#The lois lane entry

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

I did watch the finale btw. Here's my personal ranking for the season from best to worst.

1: Hearts of the Fathers

2: You Will Believe A Man Can Lie

3: Zero Day Part 2

4: Zero Day Part 1

5: Let's Go to Ivo Tower, You Say

6: Adventures of a Norman Man Part 2

7: My Interview With Superman

8: Adventures of a Norman Man Part 1

9: My Adventures With Mad Science

10: Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal

[lainiespicewrites]

Professor Superman

A/N okay this one's a one-shot I've been working on. I'm kinda nervous because I've never written for Clark. Let me know what you think!!

Summary: Reader is a student of Clarks who gets an internship at the Daily Planet. Clark is proud but his feelings take a turn when he realizes Lois is taking her to Gotham for research. He wants to protect her at all costs.

Warnings: Cursing, attempted kidnapping, smut, oral (female receiving) praise kink, Sex P n V, Unprotected sex, Creampie.

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I stared blankly for a moment, at the door in front of me. My heart was racing as I tried to will my hand to move. I only had to ask a simple question. Yet, I can not bring myself to know on the door. If I didn’t do this. I would likely fail the assignment and the internship. But the man was so smart and intense. I was too intimidated by him. What if I could not speak and only caused myself to look like a fool? I’d surely lose the internship then. 

I took a deep breath looking down at the paper in my hand. I had to do this. This is important. I looked back at the closed office door in front of me. Tentatively, I reached up and tapped my knuckles lightly against the wood. 

“Come in,” A gentle male voice answered my knock. With a shaky breath, I forced a smile on my face and grabbed the handle opening the door. His eyes shifted from his computer as I took a step into his office. A warm smile spread across his face once he recognized me. 

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Kent, I’ve finished my paper and I just wanted to ask if you could look over my revisions?” My voice came out quieter than I’d planned. I often had that problem when speaking to him.

“It’s no bother at all, I’ve been expecting you to drop by. Take a seat, I’d be happy to look it over.” He offered, gesturing to the chair in front of him. Professor Kent teaches a Journalism class at the university. He also works full-time for the Daily Planet paper. He’s incredibly intelligent. Each year he considers a few of his students for an internship with the newspaper. But only one of us could earn that position. I really want it. And currently, I’m one of his top candidates. 

I took a seat across from him trying to calm my nerves as I extended the paper out to him. He met my eyes. “You know, Journalism is more than just writing, and telling a captivating story. It’s about doing things that scare you, doing things that make you uncomfortable to chase down what you want to find.” He looked down at my shaky fingers as he slid the paper from my grip. 

“I understand that you’re nervous. But you have no reason to be. You continue to surprise me with just how far you’ll go with each assignment you turn in. If I were to make the final decision…” He paused looking up to make sure the door was closed, so no one would hear. “The internship would be yours,” he smiled. I blushed. 

“Thank you, Professor Kent. That means a lot.” I relaxed a bit as he leaned forward in his chair and started to read through my article. This article is my final piece. And it’s what will be submitted to the Daily Planet as my entry for the internship. I bit my lip awkwardly, trying desperately not to stare at his face as he read. His fingers tapped on the table as he looked up from the desk. 

“Y/n, This is incredible.” He smiled. My cheeks flushed staring down at my hands in my lap. 

“You don’t have to say that,” I stuttered. 

“I don’t,” He agreed, “But it’s true. I’ve only been teaching on campus for about 5 years but I’ve never had a student as dedicated as you. I’m impressed. I think Ms. Lane will be too.” I nodded, giving him a shy smile. “Are you ready to turn this in?” He asked. I nodded letting out a deep breath.

“Yeah, yes. I think so.” I said. He let out a chuckle. 

“Don’t be nervous. It’s great. I’ll take this in, first thing tomorrow.”  He gave me a gentle smile. 

“Thank you, So much. Professor Kent. I appreciate all you help!” I said as I stood to leave his office. 

“Of course,” he paused. His eyes scanned me for a moment. But I was buzzing with too much nervous energy to notice the way they lingered. “And please call me Clark, I have a feeling we’ll be working together before long.” He winked. My heart pounded in my chest and I felt my cheeks heat up.

“Thank you…Clark.” I smiled. He gave me an approving nod before I turned and left his office. 

The next week was agony.  We had two more classes with Professor….Clark, each time I stayed behind to ask if he’d heard anything. And each time he would give me a sympathetic smile and tell me to “hang in there,” just a little while longer. I should hear soon. He assured me that I was a good writer and that I shouldn’t get discouraged. But I couldn’t help it. Now it was almost 5 pm on Friday, surely if they didn’t call soon I wouldn’t know anything until Monday. 

I paced my apartment phone in hand begging it to ring. But when I checked the time at 5:30 and still, nothing. I gave up. I let out a deep sigh, setting my phone down walking to the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. I set the glass on the counter and popped the cork. I filled the glass and almost dropped the bottle. My phone was ringing. I quickly set the bottle down and ran to the living room picking up the phone. I didn’t even check the number before I answered. 

“Hello?” I answered almost out of breath.

“Hello, is this Y/n?” a female voice asked. I nodded but then remembered I was on the phone and quickly found my voice. 

“Yes, Ma’am, it is,” I answered her. She didn’t miss a beat. 

“Great, This is Lois Lane, with the Daily Planet. I understand this is a bit late on a Friday evening but do you have time to meet with me at the office tonight?” my mind raced trying to find the right words.

“Sure, I can be there in 15 minutes. If that’s alright?” I asked her. We agreed on the time and after I thanked her, the call ended.

I very quickly realized I was not in the proper attire for this meeting. I was in running shorts and a hoodie. I tore through my closet trying to find a pair of dress pants that would work. I found a simple white cotton top to pair them with and some flats and ran out the door. I fixed my messy bun in the apartment building's front doors before starting to walk. The Daily Planet’s main office was only a few blocks away.  I got it to the building just in time and made my way inside. 

At the front desk, I introduced myself and was directed up to the 4th floor for my meeting with Lois. I stepped on the elevator and pushed the button for my floor.  I was starting to shake from the nerves. When the doors opened I was met with a familiar face. Standing at a desk a few feet away Clark was standing talking to a woman with auburn hair and kind eyes. They both looked up when the elevator sounded. 

“Y/n,” He smiled. “I’m glad you could make it.” I smiled at him and the woman stood and turned to greet me. 

“Miss Y/n, I’m Lois Lane. It’s nice to meet you.” she offered a kind smile. I shook her hand and she gestured for me to sit with her at her desk. “As you’re aware you and others from Mr. Kent's journalism course at the university have been under review for an internship with the Daily Planet. I would have just called but Clark insisted for you to come into the office.” She chuckled softly. 

I looked up at Clark nervously, he squeezed my shoulder reassuring me. “Y/n,” Lois continued. “The Daily Planet would like to officially offer you the internship starting next week.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. 

“Thank you, Ms. Lane, I accept that offer. When do I start?” I asked, eagerly. She chuckled softly. 

“I’ll send you an email with all of the details on Monday. You should be able to start with us on Tuesday.” I nodded.  

“Thank you again,” I said. She nodded, giving me a smile. 

“Of course. We’re excited to work with you,” she stood and started to gather her things. “I apologize, I’m not trying to rush you out of here. I’ve got a date this evening I don’t want to be late for. Clark, can you walk her out?” Clark nodded waving to Lois as she already started to head toward the elevator. 

“Of course, I can, sorry for keeping you Lo, have fun tonight.”He winked. Lois rolled her eyes at him.

“Forever the gentleman,” she laughed, “ I’ll see you next week,” she said as the elevator doors closed behind her. 

“I told you we’d be working together soon!” Clark chuckled. I turned to face him but I couldn’t find the words. Without thinking I wrapped my arms around his middle hugging him. He was a bit surprised at first but he returned the hug. 

“Thank you,” I said softly. Remembering myself I pulled away quickly, my face flushed and embarrassed. “I-I’m so sorry, that was incredibly unprofessional. I-” Clark cut off my rambling. 

“It’s alright. You earned this. And you’re going to do amazing things here, I’m sure.” He squeezed my shoulder encouragingly. “Let me walk you out.” I nodded and waited while he got his jacket off of his desk chair. We rode down in the elevator together and walked out through the main lobby. “Where’d you park?” He asked, offering to walk me to my car. 

“Oh, um, I walked actually, I live close by,” I told him. Clark looked out the front doors and watched as rain was coming down outside. He frowned. 

“Could I give you a ride? Call me old school but I certainly can’t let you walk home in this rain.” 

I hesitated for a second. He looked back out at the rain and back to me, his eyes full of sincerity. 

“Uh, I mean, it’s really not far,” I argued. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. Just that my head was starting to get kindness and flirtation confused. I already embarrassed myself once with him today.

“It’s pouring rain, Y/n, it's no trouble I promise.” He countered. I gazed back outside. He was right, it had started to pour. I would be soaked just stepping out into it. Let alone walking all the way home. I looked back to Clark and nodded. 

“Okay,” I spoke softly. I watched as Clark pushed the door open and then opened up his umbrella. Of course, he was prepared. I look even more foolish now. 

“Come on,” He smiled. “There’s enough space for both of us under here.” He chuckled. He walked us out to his car and opened my door for me holding the umbrella while I got in so I wouldn’t get wet. 

It was quiet for a moment while he started the car. I had to remind myself again that just because a man is being nice doesn’t mean he’s interested. I looked over at him, his head turned back as he pulled out of the parking spot. I don’t know when I’d developed this little crush on him but it had to stop now. God, he was handsome though. His jaw was sharp, but his eyes were a soft but intense blue. His curls were dark and I found I desperately wanted to know what it felt like to drag my fingers through them. I shook my head. No, he’s my professor. He’s at least 15 years older than me. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. He surely didn’t see me that way. And we work together now. I have to be professional.

I pushed down my thoughts and focused, directing Clark to my apartment building. He paused abruptly when I pointed out the parking lot. He crooked an eyebrow his face completely surprised. 

“No, this is it? Really?” He asked.

“Uh… yeah” I answered hesitantly. Clark let out an awkward chuckle. 

“I’m sorry, It’s just funny. I live in the building too. I’m on the 5th floor.” He said. My brows raised completely shocked. 

“I’m on 3.” I stuttered. 

“I can’t believe we’ve never run into each other.” He laughed dumbfounded. We got out of the car. Clark met me with the umbrella. We took the elevator up together. 

“Have a great evening,” He started “I’ll see you next week,” He smiled. I blushed softly. 

“You too Clark,” I said as the elevator opened to my floor. 

“Oh and if you ever need a ride to work, Just let me know,” he winked. I giggled softly and waved as the doors closed. 

I’m royally fucked. 

I started with the Daily Planet the following Tuesday. I expected that they would have me refill copy machines or make coffee or file documents in the archives. I was shocked when I was given an assignment. It wasn’t in the field. It wasn’t going to be printed. But they told me if I wanted to eventually work for the planet then seeing how I handled personal assignments was key. It was due to Lois at the end of the week. Only 4 days to do research and write the article. I sat at my desk and poured over everything I could get my hands on. It felt a little lonely. My desk was farther away from the main writers and it was a bit smaller. But it would do. Clark and sometimes a few of the others would offer me to join them for lunch during the week but I usually skipped it. This was important. If I wanted to earn respect and make myself a place around here this had to be good. 

On Friday I was once again working at my desk, typing like mad trying to finish and edit my article. 

“You don’t have to work yourself so hard. You’ve already earned your spot you know?” Clark's voice said from somewhere next to me. 

“How many of your students have been hired on at the Planet after the internship Mr Kent?” I asked. He started to protest the question. Then he let out a deep sigh leaning against my desk. 

“Two,” He answered honestly. 

“I may have the internship, but I haven’t earned my place here.I have your respect but I have to earn it with the others,” I replied. He nodded, his eyes connecting with mine.

“Can you at least break for lunch?” He pleaded. 

“I’m going to eat at my desk. I’m almost finished. And this has to be done and on Lois’ desk by 2 pm. She leaves early today.” His eyes were sad but I knew he understood.  

I finished the article. I waited nervously at my desk waiting for Lois to call me over. 

“This is good,” she said when she finally did. “You have work to do,  I want to see how your research improves when you're out on the field. But for just starting, this is great.” She added. I nodded waiting for more. I knew she wasn’t finished. 

“Next week you’ll be coming with me, I’m doing expose research in Gotham, I want you to come to observe and take notes,” she stated. I nodded again. 

“I’ll be there, Thank…”

“Lois, Gotham’s dangerous you can’t take her with you.” Clark interrupted. Lois peered up at him over my shoulder. 

“Clark,” She sighed. “All due respect. You’ve taught her all you can in the classroom. But I’m her teacher now. And the best way to learn research is out in the field hands-on.” She retorted. 

“I’ll be with Lois, I’ll be okay,” I assured him. He wasn’t having it. 

“She won’t learn anything if she gets hurt. The crime rate in Gotham has skyrocketed it isn’t worth the risk. Does Perry know about this?” He asked. Lois scoffed. 

“As a matter of fact, he does. He’s already approved it.” she told him I don’t know what came over me. If I was angry that he was trying to stop me from going when this was my chance to earn my way in. Or if I was angry he thought I was weak. 

“And, I can take care of myself! I don’t need you hovering like I’m so fragile! You may have taught me but I got myself this far, Mr. Kent. We’ll be just fine.” I snapped. Clark stared dumbfounded. His mouth hung open, he was at a loss for words. Actually, everyone was staring. 

“Shows over,” Lois spoke loudly “You can all get back to work,”  she announced. I looked back at her apologetically. 

“Lois, I..” Clark started. She quickly cut him off. 

“Clark, I have to leave, I don’t have time for this. It’s settled she’s going,” She looked back at me, her eyes softer and sympathetic. “I’m out for the day, and you’ve finished your work, If you’d like to go now your welcome, I’ll see you Monday,”  she smiled. I nodded at her giving her a nervous smile. She turned then and walked out. 

“Y/N, please think about this. I don’t want you to get…”  He started. 

“I’m going to go, as well, Mr. Kent… I’ll see you next week.” I stood and walked to my desk grabbing my things. I walked past him to the elevator without another word.

Monday morning I was in the office early. Lois and I met at the office so she could debrief me before we left. She was interviewing with billionaire Bruce Wayne. He had connections all over Gotham, she wanted intel on any possible underground organized crime. I’ll admit it certainly was intense for my first time in the field. But it would be great practice. 

The city of Gotham was not nearly as wicked as Clark made it out to be. Mr. Wayne was amicable. He didn’t want to be there but he respected us so much as we respected him. The next few days we went back. We checked out some of the sources that Bruce had given. We got closer and closer to what she was looking for. Someone was definitely covering up organized crime in Gotham.  

Late Thursday night we were headed back to the car. It was almost 9:30 way past office hours at this point. But as Lois informed me. Good stories don’t live within the time clock. We were about to drive back and head home for the evening. We were only a few blocks away. I heard Lois scream from behind me. I turned back to look and felt myself being pulled backward. Someone had ahold of my arms dragging me off the sidewalk. 

“Let me go!” I demanded. Struggling in the stranger's grip. “Lois!” I called. 

“Shut up, what the hell are you bitches doing here?” a male voice asked. I heard Lois cry for help. I continued to struggle. 

“I’m not telling you anything. Let go of me. Someone HELP.” I screamed. Unable to break loose from the man’s hold. 

“Listen bitch! I told you to…Ungh”  The man grunted he fell back suddenly my arms slipping from his grip. I looked up my eyes going wide. Superman. He’d heard our screams. 

I watched as he took care of Lois’ attacker breaking her free. He spoke softly to her. His face looked almost…stern. She looked at him her eyes deeply apologetic. I couldn't hear what was being said. He patted her shoulder giving her a soft smile after she assured him she was okay. That I did here. 

“And you, are you okay?” He was on his feet now. He landed right in front of me. My eyes met his. They looked so familiar. I nodded. 

“You… saved me. I.. I don’t know how to thank you.” I stuttered. He smiled 

“It’s what I do. I’m just thankful I made it before you were hurt. Now please get home safe.” He added. I nodded still in shock. I felt Lois squeeze my shoulder and we walked back to the car. Superman hovered close watching to make sure we made it. Once we were inside he flew off. 

“Do you… know him?” I asked Lois suddenly. She paused looking at me. 

“We’ve met before. This job can be, dangerous at times. Can you handle that?” She asked. I thought for a moment. Could I? I couldn’t get myself out of this situation. But I didn’t back down either. Finally, I nodded. 

“Yes, I can,” I answered. 

“Good, now let's get home. We both could use some rest.” 

In the office the next day I was typing notes for Lois. I was back and forth at her desk all day. At one point I paused looking over at Clark. He looked exhausted. And stressed. He looked slightly disheveled. He was aggressively tapping at the keys on his keyboard. 

I approached him slowly. 

“Hey, are you alright, you look tired I can get you some coffee if you’d like,” I offered. He shook his head not looking away from his computer. 

“I’m fine Y/n, thank you.” he dismissed me. 

“Oh.. okay, if you need anything let me know,” I added before walking away. Normally I skipped lunch but I had time that day. I walked over to ask Clark to come with me. Again he dismissed me. I felt bad for the way I had treated him last week. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay between us. I stayed late that night typing up notes for Lois. When I shut down my computer, I noticed Clark was the only one still in the office. 

“Clark,” I spoke softly “It’s 5:30  do you need help?” I asked. He shut down his computer then.

“No, I’m just heading out now. Thank you for the offer.” He mumbled. I nodded. I turned and walked to the elevator. I rode down by myself to the first floor letting Clark cool off. If he didn’t want to talk I would give him his space. I walked out through the lobby pausing just inside the doors. Shit. It was raining again. I decided to walk this morning. It wasn’t supposed to rain. I heard the elevator ding and I groaned to myself seeing Clark exit. I gnawed at my lip anxiously, Praying the rain would suddenly let up.

“Hey,” I hear Clark's voice behind me. “Need a ride?” he asked nodding toward the door. 

“Uh… yeah, I walked this morning. Didn’t bring my umbrella. It wasn’t supposed to rain today.”  I answered awkwardly.  Clark opened the door opening his umbrella and just like the first time he took me home, we walked close sharing the protection from the rain. 

The ride home was quiet it was only a few blocks away. But when Clark pulled into the parking lot I could no longer take the silence. 

“Clark. What’s wrong?” I asked. He shook his head. “Don’t, don’t brush me off, what’s bothering you?” He got out of the car, slammed his door shut, and headed inside. I got out quickly running after him the rain immediately soaking me.  “Hey, I was talking to you!” I shouted. 

“Y/n STOP!” He turned around quickly the volume of his voice causing me to shrink back a little. “You wanna know what's bothering me? You. You, putting yourself in harm's way. You, trying so hard to prove yourself that you're being reckless. You almost got hurt because you had to make a point. You, because I can’t stop fucking thinking about you! And I’ve lost sleep all week worrying about your safety.” He stepped closer we were standing in the middle of the parking lot. “Because I couldn't bear the thought of someone even touching you.” my heart was racing his face was inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face. “I don’t wanna see any bruises on this pretty face.” My breath hitched. 

“Clark,” I whispered. He grabbed my face crashing his lips to mine. I melted against him. The rain still fell hard around us. 

“Your so damn stubborn,” He mumbled between kisses. I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer. 

“I’m sorry,” I said, breathless as I chased his lips for another kiss. He let out a breathy laugh. 

“Don’t be. You’re doing amazing. I knew you would be. Just be more careful.” I nodded. He took my hand pulling me inside. He pressed the elevator button frantically. I giggled. 

“Clark that’s not gonna make it get here any faster.” He chuckled. 

“Damn elevators.” Once inside he pushed the button for his floor and backed me up against the wall. His lips were back on mine, kissing me roughly. “Wanted this for so long.” He groaned. Kissing down my neck. The elevator doors opened. He took my hand again leading me to his apartment. 

He quickly unlocked the door and I followed him inside. I bit my lip waiting for him to make a move. I felt so shy all of a sudden. I wanted this but I was nervous. Clark lifted my chin so my eyes met his. 

“Stop me. If this isn’t what you want stop me, sweetheart. I don’t want to hurt you.” I shook my head. 

“I want you Clark,” I whispered. His lips were on mine again. Sweeter this time. More slow. He felt his hand move down my neck and over my chest softly squeezing my breast. I moaned leaning into the touch. “Clark please,” I whined. He stepped back peeling off his wet shirt. I did the same. We left a trail of wet clothes all the way to the bedroom. Clark laid me down on the bed crawling between my thighs. Kissing them softly. 

“So beautiful.” He groaned before swiping his tongue between my folds. I gasped. He circled my clit with his tongue and then back down dipping it inside me. His groan was feral. 

“Fuck.” I moaned. He worked his tongue in and out of me while I worked my hips against his face. I tangled my fingers in his curls holding him close. His nose rubbed against my clit has he fucked me with his tongue. “m’  gonna.”  I moaned as I came on his tongue. He lapped it all up before pulling away. 

“So good sweetheart.” He kissed up my body, kissing my lips and letting me taste myself. Finally he settled between legs pushing inside of me slowly. He let out a low moan. 

“ So big,” I whimpered. He brushed my hair out of my face kissing me softly. 

“Doing so good for me sweetheart. Almost all the way in. You can take it all baby.” He moaned. With one last push he was fully seated inside me. “You feel amazing baby. Taking me so well.” He cooed letting me adjust. 

“Clark please.” I whined. Begging him to move. He pulled out slowly, until just the tip was inside me and then plunged back in. I let out a loud moan. 

“Feel good sweetheart?” He asked. I nodded. 

“So good, Clark, Fuck, I moaned as he started to thrust into me at a steady pace. He grabbed my hand pinning it to the mattress. He picked up his pace. I felt the knot build in my stomach. 

“You’re getting close aren’t you baby?” he asked. I nodded. Letting out a strangled moan. 

“Please.” I begged. 

“So polite.” he groaned. He pressed his thumb to my clit as he fucked me rubbing in circles. I felt my toes curl and I came hard squeezing him as he fucked me through my orgasm. “Thats it sweetheart. Fuck. Gonna make me. Ungh.” He groaned cumming inside me. We were both breathless laying there for a moment. Clark pulled out slowly. And pulled me into him.

“You okay?” He smiled kissing my cheek. I nodded. 

“Mhmm” I mumbled dreamily. Clark got up and came back with a cloth to clean us both up. Then got back into bed holding me close. 

“Clark?” I asked softly. 

“Hmm?” he hummed. 

“Were you ever gonna tell me… or were you just gonna let me figure it out?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“Because no one else knows what happened in Gotham Superman,”  I smirked turning in his arms. 

“How did you…?” He asked. 

“I’ve had a crush on you for a while. I’d know your eyes anywhere.” I said blushing. 

“Hmm,” he chuckled. “You have a crush on me?” He asked. 

“Shut up,” I rolled my eyes.

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[dorothylarouge]

Dorothy's Big List of Comic Book Recs - DC Comics Edition

I often get asks about getting into comic books, and how daunting it seems, given the huge back catalog of titles and issues available. I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be scary! From miniseries that act as good introductions to characters to runs on ongoing titles by individual creators that serve on jumping-on points, there's lots of ways to get into comics without having to have a lot of background knowledge, and I'm going to give you a lot of potential places to start. Please note that this post only covers DC Comics; Marvel and indie lists will follow! Also note that I haven't read everything, and I won't recommend something I haven't read, so a few runs or books some consider must-reads may not be on here. This is based purely on books I have read and enjoy, and that I think are suitable for new readers. I'm also not including books from the Milestone and Wildstorm imprints as they're kind of a separate sphere to me, although some Vertigo books may be included.

SUPERMAN

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely: This is the book that made me a Superman fan. It is an out-of-continuity celebration of Superman and his world, and an exploration of why Superman as a character has endured for nearly a century.

Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale: A gorgeously-illustrated and Americana-flavored recounting of Superman's early years in Metropolis, anchored narratively by the changing of the seasons.

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Lenil Francis Yu: For my money, the definitive origin story for Superman. Great characterization of the entire supporting cast, including Lex Luthor, make this a perfect entry point into the character and his world.

Action Comics (1939) and Superman (1939) by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster: The earliest Superman stories are still really great, and have a populist edge that many later stories sanded down. They're pulpy and fun and I recommend them!

Action Comics (2011) by Grant Morrison: This run spans issues 1-18, plus a special issue 0, of the series launched as part of DC's mostly-failed 2011 reboot, and covers Superman's early years in this continuity. The early issues bring back some of the edge that was present in the Golden Age comics, and the rest of the run is solid stuff as well. Morrison always comes highly recommended.

Superman: Red and Blue: An athology series that focuses on a broad sampling of Superman's world and supporting cast, written and drawn by various creators.

Action Comics (1939) by Geoff Johns: Specifically, I would say that issues 855 to 870 are a good span to be checking out for Geoff Johns' run on the book. These include some great stories focusing on classic Superman villains such as Bizarro, Toyman, and Brainiac.

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Guruhiru: An adaptation of a classic Superman radio story set in the 1940s and focusing on Superman's place as an immigration narrative. And Superman gets to rough up some Klansmen!

Man and Superman by Marv Wolfman and Claudio Castellini: Another story of Superman's early years, this one focusing on his struggles to adapt to life in the big city after moving from Smallville, as well as his first encounters with Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.

Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert: A lovely self-contained story which demonstrates just how far Superman will go to save a single life.

Superman (1939) by Elliot S! Maggin: This mammoth run spans issues 247 to 400 of the classic title, and includes some fantastic stories such as "Must There Be a Superman?" (issue 247), "The Greatest Green Lantern of All" (issue 257), and "The Living Legends of Superman" (issue 400)

Superman (1939), Adventure Comics (1938) and Action Comics (1939) by Mort Weisinger: This run spans a lot of the Silver Age era of Superman, including Action Comics #241-392, Superman #120-231, and Adventure Comics #247-396. It's a lot of issues, but in those days you can mostly read them in any order since they're pretty self-contained. This run includes a lot of classic villains and stories, as well as the earliest adventures of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bliquis Evely: A spacefaring take on a True Grit-style western with gorgeous art, and a definitive story for the Girl of Steel.

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen (2019) by Matt Fraction and Steve Liber: a madcap romp and a delightful sendup of Silver Age weirdness.

BATMAN

Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale: Another Loeb/Sale joint, focusing on Batman's earlier years and the transition of Gotham's underworld from the mob to a coterie of costumed kooks.

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean: An examination of the facility housing Batman's rogues, and what those rogues symbolize in his world.

Batman (1940) by Dennis O'Neil: This is a classic run which re-established a dark tone for the Dark Knight which has endured to this day. The run spans Batman #224-268, along with a handful of issues of Detective Comics. Among the major developments of this run are the introduction of Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia.

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, and Jim Aparo: The definitive story about why Batman needs Robin. Read it in trade since the story spans both the Batman and New Titans titles.

Batman by Grant Morrison: I'm hesitant to include this because it delves so deep into Batman lore, but it really is essential reading, introducing Damian Wayne along with other concepts. Please do disregard Morrison's frankly appalling characterization of Talia. Read in omnibus format as the run spans multiple titles.

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland: It's cliche at this point but the story still is fantastic and one of the best Joker stories ever written.

Batman: No Man's Land: An epic storyline across many titles dealing with Gotham being cut off from the US after a massive earthquake and Batman's efforts to keep the peace in an abandoned city. Read in trade format.

Batman (2011) by Scott Snyder: This run spans issues 1 through 51 of the New 52 relaunch, and introduces concepts such as the Court of Owls. It's a fun run, including a brief period where Jim Gordon acts as Batman.

Batwoman (2011) by J.H. Williams III and W. Hayden Blackman: A gorgeously-illustrated book about Batman's cousin and her adventures as the Batwoman. Worth reading for the art alone.

Nightwing (1996) by Chuck Dixon: Dixon's a tool but this is still the definitive Nightwing run. This run includes volume 1 of Nightwing, a 4-issue mini, as well as issues 1-70 of volume 2, which establishes Dick's home base of Bludhaven as well as his rogues' gallery.

Detective Comics (1937) by Paul Dini: This run spans issues 821 to 852, and features some great stories by one of the great Batman writers and a co-creator of the classic animated series.

Robin (2021) by Joshua Williamson: A great run that helps to flesh out Damian Wayne's place in the DC Universe.

The Boy Wonder by Juni Ba: A great story with gorgeous art that focuses on Damian Wayne and his relationships with the other members of the Batman Family.

Batgirl (2000): The first series to focus on a Batgirl, specifically Cassandra Cain, the best Batgirl, as she struggles to adapt to life after an abusive childhood being raised as an assassin.

WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman (2006) by Gail Simone: Simone's run is the longest that a woman has ever written comics' premiere female superhero, and it's just good comic book fun. The run spans issues 14 to 44.

Wonder Woman (1987) by Phil Jimenez: Jimenez's childhood love of Wonder Woman shines through in his run, which placed a renewed focus on Diana's supporting cast and especially her family. The run spans issues 164 to 188.

Wonder Woman (1942) and Sensation Comics (1942) by William Moulton Marston: Wonder Woman's creator laid down the basics of the character and her world, and those early Golden Age stories are still a great read. They're fun, engaging - and more than a little kinky with hindsight.

Wonder Woman (1987) by Greg Rucka: In the early 21st century, Greg Rucka was The Guy for writing female superheroes, and his run on Wonder Woman is great. It features Diana becoming an ambassador, writing a book, fighting Medusa, and matching wits with Veronica Cale, her own Lex Luthor. The run spans 196-226. I must also mention Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, also by Rucka, which is a Greek tragedy where Diana finds herself torn between duty and justice.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick: A beautifully-illustrated story of the Amazons and the Greek goddesses, which lays the foundations for Wonder Woman's world.

Wonder Woman (1987) by George Perez: This run reintroduced Diana after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the first 25 issues feature Perez's simply-unmatched artwork. The whole run spans the first 62 issues of the book, and serves as a blueprint for most subsequent takes on the character.

THE FLASH

Flash Comics (1940) and All-Flash (1941): The Golden Age Flash and his early stories by his creator Gardner Fox. Must-read if you're interested in Jay Garrick, the first Flash.

Showcase #4, 8, and 13, and The Flash (1959): The Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, made his debut and early adventures here. Much of the art is by the great Carmine Infantino, and Gardner Fox returned to write some stories. The whole concept of the multiverse debuted in this run.

The Flash (1987) by Mark Waid (as well as Grant Morrison and Mark Millar): This run starts in issue 62 and lasts until 162, with a brief run by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar towards the end. This run is the definitive Flash run, focusing on Barry Allen's protege Wally West maturing in the role of the Flash and establishing himself as the true fastest man alive.

The Flash (1987) by Geoff Johns: This run spans issues 164 to 225, and refocuses the Flash's traditional rogues' gallery, offering modern origins for many of them, while also introducing new foes like Girder, Blacksmith, and a new Reverse-Flash.

The Flash (2016) by Joshua Williamson: This run spans issues 1-88, as well as 750 to 762 of the relaunched volume 1 of the book. I hate the recentering of Barry Allen from 2009 to 2019, but Williamson's run is the most tolerable, and serves as a love letter to the Flash, while also setting the stage for Wally to return as the primary holder of the mantle.

The Flash (2023) by Simon Spurrier: The current run of the Flash, it focuses on Wally as the main Flash and the Flash Family as an ensemble. The extended first arc features a threat to time itself, and goes into some really surreal and experimental territory for a Flash book.

Impulse (1995) by Mark Waid, et al.: A more lighthearted and comedic companion book to Waid's run on Flash, this book focuses on Bart Allen, Barry's grandson, who was raised in the future and has the attention span of a goldfish, as well as his relationship with the zen guru of speed, Max Mercury.

GREEN LANTERN

The Green Lantern (2018) by Grant Morrison: A police procedural starring Hal Jordan that gets into some pretty freaky territory, with gorgeous interiors by Liam Sharp.

Green Lanterns (2016) by Sam Humphries: A buddy cop type title focusing on the team of Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Humphries' run spans the first 32 issues of the book.

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell: A murder mystery in space which establishes a new Green Lantern, Jo Mullein. Super easy to get ahold of since it was rereleased as part of DC's Compact Comics line of $9.99 trades.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow (1970) by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams: This run brought a social conscience to comics as Green Arrow was reinvented as a left-winger and a man of the 60s counterculture, joining Green Lantern on a quest across America. The run spans issues 76 to 89 of the book.

Green Lantern (1990) by Ron Marz. Marz's run starts in issue 48, and sees the Green Lantern paragon Hal Jordan descend into darkness before being replaced as defender of Earth by Kyle Rayner. The run lasts until issue 125, and as Kyle is my favorite Lantern I have a fondness for it.

Green Lantern (2005) 1-67 and (2011) 0-20 by Geoff Johns: Johns brought Hal Jordan back as the main GL, and his run expanded the world of Green Lantern by introducing the emotional spectrum. His run is the basis for most Green Lantern lore going forward, and is pretty essential reading.

Green Lantern: War Journal by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Montos: A 12-issue series featuring John Stewart as he ventures into space to fight a dark force corrupting life in the galaxy. The new definitive John Stewart run.

TEAMS AND TEAM-UPS

JLA by Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, et al.: This was a back-to-basics approach to the Justice League with a core group of characters. Morrison's run on the book is probably the best, but Waid and Kelly also bring in some good stories.

Justice League of America (2007) by Brad Meltzer and Dwayne McDuffie: Another relaunch of the time, this time with a large roster inspired by the classic 1970s era of the League. Some great stories in this run, including a crossover with the Milestone characters.

JSA (1999) by Geoff Johns, Paul Levitz: The first team in comics was relaunched in the 90s by Geoff Johns, who established the Justice Society as a family first, later bringing in the Marvel Family for some great stories fleshing out Black Adam's character.

Justice Society of America (2007) by Geoff Johns: Johns' second run on the JSA is a continuation of the first, with a focus on legacy and new heroes reclaiming the mantles of Golden Age heroes. Introduces the delightful Maxine Hunkel as the wind-powered Cyclone.

New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez: Lightning in a bottle. This book likely saved DC after the disastrous DC Implosion. The best Titans run of all time, quality of art and writing that has never been recaptured with this team. If you loved the cartoon as a kid you will love this book.

Young Justice by Peter David and Todd Nauck: For all intents and purposes, the Teen Titans for the 90s generation. Funny, heartfelt, with great cartoony art by Nauck.

Doom Patrol (1987) by Grant Morrison, Rachel Pollack: A truly, wonderfully weird tale of the most off-beat superheroes of all, with themes of identity, life, and art woven throughout.

The Terrifics by Jeff Lemire, Gene Luen Yang: At a time when Marvel was treating the Fantastic Four like dirt, DC put out their own version, which captures the wonderous adventure of a Silver Age science fiction book with some great character work from a great core cast. A thoroughly underrated title.

Suicide Squad (1987) by John Ostrander: An often darkly-humorous book about a team of second-string supervillains coerced into doing the government's dirty work. The definitive Suicide Squad run.

Villains United (2005), Secret Six (2006), and Secret Six (2008) by Gail Simone: A group of supervillains forced together by circumstance and find themselves working together as mercenaries. A real found family of freaks type of situation.

Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen: This run spans issues 282 to 313 of the 1980 book, and 1 to 63 of the 1984 book. Includes some of the greatest Legion stories, including the Great Darkness Saga.

Birds of Prey (1999) by Gail Simone: This run covers issues 56 to 108, and focuses on female heroes kicking ass, basically Charlie's Angels with superheroes.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest by Mark Waid and Dan Mora: A team-up book between Batman, Superman, and the DC Universe, set earlier in their careers.

Justice League International (1987) by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire: As much a workplace comedy as a superhero book, this is a very different take on the Justice League, from the time when "bwa-ha-ha" ruled the DCU.

THE FOURTH WORLD

The Fourth World Epic by Jack Kirby: Read in omnibus or trade format. The first stories of the Fourth World from the King of Comics, Jack Kirby. The story spans Kirby's run on Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, The New Gods, The Forever People, and Mister Miracle, and ends in The Hunger Dogs.

Orion (2000) by Walt Simonson: A follow-up to Jack Kirby's epic, this book focuses on Orion, the son of Darkseid, and his quest to vanquish his father once and for all.

Bug! the Adventures of Forager by Lee Allred and Mike Allred: With Mike Allred's striking artwork, this book serves as a love letter to Kirby's time at DC Comics.

Mister Miracle (2017) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads: A slightly-psychedelic take on the Fourth World, focusing on Scott Free and his family with the backdrop of a bloody war unfolding between New Genesis and Apokolips

New Gods (1989) by Mark Evanier: This was a return to form for the New Gods, who hadn't had a lot of new stories to themselves since Kirby left DC, and it's a great read.

AND THE REST

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (1987) and Green Arrow (1988) issues 1-80, by Mike Grell: Probably the definitive Green Arrow run. Political, edgy, and mature.

Animal Man (1988) by Grant Morrison: A fun and surreal series of adventures featuring one of the DCU's unsung heroes.

Booster Gold (1986) by Dan Jurgens: A Reagan-era story of a money-obsessed celebrity superhero rediscovering the altruistic spirit of a true hero buried deep within him.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodriguez: A quest through the realms of magic as a reluctant witch gets caught in the crossfire of a mystical war.

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (1983, 1985, and 1987): For fans of magical girls and sword and sorcery, this is a must-read. A girl from Earth discovers she is the princess of a mystical realm and embarks on a quest to save it.

The Question (1987) by Dennis O'Neil: A grounded, philosophical story of a man trying his best to make things better in a city abandoned to corruption and decay.

Monkey Prince by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang: Drawing on Chinese mythology, this book focuses on an unlikely superhero with connections to the monkey king, Sun Wukong.

Blue Beetle (2006) by John Rogers and Keith Giffen: Giffen leaves after issue 10, but Rogers continues until issue 25, and the rest of the volume is pretty decent as well. It establishes Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle, and if the cards had been better he could have easily become DC's answer to Spider-Man. Ah, well. It's always nice when he gets a book, and this is probably the best one.

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor: a YA graphic novel featuring a transgender alien princess. What's not to like?

Hawkworld (1989 and 1990): A science fiction epic of Thanagar, world of the hawks. A great read on its own, but it unfortunately did a lot of damage to the continuity of the Hawkman family of characters.

Hawkgirl (2023) by Jadzia Axelrod and Amancay Nahuelpan: A fun little miniseries focusing on Kendra Saunders moving to Metropolis and having to deal with the trauma and hardship of her past. Guest starring Galaxy from that other book!

Starman (1994) by James Robinson: A grungy, Gen X book about legacy and what we leave behind, with plenty of hooks for the new reader to investigate regarding the Golden Age superheroes.

The Power of Shazam! by Jerry Ordway: The post-Crisis take on Captain Marvel and the Marvel family. A great read, and the last great run for the classic versions of these characters.

Sandman (1989) by Neil Gaiman. Obligatory Neil Gaiman is a piece of shit out of the way, his Sandman book is a beautiful and at times horrifying read, and its importance as a story manages to outweigh my disdain for its creator.

Swamp Thing (1982) by Alan Moore and Steve Bissette: Moore's run begins in issue 19 and ends in issue 64. This is the definitive Swamp Thing run, which set the standard for all to follow. It's a creepy and often touching story which remains some of Moore's best work in the medium.

[ambafaerie]

Tate McGucket and Shandra Jimenez Headcanon

Tate moved to Gravity Falls to look for Fiddleford but talked first about it with his mom. The conversation was long and emotional. Emma May was very reluctant to let her son go but eventually relented and wished him luck. Tate keeps in touch via post cards and telephone calls and visits his mom during the holidays.

He was angry at Fiddleford for abandoning his family and sending a robot pterodactyl after Emma May when she divorced him, but still tries to reach out to him and jog back his memory.

Several failed memory restoration attempts with little success + Fiddleford’s increasingly embarrassing and dangerous antics considerably soured their relationship leading Tate to cut off contact, but when someone goes too far insulting Fiddleford, Tate is quick to defend his dad.

Applied to the job of lake ranger after the last one retired. He is great at managing the finances of the shop and advises people the best days to visit or avoid Lake Gravity Falls based on the weather patterns he predicts.

Hobbies: Hand making the fishing supplies he sells at the shop, reading bi monthly magazines, and styling his own hair.

Sometimes uses his ability to correctly guess the Oregon State lottery winning numbers and anonymously collects the winnings, splitting them with one half to keep the fishing shop afloat and the other going to his mom.

Shandra was born in Gravity Falls. Half Filipino - Mexican on her Dad’s side and Irish - American on her mom’s side. She was raised in a multilingual household and can still speak and write in several languages, sometimes switching from one language to another in the middle of a conversation and has a diary full of entries written in English, Tagalog, Spanish, and Gaelic.

Shandra likes to keep up with the trends and started her high school’s newspaper club but she was the only member so she covered every school event. At college, the newspaper club had only three members, so Shandra still did most of the work. She was also a member of the radio club and hosted the morning announcements.

Hobbies: Comic books, dancing, collecting scrunchies, and scrapbooking monthly magazines and newspapers. Fav comic characters are Lois Lane and Linda Park.

Very professional and passionate about journalism and so looks down on Toby because he is a gossip reporter with no real credentials.

Shandra’s first job was at the local newspaper. Her breakout story was covering one of Fiddleford’s robots he unleashed on the town which helped boost her profile in becoming a tv news reporter.

Frustrated there isn’t much that happens Gravity Falls, but Shandra remains determined to scoop out anything interesting that shakes up the town.

Has never been caught and memory erased by the Society of the Blind Eye.

Shandra and Tate met when she was covering one of Fiddleford’s latest robot attacks and tried to interview him for his opinion, but he refused.

Two weeks later they meet again at Gravity Falls Lake when Shandra was substituting for the sick weatherman and was reporting on the hail storm when the weather suddenly started cycling from rain to sun to hail.

Tate provides her and the news crew shelter in the fish shop from the dangerous weather. He informs Shandra about the weather patterns and allows himself to be interviewed for once to explain to viewers the unpredictable weather and safety precautions to take.

Once the weather subsides, Shandra asks Tate out for coffee as thanks for his help. Their conversation started off nice but nothing much until they get to the topic of hobbies. Shandra enthusiastically tells Tate random comic lore he nods his head to, raptly listening and discussing with her scientific facts, especially marine biology ones that comic writers got right, beginning an unlikely friendship.

They spend months having lunches together, scrapbooking their magazines, solving crossword puzzles, and even taking hikes along the mountains. Their relationship grows naturally but the day they realization clicks their affection for each other might be more than platonic puts them in an awkward tension. Shandra and Tate have dated other people before, but they don’t want to risk their relationship ending on bad terms, but they they really like each other so it is a conundrum. Their parents notice the moping and take them aside to give them love advice, but even though their words, especially Emma May’s, reassure them, Shandra and Tate refuse to confess, remaining oblivious to the others’s feelings.

One day, Shandra is reporting outside for Pioneer Day when one of Fiddleford’s homicidal robots runs amok through the town. Tate rushes to her rescue, and in the midst of the attack, he confesses he cares about her more than a friend, so much he is willing to throw logic out the window and rush into danger just to protect her, and Shandra shouts amidst the chaos and noise she loves him too.

The day after the robot attack, things are awkward but one look at each other’s faces and Shandra and Tate fall into a laughter which gives them the sign to start their relationship.

Although not many are aware they are dating because they are not that big on PDA.

Fiddleford is out here playing cupid for his son and he doesn’t even know it.

[dc-polls]

"That Really Happened?!" DC Comics Tournament Entry #2

Supergirl gets romanced by her horse

[ID: A comic teaser image for Action Comics Supergirl that depicts Supergirl in plain clothes being kissed by a blonde young man. She says, "Bill, my dearest! I love you!" Then she thinks, "He's the man of my dreams! Some day soon I'll have to tell him my secret identity!" Meanwhile he says, "Linda, How I've dreamed of this moment!" But he is thinking, "I wonder how she'll react when she discovers who I really am!?" Next to him is a cloud bubble of a horse with a cape.

Narration text reads, "As Supergirl's frequent companion in her adventures, Comet, The Super-Horse, has always shown deep devotion for the Maid of Steel! But one day a mystic spell works a wondrous change on the Stallion of Steel, transforming him into a mortal! And on that day loyalty and affection turn to love... the love of a man for a beautiful girl! That's just the beginning of the weird chain of events that occur on-- The Day Super-Horse Became Human!" /END ID]

[ID: A comic panel of a horse, thinking "If I were a man... If I were free to tell her of my real feelings, for a girl like that, I'd even give up all my super-powers!" /END ID]

What Happened?

A centaur gets turned into a horse, rescued by Supergirl, he stalks her until she makes him The Super-horse and then he gets the ability to turn into a human sometimes, and then starts dating Supergirl. He does not tell her he was her horse, or that he knows her secret identity. The only break-up because he became a horse again.

More info...

Supergirl's horse falls in love with her becomes a 'Real Boy' and then she dates him, he also dates Lois Lane at some point

--

Tournament polls will be posted after all entries are up. As always you can find all posts related to the tournament using #dc-polls-trh

[ghost-bxrd]

Renee Montoya and Jim Gordon as the researchers

OR

Lois Lane and Clark Kent

that's my guess based on vibes and language used in the entries

Ooo Renee would have also been a good candidate!

But right now we know the Mysterious Researcher is among the pinned list of suspects! 👁️🌊

[cantsayidont]

September 1978. Among the many missed opportunities in DC's haphazard approach to reprinting its massive back catalog is the run of "Mr. & Mrs. Superman" stories from 1978 to 1982, which kicked off with a backup strip in SUPERMAN #327 (above). Created to follow up "Superman Takes a Wife!" from ACTION COMICS #484, which showed the marriage of the Golden Age Clark Kent and Lois Lane, this short feature picked up soon after that story — the first installment has Clark and Lois moving into their new apartment together in the early 1950s. These little stories, mostly written by Nelson Bridwell (although Cary Bates, who wrote ACTION COMICS #484, wrote the first two installments), are very charming, with appealing art by Kurt Schaffenberger and some noteworthy guest-stars. "Superman Takes a Wife!" has been reprinted a number of times, but to my knowledge, the rest have not.

The "Mr. & Mrs. Superman" strip ran in the following issues:

SUPERMAN (1939) #327 and #329

THE SUPERMAN FAMILY (1974) #195–196, #198–199, and #201–222

Most installments are only seven to nine pages, so even including the 22-page "Superman Takes a Wife!" all of this material adds up to only about 280 story pages, which would fit into a reasonably sized single-volume compilation of around 300 pages with covers, title pages, and editorial matter. There are various odds and ends that could fill out a desired page count, like the table of comparisons between the Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermen from ACTION COMICS #484 and the Golden Age Superman's WHO'S WHO entry from 1986.

Given how much modern Superman stories focus on the partnership of Clark and Lois, "Mr. & Mrs. Superman" was ahead of the curve, and I think this material would appeal to a lot of the people who like SUPERMAN AND LOIS or MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN. Often, DC's approach to older reprints is driven by tie-ins with some media or merchandising project, so this seems an obvious move.

[cherryblossomforest]

I've been dealing with my mother wound which if you don't already know feels like I'm on fire. Like a constant burn. It's torture, to say the least. Lately I've had to skip songs that have no connection to her at all but it still brings my mind back to her. It's like she's contagious, and just everywhere.

I can't do much about it because she can never be in my life and a lot of us, if not all of us know this. She's not nicknamed Satan for no reason. My family and friends know she can't be in my life and they'd be greatly concerned if she was back in my life. I just feel like I'm on fire.

I thought I forgot how we felt when we left almost 10 years ago. We ran. She was at work and we got family to secretly get all our things out of her house before she can't back. The absolute terror. My dad helped and I was so scared because she hated him and I was majorly betraying her for leaving let alone for allowing him back into her house without her knowing.

That whole period is blank. No memories. The safest place was my dad's home with DB and my brother. I was 17 and so scared. When my family asked why I left I said I couldn't do it anymore and EVERYONE said they understood.

Suddenly these feelings have been coming back. I think there are only 3 entries in my journal where we talk about missing her. About the pain of losing a mother or at least the pain of accepting she was never a mother. I was always waiting to leave. I was always dreaming of running away from her. I thought everyone would be mad at me when I left but what I didn't realise is 99% of people hate my mother. Her own siblings and everything. None of them like her. Hate her even.

Yet I'm here trying not to melt into a puddle of grief wishing she knew where I lived so she could find me. There weren't many good moments with her but I learned to love the bad. I learned to accept everything and walk on each and every eggshell. I learned her like the back of my hand and I gave her everything. I put myself in thousands of pounds of debt for her. I gave and gave and gave. I laid down my entire life just for her and she was killing me. I couldn't breathe. The more space I gave the more she took and by the end I was in too deep and I couldn't get out.

My dad spent months taking me home trying to convince me that I'd be safe without her. That I would be okay. He saw all the light in my eyes drain and he didn't even know what was going on.

Maybe it's the fact that I wasn't supposed to survive my 17th birthday but I did. I didn't die and I had no plans past that. So 2 months later I left full of fear.

Anyway this song has been the song that's been screaming my mother lately.

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn? Well, that's all right because I like the way it hurts Just gonna stand there and hear me cry? Well, that's all right because I love the way you lie I love the way you lie I can't tell you what it really is I can only tell you what it feels like And right now There's a steel knife in my windpipe I can't breathe But I still fight while I can fight As long as the wrong feels right It's like I'm in flight High off her love Drunk from her hate It's like I'm huffin' paint and I love her the more I suffer I suffocate And right before I'm about to drown She resuscitates me She fuckin' hates me And I love it "Wait!" Where you going?" "I'm leaving you!" "No, you ain't! Come back!" We're runnin' right back Here we go again It's so insane 'cause when it's goin' good It's goin' great I'm Superman with the wind at his back She's Lois Lane But when it's bad It's awful I feel so ashamed I snapped Who's that dude? I don't even know his name I laid hands on her I'll never stoop so low again I guess I don't know my own strength *** Now I know we said things Did things that we didn't mean Then we fall back into the same patterns Same routine But your temper's just as bad as mine is You're the same as me When it comes to love You're just as blinded Baby, please come back It wasn't you, baby, it was me Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano All I know is I love you too much To walk away though Come inside Pick up your bags off the sidewalk Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk? Told you this is my fault Look me in the eyeball Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the drywall Next time? There will be no next time! I apologize even though I know it's lies I'm tired of the games I just want her back I know I'm a liar If she ever tries to fucking leave again I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire

[yeetus-feetus]

trying to get my previously very homophobic hardcore-christian baby brother to accept the lgbtqia+

Captains Log: First entry

So far he's become accumulated to the idea of two boys being able to have a healthy relationship through his obsession with one Damian Al Ghul Wayne.

Through giving him access to my Pinterest account for something I honestly can't remember- maybe a school thing, he discovered my DC pins and I introduced him to some really cute Damijon art. He was immediately consumed. I left him alone on my laptop and came back to more than three dozen new pins of purely Damijon fanarts.

Note: remind me to make him his own account Jfc!

From Damijon he then discovered Timkon and Superbat. It is an understatement to say he is a fan of bat×super pairings.

I exploited his new obsessions with these ships to make him angry because he's so terribly cute and hilarious when he's angry. How did I do this?

Well, I decided one day that I would break the unfortunate news to him that Jon Kent was in fact already in a relationship with one Jay Nakamura, and Tim as such with one Bernard Dowd. The following outburst from him was immeasurable!

You can imagine my surprise when he screamed at me, demanding I prove such a thing- then afterwards the amount of tears. He refused to speak to me for two while weeks, unless uping the anti on telling me how I was going to hell for being a fag. Hypocritical of him in all honesty considering he was saving pins of boys kissing quicker and more efficiently than I could complete my assignments.

Anywho, I took advantage of this. I like poking the bear, and he's a very cute bear, so I began mentioning Jay and Jon when I felt like seeing his little face get so red with anger it's possible steam might come from his ears. We quickly developed a loose script of back and forth; him getting angry and trying to explode me with his mind, me grinning at how wholeheartedly he defended his most favourite ship between two boys.

Until one day my little brother flipped that script and pulled the rug right out from underneath me and my little game. He proposed Polyamory. Of all thing, Polyamory. Not something you'd expect from the mouth of a Christian boy- especially about three boys.

How and where this primary school kid learnt about the idea of Polyamory escapes me. I have no idea, but the fact he was willing to accept it to disprove my point is almost even more hilarious than his face when he's angry.

I'm so glad, proud in honesty, that he has experienced this growth as a person, that he is accepting of Polyamory- even if it is because of something so silly. It's progress in getting him to stop condemning me and mine to hell. He is willing to accept such relationships now, and all because of my incessant teasing and taunting.

This acceptance extends to Timberkon especially, from what I can tell from the 12 pins he's added to his ever growing collection on my account. Which I am very pleased about, considering my own love for that particular ship. And also, he's realised he can ship Batman with more people than just Superman (though he still hates that I'm a Batlantern shipper).

His favourite Batman ship is now Batman, Superman and Lois Lane as a throuple. He is also open to the idea of Batman dating Talia Al Ghul and Cat Woman as well as Superman. (He is not letting go of the Superbat element, that's fine though).

And, surprisingly, it has also extended to a new show we've been watching together, with my second brother as well, called "Castlevania" on Netflix, in which he's now insisting the main three characters- Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Adrian Teppesh aka Alucard- are polyamorus and all in love with each other.

Note: we are only in the second season as of now.

Which is all excellent growth in my books!

Now my lovely friend @froggyinfear has suggested I introduce him to lesbians next, to further his acceptance of queer relationships. I intend to update you all with the details of my progress in this endeavour with this new Captain's Log.

[dailyp1anet]

BUSINESS

UNFRIENDLY COMPETITION: 2016 BUDGETS

By Lois Lane, Senior Staff Writer

PUBLISHED: 16:32, 27th March 2015 | UPDATED: 06:25, 28th March 2015

THE MAN OF TOMORROW: LexCorp's CEO, Lex Luthor. © The Daily Planet: James Olsen, Photographer.

A new report was published yesterday into the biggest companies in the country, the report highlighted the budgets proposed for each company particularly when it came to defense contracts for the next financial year in 2016. LexCorp in particular is racing ahead thanks to some high profile exposure since the original LexCorp tower was destroyed. Originally founded as an aerospace engineering firm, LexCorp has become one of the world's largest, most diversified multinational conglomerate. Under the astute - some would say, ruthless - management of its founder, Alexander (Lex) Luthor.

LexCorp is projected to become the leading private contractor for high tech defense innovation with a proposed budget of $2 billion by 2016. Kord Industries who was previously held the title was not happy with the projected budgets. Foremost in the field for over two decades; analysts predict a substantive move from LexCorp into this space would be most damaging to this multi-billion dollar, multinational defense contractor. Projected for a whopping $707 million budget.

A close second to Kord Industries is STAGG, especially in terms of investment of dollars. STAGG's myopic focus on chemistry and genetics has analysts predicting minimal fallout from a LexCorp entry. With a projected budget of $628 million. Third on the list was Queen Industries, with a significant drop off from #2. Their aloof, and often absent CEO is rumoured to be considering an exit from military defense contracts altogether. Projected to have a budget of $210 million.

Geschäft-Krieg is next on the list, following their acquisition of US-based Sheridan Dynamics, their future has looked bright for Europe's largest light bulb maker-turned heavy weapons manufacturer. Lex Luthor could certainly leave them in the dark especially with the projected budget at $171 million. At the bottom of the list, which is not surprising is Wayne Enterprises. CEO, Bruce Wayne, is notorious for his refusal to accept military defense contracts with a projected budget of $97 million.

Press conferences have been scheduled in the coming weeks from LexCorp, Kord Industries, STAGG, Geschäft-Krieg and Wayne Enterprises to announce their next projects, mergers, business strategies and financial performances from the last financial year. Queen Industries has declined several enquiries since the date of this publication.

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[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #2: Big Sir, Bizarro, and Bizarro World

Big Sir by Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson

Dufus P. Ratchet “was born with a malfunctioning pituitary gland that allowed his body to gtow to monstrous proportions, while his mind stopped developing past the intelligence of an eight-year-old”. FYI, Big Sir is listed as 6’9” and 307 lbs.

Ratchet was kept under observation at Central City’s Breedmore Mental Hospital.

The Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery freed Ratchet and outfitted him with high-tech armor provided by the Monitor. The Rogues manipulated Ratchet into believing the Flash was a bad guy by claiming he killed a rodent. Ratchet went on a rampage that nearly killed the Flash (Barry).

Barry took Ratchet to Gorilla City where their scientists corrected his mental deficiencies. He now has a near-genius IQ and is “seeking to make a valuable contribution to society”.

The only Big Sir stories I’ve read were his appearances in the “JLI” era of the Justice League series. This version of the Injustice League consisted of Big Sir, Cluemaster, Clock King, Major Disaster, Multi-Man, and the Mighty Bruce. This version of Big Sir was most definitely not a genius. He was more of a sweet idiot. I’m not sure when or how his genius IQ was retconned as he was created shortly before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry died in the Crisis and the Flash comic was cancelled around the same time. The Flash comic was re-booted with Wally West as the Flash. Big Sir did not make any appearances in the early years of the Wally West series. Justice League International began shortly after the West-Flash series started. So how did Big Sir lose his genius IQ? Were Giffen and DeMattis simply unaware of the IQ upgrade?

Read Justice League International, not only for Big Sir, but for the whole cast of characters – heroes, villains, and supporting. Great series, highly underrated.

Bizarro by Kevin O’Neill

Lex Luthor reconstructed a duplicator ray (invented by Professor Dalton). Luthor used the ray on Superman but created an imperfect duplicate. “Composed of lifeless matter, this duplicate also shared Superman’s memory, but in a distorted manner.”

Luthor named the creature “Bizarro”.

Bizarro searched the world for love and acceptance resulting in Lois Lane using the Duplicator Ray to create an imperfect duplicate of herself.

Bizarro and Bizzarro-Lois left Earth and soon founded the Bizarro World in another galaxy.

Bizarro rules the planet, “happy in the company of his family and friends.”

Bizarro is one of the more well-known villains of Superman. I first encountered the pre-Crisis Bizarro in the Silver Age Legion of Super-Hero stories. The 1980s saw much of the early Legion of Super-Hero stories reprinted in a pocket digest format. He wasn’t so much villainous as an over-eager nuisance. Frankenstein’s Monster had to be an inspiration for the creation of Bizarro – the imperfect appearance, the rejection by his creator, the search for love and acceptance – all the story beats are there.

Bizarro will always be one of my favorite Superman Family members. Post- Crisis, Bizarro has had many versions ranging from threatening (Injustice) to heartwarming (Red Hood & the Outlaws).

Bizarro World by Curt Swan and Karl Kessel

A short entry that details the inhabitants of Bizarro World. Bizzaro has used the Duplicator Ray to create duplicates of Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lana Lang, Krypto, Mr. Myxzptlk, the entire Justice League of America, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Bizarro-Lois predates the creation of Bizarro World.

The World has a Bizarro Code: “Us do opposite of all Earthly Things! Us hate Beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect for Bizzaro World!”

Superman reshaped Bizaarro World to make it an imperfectly-shaped cube.

[honourablejester]

Foreign Counsel, Chapter 2: History

"In which Lois Lane follows Leslie down into the heart of the city. They don't quite make their meeting yet, though. There's time for some conversations in the sewers first."

Next chapter in this entry of Wings Over Gotham. It's been a while, apologies. Lois and Leslie have a conversation and an encounter.

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 25

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “How did people survive before there were pattern-recognizing sparse representation algorithms?”

Number 25 is…Abby Sciuto, from NCIS.

I’m cheating a bit with Abby, because she technically breaks one of my rules I established at the start of this event: no “side detectives.” What this rule means is that I’m supposed to only count the focal detective characters in the series, not any allies or assistants they may have. (For example: Sherlock Holmes would and will count, but Inspector Lestrade would and will not.) However, I’m making an exception in this character’s case, on the grounds of a.) the fact she’s my favorite character in the series, and b.) the way this show works.

“NCIS” is very similar to our previous entry’s source, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” (Indeed, while this might be a coincidence, the two even SOUND sort of similar.) Rather than a typical detective/mystery series, where the focus is on a single chief sleuth solving baffling crimes, these shows are more “crime dramas,” and feature ensemble-type casts, where various different characters have different roles to play in the crime-solving process. And, just like CSI, the show does cycle itself through a sort of revolving cast, with major characters coming and going every several seasons. Our focus today, Abby Sciuto, is no exception: she is not the main character of the series, and in fact she left the show in Season 15 (the series is still going strong and will soon be having its 21st season, for reference). Therefore, many would say this is mammoth cheating, and it sort of is…but after tossing the idea of including her in the ranks or not around in my head for a while, I basically just threw up my hands and decided, “Fine. She’ll count.” Because I just love Abby that much.

For those who don’t know, “NCIS” focuses on the crime-stopping adventures of a team from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, stationed in Washington D.C. For the first fifteen seasons of the program, Agent Abby Sciuto – played by Pauly Perrette (whom some comic-loving folks may know for voicing Lois Lane in “Superman vs. The Elite”) – was the chief forensic specialist of the team. She is at one point described as, “a paradox wrapped in an oxymoron, smothered in contradictions of terms,” and later in the same scene as “the happiest Goth you’ll ever meet.” Both of these descriptions pretty much fit Abby to a tea. On the one hand, Abby is cheerful, hyperactive, kindhearted, eccentric, and at times downright childish. On the other hand, she’s got a morbid and macabre sense of humor and style, a feisty and spunky edge to her personality, and can kick butt when the going gets tough (often surprising other members of the team when she does). On still another inexplicable third hand, however, she’s also deeply spiritual and at times shows a hidden vulnerability. She’s the youngest member of the team, and she’s also quite possibly one of its most brilliant: a genius years ahead of herself. It’s quite often Abby, specifically, who provides the final links in the chain to whatever puzzle the rest of the team are trying to solve, and her skills with electronics are easily matched with her perceptive talents of observation.

While I enjoyed “CSI,” as I said on my previous pick with Grissom, I felt the problem with the show was that a lot of the other characters just didn’t interest me as much as he did. NCIS, in some ways, has a similar and yet different problem: I actually think the whole cast of NCIS, generally speaking was pretty strong…for most of its run. (I mean, for God’s sake, you had David McCallum in the cast – may he rest in peace – that definitely had to count for something.) However, Abby was the primary reason I think I kept watching it; while the rest of the characters were fun, and I could actually say a LOT about ANY of them if I was asked (unlike most of CSI’s cast), she was truly something special. I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t long till after Abby left the series that I stopped watching it; I haven’t really caught up with most of the past five seasons since then. There were a LOT of behind-the-scenes issues that resulted in Perrette leaving the program, which I’m not going to go into here; suffice it to say, no one could fault her for her decision. It is a pity, all the same, that it seems Agent Sciuto will never return to spot out hidden details while downing enough caffeine to kill weaker souls.

Thanks for the good times, Abby.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 24!

CLUE: “No matter what the anthropological reasons, we fight to make the world a better place.”

[dick-rarepairs]

Hey, Dick stan! Have you thought about joining the Dick Rare Pair Challenge but you need some motivation to ignite your inspiration? Well, it's time to talk about the gift that every winner of the challenge receives ;)

How Does It Work?

Wee offer 1 fanfiction or fanart** to creators that have completed 10 works featuring at least 3 different rare pairs in the time from 30-09-2023 to 29-09-2024.

Please note that only pairs that have less than 700 entries on AO3 count as rare pairs.

**At the moment you are not able to choose if you want fanfiction or fanart as your prize but you may state a preference, and we’ll see what we can do :)

Learn more about the challenge rules here.

Server

If you want to talk about Dick rare pairs, don't hesitate to join our Discord server here.

Gifts

Please check the previous gift that we have granted to winners!

Please read the Additional Tags on AO3 before proceeding to check the following content:

Anywhere But Here [Fanfiction] by Luthien Luinwe for withthekeyisking

Rating & Warnings: [Explicit, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con] Relationship: Dick Grayson/Roman Sionis Summary: When Dick is kidnapped by Black Mask, nothing can go right. All he can do is stay alive long enough to hope for a rescue, something much easier said than done.

Lunch Break [Art] by Whispering_Imp for Nightwang

Rating & Warnings: [Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply] Relationship: Dick Grayson/Clark Kent/Lois Lane Summary: Clark and Lois destress in the office with the help of a gifted bird.

Interrogation [Art] by Whispering_Imp for withthekeyisking

Rating & Warnings: [Explicit, Rape/Non-Con] Relationship: Dorian Chase/Dick Grayson Summary: Gift to withthekeyisking for completing the 10 works bonus achievement in the Dick Rare Pair Challenge. Congratulations! Dick suffers for your pleasure.

Rehearsal by Rehearsal [Fanfiction] by Averia for RUNNFROMTHEAK

Rating & Warnings: [Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply] Relationship: John Constantine/Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara Summary: After an Otherkind wrought havoc on the magic folk of Earth, Zatanna dips her toes back into performance magic at Haly's Circus, not knowing Dick revived his childhood home after experiencing his own recent disaster. Constantine immediately thinks they look good together, and he totally knew Dick was Nightwing from the very start.

Sent To You With Care [Fanfiction] by Averia for NyxKvistad

Rating & Warnings: [Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply] Relationship: Talia al Ghul/Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne Summary: If Talia can't be with Bruce, she'll make certain that he ends up with a person she chooses. Dick Grayson has all the right qualities to make her son and her ex-husband happy — maybe even herself.

Livin’ Like We’re Renegades [Fanfiction] by NyxKvistad for sharpbluejay

Rating & Warnings: [Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply] Relationship: Dick Grayson/Roman Sionis Summary: The most embarrassing thing about getting kidnapped as Roy Harper—heir to the Queen empire—is that Dick Grayson—Gotham's sweetheart—has to be the one saving him from Roman Sionis.

[random-movie-ideas]

Steel (Movie Outline)

And now we come to our second-to-last movie in the Superman series map within a Cinematic Universe, following a full Superman trilogy, two Supergirl movies, a young Superman trilogy not originally connected until Crisis on Infinite Earths, and an animated movie in the same boat. This movie picks up shortly after the end of the third entry of the original trilogy, where Superman died at the hands of Doomsday.

The movie would open a few years prior, somewhere between Superman II and Superman III, at the hospital bed of the astronaut Captain Hank Henshaw, only in his thirties but withered and decayed from solar radiation. He stares at a picture of his wife, a fellow astronaut. Some representatives from NASA enter the room, talking to him about a revolutionary experiment they want to try with him, as his knowledge and expertise is too valuable to just let waste away. Henshaw agrees to go through with it.

Years later, we see John Henry Irons working in his machine shop on a metallic suit of some kind. As he works, we see flashes of the previous movie, of him fighting alongside Superman as Doomsday ravaged the planet, of Superman suffering a lethal blow and dying, of the funeral that he attended shortly thereafter. John wipes his forehead, and we get to see the suit he is working on, emblazoned with a large “S” just like his hero.

We then move to a secret laboratory, where Lex Luthor and Emil Hamilton are hard at work. Using Lex’s DNA and DNA harvested from Clark’s body, they have perfected a clone with none of the imperfections of Bizarro, now aged up to a teenager. The teenager awakens, and Lex and Emil welcome him to the world, naming him Conner.

We see John picking up his niece from school and we get a good sense of their relationship, John being her primary guardian. As they are driving home, they see a news report mentioning that it has been six months since the death of Superman and the world is still feeling its results. Even though the Justice League is doing its best, and other Kryptonians like Supergirl and the Supermen from other universes, there is still a notable uptick in crime, and experts are wondering if the world is in need of a new Superman.

The news report is interrupted by reports of a mass breakout of Intergang from prison, led by their new leader Morgan Edge, replacing Bruno Mannheim after his vaporization at the hands of Darkseid. Natasha asks her uncle if it’s time to take his suit for a test run, and John agrees. They stop the truck, John activates the suit and gets it on, becoming Steel for the first time, and takes off toward the prison. Once there, he tries to stop Morgan Edge, only to be interrupted by a young kid in a black shirt who looks strangely like Superman. The two try to compete over who will stop him, giving Edge the time to set off a bomb, putting multiple lives in danger and allowing him and his men to escape.

John and Conner manage to save the people threatened by the blast and part ways, both uncertain of each other. John returns home to Natasha, and see a news report titled “Two New Supermen?” detailing the events of the bombing that day. Conner returns home to Star Labs, confused by why Steel had recognized him. Luthor reprimands him for his failures, while Hamilton consoles him. Meanwhile, Lex gets an angry call from Lois Lane.

Lois demands to know if he had anything to do with the “false supermen” that had appeared that day. Lex assures her he had nothing to do with any of it, brushing off any further questions. Lois fumes to her mother- and father-in-law, the Kents, as she tends to baby Jon. Outside in the barn, Clark’s spaceship seems to come to life, glowing and rising from the ground. Lois and the Kents rush out to see it explode, revealing a fully restored Clark hovering in midair and opening his eyes. He presents himself to them, and at first, they are overjoyed, but for just a second, Lois recognizes something off in her husband’s eyes.

The next day, the news reports on some criminals causing trouble, prompting John and Conner to rush to the scene again, only to find the restored Clark has already gotten there, and a crowd gathering around. Clark presents himself, claiming to be Superman fully restored to life, saying its just something that happens with his species. Conner is confused and tries to attack Superman, while John is taken aback that he doesn’t recognize him, and becomes even more suspicious when he says something that directly contradicts something Superman had said to him before his death.

We then get a series of scenes with John, Conner, and this new Superman all working as superheroes across the world. Conner is determined to prove himself the real Superman, confused about who he is, and frustrated by his lack of straight answers from Lex or Hamilton. John simply wants to do good, and is willing to work with either as long as it benefits, but he still senses something wrong with the new Superman. Meanwhile, Lois grows increasingly certain this new person is not her husband. She examines the ship and finds something in the data matching code from the government.

Hamilton enters Conner’s room to find him watching a documentary on the life of Superman. Hamilton gives in and confesses that Conner is, in fact a clone created from Lex and Clark’s DNA. Losing all sense of self, Conner breaks out of the lab and runs away. Meanwhile, Lois goes to John, hoping he can help her with the tech of Clark’s ship. Before he can get too far into it, he gets an alert of an Intergang attack, uses Natasha to make an excuse, and races off. When he gets there, he finds Superman already on the scene. He witnesses as Superman brutally murders Morgan Edge, and attacks him, knowing the real Superman never would.

The two do battle over the skies of Metropolis, John’s armor not quite enough to beat Superman but holding its own. At one point, he manages to rip a section of Superman’s face off to reveal a robotic face underneath. Shocked, John stumbles back, giving the fake Superman time to get away. John returns to his machine shop, only for Lois to confront him and call him Steel.

Conner goes to New Kandor in Scotland, searching for answers. Finding no Supergirl or Power Girl available, he stumbles upon a twenty-year-old Clark Kent, the one from the universe that collapsed in the Crisis, still in bed at two in the afternoon, and practically given up on life after losing everyone he’d ever cared about. The two talk, and Clark tells Conner his story, how he was just an offshoot of Superman, forced to live in a universe that’s not his and pretend his life is not his own. Clark talks about what had driven him to be a hero in his own world, giving Conner inspiration while he clearly doesn’t believe any of it anymore himself.

Back at the machine shop, John confesses to having built the Steel suit, inspired by Superman and driven to try to make the world a better place just like him. Lois comes to see the good man that he is, and the love that he has for Natasha. She tells him that, of all these new Supermen, he was the one who most carried on her husband’s spirit. John starts investigating, while Lois gets a call from the Kents and has to go home.

As John gets into the coding inside the ship, he unlocks a data file on a man named Captain Hank Henshaw, who had been on a mission for NASA years before when their ship was struck by a solar flare and crashed back down to the Earth. The rest of the crew, including Hank’s wife, suffered horrific deaths thanks to the radiation, while Hank lingered in a state of agony. A special experiment had been performed on him, uploading his mind to a government database, allowing him to live on as an AI while his body passed away. Then somehow (by John’s estimation, it had something to do with all the multiversal effects felt during the Crisis), Hank’s AI systems got their wires crossed with the Kryptonian technology inside Superman’s ship, and he’d been able to construct a new robotic body for himself in the image of its former passenger.

Realizing this, John tries to call Lois, but gets no answer. He suits up and races out to the Kent farm, crossing paths with Conner on his own way there, telling him that they’re in danger, and filling him in on Hank Henshaw. We cut forward to the farm, where Hank has figured out that Lois and the Kents know he’s not the real Clark. He tells them that, after he was uploaded to the government database, he learned that the day his ship had been hit by a solar flare had been the same day Clark had thrown Bizarro into the sun. He had yearned for vengeance against Superman every day since, driving himself mad, and now, he had finally found away to take everything back from Superman that Superman had once taken from him.

He threatens the family that they will all be good and be the family they were for Clark, or else he would kill every one of them. It’s at this moment that John and Conner burst into the house, knocking Hank away and defending the family. John calls him Hank and says he knows all about him. The three all then break out of the farmhouse, dueling in the sky for the title of the true Superman, Hank calling them both cheap knockoffs while he is the closest they’ll get to the real thing. Conner and John recognize they can’t defeat him, Conner swallowing his pride and racing off to seek help from Lex and Hamilton while John holds him off.

Working together, John and Conner get Hank to the Project Cadmus Headquarters, where Lex attacks him in his battlesuit, just long enough to attach wires to him. Emil hacks into his systems, downloading Hank out of the Superman body and into Project Cadmus’s computers. He then sets their entire mainframe to self-destruct, wiping out all of their systems and Hank with it. With no consciousness holding it together, the body just falls apart. John and Conner embrace as friends.

In the final scenes, we see John visiting the Kents, helping repair their roof, while Conner is revealed to have been adopted by them, coming out in a black shirt with a red Superman “S” on it, helping Lois with Jon. Natasha also visits, telling Conner about how she’s trying to figure out how to make a Steel suit of her own, while John tells her she’s still too young for that. Finally, John pulls Lois aside, telling her about something interesting he found in the programming of Clark’s ship. Something that might be able to bring the real Superman back to life.

In a post-credits scene, young Clark from the other universe is watching a news report of Steel and Superboy saving some people, the two being warmly welcomed by the world as their new Supermen. He clenches his fist, rage starting to build within him.

And that's that. Next we finish with a Superboy movie, pitting him up against Superboy-Prime. I hope you've all enjoyed so far.

[davidmariottecomics]

We're Back, A Blog Story?

Hey, long time no see, huh? 

I'm back from the longest hiatus this blog's ever gone on. And for today's entry, I'm just going to briefly recap what's been going on because I think it'll touch on a lot. 

Last time I updated, I did the second part of a big ask me almost anything and we covered a lot of ground, both fun and the sort of questions that're burning for upcoming  creators. That week, I was thinking about what was next and how to follow it up. And then IDW underwent significant layoffs and it threw things off for me and plenty of other folks. I am still at IDW, but a lot of my friends and co-workers suddenly were not.

For what it's worth, I know a lot of them are still seeking employment. This includes, among others, Anna Morrow, Megan Brown, Devon Ashby, Zac Boone, Julia Borden, Keith Davidsen, Alex Hargett, Greg Gustin, Blake Kobashigawa, Jonathan Manning, Shawn Lee, Jack Levesque, Hanna Lafferty, Topher Alford, Nachie Marsham, and seriously, so many folks. I apologize to anyone I missed. If you're looking for experienced sales, marketing, production, foreign licensing, or editorial folks, there're a ton of good ones still on the market (as an aside, my pals Chris Mowry and Caleb Goellner are also fairly freshly available). 

That was pretty freshly on my mind for Becca's next event, Fangaea, that weekend. I had mentioned that last post. It went alright. I did not stay for very long because even a little one day show like that was a lot in light of what had just happened. 

Within the next week, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. Currently, they are still on strike. You can check out what they're asking for here. Unsurprisingly, a lot of it boils down to fair wages, especially in the newer forms of media that have become commonplace over the past 15 years. There's more, like treating each writer in a writing team as an individual and, hey, not using AI. At the end of their negotiation table, the WGA points out that the benefits and raises they're asking for come out to about $429 million per year across all members of the guild and split between all negotiating companies. That may sound like a LOT of money, right? I checked. As of today, with it available for home release, you can still see the Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters in San Diego. It's box office is over $1.3 billion. Even when you remove the budget for the film, approximately $100 million, the proceeds of just this movie could fully fund everything the writers are asking for, multiple times. (Also, again as an aside, while the Writers Guild is performing a strike action, they can do that because they're a union and other places are increasingly seeking unionization, like SEGA of America). 

So, all of that is happening BEFORE Free Comic Book Day. As you may recall, we went to Geoffrey's Comics in Torrance, CA. Becca and I both exhibited with a bunch of our friends. It was a good time, though it made for an exhausting weekend with me spending a near-sleepless night in the ER before we drove up (I was fine, best guess is some nasty inflammation, but we'll come back to this). And then the next day, we went back up to the greater Los Angeles area for a California Independent Booksellers Alliance event and the launch of Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story by Sarah Kuhn, Arielle Jovellanos, and Olivia Pecini at the Ripped Bodice (trips to LA will also come up again). It made for a very busy weekend. And then...

ER time again, bay-bee! I try not to talk about this stuff publicly too much because I do believe it's our private biz, but Becca's been dealing with an ongoing health thing for over a year now and most days it is under control and better, and last month, it was pretty regularly bad for a bit. There're appointments scheduled, but it's a whole thing because the American healthcare system sucks eggs. To that end, if you are sick in San Diego, if at alllllll possible, I really don't recommend Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest. An ER so bad, we had to go twice in one day! And, as you can imagine, it also hasn't been great to our finances, nor our time, nor our mental health dealing with all of that on such a regular basis. Just a reminder that I've got a shop here and Becca has one here and a Patreon and we probably have other channels we're on. We're doing okay, and Becca's certainly in a better place with their health now, but the occasional plug probably doesn't hurt. Plus, you can get lots of cool stuff in return! 

From dealing with that stress over a couple of weeks, I left Becca at home (and fortunately everything was fine that weekend) and flew off to Atlanta to go do Editor's Day at SCAD Atlanta. It was my first time on campus in a few years and, as every time I've done it, I was supremely impressed with all the amazing work of the students in the program. A big part of the day is doing portfolio reviews and it's so interesting to see the wide array of styles and interests in different parts of sequential storytelling. While I was out there, got to see my best friend in person for the first time in years and confirmed they'll be in the wedding party, so that was nice.

Then we had a couple more casual weeks. Becca's folks came into town as a late Mother's Day/early Becca's birthday celebration. Becca and I went up to LA again to celebrate their birthday with some of our friends (and, as it turns out, it feels like we're increasingly knowing folks in LA over San Diego, which is kinda weird). That was all a nice reprieve from all the comics busyness--mostly because we told our friends no business talk at the party--but was no less busy than the rest of our recent weeks. 

Again, as an aside, right around then, the Screen Actors Guild authorized their own strike, joining the WGA. The Directors Guild, to my understanding, was able to enter reasonable negotiations, though many directors are still of course standing by the strike action and on the picket line. Meanwhile, many entertainment companies, be they movies, video games, or comics, have continued/started layoffs, not in reaction to any of the strikes directly, but certainly inspiring more reasons to be on the line.  

Which brings us to a little over a week ago. You may be familiar with the works of cartoonist Ian McGinty. He's done licensed and original comics and animation work. By all accounts, an incredibly kind person. The sort of artist who brings out the best in his peers, going back to his SCAD days. He unexpectedly passed away on the 8th of this month and because he had been prolific and because he worked so much and because he worked in comics, the conversation did turn to how it happened. 

The conversation turned to #ComicsBrokeMe on Twitter. It's a hugely important conversation for anyone in this industry to really let sink in. It is stories from creators--often young, often marginalized--talking about the ways in which the comics industry has at least mistreated and at worst physically ailed them. I've read many of them. If you can sort through the less favorable responses of "that's the way it is" or "comics has only made me stronger" or "sometimes it seems bad but then it isn't" or what have you, like I said, these are important reads of stories that're all too common, too similar. And, it isn't about dwelling on the negative--which some of the ultra-positivity I've seen about comics in it's wake seems to have misinterpreted--it's about an industry without unions, unable to go on strike, trying to come to terms with and negotiate in much the same manner that the WGA is. 

Also, I went to Sonic Revolution last weekend and that was fun. And my final LA trip for a while (fingers crossed). 

That's what I've been up to. That's what the industry has been up to. It has been busy and stressful for me and seemingly for lots of folks all over. All I can say is do take care of yourself to the best of your abilities, if you have the means, take care of others, and keep an eye on all of this because it is a shift waiting to happen. 

Next week, if I'm actually back, we'll get back to the regular features. For now, I am going to pick Becca up from work, we're going to see Across the Spider-Verse, and I think they'll be streaming on Twitch tonight, though maybe a little late because of the movie? 

P.S. I've been so busy, I haven't like, written anything in weeks. Here's hoping that changes soon.  P.S.S. I also haven't read Void Rivals yet. Best of luck to Skybound with the TF and Joe licenses.

Pic of the Week: Solidarity!