#I want him to have meaningful relationships with the JLA

[that1emowitch]

here me out

AU where instead of doing the whole red hood thing, jason just stays with the all caste. he finally meets the batfam when the justice league is facing a threat and need the help of the all caste. could be pretty good angst, since it directly disproves every shitty thing bruce said about jay, and bruce realises that his son was alive like way later than in canon

also it's a crime that jayessence basically doesn't exist, there are 11 fics on ao3. i want jayessence and competent!jason pls

That'll be so interesting, ur right! I'm definitely gonna go read RHATO issues again so I refresh my memory (if there r any other issues with the all-caste story PLEASE lmk cuz i have a very tumultuous love/hate relationship with RHATO lol)

I think Jason would've been happier, with the All-Caste. Talia would've visited him when she could (let's make her a mom not a pedo), Ducra would've trained him in every single war form she knew, putting hum on a path to surpass even her

Essence and Jay would've been her top students (if u don't mind, could u pls give me a lil recap on what Essence's story is? I kinda got confused in that part. Was she banished? She's one of the Untitled, technically, is she not? I don't rmbr ��)

But basically, Jayessence! I've never read a fic about it or written one, but I've always thought it was an interesting dynamic! It'd be fun to try writing it out. Maybe I'll make a happier AU, where Essence and Jason train together under Ducra, both of them named her heirs. That kinda makes them play-fight with each other which ends up with them kissing. Oh god Jason would be so smitten by her, he'd pretend to be annoyed but he knows she's a goddess, knows she could kill him in a blink, knows his blade could kill her—but they both choose to love. AAHHABSBSHS I'm dying

Then the Untitled attack.

I love Ducra so much, she's their BAMF Granny, so let's not kill her. Maybe instead, she is kidnapped, in hopes of getting Jason and Essence to surrender (They know these two could destroy them). And at the same time, the Untitled are also attacking JLA outposts, for a reason I'll come up with later. Bruce remembers, back when he trained under the League, Ra's mentioning evil beings of this type, immortal and unstoppable by all but the All-Caste. Hence they seek their help.

And with Ducra gone, Jason and Essence are in charge, and they have to meet with the JLA—with Batman, Superman, and WW, specifically.

Jason makes sure to cover himself completely. Puts white nose generators in his mask and chest plate to ward off Supes. Makes sure to double, triple check his voice modulator. He cannot risk them finding out his true identity.

Not when he's finally recovering from his past as Robin.

I'm imaging they work together for a while, with everyone noticing the Red Hood (would he still be called Red Hood, if he never returned to Gotham? Maybe? Maybe he was reclaiming it, as a way to heal himself instead of for getting revenge) basically everyone notices RH being antsy around Batman. The amount of effort he puts into concealing his identity, unlike the other members of All-Caste. His name being Joker’s old name, something deeply meaningful to Gothamites.

Batman thinks RH is a reformed Gotham villain, who he's dealt with before. He thinks that's why RH doesn't ever face him, doesn't look him in the eye. He feels bad for him, but is strangely proud (just feel like mentioning, the thing about Batman is, he cares SO MUCH. About everyone. He feels sorrow when they lose themselves to their insanity, feels guilt over it. And he feels pride when they bounce back, grow better, like Harley Quinn did.) Like, this man, this absolute machine, clearly well honed and trained, who seems more than capable of taking on the entire Justice League by himself. Clearly he has experience.

Essence helps Jason through it. Soothes him at night when he has panic attacks, because his Dad is two rooms away from him. Helps him cope. Helps him calm down.

Then one day in some battle, one of the Untitled fatally injures Jason, and Batman is the only one nearby. Batman takes a hasty decision, rips Jason's mask off to save him.

And freezes.

That... that's his son. He looks older, more scarred, but thats... that's his SON!

(ALSO another addition: when they find Ducra she's like "uncuff me, and I'll show you just who Essence and Jason learnt from" BAMF!DUCRA FOR LIFEE)

Sorry for the rambling I just kept getting ideas and I kept writing lol

I promise I'll write this as a proper story as soon as I can, thanks so much for the ask! As usual, lmk in the comments if you'd like me to tag u in updates, also feel free to share any ideas u have! I'm just writing what yall want to read that makes me happy hehe

[redrobin-detective]

It always pisses me off when Billy is written as being ignorant to the horrors of the world when he was homeless for most of his childhood. When he does act childish as captain marvel its because he finally has the chance to relax and be playful after years of being a kid screwed over by the world. He saw the worst the world had to offer and came out kind and smiling and thats powerful

Tho I can imagine a leaguer getting irritated at him tho and snapping that he should "act his age" or imply he had easy and Billy just stops and stares at them then is like "I don't want get into my sob story tragic backstory but I was homeless most of my life I have literally never been sheltered, so uh, give a guy a break? Damn."

Just like??? The idea of optimism and fun and kindness being 'childish' and 'unrealistic' annoys me so much. Some of the nicest most accommodating people I've met have gone through horrible circumstances. It is a choice to be kind when the world has not been kind in return, to look at all the pain you've suffered and say "no, I will not contribute to this. We can do better."

Like once the dust settles on the Billy reveal and the JLAers kind of get used to this 12 year old wandering around the Watchtower I just want this quiet moment of revelation. Where Billy says something and they realize that his empathy and strength of heart come from HIM the boy who has had nothing for most of his life. He chooses to be kind when he does not have to and I want to League to fucking respect that dedication from someone so young.

[kingandfireheart]

TCOGB thoughts

These are all unfiltered brain dump thoughts after spending some time processing what I read

I was terrified the next three books were going to heartmate trials and I am so glad that that isn't the case

Usually, I get bored with established couples after the first few scenes by I absolutely adore PoppyCas, their dynamic evolves a lot and doesn't feel tiresome (like Feysand in ACOFAS)

Smut was smutty but it was meaningful and advanced the plot so I am happy

the smell of Lilacs means more than just the blood memories and I need to know why JLA chose Lilacs for PoppyCas and also for the weird faceless creatures

MISS WILLA wow I want more of her in every book always

also JLA is sneaky with her teasers! changing things up and moving around names!

Kieran is just part of the PoppyCas relationship and I’m okay with that - joining or no joining, he LOVES them both, them all cleaning up after the attack, the HUG, it was all lovely

Kieran touching Poppy’s cheek and hair just ended me, like it was so casual and so caring and a huge difference from "I don't think you would consider us friends" in AKOFAF (may write a Poppy Kieran post)

Also Kieran being like "fuck okay let's ascend her" like DUDE that is bro energy

Also all of the wolven and Poppy with their little brain conversations - that will come in handy!

Poppy telling their crew to call her Poppy but calling her mother in law to call her Penellaphe was savage

Delano and Perry FOREVER (seriously we had less than 5 lines of this ship but I ship it )

am I shipping Netta and Emil based off of like two lines? HELL YEAH

I kinda love Valyn even though he’s a little extreme at times, just being like "you're family" "we're lucky to have you" really got to me

Honestly would do anything for any of the 5 Contou family members, Kihra, Zaddy Jasper, Netta, Kieran, the new baby

Actually on second thought, can Jasper and Kihra just adopt me?

I'm glad Tawny is alive but I don't want a Kieran Tawny Ship,

Also RIP Ian you tried to flirt with Netta and provided a vague hint that's the only reason I liked you

Also RIP Lyra we stan you and your sex positive attitude and you did not deserve to die

Casteel being surprised when poppy said ily killed me and Kieran being surprised when they made him advisor also killed me

Casteel just stole my fucking heart time and time again between his love confession, getting poppy to come back to herself, supporting her every which way, literally threatening his father, like ily king (also considering a longer post about this)

I KNEW the cave cat was important and I need to know more, like what color are his EYE? (update, they are "vibrant green eyes. Intelligent eyes. Knowing ones." thank you @moonlitdreamer for that! )

I also knew Casteel was going to get captured again but I did not expect Malik to be involved dear gods I am upset

I was expecting the devastation of Malik being found and not knowing them, but this was next level - he was fully lucid

I really started to like Eloana but she fucked up big time and I hope she realizes that and she atones

Poppy is still upset about not being a changeling but if her dad can shape shift maybe she can too?

Is Isbeth really Poppy's mom? I'm not 1000% on this but am stalking the facebook group to see if JLA confirms (update: JLA confirmed)

I am Ready for Nyktos and Nektas and Sera and Jadis in ASITE

[sugarless5]

The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout My rating: 5 of 5 stars I adored this book. I forced myself to slow down reading it because I didn’t want it to be over. I thought the middle two books, while enjoyable, were a bit shaky because the pacing wasn’t great but I enjoyed the world and the characters so I was looking forward to this book. But I did not expect to adore this book as much as I did. The pacing was good (though there is still the JLA trademark of a slow middle and a thousand massive things happening at the very end - but the slow middle really developed characters in a way I enjoyed so I didn’t mind it). Of course it helps that my favorite character was the one that got the most development. However I knew some folks would be mad, so I created a whole ass goodreads account for this book because I wanted to put in my two cents. This book is great. It developed the characters in a way that felt natural and interesting. If you’re mostly reading for Cas, this will probably not be your favorite - he’s imprisoned for a lot of it. But there is one thing that, if it is not your cup of tea, you just won’t like it and maybe you should move along If you don’t like throuples - or (because the nature of the relationship is still a little up in the air) if a dynamic where a third is integrally part of the couple, not just a close friend, really bothers you - you will not like this book. Maybe just move on from the series, rather than screaming about it, making it harder for those of us who really liked how this was explored to enjoy. Poppy and Cas have the same relationship they’ve always had. Cas and Kieran have a very similar relationship to what they’d had before. Kieran and Poppy’s relationship is explored a lot more here - which I think would have been necessary no matter what direction she took it because in the third book we saw a bond develop but not get explored. Ultimately, Kieran is added to the dynamic in a more concrete way, but in a way that feels like a continuation and extension to the relationship they had before. It felt natural, meaningful, and in keeping with the dynamics they’ve been exploring and developing for the last couple of books. I’m not necessarily drawn to books that have poly elements in relationships, because they’re not always done in a way I find engaging, so part of why I’m gushing about this so much is that I think it was done in a way that sits so comfortably with the characters we’ve been growing to know and love through the series, while still being a new exploration into different kinds of love. I adored how Cas and Poppy continued to be Cas and Poppy. I adored how Kieran and Poppy grew closer and started to develop into a meaningful relationship of their own. And most of all, I loved how Kieran never let us (or Poppy) forget that Cas was a priority for him as well - and that Cas made it clear just how much he needs Kieran. I’m a little frustrated with the responses I’ve seen because I have yet to see people giving it a low review that isn’t just about hating the addition of Kieran - that goes even the ones that suggest they’d be fine with it if done differently. So many are acting as though Poppy and Kieran were cavorting behind Cas’s back while he was imprisoned rather than what actually happened, which was them working together to get Cas back, growing closer just as they have been through books 2 and 3, and prioritizing Cas as they also have been doing in those books. Cas gets it. Some readers seem not to. I’ve even seen people claiming this development was hypersexualizing or fetishizing the characters - a particularly bizarre claim not least of all because this is by far the least sexual book in the series - and I may even be including the first when I say that. If the joining bothers you, or if the thought of Kieran being part of their relationship as more than just close friend and advisor bothers you, you’ll probably have a hard time with this book. And that’s fine. Maybe count the first 3 books as good times you’ve had and move on from the series. But I think it’s really exciting to see love explored in the way JLA seems to be doing it in this series. So if you’re open to the idea and have grown to love Kieran over these last few books like I have, I’d urge you to read it. I adored this. ​ View all my reviews

[incomingalbatross]

Jason Todd’s canon origin is, fundamentally, a mess. And here’s why.

To start with, it very often happens in writing that you decide “I need this specific thing to have happened” and then have to find reasons for the characters to Do The Thing. That’s cool! That’s not bad writing!

Bad writing is deciding you need a thing to happen...and then making it happen without giving the characters reasons to do what they’re doing. And Jason is a great example of how this can go wrong!

To start with, let’s look at Robins in general. From the start, every Robin has been a writer-first decision—they decided they needed this character to have this position in the story, and then had to find a way to make that happen. The core question, always, is why does Bruce Wayne take this child into his life? And it needs a good answer because A) that’s a big decision and B) Bruce Wayne has a unique life and generally several compelling reasons not to take in a child.

Robin #1. Dick Grayson. They needed a reason for Bruce to take on this child as his ward and sidekick—why this kid? Why Dick, specifically?

Answer: Because he’s just been through the exact same trauma as Bruce’s defining trauma and has a similar temperament. Bruce is so particularly suited to helping him through it that he can’t not take him in. Good writing!

Robin #3, skipping ahead. Tim Drake. They needed a replacement for Jason, a new Robin to undarken things a little—but why would Bruce take in another kid after this tragedy? And why this kid, specifically?

Answer: Because Tim sees what the writers and audience see—”Batman needs a Robin”—and inserts himself into Bruce’s story. Because the need for a new Robin is so clear that even characters can see it—that is, instead of covering up their reasons, the writers leaned into them. Good Writing!

Robin #3.5, Stephanie Brown... Okay, her story was a trash fire. It was a crime against every character involved and I hate it. HOWEVER, unlike Jason’s origin, we can throw all of War Games into the fandom dumpster out back without losing beloved characters or any fundamental emotional beats! It actually makes things better because we don’t have to deal with heroes and good people hurting/killing/abusing each other, or a teenage girl being needlessly tortured!

Answer: ...we don’t need a good answer to their objectives because the objectives were bad. Jettison the whole thing. If you want Steph as an interim Robin you can just say Tim had, I dunno, strep or something, and she stepped in. War Games is the worst possible version of Robin Steph and contributed nothing but wholesale character assassination.

ANYWAY. Robin #4, Damian Wayne. The writer wanted him to join the family without anyone liking or trusting him, and without a Robin slot for him to fill immediately. That’s tough. Why this kid specifically? How is he bonded to the family?

Answer: He’s Bruce’s unknown biological son! Perfect. Automatically Bruce’s responsibility. I have problems with Damian’s arc but his intro works, good writing.

And then...we have Jason. Robin #2, the first experiment in “making a new Robin.” They, quite blatantly, wanted someone to replace Dick. (Because he was currently the property of the NTT creative team, and their vision of “increasingly capable leader of a team having their coming-of-age stories and fighting fullsize threats every week” did not fit well with Gotham’s demands of “Batman’s kid who we bring back from college whenever we need a Boy Hostage.”) So obviously that leaves questions. Why would Batman give Dick’s place to a new kid? And why this kid, specifically?

We have two versions of the answer here!

1: Pre-Crisis Jason Todd, the blond one, was SUPER clearly Replacement Dick—he was, in fact, a tragically orphaned circus acrobat whose parents were murdered (by Killer Croc, this time) while they were performing in Gotham. And...y’know, given this implausible thing happening, Bruce adopting him DOES make sense! He and Dick would both see it as fitting that he helps this kid, especially since he now has actual experience in raising orphaned acrobats. He has a successful track record and everything.

2: Given, however, that this was blatantly contrived AND Blond Jay didn’t have much to distinguish him from Dick, they decided to rewrite it completely. Post-Crisis Jason is a homeless orphan with a dead drug-addict mom and a convict dad, and... there’s NO clear answer to the questions posed above?

Seriously. There really isn’t.

Bruce and Jason’s interactions are: 1. Batman catches child stealing the Batmobile’s tires, finds out he’s homeless; 2. Batman takes child to a boys’ home and gets him taken in; 3. Batman catches child stealing his tires again, learns from child that the Home is actually a front for some kind of Artful Dodger setup where the boys are forced to do more crime; 4. Batman and child bust the Home together; 5. Batman decides to make the child his new Robin.

There is NO compelling reason there for Bruce Wayne to bring this child into either side of his life, let alone BOTH! I mean... you can’t tell me that he hasn’t had equally meaningful interactions with dozens of other kids, over the years. This is NOT SUFFICIENT.

“Bruce saw himself in Jason” “They bonded during this” These are things we, the fans, can insert into our versions of this story. Those are good versions, I like them and I have my own in my head! But we have to insert them ourselves. It’s not there in the outline like Dick and Damian’s links to Bruce, or Tim’s claim to Robin, all are. The closest thing we have is that Bruce thinks Robin will help “channel Jason’s anger,” which... A) still not sufficient, and B) that actually makes it WORSE??

(Because the implication is that he needs “rehabilitating” to not “go bad,” which, uhhhhhhh, is NOT a good place to adopt a child from OR the kind of person you should bring into your household on a whim—especially when you’re BATMAN. You don’t give a kid you don’t trust access to your home, access to your preexisting kid’s AND the JLA’s secret identities, and ADVANCED FIGHTING SKILLS.)

ANYWAY. There’s no good reason given for Bruce to take in Jason... and HERE we see why out-of-universe reasons matter. Because they reflect in-universe factors, and if you DON’T account for that...

Well, then the most obvious explanation for Jason being Robin is still “to replace Dick.” But in-universe, that means BRUCE is trying to use him to replace Dick—after all, what makes this different from every other orphan Bruce has helped? Only the fact that when he met Jason, Dick had recently left home and the Dynamic Duo.

And I hate this explanation!! It’s gross and super unfair to Jason as a person and paints their relationship as unhealthy from the start!! My Batman would never do this to a child!! But canon didn’t give us a better answer.

So yeah, this is one of the reasons why Jason’s time as Robin is inherently a Problem from a writing perspective.

It’s a pain!!

[davidmann95]

Thoughts on Scott's Justice League?

So I don’t think we can discuss the current Justice League without bringing up Metal. Not just because it’s essentially the first arc, but because Justice League as a followup to that recontextualizes what it is. Metal, dearly as I love it, does very similar things to plenty of event comics over the last decade: things suddenly go completely to hell in a way that illustrates moral and philosophical failings on the part of our heroes coming to a grotesque head, and it might truly be the end this time until the champions pull through at the last, heralding a bold new age of heroism…and then everything keeps being miserable as shit and we repeat it all next year because the problem persists, still crying out for a symbolic slaying. Metal is that to a T.

Except Snyder along with Tynion actually stuck around to assure the follow-through. And while he’s moved past the sort of overt riffs that defined most of his collaborations with Capullo, what he’s done here fulfills the same promise as their Batman run: lulling a franchise into something noticeably closer to how Grant Morrison’s vision for how it should work, with Snyder’s slicker, more bombastic, action-movie commercial sensibilities succeeding at selling those ideas where Morrison didn’t. Except in this case it isn’t just that Batman’s cool and aspirational. It’s the model for the entirety of DC Comics.

I don’t know that this is the best Justice League thing. It isn’t as perfectly poppy and clever as Morrison’s own JLA or as funny and character-driven as the animated series (the two obvious influences), Orlando’s ersatz effort at handling a side book as if it were made up of A-listers yielded likely more profound results in isolation, and Priest and Woods’ immediately pre-Snyder run was pretty inarguably better put together on a nuts-and-bolts craftsmanship level while also succeeding at making it the ‘serious’ title people had been trying and failing to for years beforehand, making it the perfect final word on that era. But it’s absolutely the story that most potently synthesizes all the stuff that makes the Justice League work in the massive, iconic sense. It’s big threats, it’s inter-team bonding and drama, it’s grand spectacle and mythology and iconography, it’s puzzles the size of the world met with impossible come-from-behind victories, it’s cosmic and moral horror and shining inspiration, it’s Superman punching a fool so hard time explodes.

Let’s hover on the spirit of that last bit for a second. This is the lead book for DC as a lineup in a way Geoff Johns’ Justice League tried and failed to be (in so many ways this feels like what we would have expected a Geoff Johns Justice League run to look like once upon a time - this big loony generative fanboy thing building on the structure of existing mythology and relationships to construct a megaphone to scream the theme through), dictating the direction and tone of the entire line. And the first arc ends with a Flash-powered car driving around the Earth so fast it turns into a White Lantern; later Space Krakens get involved. When Metal came out I said it was impressive that it managed to feel like it had changed everything even though surely it couldn’t have, but now I’m not so certain; we’ve got astro-gorillas in the first issue of Bendis Superman, Morrison’s got Green Lantern, Tom King’s Very Serious Batman involves his parallel universe dad and Kite Man. The rock star spirit Snyder was heralding with Batman and trying to spread to the rest of the line with Metal has at last broken loose, and we’re back into superheroism as the world of the casual ineffable bizarre, the core of the shared DCU headspace huffing nitrous and slamming on the pedal until its heel breaks through the floor as Superman uses his X-ray vision to block an invisible evil galaxy from firing waves of pure self-loathing at Earth until Flash can stand still enough to unlock the true nature of the multiverse as he learned to do from a mean baby wielded against him by a gorilla. Justice Incarnate, this decades’ most perfect encapsulation of everything strange and wonderful about DC that was clearly NEVER going to show up again is now a semi-regular presence, and Justice Legion Alpha apparently aren’t far behind. It’s all odd and beautiful and exciting again, just like we all knew deep down it was always supposed to be.

Outside the context of the DCU as a whole, it’s still a perfect capstone to Snyder’s career. The final transfer from his initial haunted house horrors to roller coaster thrills, and the upscaling of his themes of the aspirations of our best selves vs the primal lure of our worst into the moral axis on which the entire hero/villain dichotomy of DC rests, and literally having who wins the argument determine the death or evolution of all of reality. For me, this is the best incarnation of his old saw, because when it’s framed as being directly placed in the hands of Folks Like Us which kind of world this is going to be, it asks both the moral question AND the interrogation of what kind of power fantasy we actually want the cape-and-tights crowd to represent.

It’s also a capstone in terms of seeing how many artistic prisms his sensibilities can be filtered through, utterly changing the vibe while maintaining the impact, and resulting in easily the best the main Justice League title has ever looked. Jim Cheung’s shining blockbuster theatrics; Francis Manapul’s classical statuesque bombast; Howard Porter sticking his head in as a tip of the hat to the JLA roots; Javier Fernandez’s grungy, inky, yet springy cartoon action fitting the decline of a vibrant superhero universe perfectly; the likes of Doug Mahnke, Mikel Janin, Frazier Irving, and Guillem March doing one-offs and fill-in work; Steven Segovia and Daniel Sampere’s clean, traditional superheroic lines; and the main artist and MVP, Jorge Jimenez, whose energy and acting and velocity and overtly manga-inspired flourish makes it the most purely enjoyable, exciting book about the slow agonizing end of everything that’s ever been put to paper. All fit the tone, all make it their own.

Do I have issues? Certainly. Snyder’s writerly tics are still present (though offloading a lot of the monologuing to third-person narration has I think helped enormously), giving Tynion and his more character-centric work a foothold on the villainous issues - and for that matter giving them far more standalone character pieces than the heroes - makes it unintentionally feel like their argument hold primacy, a handful of members are characterized somewhat generically (particularly Wonder Woman, which is a surprising shame given she’s who Snyder has mostly talked about writing next), and likely a few other quibbles I could think of. But by and large, this remains one of the best titles on the stands: the collective scope of the DCU, all the sprawling universe-shaking structures and dopey detritus, smashing its biggest most meaningful toys up against one another for the fate of everything but EVERYTHING, where the soul of any given schlub on the street is going to determine the destiny of the multiverse. It’s not the singular best DC (though it’s proudly part of the best-of-DC crowd), but by god, it’s going to be the singular MOST DC or it is going to burn the world down trying.

[pinkletterday]

Future Perfect

(A Westallen Campfire Tale)

(with new revisions)

Way back in S3, when I was still grappling with my unaddressed Westallen baggage, I made a Season 1 AU.

Dawn Allen of the original timeline follows Thawne and her father to Flashpoint but comes out in 2014. She gets stuck there much like Thawne did, because her timeline had been erased. So she creates a fake identity and gets a job at the CCPD as a fellow lab tech filling in for Barry while he's in a coma and decides to bide her time and watch over her father as he gains his powers.

In Dawn Allen's timeline, Barry's family moved away when he was twelve and he lost touch with Iris till he came back to Central and joined the CCPD. Meanwhile, Joe and Iris grew increasingly distant, Iris chafing at Joe's restrictions and Joe growing sterner and more fearful till they became alienated. When Iris discovered the truth about her mother, the estrangement was completed.

Barry and Iris fell in love almost immediately and married soon after. They were both much older when the Particle Accelerator blew and gave Barry his powers.

Iris was considered the first lady of the JLA and the matriarch of the Flashes. Dawn grew up idolizing her parents love story and their achievements, although always rather puzzled at her mother's distant relationship with Grandpa Joe. Henry died of natural causes in his fifties but Nora lived to old age and was a loving mother-in-law and grandmother.

When Dawn Allen arrives in 2014, she finds herself already losing memories of her beloved grandmother. She preserves all the memories of the original timeline in her own version of Gideon created by Barry expressly for his children, in which he has stored his and Iris's own memories to call their children home wherever they may be.

At first she is eager to see for herself how her parents' love story plays out. But soon gets upset when her mother starts sleeping with some guy who's also the ancestor of the man who destroyed their family. The upset turns to horror when she realizes Barry has no intention of telling Iris the truth.

With every bold-faced lie that drives the wedge between Barry and Iris further, Dawn becomes more and more disillusioned and heartbroken. She cant reconcile these people with the image she has of her parents. She was always cold to Eddie, but where once she was eager to please and warm with Barry, she now almost hates him.

But it's Joe that's the real cause of all this. Barry coming to live with them may have saved Joe and Iris's relationship, but neither of them ever challenged his authoritarianism and simply accepted his fear-based, patriarchal worldview. Henry and Nora weren't perfect but Barry growing up with a strong female presence meant that he never saw Iris as someone to be protected. Iris's hard-won independence and self-focus away from her father never materialized in this timeline, instead being caught up in the emotional needs of the men in her insular little family and letting it define her.

Things finally come to a head when Thawne finally reveals himself. Dawn takes him by surprise and helps Barry take him down but the timeline is irrevocably broken. Even if Barry went back and reset events, Dawn's own future would still be erased, and along with it her memories. She finally explodes, taking Joe and Barry to task for treating Iris with such disrespect, finally telling Eddie that she cant help resenting him for being the one who loves her mother the way Barry is supposed to and expressing her irrational unhappiness at how Iris hadn't chosen Barry, despite having been best friends for years. These are not the parents she has idolized, and she despairs of ever being able to return to the family she left behind, or see them the same way again.

Barry and Iris, Eddie and Joe see the memories Dawn's parents have stored in Gideon flashing through the time vault - their reconnecting, Barry proposing to Iris, their wedding, working as a team from the first, having children, Iris always being Barry's lightning rod.

Iris is betrayed and devastated and cant even begin to process it. Joe is bowed under the consequences of his duplicity. Barry is full of regret and guilt. Only Eddie finally realizes that no matter how much he loves Iris, he never had any place in this story.

Iris objects.

"I don't belong to anyone. My life is my own."

"Is it? So what. You're just going to let Dawn be erased?"

"I don't know. Am I supposed to just get over all of this so Barry and I can get together and save her?"

"That's up to you, Iris. All I know is that I don't belong here."

"That's not true. You belong to me. I'm choosing you, Eddie."

"There's a difference between choosing something just so you get to choose and choosing because you really want it, Iris."

"What're you saying?"

"I know you love me. But it's never been me you've really wanted."

Cisco then realizes that that timeline could not have disappeared without causing a paradox. The other timeline still exists, albeit in flux, anchored by Dawn's own presence as a time remnant. They figure out a way to use Dawn's memories stored in Gideon to piece the timeline back together so that it coalsces into an alternate universe running parallel to this one. Just as Barry created the speed force but once created it encompasses the length and breadth of time itself, they can create Dawn's universe so that it was always birthed by Earth1, which in turn created Dawn's AU, looping the universes together.

They have to use Eobard's expertise, Cisco's powers, Dawn's energy as a touchstone and Gideon's time drive to do this. At first it seems as though they have failed. Eobard turns on Dawn in a fury - only to be blasted back by her mother, appearing through the restored timeline like a wrathful Sigourney Weaver. Dawn's father, full-fledged, mature, experienced superhero, more than Thawne's equal, finally gets to fight his nemesis and beat him soundly.

In the aftermath, Dawnie sobs out all her woes in her parents arms. Instead of being appropriately shocked and horrified however, they are mostly concerned and amused. Iris reveals that she once walked out on Barry in the early years of his superhero career and that he moved out once when they were very small. The relationship Dawn has idolized has never been perfect, never been free of bad choices and conflict. But its still special because it means they chose to rebuild it time and time again, forgave each other and chose each other no matter what.

"We're not some gold standard, Dawnie. We're human and we mess up. That's how we know it's real."

Older Barry goes to talk to Iris. She asks him about what it was like when he first got his powers and worked as a team with his wife. Then asks him sadly what she had done to not be what her Barry needed. Older Barry tells her gently that we each wrestle with our own demons and the consequences of that struggle sometimes fall unwittingly on our loved ones, but not as a punishment. He tells her that he cant claim to be morally superior or better than his younger counterpart, because he doesn't know who he would be if his own parents had been ripped away, or who younger Barry would have become if Joe hadnt been there to protect and love him, flawed and imperfect as that love was. At the end of the day, Iris has to choose what she wants to do with those consequences. Nothing she chooses is either good or bad, but simply her own to face.

Older Iris speaks with Barry. To her amusement, he reminds her more of Don than her husband.

He says he is sorry to have treated her counterpart so shabbily.

"I think that's something she should hear, not me."

"Aren't you disappointed in me too?"

"Why? You're not my kid." She laughs, "Okay, so if I was her I'd kick your ass. But I'm not her. I've lived a lot longer and seen many stupid choices made by people who should know better. Fact is, Barr, you're a kid and you made a mistake. Doesn't mean you get a free pass, but it isn't the end of the world."

"What if she never forgives me?"

"Then you have to live with that. You have to live with it and still forgive yourself." *sigh* "You can't let your choices be defined by other people, Barry. Not even the ones you love. That's where you went wrong. You thought you'd tell her about your feelings only if she loved you. You thought you'd tell her the truth only if she saw you first. You didn't stand up to Joe because you were afraid of his disapproval. God knows no one can stop you once you go full tilt, Barry Allen, but you can't hold yourself back from the things you need to do because other people won't give you what you want."

"I was angry." *buries face in hands* "I told myself it was because Joe told me not to tell her, but honestly it was because I was angry. I woke up and she was with Eddie. She saw him, she saw the Flash but never ever saw me." *slumps* "I know that's awful."

*shrug* "It's how you felt. What you did was bad, but feelings aren't wrong or right. They just are."

"But he was better, wasn't he? Your Barry?"

"He's different. He lived a different life. We didn't grow up together. We weren't each other's first loves. He's not perfect, Barr. Neither am I. We've hurt each other pretty badly too. But he and I...we fall in love with each other a little more after every break. And every single time, it feels a little more precious."

Older Iris finally goes to see Joe. He's almost broken.

"Dawn told me I don't have much of a relationship with you where you come from."

"No. I was headstrong, you were controlling."

"Guess I'm destined to mess it up, then."

"Destiny has nothing to do with it. You were the one who lied. The one who's still lying." *meaningful look*

*crying* "I'm going to lose her forever, aren't I?"

"Maybe." *sigh* "I couldn't forgive you for the longest time. But then sometimes, with Barry, with my own kids...don't get me wrong, I hate what you did. But maybe I get why."

"I always told myself that it was to protect you. But I think it became more to protect myself."

*weary shrug* "That's usually how it goes. Kids are hard." *wry smile* "I guess we all only start forgiving our parents once we have our own."

*weak laugh* *scrubs face* "What do I do?"

"Let her go."

"What?"

"Let her go. Let her feel what she wants, do what she wants. Maybe she'll come back to you. But you need to build a life for yourself that doesn't involve her."

"I don't -"

"The only way to be a good parent is to stop living for your kid so your kid gets to live for themselves. Figure out who you are when you're not a cop or a father. You can't put it all on her...Dad."

"Guess you really have learned from my fuck-ups, huh?"

*modest shrug* "Can't make 'em all myself."

Cisco opens a portal and Older Barry and Iris stand flanking their daughter, saluting a final farewell to their younger counterparts and Joe.

Barry goes back to talk to Iris.

"You don't have to see me or talk to me," *leaning his forehead on her door, fingertips trailing over it as though to feel hers through the wood* "I know I haven't been any kind of friend that you deserve. But I need you to know. You asked me if I laughed at you, if I looked down on you. I never did. It wrecked me not to tell you, to hold myself back from telling you the truth. I don't even know why I did it. All I knew was that you looked at me the way I had wanted you to my entire life, and I was too greedy and selfish to let that go. I never let myself think what would happen when you finally found out. You know I'm good at not thinking about consequences. Like that time I tried to impress you by climbing old Mrs.Leroy's crabapple tree. I didn't think, I just did it and I got stuck, Iris. And this time you couldn't be there to talk me down. Because it was you I was hurting," *trying not to cry* "I don't know how to make it right with you, or if I ever can. I don't expect anything of you, or hope for anything more than you're ready to give. But please just let me know whatever you need to not hurt anymore. And I promise I will never ever lie to you about anything ever again" *chuckles through tears, remembering their old childhood vow* "I promise on all the mac and cheese in the world. On all the miles I'll ever run. On all the memories you've ever given me. On everything that I love. I promise, I promise, I promise." He wipes his eyes on his sleeve and leaves, not knowing that Iris is sitting down on the floor next to the door, silently crying.

In the morning he finds a letter telling him that she needs some space but she'll come back and talk once she's ready.

Six months later, Barry gets a call as he weaves through the summer rain in front of Jitters. It's Iris.

He stands stock still and stammers if she's decided to come back.

"Yeah, I have. I think I'm ready to make a clean start, if you are."

"God, yeah. I am," he laughs, bewildered by his good fortune. "I meant it, Iris, I don't expect anything -"

"I know," she says quietly. "And I don't think I'm ready for...that, yet. I might be, eventually though," the world stops and he's afraid to breathe wrong. "But I swear to God, Barry Allen, if you ever lie of hide anything from me again -"

"I won't, I swear! I promised didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did," he can hear the grudging smile in her voice and his heart lifts.

He clears his throat. "When are you coming? Do you want me to pick you up or-"

"I'm already here, actually."

"Wait what?"

"Look behind you."

Iris stands across the road, waving at him. He draws up in front of her as though in a dream.

"Hi," he breathes, a grin blooming uncontrollably.

She tucks a curl behind her ear, reflecting his tremulous joy back at him. "Hi."

Just like that, they fall in love again. And this time, it feels a little more precious.

[wqintraining]

The Robins Are Broken

I’ve touched on this a few times before, but if you’re not aware, it has been a long time since I’ve been invested in any of the four male Robins. For awhile I’ve thought this was simply because of my frustration over all of them getting to survive the Nu52 Reboot and my continued annoyance at DC’s decision to have the Batfamily revolve around them from the Nu52 onward, but I’ve realized something else that’s been stewing in my brain subconsciously.

The Robins are dead as characters.

This isn’t to say that they can’t still be enjoyable parts of stories, but as far as being main characters whose personal stories we’re invested in?

Lets go through them so I can explain what I mean.

Dick: I haven’t been a Dick fan since I was a kid and that’s because while back then I saw a super cool badass, nowadays I see him as one of the most boring heroes in the DCU, among other things. Part of the reason for this is that the guy, despite ALWAYS having a solo and usually another book as well, is very rarely in a GOOD book. Literally every Nightwing run? Either crap of slightly less crap. Morrison’s Batman and Robin? Bleh. Winnick’s Outsiders and Robinson’s JLA? Crap. Grayson? Somehow made Dick more generic than ever. And this isn’t just me talking as a non-fan. Most of Dick’s fanbase seems to agree with me on this, save for my opinions on B&R and Grayson. Look at virtually any discussion about Dick online and you will see a TON of bitching. The problem with Dick is that he’s a simplistic character by design who completed his one and only meaningful character arc back in the 80′s. Despite the attempts of so many writers, there simply isn’t anything interesting to do with him as a lead. He really should be reserved to being a support character, as he’s worked excellently in numerous guest spots and Grayson’s Titans, but sadly, he’s one of the few DC characters who consistently sell, so he’s gonna keep getting completely disposable, meaningless stories for years to come.

Jason and Damian: Lumping these two together because they have the same problem. Fans of these characters will often say how they’re more interesting and dynamic than the “milk-toast” Dick and Tim. Now I would agree that, yes, as individual characters, they do have more potential (If DC knew what the fuck they were doing, Jason would be my #1 Robin and not a distant #3). However, the problem with these characters as far as investment goes is the very nature of Big 2 Comics. It doesn’t matter what character development they get, what experiences, losses and triumphs they go through, either a writer or editorial will always end up pushing the reset button. This has happened FAR more often with Damian, because most writers don’t seem to want to write a developed Damian, but the recent happenings with Jason arguably make his situation even worse. He’s mostly just been written by Lobdell since the Nu52. WITH just one main book and WITH just one primary writer, the reset button still ended up being pressed. Now yes, technically it isn’t a trend with him yet, but I guarantee you it’s going to become one, especially once Jason ends up in a position where he no longer has a solo, and I believe that day is coming a lot sooner than some people think. Yes, the idea of “Why get invested in a story if it isn’t going to end up mattering” is another large problem with Big 2 comics that fans just have to try and overlook (and not always succeed) but I think it’s much more drastic with these two than many other cases.

Tim: Ooooooooh, Tim. You’re my favorite of the boys, but damn if I couldn’t care less if you’re in another book any time soon. Tim is almost as generic as Dick on his own (save for the Red Robin solo) but what makes me love him are his relationships with other characters, specifically Cass and the YJ crew. Like Dick, Tim completed his major character arc awhile ago. Unlike Dick, he hasn’t continued to get solo stories since then. You’d think that’d be a good thing given my previous complaints, but the downside are WHICH team books he’s been in. Nu52Teen Titans is one of the worst ongoing series DC’s ever published and literally turned Tim into a different character, until that was retconned by Tynion, and ‘Tec, while significantly better than TT, still made the choice to put him in the leading role, wherein he ended up being super annoying. Again, put him in a YJ book as Cassie’s second in command, put him in a duo book with Cass and he can still work. More so than the others, Tim right now is a character without a life and without a past. Let him redevelop the interesting and amazing bonds he once had and give us a sense of who Tim is as a PERSON, not just a hero again. Obviously, like with any of the others, a radical new direction could also theoretically work,  but this is DC, it’d just be reset, and we’d be back to a character whose personality is “Look at me hacking everything with my wristwatch.”

[nightwingmyboi]

I can’t stand jayroy fics and don’t get the appeal about it because it feels like in order for them to come together Roy’s character had to be completely ruined and his relationships were either completely forgotten or, in Dicks case, replaced completely where Jason got credit for Dicks roles in Roys life. What are your thoughts on it?

Yeah, I am pretty much of the same mind as you on this one anon. You’ve hit the nail on the head here. I’ve talked about how close Dick and Roy were and how stupid it was to destroy their relationship [here]. Talked about how I think Jason and Roy’s relationship should have gone [here]. 

But yeah, always thinking about this, so I’ll complain some more. Because the fact that Roy’s character was destroyed in order to make him Jason’s lackey? Sucks ass. It’s crazy to think that Roy was once so respected that he was a member of the JLA, a leader of the Titans...and yet in RHATO, he makes mistakes so foolish that he’s more of a liability than an asset. 

He had a HUGE downgrade skill wise, seemingly in order to make Jason look good. Another thing that bothers me that I don’t see come up as much when people talk about how Roy was absolutely shafted by this reboot...is that really Roy is meant to be a genuinely good person. 

Outsiders (2003) #31

He’s never been the black sheep of his family lmao...inevitably, inherently, Roy’s always been a hero. He wants to help people. I think that’s the thing I’ve always admired the most about him...that Roy isn’t defined by his mistakes. He refuses to let his missteps guide the course of his life. 

But now, DC has transformed Roy into someone who is lead, someone who has thrown all his principles away to murder without a second thought, someone who lets himself be ruled by his demons...and really that’s the thing I hate most I think, about RHATO!Roy. That DC has let Roy’s mistakes define him, instead of letting him rise up and learn and grow and be a hero despite being flawed and human. 

And, yeah Dick and Roy’s relationship has been particularly butchered, because of the complete reversal from “childhood best friend who I love implicitly” to “stranger who I hate and trash talk 24/7,” but beyond that Roy’s relationships with other people in the superhero community have also been nearly nonexistent. And now he’s dead. A complete waste of his character! DC really just doesn’t get the point of Roy Harper at all :/ 

Action Comics #613

Also! Since you mentioned it...hate how Dick is constantly getting relationships and teams and etc. handed to other members of his family, not gonna lie. This has become an irritating pattern :/ It’s particularly annoying because it frankly doesn’t even need to freaking happen!!! You want Jason and Roy to be friends? Then they can be friends! Dick and Roy do not need to stop being friends for that to happen; Roy can have a relationship with more than two people. Is that sinking in DC. Because, frankly, if a relationship can’t stand on it’s own, without tearing other relationship apart, then it’s a weak relationship. How about instead of having lazy writing (ie inserting a fake backstory where Roy and Jason met as young sidekicks, isolating Roy from all his friends and family, and just blatantly taking things that Dick did and acting like Jason did them instead) you actually have these two characters interact and form a meaningful relationship and organically create a new and fresh dynamic for Jason and Roy? Something uniquely them, something we haven’t seen before? Let them earn their bond, because then their friendship would feel real. I actually think that a relationship with these two had a ton of potential and I was excited to see how things would turn out...but my dreams were absolutely crushed. The way Jason and Roy’s relationship is portrayed in canon and most fanon frustrates the hell out of me, to the point where I just nope on out of there. 

[aion-rsa]

INTERVIEW: Priest & Cowan on Deathstroke and Real World Violence

SPOILER WARNING: The following interview contains spoilers for “Deathstroke” #11, in stores now.

All these months later, and storied DC Comics characters are still lining up for their respective debuts in the publisher’s Rebirth reality. This week sees the reemergence of that jaundiced, feral freak, The Creeper, along with his Fourth Estate alter ego, Jack Ryder. To make the return all the more odd, it takes place in the pages of “Deathstroke #11,” by Christopher Priest and guest artists Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Priest and company have hardly taken the typical approach to Slade Wilson or his terminations with this series, opting instead for something just as violent, but far more introspective. That’s especially evident with this latest issue, a frank examination of gun violence and vendetta–not in Gotham or Metropolis, but real world Chicago. When multiple perpetrators of gang murder turn up dead themselves, journalists flock to cover the story of a potential serial killer. Is this justice, or the kind of “eye-for-an-eye” vigilantism that only feeds the cycle of violence? Perhaps an assassin with an eye-patch may prove the best testimony.

CBR: Chicken and egg question: Did Deathstroke #11 start with the outline, or the knowledge that Denys and Bill would be the art team?

Art from “Deathstroke” #11

Christopher Priest: The issue began as an inventory story, which is an issue we prepare and hold in case there are production or scheduling problems with the book. I wanted to do an anti-violence story and thought, what better place to do an anti-violence story than Deathstroke — a book that all but glorifies violence. As I see it, my run does not glorify violence so much as it examines the consequences of violence and the effect living this lifestyle has on this man Slade Wilson. I thought a stand-alone inventory issue would be a great platform to make a more forward-leaning statement about those consequences.

At the time of commissioning, there were many stories about the rising toll of shootings in Chicago, with 2016 being a record-breaking year in terms of gun violence and homicides. I thought this tragic situation would make an appropriate platform for my story, and discussed it initially with film director and producer Reginald Hudlin (“D’Jango Unchained,” “2016 Academy Awards®,” “Marshal”), who is now a principal in Milestone Media Inc. I invited Reginald to co-write the issue, but he was busy at the time directing the upcoming biopic “Marshal.” He did share his views on the culture of violence—including Hollywood’s role in it—and suggested my story might work as an urban spin on the classic western “A Fistful of Dollars,” wherein the beleaguered townsfolk hire the gunslinger Clint Eastwood to resolve their problems by means of violence. “Dollars” is a cautionary tale and an anti-violence statement in its own right, and Reginald’s suggestion provided the direction I ultimately pursued.

I thought the story would be a great fit for Milestone Media in its renewed relationship with DC Comics, and had hoped for a mini Milestone reunion by inviting Reginald and Milestone co-creator Denys Cowan to join me. I was incredibly pleased when Denys said yes and worked the “Deathstroke” story into his busy schedule. Denys then brought along our longtime friend Bill Sienkiewicz as well as longtime Cowan letterer Willie Schubert (“The Question,” “Legends of The Dark Knight,” “Lone Wolf & Cub”).

Was there ever any resistance to this story?

Priest: DC has been unqualified in their support of this story. I was actually prepared for a fight and kind of expected the story to get dumped somewhere along the approvals process, but both Bob Harras and DC Publisher Dan DiDio were extremely supportive, making me feel a little like a dope for, essentially, doing to the company what I’d experienced for so long — making assumptions along cultural lines. I kind of owe the company an apology for my having suited up for a fight that never happened.

Art from “Deathstroke” #11

Obviously, every project is different, with its own mood and pace. Denys, were there any particular challenges when putting pencil to paper on this one? Anything you wanted to try?

Denys Cowan: The challenge of this story was to try to convey the city of Chicago and the people who live there, because the city is as much of a character in this story as Deathstroke is. I tried my best to show this… and with the excellent story by Priest and the inks by Sienkiewicz, I’m very happy with the way this issue came out.

I don’t imagine this applies to anyone on this call, myself included, but there are those who don’t want politics to infringe on the escapism of their comics reading experience. What’s your take on that?

Priest: Read other comics. [Laughs] The way I see it, there are so many choices these days and so many genres from both major and indy publishers, that there should be room for a myriad of approaches. You know, once there was a Cary Bates approach and a Denny O’Neil approach, with Chris Claremont emerging as a kind of amalgam of the two: the high-energy larger-than-life superhero action but character-driven and grounded in reality.

DC films are very much grounded in reality, while the main grouping of their superhero comic books tend to read more like animated series in terms of their heightened reality and high-octane action. Everything is really loud and really bright and occasionally silly, with colorful villains like Abra Kadabra and so forth. But The Dark Knight was so good, it actually worked without the costumes. I mean, if Bruce Wayne had been a Bond-style vigilante rather than Batman, that movie would have still worked.

If I were writing Justice League, the book would probably not be something DC fans would want to read because it would be far less larger than life and would echo life as we know it. I mean, what if there really were a self-appointed group of godlike people “protecting” us? How would the world respond to these people? My JL book would examine the real-world conflicts, challenges and consequences and be less concerned about the next galactic menace the heroes would have to fight.

Art from “Deathstroke” #11

This isn’t to criticize writers who write the bang-zoom stuff; these are very talented people doing a great job. But I, personally, don’t read those comics unless I have to for research because they don’t appeal to me, and nobody is writing “JLA: The Real World,” which would appeal to me. It’s also possible I am simply not the audience for mainstream superhero comics because so much of it is just too cranked and too loud for me. I want the real world—or as close to it as I can get—and then pop the heroes into it.

Cowan: This isn’t a political issue to me. Gun violence is a human problem. We deal with this subject in the context of a thriller type story.

Still others might ask why Deathstroke the Terminator is the right guy to relay questions about the cycle of violence in the real world. Do you think audience perception of Slade is a hurdle or an advantage in telling a really charged, meaningful story?

Priest: I think only Nixon could go to China. If DC is going to do an anti-violence story, it really has to take place in “Deathstroke” in order to have real credibility. You had to send the most staunch anti-Communist crusader to talk to Mao in order for any agreement to be trusted by both sides.

I went into this one cold. In fact, I read this digitally without having seen the cover. So when the Creeper shows up, it was maybe the last cameo I expected to see. It’s almost a shame most other readers will have already seen him on the cover. How did the Creeper become part of the equation?

Priest: For this story, I wanted Deathstroke to be portrayed, more or less, as a force of nature. He has very few lines. The story is told by a point of view character. I thought that POV character should ideally be a reporter; someone who could ask questions. I did not want to the book to preach to the readers “Violence Is Bad!” I wanted to preach a good sermon. A good sermon is like a good court summation: tell a story, ask pointed questions, which lead the hearer to draw their own conclusion.

I initially wanted Lois Lane, but there was so much going on in the Superverse that we looked elsewhere. When Jack Ryder came across my desk, I felt Ryder — a former Jerry Springer-type — would be perfect. The story is built around Ryder however, as it developed, it became obvious that if we have Ryder in the book, readers would expect The Creeper to make an appearance.

I actually did not want Creeper on the cover, but this is the first post-Rebirth appearance of the character, so it made sense that DC would want to play that up. Hopefully, the way the book is written, most readers will have all but forgotten about The Creeper until he makes his entrance. I think it still works.

What’s important to you right now, as storytellers in, let’s call it 2017? What do you personally want to explore or say or ask? What do you want to get out of it?

Art from “Deathstroke” #11

Cowan: As a storyteller in this medium, I’ve always tried to explore the human experience using extraordinary superheros to entertain and reach people. It’s just as or maybe more important in 2017 to continue to do that.

Priest: I’m still trying to decide if I’m having a good time or not, and how long I’ll be writing comics. It’s a lot of hard work, and there’s this big team the editor has to corral, like herding cats. I worry that I’m really not in sync with what is popular and what sells these days, which is probably why I am not offered leading, or A-List titles. A friend told me last week, “Dude, that [Denny O’Neil] era is over.” Man, I really hope not. I loved Cary Bates’ Superman and Flash, But Denny took Superman and grounded him in reality — got rid of Kryptonite and de-powered him, then wrote him introspectively. It should not be zero sum. Grant Morrison’s “JLA” was certainly larger than life and sold a gajillion copies, obliterating my “Justice League Task Force.” So, do I still belong here? I guess that’s for the readers to decide.

I’d like to be writing novels and exploring other creative avenues. As of this writing, there are lots of possibilities and I’m really kind of shocked that so many people have approached me to work with them. It’ll likely be at least another month or so before I know for sure what 2017 looks like.

Art from “Deathstroke” #11

The post INTERVIEW: Priest & Cowan on Deathstroke and Real World Violence appeared first on CBR.com.

http://ift.tt/2jVox9c

[davidmann95]

So, what's the deal with Kingdom Hearts? I mean, it's a Disney/Final Fantasy crossover, right? Hard to see why would that cause such dedicated whatever.

I’ve had this in my drafts for a while, and given today’s the series’ 17th anniversary it seems like the time to finally get back and finish it. Simple answer: the music slaps and you just want the soft children to get to go home.

Long answer: Even now people joke about the baseline absurdity of a universe in which Donald Duck can go toe-to-toe with Cloud, and while I think 17 years in we’re past the point where it’s time to accept that this is just a part of the landscape for these characters, yes, that does remain objectively bonkers. It’s not a natural, intuitive combination like your JLA/Avengers, this is Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe-level “well, I suppose they both exist in…the, uh, medium of visual storytelling” stuff, other than I suppose that they both tend towards fantasy in this case. And then that whole wacko premise got hijacked by Tetsuya Nomura for an extended epoch-spanning drama driven by labyrinthine, (occasionally literal) dream logic mythology where it’s genuinely impossible to tell at this point what’s being thrown in by the seat of the creators’ pants and what was planned out since day one, pretty much casting aside the franchises that were in theory the main appeal as relevant parts of the plot even as you still hang out with Baymax from Big Hero 6. Step back even a touch, and there will always be a whiff of derangement about the entire affair - it’s simply baked in at this point.

My controversial opinion however: it’s actually good. There are structural issues and awkward moments and aspects ill-served, I’d never deny that, but even diehard lifelong Kingdom Hearts fans tend towards prefacing appreciation with at least two or three levels of irony and self-critique. I suppose it’s in part a response to the general reaction to it I mentioned before, but no, I absolutely think these are genuinely good, ambitious stories build on a foundation that’s still holding strong. An important note in service of that point: Winnie the Pooh, maybe Hercules, and with III Toy Story aside, I have basically zero childhood nostalgia for any of the properties involved. Wasn’t a huge Disney kid outside maybe very very early childhood, and only dabbled with Final Fantasy after the fact (still intend to play through XV someday though). It won me over young, yes, but on its own.

The building blocks help: the characters designs are great, the individual Disney settings in their platonic representations of various locales and landscapes make perfect towns packed with quirky locals to roam through on your quest, the Final Fantasy elements are tried and tested for this sort of thing, the original worlds each have their own unique aesthetics and touchstones and come out lovely, by my estimation the gameplay’s fun adventure/slasher stuff even if it’s had ups and downs over the years, the actors largely bring it, it all looks pretty, and as noted, the score is as good as it gets. They’re games that look, sound, and play good made up of component parts that unify into a sensible whole. And for me, the scope and convolution of the plot that so many leap at as the easy target - with its memory manipulations and replicas and time travel and ancient prophecies and possessions and hearts grown from scratch and universes that live in computers and storybooks and dreams - is half the appeal; I live for that kind of nonsense. Not that folks aren’t justified as hell in taking jabs at it, but I’ll admit I often quietly raise an eyebrow when I see the kind of people I tend to follow having an unironic laugh at it given *gestures toward the last 40 years of superhero comics*.

All that through is ultimately window dressing. The most powerful appeal of Kingdom Hearts is I suppose hidden if you’re going by commercials and isolated GIFs and whatnot, and even the bulk of the content of the average Disney world, charming as they are. It’s deceptively easy to pick out something else as the fundamental appeal too; even if I’d call them incredibly well-executed examples of such the character archetypes it deals in are relatively broad, and while it handles the necessary shifts in its tone from fanciful Disney shenanigans to apocalyptic cosmic showdowns for the heart of all that is with incredible skill - and that might be its most unique aspect, and certainly a critical one - a lot of that comes down to raw technical ability on the part of the writers, appropriate dramatic buildup, and demarcation between environments and acts of the story.

The real heart of the matter, to speak to my typical audience, is that Kingdom Hearts in a profound way resembles 1960s Superman comics and stories inspired by the same: it’s 90% dopey lovely cornball folk tale stuff, until every now and again it spins around and sucker punches you in the goddamn soul with Extremely Real Human Shit. Except here instead of being lone panels and subtext, it builds and builds throughout each given adventure until it takes over and flips for the finale from fairytale to fantasy epic.

That can probably be credited directly to Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi suggesting to Tetsuya Nomura to try treating this weird gig seriously instead of as the licensed cash-in it seemed destined to be, since if this didn’t have a soul the target audience would recognize it. But in spite of that seriousness, it’s perhaps its most joyfully mocked aspect in its entirely unselfconscious dedication to making Hearts and Feelings and Light and/or Darkness the most important things in the universe that lets it do what it does. It’s childish in the most primal way, absolutely, but what that translates to is that there aren’t cosmic or personal stakes that swap places as major or subsidiary at any given point, because in this world they’re always literally the same thing. There’s no major relationship where the fate of a primal power or a last chance at salvation doesn’t ultimately hang in the balance depending on how it shakes out, and there’s no prophecy or ultimate weapon or grand scheme that doesn’t have direct, fundamental ramifications on the life of an innocent or the memories that define them or whether they’ll ever be able to find a place to call home. ‘Hearts’ is an all-encompassing theme, whether in strength of will or redemption or questions of personhood or the ties that bind us, and by making it a literal source of power, it lends personal dimension to the unfathomable universal and the grand weight of destiny to whether or not someone can come to terms with who they want to be or apologize to those they’ve wronged. It’s a world where emotional openness and personal growth ultimately works the same way and achieves the same results as doing calisthenics in five hundred times Earth’s gravity does in Dragon Ball. and it’s tender and exuberant and thoughtful enough where it counts to take advantage of that as a storytelling engine.

That’d be why Sora works so well as the main character, because he straddles the line most directly between those poles. He may stand out as a spiky anime boy when actually next to Aladdin and the rest, but when it comes down to it he’s a Disney character, just a really nice, cheeky, dopey kid who wants to hang out with his friends and go on an adventure and believes in people really really hard. As the stranger in a strange land he’s a tether to a wider, sometimes more somber and weighty world when he’s sticking his head into the movie plots, but when he’s in the midst of stacked-up conspiracies and mythic wars that make all seem lost, he’s the one whose concerns remain purely, firmly rooted in the lives of those connected to him. Other characters get to go out there into bleak questions of self-identity or forgiveness, but while he might wrestle with doubt and fear Sora’s the guy who holds the ship steady and reminds all these classic heroes and flawed-yet-resolute champions and doomed Chosen Ones what they’re fighting for by just being a really good dude.

Given superhero comics are my bread and butter it doesn’t come up much, but Kingdom Hearts is really about as foundational to the landscape of my imagination as Superman and company, and while 100% that’s in part because it came into my life early it didn’t take hold by chance. It manages its stakes and its drama in a way and on a scale unlike just about anything else I’ve ever seen (even prior to getting to the weird mythology stuff that’s so profoundly up my alley), and somehow the aesthetics and gameplay and dialogue and all the million and one details that needed to come together to facilitate that story joined together into something that’s become one of the most curious, beloved touchstones of its medium. It’s a small, lovely bastion of warmth and sincerity in a way that only feels more like a breath of fresh air with time, playing out over decades a bunch of kids’ journeys to try and find the people they love most and help them and go home together when everything in the universe seems to be against them. It’s special in ways that will for me always be unique and meaningful, and I’m glad it seems to have plenty more in it before it’s through.

And seriously THAT MUSIC.