#comic book spoilers

[catastrophicalcat]

Black Canary: Best of the Best #3

[why-i-love-comics]

Red Hood: Outlaws #46 - "Like Son" (2023)

written by Patrick R. Young art by Nico Bascunan, Javier Rodriguez Vejares, & Nicole Bukowska

[yourgaydads]

dream: "lucienne, please call IT, the corinthian appears to have stopped working."

lucienne: "...you're IT."

[loopyarts]

God, he’s just so baby here. 😭 Chris Samnee never misses in giving me some of the most adorable baby Dick Grayson drawings ever.

Ha ha I love it when little Dick sasses his guardian/Bruce so much.

Bi disaster guardian/surrogate father and his little surrogate Ace/Demisexual son.

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to X-Force #5

Yup, someone dies.

MASSIVE spoilers (and controversial opinions) below.

It's Nori. There'd been so much foreshadowing in the comic - and so much fan discussion about the upcoming character death - that I had started believing it wouldn't be her. But no, it was always going to be her. When you consider the way she joined the team, her post-Krakoa trauma, her selflessness and her relationship with Forge, it makes complete sense.

That death scene goes hard. We actually see her burned-up corpse, we hear her farewell words - oof, my heart. Rest in power, little blue-haired hero.

This said, everyone attacking Geoff Thorne over Nori's death needs to calm down. I would understand this amount of upset if he'd done her dirty, but he really hasn't. He's consistently written her with respect, gave her as much spotlight as he could in a team book, and gave her a heroic death. Stories kill characters, people. That's just the way it is.

Also: Nori's coming back, maybe even in this run. We just don't know yet. And don't give me nonsense about the resurrection protocols being gone - mutants came back from the dead before Krakoa, they will continue to do so.

"Forge always has a plan." YES. Nothing to do with his power; he's just always up to something. That's Forge 101. Fuck me, it's so good to have a writer who understands him. And because Thorne has done his homework, I believe what we're witnessing is a typical Forge plan: something that he believes will benefit the greater good, but that is also misguided and full of hubris and will repeatedly backfire in his face.

Forge can be cold, but this is subzero. He loves Nori, he wouldn't act that way if he was fully himself. Something's going on. Someone needs to shake him real hard - beat him to a pulp, really - and realign his neurons. The two most qualified people to do that are showing up in the next issue, so I'm thinking this is what will happen.

Why does he take her gauntlets? It can't just be for the sake of getting his tech back. As i said he's not that cold, and also he can probably make those again in his sleep.

FORGE ALMOST KILLED AN ALT VERSION OF STORM IN COLD BLOOD. The man is not well, I'm telling you.

There's a theme of Forge hurting the women he cares about in this issue. Trust Sage to see the pattern and get the hell out before anything can happen- the hurting or the caring.

OK, now he's levitating with a big shiny triangle around his body. That's magic, isn't it? For a second I started thinking the Analog must be magic after all, but then I remembered Sage loves staring into it too, so it can't be. Mmm...still processing.

Thorne understands Forge's power better than any writer I've seen (yup that includes Claremont), and I appreciate that he mentions his need for materials to build anything. It should be obvious, but most writers have him make things out of thin air. There's only so much he can fit in that utility belt.

So many people, so many things! Poor Marcus To.

Marcus To is still doing excellent though. Do I need to tell you that Forge is hot? I think I've been clear on that already, but let me reiterate: FORGE IS HOT.

"Slippery as ice": oh, that made me hap-py. Such an evocative, accurate way of describing Sage.

No, Forge's power doesn't let him see what will happen. But you know whose power can see every eventuality? Sage's. This was highlighted in the very first issue, and Forge repeats the exact same words from this moment in this issue. THERE'S SOMETHING TO THAT.

I continue to dig the dynamic between Forge and Sage, curses and all. The little cerebral push and pull they have going on is very interesting.

Also continue to adore Tessa herself. The way she challenges Forge at every opportunity, the way she always asks the right questions *chef's kiss*. Everyone obviously wants to murder Forge on that last page, but I love that she's the one who tells him to go fuck himself, even though she's been the person closest to him on the team. She's my girl. I'm this close to opening a side blog entirely devoted to her awesomeness. (I see what Geoff Thorne means when he says she tries to steal the show. She does!)

OK, so, there's no way Forge has a team anymore at this point, so I assume the next issue will be a downtime one. I imagine he'll go home, have an existential crisis featuring his two exes (as you do) and then get back on the road. Or something? Also, the next issue has a Sage variant cover, which could imply she plays an important part in it. One can only hope. If it's the issue of Forge getting his ass kicked by awesome women, she should take part.

[monsieuroverlord]

Because I can't get this out of my head:

I mean, look, he picked flowers for her! And it was cathartic for him!!

And the visual of placing them around her head only like a crown is darkly beautiful to me.

Now, I used to be really into flower symbolism once upon a time, so each flower here can have a different meaning down to the color.

In this case, do I think the flowers were intentional here? No, not at all. They're kind of random actually. I think it's more to do with the fact he actually took the time to pick whatever was nearby in general in addition to digging the graves (Lord knows how long that took)

And also, from an art perspective, different shapes are visually interesting. I don't think it goes any deeper than that, but it's fun to speculate anyway.

Taking from the second panel here, the following flowers based on my educated guesses:

Red poppies: remembrance and hope for a peaceful future (for example, used as a symbol of remembrance for soldiers in Canada)

Pink poppies: compassion, kindness, sympathy, and platonic love

Yellow daisies: well wishes and joy -- can often be used in a "get well soon bouquet"

Pink amaryllis (Not 100% about this one, but close enough): determination and strength.

There's some others in near the crown that could maybe be a red rose and a pink daisy, but I can't really tell.

Like I said, kind of random. Aside from the red poppy, they're too happy -- feels out of place with the rest of the book. So I'm going with it's just a pretty visual and I'm overanalyzing, lol.

Now, if I really wanted to pick flowers with deeper meaning, what would I pick? Great question!

First things first, none of these flowers are native to North Carolina (Unless you want to argue that the "daisy" is really a false sunflower or something similar, but I digress.) But invasive species are a thing, so eh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here are my picks of flowers that have deeper meaning:

Magnolia: often associated with feminine energy, grace, and beauty; symbol of perseverance and determination. would be easy to find in North Carolina

Purple Hyacinth: deep sorrow and regret. a classic. Easily grown in North Carolina, but not native (Though the thought of Aki raiding someone's garden bed for this is mildly funny to me)

Lilies: now we got a couple choices here, as there's a few species native to swampland in the Carolinas. Lilies in general are a popular funeral flower, symbolizing peace and innocence restored to the soul of the departed. My personal favorite is the Carolina Lily, as it is very similar-looking to a classic tiger lily, which is my favorite flower

And finally, just so we are 4-for-4, the humble milkweed!

Symbolizes remembrance, dignity, and freedom:

[shironezuninja]

I’ll compare Marvel character names to 2013’s The Wolverine film, once I’ve completed watching the 2011 Wolverine anime series. The name, Hideki Kurohagi, has now been identified…as the villainous character voiced by The Banished One. Hurry up n’ kill him already, Wolvie. I just finished watching Episode 7 today.

[doomreed]

Reed’s expression 🤭🤭🤭

[emmadiamondqueen]

[current-comix]

[dietcokelimette]

From Batman: Legends of Gotham: looks like more and more DC artists support the White Streak™ nowadays. I'll allow it 💙 Plus, I enjoyed the story in #1 so far, so it's a win-win.

[catastrophicalcat]

But I did like this panel!

Detective Comics #1093

[yourgaydads]

Just a monster walking hand in hand with a toddler in an apocalyptic landscape

[leox-un]

valley of ashes

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to X-Force #2

60% Sage, 40% Forge, and 100% what I want from a comic.

SPOILER warning.

Sage finding the solution, Forge saving the day. I want to live in this issue.

There’s a conscious effort to remove the big hitters from the action to let the nerds take centre stage, and I am here for it. No offence to the Betsy and Rachel fans: it’s just not every day my darlings get to shine.

Absolutely loving the dynamic between Forge and Sage. It’s everything I wanted it to be, equal and open, if cautious. Here are 2 intellectual people functioning on the same level, and my, is it hot in here? I’ve been shipping them for a while, but they work so well together on the page, I feel vindicated.

Forge has plans for Sage. See: “nothing works without Tessa” in issue #1, and the way he rushes to save her before anyone else when the jet explodes in this issue. He needs her around. I just hope it's not because he plans on sacrificing her.

New pattern detected: every significant relationship Forge has with a woman starts with her insulting him. Weirdo man.

Time to remind the world of a general rule: SAGE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

Going into this, I was afraid Forge would become some sort of seer character, and that the tinkering would take a back seat. Boy, was I wrong. THERE IS SO MUCH TECH IN THIS. He’s still the master tinkerer I know and love, we just haven’t seen him in his workshop yet.

But we do see him abandon Sage in a hostile jungle to return to his workspace. WTH man, that's rude.

In case you're wondering: Forge is hot. Sizzling. The brains, the mystery, the shiny eyes…He can recruit me for a suicide mission any day.

I’m hoping we’ll get more concrete information about Sage’s goggles. I’m always annoyed by the glasses she wears – it’s never clear how they complement or enhance her power, or what they’re for exactly.

Did we see Forge fixing/improving Sage’s goggles by simply laying his hand on them? If yes, that’s new and that’s hot.

Forge staring into the Analog all day like it’s the ring of power or something. Hey, handsome! Look up and give us a smile!

Of course he stores the Analog in his leg. The ridiculousness of this man.

I actually cheered at the debunking of the “passive” mutation. Mutant nerds represent.

Things that happen when you write Sage in-character: she becomes SEX ON LEGS. Uber smart metaphor for autism who speaks in probabilities and foreign tongues, helloooooo

“Not ‘colonizer’. Mutant.” Ohhhh that’s a bit cringe.

Little Miss Tessa talking in the third person for some reason (there might be a reason...?)

Loving the research Thorne is putting into this. He obviously knows Wakanda, but I love that he can also justify his premise with actual back issues. Gotta love a nerd with receipts.

Speaking of receipts, I stan Sele's bluntness. 'Hi, Stranger who just saved us all. I know everything about you. Didn't you use to screw the queen? Now get off my lawn.'

“Do not finish that sentence”, lol

The duality between science and magic is obviously a crucial part of Forge’s character, even if he hasn’t touched magic in a long time now. He favours science again in this issue, but I’ll be interested to see if he can balance the two again in the future.

Keeping the Tank mystery going, I see.

Nori’s a precious jewel.

I really don’t mind the episodic approach so far, but it could get old.

The average comic book reader might want a bigger scale and more explosions. I don’t. I want more stories of Forge and Sage being their hot nerdy selves.

[monsieuroverlord]

X-Men #12 Cover Reveal -- featuring guest appearance by Alpha Flight!

written by Jed McKay, art by Netho Diaz, main cover by Ryan Stegman

"As a horde of the galaxy’s most fearsome killers descend upon the X-Men, help comes from an unexpected direction: across the border! ALPHA FLIGHT fly into action again – though at what price? And can even Canada’s hardiest heroes turn the tide?"

From November 18, 2024 X-Men Monday

source here

It's mostly a broad discussion with X-Men Editor Tom Brevoort about future plans, takeaways so far in regards to From The Ashes, sales, et cetera

For New Mutants fans, Cannonball and Sunspot are due to make an appearance within the next 6 months or so. Cypher, now Revelation, will have a crumb in the Timeslide mini, but won't have a stronger presence until 2025