#everyone losing their minds over superboy reveal

[rejoiceinsilverlight]

sdcc maws panel new civilian outfits, please save me

based on this:

bonus:

random civilian sees these four walk by, thinks that they are the most bi friend group she's ever seen (she is also bi)

[ketchupqueenboiiii]

Black Cat and Desert Flower

'Kaldur, what are we doing in Paris? We finished the mission, we should be heading back home.' Said Robin, via mind-link.

'Patience, my friends, I arranged for us to have a day in the city. A vacation, if you will.' Aqualad said to the team.

'Kaldur, I don't know if you noticed but it's night.' Kid Flash was also getting impatient.

'Why are we standing under a bridge with a bunch of locks on it?' Superboy asked. He hated not knowing things.

After busting a minor league drug ring in Versailles they expected to relax in the Bioship until the arrived back in the US, not stand under a bridge.

'Can you at least tell what we need 'patience' for-' Kid Flash whined until he was interrupted by a voice.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my city?" The voice was like steel. In a way it sounded like Batman's. Not in sound, but in its tone of command. It sounded young and feminine.

'Brace your selves.' Said Robin, hands inching towards his tool belt.

'There are 6 of them. Should we attack?' Superboy adds.

'No. These are friends.' Aqualad sounded completely at ease. It would have calmed them if he wasn't always calm and collected.

Before they could refute he walked into the moonlight. They heard the voice take in a sharp breathe. So they recognized them, maybe it will prevent a fight.

"I am no less than a black cat." What? The team had no idea how this conversation took such a turn. What was she saying?

"And I am no more than a desert flower." What was their leader saying? It must have meant something because the voice squealed and a figure clad in red and black polka dots came barreling at him.

'Stand down.' He sound completely unbothered. How could he be so whelmed?

'But she's-' One tried to reason.

'Stand down, she is a friend.' He sounded, breathless? Something was going on, maybe M'gann should do a scan of his mind when they get back.

The force of the girl's impact knocked them both over. They were both smiling, eyes never straying from each others. They got a clear view to analyze the girl. She look developed and fit, but still pretty small. She shouldn't have been able to knock down a door, let alone a military trained Atlantean. Was this a secret Kryptonian?

"You're, you're here," she sounded out of breath, though clearly out of amazement rather than the run. "Oh kwami, it's been to long. Is Roy here too?" How did she know Roy? Did she know all of their civilian I.D.s?

"Sadly no, Speedy is not here. But my team and I are." He said as they stood up. They could see exactly what she was wearing. A red and black skin tight body suit with a open black leather jacket and a hood. The bodysuit was red down to her navel and black the rest of the way. Each of her palms had a black circle with a unknown ideogram in red on them. Her shoes were black army boots with red laces. So she has a theme.

She moved her gaze behind Aqualad to look at the team. They took note of her mask. Her hood covered her forehead and her eyebrows, and she wore a mask connected to her body suit that cover everything nose and down.  Leaving only her eyes exposed.

"Aqualad, who is she?" Artemis asked, hands already itching towards her arrows.

"Team, this is Ladybug. Ladybug, this is the team." He introduced, stepping away to allow them to assess each other.

"It's an honor to meet you all, Aqualad has spoken fondly of all of you. Welcome to Paris." She greeted professionally.

No one returned her greeting. They looked to Aqualad for more context.

He then gestured to Ladybug to speak. "You're probably confused as to who I am. I'm Ladybug, one of the heroes of Paris. We surfaced to reclaim a misused ancient magic artifact."

"Who is we?" Robin asked.

"Well, I realized that one city to one hero wasn't an equal ratio. So I formed a team to take some of the responsibility. Bunnix, Carapace, would you like to introduce yourselves?" A woman with an umbrella jumped from the top of the bridge and a man walked out from the shadow behind Ladybug. Both taller than her. Based on their themes, the man was Carapace and the woman was Bunnix.

"Sure thing, Boss." They said in unison and with exaggerated bows and salutes.

"Good Kwami, don't call me that." She said, pinching her nose.

"Our deepest apologies, Master. We beg your forgiveness." They spoke in unison again and with straight faces, too.

"God damn it, I'm not even fully trained-" She was interrupted by poorly muffled laughter behind her.

"Singe, you've been doing this for 3 years, and you still manage to reveal your presence in almost every situation-" Robin felt like he should interrupt before this escalates.

"Is that an umbrella?" He genuinely wanted to know.

"Are you judging? 'Cause, you shouldn't judge since you spent a year or so running around Gotham in green panties and a pole." Robin blushed in embarrassment. The team looked ready to fight these so called heroes.

"Ryu!" Ladybug reprimanded, looking affronted. Wait, Bunnix didn't say it? Then, who did?

"I'm so sorry about her. They're all really defensive about the umbrella." Okay?

"Who spoke then?" Kid Flash asked, still looking all little miffed about the comment.

"You know, Aqualad, there's enough of us for a spar." She said smirking, and ignoring Kid's question.

"If we're sparring, I want a few minutes with who ever said that stuff about Robin." He said glaring in no particular direction.

"Actually, I was thinking we do a group spar. Aqualad's team versus mine."  She suggested.

No one seemed to be against it.

"Okay then, prepare yourselves-" Aqualad started.

"Wait! I have to call of Pegasus." She brought her hand up to her ear and looked toward a building.

"Woah-woah-woah, hold up, you have a sniper?!" Kid Flash exclaimed, speedily looking around to see them.

"You have to be prepared for anything." She responded after finishing her comm-call.

"Yeah, but still, you have a sniper-"

A turquois portal appeared and a white-haired man in a brown leather bodysuit stepped out of it. His hair was held back in vertical braids gathered in a ponytail. He also wore pitch black sunglasses, even though it was the middle of the night.

"Hello." He greeted the teams before walking to stand next to Bunnix and Singe.

"Let's get ready to spar." Aqualad announced, walking not-to-subtlety towards Ladybug. The teams both walked of to strategize.

"You sure your ready to fight me again? It's been a couple months since our last spar." She quipped with pop of her hip and challenging smirk.

"If my memory is correct, you were the one with the losing streak." He smiled back with his patented sass.

"We'll see about that." They shared eye contact and a firm hand shake.

With a quick turn of a heel, "Formation!"

Bonus #1

For more context: Mari and Kaldur were not always this touchy feely. Mari spent a year or so out of Paris to train for Guardian purposes. She would have cataclysm herself before leaving Paris alone. But Tikki and Plagg convinced her that she was unstable with all of the guardian power and she would have to learn to control it. Outside of Paris. So they decided to give out the miraculous and have the new team pass around Tikki and she would take Plagg out of Paris (too many billboards and Plagg wasn't good at emotions).

So she was backpacking America, trying to find someone to help her. Unfortunately someone found her. Namely Aquaman and his partner.  Interrogating her just left them both offended.

But she did learn that she was now fluent in ancient languages, like the guardian language and Atlantean.

("What are you doing here?"

"That's not your problem."

"You sunk Atlantis! Of course it's our concern!"

"You Atlantean's think you're entitled to everything. That's why Plagg sunk your city."

"{In Atlantean} My King, should we take her to Poseidonis-"

"{in Atlantean} Excuse me, but I'm not going anywhere other than out of this cell."

"{In English} How do you-"

They call in the JL for backup and try to interrogate her, until Diana vetoes and pardons her. She offers to take her to Themyscira and train but Arthur vetoes that so now she's going to train with Roy and Kaldur. [Because they are the oldest and I believe that they worked together most pre-canon YJs1.]

{Whispers and Glares}"Atlantean bitch."

{Whispers and Glares} "Guardian scum.")

5 months and numerous fights later, Roy was tired friendTM of their shit and sat them down to make them talk. They spoke of both versions of the Sinking of Atlantis and came to the agreement that Plagg was sorry for taking things too far and that modern Atlanteans could not be blamed for the mistakes of one of their selfish past monarchs. [king whoever tried to use Plagg's miraculous to conquer and terrorize neighboring kingdoms, so in retaliation Plagg cataclysmed the entire country/city]

After getting over that they both realized, 'Hey, he/she's actually pretty cool."

Everyone kept in touch after she went back to Paris and bitched to each other about teammates and leadership and how it's, quote-unquote, 'unfair that it's legal for Mari to drink but not Roy'

I'm not good with timelines so I'm going to say that, Kaldur still has hopes for him and Tula, Mari's not entertaining anything more than friendship (no distractions), and Roy is too focused on teenaged rebellion.

[artxyra]

The Secret Life of MDC | Part 5

Part 5 – Haha, wait you’re serious?

Fun fact: This rewrite was supposed to be five parts, but as I was writing and changing things, I have no idea how long this is going to be.

Parts 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

What a relaxing evening the couples group plus one was having. Everyone but Jon and Damian was wearing a disguise of some sort. Marinette in her usual lace netted veil, Chloe with her hair down and sunglasses on, and Adrien with a dark wig and punk clothes. It was never easy being out and open like this, but it was relaxing.

“I’m telling you, she’s not worth it.” Marinette states before taking a sip of her ice coffee beverage. She doesn’t know how or when their conversation regarding the upcoming gala turned into a revenge plan to reveal the liar that has made her life miserable back in Paris.

“Angel, she is making up stories about me. How can I not make her suffer any more than she had made you?” Damian asks taking her hand into his own. Marinette huffs unsure what to say.

“C’mon buggy, even Luka agrees with him. Let him take over for a moment.” Adrien comments showing the designer his phone with a series of messages from Luka on the screen.

Marinette still doesn’t reply. Instead, she looks up to the sky as of it hoping for a miracle. Nothing was working.

“Kagami even she said she’ll help hide the body. Just give me the okay and she’ll be on the next flight here or I’ll go get her with Kaalki.” Chloe adds in taping away on her phone as if she wasn’t paying attention.

“Absolutely not. Look, guys, we have three weeks left here and I don’t want to spend it worrying about the class despite being the damn TA for this exchange. I already need to finish the touch-ups on our dresses and grade like a shit ton of assignments.” Marinette groans leaning into Damian’s chest. He places a kiss on her forehead before resting his chin on her head.

“Why are you guys even like this?” It’s Jon’s turn to cry out in frustration. Everyone turns to him with an eyebrow raised. The half-Kryptonian should no better by now than to question anything his boyfriend and friends do. “Alright, alright, I fold. What do I need to do?”

“Stay my handsome hero.” Adrien absently adds swooning in Jon’s arms looking upward to the hero. Shaking his head, Adrien turns to Marinette and blinks. “Did I really just say that?”

Marinette tries to hide her giggles, nodding. However, Chloe didn’t even try to hide her laughs causing the model to blush.

“I actually liked it,” Jon says before placing a kiss on the blonde’s cheek furthering his blush to a deeper red.

“Ooh, Gami just replied back to me, she wants to see if we can do a movie night stream?” Chloe asks on behalf of her girlfriend. Planning movie nights are often frequent amongst the group especially when they are missing each other.

“I know my father wouldn’t mind, but depending on who’s staying at the manor tonight it might turn into a family affair,” Damian responds gently pushing Marinette off of him and stand up to stretch.

“She’s fine with that.”

“Good; I’ll message Alfred to set to the theatre room.” Damian pulls out his phone and immediately proceeds to message the family butler.

“You know he’ll probably send a message with an image of the theatre room decked out with pillows and blankets with the caption: already have, young master.” Marinette jokes but little did she know her guess was actually right.

Damian’s phone dings with a message from Alfred. It is indeed a photo of the theatre room with pillows and blanket gently piled together. Underneath the photo is the message “Already done, young master, just be home before dark.”

“How does he do that?” Adrien wonders before adding, “It’s witchcraft?”

“You know as well as my brothers that we still do not know that answer.” Damian murmurs sliding his phone back into his pocket. He then holds out his hand for Marinette to take as she pushes herself off the wooden bench.

“We should head back then…” Marinette is then cut off by her phone along with her blonde sibling’s phones simultaneously buzzing. The three Parisians grab their phones and see the answer.

It’s the Headmistress of Gotham Academy calling her. Confused, Marinette answers the call just as Adrien and Chloe read the variety of messages from the classmates or at least those that still have their numbers.

Damian and Jon look to one another cautiously. It’s not every day that the trio’s phone would go off especially when they are not in a group chat with the others. Damian takes a step closer to Marinette as panic rises her eyes.

When the call ends, Marinette takes a series of deep breaths. “First the Riddler and now this shit. They better be damn glad to stay on this trip once we find them.” Was the only thing that would come out of the designer’s mouth.

Chloe and Adrien stop reading. “Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.” This really draws two teens to their friends. Adrien stays silent which is unlike him especially when there isn’t a battle or around them.

“Um, care to fill us in?” Jon asks knowing that Damian would not as he tries to get answers from Marinette.

“Apparently Mlle. Bustier and the GA staff are losing their heads.” Chloe starts.

“Nino messaged me that something had happened after we left,” Adrien adds shuffling his feet against the ground.

“Yeah; Alya and Lie-la are missing. The headmistress says that no one has seen since we left and asked if we, more specifically I, knew about their whereabouts.” Marinette shakes her head, “Which I have no clue about. I’m not a sheep’s keeper.” The noirette sighs, face-palming.

“I guess movie night is off then.” Jon ponders.

“No, no, we can still find them before it gets super late. By we, I mean Robin and Superboy along with the Gotham’s miraculous team.” Marinette counters before anyone could get a word in.

“Wait, you’re serious?” Chloe asks in disbelief.

“Yeah, let’s just hope the liar’s big mouth didn’t get her in trouble with the Joker or any other Gotham villain,” Marinette grumbles as if all happiness crash and burned right in front of her.

“And here I have thought that after last week, they would stay on the down-low, but no~ they just had to disappear. This will really put a stick into Mlle. Bustier’s teaching qualifications.” Chloe groans as she starts packing her stuff up with looks ready to kill.

“I’ll see you in a bit, suit and all. I have damage control to handle before we make our next steps.” Marinette and Adrien give their significant others a peck on the lips. As much as Damian hates the veil covering her eyes, he knows the pain the reset inside them.

“I’ll talk things through with the family. Maybe even hack into the security cameras for some leads.” He whispers into her ear holding her arms. Marinette looks up to Damian and nods.

~*~

If those phone calls didn’t give light to the current situation, it would have been like walking into the middle of a war zone. Everywhere you look there were teachers asking questions, normally this would never happen to Gotham Academy, but when the exchange happens it like the school turns on its head.

Chloe, Adrien, and Marinette decided to split up. Adrien went to speak to Nino to see if he had knowledge of his girlfriend. Chloe sneaked into the security room while Marinette takes on her teacher assistant role to speak with Mlle. Bustier and the GA headmistress.

Marinette could tell how heated the conversation is from just a few feet away. The closer she got the more she could tell that Caline was sweating where she was standing.

“Marinette doesn’t belong in conversations like this.” Caline tries to get Marinette removed from the conversation the moment she sees the girl, but the headmistress wasn’t having that.

“Marinette is allowed to be here, Ms. Bustier, she is apparently the only one with the contact information regarding your students.” The headmistress states and it was true. Even though Marinette is technically the class representative despite no longer being a student of the school, she still holds vital information regarding the class.

“Hold on, you didn’t contact our parents?” Realization began to hit. “We were nearly killed last week and today, not even a full week since we have arrived, you have lost two students.”

“Marinette, you guys made it back safely, and I just didn’t have time to call everyone’s parents or guardians.” Caline is really trying to save face here.

“We’re in a whole another country. It is your duty to inform parents and or guardians about any situation, mishap, whatever happens to them.” Marinette nearly screams at the teacher. Anger could not even begin to be Marinette’s main emotion.

“I’m sure they’ll show up, Alya and Lila are very responsible.” Seriously? She cannot be for real.

“Mlle. Bustier,” Marinette takes a deep breath, clasps her hands together. “They can be killed here. I may not like those two but even I know the importance of safety here in Gotham.”

“Marinette, I’ll take it from here. How about you go help the others in finding the two missing girls.” The GA headmistress says placing a hand on the designer’s shoulder. Marinette calms down and nods. It was for the best.

Marching down the halls, everyone avoided Marinette. How could they not, she was a woman on a warpath. The Paris exchange students have never seen Marinette so angry before it was causing them to quake in their shoes.

Adrien was finishing his conversation with Nino when he joins Marinette’s side on the march to glory. Chloe had just finished up with the security room before she joined her crew. Together, the three exits the school grounds knowing exactly where they are heading to.

It was no secret that everyone knows each other identity between the Batfam and the Miraculous crew. So, when Alfred pulled up in a disguised car, with the window rolled down he simply raises an eyebrow. The trio gets in as the school just watches in shock. Nothing was making sense to them.

“So, I found that they did indeed leave minutes after we did. The cameras lost them upon walking across the streets towards this building.” Chloe states pointing to the screen with confidence.

“From what I had gathered from Nino, they had missed their check-in time at least three times before the flags were raised. As you know the class aside from us needs to check-in with the teachers at least once an hour after what happened last week.” Adrien then adds in.

Marinette nods before she turns to Tim, who was surprising on his fourth cup of coffee.

“Tim, what did you find?”  She asks before sliding a coffee flavor “health” bar over to the hacker. Tim takes it and slides the bar into his pocket.

“Let’s just say its not the Joker behind their missing appearance. We got Gordon on the lookout, but you know what they say when it comes close to nighttime here in Gotham.”

“Out of everyone, it had to be the two of them. If my job wasn’t also kind of on the stake, I would have just left them to figure it out and stay out of it.”

“You know that’s not true Mars; you love to save people even those who let deserves it.”

“Who asked you, Kitten, let him bitch about things that we know would never happen.”

If it wasn’t for the growing tension in the room, everyone would have burst out laughing.

“We got movement,” Jason calls out while cleaning one of his guns.

Everyone catches the other’s eyes before simultaneously nodding. It’s going to be a long night ahead of them.

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[secretsocietyxmen]

My desired Young Justice series

This is how I’d rework the original Young Justice cast if I ever got the chance to make my own series. (This is more comic based, as I don’t like the animated series).

(Not doing Anita or Slobo right now, need to do a bit more research before I’m comfortable doing them.)

Tim Drake/Robin

Starting off, I’d let him act more like his normal dorky teen self around his friends. He has to work so hard to prove his worth in Gotham, so he deserves a bit of a break.

He starts off as the de facto leader, as no one could really step up to make the plans. Over time, he learns to trust his friends (enough to reveal his identity to them, Bruce’s wishes be damned), and back off to let them do their own thing. He even steps down as leader after a while, as there is a better choice among the team.

Kon-El/Superboy

I like him being this overly cocky and abrasive kind of person at first, as it’s an easy avenue for character development. He’ll charge straight in without thinking, assuming that he is the only one who can take down the villain. It never works.

Over time, he learns that he isn’t the kind of hot shit he thinks he is, and stops butting heads with everyone. He actually listens to the plan, and does everything he can to protect his squishier teammates (with his tactile telekinesis, of course).

Bart Allen/Impulse

Play into the fact that he’s actually pretty smart, despite his horribly short attention span. He’s not an idiot, he just moves faster than his mind can keep up with. And he’s not overly childish, naïve maybe, but not a child. 

Him being the moral center of the team is an interesting idea, even if it doesn’t fit perfectly. Like, he’s completely willing to stop and pull pranks on everyone, but he also tries to keep the peace among his friends, especially Kon and Tim, who are always butting heads about something or other.

Greta Hayes/The Secret

Amnesia story, but good this time. Between her death and all the DEO shit she went through, she ended up losing all her memories of before becoming Secret. This makes her kind of a blank slate, leading to the inevitable plot point of whether she’s still Greta Hayes, or if access completely become the Secret.

On a less dreary note, she’s the cute but dangerous one of the team. She has a ridiculous amount of power, but is very sweet and kind. Except for all the chaotic parts, part of spending all her time around this bunch.

Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl

She has a few confidence issues, as while she is highly capable and fairly tough, she doesn’t really believe it. It takes some time, but she eventually gets to the point where she discovers that she’s actually a pretty good leader, to the point that Tim steps down to let her do the job, and just becomes the team strategist.

Cissie King-Jones/Arrowette

Keeping with her 90s incarnation, she’s more of a tomboy than anything else. She’s a skater (like Tim), and is more comfortable as a bruiser/brawler. Side note: I like her using Amazonian weapons and magic artifacts for a while, before obtaining her demigod powers (she still keeps the weapons, she thinks they’re cool).

The moral dilemma of whether or not she actually wants to be a hero, or if she just does it to spite her mother, is too interesting to not try and explore. She doesn’t like to think too hard on it, so she masks it with snark and sarcasm.

The thoughts come back after she (inevitably, the story was good) quits the hero business. She constantly debates whether or not to don the quiver again. In the meantime, she’s fine just bring the team medic (referencing the time she became a paramedic during the OWAW event).

[jasmine-the-fox]

Lose the model but win a hero

Here’s another update... Were getting somewhere now I promise!

Chapter 3: Jonathan Kent

Previous  First

Mari had only been here for a week and she was already drowned in ideas for new outfits, she knew Chloe being her friend and Adrien also being rich would buy her every piece of fabric, every pearl and anything else to make them, it was how they were... She loved them so very much and couldn’t wait to tell them how her summer was in the end, she looked around while enjoying this time here for the summer... It was obvious she wouldn’t be able to come back for the next summer.

Right now, she was working on her list of things to do... Getting gifts for her friends, she had so much more to do but this was something she wanted to take care of right off the bat, she took pictures here and there of buildings and even at times of statues around the place “I need to get a new sketchbook” she said to herself knowing she no longer had any space to sketch anything out now... Hence why she was taking pictures, so to keep in memory her ideas until she could draw them out.

At one point, she notices a fabric store... And her loving to go buying some goes inside to take a look around, the cashier smiles towards her wondering if she was going to buy something... And she does, Mari loved some of the fabrics and ends up getting a roll of each and takes note of the name and the store so if she wants more, she can see if she can order it online, making her smile as she walks out with her purchase as she thinks up so many outfits and dresses for herself and her friends to wear when they go back to school together... She would enjoy taking pictures of them together and talking about Lila and her stupid lies going around the school.

It was all of a sudden, but she bumped into someone... Well... More like someone ran into her without even looking where he was going, she fell down and to her luck the fabric wasn’t damaged or stained, so she slowly stood up as the boy-yes a boy bumped into her, began to panic and worried she was hurt “I’m really sorry about that! I was just running from a friend I pranked!” he explained quickly as she smiled at him “It’s fine, it was just an accident. Even I bump into people because i’m not looking” she explained and the boy looked to have calmed down thanks to her words making him smile.

He presented himself as Jonathan Samuel Kent, to her surprise he was the son of Clark Kent and his wife Lois making her smile and present herself at that moment as he then invited her to walk around Metropolis to say sorry... While also hiding from his friend, of course as they walk around and talk about anything and everything... It wouldn’t be a full tour without visiting the Daily Planet? So yeah, he takes her there and she watches his parents working together for a moment before they leave... While not knowing Clark heard them and told Lois making her need to talk to there son when they get back home later on that day “This was amazing! I never thought Metropolis would be so amazing!” she claimed making Jon smile to her words as he then looks at the time on his phone.

“Shit! I gotta go join my friends!” he said making her giggle at him as she then gives him her number so he can text her or even call her “I’m here for the whole summer so it’s fine” she said making Jon smile at her and then headed off to join his friends while she headed back to her hotel to relax from her day of walking and everything else happening to her... While thinking back to everything that could happen at school when summer was over “Lila will make them think I never left Paris... Unless I post stuff” she said as she then looked at the pictures Jon took of her with her phone... And began posting them little by little.

The first to comment and like was Chloe and Adrien... Sabrina did so later since she was relaxing for a moment when she began posting, Kagami and Luka were next to comment and like making Mari smile, then Jagged, Clara, her Nona and her parents began to like at their own pace making her smile at what they wrote to her... But the class never looked making her know they didn’t follow her page anymore so they would believe Lila instead, she sighed and decided to now focus on her website MDC Designs and post about how she was taking a summer break on commissions but would be returning after so no one was able to make a request.

Of course does who have her number could text her for a commission... She really didn’t mind since only her friends had that number and no one else did so that was a good thing for her... Then there was her classmates who still expected her to make them free things without caring how long it takes her or even how she can’t do it at times... Making them whine to miss Bustier to make her do it... And she would always refuse and repeat her reasons... Making the class ignore her for a while until they ask her again... Or get mad at her for not making them what they asked for and the results of it (because they asked for it on last minute)

At that moment, Jagged texted her so she knew he understood and would have her enjoy her summer, Clara did the same of course so with that she smiled... But then she was notified of a complaint, confused she looked at it and found Alya making the complaint... Claiming she should be taking there commissions no matter what... And her doing this will make her lose profits... But Mari didn’t care and simply posted the complaint on her site and told everyone that for the WHOLE summer she wasn’t taking commissions... Those who bought from her destroyed Alya’s complaint and suggested the girl be blocked.

Mari did nothing and simply left it to them, she knew that at one point someone might report Alya and end up having her blocked from her site themselves but for now she would watch this happen as she also brings up the fact that during Jagged Stone’s concert in Paris with Clara Nightingale she would be revealing herself once and for all so everyone knows who she really is (she never even said her gender making Lila claim that MDC is actually a guy she knows) she knew the moment she would reveal herself... Lila will fall to her lies and will be hated because Adrien asked her to say nothing so to let Lila lie until she reveals herself.

She was sketching in one of the five new sketchbooks she got herself when she got a text from Jon, he wanted to know if she was doing something tonight making her think about it for a moment and then smiled as she denied having any plans making Jon explain his parents want to meet her... She really didn’t mind since Jon is a good friend now and would soon need to tell her friends about him, she ended up agreeing to the invitation with a smile making Jon ask if he can visit her later and then pick her up to bring her to his place making her accept the whole plan as he explains he should be coming over to her hotel in a little bit making her smile.

Meanwhile, with Jon...

Jonathan was excited! Marinette was going to eat diner with them and he just couldn’t wait to see her again, sure his parents worry he might reveal himself as Superboy to her but he promised to be careful and he was as he headed to the hotel she was staying at for the whole summer... Making him wonder how she was even able to afford that long of a stay, he walked inside and found no one at the desk to tell him which room she was in... Making him need to ask her for it, it wasn’t long before she came down to get him as they talked while getting to her room “How can you even afford to stay here for the summer?” he asked making her giggle “A friend of mine is paying for it, she’s the mayor’s daughter so money isn’t a problem” she explained making him nod in understanding.

They got into her room and he was surprised at how clean it looked... Like she wasn’t even staying and was just about to leave, but from seeing her laptop out with a sketchbook open... She wasn’t really leaving in the end, she smiled to him and explained she would see in the dining room if there was anything to eat left for them to snack on “If not i’ll go out for a bit to get us something” she said making him nod as she took her purse and left with a smile making Jon begin looking around the room... And then got his eyes landed on her laptop.

He got curious and took a look, it showed a website she was working on to add outfits... Making him understand this was her website she had spoken about to him he looked it over until he noticed people getting mad at a girl named Alya, for some reason the girl was angry due to Mari wanting a break for the summer from commissions he could tell Alya was insane to claim such a thing making him feel anger growing within him for a moment before he looked away and focused on her sketchbook making him smile at her designs... And then laughed at the ones for the Justice League members with little notes saying she would get them to change looks.

“I’m back! I found some good muffins for us to enjoy” she said as she came inside to find Jon turning the pages of her sketchbook, she could have tried to take it back or tell him to not look further... But he looked to enjoy checking it making her simply set the muffins down and watch him for a moment in silence “I see your looking through my stuff” she said making him then jump in surprise to her voice now being heard by him making her giggle at his reaction “Sorry! I got curious” he explained making her nod in understanding as she then took it back and put it next to her laptop “I saw what that Alya wrote” he said making her turn to him in surprise “She... She’s bullied me with my other classmates because a girl lies about me” she explained making him nod “I did nothing wrong, I was always helping them... But Lila told them things I did to her and they just forgot everything I did for them... I only have Chloe, Sabrina, Adrien, Kagami, Luka and my parents who believe me” she explained as she looked down in pain.

If he could, Jon would have gone to Paris as Superboy and given the class a piece of his mind for what they did to Marinette... She was just a ray of sunshine and for them to treat her like that made no sense “How about we forget about it and focus on what will be happening” he suggested making her smile and nod to him as they there muffin and chatted a bit together before it was time for them to head to meet the Kent’s making Mari smile as they walked inside to meet Lois and Clark who were more than happy to meet her, the meal was amazing and Mari just enjoyed every second of it as slowly it came time for her to head home it with her refusing Jon walking her back.

Once she left he told his parents everything that was happening in Paris “I’ll need to speak to the others during our next meeting... Which is tomorrow” Clark said making Jon nod as they cleaned up while Jon worried about Mari and her situation “Why would the Mayor of Paris not ask us for help?” Clark asked making Jon look at his dad with worry “Why didn’t anyone try to stop the bullying situation at Mari’s school?” he asked back making his father sigh with even more worry as Lois began to work on a few scoops that would put Paris to shame once she got more info from Marinette.

It won’t be long before people in Paris are punished for their actions.

Back in Paris with Kagami and Luka...

With Kagami practicing her fencing, Luka was playing a few notes on his guitar. Jagged had allowed him to take a break and enjoy his summer... Making the boy begin packing to head for Hawaii making Kagami help him... While ignoring Juleka asking her brother to join her classmates for something they were doing with Lila... Each time he refused and claimed something about the Italian, his sister would look sad and walked away without another word, he didn’t like that but until she realized what the girl was doing... He wouldn’t hang out with his sister or her class.

Kagami still had to wait before joining them, but from her friends texted them... It would be fun when she arrives making her smile at the pictures Adrien sent her each time “Your sister needs to open her eyes to the lies Rossi speaks” she said making Luka stop playing for a moment to sigh and then get back to playing “She thinks I have something against Lila because Mari and I talk... She tried having Mom force me to hang out with them... I actually wanted to call the police for sexual assault with the number of times Lila humped me” he explained making Kagami growl in anger.

“I will stab her one day” she said making Luka not say a word as he then looked over to find Juleka walking over to him and Kagami with Lila and Alya “Hey, the girls and I came over to get something of mine before going to a picnic and wanted to know if you would join us?” she asked making Luka sigh and point to his bags “I’m going to Hawaii later” he stated making Lila spew a lie about going there and asking if she could join him as he then noticed his ride and simply took his things to the car while ignoring Lila’s words as he was driven to the airport.

Next

[what-if-i-imagine]

Shaking Breath

Amanda Waller, four bats and a Kryptonian clone have been working to create a new device for task Force X to use in the case of a Kryptonian going rogue. said device needs to be tested. Little do they know, Lex Luthor caught wind of the test, and has decided to attempt to get rid of Superman's second son, Nightwing, once and for all.

Ao3

TW: Suffocation from smoke

"Is it done?" The occupants of the lab all turned to face the Kryptonians who had just entered the lab from the elevator. Superman, the very man who had spoken, stood with his arms crossed and his young second son Nightwing closely tucked into his side imitating his posture. Supergirl and Power Girl both made their way to lean on the wall near the elevator while Superboy went to greet his friend.

Amanda Waller was the one to answer Superman, “It was just finished this morning.”

“Then testing is good to go?” Superboy asked, moving to his station at the monitors beside Red Robin.

"It doesn't have to be tested," Batman said. "We know it will work."

"Always better safe than sorry," Superman said. "It would be better for us to test it and for it to work than for us not to test it and be left with a useless device when it’s needed most.”

“I’m still not sure about this,” Batman said. “Ms. Waller already has Task Force X for this kind of thing.”

“As I said, better safe than sorry,” Superman nodded.

“And it will be safe to have one hand,” Supergirl said. “If we never have to use it, then great, but if we do, it will save a lot of lives.”

“You say that now, you won’t be saying it when you’re the one in there,” Waller said.”

“If,” Power Girl corrected. “We never plan on any of us going rogue. It’s only a possibility we have to be cautious of.”

“I meant testing it,” Waller said. “Figured she's tough as nails and would be up to the task.”

Kara shifted her weight from one foot to the other, avoiding facing Waller.

“Now that’s a surprise,” Waller said dryly, “Well then, which one of you is getting in there? Superboy can’t do it, and Supergirl apparently isn’t up to the task.”

“None of us want to do it,” Kara said, defensive instincts flaring. “Would you want to be trapped in there breathing something that makes you so vulnerable?”

“I would if it meant the world would be a safer place for it,” Waller said. “Now. Which one of you is going in?”

"I'll do it."

Everyone whipped around in varying degrees of shock and horror to the boy that had spoken.

Nightwing, Chris, shrunk under their gaze, but kept his eyes on his adoptive father. Looking up at him with an unreadable expression

"Absolutely not," Clark said once he was over his shock.

"Papa, I'll be fine-"

"I said no."

"Just hear me out-"

"Christopher Kent," Clark cut him off again, settling him with a serious look. "I refuse to allow this to be tested on a teenager."

"You refuse to let it be tested on me," Chris corrected. "But Papa, I'm the only one it makes sense to be tested on."

Waller gained an interested expression for the first time since the Kryptonians had walked in, "And why is that?"

"Because out of all of us, it needs to work on me," Chris said. He didn’t look at her, but it was clear to anyone in the room that he meant it. “Papa, Kara, Kon, and Karen are unlikely to go rogue. They've been raised in positive environments, always fighting for what's good and right. I was born in the Phantom Zone as a member of the house of Zod. I'm the most likely here to lose sight of what we believe in."

"You would never-" Clark started, but was cut off when Chris shook his head.

"It's okay. I know what you guys saw when you visited the other timelines. I was a Zod. I may be a Kent now, but that doesn't mean I can't be changed. Brain washing, amnesia, anything could happen to make me change and I would be the easiest target. We need to be sure Task Force X, or the bats, or you guys, could take me down if needed."

There was a heavy pause with all eyes on him. Everyone knew he was right, but no one wanted to admit it. None of the four bats present nor the supers wanted to remember what they had seen in the other timeline. The dirty blond haired, brown eyed boy in front of them being bathed in darkness with black hair and gold eyes that made him look like his parents in a sickening way.

But that didn't stop that reality from existing. Their disbelief that the sunny boy they all knew had the possibility to become so lost didn't stop the possibility from being real.

Clark finally sighed, and pulled his son into a tight hug against his chest, burying his nose in the boy's hair, "Fine. You can test it. But we won't ever need it for you, I know we won’t. Tell us the second you feel any pain or get even the slightest bit sacred."

"I will," Chris promised, pulling back enough to smile up at him. "I'll be okay. everything is being controlled and monitored. And anyways, I know I'll always be safe with you here."

"You are safe," Clark confirmed, just as he did every time Chris had his doubts since the moment they got him. He had had to repeat the phrase many times since they got him out of the Phantom Zone. He would willingly repeat it for the rest of his life if it helped to put his son at ease.

"I'm safe," Chris repeated one last time before fully pulling away. "It's going to be okay."

An arm suddenly slung around his neck, pulling him down into Kon's chest. He laughed a little at his older brother, and attempted to bat at his hand while he messed up his hair.

"You know you don't have to keep proving how stupidly brave you are, right?" Kon said. "Phantom Zone wasn't enough. You just have to go and prove you're up to any challenge. You're making the rest of us seem lame here!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Chris laughed.

Without giving Clark or the rest of his family any more time to worry, Chris went to the cylinder chamber, stepping in when Waller opened the door for him.

The chamber looked to be made of normal glass and metal, but in reality was made of a material not even the Kryptonians could break through, and reinforced by Kryptonite in the center in case they managed to break through the first few layers. It was designed to hold a rogue Kryptonian for as long as needed with no escape and was perfect for this very test.

"It's going to feel like it's burning your lungs," Waller warned. "It won't be a pleasant experience."

"I didn't expect it to be," Chris smiled. 

Waller nodded and closed the chamber door. The hiss and clicks of the locks echoed through the room and the seams seemingly disappeared. Chris stood still in the center, stance relaxed but prepared. With his nod, Batman, Oracle, Red Robin and Kon all flipped their switches.

Nothing happened for a second, but Chris remained prepared. A hiss sounded as the floor of the chamber sunk by just a half a centimeter and the ceiling did the same to reveal thin vents that ran all along the new openings.

Glowing green gas leaked in from them, slowly spreading across the ceiling and floor. Chris only spared the gas a glance before his eyes returned to his father's through the glass.

The gas spread, following the movement of air in the chamber, naturally drawn to where Chris stood taking deep breaths to speed up the process.

On his first inhale of the gas Chris started to choke, one hand flying to his neck while the other covered his mouth and nose involuntarily.

"Christopher, fighting back will only make it hurt," Waller said through an intercom Chris couldn't locate with his already wavering mind.

It was a struggle, but he forced his hands away, instead wrapping his arms around his chest to hold himself.

"Chris?" Clark said, worry already filling his voice to the brim.

"I'm okay," Chris managed to say. He could hear the way his voice echoed from the intercom in the lab but it was heavily muffled by the glass. He met his father's eyes again and repeated, "I'm okay."

Clark looked unsure but put his hand back down anyways.

Chris bit the bullet and took as deep a breath as he could manage, only choking slightly as the forign gas entered his lungs. He let his breath back out, and was consciously aware of the oxygen in him being quickly replaced by the kryptonite gas that was already weakening him. He could feel his ice breath and laser vision were the first the gas took from him, quickly followed by flight and everything else but strength.

Unlike the others, strength slowly seeped out of him instead of leaving in an instant. Still, it was gone quickly until he had the strength of a normal human fifteen year old.

Alarm only set in when the burn in his chest intensified and his strength lessened even more than that of a human.

He started to shake as the glowing green filled his vision. A frantic look around him said the chamber was thinly filled with the gas. He could still see through it to outside the chamber, but it was gradually becoming more opaque. It felt as if all oxygen was gone from his lungs, and the gas was the only thing he was breathing.

His shaking grew so bad he had to brace both hands against the glass to his side, using the little strength he had left to hold himself up. His breaths became frantic as his eyes uselessly searched the chamber for an escape.

Belatedly he remembered what his father had instructed him to do if he got scared or if it started to hurt, and shouted, "Okay I'm done! I don't want to do this anymore! Let me out!"

Outside the chamber, Clark watched his son's expression grow panicked and heard it coupled with his shouts over the intercom.

"Let him out!" he yelled to the group who held control over the chamber.

"We're trying," Red Robin said. "Something is wrong.”

"What does that mean?" Clark snapped.

"Someone override the commands," Batman said. "They hacked into the system somehow. They won't let us access the locks. or vents."

"How could someone hack into the system? We have a more secure system than the pentagon, you said so yourself when Oracle coded it!"

"It's Luthor," Red Robin said, his own voice turning panicked. He used one hand to push off his cowl while he typed at near speedster speeds with the other. His eyes were wide, and for the first time, Clark was sure it was fear he was seeing on a bat. "He found out about the project somehow. He hacked into the system."

"Shit," Oracle cursed, causing Clark's eyes to flicker to where she was stationed in front of several monitors.

"Report!" Batman ordered.

"Luthor got into the gas chambers. It's not just the kryptonite gas filling in there."

"What else is he filtering into the chamber?"

"A normal smoke that was colored green so we wouldn’t notice. He's trying to choke out the oxygen in the chamber."

Clark was sure his heart would bruise his ribs from how hard it was beating. A soft thud returned his undivided attention to his son in the chamber. Chris had seen their panic, and it had clearly only worsened his own as he started to frantically, weakly hit the glass while on his knees. Tears were streaking down his face that was gradually paleing.

A hundredth of a second passed, and Clark found himself hitting the glass with his full strength behind each punch. He knew in the small, still rational part of his brain that he wouldn't even make a dent, but he kept trying. Kara and Karen joined him. One kryptonian couldn't break through the material, but maybe three could. He was sure Kon would have joined their desperate attempts if it hadn't been busy making his own desperate attempts through code at regaining control of the server.

It took him a few seconds to realize the shrill loudness wasn't coming from his own head, but from the intercoms that were still projecting Chris's voice out to them. He was screaming unlike Clark had ever heard him do before. Screaming and crying and calling "Papa'' over and over again. The loud hits against the glass by the three kryptonians on the outside could be heard over the intercom by anyone else in the room, but only four of them outside the chamber could hear Chris's frantically beating heart under all the comotion.

"It's going to be okay baby!" Clark yelled. He tried to make his expression reassuring, but Chris gave no reaction. He just continued to scream and cry, staring brokenly up at him from behind the glass he couldn't break through.

"He can't hear you," an oh so familiar voice said from the intercoms.

"Luthor! If you don't stop this now nothing will stop me from killing you!" Karen yelled to Clark's right.

Luthor gave no response besides quickening the stream or colored smoke and kryptonite gas into the chamber. The color of green became so opaque that Clark's couldn't see Chris's face anymore. All he could see was his boy's hands pressed against the glass, bleeding and raw from hitting it so hard so many times.

Chris's screams came to a sudden stop. His hands slipped from the glass, leaving blood smeared from where they had been. Dirty blonde hair, a shoulder, and half of Chris's blue clad arm became visible from where he had slumped over between where Clark and Kara were hitting the glass still.

Clark heard himself screaming, but had no control over it.

He should have listened to his instincts. He shouldn't have let Chris go in there. He should have listened to Bruce and not have done a test at all. Not have let anyone in there.

“We're back online!" he faintly heard Red Robin shout. Four switches were flipped before Luthor could regain control and the chamber hissed and clicked for a minute as the gas drained out through the bottom and top. As the gas drained away and was replaced again by oxygen, Chris became visible again. A mess of tears, sweat, and snot covered his face. He was slumped bonelessly against the glass, his eyes closed and head pressed against it in a way that awkwardly bent his neck.

When the gas was completely gone from the chamber it unlocked with one final click.

Clark wasted no time throwing the chamber door open, arms ready to catch him when Chris fell forward towards him.

"He's not breathing," Clark yelled. He was shaking so badly he could see the way it jostled his son. He laid him on the floor, but before he could start the CPR he usually would in this situation, Kara caught him.

"He's weaker than a human right now," she said. "A Kryptonian performing CPR would only hurt him worse.

"I've got it," Stephine gently pushed Clark away and started CPR. Clark heard two of Chris's ribs crack under the bat's force as she expertly resuscitated him. Minutes passed like hours where Clark lost small lapses of time. Kon had at some point pressed himself into Clark's side now on his knees on the ground too. He was shaking. They both were. From the corner of his eye he could see Kara and Karen doing the same while standing, hugging onto one another.

Like breaking through a water's surface while being under for too long, Chris's loud gasp was the best sound he was sure he would ever hear. his son choked a few times, his heart beat that of a hummingbird, but he soon calmed into ragged breaths.

Clark quickly scooped his son up into his arms and held him so close he was sure he would never be able to let go.

"Papa," Chris was barely able to rasp a whisper against Clark's chest.

"I'm right here," Clark promised. He was unashamed of the tears that filled his voice. "I'm right here baby. It's okay. You're okay."

The fingers of his right hand thread through his boy's hair while he leaned his own head on Kon's where it rested on his shoulder. Kon had one arm still wrapped around Clark, but the other now wrapped around Chris, palm pressed to the side of his belly so he could feel the rise and fall of breath. Karen and Kara had joined them on the ground in front of Clark, Karen's hand holding Chris's and one of Kara's circled one of his ankles.

Bruce stood on Clark's unoccupied side holding his shoulder in a comfort just as steady as Chris's now even breathing.

When Clark could tear his eyes away from his son to everyone else in the room, all he could see was fear and regret mixed evenly with relife. They were all thinking about the same things. Every time before this when Luthor had tried to kill Chris had been much less direct and less successful. But he had been getting closer with every attempt to off Clark's second son. He had almost won this time.

Never again.

Chris was breathing, and Clark was never going to let him stop again.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of October 30th, 2019

Best of this Week: Tales from the Dark Multiverse - The Death of Superman - Jeff Loveness, Brad Walker, Drew Hennessey, Norm Rapmund, John Kalisz and Clayton Cowles

We all know the story of the Death of Superman.

It was one of the few times that Superman fought a threat that pushed him to his limits, ultimately meeting his “end” before a triumphant return after he had been presumed dead. However, what would have happened had Superman not come back as soon as he did? What if someone wanted revenge for his death and saw his passing as a failure on the part of his friends and allies? What if that person were Lois Lane, fueled by the anger of losing her loving husband, enraged enough to become the change the world needed without its greatest hero?

The book begins with Tempus Fuginaut questioning why the darkness keeps returning, why it seems to keep attempting to poison the rest of the multiverse and he is at a loss. He breaks when he mentions worlds that are already dark because of tragedy and get darker still. We then cut to Superman’s battle with Doomsday and his eventual death right up to Lois cradling his body. Where the original story sees her crying and appreciating all that the rest of the heroes were doing while the fight was going on, this book sees her turn to them in fury. She asks why none of them were there for him, why none of them helped him fight.

Brad Walker does an excellent job of conveying Lois’ emotions. Here, she is shown to be far more angry, her eyes showing a pain that honestly, I don’t think we’ve ever seen from her character. Her tears are well detailed, dripping down her cheeks with maybe some bit of mascara mixed in for effect. Her brow furrows and she lashes out at Batman in particular once he tries to comfort her.  

What’s most interesting about this take is the idea that those closest to Clark had been shunted to the side in favor of the League who Lois saw as attention seekers with no regard for his real family. In the original story, Lois and the Kents were in the forefront and were absolutely devastated at the funeral. In this story, Lois is barely able to see the proceedings as the crowd blocks her and some members of the League stop for photos (maybe, Hal Jordan stops and waves at someone). Lois is further disgusted as Lex Luthor (with luxurious long, red hair) unveils a golden statue of the Man of Steel and promises to “live up to the hope” of what Superman believed humanity was capable of. Lois feels that Clark would have found it all s disgusting.

Time goes by and the world turns back into the cesspool that it was before Superman even lit the sky up with hope. There are headlines that crime has skyrocketed and Lois can do nothing but look at it all with despair. Lois Lane had always been a giant beacon of hope, even before she met Clark, but something about his death and the way that world handled it just broke her. Her body language at her desk and later, Superman’s grave give off heavy feelings of sadness and depression. She can’t even have a good night's rest without thinking about him and the shoddy state of the world after his passing. Superman gave so much to humanity and they’ve all just pissed it away from her point of view.

She visits Ma Kent and comforts her as the Kents couldn’t even go to their son’s funeral to say their goodbyes. As they embrace, Martha tells Lois that Jonathan fell into a coma after a heart attack and you can feel her brokenness as she laments that “her boys are gone.” It rips at the heart to see, a testament to Brad Walker’s emotional art and Loveness’ amazing script. She stays with Ma Kent for an unstated period of time before making her way to the Fortress of Solitude to deliver Superman’s cape back to his Kryptonian home. 

She puts herself in a fetal position before the statues of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van and suddenly the form of Eradicator appears before her. John Kalisz is given a ton of space to shine as this is one of the most visually dynamic sequence of pages in the book. Eradicator shimmers with a bright and vibrant shade of red accentuated by a white form. Energy surges around him in the form of circular marks, like bubbles as one exhales while swimming underwater. Even without a mouth, his eyes emote for him. Showing his own anger and lament after failing to save Superman in time. 

Lois, with tears in her eyes, offers her body as a vessel for his power as he cannot sustain it in his current form. He is reluctant at first, thinking that her body wouldn’t be able to take it, but upon seeing her resolve and want to finish Superman’s mission, he allows her to take his power. She is then showered in his energy in a bright blast as he dissipates into her. The Fortress of Solitude is destroyed with the red of the explosion contrasted by the blues and whites of the ice. Things simmer down for a moment before another single beam of light shoots out from the ice, revealing Lois in her Super-form. 

Her costume is amazing. Mirroring the bloody logo that made the Death of Superman story feel so visceral, she already feels like a different “hero” altogether, choosing to forego bright colors in favor of a black bodysuit and Superman’s torn cape. She vows to make the world better, to make it a world that deserved Superman. The way that she goes about it very similar to Injustice Superman’s approach, but instead of raising an army, she is the army. She takes down predatory banks, ends wars, feeds the hungry, kills the corrupt and does so without a hint of remorse. She begins to wonder why Clark never used his power in that way. The questions swirl around her mind as she wonders if Clark was truly naive or if he was just afraid of truly Saving humanity for whatever reason.

Many have asked similar questions over the years with the only real answer being that Superman wants humanity to advance on their own with him being a guiding hand, but not a firm one. Lois, only fueled by revenge, doesn’t have the same restraint. Eventually she finds Lex Luthor, knowing that he’s been the cause of all of the world’s troubles since Superman’s death. He doesn’t bat an eye as he admits to his heinous crimes; funding wars and conflicts, struck down climate regulations, created child soldier and even murdering his secretary just because he could. He expects Lois to bring him to justice, claiming that he owns far more judges than she could stop.

In a terrifying moment, she bursts through the glass window separating them and grabs him by the throat. Luthor is unable to speak, unable to stop her at all and the motif of tears continues as she tells him that Superman was Clark Kent. Luthor’s face, abject terror mixed with the loss of breath is both horrifying to see and absolutely gratifying considering his actions. She flies him past Earth’s atmosphere as quickly as she can, burning him to ash and bone in her hands before continuing her mission.

These are my favorite pages in the book. Loveness wrote it in such a way that all of the emotion is able to be carried by with little dialogue and the few words that are spoken were powerful. Walker made sure to draw these pages with an amazing amount of depth to them. Lois’ boiling anger is painted on her face through her tears, her body language indicates that she feels her actions are righteous and the ease that she’s able to keep hold of Luthor as she destroys him shows a level of control over her new powers and it is amazing. Kalisz makes no bones about showing how Lois’ inner darkness has taken over, showing her shrouded in fire and feeling nothing about what she has done.

The training wheels are taken off by this point as Lois has seemingly gone on a tear through the rogues gallery of almost everyone; burning Intergang, Cadmus, Ra’s al Ghul, Ares, Black Adam, Deathstroke and finally the Joker which draws the ire of Batman. He confronts her about what she’s done, leading to them having a fight. Batman does his best, but she tells him how much Clark actually held back against him, even going so far as to say that Clark pitied him and wished that he would stop being Batman. Bruce looks at her with a seething rage, saying that “he doesn’t stop” to which Lois says that she knows. While we don’t see the aftermath of their conflict up close, we do see her heat vision make a huge blast before she flies away.

This stuck out to me because, unlike Injustice that went out of its way to show all of the brutality that Superman inflicted upon the heroes of the world, we can interpret similar actions from how she was able to easily kill Batman alone. We don’t need to see what happened to know that it was heinous and that she likely had cut a swath through the other “glory hounds” as well. As she looks out to the vast emptiness of space, she sees her own truth. Humanity can’t be saved because they don’t want to be. Batman was the pinnacle of that and now that he’s gone, she’s finally realized it. Batman was one of the greatest humans to exist, but he was too wrapped up in his own emotion and damn anyone that tried to stop him.

What would a Death of Superman retelling be without the “pretenders?” Granted, I think this bit of the story took some liberties, but it was still horrific to see. She goes after Cyborg Superman and immediately sees through his ruse. They have a tussle and as it appears that she’s about to lose, Steel and Superboy show up only to be crushed and heat visioned to death. I suppose Superboy’s clone DNA doesn’t make him as invincible as Superman, but I don’t think Cyborg Superman has the power to control metal at will to crush Steel either. Lois proceeds to fight Cyborg Superman for God knows how long, not caring about property damage or the amount of people killed.

She looks around, seeing all of the damage and suddenly, in a black suit, Clark returns. He apologizes for how long it took and sees that she’s been fighting Cyborg Superman, then he takes a look at the crowd of people and sees that they’re afraid of her and he questioned why. Unfortunately, this leaves him distracted enough for Cyborg Superman to blast the pair with a ray of Kryptonite Energy, killing him and leaving his face frozen with terror at Lois. She kills Cyborg Superman and cradles his body again, this time knowing that she’s the one that kills him.

I loved this book because it was absolutely masterful. Lois Lane is such a great character that rarely gets stories of her own these days, aside from her current ongoing series by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. She is always portrayed as a strong character and seeing her succumb to a weakness like rage is refreshing in a dark way. One criticism I could draw is that this story focused very little on her journalism, but in contrast, how often do we get a super powered Lois Lane? 

Brad Walker, Drew Hennessey, Norm Rapmund and John Kalisz absolutely killed it in the art department. It was brutal without blood and the motif of tears and fire was a nice addition. Waller has such a distinctive and sharp style that is accentuated by Hennessey and Rapmund's inks and elevated by Kalisz' colors. This book was high quality and beautiful. 

High recommend!

[awhitehead17]

Reunited

TimKon, Hugs, Reunions, Fluff, Drabble.

A/N: This is based off @ryripeachy beautiful art work which I just fell in love with and wanted to write something based off of it! This one is based off Young Justice #5.

Enjoy! :D

Feeling dubious Tim closes his eyes and allows Zatanna to place her hands on the sides of his head, he stands still and waits patiently as she does her magic on him.

Only a few seconds go by and then suddenly there’s images flashing through his mind. It’s bizarre on how well he can see them. Then in a blink of an eye he suddenly remembers them all so clearly. Them, his team. There’s Bart, Kid Flash, the over energetic speedster, one of his best friends who has a bubbly personality and crazy hair. There’s Cassie, Wonder Girl, an Amazon, sometimes brash and overconfident but is strong willed, a good friend and a decent leader.

Then there’s him. 

His best friend, Superboy, a clone of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, he’s strong, brash, hot headed but also has a pure heart and always wants to do the right thing.  

Tim snaps his eyes open as his name comes to mind, “Conner?”

Then there’s more images going through his mind of all of the others, of everyone who he had been associated with. All of their names, powers and abilities all come back to him and now he remembers everything.

Something happens and a sharp pain jolts through his head. He lets out a yell and stumbles backwards. Thankfully Steph is there to catch him and to guide him over to the car as he tries to get his feet underneath him.

Clutching the sides of his head he asks through gritted teeth, “What was that? What just happened?”

He doesn’t hear the magicians response, he’s too caught up in everything that had just been revealed to him to pay attention. “I had – I had a – a – a whole other – another life. I had an entire other life. That wasn’t an alternate anything… my friends… my team…”

He opens his eyes up and looks pleadingly to Zatanna, “I don’t understand…”

For a moment she looks just as confused but then a look of understanding comes across her face seconds later. She glances at Tim before turning around and looks up at the sky, “It all makes sense now.”

Tim turns his attention in the same direction, it takes a moment to work out what she was looking at but then a figure was floating towards them in the sky. As they get closer Tim feels his heart stop and his breathing shallow when he finally recognises who it is. He stares wide eyed in shock and surprise as the figure lands down on the ground by Zatanna.

No one moves for a good while, all of them taking in the newcomer and as they look back.

Tim’s the one to break the silence. His words were extremely quiet and came out as a gasp, “Conner? Kon?”

Conner looks at him and sends him a small smile, “Hey Tim, long time no see huh?”

Tim brings a hand up to his mouth in disbelief. “Oh my god.”

Then before he even realised it he was moving, running over to Conner. The Super sees him coming and opens his arms up to which Tim jumps straight into them. He wraps his arms around his neck and his legs tightly around Kon’s waist and clings onto him while Kon holds him up by hooking his hands underneath his butt and buries his face into his neck.

Tim loses track of time while he’s in Conner’s arms. He’s got his best friend back, the one he had forgotten but now he’s back and Tim isn’t willing to let him go. Kon seems to be in the same boat, unwilling to put him down or even create a space between them from where their bodies were pressed so tightly together.

Tim rests his head on Kon’s, “I have so many questions but thank god you’re here.”

Kon groans into his neck before shifting slightly so he could speak properly. “I missed you so much. You have no idea Tim. I missed you so much.”

Now that Kon was back in his life, Tim’s feeling a lot lighter, like some of the weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Kon’s back, he remembers all of the others and now all he’s got to do is go find them.

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 1 of my Superboy fanfic. 

Story synopsis:

Following the death of Superman a new hero has arrived, Superboy, a clone who claims to have been literally born yesterday. But is he really? Is this Boy of Steel nothing more than the showboating teen he seems to be or is there more to him than meets the eye? And what happens when a villain is revealed to be good and a hero is revealed to be a villain?

Lois Lane had been through a lot the past couple of weeks. Her husband, Clark Kent, Superman, was killed in an almost hopeless battle against a monster from outer space that has since become known as Doomsday. The creature had killed hundreds and left countless ruins in its wake as it came for him, for Superman. Why it had been searching for Clark and why it wanted him dead so badly no one knew, not even Bruce Wayne who was supposed to be the world’s greatest detective. But in the end, it hadn’t mattered. The monster got what it wanted even at the cost of its own life. And her?

Lois lost the love of her life and father of her ten-year-old son Jon who still woke up screaming from nightmares of his father’s death. She’d have to stay with him every night and hold him as he cried himself to sleep just so that he would sleep. Needless to say, seeing your own father be brutally murdered by a mindless behemoth on television left quite a few traumas in the boy’s mind.

Following the funerals of Superman and Clark Kent, Lois threw herself into her work, desperate to try and move on from her grief. Jimmy was a sweetheart, even though he too had lost Clark, his best friend, he’d been nothing but a supportive shoulder for Lois to lean on in these difficult times, always bringing her fresh baked muffins and hot coffee from the local Jitters café. In return she did what she could to cheer him up now and again and gave him a big hug every time she saw him in the office. Though she knew Jimmy probably thought the hug was more for her own sake than his. In truth, it might have been a little of both.

Halfway through the day and Lois was busy revising a fluff piece she had written on the release of the latest Lexcorp product, a new virtual reality gaming system that had 4k graphics and stunning audio relay. It seemed trite in Lois’s opinion, creating a new VR game just like everyone else in the industry. Sure, it was a superior system, everything Lex made usually was, but it still just felt pointless after everything that had happened. Then her boss, Perry White, came up to her desk with something that wasn’t so pointless.

“Lane, robbery in progress on 38th and Siegel Avenue, hostages taken. I want you on the ground and reporting on it pronto. Take Olsen with you to work the camera. Go, go, go!”

“Yes, sir. Jimmy, we got work to do! Grab your camera!” Lois shouted out as she grabbed her gear and headed out.

“On it!”

They made it to the bank in record time and found a police barricade at the front of the bank. Lois and Jimmy quickly got to work reporting on the situation after asking a few basic questions to know what they would be reporting on.

“On the air in 3, 2,” Jimmy said, leaving off the one in place of a pointed finger as the camera got rolling.

“Good afternoon, this is Lois Lane reporting live from Shuster Bank on 38th and Siegel where a robbery is taking place. Officials say there are four perpetrators responsible for this crime and approximately twenty-three civilians being held hostage. Police have been unable to make contact with the hostage takers in order to begin negotiations but believe they can-”

A gust of air and a blur sped past them into the bank startling them out of focus.

“What was that?” Jimmy asked.

Suddenly gunshots started going off inside as two of the criminals got tossed through the doors and out of the building. More shots were fired as police moved in to try and control the situation.

“The situation has escalated. Police are moving in as we speak. It would seem from the perpetrators being thrown from the building that an as yet unidentified individual has sped into the bank in efforts to aid in the apprehension of these individuals. Hold on.”

Lois took a pause to turn around as the sound of bullets being fired ended and saw the criminals being walked away in handcuffs.

“Gunfire has ceased, and police are now filing everyone out of the building. The hostages appear to be shaken but unharmed. Excuse me, ma’am,” Lois said, approaching one of the officers, “can you tell me what just happened in there?”

“Hello Metropolis!” a voice shouted out to the crowd.

“Why don’t you ask him?” the officer replied, pointing a thumb behind her at the teenager hovering above the ground with a bright smile on his face as he waved to the onlookers and police officers.

The boy couldn’t have been older than 16. He was wearing a blue and red suit with Superman’s logo on the chest and a black jacket over top. His dark hair was cut into a fade and his face looked so much the spitting image of Clark’s high school yearbook photos that Lois was certain that his eyes would look blue behind those dark specs of his.

“Excuse me, young man, but might I ask who you are?” she questioned, approaching the teenager.

“Name’s Superboy, but don’t wear it out,” he replied, lowering his shades to wink at Lois with surprisingly green eyes.

“I see and would you care to explain these powers of yours?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a clone of Superman. Born yesterday. Literally.”

“Funny, I thought Superman had blue eyes, not green.”

“Yeah and he doesn’t have marble white skin and poor speech but as we’ve seen with Bizarro, cloning ain’t an exact science. Sometimes things go wrong. But enough about me. You came here to report on the bank robbery, right? Well here’s what happened. I flew in, punched the biggest guy in the face and bent his gun in half, the other three started shooting at me, bullets bounced right off; obviously. I used my heat vision and super strength to tear up a piece of the floor to use as a shield, so that when I grabbed the first guy and then a second one they wouldn’t get hit by bullets flying around when I tossed them out of the building. Then it was simply a matter of zipping up to the last two guys, crushing the gun barrels with my hands and punching them both in the face. Any questions?”

“Just one. If you’re a clone, who created you and more importantly, why?”

“That’s two questions actually but I’ll answer them anyway. I was created by an organization called Cadmus. Why they made me doesn’t matter. What matters is what I choose to do with my life and what I choose to do is to use my power to help people, protect people, just like Superman before me. Now if you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Lane, I hear a cat stuck in a tree over on Main Street, so I’ll have to catch you later. But ya know what? You being a reporter and all we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of each other so tell ya what,” he said, reaching down at his thigh holster to grab his phone from inside to hand to Lois. “You give me your number and if I ever feel like having a sit-down interview, you’ll get first dibs. Sound good?”

“Uh�� okay,” Lois replied, not really sure how else to respond.

She tried taking advantage of having his phone in hand to look for his number so that she could call him for questions but found no sign of it on the device. After giving up and typing in her number she handed the phone back to the boy.

“Thanks. I’ll be in touch,” he said with a wink and a two-fingered salute as he flew off toward the East Side, leaving behind a bewildered Lois Lane who was trying to figure out what her opinions were on this kid.

He seemed nice enough, far from as humble as Clark ever was but a good kid for sure if his positive demeanor and heroic act were any indicator. But the fact he was a clone of Clark, and a clone he’d never gotten to meet was… well she was a bit uneasy about the whole concept. It was like finding out she had a long-lost stepson after losing the kid’s dad.

For a moment she wondered how Clark would’ve reacted in this situation. Would he have been happy to meet him and thought of him as a newfound son? Would he have been disturbed by the whole clone thing and brushed him off? Okay, probably not that one but still, for as well as she knew Clark, she didn’t have a freaking clue what he would’ve thought about meeting this Superboy.

She did know one thing though and quickly went to her phone’s contact list.

“Bruce, it’s Lois. I just met the most interesting person today and trust me when I say that you are definitely going to want to hear all about it.”

[dccomicsimagines]

Tears of Sorrow - Wally West x Reader

Requested by greenlanterngirl -  a story (from Young Justice) of where the reader is Hal Jordan's niece and instead of Wally dying, it's the reader and Wally gets upset that not only did the reader die, but his unborn child and tells the team that she was pregnant and Hal gets upset at Wally

***

“I can’t believe it,” Wally whispered. His hands laid on your stomach, staring at it in wonder.

You shifted on the bed, chuckling to yourself. “Wally, you’ve been saying that all day.” Wally laid his head on your stomach, pressing his ear to your tiny bump. 

“I can’t help it, Babe,” Wally replied, meeting your eye. “This is just so wonderful.” You sat up a little, smiling when he leaned forward to kiss you.

“Walls?” you asked, reaching out to run a hand through his red hair. “When do you think we should tell everyone? I’m four mouths along now.” 

Wally paled, sitting up quickly. “I don’t know. Is your Uncle Hal still going to kill me if he even suspects we’re together?” 

“Uncle Hal is not going to kill you,” you soothed, moving to get off the bed. “He might be a little upset, but Uncle Hal will be happy about this. He loves kids.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Wally replied, following you as you headed towards the kitchen. “Though, I suppose we could tell a few select people that aren’t your uncle.” 

You rolled your eyes, opening the refrigerator. Wally followed you, wrapping his arms around you to rest his chin on your shoulder. “Any thoughts about dinner?”

“Oh, how about everything?” Wally kissed your neck, tickling you. You giggled before taking out several leftovers. Slipping out of his grasp, you went to grab some plates. Wally leaned against the fridge, his expression becoming serious. “(Y/N), I was thinking about something.”

“If it’s about food, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” you replied, giving him a smile before focusing on plating the leftovers. 

Wally snorted. “No, it’s not about food.” He looked at his bare feet. “I was wondering if maybe we should make our retirement from superhero life official?” 

You glanced up at him in surprise. “I thought we already did? After the big mission with the Reach, that is?” 

“Yeah, but...” Wally began, moving towards you to take the plates from you. He set them on the table, facing away from you. “I just have a bad feeling about this mission.” 

“A bad feeling?” You placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him around to face you. “What do you mean?”

“I just...I’m afraid something is going to happen,” Wally explained, his arms wrapping around your waist to pull you to him. Your baby bump pressing against his stomach. 

“Wally, nothing is going to happen,” you reassured, smiling with the utmost confidence. “We’re going to kick the Reach’s butt, and then we can focus on our little one.” You grabbed Wally’s hand and laid it on your stomach. 

“Yeah,” Wally whispered as you pulled him into a hug. His arms tightened around you, a feeling of dread brewing in his stomach. When you pulled away a few moments later, Wally gave you a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’m starving,” you remarked, sitting down to dig into the food on your plate. Wally watched you for a moment, hating how it felt like it was going to be the last time he saw you. 

***

“Babe, please say something,” Wally sobbed, taking your fallen body in his arms. He knelt in the snow of Antarctica, bringing you close to his chest and wishing that the events of the last few minutes didn’t happen. “(Y/N), wake up please.” 

Barry and Bart stood a little distance away, watching. Nightwing, M’gann, Superboy, Kaldur, and Artemis ran up a moment later, stopping when they saw Wally. 

Hours later, he found himself sitting in the cafeteria of the Watchtower without any memory of how he got there. Wally remembered you being taken out of his arms, but after that, it was blank. 

Tears started slipping down his cheeks as he shook you gently. “(Y/N), baby, why did you do it? My life wasn’t worth yours. Please, babe, sweetheart, come back.” His mind kept flashing to the moment of you in the kitchen, his heart breaking when he realized that moment was the last.

***

A cup of hot chocolate was forced into his hands as a warm blanket was placed on his shoulders. Nightwing sat beside him, offering Wally his silent company. Barry was on his other side, trying to get Wally to drink.

“Walls, just take a sip,” Barry begged, pulling off his mask to reveal how exhausted he was. He took the cup out of Wally’s hand and brought it to his lips to force it down Wally’s throat. Wally took a sip before pushing it away.

“How did we get here?” Wally asked, his voice flat. He glanced at Dick, trusting him to answer. 

Dick took off his mask before sharing a worried look with Barry. “You don’t remember?” Wally shook his head making Dick sigh. “After we lost (Y/N), we tried to take them from you to get you both back here. You freaked and wouldn’t let them go. Eventually, we had to knock you out to get you back here. You woke up a hour ago, but you haven’t responded to anything until now.”

“(Y/N)...” Wally whispered, a sob escaping passed his lips. He thought about your lifeless body, and the life that had been inside of you. Dick put a arm around Wally’s shoulders, trying to comfort him. Tears streamed down Wally’s face as he glanced at Dick then Barry. “Did you know (Y/N) was pregnant? They were four months along. We didn’t want to tell anyone, but I guess that was a mistake.”

“What?!” Barry gasped in shock, devastation dawning on his face. “Oh, Wally. I’m so sorry.” Dick was about to say something, but a voice interrupted him.

“You son of a bitch,” Hal Jordan screamed, marching into the room. He sent a glowing boxing glove crashing into Wally’s face. Wally slammed into the floor, taking Barry down with him. 

“What the hell, Hal? Stop it!” Barry snapped, zooming to his feet to place himself between Hal and Wally. 

Hal was out of his mind with rage. “My niece died today to save his miserable life, and now you’re saying they were pregnant with his kid!”  

Wally moaned on the floor. The blood from his nose mixing with his tears. “It’s my fault. Let him kill me,” Wally cried. Dick knelt down beside him, trying to soothe him. “(Y/N), why did I let you go?”

“Hal, calm down. I know you’re grieving, but taking it out on Wally is not the answer.” Barry took a punch from Hal, knocking him out of the way. Hal formed another boxing glove and slammed it into Wally again. Wally flew against the wall, groaning from the pain. 

“I will not calm down.” Hal approached Wally, ready to attack. He threw Dick off when he tried to stop him. “You killed my (Y/N).” Hal stuck a finger in Wally’s face. “And their child.” 

The pure guilt on Wally’s face caused Hal to freeze. Wally sobbed, shaking uncontrollably. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Do what you want to me. I can’t live if they’re gone.” 

It was in that moment, Hal realized what he was doing. Sinking to his knees, Hal embraced Wally. Both men sobbed, Hal’s anger turning into grief. 

Despite their conflict with each other over their relationship with you, both men shared their love for you and both of them would forever grieve for losing you. The death of your unborn child just added to their grief. A reminder of what they and you had lost. 

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League #19

I forgot to adult color this.

For everybody who keeps wondering why I'm calling the new antagonist "Dark Phoenix, Keeper of Dark Time," this scan is for you. Obviously Bryan Hitch told Fernando Pasarin, "I want the Surprise Twist Big Bad to look like Dark Phoenix!" And Fernando said, "I will get out my tracing paper!"

If you're in a comic book and you're female and you suddenly reveal yourself to be evil, apparently your clothes begin disintegrating and you lose the top button on your jeans and you forget to put on shoes. I feel I've been amiss in my review duties by not mentioning that in some future alternate reality, Lex Luthor has a mixed race daughter. I guess the human female reproductive organs he eventually implants into Mercy were from a black woman. Superman's response to Molly (what kind of villain name is that?! I'm just going to keep calling her Dark Phoenix, if you don't mind!) is "Everyone with powers? Why?" I know what he's thinking. He's thinking, "Fucking Batman gets to live?! Why?!" Batman is probably doing the Cabbage Patch behind him right now. Dark Phoenix's argument goes like this: the super powered people of Earth have become powerful in a way that doesn't aid in evolution and therefore they must destroyed for the natural order to be set right. Or something. It's a little bit hard to follow because she's making a judgment as to what is necessary and what isn't necessary in the grand scheme of everything. She's one of those people who think the argument against playing God is an actual argument that makes sense. I thought the whole point of being made in God's image was to do everything that God would do! If we didn't strive to "play God," we'd be going against the prime directive instilled in our creation! We were made in His image so aren't we totally slacking off and not rising to our full potential if we refuse to play God?! Also, God doesn't exist so it's a terrible argument for why a person shouldn't do something. Although the basis of her argument is "I've seen the future and you're going to destroy the universe if you keep acting the way you're acting. So I'm going to destroy you instead." I suppose she could have said, "I'm going to ask you to stop being heroes" instead but she probably doesn't want to get punched in the face by Superman. Also, that would just wind up in another Watchmen or Kingdom Come story arc. And why read a Bryan Hitch version of one of those stories when those stories were already told as well as they could be already?! While Superman and Jane (who later gets knocked out and becomes a conehead, so I guess she's J'onn's daughter from an alternate future?) battle Dark Phoenix, Batman flies off to get Superboy for some reason. It probably has to do with his being half-human or a child or something. He'll probably bring Jon to Dark Phoenix and say, "If you want to kill us all, I want you to start with this young boy! Kill him first, personally, and we'll allow you to kill all of us!" Then the arrow will fly exactly where aimed and Dark Phoenix will be unable to murder the human baby. I mean Jon. Meanwhile all across time, the rest of the Justice League are learning that they've been partially duped by Dark Phoenix. Yes, they saved Earth from being moved to the end of space and time. But they've also given Dark Phoenix all the power of everything so that she can destroy them all. Whoops! So now they need to destroy the devices Dark Phoenix gave them which will strand them all through time. That's okay though because they're heroes. Plus it's not like Batman or Captain Atom haven't already done this whole trick of being displaced in time and still managed to find their way home.

Oh. Apparently she has no qualms about killing a young boy. I guess Batman was just sent to save him because Superman realized this was what the bad guy always does if given the chance. Can't hurt the hero? Kill their pet! Or, you know, child and wife, which is almost as bad.

Batman saves Jon and Lois by taking Molly's blast full in the face. He's knocked unconscious so he can't save them from the second blast. Luckily, the Justice League reappears at that moment to shut her down. I guess the Infinity Corporation took care of the time travel stuff. Molly makes sure to tell the Justice League that everybody is now going to die because they selfishly refused to be killed. I guess they'll just have to defeat The Watchmen the usual way that consists of lots and lots of punches! Vincent, Jane, and Alexis of the Infinity Corporation have a bit of an epilogue where they're all, "Now we have to do what we came to this universe to do! With the help of Superman and the Justice League, we're going to set everything right! It's the only way to reinstate the universe of infinite Earths so that the Earth which we're from never gets destroyed by the Anti-Monitor! Unless it's something else that isn't as obvious and probably." The Ranking! -1! I've yet to be won over by comic book stories that point out that the super heroes are the main threat to the safety of everybody on Earth. Fuck that stupid nonsense. It's kind of a terrible state that comic books have been placed in due to writers deconstructing the way super hero stories have been told for years. Super heroes began as inspirations. They were there to defend the innocent and help the helpless. But eventually lazy writers decided it was too hard to think up a story where the villain plotted to do something villainous and the hero had to figure it out and stop them. So instead they just began writing stories where the villains outright attacked the heroes. This happened for years until somebody was all, "The heroes make the places they live more dangerous because they're always the target of the bad guy's attack! Why are people standing for this?!" Then came the wave of "heroes have got to go!" bullshit stories. And so now we live in a world where superheroes are not inspiring because a whole shitload of dirtbag writers got the wrong message and decided superhero comic books were just about punching and violence. So it was okay if the only story was that the bad guy and the good guy fought. And now everybody's entire outlook of the superhero genre is that they're dangerous to civilians and they cause a lot of property damage just by existing and maybe everything would be better if they just went away? Well, I'll have no part of that crap! Can somebody please make the Justice League heroic again and not the enemy of all space and time? Please?

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1204

Monday, March 12, 2018

 The Jee Gang gathered at brother Kelly's house Sunday evening for a traditional Chinese dinner to finally celebrate the Year of the Dog. It was a lot louder than usual with extra children home. The cousins were here for the reception thrown for our niece Samantha and her new husband JD. They had eloped to Guam back in November but Sam is now home again from Japan. My sister Ava hosted a fun filled party at the Sala San Marco for her daughter and son-in-law Saturday night with the younguns dancing the night away. It was so nice to finally meet JD. His Mom flew up from Puerto Rico and his sister from Florida to join us. We left early to drive my Dad home after he finished his dance with his grand daughter. Dad was so happy and proud. I haven't seen him smile that big in a long time.

 It's March Break. Why not go down to your friendly neighbourhood comic book shop and get some fun and exciting reading to keep the kids quiet for a little bit. Comic books promote reading and will stimulate their imaginations. The stores will be very appreciative.

 Oblivion Song #1 - Robert Kirkman (writer) Lorenzo De Felici (art) Annalisa Leoni (colours) Russ Wooton (letters). I missed the boat on Walking Dead so this new book is my introduction to Robert Kirkman's writing. It starts off with a guy hunting people in a post apocalyptic city with big scary monsters. Turns out this hunter is a guy on a crusade. There are a bunch of twists in this debut that hooked me and the art has a European look that suits this story. I want to see what happens next.

 Infinity Countdown #1 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Aaron Kuder (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). If you're a dyed in the wool Marvel fan like me it's hard to resist this Infinity Stone story just for the sheer number of super heroes in it. This issue features the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps. Everyone's favourite talking tree will surprise you and I hope the change is permanent but I doubt it. The final scene in Madripoor with another hint to the return of Logan starts a subplot that I'm eager to follow. I wasn't going to follow this cross over event because I'm already into Avengers: No Surrender, but they sucked me right in.

 Batman #42 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Poison Ivy has everyone on the planet mind-controlled except for Batman and Catwoman and one unfortunate soul who cannot eat vegetables. This is a cautionary tale for vegans. I think Selina is going to be crucial to the resolution of this story.

 Strangers in Paradise XXV #2 - Terry Moore (story & art). This issue is cool because it connects Strangers in Paradise with Terry's other major story Rachel Rising. It ends in quite a cliffhanger.

 She-Hulk #163 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Diego Olortegui (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I've followed Jennifer Walters from Savage She-Hulk #1 with that cover by John Buscema that's a part of this issue's cover, which hit the racks in 1980, the first year I worked in a comic book store. Jen's been through a lot since then and I have watched her with interest. I enjoyed this run but it looks like it is ending. That's too bad.

 Superman #42 - Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi (writers) Patrick Gleason (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Bizarroverse part 1. I'm not a fan of Bizarro. Translating the opposite language is super annoying. The first thirteen pages nearly turned me off completely but Patrick Gleason's art and Superboy's presence saved this issue. I've become quite fond of Jonathan Kent so I will hang in there to see what happens.

 Daredevil #599 - Charles Soule (writer) Ron Garney (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Between the killer Muse and Mayor Wilson Fisk, Matt has his work cut out for him trying to save lives in New York City. There's a costume change that old Horn Head makes at the end of this issue that isn't explained. I liked the new mostly black look and will miss it if the change stays. The next issue will be chock full of guest appearances.

 Avengers #683 - Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing (writers) Paco Medina (pencils) Juan Vlasco (inks) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 9. It's Jim Zub's turn to be at the top of the writers rotation. The fight to save Jarvis's life is won just in time for a startling secret to be revealed. I liked how this issue focused on the Beast and Nadia/Wasp without having to throw in a whole lot of other Avengers. There was an obscure one on the first page that I had to use Google to help refresh my memory. I learned something cool about the name Tara while doing that research. I love learning new things.

 Amazing Spider-Man #797 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Go Down Swinging part 1. One of my favourite penciller and inker teams does this issue and I hope they stay on for the whole story. I loved how Dan kept me guessing throughout this issue. I know it's a cheap trick but it worked for me and it ramps up the threat that the Green Goblin is to Spider-Man even more. I can't wait for the next issue.

 Captain America #699 - Mark Waid (writer) Chris Samnee (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Cap continues to fight in 2025 against the king who doesn't look much like the current #45 but we get it. The Hulk and the Thing guest star. My allegiance to this book is being slowly eroded and the last panel made me lose hope for reading future issues. The next one is going to be the milestone issue #700 so I will check it out but it better be good or else I won't be coming back.

 X-Men Red #2 - Tom Taylor (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Ive Svorcina (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Hate Machine part 2. The team goes to Delhi, India to rescue a young technopath while anti-mutant sentiment escalates. I like any team that has Laura/Wolverine and Gabby/Honey Badger on it. The one page Logan appearance wasn't anything to write home about. I think he's just travelling around the world getting the lay of the land and seeing how things have changed since he died.

 Spider-Man #238 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The new Sinister Six steal a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. I was not impressed with this issue. It just goes to show that not every Bendis book turns out to be a gem. It still moved the story along and gives us a hint to what Miles will be involved with after Brian leaves Marvel so this issue wasn't a complete letdown.

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[angstandhappiness]

BAH HAH NICE

sdcc maws panel new civilian outfits, please save me

based on this:

bonus:

random civilian sees these four walk by, thinks that they are the most bi friend group she's ever seen (she is also bi)