#I’m in my smallville era

[fictionaltrvlr]

annoying rich boys with father issues and an obsession with green >>>

[fantastic-nonsense]

Hi! Can you please point me to the 1990s Clark/Bruce zines you mentioned in a recent post? Also, do you know anything about the Superbat fandom history in the pre-tumblr/ao3 era? I’m really curious about it but I haven’t been able to find great sources. Thanks!!

Unfortunately I've never been a huge Superbat reader and actively participating in the pre-internet zine era was before my time in fandom, so my knowledge on that front is limited. You'd be better off contacting and searching through the University of Iowa's Special Collections Fan Culture Preservation Project (which has its own Fanlore page and is sponsored by Ao3's parent company, the Organization for Transformative Works), the University of California Riverside's Fanzine Collection, or trawling through old Livejournal communities tbh.

In terms of fandom history, the very short version is that it was fairly popular in the Silver and Bronze Age (partially as a result of the World's Finest comics), briefly went largely dormant in the late 1980s/1990s after the initial post-Crisis status quo was that Bruce and Clark weren't close friends (and then Clark was dead for a hot minute), and came back with a roaring vengeance in the 2000s after Morrison's+Waid's JLA runs did the legwork of making everyone friends again and Superman/Batman started publishing, and hasn't left fandom consciousness since. Adaptationally, it suffered a small hit in overall popularity when Smallville was big (caving to the Clex shippers) but was still fairly popular in DCAU fandom circles at the same time. There's an interesting Superbat history retrospective here, if you're interested, which mostly traces Bruce and Clark's depiction in comics from the 80s until the 2010s but also provides some personal commentary and notes on fan speculation+letters to the editor that appeared in those older issues.

Sidenote: a major reason that you can't find fandom histories on DC the way you can on Marvel is because their archives aren't open to academics and the general public the way Marvel's are. There is no DC equivalent of Marvel: The Untold Story, for example. We have quite a bit of knowledge on the Golden Age era because of external sources, and there's a lot of information about the post-internet fandom, but unfortunately there's just not a ton of internal or fandom-centered sources for the in-between. And the documentaries we do have usually focus on official/company-centered events rather than fandom ones. I happen to anecdotally know some of that history, hence why I felt confident correcting people on that post, but you're right that there's just not a lot of "good" sources to be found on the issue outside of old blog posts.

You also have to understand that until the 2000s and the rise of modern fandom culture, "slash shipping" in most fandoms (that weren't Star Trek, anyway) was basically all underground, so the histories we do have are largely oral histories from oldfans and zines that have survived from that era. Slashfics were also regularly deleted from fandom archives at whim whenever content crackdowns happened (said content crackdowns were one of the major reasons AO3 was created and eventually became the main internet repository for fanfiction, btw). So unless you have access to the zines or those authors have uploaded/re-uploaded their work to somewhere that hasn't been subject to purges, site takedowns, or the general ravages of time...a lot of that history has been lost, unfortunately.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help!

[fazedlight]

2 for Shadows in the Sun and Parallel Effect. 6, 11 for Inauthentic. 19 and 25 over all 👀

oooh 👀

The Parallel Effect - 2. How did you come up with the idea?

The original thought was “Jumanji AU”, and I had the thought pretty early on that I wanted Kara to think she was trapped in a Black Mercy (only to later learn she was stuck in Obsidian with Lena). That was actually intended to last longer, but I ended up clueing the audience into what was happening pretty early. (I hope the moodboard still implies that, though.) 

From there, the story kind of evolved into playing around with different tropes (“there was only one bed”), though I won’t spoil why just in case someone reading this hasn’t read the fic yet and wants to.

Shadows in the Sun - 2. How did you come up with the idea?

Me writing rojarias is 100% your fault and you know it ❤️ I knew pretty early on that I wanted Sam to be involved in the Catco handoff to Andrea, and thought it’d be hilarious if they accidentally solved the rift in the background.

Originally, I wasn’t planning on Sam or Andrea finding out that KDISG, and I was going to put more humor into that happening in the background. (I also thought there might be an Andrea/Lena hatefuck era in there, but that ultimately didn't make it into the story either.)

I knew I also wanted to play a bit with Andrea’s narrative similarities to Kara. I think Andrea’s personality is similar to Lena’s, and I think Lena probably learned how to be sophisticated from Andrea in some sense. But Andrea also has similarities to Kara in how the rift played out - I purposefully wrote Kara very sympathetic to where Andrea is.

Inauthentic

6. How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use?

I primarily wanted to focus on Kara's point of view, because the changes of the pink kryptonite were subtle, and I wanted her to not quite realize what was happening (and for the audience to internalize that, or be able to go back and say "oh, those were the signs").

The hardest part to write here was the almost-kiss scene, because I usually don’t like switching POV midscene. But it’s Kara who initiates, and I wanted to show the audience her thought process in doing that - but Lena needs to be the one to stop the kiss, and I wanted the audience to understand that too.

Pulling in Lois’ POV was fun. I tend to lean into my impression of her character from Smallville rather than Arrowverse, though I’ve never actually seen Smallville, so who knows if that’s accurate. (I have a friend who’s a deep Clois fan who I’ve talked a lot to about both Clois and Supercorp, I’m sure her interpretations influenced mine to an extent.) I toyed around with her having a more active (slightly trollish or crackfic-ish) role in the story, but none of that resonated quite right.

For tense, I find it hard to write in anything but past tense, even though I don't notice when reading whether it's past vs. present.

11. What was the most challenging aspect of writing it?

The most challenging part was actually the waiting - this was my first event fic, and I was still in a habit of yeeting things onto AO3 soon after writing.

I ended up tweaking the fic over time, adding another 1-2k words that were very much needed. Waiting is a good thing! Maybe someday I will learn patience 😂

Overall

19. While editing, did you kill any darlings? What were they?

All the time!! Though it’s hard to answer what since they tend to disappear from my mind when the fic is done. The nice thing is that they often reinvent themselves in some other fic/ficlet months later.

There’s a scene between Kara and Lillain that I wanted to write into No One and Nothing, before I remembered that Lillian was still in prison and so it made no sense to insert her there. That scene ended up slotting perfectly into Darkness in All Things, in a way that felt plot-driven given her involvement in the rest of the story.

25. Share your favorite line

Ooooh this is tough. I've now written 232k words, apparently, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others that might be my favorite. But I think it might be the passage from Even Though You're Kryptonian, where Kara has just taken a phantom zone projector blast in order to protect Lena:

Kara smiled softly, the expression not quite reaching her melancholic eyes, as the light enveloping her reached her neck and her face, becoming nothing but a burning, bright as it enveloped her in her entirety - the wide flame suddenly collapsing into a small sphere as it hovered. A momentary, brilliant spark that vibrated quickly, before snapping out of existence. And Kara was gone.

Thank you for the ask, Nic! ❤️❤️

ask game

[luthwhore]

ok but also consider how it's the second woc who's specifically latina who does that. smells like racism to me (both times)

i’m assuming this is about devin grayson?

devin grayson’s handling of race has a LOT of issues, which was even acknowledged in the reblog before mine that my tags were agreeing with. the way she handled canonizing dick as romani was…clumsy, to put it mildly, and while she says she did research, i suspect that research didn’t include actually talking to any actual romani people. catalina flores leans on a lot of racial stereotypes in ways that are often uncomfortable, and i’ll even add that her smallville tie-in novel had some notable issues with japanese stereotypes and the way it portrayed the yakuza.

HOWEVER. that is almost NEVER the criticism i see given of that story arc. it’s almost always people criticizing the fact that dick was sexually assaulted at all. i think it’s entirely fair to criticize her handling of race within her comics, but it’s worth pointing out that — by your own admission — that is not unique to devin grayson. and despite writing similar stories both before AND after devin grayson’s run, marv wolfman gets praised as THE definitive nightwing writer by most people. chuck dixon doesn’t have a great track record, either. and her smallville novel wasn’t any worse than things that made it into the show in episodes like “sacred” and “prodigal.”

additionally, the hate on devin grayson is often INTENSELY personal in a way it usually isn’t when people criticize male writers, despite the fact that she left DC 18 years ago and the most she’s written for them since is a couple of one-shots in various specials. i’ve seen many people over the years accuse her of having a rape fetish and using catalina flores as a self insert so she could enact her fantasies on dick grayson. this accusation has ZERO basis in reality and she has spoken multiple times about being a sexual assault survivor herself.

my point wasn’t to say that devin grayson is perfect, just that she’s actually a good storyteller, and that she gets a disproportionate amount of vitriol compared to male writers who wrote similar (or sometimes worse) content during the same era.

[queenretcon]

do you have any bea reading suggestions?

read fire & ice: welcome to smallville #1 IN STORES NOW

Now that that’s out of the way, the easiest way to jump on with Bea is to read Justice League International/Justice League America (same book, different titles).

(rest going under a cut bc I have a lot of things to say about Beatriz da costa surprising no one)

She was in comics before then (Super Friends & Infinity Inc), but the version of her that was a main character and that ‘stuck’ really starts with JLI. She first appears in Justice League International #12, which is also Tora’s first appearance, and she stays on the team until the book ends with #113. She’s the longest serving member! If you’re looking for her coming-out-arc-that-wasn’t based on my last post, that run starts with #93 though I always have to give the warning that it’s permanently out of print because of the actions of the writer.

The spin-off book Justice League Quarterly is also a must read for her. She’s not in every story since it’s an anthology but she appears in most issues and a lot of my favorite Fire stories are from that book (#2, 5, 7, & 10 in particular).

After the JL is rebooted, she bounces around books a little more. One story I think is required reading that’s easy to miss is Showcase ‘96 #7.

The Super Buddies arcs (Formerly Known as the Justice League & then JLA Classified #4-9) are. Uh. Reasonably controversial, but I have a line about her from JLA Classified as a tattoo so I’m fake as hell if I don’t recommend it.

At the same time as that, Ted’s stupid ass gets shot and causes problems for everyone. Most of her appearances were written by Greg Rucka for a while who I think handled her well largely, including her 52 appearances, OMAC Project, and Checkmate (where she reunites with Tora! yay!). I also like her small inclusions in Blue Beetle 2006.

After that it gets, uh, dire. She’s in Generation Lost which is racist but some people like it. Then the universe reboots and she’s in Justice League International (2011) which one could charitably call mid. Justice League 3000/3001 have a LOT of issues and are also an AU, but I would recommend reading at least issues #12-15 of JL 3000 since it’s a continuation of her Super Buddies story that makes me cry.

And now we’re basically here! With Power Girl Special #1 which led into Welcome to Smallville. As someone who lived through the Dark Ages, I would say now’s a good time to start reading Bea comics! If any of this was unclear, feel free to shoot me any follow up questions (there’s a lot of stories and crossovers contained in that JLA #12-113 era that can be confused)!

Do not fucking read The Human Target I am so serious do not.

[sometimesanalice]

Hello, Alexa!☺️

How are you?

A bit of a random Q, but! I remember you saying that the first fanfic you wrote

was ‘Oh Christmas Tree' and I was just wondering if there was any other fandoms

you ever thought about writing for? Even if you don’t want to publish them! :) An even more general question, what other fandoms would you say you're into?

I know it's a little random, but I just love hearing about other people's interests/loves! 🥰

(I’m sorry if you’ve answered these in some way before)

Have a lovely weekend!

Hi Bo!! 🌟 I'm so good! I'm having the best afternoon with some coffee and a treat from Trader Joe's and working on a fluffy oneshot! I hope you're doing well! I love seeing you pop in my inbox!

The call of Bradley with a pine tree allergy and getting his best girl a fluffy pink one was too strong for me to resist! It was such a new thing for me that I wrote the whole thing on the notes app on my phone, it didn't even cross my mind to open a word doc for it, lol.

It's such a funny thing that for the years and years that I've jotted down ideas and dialogue that I never once thought of actually sitting down and trying my hand at writing fanfic until last year!

More for you under the cut!

My first foray into fandom and fanfic was when I was a nugget out there wilding on fanfic.net and shipping Clark/Lana from Smallville and Padme/Anakin from Star Wars. (back when I didn't even know what shipping meant, lol)

In college, I didn't have much time to read books because of all the school work, so I turned to fanfic again and got really into The Hunger Games. Dandelion Peeta had my heart, and all the modern AUs really softened the dystopian angst. That fandom had so many truly terrific writers, ones that I still follow even today.

Which is how I ended up becoming a big The 100 girlie. Some of my favorite THG authors started posting and writing for a couple of the main characters on that show and I was hooked. (it's been a lot of fun to learn that some of my fav TGM babes were also the 100 babes, so we've trauma bonded over it, haha)

And let me tell you, I need to be financially COMPENSATED by the CW for the chokehold this man had on me for like 5 years. (the hair! the gravely voice! the chin dimple! the biceps! the grumpy king with a heart of gold!)

If I was going to write for another fandom, it would be that one. Bellarke (bellamy blake and clarke griffin) still has my heart. At the height of it, I was spending hours every day reading fic for them. The chemistry between them was bananas and every week I was waiting on baited breath for any little interaction between them. It's funny now because the actors are actually married now, haha! The show gave us crumbs and went out with such a tragic whimper, but the fandom and the incredible talent there is probably why I was so invested and still read fics about them on AO3.

When I reread my favorite series The Winners Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski I fall DEEP into an Arin/Kestrel spiral. It's such an underrated YA series that I'm pretty sure I've read every piece of fanfiction that's out there (which isn't nearly enough) at least 5 times.

There was a brief Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen GOT era, but it was short lived.

I also like the Darkling/Alina dynamic from Shadow and Bone. I read the series when the books first came out before the show, and wasn't particularly enamored with them as a couple. But then they had to go and cast the pretty bearded attention whore that is Ben Barnes and I had simply no choice but to ship, lol.

I always joke and say that I don't pick the hyperfixations, that they choose me. But it's really true. The 100 ended in 2020 and I didn't have anything really capture my attention in the same way until TGM. This is the first fandom that I've really participated in, like getting to know other people and creating content! And it's been so wonderful!

Oof! Well, this got out of control quickly, lol. This was such a fun ask to get! I haven't been asked before, so I really went off the deep end here giving you my full life fandom history, haha!

[jackiequick]

Arrowverse OC ✨

Inspired by DC Comics

-> Shayera De La Cruz of Andor 🌱

Adopted Earth Name: Lyra Olivia Cruz

Nicknames: Princess, Green Thumb, Shay, Liv, Ly, Ms Cruz and etc

Age (depending on the season): 20–25

Height: 5’5 (5’7 in heels)

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Latina. Mexican one her moms side and Cuban-American on her father’s side

Place Of Birth: A fictional planet called Andor, next to the planet Thalon in the Rao System

Grew up: She landed in Coachella Valley, in California when she only less than 5 years old. Since she stuck in the phantom zone for a few years. She was found by a lovely couple. How she doesn’t know much of Earth’s actual culture, she was never one to truly understand it.

Shows appears/media references: Smallville, The Flash, Marvel, Supergirl, Dc Legends Of Tomorrow, Glee, Arrow, Star Wars and etc.

Career/Job: Artist. Paint, cartoonist and such.

Friendship: Team Flash, Team Supergirl, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Sara Lance, Ray Palmer and much more.

Powers set: Earth based. Girl got a green thumb. With just the flicker of her fingers, Lyra can grow and control planets such a flowers, trees and make the air more fresh. On occasion, she can create plants. Her emotions effect the planets around her. With time she realized, she sometimes can control the weather just to make it grow or the sun to shine on the gods green earth.

Sometimes she will say something like, “The trees. They speak to me..they’re happy that it rained.”

—

Extra Info

Her biological parents were like royalty in her small planet across the south coast of the planets. Far from behind the other universes or planets nearby, simple people. Like down to earth country folks were the people on her planet. Everyone and everything looked like Earth with a fairytale style in the architecture (very much like Naboo). Their technological advances were slower than other planets, since they shared and borrowed from one another. But no one cared. Rather rich themselves in the minimalistic living instead. 

Some rarely gifted with certain abilities when they reached a certain point in their lives, meanwhile someone are not. One powers that only some elders held dear, that few past onto their children were to remember their past lives. Such as soulmates.

Her home looked like an Enchanted Forest, the ones you would hear in fairy tales crafted to share with little girls to imagine when they play dress up. She was kinda a loner growing up, having her books of fairytales and action filled stories of heroes to read.

One day she was stepped around the streets when a voice called her, consumed and curious she followed. Her dress flew behind her, walking until she saw that appeared to a wishful bouncing voice, belonging to a tall man. He was magical in a sense, convincing to anyone who listen.

“Hello?” She asked, fixing her dress and gasping at the suited man, “Who are you?”

“W-who am i? Well I’m your ticket to advertising adventures dear.” Reply the said with a kind smile, “I’m Roland.”

“My ticket to where?”

“Well Princess Shay-era, you are a very good girl. You don’t deserve to leave in this dump of a planet, but to bring your gifts to others.”

“M-my gifts?”

“Why yes of course. Your gifts. No offense, but do you really wanna be stuck in a place with no longing a little thing like you?”

Shayera crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, “What’s your game, pirate? What about my parents?”

“You’re planet was doomed to death anyway, just like the otherwise beautiful ones on this side of the galaxy. We rather saved your ass now.” He said with a shrugged smile and secretly he opens a portal.

“We..? Uh, w-who sent you?”

“You’re mother. She knew you wouldn’t want to listen without a little push.”

“My mama..? Wait—”

—-

The said portal opened and slides underneath her feet, Shayera landed asleep and shipped off world. She wasn’t brought with much, expect a few items. The portal trip was fine until she was knocked off course resulting, in her form landing in the phantom zone for weeks.

Finally she woke up to the pretty sky. Coachella Valley, in California. Her eyes were closed but sun shine still peaked into her face. She heard a young couple talking over her body. They were kind people from what she heard.

Shayera’s eyes gently blinked open catching the couples eyes. From their perspective, sweet young bright eyed little girl in a blush pink soft dress landed a few feet away from their home. It was a charming sight. The pair always wanted children and thought it was a gift from the universe.

“Hi sweetie, what’s your name?” Asked the women, Rosita.

“I don’t know..not remember..I’m sorry..” Said the girl looking at the couple confused but with a sense of familiarity in her eyes.

The man, Sean smiled, “It’s okay, we’re take you in.”

She smiled, gentle love in her eyes. They returned it, the couple named her Lyra Olivia Cruz. After Sean’s mom and Rosita’s grandmother.

—>

Years went on, Lyra lived a normal life as a teenager. School, friends, traveling to different place, reading and watching movies, shopping and so much more. Sure weird things happened over the city, in which her and her good friends coined it as ‘The Wall Of Weird’. Posting everything that happened onto the school newsletter and journal the ones they didn’t say anything about for themselves.

Sometimes it was like a damn comic book or music happened right before their eyes.

Until one day over the spring time, Lyra developed theses annoying headaches and decided to detox her body in the backyard nearby the small flowers she grew with her mother. It worked like a charm taking it all in, the fresh air, the sun and the greenery around her. Her fingers ran across the grass then flowers, as her hand sparkled. The flowers grew a little bit as Lyra looked at her face gasping in shock. Poor girl screamed, she though she was dreaming.

And her first thought afterwards was…

“MAMI! I THINK I GOT POWERS!?” She yelled calling her mother stumbling back in the house, practically falling face first on the wooden flooring. “Ow…” She added shortly.

Her mom was confused for a moment until Lyra showed her, more or less. After her dad came home from work, they had a long talk. Sean and Rosita told her what they know, that wasn’t much for neither of her parents to off on. The two felt sorry. They told Lyra that she was sent here in a pink dress, wearing a pair of dusty rose earrings and a small notebook that kept drawing in them. To their surprise, their daughter wasn’t mad at them or worried about anything. She knew she was loved and sent her as a blissing for a chance to live a good life.

As she started to work on her small scale of skills she promised to use her powers for good care, not destroying or manipulate nature. Eventually her friends found out finding it super cute and interesting.

—>

Everything was great until after senior year, she moved up to Central City to start exploring her job as an artist. Yes she does have the opportunity in California to draw and sell her art, but she wanted a different environment as a landscape for her cartoons. She was chatting on the phone with a friend when she noticed a young woman about to trampled over by a incoming speeding car.

She noticed a abandoned flower stand nearby, the man left for a break. So in result Lyra wiggled her fingers sparkling a dusty rose color as the flowers stretched out and grew wrapping themselves up gently pushing the woman away. It was a very subtle movement. Lyra released her touch on the flowers as they went back to their original form.

Lyra looked around hoping no one truly noticed, buying the said flower, leaving the money on the flower cart and walked away. They were tulips her favorite. However she was wrong, the woman who she saved did notice and a few days later found her at Jitters Coffee Shop.

Leanna O’ Conner was called in by her friend Officer Penny Spivet to see her.

Lyra refused the idea, she wasn’t one to use her powers very often and doesn’t want to be like the hero The Blur or anything.

Leanna wasn’t suggesting that and said, “Girl I ain’t asking for you to do that. But you were spotted and tracked by a camera, your smart and sweet and kind. We could use you on the team, every once in a while.”

“I’ll think about it..what do you know about me?” Lyra asked curiously.

“You grew up in Cali, you studied news and stories eventually becoming a artist for the paper. And you can manipulate planets?”

“I can control and manipulate them to grow or even strengthen themselves.”

“If you come by to the labs, I’ll like to see it sometime.”

The sometime came soon as the day she visited, The Team Flash was fighting King Shark. She had to help them by growing a cage from the ground up to hold him off in the park until they can get handcuffs on the huge half animal. Caitlin and Iris grinned impressed. Once it was done, Lyra agreed to come over every once in a while to help, but she was more than happy to hang out with the crew.

—

Her, Cisco and the others would do movie nights. Referencing comic books, tv shows and movies. In their universes, Marvel was a common thing that would mention among pop culture.

The superheroes in a barn reference, excelsior, spidey senses tingling, superhero landing, Hulk references, X-Men and etc. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, so much more being named dropped ever so causally no one bats an eye!

—-

One day Iris even mentioned, “You said you were touched on journalism right?”

“Yeah? I usually do the doodles.” She replied one day as the girls were hanging out.

“Do you know a column called ‘The Wall Of Weird’? It was popping up on again on my throwback new feed.”

“Hahahahaha! I do actually, cause i help write it.”

“No way!”

“Yeah it was a fun thing we dropped online, I didn’t know it reached cities.”

“Girl it’s the Internet, of course it did.”

—-

Hell Lyra when met Kara Danvers and others, she fell head over heels in love. Yeah she loved the other teams but Team Supergirl was unique.

With her being from technically another planet, the colorful city, the similarities between perspective she shared, and Winn was her absolute favorite. All having to save each other at least once. Oh did I mentioned how nerdy everyone was with certain things? It was super cool!

Winn opened the door where she locked in and yelled out grinning, “Hi! I’m um here to rescue you, princess.”

Even though she was chained up, Lyra grinned and gasps, “Hmm. Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?”

“You rewatched Star Wars without me?!”

“Actually it was me and James!”

“Traitors! Me and Kara rewatched Wizard Of Oz without you guys.”

“You traitors!”

—

Alex was a badass, Lyra supporting her every single step of the way to her journey. In result, Alex helped her try to find more of her heritage whenever asked.

She was one of the most supportive people in her life and vise versa.

—

Plus she wouldn’t lie saying she had a small crush on Supergirl. I mean how could you not have a crush on Kara Danvers?! She’s adorable!

Also, they worked together so they get to see each other almost every day. Other days they were chilling together.

“You’re gonna love me forever. Close your eyes!” Lyra said running into the apartment.

��Okay? Please tell me it’s a puppy!” Kara yelled out with her eyes closed.

“Okayyyy! Now open ‘em.”

Kara gasped seeing pizza from their favorite restaurant, donuts from the shop across from CatCo, and a dvd of the film The Great Gatsby.

“OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU!” Kara yelled in glee hugging her.

“HAHAHA! IT WAS NO BIGGIE!” Lyra yelled back hugging her.

——

If you wonder if she gets to see her friends and family, Kara and Lyra are able portal or teleport using a device Cisco made. Winn sometimes had to adjust the schedule or corrected coordinates for travel. 

Sometimes it leads her into trouble bouncing from once place or universe to the next…

—

Thank you for reading this! I hope enjoy it 💞

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @yetanotherwells @msrochelleromanofffelton @blueboirick @sherloquestea @morgan108 @t-nd-rfoot @ohgodnotagainn @topgun-imagines @gcthvile @superspookyjanelle @hanlueluver @halesfavoriteharlot @rooster-84 and etc

[zahri-melitor]

Newish Comics, Regular Edition (thank you extremely early spoilers meaning I spent yesterday on the Gotham War stuff, this is a big edition and I’ve been holding myself back from touching these for FOUR WHOLE WEEKS):

Birds of Prey #1: Righto so as I read this my levels of trust are building just slightly. There is at least reasoning being built into this scenario. Also I note the note that this is post Green Arrow #6

The list!!! I’ve already ranted about this but I want to note how IMMACULATE the order of “Shiva, Selina, Talia?, Cheshire?” is. Shiva’s the obvious starting point. She’s heavily associated with Sin, she’s an actual Bird of Prey from several team lineups, there’s the whole Dinah and Shiva relationship… Dinah would consider this. Jumping to Selina next, as someone who again has had multiple BoP appearances, is known to ally up if asked, exists in the antihero spectrum, Dinah’s probably also now aware she’s been looking after Lian. Then Talia. I am unaware of Talia being associated with any BoP team lineup ever but she’s an obvious next place for thoughts to go. Talia has Views and if you’re looking at dangerous people who can help with an extraction rescue she’s an option. Then finally, Cheshire. Who Dinah full well knows would cause ALL LEVELS of drama if Dinah asked her to go after Sin given everything around Lian, but is willing to consider it anyway for a moment there.

I do adore the art style in this, DC’s really putting out some stunning LOOKING books at the moment, also the old fashioned comics style and colour here are giving me vibes of the Black Canary 1991 run.

“What’s more important than a sister” remains excellent, Barda and Cass together is just amazing, and I’m interested in what happens with Zealot and Meridian. I understand why Harley’s there even if I don’t like it, and it’s largely approached better than I expected (I just can’t summon the energy to care about that fight scene, it’s establishing stuff to jury rig a reason for Harley to be here at all, I just don’t care about Harley enough, though does Harley have a secret past with the Dava Sborsc ‘collect all the single punches’ form of martial arts?)

My actual big question is: Sin is SIXTEEN? I mean I know we’ve had 2.5 reboots since the last time she was on page in comics, but she was approximately 10 years old after One Year Later. She was in PRIMARY SCHOOL. That’s even faster aging than Damian! (I guess we could stretch the point to her being 11-12, but it feels older than she was depicted)

Blue Beetle #1: The thing I MOST adore about using that JLI picture for Ted is that even with this comic set in the current present, Ted was on the team with a proper USSR Red Rocket. Ted you were a superhero 32 years ago?

Also amused we got a zany Charlton Comics era villain back.

RED BEETLE IS BACK!!! Oh no. Also almost impossible for it to be Paco given various reboots, so… (I’m sure Ted is fine. They’re not killing him off permanently in the first issue of this)

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1: BEA! TORA! “Each day is a gift, and I get to share it with my best friend!” (Howling. I’m howling. They’re going to spend this entire mini baiting us all aren’t they)

…Martha immediately starts comparing Fire & Ice to her and Jonathan. “Gorilla Grodd’s little sister” (whose name appears to be Linka Grodd? And who is queer).

NOOOO THEY’RE BREAKING UP! AND THEY WEREN’T EVEN TOGETHER! YOU TWO JUST LESBIANED YOURSELVES INTO A BUSINESS TOGETHER! AND A TWELVE MONTH LEASE!

“Abandoned by my best friend, maybe the only true friend I’ve known.” (Get a room together)

AWW YEAH AMBUSH BUG!!

I am going to thoroughly enjoy this BECAUSE the entire run will be queerbait and hopefully Bea and Tora might finally get to kiss or something in issue 6. I am ready for this. Just gals being pals.

City Boy #4: this remains outstanding in my opinion. I really like what they’re doing with Cameron, and they’re making using Darkseid actually make sense. Also Chemo blowing up Bludhaven has been recanonised!

Shazam! #3: “Dan Mora an alien?” bookmark ahhahahaha. The background details are where Mora really has fun.

NOT THE AUDITORS.

This just remains silly fun (the Moon Emperor?) so I’m enjoying it.

Warlord #18: this week in the land of Skartaris we apparently DID manage to get out of 500km of desert in a single issue. Amazing work, Grell.

Travis once again using his gun. How many bullets left, Travis, how many. Can you make more?

Then they get attacked by the BLOODMOON and kidnapped by space aliens for breeding purposes. After running away from a T-rex.

And then…TRAVIS MORGAN BONDAGE SCENE. I’ve missed these, Grell, how have you been coping?

Travis gets transmuted into a minotaur. This will clearly only go well. (Sadly it gets fixed like three pages later)

Tara saves the day twice because Tara’s actually more competent than Travis.

[buckevantommy]

WGA and SAG AFTRA are American things. and we all know America criminally underpays the working class - you guys have to work 3 jobs just to make ends meet or whatever it's insane you deserve a liveable minimum wage - so i'm curious how the wages for writers etc. in America compare to the rest of the western world ie. Canada, UK/England, Australia, New Zealand.. America dominates the movie and tv industries - the cinema is full of American-made fliks, and a lot of us non-Americans grew up watching American tv shows (my era was Smallville, Alias, 24, Lost) and Netflix was the first streaming service and has taken over the globe - just like this call for higher wages has taken over the globe; people from all over are demanding you guys get paid right. but today i realised: this is an issue for American workers. so. i'm curious to see whether creatives from other western countries get paid similarly low and have to work in untenable conditions, or whether it's just the American industry that needs an overhaul? 

[jaydonsjam]

Blue Beetle I

So I decided to do a mid-00’s reading of DC comics during the era of Infinite Crisis and post-Infinite Crisis which includes Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps (which I’ve already read previously so I won’t be posting about those on this blog), Booster Gold, Shadowpact, Secret Six (won’t be talking about it either because I’ve already read them), etc. So expect some more DC posts coming up! Just a note for those of you who are finding my blog months in: I only post about comics I’m reading for the first time whether they be decades old or brand new. So that’s why I won’t be making posts about GL or Secret Six for example.

Blue Beetle #1-7

Blue Beetle #1-7 - writer(s): Keith Giffen (#1-6), John Rogers (#1-7) | penciler(s): Cully Hammer (#1-2, 4, 7), Cynthia Martin (#3, 6), Duncan Rouleau (#5), Kevin West (#6) | inker(s): Cully Hammer (#1-2, 4, 7), Phillip Moy (#3, 6), Duncan Rouleau (#5), Jack Purcell (#6)

Blue Beetle (vol. 7) is one of those series that I’m reading for the first time. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to post about it. First things first there was a bit of a revolving door of artists working on these seven issues but I think since they all seem to draw a similar style, it worked for me. I really love that Cully Hammer draws a little cartoony and I think it fits the tone and writing of this book really well.

I like how we get two timelines (present and past) being explained for the first chunk of issues with what happened to Jaime during and post-Infinite Crisis. Just for context btw, my experience with Blue Beetle (Jaime) is from the Young Justice show, Smallville, Batman: Brave and the Bold show and his short-lived New 52 series (Blue Beetle vol. 8). I also love how we open the first issue mid-fight with Jaime and Guy Gardner. We also meet his family and close friends Brenda and Paco which I enjoyed. We’re introduced to a crime boss La Dama who’s the aunt of Brenda. One thing I found funny and a little dangerous for Jaime was the fact that every supporting character already knows that he’s the Blue Beetle. They also spend the majority of the issues believing that the Scarab and Jaime’s suit is magical but we get the reveal in issue 6 that it’s alien in nature. So maybe we’ll meet the Reach and learn that stuff coming up soon. I enjoyed the Infinite Crisis tie-in and the idea that Jaime felt like the other heroes left him in space was heart-wrenching. The coolest part of this version of the Blue Beetle is his high tech alien suit which can allow him to fly and make all sorts of weapons and shift the armor in different ways. I loved the recurring joke about Jaime’s transformation where the Scarab crawls inside of his skin into his spine. It’s pretty gross. It was interesting to see an unrecognizable Peacemaker and I’m curious to see where and how he fits in moving forward. Overall I enjoyed this read and I can’t wait to continue this series!

[merceyca]

Thank you for the tags @foxsoulcourt and @codename-adler it’s been so long since I did one of these on here

Last song: Skyway Avenue by We The Kings (I was comparing guitar riffs to a Voilà song)

Favourite colour: I’m really into yellow but also orange on occasion

Currently watching: I just finished Smallville so now I’m bouncing around between One Tree Hill, Castlevania and a Veronica Mars rewatch

Sweet/savoury/spicy: sweet for sure, I’m a chocolate HOUND

Relationship status: single lmao

Current obsession: this month alone I’ve cycled through a gym obsession, a baking obsession and now I’m in my napping era

Last thing I googled: “Katie Mcgrath gay roles” for… reasons (I saw a gif)

My victims shall be: @greyabditory53 @gayykronos and @tesadoraofphaedra 💕

Nine people you'd like to get to know better

Thank you so much for tagging me @c-lion!

Last song: Hozier - Too Sweet (on repeat... I might have pulled an old wip out of the dust)

Favourite colour: purples, mulberry, smoky prussian blue

Currently watching: the last season of the Young Royals

Sweet/savoury/spicy: Savoury

Relationship status: I have 3 OG wips, about 34 aftg wips and a delusional crush on a fandom person, what do you think? 😅

Current obsession: aftg fanfic obviously, thrifting old porcelain cups and anything writing-related

Last thing you googled: elbow bursitis symptoms, shut up 😅

Tagging: @knickknacksandallthat, @fullyvisible, @nanatsuyu, @foxsoulcourt, @eloquent-apollo, @hannabeee69, @mostlymaudlin, @thetrojeans, @tntwme and whoever sees this!

[clambuoyance]

hello /waves shyly/ i am the anon who recommended red as a timkon song, and i just want to tell you too that i think The Lucky One by taylor swift too fits naive, just-out-of-the-test-tube, teen celeb kon sooooo well!! esp the last verse of the song where it goes "and they still tell the legend of how you disappeared / how you took the money and your dignity / and got the hell out" > parallels his decision to go live with the kents in smallville and completely change his image as well.

i like to think the image change (while we all lament t-shirt kon sometimes) was necessary for kon to truly examine who he wanted to be. and it only grew after he died and came back (re: adventure comics 2009 where he makes lists of what would superman/lex do). and idk i just feel like this song encapsulates that!!

rambling aside, i love your art, and your song reccs on IG too! thank you for always sharing your timkon/kon-el brainrot with us <3

Oh my god love this songs vibes it’s very “getting disillusioned with fame” vibes

Also I big agree! Kon in smallville just…the vibes are too good. I guess I’d prefer it if they changed his haircut at least. But It’s very fitting for 2000s I guess. I also like how some artists draw tshirt Kon tbh (Francis manapul, Marcus to), but I can’t get behind how the artist for tt03 draws him tbh…And design wise, i wished they at least let him keep some accessories…and then let him transition into a new style that’s somewhat punk but something new and different too? In my head, that era of Kon in the 2009-2011 comics should have led to someone who was more sure in himself. Not insecure and not falsely confident like when he was younger, but like healthily confident if that makes sense…

Like this was just a doodle for what my version of tshirt kon would be like

Also random, i could literally rant for hours about how superboy’s written in both the 90s and 2000s bc both have good and bad, i have traits I prefer in one vs the other etc etc, but while in the 2000s he gives more…”macho” or “serious” Vibes based on appearance—I feel like he’s still pretty snarky at times, and surprisingly emotional and soft still? Sorry that was a random ramble. Kon in smallville is just vibes if u get it u get it

[luthwhore]

Random, but I just wanted to say, I love your blog. It makes me feel so vindicated in my love for Lex and his relation to Clark and Kon. He’s such an interesting and complex character, and I feel like it’s hard sometimes finding people who like both comics and Smallville Lex, but still acknowledge them as different characters even if you’re a fan of the idea of Clark and Lex knowing and being friends with each other back then!!

Anywhores. Thanks Wkehsbwhwhsvs

wah, thank you so much anon! 🥺 lex is very fascinating to me as i’m sure you’ve gathered and i’ve basically just dedicated the last half a year or so to binging as much of his content across different mediums as possible, so i’m glad there are people out there who enjoy hearing my thoughts and feelings and opinions about him.

honestly even comics lex is functionally multiple different characters all taped together masquerading as one guy bc everyone who writes him has VASTLY different opinions on him and influences on their writing. mark waid is basically just writing pre-crisis lex (when DC actually lets him near the character, which is not very often), PKJ is writing byrne era lex but without all the predatory interactions with women, geoff johns wants to blend pre- and post-crisis (with mixed results), and joshua williamson is doing god’s work in actually trying to give lex an emotional arc through his last decade of messy as hell continuity.

[mind-empty-just-fictional-people]

about me

basics

- main blog - @jacklesbrainworms

- my pronouns are she/her

- i’m a part of the lgbtq+ community

- i’m twenty

- current (arguably unhealthy) obsessions: eric kripke’s “the boys”, jensen ackles, pete davidson

- i like making very specific playlists

movies/shows i like (in alphabetical order—— ⭐️ means i’m a diehard fan, 🫀 means i’ve been a die hard fan for 3+ years)

- back to the future ⭐️🫀

- bob’s burgers ⭐️

- bojack horseman

- the boys ⭐️

- breaking bad

- brooklyn nine-nine ⭐️🫀

- child’s play/chucky

- community ⭐️🫀

- criminal minds

- dc (hbo’s harley quinn cartoon ⭐️, my adventures with superman, smallville, dark knight trilogy, battinson, etc)

- die hard

- friends

- good omens

- gossip girl ⭐️

- insidious

- it (+anything stephen king) ⭐️

- marvel (+everything chris evans ⭐️🫀)

- modern family

- new girl

- the office

- parks and recreation

- stranger things

- supernatural (+anything jackles & misha) ⭐️

- watcher (ryan bergara & shane madej) ⭐️🫀

artists/bands i like (in alphabetical order—— ⭐️ means i’m a diehard fan, 👩‍🎤 means i’ve seen them in concert, 🫀 means i’ve been a die hard fan for 3+ years and i’d sell a kidney to see them in concert)

- ac/dc

- almost monday 👩‍🎤

- ariana grande ⭐️🫀

- billie eilish

- blackbear

- bob seger

- bring me the horizon 👩‍🎤

- bruce springsteen

- chappell roan ⭐️

- charlie puth

- dove cameron

- the driver era 👩‍🎤

- dua lipa ⭐️🫀

- emeline

- emlyn

- fall out boy ⭐️👩‍🎤🫀

- fletcher ⭐️🫀

- harry styles ⭐️🫀

- imagine dragons

- jonas brothers

- lølø

- madison beer ⭐️👩‍🎤🫀

- maisie peters ⭐️

- mckenna grace ⭐️

- nate feuerstein (nf)

- nessa barrett 👩‍🎤

- niall horan ⭐️🫀

- nirvana

- olivia rodrigo ⭐️🫀

- one direction ⭐️🫀

- panic! at the disco

- precious pepala

- radio company ⭐️

- sabrina carpenter

- shawn mendes ⭐️🫀

- taylor swift

- twenty one pilots ⭐️👩‍🎤🫀

- zolita ⭐️

[olive-gardens-breadstick]

Between New 52 Lois Lane, Flashpoint Lois Lane, Pre-Flashpoint Lois Lane, Pre-Zero Hour Lois Lane, Pre-COIE Lois Lane (from the Silver/Bronze era of comics) and the other Pre-COIE Lois Lane (from the Golden Age DC comic books), which one would you consider the best Lois ever?

since haven’t read a ton of the comics ( i’m very slowly working through the dc comics but i’m still on batman) i’m gonna say smallville lois, just because she’s the one i’m most familiar with. or man of steel lois bc amy adams also played giselle in enchanted and it’s my favorite disney movie

[krinsbez]

Super-Sizing the Superfamily: A DC Comics Storybuilding Project

So, on a forum I post on, we’ve been working on a storybuilding project. To wit, we plan to envision a selection of Superman and related comic books, if the Superman family was allowed to be even bigger than the Batman family, with multiple Superboys and Supergirls, as well as various other characters. To this end, we are be using multiple different versions of some characters, as well as occasionally decompositing existing characters.

At the bare minimum, I'd like to come up with a set of Superman Family titles (not everyone gets their own book, of course), and plot out a year of storylines, culminating in a Superman Family Crossover. Ideally we'd go beyond that as well, but given how ambitious that goal is, I'm not holding my breath.

The project has hit a bit of a wall ATM, so I figured now was as good a time as any to post what we’ve got so far on Tumblr. With his permission, I am tagging @davidmann95, the Internet’s Premier Supermanologist, to get his opinion, but anyone is free to comment or make suggestions.

We begin with... The "Core" Super-fam. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of characters appearing in this thing: -Clark (Superman) -Lois -Jon (Superboy Blue?) -Chris (Superboy Red?) -Kon (Kid Cadmus) (decomposite, based on original, Jacket version) -Conner (?) (decomposite, based on later, Geoff Johns/YJ version) -Kara Zor-El I AKA Zara (Supernova) (decomposite Modern Supergirl , based on TV Show version) -Kara Nim-El AKA Nara (Supergirl) (Variation on Silver Age Supergirl)* -Kara In-Ze AKA Iara (Blue Bombshell) (DCAU Supergirl)** -Kara Zor-El II AKA Tara (Miss Metropolis) (decomposite Modern Supergirl, based on "Cheerleader" version)*** -"Cir-El" (Tomorrow Girl) -Mae (Matrix) (I'm gonna say that for our purposes, she managed to come back after being separated from Linda) -Linda (Mighty Maid) (as per the post-Earth-Angel part of PAD's comic, with the Earth-Angel thing being backstory which we will leave vague) -Kristen (Superwoman) -Karen (Power Girl)**** -Mon-El (?) -"Uncle Carl" (decomposite Bizarro. Imperfect clone, somewhat "cured") -Bizarro #1 (decomposite, Imperfect duplicate, lives on Htrae, etc.) -Jimmy -Perry -Lucy -Kenan (New Super-Man) -John Henry (Steel) -Natasha (Steel? Starlight?) -Lana -Krypto -Streaky -Ma and Pa (I've seen good arguments for one or both of them being deceased by the modern-era...but I'm including them anyways) Possible members: -Lori Lemaris -Luma Lynai -Marvel Maid and Marvel Man -Vartox -Strange Visitor -Sally Selwyn -Lyla Ler-Rol -Thara Ak-Var -Alpha Centurion -More I'm not thinking of. 

*In the Silver Age, Jor-El had two brothers, his younger brother Zor, Kara's dad, and his twin Nim-El. We are making this Kara daughter of the former rather than the latter, born on Argo City, which survived the destruction of Krypton, named for her presumed dead cousin, sent to Earth when the systems keeping the city alive began to fail. **Keeping mostly the S:TAS backstory, with the caveats that the people of Argos were Kryptonian colonists, not a separate species, and that she's a relative of Zor-El's wife Alura In-Ze, with "Kara" and "In-Ze" being common family names. ***Something her ship encountered on her journey to Earth created a duplicate that took even longer to arrive, and was the subject of the previous Superfam crossover. ****The original "Super Girl", magically created by Jimmy wishing into existence a perfect mate for Superman.

Next, The Superfam books and casts thereof (not distinguishing between main, supporting, and recurring characters) (no villains as of yet. Mostly)

-Action Comics: Anthology title, each issue spotlighting different members of the Super-Fam.

No specific cast.

-Superman: Duh.

Somehow, I don't think we've specifically cast this one.

-Lois Lane: Again, duh. Serious journalism, with occasional Wacky Hijinks.

Lois

Clark

 Perry

 Jimmy

Lucy

Gen. Lane

Lex's administrative staff (Mercy, Ms. Tesmacher, the Loisbot, etc.), whom she is “casually bitchy” with

 As-Yet-Unselected-Police-Contact

 Bibbo

-Jimmy Olsen: Third verse, same as the first.

Jimmy

The Planet staff

 Iara (who he's dating; superspeed makes long =-distance relationships easy)

The New Newsboys (Famous Bobbie included)

Scorn

Ashbury

Misa

-Power Girl: Ditto.

Karen

Atlee

Hiro

Mae

-Cadmus: Again. We're basing this mostly on the bit of Kon's '90s book when he was hanging out on Cadmus, with the caveat that the Hairies moved the Wild Area (and thus the whole damn Project) to a pocket dimension with entrance termini in a number of different locations, including, but not limited to, Metropolis, Honolulu, the Un-Men reservation in Louisiana, and wherever the Justice League of China is headquartered.

Kon

Golden Guardian

The OG now-adult Newsboy Legion

The New Newsboys (Famous Bobbie included)

Dubbilex

Tana

 Roxy

 Serling

 Tekka

 Kenan and the JLC

 Mickey Cannon

 Sam Makoa?

Prince Tuftan and friends

-Adventure Comics: Stories about Conner, Iara, and Tara hanging around Smallville; inspired largely by Kon's late '00s title. Back-up feature is stories about Clark's Superboy years.

Conner

Iara

Tara

Lori Luthor

Lena Luthor I

Ma

Pa

Simon Valentine

Psionic Lad

Lana

 Loretta "Golden Genie" York (the character formerly known as the Yellow Peri)

-Sons of Superman: Starring Jon and Chris.

Chris

Jon

Lois

Clark

Beacon

Jor-El AI

Kelex

Ma & Pa

Lucy

Kon

Conner

Kristin

-Planet Comics: About the adventures of the Daily Planet crew in general. Workplace comedy, Clark keeps the glasses on, mostly.

Perry

Lois

Clark

Jimmy

Cat

Steve Lombard

Ron Troupe

Dirk Armstrong

Angela Chen

(I'd like to feature more of the various folks who've been shown working for the Planet over the years)

-Streets of Metropolis: Comparatively gritty stories about battling street-level crime, starring Gangbuster, Black Lighting and fam, and the MPD.

Jeff

Anissa

Jennifer

Lynn

Gangbuster (let's face it, most of y'all wouldn't recognize his real name)

Maggie

Turpin

Henderson

Leocadio

-National Comics (alt. title: Supernova and the DEO): Zara's adventures trying to make it on her own in National City, whilst helping Alex and the DEO.

Zara

Tara (commuting from Smallville)

Linda

Mon-El

Alex

Director Bones (standing in for the show’s version of J’onn, though the relationship is *probably* less familial)

Cameron Chase?

Winn

Simone D'Neige (standing in for the show’s version of Cat Grant)

Lena Luthor II (standing in for the show’s version of her aunt; we’re assuming that she stayed aged up after being de-Brainiaced)

Dreamer

-Steel and the Girls of Steel (need a better title): Starring John Henry, Natasha, Cir-El, and Traci 13.

John

Henry

Natasha

“Boris”

Cir-El

Mia (i’m counting Cir-El and her alter ego as separate characters)

Traci 13

The Supermen of America (a team, including Super-Chief and “Iron” Munro, inspired by Superman’s example, that John Henry is training)

-Nightwing and Flamebird. Adventures in the Bottle City of Kandor, which is majority Kryptonian but has a sizable population of other species. Despite the title, the eponymous duo are not the protagonists, but rather an ordinary citizen who’s taken it upon themselves to unravel the mystery of their secret identity (the truth is that an assortment of people take turns at wearing those costumes)

?

-Superman Family. Anthology title, with each issues featuring a team-up between Clark and another member of the Superfam.

No specific cast

There are a few other odds and sods here and there, but that’s most of it, asides from the fact we’ve decided to costume the Supergirls thusly:

-Karen, of course, wears the Power Girl costume. -Cir-El has a distinct costume already. -Linda is rocking the DCSHG look.* -Iara has her S:TAS look.* -I wanna say Nara's wearing one of the Bronze Age-era outfits, but they might be too '70s to really work? -Mae is wearing a somewhat sexier version of the classic look (I'm imagining she's the second-most vavavoom-y of the Supergirls after Karen). -Zara I is wearing the second TV show suit with the pants. -Zara II (Tara?) is wearing the Jim Lee cheerleader outfit. Note: despite both being a miniskirt and bellyshirt, her outfit is notably skimpier than Iara's, with a shorter, lower slung skirt, and a tighter top with...what's the right way of saying there's less of it? This is her deliberately distinguishing herself from her older duplicate's more modest look. *May switch these, IDK.