#gives 90s hal jordan

[avianii]

Don't work with your parents- they have blackmail material in their wallets

this but with Top Gun (1986)

[on-the-clear-blue]

Batman, sitting in a JL conference room, looking like he is about to throw up or spontaneously combust, (he got hit with some kinda spell in the battle and by God he can't wait till the debrief is done so he can go ask Rag-Man or Constantine to tell him what the fuck is wrong with him): Green Lantern, mediocre work once again, try to...hrnn...be better.

Superman, watching very concerned as Bruce is getting more and more pale but can't hear the trickle of bleeding or smell anything unusual with Bruce: B are you sure this can't wait till later? I am sure that we would be okay with-

Hal Jordan, snorting loudly: Spooky looks like he is about to shit himself Supes, I am pretty sure he finally realized he is just a guy in a costume!

Batman, giving his best bat galre: I have enough money to buy you. I can buy, oh god...I can buy a time...*labored breathing* time machine, use it to...to go back in time and fuck your mother so, shit...so I can be your father and leave you like you fucking deserve...

JL, jaws dropping as they had never seen Batman act like this: ...

Superman, standing up to help Bruce since he is clearly not doing well only can blink as he watches as the man starts to...shrink?: Oh no...

Bruce, batman regalia slowly growing looser, slipping off his head to reveal a much younger face: YOU ARE TEN POUNDS OF SHIT IN A ONE POUND BAG Y-YOU...You...where am I.

Oliver, sudden fear coursing through him: Oh god please not again, please don't be what I think it is...

Bruce "Brucie" Wanye, 15 years old, pure and utter jackass, rudest and most kind child, used to buy bars so he could get in for free and drink, that did so many random pills in the 90s: Who the fuck are you all? I don't think they had strippers that looked as fugly as you bitches...wait...did I get kidnapped? Oh god this is the worst, Alfie isn't going to let me live this down, kidnapped by guys dressed up as clowns...

Green Arrow, close to tears as his bully/best friend is brought back: Oh it's Brucie...fuck my life.

Flash, laughing his ass off: T-this..this is too good o-oh my god...

Brucie, looking down at himself: why am I dressed like a depressed Leather Daddy? (Looks up) Are we in space? (Pauses for a moment, looking mildly impressed) note to self, take my bathroom pills and go to space.

Oliver, picking up his phone while crying, reverting back to his old self: Mister A-Alfred? Um...Bruce ahh...he got reversed back to being like...15 and he is...yeah he is being mean again...you gotta make him stop...

[wanderingmind867]

I feel like Batman and his villians get all the love, and it perplexes me. Because trust me: I love Batman villians (even if i really, really hate batman 90% of the time). But despite liking most batman villians, I wish more supervillians would get their day in the sun.

Look at Superman's Rogues Gallery. Lex Luthor, Parasite, General Zod (and like 10 other Phantom Zoners), Livewire, Metallo, Atomic Skull, Mister Mxyzptlk, Toyman, The Prankster and Terra-Man. Then look at Flash (Barry Allen) and his rogues gallery: Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Trickster, Captain Boomerang, Abra Kadabra, The Top, Pied Piper, Mirror Master and the Rainbow Raider. Superman and Flash have more than enough rogues for their own tv shows and games and comics, but i'm not done. We still have the other four founding JLA members to cover (besides martian manhunter, since nobody ever gives j'onn the star treatment he deserves).

But look at Wonder Woman's foes! Ares, Angle Man, Doctor Psycho, Circe, Cheetah, Blue Snowman, Silver Swan and Giganta! Look at Aquaman's villians! Black Manta, Ocean Master, King Shark, The Scavenger and The Fisherman! Finally, let me mention all of Hal Jordan's foes: Sonar, Sinestro, Hector Hammond, Goldface, Evil Star, Star Sapphire, the Weaponers of Qward and so many more. All these characters have interesting villians. But Batman is the only one who gets attention. I don't mean to complain (since i do still like batman's villians), but i wish these heroes we see so little of would get more love and respect.

[cantsayidont]

Honestly, my biggest objection to Hal Jordan becoming a supervillain in "Emerald Twilight" in the '90s was that it was accompanied by another of DC's periodic foolish attempts to eliminate the Green Lantern Corps and its attendant mythology in favor of a single solitary Green Lantern. They'd done that before, more or less, in 1988, when they blew up the Power Battery and de-powered most of the Corps except Hal so that he could become the flagship character of the terrible, short-lived ACTION COMICS WEEKLY anthology.

This didn't take for long — Guy Gardner and G'Nort (!) were exempted from the de-powering because of their popularity in JUSTICE LEAGUE, and Christopher Priest subsequently wrangled a pass for John Stewart (whom DC put through the wringer for no good reason). After ACTION COMICS WEEKLY collapsed, it wasn't that long before DC reversed course and restored the whole Corps.

With "Emerald Twilight," they went further, even de-powering Guy and John in a pointless effort to promote Kyle Rayner, and they stuck with it for longer — although even then, Judd "I Only Have a Career Because I Was on TV With a Poz Guy That One Time" Winick eventually found an excuse to give John Stewart his ring back. By 2002, they had again restored the Corps, which to me was much more significant than whether or not they brought back Hal.

The unavoidable fact is that the main thing, if not the ONLY thing, that makes the modern Green Lantern interesting is that it's a job rather than just a secret identity. Neither Hal Jordan nor Kyle Rayner nor any of the other flagship Green Lanterns have ever been terribly compelling individually. The coolest thing about Hal Jordan, by far, is that his first work friend was a humanoid parrot from another star system …

… and his other work colleagues include sentient geodes, rutabaga, and grasshoppers:

I mean …

[gelpensoncomics]

Guy Gardner: A Study of Heroes and Head Trauma

SO! It's July, which is disability pride month here in the United States where I live! I figured it would be appropriate to kick things off by talking about a character who has a mixed reputation, to say the least: Guy Gardner, Green Lantern. He's been around since the Silver Age of comics, and his characterization has been through some serious ups and downs over the years! But what if I told you that it's not inconsistent writing? What if I told you there is a lens with which to view his shifting behavioral patterns and at times abrasive and offensive personality that makes it all come into focus and make perfect sense, and it's all already there on the page? I'm here to give you that lens, and it's viewing Guy Gardner as a man who has suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries and managed to heal over time. Buckle up, this is probably going to be a long one, and it's pretty image heavy as I try to back up as much as I am claiming that I can.

So the first thing I will start with is establishing Guy's former baseline. This is not the post where I will go incredibly in-depth on Guy's full family history and his education, I'll save that for another time. Here, I simply aim to sum up. Guy Gardner met Hal Jordan for the first time in the 1991 title Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, a volume that served as an updated backstory for the Silver Age hero after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hal was in prison to serve a 90 day sentence for drunk driving. Guy Gardner was Hal Jordan's caseworker.

"What? Huh? That's Guy Gardner?" You, the hypothetical reader ask. What happened to him?!

A lot. A lot happened to him, and it took him from a man who gave the advice to "Use your rage! Don't let it use you!" to a man who is known as the rude angry ginger lantern. First off, he got hit by a bus. No, I'm not being metaphorical or making a joke. See, he quit his job as a prison case worker because he didn't like how the job made him feel, especially after he was caught up in a prison riot and threatened with death at the hands of a prisoner there. So he put his second degree to use and he became a teacher. Specifically, he became a physical education teacher for disabled children.And then there was an earthquake, and he was hit by a bus while attempting to rescue one of the students on a field trip he was running, nearly dying in the process.

Now, I will say: he got better. This time. See, no sooner had he recovered from this incident, as he was filling in for Hal as Green Lantern he was exploded in the line of duty and sent to a parallel dimension. In that parallel dimension he was tortured, and Sinestro used a dangerous and severe form of mind control that, when it was finally broken, left Guy... well, the comics call him comatose, but he is conscious, he is just not responsive to the environment around him or able to care for himself.

For years, he remained in this state, with his care at a top-notch hospital paid for by fellow superheros. And then, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, a miracle happened. Guy regained consciousness.

But the Guy who came out of that vegetative state wasn't the same man who fell into it. Or at least, not exactly. He was angrier. His fuse was shorter. Perhaps most upsetting of all, one of the first actions he took upon regaining consciousness was attempted grave robbery.

"Gelpens, what the fuck," you ask me. I know. It's a lot. Bear with me here. See, he didn't wake up on his own. The Guardians of Oa woke him up, using their tremendous cosmic powers to attempt to heal his brain damage so they could deploy him to help during the Crisis.

Sure, Guy got his strength back. He was able to function as a Green Lantern. But he still wasn't the same as he was before his coma. He stayed angry, and confrontational, and was frequently known to make inappropriate comments that failed to fit the setting he was in or the bounds of good taste. He had a constant chip on his shoulder, very different from the man who was concerned about controlling his anger so it couldn't use him.

This all came to a head in a series of events that is frankly infamous in comics circles. Almost every fan I know of who knows Guy Gardner knows about the time Batman got fed up with his confrontational rude attitude and laid him out with a single punch to the face.

The thing people don't remember about that punch is that, seeing as it was the 90s, and comics writers had learned a few things about the brain, they decided to use it to make... let's call it a running joke. See, after Guy regained consciousness, he was much more like the guy he was before all that head trauma. He was polite, cared about being a team player and not trying to prove himself, he didn't go for lethal force!

Of course, this didn't last. No, the whole 'joke' here was that Batman punched him hard enough to rattle his brain, and he would occasionally jump from being a sweet, friendly team player to, in the words of the narration box the first time he got hit on the head again, his new old "thoroughly rotten" self (I know). Slowly but surely though, Guy did get better, and start to stay better. His mood stabilized, he gained more self-control, he started making better plans and he was much less angry as a default. And it's kept going! This train keeps chugging along! He isn't so angry anymore! He has it under control!

And honestly? This moment, right here? This is the crowning jewel in my thesis, I think.

Guy has a Red Lantern ring and a Star Sapphire ring. For those of you less familiar with the extended Green Lantern lore, the Red Lanterns run off rage. The Star Sapphires are powered by love. Outside of willpower, the emotions that are the most powerful within him are his rage and anger, and his love for his friends. And what does he fuel them with, when it comes down to the wire? When willpower alone isn't enough? The thing he hates most is being filled with rage. The thing he loves the most is his friends.

So. I don't think Guy was ever just an angry, sexist, rude asshole at his core. Is he the same as he was before the injury, before all that happened to him? Of course not. Nobody goes through life completely unchanged by what happens to them.

I think he injured his brain and lost his ability to regulate his emotions and impulses for a while. The road to recovery was far from smooth. It just took him some time to heal and be in a place to act like the man he wanted to be all along. But in my opinion? I think he's there now.

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern-Related Titles Round-Up (June 1994)

Welcome to a new section where I'll be going over all the Green Lantern-related stuff happening across the DC Universe outside of the actual Green Lantern title in a given month, similar to what I've been doing at the '90s Superman blog. We start with a biggie...

Guy Gardner: Warrior #21

"EMERALD FALLOUT," Part 4! An all-splash pages issue about Guy's climactic fight with former goodypants Hal Jordan, who, as Guy learned last issue, recently went insane and killed a bunch of their mutual friends. Alan Scott, Arisia, Colos of the Darkstars, Wonder Woman, and other Justice Leaguers are also there, but Guy is the only one who's able to last longer than one page against Hal.

This is because Guy's yellow power ring is powered by residual Green Lantern energy, so now that Hal is Green Lantern energy, the more he fights Guy, he more powerful Guy gets. Hal, who apparently thought Guy would sympathize with his murderous heel turn given that 1) he's also lived in Coast City and 2) he's also used to being called a psycho, eventually ends the fight by simply crushing Guy's ring and absorbing all of its power.

Hal leaves Guy in his undies and gives him with a warning for everybody (as in, the other superheroes): "I don't want to harm them... but I will get the power I need. I will make everything all right again." Not sure how Guy will deliver this message since Hal apparently knocked him unconscious and shot him off into space right before saying it, but okay.

Darkstars #21

"EMERALD FALLOUT" Fallout! This issue starts with Darkstar Colos briefly alluding to the fact that he just had his ass handed to him by Hal in GG:W #21, but he says he's got "more pressing matters" than a murderous maniac with the power of 3600 Green Lanterns, so he goes off to do some Darkstars bullshit. The reason I'm including this here is the scene in which Green Lantern John Stewart, who had ascended to Guardian of the Universe status at the end of his solo series Green Lantern: Mosaic, suddenly realizes that everyone's GL rings have disappeared. Oh, he's no longer a Guardian (because there are no Guardians anymore).

While John is wondering what's going on, a Controller, one of the "distant cousins of the Guardians" who run the Darkstars, shows up and says he might be able to explain, but he needs John to come somewhere with him. Meanwhile, there's a scene where one Darkstar superior tries telling another about Hal Jordan going evil and threatening the very existence of the universe, but once again the other guy is like "who cares, let's talk about some Darkstars bullshit."

This issue also includes the moment in which Donna Troy, formerly Wonder Girl of the Teen Titans, is offered a gig as a Darkstar. We'll be seeing a lot of her over in Green Lantern in the future...

Superman & Batman Magazine #5

This series (which I'll cover in more detail at some point in the Superman '86 to '99 Patreon, because it's kinda awesome) includes not only animated-style comics but also in-universe articles and interviews with DC characters. This issue has one in which Superman's One-Time Romantic Interest Cat Grant talks to Guy, who thinks she's hitting on him but reaffirms his commitment to Ice.

The interview spends a lot of time explaining Guy's yellow ring (which, as of this month, he no longer has) and his armor (which only lasted like two issues). The funniest part is that it ends with Guy saying he has to bail because "somethin' weird's happening on Oa, an' I gotta find out what." Is the implication here that between learning of the emergency on Oa in GG:W #20 and actually leaving with the rest of the Justice League, Guy took the time to be interviewed for a magazine? That does seem like a very Guy Gardner thing to do.

Justice League Quarterly #14

Hal Jordan appears in this issue's main story, but a blurb in the first page lets us know that it "takes place waaay before current events in Justice League or Green Lantern." That explains why Hal looks so cheerful and non-murderous.

"Boy, I sure do love having a city!"

The story is about a satanic guy turning Praxis, one of the members of Booster Gold's capitalism-loving super-team the Conglomerate, into a giant being of pure energy, for satanic reasons. Hal and the League turn him back to normal using the power of friendship, basically. Then Hal makes a joke at Flash's expense and everyone laughs (off-panel; it's implied).

"I also sure do love having friends, whom I'd never kill or try to erase from existence! Life is GOOD here in mid-1993."

[incorrect-green-lantern-quotes]

I've come to realize from going through your blog that I know very little about the Green Lanterns (curse of being an arrowverse into a batfam fan apparently) and I really wanna know more. From both a writing perspective, because I don't want to do them dirty when using the JL for something, and also because they seem like really interesting characters?? And I've never heard most of their stories.

So what would you recommend as the entry point to getting into them?

Ough that's a difficult one to answer because with seven (eight including Alan and nine if you count Keli) Green Lanterns from Earth alone, there's a lot of different places you can start. Like I personally started reading comics just before the New 52 reboot in 2011, so everything before that I've picked up via collected TPBs or wiki summaries or sheer osmosis from the Internet lol

I'll go in reverse order, because the more recent additions have the clearest starting points. They're pretty easy to catch up on since they don't have as much history as the others.

For Jo Mullein, Far Sector (2019) serves as both introduction and solo run, and it's essential for establishing her character before tossing her into the mix with the other Green Lanterns in Geoffrey Thorne's 2021 run and Jeremy Adam's current run.

Keli Quintela (aka Teen Lantern) debuted the same year as Jo in Brian Michael Bendis's Young Justice run, but unfortunately got lost in the shuffle of juggling an ensemble cast, most of whom were already established fan favorites. So her origin story is honestly half-baked. Keli played a small part in the Thorne run but was dropped into a coma and has only just woken up. Poor girl desperately needs a good writer to give her some depth.

Simon Baz came in with the New 52 in 2011 and Jessica Cruz arrived a few years later in the Forever Evil storyline of Justice League. Core aspects of both characters were established in those comics, like Simon's cynicism and Jessica's anxiety. Personally however, I consider Sam Humphries's Green Lanterns (2016) to be where the two of them actually got character development and focus, which is why I've put the two of them together.

Kyle Rayner is where things start to get complicated, because he and the older Green Lanterns have a lot of history that predates Geoff Johns's work that, for better or worse, basically is the start of the "modern era" of GL comics. While Johns's Emotional Spectrum saga does effectively become the new foundation for the characters going forward, the first story in it is Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004). Which was written for an audience who's already familiar with the GL mythos, so it's not an ideal place to start with if you don't already know the characters.

Rather, I think the most efficient* starting point is the Emerald Twilight storyline, which begins in issue #48 of Green Lantern Volume 3 (1990). It's Kyle Rayner's origin story, so it's not hard to find collected TPBs of it, and he starts out knowing basically nothing about Green Lanterns so it's a good jumping on point for new readers.

However, Kyle's origin is inseparably tied with the fall of Hal Jordan and the Corps, so if you prefer to have more context for those characters, you might want to read Emerald Dawn I (1989) and II (1990) beforehand. A lot of the stuff from them get retconned in Johns's retelling of Hal's origins, but they're still worth a read.

With John Stewart and Guy Gardner, a lot of their characterization from the 20th century is notably different from how it is today. Part of it is the way that Geoff Johns rewrote them, part of it is how popular the JL/JLU cartoon was. This is a large reason why I'd suggest the Emotional Spectrum saga as a starting point for understanding the modern versions of these characters before going back to their older stuff from the 80s and 90s.

Hal Jordan's history makes me want to beat my head against a wall. He's been around since 1959 but so much of his early stuff is still a blur to me. Someone's probably gonna scream at me if I don't mention Hard Traveling Heroes and his friendship with Oliver Queen. A lot of his Parallax and Spectre era material doesn't take place in actual GL comics but I don't know where to read it other than Zero Hour and Final Night because those were the only TPBs available to me.

Alan Scott, being a Golden Age hero, is largely a supporting character in the JSA, though he does sometimes show up in GL stuff. He did get a miniseries recently, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern (2023), that rewrites his past as a gay man in the Cold War era.

*I say efficient because I could list a bunch of miniseries and debut issues that are historically important for each of the characters but that would make this already lengthy post at least twice as long.

Alternatively, get the 80th anniversary special from a few years back and chug that shit

[wajjs]

okay, so i have read lantern comics, but i've only read them out of order and i'm looking to start from the beginning. sorry for asking this, but do you know what comics i should start with for Hal specifically?

again, sorry for asking but um. you seem like a good person to ask

I'm gonna give you the advice I give everyone who wants to read GL: do NOT start with the older stuff first. Start with the newer runs, since those are the ones that match the current personalities etc, and once you do that you are free go move onto the pre 2000s stuff.

So a reading order I recommend is:

- Geoff's Rebirth

- Venditti's run

- Morrison's run

after that, you can read the 90s to early 2000s stuff (you will find Parallax, Kyle's first appearance and Hal's turn as the Spectre there). Only after that you can go to the stuff before that.

For stand alones, I recommend:

- Willworld

- Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame (references a bunch of action comics stuff but you honestly do not need to touch Action comics to get it. It's a good character study)

- The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan > this one I recommend reading after Emerald Dawn I + II and Emerald Twilight all the way to Hal's death in Final Night. You WILL need that context, but trust me when I say it is among the top 10 best written comics of all time that were published by DC.

Aside from that, do feel free to pick and choose what you like best and move around based on your likes

[trekkele]

Discowing supremacy anon here, and yes he should always have those lovely flowing locks!

I'm also curious what are your favourite/ideal superhero looks? Like both civilian outfits and costumes. Could be either marvel or DC. I personally love spoiler's costume with the full face mask, Hal Jordan's green lantern and og parallax, 90s Superboy, etc.

I absolutely love when Bruces costume leans into blue and greys and purples and yellow. I saw someone on here mention the idea that Bruces favorite color is yellow and cant shake it. Plus the breakup of a solid black mass would help with moving through shadows. Love when they have funky treads on their boots. As for civvies?? I want that man in COLORFUL SUITS. business meetings in bright blue, deep purple, lavender greys and patterns and looking like a vogue editorial on a tuesday. He cant be batman hes too busy supporting small local brands with personality. He can keep his turtlenecks tho those look chic. I also think he has curly hair but keeps it short.

I think Superman should always be in bright, primary colors, the kinds you find in a toddlers paint kit. Superboys 90 look is literally perfect. Clark as a civilian i think knits his own sweaters. I have no basis for this i just think he does.

With Wonder Woman i love what they did in the movies - keeping the classic feel while also having it look like armour. I think the skirt portion could have been longer but they did give her greeves (?) and actual leg armour so its something. I also loved her civilian styling in those, but i know she owns some good pairs of jeans. And stomping boots.

Spoilers full face mask is soooo good, she looks like such a sneaky little gremlin with big big eyes. Truly our friendly neighborhood spoilerman.

I like the Hal Jordan costume where he has the white gloves, Guy Gardeners lantern costume is actually so fucking cool i cannot describe the sound i made when i saw it in the trailer the first time, and Jon Stewarts new costume fucks. Those thigh highs? Mwah. My favorite would probably be Tai Phams in Legacy.

I think the og Robin costume, pixie boots and all, is actually perfect. I love how Tim Sale draws it in Dark Victory - it feels like a costume, like something Dick took with him, and thats the point! I understand why authors rush to give him pants considering, but Dan Mora in WF giving him shorts found the best middle ground.

I have less opinions on Marvel costumes accept for Phil Noto making the black widow suit actually feel like a working suit in his run. Excellent artist.

[zithcavooris]

A closer look at my previously posted GL Corps, for people who prefer this kind of viewing experience.

And for those interested in design notes:

Hal Jordan: You know him. I made him a little pale because he’s Irish in this version. I also made him not too tall, because not every superhero has to be tall, and this emphasizes how he’s the youngest founding member of the JL.

Abin Sur: My only requirement here was that I wanted his look to scream “alien.” Especially since I wouldn’t bother giving him a spaceship in this version, I need Hal to see him crash-land and immediately go “That’s an alien” and not like, a demon or something. The only trick was making sure I didn’t accidentally reproduce my Martian Manhunter design!

Sinestro: I debated making him a snake man until pretty much the last minute. It’s a little on the nose. But ultimately I figured, the guy’s name is “Sinestro”, he’s never going to be a particularly subtle character.

Tomar-Re: ½ bird + ½ finned, scaly thing=dinosaur! It made sense to me.

Kilowog: I always loved his design, so I just made him even bigger and even wider. Then I gave him four arms to show that he is a Strong Guy. He also has a fleshy stub of a tail, but you can’t see that here, and possibly hooves? Note also the belly.

Salakk: Once Kilowog had four arms, I gave Salakk four legs as well to keep him unique, and while I was at it four eyes and six nostrils. The obvious thing to do when trying to make sense of this body shape is to make it a little insectoid, but I also mixed in a little seahorse and a little bit of oceanic coral.

Arisia: There’s that whole uncomfortable thing where her character was originally 14 but used her ring to “age herself up” (???) I decided to flip the script and have her be a full-grown woman (maybe even older than Hal) who’s species just looks child-like. Beyond that I kept her mostly humanoid to keep it semi-plausible that she would have a crush on Hal, but looked at art of her at her most alien-looking (very elfin, fuzzy hair) and exaggerated those features. I’m pretty sure this version actually has quills, and also moth-like antennae if you look closely. Note also the extra fingers.

Ch’p: The whole joke is that he looks like a woodland critter, so I didn’t feel the need to make him any more alien. Still, I didn’t want him to look too much like any one specific Earth creature, so he’s sort of a squirrel-meets-chipmunk-meets-rabbit. He might be a little shorter than this, maybe even as short as a single foot, but you could barely make him out at that size so I cheated. He wears his lantern on his tail, because it’s cute.

Boodikka: The first thing I knew was I wanted to make that thing she wears on her head into actual feathers. From there it made sense to make her into some sort of harpy creature. I tried to bring in some of the size, muscles, and facial features of her original design from the 90s as well, but with limited success. Not sure how much sense it makes for the suit to conform to her individual feathers (it doesn’t show each individual hair on Hal) but whatever. She wears her lantern on her toe, because sometimes she’s too busy flapping her wings to point one at a bad guy.

Galius Zed: Obviously he’s already extremely alien. I just wanted to make it clear that he doesn’t literally have a human man’s face, just a very humanoid one. It helped to combine his features with those of Zilius Zox, his somewhat stranger-looking Red Lantern counterpart. He’s a little shorter than usual here, because at this width he looked huge if I made him any taller. He wears his lantern as a bracelet because his fingers are too stubby to wear rings securely.

[fancyfade]

For those who read lots of late 80s/ early 2ks comics...

Descriptions of plotlines by me, someone who has encountered all of these plotlines in the wild while reading 90s comics but not read any except final night fully:

Legends: the one where Godfrey was slandering the Justice League and Superman got sent to Apokalips, brainwashed to be Darkseid's minion, and then forgot about it.

Millennium: The one with all the manhunter conspiracies that I think was about the Guardians having sex?

Invasion!: The one about the alien invasions. Okay one of the ones about alien invasions. There was an alien alliance, they had a gene bomb that made meta humans.

Armageddon 2001: the one where Waverider pops up in everyone's solo title to view their futures and find out who monarch is. Monarch is the evil ruler of his future who killed all the superheroes.

War of the Gods: the one where Circe was gathering a bunch of artifacts and there was some characters associated with mythology showing up. and punching each other.

Eclipso: the Darkness Within: The one where Eclipso possesses people and Beth Chapel and Yolanda Montez die because nothing is more dangerous than being a C lister in a crossover plotline.

Bloodlines: the one where weird shape shifting vampire aliens drink humans ... spinal fluid? which kills many people but gives some people powers and creates some 90s heroes no one remembers anymore.

Underworld Unleashed: the one where Neron gives a bunch of supervillains powers for shits and giggles. Black Manta is actually-factually manta-ified and Blockbuster is turned into a future impulse and then nightwing villain.

Final Night: the one where the sun goes out due to sun-eaters. Hal Jordan restarts the sun by flying into it.

Genesis: the one where a "godwave" is bouncing around, having created gods on its first pass and creating metahumans or demigods on its second pass and altering with some people's powers and making some people feel depressed

DC One Million: The one where we saw some hypothetical future of what the universe would look like in the one millionth publication of DC, in the year 8000 something. I honestly can't remember what the plot was for this.

Our Worlds At War: Imperiex, some powerful space guy, is a threat to the earth. lex is president during this era and probably yapped at the heroes u are reading about.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Bloody Valentines

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Young Justice 98, Titans, GL Corps, Legion of Super Heroes, Flashfam, New Gods

Summary: 90s vampire slasher AU

Chapters: 2/?

Characters: Dick Grayson, Joseph Wilson, Jason Todd, Charley Parker, Zatanna, Eddie Bloomberg, Daniel Cassidy, Chester Williams DC, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Lilith Clay, Raven Roth, Kole Weathers, Bette Kane, Donna Troy, Roy Harper, Jenni Ognats, Bart Allen, Virgil Hawkins, Richie Foley, Ayla Ranzz, Zoe Saugin, Rol Purtha, Darla Aquista, Lori Zechlin, Hal Jordan, Helen Jordan II, Orion DC, Lightray DC

Relationships: DickJoey, Daniel Cassidy/Zatanna, Jenni Ognats/Virgil Hawkins, Raven/Lilith Clay

Additional Tags: POV First Person, Unreliable Narrator(s), Vampires, No Capes AU, 90s Slasher AU, Homoeroticism, Horror, Slasher

Chapter Two: The Premonition (Charley's POV)

I sat on the roof, smoking while I waited for Jason to page me. He didn't like me smoking around him, so I tried to smoke before and after we hung out. I gave myself enough time to shower and change clothes if I needed to. He never complained, but I knew he preferred I didn't smell like I just smoked a bowl when we hung out.

I met him through Eddie a few years back, and he seemed chill. A little weird, but we were all kind of strange. I was new to Jersey, but he welcomed me in and made me feel like I fit in there, even though I didn't. I didn't stay on the roof long because it was freezing out.

I showered and changed clothes before grabbing my keys to head out. Jason came in the door with an empty suitcase. "We're going," Jason announced, "We're going to Happy Harbor this weekend."

I burped smoke and apologized before plopping on the couch. Jason said a lot of weird crap, but I chalked that up to brain damage. He'd been having premonitions about his brother, and he told me something loomed just outside the gates of the immortal. I didn't know what it meant, but I don't think he did either. Jason washed his hands and poured a glass of milk. "Why are we going to Happy Harbor?" I asked.

"Because my brother is at the center of the disturbance... And he's going. Do you wanna come?" Jason asked. I shrugged and nodded. "Do you?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll come... Jason, did you sleep here last night, man?" I asked. He shook his head. Sometimes he didn't sleep, and he'd drive around. He'd been like that since I met him. I met him in the kitchen, took a frozen pizza out of the fridge, and slapped it onto a pan. Jason sighed and took the pizza out of the box before placing it in the oven.

Most people would think two people like us shouldn't live together, but I think I reminded him of somebody. And I liked having somebody around that didn't treat me like a freak. He also didn't lose it when he walked in on me with some guy I met, in flagrante delicto, as one of the Sisters of Mercy would call it. I call it the Lotus.

Actually, that was recent. I tried to hide the fact that I preferred to drive a stick from time to time, but it was always hard to hide it from the people I lived with. Jason was different, though. When the guy left, I collected myself and tried to explain, but he shrugged it off and said he'd seen worse. So, sue me if I don't judge the guy for his hallucinations.

"I drove up to Blüdhaven to see my brother. He got in right before I got ready to leave. I waited for him all night... You should probably start packing tonight. We leave tomorrow morning so we can beat my brother there," Jason mumbled. I sat down and pulled my hair into a bun.

I didn't tell him what to do unless I thought he was doing something dangerous, so I didn't give him my opinion on the whole vacation thing. Besides, I wanted to get out of Gotham for the weekend, and Happy Harbor sounded like a relaxing vacation spot. "Jay, what's the weather like?" I asked. I laughed involuntarily and ran a hand over my face to pull myself together.

"It's in Rhode Island, so I imagine it's freezing. The hottest it gets up there is eighty," Jason answered, "And it's the middle of fall, so I wouldn't bank on it being a nice sunny seventy out there."

I forgot how sarcastic he could be when he wasn't having premonitions. I didn't hate it, though. I think that was his way of telling people he was okay. Jason wasn't a touchy-feely emotional guy, but neither was I, so it worked. "Your brother's gonna be okay," I whispered. I didn't have any siblings, so I didn't understand all the feelings surrounding him and his brother. Whenever I saw them together, I thought they hated each other.

"I got you a suitcase... Charley, remember to pack. We leave at six tomorrow morning," Jason explained. I zoned out after that, but I think he was monologuing. I came to when I smelled the pizza he'd taken out of the oven, and I watched as Jason took a slice for himself. I blinked hard and started eating.

There was something so sensual about the first bite of food after a smoke. I shut my eyes and made a soft noise as I ate the crust first. Jason chuckled. He didn't like me smoking, but he got a kick out of me eating after a smoke. "I've never seen anyone eat a pizza ass first before," Jason laughed.

"Listen-." I fell into a fit of laughter mid-sentence. "Ass first?"

"Yeah, because the crust fucking sucks. No one eats the worst part first," Jason cracked up. I hate to say it, but he was cute when he smiled. I always wanted to go there with Jason because he felt safe, but I never got any indication that he was anything other than straight. Besides, it never would've worked. Jason had a lot going on in his head, and I did too. He was a for life type, and I was more of a for the night type. I was bummed after that because I stopped laughing and returned to my large pizza in silence. About an hour after I ate, I took a nap and packed for our trip.

Jason took his shower and fell asleep on the couch, where he talked in his sleep. I tried to ignore it because some of the stuff he said in his sleep made me feel paranoid. But this time, it was different. Worse. Jason tossed and turned on the couch so roughly that I sat on the floor in front of him to keep him from falling. He grabbed my shoulder in his sleep and scared the shit out of me. "Stay out of the water. Stay out," Jason moaned, "Charley. The water." A chill ran up my spine, and he shot up, panting as he searched around the room.

"Jason... Jason," I whispered as I grabbed his wrist. "Jason, are you-."

Jason jumped off the couch and into my arms. I never saw him that emotional before. It freaked me out. "Please don't swim this weekend, Charley. Promise me you won't swim," Jason begged. I hesitantly rubbed his back to calm him down, but I was as scared as he was. Jason held on so tight my back cracked. Oh yeah, I forgot to say the dude was jacked. Thick neck, giant biceps, built like a fucking tank.

"If I promise to stay away from the water this weekend, will you let go of me?" I asked. Jason let go and nodded. He had to pull himself together, but I was still spooked. "I promise... And next time you call my name like that in your sleep, I'm gonna need you to take me out to dinner, Kid." Jason chuckled and shook his head. "Why'd you want me to come with you tomorrow? Be real with me."

"We'll all be together... I think we'll be alright if we stay together," Jason whispered. He stood up and walked away before hiding his face in his hands. "I've never had one that vivid before... Charley, please don't forget what you promised me... Please don't forget."

I felt terrible for him. Eddie said he wasn't always like that. Before the accident, Eddie said he wasn't as fearful. Everyone warned me not to listen to his delusions or feed into them, but his instincts were good, and he'd never been wrong before about the normal-sounding stuff. It was more than reasonable for me to believe that staying out of the water in an area where it'd be freezing out was a solid warning.

Jason paced back and forth by the fire escape, and my hands shook as I tried to pull myself together for him. We couldn't both be scared. I owed it to him to be the brave one for once. If I owed anybody anything, it was Jason. "Jason, c'mere. Stop-. Stop pacing and look for a minute. Nothing's gonna happen to me because I'm gonna listen to you," I reassured him. Jason nodded, but I could see his mind was already made up. He looked like he wanted to cry. It was like I was already gone. I'd never seen him like that. It was weird and fucked up, and I dreaded the trip ahead. I was so fucked up over it that I couldn't even think to smoke. Instead, I decided to keep my head straight until we got to the Harbor on Saturday. I thought it'd give us both some peace of mind. Still, I didn't think Jason would sleep after that. There was no way. And there was no way he'd be able to drive on forty-five minutes of sleep. Relaxing trip, my ass.

[asymbina]

as someone who was a teenager when the Knightfall story arc happened, I remain amazed that they've taken Jean-Paul Valley and turned him into a reasonably redeemable dude

because back in the Pizza Cutter¹ world of 1990s comics, Jean-Paul was a straight up serial killer who just got increasingly unhinged, partly because it was the 90s and partly to justify the inevitable return of Bruce Wayne as Batman

and we _all_ knew he'd be putting on the cowl again, for the same reason that we knew when the black polybag Death of Superman issue came out, it'd be followed up with a white polybag issue about Superman coming back

this is distinct from the great lengths Geoff Johns and Dan Didio went to in order to restore Hal Jordan and Barry Allen as the "main" Green Lanterns, despite them both being legacy heroes going all the way back to the Golden Age and Barry Allen being the one comic book character everyone knew would stay dead because he had such a satisfying and heroic death

no, I will never not be salty about that, because they pissed all over a generation of comics readers who grew up with Wally West and Kyle Rayner as the Flash and the Green Lantern because their childhoods were more important than ours, apparently, and now every version of the Flash in other media is Barry Allen, except they decided to also give Barry one of Wally's signature traits that distinguished him from Barry: the need to consume vast amounts of food

anyway, I'm glad Azrael got therapy or whatever. someone in the Bat family should.

1. all edge, no point

my genuine reaction watching batman beat the ever loving fuck out of Jason in under the red hood when the only other batfam media I know is wayne family adventures

[evilhorse]

Give me my ring back.

[sunnyscript]

The urge to write a superboy and lilo & stitch crossover (with minor yj crossover) then explore all the f-up parts of Kon's "childhood"

Like exploring the grooming that child stars go through, sexual grooming( 23?yo woman dating a 16 uo expy, supervillain Knockout grooming him and calling him a "jail bait"), also the capitalistic need of the industry that doesn't give a flying f about kids dying (remember what happened to the superboy copycat?) , body image, Kon's desire to comform to people's expectation and the way he just REPRESS things, and tourism in Hawaii does to the locals, how capitalism and western colonization affect the life of of those who don't want to live the life™️ ( working 8 to 4 five day a week forever, buying a house where you put all these things you feel like you don't need ).... etc

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO EXPLORE.

I want stitch and Kon to be friend. I want ”on to go full on Gemsworld around Stitch and Lilo and get introspective as hell. I want him to hate his brain.

I want the two neurodivergent icons to meet ( Lilo and Bart )

Likely, the story will be set in the late 90's or early 2010's.

Also, yj will have a poly in it.

And Hal Jordan will be Greta hayes' mentor as the spectre.

Also Cassie will be transmasc (and confused AS FUCK. Be like "I'm a straight but I feel weird about femininity" then go "wait I'm a lesbiab" "No, shit, actually I'm a bi girl" "Not a girl" "But like am I really a boy?" "Yes" "No" "Yesn't" "Maybe" "who gives a shit" "I do 😭" "Is my attraction to boy real????" "Wait maybe I'll feel less weird if I pass?" "But what if I don't?!" "Boy at least I know I love girls... But do they love me back tho?" "Kon I can't tell if I want to be you or fuck you to oblivion" "I kind of wanna make out with Bart or Cissie..." "How do I dress?" "I would wear a dress, if I looked masculine enough" "God do I have to change my superhero name?" "Wonderboy already exist..." "Bart what do you mean wonderman is available since he doesn't exist in that universe???" ....etc)

[geooricle]

Further context I want to note that makes this worse if anything:

-This happened in a run notorious even at the time for its entire premise being sexually exploitative drawings of an underage girl and jokes about adult superheroes (mostly Hal Jordan) wanting to have sex with her.

- Even the in a comic already way off the deep end of "edgy" this joke had the plausible deniability of pretending they're making fun of the attitudes of the 60s by having it happen during a storyline where Supergirl is "trapped in the Silver Age".

- Its explicitly a "nudge-nudge-wink-wink we'd never get away with this kind of thing today" thing like Steven Moffat does when he brings in charicters from "older times" who "dont know any better" so he can have them say the things he has his charicters say all the time but now he has the excuse of "old" rather than "alien" or "high functioning sociopath".

- The whole thing is combined to one panel and has no bearing on the plot so you can ignore it and go right back to your underage girl T&A.

I get being mad at this joke but nothing about the 2005 Supergirl run was "normal for 2003". In many ways it was a throwback to the mid 90s Lifeldian stuff. Do not give Jeff Loeb a pass by pretending his attitudes were "normal for the time".

I understand that folks tend to think of open homophobia in popular media as a Thing Of The Past, and that the 2000s are still sufficiently recent as not to count as The Past in a lot of folks' minds, but still it kills me the sheer incredulity I keep bumping into when people are confronted with how casually homophobic early 2000s popular media actually was. Like, buddy, you have no idea how recently "isn't it shameful for a straight man to know what a latte is?" stopped being a standard sitcom bit. There were whole shows airing as recently as the early 2010s whose entire premise was "this ostensibly straight man has somewhat fruity mannerisms" – like, that was the entire joke.