#robin ii: donning the red hood

[bowlofworms]

Have this or whatever. Sorry for the weird lines here and there, my pencil sketch was ROUGH and my eraser betrayed me, so I had to play with the exposure and contrast to make that go away.

I’m also making storyboards because my brain latched onto this and won’t let go so lmk if yall wanna see those

There's a post about wanting a story about Jason's time as Robin. I made a reblog of it so long ago, but I can't stop thinking about it.

I want to watch Jason's flight as Robin, but the entire story he's haunted by the future we all know is going to come.

When he first grabs his tire iron, he has the choice of taking a crowbar instead.

Subtle purples or greens pop up when he's in danger (but not necessarily the Joker).

He frees a bird trapped inside a warehouse.

He rescues a kid who was kidnapped by their mom and returns them to their dad.

So many dead or injured birds

While helping Alfred with gardening, he breaks a nail

Gun magazines at many scenes

Motorcyclists wearing red helmets

Someone's bubbling jacuzzi has a green light on

Duffle bags

He helps hold a bandage to someone's neck until paramedics arrive

Jason reads Frankenstein while at the Manor

An ad proclaims their coffins to be the sturdiest

Just his Robin story being jammed packed with foreshadowing.

It'd also be rad to have Easter Eggs:

Someone makes a comment about assassin kids

When talking to Bruce about something, on the batscreen is a very short file about "One Who is All"

Someone at a gala mentions the Drakes' newest archeology find

Kids at Jason's school chat about meta powers and how cool controlling light is

When visiting the hospital, the nurse introduces herself as Crystal

The buildup of the audience watching Jason, who's unaware of his future, continuously face sign after sign after sign? The irrational hope that maybe someone will notice the universe basically screaming about the future? Nobody notices as more and more signs pop up. It's maddening but so intriguing.

Jason's story of Robin would follow him as he goes from being desperate to survive to thriving. His paranoia that it's too good to be true thrums in his veins, but he learns to ignore it. He's fed, loved, and flies over Gotham every night. There's conflict, sure, but he's figuring out. It's okay.

The signs start out slow and subtle. As he starts to reach towards the end, they get more and more obvious. They occur more often.

Jason doesn't know when it all goes wrong, but he's figured it out before.

We don't see him lose hope until the very end.

EDIT:

Here's the og post I was referencing

[nightwings-robin]

For Young Justice Legacy 2 video game, the plot goes like this:

Plot: 10 years after the events of YJ Phantoms, Blackfire, the empress of Tamaran and the new antagonist of the game allies with Darkseid and his Female Furies to revive the creature known as the Parallax, that was contained by the deceased Green Lantern, Abin Sur. Now the next generation of young heroes caught wind of the plot after suspicions rose on Dr. Hector Hammond, the head scientist of the DEO and another ally of Blackfire's (cause the game could use an intergalactic theme plot).

Playable characters:

Prince Artur/Arthur Curry Jr./Aqualad II

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II

Lian Nguyen Harper/ Speedy II

Jonny Kent/Superboy II

Don Allen/Tornado Boy

Dawn Allen/Tornado Girl

Tomar Tu/Green Lantern

Damian Wayne/Robin IV

Jennifer Pierce/Lightning

Kathy Branden/Beacon

Villains/bosses:

Tommy Terror

Tuppence Terror

Dr. Hector Hammond

Devastation

Lashina

Big Barda

Stompa

Granny Goodness

Talia Al Ghul

Red Hood (Jason Todd, not sure if that's possible)

Supergirl

Black Mary

yeah that could be fun! it would be a good way to introduce some of those characters that have only really been hinted at in the show.

I never played the Legacy game; all I know about it is that Tula dies.

[bitimdrake]

Could I ask for a timeline for Jason Todd's Red Hood actions? Like when did UtRH, Seeing Red, Brothers in Blood, Attack on Titan's Tower all take place compared to each other/ other comic events?

Oh absolutely! Jason's timeline after coming back post-crisis is actually pretty straight forward. Here is every single issue he has a significant appearance in:

Red Hood: Lost Days was published later, but recounts the time between Jason coming back from the dead and returning to Gotham. (Batman Annual #25 also does this, but that one goes all the way through Hush and is included in Under the Hood, so for best reading order it should be later.)

Then Jason shows up in Batman: Hush specifically in Batman #617-618. At the time this is revealed to actually be Clayface, but later it will be revealed to actually actually be Jason.

A lot happens in between this and his next appearance. Dick's struggles in Bludhaven hit their peak. Young Justice and the Titans both split up, and the 2003 Teen Titans and Outsiders form. Tim is forced to quit Robin by his dad; Stephanie becomes Robin and then Bruce fires her. And then finally War Games and Identity Crisis happen right before Jason's return, leaving Stephanie and Jack Drake dead, every vigilante except Bruce leaving Gotham (Cass and Tim to Bludhaven; Dick initially to Detroit; Babs and the Birds of Prey initially to Metropolis), and Black Mask getting massive control over Gotham's underbelly.

Then Under the Hood begins with Batman #635-641, #645-647. At some point in here, insert Batman Annual #25, explaining Jason's past. In the middle of UtRH--after he's revealed his identity to Bruce, but before the dramatic end--Jason heads over to San Francisco to beat up Tim in Teen Titans vol 3 #29. At this point, Infinite Crisis has begun. Bruce is going from one earth shattering crisis to the next when UtRH hits its final confrontation in Batman #648-650. This occurs at literally the same time Bludhaven is destroyed.

At the end of this story, Jason either dies just before the universe is rewritten, or is seriously injured and flees. Either way, he is gone for awhile. Infinite Crisis ends; the day is saved; Bruce, Dick, and Tim go on a trip around the world; and the DC universe jumps forward with One Year Later.

Here's the only part where things get a little contradictory. Flashbacks in Outsiders vol 3 #44-46, Annual #1 show Jason helping Dick and the Outsiders with some information back during that skipped year. This was retroactively inserted though, and Outsider's timeline is pretty at odds with all the Bat-books/52's claims on what Dick did over that year--not to mention the emotional arcs conflicting wildly with what comes next:

At the end of the year jump, some cameos from Jason in World War II #1, #4 lead into Brothers in Blood, Nightwing #118-122, part of the One Year Later event, where Jason dons the Nightwing suit to commit murder and ruin Dick's life. (Meanwhile, Cass is in the terrible evil!Cass arc, and Tim is adopted.)

Again, Jason vanishes for a while, next popping up in Seeing Red, Green Arrow vol 3 #69-72, with Bruce, Ollie, and Mia. (At some point around here, could be before or after, Damian is first introduced, though he doesn't stick around.)

At this point is when DC tried to make him a main character in Countdown. This was intended to be the dramatic lead in to Final Crisis, only it wasn't that at all and nothing here matters ever again. But to be thorough, Jason witnesses Duela Dent's death in Countdown #51-48 [note: issue numbers run backwards], gets questioned about it in Teen Titans vol 3 #47 (the first time he, Dick, and Tim all appear together!), then Countdown #47, and Amazons Attack #2 where he starts to join up with Donna. He remains a major player from Countdown #46-1, plus a bunch of tie-ins I never read, as he, Donna, Kyle Rayner, and Bob the Monitor go on a trip through the multiverse.

Most of this matters not in the slightest. There is only one exception: one of the earths they visit has a similar history, but with a Bruce who did kill the Joker after Jason's death, and then promptly went off the deep end. (Which I desperately wish we could have had more follow-up on.) Said alt!Batman gives Jason the Red Robin suit, which he uses all the way back to the normal earth, before dropping in a dumpster. This is the suit Tim will eventually wear.

Events that occurred while he was gone include The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, Steph's return, Cass's return to the good side, and the formation of a new Titans team with Dick. Shortly after is Batman RIP, where Bruce vanishes. After RIP is also when Damian stays in Gotham.

(TIMELINE NOTE: the official timeline of Batman and Final Crisis says that FC happened immediately after RIP, meaning Bruce was missing for less than one night before he went off to die. This contradicts every other Bat-book there is, all of which heavily implied or else outright stated that Bruce was mysteriously missing for a significant period before he was known to be dead. I use the latter version, and sort accordingly. If you prefer the former, then Final Crisis should be placed here.)

While Batman is missing, Jason pops up again, this time with Tim in Robin #177, #182, where he gets sent to jail, and then Tim breaks him out. This will turn out to be an incredibly horrible idea. After this is when I place Final Crisis and Bruce's actual "death." Following which, Tim brings Jason to the cave to see Bruce's final message to him in Robin #183.

Then he loses it. Cue Battle for the Cowl. Jason's major appearances here are in the central three issues, but he shows up briefly in a few of the tie-ins. In order, Battle for the Cowl #1 and Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight #3, then Battle for the Cowl #2, BftC: The Underground #1, concluding in Battle for the Cowl #3. Once again, Jason ends the arc by seemingly dying, but of course will reappear later.

In the meantime, Dick becomes Batman, Damian becomes Robin, Tim becomes Red Robin and leaves the country, Cass also leaves the country, and Steph becomes Batgirl. We are in the Batman Reborn era.

Jason's final appearances are with Batman!Dick and Robin!Damian, in Batman and Robin #4-6, where he is again sent to prison, before breaking out in Batman and Robin #23-25, and flying off into the sunset with his new sidekick, Scarlet.

[tmema]

absolutely no rush, you can answer this tomorrow or whenever you feel but i just wanted to ask your top five comic book characters, if there’s any special reason why? things you feel people miss about your fav characters / what they get wrong? or maybe any favorite panels you have of them, if any? xoxox 💓💞✨ !!!

nina thank you so much for asking !!!!! <3

i will say super quick that this is the first time im getting back into comics properly in several years so i feel very rusty and wont be able to go as in-depth as i would like to on character discussion fjakfjdjfks

top 5 comic book characters

Cassandra Cain / Batgirl II - Probably my all-time favorite DC character and Batfam member. I was introduced to her as a teenager and have never looked back! I'm planning on rereading Batgirl Vol. 1 to get reacquainted but like... when it comes to redemptive storylines and characters seeking redemption, she's it, I think. And I remember reading someone saying that she would be the perfect successor to Bruce's Batman and have wholeheartedly agreed ever since. She was raised by her shitty assassin father with violence and body language as her forms of communication in order to be a killer, but the first time she killed someone as a child it traumatized her so much that she ran away and wound up in Gotham, and strives for redemption and seeks it through donning the Batgirl mantel. She loses her ability to fight and read body language but then, after agreeing to fight Lady Shiva (her birth mother) to the death a year later in exchange to be retrained, gains it again. "Mediocre for a lifetime, or perfect for a year." / "I don't kill... but I don't lose, either." There's a lot I don't remember so there's a lot I'm not saying about her that I wish I could but she's just... *gestures vaguely* one of her monikers is "the one who is all" and I could not agree more <3 I'm planning to revisit Batgirl Vol. 1 and get reacquainted with her, but. There's something about a person who was raised to kill and then, when she does, runs and chooses to be good. She seeks redemption and wants to atone for what she's done, to the point where she has a death wish, and is willing to die for it, but the catch is... the moment she wanted to be a hero, to be good, she set it in motion. She was already on her way to becoming what she so desperately strived to be (good) the second she ran away from Cain! I just. I love her so much <3

Jason Todd / The Red Hood - The first DC character I loved properly after the regular exposure to DC and Marvel content in childhood. And, if memory serves, the character that got me into comics. The second Robin, murdered at the hands of the Joker and then when he comes back from the dead... finds out that nothing changed. That everything is the same, as bad as it was before he died. That the man who hurt and murdered him is still up and walking around, only a matter of time before he gets out of Arkham. I was an angry kid and in retrospect connected with how angry he was, that the person he loved (still loves, I think, even though things are not great between them) as a father did not avenge his death. The fact that he was wronged to such a degree and, in his eyes, virtually nothing was done about it. That, upon coming back from the dead, he resorted to using the tactics of those he'd fought against as a child in order to control crime in order to protect people. That now he goes to the lengths that Bruce didn't go for him to do what he and Bruce did up until his death. That, even though his methods make him a killer, even though he's an anti-hero, he's still not the same as his killer, as people like his killer. I had never seen that kind of nuance in a comic book character at that age. I think he is a great anti-hero and a very interesting character in the landscape of 'typical' comic book character heroes. Also the fact that he says shit like "I've been bamboozled!" ... fantastic tbh <3 ALSO, the way heath @edeemir writes him and incorporates him with their OCs makes me so :') about him. Heath humanizes him and makes him both human and tangible in a way that I think even many comic writers miss out on.

Kate Bishop / Hawkeye - Don't have a lot of thoughts on her because I haven't read about her more than Matt Fraction's Hawkeye but I think she's great. I have a soft spot for heroes who aren't superpowered but either become or want to be heroes anyway, and she definitely fits the bill. I think she's a great counterpart to Barton's Hawkeye and she tries her best.

Natasha Romanoff - I will never, ever forgive the MCU for what they did to her. They turned a compelling character into... whatever that was. She was my favorite Marvel comics character as a teenager. I haven't read it in years but The Name of the Rose is still, to date, her best solo title I think. The comicbook version of her, when done, right, is cool! She's awesome! I love her! But she's not always done right and as a result I haven't familiarized myself with her in many other adaptions. I do remember being an avid Winterwidow/Buckynat shipper, too, but it's been too long to say anything about that beyond the fact that the MCU also missed out on doing something with them.

Kurt Wagner - I have only recently become acquainted with him as I never was into X-Men as a kid but oh my god do I love him... every time someone says "he's a cutie!" in the comics when someone else goes "a demon!" I'm like SO TRUE!!!!!! He's wonderful. He's great. He's charming. I am dropping hints that I would like to be smooched by Kurt Nightcrawler Wagner. Even from what little I've seen of him... he cares so much for his friends, he chooses love, he's capable and kind and warm. His whole "I'm a lover, not a fighter" shtick WORKS on me. I think he is the most handsome dude win Marvel comics. He's a good man and I love him. When will he kiss ME! Asking for a friend <3

There is a another character I want to list here but I want to make a proper essay/analysis post after rereading their issues in [redacted] because I don't wanna get it wrong but I keep forgetting to do that. And it's a question of "am I right or am I just biased and want to rewrite their character. " So. That may or may not happen soon <3

Things I think people misunderstand about my favorite characters

Hmmm... I haven't been involved with comic fandom at large for a very long time but I do vaguely remember some people thinking Cass was boring as Batgirl. And to them I say. You are stupid and you understand nothing <3 You don't have to like her (even though I think she is very likeable!) but don't SLANDER her like that. + The only people who understand Jason's characterization are my mutuals and their trusted sources and mutuals. That's it. Everything else needs to be peer reviewed and assessed before further comment <3 Also when will they give him a costume THAT DOESN'T SUCK! WHEN! HOW LONG MUST WE WAIT FOR HIM TO GET A DECENT HELMET!

Some favorite panels

there are many more but those are my go-to <3

[bebe-benzenheimer]

Fairy Tale Meme: Film/Television/Book Adaptations [10/10]

Thumbelina (1994) - directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman and starring Jodi Benson

The Shadow of Oz by J. Michael Wright II (2019) - modern dark AU of The Wizard of Oz

Spellbound by Sara Celi (2017) - highschool genderswap AU of Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (1987 - 1990) - modern fantasy drama starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton

Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947) - segment of the Walt Disney anthology film Fun and Fancy Free starring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in their take on Jack and the Beanstalk

Ever After (1998) - adaptation of Cinderella directed by Andy Tennant and starring Drew Barrymore

The Frog Prince (1971) - Muppets version of the tale directed by Jim Henson and featuring Kermit as the narrator, Robin as the frog prince, and Trudy Young as the princess

Alice in Wonderland (2010) - directed by Tim Burton and featuring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathway among its all-star cast

The Swan Princess (1994) - directed by Richard Rich and based on the Swan Lake ballet

Dark Fairy Tales by CJ Roberts, Willow Winters, Aleatha Romig, Karina Halle, Marley Valentine, T.M. Frazier, Celia Aaron, Skye Warren, Cora Reilly, Sierra Simone, Natasha Knight (2020) - dark romance anthology featuring twisted takes on The Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, King Midas, King Thrushbeard, Princess and the Pea, and Swan Princess

[teentitanimals]

Batfamily Teams

Generally goes oldest to youngest (in terms of average age of the team, not individual members). If a name is italicized, then it is not canonically a name they ever had, just one I made up/headcannoned, or stole from @newyoungjustice (who is AMAZING btw, please check them out!) or Earth-27. This is not every member ever, but I tried to hit all the main and important ones.

The Justice League (Core members listed only):

Bruce Wayne (Batman)

Clark Kent/Kal-El (Superman)

Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)

Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)

Dinah Lance (Black Canary)

Barry Allen (The Flash)

Arthur Curry (Aquaman)

J’onn J’onzz/John Jones (Martian Manhunter)

John Smith (Red Tornado)

Shayera Thal (Hawkwoman)

Katar Hol (Hawkman)

Zatanna Zatara (Zatanna)

Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)

John Stewart (Green Lantern)

Guy Gardner (Green Lantern)

Jessica Cruz (Green Lantern; alternatively, Power Ring)

Micheal Carter (Booster Gold)

Billy Batson (Shazam)

The Sirens:

Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)

Pamela Lillian (Poison Ivy)

Titans (Founders of the original Teen Titans):

Dick Grayson (joined as Robin; now Nightwing)

Wally West (joined as Kid Flash; now retired Flash)

Roy Harper (joined as Speedy; now Arsenal)

Donna Troy (retired Wonder Girl)

Garth Ranzz (joined as Aqualad; now Tempest)

Koriand’r/Kori Anders (Starfire)

Birds of Prey:

Barbara Gordon (Oracle; alternatively Oracle Alpha; formerly Batgirl)

Helena Bertinelli (The Huntress)

Dinah Lance (Black Canary)

Shayera Thal (Hawkwoman)

Zinda Blake (Lady Blackhawk)

Kate Kane (Batwoman)

Helena Wayne (The Huntress; nicknamed Little Hunt)

Karen Starr (Power Girl)

Cassandra Cain (joined as Batgirl; now Black Bat/Orphan)

Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (joined as Batgirl; now Misfit)

Titans (Joined the founding members later):

Victor Stone (Cyborg)

Rachel Roth (Raven)

Garfield Logan (Beast Boy)

Tara Markov (Terra; deceased)

Artemis Crock (joined as Artemis; now Tigress)

Karen Beecher (Bumblebee)

Barbara Gordon (joined as Batgirl; now Oracle)

Jason Todd (joined as Robin; now Red Hood)

Rose Wilson (Ravager)

Outlaws:

Jason Todd (Red Hood; formerly Robin)

Roy Harper (Arsenal; formerly Speedy)

Koriand’r/Kori Anders (Starfire)

Artemis of Bana-Mighdall (Artemis)

Bizarro II (Bizarro)

Rose Wilson (Ravager)

Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern)

Sasha Todd (Scarlet)

Lian Harper (Little Red Riding Hood)

Titans West (disbanded):

Garfield Logan (Beast Boy)

Bette Kane (joined as Flamebird; now Hawkfire)

Charley Parker (Golden Eagle)

Hank Hall (Hawk)

Don Hall (Dove; deceased)

Lilith Clay (Omen)

John Gnarkk (Gnarkk)

Teen Titans (“Third” Generation):

Kaldur’ahm/Jackson Hyde (joined as Aqualad; now Jekyll)

Tula zin’Marius (Aquagirl; deceased)

Christopher Kent/Lor-Zod (semi-retired Zenith)

Kara Danvers/Zor-El (Supergirl)

Virgil Hawkins (Static)

Tim Drake (joined as Robin; now Red Robin/Drake)

Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle)

M’gann M’orzz/Megan Morse (Miss Martian)

Cassandra Cain (joined as Batgirl; now Black Bat/Orphan)

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler; formerly Batgirl and Robin)

Billy Batson (Shazam)

Young Justice:

Tim Drake (founded as Robin; now Red Robin/Drake)

Connor Kent/Kon-El (Superboy; nicknamed Kon)

Bart Allen (Impulse; formerly Kid Flash)

Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl)

Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette)

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler; formerly Batgirl and Robin)

We are Robin:

Duke Thomas (joined as a Robin; now Signal)

Troy Walker (The Troy Wonder; deceased)

Daxton Chill (DaxAtax)

Andre Capriani (Dre-B-Robbin)

Riko Sheridan (R-iko)

Isabella Ortiz (Robina)

Carrie Kelley (Joined as a Robin; now Neon Batgirl)

Teen Titans (“Fourth” and “Fifth” Generations merged):

Wallace “Lace” West (Kid Flash)

Don Allen (½ The Tornado Twins)

Dawn Allen (½ The Tornado Twins)

Connor Hawke (joined as Speedy; now Red Arrow)

Damian Wayne (joined as Robin; now Flamebird)

Arthur “AJ” Curry Jr. (Aqualad)

Lian Harper (Little Red Riding Hood)

Milagro Reyes (Green Lantern)

Irey West II (Hyper)

Jai West (Velocity)

Super Sons:

Damian Wayne (joined as Robin; now Flamebird)

Jon Kent (Superboy)

New Young Justice (Name unofficial/a joke):

Damian Wayne (joined as Robin; now Flamebird)

Jon Kent (Superboy)

Kathy Branden (Beacon)

Maya Ducard (Nobody)

Lian Harper (Little Red Riding Hood)

Maps Mizoguchi (Oracle Omega; nicknamed Double O)

Colin Wilkes (Abuse)

Suren Darga (Darga)

Carrie Kelley (Neon Batgirl; formerly Robin)

League of Batgirls:

Barbara Gordon (Oracle; alternatively Oracle Alpha; formerly Batgirl)

Cassandra Cain (Black Bat/Orphan; formerly Batgirl)

Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (Misfit; formerly Batgirl)

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler; formerly Batgirl and Robin)

Bette Kane (Hawkfire; formerly Flamebird and Batgirl)

Carrie Kelley (Neon Batgirl; formerly Robin)

Tiffany Fox (Pink Batgirl)

Nell Little (Little Batgirl)

Teen Titans (“Sixth”, “Seventh” and “Eighth” Generations merged):

Tiffany Fox (Pink Batgirl)

Nell Little (Little Batgirl)

Tai Pham (Green Lantern)

Rani Carter (Bubble Girl)

Cynthia Lance (Sin)

Hippolyta Milton (Lyta)

Cerdian Ranzz (Cerdian)

Mar’i Grayson (Nightstar)

Jake Grayson (retired Robin)

Baby Birds of Prey (Name unofficial/a joke):

Lucy Quinzel (Columbine)

Lian Harper (Little Red Riding Hood)

Nell Little (Little Batgirl)

Cynthia Lance (Sin)

Hippolyta Milton (Lyta)

Not on a Team but Helps Out These Other Teams a Lot:

Julia Pennyworth (Penny-Two) [BoPs]

Harper Row (Bluebird) [BoPs, YJ, Third Gen TTs]

Cullen Row (Oracle Beta) [TTs and NWJs]

Alina Wayne (Oracle Gamma) [Sixth Gen TTs and BBoPs]

Luke Fox (Batwing) [TTs]

Timothy Fox (Vulture) [Seventh Gen TTs]

etc.

NOTES: i thought it’d be cool to have a little thing with Babs, Cullen, Maps and Alina where they’re all “Oracles”, so that’s why they’re Oracle Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omega. Also, Carrie, Nell and Tiff were all “Batgirls-in-Training” before they got their ‘official’ Batgirl names. Both Helena-Huntresses exist in this universe, yes, as Helena Wayne crossed over from Earth Never-Two And Irey and Jai’s superhero names together make Hypervelocity, which I thought was super cool! :D

[likeadeuce]

Raven Cycle Headcanons: Comic Book Heroes

I. 

Gansey says he doesn’t keep any secrets from his friends, but they still mostly learn about his life history when he drops comments like, “The last time I went base jumping in Borneo. . .” at which point Adam has to call him ‘Master Bruce’ in the Michael-Caine-as-Alfred voice. This makes Ronan laugh-snort through his nose so of course Adam has to keep calling Gansey that again and again for the rest of the day.

Gansey wearily informs them that he is, as they know, a Marvel guy and also the Nolan Batman movies are overrated. This just makes Adam (who is an extremely good mimic) need to do the voice more and the others have to join in.  Ronan does a decent “Christian Bale as Batman” and also “Christian Bale yelling at the guy who got in his light from that viral video,” but Blue steals the show with her Tom Hardy-as-Bane. (Although, technically, the one who does all of these voices better than anyone is Chainsaw).

II.

Gansey says he’s a Marvel guy but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have opinions. Adam finds this out when he makes a crack about how Dick isn’t such a bad name; Gansey shares it with Dick Grayson who is indisputably the best Robin.

This results in a pained Gansey face -- the ‘I’m not thrilled about correcting you but I’m going to be correcting you’ face -- and the statement that Tim Drake, self-taught boy detective, is just objectively the best Robin.

Ronan knows exactly enough about this topic, ie, one of those straight to DVD animated movies that Gansey threw on when they were drinking and bored, to declare Jason Todd the best Robin, especially when he came back from the dead and started calling himself Red Hood and kicking the shit out of people. This is Ronan’s only contribution to the conversation except to make occasional jokes about tiny shorts.

“Thoughts, Jane?” Gansey asks and Blue, reliably, raises a fist and says, “Justice for Stephanie Brown!” 

III.

Gansey says he’s a Marvel guy, he loves the Stan Lee “Excelsior” schtick, but he mostly means that he has the 102 issues of the original Lee/Kirby ‘Fantastic Four’ run memorized -- it’s classic, like the Camaro -- and he got the $100 /volume omnibus editions when he was 10, along with the Steve Ditko era of Spider-Man.  

He also sometimes wears a Silver Age “Iron Man” T-shirt that he bought when he decided to train for a triathlon, in the few months between Wales  and Aglionby. (Gansey never actually made it to the point of entering a triathlon, though he had a very respectable time in the Charlottesville Half-Marathon last spring and he’s definitely, perpetually, going to go home for the Marine Corps Marathon next year). But he got the shirt because he liked the classic red and gold Don Heck art, and because he thought it would be a good ‘Iron Man triathlon’ joke if anybody asked about the shirt, which they never did.

He’s not actually an Iron Man fan, though, he doesn’t really have time for any hero who takes two-thirds of the movie to realize he should maybe stop being a complete asshole to everybody, and then is somehow supposed to get points for being slightly less of an asshole in the six minutes after it occurs to him? Also Tony Stark is entirely too familiar as  type who gets loud at, and then gets thrown out on his ear from, the kind of parties hosted at the Gansey household. No thank you.

Adam and Blue can talk to each other through references to seventies and eighties X-Men and Excalibur comics like it’s some kind of secret code. Gansey will occasionally ask, “Wait, which one is that? Whose codename does that go with?” and Adam says he ought to just read the books himself. No thank you, Gansey says. Too many retcons, he says.  If he wants to piece together narratives full of inconsistencies that lose story threads and run all over the place, he has pre-Galfridian texts, and those have the excuse of being medieval and mostly in Welsh. “Just tell me the good parts of the stories,” Gansey says, “So I can understand what you’re talking about,” and sometimes they do.

IV. 

Blue and Adam have very similar points of reference when it comes to comics. In fact, it develops that they have the exact same points of reference: namely, everything that was available in trade paperback in the teen room of the Henrietta public library during the years they were in sixth through eighth grade.

“I spent so much time in there,” Blue says. “Trying to get a little peace and quite away from my house.“

“Relatable,” says Adam. Although, he’s well aware by now, for different reasons.

“Weird we never ran into each other.”

Adam stops, raises his eyes, takes a good look at her, trying to mentally subtract a few years and some teenage attitude, to reimagine her creative haircut. “Oh,” he says, “Yeah actually that makes sense. I probably did see you there.”

“Oh.Sorry, I don’t remember --”

“It’s fine,” says Adam hastily. Adam’s home was technically in Augusta County, across the Henrietta Town Line, which was why he and Blue had never been at the same school when they were younger. It was close enough for Adam to bike to town, though, and he figured out the Henrietta library had a considerably better collection than the one near his school where his mother had exasperatedly signed him up for a card.

Adam figured out that he was eligible to apply for a library card in Henrietta, but that he would need a parent to come down to the branch and sign him up for it. Even assuming that he could find his mother or father in a hospitable mood, it would completely defeat the purpose of having a quiet place to read where they couldn’t track him down. (If he just said ‘the library’ he wasn’t responsible for what they assumed. . .) So Adam would just take stacks of books with him and slump down in a chair or camp out in a corner and take all the time he could get away with.   

“If you didn’t see me,” he tells Blue, “It’s because I didn’t want anybody to see me. I was definitely hiding.” He would doubly have been hiding if he saw a pretty girl hanging out around the comic books. Way too stressful.

Blue pouts a little. “You should have come and said, ‘Hi.’ We could have been friends five years earlier.” 

Adam makes a face of regret. “I should have,” he says, “Sorry.”

The truth is, as neither of them says but both of them suspect, if a boy had come up and tried to talk to twelve-year old Blue Sargent when she was trying to read, she absolutely would have yelled at him. 

Sometimes, things need to happen on their own time.

[aion-rsa]

Batman ’89: What Happened Next in the Burtonverse After Batman Returns

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Batman article contains spoilers.

Tim Burton’s original vision for Gotham City and the Dark Knight are returning to the forefront of the DC Universe in more ways than one this year. Not only is Michael Keaton back in the cape and cowl for The Flash movie, which is currently filming in the UK for a late 2022 release, but DC is also releasing a sequel comic to Batman ’89 this week. No, this isn’t Batman Returns but a brand new continuation of the Burtonverse from Batman ’89‘s original screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones that “pulls on a number of threads left dangling” by Burton, all while recreating the singular look and feel of the movies, down to Keaton’s iconic Batsuit and Batmobile as well as all of the cool gadgets and Gothic architecture.

This six-issue miniseries is a big deal — not just for fans of the Burtonverse and Keaton but for the creators themselves. You may already know the story of how “Batman II” eventually became the divisive Batman Returns: after delivering a box office smash, Burton and Hamm were quickly tapped to make a sequel, but the filmmakers disagreed on the direction the next movie should take, leading to the director replacing Hamm with Daniel Waters (Heathers), who churned out something much darker and sans Robin, the Boy Wonder. With the Batman ’89 comic, Hamm gets to finally deliver his own take on what happened next.

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As for Quinones, this comic wouldn’t exist without his designs for the book, which he originally pitched to DC in 2015 with writer Kate Leth. Revealed on his blog in 2016 were designs for Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face, the debut of Batgirl and Marlon Wayans’ Robin (finally!), and even the return of Catwoman — all of which will finally come to pass in the new miniseries, according to DC Comics.

But how are all of these big moments set up in the comic? Batman ’89 #1, out this week, begins to set the stage for an interesting new future for the Burtonverse. Spoilers ahead…

Batman ’89 picks up after both Burton movies, effectively the director’s “Batman III” if such a wonderful thing existed. After the Joker’s death and Penguin’s demise, things in Gotham City are worse than ever, as the Dark Knight’s crusade seems only to lead to more crime. We’re treated to chaos on the streets from the opening panels of the book, which are set on Halloween night, as the remnants of the Joker Gang and Penguin’s Red Triangle Gang loot stores, mug citizens, and attempt to hijack two armored cars full of cash with a cargo helicopter. In fact, it’s after the Caped Crusader thwarts the Joker Gang’s helicopter, sending it crashing into a building, and leaving several citizens dead or critically injured and millions of dollars in damages, that Gotham DA Harvey Dent decides he’s had enough.

Meant to evoke the endless charm and swagger of Billy Dee Williams, who played the character in the first movie but didn’t return for the sequel, Dent is finally given the spotlight he deserved decades ago. In Batman ’89, he’s a man on his own crusade.

After Dent watching the destruction and chaos of the opening panels from the streets after a romantic dinner with GCPD Sergeant Barbara Gordon, whom he’s just proposed to (!), he decides it’s actually the Batman’s reign of terror that needs to be stopped. Dent thinks it’s a vigilante operating outside of the law that has bred even more crime and death in his city. Although Batman swore to protect Gotham in his letter to Dent at the end of the first movie, the violence that’s erupted in his wake has left the city under siege, forcing the National Guard to come in to patrol the streets. A curfew has been put in place, while the soldiers hunt down the Batman.

The first issue raises some big questions about Keaton’s Batman that would have made for captivating big-screen drama. Early on, the comic asks whether the Dark Knight is ultimately doing more harm than good in Gotham, where citizens now dress up as Batman or the Joker and fight each other in the streets. But a grumpy Bruce Wayne (he’s also graying) stubbornly stands by his convictions during a meeting with Dent, who visits Wayne Manor to ask for Bruce’s help in taking down the Batman. Like in the movies, the duality of the character of Bruce Wayne is front and center in the comic, with the billionaire befriending people in power during the day while working against them as Batman at night.

The book also plays up Wayne’s friendship with Dent because it will likely be a key factor in Dent’s transformation into Two-Face. While the beloved district attorney is still one of the good guys by the end of the first issue, the ingredients for Dent’s fall from grace are already in place. There’s the trick coin he uses to make his own luck (given its own origin story that beckons back to Harvey’s childhood in the streets of Burnside), his marriage to Barbara Gordon that will likely never come to pass, his anger at Batman and Bruce (who is hesitant to help Harvey), and the way he threatens two Joker thugs with a gun — although he’s only trying to scare them, we see that the district attorney is willing to get his hands dirty, not unlike Christopher Nolan’s own version of the character.

How does Dent’s war on Batman begin? By deposing the Caped Crusader’s greatest ally in Gotham City, Commissioner Jim Gordon (resembling Pat Hingle). Gordon faces a vote of no confidence after the violence on Halloween, while Dent and Detective Bullock try to lure Batman into a trap with the Bat Signal, which has to be repaired every couple of weeks because beat cops keeps smashing it. No, Batman doesn’t have many friends left without Gordon. We do see their friendship flourish after two movies-worth of crime-fighting, though. The comic even addresses Gordon’s connection to Bruce’s origin story, which feels like a nod to what Keaton hoped would be the subject of Batman III if it had happened.

By the end of the issue, Batman is once again a wanted man in his own city, and when he runs afoul of another major character, he finds himself directly in the National Guard’s crosshairs. Yes, the issue sets the stage for the debut of the Burtonverse’s Robin, who ambushes the Dark Knight while protecting another kid who stole diapers and baby food for his little sister.

Here is the most direct connection to Hamm’s script for Batman II and what would have been Marlon Wayans’ portrayal of Robin, as well as the book’s most intriguing reinvention. In Hamm’s screenplay, Dick Grayson is introduced as a young Black orphan surviving in the streets with the help of his martial arts skills. In the comic, Grayson has donned his own disguise — a hooded black cape and a yellow face mask — to help the poorest of Gotham, and there are some interesting elements at play here that I would have liked to see on screen, especially the depiction of Robin as a hero trying to save those that the Batman seems to forget while fighting flamboyant villains and stopping heists in Gotham’s more affluent neighborhoods.

Some readers have long criticized the character as not only an example of “copaganda,” despite all the crooked police officers working in the GCPD, but also of a very wealthy guy beating up and maiming poor people. Robin’s debut as someone fighting for those Batman’s war on crime neglects seems like a way to talk about (or at least acknowledge) some of the deeper systemic issues in Gotham that the Caped Crusader can’t fight with his fists. This examination, coupled with Dent’s own crusade, even as worries that he needs to “hide his real face” to fit in with the elite and affect change for places like Burnside, would have been revolutionary back then and feels more relevant than ever now.

It remains to be seen whether the six-issue miniseries will really lean into this type of commentary, but issue one is a promising start for a modern reinvention of the Burtonverse, even as it packs in the nostalgia and imagines what could have been had Keaton’s Batman been given a trilogy.

The post Batman ’89: What Happened Next in the Burtonverse After Batman Returns appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3lQe9l4

[carewyncromwell]

Names for all four, please?

My dear @that-ravenpuff-witch asked for this too! <3

1. Names: What does it mean? What origin is it? Why did you choose it? 

“Carewyn” is derived from the Welsh name “Caerwyn,” which can either mean “blessed” or “white fortress”...which yeah, I kind of thought was awfully appropriate for a heroine who’s destined to break curses inside a castle! I’d actually discovered the name while working on another project, planning to use it for a more villainous OC -- but the meaning just really seemed to suit this Slytherin paragon character I wanted to make! I see it being an old family name amongst the Cromwell clan that her mum Lane picked on a whim.

“Lane” comes from Carewyn’s mother, Lane Cromwell. It’s actually a traditional middle name in my own family -- both my aunt and mother, two of the three women who inspired Lane, have it as their middle name. That same aunt, who’s our family’s resident genealogist, has said it originally was someone’s maiden name that they preserved after marrying into our family by giving it to their daughter as a middle name, and it may even have been derived from the Scottish “MacLane” prior to that.

“Cromwell” comes from the character Aggie Cromwell from my personal favorite Disney Channel Original Movie as a kid, Halloweentown. Appropriately, Aggie Cromwell is a witch played by the marvelous Debbie Reynolds (RIP), who also had one of the single best lines ever written in my opinion: “Being normal is vastly overrated.” Interestingly even Aggie’s daughter Gwen leaving her magical heritage and world behind to marry a human kind of parallels Carewyn’s mother Lane leaving her abusive magical family and marrying a Muggle!

~~~

Jacob’s name comes from the game Hogwarts Mystery, of course, but in my headcanon, it was an old family name Evan picked, just as much as “Carewyn” was an old family name Lane picked. “Jacob” was the name of Evan’s great-uncle, who raised him more than his own father ever did. (Hmm, wonder if that’s why Evan had such few instincts about how to be a father himself...) The name “Jacob” can mean either “to supplant” or “to follow” in Hebrew -- I’d say Jacob Cromwell is the sort generally to supplant those less talented than him, but he will also always follow along after his sister to keep her from harm. :)

Evan is -- as mentioned -- Jacob’s father name. “Evan” is a form of John (meaning “God is gracious”), but it also can mean “young warrior.” I’d say that meaning fits both Evan (who saw himself as “swooping into Lane’s rescue” during their courtship) and especially Jacob (who quite frankly would be a hat-stall between Wampus and Horned Serpent if he went to Ilvermorny).

~~~

Erik is a Norse name meaning “eternal ruler.” I picked it, however, as a salute to one of my favorite book and Broadway musical characters -- Erik the Phantom of the Opera.

Landon is an English name meaning “from the long hill.” Phillip and Sadie picked it as a tribute to Lando Calrissian, who was one of Phillip’s favorite Star Wars characters. That deep love of Star Wars is one of the few things he was able to pass onto Erik before his death.

Apollo is the name of the Greco-Roman god of light, music, and prophecy. Not only does Erik have bright curly blond hair, a gift for prophecy, and a love for all genders just like Apollo, but I also based his appearance largely on another character nicknamed “Apollo” -- ma chere Enjolras, from the book and Broadway musical Les Miserables.

~~~

Anastasia is a Russian name meaning “resurrection.” It’s most associated with the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. I’ve been in love with the story of the Romanovs ever since I saw the Don Bluth film when I was seven, at which point I dived headlong into studying the real story behind the Romanovs and never looked back. I became such a historian on that chapter in Russian history as a kid that I even helped my 7th grade History teacher teach it to the rest of the class -- and I knew things he didn’t!! Behold, thou have spotted a nerd here. XD;;;

“Marian” has a lot of possible origins. It’s most often associated with “Marie” or “Mary,” which can mean “bitterness” or “sorrow,” but it’s also been associated with the name Miriam meaning “rebelliousness.” It of course is also associated with Robin Hood’s fair love interest, Maid Marian -- and well, I’ve already said I blame @cursebreakerfarrier for inspiring me to get cracking on this character after she posted about her boy Robin Isherwood! XDD

Read is the Old English spelling of the word “red,” which of course is one of Gryffindor’s house colors. Interestingly, however, I initially picked it because I wanted to make an inside joke within Anastasia’s name, just for my own sake. One of my other favorite parts of history to study is the Golden Age of Piracy, and two of my favorite pirates from that era are Anne Bonny and Mary Read. So we have Anastasia Marian Read. (Her mother’s even named Bonnie too!)

HPHM/HPMA Asks!

[dr-archeville]

Upcoming Retro Films at the Carolina Theatre of Durham (January-June 2020)

All movies are on Fridays (unless otherwise stated) starting at 7:00pm (or so), and cost $9.50 for both films ($7.00 for the Wednesday‘s Cinema Overdrive and MovieDiva shows).  Most shows also have drawings for door prizes – submit your name & a film you’d like to see, and you could win a fridge magnet with a scene from the night’s movie (or something else!).

You can also get a season pass for $80.00, which covers the Friday night double features and the Wednesday night Cinema Overdrive shows (but does not include Anime-Magic, FantasticRealm, or MysteyRealmFilm Film Series, or the Wednesday MovieDiva Film Series).

Jan 15th (Cinema Overdrive): Mark L. Lester’s Commando (1985)

Jan 17th: The Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski (1988) and The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Jan 22nd (MovieDiva): Clarence Brown’s Possessed (1931)

Jan 24th (Sunday): Nevermore Fundraiser ($12): Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead (1982) and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II (1987)

Jan 24th-27th (Fri-Mon): Anime-Magic Film Series -- Eiichi Yamamoto’s BellaDonna of Sadness (1973; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Hiayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky (1986; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress (2001; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Hiayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro (1988; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Masaaki Yuasa’s The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2013; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Takeshi Koike’s Redline (2009; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Hiroyuki Yamaga’s Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise (1987; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Isao Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Toyoo Ashida’s Vampire Hunter D (1985; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Amp Wong & Zhao Ji’s White Snake (2018; in Chinese w/ English subtitles), and Mamoru Hosonda’s Wolf Children (2012; in Japanese w/ English subtitles)

Jan 29th (Cinema Overdrive): Aldo Lado’s Who Saw Her Die? (1972)

Jan 31st: Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day (1993) and Beeban Kidron’s To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Feb 5th (MovieDiva): Mervyn Leroy’s Heat Lightning (1934)

Feb 7th: David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1987) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981)

Feb 9th (Sun): Fan Appreciation Day -- Free showings of Stanley Donan & Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Kevin Smith’s Clerks (1994), and each free show comes with a free popcorn & soda!

Feb 12th (Cinema Overdrive): Don Siegel’s The Beguiled (1971)

Feb 14th: Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987) and Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993)

Feb 19th (MovieDiva): Mervyn Leroy’s Five Star Final (1931)

Feb 21st: Edmund Goulding’s Nightmare Alley (1947) and Boris Ingster’s Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Feb 28th-March 1st (Fri-Sun): Nevermore Film Festival

Mar 4th (MovieDiva): Frank Urson’s Chicago (1927)

Mar 6th: Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy (1972) and Richard Franklin’s Road Games (1981)

Mar 13th: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986) & Richard Franklin’s Beetlejuice (1988)

Mar 13th-15th (Fri-Sun): FantasticRealm Film Series -- Charles Lamont’s Abbot and Costello Meet The Invisible Man (1951), Joe D’Amato’s Ator The Fighting Eagle (1982), James Sbardellati’s Deathstalker (1983), Fred M. Wilson’s Forbidden Planet (1956), Terry Marcel’s Hawk The Slayer (1980), Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), James Whale’s The Invisible Man (1933), Ishiro Honda’s Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Richard Fleischer’s Red Sonja (1985), Ishiro Honda’s Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975; in Japanese w/ English subtitles), Howard Hawk’s The Thing From Another World (1951), and Byron Haskin’s The War of the Worlds (1953)

Mat 18th (Cinema OverDrive): William Friedkin’s Sorcerer (1977)

Mar 20th: John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club (1985)

Mar 25th (MovieDiva): Erle C. Kenton’s Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Mar 27th: Jonathan Lynn’s Clue (1985) and Fred Walton’s April Fool’s Day (1986)

Apr 10th: Randal Kleiser’s Grease (1978) and Patricia Birch’s Grease 2 (1982)

Apr 15th (Cinema Overdrive): J. Lee Thompson’s Eye of the Devil (1967)

Apt 17th: David Lynch’s Dune (1984) and Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Apr 22nd (Cinema OverDrive): William K. Howard’s Transatlantic (1931)

Apr 24th: Michael Mann’s The Keep (1983) and Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977)

Apr 29th (Cinema Overdrive): John Frankenheimer’s Seconds (1966)

May 1st: David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers (1988) and David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch (1991)

May 6th (MovieDiva): Lloyd Bacon & Busby Berkeley’s Footlight Parade (1933)

My 8th: James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) and David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992)

May 13th (Cinema Overdrive): Robert Zemeckis’ Used Cars (1980)

May 15th: The Coen Brothers’ Raising Arizona (1987) and The Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink (1991)

May 20th (MovieDiva): Rouben Mamoulian’s Queen Christina (1933)

May 27th (Cinema Overdrive): Gary Sherman’s Vice Squad (1982)

May 29th: Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) and Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Jun 3rd (MovieDiva): Roy del Ruth’s Employees’ Entrance (1933)

Jun 5th: Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein (1974) and Roman Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Jun 10th (Cinema Overdrive): Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 (1981)

Jun 12th: Colin Higgin’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and Nancy Walker’s Can’t Stop The Music (1980)

Jun 17th (MovieDiva): Thornton Freeland’s Flying Down To Rio (1933)

Jun 19th: John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China (1986) and John Carpenter’s Escape From New York (1981)

Jun 19th-22nd (Fri-Mon): MysteryRealm Film Series -- John Sturges’ Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Albert S. Rogell’s The Black Cat (1941), J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear (1962), William Friedkin’s Cruising (1980), Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder (1954), Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986), Guy Hamilton’s The Mirror Crack’d (1980), David Schmoeller’s Seduction (1982), Anatole Litvak’s Sorry Wrong Number (1948), Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion (1941), Fred Walton’s When A Stronger Calls (1979), and Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973)

Jun 24th (Cinema Overdrive): Steve Carver’s Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)

Jun 26th: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and William Girder’s Grizzly (1976)

So many amazing films!!!

Carolina Theatre of Durham 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC http://www.carolinatheatre.org/

[that-shamrock-vibe]

TV Review: Young Justice Outsiders Part 1 (Spoilers)

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

General Reaction:

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

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

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

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

What’s Good:

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

Fan Favourites:

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

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

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

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

Beast Boy:

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

What’s Bad:

Shifting Allegiances:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Too Many Characters:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Missed Opportunities:

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

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

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

What’s Teased:

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

Terra:

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

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

Red Hood and Damien Wayne:

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

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

Baby Sidekicks:

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

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

Apokolips Now:

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

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

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

Recommendation:

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

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

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

[brucewaynehater101]

im having SIGNALIS thoughts and it gave me an idea

Okay so in the book, The King in Yellow, "A common thread is a fictional play also called The King in Yellow, the reading of which either drives people mad or leads them to a dark fate." - TVTropes Literature page for The King in Yellow

iirc, the first act is completely standard but Act Two is when things get fucky when its contents--well--gives people insanity or a less than stellar fate

Jason was the Second Robin, and can be seen as Act II of the legacy of Robin; Jason's revival gave him a Second Chance at life, an Act II to his first life; Jason iirc was the Second Red Hood, taking the name from the Joker who gave it up

((wait if his Second Alias is Joker does that make Joker another King in Yellow in a sense??))

Moving on w/ the idea of the Act II bringing madness, when Jason died, thus being an ending to Robin's Act II, Batman fucking lost it, and Jason was arguably at his lowest after his ressurection and donning of the Red Hood moniker

combine this w/ the idea of Jason being a literature nerd and you could maybe do something w/ this, maybe he or someone else notices and points out this admittingly surface level parallel between him and The King in Yellow

do w/ this what you will

Alright. I did some research for this one.

To make this somewhat understandable for me, it's kind of like The Ring? The Ring is a movie about a recording that causes the people who watch it to become haunted. The King in Yellow is a series of short stories about a play called The King in Yellow that causes people to lose their minds. The King in Yellow (as a creature) seems to be a god-like being that will one day rule all earth kings??

The color yellow, at that time period, had the meaning of disease and mental illness to the point of insanity. Thus, the ties between The King in Yellow and the color yellow are clear.

Fuck. I'm going to get into color symbolism, aren't I? Fuuuuck. Alright:

Yellow - Joy, remembrance, caution

Red - Strength, danger, passion

Green - Rebirth, Growth, Jealousy

Purple - Luxury, ambition, royalty, devotion

These sets of colors are vital to Jason's story and Joker.

Anyways, for the story you mentioned, what I saw indicated that "the first act" was pretty normal. One line into the second act, though, and the audience was hooked until they met their own mental demise. Perhaps Jason's story could indicate that too?

So, he stole the tires from the batmobile and got dropped off at Ma Gunn's school. Jason beat them up with Batman and then, immediately afterwards, got called Robin by Batman. He hadn't even set foot into Wayne Manor by that point.

Post revival, his second chance at life, he kind of fucking looses it (which is understandable. This is not a diss against Jason or his actions). It is stated that for those who read the play, recovery from madness is possible.

Hmm... Thoughts here. Who/what is The King in Yellow? Robin or Joker?

The King is a ruler.

Purple is the exact opposite of yellow, and purple usually indicates royalty. We've also got the whole Joker shit going on with royalty symbolism

Robin could be a king in that they usually lead teams... However, they would be closer to a prince than a king

The King IN Yellow

Purple is the exact opposite of yellow

Robin wears yellow

I think it would be ironic if Joker, clad in purple, was the yellow fellow. Robin, however, could be the yellow sign they somewhat talked about. Idk much about the book/story, though.

Side note. Found this wicked quote. No clue if the context is correct, but here: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God!"

Idk. Made me shiver

[thephantomprojectionist]

Review: Death Match (1994)

“Go ahead, if you and your friends want to look like Swiss cheese”

SOURCE

My opinion regarding kickboxer/actor/activist Ian Jacklin is a little more complicated than with most karate stars, but in a nutshell, I thought the guy was pretty cool until I realized that he spends his life promoting quackery to cancer patients. Nevertheless, I enjoy his acting career and see it as a microcosm of a successful B-movie trajectory, with Death Match being the climax. Created outside of the major video studios, it has an unambitious story but a good production with a huge amount of martial talent. It’s required watching for fans of the subgenre and easily the best of Jacklin’s film career.

The story: An ex-fighter (Jacklin) goes undercover in a deadly fighting circuit to rescue his kidnapped best friend (Nicholas Hill).

I need to emphasize the state of the production, even though it may seem odd to praise a film for looking average. Keep in mind how easy it is for indie movies to turn out like crud. By all rights, Death Match should’ve been interchangeable with a typical Cine Excel production (underpopulated vistas, dubbed dialogue, etc.) but it’s actually indistinguishable from most Pepin-Merhi or Shapiro-Glickenhaus actioneers. As a matter of fact, it would be pretty aspirant for a PM or SG production, given the impressive list of names in the cast. To be fair, we sometimes only get a little taste of them – cult stars Richard Lynch and Jorge Rivero have only one scene apiece as Mafia bosses – but the list of talent goes on. Martin Kove and Matthias Hues are good as the lead villains, with Kove supplying the drama and Hues most of the fighting. Steven Leigh, Eric Lee, and Benny Urquidez don’t have any fights but do well in their dramatic scenes. Michele Krasnoo, Butch Togisala, Randall Ideishi, Ed Neal and Peter Cunningham partake in some of the highlighted brawls, and many more show up elsewhere. If these names aren’t clicking, you haven’t been watching movies like this long enough. The sheer accumulation of performers with reputations in the genre is amazing, especially since your average PM production sometimes wouldn’t even spring for half.

Of course, presence isn’t as important as utilization. The real question is how good the 16 fight scenes are, and the answer is that they’re a mixed bag. On the bright side, there are no downright bad matches and the choreography is nicely varied – some street-fighting, some shoot boxing, and even a lone stick fight. There are some some surprisingly long shots highlighting lengthy exchanges, and a few performers have standout moments of action. (I really enjoyed the Matthias Hues-Dino Homsey bout.) However, for the most part, nobody performs the best work of their career. Michele Krasnoo is made the least of, being introduced as a fighter but then only engaging in half a match. I have the impression that the choreographers were simply stretched too thin by crafting this many fights on a limited schedule. If so, then I wish the number of brawls had been cut in half and the remaining ones given more flair.

Socially, the movie has good points and bad points. Where the latter is concerned, the fact that two women are cast in fighting roles is undermined by the female lead (Renee Allman) abandoning the sparks of characterization to play a formulaic love interest. Additionally, a sexual harasser (played by Bob Wyatt) is inexplicably made a supporting character. However, I like that the movie seems to be championing an anti-capitalist message, using organized crime and fighting as metaphors. The villains trap fighters in a system that depends on their toil while devaluing their lives, and the same villains consider theft against them to be the single greatest crime. Threatening their income by refusing to fight by their rules is likewise punishable. The protagonist sets himself apart from this system by having abandoned organized fighting and claiming to compete solely “for the competition” - not exactly a fair outlook in light of all the pro fighters in real life who earn their income via competition, but it’s nevertheless a repudiation of the metaphorical wage slavery in the feature. Death Match isn’t The Godfather when it comes to allegory, but it’s effective in delivering its message.

There’s a moment in the film when Jacklin’s character is weirded out by Martin Kove’s belief in the supernatural powers of crystals. Retrospectively, it’s funny to see Jacklin in the role of the skeptic (even though crystal power seems to be one of the few areas of nonsense that Ian hasn’t stated a belief in), but I have to admit that he does well enough as the lead. He doesn’t have quite the charisma of, say, Don Wilson, but that’s not to say he wouldn’t have made a good star in the long run. Indeed, I wish he would’ve been handed another top role before the end of the martial arts genre’s video golden age. Nevertheless, his undisputed high point here is worth hunting down if you’re a collector. Death Match encapsulates many of the essentials seen in movies like this and adds just enough of an inspired touch earn a recommendation from me. Check it out wherever you can.

SOURCE

Death Match (1994) Directed by Joe Coppoletta (The New Adventures of Robin Hood) Written by Curtis Gleaves (story & screenplay), Bob Wyatt, Steve Tymon (Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel) Starring Ian Jacklin (Kickboxer 3), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), Matthias Hues (Bounty Tracker), Renee Allman (The Stoned Age) Cool costars: Martial arts regulars Steven Vincent Leigh (Sword of Honor) and Eric Lee (Ring of Fire) appear in acting roles but don’t fight. Similarly, kickboxing hall of famer Benny Urquidez (Wheels on Meals) is limited to a training montage but offers his Jet Center studio as a filming location. Sexy pro wrestler Stevie “Puppet” Lee appears as the arena gong beater. Richard Lynch (Puppet Master III) and Jorge Rivero (Centennial) have one scene apiece as non-fighting Mafiosos. Onscreen fighters include Nicholas Hill (Bloodsport II), Michele Krasnoo (Kickboxer 4), Ed Neal (Breathing Fire), Butch Togisala (Firepower), Dino Homsey (Deadly Bet), Randall Shiro Ideishi (Black Scorpion), Debra “Madusa” Miceli (Shootfighter II), Jamie Krasnoo (Full Contact), and Nick Koga (Red Sun Rising). A performer called Hector Pena appears in a stick fight, but I’m not sure whether he’s the actual Hector “Aztec Warrior” Peña, world champion fighter. Also, kickboxing legend Peter Cunningham is inexplicably credited as “Peter ‘Sugarfoot’ London” - leading to a snafu on IMDb where the film credit goes to porn actor Peter London. Cool crew: Composer Marco Beltrani – who’d go on to earn two Oscar nominations for his work on The Hurt Locker (2008) and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) – makes his feature composition debut with this one. He is directly heard on the soundtrack playing guitar and keyboards. Content warning: Group violence, violence against women, violence against children, sexual harassment, sexual assault, ableist dialogue, graphic description of an execution Title refers to: Either the main attraction of the underground fight ring or the fights-to-the-death taking place at the end of the film. A “death match” also refers to a hardcore pro wrestling contest – a fact which may be relevant in light of stunt coordinator Brandon Pender’s history as a World Championship Wrestling producer. Cover accuracy: Different covers exist, but the most widely-distributed one is dominated by an image of Matthias Hues. Hues is one of the two lead villains, but relegating leading man Ian Jacklin to a teeny-tiny graphic is misleading. Heck, Jacklin can’t even get top billing, with Hues and Martin Kove claiming the large print. Number of full-length fight scenes: 16 Crazy credit: “No music by Giancomo Puccini was used in connection with this picture” - even though Richard Lynch’s character specifically mentions the composer’s works. Copyright Horseplay Productions, Inc.

[ohmy7hearts]

Being the daughter of Barry Allen and Jason Todd’s significant other includes; part 2:

A/N: One more installation to this - wedding and moving in and some other stuff - before it’s done! I know that in rebirth, with Wally being stuck in the speed force as mentioned previously, Barry is not even together with Iris but just imagine this as another thing on its own. I love my Bart Allen, not Bar Torr, and my Wally II. Now that I think about it, it’s kinda weird to have Bart be in the same timeline as Don & Dawn lololol.

Requested by/Credits to: @riastudyblr

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When Barry got that photo, Iris was not kidding when she said he zoomed to where the two of you were just so he could stop you two from going further

He practically lifted you away from his grasp while he speed shouted to Jason about not taking a step closer and to stay away from you

Of course, Jason did not understand a single word and seeing the situation plummeting, Dick had to step in to calm Barry down. On the other hand, Tim and Damian were having a blast watching their older brother being reprimanded by the normally joyful speedster

Bruce caught wind of what happened and had to, begrudgingly, stop the chaos from worsening. When he did arrive, Barry turned to him and lectured him about keeping his children in check to which Bruce only understood one word every 5 sentences

Your cheeks were aflame with embarrassment so you had to go back home and carry your mother all the way to Gotham so she could stop it from escalating any further

Now it was Barry’s turn to get scolded and when he tried to defend himself, he was shot down mercilessly. After all, you were a grown woman and could take care of herself and make decisions accordingly

Don and Dawn, the adorable curious children, followed you when you came running in for your mother before running off again. They were trying their best to hold in their laughter watching their father pouting while their mother was prattling on

In the midst of the chaos, you tugged Jason’s sleeves to which he rose an eyebrow at you. Then, without warning, you carried him away to a nearby restaurant

Without warning indeed because when you reached his favourite restaurant, you both were tumbling to the ground and you were panting and exhausted

Jason snorted at you because he knew that he was not that light. After all, his muscles had to amount to something right?

After having fun on his side laughing at your misery and you trying to glare at him to which he howled and the process repeated itself, he carried you in

He set you in a booth and took a seat next to you. You both ordered your favourites while you almost asked for the entire menu

Unbeknownst to you two, it was your unofficial first date and it consisted of you two joking around, sharing stories and him watching you eat so much in amusement

Being the gentleman he was raised by Alfred to be, he paid for the dinner while you tried to argue. However, deep down, you were ecstatic he was paying cause you knew you were using up your whole week’s pay just for your portion if you were to pay

However, it was not his money entirely per se. He was using Bruce’s credit card but Jason reasoned with himself that he would not even notice it being gone

You forced yourself to excuse yourself for the night so he could return to patrol. On the other hand, Jason was debating with you about how his brothers the other Robins could handle it

You pecked him on the cheek with the promise of going on a date with him tomorrow before zooming off

Left in your dust, a soft smile was plastered on his face while his fingers touch where your lips brushed his skin

Damian was mocking him from across the street which initiated Red Hood chasing the little Robin around Gotham while flinging his guns in a poor attempt at threatening him

When you reached home, Barry’s lecture started pouring out at speedster pace which left Iris sighing to herself and walking away but your siblings giggling at their father worrying

To stop him, you kissed him on the cheek and reassure him that you still love him and will not do anything stupid. You may or may not remind him that you are an adult and fully capable of making your own choices which prompted him to tear up because you were growing up too fast

When you were out of your father’s clutches, you instantly called Wally to fill him in and fangirl to him all night long. Wally may or may not zoned you out after an hour and fell asleep on you moments later

Movie dates were a common occurrence for you and Jason considering you were raised by a Sci-Fi nerd. If you both were not at the cinema, it would be at home having a lazy day and a movie marathon

The first time you went to a play was with Jason and you both tried to go more often but there were not many good plays that could capture your short attention span

Jason loves literature so to surprise him, you detained yourself to the library for a whole day to read all his favourites and the popular ones. He was impressed but you may or may not cheated by using your speed

Whenever he was reading, you would snatch his book up when he was not looking to speed read it and spoiled the ending for him

That initiated a tickle fight with him pinning you down and making you promise that you would not do that again

You did not keep that promise. It may or may not be because you just wanted to get a kick out of Jason’s baffled reaction

After many times experiencing that, Jason learnt that the only way to deal with that was to shut you up with a kiss or two or ten

During lazy days, you both would cuddle up together and he would read books out loud for the both of you. It was common for you to nap halfway in; not because it was boring but his voice was so melodious you were lulled to sleep

Jason was an excellent cook and he loves experimenting recipes so you were always the tester. Although the food sometimes turned out to be horrible, you still ate them. I mean come on; you had a big appetite!

He would rope you into cooking with him too and when you both were waiting for the food to be cooked, he would lead you into a makeout session or a dance session, depending on his mood

Intense dance off meant that the food was forgotten and takeouts had to be ordered instead

Whenever there were holidays, the Wayne family were now seen with the Allen family. You, Jason, Wally and Dick never complained. (Of course, Wally was invited, he’s family!)

Tim was never too thrilled and tried to find a way out and even asking Conner to hang out with him so he could be pardoned but nothing worked. It’s not that he hates Bart, it’s just that Bart could be a little too much to handle with his excessive talking and moving

Damian was in the same boat, he had to see Wally II and the twins too. Wally II did not bother him so much considering he loved sticking by your side but the twins were trouble. They love disturbing Damian and his threats never work on them

The first time it happened, Barry and Bruce were awkward around each other as the thought of their families actually merging never crossed their mind till then

Barry tried faking sick the second time the reunion was held but Iris could see right through him

On the other hand, Bruce was brooding the whole day before the reunion and Alfred was just sighing. He’s exhausted taking care of this man-child that adopted way too many uncontrollable kids

Cassandra and Stephanie loved you and looked up to you as a sister figure. Sure they had Barbara but she was not as approachable as you

Barbara and you got along great and there were days when you two would go on a double date. Jason and Dick didn’t know whether you two were the ones dating and they were just accessory or were they really bad boyfriends

[uniquecollectorplanet]

BATFAMILY MEMBERS

(Dick Grayson) Robin I / Nightwing / Batman III / Agent 37  

(Jason Todd) Robin II / Red Hood II /Wingman II  

(Damian Wayne) Robin III / Red Robin

(Barbara Gordon) Batgirl I / Oracle  

(Luke Fox) Batwing II

Allies/Extended

Alfred Pennyworth

Julia Pennyworth

Jim Gordon

Lucius Fox

Ace/Titus the Hound

Goliath

(Selina Kyle) Catwoman I

(Helena Bertinelli) Huntress (Post-Crisis / Rebirth) / Matron  

(Renee Montoya) The Question II

Jean-Paul Valley) Azrael II / Batman II

(Katherine Rebecca "Kate" Kane) Batwoman II

(Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane/Betty Kane) Bat-Girl / Flamebird / Hawkfire

Spyral

(Tiger) Agent 1/Patron

(Katherine Webb "Kathy" Kane) Batwoman I/Agent Zero

(Mr. Minos)

   EDITED MEMBERS

(Terry McGinnis)Batman V

(Timothy Drake)   Robin III / Red Robin III

(Carrie Kelley) Robin III / Catgirl

(Helena Wayne) Robin/Huntress (Pre-Crisis / New 52)

(Cassandra Cain) Batgirl II / Black Bat / Orphan II

(Stephanie Brown) Batgirl III /Spoiler / Robin IV

(Duke Thomas) Lark

(Gavin King) Orpheus

Extended

(Michael Lane) Azrael III

(Calvin Rose) Talon

(Harper Row) Bluebird

(Holly Robinson) Catwoman II  

(Eiko Hasigawa) Catwoman III

(Claire Clover) Gotham Girl

(Maya Ducard) Nobody II

Bat Inc

(David Zavimbe) Batwing I

(Jiro Osamu) Batman Japan

(Dr. William Eagle) Chief Man-Of-Bats

(Raven Red)

(Johnny Riley) Dark Ranger

(Don Santiago) El Gaucho

(George Cross) The Hood

(Bilal Asselah) Nightrunner

(Cyril Sheldrake) Squire I/Knight II  

(Beryl Hutchinson) Squire II/Knight III  

[statguypaul]

TOP 100 FILM SCORES: Part XXI (1900-99; ranked by year)

Complete. Thanks to everyone who has been following. Here is the complete list but feel free to look into the Archive or see earlier posts to see YouTube videos for each selection. 🌰💗🤓💗 1. The Matrix, 1999, Don Davis 2. The Red Violin, 1998, John Corigliano 3. Mononoke-hime [Princess Mononoke], 1997, Joe Hisaishi 4. Mousehunt, 1997, Alan Silvestri 5. Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997, David Arnold 6. Titanic, 1997, James Horner 7. Apollo 13, 1995, James Horner 8. The Usual Suspects, 1995, John Ottman 9. CutThroat Island, 1995, John Debney 10. The Lion King, 1994, Hans Zimmer 11. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, Thomas Newman 12. Jurassic Park, 1993, John Williams 13. Rudy, 1993, Jerry Goldsmith 14. Schindler's List, 1993, John Williams 15. Beauty and the Beast, 1991, Alan Menken 16. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1991, Cliff Eidelman 17. The Russia House, 1990, Jerry Goldsmith 18. DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, 1990, David Newman 19. Edward Scissorhands, 1990, Danny Elfman 20. Batman, 1989, Danny Elfman 21. Glory, 1989, James Horner 22. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988, Alan Silvestri 23. The Land Before Time, 1988, James Horner 24. The Mission, 1986, Ennio Morricone 25. Back to the Future, 1985, Alan Silvestri 26. Brazil, 1985, Michael Kamen 27. Ran [War], 1985, Tôru Takemitsu 28. Out of Africa, 1985, John Barry 29. The Natural, 1984, Randy Newman 30. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , 1982, John Williams 31. Conan the Barbarian, 1982, Basil Poledouris 32. Poltergeist, 1982, Jerry Goldsmith 33. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981, John Williams 34. Body Heat, 1981, John Barry 35. The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, John Williams 36. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979, Jerry Goldsmith 37. The Boys from Brazil, 1978, Jerry Goldsmith 38. Superman, 1978, John Williams 39. Star Wars, 1977, John Williams 40. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977, John Williams 41. The Omen, 1976, Jerry Goldsmith 42. Jaws, 1975, John Williams 43. The Wind and the Lion, 1975, Jerry Goldsmith 44. Murder on the Orient Express, 1974, Richard Rodney Bennett 45. The Parallax View, 1974, Michael Small 46. The Godfather: Part II, 1974, Nino Rota, Carmine Coppola 47. La Planète Sauvage [Fantastic Planet], 1973, Alain Goraguer 48. Summer of '42, 1971, Michel Legrand 49. The Wild Bunch, 1969, Jerry Fielding 50. The Lion in Winter, 1968, John Barry 51. Bullitt, 1968, Lalo Schifrin 52. Planet of the Apes, 1968, Jerry Goldsmith 53. The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968, Michel Legrand 54. The Swimmer, 1968, Marvin Hamlisch 55. C'era una Volta il West [Once Upon a Time in the West], 1968, Ennio Morricone 56. Wait Until Dark, 1967, Henry Mancini 57. Cool Hand Luke, 1967, Lalo Schifrin 58. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo [The Good, the Bad and the Ugly], 1966, Ennio Morricone 59. Doctor Zhivago, 1965, Maurice Jarre 60. The Great Race, 1965, Henry Mancini 61. Goldfinger, 1964, John Barry 62. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, 1963, Ernest Gold 63. Jason and the Argonauts, 1963, Bernard Herrmann 64. The Great Escape, 1963, Elmer Bernstein 65. The Pink Panther, 1963, Henry Mancini 66. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, Maurice Jarre 67. Mutiny on the Bounty, 1962, Bronislaw Kaper 68. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962, Elmer Bernstein 69. Taras Bulba, 1962, Franz Waxman 70. El Cid, 1961, Miklós Rózsa 71. The Magnificent Seven, 1960, Elmer Bernstein 72. Psycho, 1960, Bernard Herrmann 73. Kyônetsu no Kisetsu [The Warped Ones], 1960, Toshirô Mayuzumi 74. Exodus, 1960, Ernest Gold 75. The Alamo, 1960, Dimitri Tiomkin 76. Ben-Hur, 1959, Miklós Rózsa 77. North by Northwest, 1959, Bernard Herrmann 78. Vertigo, 1958, Bernard Herrmann 79. The Big Country, 1958, Jerome Moross 80. Around the World in 80 Days, 1956, Victor Young 81. Shichinin no Samurai [The Seven Samurai], 1954, Fumio Hayasaka 82. The Robe, 1953, Alfred Newman 83. High Noon, 1952, Dimitri Tiomkin 84. A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951, Alex North 85. Sunset Boulevard, 1950, Franz Waxman 86. Samson and Delilah, 1949, Victor Young 87. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948, Max Steiner 88. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1947, Bernard Herrmann 89. Spellbound, 1945, Miklós Rózsa 90. Double Indemnity, 1944, Miklós Rózsa 91. Laura, 1944, David Raksin 92. Casablanca, 1942, Max Steiner 93. Now Voyager, 1942, Max Steiner 94. Dumbo, 1941, Frank Churchill, Oliver Wallace 95. The Sea Hawk, 1940, Erich Wolfgang Korngold 96. Aleksandr Nevskiy, 1938, Sergei Prokofiev 97. The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938, Erich Wolfgang Korngold 98. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, 1937, Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith 99. King Kong, 1933, Max Steiner 100. Metropolis, 1927, Gottfried Huppertz Honourable mentions: The Cider House Rules, 1999, Rachel Portman Pleasantville, 1998, Randy Newman Thin Red Line, 1998, Hans Zimmer DragonHeart, 1996, Randy Edelman Crimson Tide, 1995, Hans Zimmer The Fugitive, 1993, James Newton Howard The Untouchables, 1987, Ennio Morricone A Passage to India, 1984, Maurice Jarre Once Upon a Time in America, 1984, Ennio Morricone Star Trek II, 1982, James Horner The French Lieutenant's Woman, 1981, Carl Davis Days of Heaven, 1978, Ennio Morricone Watership Down, 1978, Angela Morley Godzilla, 1954, Akira Ikufube The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1941, Bernard Herrmann