#again amazing comic pal

[mousetrappedcomic]

Mousetrapped #5: Enter Pete the Pup

Oops. I forgot today's blog post.

So, yeah, Pete the Pup (not to be confused with thr dog from the Little Rascals) was a silent era cartoon character from Bray Productions, created by Walter Lantz - later of Woody Woodpecker fame. Most of Pete's shorts involved Pete and a live action man, with Pete causing mischief.

As for why Pete's in this comic? Mickey needs friends, and most of his Disney pals are off limits for the next two years at leasat. Plus, I don't wanna feel beholden to the established continuity and relationahips. That's one thing I always hated when comic book companies rebooted their lines. If DC reboots again, you know Batman's relationships are going to be the same, his personality is going to be the same, his history is going to be the exact same. To me, this is a chance to try something different. I don't want to change Mickey's personality too much (aside from dropping the animal abuse with the parrot). But I don't want to retell all of Mickey's comic stories from Floyd Gottfredson. They're amazing comic but they've already been done.

Also, a fun connection - after Disney lost control of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and he and Iwerks went off to create Mickey, Walter Lantz found himself working on Oswald's cartoons.

Speaking of Pete and other Lantz projects, a bit back there was a kickstarter for a re-release of a lot of his lesser known cartoons, cleaning them up and all that.

A friend involved in the project said it's chugging along well and described it as 2/3rds done. If you want to learn more, you can go here. I'm looking forward to it being available to those of us who didn't get to back it.

Okay, that's all for today. I might post some art updates over the weekend, but the next strip is Monday. I'm trying to figure out if I want to keep going five days a week or not. -R.

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

Project Blue Book

Nathan Bateman X GN!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? • ko-fi • request info •

Summary: It's time Nathan gave you some answers.

A/N: Look, this is just me being silly and having a giggle.

Warnings: overuse of italics, swearing, not beta read, typos, talk of aliens and alien fucking, kisses, please let me know if I've missed a warning.

Word Count: 978

“So when are you gonna tell me about the aliens?” You lean back in your chair, your heels on the table, your laptop perched precariously on your thighs. 

Nathan gives you a look over the top of his glasses, glancing up from the circuit board he was soldering. He eyes your comic slippers for a second, seemingly giving the frog designs an individual glare. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He sighs.

“The aliens.”

“The what?���

“Aliens, UFOs? I’ll look up a dictionary definition for you if you’ve never heard the word before.” You tease and he scowls. 

“I know what the word means dumbass.” 

“You sure don’t seem like you do, or is this part of a test?” 

He sighs. “What?” 

“A test? You know, keeping stuff top secret? Deep throat? Cigarette smoking man?”

He rolls his eyes and goes back to his work, “You watch too much X-Files.” He grumbles.

“Yeah, but you got the reference.” 

He smiles in spite of himself. 

“So, when are you gonna tell me about them.” You put your laptop on the side, your feet on the floor as you roll your chair closer to him. 

He doesn’t look up. “I say this with all the energy I have: what the fuck?”

“Blue Book.” You lean closer. 

He pauses soldering, an unimpressed look crossing his face. But you know he loves the attention really. 

“Aliens. What’s the deal?” 

“Are you high?” 

You snort.

“Because if you are,” he gives you another glare, “I want some.”

“Project Blue Book, it’s a code name by the American air force about UFOs.”

He gives you a blank look.

“Are you seriously telling me you didn’t know?” You pause, “you’re such a sci-fi nerd, I highly doubt it.”

He puts the soldering iron down. “Did they breach my copyright? Have I got to send a cease and desist?” He sounds sincere, but you know Nathan. What he sounds like doesn’t mean anything. 

“It was like a term in the fifties, I doubt you’d be able to sue.” 

He shrugs, “I could try.” 

You groan and flop back into your chair, “Are you for real? You really didn’t know? I was so sure you got some secret alien communications.” You pout playfully, “I was hoping for some nonsense about your androids really being made so you could send them into space to talk with extra terrestrials.”

He frowns, “And why would I send androids?” 

“Because they wouldn’t age when you gotta travel like, 50 million light years or something.” 

“What’s the point in contacting aliens if I don’t get to meet them and fuck them?”

“Nathan!” You snort, despite trying to keep a straight face. 

“What?” He shrugs again.

You tut. 

“If there’s aliens I’m gonna fuck them.” 

You laugh, “What if they’re like Aliens aliens, trying to lay their eggs in you?” 

“Sounds hot.” He grins. 

You giggle and shake your head.

“Plus, the tongue is like another mouth, which I think,” he swivels around in his chair, giving you his now full, undivided attention. “Would give an amazing blow job and-”

“She’d bite your dick off.”

“Nah, nah, nah,” he shakes his head, “my dick’s too hard for that.”

You burst out laughing, “What?” 

“What I just said.”

“Nathan-”

“It’s rock hard at all times, could deflect bullets, it has in fact.”

“It has?” You can’t get over the silly expression he’s pulling. It’s stubble, a little glimmer in his eyes and a smile at his lips, but it’s so very endearing. 

“Sure, it’s saved my life, saved other people’s lives. Just,” he mimics hitting a baseball, “smacks the bullets right outta here. In fact, it’s super dangerous, because when it deflects them it actually makes the bullets go faster in whatever directly they’re hit, so,” he breathes in deeply, like this was a serious issue, “could hurt bystanders.” 

“Are you having fun?” You laugh, resting your elbow on his work table, your chin on your hand. 

He nods. 

“Fucking nerd.” You tease, grinning.

“Says you.”

“Says me?”

“You’re the one talking about UFO conspiracies.”

“Okay first,” you sit up, wriggling a little in your seat as you raise a finger, about to start on a shpeal. “Project Blue Book wasn’t a conspiracy, it really happened. I was just being a shit about the aliens bit, UFOs don’t mean aliens, they mean-”

He leans forward quickly and kisses you. 

The action takes you by surprise, how his lips feel against yours, how his beard brushes against you. He tastes a little of that stupid fennel toothpaste he uses, the one that he proclaims is the best for your gums but tastes like an overload of aniseed and salt. The one that you tried once and never again. The one that you tease him for using at any given opportunity.

But now you lean closer, your hand on his cheek as you lick into his mouth, trying to swallow down any essence of the taste. 

He groans a little as your tongue strokes his, his hum is pleasant as it vibrates into you. He slides his hand to your waist, pulling your chair even closer to him. The heat from his palm permeates into you, soothing your muscles, making you ease even further into his touch. 

When he pulls back after a long moment, he sighs. It’s the smallest, sweetest sound through his nose, a low grumble of contentment in his chest. He presses his forehead against yours for a second.

You swallow and he opens his eyes at the sound, moving back a fraction. 

“If I’d known that would shut you up, I would have done it ages ago.” He grins. 

You mock gasp, playfully pretending to hit him on the shoulder. “You’re the worst.”

He giggles, scooting his chair closer to you whenever you move away, “Don’t worry, I’ll kiss it better.” 

Thank you for reading!

@pleasurebuttonwrites @raven-rk @campingwiththecharmings @alexxavicry @whatthefishh

@romanarose @strangerhands @saturn-rings-writes @lonelyisamyw-0love @queerponcho

@steven-grants-world  @eyelessfaces @angel-of-the-moons @minigirl87 @lunar-ghoulie

@silvernight-m @autismsupermusicalassassin @apesarecuul @reallyrallyauthor @basicalyrandom

@alwaysmicado @mangoslushcrush @marc-spectorr @soft-girl-musings  @spxctorsslxt

@novarosewood

If you'd like to be taken off the tag list please let me know here

[merakimagic]

TMNT Reunion Event: Campfire Stories

The air felt cold where Mikey stood. Aware from the fire as the orange flames flickered, sparks drifting upwards, embers glowed and laughter consumed the air as all the other cabins gathered around. Roasting marshmallows, making s’mores.

The fire crackled and popped, logs broke and the fire began to settle after one of the Raph’s had rearranged them.

A peaceful scene but not even the warm laughs or fire could defeat the cold that surrounded Mikey.

Mikey thought to himself

“I’ve seen them before

I didn’t realise it at the time but

I’ve seen them

Even before this all started

I knew my powers were getting stronger but I didn’t want to think about it

I thought they were just dreams

Donnie says my imagination has always been overactive

So I thought it was nothing

But I was wrong

So many people

So many versions of us

All so different

But also the same

Some remind me of when we were kids

When it felt like nothing could touch us and the world was still such an unknown. When we would get upset when separated and our imaginations could keep us occupied for ages.

Some remind me of just before everything changed

When we still challenged everything and being hero’s was so exciting. When Leo still acted like a big shot and Donnie still talked to us about his latest project with amazement and excitement. When Raph still kept his cool and when no matter what we were doing we would just hang out together.

Some have grown up completely different to us But there getting better and there trying to be there for each other

…

All so different

But almost all with their own problems

Lots of problems

I guess he was right

We are creatures destined for tragedy

…

But maybe….

Just maybe… we’ll be okay and be like we were again

Everyone here has overcome challenges and faced adversity.

Yeah

We’ll be okay

We’ll all be okay”

——————————————————————————

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

For Cabin 11 Baby!!

I wanted to draw the whole thing as a comic but my tablet is braking and so is my laptop. He just gotta hang in there for a little longer

Other People who’s AU’s I included:

First Panel:

@allyheart707

@misshowdoyoudo

@littlemissartemisia

@xxsociallyunacceptablepuppetxx

Second Panel:

@hitwiththetmnt

@banana-pancake5

Third Panel:

@itzzaira

Forth Panel:

@v-albion

@liya4kar

@evenmoreofadisaster

Honestly guys, gals and non-binary pals, there are so many amazing AU’s that are involved in this event and I can’t wait to draw more of other peoples AU’s interacting with my own. I definitely suggest checking out these incredible AU’s, created by some pretty incredible people✨

[maymeowmoo]

Messy RadioAppleStatic comic I made with my art pals <3 [I drew Vox, [Twt] @MrTidepod_Simon Drew Alastor and [Also twt] @CCvElino Drew Luci~! Go check em out they are amazing (⌒▽⌒)☆]

Yippie! [Once again pls check out Tide and El UvU! Lovely artists and ppl~]

[Help I have been constantly drawin on collaboration boards >_<' Expect huge doodle dumps for now since that is all I've got =w=]

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Hey so I just found your account and omg?? it's literally so amazing 😭✋

Anyways-I was just looking through a bunch of the twist monster au headcannons/stories, and I thought of a scenario that could be done!

Basically the cast reacting to gender neutral or female reader/yuu acting stuff out in their book they are reading like poses, dialogue, just genuine reactions to the text itself

ex. Throwing the book across the room and them being genuinely concerned that something happened bc reader is just staring off into space or cursing but what actually happened was either a character died/did something embarrassing/the mc and love interest finally kiss

Anyways that's all I had in mind hope you have a good day/night! <3

Omg thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the content! QvQ

Ah, books. Such a wonderful creation humans made to fill us with raw, pure emotion or shattering our hearts and souls into a million tiny pieces—only for us to read it again and again! Don’t you just love those moments as a reader? UvU

Except for cliffhangers. Readers have a love/hate relationship with it, writers adore cliffhangers! ÒvÓ

So, what happens if we take a bookreader!Yuu (they/them) and throw them into Twisted Monsterland where even the history books read like a world guide/omnibus to a game or TV series? Oh, and I took a bit of inspiration from a Disney princess comic and a Bill Watterson “Calvin and Hobbes” comic for two of these scenarios. 😂

/-----------/

“Jeez, you sure you’ve got enough books, Yuu?”

“The librarian wouldn’t let me check out more than ten at a time,” Yuu replied, their backpack and arms filled with thick books. “Wish I could’ve gotten ten more at least, but this’ll do for now.”

“Are you sure you can even read all those before next semester?” Deuce asked in concern. “Those look pretty…dense.”

“Oh, I’ll be done in a week. Maybe a week and a half if we get a lot of homework.”

“Funya?! You gotta be kidding me!” Grim said. “Can humans read that fast?”

“Not everyone. Some people are slow readers, but that’s okay since they enjoy it at their own pace while I enjoy it at mine. Only problem for me is choosing which one of these I want to read first!”

/Later that night/

“Yuu? It’s time to eat!” Grim called out. Silence greeted him as he stared at Yuu, who was sitting on the couch with their face practically buried in a book. Frowning, the chimera padded over to the couch and repeated, “Yuu! I’m hungry!”

Still the human didn’t seem to respond, their shoulders hunching as they turned the page.

“Yuu? Yuu!” Huffing, Grim crossed his arms as he glared up at them. “You’ve been reading for the past three hours! How much longer are you gonna read that book?��

“What’s going on, pal?” one of the ghosts asked as the trio appeared.

Gesturing his paws at Yuu, he said, “They’ve been reading ever since we got back from the library today, and now they’re not reactin’ to me. It’s dinner time and they haven’t made any food yet!”

Before anyone could even think of what to say, a loud, shrill squeal filled the dorm.

“Eeeeeee!!!” Yuu squealed, a huge grin on their face as they flopped to the side and kicked their legs like a nervous rabbit while holding the book against their chest. “Omg it happened, it happened!!”

“Mrah!? What?! What happened?!” Grim yelled, wings flared out defensively while his fur bristled. “Why are you yelling!”

“My new OTP!! They finally kissed!!” Yuu said, their eyes wide as they rocked from side to side. “They kissed!! Yes!! Yesyesyesyesyessssss!!!”

“OTP? What’s an OTP??” one of the other ghosts asked.

“It’s what we like to call the ‘one true pairing’ in a story,” Yuu explained, a positively giddy expression on their face with eyes shining brighter than the stars as they struck a dramatic pose. “It’s two characters who vibe with each other on a level that you just can’t help but want them to be together—and the author brought these two together!! Yeeeeeeeee, I’m so happy!!”

“And loud,” Grim grumbled, paws clamped over his ears. “Why are you standing like that?”

“It’s how the main character professed their love for the other!”

“…are all humans as weird as you?”

“Trust me, there are people out there that are way crazier in their excitement than I am right now.”

“Really?!”

“Oh yeah. Don’t even get me started on the fanfics people write.”

“Fan…fics?”

“Oh, you sweet summer child…”

/Two days later/

“Heeeey, lil’ Shrimpy~!”

“Mm…”

“Eh…? Hey, Shrimp…why are you ignorin’ us? It’s not very nice.”

“Now, now, Floyd. One mustn’t interrupt a reader when they’re indulging in such a riveting story.”

“Shh,” Yuu muttered, their brow furrowed as they hunched closer to the book. “I’m at the best part!”

Floyd frowned as he laid his head on his arms, the basilisk slumping against the table. “Man, this is lame,” he said. “You promised to come play basketball with me today!”

“Once I finish this part, we can go do whatever you want, okay, Floyd?”

Jade hummed in amusement as he said, “A rather daring proposition you just offered, Yuu.”

“We have to do a buncha reading for class anyway,” Floyd said with a bored expression. “And Crabby and Mackerel said you finished two other books already, so what’s the point of thi-”

“AAAAIIIIIEEEEE!!?!?” Yuu shrieked, leaping out of their chair as Jade and Floyd recoiled in shock. Before the twins could react, Yuu had ducked back into their chair and pressed the book even closer to their face than before.

“…lemmie see that,” Floyd said, leaning over the table to grab it.

“No, no! It’s fine, go do something else!” Yuu said all too quickly, sinking even lower and turning away from Floyd’s reaching claws. “I think I heard Riddle in the hallway.”

“Lemmie see it!”

“No! You can’t read it!” Yuu cried out, bolting away from the table holding the book tight to their chest.

“Get back here, Shrimpy!”

“Noooo!!”

“Oh my,” Jade uttered, eyes wide for a moment before he chuckled. “Perhaps I should look into this book when they’ve finished it.”

/The next day/

“Oh no…oooh noooooo, I hate this so much!”

“Then why are you reading it?” Jamil asked, the naga curled around them. “If you don’t like it, just take it back to the library.”

“I can’t! It’s soooooo good!” Yuu said, practically throwing themselves backwards onto Jamil’s snake half with the book pressed against their face.

“Eh? But wait, you just said you hated it,” Kalim said in confusion.

“I hate it, but I love it so much,” Yuu told them with a whine, their head now touching the floor on the other side of Jamil’s snake body yet still draped over him like a cat. “This book will ruin your heart and shatter your soul into a million pieces!...you should read it too!”

“Given how dramatic you’re being, it might not be wise,” Jamil said with a sigh.

“Read it!”

“It’s okay, Yuu. We can read together! It’ll be more fun that way!”

“Kalim, no. You still need to study for the next potions exam.”

“Augh, I need someone to talk about this story with so we can lament in solidarity!”

“…have you been taking lessons from Rook lately?”

/Three days later/

“Um…is Yuu okay? They’re looking a little…tense.”

It had been several days since Yuu borrowed a stack of books, and already they had gone through nearly half of their hoard. Between classes and on breaks or after finishing tests, it wasn’t hard for students to notice the lone human with their nose between the pages of one book after the other. Even the researchers had taken note of Yuu’s behavior in between tests, making note of their expressions and how their body changes with each scene depicting their emotions. It was noteworthy how they reacted when a character in the story did something “cringeworthy and stupid” (as Yuu would explain when asked), it looked as though the human had swallowed a lemon.

At the moment they were sitting in Heartslabyul, yet another book in their arms as they sat on one side of the lounge. Cater had taken progression snapshots of Yuu’s body slowly curling into itself, eyes steadily growing wider and wider to the point it looked as though they’d bolt away in panic.

“They’re fine,” Grim told Trey as he munched on a snack. “They’ve been like this since they got all those books. That’s the pose they had last time when their Ohteevee smooched or somethin’.”

“Oh, you mean ‘OTP’, Grimmy,” Cater corrected with a smile. “That’s so cute! Our human has an OTP already~!”

“I’ve heard of hitting the books, but this is ridiculous,” Ace commented with a sigh. “They’ve been reading so long that I forgot what half their face looks li-”

“GRAAAAH!!!!”

SLAM! Fwump!!

“Gyah!?” the boys yelped, everyone staring at Yuu as they sat on the couch with a dark scowl.

“Yo, what the heck? Why’d you throw the book like that?” Ace asked, pointing at the large tome on the other side of the couch now.

“Um…Yuu?” Deuce began when they didn’t respond. “Are…you okay?”

“……I’m mad,” came the response, Yuu’s expression growing more annoyed as they stared off into space.

“About what?” Riddle asked in surprise.

Yuu’s gaze turned to the discarded book, their expression as though they had been betrayed by a trusted friend as they said, “Because my favorite character died, and I refuse to read how the book ends when there’s literally two freaking pages left! That’s not enough space to bring them back in a satisfying way!!”

“Y…you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ace grumbled with a sigh. “That big of a reaction just because a fictional character was killed off?”

“You weren’t there to see the struggles they went through! I saw them change from an annoying bully into a fully developed and vulnerable character who wanted to take charge of their life—and the author killed them off!” Jumping to their feet, Yuu marched towards Ace and Deuce’s room where they’d left their stuff and said, “Where’s my notebook? I need to fix this!”

“What are you gonna do?” Grim called out.

“Write a fanfic, because my scrunkly deserves to be happy!”

“Huh? Scrunkly??”

/Final day/

“Oh, Great Seven…what happened in your book this time?” Vil asked with a sigh.

Yuu sniffled as they tried to dry their tears, though it was difficult as more continued to flow down their cheeks. “I…I just finished my last book,” they said, their voice cracking a little with emotion as Grim pat their arm reassuringly.

“All ten books in a week?” Vil said in surprise. “That’s…impressive. Even so, why are you so upset? Was the story that horrible?”

“No…it…it…it was too good!” Yuu cried out, clutching the book so tight that their knuckles turned white as the tears flowed freely now.

“Ah…such pure, raw human emotion,” Rook crooned. “To express it so freely without fear…beaute!”

“Was the book really that good?” Epel asked.

“Yes!” Yuu wailed. “Now that it’s over, I…I don’t know what to do with myself now…”

Peering at the title, Vil gave a thoughtful hum and said, “Oh, that story. I hear there is supposed to be a spin-off book series. The first one should have released just the other day.”

“Really?!”

“Mrrr…now you’ve done it,” Grim grumbled with a sigh. “Here we go again.”

[majorproblems77]

Bonus links is back which means so am I! Welcome back to my Comic analysis corner :D

You liked my rambling last time so here I am to once again ramble about this comic I love.

Its a wonderul comic and always so well made. Please go look at it if you haven't, it's well worth it. :D

All comic panels and art belong to @bonus-links and the artist @ezdotjpg. Please go and look at their other stuff too!

Grab some popcorn and a drink, and let's get started, shall we!

First these two, I love this frame right off the bat.

Give me more of these two please I love them okay

Loft looks so worried can you hear the fear i can hear the fear. Poor man give him a break.

Oblatory obsession with SKSW link in various links meet aus.

I love him a healthy amount. I love his design and think about him often.

Oh this frame

This frame is very pretty

I love the golden light in the middle, and how she basically makes up the lower part of the symbol. It reminds me of ribbon. Which is fitting considering we get red string all over this comic. (I still need to go into that at one point)

It makes me wonder if we see the other Zelda's more in this context if they too will get the golden ribbon rather than the red string. As I'm seeing it as a way to show how they are connected like how the links are connected.

Panic mode engaged

I'm living for evil laser eye slate. Straight up looks like hes about to pounce on this man and kill him

Slates thinking face

Fangs?

I love it

I love these two. Interesting how dismissive Wolf is being at this stage. (currently playing through TP so I dont know a lot about the triforce in it but I assume it's still there)

Lots to unpack in this one and i love it

Wake vibing in the rain i can kinda understand.

Wolf just looks kinda done with it tbh and I'm here for it its a vibe.

Slate covering the little fairy pal from the rain is low-key giving me life I love him

And Loft, looking up at the clouds with just pure annoyance in his eyes. Like my man, I know you don't like storms but please the clouds didn't do anything to you. (Yet...)

HES A GRANDMA'S BOY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

ALSO ALSO

I can hear the music in my head as these actions are being done. Like, they are ingrained into my soul after watching enough wind waker playthroughs.

It's awesome he gets to use it with the melody he's learned. More windwaker melodies please i love seeing them used more

Hold on tight indeed! Cause it's about to get HECKIN WIMDY

Such an excited bean i love him

Help him

Help him so much man has fear

This little picture has me cackling, im sorry loft but omg.

And Slate looks so damn excited for this and honestly he deserves it.

Just his little face

Goddammit linebeck, man is just so done with the shenanigans by now. Impressive he's managing to drink from a cup while they are spinning like that. Man has got some amazing arm control to keep it together.

Tetra and Aryll! Them!!!

Also, can you hear the splash as the ship hits the water? People must be used to hearing the sound of a huge gale, then a massive splash and are just like...

Oh, link must be back again.

Love it

Hope you had fun with me today as I went through this one. More rambling than questions this time around which is nice i love just being excited about characters I enjoy. :D

That's all from me tho, until next time!

[alvindraperzzz]

Cassie progressively got worse and worse at hiding her secret identity

Like, she started out strong. A full on wig, plus skateboard goggles? Excellent, 10/10 disguise. But then she got excited. She’s part of the myth! Shes Wonder Girl! She’s a hero, and she wants people to know. Okay maybe not everyone, but definitely the people she knows. Like her good pal Georgia, who showed up one Wonder Woman issue already in the know.

She walked up to a new classmate and flat out told him she was Wonder Girl. He didn’t believe her, lucky for her. Not her brightest plan.

Rushing out in her pajamas with no time to grab the wig. Supposedly this is where she blows her secret identity (the first time) but no other comic ever mentions this again so I guess nighttime and chaos saved her.

Then she ditches the wig entirely. No mask, no wig. Skateboard goggles rarely over her eyes, instead pushed up into her fringe (an iconic fashion choice, but not much good for covering the face and hiding a secret identity)

Agent Fite ids her immediately (not entirely on her, as Bart and Kon also aren’t great with the whole secret identity thing)

Boy howdy, Cissie’s friend Cassie sure looks a lot like Wonder Girl. Funny how Young Justice members keep showing up around their school (Cassie is so bad at hiding her identity that I’m amazed she didn’t accidentally expose Cissie too; everyone say thanks Anita)

She punches that werewolf through the roof in front of a whole crowd of people (Cassie, I really doubt they’re going to believe steroids)

Finally, Cassie’s secret identity is officially blown (for real this time) when the Silver Swan attacks her school. She never looks back, once they get the no-school-will-accept-her thing settled.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

In ur opinion,who do u think draw moon knight best?

Mine is Declan Shalvey

BOY DID YOU ASK A QUESTION!!!!!!!

I’ve waxed on and on about the writers of Moon Knight. The best ones, the worst ones, a few mediocre ones that got the job done…. 

But what about the art? 

Each artist has their own style, their own ideas, and their own grasp of Moon Knight. 

When you get very lucky, you get a writer and artist dream team that create something beautiful. 

Let’s start with Bill Sienkiewicz. 

(THIS WASN'T EVEN FOR A COMIC. HE JUST FUCKING DREW THIS FOR FUNZIES)

He was not the first to draw Moon Knight. THAT was Don Perlin!  Look at this cape design! 

He was relatively new to the comic scene, but quickly a very sought after man. New Mutants, Electra, and many others for many different publishers. 

And even after he left us he still pops in now and then to remind us that no one…NO ONE can draw Moon Knight like he can.  Look at Sienkiewicz JUST FLEXING. 

(2014 people!!) Someone came to him and went, "Hey we could use a Moon Knight Variant. Do you wanna dip back in and hand us a little ol' Moony?"

And he gave them this and I'm sure they went "...WTF we didn't even ask for this. We thought he'd just do him perched on a building or something in the distance. What do we do with this? It's too good holy crap."

(2022 because he felt like schooling us again with another cover)

But he gave us more than the cowl. He gave us the men who wear it. 

And as amazing as his art was: 

He also gave us the most important pieces: 

I could wax on and on about Bill all day… But let’s take a look at some other artists. 

Kevin Nowlan Kept the dark parts of the suit and the billowing cape. 

Bo Hampton is the one that teamed up with Zelenetz to give us a fantastic sleek and angry design. Here's MK punching some Neo-Nazi in the face! 

Chris Warner came later in "First of Khonshu" run and started with a very classic 1990s muscle bound and glitzy design. A design that might start to look familiar to those of you with a sharp eye (look at that belt. We're approaching the BLING age of Moon Knight.) 

This was a weird time in comics for Moon Knight. We were switching out writers a lot and he suddenly had a much more Egyptian style theme. 

Moon Knight art goes on a WILD ride after this. We get the "Marc Spector" run that spans late 80s and early 80s and the art gets very 90s. Solid, Dark, and BUSY.

Sal Velluto (With the Punisher! This was a fantastic pair up!) 

Ron Garney Plays with the sharp edges of the cloak and that’s nice. Also gives his mask a bit more of a definition. 

Gary Kwapisz comes in with a BOLD metallic Moon Knight. Just look at those fists! Time time in MK was just wild you guys. 

James Fry flies in and tries to make sense of those MUSCLES. 

1993 arrived and the 90s hit HARD. 

Stephen Platt deep in that 90s style. 

What’s happening here? I don’t know. You don’t know. No one knows. But man does it look ACTION COOL. 

Muscles got BIG in this period in the 90s. Anatomy got weird and chest size had no limits. 

Tommy Lee Edwards steps in and slims our pal Moon Knight back down.

Now THAT is a breath of fresh air. I love this. 

Look at the use of that cape! And the hood? The subtle mask outline… Yes please. 

Mark Texeira steps in after this. Let me tell you guys about this art. This is the start of the modern age. 2008! 

(Look at the little Moon Knight design in the upper right near the signature! OMG little cutie!) Also the details in that rugged face and wet hair. 

But how does the suit look?

Nice.

We leave behind the glorious Tex and head to David Finch! You might recognize some of these motiffs as we get to some more popular runs. 

Hello there fist spikes! This is when Moon Knight starts to get his reputation as being a bit…punchy… 

The point in his cowl gets defined in this style too. 

Mico Suayan takes on this hard hitting run too. 

Clean lines, dark darks and white whites and that cape! The spikes are gone but the muscles are coming back.

This was a big action packed run and numerous artists got a chance. 

Now… This is about where I stop listing every single artist because it gets too fast pace with single issues, annuals, events, and all that fun business. SO here are some highlights. Also I have an upload limit so I'm sorry I can't show you all the beautiful art styles that branched off at this time.

Bong Dazo  gave us that little sad startled cat. 

Jerome Opeña Had such AMAZING action picks. I’ve never seen action done so well. And that outfit! 

I…I could go on forever about this artist and the run he did. But that’s for another day… Just know that I think about it all the time and it lives in my head rent free. 

I’m going to skip a lot here and jump to the BIG GUNS. 

Hate the run, LOVE the art. 

My dear Alex Maleev makes it worth it. 

The absolute SLAYING of the white in every image kills me. LOOK. LOOOK AT THE USE OF NEGATIVE SPACE.

It honestly brings me back to Sienkiewicz. 

I’m screaming inside holding this up to the moon. 

From there we slide SO easily into Declan Shalvey my precious. 

You know what I’m talking about. 

Ron Ackins Took over from there and it was stellar.

I am going to skip over THREE artists on purpose because not only was the RUN bad (the worst) but also the ART was just the worst. (See BEMIS run. Ugh. Nothing was good in that run.) 

Do I need to talk about Greg Smallwood? 

Do I really need to post anything about Greg? 

Or Cappuccio who works with MacKay's current run? 

Or Federico Sabbatini who also fills in with MacKay?

(I would but I'm out of picture space. Thanks Tumblr).

So who is my favorite? 

Hard to say… I’m caught up in the colors and designs of some, the action styles of others. Sometimes the raw power of MK’s fighting or just in how clever his cape and cowl are done. 

And sometimes I crave that amazing 1980s Sienkiewicz designs of Moon Knight in the rain, Stained Glass Scarlet’s everything, and the shape of Moon Knight (or shapelessness of him). 

I could argue that ANY artist that draws Moon Knight during a good run is my favorite. I could forgive most any style if the story is right and the style will weave into the words and the flow of his cape will settle into my heart once again. 

And sometimes…. 

Well…

[thedrunkenreadersreviews]

A thought on the Loki series finale.

Oh, we are gonna need something strong for this one. Excuse me while I pass on the Scandinavian mead and just reach for my old pal Jack for this one.

*long sip*

One of my biggest regrets in life is not going to the theater to watch the first Thor film upon its release and, instead, waiting to eventually pirate the movie online. The reason for this is that Loki was my favorite Marvel character and I had no idea who the hell Tom Hiddleston was. So afraid was I that he would not portray Loki properly or that the writers would botch his story had me hesitant.

And then I saw it. And I was blown away by Tom's performance, as most people were.

*Sip, sip*

So I stuck around, enjoyed the MCU, watching it expand, following my favorite character around, and adored how the comics were realizing just how much of a tragic, triumphant story Loki could be and putting him through an incredible arc throughout the pages (Kieron Gillen & Al Ewing were exceptional Loki comic book writers!).

*Long sip, sip*

And then ... there was Infinity War.

*Long sip, sip*

I knew it was coming. That's what every writer does when they have a character they can take no further. Just kill them. Marvel was no different. They killed Loki, albeit, giving him a hero's death and that was that.

Like Thor, I mourned. I grieved, I cried, I sat in pain. I returned to the comics to feel comfort, to know that at least there he was still going and his story was getting better and better. It brought me peace.

And then I am informed of the Loki series and I celebrate. I had never been so excited for a TV show my entire life.

There is a chance, I thought, that he could come back! That he will return! After all, Loki is his most powerful in the comics. The God of Stories, can alter realities, step through the multiverse. He is incredible! He is also able to call on variants of himself, they being a part of him, like it is amazing and I was hoping they would give Loki a similar power in the MCU.

*Sip, sip*

And they did!

Loki became the God of Stories ... but at what price?

*Long sip, sip*

You see, for me, it is something much more heartbreaking than what happened in Infinity War. It is something far more tragic than that.

Sacred timeline Loki has the peace of death. He can walk to the gates of Valhalla, be reunited with his mother, his father, and one day even Thor. There is a comfort in that, knowing that yes, he is dead but he is at peace.

Variant Loki ... Variant Loki ...

*Downs the glass, pours another*

There is a finality in forever. There is, as Mobius says, no comfort in it. It is a burden. A glorious purpose, but a burden.

What hurts the most is this:

Since Thor 1, Loki has said that he never wanted a throne.

Only Mobius, B15 (Verity), OB, Casey, and Sylvie know. They know what he gave.

Since season 1, Loki has said that the thing that frightens him the most is him being alone.

Since Infinity War, Loki promised Thor that the sun would shine on them again.

What hurts the most is that Variant Loki, God of Stories Loki, is now burdened with a throne. That he made a sacrifice much larger than death. And only his friends know. That he is now entirely, truly, forever alone and does not even have the promise of death to give him comfort. There is no death for him. There is no peace, there is no end. It is eternity. It is forever and there is such a finality to forever.

And the sun shines down on Thor in every universe, it shines on other Lokis too. It shines on the people of Asgard, on Mobius, on New York, on everyone in every universe.

Loki kept his promise to Thor, and no one will know.

And while I know Mobius is mourning as we all are---feels like the TVA isn't home anymore, wanting to look because of what Loki did just so he could have the choice to look---I hope he takes the chance that Loki gave him and lives. I hope he buys the jet ski, rides it down the Hudson River. I hope that when he feels the wind in his hair, the water splashing his face, and the warmth of the sun shining down on him, when he is at his happiest and living, that in those moments, he thinks of Loki and smiles. Because I know that Loki would not want Mobius to take the chance he gave him to mourn Loki forever. I know that Loki will watch those moments of Mobius smiling and living, and he'll smile too, and in seeing Mobius taking the chance Loki gave him, making it mean something, that is the peace that Loki can receive. That is the comfort.

*Downs glass*

This ending ... it hurt so much more than Infinity War. I have never felt this way about a character's story. Am I happy with it? No.

Would I change it?

No.

This ending, this sense of grief unlike before, this mixture of elation and bereavement is drowning but incredible. It is the ending that Loki does not deserve but accepts, and that is why I wouldn't change it.

Loki finally became what he has been to me and to several fans of the MCU and Marvel as a whole. What he was always meant to be.

Loki finally became the heart of the MCU. And though we may never see him again---which now I find I oddly prefer---we will know that he is there, between the branches, watching, protecting, beating, and making sure that each and every story gets told.

[haljathefangirlcat]

Now that you mention it, the Volsung-Nibelung-Dietrich cycle would make a good sitcom if you just focused on the zanier parts. The Nibelung siblings Gullrond, Gunther, Gernot, Giselher, Kriemhild, and (maybe) Hagen, with all their pals. Nephews Dankwart and Patavrid; Gunther's incredibly athletic girlfriend Brynhild and her dog and horse; the Nibelungs' best pal and Brynhild's ex Sigurd, who would be the man you wished your man could be if not his moments of random philosophizing or idiotic life decisions despite knowing what was going to happen; Hagen's best pals, Volker the musician and Walther the nerd; local businessman Rudiger and his sweet, cutesy young daughter; socially maladjusted Dietrich and his gang of pals, who always pop up during hangouts despite nobody inviting them... With less murder and more mayhem, it sure would make a good show!

You know, one thing I will always be irrationally sad about when it comes to the Sigurd/Siegfried cycle and related legends is that... it just never gets any of the wacky, zany, "how tf did you even come up that" adaptations and reimaginings Arthuriana keeps getting.

I mean, sure, you do have adaptations with some humor in it, and different ways to mesh Norse and Continental and even Wagnerian elements, and very different perspectives on the same characters. But Arthuriana really has anything and everything from Disney movies to anime and manga to Monty Python movies and musicals to kids' cartoons to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and all its parodies to Young!Arthur/Young!Merlin Slashy Bromance shows to irriverent French sitcoms to loosely-inspired queer YA romance novels to a few recurring and even main characters in "all stories are true" fantasy series like Once Upon a Time or The Librarians. There's even those collector's edition Merlin & Morgana Barbies that were making the rounds on here a while ago!

Meanwhile, the wackiest, less "serious" stuff our Nibelungs get are:

The brief Siegfried & Fafnir cameo in the Mara and the Firebringer movie, where the main mythological figures are actually Loki and Sigyn (can't really say anything about the books, as I haven't read them)

A weird Hungarian (?? iirc??) comedy movie where Siegfried has a talking piglet as his animal companion for some reason and Kriemhild really doesn't like him but she apparently can't just tell him to get lost and stop courting her so she orders Hagen to drive him away from Worms and kill him, which I've only ever managed to "watch" in bits and pieces

The comedic operetta Die lustigen Nibelungen, which I've never managed to find anything about that wasn't in German, so I'm not even really sure what it's actually about

The 70s porn movie The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried, which... tbh, I'd rather stick to fanworks on the nsfw side of things, if the alternative is Siegfried with a pornstache

A Modern/High School AU fantasy romance self-pub I once found where, from what I remember of the summary and excerpt I read, Brunhild is a Mean Girl/Queen Bee who tries to steal Siegfried away from Kriemhild and Hagen is Kriemhild's shitty jealous ex-boyfriend (nothing against High School AUs, or romance novels, or alternative takes on the Kriemhild/Siegfried/Brunhild love triangle, or Hagen/Kriemhild as a ship... but tbh, I'd rather see all those elements handled in vastly different ways XDD)

A couple of old Italian Disney comicbook parodies featuring Donald Duck and his family (but those were mostly Wagner-based, iirc, and then again, an amazing thing about Italian Disney comics is that they will parody literally everything under the sun from the Divine Comedy to Twilight)

... Siegfried (or Sigurd?) showing up in one of the Fate anime series? Or novels? Or games? Not sure. I've only ever watched like two episodes of the Fate/Stay Night anime and then dropped it because I didn't like the normal guy protagonist always rushing to protect his (secretly Fem!King Arthur) supernatural sworn knight just because she was a girl

And... that's it, I think.

And on the one hand, I get it. With Arthuriana, you have adventurous romances and ridiculous (affectionate) quests and so many different bizarre canons and twists on them that even that cartoon where Morgan Le Fay sends an American football team back in time to Camelot (I think that was the plot, at least????) is just another "you know, this might as well happen" situation. I suppose that, at least by comparison, the Nibelungensage & All Adjacent Stuff may appear more grounded and less easy to play with and bring in whatever strange, unlikely new direction you want. Plus, tragic events like Sigurd/Siegfried's death, Brynhild/Brunhild being tricked into marrying a man she doesn't want, and Gudrun/Kriemhild's revenge, or even Dietrich's exile, are just central to it, so that's kind of a downer already, I guess.

... on the other hand, King Arthur's tale literally ends with him and his son killing each other at the end of a bloody civil war. And it's not like anyone's ever had any problem merrily ignoring THAT part to, idk, have everyone in the story be cats.

All this to say, I'd watch the hell out of a Modern AU Nibelung sitcom. Or even just a Nibelung sitcom set in the Middle Ages, or Late Antiquity, or a vague mishmash of the two. The dream for that would be a Galavant-style show with musical numbers and a lot of scenes poking fun at epic and heroic tropes, ngl.

Actually, let's be real: I wouldn't just watch it, I'd probably write fic and make gifs and fanvids for it!

[ask-the-rpg-3]

RPG3 FIRST ANNIVERSARY + 500 FOLLOWERS MOD!

It's been a whole year of pushing teens down holes, surviving moss harassment, and surviving actual harassment from a stressful fandom. Despite all the bumps along the road? I'd do it all again.

IT'S THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY! AND THERE'S 500 OF YOU FOLLOWING ME!!! I needed to celebrate somehow, and my pals @chipistrate , @freemonngo , and creatorofyes (i forgot your @ LMAO) HELPED ME BRING THE PROLOGUE TO LIFE! GO PLAY IT!!!

Sappy ramble underneath:

God I. what a year it's been. I hold this stupid comic so close to my heart, even if it's a ridiculous concept to fuel my hyperfixations. There's still so much left to go, WE HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT THE RUINS YET, but I'm so excited to keep going and show you guys all the ideas I have.

I've met so many people this past year, I never knew how important making that Discord server would be. I've met so many awesome people and it's been such a silly goofy time. Your support means the world to me and it's still a weird feeling that people like my art and like my stories, I'm STILL getting used to that. Thank you all for just being here and sending asks and making me laugh and drawing fanart, you've all made my time here so worth while.

I love our little RPG trio, I'm amazed at my art improvement throughout the year, I'm amazed at the blogs growth, and IT'S JUST SOO MUCHHHHH THANK YOU ALL FOREVER!!!!

I feel so happy to know that RPG3 (and me by association) has helped people actually get into some of these games, and that was kind of a hope I had, I think. I got Chip into both Omori and Yume Nikki with this in one fell swoop and that's hilarious to me. I hope to throw in more games that everyone should hyperfixate over, just like me <3

I hope you enjoy this playable version of the prologue, the thing that started it all! Here's to the continuation of RPG3 and hoping that these funny little protagonists can get back home. I hold these guys so close to my heart. I really, really can't wait to show you guys the future plot points, because, not to brag, I think they're REALLY cool. This is more than just a crossover comic.

And a special thank you to @chipistrate for sticking with me throughout this past year. Thank you for being my friend, my infodumpee, my support, my moderator, thank you for helping with this mod, and thank you in advance for whatever happens in the future. You're important to me!

I don't know what else to say,,, expressing emotions is hard yo

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

[glorfie394]

Webtoon recommendations for dem nerdy pals

(there's a lot of bl in this ) ←⁠(⁠*⁠꒪⁠ヮ⁠꒪⁠*⁠)

I'm just going to put in my top recs because I've read like a lot

1. Shifting borders

WHEN I SAY THIS IS GOOD I MEAN IT

the story is more world building and characterization based which is amazing for me as an avid Tolkien fan who is extremely picky

Very gay and very cute 10/10 would recommend

I honestly want to give more love towards this author because they have another webtoon called chanta which takes place in the same universe as this and it's equal exciting to read

2. Miss abbott and the doctor

Sooooooo cute and it keeps me engaged

I literally log in every day just to use my daily pass to read another chapter

It's more slice of life and romance based and a great example of opposites attract and enemies to lovers

I would write a lot more but that would spoiling༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

3. Homesick

The storyline? Pops.

The artstyle?so good that I cried.

The characters and roles? Believe me when I tell u that it's perfect.

It's all set in a beauty fantasy setting with terrifying moments and a lot of suspense and thrill

It was so good I read everything over 1 night and woke up the next morning dead but satisfied

It's quite pleasing even for someone who doesn't like horror that much but is okay with gore and angst

Honestly can't wait till the next episode comes out

4.Morgana and Oz

One of the first webcomics I read which got me instantly hooked

It's currently one hiatus but whatever has been already posted has literally brought me to tears. Again it's fantasy and the characters are soo cute and complex

Top tier would recommend to anybody in my line of sight

I would write more but that's for part2

OMG PART 2

SO I HAVE WASTED MORE PRECIOUS TIME BY READIND SOME MORE PRECIOUS WEBTOONS SO LET ME SPREAD THE JOY PPL!!

5. Star Catcher -(ro-taniah)(bl)

i read this while it was still on canvas and i absolutely loved it. right now its originals and i can't tell you how happy i am to see longer chapters with more content.

it's about 2 college boys besties and how their relationship develops

as an anxious person this was a great read and i could really relate to some parts of the main characters anxiety even though it was more extreme compared to what the average person aka me would face.

literally so cute that i'm reading it again now that it's on originals!!!

it updates regularly and is great if you are just looking for a classic

6. heesu in class 2 - lily

this isn't on webtoon but omg such a cute read

i recently reread this and i thought it was quite worthy of being mentioned in this post

it's main couple is 2 high school boys and i can't explain how cute it is

yes there is drama and quite a bit of miscommunication but i thought it was really cute and fun

even the side ship got me feel crazyyyy

also the artstyle is mwahhh *chefs kiss*

there are around 91 chapters including sides stories and extras and you can read it on bato.com for free

but pls support the author as it was originally posted in lezhin if you prefer that

7.countdown to countdown - velinxi / xiao tong kong

back to webtoon again!!

honestly i first started reading this because i thought the art style was so cool and detailed but then the storyline got me hooked.

it is currently being posted on webtoon but the webtoon has its own website so you can read it there as well

more chapters are available on the website so you can check it out if you finish reading the webtoon chapters

it's story is set in a dystopian world in 2044 and the worldbuilding left me speechless + bonus amazing artstyle

velinxi also has other comics so pls check them out

https://velinxi.tumblr.com/

https://www.ctccomic.com/comic/archive

[randomgooberness]

snip.

OKAY.....SO NOW THAT MY WRITING POST APPARENTLY HAS 80K+ NOTES, MIGHT AS WELL POST THE COMIC OF THE SCENE THAT I USED AS AN EXAMPLE! 

This is Jack and Tower, they’re characters from a campaign me and my pals have been doing for over a year and a half- and it means a lot to me. Jack is my character, and he’s the mc of my webcomic, @killcount, which posts twice a week and is nearing its 5th anniversary in a few months. Tower belongs to @collabwithmyself, who is an AMAZING character writer and one of my best friends. I’m genuinely shocked over how this relationship came to be in the campaign itself- neither of us expected it but it’s currently one of my favorite things. 

Under the cut is a portion of the scene.

"Dude, I-I can walk, you don't have to--" Tower stammers in Jack’s grasp, being carried to the bathrooms of the hospital labeled Lemons Room, which the two of them had grown used to this past year.

Carrying the high of the fiery, victorious fight with the Ten of Pentacles, the ghost that had been haunting Jack’s mind for the past two months and torturing him inside out, he finds himself lighter than he had felt in a year- no…has he ever felt this good?

What happened with Tenpents would eventually settle in- the abuse he’d gone through with him living in his head would haunt him still, and he’d have to reheal from something like this yet again- as if what he went through as a child wasn’t enough. Torn open, over, and over again. 

But not tonight. All Jack knows is he feels full of butterflies as he sets Tower down.

“You have a bad head.” He smooches Towers temple.

Tower is as red as a tomato. Truthfully, their headache had considerably lessened the moment they weren't around so many people, but they're still tongue tied.

Jack laughs- tearing his eyes from his friends flusteredness. He doesn’t know why he did that, but it felt right. 

He looks in the mirror at his now shirtless form, and grimaces at the wound Tenpents had left behind- one that, his own blessing as he lit the room ablaze healed for the most part, but let behind a vivid mark.

“…ew.” He pokes at the new purple scar.

"...s'that where Tenpents got you?” Tower blinks towards Jack.

“…Yeah.” he grumbles. “…Hurt like a bitch. Went right where my appendix was when I was a kid.”

"Ugh, you had yours taken out too?" They stand up, considerably less wobbly than before. The solitude and the Advil are working wonders for their headache, thank God.

“Yeah! What, you get appendicitis as a kid?”

"Yeah, when I was eight. Sucked ass, but Jase let me borrow his DS while I was stuck in the hospital."

“That's nice.” Jack laughs a bit. “I didn't get that. My dad jus’ told Strangelove to yoink it out. Got my tonsils out the same day.”

"...what the fuck?" Tower blinks in bewilderment. "Don't you need it unless it blows up? And-- I thought you had to go to the dentist for tonsils?"

“Its good to have- but you don’t NEED it.” Jack shrugs. “Dads from the sixties where they yoinked it out if they cut you open. So he decided I didn’t need it either.”

"That's bullshit," he mumbles, awed. He approaches the sink beside Jack to wash his sweaty hands, and splashes his grimy face for good measure.

Jack laughs. “You can use the shower if you want.”

He takes a moment to drink out of his cupped hands - apparently a whole bottle of water wasn't enough for this guy!! - and nods. "Uh. Yeah. Okay. If you're cool with it."

“Yeah no I don't care.” Jack shrugs. “I might use it after. I just gotta hype myself up.” He plays with his long hair. “…this shit really is a mess when its out of the ponytail, huh?”

"You need help with that or anything?" they offer automatically. "Maybe we can cut it. Mine's getting pretty long too."

“…I don't think I’ve…ever actually cut my hair before.” Jack mutters. “…Closest I've gotten was…cutting random strands that annoyed me.”

"Huh. Well, I've never cut mine before either, always got taken to the barber." He rubs the back of his neck. "We'd probably make total messes of ourselves if we tried, huh..."

“…Yeah.” 

He looks in the mirror. 

…He’s tired of carrying all this weight with him- on his shoulders. He’s tired of it being a mess that he can never maintain, something easy for others to grab and take advantage of- even if he ties it up and keeps it close, they can always see. They can always tell. 

He vaguely remembers what Amaris told him about letting go. It…was so horrifying to him- he melted the freezer aisle in fear. 

But…he’s tired. He needs to let go. 

He takes out his first aid kit, digging out his scissors, and grabs a strand of hair. 

He angles it between the two blades, and takes a deep breath. 

He’s letting go. 

snip.

Tower takes a deep breath as the storm of Jack's emotions washes over him. But it solidifies into a burning resolve, and he hesitantly relaxes, content to simply watch Jack work.

The freckled man saws through his mane- cutting through it all with reckless abandon- cutting it onto a short bob, like how he had it as a child, and continues to cut higher.

The Tower watches as the storm brings everything down. The locks fall, and they watch them tumble like cinders from flames, like stones from a wall, like rain from the sky.

Justice, with blade in hand, cuts away the imbalances, settling the scales of his mind at last, forming an unruly crown to rule over himself as he always should have.

Change is here, painful and raw and right.

Once he’s finished, Jack stands there, staring at the mirror. 

Its…not the best. Actually, it kinda sucks. Its choppy and a buncha hairs are standing up and different lengths, but he has such a big grin. 

Its pride. Bare chest with no extra weight and letting go of hair that's grown far too long. He lets out a laugh, and looks to Tower, eyes sparkling.

His own eyes shine as he takes Jack in. Standing tall, the most at ease that Tower's ever seen him. Changed. Ready to change.

He's so proud of him.

God, he thinks he loves him.

"You... you look like a mess. In a good way."

Jack grins like a moron, lighting up. 

"Y-yeah?" His sharp teeth look less like weapons, more like crooked youth. God, Tower can feel it back.

Tower is literally lighting up, the glow returning to their markings, intensifying and fading with the pulse of their heart.

"You look... I-I guess you look more you. If that... makes sense."

"Y-yeah...I-I guess this...this is me." 

His voice is a delicate rasp, not out of fear, for once- so much excitement that his heart is pounding. He's here. He's real. 

Jack Wexler doesn't need to be a weapon, or a shield. 

Jack Wexler is allowed to love.

He stares at Tower.

When was the last time Tower felt like this? There's no envy to taint their heart, no possessiveness of something that doesn't belong to them. Just... the desire to see someone happy. To help them be happy.

Is this what love is supposed to be?

Jack places a hand on Towers cheek. 

They're both so fucking gross, standing in the gender neutral bathroom labeled Lemons, recently cut hair sprawled amongst the floor. Jack can still feel a film of old tears on his face and he still feels the slight hiccup-y feeling of a post-breakdown, but god this is the happiest he's been in weeks. 

He exhales, tracing his thumb down Towers chin.

They shut their eyes, feeling their skin buzz at the touch. For once, the circuit doesn't need to be forced - sparks jump back and forth between the two, carrying both their emotions with them. Happiness. Relief. Adoration.

After all they've gone through, even with whatever's coming next looming over the horizon, they can take solace for a moment in the eye of the storm.

Jack closes the gap between them, and their lips lock with one another. 

It's warm, and it's loving, and it's right.

He shudders, not unpleasantly. He doesn't know what to do, he's never kissed anyone before, but he rocks forward on the balls of his feet a little.

He smacks their foreheads together. 

"Sorry--!" Tower breaks away, flushed and sweating, and bursts into nervous laughter. "Sorry! Are you okay?"

Jack laughs a little, tilting his head back. 

"Yeah! Yeah! Your headbutts are nothing compared to the one Gage gave me earlier today." He snorts, leaning forward again.

"Pff-- what?" they giggle. "Sorry, I've never--" Oh, oh geez, here they go. This time they just shut their eyes and let Jack carry the kiss. They've learned a lot from him already, so... what's one more lesson?

Jack starts laughing, and leans in again. 

He kisses Tower. He's usually better at it drunk, but hey, at least it's better because the other party isn't better at it than him! 

...He gets too into it and one of the lightbulbs nearby explodes. They weren't even on.

Tower yelps, and then starts laughing all over again, pressing his head into Jack's shoulder. His face feels very hot. "Sorry!"

"It's okay!" Jack snorts. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay? Both of us. I can shower with my underwear on I don't care. You are not putting a shirt back on me, though. Just by the way."

...

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #187

At about this time, I entered Sixth Grade in Elementary School, which would prove to be a year of some significance in my overall journey. I wound up once again in the same class as my comics-reading pal Donald Sims, the last time we’d share classes together, so already I was on somewhat firm and familiar ground. And I was in general smart enough and well-read enough that typical school subjects…

[popculturebuffet]

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Retrospective Season 1 Finale: Remain in Light (Patreon Review for Brotoman.exe)

Hello all you happy Autobots. It's been over a year, two spotlight issues, a two issue prequel, an annual and as of this review, 22 issues but we've done it we've reached the end of more than meets the eye season 1.

It's been a long project but one of my faviorites, one I always wanted to do but simply didn't have the time on my own and was more than happy when Brotoman commissioned these. I owe him a world of gratitude for his support and patience. Without him I woudln't of been able to talk about gay disfunctional robots every month and for that, i'm eternally grateful. This is one of my faviorite comics and re-reading it slowly and intently has only solidified that.

So a few things before we dive into this wonderful story: The first is something I forgot to mention last time that brotoman pointed out, something important I missed in my tired daze: How big a moment Rewind saying "I Love You" To chromedome is.

See before this, the series was coy about the two: It made it damn obvious the two were a couple.. but also used terms like them being "friends" and no one using words like couple, common law husbands or pound pals. The two were just a duo at first and if you were a mite thick headed like yours truly, who at the time I first read the comic didn't look for gay subtext like a bloodhound after a cheeseburger, you'd miss it. It was still obvious, the way they act around each other, their history, the way they fight.. the two are ENTIRELY an old married couple and act it and anyone looking closely could see that. But Roberts knew that those three little words were, to quote an interview with Sequart Orignization, a step up.

All that said, the Chromedome/Rewind relationship stepped up a gear – and moved fully into the open – with issue #16, when Rewind tells Chromedome (not for the first time, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it on the page) that he loves him. I was conscious that this was really nailing certain colors to the mast, and I was ready to make a case for those three words to stay in the script. But both John and Michael Kelly at Hasbro were incredibly supportive and encouraging, and the declaration of love survived the editing process. The reaction to the first Transformers gay couple was amazing – overwhelmingly positive. To be honest, I thought most people would be pretty cool with it, because most people are sensible and decent, but it was still encouraging to see. Hooray for Transformers fans."

I"m happy to hear that the reception was entirely positive and that Hasbro was supportive. I'm sure there are still a few idiots who were again it here and there, but like those who actively deny huntlow happened.. their a few idiots who can't accept objective reality and there's only one way to deal with them

Moving on to Remain in Light itself, We need to talk about the big shockwave shaped elephant in the room. Dark Cybertron is intended to be the finale for both this and Robots in Disguises' first season, a big epic crossover to shake up both series status quos and onboard us into season 2.

In practice.. it's the big showy finale to Robots in Disguise with the MTMTE cast guest starring. It's still VITAL to MTMTE, I would've simply recapped it like I intend to recap RID if that weren't the case: Nautica and Nightbeat are introduced, joining the crew in season 2, Megatron has his heel realization that leads to him also joining the crew, Cybertron finds out Prowl didn't kill MOST of the lost lighters (RIP Rewind I), and Chromedome powerbombs the motherfucker off a cliff.

I'll unpack this scene more when we properly get to it but I cannot see Prowl get powerbombed off a cliff while he's somehow SHOCKED this happened despite begging for it. It's Dellliccciooousss.

The fact is while a crossover was inevitable the death fakeout meant both books were completely isolated from each other, and thus their plots.. really don't intersect much. Prowl's actions have consequences and his baiting Chromdome leads to bad shit over in RID, but for the most part the two books are their own stories and their own spheres and by the time they intersect it works well enough... but it's clear they just work better on their own. It's likely why the third addition to this line, Windblade (both volumes) was made to stand on it's own while having an easier time intersecting back with Cybertron as our heroes are one teleport away versus the lost light being deep in space and in it's own character stuff. Windblade, btw is fucking great and I intend to cover it at some point, just not as part of this retrospective. It's it's own beautiful thing.

So while Lost Light was going to get into the Dark Cybertron hype, it needed to cap off it's own story first as it would've been a bit much to try and cram two series with a wide buffet of ongoing plots and plans together. So we get Remain in LIght where a LOT of character arcs are paid off, a few questions are answered, and a few things are set up for both next season and the eventual finale of the series. As usual it's remarkable how much Roberts set up, but here's where it gets to payoff more: last arc paid off the overlord conspiracy and rewind and chromedome's relationship, this one pays off magnus' breakdown, the circle of light and even where we found skids and just what was chasing him. It's a true epic and I can't wait to share it with you under the cut.

Part 1 picks up exactly where we left off: Tailgate is running to tell Cyclonus some "stupid news" while Rodimus, Blaster and Ambulon look over the security footage since Ratchet was busy telling Tailgate he gonna die. And to remind us Ambulon exists before the carnage to come.

For now Blaster's friend Mainframe is able to track the shuttle, so Rodimus is rounding up a crew to go find Magnus, with a determination we've scarely seen and a grimness we really haven't.

Meanwhile it turns out Tailgate's sickness... is cybercois, a condition that slowly kills the trnasformer, taking away their movement , speech and eventually memory.. and given memories of this place are all Tailgate really has he didn't take it well. Cyclonus urges tailgate to face his death with dignity and head on, agreeing to keep it secret and leaving... to mutilate his own face with a large scrap, enraged the one person he has on this ship is about to die and he can't just cut his diseas in half.

Hot Rod leads the crew to a big hole, making it very clear that he dosen't care what they ahve to say their going in... and for once his impusilvness pays off as what he finds is Luna 1, cybertron's missing moon which was mentioned before and I honestly forgot was the setting for this arc but it's a brilliant payoff and a way to have Rodimus have acomplished something big: he found one of the lost moons. Even if the quest has gone nowhere, this is still pretty damn big and he has perceptor confirm it. What's more curious, even if Perciptor dosen't buy it? Luna has a BILLION PEOPLE on board.

So Rodimus assembles his crack team.. and this is the first time we really see what we'll call Team Rodimus come together: While Rodimus has interacted with all these guys before, this is where it becomes clear how much he cares about them as more than just his crew:

First recurit is Rung whose surpised after Rodimus' outburst last time they talked. Naturally that's exactlyw hy: Rodimus flipped out largely because it was something he didn't want to hear... and with magnus gone he NEEDS that opposing opinon.

The rest of the team includes Brainstorm, whose happy to go and is already packed (holds up suitcase), Ratchet as the Medic, Perceptor as the more stable science guy to Brainstorm's mad scientest, and Whirl... who Rodimus flat out admits he just needs to throw a punch. Also going along is Chromedome, who Skids begs to help him: Since LUna 1 is allegedly's a giant treasure trove, Skids wants something to repair his memory. Swerve also wants to go but is harshly turned down by rodimus due to limited capacity, while Cyclonus agrees to go and take Drift's place as spirtual advisor, since he's the most religious person on the ship left, which he agrees to if Tailgate can come.

What I really get from this is while Rodimus is asking most on qulaifications, only being really straight with Rung.. like I said this shows who he really cares about: his team has to be small and he's a dick to swerve.. but it's likely more he knows Swerve might be in danger here and if there were room, skids and swerve would be along. These are who he can count on, who he's leaned on, who he needs without his two main supports on the ship. And this team will only grow as time goes on.

For now Team Rodimus heads to the planet, with Tailgate hoping to find a cure and Cyclonus.. thinking hope is a lie and telling him to never hope. And also he killed his puppy. He made him a puppy and then he stabbed it. A bunch. And then he showed tailgate the pictures.

Anyway our heroes land on the seemingly barren moon only to find...

IT's a hell of a reveal, and one that will be vastly important down the line... it won't really have any consequences for NOW but just remember this in a few years when we get to the final arc. For now jus tnejoy the sense of wonder on everyone's face: even Ratchet, the crankiest of crank and Tailgate who

We then find out what constructed cold means as Tailgate asks... granted I think I covered this definition back in chapter 1, but as a reminder; cold construction is making a cybertronian via "Spark splicing" using a bit of someone elses to craft a new one. This was in part due to demmand: Cybertron couldn't expand out into the cosmos if it didn't have enough people. Problem is as we've seen like any society Cybertron is quick to prejudice, and thus once Nova Prime who invented the process left, many a city started trying to "prove" constructed cold bots were inferior, something Chromedome is still bitter about and rightfully so.

It's about then things go to hell: On the ship commuincation is suddenly blocked between the bridge crew and away team, and Skids hears some clanking. on Luna 1, our heroes are soon swarmed by decepticons as Lockdown arrives

Okay probably not the right reaction but for those curious who this guy is, Lockdown was one of the handful of original characters from Transformers Animated, my faviorite transformers show and the one that reignited my spark for this fandom. And then this comic did it again, it's a bit cyclical. Point is even if I badly need a refresher on that series, Lockdown was their kraven the hunter, a bounty hunter who hunted down autobots for the decepticons, mostly working for them out of necisity and largely being his own man, so he fits for being a gun for hire for someone else. He sadly dosen't get as much to do here, at least in this season I can't remember if he shows up again, but it's just nice to see something from Animated imported as later installments tend to either make new transformers or stick with the core ones.

On the ship.. things are worse... Skids is confronted by those mysterious robots, who i'll just go ahead and call by their proper names: Legislators... only this time their giant sized and emerging out of the oil pool. What's worse is they soon creep up on EVERY deck of the ship, all shouting the same thing: 1984. Oh and in case you thought things couldn't get any worse as Team Rodimus flees... Ratchet is shot down and isolated....

We pick up from the siege in issue 2: the ship's overrun, our heroes are outgunned and only Swerve is able to land a solid hit as only one came to Swerves

... admitely I just wanted to show off the my first blaster. (Clears throat)

SAY YOU, LITTLE AUTOBOT. YOU WANT TO SHOOT THINGS WITH ALL THE BIG KIDS BUT YOU CAN'T FIRE THEIR BIG OLD GUNS FOR BIG OLD BOTS WITH YOUR WIDDLE BITTY BABY HANDS? TRY MY FIRST BLASTER! MY FIRST BLASTER IS A GUN DEISGNED FOR LITTLE FELLAS LIKE YOU. jUST POINT SHOOT AND MY FIRST BLASTER WILL TELL YOU IF YOU DID AND SUPPORT YOU IF YOUR NOT. MY FIRST BLASTER, FROM BRAINSTORM INC A DIVISON OF BRAINSTORM IS SMARTER THAN YOU LLC.

WARNING: NOT SELLABLE ANYWHERE EXCEPT THE LOST LIGHT. DO NOT GIVE TO BOTS UNDER 1. DO NOT USE WHILE DRUNK UNLESS IT'D BE REALLY FUNNY. COPYRIGHT VIOLATERS WILL BE HUNTED DOWN AND DIPPED IN ACID.

Meanwhile Skids continues his fight and easily wins using his super learning, able to predict his new foes attack easily and counter it.. the problem is while it's a great skill when your fighting a few of Legislators.. it's not so great when your fighting NINE of them and they'll likely keep coming.

So back on Luna 1.. it isn't much better. Whirl and Cyclonus get seperated from the group, and Rodimus, while finding out Ratchet got taken down from tailgate.. simply can't go back for him.

Rodimus then procedes to do some dope as hell sacrlige as he plunges into a titans corpse to give him more room to evade their captors. Sadly while his moves are dope as fuck and Lockdown is sure to give them the slow clap they deserve.. he's already gotten everyone else. After taking a second to tell pharma everyone else hates him, a worthy use of his time. What a legend.

So our heroes end up in a jail cell where, for the past two issues, Rodimus has been recapping these events to Minimus, his cellmate.. who looks an awful lot like someone a certain dead bot was looking for.. hmmm. Questions for later.

For now Rodimus admits they weren't just dumped in a cell first, as Rodimus correctly figures Lockdowns taking them to his boss: a long lost moon as a base, teleport tech.. all of this screams big bad.. and Lockdown is at the end of the day a guy just doing his job. Pharma mentioning a collective "lord and master earlier" already told us this, but it's a nice character bit, shows that beneath his reckleness Rodimus is far smarter than he appears and far more capable than most give him credit for. He's an idiot, sure, but he's one with great skill and intiution.

And sure enough there is a big bad behind all this.. and of all people it's..

I was as shocked as rodimus but it's a clever rug pull: We've seen Chief Tyrest brought up a lot, his accords are what Ultra Magnus is duly appointed enforcer of and back in Last Stand of the Wreckers, he's the one who oversaw the Aquetius trials. So seeing him show up is a suprise... but seeing him be BEHIND all this is a nice swerve. He also makes a perfect contrast to our crew: the embodiment of order and rigidity veruss our far looser, far more human crew. Metaphorically I mean thir still giant robots.

Tyrest is being an obstinante dick, proving he really is Magnus' boss, charging our heroes with crimes against creation. We find out our ambus ISN'T dominus, but his brother minimus, an allged energon trader who hasn't tried to escape because he's waiting for his day in court, a BIGGGGG honking neon sign of a clue at who this guy is. But more on that later, for now Tailgate has a bit of a breakdown, with no one knowing why since he didn't tell anyone present he's dying and could be trapped here for what days remain.

Meanwhile Ratchet.. is not doing any better, with Pharma torturning him, showing off his new shapeshifting hands which can become TWO chainsaws. That double groovey. He's no less stable than last time, but now he dosen't need to PRETEND to be and is honestly an even better villian on return: he has a joker style quality to him as he fiddles with his double groovy hands and plays with ratchet making him ask what's in THE BOX

Turns out 9 robots vs skids does just mean send more legislators and we get a nice speech from the guy, with him pointing out how the Lost Light took him in, cared for him and welcomed him no questions asked.. and

Unfortunately while Skid is totally badass.. he's also wiped.. and thus dosen't see this coming

We'll get into who this fine bastard is later, for now he knocks out Swerve too.

Back in Prison, Tailgate asks about tyrest, noting Nova Prime had a chief science offer of the same name.. the same guy. We get Tyrest's backstory: He was a nobody until the war when, with Dai Atlas' help , they helped 10,000 neutrals off world. Tyrest returned to TRY and broker peace, simply two city states, one for each side, but naturally since one of those sides was Megatron that never went anywhere. It instead lead to the Tyrest Accords, a series of rules of engagment the biggest being not exporting cybertronian weaponry. It's thanks to him the universe isn't a smoldering crater and thanks to Optimus he's chief justice.

As for what he's doing here... no one has a clue. He was last seen during the Aquetius trials, which Rodimus helpfully recaps: trials using a judging machine that 100% predicts guilt, and hasn't been seen since the trials. They also pass around energon sticks, something equivlent to either gum or cigarettes or autobot slim jims

Rung offers Minimus to snap into one.. then delberately spills it and spills it more, causing him to HAVE to get them off the ground and organized... and proving what Rung's figured all along:

Yup, while Ultra Magnus was indeed Ultra Magnus... he was also Minimus Ambus. It's complicated and naturally Hot Rod's a bit confused, so Magnus backs it up slightly: he war bought into luna one and reparied... then smacked in the face by tyrest.

Tyrest decides just bitchslapping Magnus PHYSICALLY isn't enougH: having read his logs and found his actions disgraceful, both the micromanagment and the various fraternizations, he disables the armor and left ambus as he was.

As for why Magnus was a fancy suit of armor, turns out Ultra Magnus is a legacy of brave autobots, all one percenters.. but smaller rewind sized ones, Loadbearers. So while their not super tanks from the start.. it means they can be heavily modified and thus wear the Magnus Armor. The Magnus Armor was forged after the original Magnus, a real brave bot, died: Tyrest saw what fear and awe he imposed and realized he could exploit that and thus created an "immortal lawman". If this is sounding very sinestro to you and making you nervous, that's the idea. As for why small transformers it's simply that most cybertronians can't get fancy armored add ons" too much and they freeze up. A loadbearer has plenty.

So our magnus, Minimus was the latest.. and seemingly last. He also has ten days left.. but it turns out Pharma wasn't lying: Tyrests doctors can work miracle.

Back in the flashback, we get a recontexulization of Magnus character from Tyrest, who isn't exactly reliable , hence why I didn't think too heaviyl about his words before.. but in hindsight.. they make perfect sense and the interview I mentioned backs it up: Magnus.. had a nervous breakdown.

For most of the lost lighters the war ending is a fresh start: the war is over.. but for the bulk of them the war wasn't something they fit into. They were fighting because they had no real choice or had been for too long. And in the case of some like Chromedome the war simply took one terrible thing they were forced into and swapped it for another. The war ending means a chance ot start over and do anything else.

Magnus... fit perfectly. He was a stickler for order, a natural talented combatant, and while he was the latest to wear this armor, he more than earned it. The war was chaotic and horrible, but it also had rules, a clear bad guy (even if this book shows there's still plenty shades of grey in the autobots), and a clear end goal. Life.. dosen't have those. LIfe is just doing your best and hoping today is good. It's not perfect, it's often messy, but it's just how it is. Magnus didn't really have to worry about small talk or what he does with the rest of his life.

It also explains why he took the lost light: it was seemingly close to what he'd been doing: going through space, righting wrongs, etc, all. Cybertron would've had more order.. but it was also filled with thousands of bots who resented him for everything he'd had to do over the war, and a new world he understood even less. It was the lesser of two evils, so he overcompesated by becoming anal retintive in the extreme. He's a soldier who simply couldn't cope with the war being over, a tale sadly as old as the nasty institution itself and didn't get himself the help he needed.

Magnus replacement.. was Star Saber, that guy we saw make Skids into a kebab. Magnus was mostly talking to them though.. because he was curious. He asked to be put in there as.. nothing is adding up: the decepticons, the titan, and now this "crimes against creation" charge that wasn't in the laws before. magnus, still being a tad naive even after all of this, goes to talk to tyrest.

While he does, WHirl and Cyclonus have escaped having killed a bunch of decipticons themselves and after their done getting to the numbers, see a cell block above... identified as such because it's directly over a giant smelting pool, as whirl puts it "a prison you can dunk" Whirl of all people is the logical one here: They need a ton of weapons to go rescue the others, and he can sniff an armory. Somehow. Honestly I'd question it but if anyone could find weapons through sheer force of will it's whirl.

Back with the head tha twouldn't die, Ratchet assumes this is about revenge.. and it is, Pharma wanted to hunt ratchet down, but his main goal

Thing is Pharma's a mite bit paranoid and hasn't removed them because their hard locked, and he assumes rigged to explode. Ratchet uses this to his advantage: he calls Pharma a coward, stating that he really didn't do it because he's scared he can't and essentially challenges him to a surgery duel: first to fix it win. Honestly Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy could use WAY more of those. I'd watch every episode twice if it was a death sport race to see who can surgery faster. Get it on it Dick Wolf and Shondra Rhymes!

So back with the bicker twins, Cyclonus and Whirl argue, with Cyclonus pointing out byu this point.. Whirl could've had his own hands back and his face if he wanted, with Whirl genuinely worried if he stops being angry, he wouldn't be him anymore. Cyclonus gets stabbed from behind for our THIRD stabbing this story and our FOURTH in the last few issues, but it's not fatal, Whirl saves him.. and our dynamic duo find the prisoners: not our heroes, who are as it turns out somewhere else.. but the circle of light. It's why they have so many swords avaliable.

Back with Ratchet he made a bit of a tactical error.. while his gambit was clever.. he forgot that Pharma is basically the joker now and thus had ambulon and first aid brought here as swerve and skids were to Team Rodimus cell: their going to be the guinea pigs and despite ratchet's begging, he can't get the contest called off. This is happening. And unfortunately for ambulon instead of across the waist... Pharma decides to go lengthwise.

Semantics point is ambulon is super fucking dead and purple chainsaw blood is all over. It's a brutal, horrifying death.. and tha'ts really the only reason it works. That Pharma set up this horrifying death game, when he could've just done minor surgery and used one of the Legislators, since they aren't really sapient at this point anyway. Otherwise.. Ambulon is a guy we barely knew who disappeared entirely: Pipes was also mostly absent till his death.. but Pipes felt like an actual character and had enough characteirzation up to his death. Ambulon.. feels like he was kept on just for this chainsaw death since First Aid had more to give. It's not a bad death, I mean... look at that gore, but it's not as weighty especially coming after two big tearjerking ones.

Back at the cells, Swerve fills the rest of the crew in: the legislators have locked down the place, and he tells them about Star Saber, who it turns out in this unvierse is a notorious evangelical nutball who tried to do atheist genocide. So you know the MOST stable person to give a big sword. Star Saber being made into a villian.. was a bit contervseral according to tv tropes. Saber Originally was the optimus prime equilvent for one of the G1 animes, Transformers Victory, having a neat design and big old sword. So making him into a sociopathic religious nut wasn't the best for some. Me I think it's fine: the series already has plenty of heroic autobots and it helps reinforce the idea that being on the autobots .. dosen't make you a good person. Same with Tyrest.

He shows up to drop off a new prisoner.. and it makes Chromedome have a relization: when Skids memory was begging for estape it was asking for getaway... the autobot whose now being loaded into their cells.

Minimus goes to confront Tyrest who couldn't give a shit what Magnus thinks.. but is willing to explain what his grand evil plan is and why he's doing all this supervillian nonsense: guilt. Turns out Tyrest is one of the archetechts of Cold Construction, and instead of using sparks.. it used the matrix. This is a brilliant move and explains why, with cold construction only stopping fo ra bit because it was assumed the matrix was dry when really someone stole it assuming this was blasphemous.

And sadly. Tyrest has started to agree. The Aquetius trials drove him around the bend, with all the guilt and horrible actions of the autobots on trial getting to him.. to the point he started to drill into himself, hence the holes.. including one in his own head. Huh Egon WAS right it would've worked.. as Tyrest saw something beckoning him and thus the space bridge is a portal to cyberutopia itself. But being ... unhinged to say the least, Tyrest has decided he has to atone first... since all the criminals on trial were constructed cold, he assumes their an abomination and plans to use a literal killswitch to kill every last one tommorow. And beofre Minimus can stop this.. he has a legislator squish the poor guy's head.

Onto Part 4. After a reminder of the various gushers of blood abound, we cut to a fight with Whirl, Cyclonus and the Circle of Light. Turns out the circle had been cut down a bit, but is still a massive army, allowing for an epic battle while everything elses going on and the revelation that will come in hand in a bit that Cyclonus, being a true believer, can power their faithswords, which use energy from a spark to do something something something religion. Look I'm being as through as I can, but this is a MASSIVE story arc.

In the Cell Getaway TRIES to have a reunion with Skids, while also introducing his catchphrase bomp.. basically a sort of fistbump he used to annoy skids. At any rate Skids can't remember anything but Getaway can and fills the rest of the cast in on Tyrest's madness, which is a term I try to be careful with as someone with a mental illness myself.. but really appleis to a man whose drilled a thousand holes into himself and is trying to do holy genocide right about now. When Rodimus mentions Ambus not being back yet... Getaway drops the bomb on him baby, he drops the bomb on him... that Ambus LURED them here.

Back with Team Holy Genocide, Tyrest explains how the hell he knows this switch will work to someone who was there for it: He kidnapped Pharma because Pharma is apparently famous for being Forged, so he could prove it wouldn't kill Forged transformers. THe attack on the circle of light? A whole cities worth of test subjects, taking ten thousand down to one thousnad. Speaking of which given the Circle is a mite testy about the genocide, Tyrest decides to handle the situation by.. letting the equally religious genocidal monster he keeps on payroll handle it.

Skids has a bit of a breakdown over his missing memories so not wanting to see his best friend break down further, Swerve asks Gateway to fill him in on what he's missing. Skids and Brainwave were partners in the Dipolmatic Corps... which was really Autobot Special Ops. What good would being spies be if they broadcasted that fact? They had a similar job as the wreckers, impossible missions and such, but while the Wreckers were more Impossible MIssions Force, going in somewhat subtle and always ending loud and dangling themselves off cliffs, the ASO were more the stale beer type of spy: get in, do the mission, maybe surivive.

Their mission this time was to put a mind bullet in Tyrest's head.. not kill him, to Skids relief, as the binary gun, that gun Skids couldn't find when he was introduced, wasn't designed to kill, simply implant a thought, and a very simple one at that: Resign. As for why, while Skids boss didn't know the fulls cope of what tyrest is doing he got the feeling something bad was going down given he was chasing down titans and talking to the decpticons. Sadly .. Skids missed, Tyrest set his horeds on them and while Skids escaped, he followed one last protocol: after all the binary gun had two bullets... and the other was used on him to erase the mission

To no one's suprise, Prowl's the spymaster here and to even less shockity shock, him prodding the already deranged man with a god complex led him to speed up his plans. The good news of all this though is Getaway.. can get the mout. He's an escapeologist, a master escape artist, macguver as a transformer and the only reason he hasn't busted out? He didn't have a fresh set of keys.

While Getaway plans his way out, so does Ratchet, who has an argument iwth first aid: First Aid makes the valid point that Ratchet has a savior complex; he hasn't really retired.. because he dosen't think anyone else can do the job as well as him. Turns out this isn't it: Ratchet didn't let first aid help.. because Ambulon was long dead by chainsaw to the face, and he simply was stalling to weaponize his corpse, a nice little callback to drift doing the same. The two argue over what to do with Pharma, Ratchet not wanting to sink to his level and First Aid wisely feeling Pharma will just come back to haunt them again, if probably not the one to do it since i'ts clearly out of anger his friend we saw maybe once just got chainsawed in half by the guy.

The argument is interupted by Team Rodimus. Turns out the keys... were all the stuff on everyone and using Brainstorms breifcase straps (he had it on him as it's designed that only those who KNOW it's there see it) and Chromedome's fingers to create a dart gun, knock out the guard then have everyone use the sticks on the bars at the same time. THeir out, and Tailgate is hopeful he can find a cure. And what I like, and forgot to mention is HOW Luna 1's a treasure chest: it's not because it was lost. Luna 1.. is just luna 2 with a diffrent name. But since Tyrest took up refrence he also took every bit of treasure the magnuses had built up with him and thus he really CAN work medical miracles. It's juts without Pharma.. they might not be able to.

For now it's time to light up the stage cause it's time for a showdown. With team two guys , a religoius leader an an army it's not great as the legislators won't stop and there's a LOT of them, and Star Saber makes it worse. While Dai Atlas does his best against his polar oppiste.. Saber snidely tells him "Primus hates you and stabs the life out of him"

Team Rodimus don't have it much better.. they arrive, point a gattling gun at Tyrests face.. and tyrest simply activates his staff and the bodies hit the floor. It's a subsonic suggestion they can't move, so powerful they don't even belivie it when he tells them and with that.. he pulls the switch. Brainstorm and Chromedome start to fade.. and they aren't alone...

It's a brutal sequence ending with the scavengers... and with that tyrest has almost won, and all he has to do.. is step into the light of his portal as it activates.

So as the final chapter opens, Tyrest is about to get his big prize when...

It's a clever save: Tailgate's condition had been front and center for most of this arc, Ratchet outlined loss of functions.. it's poetry. I also love him jamming his finger in the head hole, it's a detail I did'nt notice till writing this but I love it.

WIth that the rest of the crew can rally.. but Tyrest uses tailgate as a human shield with Tailgate revelaing his condition so Rodimus can shoot.. but Rodimus has grown from the incident with fort max and can't bring himself too... thankfully..

Before we can process "how the hell is magnus still alive", we cut to the battle outside and we get an awesome fight with Cyclonus and Starsaber, with Cyclonus stabbing the fucker in the eye.. before he gets teleported away. Where? Well.. that's al ong ways off from being answered, but for now he's away from gutting people range so that's good at least. Back with Team Rodimus, Rodders asks what we're all thinking "What the hell". Turns out in a clever, if still somewhat labored twist... Minimus didn't tell them HOW many loads he was carring. This is as far down as he goes, but it still makes a lot of sense. Tyrest not KNOWING this dosen't, but we can handwave it as Tyrest assuming he got the heads and just.. not carring enough about magnus to double check the corpse, a mistage that made him into one.

Our heroes need to scramble to find someway to shut off the killswitch though as Tyrest was still sane enough to not put a shutoff on it. Before they can deal with that properlyt hough, Pharma heads into the portal with First Aid giving chase.. and Pharma saying far more than he needs to, chuckling and grinning about all the autbots at delphi and bursting into laughter about his lengthwise joke... and soon bursting from the head as first aid shoots him.. and then collapses, not able to deal with taking a life for the first time

It's a powerful moment. Pharma absoltuely deserved to get his head burst... but it's still a life and it dosen't, as first aid clearly hope, make the pain of everyone he's lost go away.

So while this goes on Perciptor has a hail mary: he hooks rodimus up to it, which MIGHT hurt him and will defintely destroy their matrix piece, using it to undo the code. While Rodimus makes a "there goes our map" quip.. it's very clear he has no intention of backing out: personal glory isn't worth the deaths of everyone.

So with Death on the way he decides to clear the air with Magnus, ask if he really betrayed them. Turns out.. yeah he entirely lured them out here, having become disturbed with Rodimus' increasing irresponsiblity. It wasn't a full trap as he had no idea Tyrest was so far gone, he just wanted him to give Rodders a lecture, snap him out of it, tha tsort of thing not you know, nearly kill them all and then try to commit genocide as an encore. It speaks to who Magnus is: he's orderly.. but he's not the zealot his former boss is. He just wants to do the right thing.

And so does rodimus..w hich leads to one hell of a confession

It's a powerful moment an da wakeup call for rodimus: while he's still carefree after this... it's him realizing he's been way too caviler.. and let his own ego and pride get people killed. And he needs to , instead of hiding from it like he did, face the conseqeucnes of his actions. It's also a nice moment in that instead of seeing his sacrifice as a way out or a glorious way to redeem himself as he might have before the incident... instead Rodimus just hopes he lives long enough to begin the real work.

As he writhes in pain, Tyrest.. turns out not to be dead and says one word: one... which sends all the legislators their way.

In the meantime Skids ends up on Cyberutopia.. yeah... in a big reveal it, or some form of it exists and skids ended up there due to taking the portal: it was blocking anyone who had guilt in them, and Skids.. finally felt free enough to try it.

What he saw there will be important later but for now the plan worked: everyone is saved and Whirl celebrates, deciding to put the past behind him and cyclonus... and after a quick murder fantasy Cyclonus agrees. He has somewhere more important to be.

Back in the control room the legislators swarm and Skids shows up to help.. while something takes Ambulon's corpse through the portal. No time to dwell on that setup now as the legislators need to be stopped..a nd it's tailgate who once again saves the day in a brilliant way too. Remember how Magnus had him memorize the law and just about everything including the dimensions of the kitchen sink? Well when finding out the law computer is right there, this allows tailgate to easily write a new one REPEALLING them all. the legislators freeze, our heroes win the day, and Tyrest vanishes. And sadly while Tailgate won the day.. he passes out.

Thankfully we have a solution: on his deathbed we get a very poginant line from Tailgate, the little bot who simply wanted to be special and important...

It's a small line.. but one that sums up the comic> life isn't about being a big hero or saving the unvierse, though our heroes certainly did that.. it's abotu living it. It can be hard, messy and often rediculous.. but it's more than worth it.. and with that Cyclonus gives Tailgate the gift of life.. by stabbing him in the chest

And for once.. IT IS HEALTHY as it was a way to do a spark transfusion, one Whirl of all people brought up. It was risky.. but it was worth it.

So as Rodimus decides to bounce, deciding this big discovery wasn't really wroth it with one crew member dead, first aid traumitzied and brainstorm in his lab, unknown to all having taken the super spark, and the rest of the sparks having gone quiet after the matrix became dust.. he's lost.

Magnus however.. is found. He may not know what his future is.. but he's finally at some sort of peace.. and has a ncie gentle talk with cyclonus

Remain in Light was one of my faviorite arcs of lost light.. and re-reading it only clinched that view: it's a tense epic that's fast paced but manages to cover a LOT of ground without anything feeling underserved, and the result is stunning. It's a worthy end to season 1.

And it WOULD be where we leave off.. but before dark cybertron we have one issue left, issue 22.

Little Victories is a nice Coda to the season, an issue I skimmed over the first time I read the comic due to the art... not being great. Artist James Raiz takes over from here through dark cybertron and his art style isn't bad, being kind of sketchy and gritty. Not my cup of tea but not bad art. The problem.. is that the art style dosen't fit lost light at all. I mean look at this panel with cyclonus

It's a good joke, but it looks just so dead serous and grungy. It just dosen't fit what's entirely a slice of life issue, showing a recuritment film Rewind made before his untimely passing.

That said giving the issue a second chance or two i've come around... once your ready for the jarring art shift, you can enjoy the story with plenty of fun documentary gags including Magnus having part of the film removed and getting editiing rights, as well as having Swerves swears censored.

There's two plots here: The first involves everyone being curious what Rungs alt mode is, with Swerve having a bet as to who can get him to show it first, leading to a really great, really stupid joke

I love this comic for it's deep characters, engaging plot and world building.. but I also love that a large part of the comic is just roberts letting these robots act like jackasses. It makes them so damn relatable. I mean someone had to try this.

The other is Thunderclash, what a guy. Thunderclash is a legendary hero and the king of the parody sues, a guy so noble and kind that even optimus looks up to him, a hero unparalleled. He's this series Ace Rimmer, and intentionally too as Roberts is a big red dwarf fan, something that isn't a huge suprise but is welcome.

For those not familiar with Ace, he's the alternate counterpart of Red Dwarf's Arnold Rimmer, an uptight attempted ladder climber who usually fails due to his own incomptience and ego, while Ace is everything Arnold WISHES he could be: Smart, handsome, good with a joke, beloved.

So naturually someone like Rodimus, full of ego and self importance himself, needed someone just simply better than him doing the same job who everyone on his crew unabashadely loves. Thunderclash is just.. that nice and I love the ways they bend over backwards to make EVERYONE fall for this guy, from him being one of the few autbots to be nice to cyclonus and earn his genuine respect with his knoweldge, to teaching Perciptor of all people something. It's just great fun and it's just as fun to watch Hot Rod gnash his teeth over someone else getting all the attention.

There's also a third kinda plot as the crew runs into the Ammonites, a group of robots fighting a forever war with some bug aliens that whirl seemingly end sin ten minutes. We don't know how and tha'ts how I sleep at night

All three collide at the end: Thunderclash's ship needs a jump, esspecailly since, while an epic hero of epicness, he's dying: the ship is Thunderclash's life support and being the autobot's own personal jesus, he's naturally using this time to save everyone he can. It's why his crew's behind on their own quest for the knights.

Sadly one of his crew turns out to be an ammonite spy and they turn out to not have been the good guys, thankfully Rung has an idea and turns into a blunt insturment. Or is it an object. point is he's blunt, hard and blunt. As for WHAT he is...

This will be important going forward, and in hindsight may be one of the most important little bits in this issue. Thunderclash will be too.

We then get the ending which is... eh in my eyes. I like Lost Light's comedy, I point you to just a few paragraphs ago with the stupid alt mode night joke. But this bit.. feels a bit of a stretch: it turns out the film was being screened to the circle of light who ALL, every one of them, boo hiss and complain about them all being fuckups. Besides being more than a little harsh... the film was made by a DEAD AUTOBOT. Rewind DIED before this was made and i'm damn sure they told them that. I like the jokes and I don't mind shots at how little the crews acomplished, it's a decent runner but here.. it just feels mean. Doubly so since the lost light JUST SAVED THEIR ASSES and the ENTIRE UNIVERSE, and not a one of them think tha'ts neat. We get a heartwarming ending showing how much it means but this joke.. just really dosen't work at all. One of Roberts rare misfires but boy is it off target.

That said the issue overall is fun and i'm glad I gave it a second shot. It's good stuff and like seemingly EVERYTHING before the finale itself, it's got a lot of setup.

Next Time: Before we can get to DARK CYBERTRON we have to see what everyone else has been up to

Thanks for reading

[zahri-melitor]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AWW YEAH AMBUSH BUG!!

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

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

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

NOT THE AUDITORS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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