#actually that entire comic run ruined my life so

[variousqueerthings]

rewatched the due south pilot again with someone new. gradually pspspspspspssss at everyone i know about this show.

but yeah, two scenes really stick out to me this time about ray in terms of core features in how i come at him:

the second time they meet: their first meeting did not go well, he thought fraser had ruined his case, he was generally quite done with Stuff (and later on of course we will learn more about why he's so run down), there's this stranger demanding his time, and oh- oops he's just insulted his dead father accidentally and, huh, this oddity of a person is taking it pretty well to be honest... the second time they meet is entirely on ray. he seeks fraser out having done research on the case, but first he apologises to him very sincerely for having said those words. that is the first, big thing that ray offers fraser (the next, of course, is giving over his entire life and soul to him, but i don't think he realised that in that moment...)

after he gets blown up and is lying in hospital: he apologises again, this time for screwing things up. we know by now that he had a bad relationship with his own five-years-dead father who never thought he was good enough, that he's struggling under his caseload at work, we've got a sense he isn't super respected there either, and although we've met his family which is actually very loving (if loud and argumentative) he's giving a sense of being pretty lost in the world at that point and nothing that happened before was his fault. he's been helping fraser, against his superior's wishes, done some good sleuthing/detective work, and saved fraser by putting himself in front of the explosion. and then he apologises

I feel like a lot of the time ray's thought about in terms of his abrasiveness with people generally, his shield against the world he's quick to assume the worst of people and doesn't let others in, but fraser neatly bypasses those walls. on purpose? by accident? bit of both? i think he does sincerely See more to ray in their first scene, the "like you, he is pretending to be someone he's not" line feels like it's talking about more than just ray having been undercover in the previous scene, and because he's fraser he never belittles or mocks or gets aggressive about ray's behaviours throughout their first meeting, which probably also draws him in on top of the need to Make Things Right

i think beneath some of the goofier stuff (which, honestly, i dont think theres thaaat much of, but id have to do a proper count and parallel how many times he's there as "comic relief" vs when fraser is, and also times where ray is shown to be extremely competent which is often -- maybe i'd wish for more dramatic episodes for him but that's more to do with how good marciano's acting is than a real disservice done to ray himself) and the more petulant/childish manifestations of insecurities (it's hard being friends with a Saint, as he puts it very fairly in my opinion, although i also think that line partially relates to some other stuff he'd said about Fraser Please Taking Better Care Of Himself throughout the whole season) there's this ray, and that core is quite obvious pretty much from the get-go

a ray who meets sincerity with sincerity and takes fraser in with honestly barely any prompting at all on fraser's part. a man who maybe was desperate for something/one to believe in, who isn't super macho about admitting fault, and then -- in the hospital scene -- a man who's so used to thinking of himself as a screw-up to the point that he'll apologise for getting blown up to save fraser

there's a lot ray gives fraser. for one thing, fraser would be dead multiple times over without him. but ray Needed him to appear in his life in order to get through the damn day. he saw some storybook larger-than-life weirdo and grabbed hold of him immediately and then realised that the rest of the world seemed to want to eat said weirdo alive and pretty much said over my dead body and he's done pretty well living up to that

did, though, very much appreciated fraser finally properly telling him in red white or blue how much he means to him and how valued he is, because ray doesn't always see it. (funnily enough, they had another bomb threatening to detonate at the time. almost a full circle)

two scenes in which ray says sorry, one in which he was right to do so and one in which he was wrong. there's more to it, but that's the... Thing im thinking about

[hazelnut-u-out]

Do you think about the whole Rick Prime thing? Did it kinda feel anticlimactic???

Yeeahhhhhh, but... I think that's the point!

At first, I was a little bit disappointed with how they handled the arc. I really thought Prime was going to be the Big Bad! Having the whole climax of C-137's arc with Prime as a mid-season episode felt oddly... dismissive? It was like it wasn't even a major event.

After sitting on this for a bit, I think I actually love how they've handled it. I think this is the first time I've really seen the show take something that perfectly fills a 'Television Run' format (i.e. big events at the ends of the seasons for cliffhangers, and so on) and subvert those expectations into something more like 'Real Life.' In my opinion, a lot of the show is shown as how characters involved view the events, especially in terms of tonality. That's why so much of the show fits these media formulas-- Rick views his life as a show.

I often refer to the majority of the show as 'Rick's Director's Cut' because we get events skewed from his warped perception of his own actions. (You can even think of 'Morty's Mindblowers' as Rick literally editing footage into a better story.) Of course, we see why he's sympathetic. As the viewer, we understand why he's doing what he's doing, even if we don't agree with it. He views himself as the 'sitcom dad'-- comically fucked up and abusive, but secretly caring. Rick believes that he's got just enough heart for his actions to be excusable, forgetting that the people he hides his intentions from aren't getting the 'full picture' like the viewer is. From Morty's perspective, Rick does these things for no reason-- unless you count not liking, caring about, or valuing Morty. Of course, we know that's not the case, but Morty doesn't. His family doesn't.

The Prime arc is fascinating to me because of the contrast between how Rick viewed it versus how it happened from the perspective of the viewer. Rick went into the Prime arc thinking it would be a massive, badass epic where the underdog comes out on top and the audience is satisfied with the conclusion. As the audience, this is probably the first time we haven't really been able to click with that, you know? It was unsatisfying, even for Rick, and now he's sort of saddled with, 'Oh, shit. This is real life. What comes next?'

Sure, they're little guys on our television screens. To them, though... that's real life. Real life is messy. Real life is unsatisfying. Real life is disappointing, the editing is sloppy, arcs aren't linear, and dysfunction and substance abuse aren't silly character traits.

The whole point is: What happens now?

In real life, what happens after your abusive parent passes away or you finally get revenge on the person who tore your life apart? In real life, what happens after you beat the shit out of the guy who assaulted you? Or after your dad apologizes for walking out on you?

There's actually a Malcolm in the Middle scene reminiscent of this concept. Francis was blamed by Lois from the time he was born for ruining their relationship. Throughout the entire series, his arcs deal with their broken relationship. When she finally apologizes, the pinnacle of his hopes and dreams-- the only thing keeping him alive, it doesn't help. It doesn't fix the years of psychological abuse he suffered, or the fact that he's as broken as he is because of her failure as a parent.

Another great example is in Adventure Time, when Finn thinks he's ripped Martin's arm off for causing him to lose his own. The revenge doesn't help. (Sorry, not digging for a link to the scene lmao.)

Those things aren't satisfying on their own. The fantasies and daydreams we barter through aren't feasible cures. That's real life. What happens afterward is what you do next. That can be a tough pill to swallow. There's no quick 'fix-all' for everything that's fucked you up. What helps? Hard work. Dedication. Time. Therapy. Grief. Acceptance.

Rick never really worked through the grieving process, you know?

There was Denial and Anger:

And where he got stuck... Bargaining:

After Prime's death? Depression:

Four decades later, we're finally on the cusp of Acceptance.

That's what that look into the hole was. That's what putting up Morty's picture was. That's what choosing to walk away was.

Acceptance.

In conclusion of my long-winded rant, I liked the Prime arc. Fits nicely into the season after the finality of 'Fear No Mort.'

Well done, writers.

Thanks for asking! <3

[clownfishbites]

Ok it’s time for the St Augustine Joker meta. Sorry if it got a bit long I just have a lot of thoughts.

I find it so interesting that he would bring up St Augustine in that moment. I wasn’t a huge fan of the run in general but I thought it had its merits and this bit was one of them because I’m a sucker for batjokes that is also religious fanaticism.

For St Augustine, ‘grace’ in this sense is not something that needs to be found or earned, the Catholic doctrine states that it is given freely, a gift from God to mankind.

Batman gives Joker grace when nobody in the entire world will, I mentioned it a bit in my last meta but think Batman: Cacophony, Batman: It's Joker time, Batman: Devil's Advocate and literally every time he doesn't kill him, or protects him from harm when nobody else would. He is giving him grace that does not have to be earned, it's a benevolent gift from the divine. Or at least that's how Joker is seeing it, a rationalisation for why Batman spares him when nobody else would.

St Augustine tells God that "it is only by Your grace and mercy that You have melted away the ice of my evil". St Augustine needs God in the same way Joker needs Batman, to act in opposition to his 'evil', to be worshipped with the intention of being the gravity that keeps him on Earth, or in his own words, the compass pointing true north.

I'm not going to get too carried away but I think it's a pretty interesting comparison that's existing here between St Augustine and God, and Joker and Batman.

"head towards God and remember, everything else is chaos"

If Batman is the entity that is salvation, the thing to be drawn to- he isn't just the opposite force, but the only other thing in existence, because Joker defines himself as chaos. There is Divinity and Chaos and that is all. It's a nice lens on Joker's perspective that every other living thing is a prop in his pursuit of Batman's love and attention.

Religion is a choice, but how could Joker pick any other divinity, when he freely acknowledges that Batman is his creator. One of St Augustine's concepts surrounding human creation is that of original sin- that being that everybody is born with sin, born tainted ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden.

But if everyone is born tainted, lives tainted and there is no real assurance of redemption, what actually is the point in trying to be good, to be a virtuous person, if someone like the Joker can just come into the church and take your life. Or from the pov of the Joker what is the point in any of it if we are born ruined.

We return to the idea that Joker sees himself as beyond salvation in the traditional sense, he's in a sunk cost fallacy but with being evil. But just to push this to it's limit, his very existence shakes faith in a creator that is all good,

Where is the grace of God in a world that allowed him to exist?

In the absence of divine light and a creator that loves him, he desperately seeks the opposite, divine darkness and a creator that hates him. But Joker loves him no less for it because Batman is all that exists in his world.

"head towards love and everything else is chaos"

Here he's changed the words of St Augustine, altering it from following God to following love, and he says this while heading towards Batman which is...basically the entire point of this, Batman is his love, Batman is his divinity.

But even Batman has to devote himself to an idea bigger than himself, and he can only stand in opposition, his crusade would be over if he truly cleansed Gotham of all evil- OR, as Joker suggests in this comic, if he became happy. If he didn't have to exist in opposition, if the misery that fuelled his crusade was taken away

Joker can only stand in opposition too- we know this because we see how completely he crumbles apart when his opposition is removed.

Batman functionally exists as half of a whole, in his own way Joker's speech is confronting this reality, albeit in a much more roundabout way than he explains it to Selina.

And this is why neither of them can ever truly escape this cycle, their aspect of devotion would die the moment the other was removed from the equation, and with it divinity and chaos would cease to exist, and so would the world.

I love cosmic batjokes.

[investingestincest]

TW /// MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

(Rambles)

I don't know if i can ever forgive antis for running so many artists off the internet because they found them gross. There are so many artists that come to mind but one that sticks with me the hardest is Columbo who was literally ran off Twitter for the most vile reason. I often see tiktok artists redraw that one Monster fanart of Johan and Nina that Columbo made. This was what pushed me to watch the anime in the first place and I get so sad when I remember what happened. They deliberately tried to ruin the artist's life and outed them knowing that this could get them killed. They wanted them DEAD over DRAWINGS. The length some would go to ruin someone's life is terrifying and so fucked up.

Don't even get me started on doxxing. At what point in your sorry little life do you decide to dig someone's private info and leak it to the whole world. And still claim to be more righteous than another ?

Not to mention those who harmed themselves or committed suicide because of harrassment.

I remember how a 13yo artist on twitter committed suicide because of the harrassment they faced (Not proship related). You know what those bastards did ? Went to their last post and filled it with nothing but mockery. They were editing the comic to make amogus jokes. A 13yo child.

I blocked and reported over 700 and yet there was still more. I've never felt so sick in my entire life. They had just gotten the confirmation that they pushed a child to suicide and their immediate reaction was to laugh about it. They killed a child and they laughed ?

This isn't even the first time this happened and I think that's pretty much what made me realize that antis (or just internet fiends in general) didn't actually give a shit about anyone else or the content that they "hate" in general, they just use it as an excuse to show how vile they truly are because what sane person would do that ? Instead of blocking and moving on, you put someone's life in danger for a fucking drawing ? For what, an ounce of validation from strangers ? Is this what it takes for these fuckers to ruin someone's life ? Validation from online strangers ? Laughing with your online friends about how you ruined someone's life, with others who'd probably do the same to you without a second thought if they deem you as problematic in their mind ? This is seriously all it takes ? Their moral backbone is as real as the fictional character they try so hard to defend.

Do you really think that the fictional character will appear in your living room one day and thank you for ruining someone else's life ? It baffles me how they think the internet is a lawless barren land where you can do whatever. Like this won't have consequences ? This isn't the 90s, your information and everything that you post is preserved in archives and can be dug up if you end up getting prosecuted. Besides, if someone finds out about what you did, reports you and you end up in court, what do you tell the judge ? That you were "only trying to protect a fictional character from the icky proship pedos on twitter" do these guys even hear themselves sometimes ? I'm so fucking tired of this bullshit man...

[spaceflower07]

taang in the comics part 2

Last panel is literally THE taang panel fr. Also, the third pic is literally the only in-character moment of them. Even if Toph were canonically against the past so strongly (which she isnt the show,, she just wants her parents to love and recognize her properly. never does she want to run away from her past, she faces it head-on, like she does with everything else), THAT is how she would've done it. She would've at least explained herself like that, communicating about what she feels, instead of going straight to cruel behavior and rude insults. Is this rlly the same girl who felt so guilty about Appa, even though it wasn't her fault and she had done her best?

All in all, I HATE the Rift. I read it just for the smallest taang crumbs of seeing them side-by-side, even if it meant enduring the never-ending 'sweetie' of Kataang—Not that im entirely against Kataang, its just in these comics theyre so😭 like omg there is a time and place for that and its not here!!

Butchered my girl Katara so bad. Like theyre so...overly affectionate, kissing every few panels, calling each other 'sweetie' (im sorry thats so cringe), and its every soft romance wattpad I've ever read. Katara in the GLY comics is like those memes where the girl is so uwu crybaby-ified. I was a few pages into the Promise when I screamed WHY IS SHE JUST STANDING THERE. And when she finally did fight, she had to ruin the moment with "Don't set my boyfriend on fire!" girl...just fight they dont need to know Aang's ur bf omg, as if the sweetie wasn't obvious enough.

But honestly,, the worrying part for me is that the in-character Kataang IS the GLY comics imo. If Katara and Aang from the show were in a relationship, it's the GLY comics. Katara suppressing her feelings (like in the Promise with those fangirls) and apologizing to HIM even when he's the one in the wrong. Aang being irrationally angry and going into the Avatar State in emotional ways (like in the Promise,, again. Can you tell I HATE the promise). Katara having to calm him down with 'sweetie this isn't you🥺pls calm down sweetie🥺for me🥺🥺' the way she has to calm him down in the show (ofc not the sweetie part,, but she still has to, as if it's her responsibility). Her being damselled for the sake of Aang's development (like, again, in the Promise. When Zuko gripped her wrist a lil too tight to stop her from attacking his people, you know damn well Katara wouldve smacked the shit out of him with her own waterbending. But no, instead we got 'ow zuko ur hurting me!!' and Aang going into the Avatar State for it. No wonder he died early; the State shaves years off ur life, and he kept spamming it irrationally. And again in the Rift, when she was with Toph in the cave under the rubble. I feel like Katara was put there with Toph just so Aang would actually care. When he heard from Sokka that "Toph and the others are down there," he only asked about Katara, and visited them twice to, yet again, talk to Katara. And that's why he had sent for Toph's students to get them out. And! When they did get out, Katara ran straight to start making out with him instead of healing her friend, who passed out from saving them. Like hello?? There is a time and place for that. The Katara I know would've healed Toph first. No one, except her own students and dad, showed gratitude or worry for Toph for literally saving their lives. Another Appa situation I see.)

Another problem with Kataang I have in the comics is also in the Promise. Aang was about to ban mixed families bc he felt offended that a few well-meaning fangirls tried to participate in his culture, yelled at them, and ran off. He only changed his mind after he realized it would mean he and Katara couldn't be together���basically realized it would affect him too. Also rubbed me the wrong way that a girl who's such an activist looked at a family facing injustice and didn't feel defensive on their behalf (which she would be in the show—if she weren't with Aang), but instead, imagined herself having a family with her boyfriend. Its not too bad ig but it just rubbed me the wrong way when I read it. Like, why is THAT what you thought of when u saw them girl😭

Unfortunately, I believe that's how they would be canonically in a relationship, as their personalities in the GLY comics are regrettably more on par with the show (I can imagine Katara's character becoming like that post-show...unfortunately. Aang's influence.)

[misscammiedawn]

okay i need to ask cause im curious, what are your top 5 bruce banner/hulk stories? i have such a hole in my marvel knowledge about them aside from like. cartoons or w/e of him

Oh, this is a pleasant surprise. Thank you for asking.

We'll be quite happy to hear your favorite DC comics in return sometime, so do hit us up.

So, to answer the question. It's on a sliding scale. Hulk is an interesting character because he's the ultimate incarnation of a typical miscommunication fight-to-friends superhero scuffle. His one against Wolverine was the introduction of that character and both Avengers AND Defenders had elements of that in their origins.

Hulk makes for a glue to the Marvel universe because he is always a hero and yet he can always be fighting against other heroes. More often than not he is.

Assume you've checked out our Essay Posts but for us we want to see a story about Hulk explore different aspects of the character. Our favorite authors for him are Peter David, Greg Pak and Al Ewing. We also prefer stories that deal with Bruce's DID.

#1 is and always will be Immortal Hulk. This 50 issue run is so good it briefly outsold Batman. It's horror themed, references the entire lore of the character and is an anti-capitalism anthem. I once saw a shitpost that said that Immortal Hulk is what Mr. Robot would be if the Alderson System decided to just punch capitalism until it stopped. But sincerely it's introspective, it's respectful of DID in a way I've not really seen many other comics get right and Joe says "Trans Rights" (there's also a prominent trans character who resists propaganda/nostalgia based mind control because she's fucking sick of the world telling her what she is supposed to be and she does not look at her childhood as a safe place to retreat to).

#2 Ground Zero by Peter David. This was about the time that PAD was gearing Hulk from the Mantlo era into his soap opera era and in this era he's writing a Gray Hulk who speaks more than the green guy and isn't the hero that everyone would associate with the character. The best part of this arc by far is the depiction of Sam Sterns, The Leader, and why he is a fun and perfect foil for Hulk/Banner. Just a damn good comic. As its its spiritual follow-up a few years later, Countdown.

#3 Joe Fixit/Vegas Arc by Peter David. Right after Ground Zero. Pretty much anything between Joe's introduction in Vegas as an enforcer up until Samson forces the system to merge into a new alter called The Professor. It's soap opera action but it's fun seeing the Hulk/Banner divide from the perspective of Hulk. Usually Banner is the one trying to prevent the transformations and feeling Hulk is ruining his stability and life but here you have Joe living a happy life and Banner being the thing ruining it for him. Made for some interesting stories for a few years. The scene with Betty and Joe laughing together is one of my favorite moments in comic history.

#4 Planet Hulk. Honestly anything in Pak's run is good (I especially liked the Amadeus Cho stuff with Hercules) but Planet Hulk is rightfully held up as the best of the era and gets consistent adaptations (Thor Ragnarok is pretty much Planet Hulk). Hulk being imprisoned by a barbarian race is actually a fairly common story. I can think of 3 times it has happened off the top of my head. He even gets a love interest in 2 of them. But this one is the perfection of that oddly specific formula.

#5 Crossroads. The Bill Mantlo series which pretty much all modern Hulk takes inspiration from knowingly or otherwise. 80s Hulk was a weird time because of the TV show bringing a lot of interest to the character which couldn't translate into the Marvel universe as it stood at the time and that series was able to isolate him out into his little adventures which were fairly isolated and got to be experimental. Also includes the Banner family backstory as well as a symbiotic alien parasite a short while before Spidey had his black suit stuff happen. It's a classic.

Thank you for asking and sincerely ignore everything and just read Immortal Hulk because it's the correct answer.

[superemeralds]

Who is your oldest (like longest had) OC? When did you come up with them, or tell us what the inspiration was!

my oldest oldest OC is Diana, she's a sailor moon self-insert who's the princess of the entire galaxy (as opposed to usagi's pathetic reign over juuust the solar system lmao) and she was sailor star. To be fair thgouh, I did make her before i saw season 5 and that season ruined my entire lore and I kind of dropped sailor moon for a while after that akjfhkajsf but when i was 9 or 10 i started making this sailor moon season 6 comic where my oc was the main character obviously but i was also obsessed w like 5 other certoons and anime so it just all meshed together. also all the other characters wouldnt stop commenting on my character being sooo tomboyish and how she was seen as one of the boys and one conflict was her not wanting to be girly when she transforms... I WONDER WHAT THAT MEANT FOR ME.........🏳️‍⚧️

my oldest OC that i actually have like. well recorded inspo and history of (drew him lots, still use him sometimes) is saph.

he was my sonic self insert at first. in the very beginning he was sonic's long lost sister ♥ back then he used to work for eggman. also i only knew about sonic from sonic x and only the first 2 seasons existed in germany at the time i watched it, so i thought 1) shadow is one of eggmans minions 2) shadow is an ugly jerk and i hated him lol.

(the rest is under cut bc this came out suuuper long)

same story as last oc. at first trying hard to be girly, (also holy shit i found the poerfect img for this)

but that's uncomfortable so i'm making the oc edgy. (notice the "MALE NOSE!!!!") at this point the backstory was that he's a "clone" of sonic shadow and silver.

no wait even better. run around naked like the boy characters.

everyone always confusing the giiirl for a boooy and i genuinely got some hate for my character design bc i shipped him w shadow and wow u cant have a homo OCxCanon ship ewww lmao but oh well.

someone once dared me to do a genderbend and then i just changed the color from white to black and they were angry i didnt do a proper genderbend. while the anti version of the character was a proper girly girl with pink and sparkles and smiles and rainbows and skirts and frilly tops and stupid hairstyle. and ppl complained the anti looked more like a genderbend. (below is the "anti". i can't find the genderbend anymore)

for me it just was my first crack in the egg bc hey. i don't want to be preppy, i want to be emo. but im not allowed bc girls are not meant to be edgy. and im notally not projecting on the boy version of this character more than the girl one. nope.

with every year i reduced the hair pieces at the front lmao but ya after my egg cracked i focused more on making him cool andkeeping him gender neutral. Then i used him to prcess a lot of my ongoing hardships in life. the redesign also being bc of a big shift (well. yeah me transitioning socially lmao)

he's unfortunately associated a lot w that painful time so i don't use him a lot anymore

he came a long way though im proud of him. here's one of the most recent drawings together with his brother (also has lots of lore on how he happened but im not feeling like it rn to go on that tangent)

[donnerpartyofone]

I destroyed the house. I've been slowly neatening and cleaning and making things liveable bit by bit for weeks and it's all gone. People joke about the whole Sisyphus thing and they usually mean the rat race of work and bills and not getting ahead, but when I say every day is the same I really mean it. The drawers I "fixed" have stopped closing again because I had to look for something and my "organizing" couldn't withstand that, so now we're back to square one. The clothing I sorted and washed and put away is once again in a 3' deep ocean all over the bedroom, because I had to look for something. The art and comics and little gifts people gave me that I "put away safely" is all wrecked because I had to look for something. The little bags and boxes I made to consolidate different types of things are all over the place again, because I had to look for something. The jewelry I finally organized (after I destroyed more than half of it by trying to clean it) is a mess again because I had to look for something. And I didn't even find the main thing I was looking for, which had a very definite place-it-belongs and is more than a foot long on each side and would be awfully conspicuous in an apartment this size, and whose ENTIRE PURPOSE WAS HELPING ME STAY ORGANIZED, is just gone. I really don't get what could have happened, I must have just slipped into a fugue state and thrown it in the trash. I don't even think I spent my own money on it, I think my husband bought it for me which makes my chronic and destructive wastefulness even more shameful than usual. I was supposed to walk a block and a half to the pharmacy hours ago to find out if they had my backordered medication, so that I could know if I then had to spend the rest of the day calling other pharmacies for the same reason. There's no way I can do that very important thing now, even though the medication is directly related to why I just totally ruined the house and undid months' worth of careful, patient organizing so I could try to live something like a decent, normal life. I should have applied for jobs today. I should have worked on my project that could actually turn into a job if I really try hard. I should have done normal cleaning like laundry and dishes and showering. I should have run a few errands and gotten some fresh air. I should have read one of the many books I'm half way through. Just one of any of these things would have justified getting out of bed today. I should have done anything at all to just inch my life forward a little bit, to just try to be a little bit better than I was yesterday. But instead I'm just still living an endless repetitive day that started sometime when I was in my 30s, or my 20s, or when a was a child, a day I will never get to the end of because I can't complete anything. I can never get to the next step of anything. No wonder my family talks to me like I'm still the same laughably stunted and incompetent 12 year old they had to carry through life decades ago, it makes me mad that they won't treat me like an adult with real thoughts and feelings but actually I totally deserve it because from the day I was born nothing has changed. I'm still just lying around pissing my pants and wondering how I got all wet.

[tangarang]

So any word of Coupon Kids or are you unsure/trying to keep quiet about it for right now? I like quat's redesign. It's more visually distinct than the original.

tldr: I am trying to pick back up on Coupon Kids, reworking the story (yeah , the actual story) with a lot more intention! Idk how long it will take, but just know that I'm taking it seriously.

If you want the LONNGGG story of it, here it is!

Last time we left off in the comic, I was in quarantine with my niece and sister! I was helping to raise my niece so my sister could get out of a horribly abusive relationship. I was a full time nanny which was tough! Cause I had to still make rent from home on commissions, but no one was buying them because we all became RLY RLY poor all at once.... go figure.

I turned to Coupon Kids for support because umm I was kinda fucked tbh 6_6. I had run out of money and had no time to make more, but I SQUEEEZED out the last of the Halibut Jones arc! (which, even at the time of completion, I knew it was an underwhelming piece of work, but I finished it and I'm proud I did!) Thanks to everyone's support, I had enough financial padding that I could rely on Patreon's passive income and refocus on supporting my sister/niece as well as plan to make the move down south to continue my schooling once the quarantine let up. So thats where I had left the comic for the time being in terms of story, with a sprinkle of short strips here and there, but nothing plot related, because the plot was horribly fucked right from the get-go.

I had to take multiple severe hiatuses with Coupon Kids because I got my ass handed to me on several accounts through ought. Horrible breakup, friend break up, severe mental illness, best friend got cancer, best friend died, quarantine, unexpected parenthood, gallbladder disease, then school. All the while Coupon Kids was something I made in the deepest pits of my depression.

I absolutely hated my self, my work, and my art. That all looped back to being a strange source of peace for me to make stuff w/o fear of judgement. No one could hate Coupon Kids as much as I did. I was the #1 Coupon Kids hater and I ruined it by making it. (this is a retrospective pov obv... I dont think my work is worthless anymore thx wellbutrin lol)

Coupon Kids was very liberating to write in that I had no standards, but the lack of structure kinda eventually lead to its own downfall once I started to get better. I had a very loose idea of what I wanted the story to be, but I was so disoriented by chemical imbalance and weed (I smoked SOOO much weed) I didn't rly care about the ending because tbh I thought I was gonna be dead before I got anywhere near the ending. But then Kira died, So I officially abstained myself from death's sexy loins and committed myself to giving life another go.

Sorry for the autobio dump: its kinda hard to convey Coupon Kids development w/o getting into the nitty gritty of what I was going through at the time of making it. The point is this: I made Coupon Kids with the intention of it being a stain on my legacy- but then I ended up loving the stain and it's inhabitants. Its made coming back to it difficult, because I want to put genuine effort in it but that clashes with it's overall tone. Instead of creating in spite, I'd like to create it in celebration of my artistic short comings and to do that is to completely rework the entire moral of the story and all of the characters. If I'm gonna do it right, I'd like to take my time.

Not sure how many people made it to the end of this one! Sorry I'm so quiet about my process. tbh the last 4 years have been the best of my life despite holding a lot of dread. I'm doing a lot better now and am really excited to work on what I love and be grateful I have the power to do so ! So thank you for reading if you are still interested, it means a lot!

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

My thoughts on the new Chicken Run 2 + other upcoming animated movies

I saw the new trailer for Chicken Run 2 and I'm having a roller coaster of thoughts rn.... I don't know how to feel. I think Netflix is ruining Chicken Run! I won't come after Aardman on this, even though I think there's more they could have done, I don't really know how they could make this work since Chicken Run isn't really their thing. Like, Chicken Run is MORE DreamWorks than it is, Aardman. Aardman had a lot of work and effort put into the movie, but it still counts as being more of a DreamWorks film. I think Netflix is mostly to blame, I also wish that DreamWorks would have more say-so in this. Like, DreamWorks needs to step up and take back what's theirs! Like I said, not entirely blaming Aardman on this, they're neutral and have to be, it's Netflix I'm angry at.

Okay, so this new trailer didn't really feel like Chicken Run. My bestie Georgia and I are huge fans of it, so we felt a little hurt seeing this new trailer. Of course we're gonna watch it, obviously because it's Chicken Run, but we're still not excited for it and have a lot of mixed feelings. We both agree that this didn't have the same vibes as the first movie, where they mostly focused on telling a story of an American rooster with a broken wing who helps a hen and her flock escape from a chicken farm in the UK, because the owners plan on killing them off for food. The story has a lot of heavy topics and fits perfectly for a DreamWorks movie, relating to real life situations. Chicken Run is the best example but also Kung Fu Panda and Trolls were good examples too. I think Chicken Run is mostly known for the serious topics, and I relate to Rocky so much, that's why it's my favorite.

Everyone in the trailer seemed so out of character, especially Rocky and Ginger. Rocky was the main character in the first movie,m and it's okay if they wanted it to focus more on Ginger for the sequel, I totally get that! They barely showed him in this new trailer, however. I'm actually really mad. And when I saw how they changed Ginger's personality, I felt like crying! For so long, I saw her as one of my comfort characters, she seemed tough and strong but also very understanding and sweet in the first movie. It seems like they're just making her the just tough baddie in this and I'm really upset. Like, I didn't see her understanding and sweet side like in the movie. It's so hard to se my favorite characters like this. Plus, them firing almost all the voice actors. Like, Julia Sawalha stills sounds the same and this new lady who's voicing her sounds nothing like Ginger! I bet they only hired her because she's more popular than Julia. I also know there was some drama with Mel Gibson in the past, he might be a little bit of a jerk sometimes but he's still the OG voice of Rocky and there's no replacing him. Disney didn't replace Ellen in Finding Dory and Ellen's not a nice person either. Plus, what did Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels do to get replaced? NOTHING! I heard the voices and those are NOT Nick and Fetcher's voices... maybe favorite DreamWorks sidekick duo and I absolutely can't handle this. At least Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, and Lynn Ferguson are in it still (I feel bad Imelda always gets stuck playing/voicing the worst characters, but she voiced an absolute icon in Big & Small).

To be 100% completely honest, I actually think Babs is the only good thing about this. Like I said, I'm also happy that Jane Horrocks is still voicing her, because I think she's perfect for this role. I love how Babs is the only one who's kind of in character, and also has more screen time. I don't want Babs to just be a comic relief, but I love that she has more funny lines. She's one of my favorites in the first movie, but I think it's safe to say that she'll be my favorite in the sequel. This still doesn't feel like Chicken Run to me, and it definitely doesn't feel like a DreamWorks movie. This feels like Netflix was trying to get ownership from DreamWorks and force Aardman to team up with them... however, I'm still going to watch this. Another good thing is Frizzle, she seems like a sweet character (I feel like they're going to make Babs and Frizzle be a couple, watch them be lesbian. Just watch, I can predict the future). If it were up to me, Babs is better on her own she don't need no love interest.

So after the long rant about Chicken Run 2 Dawn of the Nugget (ew I hate that "Dawn of the Nugget" title), I have other movies I'm way more excited to see. It used to be a Chicken Run sequel I was waiting for almost 3 years, but now there's other movies that look way better. It hurts, because I'm a huge fan of Chicken Run but at least Trolls 3 looks amazing! I don't know how I feel that they gave Queen Poppy a sister but she seems cool. I just hope we get that wholesome Broppy romance we're all hoping to see! I'm also really excited for Illumination's "Migration" which is about ducks, but what really won me over was this movie called "Butterfly Tale" which looks absolutely adorable. I love how it focuses on a boy butterfly and a boy caterpillar, because butterflies were always seen as a "girly" thing so HAH! Boys can like butterflies too! ^u^

Anyway, tell me your thoughts on this! Any other Chicken Run fans here? any DreamWorks or Aardman fans want to add to this too? What about Trolls 3? I'd love to read your comments!

[bylightofdawn]

Today I forced myself to go through my comic trade paperback in an effort to thin it out so I don't have to move all these heavy fucking books in the near future. I was ruthless going through my old DC stuff. Got rid of prolly half of my DC books, majority of which is Batman related. I held onto my favorite books, mostly revolving around Batfam stuff and things like the Killing Joke and Death in the Family. Also I love the trashy Jason Todd comes back from the death era. I know it's shit, I know it's overhyped but I still love it. It's like peak trashy comics.

Then I got to my Flash comics and ahahahahahahahah I lost steam. I kept most of them. I love the Rogues and have all the major Rogues stories so those weren't going anywhere. I kept Flashpoint and stuff like that. And then I got to my Outsiders books and I was doomed. No one is going to read these books anyway. I think I'm the only person who loves the Dick and Roy lead the Outsiders 2.0 stuff. Or it feels that way. So I got through my DC stuff and prolly have half left. I was feeling good and like I could do this.

I ended up keeping all of my Transformers comics because...nostalgia. I prolly won't read them, I SHOULD get rid of them but I can't because it was such a huge part of my fandom background. And honestly? Early IDW Transformers kinda slaps.

Then I got to fucking Marvel. BRUH. I have an entire shelf of Avengers/Captain America/Excalibur/Daken/Dark Wolverine.

I got rid of 4 books, all of them random Civil War shit. I pulled the Avengers and saw Children's Crusade INVADERS/AVENGERS which is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE SERIES. Because I LOVE the Invaders. They are my blorbos and that series plus Torch miniseries is just...ruins me for life. I'm about to go pull both of those and read them right now actually.

SO YEAH I failed hardcore. You expect me to get rid of the Brubaker Captain America run? Do you WANT me to cut off my arm and beat you with it?

The last shelf I haven't touched yet and I'm debating why even bother. It's got my old World of Darkness core books, my Halo comics and Star Wars comics. I'm not getting rid of ANY of those. SO what's the point? I think I might have some old Iron Mana and Thor stuff I have zero emotional connection to so I might be able to pulla handful of them.

So yeah, abject failure on my part but as a bonus, I want to go read my Invaders comics and then I'm going to pull out some of my old Rogues comics I think.

[theinkeddragon]

Make me choose meme

Characters: Your bosses

Literally anything else: Your AUs

:)

I regret my decision /lh /j

Characters: my bosses

Ohhh hhyou motherfucker I have to pick! I love em all! I love them all so much. .. ...

I gotta say Boss) he was the first, the one I played through all the games with my first run around, hell he's what kick started the entirety of GOW&R. I adore Lady, and if I could choose more than fucking one I'd choose them both. and if Knight counted, I'd be choosing her too.

Literally anything else: my AUs

HRHHRNNNRNRNNGNRNNGNRNHHRRRRR-

I Am The Boss.

I love GoW&R, it's the one where most if not all of the lore stems from, it is my baby, it is the one I'm making a fucking COMIC about (Blightfall & Bleeding purple are getting comics too, but GoW&R is the one I'm like... WORKING working on.)

But, if I had to choose a favorite, IATB. Because I really like the idea of a universe where Johnny is forced to be the boss. I adore that idea that loss broke him so much where he took the torch, even if he really didn't want to.

Cause IATB Gat is fucking traumatized dude. Lost both Aisha & Kira in the same day. Then later, after a week of convincing himself otherwise, found Lupus (the old boss) dead, and only after that realized he was in love with Lupus. It fucks him up! It gave him a panic attack disorder he can't control because everything he'd been ignoring or suppressing vomited up at once! Like, it makes him distance himself from everyone around him, to the point even if someone can tell something is wrong, he can deflect it easily! He completely gave up on any type of relationship: casual intimacy, friendships, romantic relationships, familial relationships, all of them.

Cause he's fucking scared! He thinks he deserves to hurt!

And then Jake (Yes the same one from GoW&R, being a voidwalker just changed his life path so drastically that he has an entirely different body build) crashes in and ruins that distance by just... being so fucking persistent. And because Gat wanted to 'keep an eye on' (he did not. He wanted to kill him. Nurse disagreed. And Nurse is currently the only one with a vague closeness to him. So he, with a fuss, listened to Nurse.) him after Jake tried to break into his apartment. Cause while Nurse (Lady, in this universe) won't let him kill Jake (He likes the company), that doesn't mean he can't throw him around a bit (A lot.). And then it backfires because Jake

Decided to be petty and take 'never be let out of sight' as literal as he could and glue himself to Gat's side as much as possible. Which turns into them becoming friends. Which turns into them dating. (Can you guess who develops feelings for who first? Can you guess who realizes it first? Can you guess when the confession happens? Hint: It's not Jake, It's not Gat, and it's not without nearly dying.)

Can see Kira (Deer) and Lupus. Because Valor made Kira a voidwalker after her death, but since she was still... dead, it didn't bring her back, it just made her a part of the void; So only other voidwalkers can see her. And then she proceeded to capture Lupus's soul, so he's now the only ghost in known existence. And also a part of the void. So both of them have been watching Gat decline since their deaths and been able to do nothing about it, cause they're not IN the mortal plane. So when someone who can SEE THEM waltz's in, they are very eager to work with him, even as his goals change. (from just doing his job, to genuine concern) Not to fix him single handily, but to actually get him on the road to not being a fucking mess.

There's. I have a lot to say on the story and why I love them. I need to draw their redesigns (I do got picrews if anyone's interested)

[briarmoon1015]

I can tell you about Kid Flash/ Wally!! Obviously there’s been a lot of different lore for the character so I’ll try to condense it into what is the most canon rn lol

Wally is Iris Wests nephew and son of Rudolph and Mary West. Rudolph is Iris’s brother, and to be honest, neither Mary or Rudy are good people. Both are extremely manipulative people, especially Rudy. Wally admired the Flash a ton as a kid as well.

Wally went to visit his Aunt Iris for a summer as they have a strong relationship. Barry showed up as the flash and was hanging out with Wally, showing him where he got his powers, when Wally got struck by lightning as well and got the same powers.

Wally became kid flash for a while, fighting with his uncle who he thought was the best guy ever. Wally adored Barry, and barry was very much a father figure in his life. Barry was a pretty good mentor as well, giving Wally the space he needed to grow but also being there when Wally needed him. The two often hung out with Batman and Robin, which allowed Wally and dick to become friends.

Wally was a great titan and was often the heart of the team. The original titans were him, dick, Donna, Roy Harper, and Garth. Wally did often struggle on the decision if he wanted to be a hero, and on multiple occasions chose not to follow that path.

His real arc begun after his uncles death and his split from the titans however. When his uncle died saving the universe, Wally decided to continue his uncles legacy by becoming the next flash. Wally struggled a lot during this time to live up to his uncle however, mostly because of imposter syndrome lol. He believed his uncle was pretty much perfect, and refused to let himself out shine his uncle while also putting himself down the whole time. For example, he never let himself run faster than Barry could, and then would get on himself about how he could never compare to Barry.

Over time Wally learned that he could be great while still respecting his uncle. He met the love of his life, Linda, a writer/reporter, and joined up with the league. He did fight a ton of flash villians like Savitar, the rogues, so on and so forth, but his main villian was definitely Hunter zolomon/zoom. He was Wally’s friend until he had a terrible accident involving gorilla grodd, where he basically ended up paralyzed. Mad that Wally wouldn’t go back in time For him, he got himself some time powers and decided to ruin Wally’s life to try and make him a better hero.

Wally eventually thinks he pulls Barry back from the speed force, the speedster equivalent of the after life, only for it to actually have been the reverse flash. From there, him and Barry learn to share the flash title until Barry accidentally crashes the entire time stream trying to save his mom and erases Wally out of it.

Wally eventually comes back thanks to his uncle and the titans, and after a lot of anguish of his wife and children not being around, he works super hard to try and get them back. This results in him break the source wall, locking speedsters out from time traveling, and accidentally killing some other hero’s at sanctuary, basically a super hero mental health hospital. The killing of other hero’s was retconned to not be his fault.

He did get his wife and kids back eventually, and once again took up the mantel of the flash. I know he’s been working a ton with the titans right now, but Wally’s identity very much stands outside of them. He is his own hero at this point, and I’ll say the best flash we have ever gotten. r

I did my best to try and condense stuff, even though I’ve been reading comics for like three years now I’ve undoubtedly got something wrong so if people have anything to add or correct please do! I did also leave a ton of details out so if you want more I really suggest reading Wally’s comics! Especially during the time he was trying to figure out how to be the flash.

Hey. Pst! DC Lore Masters. Got a sec?

K, so like, I’ve seen Teen Titans… and some of Young Justice… but I’m interested in the comics.

See these guys up here? These guys specifically (Robin/Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, and Cyborg), what’s the condensed version of each of their stories? Is there a way to condense it? Is there even a story to condense?

I’m familiar with Raven’s story—half demon, Trigon wants to use her to end the world, blah blah blah, etc etc—and I know some of Starfire’s origins on Tamaran and Beast Boy’s past with the Doom Patrol, and of course there’s Dick Grayson which I know most of the story already, but like… especially Cyborg, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl… what are their stories? Who are their arch nemeses? What journey do they go on? How do they grow as people? Am I asking the wrong questions? I am just curious, and Google isn’t helping me rn…

Thanks…

[dailycass-cain]

Batgirls #13 Review

Batgirls #13 closes out the quick two-issue parental arc as we also pass the one-year anniversary of the comic. Did it continue the highs of the prior arc or did we have another clunker two-parter? Well, here are my thoughts on the issue and arc as a whole.

I'll start with the negative. Because I know many are probably waiting for me to tear into the parts that I didn't enjoy and yeah... there's a big one in this issue.

Lady Shiva in this issue barely felt like Lady Shiva. She felt way too aggressive toward Stephanie and I get that the issue "has to have" a big fight. But..

.. I think it would've been nice subversion if that didn't even occur this issue between Shiva and Steph. Once the cat was out of the bag. It just felt so... off seeing Shiva defend Cass this much.

I mean it's better than being evil and careless but... to this extreme?! I would've enjoyed it more just to see Stephanie just laid it all out when Shiva figured it out.

But... Shiva in all of this and the history with Cass-- just felt wrong. Shiva has never tried to mold Cass into being something she wasn't.

She didn't have anything to "mold" at all. It feels really odd in a way because it feels like negating this bastard, David Cain, the one who truly was trying to "mold" Cass into being a killer.

I think that's always lost in the Pre-Flashpoint origins of Shiva where she was just about manipulated and used by David Cain, the true monster of this whole origin.

This bit always seems lost in how truly a monster David Cain was in this all. How the unexpected side-effect is that he actually did care for Cassandra in the end and didn't treat her as coldly as he did Shiva.

Which is why that bit of dialogue felt so off-putting. The thing Cass is so standoffish about Shiva is (prior to the revelation of being her mom) is Cass sees Shiva as a path she could've gone on if she stayed on the path of being a murderer.

That brings me to the OTHER problem I had with the Shiva/Cass stuff in this issue. The entire crux feels so much a retread of stuff we just had TWO YEARS AGO in Batman & the Outsiders.

And here we are this issue with a completely opposite variant:

That's the WHOLE thing we're waiting for. The next PROGRESSIVE STEP.  More an understanding a common ground the two can have between one another but mutually respect the other's lives.

Heck, we're not a year from Shiva trying out actively having a team and doing hero stuff (even if the story was pretty EEEEEH). That should be the new ground for Shiva. This life outside the League of Assassins. But still being Shiva. The line blurred between good/evil.

I get that Shiva is a hard character to write, but when the stories of prior writers literally have set that up. All it takes for the next is to carry that on (or at worst spectacularly ruin it).

Thankfully, writers, Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan didn't ruin it and we don't have an Emi/Shado situation on our hands. BUT...

This wasn't the dialogue to have between Steph/Shiva this issue. There could've been more. MUCH more to crack into the depths of the relationship between these two and how both struggle but TRY to be there for one another now.

It just comes off as 😬toward the end issue's end Shiva pulling a Darth Vader (but if we're to believe what Steph says) she doesn't really want to rule the League with Cass by her side.

That's why I'm BEGGING both the editor and writers to do a better job with these two next time around. There are better stakes and areas to dig with the two. It just feels like a big retread (when you could've brought up B&O and that BoP run).

Because it's obvious we're getting more of this subplot again once the Hatter and Cluemaster stuff runs it's course. I pray! We don't get a Emi/Shado situation (or worse a Cheshire) because it's soooo cliché at this point with the murder moms and their daughters.

I'm BEGGING for a subversion of this trope so bad. Cass/Shiva could very well BE that subversion. It just takes the right writers to do this on the right path.

My please for the love of GAWD no more of this. It's lazy and by even saying these words makes long-time Cass fans scream internally.

Because I was doing exactly that when reading that bit of narration.

Because my mind flashes instantly back to this:

I HATE that the Shiva/Cass/Steph stuff brought this issue down for me because there was A LOT of good too with this issue resulting in a "mid" then a dumpster fire like say #7-8.

Because the story AROUND the Shiva stuff is GOOD. The Cluemaster stuff is unnerving and creepy as heck. I'm really curious to see where the writers take Arthur here and how it relates to Steph.

Then there's the Babs' stuff in the issue. I think this two-parter was the best-written and best-used bit of Babs in the entire series. Cass/Steph in trouble leading to Babs being Batgirl makes the stuff have higher stakes.

I've been harping how Babs showing up as Batgirl in the series so far has been-- meh. This issue was the first time it felt her being Batgirl here was worth it. Now, let's see this same be used for her as Oracle to boot.

Likewise, the twists and turns Babs/Bruce have with surprise special guest star, Zatanna in unraveling the mystery of how Cass/Steph got body switched.

Again, the reasons as to WHY Cass/Steph got body switched were fascinating. Really the only downside to all of this is how quickly it all ended.

I feel we didn't get a FULL day of Cass/Steph living out the other's life in the other's body. Exploring the differences and similarities. Seeing Steph maybe see the world thru Cass's eyes. Likewise, Cass seeing the world in Steph's.

There could've been one more issue here to have some of that fun. It's truly a pity we had to skip right to Shiva/Cluemaster stuff.

Likewise, I did enjoy the narration boxes in this issue. Barring that one box-- HICCUP.

The boxes did their thing, but also told the reader to, "HEY READ THIS TOO!" Which it did in spades by giving us shoutouts to Birds of Prey and Batgirl Vol. 1. Now give Steph some of that love with nods to her in Robin and Batgirl Vol. 3, please.

If this book does want to claim new readers, it might as well leave these nuggets for them to go dig to find these issues. It also makes jobs easier for me, because I don't have to say, "READ _____ for this!"

But the true highlight this issue? The best thing I utterly adore and am HYPE for #14? Is the art by Jonathan Case. I mean... Jorge Corona and Neil Googe were good and 10s but Case?

There's a Bill Sienkiewicz style here that I adore (maybe @empatheticcain was on that the stuff with style was more a nod to Seinkeiwicz's Batgirl First issue) because Cass throughout this looked so gothic by Case in costume and colors.

Can I also just say how astonishing Case did ALL the colors, pencils, and letters this issue? Like dear GAWD this makes the next issue. The story will basically him using Conrad and Cloonan's script (which I'll give it to them this was a finely tuned issue).

Like please put Case with more of Conrad and Cloonan please. Two issues is just too little. This art is exquisite and gives some of the critics by making Cass/Steph more their age than say much younger.

Baring the Shiva/Cass stuff this issue could've been amazing. It just needed a better look into the past and dig better angle than what we got here. Thankfully everything else was top-notch.

Again I'm begging the writers to do a better job with the history of the character. Please give us subversion in this case and do this mother/daughter relationship between then be consumed by the predictable tropes. There's something really good to mine here.

What can be mined can be truly something UNIQUE. As it stands I am hyped for the next issue because Case's art was a revelation. So to those who've been off the book. Buy Batgirls #14 the art alone by Jonathan Case will be worth it as it will be a silent issue.

No narration boxes.

No weird dialogue.

Just Case using his style to showcase the story and I think we might have something truly special coming January 17th.

[nightmare-foundation]

I really want to offer my analysis here, because I don't entirely agree with this take, given that it's far more nuanced than what's seen here

Dick said he wished Jason had died in Nightwing v2 #119, in the midst of the Brothers in Blood arc. He thought this to himself right after fighting Jason, after Jason started running around in his own Nightwing costume, killing people and traumatizing bystanders, making Nightwing public enemy #1 and essentially ruining his reputation and trying to ruin his vigilante life, which Jason continues to do even after Dick expresses that he doesn't like what he's doing.

I'll be honest, I really don't blame Dick for briefly wanting Jason dead, considering the guy was deliberately ruining Dicks reputation as a vigilante, and pushing past every boundary Dick set up. Sure, it's no excuse, but I wouldn't expect Dick to welcome Jason back with open arms after something like that. I wouldn't either, frankly. Also, Jason pretty deliberately cut Dicks hand open too, and jokes about it. Jason wasn't giving Dick any reason to be friendly with him, especially knowing Dicks strict moral code. Also, Dick never once expressed this thought out loud, and honestly I'm not sure how in character it is for him to think something like that and not at least regret it.

As for the second time- that isn't Dick wanting Jason dead again. Dick is working off of the assumption that Jason never died in the first place, and on top of that, Jason DID originally die at the end of Under the Hood (note the effects from the Superboy Prime punch that shows up at the end of the comic, that also showed up when Jason was revived in his coffin). Dick isn't expressing that he wished Jason was dead here, he's literally saying that Jason wasn't supposed to be alive- that two separate events (Ethiopia, the end of UtH) should've killed him. That's the unbelievable part, the part that 'makes him sound crazy', because Jason isn't dead when he's supposed to be.

Another point- Brothers in Blood is infamously out of character for both Dick and Jason, and overall very wacky, especially at this point. Winick, in an interview, stated that Jason hated the idea of Dick (i don't have a link right now, but I can find it for you), but in this comic, he wants to be buddies? Not to mention Dick not regretting wanting someone dead, especially after the events of Nightwing v2 #93, which he was still very much recovering from at this point, hence the year long break from being Nightwing (which Jason interrupted by forcing Dick to act when he wasn't ready to).

Also... Dick, presumably, has no idea about what Jason went through. He isn't aware of how much he's struggling. All Dick is probably aware of (because let's be real, Bruce is shit at communicating), is that Jason somehow survived Ethiopia, came back years later as a murderous crime lord, supposedly died in a fight with Bruce, and is back again and wreaking havoc and killing people in HIS suit and refusing to stop. Hell, he probably JUST found out Jason was alive! But this is ALL Dick knows. I highly doubt he knows the details of the showdown between him and Bruce, or why Jason does what he does, etc. Jason sure as hell isn't explaining anything beyond why he kills, and that doesn't matter to Dick because he's strictly against killing, to the point of mental breakdowns if he does it himself or is responsible in some way (see: his reaction to beating the Joker to death and Blockbusters death). Jason isn't at all giving Dick any reason to sit down and talk to him, or be friendly. Sure, he wanted to know if they could be brothers again, but he could've communicated this earlier in a far more normal way lol.

And just so we're being fair: I'm also not entirely sure Jason actually didn't care when Dick supposedly died. Look at his face when he says "That's Blüdhaven.", and then his almost performative, kinda fake sounding words afterwards. Jason certainly hated the idea of Dick (the perfect golden boy who always listened to Batman and got all the love), but he never actually HATED-hated Dick, and even if he did, certainly not enough to want him dead. He even goes out of his way to save Dick and give him important information he just happened to overhear. On top of that, Jason is frequently depicted during this time as lying, both to himself and others, specifically when Winick writes him (see: Red Hood: The Lost Days. What he says and what he does don't line up). So I don't believe Jason really wanted Dick dead, or even just didn't care.

Overall, it's WAY more nuanced than just "Dick wanted Jason dead when he just found out his little brother was alive". Sure, is it kinda shitty to wish someone dead? Of course. Is it in character here? Not very. Do I blame him? Not at all. Do I believe they were shitty to each other in other ways? Absolutely! They have SO many issues, and have hurt each other a lot, I'm definitely not arguing that they haven't. But I don't think wanting the other dead was ever a real issue, nor a flaw in their relationship.

til that slade bombing bludhaven happens at the same time jason and bruce are duking it out in the under the red hood storyline and they see it happening.

in other news, jason peter todd is a raging asshole omg what a jerk THAT’S YOUR BROTHER?!??? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU LOVE DICK

[zahri-melitor]

No Man’s Land

I made it back through! As I said before, my last read through was over 15 years ago, so it was a lot of fun seeing what I remembered and what I didn’t. This really is one of the best Batbook events. The departmental level planning and plotting really stands out; there’s only a couple of times events are repeated between titles (most of the duplicates are actually in Azrael, now I think about it; particularly the Azrael-Catwoman storyline. Clearly they understood they couldn’t trust people to read Azrael) and the story flows with very few contradictions/out of order events/obviously skipped bits . The biggest overall ‘wait what?’ timeline issue is ‘how long was Tim actually IN No Man’s Land and how many times did he sneak back in after being rescued’, because the suggestion he was inside for 2-4 weeks before being airlifted out is hilarious given he then proceeded to spend over a month staking out Pettit and got back in for the Christmas Eve summons quite easily.

Highlights from my read: Bruce Wayne (as opposed to Batman) has some really good stories through Cataclysm-Aftershock-Road to NML. I adore when comics take the time to break out what Bruce can do as a Wayne compared to what he can do as Batman, and both are on show here.

Legends of the Dark Knight #125: the conversation here between Jim and Batman is something that’s been building for over 6 years, since Knightfall. And yeah, the payoff is worth it. They both used their words!

Being a big event, we got multiple 'day in a life' comics for outsider PoVs or minor characters, which are one of my favourite things. I'm a huge sucker for an outsider point of view. Lots of ordinary Gothamites just explaining why they stayed and what community means to them (and also that Gotham talks to you when you have bat rabies). I particularly adore the little red headed agent of Oracle's in SoTB #92 who is so EXASPERATED by Clark Kent ruining her stakeout. She's got a job to do! Stop ruining her report!

Among this is also some of THE defining Leslie characterisation in Chronicles #18, of why she's a doctor and her philosophy on care. Now, the way the story used Zsasz to frame it was irritating (please Leslie, O neg is in such short supply I PROMISE you there are half a dozen people in your hospital camp here right now who need it more than Zsasz), but what can you do. "I will provide treatment to everyone" doesn't have to mean "I'm using an invaluable resource on the least deserving/needy person in this hospital" but it does mean "everyone deserves my care and best effort".

Barbara is at her best, here. Not only does this run highlight her skills as an information broker, troubleshooter and dispatcher, but everyone finally starts turning up regularly to the Clocktower to hang out/have meetings! Early 2000s status quo behaviour has been ACHIEVED. The story would not have worked without her.

Just a BUNCH of Gotham Rogues have really good stories here. What Penguin contributes to the city's dynamics is just so very on display as he runs the entire city's black market. Two-Face's trial of Jim Gordon is some iconic storytelling. Ivy is mostly around via her physical absence - she only appears on page for Fruit of the Earth and in the Harley Quinn intro to set up the Harley & Ivy status quo - but she pins a lot of the territory warfare in place via holding Robinson Park, starts her road to redemption, FINALLY gets rid of those terrible 90s tights (ugh I dislike that costume) and honestly probably helped a lot of people survive NML. And uh Black Mask himself doesn't have the greatest storytelling but his HENCHES do. 

Harley finally gets her promotion to the main universe (and her intro doesn't suck). Joker is fine I guess...ok yes I do actually like Endgame and it's solid Joker storytelling, even as shooting Sarah Essen is the most cheap and lazy angst ever (And then! Jim and Bruce are there in front of Joker who is asking to be arrested after he hurts their family! Again! This story has never been told before oh wait it's the 10 year anniversary edition).

Every Bat vigilante (minus Steph) gets a lot of solid character work and stuff to do. Steph's stuck off in her pregnancy arc having Dixon Lectures On Ethics, but does get that Helena team up during Cataclysm at least. We get Cass and David Cain! JPV remains the saddest wet cat in Gotham and the universe causes terrible things to happen to him (seriously how did you end up getting blown up and in worse shape than HELENA for the finale)! Dick confirms he's back in the family full time and will come if Bruce asks! Tim and Dick have adorable sibling adventures together! There’s an entire Dick/Babs hurt/comfort storyline! Tim Having Parents is actually plot relevant and helps end No Man's Land (also his team up with Wally in Keystone is the funniest thing ever. Wally's like 'HOW DID YOU GET MY PHONE NUMBER...oh yeah you asked Dick')! Helena gets masses of page time even as the plot (and Bruce) does her dirty! Even the LANGSTROMS get page time and character changes (that scene where Man-Bat takes Barbara flying is just beautiful).