#this takes place I would say around batman: prodigal

[zahri-melitor]

so i'm reading certain nightwing volumes from '96 - 02 for my current reading run following NML (shout out to @havendance, cannot thank you enough 🫶🏾) and while some aspects of how he's written is very compelling and interesting to chew on, for the most part it's been pretty....boring?? like i'm gonna keep reading it so i can have as much context as possible, but it feels more like a chore 😩

anyways, i read your response on that “who’d you choose to write nightwing” poll and i’d love to get your opinion on what nightwing runs/writers to read outside of those 8 volumes. i really wanna get into dick grayson’s character and personality! also, if it’s cool with you, anyone else please feel free to add to this!

-dominomasc

Hey, dominomasc. Unknowingly you've just raised one of the fundamental incongruities of how comics work.

Comics are about layers of stories providing depth to a character and about dozens of different interpretations more than they are about a single amazing run. (Some characters have That Run! But on average, most don't). Dick Grayson, a character that has existed for 84 years, has some very fun stories from all sorts of writers. His title, Nightwing, is also an excellent example of how a lot of long running titles often don't really have a stand out section that's head and shoulders above the rest.

I promise, you are never going to run out of stories to read about Dick Grayson (Comicsvine has him at 9,593 appearances as I write this). So yes, this is going to be about two things: advice on finding stories about Dick that vibe for you; and advice on understanding Dick alongside other storylines.

Taking into account what's listed above and the fact I'm moderately obsessive, I have compiled a discussion of most of the major writers who have written Nightwing runs, or who have written major titles that Dick also prominently appears in.

I am at heart a 'Dick belongs to the Bat Office' person and my expertise in most characters starts with COIE. On that basis I'm not going to dip into pre-Crisis here.

Marv Wolfman & George Pérez: New Teen Titans (1980-1993ish). I am not going to explain all the title names here; you're going to have to go get more detail from someone who treats NTT period as their special interest. Wolfman and Pérez are the architects of Nightwing as a character, separate to Robin, that Dick grew into. Read this period if you're interested in Dick as a young adult among the other Titans going through the transition into adulthood and independence, and his relationship with Kory. Basically it's a superhero young adult soap opera. It can be quite uneven in places, particularly towards the back end, and there are approximately a thousand discussions over which storylines are good and which should be fired into the sun. I am not a subject expert for this period.

Because of the state of the Titans titles in the early 1990s, the Bat office demanded Dick Grayson back under their control. Exactly when they got him back is slightly debated, but it would be fair to say Batman #500 (October 1993) marks his transition back to being a Bat character (around the start of Knightquest); by KnightsEnd and Prodigal (July 1994-January 1995) Dick is once again firmly a member of the Batman set of characters, and has remained so to date.

Prodigal, by Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Doug Moench: (Batman #512 to Robin #13). Use a reading list here as the stories are spread across multiple titles. Prodigal is 12 issues about Dick's first time being Batman, with Tim as his Robin, and his feelings about returning home to Gotham as an adult. Robin #13 in particular is possibly the most important issue of the story, as it's the foundation of a reset in Bruce and Dick's relationship with each other and how it is going to be characterised for the next decade or so.

Chuck Dixon: (Nightwing #1-70 1996, Nightwing: Alfred's Return, and a bunch of other one shots) So Dixon is probably DC's most prolific writer of all time, and is the architect of what's been treated as 'default Nightwing'. In this run, Dixon creates Bludhaven and the situation of Dick being its protector, out of a desire to be his own man apart from Bruce. He sets up an extensive Rogue's Gallery for Dick, the most famous of which is making Blockbuster one of Dick's main enemies. He has Dick working at a cop bar and then decide to enter the Bludhaven Police Department in an attempt to investigate it from the inside due to the levels of corruption. This is also the run where Dick and Babs get together as adults. Basically, everything about 'default' Dick that you probably know comes from this run. Dixon's great for character interaction, for world building, and and particularly at making various titles tie together - because he was writing at least 1/3 of DC's entire line for a while there he's the king of crossovers, giving a lot of depth to friendships because characters just pop between titles he's writing. His actual plots however vary between middling to occasional flashes of greatness. I'd consider The Hunt for Oracle (#45-46 and BOP#20-21) and the Shrike story (#55-58) to be the standout storylines in his Nightwing run; for individual issues I'd also point to #6 and #25 for his relationship with Tim, #16 for Dick building his car, and then his crossover issues in events tend to be quality.

Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty: (Robin: Year One 2000, Batgirl: Year One 2003, Nightwing: Year One - Nightwing #101-106 1996) I am separating these three out from the rest of Dixon's work as they're quite important as retcons over Dick's backstory. Robin and Batgirl are well regarded rewrites of events; Nightwing is less so, partly because it's a solid example of the Jason personality retcon, and partly I think because a lot of people reading this were still well across the two 1980s versions of Dick's transition from Robin to Nightwing. I highly recommend Robin Year One, particularly with the Shrike storyline of Nightwing, as they are interlinked.

Devin Grayson: (Nightwing #71-100 & #107-117 1996, Nightwing/Huntress 1998, Gotham Knights #1-11 & #14-32, The Titans #1-20 1999) Oh, Devin. Devin Grayson is a Dick Grayson superfan (she uses Grayson as her surname because of Dick). She is really good at character introspection - Gotham Knights #1-11 contains some amazing character work. She's also not shy about establishing her own headcanons on characters and retconning their backstories. Devin's biggest contributions to the Dick Grayson lore are in establishing him as Romani and actually writing Bruce adopting Dick. Her run on Nightwing is best understood as a whump, break-the-cutie run, where Blockbuster sets out to destroy Dick's life, and in the process gets Dick fired, breaks up Dick and Babs, burns down Haly's Circus (for the first time), blows up his entire supporting cast, chases Dick out of Bludhaven and leads to Dick going under cover in the mob essentially to punish himself (also not the only time). Dick's also sexually assaulted in Nightwing #93 but I really beg people to read this in context of the rest of the run; this should be looked at as PART of the whole flow of whump, rather than as a separate situation. Grayson also had the title taken off her before she got to the 'comfort' part of the extended hurt/comfort storyline she was writing. It reads a lot better if you think of this in a more transformative fandom, ficcish manner of story rather than as a more standard run. If her Nightwing run is too grim for you, I highly recommend Gotham Knights and her Titans run; Devin Grayson is honestly best when she's writing a constellation of characters around Dick more than when she's writing Dick himself. She adores his friends and family. Standout issues to get a sense of Devin include: Nightwing #100, a self-reflective issue on Dick's history; Nightwing #81, where Dick's in hospital and Cass goes after Slade for him; Titans #15 1999, where the Fab 5 go on a camping trip together to get back to their roots and deal with a lot of tensions in the group; and Gotham Knights #8-11, Transference, where Dick and Tim team up to rescue Bruce, who's been brainwashed by Hugo Strange.

Jay Faerber: (The Titans #21-41 1999) Honestly Faerber's run on The Titans is not that Dick Grayson focused. It's entertaining if you want to read some solid Titans dynamics, but the standout characters you read this run for are Roy and Donna. Seriously, if you're into Roy, Cheshire and Lian drama I highly recommend Faerber's work; otherwise it's not an essential run for Dick.

Judd Winick: (Outsiders #1-25, 34-49 2003, Batman & Robin #23-25 2011) Winick tends to write an angrier and darker edged Dick Grayson, and he has a bunch of really common tropes you see pop out in his writing. These are no different, and thus include an awful lot of violence and characters having sex (so much sex). He can be quite funny as a writer, but honestly his Outsiders run does not have much of that humour. The Batman & Robin story is basically Winick finding some space to tie up his Jason Todd plot before Flashpoint obliterated it, more than an actual story about Dick. If you want a good encapsulating issue to get the vibe of Winick about Dick, take a look at Outsiders #21, which has a good chunk of Dick and Roy AND Dick and Bruce in it, though it's helpful to remember that this issue is set very shortly after War Games and so Dick is in a massive guilt spiral.

Bruce Jones: (Nightwing #118-124 1999) It's One Year Later! Bruce Jones moves Dick back to New York City (as Bludhaven went boom due to Chemo in the lead up to Infinite Crisis) and theoretically sets up Dick's status quo out to Reborn. So. The story Jones is most famous for is the first 4 issues of the run, which are generally referred to by fans as the TentaTodd story. Jason Todd turns up to run around annoying Dick by ALSO dressing up as Nightwing and committing crimes. He also turns into a tentacle monster for a bit. It is certainly a story that exists, but it actually is pretty in line with Jason and Dick's relationship up to Flashpoint: Jason turns up to be a brat who wants attention, does violent things, and Dick exhaustedly kicks the shit out of him and gets him locked up while despairingly going 'why is this my life'. Because of Jason running around killing people as Nightwing, the NYPD get mad at Nightwing and start trying to hunt him down. Jones is for the completionist.

Marv Wolfman: (Nightwing #125-137 1999) Lacking any better ideas, Wolfman gets a run on Nightwing. It's not Wolfman's finest work, to put it bluntly, and it's very obvious that Marv hasn't actually read any of Dixon or Grayson's runs. Marv does set Dick up working as a gymnastics and trapeze coach, which is always a decent job for him. If I had to pick one story from Wolfman, read Nightwing #127, where Dick gets buried alive and digs his way out of the grave.

Peter J. Tomasi: (Nightwing #140-157 1999, Batman & Robin #20-22 2011) Tomasi loves Dick Grayson, and particularly loves Dick's connection to his friends and family. Let me put it this way; in the lead up to Final Crisis and Blackest Night every title got an Origins and Omens short story on the back of an issue. Most books used it to write creepy or introspective reflections on awful stuff especially deaths that have happened to the characters. Tomasi used his to have Dick take Barbara skydiving for her birthday, and echo a bunch of themes from his first issue. I think this is one of the most mature and grown up looks at Dick prior to Flashpoint; Tomasi treats Dick as a grown adult with an adult relationship with Bruce. I love Freefall. Read Freefall to see some really interesting meta on Dick's relationship to the concept of falling and to the concept of catching falling people, a theme that's frequently present in his stories.

Grant Morrison: (Batman & Robin #1-16 2011) Astonishingly given how much of Reborn was designed by Morrison, they don't actually seem to care that much about Dick as a character more than as a prop to set Damian against. Dick's extremely focused on Damian in this title but also does not actually appear to like Damian very much. If I were going to recommend one story out of it I'd probably point to Batman & Robin #7-9, because Dick gets to be a giant hypocrite in them and tries to resurrect Bruce. It goes badly, for all involved.

Scott Snyder: (Detective Comics #871-881, Gates of Gotham, and like every Bat event during n52) The Black Mirror is probably my favourite piece of Dick!Batman storytelling set during Reborn. It's just elegant in terms of how hard Snyder pushes Dick and how his reactions are very much not those that Bruce would have. This is helpfully extremely obvious in that The Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham are actually part of a trilogy, the third act of which is Court of the Owls and due to Flashpoint Snyder had to rewrite CotO quite extensively including swapping Dick out of being Batman and having Bruce as the lead. Read The Black Mirror for Dick having a minor breakdown while solving a complex case with links to James Gordon and Babs. Read Gates of Gotham for incredible Dick & Tim & Cass & Damian fourway storytelling that shows the dynamics of every pairing out of the four.

Fabian Nicieza: (Nightwing #138-139 1999, Batman #703 & #713, parts of Battle for the Cowl, Nightwing #51-56 2016) The thing about FabNic is when he's on, he's very much on, and when he's not it can be painful. I actually almost would have skipped him on this list, but he very much deserves recognition for writing the Nightwing issues of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, which alongside the Robin issues portray exactly how far Dick will go for Tim; and for Batman #703, which is the only issue prior to Bruce's resurrection that actually puts Dick, Tim and Damian on page together as heroes. He also got saddled with writing the start of the Ric Grayson saga under the script of Scott Lobdell, which, well, is definitely at the 'not well regarded' end of his oeuvre. FabNic is again a writer that is really good at character interaction, and I tend to find whenever I'm reading events where there's heaps of writers involved and he's there, the issues I really enjoy are the ones he's had a hand in.

Tony S. Daniel: (Battle for the Cowl, Batman #692-699 & #704-707 & #710-712) Oh, Tony Daniel. Why. Daniel's stories are probably the most classic-Batman of the Dick!Batman stories. His stories revolve a lot around drama at Arkham Asylum, with Harvey and Gilda Dent, and with the Falcones. On balance I think you could probably actually trade Dick out for Bruce in half these stories and it wouldn't make a huge amount of difference. If I were going to suggest one to try, maybe go with #710-712? It's Harvey focused and it has Kitrina Falcone and doesn't actually depend on the whole Jeremiah Arkham thing.

Kyle Higgins: (Nightwing #1-12, 0, & 15-29 2011) For a reboot of Dick Grayson down to his fundamentals, and working within the requirements of the 5 year time line, I like Higgins' work on Nightwing. Sure, I could have done without him burning down Haly's circus, again, and all the Court of the Owls revelations, but some of that was clearly dictated to him, and they way he gave Dick time as a teenager with relationships with other characters at Haly's before his parents died worked quite well. If I were going to cite a favourite part of this run it's probably the last section, #18-29 when Dick moves to Chicago and tries the 'strike out as my own hero with my own city, screw you dad' thing for the first time in the new timeline. Higgins put in quite a bit of cast building work and it's a shame none of it ever got used again between Forever Evil and then Rebirth just ignoring everything during this period.

Tom King and Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #30 2011, Grayson #1-20) I'm going to treat these two together here as I can't actually easily subdivide the run between them. This is the longest period Dick goes undercover working as a spy because his life has just gone to shit. He is both spying on Spyral (for Bruce) but also his job within Spyral is as a spy and special agent. Think James Bond, except Dick also gets to be the focus of the objectification camera. Some people enjoy it as a change of pace, some people can't stand it because it's just a very weird story for Dick and Dick's generally personally unhappy when he's stuck undercover, and it definitely is a highlight in the 'did you know Tom King worked for an intelligence agency? Tom King is working out his feelings about working for an intelligence agency again' oeuvre. If you want to try an issue, I recommend Grayson #5 as probably the best character and storytelling piece in the entire run.

Tim Seeley: (Nightwing #1-34) Good stuff I can say about Seeley's run includes that he used Rebirth as a impetus to rebuild Dick's status quo. He did quite a lot of world building for a new version of Bludhaven, he got Dick back into Nightwing and back into a blue V costume for the first time in 7 years, he's interested in looking at the Grayson family and not so much in terms of the Court of the Owls stuff. He likes Dick and Damian's time as Batman & Robin. Seeley's also a fan of a lot of character beats in terms of Dick's characterisation that were pioneered by Devin Grayson - particularly in terms of Dick being easily attracted to women, being impetuous and hot headed at times, and in the Romani retcon. I don't necessarily see eye to eye with Seeley on all of his characterisation and story choices, but he does a lot of repair work on getting Dick back to being Nightwing, including things like repeating beats from the Dixon and Grayson runs so that Dick has that backstory again, and what that means for his character. I might suggest Nightwing #8 2016, because it revolves around Bruce and Dick and the concept of falling (I'm a sucker for a good falling metaphor) or #9, which is literally a discussion of the changes between n52 and Rebirth with both of the Clark Kents, and in which Clark points Dick to return to Bludhaven (in a sort of re-encapsulation of Clark originally giving Dick the inspiration for the name Nightwing, but this time pointing him to what people treat as his default 'home'). If you like the shape of Dick as Bludhaven's hero from fic, you probably will find Seeley's run has stuff to enjoy.

Sam Humphries: (Nightwing #35-41 2016) So Humphries' storyline is another good example of what a lot of the current run of Nightwing contains since 2016 - reinterpretations and new versions of old stories. In this case, it's an adaption of the Hanging Judge storyline to have taken place in Bludhaven in Bruce and Dick's past. I don't mind it as a story, but it's definitely there to remind you of old story beats.

I haven't yet read Benjamin Percy's run, or any of Ric Grayson yet (which is a combination of Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Dan Jurgens), or Tom Taylor's run, so I don't want to give you too explicit opinions on these.

In general terms from experience on other titles and what other people have said: I really loved Benjamin Percy's Detective Comics #35-36 story in n52 and I suspect his Nightwing writing is a perfectly acceptable fill; nobody particularly likes the plot surrounding Ric Grayson, and the fact Scott Lobdell had a hand in plotting it seems to me to explain a bunch of the aspects of the scenario premise that upset a lot of people; Dan Jurgens is a DC workhorse who can turn his hand to anything; and Tom Taylor's run has been described as many as 'rewrite the arc of Devin Grayson's run but make it light and fluffy and free of consequences'. I honestly think if you haven't read much Nightwing yet, Taylor's run may be a good transition run to try to see if he's your vibe; I keep getting the impression he probably makes a good intro for new readers.

If you have any other writers you would like my impression of, please ask specifically; as I've said, Dick's been written by a LOT of people over the years.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Okay, so if I wanted to learn about Kon specifically, where would I even start? I've seen pretty much everything DC ever animated but I've only read a little bit of the comics, like, one Green Arrow run and the bit where Grayson was Batman, so I'm not even entirely sure where he exists?

The best place to start for Kon would be the Death and Return of Superman storyline, where he's introduced! (Technically he's not really introduced until around halfway through, but imo the context helps). You said you watched most animated DC things and I'm assuming that includes the animated movie adaption of this storyline, so I will warn you now that the movie and the comics are quite different, particularly when it comes to Kon.

After that, I would recommend Superboy (1994). This run is very much a product of it's time and there are very much Reasons that it is not very popular, but it's also important to understanding who Kon is as a character. Personally, I enjoyed the run, but I can't say it's always good, if you know what I mean.

My last rec for Kon is definitely the much beloved Young Justice (1998) run. It is amazing. One of my favorite comic runs ever.

In regards to what you've already read, I can't say exactly when these take place. Superboy (1994) starts shortly before the Batman: Prodigal storyline, in which Dick first takes up the Batman mantle. However, Dick's better known stint as Batman takes place much later than these recs. (That includes Battle for the Cowl, Batman: Black Mirror, and Batman & Robin (2009).) Also DC is currently publishing the 7th Green Arrow rn, so I can't give any advice there? These recs all overlap with Green Arrow (1988) until that run ended in 1998, then Superboy (1994) and Young Justice (1998) have an overlap with Green Arrow (2001). To avoid too many spoilers for what you haven't read, Green Arrow (1988) starts with Ollie and Dinah living in Seattle and Green Arrow (2001) is the run where Mia Dearden is introduced.

I hope this helps, and if you want more recs for Kon after reading these, just ask! These are just for a good introduction to Kon imo, without trying to overwhelm you too much.

Thank you for the ask, and happy reading!

[silverwhittlingknife]

comics i like: PRODIGAL

A while ago, I posted about Prodigal, the DICK-and-TIM Batman run and one of my favorite comic storylines of all time, and I learned from comments that it's pretty hard to track down for new readers - the comics are collected together on Kindle and Comixology, but not on DCU Infinite, and of course it's spread out over a bunch of different comics.

So I have made a list! A really long list!

If you, too, would like to read about

Dick having a self-worth crisis! Tim being excited about their teamwork!

Tim being amazed by basic household tasks! Tim apparently eating and hanging out in the Manor half the time, except when his dad periodically remembers he exists and demands company!

Jack Drake being a terrible parent! Dick worrying about Tim's bruises!

Tim being a nosy busybody and Dick reluctantly confiding at first and then actually unburdening himself!

Dick and Tim all on their own (no Alfred! no Bruce! just an inexperienced Batman and an inexperienced Robin!)

Dick's journey from "this kid is impressive but sometimes annoying" -> "I will punch anyone who looks at him crosswise"!

Tim’s journey from “desperate to impress” -> “actually admitting to insecurities”!

Please enjoy this:

Big Long List of Comics

WELCOME. This is in three parts. I warned you it was long!

The first part is if you want to read the lead-up to Prodigal - I picked out what I think are some of the key highlights / context in the post-Crisis Batfamily before the storyline starts.

The second part is Prodigal itself. So if you're just interested in Prodigal, scroll down to that.

The third part is just me gushing about why Prodigal is a great Dick Grayson story (plus a great Dick and Tim story), plus a caveat.

Part I. Fun but totally optional background reading (the lead-up to Prodigal):

Batman 408, Batman 416, and New Titans 55: These three comics will give you a quick snapshot of what's been going on with Dick and Bruce before Tim shows up. Batman 408 is the comic that rebooted the Batfamily into their angsty post-Crisis form: i.e. Dick was fired instead of quitting, and he and Bruce are estranged instead of in touch; Jason is a street kid instead of an acrobat; Dick and Jason are no longer close; etc. Dick meets Jason in Batman 416 and is horrified to find out about his death in New Titans 55. It's all really dark, but it's useful context and also you can cry about Dick, who's having a miserable time. ;_;

Batman 436-439: Prequel to Lonely Place of Dying. Bruce is a self-destructive disaster, and Dick doesn't know what to do. Lots of flashbacks to Dick's origin story and his childhood with Bruce.

Lonely Place of Dying: Tim's origin story. Dick and Tim met at the circus before Tim's parents died, and Dick promised him a somersault; Tim remembered forever and recognized him as Robin from it. Tim asks Dick for help - Batman needs you! Dick refuses to go back to Robin, but talks Bruce into making Tim Robin. Bruce insists on extensive training first, though.

New Titans 65: Dick and Tim's 2nd meeting (Tim's not yet Robin). Tim comes to NYC to ask for training; Dick takes him to Central Park.

Batman 455, Batman 480 and Robin III 4: These three comics will give you a quick snapshot of Tim's family life. His mom is murdered and his dad's in a coma in Batman 455 (shortly before Bruce makes him Robin); Jack recovers from his coma in Batman 480 and Tim writes him an angsty letter about his never being around (then burns it). In Robin III 4, Tim's got mysterious bruises and Jack threatens to send him to boarding school in Metropolis for the first (but not last) time.

Batman 498: Bruce's back is broken. Tim suggests they ask Dick to replace him as Batman. Bruce says, no, Dick's his own man. He picks Azrael instead. This is a mistake.

New Titans 101 and The Flash 81-3: Meanwhile, Dick's spiraling as his life goes from bad to worse. IMO these issues are good for a short look at why he's so unhappy. Short version: he gets fired from the Titans, Kory breaks up with him, and he's convinced he's a failure in every way. (Canon doesn't care, but for fanfic purposes, it's useful to remember that this is also shortly after the infamous Mirage plotline.)

Batman 508 or Robin 1: Back in Gotham, Tim is having a terrible time with Azrael-as-Batman: Azbats is increasingly violent, and Tim gets strangled and banished from the Cave. No need to read both comics; either one will give you the general idea.

Robin 10 Zero Hour: This comic will never be referred to again (SADLY) but I love it. Time-displaced Robin!Dick meets Robin!Tim and they team up.

Showcase ’93 11-12: Frustrated with Azrael, Tim heads to NYC for the 3rd time to ask Dick for help. Dick’s moody and depressed and does NOT feel like company, but he’s been asked for help, so he comes. Tim thinks Dick is awesome and way better than Azbats. If only Dick were Batman. Meanwhile, Dick is unnerved to discover that Tim thinks Dick is an adult.

Batman Shadow of the Bat 29 and Detective Comics 676 (Knightsend 2-3): Knightsend is a long plotline, but this gives you a quick look at the conflict between Dick and Bruce. Bruce asks Dick to come help defeat Azrael (who's become a problem). Dick comes, but he makes clear to Bruce that he's hurt and offended that Bruce asked Azrael to be Batman instead of Dick.

Part II. Prodigal itself (hurrah!):

Robin (Volume 2) #0: It sometimes gets left off reading lists, but this comic is great! It's a short prologue to Prodigal. Shortly after defeating Azbats, Dick and Tim head out as Nightwing and Robin, and nosy Tim keeps asking questions. Dick ends up confiding in him about a miserable childhood encounter with Two-Face. (This will be important later on.) When they get back to the Cave, Bruce asks Dick to be Batman.

Batman #512: Dick cooks, and Tim's very impressed. Later, Dick & Tim fight Killer Croc. It doesn't go well. Dick's horrified. He can't do this!

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #32: Sweeping, swinging, and watching criminals through binoculars. Dick's still having a crisis about not being worthy to be Batman. Tim still thinks he's great.

Detective Comics #679: Jack Drake suddenly wants to spend time with Tim.

Robin (Volume 2) #11: Two-Face is loose. Dick's convinced he's going to fail to catch Two-Face...and thus fail Gotham. Tim tries to reassure him.

Batman #513: Dick admits some of his anxieties to Tim, and then they both drink orange juice straight from the cartons, because that is a thing that they do. Also, Dick does laundry.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #33: Tim's scared of heights, and Dick reassures him.

Detective Comics #680: Tim gets captured by Two-Face! Dick has to redo his traumatic childhood adventure. Last time, he failed...and if he fails this time, Tim will die!

Robin (Volume 2) #12: Jack Drake gets interested in his attractive physical therapist, and promptly loses interest in Tim. Tim: "He didn't even notice my bruises." Dick noticed, though. Also, they fold clothes.

Batman #514: Dick tracks down some criminals on his own.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #34: No Tim :( Dick fights a criminal who thinks he's Azbats.

Detective Comics #681: Dick thinks that Azrael is up to something. Tim disagrees. Tim argues that he's not a sidekick - they're equal partners - so maybe they should pursue their hunches independently. Dick agrees. They make a bet on who will get the right answer.

Robin (Volume 2) #13: Bruce comes home. Dick and Bruce have a long talk and reconcile.

Part III. Why Prodigal is a great Dick Grayson story (and also a great Dick & Tim story)

Dick is the protagonist of Prodigal, and he gets a really compelling story arc.

It's Dick's first time ever being Batman, and unlike his run with Damian, he's a lot younger and more uncertain here. He's been estranged from Bruce, he's been fired from the Titans, Kory broke up with him...and now he's Batman (?!). Tim thinks he's great and way better than Azrael-as-Batman, but Dick starts out without a lot of faith in himself. He's the titular "prodigal son," who's come home to Gotham feeling like he failed in New York, and he's both desperate to prove himself and not sure that he can.

And when Tim's captured by Two-Face, Dick has to re-confront a childhood nightmare... and he can't fail this time, or Tim will die.

(Spoiler: he doesn't fail. xD)

There's also plenty to love here if you like Dick, Tim, and Batfamily feels!

Prodigal is the first big storyline starring Dick and Tim and it did a lot to establish their dynamic. Other writers tweak it over time, but a few common threads:

Tim sometimes gets in trouble in the field and needs saving; when that happens, Dick's intensely protective.

Though Tim's not as good as Dick in a fight, he is an excellent detective. Dick learns to trust his judgment and his hunches.

Dick finds food for Tim, they have fun together, and Dick teases Tim a lot. (In Prodigal this is still pretty tentative - Dick gets more casual about teasing over time.)

Tim opens up to Dick about his anxieties... and though Dick's more reluctant to confide at first, he does the same.

Tim has a worried inner monologue analyzing what's wrong with Dick and trying to figure out how to help - for the first time, but not the last.

Dick saves Tim from falling - for the first time, but not the last.

It's great <3

(This is also an important Dick storyline from a Doylist perspective: previously, he'd only been in team books, and Prodigal is the transitional story on his way to starring in his first solo comic.)

Caveat...

That said, obligatory caveat: these comics are over 25 years old! Prepare for casual sexism etc. Also, this is post-Crisis canon, where relationships are rocky and characters are flawed. Bruce is often self-destructive and a Bad Dad; Dick and Tim are kinda critical of Jason; Dick's fighting with his friends; etc. Prodigal itself isn't especially dark (Dick and Tim get close, Dick and Bruce reconcile at the end), but it's building on bleak backstory, so if you don't like that tone, skip the backstory and go straight to Prodigal.

I enjoy old comics because of the way I read - I'm happy to keep the stuff I like and ignore the stuff I don't like, and nowadays I mostly read to get ideas for fanfic anyway. xD But the style is not for everybody, so be advised!

If you start it and don't care for it, but still want to read a good Dick and Tim story, I'd recommend Gotham Knights 8-11 - a short, great Dick and Tim story that's still in post-Crisis but was written five years later and feels less dated. You also have the option of reading my essentially-a-novelization-of-early-90s-comics fanfic, which...well, it's mine, and I like it, and it will definitely update sometime this decade. xD

Final pitch

If you're cool with comics from the 90s, Prodigal is good drama, good fun and a great Dick and Tim story! It has entertaining character dynamics, consistent continuity, and a bunch of interesting ideas that call to be elaborated on (Tim canonically has recurring nightmares about the Graysons' deaths and is canonically nervous about heights - coincidence?).

It also has a disastrous fight against Killer Croc, a high-stakes battle with Two-Face, household chores, and a subway rocket.

In conclusion, I really love these two idiots. xD Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

[the-storyteller78]

I recently watched Encanto and I literally cannot get over how amazing it is. The songs—*sharp inhale* chef’s kiss. The characters—*incoherent shouting because I don’t know how else to express my adoration for this movie* AMAZING. As those who read my Azula&Zuko-centric fic and my Jason Todd fic know, I LOVE FAMILIAL CHARACTER DYNAMICS. Just can’t get enough of them. And the Batfamily is a prime example of a fandom I have spent hours poring over, digging out absolute jewels of fics and filtering out what I clearly consider incest (please don’t, guys, just don’t). So, I wanted to make a connection between Encanto and the Batfam, specifically which songs apply to which members. I’m probably going to write some more when I have time, but Tim’s my favorite child, so let’s start off with him! Just a warning, I have not read any Batman or DC comics. All my knowledge (or lack thereof) comes from fanfics. I tend to embrace fanon more than canon anyway. I hope y’all enjoy my sort-of character analysis of our very own sleep-deprived, caffeine-addicted sad boy!

Waiting on a Miracle - Tim Drake

Tim has always been an outsider in the family. He was the one who forced himself in, not for his own sake and ambitions, but because he believed that Gotham needs Batman to survive. He realized that Robin was the only one who could save Batman, and since Jason was gone, Tim himself would simply have to do. However, as he grows closer to the family, he begins to long to be a part of them and be loved by them, and for a while, he starts to think that maybe it’s a real possibility that Bruce, Dick, and Alfred might actually care about him, not just what he brought to the table as Robin. Then Jason returns. He’s furious that Tim has supposedly taken his place. He nearly kills him multiple times, but is eventually brought back to the fold because he’s the prodigal son coming home at last. Tim is happy. How can he not be? Jason was his Robin, and bringing him home is far more important than some silly feelings he may have about seeing his torturer walk past him in the halls. It doesn’t matter that he flinches at every sudden movement Jason makes. It doesn’t matter that his breath comes a little quicker when Jason slings an arm around his shoulders. It just doesn’t matter. Time passes. Things get better. He and Jason have gotten closer, everything seems to be going well. Then Damian appears. The lost son. He tries to kill Tim, nearly right off the bat. Dick tells Tim to be patient, to be the bigger man, he can do that, right? Because Tim is so mature, Tim’s an adult. Tim is sixteen, but he just smiles and nods. Then Bruce disappears. Tim knows he’s alive, he has the foundations of proof, he just needs more evidence, just needs to find him. He goes to Dick for help. The first Robin, the man he considered his older brother, responds by threatening to send him to Arkham if he doesn’t drop it. He rips away Robin from Tim and hands the mantle to Damian. The kid has tried to kill him three times now. Tim leaves. Months later, he returns with Bruce. He’s applauded, admired, and respected in the hero community, now more than ever, but it feels so hollow (especially where his spleen used to be, but what’s losing an organ compared to the importance of the mission, the mission that can’t go on without his fa—Batman). He never has much time to himself anymore, with all his responsibilities as Red Robin and the CEO of Wayne Industries, a role that Bruce continues to leave to him, saying that he wants to spend more time with his family. Alright. Tim can take a hint. He knows when he’s not wanted, which is basically the story of his life. But on the days where everything is sluggish and somber and sad and his heart feels like it’s about to implode and he kind of wishes it would so he wouldn’t have to deal with the stubborn ache in his chest whenever he looks at the Wayne family loving each other, just being a family… Tim wishes. He imagines. Not to be the first son, or the prodigal son, or even the blood son, but to have a place all his own in the family. Even just a little one. To be seen as more than a tool at best and a nuisance at worst. Tim hopes for a miracle.

[miss-choco-chips]

Favorite color

Ever since he was born, his world was filled with colors, a beautiful rainbow at his fingers. He’d look down at them at night, or when his parent’s leaving made him want to cry, or when a horror story told by a classmate in the playground scared him half to death, and find comfort in their silky touch and bright hues.

He was seven when he learned the meaning behind them. And the blaring lack of red signaled the first, but not last, heartbreak of his life.

Blue, green, purple, black… and bright yellow. A teacher, a missed opportunity, a first love, life and death… and friendship. No eternal love for Tim, it seemed.

Well. He hadn’t really expected any different. Who would love him forever, when his own parents didn’t?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He had forgotten it, and it escaped his notice for many years. Until one night, following Dick Grayson as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, when he noticed his purple string moving in synch with him. Pointing towards his hero, the boy who had given him his very first hug that night at the circus. His First Love, his Not Meant to Be.

That night, Tim packed up early and went home. He just couldn’t stand the red uniform contrasting sharply with his purple thread.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Dick left, he thought maybe now he could go back to his old habits, to run the streets looking for flashes of the new robin without the baggage of avoiding to look at his own hand.

No such luck.

The green made a whole lot of sense when news of Jason’s death reached him, tough.

It wouldn't be the last night he’d cry himself to sleep, holding the frayed ends of his fated Almost.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Becoming Robin was both easy and painful. Comfortable, because the blue string pointing him towards Bruce meant this was always supposed to happen; heartbreaking, because it took a kid dying. Because Tim might not have a romantic soul mate, but his hands, that had made a green string break to grant him access to the blue path, were stained red nonetheless.

Wearing Robin’s red, with all the hurt and bad memories it carried, felt like a subpar punishment.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Meeting his Yellows almost passed his awareness. In the middle of a crisis, every adult missing, no mentor to guide him, he couldn’t exactly spare a thought for the kids looking shellshocked at him, each other and their hands.

After, when Young Justice was officially formed, he firmly avoided looking at Bart, Superboy and Wondergirl. Their eyes followed him, pleading, but he’d learned no good ever came from strings that weren’t red.

And the red in his soul wasn’t from love.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Despite himself and his best efforts, they grew closer. Life or death situations had that effect on people, after all.

His own reluctance, which had in turn provoqued Kon’s anger, Bart’s dejection and Cassie’s confusion, slowly began to crumble. He was helpless in the face of their unrelenting friendship.

The strings grew shinier, stronger, healthier, the yellow a stark contrast to frayed (dead) green, cold blue, distant purple. Scary black.

Tim still despised the rainbow in his fingers, but… he could maybe withstand the sparks of yellow he’d catch from the corner of his eye, knowing just who were at the other end.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It wasn’t exactly team training. Greta, Anita, Cissie, Slobo and the others didn’t join them, for whatever reason. It was always the four of them, leaning on and learning from each other.

When Kon’s strength frustrated him, when the world around him seemed to be made of bubbles and sea foam, Tim stayed late at night every weekend to help. Every spare moment directed towards coaching him, again and again, through exercises he had to come by himself (Clark was no big help, here), until exhaustion made his muscles tremble and Kon’s anger had burned out from frustration to soft acceptance that he just wasn’t like the rest. Until he could hold still and let Superboy trace the side of his jaw with a careful finger, and exchange proud little smiles when his face remained unbroken.

Bart being raised by video games had the expected outcome; he had little to no practical, day to day life knowledge. He was the closest living thing to a Looney Toon. Which was fun and good when crime fighting, his crazy ideas often saved their ass last minute, but unacceptable if integrating him into society was to be considered. So Tim would take him out, hand in hand so he didn’t forget himself and ran on his own, to leisurely stroll down busy streets, arcades, schools, libraries. Talk to people in parks and visit recreational centers, barter with street vendors and ask the little boy selling flowers on Jump Street how his mother is doing. Whatever Tim could think of that would soften Bart’s cultural shock.

In that regard, Cassie was a godsend. With her own attentive mentor, and raised like a normal girl until she obtained her powers, she was the most well balanced member on their team. Tim had started to feel a little restless (how can he help her, how can he convince her to stay…), when he noticed her frustrated, sad face whenever Donna was mentioned on Tv, when any reporter or older hero compared the two Wonder Girls. Familiar as he was with imposter syndrome, Tim would rest his arm around her shoulders and turn to the rest of the team, loudly reminding everyone to ‘speed up guys, Cassie here’s already done with her training routine’ or slump tiredly against her while complaining about ‘how immature they are, I can’t deal, thank God you’re here to remind me competent people do exist’.

It was familiar, to help them along. To nudge them forward and watch their backs as they went, firmly making their way towards being the awesome men and woman he knew they’d become. Lending a hand here and there, working on steading their foundations, so he’d be remembered fondly when they inevitably took off and went on with their lives.

He was used to that, to looking for ways his fated people would want him around. Being a good brother to Dick, an eager student to Bruce (a good mourner for Jason).

What he wasn’t used to was reciprocation, though.

Tim had learned how to fly from the best, from Dick Grayson himself.The boy with no powers that looked at gravity and laughed, sayed “thanks, but no”. But there were some things only a true meta could experience, ways to move his body just so, to take advantage of wind currents to either speed or slow his movements. Kon also visited him in Gotham, unknowing or uncaring about its meta restriction, risking pissing off Batman himself just to spend time with Tim.

There was Bart, kind, cute, friendly Bart, who would stop eating and playing around to drag Tim to the training grounds and run laps around him, as silently as he knew how. Making Tim used to fighting against someone quicker than him, lighter on their feet. To count incredibly soft steps even when they made no sound, and use other senses to pinpoint exactly where the next hit was going to come from. And after they were done, there was always a warm smile and some sweet treat (always different, as if Bart was determined to figure out Tim’s preferences by trial and mistake), the new knowledge and delicious prize worth the dirt in unmentionable places.

As stated before, Cassie was an absolute godsend. But it wasn’t just because she was easier to deal with than the rest. Or because she understood the pressure he had on his shoulders, being raised in the shadow of two incredibly renowned heroes. When Tim’s position as leader had been taken away (after Bruce’s plans for taking out the league became known, and ‘what if he has the same for us’), she took him aside. Hugging him, promising him the team’s anger was going to pass, that she could see why those contingencies might be necessary, that even if she was officially in charge, she’d always defer to him when it mattered. Her trust in him and his heart was unshakable, firm as the arm he’d put round her when self doubt arose its head.

(It wasn’t supposed to be this way; if they reciprocated, they didn’t owe him, and then how was he supposed to keep them close? To convince him to stay, to love the boy with loveless fate?)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jason was unexpected, but Tim couldn’t hold it against him. Even there, bleeding out in the Tower, he felt… at ease.

His predecessor was back. Bruce’s son was back. The prodigal Robin had returned, by some miracle. Tim’s shift had come to an end; even if he died here, he had succeeded in keeping Bruce sane, and now that the real deal was in town, Jason could take over and everything would go back as it should have been. Everyone (B, Dick, Babs, Alfred) would be happier. Maybe they’d mourn him, for a bit, but with such a joyous occasion as a beloved one returning home, it wasn’t like grief could stay for long.

Someone yelled, near. Warm hands shaking as they touched his face infinitely careful, small fingers intertwined with his in a very familiar hold, a strong and slender arm around his back as he’s being held in a half hug. Cries, pleas, demands.

And while nothingness claims Tim, drags him to a well of black, yellow still clings to his eyelids. A touch that keeps him warm even though unconsciousness is supposed to be so cold.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Death and life. Damian.

Tim can see the first one, what with all of the brat’s attempts to end him. It’s the second one that has him stumped.

He knows not all strings go both ways. His purple one, for example; even if Dick was Tim’s first love, everyone and their mother knew Babs’ was his. Dick had a string pointing towards Tim, but it was a mentor-student one. Same as the one he and Bruce shared. Jason, too; Tim’s side of the string was the green of Almost, while the former Robin’s color was black (Tim taking his place as Robin, and being the only one in the family offering his hand again and again despite his murderous actions, was in some poetic sense the death of an old role, and the birth of a new family dynamic).

Damian, though… Well. He was almost sure they had the same color for each other (how else to explain such dangerous rage), but really, unless the kid was willing to share, it was only suppositions for now.

His only comfort remained the three beams of light, of a yellow almost golden in its healthy shine.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Tim changed his suit following Conner’s death, everyone thought it was an homenage. A way to pay tribute to a hero that was his closest, dearest friend. A way to never forget (as if he could, ever, with the lifeless line of pale beige, once yellow, dangling from his twitching finger).

They weren’t wrong, but it wasn’t just that.

Red had always pained him, in a deep, almost forgotten place. A thorn on his side, scratching against his heart. For the longest part, yellow had filled him to the brim, until hurt and yearning had no place inside him. With Kon’s warmth missing, red bleed in the place between Cassie and Bart, despite their best efforts to close ranks and keep it out.

Their sad eyes followed him during the funeral, knowing what the color meant to him. Just how much he was hurting himself, right now. But, lost in their own grief, there was little to be done.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

By the time Tim got the call about Bart, he already knew.

He ignored the ringing phone, holding a sobbing Cassie in his arms, both desperately clutching at their only remaining yellow string.

Between the two of them, color like blood seeped.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Every so often, when Ra’s voice in his ear became too familiar for comfort, where lines draw in sand begane to erode and blur, he’d raise his hand, eyes locked on the three yellow strings, and watch as Cassie’s moved, disappearing end pointing always in her direction.

He was fairly sure that, wherever she was, she was doing the same. Reminding herself he was alive as well, hadn’t left her behind.

Her absence from his life was necessary, finding Bruce a priority, and the red of his new suit (his new name) was proof of just how deeply it all ran. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t yearning for her lighter color.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They were back, and he was hiding.

He wanted to run to their arms, hug them and never let them out of his view, far from where he could protect them (keep them). He wanted Kon’s hand on his face, delicate despite his strength, un-trembling when Tim’s own would softly join it on his check and held it there; Bart’s fingers between his own, too steady and constant for the boy who didn’t know how to sit still; Cassie’s arm on his waist, his own on her back, as they shared the weight of the world in their shoulders.

And because he wanted so damn much, he couldn’t do it.

He was covered in red. His first love discarded him, his Almost died so Tim could have his Teacher, his Life and Death was so heavily focused on the last bit… his hands lacked red, but oh, how much he leaked of it in his soul.

He couldn’t let them die again, be stained by his twisted fate; even if it meant he could’t hold them close any longer.

Letting go was more painful than holding on, but he was used to it by now.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They find him. Of course they do; even without Kon’s senses, they all have beams of gold pointing them towards him, like Dorothy’s yellow brick road.

Tim knew it, was ready for it. And as such, had prepared the words that would push them away, to where it was safer.

Or so he thought.

“We are not leaving you.”

“Who cares about fate? You are ours, Rob.”

“It’s been long enough, Tim. Time to come home, we are done waiting.”

He denies them, shakes despite his usual iron clad control over his body, heart wrenching painfully at their decided expressions.

“You don’t understand. I’m Red Robin now. I’m not… I’m no good for you.”

“I could literally snap your back with the flick of a finger, shut up with that ‘I’m dangerous’ bullshit.”

“Yeah, even Bart could be dangerous given the right circumstances, you aren’t the only one here to watch for. It doesn’t mean shit to us.”

‘

“That’s right, I- wait, what do you mean ‘even Bart?”

“Not the point, Imp.”

They don’t get it. He takes his mask off, wants to give them a good look at his eyes, to read his emotions there and finally realize what’s wrong about him.

“Almost all my strings have something to do with death, or were touched by it. Don’t you see it?” He raises his hand, despite knowing they can’t see his strings, only their own. “I have no red here, only blood. I can’t… I’m not safe to love. I’ll never be loved.”

Kon snaps, something he had rarely done since their Young Justice days, hands on Tim’s shoulders, seemingly torn between shaking him and pulling him close. The latter wins.

(As it always does)

“This is love, you idiot! WE love you!”

Tim chokes on something (saliva, his own breath, emotions). Gasps, tears coming to his eyes unbridled.

He feels two pairs of arms joining the first one, a cocoon of warmth and unconditional love forming around him.

Bart’s sad eyes watch Tim from under Kon’s hug. “I don’t have red either, Rob. Romantic, platonic, filial… who gives a fuck”, he shrugs, before hiding his face against the red of Tim’s uniform. Uncaring of all it represents for him or perhaps doing his best to defy it.

Cassie just holds them all in the circle of her own embrace, forehead to the back of Tim’s head. Her hold is the tightest, and he just realizes- she lost all of them, didn’t she? To death and grief, all too far to touch, and now that they’re back in her arms, there’s little chance of her ever letting go again.

“Love has more than one form, Tim.”

He shudders in the middle of this weirdly emotional dog pile, and thinks. About Bruce and Dick’s pride when they successfully taught him something new. Of Jason’s reluctant smile when Tim first tugged him along to some joined patrol, sneakily edging him closer to the family with every interaction. Of Damian, who would often look down at his own hands (and Tim would honestly kill someone to know just which color the young boy had for Tim) and then at him, with something like hope in his green eyes.

He thinks… yeah. And this one…

(He gives up, closing his eyes and snuggling deeper into Kon’s chest, knees buckling but staying up thanks to his three rays of sunlight holding him in place between them.)

This one’s shape might just be his favorite.

[stillebesat]

Henlo! It has been awhile since I've chatted but I wanted to interact with peeps I haven't talked to in awhile.

Wanted you to know that I still love seeing the posts on different scenery's and a lot of them are really pretty, or things I wouldn't see in my part of Australia. Lush rainforest? More like fields and bush land.

I also felt like asking a bunch of Disney related questions for everyone's fun, but feel free to answer however many or little you want. Mostly just wanted to check in and say that your cool =3

Favourite Disney Princess!

Favourite Disney Prince!

Favourite Disney Character!

Favourite Disney Movie!

Favourite Disney Storyline!

Favourite Disney Setting!

Favourite Disney Outfit!

Favourite Disney Movie you would write/imagine whatever fandom your into right now!

Which Disney world/movie/setting would you enjoy living in?

And which Disney movie would you think you would absolutely detest being in?

Hello!!!! :D :D :D ^^;; lol I'm glad you love seeing the scenery posts!! XD I love seeing pictures of places around the world too though I do have a soft spot for forets and red rocks. ^^;;

Disney Questions!! :D

Belle

Aladdin

Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet

Brother Bear (love the transformation scene)

Atlantis (yes to all the things)

Moana's islands

... ... ... uhmmm.... ... probably Elsa's dress during "let it go"?

Currently I'm focusing on the Batman fandom....so I would probably write a "Prodigal Son" sort of story dealing with Jason Todd's plotline with a focus on him taking on a mentor/mentee relationship with the 3rd robin Tim and his eventual return to the rest of the family.

It would probably be fun to live in the world of Big Hero 6. That or even though it's Pixar maybe the world of Onward.

I literally hate the heat. Anywhere that gets over 80 degrees is a no go for me. So despite me loving the movies themeselves, The Princess and the Frog, Moana, and Encanto would be places I would hate to live in solely because where they live would be hot and humid and I would die.

[greytoiletpaper]

Out on Allen Street, it’s 7 in the Morning

Set in the same-ish street-siblings universe as First Contact by @cryptids-and-muses and @a-sketchy-character @streetsiblings (they’re still awesome). I present to you... Angst.

Drizzle | AO3 

Chapter 2: Deluge

Felipe Garzonas falls.

Jason cannot find it in himself to care. The man was human garbage at best-

A shriek of anguish rents the air, a woman's, while the stalking man pounces on her and bays with his manic glee.

-and they were just going to let him go? No dice. Jason did not push him off the edge, but it’s still satisfying enough for him to know the man is gone now.

It is here, on this rooftop, that Jason understands that the horrors of the world can never be contained, only controlled. In what ways, he isn’t sure yet, but when he thinks of killing, all he can imagine is a figure adorned in a red helmet, ruthless and proud.

When Bruce takes Jason away from the scene, long crimson snakes flow off Garzonas’ body with the deluge, painting the face of Gotham.

Cass believes Jay when he says he didn’t kill Garzonas. He can lie like the best of them, but he can never hide anything from her. Bruce still doesn’t believe him even when she says as much.

“You’re a danger to yourself and the people around you,” Bruce is saying. Cold is the only way that Cass can describe his body.

For as long as she has been with Bruce, Cass has not thought of David. But looking at him now, a small, insidious part of the man that projects the urge to control (something she had only seen from David) starts to slip through. She is so thrown about what to think that she almost misses him firing Jay as Robin.

“No.”

“But Cass-.”

“No.”

Jason resists the urge to groan at his sister. Above them, the three names of his potential mothers are displayed clearly and brightly.

“I get why you don’t want me to. But think of what will happen if we manage to bring one! We could- we could-.”

“My brother,” Cass says, with finality. She gestures to the names (although ‘Sandra Wu-san’ in particular catches both their eyes). “Not theirs.”

Cass makes that stance she always does when she wants him to stop, her back hunched and her eyes pleading. He hates it when she does that, which is why he bites back a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll leave it alone,” Cass has been trying harder to get her smile right. Her effort shows when she gives him a mega-watt grin when he relents.

“My family, love,” She says as she hugs him before leading him away to raid the freezer for Neapolitan.

Later that night, Jason leaves his copy of Huckleberry Finn on her nightstand. He has to make sure that she doesn't think he'd left her behind when he goes. As Jason leaves the window wide open, his sole companion is the rain for the first time in years.

Gotham feels it as it happens. As the madman clubs her boy over and over with his crowbar. She feels every bruise, every bone that fractures, every act of pure, unadulterated cruelty inflicted on Jason.

Her eldest cradles the body, surrounded by a field of debris and smoke left in the wake of the monster that is the Joker. She washes the blood away with her tears.

When Cassandra wakes to see her brother’s prized possession on her nightstand, she instantly knows and never lets it go, even as the sky opens up in time with her tears.

--

As the casket lowers into the earth, she absently notes no rain, not a cloud in sight. Somehow, in the void that is the Jason-shaped hole in her heart, she realises he would have hated it.

“I think… I want to have my burial when it rains. Gives a whole ‘nother meaning to bleary doesn’t it?” Jason had confessed that once, a slight chuckle drawing from his chest. It fades as fast as it came. He looked away, then. “I don’t think I’d rest in peace without it.”

Cassandra fills the silence with the hymns of her tears – droplets staining the well-loved pages of the last piece of her brother – and hopes that it will be enough.

In her mind, her efforts are for naught when they devolve into wails as the first shovelfuls of dirt encase the ebony coffin.

--

The first thing she sees when she enters the cave is- is the atrocious thing. All the noise in the cave seems to phase out. The squeaking of the bats. The banter between Dick and Babs. The low murmurs of Bruce and Alfred in the corner. All she can focus on is the caricature of her brother in full view of everyone in the Batcave. She looks at it, and the world becomes a sea of pink and brown and white. The uniform he died in still bloody and ragged; all her thoughts a cacophony of wailing; iron on her tongue; roaring in her ears; she feels nothing in her but pain.

Jason Peter Todd

A Good Soldier

She hates it. Hates it with a passion because Jason was so much more than a soldier. He was her Jay, her brother, everything; all she has left of him is a small paperback and this disgusting mockery of his memory.

But he’s Batman, and he grabs her by the arms and pins her, even as her legs kick out viciously. She headbutts him and manages to push him off, nailing him square in the jaw with her knee as she flips back.

“Cassandra-.” Batman starts.

“Mine,” She snarls, eyes blazing and her hand pushing Bruce away from her. Even with the pads of his armour, she knows it hurts. She turns to leave.

“Not Robin. My Jay. My Brother. My Jason.”

Standing in Jason’s room, Cassandra closes the window he left open. She notices a picture frame on his nightstand. It’s of them, Huckleberry Finn spread between their legs and their foreheads pressed together.

Cass curls into a ball and clutches his treasures to her chest, sobbing because there is no rain to fill the vacuum she’s found herself in.

--

Far, far away, a man between worlds shatters the dimensions. The ripple disturbs Gotham, but she cannot deny her love of the results.

Gotham watches as her prodigal son begins his dramatic return; rising from below to walk above once again.

--

“So, is it really true that you took down Troia when you were only thirteen? All on your own?” The new Robin, Tim, is okay. Really. Cassandra just can’t look him at and see someone else in the uniform. When she doesn’t answer, the boy seems to fidget nervously. She doesn’t even know what his eyes look like.

“I–I guess, since I’m here to be Batman’s new Robin, I was hoping I could be the Robin to –.”

Cassandra doesn’t even let the boy finish before she leaves.

--

Jason wakes up drowning. It’s not water that enters his lungs, but an unnatural, sickly green liquid that vexes and rots and makes his body feel like he’s on fire. Nandra Parbat is where he is when he’s calmed down from being dipped into the Lazarus Pit, trapped in a fortress of assassins that want to mould a Bat into one of them. It’s an entirely different League.

This time, Cass is not here to keep them away.

--

When she meets Steph, Cassandra is enamoured because the girl smiles and laughs (except she still isn’t the same, no one is), almost just like Jason. But there are slight differences between the girl and her brother. Her hugs are great, but they don’t feel right. She smells like lavender instead of the rain. Despite how much the girl likes to joke with her, not one of them manages to draw out her smile.

Cassandra holds onto the girl like a lifeline anyway.

What bone she can throw, Steph has an uncanny knack of finding things that others take ages to locate, which is helpful enough for right now since Tim is still missing. It doesn’t help when Steph reads that Tim is in a warehouse with none other than The Joker.

--

He’s practising his aim when she comes in, almost plucking the gun out of his hand. Jason grips the girl’s arm and flings her over his back. Rose Wilson, a wolfish grin plastered on her face and snowy hair fanning under them, doesn’t even look fazed.

“Wow Jace, if you wanted to pin me you could have just asked,” His only friend in this place is what keeps him sane; when the Joker of his nightmares haunts the edges of his mind, she is there to let him know it isn’t real. Despite how different they are, she’s a breath of fresh air in this hellhole they’re in. He should probably tell her how he feels.

“You’re such a fucking chicken-shit,” Is what comes out of his mouth instead. Rose only smirks at him, silver mane and eyes with almost the same mischief his sister had.

“Your aim still sucks balls by the way.”

He growls, raising his arm to let his gun do the barking.

--

Ranting and raving greet her as she sneaks in through a window, a litany of nonsense and stammers echoing around the warehouse. She drops from the catwalk as silently as she can, but the madman obviously still hears her as his head bends at an impossible angle to look right at her.

“Oh. Look who showed for quality time with Uncle Jay!” She doesn’t mean to, but Cassandra flinches, and the Joker’s twisted grin shifts. Big mistake. “Oh? Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” It takes every inch of willpower in her not to rasp the words, but Joker sees through it regardless.

“What? Don’t like my name?” The Joker pouts, but it looks more like a sneer. “It’s just me yaknow? Your Uncle Jay.”

Another flinch, and the Joker steps closer, a snake in the reeds.

“Mister Jay,” He’s stalking closer now; her body won’t move. “JayJay.”

“Jaybird,”

“Jay,” She is so still as the Joker seems to tower over her, his sick grin crueller and sharper (David flashes in her mind) than any other time she has ever seen it. Poison flows from his mouth like saliva as he croons.

“That’s what you called him, isn’t it? When he was still here, your precious Robin. Not this -,” He gestures to Tim, who is wide-eyed and struggling. “-phoney replacement. Want me to-? Let me tell-.” The Joker stops, frowning at the ground before continuing, his voice aberrantly low. “When I beat him over and over with that crowbar – pink with blood and brown with dirt over the white of his skin –, do you want to know what he was saying?

“The only thing that came out of that pretty little mouth of his was how sorry he was that he was for leaving ‘Cass’ behind.” The madman leers at her. “Was that you? Cass? I gotta tell you, the whole apology shtick got really boring after a while, but…

“I’ll tell you one thing. Something you can keep between just you and your Uncle Jay,” He leans in close to her ear. “I think that our Jay is almost just like me now!”

The madman cackles, his eyes sick and twisted, and his body is nothing but mania. Something in Cassandra, strained and twisted for the past three years, finally snaps.

She strikes him, harsher than she’s struck anyone ever before. So severely, she can feel his ribcage snap. His flesh becomes mince under her fists. He stumbles and contorts as she overwhelms him with every piece of her fury. The gale-force that is Cassandra Todd blows through the Joker, who laughs and laughs and laughs.

The monster scrambles for his gun, suddenly slick and focused. Cassandra snaps off the comic ‘Pow!’ that sticks out of the muzzle when he fires it at her. She backhands his face with the full force of her knuckles, knocking him down, and all he does is chortle. The Joker’s body twists and squirms as he is pinned in place. She raises the broken end of the comic and skewers his leg into the ground.

The Joker’s mouth froths. His eyes are bloodshot as he becomes more depraved and maunders yet, he’s still fucking laughing. Laughing as his spittle flecks onto every surface around them when he thrashes. Laughing even as she clenches the sides of his head and pulls. Laughing even as they both feel his flesh strain and shear as she tries to tear it off. The part of her that has so vehemently denied killing now cries for bloodlust. For this is justice, this is vengeance, this is for her, Jay. Cassandra, with all her might, prepares to wrench off the monster’s head and-.

And Batman pushes her off him. Batman blocks her assault on his body when Cassandra rebalances herself. Batman protects the god damn fucking Joker. She roars with her rage, her grief, and doesn’t even feel the sedative that Tim plunges into her side until it’s too late.

Glaring at Bruce, at Batman, all she sees from his body is fear and concern and all the latter is directed at the death-worshipping monster he cradles in his arms. Absently, before it all goes to black, she thinks she should leave. Leave without Batgirl, without Jason, without everything she has ever cared for.

She does, and like her brother, the tears of Gotham are the only family she has left.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[wajjs]

Hey Blob! So I noticed that the first prompt on the list you posted (you faked your death and ate all my cereal) was definitely channeling Dick Grayson. Maybe jaydick or gen with any preferred character please:)

“Who wouldn’t be angry you ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!”

-

wound that makes you scream

  Tomorrow’s the anniversary, that is all Dick can think of as he goes through the rest of the day - as he finishes his coffee, while he starts getting ready, when he’s running and leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Tomorrow’s the anniversary of both Batman and Bruce’s greatest mistake, the one that was the final thing to send him down spiraling, to have the man crash down. And down. And down. Not even rock bottom had been enough.

  Because three years ago Bruce, not enough Batman, had been demanded to make a choice, put right in between the sword and the wall, and he had acted. He had acted, only for everything to crash in right over his head. The wound, the blood, the explosion. The laughter, the silence, the absence. The trail of crimson, the hint, the void. Nothing left behind.

  Like the miracle that had turned into a nightmare to then promptly go up in smoke and mirages. Like he had never been there, he had never come back, like- like-

  They have the proof, though. The empty, destroyed coffin. The DNA samples. They have everything to know, to be sure, that he was as real as he could be and now he’s all gone and it’s all…

  It’s Bruce’s fault.

  He sighs, stopping next to a ledge and looking out over the buildings around him. For once, the night holds no threat of rain and the wind carries no ungodly stench. Even the activity is surprisingly low, calm, something he’d comment on if he didn’t fear the real threat of jinxing it. He still allows himself one moment, just one moment, and sits right on the border of the ledge, lets his legs hang over it, feet facing the deadly drop.

  Bruce has yet to recover. He’s yet to be anywhere near a semblance of what he once was. Not even Tim, god, poor young and hopeful Tim, not even his passion and stubbornness were enough to make the old man move on. Dick doubts anything will ever be enough. Dick doubts he himself will ever be able to make himself understand why Bruce did that, why did he-

  His comm comes to life just then, making him sit up just a tad bit straighter, bracing himself for movement once more.

  “You should head home,” Tim speaks clearly, no rush to his words, “everything’s quiet. A and I will keep an eye on B tonight.”

  It’s what they always do when that date rears its ugly head upon them. He still nods, swallows past the sudden knot in his throat.

  “Alright,” he says, stands up and stretches his arms over his head, “I’ll keep my comm on just in case. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

  “I will,” Tim promises even though they both know it’s unlikely any call will be made. With that, the communication ends.

  No one is a fan of words in the eve of Jason Todd’s second death.

-

  With his thoughts all scrambled, filled with memories, regrets and crushed dreams, Dick slides into his apartment from the window. There is no need to turn on the lights as he reactivates all the locks and security measures, and no need to stop himself from sagging under his own weight as he peels off his mask, starts working on the top of his costume. His instincts only come back online when he’s two steps into the living room, fluorescent glow coming from the kitchen’s open door. 

  Dick doesn’t stop to think. He picks up his escrima sticks, activates them, and with silent steps walks towards the entrance. He sure as hell hopes upon hope it’s one of his old Titans teammates, or a friend, because he does not want to fight right now, he is in no mood, his heart is gone, six feet under, right where the tomb of his lost- of, of Jaybird is.

  And maybe it’s because he’s so deep in longing and grief that his eyes trick him in such a painful way. Because he slides into the kitchen to be face to face with a young man sitting on the counter, bowl of cereal in his hands, spoon halfway to his mouth. Because the young man has the same features of the one he’s missing, the same eyes, the same lips, the same eyebrows. Everything is a carbon copy of him and Dick discovers right then and there that he can’t handle any more heartbreak. He can’t take any more of it. He’s had enough.

   “Who are you?,” he makes himself ask, feels his chest seizing, throat constricting, and it’s a herculean task to keep himself pulled together. “How did you get in here?”

  The man blinks once, twice, begins to frown in confusion as he sets the bowl next to his thigh on the counter, licks away any remaining of milk and cereal from his lips. Dick braces himself for the sound of his voice, fearing that it will sound just like Jason’s, but it never comes. The voice never comes. Instead, the man lets out the smallest of sighs before lifting his hands, signing away with ease that betrays lots of practice.

  You don’t recognize me?, the man asks with a barely there hint of a pout, Thought you’d be thrilled to see me.

  “Answer me!,” he demands, giving another step forward and shifting into a fighting stance. This is too much. “Who are you!”

  It’s me, dumbass, the other’s hands move fast, almost too fast for Dick to fully finish understanding the signs, I’m Jason.

  “That’s-,” he has to swallow, clearing his throat because that, that is impossible, isn’t it? They all believed him dead. Again. Bruce himself showed them the video recording from the cowl. No one could survive that kind of cut to the throat. No one, no one, but… but… “No,” he breathes out, shaking, “no, you died.”

  I didn’t, with a small smile, the man, no, Jason? God, Jason, stands up, looking at Dick in the eyes, I mean, I did, once, but I came back and you were there. Or you forgot?

  He doesn’t- of course he didn’t! But if he’s here, then, then.

  By the way, Jason, it’s really him, Dick feels a whole lot like screaming, even more like crying, you ran out of cereal. I invited myself to some but it was barely enough for a single bowl.

  Dropping his escrima sticks to the ground, Dick allows himself the luxury of laughing. Laughing till there are tears in his eyes and the rattling in his chest has gone full bomb, about to explode and curse everyone in the immediate blast radius. His hands close into fists, his whole body is moving and next thing he knows he’s got Jason trapped against the counter, one hand closed tightly around the neck of his red sweater, the other raised, ready to strike.

  Dude, Jason snorts, eyes impossibly clear, pinning Dick to his place, it’s just cereal. Don’t be mad.

  “Don’t be mad?!,” he yells out, mildly succumbing to hysterics. “Why wouldn’t I be mad that you ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years?! Three fucking years, Jason!! Do you know what it did to Bruce? What it did to me?!”

  I’m sorry, in the small space between them, Jason barely has room to sign properly between their faces. His expression is sad and haunted, and filled with just too much regret. I needed time. To heal. And. To accept.

  “Accept what!,” he knows he should probably pull away, bring his voice back to decent levels, but he can’t, not when everything feels too surreal, when air escapes him to never return. “Accept what!”

  That B would hurt me like this, Jason says, thumb hovering over the thick, gnarly scar crossing his throat, That I cannot speak anymore. That I needed to learn. Learn how to communicate again.

-

  It’s been three years. Three years since the return and the loss of the prodigal son.

  Dick still needs to gather his thoughts, his heart, hell, maybe even his soul. But one thing is clear. On the third year, he’s the one guiding Jason back home. Hand in hand, step by step. And this time, he’ll make sure there won’t be any more harm to come.

[feralmerit]

@kingofdirtandnothing from x

Somehow, it’s not the clowns that do it, really.

It’s Dick.

Dick with his blurring motion and fierce strikes and god all the things Jason had prayed for, cried for in that fucking warehouse with the Joker taking parts of him away with every crushing blow.

The only thing as fierce as his love for this, this proof that Dick cares, is the rage at how fucking late it is for that. Where was this when he was dying alone? Where was this when he was dead and that freak was still alive?

(Jason takes a resounding hit to his chest for his mixed emotions-- the cracked rib helps.)

Still, he’s not gone. He knows where he is and what trick is being used and he can freak out about it later. Right now, he’s just pissed. Hurting and eager to take his therapy from a few broken bones.

And then the crowbars come out.

He doesn’t know exactly what noise he made, some combination of rage and denial and hurt, but he knows when Dick whirls in front of him, furious all over again.

No one with a crowbar touches him.

But someone hits Dick.

The first one isn’t bad, a strike across the shoulders and back, and he sees Dick roll to his feet. The ones after that aren’t as easily shaken off. Dick falters, spits blood--

And that’s it.

He’s in the warehouse again with the wet crunch of bone and the fucking ticking bomb and the laughing, all the fucking laughing--

He didn’t exactly, mean to take the crowbar, but he’d started breaking arms and, almost by accident, he had it in his hands, copper and smoke in his throat, murderers in front of him.

He could do something about this. Stop these fucks from killing more kids, more Robins.

And then Dick is between him and the first one and Jason... doesn’t really remember taking that step forward. He stops, staring nonplussed at where Dick has put his heart almost literally in Jason’s hands.

He can’t hear anything over the ticking in his head for a long moment.

For me, Dick says, like he has a right, like he knows what he’s asking.

Jason recoils, cold sneer forming under the mask, ready to cut this tie too, but Dick’s hands are on him and Jason never really did stop bending under that grip.

Shock keeps him in place, a burst of outrage surges through his heart, railing against the cruelty of this, that Dick would manipulate him, would use his old child’s heart to keep him in line like a dog chained up.

That’s not Dick, though. Bruce would use that. Bruce would weaponize that affection in an instant to ‘save’ Jason from himself.

Not Dick. Dick means this and is asking, knows Jason could do whatever he wants in this moment. He asks because he believes, somehow, that Jason is capable of doing this.

For a vicious several seconds he wants to push him away. Wants to snarl and break Dick the way he’d been broken-- no one had been there when Jason needed them, when he’d asked, why shouldn’t he crush Dick? Why should the prodigal son get to keep his heart unbroken when Jason’s splintered and turned black so long ago as he died with nothing but hopeless loathing to keep him company?

That’s the trick, though, the big secret.

Everyone thinks Jason died hating. That he died angry at them all and cursing their names and he’s never told them.

The secret is Jason remembers what he’d wanted in those moments before he died, at the moment he’d realized he wasn’t getting out of that door.

He hadn’t wanted the Joker dead then. He hadn’t spent his last, ragged breath raging against Bruce’s failures and the people who weren’t fucking there.

In the last, short moments of Jason Peter Todd’s life, all he had wanted, his last wish, was his family. He’d wanted Bruce and Dick and Alfred and Barbara. He’d wanted comfort, not to die alone, not to go like this, with the last hands on him ripping him apart. He’d wanted Bruce patting his shoulder and Babs almost crushing him with affection and Alfred’s shocked embrace, hands hesitant and unfamiliar, like he hadn’t known he had a right to Jason’s heart too.

And of course he’d wanted Dick. He’d wanted the stupid jokes and the warm hugs and how he was still just short enough for Dick to trap in a headlock. He wanted his fucking hangers turned backwards in his closet and the way Dick’s eyes crinkled when he laughed at Jason’s outrage.

When he had accepted his death it was with the knowledge that his hopes meant nothing and the realization that he’d never wanted so much to keep living.

Jason takes a breath, lets it hitch and shake in his throat, and looks at Dick, bleeding and on shaking legs, hurting and begging his brother for one thing.

He breathes out and remembers being vulnerable and bleeding and sobbing “Nightwing!” instead of “Batman” and bartering like a man with god-- if you could get here, Dick, please, I’ll never cheat at Uno again, I’ll never tease you for your stupid tights, I’ll start saying I love you back instead of making faces at you, please-- make it stop hurting make him stop--!

He knows what it is when the people you love fail you. He knows why Joker left him with just enough skull to know no one would be in time.

Can he let Dick down like that? Can he spit in his face and go it alone, righteous and angry and knowing he’d destroyed the one bit of belief anyone has left to give him?

Can he be the Joker, just to kill a few thugs?

“Fuck you,” he says, and it’s tired, weighed down and resentful. Fuck you for asking this, for taking this away from me, fuck you for still remembering what I used to be, for believing I can be that again.

Jason drops the crowbar and puts his arms around Dick instead, fierce and sure and determined to keep him from tumbling down.

[ed-edward-blackbeard]

long-ass fucking questionnaire

yoooooooo, I did it all.

I’m starting this at 1:15 in the morning.  Let’s see how long it takes me to finish.  cause I’m a masochist, apparently.

1: My name? do I HAVE to?  Okay, it’s Kelly.  But I really hate it, so usually I go by Kel.  A few lucky ones get to call me Kelly, but only because I love the way my name sounds when they say it.  There, my dirty secret is out.

2: Do I have any nicknames? A plethora.  Artie (after the fish), Fluffie (long story) Jellybean

3: Zodiac sign? The most Libra Libra that has ever Libra’d.

4: Video game I play to chill, not to win? I don’t play video games.  But I play a few online games, so Doctor Who: Legacy

5: Book/series I reread? The Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward (Series) The Harry Potter books Morgan Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan (series) Good Omens (Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett) Watchers (Dean Koontz) Insomnia (Stephen King)

6: Aliens or ghosts? I have nothing against either.  But I enjoy writing about ghosts more.

7: Writer I trust enough to read whatever they write? Stephen King

8: Favourite radio station? NPR, strangely enough.

9: Favourite flavour of anything? Lemon.  I still thoroughly enjoy chocolate, but my radiation therapy changed the way it tasted.  

10: The word that I use all the time to describe something great? Awesome.  Both with and without the addition of the adjective “fucking”

11: Favourite song? My standard answer is, ‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else’ by Meat Loaf, because I truly love that song, but lately I’ve been on a Game of Thrones kick, and i’m stuck on “The Rains of Castamere” by Sigur Rios and “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” because it’s such a Jaime x Brienne song.

12: The question you ask new friends to get to know them better? Bold of you to assume I have friends.

13: Favourite word? sycophant, gestalt, melancholy

14: The last person who hurt me, did I forgive them? After about, oh, ten years or so, yes I did.  It’s a new thing for me.  usually I hold grudges until the end of time.

15: Last song I listened to? “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

16: TV show I always recommend? Current:  American Gods, Better Call Saul Cancelled/ended:  Hannibal (NBC), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

17: Pirates or ninjas? Drink up me hearties, yo ho!  Yo ho, yo yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.

18: Movie I watch when I’m feeling down? Usually something from the Disney/Pixar Ouvre.  Except UP.  UP makes me sob in the first ten minutes, so no.

19: Song that I always start my shuffle with/wake-up song/always-on-a-loop song? Du Hast, Rammstein.

20: Favourite video games? Puzzles and Dragons, Doctor Who: Legacy, Dragonvale

21: What am I most afraid of? Snakes, without a doubt.

22: A good quality of mine? I’m creative

23: A bad quality of mine? I don’t think before I speak, so i sometimes don’t end up saying what I mean to say and hurt/offend in the process.

24: Cats or dogs? Bi-petual with a preference to cats

25: Actor/actress you trust enough to watch whatever they’re in? Bruce Campbell.  Alien Apocalypse, anybody?

26: Favourite season? Winter

27: Am I in a relationship? No, although I do love someone very much

28: Something I miss? Being a kid, with all the possibilities of my life still ahead of me

29: My best friend? @mummyholmesisupset and @silvarbelle.  they tie.

30: Eye colour? Hazel-greenish, with a little bit of sunflower around the pupil

31: Hair colour? Normally, a pretty chestnut brown.  sometimes I bleach it or dye it.

32: Someone I love? @silvarbelle, she’s my sister-from-another-mister, and I will throw hands for that bitch in a heartbeat.

33: Someone I trust? @mummyholmesisupset because she’s earned it a hundred times over.  @silvarbelle because I love her like family.

34: Someone I always think about? My grandmother.  she died when I was seventeen, and I still miss her.

35: Am I excited about anything? My birthday

36: My current obsession? Gam of thrones, Doctor Who, Hannibal, the MCU

37: Favourite TV shows as a child? Thundercats, Scooby Doo, 60s Batman, My Favorite Martian, the Monkees

38: Do I have someone of the opposite sex that I can tell everything to? No, thank God.

39: Am I superstitious? Not overly, but I do have a few.

40: What do I think about most? Writing

41: Do I have any strange phobias? Is arachnophobia strange?

42: Do I prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? Behind it, dear God.

43: Favourite hobbies? Writing, reading, pinning things on Pinterest that I absolutely mean to do but probably never will

44: Last book I read? Watchers by Dean Koontz, and I’m in the middle of Fear by Bob Woodward

45: Last film I watched? Backdraft.  “You go, we go.”  

46: Do I play any instruments? Not since band class in the early 90s.

47: Favourite animal? Cat.

48: Top 5 blog on Tumblr that I follow? ???????  I don’t think I do.

49: Superpower I wish I could have? Manipulation of probability

50: How do I destress? Writing, watching Netflix, watching Mythbusters

51: Do I like confrontation? Like it, no.  Good at it, yes.

52: When do I feel most at peace? When it’s quiet and the only noises are the clicking of the keyboard and my cats’ purring

53: What makes me smile? Cute animals, stupid puns, comments on fic

54: Do I sleep with the lights on or off? Off, except for my TARDIS nightlight

55: Play any sports? Fuck no.

56: What is my song of the week? Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

57: Favourite drink? 1% milk.

58: When did I last send a handwritten letter to somebody? A few months?  It was to @mummyholmesisupset in fact.

59: Afraid of heights? Desperately so.

60: Pet peeve? Anchovies, people who don’t use coasters, and men who smoke in public places.  (yes, it’s a movie reference.  And if you get it, I will send you a shiny nickel)

61: What was the last concert I went to see? Black Sabbath’s Theater of Madness

62: Am I vegetarian/vegan/pescatarian? Fuck no.  I am, in fact, omnivorous and diabetic.

63: What occupation did I want to do when I was younger? To be Daphne Blake in Mystery, Inc.

64: Have I ever had a friend turn enemy? Yep.  Not fun.

65: What fictional universe would I like to be a part of? Hannibal’s.  I’m not rude for the most part, so I have a pretty good chance at surviving.

66: Something I worry about? My future.  Cancer has shortened my life span, my relatives are all 65+, and I am an only child with no children of my own (Thank Christ)  I haven’t worked since 2004 (been caretaking sick parents) so I’m concerned.

67: Scared of the dark? I love the dark, so no.

68: Who are my best friends? @mummyholmesisupset  @silvarbelle

69: What do I admire most about others? That they can do things, very well, that I can’t do.  What that is varies from person to person

70: Can I sing? Not very well, but I don't let that stop me...

71: Something I wish I could do? Write professionally.  I love writing fanfic, but I'd kill to be a real, published author.

72: If I won the lottery, what would I do? Pay off bills, go back to college, buy myself a car (pickup, Ford F-150 with fog lights and automatic steering), pay off my mom's bills, hire an aide to stay with Mom, move to my favorite city and hire a winter-time driver because I can't drive for shit in the snow/ice.

73: Have I ever skipped school? Nope.  Often wanted to, never have.

74: Favourite place on the planet? Asheville, NC.  Technically, it's Montreat, which is right outside of Black Mountain and is a township unto itself.  It's also home to Montreat Bible College, established by Billy Graham, and the Chapel of the Prodigal.  It is also home to Lake Susan, one of the most quiet and beautiful places on God's green earth, and I would live by that little lake if I could.  I have photos in my Google Drive, I need to share them sometime.  You'll see what I mean.  But I love Asheville, too, downtown and all.  

75: Where do I want to live? Asheville, NC.  Except I can't drive in the snow and ice, so there's that.

76: Do I have any pets? I have two cats, Samhain Murray (Sam) and Margaret May (Maggie, Maggie May, Margaret Ann)

77: What is my current desktop picture? On my laptop, it's Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) from Gotham.  On my tablet, it's the Superman logo.  On my phone, it's my cat, Sam.

78: Early bird or night owl? Night owl, given that it's 2:30 AM and I'm still working on this.

79: Sunsets or sunrise? Sunsets, please.

80: Can I drive? i don't know, can you?  I can.

81: Story behind my last kiss? I kissed my cat on his cold wet nose because he was headbutting me and so I kissed him.

82: Earphones or headphones? Earphones, sadly.  I prefer headphones, but headphones are uncomfortable because I wear glasses.  So, earbuds.

83: Have I ever had braces? Did you?  I don't know.  Did I?  Yes, I did, I fucking despised them.

84: Story behind one of my scars? in late 2004, I started getting very ill.  I couldn't keep food down, I was puking all the time, pale and everything, so I went to the ER and found I had a mass the size of a basketball growing in my abdomen.  I was shipped to the local cancer center because of the cancer markers, and at the tender age of 27, I got a hysterectomy.  I was cut from my navel to my diaphragm, old school, because the mass was twenty-four pounds.  Benign, thank goodness, but it had started to go necrotic and I was well into blood poisoning (the reason I was puking and sick all the time).  I still have the scar, and always will.

85: Favourite genre of music? instrumental celtic.

86: Who is my hero? I don't know that I have one, as such

87: Favourite comic book character? SUPERMAN, BABY.  SUCK MY DICK BATS

88: What makes me really angry? Mistreatment of people and animals.  Abuse of people and animals.

89: Kindle or real book? Both have their benefits, but I love the weight and feel of a real book.  I love the portability of a Kindle.  

90: Favourite sporty activity? Marathon TV-binge

91: What is one thing that isn’t tight in schools that should be? There's NOTHING RIGHT in schools

92: What was my favourite subject at school? Creative writing

93: Siblings? Nope, my parents saw their mistake and decided never again.

94: What was the last thing I bought? A pair of Sperry deck shoes with Han Solo and Chewbacca on them.

95: How tall am I? 5'6

96: Can I cook? yes, I can.  perhaps not well, but I can cook enough to feed myself and my mom.

97: Can I bake? Yes, I can.  I'm a SLIGHTLY better baker than a cook.

98: 3 things I love? Writing, my cats, Christopher Reeve

99: 3 things I hate? So many things.  Um, spiders, snakes, creepy clowns

100: Do I have more girl friends or boy friends? at the moment, girl.  when I was in school?  boy.

101: Who do I get on with better, girls or boys? General rule?  Boys, or girls that are kind of not-ultra-girly.

102: Where was I born? North Carolina, that hotbed of conservative bullshit.  I'm actually ashamed to admit that's where I'm from.

103: Sexual orientation? I'm working on figuring that out.  Let's call it bisexual for now, and I'll update you as it happens.

104: Where do I currently live? North Carolina, sadly.

105: Last person I texted? @mummyholmesisupset

106: Last time I cried? Today.  I was watching WALL-E on STARZ, and UP came on while I was finishing dinner.  By the time Ellie was miscarrying, I was bawling.

107: Guilty pleasure? I'm not really guilty about my pleasures, but I do have a soft spot for mind-candy romance novels.  Like Johanna Lindsey, Nina Bangs, Harlequin, etc.

108: Favourite Youtuber? I hate Youtubers.

109: A photo of myself. uh, no.

110: Do I like selfies? fuck no.

111: Favourite game app? Doctor Who: Legacy

112: My relationship with my parents? It varies from moment to moment.  My dad never really understood me, and after he got sick and was in a coma for awhile, it changed him.  so there was never really a chance for him to try.  My relationship with my mom is... complicated.  Sometimes we're BFFs and finish each other's sandwiches, and other times, we hate each other's guts and would gladly murder each other and bury the bodies in the backyard.

113: Favourite accents? Spanish, English/Scottish, all the Asian ones (the gentleman that runs my local Chinese restaurant speaks Cantonese and Mandarin both, and I could listen to that all day.)

114: A place I have not been but wish to visit? London, Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Scotland, Italy, Greece, New York, Japan, Los Angeles

115: Favourite number? 15

116: Can I juggle? Nope

117: Am I religious? Eh, not really.  I go to bible study mostly because I have half a crush on the preacher.

118: Do I like space? YES.

119: Do I like the deep ocean? Not so much.

120: Am I much of a daredevil? NO

121: Am I allergic to anything? Ciprofloxacin, IV contrast dye, Mobic/meloxicam, Zofram/ondansetron, and a ton of fragranced products (I have sensitive skin that breaks out at the drop of a hat.)  

122: Can I curl my tongue? Yep!

123: Can I wiggle my ears? Nope!

124: Do I like clowns? Yes, if they're cute.  NOT PENNYWISE, I HATE PENNYWISE.  But I love Tim Curry's Pennywise.  But that's because Tim Curry is awesome.

125: The Beatles or Elvis? Elvis.  I'm an Elvis chick.

126: My current project? "By Inches We Fall," a Game of Thrones fanfic that's Jaime Lannister x Brienne of Tarth.  I'm also working on some Christmas projects involving spray paint and recycled K-Cups

127: Am I a bad loser? Horrible loser.  I hate to lose.

128: Do I admit when I wrong? sometimes.  depends on who I'm talking to, and the tone of the discussion.  if it's a civil discourse, yes I will.  If we're shouting?  I'm not backing down.

129: Forest or beach? Forest.  A forest doesn't leave sand in your butt crack.

130: Favourite piece of advice? Mind your own business and you won't be minding mine

131: Am I a good liar? I used to be.

132: Hogwarts house / Divergent faction / Hunger Games district? Slytherin/what the fuck is a Divergent/12

133: Do I talk to myself? i do, and sometimes I answer

134: Am I very social? HAHAHAHAHA NO.

135: Do I like gossip? sit by me and pour that tea, bitch.

136: Do I keep a journal/diary? I do, on paper, and you'll never read it.

137: Have I ever hopelessly failed a test? i failed every physics test I took in high school.  after becoming a Mythbusters stan, I retook an online physics test and passed it.  

138: Do I believe in second chances? depends on the situation and the person, but generally not.  i have been known to give them, though.

139: If I found a wallet full of cash on the ground, what would I do? oh man.  I'd like to say I'd turn it in untouched, but.  I also know I've got medication pay for (mine and mom's), her insurance to pay for (i'm uninsured), groceries and gas to buy, so in all probability?  I'd keep the cash but return everything else.

140: Do I believe people are capable of change? No.  People are who they are.  they might change what they think or what they believe in, but who they are?  No.

141: Have I ever been underweight? AHAHAHAHAHA NO

142: Am I ticklish? ...there's no good way to answer.  If I say no, you'll tickle me to prove it.  If I say yes, you'll tickle me.  But yes, I am.  especially my feet.

143: Have I ever been in a submarine? WTF?  No.

144: Have I ever been on a plane? Once, and never again

145: In a film about my life, who would I cast as myself, friends and family? Rebel Wilson as me, America Ferrera as @mummyholmesisupset, Kristen Bell as @silvarbelle, Jessica Lange as my mother, and I can't think of anyone else.

146: Have I ever been overweight? Always, am currently, though I'm working to lose it.  I've lost about 50 lbs in the past year, so I'm doing okay

147: Do I have any piercings? Three in my right ear, two in my left.

148: Which fictional character do I wish was real? Hannibal Lecter.

149: Do I have any tattoos? nope, but I want a couple.

150: What is the best decision I have made in life so far? .....i haven't made a single good decision....

151: Do I believe in Karma? it bites me on the ass often enough, so yes I do.

152: Do I wear glasses or contacts? Glasses, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to switch to bifocals next time

153: What was my first car? 1979 green Dodge Aries K

154: Do I want children? If they're furry and four-legged, sure.

155: Who is the most intelligent person I know? um, probably my uncle with two frigging masters degrees

156: My most embarrassing memory? I met John deLancie at a Star Trek con once, just coming down the stairs from his room to the con floor.  And I fell all over myself talking to him because I was like, fourteen or something and he was tall and handsome and genuinely happy to be tthere and I was basically every fangirl's nightmare.

157: What makes me nostalgic? watching old TV shows I loved as a kid, or reading books I haven't read in years.

158: Have I ever pulled an all-nighter? Yep

159: Which do I value more in others, brains or beauty? brains.  i'm practically a zombie.

160: What colour mostly dominates my wardrobe? Purple and fuschia equally.

161: Have I ever had a paranormal experience? Not as such, no.

162: What do I hate most about myself? Everything?

163: What do I love most about myself? I like my hair.

164: Do I like adventure? only the ones in books.

165: Do I believe in fate? not really.

166: Favourite animal? Felis cattus

167: Have I ever been on radio? nope

168: Have I ever been on TV? nope

169: How old am I? 42

170: One of my favourite quotes? "Lock the door.  And hope they don't have blasters."

171: Do I hold grudges? you bet your bippy I do.  (what is a bippy and why are you betting it?)

172: Do I trust easily? No.

173: Have I learnt from my mistakes? I hope I have.  But I suspect I haven't.

174: Best gift I’ve ever received? A single cupcake and a rosebud, given to me by the nurses at the cancer treatment center because it was my birthday and I was having radiation and felt absolutely shitty.  so they surprised me with a little cupcake and a rose for my birthday and it made me feel better.

175: Do I dream? Yep.

176: Have I ever had a night terror? Yep

177: Do I remember my dreams, and what is one that comes to mind? I remember some of them, like the Continuing Adventures of Roxy, the Pink Police Poodle.

178: An experience that has made me stronger? My breakups.

179: If I were immortal, what would I do? Sleep a lot, read even more, learn everything that I never had before.

180: Do I like shopping? I do!

181: If I could get away with a crime, what would I choose to do? Bank robbery.

182: What does “family” mean to me? family is a group of people, not necessarily related by blood, who have chosen to band together in love and support of each other.

183: What is my spirit animal? According to my meditation quest, it's a wolf.  But I'm not really comfortable saying that because it wasn't a real vision quest, I'd have to go to the res for that (i have Cherokee blood on my father's side) and I haven't.

184: How do I want to be remembered? As someone who tried to be good.

185: If I could master one skill, what would I choose? Woodcarving.

186: What is my greatest failure? I dropped out of college in the 90s, when I had an accident that broke my ankle.  I never went back.

187: What is my greatest achievement? five-year survivor, cancer-free!

188: Love or money? Money, sadly.

189: Love or career? love

190: If I could time travel, where and when would I want to go? Am I an observer like the Doctor?  If yes, then I would go back to the Globe Theater and see all of Shakespeare as it was originally performed. Am I living there, stuck?  Future, please.

191: What makes me the happiest? Writing.

192: What is “home” to me? Where I lay my head.

193: What motivates me? How I feel, what I see, something that fascinates me.

194: If I could choose my last words, what would they be? Wake me up when it's over

195: Would I ever want to encounter aliens? Depends on if they're hostile or kind.

196: A movie that scared me as a child? The Dark Crystal.  I love it now.

197: Something I hated as a child that I like now? V-8 juice

198: Zombies or vampires? oooh, both.  But vampires.

199: Live in the city or suburbs? Suburbs

200: Dragons or wizards? Dragons all the way, man.  I love dragons.

201: A nightmare that has stayed with me? Its always the same.  I'm being chased by someone/something, it's always getting closer, and it sounds like a loud, roaring motorcycle.  And I'm always running or racing through the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks (the place with all the red curtains and the black/white zig-zag floor.  That place freaks me the fuck out, and ever since the show aired, it's been in my nightmares)

202: How do I define love? Love is not love, that alters when it alteration finds, nor bends with the remover to remove; O no, it is an ever fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken.

203: Do I judge a book by its cover? sometimes.  I've found great books in the bargain bin that way.  I've also found a few stinkers.  Come to think of it, I've found a few people that way too.  Some great, some stinkers.

204: Have I ever had my heart broken? I have.

205: Do I like my handwriting? i do, actually

206: Sweet or savoury? Savoury

207: Worst job I’ve had? Market research interview administrator.  I was one of those assholes that flagged you down in the mall and made you watch a commercial or a movie trailer, or try a snack product and then asked you a billion and five questions about it

208: Do I collect anything? Funko POPs, Superman memorabilia, Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia, penguins, mooses

209: Item of clothing or jewellery you’ll never see me without? my dragon ring, my pocketwatch

210: What is on my bucket list? I don't have one

211: How do I handle anger? Depends.  I sometimes hold it in, but most times I blow like a firecracker.  hot and hard, and then I cool off.

212: Was I named after anyone? my dad's uncle Kelly, and my mom's father Ray (i'm Kelly Rae)

213: Do I use sarcasm a lot? me?  sarcastic?  Perish the thought.

214: What TV character am I most like? Dobie Gillis.

215: What is the weirdest talent I have? I can twirl just about anything like a baton and not drop it

216: Favourite fictional character? Ashley j. Williams

3:24 AM.  Son of a bitch.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1275

Monday, August 19, 2019

It was so hot and humid outside just now when I went to get the newspaper (yes, we still have it delivered) that it felt like I was walking into a sauna. I hope it rains to cut the humidity down. We certainly need the water as our gardens are wilting. It's been so dry that there's a burn ban in effect. I couldn't make a fire in the fire pit up at the cottage, much to my disappointment. The pleasure of sitting around a fire must be a primitive thing hard wired since we first were able to make fire.

Detective Comics #1009 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Christian Duce (art) Luis Guerrero (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). A new story starts here and it's a doozy. Deadshot is the bad guy and he might have been contracted to kill Bruce Wayne. The next issue can't hit the racks fast enough for me.

Event Leviathan #2 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). I'm late to this because I had to wait on reorders. I think the identity of who Leviathan is gets revealed this issue. I'm glad it didn't take the team of the world's greatest detectives too long to figure it out.

Event Leviathan #3 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). Psyche! Leviathan isn't who the detectives suspected it was last issue. It's still a mystery and the real deal does show up this issue. You may recall that Amanda Waller has been MIA, well not anymore. She's a big part of this thing. This story has fans talking and that's always fun.

The Amazing Spider-Man #27 – Nick Spencer (writer) Kev Walker (pencils) John Dell (inks) Laura Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The new Syndicate has been hired to capture Boomerang and Spidey is forced to help his roommate Fred/Boomerang. Things don't turn out so well for the good guys. The last page has a shocking surprise that harkens back to the good old days of Stan Lee.

Powers of X #2 – Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva (art) R.B. Silva & Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The X in the title also represents the Roman numeral for ten. The scope of this issue is huge. We go from year zero of the X-Men to year 1000 as the mutants try to find a way to survive. There's not a lot of action but a heck of a lot of planning and strategising. I think our patience will be rewarded when Jonathan Hickman starts cooking with gas.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10 – Tom Taylor (writer) Ken Lashley (art pages 1 – 14, thumbnails pages 15 – 17) Scott Hanna (inks pages 15 – 17) Luca Maresca (art pages 18 – 20) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The team-up with Hobie Brown, the good guy Prowler, ends with a cameo from Iron Man. I like bad guy makes good stories.

Catwoman #14 – Ram V (writer) Mirka Andolfo (art) Arif Prianto (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Hermosa Heat part 1. It's a new story with a new writer. There's a bounty on Catwoman and she going to find out who put it out there. I'm not a fan of the new cut-outs on her cat suit. I think it's just to show more titillating skin for the fanboys and that's creepy. The panels with the side boobs is what makes me think that.

Ironheart #9 – Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Riri goes to Wakanda in search of the mystical Wellspring of Power. She and Shuri meet for the first time and the young women's personalities clash like oil and water. Fortunately, a crisis bonds them later. A new character joins the story on the last page and she's related to someone that Ironheart fought against back in Chicago. I want to learn more about Silhouette.

Silver Surfer Black #3 – Donny Cates (writer) Tradd Moore (art) Dave Stewart (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The planet Ego helps Norrin Radd to recover from his battle with Knull and it's a good thing because then the Silver Surfer can return the favour and cure Ego of a type of cancer. The surprise is what's causing the cancer. This weird story just got a lot weirder.

Loki #2 – Daniel Kibblesmith (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Loki visits Tony Stark to ask to join the Avengers. 'Tis to laugh, as they say. This issue ends in a most unlikely place and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9 – Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Is it time for Miles to be rescued from his kidnappers? Yes it is. His dad Jeff and his uncle Aaron team up to save Miles. Aaron getting a new Prowler suit might mean trouble in the future. I wonder how long Miles's mysterious kidnappers are going to stay a mystery?

Batman Universe #2 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Josh Reed (letters). I think Brian Bendis is using this book to play with all the heroes and villains in the DCU. Batman teams up with Green Arrow briefly and goes to Gorilla City. By the end of the issue he's on another planet and I don't know if the Thanagarians are going to welcome him nicely or not. Oh, and we find out who the big bad is. I groaned.

Punisher Kill Krew #1 – Gerry Duggan (writer) Juan Ferreyra (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is what I love about comic books. You can tell whatever far fetched story you want and have it beautifully illustrated. This is a spin off from War of the Realms where Frank Castle continues his war hunting down a frost giant named Kasyckla. But how is he supposed to get to Jotunheim? Wouldja believe via chariot pulled by one of Thor's goats? I wonder who is going to be in his Krew?

Once & Future #1 – Kieron Gillen (writer) Dan Mora (art) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). I don't know why people are speculating on this book but it seems to be the hot buy of the week. This new 6-issue mini is a twist on the Arthurian legend with it not being clear whether Arthur is a good guy or a bad guy. There's a group of people wanting to resurrect the dead king to make Britain great again. This faction will kill to get their way. Duncan gets roped by his grandmother Bridgette into stopping this group of bad guys. I like the feisty Bridgette so I will keep reading this to see what else she and Duncan get up to. It's jolly good fun.

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1 – Leah Williams (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I never got into this fourth wall breaking comic book character before but I read a story that she was in recently and liked how fun she was. This issue is a great introduction to this whacky character and you needn't have read any of her previous appearances to get what's going on. You will get an extra kick out of Gwenpool if you're a dyed in the wool Marvel Maniac like me though. The rest of this 5-issue mini is going on to my “must read” list.

Age of Conan Valeria #1 – Meredith Finch (writer) Aneke (art) Andy Troy (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was not impressed with Age of Conan Bêlit because I liked the book version of Bêlit more than the comic book version. Valeria is another matter however. She fought alongside Conan in “Red Nails” my all time favourite Conan comic book story. The way Barry Smith drew her made me fall in love with her. This origin story has Valeria hunting down her brother's killer and even though she looks like Betty Cooper with a sword, I like this enough to find out if she succeeds in her quest.

Silver Surfer The Prodigal Son #1 – Peter David (writer) Francesco Manna (art) Espen Grundetjern (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Now that the Fantastic Four have gotten him off Earth, Prah'd'ghul's adventures take him into space. Where there's space, there glides the Silver Surfer. This story flashes back to when the Silver Surfer was the herald of Galactus. In this issue he's just an Uber for Prah'd'ghul.

Fantastic Four #13 – Dan Slott (writer) Sean Izaakse (art) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The conclusion of the Thing versus the Hulk fight. I won't tell you who the winner is but I will tell you that the biggest loser is the Puppet Master. You won't like him when he's angry, and the Puppet Master made the Hulk extremely angry.

Conan the Barbarian Exodus #1 – Esad Ribic (writer & art) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This was an easy job for VC's Travis Lanham. There are no captions or dialogue other than a few Hyborian Age word balloons. This is the story of a young Conan wandering the land and surviving against man and beast. It won't take long to “read” but I spent a lot of time just taking in the beautiful artistry. Any time Esad Ribic draws a comic book it's worth picking up.

Doctor Strange #17 – Mark Waid (writer) Barry Kitson (pencils) Scott Koblish (inks) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Herald Supreme part 6 is the conclusion to Stephen Strange's adventure with Galactus. This is a classic “deal with the devil” story when Mephisto enters the picture. Oh my god what a corny ending. Mark Waid also writes History of the Marvel Universe and he includes the whole thing right here. I did not finish the first issue of that chronicle and I am taking this opportunity to stop reading this title as well just because it got too maudlin.

Symbiote Spider-Man #5 – Peter David (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Here's another weak ending. There was never a doubt that Spider-Man and the Black Cat would win against Mysterio but boy was it ever done in a mundane way. I will think twice about reading this title the next time this book hits the racks.