#on the next episode of the marvelous Wayne’s!

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

I wholly blame @thefantasmarex

The Lazarus pits can’t save my brain rn

[longwuzhere]

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Easter Eggs

Welcome to the penultimate episode of My Adventures with Superman! Very sad that the season is ending next week but we still got the comic in the next 4 months! Hell yeah!!!!

My Easter eggs lists for season 1 is here if you haven't seen it!

My season 2 episode 1 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 7 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

Spoilers if you haven't seen the episode

Starting things off, we see Clark, still trapped by Brainiac live a life on "Krypton" with his "family" and we see him feed a Sun Eater.

In the comics, the Sun Eater makes its first appearance in Adventure Comics #305 (1963) where Mon-El, disguised as Marvel Boy is trying to get in the Legion of Superheroes team and in order for him to pass and be accepted, one of their test was to stop a Sun Eater and Mon-El was able to successfully drive it away from a sun.

The scene that this is homaging is similar to what happened in All-Star Superman #2 (2006) [<- highly recommend everyone read it btw] where Superman feeds a Sun Eater that he has in the Fortress of Solitude, a miniature sun that he created as seen in the page below (W: Grant Morrison P: Frank Quitely, I&C: Jamie Grant, L: Phil Balsman).

In the comics most of the time Sun Eaters are depicted as nebulous black hole-esque things, other times its a creature, but the closest MAwS's Sun Eater design is based on is the Sun Eater from the Supergirl CW tv show.

Next we see "Lara", invoke Rao's name after seeing Clark feed the Sun Eater a miniature sun.

So for those who do not know, Krypton's red sun is named after Rao, Krypton's sun god.

Rao, the red sun of Krypton, makes its first appearance in Superman #141 (1960) [W: Jerry Siegel, P: Wayne Boring, I: Stan Kaye] where Superman investigates a strange planet that turns out to be a creature and as Superman chases after it, he hits the time barrier and flies back to before Krypton's explosion.

Now Rao the Kryptonian God, makes his first appearance in Superman: The Last God of Krypton #1 (1999) [W: Walter Simonson P,I,&C: Greg and Tim Hildebrandt (yes Greg and Tim Hildebrandt who designed the original UK Star Wars poster from 1977), L: Ken Lopez] where Cythonna, Kryptonian goddess of ice, emerges from her banishment and sees that Krypton is no more. She goes after the last Kryptonian, take a wild guess who, to kill the last of Rao's descendants . We see Rao in the comic where Superman and Lois go to the Fortress of Solitude to see what Cythonna's history was before Krypton's destruction.

The episode's title is a reference to Gurren Lagann (<-Great anime if you're a Studio Trigger fan) where it is a quote from Kamina who says "Your drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens." Appropriate title considering what Clark and Lois does to free Clark from Brainiac's control.

We see that Lois is still under the Black Mercy's, well, mercy and I talked more about it here.

In the Black Mercy's dream world for Clark, we see that Lois has been captured by "Jor-El" and we see Clark and Lois meet up again, however both do not have memories of each other. Clark mentions that he's always in the Hall of Science where they keep the alien species, like the Sun Eater we saw before, working as a scientist.

The first instance of the "Hall of Science" was in Brave and the Bold #28 (1960) the first appearance of the Justice League where Starro was attacking Science City, and thus the Hall of Science. The Hall of Science's association doesn't come up until Secret Origins #1 (2014)

[W: Greg Pak, P: Lee Weeks, I: Lee Weeks, Sandra Hope, C: Dave McCaig, L: John J. Hill] where we see a retelling of Superman's origins. where scientist, Jor-El was trying to warn about the planet's explosion, but the Hall of Science expelled him for his alarmist warnings thinking nothing of it. Guess how that turned out for the planet. Very cool thing to have Clark be a scientist on this fake Krypton just like his father in the comics.

Back in MAwS IRL, one of the OMACs destroys the spaceship that was carrying Lois, Jimmy, Kara, Mallah, and the Brain and when Kara, Jimmy and Lois crash land, they get arrested by Waller and Taskforce X. Lucky for Jimmy that he was live streaming and this caught Perry's attention and he, the Daily Planet, and Vicky Vale were able to stall Taskforce X so Steve Lombard can sneak behind the Taskforce X prison carrier and break the trio out.

Steve's van has wolves howling at the moon painted on its exterior kinda invokes the three wolf moon shirt (designed by Antonia Neshev) vibes.

Later when the trio are in Steve's van, we see a blink and you miss it easter egg where apparently Steve went to Jump City Community College.

Jump City is a reference to the city that the Teen Titans from the 2000 cartoon are located in. So hey we got a Victor Stone and a city where one iteration the Teen Titans were in, so the Teen Titans are possible in the MAwS universe!

Jimmy's speech to Kara kinda gives off that "you choose who you want to be" quote vibes from Iron Giant, appropriate considering the Iron Giant is a Superman fan. Good movie too highly recommend checking that movie out too.

Back on "Krypton", Clark and Lois were able to get their memories back after so many groundhog day moments for Lois and we see this cool AF moment for her paying back how Clark protected her when they were attacked in the forest by the OMACs in episode 6 of season 1.

This scene specifically^

As Brainiac loses control over Clark thanks to Lois, Brainiac puts on anti-Kryptonite armor for him and his robots thanks to Lex using his Metallos that are now powered by Kryptonite (I talk more about Metallo here). Brainiac hacks into the Metallos and prepares to fire on Earth with an Archer beam from Kandor.

The Archer Beam, well technically the weapon itself makes its first appearance in Superman: The World of New Krypton #2 (2009) [W: Greg Rucka, James Robinson, P&I: Pete Woods, C: Brad Anderson, L: Steve Wands], where the Archer Rifle was developed as a weapon to stop rogue Kryptonians as the rifle blasts red sun to depower them for 30 minutes so they can be apprehended.

And finally, after Kara blocks the first Archer beam with her body, Clark comes in to stop the second and gets a new outfit.

The new suit doesn't have the red trunks anymore and that kinda makes you think of the New 52 suit that Superman wore during the DC universe reboot in 2011 (Final page of Justice League #1 (2011) [W: Geoff John, P: Jim Lee, I: Scott Williams, C: Alex Sinclair, L: Patrick Brosseau]). Ngl not a fan of this new look for MAwS Superman. The red trunks helps break up the large areas of blue, plus symbolically it helps tie back to his origins on Earth with Ma Kent being the one to give him the trunks. Also I do not like the yellow outline S-Shield, it makes me think of the new 2025 Superman movie S-Shield, which irks me when movies try to influence the source comics, when it should be the other way around *death glares at the MCU*. Really hope we get the red trunks again by the end of the season or at least in season 3.

Anyways come back next week for the final episode of My Adventures with Superman season 2 and then in August and the following 3 months for issues 3-6 of the comics too!

My Easter eggs lists for season 1 is here if you haven't seen it!

My season 2 episode 1 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 7 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[could-they-be-a-pro-wrestler]

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE OF FRIDAY NIGHT PUNCHGROUND

DAMIAN WAYNE AND PETER PARKER GET THEIR TITLE SHOTS

Previously, Damian Wayne (DC) and Peter Parker (Marvel) decided to join forces based on a mutual feeling that they were being disrespected in the ABW space. They agreed to turn against their father figures, Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, and carried out their plan at Fictional Wrestlemania. Both Damian and Parker turned heel as a result of their actions.

In this episode of PunchGround, the unnamed commissioner decided that instead of punishing the duo, he will give them a chance to prove themselves. Damian Wayne and Peter Parker will have a shot at the Universal Championship in the next pay-per-view/event poll series (Fictional Backlash). However, the setup of the match will depend on if they can beat the team of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne in a tag team match.

The stipulations are:

1) If Damian and Peter win, they’ll both face against Tony Stark in a triple threat match for the Universal Championship. Basically, they have an equal chance at becoming champion.

2) If Tony and Bruce win, Damian and Peter will fight each other to determine who’ll fight Tony Stark.

[ao3statistics]

Guide to all charts on this blog

The "most popular ships" and "most popular tags" charts are most often connected to a certain character.

Please not that the number of percentages in my pie charts correlate to the numbers in the chart and NOT the overall number of hits I got.

Meaning: All the hits displayed in the chart make up 100% and if I get many hits off Ao3 not all the hits will be displayed in the charts and the 100% will be made up from the most popular hits only (which are then displayed in the pie chart).

Long story short: I let Excel convert the real numbers I make the pie charts of into percentages.

I try to make my charts as easily accessible as possible. This includes:

writing that isn't too small

numbers and writing in black instead of grey etc.

colours that are easily distinguishable (no too dark colours next to each other etc.)

no colours from the red/green spectrum directly next to each other because some Tumblr users might have red-green colour blindness

colours that won't make you fall asleep

colours that (in combination with each other) won't give you an epileptic episode from looking at them

everything written outside of pie charts instead of outside and inside for easier comprehension

the same kind of chart for the same categories (pie charts for ships, bar charts for the most popular tags etc.)

I cannot account for everything though and might make mistakes. Some of my earlier charts might also not really conform to the above in all aspects.

Current Poll

Events

Most popular ships on Ao3

Avatar – The Last Airbender

Most popular Atla ships

Aang

Azula

Jet

Sokka

Toph Beifong

Zuko

Avatar – Legend of Korra

Most popular LoK ships

BTS

Jungkook | JK

Kim Taehyung | V

Danny Phantom

Danny Fenton (Danny Phantom)

DC

Most popular DC's Legends of Tomorrow ships

Most popular The Flash (TV 2014) ships

Alfred Pennyworth

Bette Kane (Bat-Girl | Flamebird)

Cassandra Cain (Batgirl | Orphan | Black Bat)

Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette)

Clark Kent/Kal-El (Superman)

Conner Kent/Kon-El (Superboy)

Damian Wayne/Damian al Ghul (Robin)

Dick Grayson (Robin | Nightwing)

Duke Thomas (Signal)

Eddie Bloomberg (Kid Devil)

Garfield Logan (Beast Boy)

Helena Wayne (The Huntress)

Jason Todd (Robin | Red Hood)

Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael | Batman)

Joker

Kate Kane (Batwoman)

Koriand'r (Starfire)

La'gaan (Lagoon Boy)

Lucius Fox

Lukas "Luke" Fox (Batwing)

Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)

Ra's al Ghul

Raven

Rose Wilson (Ravager)

Roy Harper (Arsenal | Speedy | Red Arrow)

Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl | Hawkwoman)

Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

Slade Wilson (Deathstroke)

Talia al Ghul

Tim Drake (Robin | Red Robin)

Trigon

Victor Stone (Cyborg)

Wally West (The Flash | Kid Flash)

Yara Flor (Wonder Girl)

Diabolik Lovers

Laito

Kanato

Ayato

Grishaverse

Kaz Brekker

The Lord of the Rings/TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms

Boromir (Son of Denethor II)

Legolas "Greenleaf"

Peregrin "Pippin" Took

Underswap Sans (Undertale)

Most popular tags on Ao3 connected to Underswap Sans (Undertale)

Most popular tags on Ao3

Avatar – The Last Airbender

BTS

Most popular languages of BTS fanfictions

DC

Most popular tags connected to DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Most popular tags connected to The Flash (TV 2014)

Popularity of the Batman members according to Ao3 tags

Barbara Gordon (Batgirl | Oracle)

Billy Batson (Shazam | Captain Marvel)

Bruce Wayne (Batman)

Cassandra Cain (Batgirl | Orphan | Black Bat)

Damian Wayne/Damian al Ghul (Robin)

Dick Grayson (Robin | Nightwing)

Duke Thomas (Signal)

Jason Todd (Robin | Red Hood)

Ra's al Ghul

Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

Yara Flor (Wonder Girl)

Diabolik Lovers

Grishaverse

Legend of Zelda

Link

The Lord of the Rings/TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms

Boromir (Son of Denethor II)

Legolas "Greenleaf"

Peregrin "Pippin" Took

Underswap Sans (Undertale)

Most popular tags on Ao3 connected to Underswap Sans (Undertale)

Who is...?

Damian Wayne/Damian Al Ghul (Robin)

Jason Todd (Robin | Red Hood)

Nightwing

The Red Hood

Red Robin

Silly charts & other charts

Avatar – The Last Airbender

BTS

Danny Phantom

DC

How dragon-y the Batfam is

Who Bruce Wayne loves the most

Proof of Jason Todd's suffering in fanfictions

Popularity of Batman's Robins on Ao3

Tim Drake (and his coffee addiction)

The Batfam's level of being done

Biggest BAMF in the Batfamily

Most popular friendships with Trigon

Who is the Hottest Mess of the Batfam

Most popular characters of DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Ao3

Who is the cutest Batfam member

Diabolik Lovers

Most popular Sakamaki Vampire

Popularity of the Mukami vampires

Popularity of (all) the vampires in DL

Grishaverse

Who Kaz Brekker loves the most

Underswap Sans (Undertale)

Non-statistics stuff

Fruity Jason Todd Tags:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Tumblr Poll results

Jason Todd's hair colour

Favourite Robin according to my poll

Last Update: 21.05.2024

No more links can be added to this post unfortunately.

[jokerihardlyknower]

One month on Batman: a beginners descent.

Disclaimer: this was written in April 2024.

I've never been a superhero person. I've never been a Batman person.

I had never interacted with any Batman media, never knew anything about Batman besides his parents died and he got upset about it.

Recently I have made the executive decision to start my Batman journey. I wanted to document my experience as someone entirely new to Batman as I make my way around the universe.. universes.

My journey starts on April 9th, 2024. A YouTube video came on my recommended, I watched it. The video? "A perfect Batman villain: baby doll | Batman the animated series". Before this I had never considered Batman as something I could ever participate in. This video tipped the scales in Batmans favor and I decided, it's time. It's time to open the door to batman.

Two days later, April 11th, I start watching Batman: the animated series on HBOmax. The first episode on HBOmax is the cat & the claw part:1. This episode debuts Catwoman in this series, and is actually the first time I realized Catwoman was a villain. I guess I hadn't put that much thought into it before. I also learned that she was a love interest for Batman, interesting. It is to my understanding that he does not reciprocate her feelings, at least not to the capacity that she likes him. But I also believe that at the point of the series I am currently at, she likes Batman more than she likes Bruce Wayne. I also didn't know she was blonde, or that she had a cat partner or cats at all. These are trivial and minor things but it really goes to show how little I really knew. While I have continued watching, I have not yet reached the babydoll episode.

There were many notable villains I had not heard of before and have since learned about through watching. Such as Dr freeze, and clayface who I originally thought was the same man as the thing from marvel as I also know nothing about marvel outside of the two spider verse movies.

Two days later, April 13th, I watched the Lego Batman movie. It was...amazing. It was so good it made me scared, that no batman would ever compare and I would lose interest in my journey completely. (That has yet to happen). I enjoy the over exaggeration of the characters because as a complete beginner to this subject it helps me get general ideas about who characters are, even if it's a dumbed down uncomplicated version. Not to say Lego batman is dumb, no, the Lego batman movie is genius and perfect. I love how Batman and Joker's relationship is explored in an obviously, painfully obviously, queer coded way.

And I want to take this time to make an announcement. This is a serious rant about ship and stan politics. Not all jokers are the same, not all Batmans are the same. Every separate Batman universe is exactly that: separate. Characters will have different relationships in different universes and that's okay. Someone enjoying Lego Joker is not the same as enjoying suicide squad joker. Lego batjokes is not the same as Joker(2019) batjokes which is p3d0ph1l1a by the way, pointing that out because I've seen batjokes fanart with joker(2019) and it's. Ahem. This is a direct response to "you can't ship this because this character did x!" This logic does not apply to media with this many different universes. Different universes have different canon events, Lego Joker saves Gotham by holding hands with Batman, that is a completely different man to the killing joke joker.

Tw: S/A, skip this next paragraph if necessary

Spin off rant: for now I will not read the killing joke, I will not watch the killing joke. I've heard enough. While I would typically approve of a story exploring the complexities of the ties of joker and Batman, jokers backstory and what that means for everything else, the mirror images of batman and joker, I don't approve of the way this goes about it, it feels disrespectful to women, and also ridiculous at times. Sexual violence is overused. Sexual violence is overused by men as a sort of fantasy. According to secondary sources the creator of this comic uses sexual violence in almost all of his work. Why do you feel the need to express this over and over? Why are women overly exploited in horror media in a way that almost never advances the plot? What is the point? Because at this point you are obsessed, and it's weird. It leads me to believe this is something you think about way too much. Oops! Almost wrote something without rape in it sorry guys that was a close one. Imagine being a freak, couldn't be me.

Why does Batman laugh at the end of the killing joke. Is he stupid 🤔?

If you're mad about this I think you need to take a joke. Pun intended.

Um. Lego batman super good love that joker what a guy. In this movie I learned that poison ivy had a poison kiss, I don't know why I never thought about whether or not she was poisonous before. In the movie I think she has plant powers which I have seen displayed in the odd TikTok clip here and there but I think in Batman the animated series she isn't magical just a scientist so I'm not sure if the no magic is exlusive to the animated series or if it's just one of those things that depends on the media. I also learned that the penguin has actual penguins, in the Batman animated series I have yet to see any penguins, just a vulture?? Which I don't understand why he has.

2 days later April 15th I watch the Batman with Robert Pattinson. This movie was also pretty good. Really good. Another instance of me getting scared that nothing else will ever live up. My only hope for this, If my fears turn out to be true, is the sequel to this movie coming. I like how the central villain is The Riddler as well as honestly the people he was trying to expose. He had that right idea, wrong execution type of thing. Which I think is not necessarily to him being super duper evil but I think he's just emotionally unintelligent and mentally disturbed. He needs a really good talking to. I can see him being rehabilitated. It would take a long time because you know the incel adjacent pipeline is a deep hole to fall into and therefore a deep hole to be pulled out of. Despite being a homosexual man myself, I was not as attracted to the riddler as all the lesbians I know. Sorry I just had to say it. Something I really like about this movie is the humanization of a lot of villains like the penguin who in previous incarnations is really weird to say the least. I'm not saying weird is bad by the way. There's a perfectly good time and place for weird and campy and silly villains This particular Batman movie just wasn't that place and that's okay. Another aspect of this movie I think is really interesting is how it's different to other Batman media and the way that they portray Bruce Wayne. In a lot of Batman media, But I'm going to particularly call out Batman The animated series since it's the one I most familiar with at this time, Bruce Wayne is a heartthrob He's beloved by the people at least the rich people of Gotham. But in the Batman he is much more pathetic and emo you know, showing up to the club in the rain sopping wet with smudged eyeliner. I can't help but imagine a song on the world's smallest violin. I also think that this movie really shaped the way I perceive the villains by default because this being the first live-action movie I'm seeing a lot of these villains, It's hard to erase them from my mind when looking at other iterations. Maybe I'd be more apprehensive towards these representations of say the penguin and the Riddler If I had gotten used to the previous representations. But then again I don't know I am not active in the Batman fandom space. I don't know how other people feel about this so I don't know what I'm talking about.

Sometime after watching this movie I realized, wait a minute I have seen a Batman movie before, or at the very least a Joker movie. That's right, in 2019 I watched the Joker. It was mid. And if I'm totally honest I don't remember the entire thing, I remember important things I think. I remember that I didn't like it that much not for any specific reason It just didn't speak to me all that loudly and The fact that I didn't really like it that much probably discouraged me a bit from any other Batman movies even though I know it's silly since Batman is like in the movie for what 30 seconds or less as a child? I have also seen suicide squad the original with the Joker who shall not be named. But that came out in 2016 which was a notably horrible time in my life and so I do not remember anything about that movie or what it was about. So it's safe to say I basically haven't seen suicide squad.

Back to the penguin for a second. Sometimes he has three fingers and sometimes he has five. When he does have three fingers is there a reason for that? Was he born like that and if so is that the reason he's called the penguin or is him being the penguin the reason he has three fingers like is he part penguin or is he just a normal person who happens to have three fingers which is more common in real life however this is Gotham.

Back to catwoman, is her dad always falcone or is that made up for the Batman movie? Many questions indeed.

When I watch too many Batman the animated series episodes in a row I start getting a headache and the damn intro makes me want to bite the TV as well as all the music it seeps into my brain like poison so I have to microdose Batman. The most recent episode I watched was Christmas with the joker, what a jolly gay fellow.

When I started this journey I wasn't sure what to expect. But now at one month on Batman, I can feel the changes. They've appeared in my dreams. I think about them during the day. I see a nerdy ginger and I think "he could play the riddler." I drew Bruce Wayne as a woman. I posted year old fanfiction for a completely unrelated fandom but haven't kept posting because I've been writing Batman fanfiction everyday. I drew Bruce Wayne and Clark kent side by side to decode the differences between the two so if I make fanart in the future I can have distinct personalizations. I'm changing. I'm scared. I'm sick in the head. What have I become?

I have made a group chat that you are not invited to for all my Batman questions comments and concerns to discuss with my family and family adjacent. If one person comments asking for it I will leak the conversations from the group chat.

I had seen a lot of tiktoks in the past regarding the telltale Batman game. And I brought up to my sibling that I would play the game, however I saw a picture of the Joker dying and considering this is a nicer joker I didn't want to put myself through that. They told me he did not die in the game. So I bought it and haven't played it yet.

Anyways, that's my one month on Batman update stay tuned for my descent into Batman and let me know what you think I should watch next.

[rabbittstewcomics]

Episode 370

Comic Reviews:

DC

Batman: One Bad Day – Two Face by Mariko Tamaki, Javier Fernandez, Jordie Bellaire

Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special 1 by Paul Dini, Jimmy Palmiotti, Rob Williams, Sam Humphries, Cecil Castellucci, Mindy Lee, Rafael Scavone, Stephanie Phillips, Kami Garcia, Terry Dodson, Stjepan Sejic, Amanda Conner, Riley Rossmo, Guillem March, Rafael Albuquerque, Mico Suayan, Chad Hardin, Jason Badower, Rachel Dodson, Dan Hipp, Erica Henderson, John Timms, Marcelo Maiolo, Ivan Plascencia, Annette Kwok, Alex Sinclair, Tomeu Morey, Amy Mebberson

Titans United: Bloodpact 1 by Cavan Scott, Lucas Meyer, Tony Avina

Marvel

Edge of Spider-Verse 4 by Dan Slott, Tee Franklin, David Hein, Jordan Blum, Ty Templeton, Jethro Morales, Luciano Vecchio, Michael Shelfer, Chris Sotomayor, Brian Reber, Rico Renzi, Dono Sanchez Almara

X-Terminators 1 by Leah Williams, Carlos Gomez, Bryan Valenza

It’s Jeff by Kelly Thompson, GuriHiru

Image

Creepshow 1 by Chris Burnham, Adriano Lucas, Paul Dini, Stephen Langford, John McCrea, Mike Spicer

Vanish 1 by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Sonia Oback

Boom

Stuff of Nightmares 1 by R.L. Stine, A.L. Kaplan, Roman Titov

IDW

Crashing 1 by Matthew Klein, Morgan Beem, Triona Farrell

Archie

Chilling Adventures Presents Weirder Mysteries 1 by Frank Tieri, Joanne Starer, Ron Robbins, Juan Bobillo, Ryan Jampole, Federico Sabbatini

Oni

Action Journalism 1 by Eric Skillman, Miklos Felvideki, Mariane Gusmao

Valiant

Bloodshot Unleashed 1 by Deniz Camp, Jon Davis-Hunt

OGN

Mayor Good Boy Goes Hollywood by Dave Sheidt, Miranda Harmon

Order of the Night Jay: The Forest Beckons by Jonathan Schnapp

Ray’s OGN Corner: Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir

Additional Reviews: Clerks III, Howard the Duck by Chip Z, Andor 1-3, Umbrella Academy s3, She-Hulk ep6

News: Dark Horse leaves Diamond, Rogues Gallery headed to TV, Tini Howard and Sweeney Boo taking over Harley Quinn, James Earl Jones retires from playing Vader, WB Discovery madness, Wayne Family Adventures s2 release date, next Snyder book (Book of Evil, with Jock), live action Avatar casting, Giant Days Kickstarter (and Glenn’s questionable buying choices), Grendel adaptation canceled, Deadpool 3, Blade loses director

Trailers: Midnight Club, Hellraiser, Strange World, Knock at the Cabin, Enola Holmes, Inside Man, Devil’s Hour, Last of Us

Radiant Black 18 by Kyle Higgins, Laurence Holmes, Stefano Simeone

Usagi Yojimbo 31 by Stan Sakai

Wynd: The Throne in the Sky 2 by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas

Flash 786 by Jeremy Adams, Amancay Nahuelpan, Pete Pantazis, Jeromy Cox

Nightwing 96 by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Caio Filipe, Adriano Lucas

Ice Cream Man 32 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo

Lonesome Hunters 4 by Tyler Crook

Batman: The Knight 9 by Chip Zdarsky, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia

Public Domain 4 by Chip Zdarsky, 

Strange 6 by Jed MacKay, Lee Garbett, Javier Tartaglia

Check out this episode!

[soulmate-game]

Hey guys, I gotta tell you all about this hilarious dream I just had.

So today’s as an exhausting day at work, yeah? So I got home and took a nap. And naturally, I dream about work (I’m a barista at a Starbucks). Only, in this world all the DC and Marvel heroes are apparently real, I’m a guy in this dream, and —oh yeah, I’m Spider-Man.

Not Peter Parker, mind you, just my usual (except a male) identity by day and Spider-Man by— uh any time of day actually.

Anyway, I’m just doing my thing. Working in my secret identity, when we get a mobile order come in. For those of you who don’t know, each order prints individually and it has the drink name on top, worth any additions to it underneath in smaller text. Well, this random person somehow ordered a small milk with a donut in it. Which me and my dream-coworkers immediately call bullshit on, and we wait until a car comes in with someone claiming this order. And a slightly young boy’s voice comes over the speaker saying;

“Oh yeah, that was my mistake. Can you guys just give me a free donut and remake the actual drink I wanted at the window?” To which I shoved the dream-coworker who was talking to him gently out of the way, turned on my headset, and started to grill into this obviously entitled teenager. I said;

“Well, excuse me hon,” in my best customer service voice since he had been purposely upsetting the other baristas that spoke to him so I went Super Honey Sugary Sweet on this dream-douche. “But when you try to beat the system like this, you’re not just hurting some invisible corporation. You’re putting us at risk by trying to trick us into giving you free food, and as much as I might want to give you everything you want HON, I just can’t do that if I want to keep my job and not turn into a welcome mat. So here’s what I want you to do for me, hon. You’re gonna come inside and I’m gonna refund you the money you spent for the normal glass of milk. Then you are gonna place your order all over again, and maybe get a donut if you pay for it. Okay?”

So this kid gets intimidated as all hell and comes inside a few minutes later— with Nightwing in full costume escorting him with a large smug-ass smile on his face and a gentle you’re-in-trouble-but-it’s-funny hand on the kid’s shoulder.

The kid is a 100% sulking Damian Wayne.

For some reason, I know their identities and fade into the background as best as possibly while holding in giant guffaws of laughter. Because I did not plan this, but hell if I wasn’t amused. So Nightwing steers Damian to the counter and guides him into ordering properly and politely, and (to no one’s surprise out of dream but my in-dream DELIGHT) Damian orders a Nightwing Donut. Because apparently my dream-starbucks carries donuts of all the Gotham heroes but not one of Spider-Man, and that causes a split second of my dream-self in the back room of the Starbucks where nobody can see him, just sticking his tongue out immaturely at donuts.

Anyway, I come out and put the donut in a bag with a super unnecessarily flashy flourish, then proceed to pack like twelve more donuts for other orders in the span of three seconds like the Absolute Boss I Am, and then I pick up Damian’s donut and hand it to him with an Absolutely Teasing As Hell bow and flourish and say, “For his Milk Majesty,” to which Nightwing laughs and Damian just yanks the donut away and stomps out.

I try to fade back into the background, but suddenly I’m the only barista at the front of the store because all my coworkers went to the back to gush about “omg Nightwing” and it gives the hero in question the perfect opportunity to smile, wink at me, and do the web slinging gesture at me with his hand before leaving like the goddamn troll he is.

In-dream me had a major internal breakdown (the only thought running through my brain was: “Shit.” )

Then the dream cuts out, like dreams sometimes do, only to fade into a connected episode-two kind of dream. Where there is this show that talks about all the Heroes and goes through segments talking about powers, skills, and random embarrassing moments they captured etc. etc. of course, me being the gremlin I am, I somehow interrupt the show right after they finish going through all the Batfam except Robin, who was next. My little cartoony Spiderman face just appears ON THE TV looking smug as hell, and dream-me knows I am actually in the studio being a gremlin showing up out of nowhere, and I steal the show. I do my own segments for the heroes that are satirical as all hell, the staff is mad but also doesn’t know how to deal with me popping up out of nowhere—

And then my doorbell rung and woke me up. I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed at a dream being interrupted IN MY LIFE.

[frasier-crane-style]

Watching Snyder League

-Diana literally vaporizes a guy armed with nothing but an assault rifle.

-Also, these have gotta be like the dumbest terrorists. Their plan:

A. Send multiple armed gunmen to take hostages.

B. Stall for time

C. Set off a suitcase bomb on a one minute countdown (why not just set it off immediately? It's In The Script)

You have a suitcase bomb--just park a car somewhere, set the timer, leave it in the trunk, and walk away. You can kill as many people as you want without losing any of your own guys.

-Superman's scream sends out five separate shockwaves. Which makes me think the guy's milking it, personally.

- I'm amused that both SOP for the Amazons is having, like, fifty people standing around guarding the Mother Box. AND that they don't ramp up security after it wakes up.

- And there's this system of burying the Mother Box.  Which 1. seems like the only way to get there in the first place is to teleport in. What good is this system against a teleporter?

2. It takes six guards to suicide themselves by knocking down pillars, which seems like--in five thousand years, you couldn't come up with something where you just pull a level from twenty feet away?

This is the problem with the Amazons. They're all women, so none of them go into STEM fields.

- It's also real weird that this Bruce Wayne doesn't even try to hide that he's Batman. He just walks right up to Aquaman and goes "hey, Bruce Wayne, I'm also Batman." And remember, he's getting the Justice League together entirely based on a hunch. At least in Josstice League, there were Parademons all up in Gotham.

- And should I even bother to ask why Darkseid's people can't just bring three new Mother Boxes to Earth? Are those the only three? If so, you'd think they'd try to get them back sooner. Like, A LOT sooner.

- Okay, this was supposed to come out one year before Infinity War, but still, it was pretty obvious what Marvel was doing with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet. They had to know they were inviting comparisons.

-I love the implication, tho, that Darkseid just lost track of the Mother Boxes and just... no one realized they were back on Earth. And they have Parademons that can specifically sniff out the Mother Boxes. 

-And if Superman dying was such a momentous occasion that it woke up a Mother Box, why not the Old Gods dying? Why not Ares dying? Wouldn't that have left Earth just as undefended?

-I have no idea why any of this is happening a couple years after Superman debuted and then died and not in, like, 1446.

-Are the Mother Boxes like finicky computers? Do you need to turn them off and on again? When Superman showed up, did they shut down for real, and then he died, so they came back on for real? Is it like a Windows 95 thing, where you can't JUST turn the computer off, you have to go to the start menu and press Shutdown and then wait for it to close up shop?

-It’s so weird that this is supposed to be a Dark, Mature Adaptation For Adults! And it doesn’t have the same basic logic you’d get from an episode of Power Rangers. 

-So. Much. Daddy issues.

-Please stop letting Ezra Miller improv.

-They cast like the gayest man in America to play the one guy with a love interest.

-Diana: "I lost someone I loved once." Well, twice, but who's counting?

-All those reshoots and they couldn't get Amber Heard to knock off the British accent?

-Why is Desaad, of all people, Darkseid’s dragon? Is it just because they were rifling through all the Fourth World saga to find the few guys with scary names instead of Granny Goodness or Virman Vundabar?

- And they really play up Darkseid appearing to Steppenwolf, but we've not only already seen him in the big flashback, we saw him get his ass kicked by Zeus of all people.

- And the whole thing where Steppenwolf is part of Darkseid's 'family' really isn't helping the Thanos-Nebula-Gamora comparison.

-It's weird to introduce Darkseid as the guy who was already beaten once. Wouldn't it make more sense that Steppenwulf was the guy who lost, and that allowed Darkseid to take over, and now he's trying to redeem himself for his defeat? Or that Darkseid was never defeated at all, but someone stole the Anti-Life Equation from him and hid it on Earth? Something. Instead, it’s literally just randomly burnt into the crust of the Earth, Darkseid discovers it, then forgets all about it for reasons the movie doesn’t get into despite being four damn hours long.

-It’s only the central plot, whatever, forget about it.

- Pretty sure Kal eye-lasered a couple Army guys to death after he was resurrected, not that he ever gives a shit.

-Third big reveal of Darkseid. Come on, you've shown him three times now. We've heard him talk.

-And this does the same thing as Josstice League with Superman being more powerful than the rest of the JLA put together. Here, he even no-sells Steppenwolf's axe. He just lets it hit him and it doesn’t do shit. So Doomsday could kill him, but Steppenwolf can't even scratch him. And yet Wonder Woman seems pretty evenly matched with both, if not outclassed by Steppenwolf.

-Barry Allen spends the whole climax running in a circle. And he fails at it! Dude's really retarded when he doesn't have Team STAR Labs cheering him on.

-He also casually travels back in time to undo his side getting a Game Over, which makes you wonder how any conflict in this universe can ever have any stakes. Say what you will about Endgame, but at least they explain why time travel can’t solve every problem they ever have.

-Hell, the Mother Boxes can bring people back to life. The example used is literally “it can turn smoke back into a house.” Why not bring Joe Morton back to life? He did a good job in T2, c’mon.

-Speaking of, according to TV Tropes, Ray Fisher got to come up with his own backstory for Cyborg (”I don't praise Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder for simply putting me in Justice League. I praise them for EMPOWERING me (a black man with no film credits to his name) with a seat at the creative table and input on the framing of the Stones before there was even a script!”), which makes it kinda hilarious that this movie’s characterization of Cyborg is that he’s a genius sports hero who also loves helping out the underprivileged.

-AND his big conflict with his dad is that Silas Stone was never there for him, as literally represented by there being an empty seat next to his mom at Vic’s big sportsball game. So apparently the black experience is indistinguishable from Austin Powers In Goldmember. Who knew?

-What else? It's weird that the narrative tries to put some importance in Martha Kent, but then in her big scene with Lois, she's really Martian Manhunter (not kidding) and when Superman is resurrected, he hears encouraging words ONLY from Jor-El and Jonathan. All she really contributes to the story is hugging Superman after he comes back.

-Also, Batman spends a lot of time in the climax shooting people with a rifle. They're bug people and it's, like, a Halo rifle, but still. You can tell Snyder's just chomping at the bit to have Batman carry around a Colt Commando.

-They give no shits about secret identities in this, so why do they still bother with putting a shitty distortion effect on Batfleck's voice? He has a pretty good Batman voice outside the suit, but once he puts it on, he starts sounding like he's giving a blowjob to Daft Punk.

-One of the movie’s, like, four cliffhangers is Lex Luthor telling Deathstroke about Batman’s secret identity, because Deathstroke has a private vendetta against Batman and is out to get him. Of all the Bat rogues who are solely motivated by taking out Batman--why choose Deathstroke, the guy that’s just a mercenary for hire, to characterize as simply hating Batman? (They also imply Batman took out Deathstroke’s eye and THAT’S the big feud between him and--guys. C’mon. This was really supposed to be a whole movie of Deathstroke getting revenge for his eye?)

- The movie ends with them making Wayne Manor the JLA headquarters--God, just tell me if secret identities matter or not.

-Did we really need two ‘beyond the impossible’ scenes back to back, one for Cyborg and one for the Flash?

-Oh, it’s not Arkham Asylum, it’s ‘Arkham Home For The Emotionally Troubled.’ Was this supposed to be one of those Arrowverse things where they call it Starling City for a while, only to rebrand it Star City because that’s somehow better than just calling it Star City in the first place?

- "[Snyder] also said that the reason Darkseid lost track of which world the Mother Boxes were left on was because he was gravely injured and their forces sent limping away, and upon returning to Apokolips had to fight a civil war for the throne (possibly the event hinted where Steppenwolf betrayed him), wherein their records were lost." Imagine having a movie four hours long and not explaining the fucking backstory.

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Della Arc Reviews: The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!

Hello all you happy people. I’ve been dreading this one.. not because it’s bad. Quite the oppisite. In fact on rewatch I was marveling at how brilliant this one was and remembering why it was on my best of list. But because the ending, as you all well know, is the most gutwrenching part of the entire series. Three seasons and lots of other heartrending moments.. and the ending of this episode from the big reveal to that final shot above tears you the fuck apart. It’s hard to watch even know it all works out in the end and that i’d be watching the conclusion the next day instead of having to wait a rather painful week like I did at first airing. It’s just that good. So join me under the cut for a review of one of the series finest half hours and some of David Tennant’s best work as we crash the Sunchaser one last time.. for this season... and i think Launchpad crashes it again in the finale so I don’t get that title. 

So our plot for the episode is that 

Yes Clan McDuck is taking their version of a vacation. It’s off to Monocrow for the E.X.C.E.S.S. Expo! Yes it’s the EXCESS Expo! With the latest in racecars lasers and many more! The EXCESS Expo! With booths from such welcome guests as Stark International, Muppet Labs, S.T.A.R. Labs, VenTech, The Franklin Sherman Memorial Fishmobabywhirlomgig Institute, TCRI, Gryzzl, Sumdac Systems, G-Heavy Industries, Tylerco, Lexcorp, Wayne Enterprises, Quickstart, The Gizmonic Institute, Alchemax,and Baintronics! But that’s not all! We also have huge paneeellls! Hank Pym’s “The ethics of dating your robot grandaughter”, Reed Richards “How to Dispatch an Evil Council made up entirely of yourself!”, Victor Von Dooms “CURSE YOU RICHARDS I’M SMARTER FOR I AM DOOM”, Stanford Pines with “How to Kill a Godlike Demon and Get your Smile Back”, Dr. Bunsen Hondedew with “How to abuse your assitant in 2020″ Dr.Light with “The Ethics of helping your robot child fight an evil albert einstein”, Profesor Henry Hidgens with “The incoming apocalypse with songs from Working Boys: A New Musical” Ray Palmer “Welcome To Pain”, and you know our friend Ass Dan will be in full effect> yeah bitch you know he’s going to live forev... what’s that? He’s dead. oh shame. Someone call rusty venture. Yes I know i’m typing this. Shut up. THE EXCESS EXPO. BE THERE OR WE’LL SEND OUR ROBOTS AFTER YOU. 

... Where.. Where was I? Oh yes, big vacation. Monocrow.. which sadly is not just a big field with just Crow T. Robot in it. Someday you’ll get MST3K/Ducktales Jake, someday. Point is our heroes are excited, and Scrooge is also there to find the Maltese MacGuffin, a mysterious artifact no one’s ever seen. And the kids and Scrooge have their own specail guest joining them: Bentina! Yeah turns out she has hundreds of vacation days built up, and simply hasn’t used them so she’s using a few to join them. It also once again shows how much less of a heartless money monster this Scrooge is as any of his employees asking for a vacation, paid or not, in the comics would result in this:

So their off on their greatest adventure.. with Louie having’ bought something mysterious along with him he’s only telling the other kids about. On with the intro!

Beakly.. is intstantly not at ease as they take off after driving their jeep into the plane. She feels launchpad is reckless, rightfully so not helped by a lack of seatbelts on the plane or his cheefully saying the closest he’s got, a floatie, will help “When” we crash. She’s also equally annoyed by Scrooge’s cavalier attitude, having intrusted the kids to him only to find out what the adventueres are really like. And this is the only part of the episode that REALLY doesn’t work. She KNOWS these two idiots too well for this to be beliviable. Launchpad wrecks part of the mansion at least once a day, and before Duckworth she had to clean that shit up. He’s there all the time.. and more damingly HE DROVE YOU AND YOUR KID, YOUR KIDS BEST FRIENDS, AND YOUR KIDS GIRLFRIEND TO THE FUCKING MOVIES. I can’t buy given how bad a driver launchapd is she didn’t wrench the wheel from him to prevent their early graves. Scrooge meanwhile is her BEST FRIEND. And until season 2 for her and 3 for him ONLY friend. Sure she works for him, but outside of one incident in this episode he treats her as his equal more than his housekeeper for the entire series. They trust each other more than anyone else at this point. And the only other two people Scrooge ends up trusting as much are Donald and Della. She’s been around him enough to know how he is. What did she THINK he was going to be like with the kids? She’s met the twins, and even mroe so is on good terms with Donald even into the pilot and they only got off on bad terms due to clashing over house rules. So she KNWOS this is what he does with children. You can’t be shocked Scrooge took children on death defying adventures in a barely secured plane after all this time. It’d be like giving Donald a turkey to carve and being suprised when it ends in this...

It just dosen’t work especially with a professional spy! Her job is reading people! And yes I know many of you are going to say “Well she misread Bradford”... but so did Scrooge and so many others. NO ONE suspected him. He’s that good. So her suddenly having a complaint about all this stuff when she could’ve come along anytime to check it out or just looked at the plain bothers me a LOT. Thankfully it’s only really present at the start as while it sets off her concern their back and forth soon has a far deeper meaning. But Scrooge insists Launchpad take her on a tour to ease her worry, seems like a contrdictary set of sentences there, while he flies. How hard could it be. Somewhere on the Moon, Della has the sudden urge to kick her uncle’s ass. 

So meanwhile in a secret base set up in a cargo box, the kids are working on the Della mystery. Turns out what Louie smuggled aboard was the documents shredded on the date the boys found on the Spear of Selene plans. Louie got them by smooth talking Quackfaster who even he found nuts. It also once again shows Dewey was only holding things back by keeping the other boys out as in jus weeks, since chronologically there were two other episodes between this and the last Della episode versus just one, their almost to the truth as one document from that day is simply torn into pieces and simply needs to be re-jiggered like a puzzle. Like most puzzles though naturally once they get it all together they find there’s one goddamn piece missing and it ends up loose int he plane flitting around... just as Scrooge majorly screws up and bumps things, leading Beakly to wonder where the kids are and them to scramble out. 

So yeah Scrooge seemingly crashed the plane.. except Launchpad notes that if they crashed.. why are they still airborne? This leads to everyone finding out their precariously perched on a VERY narrow rock that’s skewered the plane. Orignially the crew decided to strictly adhere to the concept that any movement would rock the thing.. but realized i’td make things boring visually so they allowed themselves some artistic license. 

So yeah our heroes are stuck in a hard place and Scrooge stubbornly digs in insisting he can fix this and turns on the plane.. which sends it spinning and prevents Dewey from getting the piece which ends up wedged in the jeep. Huh I think we need some appropriate music for going in circles. 

So yeah all Scrooge did was blow up one of the engines... I mean the blow up the engine button is right there, would’ve saved you some time. So Beakley berates him for not calling for help and digging in and for it’s next plan it’s time for Handyman Corner where he’s going to show you how to jumpstart a plane with a jeep’s engine. Beakly is not impressed and Scrooge’s case is not helped as Louie feigns fear , with Huey and Webby following his lead, so Dewey can get the piece. Unfortunately pointing out the very REAL dangers they face, with Huey giving the odds and Webby pointing out unlike most dangers they face there’s no easy way out and no villian to fight, sends Louie into an actual panic, jumpstarting the car  and causing the cargo bay to open, leading to one hell of a sequence: From Bentina driving a butterfly knife into the ground to hold the kid’s secret base crate (and wondering why it’s so heavy), to Launchpad desperatley platforming his way to saftey to scrooge swining in with his cane to rescue them. It’s some whopper animation that really shows off how damn good the team was and how gorgeous this show truly was at it’s best. 

The results aren’t good: the plane’s ballnce is now off so even a slight movement can move it, a holdover from the original idea simply saved for when it’d create the most tension. As a result Dewey can’t get the last piece as he can’t move and Scrooge berates the kids and has thems tay still watching the end credits of darkwing duck (It’s launchpad’s inflight movie and the tape is jammed to that section.

IT’s here the Scrooge and Beakley stuff went from poorly written to “oh shit” in one line. Scrooge is getting more and more desperate to prove he can take care of the kids on his own but Beakely’s demeanor has turned from annoying scolding.. to genuine concern and PLEADING with him not to go through with another dumb stunt that will leave them in a worse situation, int his case using the parachutes as counterweights to fix the engine. He refuses both rebuffing her as “your boss” (Which gets her rightfully pulling on the cord too tight) .. but then that one line comes in “I can protect her”. Beakley is confused.. but it instantly makes clear this is about Della and on rewatch now knowing the reveal at the end.. it makes it that much more heartbreaking. Part of his refusal to backdown is his natural nature as a stubborn ass. It’s been well displayed throughout this season and the ones after it: HIs refusal to backdown from nevverst, his jealousy of Dewey for being better at him and his refusal to accept it.. the man just does not back down and while it’s good in tight spots and against bad guys, as he finds a way out for him and his family with sheer grit and badassery... it’s a massive character flaw when dealing with people, as refusing to actually talk to them like a ratoinoal adult only makes things worse. And boy oh boy is he about to make things worse. But the other part is he can’t admit to himself there’s a risk in his lifestyle and that he can’t keep everyone safe constantly.. that theres inherent danger. He’s bought into the “because i’m scrooge mcduck” mantra here not out of his ego, entirely, but because he can’t let that not be enough again. He can’t LOOSE someone again like he lost Della and he can’t fail again. So his worst trait and his greatest trauma have mixed to make him act so rashly even Launchpad takes some shouting to agree to give him the other parachute. It’s clear he’s endangering EVERYONE to prove he can save them. 

Eventually though things reach their head as Dewey CAN’T take the wait anymore. He’s waited his whole life to find out about his momma, and the answer’s feet away... and he can’t let it sit any longer. He HAS to know what happened. So he goes for it, though the rest of the kids are against it since i’ts highly risky and they can wait Huey ends up agreeing to help using his Junior Woodchuck knowledge (Where Newton apparently got the idea), to counterbalance hsi weight and guide him via walkee talkee. It’s a really nice moment, not only showing off Huey’s skill and intellect but also how much they care for her. Dewey may of screwed up last time but their still the duck boys and if he can’t talk him out of being sucidially reckless.. Huey’s going to at least give him a fighting chance. 

Unfortunately Scrooge spots him mid argument with Beakley and naturally wants him to give it here... but once the ship buckles when Dewey tries we get the scene that makes the episode. Up till now the tension has been top notch, ratcheting up by bit, not knowing if the kids would get caught, if something would happen with the plane all building to this. Scrooge and Dewey’s final chase. Dewey uses the distraction to make a runner for it with Scrooge following.. and Launchapd using the fact he’s still attached to the airbag to stop him. It’s a small but excellent character moment, showing that as much as Launchpad loves his boss.. he loves his best friend and eveyrone else’s saftey more. SCrooge of course uses it to knock him back while Beakley and the kids counterbalance. We also get the best joke of the episode as Beakley tells them to stop running.. only for them to simply start tip toeing, with Bentina’s reaction being a perfectly resigned “That’s not what I meant and you know it”. 

It’s a tense chase, with both sides using the enviorment to their advantage from the parachute to the crate.. and it’s breaking open reveals something’s gonig on and causes Beakley to notice Webby has the blueprints in her pocket and once she unfurls them and finds out what they are.. she can only give a sad, remorseful “oh children, what have you been up to” She’s not even mad like they seem to think.. she’s just sad, knowing the wound that’s about to be reopened for her closest friend and the one that’s about to be inflicted on those poor children, and knowing that they’re ALL made it worst by hiding it. Toks deserves all the praise for her delivery here. 

Eventually the piece blows outside of the plane and Dewey refuses to give up and go after it. Things get their most tense as everyone BEGS him not to come back, it’s not worth his death to get this. It’s not worth all of this. But he simply chucks the walkee away and ignores them. We then get Scrooge going from scolding grandpa.. to dearly begging Dewey to come back... David’s delvery here is just heartbreaking “I can’t protect you. Is that what you wanted me to say. Please lad just tell me what it will take to come back inside?” And Ben Schwartz meets it with an utterly emotional “Tell me about the spear of selene”. The animation here is once again some of the series best with Dewey’s determined face and Scrooge’s heartbreak as he realizes he has to finally stop hiding this from them and he’s not ready. So he takes his uncles hand.. and if you thought all of this is painful.. oh boy.. we’re just getting started. 

So back in the plane, with Launchpad setting up a table and a proper counterbalance so they can all sit, Scrooge finally explains and the boys, webby, and us int he audience all get the answers we desperately wanted: It was 10 1/2 years ago. The Original Trio had journeyed the world, having all sorts of adventures and making themselves into legends. But eventually you hit a wall and they’d realized they’d been just about everywhere. They could still globetrot of courser and as Season 3 would bear out there were some places they didn’t know about.. but the earth was about used up. So Della, being an aerospace wunderkind, thought of the next logical place to go. The stars. The Spear of Selene was a rocket, her pet project to give her kids, who she was expecting at the time the stars. 

Thing was Donald wasn’t on board with this at all. And the clash between the two, which we see in the flashback but don’t hear since Scrooge is narrating all of this over some cool looking semi-still images, was inetiviable. As I coverd in the spear of selene review I feel Donald was burnt out at this point. That he was tired of adventures and just wanted normalcy even before Scrooge forced his hand with what was to happen next. So to him Della should just settle down, live a regular life and raise those kids. The problem is... Della WASN’T burnt out. She didn’t need a break to live a normal life like Donald badly needed. She wanted to keep going and it was her choice. While Donald ultimately was right about the risk, he was wrong to try and force her into a life she didn’t want and project on her like that. 

What happened next though was all on Scrooge and Della. Scrooge simply did the thing that’s likely part of why Donald resents him so much and it took so long to fix thing: He ignored what Donald felt and thought, sided with Della and built the ship without telling either of them. His selfishness, thinking he knows what best and treatment of donald.. all backfired horribly. Della sussed out the ship.. and I still feel she was suspicious on her own.. and that Bradford telling her was him simply handing her a lit fuse knowing it’d go off and WHATEVER happened as a result of this would break scrooge. Even if the rocket had gone off saftely and everything was fine.. he could easily claim Della threatned him,k which she probably did and he simply went with it, and either way Donald would be unable to forgive either SCrooge or Della for the deciet. It just went better, and worse than he could’ve anpiciapted: much like the fantastic four she took the ship in the dead of night and hit a cosmic storm, with Scrooge only finding out in time to try and help her.. but the storm hit the ship.. and unlike the ff instead of gaining the power to turn invisible, she simply disappeared. She was lost. He and Donald didn’t speak again after Donald found out till 6 months ago. 

If that wasn’t heartbreaking enough.. it gets worse. The kids, full of fresh pain and anger over Scrooge’s part in things, their mom abandoning them, and their uncles hiding this for decades.. take it out on the one person there. Frank and Matt recently said in an artcle detailing the best 7 episodes from one site, or at least what the site considered to be the best, that Donald was absent because  he also knew and would’ve told them sooner. I also feel it’s because he would’ve disarmed this conflict, at least admitting what scrooge did alongside beakley. As mad as he was.. his own anger had started to disapate. The wound was fresh to the boys and thus they lashed out. 

Dewey blames him for it outright, Huey tell shim he should’ve called her back, and Louie tells him he shoudl’ve sent a fleet of ships to find her. As we find out in the somehow even MORE crushing ending he did the last two and as I made clear, and the show does, this was Della’s horrible decision. She took an unfinsihed rocket, she left her kids, she did this. While she regretted it and I don’t hold it against her because she spent 10 years away from the mon the moon, she’s suffered THROUGHLY for it and I don’t feel I need to pile on, Scrooge wasn’t wholly responsible. Still partly. Dewey makes things worse by impling scrooge GAVE UP ON HER because it cost too much. 

Look the rest of it is valid, if misguided, as Beakley tries to chime in on it and correct them knowing the full story. But claming, no matter how greedy he is that Scrooge would ABANDON HER.. that’s just wrong and he knows it. It’s why Scrooge gets so upset.. and why he pushes the last two people in his corner away. Webby critisizes building the rocket and Scrooge belts out “This is a family matter, your not family”. runing his position and poisiong his one ally by lashing out at someone who DID NOT DESERVE THIS. Make no mistake, this is present day scrooge’s WORST action. The past scrooge did worse, we saw that, but this is almost worse than the goat thing. Telling a child h’ed basically adopted, ignoring the finale twist for this as it’s irrelvant and all it does is twist the knife deeper, that “she’s not family” just because he wants someone to be mad at besides his boys... that’s fowl. Everyone’s against him except launchpad and tha’ts where his stubbornesst ragically comes in: he digs in his heels refuses to explain.. and the plane crashes due to it. though safely. Their safe.. but the family is broken. 

So we get our hell of an ending scenes. Donald cheerfully announces to the boys, who earlier had no intention of leaving anyway, the boats finished.. only for Dewey to inform him “We know abotu the spear of selene” . Donald is heartbroken, not only that they know.. but that he didn’t tell them. 

But since “it gets worse” is this episodes motto, we end on Beakley, Webby and Duckworth all leaving on vacation. How a ghost does vacations I dunno, maybe he’s going to go to Amity Park. Point is Webby, despite EVERYTHING , is crestfallen he’s not even going to say goodbye and still worried. As I said in my review of the finale.. it’s her heart that makes her and while Scrooge may be a dick right now.. he’s family. So we get the final lines of the episode Beakley: Well, you've successfully pushed your family and everyone who ever cared about you away... again. I hope you're happy. Scrooge:I AM

It’s just damn heartbreaking.. once again he’s lost everything and is too bitter to admit it and try and get it back. And as we see between the lines.. the boys were wrong: He drained his bin and his buisnesses creating a fleet to get Della back, and kept going despite the expense. He did everything he could to call her back. Nothing worked.. and he only stopped because the board yanked him away, Bradford sneering with pride as his plan, which backfired HORRIBLY, had at last finally gotten him what he wanted: a broken scrooge tired of adventure. And as Scrooge sits in his chair seething.. he’s broken again, angry, with tears in his eyes, loving nobody.. and nobody loving him, eerily mimickcking his first appearance in comics. 

Final Thoughts: 

This episode is a masterpice. It’s perfectly paced, with only a minor flaw tha’ts qwuickly snuffed out for a gripping drama. This was a gamble, taking 9 minutes where ther’es almost no jokes and just pure tensino and heartbreak.. but it paid off. This episode is one of the series finest and leads to one hell of a finale but on it’s own.. it’s nigh untouchable. This is the series at it’s best, and the finale and later information (More about Della and the spear, WEbby’s true origin, bradford’s role in all this and role as head of fowl), only make it better, with all those things being aware to the creators but not us. They really made us wait for this reveal but damn if it wasn’t perfect. 

Next Time: Webby, Bentina and Launchpad try to desperatley piece the family back together before the boys and donald leave forever.. and Scrooge’s darkest hour leaves him vunerable for his greatest foe. It’s finally time to get back to Lena as the Shadow War descends over our heroes.

If you liked this review, follow for more and you can comission your own reviews by paying me 5 bucks to review any episode you like. Message me to talk it over. And if you’d rather get a gaurantted review every month, hit up my patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet. For 5 bucks a month you get a review every month and as of now special thanks in each review. Even a buck a month gets the thanks and helps and my next stretch goal, which is 5 bucks away nets everyone a review of darkwing duck everymonth for my lovely patreons to vote on. Special thanks to my patreons Emma and Kev, and I will see you at the next rainbow. 

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb and the voice of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, just did a zoom call for fans, and this is a link to it on Google Drive and a link to it on YouTube.

Here’s a brief overlay brought to you by my incessant live blogging, and because I was speed typing on my phone, I can guarantee not everything made the cut. If you’re interested in hearing Dan talk about growing up an artist and becoming an animator and trying to pitch Phineas and Ferb and working on the show and movies, I would definitely suggest checking out the full 75 minute video. The highlights from the call are below the cut.

They added Doof and Perry because they liked chase scenes. They realized fairly quickly that more than not, the pair led to good comedy, and found it much more interesting to see how their relationship developed. He also says that they are "the most important person to each other” and “they’re really good friends.”

They wrote the Perry theme song in an hour between meetings with Disney

They decided during the pilot that they weren't going to try to get comedy from the characters saying mean things to each other. Even Doofenshmirtz wasn't motivated by evil, he just wanted to get the attention he didn't get at home.

Doof’s backstories were not Dan and Swampy's idea. They were from Jon Barry and Chris Hendrick, who [itched the lawn gnome backstory. It was long and compliated and Dan and Swampy couldn’t stop laughing. They also provided the "it all started on the day of my birth” one the next day.

making the 2D movie while making the movie was the busiest Dan says he has ever been, and that's not even counting the PnF Take Two and Doof's web show and all the interviews. Basically, 2010ish was a very busy time in the Dwampyverse.

They decided to give each pair of writers their own section of an outline to work on, and each pair got to make up the dialogue and jokes based on it. it works well for the show, but writers kept going on their own tangents and the movie ended up like 6 hours long. Dan and Kyle Menke had to redraw 80% of the show because they had to cut gags out and rewrite it so it was still funny. Note: in the new movie, they did the opposite — they wrote a script and told the board artists that they could put brief gags in but nothing too long

He thinks the show became one of the most beloved shows bc it was innocent and the adult humor wasn't dirty so the whole family could watch it together. He also said the songs at the closest thing you get to immortality in a show. Those combined made the show as big of a hit as it was, and hopefully those things will get older people to watch the movie.

His advice if you want to follow in his footsteps are to draw (and suggest you check out Cartoon Animation by Preston Blaire and How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee) and to know that these jobs are out there

One of his favorite gags in PnF are the silent moments where something big happens and no one reacts (like something big fell in an early episode and crashed next to Phineas and co and at first they were all shocked but Dan changed it to them just kinda looking at it for a moment with no emotion)

Q: Did you ever want to quit what you were going?

A: "I don't really... do... anything else..."

He finished his new pilot today (July 2nd, 2020) and the movie is due tomorrow.

He would love to do more PnF and there's been talks of another PnF movie

He would love to do more Milo Murphy's Law, but it never got huge ratings and Disney's not too big on it but if people start watching it on Disney+ they might get to keep doing it. They did that with Family Guy, and it could happen to MML too.

The movie feels like old Phineas and Ferb and there are a lot of great songs! 

And now, the Q&A (in which he draws random characters are he talks)

How was the process of kicking the voices?

It was sometime easy but sometimes very difficult. For Phineas, they listened to maybe a thousand people. they actually recorded someone but they put it to animation and it didn't really work. He knew as soon as he heard Vincent that he loved him. They literally recasted the lead (Vincent) the day before they had to deliver the pilot.

He knew immediately that he liked Alison Stoner. She was the second Isabella he heard, and he listened to maybe 50 others afterwards, but he knew he wanted Alison Stoner

They decided on a different Candace and they sent it to the head of the channel and the guy asked if he heard Ashley Tisdale. He told Dan to have her come in and give her direction and Dan was hesitant bc he had one that he liked but he was lowkey forced to bring her in. It was his only audition that day, and after his big block of text Dan gave her like 20 notes and she wrote the notes on the big block of text and she did it again and it was perfect and obviously Candace (but he feels bad for the actress that was almost Candace bc she'll never know how close she was)

What was the most impactful episode you worked on?

Either the last (hard to watch w/o crying) or three moments that made himcey while doing them: the end of Summer Belongs To You when Phineas gives up trying to get off the island and decides to watch the sunset with Isabella which was what she always wanted and she exploded and talked him back up onto being the person he is even tho it's a sacrifice on her behalf. He later says he started crying while pitching to his wife the AYA scene of Phinabella getting together.

Do you regret any episodes?

There are some he likes more and some he likes less but he doesn't regret any of them. He was a little disappointed in an early episode without a sing but he watched it alter and decided it was actually pretty decent. None of them make him cringe or wonder why they did that.

How has social media impacted PnF?

He recently got on TikTok and found out that's where all the PnF fans are. He was thrilled to see the response everything was getting and it made him feel good about everything he accomplished. The fact that this generation knows what an aglet is is his biggest accomplishment in pop culture.

Favorite part of working on the show/movie

He likes editing, but writing the songs is the most fun bc it feels the least like work

Who is Ferb's mom?

Never established or really thought about Ferb's mom or Phineas's dad AND IT'S NOT DOOFENSHMIRTZ THEY MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THAT TO BE TRUE STOP ASKING and Phineas and Candace are full brother and sister. The bio parents aren't interesting to them bc the family already has a mom and dad and the other ones are just out of the picture and not important.

Will there be a new character in the movie?

Super Super Big Doctor (and Disney keeps telling him what he can and can't talk about)

Are there any secrets or theories that he can tell them?

The freaking creepy pasta about schitzophrenic Candace IS NOT TRUE Phineas and Ferb do exist and are alive. There's also a theory that Candace is not based on the diary of a teen girl in Russia who killed herself, and that's not true either. He genuinely thinks they are really freaking stupid theories and they make no sense at all.

Who is your favorite guest star?

Writing a song with Slash from Guns n Roses was really cool. He also liked working with Ben Stiller, Christian Slater the delivery guy (he called and said he'd do any part in MML so they wrote him a role), Jack McBrayer (Irving/Fix It Felix), Wayne Brady (co-wrote In The Empire)

What is the motivation of Candace to bust the boys?

He's not trying to hurt them. She doesn't dislike them. She gets irritated but she's really just looking for fairness. If she built a rollercoaster in the backyard, she'd get in trouble, so they should get in trouble, too.

How did you think about hot to end the show?

Disney was starting to cool off on PnF. The merch wave had plateaued. Dan and Swampy had the next two years in the show already made, but Disney wouldn't pick up another season until they finished airing that season. They'd have to restaff for a new season and they didn't like that idea, so they turned one of their hour long specials into the finale. He wanted to be able to say goodbye and thank the fans.

[typinggently]

I feel like feral!bruce would like to wear body glitter. Just a slutty outfit that reveals as much of his body as he can without showing off his scars and absolutely covered in body glitter that reflects the lights of the chandelier at a fancy gala (he's not following the dress code, but who cares when hes hot and rich?) OR the neon lights at a shady club in the dangerous part of Gotham. Thoughts.

Anon…your mind… y.y I love this so much…the concept of Feral Bruce in a glittery outfit is truly incredible and I love it so much

I also spent a hoot minute sorting through my thoughts and I found something that’s similar to glitter, but gives more protection for his scars (while still showing skin and being sexy AND being glitter)? And it’s those glittery diamond chain shirts?

You know, like this piece by Ludovic de Saint Sernin (you KNOW I love that specific collection, I used it before for Feral Bruce Fashion simply because I adore the combination of glitter, black and revealing outfits…unparalleled)  -

Put him in proper black suit and voilà!!! Maybe velvet? To really give it that overkill feeling? Or keep it classy with a matte, nicely cut suit to balance out that top? Also by suit I mean trousers and the jacket. Leave the jacket open and you have that gorgeous piece just glittering underneath, showing plenty of skin while not showing too much, you know? He doesn’t have to worry about the scars because they’re sufficiently hidden underneath the glitter AND the pink of his nipples still shines through. That’s fashion. That’s a Gala Outfit right there.

And actually???? Maybe? He goes the extra mile and wears this dress version??? Now of course he still wears trousers, he wouldn’t want to cause a scene. Never. Not him. But it’s more glitter and shows more skin so…

Also I refuse to believe that he wouldn’t be wearing diamond clip earrings. Maybe he wouldn’t pierce his ears because, like tattoos, they could somehow give him away, but clips are a-ok.

And see – he’s wearing a suit. It’s a suit event. He’s following the dress code. And as you said – he’s hot and rich, who’s going to stop him?

But now – he’s at the Gala, dressed to the nines, what does he do? I say he goes to the DJ who’s playing tasteful 60s cocktail music to appeal to the crowd and goes “Hello can you play something a little more fun, s’il vous plait?” – and what’s the DJ going to do? “No, Brucie Wayne, I can’t do that”??? As IF

The point is that Bruce dances. Possibly on the tables. And since he’s the Prince of Gotham, the sugar babies join in at some point and that’s the headline right there – Brucie surrounded by a group of scantily clad women and men who all came on the arm of some rich, corrupt, married raisin

I honestly can’t decide what kind of songs Bruce would chose for Brucie? I feel like he, as himself, would probably rock that exact outfit in that exact context – the stiff-formal crowd, the marble floors, the glittering chandeliers, the champagne – and go absolutely HAM to Prrokofiev’s Dance of the Knights (or maybe Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King). And I don’t mean in a classic Ballet way. Just – absolute feral energy. I feel like watching Bruce - the real Bruce - dancing is like watching a thunderstorm. There’s so much energy there, so much passion, he’s absolutely lost to the world, his body a livewire. A sense of elegance, mixed with a wild strength, flexibility and a foaming, wild mind.

But yes. This isn’t real Bruce, this is Brucie. So I say – honestly, he probably goes up there and goes “Anything from Blackout, oui?” (Brucie sometimes puts on a REALLY fake and bad French accent)

Next thing you know, the marble halls and floor-to-ceiling windows are vibrating with Piece of Me.

(Bruce with his hair falling into his eyes, chest covered in strings of diamonds and sticky with champagne he used to cool off between songs, flushed cheeks, dancing with a selection of three sugar babies at a time on a buffet table that’s creaking dangerously)

-

Dangerous parts of Gotham? We know Bruce has the Matches Alias when he wants to snoop around the seedy parts but like – Wouldn’t it be fun if he just waltzed in as Brucie now and then? It’s not unbelievable, Brucie is the Hot Airhead type, he could decide to go off the beaten tracks for some “real fun”.

And Alright. Alright I have to say it. Colin Farrell as Penguin right. What’s up with that. I know I established the Penguin as some sort of uh? Fastfood fiend? But honestly, he did that drug and chain restaurant spiel in ’03 or so. He can move on and have some Ice Cold Nightclubs. And maybe Bruce wants to investigate but Matches is too sleazy, so Bruce is all “The only possible solution is to dress up in glittery outfits and go check the scene myself”

Since the Club Penguin (I’m? Come on, that’s gotta be the name) it Ice-themed, glitter is the PERFECT outfit. He arrives with glitter in his hair, glitter on his chest, maybe wearing some leather trousers this time, acting high as a kite and carrying one (1) credit card as well as one (1) bottle of Perfume. Upon arriving at the door, he sprays it liberally on his chest, throat, the general area around himself and drops it right on the floor before waltzing in, not even pausing for the bouncer. Hot and Rich. Who’s going to stop him?!

Once inside the club – icy blue walls, neon lights, fog, glittering floors – Bruce obviously has to dance and pretend to get real fucked up on whatever people are giving him. Sea of writhing, glittering bodies.

And see – Brucie could be in real danger here. This is not a friendly-fancy club, this is the Penguin’s lair. I think he escapes the attacks people make on him in hilarious slapstick ways. Someone fixes his drink and Brucie just pours out his 30$ g&t to marvel at how the neon lights glitter in the glass. Someone tries to steal his credit card but ends up with a glittery black card that says “Brucie XO” on it and nothing else. Bruce uses it like a regular card, as in he hands it over and people give him shit because he’s Brucie Wayne.

The Gotham Underground hates Brucie so fucking much. But in like, the “angrily jumping on your hat and then eating it” way. That’s how he’s still alive. (Bruce perfected the game)

(I would like to let you know that I’ve been listening to Slayyter’s Gimme More remix basically nonstop so I guess that’s what the club is playing. You cannot afford to ignore when I walk out of the store / Freaky little whore from the 314 always wanting more – no one said Penguin had proper taste in music. On second thought they probably play it just for Brucie. And I want to know who he’s dancing with in this cool-glittery club with the nice lighting while he’s wearing his cute little fit. >:( )

-

Honestly, I hope you enjoyed this at least a little. I feel like this was very stream of consciousness but it was so much fun to think about. Little episodes of Feral Bruce living his best life. I love him so much.

[spankerella]

So I started watching DC’s Titans...

So I started watching DC's Titans on HBO Max this weekend. I'll admit I am not as well versed in the DC universe as I am with Marvel, but I know enough. I can see and concede the issues most people have with it, especially in regards to characterization, but I don't think it's THAT bad. I'm enjoying it. However, Dick Grayson being a murderous brooder baby with almost zero common sense or sense of strategy is making me want to throttle him. Hard. How did he survive that long without Bruce killing him for continually making some of the worst decisions possible? Both as a human person and as someone who should have a modicum of tactical prowess after all those years of bat training? I would have put more than one tracker on his dumb ass too. Because even though he’s supposed to be a grown-ass man, he obviously cannot be trusted to stay out of trouble and not get played by the bad guys.

Also, where the F is Cyborg? Yes, I know he’s on Doom Patrol. I haven’t watched that yet. It’s next on my list.

I have liked season 2 better, but I am seeing a lot of online flack. I think my biggest problem is how mad I keep getting at Dick for being categorically "so like he is" in this series. I mean, I love him, but this boy wonder needs a few light slaps up the back of his head for poor choices. Is there a bat switch? Because there needs to be an ass whoopin'... and not the good kind. They could have a whole series on just this Dick having to unpack all his baggage. Though, the episode where he kept hallucinating Bruce Wayne had me cackling with laughter.

I have 3 more episodes to watch in season 2, but DO BETTER RICHARD GRAYSON! YOU ARE GIVING ME ANXIETY!

That’s it. I just need to step into this show and become Dick’s mother.

[allyvampirelass29]

Murder at Cripple Creek

A NOS4A2 Review By: Allyssa J. Watkins

A boomtown swimming with ghosts Dead eyes can't hide Their hedonist living Drinking, debauchery and sinning Scarlet ladies having babies But a whorehouse is not a home Trading flesh for coin Tempting patrons, at the sacrifice of your boy Little Charlie grew up in the hellish dark The sins of the mother Scarring the son's heart Murder brewing in this simmering fleshpot Oh Hateful Harlot, Mother Manx Is is to your neglect and bitter thanks Your baby boy, molested, and you can't protect Your little dreamer from the wicked world you wrought for him Blood on a beautiful boy's hands But the only thing murdered here Is his innocence. Sending his rapist and that lustful bitch Back to hell Charlie, Charlie you're not a villain You had to save yourself.......

Is...... anyone alive out there? It's been days, and I'm still sobbing, my heart desolated by the roiling emotional turmoil, my ignited rage murderous. I don't know about you guys, but...... I'm an absolute wreck. WHY are you DOING this to me, NOS4A2!?!? After the brilliant turn of last week, the sleek sophistication, and glamourous entrapment, "Cripple Creek," was a backhand strike, a blatant violation that I never saw coming, and I spent the entire episode, quivering, sobbing, pleading desperately behind my hands plastered over my face, watching between my fingers, helpless to stop the punishing abuse My Charlie suffers in two different timelines, his bruises of an abused childhood mingling with the fresh wounds of now, as he is tortured, beaten and berated by Bing Partridge!!!

I hated this episode. I HATED it. There, I said it. But I think you're supposed to, I think that was the sole purpose of this traumatizing ordeal. However, as far as Bing (GO TO HELL YOU FILTHY BASTARD) is concerned, the writer's motivation seems drastically convoluted. If this was supposed to be Bing's Big Epiphany, his "redemption," (Ughhh seriously?) This episode fails miserably in accomplishing that. And if this episode was meant to do, what I had predicted back in Season One, cement him as the actual villain of NOS4A2, making him the more immoral evil, be his rise in notoriety, his coming of age as it were, into the monster he was always going to be, giving Charlie and Vic someone to unite their hatred against, it fails to do that too. The biggest misstep of the series, after so elegant a triumph, I'm going to drown my sorrows in ice cream, and try to forget that any of it ever happened. Close your eyes, and think of Christmasland........

I audibly groaned when we opened onto Bing at the Lake House. After so much needless repetition in an otherwise FLAWLESS episode, I REALLY did not want to relive Bing's point of view of the siege, unless it was him getting shot by white knight Chris McQueen over, and over, and over........ Thankfully, the rewind didn't last too long, but I was having NONE of his, "Are you there, God, it's me, Bing Partridge," moment!!! On his knees in the graveyard, (Why...... why are we in a graveyard?) Bing appeals to the heavens, proclaiming his own innocence, asking God to show him what he should do next. I snickered coldly, the whole thing melodramatic, and absurd, as he cries, "I've been so good!!!" Secretly, I was fantasizing about Buffy SLAYING his creepster ass in the graveyard, beating him bloody, before staking him in the heart with a witty saying like, "It's been a gas, Bing, but I get the last laugh!!!" Alas, alack, no such luck. His appeal to the heavens was answered not in divine intervention, but with bird droppings splattering in his mouth, which of course, translated in Bing-A-Ling Logic to, "Kill the FIRST person that tries to help you, bury him in the freshly dug grave, and take his keys!!!" It's PRAYING Bing, you dolt, not preying!!!

While the side quest FINALLY explains how Bing was able to catch up to Charlie and Wayne, after previously believed to be on foot, not to mention shot, which would have been IMPOSSIBLE, supernatural car not withstanding, it's altogether unnecessary. It was the less than scenic route to get to last week's blood-curdling cliff hanger, and I really think we could have done without all the maudlin hullaballoo, and picked right up from there. Also, it creeped me out BIG TIME hearing Bing Partridge say, "Hidey holes," because that's what I called them last week, when Charlie was adorably telling Wayne about his hiding places. "Look at you with your hidey holes, Babe!!!" Needless to say, Bing has ruined that phrase for me FOREVER!!!

"Charlie, Charlie, telling lies, soon he will be crying cries......" A chilling foreboding that was like ice in my veins........ I was definitely crying cries...... I literally WEPT with this horrid little rhyme, and even still I was so naïve, unprepared, for the gut-churning horror that waited in the shadows of a broken little boy's murdered childhood, and the degradation of the beautiful soul that survived it. It's one of the most grueling, and disturbing things, I've ever watched, and like my Darling Boy, strapped to the chair, enduring forced interrogation by gassing, brutal beatings by Bing's homicidal, ham-fisted punches, and some....... deeply unsettling sexual innuendo, I felt like I was the one getting tortured.........

I did utterly enjoy Charlie's feigned relief, as he uses that silver tongue, in valiant effort, to slip his way out of this sickening predicament. "Bing, My Dear Fellow, thank the stars! I thought you had been done in by those wretched McQueens!!" Charlie gasps, thankfully, knowing full well he'd left Bing behind to die, and for good reason. Any other time, this would have worked, Charlie would have used his coaxing charm, and Bing's oafish gullibility, twisted them into a breathtaking manipulation, weaving the lie that he had no choice but to leave him behind, and Bing would have eaten it out of the palm of his hand, because he wants that badly for it to be true. But Bing watched it happen, his face falling, as Charlie sped off without him, and he's DONE playing. Charlie's pleas fall on deaf ears, as Bing drugs him for answers, revealing the fatalities of every single one of Charlie's former accomplices, and with the finality of one apocalyptic truth....... Bing descends into a frenzied, foaming madness.

"Cripple Creek," is the double edged sword that none of us were meant to survive. Switching between the stabbing scenes of Charlie's withering assault, his lifeline to The Wraith, cruelly severed, and the slicing violation of his childhood self, his innocence massacred before our very eyes, our bleeding hearts never stood a chance. I always knew that Charlie's childhood was going to be horrid, downright Dickensian, devoid of magic and light, unloved by his drunk, whore mother, but I had no idea the HELL this beautiful boy endured at so tender an age, forever scarred, betrayed by the one person he trusted, respected, desperately in need of a father figure, only to be exploited in the most heinous way. It's a MIRACLE My Precious Love can even function as an adult, much less still manage to find wonder and beauty in the world, clinging, clawing to hold onto his ember, his remnant of pure light that persevered in a life of darkness.

The inexplicable joy at seeing a young Charlie Manx, aged 11 or 12, tapdancing on stage, along with the giddy marvel that this young actor looks just like our leading man in miniature, is short-lived, as a stranger takes an uncomfortable interest in him....... I don't know how, maybe it was the intent way he watched him dance, or the way he touched his shoulder a little too long, but I knew........ I KNEW this man was going to sexually abuse Charles, I felt it gnawing in my stomach, instantly unnerved, and I hoped with all my heart, my first instinct was wrong....... I'm devastated to say........ it was not.

Not only does this manipulative pedophile Son of a BITCH molest my baby, he first uses him to persuade other boys to flock to his house, knowing full well how much the young ones look up to Charlie, as their leader. He wins Charlie's favour and trust by befriending him, and giving our little darling the one thing he wants more than anything else. Escape. Escape from the vulgar, gratuitously sexual environment, that no young boy should have to endure, a chance to make money, have an honest, respectable living. A chance to have a father figure, a man to look up to, learn from, and take him under his wing. The shop owner offers all of that, with a crooked smile, the charade falling dangerously away, as he knocks back a shot glass, eying our boy, and then says in the cruelest, most chilling voice. "You've earned yourself some fun........"

Thankfully, NOS4A2 was not overly graphic in this lewd portrayal, but the innuendo was enough to make me ugly cry, and seethe, as this sweet child is violated by someone he admires so much, realizing in horror, that he led all of his friends to be mishandled in this same disgusting manner, like lambs to the slaughter. But our brave little Manx was NOT going to let this sin go unpunished, and I clapped, cheering him on, as he uses his sled, now tainted by its means of acquisition, to kill the shopkeeper, dark fire flashing in his eyes, blood splattering on the shot glass, and I've never been so happy, or nervously relieved to see someone die.

His mother comes to him, and instead of crying, and taking her boy in her arms, stroking his dark curls, soothing his fear, and assuaging his guilt, she just scoffs at his accusation, the picture of apathy, and places the blame back on him. "You knew too, Charlie!!!" You WHORE-ABLE Mother!!! Your son was just sexually ASSAULTED, and YOU DARE make it his own fault, like he'd turned a blind eye, and therefore deserved to get raped!?!? Charlie might not have killed her, if she'd actually had a maternal bone in her body, if she'd done SOMETHING, shown any sign of regret or compassion, but she doesn't, and I feel nothing but proud as he finishes her off too. Her death was surprising, given the admonishing way Charlie talks about his mother, creating the impression that she'd been a bane on his existence his entire life, and yes, as a writer, I wanted to see more of a direct conflict between them to make that defining moment that much more satisfying, but as a viewer, I was just grateful she was dead, and Charlie was free. The only murder perpetrated, the only death I mourned at Cripple Creek, was that of Charlie's innocence, his childhood slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Bing continues to torture Charlie in the present day, my chest shuddering with every thrown punch, and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming. What was the deafening truth spoken that sends Bing Partridge into a flailing rage, you ask?

"Christmasland is for children. We are special...... That's why we can't go......."

Charlie was never going to take Bing to Christmasland. All that this poor dope had lived for, dreamed of, for eight years, amidst his conning his way into dentists' offices, and offing mothers, and it was always a lie. I had suspected it the entire time, especially after the mention of a, "special feast," but what SHOCKED me the most, was the unimaginable heartbreak of Charlie's own deepest secret coming to light, and as Bing draws it forth, it's like drawing blood. In spite of being the architect of his lifelong dream, and greatest solace from a life full of abject misery, Charlie doesn't think he deserves Christmasland, because he sees himself as ruined........

I broke down sobbing, that pain, that anguish, that he's so long carried with him, ripping through me, and I'm tearing up even as I write this, remembering....... Charlie denying himself his own dream, seeing himself as a ruined article that might profane its pure vision, is a tragedy that I can't come back from. It's a sorrowful, aching confession, and yet somehow it explains so much, and in this, his greatest pain, his darkest secret, I felt intimately closer to him. At last........ we see why Charlie never stays long in his Christmas kingdom, why he's so focused on the next child, and the next, sacrificing time with his own daughter, because they deserve Christmasland, and he doesn't. Always the courier, never the partaker. Christmasland is for children, and Charlie Manx never got the chance to be one.

The searing pains of his past still guide so much of who he is today, placing a strict emphasis on propriety in every aspect of his person, in manner, speech, and dress, because he was robbed of his dignity as a child. I also, FINALLY, after two seasons, understand why he turns the children into vampires, a contradiction to his love of them, that has remained frustratingly elusive to my grasp. Charlie's childhood was taken from him, brought to a vulnerable, violent end, and by turning the Lost Children, theirs becomes eternal. They never have to grow up, and lose that purity, that innocence. I also realized, that by giving them their bite back, they are able to defend themselves, meaning no one can ever hurt them again.......

There was so much awful going on, so much inflicted misery, and disorienting chaos, that I was sure I'd heard wrong when Bing decides on an even more dehumanizing method of torture. Did Bing just...... call Charlie a BITCH!? I shook my head, but there it was again, and at this point I'd HAD it. Somebody give me a GUN, I will WASTE this SICK BASTARD myself!!! The skeevy sexual threat against Charlie felt like overkill to me, utterly ridiculous, a cheap shot at adding dramatic effect, especially in the face of his childhood shame. Bing has exhibited absolutely no inclination of...... swinging that way, as it were, before, and yeah they kind of threw in last minute that he'd done this to Mike's father, offscreen, but I don't know WHY he would do that, especially given his particular affinity for Mike. Charlie, himself, pointed out that there was no indication in the Graveyard of What Might Be that Mike needed saving, or that his father deserved punishing. It's awkward, and disturbing, and there seemed to me no method in this madness.

"If I'm a monster....... who deserves to die....... You deserve so much worse." BAM. Hell yeah, Babe!!! Thank GOD, Charlie's quick enough to convince Bing that he too is a monster, and we are spared any further asinine innuendo. Bing, after these series of unfortunate events, beating, berating, and threatening Charlie with rape, suddenly, deus ex machina-esque has a change of heart, and an epiphany that comes a LOT TOO LATE!!! We're both monsters, we BOTH deserve to die....... What we're doing is WRONG. Was I happy when Bing urged Wayne to go, and tell a police officer that his mom is Vic McQueen? Yes. Do I believe he did it out of the goodness of his heart, and has finally seen the light? Freaking HELL NO!!! Bing, after losing Christmasland, has nothing left to live for, and this is his way of giving up. If I can't go to Christmasland, Wayne can't go...... and he decides a bizarre murder/suicide in The Wraith is his final act of redemption.

Before they even showed the car crusher, I was already sobbing profusely, losing my freaking mind, because I had figured out exactly where Bing had taken Charlie.

"There's going to be two less monsters in the world........"

Meaning to crush them both, and kill the Wraith irrevocably, Bing puts on his mask, and presses the button. At first Wayne laughs, and thinks it's a game, his inner vampire child coming out, but when it hits him that Charlie's in actual danger, he realizes he has a choice to make....... Save Charlie Manx, or let him die, and go home safe to his Mom and Lou.

"No, My Boy, this isn't a game, it's time to play, Save Father Christmas!!!"

Charlie calls out frantically, coaxingly to his young charge, and I loved that so much, my heart overwhelmed with emotion. Yes, Wayne, PRETTY PLEASE save Father Christmas!!! A lot of people despised him for what happened next, screaming at Wayne for his choice, even calling him a stupid kid, but I, myself, felt even more love in my heart for that already dearly cherished little lad, as he smiles, and slams down on the button, halting the crusher, and saving Charlie from imminent death.

It's a profound moment, the abductee choosing to save his kidnapper's life, and many cried out strongly against it, but you have to understand....... Charlie Manx has become so much more to Wayne than the scary face in his mother's paintings. Here is a man that has shown genuine interest in his life, his hopes, his dreams, who has treated him gently, fussed over him, concerned, and who has come to love him like a father. Couple that with The Wraith's effects on Wayne, slowly tying the two of them together, it makes perfect sense to me, how this unexpected bond has formed. Yes, had Vic been there, herself, he would have chosen her over Charlie in a second, but when faced with the reality of letting Charlie die, our tender-hearted Bats just couldn't do it.

"Do think of me at Christmastime, won't you?"

CHARLIE. LIKE. A. BOSS!!!! The single greatest moment, and brightest scene in an hour of plunging darkness, is definitely Charlie, snapping back into his delectably dark, unrivaled perfection (although, I must say I still found him incredibly dashing in his distinguished grays) charging Bing Partridge, murder striking in his wild, smouldering eyes, stabbing him, with a reveling whisper, twisting the knife, with this most PERFECT line, that gave me wonderous, reverberating chills!!! I also LOVED how Charlie glowers in his lumpy face and says, "You were never special." DAMN that's HOT!!! My only grievance with an otherwise ENTHRALLING moment, was that inexplicably, yet again, CHARLIE DIDN'T KILL BING!!! Charlie has KILLED for so much less, and while he did offer a vague explanation about prison being so much worse for Bing than hell, it felt like hell frozen over that Charlie would ever let Bing live. I know this is the writers wanting to keep Bing around to creep another day, but MY GOD, hang that Partridge from a pear tree, and HAVE DONE already!!!!!

This was an especially dark episode, but there were flashes of some really beautiful, albeit fleeting moments, first with Wayne and Craig, and then with Millie and Cassie, though the reoccurring theme, the common thread, did seem to be Innocence Lost. I was startled with the The Wraith's sneaky trick of causing a child to forget their parents the longer they are in the car, and BLESS YOU, Craig for helping your son remember his mother, and fight the transformation!!! He tells Wayne that Vic's favourite movie was Jaws, and Wayne tells him that her favourite holiday is the 4th of July. (Which is really cool, because it's my favourite too!!!) This slows the Wraith's effects on Wayne, and becomes a very special moment between father and son, as they fight to keep Vic's memory alive.

"How do you know my mom?"

"She was my best friend."

More overwhelmed sobs, because apparently I haven't cried enough this episode!!! Craig decides not to tell Wayne that he's his father, but our little Bats is ingeniously clever, and I think he's going to figure it out before long!!! Another mini heart attack comes with a second lost tooth. The suspense of Wayne's slow turning, mirroring the tender emotion in this scene was fantastic.

Millie and her mother have a similar moment, and I thought that was BRILLIANT of her to introduce Vampire Millie to her former human self. The two play with dolls, and human Millie talks about how she can't wait to go on a date, and have adventures when she grows up! It's such an endearing scene, and also incredibly sad, as the pale, gaunt shell of Vampire Millie envies her bright, and bubbly human counterpart, seeing the hope and innocence that she's so long been bereft of. "She's me...... Who I'm supposed to be." Cassie explains that her father's sad fantasy is depriving Millie of the gift of growing up, and explains that there's nothing Charlie Manx fears more than a woman with her own mind, and that's the LAST thing he wants his beloved daughter to become. A woman that would eventually leave him. More tears. Poor Millie. Poor Charlie!! Can I just give everybody a hug!?

"Cripple Creek," lingers like BAD Dream, and all I want to do right now, is curl up with Charlie Manx, hold him in my arms, stroke his cheek, soothe him with the tenderest hands, and softest words, tell him he's beautiful, and that he deserves Christmasland, and the world, that he's not ruined, but PURE!!! This was my least favourite episode in the entire series, and just like, "The Gas Mask Man," will be skipped indefinitely in the re-watch, but like I said, it endeared Charlie even more to my heart, and I feel fiercely protective over him, over that goodness that still glows in his dark eyes, despite lifetimes of feeling unloved, and in ever-present pain. All I ever wanted in Season One, was a glimpse into the past that crafted my mysterious and refined vampire chauffeur, and this entire experience, My Darlings, is an exercise in, "Be Careful What You Wish For..........."

[recentanimenews]

Licensing of the Monsters: How Pokémon Ignited An Anime Arms Race

  "Hey, what do ya' got there? A rabbit?" Batman asks his mentor, staring at a video of Pikachu on a massive underground computer screen.

  "It's a Pokémon," Bruce Wayne replies.

  Five seconds later, Batman is shocked so hard by the tiny yellow creature that he ends up flying headfirst through another computer monitor (Using a clip from the "Blackout" episode of Batman Beyond, an episode that would've aired for the first time just days earlier.) It doesn't make much physical sense, but this bizarre 1999 crossover promo did establish two things: 1) Pokémon was coming to Kids' WB, and 2) Pokémon was important. So important that Batman actually took time away from obsessing over crime and vengeance to care about it.

  Echoing a 1997 promo where the comedic Bugs Bunny let us in on the "secret" that the serious, dark Batman was coming to Kids' WB, it almost seems like a passing of the torch. Kids' WB, up until then, was a programming service chock full of classic Warner Bros. cartoon properties like Bugs, Daffy, Pinky, Brain, and various members of the Justice League — all animated Americana. 

Pokémon wasn't a huge risk as the 4Kids Entertainment dub of the show had done well in broadcast syndication, they had plenty of episodes to work with (sometimes airing three in a row), and it was based on a game series that was already a worldwide smash hit.

  But the show was ... different.

  And it would end up changing cartoons as we knew them.

  Part 1: Batman Jumps Ship

  It's hard to think of a better scenario when it comes to appealing to kids than the one Fox Kids had with Batman: The Animated Series. Debuting in September 1992 and airing on weekdays just after school let out, it received immediate acclaim due to its moody, beautiful animation and storytelling that didn't talk down to anyone. Little kids could get into Batman throwing crooks around and adults could marvel at plots like the one where a former child actress with a medical condition that keeps her from aging takes her former co-stars hostage and ends up holding a gun, hallucinating, and sobbing into Batman's arms.

  It did so well that Fox tried to air it on prime-time Sundays and though this was short-lived — turns out, Batman was no match for Ed Bradley on CBS's 60 Minutes — it solidified the show as "cool." This was a show that could hang with the big boys. You couldn't say the same of something like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

  And then, in 1997, it was gone. A five-year contract ran out and Batman leapt completely to Kids' WB, where a continuation of the show (the often even grimmer The New Batman Adventures) aired later that year. There, it joined Superman: The Animated Series in a one-two punch of programming called The New Batman/Superman Adventures. When it came to Kids' WB, competitors not only had to deal with the Merry Melodies crowd, they now had to face the World's Finest Heroes.

  This, along with a departing Animaniacs, left Fox Kids with a gap in flagship programming. Sure it had various incarnations of the Power Rangers (which was still holding strong) and Spider-Man, but if you look back on 1998 programming, little of it would survive the year. Silver Surfer? Gone by May. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation? Out by December. Casper? Dead in October. By May of 1999, Warner Media would announce record ratings thanks to Pokémon, while its competitors, including the Disney-led ABC, Fox, and even Nickelodeon, would suffer losses in the Saturday morning area. Pokemon would have the best ever series premiere numbers for Kids' WB at the time.

    A chunk of that has to do with 4Kids Entertainment's (or to be more specific, 4Kids Productions) handling of the show. Again, Pokémon was a proven concept. If you love monsters, adventure, and collecting things, you'll probably find something to enjoy in the franchise. But the dub was particularly strong. For years, dubbing was seen as an inherently laughable thing in America, full of exasperated voice actors trying desperately to convince you that they weren't portraying three different characters, and lips that didn't match the dialogue. Entire Japanese series were reduced to laughing stocks in the U.S. because why focus on the lovingly created miniatures and top-notch tokusatsu action in Godzilla if one of the actors sounds weird?

  But while Pokémon wasn't the first great dub, it was a remarkably underrated one. Veronica Taylor's work as Ash Ketchum was relatable, funny, and consistent. And Racheal Lillis, Eric Stuart, and Maddie Blaustein's turns as Team Rocket's Jessie, James, and Meowth gave us villains that could've easily been the most repetitive parts of the show  — you can only try to capture Pikachu so many times before you should logically find a second hobby — but instead were one of the most entertaining aspects.

  Aside from some easily meme-able bits — Brock's drying pan and jelly donuts, for example — Pokemon became a seamless addition to the Kids' WB lineup and would end up giving many fans a lifelong love of anime. And it was great for 4Kids, too, as in 2000, they would be number one on Fortune's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.

  Fox Kids wanted an answer to this. And it would soon find one.

  Well, two.

  Part 2: Monsters Rule

  Saban Entertainment was no stranger to Fox Kids. They'd been the one to adapt Toei's Super Sentai into The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for American and international audiences, creating an unexpected sensation that combined monsters and martial arts. And in 1999, they nabbed Digimon Adventure, a series about kids that gain "digital" monster partners when transported to a "digital world," which had begun airing earlier that year in Japan. Based on a fighting virtual pet that had already been around for a few years, Digimon was a natural fit for an anime series and also a natural fit for a climate that was desperately trying to find the next Pokémon.

  Renamed Digimon: Digital Monsters, it premiered in August of 1999. Of course, accusations followed that it was a Pokémon rip-off, considering that they were both about befriending terrifying laser critters, but they offered fairly different things. While Pokémon was more episodic, Digimon gave viewers a more Dragon Ball Z-esque experience (they were both Toei productions, too) with the titular monsters evolving and gaining "power-ups" due to fighting increasingly powerful villains.

  Almost two months later, Monster Rancher would join the Fox Kids lineup, airing on Saturdays at 8:30 AM after Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (a Fox Kids lost relic if there ever was one). Together, Monster Rancher and Digimon would cover the programming block with monster action, sometimes airing twice each. Meanwhile, Pokémon would do the same for Kids' WB, and if you look at their Saturday morning schedules from 1999 and 2000, it appears they just shoved Pikachu in whenever possible.

  Looking back on Monster Rancher is always odd, though, because it's so specifically trapped in the time period where it originated. The video games used metadata from readable discs to create new monsters for the player, meaning that as soon as people gained the ability to download or stream media online without having to travel to their local Circuit City, the game would look absolutely archaic in comparison to its peers.

  Monster Rancher is a very fun show based on some very fun games, and the dynamic array of personalities and their particular squabbles in the core group actually reminds me a lot of One Piece. But even the show itself deals with reviving monsters on giant stone discs — a prehistoric-looking adaptation of a video game gimmick that would, a decade later, appear prehistoric itself.

  The Monster War was waged across 2000 and 2001. And though it appears Pokémon was the clear winner — in 2020, it's the most popular franchise with the widest reach, even if Digimon does produce some stellar shows and movies — the ratings tell a different story. In the May sweeps of 2000, Pokémon (and Kids' WB) took the prize among kids 6-11, but in the end, Fox Kids would score a victory of a 3.1 rating to Kids' WB's 3.0 (the first sweeps win since 1997, the year that Batman left.)

    Early the following year, Fox Kids would score again, narrowly beating Pokémon on Saturday morning in the same timeslot and even coming ahead of properties like X-Men. And what would propel this February 10th victory? The first appearance of BlackWarGreymon, the Shadow the Hedgehog to WarGreymon's Sonic.

  However, Pokémon would still help create ratings records for Kids' WB, even though late 2000/early 2001 saw a slide that would often cede dominance to Nickelodeon. Jed Patrick, who was president of The WB at the time said: "I didn't think Pokémon would fall off as much as it did ... every fire cools down a little, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stay hot."

  Even though, in retrospect, claims that "Pokemania" had died seem a little ridiculous — the latest games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, just became the highest-selling entries in seventeen years — big changes were ahead.

  Part 3: It's Time To Duel ... Or Not

  In early 2001, Joel Andryc, executive VP of kids' programming and development for Fox Kids, was looking for a "Digimon companion series to create an hour-long anime block." He felt they were too reliant on Digimon, as they were airing it three times in a single morning. Likely not coincidentally, that summer Fox Kids Fridays were dubbed "anime invasion," advertising Flint The Time Detective, Dinozaurs, Escaflowne, and Digimon. In one commercial, a single quote zips across the bottom of the screen: "Anime Rocks!" Nicole, TX

  That it does, Nicole from Texas.

  Meanwhile, 4Kids Entertainment would provide Kids' WB with another monster show: Yu-Gi-Oh! Known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan, this anime adaptation absconded from retelling the stories found in the early chapters of the manga — which were mostly devoted to Yugi running into jerks, only to have his Egyptian spirit "alter ego" deal karmic retribution on them — and instead focused on the parts that involved the cool monster fights. So basically the parts that were the most like Pokémon.

  But how would this be received? In 2000, Canadian studio Nelvana had licensed the anime Cardcaptor Sakura and turned it simply into Cardcaptors — an extremely edited version that removed many important relationships and plotlines and tried to streamline the show into a pseudo-Pokémon story. It's gone down in history as one of the most questionable dubs ever, and never really made a splash on Kids' WB. So they wouldn't want a repeat of that.

  But would kids be into a card game? The cards did summon monsters, but in Pokémon and Digimon, the monsters are just there, moving around and not relegated to a glorified checkers board arena. It turned out, yes, kids would be REALLY into that. Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted at number one in multiple demographics in September 2001, and would remain a steady part of its lineup for years to come.

    And how did Fox Kids respond? Did the "anime invasion" work out? Well, sort of, but not in the way they were hoping.

  In 2001, due to diminishing ratings and audiences, Fox Kids Worldwide (along with Fox Family Worldwide) were sold to The Walt Disney Company. By November 7th, they'd canceled their weekly afternoon blocks, and the next year, they'd end up selling their entire Saturday morning block to a company that had provided their rivals with the very same TV shows that aided in sinking them: 4Kids Entertainment. The final show to premiere on the original Fox Kids was Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension, a live action series that stood beside Alienators: Evolution Continues (a cartoon sequel to the mediocre 2001 comedy Evolution) and the underrated Medabots as the block's last gasp. 

  Renamed FoxBox in late 2002 (and later 4KidsTV in 2005), the 4Kids run schedule would, over the years, include anime like Kirby! Right Back At Ya!, Ultimate Muscle, Fighting Foodons, Sonic X, Shaman King, and eventually, in 2004, the infamous One Piece dub. The first Saturday of the new FoxBox lineup would also outdo the previous Saturday's Fox Kids lineup. Disney would acquire the rights to Digimon and it showed up on ABC Family in late 2001 (eighteen years later, a reboot of the original series would air, which can be watched on Crunchyroll).

  Eventually, in 2007, the Monster War would come full circle. 4Kids Entertainment announced they would be taking over the Kids' WB Saturday morning block entirely, renaming it the "CW4KIDS," as The CW had been born after UPN and The WB had ceased to be. Pokémon was long gone by this point, having been dropped by Kids' WB in 2006, and was now overseen by The Pokémon Company International on Cartoon Network.

  "We wish Pokémon USA much success going forward," the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment said. Later sued over "illegal agreements" regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, the company would eventually file for bankruptcy in 2016. Pokémon Journeys, the latest installment in the franchise, launches on Netflix on June 12th. 

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[heroicadventurists]

Comic Con @ Home panel and exhibitor list (so far)

Source: Comic-Con@Home

Source: SDCC unofficial blog

TV & Movies

American Dad: Ever wanted to learn how to draw one of your favorite AD! characters? Now is your chance, join show Supervising Director, Brent Woods, as he teaches the cast and executive producers how to draw Roger! Grab a sketchbook & pens and learn to draw everyone’s favorite alien alongside Rachael MacFarlane (Hayley), Wendy Schaal (Francine), Scott Grimes (Steve), Dee Bradley Baker (Klaus) and EPs Nic Wegener and Joe Chandler as they chat about the current season and look toward the series’ 300th episode airing on TBS this fall.

[NEW] Archer (July 24 at 5PM PT): with Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, Lucky Yates, Amber Nash, and moderated by Casey Willis.

The Blacklist

Bill & Ted Face the Music: with stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, as well as Wyld Stallyns, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, William Sadler, and director Dean Parisot and writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. Moderated by Kevin Smith.

[NEW] Blast Off with Disney+’s The Right Stuff (July 25 at 1PM PT).

Bless the Harts: Join the Harts, in quarantine of course, for a Paint & Sip! Watch Kristen Wiig (Jenny Hart), Maya Rudolph (Betty Hart), Ike Barinholtz (Wayne Edwards), Jillian Bell (Violet Hart) and Fortune Feimster (Brenda) with executive producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Andy Bobrow try to recreate Bless The Harts characters while chatting about their favorite moments from season one, what they’re looking forward to in season two on FOX this Fall and how they’ve kept busy during quarantine while drinking the show’s favorite drink – boxed wine!

Bob’s Burgers: The Emmy Award-winning animated FOX series “Bob’s Burgers” invites fans into their homes for a virtual panel with all of the laughs and surprises they generally bring to the Indigo Ballroom. Creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard will break news about the upcoming season, and the always entertaining cast including H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Dan Mintz and Larry Murphy will have you howling with laughter with never-before-seen footage, followed by a lively panel discussion and fan Q&A.

Constantine: 15th Anniversary Reunion: with Keanu Reeves, director Francis Lawrence, and Akiva Goldsman.

Crossing Swords: Hulu Original Crossing Swordsfollows Patrick, a good hearted peasant who lands a coveted squire position at the royal castle. His dream job quickly turns into a nightmare when he learns his beloved kingdom is run by a hornet’s nest of horny monarchs, crooks and charlatans. Even worse, Patrick’s valor made him the black sheep in his family, and now his criminal siblings have returned to make his life hell. War, murder, full frontal nudity—who knew brightly colored peg people led such exciting lives? With Scott Mantz, Seth Green, Alanna Ubach, Tara Strong, Yvette Nicole Brown, Adam Pally, Tom Root, John Harvatine IV, and Adam Ray.

A Conversation with Nathan Fillion: Showrunner Alexi Hawley (“The Rookie”) talks with Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “Castle,” “The Rookie”) about his career in film and television. With special appearances by Joss Whedon, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Mekia Cox, Molly Quinn, Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas.

Director’s on Directing: with Robert Rodriguez, Colin Trevorrow, and Joseph Kosinski.

The Dragon Prince: with creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, as well as voice cast Jack Desena, Paula Burrows, Sasha Rojen, Erik Todd Dellums, Jason Simpson, Jesse Inocalla, and Racquel Belmonte

Duncanville: Join executive producers Mike & Julie Scully, executive producer and star, Amy Poehler, along with stars Ty Burrell, Riki Lindhome, Joy Osmanski, Yassir Lester, Betsy Sodaro and guest stars Rashida Jones and Wiz Khalifa for an exclusive first look at the upcoming second season; returning next Spring on FOX.

Emily the Strange: with creator Rob Reger and illustrator Buzz Parker

Family Guy: Join cast Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green and executive producers Rich Appel, Alec Sulkin and Kara Vallow from FOX’s hit animated comedy “Family Guy” as we celebrate 350 episodes with a virtual table read! After, we’ll take a look back at some of our favorite moments from the last 18 seasons, plus a special sneak peek at the hilarity and hi-jinx coming up in our 19th season premiering this fall on FOX!

Fear the Walking Dead: Fear the Walking Dead will present a panel for the series’ upcoming sixth season, premiering later this year. Moderated by Hardwick, the panel will feature Gimple, Showrunners and Executive Producers Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg and cast members Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Karen David, Jenna Elfman and Rubén Blades.

G-Loc: with director Tom Paton, and stars Stephen Moyer, Tala Gouveia, Casper Van Dien, and John Rhys-Davies. Moderated by Jacob Oller.

The Goldbergs: with cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, George Segal, Hayley Orrantia, and Sam Lerner

Helstrom: As the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer, Hulu Original Helstrom follows Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon), and their complicated dynamic, as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their own attitude and skills.

HOOPS: The star-studded voice cast of “Hoops,” a new adult animated series for Netflix launching this summer from 20th Century Fox Television (“The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers”), gathered for an irreverent-in-the-best-way conversation about coming together to make this show that follows a foul-mouthed high school basketball coach who is sure he’ll hit the big leagues if he can only turn his terrible team around. Voice stars Jake Johnson, Rob Riggle, Ron Funches, Natasha Leggero, Cleo King and A.D. Miles join creator and executive producer Ben Hoffman and moderator/ guest voice star Max Greenfield (Johnson’s former “New Girl” co-star) for a truly wild and hilarious Q&A. Fans will be treated to an exclusive first look at footage from the premiere episode. “Hoops” comes from writer-comedian Ben Hoffman (“The Late Late Show with James Corden,” “Archer”), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”), with animation produced by Bento Box (“Bob’s Burgers”).

Kevin Smith: You know what this is.

LGBTQ Representation on TV: with Jamie Chung (Once Upon A Time), Jamie Clayton (Roswell: New Mexico), Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery), Tatiana Maslany (Perry Mason, Orphan Black), Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery), J. August Richards (Council of Dads, Angel, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Harry Shum, Jr. (Shadowhunters) and Brian Michael Smith (9-1-1: Lone Star). The panel will be moderated by TV Guide Magazine West Coast Bureau Chief Jim Halterman.

[NEW] A Look Inside Marvel’s 616 on Disney+ (July 23 at 1PM PT).

Motherland: Fort Salen: TBA

NEXT: Coming to FOX in Fall 2020, “NEXT” arrives at Comic-Con@Home with a sneak peek of the thrilling opening scene of the propulsive, fact-based thriller about the emergence of a deadly, rogue artificial intelligence that combines pulse-pounding action with an examination of how technology is invading our lives and transforming us in ways we don’t yet understand. “NEXT” stars John Slattery (“Mad Men”) as a Silicon Valley pioneer, who teams with cybercrime agent Fernanda Andrade (“The First”), to fight a villain unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Panelists will include creator and executive producer Manny Coto (“24”), John Slattery, Fernanda Andrade, Michael Mosley (“Ozark”), Jason Butler Harner (“Ozark”) and Eve Harlow (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) for a fascinating conversation about the new series and how AI and technology infiltrates all of our lives, moderated by Thrillist’s Esther Zuckerman.

NOS4A2: Moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Clark Collis, the panel will feature Showrunner and Executive Producer Jami O’Brien, Executive Producer Joe Hill and cast member Zachary Quinto.

[NEW] Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe (12PM PT).

Rooster Teeth: Yssa Badiola, Torrian Crawford, Barbara Dunkelman, Fiona Nova, Kerry Shawcross, and special guest F.J. DeSanto are going to virtually smack you in the face with exclusive reveals and new information about Recorded by Arizal, Red vs. Blue Zero, RWBY Volume 8, and Transformers War For Cybertron: Siege.

The Simpsons: They’ll never stop The Simpsons!…from appearing at Comic-Con; this time on zoom. Join Al Jean, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Carolyn Omine, Mike B. Anderson and moderator Yeardley Smith. Find out how the show has surmounted social distancing and turbulent times en route to season 32!

Solar Opposites: Your favorite Shlorpians are getting together for Comic-Con at Home! As Hulu’s most-watched original comedy premiere to date, “Solar Opposites” centers around a team of four aliens who escape their exploding home world only to crash land into a move-in ready home in suburban America. They are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome, while protecting the Pupa, a living super computer that will one day evolve into its true form, consume them and terraform the Earth… Join Justin Roiland (“Korvo”), Thomas Middleditch (“Terry”), Sean Giambrone (“Yumyulack”), Mary Mack (“Jesse”) and executive producers Mike McMahan and Josh Bycel for all things “Solar Opposites” including an exclusive clip from the upcoming second season!

Stumptown: with cast members Jake Johnson, Cobie Smulders, and Michael Ealy

TV Guide Magazine’s Fan Favorites: Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Chris Chalk (Gotham, Perry Mason), Robbie Amell (Upload), Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), Richard Harmon (The 100), Lindsey Morgan (The 100), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), and Alex Newell (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)

The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead will make its 11th San Diego Comic-Con appearance with a panel spotlighting the Season 10 Finale episode, “A Certain Doom,” which will air as a standalone episode later this year. Moderated by Hardwick, the panel will feature Gimple, Showrunner and Executive Producer Angela Kang, Executive Producer Greg Nicotero, who directed the season finale, and cast members Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Josh McDermitt and Paola Lazaro, among others.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond: The Walking Dead: World Beyond makes its Comic-Con International debut as the third series in wildly successful The Walking Dead Universe. Moderated by Hardwick, the series’ panel will feature Gimple, Showrunner and Executive Producer Matt Negrete and cast members Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Hal Cumpston, Nicholas Cantu, Nico Tortorella, Julia Ormond and Joe Holt.

[NEW] What We Do in the Shadows (July 25 at 5PM PT): with Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Mark Proksch, Harvey Guillen, Paul Simms, Stefani Robinson, and moderated by Haley Joel Osment.

Wynonna Earp.

COMICS

Celebrating 80 Years of The Spirit: Moderated by Danny Fingeroth.

Decoding the Kirby/Lee Relationship: with Danny Fingeroth.

[NEW] Howard Cruse: The Godfather of Queer Comics.

In Conversation with Robert Kirkman: Creator Robert Kirkman answers fan questions on his titles including THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, FIRE POWER, OBLIVION SONG, and more!

[NEW] LGBTQ Comics and Popular Media for Young People.

[NEW] Out in Comics 33: Virtually Yours.

[NEW] Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing: Friday, July 24, 11:00 AM PST

[NEW] MARVEL HQ: Thursday, July 23, 4:00 PM PST

Skybound Presents: Comics & Creators: A panel of Skybound’s comic book creators including Robert Kirkman, the team behind EXCELLENCE, and more come together to discuss their latest projects.

Tribute to Dennis O’Neil: with Danny Fingeroth.

The Wonderful, Horrible History of E.C. Comics: Moderated by Danny Fingeroth.

OTHER

The Art of Collaboration: Duos Behind Top Films, TV Shows, & Video Games.

California Browncoats.

Creative Renaissance: How to Thrive When it’s Hard to Survive. The continued need for social distancing has brought about a creative renaissance in the digital space. Join the conversation with Joe Barrette (Creators, Assemble!), Phil Jimenez (Creators4Comics), Alonso Nunez (Little Fish Comic Book Studio), and Kit Steinaway (Book Industry Charitable Fund) to hear how nonprofit organizations are working with comics creators to support each other and their communities during these challenging times. You will hear about new learning opportunities, collaborations, how to forge new creative friendships in a time of global disconnect and what it means to find your tribe through fandom and shared passion. Moderated by Dan Wood (Comics librarian, EPL).

From Script to Screen: Behind-the-Scenes of Your Favorite Film & TV Shows.

The Future of Entertainment.

GirlsDrawinGirls Presents Industry Professional Women Artists in Quarantine: Balancing Work, Art, Homeschooling, and Life: With Melody Severns, Debbie Mahan, Sherry Delorme, Rehana Khan-Tarin, Aisling Harbert-Phillips, and Christine Chang.

The Legal Geeks.

Making a Living Being Creative: with Lee Kohse, Brendan Hay, Lex Cassar, and Johnny Kolasinski.

Masters of the Illustrated Film Poster.

Music for Animation.

[12freddofrogs]

An episode of a Batfam TV Show

A while back I started wondering how I would design the Batfamily for their own TV. It started as a quick exercise, just considering ‘Season one would be Dick as Robin, and maybe he and Babs would do this, and then in S2 Jason would turn up’... and then it got detailed to the point I was working out individual episodes, character arcs, and themes.

This is an extract from Season Three, aka, Tim’s Robin run (pt1). The full chapter includes bright eyed Tim Drake nearly getting himself run over by the Batmobile so he can make his case why Batman needs a Robin, a minor cameo by the giant penny in the Cave, an adaptation of The Killing Joke, a driving lesson that technically involves Nightwing stealing the Batmobile, the Spoiler setting up in purple, a Wayne Gala or two, much mourning for what happened in the S2 finale, and Cassandra Cain rejecting her blood family for one that actually cares.

And, of course, this musical episode.

Full fic on Ao3  -Chapter 3 here. It’s much easier to read, especially on mobile.

Chapter 1 here.

Season Three, Episode Twenty - Songbird

A Pied Piper themed villain comes to Gotham. 

He has nothing to do with the Central City villain.

His powers work on children. Specifically, anyone under the age of about eighteen. It’s never made entirely clear what the cut-off age is, just that Cass is immune. 

Of course, no-one really knows how old Cass is, either, considering her lack of birth certificate.

 Tim is having an ordinary day at school, calmly walking past a couple having a break-up in the cafeteria, when the dramatic screaming match switches into a Broadway musical.

Tim is alarmed, and as he continues through the school, other people are bursting into song. Music is playing, and from the way he turns it’s obvious he can hear it and can’t figure out from where.

 “I need to finish my assignment for mathematics / but I can’t find the time without skipping football practise,” one boy tells his friends, then claps a hand against his throat.

“I’ve spent so much time working on Miss Greene’s essay / that I completely forgot about the science test today!” a girl sings, her voice calm despite the fact she’s frantically flipping through a textbook.

“He’s so handsome, he’d never notice me / what would I have to do to make him see?” another girl sings from her locker, glancing at a boy several doors away. He notices her singing, and she yelps, hiding behind her locker door.

Everyone is growing frantically confused by the music.

It eventually turns into a school wide song with everyone, including Tim, singing the same lyrics about “What’s going on? Why are we bursting into song?”

The song finishes and all the students stare at each other, wide-eyed.

“What was--”

“How--”

“I don’t--”

While everyone is still panicking, Tim slips out the school doors.

He heads straight to the Manor.

When Bruce opens the door, it’s to find a bundle of nervous energy fidgeting on his threshold.

“B, we - oh, no, it’s happening again.” Tim claps a hand over his mouth.

“What’s happening?” Bruce steps aside immediately to let his panicked third Robin into the house. 

It takes a moment as Tim scrambles inside, dropping his school backpack on the ground and turning to Bruce with a panicked expression, but finally he lowers his hand.

As expected, out comes another song.

“Bruce, we really need to talk because / there’s something in my voice. / Everything comes out as song / and I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a plan for this / so I kinda hope you do. / Otherwise get ready for Gotham’s musical debut. ”

"...I see.”

It’s not that Tim’s constantly speaking in song.

He still talks normally most of the time.

It’s just that whenever he feels something particularly strongly, he has an automatic performance about it.

He’s very concerned that when he sings, it’s always the absolute truth about how he feels.

“I have a secret identity! I can’t go to school if I’m going to sing about wearing a cape!”

Dick finds it hilarious

When he hears about the situation he comes up from Bludhaven immediately.

He’s trying to be sympathetic, but it comes across as insincere when he’s filming the whole thing.

“Come on, just one little song for the camera?”

“Mmm-fff!” Tim shakes his head, hands clapped over his mouth defensively.

Babs tells Dick not to worry, she caught Tim’s last performance on security cameras. Tim looks offended.

Meanwhile, Cass is jealous she’s too old.

“This is not a good thing, Cass,” Tim complains.

“Looks fun.”

“It is not.”

“Sourpuss.”

Tim has a song about being insecure in his place as Robin

Batman informs him that he is not to get involved in the case.

Tim grumpily agrees, and stays alone in the Cave while everyone leaves.

He starts on the obstacle course, swinging up and down on the wires as he begins to sing.

“Batman needs a Robin / That much is plain to see / The question that I’m asking / Is the Robin he needs me?”

He’s not insecure about being kept off this particular case, understanding if not liking it, but in general not sure about his ability to live up to the name.

 It finishes with a more triumphant declaration that he can do this. He’s Robin, he’s earned his cape, watch him go.

Steph is equally affected by the curse.

It’s the first time she’s turned up at the Cave, but she figured this was probably a big enough situation to be worth knocking.

She’s trying to make the most of it, and turns it into a game.

She acts like she’s finding it enjoyable. It’s almost believable until she does get a moment alone with Tim to confess that it’s creepy.

Steph and Tim have a duet.

Dick’s attempt at provoking them into singing finally works.

The song starts with Tim being annoyed at Dick, and quickly fades into both of them admitting they’re annoyed with the situation. It’s a very fast-paced cheer about how they can’t stop singing, when they find out who’s responsible that person will find out just what Robin and Spoiler can do.

They’re dancing around, jumping on and off the equipment, and performing perfect choreography.

Dick and Cass applaud.

It finishes with Tim dipping Steph, her balancing with one leg in the air, when they both react in terror. Tim drops her.

“I didn’t want — we didn’t want to do that,” Tim blurts out.

“You don’t understand, it made us move. It’s never done that before. It actually controlled what we did.” Steph’s breathing heavily, still sitting on the ground.

It’s discovered that the musical magic is not only growing, and is turning into a more complete form of mind control.

Dick and Cass suddenly no longer find it funny.

Within days, maybe even hours, the Pied Piper villain is likely to have an entire army of Gothamite children for choreographed villainy.

So, of course, the Bats push this situation up several rungs of the priorities.

Tim and Steph were already off the case, but now they are banned from leaving the Cave until they know exactly what this song can do.

They each call their parents to inform them they’re staying at the other’s house. Steph swears up and down that she’s just studying with Tim, seriously, she’ll bring home the flashcards as proof if she has to.

The two of them then actually end up making flashcards, because they no longer trust their bodies enough to train.

For a while everything is calm.

Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Oracle are all focused intently on the case.

Alfred is watching the two youngest.

It’s not a joke anymore, but with Tim and Steph sitting casually on the ground, talking together completely normally and checking in via coms, the situation doesn’t seem red alert urgent.

No-one notices how Tim starts humming as he cuts out the next flashcard, or that Steph takes up the tune while she coats one in glitter.

The scenes of them humming along together is intercut along with moments of the others working the case. The audience is very aware — Tim and Steph’s song has no diegetic soundtrack, so all the audience can hear in the Cave scenes are Alfred’s footsteps, the scratch of pen and paper, and two teenagers humming too quietly for anyone else.

Up until the point where they actually start singing.

Steph and Tim’s humming gradually changes into a song.

“Cut and paste and listen,” they murmer in unison, wistful and fanciful, still working on the flashcards. “Cut and paste and listen to the magic sound. Cut and paste and listen. The Piper is coming to town.”

Alfred is no longer dusting the computer. Instead, he clicks on the communicator so Batman can hear the chant, and carefully approaches.

Tim and Steph insist that they’re fine. They don’t speak in unison for it, but it does come out as more of a duet.

“Don’t worry, Alfred, we feel fine,” Steph insists.

“Absolutely marvellous,” Tim chimes in.

“Completely sublime.”

Tim gets to his feet with an encouraging smile, scissors dangling in his fingertips. “We’ve just got a song stuck in our heads.”

“There’s no need to worry.”

“And no need to fret.”

“It’s just a shame you can’t hear that sound.” Steph tugs at her ear, grinning.

 “It sinks to your bones and makes you feel like dancing around.”

 Alfred cuts off the song to assure them that the Pied Piper will soon be defeated. This whole nonsense will be finished with by tomorrow, and by this point even Dick will be grateful for it.

The songbirds are oddly upset about that idea.

“You’re getting him chased down by the Big Bad Bat?” Steph asks.

“That shouldn’t happen. The Piper won’t like that,” Tim says.

“No,” Alfred says slowly, warily. “I suppose he wouldn’t.”

The argument culminates when Tim nearly stabs Alfred with the scissors.

 Alfred dodges the blow on instinct, sidestepping the blade aimed at his head.

Tim freezes, his arm outstretched.

For a moment all three of them are still, Alfred watching the scissors over his shoulder and Tim’s eyes wide. Steph’s mouth hangs open.

The scissors clatter on the floor as Tim steps back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry Alfred—” Tim nearly hyperventilates.

“Master Tim,” Alfred says after a moment, almost resting his hand on Tim’s shoulders but deciding against it. “I assure you I’m fine, but perhaps at the moment we should consider using the restraints.”

“Yes. Yes, we should do that.”

Tim practically bolts himself in to the medbay stretcher, and only allows Alfred to help because it’s not designed to be tightened by the patient.

Steph is slightly more reluctant, and has to force herself to take each step. She notably bites down on her lip, bunching her fingers into a fist while Alfred secures her to the other bay, but she allows it to happen.

 The urgency is immediately upped.

“Do you need someone to watch them with you?” Batman asks, pausing on a rooftop to talk into his comm.

“No. They’re quite lucid at the moment,” Alfred says, watching Tim and Steph talking nervously. “The best thing for everyone is for you to stay on the case.”

“I can come,” Oracle suggests. “The Cave has all the same tech so I can stay on the job, and if the kids are getting stabby you will need backup.”

It’s decided that is a good idea, especially as Steph starts humming again before slamming her head facedown into the pillow.

 Batman successfully tracks down the location of the Piper.

The three field vigilantes burst in, much to Piper’s horror.

They find him building a giant radio transmitter, and immediately start trying to shatter it.

Piper flees the room, carrying a small cassette player with him. Nightwing stays to make sure the transmitter is utterly broken. Batgirl and Batman split up to track the villain.

The Piper is caught by Batman, lifted off the ground by the scruff of his neck, when a dozen children come barrelling into the room to rescue him.

The idea of punching hypnotised kids makes Batman hesitate, and Piper manages to get away.

Worse still is that breaking the transmitter didn’t fix the problem. The kids are still hypnotised, and Nightwing reports that it wasn’t even finished. Piper had been making it for something, but it wasn’t the cause of the problem.

They search through Piper’s files, and track down that it was the cassette player that influences the children.

Steph and Tim are drifting back into their musical hypnosis.

 “Don’t listen to them,” Steph murmurs, pulling her face out of the bed. Her voice is too quiet for anyone but Tim to hear. “Hold yourself steady.”

“It’s time for a fight so you better get ready.” Tim holds up one hand. The picked restraints drop silently onto the mattress.

When Oracle arrives, Robin and Spoiler take the distraction and attack.

When Alfred and Oracle return to the room, it’s to find the two youngest have gotten into their uniforms and are swinging down from the ceiling at them.

 It’s not a real fight. The hypnosis is just telling them to go. It’s an escape attempt more than anything else.

Oracle is able to handle herself when Spoiler leaps at her, boot flying towards her face. A quick movement and Steph is thrown over Oracle’s shoulder, wincing.

But they don’t need to beat her, just outrace her. Spoiler jams a batarang into one of Oracle’s wheels while Robin locks Alfred in the cupboard, and by the time Babs can move again — it couldn’t have taken more than thirty seconds to untangle the batarang — they’re gone.

Fortunately, Batman already has a lead on where they must be going.

Over two hundred children — some as young as ten, most closer to fifteen or sixteen — have converged on a Gotham news channel’s office.

It’s a very convenient way for a villain’s exposition to be told to the audience. The children are singing about Pied Piper’s plan to broadcast his song to every child in the country as they forcibly drag the communication workers out of their offices. The Piper himself is walking through the chaos with a self-satisfied smile.

The song seems like a normal triumphant villain song, with a hint of creepiness when every once in a while, someone will say that they don’t like what they’re doing, they’re so sorry, can’t anyone help them?

Piper locks himself in the CEO office.

He’s humming to himself as he pulls out his cassette player. When he opens the case, an array of buttons that would look advanced on a phone blink back at him.

He begins to tap in a command when the window shatters.

Batman swings into the room.

Batgirl and Nightwing are close behind.

When Piper tries to run, he doesn’t get five steps. Batman throws him against the wall.

Piper glances at the door.

In an instant Batgirl vaults over the desk to reach it, turning the lock with time to spare before teenagers start banging on it. “Nightwing. Help… ballaracade?”

Nightwing is already pushing the desk aside it.

Once they’ve successfully ensured no-one’s getting in Nightwing informs her the word is ‘barricade’. Batgirl nods, pleased.

“Where are they?” Batman growls, looming over the terrified Piper.

“Where are who? The children? They’re all outside, or at least the ones I called are—”

“Don’t play games with me.”

“How do we fix it?” Nightwing demands.

“You can’t. It’s unstoppab—”

 “Lying,” Batgirl says sharply.

At that point Robin and Spoiler shatter a second window.

They land between Batman and the Piper, standing protectively over the villain. Robin has his staff at the ready while Spoiler’s cloak flutters.

They’re also humming.

It takes a moment for Piper’s shock to fade, but then his lips twitch in a smile.

There’s a fight.

Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl hold back.

Robin and Spoiler don’t, which means that the hypnotised fighters are actually able to gain ground.

And of course, Robin and Spoiler are singing all the while. By now that’s not the focus of the scene, feeling more like background music with lyrics than a Broadway fight scene. Potentially, the TV audience can’t even hear the music, just watches the singing characters.

The lyrics don’t really delve into anyone’s interiority (mainly). It’s just a fast-paced song about fighting.

Every once in a while, though there’s a line like “Of course I know I can’t win, but that’s never stopped me before.” “Of course I’ll try my best, but I’ve never wanted to lose more.”

Just enough to indicate that some part of Tim and Steph know what they’re doing.

Piper takes the distraction.

He gets the barricade open and a hundred mind-controlled teenagers pour in, and suddenly the Bats have a much bigger disadvantage.

Piper escapes. Nightwing follows.

There’s a chase as Piper rushes towards the ground floor.

A dozen children are thrown at Nightwing, diving in his way.

But a former Boy Wonder doesn’t get taken down by a thirteen-year-old attempting a tackle, not when he can bounce off the walls to somersault over their heads.

Piper goes for the elevator. Nightwing is delayed to the point that he misses the doors by centimetres.

He pushes off the eleven-year-old girl clinging to his back and rushes to the fire stairs. His grappling hook connect with the handrail as he leaps over the edge.

Freefalling down the spiral staircase centre gets him to the ground with time to spare. He bursts out of the door and is able to throw his bolos at the fleeing Piper, tripping the supervillain up.

Within seconds Nightwing’s on him, scrambling through his pockets. He finds the cassette player.

Before the children can converge again, Nightwing leaps up with his grappling hook, holding himself on the high ceiling and resting one foot on the top of a window.

He flips open the cassette player.

“Oh, look at that. A labelled ‘off’ switch.” Nightwing grins at Piper, who’s just managing to pull himself free from the bolos. “So if I flick it, will it do anything to inspire me to kick your teeth in?”

“No, no, please—”

“Begging sounds promising.” His fingers hover over the button. Below him, the children are swarming, trying to figure out how to climb the wall. “If this hurts anyone, I am going to break every bone in your body. So is there anything you want to tell me?” Nightwing pauses for an answer, but Piper doesn’t give one. The children are starting to create pyramids. “Alright. Here goes.”

 He flicks the switch.

Immediately, the music turns off.

The children stop pressing up against the wall and back away immediately.

“Is it over?”

Upstairs, the same happens.

Everyone freezes in their attack on Batman and Batgirl.

Robin drops his staff and retreats several steps.

“Fixed?” Batgirl asks.

Spoiler touches her head. “I think so.”

Of course, this means the Piper just got himself trapped.

He’s now surrounded by a sea of students who had been at least eighty-per-cent aware of what happened.

Nightwing swoops down and pulls him out before anyone can catch him, but waits just long enough for Piper to realise the danger he’s in.

Nightwing ties him up, and waits patiently for the others to come downstairs.

He hands over the cassette player to Batman and goes to hug the now-coherent younger two, but Spoiler brushes off the affection onto Robin. Instead, she walks up to Piper and punches him in the face.

“Feel better now?” Nightwing asks.

 “Yeah.” Spoiler steps back and allows Nightwing to reassure himself that she’s okay, letting him wrap her in a short hug. “Much better.”

So the day is saved, everything neatly finished.

Piper is arrested, the children/teenagers that hadn’t already dispersed are collected by the police to be taken home.

Later, everyone is back in the Batcave, exhausted. They’ve changed back into their civilian clothes.

“So I guess I am never going to another karaoke night ever again,” Steph mumbles.

“Karey-oakey?” Cass repeats.

“It’s like a place where you sing. You choose a song, and they’ll play the music for you so you can yell out the actual lyrics as badly as you like.”

“Oh.” Cass mulls that over. “The singing did look fun. Before the dancing started.”

“Are you seriously still upset you’re too old for mind-control?” Dick asks.

Cass shrugs.

There’s silence for a moment.

Tim groans. “Fine, I’ll come with you, but I’m not singing anything else today.”

“I know a great karaoke bar.” Dick picks up his jacket from over the chair. “They sell amazing nachos.”

“I could go for nachos.” Steph stands up.

“Already booking us a private room,” Babs says.

“I’ll prepare the car,” Alfred says.

Dick grins. “B, you coming?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“You won’t have to sing,” Tim adds. “Sit with me and Steph and watch while the rest of these losers get up on stage.”

“I assure you, Master Tim, I will not be singing.”

“Sit with me, Steph, and Alfred,” Tim corrects.

Bruce groans, but reluctantly gets up.

Dick leans over to Cass where Bruce can’t hear him. “Bet you five bucks I can convince him to get on stage.”

“Deal.”

End episode.

Available on AO3.

S1 episode extract here. (17 year old Dick gets kidnapped for ransom, is very bored.)

S2 episode extract here (Robin-Jason goes up against Two-Face, trades himself for a hostage, proceeds to be as sarcastic as possible).

S4 episode extract here (in which Tim gets a dose of fear gas, Spoiler confronts her inner child in an alarmingly literal way, and Cass is awful at baking cookies).