#lois lane apologist

[rosalinabloom]

People want complex female characters but then can't handle Lois Lane in MAWS.

[jesncin]

I did in fact see your points on how strange it was that MAWS was like a colonizer apologist story if I'm not mistaken! Like, it feels weird to have that as a character, especially a main one! And it makes me sad because I was excited for MAWS! Jimmy was Black and I can't see him in any other way. Are there any Superman stories that don't go this angle? Like, one that is more similar to yours? Yes I read Superman Smashes the Klan! I also like your take on Superman and having him be Jewish also!

Yeah, and same! I was thinking with Lois being Asian American that they were absolutely going for an Immigrant Superman- imagine my disappointment when MAWS went as far from that as possible (xenophobe Asian Lois and colonizer apologist narrative Superman). Right, I was really hoping this show would do right by Jimmy too but that fell flat as well.

Hmm! So this is a tricky question to answer because there are lots of stories that don't go for the Colonizer Krypton route, but whether they go for an immigrant Superman story is another thing (they rarely do). You'll have comics briefly reference Superman being an undocumented immigrant but not really go into what it means to be the alien diaspora and especially linking that experience with human diaspora/immigrants to strengthen the allegory. It's a symptom of most writers who get the privilege to write Superman having to fantasize that experience instead of having lived through it (they'll default to white savior instead). There's a reason it took until an Asian American writer like Gene Yang that we got a definitive Immigrant Superman story with Smashes the Klan! I think from articles like this existing (and Princess Weekes is a far bigger Superman fan than I am) it shows how rarely Immigrant Superman is committed to.

Thank you for enjoying my stuff! If I was to recommend anything, while Clark isn't in it, Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane story is a must for immigrant Superman enjoyers! Best Asian Lois in any sort of canon, hands down. I pull heavy inspiration from it.

[smokeybrandreviews]

World of Tomorrow

I am a Marvel shill. I love the comics, the worlds, the films; All of it. To this day, i am an MCU apologist, though, lately, that’s becoming harder and harder to do. I personally feel that, between the Big Two, Marvel is the superior company in all aspects, save one - animation. Marvel animated fair is pitiful in comparison to what DC has given us over the years. I mean, the Nineties were solid with the X-Men, FF, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man shows but Batman: The Animated Series trumps all of that. B:TAS is more than classic and gave birth to one of the most intricate, enduring, and entertaining franchises, ever. DC has had a penchant for animation since On Leather Wings first aired so long ago and that has continued to this day. I mean, they made kind of a detour with that mixed bag of a film universe based on the Nnu52, the DCAMU, but that got the reboot treatment with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War and gave birth to what looks to be a brand new franchise: The Tomorrowverse.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow

On the surface, this is a solid “Superman” origin story. In reality, it's a dogsh*t watch. This is the firt entry into the Tomorrowverse and it's definitely a mixed bag. Love the animation and art direction. Love the casting, outside of Lois Lane. Kind of hate the Parasite and Martian Manhunter redesigns. Really hate this universe's take on Lex Luthor. Out the box, for me, The Tomorrowverse stumbled and hasn't really recovered yet. The following two entries (three if you count the two part Long Halloween entry) are much, much, better. Unfortunately, the last two, so far, are much, much, worse.

Justice Society: World War II

I kind of liked this one. It’s basically Flashpoint mixed with New Frontier. It’s an interesting idea and the execution is there, but it feels like filler almost. Almost as if this is the jumping off point for something more. All in all, it’s kind of my favorite of the bunch, not named Long Halloween. It’s always dope seeing DC’s wildly overpowered take on heroes, participate in very much human conflict. All in all, solid watch.

Batman: The Long Halloween

I actually wrote and entire proper review on this when it first released. I loved it. Most accurate adaption of the iconic Bat-story to date and the best entry of The Tomorrowverse to date. Well worth a watch or two.

Green Lantern: Beware My Power

This on was weird as f*ck. Actually, to be honest, all of these are kind of weird as f*ck. All of the Tomorrowverse entries, except Halloween, are weird retellings of iconic narratives from the comics, but wrong? Like, this is definitely the origin story to Kyle Rayner’s take on Green Lantern, down to a really corny take on Parallax, but it was given to Jon Stewart. Hell, they threw in a little bit of sexual chemistry with Hawkgirl at the end as a nod to their DCAU romance. Ultimately, this thing was f*cking boring. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.

Legion of Super-Heroes

I think i liked this one even less than Green Lantern. I honestly have nothing good to say about it outside of the costumes are dope. That’s kind of it.

The Tomorrowverse is in it’s infancy but, so far, it’s underwhelming. The writing needs to be much better and the overarching plot should probably be much, much, more compelling. Still, i love the art style and character designs but, if I'm being honest, it’s worse than it’s predecessor. There’s still room to grow but if this is what tomorrow holds, I'm happy with what we got today.

[smokeybrand]

World of Tomorrow

I am a Marvel shill. I love the comics, the worlds, the films; All of it. To this day, i am an MCU apologist, though, lately, that’s becoming harder and harder to do. I personally feel that, between the Big Two, Marvel is the superior company in all aspects, save one - animation. Marvel animated fair is pitiful in comparison to what DC has given us over the years. I mean, the Nineties were solid with the X-Men, FF, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man shows but Batman: The Animated Series trumps all of that. B:TAS is more than classic and gave birth to one of the most intricate, enduring, and entertaining franchises, ever. DC has had a penchant for animation since On Leather Wings first aired so long ago and that has continued to this day. I mean, they made kind of a detour with that mixed bag of a film universe based on the Nnu52, the DCAMU, but that got the reboot treatment with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War and gave birth to what looks to be a brand new franchise: The Tomorrowverse.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow

On the surface, this is a solid “Superman” origin story. In reality, it's a dogsh*t watch. This is the firt entry into the Tomorrowverse and it's definitely a mixed bag. Love the animation and art direction. Love the casting, outside of Lois Lane. Kind of hate the Parasite and Martian Manhunter redesigns. Really hate this universe's take on Lex Luthor. Out the box, for me, The Tomorrowverse stumbled and hasn't really recovered yet. The following two entries (three if you count the two part Long Halloween entry) are much, much, better. Unfortunately, the last two, so far, are much, much, worse.

Justice Society: World War II

I kind of liked this one. It’s basically Flashpoint mixed with New Frontier. It’s an interesting idea and the execution is there, but it feels like filler almost. Almost as if this is the jumping off point for something more. All in all, it’s kind of my favorite of the bunch, not named Long Halloween. It’s always dope seeing DC’s wildly overpowered take on heroes, participate in very much human conflict. All in all, solid watch.

Batman: The Long Halloween

I actually wrote and entire proper review on this when it first released. I loved it. Most accurate adaption of the iconic Bat-story to date and the best entry of The Tomorrowverse to date. Well worth a watch or two.

Green Lantern: Beware My Power

This on was weird as f*ck. Actually, to be honest, all of these are kind of weird as f*ck. All of the Tomorrowverse entries, except Halloween, are weird retellings of iconic narratives from the comics, but wrong? Like, this is definitely the origin story to Kyle Rayner’s take on Green Lantern, down to a really corny take on Parallax, but it was given to Jon Stewart. Hell, they threw in a little bit of sexual chemistry with Hawkgirl at the end as a nod to their DCAU romance. Ultimately, this thing was f*cking boring. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.

Legion of Super-Heroes

I think i liked this one even less than Green Lantern. I honestly have nothing good to say about it outside of the costumes are dope. That’s kind of it.

The Tomorrowverse is in it’s infancy but, so far, it’s underwhelming. The writing needs to be much better and the overarching plot should probably be much, much, more compelling. Still, i love the art style and character designs but, if I'm being honest, it’s worse than it’s predecessor. There’s still room to grow but if this is what tomorrow holds, I'm happy with what we got today.

[theoi-crow]

Please stop bullying Zeus Devotees

A lot of non-pagans/pagans, and even some Hellenic polytheists, have a personal problem with the ancient representation of Zeus. I used to be one of these people before getting to know the actual gods and not just their mythylogical aspects.

The problem with this is the mix-up of ancient time seeping into our current time. 

Defeating his father Chronos was how Zeus won the title of King of The Gods. Ironically, Father Time must of had the last laugh because time is exactly what is fueling all of this.

Notice I said "the ancient interpretation of Zeus" and not Zeus himself? That's because time changes society. We become better, more self aware and learn from the mistakes of our ancestors.

And yet, the ancient ideals of men are immortalized in classic mythology that sour over time.

Zeus represents these ideals. He is the epidomy of what an ancient Greek man sees as perfection.

In our comic loving modern times we see the ideal man as being akin to Superman. Someone who can do it all. In a lot of movies Superman is even treated like a god.

For the purposes of this argument, I will be comparing Zeus to Superman in order to show how time changes things and reboots are essential to keep up with societal ideals and expectations.

Mythical Zeus VS. God Zeus:

I can respect someone not being interested in Zeus but I draw the line at bullying his followers.

His followers are not sexist, rapists, apologists, etc. His followers see and work with God Zeus while those who hate Zeus are only aware of Mythical Zeus.

Ancient Greece did not respect women or even saw them as people capable of making their own decisions.

They saw Zeus's marriage to Hera as necessary but his many affairs showed his baby making ability was as healthy as Ares' and that showed he was powerful. @thepastelpriestess made TWO amazing videos for Zeus that further explain him as an ideal man in ancient Greece: (LINK) and (LINK)  

And let's not forget war, the christianization of Europe and other natural catastrophies that destroyed A LOT of his myths.

If you really want to see all of Zeus and what his God form represents look at his epithets, look at his roles.

Look at what he does and how he loves his devotees.

Having someone try to be an asshole to you because they don't like the gods you worship is shitty and rude.

Reboots, Epithets and Time:

Reboots may be super annoying to fans who have already fallen in love with an interpretation of their favorite character but they help those characters survive.

The early versions of Superman would beat up Lois Lane to put her in her place because he was created during a time where a man was expected to handle his woman should she have opinions or showed "hysteria."

This early version also talked about how much more superior men were:

Should Superman be like this today he would be considered a villain which is why the saying goes: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain."

Without reboots, time makes an example of the ugly aspects society once respected.

Zeus is no different. The images I posted are very recent compared to the mythologies of Zeus which are older than the Bible.

I am not a fan of this version of Zeus but it does remind me of how far society has come.

Gods change:

If you live in places that try to be better about respecting the LGBT(+) community you'll see churches with rainbow flags. This is because if religions want to survive, they have to conform to where society is headed.

Gods evolve because they want to keep connecting with us.

They give us ideas on how to fight oppression, they give us hope and strength in times of turbulence and chaos.

Zeus is powerful. He is fair and tries to be as cool and collected possible when making decisions. He goes over his decisions with Athena so she can point out how fair or personal his decision is. This is a god that tries to see what is best for all the gods and his followers. A god who tries to make a sound decision so no one feels left out.

He represents the law, court, judgement, the protector of families and even though his myths are seen today as horrid, they only highlight a time where people thought they knew better.

So next time you see a follower of Zeus, understand that they are worshipping the God version of Zeus and remember that reboots are what keep us loving our favorite comic books characters.

Time changes everything.

[studentsofshield]

Monday Recs Special - Chuck Austen

More Details:

This list was made (mostly) as a joke. Chuck Austen is probably one of the most controversial and despised creators in comics. Some writers and artists experience readers souring on them due to their public opinions. Austen somehow had a meteoric rise in the industry and then fell just as fast. This man got to write Captain America, X-Men, Avengers, Superman, and the Justice League. He was criticized for unearned over the top soap opera characterization and hated retcons. 

I (Vincent) am known in this club for being a Chuck Austen apologist. Not actually. It’s just a meme. I’ve just always been fascinating by his career. Especially since I grew up reading his X-Men monthly.

The first five entries on this list actually feature Chuck Austen as an artist. One of the great memes of Austen’s career is that he kicked things off by drawing Alan Moore’s Miracleman. It’s crazy. His artistic style is actually pretty unique. 

The Action Weekly run is the Phantom Lady feature. Written by Len Strazewski.

US War Machine was written and drawn by him and is probably his best reviewed work. It is a black and white Marvel Max title (out of continuity). A manga influence is clear here, and Austen would years later evolve that by creating a sports themed OEL (original English language) manga for Tokyo Pop. 

Superman Metropolis is a Jimmy Olsen starring series that focuses on his photography career. Another rare work of his that some people actually like. One can almost see how Marvel and DC viewed him as an up and coming star.

Austen picked the Marvel Knights Captain America series up after John Ney Rieber was pushed out. Ice is the beginnings of Austen’s history with infuriating fans with retcons. It is revealed in this story that the American government purposely froze Steve Rogers in ice for political reasons. It’s a terrible idea, so it was promptly ignored. Especially when Ed Brubaker blew the franchise wide open not too long after.

Which brings us to his X-Men run. Which lasted a pretty darn long time. Longer even than Grant Morrison’s I believe. He made Nightcrawler into an actual demon, in the process completely destroying the entire premise of the character. He had Angel and Husk have sex in the sky in front of the latter’s parents. He killed off Skin in an over the top anti-religion story arc. She-Hulk slept with the Juggernaut. Fans universally point to it as the worst X-Men run ever. 

It is abysmal. However, I have a slight soft spot for his attempt to turn Juggernaut into a good guy. A good face turn is surprisingly common in comics. Almost every core Avenger recruit used to be a villain (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Widow, Vision, etc). Some longtime villains had quality face turns like Sandman. Juggie’s was working decently at first. Austen introduced the young mutant Squid-Boy as a parallel for Cain to act as a father figure for. It worked out pretty well until Black Tom got involved. Oh well.

His Avengers run followed the hugely beloved Kurt Busiek’s and the gem of Geoff Johns’. He simply could not live up to his predecessors and introduced the annoying Lionheart and a poorly conceived Invaders relaunch. 

His Superman run tried to play up a love triangle between the hero and his wife Lois Lane and childhood friend/crush Lana Lang. I contend in isolation some of the dialogue with Lana is interesting from a “what if” perspective. However, this persisted in every issue and the melodrama became tiring. He was also tasked with trying to bring in the Kingdom Come continuity mess of Gog to the title. At the very least, Ivan Reis did some fine art. 

DC actually fired him from the book and his final few issues are credited to J.D. Finn. It has never been officially confirmed who actually wrote them. Was DC trying to save face while pumping out Austen’s final issues? Did editor Eddie Berganza fill in? Does anyone really care at this point?

Austen went out on his final mainstream project with surprisingly one of his better stories in Pain of the Gods. It is still widely disliked, though much of JLA post-Joe Kelly is anyway. Each issue focuses on a different core member and their darkest hour. Ron Garney joins for the art. It’s not terrible.

Collection Information:

Does anyone really expect or want anything here?

I’m not going to bother. Especially after wasting my time writing the history of his career above. Submit an ask here on our Tumblr or contact me personally if you actually want some info.