#eddie is a dc fan and ESPECIALLY a batman fan i just know it

[amethyst-crowns]

Eddie ft. my closet

day 1: featuring @strangersatellites ‘s fit as Steve

[obscure-batfam-bracket]

Rules

We'll have a preliminary round to see whether characters are prominent, lesser known, or actually obscure members of the Batfam. (There's also an option to vote them out.) So don't worry about whether your character is actually obscure!

Feel free to submit characters or send asks requesting them, but please include images when you do. (Either official images or your own fanart; don't send other people's art.)

Due to the nature of this bracket, I don't know lots of characters, so please include their full names (if possible) and any prominent codenames they've used.

Feel free to submit propaganda for characters that have already been entered into the competition, too.

You can suggest any DC character, but they're probably going to get voted out if they're borderline. I do still want to see who you come up with.

I guess you can suggest characters that aren't from DC but I doubt they'll get much traction? (But I guess there are a few popular crossovers, so who knows.)

Don't be hostile to characters, even once they go head to head. This includes characters you dislike. This includes characters you think are not important.

Don't be hostile to each other, either. Don't accuse other people of not knowing/understanding the canon. People disagree on definitions and that's okay. That's why it's supposed to be fun to vote on these things.

This includes debating politics or fandom wank. This is for celebrating characters we like, not dunking on other people's blorbos, even the popular ones.

Please don't be hostile to writers/artists either. I like a lot of the ones you don't and vice versa, I'm sure.

You're allowed to vote Bruce out. I think it's funny, too.

Leave propaganda in the notes like you do for all brackets! I'd especially love to know how you define the Batfamily and why you do or don't include characters in it!

Who counts as a member of the Batfam? I don't know, that's why I'm running polls.

What counts as obscure? I don't know, that's why I'm running polls.

This is just a popularity contest! Fandom is stupid! Blahblahblah I already asked everyone not to send me mean messages. Go run your own bracket if you dislike how I run mine; I literally didn't even advertise this, I just tagged posts and fans of the various characters found me through that. I'm sure yours will do fine and you can include or not include whoever you want.

How do you choose images? I pick an image where the character is in costume (if possible) in a style that I like or find iconic. For submissions, I just use whatever picture the submitter included (sometimes cropped), unless I already had something specific in mind for that character.

But what about - Because it's the funniest picture in the entire history of DC.

I like one of your edits. Can I use it for...? Yeah! Have fun!

Why can't I vote Maps out? :(

Why can't I vote Eddie out? :)

For New Tumblr Users: you probably want an icon so people don't think you're a bot. (Anyone can use these.)

Submissions are closed unless you're resending something. I have a couple of times seen a notification pop up and disappear, which might be a glitch, or might mean that one of us has blocked each other on our mains. I don't block a lot of people, but tumblr is known to accidentally block people at random sometimes (or eat asks/submissions), and I don't know if that always even shows up on your blocklist. If you think this has happened, it's probably best to have a friend resubmit the character for you.

Characters with polls (from earliest to latest, including currently queued characters) under the cut:

Bruce Wayne (Batman) - Prominent

Dick Grayson (Robin, Nightwing) - Prominent

Jason Todd (Robin, Red Hood) - Prominent

Babs Gordon (Batgirl, Oracle) - Prominent

Tim Drake (Robin, Red Robin, Joker Junior) - Prominent

Steph Brown (Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl) - Prominent

Cass Cain (Batgirl, Orphan, Black Bat) - Prominent

Damian Wayne (Robin, Batman) - Prominent

Duke Thomas (Signal) - Lesser Known

Luke Fox (Batwing) - Lesser Known

Kate Kane (Batwoman) - Lesser Known

Alfred Pennyworth (Penny-one, Agent A, Voice, The Macaroni) - Prominent

Ace (the Bathound) - Prominent

Selina Kyle (Catwoman) - Prominent

Jim Gordon - Prominent

Lucius Fox - Lesser Known

Terry McGinnis (Batman) - Lesser Known

Bruce Wayne (the dog) - Prominent (no joke! most people didn't know him but that was the option that won!)

Eddie Flamingo - Obscure

Maps Mizoguchi - Obscure

Jace Fox (Batman) - Obscure

Tiff Fox (Robin, Batgirl) - Obscure

Helena Kyle (Huntress) - Obscure

Helena Bertinelli (Huntress) - Lesser Known

Renee Montoya (The Question) - Not

Earl Cooper (The Mechanic) - Not

Isabella Ortiz (Robina) - Obscure

Talia Al Ghul - Prominent

Olive Silverlock (Calamity II) - Not

Colton Rivera - Not

Darcy Thomas (Sparrow) - Obscure

Riko Sheridan (R-Iko) - Obscure

Andre Cipriani (Dre-B-Robbin) - Not

Daxton Chill (DaxAtax) - Not

Dana Winters - Not

Colin Wilkes (Abuse) - Obscure

Jarro - Obscure

Onyx Adams (Onyx) - Not

Gavin King (Orpheus) - Obscure

Harper Row (Bluebird) - Lesser Known

Harold Allnut - Obscure

Maya Ducard (Nobody) - Not

Carrie Kelley (Robin) - Lesser Known

Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) - Not

Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) - Not

Suren Darga - Not

Vanderveer Wayne (Robin) - Obscure

Matt McGinnis (Robin) - Obscure

Claire Clover (Gotham Girl) - Obscure

Bruce Wayne Junior (Batman Junior) - Obscure

Shondra Kinsolving - Not

Bao Pham (Clownhunter) - Not

Beth Kane (Red Alice) - Obscure

Ryan Wilder (Batwoman) - Obscure

Evan Blake (Wolf Spider) - Not

Mary Hamilton (Poison Ivy) - Not

Sophie Moore - Not

Sasha (Scarlet) - Not

Duela Dent (Joker's Daughter) - Not

Virgil Hawkins (Static) - Not

Alina Wayne - Obscure

Billy Batson (Captain Marvel, Shazam) - Not

Merissa Cooper (Bratgirl) - Obscure

Diego Perez (Chupacabra) - Not

Lucas LaPorte (Megabat) - Obscure

Aion - Obscure

Victoria October - Not

Ace (Royal Flush Gang) - Not

Dr. Leslie Thompkins - Lesser Known

Khoa Khan (Ghostmaker) - Obscure

Phantom-One - Not

Stu HBO Titans - Not

Lily HBO Titans - Not

Marcus Shugel-Shen (Monkey Prince) - Not

Tyler (Blue Hood) - Obscure

Kyle Mizoguchi - Not

Alysia Yeoh (Batgirl) - Obscure

Mr. Dhaliwal - Not

Melanie Walker (Ten of Hearts) - Not

Elainna Grayson (Batwoman) - Obscure

Nissa (Batgirl) - Obscure

Bernard Dowd - Not

Hank Clover (Gotham) - Not

Haly (Bitewing) - Obscure

Detective Williams - Not

Calvin Brooks - Not

Michael Carter (Booster Gold) - Not

Squeak - Not

Mary Kowalski (Miracle Molly) - Not

Dog - Obscure

Gan (Robin) - Obscure

Jackie Napier - Not

Bryce Napier - Not

Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) - Obscure

Goliath (the Bat-Dragon) - Obscure

Wendy Harris (Proxy)

Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (Misfit)

Bat-Mite

Nosyarg Kcid (Larry)

Dyxl (Nite-Mite)

Kyle Selinas_450 (Catboi)

Gestalt

Beam Boonma

Warren McGinnis

Mary McGinnis

Dana Tan

Max Gibson

Blade Sommer

[about-faces]

The director Joel Schumacher has passed away, and everyone's reactions have boiled down to two topics: 1.) "He was the guy who made the bad Batman films," and 2.) "Hey, he did lots of great films besides the bad Batman films!"

Thing is... I get it. I remember being a teenage comic fan in the 90's. Not just any comics: especially Batman! But ESPECIALLY Bart especially Two-Face. I remember how "Joel Schumacher" was a name that could invoke white-hot rage in myself and everyone in the fandom. He was our modern equivalent of Dr. Fredrick Wertham, the boogyman who had (far as we were concerned) single-handedly destroyed the mainstream credibility of superheroes.

Look at that picture, and try to imagine that this was the face so loathed and mocked by Batman fanboys in the 90′s.

Never mind that Schumacher didn't WRITE the Batman films. The main credit for that goes to Akiva Goldsman, who has gone on to win an Oscar and continues to find A-list success despite ruining other geek properties like Jonah Hex and Dark Tower. Never mind that Schumacher was at the mercy of producers who wanted the movies to be nothing more than merchandise machines and toy commercials. No, Schumacher was the only name associated with the films, and he was cast at the villain.

The fact that he was openly gay played no small part in making him an easy target.

One year after the disastrous release of the infamous Batman & Robin, the beloved fan-favorite cartoon Batman: The Animated Series (then rebranded as The New Batman Adventures on the WB network) produced an episode that featured a pointed jab at Schumacher. The episode was titled "Legends of the Dark Knight," a reworking of a classic 70's Batman tale where a group of kids share their own ideas of what the mysterious Batman is really like.

Halfway through the episode, the kids are overheard by another kid, who shares his own ideas about Batman. The kid, whose name is Joel, has long dirty-blond hair, and works in front of a store which bear the sign "Shoemaker," despite clearly being a department store. He waxes dreamily about the reasons he loves Batman: "All those muscles, the tight rubber armor and that flashy car. I heard it can drive up walls!"

This last line--a reference to a silly bit in Batman Forever--he says as he flamboyantly tosses a pink fur stole around his neck. To drive home the joke, one of the kids dismisses, "Yeah, sure, Joel."

At the time, it seemed like a cathartic joke for us REAL Batman fans. Now, it's clearly just cheap and gross. Instead of any actual criticism about the films, Joel Schumacher was just seen--even if just subconsciously--as the fruit who ruined Batman.

Over time, the hatred for Schumacher lessened. Starting with Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man, on through to Batman Begins, Iron Man, and onward, superhero movies became huge mainstream successes, with greater fidelity to the source material than most adaptations we saw up to the time that Schumacher "killed" the superhero movie. There was no point in hating him anymore, if there ever was (again, Goldsman more deserves that ire, if you're gonna be angry about anyone. Why does he still get work?! WHY IS HE NOW WRITING FOR STAR TREK?!?!).

But even still, especially among Millennial and Gen-X fans, Schumacher is still--at best--considered a low point for fandom. Even though the same generations have come to appreciate and love some of his other films, such as The Lost Boys, Phone Booth, and the chillingly-prescient Falling Down, there's still this need for people to dismiss the Batman films as embarrassments that are best forgotten in favor of Schumacher's better films. And if they're to be remembered at all, it's to trash them all over again in a tone suggesting that the films are objectively, irredeemably bad.

Except they're not. Oh sure, if you go in looking for a grim and gritty capital-M "Mature" take on Batman, of course you'll hate them, just like you probably also hate the Adam West Batman show. Remember, that show also used to be hated by decades of Batman fans because of how it didn't take the comics seriously.

... except it did. The show was VERY faithful to the Batman comics of the 50's, which often out-weirded and out-sillied its TV counterpart. If anything, the show made some of those stories even more entertaining with camp value and jokes that added different levels of enjoyment to the adults watching. Comic fans resented how Batman became a pop culture joke, and increasingly fought against anything that was colorful and campy (which makes me wonder if this might also be related to latent homophobia). Whether or not they admitted/realized it, the Batman fans of the 70's and 80's carried a chip on their shoulder about a show that DARED to make Batman FUN.

And really... how is that any different than Schumacher's two films?

You don't have to agree, but I think Schumacher's films are fun. I think Batman Forever is highly entertaining, that Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey are bringing their hammy A-games as much respected actors like Burgess Meredith and Caesar Romero brought to their roles. Same goes for Arnold and especially Uma in Batman and Robin. They KNOW what movies they're in, and they're all having a blast.

(How many of us remember the exact line Eddie says at this moment? I bet you probably do too, which should tell you something about how memorable this movie is)

Now, BF and particularly B&A are by no means GOOD movies, but you can't tell me that you couldn't have a blast putting the latter on at a party and riffing it with friends. It's not a pretentious, ponderous, self-serious slog like, say, the shit Zack Snyder cranked out (apologies to the one or two cool Snyder fans here, I just find his films interminable). Even besides the many things I could say to defend Schumacher's Batman films (that's a whole other essay), you can't say they were boring. They were entertaining, even if on a level of making fun of the film, and that is NOT as easy as it looks.

Let me put it to you this way: Batman Forever has, objectively, one of the worst takes on Two-Face I've ever seen. He's one-note, he's kind of a rehash of Nicholson's Joker, he gets completely overshadowed by the Riddler, he gets killed by Batman in a way that completely betrays the whole “DON’T KILL HARVEY” arc with Robin, and worst of all, he CHEATS on the coin toss. That alone would be enough for me to condemn this depiction in any other Two-Face story.

And yet, even I--the most passionate, opinionated, and picky Two-Face fan you will EVER know--still have a soft spot for Tommy Lee Jones' take on ol' Harv. He’s just too fun, too flamboyant, too damn extra not to love. If only all bad takes on Two-Face could be this fun!

But that’s the thing: it’s not because the script was good. Oh god no. I've read the script, and if it were put on the page like a comic, I would have hated it just like any other bad Two-Face comic. I have to imagine that, as director, Joel Schumacher deserves the bulk of the credit for pushing the restrained and laconic Tommy Lee Jones into that oversized performance, and making it a delight to watch despite everything it does wrong.

I'm rare for my generation to have learned how to stop worrying and love Schumacher's Batman. But the younger generation, the up-and-coming Gen-Zs getting into Batman, don't share the same grudges we did. There's a genuine, shame-free enjoyment of those films among The Kids, many of whom are LGBTQA+, who love the jokes, the silliness, the camp, the Freeze puns, the swag of Uma Thurman, and the homoerotic subtext between Two-Face and the Riddler. Maybe it's just a reaction to so much GRIM, SERIOUS shit that DC and their fanboys are trying desperately to push even today.

But comics--especially Batman--have a long history of colorful, stupid, fun shit. Schumacher's films carried on in that tradition, and they should be appreciated on their own merits by those of us who aren't limited by narrow ideas of what Batman "should" be, and who still remember how to have fun.

Schumacher's Batman films should no longer be seen as embarrassments. They didn't ruin superheroes. They didn't ruin Batman. They didn't even ruin Two-Face. Nor should they be disregarded in favor of Falling Down, like losers in a respectability competition. They're fun. They're entertaining. And they didn't pretend to be anything else.

And if you still think they're bad... I mean, objectively, you're not wrong! But be mindful of the reasons WHY you think they're bad, because on another subjective level, you may not be right either. And it's certainly not worth holding a geek-grudge over after twenty-five years.

[thecomicsnexus]

BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY BATMAN #426-429 DECEMBER 1988 - JANUARY 1989 BY JIM STARLIN, JIM APARO, MIKE DECARLO, ADRIENNE ROY, MIKE MIGNOLA, ANTHONY TOLLIN AND OVER 10,000 PHONE CALLS.

Jason Todd finds out his biological mother may still be alive and he discovers there are three possible women that could be his mother. He then decides to meet each other to find out which one is the one. But at the same time, the Joker escapes Arkham and decides to make some quick money by dealing with terrorists. Both missions will collide into each other and change Batman’s life forever.

SCORE: 8

This story was a big deal when it came out, and for Batman fans, it still is. But it has been cheapened by DC’s decision to bring the character back from the dead. I assume this is not spoiler, as it is in the covers.

I will talk more about the plot in the spoiler section. I feel like in general there is a lot of lazy writing in this story. I think the idea was good, but there are many things in the story that didn’t need to be this way. I would have just removed everything about the middle east, and I would also tried to find an alternative to yet another “diplomatic immunity” plot.

Jim Aparo did his usual iconic style here, but that also means that many characters look too much alike, which is a shame. Especially when Jason doesn’t really look like a teenager.

So, something I can discuss outside of the spoiler section, is the whole gimmick of this story. The phone number vote.

From Wikipedia:

Jason Todd, the second character to take the Robin persona, was introduced in Batman #357 (March 1983). He was initially depicted with a personality and origin identical to that of predecessor Dick Grayson. However, the history-altering events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Batman: Year One allowed editor Dennis O'Neil, writer Max Allan Collins, and artist Chris Warner to revise his backstory and personality. The changes caused Todd to grow increasingly unpopular with fans during this period; unlike the cheery and optimistic Grayson, this new characterization of Todd was depicted as foul-mouthed, impulsive, and bad-tempered.

Aware of Todd's unpopularity, O'Neil and writer Jim Starlin began discussing ways to retire the character, and before long, began to consider killing him altogether. During an editorial retreat, O'Neil recalled the success of a 1982 segment of Saturday Night Live, in which Eddie Murphy encouraged viewers to call the show if they wanted him to boil Larry the Lobster on air. O'Neil proposed a similar idea involving Todd to publisher Jenette Kahn, who liked the idea. O'Neil would later state:

We didn't want to waste it on anything minor. Whether Firestorm's boots should be red or yellow ... This had to be important. Life or death stuff.

— Dennis O'Neil

On the back of Batman #427, an advertisement was run featuring Batman carrying a severely wounded Robin. In the ad, readers were warned that Robin would die of his injuries "because the Joker wants revenge", but that they could "prevent it with a telephone call". Two 900 numbers were given: one (1-(900) 720-2660) which would let Robin live, and another (1-(900) 720-2666) which would cause him to die. The numbers were active for 36 hours, beginning on September 15, 1988, at 8 A.M. EST and ending on September 16, 1988, at 8 P.M. EST. Readers were charged 50 cents per call. Approximately 10,614 votes were cast during this period. When tallied, the final results were extremely narrow, with 5,343 votes in favor of Jason's death over 5,271 for his survival—a margin of just 72 votes. O'Neil would later admit to having voted in Todd's favor, as he felt that Batman was incomplete without Robin and feared killing Todd would lead to backlash.

"A Death in the Family" was written by Starlin. The artwork was illustrated by Jim Aparo, inked by Mike DeCarlo, and colored by Adrienne Roy. John Costanza handled the lettering, and Mike Mignola designed each issue's cover. The four-part story line began in Batman #426 (December 1988), and concluded in Batman #429 (January 1989). Two versions of issue #428 were prepared: one that would be used if readers voted in favor of Todd's survival, and another to be used if he was to be killed; the latter version ended up being used. The story line was later collected in trade paperback and hardcover form as Batman: A Death in the Family after its conclusion.

When it was first released, "A Death in the Family" generated massive media coverage and backlash over the decision to kill Robin, a beloved comic book character and pop icon. Newspapers such as USA Today and Reuters published articles about it, the latter of which would state that "a group of comic book artists and writers has succeeded in doing what the most fiendish minds of the century... have failed to accomplish". Frank Miller, author of The Dark Knight Returns (1986), was highly critical of the story, describing the "toll-free" number voting as "the most cynical thing [DC] has ever done". O'Neil and his team were caught off-guard by the amount of attention the story drew; according to him, it lasted four straight days, and was unlike anything the team had previously experienced. The story line was a bestseller in both the standard single-issue and trade paperback format.

In retrospect, Hilary Goldstein of IGN called "A Death in the Family" one of the best Batman graphic novels ever written. He described the story as "worth the price of admission", and considered letting readers vote on Todd's fate to be one of DC's strongest decisions. Both Goldstein and NPR contributor Glen Weldon agreed with the choice of killing Todd, as both felt the character was poorly developed and inferior to Grayson. Screen Rant praised Aparo's cover for the collected version, describing it as "iconic" and perfect for showing such a grim, sad moment.

From DC in the 80s:

For Batman, we did Death in the Family -- which was their best-selling book that year -- but it turns out they had all these licensing (pajamas, lunch boxes, and stuff like that) and the licensing department was very mad, everybody got mad, and they needed somebody to blame -- so I got blamed. And within 3 months all of my work dried up - Jim Starlin

Spoilers after the break...

So one of the reason I say there was too much lazy writing in this story, has to do with all the coincidences. The Joker just happens to be in the same places as two of the possible mothers. And not only that, Joker even knew Sheila when she lost her license for doing abortions. I understand why Sheila betrays Jason (she was also taking money from the poor in Ethiopia and didn’t want any problems with the law), but it was never explained how the Joker and Sheila knew each other.

There goes mother of the year!

To be honest, while Jason’s death was brutal, I always felt it was the right thing. Being Robin was child endangerment, Starlin was right in that. But it also seems like Jason magically became Robin, without much thought to it. I tolerate the pre-crisis version more than this one, but the people to blame for how he ended up being... are Max Allan Collins and Jim Starlin.

There were two versions of issue #428, and the material ended up being used for Batman Annual #25 (Infinite Crisis tie-in... more lazy writing, by the way).

But to me the idea of using diplomatic immunity once again was ridiculous, and just the idea that the Joker would become ambassador and kill everyone in the council... while representing Iran... is also quite stupid, because it would be considered an act of war on all other countries.

There is also another idea happening in the last issue. That the Joker knows who Batman is. This would make sense as it was too much of a coincidence that Jason died in that same explosion (Batman even mentions Jason to the Joker). The issue may have been edited to remove all references from the Joker that he knows who Batman is, you can read more about it here.

Both Joker and Robin would drop off the radar for an entire year, a year that was quite important for the Joker, as the Batman Motion Picture created bat-mania around the world. In fact, I am lying, the Robin concept wouldn’t take long to start resurfacing (in just a few months we would have Batman: Year Three). But the consequences of this story were felt for years, until people at DC started basically publishing fan fiction, with reality-punching Superboy prime.

If I had to vote, I would vote for Jason to die. Mostly because I know now, how much potential him dying gave to the batman and robin mythos. Having that dead Robin there is a reminder that what they do is dangerous and has no place for amateurs. I wouldn’t vote for Jason to die again now, as it wouldn’t mean a thing. Like death in comics.

[loopy777]

whats your thoughts on Venom, the green goblin and doctor octopus, the three characters who are generally held up as spidermans archenemies? which one do you think has the best potential as spidermans definite enemy if they were written perfectly, and which series do you think had the best portrayal of each of them respectively?

If I had to crown THE Spider-Man Archnemesis, I would have to give it to Green Goblin. Doc Ock is the oldest, and the first to both defeat Spider-Man and make him consider quitting, but ultimately Norman has taken more from Spidey, gotten more personal in their conflict, and created more of a legacy for the mythos. Sorry, Otto.

That said, I don’t really like designating a single archnemesis for Spidey because Norman hasn’t completely dominated the field. Ock runs the Sinister Six, Spidey’s big Villain Team and one of the best Villain Teams in all of superhero comics. (And let’s face it, the Legion of Doom is bigger only because DC characters got more media exposure for a long time and Superman’s villains are so good that Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Bizarro lift up the likes of Solomon Grundy and Cheetah when they’re all on a team together.) Venom has the whole Evil Knockoff thing going and a unique and terrifying ‘stalker’ gimmick that puts him in a special class, not to mention how he directly overpowers or counters all Spidey’s abilities.

And, honestly, the whole ‘Goblin’ gimmick is kind of arbitrary and has nothing to do with spiders. Clowns and bats don’t have a direct relation, but at least they’re opposites in terms of color and purpose, so Batman and Joker kind of seem like twisted rivals. Goblins and spiders are only linked in that they’re both kind of Halloweeny, but Spider-Man has little to do with Halloween or spooky stuff, anyway. But I better cut this line of thought off before I start explaining how Spider-Man shouldn’t be Spider-Man at all and him being Frog-Man would make just as much sense and then we wouldn’t have to deal with pictures of icky spiders in all Spider-Man media.

But yeah, Norman Osborne is still indisputably a cut above the others.

Ock is really just a typical mad scientist with a robot-arm gimmick that allows him to directly fight with Spider-man. He’s well-written and constructed, granted, and I love how his arrogance contrasts with Peter’s humility, how they’re such opposites in terms of empathy, and how different their paths become after science-based accidents that granted them unusual powers. Bendis’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” comics nicely honed in on this theme, and I also appreciate how both Stan Lee’s prose story in the unrelated “Ultimate Spider-Man” short story collection (...it’s a title Marvel loves to reuse for some reason) and John Byrne’s attempted origin revision linked the irradiated spider to the explosion that created Ock. All great villains should be dark reflections of their heroes, but while Ock has gotten some great stories that make him a top-tier villain, he still offers little storytelling potential beyond his mad scientist archetype. Now, I know what comics-readers are thinking at this point: Yes, I did read the original “Superior Spider-Man” run and I think there’s some real potential there, but honestly I feel like it was under-served by Dan Slott’s pacing and foibles. And I haven’t seen an adaptation of it yet that I think really fulfills the possibilities. But the idea is great, so maybe Otto will get his chance to level up his rivalry with Spider-Man.

Venom’s problem is that he’s a little too focused on his revenge on Spider-Man. The stories where he stalks Spidey, wandering into Peter’s life to fold laundry with Aunt May, popping up to have a surprise tussle with Spidey just to throw him off-balance, etc- Those are great and make Venom seem super-scary, especially since Spidey can’t beat Venom in a fight without some kind of edge or gimmick. But all Venom wants is revenge on Spidey, so after he’s failed a few times to get it, what do you do with the character? He’s not scary if he keeps failing. The original idea was to have the symbiote pass on from Eddie Brock and take on other hosts, and that might have opened the door for some new kinds of stories. I know this was eventually implemented 20 years later, with the original Scorpion getting to be Venom for a while, and symbiotes becoming a whole Thing with a bunch in various colors, but I didn’t read any of those stories and they don’t seem to have left much impression on the general Spider-Man fandom. Ultimately, it was chosen to ‘redeem’ Eddie Brock and make Venom into an “anti-hero” (for a definition of the term that means “protagonist who kills people but doesn’t have to worry about that whole ‘consistently laid low by their fatal flaw’ thing”) which did sell a bunch of comics in the 90′s and set up some tension-filled team-ups with Spidey. Nice idea, if implemented in a really shaggy way, but -- again -- what do you do after that? Venom/Eddie isn’t really a compelling lead who you can keep telling stories about. (Yes, I saw the Venom movie. It has like two minutes of amusing material and two hours of boring dreck, and none of it is memorable.) And making him evil again runs into the same problem as having left him evil in the first place. Venom was a good idea whose time came and went, and perhaps someone will find a way to make him fresh again. But until then, I think he gets by more on his visuals than anything.

The Green Goblin, in contrast, has a lot going for him in terms of storytelling potential. He’s a mad scientist, a wanna-be crime boss, a dark shadow of his civilian identity looking for revenge and/or illicit thrills, and personally has that ongoing personal hatred/rivalry for Spider-Man. That offers a whole bunch of storytelling paths, all of which have been taken and proven fruitful over the years. And that’s without getting into how Norman Osborne is the father of Peter’s best friend Harry, a flawed father figure to Peter in his own right, a ruthless millionaire industrialist before Lex Luthor gave it a try, and another dark reflection of the paths Peter could have taken in both aspects of his life. Even when Norman is dead, his legacy continued to be felt for 20-odd years with how Harry fell from grace. You can even link Norman to his spin-off the Hobgoblin; just Norman’s equipment getting passed on created another enduring villain. And, again, that’s without even looking at Norman’s murder of the one-time romantic lead Gwen Stacy being the event that ended the Silver Age of comics. Norman Osborne is just plain a truly great, versatile villainous character who has managed, despite being almost 60 years old, to still maintain an “Oh, no!” impact among Spidey fans when he shows up. Sure, there have been bad stories about him, and some over-exposure at times, but that hasn’t diminished his impact or ongoing potential.

As for portrayals, I’m overall a fan of the 90′s animated series and their takes. That show really petered out after a few seasons, but it introduced Ock with a bang and got a lot of mileage out of him. Venom got to do the whole scary stalker thing, and then the show put him on a shelf until his ‘redeeming’ death to avoid over-exposure, so that worked out fairly well. And while it’s odd how Kingpin and Hobgoblin took over most of the Green Goblin’s role in Spider-Man’s stories, what we did get of Norman was good, and the performance that went into the Green Goblin really sold the weird psychology of the character. Those three villains definitely got a chance to shine in this series, even if Green Goblin was under-used.

I also think the Sam Raimi movies overall did a good job. Green Goblin was perfect- aside from the costume. Willem Dafoe utterly nailed every aspect of the character, right down to the body language, and the movie did a good job condensing his rivalry with Spider-Man into a single movie. As for Doctor Octopus, I’m of two minds about how he got a sympathetic backstory and characterization. On the one hand, it made him a more compelling character and Alfred Molina danced nicely between the human side and the villainous side. On the other hand, though, Ock has classically never really been sympathetic; he’s an utter monster in behavior, and the insertions of bullying in his backstory have never changed that. Venom is the only one I think didn’t really get a chance in these movies; I like this version of Eddie Brock (really!), but he barely got an opportunity to be Venom and you can tell no aspect of the character really inspired the storytellers.

Spectacular Spider-Man, naturally, did a good job. I think this version of Green Goblin is the best of them all; I even got my DVD set signed by Steve Blum! Ock was also done well, getting to be the Master Planner as well as leader of the Sinister Six, although I don’t think I quite buy the timidity they gave the character before the accident. Similarly, I didn’t buy Eddie’s fall from grace as Peter’s best friend; one episode he’s upset because Peter’s blowing him off for hanging out, and the next episode he’s nearly killing Mary Jane just to mess with Peter. You might as well just start with Eddie being a monster, like the Raimi movie did.

I also think Bendis’s Ultimate comics did well by all three characters. I’m not really a fan of Goblin-Hulk, but Norman’s impact was fully in effect (even if we had yet another toothless homage to Gwen Stacey’s death with Mary Jane getting thrown off a bridge and surviving), and they fit him well into the Super-Soldier Arms Race aspect of the setting. Ock got some really great use, including an arc of character development and ‘redemption’ that still managed to allow him to be an arrogant monster to the end. Venom was under-used, but this might be the best ever interpretation of Eddie Brock and obviously inspired the Raimi version, and I love the origin of the symbiote here and how it tied to Peter’s father. My only complaint is that after that first great story, Bendis didn’t seem to quite know what to do with Venom; the video game and its comic adaptation seemed to be setting him up for more, but that didn’t come to anything.

So, those are my thoughts. As a Spider-Man fan, I think I’m spoiled for choice in picking an achnemesis. Despite the little flaws that keep Ock and Venom from topping the Green Goblin, they’re still heavy-hitters as comic book villains and could run the game in the rogues gallery of most other superheroes. But Spidey has one of the best sets of villains in the business, so that’s not surprising.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1315

Monday, March 1, 2021

 Hi folks. Long time no write.

 I have been mostly isolating at home during the pandemic trying to keep myself and my family safe from Covid-19. I do go out and walk around our neighbourhood to get fresh air and exercise. I don't wear a mask outdoors like I do when I absolutely have to go into somewhere other people will be, like the drug store or my dentist's office. I get anxious when people come too close to me masked or not, but I also get angry when there is plenty of space to keep a safe distance and people don't move away. I have verbally admonished someone for being too close but have decided that I will keep my big mouth shut from now on and just get away from them myself. I don't know if I can keep my trap shut if I was confronted by the guy my brother did at work. This young guy came into the liquor store wearing a mask with a swastika on it. That would make me very angry. Angry enough to confront him? I don't know. I would like to be brave enough to ask him "are you for real with that mask?". Or "are you a Nazi?"…"you know the Nazis lost, right?". My brother would not serve him. It could have been worse though. That racist could have gone through his check-out without that ugly symbol on his mask and he wouldn't have known he was serving a bigot. I think it's better when you see them coming.

 My thanks to Doug for lending me his comic books to read.

 Daredevil #26 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) with Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This book may have been put into Doug's sub my mistake but it gave me a chance to catch up with what's happening with the Man Without Fear. This is part 1 of "The Black Kitchen" which ties into Marvel's "King in Black" mega event. Knull is now on Earth and is wreaking havoc. Kinda reminds me of the "Maximum Carnage" event back when I was reading on the regular. Here we have Venom symbiotes running amok in Hell's Kitchen. What I found interesting was the current situations of the main characters. Matt is in prison after being convicted of murder. He can still wear his mask to conceal his secret identity inside. Not true to life but hey, it's comic books. Elektra is now protecting Matt's turf as Daredevil and she's got super scary horns. Wilson Fisk is still mayor with Typhoid Mary as his head of security now. The big shocking ending is that symbiotes get into the prison and one bonds with Matt. Another symbiote bonds with Mary and she attacks Elektra. This sets up overwhelming odds for the good guys as any good comic book will do. Stay tuned.

 Action Comics #1028 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Bendis closes out his run on this title with so much schmaltz you're going to need a shovel to get through it. Jimmy Olsen is the new owner of the Daily Planet. What the nique? Conner Kent goes to the farm team. Jonathan Kent goes back to the future and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I don't know if a new art team is going to come on board but I sure hope so.

 Detective Comics #1033 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Dave McCaig (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The art on the first page with Batman and Robin tumbling in the foreground with flashback panels behind gave me goosebumps. It's why I will always love reading comic books. Batman beats Hush by giving him a good old fashioned beat down. The rest of the Bat Family is saved and Bruce can take a breather. Now that the Wayne fortune is lost to him I'm curious to see where Bruce ends up after he moves out of the mansion.

 Batman/Catwoman #2 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The jumping back and forth in time is a little confusing for me but I really like this Black Label story. The relationship between these lovers is more than complicated especially where the Joker is involved.

 DC kicks off 2021 with a plethora of comic books taking their characters 10 years into the future with their "Future State" event. Doug decided to check out the following.

 Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Steve Pugh (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). The story opens with a meeting of the United Planets inner circle. They are debating the inclusion of the planet Lexor which is lorded over by Lex Luthor, the supreme anal pore that we all know and loathe. Lois Lane is Earth's representative and she votes to reject Lexor's membership until Superman lobbies to allow his arch foe's planet to join so that the poor inhabitants don't suffer from Lex's villainous ways. It's a morality tale of Unity, Progress and Compassion.

 Future State: Robin Eternal #1 - Meghan Fitzmartin (writer) Eddy Barrows (pencils) Eber Ferreira (inks) Adriano Lucas (colours) Pat Brosseau (letters). In this future Gotham City the Bat Family has been decimated. Bruce is dead, Dick is in Arkham and Jason now works for the law enforcement agency that killed Batman. No mention of where Damian is. I have a feeling that the son of Bruce will show up later as a big surprise. Tim's the last man standing and he's vowed to continue the tradition of keeping Gotham safe. Too bad he doesn't live long fighting against the super cybers. The last panel reveals why this book is called Robin Eternal. Hint: the Lazarus Pits are involved.

 Superman: Worlds of War #1 -  This $7.99 US anthology of four stories starts off on Earth and ends up on Warworld.

 "The Many Lives of Clark Kent" by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (writer) Mikel Janin (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) is my favourite one simply because I loved the art so much. This is where we find out why Superman is missing from Earth.

 "Time and Effect" by Brandon Easton (writer) Valentine De Landro (art) Marissa Louise (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) features the new Mister Miracle poking around Warworld. Why? We don't know. Guess we'll find out if we keep reading.

 "Midnighter: Future State" by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad (writers) Gleb Melnikov (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Travis Lanham (letters) has Midnighter running around creating a bloody mess everywhere. It could have just as easily been Lobo or Wolverine in this piece.

 Finally "Do Not Go Gently" by Jeremy Adams (writer) Siyam Oum (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters) features the new Black Racer trying to free the slave labour on Warworld. Unless you're a Jack Kirby Forever People fan you wouldn't care.

 As a fan of Mikel Janin's art I would have felt ripped off having to pay for the three fillers in this comic book just to have his work in my collection.

 Future State: Catwoman #1 - Ram V (writer) Otto Schmidt (art) Tom Napolitano (letters). Selina is still Catwoman ten years down the line as she attempts to rescue Gotham City citizens being transported to a reformatory by train. Similarities to Nazi behaviour is an easy way to make the bad guys evil. All the previous Batman related Future State books say that Batman is dead but this one has a surprise at the end. Hey, it's Bruce in shackles.

 Future State: Dark Detective #1 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This title blows the whole Bruce/Batman is dead plot device clear out of the water. I can see why the bad guys controlling Gotham City wants the populace to think that, but how are they going to keep up the charade when Batman is clearly running around fighting crime? I like that Batman has lost the cape in this one. This $5.99 US book has a back-up story by Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Carmine Di Giandomenico (art) Antonio Fabela (colours) & AndWorld Design (letters) that I liked even more than the feature. It follows Cole Cash AKA Grifter as he tries to dodge the law. He gets arrested and meets up with Luke Fox AKA Batwing and a whole lot of fun ensues. The Huntress showing up at the end makes this more appealing.

 Future State: Dark Detective #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This issue explains how Bruce Wayne/Batman "dies" and how Bruce continues to fight crime. I was disappointed that the back-up story didn't follow up on Grifter and Huntress but was a different story about Jason Todd/the Red Hood now working for the bad guys as a bounty hunter capturing masked vigilantes. It starts with him bringing in the Vigilante and ends with him teaming up with a ruthless Ravager to stop an old school Red Hood gang leader stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Rose has no qualms about killing their bounties but Jason brings them in alive, that's why their nickname is "dead or alive". Har. I like Jason's Akira bike.

[davidmann95]

With Action Comics #1000 on the horizon after these upcoming issues guest starring Booster Gold and the Titans of Tomorrow, what are your hopes and speculation about it?

An opportunity for me to simultaneously get hyped about Superman in spite of my better judgement AND almost falling-apart-at-the-seams bitter about almost every aspect of how those in charge of him are handling him? If nothing else, Action Comics #1000 is already a perfect encapsulation of the experience of being a fan of this character.

So look: for the most part, this is going to be a bad comic book. I would not go so far as to say that I’ve made peace with this, but I have accepted it as essentially inevitable. Jurgens and Tomasi have long since demonstrated their utter lack of facility, and Johns and Donner jerking off Christopher Reeve’s ghost for a few more pages, while surely preferable to whatever final Superman Vs. Jor-El showdown we’ll get in the main feature (where we’ll presumably learn how they’ll shuffle away this whole incident into a corner never to be spoken of again, i.e. it’s an imposter, some kind of Manhattan-produced homunculus, he’s sent back to the moment of Krypton’s death, whatever), isn’t exactly anything to write home about either. 

There’s likely other unannounced backup features to come, but given Superman editorial’s incompetency, I doubt they’ll bother going out of their way to recruit much in the way of top talent for this, meaning it’s going to come down to who actively wants the gig that DC’s still on good terms with; I don’t know if Waid or Millar for instance are tight enough with DC at the moment to get it even though they’d surely want it, and while DC’s coaxing Morrison into some main-line projects again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt he’s already said everything he could say here elsewhere. Tom King and Mitch Gerads doing something is a maybe since they’ve said they’ll do something during Mister Miracle’s skip month, but that’s in February while this is in March so for all I know the behind-the-scenes timing doesn’t match up. Kurt Busiek’s said he’s done for now with big two superhero work after Batman: Creature of the Night, which concludes that month, so I wouldn’t bet on him getting involved either. I doubt Hickman especially cares enough to throw his hat in the ring, Aaron’s firmly at Marvel, and Ewing and assorted talented parties at DC aren’t considered prestige enough to merit the gig (nor do they get grandfathered in to make up for lacking the necessary profile or ability as with Jurgens or Tomasi).

There is the one good sign that Eddie Berganza mysteriously wasn’t listed as editor on the latest issue of Action Comics, but even if that wasn’t a fluke/him being on vacation/a sign the Superman line is simply being subdivided/etc., I doubt his successor would have the clout to get this properly ready on such short notice. As is, I’m going to guess we’ll get something like: Jurgens, Tomasi, Bogdanovic, and Mahnke doing the big Mr. Oz finale, probably restoring either Conner - who I personally don’t care much about - or the Kents - who I do but think it would be actively damaging to bring back again - to the book. Johns, Donner, and - since I believe this is during Doomsday Clock’s skip month - Frank doing some Reeve nostalgia thingy. Max Landis and either Jock or Ryan Sook doing something, since DC seems to be all aboard for whatever he wants to do with the character given it looks like the American Alien sequel has been greenlit (god knows if we’re getting that Landis or the dude who did that christshit awful Adventures of Superman story with the Joker, but I wouldn’t necessarily be optimistic, and it’s still grating to see an asshole like him get the job regardless of quality). Some old-school Superman creators doing something, but not the ones you’d actually particularly want to see come back for something like this such as Elliot Maggin. Neil Gaiman and somebody, since he’s never done a non-team-up Superman story and he clearly gets the value of doing a notable comics project now and again to remind everyone of his reputation there, though that might just come in a form of one of those essays in the hardcover rather than a proper comic. At least one completely inexcusable inclusion getting in solely as a matter of position, whether it’s DiDio deciding this’d be fun or Goyer deciding to get one last lick in. And maybe, if we’re exceedingly lucky, a King/Gerads story.

In other words, Superman’s 80th anniversary will pretty much be business as usual. 

* A couple moments aside his main comics are going to stay shit, with one of the two teams having recently stated their intent to stay on for 100 issues and the other confirmed to say on at least a little ways past #1000 (at least he should be good in Priest’s Justice League).

* No TV show aside from fuckin’ Krypton if you count that (and I wouldn’t bet on another Supergirl guest spot either, with the surprise actual best Superman actor left in a corner more or less in perpetuity for the sake of studio politics). 

* No video game. 

* His next movie is pretty much completely up in the air aside from rumors about Vaughn, who I don’t think is actually that likely to get the job. 

* The first half of the second animated adaptation of the time he was beaten to death by Bone Hulk drops.

* His most prominent confirmed and semi-confirmed comics projects (with Mark Millar’s Superman mini apparently delayed into 2019, where it’ll do no good at bolstering his profile since that’s Batman’s year, with Batman of course already preparing for his 80th in grand fashion and likely getting his next movie that year) are the most controversial crossover it’s realistically possible for him to be embroiled in with Doomsday Clock, the most controversial creator it’s realistically possible to have working on him in Frank Miller doing the 6th major comics retelling of his origin since the turn of the century, and the coin-flip at best of Landis doing something again.

It won’t last forever - if nothing else, King’s made exceedingly clear he wants to do a Superman project someday - but for now, Superman is not in a very good place, and while surely one or two features in here will at least be pretty solid, Action Comics #1000 is by all appearances not going to even come close to changing that.

[proofthatihaveaheart]

I'm gonna send a lot :) :DC, Marvel, Borderlands, Gayperion, Carol Danvers

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my (DC):

Favorite character: i have a lot of characters i really love in dc but no one really jumps out as my top favorite above all others…. i’m going to say selina because i love her in a lot of media and i picked up the current batman comic to read about her specifically (and then dropped them when she left lol, i’l have to pick up her solo series sometime too) 

Least Favorite character: hmmm………..i don’t know……….can i say jervis from gotham specifically? he makes my skin crawl in a very bad way and i kinda want to punch him in the face. although he also has his charming moments and i think his power-set makes for a very interesting villain hmmm. OH can i say all the various Big and Boring Cosmic Villains like Steppenwolf??? they all blur together and i just don’t care about any of them

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): selina/bruce, harley/pamela, oswald/ed, raven/beast boy, diana/steve

Character I find most attractive: diana aka wonder woman aka have my heart

Character I would marry: as much as i want to say diana, i feel like i would constantly be overwhelmed with awe around her so maybe that’s not a good idea………. can i marry bruce for his money?

Character I would be best friends with: if she wasn’t evil, pamela, she could be one of my fellow grad students (y’know, in another life). i would hang with steph too, she’s cool 

A random thought: dc was my first superhero love, teen titans specifically, and that show probably laid the groundwork for what i want in my superhero teams. also i should get back to reading dc comics

An unpopular opinion: i don’t think this is unpopular exactly but the joker is overused, there are so many other good batman villains 

My canon OTP: bruce/selina (GIVE ME THEIR WEDDING YOU COWARDS)

Non-canon OTP: harley/pamela except it’s canon in some verses if i remember correctly sooooooooooooooooo :) 

Most badass character: i want to say diana……..and i can’t think of anyone more badass so

Pairing I am not a fan of: clark/diana is just Bad, what were they thinking?

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): it’s comics, who hasn’t been screwed up by a writer at some point? ok but jokes aside, no one specific is coming to mind right now

Favourite friendship: i love all the batfam so *points at all of them* 

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my (Marvel):

Favorite character: i don’t know how you could possibly expect me to choose a single character when there are so many………….. carol at the moment, kamala and mj and peter (parker, not quill) in general are at the top of the list too

Least Favorite character: ……………….there’s probably someone i hate…… but no one is coming to mind…… i guess thanos? i can’t believe he got a solo series 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): the spidey ot4 (peter/harry/gwen/mj), steve/tony, carol/jessica, carol/maria, clint/natasha

Character I find most attractive: ooooooooo, a good question. i think i’ll go with carol because brie larson is

Character I would marry: if it had to be a superhero, janet. if not, gwen and we would run away together and never get involved with the angst of superheroes

Character I would be best friends with: maybe cindy moon (she likes pokemon! and is just a lovely person!) or gwen 

A random thought: in the avengers tower that absolutely exists and that they all live in (at least part of the time), tony builds additional rooms for all the new members. he puts glowing stars up in carol’s room and calls her space-face and laughs when she chooses star wars for movie night because of course that’s what you pick, danvers    

An unpopular opinion: spider-man h*mecoming is bad and it isn’t a comics-accurate adaptation of spider-man, let alone the most accurate

My canon OTP: any of the canon ships within the ot4 - but if i had to choose just one, it’d be peter/mj. all the good comics history

Non-canon OTP: THE SPIDEY OT4, MY ULTIMATE MARVEL SHIP

Most badass character: CAROL ‘SORRY I’M A BADASS’ DANVERS

Pairing I am not a fan of: sp*deypool is the ultimate notp. i don’t get why it has such a massive following

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): see my above point about comics (though the other thing about comics is that once there’s a switch in writers, it often resolves itself). currently, i feel this way about peter (although i’m behind so maybe spencer’s undid all the slott nonsense) + eddie and the symbiote (not so much their individual characters but the relationship between them)

Favourite friendship: steve and carol and tony currrently

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my (Borderlands):

Favorite character: lilith or fiona

Least Favorite character: i love them all but salvador is….. well i just don’t have as much of a connection to him (sorry sal) 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): lilith/roland, brick/mordecai, fiona/rhys, rhys/vaughn, athena/janey

Character I find most attractive: lilith. also amara who may outcompete lilith, we shall see

Character I would marry: would i marry any of them?? (the answer is no but i guess if i had to, maybe janey? at the very least, she could repair any problems in our house)

Character I would be best friends with: janey possibly

A random thought: each set of vault hunters is a weird dysfunctional family and nothing can convince me otherwise (i will be sorely disappointed if the bl2 gang aren’t close in bl3)

An unpopular opinion: there’s more to borderlands than handsome jack and i wish fandom would focus on some of the other characters more 

My canon OTP: lilith/roland or athena/janey

Non-canon OTP: rhys/vaughn just edges out fiona/rhys

Most badass character: zer0

Pairing I am not a fan of: rhys/handsome jack

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): no one really except where they killed roland and it was sad

Favourite friendship: i love timothy and athena as friends 

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you (gayperion):

when or if I started shipping it: i think it was sometime during episode 1???? i can’t remember a specific moment, it just kinda happened

my thoughts: they’re very good and it would be even more amazing for them to date now. can you imagine the ceo of atlas with the scruffy leader of a bandit gang (who also happens to be a math nerd)? SO GOOD 

What makes me happy about them: they’re best friends, they have a lot of stupid jokes between them, they very clearly would go to the end of the earth for each other

What makes me sad about them: the fear that they may never interact in bl3

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: there isn’t enough fic for me to have noticed any annoying tropes

Things I look for in fanfic: any fic in general

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: rhys/fiona

My happily ever after for them: they haven’t spoken for a while but vaughn comes along on sanctuary (idk how he ends up there, maybe he’s upset with his bandits leaving for the children of the vault) and then he hears rhys’ voice over the comm for the first time in YEARS, he could cry, he’s so happy. anyway us vault hunters help rhys out with his maliwan problem, vaughn and rhys reunite, there are tears and hugs and then they kiss and have to figure out what they want (hint: they want to be together forever but rhys has a company and vaughn has his bandits and they need to navigate that complexity - but they do and it’s awesome)

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you (carol danvers):

How I feel about this character: if you told me last year that i would fall in love with carol, and read everything i could with her, i probably would not have believed you. but here i am, almost caught up with the captain marvel comics and helplessly in love with her. i love her bravery, her humor, her impulsiveness, her kindness, her fight-me attitude, her determination, her cockiness - really i love everything about her and i’m inspired by her drive to be better and to protect as many people as she can (also the whole speech but especially this quote at the end of captain marvel (2012) #1: and we will be the stars we were always meant to be GETS me every time i see it, i love ambitious ladies who reach for the stars)

All the people I ship romantically with this character: carol/jess is the ultimate 616 otp while carol/maria is the ultimate mcu otp. i also like carol/rhodey and i read a ship manifesto for carol/wanda that has made me interested in learning more about them

My non-romantic OTP for this character: steve and tony, i can’t choose between her two relationships with them because they’re both so good (it might be tony??? he helped her through aa and i love their snark? but then steve and carol are also very good). also in the mcu, nick fury, their chemistry is GOLD 

My unpopular opinion about this character: i hate that so many people have started putting carol into the role of peter’s mom/aunt, not every adult that interacts with him is automatically his parental figure and she has no real reason to feel that way towards him. also they went on a couple dates in the comics and even though i don’t ship it, it’s weird to think about

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: LET HER DATE A WOMAN

My OTP: …………how could i possibly choose between carol/jess and carol/maria………….they’re both so good in different ways

My OT3: i don’t have one for her although now i’m considering whether a jess/carol/maria situation would work idk i feel like it wouldn’t just because there would be this imbalance in two of them having superpowers and maria unable to join in their superhero battles so??? idk. i need to think about it a little more

[aion-rsa]

Batman: Court of Owls Game Rumored to Be in Development

http://bit.ly/2QNQXk5

The next Batman game could see the Dark Knight face off against the Court of Owls!

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John Saavedra

Batman

Jan 15, 2019

Warner Bros.

It's been the talk of the town for quite a while that WB Montreal, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Origins, is working on a new game starring the Dark Knight. According to a series of rumors over the past few weeks, including one sparked by an employee at the studio, it seems that the new game will see Batman face off against the Court of Owls, a criminal organization made up of the wealthiest citizens in Gotham City. 

The Court of Owls rumors began when production coordinator Valerie Valdez posted a picture of a t-shirt with an owl-themed logo that's similar to the one used by the villains in the comics:

[Redacted], best. DevTeam. EVAR. pic.twitter.com/fUV8WCkDnI

— Double V (@valvez) November 16, 2018

WB Montreal did not comment on the game at the time, but the rumor mill is back at it today thanks to new images revealed by digital artist Eddie Mendoza, who uploaded three pieces depicting Batman fighting Talons, the Court of Owls' elite assassins, to his ArtStation portfolio. According to Games Radar, Mendoza took down the images, which he claimed he'd done just for fun, a short time later, causing the internet to only grow more suspicious. Were Mendoza's pieces actually concept art for an upcoming Batman game?

In a statement to Games Radar, Mendoza clarified that "the images are just fanart [and] I am not affiliated with WB or WB Montreal." The artist explained that he took down the paintings to "adjust the lighting." The images have not been re-uploaded as of this writing. We're not going to post the art here, but you can find them elsewhere if you look hard enough.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Court of Owls, the criminal organization (although you could probably call it an owl cult?) made its debut in 2011 in the early days of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's fantastic run on Batman. The Caped Crusader faced off against the Court in a battle that almost cost him both mind and body. Along the way, Bruce discovered that he had a bigger connection to the Court than he could have ever imagined, a shocking twist that still leaves me breathless just thinking about it so many years later. Needless to say, the story is worth a read, especially since the Court still shows up in current DC books and has even made an appearance on Gotham. It's a group worth knowing.

WB's upcoming superhero projects have long been the subject of scrutiny from anxious fans. WB Montreal is said to be working on two separate DC games. If one of them is this Court of Owls game, then the other might be a Damian Wayne game first uncovered by Kotaku. The studio was previously working on a Suicide Squad game, but that was canceled in 2016.

Recently, Rocksteady co-founder Sefton Hill shut down rumors that the Batman Arkham studio is working on a Superman game. There are also reports that the team is working on a Justice League game, but take that with a grain of salt. 

We'll keep you updated as we learn more about the next Batman game!

John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

from Books http://bit.ly/2VUdhw6

[canadian-riddler]

Do you mind if I ask you a question? If you already answered one like this, I apologize. I'm relatively newer to the depths of the DC universe, and I really didn't start looking into Eddie's character until I fell in love with him in the Arkham games. I love your writing, and your perspective on him. I was wondering if you had favored arcs or issues you'd recommend. Also, sorry about the greedy entitled fans. And, personally, the kudos without comments. I hope you have a pleasent day/evening.

I do not mind at all.

This is my Riddler comics rec post.  Most Riddler arcs are good except for anything between I think Batman #697 and up to New 52 and then Hush Returns is not good which was Gotham Knights #50-#55 but went on for some length of time that I don’t know.  Riddler in Detective Comics gets especially good starting at #822, when he became a private investigator. 

People will tell you New 52 is bad across the board, but if I were you I would ignore that and judge for myself.  It does have a few giant plotholes, but hey it’s comics.  They’d hardly be comics if they made sense all the time.

Thanks very much!  Arkhamverse is my fav Rids and I wouldn’t be here today without him.

They’re from my old fandom, which is weird because I left it like three years ago.

When I talk about my ratio of kudos to comments, I’m not slighting anyone who doesn’t leave a comment.  I’m merely saying that if I, an established author, has such a lopsided ratio, that means newer authors are getting less than me and this discourages them into stopping.  I don’t mind if you just leave kudos.  I prefer people do it signed in tbh.

[pearlmcarney-blog]

The Geek Show – Shea Fontana & Yancey Labat – DC Comics

Which is your favorite DC Comics character?

On The Show

We bring on Shea Fontana and Yancey Labat to talk about their latest DC Superhero graphic novel: DC Super Hero Girls: Search for Atlantis.

Here is some of our viewers thoughts: 

Kevin Harte ·  Can talk right now, but I just wanted to pop in and say how awesome the DC Novels are wonderful especially for my daughter. 

Christopher Dilloway ·  Our house is chock full of DC figures and dolls…i am so glad DC has made an entry point for younger fans to get to know their characters.

Shawn Kingbird · One of my favorite DC Comic Villains is BANE. Tom Hardy killed it!

Nel Andersen ·  Lobo

Francis Keith King ·  Joker

About Shea Fontana

Shea Fontana is a writer for film, television and graphic novels. Her credits include DC Super Hero Girls animated shorts, TV specials, movies and graphic novels; Polly Pocket, Doc McStuffins, The 7D, Whisker Haven Tales with the Palace Pets.  She has also written for top comic titles including Justice League, Wonder Woman, Batman: Overdrive, Catwoman/Looney Tunes, and contributed anthology pieces starring Deathstroke and Teen Titans.

Her DC Super Hero Girls graphic novels have been New York Times Best Sellers. Her debut graphic novel, Finals Crisis, was honored with Diamond's 2016 Gem Award for Best All-Ages Graphic Novel, and DC Super Hero Girls: Past Times at Super Hero High won the 2017 Gem Award for Best All-Ages Graphic Novel as well as the Comixology Reader's Pick award for Best All-Ages Graphic Novel of 2017.

About Yancey Labat

Yancey Labat is a professional illustrator who works with DC Comics and other book publications. He has illustrated DC Super Hero Girls graphic novels and other books such as HITS AND MYTHS.

About The Geek Show Hosts:

Art Eddy 

Art Eddy is one of the co-founders here at Life of Dad. He hosts and produces all of the Life of Dad podcasts as well as hosting a few Facebook Live Shows on the Life of Dad Facebook page. He is one of the main writers on the site. Art loves Star Wars, football (49ers fan), baseball (Red Sox fan), Air Jordans and all things Geek.

Patrick Quinn

Patrick Quinn is one of the co-founders here at Life of Dad. He is one of the funniest writers here at Life of Dad. He has a weekly article called Playlist Elevated where he introduces you to bands that you might not know, but totally should.

For more on The Geek Show click here. 

The post The Geek Show – Shea Fontana & Yancey Labat – DC Comics appeared first on Life of Dad.

[spynotebook]

All Photos Courtesy Warner Bros.

Praise Zeus, Wonder Woman is finally here and it’s even better than we hoped it would be. While it’s a standout superhero film all on its own, there’s something inherently special for women to see Diana of Themyscira, an iconic female and feminist role model, onscreen for the first time.

io9's Katharine Trendacosta, Alex Cranz, Cheryl Eddy, and I sat down to discuss every aspect of this groundbreaking superhero film, including Steve Trevor’s role as a male ally, and what the film’s success could and should mean for the DC Expanded Universe. No boys allowed! (Except in the comments.)

Beth Elderkin: All right, ladies. Welcome to Themyscira! How’s everyone feeling?

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Katharine Trendacosta: I am feeling great and not like I need those hours back again, which is such a relief.

Cheryl Eddy: I agree with Katharine... I don’t think it was a perfect movie, but I had a really good time watching it.

Alex Cranz: Yeah, I was genuinely concerned before the premiere that people were so eager for a success for DC—and for women superheroes—that people were being unnecessarily kind to Diana. They were not! Her movie is good!

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Beth: I mean, it’s a huge deal. This is the first time we’ve gotten a superhero movie of this magnitude that stars a woman. Going beyond your experience as a moviegoer, or even as a comic book fan, how did it feel as a woman seeing this character in her own movie on this scale?

Cheryl: It was very satisfying.

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Alex: It’s not the first time. This is just the first good film.

Katharine: Yeah, I present to you... Catwoman.

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Beth: True, that movie did have a $100-million budget.

Alex: Katharine, no. Shh. But yes, Catwoman, Elektra, Supergirl, and Tank Girl, all comic lady movies. And all films that were disasters either critically, financially, or both.

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Katharine: It is shocking and upsetting, though, that all of those characters got movies before Wonder Woman.

Alex: But where Wonder Woman really sets itself apart is how gleefully violent it is. I love that this was a superpowered woman just fucking shit up for a big chunk of the film’s two-hour running time.

Cheryl: I think it was longer than two hours? That’s one of my few complaints, that it was too long. But that’s par for the course.

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Katharine: Yeah, I don’t know for sure what Zack Snyder was involved in, but that really long fight scene felt like the end of his last two DC Expanded Universe movies.

Alex: Only you could tell what was happening.

Beth: So, obviously we have to talk about the core of the film, Wonder Woman herself. I liked Gal Gadot in Batman v. Superman, though you don’t see much of her in it… but I’ll admit I was worried how she’d do in the starring role. But to me, she was Wonder Woman, mind, body, and soul. I was thoroughly impressed. What about y’all?

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Cheryl: I thought she nailed it, really and truly.

Katharine: It was a good idea not to go with a really recognizable actor for this.

Cheryl: Completely agree.

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Alex: Gadot has so much damn charm.

Katharine: I loved that they made the other Amazons mimic her accent, instead of making her get rid of hers.

Cheryl: ME TOO OMG.

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Alex: It was a true delight. And I liked how young Wonder Woman was for much of this film.

Beth: One thing I loved about Gadot’s performance was how earnest it was. Diana was innocent but not naive. Like that scene in the street, where she’s taking everything in with a combination of disgust and wonder… and then she spots the baby!

Katharine: I liked that moment and I thought they did just the right amount of fish-out-of-water stuff. It would have been really easy to go overboard on that stuff.

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Beth: Which would’ve fallen into the “Born Sexy Yesterday” trope.

Katharine: Or just turned this movie into Thor.

Beth: What were your favorite fish-out-of-water moments?

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Cheryl: I liked the shopping scene with Etta Candy, and also when she sees snow for the first time.

Katharine: It’s the baby moment for me.

Alex: I just loved her entirely foreign concept of war and why it was waged. It was so beautifully naive, like you wanted to wrap her up and kind of protect her from the awfulness of the world... until she beat a man with a tank.

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Beth: This is the first DCEU movie where the lead character is allowed to be joyful. And it feels so overdue.

Katharine: Joyful, but the movie wasn’t devoid of darkness. It actually balanced that stuff.. My god, why did it take this long?

Alex: Because girls are icky, Katharine.

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Beth: Anyone else feel an extra tinge of happiness when Diana spared Doctor Poison? Different circumstances than Man of Steel, but still… I don’t think I’ll ever be okay with Superman murdering Zod.

Alex: Completely different! And I mean, Diana kills people.

Katharine: I’m sorry, Beth, I was busy getting mad that they had decided Diana was the Goddess of Love instead.

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Alex: Let’s talk about the erasure of Greek goddesses in this film. Because Diana has always been an embodiment of the Pantheon right?

Katharine: And specifically truth.

Alex: But this film kills them off screen, and never acknowledges that she’s supposed to be representative of all of them. Instead, she’s just another god.

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Beth: I mean, she’s technically the last one right? If Ares is dead now.

Alex: Apparently!

Beth: I don’t know if I’d classify her as a love goddess. Her strength came from her love—not for Steve, though that was surely part of it—but it was her love of humanity and her need to do the right thing.

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Katharine: I’m still mad, because Hollywood has one setting for goddesses and it’s always love.

Alex: Whatever Katharine, I loved her line about love. I didn’t interpret it as her being the Goddess of Love, but simply as her saying there are alternatives to war.

Katharine: I gave them the first moment, but once they went back to that well, I was very worried.

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Cheryl: I wasn’t mad at that, but I think it’s because my first exposure to Wonder Woman was the 1970s TV show, and it’s there in the theme: “Stop a war with love.”

Alex: Well, I think they make it very clear she’s a goddess of compassion... of compassionate love.

Beth: Exactly, being a goddess of love and a goddess of compassion are two different things. Love just has fewer syllables.

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Alex: Yeah, her saying compassion would not have had the same impact.

Beth: Let’s shift gears for a bit and talk about Steve Trevor. I loved Steve in this film, and Chris Pine’s performance was, in my opinion, kinda revelatory. I’d argue this might be one of the best portrayals of a male feminist ally that we’ve ever seen in a mainstream film—especially a superhero film.

Katharine: I forgot that Chris Pine was that charming. He’s basically just been famous for doing a great Shatner take for so long, I actually forgot there was another actor there.

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Alex: I confess to hating Chris Pine for over a decade, so I was really surprised to like him in this. He knew when to take a back seat.

Katharine: He’s leaped ahead in the Chris rankings.

Beth: Oh, he’s miles ahead of Chris Pratt for me now. It’s almost like the two of them have had a Freaky Friday situation, where Pratt is the typical leading man dick and Pine is the supportive male hero.

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Katharine: Chris Evans better keep an eye out. When Pine tried to seduce Doctor Poison, I was like, “Yes. This is your role, Steve.” Diana does the fighting, you are the Honey Trap.

Beth: And he did such a good job of it too. I love how he wasn’t bumbling or incapable, nor was he cocky about his skills.

Katharine: Or all angsty about it.

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Alex: He was that hyper-competent love interest that usually falls in love with Chris Pratt.

Beth: That “shield” moment in No Man’s Land was my absolute favorite in the entire film. Steve wasn’t forcing Diana to change her fighting style to suit his needs—he recognized what she needed and provided it for her, no questions asked or thanks needed.

Alex: I mean, Steve had his moment of fuckery, but I loved that Diana was immediately like, “I AM DONE WITH YOU.”

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Katharine: The fact that their conflict was based pretty much entirely on them having different world views actually made it interesting. Rather than him being, “The world looks like this, put this dress on and shut up.”

Beth: He recognizes that just because his worldview is different doesn’t make it more right than hers. In fact, he knows that his world is screwed up.

Katharine: I did love that for once it was the dude’s backstory that was cut. Because he briefly mentions having run from the war for too long and then says something like maybe he and the rest of humanity doesn’t deserve to be saved. Like, clearly there was something in his past they meant to bring up to make that hit home better, but, eh. He’s just Steve Trevor, so who cares.

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Beth: I kind of like it better without it. I feel like I knew just enough about him to understand his conflict.

Alex: You know what was really revelatory about Steve Trevor? The moment she saves him from the plane. Any other film it would have been his story from then on. It would have been about him using these women to win the war, and teaching them how everything was different. And the movie never ever ever went that direction.

Beth: That reminds me of my next big talking point: Patty Jenkins’ direction. In particular, how she handles “The Gaze.” There are a lot of shots in here that could and likely would have been exploited for titillation in the hands of another director, like Zack Snyder with Sucker Punch. But I admired how Jenkins handled the fight scenes and choreography, as well as Wonder Woman’s superhero poses. Jenkins didn’t subvert the male gaze, apart from the Chris Pine bathing scene, because she didn’t need to. She simply made it not matter.

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Alex: This was not a sexual movie at all—despite some Grade-A off-screen banging. We never see unbridled lust on screen.

Beth: To me, and this might sound weird on its face, the movie felt like the difference between stripping and burlesque. Both of them have similar elements, but they serve different purposes. A character like Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises is shot one way, focusing on her assets for the audience, but Wonder Woman was thankfully never exploited. Her body wasn’t hidden, it was celebrated—as well as her looks, because come on, she’s a gorgeous woman—but it was on her terms and for her purposes, not for the male audience. And I think Jenkins was a big part of that.

Alex: I know a lot of people were concerned about Jenkins because her last film was small and not about action at all. But the woman shot really good action and it wasn’t just all in the hands of animators. I mean the final fight is just a cartoon, but the Amazons versus the Germans was not!

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Cheryl: Her direction of the actors, especially Gadot’s performance, as well as the “moments” like the baby and the fight with the shield, were great.

Katharine: This was a movie which embraced the simplicity of its story for the sake of its characters.

Alex: I think we’re gonna see a lot of comparisons, inevitably, to Snyder, and what I loved is Jenkins can actually direct actors and bring emotion into a film. But she also can nail those loving straight from a picture book shots that are Snyder’s bag. She out Snyder’d Snyder in the best possible way.

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Beth: Snyder’s contribution to the film appears to have worked out well, as a story creator and producer, and his recruitment of Gadot was spot-on. I feel like putting him in the director’s chair is where the problems arise, as well as when his direction overly inspires other films in the franchise.

Alex: No doubt that final fight was in the works long before the film was tinkered with, but you can see Warner Bros/DC’s attempt to keep Wonder Woman from being as dour as Batman v Superman. Like the great ice cream gag—that’s a moment that was clearly shot after the rest of the film to brighten things up. And it worked.

Katharine: Ice cream and superheroes have been a fruitful pairing in live-action.

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Alex: If Batman v. Superman had to happen so we could get Wonder Woman enjoying an ice cream cone, I am okay with that.

Beth: Speaking of awesome scenes: No Man’s Land.

Cheryl: People in the theater were cheering so much.

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Beth: I love how Steve’s like, “You can’t go over there, it’s No Man’s Land.” And Wonder Woman basically replies, “I AM NO MAN!” I’ve seen people saying that might go down as one of the best scenes in a superhero film we’ve ever gotten, and honestly, I agree.

Alex: It didn’t end! It was a constant WONDER WOMAN SMASH, which is all I wanted.

Beth: I never wanted it to end!

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Alex: Though admittedly things slowed down so much immediately afterwards that I got a little whiplash. There was a pacing problem in the script that the director just couldn’t resolve.

Beth: I don’t know, I liked the drinks and dancing. It made the tragic bombing of the town so much worse.

Alex: I liked it, but I still felt a little snoozy.

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Beth: What else do you wish had been done differently? My biggest beef was Ares, because I didn’t feel like the big reveal was earned.

Alex: Ares is a bad villain rooted in Christian symbology that makes no sense, but that’s a comic problem.

Katharine: I liked the shape of the villain. Yes, the weird Christian-Greek mashup is a comics problem and I don’t like that, but I actually did like the idea of Ares not being who we thought. I didn’t like... his entire speech at the end.

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Alex: You know what was actually bad about all the Greco-Roman stuff is how firmly they shut the door on all of it. Diana is banished from Paradise Island, her entire god family is dead, it’s just done. Now she basically exists for Justice League.

Katharine: The best thing about this film is that it stands on its own almost entirely, unfettered from the baggage of the rest of the DCEU.

Cheryl: Setting it years in the past was a good choice.

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Alex: Yeah, it didn’t fall into the Captain America: The First Avenger trap. Ares didn’t even do a “worse is coming” death croak.

Cheryl: I get why they framed the story with the photo seen in BvS, so I was okay with it even though it was so obvious.

Katharine: The fact that Bruce Wayne wasn’t literally there was nice. Honestly, I kept expecting the camera at the end to pull out and the rest of the goddamn Justice League to be sitting there listening.

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Beth: I’m so glad it didn’t.

Katharine: So glad.

Beth: I’m also glad there were no post-credits scenes. I don’t care about the rest of the Justice League, I only care about Diana.

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Alex: Well, I care about Aquaman.

Beth: I’m hoping I do, too.

Cheryl: Same.

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Beth: Speaking of which, how does this movie make you feel about the future of the DC Expanded Universe?

Cheryl: Will that future include Wonder Woman 2? Because otherwise...

Alex: It better.

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Katharine: I think that this is proof that the DCEU should have been doing standalone movies with other directors the whole time.

Beth: I’m honestly shaky about Justice League. I already feel like it could be a lost cause, and we’re simply having to look beyond it at this point. The trailer gave me little confidence.

Katharine: Yeah, I’m mostly looking forward to Aquaman. He and Wonder Woman are the ones having the most fun in the Justice League trailer.

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Alex: I have hope. Slap a Blue Lantern Ring on Diana, because Wonder Woman gave me hope that the ship can be righted, and we can get some good damn movies out of the best superhero comics.

Beth: This has been so awesome, and I’m hoping/betting this movie does well enough to keep DCEU going on the right path… with a sequel. In closing, what one word would you use to describe Wonder Woman? Mine is “refreshing.”

Katharine: “Punchy,” in both senses of the word.

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Cheryl Eddy: “Love!” Just kidding... I would say “entertaining.”

Alex: She fucks.