#like man you know it's bad when i miss chuck dixon

[mamawasatesttube]

Not to dwell too much on timber but why do you think writers keep being weirdly misogynistic in how they use tim's past gf to hype up timber?

well, i mean, i think that would just be the fact that the writers aren't questioning their internalized misogynistic biases, i.e. they are simply being misogynistic. dc of today seems primarily interested in creating very shallow stories, and the thing about that imo is that seeing what someone considers shallow often will reveal what things they do not question.

at least in my opinion, one pitfall of writing m/m is that it's very easy to stop caring about women. which, like, yes, your central relationship does not involve women, but that shouldn't mean they stop having depth as characters or matter to the characters in the relationship. however, when you're fundamentally uninterested in telling a story with depth, when you just want to flanderize everyone to tropes in order to get panels posted on twitter, of course you flatten the women into yaoi cheerleaders. so writers like megfitz or brendan hay bringing up tim's exes just to prop up bernard is like... yeah of course you'd do that. lmao. like, i don't think these writers are going out of their way to intentionally shit on female characters. theyre just not thinking about them at all. which is, in a way, almost kinda worse?

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #9

Robin #73 story by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Steven Harris

Right up front, I'm not a big fan how Cass is depicted in this one. Like, it's not the complete train wreck that I felt it was on initial read, and I've gone back to tone down some of the excessive negativity in my initial write up. I still don't like how Harris draws Cass/Batgirl here, and I still think this issue is just a completely missed opportunity by Chuck Dixon to start building a relationship - working, family or otherwise - between Tim Drake and this new member of the Bat Clan. But it's not like, uniquely bad. Just frustrating.

The basic set up here is that Tim's dad, who left with his family before No Mans Land, and who I don't think knows that Tim is Robin? Though I'm not sure of that? has realized that Tim has returned to Gotham somehow. Afraid for his son's safety, has made a big stink with the press.

The American news media, who were big supporters of the 'nobody enters nobody leaves' No Mans Land policy when the people trapped in Gotham were poors and minorities and criminals, are suddenly screaming about the inhumanity of the policy now that they have an upper class white father afraid for the safety of his upper class white child. Tim feels guilty about more public concern being expressed by the national media over just him than over literally every other human being trapped in Gotham put together, but Bruce sees an opportunity to leverage the media circus to move political landscape towards ending No Mans Land altogether.

Meanwhile the government wants the story over as quickly as possible, so a one time exception is made to the NML policy for Tim and federal marshals meet with his dad to contact Tim and arrange a rescue by helicopter. I'm left wondering how there's still working cell reception almost a full year into No Man's Land - that's not just a Cinema Sins ding, the difficulty of getting communications and accurate reporting out of Gotham is a fundamental part of the set up, but whatever.

There's not really any safe places to carry out a helicopter rescue, and Tim won't be able to fight off threats as Robin while being rescued as Tim Drake, so he'll need a chaperone. That's where our girl comes in, looking cool and spooky in the window.

Once again we have Cass as the silent shadow / batman's enforcer, creepy and unknowable even to her allies. Cass is supposed to be like 16 in No Mans Land? And in her own stories she's very much a kid - giddy at the high of being a superhero, overconfident in her abilities, insecure in her place in the Bat Clan, desperate to please Batman. I don't object to Tim not knowing what to think of Cass to start, but It should not be difficult for a writer to find some level on which Tim can begin to relate to Cass, some way for them to begin to empathize with each other and move on from that starting point as strangers to start building a rapport between them.

So the next day they head over to the agreed on site, and... what's going on with Cass's proportions here? Ok ok, there's clearly supposed to be some foreshortening going on in this panel, lets cut Harris some slack and move on...

... no, no I'm sorry, there's no foreshortening here. Cass is 16. She's a kid. Who is that giant lady in the background?

Like... this isn't great. Not great art happens, so I'm not going to harp on for an extended paragraph of pure complaints, and definitely didn't write and delete such a paragraph. It's not worth getting hung up over.

A convenient breeze picks up to move Batgirl's cape for one pane. Because you gotta get that butt shot in there somehow, full length cape or no.

So anyway Tim gets changed and the marshals show up in their helicopter, and as expected a nearby gang notices and attacks.

Cass shows up to fight off the gang, and Tim stops the marshals from shooting while they might hit her. I mean, they said they were using rubber bullets, but are you really going to take their word for it.

The helicopter lifts off from the park with Tim and Cass as more reinforcements for the gang arrive, but the Marshals say they're only authorized to take Tim out of Gotham. Not that Batgirl would have left anyway, but she drops back down into the city, and Tim gets to leave - and make rounds on the news talking about how the real heroes are the ones still in Gotham.

A fine enough wrap up to Tim's participation in No Mans Land, and it gets him out of Gotham so his book doesn't have to involve the darker Joker threatening babies / killing Gordon's wife note the crossover ends on.

As a Cass fan though, this is a super frustrating issue, because for all that Batgirl features in the story, it doesn't really feel like Cass is here at all. The giant lady in the Batgirl suit doesn't look like Cass, but it's not just the art, she's not there in the writing or either. This book was an opportunity to start building a connection between Cass, this all new member of the Bat Family, and Tim, one of the key existing members. There were pages enough that we could have had a nice quiet moment between them, maybe with her mask off so we could see her face, where they connect on some level, establish the beginnings of some sort of friendship or at least working relationship. Like, Cass could maybe use drawings or pantomime to ask if Tim were Bruce's son, or he could notice how hard she's working to impress Batman and feel some sympathy for how difficult that is. Something. Anything.

To the extent that what we all like most about the Bat Family is the found family aspect, we want to see these two starting to build some sort of sibling relationship. Instead there's just nothing at all. They don't even feel like acquaintances or co-workers here. And it's hard not to read that as an implicit statement from Dixon that as far as he's concerned Cass isn't a real member of the bat family at all.

[ghostmumblings]

I came bringing the receipts (citations from Chuck Dixon's Introduction in Robin: a hero reborn 1991 collection and Marv Wolfman's A lonely place of dying remembrances afterword in the Batman: a death in the family collection 2011 reprint) and I can't find them anywhere online so I guess I will have to type it all out Marv Wolfman on creating Tim: "... I do remember thinking that in the past Robin was always being groomed to become Batman, should the original die (Batman die? Yeah, like that'll happen!). But why not have a Robin who wanted to be not Batman, but. shock of shocks, Robin? Why not create a character who was so smart that he could deduce that Dick Grayson was Robin and that meant that Bruce Wayne was Batman?"

some points here are arguable (about robins being groomed to be batman especially, though it's one of the reasons why i think batman should die with bruce or go to cass) and it's ironic that from every robin tim is probably the most similar to bruce (and we all saw what happens if he becomes batman...) but it is a take that really shows how tim was LITERALLY CREATED TO BE ROBIN

also Marv Wolfman: "I tried to put together a story that would make the readers like im almost from day one. That would also make them realize that Batman needed a partner not only to help him fight the bad guys, but to force him to stay human, to remember why he was doing what he was doing, and to prevent him from getting too much into his own head, as they say. Batman without Robin can too easily forget the victims of crime and instead only concentrate on the perpetrators. As Batman himself was a victim of crime, he needs Robin to remind him that the fist alone can't solve the true cost of crime; it also needs to be solved with the heart"

the foundation of tim's whole "gotham needs batman, batman needs robin" thing

and bearing all of this in mind, Chuck Dixon on a public opinion of robin, importance of Tim as robin and how he shaped to be an independent character rather than just a side-kick:

"Robin, in his many incarnations, has long been considered a fifth wheel, an annoyance, a mere sidekick. The Boy Wonder is seen by many as standing in the giant shadow cast by the Dark Knight."

sounds like bullshit, yeah?? everyone loves robin and knows that he is an important character? well duh they do now, but we are talking about 80s when dick just aged out of green panties and took up nighwing:

"... It was a time of a classic Batman material, the beginning of the move from Caped Crusader to Dark Knight. But something was missing. Batman and Alfred and the Batcave and the gadgets and vehicles were all there. But the stories lacked something. Could Robin have been important to the stories after all? Was BAtman without Robin just another costumed crime-fighter, just another angst-ridden and obsessed masked man?"

and voila readers and writers realise that they need robin (also the reason why I hate literally all live-action batman variations - thank you we've seen his origin story and broodiness now get an understanding that he is not meant to be alone). Jason was introduced but unfortunately he wasn't very popular as robin and was quickly killed.

some words from chuck dixon again: "... there were those who lamented the passing of Robin, but no one seemed to miss Jason Todd all that much." (which is ow- harsh. you didn't know what you lost untill it was too late//)

"A lot of know-it-alls thought that maybe the very concepr of Robin was an outdated one. The world was ready for a lone and lonely vigilante, a tormented soul given over to fight for justice."

(poetic, but not really, as we see today, but again it really changed with tim's run as robin)

"...The pressure here was in giving Tim Drake all the qualities taht would make him the perfect choice to complement Batman - to assure him a place in the Bat-mythos."

and that's what all it comes down to - tim was created to carry robin's legacy. i wonder if it's a part of why both damian and jayson disliked him so much yeah?:)))) i know that WFA is not fully canon but I feel like most people agree that batfamily is well portrayed there and i love how it deals with tim and damian's relationship (ep65):

(and this I think is a great take on steph - she is already an estabilished vigilante, her spoiler career wasn't perfect and i hate how she was fridged for tim's development but she have already had her own thing going)

and to end all these ramblings one of my favourite panels about tim:

he has built his whole identity around robin and keeps coming back to it

(he is a loser)

(i love him sm)

ROUND ONE

Tim Drake vs Stephanie Brown

This is your reminder to vote for the best legacy for the original, not just your favourite characters, and to be nice about this! We're here to have fun

[pastelbatfandoms]

First Sentence Tag #3

Rules: List 10 of your published fics and their first sentences, and then tag other writers to do it.

Idk any other writers on here,personally,so I’ll be either skipping that or tagging just my favorites. I also may do this again,because I have more then just 10 fics! may also do more than one sentence.

My One Shots only! 

~~

Mughead ( Jughead Jones x OC, Fluff, a drunk Archie Andrews appears.)

After Jason’s funeral….

They head home or to where Jughead had managed to procure a Motel to stay at. “So did you and Betty manage to get any leads on Jason’s death?” Michelle asks taking off her veiled hat.

On Your Knees (The Flash smut, Eowells, Reverse Flash, Meta human OC, Daddy Dom, smut,spanking,oral,using his speed like a vibrator ;) Secret relationship,Boss/Sub dynamic) 

Team Flash (Myself,Caitlin and Cisco),as well as the man they knew as Dr Harrison Wells,were all sitting around the cortex waiting for The Flash to reach the building which was on fire.

We were on pins and needles to see if Barry,My brother,could make it up that building in time,even with the help of Dr. Wells,giving him a very impassioned speech about “Feeling the lightning” almost as if he knew about the feeling on an intimate level.

Remember Me (The Flash, HR Wells, Harry Wells x OC, grief, death,love, fluff)

I sat on the couch holding HR’s felt Bolero hat in my hands rubbing it between my fingers,I let out a shuddering breath,my head low,trying not to cry.

“I miss you HR.”

Like One of your French Girls (The Flash smut, Sherloque Wells x OC, drama, fluff, Eobard Thawne makes an appearance. Not in first person because I forgot.)

Renee should have known Sherloque would find out,he was a Detective after all.

The Final Goodbye (The Flash, Nash Wells, Eobard Thawne, Meta OC, drama, angst,fluff, enemies to lovers)

I couldn’t believe Eobard was back and in the body of someone who,despite not knowing very well,I didn’t particularly like or get along with.

Surrender (The Flash, Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne x OC, angst, love, star crossed, fluff,time travel, again not in first person.)

She could feel him before she saw him. The buzzing in the air,that whoosh of wind followed by an electric current that ran up her skin,calling to her,Renee felt it throughout her entire body,as she willed her eyes to remain her natural hazel,willing Obsidian Storm to stay away for now.

The Beginning of The End  (TWD prequel, Merle Dixon x OC, Daryl Dixon x OC’s BFF, angst, fluff, drama, mentions of alcohol and drugs, age gaps, eventual smut and cheating.) 

At one time they would have asked where were you when Kurt Cobain passed? When the twin towers fell? When Michael Jackson died? and worse then those,when Trump became president?

Now unbelievably they would ask,where were you during the zombie apocalypse? if you were even still alive.

What We Do is Private  ( The Governor x OC, age gap, D/S play, rough smut, pregnancy)

It was midday in Woodbury,people were milling about,talking and laughing,but I wasn’t really up for joining them,hell I wasn’t even up for guarding the wall,all I wanted was to see Philip or The Governor as they called him,My Boyfriend of a couple of months,or My second Boyfriend I should say,Merle being my first.

Lover Hunter Friend and Enemy (TWD, post apocalyptic,The Governor x OC, smut, dubious consent, toxic relationship, Merle Dixon x OC, age gaps, angst, fluff, grief,death)

It had been weeks since the attack on Woodbury thanks to Rick and his group.  Of course I didn’t know who had done it until it was over,or how bad it was going to be until it was too late.

Enraptured (Supernatural fic, Chuck Shurley as God, Doppelganger OC, angst, smut, DDLG undertones, Gentleman Dom, Oral, religious undertones.)

Once I entered the bunker,I knew something was amiss. I could see it in Dean and Sam’s expressions as they looked at me. Then Sam saying, “Lena um there’s something you should know.”

Before he could tell me what was wrong,I felt a strong pressure,like the air itself closed in around us. Then a voice shout. “You B-Word!”

[parker-bucky]

There you are

(Daryl Dixon x female!reader)

Summary: reader has a flashback/trauma episode and Daryl is there to help

Word count: 1.6 K

Warnings: fighting, mentions of abuse, flashback, panic attack

A/N: hey guys !! I have missed writing so much and I thought I’d come back with a new character to write with !! I based the title off of my new favorite song, There you are. This is more of a vent piece, I hope you enjoy :)) gif is not mine !!

As soon as you woke up, you knew it was an off day. Everything felt wrong, like you were floating in space. As you attempt to get up, you hear shouting coming from outside. You quickly toss on some clothes and follow Carol into the yard, searching for the center of the shouting.

“You can’t just do shit without it asking me! It’s dangerous to go out there on your own,” Rick shouts. Daryl glares back, clenching his fists.

“What is your problem man? I was jus tryin’ to help us, and I did. I found food, food we needed. So shut up and be grateful.” You freeze, eyes blowing wide.

“There are rules here Daryl, rules you need to follow.”

“I don’t see you doin anythin’ for us. I’m out there, working my ass off, to help my people, and what are you doin’? Prancing off with the Governor?”

Their voices pick up, reaching all ends of the yard, and you fucking lost it. Your body goes numb and tingly, ears ringing. Reaching out, you find something, anything, to hold onto. You feel like your underwater, shut off from the world.

Closing your eyes you whimper, stumbling away from the fight. Someone’s hand lands on your shoulder and you jump, grunting and pushing them away. Tripping, you catch yourself from the fall and start to stumble away from the fight, thrown into the past.

Doors slam as footsteps pound across the floor. Voices echo throughout the house, shouting, screaming, you run to your room and lock the door, trembling.

Your eyes snap back open, the light blinding you. You blink, adjusting to the light. Rick storms past you, fuming. You wipe your palms on your pants, trying to rid the sweat forming on them. You look up and see Daryl looking at you. All his anger is gone, replaced with concern. You quickly look away, embarrassed.

“Hey, y/n!” He calls out. He starts to walk torward you but you step away, turning to go to the guard tower. “y/n?” You stop at the edge of the ladder and wait for him to catch up.

“Hey, everything okay?” You can tell he’s worried, watching as he chews his bottom lip and pulls at his nails.

“I- yeah. Sorry, I-I’m okay, just, I want to be alone, if that’s okay?” His eyes soften and he nods, slowly stepping away. You can tell he doesn’t want to leave, but he respects your wishes.

You climb up the ladder, doing your best to ignore the shouting ringing throughout your head. You grip the railing tight, stopping midair to regain your balance. Get yourself together, god dammit. Sighing, you reach the top and climb into the tower.

Sitting against the wall you clench your eyes shut, taking a deep breath, your heart pounding. Your head pounds with each thump, making you dizzy. You shift your focus, trying to come up with anything else to think about.

Dinner, you’re helping make dinner tonight. I’m sure Carol will help out too. You helped your mom make dinner that night, you set the table, and he glared at you when you handed him his plate. She sat at the end of the table, your dad on the other side. You-

“don’t do shit around here,” she yells, staring your father down.

“You sure as hell know that’s a lie!” He slams his fist down on the table, making you jump and cower away. You push your chair away from the table, climbing down onto the floor.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He towers over you, grabbing onto your wrist in a vice grip. You cry out, trying to pull away. He lets you go, causing your to tumble to the floor.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Leave her out of this!” She stands from the table as well, glancing down at you. She’s nervous.

“What did you just say?” Her eyes widen, hands gripping the chair. You slowly back away, crawling over to the staircase.

“I’m sorry, I-“ He picks up his fork and chucks it at her but she dodges, shouting. You start climbing down the staircase, trying not to fall in your effort to move quickly. Screams echo throughout the house as they fight, the dog barking outside.

Resting your head in your hands you sigh, pressing your fingers to your temples. As if this will make it go away. You clench your fists together, digging your nails into your skin. You close your eyes once more, trying to drown out the noise.

“You can’t hide in there forever little girl,” the doorknob jiggles but the lock stays put, keeping him locked out. “Come out now, you’re just making it worse for yourself.”

Your trembling picks up as you hide in the closet, your room door slamming against its hinges. “Open the fucking door!” His fists slam against the wall and you whimper, curling in on yourself.

Your breath comes out in puffs, your hands clenching tightly, knuckles white. A tear rolls down your face and you flinch, the sound of his fist echoing in your ears. Tears make you weak.

Suddenly hands grip around yours, trying to unclench your fists. You gasp and try to pull away, petrified.

“Shh, jus’ me. You’re okay girl, it’s okay.” You shake your head, chest tightening. Your eyes focus enough to see a face, his face, staring down at you. You open your mouth you try to speak, but only a small whimper comes out.

“Jus’ breathe,” he rests his hand on your shoulder, pulling you close to him. You feel his breath on your cheek, his voice soft.

“It’s okay, jus’ take a breath. You’re ‘ere with me, you’re safe. Ain’ gonna let anythin’ bad happen to you.” You let out another small sound, gripping tightly onto his shirt.

He glares down at you, sighing.

“It was an accident, I’m sorry.” He grips your wrist tight, pulling you into the bedroom.

“Please sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, please.” He lets go of your wrist, digging around in his dresser drawer.

“Sorry isn’t good enough.” He grabs a belt from the drawer, slamming it shut. “Kneel.”

“No, please-“ you try to leave the room but he grabs you, slamming the door shut and hauling you up by your collar.

“You listen to your father when he tells you to do something. Now shut the fuck up and do as I say.”

“I don want to,” You mumble, tears rolling down your face. Daryl’s hands wrap around you and rubs your back, pressing his head atop yours.

“I know, it’s okay. You’re okay. It’ll be over soon.” He rests one of his hands behind your head, playing with your hair. “In an’ out, that’s it.”

His heartbeat is fast but steady, guiding you back to earth. Your breathing slows, grip loosening. You stay tangled together for a moment longer before he pulls away, gazing down at you.

“Better?” You nod, wiping the wetness off your face. Your checks flush and you look away, embarrassed.

“M’ sorry,” you muster out. “You shouldn’t be here-“

“Don’t. You needed me, n’ that’s okay. Ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of.” He pushes your hair out from your face and behind your ears. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t ‘ave fought with Rick, I know this shit happens an I jus’ ignored it.” He looks at your hands, guilt ridden.

“You shouldn’t feel sorry, it’s just stupid and dramatic.” He glances at you before looking back down at your hands, that concerned look growing in his eyes yet again. He grabs your hands and lays them flat in his.

“You can’t help these things, ain’t nothin’ dramatic ‘bout that. Lemmie see your ‘ands,” you look down, eyebrows furrowing. Crescent cuts littered your palms, deep and red. “Can you not feel ‘em?”

You shake your head. “I-no. I don’t remember doing that,” His fingers trail over a crescent, pressing down on it. You don’t flinch, not registering the pain. “I’m still kind of out of it, I will be for a while.” His eyes squint in concern, his touch gentle.

“Wanna talk abou’ it?” You stiffen, eyes shooting back down to the floor. “Okay, we don’ ‘ave to.” Reaching out, you wrap your arms around his neck, climbing into his lap. He stiffens for a moment before wrapping his arms around you, one of his hands landing in your hair.

“Usually it isn’t this bad,” he grunts, his hand rubbing over your back. “Some days are worse than others. Even little things can send me spiraling. I don’t- it doesn’t go away. It doesn’t get better.” It’s quiet for a moment.

“It gets easier to ‘andle, I promise.” He places both of his hands on your cheeks, wiping away the last of the tears. “Hey, you’re gonna be okay.” You smile, leaning into his touch. His breath fans over your face, his hands warm on your cheeks.

You close your eyes, taking in his scent. With Daryl, these moments were scarce, something to savor. At first he’s closed off, reserved. Once he opens up, he becomes a big cuddle bug. He loves these moments, even if it can be uncomfortable for him.

You yawn, eyes fluttering. “Tired?” He shifts, causing you to latch onto him tighter. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere, don’t gotta worry.” You nod, closing your eyes and leaning into him.

His rests his head stop yours, whispering something you couldn’t quite catch. I’ll always be here.

[translationandbetrayals]

Mangas, DC and marvel comics, which one is better?

Believe it or not some people do not see the differences between mangas and comics, they think that the only difference between them is that the first one is black and white and the second one not.

Even when they are not the same, mangas and comics have entertained readers with their amazing and unique stories over the years, also several of their characters have reached the fame thanks to these publications.

Thanks to comics we have an infinity of adventures starring superheroes and supervillains that from time to time jump to the screen, both in film and television, with productions that can be animated or live action. Well, the same thing happens with manga, the way in which fans follow their stories has led them to be adapted, also the excitement and fanaticism with which certain titles are followed by the audience are literally on the same level as many of the productions based on comics.

If we start looking for examples in television or the cinema about comic adaptations, we have:

Civil War.

The Amazing Spider-Man.

Justice League dark: Apokolips War.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

Young Justice.

In the case of mangas the same thing happens, we have:

Demon Slayer: Infinity Train

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising.

Full Metal Alchemist.

Jujutsu kaisen.

Fuuka.

If we want to know which is the better of the two, we can hear what Chuck Dixon has to say to us, but who is him?

Well, Chuck Dixon is a writer, he is well-known person in the world of comics and the greatest contribution he has made to this industry was writing for more than 7 years the stories of detective comics also known as the batman stories, in addition is one of the co-creators of Bane, that character is one of the many villains that our Dark Night has.

In his YouTube channel Dixon said that mangas were better than comics, in base of that you are wondering, why did he say that? 

Well, he assured that since for him the main characteristic that mangas have are the passion that exists in the people who are behind the realization of those stories, also he said that there is a lot of dedication, passion, and skill in mangas, and that is missing, almost completely, in DC and Marvel.

About DC and Marvel, he also said that even when their characters are world famous, the comics of both companies are more of the same, while the manga bets on more variety as one of the reasons why it is better, mangakas are constantly creating new stories, characters, environments, problems. 

DC and Marvel sadly do not have a huge variety, there is nothing different and there is not something for everyone like in the manga. 

In my opinion neither is better than the other since each person will choose what to read according to their preferences, but if we see the number of mangas that exist, it is obvious that they have more variety than comics. I think that when someone who works in a company says good things about the competition and bad things about his own company, it is because clearly the company he is working for is not doing the job well.

Ignacio Carrasco (Andy 3D)

[hellyeahheroes]

Ten Winners and Losers of DC Rebirth:

DC has dropped the Rebirth logo out of their titles. That is usually the sing they consider that the transition period for their books is over. They have built their status quo and what they have built during it is the new DC Universe. While I doubt fans will stop calling DC books Rebirth titles from now on (same as they didn’t stop using New 52 name long after DC dropped it from the covers), I want to look at what they managed to fix and bring to new fresh in this period, this last 1,5 year and also on what has failed. What were the winners and losers of DC Rebirth. Enjoy:

Winner: Superman Family

Out of all lines, I don’t think any has made as much of an improvement as Superman’s. While there were good stories in New 52 Era, that time’s take on Superman has been generally seen with negative reception. Bringing back married Superman and Lois AND their son Jon has been a brilliant move, that quickly launched both Superman and Action Comics to some of the most popular in the era. The emphasis on Superman as a father made him more relatable to growing audience, several well-written Lois moments helped remind people why she is a belowed character and Jon quickly gained love of older fans and kids alike. That success was then quickly capitalized on with Super Sons, giving the spotlight to Jon and his new friend, Damian Wayne. The return of classic Superman villains like Eradicator, Metallo, Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, Mr. Mxyztplk, Manchester Black and General Zod with a new, interesting antagonist in Mr. Oz, helped make it an era that will certainly be remembered. 

Adding to it three new books - Superwoman, Supergirl and New Super-Man only cements the lines’ status as probably the best quality-wise of the entire Rebirth. While Superwoman was sadly the shortest-living of them all, it still left us with Traci Thirteen and Natasha Irons as a couple, a move fans approved so much we now hope for Traci’s sexuality to be addressed in her upcoming show and Young Justice Season 3. Meanwhile, new take on Supergirl, taking clues from the show, but making Kara a high-schooler with adopted parents, has been well-regarded by the fans and New Super-Man became a minor fan-favorite, to the point DC took back the decision to cancel the series and let it continue as New Super-Man & the Justice League of China. 

Loser: Blue Beetle

Poor Jaime. One of the few characters that Rebirth set to fix after New 52 made him into a hot mess. The premise was solid - Jaime getting a mentor in form of previous Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, written by Keith Giffen, who shaped Ted into a comedic character and helped launch Jaime’s 2006 book. It had the potential for success. But the creative team (which J.M.DeMatteis joining in the middle) clearly didn’t believe in it and tried to launch a stealth team book they should have pitched in the first place. This resulted in a chaotic story that has lead to Blue Beetle’s cancellation and many plotlines left unresolved.

Winner: Damian Wayne

Rebirth was a good time to be Damian fan. Between his appearances in not one but two books, leading new Teen Titans and forming great friendship with Jonathan Kent as well as having a handful guest issues, be it in Nightwing or Superman or Batman, Damian has received a tremendous push. While the quality of some of these titles remains debatable among the fans and some are unhappy with him not being pushed as Batman’s partner, it is undeniable they have a lot of fresh Damian content to choose from.

Loser: Tim Drake

By contrast with Damian, Tim Drake has spent most of the Rebirth imprisoned by Mr. Oz and presumed dead. While his spirit was hanging over his friends in Detective Comics and his perceived loss affected them greatly, he himself was almost not present at all, really having a chance to shine only in two stories, Rise of the Batmen and A Lonely Place Of Living. In a way it feels as if James Tynion IV even knew he likes Tim too much and moved him away to give everyone else the spotlight - spotlight they undeniably needed, may I add.

Winner: Batman

It’s bizarre for me to even put him on this list. Batman is the golden child of DC, the fortunate son, the star, the fan-favorite. He always gets best writers, the spotlight, the books, the guest appearances. And yet, DC Rebirth did something unbelievable, something I would never bet to see with Batman. They let him be weak. When over the years Batman has amassed reputation that earned him nicknames and memes like “Prep Time”, “BatWank” or “Batgod” over how perfect, always right and invincible he became, in Rebirth this feels toned down. 

Batman in Rebirth was allowed to have flaws and vulnerabilities. His moments of super-competence are now contrasted with his emotional vulnerability. Batman was allowed to be a father who needs his children maybe even more than they need him, he was allowed to take serious beatings from Bane and Reverse Flash, to grieve after Tim, to seek happiness in marriage with Selina, to see his fears and regrets exposed in monstrous forms of Seven Dark Knights. All these things like tiny woodpeckers chipped little bits away from the image of BatGod and brought back Bruce Wayne, Batman the human. And boy did he needed to come back and remind people why this character is popular, to begin with. I mean, if even my bitter and cold heart started feeling a bit more sympathy for the guy whom last few decades made me despise, you know DC is doing something right.

Loser: Raven

One of the biggest mistakes of DC Rebirth was Marv Wolfman’s Raven book. Not the book itself, but the fact it was only a miniseries. Being limited to only six-issue format have visibly constrained the potential the story had and forced the writer to rush things. The fact that in January DC launches new Raven book only makes it that much more infuriating. DC had little faith in the character and while I’m grateful they were willing to try at all and they clearly are testing waters for her potential ongoing, I wish we could see how things would turn out, had she been given one in the first place. Or at least a twelve-issue miniseries, I’d rather have that than 12 issues of Chuck Dixon slamming his head against the wall in Bane: Conquest.

Winner: Green Lanterns

That was the book I doubt that many people believed in. Two relatively new members of Green Lanterns being given their title that early and made to work together. A book written by Sam Humphries, who didn’t gain that much of a good reputation for his works at Marvel. And yet...it worked. The series earned peoples’ love with an honest approach to subjects like anxiety disorder and extremely relatable portrayal of main characters. Jessica Cruz, in particular, seems to have grown into a fan-favorite to the point she’s going to be Green Lantern in DC Superhero Girls Universe and may even find a way into DC Comics Bombshells. This book opened a path of bright future to both Jessica and Simon, seeing how it still steadily continued as a bi-weekly series when other books with seemingly more famous character have been reduced to a monthly series. It opened Sam Humphries a way to his dream work at Nightwing. It thinks out of all Rebirth books this one might be one of the biggest breakout hits.

Loser: Gotham Academy

It feels cruel to put Gotham Academy in that category. The creative team truly gave their all to this title. But sadly, the second book they got managed only last for twelve issues, enough to wrap the dangling plot threads. While other DC books benefitted from a new beginning, this one seems to have suffered what restarts did to Marvel books - diminished sales. But I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again - the combined amount of issues Gotham Academy had is an impressive number of 38. Let the fans never allow anyone tell them this title failed. I need to also praise DC for the amount of faith they’ve put into this series and how hard they tried to make it take off and become popular. This effort is worthy of respect. And something that I’d never been expecting from Marvel, so kudos for trying to do better.

Winner: New 52 Wally West 

When Old Wally West from before Flashpoint came back, many people feared this means his New 52 counterpart, now revealed to be a cousin with the same name, will drop into comic book limbo and never be mentioned again. Thankfully DC had a better idea - they kept both of them around. And through a string of writers who wanted to use him, Young Wally has not only been prominently featured as a supporting character in Flash but also joined Teen Titans, had appearances in his cousin’s book Titans and even managed to become a cast member in Deathstroke’s series. While I have complained his life probably sucks with an amount of bad stuff happening, he did leave his mark on larger DC Universe, had a chance to win fans’ love and established relationships with other characters. Hell, he even managed to send Raven’s heart...racing.

I’m sorry, no more puns, I swear, don’t hurt me!

Loser: Conner Kent and Bart Allen

Another case where it feels outright cruel to call them losers. Both of them were erased with the reboot and replaced with versions that can be respectively called a hot mess and an outright identity theft (no, seriously, New 52 Bart turned out to be some asshole using his name). Since Rebirth launched the books started to tease fans with their returns. First, it was who might be in Mr. Oz prison next to Tim Drake’s in Detective Comics. Then the very clear erasure of Conner from Superman’s memories of Reign of Supermen, with Clark noting something is missing on the same page. Then Batman of Tomorrow bringing up Conner and finding out present Tim doesn’t remember him. The Murder Machine telling Barry there was a Bart in his reality. James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson being very clear they want them back. And of course that Geoff Johns himself seems to want pre-flashpoint Conner back. And now the upcoming appearance of their evil future selves, Titans of Tomorrow in Super Sons of Tomorrow crossover. On the one hand, it appears DC wants to play a long game with setting up their return. On the other, many fans are probably having enough of constantly being shown a carrot on the stick and I hope DC will manage to bring those two back before fandom’s patience runs out.

Winner: Christopher Priest

If you read his essay The New Black Mambo, you will know that Christopher Priest has a complicated history with Big 2. After his successful, character-defining, run on Black Panther, he started to feel the publishers are seeing him as “black guy to write black people” and he felt they’re denying him their A-List characters and jerking him around whenever he tries to pitch a non-black book (he tried to launch an all-female Avengers series almost a decade before A-Force, for example). He also felt his books that do feature black and other poc protagonists are thrown to the assholes on the Internet, even back then ready to declare them a “black propaganda” and other bullshit, which killed his project the Crew before the first issue was even out. This had led him to reject offers on DC and Marvel books for nine years. 

Thankfully, during Rebirth DC was pulling its collective head out of its collective ass so well, they finally noticed why he keeps saying no and pitched him a different character - Deathstroke. On that book, Priest not only managed to rebuild mythos destroyed by New 52, but also built around Slade a diverse cast of complex, multi-layered characters and showed exactly how much of an awful, destructive person somebody like him would be. This opened him the door to Justice League, which he is currently writing, glad he can finally get his hands on all those characters he was always denied. 

Loser: Cyborg

The news on Christopher Priest taking over Justice League was quickly followed by reveal he will make Cyborg the new leader of the team. This sadly quickly became ironic, as DC announced the cancellation of Victor’s own series. Cyborg was another one of those characters DC tried to push even before Rebirth, during DC You, but to no success. Cyborg still retains his role in Justice League so his fans can see him there, but it’s a shame Rebirth didn’t manage to save his book.

Winner: Stjepan Sejic

Stjepan Sejic has become fairly popular on the Internet and in indie in the last few years. Yet, despite years of outstanding work and even solid portfolio of Image Comics books he worked on, he never managed to land a work for the Big 2 outside few covers for Marvel. In Rebirth DC has changed that by giving him not only an arc on Aquaman but bi-weekly Suicide Squad series as well. Hopefully, this will finally give him the spotlight and help land more prestigious jobs in the future, both of which he certainly deserves.

Loser: Frank Cho and Jonboy Meyers

Not all artists managed to capitalize on the success of Rebirth and made their own. Incredible talented Jonboy Meyers was on his way to make his art become the face of new Teen Titans, with his animesque style and modernized designs of the team members gaining a lot of attention. Yet he fell off the project due to “creative differences” after just a few issues. While creators leaving DC books and cursing the editorial was a common occurrence in New 52, it didn’t follow his departure. What’s more he also quickly had the same thing happen to his job at Marvel’s series Royals. I have not been privy to what were his reasons, but I just hope it wasn’t any serious health issues, as he gives an impression of a man too nice to lose two jobs due to acting like a primadonna, unlike some creators in the past.

Frank Cho, on the other hand, DID lose his Rebirth gig due to acting like a primadonna. Being put on variant covers for the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman, he has quit after just six, because Greg Rucka asked him to remove a pantyshot - a reasonable request especially during the time when DC tried to avoid controversies that haunted New 52. Cho, however, decided Diana’s underwear is a hill he will die on and threw a colossal temper tantrum that made him look extremely immature. Ever since his output involving Big 2 characters was a series of “fan” pinups of the same woman in different costumes with some characters screaming “OUTRAGE!” in the background, a sad attempt at pissing people off to feed his persecution complex.

Winner: Jack Kirby

In the seventies Jack “the King” Kirby gave DC several books and characters who maybe never rose to the popularity of their core heroes or his Marvel creations, but became iconic fan-favorites none the less. Were he still alive, 2017 would be his 100th birthday and DC went out of their way to honor him. Kamandi Challenge, Mister Miracle, Bug! the Adventures of Forager and Demon: Hell is Earth all are limited series that allowed some of King’s creations shine once again. Then DC gave others special issues that are now collected in a sweet trade. Not to mention some of those titles featuring Kirby’s heroes meeting each other (I mean, Forager outright went and resolved cliffhanger of Kirby’s original OMAC series) and his other characters and concepts are being featured in ongoing books like Superman or Green Lanterns. DC went out of their way to celebrate Jack Kirby during Rebirth. This is especially poignant at the time when all Marvel managed to do are some cheap variant covers and putting a bunch of his Monsters into one event because they were too busy spending most of the year shitting on one of his most beloved characters in Secret Empire.

Loser: Justice Society America and Legion of Super-Heroes

These two teams have been on everybody’s mouths ever since DC Rebirth Special teased their return. Yet outside of occasionally throwing us a bone here or there, teasing their returns in Batman and Flash, nothing had materialized out of this. I heard rumors there was a plan to launch JSA book, but it appears to have fallen through. Meaning currently both teams are in Comic Book Limbo with Shazam and Martian Manhunter.

Winner: Grant Morrison

Rebirth has become a time when you could notice more and more references to works of certain creator popping up - crazy Scott, Grant Morisson. Be it use of his characters like Aztek in Justice League of America or Doctor Hurt and Professor Pyg in Nightwing or concepts like Hypertime or his Multiversal ideas. With writers like Joshua Williamson, Tom King, Scott Snyder, Gerard Way, Tim Seeley or James Tynion IV it is clear that right now DC Universe is put in hands of creators who have been influenced by Morrison’s body of work and even others, like Gene Yang, while not directly touching on his ideas still add more pieces having similar feel. I’ve been saying Grant Morrison would be proud several times during this era and for a good reason. It feels he has achieved a similar position Warren Ellis had at Marvel for some time before 2015 - maybe not directly affecting the company, but having enough people who learned from or were inspired by him working on it, that he is present in spirit even when he isn’t writing anything.

Loser: Eddie Berganza

This might be a bit cheating since this has little to do with DC Rebirth itself. But it needs to be pointed out that during this era position of Eddie Berganza, an important editor and a serial sexual harasser who was seen as too big to be dealt with, started to tremble. Greg Rucka made DC ensure his new Wonder Woman book will not be edited by Berganza and neither he nor any member of his team will have to even interact with the guy. I like to see it as the first sing the industry was ready to deal with this pathetic, painful ulcer of a man. A thing that indeed has happened, when on the wave of allegations of sexual harassment in Hollywood his name has been brought up. DC and Warner decided to take a look at his case and he was promptly, in their own words, terminated. Good riddance. 

Winner: Imprints, Crossovers, and Elseworlds

One of the greatest successes of Rebirth for me was that DC took serious attempts at bringing back Wildstorm and Vertigo characters, whom they have mistreated by forcing into one Universe with rest of DC in New 52. Warren Ellis’ Wild Storm rebooted the 90′s Universe in a new flavor, giving us a fantastic science-fiction take on their heroes.Gerard Way brought back the feel of early Vertigo in his imprint Young Animal with great series like Doom Patrol, Shade: the Changing Girl, Mother Panic, Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye and Bug! the Adventures of Forager. They are not stopping there, seeing how they are working on the return of Milestone Media, launching Dark Matter and working on an all-ages imprint.

At the same time DC launched an imprint for reinventing properties under their Hannah-Barbera license. Which, admittingly, gave us two baffling books in Scooby Apocalypse and Wacky Raceland but also fan-favorite Future Quest, Flinstones or new Dastardly & Muttley. DC seems to have enjoyed working on those books so much they made series of one-shots crossing over other HB characters with their heroes. And enjoyed THAT so much they did it again with Looney Tunes, which were much more entertaining I think anyone would have suspected. Speaking of which, DC has a blast with doing crossovers and you can always see them doing some sort of it - He-Man/Thundercats, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Shadow/Batman, Wonder Woman/Conan, Justice League/Power Rangers or several Batman ‘66 crossovers. It seems to have even rubbed on their games, with Hellboy and Turtles making their way to Injustice 2.

And finally, DC had a lot of fun with Elseworlds lately. Including Nightwing: New Order, Green Lantern: Earth One, Gotham City Garage, DC Superhero Girls, DC Comics Bombshells or Batman: White Knight.  All of it contributed to a new image of DC as ever-expanding as both the world and the publisher. Which I feel greatly helped their success.

Loser: Marvel Comics

Oh come on, you’ve seen this one coming. When DC wins, Marvel is the biggest loser and vice-versa. But to say that DC suddenly cleaning their act caught Marvel by surprise would be an understatement. It might even be said that their own behavior allowed Rebirth to succeed - after all the big plot twist if Rebirth Special, the big reveal that could have easily turned people against DC, has been overshadowed by Marvel turning Captain America into a Nazi. Compared to THAT what DC did seemed much less outrageous and many people seem to be more open-minded to the Rebirth as a whole as a reason. 

After consistently losing in sales for months, Marvel tried to desperately try to shift the blame on diversity, bloat their sales, copy Rebirth with Legacy, while also making a ton of fuckups and see their bad past decisions finally catching up to them. It is shocking how badly they took the beating, culminating probably with a kick to the balls in form of DC nabbing Brian Bendis, Marvel’s best-selling writer - and even he was just one of the many creators who jumped ships by that point. Things have gotten so bad at Hosue of Ideas they let go their Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso and replaced him with C.B. Cebulski. And even in that, they manage to come under fire. 

While in general, both companies seem to be in the constant back and forth, when one is on top and the other starts fucking up, how drastically had the landscape shifted from New 52 era, when Marvel was seen as a dominant one even if DC was beating them at sales is, to me, a testament to how big success DC had with Rebirth. Now the question remains if they manage to keep it up going forward - which I sincerely wish to them. Because let me say something - DC Rebirth made me fall in love with so many aspects of DC Universe I didn’t care about before and it even made me seek some older DC titles. And that, I feel is the best testament to Rebirth’s success.

If you feel I have missed any winner or loser or just want to call me an idiot for something I’ve said, comments and reblogs are welcome.

- Admin

[lysical]

I was introduced to a lot of the Batfamily via the Morrison run. How screwed up is my perception of them? Comics are an effing minefield of characterization—I know, I’m a Hank Pym fan because I ran into him first in one of his highly rare likeable periods. Any tips/recs? It feels like everywhere I go the characters aren’t the “real” ones, and idk where to find these “real” ones. (This goes for Tim too, although you seem understandably down on him lately & might not want to talk Drake anymore

It does vary by character, actually. There are some fundamental things he does that are a bit out of there, and other things that are just plain offensive, but he’s not the absolute worst to come in on, as damned by faint praise as that is. 

Long post ahead

Bruce: Morrison and I fundamentally see the character very differently. He sort of subscribes to some ideas about Bruce as Batman that I just don’t like re: emotions, life, family. He uses a lot of allegories and devices in his work and the depth is there, I just don’t agree with what he was doing and had to say about Batman on a fundamental level. Post-Crisis Bruce is a bit all over the place. A lot of different writers got their hands on him and the dark and gritty post-Jason transformation of the character was intense and permanent. Because of this, coming into Morrison doesn’t really hurt you that much--especially since for a lot of it he’s functionally dead. Maybe check out some runs like Hush (more emphasis on the family), Dark Victory (some young Dick Grayson), Batman: Year One (say what you want about Miller, but it’s a decent book and the atmosphere and art are great for an introduction to the modern character), and then hop over to some of Bruce’s team books. Sometimes characters get distilled well over in their team books compared to their solos (especially since the Bat Department is...weird at times). Maybe check out Superman/Batman, the old team up from the early 2000s. For Bruce it’s just best to cast a wide net and read a variety. JLA: Tower of Babel is a good one to see Batman and the wider superhero community in conflict, which brings in a lot of Batman’s negative aspects in a way that was decently balanced and didn’t villainize him via narrative even as the characters might have felt that way about him (Young Justice certainly did XD), but I havent’ read it in a long time so ymmv. 

Dick: One of the few characters that didn’t get that bad a hand by Morrison, or too much of a characterization shift (his character shift had happened during the Chuck Dixon and Devin Grayson period, although the latter more than the former). Unlike new 52 onwards, while he was softened a little to pair effectively with Damian, it wasn’t too much as we saw at times later and how fandom kind of tends to portray them (’Shut the hell up, Damian’ comes to mind). The Dickbats run was a nice change and development for Dick, a natural progression. The things that were sort of tweaked to create conflict with that transition (Dick not wanting Batman, some characterization behind that) were pre-Morrision, during Battle for the Cowl and the setup to Morrison, so while they follow on from that they’re mostly absent from the run. For the modern Robin Dick stories, go for Teen Titans: Year One, Dark Victory, Batman: Year Three, a couple of the other year ones are decent, although some incorporate those characterization shifts, but that’s comics. I’d go back to New Teen Titans (starts in Pre-Crisis, goes into Post, but the book doesn’t have a huge change due to the crisis and it’s just a really good run, deserving of being the benemoth during that time period that it was) to get the best of Dick on a team, then maybe check out Prodigal (follows on from Knightfall, Dick’s first run as Batman), skip Nightwing: Year One (it’s got tiny amounts of Dick and Jason bonding but Dixon ripped everything else about Dick’s early Nightwing period to shreds). From there, depends if you want his solo or his team stuff, he’s a pretty easy character to follow. I like to start chronologically with him because then you see the shifts happen as he falls back under control of the bat-books, and his solo and team stuff have some interesting contrasts (I lean towards his team stuff generally because Dick has always been about that for me, rather than running solo). 

Babs: Birds of Prey is her essential stuff, I don’t think Morrison really did that much with her but my memories of it all are a bit vague now. I’d personally take anything when she’s romantically involved with Dick with a grain of salt, that relationship was a bit of a disaster and they both do terrible things to each other (I believe the one responsible for it all is Devin again but it’s been a while since i visited that train wreck) and there’s some victim-blaming that happens that’s not so good. I prefer Oracle having a bit of distance from the Batfam, as she’s just surpassed being someone who is under Batman’s authority and is just crucial to the entire operation of the superhero community in general, so Bird s of Prey. 

Jason: Hnng. Here’s where Morrison really just decided to throw away established DC continuity and try his hand at a bunch of crap that fell completely flat. Just toss it and purge, tbh. Winick got Jason back late in the run but it was too late for that. Maybe there are tiny aspects of characterization that aren’t bad (Pride and Prejudice) but Morrison misunderstood Jason on a much more fundamental level. Also the red hair was probably some attempt to make a witty visual pun and add ‘depth’ but there are so many problems with it. Continuity-wise it makes so sense with how pre-crisis and post- worked, particularly for Jason, and additionally Morrison is realllllly wishy-washy with his ‘EVERYTHING IS CANON’ stuff that it rings false, plus in Pre-Crisis he was like...blonde I don’t understand. The implications of Jason being forced to dye his hair are absolutely disgusting for Bruce and go back into that fundamental problem I have with how Morrison sees Bruce. Jason, Post-resurrection suffers a lot of DC writers not knowing what to do and unloading a lot of DC’s baggage and some unconscious, problematic tropes onto him. Read his Post-Crisis origin (Batman 408 on, there’s the origin and some issues after set up by his original Post-Crisis writer Max Collins) and maybe all his Post-Crisis, pre-Death stuff since there’s honestly not a lot and it’s fairly obvious when Starlin starts pushing for his death. For post-resurrection, Under the Red Hood, Lost Days (it goes off the rails at the end, so I only half rec it honestly), Outsiders 44 and 45, Countdown (but only if you’re skipping the plot and just reading the Jason (&Donna &Kyle) bits, it’s one of the most even-handed treatments he actually gets in Post-Crisis but the book is otherwise terrible). Then just go straight to RHatO Rebirth. 

Tim: Ignore new 52 and Rebirth entirely. Red Robin is a book a lot of Tim fans really like but I personally think it’s bad in general and also don’t like what the writer does with Tim, but ymmv. Tim’s origin is also pretty weak and his initial mini and series aren’t that great at establishing him as a proper character outside ‘this kid is Robin pls like him we want to get away from the controversy of the last one’ so it’s hard to connect with him there without nostalgia glasses. By Knightfall (1994ish) on, that’s where he’s more of a character himself, and his stuff from about then through to the early 2000s is the best (before Geoff Johns got him in Teen Titans and Didio started doing Things, which basically led us to today to be honest). Personally, I think Tim functions best in a team, there are aspects of what his writers do in his solo where they just...missed the implications and it kind of grates on me. His stand out book imo is Young Justice (the og comic not the cartoon which only shares the name and nothing else tbh). 

Steph: Another who actually got treated decently well during the Morrison-era, as opposed to the crap she was dealt earlier during her time as Robin and War Games. Steph’s Batgirl run is something I definitely recommend, and her stuff with Dick and Damian in Morrison’s era is contemporary with that. Her origin is actually really good and compelling, so I’d dig into that (TEC 647, i think, is her first appearance). She kind of just revolves around Tim during his run and their relationship is kind of...there are implications there that are a bit cringe. Her stuff with Cass on the other hand is really enjoyable so I’d recommend those. Her brief Robin run is decent if melancholy considering what we know happens, and I wouldn’t touch War Games with a ten foot pole. 

Cass: Shafted from the mid-2000s on, tbh. She got a bit blessed with a solid creative team to start her off in her Batgirl run, it attempts some pretty deep and interesting explorations of her character that while not perfectly executed are still really good comics. I’d just read her No Man’s Land stuff, follow her book and stuff with Steph and pretty much just ditch out when One Year Later hits. Her Black Bat outfit is cool and there is some retroactive backpedalling by DC to justify shafting her but it’s all Morrison era anyway so you might be familiar already. 

Damian: Morrison created him and he took a lot of liberties with that backstory which unfortunately have had a lasting impact for Talia, which is frustrating. As Damian’s creator, what you see is what you get. Morrison didn’t want him to be likeable and he also didn’t really want him to be permanent (ties in again to how Morrison sees Bruce and family tbh), other writers gave Damian development later, but despite being around for over a decade now, there is still a lot of push and pull between writers about his characterization and development. It’s unfortunate but there’s a noticeable lack of consistency with Damian and his development that is frustrating to read. Probably read Tomasi’s stuff if you want Damian’s softened, developed arc and avoid other stuff. I’m not the best for Damian because most of his stuff is during the new 52 which I wasn’t around for and am picking through only occasionally. 

Hope this helps. 

[bluesfortheredj]

🤗 "Shhh, bubba, daddy will be back soon," you hush as the baby in your arms squirms and goes to cry. You rock your body to settle him as you walk around the kitchen, making yourself a sandwich for lunch. As your baby falls asleep, you place him in the pop up cot in the living room and eat your meal in silence. You quickly do some chores around the house as you wait for Daryl to come home from hunting, then give the baby some milk when he starts to stir again. "There ya go little man," you coo as his tiny fingers hold onto yours as you hold he bottle. You'd never thought you could love another human being this much, apart from Daryl of course, but your little bundle made your heart swell like never before. There was a small tap at your front door and you opened it to find Rick standing there. "Hope I'm not interrupting Merle's lunch," he whispers, looking down at the baby's little chubby cheeks moving as he gulps down the milk. "No, don't be silly, come in!" You smile, letting him walk past. "How's the night feeds treating you?" "Oh god, they're tough. I find myself napping when he does during the day to catch up on sleep!" You laugh. "That's good, you've got to look after yourself as well. How's Daryl doing?" "He's a natural, honestly, I was unsure about how he'd adjust, but he's perfect. Makes me so proud, he's an amazing dad." "That's great," Rick smiles as Merle finishes his milk and starts making little noises. "Ooh, do you want a cuddle with uncle Rick?" You say, holding his little hand. "Uncle Rick definitely wants a cuddle!" Rick beams as you walk over to him and carefully transfer him to his arms. Rick rocks him, staring at his little button nose and wiggling his hand. "Uncle Rick has a question for mummy actually. Judith was wondering if Merle was available for a sleepover tonight?" He asks, making funny faces at Merle. "Haha, is Judith fed up with Carl?" "A little, she needs someone to boss about I think, and Merle is top of her list!" "Well, I think he would love it! I'll check with Daryl when he gets back." "Erm, look, I'm not meant to say this, but it was Daryl's idea. He has something planned tonight for you," Rick admits. "Oh! Right, okay, that's... exciting! I'll go get Merle's bag ready then," you smile. When you come back down, Rick's stroking Merle's little cheek as his eyes begin to close. "Here's his bits. He'll need another feed in a few hours, then maybe twice during the night if he wakes up grumpy. He needs this to fall asleep, and take his little pillow as well, it'll help him sleep," you ramble. "(Y/N), it's okay, don't worry, I've got this. Just try and enjoy the peace and quiet for the night," Rick smiles. "I'll try. Bye bye baby, have fun at Uncle Rick's, be a good boy. And no being mean to Judy," you whisper at Merle, who was now asleep in Rick's arms. He picks up his arm and waves it at you, then gives you a kiss on the cheek before he leaves, carefully carrying the little bundle to his house. You sit in the living room for a while, lost now that Merle wasn't here, then Daryl comes in the door, chucking his bag down and heading straight for you. "Hey you," he whispers, "how you doin' without little man?" "Not great, I miss him, even though I could probably see him from our bedroom window," you pout playfully. "Aww, it is pretty quiet actually." "I hear this was your idea anyway," you wink. "Wha'? Rick told ya?" "You know he's rubbish at keeping secrets! He told Michonne I was pregnant about 2 seconds after we told him to keep it quiet!" "True. Shoulda known. Well, I jus' wanted us to spend some time together again, y'know, like before," he mumbles. "That's sweet," you smile, and lean over to kiss him. He's on your lips straight away and doesn't hesitate to take your face in his hands and pull you towards him. He lays back on the sofa, bringing you down to lay on top of him, then grinds into your hips as you start to moan. His hand goes down in between you both and unzips himself, then pulls your skirt up and your panties down. He thrusts inside you with urgency and you gasp at the feeling you hadn't been able to have for a few months. "Fuck!" You cry out. Leaning up, you quickly take your top and bra off, then push Daryl's top up and over his head as well. "I need ya so bad," he pants, his hips bucking into you relentlessly. You try and lean away as it almost becomes painful, but he pulls you down onto him hard. "Daryl! God!" You cry out as he dips his hand between you both and applies pressure onto your clit. "(Y/N). Fuck ya feel so good," he exhales. It doesn't take long for you to both reach your highs and you both shut your eyes tightly as you come. "Oh my god," you whisper as you come down from your high, your pussy so sensitive it sends shivers through your body when he pulls out. "I love ya," Daryl smiles, stroking your hair away from your face as you lay on his chest. "I love you too. Thanks for being the perfect husband and dad," you reply. He sighs and holds you closer to him, feeling your heartbeat on his. @negan-dixon @sapphire1727 @jodiereedus22 @reedusteinrambles @blondielovesr5-blog @whovianwalker1999 @cbarter @dixonreedusfangirlforever @coffeebooksandfandom @serfyan18 @kjs1939 @teamrick @princessxpunk @addiction-survivor25 @dixon-daryl

[pluckyredhead]

Hey! No pressure to answer if you don't wanna, but you've mentioned liking comics!Ollie a few times and I mostly know him secondhand through Birds of Prey. So my main impression of him is "cocky asshole serial cheater Dinah is better off without" and I was wondering if you'd be interested in talking about what I'm missing about his character not reading his own comics? Thanks!

Sure! So here’s the thing: Ollie-as-cheater is a retcon. The timeline goes something like this [CW: rape]:

1941-1969: Ollie has no real recurring love interest. (There’s Miss Arrowette, aka Bonnie King, Cissie’s mom, but she’s only portrayed as a potential love interest for Ollie in one of her four Silver Age appearances.)

1969: Ollie develops his leftwing hothead personality and falls head over heels for Dinah (who originally was a good ten years older than him, which is a dynamic I love).

1988: While in a committed relationship with Dinah, Ollie is raped by Shado, who bears a child as a result. He has no knowledge of this happening and doesn’t know the child is his.

1993: Ollie is kissed by a teenage runaway he and Dinah have taken in, and Dinah dumps him for not pushing her away.

1995-2000: Ollie dies. Chuck Dixon relentlessly portrays Ollie as a lovable but incorrigible horndog in both Connor’s Green Arrow and Dinah’s Birds of Prey, largely to contrast virginal, shy (and likely queer, deal with it Homophobic Chuck) Connor with his father and to explain some of Dinah’s issues during this period.

2000: Ollie is resurrected in Quiver, which is my favorite Green Arrow story, but has a few terrible moments in it, including one in which he is depicted as willingly cheating on Dinah with Shado.

2002-2016: Ollie is dragged through a decade and a half of character assassination in which more infidelity is retconned into his backstory, he’s revealed to have knowingly abandoned Connor and his mother after Connor was born, he cheats on Dinah some more, their relationship becomes increasingly toxic and physically violent, and everything is terrible. Honestly, I’m not sure how bad it eventually got, because I jumped ship completely after Lian’s death.

2016: Green Arrow: Rebirth happens and my big dumb romantic hippie rascal came BACK and I love him so much I want to cry about it!

Ollie has definitely never been perfect. The only part of your description I disagree with, actually, is “serial cheater,” because he is cocky (but I like cocky) and he is an asshole (but I like assholes) and he isn’t good enough for Dinah (but no one is). And he and Dinah weren’t perfect during the 25 years or so they were together before his death. She ostensibly dumped him for kissing Marianne, but this was coming on years of being impulsive and irresponsible (one time he went out to run errands and ended up in a dog race in Alaska).

But man, the writing of the two of them after he came back to life and Kevin Smith left the book was just dreadful, and I largely blame Judd Winick for that (although I goddamn hate what Brad Meltzer did, too). Winick turned their banter into toxic fighting - at one point, Ollie calls Dinah a slut and accuses her of sleeping with an entire football team, she hits him, and then they get really turned on by this and do it. No, Judd, hitting is not “sexy” when women do it, especially when they’re one of the top ranked martial artists in the world. Around the same time, Babs is shocked to learn that Dinah is marrying Ollie, “who fathered Connor with that Shado woman” - except Connor’s mother is Moonday and Shado raped Ollie. It’s a combination of comics not accepting that men can be raped (and Grell really didn’t write it as rape, just a ~thing that happened~), and writers basing their characterizations on retcons instead of the original text and that particular aspect of Ollie’s character snowballing.

I’m willing to accept that Ollie’s a tomcat, no problem. The man has two (or three! I personally believe that Cissie is his) illegitimate children with (two (or three) different women, none of whom are The Love Of His Life. I have no problem with a characterization of Ollie as Enthusiastic About Sex. But the cheating retcon really gets my goat. (As does the retcon that he knew about Connor from birth, which I simply refuse to accept. It’s my Green Arrow Rubicon and I won’t cross it.)

As to why I like him: again, he’s not perfect. He’s a mess. (I like messes! Look at Booster Gold. Look at Daredevil.) But he’s a try-hard mess. He’s so passionate and he cares so much. He makes the spiciest chili and yells at people about recycling and spends half an hour waxing his beard into points every morning and accidentally brings a new teenager home every time he goes outside. He is cranked to eleven 100% of the time and even if he sometimes goes too far or gets it wrong, it’s never out of apathy.

Ollie is a showboater and irresponsible and he fucks up all the time - with Roy, with Connor, with Dinah. But he loves with his whole self and he wants the hero community to be better than they are and he has committed to a silly theme to a truly ridiculous degree and I just adore him.

If I have convinced you to give Ollie a shot (ha, arrow pun), here are my recs:

Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, otherwise known as the Hard Traveling Heroes era. Be warned that this is 70s liberalism so there are some well-intentioned but reeeeeeally dated Hot Takes on race and class, and some real opposition to women’s lib. (But oh boy does Adams draw a beautiful Dinah.)

Hunter’s Moon by Mike Grell. The Grell era on GA actually starts with the miniseries The Longbow Hunters, which spun off into Ollie’s first ongoing series; Hunter’s Moon collects the first issues from that run. But The Longbow Hunters, though visually stunning as well as important (it moved Ollie and Dinah to Seattle, introduced Shado, and temporarily removed Dinah’s Canary Cry), has a lot of sexual violence (against Dinah) and Orientalism in it. I’m sick of books with violence against women being the Important Comics so I’d rather boost Hunter’s Moon, which shows Dinah going to therapy and working through what’s happened to her as a person with agency instead of using her trauma as a plot point to motivate Ollie. But I’m including Grell in here because Dinah’s assault aside, he depicts Ollie and Dinah’s relationship as healthy, complex, and joyously sexual, and I love it.

Quiver and Sounds of Violence by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester. Ollie’s resurrection and the sequel. As noted above, Smith hits a couple sour notes for me, but I mostly love his Ollie, plus he introduces Mia here and I would die for her. And Hester’s Ollie has imprinted on my heart forever as my Ollie. (Weirdly, Smith and O’Neil share the odd distinction of writing my favorite Green Arrow and my least favorite Daredevil.)

Green Arrow: Rebirth and the current ongoing series by Benjamin Percy and Otto Schmidt. Can be clunky, but the heart is there, as Ollie tries really really hard to unlearn his privilege, be worthy of Dinah, and repair his relationships with Diggle (!) and Roy. Also features his kid sister Emiko Queen, who was created somewhere during the time that I was ignoring Green Arrow comics but she is PERFECT and I would fight a mountain lion for her. In some beautiful parallel universe Mia and Cissie and Emi all live with Ollie and make fun of him 100% of the time and it’s beautiful.

In conclusion, THANK YOU if you made it through all that nonsense, and please enjoy this ridiculous macro from LJ user parsimonia that I saved a million years ago and which makes me laugh every time I look at it:

[swipestream]

New Release Roundup, 2 February 2019: Fantasy and Adventure

The Devil is not in the details, but on the battlefield. In his shadow, infernal hitmen and detective saints; Nazi wizards and British mages; dragon slayers and divine champions clash in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in fantasy and adventure.

The Caster of Destruction (Overlord #9) – Kugane Maruyama

For twelve years, the virtual world of Yggdrasil has served as the playground and battlefield for the skeletal lord Momonga and his guild of fellow monsters, Ainz Ooal Gown. But the guild’s glory days are over, and the game is shutting down permanently. When Momonga logs in one last time just to be there when the servers go dark, something happens–and suddenly, fantasy is reality. A rogues’ gallery of fanatically devoted NPCs is ready to obey his every order, but the world Momonga now inhabits is not the one he remembers. The game may be over, but the epic tale of Ainz Ooal Gown is only beginning…

The annual war between the kingdom and the empire almost always ends in little more than a staring contest. This year, the Fresh Blood Emperor’s visit to Nazarick will change everything. Ainz himself has joined the fray, which is a dark omen of the coming storm. The arrival of the absolute ruler of Nazarick means only horror and death await those who stand on what will become the most hellish battlefield anyone has seen in living memory…!

Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #3: The Conscience of the King – Chuck Dixon and Frank Fosco

While King Ace is in training with Big Simba and the Specials of the UN-SPC, his former partner-in-fighting-crime Fazer languishes in a prison designed especially for people with superhuman powers. Fazer is desperate to escape, but how can he get out when his jailors possess the technology required to block his unique abilities?

But Fazer isn’t the only one feeling trapped, as King Ace quickly comes to learn that his new team isn’t tasked with fighting crime in the city of Avalon, but rather, tracking down other people like him and Fazer. And he also discovers that signing on with the official forces of law and order means accepting restrictions on your ability to do what you think is right.

Chuck Dixon is the most prolific comic book writer in history. Set in the world of Alt★Hero, CHUCK DIXON’S AVALON is the legend’s newest creation.

The Circle of St. George – John Auber Armstrong

Nothing in his life prepared Charlie Walker for meeting King Arthur and Merlin, King Oberon and Puck, or to find himself riding with the Wild Hunt and fighting a cohort of bloodthirsty Valkyries attacking GI’s on the beaches of France! Compared to that, a naked Winston Churchill barely rates mentioning …

Britain, 1940: a coalition of British magicians have united to oppose the Nazi’s use of black magic, and a young American soldier is sent to observe and report on the program code-named The Circle of St. George. Captain Charlie Walker doesn’t believe in gods, ghosts, or magic … until he has no choice in the matter!

Charlie’s education in magick is a hero’s journey like no other you’ve read. His instructors include Aleister Crowley and a who’s who of British occultists. Together, from the great plain of Glastonbury and the isle of Avalon to the Fae Kingdom and the death camps of the Third Reich, Charlie and The Circle of St. George stand alone against Hitler’s magicians.

The Devil’s Gunman (The Devil’s Gunman #1) – Philip S. Bolger

Working as a hitman for the devil of paperwork is a pretty good gig. Until you settle your obligation and don’t have the job anymore. Then what do you do?

For Nick Soren, it was the best of times and the worst of times. Having made more money working for the devil than he could ever spend, he lived it up in a haze of booze and drugs. Until the devil put a hit out on him.

On the run, Nick finds help from someone he never expected—another of the devil’s previous hitmen—who wants Nick to kill the devil. But there are vampires and Hellhounds on his tail, and that is going to make things…difficult. Can Nick get clear of the supernatural creatures hunting him long enough to take his shot and get revenge on the devil?

He’s not alone in his mission—a jiangshi mage and a chimera are along for the ride, and may help even the odds…or just get him killed all the faster.

Time is running out and the vampires are closing in…is this the end for the devil’s gunman?

Flying Sparks: Meta-Man Special – Jon del Arroz 

For the last fifty years, Meta-Man has been an enigma—a reclusive hero who does his duty but shies away from the public eye. What happened? Who is he?

Unlocked from the archives for the first time, you can dive into one of Meta-Man’s early adventures and get a glimpse into his heroic world as he works to stave off a plot from his nemesis Dr. Malicious and his communist commandos! Can Meta-Man prevail, or will the U.S.S.R. interfere with the American presidential election and spread the reach of the Iron Curtain across the globe? Read this action-packed superhero comic and find out!

“A touch of backstory for a side character, a dash of 60s comics-style fisticuffs, and a sprinkle of the classic tragedy of missing out on important personal moments for the sake of saving the day for someone else. “–Amazon Reader Review

Infernal Affairs (Saint Tommy, NYPD #3) – Declan Finn

My name is Officer Thomas Nolan, and I am a saint.

I can smell evil. I show mercy to the lesser criminals – the desperate. Even those I’ve put behind bars seem to like me.  But now there’s a serial killer bringing darkness beyond imagination to my city. I can smell his stench a mile away.

Detective Tommy Nolan is having a bad day.

First, the celebrant was murdered during mass. Then the SWAT team knocked down his door trying to kill him.

With the million dollar bounty on his head, every gunman and demonic monster is coming out of the pit to collect it.

Tommy has to discover who’s out to make him a martyr before he becomes a saint for real.

Sowing Dragon Teeth (The Iron Disciplines #1) – James Alderdice

Nobody said getting revenge on a dragon that killed your father would be easy, but nobody said it would be this hard either.

War looms on the horizon. Aisha is scouting the borderlands wary of a coming secret invasion when she is ambushed by a crazed old shaman who was sure that she was trying learn his secrets. She isn’t interested in the old legends about a dragon graveyard but after burning the secret map she is the only one who knows where it is supposed to exist and every gold hungry rogue crawls out of hiding to try and force her to take them there for riches untold.

The journey will take them across a cursed landscape brimming with foul sorceries and terrible monsters, but the promise of both treasure and revenge is irresistible. Sowing Dragon Teeth is an action-packed heroic fantasy in the vein of classic pulp fiction and thrilling treasure hunts. If you like gory battles, larger-than-life characters, and witty humor, then you’ll love James Alderice’s gritty tale.

A Thousand Drunken Monkeys (The Hero of Thera #2) – Eric Nylund

Continue Playing the Game? Yes / No

The Kingdom of Thera is a crossroads to many worlds and realities. Here a secret war between the gods plays out via their proxy mortal champions. These player-champions use all the augmented-reality interfaces and game mechanics that role-playing and video-gamers know and love.

Join Hektor Saint-Savage, Marine and martial artist extraordinaire; Morgana Nox, shapeshifting druid-thief and trickster; and the cantankerous dwarf, Elmac Arguson—as they punch, blast, stab, and slither their way through the second Hero of Thera novel.

Can they outwit, outfight, and outrun assassins? The Imperial Knight Champion of Chaos? Feisty gnomes with slide rules? A horde of a thousand inebriated simians?

There’s only one way to find out…

Viridian Gate Online: Doom Forge (The Viridian Gate Archives #6) – James Hunter

Jack and the crew of the Crimson Alliance have finally made it back from the Realm of Order, but the threat to Eldgard is deadlier than ever.

Vogthar incursions are increasing, dungeons falling in droves, towns and cities ravaged by Darklings—Players and NPCs who have willingly sided with the Dark Overmind Thanatos. But thanks to a priceless artifact Jack found after defeating the Lich Priest, there might be a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Jack and company have unearthed a Doom-Forged relic, one part of an ancient weapon capable of killing even a god. But to assemble the legendary god-killer, they’ll need to find the other relics and locate the fabled Doom Forge of the Dwarven godling Khalkeús, all while unraveling a mystery five hundred years in the making.

New Release Roundup, 2 February 2019: Fantasy and Adventure published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[music-research-strategies]

Characteristics of Bone: A Memorie

https://amerarcana.wordpress.com/

...bone represents the very source of life, both human and animal. To reduce oneself to the skeleton condition is equivalent to re-entering the womb of this primordial life, that is, to a complete renewal, a mystical rebirth. 

-Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy 

The characteristics of bone describes the music of Glenn Spearman (tenor saxophone) and Marco Eneidi (alto saxophone). They have moved beyond bone now, yet bone is eternal. Civilization can never defeat bone. For the sake of the memory of Glenn and Marco, I will skip the rigmarole of making an acrostic of their names, and whatnot. You need only to find recordings and listen: listen to their material. You need to run it down from before the beginning for yourself, and after. Many others are more qualified than I to give detailed accounts of the lives of Glenn Spearman and Marco Eneidi. It was only dumb luck and poverty that led me across their paths in the first place. 

I was homeless San Francisco in 1993 just a few months after coming from San Diego. I came up Highway 5 to attend the state university. I had even sold my drum kit to barely afford the essentials. This is when I discovered the infamous San Francisco burrito and the salsa verde, which my buddies still refer to as “the drug.” El Castillito made them huge, by San Diego standards, and the wasn’t far from my place on 26th and Alabama. My job at the recycling center at school didn’t pay but once a month. I had to starve in between checks. Not dire by any account. I loved it. I was a Creative Writing student after all. I’d starve and smoke and nibble and drink wine. Within a month of living in in the city, sunrise to sunrise. I was pushed out of a ratty apartment in no time. I discovered Food Not Bombs and Homes Not Jails through the Epicenter Zone, a Punk community center. They had a switchboard hot-line service for those in need. No one really had cell phones or the internet. I made my way to a Homes Not Jails meeting. They had left over free soup from Food Not Bombs. A dude I met there let me crash in his attic. Jeremy Graham. We talked about what I thought was music and I what I thought was literature. He is a lawyer now and still comes to my shows 23 years later. Jeremy gave me a tape of John Coltrane’s last album “Expressions”, Frank Wright’s “One for John” album (with Bobby Few and Noah Howard), and Glenn Spearman’s Double Trio.

“...(Cecil) Taylor drafted (Glenn) Spearman for a big band…(t)hat led to a few gigs with Cecil’s other bands, a seven-piece group which played for dancers, and a six-piece Cecil Taylor Unit including (Raphe) Malik, Jimmy Lyons, William Parker and Rashid Bakr ‘That’s where I got my advanced degree in music,’ says Glenn.”  

Bassist Lisle Ellis has been a great conduit for me, and the other young pups I ran around with. Lisle was a later addition the Glenn Spearman’s Double Trio. He was the only one as far as I knew. I saw them perform as much as possible. Great musicians, bunch of dudes: William Winant (percussion), Donald Robinson (drum kit), Chris Brown (piano), Larry Ochs (saxophones), Lisle on bass and Glenn. I still don’t really know the other guys well. Lisle linked me to pedagogies and practices of the Creative Music Studio in New York around the mid-70’s, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor and beyond. Plus, he remains super accessible. He ran a workshop out of his apartment in the Upper Haight in San Francisco. Had us doing all kinds of exercises. He introduced to me violinist India Cooke which led to trio project, ESP, with bassist Kimara Dixon (a dude, now in Atlanta). She was teaching me to listen demonstrating loads of patience. Lisle joined us once on stage at Beanbender’s in Berkeley. India, Glenn, Chris and, maybe, Willie, back then, were on the faculty at Mills College. Larry was/is a part of ROVA Saxophone Quartet as the “O.” He performed the “Bedouin Hornbook,” back in the day. Donald fixed cars and drove the smallest car. It only fit a driver and drums. It was a Le Car or old school Honda Civic or something. Simply legendary. 

India and Glenn were my Black Arts Movement - West. I uncovered Ishmael Reed and Marvin X a bit later, after music. Many Black artists, intellectuals and Creative Musicians passed through the San Francisco Bays’ industry of thought, but I wasn’t really hip to it at the time. I was a struggling student and political activist. I staunchly rejected MTV and Hollywood because Chuck D, KRS ONE and Bad Brains told me to, thankfully. I switched majors from Writing to History to Philosophy & Religion and kept yo-yoing in and out of school. I kept up political education and service-based activism. Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Fred Wei-Han Ho and the Asian Improv Arts crew were quite explicitly positioned the music in an international, multi-ethnic nexus of resistance strategies and cultural progress. Rest in power, Fred. His book Sounding Off!: Music as Resistance / Rebellion / Revolution. There remains a lack of radical analysis and language amongst my community of Creative Musicians. Jason McGill and I interviewed back when Royal Hartigan gave him a residency at San Jose State. We heard Free Jazz as get-free-or-die-motherfucker! Years later Fred warned me about my academic language and intellectual tendencies. Fred was an action man. I mean, you just gotta talk to people and build. I find myself now digging through the past relationships and realities I simply missed in the ol’ Bay Area Creative Music scene. 

Unlike most cities, homeless persons, street persons, are quite visible up and down certain streets at all hours in San Francisco. I saw my fair share working with organizations affiliated with the Coalition On Homelessness. People have many reasons for escape, I can’t judge. What got me was that I recognized myself in the blatherings and bangings of some ecstatic urchin, high as fuck, banging away on buckets and pans for change, or for no reason at all. I stopped and stared not knowing if I was seeing my future self. A child of an alcoholic, though never an excessive user of any such thing, I only sought something behind the music I craved and worked through. Chasing Creative Music made me feel how that tripped out dude looked. People on the day to day are truly Improvisers: improvising a meal, a living, a laugh, so-called sanity. Navigating these streets and institutions will sure put you on a different plane. Just like how solitary confinement creates insanity. The complexity of the Double Trio saved my life. People say that kind of thing sometimes, and when it’s true it’s true. ROVA also turned me out. Composer, all around musician and bassist for Earth, Don McGreevy recently reminded me of all legacies of complexity, wonder and mastery that we inherited from this continuum of Creative Music. The bar is quite high. 

I was hungry for that essential transmission from improvisors with teeth. Experiencing the Double Trio was a kind of an initiation. My crew of musical and personal allies were transitioning into Creative Music enthusiasts at the same time. We imbibed all that we could. Performances spaces took on a sacred and profane quality. I only spoke to Glenn once or twice. I interviewed him on the phone after he quit doing chemo. He said he only wanted to self-medicate and finish his work peacefully. I trust that he did. 

Last I saw Marco, it was in February 2015. We ran across each other in Vienna, Austria on a Tuesday night. I was hunting for him. Black Spirituals, my band from Oakland, CA, performed while on tour with the iconic drone Metal unit Earth, from Seattle. We found ourselves in the fortunate circumstances of having our meals, booze, venue and sleeping accommodations all under same roof, or rooves in this case. European venues do it good that way. Drink up and load out in the morning, like a human being. I befriended a Viennese chap, an artist or philosopher unlucky in love, who joined me in a cab at midnight. We cut through the immaculate city in search of Marco. We found him, gray-faced and dogged, preparing to go home. He had been running the New Neu York/Vienna Institute of Improvised Music. Dude looked exhausted as he greeted his former apprentice, sort of looking past me. He was looking for his bed, no doubt. The poor bastard exchanged a few words and promptly left after informing us how avoid the entry fee at the venue door. He disappeared into the night, into history, and, all too soon, into the awaiting arms of the ancestors. I guess I thought he’d be a buoyant Henry Miller with a tart over one shoulder, tobacco smoke pouring out over too many words, a fifth in his breast pocket, and rubber soles under his heals. I think I just wanted to see his horn-playing stance one last time. That night, though, I performed improvisations with no-non-sense, badass musicians and threw back a few with Hans Farb from Festival Konfrontationen in Nicklesdorf. He knows all my Free Jazz family intimately. He is like an uncle I never knew was out there. 

Several years before, during one of Marco’s orbits from Vienna to the San Francisco Bay Area, I was able to host him. I booked a gig at Omiiroo Gallery in Downtown Oakland. It was my duty to spotlight him, feed him, give him a $100 bucks, and the stage. My man Githinji set it up. He taught me how to make Kenyan black-eyed peas for the occasion. “Gotta use coconut milk, brottar.” I arranged for additional catering from the Afghan spot down the street. And since the gallery didn’t have a proper bathroom, I made further arrangements with the Afghans to keep everybody comfortable. My band at the time was called Mutual Aid Project, a free jazz collective. We had undergone and performed the very first iterations of Decolonizing the Imagination together. Nick Obando (alto saxophone), Tracy Hui (guitar) & I performed composed analyses and democratic spaces to confront the tenets of colonization that brought our peoples to this land and still persist in our everyday lives. Rarely work with such deep cats. However, they were rightfully annoyed with me because I opted to perform solely with Marco. The next night, I must say, we opened for him at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco with Jamaaladeen Tacuma (electric bass), Lisa Mezzacappa (acoustic bass) and Vijay Anderson (drums). That gig with Marco was mine. My brother was shooting video, sort of. Some hot, young thing was sitting in the front row. My pops and his lovely wife brought their friends up from Oxnard and down from Napa-tasting. See, it was my dad’s birthday. I felt like an apprentice when I first pulled Marco’s coat and now I was a journeyman. We did two sets. I never released it. It’s just a thing I had to do. 

In early 2000’s, I worked with Marco as his sometime drummer. He was the kind of guy who lived in a van in NYC, so I heard, and schlepped his axe everywhere. Someone actually stopped me from doing that myself when I lived in DC. Back