#sounds reads a comic

[sounds-of-some-day]

So I just read the first four issues of the original 1940s Captain America run.

Some observations:

It's still kinda weird for Bucky to be a child.

Steve is a private in the military (to maintain his secret identity I guess).

It's very much not what you think of when you think comic-booky. There's no, like, comic book science or whatever. Outside of I guess the serum. But that's still plausible.

So all of Steve's villains are just normal guys. All spies so far, but also very ordinary.

It's funny because each "case" (issue story arc) is presented as if it's going to be some supernatural phenomenon and then it's just some dude.

Very Scooby-Doo villain.

Even the Red Skull, who of course, originally was not German (all Steve's early villains are essentially American traitors). Red Skull was a capitalist, basically a military contractor for planes, doing it for the money.

Before Red Skull is outed, as the business guy, he laments a plane crashing because the plane was beautiful (and expensive to build) and Steve is like "Uh... And there were people on that plane, and they died, what the fuck dude??? Get your priorities right," and this is why I love Steve.

Anyway, Red Skull dies in his first issue because he rolls over on his hypodermic needle full of poison and Steve just lets him.

Every story arc is contained within one issue.

Steve is like, extremely chill. Every time someone tells him he can't do something, he's just like "Okeydoke, I won't do anything.... but Captain America, on the other hand, he's definitely gonna go fuck some Nazi spies up."

Also, he's always telling Bucky to stay behind, and then Bucky does, like the exact opposite of that, and Steve (sorry "Captain America" because Steve is being a good boy and staying out of it like he was told) always has to bust in and save him, and then he's always just like "Bucky, I told you to stay home and you didn't listen to me, you little rascal, you." And I'm like, Steve. Steve, this kid is going to get himself killed.

Also it's hilarious to me that Steve has a secret identity, because everyone knows his sidekick is a child named Bucky, and yet no one thinks anything about the big blond guy in the army that hangs out with a child named Bucky all the time.

Also, yes, Bucky is also in the army, kinda, cause each battalion has a... child... mascot.... for some reason?!? Like, I know they shoehorned in Bucky so that little boys reading the comics could imagine themselves fighting alongside Captain America, but the whole time I'm just like who is allowing this child to run around with Captain America and risk his life??

Because Bucky is his sidekick because he accidentally walked into Steve's tent when he was changing out of the uniform and Steve is just like, "Welp, you know my secret identity now, so I guess you gotta be my sidekick." And I'm just like, what? Steve. What are you doing?!?

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the first four issues of Captain America (1941).

[professorcalculusstanaccount]

I remember discussing Tintin casting choices with a friend from Germany and remarked how it was odd he often has an English accent in adaptations rather than a Belgian one, and my friend just replied "that's because Tintin gives incredibly strong English boy energy (derogatory)"

Here in the UK there's a lot of weird classism tied into accents. Today accent diversity and representation in broadcasting is actively pursued but in Tintin's time there certainly was a preferred accent to have.

imagine this exchange happens between pages 28-29 in The Crab with the Golden Claws

[meltedmush]

I did a bunch of SVSSS doodles to cope while I was in the 2ha pit 😭

[yakichoufd]

omg plwasepleaspleaseeee give us your rendition on ftm scott id actually die 🩷🩷 the day i see a trans scot yakichou comic is the day i ascend....

I don't know if I'd ever write a trans!Scott comic, but life is full of surprises so maybe I might imagine a story for dear trans!Scott! I might draw some illustrations of him tho! Here is a t4t jott sketch <3 Trans are beautiful <3

[fl4kf4n]

Another old post... this is a badly formatted comic but I wanted to finish it so it wouldn't stay a coloured sketch anymore :0

[welcometogrouchland]

Disgustingly messy and crusty sketch dump but I couldn't get my own terrible theory out of my head and ended up making a bunch of sketches about it. Also at the end a bonus dickbats and Damian doodle bc I was reading an issue of their Batman and Robin run (IDs in Alt)

[lordsammichsilas]

So here's the comic in its entirety!

Danse deserved his magical girl moment and the fact that Maxson robbed him of that is unforgivable.

.

Support my work 💜

[horde-princess]

wait i'm sorry because. the fact that nimona's own parents believed an evil monster had taken the place of their daughter. the whole town was terrified and handed her over to the Institution to be 'fixed' i.e. tortured and experimented on. the fact that all of this is then contrasted in a single panel with ballister's concern and love 😭😭😭😭

while her parents left her in this place, ballister went back to save her from it, fearing it could get him killed. it took him a while but he came to see the monster in the girl and the girl in the monster and all of her together as just... a friend. how it's all a metaphor for growing up gay and trans with mental illness in a conservative christian community, and god you're just a child and all you want is for someone not to hate you. to see the real you that you've been told is evil and maybe even love you for who you are. do you guys ever get sick of me talking about this stuff because i really don't!!!!!!!!!!!

[tizzymcwizzy]

I MADE A ZINE FOR ONE OF MY FINAL PROJECTS!! man this took me a long ass time,, but it's done!!!!

this story is based on a memory from my senior year of highschool, where during the second to last art club of the year i played my friend's violin after not playing the instrument for around 4 years

[sounds-of-some-day]

Captain America #3 Case #1 - The Return of the Red Skull

So I'm on the third issue and the cases are starting to get really fun. The first few cases, honestly were a *little* bit dry, but now it feels like they were starting to have fun with it. Also we're finally getting to see a little more of *Steve's* personality, whereas the first couple of issues were really more focused on Captain America.

Okay, so for the first time we get a repeat villain, and what do you know, it's Cap's main villain (though again, Red Skull goes through a big change at some point. Here he is/was an American businessman who decided to align with Hitler because Hitler basically told him that he would give him a lot of business when he eventually took over America. So greed.)

A lot of Steve's early villains, if they're not just outright Nazis, are men motivated by greed. Which, honestly, nice.

Okay, so if you've been following along on our journey, Red Skull was just some dude in a red skull mask, who killed his victims with the Stare of Death (ie he jabbed them with a needle full of poison while staring deep into their eyes and telling them he was killing them with his Stare of Death). I'm not really sure what the purpose of these dramatics were, since they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about the Stare of Death (TM) once they were dead, but points for style I guess.

Last we saw him, he killed himself by accidentally (??) jabbing himself with his own needle, which Steve just let him do. So how has he returned?

Turns out he was immune to his own poison, a lá the Dread Pirate Roberts.

This is already a little bit of retconning because Steve turned his body over to the police, who, apparently, just left his body on the floor of his living room and then he stopped pretending to be dead and escaped, because something something comic books and stellar work on behalf of the police, even back in the forties.

I forgot to mention this before, but Steve smokes a pipe.

Also I'll be honest, but Steve does not come across as a twenty-something year old guy to me here. He feels much more like mid-thirties to forties. I don't think his age was ever established here, though they did introduce him as "a young man who wanted to join the army but was rejected for being unhealthy". So probably not in his thirties, but he definitely gives off Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind vibes to me (Gone with the Wind came out in 1939 so it's possible that Gable was actually at least partially an inspiration).

In a very good, very sexy way. And like, look, comic book art has come a long way in the last eighty years, but there's definitely something about Steve's very relaxed, very chill, unflappableness that's just very old school sexy. And you can kinda tell that in this issue they decided that Steve was going to be sexy, and I'd very much like to thank them for that development.

I'm not going to get into Red Skull's dastardly plan cause it's not actually that interesting, but now Red Skull is killing important military people with his Touch of Death (TM), which they pretty much have to touch him if they're fighting back, so it's pretty effective. And yes, he announces this to them as he is killing them because dramatics.

Far more fun is the b-plot, which is that some guy decides to capitalize off of Captain America and the fact that no one knows who he is by getting two other guys to dress up at Cap and Bucky and then sell people -- now you might be thinking I'm going to say something like fake autographs here, but I'm not -- the opportunity to touch Captain America's muscles. Which I mean, I'd love to say that I'd be immune to something like this, but I'm only human.

This woman that wants to buy two tickets, I feel you.

As you might guess, Steve is not a fan of this particular capitalistic endeavor.

The evening gets even worse for our fraudulent pair when Red Skull turns up because he wants to kill Captain America and Bucky. Even though they try to explain that they are not the real Captain America and Bucky.

Like things go very poorly for them.

This is a hell of an image here. Like kudos to Jack Kirby for this cover.

The Red Skull and his henchmen's initial reaction to the real Captain America and Bucky showing up is that they're ghosts that have come back to haunt them.

Instead of, you know, thinking that maybe the guys were telling the truth when they said they weren't the real thing. 🙃🙃🙃

Red Skull tries to goad Bucky into punching him so he can kill him with his Touch of Death (TM), but unfortunately for him, Steve figured out that he was accomplishing this by having electric wiring in his clothes, so he was basically electrocuting people to death. So both Steve and Bucky have insulated their gloves.

Red Skull ends up lobbing a bomb at them, which Steve throws back, and then after the explosion Steve says that Red Skull is "probably dead" because he didn't learn anything from the first time.

And Steve gets in trouble *again*, this time for turning up to inspection injured. This time he's assigned to guard duty.

This wasn't my favorite of the three cases in this issue, but I did enjoy this one quite a lot.

[happy-suitcase-blog]

[vristrogen]

something about people calling vrisrezi "toxic yuri" always puts me off. i understand the lack of words to really put their dynamic but like you know theyre in a relationship thats largely good for them right. they arent dating because "it sucks but it would be worse without each other" they genuinely really love each other a lot

[violent138]

I kind of like the idea that at the highest levels of the U.S. government, FBI, whatever, they are fully aware of who each member of the Batfam is and have dossiers that could fill libraries detailing their crimes and whatnot. Furthermore, they have filled Bruce Wayne in on this fact and told him that while he does net-positive things as a Gotham-exclusive vigilante and member of the Justice League (the government is more than happy to let a billionaire pay for that), they have no reason to come after him. In fact, the Feds are exhausted with Gotham and dealing with all the problems it brings.

However, they're very clear that if they wanted to, they could put him and his kids away, or force them into working for the government.

Bruce is entirely unsurprised by this, and it's just another chess move in the long-brewing cold war where the Bats routinely destroy/delegitimize evidence/hack them/gather counter-intelligence and blackmail and the Feds continue their reconnaissance, rebuild their case, and put up heavy opposition to any Batfamily members or allies entering government office.

[batbabydamian]

Hey, I started reading Robin son of Batman because of your recommendation (I literally have a print of your post on my phone to not forget lol). Honestly? One of the best things I ever read!!!

Thank you for opening my eyes! Damian has been one of my favorite characters for over a year, but I didn't read/watch much of him because of school, life (and probably an executive dysfunction in the mix).

Maya is incredible. I loved her.

I haven't finished all the issues yet, but do you have any other recommendations?

WAH this makes me so happy, i'm glad you still gave it a shot even with how busy life is!! ;v;

i’d love to give reccs, and i’ll try to go a beginner friendly route! tbh you can pick up whatever here, but since you've read R:SOB i’d immediately follow up with Batman and Robin (2011) #1-8! this first arc is what’s referred to in Maya’s introduction, and it's just. so good.

Main Books

Batman and Robin (2009)

Dick as Batman with Damian as his Robin!

#20-22 Tree of Blood: Dark Knight vs White Knight arc is done by Tomasi and Gleason, the team for the next Batman and Robin series

*Batman and Robin (2011)

Bruce and Damian figuring out their relationship as both Batman & Robin and father & son

imo you can enjoy the ride and read straight through this but i’ll add context to avoid as much confusion as possible since there’s the occasional tie-in or offscreen events, like Damian’s death nbd

Batman Incorporated (2012) #1-10

events leading to Damian's death - affects Batman and Robin (2011) from issue #18

kind of a tough read especially with how Talia's written, but a lot of iconic bits like Batcow, Damian's vegetarian declaration, Alfred the cat, "We Were the Best, Richard."

Robin (2021)

another self-discovery adventure, particularly after Alfred’s death and a fallout with Bruce (and questionable writing choices from his last Teen Titans run)

Batman and Robin (2023)

currently ongoing! after a number of events, Bruce and Damian are back as a duo

Damian Dynamics!

Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7, 10-12

arc where Damian meets one of his first Gotham friends, Colin Wilkes

Batgirl (2009) #5-7, #17

Steph and Damian dynamic! "the bad cop, worse cop" dysfunctional duo

Red Robin (2009) #13-14

early Tim and Damian dynamic that of course includes fighting haha. funny enough, accidentally my first intro to Damian LOL

Teen Titans (2003) #89-92

Dick!Batman has Damian join the Teen Titans. Start of Damian and Rose Wilson dynamic that’s extended in Robin (2021)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Damian meets Cass and has a brief team up

Gotham Academy (2015) #7

Damian meets Maps Mizoguchi! they have a few other meetings, but outside of that the series itself is a great read!

Robin War Event (2015)

Robin War (2015) #1, Grayson (2014) #15, Detective Comics (2011) #47, We Are Robin (2015) #7, Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #7, Robin War (2015) #2

Duke and Damian dynamic! not exactly beginner friendly but these are the main issues in order for the event! you can also read the TPB version for everything including Tie-Ins

Nightwing (2016) #16-20, #42, #43

#16-20 Nightwing and Robin arc!

#42 Dick on a mission to save Damian! the one appearance of "Wiggles" the dragon

#43 Dick, Roy, and Damian team-up

New Talent Showcase 2018 "Catwoman: Pedigree"

Selina, Damian, and Alfred the cat

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra's Al Ghul (2018)

Selina, Damian, and Cheese Viking - Damian's fav game shown in Nightwing: Rebirth (2016)

Monkey Prince (2022) #1-4

Marcus Sun Shugel-Shen's main comic, but Damian features as a fun dynamic here before they're in more serious circumstances in Batman VS Robin (2022)/Lazarus Planet event

Superman (2016) #10 - 11

the beginning of the Super Sons! featuring Maya!

Super Sons (2017)

solitary arcs but there’s a few event tie-in issues later

Adventures of the Super Sons (2018)

literally more Super Sons adventures lol galactic shenanigans yeehaw

Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) 

Super Sons time shenanigans feat. the Justice League

Robin 80th Anniversary (2020)

"Boy Wonders" - brief Damian feature as Tim considers his next step in life

"My Best Friend" - Jon's thoughts on Damian and their dynamic

"Bat and Mouse" - refers to Damian's unfortunate Teen Titans (2016) run at the time of release which follows up with Teen Titans Annual #2 where Damian briefly gives up Robin

Extra Comics!

Superman/Batman (2003) #77

Kara and Damian in a Halloween team-up! also the appearance of "Li'l Matches" lol

DCU Halloween Special '09 "Cavity Search"

Damian out on a solo mission for Halloween night. Immediately after is Tim's Red Robin story "Then and Now: Our Father's Sins" which is more somber in contrast but also a good read!

DCU Halloween Special 2010 "Robin the Vampire Slayer"

a Dick!Batman and Robin story featuring the vampire Andrew Bennett

Cursed Comics Cavalcade (2018) "The Devil You Know"

Halloween themed comic with a sweet short story of Damian alongside Solomon Grundy

DC's Terrors Through Time (2022)

"Trick or Treat" a Super Sons Halloween story

"The Haunting of Wayne Manor" Damian and Deadman story - in the end, Boston kinda refers to Nezha's possession of Damian in Batman VS Robin (2022) which was happening at the time of this release

Batman: Li'l Gotham (2013)

lighthearted series that instantly makes me smile with the silliness and Dustin Nguyen’s art i love this dearly

Secret Origins (2014) #4 "A Boy's Life"

a retelling of Damian's origin story

Detective Comics (2016) #1001-1005

Batman and Robin vs the Arkham Knight (unrelated to the game)

Truth & Justice (2021) #6/#16 - 18 Digital First version

cute story of Damian’s birthday! Juni Ba’s art is so fun!!

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021) “Special Delivery”

short story about Damian! and poisoned pizzas. completely forgot the artist Sami Basri drew Rebirth Damian here before catboy Damian lol Cass’s story “Sounds” is also cute! Marcus makes his first appearance in "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes"

DC VS Vampires (2021)

Damian makes appearances throughout this elseworlds book, but the one-shot DC VS Vampires: Hunters (2022) is vampire Damian-centric!

Batman: Black and White (2021) #5

“Father & Son Outing” short story written and drawn by Jorge Jimenez!

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #20-23

#20 “My Son” Talia and Bruce focus

#20 - 23 “The Murder Club” 4 Parts

Tiny Titans (2008) #33, #39, #45, #47

a few appearances but SO CUTE, LOOK AT HIM

*Batman and Robin (2011) reading guide

i'm mostly trying to avoid the "what did i just walk in on?" kinda feeling when i first started reading comics LOL i'll list the comics where events take place, but you don't necessarily have to read them to go through this book since things are usually explained as quickly as possible in the first page or so

#0 Someday Never Comes

Talia and baby Damian before he grows up to meet Bruce

#1-8 Born to Kill

just an incredibly solid arc for Bruce and Damian!

#9 Court of Owls Tie-In Issue

Damian VS a Court of Owls Talon. While Bruce is occupied with a home invasion of Talons, Alfred makes a call for allies to protect targeted Gotham public figures from Talons. During Batman (2011) #1-11

#10-12 Terminus

Damian challenges the previous Robins sans Steph

Batman Incorporated (2012) is occurring at this time where Talia has placed a bounty on Damian and there's small mentions of that

#13-14 Eclipsed/Devoured

mostly solitary arc! end of it leads into the Death of the Family event

#15-16 Death of the Family Tie-In Issues

Damian and Joker face-off... Alfred's been kidnapped by the Joker, and Damian goes looking for him. During Batman (2011) #13-17

#17 Life is but a Dream - Death of the Family Epilogue

a sort of subconscious check-in through the dreams of Damian, Alfred, and Bruce. Nightwing (2011) #17 features Damian encouraging Dick after Death of the Family events

#18 Undone "Requiem"

Bruce dealing with Damian's death from Batman Incorporated #8

other reactions to Damian's death: Dick in Nightwing (2011) #18, Tim in Teen Titans (2011) #18

#19-23 Denial, Rage, The Bargain, Despair, Acceptance

Bruce through the stages of grief with some batfam appearances in each. also introduces Carrie Kelley into continuity as Damian's acting tutor.

Batman (2011) #19-20 also addresses Bruce's loss

#23.1-23.4

these could be skipped - villain stories, also related to Forever Evil event.

#24-28 The Big Burn

optional Batman and Two-Face/Harvey Dent arc, #23.1 is part of this story!

Damian's resurrection and return

#29-32 The Hunt for Robin

Ras took Talia and Damian's bodies from their graves, and Bruce goes after him.

-> Robin Rises: Omega

continues events from #32. if you don't want to jump to this, basically, Glorious Godfrey and a bunch of parademons from Apokolips are here for a chaos shard which Ra's put in Damian's sarcophagus. at some point, Bruce gets a hold of the shard where he sees a vision that leads him to believe Damian can be resurrected. Godfrey ends up taking the shard, along with Damian's body since it was emitting the same energy.

#33-37 Robin Rises

Bruce hellbent on retrieving Damian from Apokolips and reviving him

-> Robin Rises: Alpha

necessary to read and continues events from #37! Damian's back with a bang lol

#38-40 Superpower

Damian adjusting to having superpowers and being alive again

Annual #1 2013 Batman Impossible

sweet (and funny) one-shot of Damian sending Bruce on a meaningful scavenger hunt around the world while Damian gets to be the cutest Batman for a bit

Annual #2 2014 Batman and Robin: Week One

one-shot takes place during Damian's absence. after Bruce and Alfred find a mystery gift left for Dick, Dick recounts a story he had told Damian from his Robin days.

Annual #3 2015 Moonshot

one-shot Batman and Robin adventure on the moon!

...and of course after Batman and Robin (2011), Damian's story continues in his first solo Robin: Son of Batman (2015)!

[emarli-the-doodler]

Smth from twitter whoopie

[kagoutiss]

green beetle black beetle