#then i have to take adrienne and her boyfriend to a pool party!

[metalslimes]

Im doing a bunch of adulty things today

[thecomicsnexus]

Starfire Unleashed!

NEW TEEN TITANS #16 FEBRUARY 1982 BY MARV WOLFMAN, GEORGE PEREZ, ROMEO TANGHAL, ADRIENNE ROY, ROY THOMAS, SCOTT SHAW, GERRY CONWAY, ROSS ANDRU AND BOB SMITH

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC FANDOM)

After relaxing in their pool at Titans Tower, the Teen Titans discuss Starfire's most recent boyfriend, Franklin Crandall. Dick pretends that he's okay with her seeing somebody else, but it is fairly obvious that he is still quite attached to the Tamaranean after gently rebuffing her advances. Starfire had met Franklin while modeling for Donna under her civilian name Kory Anders. Donna, ever protective of Kory, warned her about revealing her true nature to her new boyfriend.

Before long however, Franklin discovered the truth about Kory's alien heritage on his own, but it didn't change how he felt about her. The two continued dating for several weeks and Kory fell completely in love with him.

Now she is ready to introduce her boyfriend to the rest of the Titans. Donna is still uncomfortable with how quickly Kory has fallen in love with this man, and her discomfort intensifies when Kory tells her that Franklin knows the truth about her.

In his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, Franklin Crandall meets with his employer – a rogue agent of the H.I.V.E. This agent wants to get back into the H.I.V.E.'s good graces and believes that he can prove himself by manipulating Crandall into killing one (or more) of the Titans. Crandall is reluctant to aid the H.I.V.E. agent as he has now developed genuine feelings for Starfire. The agent warns him against betrayal.

Meanwhile, Wally West walks Raven to school for her first day of classes at Manhattan College. She enrolls in a philosophy course and embarrasses herself in class by voicing her opinion at considerable length. One of the students takes an interest in Raven and tells her that he knows of the Cult of Azar and has even practiced some of their disciplines. After class, a couple of boys begin antagonizing Raven and her new friend defends her by punching one of the thugs in the jaw. Raven is as upset with her classmate as she is with her antagonists and tells him that physical violence has never been part of the teachings of Azar.

That evening, the Titans go to Harlem to rescue a kidnapped model named Angela Dove from the clutches of mobster Phil Cerullo. Cerullo has kidnapped Angela in order to muscle her boyfriend Jason Silver into not testifying against him at his trial. The Titans burst through the wall of the building and take out Cerullo's gunmen. Starfire stuns the gangster with a starbolt and the other Titans worry about their teammate's apparent power levels.

Back in Connecticut, Franklin Crandall decides that he cannot betray Starfire. He turns his gun over to the H.I.V.E. agent and tells him that he quits. As Crandall walks away, the H.I.V.E. agent shoots him in the back, killing him. The Titans arrive, unaware that anything is amiss until they find Crandall's body. Robin tries to resuscitate him, but he is too late. Starfire goes berserk and begins firing lethal bolts of energy at the H.I.V.E. agent. Wonder Girl bars her path and warns her that the Titans never kill. The two argue with one another, and the enraged Starfire flies off. Amidst the confusion, the H.I.V.E. agent escapes.

A short while later, the agent reports back to the H.I.V.E. citadel. The robed members of the inner circle admonish him for operating on his own without the support of the H.I.V.E. They pass judgment against him and summarily execute him. The agent's body is found the following day in New York with six bullet holes in his chest.

Across the United States, strange occurrences take place involving otherwise normal human beings acting like animals. Clark Kent broadcasts a report on the phenomena, after which, he changes clothes to investigate the matter more deeply as Superman. He sees a strange beam of energy, visible only to his enhanced Kryptonian senses, strike a man, seemingly devolving him so that he begins scampering about the streets like an ape. He swoops down and pulls the man safely out of busy traffic, then flies off into the outer atmosphere to trace the origin of the energy beam. He surmises that the energy beam originated somewhere near the planet Pluto. What Superman finds though is a barrier of energy encircling the Earth. The closer he comes to it, the weaker he grows. He sees a meteor from outer space pierce the barrier and begin falling towards Earth. He catches the object and propels it back towards the barrier.

As he makes contact with the energy barrier, a loud "Pop" occurs and Superman finds himself dizzy and temporarily blinded. Blinking away the spots before his eyes, he begins falling back towards Earth. He soon realizes however that contact with the energy barrier somehow transported him to a parallel reality. He flies towards what he believes is the Daily Planet building, but quickly discovers that it is actually the office of a talking rabbit named Roger. Before Roger sees him, Superman changes into his civilian attire. Roger is at first frightened by the big "pink" man, but Clark manages to calm him down. He learns that this entire world is populated with sentient anthropomorphic beings, similar to animals found on Earth. While attempting to explain his situation, Roger goes to his window box and takes a carrot. He doesn't realize that the carrot is glowing with a mysterious energy. Superman scans the vegetable with his x-ray vision and sees that it has been affected by radiation from the shattered meteor particles. He snatches the carrot from Roger's hand and throws it away before he can eat any more. It is too late however. The glowing carrot alters Roger's physical body, giving him enhanced senses and super-strength. Donning a costume he had laying about from a previous costume party, he begins calling himself Captain Carrot.

Superman and Captain Carrot discover that violent riots are taking place at the nearby United Nature Building in Gnu York. The U.N. delegates have de-evolved and are behaving instinctively like their animal namesakes. Roger creates a super-thump with his giant foot, and succeeds in at least temporarily calming everybody down. Superman deduces that the meteor that he pushed through the energy barrier, shattered upon entering this parallel world, and that fragments of it have enhanced several other animal people across the country. His primary concern however is the devolution ray that has affected the members of the U.N. This ray is also responsible for devolving the people from Superman's home dimension. Superman flies off to investigate the origin of this mysterious ray beam, citing that the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance. Roger Rabbit takes a super-bunny leap behind him and shouts "You're not going anywhere without – Captain Carrot!"

REVIEW

This is one of those crazy situations where DC and some other publisher do the same thing at the same time. But in this case, against a novel. I am talking of course of Roger Rabbit, who unbeknownst to me, was a novel in 1981. So I could think that it was possible Thomas and Shaw didn’t know their character’s name was going to bring potential legal issues. It’s because of that that later on the alter ego of Captain Carrot is going to be “Rodney” Rabbit instead of Roger.

I am not sure the world was desperate for anthropomorphic comics from DC (but it will in just a few years with the coming of the black and white indies).

The New Teen Titans story, by the way, couldn’t be darker than Captain Carrot. Two people die (one of them by six bullets to the chest), and another is kidnapped.

I like Raven’s point of view about the dangers of certain religions, she is on to something, but I am not sure we will ever see her in class again (except for scenes with her new classmate).

This is also a very interesting issue for Dick Grayson/Kory shippers. It is pretty obvious that Dick regrets not dating Starfire anymore. I wonder how long it will take for Kory to recover from this death.

I give this issue a score of 9

[lifeaftermeteor]

Brussels, Belgium 24 December 209 

Originally Heero had thought Duo’s request to stay local over the Christmas holiday had been work-related—they were officially within a year from the next ESUN presidential election—but Duo quickly corrected him.

“Boss throws a big party for the staff,” he had explained.  “I...don’t usually go because I’m going off somewhere else.  With you, or the others.”  Duo had paused and then added cryptically, “I don’t know if I can get away with that, now that you’re on the same continent.” 

“You sound like you don’t want to go,” Heero had observed.  “Or you don’t want me to go,” he added for good measure. 

Duo had looked horrified at the suggestion and was quick to reassure.  “No!  No, it’s not that.  I can’t speak from personal experience, but I’ve been told I’ve missed a good time each year.  And I have no reservations about you coming, Christ. It’s just…” He paused then, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered his words.  “I have this weird feeling that I get when they talk about you, talk about wanting to meet you.  It’s like...two worlds are blurring together and I need their approval for something they don’t control.”  He shook his head, grimacing. 

“You want them to like me,” Heero had told him. 

“Well, and I want you to like them,” Duo had added. 

Heero then exhaled, the sound colored with subdued laughter.  “That’s normal as far as I can tell.  I felt much the same way when you met my friends in New York.” 

“I like your friends in New York,” Duo had reminded him.  “We have a group chat.” 

“I know; I’m in it.” 

“No, we have a different group chat,” Duo informed him with a wink, “reserved for us excessively dramatic types.”   

Heero had snorted and rolled his eyes.  “In any case,” he had said, pulling them back to the matter at hand, “tell your boss we’ll be at his party. 

When the date of the event came, they walked side-by-side through the dark Brussels streets to the President’s Mansion.  The air was cold and brisk, packed snow crunching underfoot.  Their first winter in Geneva had been much like this one Heero recalled with some fondness, glancing sidelong at Duo.  It was one of the few instances that his partner had ever looked like a kid, staring up into the night sky as snowflakes caught in his eyelashes.   

They moved quickly through a series of security checkpoints, aided by Duo’s badge, and headed into the residential wing of the mansion.  As they moved toward the sounds of a crowd, Heero sensed Duo hesitate.  Nearly imperceptible to the untrained eye and honed by years of practice: a skipped heartbeat or a step that broke the steady cadence of his strides.  But it was there all the same.  Heero reached down and brushed his fingertips against the back of Duo’s hand. It earned him a secret smile that passed between them in the space between breaths and then it was gone, replaced by something far more confident. 

When they entered the main hall, they were greeted by other recent arrivals and Duo introduced him accordingly.  Before too long, however, a bright-eyed teenager bounded up to them and latched herself on Duo’s arm.  “You came!” she cried.  “Dad will be so excited.” 

Duo chuckled and extracted his arm only to then sling it across the girl’s shoulders.  Heero had the distinct impression she was the only person in the room he could do that to, more due to his height than protocol.  He kept his amusement to himself as Duo introduced the girl.  “Heero, this is Adrienne Reuson, our team mascot.” 

“Oorah,” the girl replied on queue and stretched out a hand.  “You must be Heero, then?” 

Heero took her hand and shook it.  “I am.  I’m sorry to hear I keep preventing Duo from joining the annual festivities.” 

Adrienne grinned.  “Well it’s not just Duo we’re glad to see.  You’re part of the package.  I’m not supposed to say anything, but there was an office pool going about whether or not you were even real.” 

Heero laughed at this while Duo flushed, appalled.  “I hope I’ve managed to allay any of those concerns.” 

The girl squinted at him, playful.  “We shall see.  You could just be one of those super elaborate holograms.  Recommend you get something to eat in order to dispel the myth.”  And with a peck on Duo’s cheek, she was gone.

“Office pool?” Duo ground out between clenched teeth.  “The Hell…?” 

Heero chuckled and took hold of his hand.  With a gentle tug, he urged, “Come on.” 

Duo’s coworkers were a fascinating crowd, Heero decided before too long.  Lawyers and politicians, military and civilian, altruists and opportunists.  There was an underlying thread that held them all together, however, that being unyielding optimism and sharp wit.  Heero found himself quickly easing into the atmosphere the crowd built between them, finding it more infectious than intimidating.  He was grateful for that as he mingled with the rest of them, never far from Duo’s side. 

About twenty minutes into their meanderings, their paths at last crossed with their host.  “You must be Heero,” the President said, reaching out a hand in greeting. 

Heero shook it and replied simply, “Sir.” 

Reuson laughed as they parted. “‘Michael’ is fine.  We're very informal here, at least when the cameras aren't rolling. 

“I'm glad you were able to join us,” Reuson continued. “It's nice to finally put a name and face together. It's odd to think that after all this time, my security detail knows you but we’ve never had the chance to meet.” The older man’s eyes turned to Duo over the rim of his glass as he took a drink from the contents, admonishing him silently. 

Beside Heero, Duo groaned under the pressure.  “I know...  But in my defense, there was a lot going on last year...” 

“And it’s not like New York is terribly close,” Heero added with a shrug, coming to his boyfriend’s aid.  “I appreciate the invite though.  I’m glad we could make it work this year.  Usually we’re gone by now.” 

Reuson smiled at this.  Heero was struck by how genuine it was, and it dawned on him suddenly that this was not just Duo’s superior.  This man was something more. This man was someone who cared.  “I’ve heard,” Reuson told him.  “Up to the colonies or elsewhere in the Earth Sphere.  That’s what the holidays are for, in the end: spending time with friends and family.  My wife usually joins these soirees, but she is presently giving a speech downtown. She should be joining us in—” he glanced at his watch, “—another hour?  I hope you stay until she arrives at least.  She was excited to meet you too.”   

Reuson’s eyes then shot over Heero’s shoulder and off to the right before a wide smile appeared on his face.  Refocusing on the two of them, he explained, “I’m being summoned away by my daughter.”  Reaching out, he shook Heero’s hand again.  “I’m very glad you’re here, Heero.  It’s truly a pleasure to meet you.” 

As the President walked away, weaving his way through other party-goers, Heero commented, “He seems nice.  I like him.” 

“He is nice.  He likes you too,” Duo replied. 

The words made Heero smile, but there was an unexpectedly somber cast to them, so he turned to study his partner.  Duo’s gaze was unfocused as he studied the floor several steps ahead of them.  It was as if he was listening to whispers under the din around them. Again, Heero reached out, brushing Duo’s hand with his fingertips to draw him away from whatever dark memories had risen to the surface. 

Duo looked up at the touch and this time offered an apologetic smile.  “Sorry,” he said. “Just thinking.”

“I know,” Heero assured, “but this is supposed to be fun.” 

Duo’s smile brightened at this and he leaned forward to give Heero a chaste kiss on the cheek.  The public affection sent little thrills down Heero’s spine and he couldn’t fight the smile that graced his lips. 

“Oh. My. God.  It’s the boyfriend.” 

The two of them turned to find a middle-aged woman approaching from the corner.  Her eyes flashed and Heero had the distinct impression he’d uncovered the natural foil to the President’s kindness.   

“Yes, it’s the boyfriend,” Duo confirmed.  “Heero, this is Analyn Mendoza. Our Chief of Staff, slave-driver, and one-woman army.”  As Heero shook the woman’s offered hand greeting, Duo then sniped, “We heard about the office pool.” 

Mendoza laughed.  “Yes, well. I figured that would get out tonight, especially if you came together.”  To Heero, she said, “I'll be honest: some of us were beginning to consider you to be the stuff of legend.  A unicorn, even.” 

Heero smirked. “I assume I'm considered real enough after this, yes?” 

Mendoza’s smile softened. “Yes, quite.  I'm glad you could make it and give me the chance to meet you before I leave.” 

“Leave?” 

“Analyn isn't staying on for a second term,” [1] Duo piped up beside him. “Next year is her last.” 

Duo sounded...uncertain, as if there was a delicate dance happening which Heero couldn't see. He made a note to ask him about it later. To Mendoza, Heero asked, “When do you leave?” 

The woman shook her head, noncommittal. “I’ll probably stay on through the election for continuity’s sake, but not much longer afterward.  I don’t have anything lined up, you see.  For afterward.” 

“God forbid you take a vacation,” Duo chided. 

Mendoza replied with a sharp grin, “Vacations are for the weak and weary.  We are neither.” Turning to Heero, her smile softened. When she spoke next there was nothing but kindness.  “Enjoy the party you two,” she said, drifting away and back into the crowd. 

There was a heavy pause between them, and Heero took a chance.  “If she’s leaving, they're going to push a lot of that responsibility to you, aren't they?” 

Duo grimaced and said only, “Nothing’s been decided…”   

But they both knew the answer.  Heero could sense it in the tension that rose steadily in how Duo carried himself, how he couldn’t quite hold his gaze.  Even as he recognized it, acknowledged it, the wall slid down and the evidence evaporated. Duo returned to the party and the merriment around them, and drove Heero’s attention back to the multitude.  Heero let it go. 

The rest of the festivities passed in a blur of good food and better conversation.  For a time Heero allowed himself to forget about the moments of melancholy emanating from his boyfriend that had peppered their evening and focused on the new friends he had made.  It left a warmth in his chest which seemed appropriate for the season.  It stayed with him as they said their goodbyes and wished others a happy, and peaceful, holiday. 

They began their trek home, snow crunching underfoot, lost in their own thoughts.  As they passed the wrought iron gates of a nearby park, however, Duo hesitated. “Diversion?” he suggested, reaching out his gloved hand. 

“Sure,” Heero replied, taking Duo’s hand in his own.   

They crossed the empty street and passed through the gates of the park, which was vast and empty and glittering white under the sporadic streetlights.  After a time, Heero gave voice to his thoughts earlier in the evening.  “Our first winter in Geneva was like this one.  With the snow.” 

“I’d never seen it before,” Duo murmured.   

“I seem to recall you being poorly dressed for the weather and commenting astutely on the aerodynamics of snowflakes.” [2] 

Duo laughed at this and some of the tension seemed to bleed away.  He squeezed Heero’s hand and then diverted toward a bench, pulling Heero with him with a gentle tug.  They brushed off a recent dusting of snowfall before sitting down, huddled together against the cold.   

“I think that was when I started to see you differently,” Heero confided after a time.  “Not romantically, not like that.  Just...differently.  You were just a kid.  Like me. You weren’t dangerous, in that moment.  Which mean I didn’t have to be either.”  He shifted on the bench so that he could face Duo more directly. “Talk to me.  What’s wrong?” 

After a beat, Duo admitted, “You were right.  About Analyn and their plans for my job, the workload.  I just...wasn’t sure how you would take it. I didn’t want to disappoint you.” 

“Why would I be disappointed?” 

“Because I asked you to move in and then I go and take this on without talking to you about it,” Duo told him, the words coming in a rush.  “Feels like some shitty bate-and-switch. ‘Quit your job and see more of me.  But oh wait, nevermind.’  Such an asshole thing to do...” 

As Duo spoke, Heero removed one of his gloves, the cold shocking his skin.  He reached out and touched the man’s cheek.  The caress was enough to startle the other man into momentary silence.  It gave him the opening he needed, and he leaned forward to capture Duo’s lips with his own with an insistent kiss.   

When they parted, Heero held Duo’s gaze just as insistently.  “I’m not disappointed,” he began. “I’m not upset.  I’m proud of you.  Of everything you’ve done.  And I’ll keep telling you that until you get it through your thick skull.”  Duo allowed himself a jaded laugh, acknowledging the admonishment.  Heero pressed ahead, “I want to be there for you, just as you’ve been there for me when I need you.  Sometimes, though...sometimes I think it’s easier for you if I’m closer.  Yes?”   

He watched Duo worry his lower lip between his teeth before he dropped his eyes to the space between them, nodding.  Heero ran his thumb against Duo’s cheek and brought his eyes back up to meet his own.  “So...about moving in.  How does May look?”  He watched untold emotions flash across Duo’s face, sliding gradually into unabashed excitement.  It was like watching the sun rise and Heero counted himself lucky to see it.

[1] ESUN Presidential terms are five years and they can be elected twice.  Reuson was sworn into the job early on 1 January 206 and called in the contingent job offer for Duo.

[2] You can reread that particular snippet back here in AC 197.