#superman 416

[comicsclex]

Lex Luthor being self-sacrificing

[comicsclex]

[vechter]

nightwing (1996) #102 // south of the border, west of the sun, haruki murakami // action comics (1938) #613 // the teacher, marie howe // secret origins (1986) #13 // doggy style, maisie cowell // secret origins (1986) #13 // thumbs, lucy dacus // nightwing (1996) #102 // batman: dark victory (1999) #13 // the wee free men, terry pratchett // action comics (1938) #613 // superman/batman (2003) #13 // batman (1940) #636 // batman (1940) #441 // a dog jumping over a wall, feng li // things i never give myself permission to say, chelsea dingman // batman (1940) #408 // batman (1940) #438 // east, west, salman rushdie // batman (1940) #416 // infinite crisis (2005) #4 // ask polly: help, i'm the loneliest person in the world!

dick & bruce + leaving robin

[jayladfanpage]

JASON TODD MUST-READ COMIC GUIDE :]

ROBIN

Batman (1940) #408-411, #416

Detective Comics (1937) #569-574, #580 & #581

Superman (1939) Annual #11

New Teen Titans (1985) #20, #21

Batman: The Cult (1988)

Batman (1940) #422, #424, #425

Batman: A Death in The Family

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #43-45

RED HOOD

Under The Red Hood & Red Hood: Lost Days (I recommend reading Lost Days first, but it's up to you)

Nightwing (1996) #118-122

Green Arrow (2001) #69-72

Batman: Battle for the Cowl & Battle for the Cowl: The Underground (2009)

Task Force Z (2021)

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (2023)

[bisupergirl]

PRE-ORACLE BARBARA GORDON READING GUIDE

aka a (mostly) pre-crisis batgirl reading guide! for the following comics: bolded is required reading, italicized is recommended, and everything else is optional.

[note: for the most part babs appears in the back-up "batgirl" story in each issue of detective comics!]

detective comics (1937) #359, 363

world's finest comics (1941) #169

detective comics (1937) #388-389, 392-393, 396-397, 400-401, 404-409, 410-411, 412-413, 416-417, 418-419, 420-421, 422-424

the superman family (1974) #171

the batman family (1975) #1, 3-7, 9-18, 20

detective comics (1937) #483, 484-489, 490, 491-495, 496, 497-499, 501-502, 505-506, 508-510, 512-513, 514-517, 518-519

crisis on infinite earths (1985) #4, 7

secret origins (1986) #20

batgirl special (1988)

and done! you could read batman: the killing joke (1988) here, but considering that babs is just there to get shot and assaulted for bruce and jim's manpain, i don't recommend it. instead read the batman chronicles (1995) #5 "oracle year one" if you want to see the birth of oracle!babs :)

[tag: @kara-zor-els ]

[nyhti]

Wait. Is Superman #416 ”The Ghost of Superman Future” (1986) actually canon canon?????? For Pre-Crisis universe anyway???? Did Clark and Lex canonically disappear together to wander the universe until Lex died of old age???????????????????????????? I am exploding. Did Elliot S! Maggin just confirm clex?????????? He was always a clex enjoyer, that was clear, but I did not expect him to actually make it canon in the year of our Lord 1986???????????? Why haven't I heard people talking about this??????????? And Clark didn't even mention Lois or Lana or anyone else??????????? He was just like: ”Yup, took off with Lex and never looked back ^_^” What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuck??? Of course I would have preferred that it had been Clark, Lex AND Lois as a throuple wondering the universe, but I'll settle for this then, I guess. I also think this was the first time that LexCorp was ever mentioned, which is interesting!

[talxns]

Just for a little bit of fun, what are your favourite Bruce and Dick interactions in canon?

Ooh! Okay yeah! Sorry the order is going to be pretty random, spanning across many comics and continuities.

Performing trapeze together in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #6, how legendary!

Nightwing 2006 #117, Bruce admonishing Dick over his suicidal behavior. The angry face grab is great.

Forever Evil #6 when Dick is in the murder machine, that face caress, the way Bruce goes insane when Luthor stops Dick’s heart.

Dick touching all over Bruce in Nightwing #89 (2022). I just like how he can just poke and prod and pull on Bruce

The confrontation scene from Batman #416 ! Bruce unmasking and being painfully vulnerable about his reason for taking Jason in.

Can’t have a best-of-Bruce and Dick-interactions list without the classic from Batman (2011) #11

BONUS GOLDEN AGE MENTIONS

just going to add 2 because i could make a whole other list of golden age interactions that i adore but it’s tiring to look up all the exact issue numbers lol so just a couple that i have saved

Batman (1940) #13, the whole story is gold but the very end when Bruce reveals he’s been holding onto Robin’s photo the entire time he’s been working alone!?

Batman (1940) #21 Bruce tearfully consoling Dick after he’d been drugged and on the brink of death, just a very sweet panel of them holding each other.

[wingmotif]

Robin, so confusing Superman Annual #11 / New Teen Titans #20 / RHATO #6 / Dick and Jason both in the Robin suit -- Titans (2018), S1E6 / Batman #140 / Batman #416 / New Teen Titans #31 / Battle For the Cowl #3 / RHATO Annual #1

[cryingalexanders]

Earth-One Lex Luthor Traits

Sick and tired of people spreading nonsense about one of my favourite characters and denigrating the pre-crisis version of him, so I'm starting an education campaign about his character traits, particularly the ones going back to the silver age!

Questionable heroics

Source: Adventure Comics #271, Superman #164

Source: Superman #416

Silver age Lex did actually try to be a hero in Smallville, but it went wrong and he gave up. It wasn't about losing his hair (though later stories did make that conflation). But Lex occasionally doing heroic things was a theme throughout this era.

Lying and manipulation

Source: Adventure Comics #271

Source: Action Comics #544

Lex does this when he’s trying to control and manoeuvre things and get his way.

Hero-worship

Source: Adventure Comics #271

Source: Superman #416

Lashing out

Source: Superman #161, Superman #292

Source: Superman #416

While he’s known for his wider-scale cruelties, Lex also has this tendency to fall back on petty cruelty when he feels off-balance. This ranges from name-calling to visceral threats.

Jealousy and projection

Source: Adventure Comics #271

Source: Superman #386

It's never clear how aware Lex is that he's doing this, but in the post-Lexor storyline it did explicitly cross over into genuine delusion.

Emotional insecurity/abandonment issues

Source: Superman #292

Source: Action Comics #512

Lex has this tendency to undervalue or disbelieve how much he means to somebody. One issue heavily implied that this sense of abandonment was the root of why he wouldn’t believe Superboy’s entreaties to him.

Protectiveness

Source: Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #23, Action Comics #295

Source: Adventure Comics #387

Lex would be protective of specific people to the point of self-sacrifice, in particular Lena and her son Val.

Inadvertently hurting/endangering the people he wants to protect

Source: Adventure Comics #388

Source: Superman Family #214

Lex’s protectiveness was interesting because he would continue to do so even when they hated him or he made them hate him.

Spying on people

Source: Action Comics #317

Rushing into marriages

Source: Action Comics #318

Doting on children

Source: Action Comics #295, Action Comics #544

Callousness towards children

Source: Action Comics #407

The thing is not that Lex categorically protects or refuses to hurt children. He has no compunctions about threatening and traumatising them the same as he would an adult.

Preoccupation with his legacy

Source: Superman #286

Lex had a sense of pride over his villainous legacy.

Fighting with (and usually losing to) other villains

Source: Superman #286

His attempts to control, corral or dominate other villains would inevitably fail. They would often target or double-cross him as well.

Ennui

Source: The Joker #7

Source: Heroes Against Hunger

This was more subtle, but Lex being ambiguously depressed is an idea we have seen since.

Obsession as his downfall

Source: DC Special Series #5

Source: Action Comics #544

[mythicalyeticat]

Went to my comic book store and they didn’t have the second issue for Boy Wonder, they did have the My Adventures With Superman comic and Batman 416 (the one where Dick confronts Bruce about giving the Robin title to Jason) so that’s pretty cool I guess. I still have to go to a different store to get Boy Wonder issue two though.

[batmanshole]

hello my dear and only batman mutual i wanted to ask you which jason todd comics / comics where hes at least kind of relevant youd recommend?? im currently reading rhato with starfire and roy but i feel like there’s better ones out there 🤔 tyyy 🥰🥰

OH MY GOD YOURE READING THE WORST ONE 😭😭😭😭😭

im gonna assume you havent read much of his stuff so here's my beginner's guide:

if you wanna read his introduction as robin and some basics of his robin run, that's batman #402, #403, and #408 to #416. i'd also recommend superman annual #11!! though it doesn't focus on him as much, it's one of my favs :-)

if you don't rlly wanna read his robin run, then skip to the batman: a death in the family arc (batman #426-429) which will give you the basis for his red hood stuff in the future.

then i'd suggest reading batman under the red hood, one of my fav comics EVER. you can find it in compiled versions which is probably easier than listing all the individual issues. utrh is SO good and sets the basis for a lot of rh-era post crisis jason (my scrunkly)

after that, i'd read red hood: lost days. which technically takes place *before* utrh but i think its easier to read it after. i like this one a lot its really sad :( just ignore the bit with talia. you'll know what im talking about when you read it. everyone pretends it didnt happen.

other than that there's a bunch of other guides but i'll spare you that till you've read these :P

[comicsclex]

Motifs in Clark and Lex's relationship:

Stargazing (Birthright #7, Action Comics #1000 "The Fifth Season", Last Days of Lex Luthor)

"Shut up and fly!" (Superman #282, Superman vol 4 #35)

Clark crushing the phone upon hearing Luthor has escaped (Superman #135, 416)

“Thanks for everything!” (Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #23, Superman #416)

"Our city" (DCeased #5, Superman vol 6 #3)

The Rocky Mountains (Superman #230, Superman Annual #12)

Freefalling together when depowered/compromised (Superman #282, #653, Action Comics #986)

Lex pointing out they're both outsiders (The Secret Years #2, Action Comics #1050)

[stealingyourbones]

DPXDC Prompt Masterlist #401-450

401. Bat Tutor

402. Time to Give an Old Friend a Call...

403. Wes Weston, Reporter for the Gotham Gazette

404. Unwanted Heirloom: The Ghost King's Contract

405. Danny: CCPN Photographer

406. Danny: Gotham Biochemist

407. New Management and Better Ghost Gear

408. Ancient Flowers for Poison Ivy

409. Fix and Unthaw (Dr. Freeze)

410. Sam finds Injured Jason

411. Dangerous Feedback (GL)

412. Batman took Ghost Drugs

413. Wes Weston finds Jason Todd

414. Magic and Monster Fucker (John Constantine)

415. Glow In The Dark Eyes (Wes)

416. Constantine meets Clockwork

417. Ghostly Wing AU

418. Do Not Enter: Radiation Hazard (DP)

419. Eldritch Dreams and Nightmares

420. Danny is Terry's Dad

421. Jason's Aunt: Sam Manson

422. Jason Watches his Death Again

423. GZ Out of Sync with Reality (Fav Prompts)

424. What a Tall Woman

425. Jason Time Swap AU (Fav Prompts)

426. Jason Rewatches the Titan Tower Incident

427. John Constantine Saves Danny

428. Only Liminal People can see Ghosts. Tim isn't Liminal

429. Danny Possesses Jason's Motorcycle.

430. Killer Moth's Sidekick

431. Impaired Speaking Jason with Ghost Speak (Fav Prompts)

432. Jason and Jazz go to the same Gym

433. Oracle meets Jazz Fenton

434. Danny thinks GL's are Ghosts

435. Maddie is Friends with Jim Gordon (Fav Prompts)

436. Danny owns a DC Character's Soul

437. Tech Disaster

438. Dani meets Dick Grayson.

439. Dick Mistakes Jazz as Babs

440. Billy's Twitch Chat Rants

441. Kwan works in the Wayne PR Dept.

442. Ra's tries to Clone Tim. Instead Teleports Dani

443. Danny meets the Ghost of Robin

444. Twinsies! (Damian and Danny family bonding)

445. Damian gets Revived. Wakes up in GZ

446. Danny is Wayne's Personal Pilot (Fav Prompts)

447. Tim Drake's Secretary: Daniel Fenton (Fav Prompts)

448. Golden Age Superman Meets Danny

449. Dan Phantom and Jason Todd are Bros

450. The Speedforce rejects the GZ

[blorb-el]

superman: lost finale

tldr: huge L for people who want to see clark reintegrate into his life with people who love and accept him even when he doesn't feel he's 'being' correctly due to his enormous amounts of horrible trauma (me). but also huge W for people who want to look at clark ultimately addressing his trauma by doing something so batshit insane he would never ever inflict on another person but his self standards are so toxic babygirl you are SO fucked up (also me)

short plot recap: at the end of this issue, clark and hope go back in spacetime to the beginning of where he was dumped out of the space trawler's ship, and send past!clark back to earth. then the clark we've been following goes on to help the evacuation for ten years, and then become the time loop clark we saw in issue 7, warning his past self not to try to escape, while the past!clark he and hope sent back goes on to live with lois and be the in-continuity clark we're familiar with.

various disorganized notes upon this:

clois book and clois divorce book at the same time

the book is metacommentary on how editorial will never allow clark to actually have lasting effects from trauma because that's not marketable/palatable to people both inside the dcu and outside

nerds bein like 'ohhh that's not how time travel works' news flash: time travel is not real its a storytelling device. if it serves the author then it's how it works

i. loved lois in this. all throughout. i know some people think she's ooc but she's so angry and compassionate and her concern and drive is what intersects with clark's self sacrificial brain in the end to make his FUCKED UP choice it is just. tickles the brain in a capital T Tragedy way. fatal strengths/fatal flaws chefs kiss

immediately headcanoning Gatekeeper/timeloop clark to eventually become the superman-null of Strange Visitor even though i think he was visually based on Maggin's Ghost of Superman Future from Superman 416 (which, if you like time loops, you should read, and if you dont like time loops you should read anyway because it fucks). let me have this. or, i know that Gatekeeper says he's had this conversation over and over, but i would would also accept if he figures out how to break it eventually and then becomes an iterant space paladin

the hope-is-pregnant jumpscare was. fine whatever 😔 a concession to serialized storytelling demanding cliffhangers. shoutout to parthenogenesis was nice but That Aint How It Works......like That's The Point Of Asexual Reproduction You Don't Need Another Person's DNA.......

this issue was fun to read alongside the current arc of WF since mark waid is also pointing out clark's flaw of impossibly impossibly high standards for himself in the way that main universe clark is so furious and disgusted with kingdom come clark; main universe bruce has never seen him that angry before bc clark's hatred/fury/fear of his own failures is obviously usually internalized

lex's part in this book was so damn good. that egotistical genius delusional psychosexually obsessed loony. especially the bit about the paintings. stop imagining yourself in a naked wrestling match with your enemy. time to listen to les troyens i guess

throughout the whole book the art has just been. incredible. coloring lines inking the whole thing. the stylistic change in 7 was interesting, not my favorite art, but it worked bc they were in a black hole at the time. i got some of the lee weeks variant covers and they're so incredibly good.... but the mainline covers were also wonderful.

slaps roof of superman. this fellow sure can get lost

anyway. if you made it to the end low effort mspaint sillies

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

31 DOD - TROPE : BIG BROTHER TO ALL

Dick is the oldest kid Bruce Wayne adopted and that makes him having a lot of younger siblings. He's the big brother the younger ones can rely on (even those who aren't always in good terms with him).

Batman (1939) issue #416

Dick offered valuable advice to Jason when they first met as Robin (Jason) and former Robin/Nightwing ( Dick).

Nightwing (1996) issue # 139

Dick assuring Tim he made the right choice and also providing the emotional support his little brother needs.

Batman (2016) issue #34

Dick assuring Damian that he would be by his side as the latter figured out his new place in the family

Even outside the Batfamily Dick acts like a big brother to younger heroes:

Justice League of America (2006) issue #60

Superman: son of Kal - El issue #9

[beatriceeagle]

heyy! i found your tumblr from your ao3 and some mutuals and godd i could talk about ur fics for ages! i do have some questions though, i recently got into reading comics and i was wondering

why did bruce believe the other superman in infinite crisis when he said earth's heroes had lost their way?

and how was jason actually resurrected?

and what are your thoughts on the relationship between dick & bruce

it would also REALLYY help if you could give me the names of the comics to read for this info! not sure how active u are on this and u dont have to answer at all but i hope this ask finds you well and having an amazing day <3

i know 3 questions is a lot haha and im really sorry for bothering youu

No worries at all, this was fun to answer! (By the way, I'm still semi-active on my DC sideblog: @flybynightwing.)

The comics to read for the answers to your first two questions are Identity Crisis for the first, and Batman: Under the Hood and Red Hood: The Lost Days for the second. (And I guess Infinite Crisis if you want to get really into the weeds.) Nutshell answers: Bruce believes that Earth's heroes have lost their way because he recently discovered that years ago, a group of JLA members secretly wiped the memory of a supervillain who sexually assaulted Sue Dibney, and then wiped Batman's memories when he realized what they'd done. Jason was resurrected when Superboy Prime punched a hole in reality, which ended up kind of copy-pasting the timeline in which survived the Joker's bomb over the timeline where he died. (It's complicated. But that's the gist.) He was initially basically catatonic, but recovered his faculties after Talia al Ghul dunked him in a Lazarus Pit.

As for my thoughts on Dick and Bruce's relationship... I could fill several fics with those. (And I mean. I have!) There's no particularly good way to nutshell those thoughts, because their relationship is long (DC's longest) and complex and intense. I think they are the most important people in each other's lives. I think they saved each other. I think Bruce has treated Dick so so so so badly and caused him just an unbelievable amount of psychological damage. I think Bruce is the person Dick admires most in the world and that that is not unrelated to the psychological damage. I think Dick is the person Bruce admires most in the world and yet he can usually only express that in fucked up mind games. I think they actually enjoy each other's company a lot when they're not fighting.

The comics I would recommend reading to answer this last question are basically the entire history of Batman, Nightwing, and Titans comics, but to give you a short list:

Dark Victory, for the most-cited Post-Crisis Robin origin story

Robin: Year One, for a look at how Post-Crisis tended to reinterpret Dick and Bruce's early years

New Teen Titans Vol 1 #39, Batman Vol 1 #416, Nightwing: Year One, for three versions of how Dick stopped being Robin (each one retcons the previous—it will give you a sense of how the story shifted over the years)

New Titans Vol 1 #55 and Batman: Year Three, for a look at how Bruce and Dick's relationship changed in response to Jason's death

A Lonely Place of Dying, for the introduction of Tim Drake and the beginning of healing

Batman: Prodigy (an epilogue comic to Batman: Knightfall, which is also worth reading but less related to Bruce and Dick), for Bruce and Dick's more-or-less full reconciliation (don't worry, many many many issues remain)

And then for longer runs of comics that deal heavily with their relationship throughout:

New Teen Titans Vol 1 / Tales of the Teen Titans Vol 1 / New Teen Titans Vol 2/ New Titans Vol 1 (these are all renamings/renumberings of one ongoing storyline written by Marv Wolfman and George Perez)

Gotham Knights Vol 1, especially the first ~30 issues

And obviously Nightwing Vol 2

I can't give you much in the way of post-Flashpoint recommendations, because I just can't with New 52 and Rebirth/Infinite Frontier has frustratingly little internal consistency about what things are actually in continuity.