#Drawing Gerry is weird because he’s just me but now I have to live with the gender envy he gives me

[hemi-demi]

Drew a different pretty boy today 🖤 📖🔥

lineart only below cut

[tmabutlesbian]

im feeling rly tired n i got an exam tmr so i wont be drawing more today bUT i can expand on the um bfu au a bit more to explain their characters a bit more

like season 1 and 2 of bfu both true crime and supernatural is like:

jon + gerry are basically dating but at the same time they assume the other does not feel the same way even tho they live together since jon finished uni and they share each others clothes n shit and go everywhere together

jon + martin are very complicated. here we don't have like the um boss/subordinate dynamic, theyre mere coworkers so martin is less nervous abt jon HOWEVER jon gets very moody around martin since he's in gerry's place (gerry is away because of family issues and also he later on gets another job so he doesnt come back fully, only makes cameos here n there).

since jon is just a petty lil asshole around martin at the start their convos are sometimes a bit stilted and tense, before this show started jon was neutral/nice to martin, his problem is that he's not gerry.

once martin gets fed up with jon's bullshit however, jon is guilty and just as he gathers the nerve to apologize gerry calls him like "YOU IDIOT!!! JUST SAY SORRY TO THE POOR GUY, WHAT HAS HE DONE TO YOU!!" which in hindsight is hilarious, it's almost like gerry read jon's mind but in the moment jon got very defensive and admitted that he missed gerry a lot. very emotional moment between two ppl who are weird with emotions so things get awkward.

funnily, its martin who helps jon out with his feelings, a martin that, very much like canon, has a crush on jon. he's still mad at jon and now he's a lil heartbroken because its obvious jon likes gerry so he assumes he has 0 chances here but he's an adult and he gets past that and he helps jon n gerry with their relationship.

season 3 of bfu:

jon + gerry are datingggggg (finally ffs), gerry gets a new job doing tattoos but on days he doesn't have appointments he's the one behind the camera when the boys are filming, on other days its sasha and tim.

jon + martin are exploring their new found friendship and it grows fast like wildfire. they have great chemistry, their banter is lovely, their funny, and more importantly theyre only jokingly mean to each other. jon is very much a suffering believer while martin does believe in the supernatural he just doesnt believe that these supernatural creatures would leave so much evidence behind and highly doubts any footage or sounds. this is also a way to lessen his fear of these monsters but jon doesn't need to know that

martin is still crushing. hard. jon is very happy in his relationship that he doesn't see his feelings for martin blooming, even tho there are (at this point) several compilations on yt titled "jon looking at martin with heart eyes for 10 minutes bisexual part 5", or along those lines. timsasha tease them constantly, sometimes they make the cut, others don't. on those bloopers videos it's more obvious and the teasing is non stop

martin is begging them to stop because he doesnt want jon to feel uncomfy or anything, while jon finds them very amusing, since he's so secure with gerry theres just No Way that he has feelings for martin, even if his heart fucking somersaults and the thought.

season 4 and 5 of bfu:

jongerry going strong, gerry has evolved to teasing as well and does more cameos here n there just because, he's also behind the camera more n more after the positive response from fans. gerry more easily sees his feelings for martin than jon and purposefully abuses this, voicing out his musings to jon just to watch him blush and fluster (gerry's fav part time hobby let me tell ya)

jonmartin are in the same situation that jongerry were in season 1. basically married already but assume there's no feelings evolved. martin fully on has accepted the unrequited love situation he believes is going on, jon is still in denial despite gerry's help on the matter, timsasha are becoming desperate, hell, the fans as well. it's critical at this point, somebody PLEASE shake them hard, they need to see it.

season 6 and onwards of bfu:

jongerry still going strong folks, gerry is way more direct to jon abt his feelings for martin and they (youre not gonna believe this-) talk about it. jon feels very stupid and after watching those compilations is also a lil embarassed but then he finds martin's versions and just gets flustered because "holy shit, its.... mutual?? maybe??" and gerry just facepalms and says "yes jon its mutual now go kiss. or talk. maybe talk first then kiss, yh"

jonmartin (again this is very shocking i know) talk (WOW OMG) and both realize their feelings (very awkwardly let me tell you but martin was a brave lil boy abt it n they got somewhere), they very much did kiss (wrow) and it was very sweet and all before the start of season 6.

so basically season 6 comes and they dont mention it to the fans, timsasha knew immediately and sigh in relief so now they turn to their new victim: gerrymartin, who everybody assumes is one sided, gerry as well.

gerry is a very bad influence so now its jon who teases martin and talks abt gerry very romantically just to watch martin blush. however it takes wayyy less time for martin to come around because. come on now. gerry's hot n shit n also very nice n weird and a nerd, he's like a taller, goth jon whos a lil less awkward and a bit more confident, u think martin wouldnt fall for this man as well?

anyways at this point, martin is at his what i like to call "lil shit phase but like it's obvious this time", so instead of confessing like a normal person, he teases gerry off and on show. it takes gerry off guard at first cuz "???? is martin flirting with me???? is he just being a bitch???..... i love it" but then he hits martin back equally, so jon is ever suffering between these two when they're in the same room, which is a lot since jongerry live together and jonmartin are dating. timsasha are finding this all very hilarious, so are the fans

season 7 bfu:

jonmartin get togetherrrrrrr, yes bitch. jgm polycule lets go!!! in on of those postmortem vids they casually mention this along with jonmartin n shit (they talk abt martin moving in with jongerry) and the viewers LOSE THEIR SHIT. they trend on twitter n everything. is all very funny. n they're very happy together. at this point a lot of the bloopers is just them being cute n gross n also arguing like an old married couple which they then have to cut or the vids would be like 1 hour long

n thats it. im gonna take a bath now. n then do a covid test!! n hopefully its negative!!! im nervous!!!

[fakecrfan]

Gertrude Robinson + Mary Keay (Gertrude/Mary????) ‘’coparenting’’ AU.

“Oh you mean, they married and divorced and have to split custody of Gerry??’‘

No, I mean,

Gertrude Robinson found out about how Eric died shortly after the fact as opposed to decades later, and so Gertrude schemed and got Mary fucking arrested.

Gertrude takes Gerry in as a kid but--not because she wants to? Because Eric’s ghost, in exchange for the quitting info, literally makes her do a ritual and sign a blood oath that enforces her to keep Gerry safe until he’s old enough.

She can’t even kill Gerry if Gerry starts to follow in his mother’s footsteps. At least not until he’s 27. Eric’s blood ritual is very specific.

Ugh, what a pain.

Unfortunately prison is about as effective at keeping Mary in it as it is keeping Elias in, so she soon comes back into Gertrude and Gerry’s lives.

Basically kidnaps Gerry on the regular.

But like, Mary can’t be mean to Gerry when she kidnaps him? Like, now that he’s being mostly raised by someone else, she needs to like, sell him on the evil book collecting lifestyle. She can’t just straight up abuse him into doing what she wants like she otherwise would.

Ugh, what a pain.

Mary tries to draw Gerry down the path of evil by making it look cool and fun, basically. She’s not very good at it. It mostly feels to Gerry like those times your estranged dad comes and takes you to play tennis on visitation days, and you don’t even like tennis?

Gertrude freaks out the first kidnapping, and continually has to run and get Gerry back + create new countermeasures to keep Mary away. But after a while instead of a heart attack it becomes a tiresome routine.

Gertrude now has to try extra hard to make Gerry Not grow up evil, since otherwise he could prove a threat she’s literally unable to take out for another decade and a half.

Gertrude has to parent instead of shuffling off duties to other people, basically. It’s a battle for Gerry’s soul.

Gertrude and Mary both slandering each other to Gerry when he’s spending time with either of them.

Or, well. It’s not slander if everything they say is true, I guess.

Mary: ‘‘Now, Gertrude. I can’t believe you said those things about me to my Gerard. That’s parental alienation, I’ll have you know. Haven’t you thought about my feelings?’‘

Gertrude: ‘‘I’m trying to kill you.”

Weird.... (sexual? romantic??? frenemies?????) tension between Gertrude and Mary.

Eventually Gertrude straight up murders Mary.

This does not make Mary quit (see: skin book ghost nonsense). Points for determination.

Once Gerry’s old enough they straight up both try to get him to sabotage the other one when he’s with them. Gertrude wants him to steal and burn evil books. Mary wants him to fuck up Gertrude’s plans.

Gerry is tired. He thinks he doesn’t want to do any of this supernatural crap actually. Can’t he just go to art school?? Learn to cook????

Tl;dr: Gerry needs therapy.

[cybertranny]

YOO SO LIKE

about your fics!!! ideas etc

the 2nd one?? i never even thought about Gerry/Sasha but now I'm Curious it sounds like it'd be really cool

also the 1st and 5th one

AAAAAAA YEAH GERRYSASHA (AKA KEAYCODE) MY BELOVED

id never heard of it before i joined this tma server (artefact storage) (https://discord.gg/DR2mEzPSJq haha this was an ad for artefact storage all along /j) (but also come join us it's great) where one person (@/northofdelphi) was like, REALLY invested in gerry/sasha and kind of got the whole server into it fjdndksnd

(also omg her fic "every word i say is kindling" is one of my favourite fics of all time it's SO good it has gerrysasha it has archivist Sasha it has jonmartin it has a buried statement it has Jon and Tim camping trip it has genderqueer Gerry what more could you ask for!!!!)

after reading every word i say is kindling my brain went Actually Yeah Gerry And Sasha 💜 they're both DEEPLY weird people and I love them so much. like what do we know about Sasha? she hacks into her co-workers computers to obtain personal information apparently without a second thought. she's a skeptic despite being terrified of artefact storage. she people-watches. she met up with a literal monster without telling anyone and without taking any precautions. she commits murder in S1. (Timothy Hodge but stilllll) she's canonically tall, has long hair and glasses. Really one of the characters of all time you know!!!!!!! And Gerry is the same. Just A Weird Guy. Says cryptic shit to strangers without a second thought. A goth in his 30s with weird tattoos because apparently his life wasn't interesting enough. bad at dying his hair. ICONIC, you know? They're perfect for each other actually 💜 the fic concept for that one is essentially "hey Gerry and Sasha were hanging around the archives at the same time what if they were in love and then he was planning to fake his death to escape the fears but then he died for real but Sasha still thinks he faked his death and just didn't come back" which. haha why do I do these things to myself

@/starrypawz asked abt the first one, here's the general rundown! it's living in my brain CONSTANTLY like the aesthetic and feeling of Tangled mixed with the cosmic horror and cassette tape emotions of TMA??? i really think it doesn't get much better than that yknow?? ofc I still have to write the thing but like. ✨Them ✨

[ids in alt text]

JON IN DRESS. :D the admiral takes the place of pascal 💜💜💜 ignore how shitty the drawings are I made them in a rush

For the jontim fic, I'm not generally a huge jontim shipper? Like I see the appeal but it never. Completely clicked for me. and THEN I heard "Allies or Enemies" by the crane wives and ohhhhh my god. ohhhhhhhhhhh my goddddd. it's THEM

so i want to take that feeling and just. write about them yknow?? It'd be set in s3 but with the addition that Jon and Tim dated / talked about dating pre canon. I feel like tim doesnt get treated with the depth he deserves in fanon and I want to give him that!! (Also inspired by @/titanfalling2's excellent Tim analysis posts.)

anyways thanks for asking about my ideas ive been desperate to talk about them djdnsksn in case it wasn't obvious

[lizwontcry]

roman/gerri - logan walking in on a kiss

Thank you for this! I got a lot of good prompts but this is the one that inspired me the most this evening, plus I watched the elevator scene on the Good Wife and decided to plagiarize it. 

AO3 Link - 

"Roman? Are you paying attention? This is actually important to, you know, the company continuing to exist for the next couple of years."

"No, Frank. I'm not paying attention. It's Friday afternoon. Nobody wants to be here. But please do continue, we're all fucking riveted by your lilting, passionate, sexy voice."

Frank sighs. He continues the meeting to talk about whatever the fuck, but Roman can't concentrate, since, as usual, Gerri is sitting next to him.

It's unbearable, actually.

Sitting next to Gerri practically all day, every day, in meetings, in their office, in the car, on the plane--wherever they go, they go together. It's easier that way, for the CEO and COO to travel with each other, especially since Gerri is basically Roman's business tutor. He is definitely making progress; he needs less and less instruction with each passing day. But that does not mean he needs Gerri less. No--it's the opposite.

Like, take this boring as fuck meeting, for instance. Frank is droning on and on about facts and figures and how important it is that they drum up numbers in Parks since Cruises is, obviously, a complete fiasco at the moment. Roman knows he should pay attention to Frank, but... Gerri is not listening to Frank, either. She's doodling on a yellow note pad. Little swirls and lines, Roman notes with interest. Everything Gerri does is interesting to Roman. Like, her hair is in a bun today. Kind of a messy bun. She seems a little more disheveled than normal. With her glasses on and her obligatory matronly attire, she looks like the usual kindergarten teacher that Roman has come to know and love, but with the messy hair... it's just, like, hot.

He scoots his chair a little closer to Gerri, and she looks up from her doodle and gives him a small smile, and he wonders how he ever got so completely fucked up from a woman that this tiny gesture makes his whole fucking day. Did she cast a spell on him or something? It sure feels that way sometimes.

Their "thing" has more or less been put on hold for the time being, since they are both too busy to engage in anything other than gluing the pieces of Waystar Royco back together. However, there's all these unsaid conversations that linger between Roman and Gerri. He sees the way she looks at him when she thinks he's not paying attention--she feels it, too. It's not just the longing glances--Roman can't really explain it. There's this... heaviness to their interactions, like something is missing, but neither of them know what to do about it. So what the fuck? Is he just always going to have a massive case of blue balls whenever they're in the same room together now? Because he's certainly not getting over this crap any time soon.

For just a second, Roman can't take it any longer and he touches Gerri's hand, the one that is doodling a straight line across the yellow note pad. Gerri stops her drawing and looks at him in surprise. Their eyes meet, and they acknowledge something. Something to be determined, but it's definitely... something.

Roman doesn't take his hand away immediately. Nobody else in the room is looking at them, anyway. They're checking their email or writing notes; some are actually even paying attention to Frank. So he runs his pinkie across the soft skin of Gerri's hand, and she allows it, as though she wants it, or even willed it to happen. He stops touching her when he notices, with extreme pleasure, that she has goosebumps on her arm. And then he starts to wonder, if just touching her hand produces goosebumps, what would happen if...

"So that's what we need to work on next week. I'm serious, people--this is a priority. Now get the hell out of here," Frank says, and nobody has to be told twice--everyone scatters out of the room and Frank is not far behind.

Gerri and Roman linger after the room empties. She puts the notepad and her laptop in her briefcase. Roman shoves all his stuff into the backpack he's been carrying around lately out of necessity. Maybe he should get something a bit more professional, but, like, who has the fucking time?

"So where are you headed?" Roman asks her as they leave the conference room.

"Are you kidding? Back to my office. There's still so much left to do."

"Ah, come on, Ger. It's Friday. Let's go have a drink."

"Roman, really--"

"One drink won't kill you. Across the street. It's happy hour; we can make fun of all the coked out Wall Street fucknuts."

Gerri exhales, and then nods hestitantly.

"I suppose one drink won't hurt, but then I have to get back here, and let me remind you, Roman, so do you."

This is unfortunately true. The role of COO never fucking stops, even on a Friday night. He can't help but think of what he'd usually do on a Friday night in the past; it always had something to do with tall blondes, snorting things, and passing out in some East Side shithole and waking up feeling like he'd been run over by a 747. Oh, the days of yore.

At the bar, a shitty dive that thankfully is bereft of the Wall Street fucknuts, they have more than one drink. They have three or four or seven or something--they lose count. Roman knows he's a bad influence on Gerri but he can't help it. He loves to see her let her hair down, which she literally does after her third shot of tequila that he encourages her to order. He watches lustfully as she takes it down and shakes it out, letting the soft blonde waves settle over her shoulders.

"Dammit, Rome, why do I let you get me into these situations?" Gerri slurs after she slams the shot glass down on the table. "You are bad."

"Yeah. But you like it when I'm bad."

Gerri laughs, and doesn't deny it.

"Come on, let's get back to the office. I have all those briefs I need to finish by Monday."

"I have some briefs you can finish," Roman blurts out.

"Uh-huh. Well... that's something we can discuss later--"

"Gerri Kellman! What's a girl like you doing in a bar like this?" Some asshole who looks like he lives inside a plastic surgery appointment sidles up to the table and interrupts this very important thought that Roman desperately wants to follow up on--typical.

"Oh, hello, Will. Will, this is Roman--"

"Roman Roy, of course! The new COO of his dad's company. Congrats, by the way."

"Gee, fucking thank you, Will. Lovely to meet you and your fake fucking lips," Roman says. He does not like Will, or his weirdly constructed face.

"What was that?" Will asks, clearly confused.

"Oh, Roman was just complimenting your... shoes," Gerri says, trying to keep herself together. "Please excuse us, Will. We have to get back to the office."

"Of course. Why don't you call me later, Gerri? We never finished discussing that trip to the Vineyard we were planning..."

Gerri just chuckles and nods, and pushes Roman out of the bar. They walk back to the office, arm in arm, so they don't tip over and die in the remnants of rush hour Manhattan traffic.

"Who was that douchebag? You were going on a fucking trip with him? He looks like a Ken doll that was left in the washing machine for 60 years."

Gerri laughs. Roman loves to make her laugh.

"Just someone I went on a date with once. Why? You jealous?"

"Of course I'm fucking jealous, Gerri. Like, haven't you figured that out yet?"

They're back in the lobby of the Waystar Royco building. It's nearly 8:00 PM and it's almost empty.

"Roman..." He can see that she doesn't know how to finish that sentence. She looks kind of wobbly, actually. "We should--but we never have time..."

Roman, who is rather unsteady himself, tries to think of the right thing to say.

"We've always had bad timing, haven't we?"

"We have..." Gerri admits.

"What if we were to suddenly have good timing? Just for... an hour. What would that look like?"

"I think that... would look like an exceptional moment," Gerri says softly.

Roman can't help it--he grins. He grabs her arm and they walk unsteadily to the elevator. While they wait for it to open, they share all kinds of longing, drunken, and weird sexual looks. Roman wonders if everything that has occurred in the last couple of months--going to management training at Gerri's suggestion, their odd phone sex arrangement, the way she so easily gets him off by the sound of her voice, even being taken as a hostage--has all led up to this moment. If so, it was all fucking worth it.

When the elevator arrives, an eight-year-old kid and his mother, who looks to be at about her wit's end with him and his entire existence, step off it.

"Kevin! What have I told you about not pressing all the buttons?"

"Sorry, Mom," the little boy says, sounding not sorry at all.

Roman doesn't advocate child abuse, obviously, but like, he just really wants to slap this kid.

Indeed, when Gerri and Roman get on the elevator, it looks like every fucking button has been pushed. And they're going to the 49th floor.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Roman mutters, shaking his head. All he wants to do is get Gerri alone in his office and see what she's wearing underneath that prim and proper white blouse she has on, but fate does not seem to have the same plan.

Instead of maybe getting off on the next floor or something that would make more sense than waiting as the door opened on every level, Gerri moves closer to Roman. Their backs are against the wall of the elevator and they are standing almost too close together now. Roman can smell the sweet scent of her perfume that he has come to know as Gerri's signature. The tension is absolutely fucking ridiculous at this point.

On floor three, Roman touches her hand with his pinkie again. On floor five, Gerri grabs his hand, and holds it until floor seven. On floor eight, Roman turns to regard her closely. She's looking at him like she's ready to make a drunken mistake. The doors continue to open and close, with no one there to get on or off--not that they'd even notice if an entire fifth grade class and/or a mariachi band joined them in the elevator. They continue to stare at each other, weighing the pros and cons of just fucking going for it, until floor thirteen. That's when Roman says, "fuck it," and he leans in to kiss her. He just fucking kisses her. He grabs her and kisses her fiercely, and sort of to his surprise, she kisses him back just as fiercely. On floor 22, there's even tongue involved. A lot of tongue.

The doors are still opening and closing and they aren't even paying attention. By floor 28, his hands are roaming freely, and she's moaning a little. By floor 31, Gerri bites Roman's lip and now he's the one moaning. Roman has never even enjoyed kissing all that much--like what's the fucking point? But this singular experience is giving him a brand new appreciation for it.

Or maybe it's because Gerri is the one he's kissing.

By floor 40, the kissing has tapered off a little, so they can stare deep into each other's eyes. However, on floor 44, the kissing resumes. Roman wraps his hand around Gerri's neck and brings her closer to him, and she puts a warm hand under his coat, and then under his shirt, on his back. If he wasn't hard before, now he could launch a fucking space shuttle from his pants.

Finally, on floor 49, the door opens for the last time. They are still holding on to each other for dear life, expecting to haul ass directly to Roman's office, where his newly purchased sleeper sofa is waiting for the next act of this satisfying play they're trying to direct. However...

"What the fuck is this?" The last person on fucking Planet Earth that Roman expects to see is standing there staring at them. Logan. His dad. "Romulus? Gerri fucking Kellman? Well, don't just stand there looking like deaf fucking mutes. Explain yourselves!"

And they are stunned speechless... but at least now they're able to stop kissing.

[samwpmarleau]

Could you do another Arianne/Daemon fic? Maybe a continuation of the Robb/Rhaenys one? You write them so well :)

Part 1

Arianne is well and thoroughly exhausted. Which she supposes is the hallmark of a successful bachelorette party, but nevertheless. She will freely admit that her sisters-in-arms had done an excellent job setting up the whole thing, even if Sansa had turned as red as her hair from the moment the stripper arrived until the moment he left.

She wears a plastic crown on her head, a sash across her chest, and has a cornucopia of gifts ranging from thoughtful (lingerie from stores she deems too expensive to go to for herself and a gift certificate for a Swedish massage) to silly (a vibrator with twelve different functions and a flask in the shape of a bracelet).

Daemon isn’t home yet, which does rather surprise her. He’s never been a partier, tending far more towards brooding and dry wit. She’d figured his bachelor party would either not go much past midnight, or would maybe even just be held at their apartment. Apparently, she’d underestimated the combined powers of Gerris Drinkwater and Robb Stark.

Feeling a bit grimy from the festivities, she stashes her gifts in the closet, draws herself a bath, and tosses in a chamomile bath bomb for good measure. It’s a bit bizarre, she reflects as she steps into the scalding water, to think that in a week’s time, she’d be married. Just a hangover, rehearsal dinner, and the actual ceremony stand in the way.

She fidgets with her engagement ring, watching steam rise from the bathwater. It’s simple, just a slim band of gold that will double as her wedding ring. Daemon had lamented that he couldn’t give her something more ostentatious, but to her it’s perfect. They are simple together, so why should the symbol of their union be any different?

Besides, there are few things she finds more annoying than people displaying rocks the size of skipping stones, as though the bigger the gem weighing down their finger, the more love is in the relationship.

Truthfully, it’s hard to believe that she’s here at all. Though she’d envisioned what her wedding might be like since she was little, as every girl does, she hadn’t thought it would be with Daemon. They’d been together seven years and for most of that she’d felt he had one foot out the door. Not because he didn’t want her, but because no matter how much she tried to tell him otherwise, he remained half-convinced she was out of his league and she’d leave him for it.

And so the proposal had come as a complete shock, though certainly a welcome one. Too, it had the added benefit of finally getting her grandmother off her back. Her grandmother who had always been of the mind that while she and Daemon were only dating and he didn’t live up to the mayor’s social expectations, that meant Arianne was still available to have appropriate suitors pushed upon her. Sons of CEOs and politicians and old money, rather than the son of unmarried parents who had him shortly after high school then split up.

Perhaps, she ponders, that constant disapproval was what finally spurred the proposal. Perhaps Daemon had finally grown tired of it all, or perhaps he feared Arianne would eventually give in to one of her grandmother’s eligible bachelors if he didn’t step up.

Either way, she’s glad for it.

Dwelling pleasantly at the thought–and smirking a bit as she envisions the look on Daemon’s face when he sees the lingerie Rhaenys had gifted her–she closes her eyes and allows the steam to lull her to sleep.

She wakes sometime later to Daemon’s voice. “Ari? Are you back?”

“In here,” she calls. She hears two thuds as he kicks off his boots, then he makes his way to the bathroom looking, in her opinion, like a three-course meal.

“Hey,” he says, a lazy smile spreading across his face that tells her he’s had a few drinks.

She crooks her finger at him, and without a second thought he undresses and steps into the bath behind her, grimacing a bit at the now-lukewarm water. She lies back, tilting her head up to kiss him. “Did you have a good time?” she asks.

“Better than I thought I would. And you?”

“You should have seen Sansa when the stripper tore off his cop costume,” she says, remembering. “Remind me to show you the picture, it’s great.”

She feels the rumble of Daemon’s quiet laugh through her back. “I take it he was a good one, then?”

Arianne hums in agreement, then interlaces her fingers with his. “He’s got nothing on you, though.”

“You’re comparing me to a stripper?”

“I’m saying you’re handsome.”

“Ah.” His eyes flit to her left hand, and she realizes she’d been fiddling with her ring again, as has been her habit after going so long without any jewelry there. Instead of being concerned, he says, “There were some guys we got to talking with at the bar tonight and they mentioned how pleased they were when their wives took their name, and–”

“Daemon, you know I’m not changing my name.”

“I told them that,” he assures, “but I was thinking…well, wondering…what if I take yours?”

“Take my name?” He’d never objected to her declaration that she’d keep the surname she was born with, thank you very much, but she hadn’t thought he’d go so far in the other direction. “Why?”

He shrugs. “It’s just…Sand is so plain, for one, and it feels strange now with my mom having married. I don’t share a name with any of my family anymore. And since we’ll be starting our own, I just thought…I don’t know, that’s probably weird.”

“Daemon Martell,” Arianne muses aloud. “I kind of like it. People might think I’ve emasculated you, though.”

“Pretty sure they already think that,” he replies with a kiss to her temple. “But that’s their problem.”

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #138 & #139

Sun Jul 28 2019 [02:24 PM] Wack'd: So apparently the whole "60s issues colored Wyatt white so as a compromise let's give him a slight tan" was not an invention of John Bryne

[02:24 PM] Aleph Null: that's supposed to be a tan? [02:25 PM] Wack'd: That or he's covered himself in strawberry yogurt [02:25 PM] ThreeOfFour: maybe its the widows peak but is that Namor? [02:25 PM] Wack'd: Nope! It's Wyatt Wingfoot! [02:26 PM] Aleph Null: dang, you're a wing, and you have feet? [02:27 PM] Wack'd: Under Kirby's pen Wyatt's hair varied from a standard close cut to something vaguely Clark Kent-ish [02:27 PM] Bocaj: Wait. [02:27 PM] Bocaj: Namor has wing feet [02:27 PM] Bocaj: HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM [02:27 PM] Wack'd: His hairline's receding a bit, though I have no idea if this is intentional or just how Buscema draws him [02:27 PM] Bocaj: HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM [02:27 PM] Wack'd: *Anyway* [02:28 PM] Wack'd: So wait--I have questions

[02:28 PM] Wack'd: 1. Did Johnny drop out of school? Probably, right? I mean, he’s not graduating today [02:28 PM] Bocaj: Damn johnny is a drop out [02:30 PM] Wack'd: 2. Metro College is nearby? And has phones? Besides "Stan forgot about me" there's no good reason why he hasn't spoken to Johnny or the rest of the Four in, uh--five years [02:31 PM] Wack'd: I get the idea that if he's going to return you want to make it kind of a big deal, but I'm far more comfortable with the idea that he's still been around and just not doing anything superheroey? [02:31 PM] Wack'd: Because now it's just like "oh, I've moved on with my life but I should probably invite my old best friend who's also a drop out to my graduation ceremony" [02:32 PM] Wack'd: "By breaking into his apartment" [02:32 PM] Umbramatic: oh [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Reed decides to give the ceremony (and subsequent chill sesh at Wyatt's place) a miss in case Sue comes back [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Look, dude, I'm sure she does she'll call first? Or leave a note? [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Whatever [02:34 PM] Bocaj: When you refuse to make the first move it involves a lot of sitting by the telephone [02:34 PM] Wack'd: In fairness she's deliberately gone off the grid with his infant child and asked that no one tell Reed‏ where she is [02:35 PM] Wack'd: Not really a lot of opportunities for first moves here [02:35 PM] Bocaj: Has he asked [02:35 PM] Wack'd: Also fair [02:35 PM] Wack'd: But I'm pretty sure when someone doesn't want you to know where they are, going out of your way to find out is stalking, and that's generally frowned upon [02:36 PM] Bocaj: Well like he could have asked someone to send her a message saying he wanted to talk [02:36 PM] Wack'd: True [02:36 PM] Wack'd: You make a lot of good points [02:36 PM] maxwellelvis: True, but the problem is this is Reed Richards we're talking about here. [02:36 PM] Bocaj: Since Reed Is Never Wrong in Reed's Mind he's stuck in limbo waiting for her to come crawling back [02:36 PM] maxwellelvis: He'd have to delegate it entirely to someone else [02:36 PM] maxwellelvis: because aside from what Bocaj just said, Reed tends to make a big production out of everything. [02:37 PM] Wack'd: John Buscema awakes with a start and realizes that nothing about the team's civvie fashion sense has changed in thirteen years

[02:38 PM] Umbramatic: shameful [02:38 PM] Bocaj: "Oh shit, fashion changes" [02:40 PM] Wack'd: 1. Humphrey Bogart was a major movie star and *definitely* has folks fussing over his hair.  2. I'm finding a *lot* of photos of Lloyd Nolan with immaculately trimmed facial hair.  3. Oh god Ben's a "what about the troops" guy

[02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Just change the references to 'Nam-era stuff and he sounds like Walter Sobchak [02:41 PM] Umbramatic: yufoufgtpit;u;jo'piop [02:41 PM] Wack'd: I'm starting to think that last issue all of his talk about being old wasn't him being brainwashed, that's just how Gerry Conway thinks he should behave [02:42 PM] Wack'd: Which is not exactly endearing me to his run [02:42 PM] Umbramatic: rip [02:42 PM] Wack'd: Well that's ominous

[02:42 PM] Umbramatic: eeeep [02:45 PM] Wack'd: So, Wyatt's tribe has a name now. "Keewazi" (EDITOR’S NOTE: I’d apparently forgotten Lee and Kirby explicitly made him Comanche.) [02:46 PM] Wack'd: I'm sure that was talked over with a lot of Native Americans not just a bunch of randomly-picked syllables [02:47 PM] Aleph Null: marvel bad [02:47 PM] Umbramatic: marvel no [02:48 PM] Wack'd: "I haven't seen Johnny in about five years, so it's definitely socially acceptable to laugh at him"

[02:48 PM] Wack'd: That said, he looks like a friggin Brady [02:48 PM] Bocaj: Which is weird because Marvel Avengers tended to leave it vague and Claremont X Men picked specific real tribes [02:49 PM] Umbramatic: now i'm just imagining a laugh track at all mentions of johnny's hair [02:49 PM] Umbramatic: and it's the Tidus Laugh [02:52 PM] Wack'd: I will say this, to Buscema's credit (and maybe Conway's?)--there's definitely still in "old west" aesthetic here, but the outfits are not nearly as "I watched a movie once" as they were last time we saw these dudes. Also: smart move avoiding teepees. It's the 70s! People want efficient heating!

[02:52 PM] Wack'd: (We didn't actually see any dwellings last time. Mostly just Wyatt's dad sitting on a carpet in the middle of an open field) [02:53 PM] Wack'd: Uuuuuuh "kings" yeah sure

[02:54 PM] Umbramatic: big mountain boi [02:56 PM] Wack'd: And with regards to "warriors" [02:58 PM] Wack'd: Oh no, Johnny did drop out!

[02:59 PM] Umbramatic: poor johnny [02:59 PM] Wack'd: So the Keewazi are in Oklahoma so jot that down [02:59 PM] Umbramatic: oh [03:00 PM] Wack'd: Wyatt traveled a long way to go to a state school! [03:01 PM] Wack'd: That explains nothing, thank you

[03:01 PM] Aleph Null: this is just what men are like [03:02 PM] Wack'd: Also last time we saw this joker he was just Mysterio but earlier and worse [03:02 PM] Wack'd: So this should honestly be a cakewalk [03:02 PM] Umbramatic: good [03:04 PM] Wack'd: nerts

[03:05 PM] Wack'd: Fortunately it turns out that attacking Miracle Man himself breaks his concentration, so no more rock man [03:05 PM] Wack'd: Coming out to gloat--*always* a bad idea [03:08 PM] Wack'd: Oh wow so Miracle Man's new backstory sure is something [03:08 PM] Wack'd: He sought out a tribe of Native Americans who'd mastered "total mental control" and had dwindled to seven despite never having interacted with a white guy before [03:09 PM] Umbramatic: oh [03:09 PM] Wack'd: They agree to a free and equal trade of information, but once Miracle Man has learned all he cares to he murders them all [03:10 PM] Wack'd: Nice of Conway to leave future writers an escape hatch in case this one day turns out to be problematic

[03:11 PM] Wack'd: Which it did, I'm pretty sure, the second it was written [03:11 PM] Umbramatic: yes [03:12 PM] Wack'd: If nothing else this is all fairly on brand for a white guy.

[03:12 PM] maxwellelvis: Well, the next time we see Miracle Man is in Marvel Two-In-One #8, written by Steve Gerber, and he doubles down on the weirdness, as I've said before. [03:13 PM] Wack'd: That's cool so long as he doesn't also double down on the racism

[03:15 PM] Wack'd: ...sure

[03:16 PM] maxwellelvis: To paraphrase Rifftrax, "Either the laws of physics no longer apply, or [Johnny] is playing Halo 2" [03:17 PM] Umbramatic: these are superhero comics, physics are just a suggesstion [03:18 PM] Wack'd: Okay, so the philosophy at play here is kind of nonsense bonkers, but I really want to hone in on the "city he has created on these barren sands." The sands weren't barren! People lived here! They were using it! Christ, Conway!

[03:19 PM] maxwellelvis: Not by choice, mind you. Though I'm not sure if Wyatt's living on a reservation or not. [03:20 PM] Wack'd: Lee and Kirby certainly seemed to think so. Conway and Buscema have issued no statement on the matter [03:20 PM] maxwellelvis: And IIRC most reservations were deliberately placed in the most desolate areas the feds could find. [03:21 PM] Wack'd: But still, it's super shitty to talk about someone's home as though you could be using this land better. [03:21 PM] Wack'd: It tends to be a big anti-Palestinian talking point--"it's good the Jews came in because it's not like those idiots were doing anything worthwhile"--so I'm a little sensitive to it [03:22 PM] Umbramatic: ah, geez [03:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Gotcha [03:23 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Johnny, Ben, and Medusa make their way back to the surface, and Miracle Man conjures some monsters for them to fight [03:24 PM] Wack'd: And then when things start going south he summons a cyclone to wipe them all away [03:25 PM] Wack'd: Reed Richards Is Useless™

[03:26 PM] Umbramatic: LOOK BEHIND YOU REED [03:26 PM] Wack'd: We're going to find out about that next issue, apparently [03:26 PM] Wack'd: And meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Franklin without a high-pitched scream and then passes out [03:27 PM] Wack'd: Sue decides not to send for a doctor because "somehow I know he's alright" [03:27 PM] Wack'd: Good instincts, Sue [03:28 PM] Wack'd: Back to the main story! The cyclone harmlessly drops everyone off a few miles away from Miracle Man's city [03:28 PM] Wack'd: And yeah, the Keewazi live on a reservation [03:29 PM] Wack'd: And so Wyatt, Johnny, Ben, and Medusa build a raft and head upstream back towards the reservation, with Johnny using his fire powers as a "motor" for the boat [03:29 PM] Wack'd: I'm sure that much open flame next to a wooden raft is definitely a good idea [03:30 PM] Wack'd: I think Miracle Man might actually be the most morally reprehensible villain in *Fantastic Four* yet

[03:30 PM] Wack'd: A genocidal colonist and a potential rapist to boot [03:30 PM] Umbramatic: ew [03:31 PM] maxwellelvis: Next time we see him, he'll start trying to become God. Not hyperbole [03:32 PM] Wack'd: Apparently Miracle Man is planning on destroying the entire earth! Jesus!

[03:33 PM] Umbramatic: ah yes, the classic supervillain plan, blow up ze earth [03:33 PM] Wack'd: More mook fights. Medusa is kicking some serious ass this issue, effortlessly flinging around three at a time [03:35 PM] Wack'd: Ben, meanwhile, has gone after the Man himself--and this fight is too fucking good to deprive you of

[03:35 PM] Umbramatic: BALOOM! [03:35 PM] Wack'd: God I love me some Buscema punches [03:37 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Miracle Man tries to get up one last time, but is spirited away by the ghosts of the Cheemuzwa tribe he wiped out, who hope they can cure him of his megalomania. Awfully magnanimous of them. [03:37 PM] Wack'd: Why didn't they do this earlier? shrug [03:38 PM] Bocaj: There was a character from Fairy Tail who was raised by a first nations esque tribe but then it turned out They Were Ghosts All Along so character was free to join the main cast [03:38 PM] Bocaj: Also I hate Fairy Tail [03:38 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, we go out on a cliffhanger, the thing Reed should've looked behind him that was a Negative Zone alarm light

[mycasandstarrs]

SPN 8x11: “LARP and the Real Girl”

THEN: Charlie Bradbury. Things with Sam and Amelia officially end. Things between Dean and Benny officially end. The brothers choose each other.

The tree of pain thing.

RIP first victim. Drawn and quartered.

“China Grove” by the Doobie Brothers.

Ah, it’s been weeks.

“I know what you gave up wasn't easy.” What you gave up wasn’t easy either, Dean.

Garth! Sending them another case.

“Yeah, you’ve been Garthed.” hahaha

“Okay, we got to lose the GPS on our phones, because Garth has been tracking us, and other hunters, apparently, to assign cases.”

That’s what Bobby would do. Dean even said so.

Special Agents Taggart and Rosewood.

“FBI? You guys are quick. Haven't even got the body out yet.”

“Well, the FBI is all work…no play.”

Huh, is Dean going off of Sam’s recent attitude?

“Uh, neighbor downstairs said she got woke up in the middle of the night by the sound of horses stomping their feet and galloping. We didn't find any hoof prints. She probably heard a TV or was having a bad dream or she was high as balls.” I love this Sheriff.

haha

Lance Jacobsen.

“We want to know about the, uh – the texts you sent Ed last night.”

“I told them when they brought me in those texts weren't from me.”

“Well, your phone and Ed's phone say otherwise.”

“No, I mean, they were from me, but they weren't from me me.”

That cleared it up.

Greyfox the Mystic (Lance), Thargim the Mystical (Ed), and Moondoor.

“Oh, ye Gods! Thargrim the Difficult has fallen!” He is not taking Ed’s death well.

"Welcome to Moondoor, Michigan's largest LARPing game."

“And I thought we needed to get out more.”

Technically, they are getting out.

Dean’s right, Moondoor does look awesome.

There’s our Queen of Moons.

The tree.

OH JESUS WHAT’S HAPPENING TO HIM

RIP Lance Jacobsen. Greyfox the Mystic has fallen.

“God forbid he was contagious. I'm gonna go dip myself in hand sanitizer.” Not a bad idea at all.

Moondoor looks amazing.

“Excuse me. Hi. Uh, you are a LARPer, yeah?”

“I prefer the term ‘interactive literaturist’.”

“These aren’t fake badges.”

“Uh, yeah, they are, and they're...very good, but, um, well, the I.D. number shifted to 10 digits with, uh, two letters mixed in at the end of the year, and, uh, the seal's from last month. Really good work.”  

Ha, exposed. I’m sure they stopped by Kinko’s after this.

The shot of Charlie taking off her helmet always makes my heart flutter.

Charlie is pissed.

“No, I buried myself. Then Dick Roman went down, his company belly-up, and I figure, ‘Hey, it's all good,’ and I was fine. I got my life back. Now you're here, and if you guys are here, monsters are here. Why do I have such bad luck? What am I – some kind of monster magnet? Is there such a thing as a monster magnet? You know what? Don't answer that. I don't care. What I care about is not getting my other arm broken... or dying.” 

“Greyfox and Thargrim – uh, Ed and Lance – they're not missing. They're dead.”

Charlie’s army has had a string of bad luck. “ A month ago, one of my guys had both her ankles broken before battle. Before that, I had three people have hospital-worthy accidents while at home. You think there's any connection there?”

“You know, if you, uh... move your archers back and your broadswordsmen to the west...”

“Huh. Fight the warriors.”

“Yep.”

!!

“My point, which is usually yours, is that she should get somewhere safe and get back to a normal life.” Oof, never noticed Dean telling Sam that it’s usually Sam’s thing to want people to have a safe, normal life.

“Hey, I am right here, and I want to leave.”

“Thank you.”

“But the queen...she has to stay. I mean, Sam is right. People are dying. That can't happen on my watch. And you know what? I am tired of running. I like my life here. I'm gonna stay and fight for it.”

I love you, Charlie.

Dean and Charlie: “The pornstar?”

“...the poison.”

LMAO

DEAN’S SO EXCITED TO LARP!

“Beware: this is a gateway to the future.”

Maria...aka Gholandria the Wicked.

You look so good Dean!

“You sent Sam a phantom text from his ex? Dick move, sir.”

“Yeah, not my finest hour.”

“So he found some normalcy with this chick, and now it's gone... again. Thanks to you.”

Uh, Sam did choose to not stay with Amelia.

“Yeah, well, now he's more committed than ever, so there's that. But, trust me, this life – you can't afford attachments. You just got to... let go.”

“Are we still talking about Sam, or did you break up with someone, too?”

Charlie kknneewww.

“Now, wait a second. If it wasn't for you, we would have never been able to take down Dick Roman. Out there in the real world, you are a hero.”

What a sweet interaction between Charlie and Dean.

“I'm noticing a lot of these maidens checking you out.”

“What? I can’t shut this down. It’s good to be queen.”

I mean it, Charlie is self esteem goals.

Sam’s got himself a research partner.

“I haven't seen anything like it in my travels throughout the realms, your highness.”

“All right. Well, if you think of anything, come see me in my tent. Anytime.”

OOHHH CHARLIE’S PICKING UP CHICKS. GET IT!!

The Tree of Pain.

Dean even threatens people with fake weapons. 

“First time for everything, right?”

“First time for a lot of things if you want to come find my tent later.”

OH, Sam got himself a date.

“Another time.” Awww no.

Your loss.” I’d say so too.

Charlie’s sent back to safety to find Sam.

“Lead the way to the Orcs, Bolty.”

“Speak when spoken to, handmaiden.”

Uh, r u d e.

Oh boy. Charlie’s been taken.

“Our, uh, pal Boltar the chatty is getting the, uh, Shadow Orc prisoner. We're gonna do a little prisoner exchange, try to draw the king out of hiding. It was my idea.” No it wasn’t, omg.

“I’m just an I.T girl...standing in front of a monster...asking it not to kill her.”

“I just want my old life back!”

“That is all I want, as well.”

Ooh, pretty fairy.

“Now, before we exchange, a few announcements. Um, there is a peewee-league soccer playoff game tomorrow on the alpha field. We don't want to freak out the mundanes, so we got to move the Battle of Kingdoms to the beta field.”  pfft.

“All right. I need real answers. This here is a real gun, see?” Dean, please.

Sam barely flinched, haha.

“Is the queen really in danger?”

“Okay, we got – there was something odd down by the creek. It's this weird tent. It's not one of ours. It's kind of creepy.”

“Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?”

“Look, I harbor an epic crush on the queen. Maybe you could put in a good word for me when you find her.”

Yeah, that ain’t gonna work out.

“My name is Gilda. I'm from the Hollow Forest of Arkhmoor. I'm a fairy.”

“Man, someone is taking this game way too seriously.” Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.

“Gilda, my name is Charlie Bradbury, and I am here to rescue you.” Hmm, swoon.

“Why don't you take off, Bolty? We got it from here.”

“A handmaiden and a time traveler rescue the queen? I think not, kind lady.”

Screw off, dude.

Get it!!!!

Boltar. You evil little bastard.

“Well, now what, Gerry?“

“My name is Boltar the Furious!”

Oh, he’s furious all right.

“My plan was, after getting rid of all of my competition, to win the battle tomorrow, convincing the queen that I should be her king.” EW COME ON.

“But then you two idiots showed up, and I was forced to improvise. Rescue the damsel in distress from Orcs, become king, kill you both – that'll work, too.” Oh yeah, kill her friends. That’ll make her like you.

Charlie destroys the book, Horcrux style.

WHAT A MOVE.

“I'm free of the spell. You saved me. The Hollow Forest is forever in your debt. I must return to those green hills now. I will take my former master with me. He must face a fairy tribunal for his sins.”

So he gets to go to Fairy jail?

“Call me...maybe?”

“Smell you later, bitches.” 

“So, what's, uh... what's next? 'Cause no fun, right? Look, before you say anything, I – I – I get it. No amount of fun is gonna help you get over what you gave up. You just, uh... you need time, right?” AWW Dean. 

“Yeah. Thanks. And you're right. Having fun won't help me. It'll help both of us. Shall we?” AWWW SAM.

WOW DEAN REALLY WENT ALL OUT

AND SAM AND HIS LITTLE PONY TAIL.

"This episode is dedicated to the men, women, elves, demigods, magi, druids and chamber pot servants who gave their lives fighting and winning for the Queen of Moons in the Battle of the Kingdoms. Go bravely into the next world, fallen soldiers."

I love this episode.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 5 February 2018

Quick Bits:

Armstrong & The Vault of Spirits is a fun one-shot that uses Aram’s collection of wine to weave together the “true story” of Noah, the emergence of a previously unknown arch-nemesis, the secrets societies that continue to plague Archer & Armstrong, and the often hidden emotional connection that Armstrong has with his family. It’s really nice to see Fred Van Lente back chronicling these characters, even if just for one special right now.

| Published by Valiant

Avengers #679 tags in Kim Jacinto for art duties, appearing to be up to the challenge laid out by Pepe Larraz in quality of work on this book. We get the stakes of the match here between the Grandmaster and the Challenger, of whom we also get a history, and it manages to make all of the destruction and battles seem like mere whims of these members of the Elders of the universe. I suspect when discovered, this isn’t going to sit well with the Avengers. As only part five, this also makes me wonder what else Mark Waid, Al Ewing, and Jim Zub have up their sleeves.

| Published by Marvel

Black Bolt #10 has a brief crossover segment with Inhumans: Judgment Day, illustrated by guest-artist Stephanie Hans. It’s beautiful, and an interesting way to work in the events of the broader Inhumans saga into the current arc in this series. I like how Saladin Ahmed handles Lash’s plan to advance all of the interwoven spinning plates.

| Published by Marvel

Coyotes #4 closes out the first arc along the theme of upheaval. There are some interesting parallels put forward in the Duchess and Red’s situations, as well as the comeuppance against the coyotes who have been hunting women. As usual, Caitlin Yarsky’s art elevates everything. I highly recommend picking up these issues or pre-ordering the collection for April; Sean Lewis and Yarsky did something great here.

| Published by Image

Extremity #11 is the penultimate issue of the series as the final battle is enjoined. Daniel Warren Johnson mainly focuses here on the action and as usual the artwork is gorgeous. I’m going to really miss this series when it’s done.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Giant Days #35 somewhat skirts the issue of the fallout of Ed’s admission of love to Esther last issue for now, instead following on a visiting Sarah and Lottie Grote. It’s funny seeing Daisy and Susan trying to look after a kid, plus the interesting development that Daisy may finally be cluing in that Ingrid is absolutely horrible.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / Boom! Box 

Incognegro: Renaissance #1 kicks off a new mystery with the death of a black author at a literary shindig, with the police appearing completely disinterested in the case completely. Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece deliver an interesting start.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock #1 acts as a bridge between Guardians of the Galaxy #150 and, as well as a primer for, Infinity Countdown: Prime. Adam Warlock has been reborn and this issue gives us a summary of Warlock’s history and teases what’s to come at the end of time, as he enters into an uneasy alliance with Kang the Conqueror. A lot of this issue has Gerry Duggan recapping events and foreshadowing what’s to come, but it is highly elevated by the art of Mike and Laura Allred. 

| Published by Marvel

Koshchei the Deathless #2 continues to be a fun and exciting fable of Koshchei telling Hellboy his story. Mike Mignola does a great job of including some subtle humour into the telling, along with the absurdity of some of the Russian folktales (or the like), and Ben Stenbeck (with Dave Stewart’s colours) is again phenomenal.

| Published by Dark Horse

Mech Cadet Yu #6 has the kids face off against baby Sharg and it’s all kinds of awesome.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

No. 1 With a Bullet #4 finds new and inventive ways to ruin Nash’s life further, with weirdness continuing and lies emerging to cast her as a willing participant in her sex tape.

| Published by Image

Noble #9 is a kind of coda to the first two arcs, allowing David and Astrid a bit of quiet time and reflection before tackling the next stage in their lives. It’s interesting in their dealings with Foresight and Lorena Payan here that even when they manage to get somewhat free, Payan has to remind them that even their personal lives are still under observation.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon #4 amps up the action in this penultimate issue of the series. Christopher Mitten (with colours by Dave Stewart) is on fire this issue.

| Published by Dark Horse

Rogue & Gambit #2 reminds me again that I don’t like Rogue and Gambit as a couple, something about them together just seems like nails on a chalkboard at this point, but I do like Kelly Thompson writing about them. There’s a nice mix of humour, action, and history that keeps this flowing nicely. It also helps that the art from Pere Pérez with colours by Frank D’Armata is amazing.

| Published by Marvel

Rose #8 gives a bit of history on Drucilla, with Felix giving excuses for why she’s grown into a selfish, evil monstrosity. It’s interesting to see the lengths we’ll go to in order to explain away bad behaviour of family members. Ig Guara, with colours by Triona Farrell, also deserves more attention.  Their art on this series since day one has been impeccable. 

| Published by Image

Scarlett’s Strike Force #2 advances many of the story threads in an interesting fashion, particularly Skywarp’s disillusionment with the Joe’s in fixing his teleportation and the burgeoning mystical aspect to Cobra. There’s also a humorous exchange between Raptor and Croc Master.

| Published by IDW

Spirits of Vengeance #5 concludes what was an unexpected, but excellent, mini-series from Victor Gischler, David Baldeón, and Andres Mossa. It was a nice mix of humour, action, and gorgeous art playing with some of Marvel’s lately underutilized supernatural characters. I know that they’ll likely reappear during the upcoming Damnation event, but I’d definitely like to see more from this creative team.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars #43 brings the “Ashes of Jedha” arc to a close with a surprising twist. Also, some great art again by Salvador Larroca and Guru-eFX.

| Published by Marvel

TMNT Universe #19 begins a new arc “Service Animals” by Ian Flynn, Dave Wachter, and Ronda Pattison, as a well as a prelude for the upcoming Kingdom of Rats storyline in the main book, by Bobby Curnow and Pablo Tunica. It’s always great to see Wachter’s art, especially with how expressive his turns at Alopex are here.

| Published by IDW

Transformers: Lost Light #14 is mostly a Scavengers story, but unlike most of them, this one is no light-hearted romp. Like the recent Getaway arc, this gets pretty serious and pretty dark.

| Published by IDW

Transformers vs. Visionaries #2 gets into more of the internecine warfare and skirmishes between the factions of the Visionaries themselves as the Darkling Lords and the Spectral Knights battle for the soul and honour of their people. I like what Magdalene Visaggio is setting up here and Fico Ossio’s artwork, with colours by David Garcia Cruz, is beautiful.

| Published by IDW

Twisted Romance #1 is off to a good start. This issue has a trio of tales that largely mix horror/supernatural with love/sex/romance. The highlight for me is Sarah Horrocks’ piece that reminds me of the existential eroticism of Clive Barker’s work, but all three are worth the price of admission. Alex de Campi and Katie Skelly’s story is a bit of revenge on a cheating partner’s lover with a confrontation between an incubus and a succubus, while Magen Cubed delivers a sweet prose story of a monster hunter and the vampire who loves him.

| Published by Image

Venom #161 has some truly excellent artwork from Javier Garrón (with colours by Dono Sánchez-Almara and Erick Arciniega) as Mike Costa pens a done-in-one story advancing some of the series’ sub-plots while giving a fitting confrontation between Venom and Spider-Woman. With this issue sandwiched between two crossovers (the just finished Venom Inc. on one side and Poison-X on the other) it’s nice to see how the team make this wholly satisfying on its own.

| Published by Marvel

Vs. #1 debuts with gorgeous artwork by Esad Ribić and Nic Klein, perfectly capturing turning war into a commercialized sport. Along with the lettering from Aditya Bidikar and graphics by Tom Muller, it manages to have a nice European, particularly Humanoids, feel to it, despite not being particularly over the top.

| Published by Image

The Wicked + The Divine 1923 is quite possibly the greatest issue of this already magnificent series, and a must buy for the people who may have otherwise been missing out on the tangential one-shots. This one is meaty with story and purpose as Kieron Gillen and Aud Koch blend prose and comics, along with conventions of pulp mysteries, silent film, and more to create a ritual that helped shape the rest of the 20th century as a kind of prelude to the main WicDiv series. This is a thing of beauty.

| Published by Image

Witchblade #3 goes deeper on both Alex’s history and the mystery of the supernatural stuff going on around her. I may sound like a broken record, but again I have to commend Caitlin Kittredge, Roberta Ingranata, and Bryan Valenza for this series, because it’s got a great story and beautiful artwork.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

X-Men Red #1 is off to a pretty good start. The artwork from Mahmud Asrar with colours by Ive Svorcina are a real draw, as is the return of Jean Grey to the X-Men, but the breakout star is still Tom Taylor’s characterizations. Particularly of Honey Badger.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: 30 Days of Night #3, Amazing Spider-Man #795, The Backstagers 2018 Valentine’s Intermission #1, Black Comix Returns, The Damned #8, Daredevil #598, Dejah Thoris #1, Get Naked, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call #3, The Gravediggers Union #4, Half Past Danger II: Dead to Reichs #5, Hawkeye #15, Iron Fist #77, Jazz Maynard #7, Legenderry: Red Sonja #1, Monstro Mechanica #3, Paper Girls #20, Rock Candy Mountain #8, Runaways #6, Scales & Scoundrels #6, She-Hulk #162, Spider-Man #237, Spider-Man vs. Deadpool #27, Tomb Raider: Survivor’s Crusade #3

Recommended Collections: Avengers & Champions: Worlds Collide, Backstagers - Volume 2, Clue, Incognegro, Inhumans: Once & Future Kings, Scales & Scoundrels - Volume 1: Into the Dragon’s Maw, Secret Weapons Deluxe Edition, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra - Volume 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit, TMNT - Volume 18: Trial of Krang, Transformers/GI Joe: First Strike, Transformers/GI Joe: First Strike - Champions

d. emerson eddy believes that you shouldn’t be the problem, be the solution.

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup

*long deep sigh*

Okay, I said last week I was going to cancel all Marvel subscriptions in response to the bullcrap that was revealed in Secret Empire. And I continue to firmly stand on not supporting Marvel on any decisions involving that catastrophe. But I must go back on my word. After discussing with friends and others about the best course of action, I am afraid that Marvel set things up -- what with the anti-diversity talks just a few weeks ago -- to make it seem as though any boycotts that would come about due to the Hydra revelations last week would be scapegoated to the titles that are doing the opposite. So I want to support titles that do just that -- titles like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur -- so long as their book isn’t involved with the crossover and if their authors don’t seem to have much involvement either. 

... also I pre-ordered Deadpool Vol. 6 for a specific reason that I’ll get into in the review.

All that out of the way, let’s get into the comics this week~

DC’s Batman Beyond, Marvel’s Deadpool, DC’s Detective Comics, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s Wonder Woman

DC’s Batman Beyond (2016- ) #7 Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Marcello Maiolo

*long heralding sigh* We can’t leave well enough alone, can we, DC?

The continuity of Batman Beyond has somewhat been in the toilet from the start. Anything which got its start thanks to the awfulness that was Futures End was sort of doomed to that, especially since they were trying to make that the canon ending of the DCU proper, while at the same time drawing in elements from the animated series. 

This book, though, honestly gave me a lot of hope for what it was doing, which was to focus on the characters pretty specifically from the DCAU Batman Beyond cartoon and growing their stories and relationships rather than focusing on trying to put itself too immediately in the Earth Prime timeline. 

And those moments from this issue are great. We get more Max and Bruce interactions, which I love. We get some actual growth of Dana and Terry’s relationship. Curare is still one of my favorite villains. Matt’s increased role excites me.

And then we get this fucking page. 

I have a bad history with DC splash pages of “our family history” already (see any of my Batgirl (2009-2011) rants), but this one just goes straight for the throat. Sorry literally every woman in the Batfamily ever. I mean, usually at least Barbara gets a shoutout but not even that this time around. And then the worst offense is that Damian and Duke are both whitewashed. What the actual fuck.

This entire page is a disaster, especially since we are very obviously just using it to foreshadow that the leader of the League of Assassins has to do with Damian, because godforbid anyone but the biological child be treated special. 

Oh, sorry. Biological male child. Or else we’d see some plots with Helena Wayne, couldn’t have that. 

Oh, Batman Beyond. Why must you hurt me the way you do. I was enjoying you so much too. 

Marvel’s Deadpool (2015- ) Volume 6: Patience: Zero Gerry Duggan, Matted Lolli, Scott Koblish, Guru-eFX

So I’ve obviously made some exceptions to my Marvel rule and that is simply a case-by-case basis. There are stronger reasons for the other exception this week, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, which I would honestly be devastated if it was taken down because of this monumental grossness that is Marvel right now because it’s the epitome of everything that’s not the Secret Empire catastrophe.

The other is Deadpool because I pre-ordered this volume months ago and because Deadpool is just a weird exception of a comic to begin with. At least as Deadpool is written under Gerry Duggan and how these particular issues especially are written.

So yes, while I would recommend all the issues in this trade to comic fans, the issue I really bought this volume for is for a very personal reason: #20 is the issue dealing with suicide and mental illness and... as someone who struggles on this road in my own life, in both point of views we have here, I am... very particular about how these issues are approached. I hate the way it was handled in Robin (1993-2009), despise the way it was portrayed in All-Star Superman, I just honestly don’t feel like I’ve ever read a story -- especially in comics -- that spoke to me and made me feel like I benefited from it the way the comics were obviously trying to make me feel. 

Deadpool goes the most realistic route I’ve ever seen this handled. It’s about “death is permanent, so let’s make sure there’s nothing else you want to do first” It’s about helping someone out, giving them other things to focus on in the moment, giving them more to experience, and then knowing when professional help is needed, when you’re beyond your means. 

And it’s hard. Deadpool says it best -- unkilling someone is way harder. And I’ve never felt an issue strike such a cord with me before. 

Of course, that’s only one of several issues collected, and we finally get the climax and our answers with Madcap. The entire storyline was rediculous, dramatic, frightening, and any range of emotions between. A great story overall even if anything involving Hydra -- especially Bob -- inherently sickens me at this point. 

If you’re on that level with me on the Hydra stuff, I would recommend buying #20 on its own and then #25 to finish up the Deadpool 2099 story which, for me, had a good conclusion to it. 

But yeah. This was a splurge purchase at least partially because... I have a feeling I won’t be picking up the next few trades of Deadpool flat out, honestly. Lots of Secret Empire this way comes. And I’m not happy about it. Hopefully I can pick up Vol. 8 or 9 and we can get back to Deadpool and Ellie and Preston and everything that makes me love this comic to begin with. 

DC’s Detective Comics (2016- ) #955 James Tynion IV, Marcio Takara, Marcello Maiolo

CASS HAS A GIRLFRIEND BALLERINA AND SHE APOLOGIZED AND ALL IS GOOD AND NOT AN ORPHAN ANYMORE BE STILL MY HEART

OKAY. So that’s out of my system. Last time (two weeks ago) I went into a full on rant about how there are things I Love about Tynion’s writing -- relationships, character building, the sense of family, understanding how to write Cass the way few writers other than her creators have truly gotten -- and things I Hate about Tynion’s writing -- an overall lack of build up for payoff, weak plots, a bit of a ‘break the status quo’ mentality despite a lack of building said status quo -- there are Things. And I can make entire essays about how I feel he needs to grow as a writer especially when it comes to writing mysteries which is what Detective Comics should be at its core. 

I’m putting that aside for now -- still there, I still have my issues with this arc -- but this issue is... It’s going to be a milestone. 

It’s going to be a milestone in bringing Cass’ character back into full form. And I loved every moment of it. The pacing was still.... ehhh. Could’ve probably benefited more from immediately starting with the flashback explaining Cass’ recovery and reintroducing our ballerina girlfriend, then launching into the present time uninterrupted. Maybe show Cass rescuing the others from their naked Hell, because as far as I can tell that just means we’re going to have another disorganized flashback in the next issue which isn’t making me excited because that should be the finale to all of this. 

Yatta yatta. Critical lenses are on, everyone, don’t worry. I’m still the Rena you know.

I just don’t care as much because those things I Love that I mentioned? They where here and they were with my favorite characters. And ALSO???? Tynion planted the seed of the ballerina and Cass living above the studio many issues ago??? And then actually gave us payoff for it??? What is this, a personal letter to me?

Nah, can’t be. No windows were broken in this issue.

I enjoyed myself is what I’m getting at. It’s amazing how I can be really irritated with Detective Comics and then all the sudden it drags me right back in with an issue that gets me just right. 

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015- ) #18 Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain

So i’ve dropped some books in my personal Marvel ban, and I will be avoiding anything remotely related to Secret Empire like the plague, and I still encourage other people to do the same. But there are some books, some ideas, some diversity in the Marvel lineup that for me are simply just too important to throw out with the bathwater. 

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is 1000% a book I want to survive Marvel’s current tirefire. 

And since Marvel curiously made it clear that they were going to throw their diversity titles under the bus and blame them for any loss of sales this summer just before knowingly putting out a terribly controversial book, I can’t help but allow my suspicions to rise. 

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur continues to be the best of the genre and the first book I recommend to kids -- which is something I do quite a lot. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know that I am very active in trying to get new, young readers into comics and have personally given out comics to kids in and out of the country. It’s something that is very important to me, having been raised with comics myself. 

So I am very happy to go back on my word for titles like Moon Girl and I’m so glad that a book so inviting and loving is around in the disaster that is the larger comic landscape for the Marvel Universe. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016- ) #21 Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, Laura Martin

Considering how vocally I have been annoyed with the “B story” of this Wonder Woman run thus far, it’s a real relief to finally be able to say, as the storylines converge and we come sadly closer to the end of Rucka’s return to Wonder Woman, finally this slow burn has been worth it. And this moment I chose in particular -- Veronica Cale at long last taking Diana’s hand -- is so built up, is so necessary that it makes everything truly feel like it’s deservedly come full circle.

And Cale’s motivations in Rebirth fit so much better than they did in the Post-Crisis comics, it makes everything about this confrontation and this conclusion worthwhile.

Though there’s still a lot to be fixed in terms of Rucka’s more... tone deaf treatment of earlier racist tropes and so on that have proven to be basically completely unnecessary to this plot. That’s a pretty gross road to end up going down for no reason.

And finally we get to Ares. And maybe it’s the animal lover in me but I’m like “those poor Dobermen, hope they still have a home with Cale after the twin gods’ souls are released. 

... Look we all know I’m going to pick Detective Comics for my pick of the week this week because I’m a sheep and it hit everything I wanted from an issue of Detective Comics including giving us more Cass-Ballerina action and having a fanciful callout to Phantom of the Opera that made my heart soar. 

But I would, for this week, also like to provide a secondary pick for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur for being not just a fantastic book (which it is) but continuing to provide a bright light at the end of a very, very long and dark tunnel that is the Marvel Universe. It is the Marvel of tomorrow if they could just stop with their bullshit. Which, because it’s Marvel, they probably won’t. 

But these are just my thoughts and opinions, I’d love to hear from all of you. What did you think of this week? Any good titles I’m not picking up? I’d love to hear from you

[comicsbeat]

  Image Expo is today and the announcement segment just wrapped up. The event was streamed live from Twitch and thanks to Twitter, our own ears, and even official PR here’s a list of the new projects and announcements:

• Image’s Eric Stephenson kicked things off with a keynote and mentioned big sales in 2017, comics aren’t for kids, etc etc.

• Perhaps of most interest to Beat snoopers, Image has officially been announced as the pblisher of Mark Millar’s first Netflix comic, The Magic Order, which has art by Olivier Coipel. Although many have speculated that Netflix would launch its own comcis division, I’ve been told by insiders that the line will stay at Image, so we’ll see.

NETFLIX’S MILLARWORLD TITLES LAUNCH WITH THE MAGIC ORDER Comics titan Mark Millar (KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, KICK-ASS, HIT-GIRL, JUPITER’S LEGACY) announced that Netflix’s forthcoming Millarworld titles will be published by Image Comics, beginning with his first new project, THE MAGIC ORDER. THE MAGIC ORDER will feature art by Olivier Coipel (Amazing Spider-Man, Thor) and is planned as a six-issue miniseries.

We live in a world where we’ve never seen a monster, and The Magic Order is the reason we sleep safely in our beds. Magic meets the Mob in THE MAGIC ORDER as five families of magicians—sworn to protect our world for generations—must battle an enemy who’s picking them off one by one. By day, they live among us as our neighbors, friends and co-workers, but by night they are the sorcerers, magicians and wizards that protect us from the forces of darkness…unless the darkness gets them first.

The series will launch from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

Here’s all the books announced with a few bonuses:

BLACKBIRD by Sam Humphries & Jen Bartel Sam Humphries (NIghtwing, Green Lantern) and Jen Bartel team up to co-create BLACKBIRD a modern fantasy story best described as Harry Potter meets Riverdale. It follows a young woman named Nina who discovers a neon-lit world of magic masters in Los Angeles. Now they’ve kidnapped her sister, and Nina is the only one who can save her.

“BLACKBIRD is a labor of love, a coming of age story and beautiful people doing insane things with magic,” said Humphries.

The series launches from Image Comics in October 2018.

https://twitter.com/heyjenbartel/status/966387556244844544

Rob Liefeld’S BLOODSTRIKE will feature story, art, and cover by Michel Fiffe Michel Fiffe will write, draw, and color three exciting new issues of BLOODSTRIKE. The Fiffe issues will also feature two back-up stories by Chuck Forsman and Paul Maybury with pin-ups by Ed Piskor, Benjamin Marra, Andrew Maclean, and more!

In Michel Fiffe’s BLOODSTRIKE: BRUTALISTS, the creator of the indie hit COPRA shines a light on Image’s most extreme series and its groundbreaking carnage. Whether it’s the origin of our favorite undead strikeforce or solving the trail of mysteries that plague them, this mini-series picks up where the original title left off while introducing the concept to a new audience. Celebrate Bloodstrike’s take-no-prisoners legacy by looking forward as only the new wave of comic-auteurs can! Don’t “rub the blood”…drown in it.

CROWDED by Christopher Sebela, Ted Brandt, Ro Stein & Triona Farrell Sebela took to the stage and announced two new books today, one of which was CROWDED, which he’s co-created with Ted Brandt and Ro Stein—a cynical send-up of the app economy and online grudges.

“Josh and I have been working on this book for a few years now in secret,” said Sebela. “Just waiting for the chance to unleash it on readers and we’re kinda freaking out that this thing we’ve put so much time and sweat into is really real and really good.”

In CROWDED, a platform called Reapr allows anyone to crowdfund assassination attempts. The parody ignites when protagonist Charlie Ellison is forced to fend off a wave of hitmen with the help of a low-rate bodyguard.

The series launches in Summer 2018.

More at CBR.

DEAD GUY FAN CLUB by Annie Wu  Annie Wu introduced fans to the forthcoming DEAD GUY FAN CLUB. In this new series, the founders of a rock star’s fan club reunite in adulthood to investigate the suspicious death of their hero and the involvement of an unhinged member of their old flock.

“I’m thrilled to be writing and illustrating a new series,” said Wu. “I can’t wait to share this weird little black comedy with everyone.”

The series launches from Image Comics in Fall 2018.

More at Nerdist.

DEAD RABBIT by Gerry Duggan & John McCrea DEAD RABBIT is a new ongoing series from writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool) and artist John McCrea (Hitman) team up with colorist Mike Spicer in a rackous series about MARTIN DOBBS, a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed former mercenary and gun-for-hire who’s forced out of retirement with predictably funny and violent results. With shades of UNFORGIVEN, THE EQUALIZER and ROBIN HOOD.

“Gerry Duggan! John McCrea! The peaches and cream of comics—though I’m not sure who’s the peach…,” said McCrea. “Anyway, this comic has Gerry’s and my heart and soul poured into it, pick it up, you will love yourself forever for doing so…”

The series launches from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

DEATH OR GLORY by Rick Remender & Bengal Fan favorite Rick Remender (SEVEN TO ETERNITY, DEADLY CLASS) teams up with brilliant French superstar Bengal to bring fans a high speed convoy crime thriller rocketing across the American West that examines our dwindling freedoms and the price paid by those who fight for an untethered life on the open road.

Meet Glory, raised free in a convoy, off the grid, amid the last men and women truckers fighting automation to continue living the American mythology of the open road.

Now, in order to pay for her beloved, dying Father’s surgery, Glory has three days to pull off a four dangerous cross country heists with mob killers, crooked cops and a psycho ex-husband all out to bring her in or die trying.

“Rick and I have been preparing something for years now, it was a privilege to get to work with him, and an even greater one to take the time to develop something together,” Bengal. “I’m very proud to finally present what we’ve been cooking! I hope readers will enjoy this story as much as we loved doing those pages.”

The series launches from Image Comics in May 2018.

https://twitter.com/MagicMirrorWA/status/966400066490527744

ECHOLANDS by J.H. Williams & Haden Blackman J.H. Williams (Sandman: Overture, Batwoman) and Haden Blackman (Elektra, Batwoman) team up with colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Todd Klein for an all-new mythic fiction genre mash-up series in ECHOLANDS, a tale where the last war on Earth starts with Hope’s sticky fingers…

“ECHOLANDS has been in development for years, bubbling in the background as we worked on other projects,” said Blackman. “But it’s a world and a cast of characters that has always drawn us back, and we’re so grateful to be able to finally get the book out into the world.”

On a world that has forgotten its own history, the key to excavating the past is in the hands of a young thief who must escape a vengeful wizard and his unstoppable golem.

The series will be coming soon from Image Comics.

https://twitter.com/THEEBaldMoose/status/966388960623656960

FARMHAND by Rob Guillory Rob Guillory (CHEW) returns to both write and draw an all-new series in, FARMHAND.

FARMHAND follows Ezekiel Jenkins, a family man and new agrarian who returns to his family fields—but these nightmarish crops give a new meaning to ear of corn and fingerling potatoes.

“This is a story that’s been very near and dear to me for quite some time, and I’m absolutely thrilled to finally announce it,” said Guillory. “I can’t wait to introduce readers to the wonderful and horrific world of FARMHAND.”

FARMHAND launches from Image Comics in July 2018.

More at Paste

JOOK JOINT by Tee Franklin & Maria Nguyen  Fresh off the buzz for BINGO LOVE’s release on Valentine’s Day, Franklin took to the stage to announce a new project with Image Comics—JOOK JOINT—with Maria Nguyen.

JOOK JOINT is a 5-issue time-period horror miniseries about a brothel/jazz club exposing the social evils of racism, rape, domestic violence, and inequality.

Because of its subject matter, JOOK JOINT is set to launch in October 2018, in time for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Franklin and Nguyen will work with Image Comics on coordinating special charity variants to benefit Joyful Heart, a non-profit founded by Mariska Hargitay which places focus on healing, education and advocacy.

“As a domestic violence survivor, this is a story I’ve been working on for years. It’s been extremely cathartic and therapeutic. It was important for me to have an artist who understood what JOOK JOINT meant to me, before inviting them to embark on this journey with me,” said Franklin. “I appreciate that Image Comics has allowed me to tackle this subject matter, in addition to working with us on charity variants for Mariska Hargitay’s Healing Heart foundation. I now have an opportunity to use my talents to help survivors like myself. People have helped me when I was going through a rough time in my life and now I want to give back.”

More at Polygon

  THE LAST SIEGE by Landry Q. Walker & Justin Greenwood Bestselling creators Landry Q. Walker (DANGER CLUB, Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade) and Justin Greenwood (THE FUSE, Stumptown) team up for an all-new, ongoing medieval war story, inspired by the storytelling structure of classic Spaghetti Westerns.

“For years I have wanted to tell a medieval war story, one that pulls away from the fantasy elements the genre is so often saddled with,” said Walker. “Swords, castles, and rage, all in a world where life is cheap. No other frills or distractions. Seeing this book come to print is a moment I have looked forward to for a long, long time.”

Greenwood added: “Fast, gritty and full of action—I’d been looking for a book to really cut loose on and this project came along at the perfect time. I haven’t drawn this much dirt or blood in a long time and loving every minute of it.”

The series launches from Image Comics in Summer 2018.

https://twitter.com/sktchdcomic/status/966390932491792384

LEVIATHAN by John Layman, Nick Pitarra, & Mike Garland  Eisner-award winning, New York Times bestselling writer John Layman (CHEW) is back, teaming up with New York Times bestselling artist Nick Pitarra (THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS) and colorist extraordinaire Mike Garland in the all new, ongoing series—that’s Godzilla by way of black magic—in LEVIATHAN.

In LEVIATHAN, a group millennials try to do a black magic ritual for laughs and end up summoning a demonic giant monster determined to kill them all.

LEVIATHAN is coming this summer to Image Comics.

TODD MCFARLANE ANNOUNCES FIVE NEW PROJECTS Todd McFarlane, President of Image Comics and creator of SPAWN, took to the stage today to announce  five new comic projects. The timing of these come on the heels of his upcoming directorial debut for the new SPAWN feature film. The movie will be in production by late spring so these comics will hit shelf just as the SPAWN movie is getting wide publicity across multiple platforms.

To help retailers take advantage of the upcoming SPAWN news buzz he announced the five projects below:

1) MEDIEVAL SPAWN and WITCHBLADE crossover miniseries This May release is a re-teaming of two of Image’s most popular original characters. The new mini-series is written by Brian Holguin with art by Brian Haberlin with 32 full pages of story and art will also feature a special augmented reality cover for only $2.99.

Fan favorites Spawn and Witchblade together for the first time in two decades!

2) SPAWN KILLS EVERYONE 2 (mini-series) Due to the wonderful success of the one-shot, Todd McFarlane is creating along with Will Robson a four part mini-series that has our childish Spawn giving birth to hundreds of smaller Spawn babies who take his “kill list” and try to help out their new father.

3) MISERY (new ongoing monthly series) In the wake of the #MeToo scandals arises a teenage hero who is tired of being pushed around and abused by the actions of others. This new character, MISERY, will help out those innocent people who have been victimized by the evil that is spread across the entire planet.

Stories will go global as Misery tries to discover exactly how to control her powers and how to make others feel her…misery.

4) SPAWN (on-going monthly title) Comic Industry’s longest running independent title continues its march towards its 300th issue as well as tying into the upcoming movie that McFarlane is writing and directing with Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions.

The comic Spawn is setting the stage to flush out some of his biggest enemies that he has locked on earth. He will come face to face with the Clown, Overt-Kill and an all-new Violator.

5) SAM and TWITCH True Detectives (8 part mini-series) Detective “Twitch” Williams will be the main focus in the new full length film about to go into production and he will be introduce to a whole new audience with his appearance in the SPAWN film.

All eight issues have already been completed and will be released close to the film’s announcement and trailers. Much like THE WALKING DEAD, new viewers will be drawn to the stories and characters they will be seeing on the big screen and also a potential new TV series.

OBLIVION SONG by Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici Image Comics partner Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) took to the stage to show off the OBLIVION SONG #1 trailer for a sneak peek at what’s in store for fans on Wednesday, March 7th when the new series hits stores.

PROXIMA CENTAURI by Farel Dalrymple  Farel Dalrymple returns with an all-new, six-issue miniseries full of psychedelic-science-fantasy-action drama in PROXIMA CENTAURI.

PROXIMA CENTAURI follows the teenage adventurer Sherwood Presley Breadcoat, “The Scientist” Duke Herzog, Dr. EXT the Time Traveller, M. Parasol, Shakey the Space Wizard, and Dhog Dahog. Sherwood is looking for escape from the spectral dimensional space zone and a way back to earth and his brother.

The miniseries will launch in June 2018.

THE RED HOOK, Vol 1: NEW BROOKLYN by Dean Haspiel  Emmy and Ringo Award winner Dean Haspiel brings THE RED HOOK to print for the first time.

The Red Hook is a super-thief who is bequeathed the Omni-Fist of altruism and is transformed into a superhero against his will or he will die a year after a sentient Brooklyn’s heart is broken and physically secedes from America to form New Brooklyn.

The graphic novel will hit stores in June 2018.

SHANGHAI RED by Christopher Sebela & Joshua Hixon Christopher Sebela and Joshua Hixson team up for a turn of the century revenge thriller SHANGHAI READ, a story that stretches from the deck of a boat outside Shanghai to the bleak streets (and the secret tunnels beneath them) of Portland, Oregon. A violent journey of vengeance, identity and family.

“Josh and I have been working on this book for a few years now in secret, just waiting for the chance to unleash it on readers and we’re kinda freaking out that this thing we’ve put so much time and sweat into is really real and really good,” said Sebela.

The series launches from Image Comics in June 2018.

SON OF HITLER OGN by Anthony Del Col & Jeff McComsey Acclaimed writer ANTHONY DEL COL (Assassin’s Creed, Kill Shakespeare), New York Times bestselling cartoonist JEFF McCOMSEY (FUBAR), and newcomer GEOFF MOORE come together for an action-packed, original graphic novel, SON OF HITLER.

The never-before-told story of Adolf Hitler’s secret child and how this son was the key to ending World War II is now revealed in this audacious graphic novel based upon one of history’s most intriguing rumors.

“Like any top secret mission, SON OF HITLER involved meticulous planning, maps, secret meetings and the twisting of arms,” said Del Col. “So now that our mission has finally been revealed we can get around to the execution of it. And by execution, I mean the planned execution of Adolf Hitler.”

In 1943 Nazi-occupied France a rogue British S.O.E. agent recruits a young baker’s assistant for a dangerous mission by sharing with him a revelation no one would ever want to hear: he is the biological son of Adolf Hitler.

The original graphic novel will hit stores in May 2018.

More at B&N

UNNATURAL by Mirka Andolfo  Mirka Andolfo brings hit Italian comic title, Contro Natura, to Image Comics in an English translated fantasy erotica title, UNNATURAL.

Leslie is a simple pig girl, she loves sushi and she is trapped in a job that she hates. She lives with Trish, her best friend. In her world, which is full of anthropomorphic creatures, the government interferes in the personal lives of its citizens, up to the point of allowing only relationships between individuals of the same race. The transgressors are punished. They are accused of being… unnatural! Leslie dreams of something different for herself. But these dreams are becoming dangerous, especially because they feature a mysterious wolf. And, when she wakes up, she thinks that she is being watched…

The series will launch in July 2018.

THE WEATHERMAN by Jody LeHeup & Nathan Fox Writer Jody LeHeup (SHIRTLESS BEAR-FIGHTER), Eisner Award-nominated artist Nathan Fox (DMZ, HAUNT, Dark Reign: Zodiac), and Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart (Hellboy, RUMBLE) merge to form an unstoppable sci-fi tour de force with THE WEATHERMAN!

Local weatherman and fun-loving amnesiac Nathan Bright was just a normal guy living the good life on terraformed Mars. But the past Nathan didn’t know he had comes back to murder him when he’s accused of carrying out the worst terrorist attack in human history—an event that wiped out nearly the entire population of Earth.

Confused, terrified, and ill-prepared for life as the galaxy’s most wanted man, Nathan’s fate lies in the hands of Amanda Cross, the disavowed government agent assigned to his case. Together the unlikely duo will have to rely on each other as they battle their way through the solar system in search of the truth buried in Nathan’s lost memory…and the key to stopping the real enemy from carrying out a second extinction-level attack.

“Series artist Nathan Fox’s work on THE WEATHERMAN will hit you like a bolt of lightning,” said LeHeup. “Vicious and vital, it’s high energy for even higher stakes. There simply aren’t comics more beautiful than this.”

Fox added: “Before I even finished Jody’s first script  I knew I had to tell this story. THE WEATHERMAN is one of the most inspired, relevant, and human stories I’ve ever had the privilege of contributing to and I absolutely cannot wait for people to read it.”

A full-throttle, widescreen, science fiction epic about the damage we do in the name of justice and what it truly means to be redeemed…

The series will launch in June 2018.

WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? by Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss

Image via Sktchd The critically-acclaimed, breakout creative team behind 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK, Tyler Boss & Matthew Rosenberg come to Image Comics for an new series, WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?

“I’m really excited to be making my Image Comics debut with a book that is very personal to me,” said Rosenberg. “And I’m thrilled to do it with Tyler, who I can barely tolerate as a person, but is a brilliant artist and collaborator. Together we’re working to make a book that we hope will impact people the same way so many of our favorite comics have impacted us over the years.”

WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? tells the story of a gang of young punks getting lost in the wasteland of America. After their youngest member disappears their quest to find her may put them in a fight to survive against the most deadly terrain, the most dangerous gangs, and maybe even each other. Or maybe not. Either way they’re going to find out how the world ended.

Boss added: “The story and world Matthew and myself have built is dense and (hopefully) exciting. I’ve never felt more creatively charged and I’ve been putting that energy into every page. I hope that old man Rosenberg can keep up.”

It launches in November 2018.

Image Expo 2018 Wrap-up with Netflix, Kirkman, McFarland, Williams, Wu, Rosenberg and MORE Image Expo is today and the announcement segment just wrapped up. The event was streamed live from Twitch and thanks to Twitter, our own ears, and even official PR here's a list of the new projects and announcements:

[viralhottopics]

The problem with Magic: the Gathering no one is talking about | The Daily Dot

Two weekends ago, Magic: the Gatherings Pro Tour, the seasonal capstone of its organized-play system, kicked off in Madrid. The decks were creative and diverse, the matches were strategically interesting, and the new cards were sweetat least to people that already really, really like Magic cards. When the climactic last round before the playoffs went down, only 27,000 people were watching, andfull disclosureI wasnt one of them, despite being a hardcore Magic player in the past.

On the same Sunday the most recent Pro Tour wrapped up, Wizards of the Coast, the Hasbro subsidiary that makes Magic, announced itd be cutting benefits to Magics top competitive players by some $11,000 per player per year. By Monday, a backlash had begun among some of the biggest voices within Magic, and the following Tuesday, Wizards relented, pledging to restore the funding for next year.

Behind the numbers and the news, however, theres an even bigger problem that no one is addressing: Magic is a bad spectator game, and to truly save the Pro Tour, Hasbro might have to kill it first.

Magic: the Gathering is an enormous commercial success; its annual revenue, upwards of $300 million, is greater than Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 combined. However, Magic is a game from a different era, and nowhere is this more evident than its system of organized play.

Theres an even bigger problem that no one is addressing:Magicis a bad spectator game.

The Magic Pro Tour, which has existed since 1996, has been overshadowed by esports, whose prize pools regularly exceed the Pro Tours modest $250,000 purse. Magic is somewhere around the 30th-most popular offering on Twitch.tv, and it is hemorrhaging market share to Hearthstone, whose revenue roughly matches Magics $300 million a year and whose rank on Twitch is usually number two.

The Magic Pro Tour, saddled with small prize pools, low production values, weak commentary, illegible cards, and a game thats difficult to follow, appeals only to a narrow audience. If its top-tier tournaments appealed to a broader audience, Magic could be much, much bigger. To do so, Magic will have to implement some drastic changes.

Over the last few months, these changes have been set in motion. Though Magic has been growing by some 30 percent a year for the last six years, Hasbro announced in April that Wizards was switching CEOs, from Greg Leeds, an international marketing executive, to Chris Cocks, a sales guy from Microsoft. That followed another announcement from the head of all Hasbro, Brian Goldner, extolling the digital ecosystem, branding through storytelling, and a product called Magic Digital Next, to be released in the next few years. On top of that, at Hasbros 2016 investor day, the company called Magic a top 5 esports brand.

The last announcement was surprising for two reasons: Its untrue, and Hasbro has, since around 2007, been loath to spend any money on promoting competitive Magic. Magic pays its pros very little to do something very hard, and in this context, taking away $11,000 from Magics top players looks like yet more shortsighted cost-cutting. This is the prevailing interpretation among Magic players, who are right when they add that Hasbro would benefit hugely from professional Magic being a real thing. The problem is that Hasbro and Magic players have completely different ideas about what the competitive future of the game actually looks like.

Wizards original pay-cut announcement explained itself like so: The appearance fees we awarded for Platinum pros were meant to assist in maintaining the professional Magic players lifestyle; upon scrupulous evaluation, we believe that the program is not succeeding at this goal. Well, who would disagree with that? Magic doesnt grant its pros a living wage. The recent Magic documentary Enter the Battlefield stars two top players who live with their parentsnot a great incentive for players aspiring to be the best in the world.

Magicpros are, with a few exceptions, not the people Hasbro wants representing its brand.

This is crazy, because Magic makes its owners a ton of money, and there have been calls for a steep raise for the pros for over a decade. Indeed, later in the pay-cut announcement, Wizards revealed the Magic World Championship purse would increase from $150,000 last year to $250,000 this year, then $500,000 in 2017. Hasbro has a lot of cash to throw around, and creating a real professional class, via larger prizes and appearance fees, wouldnt cost much more in the grand scheme of things. So why not do it now?

Its simple: That wouldnt address the real issue. Very few people watch Magic. More than million tuned in for Dota 2 during the International, by contrast, and roughly 100,000 tune in regularly to watch Hearthstone on Twitch. And judging by its continuous attempts to defund the Pro Tour and marginalize the pros, Hasbro must think part of the problem is the current cohort of Magic pros. In Hasbros eyes, the current Magic pros have demonstrated a willingness to work for little money and few professional prospects, and they lead a lifestyle few would envy. If your final goal with organized play is to attract stars and engage a broader audience, then youre acknowledging the current crop of pros youve hired and retained, at a lower rate, is part of the problem.

Its true that a steep raise today would help legitimize Magic and improve the lives of the pros, who deserve it. But it wouldnt change the fact that Magic pros are, with a few exceptions, not the people Hasbro wants representing its brand. Under Leeds and Goldner, Magic achieved its high growth rate by moving its branding towards storytelling and resonance, and away from the pros. To casual players, the faces of the game arent Owen Turtenwald and Gerry Thompson; theyre the in-game characters Jace and Chandra.

For the most part, the pros are hardcore gamers, a holdover from a previous, less populist era of gaming. Comparing Magic pros social-media followings, streaming incomes, and cross-brand appeal with top esports competitors, its clear almost all of them struggle to attract mainstream viewers. Magics Pro Tour, which puts its competitors through a grueling schedule, doesnt even cater lunch, and draws an audience of hardcore Magic gamers only, faces the same problem.

Greg Leeds once tried to eliminate the Pro Tour entirely, but he was rebuffed by Magic R&D. Im guessing Chris Cocks will be more persistentand Magic R&D, already subordinate to Magic branding, will be brought further under control.

To call Magic a bad spectator game isnt a knock on the design. Even though I dont play much anymore, its still my favorite game, ever. Plus, it came out in 1993, and no one knew itd be important to appeal to huge digital audiences decades down the line. But Magic also has a bunch of weird timing rules that are delightful to junkies like me and baffling to the casual viewers Hasbro wants. Magic has over 13,000 unique cards; Hearthstone has under 1,000. To succeed as an esport, Magic will have to be radically simplified.

This sounds more difficult than it really is, and Magic Digital Nextwhich Goldner described as a new digital experience leveraging contemporary technology to create a seamless digital experience that meets all the players needs from new players to pro playersis likely to be Hasbros first attempt at making a modernized, simplified Magic.

To succeed as an esport,Magicwill have to be radically simplified.

The digital platform can not only give the brand a distinct identity from paper cardsit also has many advantages over them. With Magic Digital Next, Wizards could stop worrying about card stores, gambling laws, and a secondary market thats profitable for barely anyone. Paper cards are expensive: With a digitized Magic, casual players could be engaged and retained without having to spend fabulous sums just to play. The whole catalog of old, archaic, or confusing cards could be cut at once. Game-design mistakes could be retracted or revised. Cheating could be contained. Short animations could tell the story of the game to a casual audience.

And almost anything would be a better story than whats currently being told by the Pro Tour, which draws a tiny audience, or the small-print cards and buggy interface of Magic Online streams.

No one knows how the story of Magics overhaul ends. My best guess is that the game will exist both as a simplified Magic Digital Next and as a traditional paper product. Though the paper product will still be supported, allowing collections to retain value and addicts to justify spending the huge per-capita sums that make Magic so profitable, the digital will quickly outgrow the paper.

A big part of this will be competitive play, which will be conducted over Magic Digital Nexts pleasing new client. This will let streamers make a living catering to mainstream audiences. Hasbro will then increase spending on premier Magic events from $500,000 to $1 million and beyond, since doing so will actually attract a larger viewership, as well as premier gaming talent. And Magic will at last grow beyond a niche audience and afford its representatives a decent living, which will grow the audience, which will increase the prizes, which will grow the audience. And so on.

Of course, the plan could fail. It necessitates drastic changes in gameplay and personnel, which will take time and money. But Magic, which has been drifting towards making these moves for the last six years, isnt that far behind: Its prizes and revenue are on par with Hearthstones. And, though Hearthstone is a formidable competitor, with big events and stars of its own, all the pieces are in place for Magic. Its already a great game, with many skilled designers, a long history of profitability and innovation, and a handful of players whose cross-cultural appeal would be right at home in the esports world.

The exciting thing is that Magics barely begun to tap its potential. If Magics revenue can exceed $300 million with peak viewerships of 27,000, how big will it be when it monetizes digital platforms like Clash Royale, harnesses elegant watchability like Hearthstone, and draws real esports audiences?

In the words of Wizards founder, Peter Adkison, the Magic Pro Tour was created 20 years ago as a lifestyle opportunity for a young generation of Magic players to be professionals. This vision has been lost. But if Magic becomes an esport, it could once again be realized.

CML, a freelancer in Seattle, has written for Gawker, the Seattle Weekly, and several other publications. He maintains a website at cmlwrites.com and a Twitter at @CMLisawesome.

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