#metamorpho ex

[kirby-souljourney-au]

Hold on, before I post Athena’s and adult Kirby’s ref sheets, I need to throw my brand-new hot-off-the-presses fankid into the ring

This is Cipher! She’s the MetaMorpho EX kid. She’s a Celestial, specifically a Cygnus-Matter (which are based off black holes, I scoured the wiki on black holes for deadass like an hour to figure out what to name this goddamn variant), and was adopted by Opha and Ione after conveniently landing on Popstar.

Because Celestials have been literally extinct for thousands of years, Opha takes it upon herself to raise and protect Cipher as her own child, making sure she survives childhood. Celestials in general are quite powerful, and Cygnus-Matters can be especially dangerous to themselves as newborns because of their magic.

You know how black holes work, yeah? She’s kinda like that.

She’s about 3 weeks old here. Tiny baby.

[goblinbugthing]

New Rarepair: Meta Knight and Morpho Knight EX

theyre in love ok

[ask-morpho-knight]

YOU GO AND HAVE A NICE DAY OR I'M GOING TO MAKE YOUR FELLOW REAPERS GO CRAZY!

[soullessjack]

the funniest thing about dc villains is they’ll either be evil capitalists with unethical experiment corporations, their employee who gets fucked over by their unethical experiments and just wants vengeance, normal crook who becomes an abnormal crook because they got hit with evil chemicals or Big Evil God Who Feeds On Death And Eats Children. incredible range.

[greenlantern94to04]

Those Weird Hal Jordan Comics Between "Reign of the Supermen" and "Emerald Twilight"

I've always been fascinated by that brief, strange period in Green Lantern and Justice League comics between Coast City's destruction and Hal Jordan's heel turn, also known as "The Sling Era" (known by me, I just came up with it). The way Hal was handling the death of his 7 million bestest friends varied wildly from issue to issue, almost as if the writers were trying to tell us that he was already having a psychotic breakdown.

Of course, we all know that Hal only behaved that way because DC had no clue what they were gonna do with the character until they went and did it, but it's still kinda fun to look back at that period and search for hints that couldn't possibly be there. So let's do that:

Justice League International #56-57 (October 1993)

These issues came out on the same month as Green Lantern #46 (the Hal vs. Mongul issue) and clearly take place before Coast City went boom, since Hal isn't wearing the sling on his arm yet. I'm including them here anyway because of this telling exchange between Hal and Power Girl, who'd recently found out she was pregnant. For context, Hal and PG had gotten pretty close while they were both in the JLI... but not as close as Hal would have liked:

Maybe it wasn't Coast City's destruction what drove Hal mad -- it was the thought of Aquaman getting into his "girlfriend's" pants before him. (It turned out PG had been magically impregnated by Atlantean wizards, so at least Hal was in the right ballpark.)

JLI #57 includes this amusing moment after Metamorpho says the League won't be the same without Elongated Man and his wife Sue:

Haha, yeah, a member of the JLI turning evil... can you imagine?

Green Lantern #47 (November 1993)

This Green Arrow team-up is pretty much a filler issue with a couple of references to Coast City's destruction thrown in. No one seems that distraught about the fact that their city just exploded. For the most part, you wouldn't know this was a post-"Reign of the Supermen" issue if Hal wasn't wearing that sling on his arm.

Hal and Oliver Queen get caught up in a dumb plot involving Hal's ex, Carol Ferris, his pal Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, and robot doubles of Carol's dead dad created by her mom due to her "nervous problems." The most intriguing part is Ollie telling Hal "I'm seeing something in your eyes that I never saw there before." (Spoilers: it's murder.)

Later, Hal gives a speech about finally moving on from Carol and "letting go of the past" (so, the opposite of what he's about to do). He also implies that he's gonna be pursuing another of his love interests, Olivia Reynolds, who's trying to get financing for a GL toy line.

The issue ends with Olivia noticing that one of her Green Lantern action figures "lost his head." That's probably the only intentional foreshadowing for "Emerald Twilight" in these issues, but it could just as easily be a tease for another dumb plot that never happened because they switched writers after this issue.

Superman #83 (November 1993)

As mentioned when I covered this issue at the Superman '86 to '99 blog, Hal is in a pretty dark mood here. When Lex Luthor Jr. shows up uninvited to the superheroes' "funeral" for Coast City, Hal bluntly says "This is a private affair. Get rid of him." Then, when Lex says they could salvage some alien tech from Engine City, Hal insists that they just "let it die."

Aquaman (there's that jerk again) takes issue with Hal's idea of dumping a city-sized engine into the ocean. Superman tries to calm everyone down, but Hal snaps and says: "I'm tired of talking! (...) My friends are buried under this junk heap and I'm not about to let it stand as their tombstone!" Later, after Engine City has been safely disposed of and Superman has erected the monument to the dead, there's an exchange between Hal and Ollie that's more meaningful than anything in Green Lantern #47:

Okay, "Can't win 'em all!" isn't the most sensitive way to talk about genocide, but you have to admit it's in-character.

Justice League International #59-60 (December 1993-January 1994)

Hal skipped JLI #58, and the next two issues are mostly set in an alternate timeline caused by a time-traveler who undid the origins of several superheroes, including Hal himself. Conveniently, this means that these issues don't have to deal with our Hal's mental state. In the alternate timeline, Guy Gardner is the heroic Green Lantern while Hal is his biggest fan. Once they figure out the truth, Guy decides to use the ring to go back in time and fix the timeline but Hal tries to stop him, because he knows Heroic Guy will turn into Guy Guy in the corrected reality.

Pretty ironic that Hal didn't want to restore the timeline because he was afraid of Guy losing his "sanity," and then he was the one who went insane (while Guy entered what's probably his most heroic period). Good Guy ultimately sacrifices himself for the greater good, making Hal think: "If this does turn me into Green Lantern... I can only pray that I'll have half the courage and nobility of Guy Gardner!"

Once Hal's memory is restored, they ask him if he can use the ring to travel to the 70th century and stop the villain from creating this whole mess in the first place, but he says he'd "need the whole Green Lantern Corps to do that!" So Hal thinks that if he had the power of every GL, he could change the course of history? Interesting.

Justice League America #83 (December 1993)

Hal is wearing the sling in this issue, so it's definitely set after Coast City's destruction, but he's perfectly calm and seems more concerned with regular League business than reshaping the universe. Maybe he's just trying to bury himself in work?

Valor #14 (December 1993)

Another Sling Era issue. Valor asks some Justice Leaguers if by any chance they know any cures to lead poisoning, which he's currently dying of. Hal says "I wish to God I could help... but there are limits to what my power ring can do." But... maybe there shouldn't be?!

Bloodbath #1-2 (December 1993)

A sling-wearing Hal shows up in the two-part finale of the regrettable "Bloodlines" crossover, though the sling is missing in some panels (perhaps he was already getting better). The only noteworthy interactions here are: 1) Deathstroke telling Hal "Remember that I'm one of the good guys today," 2) Hal referring to the Guardians of the Universe as "control freaks," and 3) Hal telling Superman not to beat himself up because he wasn't around to stop the alien invasion of Metropolis (he was dead at the time). This last scene is by far the best part of the issue, because of a typo when Superman is supposed to say "Poor Metropolis":

Geez, what are they feeding those cows down there?

Eclipso #15-16 (January-February 1994)

Sling Hal and other superheroes (plus Lex Jr., for some reason) talk in the United Nations about the menace of Eclipso, who at the time was president of a small country and had access to nuclear weapons. Then Eclipso shows up and beats them all in two panels, literally.

Hal's only role in Eclipso #16 is as an unconscious body on the floor of the UN. I think I'd also go crazy from the humiliation.

Justice League International #61 (February 1994)

And finally, Hal's last appearance as a member of the JLI consisted of him saying he wished he could help, but he has "pressing business as a Green Lantern!" That pressing business turned out to be crying on a crater and then... well, we'll see that soon enough.

I agree with whoever that guy is: Hal's "I'll be in touch soon" DOES sound pretty ominous. Note that this issue takes place directly after the end of JLI #60 (Hal must have put on the sling between panels). This means that the last thing Hal Jordan did before the start of "Emerald Twilight" was traveling to the far future to stop a supervillain from reshaping history. Wonder if that gave him any ideas...

NEXT: "Emerald Twilight"! And the guy this blog is supposed to be about finally shows up!

[hardcore-lonewolf]

♾️Infinite♾️: A Teen Titans X Young Justice Cross-Over Preview (TUMBLR)

STORYLINE: The Teen Titans and Young Justice met up in Jump City during a mission. At first, both covert teams didn't get along with each other and refuse to form an alliance cause they're rivals. When these sixteen sidekicks find out their enemies were similar to them. The Incursion and Onslaught broke free from Belle Reve with an evil plan that will put those heroes in their place as villains. Will these villains succeed or will these heroes make the fail?

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Short A/N: I'm actually GlampireRockstar...I've been this profile since last year, my now ex bf and I broke up last year. I made this Tumblr and own it since day one when he wanted me to make him one. He can't take this profile cause I made it and built it with my imagination. He's such a jerk and I hope that bitch he's dating knows that this asshat doesn't care for others. I blocked him from my phone, got back my TV to cheer me up with videos and shows that I love, and took back my gaming consoles...yeah I was mad that day cause he's a cheater. I don't need him, being happy and single will be the best choice for me. I go by many pronouns like she/her and he/him, but I got a split personality that's they/them. I love people, though I love being friends with pride community members and straight allies. I don't need men or women, I got me...myself...and I.

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RELATIONSHIPS: Kaldur'ahm | Jackson Hyde X OFC (Wonder Woman's Sidekick; Trained By Katana), Conner Kent | Kon-El X M'gann M'orzz | Megan Morse, Victor Stone | Cyberion Technis (Alien Name; Inspired By "Teen Titans Go" Transformers Reference) X Koriand'r | Kory Anders, OMC (Black Lightning's Sidekick; Trained By Metamorpho) X Raquel Ervin, Wally West X Artemis Crock | Linda Park, Dick Grayson X OFC (Black Canary's Sidekick; Trained By Catwoman), OMC (Green Lantern's Sidekick; Trained By Captain Atom) X Zatanna Zatara | Phoebe Starr (Rock Star Alias; Inspired By DC Comic Book "Zatanna Starr"), Garfield Logan | Craig Wyld (Inspired By DC Villain For Surname; Inspired DC Comics Arc Of Changeling) X Rachel Roth | Abigail Constantine (Adopted Name; Inspired By DC Comics OFC), Simon Jones X Devastation | Roxanne Titania (Custom Alias Inspired By Deviantart & Tumblr; Trained By Circe), Mikron O'Jeneus X Selinda Flinders, Baran Flinders X Kitten | Catherine Walker (Real Name; Trained By Star Sapphire), Tommy Terror | Derek Beresford (Custom Real Name From Book; Trained By Bane) X Komand'r | Komal Brooks (She Was Disowned By Her Family With Her Twin Brother My OMC!Darkfire While Starfire & Wildfire Stayed On The Royal Throne; Trained By Livewire), Cameron Mahkent Junior X Tuppence Terror | Deborah Beresford (Custom Real Name From Book; Trained By Giganta), Leonard Smalls II X Rhiannon | Misty Kilgore (She's Now A Villainess In My DC AU; Trained By Klarion), See-More | Seymour Kennett (Custom Real Name From "Teen Titans" Series & Deviantart; Trained By Count Vertigo) X Jinx | Nicole Diaz (Real Name From "DC Comics"; Trained By Enchantress) & Billy Numerous | William Strayer (Real Name From "DC Comics"; Trained By Madame Rouge) X Tara Markov | Atlee (Watch "Teen Titans Go", She's That Evil & Lowkey Heartless Like Her Villain Arc In The OG Teen Titans Series; Trained By Poison Ivy).

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Hey guys, this is the fan-fiction I'll be posting here on Tumblr.

I got some concepts to do for my Injustice Short Story that'll be put on Ao3 later on in a few weeks.

With that said, let's get down to business and start with the plot.

I wanted to make names and describe better clearly rather than drawing them.

I have tendencies of using people's artwork and stuff that I forget to credit them for making them for their followers.

Since we know that fans wanted the Fearsome Five on YJ, I wanna make this inspiration by using these shows: Teen Titans, Naruto, The Last Airbender, Ben 10, Young Justice, Boruto, Generator Rex, and The Legend Of Korra.

Since we got the DCAMU designing versions of the Titans and the Team, I wanna give credit to Deviantart for having talented users create their own versions of our favorite heroes and villains from DC Comics to their original characters in animated shows or doing comissions as some requests for watchers on the website I love to death.

Onslaught is like the mercenary group for the Council of Light, the Shadows, and the League of Assassins.

Incursion is the fearsome squad for the Brotherhood of Evil, the Hive, and the Legion of Doom.

I couldn't find me a villain group name this year and last until I found the word "Incursion" on Google Dictionary.

It worked well for the enemies of the Titans and it fit perfectly.

Going to how I made my AU versions of these heroes and villains...Fandom, Wattpad, AO3, Tumblr, Patreon, and Deviantart were the best options I can get.

I couldn't find any names for four more characters to play as heroes...still can't even after randomizing them a lot, so I did a surname randomizer and name finder for all ages.

I know there's four known people within a group, such as the Elemental Benders (Aang, Katara, Zuko/Sokka & Toph/Suki), Team Avatar (Korra/Opal, Bolin/Wu, Asami & Mako), Team Alien Force (Ben, Gwen, Kevin/Cooper & Rachel/Julie), the Proto Squad (Herve/Rook, Lula/Ester, Sam & Kai), Team Seven (Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke & Hinata), the Next Generation (Boruto, Sarada, Kawaki & Sumire), the Hong Kong Gang (Circe, Squid, Cricket & Tuck), and Team EVO (Rex, Claire, Noah & Annie) for example...I want to make this happen.

I found my new props due to reading so much QuoteV fan-fiction stories and doing random voting quizzes online.

I want each original character to have some qualities and powers from each character.

The first one will be very good and simple...in my opinion.

The first OMC is based off of Sasuke, Kevin, Cooper, Zuko, Sokka, Mako, Rook, Kawaki, Tuck, and Rex.

You get mechanic skills, unstable mutations, crimson eyes, gear shifting, body modifications, weather manipulation, matter absorption, curse marks, corpse warpaint, advanced cars, rap music, hip hop, street fights, platinum bands, emo clothing, white bandages, rebellious acts, and other edgy stuff that a bad boy can do to with their edginess and being a former villain that redeemed himself as a good guy with rebellious tendencies.

His romantic interest will be Raquel Ervin aka Rocket I, because I believe this Beautiful Black Queen deserves better and my OMC respects different races; he hates people who's racist, discriminating others for their disabilities, and are phobic on pride community members; etc.

The first OFC is inspired by Asami, Sakura, Sarada, Rachel, Kai, Julie, Circe, Claire, Toph, and Korra.

You get some medic training, healing powers, spiritual abilities, elemental bending, savage roasting, chi manifestation, ancient weapons, futuristic armor, rock music, heavy metal, vintage piercings, dragon tattoos, motorcycle racing, gothic makeup, grunge clothing, diamond claws, etc, everything that a tomboyish demigoddess can ask for as a warrior princess of the deities and a legacy that slays evil monstrous titans for Mount Olympus while being part of Camp Half-Blood.

We know Kaldur'ahm aka Aqualad II is queer/polysexual, I felt sorry for him when his crush Tula didn't return romantic feelings for him and understood that she loved Garth till her death on Invasion; I gave this OFC a background of pride with pansexual/bisexual to make these two fearless leaders not turn into straight allies; they still got vibes that make the same gender fall hard for them; she's half Amazonian (mother), Olympian (ancestor), and Human (father); Kaldur will be part Atlantean (mother), Lemurian (ancestor), and Human (father); etc.

The second OMC is based off of Naruto, Boruto, Aang, Benjamin, Herve, Squid, Noah, Sam, Wu, and Bolin.

You get a legendary seal, alien transformations, prototype watches, sacred runes, camera flashes, military training, royal blood, talented artwork, humble loyalty, steel chains, blaster guns, booster suits, nanotechnology gear, industrial music, hardcore punk, alternative clothing, shadow cloning, black ink, golden rings, bad attitudes, and much good guy stuff that makes him the most important person in the world and would always be the person that'll help others as a true hero.

This OMC is special and went through tough times; he's the romantic interest of Zee Zatara aka Zatanna, I think she'll be like the Hinata Hyuga to his Naruto Uzumaki, the red string of fate will thread around his pinky fingers and will lead them together as one; he's having the Green Lantern Ring of Willpower and the Omnitrix for Seasons 1-2 through the Ultimatrix for Seasons 3-4 will fit him well; he's part Human (father), Meta (mother), and Naljian (ancestor); Zee's part Human (father), Angel (mother), and Pralagean (ancestor); etc.

The second OFC is inspired by Suki, Opal, Gwendolyn, Ester, Sumire, Lula, Hinata, Katara, Cricket, and Annie.

You get some pure magic, cosmic energy, shy tendencies, timid behavior, super intelligence, athletic flexibility, hidden secrets, domino masks, scene clothing, neon lights, soul bonds, tarot cards, enchanted agility, chakra sensory, mystic charms, good luck, pop music, silver bells, electric dance, living totems, mana flowers, healing potions, elite skills, astral projections, alien heritage, spell books, etc, she's full of magic and is the most caring being in the world that'll likely be the best girl to have for a lover.

This OFC has been given powers and skills from the following paragraph above me; she serves as a romantic interest of Dick Grayson aka Robin I, she'll be the one who comforted him from his family loss and help him figure out that Bruce Wayne is Batman; Dick finds out that OFC is a heroine who's adopted by Selina Kyle aka Catwoman when her parents were kidnapped and taken away; I love when Dick got powers as Deathwing/Deadman II in the DC Injustice film; I will use that when he gets fully resurrected in the Lazarus Pits from Boston Brand aka Deadman I and Rama Kushan; she's half Anodite (ancestor), Human (father), and Magen (mother); Dick's half Ghost (father), Human (ancestor), and Vampire (mother); etc.

I'm re-editting things on a laptop, tablet, and smartphone...this is hard work for me.

Let's get down to this case for some necessary AU prompts and concepts...by the way Magen is Homo Magi, meaning "super humans born with magic powers".

Aqualad II [Kaldur'ahm | Jackson Hyde]: Atlantean, Gargarean, Lemurian, Human, and Meta. Trained by Aquaman.

Superboy I [Kon-El | Conner Kent]: Kryptonian, Human, Genomorph, and Meta. Trained by Superman.

OFC: Amazonian, Olympian, Celestialsapien, Human, and Meta. Trained by Wonder Woman & Katana.

Miss Martian [M'gann M'orzz | Megan Morse]: White Martian and Meta. Trained by Martian Man-Hunter.

Cyborg I [Victor Stone | Cyberion Technis]: Cybertonian, Human, Apokoliptian, and Meta. Trained by the Atom & Red Tornado.

OMC: Osmosian, Human, and Meta. Trained by Black Lightning & Metamorpho.

Starfire [Koriand'r | Kory Anders]: Tamaranean, Almeracian, and Meta. Trained by Firestorm [Ronnie Raymond] & Power Girl.

Rocket [Raquel Ervin | Agnes]: Terminan, Genesisian, Human, and Meta. Trained by Icon.

Kid Flash I [Wally West]: Human and Meta. Trained by the Flash [Barry Allen].

Robin I [Dick Grayson]: Human and Ghost. Trained by Batman.

Artemis I [Artemis Crock | Linda Park]: Human and Vampire. Trained by Huntress [Helena Bertinelli].

OFC: Anodite, Magen, and Human. Trained by Black Canary [Laurel Lance] & Catwoman.

OMC: Naljian, Human, and Meta. Trained by Green Lantern [Hal Jordan] & Captain Monarch.

Beast Boy [Garfield Logan | Craig Wyld]: Human, Green Martian, and Meta. Trained by Vixen & Animal Man.

Zatanna [Zee Zatara | Phoebe Starr]: Human, Angel, Magen, and Pralagean. Trained by Doctor Fate [John Zatara].

Raven [Rachel Roth | Pride]: Human, Demon, Azarathian, and Magen. Trained by Hellblazer & Arella.

Psimon [Simon Jones]: Human and Meta. Trained by Count Vertigo.

Gizmo I [Mikron O'Jeneus]: Human and Coluan. Trained by Lex Luthor.

Devastation [Deva Blade | Roxanne Titania]: Titan, Genomorph, Human, and Meta. Trained by Deathstroke.

Shimmer [Selinda Flinders]: Human and Meta. Trained by Queen Bee.

Mammoth [Baran Flinders]: Human, Werewolf, and Meta. Trained by Bane.

Icicle II [Cameron Mahkent Junior]: Human, Necrofriggian, and Meta. Trained by Killer Frost [Caitlyn Snow].

Blackfire [Komal Anders | Komand'r]: Tamaranean, Cironielian, and Meta. Trained by Livewire.

Jinx [Nicole Diaz | Aline Haiden]: Magen, Human, Witch, and Genie. Trained by Enchantress.

Tommy Terror [Derek Ford]: Human, Zarthonian, and Meta. Trained by Blockbuster.

See-More [Seymour Kennett]: Human, Cyclops, and Meta. Trained by Brother Blood.

Tuppence Terror [Deborah Ford]: Human, Daxamite, and Meta. Trained by Giganta.

Rose Quartz [Catherine Walker | Kitten]: Human and Zamaron. Trained by Star Sapphire.

Holocaust II [Leonard Smalls The Second]: Human, Pyronite, and Meta. Trained by Savage.

Billy Numerous [William Strayer]: Human and Meta. Trained by Madame Rouge.

Misty Kilgore [Rhiannon Bleak | Arriachnon]: Magen, Human, Croatoan, and Fairy. Trained by Klarion.

Terra I [Tara Markov | Atlee]: Human, Straton, and Meta. Trained by Poison Ivy.

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I found outfits and edit them with filters on my other Tumblr page...from phone to laptop.

They're from that crazy Winx Club dream, I know their ages and order: Daphne, Aisha, Stella, Flora, Musa, Bloom, Tecna, and Roxy.

Pink = Nature/Plants, Red = Sound/Music, Orange = Light/Stars, Yellow = Weather/Elements, Green = Animals/Life, Cyan = Morphix/Water, Blue = Fire/Dragons, and Violet = Technology/Mind.

I'll be using them for a future keepsake later on in life, maybe for these heroines to tease their boyfriends and give these heroes a good show to watch as their girlfriends...probably so.

I know that these ladies will likely do some work and things, which leads for those chicks to get chased by their guys...like spending time in a hot tub to clubbing all night at a karaoke bar without their men there to keep their eyes out.

It's the life of wild girls and how bad they can be with these fellas.

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Comment down below and reblog if you want, see you later guys.

[nosferatummarzia-v]

Biografia

"La mercenaria Katana"

Nascita di Katana

Tatsu Yamashiro era una semplice ragazza della media borghesia giapponese, abile nelle arti marziali (passione incoraggiata dai genitori).

La sua vita cambiò quando conobbe i due fratelli Maseo e Takeo Yamashiro, entrambi innamorati di lei; anche se attratta da entrambi, Tatsu scelse Maseo e lo sposò: per vendetta, Takeo si rifiutò di partecipare al matrimonio e si unì alla Yakuza (venendo rinnegato dal fratello, quando lo scoprì); in seguito alla morte dei genitori, Tatsu si riprese dal lutto e iniziò una nuova vita con Maseo dal quale ebbe due gemelle: Yuri e Reiko. Intanto, Takeo scalò i ranghi della Yakuza e sviluppò un gusto esotico per le armi bianche; fu in quell'occasione, che gli vennero presentate una coppia di spade dal Generale Karnz (in seguito, servo di Baron Bedlam): soprattutto una venne gradita (per le sue proprietà mistiche).

Dopo essersi allenato per diversi giorni, Takeo si presentò alla residenza del fratello e lo sfidò, chiedendo Tatsu come premio. Nel corso del combattimento, scoppiò un incendio e, mentre era distratto dalle figlie, Maseo venne ucciso con la spada che diventerà nota come "Soultaker". Tatsu vide morire suo marito e affrontò il cognato, sconfiggendolo; tentando di salvare le due figlie, sentì provenire dalla spada la voce del marito che le disse che erano già morte.

Devastata, Tatsu fuggì e si allenò come samurai presso il maestro Tadashi. Dopo molto tempo, partì per l'America per combattere il crimine: assunse il nome in codice di Katana, in onore della spada che brandiva (e in cui era racchiusa l'anima del marito).

Outsiders

Lo stesso argomento in dettaglio: Outsiders (DC Comics).

Tatsu si recò a Markovia, un immaginario stato baltico, dove rintracciò Karnz e lo uccise, finendo per coinvolgere anche Fulmine Nero (che era insieme a Batman); dopo aver chiarito il malinteso e liberato Fulmine Nero, incontrò una giovane ragazza di nome Halo: insieme, si allearono per salvare Black Lightning, Batman (catturato a causa di un errore di Halo) e Lucius Fox dal loro rapitore, Baron Bedlam.

Batman si era recato a Markovia per salvare Lucius Fox e, dopo aver cercato inutilmente l'aiuto della Justice League, si dimise dall'organizzazione; invece, ispirato dal lavoro di squadra che vide tra Fulmine Nero, Katana, Halo, Geo-Force (il principe Brion di Markovia) e Metamorpho (presente per pura coincidenza), formò gli Outsiders: la squadra riuscì a distruggere la tirannia del barone su Markovia e si trasferì a Gotham City, dove stabilirono il loro quartier generale in un ex-attico di Bruce Wayne. Tatsu diventa il guardiano di Halo e si trasferì assieme a lei nell'attico.

Contemporaneamente, Takeo, vivo e latitante, seguì Tatsu a Gotham City e l'attaccò nell'attico, sconfiggendola e scambiando le loro spade; in seguito, tornò a Tokyo inseguito da Tatsu: gli Outsiders seguirono Tatsu e le offrirono aiuto, nonostante gli avesse chiesto di rimanerne fuori. Takeo portò la spada alla Yakuza; eseguendo un rituale specifico, richiamarono le anime che abitano la spada e gli diedero una forma corporea: tra gli spiriti, erano presenti leggendari mercenari e assassini ma anche Maseo (ora schiavo degli Yakuza). Katana e gli Outsiders li affrontarono e riuscirono a recuperare la "Soultaker" da Maseo: fu costretta a uccidere suo marito ma poi riuscì finalmente a uccidere anche Takeo; Maseo e tutti gli altri spiriti uccisi per la seconda volta dalla "Soultaker", poterono riposare nell'aldilà mentre Takeo venne intrappolato al loro posto.

Ad un certo punto, gli Outsiders si separarono da Batman e si stabilirono a Markovia, dove vennero finanziati dalla corona markoviana: divenuti agenti ufficiali di Markovia, si trasferirono a Los Angeles e stabilirono il loro quartier generale nell'ambasciata markoviana (pur mantenendo un altro quartier generale segreto). Sebbene Tatsu avesse lasciato il proprio passato alle spalle, gli Yakuza tornarono e le inviarono un tengu (con il quale, la catturarono): posseduta dallo spirito malvagio, venne usata come assassina dagli Yakuza; le sue due compagne di squadra, Halo e Bellocchio, riuscirono a salvarla usando altri tengu e il loro leader che le aiutarono in battaglia.

Debito di famiglia

Dopo vari tragici eventi che circondarono i genitori di Geo-Force e Markovia, la squadra si sciolse; tuttavia, gli Outsiders furono costretti a difendere Markovia dai Manhunters. Durante il combattimento, Halo entrò in coma, salvando la vita di Katana: vincolata dal giri-ninjo (un debito d'onore fino alla morte), Tatsu lasciò la squadra per curare le ferite di Halo.

Durante quel periodo, tuttavia, venne avvicinata da un membro della famiglia di suo marito che le chiese di accompagnare la Suicide Squad in una missione per distruggere un grande carico di armi che stava per essere venduto alla Yakuza; Katana rifiutò sulla base del suo giri-ninjo ma fu disposta ad aiutare se la situazione fosse stata davvero disperata; in seguito, l'uomo venne ucciso dall'Oyabun di Daichi-Doku, il quale non voleva che le armi venissero distrutte. In quell'avventura, salvò la vita di Bronze Tiger e Manhunter, rendendoli legati a lei dal giri-ninjo.

Infine, Manhunter la aiutò a sconfiggere l'Oyabun del Daichi-Doku che, in seguito, si suicidò facendosi aiutare da Katana come Kaishakunin.

Ritorno negli Outsiders

modifica

Tempo dopo, gli Outsiders si riformarono e tornarono a Markovia, tuttavia, vennero bollati come fuorilegge e, nonostante il successivo ritiro delle accuse, sorsero delle tensioni: Halo morì nell'esplosione di un assassino ma rinacque in un nuovo corpo e il fatto mise a dura prova la sua relazione con Tatsu. Katana si unì a una squadra con Geo-Force e Tecnocrate, prendendo il comando, e avviò una mite relazione romantica con Joey Hong, un socio orientale di Guy Gardner.

Durante una missione solitaria, il suo vecchio mentore Tadashi mandò Lady Shiva a rivendicare la "Soultaker" di Katana; Shiva affrontò Katana, che stava combattendo contro una banda di spacciatori: ne uccise molti ma si rifiutò di uccidere il membro più giovane, qualcosa per cui Shiva la insultò. L'avversaria, rinomata come la più grande assassina del mondo, uccise Katana con la sua stessa spada; dopo una prova di combattimento con la sua spada (che incluse il confronto con molte delle anime delle persone che aveva ucciso), Tatsu resuscitò; in seguito, trovò il suo vecchio mentore e lo uccise. Le due squadre scisse, alla fine, si riunirono per affrontare minacce più soprannaturali incentrate sul nuovo membro della squadra, Sebastian Faust: Katana e i suoi compagni subirono le torture fisiche e mentali subite dal padre di Faust, Felix, ma resistettero; in seguito, Halo li liberò distruggendo molti dei macchinari di Felix. Poco dopo, il gruppo si separò.

Dopo lo scioglimento, Tatsu mantenne i contatti con i suoi vecchi alleati Outsiders (come Fulmine Nero, Geo-Force e Halo) e, sebbene non operassero come una squadra ufficiale, furono sempre insieme durante le grandi crisi. I suoi stretti legami con Batman la videro anche combattere al suo fianco, diverse volte, in particolare, durante la crisi di Imperiex e l'incidente del Giorno del Giudizio (quando l'Inferno invase la Terra): la battaglia contro l'angelo Asmodel, con i poteri dello Spettro, si svolse a New York. Katana protesse personalmente Madame Xanadu (che custodiva il resto dei poteri di Asmodel, con uno scudo mistico); la protezione di Xanadu venne aiutata da Dottor Occult, Straniero Fantasma e Alan Scott.

Più tardi, Katana assistette Batman quando lui e Superman vennero dichiarati fuorilegge; venne chiamata anche da Black Canary, insieme ad altre mercenarie, per salvare Oracle dal senatore Pullman. Dopo che Oracle venne salvata, Katana ricevette una carta, insieme alla promessa di un favore; in seguito, Katana tornò per aiutare Oracle, insieme a dozzine di altri agenti.

Nuovi Outsiders

Successivamente, Katana si unì a una nuova squadra di Outsiders dopo averli aiutati a sconfiggere il potenziato Sabbac; quella squadra era composta quasi del tutto da nuovi membri, ad eccezione di Metamorpho (che si unì alla squadra dopo la morte di Shift). In quell'occasione, Katana indossò un nuovo costume, poiché non ritenne più appropriato continuare a indossare una maschera basata sulla bandiera del Giappone (dato che il paese le aveva revocato la cittadinanza, a causa della sua appartenenza alla controversa squadra). In seguito, Katana convocò Sabbac per distruggere la base del Dottor Sivana con il suo Hellfire.

Katana rimase un membro attivo degli Outsiders anche dopo Un anno dopo: inizialmente, la squadra venne guidata da Nightwing ma, in seguito, il comando venne passato a Batman. Il Cavaliere Oscuro decise di "testare" Katana e il resto della squadra iniziale (per realizzare una squadra migliore): Katana fu la prima recluta ufficiale di Batman.

La notte più profonda

Lo stesso argomento in dettaglio: La notte più profonda.

Mentre stava scortando Killer Croc all'Arkham Asylum, il veicolo degli Outsiders venne demolito da Maseo, Yuki e Reiko (che erano stati resuscitati come Lanterne Nere). Katana, credendo di essersi riunita alla sua famiglia perduta, abbassò la guardia ma venne salvata dai suoi compagni di squadra.

Rendendosi conto della verità, estrasse la spada, preparandosi a combattere il marito non morto; accoltellando Maseo, la "Soultaker" le rivelò tutte le funzioni delle Lanterne Nere. I suoi attacchi si rivelarono completamente inefficaci contro Maseo, che venne invece distrutto da un'effusione luminosa di Halo (che distrusse anche i figli non morti di Katana).

[pebblerage]

Dumb Psudo Relationship-List For Creeper and Jack, Cuz I was Bored.

For over 50 years, Creeper and Jack Ryder have had the time to interact with quite a couple of people in the DCU so I decided to list as many I can because I have no life. The list is divided by how the other character views our titular duo from “liking both” to “uncertain”.

Just a heads up! I will list Creeper’s pre-COIE as Jack Ryder interactions because the split personality aspect of the character wasn’t introduced or hinted at until after that reboot. Also some characters may be named in more then one column. May or may not update this thing.

If you have your own opinions feel free to tell them.

Likes Both:

Halo

Hawk (Holly Granger)

Madame Xandu (Not enough to be on a team with him though)

Prefers Jack Ryder:

Proteus (Mainly in Beware the Creeper)

Hawk (Hank Hall)

Batman (They mainly interacted positively during pre-COIE which counts as Jack here, probably doesn't apply post-IC however)

Prefers Creeper:

Serene (lol why not)

Dove (Dawn Granger, while eclipsed anyway)

Neutral To Both:

Owlman (Roy Raymond Jr.)

Dove (Don Hall)

Phantom Stranger (Because he’s a stranger!)

Dislikes Both:

Superman/Clark Kent (JLA #70 was as good as it got, and that was their first meeting!)

Joker

Seurga

Jimmy Olsen

Lois Lane

Katana

Metamorpho (Blame Didio)

Man-Bat

Relationship Varies Between Continuities:

Batman

Vera Sweet

Dr. Yatz (Because he got increasingly evil over time)

Has only Interacted With One Of Them:

Plastic Man (Creeper, got along well)

Huntress (Creeper, tolerated)

All of Jack’s co-workers like Bill Brane, Fran Daye, Vera Sweet and Ben “Bruise” Briely, etc (Jack naturally, relationship varies but never really got to like legit hatred)

Joanne Russell (Jack, closest he got to a present day love interest)

Vicki Vale (Jack, exes apparently but got along fine)

Hawkwoman (Creeper, wasn’t too keen on him flirting with her)

Etrigan (Creeper, seemed rather neutral)

 Uncertain:

Metamorpho (Felt that he would have gotten along with Creeper normally, but again, blame Didio)

Artemis (Their relationship is shaky but the backstory is not know as of writing this)

Bizarro (Did he know Creeper and/or Jack before he asked Creeper to join Outlaws?)

Ragman (Implied that he knew Creeper in Reign in Hell, never seen them together in another story though so idk) 

Other Bat family members like the Robins or Batgirls (have barely interacted so I’ve no clue)

Essentially about 80% of the DCU

Only met in non-comic stuff:

The Question and Odd Man (Supposed to star together in a BatB episode  called “Ditko Show” but it never went beyond concept unfortunately)

Harley Quinn (Dislike due to one-sided crush on Creeper’s part, have not had an official meeting in the comics.)

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League Spectacular #1 (1992)

Just off-panel: Bibbo's ice cream truck.

I probably shouldn't be reading this or Justice League Quarterly before I read the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League but what can I do? That's the order they were placed in the short box! It would be a different story if free will were not an illusion but since it is, my hands are tied. It's either read this or, um, I don't know. Die from a temporal paradox? I won't risk it! I was looking through a bunch of my old writing and art last week and discovered a bunch of the kind of sentimental and sort of intellectual crap young people write. It's the kind of stuff you hide away and never show anybody ever and hope that when you die, it'll just get tossed in a dumpster with your old porn and Magic the Gathering cards. But it got me thinking about how brave I am! So brave! The kind of brave you wouldn't hesitate to call some jerk who signed up for the military because he couldn't live as a civilian. No, no. More braver than that! And being this super brave kind of person, I thought that maybe I should share some of this old poetry with everybody! But not yet! You have to work up to being truly brave! So instead, I'll share this piece of artwork I did that was supposed to be the first in a lengthy and disgusting series. It's of Lord Fondlerot, a character I created for the Dwarflover online comic I used to do. He was really into fucking things and I thought, "Hey! I should do a series of drawings where he fucks every creature in the monster manual!" But instead of doing an entire series, I drew one picture and grew either bored or disgusted with the concept. So here's that one picture:

Lord Fondlerot fucking an Axebeak.

Now you're probably wondering just how terrible my poetry must be if I'm opening with that! Well, you'll see soon enough! This issue begins with Sue Dibny still alive and visiting a Florida theme park with her husband, The Elasticated Man. Wow, remember when Sue Dibny was killed and all the heroes freaked out about their secret identities and considered doing intense brain damage to every single person who ever knew any of their identities until they found out that The Atom's ex-wife Jean Loring had gone cuckoo for Atom's cocoa puffs? She wanted them back so bad that she began threatening and murdering the loved ones of all the super heroes. It was the kind of story DC sometimes does where you read it and think, "Well, the twist at the end of that mystery was definitely worth the destruction of the most stable marriage in the DC Universe and also the death of Firestorm and Captain Boomerang! So good!" I mean it doesn't make you think that. It makes you think the exact opposite. Tom King would eventually do pretty much the same thing in Heroes in Crisis but instead of Jean Loring fucking up by accidentally killing Sue Dibny and murdering more people to cover her tracks, Wally West fucks up and kills Poison Ivy and some others and then tries to cover his tracks. But at least Tom King's had all of those entertaining scenes where the heroes are doing therapy and we get to see how much they're all suffering from PTSD. That's always a fun aspect of super heroes we never get to read enough about. Dammit! I keep doing it. I meant it was the opposite of fun! Although I still liked it because sometimes I just like seeing other people in pain. Not in a sick perverse way where I pop a boner or something! Just in that way where you sit around all day thinking, "My life is terrible and everything is wrong and I hate my parents for bringing me into this wretched existence and the only thing that might make me feel better is to learn that Superman sometimes feels the same way." Oh, remember when Tom King was writing Batman and he had that two issue Booster Gold arc where we got to see how fucking insane Booster Gold was from living through all of those horrible, wretched, dark alternate timelines? And the only way he can deal with the trauma and the PTSD is by making a joke out of everything? I'll have to think of that as the canon Booster Gold when I'm reading Giffen and DeMatteis's Justice League. Maybe it'll make all of Booster and Beetle's inappropriate joking more appropriate. Back to the story, Sue Dibny, alive and well, and her husband Ralph "The Elasticated Man" Dibny are busy showing a bunch of European diplomats around the non-Disney World theme park.

See? You can tell they're European because they're all smart and shit.

The first stop in the park is to Alice's Wonderland where the diplomats are attacked by the Royal Flush Gang. They are a gang whose theme is playing cards and not expensive toilets. Their powers are the ability to ride on gigantic cards and to make poker puns.

If looking good in tight fitting costumes is also a power, it's my new answer to the question of which super power would I choose..

Ten's outfit reminds me of the days when nipples were allowed to show through tops without being erased away through some kind of editing software. The 70s were a wild decade! Sure, there were also nips on television in the 80s but the 80s, generally speaking, sucked and were a huge contribution to the downfall of America.

The King of Spades mansplaining their entire concept to the Queen of Spades.

It's true that the royal flush beats any other poker hand but I doubt Superman is going to surrender after this concept is explained to him because, in the end, they're not fucking playing poker. It turns out Maxwell Lord paid the Royal Flush Gang to make a little trouble so the Justice League could beat them up and get some media attention. But the Justice League has apparently broken up and The Elasticated Man just isn't hero enough to save the European delegates all by himself. He might have been if the Royal Flush Gang had done what they were told and not really fight back. But why would they do that?! Wouldn't they still be in trouble with federal agents?! Booster Gold finds Blue Beetle busy pouting in the old Justice League cave headquarters. Booster has decided to try to cheer his old buddy up although why wouldn't Booster just travel to a timeline where Ted Kord is already cheered up? Is that how time travel works in the DCU? Or did Booster already try that, it went horribly sideways, and now he's a little more fucked up in the head when he returns to the "real" timeline?

For some reason, Ice and Fire have also come down to the cave. Probably to accidentally go on a double date with Booster and Beetle. Booster and Fire and Beetle and Ice hear a news report about the Royal Flush Gang and decide to go save Ralph. Superman also hears about the situation and heads to Florida where he's almost immediately defeated by The Royal Flush Gang. Not because they're dangerous and competent super villains but because some mysterious benefactor has give them weapons capable of knocking out Superman's powers. Maxwell Lord is not that benefactor so who could have done it? Certainly not Guy Gardner, right?! What would he want with getting the Justice League back together. Isn't he busy being Warrior or something by this point? Power Girl, Metamorpho, and Guy Gardner all join in on the fight. The guy behind it all is that Weapons Master dude who is desperate to get a new weapon for his arsenal: a Green Lantern ring. The attack on the Royal Flush Gang fails to get him the ring so he decides to attack directly. But not in this issue! He has to wait for a regular series issue. Ice uses Guy's ring to contact Hal Jordan because somebody finally decided this Justice League wasn't really a big league Justice League. Everybody reading it knew it for years. But I guess Dan Jurgens was assigned the task to get a new, more believably powerful League together. So Hal Jordan flies around to pick up some new members to save the day. He chooses The Flash and Aquaman which seems about right. But he also chooses Crimson Fox which seems like sliding backwards into goofy Justice League territory. Not that I totally approve of Aquaman but I have to admit he's a "serious" choice for the League.

Doctor Light also joins the party. Although why she'd keep the name of a pedo, I couldn't guess. Just become Lightwoman or something. But no! Once some jerk earns their doctorate, they just have to demand to be called Doctor.

I'm sorry. I was too distracted pointing out that Doctor Light joined the fight and how her namesake was a pervert to comment on Metamorpho acting like a huge fucking pig. Crimson Fox beats up some guys dressed as cards and admits that she's a boring idiot whose favorite part of the game is shuffling the cards. I understand the need to think up some kind of goofy one-liner when you go into battle but shouldn't you at least try to think up one that doesn't make yourself sound like a pathetic asshole? Weapons Master's plan failed but he figures he has enough information to get Green Lantern's ring next time. He'll then sell it to a Dominator for a few bucks and maybe some slaves. The big hitters talk it over and decide they should start a new Justice League without the approval of the United Nations. Yeah! Who needs some stupid Earthly authority when you've got an invulnerable Kryptonian, an all powerful space cop, and the king of the seven seas! All they need is a Greek Goddess and a mentally ill furry with a long history of violent behavior and they'll have the big team back together! Booyah! I mean, without that stupid Booyah shit because Cyborg is basically a toaster at this point. Maybe. I don't know! What am I, Johnni DC, Continuity Cop?! The heroes make one more decision: split the group into two Leagues. So once again, they're forming Justice League America and Justice League Europe. How come I don't remember this shit?! Did the comics get canceled in '92 and then immediately fired back up? I don't seem to remember two different incarnations of these teams. Maybe I should have stored my comic books in chronological order so it would all make sense. Justice League Spectacular #1 Rating: C. I just read the letters pages and it looks like this comic book takes place between JLA #60 and JLA #61! So editorial decided the teams needed to be shaken up and the best way to do it was to disband the League in the regular series, have a special one-shot comic that gets them back together but with a different roster, and then send them back to work in the next issue of the regular series. I guess I should just shove this comic book into the middle of the regular series so when I reread it all again in my 80s, it'll make more sense! Let's close with the worst drawing of Aquaman I've ever seen:

Actually, he looks a little bit like Grunion Guy.

[thecomicsnexus]

THE OUTSIDERS #9-13 JULY - NOVEMBER 1986 BY MIKE W. BARR, JIM APARO, ADRIENNE ROY, ERNIE COLON, JERRY ORDWAY, JOHN BYRNE, TREVOR VON EEDEN, MARK BEACHUM, GRAY MORROW, JERRY BINGHAM, STEVE DITKO AND CARL GAFFORD

Under the pretense of a famine relief campaign, President Edward Bentama from the nation of Mozambia kidnaps Black Lightning’s ex-wife and the Outsiders fall into a trap while trying to rescue her.

SCORE: 7

I was feeling general disappointment with this run of “Outsiders” but this story proved to be interesting enough, in my opinion, bringing the group back into its original premise.

The fact that this story was released not long after the “LIVE AID” events and the “Heroes against Hunger” comic-book special, may say a thing or two about Mike W. Barr’s cynicism. In fact, he was kind of right, the money gathered in those events only made the conflicts worse, probably causing more deaths (we do know this now, but I doubt people knew that in 1986). And even after the Outsiders end their mission in Mozambia, not so much changes for that country.

Soviet characters and super-groups were popular during the period of 1986-1987, here we get a new group: “People’s heroes” that would make it into a couple of Suicide Squad stories and then vanish into comic-book limbo (or probably die).

Despite so many artists specified in the credits, all these issues were drawn by Jim Aparo, the guests artists do back-up stories centered around the Outsiders, mostly Halo.

Spoilers after the break...

Despite the seriousness of the subjects in this story, everything is pretty simple to follow. Looker is shallow, Jefferson and Lynn are going back together slowly, Katana and Halo have a sisterhood going on and Metamorpho and Geo-Force, despite being the most powerful heroes in the team, are usually ineffective to save their lives.

This last thing is never clearer as in the last chapter, when the whole team is stranded in an island between Africa and Australia (I guess South-East Asia wasn’t close enough for them).

But in general, in a universe full of super-hero stories, this one feels pretty different. While I do not agree in the way their powers were put aside so easily, it does say something about the team that the way they manage to get over it, was through a revolution.

[kirby-souljourney-au]

Idea: what if i make it so that, right before/during the events of the sequel to SJ, Ophanim and Ione adopt Papi.

MetaMorpho EX kid, with none of the other biological stuff involved!

[forthemultiverse]

Could Halo Be A Mole?

Young Justice Season One has given me serious trust issues – and Season Two didn’t do anything to fix that: Kaldur, Jaime, Lex at the end of the season, etc, but anyway, I just don’t buy Terra as being this season’s big betrayal. The Judas Contract is so well known at this point that even if they didn’t show us, we would’ve all know she was with Slade. Dr Jace is a pretty good candidate for a later betrayal, but that wasn’t subtle either; the fact she was technically working with Bedlam at the start of the season, taking Halo's DNA, wanting to be with the kids so much, and the mentioning of her lost child.

I started to think about the Young Justice on Apokolips story in the comics, and, well Greta Hayes has a biggish role, yet in Earth-16, she's be shown as just a ghost. Obviously, the show isn’t comics accurate and they could completely leave this aspect of the story out, but that didn’t stop me from falling down a research rabbit hole, and now, I reckon Halo could potentially be the twist betrayal of the Season following a storyline that takes moments from Greta’s.

There were a few things that drew me to Halo when thinking about a mole,

S3E1 – she let the assassins in, she’s shocked and taken captive which implies it’s an accident, but the guy who actually killed them was a suicide killer. Bedlam used him then killed him and she could be in the same situation. The Wiki said she had a job and was just afraid of the guards, which is why she was hiding but I do not buy that. It looked like she was trying to steal something in that scene.

Her memory problems, why create a character with no memories and then have those memories mean literally nothing? I’m waiting for them all to come back and for there to be some big bombshell in them.

The New Genesis/Apokolips connection formed by making her part Motherbox

The comment Silas Stone made about how technology can be neither good nor bad, it’s the user that’s responsible (I’ll come back to this point).

The Scene in Triptych after Halo goes Dues Ex Machina white and gets Brion back off Shade, well, the way Forager says ‘Halo happened’ wasn’t happy, it sounded like he was concerned/scared, like there was a ‘…’ at the end of the sentence. Brion and Halo smiled at each other which caused Forager to smile too, but considering he’s the one from New Genesis, if he’s worried, I’m going to be a little worried too.

Conner literally says, ‘we can’t let a girl in with no memories, she might be brainwashed or soemthing and we don’t want another Red Arrow situation’

Finally, more of a random thought I had, The Judas Contract has; a Markovian Royal, a relationship, and betrayal, so, what if, instead of the royal betraying the person who’s romantically interested in them (Terra and Gar), it’s the royal that gets betrayed by his girlfriend (Brion and Halo). It fits well since Perdita/Gardita is there and there doesn’t seem to be a reason to break them up. After working out those things, I started to research things that could be similar between Greta/Secret and Halo – by the way, I’m gonna refer to her as Halo because…well her ‘human’ name changes.

Some Similarities: Can’t remember their lives before their superhero ones, rescued by then joined teams, have powers connected to life and death, and have been separated from their powers at the end of their stories before (or well, Halo’s become two beings, one human and one super)

Not relevant to the story but I thought it was a nice coincidence: Greta went by Suzie because when the YJ girls were talking about getting her a name, Cissie suggests using one of hers (Suzanne) and on Earth-16, she gets dubbed Violet by Brion and then takes Harper from Will Harper – they both get their names from their new friends.

Now, details from the YJ Darkseid comic story: The team ended up on Apokolips (due to some things to do with fighting on earth) and Tower of Babel had just happened which lead to mistrust in Tim, who was the leader at the time. 

While The Team is mentally tortured, Greta is taken to speak to Darkseid, who reveals her backstory and real name. He offers to be her mentor. The team escape with the help of an army of Lobo's, she doesn't tell them anything other than her real name.    

Later on, the team says no to rescuing her dad (he killed her brother so’s in jail) She does it anyway and goes into a fit of rage, vanishes to accept Darkseid's offer.

The team prepare to go against her as she starts absorbing life (I think that's what she does, I can't remember, she's doing something bad that I'm pretty sure is killing a lot of things) Tim talks her down and appeals to the good in her. She breaks down crying and fixes everything she did.

Darkseid punishes her by taking away all her powers and immortality, not realising that being normal is all Greta ever wanted to be.

Not sure where in the timeline this bit is: Greta's dad is possessed by her brother when she saves him, and he chucks them both into a fire, seemingly killing them both, and I think that's when Greta goes to Apokolips and the team are told to take her betrayal as a lesson by their mentor (Snapper Carr - the guys who’s at M’gann and Conners house all the time)

Season Three is about the Anti-Life Equation and Meta-Human Trafficking, so this type of betrayal storyline doesn’t have to happen, but like I said earlier, trust issues, so hear me out. I don’t think Halo is secretly evil or anything, but you have to consider the Motherbox of it all, because that is connected to the Anti-Life Equation, and being part Motherbox is going to have some kind of effect on Halo’s character arc/morals.

Things To Know About Motherboxes

New Genesis-based, and though the people who created them are known, their true nature and origin aren’t.

Provide user with unconditional love, to the point they self-destruct when the owner dies (NOT MAKING THIS BIT UP) and can only be made by beings of New Genesis and Apokolips

Who is the owner Halo’s Motherbox since she’s died multiple times and it’s not blown up. A few people have Motherboxes – like Orion (Darkseid’s son) who is the defender of New Genesis, and in the past, DS has switched his box to try and control him.

Coming back to that Silas comment, tech isn’t good or evil, it’s the user, well who is her user???

A Motherbox saved Darkseid after he was defeated by Doomsday

Get their powers from life-giving sources

Fatherboxes: Apokolips based, can bring people under Darkseid’s influence, get their power from the Anti-Life Equation

 So, Victor keeps going bad because of the Fatherbox, but the Motherbox makes him good? Surely that could be a two-way thing, and Motherboxes could go bad?

And here’s what I think could happen in Season Three B,

We’ve been shown Bart going through an enemy boom tube in the trailer, and considering Granny Goodness is a Darkseid Agent, we can predict that he ends up on Apokolips (I could go into detail about Bart’s fear of dying that caused him to retire for a bit in the comics but not relevant). If he, and the meta’s with him, need rescuing, Halo could end up on Apokolips too. While others are captured, she comes face to face with Darkseid, who gives her memories of her old life and offers her a place on his side. Whether she says yes or no doesn’t really matter, because she can now be crashing into an identity crisis or having to fight ‘Halo’/Motherbox for control of her body. Her Motherbox could also be corrupted by Darkseid during this conversation, something slipped on her arm, in a drink, just his mind entering the boxes.

Darkseid could be using her Motherbox to spy on the team without Halo even knowing, all Roy Season One, or she could just eventually give in and let the Motherbox take control of her. Once losing control she becomes a minion of Darkseid and the team now need to find a way to separate her.

(Angst on how people feel as not everyone realises she’s being controlled at first and just thinks he betrayed them)

To separate Halo from the Motherbox, it could go very Greta like, the team get a breakthrough with her and Darkseid punishes her by stripping the Motherbox side of her, leaving her normal. I’d kinda like that? Maybe? Because she’d get to be happy and live a normal life, she could still return to the Team eventually, using technology like Rockets (Yes I lowkey want Rocket to get to mentor someone just so she can be back in the story a little lol)

Another option is Dr Helga Jace. I already mentioned that she seemed shady, and she really does, she gets even shadier when you research her.

CW Black Lightning has her as a character: involved with illegal experiments, lost rights to see her child, made an anti-ageing serum for Tobias Whale (remember when I mentioned him in Halo research earlier?? – he’s with Intergang by the way, the people who had a Fatherbox in Season Two)

Prime Earth: she’s neither good or evil, appeared in Suicide Squad comics, the team that Halo joined.

New Earth: Royal Markovian Scientist, secretly a member of the Manhunter Cult, installed a psychic control on Metamorpho  before using him to attack the Outsiders, helped Halo get her memories back.

Now, that mention of psychic control made me think back to Halo in Prime Earth…she was being mind controlled by the Kobra Cult…huh. The reason she got free of the mind control was because a scientist double-crossed the Kobra Cult. HUH.

And Tobias Whale…a Black Lightning villain…who hired Syonide to kill Halo and her parents…

Pause to explain why this little bit is important, sorry for all the info dumping, Syonide isn’t some super prominent assassin in the DC Universe, but she killed Violet Harper, her parents, and she was sent to kill a Russian Scientist that Phantom Lady was protecting (I promise this could actually be relevant). Obviously, Dr Jace isn’t Russian, she’s Markovian, but considering that scientist doesn’t even have a name, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem if she took his place. Reason why this could actually be important, one it connects another scientist to Halo, but also, Phantom Lady was going to lose, Syonide had teamed up with Merlyn to kill this person, and WALLY WEST FLASH saved them.

So, I think Dr Jace is shady, research points that she probably is, but after she’s revealed to have still been dabbling in meta-human experiments, she could bargain with the Team. They need her as an insider to save Halo. She double-crossed the bad guys to get Halo back in control of herself (like the scientist who did it in the Kobra Cult story) and when Darkseid comes to get her, the Team, specifically Dick, Artemis, and Conner, are in charge of protecting her, they start to get a little overwhelmed and started talking about how much easier it used to be and how much they miss their old team, and boom, Wally has a lightning rod to come back from the speed force to help them. Happy Reunion and Halo’s no longer evil. Wooo. That last bit’s just a hope because I miss Wally, but I stand by Dr Jace being key to helping the team while still being morally grey. Plus, if she gets Halo back to normal pretty quickly, Halo could then be a spy for the team, a way to get one over on Darkseid.

Terra gets her Slade plot, but it could play out as an upward arc: she’s betraying them of her own choice and regrets it so bad once she gets to know everyone. She comes to their side, everyone thinks they’re in the clear because they’ve got the mole! Then Halo’s revealed to be with Darkseid. It would be such a good twist and the set-up is there.

Let me know what you think of this theory! (Doubt anyone’s actually gonna read it all but I had to get it all down lmao)

Anyway: Here’s my insanity board though I doubt it’s good enough quality to really be read

[that-shamrock-vibe]

TV Review: Young Justice Outsiders Part 1 (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: The first part of Young Justice Outsiders is finally all available for viewing so I thought I would give my thoughts on Season 3 thus far, it won’t be in depth because for me this season hasn’t been but there are light spoilers so be warned.

General Reaction:

I have been a fan of Young Justice since I found out about the series, I love it. I love taking these sidekicks and putting them in the spotlight. It’s why I loved Teen Titans and Young Avengers. I guess because I discovered them while I was a teenager myself, season 1 aired in 2010 when I was 19 so technically that counts, that I relate to them but also the first two seasons of the show were so well done and made for gripping binge-worthy viewing.

So you can imagine that I, like many other fans of the show, was thrilled when after an injust cancellation it returned 5 years. The only problem is Young Justice: Outsiders lacks the spark and somewhat originality that the first two seasons had.

These first 13 episodes of season three lack centric main characters, a strong A-Storyline and, until the last 4 episodes, that gripping binge-worthiness I mentioned the first two seasons had. Instead we have an Easter-Egg season crammed with characters who are splintered into different groups who each have their own storylines that, again until near the end of the 13 episodes, don’t really tie-in with each other and feel like they each need their own shows to develop fully.

Also, there is another time jump between Season 2 and 3 which makes more sense here than it did between 1 and 2 because in real-time 5 years has passed since the end of Season 2 whereas there it seemed to be done to push ahead the story and give the franchise a Star Wars feel of making it a multi-media experience with the comic-book tie-in series filling in the space between 1 & 2.

What’s Good:

Alright so I want to be fair to the season because it does have some good aspects which I actually liked.

Fan Favourites:

I will get into the sheer volume of characters introduced to this season further down but for now I want to talk about the fan-favourites introduced who were somewhat fleshed out rather well.

Firstly Lady Shiva. I have never seen Lady Shiva before but I know she is a fan-favourite character and, considering the underwhelming performance of Talia al Ghul recently, a favored replacement for her. I still think Nyssa al Ghul is a good replacement particularly in Arrow but here I understand why people like her. I thought the fact she is the trainer of the new League of Shadows recruits as well as an Enforcer for The Light to be quite good, although I do find myself thinking that, as mentioned, Deathstroke was exactly in that position in the second season and he was barely used, I hope that’s not the case here.

Then there’s Cyborg. It’s about god-damn time they brought this guy in. Just when I thought this season was not going to get graphic or gory they give us Cyborg’s Post-New 52 origins and that imagery of Victor’s body after the explosion was so good for me. I also liked how they’ve updated the Cyborg look and now given him mood-lighting with Father Box control which causes an interesting relationship between him and new character Halo.

Finally there’s Terra. I am excited for what has been teased with Terra so far. The fact she was part of the Markovian Royal Family which was introduced in the first couple of episodes and then herself being properly introduced in the last episode with her Geokinetic powers, while not yet fully realized I am sure will be great.

Beast Boy:

So again this is very much a light spoiler review but what I will say is watch out and be patient for Beast Boy because he does not have that much to do at the start of the season and only really appears in snippets as the opening scenes of the episodes but in the penultimate episode of Season 3A it is all about Beast Boy and it’s probably my favourite episode despite one glaring aspect of it which is an Easter-Egg within the DC Multiverse.

What’s Bad:

Shifting Allegiances:

There is a big shake-up in how our heroes are affiliate themselves with in the first episode alone.

Not only do Batman and Black Lightning quit the Justice League, Batman taking other members with him for his own team, but the original Aquaman Arthur Curry, who has just had his own billion dollar movie released, is no longer in the League and instead his protege Aqualad has not only become the new Aquaman but the leader of the League.

Then there’s the Team which this series is supposed to focus on. Again there’s a shake-up in the roster and the team that is shown in the promotion is pretty much the team for this season but...because of all the other characters introduced this season we do not spend enough time getting to know the new team, the new members on the team or the reasons why the members of the team who were there at the end of last season aren’t there now.

For instance, it is kind of explained why Tigress and Superboy are no longer on the team as they’re part of Nightwing’s new team and therefore in that promo image not this one, but Guardian and Lagoon Boy all have left without explanation. We know what has happened to Beast Boy and Bumblebee has a kid and is pregnant again so that probably explains their reasoning. Guardian aka Mal Duncan and Lagoon Boy weren’t very interesting characters which maybe explains their absence in terms of production but in-canon that can’t be the only reason.

Arsenal was expelled from the team during Season 2 so his appearance in this line-up raised curiosity, but he only appears in one episode but not with a single member of this team and instead with his fellow Roy Harpers.

Then new team members Arrowette, Spoiler and Thirteen who were promoted are barely used. Yes Robin II aka Tim Drake leaves the team and takes Arrowette and Spoiler under his leadership to form their own team with new character Orphan, but Arrowette and Spoiler were both introduced as civillians in Season 2 yet nothing is done to reference that. In fact many people thought Arrowette was Artemis in a new suit at first.

Thirteen remains on the team but I do not think has a speaking line and if she does it’s forgettable. All I know about this character is she is the protege of Zatanna but she has her own problems this season apparently and so this completely new character is barely utilized properly.

Also Blue Beetle, Bart Allen as Kid Flash, Static and Wonder Girl are all returning characters yet hardly either seen, utilized or developed in this season. Static loses Black Lightning as a mentor and Wonder Girl is seemingly dumped by Tim Drake when he quits the team due to Batman leaving the League, but Blue Beetle and Bart Allen who were focal characters last season are blink and miss them characters this season...glorified cameos at best.

Too Many Characters:

This brings me on to my biggest issue with this season, there are way too many characters introduced and involved in this season. There are 13 episodes but it feels like they have a combined total of 130 characters introduced. We have new characters that we are supposed to focus on and new ones that seem to be there just to be there.

For instance, new characters like Cyborg, Forager, Halo and Geo-Force I get we are supposed to focus on, but Cyborg isn’t introduced until Episode 10 and then heavily focused on for 4 episodes, while the latter three are all introduced at the start of the season and slowly and organically developed.

Then there are characters like Steel and Katana who I almost forgot were introduced at the start of Episode 1 until Episode 10 when there were slightly more prominent.

Speaking of that Episode 1 Easter-Egg hunt, once Batman announces he is leaving the Justice League he makes it clear that four members of the league are resigning to join him, Katana, Plastic Man who was introduced in Season 1 and again to this day I cannot say if he’s actually had any speaking lines, Hardware who I have no clue as to who that is and Batwoman...Batwoman! You had probably the best LGBT superhero and yet she’s only seen in two images and that’s it. What, the, hell!

Then Episode 9 “Home Fires” is an episode full to the brim with Easter-Eggs, I can’t even call them characters because aside from maybe three of them none of them are focused on. Along with Bart Allen who actually has something to do here, Iris West-Allen actually has some comedic moments and then Karen aka Rocket who has some speaking lines and Lynn Stewart-Pierce who is the ex-wife of Black Lightning but isn’t as good here as Christine Adams portrays her on Black Lightning aside from the fact that in this continuity she is the sister of John Stewart aka Green Lantern.

Aside from them, there’s the introduction of Lois Lane with son Jonathan, the reintroduction of Red Tornado’s human-looking form John Smith with daughter Traya Sutton, a pregnant Bumblebee, Iris and Barry’s twins Dawn and Don, Mera and son of Aquaman Artur, Rocket’s sassy son Amisted and the re-introduction of Black Lightning and Lynn’s daughter Anissa and Jennifer Pierce.

Away from this storyline in the episode is the reintroduction and death of Ocean-Master along with the introduction of Lady Shiva who kills him and the introduction of Granny Goodness. All this was just in the one episode.

Then we have Ra’s al Ghul and his followers, I can’t say League anymore because Ra’s has left both the League and The Light and Deathstroke seems to have taken his place in both, we are reintroduced to his followers such as Ubu and the Sensei but also introduced to the cameos of Talia al Ghul, Damien Wayne and a mysterious Red-Hooded Ninja...

Also when we are finally reintroduced to Batman and his new team, the only one we see return is Katana along with new character Metamorpho...I don’t know who this character is but I like him.

Wonder Woman said it best in Episode 8 when there’s a meeting of all the leaders of these hero teams and says that between her, Batman, Aquaman(lad), Nightwing, Robin, Miss Martian and Oracle. they do in fact have 5 teams at their disposal. That is way too many teams to focus on in one season, particularly when 3 of those teams haven’t been properly established yet and the other two have had massively unexplained shake-ups.

Missed Opportunities:

As mentioned before, there is another time jump between Seasons 2 and 3, here it is two years rather than five as it was Between 1 and 2 which makes no sense because less real-time has passed in each gap but I digress.

However, once again due to this time jump, we miss out on some major development. The biggest crime being that one of comics most famous stories, The Killing Joke is seemingly told as Barbara goes from Batgirl to Oracle and able-bodied to wheelchair bound.

Now maybe Young Justice creators took inspiration from the only time that story has been told in film or television and thought just to skip it but then why not have a spin-off series centred on the Bat-Family, which has grown this season not just by Batwoman and Spoiler but also Orphan and Harper Row who in the comics becomes Bluebird to make a grand total of 10 Bat-Family members, so you can flesh out these characters and iconic stories.

What’s Teased:

Alright to end this review on a somewhat positive note I want to talk about what  is hopefully teased for the back-half of this season coming in June.

Terra:

Firstly we have Terra aka Tara Markov. Introduced at the start of this season but then formally introduced in Episode 13 as the Geokinetic Metahuman who is apparently enslaved on Bialya and later rescued by Nightwing’s team. However, the ending tease for the season shows Terra being taken in by the Team and secretly messaging Deathstroke who is now the leader of the League of Shadows having never apparently left the League apparently.

The only issue with this is it seems they’re playing out The Judas Contract which has also recently been told recently in the animated films. I mean it is clear at this point that they’re making the team in this series their version of the Teen Titans without calling them that but we shall see if we actually get to see this played out.

Red Hood and Damien Wayne:

Two Robins for the price of one. Jason Todd as an in-canon character was never physically shown on screen in the second season as he was apparently introduced and killed in that 5 year gap. However, with the introduction of this Red-Hooded Ninja who is under Ra’s al Ghul’s leadership with the exact same hairstyle as Jason Todd...it stands to reason that we will soon meet Red Hood in Season 3b.

Now as for Damien Wayne, Talia is introduced as a cameo this season as she watches Nightwing’s team flying away standing besides her father Ra’s holding a baby boy in her arm. It stands to reason that this is Damien and so unless we have a time-jump of 10 years I doubt we’ll see him again in any major capacity but the fact he has been introduced is big if the show reaches that 10 year gap.

Baby Sidekicks:

So as well as Damien, we have the infant forms of Don & Dawn Allen aka the Tornado Twins and Jonathan Samuel Kent aka a future Superboy. Also this season we meet Anissa and Jennifer Pierce who in the future become Lightning and Thunder respectively.

These pose as great teases but much like Damien, unless there’s a jump by 10 years I doubt they’ll be heavily focused on.

Apokolips Now:

Alright so Apokolips is DC’s hot topic at the moment, not only did they try to push it and Darkseid in the movies until Justice League fell flat but also the end tease of Season 2 showed Darkseid meeting with Vandal Savage and they are now apparently associates just as The Light were with The Reach in Season 2.

Now while any sort of Apokolips influence is minimal this season thus far, we do get an episode on New Genesis, a reintroduction to the Forever People as well as Mother Boxes and an introduction of Forager.

All this I feel is gearing up for Darkseid to either be the big bad of Season 3 overall or the overall villain of Season 4. Either way they are currently teasing Darkseid like they teased Thanos and that tease paid off in Infinity War so allow a series with those stakes.

Recommendation:

So overall I have to say, this season has a gripping ending but it took a very long time getting there. It never felt like a chore but at the same time the other two seasons gripped me from the start. I am still looking forward to Season 3b but I will be curious to see if the 5 month wait is worth it or not.

I will give this part of Season 3 a rating of 6/10, it was an okay start with a dragged out middle and an exciting ending. Hopefully the excitement will run the way through the rest of the season.

So that’s my review of Young Justice: Outsiders (Part 1) what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more TV Reviews as well as other posts.

[darkspellmaster]

I thought I heard somewhere that Dr Jace is a comic canon character (from Outsiders I think. But I could be wrong). She was also a minor villian. If that's the case here. Oops sorry Jeff. I hope for Jeff and Brion's sake if she does turn out to have less then stellar agendas she could still get a redemption arc (that doesn't kill her). That or she's a very gray character (who knows, maybe instead of Tara, it's Dr Jace who will be our traitor in a Judas Contract adaption. That's a twist).

You are correct. Dr. Jace was a member of the Outsiders and an ally to them. She was much older than she is here. She gave Brion powers to help fight against the revolution that had started, and later helped Halo get her memories back and even later helped Metamorpho see his girlfriend Sapphire Stagg (who’s dad is dead now probably in YJ), and then revived Rex from death after he was killed. 

However during the Millenium arc this happened: 

During the Millennium crossover event, it was revealed that Dr. Jace had been working for the Manhunters. She used a psychic trigger that she had previously put in Metamorpho's brain to take control of him, and used him to incapacitate the rest of the Outsiders. When the team came to they were strapped to table's in Jace's lab, which they managed to escape from. In the ensuing fight Looker tricked Metamorpho into attacking Dr. Jace. When Jace fired her weapon at Metamorpho, it created an energy surge that killed her, and effectively killed the Element Man.[7]

More recently she was seen working, possibly reluctantly, for Kobra in the Suicide Squad series. 

Yeah, I have a bad feeling about her. I don’t think she’s exactly a good guy, but I have a feeling that Greg is going to make her like Demona from Gargoyles. Someone who is in the gray zone that is willing to do bad for selfish means, but also someone that actually cares about those that she loves. Though I feel like Jeff is going to have to end up rejecting her due to her actions, and probably being very angry with her if her actions end up threatening his kids and ex wife. 

I’m hoping she’ll not go totally bad, but there’s a chance that she may, as this is DC and lovers going evil is nothing new in that universe. 

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

My Uncle Jerry Blazer was a house-painted by trade. He and his wife, my Aunt Clementine, lived with my grandparents in a big house that they’d all moved into simultaneously around 1955. So he was a constant fixture in my life, though not seen quite so often as my Grandparents were. He was also the one person among that older crown who took an active interest in my interests. Not having had any children of his own, I as the first-born Grand-nephew enjoyed a privileged place in his heart. And so, he’d be the one to willingly listen to me drone on about the Justice Society of America for hours, despite the fact that he could not have had any less interest in the topic.

He was also an infrequent source of comic books. I still have issues that my Aunt had dutifully written my name on before giving them to me--there were four kids in our household and she thought she was doing me a favor in this. It was an annoyance at the time, a cherished memory today. In any event, one summer day while he had come to our home for a visit, my Uncle Jerry presented me with three comic books. He had gotten them at a recent house-painting job, left behind by the departing owner. Manna from heaven.

The first of the three was a copy of SHAZAM #15, a comic book that I’d already bought. But in the time between then and then, I had traded it away for something else, probably to my neighbor Johnny Rantinella. The third book was a copy of MARVEL TALES #53, which I’ll cover in-depth tomorrow. But the second book was this lovely 100-Page Super-Spectacular issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS--the format I loved which had gone the way of the dinosaurs. And so despite the fact that I knew that WF was one of those books that always read “wrong” to me, I dove in with both feet.

The first story is a vintage Bob Haney classic, in which Superman and Batman cross paths with Haney’s creation Metamorpho as they try to rescue a missing scientist from the stereotypical South American dictator El Jefe. Thing is, the rescue mission is a cover for an assassination attempt on the President, as a stand-in for the abducted scientist has been infected with a virulent plague. The idea is that he will be rescued, come into contact with the American president, and then infect him and the rest of the U.S. Despite some typical Bob Haney bumbling (and the annoying penchant Batman has during this period for addressing his comrade as “Supes”) the three heroes, in particular Metamorpho, prevent this from happening, and El Jefe doesn’t make it out of the story alive.

The reprints were varied but a little bit of a mixed bag, especially to my tastes back then. They started off with a Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Sandman adventure from around 1942. It’s a typically fun outing from the pair, but I still hadn’t quite cracked the “Kirby code” and so there was something about the artwork that I found to be a turn-off. Similarly, the Alex Toth art on the Eclipso story that followed was dark and scratchy and full of menace--and as such, it made me uneasy despite a fun outing for the Hero And Villain In One Man.

I liked the short Robotman feature that followed, as generic as it was, though I had a hard time reconciling it with the Robotman I had recently met as a member of the Doom Patrol. I somewhat-correctly intuited that this must be the Earth-2 Robotman, and could thereafter sleep soundly. After that came a Neal Adams Deadman story. At the time I was reading this book, Adams’ legend could not have burned more brightly. He was everybody’s favorite artist, and talked about constantly. And yet, I must confess that I found this Deadman story (and many of the others) incredibly boring. Nice enough to look at, but written on the level of any TV cop show. And that wasn’t what I wanted from my comic book. Plus, how do you root for a dead guy? What’s going to hurt him? What danger can he ever be in? I didn’t dig it.

The real gems (to me) nestled within this issue of WORLD’S FINEST were right at the back--the first two installments of John Jones, Manhunter From Mars. I knew John (or J’onn) as a charter member of the Justice League of America--but long before the series had been slanted in the direction of super hero adventure, it had been launched as a gimmick detective series. In the same way that Roy Raymond, TV Detective solved crimes on the air, and Captain Compass solved crimes on the seas, John Jones tapped into the growing interest in space-travel and life on other planets to introduce a detective who solved crimes using unearthly means. These stories were all six pages long, filler-features used to back up more important stars. Nobody involved would have dreamed that J’onn J’onzz would still be a going concern in the 21st Century.

The first story sets up the series premise: scientist Dr Erdel attempts to contact Mars with his “robot brain” device, and succeeds in drawing a Martian to Earth with it. But Erdel is so shocked by his success that he has a heart attack and dies, leaving the Martian J’onn J’onzz trapped permanently on our world. Like many immigrants, he Americanizes his name to John Jones and uses his powers to secure himself a position on the Police force as a Detective, using his other-worldly abilities to battle crime on his new home. The second story involved an ex-con turned professional baseball pitcher whose old cronies were pressuring him to throw a big game they had bet on. Jones, having used his powers to peer into the future and learn what the outcome would be, uses Martian mind-over-matter to give the conflicted ballplayer his win, and to round up the criminals. And all in six pages.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1203

Monday, March 5, 2018

 Jee-Riz Comics and Appraisals had another successful Capital Trade Show yesterday at the Jim Durrell Arena on Walkley Road. Many thanks to Spider-Man super fan Jeremy for dropping by our table.

 I'm not a movie buff so I didn't watch the Oscars last night. It's on our PVR so I'll get to it eventually. I read that someone mentioned Len Wein and John Romita Senior during the telecast so I look forward to seeing that in context. I still get excited whenever I see comic book references on TV.

 Moon Knight #192 - Max Bemis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Mat Lopes (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Crazy Runs in the Family part 5. This issue ends in an episode of Fantasy Island. The conflict between Ra and Khonshu is coming to a head, Marc's head. I'm not a big fan of psychological drama but I love Jacen Burrows's art so much that I can't stop reading.

 The Terrifics #1 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado (inks) Marcelo Maiolo (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). This is the fourth New Age of Heroes comic book to hit the racks and the one that I was most looking forward to because Plastic Man is on this team. The team is lead by smart guy Mr. Terrific and includes Metamorpho and Linnya Wazzo AKA Phantom Girl (thank-you Google). I loved Ivan Reis's art when he drew Green Lantern so I hope he does some spiffy things with the malleable Plastic Man. Jeff Lemire introduces this team quite nicely and the surprise guest on the last page made we want to continue reading.

 Cal Exit #2 - Matteo Pizzolo (writer) Amancay Nahuelpan (art) Tyler Boss (colours) Jim Campbell (letters). It's hard to remember why I wanted to read this second issue since #1 hit the racks over 7 months ago. Now that I have gotten through this very dense comic book I find that I don't care for these characters or their gun happy world. Another thing I didn't like was the stark colours. The recent gun violence in real life has also influenced my decision to stop reading this as well.

 Avengers #682 - Al Ewing, Jim Zub & Mark Waid (writers) Sean Izaakse (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 8. It's no coincidence that Hawkeye and Red Wolf are in this critical issue. Clint put the threat of Bruce Banner down for good but as we all know in comic books, death never lasts. Cosmic beings make anything possible. The colours on the first page nearly turned me off but it was only because David Curiel was trying to make the flashback scenes look old timey.

 Mera: Queen of Atlantis #1 - Dan Abnett (writer) Lan Medina (pencils) Richard Friend (inks) Veronica Gandini (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). This 6-issue mini spins off of the current goings on in Aquaman. Mera is recuperating from her magic induced injuries on land and isn't as powerful as she used to be. One of her missions while healing is to try and assure the surface world that the war in Atlantis won't impact them. As much as I love green-eyed redheads, I just couldn't get too excited about this story. Mera's diplomatic mission can go on without me.

 Hungry Ghosts #2 - Anthony Bourdain & Joel Rose (story) Leonardo Manco & Mateus Santolouco (art) Jose Villarrubia (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). These two creepy tales have a European flavour. One will be very foreign to North American readers and may turn their stomachs. The other is about supernatural creatures that would only scare children. Both would be good with a glass of Chianti.

 All-New Wolverine #31 - Tom Taylor (writer) Marco Failla (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is a fun one issue team-up with Gabby and Deadpool. I like these little interludes between all the drama.

 The Demon: Hell is Earth #4 - Andrew Constant (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Chris Sotomayor (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). The heroes continue their journey through Hell to try and keep Belial from creating a gateway to Earth. Many monsters will be mashed before the end.

 Saga #49 - Fiona Staples (art) Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fonografiks (letters). This might be the only comic book on the racks where the artist's name is listed first in the credits. Congratulations to Fiona on her marriage to Ben.

 Spectacular Spider-Man #300 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Adam Kubert & Juan Frigeri (art) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). There were some dumb things in this issue that turned me off this title again. The worst bit was at the end. It rhymes with crime gravel. Not even the back up story with the Black Cat by Chip Zdarsky, Goran Parlov and Giada Marchisio managed to cheer me up. Have fun whenever you end up Spidey.

 Detective Comics #975 - James Tynion IV (writer) Alvaro Martinez (pencils) Raul Fernandez (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Unknown (letters). Batwoman is judged by a jury of her peers to see if she should be allowed to stay in the Bat-family. The path Kate chooses will be interesting to follow into the future.

 Star Wars: Darth Vader #12 - Charles Soule (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Daniele Orlandini (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Vader deals with who is trying to kill him as only Vader can. I want to see how successful his terrorist tactics are.

 Silencer #2 - Dan Abnett (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Sandra Hope (inks) Dean White & Arif Prianto (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). Code of Honor part 2. Honor AKA the retired Underlife assassin Silencer survives the hit on her and Talia al Ghul. In her attempt to call off her old employers she finds out there is no honour among bad guys. If you like Hit-Girl or the Punisher, I think you'll like this new age hero.

 Action Comics #998 - Dan Jurgens (writer) Will Conrad (art) Ivan Nunes (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Booster Shot conclusion. Superman and Booster Gold were on the verge of being executed by General Zod and his evil son, and wife with the Eradicator thrown in for good measure, last issue. This is where Dan Jurgens shows us how they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It is the definition of deus ex machina. To make matters worse, at least for me, the good guys return to the present to find a situation where a tragedy has just occurred. Guess how that's averted? Time travel sucks.