#late 2000s marvel comics

[vertigoartgore]

Doctor Doom : "No one raises a hand against Victor Von Doom."

2009's Dark Avengers Vol.1 #3 last page by penciller Mike Deodato Jr. and colorist Rain Beredo (words by writer Brian Michael Bendis and lettering by Chris Eliopoulos).

[mids-stupid-shit]

When I first discovered Marrow

[talxns]

Academic Articles that Analyze Queer Readings of Batman and Robin (Brudick)

There actually exist multiple!…but the ones I want to introduce right now talk specifically about how the creation of the batfamily was DC’s attempt to dissuade brudick readings. and that it can be argued that DC is still doing the same thing today.

The first article is called “All in the Family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s”, published in the International Journal of Comics Art in Fall 2000 by Chris York. It was not available for free online, but I bought a digital copy of the volume it was published in and provided screenshots because it’s been 24 years and I hate the fact that academics are behind paywalls so I’m sharing.

This article was actually infamous because DC refused to grant permission for the use of their panels in this article.

Click for better quality.

Notable Quotes:

“National [Periodical Publications]’s biggest step, however, was the introduction of other members of the Bat-family, which would give them permanent female counterparts and solidify their heterosexual status.”

“It is clear that, although Batman and Robin remain partners, their interests are no longer as the Dynamic Duo, but as a Bat-family.”

“Taking the focus of the comic away from Batman and Robin was exactly what these superfluous characters were designed to do.”

The second article, published in the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies in 2005, is called "Domesticity, Homosociality, and Male Power in Superhero Comics of the 1950s" by Mark Best.

Good news! This article is available online for free and it’s a great read.

Notable Quotes:

“In contrast to the Marvel family, however, the Batman and Superman families were modeled more after the familial relations of the nuclear family and the gender expectations of the domestic ideology.”

“One way the genre attempted to contain any “subversive” potential, including the possibility of homosexual readings of the comics, was through the narrative device of the “super­ hero family.””

Here is more academic reading with the themes of Batman and homophobia, written in 1991. This article is referenced in the former piece.

In summary:

(lest we forget) Batman has had queer readings since its inception, specifically between Bruce and Dick.

The creation of the batfamily served to curtail those brudick readings

It seems pretty obvious that the same attempts are STILL being made by DC, now with the exaggerated push for explicit familial titles like “father” and “son”. And are still working if you see any discourse online from fans who strictly oppose brudick on the basis of their “father/son” relationship (which seems to me a more modern emphasis compared to in the past, maybe i’ll make a different post about that later.) They are unknowingly parroting Freddy Wertham’s concerns and eating up DC’s new strategy of distancing Bruce and Dick, just under an accusation harder to argue against nowadays. It’s gauche to criticize queerness nowadays, but consider it incest and suddenly it’s acceptable to bash again.

I just find it incredibly fascinating that brudick had been discussed and analyzed in multiple academic articles! And reading some comments I saw lately of people exclaiming “I can’t believe Brudick is this popular!/Who on earth is shipping Brudick!?!” made me sigh and really want to pull these out. Brudick has been a thing before all of us were born. DC’s propaganda/internet purity culture has been doing too good of a job lately. We have to remember our roots.

[spaceorphan18]

How an animated series saved Remy LeBeau (again)

It's a bit of a hyperbolic title, but catchy, non?

I was looking over my comic collection as I've decided to reread X-Men's 60 year history over the course of the summer. And it got me thinking about a dead period of 616 canon that I've never actually read. Around the time Rogue hooked up with Magneto and scooted off to the Avengers, I decided I'd be done with comics for a while. And didn't start again until Rogue (and Gambit) came back to the X-books in 2017's Astonishing X-Men. But it made me wonder -- What happened to Gambit in that time??

Well, after his solo ended, he flitted around to X-Factor and hung out with X-23 and then kind of went 'poof' for a good long while.

Why? I can only guess the same reason this is a running motif with Gambit. There's something about him that drives the X-Office crazy. I'm not here to speculate what or how or who of it all. I don't know enough about the back end of Marvel to give concrete answers. But I think what has surprised me (recently) is that he's definitely a fan favorite character.

[Yes, I know he can be a divisive character. Yes, I know elements of his character from the 90s have not aged well. Yes, I know there are those of you who can't stand him. Don't really care - you can get off my lawn, thank you.]

Which got me thinking -- Gambit's original popularity, I believe, stemmed from the original X-Men Animated Series. He had just started showing up in the comics at the time, and had barely any kind of page time. And the X-Men TAS swung and was a hit. And so was Gambit.

I don't really know that Gambit would be around today if TAS hadn't done its thing. Would the X-Office have kept him around? I really have no idea.

But they did try to get rid of him. That was the point of leaving him in Antarctica. And things were just never the same after that. Claremont tried his best in the early 2000s. And then Deathbit happened. Carey's run wasn't bad. But Carey clearly had an agenda for other things... And then, Gambit just kind of faded into the background. (I hear his run as a side character for Laura (X-23) was good - but I haven't read that.)

Bless Kelly Thompson (always) for sparking life back into him with (and his relationship with Rogue). And bless the fact that she actually married him to Rogue. Yes, I understand comics -- my god look what they did to Peter and MJ, no one really gets to be happily married except Sue and Reed. He and Rogue are now really tied together in a way that I don't think is going to be undone any time soon.

Even if the X-Office still isn't thrilled with the guy. Krakoa era has been less than ideal. (I can't comment on it fully - I haven't read much of it, as I'm behind on my comic reading.) But I've heard rumors that one reason Thompson was let go was that she didn't want Gambit killed off. And she didn't like the direction they wanted to take the character.

Which leads me to X-Men 97. Killing him off sucked. Really. As a fan, it really sucked. But - my god, the reaction to it. Gambit was amazing. And all I've heard lately is good things about the character. There's been a Gambit resurgence in the best way. He may have went out -- but he went out with a bang. X-Men 97 made an emotional impact with people. And that changes things.

Gambit is cool again.

And I love it.

What's even more exciting is the fact that the X-Office has changed hands again and Gail Simone on Uncanny who (if her Twitter/X feed is to be believed) is really enjoying writing the character. Which means (hopefully) at least another year or two in the comics of some (hopefully) great Gambit stuff.

And maybe there will be some changing of hearts and minds in the X-Office.

It's actually very exciting.

And, guys, I really (really, really) doubt he'll be completely gone from X-Men 97, too.

Because Remy LeBeau never stays down for long.

But as a fan, it's nice to see him be on top again. And I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.

[racefortheironthrone]

Cherik (xmen) - like the loganxscottxjean throuple (s), any basis in the comics to pull from? And any personal opinion on that interpretation of xmen’s arguable most important relationship?

Great question!

Before I answer it, I'm just going to express a pet peeve of mine, but I'm not a particular fan of that ship name, in part because I don't really think of Magneto as "Erik" any more, especially in this context. In the comics, Xavier met Magneto as "Magnus" (which was Magneto's human name for the first thirty years of publication), and it strikes me as odd that this wouldn't be the name Charles would default to in emotional situations. (Charles is still enough of a bad boyfriend that he forgets to call Magneto "Max.")

"Erik Lensherr" came about only in the late 90s, in a context that made it quite clear that this name was a cover identity that Magneto constructed with the assistance of a Romanian forger to protect his true identity from various intelligence services. (It's also tied to the odd decision to retcon Magneto as Sinti Romani, but that's a separate issue.) Moreover, for the past sixteen years it's been established that Magneto's canonical birth name is Max Eisenhardt, and it is that name which he responds to in the Sphere of Judgement.

But to answer your question, there's much more textual basis for that particular swooningly homoerotic relationship than there is for the throuple. These two have been the most poorly-communicating, dysfunctional, co-dependent, non-monagamous bi4bi pairing in the entire Marvel Universe - albeit one always couched in carefully deniable subtext and brightly signposted visuals between X-Men #161 and #200. Hell, when Magneto first joins the X-Men and becomes Headmaster, he goes so far as to adopt Charles' last name!

(Pictured: the intricate rituals.)

Their relationship has endured quite a few deaths and resurrections, murder attempts (quite often by one against the other), a mindwipe or two, the joint creation of a being of pure evil, and much more. It only became more prominent in the early 2000s thanks to the Fox movies, and has been front-and-center throughout the Krakoan Era.

[hero-israel]

I hate the term "capeshit." "Capeshit" was invented by Jews who had no other way in to the publishing industry. Jews created the modern comic book superhero and infused the very concept with Jewish meaning and symbolism, whether or not a superhero is themself a Jewish character. The more mainstream the superhero genre got, the less welcoming it became to Jews. Once the MCU put superheroes at the top of pop culture and ESPECIALLY once the DEI shit took over, there was no more room for Jews in the superhero business. Jews not only don't count in DEI, they're "the enemy." And now in an age when every marginalized group gets a superhero, Marvel...the people who had the balls to make a comic cover with Captain America decking Hitler at a time when it was NOT popular to take that kind of stance...fails for the third time in a row to represent Jews onscreen in the most basic sense. Marvel today is not the Marvel of Jack Kirby or Chris Claremont. It's not even the Marvel of the late 2000s. Marvel used to march to its own tune, doing the right thing no matter what the mobs said. Now, the mobs said "Jews bad," and Marvel acquiesced. Maybe, just maybe, when "capeshit" goes out of style and is back to being a niche genre for dorks, it might be welcoming to Jews again.

There are so many examples of Jews being socially funneled into certain lines of work that were seen as low-class and disreputable, then being forced out after making them popular. But this one hurts more, somehow. I think because it so much became the basis for the moral vocabulary and symbology of people who hate us now. "Magneto was right" is really about us, but most people who say that slogan now would root for Sentinels to wipe us out.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Hi! Can you please point me to the 1990s Clark/Bruce zines you mentioned in a recent post? Also, do you know anything about the Superbat fandom history in the pre-tumblr/ao3 era? I’m really curious about it but I haven’t been able to find great sources. Thanks!!

Unfortunately I've never been a huge Superbat reader and actively participating in the pre-internet zine era was before my time in fandom, so my knowledge on that front is limited. You'd be better off contacting and searching through the University of Iowa's Special Collections Fan Culture Preservation Project (which has its own Fanlore page and is sponsored by Ao3's parent company, the Organization for Transformative Works), the University of California Riverside's Fanzine Collection, or trawling through old Livejournal communities tbh.

In terms of fandom history, the very short version is that it was fairly popular in the Silver and Bronze Age (partially as a result of the World's Finest comics), briefly went largely dormant in the late 1980s/1990s after the initial post-Crisis status quo was that Bruce and Clark weren't close friends (and then Clark was dead for a hot minute), and came back with a roaring vengeance in the 2000s after Morrison's+Waid's JLA runs did the legwork of making everyone friends again and Superman/Batman started publishing, and hasn't left fandom consciousness since. Adaptationally, it suffered a small hit in overall popularity when Smallville was big (caving to the Clex shippers) but was still fairly popular in DCAU fandom circles at the same time. There's an interesting Superbat history retrospective here, if you're interested, which mostly traces Bruce and Clark's depiction in comics from the 80s until the 2010s but also provides some personal commentary and notes on fan speculation+letters to the editor that appeared in those older issues.

Sidenote: a major reason that you can't find fandom histories on DC the way you can on Marvel is because their archives aren't open to academics and the general public the way Marvel's are. There is no DC equivalent of Marvel: The Untold Story, for example. We have quite a bit of knowledge on the Golden Age era because of external sources, and there's a lot of information about the post-internet fandom, but unfortunately there's just not a ton of internal or fandom-centered sources for the in-between. And the documentaries we do have usually focus on official/company-centered events rather than fandom ones. I happen to anecdotally know some of that history, hence why I felt confident correcting people on that post, but you're right that there's just not a lot of "good" sources to be found on the issue outside of old blog posts.

You also have to understand that until the 2000s and the rise of modern fandom culture, "slash shipping" in most fandoms (that weren't Star Trek, anyway) was basically all underground, so the histories we do have are largely oral histories from oldfans and zines that have survived from that era. Slashfics were also regularly deleted from fandom archives at whim whenever content crackdowns happened (said content crackdowns were one of the major reasons AO3 was created and eventually became the main internet repository for fanfiction, btw). So unless you have access to the zines or those authors have uploaded/re-uploaded their work to somewhere that hasn't been subject to purges, site takedowns, or the general ravages of time...a lot of that history has been lost, unfortunately.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help!

[percheduphere]

How do you think Mobius will live his life in the timeline? Many theorize that something happens to Don and Mobius takes his identity so his sons live with a father. I prefer that Mobius reflects on his old life, realizes he can’t live it, and creates his own life.

Oh, boy, Anon. I have a lot of fanfic ideas for this, but let's get into the meta-analysis side of this before we get into the rabbit hole that is my washer-dryer machine of an imagination.

Mobius is not doing well. He is going through the stages of grief. I've written an extensive meta here regarding the darker aspects of his character and how he's at risk by the end of the series. I also wrote a brief meta here regarding how his grief might manifest.

With this in mind, I actively HATE the idea of Mobius spiraling to the point he becomes "corrupted". I don't what Michael Waldron did to Wanda. I guess you could make the argument that it would be interesting to see a man emotionally unravel in such a way, but I hold Mobius's unshakable kindness dear in my heart. I don't ever want him to lose it because it is essentially his superpower.

[Sidebar: comics canon House of M notwithstanding; Marvel and DC comics canon are consistently horrible in their characterization of exceptionally powerful women: Wanda Maximoff Jean Grey/Phoenix; Carol Danvers/then Ms. Marvel; Rogue; on and on; I'll throw Sylvie in here, too, because why not, it's true.]

I see Mobius mourning Loki for two years. Two years because, statistically, that is how long it takes for most people who've lost an intimate loved one to get out of clinical depression. During this period, I see him losing weight, wandering aimlessly between timelines, trying and failing to copy Don's life by taking a job that involves jet skis or aquatics more generally. B-15 would make a point to check-in on him and know he's not doing well, but Mobius, because he does not want anyone to worry about him, because he is used to being the person who keeps people together, insists he's fine.

MY FANFIC IDEA

I see Mobius eventually recognizing he needs a therapist, which he will find ironic and deeply troubling, but he's not about to give up on trying to live for Loki's sake.

And in his conversations with his therapist and B-15, Mobius will come to realize that he can still use his key strengths outside of the TVA: analyzing people, deconstructing what makes them tick, using that knowledge to help the other person, similar to a therapist but more active in support. Mobius is very well-suited to become a social worker of troubled and at-risk youth. I think he should pursue this and ...

Mobius will choose a branched timeline in the late 90s/early 2000s. There, he will meet a war-orphaned, thirteen year-old Wanda Maximoff, who is friendless and struggling to understand the nature of her powers (magic). Mobius is drawn to her right away. It takes time, but he eventually gains Wanda's trust.

Red. Red is Wanda's color. It's in her hair, her cheeks, her magic. Now that red reaches Wanda's eyes, filled with tears her anger stoppers. "You saw what I can do. What I did. The other kids call me a 'witch' 'cause that's what I am. A witch. A monster."

Mobius sits next to the young girl on the stoop. The sun winks at them through the green tree boughs, and he wonders, for a moment, what Loki might think of him now, finding solace in a child who needs solace.

"That's not true. You're not a monster, but I tell you what: witches are pretty cool." Mobius grins, knocking his knee against hers. The fabric of his slacks shakes, still too loose. "Y'know, my best friend has magic just like yours, except it's green instead of red."

Wanda peers at him, hopeful and dubious. "Really?"

"Yup. He had a tough time, too, being different." He leans closer to her, sharing a secret. "But things got better. You should've seen him. He was--is-- magnificent. You're magnificent."

Her lips purse into an embarrassed smile. She drops her head, thoughtful, and tucks her hands beneath the fold of her knees. "Where is he now? Do you still see him?"

The question is innocent, as all things are with a soul of thirteen. She doesn't mean to hurt him. Mobius knows this. So he takes the thorn of her words and presses it against his ribcage. His throat works. The ache comes and goes but never fully abates.

"Well," Mobius sighs. "He had to move on. Life is like that sometimes. People come and go. Things happen and ... there's not much you can do except hope they're okay. That they're happy and safe."

He can't look up. Not at the tree or the sun. He worries if he does, he'll start to cry, and that won't do when this girl who reminds him so much of his wily god has finally cracked a smile.

"C'mon," he says, rising to his feet. "Let's get you something to eat."

"McDonald's?" Wanda brightens.

Another thorn. He takes that one too and thinks of pretty roses.

"Whatever you want, kiddo."

[aortaplatinum]

Why Sonic sucked in the first half of the 2010s

One thing I constantly see brought up in the constant Sonic discourse is the concept of the "Meta Era": the period of time in the 2010s when Sonic stories and the series presentation was the lightest and most shallow it had ever been. This era starts with Sonic Colors and ends with Sonic Forces, but doesn't count the failed Sonic BOOM sub-franchise experiment since that was done by entirely different teams compared to those who usually work on Sonic games. The "Meta Era" term seems to have been coined by J's Reviews on YouTube, and is characterized by fourth-wall-breaking, Marvel movie esque English scripts written by Ken Pontac and Warren Graff of Happy Tree Friends and MadWorld fame, along with strange characterization of the Sonic cast. But no one ever tries to look at WHY this happened. I'm splitting this post into two parts because 2010-2015 is very different from 2015-2020 in terms of why the games' stories and then the game[s] themselves sucked. So, the year is 2009. Sonic and the Black Knight has just released following last year's console entry of Sonic World Adventure [titled Sonic Unleashed outside of Japan], and both are torn to shreds by millennial games journalists who grew up with the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games, for having stories that are "too dark/edgy". That aspect paired with these games' mostly mediocre gameplay caused them to be branded as "shitty Sonic games" by journos and the general public for years, until they were re-examined by the Sonic community as a whole, who found the good in Unleashed and Black Knight's stories and stage design in the mid-late 2010s. But, SEGA had just recently financially recovered from the failure of the Saturn outside of Japan and the worldwide failure of the Dreamcast, having to be bought out by pachinko manufacturer Sammy Corporation in the early 2000s to avoid going bankrupt. And despite Sonic historically being the company's best-seller worldwide [with the exception of Japan, ironically], SEGA Sammy Holdings [referred to as SEGA] wanted Sonic to be as beloved as much as it could and to sell as much as it could. The series' lack of popularity in Japan has always caused it to be seen as a mascot cash cow by SEGA Japan, just a source of income. Meanwhile, the same publications who cringed at Sonic LAUDED SEGA's recently published PlatinumGames release, MadWorld, for its presentation and its comedy dialogue, and with this positive reception, SEGA had an idea; marry the praised daytime Sonic Unleashed gameplay, with the tone and comedy writing of MadWorld- complete with giving the English script those same writers. There's just one problem- MadWorld is an ultraviolent M-rated comic book style comedy, sharing similarities with the original The Mask comic series. So you can probably imagine what happened when these writers were tasked with creating English localized dialogue for kids' games.

It wasn't very good.

But, sales were up. REVIEW SCORES were up. And this lead to Sonic Generations, which refined the daytime boost gameplay of Unleashed and even used it's same game engine, while introducing the world to "Classic Sonic", a modern re-interpretation of what Sonic played and acted like in the Mega Drive games from the 90's. Gens went on to become one of the most beloved Sonic games of all time- and thankfully, since the game had nearly zero story, there wasn't much script there for Pontac and Graff to... alter.

But, seeing the praise Colors' tone was getting from the professional journalists who bashed the 2000s games, SEGA decided the next course of action was to reach out and work with more Western studios. End part 1.

[chibivesicle]

Current manga[ish] reading list in no particular order

Neighborhood Story (Gokinjo Monogatari) by Ai Yawaza - I now own up to volume 3 of the English release of the manga. The four volume set is based on what I believe was the 10th Anniversary reprint of the manga in Japan. The French edition also follows the four book format but I think the German sticks to the original seven. I have the original tankobon editions for volumes 1-3 where when you line them up, it creates a long dinner table with the entire cast.

I read the entire manga in the early 2010s via scans and had spent the late 90s to that point praying for an official release after Paradise Kiss was printed by Tokyopop. The series was old enough that in the late 90s early 2000s no one was out there doing the line by line translations that I used to use to read manga. I read all of Wish that way with the original manga and the speech bubble guide. e.g. page 12 panel 5 Overall impressions - this was a white whale for me - I likely bought the original manga when I was sixteen or seventeen based on the art style alone. I would say it falls into your standard dramatic shoujo manga with high school students but the lives of ones in counter-culture, outside the norms of usual expectations. When I read the scans I enjoyed it and while it was nothing mind blowing it is a rewarding read. The various individuals sporting alternative fashions is one of my favorite aspects of it. You have a MC who leans mostly towards mod style (Twiggy from the 1960s) with a strong vintage twist, punk, lolita, generic 90s alternative dude, preppy and your designer brand girl.

I look forward to getting volume 4 and completing the set, just it will be likely 28 years later than I would have wanted. The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda - I sprung hard for the recent English hardcover editions. One of my friends lent me her roommates 2 volume tankobon set of this series in 2000, but it too lacked a good translation to find online and read along to it. I watched the anime in 2014 and bought the DVD box set. Of course, I couldn't say no to this classic shoujo manga. I'm through the first three volumes and slowly working my way through it. Seeing that I already watched the anime, nothing in it is overall surprising.

I have noticed that early on the level of gay is pretty high and this current "twist" of Andre getting closer to Oscar is much stronger than I felt in the anime. The entire loss of Rosalie and her fawning over Oscar was a disappointment, also toned down in the anime. There is a lot more questioning with Oscar's character as to who she is, what she desires and how to fit into her world. I really wish it pressed those questions more but alas, I'm really starting to feel the Oscar x Andre pressure ramping up. In the anime I felt like it sort of came out of nowhere and in the manga it is more like - okay Rosalie's crush was cute but real adult relationships need a man. lols. Even with my different opinion on the manga compared to the anime, I cannot stress how owning such a fundamental manga series is. I don't think I'll ever attempt a meta on this - more than enough already exists about this with how long it has been around. Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - An impulse purchase at The Comic Swap on Allen Street. I'm pretty sure some of the individual volumes of X and other early 2000s manga were on the shelf when I was in university.

I'd heard some good murmurs about this manga and a friend kept recommending it. I can't explain how blown away I was this series. The art style is amazing with little use of screen tones and the emphasis on line art. With the author's previous work for DC and Marvel it shows but in all the good ways as far a composition and again that line art. And we haven't even gotten to the story itself! I have read through volume 3 and the pacing is excellent. It doesn't info dump how magic works and the world building is natural and unforced. It already has brought up great questions about who controls knowledge, disability vs accommodation, dealing with trauma, what is your purpose in life/goals. It has the right amount of whimsy that you feel cozy but at the same time you know when shit is serious.

What I feel the most is that Witch Hat Atelier is intentional with everything in it. It is a carefully constructed story and comes together naturally with a good balance of young pupils and adults. And the character designs! Oh my goodness, I love them all.

The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuuga - Can't skip my gal Mao Mao. I mean I cosplayed as her back in April because how frequently do you get a pragmatic female lead with deadpan humor and is a scientist who likes plants? I also watched the first season of the anime loving every moment of it and how it really shines with its focus on women navigating a world not made to really benefit them. I decided to read the original light novel instead of the manga based on the light novel. I think by time I finish volume 2 I will have caught up to season 1 and hopefully, pull ahead of the eventual second season which comes in 2025, I think.

Out of all the titles, this one is likely my biggest guilty pleasure as a plant biologist; Mao Mao as a character has a lot of common scientist traits which make her very relatable and fun to see in any sort of media. Her obliviousness to certain things not because she doesn't have an eye for details but because she can't be bothered is realistic but rarely given to a female character in most forms of media regardless of cultural context.

Will I dive into the rest of these series for a meta? I'm honestly not sure. I may do a "quick" review of Gokinjo Monogatari when I complete volume 4 but it isn't the sort of manga that feeds into deep critical analysis. It is a coming of age story about artistic kids and looks cool.

I'd likely be more inclined to tackle Witch Hat Atelier but sometimes I just want to read something and not deep dive into it even if it intellectually feeds my curiosity. My current plan is to catch up on the manga and I'm relying on my county library to read volumes 4-13. If I really like it, I'll probably become a sucker and buy it at some point but I need to be a little more mindful of my manga purchases for the sake of my overflowing bookshelves. I took one of those surveys about how much manga you own and I wasn't expecting to clock in at almost 200 volumes when I've given away/sold/donated them from time to time.

I've got some thoughts on Kekkai Sensen but I'm waiting for the next chapter to drop since it ended on a cliff hanger with that plot twist where the "Count" from previous statements in the manga was not some old frumpy classic Dracula like Blood Breed but instead in a teenage form as Edgar. I liked the twist since I was suspicious of his character but didn't think he might have been the true mastermind of things. But we'd be lazy readers if we'd forgotten that Blood Breeds can easily shapeshift as demonstrated with Girika and Tonio. I will always give her ultimate cougar cred testing out her boy toy before committing to making him a Blood Breed instead of snacking on him.

[vertigoartgore]

The Black Panther meets the Pink Panther (2003). Art by Sal Velluto (the main interior artist of Christopher Priest's run on Black Panther).

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Cursed City

by Wolfsbanesparks When an ancient magical amulet is stolen directly from the Rock of Eternity, Billy and Mary, alongside their adoptive parents and a good friend from WHIZ radio, go in search of the mystical artifact before the thief can use it's power. Their search brings them to the infamous Gotham City, home of the Batman. Can they find the amulet before it's too late? Or will the Bat's own investigation put all of Gotham in danger? Words: 2000, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Billy Batson, Mary Batson | Mary Bromfield, Nick Bromfield, Nora Bromfield, Joane Jameson, Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake (DCU), Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Felix Faust, Vicki Vale Relationships: Billy Batson & Mary Batson | Mary Bromfield Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Gotham City is Cursed, Suspendium incident mentioned, Secret Identity, Nick Bromfield is a good parent, Nora Bromfield is a good parent, Magic Rituals, gun violence typical of Gotham, Fandom Trumps Hate 2024, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Family Bonding, WHIZ Radio (DCU) via https://ift.tt/OluVe3H

[lokiinmediasideblog]

I think it's a shame the Loki series either:

Didn't come out in the 2010s.

Has to deal with Disney/Marvel execs.

I am rather lenient in how I judge this show for the following reasons:

The short 6 episode format.

The infamous Marvel/Disney executive meddling that EVEN DIRECTORS FEAR... I feel bad for Kate Herron just thinking about this...

JM being found guilty of DV after S2 was done filming (and multiple women coming forward + his ridiculous publicity stunts).

Despite those 3 HORRIFIC challenges mentioned above, the TVA managed to have interesting religious/cult trauma coding (and well conversion therapy too). I think if it had come out *ba-dum-tss* in the 2010s, the metaphors would have been appreciated more (because we had even less shit back then). But I ALSO think people have a right to be disappointed because it's not the 2010s anymore, and that's just crumbs nowadays.

If it existed in the 2010s, it would probably have been allowed more episodes to actually flesh characters (not even TVA!Loki is fleshed out). So that's a shame. I think of it as a show that should have been made in another time because it'd have done much better.

If Marvel didn't shy away from "Are we the baddies?" They could have also extended the cult trauma coding and theme more to Asgard, but I know that's never happening.... There's an unintentional (?) interesting theme with MCU!Loki being passed around cults (both TVA!Loki and Sacred Timeline MCU!Loki). I wish it had been explored more...

I'd have killed for some meta exploration of Loki being an ideal Comics Code Authority/ Hays code era villain. Despite the hasty retcons done to Asgard to erase the queerphobia and misogyny (as recent as the late 2000s and early 2010s), Loki's depiction by the narrative was clearly influenced by queerphobic tropes and was often villainized for not being "man enough." I wish something more overt of this nature had been done.

[coldcrashpictures]

I have to ask why so many marvel posts yesterday?

Not that I'm complaining I'm just confused since I remember you saying you weren't the biggest fan of supers

I could have misconstrued something you said in one of your videos though, it's been awhile since I watched your birds of prey video

I reblogged one Marvel thing and then Tumblr showed me abt 50 bajillion Marvel posts in a row. And I liked 3 or 4 of them.

And it's not that I dislike Marvel, or superhero films in general. I grew up on Ultimate Spider-Man comics, and some of my first favorite films were superhero flicks from the early 2000s. But the MCU hasn't been good for a decade (save for one or two installments), the DCEU was basically DOA (save for Birds of Prey), and just in general the genre has been run into the ground lately.

[hetaologist]

APH America "Ethnography" and Headcanons (SFW)

The United States of America, Alfred F. Jones, Mr. Stars and Stripes, 'Merica, Pretty Boy, um... or just simply America.

Here is a list of data I have gathered from this country and oh boy, what an interesting specimen we have here....

Ethnography

You will find this find this mythological creature at your local Walmart superstore during the evening hours on a weekday, sporting flannel loungewear pants (The plaid kind), a cotton t-shirt that definitely has been worn no less than two (2) times, Old Navy $1 flip flops, and a gray jacket.

When asked about his late night runs to the popular supermarket chain, his answer is just simply:

"There's nothing else to do and no where to go."

America's Cart Inventory for March 22nd:

One (1) package of "Mega Stuf Chocolate Oreos" for $5.97, One (1) 6-Pack of "Starbucks Frappuccino Chilled Coffee Drinks" in Caramel Flavor for $7.98, One (1) Family Sized Bag of "Flaming Hot Cheetos" for $5.94, One (1) "Furby Interactive Toy" for $39.19, and One (1) Stick of " Axe Apollo Men's Deodorant Stick" for $4.97. Total of purchase was $64.05 before tax.

When questioned about the "Furby Interactive Toy", he replies:

"Yeah dude, there's this thing I wanna make that's called a "Long Furby". Wanna come by my place and check it out?"

I agreed to the invination as it would give me a better look into his living space and lifestyle. He's very friendly person.

Living Space (Home):

Oh dear god, why did I agree to come here?

House is a what you would expect from a typical American college student such as:

"Saturdays Are For The Boys" banner flag, Marvel and DC posters, a very unsettling looking blue leather couch that looks like it has been through hell and back, random dumbbells and untouched exercise equipment, every game console from the 1972 "The Magnavox Odyssey" to the PS5, action figures from various popular TV shows and comics, an old KFC bucket with half eaten chicken on the coffee table and a shelf with a huge vinyl record and CD collection.

Conclusion: What a fucking gross nerd.

America offers a cold can of Coca-Cola, I accept it.

He shows me a very long light blue "Long Furby" from his collection, further proving how much of a dork he was.

When asked what kind of music he liked (in regards to his music collection), he replies:

"That's hard to answer, it changes every week. Because of my diverse music, I pretty much like everything. One week I could be listening to 1980's classic rock, 2000's techno-pop, Bluegrass Country, 1990's Hip Hop or anything. But, if I had to give you this week's favorite artist, it would have to be Taylor Swift and Doja Cat."

"Interesting..." I replied.

I have recorded enough data for today (the smell was bothering me) and left his home to do further extensive research.

Headcanons:

America has a deep love for cars and trucks, he can be seen working on his vintage 1968 Dodge Charger R/T called 'Thunderbird' (an absolute speed demon that can reach at top speeds of muthafuckin' 156 mph), and his enormous 2019 Ford F-150 'Big John' that he loves to drive to world meetings because he is a total stud muffin showoff.

Oh yeah, he defiantly modded 'Big John' horns with airblasters. So when he parks his car and he sees other nations come out of their vehicles, he pounds on that horn and scares the living shit out of them.

He totally does 2 am donuts in the Thunderbird the front of Walmart parking lots with his brother Canada to freak him out.

Other than seeing him work on his cars while listening to "Waking Up in Vegas by Katy Perry" on the radio, he's in his room sorting out his action figure and comic book collection.

Damn, what what a geek.

He has an eBay account where he buys, trades and auctions his collection as his interests constantly change.

If you think him being a geek, dork and a nerd is gonna save him from getting a basic ass Stanley cup, you're wrong.

He has a navy blue one that he takes to meetings and he would get dirty looks from the other nations.

"Goddamn it America, you do not need that much coffee."

"Fuck you, you scone sucking twink. It's not coffee, it's the Panera Super Charged Lemonade mixed with Redbull."

"I beg your fucking pardon..."

He gave Canada a red one for his birthday that he also takes with him to meetings.

"Canada, mon ami~. That better not be that merde American drinks that makes your heart explode."

"No, it's Tim Hortons iced coffee."

"Well.. that's better than what America drinks..."