#First solo and now jurgen

[stonebasalt]

the serial farter

[joleneghoul]

Hello! Foe the character ask game, Ted Kord please!

Gladly! Ted is genuinely my favorite above all dc character I have a lot to say about him! Under the cut again because these posts are so long especially this one because it turned into a lot of rambling.

– Overall opinion of them

Overall like I said, Ted IS my favorite dc character. Which I know that's a lot of characters to live up to but he's special to me for a lot of reasons (some irl influence is on that as well outside of comics as I mentioned in my Booster post).

He is really endearing to me as a legacy hero who has NO powers within a power wielding legacy of heroes. He didn't ask to become blue beetle, he wasn't ready to be a hero (really who is?), he had no training at all and when the scarab didn't work he took it upon himself to find his OWN way to lead the legacy. I just think that's super cool. He never even GETS powers which is the coolest part to me- he is forever reliant on his very own non-superhuman skills. ( I know there are other heroes who do this but not many of those heroes are following a legacy where the hero before them had an insane amount of powers.)

Adding onto that his story becomes one of being disabled/chronically ill in a profession where an illness (moreso at the time of those comics) wasn't something you could HAVE and remain a hero. and that was GOOD for his character. Ted's character arc should have always ended up with a book-end on the blue beetle legacy for him. There should have been one day where he took off that costume, never put it back on, and let go of that legacy he didn't ask for and took care of HIMSELF. And maybe more importantly for Ted's mental health realized he did what Dan wanted him to and was a GOOD hero. Especially since Jaime has the mantle of Blue Beetle now. There is genuinely no reason for two Blue Beetles at once- Ted is a valuable character outside of costume more than IN it narrative wise.

Do i think Ted's disability is treated well, especially now, and especially by writers behind the scenes? No. Do i think it is a super important part of his character and makes sense for him to always ended up retired from heroing? Yes. I just want to see someone realize this and harness that potential!

– Gender/sexuality headcanons I think Ted is a transgender Bi man. I think he had his gender figured out before his sexuality though. I also think there comes to be a point in his life where he gets to challenge the idea of masculinity outside of public perception and make the definition of "man" into his own thing. (but I also feel that way about Ted if he were a "cis" man or unlabeled or anything really!)

That's a very vague concept but it's something I feel would fit with his character and the themes of overall acceptance of WHO he is VS who the people before him (Dan, older heroes, etc) were.

I will also mention there is genuinely TRANSPHOBIA towards ted in comics (I am not going to post that bc it makes me genuinely sick.) joking about him being a trans man that was written by jurgens "fun" fact (sarcasm on the fun). I notice Guy and Ted for some reason get thrown shit like that and its really weird? idk something i've noticed! It's also something that makes me more inclined to reclaim (probably wrong word) Ted from cis writers.

– Favorite moment in canon

I honestly don't think any specific moment comes to my mind as my FAVORITE moment, again he's one of those characters I find a lot of joy in and have a lot of favorite moments.

I really enjoy a moment early on in his solo issue #2 where he literally lifts a burning house off of himself because he's stubborn and can't give up.

I also hold a very soft place in my mind for the issue where Ted goes around sitting with the homeless in Issue #16, asking them stories and learning about them because I myself was homeless when I first read his comics! I think that was a really good opportunity for someone like Ted, who had a wealthy upbringing of sorts to learn perspectives he himself never experienced which is EXTREMELY important when you have a character like him.

Again, could have been handled better and I would have done it differently in some parts, but still is important and shows his compassion for others. I would love to see more of Ted helping people out GROUND LEVEL than just LEAGUE level. I feel at times that Ted's biggest strengths like that are left behind in him joining the JLI but that didn't have to be the case. I don't think Ted would stop caring about those things after joining the league (not that in comics he stopped caring it was just less seen).

– Favorite moment in a fanwork

If I say AGKOL again... will y'all be mad at me.. LOL! Sorry but I do really love the characterization and nuance of Ted within that series. He is treated like a actual person instead of just "boosters friend/partner" and I REALLY appreciate that. I think my favorite character moment so far in that series for him is Contaminated Minds where he talks about his complicated feelings for his neglectful father who is sick.

Um, Outside of that I have to say me and my boyfriends personal universe and stories we have made through the years for Ted. They aren't posted anywhere and are very personal but do remain some of my favorite thing's we have created.

Artist wise! This would have to have the same answer as my Booster post though the biggest inspirations artistic wise for me with Ted have been @bigturtl and @starringbeetle since literally day one.

– Favorite line, in canon or otherwise

I think about this panel from showcase 94 #2 every single day of my fucking life and there was a moment in my life where I couldn't find it and convinced myself that I made it up in my mind(I did not make it up).

– Characters I love seeing them interact with

Booster Gold, obviously. I think a lot of Ted's strongest character moments (IN THE PAST) come from Ted's genuinely care for Booster. How Ted will over and over be moved to the point of inventing new things for Booster or how he defied actual Death to keep Booster alive during judgement day.

I do think some of the stronger Ted moment's come from him holding Booster accountable and vice versa like the first story withing Justice League Quarterly #10 has got to be one of my FAVORITE stories with them. I think there is a lot of love to be expressed in not being afraid to tell the harsh TRUTH to someone you care about.

That being said I do also think writers seeing Ted as only an extension of Booster rather than his own character himself is very detrimental to his character. Like SPEAKING of judgement day afterwards it seems Ted forgets a lot of his relationships and loyalty to the rest of the JLI (I think of Tora and Bea here) in order to cater to Boosters needs. Am I saying that's entirely unrealistic? No...But again it's one of those things I wish was done better or maybe not at all. THIS is not even considering how Ted nowadays in comics is such a non-character and is just a "sidekick" to any of Boosters stories...even in Blue and Gold where he is HALF of the comics title.

SPEAKING OF BEA! She is also one of my favorite characters I like to see Ted interact with, Specifically after Booster leaves the JLI to join the conglomerate it feels as though she's someone who supports him and hangs out with him...a Blue and Green! team up of sorts lol. It's weird to me that a lot of Ted's friendships with women he's had in the past are nowadays looked at as "well he liked them actually romantically" (Bea in convergence then Babs in canon). Likewise I also really love his friendship with Tora before her death.

I know this will be shocking but I'm not the largest Barbara fan (as a character) but I do really appreciate her and Teds FRIENDSHIP a lot. It felt like solidarity between disabled characters that's not seen enough.

LASTLY....BRING MURRAY BACK NOW!! He was Ted's best friend in college and I feel so so so annoyed that all of Ted's pre-JLI friends are just forgotten? That's not an exclusive experience to his character within the JLI but still. Very annoying. Bring Murray back...Like Ted knew him so well he could GUESS his passwords.

– Last thing before sleeping headcanons & Sleeping habits headcanons

I think when Ted is younger and in the league he doesn't get as much sleep as he should...I think he has insomnia that's from a few sources (ptsd, general stress, etc) but combats any thoughts he has while he can't sleep by just hyper-focusing on something else (inventing, anything like that) THUS leading to more staying up and less sleep itself. I think there's a point in his life as he gets older especially with his conditions where...He just has to sleep even if he doesn't want to for the sake of his health. I think though while that's true he's more of a night owl and a day sleeper- he's the type of guy to be awake at 3am like it's a normal time of day. Otherwise, of course before bed he takes his medications. I know he has one of those cute pill boxes or whatever. Also I think he snores like a freight train when asleep and also kicks whoever is in bed with him in his sleep.

– First thing after waking up headcanons

He is the king of staying in bed for hours after waking up just laying there ESPECIALLY if he wakes up during the day time. I think morning and daytime make him feel exhausted and he just prefers darkness (this is backed up in canon as well like the fact he prefers his lab to have no lights on etc). Chronic fatigue life.

– Favorite locations headcanon

He himself said he is a city boy- but anyways I think his favorite places are places he has built himself and are very familiar with. Whether that be his lab or his home, doesn't matter, it's more about the control of knowing where everything is and how everything works in an area.

[thelordofdarkreunion]

The Misty Planet

Here we go.  By request, a story (or, in this case, story line) where the Scoundrels meet Deus from the Empyrean Iris stories by starr-fall-knight-rise.  Things play out a little differently here, because this time, the Great Game has begun, and there are now more players...

“The game is afoot.”  -Sherlock Holmes

The view from the starship’s bridge was quite the sight to behold.  A massive red star, glowing with power, shone from outside.  The windows were tinted, of course, to allow the individuals inside to see without damaging their vision.  But, mighty as the star was, it was another structure that the individuals were examining.  The second star.  Smaller, but no less beautiful than the first.  This one, though, had strange, alien structures orbiting it.  Which was why the group was here.  

“So.  We’re the bloody universe’s problem solvers, I suppose,” muttered Thomas Drake, itching his nose with the edge of a black-gloved finger.  

“Well, we were the first to make contact with each other and the other galaxies after the… time-screwy thing.  We also prevented the attack on the Citadel, and found out who was behind it,” replied Shepard.  “Still working on finding the Shadow Broker and why he… or she, possibly, would want to kill the members of almost every government in the universe.”  

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.  We’ll figure that one out later.  One problem at a time,” sighed Krirk.

“I’m good with that,” said Drake.  “Now.  On to business.  Admiral Vir.  Why the hell are we here?”  Vir walked up to the viewing glass and let out a low sigh.  

“Well, basically, here’s the deal.  My crew and I came to the Polaris star, which most of you ought to recognize as it exists in all of your galaxies except one, and saw this weird, unknown structure on Polaris Ab, the smaller star of the two main ones.  We have also discovered a planet nearby.”  Vir went to a console and pulled up an image, taken from the ground of a strange looking alien wasteland.  He let out a deep breath before going on.  “This was a picture taken on a very similar planet that my crew found in the past.  The two seem to be related.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” muttered Solo.  Cooper gave him a blank stare.  

“Do you ever not?” 

“Occasionally,” huffed Solo.  “When we aren’t going to mysterious planets covered with red mist and big black pillars.”

“I agree.  The whole thing is rather… ominous,” said Shepard.  

“Well, if in doubt, we nuke the whole thing and be done with it,” said Drake.  Vir gave him a long-suffering side glance.  

“No.  We are not going to nuke it,” he said.  “There is too much information at stake.”  He sighed again.  “On that planet, we, or some of my crew and I, received visions of an entity called ‘Deus.’  What Deus is or what it wants we do not know.  However, we believe that these planets are somehow aligned.”  The holographic image changed, showing the Polaris system interlinked with the other strange, red planet, the Drev homeoworld, the Celzex homeworld, and Earth.  “What this place is, who created the massive structure on Polaris Ab, and why these systems are all interlinked is what we are here to find out,” finished Vir.  

“Visions?” asked Cain.  Not good.  Most definitely not good.  

“Yes,” replied Vir.  “Not harmful or long lasting, though.”  The group was silent for a moment, as they decided on how to approach this.  Throughout his career as a ship’s captain, and later, admiral, Vir usually operated on his best judgement.  While occasionally shaky at times, it usually won the day.  However, when wasn’t sure what to do, he usually asked himself one question: what would Captain Kirk do?  Well, Kirk was now here, in the same room, and apparently he didn’t have any clue either.  Might as well find out what he thinks, I suppose.  “Captain Kirk?  You seem to be in these sorts of situations a lot.  What do you think we should do?”  Kirk looked over with a frown.  

“We should investigate,” he said finally.  “I don’t particularly like it, never have, never will, but we have to see what’s going on all the same.”  The group nodded to each other.  

“Cooper and Solo, you stay up here in case anything… funny goes on,” ordered Vir.  The two nodded their consent.  “The rest of us… prepare.  Meet you on these coordinates on planet in 45 minutes.”

Aboard the Apocalypse   

“Right you sorry lot!  We are going planetside to investigate a bunch of alien architecture.  There may or may not be hostiles, but this place gives me the creeps,” announced Drake.  The Third Squad of armsmen looked over to him.  Lucky them.  They drew duty rotation when we’re above disturbing planet central.  “I’ve been around long enough, seen enough, heard enough stories, and watched enough horror movies to know what’s probably going to happen.”  As he said this, a pair of robotic arms locked his armor in place.  The armsmen were gearing up and checking their weapons, but still listening intently.  “You are going to bring full combat gear, full weapons, the works!  The whole works!  Everyone is going to be wearing fully sealed armor, and carry an extra respirator on hand, just in case.  You are also bringing provisions, again, just in case.”  Drake grabbed his plasma rifle and double, then triple checked it.  He then keyed his comms.  “Richter.  Ordelphine.  If for some reason we do not make it back, you are not to send any more soldiers down.  You have full authorizations for Genesis 19 protocols.  Use your best judgement.  I trust you two more than anyone else in this fleet, so do not allow them to override you.  Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”  On the other side of the comms line, Richter and Ordelphine winced.  Genesis 19 was code for the complete nuclear annihilation of anything on a planet deemed to be a threat.  Drake wasn’t taking any chances here, it seemed.  

Aboard the Normandy

Shepard took up a heavy machine gun and checked the ammunition.  This place reminded him too much of old Prothean planets, and the beacons located on them.  The massive black pillars and the visions Vir and his crew got from being near them were too much like the beacon he had touched on Eden Prime…  He still had nightmares about that mission.  This time, he was taking no chances.  Instead of taking a full team with him, he decided to go with what he normally did, and take three ground crew members.  All were carefully selected.  Garrus, because he wouldn’t trust anyone else to have his back as well as the Turian sniper.  Samara.  An ancient Asari biotic.  None more powerful or calm in a crisis.  Lastly, Mordin.  A Salarian scientist.  The only expert he had at the moment who might be able to figure out what these ruins were.  He hoped it would be enough.  

Aboard the Enterprise

Kirk, Spock and Master Chief stood next to the cylindrical grey transporters of the Enterprise.  The two Starfleet officers stood, checking their phasers and respirator masks, making sure nothing would go wrong once they got planetside.  Alongside them were a group of low ranking redshirts (hopefully they wouldn’t die this time, though Kirk was less than hopeful)  and the massive, green-clad figure of the Chief.  Said figure was currently looking over all of his weapons, making sure they were all there and battle ready.  Out of all the Scoundrels, it went without saying that he was the most physically powerful.  It would be his duty to eradicate anything particularly big or nasty they found on the planet.  If, of course, there was actually anything there.  The fleet’s scanners had picked up no life signs, but everyone was still on edge.  Kirk nodded and the group stepped into the transporter.  

“Beam us up, Scotty.”

Aboard the Omen

Commissar Cain leaned against a shuttle in the Omen’s massive hangar bay.  Of course, as the regiment’s champion of all things strange and alien, he had been chosen to lead the surface party.  He couldn’t say no.  How would it look to refuse to partake in a mission of this calibre in front of not only the Valhallans, but the Omen’s crew as well?  He would lose his status if he did.  So, it was with a very heavy heart that he warily donned his tattered set of carapace armor, strapped on his weapons, and made his way to the hangar.  Sargent Grifen was already there, along with her squad.  At least it was Grifen.  Cain had gone through a necron tomb with her squad and lived.  If he trusted anyone in the regiment with this mission, it was her.  And, of course, Jurgen.  Cain’s aide stood by his side, his ever present smell lingering in the air.  In his hands he held his melta gun, a weapon that had saved both their lives on numerous occasions.  Cain was sure Jurgen had other trinkets hidden in his pouches, in addition to the las rifle slung across his back.  Jurgen was ever prepared for anything.  

Cain looked up and over to where Admiral Vir entered the hangar.  He was backed up by a full contingent of marines and members of the Drev clan, followed by a few of the ship’s scientists.  Vir was wearing his suit of Iron Eye armor, fully insulated against the outside atmosphere.  Inside it, he was one of the group’s resident super soldiers, able to perform feats no ordinary person could ever aspire to.  Vir nodded as the Drev came to ease, resting their spears on the floor, and the marines checked their rifles one last time.  

“Let’s get going then, shall we?”

On the Planet

The Omen’s shuttle had landed in some sort of marshland, brackish water reaching up to the group’s shins.  Red mist stretched as far as the eye could see.  Black plants and a few totally black, dead trees littered the ground.  The Milano was parked nearby, on a larger solid stretch of ground, and Quill lounged outside it while his crew looked merely bored at the lack of action on this strange planet.  The Valhallans filed out of the shuttle, looking apprehensive in contrast to the Quill’s boredom and Vir’s excitement over exploring new planets.  A tiled black road led to some sort of black mass in the distance.  A city, if Vir had to guess.  How exciting!

A high whining sound rang out, and Kirk, Spock, and Master Chief teleported in alongside a contingent of Starfleet red-shirts.  The Chief stood statue still, weapons ready, as the Starfleet operatives joined the crew of the Omen in examining the black plant life that dotted the ground and the spaces in between the road tiles.  

The roar of shuttle engineers pierced the air, and the Normandy’s sleek shuttle made its descent alongside the Apocalypse’s heavy gunship transport.  Shepard, Garrus, and two aliens Vir and Cain didn’t recognize stepped out of the first, while Drake and a full contingent of armsmen.  

One of Shepard’s crew, a Salarian, by the looks of him, made a b-line to the scientists examining the plants, while Shepard and the other two greeted Quill.  The Apocalypse’s armsmen disembarked quickly, weapons at the ready as if they were on an active battlefield.  Drake made a circular motion to the shuttle pilot, who gave a thumbs up and immediately took off.  Drake approached Cain and gave a curt nodd.   

“This is your galaxy, Vir, so you’re in charge, but I don’t like the looks of this place.  I don’t want to spend a second longer here than I need to.”  Cain nodded.

“I agree.  This reminds me too much of some of the… stranger things I’ve seen.”  Vir pointed to the buildings on the horizon.  

“I understand,” he said reassuringly.  “Plus, we need to investigate that way anyway.  Let's move on.”  Vir made a motion to the scientists still crouched along the beginning of the pathway.  Dr. Wilson, one of the Omen’s scientists, looked up and held out a vial of the black plant.

“These are all dead.  But they’re remarkably well preserved…”

“Wilson is right.  Planet is dead.  Was once alive, but now everything here is lifeless.  Strangely well preserved, though,” rattled off the Salarian, almost without any breaths.  

“I’m liking this less and less,” muttered Cain.

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The group had walked the long titled road in silence, the red mist swirling around them.  At one point, there was a rain storm, and Vir had ordered everyone inside one of the decayed buildings they had finally reached.  Everyone had taken it differently.  Shepard and his crew looked apprehensive.  The crews of the Omen and Enterprise were looking over everything with curiosity.  Master Chief, Drake, Cain, the Valhallans, and the Apocalypse’s armsmen were fanned out, weapons raised, clearing corners and rooms as if they were expecting something to pop out of the dark any minute.  Quill and his Guardians merely looked bored.  Again.  

They had moved on further since then, into the city itself.  Huge black buildings, in varying states of decay, loomed ominously through the fog.  The scientists were all muttering to each other as the took readings, while the soldiers had all unconsciously moved into wedge formations.  Drake’s gunship whined overhead, ready to provide close air support at his request.  Some might have called it overkill and over-caution, but Drake hadn’t lived this long by not taking such measures.  

At this point, Vir was starting to get creeped out.  Everything here was… wrong, somehow.  It was like a faint childhood memory that one knew they remembered, but couldn’t actually remember.  The place was… familiar.  Sacred, somehow.  In addition, it was a decayed city with no signs of life, and no signs of what had happened to it.  

“Anyone know what might have happened here?” he whispered to the rest of the group.  Somehow, it felt wrong to raise his voice.  

“No.  Not the Borg’s style,” replied Kirk.  

“Reapers would have been more thorough,” whispered back Shepard.  

“I have no idea…” trailed off Cain.  In actuality, he had a few ideas.  None of them good.  None of them he could say, either.  

They came to a central spot, the roads all branching into what looked to be a main square.  A large building rose up in front of them, looking distinctly human in style.  

“Should we investigate?” asked Shepard.  

“Yes, and no,” replied Drake.  “I think some of us should stay here, outside, to make sure no one attacks our rear, while others go inside to investigate.”

“That makes… tactical sense,” replied Vir with a nodd.  “Alright.  Quill and Chief, along with some of the Enterprise’s crew and Valhallans, stay here.  The rest of you, follow me.”  

The building, as it turned out, was some sort of massive laboratory.  There were test tubes of strange, glowing liquid, some form of massive, incomplete mech hanging on calves, and endless rows of filing cabinets.  There were huge factory floors, complete with conveyor belts, all decayed and rusted into ignominy, and rooms filled with rows upon rows of vats of sludge.  With every passing room, the entering group got more and more apprehensive.  What the hell is this place?  What were they doing?  Vir wanted to yell.  It was all so very strange.  So very… creepy.  

This went on for some time, the invaders of this strange sanctum touching nothing, until they got to a central room.  The heavy blast doors that should have protected it were open.  Not a good sign.  In the center of the room was a pedestal, and upon the pedestal, a glowing white ball.  

“Safeties off,” hissed Drake.  “If there’s an ambush coming, now’s as good a time as any.”  Vir, Wilson, Kirk, and Shepard walked up to the ball. 

“What the hell is this?” asked Shepard warily.

“I don’t know,” replied Vir.  “Maybe… some sort of artifact?  Communication device?  No clue.”  Wilson reached out.  

“Don’t touch it!” screamed Cain and Shepard as one.  It was too late.  As soon as Wilson’s skin made contact with the glowing ball, a blast of pure white energy rang throughout the room, knocking everyone off their feet.  Soldiers flew in tangles of weapons, and scientists stumbled and knocked into walls.

Cain slid on the floor, and shook his head a moment to clear it of the force the ball had unleashed.  He looked around.  The Valhallans stood up, checking their weapons to make sure they were still working.  Shepard’s team stood up, Garrus bringing his rifle around and Samara glowing with blue energy.  Kril and the Salarian scientist stood up.  Rigaldis, leader of the Apocalypse armsmen, pushed himself to his feet.  All of the aliens were fine.  All of the Imperial humans were fine.  But the rest, the other humans…  Cain checked Shepard’s neck for a pulse.  It was there.  They were all alive, but completely unconscious.  

“What the hell was that?” asked one of the Valhallans.  

“Don’t know,” murmured Cain as he studied the unconscious humans.  With a suddenness that caused the medic checking him to recoil, Vir’s one organic eye snapped open.  It looked straight ahead, completely unseeing, and seemed to have an incandescent white glow about it.  The medic waved his hand in front of Vir.  He didn’t blink.  

“Deus…” he murmured, before falling once more into unconsciousness.  Everyone looked around uneasily.  

“What do we do?” asked one of the red shirts. 

“Don’t touch that,” Cain pointed at the white orb, “But bring them outside.  We can’t leave them here.”  

Outside was calm, or, as calm as a planet filled with roiling red fog could be.  Quill and Master Chief walked up to the group, noticing the bodies flung across many of the soldiers’ backs.  

“What the hell happened?” asked the Chief.  

“One of the scientists touched some sort of strange white orb,” replied Cain.  “It knocked them all unconscious.”

“We noticed some sort of burst of white energy,” said Quill.  “Didn’t know what it was.  Now we do, I guess,” he added with a shrug.  

“What do we do now?” asked the Chief once more.  

“It’s a strange, alien artifact, and they seem to be… possessed,” replied Cain.  He didn’t want to say it, but there was no avoiding it.  All of the unconscious humans had a white glow around their eyes.  

“Hmm,” muttered Quill.  “Possessed… I think I know someone who might be able to help us here,” he announced after a moment’s deliberation.  “I’ll send a message to him.”  

“I need to send a message too,” said Cain.  “We need to call in the experts.”

Stay tuned, because next time, the experts will arrive, and things are about to get pretty cool...

As per usual, none of these characters except Drake and his crew belong to me.  If you have any questions, comments, criticisms, requests, or concerns, please, feel free to ask!

[thevindicativevordan]

What are your full opinions on Jon Kent (Superboy) from his first appearance to now?

Was going to wait a bit to see how things shake out with Taylor, but screw it I can always make a follow up post. Short version is I like him in both of his incarnations. But both incarnations have major problems too.

Superboy

As a kid Jon quickly acquired fans. Jurgens may have been his father in terms of creating him, but Tomasi was his daddy in terms of fleshing him out. While I really enjoyed Jurgens Lois and Clark run (it's still his best work since the highs of the Triangle Era), Rebirth is where Jon really started to explode in popularity. Meeting and becoming friends with Damian, going on adventures with his dad, Superman Rebirth is the era of Jon more than anything. Tomasi's best work was when he was focusing on the father-son relationship between Clark and Jon in much the same way as he focused on Bruce and Damian in Batman & Robin. Whenever he tried to do solo Superman stories he fared very poorly.

Jon was a likable character, sunny and cocky, eager to test the limits of his powers. Very much in line with your typical shounen protagonist in personality, which Jimenez's manga influenced art only highlighted further. In many ways he was a chip off the old block, he was born on one world that was now dead but raised on another. He came of age in a small rural town, Clark was his "Pa" who worked on the farm, and had to train Jon since he couldn't pawn him off to an orphanage like Kara or ignore him like Kon. Like Clark, Jon was earnest, upbeat, optimistic, and had a temper when pushed (especially if it was by Damian). His best friend was the son of his dad's (second) best friend. His first crush was Kathy, the girl next door who was very much an expy of Lana. Clark's background and adult status quo was more or less recreated for his son beat for beat in a very familiar manner to Pre-Crisis Superboy. In a way Jon was basically a return of the Pre-Crisis Superboy, one being trained by the Post-Crisis Superman.

You may have noticed that I didn't mention Lois at all in this which leads into the big problem: Jon didn't feel like Lois' kid at all. There was nothing of her in his character, personality, or appearance (why not give him purple eyes at least?). She never had any real input on Jon's heroics, never offered an alternate opinion about how his upbringing or proposed a different outlook on being a hero than Clark did. Does Lois have the same opinion about killing that Clark does for example? No clue she never got to really interact with Jon on her own without Clark. How come that was never explored? Feel like that would be a very interesting conversation given it's her son who now has to risk his life throwing down with supervillains. Not a fan of Jon being Clark Jr. which is why I was not as up in arms as others were when Bendis arrived to shake things up.

Superman Secundus

His debut as Superman has been much more controversial. People were pissed Bendis aged him up, about how he was aged up, pissed he didn't just pal around with Damian anymore as the "light" to Damian's "darkness". So DC tapped the new golden boy, who had already written a successful take on Jon in DCeased, Tom Taylor. Taylor is someone who has had success at connecting fans with characters before, so he was the one tasked with making Jon palatable to the new audience DC wanted. Despite not enjoying Taylor generally, I've been enjoying Superman: Son of Kal-El enough to keep reading.

Now there was more of an effort to make him a character who could stand on his own while still continuing the trend of incorporating concepts made for Clark originally. So Jon got the Legion of Superheroes connection continuing the Pre-Crisis Superboy parallels. Now under Taylor he's billed as the Superman who will deal with "real issues" like Golden Age and the New 52 Superman did, one issue has him linking arms with protestors in a manner that's straight out of that cover of Pak's Action Comics run. For better or worst he's clearly being built to incorporate ideas that were meant to make Clark more relevant but were tossed aside when Rebirth reset Superman to a mix of the Post-Crisis and Pre-Flashpoint takes. Personally I'm ok with that much as I wish things had gone differently for New 52 Superman.

Know what you're thinking: "Didn't you say you hated Jon being Clark Jr.? Why are you talking about him taking all of Clark's stuff like it's a good thing?" I still feel the same way but I do have a reason why I think giving Jon some of his dad's things yet differentiating him from Clark can still work. The reason why is a mix of realism and hypocrisy when it comes to these kinds of legacy heroes.

Realistically there have been such a wide range of takes on Clark that all of the Superfamily members are overlapping with different takes, so none of them are wholly their own. Kara is the one who remembers Krypton, considers herself Kryptonian, and has a temper? Silver Age Superman considered himself Kryptonian and remembered Krypton, Golden Age Superman had a huge temper. Kon is the brooder? Bronze Age and Post Crisis Superman did that as often as they smiled. Steel is the genius? Superman has been shown to be no slouch in the brains department himself across his various incarnations. Kenan is the one who breaks the furthest away from the mold Clark has established in terms of character, but his development is all about how he becomes more like Clark over time. There's really no escaping the basic template Clark established (which makes me want to do a whole post on the limitations of legacy heroes).

Yet they all have attributes that make them distinct since Clark never shared them. Kara is a woman, who was supposed to raise her cousin but instead ended up in his shadow, and has to adapt to a new life as a teenager instead of a baby. Steel is human, a weapons builder before his change of heart, a native of Metropolis, and black. Kenan is human, Asian, not an American, his powers come from a mystical/magical source, and he starts out as an asshole with a good heart buried deep underneath. Kon is a hybrid clone, half Luthor, and loves the spotlight. There's storytelling potential with each of them that's different from what can be done with Clark.

So Jon having similarities to Clark isn't a deal breaker anymore than it is for the other members of the Superfamily. Deal breaker is when Jon has the same backstory/upbringing as Clark, all his friends are the kids of Clark's friends, his personality is the same, his methods as a hero are the same, and his personality is the same. One of my greatest fears for Jon is that they'll have him want to be a journalist, really hope that's not where Taylor or DC choose to go with him in terms of a career. Jon needs ideas that aren't just "junior version of his dad's career, friends, enemies, and LIs".

But the hypocrisy side of things is that I like a lot of ideas tried with Clark that have been retconned out. If Clark can't have that connection to the Legion, if he can't express a stance on social issues, if he can't go wild and crazy with the storytelling occasionally, then there should be a Superman who does offer all that. Why shouldn't it be Jon? Born in a parallel dimension and then raised on an Earth with two versions of his dad, Hamilton being a haven for alien refugees that were watching him at the behest of Manchester Black, travelling the Multiverse with Kathy as a kid, his grandpa coming back from the dead to take him on a trip through the cosmos, Jon has craziness baked into who he is as a character. Jon offers a new storytelling opportunity in that he's someone coming of age at the tail end of the "Greatest Age of Superheroes" and he can clearly see where they've fallen short. Who better to critique his father's style of superheroics, to not just blindly follow in Clark's footsteps but try to forge his own path? To attempt to do things differently?

Bringing in Wildstorm concepts like the Weatherman, Gamoora, and the 5G plan to pair him and Jenny Quantum together (something I still hope happens regardless of whether they're a couple or not, Jenny is awesome) is a great start to building Jon up as his own Superman. Taylor is uniquely suited to mine the Wildstorm Universe given he was the last one to write the Authority book before the New 52. Know some Wildstorm fans are unhappy about that universe being mined for the DCU, wishing they could get standalone books again, but just look at the Milestone books! Personally I think all three are great, but they're selling like crap apparently. Just don't think Milestone and WS can survive on their own outside of the DCU, so if you like those characters you should root for them to succeed in being integrated. Taylor has also said that he plans to showcase the Jon/Lois connection more, so far he hasn't, but I've seen art teases that suggest more content between the two is coming. Hopefully the two can finally have a big conversation with each other without Clark's involvement. Would love to see more Lois in his personality (I'm of the opinion Jon should shittalk his opponents the way Lois rips people like Lex verbally and in her writing),

Hard to say what the future holds for Jon. He's made his liveaction debut on Superman & Lois (with both of the sons containing some of his comic incarnation's traits). Young Justice is where he debuted in animation, so I think he'll be a player in future YJ seasons (assuming there are any beyond S4). Yet the film side seems to have cut off any possibility of his showing up there and both Conner and Val will be competing with him as the heir to the Superman mantle on HBO Max. Jim Lee has said that a lot of their recent moves have been made with an eye towards adaptation, and I 100% believe what's been done with Jon has been part of that. My guess? After Sasha is done as Supergirl, the next main universe DCEU Super will be Jon taking over as Superman. Everything done so far has done with the aim of making sure there's material to use for when that happens. Time will tell if I'm wrong but that's my guess for why things have happened as they have.

[getetteroo]

what are durth’s adventures around skyrim like? :3 when does she meet her pals, and in what order did u play her quests in-game? sorry if this is a loaded question, i just rly love her ;-;

I decided to make a bit of a timeline under the cut. It’s not the most interesting written thing, but it’s pretty much everything. I will go more into detail about how she met Inigo and Rumarin later in a different post. 

Before Helgen-

Age 6 - Durth lost her mother to the Thalmor at 6 years old, prompting her family to move from Markarth to Riften.

As a teen she and her brother get up to a lot of trouble in Riften, but their dad made sure they know not to meddle with the guild. Uncle Urag comes over every once in a while to teach them to read and write and Durth eventually gets a small job at the Temple (mostly keeping things clean.)

Age 18 - Durth has been accepted at the college of Winterhold! She meets Onmund, Brelyna and J’zargo there. She spends four years at the college and the quest takes place in the last two of them. 

Age 23 - Instead of being made the new Archmage because really? I’d like to think she’d been offered some sort of apprenticeship Psijic Order. She went with them and spend quite a long time there. She wasn’t actually planning to ever leave but someday she suddenly got a letter stating that her father was dying.

After Helgen-

Age 27 - Durth travels home in hope to see her dad one more time before he dies. However upon arriving at the border she immediately got picked up by the imperial army and carted to Helgen. 

Durth saw the dragon, saw the chaos, followed Ralof out and then BOOKED it to Riften. She was able to meet up with her family,  she didn’t tell them what happened on her way there not wanting to bother her father on what pretty much turned out to be his last day.

After that, she decided to leave again. She thought about making her way to Winterhold to figure out what the hell was going on in skyrim these days. But on her way out of Riften she got recognized by Brynjolf who, as he tends to do, immedeatly tried to recruit her into the thievesguild. Durth being incredibly insulted and emotional started a fight. 

And that is how she met Inigo, being tossed into the same cell as him. And she pretty much immediately broke down and dumped everything that happened to her that day on him. Together they came to the conclusion that maybe, the jarl of Whiterun should be notified of this. Y’know seeing as far as Durth knows, only two people actually made it out.

From there the quest pretty much continues as normal.

On her way from High Hrothgar to the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller she meets Rumarin. She is head-over-heals within a week.

In between the main quest they get up to a lot of shenanigans, turning into a full fledged adventurers group. She picks up Lucia somewhere on the way.

Age 29 - Then as the peace treaty failed, Durth joined the stormcloaks. She got into an argument about it with Inigo and Rumarin, not talking to either of them for a while. Inigo ended up doing quite a lot of work to stay friends with her but Ru was a bit to stubborn to contact her first. 

During the war she adopts Braith after her parents die in the attack of Whiterun. Almost being branded a deserter for it by not seeing the entire fight through. Durth absolutly hates having joined the Stormcloaks after they storm Markarth.

After the rebellion and being kicked out after a fight with Ulfric she returns to her friends with her tail in-between her legs, asking them if they still want to help her end this thing. And they did. Inigo even following her to Sovengarde and back.

Age 30- she is finally done with the main quest. She stays at home in Riften for a while but grows restless pretty fast. She officially joins the College of Winterhold again and does mostly field work. And so they keep adventuring for some time, mostly on the east side of Skyrim so she can stay close to her daughters and the College. She gets married to Rumarin somewhere around this time.

Age 33- Some cultists show up to Riften and threaten her and her kids in the middle of the market square, she is not amused. She pretty much speedrunned  her way to Miraak. 

Age 40 something- The kids are moving out, her brother wants to move back into Honeyside (which is technically his.) Durth, Ru and Inigo build a house in The Pale. Durth gets even more involved with the College again now that she’s closer.

Age 50 something- Durth is getting a little bit too fragile for Adventuring, she takes up a teaching position at the college. Inigo, even more fragile comes with her and settles down in Winterhold, loving company he opens a small bar as Winterhold is slowly rebuild again. Rumarin starts adventuring again, usually solo but there is no shortage of friends they made along the way that need help sometimes.

Age 58 - Durth officially becomes Archmage. Most would have preferred an elf, not seeing the use of someone so old already to be Archmage. But with Brelyna already chosen als her successor most people just accepted it, if only to give Brelyna more time to prepare. No one really expecting Durth to do her ABSOLUTE DAMNDEST to get Winterhold back on the map.

Durth tried to make the public opinion of the College better, and it worked! She actually got involved with the politics in skyrim, unlike how the college before tried to distance itself. Winterhold grew, it wasn’t going to be what it once was but people were making a start. She actually became friends with Jarl Korir, took a lot of work though. 

Age 84 - Since Alduin Durth had been toying with the idea of time travel. The idea of going back an fixing mistakes she made, seeing what could have been or maybe just giving herself more time. Mora had been showing up every once in a while to feed these ideas, wich ended up being her downfall. One day she opened a black book and she did not come back.

Sorry for any grammar mistakes, but that’s about it. (i’m glad you love her <3)

[oosteven-universe]

Blue and Gold #2

Blue and Gold #2 DC Comics 2021 Written by Dan Jurgens Illustrated by Ryan Sook Lettered by Rob Leigh    Who needs the Justice League anyway? Our heroes certainly don’t! After a painful rejection from the DC Universe’s team of a-list heroes, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle strike out on their own. Thanks to the Kord Industries fortune, anything is possible for this dynamic duo…right? Little do they know, an alien assassin seeking revenge places Blue and Gold in her crosshairs, and The Omnizon never misses!    The power of friendship is real people and we see that with Ted as he turned down solo League membership because they wouldn’t take Booster too.  I’ll be brutally honest I liked the last Booster series where he was time travelling and really did grow up a lot and we see him here as if all that time he spent with his dad was just erased.  Don’t get me wrong there are few writers quite like Dan and he’s got this humour down pat but I'd like to see a more serious side of Booster coming out as well.  There's a flicker of that happening within these pages and I hope we see a lot more of it.  Fame and Fortune is what he wanted when he first appeared and I’m not sure how well that translates now, though let’s be honest the whole social media thing is precisely up his alley.    I’m really enjoying the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well.  The character development we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in bringing their personalities to the forefront.  I love seeing the almost opposite personalities that make them such good friends and compliments to one another.  How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.    I am a fan of how we see this being structured as well as how the layers in the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen.  The layers open up different avenues and while some will be explored others will not be but they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story.  The pacing here is extraordinary and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more you realise we need this book on a regular basis.    The interiors here are pretty flawless.  The linework is clean, crisp and sharp plus how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail in the work that we see is utterly phenomenal.  We see backgrounds utilised quite often, we could always see more, and do a wonderful job enhancing and expanding the moments.  They also work well within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling.  The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows this amazing eye for how colour works.  The colour work really enhances the visually sensationally. ​    I like that we’re seeing the influx of social media, the good, the bad and the ugly, in all its glory being utilised by Booster.  It does make sense for someone who craves attention and wants to be seen as more serious than he is, though this really isn’t the way for that to happen, but let���s face facts he has no skills to have a secret identity and get a job.  So being sponsored really is the way he needs to go to survive in the modern world.  With some extremely solid writing and great characterisation and alongside these stunning interiors make for some dynamic reading.

[nyapetaleijon]

TMA Characters as band kids

aka i graduated high school in july and havent played in band since march so i am vicariously deciding who played what instrument based on my band.

Jon: Flute. Kinda aloof, knows his stuff really well but still has to refine his part in front of the class in every rehearsal because hes the only one you can hear and therefore you can hear the tiniest mistakes which now seem amplified.

Martin: French Horn. kinda unassuming and quiet but definitely more competent than anyone realizes at first glance. Only one in the band.

Tim: Saxophone. Mostly solid, can be obnoxious on occasion. Definitely one of the 1st saxes who simultaneously reigns in and encourages all the others, though.

Sasha: Clarinet. Competent, driven, a goofball but only when the director isnt looking directly at her (which is most of the time, bc shes on top of her part.)

Not!Sasha: Bass Clarinet. A reasonable departure, as every band occasionally has a piece where a bass clari is needed and someone is roped in, but she moves over by where the tubas and bari saxes sit and never moves back to the clarinet section. Quits at semester, as well, leaving everyone hanging next semester.

Basira: Tuba. Quietly extremely good, has to put up with the one other person in her section who basically does whatever but has good enough breath support that the director leaves them alone abt it.

Melanie: Sax. Can play alto, tenor, and bari, and sometimes gets in little fights with the trombones or flutes while the director isnt paying attention.

Daisy: Percussion. Can play set, doesnt really pay attention unless specifically called on. Gets the snare parts bc she can keep a consistent tempo all the time.

Georgie: Trombone. Knows what shes doing, doesnt always act like it. Can be the chaos instigator or the one to shut it down, depending on whether she feels like the rest of the trombones know any of their music yet.

Gerry: Clarinet. Grinds and knows his part, can somehow hit every note in a run. He and Sasha work together well and he is willing to teach younger players if they need the help.

Elias: Trumpet. Obnoxious know it all, does not pay attention in class. He is however one of the only trumpets who can actually play his part correctly, which only makes having to put up with him worse.

Peter Lukas: Percussion. Rarely shows up, and when he does he watches shows on his phone. Gets bass drum and triangle parts bc the director knows he doesnt care abt the class and can therefore be replaced.

Gertrude: Flute. Kind of a know it all, volunteers for every demonstration. Good breath support, but that doesnt mean anything when we cant hear you.

Jurgen Leitner: Trumpet. Similar reasoning to Elias, but he doesnt know his part and therefore no one is sure why he is still in band.

Helen Distortion: Oboe. Good at it, sounds good, gets the solos.

Michael Distortion: Oboe. Decent at it, doesnt really care. More there to play meme music during warmups rather than to play pieces for concerts.

[studentsofshield]

The Rest of Teen Titans History Part 1: Jurgens’ Teen Titans, Titans (1998), and Young Justice

Let’s go into a full history of the Teen Titans franchise, shall we?

The last three years of Wolfman's Titans were honestly junk and it deserved to be canceled. The goodwill on the book had been entirely torn to shreds, so it wasn't as simple as bringing a new writer on with issue 131. It's really hard to transition out of a 15 year long run on an entire multi-book franchise. Marvel just got really lucky with Scott Lobdell hitting it out of the park (for the time). It also helped that Claremont went out on one of his highs, helped by the Image crew.

After almost a year without any Titans books on the stands to clear palates, DC was ready to try again. They brought in Dan Jurgens to write and draw Teen Titans Vol 2. Jurgens was a relatively safe bet. He'd been the primary creative force on the Superman line for the 90s, leading blockbuster storylines like the Death and Return of Superman, Panic in the Sky, and the wedding was around the corner. He also wrote and drew the linewide event Zero Hour. They even brought in George Perez to ink the book to give it some legitimacy and link to longtime fans.

The problem was that they went too hard on the reboot angle. The series starred a de-aged Ray Palmer leading a team of original half-alien heroes. Keep in mind the genesis of the Teen Titans was of course as basically a junior Justice League for all the sidekicks. Wolfman built it into its own distinct franchise with original characters and rogues. But this new series had literally no connection to the wider DCU off the bat. No one gave a damn.

DC wanted to reinvigorate the series and polled readers on what teen hero should join the team. Fans unanimously voted Tim Drake, but the Batman editors didn't want to play nice. So they had to ignore fans and choose Captain Marvel Jr. instead. Who is a cool character and Power of Shazam was running at this point to mild acclaim. But he's not Robin.

Later arcs tried to reconnect the series with the legacy, but it was too late. The series was canceled after two years and is now just a punchline of obscure factoids like the de-aged Atom and the Robin vote.

In 1997 DC exploded their Justice League line and condensed it down to Grant Morrison's relaunch. Which became a huge hit and started overflowing into spinoffs and reinvigorating the entire publisher coming out of the dark age. So why not use it as an opportunity to fix the Titans too?

So in 1998 DC did what fans actually wanted and made a real Titans book. Now using the title Titans, as the characters from the 60s and 80s had been allowed to grow up. Devin Grayson would write the book for almost the first two years. The team was basically a mix of the Silver Age team, Wolfman's original team, small remnants of the Jurgens book, and Jesse Quick. Yes, that hunk of gold is Cyborg.

Jay Faerber and then Tom Peyer followed Grayson on the book. It lasted a whole 50 issues and started out strong. It lost a lot of steam two years in and then meandered through weird plotlines. Starfire, Damage, Cyborg, and Flash all left the team within issues at the end of Grayson's run. Donna Troy's continuity was "fixed" again with #25, for what was hoped to be the final time (thanks New 52). Faerber spent like a whole year on some weird orphans plot. I'd love to have the first half of this title collected.

Now's a good point to mention Young Justice. Which started around the same time as Titans and more closely fulfilled the original purpose of the Titans franchise. The book put the three most popular actual teen heroes together (all with popular solo books) and added in some interesting original creations. It lasted 55 issues and was entirely written by Peter David, keeping a consistent quality as he's known for. DC has been collecting this recently. They're two trades in and up to 17. It started off with a mini-event and several one-shots, so it should come out to 5-6 volumes.

Tune in for part 2 for coverage of the Geoff Johns era.

[thisdaynews]

Champions League: English clubs' success causes self-doubt for Spain's top teams

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/champions-league-english-clubs-success-causes-self-doubt-for-spains-top-teams/

Champions League: English clubs' success causes self-doubt for Spain's top teams

Diego Simeone leading his Atletico Madrid side to the final of the Champions League in their home stadium was talked up in Spain as a possible storyline

When Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium was named as the host venue for this year’s Champions League final, three storylines caught the imagination in Spain.

Would Diego Simeone’s team seize European glory on their home turf? Would Real Madrid saunter across town to retain their continental supremacy? Or would Lionel Messi lead Barcelona to another crown?

The answers… no, no and no.

All three of the Spanish heavyweights squandered first-leg leads to exit the tournament before Saturday’s grand finale, which will instead be contested between Liverpool and Tottenham to ensure a first non-Spanish winner since 2013.

There was a similar story in the Europa League, which had been the near-exclusive domain of La Liga teams too in recent years. This time, it was an all-English affair as Chelsea overcame Arsenal in Baku.

After a decade of almost non-stop success, La Liga’s failure to produce even one finalist this season could be seen as the end of an era.

Should Spanish football be worried that the tide has turned?

Premier League leads European football to £25bn valuation

Champions League final: Can Spurs turn the tables on Liverpool?

Klopp: I have never had a better team for a final

Spain’s decade of dominance

Spanish teams have won the Champions League in seven of the past 10 seasons – Real Madrid’s victory over Liverpool in 2018 was their fourth title in five years

Since 2009, Real Madrid have won the Champions League four times, with Barcelona triumphing on three occasions, while Atletico Madrid also reached two finals: a total of nine finalists and seven winners.

Meanwhile, English teams made it to the final only four times, with Chelsea’s victory over Bayern Munich in 2012 the solitary title for a Premier League representative.

Spanish sides also exerted a stranglehold in the Europa League, a competition which provides a good indication of a domestic league’s strength in depth: Sevilla took the trophy three times in a row between 2014 and 2016, while Atletico were also three-time winners, including a victory in the 2012 final over another Spanish team, Athletic Bilbao.

Those results suggest La Liga’s superiority was by no means restricted to the ‘big two’. Not any longer, however.

Perhaps even more telling than Barcelona’s defeat against Liverpool in this season’s Champions League semi-finals was what happened at the same stage in the Europa League: Arsenal thrashed in-form Valencia side 7-3 on aggregate.

On paper, the fourth-placed team in La Liga facing the fifth-best team in England should have been a close contest; on grass, it became a mismatch.

At first sight, there appears to be one obvious explanation for the new-found dominance of English football: money.

As a commercial entity, the Premier League is vastly more successful than all its continental counterparts. That was evidenced by the staggering fact that Huddersfield, despite finishing bottom of the league, earned more television revenue this season than every La Liga club except Real Madrid and Barcelona did during the 2017-18 campaign.

Cold, hard cash obviously gives Premier League teams an advantage – why should Valencia be expected to compete on an even footing with an Arsenal team whose two strikers cost nearly as much as their whole starting XI?

However, that kind of financial disparity has been in place for some time, and it didn’t make that much difference over the past 10 years. Financial might contributes, but it can’t be everything – or Premier League clubs would have hoovered up far more trophies than they actually have.

So if it’s not a mere matter of money, what has changed? What is England now doing right, and what has Spain started to do badly?

The best coaches

Managers Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino have helped change the style of football played in England’s Premier League

Former Cameroon international Lauren, who started and finished his career in Spain either side of eight seasons in England with Arsenal and Portsmouth, believes there is a simple explanation for the Premier League’s upsurge this season.

“The smart thing that Premier League teams did was to sign the best coaches in the world,” says Lauren, who now lives in Seville and works as a pundit for La Liga TV.

“Managers such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have changed the mentality of English football.

“They have created a different Premier League which still has the same intensity and speed but those coaches have also added lots of different ideas. Now we are seeing the results.”

Those “different ideas” can be broadly summarised as the implementation of a possession-based game. In 2015-16 – the last season before Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City – the average number of passes made in a game by the Premier League’s top six was 481.3. This season, that figure jumped to 599.1.

“English football has absolutely changed since my career,” continues Lauren. “There are lots of new methods, tactics and ideas, even the behaviour of players off the pitch.

“It all comes from Pep’s methods of playing from the back, starting with the goalkeeper, switching play, keeping the ball moving, pressing with intensity.

“That style of play first came to England years ago with Arsene Wenger, but now the new breed of coaches have built on those ideas and changed English football for the better.”

Spain’s foremost television pundit is former Liverpool forward Michael Robinson, who finished his playing career with Osasuna in the late 1980s and has stayed in the country ever since.

Robinson agrees with Lauren’s assessment, noting that it took English football a while to accept the need to embrace overseas influences if they wanted to enjoy success in Europe.

In an extensive Champions League analysis aired this week on TV channel #vamos, Robinson said: “English football has been rich for many years without winning.

“They invested in a lot of very good foreign players, but not in the architects. They’ve now realised they needed a different approach… a different vision of football that wasn’t [traditionally] English.”

Robinson hails Guardiola as the chief inspiration for the new mindset, lauding the City boss for “revolutionising English football”.

Lauren, though, emphasises that this upsurge is not just about passing the ball, and has been particularly impressed by Klopp’s ability to blend the traditional English values of hard work and high tempo with more continental methods.

“I love Klopp,” Lauren enthuses. “What I like about Liverpool is that they can play their style for long periods of the game. The manager has the mentality of quick transitions and pressing high up the pitch, and the way they can do that for 90 minutes is unbelievable.”

Teamwork trumps solo talent

Lionel Messi was unable to stop Barcelona’s slide out of the Champions League at Anfield in their 4-0 semi-final second-leg defeat by Liverpool

Within Spain, the failure of La Liga teams to land a European trophy this season is largely being addressed more on a club-by-club basis than country-wide, with endless hours of discussion devoted to the Champions League shortcomings of Real, Atletico and Barcelona.

There are, though, some common traits connecting the three clubs, such as an ageing core of players who have been allowed to enter into decline, and an inability to cope with the pace and intensity of vibrant top-class continental opposition such as Liverpool.

Former Real Madrid striker and manager Jorge Valdano – a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1986 – also believes this season’s Champions League has highlighted “the importance of the collective over the individual”, making the point when appearing alongside Robinson on the #vamos broadcast.

“Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t have done any more than he did, but it wasn’t enough for Juve,” he said. “Lionel Messi couldn’t have done any more, but it wasn’t enough for Barca.

“Liverpool, though, had their big triumph against Barcelona without Roberto Firmino or Mohamed Salah, and Tottenham had theirs without Harry Kane.

“Individuals couldn’t save their teams in this Champions League. Collectives were more relevant than individuals.”

Valdano believes his compatriot Pochettino best embodies that approach, saying: “In the ideal Champions League team, would you have any Tottenham players? For me, no. And that speaks well of Pochettino. Tottenham have been the most flexible team this season.”

And in the same way that English football has successfully integrated Spanish methods through Guardiola and Pochettino, perhaps there is the biggest lesson to be taken now for La Liga teams from the English game: less fixation on superstars like Messi and Ronaldo, and more emphasis on teamwork.

Alfredo Relano, editor of sports daily newspaper AS, noted in a column on Thursday: “I do not lament it [four English finalists]. We owe to England the invention of football, and for our own game, which has been so successful in Europe these years, a reflection will not hurt.

“English football has been renewed with what it needed, but preserved some values, of which perhaps the first is that the club stands above the individuals. Here it is the reverse. This is what we can learn from them.”

It’s been a long time since Spanish football has been forced into a period of self-doubt. For now, though, the English game has been transformed from the pupil to the master.

Read More

[zjarondinelli]

Echoes Not Heard: Alex Ross' "Echoes of Shazam!" and the Absence of a Certain Big Blue Boy Scout

I recently had the pleasure to have this piece published as a part of the “POP: Culture & Comics” website #SneakPeekWeek! The site has come down (temporarily) until it’s grand launch on Monday April 22, 2019, so I wanted to make it available here on my CV/blog in the meantime. Thanks for checking it out:

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

This past Friday, exactly one week before the North American theatrical release

of the SHAZAM movie, Alex Ross has provided what Nerdist.com calls "his

definitive take on the cultural impact of the character." [1] "In this illustration..."

Diaz writes, "[Ross] goes beyond the comic book universe to trace the influence

of Shazam! on a broader pop culture scale, depicting over 100 characters from

comics, movies, and television." [2] Not only does it feature characters,

regardless of publisher, that have been called "Captain Marvel", but it also

depicts characters who have been heavily influenced by him and his stories. If

you haven't yet seen Ross' work, take a look below:

                                         Echoes of Shazam! (2019)

As you might expect from an artists of Ross' caliber, the painting is spectacular.

Foregrounded in the image is the original Captain Marvel & Billy Batson,

represented in the classic-style of co-creator and Chief Artist of Fawcett's

represented in the classic-style of co-creator and Chief Artist of Fawcett's

flagship Captain Marvel Adventures, C.C. Beck, surrounded by all of the 

CaptainMarvels and other characters who have taken inspiration from him and 

his journey's over the years. [3] Immediately recognizable characters like Marvel

Comics' Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Alan Moore's Marvelman, the original

Thor (who many might forget was originally Dr. Don Blake, a man who became

the God of Thunder when he slammed his cane on the ground), He-Man,

Ultraman, Captain Super (the Crime Syndicate version of Captain Marvel), and 

so many more are there to celebrate the power of Shazam.

While it is certainly true that all of these characters, in one way or another, have

taken inspiration from the "Big Red Cheese" and that the painting is an 

ambitious one that clearly demonstrates Ross' adoration for the character, there 

is a notable absence among the characters that populate this work of art. And if 

this is to be a definitive take on Captain Marvel/Shazam's pop culture influence, 

as Ross, Diaz and Nerdist.com have suggested, then this missing character is 

an egregious one. So, I have to ask...

Where, oh where, is Superman?

                                           Superman by Curt Swan

Now, I'm sure many of you have already done the math... Superman debuted in

Action Comics #1 which was published in 1938. The original Captain Marvel

debuted in Whiz Comics #2, first published a full two-years later in 1940. You 

may even be aware of the lawsuit filed by DC Comics (then National Periodical

Publications) against Fawcett that claimed copyright infringement against

Captain Marvel. On the surface, none of this gives the impression that 

Superman was inspired in any way by Captain Marvel. Yet, despite how it looks, 

here I am suggesting that one of the greatest comics artist's of out time missed 

an opportunity to reflexively recognize how the "Big Red Cheese" significantly

improved Siegel & Shuster's "Big Blue Boy Scout". In fact, I would go as far as 

to improved Siegel & Shuster's "Big Blue Boy Scout". In fact, I would go as far 

as to suggest that that the Superman as we know him today only exists 

because of Fawcett's Captain Marvel.

To understand why Superman belongs in Ross' "Echoes of Shazam!", we first 

need to talk about one of the greatest Golden Age comics writers of all-time: 

Otto Binder.

                                                     Otto Binder

Otto Binder began writing for Fawcett comics in 1941, taking over the Captain 

Marvel stories after original co-creator, Bill Parker, joined the military in 1940. 

Under Binder's pen, Captain Marvel quickly became the most popular comic 

book superhero published at that time. According to scholars Bradford Wright 

and Christopher Murray, Billy and Captain Marvel's popularity stemmed from 

their ability to provide young readers with a way to "imagine what it might be 

like to possess magical powers". [4] Billy, a boy as young as many of his 

readers, could become a hero with a single word; kids no longer had to project 

themselves into the bodies of adults for adventure, they could simply call for 

magic from the skies and become the hero they had always dreamt about.

It was this level of popularity and success that eventually led National to file 

their lawsuit against Fawcett. The lawsuit, which would drag on for years and is 

better discussed in a different article, would ultimately be settled in 1952 when 

Fawcett (who no longer wanted to continue their fight against National) agreed 

to stop publishing Captain Marvel comics.

While this might have signalled the end of the best-selling comics hero of the

1940s, it also opened the door for Otto Binder to begin another comics project. 

In 1954, Binder took on writing duties for the Superman group of titles at 

National, and would change the face of the character forever.

During his time working on the Superman titles, Binder contributed to the

introduction of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and debuted one of Superman's

deadliest villains (who will soon be appearing on Krypton: Season 2), Brainiac, 

as well as the Bottle City of Kandor in Action Comics #242 (1958). Around the 

same time, he also introduced fan-favourite villain/anti-hero, Bizarro, in 

Superboy #68 (1958) as well as Bizarro World in Action Comics #263 (1960). He 

would further introduce other important elements to the Superman mythos 

including The Phantom Zone, Lucy Lane, Beppo the Super Monkey, and even 

Jimmy Olsen's famous signal-watch.

While all of these new characters are important and signal Binder's contribution

to the Superman mythology, they don't really explain why Captain Marvel

impacted Superman or why Superman should be in Ross' "Echoes of 

Shazam!". For that, we have to look to Binder's two greatest additions to the 

Superman universe: Krypto the Super Dog and Supergirl.

One of the most enduring and popular elements of Binder (and Beck's) time on

Captain Marvel was the introduction of the Marvel Family.

                                 Cover to The Marvel Family #1 (1945)

Originally introduced by Binder and Beck in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 

(1942), the Marvel family was one of the most popular elements of Captain 

Marvel's mythos. In stark contrast to many other heroes being published at that 

time, Captain Marvel had a whole family to help him on his adventures and 

demonstrated to young children the importance of having support from those 

who love and care about you. Billy knew he couldn't always do it alone; a 

meaningful lessons for young children. 

Joining Billy/Captain Marvel in those original team-up adventures with the 

Marvel Family was Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr., who had been originally 

introduced in Whiz Comics #25 (1941), and Mary Marvel (as well as some other 

less notable family members, like Uncle Marvel). Within a very short time of the 

family's introduction, they become on of the most popular and best selling 

comics of the Golden Age. [5]

In an article for Polygon.com about Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles, Meg 

Downey states, "The Marvel Family’s success went on to inspire copycats of 

their own — DC (then known as National Comics) replicated the process for 

their entire trinity, complete with costume-wearing animal companions, super 

babies, wonder tots, and long lost elderly relatives." [6] What Downey fails to 

mention is that, for Superman at least, the one who developed this "Superman 

Family" was the writer of Captain Marvel himself, Otto Binder.

Only one year after he began working with Superman, Binder introduced Krypto

the Super Dog in Adventure Comics #210 (1955). Besides Siegel and Shuster's 

own Superboy, Krypto served as the first step towards the building of the 

Superman Family as we know it today. The next one, would come in the form of 

Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl in Action Comics 

#252 (1959).

Together with Superman, an increased focus on Lois Lane (his Lois Lane comic 

for Showcase #9 in 1957 set the stage for her own on-going publication shortly

thereafter) and Jimmy Olsen (Binder launched Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen in

1954), the Superman family would continue to grow and demonstrate that the

Family Formula pioneered with Captain Marvel all those years before, was still a

winner. So to is this demonstrated by the characters lasting importance to

Superman even today.

Recent comics (Tomasi, Gleason, Jurgens, and even Bendis' runs) have

emphasized the importance of family to Superman. Jon Kent (the son of

Superman and Lois Lane) has become  one of the break-out stars of the current 

DC Universe, the return of Connor Kent within the pages of Young Justice 

(2018) has been met with resounding excitement, Supergirl is riding high after 

Melissa Benoit's successful CW television series has far surpassed 

expectations and Krypto has even been gallivanting alongside her in her solo 

comics series.

Simply put, the Superman that we know today would not be who he is without 

his family. There is no denying that Superman's "family", like the extended "Bat-

Family" are completely indebted to the success of Otto Binder's work with

Captain Marvel. When Fawcett abandoned the fight against National, Binder

brought the formula that had made Captain Marvel and his family so successful

and applied it to the original comic book superhero. Without the contributions 

of Binder, the family characters that have come after his tenure at DC simply

wouldn't exist. He not only set the stage for them within Superman comics, he 

did so even earlier within the Captain Marvel stories. This is the contribution 

that Captain Marvel and Shazam gave to Superman, and why he belongs in 

Ross' "Echoes of Shazam!" painting.

The "Big Blue Boy Scout" owes a pretty massive debt to the "Big Red Cheese"

because, in no uncertain terms, he gave him his family.

Ross' "Echoes of Shazam!" is nothing short of amazing. It is an artist's passion

project for a character that he clearly loves and cares about. By demonstrating

the missing piece of the painting, I do not intend to diminish it's power or 

suggest that it fails in it's mission; it certainly doesn't. What it does do though is 

miss the opportunity to recognize the contributions of a character that Ross 

clearly loves so much on one of DC Comics' most visible and popular heroes. It 

would have been a small, but meaningful vindication for Captain MArvel's 

wrongful demise at the hands of National/Superman.

We may not see that in Ross' work here, but SHAZAM! does hit theatres this 

Friday. Maybe we'll finally see the "Big Red Cheese" overshadow the "Big Blue 

Boy Scout".

Sources:

[1] Diaz, Erica. "Alex Ross' 'Echoes Of Shazam!' Pays Tribute to Every Captain

Marvel Ever (Exclusive)". Nerdist.com. 3.29.19. Available at

https://nerdist.com/article/alex-ross-echoes-of-shazam-every-captainmarvel-

ever-exclusive/.

[2] ibid.

[3] Cremins, Brian. Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia. University Press of

Mississippi. 2019.

[4] Wright, Bradford and Christopher Murray qtd. in Cremins, Brian, p. 16.

[5] Downey, Meg. "There's No Incredibles Without the Golden Ages First Superhero

Family". Polygon.com. 6.17.18. Available at

https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/17/17473058/the-incredibles-2-

connectionscaptain-marvel-comics.

[6] ibid.

[sportsleague365]

Virgil van Dijk scored a thumping header as Liverpool eliminated Bayern Munich (Getty Images)Liverpool have reached the Champions League quarter-finals after securing a 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening. Sadio Mane opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a sublime solo effort which was aided by an error of judgement from Manuel Neuer. Mane controlled Virgil van Dijk’s sublime pass with his first touch before his second outfoxed Neuer, who had come racing from his goal. The Senegal international then kept his composure to chip the ball into an empty net. Bayern were level by the break after Serge Gnabry got the better of Andy Robertson on Bayern’s right flank and flashed a ball across Liverpool’s box. Robert Lewandowski was on hand for an easy tap-in but Joel Matip got there first and diverted the ball past Allison. Sadio Mane celebrates after scoring his opening goal against Bayern (EMPICS)But Bayern were unable to build on their equaliser in the second half and Liverpool looked the more likely to go back in front. Virgil van Dijk handed Liverpool their second advantage of the game with a thumping header from James Milner’s corner. Mane’s header late on sealed Liverpool’s win (BPI/REX)And Mane completed Liverpool’s victory with six minutes remaining as he met Mohamed Salah’s excellent pass to head past Neuer. Liverpool have now joined Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-final, with the draw set to take place on Friday. MORE: LIVERPOOL FC Jurgen Klopp gets angry with Liverpool star after Joel Matip's own goal against BayernSadio Mane equals Steven Gerrard's record with goal vs BayernJurgen Klopp explains why Fabinho dropped to bench for Bayern game #ChampionsLeague #BayernMunichFC #JurgenKlopp

[anfieldcentral]

Trent Alexander-Arnold: One For the Future |

With a lot of the focus on the current stars of Liverpool FC this season as they push towards a top four battle, there have also been a few academy gems starting to be unearthed by Jurgen Klopp. Perhaps the most promising at this stage? Trent-Alexander Arnold. The 18 year old started the season as an unknown entity to a large percentage of Reds fans but in the short space of 7 months has fast become one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League. 

Bossing the Academy |

“In my opinion, he is one of the most all-round talents in Europe with a ‘first team’ attitude. When he was my captain at U16 level, he was able to control rhythm and make the team play like no-one else.”

That’s first team development coach Pep Ljinders talking about Trent Alexander-Arnold earlier on this season and gives you an idea of how highly rated the lad actually is. Coming up through the Under-16s and Under-18s as predominantly a central midfielder, Lijnders has recognised that Alexander-Arnold’s pace, delivery from wide areas and positional maturity mean he is suited perfectly to a role out on the right hand side of the field, deploying him mainly as a right full back/wing back. This is a decision mirrored by Jurgen Klopp for the most part as he started there in his full Premier League debut against Manchester United and during sporadic EFL and FA Cup matches in which he was given game time. 

Potential to Make It in the Big Time |

Liverpool’s lack of cover for Nathaniel Clyne and Alexander-Arnold’s successful transition to this position in the Under-23s has seen Jurgen Klopp utilise the youngster as his second choice right back. How’s he done? Brilliantly. He picked up the man of the match award in the EFL Cup fixture against Tottenham while in the same competition his superb ball into the box assisted Divock Origi’s opener against Leeds. These performances coupled with an injury to Nathaniel Clyne saw the youngster handed his full Premier League debut at Old Trafford of all places where he was given a run around by Anthony Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. After a nervy start however, he kicked himself into gear and produced an admittedly very impressive performance. 

Alexander-Arnold was equally impressive in a role further forward against Everton on Saturday when he came on for Philippe Coutinho with Liverpool leading 3-1. The English talent played on the right wing and within 5 minutes of coming on almost had a dream first Premier League goal when he connected sweetly with an Emre Can cut back only for Joel Robles to finally remember how to dive and tip it away with his finger tips. Klopp has even utilised in a central midfield berth back in pre-season where he was given his first glimpses of first team exposure against Tranmere, Fleetwood Town and Wigan. 

The Big Question: Midfielder or Defender? |

So the big question is then, midfielder or defender? While Alexander-Arnold is more than able in defence and has impressed immensely in the right back role at both Under-23 and first team levels, I’d love to see him play in the midfield in the long term. The versatile youngster has a serious eye for goal, netting free kicks, penalties, solo goals and capping off team moves with classy finishes in the Under-23s and he looks incredibly composed on the front foot. Playing out on the right wing would allow Alexander-Arnold to be more involved in the play in and around the box while also allowing him to use his superb delivery more frequently. 

He also has the energy, stamina and drive to succeed in this role not just as a player but a ‘Klopp player.’ Even in his 15 minute cameo against Everton, Alexander-Arnold refused to ignore his defensive responsibilities and was up and down the right flank the entire time, offering a pass and outlet on the counter attack before dropping in and covering for Nathaniel Clyne just seconds later. This enthusiasm might see him caught out every now and then at right back but would not be a problem at right wing. 

Whatever position he ends up making his own, Trent Alexander-Arnold undoubtedly has a huge future at Liverpool FC. He’s a highly rated prospect and one whose progress I am seriously excited to monitor over the coming seasons. 

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1149

Monday, January 30, 2017

 It's the Chinese Year of the Rooster folks and there's a cock in the White House. We are living in interesting times indeed. I am trying my best not to get riled up by the d-bag but it's difficult. The empathy I feel for others means I cannot ignore the affect the changes have on everybody. I just hope we all get through these difficult times relatively unscathed.

 I'm going to have a fun Sunday on February 5. I'll be at the Walkley Arena for the Capital Trade Show where my partner Chris and I will be flogging old comic books. Then it's Super Bowl 51 with two gun slinging quarterbacks. I am cheering for a high scoring affair.

 Civil War II: The Oath #1 - Nick Spencer (writer) Rod Reis, Raffaele Ienco, Szymon Kudranski & Dono Sanchez-Almara (art) VC's Chris Eliopoulos (letters). Didn't see that coming. While it makes sense to appoint Captain America as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (again) the surprise is that I don't think it's Steve Rogers under the mask. I don't particularly like the new political landscape that the Marvel U is headed towards but it does make for some easy enemies for the good guys to fight with. Nick put in a lot of rah, rah patriotism in this book so it was a tough slog trying to get through it but the payoff at the end is worth it.

 Kamandi Challenge #1 - Part One: Dan Didio (writer) Keith Giffen (pencils) Scott Koblish (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Clem Robins (letters) Part Two: Dan Abnett (writer) Dale Eaglesham (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Clem Robins (letters). He's the last boy on Earth and he's going on a wild adventure to find his parents. One of Jack Kirby's creations is getting a round robin of comic book creators to excite fans like never before. Each part of the story will be done by a different team that will end with a cliffhanger that the next team must find a way to resolve. I have a nagging feeling that this stunt has been done before but I can't remember when so I'm going to tag along to see who does what. I'm not a fan of Kamandi but I want to see who all are going to be involved on the creative side.

 Loose Ends #1 - Jason Latour (writer) Chris Brunner (art) Rico Renzi (colours). The cover says that this 4-issue mini is a southern crime romance. They got that right. We're looking at a trailer dwelling war vet whose friend gets him mixed up in running drugs. You can expect that the vet and the friend get into a heap of trouble and they do. I like how Sonny and Rej each wind up where they do at the end of this first issue so you bet I'm going to keep reading. Not much romance so far but I'm sure Jason will get to that.

 Star Wars #27 - Jason Aaron (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Yay Yoda. Root for him I will.

 Batgirl #7 - Hope Larson (writer) Chris Wildgoose (art) Mat Lopes (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Part 1 of "Son of Penguin" introduces Ethan Cobblepot and I don't care if there is no reference to him anywhere else in the DCU because he's going to be a great adversary for Barbara Gordon. I like how Chris draws her older than Rafael Albuquerque did. This is going to be fun.

 Briggs Land #6 - Brian Wood (writer) Mack Chater (art) Lee Loughridge & Jeremy Colwell (colours) Nate Piekos (letters). I really like Grace Briggs. The risks that she is taking will hopefully keep her people safe. Brian has crafted a story fit for cable TV.

 Totally Awesome Hulk #15 - Greg Pak (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Nolan Woodward (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Greg continues to feature heroes of the Asian persuasion in this story about Amadeus hanging out with Jake Oh, Kamala Khan, Cindy Moon, Shang-Chi, and Jimmy Woo. It does play on some stereotypes but I think it's okay because they're true for these guys.

 Odyssey of the Amazons #1 - Kevin Grevioux (writer) Ryan Benjamin (pencils) Richard Friend (inks) Tony Washington & Tony Avina (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). This 6-issue mini has a lot of women but not a wonder one in sight. Kevin features Diana's sister Amazons in a tale worthy of Homer. If you like classic sword and sorcery, you'll like this.

 Dead Inside #2 - John Arcudi (writer) Tony Fejzula (art) Andre May (colours) Joe Sabino (letters). The plot thickens like congealed blood and murder suspects start to emerge. Linda has plenty to deal with inside the prison but she's surprised when she gets home after work by a sight I did not expect to see. This mystery is crazy good.

 Inhumans vs. X-Men #3 - Charles Soule & Jeff Lemire (writer) Javier Garron (art) Andres Mossa & Jay David Ramos (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). There are three more issue to this mini but it seems to me that Charles and Jeff have already come up with a solution to the Terrigen cloud that would end the war. The mutant Forge has built a machine that can collect the Terrigen gas and compress it into a solid in this issue. Wouldn't that solve the problem of the gas killing the mutants? Works for me.

 Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #6 - Joshua Williamson (writer) Howard Porter (art) Alex Sinclair (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). All is well that ends well. Both teams join forces to defeat Eclipso and Max Lord is at the mercy of Amanda Waller. Batman sees the light and gathers another team together to fight evil forces. Get ready for a new Justice League of America #1 hitting the racks on February 22. DC is sure spreading Bats pretty thin these days.

 Skybourne #3 - Frank Cho (writer & artist) Marcio Menyz (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). The identity of the bad guy was a nice surprise. I like Frank's comic books because they're simple stories about good versus evil that are beautifully drawn.

 Hulk #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Nico Leon & Dalibor Talajic (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Waiting for Jennifer to Hulk out is one of the things I like about the new book. She has a lot more self control than I have. The scary thing about the eventuality of her losing control is that this new Hulk will be an uncontrollable creature of rage but we'll have to wait and see what happens. Until then I'm enjoying Jen's life so far.

 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #13 - Robert Venditti (writer) V Ken Marion (pencils) Paul Neary & Dexter Vines (inks) Alex Sollazzo (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Now that the planet Xudar has been saved, what now? It's time for a bedtime story that's what. This is a nice interlude issue before we launch into the next story. I've been enjoying this team book now that my loyalty to the Avengers has waned. We'll see if Robert can keep me hooked with his next adventure.

 Saga #42 - Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fiona Staples (art) Fonografiks (letters). And fade to black. No, really. It's hiatus time again but this issue didn't leaving me screaming profanities about the long wait until the next issue hits the racks. There is a new character introduced who I will be very interested to find out more about.

 Doctor Strange #16 - Jason Aaron (writer) Chris Bachalo with Cory Smith (art) Al Vey, John Livesay, Victor Olazaba, &  Tim Townsend (inks) Antonio Fabela & Java Tartaglia with Chris Bachalo (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Dormammu is finally going to get his chance to kill Doctor Strange after he has been weakened by his fight with the Empirikul. Jason does find a neat way to save Stephen however. The next bit of nastiness involves someone close to the Doc. Oboy.

 Wonder Woman #15 - Greg Rucka (writer) Liam Sharp (art) Laura Martin (colours) Jodi Wynne (letters). Part 1 of "The Truth" finds Diana in a mental hospital. How she got there has yet to be explained but I'm sure I can handle it.

 Punisher #8 - Becky Cloonan (writer) Laura Braga with Iolanda Zanfardino (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). That little old lady toting the double barrelled shotgun from last issue is named Ethel. She looks scary but she's not what you think. The change in art took some getting used to but it isn't bad enough to make me bench this book. I do have a couple of complaints though. If you're going to call a motorcycle a Harley, don't show what looks like a BMW logo on the gas tank. Also, draw the bad guy from the chest up when Frank says that he opened up his guts, not a full body shot that clearly shows an abdomen without any wounds at all. I don't know if the art had to be rushed after Steve Dillon passed away unexpectedly but that's just shoddy editing.

 Action Comics #972 - Dan Jurgens (writer) Stephen Segovia (pencils) Art Thibert (inks) Ulises Arreola (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Trust Dan to come up with a non-violent way to stop Lex from being executed by the bad guys. It also served to show what possible futures are in store for this new Superman. DC has managed to revive my interest in this iconic character.

 Daredevil #16 - Charles Soule (writer) Goran Sudzuka (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). We find out why Daredevil put out a hit on himself to lure out Bullseye. There's some soul searching this issue which leads into the next storyline. I liked how Charles sets it up.

 Detective Comics #949 - James Tynion IV & Marguerite Bennett (writers) Ben Oliver & Szymon Kudranski (art) Ben Oliver, Gabe Eltaeb & Hi-Fi (colours) Marilyn Patrizio (letters). The finale of "Batwoman Begins" is a very good prelude to Batwoman's solo book which hits the racks on February 15. It looks like James and Marguerite are going to have a Raymond Reddington and Agent Keen thing going on between Kate and her dad. That's got me interested.

 Infamous Iron Man #4 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Brian must have a thing for mother and son stories. He did it in International Iron Man where he introduced Tony's biological mother. Now he's showing us Victor's mom. I really do believe that Doom has reformed and I hope he stays a good guy.

 Spider-Man/Deadpool: Monsters Unleashed - Joshua Corin (writer) Tigh Walker (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The boys save Toronto eh.

 Thanos #3 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Mike Deodato (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). It's the Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar versus Thanos. A perfect opportunity to give a history lesson on the life of the Mad Titan.

 Spider-Woman #15 - Dennis Hopeless (writer) Veronica Fish (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Jessica subdues the new Porcupine and finds out who put the hit out on her friend Roger. Now she's gunning for the Hobgoblin but he's protected by an army of super villains. I hope little Gerry doesn't become an orphan.

[kenmoorman]

UEFA Champions League Videos & Highlights | FOX Sports

Champions league game highlights - Highlights | UEFA Champions League |

Watch the best of the action from Stamford Bridge where goals by Hakim Ziyech and Emerson secured the hosts their ticket for the quarter-finals. A stunning Kevin De Bruyne strike was the highlight as Manchester City coasted cbampions the quarter-finals. Watch that goal and the best of the rest of the action now. Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos were among the goals as Real Madrid comfortably made it into the last eight. Watch Erling Haaland's double as Dortmund made it into the last eight champions league game highlights a aggregate success.

Watch the best of the action as a stunning late Ferland Mendy strike gave Real Madrid a first leg advantage against ten-man Atalanta. See how Manchester City got a stranglehold on this round of 16 tie thanks to goals by Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus. Watch Olivier Giroud's spectacular winner and the best of the rest of the action as Chelsea got a first-leg edge in this round of 16 tie.

See how the holders took command of this round of 16 tie, with Robert Lewandowski and year-old Jamal Musiala amongst the goals. See how Porto gained a first leg advantage in this round of 16 clash thanks to early strikes in both halves.

Watch the best of the action from Spain where a Erling Haaland double gave highligbts visitors a first leg edge. For the champions league game highlights possible experience, we recommend using ChromeFirefox or Microsoft Edge.

Copa Lib. Copa Maradona. Copa Rey. Copa Sud. DFB Pokal. Dutch Champions league game highlights. England Shield. Euro Cup. Euro Qual. FA Cup. France Trophee. German Cyampions. Gold Cup. Int'l Champ Cup. Italy Supercoppa. Champions league game highlights Cup. Recopa Sudamericana. SheBelieves Cup. Spain Supercopa.

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Champions League Video - Highlights, Goals & Interviews

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Highlights: Bayern 2-3 Paris (2 mins)

Minnesota Wild. Montreal Canadiens. Nashville Predators. New Jersey Devils. New York Islanders. Champions league game highlights York Rangers. Ottawa Senators. Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh Penguins. San Jose Sharks. Louis Blues. Tampa Bay Lightning. Full match replays Log in. Goals and best moments Unlikely hero Chilwell bags huge second for Chelsea. It has been coming!

Muller equalises for Bayern. Game on! Choupo-Moting responds for Bayern. Brilliant solo champions league game highlights from Mount gives Chelsea lead.

PSG are flying! All eyes were on Erling Haaland at the Etihad but Jude Bellingham turned official statement a performance beyond his 17 years Phil Foden shone and scored a late winner as Manchester City ran out winners over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side got what they deserved in a quarter-final first-leg defeat to Real Madrid.

[soccernetghana]

Andre Ayew on exclusive list of 12 players to win English Premier League award in first month

[caption id="attachment_795223" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Andre Ayew with his Barclays Premier League player of the month for August 2015.[/caption] Ayew Ayew is among an illustrious list of 12 players to have won the English Premier League Player of the Month in their first month. This was back in 2015 when he was representing South Wales side, Swansea City. He made a sensational start to life at the Liberty Stadium after joining on a free transfer in the summer. The Ghana international scored three goals as the Swans stayed unbeaten in the first month of the campaign. They even reached the lofty heights of fourth place with eight points from their opening four games. He scored in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea on his debut before finding the back of the net one week later in a victory over Newcastle. Ayew then continued his stunning form with a goal and assist against Manchester United. Here are the other 11 players compiled by the  Sportsmail: Bruno Fernandes - February 2020 (Manchester United) The Portuguese midfielder has been an instant hit at Old Trafford since completing his £68million move from Sporting Lisbon on January 29. Signs that United had finally bought a midfield dynamo were clear on his debut when Fernandes shone in the goalless draw with Wolves. Fernandes would go on to star in an impressive 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, providing an assist against the Blues, before scoring his first goal a week later in the 3-0 win against Watford. He also set up Mason Greenwood to score the third goal that afternoon. Teemu Pukki - August 2019 (Norwich) Norwich's Finnish striker burst onto the scene at the start of this season, proving he had the quality to make a seamless step up from the Championship. The 29-year-old netted five goals in four games in the opening month of the campaign, including a hat-trick against Newcastle and a strike on the first night of the season at Anfield. Things have slowed down since then, though, with Pukki netting just six times in the Premier League since. Anthony Martial - September 2015 (Manchester United) Martial burst onto the scene after completing his big-money move, worth an initial £36million, from Monaco in the summer of 2015. At the time, the 19-year-old scored three goals in four league outings, including a sensational solo striker on his debut against Liverpool at Old Trafford. It remains Martial's only Player of the Month prize. He has gone on to score 64 goals in 208 appearances for United across all competitions, playing a crucial role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's front line this season. Diego Costa - August 2014 (Chelsea) The Spaniard was an instant hit at Stamford Bridge, leading the line for Antonio Conte as the Blues won the Premier League title in 2014-15. He started strong too, scoring four goals in three games during the opening month of the season that saw him win the Player of the Month prize. The Spain international netted on his debut against Burnley and again against Leicester before claiming a double in the 6-3 victory over Everton. Costa, now back playing for Atletico Madrid, was named in the Team of the Season for 2014-15 and won one more Player of the Month prize, in November 2016. Steven Fletcher - September 2012 (Sunderland) Although Fletcher signed for Sunderland in August 2012, he did not make his Premier League debut until September 1. Fletcher joined in a deal worth £12m from Wolves at the end of the transfer window and quickly repaid his fee with five goals in four league appearances. They included a double on his debut against Swansea City and the winner in a 1-0 home victory against Wigan, which was enough to see him win individual honours. Darren Bent - August 2005 (Charlton) Bent moved to The Valley in the summer of 2005 and a made a blistering start to life in south London. He smashed in a brace on his Charlton debut against Sunderland and went on to score in all of his first four appearances for the club, leading to him winning the Player of the Month for August. Bent would continue his impressive form in front of goal and finished the 2005-05 season as the highest-scoring Englishman with 18 goals. Teddy Sheringham - August 2003 (Portsmouth) When his contract with Tottenham expired in the summer of 2003, Spurs opted against signing Sheringham to new terms and he was free to leave the club. Portsmouth were the ones to secure his signature as they looked for a striker capable of keeping them up in their first season of Premier League football and he looked like an instant hit. He scored on the opening day of the season at home to Aston Villa and then hit a hat-trick against Bolton that saw Sheringham become the oldest top-flight player to score a treble. His early goal-scoring form also saw him win the Player of the Month prize for August 2003. Robbie Keane - August 1999 (Coventry) Keane burst onto the scene as a youngster with Wolves and his form captured the attention of England's biggest clubs. He was sold to Coventry at the start of the 1999-2000 campaign for around £6m. He got off to a flying start in sky blue, scoring a brace on his debut against Derby. The Irishman also found the back of the net a week later in a draw at Sunderland. That was enough to see him handed the Player of the Month award for August 1999 and his good form continued with Keane netting 12 goals in his first 31 appearances. Patrik Berger - September 1996 (Liverpool) After a stunning Euro 1996 for the Czech Republic on English soil, Liverpool moved quickly to buy Berger from Borussia Dortmund for just over £3m. Although he signed earlier in the summer, Berger did not make his debut until September when he came off the bench in a 2-1 win over Southampton and immediately caught the eye of those on the Kop. During that month he scored back to back doubles in victories over Leicester and Chelsea, which saw him crowned Player of the Month. But only two more goals would follow in that campaign, a slightly disappointing return. David Ginola - August 1995 (Newcastle) The Frenchman arrived at St James' Park as something of a coup. Ginola was reportedly wanted by Barcelona but ended up on Tyneside with Kevin Keegan instead. Such was the excitement around his arrival, Ginola only needed to score once in August to be named Player of the Month. Ginola was an integral part of Keegan's team that finished second that season behind Manchester United but only scored five league goals. Jurgen Klinsmann - August 1994 (Tottenham) The German won the Premier League's first-ever Premier League Player of the Month award back in 1994 thanks to his stunning performances on arrival in England. After arriving from Monaco, Klinsmann scored a header on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday. He followed that up with braces against Everton and Ipswich in the month of August which made him an easy choice for Player of the Month. Klinsmann scored 22 goals across all competitions in that first season in English football and went on to establish himself as a Tottenham legend. He also finished second in the 2005 Ballon d'Or standings. source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/

[fendrieneu]

Our men 2019 - Update

We put our 9 riders for 2019 on the BikeRadar forum back in February and with the season now over we thought it might be time to have a look at how they did. 

Where they were hits, boy were they hits, but when they missed....

Tom Dumoulin

Poor year for the former Giro winner who crashed in that race early on before missing the Tour de France. Made the move to Jumbo-Visma for 2020. 

Krists Nielandts

Was present in a number of classics before getting in the frame as a potential worlds winner with his brilliant solo attack to win the GP Wallonie in Namur the week before the Rainbow bands were decided. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?edufilter=NULL&v=43_e4ITdkoc

Bob Jungels

Really poor year from Bob who was present in the cobbled classics without being too prominent. Only really saw him in Lombardia after that. 

Remco Evenepoel

Fabulous first season for a rider who showed in Columbia back in the Northern winter before some semi classic action. 

His season ignited with a Classica San Sebastian win the week after the Tour de France. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?edufilter=NULL&v=n871v2M8gCs

Jurgen Roelandts

Not seen all year. Really sad for our hero...

Egan Bernal

Inspired pick if I say so myself. Won the Tour de France and an Italian semi classic. It will be interesting to see how he works with Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome next year. 

Thomas De Gendt

Wonderful solo attack in the Volta a Catalunya which he proved was no fluke by holding off the combined forces of Julian Alaphillipe in Thibaut Pinot in the Tour de France for a memorable stage win. 

Tony Gallopin

Surprisingly quiet year for Gallopin who did at least end it on a high by being prominent in Paris Tours on the final weekend of the European season. 

Mathieu Van der Poel

Started the season on fire with form from the Cyclo Cross campaign he’d dominated. 

He ended up in a flower bed in the Tour of Flanders before getting back to the lead group, a memorable ride. Followed that up with arguably the ride of the year in winning the Amstel Gold. 

Dominated the Tour of Britain, but couldn’t quite hold on to win the Worlds in Yorkshire. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?edufilter=NULL&v=Yi4opDanurU