an immobile shell of a person.

Teruteru ended up taking Emile with him as he caused destruction and despair throughout the world, taking care of the other like a doll. At some point, due to his new cannibalistic habits, Teruteru safely removed and ate one of Emile’s legs.

Because of this, during the hope Program, Emile was considered more of a victim than an Ultimate Despair, and was not put into the simulation with the other students, but acted as more of a beta test to see if the system could work to recover the rest of his class from despair. During the events of the game Emile watches along side Future Foundation, waiting for his friends to come back to him.

Home-Run Hero; Gumball - My Hero Academia

Age: 29

Gender: Agender - He/Him

Sexuality: Panromantic, Asexual, Polyamourus

Self Shipped with: Taishiro Toyomitsu (Fatgum)

Other Affiliations: Tamaki Amajiki + Eijiro Kirishima + Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu + Momo Yoayorozu + Nirengeki Shoda (Adopted kids), Kendo Rappa (Taishi’s Stalker/Eventual addition to the polycule)

Quirk: Bubblegum - Gumball’s saliva has all the properties of Bubblegum. Upon being blown into a bubble, the gum will harden into a hard plastic ball, typically  around the size of a baseball.

Most Prominent Traits:

Affectionately a Bully

Extremely Agile

Will eat almost anything without question

Avid PDA offender on both Taishiro and their kids

Weak to Heat

Emile and Taishiro were classmates at Shiketsu High, their relationship started on one of annoyance, as Emile was far too touchy and nosy for Taishiro at the time. Emile sat in front of Taishiro, and took every spare moment to spin around and pester him with questions about himself, class, his quirk, the other students, and so on.

During their first sparring session, Taishiro was rather excited to have teacher’s permission to beat on the annoying kid who sat in front of him. However, due to his poor quirk management back in the day, Taishiro didn’t have near as much fat built up as he does now, and ended up on his ass at Emile’s hand multiple times.

After that, Emile was constantly offering Taishiro things to eat. Every time he turned around to talk to him in class, he’d come with something tasty and some tips on preserving fat cells. It took a while, but Taishiro eventually realized this was Emile’s attempts at being nice, in his own, slightly annoying ways, and slowly the two became real friends. Though Emile thought they were already besties.

Shiketsu is a very strict school, the students are to focus on their Hero Studies; No dating, no extra curriculars, strict curfews, ridged dorm expectations. Breaking the rules could risk immediate expulsion. But despite it all Emile ran free, broke curfew and snuck in and out whenever he pleased, typically dragging Taishiro along with him. He joined a local Baseball team without the school’s permission, and invited Taishiro to all his games. He had sleep over’s in his classmate’s rooms, and slept in the common area, and his contraband all throughout the dorms. The only rule he hadn’t actively broken was no dating.

Taishiro, slowly, found himself being thankful for that, because if that rule wasn’t in place, he’d asked Emile out right then and there. And if he’d found out his friend was dating someone, or asked someone out, Taishiro wasn’t sure his heart would ever recover.

Upon becoming Pro Heroes, Emile and Taishiro went their separate ways for a while. Emile falling more into the “Idol Hero” roll, as he joined a professional Quick Baseball League, where as Taishiro kept their high school streak of rule breaking alive and became an Undercover Hero breaking up fight clubs and chasing drug dealers under the radar. This is where most of their 20′s were spent.

They kept well in touch, back and forth whenever their schedules lined up, which was rare and always brief. Taishiro got better at saving up fat for his quirk, Emile became more and more of a heavy hitter, they grew older and wiser from their high school days of breaking out of the dorms at night, and eventually Emile confessed to Taishiro.

Soon after he joined the Fatgum agency, still playing Clean Up hitter for his own Baseball League, but mostly slowing down steadily into Hero Work, and apparently parenting as the Fatgum agency gains more and more interns every year.