#and also DC superheros was pretty cool

[kittenninja14]

Kn hiiii!!!!!! I'm recommending you wayne family adventures!!!! (On webtoon) It's like microdosing on good (kinda fanon) batfam content without having to dig through the comics hehehe

- regards, fellow dc enjoyer/ ex brainrot haver djfhdhfjshd (how does this keep happening xd)

Hiiiii Berryy!! Long time no see, girl!! (OH SHOOTT I 4GOT TO REPLY TO UR DMS AHHH--)

Thanks for the rec girl!! I'll check it out later!!! Rn I'm in a massive Monkie Kid brainrot rn so i don't think ill be reading the comic anytime soon but we'll see :)

Thanks once again for the reec loll

lolll nice to see a fellow dc enjoyed as well XD yeah dw u'll get used to have a buncha ex-brainrots XDD

https://kittenninja14.tumblr.com/post/731916269075480576/hey-yall-i-just-found-this-incredible-video-and

[silverselfshippingchaos]

his love for comics is adorable!!

[allovesthings]

In my opinion, the butt jokes are incredibly incredibly tired.

So here are several fun facts about Dick that you can use for comedic effects/running jokes instead:

His hatred of Capes. Listen we are talking about Dick wore a yellow cape for 9 to 10 years in universe Grayson. The moment he changed his costume, he straight refused to ever wear a cape again, the only time he had to wear one, it was as Batman and it was very very frustrating for him.

You know that when he watched the Incredibles with Lian and Roy or Damian and Edna Mode came on screen with her hatred of capes, this was his reaction:

Someone else finally understand him. She instantly became his favorite character.

His tendency to put unknown substances/evidence in his mouth and being able to identify it by taste and his knowledge of what Heroin taste like (yep still not over it).

It's both impressive (the fact that he can actually identify something by taste alone is impressive) and gross and even his closest friends don't understand why he is the way that he is, Do we think it's the Bat training or do we think it's just Dick (tm)... I feel like it has to be just Dick, right ? considering everything in Gotham is a toxin of some kind ? How many heart attack do we think he gave both Bruce and the Titans with that ?

Dick Grayson namer of superhero things: Listen, I just learned that Dick named the Arrowcave and now I just kinda love the idea of a running joke that every time a classic superhero in contact with Robin has a goofy name for something superhero related, it probably comes from the 9 year old superhero who thought it sounded cool.

The Titans are never letting that go and Dick doesn't want to talk about it (but he secretly still really like the names, they were cool when he was 9 and pretty practical when you think about it, thank you very much).

Everyone has a crush on him (tm): Honestly it is pretty funny that everyone and theirs entire family have a crush on Nightwing (and also pretty consistent canon since Raven in ntt). The reaction of the batfam is annoyed because that's gross, it's Dick, theirs brother/son, and the Titans are amused (Donna, Vic, Garth and maybe Wally) or maybe sorta part of the people who have had a crush on him (Kory obviously , Roy, Raven).

You do need to be careful with that, but I think if you do the opposite of what DC is usually doing, you'll be fine.

Also you can also includes the disastrous first date with supergirl in that. She also had a crush on him and they date was so horrible that he considered changing superhero identity because it was so embarrassing (truly one of the greatest plot-point on Superman/batman world finest honestly and this series is genuinely my favorite modern/current series)..

His petty side when he doesn't like someone: Listen, Dick has a petty side, ask Helena circa Outsiders (2003), Talia (always), Jason circa the late 2000s (Morrison era) and Azrael (also always). When he doesn't like people but has to work with them, he is going to be a little shit because they have to know he doesn't like them. it's important. and the comedic potential of Nightwing, one of the most competent, known and admired hero of the community being so petty is excellent. 10 out of 10, I need him to work with someone he hates again just for the fun of it.

The last one is just an headcanon and do not have basis in canon as far as I know:

Sometimes, as an adult, Nightwing says Holy shit in front of a classic superhero and that superhero does a double take because they are so used to him saying Holy goly batman (and that include Batman).

[sadandyetverysexy]

Dp x Dc au: Normal is Good

Okay so hear me out— i see lots of “you can’t control Danny he’s a wild child” premises and like, I agree, I love that, but JUST hear me out. Danny who is just entranced by being treated like a NORMAL KID.

I think for best results this should be done with de-aged Danny so he’s a bit younger, but it can def work with regular Danny too.

Danny winds up running around Gotham for one reason or another doing INSANE SHIT to try and help or just survive and his family is out of the way. The explosion, Bad Fentons, etc— and one of the bats picks up Danny. This can be a dad!Jason, or dad!Dick, or classic Bruce Adoption. But they see this little shit running around and are like “no fucking way, not on my watch you little maniac”

Now, a lot of people use the “Jazz practically raised Danny” card, and I love that card and fully support it, but she was also a kid. With no other parents to consult. Who was raised by the Fentons originally and def has no clue what normal parents are like. So she probably didn’t exactly measure up to how a kid is MEANT to be raised. So Danny still had an incredibly strange childhood that just was Not Normal, but I feel like we see Danny with a deep desire to be normal. He doesn’t even really like being a superhero that much, he just wanted to be a kid.

So he gets bat adopted, and Danny is just functioning how he did growing up with the Fentons, which is No Restrictions Do What You Want. And then his bat dad (using Jason for this) is like “No. It’s Bed Time.” And Danny. Danny is ALL for that. He’s bewildered. Mystified. He’s not grumpy about being told what to do at ALL, because he’s just so shocked.

“You’re serious? You’re fucking dead-ass serious? It’s bed time? Oh my god this is so cool. I’ve never had a bed time before! This is great!” Because this is the first time he’s EVER been treated like a normal child by a parental figure. He just got sent to bed. Wow.

Having a parent who is in charge of keeping him healthy and actually enforces Danny taking care of himself is kind of cool.

“Eat your vegetables, they’re good for you.” And they won’t try to eat him back? Fuck yeah, he’ll eat his vegetables!

“No you aren’t allowed to go out at 2 in the morning, go back to bed, you have a doctors appointment for your yearly checkup tomorrow.” oh ancients, Danny has always heard other kids complain about not being allowed out at night, but to have himself told he can’t? This is so weird. And he’s never been to a yearly check up before!

“Brush your teeth before bed” “I can’t get cavities, I’m dead!” “Ya know, for some reason I don’t believe you. When was the last time you went to the dentist? Are you sure you can’t get them?” Danny has 7 cavities.

The first time Danny gets to actually use the “my dad said No” excuse, he is ECSTATIC. Jack and Maddie have LITERALLY never told him he can’t go out somewhere. Ever. He’s in a whole new world where he doesn’t have to fight ghosts, or be a hero, or anything and he loves it. He has a normal kids room without deadly weapons in it and normal kid hobbies and a fridge full of normal food and a parent who enforces a bed time, and it’s weird as hell and it’s great. Normal is pretty damn good, he has no clue what Sam and Tucker were always complaining about. Shits sweet.

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: Zatanna

… why don’t we pair Danny up with Zatanna more? I don’t even mean that like romantically paired (which you could if you really wanted) but just in general. She shows up briefly in a number of fics but she’s pretty tangential beyond[insert summoning scene]

But Zatanna is a pretty cool character and very importantly she’s magic AF. She’s half Homomagi aka an entire race separate from human so can relate to not being completely human, but also just magic AF which means she’s equipped to deal with ghost BS

Also, on top off all this she’s a stage magician, and a good one at that. She had a successful career even before superhero sorceress was her career path

You know what the greatest skill she could teach Danny is?

How to pass off his powers as a magic trick (and escaping handcuffs)

No seriously, think about it. What’s the best way of hiding your ability to make yourself turn invisible and go through solid objects? Be a stage magician! Not only can you get paid for it, but anytime someone saw him do anything he has the perfect excuse. His powers would make stage magic even easier

And on top of that, actually learning how to do certain tricks would help him. See, he’s not a ghost because he can also get out of these anti ghost cuffs.

Let Zatanna take Danny under her wing and train him in stage magic to help him hide better. He can hide in plain sight

And she’d just be an interesting mentor, she has connections with the justice league and all the fan favorite characters to toss at Danny. Constantine is her ex, she’s good friends with Bruce Wayne going back years and even had a romance for a while(I don’t think they actually dated but there were feelings) and through him the rest of the bats. She’s confident and self assured and frankly Danny could use some of that in his day to day persona

[casscainmainly]

I would love more desi superheroes 🤩

WOULDN'T WE ALL!!! When DC did their Asian Festival of Heroes one-shot in 2021 and every single story was about an East Asian (except for Damian, whose story was just horrible), they should've known to step up their game!! Some South Asian superheroes I can think of are Solstice (Kiran Singh) and Swamp Thing (Levi Kamei). Jinx is also a prominent South Asian non-hero.

Cass actually did meet an Indian superhero named Aruna Shende in her Batgirl (2000) annual. I think Aruna is pretty cool!! She's a shapeshifter who works as a stuntperson in the Indian movie industry, inspired by Cass to start fighting crime. She's also gender-fluid!! She says she doesn't know if she's a male or female because of her abilities, and they even use him/her in the bio at the end (though primarily uses she/her). She hasn't been used since, but she did get a cameo in DC Pride 2024!!

Adding her to the list of Batgirl (2000) characters I want brought back. Idk how many people even read the annual but Aruna is the best part for sure!!

Anyway, if anyone's looking for more Indian rep, support Ram V. Not only is he an excellent writer, he seems dedicated to introducing more Indian rep in comics. He created Levi Kamei and he's currently writing New Gods. If you're not reading him you really are missing out, go support his books (if you can!!).

[puppetwoman17]

It is my personal belief that, if Billy was somehow part of the PJO universe, or if there was a crossover between DC and PJO, he would be older than Percy and most of the kids we know.

I know, I know, we all love him as our tiny bean, but there’s just SOMETHING about older bro Billy that has my wheels turning. I’d put him as the same age(or older) as Luke in the first book. He’s like a sort of bridge between the gods and their kids, always advocating for them, trying to set the gods straight. He knows he can’t stop them from being stupid immortals, so all he can do is help Percy persuade them to pay child support.

He’s the demigods’ cool older brother who also serves as their champion. He visits camp as often as he can, even going to Camp Jupiter(cause ya know, Mercury and Hercules instead of Hermes and Heracles. I don’t know how to deal with that so I’m just gonna shut up now). They’re pretty wary of other superheroes, but everyone has at least one kind of Captain Marvel memorabilia in their room, or on their person(broach, bracelet, etc.).

Older brother Billy needs more love, in my opinion☺️

[shower-phantom-ideas]

New random DP x DC idea

Danny is strong yeah? Imagine him scruffing the other superheros

Batman is about to really wail into some guy when all of a sudden his legs leave the ground and he hears a “tsk tsk tsk” from behind him. “Come on man arent you like the worlds greatest detective? This guy is just trying ti save his kid” ok well he is The Batman so all of a sudden it clicks and hes lowkey grateful for whoever stopping him but also whost the funk. Danny dips the moment he realises The Big Bad Bat is on the same page.

The Flash is just trying to get his coffee or something and all of a sudden hes stopped, mid running, and lifted up. “Hey listen dude you can’t keep doing this. Do you know how much trouble you cause using your speed like this?”

He doesn’t scruff Wonder Woman but some dude trying to hit on her. Not like she couldn’t haven’t it herself but Danny is a big fan probably and wanted to look good in her eyes (?simp? Sam thinks so)

Cyborg is probably amazing by Danny and starts asking questions and is actually pretty hyped. (Idk the fandom forgets my cool cybro guy so im running on my childhood memory)

Superman’s got the power of flight but when Danny scruffs him all of a sudden hes bunching up like a little kitten.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

heyy, I would like to request a platonic and romantic DC mashup if that ok with you!

I'm 19 and I go by they/them, I haven't really figured out my sexuality but I like every gender. I have light brown hair, dark green eyes, really pale skin, a small nose and freckles, pretty tall (1,90m) and curvy.

my hobbies are reading, drawing and just learning random facts. My favourite book is howls moving castle, my favourite show is haikyuu and my favourite movie would be your name. I love punk rock but I do listen to every genre but my favourite band is stray kids. My favourite colour is purple. I'm russian and am fluent in russian, English and German since I live in Germany. I'm an introvert and red bull addict. I have social anxiety and ADHD.

Already thanks if you are gonna write my mashup. If not that's fine too. Also feel free to correct any mistakes!

Hello!

I would love to write you romantic and platonic matchup for DC for you!

I love DC so much!

<3333333

It usually takes me a moment to really find a romantic match for someone, but after reading your information, I instantly thought of someone!

So I hope you like them!

(Also, living in Germany? That's super cool!)

<333333

I hope you like your matches!

Enjoy!

<33333

Romantic and Platonic Matchups; DC

~~~

Romantic;

~~~

DC;

Conner Kent -

You met Conner through Tim Drake, your close friend from college.

Tim had mentioned his 'broody, sometimes grumpy but loyal' best friend before, and one day, Conner randomly appeared when you were studying together in Tim's dorm.

Conner had flown in through the window, much to your surprise, (and mild panic).

Tim, completely unfazed, just greeted him with "You're early."

Meanwhile, you were sitting there, wide-eyed, clutching your Red Bull like it was a lifeline.

"Who's the deer in headlights?" Conner teased, smirking at your startled expression.

After introductions, you quickly realized Conner was more than just a superhero - he was awkward, sarcastic, and a bit of a dork.

You made a joke about his dramatic entrance and to Tim's horror, Conner actually laughed.

That's when Conner decided he liked you.

At first, your friendship was slow but steady.

You were introverted, and Conner wasn't exactly the most social either.

But somehow, your dynamic just worked - you bonded over mutual sarcasm, deadpan humor, and chaotic ADHD energy.

You started to text a lot, mostly sharing random facts you learned, like "Did you know octopi have three hearts?" or "Cows have best friends."

Conner thought it was adorable and even started replying with his own facts.

And memes, lots of memes.

He found your love for punk rock fascinating and, despite being more of a country-rock and rock-and-roll kind of guy, actually asked for song recommendations.

He now has a few Stray Kids songs on his playlist because "You like them, so they can't be that bad."

Since you were friends with Tim, you naturally got roped into Wayne Family chaos, and Conner always made sure to stick around, just in case things got too overwhelming for you.

He noticed how social anxiety made large gatherings exhausting, so he'd sometimes pull you aside for "recharge breaks" - flying you to a rooftop where you could just sit and breathe.

Inside jokes galore!

Tim constantly sighs in exasperation whenever you and Conner get sidetracked talking about conspiracy theories.

"For the love of Gotham, focus!"

Conner found your drawings amazing, and he treasured every single one you gave him.

If you caught him staring too long at a sketch of him, he'd just awkwardly look away and pretend he wasn't totally swooning.

The shift from friendship to something more was subtle.

It started with little things - Conner offering you his jacket even when you said you weren't cold.

Him memorizing your coffee or tea order.

And the way he always seemed to position himself protectively near you in public.

One day, you were having a bad ADHD day, struggling to focus on an assignment, and Conner helped keep you grounded.

He read out your notes while gently running his fingers through your hair absentmindedly.

You had to fight the urge to melt into him.

The moment Conner realized he was in love with you?

You were talking about your favorite book, Howl's Moving Castle, and when you mentioned how much you loved Howl's 'extra, dramatic, but soft-hearted' personality, Tim snorted and said, "Oh, great, you basically just described Conner."

That made Conner go completely quiet, watching as you scolded Tim, lightly hitting his arm.

You started subconsciously mirroring each other - the way you sat, the words you used, even your habits.

Tim was sick of it.

The confession happened accidentally.

You were ranting about something (probably about an annoying professor), and Conner just... Blurted it out.

"You're really cute when you're mad."

You froze, "What?"

Conner immediately looked like he wanted to yeet himself into space.

"Uh, I mean. I think you're cute all the time. But, uh, I especially like you when you're mad. Or happy. Or just... In general."

Cue awkward silence and staring.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, you said, "That was an adorable, but terrible, confession."

"Yeah. I know."

But then, you smirked and nudged his shoulder. "Good thing I like you too."

Conner's relieved grin was so soft, and instead of saying anything, he just pulled you into a hug.

Being with Conner meant lots of simple, domestic moments.

He wasn't big on grand gestures, but he was big on consistency - always showing up, always taking care of you.

He was already fluent in Russian, but quickly grapples with German for you.

Late-night Red Bull runs, where Conner flies you to random gas stations or stores just because he knows you need your fix.

He loves cuddling.

It took a while for him to admit it, but he melts when you run your fingers through his hair.

Kisses on your forehead when you're stressed.

"I'm not letting you go to bed without something to eat."

He's so stubborn about making sure you eat.

Movie nights where he lets you pick everything.

He doesn't always get what's happening in 'Your Name,' but he loves the way your eyes light up when you talk about it and watch it.

When you're drawing, he watches in fascination and sometimes leans in really close, just to see every detail.

He would do anything for you.

If you ever had a bad day, he would drop everything just to make sure you were okay.

You ground him - on his bad days when he feels like he isn't enough, you remind him that he's not just a clone, not just a weapon - he's Conner.

And that's enough.

You bring him a sense of him he never had before.

He always has a hand on you - whether it's holding your pinky when you're walking side by side, resting his hand on your knee, or just gently tugging on your sleeve.

He remembers all of your little quirks.

The way you get lost in thought when reading, the way you bite your lip when focused - he loves it all.

"You're my favorite person."

He says it so casually, but every time, it makes your heart race.

He tries so hard to draw something for you once.

It's kind of awful.

You treasure it anyway.

Whenever he sees something purple, he thinks of you.

"Dude, you're obsessed."

"There just flowers, Tim."

"Conner, this is the third purple bouquet that you gave them this week."

"They like purple."

Protect your fiercely - not just physically, but emotionally.

If anyone ever makes you uncomfortable?

They are gone.

Fly you to see the stars on bad days.

Be your biggest supporter in everything you do.

Learn your favorite songs just to hum or lightly sing them when you can't sleep.

"'Cause when our eyes lock, it's like my heart stops~"

You help him find his place in the world.

You make him feel so loved.

You are always in his corner, no matter what.

You give him a home - one that isn't just a place, but a feeling.

~~~

Platonic;

~~~

DC;

Tim Drake -

You and Tim met in college, both showing up to the same advanced literature class.

You had arrived early, sitting in the back corner with a Red Bull in hand, already engrossed in your book.

Tim, equally early but looking exhausted, took the seat next to you without a second thought.

It wasn't until you muttered a sarcastic comment under your breath about the professor's overuse of the word "paradigm" that Tim smirked and responded in kind.

That was the moment he decided you were worth getting to know.

You didn't bond immediately - both of you being introverts, there was a lot of comfortable silence before you started causally exchanging book recommendations.

One day, he caught a glimpse of you sketching in the margins of your notebook - doodles of fictional characters, little concept art pieces, and even a tiny, detailed Batman sketch.

He was intrigued.

Your friendship started with shared study sessions in the library, where you two would sit in silence for hours, only occasionally muttering sarcastic remarks about your coursework or the absurdity of college life.

Tim found your ability to hyperfixate on learning random facts fascinating - sometimes you'd randomly blurt out things like, "Did you know cows have one stomach, but it is broken into four different segments?" in the middle of studying, and he'd just blink at you before filing it away in his own brain for later use.

He was the first person who truly understood your ADHD brain in an academic setting - if you got distracted or overwhelmed, he'd gently guide you back to focus without making you feel bad about it.

Since both of you are introverts, you developed an unspoken rule: no unnecessary small talk.

It was completely normal for you to just sit together in the same room, doing your own thing without feeling the need to fill the silence.

Caffeine-fueled study marathons.

You'd bring Red Bull, he'd bring coffee, and together you'd survive sleepless nights before exams.

He'd be the one reminding you to at least try to sleep though.

Music-sharing sessions.

You introduced him to Stray Kids, and while it wasn't his usual genre, he begrudgingly admitted that some of their tracks were pretty good,

In return, he'd send you deep-cut punk rock playlists that matched your vibe.

You forced him to read 'Howl's Moving Castle,' and he actually really liked it - Howl reminded him too much of some people in his life, but he wouldn't elaborate.

He, in turn, introduced you to detective novels, and you'd spend hours theorizing about plot twists together.

Since you loved learning random facts, Tim made it a game - who could find the most bizarre, obscure fact first?

It became an ongoing competition, and you'd both randomly text each other things like, "Did you know wombat poop is cube-shaped?" at odd hours of the night.

Tim was the first to notice that you and Conner had a thing before either of you even acknowledged it.

He saw the way Conner's gaze softened when you spoke, how he always seemed to find an excuse to be near you.

When you finally admitted to liking Conner, Tim's response was very flat.

"Wow. What a shock. No one saw this coming."

He acted completely indifferent but was secretly pleased because he trusted Conner to treat you right.

If anyone else had tried to date you, Tim probably would've done a full background check, but since it was Conner?

He just sent him a text saying, "If you screw this up, I'll know."

Tim was 100% behind the scenes helping Conner plan the perfect way to confess.

But, well, you know how that went.

Conner never got to use Tim's advice.

He quickly became the person you ranted to whenever Conner did something dumb but endearing.

“Tim, do you know what he did today? He tried to cook me breakfast and set off the smoke alarm.”

He got used to seeing Conner drape himself over you like an oversized golden retriever, and while he pretended to be unimpressed, deep down, he thought it was cute.

Whenever you and Conner had a minor disagreement, Tim would be the neutral party - he’d listen to both sides, then calmly say something brutally logical that made you both realize you were both being ridiculous.

If Conner was away for a mission, Tim made sure you weren’t lonely, even if it just meant sitting with you in silence while you both read or drew.

He always remembers your favorite drinks and snacks.

If you’re having a bad day, he’ll show up with a Red Bull and a pastry, no questions asked.

If your ADHD made it hard to remember important deadlines, he’d subtly remind you without making you feel bad about it.

“Hey, didn’t you have an assignment due next week? Want help planning it out?”

He’s your low-key bodyguard in social settings if Conner's not there.

If he sees you getting overwhelmed at a party or event, he’ll casually swoop in with an excuse to leave.

He never forces you into uncomfortable social interactions - if you don’t feel like talking, he gets it.

You don’t need to explain.

Since he’s a workaholic and forgets to take care of himself, you make sure he eats and sleeps properly.

Sometimes you’ll just shove a granola bar into his hand and give him a pointed look.

You doodle little sketches of him as a detective, which he pretends to roll his eyes at but secretly keeps in his notebook.

When he’s deep in a case and hasn’t slept, you’ll text him reminders like, “I will physically fight you if you don’t take a break.”

If he ever gets overwhelmed with work, you’ll just quietly sit with him.

No pressure to talk - just silent companionship to help him focus.

You and Tim have a quiet, understanding friendship.

You both respect each other’s introversion, and there’s no need for constant chatter to fill the space.

He’s not overly affectionate, but in his own way, he cares deeply - he just shows it through quiet acts of support rather than big gestures.

Your friendship is the kind that lasts a lifetime, built on mutual respect, sarcasm, and a deep, unspoken bond.

He's the best friend-brother you could ever ask for.

[lorbanery]

I just need to talk about Dick Grayson and Jon Kent's relationship for a minute

Just 'cause I keep seeing people file it under the typical Super-Bats dichotomy (Bruce and Clark, Tim and Kon, Jason and Bizarro, Damian and Jon)

BUT

Have you considered: Dick is the Superman to Jon's Robin?

Just

Just listen

There's the obvious justification that's just "Dick is much older than Jon", sure. But there's more nuance here.

Dick is different people to different generations of heroes.

To his own generation he's the responsible best friend everyone knows they can rely on, but also know better than to think of him as superhuman because they've all seen him at his worst (and by worst I don't just mean "most depressed" I mean most "shouting at his four year old niece" bitchy asshole).

I'm skipping Jason because he doesn't have his own generation he just kind of awkwardly pilfers people from Dick's and Tim's until they'd willingly shank Batman for him.

To Tim's generation he's a legend who they quickly realized is actually almost as out-of-touch as the first gen heroes. They're like a big queer friend group and he's the one kid's kind of square straight older brother. He's cool, he's supportive, he's always willing to drive them places, covers for them when they ditch class or are out past curfew, and he WILL throw down with anyone's homophobic parents; but he always has a lecture ready about underage drinking and while he laughs along with their "I'm too gay for this" jokes, you can tell he doesn't really get them. At least he's always excited for Pride. He buys himself a new "ally" shirt every year.

(Disclaimer: Previous paragraph was meant merely as a demonstrative metaphor and not to express any definitive opinion on Dick Grayson's sexuality. @ DC Comics let that boy be bi)

But to Damian's generation? Dick Grayson is a parental figure. When Damian and Jon were first starting out their superhero careers, Dick was not only acting as Batman, but as Damian's guardian, two roles most people, in-universe, expected him to be in permanently. And for Jon Dick wasn't just his friend's dad; when Clark had to leave Earth, forcing Jon to step into the role of Superman, and Jon expressed concern over being up to the job, Clark specifically told Jon to seek out Dick.

Because Jon, of course, was a teenager facing down not only the responsibility of being a superhero, but of bearing the weight of being a famous figure of hope. Something Dick had already done as the first Robin, and had helped at least a little two other teenagers navigate.

Now, I'm going to take a little tangent here to explain why Dick is the Clark in this situation.

When we talk about Dick's tragic backstory, a lot of little details change from retelling to retelling; but the one thing that stays consistent is the fact that Bruce took him in because Dick reminded him of himself. They both watched their parents get murdered at a young age (sometimes the exact same age, depending on the retelling); neither of them had any immediate family to take them in; both of them were only children who suddenly found themselves with the burden of being the sole carrier of their family's significant legacy. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Bruce was raised in a wealthy family, in a mansion in a major metropolitan city where his family had deep roots all the way back to its founding. Dick was raised by a very much working class family that lived out of a trailer/wagon/train most of, if not the entire year, traveling all across the country and/or globe. If they had a permanent residence anywhere, it was probably one of the suburbs around Tampa that were historically the off-season homes for circus performers (at least that's where I would put it).

Bruce was able to stay in his childhood home with a guardian who'd known him his whole life, who knew his family history and legacy. He was able to step into his family's legacy when he grew up and even expand it well beyond what his parents did.

Dick had to leave not only the circus he grew up in, he had to leave behind the entire community and culture and ended up being raised in a world that was completely different from it. Raised by a man who certainly respected his family and their history, but didn't know much about it or what their hopes and expectations had been for Dick.

While the path that eventually led him to becoming Batman began, for Bruce, that night when his parents were murdered, he didn't actually start seriously working towards and mentally taking on that responsibility until he was much older. In some cases he was in high school, in some not until after he graduated. But he taught himself and learned how to be a hero as an adult. He was in his twenties when he was taking the responsibility of other people's lives onto his own shoulders; when he was learning how to be most effective; when he was learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong.

Dick started training and/or working as Robin the moment he became a permanent member of the Wayne household. He was anywhere between roughly 8 and 16, depending on the retelling, but in every version he was very a child or teenager taking on that responsibility of other people's lives, learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong. He was trying to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility for other people's safety and having this huge secret he couldn't talk about. He was given these special skills from his birth family's legacy that his adoptive parent warned him to hide from people lest they guess his secret. He had this overdeveloped strength and fighting skills that meant he had to consciously hold back when he fought bullies in school.

But while that doesn't describe Bruce, it does describe someone else in Dick's life: Clark. He lost his parents at a very young age leading him to be raised in a completely different culture and world by his adoptive parents. They respected his birth family and their culture, but knew nothing about them. They were a working class family, who lived in a small town. He developed his powers when he was just a kid. They were a part of his family legacy that his adoptive parents encouraged him to hide to keep his secret. They created a sense of responsibility in him at a young age to use them to help and protect people. They made it so that he had to hold back when he fought bullies in school. He had to learn how to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility, while having this huge secret, and learning the consequences of doing something wrong when he was trying to protect people.

Clark related to Dick as a kid/teenager in ways that Bruce never really could. Clark understood a lot of the struggles Dick was facing, the weight on his shoulders. That's one of the many reasons he was, typically, very friendly and supportive of Dick; why he treated him as a respected colleague ; why he was always happy to spend time with and chat with Dick, even when Bruce wasn't around. He became a second trusted mentor to Dick, someone who understood what it was like to dedicate your entire life to protecting people; to spending your entire life as someone potentially dangerous to normal people; to being removed from your family legacy and their culture and taking up that of your adoptive family instead.

That's why, when Dick finds himself in situations where his life is drastically changing, one of his first stops is always Metropolis. That's why, when his life drastically changes and he doesn't come to Metropolis, Clark comes to check in on him. And Clark doesn't always have good advice to share to help Dick find his way. But he has enough similar life experience that it makes him pretty much the only mentor figure in Dick's life that Dick can really talk to who best understands him and his unique struggles.

Back to Jon.

When Jon was forced to become Superman, he was worried about how to be Superman. How to take on that kind of responsibility when he was so young. Clark sent him to Dick not just because he had a unique perspective on what Superman needs to be as someone who's been a fan, a colleague, and a friend; not just because he could teach Jon how to fight and protect himself and others even without his powers; not just because he's an excellent teacher. But because no other non-super has as much experience navigating the complex life of being a high profile kid superhero.

And Dick taught him. He trained him, and he told him about his father and his legacy, about who Superman was to the people who cared about him and worked with him.

And well after Dick's gone back to being Nightwing, even when he's not a constant fixture in Damian's life anymore, even when he's off in Bludhaven, when Jon finds himself struggling to navigate a new situation as a superhero, one of the first things he does is seek out Dick. Dick doesn't always have good advice to give him, but he does have similar experiences that help him understand Jon and his unique struggles.

[wanderingmind867]

DC had three Superhero shows in three consecutive decades: Superman in the 50s, Batman in the 60s and Wonder Woman in the 70s. I've only seen the 60s Batman show (so far), but I kind of want to see a crossover comic between all three of these shows. I can only imagine it'd be really cool to witness something like that. Because they're all somewhat different shows, but they all bring something to the table. And you know...if the crossover comic somehow also managed to work in a reference to the 70s Hulk show, that'd be pretty cool too. Because I've heard good things about that show too. So you know... I think these classic superhero shows of the 50s-70s may legitimately be better than some of the live action stuff now. But that's just me.

[zahri-melitor]

so i'm reading certain nightwing volumes from '96 - 02 for my current reading run following NML (shout out to @havendance, cannot thank you enough 🫶🏾) and while some aspects of how he's written is very compelling and interesting to chew on, for the most part it's been pretty....boring?? like i'm gonna keep reading it so i can have as much context as possible, but it feels more like a chore 😩

anyways, i read your response on that “who’d you choose to write nightwing” poll and i’d love to get your opinion on what nightwing runs/writers to read outside of those 8 volumes. i really wanna get into dick grayson’s character and personality! also, if it’s cool with you, anyone else please feel free to add to this!

-dominomasc

Hey, dominomasc. Unknowingly you've just raised one of the fundamental incongruities of how comics work.

Comics are about layers of stories providing depth to a character and about dozens of different interpretations more than they are about a single amazing run. (Some characters have That Run! But on average, most don't). Dick Grayson, a character that has existed for 84 years, has some very fun stories from all sorts of writers. His title, Nightwing, is also an excellent example of how a lot of long running titles often don't really have a stand out section that's head and shoulders above the rest.

I promise, you are never going to run out of stories to read about Dick Grayson (Comicsvine has him at 9,593 appearances as I write this). So yes, this is going to be about two things: advice on finding stories about Dick that vibe for you; and advice on understanding Dick alongside other storylines.

Taking into account what's listed above and the fact I'm moderately obsessive, I have compiled a discussion of most of the major writers who have written Nightwing runs, or who have written major titles that Dick also prominently appears in.

I am at heart a 'Dick belongs to the Bat Office' person and my expertise in most characters starts with COIE. On that basis I'm not going to dip into pre-Crisis here.

Marv Wolfman & George Pérez: New Teen Titans (1980-1993ish). I am not going to explain all the title names here; you're going to have to go get more detail from someone who treats NTT period as their special interest. Wolfman and Pérez are the architects of Nightwing as a character, separate to Robin, that Dick grew into. Read this period if you're interested in Dick as a young adult among the other Titans going through the transition into adulthood and independence, and his relationship with Kory. Basically it's a superhero young adult soap opera. It can be quite uneven in places, particularly towards the back end, and there are approximately a thousand discussions over which storylines are good and which should be fired into the sun. I am not a subject expert for this period.

Because of the state of the Titans titles in the early 1990s, the Bat office demanded Dick Grayson back under their control. Exactly when they got him back is slightly debated, but it would be fair to say Batman #500 (October 1993) marks his transition back to being a Bat character (around the start of Knightquest); by KnightsEnd and Prodigal (July 1994-January 1995) Dick is once again firmly a member of the Batman set of characters, and has remained so to date.

Prodigal, by Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Doug Moench: (Batman #512 to Robin #13). Use a reading list here as the stories are spread across multiple titles. Prodigal is 12 issues about Dick's first time being Batman, with Tim as his Robin, and his feelings about returning home to Gotham as an adult. Robin #13 in particular is possibly the most important issue of the story, as it's the foundation of a reset in Bruce and Dick's relationship with each other and how it is going to be characterised for the next decade or so.

Chuck Dixon: (Nightwing #1-70 1996, Nightwing: Alfred's Return, and a bunch of other one shots) So Dixon is probably DC's most prolific writer of all time, and is the architect of what's been treated as 'default Nightwing'. In this run, Dixon creates Bludhaven and the situation of Dick being its protector, out of a desire to be his own man apart from Bruce. He sets up an extensive Rogue's Gallery for Dick, the most famous of which is making Blockbuster one of Dick's main enemies. He has Dick working at a cop bar and then decide to enter the Bludhaven Police Department in an attempt to investigate it from the inside due to the levels of corruption. This is also the run where Dick and Babs get together as adults. Basically, everything about 'default' Dick that you probably know comes from this run. Dixon's great for character interaction, for world building, and and particularly at making various titles tie together - because he was writing at least 1/3 of DC's entire line for a while there he's the king of crossovers, giving a lot of depth to friendships because characters just pop between titles he's writing. His actual plots however vary between middling to occasional flashes of greatness. I'd consider The Hunt for Oracle (#45-46 and BOP#20-21) and the Shrike story (#55-58) to be the standout storylines in his Nightwing run; for individual issues I'd also point to #6 and #25 for his relationship with Tim, #16 for Dick building his car, and then his crossover issues in events tend to be quality.

Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty: (Robin: Year One 2000, Batgirl: Year One 2003, Nightwing: Year One - Nightwing #101-106 1996) I am separating these three out from the rest of Dixon's work as they're quite important as retcons over Dick's backstory. Robin and Batgirl are well regarded rewrites of events; Nightwing is less so, partly because it's a solid example of the Jason personality retcon, and partly I think because a lot of people reading this were still well across the two 1980s versions of Dick's transition from Robin to Nightwing. I highly recommend Robin Year One, particularly with the Shrike storyline of Nightwing, as they are interlinked.

Devin Grayson: (Nightwing #71-100 & #107-117 1996, Nightwing/Huntress 1998, Gotham Knights #1-11 & #14-32, The Titans #1-20 1999) Oh, Devin. Devin Grayson is a Dick Grayson superfan (she uses Grayson as her surname because of Dick). She is really good at character introspection - Gotham Knights #1-11 contains some amazing character work. She's also not shy about establishing her own headcanons on characters and retconning their backstories. Devin's biggest contributions to the Dick Grayson lore are in establishing him as Romani and actually writing Bruce adopting Dick. Her run on Nightwing is best understood as a whump, break-the-cutie run, where Blockbuster sets out to destroy Dick's life, and in the process gets Dick fired, breaks up Dick and Babs, burns down Haly's Circus (for the first time), blows up his entire supporting cast, chases Dick out of Bludhaven and leads to Dick going under cover in the mob essentially to punish himself (also not the only time). Dick's also sexually assaulted in Nightwing #93 but I really beg people to read this in context of the rest of the run; this should be looked at as PART of the whole flow of whump, rather than as a separate situation. Grayson also had the title taken off her before she got to the 'comfort' part of the extended hurt/comfort storyline she was writing. It reads a lot better if you think of this in a more transformative fandom, ficcish manner of story rather than as a more standard run. If her Nightwing run is too grim for you, I highly recommend Gotham Knights and her Titans run; Devin Grayson is honestly best when she's writing a constellation of characters around Dick more than when she's writing Dick himself. She adores his friends and family. Standout issues to get a sense of Devin include: Nightwing #100, a self-reflective issue on Dick's history; Nightwing #81, where Dick's in hospital and Cass goes after Slade for him; Titans #15 1999, where the Fab 5 go on a camping trip together to get back to their roots and deal with a lot of tensions in the group; and Gotham Knights #8-11, Transference, where Dick and Tim team up to rescue Bruce, who's been brainwashed by Hugo Strange.

Jay Faerber: (The Titans #21-41 1999) Honestly Faerber's run on The Titans is not that Dick Grayson focused. It's entertaining if you want to read some solid Titans dynamics, but the standout characters you read this run for are Roy and Donna. Seriously, if you're into Roy, Cheshire and Lian drama I highly recommend Faerber's work; otherwise it's not an essential run for Dick.

Judd Winick: (Outsiders #1-25, 34-49 2003, Batman & Robin #23-25 2011) Winick tends to write an angrier and darker edged Dick Grayson, and he has a bunch of really common tropes you see pop out in his writing. These are no different, and thus include an awful lot of violence and characters having sex (so much sex). He can be quite funny as a writer, but honestly his Outsiders run does not have much of that humour. The Batman & Robin story is basically Winick finding some space to tie up his Jason Todd plot before Flashpoint obliterated it, more than an actual story about Dick. If you want a good encapsulating issue to get the vibe of Winick about Dick, take a look at Outsiders #21, which has a good chunk of Dick and Roy AND Dick and Bruce in it, though it's helpful to remember that this issue is set very shortly after War Games and so Dick is in a massive guilt spiral.

Bruce Jones: (Nightwing #118-124 1999) It's One Year Later! Bruce Jones moves Dick back to New York City (as Bludhaven went boom due to Chemo in the lead up to Infinite Crisis) and theoretically sets up Dick's status quo out to Reborn. So. The story Jones is most famous for is the first 4 issues of the run, which are generally referred to by fans as the TentaTodd story. Jason Todd turns up to run around annoying Dick by ALSO dressing up as Nightwing and committing crimes. He also turns into a tentacle monster for a bit. It is certainly a story that exists, but it actually is pretty in line with Jason and Dick's relationship up to Flashpoint: Jason turns up to be a brat who wants attention, does violent things, and Dick exhaustedly kicks the shit out of him and gets him locked up while despairingly going 'why is this my life'. Because of Jason running around killing people as Nightwing, the NYPD get mad at Nightwing and start trying to hunt him down. Jones is for the completionist.

Marv Wolfman: (Nightwing #125-137 1999) Lacking any better ideas, Wolfman gets a run on Nightwing. It's not Wolfman's finest work, to put it bluntly, and it's very obvious that Marv hasn't actually read any of Dixon or Grayson's runs. Marv does set Dick up working as a gymnastics and trapeze coach, which is always a decent job for him. If I had to pick one story from Wolfman, read Nightwing #127, where Dick gets buried alive and digs his way out of the grave.

Peter J. Tomasi: (Nightwing #140-157 1999, Batman & Robin #20-22 2011) Tomasi loves Dick Grayson, and particularly loves Dick's connection to his friends and family. Let me put it this way; in the lead up to Final Crisis and Blackest Night every title got an Origins and Omens short story on the back of an issue. Most books used it to write creepy or introspective reflections on awful stuff especially deaths that have happened to the characters. Tomasi used his to have Dick take Barbara skydiving for her birthday, and echo a bunch of themes from his first issue. I think this is one of the most mature and grown up looks at Dick prior to Flashpoint; Tomasi treats Dick as a grown adult with an adult relationship with Bruce. I love Freefall. Read Freefall to see some really interesting meta on Dick's relationship to the concept of falling and to the concept of catching falling people, a theme that's frequently present in his stories.

Grant Morrison: (Batman & Robin #1-16 2011) Astonishingly given how much of Reborn was designed by Morrison, they don't actually seem to care that much about Dick as a character more than as a prop to set Damian against. Dick's extremely focused on Damian in this title but also does not actually appear to like Damian very much. If I were going to recommend one story out of it I'd probably point to Batman & Robin #7-9, because Dick gets to be a giant hypocrite in them and tries to resurrect Bruce. It goes badly, for all involved.

Scott Snyder: (Detective Comics #871-881, Gates of Gotham, and like every Bat event during n52) The Black Mirror is probably my favourite piece of Dick!Batman storytelling set during Reborn. It's just elegant in terms of how hard Snyder pushes Dick and how his reactions are very much not those that Bruce would have. This is helpfully extremely obvious in that The Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham are actually part of a trilogy, the third act of which is Court of the Owls and due to Flashpoint Snyder had to rewrite CotO quite extensively including swapping Dick out of being Batman and having Bruce as the lead. Read The Black Mirror for Dick having a minor breakdown while solving a complex case with links to James Gordon and Babs. Read Gates of Gotham for incredible Dick & Tim & Cass & Damian fourway storytelling that shows the dynamics of every pairing out of the four.

Fabian Nicieza: (Nightwing #138-139 1999, Batman #703 & #713, parts of Battle for the Cowl, Nightwing #51-56 2016) The thing about FabNic is when he's on, he's very much on, and when he's not it can be painful. I actually almost would have skipped him on this list, but he very much deserves recognition for writing the Nightwing issues of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, which alongside the Robin issues portray exactly how far Dick will go for Tim; and for Batman #703, which is the only issue prior to Bruce's resurrection that actually puts Dick, Tim and Damian on page together as heroes. He also got saddled with writing the start of the Ric Grayson saga under the script of Scott Lobdell, which, well, is definitely at the 'not well regarded' end of his oeuvre. FabNic is again a writer that is really good at character interaction, and I tend to find whenever I'm reading events where there's heaps of writers involved and he's there, the issues I really enjoy are the ones he's had a hand in.

Tony S. Daniel: (Battle for the Cowl, Batman #692-699 & #704-707 & #710-712) Oh, Tony Daniel. Why. Daniel's stories are probably the most classic-Batman of the Dick!Batman stories. His stories revolve a lot around drama at Arkham Asylum, with Harvey and Gilda Dent, and with the Falcones. On balance I think you could probably actually trade Dick out for Bruce in half these stories and it wouldn't make a huge amount of difference. If I were going to suggest one to try, maybe go with #710-712? It's Harvey focused and it has Kitrina Falcone and doesn't actually depend on the whole Jeremiah Arkham thing.

Kyle Higgins: (Nightwing #1-12, 0, & 15-29 2011) For a reboot of Dick Grayson down to his fundamentals, and working within the requirements of the 5 year time line, I like Higgins' work on Nightwing. Sure, I could have done without him burning down Haly's circus, again, and all the Court of the Owls revelations, but some of that was clearly dictated to him, and they way he gave Dick time as a teenager with relationships with other characters at Haly's before his parents died worked quite well. If I were going to cite a favourite part of this run it's probably the last section, #18-29 when Dick moves to Chicago and tries the 'strike out as my own hero with my own city, screw you dad' thing for the first time in the new timeline. Higgins put in quite a bit of cast building work and it's a shame none of it ever got used again between Forever Evil and then Rebirth just ignoring everything during this period.

Tom King and Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #30 2011, Grayson #1-20) I'm going to treat these two together here as I can't actually easily subdivide the run between them. This is the longest period Dick goes undercover working as a spy because his life has just gone to shit. He is both spying on Spyral (for Bruce) but also his job within Spyral is as a spy and special agent. Think James Bond, except Dick also gets to be the focus of the objectification camera. Some people enjoy it as a change of pace, some people can't stand it because it's just a very weird story for Dick and Dick's generally personally unhappy when he's stuck undercover, and it definitely is a highlight in the 'did you know Tom King worked for an intelligence agency? Tom King is working out his feelings about working for an intelligence agency again' oeuvre. If you want to try an issue, I recommend Grayson #5 as probably the best character and storytelling piece in the entire run.

Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #1-34) Good stuff I can say about Seeley's run includes that he used Rebirth as a impetus to rebuild Dick's status quo. He did quite a lot of world building for a new version of Bludhaven, he got Dick back into Nightwing and back into a blue V costume for the first time in 7 years, he's interested in looking at the Grayson family and not so much in terms of the Court of the Owls stuff. He likes Dick and Damian's time as Batman & Robin. Seeley's also a fan of a lot of character beats in terms of Dick's characterisation that were pioneered by Devin Grayson - particularly in terms of Dick being easily attracted to women, being impetuous and hot headed at times, and in the Romani retcon. I don't necessarily see eye to eye with Seeley on all of his characterisation and story choices, but he does a lot of repair work on getting Dick back to being Nightwing, including things like repeating beats from the Dixon and Grayson runs so that Dick has that backstory again, and what that means for his character. I might suggest Nightwing #8 2016, because it revolves around Bruce and Dick and the concept of falling (I'm a sucker for a good falling metaphor) or #9, which is literally a discussion of the changes between n52 and Rebirth with both of the Clark Kents, and in which Clark points Dick to return to Bludhaven (in a sort of re-encapsulation of Clark originally giving Dick the inspiration for the name Nightwing, but this time pointing him to what people treat as his default 'home'). If you like the shape of Dick as Bludhaven's hero from fic, you probably will find Seeley's run has stuff to enjoy.

Sam Humphries: (Nightwing #35-41 2016) So Humphries' storyline is another good example of what a lot of the current run of Nightwing contains since 2016 - reinterpretations and new versions of old stories. In this case, it's an adaption of the Hanging Judge storyline to have taken place in Bludhaven in Bruce and Dick's past. I don't mind it as a story, but it's definitely there to remind you of old story beats.

I haven't yet read Benjamin Percy's run, or any of Ric Grayson yet (which is a combination of Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Dan Jurgens), or Tom Taylor's run, so I don't want to give you too explicit opinions on these.

In general terms from experience on other titles and what other people have said: I really loved Benjamin Percy's Detective Comics #35-36 story in n52 and I suspect his Nightwing writing is a perfectly acceptable fill; nobody particularly likes the plot surrounding Ric Grayson, and the fact Scott Lobdell had a hand in plotting it seems to me to explain a bunch of the aspects of the scenario premise that upset a lot of people; Dan Jurgens is a DC workhorse who can turn his hand to anything; and Tom Taylor's run has been described as many as 'rewrite the arc of Devin Grayson's run but make it light and fluffy and free of consequences'. I honestly think if you haven't read much Nightwing yet, Taylor's run may be a good transition run to try to see if he's your vibe; I keep getting the impression he probably makes a good intro for new readers.

If you have any other writers you would like my impression of, please ask specifically; as I've said, Dick's been written by a LOT of people over the years.

[leoruby-draws]

Decided to post some more random, mostly minor characters from the DC universe, mostly ones that seemed they would be fun to draw. I guess technically these drawings are all based in my TrWh au, as always. Here they are:

Wanted to draw heroes with wings, I draw Vanessa quite a bit so I had to learn wings and feathers. Still working on it, but its fun. You can see Vanessa there at the bottom middle, looking a little menacing.

The girl with red wings is called...Redwing aka Carrie Levine. I thought she was a sweet kid, so her ultimate fate was pretty sad. Wonder if she'll come back to continuity at some point.

The guy with the mohawk is Northwind aka Norda Cantrell, part of Infinity Inc the earth 2 version of a Teen Titans group. He honestly didn't get a whole lot of focus in Infinity Inc, like the writer didn't know what to do with him. Maybe they should've made him into the magic fighter of the group, almost felt like thats what they were going for him before they wrote him off.

The girl in yellow is Dawnstar, part of the Legion of Superheroes. I haven't read much of LoSH, mostly some 90's issues. But her design is soooo pretty I had to draw her, her costume here is a mix of her various outfits.

Lastly, here's Bluejay aka Jay Abrams again, part of Justice League Europe. Kinda thought JLE was a bit of a letdown, I mean the team's made up of mostly americans not europeans! I think Crimson Fox was the only european, I thought her set-up of being two people was cool.

Little extra Infinity doodle, here's Hector Hall (Silver Scarab) hating on poor Norda, with Lyta Trevor (Fury) looking on with confusion. Hector's just a hater (tho there's reasons for it ig), an archetype you see sometimes in some superhero groups, like Roy Harper or Guy Gardner. The plot-line of Hector's resentment of Norda was kinda interesting, but like with most things in Infinity it didn't get the focus it should've gotten. Speaking of Infinity, here's some more doodles:

There's Rex Tyler (Hourman 1) with little Rick Tyler (Hourman 2), enjoying some father-son time. Apparently Rick's first costume isn't well liked (so says reddit). I thought it seemed cute but maybe it works better as a kid's or sidekick's kinda costume?

In the middle is Jack Knight (Starman) suffering as he interacts with Sylvester Pemberton (Skyman, formerly the Star-Spangled Kid) and Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl, actually she should still be S-SK but whatever). In my au he actually joins Infinity Inc, since everyone becomes heroes earlier he's actually around when the team's still running. I suspect his dad (Ted Knight) forced him into it. Also Courtney doesn't respect Jack at all, he's so annoyed at this. Look at her mini-staff, I presume Ted made it for her.

Also there's Beth Chapel (Dr. Mid-Nite) and Jesse Chambers (Jesse Quick) looking cool. Jesse also joins Infinity Inc in my au, will there be a love triangle going on between Beth, Rick and Jesse? Don't think Rick's gonna survive that, aw well.

Look at baby Jade and Obsidian, Alan is overwhelmed by their antics.

In another post someone asked if I could draw more of the Relative Heroes, a super obscure hero group. So @draculaura1660, this one's for you. Here they are:

I kinda had a hard time drawing this group, cuz their costumes are so complicated! I wished there was a reference/concept art for them cuz it was a struggle trying to figure out the details, the comic art did not help matters at all. You might have noticed I changed details anyways, I tend to simplify costumes for my au both to make it easier to draw and also to signify their younger ages. It's just fun to play around with costume design ig.

Some more characters!

Jinx, who looks very different between her comic and cartoon self. I did like her pink hair, so decide to see how it would look on her comic self. There's Kole, who also has different designs in comic/cartoons. I think her comic costume is so cool, esp that color pallet! But I love her pink hair in the cartoon, so she's got pink hair here! Just like pink hair a lot lol.

The other pink haired girl is Laethwen, love interest of Ray Palmer in Sword of the Atom. I think I made her hair more pink to better differentiate her from Starfire, also, again I just like pink hair. I wished she and her little kingdom didn't die, in my au Ray saves them! Maybe he relocates them to his backyard or something?

Little Donna and Vanessa doodle, did you know they never once interacted on panel? The closest is when Donna brings her stepsister Cindy to talk to Vanessa instead. I wonder how they would even interact, I know Vanessa wanted to be wonder girl (and resented Cassie for 'taking' it from her). Did she look up to Donna, or wanted her out of the way? Funnily enough Donna wasn't even Diana's sidekick when post-crisis started, due to both their origins being reworked and contradicting each other's timelines. It's all very confusing.

Anyways, some bonus doodles:

Had fun making a new outfit for Laethwen, I imagine she took some inspiration from indigenous groups from the Amazon, seeing as that's where her people crashed into.

Kole's costume is just so beautiful but so complicated, maybe that's why she got killed off so soon in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Lastly, here's Bette bugging Dick with Barbara being super amused about it. I said in my post about her that I didn't really care about her crush on Robin, which is true, but I still wanted to doodle something making fun of it. Poor Dick is doesn't know how to get outta of this social situation.

Well that was a lot, hope you liked all that.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe - Creature Commandos: Part I - Introduction

In every comic book fanatic...there are two wolves.

There's the first wolf, the purist wolf, who has read all the canon, loves the comic book lore as it stands (no matter how ridiculous it is), and can tell you the unnecessarily complex backstory of that one character that no fully same person knows the backstory of (the Hawks for DC nerds, and any member of the Summers-Grey family for Marvel, for example). But the second wolf, the fan wolf, actively shares those characters and stories they love with other people, and thinks about those characters with its own headcanons and opinions.

Now, unlike the metaphorical inner wolves of normal people, these wolves are fed by external media. And when a comic book fan looks at a character or story they live, especially when its adapted, their wolves feast. The purist wolf feeds on accurately adapted characters, faithful to the page and to what they love to see. Meanwhile, the fan wolf just wants to see the adaptation, regardless of the changes, and loves to talk about it with other people who see it. Now, ideally, every comic book nerd has wolves that they feed in equal measure with books and media, especially if that media adapts comics well.

So, how are my wolves doing?

...Jesus Christ, when did the fan wolf learn how to walk on two legs? And use weaponry? And develop thumbs? And learn Spanish? And speak with the voice of acclaimed character actor Wagnar Moura? Well, shit, he's feeding pretty well as of late. Makes sense, there are a lot of adaptations nowadays, and comic books and associated media are considered mainstream! That means the purist wolf must be

Ah. It's dead.

Well, goddamn it, what the hell? Comic book purists have never really fed well, but it's not like they've been completely starved. As somebody who considers myself pretty flexible in my tolerance of character and story changes between media (different media means different narrative need and format), I often like the changes in adaptations. Plus, there have been plenty of changes that are at least faithful to the original spirit of the characters.

In Marvel, for example, every version of Spider-Man that we've seen in film has at least been faithful to the spirit of the character. Sure, Tobey's version wasn't very funny and created natural webbing, Garfield's version was arguably too cool for school and never said the whole responsibility thing, and Holland's version is way too reliant on other superheroes in his films, but ALL of them are still solid version of the webhead, in my opinion. Plus, hell, Into and Across the Spider-Verse are both more than enough fuel for a comic book purist, even with Shameik Moore's stupid-ass Tweets as of late.

And that's not even counting the Playstation Spider-Man, who's goddamn fantastic (BOTH of them in BOTH games), some of the animated Spider-Men (looking at you, *Spectacular Spider-Man*, unsurprisingly), and even fan-made versions of the character that have made the circulations as of late. Hell, adaptations have been doing better than the FUCKING COMIC BOOKS as of late when it comes to Spider-Man. But, OK, enough about Marvel. Not why I'm here. Just...bear with me, I'll get to the point.

DC has had plenty of faithful adaptations over the years, if not actual straight adaptations that also work all right. Young Justice, of course, is the most recently lauded animated adaptation, while older shows like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the various shows of the DC Animated Universe (AKA the DCAU or Timmverse), and even more recent fare such as Harley Quinn shows at least an appreciation and familiarity with source material. That last one, admittedly, is a stretch, but Harley Quinn has genuinely surprised me with its attention to faithfulness, and its willingness to be more creative and funny with its alternate versions of classic characters. It was better in earlier seasons, though, just to be clear. But even then...passable.

There's also the animated film adaptations, which haven't been as good as they were in the late 200s and early 2010s, but still have some solid entries. The Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptations weren't perfect, but had their...sparse moments. The Long Halloween was actually quite a good adaptation of the difficult-to-adapt source material, as was Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (even if the TV series did it a little better, although much less accurate). Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a recent adaptation that's actually VERY good, especially to those who love WW rogues. And if you haven't seen some of the older films, like Justice League: Doom, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Superman vs. the Elite, All-Star Superman, and Superman: Red Son...uh, yeah, please do, they're all excellent.

But, OK, with all of those adaptations, some as recent as last year, why is the purist feeling so deprived? Well...because the bad FAR outweighs the good, especially as of late. Just talking about DC (because Marvel is a bag of angry, screaming Flerkens), the movies have only given us THREE decent adaptations in the last 5 years: the underrated Blue Beetle, which is a quite accurate iteration of the character; Matt Reeves' The Batman, and the associated The Penguin (which was so afraid of comic books that they changed the main character's name to be "more grounded"), and The Suicide Squad, which is...a fitting film to bring up. Oh, and Birds of Prey doesn't count because it fucked over A LOT of characters, especially Cassandra Cain. Just sayin'.

In terms of TV series, well...Young Justice returned, but kinda fell off in the process for a lot of fans. The CW series, with the exception of the excellent Superman and Lois, are...something for another post. And there is Peacemaker, which is...again, fitting to bring up, but also incredibly complicated, and not beholden to accuracy for various reasons. And anything else...doesn't really rate discussion. Yeah, it hasn't been amazing for DC fans, while Marvel fans were eating pretty well in the last decade-and-a-half. So, imagine our delight and joy upon hearing that the DC cinematic universe would be remade by a bonafide comic book fan who was unafraid of the source material: James Gunn.

With Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn had already proven he was able to swing and swing BIG when it came to comic book characters, having successfully adapted the titular Guardians, and Ego the Living Planet, of all characters. Yes, he severely fucked up Ronan the Accuser and Adam Warlock (like...REALLY badly), and also kinda Drax, but he also adapted Mantis successfully. FUCKING MANTIS. At the very least, he showed that he was willing to go for it. And then, after the firing-and-rehiring from Disney and being brought onto DC as a result, he made The Suicide Squad.

Understand what a miracle this film is, OK? Gunn makes GotG, it's a massive success, and Warner Bros. and DC notices that. So, they make their own GotG with blackjack and hookers in the form of David Ayers' Suicide Squad, which is TERRIBLE, and seen for the rip-off it was. Then, Gunn's old tweets pop up and he gets fired by Disney, and JUST before he gets rehired, WB swoops in and snags Gunn to revitalize the film series that ripped off HIS film series IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND IT FUCKING WORKS. Not only does Gunn make a GOOD Suicide Squad movie that people actually LIKE, but he also adapts King Shark, Starro the Conqueror, and fucking POLKA-DOT MAN!!! And he gets Jon Cena to play Peacemaker, WHICH LAUNCHES ITS OWN FRANCHISE BY ITSELF!!! And with that, Gunn gets brought on to run the DC cinematic universe as their own Kevin Fiege. FUCKING POLKA DOT MAN??? It's incredible!

...Right?

Like I said, Gunn's The Suicide Squad seems like a miracle. Excellent performance, a lot of cool characters to introduce from the DC Universe, and a crazy-ass showdown that does DC Comics some justice. But, uh...hold on a second. The wolf is still starving over here. Because this film cleverly seems like a miracle. In reality, while Gunn made a fun film to watch, he also severely fucked over comic book nerds in a myriad of different ways with this film, because he set a dangerous precedent, while also continuing an irritating trend that he'd previously helped to promote. That trend? In-name only characters, AKA references for the sake of references.

...Fan-service. Gunn is a master of good-looking fan service.

Look, creative license is great, honestly. It's also incredibly necessary. But Gunn has found a way to put in superficial references that draw in comic book nerds, or the comic-book knowledgeable, while also not really even caring about the source material. Sometimes, it doesn't matter. Polka-Dot Man, AKA Abner Krill, is essentially a joke character that Gunn took and made into an actual character. No comic book nerd gives a SHIT that Polka-Dot Man was a Batman villain from the '60s who committed dot-based crimes, using various special devices and gadgets that he turned into dots that he wore. He's essentially a blank-slate of a character, and Gunn took that and changed it completely, but also made the character memorable and interesting (as did actor David Dastmalchian, of course).

In fact, Gunn did the exact same thing with a whole slew of bit characters in the beginning of the movie. Lemme give you a shortlist of the comic book characters that appear in The Suicide Squad, outside of the main cast of character.

Javelin*,Savant*, Blackguard*, Mongal*, Captain Boomerang*, Weasel**, Thinker*, Kaleidoscope**, Double Down**, Calendar Man**, Ratcatcher*, Starro the Conqueror**, and technically Arm-Fall-Off...Man*. Holy shit, that's a lot of characters! What's that you ask? What do the asterisks mean? Ah, right, sorry, I should explain. Characters with two asterisks have little more than a single brief appearance, just for a quick joke or a "hey look, they're here" appearance. And the single asterisks? Those characters die.

And yeah, OK, it's a "Suicide Squad" movie, death is part of the equation. But look at some of those characters again. Mongal? She's an extraterrestrial conqueror, and the daughter of a major Superman and Green Lantern villain. Definitely could be used better than dying LIKE A PUNK. And why is that character even in Task Force X? Starro the Conqueror? I mean, maybe they pull something off and bring him back for a later film, but that's a WORLD-ENDING THREAT, and a fucking JUSTICE LEAGUE villain! And...wait a second, did Gunn kill CAPTAIN FUCKING BOOMERANG???

One of the most iconic members of EVERY comic book iteration of the Suicide Squad (and therefore a survivor), one of the most iconic members of Flash's Rogues, and one of the only semi-decent things about Ayers' Suicide Squad? You gave Weasel, fucking Weasel, a post-credit scene where he survives the beach massacre, and Boomer is just fucking SHAFTED??? For what can only be assumed is a shitty SHOCK-DEATH? WHAT THE HELL KIND OF DECISION IS THAT???

Look...I actually like The Suicide Squad, I swear. It's a fun film, it is a Suicide Squad movie, and it does a good job with character development and the story of the team. Bloodsport and Peacemaker are great rivals and fun-as-hell characters, Margot Robbie gets a chance to actually shine as Harley Quinn, Ratcatcher and King Shark are great, and the fact that Flag and Polka-Dot Man die is actually genuinely affecting. Plus, shit, they made Starro the Conqueror FUCKING TERRIFYING, especially because he's a big dumpy STARFISH!!! I do like it! But...man, these are some controversial fucking choices, and I've never liked them.

And the big problem now? Gunn is running the DCU.

And again, I don't think that's inherently a bad thing, but...man, it has me worried. Hell, look at Peacemaker. While it was a great showcase for its eponymous character (and Jon Cena is stellar in the role), it introduces two characters that get kinda screwed, while also giving a kind of nothing-burger of a villain. I mean, I love Vigilante in the show, but Adrian was a fucking judge in the comics, not a complete sociopathic moron. Funny, yeah, but not the character. And Judomaster? Damn, did that character get completely shafted. Another in-name-only character, even though he's not a character I've ever been super-devoted to.

My problem is this: if Gunn approaches all of his projects, and the DCU at large, the same way he approached The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy, this isn't gonna work. And that's not just in terms of how the characters are written or treated, it's his practices of pumping characters into his films, only to dump them and ruining them for the future of the universe as a whole. I mean, hell, he even did it to Marvel. Ronan the Accuser, Ego, and the High Evolutionary are gone from the MCU, despite being characters of enormous potential. But hey, is this a rational fear, or am I worrying for no reason? Well...cue the trumpets.

Earlier today, I finished watching Gunn's Creature Commandos, having kept up with it throughout the season. And understand, when this film was announced, I was super excited about it! I love the Creature Commandos in concept, and they've had a few incarnations throughout the years. It's a fascinatingly fun idea, and I was looking forward to seeing how the characters were adapted. I had my questions and concerns, especially about the roster, but I was intrigued. And what we got was...well, second after I finished it, I wrote this post. And that has sponsored what you're currently reading. So, uh...I have some notes.

Yeah, this is one of those rare occasions where something has made me SO irrationally frustrated, so very and incredibly irritated, I had to write a goddamn essay series about it. And yeah, this is only the first one of these. Can't help it. I'm kinda pissed off. Because Gunn wasted this team, ruined a fair number of characters for the DCU going forward, eradicated a pile of possibilities, and STILL GOT A SEASON 2 APPROVED FOR THIS SHOW. God, I'm worried. And I gotta tell somebody about it.

So, to the...I dunno, 1 to 5 people who actually read this essay, including those whom I know personally (you know who you are, how ya doin'), thanks for reading and, if you're interested, stay tuned. A lot of unnecessary nerd-whining to come, believe you me. And more than a few headcanons, because I'm giving this the same treatment as my Superman essays. So, yeah, buckle in. It's gonna be a ride.

Part One: Introduction and Adaptation Part Two: The Original Creature Commandos Part Three: Amanda Waller and Rick Flag, Sr. Part Four: The Frankensteins Part Five: G.I. Robot Part Six: Weasel Part Seven: Doctor Phosphorus

[confusedhummingbird]

What's your opinion on the contrast between superhero outfits?

On one hand we have a majority of Starfire, Raven, Wonder woman and Harley's being sexualized to hell and back.

Then on the other side of the spectrum we have Superman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Batman, all the Flashes, Red hood, etc. which for superhero outfits are pretty modest. (Look I'm trying to cope, they also suck)

Then we have the in between like Cat woman and Nightwing who although completely covered in some depictions the outfit is so tight that it defeats the point.

I'd love to use the excuse that they're long range fighters who can afford to not have as much protection but most of these characters like to get close and dirty. Another excuse would be that they're into fashion like Kori but it 1. Doesn't fit the character, and 2. Protection is so much more important.

Don't even get me started when some forms of media take a modest (ish) costume and rip it. Or when they give a character a power that destroys or otherwise renders their clothes useless (fire, giant-ification, etc. Thank god I haven't seen much of this from DC but it happens in so many things and pisses me off so much that I have to mention it.

I get it though, cool outfits, romance BUT I came here for superheroes and character development, not whatever that is. You can make cool outfits that don't have a crotch cut or boob window. there are so many good examples but there's always 5x the amount of bad ones!

Most of Donna's outfits are amazing, I saw an outfit where Raven wasn't showing any skin, I. STILL. LOVED. IT. If they gave Zatanna leggings we'd still love it. Some of Huntress's outfits are awesome. And guess what? THEY'RE ALL GIRLS YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEXUALIZE THEM.

Ughhhhhh I just hate it. Sorry for the rant, you don't have to respond ofc.

Hey no worries. Yeah hero costumes are something I'm interested in. Real fashion I have no interest in but I like talking about my favorite hero costumes.

I also completely agree with women's costumes. I know many of the women's costumes I enjoy but many of them in the past have been very skimpy.(Don't even get me started on what they did to my baby girl, Cassie Sandsmark)I do think they're doing better nowadays because characters like Carol Danvers, Carol Ferris and even Kory have costumes which are more battle focused and less sexualized. And for cases like Selina and Dick I know a lot of it is fanservice but I can make a case for both. Dick relies very much on his speed and flexibility. He's strong but he's not a tank like Bruce or Jason so having clothing that's most skin tight and can't get in the way of his movements makes sense. This was even a thing Dick complained about when he started out as Batman when Bruce was "Dead" the Batman costume was much different than what he was used to. Selina you could argue for the same reasons she's also very acrobatic and it makes sense as a cat burglar she wouldn't want any loose fabric. Plus she's also someone who isn't afraid to use her good looks to her advantage.

I will say I don't agree with some of the ones you think suck I do like a lot of the classy ones like Superman, Batman, Flash(Although Wally's current outfit has me a bit mixed) they're iconic and they really do scream hero and I enjoy them.

I don't know I have various thoughts I could give about different costumes I do and don't like.

Thanks for the ask and never be afraid of rambling I do it all the time 😁

[professoruber]

Bette Kane as CEO of Kane Industries

DC Comics Bombshells (2015—2017) #7 - Digital Chapter #21

I did a post a while ago on Bette Kane which discussed a bit of the treatment her character has gone through. She does seem like a pretty interesting character, one whom has had the misfortune of often being pushed to the sidelines and undermined.

So I thought it would be neat to share these panels from DC Comics Bombshells; basically a 1940s Elseworlds centred around female superheroes in the homefronts during World War 2. It seems pretty fun from what I've seen, and I thought it had a pretty cool concept of having Bette take over Kane Industries and act as a philanthropist (presumably because Bruce himself won't be active in this timeline until sometime later).

Is interesting though that Bette specifically got control of Kane Industries and not Kate, which would suggest that Bette's father is older than Jacob? At least in the timeline of Bombshells.

I think I have seen some interpretation which have her be the daughter of Philip Kane (who in the current timeline ran Wayne Industries while Bruce was growing up and also when he was training to be Batman). Probably isn't the intention though since it would presumably have been mentioned if Bette's dad was dead, and also because Philip talks to Bruce about how Martha knew he wasn't fit to be father (which was his justification for having being rather absente in Bruce's life).

Even if it doesn't entirely fit with things, still is an interesting concept in my opinion.