#I’d prefer he have his People Are People revelation before becoming Batman

[sing-me-under]

I don’t know why, but I get really tired of fics where they’re like “Bruce has been sheltered his entire life and has absolutely no sense for normal people” as though he didn’t go on a world tour in literally every iteration of his existence before becoming Batman. Yes, he was absolutely sheltered as a teenager, and maybe he still held onto some naïveté in his early Batman years, but Batman literally faces every fucking crime there is, and I bet that little Bruce stubbornly traumatized himself with true crime shows and case studies. One does not become Batman and stay sheltered. Yes, unlike most people, he had the safety net of a home and a fat bank account to return to, but that really only applied in the States with legal identification. This man just kinda traveled the world with like the bare minimum and built a name and network for himself from scratch from pure skill, stubbornness, and his weird Mary Sue aura where everyone wants to fuck him. I can guarantee he’s nearly starved to death on multiple occasions, has slept in the worst conditions possible, and actually been fucking tortured in every sense of the word. You don’t need to be born and raised in poverty to have experienced food insecurities and the worst that humanity has to offer.

Anyway, this is just me just being fed up with the fics and posts where they treat Bruce as if he’s never experienced a single hardship in his life beyond the death of his parents when he was 8 years old. Bruce Wayne is the most empathetic, self-sacrificing motherfucker in Existence. He’s still an over controlling asshole, but he’s self aware and tries to understand why criminals do crime things.

Batman deserves to have a backstory where he actually developed and experienced his own coming-of-age as a mature member of society instead of being some vengeful middle school syndrome kid maneuvering a skin sack of nearly 300 lbs of muscle and fancy technology.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Toughts on this deviantart post?

Found this https://www.deviantart.com/hotwar696/art/Who-is-the-real-Gary-Stu-835695208 it’s pretty bad i think. Or at least misleading. Toughts?

Let’s throw up the image and text for full context

A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days. Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him. Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage. Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane. He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face. Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.Image size

I am going to address every point here, but let me get the most important thing out of the way first.

This is not a valid point to make for two big reasons.

1) The first is that antagonists* do not count as Gary/Marty Stus/Mary Sues.

The function of an antagonists within fiction is to oppose and challenge the protagonists. By having them be extremely powerful, hyper capable, have immense accomplishments and so on, you build them up as a challenge to over come, as someone the protagonist is the underdog in comparison to.

A classic example from manga and anime is Freeza from Dragon Ball. As originally portrayed he can reduce whole planets to dust with a single finger and the true limits of his power are beyond imagining. Had the protagonists all attacked him at once along with all of Freeza’s subordinates they still would’ve lost because he is more powerful and all of them combined. He withstands the most powerful version of the most powerful technique in the series up until that point. 

Were this character the protagonist he’d almost certainly a Marty Stu. But as the antagonist he is a supremely effective challenge for the heroes to over come precisely because he does outstrip them so throughly. 

2) It’s very obvious the OP is reacting against arguments he’s heard from one specific or several specific people on an incredibly narrow topic. That’s fine. But he’s broadbrushing it as though it’s a widely held opinion when it’s at best widely held within a niche within a niche within another niche. 

Like, this is obviously a discussion he’s had at Toonzone or some other similar forum because he references BTAS, Spec Spidey and has drawn both Norman and Venom in their 1994 designs. 

But let’s talk about the broader points made.

- None of that symbiote crap. I don’t disagree that it’s myopic and disingenuous to dismiss symbiotes on principle. Putting aside how they’ve been a staple for over 30 years now (and their recent stories have been very good in fact), it smacks of failing to look beyond your own preferences. There are bad symbiote stories and characters. There are even things that inherently suck on principle within Spider-Man. But the symbiotes are not among them. They are exceptions to the rule and proven that over and over. The person the OP is referncing is entitled to not like them but not to dismiss them on principle. I hate Screwball but I don’t think her concept is inherently shit. I liked her in he Fake Red manga!

- Joker in BTAS was a wuss, Spec cartoon Norman was better. I mean, maybe that’s true. there can be extenuating circumstances applying to both. But the Joke screaming doesn’t make him a wuss. if he was a wuss he wouldn’t have taken on Superman or Batman repeatedly. Norman might have been scared but so full of spite that he wasn’t going to give Vulture the satisfaction.

- He technically killed Spider-Man because he killed Ben Reilly. Well, first of all he was trying to kill Peter. Second of all ben didn’t look stupid. he looked identical to Peter but with blonde hair; how is that stupid? Third of all killing a clone of Spider-Man isn’t technically killing him, if it was Norman would’ve routinely been murdering Spidey clone. Fourth of all the OP is framing this as a grand win for Norman because he got to kill Spidey technically. it is a win for him but not for that reason. Ben sacrificed  himself to save Peter who Norman was really aiming at

- Killing off baby May, apart from being debatable at all due to the presentation of that story, didn’t prevent Peter from maturing. it prevented him from maturing a specific way but it didn’t stop him from maturing period. Dealing with a miscarriage is  an experience that can age a person. Peter went back to ESU to complete his education immediately after that and some years later he became a teacher under JMS’ run. That’s also a totally meta-textual point to make and therefore doesn’t apply to Norman being a Gary Stu. Successfully preventing character development is something you attribute to writers not the characters. 

- I don’t get rh point about Nathanial Gray or Von Strucker

- Yes he was the Kingpin of Europe. How does that make him a Gary Stu? Wison Fisk was the Kingpin of America as were many other characters.

- Yes he was President of the USA but only in an out of continuity story, Earth X (and maybe other ones too). The argumentation of the OP is broken because he is conflating multiple different versions as the same thing. pre-OMD, post-OMD, Spec cartoon, Earth X etc. By this logic Venom would also be a Gary Stu and so would countless other characters. Superman would be a Gary Stu because he is DC’s Jesus but also DC’s Hitler. 

- The next point is a total strawman. Putting aside how in my experience people throw more shade at Norman than is deserved, even Norman fans like myself do not deny BAD stories with the character exist. What’s ironic is that he has chosen the more obvious targets like the Gathering of Five or the Final Chapter. 

Both of those stories are in most respects much worse than Sins Past and the element that makes Sins past bad isn’t even the fact that Norman slept with Gwen. It’s the simple fact that a woman who was clearly not pregnant in the Romita years apparently was and neither she nor MJ seemed to give a shit about the children after they were born. The further irony of his referencing this story is that he’s framed his argument as Silver Age stans are ignoring stuff like Sins Past. the reality is it is Silver/Bronze Age stans who HATE Sins Past more than anyone else in the Spider-Fandom precisely because  it messes with the stuff they stan

His referencing of the Clone Saga is also divorced from context. Everyone worth their salt is aware Norman was never originally intended as the villain of the Clone Saga. That was a late addition, and noticeably a late addition at a time when the Clone Saga stories being told were on the whole actually good!  Norman’s return story was on balance good!  It got a trade paperback in the 1990s when only the most popular stories got such treatment. It is utterly disingenuous to hold the worst of the Clone Saga up as a Norman Osborn story because those were never written with him in mind as the villain. 

Additionally I do not know why he is referencing Maximum Carnage or Superior Spider-Man. Okay, maybe he means the former is a symbiote story as opposed to a Carnage story specifically. But if he’s trying to prove Norman is a gary Stu but Venom is not why would you treat Maximum Carnage as a general symbiote story rather than cite a Venom specific story? And it still wouldn’t explain citing Superior Spider-Man. This is about contrasting Norman and Venom, what did Doc Ock have to do with any of this?

- Citing Morlun is equally confusing. The point the OP is trying to make is that silver/bronze age fans put Norman on a pedestal and look down on Venom. Putting aside how that really misrepresents the situation, why would you cite a villain who is not only NOT a silver/bronze age character but appeared long after Venom and if anything gets more  disdain than Venom does. Old school fans who dislike Venom or symbiotes on principle do not generally like Morlun, if anything they dislike him more  than Venom as they regard mysticism even more inappropriate for Spider-Man than aliens.

- The OP finally cites the Final Chapter but failed to do it at the appropriate point in his rant and also misrepresents it. He’s conflated the bomb implanted into Aunt May’s head in that story with the revelation that she was impersonated by an actress in ASm #400. He’s combined both characters and events. How do you fuck up that badly? The actress died of natural causes and then much later we got the implanted bomb. Norman never  killed the actress, the actress agreed to work with him specifically because she was already dying. Also the guy’s grammar is messed up. I’m pretty sure ‘operated into her’ isn’t a real phrase.

- ‘A chad lady killer’…um…what? Isn’t that term intended to be slang for a kind of James Bond figure? A ‘man’s man’ who has lots of sex with women? It doesn’t mean a man who kills women is a manly. Whether people use the term chad ironically or sincerely the overwhelming majority aren’t going around proclaiming Jack the Ripper as the ultimate real life Chad. 

- The framing of Norman’s relationship with Gwen is misrepresentative of what happened. It pretends like Norman had se with Gwen specifically to get one over on Peter. He didn’t. He wasn’t even aware he was the Goblin at that time, that Peter was Spider-Man and very likely didn’t know Peter had feelings for Gwen as they weren’t dating at that time. Norman had sex with Gwen because they were both vulnerable and had a moment of passion. 

I’d also question his designating Gwen as Peter’s second love interest. I guess that’d be accurate if you are speaking strictly in terms of Peter’s regular girlfriends. But normally love interest means someone the readers are aware is being framed as potential romantic partner for the protagonist. In this sense Liz was the first love interest, Betty was the second and Gwen was the third. 

- WTF does shit was so cash even mean?

Now for the text.

-A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days.

Yeah, there isn’t a lot. The vast majority of Conway/Romita stans do not like post-Clone Saga Norman.

And is he not the same character s he was before.

From a certain POV that’s true. But that’s chiefly because silver Age Norman was usually an amnesic who wasn’t his true self. His Goblin persona in the Silver Age is actually fairly similar to his post-Clone Saga self. The reason for the different presentation is simply a passage of time. Doc Ock in the 1990s wasn’t presented identically to how he was in the silver age just because times had changed. The Joker wasn’t presented the same way in the post-Killing Joke or Death in the Family eras of Batman as he was back in the 1940s.

The core of the character, that this guy was a real nasty, egotistical, sadistic and power hungry monster? No, that was all the same it was just ramped up. Norman’s ‘ghost’ had evolved in the interim between his death and his return too. In a sense his place and framing within the mythos had always evolved with the times. It’s just that when he came back suddenly that wasn’t a metaphorical ghost but a flesh and blood character.

But the same can be said of any successful character over time as I outlined above. Shit Absolute Carnage depicted Carnage in a way that is not identical to how he was initially presented. But it was most definitily an evolution of that.

- “Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him.”

Not true. The first time Norman began to remember he was the Goblin he got passive aggressive towards Harry. When he got his powers he was downright mean to him as depicted in ASM #40. But he also never despised Harry either. Norman always loved Harry in a toxic manner, through neglect or abuse. That was true post-Clone Saga. 

In fact the entire reason Norman initiated the Clone Saga was specifically because he wanted revenge for Harry’s death.

And again, the OP is treating this as a wholesale invention of the post-clone saga era when it wasn’t. Norman being an abusive father was introduced long before anyone was thinking about the Clone Saga. It was established in the Child Within circa 1991 IIRC. Later (when the Clone Saga was being planned I think) it was further explored in Spec annual 1994, but that just added to what we already knew from the forrmer story. Shit, this depiction of Harry and Norman’s relationship was showcased in Untold Tales of Spider-Man. That was both set long before the Clone Saga, IIRC written before Norman’s return was decided upon and written by someone who definitely didn’t agree with his return.

Norman never despised Harry, but he was a shitty Dad. He was a shitty Dad in ASm #40. He didn’t just have no time for Harry, he neglected him specifically because he wanted to gain money and thereby gain power.

Even if you do argue that Norman didn’t despise Harry in the silver age but did post-clone saga, so long as that change was organically introduced that makes it fine. better than fine as that’s simply more dramatically enriching than him being a nice guy who happens to not have time for his son.

- “Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage.”

LOL nope.

a) As I just said, even if this was a retcon of the post-Clone Saga era (which it wasn’t) it made Norman a better  character. A man being bad because he got brain damage is a cliche, lazy, over simplistic explanation for his villainy. It’s also arguably less realistic and actually makes the characetr a lesser villain as some surgery and thereby might be able to fix them. In fact you could argue they are in effect a victim of their brain damage and thereby not accountable for their actions. That’s so much less substantive than someone’s life experiences shaping them into a horrible human being. By this author’s wn logic Doc Ock’s origin (pre-Clone Saga I might add) makes him a LESSER villain because it established that he was actually evil because of his life before his accident. that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, he didn’t just get a knock to the noggin and wound up evil

b) If Norman’s evilness stems from brain damage how come when he was a nice guy in the silver age neither he nor Harry suggested surgery or medication to help heal that damage? That would’ve meant he’d never have been evil again

c) ASm #40 makes it clear he was a piece of shit BEFORE his accident. He was neglecting his son, railroading his partner, stealing his inventions and power hungry before getting brain damage.

d) You could easily argue Norman was always brain damaged the doctors just mistakenly believed his injuries stemmed from the accident

e) Child Within and Spec Annual 1994 established Norman as a psychopath before he got his powers. Both were written before the Clone Saga. Post-Clone Saga stories like Revenge of the Green Goblin merely built upon this, they didn’t wholesale invent it

“Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane.”

LOL nope again.

First of all, 1994-cartoon Norman WAS fairly sympathetic before becoming the Goblin. In the show he got a loan from Kingpin and was forced to pay off the debt by targeting Spider-Man. Even if he didn’t initially realise Fisk was a criminal when he got the loan, by the time he did realise going to the police would’ve resulted in him losing his son and/or his life. He wouldn’t be the first man to get in deep with the mob after all.

When his inital effort to kill Spider-Man failed he was forced to give Kingpin his company and attempted to get out from this by assasinating Fisk. This backfired hard endangering his son, but Norman risked his life to save Harry. 

His whole character until season 3 was basically defined by being a morally grey character. he loved his son, he was maybe egotistical and a ruthless businessman but the worst things he did were either on Kingpin’s orders or attempts to free himself of a very powerful and very dangerous controlling force in his life. 

Not a nice man, but a far cry from an inhuman monster or an insane person, at least until he was exposed to the Goblin gas.

SECOND of all if you are an inhumane monster how exactly do you then ‘go insane’? Aren’t they functionally the same thing within the context of the dicussion?

It’s also not representative of canonical Norman. Canonical Norman was a psychopath because of his life experiences and possibly hereditary mental illnesses within the family. The Goblin formula by empowering him sent him on an ego trip.

The OP isn’t even using the commonly held misconceptions about Norman Osborn, he’s just using his own very specific ones. Most people mistakenly believe the Goblin formula drove Norman nuts when ASM #40 just claims the accident gave him brain damage. Over time creators decided the formula itself makes the user nuts. 

“He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face“

a) Unless I am mistaken there was little word paid to Norman’s wife in the Silver Age. And what little we got never presented Norman as being affected by her passing. That was an invention of the 1990s and 2000s; and a very good one at that. 

b) Yes how tragic a businessman he was to have neglected his son, sought power, rail roaded his partner and stolen his inventions. Obviously none of that is bad. he only became bad after an explosion gave him brain damage.

c) Even if he really was a tragic businessman blah blah blah, that is a LESS EFFECTIVE villain and a LESS complex character than the post-clone saga guy we got

“Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.”

I’ve already addressed the idiotic criticism that Norman became a Luthor knock off.

The OP is disingenuous on several levels with his other point as well though.

For starters brain damage was never the sum totality of Norman’s origin as a character. Doc Ock was just a guy who was at best maybe a little odd looking due to his arms then had an accident and became evil. that was it.

Not only was Ott far from the first villain with such an origin, but to sit there and say Norman was unoriginal merely because he also took a boom to the face is moronic. Norman’s life before  his accident made him incredibly different to Otto. It made him comparatively more layered and complex next to the likes of Otto or the other rogues because he wasn’t nice initially, he had this strained relationship with his son and above all else he had this internal denial over his failings as a father. THAT shit doesn’t count as part of his origin? ALL that matters is explosion+brain damage=evil?

That’s obviously moving the goal posts to win.

And it’s a self-defeating argument. Silver Age Norman is bad because he is unoriginal (even though functionally he actually was). Okay, in the 1990s and beyond he got a revised origin that was more original. But that’s bad because changed him from his Silver Age self.

Goal posts. They a movin!

Not to mention as I already said DOC OCK’s origin was also changed so his villainy didn’t just stem from a random accident that knocked his noggin.

So Doc Ock sucks too right?

Finally, I say this as someone who likes Norman AND Venom.

I would never call Venom a Gary Stu. I’ve never even SEEN anyone claim Venom was a Gary Stu. BOTH Norman and Venom get under appreciated.

Fuck i wrote like over 10 essays DEFENDING Venom. 

You can pass my comments onto this idiot if you wish.

*Not necesarilly villains as you can have a villain protagonist, see Superior Spider-Man

[studentsofshield]

A Rambling Chronicle of Marvel’s Western Comics

By Vincent Faust - November 27, 2018

Marvel Comics is the most prolific comic book publisher of the Western genre. Despite their near ubiquity in today’s culture with billion dollar box office receipts, even their diehard fans may not know this part of their past.

I may be missing a few scattered things, but by my count Marvel has published 1,192 issues of Western comics through their history. Marvel had published Western stories from their very beginnings with the Masked Raider in 1939′s Marvel (Mystery) Comics 1-12. Though the genre didn't explode until the late 1940s following the war, while superheroes were declining. Timely (Marvel’s name at the time) launched 7 western titles in 1948. 

The "Big Three" of Marvel westerns are Kid Colt Outlaw, Rawhide Kid, and Two-Gun Kid. Each lasting an impressive 229, 151, and 136 issues respectively. 

The star artist of Kid Colt was Jack Keller. Who drew most of the character's stories from 1953-1967. An impressive run. Some have argued he has the honor of drawing the most individual stories for one specific Marvel character. Many of these books had 3-5 short stories per issue, so I wouldn't argue against that. If we only count full issue stories, I'm not sure who would take that title. Probably Mark Bagley for Spider-Man, combining his lengthy 1990s run on Amazing and his history making 2000s run with Bendis on Ultimate.

In 1960, right before the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reinvented Rawhide Kid. After a publishing hiatus the title was brought back with issue 17. The character was now Jonathan Clay and his costume changed. Over two and a half years, their run was revered as the cream of the crop in a waning genre as their own superheroes began to explode. 

As Kirby was needed more and more on the superhero titles selling like hotcakes, a tiny run by Jack Davis followed. Davis was an EC Comics legend who took a pit stop at Marvel before becoming even more of a legend at Mad Magazine. Unfortunately, practically the only classic Marvel Westerns to be reprinted in collections is this span of Rawhide Kid. With issues 17-35 reprinted across two hardcover Marvel Masterworks.

Here is Stan Lee talking to Jack Davis and fellow EC/Mad/minor Marvel contributor Harvey Kurtzman. For Marvel, the legendary Kurtzman did 150 episodes of a one-page filler strip titled Hey Look! from 1946 to 1949. 

Especially as Marvel was finally able to publish more titles, Stan Lee's efforts were being stretched too thin as well. So, Rawhide Kid was handed over to his younger brother Larry Lieber to write and draw. Which he did for almost a decade, to minor acclaim from genre fans. Sounds very reminiscent of the hidden gem Gary Friedrich/Dick Ayers/John Severin run on Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.

"I don't remember why I wanted to do it, particularly. I think I wanted a little more freedom. I didn't do enough of the superheroes to know whether I'd like them. What I didn't prefer was the style that was developing. It didn't appeal to me. Maybe there was just too much humor in it, or too much something. I remember, at the time, I wanted to make everything serious. I didn't want to give a light tone to it. When I did Rawhide Kid, I wanted people to cry as if they were watching High Noon or something." - Larry Lieber

Lee and Kirby also reinvented Two-Gun Kid for the early 60s, but didn't stick around as long on that one.

Other artists who made a mark on Marvel's western titles include Fred Kida, a notable Golden Age Japanese-American artist known primarily for Airboy. Also Russ Heath, who passed away only recently, and the frequent collaborators John Severin and Dick Ayers. Most of these artists were also prolific in the war genre. The genre is also to thank for the introduction of Herb Trimpe, who would go on to become the definitive Hulk artist.

The true star of the show though was one Joe Maneely. Who Stan considered his best artist before Jack Kirby returned in 1958. The Philadelphia native was skilled and fast, pumping out tons of westerns as well as the Black Knight and Yellow Claw titles, which retroactively tie his work to Marvel continuity. Unlike Kirby, Keller, and Lieber he was not particularly linked to one western title, but his most consistent would be Ringo Kid.

Meanwhile, outside of the genre one of Stan Lee's other top artists was Matt Baker. Considered to be the first African American professional in the field. Also there are reliable reports from friends and family that Baker may have been a gay man. He was one of the primary innovators of the "good girl" art style on Fox Feature Syndicate’s Phantom Lady and countless romance titles. Another milestone was drawing arguably the first graphic novel - It Rhymes with Lust.

Due to some business factors in and out of publisher Martin Goodman’s control, Marvel (at this point known as Atlas Comics) nearly imploded in 1957. The bullpen was completely disbanded, leaving Stan Lee in an empty office. They went from regularly publishing almost 70 titles to only 16. Many of which were filled with inventory stories and reprints as long as Stan could manage not paying freelancers. This situation was further complicated by their new distributor having way too close of a relationship with market share leader National (now DC Comics).

Joe Maneely stepped in front of a train in 1958 at only the age of 32. It may have been a suicide. Matt Baker died of a heart attack in 1959 at 37. As stated above, Jack Kirby comes back to Marvel right around that time and Steve Ditko was quickly growing as an artist. It's tragic how close these two masters were to being on the ground floor of the Marvel Universe as we know it today. What heroes could Maneely and Baker have drawn or created?

The 1970s sees lots of reprints of classic genre comics. An exception is the original title Gunhawks (though an unrelated The Gunhawk title predated it). Though only lasting seven issues, Gunhawks has an interesting distinction. Originally starring Kid Cassidy and Reno Jones, a good ol’ plantation boy and his buddy slave. Who fought willingly for the Confederacy because some Yankees kidnapped his girlfriend. That makes sense... In the sixth issue, Cassidy is shot and killed. The finale was technically retitled to Reno Jones, Gunhawk. Making that 1973 comic book only the second at Marvel to be named after a Black protagonist, following Luke Cage. Black Panther had ongoing adventures, but had taken over the anthology title Jungle Action and wouldn’t get his own series until later. DC lagged behind Marvel in this regard.

In 1979 the western genre at Marvel was basically declared dead, with Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt finally canceled. The latter after over 30 years of continuous publication. Two Gun Kid had been canceled two years earlier. Though for a few years already, almost all of Marvel's westerns (and war books) had been turned into reprint titles.

Of those aforementioned 1,192 issues, 1,146 of them are from 1979 or earlier. Leaving less than 50 across the last 40 years.

A 1980 tryout issue with a new character (and a Frank Miller cover) goes nowhere.

A 1985 miniseries by genre veterans Trimpe and Severin depicts the Rawhide Kid now as a middle aged man, as the West is in its final days. It is kind of depressing.

Backpedaling a bit. As the Marvel superheroes dominate, the western heroes occasionally make crazy guest appearances through the means of time travel. Most notably the Two-Gun Kid becomes an all-but-official member of the Avengers and a close friend of Hawkeye. He gets tied up with time travel generally for years to follow. Later becoming a She-Hulk supporting character and Avengers Initiative leader circa Civil War

With that cover, let's now take another aside to untangle Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider is not originally a Marvel property. The vigilante was created by Gardner Fox (Justice League of America) and Dick Ayers for Magazine Enterprises in 1949 as a horror themed western character. The feature spent time as a backup in Tim Holt and eventually broke out into its own short lived title.

Magazine Enterprises went kapoof alongside the slump in the industry around the implementation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. The regulation agency set up by industry leaders to avoid government intrusion following moral panic. The over-cautious guidelines severely neutered the crime and horror genres, while superheroes were already dormant, gutting many publishers. The Ghost Rider trademark expired. Marvel picked it up in 1967 for a series drawn by original creator Dick Ayers. Motivated in equal toxic parts by Martin Goodman's obsession with securing trademarks (practically every character Stan Lee created can be traced to an earlier one) and then rising writer Roy Thomas's history nerd leanings.

Obviously the name would be repurposed for the more recognizable Johnny Blaze in 1972. Marvel retroactively renamed Carter Slade as the Phantom Rider. The modern demonic versions of Ghost Rider do rarely touch on western themes. Johnny spent some time as a nomad and Garth Ennis brought in some western connections to expand the GR lore.

The western genre is basically passed over through the whole 1990s.

In 2000, John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco come around for a miniseries integrating all the Marvel western heroes together. Followed by a 2002 sequel. With revelations and deaths. The kind of lore retconning series that tickles the fancy of comic history nerds like yours truly. Ostrander also did Justice League: Incarnations around this time, tracing through the history of the JLA.

2003 comes around and it all that heavy lifting revitalization goes in the toilet. Ron Zimmerman writes a Marvel Max Rawhide Kid series. Zimmerman is some kind of comedy writer and Howard Stern regular. Well, within comics he wrote this and the god awful Ultimate Adventures - the only wholly original Ultimate Universe book, a Batman and Robin parody that was part of the U-Decide bet with Marville and PAD's Captain Marvel.

Marvel Max was a new imprint established in the early 2000s to break away from the aforementioned Comics Code and tell more daring, mature stories. Occasionally this resulted in gold like Jessica Jones. However, most of the time it was cringe inducing dreck.

So what's so bad about Rawhide Kid Max? He's now gay. Umm...OK, as long as it's handled well, maybe? Nope, constant cringey sexual innuendos which border on the protagonist coming off as a sexual predator. Some idiot gave it a sequel years later too.

Since then, we've gotten a bunch of one-shots in 2006, a weird Andy Diggle miniseries in 2012, and then the surprisingly great Marvel 1872 from Gerry Duggan during the patchwork reality crossover event Secret Wars. Which set up the Red Wolf series which was doomed by bad optics surrounding the writer and Marvel's spaghetti on the wall strategy of the time.

One of those 2006 one-shots ended up being legend Marshall Rogers's final published work. He and longtime collaborator Steve Englehart did it while waiting for DC to greenlight Dark Detective III, the second spiritual sequel to their influential 1970s run on Batman.

Here’s hoping we get to see some of these legendary heroes on the trail once more. At the very least we will get another tiny snippet in 2019 with a Gunhawks one-shot being brought back in celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary. Written by crime comics duo David and Maria Lapham.

This concludes a rambling chronicle of Marvel's history with the western genre and considerable tangents touching more generally on the history of Marvel and the comic book industry.

[singtheskyandfightlikehell]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @sun-moon-stars-jedi thank you so much!

Name(s): singtheskyandfightlikehell, angelsandbrowncoats. I used to go by (The) Q bc of star trek and a private joke but some fuckers went and ruined that as a fun thing to call myself online, so if you want something a little easier to roll off the tongue than my usernames, idk bro... in middle school, my tolkien elf!sona was called Lethgaril, I guess that works lmao

Fandoms: So many. My current obsession is Batfam|Jayroy (and I’m inching towards Arrowfam as well). My lifelong fandom is Lord of the Rings. A (believe it or not) short list of some others I may or may not make content for in the future includes: Les Misérables (the brick over the musical, but I like both), Jane Austen’s works, Shakespeare’s works (esp. Hamlet & Much Ado), Pygmalion/My Fair Lady (the author has never been more alive, Eliza can’t mustn't shouldn’t and won’t marry Higgins), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Death in Paradise, Shakespeare & Hathaway, Redwall, Dirk Gently, Galavant, Oxford Time Travel, Bartimaeus, The Good Place, and like... 30s/40s screwball comedies in general

Where you post: AO3 (angelsandbrowncoats), but I post links to tumblr & I have a full list of fic links and descriptions on my pinned carrd

Most popular one shot (by kudos):

Overall: It’s You, You’re All I See (Good Omens)

This Year: Worth the Wait (JayRoy)

Most popular multi-chap (also by kudos):

Overall: 2 Cups Feelings & A Dash of Common Sense (Gotham, permanent WIP, sorry)

This Year: PriestHood (JayRoy, technically multi-chap)

Favourite story you’ve written so far: Probably one of my WIPs, tbh (actually I’d say my original work based on my wild as fuck connected dreams that I may or may not ever publish) but of the complete ones, I’ll say It Need Not Follow (JayRoy) bc I really enjoy writing misunderstandings that turn out well and I amused myself a lot writing the confrontation between Jason and Roy in that one

Fic you were nervous to post: Of my recent ones, I’d say Worth the Wait because it was my first JayRoy fic and also it has a darker, more serious tone than a lot of what I write (although recently I’ve been in the mood to write heavier emotional scenes, so maybe that’s not quite true anymore).

How do you choose your titles: My preferred method is choosing a recurring theme or meaningful quote from the work as the title, but if I’m struggling to find one I like, I’ll sometimes use song lyrics or references to other works that vibe with the story. Mostly I use the latter for chapter titles rather than work titles, though.

Do you outline: I never mean to, but on longer fics I always end up losing the thread of the story and I end up having to outline anyway. Usually I just type a paragraph or two about what I want to have happen, or I’ll make a list of the things I don’t want to forget to include (mostly jokes for comedy pieces).

Complete: 105 total (not including original fiction or my recently orphaned high school works), 3 recent

In progress: 6, only counting ones with a significant portion written

Coming soon/not yet started: I no longer post my WIPs until they’re complete bc I’m really bad at finishing things and I’m tired of disappointing my readers, but here are a few of the ideas I’m working on or planning:

>A Thanksgiving JayRoy romcom that I’ll probably wait until next year to post bc it took too goddamn long, based on that “hire me to be your shitty (fake) boyfriend for thanksgiving” post except they fall for each other ofc. Also for some unfathomable reason I wrote a dark prequel for it featuring badass good mom!Talia

>A kinda sorta requested fic about the Bats needing to find the Supers and finding them at a good old fashioned midwestern barn dance that ends with the Bats having to square dance

>A fic based on an idea I had three years ago that Amanda Grayson from Star Trek is Dick Grayson’s descendant where she accidentally travels into the past and meets him

>A JayRoy bodyguard fic that was, again, supposed to be a short comedy but has quickly morphed into something huge about Jason refusing to become the Red Hood and instead getting revenge on Bruce via a long prank where he becomes Oliver Queen & family’s bodyguard but they don’t know who he is

>An experimental piece to help me explore relationships where a magical artifact traps various people connected to Jason in a strange, empty world that feels a bit apocalyptic but isn’t. There are four total groups of people, each in a different location to start with, and they basically have to work all their issues with each other out before they can leave.

>My one and only Bruce-centric fic designed to keep the Graysons alive where a lot of the same elements of Batman’s story happen but for different reasons, all beginning with Bruce’s parents getting shot outside the circus instead of the theater, Bruce getting amnesia, and John Grayson convincing his family to take in the injured amnesiac boy he finds

>and The Big One (aka the longest thing I’ve ever written in my life, which isn’t half done yet): JayRoy fake marriage featuring Lian, mutual pining, PTA/suburban shenanigans, social commentary, and long emotional arcs about familial reconciliation for both of them that may or may not be slower than the slowburn romance

Prompts: Feel free to send me prompts/requests, but I don’t guarantee I’ll write them. If I’m feeling it, I’m feeling it, and if I’m not, I’m not!

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: The novel-length fake marriage story, of course! Also the bodyguard AU, because the entire thing stems from one (1) incredibly inane joke and I can’t wait to post the chapter that includes the joke and revel in the groans

I can never think of anyone to tag for these things, esp. since I don’t really talk to people much on here anymore, but as always, if you see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged by me!

[darknessfactor]

You can all probably infer, based on the posts I’ve been reblogging, that I’m not a fan of The Last Jedi.  No, I have not actually seen in.  No, I don’t plan to, not until we get close enough to Episode IX that seeing it becomes a necessity rather than a pleasure.  You’re welcome to dismiss what I’m about to say based on that, if you like.  By ‘dismiss’, however, I mean you can ignore me; please don’t leave some smartass reply that sounds like, “But how could you know that if you haven’t seen the movie?”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way... 

I’m going to come right out and say it: I have been uneasy about the direction that Star Wars has taken for almost a year now.  The changes in directors, the revelations about what kind of person Kathleen Kennedy is... it all has made me tense up, has made my excitement for the franchise die down considerably.  It got to the point that, about a month before TLJ came out, my interest in Star Wars was at an all time low.  I couldn’t have cared less.  

Finn has been repeatedly excluded from marketing.  If that doesn’t make you uneasy... you may want to re-examine your priorities.

We also had the news, many months ago, that Mark Hamill disagreed with Rian Johnson about how Luke was written.  That raised my hackles as well.  Of course, he went along with it, because it’s his job and he’s a professional actor.  I relaxed when he later said, “I was, as I often am, wrong!”

Here’s the thing, though: actors lie.  They’re not allowed to give negative opinions about films they’re starring in when the film is still being promoted.  So while I might have relaxed a bit, that didn’t mean I wasn’t still wary.  Then, of course, there was the news that the Solo directors were leaving, and then that Colin Trevorrow was leaving.  You have to wonder at the stability of a franchise when so many things seem to be going wrong.

Now: when the critics posted their reviews for The Last Jedi, I was relieved immensely.  Generally, I agree with critics assessments.  The only major time I differed was with Batman V Superman (which I loved).  Even then, however - even then, I felt that tiny seed of uneasiness - and one of these days, I should just trust my instincts, because they’re almost always proven right.

That seed of unease drove me to find out spoilers.  And now the big part, and the whole point of this post (this is a very personal thing, so you can argue with me if you like, but it’s not really something that’s debatable for me):

The Last Jedi did not let down my expectations, as many critics are saying of the naysayers.  No.  What the Last Jedi did was confirm my fears.

Sound bad?  That’s because it is.  It is that bad for me.

I really had no idea where they would take Star Wars after TFA.  I loved that movie.  It had its issues - lack of worldbuilding being the biggest for me (we have almost zero context about what the galaxy is like except the First Order is like the Empire and there’s a new Republic) - but the new characters were lovely, and it was fun to watch.  I thought, “Wow!  If the first movie was this good, I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

However, there were a few things that I didn’t want to happen.  You may call this a preference.  I suppose it is.  But considering what year it is and everything that has happened with our government and society, I feel that it’s more relevant than most people like to believe.

In other words, these are my fears.  At the time, they seemed so absurd - because really, would Disney do any of these things?  After TFA, I assumed that it would be obvious to Rian Johnson and Disney that doing any of these things would just be a bad idea.

Surely they wouldn’t focus on Kylo Ren as a sympathetic character - after he murdered his own father, brutalized Finn, and condoned the deaths of millions after Starkiller destroyed the Hosnian system?

But look what happened.

Surely they wouldn’t use unnecessary physical violence, as well as verbal belittlement, against their characters of color?  Surely their storylines would be just as meaningful as Rey’s, as Finn is also a lead character?

But look what happened.

Surely Disney and RJ would have taken cues from TFA, and kept characterization and story arcs consistent, trying their best to avoid plot holes and tell a complete story?

But look what happened.

Surely Disney wouldn’t write Rey as being romantically or sexually attracted to Kylo Ren, after J.J. Abrams outright said that the interrogation scene was a metaphor for rape, and after Rey proved to be such a strong character in TFA?

But look what happened.

These are the big ones, and this isn’t even counting the stuff that happened that I didn’t even think to be afraid of.  Amilyn Holdo is heavily implied to be bisexual in one of the novels, so we can now count ‘bury your gays’ among the fears that I didn’t even think of.  The plot itself is messy and doesn’t go anywhere, except to destroy/kill nearly everyone in the resistance and to kill off Snoke so that Kylo Ren becomes Supreme Leader.  Poe Dameron was belittled and mocked by Holdo for wanting to know the plan and being reasonably upset that Holdo won’t tell him.  And there are people out there crying ‘feminism’.  

Here’s the other thing: we live in a society that is steadily getting worse.  Our very rights are being stripped from us.  People are dying because they don’t have access to healthcare.  The US is not the only country with fascism on the rise.  And The Last Jedi, a movie that does not exist in a vacuum, no matter how many people will insist that it’s ‘just a movie’, shows us that the group we’re supposed to root for - the Resistance - is dying, with almost all their leaders being killed, with no help on the way from other parts of the galaxy, with the First Order going strong.  

Star Wars is, on top of everything else, about hope.  It’s about love.  But I see none of that in this movie.  I see the characters I love being taken apart, being torn down, until there’s almost nothing left to hope for.  I see good people dying in a Game of Thrones-esque massacre, as the situation just continues to get worse and worse.  If I wanted that kind of negativity, I’d actually watch Game of Thrones.  

Before you argue and talk about Rose’s line to Finn, or the children at the end of the movie who use the Force: that would be a violation of this little thing I like to call “show, don’t tell”.  It’s harder for me to believe because it was told to me, not shown.

The fact of the matter is, The Last Jedi is the very last movie I need to see right now.  And you can laugh at me all you like, but I actually cried upon reading the spoilers.  Not in a good way.

Call me what you want.  Call me a whiny little bitch.  Call me salty and laugh as you drink my tears.  That’s fine.  This post isn’t meant for you, anyway.  

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 11.10.2017

It’s that time of a week again where I prove to be nothing if not a complete glutton for punishment, which apparently includes having way too many trades preordered on the same week by magical coincidence. It’s like the old saying, when it rain it pours. And sometimes it’s just ridiculous. 

But we’re seeing the closing a few storylines, the beginning of a few, and just a general large array of comics at our disposal, including more of the Marvel Primers. So I say we just dig right into it. 

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Marvel’s Captain America, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists, DC’s New Super-Man, Image’s Rat Queens, DC’s Red Hood and the Outlaws, Marvel’s Runaways, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #25 Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal, Nolan Woodard

Will I ever run out of good things to say about All-New Wolverine? No? Good. I wouldn’t want to be dishonest and that would be the only way I’d have negative things to say about my love for this series.

Story: So believe it or not, the relationship between Daken and Laura is something I have desperately wanted to see more of. In the Daken/X-23 crossover they had a few years ago, I really felt like we got somewhere with their relationship, and the bits and pieces since then have really helped my attitude only grow stronger on the subject. So seeing Taylor hint at it growing more in the last arc, and knowing it would be delivered on in this arc has me SO excited about what is to come. 

You know. When Daken is around for more than an awesome bar fight that... leads to his dismembered arm being hung from a bridge. THAT old plot device. I’m a little sad to see that Gabby is being left behind (especially since her outfits never cease being adorable and hilarious) but knowing that we’re dealing with Mutant Bigots this time around somewhat made me appreciate that decision. I worry way too much about Gabby to take that at face value.

And then that cliffhanger hits like a freight train and it’s like WHAAAAT. But no like what. Oh my god. Is this real? I know we have to wait a month but. uh. Kudos, Tom Taylor. I am not often surprised by characters seemingly returning from the dead anymore. To say this was not expected is VASTLY underplaying my shock.

Art: There have been a lot of great artists on this title and I don’t think Juann Cabal is an exception to that rule. He has solid character art, lots of good control of backgrounds and paneling, and got pretty inventive with combining flashbacks with Laura’s current travels and actions. And the bar scene with Daken was just fantastic all around like, a simple but highly effective action sequence and I’m really excited to see what action he’ll draw Laura herself in as we carry on. 

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #12 Ryan Stegman, Brian Level, Jesus Aburtov

We wrap up another storyline of what has quickly become my favorite Spidey series of the ‘10s and it comes with highest of highs and lowest of lows. And lots and lots of adorable hugs.

Story: I was concerned that with the pacing we had had for this storyline up to this point that there would be a lot of things that would have to be knitted together a bit too tight or not at all, and that definitely seemed to be the case. We flew through this issue with revelations hitting in waves. Ms. January was the villain all along, Normie is suddenly a perfectly normal kid who was just misled, the symbiote is removed from MJ using sonic waves, Annie saves her parents, and just overall there was a lot that happened within this single comic. It all made emotional sense, and the hug between Annie and Normie at the end, bringing their family feud at last to an end, felt completely right. 

I liked small callouts like having Liz be the parent Normie needed, the X-Men coming to help the Parker family, and the amazing banter between MJ and Peter, but I think because there was so much fit into this last issue there felt like a bit of continuity bending to make logical sense where the emotions didn’t quite carry us. Like Normie’s... complete change in character. And Ms. January’s apparent obsession/love of Harry and need to avenge him. These things make sense if they fed into each other -- Ms. January’s influence inspiring Normie to cut his mother out of his life even more than she had been already and then feeding him more and more hatred toward Spider-Man by saying that it was his fault. But that doesn’t make so much sense with what we read in the issues before, specifically the issue where Normie took up arms to protect his company and revealed his backstory through his own internal monologue and flashbacks. 

So while this confrontation has been 12 issues in the build up, the resolution mostly came... only from this issue. Maybe the last two issues, too, if we’re being generous. 

The epilogue confuses me. It feels like Renew Your Vows is trying to wrap itself up and yet I know from solicits that it’s not, but we are justifying a timeskip to eight years in the future so that artists have an excuse to draw a teenage girl in a tighter costume --  I MEAN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO TELL MORE TEEN ORIENTED STORIES OBVIOUSLY. But I worry that this change is going to make what has been a unique take on the Parker-Watson family and turn it into Sider-Girl Lite, which is unfair to everyone all around. Also were they... not operating for those eight years? Why is the new costume a big deal for her eighteenth birthday? How much sense would it make for them to just... suddenly find a way to stop Annie from going out as a superhero with them when the whole point of the past 12 issues is that they couldn’t. 

What about Dr. Connors and his son? What about Annie’s additional precognitive powers? Did she end up going to the Xavier institute? 

I feel like I was asked to bite off a bit too much in this issue, and as much as I enjoyed it and enjoyed this series, I feel this is a rare storyline where I actually would have preferred an extra issue to set all of this up.

Art: The art is beautiful. Soft and textured but also sweeping and animatic like you would want for any good Spidey story. And considering that there has been a fair rotation of art teams on this book since the first issue, I really appreciate how much they worked toward giving the book a consistent style of its own. It was neat and helped even artist style changes feel coherent still and I’m really interested to see if this dedication to that continues, especially since the epilogue appeared to have a different feel to it. 

It’ll be interesting to see next month either way. 

DC’s Batgirl and the Birds of Prey (2016-present) #15 Julie Benson, Shawna Benson, Roge Antonio, Marcelo Maiolo

Well, I’m sure for 99% of you this is an unexpected addition to the roster. For those unaware, I have put the first volume of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey on blast on my personal blog @renaroo for having some things I consider to be insufferable in regards to the handling of Barbara and specifically the consistent villainization of Oracle. Which you know, I’m about sick of. 

So why am I picking up BoP now? Simple: Cass is going to start appearing regularly beginning with this particular storyline and I will support her here since for finances I’ve had to move ‘Tec to trade wait. 

and oh boy. This is. Something.

Story: So there’s this old episode of the animated Justice League series where an Amazon OC standing in for Donna Troy unleashed a plague on Earth that only affected men and it was putting all men in comas and the such and it left the only two women of a seven-person Justice League because of course there were only two women to deal with it and save the world... well half of it. It was broad strokes of feminism as written by men which included Diana being the strawwoman feminist who couldn’t understand if losing men (including her friends???) would doom society and Hawkgirl being the relatable cool egalitarian alien bird woman to be all “guuurrrrrlllll you need to respect men more”. It’s like. The episode i remember the most from my childhood and I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns. 

Apparently I’m not the only one who remembers it however because that... that is the plot of this storyline. I don’t know why they couldn’t just bring back the ebola plague from Batman: Contagion which was a legitimately good storyline I like but we’re doing the... gender specific plague. 

Are they going to address trans men and women? How is this disease preying specifically on men? Is it magical in origin and that why it follows no rules? Why is Lois here? Is Wonder Woman here just because of that Justice League episode? 

I don’t know. 

I appreciate that we didn’t waste a whole lot of time with Batwoman’s squad duking it out with Babsgirl’s squad over whether or not antiheroes who.... one of which she’s worked with before and... another of which she knows for a fact is... engaged to her cousin. But whatever. Also Steph in her post-Belfry uniform is... going along with this okay. I’m picking too much but there’s a lot of what in those four pages.

I do appreciate that the dialogue seemed to match everyone’s character very well, and Oliver and Dinah were hysterical and lovable together. .... But damn is it difficult to wrap my head around Babs’ character anymore. Like literally falling to her knees and tearing up begging Poison Ivy (who she was friends with in the previous BoP???? which is sitll canon bc they bring it up???) to help because “people she loves” are affected by the disease like. It’s the antithesis of the Babs I knew and was familiar with and admired in the day but. I guess that’s the Babs we have now. And I’m just... supposed to roll with it I guess. 

Also enjoyed Helena being a teacher again, that was awesome. Even if her calling up Dick instead of Babs was... still difficult to process but whatever. 

Art: It’s good! Really consistent, the lineart was sometimes a little softer than I prefer, but there were varied bodytypes and lots of good action sequences handled concisely enough that it didn’t feel like panel space was wasted. I really enjoyed it overall.

Marvel’s Captain America - Marvel Legacy Primer Page Robbie Thompson, Valerio Schiti

I have been pretty vocal in my disdain for how Marvel has handled Cap for the last two years and I join pretty much everyone in a chorus of “how can you misunderstand something so bad” but at the same time I’m... just tired. And it’s hard to even be excited at the fact that the reign of Spencer is over because it feels like the enjoyment and interest I’ve felt for Cap for all this time is simply used up. which is why a primer like this is really something that I needed. I needed to see a reminder that Cap punches Nazis and Hydra and Marvel -- or at least some people at Marvel remember that still. I don’t want that history gone, cosmic cubed or otherwise. And given Waid and Samnee’s interviews it seems they’re going to push for just that. 

Here’s hoping they accomplish it because even these three pages of Cap acting like Cap again was enough to make me smile at least a little. 

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy - Marvel Legacy Primer Page Robbie Thompson, Marcus To

If I was going for snark and snark alone here I would begin and end this with “why is Scott Lang here” because no really why is Scott Lang with the Guardians of the Galaxy. And it’s something I shouldn’t be asking because I really have still -- even in liking the movies as much as I do -- not found myself any more persuaded to read into the space opera stuff over at Marvel. It’s just not something I want in my life right now. 

Marcus To’s art is very nice, though, and usually worth it on its own. Even if I’m beginning to notice a touch of samefaceness in the art style At least it’s a very pretty face. 

Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists (2017) #6 (of 6) Kaare Andrews, Afu Chan, Shelly Ghen

Immortal Iron Fists has come to an end and I’m both saddened and yet incredibly enthusiastic about how everything turned out!

Story: So I feel like it should not have taken the better part of 5 issues for me learn that Pei and her friends are sixteen and not... middle schoolers despite how they were drawn and how they acted as way way younger than that. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that... it’s not that they’re drawn or written younger, it’s that it’s that unusual to find an American comic that actually shows teenagers appropriately and that helped me gain a whole new respect for a series that I was already very much enjoying.

Everyone coming together and remembering Pei for the impact we have seen her make in their lives, Pei fully realizing her power as Iron Fist, and the general fun of a huge climactic battle that was a three way fight between Pei, demons, and the Mother of All Dragons is probably one of the most bombastic that can be asked for. And I love that Brenda made a comeback after her truly terrible exit from the finale of Immortal Iron Fist under Andrews, but at the same time don’t... really care for how it wasn’t set until last issue. 

All the positives of this story almost make me overlook the unnecessary, though appreciably subverted, kiss of life Pei gives her guy friend and I love that Danny, man serial dater that he is, is flumexed by this turn of events. 

Everything is fun and delightful and I really really appreciate how dedicated this comic was from beginning to end to be Pei’s story and not letting that focus escape it the entirety of the six issues. 

Also Brenda flying off on the Mother of All Dragons at the end and being like stfu Danny you ruined a good thing was hysterical and I loved it.

Art: There was definitely more production in this finale There seemed to be a lot more variation in coloring and textures, and even the characters seemed to keep almost perfectly on model the entire time. The one distraction of note, though, was that Pei... developed more into a traditional teenager look by the end... by which I mean.... boobs are now a thing and I’m not sure if it was just that she wore thicker clothes throughout the story or if it was because much like myself, the art team realized last issue for the first time that Pei was a sixteen year old and not... twelve. Anyway. It was a little distracting, but the increase in panel variation and high number of action sequences definitely made the story far more fulfilling in my view. 

DC’s New Super-Man (2016-present) Vol. 2: Coming to America Gene Luen Yang, Billy Tan, Viktor Bogdanovic

After what felt like a long wait, we join Kenan and the rest of the Justice League of China once more on a bombastic quest as written by Gene Luen Yang. And much like last time, the results are rather unexpected and honestly kind of remarkable.

Story: Going off of my experiences with Yang’s work, I really feel like his passion in storytelling lies in finding the balance between the question of identity and how identity is formed by the cultures that nurtured us and how it is formed by the influences of the cultures around us. I think that was the main focus of American Born Chinese but it really is beginning to shine through Kenan’s adventures here as the New Super-Man and how much of the titular’s character is being drawn from the two huge influences he is feeling -- the pressures and dangers of the Chinese government and culture, and the admiration and sometimes oppressive shadows of the American culture that he is both attempting to copy as Super-Man and attempting to circumvent by finding the focus of his powers in Chinese philosophies and values. 

And I think that’s where his supporting cast -- Wonder-Woman and Bat-Man and now also Avery Ho’s take on the Flash -- are really coming into play. While Kenan is being torn back and forth by his responsibilities and his bombastic self-absorption both in his internal conflict and his external conflict of learning the truth of his parents, we are getting a broader exposure to what being a superhero in China means as opposed to the normalcy we’ve come to expect from Western comics. 

Bat-Man is just as influenced by his family as Batman, but the pressures are more in the focus on building his exceptionalism and in differing from his sister on whether to stay within a system that robs children of their childhoods and individuals of their sense of self, or to find purpose within that system and excel based upon the traits which only he can bring. 

Wonder-Woman, like Wonder Woman, is derived from myth and legend but instead of a Western legacy, it is purely Chinese and her alienation and stand offish nature initially toward the rest of her team only makes that much more sense given what has brought her to her current state. She is a myth, a legend herself, but she is nearly forgotten by the current times -- Kenan even has to be told the story of her origins by Bat-Man -- and her finding the will to fit into a China that is so influenced by external cultures and influences are a struggle we’re only now beginning to appreciate. 

And finally, with Flash, a Chinese-American, we’re going to receive yet another wild perspective, and considering Kenan’s already developing friendship with Avery I imagine that this is a perspective that will only receive more focus in stories to come. And I perceive that Yang’s inclinations to reference the struggles of culture and self-identity are going to be explored further here.

All around i greatly enjoyed this volume and am looking forward to the continuation now that Kenan has finally learned the truth about his family. There are a lot of interesting new angles to explore and I hope we do just that.

Art: The art is really reminiscent of Greg Capullo’s run on Batman, but has a whole lot more color and variety breathed into it which I personally really appreciate. The colors do a good job of presenting the differences in everyone’s base personalities and also makes the action sequences easier to follow even as the action itself becomes increasingly complex. The page layouts were fairly reserved considering the DC standard lately, but I personally appreciated it because it kept the focus on the storytelling and in doing so enhanced the nuances therein. 

Great work all around, and yet another enjoyable volume. 

Image’s Rat Queens (2013-present) Vol. 4: High Fantasies Kurtis J. Wiebe, Owen Gieni, Ryan Ferrier

I only recently jumped on the barge for Rat Queens and I’ve been more than happy with the results of caving to the advice of many friends. Because what is better than female-full cast of hilarious and dramatic DnD like adventures with more swearing than a naval ship? I gotta say, not much!

Story: So compared to the previous volumes, I actually found High Fantasies to feel like it had a lot less at stake. Although part of that may just be that I was somewhat anticipating a Betty-centric volume finally to elevate her out of being the shroom eating comic relief and bring more of the assassination attempts and her outlaw past into the forefront. And that’s clearly a problem of my own expectations and not necessarily the story’s fault itself. That said, the focus on Vol. 4 being on a gender bent loser version of the Rat Queens was pretty funny but also not something I would have thought carried enough weight to pivot as the main plot, but that would be just me. 

I do appreciate Braga being in a larger role this time around, and really I wish we could see more less human creatures on the roster in general. It was also a huge heartwarming feeling to have Hannah more comfortable around her Queens and even showing some horns now and then in public. It feels like a huge progression of her character, even as she spends a fair amount of time earning the girls’ ire and.... walking in on naked mayors. As you do.

Basically Vol. 4 isn’t as character centric as the previous volumes have been, but it is a great adventure that feels like a good ol’ fashion DnD campaign with the friends you love at the helm and for fantasy nerds like me that’s more than enough to bring me back into the story.

Art: The art is always spectacular with Rat Queens, but I did find  that this volume -- mostly as a result of not going to as many unestablished and important/original locations, did have a significant lack f inventive background use. That’s not always a slam on art, really the art was very good, and I actually am just... happy to not have Upchurch as the artist, honestly. That alone is worth three and a half gold stars. Though the whole controversy there is still my largest apprehension with the series at this point. 

DC’s Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016-present) Vol. 2: Who is Artemis? Scott Lobdell, Dexter Soy, Kenneth Rocafort

Okay who authorized this? Who made this comic exist and who made it be actually good?? Because I didn’t and I feel offended at the amount of emotions that were forced upon me in this single volume of a comic written by Scott friggin’ Lobdell of all people. You couldn’t have told me a month ago that I would be enjoying anything that was remotely connected to Scott Lobdell and expect me not to laugh hard enough I’d bring myself to tears. 

And yet here we are.

Story: Having learned a bit from how lackluster the attempts of balancing the concentration of the narrative was for his previous incarnations of the Outlaws, Lobdell somehow learned how to, y’know, write an ensemble narrative that is still heavily Jason Todd’s perspective, but does not lose any opportunities to expand on or even concentrate on the stories and character development of Bizarro and Artemis. oth of which are shockingly well handled and shockingly controlled, well paced, and interwoven into each other’s stories. 

Like legitimately, did someone nab the Lobdell who wrote decent 90s Marvel comics and put him on this project? Because that feels like the kind of bizarre logic that would seem acceptable at this point.

Now, of course, it’s not perfect. Far from it. But at the end of the day we got an intriguing ongoing story, a team building exercise, Jason’s internal struggle personified both through his inner monologue and flashbacks, but also moments like his sparing of Bizarro whic not only didn’t have overly wordy exposition bringing attention to it, but was strong enough and meaningfully enough that from it alone we could see what Jason couldn’t: he is not as lost, he is not as amoral, and he’s not as cold as he has tried desperately to prove himself to be.

I actually found the take on Artemis and the Bana Mighdall pretty interesting in this retelling, and I like that we have a rogue Amazon as a new enemy for the team. 

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m super excited to see what will come after this. 

Art: There was a range of artists, which is fine, the industry standard of pushing out these comics with the turnaround that they do does cause some disconnect, but for the most part an artist stayed for at least the completionof their storyline and then she was. And overall the trade still fel tconsistent, with some artists just standing out more than other. 

Marvel’s Runaways (2017-present) #2 Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson

The new run of Runaways absolutely blew me away last month by shooting any and all expectations I had right through the skylight and beyond, so a good premise with beloved characters and a set in conflict really leads to a question of how do the pieces fall in order?

Story: I absolutely adore how Gert being the heart and glue of the family is being so blatantly emphasized throughout this (and that Old Lace is back). I also love that... honestly the trauma and lingering horrors Chase and Nico have survived in particular are being treated as real and damning in the eyes of someone who knew them only two years ago already. But most of all I love the emotional balance. Gert’s anger and disappointment are justified, but her crudeness and accusatory nature are also clearly shown as being wrong and too subjective. The important thing to her, and thus to the group, is to come together again. And I love that it is her prime motivation through and through. 

That all being said, after such a bombastic first issue, it was a little difficult to have the momentum come to a halt so quickly. I don’t want to be taken wrong, I love issues where comics take their time and really meditate on the characters, their reactions to evens former and to come, and really develop relationships and the such. But it does feel a little unnatural to have that only two issues in when the previous issue was SO incredibly packed. 

I’m still fascinated with where we can go from here and very excited to see that Victor, Xavin, and Klara might not be destined to eternal obsecurity like I assumed when the book was first announced. 

Art: Honestly I’m still amazed at just how fantastic the art really is in this comci. .It’s SO good and the designs for all the characters are simply gorgeous. Though probably the best thing about all of it is the great coloring we see done here. Top notch. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man - Marvel Legacy Primer Page Robbie Thompson, Valerio Schiti

I think I know less about what Marvel plans to do with Miles these days than Marvel knows what to do with Miles, which is horrifying because I just set that bar about as low as it could possibly have gone. But we.... have Rio Morales back which is the big reason I stopped keeping up with Miles to begin with so yay? I don’t know. 

I feel like this primer is actually aimed at fans like me who got off the wagon back when the Ultimate title lost most of its steam both from killing off too many of Miles’ personal supporting cast and becoming too much about tertiary cast’s origins and then Peter Parker returning to life and stuff’s weird. This feels like a big neon sign that says “Things are back! The origin’s the same! Do not look behind the curtain!” It makes me curious but also apprehensive at the same time. 

also can we get robbie thompson to write miles’ book and bendis let someone else write some books already jfc this was such a relief. 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe (2016-present) Vol. 2 Nick Pitarra, John Lees, Brahm Revel, Ryan Ferrier, Adam Gorham, Sophie Campbell, Bobby Curnow, Pablo Tunica

So unlike the rest of the reviews, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe doesn’t really fit my review format since it’s more like a collection of vignettes across the TMNT universe that feed into the main book and each story is written and drawn by a different team, so it wouldn’t have that same cohesion. 

As the giant Ninja Turtle fan that I am and probably always will be, I can’t get enough of the mythos and the characters in TMNT, so having a book that has a solid, even meditative point of just exploring smaller stories and little character developments that wouldn’t fit in the very tight and controlled narrative of the main title is something of a perfect godsend to me. I love it in concept and in execution.

One thing I worry about, however, is that there definitely seems to be a lot of stories here that feel necessary to keeping up with the main series. Such as the story of how Alopex and Angel ran into the Toad Baron and escaped -- that was a pretty crucial piece of information for the Eternals storyline a few issues back in the main book. So it feels like more and more, because of how tight and concentrated the main book is, they’re using books like Universe to fill in everything else, including buildup to larger more important narratives. And while that’s fine and even something I enjoy, it’s a move that will really push people to start being more choosy with their books. It’s much like keeping up with Transformers right now, and that tends to lead to some mixed bags. But I suppose we’ll trust and see.

At the end of the day, I have to pick the comics that really stuck with me the most. And while I was a little disappointed by a few titles this week, there was a pretty intense competition between the ones that genuinely caught me and made me really feel while reading them. And I think by that measurement I have to give the Pick of the Week this time around to the conclusion of Immortal Iron Fists. I was so worried about how this story could wrap everything up and it’s with mother flipping dragons that’s how. I love it. I love Pei and I love her being officially adopted by Danny who is TOTAL ridiculous dad now. This is the kind of Immortal Iron Fist I am happy to support. 

As far as trades go... wow I for some reason was not anticipating getting slammed as much as I did, but I really didn’t feel like any of the books let me down. They were all pretty amazing and I felt like I also managed to incidentally cover the entire span of comic book genres and types in a matter of two days, which let’s admit it, pretty impressive. I feel like the new releases this week are honestly a harder competition than the single issues but twist my arm, surprising no one nearly as much as I’m surprising myself here, I have to pick Red Hood and the Outlaws for managing to be a comic that... is unexpectedly good and unexpectedly sincere and unexpectedly emotionally motivating in ways that I wish... more comics... were? I just. have a real hard time complimenting Lobdell after tearing his books a new one for..... six years straight now.  But... thank you? for writing well? And making me feel things? For Jason Todd, Bizarro, and Artemis? Am I doing this right?

And those are the comics for this week! Did you happen to agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed out on picking up a comic that was good? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

But before I let you go, I have to (yes have to) plug once more:

I have exactly a month to pack up everything I own and move halfway across the country again which is not helping those financial crunches I mentioned before either.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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[dylan-hague]

Chapter 15

November 23rd, 2017. 6:24 PM.

“Pardon me, everyone. If it’s all the same, I’d like to say a few words.”

The dining table in Wayne Manor was rarely ever occupied by more than two people at a time; most nights it went unused, but on the seldom occasions it was used, it would either be by Bruce and whatever date he’d brought home that night, or Bruce and Alfred. Even then, Bruce much preferred to eat as he worked. Often times, he and Alfred ate in the cave, going over information on the Batcomputer regarding whatever cases he was working on at the time. Although every now and then, he and Alfred would sit down together in front of the television in the master bedroom and watch some old film that Alfred had shown Bruce as a boy before he left for his training. But once every year in November, the diningroom of Wayne Manor came to life. While Bruce himself wasn’t much of a praying man, Alfred believed firmly in the value of faith. He was unable to attend regularly, but he made sure to give to the Episcopal congregation not too far outside the city limits whenever he was able, and he prayed often for the safety of all his charges. And each November, he offered up a prayer of thanks for bringing all of them home safe.

This year, as Pennyworth looked at everyone gathered around the table for dinner, he found himself silently thanking the Lord that there were even more faces than last Thanksgiving; of course Bruce was there at the head of the table, deciding to take the time from his work to enjoy the company of his family. On his left (one seat down from Alfred’s, at everyone’s insistence) sat Richard and Barbara; Alfred was more proud of the both of them than he could put into words for their commitment to one another. On Bruce’s right were young Damian and his friend Raven; though it was surprising to see such devotion in teenagers (especially coming from Damian), it warmed Alfred’s heart to see that his grandson had found someone he could share his heart with. Beside Barbara sat Stephanie, and Timothy beside her. Of all the young minds he and Bruce had helped to groom, Ms. Brown and Mr. Drake’s light shone the brightest for the longest, and Alfred was convinced that if anyone could move forward and live a life resembling something normal, it would be the two of them. Across from them, thank God, were Jason and Cassandra… Alfred still cursed himself for not being able to bring Jason back into the family sooner when he first returned from the dead (even though he was grateful for the secret visits Todd made to the Manor when he had no food… a secret Pennyworth has kept even from Bruce all these years). And sweet Cassandra had endured so much… when a child is brought up from birth for war and blood as she was, it was truly a Herculean feat to make her feel safe and secure, but they had made it happen; she still struggled, but here she was, smiling back at him. And lastly, seated beside Timothy, was the newest, youngest addition to their family. Young Carrie had much to learn about world that she’d stepped into, but Alfred was confident that she would excel once Bruce brought her into the field. She was unaware of the proceedings that were underway to bring her officially into their fold, but Alfred was confident that this was where she belonged.

“Take it away, Grandpappy!” Jason called out with a wink. Alfred let out a quiet chuckle; Todd may have had his ups and downs in this family, but his wit was always welcome to him.

“Each year…” he began. “… each year when we come together for this celebration, it seems each of you have more stories to share of your adventures. Each year brings with it its own share of hardships, losses, and tears… but I believe that…” the old butler paused to gather his thoughts, looking at each of their faces. “I believe that the price you all pay in struggles are outweighed by how… enriched you are by the lives you lead. Each year, you bring along with the weight of your falls a myriad of new joys at the steps you’ve taken, not merely in your careers as warriors for justice, but in your lives outside of the uniforms. As ordinary people. Having watched each of you come through this house… even you, Miss Raven…” Alfred nodded to the young woman across the table, who offered a sweet, admiring smile up at him. “… I’ve come to love each of you in a way that, truthfully, I never imagined I’d be given the opportunity to. You are my family… and I look forward to seeing each of you grow down the line.”

��Here, here!” Timothy raised his glass, followed suit by everyone else. Alfred gave a small bow before taking his seat, and everyone began to pass the food all around the table.

“So Little D,” Stephanie said to Damian from across the table as she took her helping of potatoes, “how’s it feel to finally have your big-boy cape?” A few laughs sounded from around the table.

“Actually, it’s much more fulfilling than I thought it would be,” Damian replied as he applied cranberry sauce to his turkey before turning to Bruce. “No offense to you, Father, but being Red X is just… freeing. I don’t have any shoes to fill, which makes actually being in the field far less pressing.”

“No offense taken, Damian,” Bruce said with a smile. “You did the best you could as Robin, and you earned your new title. I couldn’t be more proud of you.”

“Shyeah,” Carrie chimed in from down the table. “You keep workin’ hard, you might even last a whole minute next time you and me throw down!”

Damian grinned at the new Robin. “Oh, please. You think I was really giving it my best effort? I could drop you easily.”

“Oh!” Kelley cocked an eyebrow and grinned right back at the boy. “Oh! Is that a challenge I hear? You want to catch these kicks again?”

“Anytime, fresh meat,” Damian quipped before stuffing a piece of turkey into his mouth.

Tim couldn’t help but laugh. “Is he still always this competitive, Raven?” He asked, taking a roll off the platter passing by.

“He’s actually doing much better,” Raven replied, glancing over at her Damian. “I couldn’t imagine the Titans without him.”

“Awww, you two are so cute!” Dick teased, sipping at the wine in his hand. “I remember when Babs and I were all starry-eyed like that. ‘Couldn’t imagine the team without her…’”

“And look at you now, big guy,” Jason said, waving a drumstick in his hand. “All engaged and crap, off gettin’ married to your dream girl. So sweet it makes ya sick, ain’t it?”

“Aww, is the little Jaybird jealous?” Barbara smiled wryly at the Hood. “Can’t find a nice girl to settle down with for yourself?”

“That reminds me…” Cassandra started quietly. “You said your wedding was going to be in May, yes?”

Dick and Barbara froze for a moment. Everyone went quiet, and Raven’s eyebrows raised as she made a peculiar observation.

“Umm, Dick…” Raven’s voice was soft, cautious. “… why are you drinking out of Barbara’s glass…?”

Dick and Barbara exchanged a quick look, and Dick stood up, sighing. “Well, y'see… we’re moving the wedding back to November. It’ll just be easier that way since everyone will already be in town, and…”

Barbara stood up, taking Dick’s hand. “… and because I want to be able to fit into my dress.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, and Bruce’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean…”

Barbara smiled down at the Batman, taking in a deep breath. “… I’m pregnant.”

All at once, the whole dining room erupted with sound; Alfred and Cass gasped, Stephanie squealed, Jason and Raven called out with congratulations, Tim and Carrie started to laugh. Damian smirked up at the Batgirl. He’d suspected since she and Dick arrived; she was practically glowing. Bruce sat unmoving, his mouth agape at the revelation. Dick and Barbara put their arms around each other, looking into each other’s eyes with elation.

The rest of the night was spent talking about the baby. Barbara was four months along now. They were having a boy. After tossing several ideas around, they’d already settled on a name: Thomas John Grayson. Bruce actually shed a tear at this revelation; he knew they’d taken the first name from his father… It’s what he would have named Damian had he known about him when he was born.

They planned to live just outside the edge of Blüdhaven, on a small ranch Dick had found in September. Dick would have to stay on as a police officer for few years longer than he’d planned in order to afford it, but he refused Bruce’s offer to pay for the place. They didn’t like the idea of depending on handouts from anyone; they were building a life together, they wanted to earn it together.

November 24th, 2017. 1:32 AM.

Damian sat on the roof of Wayne Manor, looking out towards the city in the distance. Even for the bright lights beaming from Gotham, the manor was far enough outside the city that Damian could still look up and see the stars illuminating the night sky. Nights like this, the boy would often look up to the heavens, and wonder if his mother were doing the same. A childish sentiment, perhaps, but a comforting one. She may be one of his father’s greatest adversaries (and one of his own, by extension), but he did miss her. She had cared for him for most of his life. It pained him to be so far away from her, knowing they may very well never be able to be together again.

As Damian allowed his thoughts to wander, he began to wonder about his own future. Until recently, Damian never even considered the possibility of a life that involved anything more than becoming the Batman. Aside from ruling the world with his grandfather and the League of Assassins, the cowl had always been his destiny… his birthright. But now… now he didn’t know. He had changed his mind about a great many things during his time as a Titan. Granted, he still wanted to be the Batman someday, there was no question about that. But… now he wondered what else he could devote his life towards. What would make him… what would make him happy?

Just as he asked himself this question, the answer crawled through the window and sat down next to him, looking up at the stars. He glanced over at her, and he couldn’t help but smile as he saw the moonlight shimmer in her purple eyes. He placed his hand on hers, and there they both sat, neither one uttering a single word. Raven leaned her head upon Damian’s shoulder. Damian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, thinking to himself about a different future… one far less lonely.

Don’t ever let go, Raven Roth… I’ll be lost the day you do.

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting tags

I don’t know why, but I get really tired of fics where they’re like “Bruce has been sheltered his entire life and has absolutely no sense for normal people” as though he didn’t go on a world tour in literally every iteration of his existence before becoming Batman. Yes, he was absolutely sheltered as a teenager, and maybe he still held onto some naïveté in his early Batman years, but Batman literally faces every fucking crime there is, and I bet that little Bruce stubbornly traumatized himself with true crime shows and case studies. One does not become Batman and stay sheltered. Yes, unlike most people, he had the safety net of a home and a fat bank account to return to, but that really only applied in the States with legal identification. This man just kinda traveled the world with like the bare minimum and built a name and network for himself from scratch from pure skill, stubbornness, and his weird Mary Sue aura where everyone wants to fuck him. I can guarantee he’s nearly starved to death on multiple occasions, has slept in the worst conditions possible, and actually been fucking tortured in every sense of the word. You don’t need to be born and raised in poverty to have experienced food insecurities and the worst that humanity has to offer.

Anyway, this is just me just being fed up with the fics and posts where they treat Bruce as if he’s never experienced a single hardship in his life beyond the death of his parents when he was 8 years old. Bruce Wayne is the most empathetic, self-sacrificing motherfucker in Existence. He’s still an over controlling asshole, but he’s self aware and tries to understand why criminals do crime things.

Batman deserves to have a backstory where he actually developed and experienced his own coming-of-age as a mature member of society instead of being some vengeful middle school syndrome kid maneuvering a skin sack of nearly 300 lbs of muscle and fancy technology.