#but then we also get things like karl dropping the panel | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

teddy06writes · 4 years ago

Note

I feel there isnt enough sapnap x karl x quackity x reader, so can I request sap x karl x quackity x y/n where everone js tired at the end of the day, and despite having separate rooms, they all collapse together in one person’s bed

sapnap x karl x quackity x reader (HOLY SHIT THE POLY SHIP REQUESTSSSSSSS)

Trigger warnings: swearing

premise: vidcon pannels and meeting fans can be tiering, and maybe by the time the day is done you and all of your crushes collapse into bed together without realizing until the next morning ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

“Blep” talking

‘blep’ thinking

(y/n/n)- your nickname

(y/s/n)- your screen name

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Ah vidcon, a content creators dream, or worse nightmare, or in your opinion, wild trip that lasted three days.

It was your first time seeing anyone from the Dream SMP in a while, and your were practically buzzing with excitement by the time you were getting off the plane in California.

You fiddled with your carry on as you made your way towards baggage claim, grinning upon hearing a yell of “Oh my god is that (Y/n) from the internet!?”

You turned to see Alex standing just outside the gate he’d landed at, quickly you ran to hug him, stomach filling with butterflies at his touch. “Wait it’s Alex from the internet!”

You both laughed as you pulled away, starting back to baggage claim, “Are you excited for vidcon?” He asked.

“Yeah, what I’m not excited for is having to share a house with you idiot for a weekend.”

He scoffed, “What do you mean? It’s gonna be fun!”

“Oh yeah, the entire SMP together in one house, is such a good idea. It’s gonna be chaos!”

“That’s the fun part!”

“I like to sleep at night without being interrupted by random screaming and stuff.” You argued.

“I’m sure there won’t be random screaming.”

“You seriously underestimate Tommy.” By now you had made it to baggage claim and began to look around for the right carousel.

You split up, planning on meeting back by the door to wait outside for Bad, who had arrived the day before and was picking people up, a few at a time.

After waiting at one carousel for a few minutes your suitcase came rolling out, but as you went to grab it someone else grabbed it from behind you, a familiar voice drawling, “Hey, hey.”

Grinning you turned to see Nick smiling back at you, “Hey yourself.”

He hugged you, and again your stomach filled with butterflies.

Pull away you smiled, “Come on, I think I left Alex just over there.”

Grabbing your suitcase in one hand, and his hand in the other you tugged him off toward where you’d left Alex, calling, “Alex look who I found!” as soon as he was in view.

Nick dropped your hand to grab Alex’s to pull him into a hug, and you found yourself fighting a grin at how red Alex's face turned.

“Bad texted me that he’s almost here!” You announced after checking your phone.

“Who else is he picking up?” Nick asked.

“Uhhh,” You pulled the messages back up, “Karl and Fundy, and then Wilbur is supposed to be getting another rental car and driving the rest of the Europeans when they get here, minus George cause apparently he also flew out early.”

You all headed out towards the pick up area, weaving through the crowds of people you felt Nick grab the back of your shirt, and when you looked back at him in question he muttered, “So I don’t lose you Idiot.”

All you could do was hope your face was clear of any blush as you smiled back.

You all ended up stood near the curb when a voice cut through the chatter, “Hey gu-uys!”

“Karl!” The three of you exclaimed as he ran through the crowd towards you.

Upon reaching you he some how managed to get his arms around all of you enough for a group hug, and you laughed, “Shouldn’t you be at the other gate?”

“Yeah, but I thought I saw you guys so I came over here, and I was right!”

Alex cocked an eyebrow, “What if it wasn’t us?”

“uhhh, I dunno, awkwardly ran at random people?”

You all laughed, and Nick scoffed, “You’re ridiculous.”

After a few more minutes of waiting, a car slowed near the curb, Fundy’s head practically falling from passenger window, “I’m looking for some youtubers, dumb American ones, you seen any?”

Bad smacked him, “they aren’t dumb, hey guys!”

You waved at them as the guys started loading their suitcases into the back of the car, and after Karl insisted he take yours as well, you slid into the back seat, “What’s the house situation like?”

“It looks like just about everyone will get there own room,” Bad reported, “But Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo and Purpled are sharing the room with the bunk beds, because Clay designated it as the kids room.”

You snickered as Alex climbed into the back next to you, leaving Nick and Karl to take the spots in the middle row of the van.

“And obviously cause Kristen’s coming she and Phil are sharing, and then Eret said he, Puffy, and Niki would take the room with the double beds,” Fundy offered, “Which means the rest of us should get single rooms.”

Alex elbowed you, “Told you wouldn’t get stuck with random screaming.”

“Oh there's still time for that.”

After getting to the airbnb and racing Fundy for one of the bigger rooms that was left (it was decided Phil and Kristen would get the master bedroom, and Clay had already claimed the biggest guest bedroom), you dropped your suitcase in one corner and brought your toiletries bag in the shared bathroom between your and Nick’s rooms, before flopping back onto your bed.

No more than three minutes passed before Karl wandered into your room, flopping down next to you, “Ranboo and Sam are making nachos, and Dream and Nick found a foosball table in the garage, so a mini tournament is being organized if you want in.”

“Foosball?” You questioned.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.”

You allowed him to tug you up, and followed him down from the left hall of bedrooms, through the living room and to the connected garage where George was yelling over everyone to try and form teams.

“Me and (Y/n) are a team!” Nick announced, grabbing your hand to pull you towards him.

“Okay, that leaves Big Q and Karl as the last team for now! When other people show up they can join.” George announced.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of foosball games, nacho’s nearly being spilled everywhere and the rest of the people arriving.

The next day was the first day of vidcon, and after getting dressed in some casual clothes you grabbed your laptop and headed out to the living room, mostly empty in the quiet house, with the exception of Tubbo, who was flipping through tv channels, and Phil, who was tinkering around in the kitchen.

“So what’s your plan for the day?” Tubbo asked, finally having settled on a baking show.

“Uhh, stress about the panel until it’s time for the panel, hang out, maybe find a pizza place, you?”

“Me and Tommy are just gonna wander the convention center most of today cause I don’t have anything until the meet and greet tomorrow, then when he has to go I think me, Ranboo and Fundy might be going to mess with dream george and sapnap during the dream team panel. What’s you first panel about?”

You glanced back down at your laptop, “It’s listed as ‘small creators with a big part’”

From the kitchen you heard Phil chuckle.

“Oh cool.” Tubbo smiled, turning back to his show.

You looked back down at your laptop, reading over the possible sample questions and discussion topics, you wanted to be mentally prepared for this.

At some point, as the rest of the house began to stir Alex shuffled out from the hallway and plopped down in between you and Tubbo on the couch, throwing his legs up in your lap.

“Good morning.”

He groaned, “Why is it so early?”

“It isn’t,” you laughed, flicking at his forehead, “Your just jet lagged.”

“Is there coffee here?”

As if on cue Nick, who had come over from the kitchen, offered him a mug, “Phil made a big ass pot of it.”

“Oh thank fuck!” He took the cup greatfully.

Nick smiled, handing you the other mug before going back for his own as Karl flounced into the room and plopped down on the other couch, “Good morning!”

“Morning Karl!” You smiled.

“oooo, are we watching cake wars?” He asked excitedly.

Tubbo nodded and launched into an explanation of what had happened so far in the episode.

Eventually everyone woke up and was gathered around in the living room and kitchen, drinking coffee and tea as they planned for the day.

“Well if most of us have different things planned why don’t we just plan to meet back up here before dinner?” Niki suggested.

A half asleep Wilbur nodded, “Sounds like a good idea.”

Techno snickered at his grogginess, elbowing him lightly, “I guess the first panel really will be sleepy boys inc.”

If Wilbur had been fully awake he probably would’ve elbowed him back, but instead just muttered, “Shut up.”

“Okay! So we meet back here for six yeah?” Bad asked.

Everyone nodded, and disappeared back to their various places around the house to get ready.

Back in your room you put your laptop away and got the last of your things ready for the panel, even though it wasn’t starting for a few hours.

“(Y/n)! Your panel’s at 12 right?” Nick half yelled through the open bathroom doors.

“Yeah?”

“Okay cool, do you wanna come with me, Alex and Karl? Apparently Jimmy and all them just got in.”

“Sure.”

You had talked to the famed, ‘Mr. Beast’, a few times, and had even been in one or two of his gaming videos, so before you knew it Alex was stealing the keys to one of the rental cars and you were off.

“Yeah we just left the airbnb.” Karl, said into his phone. There was a pause before he said, “Oof, I’m glad I came out early then.” Another pause and then he laughed, “Nimrods. We can stop for food if you want?”

A few minutes later he ended the call, leaning up between the front seats, “The gang requires food, we’re taking a pit stop to taco bell.”

“Taco bell? At 9 in the morning?” Alex questioned.

“Yeah apparently the nimrods forgot to get food before they left the airport, and now their stuck in traffic. We’re gonna meet them at the hotel.”

You chuckled, “Sounds like a Jimmy move. Let me guess, they forgot because none of them slept and they took a red eye?”

“What the fuck is a red eye?”

You looked back at Nick, incredulous, “You don’t know what a red eye is? Oh my god you privileged fool!”

Alex snorted, “It’s a really early flight Nick. Like, a you get to the airport for 11pm, and end up eating breakfast when you get to the other airport, flight.”

“Or, a get to the airport for anytime between 11pm and 4am and regret your life choices while waiting for your plane.” You offered.

“In other words, hell.” Alex finished, pulling into a drive thru.

“Yikes, why would anyone do that?” Nick asked.

“It’s cheap.” Karl said.

“Planes are less crowded, so are the airports.” Alex added.

You smiled, “I do it for the feeling of a lineal space. There's no vibes like airports from 11pm to 4am.”

They all laughed, and Karl quickly unrolled his window to order an ungodly amount of food.

Unsurprisingly, after that the day passed in a blur, the panel going pretty well, and then the impromptu meet and greet outside the meeting hall, trying to make it through the convention center with Clay and Nick without being mobbed, and then suddenly everyone was back at the airbnb getting ready for dinner.

“(y/n) you bitch why are you taking so long in there!” Tommy yelled through the bathroom door.

“I’m trying to fix my hair from when you threw water at me prick! There's five other bathrooms in this house go find another one!” You yelled back.

Distantly you could hear Bad yell, “Language!”

“Everyone is in the other bathrooms!”

Giving up on your hair you set the brush back down and recapped the container of paste, turning and opening the door to your room, “Alright, fine.”

“That wasn’t that hard was it?” Tommy asked, moving past you into the bathroom.

“Don’t touch my stuff.” You instructed, striding out of the room and down the hall.

Out in the living room Eret was humming as they cleaned up the last of the later Tommy had gotten everywhere as the rest of the group started to assemble.

Once everyone was finally ready, and the final arguments of who would take which car, you were shoved into the back of one of the vans with Karl and Alex, making all of the anxiety that had dissipated after the panel came flooding back, especially when Nick, who was sitting on the bench seat in front of you, turned to join the conversation.

The night was spent trying to keep blush off your face whenever Karl’s knuckles brushed yours, when Nick’s arm found it’s way around the back of your chair, or when your and Alex’s knees bumped.

‘God’, you had thought, ‘this is like some romcom shit.’

After Tommy’s fail attempt to steal a set of car keys and try and drive home -Phil smacked him upside the head, Niki snatched the keys from his hand, Kristen started to lecture him, all while the rest of you laughed your asses off- The bill was paid, and everyone piled back up into the cars, already starting to plan a movie night.

Upon getting back to the airbnb, you headed back to your room to change back into the hoodie and comfortable pants you had been wearing earlier, heading back into the living room in time to steal Punz’s seat on the couch with Nick and Karl.

When Alex squeezed into the spot between you and Nick, you could’ve sworn you saw Techno smirking and Puffy waggling her eyebrows toward you, how they found out about your stupid group crush you had no clue, but then Clay and Skeppy started to argue over what movie to put on.

Tubbo ended up taking the remote from Clay, and from where he was sitting In front of one of the couches, tossed it over to Phil on the other side of the room, who said, “We’ll do a vote then!”

A movie was selected democratically, some cheesy action movie began to play, and at some point you half turned, propping your legs up across the boys laps as Alex maintained a running commentary on the movie, just loud enough for you and Nick to hear, and Karl absently traced small shapes into your ankles.

The second day of vidcon was the most hectic, with you, Nick and Alex were going to watch the Mr. Beast panel Karl got to be a part of, plus both the dream smp panel and the meet and greet later in the day.

You had woken up to Karl and Alex jumping on top of you, “Wake up! You’re gonna be late!”

You groaned, struggling to shove them off, “What time is it?”

“8:27.” Alex said, sliding off your bed.

“Fuck,” You muttered, “Get off me, what the hell happened to my alarm?”

“You left your phone in the other room, when it went off it woke us up.” Karl explained.

“He means it woke him up and he felt the need to wake me up,” Alex complained as you sat up now free of the people laying on you, “Why the hell is your alarm set so early?”

“It’s not early, I just wanted to be able to get ready without being in anyone’s way.”

Karl nodded, “Makes sense.”

“C’mon, let’s give them time to get ready.” Alex grabbed Karl’s arm, half dragging him out of the room.

You quickly got ready, pulling on a nicer button down, plus a jacket that was one of the first from your new merch line.

You finished your hair, plugged in your phone and headed out to the kitchen where Fundy seemed to be attempting to make pancakes, dragging Karl into the process as well.

You sat down next to Alex and Ranboo, “How long do you think until they burn the house down?”

“I am not going to burn the house!” Fundy exclaimed.

You reached over and turned down the heat on the griddle, “Well you were gonna burn something.”

Ranboo snickered, “They aren’t wrong.”

“Shut up Ranboob!” Fundy retorted.

They continued to bicker as Tubbo emerged from up stairs, shoving Fundy out of the way to take over the griddle. “You’re all ridiculous.” He muttered.

“Yeah no shit.” You sighed.

“Language!” Bad yelled from the dining room.

“French!” Eret called back as she entered the kitchen, “Morning guys!”

“Morning!” Tuboo chirped, starting to flip some of the pancakes.

“It’s panel day!” Tommy yelled, charging down the stairs, “Those best be chocolate chip Tubbo!”

Karl held up the bag of chocolate chips he been scattering into some of the pancakes, and Tommy grinned, “Karl my man!”

Once breakfast was eaten and the dishes cleared everyone loaded back up into the cars to head to the convention center, everyone splitting up again, planning to meet back in the right area in time for the full panel.

Karl headed off to meat with Jimmy and the guys as You Alex and Nick took spots in the audience.

Once they took to the stage Nick leaned over and elbowed Alex, “Bet you 10 bucks when they open for questions you don’t go up just to flirt with Karl.”

Alex glared at him, “10 bucks isn’t worth it.”

You held back a laugh, “I’d throw in another 20.”

Alex considered this with a sigh, “Deal, but only if we get milkshakes later.”

You and Nick agreed, and soon enough when they opened up for audience questions Alex started to stand up, but immediately sat back down blushing slightly, “No.”

“Damn.” Nick sighed. “We’re still getting milkshakes.”

Once the Mr. Beast panel had ended you all went to meet up with Karl and head off to the dream smp panel.

2 o'clock rolled around and the panel moderator began to announce everyone, one by one, and you managed to force down your anxiety, taking your place on the stage between Karl and Nick when the mod called, “(y/s/n), one of the first people to actually join the dream smp.”

You sat down, smiling at the audience and quickly sneaking out your phone to take a quick video of your friends and then a pan of the crowd to put on twitter later.

Once everyone was on stage the moderator looked up and down the long table, “Wow, there are a lot of people on stage right now, is this everyone from the server?”

Clay nodded, “Just about, we have a few others, Alyssa, Callahan, Ponk and Antfrost, who had other stuff going on, but for the most part, this is everyone from the server.”

“This is honestly incredible, how, how are you guys all feeling about being here? I know this is the first Dream SMP panel, but you guys have been to vidcon before right?”

“Most of us,” George laughed, “I think the only one who hasn’t is (y/s/n), there first ever panel was yesterday.”

The mod looked over at you, “So, how does it feel to be at your first vidcon?”

You laughed nervously, “Well, I mean, I’ve been to vid con before, but I was always out there in the audience, it’s- it’s pretty nerve wracking to be up here.”

The topic shifted and after that things seemed to move more quickly.

In the blink of an eye the first hour and a half was spent and people from the audience began to ask questions.

“Wilbur, as the main writer for roleplaying on the server is it hard to keep track of character specifics and story arcs or is it all just written in with the scripts?”

Someone asked.Wilbur hummed, “Well I guess in part it’s written in the scripts, but I think I should turn this question over to (y/s/n), they’ll have a more interesting answer.”

Everyone turned to you.

“Well, in my mind it isn’t all that hard, but I am literally the kid who memorized long monologues for fun.” You chuckled, “Once the first revolution arc started and the server really started to turn to roleplaying I started a google doc that now gets updated constantly. I have running tabs on current arcs, details on arcs that have ended and then there's detailed character descriptions.

“I don’t necessarily write down bits to add while I’m streaming or anything, but most of the time it has to be the middle of the night or I won’t file anything correctly.”

Nick chuckled, “I have seen the document, it is terrifying.”

“Didn’t someone open it to see you updating in the middle of the night once?” Ranboo asked.

Alex nodded, “Yeah that was me, it was very traumatic, like, I blinked, and then there was another fifty words on the page.”

You dropped your head in your hands, “It was the night after the whole election thing! Techno joined the server and then I had to add a whole ‘nother character profile, and he and his stupid English major were making things complicated!”

“Listen man, I just wanted to make sure I had a backstory that fit into the story line, ‘s not my fault when Wilbur lets Dream have partial control of thing the storyline ends up non cohesive.”

People laughed, and the topic was changed with the next question.

Two and a half hours later, an extra hour after the panel was supposed to end, (there was just so many extra questions), you headed off stage, and were all rushed across the center for the meet and greet, which had been pushed back in time with the panel.

You felt bad for making the fans wait, but the organizers assured you that it was fine, most of the fans had been at the panel anyway.

In the big open hall the orginizors spilt everyone up into groups of threes and fours, the way fans could move down the line and see everyone.

Inevitably you ended up with Karl, Nick and Alex, at the end of the long sections of people.

“Holy shit man, how is it already 6?” Alex asked.

“Who knows.” Nick muttered glancing down at his phone.

“Dude this is supposed to go for like three hours too.” You complained, rocking up on your heals to look down the line, seeing the first groups of people starting to move past Tommy, Tubbo and Fundy.

“We’ll be fine! It’s always fun to meet fans!” Karl said, though he did look slightly wary.

After another three hours of talking to fans, signing things, and taking pictures the last group of people finally made it to your section.

“Hey! They saved the coolest for last!” The boy exclaimed.

“Hell yeah they did!” Alex half yelled back, some how still managing to keep up the enthusiasm.

“Here, let’s get you guys all in a picture together!” His mother said, motioning for you to all stand together. You slung an arm around the kids shoulder, smiling at the camera. “

“Okay serious question time, which one of us is the best?”

“Uhh,” the boy looked from person to person, “probably you (y/s/n), your contents really cool but your under rated.”

You grinned, offering him a fist bump, “ha! See that’s the third person in the last hour!”

Karl scoffed, “but I got like six people over all.”

“I only got five.” Alex pouted.

You rolled your eyes as the boy asked, “So if you guys are in a poly relationship on the server does it create problems with your friendship in real life?”

You all froze, except for Nick who somehow seemed to know this was coming, “Well, in game and out of game relationships are different, sure you can ship all you want, but that doesn’t mean stuff actually happens in real life.”

The kid nodded, “Cool, hey I saw your stream like, during quesrentine, just a question, how many people have tried to fight you today?”

You laughed, “at least 15 took pictures with him squared up.”

A few minutes more and the kid was gone, being ushered away by his mom, and you glanced at your phone, “holy shit it’s already 9:15.”

“Where did the time go?” Kale asked incredulous.

After meeting back up with the rest of the group you all headed off to terrorize a McDonald’s, drawing a lot of attention from random fans as you all scarfed down food.

By the time you got back to the Airbnb it was nearly 11pm and everyone was exhausted.

After quickly getting ready for bed you a collapsed.

The next morning you woke up, and for a moment worth your eyes still closed you were perfectly content with the warmth pressed agasint you.

Then you came fully too, realizing that, no, you weren’t fully swaddled in your comforter, you were laying in a bed with other people.

Opening your eyes you blinked away sleep, looking down, confused to see Alex asleep with his head on your chest.

Turning your head you saw that it was Nick on your other side an arm wrapped around you both.

Karl was half sprawled across all of you, similarly to the airport, as if he could hold all of you at once. You sat in shock for several moments before realizing you were in fact, trapped in bed.

Alex’s fingers were tangled with yours, Nicks nose was pressed into your neck, and you could have sworn Karl shifted in his sleep, as if to get closer to you.

‘Well,’ you thought, ‘might as well make the most of it.’ As settled back down to fall back asleep.

Once you had all woke again, no one spoke as they headed back to there own rooms, and your crossed back through the bathroom form Nicks.

The rest of the day past, still no one speaking about it, and that night you found yourself laying in your own bed, wondering why it felt so wrong.

There was muffled whispers from Nicks room, and you quietly got up, moving into the bathroom to hear better.

Unfortunately for you Nicks door to the bathroom was still open, so you couldn’t eavesdrop as planned.

Karl and Alex were both sat on the bed next to each other as Nick paced. “What’s going on?” You asked quietly

“Would- would it be weird if we cuddled again?” Alex asked hesitantly.

“We were debating asking you.” Karl admitted.

Nick nodded, “You don’t have to, it’s just- we-“

Quietly you crossed the room, climbing into the bed instead of answering the question outright.

“Is- I- am I stupid, or is this something?” Alex whispered.

Vidcon had ended and even with the long weekend everyone was staying in California the time had gone all to fast.

You, Alex, Karl and Nick had continued to cuddle every night, still not talking about it during the day.

“Do you think it could be?” Was your only response, continuing to card your fingers through Karl’s hair.

“It seems like it already is.” Nick said.

Karl yawned, “I think I’d like it to be.You nodded,

“me too.”

“Me too.” Nick agreed.

Alex smiled, “I guess it’s decided then.”

The dark room was quiet another moment before you snickered, “It’s cannon irl now guys. What will the fans think?”

#mcyt x reader #karl jacobs x reader #mcyt imagines #karl jacobs imagines #sapnap x reader #teddy06 writes #quackity x reader #Quackity imagines #karlnapity #karlnapity x reader #sapnap x quackity x karl x reader #poly

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mobius-prime · 5 years ago

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208. Sonic the Hedgehog #140

Return to Angel Island (Part 3): How Many Echidnas Does It Take to Protect a Master Emerald?

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

So! We didn't forget that Lara-Le was pregnant a year ago, did we? Knuckles is completely stunned at the sight of his baby brother, and carefully hands him back, asking what his name is.

Honestly, this series of panels alone is enough to sell me on Jon Gray as an artist - I don't think anyone else could have pulled off this joke as well as he did. Anyway, yeah, this is in fact the Mace we briefly saw in StH#132, so clearly once he grew up he also agreed that Kneecaps is a horrible name and started going by Mace instead. That night, the echidna refugees all set up tents for Knuckles and his friends, but Knuckles is reluctant to accept the hospitality, still disturbed by everyone's reverence for him. He leaves, and Sonic is confused about his attitude, which Mighty says is likely influenced by the way everyone treats him differently after coming back from the dead. This draws a parallel in Sonic's mind between Knuckles' situation and his own with Sally, which I'm honestly surprised hasn't really been explored as of yet, considering it's one of the main things they currently have in common. Knuckles heads to the Hidden Palace, but ignores both Finitevus and Lien-Da when they try to ask him what he's doing, instead going straight for the Master Emerald in the chamber beyond. There, he sits just far enough from it that the pain doesn't affect him, and reflects on his choices up till now.

Okay, first of all Knuckles, we already established that you hardly came back for egotistical reasons. You fully accepted the fact that returning from the afterlife would have consequences, and came back anyway to save literally everyone on the planet from being sucked into a black hole. I'd say that's a worthy goddamn reason to go against Aurora's warnings. And second of all, Archimedes?! Dear lord, it's been… what, sixty-six freaking issues since we last saw you! Why do you look so evil there? Like seriously, it's a weird design choice, because when I first read this I was worried that Archimedes was being mind controlled or had gone evil or something, but I'll spoil it right now for you that he's totally fine and his excitement over his predictions being true is completely benevolent. I'm honestly sad that we haven't seen him in so long, because I actually quite like Archimedes, and enjoyed the larger role he played in earlier issues, particularly throughout a lot of the KtE series. He's been relegated to barely more than a bit part at this point, even though he and Knuckles seemed to be building such a good rapport when they first met.

Anyway, General Kage contacts Eggman to inform him of the invasion of one of the prison camps by Knuckles and his entourage, and Eggman becomes angry, telling Kage to work harder to root the disturbance out and get things working more smoothly on the island. M, repaired by now and with a fresh coat of "makeup," suggests that she go to Angel Island to oversee things, but Eggman vetoes that, right as they walk past a room ominously labeled "Snively Processing Lab," with a horrifyingly familiar silhouette inside being experimented on. It's clear that in the year that has passed, Eggman has reduced Snively to nothing better than fuel for his experiments - we've only seen him one other time since Sonic returned, and he seemed utterly terrified of his boss. Given his hatred of his uncle, and how this version of Robotnik is even more brutal than the original, I feel genuinely bad for him. Eggman reassures M that he knows just how to fix things on Angel Island, and goes to release someone from a prison pod in his base, equipping the mysterious prisoner with a control collar to ensure total obedience…

The next morning, Knuckles is awoken from where he passed out in front of the Master Emerald by Julie-Su - apparently, their double agent in the dingoes' ranks has contacted them with Locke's location, and so the full force of the Dark Legion, as well as Knuckles and all his friends, all make for the base in Dingo City where he's being held, with Espio surprisingly swearing up a storm as they take the Legion's hovercraft. As they race to the rescue, we finally get a clue as to where our favorite dingo has been all this time! How ya doing, Harry old boy?

Oh, gee, not so good, I see. The general is distracted from Harry dropping his breakfast in a fright by a call from Eggman, who tells him that if Locke isn't going to give up the information, it's time to cut their losses and "terminate" him. However, at that exact moment, the cavalry bursts in and begins beating the dingo sentries into the ground.

Knuckles immediately rushes to get his father down, and despite his rough treatment Locke is relatively okay, if weak. Kage tries to get back up, but Sonic and Knuckles merely grin at each other and punch him right back into unconsciousness. However, before they can congratulate themselves too much, Eggman projects his face as a hologram at them, as he is wont to do, and gloats that Locke was only one of his methods for finding the Master Emerald. While they've been busy in the city, Eggman has sent someone else to attack the echidna refugees' camp… and it's none other than Hunter from the ending of the KtE series, powered up and ready to wreak havoc once more!

Mobius 25 Years Later: A Difference of Opinion

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

In stark contrast to the sense of fierce camaraderie born of fire that Sonic and Knuckles share in the previous story, here we get to finally see their older counterparts interact one on one and be all hostile for no reason. Well, actually, we do get a reason. Knuckles finds Sonic lounging outside on his nightly walk, and invites him along for a chat, with their wives secretly watching from the windows and hoping they'll be able to work things out. Sonic is apparently skeptical of Rotor's claims of approaching armageddon, while Knuckles is more inclined to believe him. Sonic is then forced into some contrived dialogue that conveniently leaves him free to explain in detail exactly what caused them to start hating each other so much. Instead of typing out a summary here, I'm gonna go ahead and let the comic explain the whole thing for me, so you can see for yourself how much this sucks.

This… this is literally the worst thing we've seen so far. Okay, okay, maybe not the worst - Sonic trying to drown his own son really takes the cake - but it's up there. This entire backstory is built entirely on the idea of Knuckles literally trying to rewrite reality in the middle of an out-of-nowhere god complex and then facing absolutely no repercussions for it afterward aside from the loss of an eye. This is the reason that Julie-Su is missing her cybernetics - because sometime in the past, Knuckles, without even asking her what she wanted, took them from her, simply because he apparently thought she'd be better off without them. And now, he still considers Sonic to be the bad guy of the story, because Sonic had the nerve to consider Knuckles trying to reshape their entire world the way he liked it to be a threat to their continued peaceful existence. And as far as Knuckles losing an eye as a result, all things considered, that is not bad at all. I mean sure, losing any body part sucks, but in this universe one can be outfitted with various cybernetics that are better that the original organic part they're replacing, and as Sonic points out, the technology exists to just give him back his organic eye with no lasting side effects. Furthermore, Knuckles also seems put out that Sonic prevented him from becoming a Chaos-Emerald-powered god, even though literally not that long ago we just saw how badly things turn out when that happens! You freaking died, Knuckles! I can't even begin to put my disdain for this backstory into proper words, it's so bad. Like, there's not even one single thing I can pin down to explain how bad it is - it's just a jumbled mess, and such a disappointment. I mean, all this time I've been pointing out how out of character it is for Sonic and Knuckles to hate each other, but since we didn't know why they hated each other there was always the chance that later on the story would finally reveal to us the real reason for their enmity, and that it would change everything, revealing some unknown details that explained everything we've seen and made it totally believable. This story not only failed to do that, it has actually done the opposite, making their rivalry less believable and making Knuckles feel just as out of character as everyone else so far. Like, I'm seriously surprised that Kenders would do this to his favorite character in the series, because it just makes Knuckles seem so unsympathetic and unlikable that it basically renders a lot of his character development up till now seem totally pointless. Like, just… why?

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 140 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: jon gray #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen

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northoftheroad · 5 years ago

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The Wayne family

Sometimes, when I read Batman fanfiction, I wonder whether the writer has been reading the same comic books as I have. Because they paint a picture of a big, happy Wayne family where the kids are very close and sometimes the whole bunch even live together.

Now, I do know the difference between canon and fanfic. And I get that wishful thinking and selective reading plays a big part. But still, I'm curious where these conceptions come from.

Just to be clear. I do think of Bruces adopted/foster children as a family because they have a common father(figure). But they have not grown up together. It depends on what DC continuity you're playing with, of course, but most of them are in their teens when Bruce Wayne comes into their lives and they can’t have lived more than a few years with him. Several of them have not lived together. So even if I let my imagination run amok, I can't see them living at the Manor together as a tight-knit family, and I don't think all of them know each other very well.

Batman and Robin vol 2 # 10. By Peter Tomasi, art Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray.

Dick Grayson had moved out (or been kicked out, depending on what version you go with) when Jason Todd came along (and Bruce suffered from empty nest syndrome). Jason was dead when Tim Drake came into the picture, and Tim lived with his parents or boarding school in the beginning. Even if Dick kept in pretty close contact with Tim, he had a permanent home elsewhere.

Batman: Gotham Knights # 45. By Scott Beatty, art Roger Robinson and John Floyd.

I admit I haven't read a lot with Cassandra Cain. As far as I understand, after Flashpoint she has never lived in the Manor. Before Flashpoint, she was adopted, but I don’t believe she lived long in the Manor, and the only other Wayne adoptee she can have shared the home with is Tim.

Edit: At least, Bruce probably did have time to adopt Cass, even though he promised to do it in Batman: Redemption Road (2008), just before the story arc Batman RIP where he, presumedly, died. They certainly did not live together as a family for long.

Batgirl: Redemption Road # 6. By Adam Beechen, art Jim Calafiore and Jack Purcell.

I’m sure there are cute panels of Tim and Cass out there, but I’m picking some from comics I know of.

Batgirl # 50. By Dylan Horrocks, art Rick Leonardi and Jesse Delperdang.

Batman: Family # 7. By John Francis Moore, art Steve Lieber and Stefano Gaudiano.

Tim was an older teenager when Damian al Ghul/Wayne dropped into the house and immediately tried to get rid of Tim the hard way, and I don’t think they spent a long time under the same roof until Bruce "died", and soon after Tim left (at least partially).

Batman # 657. By Grant Morrison, art Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang.

Dick moved in with Damian and raised him (for about a year). When Bruce first came back he travelled with Batman Inc, and Dick and Damian continued to live together. There were times when you could find Bruce, Dick, Tim, Damian and Alfred in the Manor at the same time, but not living permanently together.

Batman & Robin vol 1 # 20. By Peter J. Tomasi, art Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray.

Now, Flashpoint, New 52 and Rebirth makes it even more impossible to puzzle together a credible timeline for everything Bruce Wayne is supposed to have done and everyone's relationship with each other. We’ll end up with Jason being Robin for about a month... But, anyway...

At the start of New 52, Dick has gone back to Nightwing and moved into his own flat in Gotham. He’ll continue to move around in different cities so he’s clearly not living with any other Wayne. By then, Cassandra is retconned out of the family and I haven’t seen any sign that Jason lives at the Manor with Bruce and Damian (and I don’t know about Tim either).

Fast forward into Rebirth, and Duke Thomas stayed and trained with Bruce for a while. If any of the other kids lived there at the same time is anybody's guess, but you can see the whole Bat-family (including, for instance, Stephanie Brown and Luke Fox) share a happy meal in the Manor, so at least they socialize from time to time. I’ve read somewhere that Duke since has moved in with relatives.

In canon right now, as far as I can make out, the only one who (at least sometimes and varying between the books) lives with Bruce and Alfred in the Manor is Damian.

Another fanon exaggeration on the opposite part of the scale, in my opinion, is the penchant for portraying Dick and Jason's relationship as extremely bad from the start.

There are three different versions of how they met before Flashpoint. The first time, when Jason was a circus-boy Dick clone, Dick originally wanted to take him in, but Bruce stepped in instead (DC needed a new Robin for Batman, after all). The second time, Bruce had fired Dick from Robin because he was shot by the Joker and then promptly picked up Jason, after Dick had left. The third time (Nightwing Year One), Bruce fired Dick and kicked him out (I tend to ignore this version mostly, to be honest, because Bruce is ridiculously much of an ass here) and then, as you know, took in Jason.

And it's not that Dick loves Jason straight away, or the fact Bruce took in a new Robin by the blink of an eye, in the two later versions. But he still gives Jason his old Robin suit and his phone number in version two and in version three, they part on decent terms, and Dick tells Bruce (by recording) that he could have done worse.

After that, they hardly meet before Jason is killed because Dick is working with the Titans and doesn't live in Gotham. Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Jason helped the New Teen Titans a few issues (Dick was busy getting in the hands of Brother Blood and being brainwashed, at the time) in New Teen Titans vol 2 # 20–31. And there is a snapshot of Dick and Jason hanging out as civilians in Nightwing vol 2 issue 63. That's about it.

Nightwing vol 2 # 63. By Chuck Dixon, art Trevor McCarthy and Karl Kesel.

Then, of course, Jason came back from the dead slightly unhinged (2005). I don't know the whole picture of meetings or confrontations between the Bat-kids between Jason's comeback and Flashpoint (2011). I do know he dressed up as Nightwing and killed people in Nightwing vol 2 # 118–122. When Jason was abducted, Dick struggled a bit with the question "Is it ethical for me to save someone who's a danger to society?" before he went to save Jason. In the end, Jason sends a telegram where he says "Thanks for coming for me, brother. I know we don't agree on much. I just wanted to believe we could be family again." Tim and Dick also had a confrontation with Jason in Teen Titans (2003) # 47, and Dick and Jason had a not very amicable meeting in the Outsiders v 3 # 44.

Nightwing vol 2 # 118 –122. By Bruce Jones, art Joe Dodd, Paco Diaz, BIT and Nathan Massengill.

And then we have Battle for the Cowl, where Jason shot Damian, left Tim for dead and tried to kill Dick after he had refused to become Robin to Jason's Batman. (I guess there are Jason fans out there who think that Dick was not justified to put Jason in jail after that. Obviously, I'm not one of them, but if anyone dislikes these years in canon and decides to ignore it to the best if their ability, who am I to judge?)

So, the Wayne boys definitely had a partly antagonistic, partly close, partly distant relationship. After Flashpoint, I think it has in been portrayed as better. At least, I haven't seen them try to kill each other... Tim calls Damian "gremlin", Jason is Damian's secret mentor (or so I've seen somewhere), they sometimes meet on the rooftops and work together. On the other hand, the previously close relationship between Dick and Tim seems pretty much forgotten. (Let's hope they start remembering that soon again.)

Detective Comics # 975. By James Tynion IV, art Raul Fernandez and Alvaro Martinez.

Somewhere in Batman and Robin Eternal, Jason says that Tim is the only of the other Robins that he likes. (I honestly don't know where that came from, I never noticed them seeing eye to eye before. Still, it's not like I've read every Bat comic ever printed. But then, I rather believe the same goes for a number of DC writers... Edit: I’ve been informed that it’s probably from a flashback in an issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws.) In RH and the outlaws annual 1 (I think that’s the only issue of that series I’ve read, to be honest), Jason narrates that there was a time when he would have killed Dick on sight. "Not my proudest moment. We've made up since then." They have a complicated relationship, but they are still somehow clearly brothers, and Jason thinks back to when he saw the Flying Graysons perform and how Dick was a hero to him then (another retcon after Flashpoint). As far as I know, it's the only post-Flashpoint retelling of how Jason and Dick met, and the story is that Alfred puts Jason in Dick's room so he wouldn't have to clean a new one. Dick is not happy to find someone in his bed when he comes home to visit. They fight. Honestly, I can't imagine Alfred doing that, so that's one version of the canon I’m happy to overlook...

On the other hand, we have Jason and Dick hanging out on the rooftops in Blüdhaven in Nightwing vol 4 # 15, and Dick, Jason and Damian certainly bicker like siblings (together with Duke) in Batman vol 3 # 16 and # 33.

Nightwing vol 4 # 15. By Tim Seeley, art Minkyu Jung.

Batman vol 3 # 16. By Tom King, art David Finch.

On the whole, I think the only thing you can be sure of about the relationships between the Wayne family members these days is that it varies quite a bit between titles and writers and has had its ups and downs over the years. But that they have never lived together as one big, happy family.

Of course, all this is based on the comic books I’ve read, and there might very well be stories out there that paint a different picture. But on the whole, I’m pretty confident that this panel is about as close to a happy family gathering we’ve seen. And then it’s not only the Waynes but the Bat family.

Batman and the Signal. By Scott Snyder and Tony Patrick, art Cully Hamner.

#Batman #Robin #Nightwing #Bruce Wayne #Dick Grayson #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Damian Wayne #Cassandra Cain

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annoshkii · 5 years ago

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Artemis

**unedited**

“Put her down on the table!” Alessia screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted into the room. Shane, Penny, and Karl all rushed to oblige. Carefully the three of them lifted the limp body that Shane and Karl had been supporting onto the table.

“Will she be okay?” Penny said as she backed away a step, giving Alessia room to work. Panels rose from the floor and began scanning the bloody and battered form of their fifth team member, Artemis.

“We’ll see.” Alessia’s eyes never left the screens as her hands flew over the control board. Julius, the Ships AI, began to read readings off the screens while Alessia stocked a tray full of bandages and a suture kit. Finally looking away, Alessia dawned a pair of gloves and carefully began picking off the destroyed armour. The whole room collectively gasped as several deep stab wounds and a blaster mark chequered Artemis’s body.

“All of you out, I got this.”

Shane was the first to move and corralled the other two out. The beeping and whirring of machines died the instant the large doors clicked shut.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Karl clutched his fluffy black hair and immediately began pacing in front of the door. Penny collapsed against the wall, her legs aching and her feet sore from running. Pulling off her boots she began rubbing her feet, hissing whenever she hit a particularly tender spot. Shane remained standing still, staring straight ahead, arms crossed. They all looked like shit, but unlike Artemis, their injuries were superficial: dented armour, torn clothing, scratches, bruises and shallow cuts scattered along their bodies. Karl had ditched his helmet after a Yurgon sentry had smashed it to oblivion.

The mission hadn’t even been a success. The four had been assigned to do a simple information extraction mission. Thing had gotten out of hand when the panic button on the hardware had been tripped. Everyone had made a mad dash back to the pod, but they were intercepted by a squad of Yurgon sentry guards and a fight broke out.

“Karl stop pacing.” Shane snapped. “It’s not helping anyone.”

Karl stopped pacing but his hands twitched and clenched incessantly at his sides. In the end he shoved his hands in his armpits to still them.

“Go shower, change, and eat, guys. It’s going to be a long time before we hear anything from Alessia.” Shane bent down and pulled Penny to her feet, gentle pushing her down the hall away from the medical bay door. No one protested as the three of them walked silently, splitting off as they reached their rooms.

Shane took his time, carefully removing each piece of armour and laying it out on his bed. The chest piece was chipped and cracked, but everything else was in relatively good shape.

The shower helped to ease his muscles as the hot water beat against his skin. The cuts on his body stung as he scrubbed away dried blood and dirt. He was lucky it hadn’t been worse. The details were a blur. He couldn’t clearly recall what had happened. All he could picture were blaster shots firing all around him, a manic scream, and then nothing.

Stepping from the shower Shane dressed in loose pants and a sweater before collecting the armour to drop off at the armoury.

Karl had showered and changed at top speed. It really was no surprise that he was the first one in the kitchen cooking up a storm. The adrenaline was still thrumming in his veins and his bloody hands wouldn’t. Stop. Twitching! By the time Penny showed up, Karl had already crafted several platters of cheese, chopped meat, and seven hand carved fruit penguins. He was halfway through preparing a pot of spaghetti with fresh sauce.

“Good lord, Karl.” Penny mumbled as she grabbed a glass of water before slumping down in a chair in front of the cheese and meat platters. Shane appeared just as Karl finished putting the finishing garnishes on the heaping plates of food.

“Any news?” Shane asked as he pulled one of the plates towards him. Penny shook her head sending small flecks of sauce flying. The three of them sat in silence shovelling food in their mouths.

Penny was the first to finish and attempted to clear the dishes. This was short lived as Karl kept hovering nearby making critiques and pointing to spots Penny had missed. After throwing a penguin at his face, Penny stormed out of the kitchen and collapsed on a couch in the living room. Shane knew better than to try and help Karl, so when he finished he left his plate and went to join Penny.

“Penny?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know what happened?”

“No.” She sighed and nestled deeper into the pillows. “I had my hands full. Not really paying attention.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Shane yawned as he settled into a large armchair by the window. Silence fell again as they listened to Karl crash and bang around the kitchen.

~~~

<Charlie Squadron> Everyone jerked awake as the voice of Julius hummed gently around the room.

Everyone murmured a sigh of relief. Penny pushed herself up from the couch and rubbed the goop out of her eyes.

The three of them exchanged a confused look as they stood up and headed back to medical.

“What’s up Alessia?” The door slide shut after Karl. Alessia was standing with her back against the wall, arms crossed, staring at Artemis. She but pushed off the wall and walked over to the table.

“Take a look at this.” Alessia pulled back the covers enough to reveal a brand burned into Artemis’ left collar bone: a raven’s skull. Claw marks had been slashed around it, forming a crude X.

“No.” Shane gasped.

“It can’t be.” Karl whispered.

“What does this mean?” Penny asked, looking from Alessia to Shane to Karl. Each of them had a dark expression clouding their faces.

“She’s a Viquer Hunter.” Penny still didn’t understand why this warranted such a dramatic change in attitude. Alessia pressed on. “They are a ruthless tribe of near humans who inhabit the planet T-35774. Best known for their skills as assassins and guns for hire.”

“What do you mean near human?’”

“Viquers resemble human anatomy almost identically at a glance.” Shane answered, he looked like he was struggling to fully comprehend what was unfolding. “The differences are subtle. Their pupils are more angular than ours, the average height is around six foot two, generally slightly broader and muscular. Larger lung capacity too. A fully grown Viquer can run for hours before they get tired. They also have a unique chemical that their brain releases during fights that heightens their senses forty times more than humans.”

Shane and Penny walked to each side of the table and leaned over Artemis. One of the stab wounds was peeking out from under the bandage, it was roughly stitched up. Penny had a feeling it was done deliberately. Alessia never did sloppy sutures. She shot a glare at her across the table. Alessia returned it coldly. Shane carefully, almost lovingly, pulled the blanket back up again so it covered Artemis’s chest.

“Okay,” Penny said slowly, still not grasping why all this mattered. “But-”

“They’re killers Penny.” Karl said harshly. “They’ve wiped out entire species. I thought that they’d all died out to be honest.”

“Almost all of them. A small population still lives on T-3774. No more than a hundred of them at the most. Most of them were killed in the last rebellion.”

“Sure but this is Artemis,” Penny said imploringly. “She’s our friend, we know she’s not a killer.”

No one looked convinced. Shane looked like he was going to vomit. Karl and Alessia glared venomously down at Artemis.

“We should put her in the freezer until we land again.” Karl nodded with Alessia and together they moved towards Artemis. Both Shane and Penny jumped in to cut them off.

“We can’t do that.” Shane said reasonably.

“She’s our friend!” Penny screamed.

“Viquers killed my family!” Alessia hollered back. “They are murderers. It’s in their nature.”

“This doesn’t make sense. Viquers are known for their bloodthirsty and violent behaviour. We’ve known Artemis since the academy. She wouldn’t hurt a fly unless she had no other option. Besides, look at the scars.” Shane pointed down at the X carved into her chest. “She’s been cut off, thrown out. She’s not a real Viquer anymore.”

“Once a Viquer, always a Viquer! Julius!” Alessia called out.

“Ready the freezer.”

“Julius no!” Shane said in a calm but carrying voice. “At least give her a chance to explain herself before you throw her in.”

Alessia and Shane stared each other down like two bulls waiting to charge. Finally Alessia stood back and held her hands up.

“Fine.” She replied testily. “ Do you guys mind grabbing me a snack? I haven’t eaten in hours. And maybe a change of clothes?”

She gestured to the blood stained shirt she was wearing. Shane and Penny glared at her suspiciously. Alessia rolled her eyes at them.

“I’m not going to do anything. I promise.”

Alessia caught the back of Karl’s shirt as he passed. Discreetly giving him a look while the other two kept going. Just as they stepped out Shane felt something was off.

“Karl are you-”

“Julius seal the Medical Bay!” Alessia screamed. The doors slammed shut and the locks clicked. Shane slammed against the steal door and bounced off. Penny sprinted forward and pounded her fist against the solid mass.

“Alessia open the door! Open the fucking door!”

But nothing could be heard on the other side. Alessia let go of Karl and began fishing through cabinets and drawers. He watched as she filled a needle with bright green liquid.

“This might be violent.” She warned him before pulling down the sheet again and plunging it into Artemis’s arm.

One second passed. Two, then three. Karl was about to ask Alessia whether or not she’s given enough before a loud, rattling gasp emitted from the table. Artemis’s eyes shot open, her pupils completely blown out as she struggled to breathe for a second. It felt like someone had just injected a hoard of fire ants into her veins. Everything was burning, her heart was pounding in her chest, the sound of the air cooler shutting off pierced her ears, she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.

Artemis bolted up right and started pulling at her shirt. She couldn’t breathe, the room was swimming. Two figures stood close by but they didn’t move to help her.

“Help…” She managed to croak. An oxygen mask was roughly shoved over her face. After a few pain staking breathes things began to settle down. Without warning the mask was ripped away again as soon as Artemis was breathing properly. The elastic bands snapped and stung her cheeks.

“Finally awake.” Alessia and Karl planted themselves at the foot of Artemis’s bed and glared at her.

“You have some explaining to do.” Karl said coldly.

“What?” Artemis looked around the room. The cold air was blasting out of somewhere, suddenly the one thin sheet wasn’t enough. Pulling it tighter around herself she realized that her armour had been striped off her chest. Leaving her only in her undershirt, and her biggest secret exposed.

“We know your secret, Viquer.” Alessia spat, face disgusted like she’d just eaten a rotten Jub Bug.

Artemis’s heart sank: so they finally knew. After years of carefully crafted stories and even more careful social interactions, the Katir was finally out of the bag. Obviously Alessia would have seen the brand while she was stitching her up. In the end it didn’t matter how well she thought she’d integrated into human society. It didn’t matter that she’s done everything she could to prove she was loyal and kind. People saw the brand and they automatically pegged four hundred years of violence and bigotry on her. Like she had a choice what family she was born into.

“You going to say anything or just sit there until daisies sprout outta your ears?” Alessia snapped impatiently. Artemis shook her head, trying to refocus. Her arms felt so heavy

“You do want me to say?” Artemis responded with a drunken slur, her tongue felt fat and numb.

“Why did you lie to us? Is Artemis even your real name?” Karl spook in a slow mocking voice.

“No, it was Warclaw.” Artemis replied slowly, her brow furrowed. Where was everyone else? “Where’s Shane?”

“Cry me a river, you savage.” Alessia spat venomously. Distant thuds and shouting could be heard on the other side of the wall.

“Are we under attack?”

“I can’t wait to see what high command does when they realise that there’s a traitor amoung us.” Karl chuckled darkly.

Hot anger cleared away the last bit of fog from Artemis’s mind.

“I am not a traitor!”

“Save it!” Alessia shouted back, slamming her hands down on the bed. “I know your kind. You’re a blood thirsty brute. But, oh, credit where credit is deserved. You played your role extremely well. I mean, you had us all fooled into thinking you were one of us. Well done, really.”

“You have it all wrong Alessia, please. Listen to me!”

“Julius?” Karl called out.

<Yes, Karl?>

“Prepare the freezer.”

The blood drained out of Artemis’s face. Her arms shook on the table but she wasn’t sure whether it was because of fatigue or fear. On the opposite end of the room a slender cylinder tub slide gracefully from the floor. With a soft hiss the door opened and a cloud of frosted air spilled onto the ground.

“That’s not necessary.” She stuttered. A loud explosion shook the room. The smell of smoke and gun fire filtered slowly into the room.

“What the hell is going on out there?”

“Doesn’t matter. Help me with her.” Alessia and Karl moved to either side and pulled Artemis off the bed.

“No don’t! Wait!” Artemis pleaded as they dragged her towards the tube. She let her legs go limp and tried to drag them down. “I wanted to tell you guys. I did! But we didn’t know each other in the academy and I knew people hated my kind so I just did everything I could to blend in. Then when we got paired up I just kept pushing it to the side and hoped that it would just never come up.”

“Well you badly misjudged.” Alessia hissed giving Artemis’s arm a painful jerk.

“Yeah, I was branded,” Artemis continued frantically, looking imploringly at both of them. “But my family disowned me a year later. I was marked and cast off the planet with a promise from my father that he would kill me if I ever returned.”

“Once a Viquer, always a Viquer.” Karl growled.

“No! I didn’t fight for them, I never would. They assumed something was wrong with me and a defective offspring is a huge dishonour to the family. I never agreed with their ways or their very sketchy beliefs of right and wrong. I swear!”

With an almighty heave they shoved Artemis inside the tube. The door closed seamlessly behind her, sealing her inside a tiny glass tube.

“No! Let me out! Please don’t do this!” Artemis screamed and pounded on the glass. But the glass was sound proof. No one could hear her. Freezing cold air began streaming out of the fissures, quickly clouding the glass with frost.

“No!” Artemis cried, desperate and panicked tears crystalized on her cheeks. Her feet were already starting to tingle and go numb. “Please don’t leave me in here!”

One more explosion shook the room. Artemis felt the tremor shake the tube. Artemis raised and frozen hand and desperately wiped away the frost see what was going on. The main door had been blasted open and Shane and Penny were sprinting over. Alessia turned to face them but kept one hand on the controls. The tingling numbness had reached her thighs, Artemis began pounding on the glass and screaming again.

“What the fuck!” Penny screamed. “Let her out!”

“This had to be done.” Alessia replied coolly. Shane made to step around them but Karl pushed him

back. Shane launched himself at Karl and they both tumbled to the ground biting, punching, and kicking each other. Alessia cackled madly but stopped abruptly when Penny threw herself at the controls. Scrapping at Alessia’s finger, trying everything she could to pry them away. Penny bit the back of Alessia’s hand so hard that a small trickle of blood dribbled out. Alessia howled in pain and jerked her hand away. Mercifully the freezing air, which was now almost half way up Artemis’s stomach, stopped.

Artemis was gasping, trying to keep herself from passing out. Her hands were pressed firmly against the walls. Still the glass loomed and pressed into her. Several stitches had torn, the blood was freezing in lumps, burning her skin.

“Julius!” Shane shouted as he held a struggling Karl down. “Open the Freezer now!”

The door slide open, clouds of cold air spilling out. Legs completely frozen, Artemis tumbled out and lay sprawled on the ground. The outside room smelled thickly of smoke and was swelteringly hot compared to the slow freezing. Penny reached her first, skidding on her knees beside her. Several long scratches ran down her arms as she wrapped Artemis in a protective hug. Shane ripped the thin sheet off the table and wrapped it tightly around her.

“Are you alright?” Shane asked quietly.

“Cant… feel… legs.” Artemis said between long deep breaths. Penny pulled the blanket tight around Artemis while Shane began furiously rubbing Artemis’s legs trying to get the blood flowing again.

Alessia pulled herself up off the floor before helping Karl to his feet. He had one hand cradling his obviously broken nose.

“What the hell were you guys thinking? She is part of our team!” Shane hollered at them. Alessia just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Get off your high horse Shane, I know you despise them too.”

“That’s not on her.” Shane replied curtly.

“I see she has you wrapped right around her finger.” Karl said menacingly. Shane opened his mouth to counter but Karl cut him off. “We all know that you’re in love with her. We’re not dumb. Everyone sees how you look at her, holding her hand when you think no ones watching. But hey! At least now you know why she won’t sleep with you.”

The room was deadly silent. Shane’s face had gone the brightest red but his eyes screamed murder. The stitches pulled at Artemis’s skin as she moved. She could feel her energy depleting quickly as she sunk slowly back against Penny.

“I can’t believe we trusted you.” Karl growled. “You’re nothing but a lying, murderous, lowlife.”

“Yeah,” Alessia agreed in an equally menacing voice. “I don’t buy your flowery speech. Your kind doesn’t change. We’ve seen you fight. You’re just as violent as the rest of them.”

Artemis slipped a few inches more onto the ground. The small thud sent a slice up her spine as several muscles around the wounds tensed and spasmed. The three others were all shouting and arguing around her. Artemis could see their lips move but the only thing she heard was a low white noise that was slowly getting louder. Shane had a death grip on her right calf. She could feel small splashes of tears every so often on her shoulder.

“I don’t want to be lonely again.” Artemis whispered as her head fell back against Penny. The edges of her vision were becoming dark and cloudy. She couldn’t hear what Penny said back but her message was clear enough. The arms around her tightened and began to gently rock her as her eyes closed.

“Conquest protocol says that any non hostile prisoners should be detained in their quarters.” Shane recited through gritted teeth. “She’s injured and she has never done anything to harm any of us.”

“Fine!” Alessia shouted throwing her hands in the air before turning on her heels and storming out. “But I’m not treating her again so don’t tear any stitches.”

Shane glared at Alessia and Karl as they stormed out of the bay. The blood had thawed and was starting to slowly pulse down onto the floor. Patches of frost bitten skin marked the spot it had once been. Penny did her best to wipe away the blood while Shane scavenged around for a suture kit. He worked swiftly and quietly, closing the open wounds and wiping the area clean before covering it with a fresh white bandage.

“What are we going to do?” Penny whispered, moving very carefully to not wake Artemis again.

“I don’t know.” Shane said dejectedly. “Lets start by getting her settled in her room.”

Together, the two of them shifted the unconscious body onto a gurney and wheeled it out into the hallway towards the dorms.

#my writing #sci-fi #origional content #origional character

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amandajoyce118 · 7 years ago

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Jessica Jones Season 2 Easter Eggs And References

Instead of a six sentence Sunday this week, since it’s been over a week since the second season of Jessica Jones dropped on Netflix, I bring you lots of Easter eggs. They’re all broken down by episode so you can skip to the ones that interest you.

First and foremost, before we even get into the episodes, is this that someone pointed out on twitter. Just like in the first season where plenty of iconic imagery from the comics was used, even the promotional image Netflix uses this season is based on a comic book panel. And just like in season one, the episode titles are all actually voiced in the episodes.

S2E01 AKA Start At The Beginning

Metro General

Apparently, this is the only hospital in New York, and its staff, other than Claire Temple, is all pretty much useless since they didn’t notice a teenage girl suddenly appearing out of thin air 17 years ago.

Lizards Wearing Human Skins

This probably isn’t an outright Marvel reference since it’s used as a joke in sci-fi all the time, but when one of Jessica’s potential clients mentions this, it reminded me that Agents of SHIELD did confirm that one of Marvel’s reptilian races, the Gegku, exist in the MCU since Fitz was wearing their larva as a pin in season five. As for the “wearing human skin,” Agents of SHIELD also did that with the Chronocoms in season five, and we know that the Skrull (who are shapeshifters) are heading to the MCU in Captain Marvel next year. So, hey, maybe it’s a reference after all.

The Whizzer

A guy with a penchant for yellow and blue who happens to have super speed isn’t just an invention for the show. Though his name is revealed as Robert Coleman, he was Robert Frank in the comics, and really popular in the 1940s. He was a character some fans theorized would pop up on Agent Carter because of his ties to the time period, but he was adapted for a (brief) time on Jessica Jones instead. The character actually fell out of favor with audiences as Captain America gained popularity. His comic book origin was the result of Dr. Emil giving him a blood transfusion from a mongoose… which gets a reference on the show too, though in a surprising way.

Trish’s Patsy Costume

That costume, right down to the colors and the go-go boots, is something teenage Patsy would have worn in the comics. They’ve really done a nice job at the callbacks for this character.

The Killers

The movie playing on the rooftop is the 1946 movie The Killers, which was adapted from an Ernest Hemingway story. In it, a boxer was paid to throw a fight and thinks he’s going to be killed after the fact. Which is basically the backstory for Daredevil’s father.

Trish Keeping “the others’” Secret

Trish makes a point of saying that she didn’t reveal Jessica’s identity on her talk show, even if it’s easy to trace Trish to Jessica. But she also mentions that she didn’t reveal any of the others. That’s a reminder that the two of them have now met the main players from Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist in The Defenders in case anyone forgot that Trish’s superhero complex wasn’t just a result of her friendship with Jessica, but living in a world full of heroes and just being Trish.

Maynard Tiboldt

The hypnotist that Trish mentions is a comic book character called the Ringmaster, just like his father before him. He debuted in the sixties in the comics and used a mind controlling hat while he was in charge of the Circus of Crime. A version of a Ringmaster actually appeared in Iron Fist as well, so I feel like this is more a case of the writers wanting to reference another controlling male character than planning on doing anything with him.

Crap On Jessica Day Is Next Month

Okay, so I know this isn’t a reference since writers didn’t know exactly when the show would be released when they were writing, but I found this line by Trish funny only because Infinity War’s release date was officially moved up to April, which is the month after Jessica Jones drops, and when the world will, presumably, go to crap, for the heroes living in it.

S2E02 AKA Freak Accident

Josie’s Bar

Look, it’s not just Matt, Foggy, and Karen who like to take their shots at Josie’s anymore. It’s becoming a regular Netflix hangout. And one with a Game of Thrones pinball machine.

The Patsy Walker Posters

The illustrated images used are pulled straight from old comics.

Those Spider-Man References

The idea of a spidey sense and the whole “with great power” phrasing has become such a large part of pop culture, that it they might not be a purposeful shout out to Spider-Man, but they should be. “With great power comes great mental illness” from the Whizzer and Griffin’s “scoty-sense” being referenced reminds comic book readers that on the page, Jessica was actually a classmate of Peter Parker’s when she was a teenager - which is obviously a very different timeline than the MCU. Jessica even had a crush on him at one point, but literally no one even noticed her until her family’s tragic accident. She didn’t take it well.

Simpson’s Inhaler

It plays a role later in the show too, but it’s confirmation that Will Simpson is a character inspired by Nuke if the red and blue pills from last season weren’t enough. In the comics, the pills activate his adrenaline, strength, etc. This season, he’s upgraded to the inhaler for a quicker method of application.

S2E03 AKA Sole Survivor

Foggy Nelson

So, it’s not just Josie’s that Jessica Jones is borrowing from Daredevil. This is just your reminder that Foggy now works at the same law firm as Jeri Hogarth. Him reaching out to someone having a tough time is probably also serving as a reminder that he’s having a tough time of his own - he thinks his best friend is dead.

Leslie Hansen

Hansen might just be a fairly common last name in the MCU, but it could also be that this doctor is related to Maya Hansen, seen on the big screen in Iron Man 3. She was one of the scientists working on the Extremis serum, and over the course of the movie, she was killed. Fun fact: She was originally supposed to be the villain of the movie, but the script was changed because Marvel didn’t think a female villain would sell toys. I like to think that Jessica Jones, a show that had all female directors for its second season, and all female artists doing its posters for promotional work, picked the name Hansen on purpose to prove a point, but that might be reaching.

Captain America’s Action Figure

We’ve seen Avengers toys and things in the MCU properties before, but it’s a nice nod here that this action figure belongs to a kid that lost Cap’s shield, so he had to make him a new one… which is exactly what just happened to Cap himself since he’s getting a new shield in Infinity War. Also a fun nod? A magnet was used to attach a new shield to the toy. There was a time in the comics when Cap used a magnetic glove to make sure his shield returned to him.

S2E04 AKA God Help the Hobo

We Prefer Gifted

The MCU has typically thrown around the word “enhanced” when it comes to people who were experimented on and ended up with abilities. “Gifted” is used less often simply because of its association with X-Men and the divide between Marvel Studios and FOX. It’s an interesting choice to have Jessica use the term (she also used it in season one) now that FOX has its own Marvel superhero show in The Gifted, which is set in the X-Men world.

Are you bulletproof?

I think Vito asks Jessica this as a nod to Luke Cage, but it could be a coincidence. He’s the only hero we know who got press for being bulletproof in the MCU though.

Hedy Wolfe

When audiences get a glimpse at the magazine cover highlighting Trish out with Malcolm, there’s a smaller headline that reads “Hedy Wolfe clashes with gal pal.” Hedy was one of Patsy’s costars in the comics.

S2E05 AKA The Octopus

Malcolm’s Painting

Funnily enough, Malcolm had a painting of an octopus in his living room in earlier episodes. I don’t know if someone in the writers room just really likes the animals or what.

“I know how you people like to team up.”

It does seem to be true in the MCU that one super powered person leads to a group. We’ve got the Defenders, the Avengers, the Secret Warriors, SHIELD itself, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

David Kawecki

Not a comic book character, but I think this name might be a nod to Annette Kawecki. She was a cover artist and letterer for Marvel in the 70s. The promotional team for the show released posters/book covers for every episode this season all designed by women, so I like to think this was a purposeful shout out. Especially since the character liked to draw. I feel like there could be more names that acted as shout outs to women in the industry as well, but I didn’t catch them all.

Don’t smile.

Okay, probably not an intentional Easter egg, but you have to admit that seeing a guy tease Jessica not to smile when he’s taking her picture actually made you smile instead of the sick feeling provided by Kilgrave’s command for her to smile.

S2E06 AKA Facetime

Purple and Yellow

I’m sure everyone knows that purple makes up the primary color in Jessica’s show. Each of the Netflix Marvel series has a signature color, so when Jessica and Oscar get busy and knock the paint over, of course it’s purple. The color isn’t just a nod to Killgrave’s Purple Man, but also the color that dominates her comic book covers. The working title for the series is also Violet. Funnier to me is that during the sex, they also manage to knock over the yellow paint, even when Jessica tries to move the paint cans out of the way. Yellow is Luke Cage’s signature color. But maybe that’s just a coincidence.

Karl Malus

The doctor that did all that experimenting is based on a comic book villain. He wasn’t one of Jessica Jones’ villains though, but Jessica Drew. Rumor has it Jessica Drew could be making appearances in Spider-Man movies soon, so that seems appropriate.

Jessica’s Painting

Oscar’s painting for Jessica might have a pretty distinctive style if you’re familiar with the comics. David Mack creates art in that same style (pretty sure he’s who painted everything that belongs to Oscar) and designed comic book covers and posters for Jessica Jones.

S2E07 AKA I Want Your Cray Cray

Jessica’s Mom

The big reveal here is that Jessica’s mom is alive. In the comics, Alisa Jones is the name of the woman who adopts Jessica, not the name of her birth mother, but the show’s using the name all the same.

Gentech

Genetic Technology seems to be the fun way to name many a research company in the comics. So many companies get called “insert name here” Gentech. In fact, Maya Hansen worked for a company called Prometheus Gentech. So, it’s nice that carries over into the MCU as well.

That Music Video

Everybody else got some serious Britney Spears vibes from Trish’s music video, right? Similar aesthetic, similar pop music, and similar career path (at the time).

Jessica Campbell Jones

In the comics, the family that adopts Jessica has the last name Jones. Her birthname is Jessica Campbell. Since the show had Jones as her name from birth, adding in Campbell as her middle name was a nice touch.

“I’m gonna live forever.”

Yes, I think this is more of a reference to FAME than anything else since Trish wants to be seen as extraordinary. But maybe it’s also a hint to Patsy Walker’s comic book destiny of dying and only to get super powers in Hell and come back as the hero Hellcat.

I’d also like to point out how sad it is that Jessica’s love for boots and leather jackets, plus the name of her business, is the result of the last serious relationship she had before the mess she got into with Luke Cage. The past was haunting her even before Killgrave.

Touch of Evil

The rooftop movie that we get a scene from here is the 1958 film Touch of Evil which is actually famous amongst film critics for its tracking shots. Who else is famous from long tracking shots? That would be the Marvel shows. Every Marvel Netflix show (and Agents of SHIELD) has employed single take fight scenes.

S2E08 AKA Ain’t We Got Fun

The Raft

Yes, you might recognize the name of this prison. It made an appearance in Captain America: Civil War. You might remember it as the place in the middle of the ocean housing the Avengers that aligned with Cap. It was also in the comics before that.

Don’t feed the trolls

I feel like every woman in the entertainment industry has probably been told this about interactions on social media, so this line was probably easy for a show run by women to add in.

Trish Has Claws

Yes, she totally scratched up a guy’s face, a nice nod to the fact that Hellcat wears gloves with claws in the comics.

S2E09 AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed

Stan Lee

He doesn’t have his usually police officer poster cameo. Instead, he appears on a poster advertising a law firm outside of Port Authority. Maybe he’s really a model?

Forbush

That law firm Stan is advertising is Forbush and Associates. Forbush-Man was a Marvel character. He was created for Marvel’s comedy magazine called Snafu. (Forbush also happens to be the last name of the police captain that Lee usually cameos as.)

S2E10 AKA Pork Chop

A Plant Based Component

I saw someone mention that the plant based component in the inhaler that couldn’t be identified might be a nod to Black Panther’s heart shaped herb. I like the idea, but I don’t think that’s the case.

“There’s a hole in your soul.”

This line reminded me of the fact that Trish’s mother actually attempts to sell Trish’s soul in the comics in order to extend her own life. Things like that are actually fairly common in the comics with things like the Darkhold, Ghost Rider, and Mephisto dealing with actually demons and a dimension that Mephisto likes to pretend is Hell.

S2E11 AKA Three Lives And Counting

Feline Distemper Vaccine

Amongst the things that Dr. Malus uses on Trish during the procedure to give her powers is the Feline Distemper Vaccine. Feline. Like for a Hellcat. The writers were not messing around with the Hellcat foreshadowing this season.

Cell Block D

Alisa was held in the same part of the prison that housed the Punisher and Kingpin. It’s where all the most dangerous Netflix criminals go.

S2E12 AKA Pray For My Patsy

WJBP

The station depicting the news has also appeared in other Marvel Netflix shows, and if I remember correctly, Agents of SHIELD.

“You can’t stop selling your daughter even if it kills her.”

Again, not just a reference to the fact that Dorothy Walker in an opportunist, but also to the fact that she tries to sell her daughter’s own soul in the comics.

Turk

Hey, look, it’s New York’s only street level arms dealer. Really, he’s appeared in every Netflix show so far, typically getting beat up by a hero for selling a weapon to a bad guy. At least this time around, he didn’t get beat up.

Doctors Giving Powers In Back Alleys

There’s this idea that people want superheroes so badly that they don’t care how they get them, appealing to shady doctors in suspicious areas to get the job done. This bit of dialogue is actually reminiscent of an Alias comic book storyline (that’s Jessica’s original comic book) that saw gangs kidnapping people with mutant abilities and harvesting Mutant Growth Hormone from them. It was made into a drug that they dealt.

S2E13 AKA Playland

You just used up two of your nine lives… not to mention those reflexes

Yet another nod to Trish and her feline ways, prompting more speculation that she’ll finally become Hellcat when she appears in the Netflix shows again. The end of the episode shows she’s got some super reflexes now, a reflection of her character’s agility in the comics.

#jessica jones #jessica jones season 2 #jessica jones spoilers #jessica jones easter eggs #marvel comics #i wrote a thing

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pluckyredhead · 7 years ago

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Daredevil 101: Foggy Finds Out, Part 2 (Ghost Stick Boogaloo)

[Content Warning: Severe mental health issues portrayed rather sloppily, suicide attempt, discussion of violence against sex workers.]

Last time on Daredevil 101, Matt was found in basically a catatonic state by Karen and Foggy - both of whom thought he was dead, and only one of whom knew he was Daredevil. By the next issue, Matt’s still out of it, and Foggy’s not particularly happy with anyone:

IDK why Foggy’s a redhead here but WAY TO GO, KAREN. Yes, she kept Matt’s secret from Foggy - but it was Matt’s secret to tell. Just because Matt’s not in a position to be yelled at right now doesn’t mean Foggy gets to take it out on Karen.

And Matt’s really, really not in a position to be yelled at:

Hooboy. I don’t believe anyone in Matt’s entire 53-year history has ever suggested therapy but, like...he should probably go? Right away? Honey.

Eventually, as he is wont to do, Matt decides to escape from the expectations of his two favorite people by climbing out the window and running away. It’s fairly distressing to his loved ones:

THESE TWO. HOW I LOVE THEM.

So where is Matt? Well - possibly predicting DD Season 3 - he’s gone to see his mommy:

Maggie tries to comfort him, but if confession could make Matt feel absolved of this he’d probably have gotten it over with a long time ago, repressed memory or no. (Though to be fair, I can only think of one example of 616!Matt taking confession, and that was this year.)

Leaving Maggie, Matt briefly flirts with the idea of just ending it all:

Having decided not to kill himself, Matt returns to Jack Batlin’s hovel, only to be confronted by a surprising figure from his past:

I mean, technically neither of you saw anything, and also shut up, Stick.

I’m not really sure how to take his presence here, because on the one hand, if it’s all in Matt’s head, that means that Matt’s way of coping with his mental health issues is to imagine his former mentor hitting him in the face with a cane until he feels better, which is appalling.

But if Stick’s really there, it means there’s a possibility for him to come back in DD Season 3, which is also appalling.

Anyway, Stick or Matt’s hallucination thereof goes away long enough for Matt to greet Karen. He attempts to do so with a kiss, because he is a moron:

Matt takes a beat and apologizes - for yelling at Karen just now, and for, um, faking his death at her. I like this moment because it acknowledges simultaneously that Matt is having - and has been having - a really hard time, and yet he also treated his loved ones in an unacceptably cruel way, and though his illness is a reason, it’s not an excuse.

Meanwhile, there’s one person who never really gets an apology:

Foggy looks so young and sweet in that first panel, MY HEART.

Anyway, I’ll come back to this later, but please note that Foggy’s betrayal here centers entirely on being lied to and he has no problems with the basic existence of Daredevil.

He’ll have to wait to get proper closure on this, but meanwhile Stick is still beating Matt up, this time almost definitely inside Matt’s head - and he’s brought help:

Is this the first time Matt’s been beaten up by hallucinations of his various selves? It’s definitely not the last. Oh, Matt.

Seeking some kind of closure, he goes to the brothel where he accidentally knocked the prostitute out the window, all those years ago:

Matt sort of vaguely explains his purpose, and the last woman explains that the girl in question, Lyla, was a runaway fleeing an unhappy home, and in a way maybe it’s better that she died and got out of this life young. I realize we have a little bit of an unreliable narrator situation here but I’d be okay with 100% fewer “better dead than a sex worker” opinions out there, fictional or not!

(This won’t be revealed for a couple more years, but "Lyla” turns out to not be dead, in a particularly dumb retcon. Not that her not dying is dumb, but the reveal is...well, you’ll see.)

Anyway, I guess putting a name to the accident makes Matt feel better, because he declares himself ready to put it behind him. At which point Stick drops a fairly hilarious bombshell:

Yeah, Matt’s just been killing people pretty much his whole career, it turns out. Here are the most damning phrases to me: “some beaten an inch past their lives,” “you saw them as worthless maggots who deserved what they got,” and “faceless thug.” Matt habitually beats people to death, apparently, and then forgets about it because they deserve it???

(Stick telling him that taking even one life is too many is an interesting contrast to MCU Stick, who is constantly urging Matt to kill. But 616!Stick only kills Hand ninjas, who aren’t really alive to begin with.)

Anyway I think this is a real YMMV piece of canon. Personally I feel like it’s a pretty lukewarm approach to the ethics of killing, especially since DeMatteis would leave right after this arc. It just sort of throws down the idea that Matt kills people all the time, wags a finger at him, and leaves. Either dig into what this means, for Matt and for superheroes as a whole, or leave us with the polite fiction that superheroes (and head trauma) never ever kill. Don’t half-ass it like this.

And speaking of half-assing it:

Matt just needs to accept all the parts of himself! That makes it okay to commit habitual manslaughter! Phew, what a relief. Time to eat a Pop-Tart and dance around Karen’s kitchen!

HOORAY!

(No, seriously, I’m glad Matt’s feeling better and that he and Karen are okay, but see what I mean about half-assing it? You can’t be like “Matt, you kill people all the time” and then have him immediately get over it, especially in a story about how he developed a split personality disorder due to repressed guilt over accidentally killing someone ten years ago.)

With that, DeMatteis is off the book. Our next long-running writer will be Karl Kesel, but before he takes over there’s a brief fill-in by Ben Raab and Shawn McManus, which touches on the state of Matt and Foggy’s relationship. It’s...not good, and Matt doesn’t make it better by snooping - specifically, on Foggy at work with a client named Martinique:

"Something’s not kosher here...” Please note that Matt, as always, is very upset by Foggy being attracted to someone else. Please also note Matt creeping on Foggy’s “pleasure centers.”

Matt announces his presence. Foggy’s not happy to see him:

“Things may never be as good as they once were, but they can at least be good...” That’s practically up there with “Was anything ever real with us,” my goodness.

Please note that nowhere on this page does Matt use the word “sorry.” And yes, this is the first time he’s spoken to Foggy since before his “death.” Wow, Murdock. (Also, get a haircut.)

Matt does not trust any woman who flirts with his Foggy, so he tails Foggy to his meeting place with Martinique and finds a horrifyingly trippy carnival full of monstrous puppet versions of his enemies. And at the very center:

It’s the classic superhero dilemma: Matt can only save one of his loved ones! And this time, he chooses Foggy.

All the trappings of the carnival fade away to reveal...Martinique, of course, a.k.a. Lady Mastermind:

Right, so this makes no actual sense, because it’s not public knowledge that the “old” Daredevil is back. Martinique should be operating under the impression that the “current” Daredevil would show up in a black costume and not give two shits about either Foggy or Elektra. Also how would she know how Bullseye killed Elektra, anyway?

She takes off, and Matt and Foggy are left together:

Again, this doesn’t make a lot of sense, given that Elektra’s not dead anymore, and Matt knows it. He doesn’t say that he knows Elektra wasn’t really there (in which case his choosing Foggy over her would mean very little), so is the implication supposed to be that once you die once Matt doesn’t care if you die again? This is all very silly.

Anyway, that’s...kind of it? No “Nelson v. Murdock”-style fight here, just Matt saying that he wants to be friends again with no actual apology at any point, and Foggy very slowly thawing over the next few issues. There’s no yelling, no catharsis, nothing. Feh, I say!

(I will reiterate what I noted above - Foggy’s only upset about being lied to. He has no ethical problems with Daredevil’s existence or vigilantism in general, and isn’t particularly troubled by Matt’s propensities towards lawbreaking, violence, or nearly getting himself killed. Because, of course, in the comics Matt is just one of many superheroes and is practically legally sanctioned, or at least not an outlaw - and Foggy has been friends with Daredevil for many years. Whereas in the MCU, Matt’s the first real vigilante and the first with a secret identity - the Avengers are (or have been) all government sanctioned and public, and Matt predates Spider-Man and the other Defenders. MCU Foggy doesn’t really have a framework to accept Matt’s extracurricular activities in the way 616 Foggy does.)

Next up: Brighter days for Daredevil and company as we head into the Kesel run...and finally meet Rosalind Sharpe!

#daredevil #daredevil 101

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wildstormoralhistory · 7 years ago

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Director’s Cut Material #9- Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek's acclaimed series Astro City- an anthology series that looks at the varied population of the super powered city was a long standing fixture of WildStorm's publishing history. After its initial series was published by Image Comics, it moved to Jim Lee's boutique imprint, Homage Comics. In addition to Astro City, Busiek also released many other very interesting titles through WildStorm like the Cliffhanger World War I fantasy title Arrowsmith with artist Carlos Pacheco and the ambitious crossover of the early Image Comics creations, Shattered Image which turned out to be quite the challenge.

Kurt Busiek (Writer): Originally, my thought was we were going to do Astro City on what I called, “The Sandman Plan” where Sandman early on, it was originally drawn by Sam Kieth and Sam dropped out after like six issues or so. And then they had Mike Dringenberg and they had different artists for different arcs. I thought, “That seems like a good way to do it.” I want to tell stories of all these different characters so we can get a guy who can draw great super team action for one story or we can get a guy who can do movie noir detective stuff for another story and I guy who can do a great romance story for another story and we’ll bring in guys as we need them. What I didn’t realize is the reason that was “The Sandman Plan” was they started with Sam Kieth and then Sam left. They never intended to do it this way. It’s just how it worked out. They went on with Mike and then Mike left. They brought in other guys as needed but it was never really the intent. It’s an editorial headache to do a book like that because you need to line people up months in advance so that they’re waiting for a script while the script was being written, blah, blah, blah. But that was my thought. I went to World Con, a Science Fiction convention in San Francisco that year. I wound up on a panel. We were talking about the comics and a guy in the audience was asking me questions. I thought, “Man, these are really specific questions. I like this guy.” After the panel, I was introduced to Brent Anderson and I thought, “Man, I’m happy to meet him.” He’s a terrific artist and since I’m planning on doing this Astro City thing, I asked him if he’d be interested in doing one of the initial six stories. He said, “Sure, I’d be happy to do it.” I went home and thought about it and realized that after the first six issues, our intent was issues seven to twelve was going to be the Confessor story that ultimately was issues four through nine of the second series. That was a moody, dark, horror, vigilante-type story and maybe Brent would be even better at that. So I called him and asked if he’d be up to do this six-parter. He said sure. At that time, we were negotiating with a company and they were interested in doing Astro City but they loved the idea of doing the series with rotating artists. Their thought was, “We’ll do a special or mini-series every time we can get a hot artist, we’ll do another Astro City project.” I said, “Whoa. Now, you’re making the series all about the artist. We don’t even publish it unless we get a hot guy?” I wanted to do the series ongoing and we’ll find the right guys, whether they’re hot or not. I didn’t make that deal and I thought, “You know, maybe I need a regular artist.” You know, this Brent Anderson guy, he can draw anything. He can draw super teams like Neal Adams and he can draw spooky stuff and he can draw mysteries and he can draw Kazaar-jungle action. There’s nothing that’s going to happen in the series that he can’t draw well. I called him up and asked if he’d be interested in doing the book regularly. He said, “Yes, sure.” He eased in to the series. First, doing an issue, then doing an arc and then, doing the whole thing. I kept asking him to do more. He decided he’ll do the book, I forgot whether he promised me five years or ten years. We’re coming up on 20 and he hasn’t quit on me yet so things look good on that front.

Re: The Wizard's Tale

The Wizard’s Tale was a project I did at Eclipse in the early ‘80s. It was going to be a three-issue, square-bound mini-series that we were doing because Eclipse had [done] The Hobbit adaptation and they wanted to do a Lord of the Rings adaptation. While they were negotiating for the rights to The Lord of the Rings, they needed to keep the artist Dave Wenzel busy. I was asked to maybe step in and do a project with Dave while they were working out these rights. Dave had these characters and I had a story idea. They kind of meshed together and we were able to take this one thing that he wanted to do for years and this other thing that I wanted to do for years and braid it together into the same story. We did that and three weeks before the first issue was supposed to come out, Eclipse went bankrupt. The book never came out through Eclipse. When I brought Astro City over to WildStorm, I said, ��I had this other project too, The Wizard’s Tale.” At the time, the problem was that we had the rights back to the material but we didn’t have the art back, because the last two issues worth of art had been sent to Hong Kong for color separation. This was way back in the primitive days, this was color separation where you actually would ship full painted art to a place in Hong Kong and they’d do the scanning and the separation. Because Eclipse went bankrupt, the color separator in Hong Kong didn’t get paid for everything. They wanted their money so they didn’t want to return the art they had. We had kind of a nightmare going, “We can’t pay you for color separation because we’re not the publisher. You have to deal with the bankruptcy courts for that. But Eclipse doesn’t own this art, Dave Wenzel owns this art and you need to give it back to him.” Finally, I think what we did was this was going to be a co-publication between Eclipse and Harper-Collins and Eclipse didn’t exist anymore but Harper-Collins did. Dave visited Harper-Collins in New York and I was at a convention in London. I visited Harper-Collins in London which is where the editor who’s going to be working on the line was anyway. Eventually, we got Harper-Collins to tell the color separator, “Give them back their art.” We got the art back and I just told Jim and Scott Dunbier and John Nee, “I had this other project,” and I sent them some of the art and they said, “Yes, we want to publish that.” It took awhile because there were color separation issues but not the same ones. But eventually, we published that as a graphic novel though WildStorm. I think Eclipse had gotten the first issue lettered by somebody but the lettering had long been lost. We started over again and I rewrote the script a little. Instead of doing it as a three-issue mini-series, we did it as a graphic novel. It went through a hardcover printing and two soft cover printings at WildStorm before they figured that it had sold as much as it was going to and eventually, we got the rights to it back. That currently is in print from IDW with Scott Dunbier again.

Re: Arrowsmith

Carlos and I did Avengers Forever together. Carlos had specifically requested, when he was renewing his Marvel contract, “I want to do an Avengers project and I want Kurt Busiek to write it,” which was very flattering to me because Carlos was a fantastic artist. We had a very good time working together and around the time we were finishing Avengers Forever, I was involved with Mark Waid, Karl Kesel and other people in starting up Gorilla Comics, which ultimately published through Image. I talked to Carlos about being one of the Gorilla partners and we talked through ideas for what we could do for a book for Gorilla. We came up with Arrowsmith. My thinking had been that Carlos did such a good job, he gave the future technology of Kang the Conqueror [to] look so specific, building a culturally-cohesive world and giving him another world to design where it could be full of interesting weaponry and vehicle design, it would be a great way to make use of his talent. Doing this alternate world, World War I with fantasy grew out of that. In the end, Carlos wasn’t able to make the jump to Gorilla because we were all essentially working without the financial security net of Marvel or DC and Carlos needed that. We still wanted to do Arrowsmith [and] a few years later, Carlos was invited to do a book for Cliffhanger which was one of the other WildStorm imprints. Carlos said, “Oh, I could do this Arrowsmith that Kurt and I talked about for Gorilla.” He called me up and said, “Do you want to do this?” I said, “You betcha.” We made the deal with Cliffhanger and did a six-issue Arrowsmith series and that, we did directly with Scott [Dunbier]. It’s funny, I sometimes poke fun at Scott for it saying, “As far as I can tell, he never even read the plot.” He’ll glare at me and say, “Of course I read the plot. There’s nothing wrong with them.” He’d bug me about schedules and he talked to Carlos when things are coming in and things like that. I’d write up a plot and I send it to Scott and he’d send it to Carlos. I wouldn’t hear back from him. Carlos would draw the pages and I’d write the dialogue for pages and send it in. I wouldn’t hear back from Scott. The point at which I’d hear back from Scott was when we were going over final proofs, proofreading the lettering and making sure that the colors were right and text was right and things like that. Scott comes out of an original art background. He was an original art dealer. I think that he’s extremely focused on, “I want this book to print well and I want it to look great and I want to show off the beautiful art.” But in terms of what the story was, I don’t know. As far as I could tell, I was sending him the plot and he was sending them to Carlos like it didn’t matter. Now, he tells me, of course he read it and it was fine but I didn’t get any edits from him. I have no evidence that he read it. He swears to me that he has. I will take him at his word because he’s a fine man [laughs].

Re: Shattered Image

It was a nightmare. I honestly don’t remember a lot of the details so if somebody else says, “Kurt’s wrong about that,” take them at their word. My memory of it is Image wanted to do this crossover and I think the starting point for it was Jim Valentino. Jim wanted to do something that crossed everybody over and involved everybody. Or else, Image wanted to do it and Jim was tasked to make it happen. Jim offered it to me because I’d been writing Shadowhawk for him and I was the guy who had written more stuff. There were all different guys who’d written for Image but they generally wrote for one studio or another. I’d written at least something for most of them. Jim thought I’d be a good choice because I worked with him and I’d been talking about a project with Eric [Stephensen], even though it had never come up, and I’d worked for Marc [Silvestri] and I’d worked for Jim Lee and I’d worked for Rob. At the time I was busy, I didn’t have much time so I think that’s why we brought in Barbara Kesel as co-writer. I knew Barbara. Barbara lived locally [and] was looking for writing work and I thought, “This is something we can do together easily and have fun with it.” We co-plotted everything together and I did the first half of dialogue on issues one and three and she did two and four or the other way around. Then, we worked at each other’s stuff. But what I mostly remember is that we were doing this big crossover and during the middle of it, [Marc Silvestri's studio] Top Cow quit Image and we had to write all the Top Cow characters out. And then Extreme, Rob Liefeld’s group, they quit Image or got kicked out of Image so we had to write all those characters out. And then, Top Cow came back because part of the thing that Top Cow was angry about was a dispute with Rob and so when Rob got kicked out of Image, that solved the problem and Marc was willing to come back. As a result, I think in issue three, all the Top Cow characters disappear from the world. We’d gotten an okay that we could still publish issue three as long as we wrote them out. In issue four, we had to get rid of all the Youngblood characters. And then we got the word that the Top Cow characters were coming back. I may be remembering this wrong, but I think that on the last page of the last issue, there’s a long shot of planet Earth from space and a word balloon was coming from the planet saying, “We’re back.” Literally, that’s how we had the Top Cow characters reappear because we were messing around the timelines being broken and shattered and things like that. I’m sure that the story reads like a mess because the original place we were going with it was so derailed by partners leaving Image and coming back in and so forth so we were just hanging on by our fingernails going, “Okay, we've got to do this and we've got three pages left. There are three pages that haven’t been penciled so we’ve got that much room to make all the Extreme characters go away and all the Top Cow characters come back.” We can re-dialogue the earlier stuff but we can’t have it redrawn because there’s not time [laughs]. That’s how that happened.

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danschkade · 7 years ago

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PAGE x PAGE ANALYSIS — “GANGBUSTER: SWING ANNA MISS” from THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500 (1993)

PUBLISHED: DC Comics, June 1993

SCRIPT: Jerry Ordway

PENCILS: Tom Grummett

INKS: Doug Hazelwood

COLORS: Glenn Whitmore

LETTERS: Albert De Guzman

EDITORIAL: Mike Carlin with Jennifer Frank

A couple days ago, I took a look at a short segment of the sixty-five page ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500 — specifically, the four-page introduction to Superboy by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett. Today, I wanted to revisit a different part of that same issue: the nine total pages of subplot that focus on the nobody’s favorite hard-hitting hero of Suicide Slum: GANGBUSTER.

Oh, Gangbuster. While many casual comic history buffs may cite 90s comic character design trends in terms of pouches and spikes, I feel like Gangbuster represents the aesthetic of that era in an equal but opposite way. His “What if Firestorm was Robocop” look is such a prime example of what straight attempts at designing new comic book characters in the classic superhero mold looked like at the time. The shoulders. The helmet. His little logo. He’s so serious. He’s just the worst. I think I might love him.

But hey, Andrew Weiss I ain’t — far better to let you see my man Gangbuster in action and let his performance speak for itself. So let’s tuck in and take a look at his subplot in ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500, which I’ve entitled, for the purposes of discussion: “GANGBUSTER: SWING ANNA MISS.”

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500 and all characters contained therein are property of DC Comics, reproduced here solely for educational purposes.

***

PAGE ONE

Aww, yeah. Drink him in.

Grummett and Hazelwood create a sense of distance between the buildings by showing the foregrounded building Gangbuster’s hanging off of in full detail, while the buildings in the background are rendered in black silhouette, suggesting they’re far enough apart that light affects them differently. This has the side affect of giving Gangbuster a sense of height — if the buildings behind him feel far away, we automatically assume the ground must be equally far below. This is a great hero shot, besides. From this first image, we know what kind of superhero Gangbuster is: the weapon and helmet suggest he has no powers, the collar implies he’s kind of a squarejohn. To my eyes, his design invokes two moralistic Marvel characters: Daredevil and Cyclops.

The message is clear: the Super R.A. is here to kick some ass.

PAGE TWO

Excellent establishing shot of the alleyway — going with an over the shoulder angle concretely places Gangbuster, our audience surrogate character, relative to the other characters below. When added to the previous splash page, this gives us a very strong understanding of the space: a narrow alleyway with entrances on both sides.

Note how Grummett makes panels two and three a smaller inset of panel one, giving the feeling that what we’re seeing is a detail of the larger scene. Colorist Glenn Whitmore even makes the gutters of these panels a dark red, a color we already associate with Gangbuster, further coding the scene as being observed by him, even though panels two and three are not literally from his POV. This might be reading into things too much — this color coding might just be a happy accident. Super minor continuity issue with his nunchucks: they’re dangling free on page one, but gathered into his fist here. Personally, I’d think the clinking chain connecting them would give him away. But who knows? It’s the DC Universe. Maybe they’re hard rubber instead of metal. Moving on.

Also, that guy next to the car. Keep an eye on him.

PAGES THREE AND FOUR

These pages work together as a sort of splash in three parts. The black field floating behind the panels on page three is a great way to add depth to the layout — Grummett employs this several times over the course of the issue, always to good effect. On the big splash page, I really like the visual representation of the whipping motion of the nunchucks; it adds force and speed to a weapon the can often look sort of ineffective on a static comic book page. The slowly increasing size of Gangbuster across both pages conveys the growing intensity and brutality of his attack on these guys. This also sets up this moment as the height of Gangbuster’s evening — we’re clearly meant to be more or less on his side right now. After all, we need a hero now more than ever. Superman’s dead.

PAGE FIVE

The first three panels on this page consist of tight action shots, limiting our ability to see our environment, so we share in Gangbuster’s surprise when we pull to a wide shot in the last panel. Dropping out the border in panel four, surrounding the figures in negative space, enhances the feeling that the cops have swarmed him from out of nowhere — although note that Grummett adds enough puddles and junk on the ground to make the figures feel like they’re standing on something solid. Lastly, making all of the figures the same cool shade effectively equalizes them; Gangbuster isn’t a superhero, he’s just some schmuck that’s about to get canned.

PAGE SIX

Is the cop who calls out to Gangbuster in panel four the same one who fires at him in panel five (“Charlie”)? Logistically, It would make sense — there’s no one in front of him in panel four, and Charlie in panel five is clearly in front of the “Charlie -- No!” cop in that panel (who we’ll call “Killjoy”). Character-wise, however, it would make more sense for the panel four cop to be Killjoy — he’s even holding his gun the same way in both panels.

I point this out as an example of the pitfalls of making characters in identical outfits too physically similar. If you’re drawing a group of big city cops, there’s no reason not to make them diverse in race and gender, if for no other reason than to add easy distinguishing elements between what is otherwise a totally homogenous pack of unnamed characters (although there’s plenty of other reasons why this is a good idea).

All that said, great bit of action between panels one and two. The close-up of Gangbuster grabbing the cop in panel one, a right to left motion, leads directly into the huge left to right throw in panel two. I love the anatomy in this scene — you can really feel how much effort the decidedly non-superhuman Gangbuster has to put into the throw. Once again, Grummett and Hazelwood create a feeling of space in panel two by dropping the back two cops into black silhouettes, with their badges still visible to create a feeling overwhelming, encroaching authority.

Also, considering how ineffective small arms typically are against costumed crimefighters, our boy Charlie is one crackerjack marksman. Or maybe — just maybe — Gangbuster is a goddamn terrible superhero.

PAGE SEVEN

Here is where I point out a minor flaw in this whole sequence; now that we’ve left the alleyway, we can say conclusively that the guy in the suit standing next to the car on page two never showed up again. He’s not even in the pack of cops surrounding Gangbuster on page five — we just lose track of him entirely. It’s a small thing, but since Grummett (or possibly Ordway in the scripting process) chose to include him in that establishing shot of the alleyway, it would have been nice to see him again when the Undercover Cops twist goes down. Losing him like this adds to the hash this scene makes of the work done to establish this space on the first two pages.

Couple possible fixes: One, take the guy in the suit out entirely. The initial interaction of the undercover cop and the drug dealer is framed very tightly and personally, so just have them be there (ostensibly) alone. Then pull the reveal of the undercover cop as is, and all the uniformed cops still swarm him from — the walls? I guess? They kind of come out of nowhere.

Two, and my preferred fix, would be to have a couple of guys in suits sanding by the undercover cop’s car on page two, with one distinct guy standing next to the drug dealer — a big guy in a leather jacket, something that screams “bodyguard.” On page three, Gangbuster takes out the bodyguard in panel two instead of the drug dealer. We keep Gangbuster wailing on the drug dealer on page four — that looked great. On page five, instead of just punching out that one cop, we have Gangbuster diving into the men in suits in a more “superhero takes on a bunch of thugs” type fight. Then the men in suits reveal themselves to be undercover cops, instead of the uniformed cops just appearing out of nowhere at the end of page five— something I keep bringing up because it really does bother me, since the geography of the narrow alleyway was so well established on page two, making the sudden appearance of the uniformed cops feel a little like a cheat. Wouldn’t Gangbuster have been ideally situated to see them hiding in the alley, from his vantage point on the fire escape high above? This proposed scenario cleans all that up, and loosely preserves the extant flow of action. And even though I did ramble on about this for a goodly while, it is ultimately a minor flaw. But then, that’s the thing about minor flaws; there’s usually a pretty easy fix.

Meanwhile, this page: Really strong lettering from Albert De Guzman at play here. Look how he guides our eye down the page, helping Grummett’s already clear line of motion by creating an arrow of words pointing right to Hob’s Bay.

Grummet consistently makes Gangbuster small (I.E. less powerful) on this page, a clear contrast to how huge he was during the opening pages. Here he’s dwarfed by everything on the roof, from vent pipes to chimneys, culminating in the huge cop’s hand + gun in panel four. I personally would’ve liked to have shown a little more of the cop’s arm, enough to see an official insignia up on his shoulder, but we’ve already established that the cops’ jackets have furry cuffs, so it works fine enough as is.

PAGE EIGHT

There’s been no shortage of great layouts in this issue, but this page is a cut above. The narrow verticality of that first panel bleakly lays out the stakes at play; the cop on the roof, the three story jump, the bay below. Grummett and Hazelwood use the fog off the bay to drop the buildings beyond into the deep background, visually “clearing the path” to the bay.

The second panel eliminates everything but this huge full-figure shot of Gangbuster diving, with a couple scraps of lead paint from the roof to place him in space. We can’t see his expression, but his captioned dialogue is tremendously affecting. Note also how while Gangbuster is diving towards the bottom on the page, the lettering still leads us organically to his plunge into the bay in panel three, even though that panel is layout-wise much higher on the page.

Nice reverse shot in that last panel, reminding us how far Gangbuster has just jumped and adding tension to the idea that he might not have survived. The last line is continued in a caption on the following page: “…No way anyone could’ve survived THAT!”

Another note about the last couple pages: Grummett always has Gangbuster moving in the same direction, left to right, throughout the entire rooftop chase. For this reason, the bullet Gangbuster catches is in his right arm — the arm that’s always facing us.

Oh man! It could’ve been a cool visual dichotomy, if we had seen the official insignia on the sleeve of the cop pointing the gun at him at the end of page seven! The officer of the law has a symbol of his authority where the vigilante has a bullet wound! Ahh, well. Still a phenomenal page.

PAGE NINE

We come back to this subplot after about twenty pages with a nice, low-energy establishing shot of the docks. The wafting, flapping paper is a great way to suggest windchill and urban decay. The bay is to the left of the page — when last we saw Gangbuster, he was making a rightward dive into the bay. On a storytelling level, we’re on “the other side” of the bay. Gangbuster got away clean.

High-Pockets is immediately helpful here, despite having a crummy night. No deep analysis to be had here, I just like it. Good little character trait for a good little character. As he hauls Gangbuster out of the drink, we see he’s transferred his wine to the pocket of his coat, which he then gives to Gangbuster. High-Pockets doesn’t offer him his hooch, mind you — Gangbuster just straight jukes it. We end on a nice reverse silhouette as High-Pockets and the slumped, defeated Gangbuster lope off into the shadowed, Superman-less city of Metropolis. Gangbuster’s last line concludes in caption on the next page: “…Then I’ll be finished with this stinking place!” Our hero, kids.

Again, this is one of the first comics I even read. When I think about it, Gangbuster has to have been one of the first, say, fifteen superheroes I was ever aware of. Before Green Arrow or Daredevil or The Question or Black Canary, I knew about Gangbuster — a character who, as depicted here, just isn’t really cut out to be a superhero. He’s a washout, a bencher, a big ol’ can of coulda beans. He’d be one of the hockey pad Batmen from The Dark Knight, only they wouldn’t let him join because he’s just such a giant prick. He’s awesome. Gangbuster, man! Gangbuster.

***

You can buy the full 65-page issue of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500 for the surprisingly low price of $1.99 off Comixology! It’s absolutely worth the read, containing a truly emotional Pa Kent story as well as the introduction of Cyborg Superman, which is, if nothing else, exceptionally well-paced.

Meanwhile -- we’re in the final days of the Kickstarter for SECTION ZERO!

Tom Grummett reunites with writer Karl Kesel to bring back the high quality old school team-based adventure comic — one of the few types of fiction that genuinely does work better in the medium of comics than it does anywhere else, and these guys are high in the top list of creators who can pull it off. If these awesome Gangbuster pages above did anything for you, SECTION ZERO is totally on your frequency.

If you want to read some preview pages and learn more about the project, I highly encourage everybody to check out the SECTION ZERO Kickstarter — it’s entering its last week and I very much want to see this book on my shelf.

***

As always, feel free to check me on any mistakes I might have made, add your own commentary, or share similar examples of good comics done well. I’ll be back next week with a different comic to peruse.

Be well!

PREVIOUS PAGE x PAGE ANALYSES:

MINI-ANALYSIS — FIRST SIGHTING: SUPERBOY

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #69 (with Aud Koch)

THE SHADOW STRIKES! #13

PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #13

BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #17

#Gangbuster #Page x Page Analysis #comics #educational purposes #Superman #DC Comics #Tom Grummett #jerry ordway

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mobius-prime · 5 years ago

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191. Sonic the Hedgehog #123

The flippancy of these cover blurbs is hilarious. I can't even handle the little blurb for Afterlife up there. Like, the story itself is played totally straight, with Knuckles having to navigate the realities of death and afterlife, something he was never yet ready to face, and meanwhile the cover blurb has all the subtlety of yelling "LOL THAT GUY IS SUPER DEAD." It's kind of amazing.

Heart Held Hostage (Part Two)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: J. Axer Colors: Jason Jensen

Sonic has arrived at the mansion the weasel thug spilled the location of, ready to dive in and rescue Sally, but he finds himself with an unexpected tagalong - Mina, who was the only one of the group to be able to keep up with his speed. He reluctantly takes her along, making sure to have her promise she won't try to be a hero due to her inexperience, and she's mostly just starry-eyed, thinking about how much of a crush she has on Sonic and all that. Not a recipe for disaster at all!

Sally, meanwhile, is thankfully unharmed, being guarded in a room deeper in the mansion. She decides to get the weasels talking, and then pulls out perhaps one of her best schemes that perfectly demonstrates why she's the leader of the Freedom Fighters.

Amazing. Classic. Wonderful. She spins a yarn about hating how her parents control her wealth and wanting to get back at them, directly appealing to Nack's money-loving heart, and he begins to agree, liking this darker, more selfish side of her he's seeing. Of course, it's all a ruse, and as soon as he gets close and drops his guard she tackles him and steals his gun, acting like she'll shoot him to prevent the other two from getting near her and making her escape this way. Once she's out in the hallways she begins running, with the two henchmen taking potshots at her, which immediately alerts Sonic and Mina to Sally's location. The thugs corner Sally, who is out of ammo (…somehow? Like, was the implication meant to be that Nack's gun was already empty, or was Princess Sally Acorn actually shooting back instead of merely bluffing?). However, their guns abruptly disappear from their hands, and a second later they're left beat up on the ground by none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Sally, upon seeing this, finds herself suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, and runs to him, overjoyed that he came for her.

Ohhhhh boy.

Mina doubles over in horror, suddenly sick, realizing that all this time she was competing against Sally herself and now keenly aware of the fact that Sonic will never feel the same way about her as she does him. She furiously tries to maintain her composure and not look like she has just burst into tears, since Sally and Sonic haven't yet noticed her in the nearby doorway - but then she notices something horrible. Nack has by now woken up from being knocked out earlier, and is furious, deciding that if his plan has been derailed, he's going to take his last revenge before making his getaway. And so, he raises a gun - points it at an unsuspecting Sally - pulls the trigger - and Mina makes a split second decision. For Sonic.

And thus, the late Mina Mongoose's memory lives on in her friends and in her - nah, I'm totally kidding. She wakes up later in the hospital, having survived the shot to the back. Sally and Sonic admonish her for being foolish, but are also grateful for her act of heroic sacrifice. Mina, for her part, seems to come to terms with the fact that she will never be with Sonic, and thus we can finally put this love triangle to rest. Right?

R-right?

Afterlife (Part Three)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: J. Jensen

So just like the last installment of Afterlife, this one is almost entirely made up of recaps from previous issues. Literally, nothing is new except for these couple panels at the very beginning.

One, we have confirmation that Knuckles had a crush on Sally. This isn't exactly news, but it was always left juuust ambiguous enough to keep it off the table as a plot point. And two, Knuckles is now apparently spending his time in the afterlife in a "virtual zone" in which he's able to reexperience scenes from his life in the third person, as though watching a movie play back in front of his eyes. We're skipping the rest of this story, because again, all it does is remind us of various plot points and events of issues past, mostly from the Knuckles the Echidna series. And I don't just mean it retells the story in general - I mean it literally copies old panels from all the previous issues, down to the smallest details. Seriously, I don't know why Kenders is suddenly allergic to giving us anything new, but it's annoying and I for one am super done with Green Knuckles and eager for something more interesting.

The Last Robian

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Jason Jensen

This story is told mostly through text boxes, something which I've criticized Karl for doing before, but in this case it actually kind of works. We begin on a morning in early June (which, if you'll remember, would mean it's around the time of Sonic's birthday), where the world awakens to find every single Robian on the planet missing. Just vanished without a trace. Obviously, this causes a lot of confusion and distress among the population of Knothole, who have by now gotten used to living with their roboticized brethren, and though everyone immediately suspects Eggman, he's nowhere to be found. Three weeks pass before any new information comes to light, and one day Sonic gets a lead that his dog is roaming around in Deerwood Forest in the Kingdom of Mercia.

Celebration and joy engulf the world at this apparent miracle, but Sonic is quietly bothered, as there is one single Robian who still hasn’t returned - his own father. It takes much longer for Jules to return, but when he finally does, he's still a robot - the only person on the whole planet not to have been changed back. Chuck, sensing an opportunity to make up for his past failures, goes into overdrive trying to find a cure for Jules, who begins to feel like an outsider as the only one who can't eat, sleep, and do other normal organic things like the rest of his family. Sonic sees his father's pain and becomes enraged, certain that Eggman has deliberately done this purely to torment him personally. He races to Eggman's current base to confront him, but Eggman irritably insists that he did nothing, and that he is himself disappointed in the sudden return of all the Robians to their original state.

Well, this does certainly seem suspicious. I'm gonna go ahead and call it another deus-ex-machina in fact - I know I've been bringing up that term a lot lately, but well, it's because there's been a lot of cases of it in the past several issues. I honestly think that Karl kind of backed himself into a corner with the Robian problem, and finally decided it was time to get rid of it and start anew, and had no other way to do it than… well, this. There is an explanation, one we'll be receiving shortly in fact, but it still seems like a massive copout this way.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 123 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: jeff axer #pencils: art mawhinney #colors: jason jensen

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renaroo · 8 years ago

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Rena Roundups

Late into the night, I have finally finished my Roundup! Just in time to say it’s not late. By like 9 minutes. But can you blame me? Just look at how many amazing comics I had to read through and then give my opinions on! I’ll tell you how many -- a lot. And you know what? It’s one of the absolute best weeks in comics I have had since I started doing Roundups.

So let’s jump right into it...

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine #17, DC’s Detective Comics #950, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester #6, DC’s Superwoman #7, DC’s Titans #8, IDW’s Transformer: Till All Are One #7, DC’s Wonder Woman #16

Marvel’s All- New Wolverine (2015- ) #17 Tom Taylor, Djibril Morissette-Phan, Michael Garland

For those who don’t know, I have been a fan of Laura Kinney/X-23/Wolverine since literally her first appearance on what was my personal introduction to the X-Men, the animated cartoon X-Men: Evolution. Laura has just been one of those characters I’ve adored and even when I’m taking one of my frequent breaks from Marvel (out of annoyance more times than not), I keep tabs on my favorite mutant.

And I have to be straight up: I a d o r e the All-New Wolverine. It’s probably my favorite thing Marvel’s done in years, and while it was difficult at first to really catch onto Taylor’s characterization for Laura, I very quickly “got” it and soon became so enamored with this series, its direction, and just the general love that goes into really addressing Laura and her history in recent storylines.

The conclusion for this story in particular tests what’s become one of my favorite relationships of the series -- that of Laura and Gabby -- but also takes on one of the more... difficult aspects of Laura’s history and one of her most distinctive weaknesses when compared to Logan -- the trigger scent that has haunted her character from the beginning.

I have complicated feelings toward the trigger scent, and likewise I have complicated feelings about its resolution now, and whether or not that’s a huge detraction from what’s made her character so different from Logan over the years. But I enjoy this comic and its relationship building so much I’m willing to wait and see how this plays out in the long term.

Especially since, with the new Logan movie putting a spotlight on Laura like she’s never had before, I’m wondering how this will play out for her image overall.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016- ) #950 James Tynion IV, Marcio Takara, Alvaro Martinez, Eddy Barrows, Raul Fernandez, Eber Ferreira, Dean White, Brad Anderson, Adriano Lucas

This morning when I was talking to Iz and Steph before I had to scurry off and pretend to be an adult-type person with responsibilities and what not, I made the comment that the venn diagram demographic targeted by this issue of ‘Tec and my personal interests and tastes are a literal circle.

After months of feeling yo-yo’d by my opinions on ‘Tec and the various storyline and character choices, we get to this landmark issue of #950, a double sized issue, and the beginning of our Cassandra-specific arc.

I am. ELATED.

Nearly everything about this issue had me breathless and joyful. This is, easily, the most head on, great characterization of Cass that Tynion has managed since her arrival in BaRE. She’s tragic, she’s loving, she’s tormented by her position, she’s aware of the fear she inspires and hurt by it. She is concentrated on the people around her and their view of her and it’s just so, so damn good.

Cass is alive in this issue. And while there’s arguments to be made about the power of allowing these moments to play out without narration in her original series versus having it spelled out for us by Tynion’s third person narration in this issue is going to be personal preference, I can dig it. I can see it working out.

There are two back ups in this issue as well, one with Batwing and Azrael debating religion, which depending on your sensibilities will probably either intrigue or repulse you -- personally, as a very religious person who enjoys hearing these debates in real life, I found it to be interesting and well rounded for both characters.

And then the second was Tim and Bruce. Which was set up for SOMETHING in the future and that’s about it. We’re back to Bruce as the Great Manipulator. hmmmmmmmmmm Don’t know how I feel about that. Other than I am wary because I’m not eager to relive 2000s Bruce characterization.

I just. Wow what an issue. I had my socks knocked off, really truly.

DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016- ) #6 Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Becky Cloonan, Adam Archer, MSASSYK, Sandra Hope

I’m so glad that we got back to what Gotham Academy does best as a series -- the interpersonal relationships and the general mystery of the Academy grounds themselves. While it’s difficult to add onto what I’ve already said in the previous issues about my disgruntlement with a few things, I will say that seeing some progression on Colton and Kyle’s storyline, as well as FINALLY getting into the bowels of the school’s ongoing mystery is immensely satisfying.

And I’m so glad my distrust of Olive’s roommate has been on course this whole time. It’s interesting to see Olive being slowly led down a believable negative trail in her life and how the kind of company she’s keeping very much influences that. It feels very real to how these things actually occur in middle school and high school and reminds me very much to how I related to similarly preteen-aimed comics of my own life like Young Justice that bothered to tackle “girl cliques” and the toxic nature of those with the nuance they actually have.

Once this storyline’s complete, I’m going to give my final verdict on whether or not I’m moving this series to Trade Wait, but so far so good. It feels like we’re finally back on course.

DC’s Superwoman (2016- ) #6 Phil Jimenez, Jack Herbert, Matt Santorelli, Hi-Fi

SHOCKING TO EVERYONE, I’M SURE, LOIS LANE DIDN’T DIE. Glad we took 6 issues to clear that up and we’re faking out Lana’s death now to keep that very bizarre status quo.

Okay, it’s no surprise at this point, I really love this book. I love the full embrace that Jimenez gives the 90s/early 2000s SuperFamily, how the emphasis from the start has ben the relationships, how all the ladies of the Superfamily are getting to shine usually for the first time in about a decade from Natasha Irons to Traci 13 to Lena Luthor and Maggie Sawyer.

Everything about this book really speaks to me personally as a fan.

But it’s difficult to defend the bait and switch of the original issue’s promise to be about Lois Lane only for things to turn around on us. I understand Lois fan reactions but... I’m reading multiple Super books right now and that’s a sympathy that’s... difficult to maintain when she’s got big parts in multiple books right now. And I know that’s not fair, bt especially with this ending and with what is obviously the promise of Lois’ eventual return to co-sharing that forefront with Lana, I’m still going to hold off final judgments until the whole picture is shown. Which’ll probably be in about two issues, if we’re going by subscription notifications.

DC’s Titans (2016- ) #8 Dan Abnett, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse

From what I can gather, there’s some real back and forth in the reception of this current Titans run from longtime fans of the team, and that at least initially was part of why I but off getting caught up on the series because I figured if I was going to give it a try, I should give it at least a full storyline to warm me up to it. And that’s when, a few months ago, I chronicled my reading of both Titans Hunt (2015-2016) and of the first storyline of this series.

I have been a very longtime fan of the Titans, and specifically of the Fab Five and their previous growth in the preboot universe. Wally and Dick are both two of my favorite characters, I’ve talked endlessly about my protectiveness of Donna and other Amazons, I’ve talked even more about Roy (and Lian but that’s a rant waiting to happen), and oddly enough there is one other component here that I would have never guessed would come back into the DCU.

I’ve always been a fan of Lilith Clay, literally one of the only superheroes I can think of who’s originally from Kentucky.

For me, having the Fab Five plus Lilith back, bringing in Mal and Karen. It really does feel like a love letter to the things I always loved about the Titans and Teen Titans. Especially when we get whole issues worth of relationship building and character development like what this story was.

And, honestly, this felt like the most “my” Dick Grayson I’ve read since the New 52 reboot.

I enjoyed this issue. It was slow, character driven, and set us up for that cliffhanger finale and you know what? That’s exactly what kind of storytelling I look for in my Titans and Teen Titans books and have been missing for a long time.

It’s not going to be for everyone, and there’s some... awkward word balloon and panel positioning that got distracting a few times, making some of the conversations difficult to read the first time through, but overall I really enjoyed this comic and am glad to finally be caught up enough to add it to my subscription list.

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016- ) #7 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

So nothing assures me more of my decision to drop the Optimus Prime solo than to read Lost Light and Till All Are One one week after the other. Because, damn are these comics exactly what I want to read in the Transformers universe. Honestly, things are so heated and tense right now I’m not sure if I’m more excited to learn how this storyline concludes or how the next issue of Lost Light goes.

I’ve always felt there is just so much potential available with Windblade’s character, and I obviously focus on her quite a bit in my own stories and fan works, but this issue really confirms the hardheadedness and defiance that I have felt from her from her first appearance.

She’s lost her innocence, and there’s the very real possibility that she’s made a mistake by agreeing to Starscream’s plan rather than trying to leverage her personal relationship with Carcer and Elita One more to figure out just why they won’t wake their Titan.

But at the end of the day, are they things she would do differently given the very dire straits they are in? Well, Windblade answers that for herself right here in this issue.

“I would die for our people in a spark-beat.”

Bumblebee and Starscream’s ominous conversation to each other does not bode well for our favorite cityspeaker -- true heroes really do so often die in this fiercely cruel world. And of course the reveal of who “Carcer” truly is should worry some Transformers fans, for sure!

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016- ) #16 Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Raul Fernandez, Andrew Hennessy, Mark Morales, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

I mean, you run out of good things to say about Greg Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman after a while so other than talking about my usual stuff, like how he’s basically rescued one of my favorite characters from the depths of Haedes that she’s been slogging through for the past seven years.

Instead let’s talk about Veronica Cale.

So, can we just start by solidifying the fact that giving Veronica an actual reason to hate the gods and Diana rather than it being purely motivated by jealousy and the anger of Diana’s perceived naivity? Because that always bothered me in the old canon. And I was more than a little worried about how much it was carrying over with what little we’ve seen of her in the “current timeline” storyline of Wonder Woman.

Now I feel like without losing those points, we also now have an understanding of Ronnie beyond just “grr other women taking the spotlight grrr” And it’s such an improvement.

I mean. It cost us a STEM woman with a serious case of fried brains and a cute little faceless girl. But with something as woman-packed as this series, I actually have less qualms with these points than usual. It’s also interesting seeing Phobos and Deimos show up!

Anyway, it’s a solid issue, even if I don’t think it’ll quite take the cake just yet. Hard to beat what Rucka and Scott managed with Year One.

So my best of the week has never been tighter. I really truly would recommend any one of these comics to all of you if you have tastes anywhere remotely similar to mine. But as close as it is to make a call, I’m going to go with Detective Comics. I flat out adored every minute I spent reading and rereading this issue. And I can’t remember the last time I felt like Cass’ characterization was just so right on the spot, and so excited at the possibility of more queer representation.

Actually, I really need to point out how much amazing queer representation I had in my comics this week. After such a tough couple of weeks personally, and being really scared about my place in the world and the future, it was something extraordinary to see so many examples of queerness in comics, across franchises and properties. It means a lot.

But I’m really excited to hear from you guys? Disagree with what I have to say? Got any other comics you think I should check out? Let’s start a conversation! And if not, I’m excited to share more with you next week ; )

#Rena Roundups #Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #All New Wolverine (2015 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#Gotham Academy: Second Semester #Superwoman (2016 )#Titans (2016 )#Transformers: Till All Are One #Wonder Woman (2016 )

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gracebolton · 4 years ago

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Is Nuclear Power Glowing or Just Green?

An interesting conversation happened on twitter around 4 years ago, including a remark from Dr Karl Kruszelnicki in reference to nuclear power, in response to another tweeter.

Problems with nuclear are 1)potential to make nuclear weapons 2)waste (95% of energy remains in waste) 3)Chernobyl https://t.co/y9tfOejj4y

— Dr Karl (@DoctorKarl) April 22, 2016

The other tweeter is someone I’d run across recently when discussing the nuclear arena, so I decided to enter the discussion using my personal account.

Twitter has what I see as an advantage in the 140 character count, as people can’t waffle on, and therefore get to the point (supposedly). On the other hand, it is really hard to have a detailed, productive discussion.

In a previous discussion about nuclear with the same party, it started to get a little heated, then a third party joined in and the whole thing became a waste of time.

In these discussions, I tend to take a pretty neutral view, as I do with battery storage. Its important to have the conversations and have multiple viewpoints, because sometimes its enlightening, and sometimes it can change an open mind.

As one of my first points, I referenced an article on Renew Economy, which sought to dispel some myths about nuclear as a low-carbon option. A lot of this I had heard before, but the author, Mark Diesendorf, clearly put a lot of research into compiling the numbers for that article.

If you look at the comments on that article, there are a lot of people also fairly derisive of nuclear. That is probably not a surprise when the site is primarily focused on Renewable Energy, and I found myself nodding along to some of it.

Thing is, I’m not anti-nuclear power. Not at all. I’m a Sci-Fi fan and in a lot of that material, there are nuclear reactors involved. Some of them are even man-portable reactors designed to power awesome stuff like exoskeletal armour, mecha, or spacecraft.

But we’re not talking about some kind of Iron man style weaponry or interplanetary exploration that people take for granted. We’re talking about boring old this:

No laser weapons or sexy, sexy aliens here, scifi fans… Credit: Wikipedia

The Basics of Nuclear Power

Similar to other thermal power stations like coal, we have a production facility generating heat, with turns water into steam and drives a turbine. This needs cooling towers to let the steam escape, and you can see a bunch of wires carrying the power away.

Where the nuclear power plant differs is that the fuel lasts longer. Rather than jamming coal in there regularly to keep the home fires burning, the uranium rods in the nuclear facility will last for years. Under a controlled nuclear reaction, the heat produced is what creates the steam to drive the turbines and crank out that sweet, sweet electricity.

And now you’ve probably just asked the question about how dangerous the radioactive material is, and you’re right. There are potential dangers in nuclear power that other power types don’t face.

The Wikipedia entry on the topic of nuclear power plants clearly outlines the dangers and controversies around nuclear power. I’ll let you read it there, but suffice to say nuclear power plants are large, complex bits of equipment. Humans are human. Accidents happen, if rarely.

Even when things are running well, and safety measures are stringent, you can have episodes like Fukushima, where Mother Nature had a hangover and tripped over the rug on her way to get more aspirin.

So, as far as places-to-avoid-human-error go, nuclear power plants are right up there. Throw in the production of weapons-grade radioactive material using nuclear power plants, and it looks a little scary.

Supporters will point out that there are nations around the world who use nuclear power like France (74%) quite happily, and other countries in Europe who have a high proportion of their electricity generated from nuclear power. They’re also right – carefully managed, nuclear is a great source of low-carbon power.

I say “low-carbon” because you still need to dig stuff up out of the ground. That is also true of solar panels (silicon and metals), wind farms (steel) and any form of energy generation you like. Everything has a price until we learn how to run things on our own sense of self-satisfaction like this guy (Simpsons fans know where its at).

There are also some options for progress in the nuclear power in terms of better reactors, like the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). More efficient than traditional reactors, with less waste and fewer safety issues (including less weapons-grade material).

Yet, there isn’t a single commercial IFR operating in the world, due to cost, and a few red flags about safety that might actually be red herrings. For now at least, the IFR is the pipe dream for nuclear proponents.

Back on topic: so, I had a twitter discussion about nuclear power in general, versus renewable energy specifically. I found it stimulating and somewhat enlightening, via some links that were shared.

My adversary stated quite clearly he wasn’t anti-renewables, instead believing that renewables can’t provide all the power required in growing economies, and would need help in the form of stable, low-carbon nuclear.

The discussion finished amicably, and I went and did a bit of reading about nuclear power, particularly in Europe. After all that, I thought it best to document what nuclear power means to me, and how it compares to the renewable options in the current climate.

I was particularly interested to explore how I felt about it here in Australia, after some time to think.

Ayres Rock, Australia: A Kangaroo warning road sign in the desert near Uluru

It doesn’t all look like this, BTW… Credit: Fodors Travel

Nuclear Power Perspective

Let’s forget about the safety thing for a moment, and assume we’re pretty grouse at building and maintaining nuclear power plants. No worries, she’ll be right!

One of the primary drivers of change is economic. Fact.

People generally don’t stop doing a thing until another thing comes along that is better value for money, or at least drops into their available budget.

As a simple example, I remember when power windows were a luxury item on a car that I couldn’t afford. These days, not many production cars still have window winders – technology gets cheaper, more people adopt it, and it becomes commonplace.

Nuclear isn’t getting cheaper, at least not in terms of capital cost to establish. Nuclear power plants cost billions to set up, and with the recent accident at Fukushima, financiers are understandably nervous about pouring that sort of money in.

The European nuclear projects under construction are well over budget and running late. China is gearing up with more nuclear, but finance is never really a thing with them, and besides which they’re also sinking a whack of dosh into renewable energy development, while searching for answers to their fossil-fuel based pollution issues.

Once the nuclear plant comes online, it is actually a very cheap power source, but it still has to be subsidised heavily to pay interest on all those loans in the meantime, and over the lifetime of the facility.

In Australia, where the only reactor we have is for research and medical purposes, nuclear power has never really taken off for the reasons stated in that wiki link. This is another blow to the nuclear lobby, in that while we have oodles of “yellowcake” (uranium) in the ground, and space to build reactors, to do so is widely regarded as political suicide.

Mining of uranium in nature reserves and national parks, particularly areas under the guardianship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, is a move that most politicians won’t countenance.

Perhaps that is more emotional than scientific, but if we’re looking to a more habitable planet, maybe we want to stop killing trees and such. Even if the longer term benefit is wiping out fossil fuel usage, what are we saving in that scenario?

In addition, centralised Nuclear power still suffers the same costs as coal for delivery. Poles and wires, substations, links in a chain that is infrastructure and therefore requires maintenance.

You could address some of that by building more power stations of smaller capacity in the appropriate areas, but then the cost per kWh rises due to base capital cost to build. Smaller does not always mean cheaper on a unit level, and you’re still required to get infrastructure built for users to get the power.

I still haven’t exactly dismissed nuclear as an option, but when you’re talking about the political and financial hurdles it faces in Australia, it looks like a very difficult climb. In a lot of ways, nuclear power has missed the window in Australia, and its hard to see how it can catch up.

This is particularly true when we look at the potential for renewable energy.

Renewable Energy

The fact is, renewable energy is getting cheaper, and more widespread, every day. Critics roundly mock the subsidies needed to establish “free” energy, while failing to look at their own backyard, often strewn with coal that the taxpayer funds.

Politically, fossil fuels are used as a battleground for jobs – particularly the mining industry – though I often wonder how many of those jobs are funded by the taxpayer, as a percentage. The mining magnates seem to fluctuate between reaping massive profits, or crying poor and sticking their hand out. Nice work if you can get it.

“Makes me money AND kills the environment – winning!” – (not) Gina Rinehart… Credit: Foxsports

In Australia, we’re seeing in increase of large scale solar farms, as well as wind farms. There is even some solar thermal around the place, while our wave power tech is getting noticed around the world.

Jeez we’ve got some smart units in this little nation.

So, with the price of solar panels dropping significantly as per Swanson’s Law, and other renewable energy efforts cranking up, we need to look ahead to the year 2020 in the shorter term, because the next step is just around the corner.

Storage has been given a shot in the arm with the announcement of Tesla Powerwall, and it has allowed many other players to stick their hand up and remind people they have battery systems, too.

The price of storage is also falling, and going to fall further. We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar industry that sits ready to launch in households across the world, not just Australia.

We’re best positioned to use it, because we have the sun, the high electricity prices, and the highest consumption of coal per capita in the world. Which is, quite frankly, awful. We need to have a look at ourselves…

We’ve got a population largely distributed along the coast, but also rural communities who struggle for services and maintenance of their power and communications networks, not to mention roads and transport infrastructure.

So its natural to start there, I reckon.

We already have people who live independent from the power grid, because they were faced with a location with no existing infrastructure. In some cases, the cost to run power would be hundreds of thousands of dollars, just for an individual home!

So we scale that up, like the moves to take suburbs or whole towns off the grid. This can also translate into backup power for towns at the end of the line, or in known trouble spots where natural hazards or aging equipment may cause issues.

The power sources can be any form of renewable energy, provided housing efficiency measures are put in place, along with battery storage of suitable size and chemistry. There will be teething issues, but these places stand to benefit the most in the shorter term.

The next step is to establish suburban micro-grids, using solar + storage in suburban areas, lowering the cost of infrastructure and maintenance longer term. Companies like Reposit Power are already looking into enabling this technology in Australia.

As an aside: I’m bemused that we don’t have a situation like San Francisco, where solar panels are now required by law on buildings 10 storeys or under.

With installers like Natural Solar getting into consumer-grade power storage for solar, this will snowball, and allow consumers to wrest back some of the control from the grid.

That is, of course, if “the grid” exists as more than a marginal concern for many users in these neighbourhoods of the future. The grid will likely become an enabler for local people to share a power community, all things going well. Perhaps even export their power if another grid needs it.

And traditional, centralised power? Delivering electricity from hundreds of kilometres away will have its place. For a time. In light of the adoption rates of storage, it cannot be otherwise.

However, in the wide brown land, with ample sunshine and inflated electricity pricing, it seems more likely that our independent streak will gradually wean us off big network power. As a primary feed, anyway.

Having a power station hundreds of kilometres away will seem ludicrous, when you can make your own right on your roof, or the guy down the street can do it for you.

The poles and wires of yesteryear will gradually be marginalised; a chorus line dancer grimacing out a smile, while the lead actors renewable energy and storage bow at the front of the stage.

Here in Australia, it probably won’t matter what is burning inside that power plant.

Coal is dying, while trying to take us all down with it.

Nuclear is the Delorean of our time – everyone knows its cool, and can do some great things. Its never going to appeal as a real option to more than its collection of fans, and with its inescapable history in Australia there for all to see, it won’t be able to get back to the future on current projections.

You don’t need to be a nuclear physicist to figure that out.

from https://www.sustainablefuturegroup.com.au/22/is-nuclear-power-glowing-or-just-green/ from https://sustainablfutg.tumblr.com/post/624511288876351488 from https://gracebolton.blogspot.com/2020/07/is-nuclear-power-glowing-or-just-green.html

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sailing-nomad · 6 years ago

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Our trip thus far....

So far, I’ve only posted a few pictures, with some little captions, but it’s time to recount our trip so far.

After some confusion as to when to leave, we finally made the difficult decision to miss a family party, to take advantage of the opportunity to travel with a couple of sailboats from our club for the first big leg of the trip: Frenchman’s Bay to Cobourg. Although this is not a long drive on the 401, it’s a pretty big deal by sailboat, spanning approximately 45 nautical miles (1 kt = 1.2 statute miles, or approx. 2 kms) Our comfortable cruising speed under motor is 6 kt, and if you want to sail, well it could take anywhere from 6 to 12 hours, depending on wind speed and directions, but regardless of which source of propulsion you choose, it’s a big day on the water!

This trip to Cobourg was a mix, with a main sail up, assisting our diesel engine. The wind was fairly light, from the south west and the conditions were friendly, except for the little flies that decided to tag along.

Having been on the fence about when to leave, we had only reserved slip for Sunday night, being comfortable with taking the chance that we may have to drop an anchor in the Cobourg basin. As we approached the harbour, I called in to see about a spot, but they were fully booked, but there was space on the reciprocal wall, and so that’s where we ended up. It was actually a nice spot to be, providing a very nice view of the lake, and activity on the water.

Since we were joining a club cruise, there were lots of friends to catch up with. Having missed out on the pork roast tickets that the Cobourg club was offering, Benaddiction graciously invited us, along with Ohana VI’s crew to join them for dinner. We all brought a little something, and together feasted, enjoying the beautiful long summer evening together. A great night!

Around the time that we should probably be turning in, Isaac & Elise arrived. (Elise had to work a really big day at the market - crazy busy + oven issues = extra exhausted) We spent a little time visiting, and then all went to bed.

Sunday morning, having just finished enjoying our coffee and some breakfast in the cockpit in vacation mode, Rebecca, PJ & Eliza arrived. (they had a pretty early start) After getting settled, some people headed up to the splash park as the day was already very hot. We also tried to go out for a sail, as there was nice breeze, but of course as we headed out, it seemed to die off, and there was no sailing to be done. As we drifted along, PJ decided to try a swim, and discovered the water is still very cold…. !! No one else ventured to find out just how cold it was. We retuned to the drop an anchor in the basin, and BBQ some dinner. The water here was much more bearable, but still cold. Eliza actually liked hanging her feet over the ladder, while Jeff or myself waded in the water to spot her. Since the fireworks would be launched over the water near our anchorage, we had to move, and since the wall seemed quieter for a sleeping toddler, we opted to forgo our paid slip and tied up again on the reciprocal wall, since so other boat had come in to claim the prime spot for viewing the show. (Illiad was our only neighbour)

Monday morning, we went to the service dock for fuel, water and a pump out. Most of the 22 boats that came to Cobourg from FBYC were heading back west, but Nomad along with Celtic Knot, Santana and Windsome, headed east towards Pres’quil Bay. The wind was light. We motor sailed for a good part of the way, since we wanted to make it to Trenton for the night. Although it would have been nice to have a bit more wind, it was okay with me so have less, than more. The west end of Lake Ontario and Presquil Bay have sometimes served up some pretty crazy conditions for us, and that’s a memory that hasn’t quite left me yet, so I was quite fine with having to use the motor.

Our 4 boat fleet navigated the bay very nicely, and there were far less weeds than some years. The Murray Canal’s first bridge at Brighton was under construction, so that made for an easy entry, and the timing went very smoothly for the bridge swing at the exit of the canal. We called into Trenton Port Marina, and were assigned slips all together. The staff at Trenton are very helpful. They had 3 people come out to assist in tie up. After settling in, we ate dinner together on the patio - Pat, Andrea & Mary were cooking/BBQing. It was a lovely meal and evening.

In the morning, Jeff & I walked to Canadian Tire (28 min) to pick up a few things, while Doug & Karl worked at installing Santana’s solar panel. (Pat kindly monitored our load of laundry while we were away) We also stopped at Metro to get a few groceries, as our provisions were getting slim. By 2 pm, we were all pushing off. We sailed across the Bay of Quinte, and dropped anchor in Sandy Cove. (13 kt trip) It was an enjoyable mix of sail and motor. Once the anchors were set, it didn’t take long for people to jump in for a swim. The water was absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for swimming - zero shock what so ever. We all swam, and goofed around.

Santana invited us all over for dinner - a delicious one-pot-couscous meal. Some of us went swimming again. We enjoyed a beautiful evening of visiting along with a gorgeous sunset, until the mosquitos arrived. Patiently thinking they might settled down after 30 minutes or so, we waited, but eventually we decided it was time to call it a night, since the bugs were determined to stay. It was another great day!

0 notes

speedknight · 7 years ago

Link

STGCC over the years (File Photos: Speedknight.com )

STGCC is marking its 10th Anniversary milestone this year! Here is what to expect for the event that is happening this weekend at the Sands Expo & Convention Center! More zones, More fun!

Good Game Experience (GGXP)

Mountain Dew Cup, STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com )

Win or lose, let’s all say “GG!” and keep on striving to improve our game (and of course, crush our opponents in the next clash). The Good Game Experience (GGXP) is the “G” of STGCC – serving as home base to our gaming fans. This year, we’re dedicating an entire hall for the gaming scene at STGCC and things are just about to get savage! There’ll be tears, sweat, roars of “Nice lah!” and of course, plenty of salt and kappa. Expect some high octane tournaments with awesome prizes coming your way soon! It’s not all about electronics though as our friends from Coliseum will also be present with exciting tabletop games such as Pokemon Trading Card Game, Yu- Gi-Oh! and Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Not so much into hardcore gaming? Why don’t you relax a bit at our Chillax Zone, where beanbags and consoles will be set out for you and your buddies to knock out a grudge match or two. What’s more, support our indie developers in Singapore and around the region. They can be found at GGXP showcasing their work so do drop by and give their offerings a spin. All indie studios participating in GGXP will also be eligible for our Good Game Awards (GGA). Determined by a panel of judges, consisting of veterans and important figures in the gaming scene, we’ll be giving out Best in Show and Best Runner Up award in appreciation for their hard work.

AKIBA ZONE

Hisui & MoMo Guest Cosplayers as Hanamaru & Ruby from Aqours(Love Live! Sunshine!!) ,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com )

D.Watt(IOSYS) feat. TAM(TAMusic), both if you are unfamiliar ,are household names in the touhou music circle,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight com)

GuildStars one of the visiting idol group from japan,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

Erika at winner of STGCC CoC,STGCC 2016 (File photo:Speedknight.com)

Inspired by the sleepless high energy electric town in Japan, Akiba Zone strives to provide an area of cosplay, music and idols to cater to our fans. The area will be hyped up and transformed into a high energetic zone, featuring some of the most popular DJs from Japan, upcoming idols and beauty brands for cosplay makeup junkies! Visit our cosplay guests - Leon Chiro, Shimo, Siutao and Iori Moe- at their booths to get up close and personal with some of the most sought-after cosplayers in the global scene. Hang out, party and have fun as we serve up bite-sized live entertainment segments on our mini stage. Got a costume boo boo? Swing by the Costume Repair Station, managed by our STGCC Championship of Cosplay (CoC) 2016 winner, Erika Jean Garbin. Erika and her partner will be providing quick fix-up services to attendees. What’s more, she will also be hosting a talk on costume maintenance and enhancing a costume’s durability.

Artist Galore!

Rachta Lin,STGCC 2016 (File Photo: Speedknight.com)

Discover an amazing showcase of homegrown and regional artists and new talents celebrating all things pop culture! These artists and talents create original and fan art such as comic books, art prints, toys, jewellery, clothing and more. Get your hands on a master piece done by your favorite creator!

Exclusively Yours!

The Commemorative SJ 50 Bearbricks were one of the Exclusives at STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

Don’t miss out on the collection of exclusive merchandise on showcase. From comics to games, toys and collectables and loads of fun stuff to see and do. Expect limited edition toys and figures, life-sized installations, plushies and many more. Add them to your treasure trove!

Fam-fun!

Young Padawans honing their light sabre skills,STGCC 2015 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

This impressively transforms, I kid you not. STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com) See? I told ya! STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

The Geek Life chose us. Start your Padawans young with a plethora of fun kid-friendly activities, attractive giveaways and family-bonding! Guest! Guest! Guest! I Wanna meet all the Guest...

Yasu

Yasu is prolific Japanese artist, illustrator, character and product designer from Nagoya Japan. Yasu is a veteran of the Tokyo Design Festa show having exhibited there many times under her brand name "Yorozu zakka Ebineko-ya" Ebineko Character Goods Company. Yasu’s original character designs come alive in a wide variety of media including plush, resin, soft vinyl, drawings, paintings, messaging stickers, and more! Her trademark character is “Ebineko” - a half cat and half shrimp character that seems to have gotten himself into some tempura batter. “Ebineko” was released as a soft vinyl toy earlier this year - Yasu sculpted the figure herself and painstakingly hand-paints every release. Her figure line-up has recently expanded featuring several new soft vinyl figures; “Same” - the three eyed shark, “Yamorin” - the Gekko Dragon plus a cute mini version of “Ebineko “are all on the way. She exhibited at the Taipei Toy Festival last year and did a live painting performance. She will be having a show in Shanghai in October with fellow artists Teresa Chiba, Hikari Bambi and Hinatique. This will be Yasu’s first visit to Singapore. Website : http://ift.tt/1KhczfL Facebook: http://ift.tt/2waoXgt Instagram : http://ift.tt/2wIBBqb

Teresa Chiba

Teresa Chiba is a Japanese Graphic Designer and Illustrator. Through her own art production label - Production_Genmu - she releases creative works in a wide variety of disciplines including Yukata (summer kimono), daily items and live performances in addition to her illustrations and designs. Many of Teresa’s works are based on traditional Japanese motifs including Kabuki and Folk Art. Her illustration work celebrates the ‘Kabuki Otome” - the teenage girls of Kabuki who are passionate, brave, yet sensitive. She combines the pieces of their rock spirit with girly characteristics and encourages the girls of today to find themselves in Kabuki too. Her designer toys are inspired by Japanese folk art. “KIBUNADON” was her first design toy - fish Kaiju toy - which was released from Maxtoy company (USA) in 2014. Her newest toy design - INU-HARIGON - was self-produced and has already seen releases in a variety of colorways. The character is very popular and has recently been picked up by MEDICOM Toy (Japan), as both a Gacha toy in Vinyl Artist Gacha series 11, and as a Bearbrick in series 34. Teresa is also an educator, teaching digital illustration skills at the Tokyo Design Academy in Harajuku, Tokyo. Website : http://p-genmu.com/ Instagram: http://ift.tt/2wJcQua Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_genmu Facebook: http://ift.tt/2walApy

SIMONE LEGNO

Simone Legno is the Co-founder and Creative Director of tokidoki. Born in Rome, Italy, Legno, drew incessantly as a child. The boxes of chewed, broken and unsharpened pencils he adored as a kid were the beginnings of a passion for art that led to the eventual creation of tokidoki. tokidoki started as Legno’s professional online portfolio and artistic diary while living in Italy, where he showcased his illustrations, advertising and new media designs for various clients. A partial list of these clients includes Volkswagen, MTV, John Galliano, Champion, Toyota, Renault, Daihatsu, BenQ, Microsoft, Narcotic Bureau of Singapore, Telecom Italia, and TIM. tokidoki means “sometimes” in Japanese. Legno, who has always had a deep love of Japan and fascination with world cultures, chose the word because he feels “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny, by chance or by meeting a new person”. Simone's special moment arrived when his designs drew the attention of entrepreneurs Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold, who spied the art on his personal website and convinced him to move to L.A. to build a brand. Since officially launching in 2005, tokidoki has grown into an internationally recognized pop- culture lifestyle brand and has amassed a cult-like following for its larger-than-life characters, megawatt partnerships and extensive range of products from apparel and handbags to home décor and even slot machines. tokidoki has collaborated with many brands such as Karl Lagerfeld, Guggenheim Museum, Sephora, LeSportsac, Onitsuka Tiger, Marvel, New Era, Hello Kitty, Fujitsu, Levi's, Smashbox cosmetics, Xbox, T-mobile, Medicom Toy, Major League Baseball, Skullcandy, Barbie, Canon, Black Eyed Peas, and more. As the creator of tokidoki, Simone has become a sought-after speaker around the world at museums, universities and conferences, from MOCA (the Geffen Museum-Los Angeles) to the Adobe MAX conference, UCLA, USC, the Flash Film Festival in San Francisco, Art Center College of Design, Apple store in Osaka, Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, Singapore Toy and Comic Convention, Grafika Manila and many others.

Mark Nagata

Mark Nagata, founder of San Francisco-based Max Toy company, introduced Singapore to the likes of Eyezon, Dualos, Argus and the perenial favourite, Negora in 2012. These kaiju (怪獣 which means strange beasts in Japanese) did not last a day at STGCC. Mark Nagata will be back for another round of kaiju invasion this year and he has an spectacular lineup, including a very special STGCC 10th anniversary exclusive, that will satisfy your vinyl cravings. What exactly will he be unleashing from his ever-expanding monster family? Let's just say only the cat is out of the bag. If your only experience with Kaiju is a selfie with Godzilla in Shinjuku, drop by the booth and have a chat with the unofficial Kaiju Ambassador!

Hisacy(HYPER CORE)

HYPER COREモデルのありす @ariusa_chan_ がSGSさんのサイトに"バンダナ堕惡再度"コーデで掲載されております🍓😈🍓 https://t.co/fyC6w09ZrP

— HYPER CORE原宿店オフィシャル (@hypercore_hrjk) September 3, 2017

FCKです😀HYPER CORE7周年おめでとうございます❤️ちょっとフライングですがお店に遊びに行ってきました✨ Hisacyさんもﾊｲﾊﾟｺも大好き😆これからもよろしくお願いします‼️お店には可愛いかっこいい商品がたくさん🎵来週は、渋谷タワレコの前にﾊｲﾊﾟｺだね✨ http://pic.twitter.com/42wovUN6Iz

— GacharicSpin ガチャリック (@Gachapin_info) September 3, 2017

The mastermind behind the popular rocker’s favourite Harajuku fashion brand “HYPER CORE” Hisacy started on the street in Harajuku back in 2000 as an illustrator. With the experience that he have gathered through designing for many rock icons such as YOSHIKI (X JAPAN) and hide, he founded the brand HYPER CORE and opened their first shop in Harajuku in 2010. With their motto “HYPER CORE IS HERE FOR YOU!”, HYPER CORE is looking forward to bring their brand overseas. Find their shop at 3-23-2 JINGU-MAE, SHIBUYA-KU, TOKYO, JAPAN

Kaori Hinata(Hinatique)

Kaori Hinata is a Japanese artist, illustrator and character designer. The overarching theme of her creative works is "The Cuteness of antiques and Nostalgia”. She loves drawing pictures, live painting and making Knick Knacks in felt, ceramics and other materials. Kaori’s first toy release was Kaiju Kinora - a cute little mushroom monster produced by Max Toy in 2015. Kaori continues to produce resin figures which she sculpts and paints herself. Her newest original character is called "Morris - The Cat with Antlers". Morris is a cat boy - but different from the average cat because he has big antlers on his head. “Morris” has proved to be a very popular character and will be released as a sofubi figure this fall. Additionally the character will be featured in the Medicom’s VAG (Vinyl Artist Gatcha) Series 12 and has been featured in mini picture book also released by Medicom. Her works has been featured in many exhibitions in Japan, and recently had a show in Taiwan at the Wrong Gallery with Teresa Chiba and Hikari Bambi. In addition to her own original characters, Kaori has produced collaborations with many popular properties including STAR WARS, ULTRAMAN, MAZINGER-Z, GACHAPIN & MUKKU and THE POWERPUFF GIRLS. This will be her first time to Singapore - make sure to check out her custom WeGo in the Custom Show. Stay tuned to Hinatique’s Social Media channels for news and updates of future projects and events. Website : http://ift.tt/2sNq0Wy Facebook : http://ift.tt/2wJcSlM Twitter : https://twitter.com/hinatique Instagram : http://ift.tt/2wb1kEo

Deanne George (Sorbet Jungle)

Deanne George is the founder and lead designer behind the wildly popular U.S. based brand, Sorbet Jungle. Having been introduced to art and animation as a young child, Deanne found herself drawing incessantly throughout her entire life. Never missing a chance to grow and experiment with new media and tools, she eventually found her passion in character and toy design. In late 2010 her love for animals and desire to pursue illustration and product design as a career led her to create the first characters inside the Sorbet Jungle universe. Best known for their instant hit character, Croconana, Sorbet Jungle combines cute animal characters and creative word play into a smile invoking brand that has not only grown into one of the most popular, but also one of the most established companies of its kind around the world. Facebook: http://ift.tt/2wapGOz Instagram: http://ift.tt/2wJOKzv Twitter: https://twitter.com/sorbetjungle Website: http://ift.tt/2wb1mMw

Carlos East(The Beast Brothers)

one of a kind piece in collaboration with @1000toys ! @singaporetgcc see you there come and say hi and check this cyber luchador 🤼‍♂️ 🤖@datadub thanks amigo! #thebeastbrothers #losbeastbrothers #1000toys #stgcc2017 #LA #Mexico #California #Singapore #art #design #retro #VHS #glitch #glitchy

A post shared by Carlos & Ernesto East (@thebeastbrothers) on Sep 6, 2017 at 6:02pm PDT

Born in an Aztec temple deep inside the jungle of Mexico, The Beast Brothers spent most of their childhood developing their unique and distinct style of art. Through the years, this royal pair have used their mighty twin powers to create memorable works for Nike, Kidrobot, Reebok, Coachella, Bacardi, VANS, among others. They have also travelled the world teaching and customizing techniques to fans and aspiring toy designers. Carlos and Ernesto East continue to make paintings, illustrations and sculptures in their secret jungle laboratories, located in Mexico City and Long Beach, CA. This will be Carlos second time visiting STGCC since his appearance in 2013. Website : http://ift.tt/1sxu9Hw Instagram : http://ift.tt/2wJiv3z

Sae Tsukiyama

ではではシンガポってくるよ！！🇸🇬✨(ふたりしてすっぴんで失礼)

行ってきまーーーすっ💓💓 http://pic.twitter.com/8MtSdPCNiY

— 築山さえ@9.9-10シンガポール (@tsukiyamasae) September 6, 2017

倉庫から5枚だけ出てきたーーッ！！本当に本当にラストトラックです、これシンガポール持って行きます…！！！青春メランコリーとか入ってるやつ！いや本当貴重よこれ…！ http://pic.twitter.com/ML2ZB02F0C

— 築山さえ@9.9-10シンガポール (@tsukiyamasae) September 5, 2017

A well-known performer in the game music industry, Sae mainly performs songs for video games. She is also the main vocalist for the doujin circle “Amateras Records”. She has participated in many songs as singer and lyricist for KONAMI’s BEMANI series music game, namely SOUND VOLTEX, MUSECA etc. A familiar face in Akihabara, she is also active as a MC in various events in Japan. An artist with many talents, she also participates in local radio programs and models as a free paper model. Sae will be MC-ing for STGCC 2017 Akiba mini Stage. Website: http://ift.tt/2wamqCY Twitter: https://twitter.com/tsukiyamasae

Tokyo CLEAR’S

@rin_asahina7 @ure_sheena @karuberuka @RionSawabe_ @TOKYO_CLEARS

良い曲でした❗ http://pic.twitter.com/heHqPyGPcB

— Quattro (@sugiura_nau) September 3, 2017

Probably the world-first idol group to combine idol activities with cleaning activities, Tokyo CLEAR’S is an idol group with active sister groups in 9 different areas around Japan. With the catchphrase “Keeping our streets clean!!”, the groups actively takes part in monthly cleaning activities with members being certified with cleaning licenses. Tokyo CLEAR’S is active in Tokyo and frequently makes appearance in media and lives. CLEAR’S had their major debut back in 2014 and ranked in on the Oricon Chart for 1st , 2nd and 3rd spots consecutively. In 2016, the group released their single 「キラリ☆NIPPON (KIRARI☆ NIPPON) which was an instant hit selling over 40000 copies. Their latest single「HEART WASH」is the ending theme song for TBS TV program 「アッコにおまかせ」(Akko ni Omakase).

TAM (TAMUSIC)

シンガポールのファンから応援コメントが既に沢山届いてます(^^)

arigato! https://t.co/Q5rU9SSEOc

— TAMUSIC 同人音楽 (@TAMUSIC_STAFF) September 6, 2017

TAM,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

Perhaps the most active otaku violinist on planet earth, TAM started to upload videos of himself playing violin online in 2003, as of now he have uploaded over 1000 videos and garnered more than 50000000 views online in total. TAM founded a doujin music circle TAMUSIC at 2005, and since then they have expanded to 500 members and produced over 160 CDs to date. TAM starts his first step in the anime industry in 2015, when he started to be involved musically in anime, game products and singers in Japan. Till date, he has contributed to more than 10 anime titles, spanning over more than 100 songs in total. Currently TAM is busy touring as a musician, where he performs around 30 concerts in Japan and 10 concerts internationally every year. Twitter:http://twitter.com/TAMUSIC/ Website:http://tamusic.jp/ YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/user/violinpiano2/

Rie Yunohara

シンガポール到着！！

毎年お出迎えに朝早くに空港でファンのみんなが待ってていてくれて本当にうれしいですん😭💕

シンガポールめっちゃ満喫するぞ！#りえちょ遠征#肉アイドル#リエチョブ#teamRiecho#シンガポール#STGCC#STGCC2017 http://pic.twitter.com/RyX8LJIPms

— 柚之原りえ▶︎9/9〜10シンガポール (@rie_yunohara) September 6, 2017

Rie Yunohara,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com )

Known for her love unending love for Singapore, Rie Yunohara or Riecho have been performing in STGCC every year since 2014. Graduated from MKM-ZERO and PhantomVoice, currently as a solo artiste, Riecho have been crowned as the official idol of the Japan’s biggest food entertainment festival “Niku-Fes”. Other than being active in her own solo activity, she is also busy in providing choreography for artistes and in her very own food blog. Don’t miss out her adventures by following her weekly stream in DeNA Showroom! twitter : https://twitter.com/rie_yunohara instagram : yunoxrie Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/user/yunoxrie

Hiigari Rio

凸待ち配信見てくれてありがとう🌝💓みんな何かに向かって頑張ってる！自分ももっと進んでいきたい。行く(｀・ω・´)！！いろんなことがあるけど、全部全部意味がある。今日という日もいい日でした！また明日！

(全国ワンマンツアー中！詳細はhttps://t.co/dKPimPn33M ) http://pic.twitter.com/yAtAYFRGBr

— 柊木りお10/8札幌ワンマン (@HiiragiRio) September 6, 2017

RioRio started her idol activities since 2011, where she gained public attention as participating and winning various competitions. From TwitCasting, SHOWROOM, NicoNico Nama Housou, she streams actively DAILY to interact with all her fans from France, UK, USA, Taiwan and all over Japan. Her continued streaming since 3 years ago have not stopped for a single day, and has hit the 1000 th day by October 20 th 2015! She major debuted on 1 st April 2015 and held her first solo concert on 21 st June that year at Osaka, since then she have been set to tour 12 cities around the world. On July 2015, she performed at JAPAN EXPO 2015, HYPER JAPAN Festival at UK, Macao’s International Board Game Doujin & Anime Convention and then Solo Live at Hongkong. She have performed in the world’s largest Idol related festival such as TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL 2015 and also participated in mega event like a-nation. She is currently one of the most awaited solo artists in the country. Please give your best cheer to RioRio too!

Color Pointe

Color Pointe is an idol group with a refreshing visual concept and a theatrical vision for ballet dancing and vocals. The group leader, Hink heads the production in choreography and lives, writing lyrics for their songs as well. In a world whereby classical ballet is regarded with high standards, the group has successfully merged band music with electric sound, mesmerizing audience into their fantasy-like performance where” music comes alive”. In 2016, they finished their second live in Singapore and this year, they completed their second live in Thailand. With their expanding horizon in overseas activities, they are one of the upcoming girl artists to look out for in Japan.

ayame a.k.a apricot*(Alstroemeria Records)

Ayame,EOY 2015 (File photo: speedknight.com)

【お知らせ】

9/9・10『STGCC2017』https://t.co/bIja7ox6ap

今週末シンガポールで開催のイベント『STGCC2017』で、踊ってみたのあぷりこっと＊として＆Alstroemeria Recordsのayameとして出演します！２年ぶり！ http://pic.twitter.com/wuoJqJvE5Q

— あやめ@あぷりこっと＊今週末STGCC (@ayame_apricot) September 6, 2017

Popular odorite from NicoNico Douga, ayame is known for her fantastic choreography, costume design, and also her unique video recording style that is not found in other similar odorite. Having performed at the festive NicoNico Chou Kaigi’s Chou Party and many others NicoNico’s official event, she have recently evolved into a public figure by participating as MC and hosting several successfulevents by herself. When she is not busy fangirling at Aikatsu! Going under the name “ayame”, she sings for the famous Touhou Circle “Alstroemeria Records”, regular DJ at Anisong DJ event アニ LOVE っ!! And also forthose who frequent Akihabara, you will be able to find her at Maid Café Pinafore where she has served for the past 8 years.

AkaiRyusei(Tokyo Active NEET)

Akai Ryusei,STGCC 2016 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

AkaiRyusei is the Arranger, Pianist, Mixer, Producer and also the Founder of the famous doujin circle “Tokyo Active NEET”. The circle started with uploading video clips of their performance medleys on NicoNico Douga back in 2008 and they have since been releasing video actively till today. Known for their high energy jazz arrangement of famous tunes from Touhou, Kancolle, Vocaloid and others. AkaiRyusei is actively performing in both Japan and international stage with other doujin artistes. Twitter: https://twitter.com/akairyusei Tokyo Active NEETs Website: http://neets.tokyo/ Tokyo Active NEETs Twitter: https://twitter.com/active_neet

Yunomi+nicamoq

Yunomi is a track maker, lyricist and composer from Tokyo. He started his musical adventures back in 2015. Yunomi composed “kawaii” themed songs to various contents and acts such as KONAMI’s “Hinabita♪”, idol groups. He also provided remixes for singers, namely Lovely Summer and the popular seiyuu Hana Kanazawa. Main works: Makuramoto ni Ghost (w/ Aiobahn)」(2015 Maltine Records) Yunomic ni Ocha Shite EP (feat. nicamoq) (2016 Village Vanguard Music) Oedo Controller EP (feat. TORIENA) (2017 Village Vanguard Music) Official Website: http://www.yunomi.tokyo nicamoq is a vocalist from CSI Promotion. Known for her collaboration with Yunomi, she has provided vocals for more than 20 songs, making appearance in Yunomic ni Ocha Shite’s music video. Recently she has been active as a seiyuu and an actress under the name Morisaki Futaba.

TAKU INOUE

A popular sound designer, composer and DJ, Taku Inoue is one of the rising stars in in the club scene in Japan. Known for his cult hit songs in both fighting and idol games, he also composes for singers and does official remixes. In 2017 he co-composed and arranged the ending theme song for the anime “Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul” titled ”拝啓グッバイさようなら”, which was performed by the singer & rapper DAOKO. While he is not busy composing or remixing new tracks, he can be spotted spinning the mashed up version of his songs in various club events across the country.

Shouya Namai

Shouya Namai started his DJ and composing activities back in 2006, with his music focus spanning across different genres from Trance dance music to pop music. Besides producing original works, the composer also produced songs for seiyuu, idols and KONAMI’s music games. He also does official remixes for animes and game songs. A composer with multi-talents, Shouya has recently produced 「追い風Running」(Oikaze Running) for the popular series「THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS」.

REDSHiFT

REDSHiFT is one of the earliest VOCALOID producer units from Indonesia. The group consists of music producer, lyricist and illustrators. The group begun their journey back in 2010, since then REDSHiFT has produced and published their original works in various music compilation albums via their music circle & crafTUNER. Besides composing original tunes, REDSHiFT also creates remixes of various Indonesian Pop music and Anisongs. Their repertoire mostly comprised of electronic genre, such as electro house, future bass to drum and bass. Aside from music production, REDSHiFT often performs as a DJ-VJ duo in various expo and Japanese events all across Indonesia while spinning the hottest anisong mixes,VOCALOID and more.

Masayoshi Minoshima(Alstroemeria Records)

Masayoshi Minoshima is easily one of the best known producers in the Touhou Doujin music scene. His record label Alstroemeria Records, established in 2003, is rife with elements of House, Trance, UK Hardcore and Dancehall amongst a spectrum of genres, reflecting his musical versatility. Minoshima’s Touhou arrangements primarily showcase Techno and House music. In 2007, the genius producer was brought icon status by his arrangement and shadow-art video for “Bad Apple!!” – a staple with the Touhou fan base. Minoshima has since expanded his capabilities to producing and composing original tracks for major commercial projects and Japanese entertainment giants Konami and Taito.

Kitune(ANISON INDEX!!,Anilab)

Source: Profile page on anilab

A regular VJ at Akihabara MOGRA, he’s at the helm for the visuals at every 3 rd Wednesday of the month in the event “ANISON INDEX”. He is also the organizer of the popular Anisong + Bowling + Cosplay event, “Cos☆Bowl”. As a member of the Anisong DJ group “Anilab” he actively collaborates with various events namely with the dance and vocal group Prizmmy☆,as well as the TV anime & Trinity Seven, LISANI! Night Vol.05 and others. Collaboration list: Noitamina 10 th anniversary event “Noitaminight” AnimeJapan 2015, “Noitaminight powered by AnimeStore” Visual Art’s 20 th Anniversary Thanksgiving Festival’s Club Event “OTSU” Space Shower’s event “SPACE SHOWER SOCIOUS” “spirite LIVE 2015 –Beyond the sky-“ And other Anisong and non Anisong related events. Cosbowl’s website：http://www.cosbowl.com/ Anilab’s website：http://anilab.info/ Profile：http://ift.tt/2wagnOG

DJ MarGenal (ANISON INDEX!!,AniLab.)

Source: Profile page on anilab

DJ MarGenal started his DJ activities back in 2007 after coming in contact with club culture from hip hop music. Now, he plays at the heart of Anisong DJ boom “Anisong Index!!” event as one of the top artists. Skillful and experienced, he plays at regular events and other Anisong events all over Japan. In 2013 alone, he played in LISANI Night and Akinet Music Festival organized by the famous Akihabara Anisong club MOGRA. In 2014, he was invited to be the backup DJ for the Anisong singer ZAQ for notable events such as “AJ Night” and “Animesia”. In previous year, he was spinning as the backup DJ for the well-known idol group Prizmmy☆at 2016

D.watt (IOSYS)

D.watt is the multi-talented artist from the famous music production team "IOSYS" of Sapporo. A familiar name in Akihabara subculture scene like "Nico Nico Douga", anime, games scene. In the recent years D.watt has provided music and remixes to music game giants like SEGA, KONAMI, TAITO, NAMCO. Other than game he also composed anime theme song for famous titles like "SanshaSanyou", "YuruYuri", "Etotama". While he have collaborated as composer for Koishio Ringo(Band janaimon!), Nanahira and miko, he also pens the lyrics and scenario for the 2-dimensional girl band "Irodorimidori" of CHUNITHM(SEGA).

CleanTears(S.C.X)

CleanTears is a creator with a self-proclaimed liking for rabbits. He has provided corporate DJ works to notable labels such as DefSTAR Records, Jake Entertainment, SEGA, 5pb. Records, EXIT TUNES. Not to mention, he also composed works for idols, cosplayers, Tokyo Joypolis, online games and compilations. Releasing on the online music store, Beatport, his works have received credits in overseas as well. He is also active in Vocaloid×EDM scene, composing works under the alias S.C.X.

ARM(IOSYS)

Hailing from Hokkaido, ARM is the composer and arranger from the popular mega circle IOSYS. Together with IOSYS, ARM have composed some of the most memorable and popular songs in the Touhou scene such as “Marisa Stole the Precious Thing”, “Overdrive”, “Cirno’s Perfect Math Class” and many others. Not to be limited to IOSYS’s activity, ARM is also actively involved in projects by KONAMI, Pony Canyon, KADOKAWA, avex, Lantis for their respective products. ARM channels his creative instinct through the influences like Pop, Jazz, Shibuya-kei, Rock, Metal, Orchestra, Hardcore, and EDM music into his works, where he brings us the hit songs with his distinctive Moe Denpa music style. Known works: 「THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS」 ● Märchen Debut! ● LET’S GO HAPPY!! ● HANAKANZASHI ● Ao no Ichibanboshi ● Nyowa Nyoworld☆ KONAMI’s BEMANI series ● “Meumeupettantan!!” 芽兎めう ● “Chikuwa parfait da yo☆CKP” 山形まり花&芽兎めう ● Totsugeki! Glass no kneeso hime! ● Bakunana☆testroyer Anime and Character songs “D-Frag!” Opening Theme Song ● Stalemate! “Robot Girls Z” Opening Theme Song ● Robot Girls Z “Acchi Kocchi” Opening Theme Song ● Acchi de Kocchi de “Yuruyuri” Character Song ● Akaza Akari’s Watashi, Shuuyaku no Akaza Akari Desu Pachinko’s “Kaito Tenshi Twin Angel” Series ● Endless Heaven ● OTONA NI NARU NO DESU!

Aizawa(Hachimitsu-Lemon)

Aizawa is a creator working in the music circle “Hachimitsu-Lemon” with his partner, CleanTears. Diverse in his works, Aizwa had produced songs of different genres from EDM, rock to orchestra. The circle had composed songs for idols, games and corporate attractions in Japan and overseas. In recent years, he has written numerous songs for the doujin game「東方紅輝心」 (Adventures of Scarlet Curiosity) on PlayStation®

Siu Tao

Siu Tao,AFA 2015 (Filephoto: Speedknight.com)

Cheerful and bubbly, Hong Kong based popular cosplayer Siutao always strive for her best in cosplay, regardless in prop-making or sewing (she is especially fond of doing props!). Travelling to different events in Asia connected her with many of her like- minded fans which she feels is the most joyous part of her travels. Her favorite characters are energetic characters such as Hoshizora Rin from Love Live! but she does takes a liking for quiet and intellectual characters as well. A first timer at STGCC, Siutao looks forward to meeting her fans at the event.

Shimo

Shimo,FAM 2015 (File photo: Speedknight.com)

Shimo, a widely- recognized Taiwanese cosplayer. A familiar face in conventions, she has graced as guest for events in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam etc... and this year STGCC welcomes her back to the sunny island of Singapore. Her hobbies are traveling and listening to music. She likes to cosplay character from idol series or cool female characters.

Leon Chiro

Leon Chiro is a professional cosplayer from Italy, and the official cosplayer for large video game companies such as Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs), Square Enix (Gladiolus - Final Fantasy XV), Capcom (Devil May Cry) and many more. He currently works for Riot Games as the official cos-model for the champion Rakan from League of Legends. Having worked for 20th Century Fox on the last Assassin’s Creed movie promotional campaign, stunting and official launch events in Europe, he’s also known as one of the most iconic figures in the Assassin’s Creed community. He has officially been recognised as the Italian face of Assassin’s Creed since 2016 as well. A winner of many cosplay competitions, he has been invited as a special guest in over 80 events in more than 30 different countries around the world. He has acted as both a judge of numerous cosplay competitions and a host of entertaining panels, Q&A sessions and conferences. With a medium of 4 events or conventions per month, Leon is one of the most successful cosplayers in the worldwide male cosplay community. Facebook: http://ift.tt/1jxthxw PATREON : http://ift.tt/2wb1n32 DeviantArt: http://ift.tt/1pcFtFm YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LeonChiroCosplayArt Instagram: http://ift.tt/2wJfTT5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Leon_Chiro CosPro: http://ift.tt/2wap4bx

Iori Moe

A popular Internet personality, Gamer, Model and Cosplayer from Japan, she took over the cosplay scene in Japan by storm when she appeared in cosplay and gaming events such as Comiket, TGS and others. Popular for cosplaying sexy anime characters, Iori is unique to the fans due to her innocent face but yet having a proportionate body that enables her to bring to life unrealistic 2D anime character into realistic real life cosplay. Addressed fondly by her fans as Iorin, when she is not busy modelling or appearing in various radio and tv show, she will spend her free time playing games on steam and stay active in her social media which boasts 650000 followers around the world.

Sonny Liew

Sonny Liew's The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was a New York Times and Amazon bestseller, and the first graphic novel to win the Singapore Literature Prize. Other works include The Shadow Hero (with Gene Luen Yang), Doctor Fate (with Paul Levitz) and Malinky Robot, as well as titles for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, DC Vertigo, First Second Books, Boom Studios, Disney Press and Image Comics. He has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards for his writing and art (including 6 for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye) and for spearheading Liquid City, a multivolume comics anthology featuring creators from Southeast Asia.

Mirka Andolfo

Italian artist, Mirka is actually working at DC Comics on “Teen Titans” within the “Metal” event, “Wonder Woman” (with Greg Rucka and Shea Fontana) and “Bombshells” (with Marguerite Bennet). Recently, she illustrated a issue of “Rebirth JLA: Killer Frost” (DC Comics), two issues of “Ms. Marvel” (Marvel), and some pages on “Green Arrow” (DC Comics), after many pages drawn at Dynamite (“Vampirella”, “Chaos”, “Lady Demon”, “Swords of Sorrow: Chaos”) and Aspen (“Damsels in Excess”), Vertigo, Young Animals. In Europe, she’s also an acclaimed author, thanks to her best seller creator-owned series as “Sacred/Profane” and “Unnatural”, sold in many countries (Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands...). She started very young her career as colorist, working on important international properties like “Mickey Mouse”, “Geronimo Stilton”, “Ice Age” and “Adventure Time”.

Hiro Kanzaki

A multi talented individual, Hiroyuki ODA is widely known within the anime industry for his involvement with many hit titles in Japan’s anime scene. Going under the alias of Hiro Kanzaki, he have provided original character design to some of the most memorable anime in the recent times namely My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute, Eromanga Sensei and Go! Go! 575, where he also provides the art illustration for the original light novel. As an animator, Hiroyuki ODA have worked on many hit titles such as Eureka Seven: AO, Rozen Maiden, Ichigo Mashimaro and most notably HEROMAN. Breaking out of illustration and animation world, he is known to be rocking the dance floor as DJ HanasoumenP (HSP) in NicoNico Douga. In the midst of this busy schedule, he is also known to participate in Comiket as the circle “tabgraphics”.

Joyce Chin

Joyce Chin has been working in comics since 1995 when she pencilled for Guy Gardner: Warrior for DC. Since then, she has been working on many other titles, interiors and covers on stories for the Hulk, Spider-man, Green Lantern, Witchblade, Red Sonja, and many others through various publishers. Currently, other than pencilling and inking Marvel covers, she also works on book, game, magazine and toy packaging illustrations.

James C. Mulligan

James C. Mulligan's fine artwork is recognized internationally and collected by famous personalities from Hugh Hefner, Dick Van Dyke, Oscar winning composer Richard M. Sherman, Brad Pitt to Holly Madison, Fred Durst, Roger Daltrey and many others. James also works with corporate clients including: Disney, Lucas Films, Warner Brothers, Hollywood, Magic Castle, Lexus and Playboy whereby he won an art direction award for Playmate of the Year. He is also the estate's official artist for Elvis Presley Enterprises and working with notable organizations and companies. James was recently named as one of Disney's top selling artists, and his solo shows at the Bellagio and Aria resorts in Las Vegas smashed all records, both domestically and internationally. He also performs on stages around the world, from Tokyo to the Hollywood Bowl. He is currently in development on a television show atDreamworks Studios, and is involved with development work on an unnamed Sony project with Rob Minkoff (director of Disney's “The Lion King”) and Mel Brooks. James is a large supporter of various charities including Shine Family Foundation, Boy's Town and Loma Linda Children's Hospital. His work can be seen at http://ift.tt/1V5DoJO or http://ift.tt/1gCpAHP.

Fujima Takuya

ビッグサイズの新作タペストリーが出ます！WEBで予約受付中なほか９／１６−１８にサンシャインで開催の「神絵祭」でも販売されます☆ ”さくらんぼちゃん”B0タペストリー｜ https://t.co/ekJTGFFAsi http://pic.twitter.com/W9hvAdCDwz

— 藤真拓哉@Z/X 9/21連載開始！ (@fujimatakuya) September 6, 2017

One of the most sought after illustrator in Japan, while he design character for anime and game characters he is also a popular mangaka in Japan. Known for his extensive involvement with the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series, his serialized manga “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid” is made into anime by A-1PICTURES in 2015. He is also tasked with the original character design for the continuation “ViVid Strike!” anime in 2016 where he single handedly drew all the anime end cards. Works: Anime ・Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (Character Design) ・ViVid Strike! (Character Design, All Anime End Cards) ・R-15(Character Design) ・Black Bullet (Character Design) Manga ・Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid ・DOG DAYS ・NEGIMA!?neo ・THE IDOLM@STER BREAK! Light Novels ・R-15 Series TCG ・Aquarian Age ・Battle Spirits ・Cardfight!! Vanguard ・WIXOSS ・Force of Will ・MONSTER COLLECTION ・LORD of VERMILION ・ChaosTCG ・Weiβ Schwarz ・Z/X -Zillions of enemy X-

Frank Cho

Frank Cho is an Emmy Award-winning and critically acclaimed writer and illustrator. He is known for his newspaper comic strip series, Liberty Meadows, as well as for books such as Mighty Avengers, Spider-Man, X-Men, Shanna the She- Devil, the Hulk and Savage Wolverine for Marvel Comics. As of this year, he is the cover artist for Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn at DC Comics.

Frank Cho is noted for classical and energetic figure art, beautiful women illustrations, humorous writings and adventure stories.

He is currently working on several creator-owned projects, Skybourne at Boom Studios, Guns & Dinos at Image Comics, and World of Payne with novelist Tom Sniegoski for Flesk Publications. When he’s not writing and drawing, Frank Cho is napping.

David mack

David mack is the Emmy nominated, New York Times Best Selling Author & Artist of KABUKI, writer of Marvel's Daredevil, cover artist of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Jessica Jones, & Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahniuk. Artist on Jessica Jones opening titles & Captain America The Winter Soldier film titles & US Comic Book Ambassador of Arts & Story for US State Dept. Mack created artwork for the the opening titles of the new Jessica Jones Netflix TV series (winner of the Peabody Award), based on the book he was co-collaborator on. The opening titles he worked on with Imaginary Forces garnered an Emmy Nomination in the category of Outstanding Main Titles. For the Academy Award nominated film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Mack created the art & concept for the titles sequence with Sarofsky Designs, which received recognition for the Excellence in Titles Design Award. Mack contributed artwork for the opening titles of Robert Rodriguez's Matador TV series with Sarofsky designs, and contributed art (and a cameo role) for the Powers TV series at Sony. Mack's work has garnered nominations for ten Eisner Awards, four International Eagle Awards, and both the Harvey and Kirby Awards in the category of Best New Talent, as well as many other national and international awards and nominations. Mack has authored his children’s book THE SHY CREATURES from MacMillan, has illustrated and designed music albums for both American and Japanese Labels, including work for Paul McCartney, Amanda Palmer, Thomas Jane, Vincent D'Onofrio, painted Tori Amos for her RAINN benefit calendars, directed three music videos for Amanda Palmer, storyboard artist & asst director for Dead Can Dance music video, designs for toy companies in Hong Kong, animation art for MTV, ad campaign for SAKURA art materials, written and designed video game characters for film director John Woo and Electronic Arts, wrote the interactive animated viral promo for Mission Impossible four, and contributed the artwork for Dr. Arun Ghandi’s essay on the Culture of Non-Violence. Mack created the Marquee art and make up designs for the theatrical performance of Tenshu which received multiple Broadway World Awards. Mack’s KABUKI books have been the subject of under-graduate and graduate university courses in Art and Literature, and listed as required reading. His work is on exhibit in the Philadelphia Museum of art with Michelangelo, Titian, & Rubens. His work has been studied in graduate seminars at USC and hung in the Los Angeles Museum of Art. He’s lectured at universities and taught classes in writing, drawing, and painting all over the world, including a Masterclass at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, for Japan’s School of Communication Arts of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, and an invitation to speak at Harvard as the Guest of Honor at their annual Science Fiction Writing convention. Mack created the final two seasons of Dexter Early Cuts episodes for Showtime (the first, collaborating with legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz). The latest season earned him nominations for both the Writers Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America. In 2013 Mack had exhibits in Los Angeles & Chicago of his work presented with originals of Gustav Klimt & Egon Schiele, and spoke in Barcelona at the OFFFest presentation of trailblazing artists and designers. Mack's paintings were exhibited in Paris and Brussels with successful gallery openings and book store signings. The documentary film on Mack's work, The Alchemy of Art, was awarded the top prize at the 40th annual Worldfest Film Festival among other film awards & in 2012 Mack delivered an inspiring TED Talk. In 2016 the US State Dept. honored Mack as a US Comic Book Ambassador of Arts & Story selected to travel abroad to teach storytelling in other countries, beginning in Tblisi, Georgia, joining efforts with the US embassy there. In the former Soviet country & borders, Mack taught at settlement camps for displaced persons, the Asylum Seekers Center, the Marneuli Youth Center, Tbilisi Arts Academy, Special Needs school, & the Tbilisi Palace of Fine Arts Museum featured a massive exhibit of Mack's work & books. In 2017 Mack traveled to Tunisia in North Africa to speak & teach there. In 2004 Mack, with Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Oeming (M.O.B.- Mack, Oeming, Bendis), formed a new imprint at Marvel Comics which they named ICON, to publish their creator-owned comics KABUKI and POWERS. ICON continues as an imprint of Marvel to this day publishing some of the most successful creator-owned comics. David Mack is one of the only creators to be listed in both the Top Ten Writers List, and the Top Ten Artists List in Wizard Magazine. Mack’s writing and art on KABUKI, have earned him international acclaim for his innovative storytelling, painting techniques, and page design. KABUKI has been translated in seven languages, in addition to nearly two million copies of KABUKI Comics, Paperbacks, and Hard cover graphic novels in print in the U.S. The series has launched successful lines of action figures, toys, and art objets (many of which were featured on Showtime’s TV show DEXTER). Mack has exhibited his work in Europe, Asia, and America with gallery shows, and book signing tours in over a dozen countries. He was the first American to be nominated for Germany's most prestigious Max-Und-Moritz award in the category of Best Imported Comic. Mack has illustrated poetry collaborations with Neil Gaiman and U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, & wrote the adaptation of Science Fiction Master Philip K. Dick's Electric Ant as a graphic novel at Marvel Comics. Mack is currently working on a new creator owned project with Brian Michael Bendis and on bringing KABUKI to the screen.

C.B. Cebulski

Rumor has it McDonald's Singapore is bringing back the Nasi Lemak Burger?! Hope they last till @singaporetgcc!! https://t.co/Svl1KeVPsB

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) August 24, 2017

Tired of "news" about the same chicken rice & chili crab places? Here's a great piece on young hawkers in Singapore: https://t.co/V1eNqLMIjK

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) August 24, 2017

C.B. Cebulski is just a guy lucky enough to be working for Marvel, a company whose comics and characters he’s loved since he was a kid. He travels from country to country, month after month, hunting for opportunities for Marvel to expand their creative interests in new markets, while also searching for the best artists in the world. C.B. spends his free time blogging about his international eating adventures on Eataku, www.eataku.com.

Adi Granov

Adi works as an illustrator and designer primarily for Marvel. His most notable works include the Iron Man: Extremis series, written by Warren Ellis, and his role as a conceptual designer and illustrator on the Iron Man films and the Avengers. He worked on key character designs and created keyframe illustrations for the action sequences. He recently completed work on the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther movies. For comic work Adi is currently under an exclusive contract with Marvel and has produced covers for multiple series over the last few years, as well as a number of short interior stories. He has also designed statues for companies such as Kotobukiya and Sideshow, and has created album cover art and tour posters for multi-platinum selling rock band, Tool. Adi currently lives in England with his wife, Tamsin, and their two very weird cats. He likes aeroplanes, trains and cars, and working on his 1967 Lotus Elan.

Arthur Adams

Soruces: http://ift.tt/2wJiBrX

Arthur Adams, a self-taught artist, became a fan favorite when, at the age of 19, he left his job making pizzas for the masses to pencil the critically-acclaimed Longshot limited series, written by Ann Nocenti and published in 1985 by Marvel Comics. He has been in high demand as an artist since. Adams' highly distinctive and detailed artwork gained him considerable popularity amongst fans and editors, if not his inkers, and he's enjoyed being a cover artist, and the artist and sometime writer for miniseries, specials, and annuals. These days, in order to spare inkers the pain, his work is largely shot directly from pencils or inked by himself, with some exceptions. In his career, Arthur has worked on many titles, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X men, Godzilla, Vampirella, Rocketeer, the Authority, Danger Girl, Excalibur, and the Hulk, to name a few. He also launched his creator owned, written, and drawn series Monkeyman and O'Brian in 1993 with Dark Horse Comics "Legend" imprint. He also had a ten-issue run on an anthology series featuring the character Jonnie Future. The eight page Jonnie Future stories appeared in Tom Strong's Terrific Tales (2002–2004). More recently, Arthur has been working on Ultimate X for Marvel Comics with writer Jeph Loeb, and issue one launched in 2010. Adams has provided cover images for issues of the Justice League of America, Appleseed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Green Lantern, Hulk, Avengers, X Men, Red Sonja, Superman, Batman, and Vampirella, among other titles. In addition to his work in comic books, he has also produced popular commercial art, such as numerous illustrations for trading cards, posters, shirts, and various other comics-related merchandise. Outside the field of comics, he has also provided illustrations for various magazines, movies, video games, and worked in toy design, packaging art, and even a series of X-Men-themed Campbell Soup cans. Arthur lives in Northern California in the woods somewhere, like his hero, Bigfoot. When told he should have a "Web" site he went outside and tried to spin his own web. It was funny and sad all at once. We got him back inside and gave him his medicine.

Exhibitors

[To be updated......]

Where? When & how much?

09/09/2017 & 10/09/2017

Sands Expo and Convention Centre

3 Tier of Tickets to suit your needs

Floor Plans and Schedules

#IFTTT #Blogger

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