#is it true we got. a bit of logan content? some logan lore?

[scabopolis]

lv au week, day 2: super heroes

Title: superbloom Fandom: Veronica Mars Rating: PG-13 for content, R for swears (Veronica writes in her feelings journal and really lets those swears go) Pairing: Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars Other Characters: Mentions of Mac and Meg Additional Tags: Secret identity (again?! what?), unnecessary epistolary literature (does a journal count as epistolary?), half-baked world building, a vague understanding of superhero lore Word Count: ~1,075 Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

***

Again, written solely because @cubbiegirl and @marshmellowbobcat are earth angels. I even added a title this time so that MB doesn’t have to come up with one. 

Why did I write this as Veronica’s journal? Mostly because it’s a style which seems to be a fanfic right of passage and I haven’t tried it so...here we are.  

I probably owe a lot to other superhero universes and their world building (as in, referring to them as ‘supers’ ala The Incredibles). What are the full extent of Logan and Veronica’s powers? *shrug emoji*

***

Date: February 15 Tracked a low-level Kane agent to a tourist trap bistro in downtown San Diego. Place was packed. Is this the new thing? Shitty men forget to make Valentine’s Day reservations, so they make them for the day after? 

Thought I had the guy but when I mistimed my pulse he metamorphosed into a cockroach and scurried away. 

Best part of the night was the chocolate mousse I got to-go. Despite appearances within, the food wasn’t too bad. 

Date: February 17 Caught up to Cockroach. Real name is Abel Koontz. Slimy guy tried to escape again, but Mac outfitted me with a souped up Morph Choke as backup — emphasis on the choke. Gonna need to recalibrate that a bit, Mackenzie. 

Bonus! Forgot it was laundry day, so had to wear my backup uni. Next time I run into Meg out in the field I’ll have to ask her if she can see my underwear through it. 

Date: February 18 Finally got around to watching season two of The Boys. Where do they get this shit? 

If Piznarski brings up forming some sort of super team for the 7-millionth time at the summit this year, I’m siccing Clayton on him.

Date: February 21 Got into a fight with Mac. Technically my fault. 

I faded while in public, and look, I get it. 

Being detected while living as my alter would be bad. BUT!! Being forced to interact with my ex as he is on a date with a woman who legitimately looks like she could be my doppelganger is very bad. 

Date: February 22 Clarified with Mac: me fading in public did not worry her. Me tripping Leo on purpose as I faded was apparently a problem.

Date: February 24 Cockroach stood me up.

Date: February 25 For all that is good and holy if another fucking cocky cowboy of a super moves to Neptune, I am going to lose my shit. This newest one? Got in my way as I attempted to track Kane, Jr into a warehouse. Fucking Smirky McCowboy stepped in my way and assured me I didn’t want to follow. Something about a dozen armed guards with guns aimed at the door. MAYBE THAT WAS MY PLAN!

(Because, of course the guy ripped a powers page right out of Superman’s book and has x-ray vision.)

(And, his uni? Not hard to tell when a super has money. They’re always the worst.)

Date: February 28 Ran into Smirky McCowboy again. This time outside of a poker game hosted by a real estate developer with connections to Kane. Smirky said it was a coincidence. 

Still no sign of Cockroach. 

Date: March 2 FUCKING HELL. He beat me to it. AGAIN! How is he doing this? 

Date: March 4 Smirky’s name is apparently Logan. Which I learned because I was getting coffee at Willow Grove (just minding my business while covertly eavesdropping on previously mentioned real estate developer) when some guy sat at my table. Unprompted. Uninvited. UNWELCOME.  

Mask or no mask, THAT SMIRK. 

The more concerning thing is that his x-ray vision apparently sees through the skeletal enhancements Mac wired into my mask, meaning he ID’d me right away. 

Date: March 5 Why do they keep coming here? Doesn’t New York have more crime? Go there!

Mac says it’s my fault for busting the Fitzpatricks, outing Kane as the sociopath he is, and helping all those kids find their lost dogs. 

Okay, she only mentioned the first two, but I think the third has value. 

The point is! these hangers-on need to find their own territory.  

Date: March 6 Mac traced at least 70 arrests to Smirky in the Los Angeles area alone. I hate him.

Date: March 10 If he scoops another one of my cases…

Date: March 11 He calls me Supergirl. 

He calls me Supergirl and I want to punch him. 

Mac says Cockroach’s tracker is still active but the signal is being blocked.

Date: March 13 Saw Meg today. She took down her own parents. Fucking savage. God, I love her. She flew me up to American Plaza and we drank champagne to celebrate.  

Oh! And good news! She says my backup uni isn’t see through. 

Date: March 13 Woke up with this terrifying thought: can smirky see through my uni? 

He wouldn’t...right? I mean...he’s an asshole but I don’t think he’s a creep. 

Date: March 16 I punched him. 

Not for the underwear thing! He swears he’s never looked and I weirdly believe him. 

And I didn’t punch him as much as he walked into a pulse. Yes, fine. 

I maybe purposefully put up the pulse to see if his x-ray vision could detect it. But I didn’t tell him to walk into it. 

(He can’t detect it, btw. I did it a second time just to be sure.)

Date: March 18 Found Cockroach. Or, I guess I should say Koontz. He washed up on Dog Beach as his alter. 

Mac said it could be a coincidence but we both know that’s not true. 

Date: March 19 Did I do this? Did I get Cockroach killed? 

Date: March 19 Logan has very good alcohol. 

Date: March 20 Hangovers. Bad. 

Date: March 20 Logan makes very good pancakes. 

Date: March 21 Logan has seen me drunk, which means Logan must be destroyed. 

Date: March 22 In a certain light, the smirk isn’t so bad. 

Date: March 23 Oh god. 

Date: March 24 Oh god.

Do I like him?

Date: March 25 I hate myself. I’m a giant cliché. I apologize to all women supers everywhere. 

Logan swears he can’t see past the new enhancements Mac made to my uni.

He also asked me to dinner. Was tempted to 1) fade, and 2) run away, but I did neither. 

Date: March 26 Adding insult to injury, Smirky McCowboy really knows how to kiss.

Date: March 27 Mac says I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. 

Actually, what she said was that neither he nor I are all that pleasant to be around so we might be meant for each other. 

Date: March 28 He really knows how to do some other things, too. 

Date: March 29 Logan got me a present: surveillance footage of Kane’s mysterious second-in-command with Koontz the night before he was found.

He’s been upgraded to not the absolute worst. 

Date: March 29 To be perfectly clear: we are not a super team. 

Date: March 30 Logan and I are on surveillance detail tonight. 

Maybe I can convince him to stop for some chocolate mousse. 

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup

So I complained before that I had a lot of comics to go through. I stand corrected. THIS week I have a monstrous number of comics to go through. Like, you have no idea how much I am patting myself on the back right now for the simple fact that I got this out before midnight. 

But was it worth the effort I put into it?

Well, hell, with the money comics cost these days let’s sure hope so!

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester, DC’s Superwoman, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #20 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamsher, Michael Garland, Chris Sotomayor

One of the genuine missed opportunities at Marvel right now while they seem positively dedicated toward digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole, is that Laura and Gabby’s adventures are not being used in the greater X-Men books at large.

Sincerely, my interests in picking up any of the other X-books or the Avengers or anything else is at an absolute Zero because of the fact that Marvel is doing everything it can to use any machination of Wolverine other than the one that is already, inherently awesome.

I think this issue actually helped me realize what makes the relationship between Laura and Gabby work in ways that Logan and Laura’s own relationship in the comics was never allowed to. While we could have had the amazing bonding between them that we got in the recent Logan (2017) movie, comic writers agains and again chose the route of the tried and true combination of Logan with Spunky Teen Girl Sidekick rather than digging into the uncomfortable nature of Logan dealing with a daughter he never knew he had and a kid whose own outlook and demeanor was a harsher reflection of his own.

That’d require, like, actual character growth or something. That thing Marvel was afraid to do with Logan for something like 30 years.

In any case, while I maintain my critiques of that dynamic, what’s interesting to me is that it would seem like Laura and Gabby would all right into that criticism as well -- Laura taking on the more Logan-like role and Gabby being the Kitty/Rogue/Jubilee/Armor/et.all of the dynamic.

But this series, and really this issue, provided the insight for me of what made this work. Laura’s allowed to have that growth Logan never was, sure, but also the fact that Laura seems infinitely more willing to nurture Gabby’s desires to get in the thick of it while reinforcing or even celebrating her brighter demeanor shows that Laura’s learned from Logan’s mishandling of herself. She can’t stop Gabby -- her sister, her clone -- from sharing her traits or history, but she absolutely can allow for Gabby to have someone in her life who understands and comforts those parts of her while encouraging her to find her own way. The sort of personalization that would let Gabby decorate her combat armor with a pink flower, or wear a beret she’s attached to.

And in return, Laura for the first time has someone as fiercely devoted to her and protecting her as Laura has been with the people in her own life. Laura’s past among the X-Men has been dogged with a certain reluctance or plain inability to approach teamwork, but with Gabby she’s overcoming that in strides. 

And that’s just part of what makes this series and especially this issue so novel and enjoyable for me. Laura is my Wolverine, in every way I have ever wanted Wolverine to be. And if Marvel used her properly and exposed her more then I might have once been willing to give a larger number of the X-books my patronage. Something I defs won’t do for Laura’s sake and defs won’t do because Secret Empire makes me feel bad enough already for what I am buying. 

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #7 Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, Jesus Aburtov

I tell you one thing for certain, this storyline was not conceived for X-fans and we’re spiraling further and further down the Emma Frost and Magneto are the Evilest Evils Evar road that Marvel seems so intent to take us down. Which is weird and feels unnecessary, but at the very least we did not have the mutants of the world all die due to Regent like apparently 95% of the superhero population according to the original Renew Your Vows mini. 

Don’t worry, Gerry Conway, I for one am entirely supportive of you retconning as much of anything Dan Slott’s touched as you personally deem necessary. 

Regardless, Annie continues to be adorable, and I actually am onboard for adorkable over protective dad Logan with Kate, even if her mutant ability feels completely and utterly beyond me at the moment (she shines a bright light? Is it psychic energy? I have no idea what happened or why Annie and herself weren’t effected by it.)

It’s one of the rare times a Jean/Logan comic also didn’t become a Scott hate fest, which as a Cyclops fan genuinely shocked and impressed me because that’s apparently how low my bar for these things has fallen. And it’s honestly refreshing to see everyone back in the 90s costumes that I’m most familiar with them in. 

That being said, yeah this is not a story for X-fans. Jubilee’s characterization in particular just... seems to be built around this shocking reveal from last issue more than any practical understanding of her character or desires and loyalties. 

And it’s nice to see that Xavier and the others are reaching out to invite Annie to join the school as a non-mutant but still super powered kid who could benefit from their special curriculum. 

And I love how awesome Mary Jane gets to be, on awesome footing with Peter and Annie herself. 

So I’m still liking this book, just the X-fan in me was a little mer on this two-parter. But you know what? Credit where credit is due: it’s a two-parter. And it didn’t drag and we’re moving on to the next storyline. That’s such an astonishing thing in this age in comics, honestly. I almost did a double take. 

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #956 James Tynion IV, Marcio Takara, Marcelo Maiolo

We finally come to the conclusion of the League of Shadows arc and, honestly, considering the opinions I’ve very strongly held throughout this series, I am very happy with... Okay, very is overselling it. I’m content with this conclusion. 

There are definite homages throughout this issue to Cass and Shiva’s ultimate battle in Batgirl (2000-2006) #25, and while there’s nothing that can really live up to that 2 year build up and steady tension between them, there’s also the matter that you feel Cassandra’s stakes in this battle are more than the validity of her own life here. 

Part of that is that Cassandra’s angst in this new version of her character ultimately doesn’t have nearly the death wish that her Preboot self did, but there’s also a lot to be said for the fact that this Cassandra’s longing for relating to humanity, to live as more than just a shadow, is a unique perspective on ehr to take, and shows more insight and direction for her than she received at any point from about 2003 forward in her own series and after. 

This is not a competition with the Batgirl #25 fight with Shiva, but holy shit it’s leagues better in my book than anything that went on between them in the Assassin’s Daughter arc and that final battle that got real gross real quick. Mostly because it doesn’t have Cassandra killing her mother, mutilating her corpse, and leave her to fall into a Lazarus Pit.

We just leave that for Ra’s al Ghul to tend to.

The art is beautiful and fantastic, and I loved the conclusion with Kate at least keeping her promise to Cassandra and going to the ballet, the fact that Cass and Christine are friends and meeting again, I’m so happy with all these things. Also Kate’s suit? Ballin’. But it ... looks like Bruce isn’t going to keep his promise and go to the ballet with them which like BRUCE DON’T GO DOWN THIS ROAD. IT ENDS WITH ME SMACKING YOU.

My criticisms for this arc overall still hold, with quite a bit of zeal, but like I’ve recounted before, Tynion is in top form when he has multiple characters and can focus on their relationships more than plot. And that held true here, even Jacob Kane got some relief from Tynion’s awful OOCness. but for once we have like... actual planting before payoff? 

Also Bruce lol His hatred of magic continues even into this canon and ngl I love Bruce hating magic. And I look forward to having Zatanna meet up with the gang.  AT THE SAME TIME AS HER SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP APPEARANCE, COINCIDENCE? probably.

DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-2017) #9 Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, MASSYK, Adam Archer, Sandra Hope

We’re barreling toward the ending of Gotham Academy as we know it Olive seems to have lost her battle with the ghosts of her past, the Detective Club has broken into pieces, and the friendships of our favorite kids have never been more in danger. 

And then Two-Face is teaming up with Calamity/Olive. 

With Gotham Academy coming toward its close, I put it back on the Roundups rotation both because I hope to give the two series a reflection as a whole afterward, but also because I feel that my thoughts on the stories themselves wrapping up at last will five some fellow fans some insight as to where I think GA perhaps wandered away from the high standard it set for itself.

Issues like this, however, are reminders of everything right that Gotham Academy offered so uniquely compared to practically all other books out right now at DC. The character drama is at its finest, there’s a thin veil of mystery and intrigue hiding behind mysticism and Gotham lore, and everything feels as though it has a definitive direction. 

DC’s Superwoman (2016-present) #10 K. Perkins, Stephen Segovia, Art Thibert, HI-FI

I was extremely critical of this book’s resolution of the Who Killed Superwoman? arc and was pretty loud about it. It felt like a betrayal of the premise of the book, the marketing, and of the trust I had placed in the creative team under Phil Jimenez, who remains one of my favorite writers in comics period. But there is a love I have of the Super Family and of these characters that I still feel deserve more attention, and my worry over this book being dropped without ever really finding its audience has been real in recent months.

Fortunately it seems like the solution was always as simple as it appeared: what we needed was a woman’s touch in the writing room.

K. Perkins hits a stride in this issue that was severely lacking before. There is a concentration on the relationships with this family we have come to know as the Superwoman family, and the love between them is refreshing considering that the other Superman comics are focused on a more traditional, nuclear family built up.

And while we still haven’t seen Perkins tackle Lana’s mental illness directly, and I’m worried there’s a chance that her sudden resolve to be Superwoman and a hero again will come off as a “I just needed to get over myself and stop taking medication” story, it didn’t feel that way in this issue. 

There were signs of depression in Lana’s present day that I was familiar with on an uncomfortable front, and there’s a lingering self-blame to her situation that I more than know.

But she has powers still without continuing to endanger her life. And she has resolve that didn’t come from diminishing her illness in text. And that’s a leap in the right direction. 

DC’s Titans (2016-present) #11 Dan Abnett, Benjamin Percy, Christopher Priest, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse

.... Okay funny story, I had actually meant to suspend my subscription to Titans this week because I’m not interested in the “Lazarus Contract” story arc and am definitely not going to force myself to pick up the other books being crossed over with for this event. But I forgot because I apparently work at 0% brain capacity on Monday nights and as soon as I remembered to do that for the Image comic Lazarus, which was going to be coming out with another ancillary issue I didn’t feel like picking up this week, I was like “yep those are the only things I didn’t want to subscribe to.” And forgot to take Titans off, even though Comixology is actually really good for constantly reminding you of your subscriptions in the days leading up to them.

So. Because I bought and read this ridiculously enough...

What do I think?

...

Well it was definitely a middle issue of a story I haven’t read and have no idea what’s going on! I’m just glad it’ll be resolved before next month’s issue and I can get back to enjoying my Titans. 

Also like. Dick and Damian are... brothers. And one’s friends with Wally West on the Titans and one’s friends with Wally West on the Teen Titans. And... this hasn’t... come up yet? ummmmm kay. I’m not reading the Flash books or Teen Titans so wtf do I do I know

I dislike Slade. His motivations for hating the Titans still makes no sense, especially since every time he comes back they remind him that HIVE killed Grant not them. But whatever.

Dick’s lying to his team and keeping secrets. The other members of the team are disturbed by this. Looks like they’ll catch him in a lie and learn that things probably would’ve been better for everyone if he hadn’t lied like he did! Sure haven’t had that happen to Dick Grayson in a Teen Titans book have we. 

Oh wait it happens all the time.

I’m ragging on this story big time but again, I have no idea what’s going on and haven’t read the crossover with the other books so that’s my bad. Absolutely. No doubts. I’m just grumpy bc that’s money I intended on saving. I mean. 2.99, but still money.

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #5 James Roberts, Jack Lawrence, Joana Lafuente

OH. MY. GOD. 

Okay so Lost Light has had a near impossible act to follow what with More Than Meets the Eye genuinely being one of the greatest comics I had to pleasure of following the publication of, but I am genuinely shocked how well this story is tying together and how all the themes of war, of depression, of love, of ingenuity, of anti-colonization, of questioning religion, of separating church and state -- I cannot believe how everything that James Roberts’ take on Transformers has been about, is coming together in a storyline that involves an alternate timeline where our favorite characters not only lost but never had the chance to fight. 

It’s more than a darkest timeline, it’s about a timeline where the accountability for everyone’s actions has been extremely lacking, and that puts right in the face of all of our favorite characters that their own sins and questions must be accounted for. 

Megatron was not just speaking for himself when he declared that Minimus and Rodimus were his conscience, he was speaking for the Lost Light’s crew as a whole.

They have grown each other and made each other better versions of themselves in all their crudeness and selfishness, in all their mistakes and flaws, they have created this unity between them where their sacrifices count because they count on each other. And it’s just the epitome of what I want and love out of stories. I could not be happier right now. 

And we still have places to go with this storyline. Just. This is such a celebration of how uniquely Transformers this franchise is while still reaching us how to be uniquely better at being human. I love it.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #22 Greg Rucka, Mirka Andolfo, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

So, basically, Greg Rucka got the job he wanted of writing Wonder Woman again and he said in that moment “I am going to make it as clear as humanly possible that this queer icon is queer, everyone around her is queer, and there is nothing gained by denying as much.

And thank the gods for it.

In all seriousness, this was by no means a standout issue, it builds on the relationship of Veronica Cale and Diana which helps cement more understanding for their interactions in the last issue, but it is mostly also stuck in the middle of the big finales for both storylines so it was going to lack on that front almost without fail. 

However I do want to shout out to the art team for the image I posted above in particular. Having Diana kiss Veronica in thanks while she quite literally clutches her pearls might be the single greatest “fuck you” to any people who have tried to make the argument that Wonder Woman with her lesbian themes and her feminism and her clay baby origins were somehow ruining the youth of America.

I love that Bruce and Lex both got rebuffed, how freaking amazing was that.

Anyway, there wasn’t a whole lot to this issue, but there was a fair amount to enjoy and it was nice to see these two fleshed out some more before our real finales come up. 

It’s a tough call because Detective Comics had a lot more satisfying of a conclusion than I originally thought, even giving me a few more iconic Cass quotes to add to my collection, and we all know how that’s a direct line to my heart. But for my pick of the week I have to go with Transformers: Lost Light. It is genuinely one of the best comics around period. And beyond that, the way it balances its own mythos, the crushing weight of the greater Transformers lore, and the large cast of characters who all get character arcs and development even in something as simple as two panels showing our married mechs hanging off each other in a moment of weariness and peril after everything they’ve been through together? It’s just an amazing comic book. And I will always pick gay robots over just about anything else if you give me the option.

But those are just my picks and opinions for the week. What do you all think? Any comics I didn’t pick up that you enjoyed? I’d love to hear from you!