#but none of the comics i read had much appeal to me

[okaystoptellingmetomakeanaccount]

Unpopular DT opinion: I don’t care for Don Rosa’s work. None of it ever resonated with me. I dunno if that makes me a heathen, but whatever, DuckTales in the early days bores me to tears. Guess you can put me at the stake. 🔥

I do get it. Rosa’s work is not for everyone. It certainly has a very fanfic-y taste to it, and arguably isn’t very Disney-comic-like at all. Or it at least isn’t Barksian. Rosa more writes like it’s a Hollywood movie. For some that’s exactly its appeal, but for others it’s a turn-off. Both are fair.

Also his art is probably a problem as well. I know it is for many. It’s very stiff. Me being a big Rosa fan doesn’t notice it while reading, but the moment you go and look at the art of some professionals it does start to stand out in a negative way. Rosa’s difference is also that he puts 10 times the amount of time in drawing compared to other artists, partly because he’s technically an amateur, and because he wants the very best possible, but it does end up in often overcrowded drawings. Some might really love all that extra effort and the details, some would say, like I quote my mother: “It hurts my eyes”.

There are a lot of people who dislike Rosa’s stories, so it’s really not the unpopular opinion you might think it is. You might just haven’t encountered the Barks purists yet. Or even those who prefer the cleaner drawing and writing styles of… pretty much everyone else.

I have seen very little of the original Ducktales and it kind of bored me as well. I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion at all actually. I see lots of people say that Ducktales 87 hasn’t aged well compared to like, Darkwing Duck. I would even say it was never that great in the first place. I find it a very childish adaptation of the duckverse that looked at Barks’ stories and misunderstood everything that was good about them. Gotta say though, that the animation and staging was beautiful. Especially for that time! That was some movie-level of budget they had or something, because it still looks great, and maybe even better than some modern animation we see in the industry today.

[joseispiral]

CRUISIN’ 4 A BRUISIN’ (Gokusen)

by Kozueko Morimoto | 156 chapters | 1999-2007

9/10

Gokusen is your typical relatable Josei manga: The protagonist, a mousy-looking girl, embarks on a quest to find love while trying to balance work life and home life. Except in this case work life is being a grade school teacher at an all-boys school, and home life is being a Yakuza heiress. This manga balances drama, comedy, and action, and oh my god, it’s so good. I started this review several months ago and I’m just finishing it now, but is it crazy for me to say I want to go back and re-read it already?

There is an unstoppable joy in Morimoto’s characterization of the protagonist, Yankumi. It’s honestly pretty cathartic to watch Yankumi bring her Yakuza know-how to public school, because lord knows the power structure of the educational institution could use a good ass-kicking. Yankumi’s teaching style can only be described as tough love, and none of the romance drama interferes with her ability to persevere and show a great deal of love to her students, family, and friends. It is so delightfully refreshing to read a manga where the protagonist is a compassionate, loyal, unfuckwithable, cop-hating teacher practicing non-hierarchical pedagogy! Emphasis on the cop-hating. I take issue with people who complain about “weak and annoying” female characters (that just sounds like a personal diss to me, ouch), but if you really just want to watch a girl utterly and completely fuck people up, Gokusen is the way to go.

What makes Gokusen so strong is how well it sticks to our Yakuza princess’s moral integrity: Nobody is irredeemable, not even mob bosses and snot-nosed teenage boys. Despite violence being her preferred solution for any problem, Yankumi isn’t hungry for power, nor does she slap people up because she wants to eradicate them. She acknowledges that her power, be it as a Yakuza heiress or a schoolteacher, can be used to improve the world, which very much appeals to me as a believer in transformative justice. I always recall my roommate telling me, after I relayed my firm stance on nonviolence, that some people really just need a punch to the face to really make them stop acting a fool. Gokusen effectively pulls off this ethos by using its buoyant and crisp tone. This manga is about beating people to a pulp and then helping them get back up again.

The second half of the series had moments that made me explode with laughter which I think is pretty hard for a comic to do! If you like Daria or even Beavis and Butthead I think this definitely scratches that itch. Just a note that there are some jokes made about pedophilia in the story, so that’s something to beware of if you’re sensitive to it. Beyond just jokes though, the main love interest is one of the high schoolers, but I actually found that plotline pretty sweet and interesting - Yankumi shows little to no romantic interest in him and most of their relationship is about him trying to prove himself to her as an adult, which hits home for me. Does that make me messed up? Did other people fantasize about a teacher or two when they were in grade school? I found that Morimoto handled that emotional landscape with serious honesty when it could have quickly become rocky territory.

Why do I see so many people complaining about Gokusen’s artwork online? Even in the first volume, when the proportions are a little funny and the lines aren’t as confident, I found the expressions and character designs irresistibly endearing. It’s got a simpler slapstick artstyle common in these older mangas that reminds me of a mix of Stop!! Hibari-Kun! and Urusei Yatsura but with a Josei twist. Ultimately the art style works in service to the writing style, which has serious moments treating characters’ intentions with levity; but also is riddled with hilarious scenarios. The sparse backgrounds allow for the focus to facial expressions and character gestures. 

Just go read this manga, it’s so kickass and sweet and there is so much cop hatred. It’s for the kids who have bottomless amounts of both love and violence burning a hole in our hearts.

[kanansdume]

Now that Andor has finished, I'm starting to see more of an influx of negative opinions on it and while I don't share their opinion and absolutely loved the show, it's interesting to see that Andor ended up such a polarizing show. People either really related to it and adored it and felt like it was one of the best things Star Wars has ever produced, or it just fell completely flat because of how different its style and structure was.

"It didn't feel like Star Wars," "it was too slow," "none of the characters were interesting/likable" seem to be the biggest frustrations people had with this show, while "It's so new and refreshing," "it's an excellent slowburn that's taking its time to tell a good story," and "all of the characters are morally gray and it's an interesting use of ensemble" are things I've seen people ENJOY about the show. They're the exact same things, but for some people they work, and for others, they... don't.

I get why the slower structure would have bothered people, even as the structure worked really well for me in giving me those mini arcs for Cassian while still remaining entirely serialized and giving impact to past events as the story moves forward.

I get why having the ensemble structure would be frustrating in its refusal to truly focus in on one character's journey above the others, even as it totally worked for me in highlighting what the writers felt was meaningful about Cassian's arc by paralleling and foiling him in the others, partially because Cassian as a character doesn't always make things obvious and partially to just build the world up a little.

And I get why the more serious adult take on Star Wars could have put people off, that this just simply isn't what they enjoy Star Wars FOR and if they wanted edgy serious adult drama they would go watch something else. I get that, even as I deeply enjoyed having piece of Star Wars media that felt aimed at someone my age rather than having to enjoy something that is intentionally written towards a pre-teen demographic even if it's written well. As someone who doesn't tend to do a lot of reading of the novels and comics that have been allowed to be more adult, it's felt like a breath of fresh air in some ways. I like Star Wars a lot and really enjoy some of the more subtle things happening in shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Rebels or even Clone Wars and the main films. But I don't think Andor is a show that had a pre-teen audience in mind, I'm not even sure a lot of pre-teens would enjoy it all that much. And I think there can be room to explore an element of Star Wars that CAN be aimed at adults, but that's not going to be something that appeals to all of Star Wars' myriad fans.

I don't go see a rom-com because I'm looking for a political side story. I'm there to see a stupid formulaic nauseatingly sweet storyline that doesn't ask me to think all that hard. There's going to be people who come to Star Wars with very specific things in mind that they want out of it because it's why Star Wars brings them joy, it's what Star Wars MEANS to them, and Andor just isn't going to fulfill that.

Andor did have to grow on me a little and I was someone who already considered Rogue One my favorite Star Wars film and enjoyed Cassian as a character, Diego Luna as an actor, and was genuinely hopeful and excited for the show. And of course the show isn't perfect, it stumbles in places, it can do better with some of its writing choices perhaps. But I respect it a LOT for choosing to really stick to its vision, to do its own thing. I'm someone who's always going to have a lot more respect for someone trying and failing than someone who is just sticking to the proven status quo. Andor had a very particular message in mind that it wanted to tell and a particular way it decided to tell it. For some people, that message worked, for others it didn't, but they took the road less travelled and I can respect the bravery and dedication that took.

[twofrontteethstillcrooked]

"The candles are made locally, though, which I suppose is nice for customers."

Dean, still holding the log cabin one, gave Cas a thoughtful look. "You buying this one?"

Cas blinked. "No."

"Hmm," Dean said again.

"What?" Cas cocked his head.

deancas ust, snippetfic fluff for the last day of winter 

Please see also: this wonderful comic @clenster made ❤️

Cas never ceased to be amazed by how many stores sold candles. While Dean and Sam spoke to the rattled florist, Cas investigated the large window at the front of the store. The pane had cracked in the exact shape of a man, presumably the missing employee, and the sill was lined with candles in heavy glass containers, none of which – suspiciously? – had been damaged. 

One of the candles featured a label depicting a small, quaint looking log cabin in a snowy forest. It was the sort of scene Cas admittedly was drawn to. Something about a cabin in the woods appealed to him; he could imagine himself there with happiness, sitting in a comfortable swing on a porch and watching deer be nosy at the treeline. If he imagined someone else sitting on the swing beside him, maybe even with his hand in Cas's, he and Cas wrapped up together in a thick old quilt, well, that harmed no-one.

"'Haunted Cabin'?" Dean, having snuck up alongside Cas, picked up the candle in question. "That doesn't give you any clue about the scent." He took off the metal lid and sniffed dramatically. "Hmm."

"The artificial pinene and limonene molecules are reasonably reminiscent of evergreen trees," Cas said. He could smell the candle from several inches away.

"When did candles start having themes?" Dean muttered, putting the lid back on.

"Apparently these candles have stories," Cas informed him, having already read about the Black Death and Cursed Looking-Glass varieties at the other end of the windowsill; they smelled like fake blackberries and melted plastic, respectively.

"That got anything to do with this?" Dean pointed at the damaged window and then threw a thumb over his shoulder. By a refrigerator full of loud daisies, the florist was dabbing her nose with a tissue. A few feet away Sam was checking his phone and somehow still exuding puppy-dog sympathy in her direction.

"I don't think so," Cas said. "The candles are made locally, though, which I suppose is nice for customers." 

Dean, still holding the log cabin one, gave Cas a thoughtful look. "You buying this one?"

Cas blinked. "No."

"Hmm," Dean said again. 

"What?" Cas cocked his head.

"It's just, you like cabins." Dean acted this like it was a well known, much discussed fact, and just because it was true didn't make the statement less disconcerting to Cas. When Cas declined to respond, Dean said, "You've checked out at least three different books on the topic from the public library back home, buddy."

"They were…" Cas felt, if not judged, then caught out, and hoped it didn't show on his face. "The books were interesting. Relaxing to thumb through." He wanted to leave it at that.

"Hey, a little cabin by a lake in the snow?" Dean shrugged good naturedly. "Nice crackling fire going in the hearth. Maybe you'd take a short hike and then have a good drink afterwards to warm up? Maybe." He put the candle back on the sill. "Maybe there'd be someone there to warm up with, you know?" He wasn't quite looking at Cas, but he wasn't quite looking away either. "Sounds pretty damn perfect to me." 

His eyes landed on Cas's more fully, something vulnerable in his gaze that pressed an ache into Cas's throat.

After a long moment, Cas decided it was safe to say, "Yes. I think so too." The quiet stretched between them, comfortably.

"I might have a lead," Sam said, having appeared like an apparition. 

Cas was probably imagining the disappointment that flitted across Dean's expression. "The florist was helpful?" he asked Sam.

"Ah, yeah," Dean said, sounding slightly sheepish. To Sam he asked, "You already found her ex-husband's address?"

"In a manner of speaking: according to the online obituary, he's buried in a cemetery over in Caneyville," Sam said in a lowered voice. He tipped his head toward the front of the store. "Pretty sure she doesn't know he died last year."

"Oof." Dean glanced at Cas and at Sam and back to Cas. "We can go check out the graveyard while Sam hits up the coroner's office."

"Lucky me," Sam said, rolling his eyes before he headed to the door.

Dean and Cas followed, falling into a matched stride. Dean's arm brushed against Cas's at least once more than was strictly coincidental. By the time they were out on the sidewalk, Dean had shivered a couple of times and moved even closer, like allowing any space between himself and Cas was risking a wind tunnel on such a cold late winter day. They didn't talk in the car. Dean's hand found its way into Cas's anyway.

[nysus-temple]

We need to talk about the downgrade of Apollo in Lore Olympus because Rachel did him so dirty, like his character has been mistreated do much 😭

Don't take this personal, anon, you've done nothing wrong ! i'll just use this ask as a way to, somehow, dumps my violent thoughts about this... Thingy.

Rant below.

What Lore Olympus did to Apollo isn't even a downgrade, it's plain disrespectful, an insult to an important figure and symbol. Not only him, but also the rest of the gods that appear in that nonsense that dares to call itself a """comic""", which is also an insult to writers and artists. Lore Olympus did a culture wrong, did a comic wrong in general, but it did to Apollo has no words to describe it. If every time someone talks about Apollo, they need to EXPLAIN why he's not the LO one, we have a problem. When we are talking about Apollo, we're talking about APOLLO and that's it. Why the fuck do we need to specify? Because of this piece of shit that had the audacity to even come out in physical format. As someone who has been writing since she was a child, who also studies literature and took courses regarding how to write a fucking decent story, i don't even know where to begin with this horrible piece of... """Media""" that Webtoon keeps promoting as if it wasn't something that wasn't of a big deal. My ass.

Gotta love seeing a bunch of teens who educated themselves with Tiktok reading that AND not only throwing bullshit at Apollo, a figure who i love with my entire being and who has brought me comfort in numerous ways, but also thinking that rape victims just "get over it" after meeting a handsome man or whatever. As if Hades wasn't fucking awful in that comic. That's not how it works. Don't write about dangerous topics if you know shit about them.

Gotta love how i always associated Persephone with dark-pink, due to the pomegranate seeds being of that color, BUT NOW i can't see her with anything with that color anymore because of the ugly ass """character""" LO made. What even is WRONG with the teens reading it that they go and change wiki articles to make the myths accurate to this bullshit that has the balls to call itself a comic ????

I won't even go "sure, you like it, fine" NO. NO I CANNOT. WHAT DO YOU EVEN SEE THAT IS APPEALING? I've seen people who knew nothing about Greek Folklore say it was boring as hell. Some kind of Twilight 2.0 but even worse. For fuck's sake, i'm the first person who likes characters that in real life wouldn't be nice to be with, because NONE OF THEM ARE HUMAN, all of those are monsters or invented creatures. What do those teens even SEE in LO when the designs are all fucking awful.

And after what they did to ALL of the gods, SPECIALLY to Apollo, if they have the fucking audacity to touch Dionysus too, i truly apologize for the person i will become.

If they fucking dare to mistreat Dionysus just like the damn Hades Game did and make him a pice of scum just like that one, i do apologize for the things i'm capable of doing.

[explosionshark]

Character Ask: Buffy

General opinion/How much I care about them: THAT'S MY GIRL THAT'S MY FAVORITE GIRL THAT'S BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS!!!! she's so funny she's so brave she's got so much love and rage and despair inside of her. She kicks so much ass and suffers so much and cracks so many stupid jokes 💕💕💕

A ship I love: it's Fuffy for me, that can't be a surprise after 100k words of published fic and my entire truly insane tag for them. But yeah. Yeah. I like them a normal amount (<- lying)

A non-romantic relationship that I love: i already talked a little bit about Scooby friendship so for this I'm gonna say Dawn! They're so funny together, when they fight it feels natural, but they love each other SO much and when the show puts their relationship center stage it always works for me

The NOTP: NOTP feels too dramatic for how I feel about Spuffy but ngl it's weird sometimes to be in this fandom experiencing total and complete lesbian immunity from Spike. Literally just over here like 😐. I mean objectively I get it! I see the appeal of his character and that ship! It does absolutely nothing for me, and the only parts I find very compelling are just what that relationship says about Buffy herself. Sorry :/

My biggest headcanon about them: I can't keep just saying "they're bisexual" for this answer I can't I can't (she is tho 💕) - okay but aside from that I really do think guidance counselor would have been a good career for Buffy. I think if you follow comics canon to at least just the establishment of the slayer school, then a lot of the same soft skills she would have employed as a counselor get put use training newbies (outside of a life and death apocalyptic time crunch I really do think she could be good at it)

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: (if I have none in my WIPs I'll make one up on the spot!) God I have so many fics I wanna write 😭😭😭 I've talked a bit about it before but my Very Ambitious And Intimidating Dream Fic is this season 4/5/6 rewrite that begins with Faith being held captive by the Initiative in s4. In the s5 part of the fic I really, really want to explore how much would be different (and how much sadly the same) for Buffy if she actually had a supportive partner and a backup slayer while dealing with losing her mom and fighting Glory. It makes me crazy to think about it.

Something that makes me think of them: (a song, a character in another fandom, an animal, anything) any time I see a cool axe in media I think "wow, Buffy Summers would have loved this"

[dukeofriven]

I am still furious for Paramount+ shitcanning Prodigy like they did, and for the way other shows I loved were stuffed down the meory hole, and the way they treat creatives - my complaints can go on and on. I could speak in particular as to how much I loathe 'prestige TV'— how a particular showy, expensive style of television ruined so many good ideas and good franchises, producing wave after wave of what was ultimately proven to be little more than glossy-but-thoughtless melodramas at a volume no one needed. It's been so much shit. But if you want to understand WHY platforms have started to do the unforgivable things they're doing now, from writer abuse to tax-cut memory holes, read this. Everyone should. Some of its most choice quotes: "It’s absolutely conceivable that the streaming subscription model is the crypto of the entertainment business.” ---- One of the best things about the boom was that it created space for stories and voices that had usually been marginalized. But as Hollywood reverts to what it thinks are sure things, many fear that TV may lose some of that diversity. “I recently spoke to the writers of a show that would’ve featured a trans lead,” Nori Reed, a comic and writer, says in an email. “After years of development at a major studio, they were told they had to change the trans character to cis if they wanted the show to be produced. Another friend was developing a show at another major studio that featured a central trans story line. Their show was canceled. When their manager tried to shop it to other studios, they were told that nobody wants to produce trans-focused shows any longer, citing the need for ‘global appeal.’”

--- And this second, which causes me physical pain but which I can't refute: “It’s hard to develop hit sitcoms when the people selling, pitching, buying, and programming them don’t seem to like them. They don’t seem to like what the audience likes,” says the top agent. “I mean, I’m sorry, but people seem to really like Two and a Half Men, and none of my writers want to write that. They all want to write Barry. And you know who watches Barry? Nobody.”

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

9 and 11 NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO PICK FAVORITES BY ITERATION BWUAHAHAH! XD

Seriously keep up the amazing work, big fan!

*hugs you*

9 - If you could change one thing about TMNT, what would it be?

Probably that so much attention is paid in-canon to Raph and Leo's "rivalry", at the expense of other, different forms of tension. Now, don't get me wrong... I do like it when they have little disagreements, but the point to which it has become the central theme of so many stories just make me wanna, you know...

11 - Favorite turtle (iteration specific)?

See what you have done! You have opened the proverbial can of worms, and I will now be naming my favorites in every version of the TMNT that I have ever watched or read! Mwahaha!

*ahem* In (more or less) chronological order...

Mirage Comics - I never had much of a preference between the guys in the old comics, though Donatello always had a great appeal to me.

1987 - I totally had a crush on Donatello back in the day. He was the toy that I played with the most, and the one I chose when me and my friends were pretending to be the TMNT (which was pretty easy, since I could use a broomstick as my bo staff).

1990 - There aren't many versions where Raphael is my favorite (I mean, I always love him, but other Turtles usually appeal to me more), but I loved his journey in the first TMNT movie.

1991 - To me, Secret Of The Ooze was all about Donatello. I loved how he had an emotional stake in what was basically a silly little movie.

1993 - How could you not love cute little lovesick Michelangelo? And plus, him being all heroic and rescuing Yoshi!

TMNTA (Archie) Comics - Although Don is dear to my heart in this version, I am going to go with Michelangelo. He is a sweetheart, an artist, he likes poetry, in the future he runs an orphanage, and he is one half of the only TMNT ship I ever actually had... and also, the Blindsight storyline is, in my opinion, the best in the comic's run.

Image Comics - Although I read most of the Image comics, I am going to be honest and say that none of the Turtles really stood out to me. If I had to choose, though, it would probably be Donatello, because of all that cyborgification he went through. Poor guy.

2003 - I know, you know, we all know... Leonardo is my boy in this version! Such a ball of stress... so relatable. Don is a very close second, though!

2007 - Gotta be Donatello! The dude had so much to take care of being the de facto leader while Leo was gone.

2012 - I have to confess that I have not watched enough of this series to develop an opinion, but on behalf of my 12-year-old daughter, I am compelled to say Michelangelo!

2014 - In the first Bay movie, Donatello really shined for me. His nerdy badassery stole my heart.

2016 - While I also really liked Don in the second Bay movie, Michelangelo was my primary focus. How he went back and forth between being the goofy goober and his heartbreak at being perceived as a monster was fascinating to watch.

2018 - Again, I have not watched much of Rise, but based on the movie alone (which I did watch, several times), I would like to say this is another instance where Raphael stood out to me... though it was really hard to choose between him and Leo!

Batman Vs. TMNT (movie) - I loved the way Leonardo was portrayed in this one! His primary fear of failing his brothers was both palpable and understandable, and his fight with Ra's al Ghul is one of my favorite TMNT battles of all time ("I'm sixteen, and I learned this from a rat!")

2024 - Baby... baby boy Leonardo... he needs a hug so bad!

If an iteration isn't listed, then assume I haven't read or watched it enough to form an opinion! Yes, this includes IDW (the concept doesn't appeal to me, for some reason), and The Last Ronan (my heart can't take that)... and although I did watch some of The Next Mutation back in the day, I can't actually remember any of it.

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

The Avengers (1963) #25-28

These issues were published across December 1965 to March 1966, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Stan Lee and penciled by Don Heck. Issue #25 was inked by Dick Ayers and issues #26-28 were inked by Frank Giacoia.

In issue #25 Steve thinks, “How much longer can I continue to live a life not truly my own? A life with no roots? As Captain America, I’m merely a relic of an almost-forgotten past… Yes, as Captain America, I wear the mantle of Avengers’ leadership! But, what of the man inside the costume? What of Steve Rogers?? Am I destined to go through life with no real identity of my own? Is Steve Rogers always to live in the shadow of Captain America?” He deals with these feelings by training by himself at the Avengers’ manor. This reminded me of Steve’s thought process in his story in Tales of Suspense (1959) #75, also published in December 1965, which he dealt with by putting on ordinary clothes over his costume and going through a walk in the city. This made me realize that I can’t remember Steve spending time as Steve Rogers prior to this, although he got brought back in The Avengers #4. I’m not going back to check, but I remember when he was depicted in his off-time he was spending time, in costume, with Rick Jones, and then I can’t remember him spending time as Steve Rogers after Rick left.

I am charmed by Wanda’s concern for Steve. In issue #25 she wonders, “What is there about Steve Rogers that makes him so appealing to me? Is it the fact that he seems to harbor some tragic secret… some hidden sorrow? Or, am I just confusing pity with the dawning of love?” In issue #26 she thinks, “He endures so much- to hold the Avengers together! And yet- none can help him! He walks- alone!”

I have been less charmed with Clint’s characterization, with him always picking fights with Steve and Pietro, but he grew on me a bit in these issues. Firstly, it was his internal contradictions in issue #25. Wanda and Pietro go to tell him some exciting personal news and he just complains about them interrupting his training, then thinks, “I did it again! My blasted temper just lost me the only ally I’d need in order to get the Avengers’ leadership away from Captain America! To say nothing of ruining any chance I mighta had with Wanda!” In the very next panel he insults them again, and thinks, “What’s the matter with me?? Everything I say seems to come out wrong! I’m beginning to sound like the heavy in a grade-B movie! Rogers is right! I’ve got a big mouth!” Later he insults Steve by asking, “Do you always haveta make everything you say sound like the Gettysburg Address, winghead?” But when Steve starts to respond in kind, Clint cuts him off by saying, “Relax, cornball! For once I agree with you!”

I also liked some of what he brought out in Steve. In issue #25 Steve starts to argue with Clint when Clint tries to leave an Avengers meeting before being dismissed, then thinks to himself, “No! I’ve got to curb my temper! There’s nothing to be gained by this,” and says, “But, come to think of it, it’ll be a pleasure not to listen to your complaining for a while! So take off! But be back for morning roll call!” In issue #26 Clint is completely uninterested and disrespectful when Steve tries to explain some new important Avengers equipment to the team, which bothers Pietro and makes them get into a fight. Steve stops the fight and deescalates the situation by making them shake hands and not contradicting Clint when he acts like he’s in charge of the situation. This is even though Steve had previously spoken harshly with Clint, for example, telling him, “zipper your fat lip.” Though Steve speaks harshly again with him afterwards, saying as Clint leaves, “The less I see of your smirking pan, the better I like it!”

I also found some of the Clint’s dialogue when he was arguing with Steve in issue #28 to be fun. When Steve gets mad at him for complaining about an assignment, Clint says, “Anyone ever tell you how your eyes sparkle when you’re angry?” Later, when Steve gives the group orders while they’re on a mission, Clint asks, “Is it okay to breathe without your permission?” Steve responds, “In your case, I’d rather you didn’t!” But later, Clint stresses the necessity of getting to Steve to help him during a fight, to which Wanda expresses surprise, and Clint says, “Why not? Even if he is a square- He’s an Avenger, isn’t he?”

I recently read Clint reflect back on this behavior in the ‘Avengers oral history’ section of New Avengers (2010) #5: “We were not getting along. As I said before, I was somehow crazy jealous of Captain America. It was nothing but my own insecurity, but it was there. So I spent every minute of every day riding him, poking him with a stick, and challenging his every word. […] Meanwhile, he, for all his bravado, is a mess. He’s still a man fresh out of time. He is still a man trying to figure out his place in this brave new world. So not only does he have me needling him for no reason, but also not a day goes by where he isn’t thrust into a situation- a call to arms. He has to go act the hero. He was not allowing himself any time to directly deal with all that he’d been through!”

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandoes (1963) #11-12

These issues were published across August 1964 to September 1964, according to the Marvel Wiki. Both were written by Stan Lee and penciled by Dick Ayers. Issue #11 was inked by George Bell and issue #12 was inked by George Roussos.

The story of issue #12 actually made me sad. At the beginning of the issue the Howlers hear a Nazi propaganda broadcast that encouraged “Allied soldiers of German and Italian descent” to desert. Dino says of this that, “I guess Axis Sally figures there’s lots of Joes like me in uniform! Guys with names like Dino Manelli, or Garibaldi, or Schultz, or Erhardt! She doesn’t realize that we can love our European heritage and still be ready to die fighting tyranny!” Later in the story, on a mission, Nick orders Dino to pretend to desert in order to get critical information they need about the Nazi’s weaponry. Nick tells him, “You called yourself an actor in civvie life… Now go prove it, soldier!” Dino explains his motivation to the Nazis as that, “I wanna be able to act again when this show ends… and that means I wanna be on the winning side! Besides, since Hitler and Mussolini are partners, I figure I’m one of ya now!” The Nazis recognize him from his films and think, “What a propaganda coup this is for us! Wait till the world learns one of America’s most famous screen stars has defected to the Nazis!”

The rest of the Commandoes are allowed to believe that Dino really did desert so that their reactions will seem genuine. They’re devastated, and the idea is raised that “Since Dino deserted, none of us will ever fully trust the other!” Unfortunately, Nick is soon separated from the group and captured. When Dino completes his mission and makes his way back to Britain, he’s immediately taken prisoner. With no way to prove that he didn’t genuinely desert under fire, he’s set to be killed by firing squad. During Dino’s trial, Dum Dum Dugan says, “Maybe he went nuts! He’s always been a crack Commando! If I hadn’t seen it myself…” Afterwards, Dum Dum says, “He’s only gettin’ what’s comin’ to him!!… So how come I feel so blamed low??” Meanwhile, Dino thinks, “I can take the firing squad… Nobody lives forever! But, if I’m not cleared… the Howlers will never trust each other again the way we used to! They’ll start havin’ doubts… They’ll suspect everything each one does- It’ll be awful!” As he’s about to be shot, he thinks, “If only I didn’t have to see the Howlers… the way they’re lookin’ at me… the hurt, and the pain in their eyes! If only I could convince ‘em of the truth…!!… But, I can’t! No more than I could convince the court martial! Well, perhaps when we meet again… somewhere else… I’ll make ‘em understand!” Nick manages to escape and make his way back to Britain and interrupts them literally right before Dino’s about to be shot.

Strangely, we don’t get to see the Commandoes reaction, which would surely have a lot more genuine emotion than they usually display. It’s explained,“You’ll have to imagine the relief, and joy, and back-slapping that follow, because we’ve plumb run out of space! But, we do have time to show you just one more scene, exactly two hours later, as our sentimental Sarge addresses his squad…” This final panel is of Nick aggressively yelling at his Commandoes, as he usually does. This reminded me of the ending of The Avengers (1963) #14, where the whole issue the Wasp’s life had been in danger, and at the very end the rest of the Avengers learn that she’s going to live. And rather than depicting their reaction, the narration says, “Let us now leave the Avengers! Strong men should not be seen with tears in their eyes! Nor should they be disturbed as they lift their faces heavenward, in solemn, grateful Thanksgiving!” Multiple writers worked on this issue, but it’s known that Stan Lee wrote that page.

Timely Publications:

the Captain America stories in Captain America Comics (1941) #7-9 and All-Winners Comics (1941) #2

In this batch of 10 stories I went from October 1941 to December 1941, according to the issue cover dates. The stories ranged from 11 to 18 pages.

The story “The Strange Case of the Ruby of the Nile and its Heritage of Horror” (written by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; penciled by Jack Kirby; inked by Joe Simon) in Captain America Comics #8 had Betsy Ross be the one to solve the mystery of who was trying to steal the ruby, and killing people in the process. Betsy Ross is involved in the situation as a friend of the daughter of the man who purchased the reportedly cursed ruby and was murdered first. Captain America and Bucky are largely outside the situation by snooping around outside the house, sneaking inside secretly or rushing in when they hear or see that something’s amiss. When the first murder happens, it’s said that, “Being a trained government agent, Betty Ross takes over.” She does detective work and also acts normally, comforting people in distress. At one point she sneaks off to call F.B.I. headquarters to check on someone’s background, then gets a call back that confirms her suspicions. The disguised murderer realizes that she’s onto them and attacks her, and Captain America and Bucky save her, and then she tells them who’s under the mask before they check for themselves.

The story “Captain America in the Case of the Black Talon” (written by Otto Binder; penciled by Jack Kirby; inked by Syd Shores) in Captain America Comics #9 had a uniquely racist premise. The villain, the Black Talon, was once an ordinary person and talented painter, until his right hand was destroyed in an accident, seemingly ending his career. A sympathetic doctor made an arrangement with a strangler set to die in the electric chair, described as a “gigantic and ferocious-looking African,” who “consented to donate his hand as a final decent gesture.” The painter was originally horrified at the prospect of “those cruel black fingers- part of me” but agreed for the sake of being able to paint again. The painter was warned about the possible side effects of him having “wild, new blood coursing through your veins,” which soon manifested as that the “black hand moved with a life of it’s own- painting gruesome pictures depicting unimaginable horrors!” The painter, driven mad by his “black taloned hand,” became the Black Talon, a serial killer that brutally murdered other painters and then painted their horrified expressions from their final moments. At one point during his fight with Captain America, the black hand is described as “moving with the speed of a striking cobra.”

the Human Torch stories in Marvel Mystery Comics (1939) #2-5

With these stories I went from December 1939 to March 1940, according to the issue cover dates. All are signed by Carl Burgos, who is known to have both written and drawn these stories. The stories in issues #2-3 were 16 pages and the stories in issues #4-5 were 12 pages.

At the end of the Human Torch’s first ever appearance in Marvel Comics #1 he ran away from his creator, declaring, “So!- Even you’ve been touched by the possibility of making a fortune in me, eh Horton? No Horton, I’ll be free, and no one will ever use me for selfish gain- or crime!” An excerpt from Professor Horton’s notes at the beginning of his second story in Marvel Mystery Comics #2 phrases his declaration as, “No one shall ever use me for personal gain, or have me confined to any one place. I shall always be free to protect those on whom others inflict themselves for selfish purposes.” Horton also says that the Human Torch “misunderstood my views” as he “saw possibilities to make a legitimate fortune,” but I don’t think that Jim mistook Horton’s aspirations as being criminal, like the racketeers who tried to use the Human Torch’s fire for an insurance scheme earlier in the first story, but that he was against both legal and illegal profiting off of him. Also at the beginning of that second story, we see a woman reading a newspaper and saying, “I say it was an awful crime for the Torch to burn up Horton’s home and kill him!” Jim, nearby dressed like a human, says, “Perhaps it was his own fault, ma’am- He saw possibilities of making a fortune for himself… Obviously the Torch didn’t approve!” That Jim apparently went back to his creator’s home and killed him after the end of his first story isn’t brought up again in this batch of stories. I like this early established central principle for this character, that he’s against selfish exploitation. The opening narration to his story in Marvel Mystery Comics #5 refers to him as “master of all flame, whose powers are dedicated to help those on whom others inflict themselves for selfish purposes.” Jim’s first story had him taking revenge on a criminal gang that tried to use him, but in these stories we see him purposely involve himself in situations in order to help people.

The Human Torch’s powers greatly developed in these stories. In his first story he learned how to turn his fire on and off, so that he wasn’t just stuck being on fire all of the time, and how to throw fire balls. In the story in Marvel Mystery Comics #2 he chases criminals into racing track stands, which promptly catches on fire. Jim says, “My gosh- the people will be burnt to death in there!… That must never be!” and lets out a loud yell, making the fire suddenly dissipate, of which he says, “Those flames know their masters voice…” In the story in Marvel Mystery Comics #5, when Jim and his friend are unconscious in a crashed plane, the fire caused by the sabotage doesn’t touch them, the narration saying, “the blistering hot flames form a protective circle around their master.” Later in this story the Human Torch whispers into his hands before throwing fire balls, and then the fire they form moves in an unnatural way of his design.

It’s a recurring thing throughout these stories that Jim has to be careful with where he goes and what he’s doing, lest he accidentally light things he doesn’t mean to on fire, which I think is a nice touch. Also, another thing is that throughout the story in Marvel Mystery Comics #2 Jim repeatedly has to get new regular clothes after he uses his powers, which inevitably destroy them. At the beginning of the story he’s wearing a suit. At one point the narration explains, “Days later we find the Torch dressed shabbily.” Later, after his clothes were burned once again, we see him say, “Lucky I found these overalls- makes me less conspicuous for the time being…”

DC Comics:

Superman (2023) #10

This issue was published in January 2024. It was written by Joshua Williamson, penciled by Bruno Redondo, and inked by Caio Filipe.

Superman in the old wild west was fun, but I’m glad it didn’t stretch out for more issues. At the end of the issue it seems that Mercy and Lois were captured off-page, and Superman gets captured, leaving only Lena left. (Lex is still in prison.) I’m thinking that the next issue will provide something interesting on Lena’s perspective on her father, as its a group of people that Lex wronged that have captured everyone, and the story will be titled “Lena Luthor vs. The Revenge Squad.” And since she’s the only one left to fight, we’ll see what this version of her’s fighting capabilities are. There wasn’t anything on Lena getting information she shouldn’t from the AI of her father that’s at Supercorp in this issue.

Supergirl (1996) #13-23

These issues were published across July 1997 to May 1998, according to the Grand Comics Database. Issue #13 was written by Darren Vincenzo. Everything else, issues #14-23, were written by Peter David. All were penciled by Leonard Kirk. Issues #13-20 were inked by Cam Smith, with the exception that Doug Hazelwood assisted with the inking of issue #19. Issues #21-22 were inked by Prentis Rollins. And issue #23 was inked by Robin Riggs.

Issue #13 had Supergirl have to fight a demon that was visiting teenage girls in their sleep, described as “attractive in a repulsive kinda way” by the only girl who doesn’t feel entirely negatively about it. The visits are said to be as that there’s “a kind of pressure. Like someone’s holding me down or sitting on me,” and then “the pressure becomes a pleasant kind of rippling,” then the demon becomes visible and talks to them seductively in Latin, “he’s everywhere at once and the rooms spins- and it’s hard to catch your breath and you feel kinda tingly and your mouth goes dry” before the girls suddenly wake up. They were looking to get religious help on the downlow, believing that their parents would punish them if word got back to them about the dreams. Upon learning about this, Linda remembers that her ex-boyfriend Buzz had some kind of deal with this demon, where he would entrance girls and make them fall asleep at his parties so the demon could enter their dreams, and that Buzz told her that they were “living a storybook romance.” When Linda comes face-to-face with the demon, he pointedly asks her if she misses Buzz. The talk about faith in this issue wasn’t very interesting, but what was interesting to me was the teenage girls’ belief that their mere dreams were something that reflected badly on them, that the dreams themselves were a kind of punishment for some unknown sin and that they would be punished if people found out about it, and the connection made between that and Linda having been seduced by a demon herself when she was a young girl.

In issue #14 Supergirl finally tells her parents, both the Kents and the Danvers, about the fusing of Mae and Linda. The Kents respond to it very well. Ma says, “What you did… it was so brave… Giving a poor lost soul a second chance. Saving that girl…” In response she’s told, “It’s more than ‘saving,’ Ma. I’ve become that girl. I’m as much Linda as Supergirl.” And she asks the Kents to call her Linda from now on, which surprised me because I didn’t think her identification with Linda went so far as to not consider herself Mae anymore.

The Danvers take it completely differently. It’s explained to them as, “I was, like, dying? And Supergirl found me, and we merged. We’re… We’re one person now, and I wanted to tell you. I felt dirty keeping it from you.” But then when she demonstrates her shapeshifting from Linda’s appearance to Supergirl’s, the Danvers react with horror, with Sylvia crying and Fred asking asking where their daughter is and what she’s done with her and calling Supergirl a freak. In issue #15 Supergirl tells them, “I… I wish I could tell you how I feel. How… How wonderful it is to be us…” Fred reacts with anger when she calls him “daddy” and says, “‘Absorbed’ our daughter? Who the hell else have you got in there with you?!” When she shapeshifts from Supergirl’s appearance to Linda’s, Sylvia screams, “Stop it! Stop doing that!! Putting on her face like it’s… it’s a mask…! Stop it!!”

In issue #17 Fred tells Supergirl, “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this to us.” Supergirl responds, “Would.. Would you rather I was just dead?” Fred tells her, “I want everything back the way it was.” And Supergirl says, “And what way was that, huh? When I was angry, eaten up inside? Self-destructive and unwilling to give you the time of day? That ‘way it was’? Why can’t you admit things are better than they’ve been in years?” And Fred’s answer is, “Because I… I don’t know if it’s a put-on! If it’s real! If you’re real!” What ultimately convinces Fred, in issue #18, to accept her as his daughter, and not as an imposter usurping his daughter’s life, is being told that Supergirl is a “genuine angel of mercy” and “everybody knows that,” which he recognizes as true. He expresses his change of heart to Supergirl by telling her, “You’d make any father proud.” Sylvia questions in issue #23, “How do you know you’re really her?” Supergirl says, “I know it! I feel it,” and Sylvia points out that she’s a shapeshifter and says, “Linda could just be another shape you’ve imitated.” Sylvia says that she wants to believe her, that she wants her to prove it, and Supergirl tells Sylvia that she has to take it on faith, tying into the discussion of faith throughout this batch of issues.

I liked the approach to the fallout of the reveal of Mae and Linda’s fusing. The Kent’s easy acceptance is simple in a boring way, but that’s fine. That Fred is convinced not because he recognizes some of who his daughter was before the incident in Supergirl now, or by any demonstration of that Supergirl has most of Linda’s memories, but that who she is now is acceptable as a daughter is interesting. And that Sylvia, previously emphasized as a Christian with a lot of faith, is ultimately more critically-minded and cannot accept the situation on faith, going through some of the concerns that Supergirl herself had at the start of this, is interesting, too. I think that this works well as reflective of how there is genuine ambiguity to the situation. I’m expecting that when Clark finally learns about all this he’s going to fall somewhere in the middle.

I’m not so into the religious parts of the book. In issue #21 we learn that, “An Earth-born Angel is believed to be created under very specific circumstances, when one person selflessly sacrifices himself or herself for the purpose of saving one who is, in every way, beyond hope.” I think that I may be more sympathetic to Linda’s situation than I am meant to be. I didn’t consider her evil when that opinion of her was raised and I don’t now think that she was beyond hope. And I don’t think that Mae, for her part, has handled this whole situation selflessly. But I’m not necessarily dismissing the writing as biased just yet, because it’s largely been working well for me so far.

Adventures of Superman (1987) #500-501 and Action Comics (1938) #687 and Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #22 and Superman (1987) #78

All of these issues were published in April 1993, according to the Grand Comics Database. The main story of Adventures of Superman #500 was written by Jerry Ordway, penciled by Tom Grummett, and inked by Doug Hazelwood. The 4-page ‘first sighting’ of the Eradicator story in Adventures of Superman #500 and Action Comics #687 were written by Roger Stern, penciled by Butch Guice, and inked by Denis Rodier. The 4-page ‘first sighting’ of Steel story in Adventures of Superman #500 and Superman: The Man of Steel #22 were written by Louise Simonson, penciled by Jon Bogdanove, and inked by Dennis Janke. The 4-page ‘first sighting’ of Cyborg Superman in Adventures of Superman #500 and Superman #87 were written by Dan Jurgens, who also drew the layouts, which were finished by Brett Breeding. And the 4-page ‘first sighting’ of Superboy story in Adventures of Superman #500 and Adventures of Superman #501 were written by Karl Kesel, penciled by Tom Grummett, and inked by Doug Hazelwood.

This is the beginning of the Reign of the Supermen storyline, which was more interesting than I expected it to be. The 2019 animated movie adaptation did not portray the different Superman-replacements in a way that really sold to me that people could actually believe that they were the real Superman, but all of them were believable to me that people would think they were really Superman from an in-universe perspective in these issues.

In Steel’s first appearance he’s shown to be a Black man that emerges from the rubble left behind from the fight between between Superman and Doomsay, saying, “Doomsday! Gotta stop Doomsday!” Rather than leaving it ambiguous as to if this is somehow Clark reincarnated, his very next appearance reveals Henry Johnson/John Henry Iron’s backstory. He had once been saved by Superman, so he felt that he owed him, then when he saw the fight he believed very strongly that he had to help Superman defeat Doomsday, but then the building collapsed on him, “And all I could think was… This can’t happen. I can’t die. I owe my life to Superman!” His later attempt at fulfilling that “Metropolis needs a Superman” is stylized after the moniker ‘the Man of Steel.’ His silver metal super-suit completely covers his body, and after he saves a psychic, she goes on TV and claims that he is Superman’s spirit possessing another body since his was fatally injured.

Superboy is definitively a clone created by Cadmus, which had already taken Superman’s body and tried to clone him once before, and Superman’s body is revealed to be missing once again in the main story of Adventures of Superman #500. It’s explained that Superboy was resisting his mental implantations, which were meant to be commands and I think also mental impressions of Superman from a telepath who’d met him, when the Newsboy Legion broke him free from the tube he was being grown in, early. A ripped piece of red fabric with Superman’s logo on it, like Superman’s cape, is found on the tube, clearly making Guardian think that this was an attempt as cloning Superman. The Newsboys explain their actions to Superboy as that, “Us Newsboys kinda belong at the project, but you…” Later Superboy explains on TV that he’s a “clone of Superman! I don’t have my memories ‘cause there was no living brain but- Hey! Less mental baggage!” It’s my understanding, from Guardian, that a clone of a person is considered in-universe to be essentially that person if their memories are able to be carried over. Lois was originally dismissive of Superboy, but upon seeing his powers in display, starts to take the idea that he could be a clone of Clark seriously. Though there’s already been two instances where it’s made clear to readers that his powers work differently than Clark’s: one where he punches something and it’s noted afterwards that it wasn’t as damaged as it should have been, and one where it’s noted that he didn’t use X-ray vision when it would have been practical to do so. Of course, I already know that it’s going to be revealed that he’s not actually a clone of Superman, and that years later it’s going to be retconned that he is actually partially a clone of Superman. Also, regarding his superheroics, Guardian tells Superboy, “I disagree with almost everything about you, son… But you did okay out there today.”

Both the Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator have internal monologues that demonstrate that they genuinely believe that they are the real Superman. The Eradicator is the one that I think is the most convincing, from my perspective, not knowing a lot about Kryptonian lore. He wakes up as an immaterial being made of energy at Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, seemingly having been rescued by Superman’s Kryptonian technology. And he seems to be recovering Superman’s memories, going from “But… Where am I? I remember… a battle…” to “I… I know this place! This is… my fortress!” before he’s helped along by watching the news reports of Superman’s death and funeral. Upset that he can’t become corporeal, he declares, “The body! The real power must still be in the body!” Then he seems to travel to the tomb in only seconds. The way he speaks doesn’t really sound like Clark, for example, his phrasing of his concern about “if I am unsuccessful in regaining physical substance.” It’s made explicit that at this point Clark’s body is still in the casket. The Eradicator thinks, “The body is definitely in there. I can feel the raw power stirring within. Over thirty years of bio-converted solar energy is stored in this body.” He absorbs it and becomes corporeal, but the artwork doesn’t show if this process destroyed Superman’s body or if it’s still in the casket at this point. The Eradicator is very grateful, declaring, “Bless Krypton and the House of El! Their legacy… the technology of this fortress… has given me new life! This glorious regeneration matrix has insured that the heart of Krypton’s last son keeps beating!” And he thinks of the differences between his powers and Superman’s powers as that he has changed. I think the main reason why you wouldn’t think he’s the real Superman is that he kills the criminals he fights. His explanation for this to Lois is that, “I have changed. Kent is gone. There is only Superman now.” He also knows that Clark was secretly Superman and that Lois, Clark’s fiancé, was aware of this.

The Cyborg Superman’s first sighting is him destroying the plague commemorating the spot where Superman died and telling onlookers, “I’m back.” The non-cyborg parts of him look exactly like Clark. When Lois questions how he could have come back part-machine, he says, “I can’t remember so much of my past… My memories… are a haze…” But he’s able to communicate that he vaguely remembers that a farm in Kansas and the name Kent are significant to him, though he’s frustrated that he ‘remembers’ so little. Lois takes him to Professor Hamilton, who had previously run scans on Superman when he was still alive and studied Kryptonian technology. Professor Hamilton determines that the Cyborg Superman’s cyborg parts are Kryptonian technology, and for his non-cyborg parts, “All DNA matches up with the true Superman’s! There isn’t the slightest bit of deviation!” Hamilton’s determination is, “I would say with great probability- that this man is Superman come back to life!” Again, the Cyborg Superman believes that he’s really Superman. When he sees Doomsday, he thinks, “They never even bothered to wash my blood off you, butcher. Even in death you wear it like a badge of honor.” But I find him unconvincing, both because of the lack of an explanation as to how he could have come back like this, which we got with the Eradicator, and because his amnesiac perspective just comes across as phony to me in a way that the Eradicator’s perspective doesn’t. To be clear, I’m already aware that none of these characters are Clark.

[writing-rat]

The Guitarist

Pairing: Robin x Nancy

Content Warning: None

Summary: Nancy is a journalist assigned to watch Robin's tour. She is happy

It was a well-known fact that Robin was lesbian. She had came out 2 years ago and everyone had celebrated and talked about how they could have a chance with her. Nancy, a not so popular journalist at the time, had talked about it, and how it would help Robin appeal to many more people. She also started to talk about her crush on her.

Since her bosses knew about her crush, they thought it would be fun for Nancy to go to all of Robin’s shows for her tour. Nancy was shocked when she heard about her case, pleased at first before she was realising something… she would become a flustered mess. She shook her head, she was dedicated to making the tour go well and make sure she wasn’t as flustered. 

-

It was soon the first day of the tour, and Nancy was to be around Robin a lot it seemed, to the point she had her own bunker in the trailer. The guitarist had insisted on it so the journalist could rest after each show but also not be stranded in a probably shit hotel. Acting confident, Nancy walked over to the trailer door, and knocked on it. “Coming!” Robin called out. Nancy waited patiently, holding her backpack and her suitcase. Eventually the door open and Nancy looked up with a smile. Robin stood there, in a pair of sweatpants and a sports bra. Nancy flushed red before she smiled gently. “Hey, I am Nancy. The journalist,” she introduced herself.

“As you know, I am Robin. The guitarist. Let me get a shirt and I can show you where to place your things,” she spoke, allowing the smaller girl in. 

Nancy proceeded to walk in with her stuff and looked around, seeing Robin put on a tank top which wasn’t helping Nancy’s case. She was blusing hard as she waited patiently. Soon Robin showed her where to put her stuff and Nancy proceeded to, telling Robin the logistics of what she would be doing and how she would invade her life for 2 months. Robin listened, intrigued before nodding. It consisted of her going to every show, either being backstage or at the front, consisted of her taking photos and interviews after. Robin eagerly agreed to everything. This was a massive newspaper company after all. 

-

What Nancy didn’t expect after all those months was to actually become friends with the taller girl. She was happy about the surprise of it though, but her crush had grown and she was sure the musician knew. The tour had extra dates so Nancy was spending more timme with Robin. Nancy was currently in the living room while Robin was in her bunk, both having their downtime. Robin was reading a Spider-Man comic while Nancy was doing her work. It was a unusually hot day too so both girls were just in their bras and a pair of shorts. Soon, Robin was coming out and smiled at Nancy, offering a shirt. “Let’s go out and eat,” she exclaimed, giving no room to talk. Nancy would’ve taken it anyway as she nodded, realising it was one of Robin’s shirts she was offered which made her embarrassed.

Both girls were soon walking to the McDonald’s, Robin and Nancy talking about life experiences. They still didn’t know much about their lives in Hawkins. Sure, they were in the same school but they never really noticed each other so it was a surprise to hear that both of them came from the same place. “You know, I used to be in band, and it was the worst. I wouldn’t recommend band when you are in a homophobic town,” she spoke laughing. Nancy nodded. 

“I dated Steve just to try and seem normal,” Nancy admitted. Robin nodded.

“Who was your crush in highschool?” Robin asked curiously.

“Chrissy,” Nancy answered immediately. “Yours?” Nancy asked.

“Tammy. She was cute. Then Vickie. Vickie didn’t like me back though,” she responded, knowing that everyone thought her and Vickie dated at one point due to being friends even after being rejected.

Nancy nodded. “So… about your article about me when I came out.” Robin teased. Nancy blushed a bright red and was covering her face embarrassed as she was walking with the musician. “I don’t know whatever you mean,” Nancy remaked, trying to act casually. Robin grinned.

“I… was lying about not knowing you in high school,” she then spoke. “I found you hot and always wanted to have a chance. So now that we are closer… are we able to?” she asked. Nancy smirked. 

“How do you know I’m still into you?” she teased. Robin shrugged.

“You go red around me,” she explained. “So?” she added on. Nancy nodded. 

“We can,” Nancy spoke and smiled. “Be friendly at first though, see how it goes,” Nancy explained. Robin nodded with a smirk.

“McDonald’s isn’t our first date,” Robin then rushed out, causing Nancy to laugh and nod.

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

09/15/2024 – 09/21/2024

Sunday

Week 32 of missing Cipher Academy

It’s great to see Andy reunited with the rest of the Union in Undead Unluck, but it was mainly a setup chapter so there’s not much for me to talk about.

Monday

Nothing

Tuesday

Reread Kimi to Isshin Denshin! and it’s cute, but nowhere near the 9/10 I originally had it as. It’s a cute premise, and I like the emotional intelligence of the lead, but the amount of awkward prodding and wacky ESP shenanigans made the relationship progression feel all over the place, so I’ve dropped it down to a 6/10.

I’d been slowly picking at it for weeks, but today I finally finished reading My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson. This is the last of the Wilson books I remember from childhood, and probably my favourite of the ones I’ve read in adulthood. I just love the vibe of Melchester College, and I can understand why Pearl takes to it so much – I love the feeling of hanging out at school outside of school hours in general, and this was that with a heavy dash of dreamy English gothic atmosphere. It’s just really fun to watch Pearl slowly find a place here, and her relationship with Harley is both sweet and a little oddball, which is great. But man…once you know how it ends, the bits of foreshadowing throughout are insane. Pearl and Jodie’s relationship is also so sweet but still realistic, and it really has a different tone from the sisters in Diamond Girls. That just makes the tragedy all the more heartbreaking, though, so it’s hard for me to imagine returning to this in the future…maybe in another decade. And with that, that’s the last of the Jacqueline Wilson books that I wanted to revisit. None of her other books really appeal to me (I’m not into Tracy Beaker, I’m sorry to say), which is a shame, but I feel like I’ve run the gamut of her writing repertoire and had a fairly decent time. Nothing I’d want to own for myself, but still fun to pick up and read from time to time.

I finally read Ei ni Kaita Mochi wo Kaita Mochi – this oneshot came onto my radar back before MamaYuyu even started because it’s done by the same mangaka, and it’s fun seeing the roots of their style starting to get their foothold in this one. I really love the way they play with comic space and typography, and I hope their next run at a serialization is more fruitful. It was a solidly constructed oneshot, and a decent read: 6/10.

Wednesday

Moving all of my manga over to my phone has really done wonders for my manga reading habits (to the detriment of my other work). I caught up with Yuria-sensei no Akai Ito, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Yuria’s potential fling become real so quickly. I love the sense of the messy relationship drama bubbling up underneath the surface of this living arrangement.

Read the entirety of Tamarowa in an afternoon and um…I’ll give it some credit for managing to surprise me a few times and for giving me a lot of lesbian sex scenes and toxic yaoi for what was an extremely het ecchi premise. The whole thing is just banking on being scandalous as possible (in terms of both sex and violence and woAh CrazY MurDereR), but at least it didn’t overstay its welcome and managed to develop its characters somewhat (even if some of their motivations were straight out of a bad soap opera). 4/10.

I checked my notes, and I read Part 1 of Ascendance of a Bookworm almost a year ago??? Literally in the first Week in Review ever?? And then never touched the series again? Well, here’s proof that my dropped series are never truly dropped until I decide to drop them for good, because I read all of Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 and I’m well and truly hooked on it now. Watching Myne enter temple life and having to learn how to act like a noble and the responsibilities that carries is extremely my shit – I love the minutiae the author gets into with regards to customs and behaviour, and the manga heightens the tension and makes every potential mishap feel like it could have long-lasting consequences. And I love that Myne trying to establish these new business ventures come with genuine risk and production setbacks, and that she has to navigate these obstacles carefully with the resources and connections that she has. Unlike other isekai, Bookworm’s world feels like a real place with its own culture, politics, class systems, and economics, and it’s so refreshing to see an author actually take those things into account as our fish out of water protagonist clashes with their new surroundings. I really wish the anime was better so that I could watch it, but for now I’ll settle for catching up with the manga and reading the light novels eventually. As it stands, the series gets an 8/10 from me.

Thursday

Nothing

Friday

Nothing

Saturday

Nothing…

[andybondurant]

New Post has been published on Andy Bondurant

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2024/05/03/disappointment-origin-stories/

Disappointment + Origin Stories

This is the second post on dealing with disappointment with God. While this post stands alone, it may help to have some background context. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your feedback!

In my last post, I promised a point of hope as you deal with your disappointment with God. To work our way toward this hope, we must begin with your origin story.

The best stories have a good backstory. This is known as an origin story that shapes who you are. 

When I was a kid, my mom would tell me the story of my birth. When I came out of the womb, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck, and I turned blue. I was rushed from the birthing room to an incubator, where I stayed for a few hours. If I had heard that story once, I would have heard it a hundred times.

The story of my birth shaped me. 

As I recall hearing that story repeatedly, it told me there was a purpose for my life. My life had meaning. I was meant to be alive. As a kid, listening to my mom tell me that story shaped me.

Super Heroes

All superheroes have a good origin story. These origin stories aren’t always clear in the Marvel or DC movies popular today, but they almost always are embedded within the original comic book versions. I only know this because my kids tell me about it (via their YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok research). 

Photo by Jean-Philippe Delberghe on Unsplash

If you are a superhero fan, you probably are familiar with this famous line:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Uncle ben

This is, of course, from the origin story of Spider-Man, who is a favorite superhero in our home. A large part of Spider-Man’s appeal is his backstory. This is it in a nutshell.

Peter Parker is a nerdy high school kid who is picked on and struggling to find his place. By chance, He is bitten by a radioactive spider, which gives him supernatural powers. Suddenly, Peter can climb walls, has amazing strength, and can process information rapidly. Initially, he uses this power for personal gain, leading Peter down a dangerous path. But a robbery gone wrong finally gives weight to his story.

Peter’s uncle was the victim of a robbery that turned into murder, for which Peter is partially responsible. At this moment, Uncle Ben utters those famous words to Peter. Sensing that Peter has these new powers and abilities, he challenges Peter to also take the responsibility attached to them. 

This tragedy, wrapped in poignant words, shapes Peter Parker into the Amazing Spiderman.

As followers of Jesus, we have origin stories too. Our stories go beyond our lives to the beginning of time – Genesis. These are the stories that shape you into a true follower of Jesus.

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Noah, Abraham, and Joseph: Origin Stories of Disappointment

When we think of the stories of the men and women in the book of Genesis (and most of the Bible), we think of their amazing faith. Noah trusted God, so he built a Titanic-sized zoo. Abraham believed in God’s word, left his home, and wandered the countryside searching for God’s promises. Joseph heard God in dreams, and he rose to second in power in the known world, saving his family along the way.

They and so many others fill us with faith, but their stories are much deeper and nuanced than that. 

None of those men could display such deep faith without experiencing great pain along the way. Noah saw the world destroyed. All he knew and loved (outside his family) was gone. Abraham was promised not just a family but a nation, yet he waited 25 (long) years to see a legitimate son born to his wife.

But these don’t come close to Joseph’s story of heartache.

Pain was a part of Joseph’s story

Joseph was the next to the youngest of twelve brothers. All twelve brothers shared the same father but had different mothers. This, along with their father’s overt favoritism, caused a deep rift between Joseph and the older brothers (that and Joseph flaunting his dreams of the entire family bowing down to him in the future). 

So, his brothers deal with him in an unbelievably cruel way. They toss Joseph into a pit and only pull him out to sell him to a band of slavers. 

Joseph spends the next 13 years of his life as a slave and prisoner after being unjustly accused of rape. Before rising to power and saving the world, Joseph endures horrific pain.

Pain was a part of Joseph’s story.

I think you see where I’m going with this, but let me give you one more piece of your origin story.

Pain was a part of Jesus’ story

Our backstory is deeper than just the book of Genesis. It encompasses the entire Old Testament—Moses, Deborah, Gideon, Ruth, David, Solomon, Elisha, Esther, and many more. Yet, it’s the New Testament that allows all of these stories to take shape and make sense.

The coming of Jesus changed everything, but Jesus’ life wasn’t easy.

His difficulties began at birth. He was born on the road, in a cave, and his first bed was an empty feeding trough. His earliest years were spent on the run, living in a foreign land, with his parents constantly looking over their shoulders. 

We love the stories of Jesus healing the blind, raising the dead, and casting out demons. We are amazed at the teachings and the insight into life Jesus gave. Everyone applauds Jesus for pushing back against the religious leaders who oppressed the poor in spirit. However, we shy away from Jesus, living on the generosity of others, being threatened by the power brokers, and ultimately assassinated by a ruthless empire.

I hope you see it, but I’ll be blunt if not.

Pain is embedded into your origin story.

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Disappointment will be part of your story, too.

Heartache was in the story of our Old Testament heroes. Pain was weaved in Jesus’ story. The great leaders of the New Testament church knew disappointment in their physical realities, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Jesus promised them (and us) that this would be the case:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  -John 16:33 NLT

Jesus top follower, Peter, told a faithful group of Jesus followers something similar in his letters:

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”  -1 Peter 1:6 NLT

The term ‘Christian’ literally means ‘little Christ’. Your goal as a follower of Jesus is to be like Jesus. We should always stretch to transform from corrupt and evil to righteous and holy. This transformation requires heartache, pain, and disappointment.

So, where’s the hope?

I’m sure you are asking, where is the hope? In my last post, I promised this to be a note of hope as we suffer through disappointment with God. God may seem far away, distant, or even hidden to you right now.

You may be dealing with the loss of a loved one, a marriage that is falling apart, or a child who refuses to speak with you. It could be your dreams that seemed so possible and clear just a few years ago are all but lost.

Where is the hope?

Here is the hope…there is purpose in your pain.

Purpose in your disappointment.

In Joseph’s story, he ascended from his jail cell (really the cell of a foreign slave, which might be the lowest of all society). He interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream through the hand of God, so Pharaoh appointed him as the second most powerful man in the nation (and by proxy, the 2nd most powerful man in the known world). Joseph developed a food program preparing for the coming famine, and 20 years after he was sold off into slavery, he met his brothers again. 

Joseph saved his family by moving them to Egypt. Not long after this move, Jacob, their father, died. This caused great anxiety for his brothers. They feared Joseph would finally exact revenge on these brothers. In desperation, they fell on their knees before Joseph, but Joseph’s response shocked them. It should shock you, too.

This is not just for Joseph and his brothers. It is for me and you, too. 

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”  -Genesis 50:20 NKJV

In other words, God used Joseph’s heartache for a greater purpose.

Again, this is reason for hope. Pain alone does not shape you; purpose is also part of your origin story.

The heartache, pain, and disappointment you are suffering is for a reason. God is not the author of your pain, but God will use your pain for good.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” -Romans 8:28 NLT

This, friend, is the hope you are looking for. 

God’s purpose is your good.

Yes, you may be disappointed with God. He may not be acting as you expected, but God is not unaware. God is preparing to move through you in a way that would not be possible without the pain you are walking through right now.

To be clear, God did not create the heartache you are experiencing. He is the father of light — all good things come from him (James 1). Our fallen nature leads to horrible things (like being thrown into a pit, slavery, murder, divorce, broken relationships, or financial hardships), but God finds a way to use them for good. God’s design is to transform our pain into our good and the good of those around us.

The key is your willingness to move through your pain to find healing and wholeness so that God can do incredible things through you. I’ll share more about this in the next two weeks — being real with God, yourself, and others, and holding onto Jesus.

So prepare yourself to begin walking purposefully through your pain. This will be your guide through your disappointment with God.

Writing Playlist 

I don’t know if we have the same taste in music, but here are some songs to explore. All the links go to Spotify. While writing this post, this is some of what I was listening to:

Jazz-Funk Playlist – Spotify Curated

Worship Music 2024 – Spotify Playlist

Squabble – Miles Minnick + Key’ijah

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[mincedpeaches]

this is a post about south park in the year of our lord 2022

general notes (aka I watched this shit when I was a teen and its grandfathered in and I don’t have to explain myself to anybody):

Listen okay listen I understand the appeal of Stan/Kyle I FULLY understand the appeal. but I’m a Kyle/Cartman girl through and through. I’m sorry OKAY I’m sorry. The good thing about this though is I have absolutely no expectations of it ever happening and it would be bad if it did so I can have fun you know.

It’s jokes and comedy and a piece of poop talks yes but its also about the characters and them being dumb kids and sometimes character moments come through. DID YOU WATCH THE LANDSLIDE EPISODE WHEN YOU WERE A TEEN? DID YOU?? If not don’t talk to me. 

The episode where Kenny died for real too. PEAK emotional dramedy my dude. 

This video (timestamped 12:06 but the whole thing is good)

post covid special notes (aka what got me thinking about south park in the year of our lord 2022):

The special being in the future where none of them are friends and the regrets. That what its about actually.

The way Craig & Tweek showed up there together but they couldn’t do  the solid of having them like, hold hands or some shit so it was #confirmed

Why did they have to make Kyle so handsome. Like. Notably so. 

Also Kyle definitely gave off some gay man vibes. Not being single and handsome in South Park at forty-whatever... 

The way Cartman being Jewish WASN’T a bit.

Future Stan Kyle & Cartman just sitting on a BENCH like damn we can’t stop covid, now what, and then the solution is to get their past selves to be friends again. It hits okay. They’re CHILDREN Brent. 

Very intrigued by the concept of Kenny/Butters now like in my incredibily brief forey into fanfic years ago but also years after I’d stopped watching the show I had assumed it was very much a pair the spares situation especially since Kenny’s character back in the day was mostly being the Horny for Titties one. But the fact that they stayed working together the whole time in the covid special? Is there something I missed the last decade maybe. 

I DID feel bad for Cartman at the end even though that probably wasn’t the point. But I did feel bad. The show got the gang back together as kids only to break them up again. :(

the fractured but whole notes (aka I bought this game and played it to get more south park content in my life without actually watching more eps or *shudders* reading fic)

The yaoi art had exactly two people credited for it in the end game credits. Their RANGE. One of them turns up nothing conclusive on google but the other worked on DC and Marvel comics and shit. 

Yaoi Art aside the way that Creek is STILL like the most respectful that I know of a show being about fangirl shipping, like they’re actual BOYFRIENDS and have a whole ass sideplot and everything. Fucking CRAIG AND TWEEK from fucking SOUTH PARK the most respectful I am SO

Shout out to Captain Diabetes being the best fighting roster character in the game. Now I do actually know who you are from the covid special. 

The game was funny and good actually. 

The shuddering up there was a lie. I already read a fic. It wasn’t very good but here I am. 

[art-h]

Text & Image

The first time I was presented with the idea of a relationship that wasn't obvious and given in the world around me was that of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In this pictographic language, images are presented as words, as such, one image could convey a letter or a word in a body of writing. I remember this made me look at the world so much differently. I had seen writing used alongside images but never consciously noticed the relationship between them. I had seen billboards around the town where I lived, but never paid attention to the goal they were trying to achieve.

The image above displays how a standard billboard advert can be subverted via protest to raise awareness about environmental impacts of fast foods. Swathes of green space worldwide have been bought and repurposed into cattle farms in order to feed demand for fast foods. I remember reading about protests many years ago about parts of the amazon being cut down to make way for cattle farms. This then backfired on big businesses as the soil wasn't suitable to create grazing space for the cattle. Just by the act of re-purposing the advertising space, this can raise awareness of issues that will impact future generations.

I looked into artists who used text in their art and I was particularly taken with the engravings of William Blake. I loved how his early forms of combining the beauty of poetry alongside engraved artwork.

I have always loved the Romantic period of art and poetry and it's such a simple and powerful combination of image and text that works on two levels of created medium. I have dabbled in poetry in the past and I will have to investigate the possibility of engraving something similar for my finished piece.

Like a lot of children of certain age, I grew up reading comic books, starting with such British classics as the Beano and Dandy. As I grew up and other comics hit my local newsagents shelves, I discovered the genre of superheroes. Dating back to the 1930s, the superhero genre seems very fantastical and childish on the surface but as I read further into it I started to notice how social issues could be tackled. I read that Stan Lee, famous editor of Marvel Comics, created the X-Men to address issues of segregation, civil unrest and racism in the Southern States of America during the 1960s. Stan Lee is also credited with creating the first African American superheroes in the characters of Luke Cage and the Black Panther. Giving African Americans power in a realm where otherwise they had none.

As my tastes in graphic novels progressed as I got older, I started to look for more interesting themes in the work. I read Watchmen, written by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons. This blew my mind as a deconstruction of the superhero genre - that humans as heroes are corruptible and that all powerful people, cannot by definition be all good.

As this introduced a layer of darkness to my literary tastes, I was introduced to the work of Mike Mignola through Hellboy. Telling the story of a demon raised by and living among humans as a paranormal investigator; it's simplistic artwork that wasn't complicatedly inked really appealed to me. It also reintroduced me to mythology and folklore that came to me in primary school. Things like Grimm's tales that are watered down for children are a way of relating stories that were told as a means of understanding the world around them.

But, thinking about it, text itself can be used artistically. When I studied History, I remember seeing how people who lived as monks in Christian monasteries would act as historic scribes and make beautiful pieces of art and use fonts as means of worship in scared texts.

When combining primitive dyes to create inks and using quills, these capture a method of artwork which is no longer created. I have been to local archives on more than one occasion and found ancient texts, even though they are an historical record, they could be viewed as pieces of beautiful art in their own right. Early pictures have been found as illustrations from such authors as Chaucer, which also display examples of stunning medieval art.

[askfallenroyalty]

How do you draw tears and eyes? Those two are some of the two biggest traits in your art style that are so appealing imo, and I'd love to see how you draw said traits!

[all imgs and gifs have alt id]

Okay so, first thing regarding eyes and how to draw them is understanding that when you take some thing in reality to distort it into linework, you have to understand what you're stylization. You can't draw a cow if you've never seen one, yeah? You can't draw an eye without understand the anatomy and reality of what an eye is first.

This isn't to say you HAVE to understand every nuance and science of the eye to depict it lmao. It just means you have to at least be aware of how the muscles shape the face

I mentioned in a previous post where I linked an article discussing Scott Mcloud's book: Making Comics where in he discusses how faces convey emotion.

Scott made 3 books on the subject and if you ever want to make serialized art, please read them they're like a text book for comic artists. It's actually told through comics to teach comics! So it makes it a lot of fun to read. Brilliant work. It gave me so many fundamentals I wouldn't be half the artist i am if I hadn't read them.

So while, yeah, the way i do tears is reminiscent of studio ghibli

I actually didn't really grow up on Studio Ghibli that much. I watched Spirited Away at age 13, Howls Moving Castle and Kiki's delivery service like, aged 16/17 or so. So maybe that DOES count??? lol. I might of subconsciously took note of how the tears work in those films, it must have left a big impact on me.

But when I draw tears, despite keeping to the above style, mentally I'm thinking of old cartoons like the Flecher brothers or something, where tears are these HUGE, big symbols that take up so much room of the camera close up because IRL tears are subtle and that wouldn't fly with black white fuzzy drawings.

Which still became a tradition and useful tool for cartoons cartoons even in later decades. The additional "blue" of the water is to make the tears more visible, since the cell shading is very flat and often uses a more pure white. (blue picked cause oceans reflects the blue sky)

Personally I had a big kick on Bugs Bunny late in highschool, so thats very likely something that colored my stylization lmao. Um, after that i SUPER into Wander Over Yonder? Craig McCracken's shapely and flowy artwork left a MAJOR impact on me even if my art is more detailed and anime like.

As for the stylization of the eyes themselves, I'm pretty certain it comes from how Winry Rockbell's eyes were drawn. Mainly in early manga and 2003 anime (though I do like 09/bro more. 03 made some choices. but i'm not here to start a flame war)

Thats why i give the eyes a more vertical leaning to them, are so big, and have the upper darkness. I just think its neat! I've seen some artists online (though none in particular come to mind) that use the eye shine as pupil which I REALLY like, along with the secondary color to make them really pop. I'll switch to a more traditionally eye shine on certain characters or when necessary (like to emphasize looking in another direction).

I've just kinda simplified the process to pump out so much art for the comic, ideally I'd put more detail to the eyes (ala Anya's overly detailed eyes LMAO) but like, not realistic for a single person team and to keep things consistent. I've kind of learned the importance of keeping things simple lmao. plus, overly detailed work just ain't my thing -w-;

[stxleslyds]

You always seem down on the idea of the Batfam. I mean, it is hard to take seriously when writers make Bruce hostile or downright abusive towards his kids, or when Batfam members never interact. But do you think the concept itself is good, and it's just been the victim of bad writing? Or do you think the Batfam is a bad idea that can never work?

Hi there Anon! Thank you for the ask!

Hmm, this is a difficult question. Maybe I can answer this better if I do it in parts because the concept of “Batfamily” is used in different ways currently. A way to separate them can be, DC’s Batfamily, Fandom’s Batfamily and Fandom’s Batfamily lore being introduced in comics’ canon.

DC’s Batfamily:

My rejection of this version of Batfamily comes from all angles, it is not a good concept within comics lore anymore, it’s badly written and used to hide and move on from truly horrendous actions done by Bruce towards the rest of the family, and DC uses the concept of “Batfamily” that fandom has become so attached to, so they can profit off of it without writing anything of real essence with it.

Why did I say that the Batfamily isn’t a good concept anymore? Well, because the Batfamily that I first came across in comics included, Bruce, Dick, Alfred, Barbara, Tim and Cassandra. It was rather small and their books interconnected and had pretty solid relationships with one another. Dick and Tim got along and spent time together, Barbara mentored Cass so she could become Batgirl and so on and so forth. The family was smaller and more connected. But they still had problems and bad habits then. So, I liked them as a group of people that worked together and the name they received was “Batfamily” as a way for DC to profit from it.

Right now, the Batfamily is huge, I don’t know if you have seen those splash pages with all the members of it for Rebirth and Infinite Frontier, but those promotional pages were crazy big, characters like Harley and Clownhunter are now considered part of the “Batfamily” and all that. Then there is the kind of characters like Cass, Steph and Kate who are all connected to Batman but that haven’t been appearing in books for very long, so putting them on that page really feels like DC is trying to prove that their “Batfamily” actually has women on it, but it’s just for show.

And then there is Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian, the most recognizable faces of the Batfamily aside from Bruce and Alfred (but Alfred is dead now so he doesn’t really count), all of them have had issues with Bruce or are indifferent to the existence of one another. Yes, Tom Taylor has included Tim in Dick’s book but here is the thing, it feels like he put him there just to make fans shut up about the lack of content with both of them acting as they used to do. But its false and lazy, Taylor just brought Tim to the book but we don’t get to see Tim and Dick interact in ways that can explain why they drifted off, it kinda seems like all those years where Dick and Tim were pulled apart never happened to DC and that makes me think “cash grab”. I would have loved to see them interact again if it meant that we would have some solid story for them to develop their relationship once more.

At the end of Rebirth, Damian was pissed off at Bruce and they had a fight and Damian left the manor completely. Bruce beat up Jason, then gave him a hug but still told him that he was banned from Gotham and all that abuse and manipulation was swept under the rug when DC came out with Urban Legends: Cheer, all they did with that story is lie and made-up stories about Jason wanting Bruce to go on a killing spree so Gotham can finally be the home to his beloved family (lies, lies, lies).

On top of all that we have the neglect, abuse and manipulation that Bruce had going on with Dick, ever since Bruce manipulated Dick into joining Spyral his actions haven’t faced any consequences (the family still believes that Dick was the one who lied about dying). And as recently as the end of Rebirth, Dick suffered from a head injury that left him amnesiac and Bruce absolutely didn’t care enough to look after him when he was so vulnerable and alone. DC had the audacity of having Bruce say that he was looking after Dick while Dick went from one villain manipulating and hurting him to another, and if we look at Batman’s run, we can see that he spent some of that time in a weird pit or playing catch the pussy with Selina in a tropical island.

So, taking all those things into account, I honestly believe that the Batfamily is a concept that absolutely does not belong in comics. If it were to be taken seriously then DC should come up with (organic, not forced) stories that make these characters connect once again, but they have to be careful, just because they can connect it doesn’t mean that everyone gets along and they have group chats and eat dinner together of Fridays, that would be a blatant lie and just too out there for their kind of dynamic, so, they should take things slow, start re-building what once was an make it better (if they want to make it work and feel like less of a cash grab).

I heard that there is a book with Cass and Steph being mentored as Batgirls by Barbara coming out in December, that to me is a good thing, what was done in Robin #5 was awful, Jason didn’t have or want to be there, Tim, what the hell was Tim doing there? The only ones that have gotten along with Damian and have had a solid relationship with him were Dick and Steph. Dick had a very nice moment with Damian in that issue, but Steph didn’t, they preferred to have Jason wanting to hug Damian instead (what the actual hell was that?).

Fandom’s Batfamily:

Fandom is a place where people can take any concept from anywhere and transform it into whatever they please. This fandom is just like any other in that matter, but I have noticed that sometimes the Batfamily Fandom tends to blur the lines between what’s fanon and canon. Their lore is so deep and established among people that they sometimes (willingly or not) make new readers or other people believe that how things and perceived in fandom is how things actually are in comics, and that is a huge problem.

Things like “Dick sent Jason to Arkham when the Joker was just a cell away”, “Jason has pit madness and when he gets mad his eyes turn glowy green”, “Dick was a horrendous brother to Jason before Jason died”, “Jason would be good friends with Tim and Cass”, “Jason is the only one that sees the world differently from Bruce and the other robins because he is the only one that comes from a life with no luxury” and so on and on and on…

All of those things are sometimes treated as the absolute truth by fandom and no matter how many times people have debunked and explained that those things aren’t part of comics’ canon because they are simply not true, fandom stills treats those things as the basis of their Batfamily lore.

That lore would be actually fascinating if people didn’t lose sight so easily of the fact that at the end of the day none of that lore can be applied to comics’ canon.

When you enter this fandom things can be extremely confusing and the way some of the characters are characterized are completely different to their canon characterizations, I knew that the Dick fandom was writing about was not real, but I had no idea that Tim being a coffee addict that hasn’t slept in five months and is an absolute genius in everything and anything that he does was completely out of character for him, I just thought that was true to his character in comics too. Something like that happened to me when I took a peek at Jason’s side of fandom, by that time I had read Red Hood/Arsenal, UtRH and New 52 RHatO (yeah in that order, Red Hood/Arsenal wasn’t finished yet though), with the already conflicting characterizations of those books, the first look that I had at fandom’s Jason confused me even more. After considering all those I decided that the Jason that I wanted to see and actually looked appealing to me was UtRH Jason.

Not all people in fandom read comics and that is ABSOLUTELY VALID, I have zero problems with people not liking the comic characterizations of the “Batfamily” characters, but that in itself also creates a rift between fans themselves.

Fandom’s Batfamily lore being introduced in comics’ canon:

This is obviously the intersection of the other two points and this is the biggest problem that I have with the Batfamily concept. The fandom lore has been leaking into comic’s canon for a while now but right now we are kinda drowning in it. Decisions that have been made recently in DC like, Jason giving up his guns, the group chats in Nightwing issues, the family dinners that were hinted at in Cheer #6, and Bruce having had at the ready a Red Hood suit for Jason with a Batman logo in its chest, have been proof enough that DC is planning on skipping any kind of solid writing for these characters to actually get along. We are never going to see these people sit down and talk about their differences and respect each other’s work ethics.

We are never going to get stories of actual essence that prove that these characters understand and care for each other, we are just going to be told that “all is good” and now everyone loves one another and they will build from there.

That is a problem for me.

-

And it also takes away duality from Gotham’s vigilantes, I know I say this too much but it’s the truth, putting all these characters under the ruling of Batman makes them all bland. Jason shouldn’t be part of any sort of group that involves Bruce! My god, I don’t want to see them interact anymore! Bruce has been absolute trash to Jason ever since he came back from the dead and I am tired of DC trying to make them be on good terms!

Jason and Bruce not getting along can co-exist with the fact that Jason isn’t a villain to Batman’s legendary hero. Jason is his own character, with his own morals and he doesn’t need a bat symbol on his chest or book logo to be relevant. Same with Dick, Tim and Barbara, let them be characters that can stand on their own because they have already done that!

Barbara as Oracle worked WITH Batman if she wanted, she had her own logo and had passed on the mantle of Batgirl because he had grown out of it.

Dick is Nightwing and has become an even better hero than Batman could even aspire to become, he has contacts with everyone in the DC universe, has led countless teams, he doesn’t NEED a batman logo on his book or to be constantly dragged back to him just to make the Bat more compelling.

Jason, my sweet Jason, he had his own logo! It was gorgeous and then Lobdell had the audacity to stamp a Batman logo in the middle of the book name and in Jason’s chest! Have we gone absolutely mad? Why did they do that? Lobdell’s constant back and forth with Jason and his feelings for Bruce, he respects him and he doesn’t, he kills and he doesn’t… each issue felt like a new take on the character! It was crazy!

And that has happened with everyone in the “family”. I will end this by saying that Bruce/Batman being at the centre of this “Batfamily” dynamic is the most laughable thing in the DC Universe. Batman isn’t family to any of the people that they constantly surround him with, he is a piece of shit.

Anyway Anon, I hope this answer doesn’t ruin your day and that you understand that even though I really don’t like the “Batfamily” concept, you and everyone else are allowed and encouraged to think differently!

Hope you have a marvellous day Anon!