#captain blüd

[gotham-at-nightfall]

Nightwing #106

[hood-ex]

“But at the same time I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care for you concern” I’m sorry but I laughed out loud when I saw your tags. Lol so true so true. Speaking of which the release of that artwork today for the valentine special… it’s never gonna end. I’m not reading Nightwing right now but what’s going on with Bea? How is she being treated. Honestly the whole pirate queen is kinda weird. I loved her for just being the civilian who helped her community and had a normal job.

😂 Normally I love it when people express concern over my favorite character, but I cannot stand it when Babsgirl does it. I didn't even mind it when Post-Crisis Babs did it after she found out Dick had been abducted. It's literally just N52 and onward Babsgirl who makes me feel like the Grinch when he's trying to convince Cindy Lou that he's a psycho.

But no yeah so we find out that Bea was adopted by the Quartermaster, and the Quartermaster is the captain of a sea crew called The Crossed Keys. Heartless ends up killing the Quartermaster, so Bea ends up taking over as captain of the crew. We also find out that Bea has an asshole brother named Dirk (yes, Dirk, of all names), and her mission is to capture Dirk and incarcerate him in another country so that he doesn't take over The Crossed Keys and turn it into some villainous secret society. The problem is that some people on the crew don't see Bea as the rightful captain because she's adopted, so there are crew members who view Dirk as the rightful captain.

Oh, also, Bea's crew refer to her as Captain Blüd, and we find out that Bludhaven was named after her adopted family (because Blüd's haven), so her family has got roots to the founding of Bludhaven.

I mean, this backstory is absolutely contrived for this particular storyline, and TT could've made an entirely new character for this captain role instead of using Bea, so I don't think this backstory is necessary for Bea, but her involvement does make some kind of sense with the flashback that TT set during the amnesia arc.

I do think it's silly that Dick attributes her ability to own a bar at such a young age and her involvement with the homeless shelters/counsel meetings to her involvement with The Crossed Keys. He also attributes her bravery during the Court of Owls/Joker/KGBeast situations to her involvement with The Crossed Keys. Like... sure... I guess?

I don't know. I just enjoy the thought of her being brave in general and helping the people and community she loves. I don't know if I like that those characteristics and her success as a bar owner are specifically attributed to her work with The Crossed Keys. Of course, it's true that she could've become a more courageous person through her work with The Crossed Keys before she met Dick but ehhh.

All in all, at least Bea is being portrayed as a strong and courageous captain. Although, she does naturally feel a bit different since she's in a leadership role in this story. There's also no sense of jealousy from either Babs or Bea (except Bea definitely feels bitter toward Dick which is understandable), and I've noticed TT seems very careful about that even when writing scenes with both Babs and Kory. Even though I do find TT's lack of conflict between the protagonists to be a bit annoying, I'm grateful there's not some dumb cat fight situation going on like the one from Aquaman where Mera and Dolphin were fighting over Arthur.

[woowinnie]

Ahoy! Nightwing 106 be a new the hero in blue and back. We will be finding the Hold and what will be in Box 538. Oy who be Captain Blüd? And, do not be damn to get ye heart snatched by the Heartless 😱🫀

I got to enjoy reading the Seaport and see a bunch of doggies. I cannot wait for the next issue. 🫨

And, lastly, Midtown Comics had a sale on Nightwing floppies - purchased issues on the end of the Ric Grayson Era (the Joker War where he be Dickie Boy 😖) .

[whothefuckiscassandracain]

Robin Vol 4 139: Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog

We continue where we left off, with Batman laying out the elaborate scheme Tim pulled in order to fake having an uncle, including all the dozens of laws he broke along the way. Here is the kicker, though: instead of tearing him a new one, as any responsible adult would do, Bruce congratulates Tim, tells him he’s proud, and even offers to help him improve the scheme. WHAT THE FUCK? What is wrong with you, Bruce???

Bruce also informs him that, judging from Tim’s drawings, the man he is looking for is a folk tale hero called “The Veteran”, aka he doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, over in Blüdhaven, a number of dead bodies have been found, which looked to have been mauled by dogs. The killer, calling himself “Junkyard Dog” left a note behind saying he would stop the killings if the BPD delivers Batgirl and Robin. Tim returns to Blüd and gets in touch with the BPD. He informs them that Batgirl is unavailable, but agrees to meet.

While Alfred tears Bruce a new one for assuming his visitations to Mrs. Drake are of a romantic nature, Tim meets with BPD and gets coordinates for a meeting with Junkyard Dog. Tim leaves a clue for the Veteran to follow him, then meets up with the assassin, who is disappointed that Batgirl is not there. Tim’s explanation why is hilarious, though.

Tim is outnumbered, but thanks to the Captain America rip-off—I mean the Veteran and his crew, he manages to take down Junkyard Dog and his canine allies. The Veteran informs Robin that he and his crew already took out dozens more assassins sent after Robin and Batgirl and that he’s here for one purpose only: recruit Robin.

And here I thought this storyline couldn’t get any dumber.

[halysborn]

So what Bludhaven getting destroyed - like three times consecutively and becoming radioactive, quarantined and then a refugee camp during the Infinite Crisis thing, then with Captain Atom or whatever - retconned with the New 52? 'Cause if not... where does Dick work? I haven't read a lot of comics but this whole 'partial retcon' and alternate continuities thing messes me up a bit.

Yeah, Blüd hasn’t had a good run of it, really, if you think about it. SURE, the place might be best described as a HOLE, but it really has been screwed over one too many times. 

In terms of the New 52 and Blüdhaven, there really wasn’t ever any mention of it. I mean, the New 52 retconned a LOT of things, and APPARENTLY, Blüdhaven’s existence was one of these things. 

Kyle Higgins, who helmed Nightwing for it’s New 52 run himself confirmed that Nightwing would NEVER go to Blüd simply because it did not exist. 

To get around Dick’s omnipresent need to slip out from underneath Batman’s shadow, a need compounded in the New 52 run by his time spent AS Batman; they sent him to Chicago, instead. 

Which, I GUESS is meant to have the same effect; but personally, retcon of Blüdhaven’s existence seemed pretty senseless to me, and a large step back in terms of the development of Dick Grayson’s character. The entire point of Dick moving to a city as desolate and hopeless as Blüd was that he run himself hard up against his limits to try and clear it up. Be the sole savior in a den of darkness, you know? 

Blüdhaven is an important piece of Nightwing history, and should never have been stripped from him for the sake of REASONS. 

HOWEVER, Rebirth has seen a return of dear old Blüdhaven, and Dick’s ultimate settling there. Granted, I am not a fan of the new Nightwing run, but the return of the city and Dick’s separation from the Batfam to sort himself out and grow into his own role as a vigilante is a step in the right direction. 

Now, if they could actually let him do some VIGILANTE WORK and get off the WHO AM I schtick, I might be able to get on board with the entire thing. 

Ultimately, in answer to your question, Blüd itself was retconned until Rebirth, at which point it was not. 

[halysborn]

‘ if that’s what a hero is i’m glad i’m not one anymore. ’

« @sxmbol »« MEME || OPEN »

        “Ah, I was never really one for          working INSIDE the bounds of          the law, anyway.”

He might well be FLIPPANT, but he’s well aware of the situation’s GRAVITY. Here stands STEVE ROGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, currently on the run from every possible law enforcement agency IN America. A FUGITIVE. PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE. 

Not exactly the sort of place ANYONE would have thought he’d be. 

But Blüdhaven is safe enough, a lawless city brimming with corruption and crime - the sour stink of it’s rotting infrastructure dense enough to cover anything and anyone. At least for a while. 

Pushing open the door to his eastern most safehouse, he gestures for the fallen hero to enter. A quiet little apartment overlooking the harbor, lifted from the hands of a drug lord who now lives in permanency in a 6 by 8 cell up in Blackgate. It’s off the map and out of the way, a place for the Captain to gather his thoughts and plan his next move in relative peace. 

       “Should be safe enough here. I’ll         grab you some basic supplies,         but pretty sure Blüd won’t         recognize you. People here aren’t         really the NEWS-Y sort, you know?”

Lingering by the door, he lets Steve have free reign of the apartment, watching him move as he ponders the magnitude of recent events. A captain without a country and a country without a captain; a thousand reasons for each and every action taken but a tragedy nonetheless. Still, he can’t fault him for pushing back against the Accord. He can understand wanting to protect the people, he can understand wanting responsibility to be taken when and where required - but he cannot abide by the level of control it would give a single entity. SLAVING metahumans to a government body seemed but a step away from WEAPONIZING them, deploying them on battlefields around the globe. 

Soon enough, they were commodities, to be bought and traded and made and discarded. A slippery slope if ever he’s seen one. 

Not to mention the fact that Dick prefers to keep GRAYSON and NIGHTWING out of the same sentences. 

          “For what it’s worth, they can            use the word HERO for            whatever they want, doesn’t            change the fact that they’re            BASTARDIZING the concept.”

He leans against the door handle, taking a step back. 

          “You know the definition, Steve.            You’ve LIVED it.”