#put up one hell of a fight though like she tried her darnedest

[vancilart]

hol up

[vancila]

Tal seeing alia cry because she misses her dad. Aaron and radu meeting nikholai. Joe having to come to the school because samara got into a fight with one of the rugby guys for making sexual comments about her and the girls team. And Rosta running into already mutilated roben at some political event on citadel and then remembering him when alia brings him up

righty dighty

First of all he’s shocked because he’s never seen her cry, then he goes over things to say and realizes nothing sounds good enough, he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to go closer or if she wants to be alone, he’s almost panicking but eventually settles to sitting next to her and saying nothing unless Alia says something first. He just wants her to know he’s really sorry for her loss. He never had a dad or a parent figure (that he remembers) in general and doesn’t know what it’s like to lose one, especially in such a brutal way, but he has seen stuff no child should have to see, too. He’ll say very little, offers a cigarette and a light if she asks or looks like she needs one, very gently puts a hand on her arm or shoulder and holds it there for a moment. He can’t change the past nor make the present any easier, but he’ll be there as long as she needs or allows him to.

Niko won’t probably even recognize Radu, he’s changed a whole lot in the years after, but he sure recognizes him (mostly thanks to stalking his Instagram). There’s that cold lump in his stomach, something akin to fear, lots of nasty nasty memories. And if Niko has that new boyfriend of his along it won’t do Radu any good to see the guy he cheated on him with and dumped for. He’ll just squeeze Aaron’s hand and press against him without even noticing, trying to stay calm when he asks what’s wrong. You see that fake blonde there, yeah we were married and he kind of sort of ruined me big time. Yeah. That’s the dude. If they happen to be in a hearing distance he might just say hello and see how long it takes for Nikholai to recognize him, gets immediately jealous if he looks at Aaron a bit too long, revels in the fact that hey this is my boyfriend and he’s infinitely better than you. Not going to stay for long, but will be damned if he can’t get some sass in. Thanks I’ve been fine, lost some of the weight you kept nagging at me about. This your new boo? You cheated on this one yet? Haha well have fun, we’re going on our way. Keeps a firm arm around Aaron’s waist and sits down for a moment trying not to cry when out of view.

He’s pissed about being dragged in without warning but also concerned when it’s about his daughter fighting. I mean, those girls brutalize one another on the field roughly enough. When it comes up that she fought with one of the boys his attitude changes a bit because now he has a suspicion of what happened. Doesn’t improve his mood one bit, though. Eyes the runt from head to toe, wow, boys that age never change, do they? Asks what happened, listens, turns to the boy like well, you were digging blood out of your nose, what do you expect was gonna happen. Turns to his parents like what the hell, why haven’t you taught your kid that saying shit like that isn’t right? The fuck you go defending your kid with this, you think it’s okay to say those kinds of things to schoolgirls? Boys will be boys my ass, boys will be held responsible for their actions like everyone else. Will admit that Samara was a bit too harsh, just a harsh jab into the nose would have sufficed. You can hurt your hand brawling like that, pumpkin.

He can barely remember Roben, it’s been a while and he’s met a lot of people, but it’s hard to forget a face like that. He definitely caught his eye yet he didn’t have a chance (nor desire, really) to make contact, his business was elsewhere. When Alia’s talking about him he slowly realizes the description sounds familiar, where has he come across something like that befor... oh. Him. Will tell Alia immediately, it could help if she happens to know what he was doing in there. Tries his darnedest to remember if he’s met him anywhere else or heard others speak of similar things.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1291

Monday, December 9, 2019

 Thank Thor for Santa's little helper. We're about as ready for Christmas as I'll ever be. Penny is leaving soon for her annual drive up north to visit family and friends while I make sure all the lights I strung don't burn down the house. I finally got around to watching the animated feature "Big Hero 6" last night and was delighted by it.

 Superman Up In The Sky #6 - Tom King (writer) Andy Kubert (pencils) Sandra Hope (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Oh man, this story has the most inept villain ever. We find out why Alice was kidnapped by an alien. I liked the trip back to Earth. Kids say the darnedest things.

 Daredevil #14 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto & Francesco Mobili (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Detective Cole North is conflicted after talking about the law over coffee with Matt. Meanwhile the Police Commissioner has ordered his cops not to go into Hell's Kitchen, leading to rampant crime. It's time for the return of Daredevil and Elektra is going to be tagging along. This is going to be good.

 Young Justice #11 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Timms (art) Gabe Eltaeb (colours) Wes Abbott (letters). The team is back in their home dimension and they meet Naomi for the first time. Great time for a sleepover eh. Things go south when Superboy gets punked by the S.T.A.R. Labs lady. I can't wait to see what Brian Bendis does with Mike Grell's Warlord.

 Archie #709 - Nick Spencer & Mariko Tamaki (writers) Sandy Jarrell (artist) Matt Herms (colours) Jack Morelli (letters). The 5-part story of Archie's romance with Sabrina comes to an end. I am happy with the outcome.

 Savage Avengers #8 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Patch Zircher (art) Java Tartaglia (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I love the clash of egos in this issue. Conan dines with Doom and Stephen crashes dinner. The three then go off looking for Kulan Gath. Hey, how else is the bad guy supposed to get his all powerful amulet back? I'm guessing it's another Doombot that runs afoul of the ancient wizard because heaven forbid they kill Doctor Doom again. Don't forget Doom died outside the UN in NYC and got shot dead by Taskmaster.

 Ironheart #12 - Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The good guys beat the bad guys and Wakanda is saved. The End. I've followed Riri Williams since she was first created by Brian Michael Bendis and I am sad that she will no longer have her own book on the racks. The crew that put out these twelve issues did Brian proud.

 Web of the Black Widow #4 - Jody Houser (writer) Stephen Mooney (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's a wounded Widow that opens this issue and we find out how that happens. Clint/Hawkeye the hothead acts before he has all the facts and Natasha pays the price. She winds up dead to rights and possibly dead period. I know she'll save herself and I want to see how she does it.

 Batman #84 - Tom King (writer) Jorge Fornes (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). There are a mind boggling number of flashbacks this issue trying to explain what the ding dong heck is going on. It all leads to the confrontation of father and son with Thomas and Bruce Wayne fighting for the fate of Batman. I don't think everything is going to change after Tom King leaves this book but man, is he ever stirring the pot.

 The Amazing Spider-Man #35 - Nick Spencer (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Steve Firchow (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). This is the story where Doctor Doom was assassinated in front of the UN. Now the real Doctor Doom is pissed and has shut down New York City until the assassin is brought to him. Spider-Man finds the culprit with the help of his sister Theresa. They try to trick Victor in the end but he doesn't fall for it. It's a classic cliffhanger ending.

 Doctor Doom #3 - Christopher Cantwell (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). So this Doc Doom is different from the one in The Amazing Spider-Man #35 even though they were both shot to start a war between Latveria and Symkaria. This is the real one. I really liked how Victor makes Mephisto his whipping boy. The surprise ending made me groan. And that's not to mention the inconsistency between panels 2 and 4 on page one. Very bad editing.

 Marauders #3 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Michele Bandini (pencils) Michele Bandini & Elisabetta D'Amico (inks) Federico Blee (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This X-book is for fans of political intrigue. The Black King, Sebastian Shaw inducts his resurrected son Shinobi into the Hellfire Club. Consider this X-Men: Game of Thrones. This is a lot more interesting than watching Kitty sail around rescuing other mutants.

 Lois Lane #6 - Greg Rucka (writer) Mike Perkins (art) Gabe Eltaeb (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). Wow if the funeral for (spoiler alert) Alfred is as well done as this funeral for Lois's father it will be well worth the read. Lois has come a long way since she first appeared in comic books.

 Annihilation - Scourge Fantastic Four #1 - Christos Gage (writer) Diego Olortegui (pencils) Juan Vlasco, Cam Smith & Scott Hanna (inks) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The team goes to the Negative Zone to help fight the scourge from the Cancerverse and encounter the Ftaghn Four, infected versions of themselves. I knew it was a ftaghn bad idea to read these one shots. The art was nice though.

 20XX #1 - Jonathan Luna & Lauren Keely (writers) Jonathan Luna (art & letters). This new black & white book takes place in a future where a deadly virus either kills you or gives you special mind control powers if you survive. Survivors are designated Syms and are monitored by the government like sex offenders. It is illegal to use your powers so Syms have to be careful. Meria Bree Moore is a recent Sym and this is her story. I have yet to be disappointed by anything Jonathan Luna has done and this is no exception. Rest assured that I will want to read the rest of this story.

 Black Cat #7 - Jed MacKay (writer) Travel Foreman (art) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). This is an excellent issue where Felicia rescues the Fox from the clutches of Odessa. Unfortunately the inconsistent art was very distracting. They should have found an inker to render Travel's pencils.

 Batman Universe #6 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) A Larger World's Troy Peteri (letters). I liked how Batman used deductive reasoning to get out of his white prison. It could have been an uh-oh situation when Vandal Savage gets his hands on the White Power Ring but he was set up to fail quite cleverly. I've noticed that there's always an "AGH" in every comic book that Brian writes and when Bruce Wayne asks the Riddler where Vandal Savage, AKA Vandar Adg is I had to say "har".

 Conan Serpent War #1 - Jim Zub (writer) Scot Eaton (pencils) Scott Hanna (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) Vanesa R. Del Rey (art: James Allison sequence) Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colours: James Allison sequence) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Conan must face the serpent god Set but this time he's going to be teamed up with other heroes. There's Moon Knight, Solomon Kane and Dark Agnes (because another company has the rights to Red Sonja I'm sure). Jim writes in a style similar to Robert E. Howard so this was an enjoyable read. The art isn't bad and I liked the homage to Barry Smith with Conan's horned helmet and necklace. Let's see how many times the Cimmerian exclaims "by Crom" in this story.

 Thor: The Worthy #1 - This one-shot would be right at home on the racks in the nineteen seventies. There are three tales of others who have been deemed worthy of wielding the hammer.

 "Beyond the Field We Know…" by Walt Simonson (writer) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Sal Buscema (inks) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) & John Workman (letters) has Beta Ray Bill teamed up with the Lady Sif to fight a rock troll. I forgot that those two were romantically linked in the past.

 "Hearts of Stone, Feet of Clay" by Tom DeFalco (writer) Ron Frenz (plot & pencils) Keith Williams (inks) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) & VC's Clayton Cowles (letters) features Eric Masterson as Thunderstrike versus the Grey Gargoyle. This tale was cheesy with the inclusion of the police strike force Code: Blue. They tried to give it a modern twist by having a lesbian couple in the story.

 And finally "Rules of Reflection" by Kathryn Immonen (writer) Tom Reilly (art) Chris O'Halloran (colours) & VC's Clayton Cowles (letters) sees the Lady Sif figuring out that the new female Thor is really Jane Foster. It's in the last words Sif says to Thor in the last panel of the second to last page. Har.

 X-Men #3 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) Gerry Alanguilan & Leinil Francis Yu (inks) Sunny Gho & Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I've been waiting for new super villains to show up to challenge the X-Men and this issue delivers. Meet the not so helpless little old ladies of Hordeculture, average age 71. Agrochemist Augusta Bromes, bioengineer Opal Vetiver, geneticist Lily Leymus and botanical engineer Edith Scutch. They want to return planet earth to it's pristine Garden of Eden condition by eliminating most of humanity. I like them.

 Annihilation - Scourge Nova #1 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Ibraim Roberson (art) Carlos Lopez (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This was better than the FF one-shot that hit the racks at the same time. I got a few chuckles catching up with Richard Rider. You don't even have to know anything about this cosmic super hero because the first three pages explain his entire existence up to this point. My enjoyment of this made me want to check out the Silver Surfer and Beta Ray Bill one-shots that will hit the racks December 11.