#vol 60 my little brother

[thewormsdontstop]

such strong reactions for everyone else and nothing for sniper king usopp 😂

[daresplaining]

Mike Murdock's Sunglasses: On Character Design and Autonomy

I've written a little in the past about character design in regards to the translation of zany alter ego 1960s Mike Murdock into slightly-more-grounded, at least 85% more real 21st century Mike Murdock. Specifically, I talked with artist Phil Noto about Mike's outfits in Daredevil #606-612, and analyzed the clothing choices made by the creative team in the 2020 Annual. However, one specific detail that I find interesting in Mike's transformation from Matt's hyperactive id to his own autonomous person that I haven't really written about yet is his sunglasses-- when he wears them, when he stops, and how this shift may or may not align with his journey.

Matt: "Let's see now-- I'll just muss up the mop, to give myself that carefree tousled look! A fella like Mike wouldn't be caught dead with a simple Ivy-League hair comb! And, I'll have to give my specs a coffee break for a while, as I cover my sightless eyes in a more colorful way-- If the attorney-at-law business ever gets slow, I might just decide to open a school of method acting! Yessir! Stanislavsky had nothing on me! Now, all I've gotta do is change my personality! I figure a clown like Mike Murdock is sure to be on all the time!" Daredevil vol. 1 #26 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Frank Giacoia, and Artie Simek

Matt and his dark glasses were inseparable in the 60s-- literally, to the point that he even apparently wore them under his Daredevil mask (fortunately, he doesn't do that anymore). The clear hesitance of DD artists in this period to draw their blind protagonist's uncovered eyes is likely one of the reasons that when it came time for Matt to invent himself a fake sighted twin, the sunglasses stayed on. This has not always been the case. In the years since, Matt has taken on several sighted identities in which he does not wear glasses at all-- notably, con artist Jack Batlin in the 90s. Of the two approaches, the former makes slightly more in-universe sense. As someone with no vision at all, who was blinded in a physically damaging accident, logic suggests that Matt's eyes would look different from those of a sighted person-- most likely due to chemical burns/scarring, but at the very least from things like a lack of eye contact. Thus, the choice for Matt to simply switch up his style of shades for the Mike look, rather than taking the risk of foregoing them entirely, feels logical (even if it doesn't always match up with the way Matt's eyes are actually depicted, but that's a topic for another post).

As it turned out, the oversized, colorful shades ended up tying perfectly into the loudness of the rest of "Mike's" outfits, becoming a memorable staple of the look that Matt crafted for his fake twin-- a look that was as distant from the classic Matt Murdock suit and tie (and simple, dignified shades) as he could manage. These shades were iconically, undeniably Mike's. However, they were still born from the use of sunglasses as a visual shorthand for-- and Matt's in-character response to-- his blindness. A Daredevil reader in 1968 might have looked at ol' Loudmouth Mike and asked the question: If this guy were a real person, independent of Matt, with his own backstory and reasons for dressing the way he does-- would he still choose to wear dark glasses?

Mike: "Well, as I live and breathe! You're Daredevil, right? Friend of my brother, if I don't miss my guess. Real pleasure to meet you at last." Daredevil vol. 5 #606 by Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles ("As I live and breathe" is such a funny thing for him to say in this scene.)

Enter: Fragment-Boy Mike, and the beginnings of an answer.

When it came to transforming the concept of Mike Murdock into a fully realized character of his own -- not to mention pulling him out of the 1960s and into the 2010s-- some core Mike Murdock elements were dropped by the creative team, both for the sake of streamlining the narrative and in order to match the tone of the contemporary comic. Fragment Mike is no longer Daredevil's alter ego; in fact, he claims in his first appearance in Daredevil #606 that he has never even met DD before. Gone are the loud clothes, the primary colors, the waistcoats, the fedora with the feather in it. Curiously, all that remains of his original Look(TM)...is the sunglasses.

Foggy: "That is...correct. How did you...?" Mike: "Because I ain't him. I'm me. And now, Foggy...you need to call my brother." Daredevil vol. 5 #608 by Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles

Fragment Mike existed in a kind of limbo that neither he, nor Matt, nor even his "creator" Reader really understood-- a tortuous state of both being and non-being, in which he believed himself to be real and then had his worldview shattered by learning that no one else saw him that way. Mike claimed his autonomy and fought for his right to live throughout that story arc, but the simple truth was that he was born out of Matt-- specifically, out of Matt's case files, from which Reader accidentally spawned him-- and the memories he possessed of being anyone/anything else were false. He was nothing but a twisted, reanimated echo of an identity his brother had created, dark glasses included; Matt but not Matt, physically separate but still bound to his brother.

Mike: "I'm Matt Murdock's twin brother, but...but I'm not. I've got some fake memories. I'm like a shell of a thing...but inside...I can tell I didn't live through anything...and I think...I think it's driving me crazy." Daredevil vol. 6 Annual #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Manuel Garcia, Le Beau Underwood, Chris Mooneyham, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles

But! Fragment Mike, just like Matt, maybe because of Matt, is a fighter. He does not take being fake lying down. Through some Norn Stone magic, our fragment became a Real Boy, with real memories of a real backstory. And if we take a look through that backstory, we finally receive an answer to that 1968 DD fan's hypothetical question, because...

Daredevil vol. 6 Annual #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Manuel Garcia, Le Beau Underwood, Chris Mooneyham, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles

The moment Mike Murdock becomes a real person, the sunglasses vanish.

Look back through Daredevil volume 6. Once he is officially, cosmically real, the only time we ever see Mike wearing dark glasses is when he is dressed up as Matt (ohhh, the poetry of it all!). He is wearing them, standing in Matt's apartment, when he dies in Matt's place-- fated, in the end, to never entirely escape his brother's gravitational pull-- but what matters is that the sunglasses tied Mike to his origins as his twin in a costume, and the loss of them indicates fully and utterly that Mike has broken away and become his own person. We even get this fascinating scene at the beginning of volume 7:

Matt: "...It was Matt. He came back from rehab, went to his apartment... I don't know what the #$@% Fisk was thinking, but I know they've got history and... Ah, Butch. He killed my brother." Daredevil vol. 7 #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles

This is Matt Murdock, in the year 2022, once more pretending to be Mike...post-Norn Stone reality rewrite. And this time? No sunglasses. In fact, Matt claims that the key to a foolproof Mike Murdock disguise is in the eyes: "Not just making sure they faced the right direction...but that no matter what, he had kindness in them..."

Do I love Mike Murdock wearing smarmy shades? Of course I do. But I love a good piece-of-clothing-as-allegory just as much, and I love peeling back the layers of identity to discover who Mike really is when he is not his brother.

[flashfuture]

Since I've been on it I wanna talk about Hal's parents. Cause I've seen some dislike for Geoff Johns take on them. But they didn't really, Jessica especially, exist before then. I feel like some people read the comic where Hal in hysterical grief over Coast City made a construct of his parents and then went off to kill all the Lanterns and Guardians and said yep that is exactly how his parents were.

But let's get into it. Martin and Jessica Jordan. For further context, the sibling order is Jack, Hal, Jim Jordan. Three boys. And it was sort of implied for years that they were Jewish and got confirmed not too long ago that Jessica is Jewish and Martin is Catholic. Hal was a grown man in the 80s. His childhood took place in the 50/60s. And before that he was a grown man in the 60s meaning his childhood was the 40s/50s. That absolutely influenced the type of life he had. Vs the further in time we drag this out the less natural it becomes to have super strict parents.

So to begin the first physical appearance of Martin Jordan comes in 1989 in Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn #1. This is a post crisis pre zero hour story so any events in this particular time window are wildly subject to change

Martin is a test flight pilot. He's Hal's hero. His plane goes down. Hal watches. This sequence of events stays consistent across every time line including Flashpoint which is you know fascinating.

"Hal got fired today-- and he got his mom to call up and beg for him."

"Talk about my father again Biff and I'll rip your lungs out."

In this version of events, we get a mention of Jessica. She's not named and doesn't appear. So you can tell she was brought up purely for a 'Hal is so irresponsible he needs his mommy's help' bit. Hal and Jack get along though and are violently defensive of their father. Hal also catches a drunk driving charge after this.

Speaking of drunk I know there's a comic out there where Martin is described as a drunk which I could not for the life of me dig up again but that's mentioned all of once so I just ignore it. What's with making test pilots drunks???

Anyways Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn is definitely not my favorite Hal Jordan story and I'm glad it's been mostly retconned out minus the very beginning parts with Martin.

(Green Lantern vol 3 #36)

"So you're back to flying planes, huh?"

"Dad's blood still runs through my veins, I guess."

This Christmas special in 1993 took place before Coast City exploded. Hal took Carol out to Jack's house to spend the holiday with the Jordan family. Hal directly attributes flying to his dad's influence.

Now Green Lantern vol 3 #48. Hal is standing in the ruins of Coast City not a soul left and he conjures an image of his parents. Reminder they are entirely Hal's imagination and again he is just about hysterical right now.

"I looked up to you. I worshipped the ground you walked on, or flew over. I wanted to grow up and be you... which probably has a lot to do with who I am now. Growing up, though, I never felt like you... I don't know thought that much of me."

As we saw Hal's dad died when he was Maybe ten. His little brother and older brother didn't have real accomplishments in elementary school. Jack the DA and Jim helping the campaign and having a family that's all modern. Stuff Martin would have never known about. Martin the pilot getting on Hal's case for having his head in the clouds? Really seems like Hal is the one he could have related to the most. Martin getting on Hal about not saving the city just proves Hal is projecting his worries about disappointing his dad onto his dad and then because he's so hysterical with grief forces himself to rewatch his dad dying.

Absolutely completely irrational state of mind he's in right now. At the end of this issue, he's going to fly off into space to kill all the Lanterns and the Guardians.

And then he summons Jessica. Calling her mother instead of mom is just really funny to me like informal with his strict dad formal with his chill mom. Lmao? Jessica only speaks on Martin. Reminding Hal of the good times they had. She's Hal's memory which which means Hal heard the story of dressing up as Santa he remembers his dad's aftershave. Summoning your mom just to talk about your dad is crazy work btw

Again Hal was so young when his dad died. Not a teenager not even close. What was Martin disappointed about? Maybe Hal who can't keep a job a girl or half his friends (Barry died and all super friends ditched him basically) is projecting backwards into time. And assumes his Dad would be disappointed in him.

"Personal gain? This is about personal loss!"

Personal loss and Hal's spent most of his time summoning his long dead father. He really never got over Martin dying and that's so apparent. Anyways this is where Hal decides to go into space and kill everybody. Seeing his dad taken from him one more time made him snap.

Hal is enamored with his father. Whether their relationship was tough or easy it wasn't necessarily the point. The point is Hal Jordan loves his father to Oa and back more than the rest of his family probably understood. He didn't just want to impress his father he wants to be him.

And Zero Hour royally fucked up Hal's family but like idk let's just say Infinite Crisis fixed it. That's two reality shattering events. Why not give Hal a little treat of being his dad's favorite. No one seems to miss when Jack, Jim, and Hal all went to the same college and the same fraternity and were besties

[lavastories]

UPDATE!!!Everything I’m Currently Reading to Completed to Everything on my Interactive TBR!

LOL, brace yourself guys this is gonna be a pretty long list from all of my interactive platforms across the grid. This will be going by apps with list of stories.

What I completed reading will be in red crossed out. What I’m currently reading will be in green. What’s on my TBR will be in pink. And what I’m considering to read will be in orange. And what I’m unsure about will be in purple. And what I’ll drop reading will be in blue. And undecided will be in black.

Romance Club

1. And The Haze Will Take Us

2. 7 Brothers

3. Astrea’s Broken Heart

4. The One: Vol 2

5. Garden of Eden

6. Soulless

7. W: Time Catcher

8. Song of the Crimson Nile

9. Elite Tag

10. The Desert Rose

11. Vying for Versailles

12. Psi

13. The One: Vol 1

14. Hell and High Water

15. Theodora

16. The Flower from Tiamat’s Fire

17. Heart of Trespia

18. Gladiator Chrronicles

19. Seduced by the Rythum

20. Arcanum

21. Shadows of Sanitfour

22. Sophie’s Ten Wishes

23. Path of the Valkyrie

24. Love from Outer Space

25. Dracula. A Love Story

26. Legend of the Willow

27. Wave Patrol

28. Queen in 30 Days

29. Sails in the Fog

30. Heaven’s Secret- Requiem

31. Kali: Flame of Samsara

32. Love, Sin, & Evil: Vol 1

33. Chasing You 2

34. Heaven’s Secret 2 (Currently rereading for LI)

35. Kali: Call of Darkness

36. On Thin Ice

37. Sins of London

38. Rage of the Titans

39. Heaven’s Secret

40. Chasing You

41. My Hollywood Story

42. Moonborn

43. The Thunderstorms Saga

CHAPTERS (Keep in mind this app has SOOOO many books, so I’ll be putting the one’s I’ve started, all 27 books. I see to which ones I’ll be continuing, finished read, on my TBR, or not going to continue.)

1. Paying My Dues - Story by ME

2. Knocked Up By the Hockey Team

3. Bride of Anubis

4. Bad Boy Blues

5. Dangerous Guilty Pleasure - User Story

6. My Best Friend’s Baby

7. Having the Convict’s Baby

8. I Lost My Innocence to the Mafia Boss

9. Slashes In The Snow

10. Hot Hot Hate

11. Ruined

12. Pregnant by my Ex’s Dad

13. Addicted

14. My First Time - User Story

15. Our Story - User Story

16. The Darkest Kiss

17. Emergency Engagement

18. Night Prince 3: Bound by Flames

19. Love In the Deep End

20. COLE

21. Seven Day Fiancé

22. Burn for Me

23. The Dark Ones

24. Promise Me - User Story

25. Nico: A Mafia Romance

26. HALO

27. Waking up Pregnant

Choices (For the sake of the post, I’ll keep the books for this general and away from the VIP books. However, only will have the books of the VIP books that became wide release)

1. The Ghost of Us

2. BloodBound Series

3. The Royal Romance Series

4. The Nanny Affair Series

5. Rules of Engagement Series

6. Open Heart Series

7. Laws of Attraction Series

8. Roommates With Benefits

9. The Royal Masquerade

10. With Every Heartbeat

11. Rising Tides

12. Hot Shot

13. Alpha

14. Dirty Little Secrets

15. The Billionaire’s Baby

16. Surrender

17. Untameable

18. Shipwrecked

19. Kiss of Death

20. Wolf Bride

21. Witness: A Bodyguard Romance

22. Endless Summer Series

23. Hero

24. The Heist: Monaco

25. The Phantom Agent

26. Most Wanted

27. Across the Void

28. Ship of Dreams

29. Desire and Decorum Series

30. A Courtesan of Rome

31. Distant Shores

32. The Duchess Affair

33. Murder at Homecoming

34. High School Series

35. My Two First Loves

36. Ride-or-die: A Bad Boy Romance

37. The Elementalists Series

38. HSS: Class Act Series

39. Immortal Desires Series

40. Wake the Dead

41. It Lives Series

42. Nightbound

44. Haunting of Braidwood Manor

45. Perfect Match Series

46. Foreign Affairs

47. Mother of the Year

48. Bachelorette Party

49. Kindred

50. Blades of Light and Shadow Series

51. The Cursed Heart Series

52. The Crown & Flame Series

53. Guinevere

54. Baby Bump Series

55. First Comes Love

56. A Very Scandalous Proposal

57. LoveHacks Series

58. Passport to Romance

59. Along Came Treble

60. Red Carpet Diaries Series

61. America’s Most Eligible Series

62. Hot Couture

63. Platinum

64. Slow Burn

65. Queen B Series

66. The Freshman Series

67. Wishful Thinking

68. Getaway Girls

69. The Deadliest Series

70. Crimes of Passion Series

71. Veil of Secrets

72. The Unexpected Heriess

73. Big Sky Country Series

74. Ms. Match

75. Save the Date

76. The Princess Swap

77. Home for the Holidays

78. Guarded

79. Hearts on Fire Series

80: Open Heart Series

Episode (So just like Chapters, keeping it close to my history. Because there is so many books)

1. The Mafia Bride

2. Eat Me Up

3. Flirting with the Villian

4. Barely Mine

5. Rule Breaker

6. Tempting Devil

7. Playing Princess

8. Blood Lust

9. Pregnant by a Vampire: The Curse

10. The Gamer Girl

11. Love Life

12. It’ll Be Our Secret

13. Feel Me

14. VAMPS & HUMANS

15. Behind His Mask

16. Unexpectedly Expecting

17. Kidnapped by a Prince

Journeys (This app specifically is more like the more stories you read the more books you’ll have access to. So, I’ll list the ones I have so far.)

1. Linda Brown Series

2. Recipe of Love

3. Don’t Forget Me

4. Love Lessons

5. Vampyra

6. #3SUM

My Candy Love (This app is pretty much one story but progressing with the MC life, which I love!)

1. My Candy Love: High School

2. My Candy Love: College Life

3. My Candy Love: Adulting

5. My Candy Love: Alternate Life

6. My Candy Love: Next Gen

Another World’s History (Wasn’t long since I discovered this app. Fairly new to me like some others that will be in this post but it’s great.)

1. My Name Is Hope

2. Neoxites: Child of Light

3. Codex of Consistency

4. Speculum

5. Parallels

6. Chimera

Forbidden Fruit (This app is very new. They only have 4 books so far. And I haven’t gotten around to reading any of them. So they are all on my TBR)

1. The Legacy of Rosefield

2. Undermind

3. Ghostpice

4. Daughter of the North Wind

League of Dreamers (Discovered this app not too long ago.)

1. Laws of the Beast

2. Wondering Spirit

3. Lullaby of Witches

4. Tablet of Isis

5. The Seal of Nostradammus

6. Silence of the Sea

7. Blooming Garden

8. Chronicles of Ark Dryden

9. Gates of Samhain

YourStoryLand (Discovered this app just recently, and it’s also fairly new as well. Most of the books are on my TBR and my not sure list)

1. Rock Wave

2. Audrey’s Dairy

3. Blue Abuss

4. Behind The Wall

5. The Lily of the Sands

6. City of Nightmares

Real Love (This app freshly discovered with 4 books. Haven’t started any of the books yet. Most are on the TBR.)

1. Look Around

2. Lame

3. The Codex of a Chess Player

4. Empire of Shadows

Seven Hearts Stories (This app recently made 2 years with 8 books. I honestly do like this app and have started reading one book from this app.)

1. The Deadly Biome

2. Illusion of Fame

3. Legend of the Celestials

4. The Era of Fatum

5. The Villain’s Last Wish

6. Mission Fortune

7. The Heart of Atlantean

8. Bride for a Vampire

TWISTMAX! (This app I freashly discovered just last week. Already started one book from there. And I got most on my TBR.)

1. Billionaire’s Revenge

2. Happily Ever After

3. The Boy Next Desk

4. Love & Scandal

5. Ace!

6. My Prince

7. Princess Escape

8. Touched by Love

9. The Prince’s Consultant

10. Threads of Desire

11. Love to Hate

12. All His Secrets

13. About Last Night

14. The Price of Polanco

15. Surprise Husband

16. Tutoring the Football Star

17. Freshman Flirt

18. Living With Guys

19. Undercover Lover

20. Broadway Baby

21. Forbidden Island

22. His Melody

23. Hometown Hookup

24. Lone Star Lovers

25. Go Fur Gold

26. Blood Red Moon

27. Stuck in the Past

28. A Powerful Choice

29. Handcuff Him!

30. Sultry on Set

31. Seduce Me, Senator

32. Chef’s Kiss

33. Dirty Work

34. Cold Case Chemistry

Dream Zone (Also discovered this last week. Haven’t started a story from here yet. So wee will leave all of the stories undecided.)

1. Hostel Story Series

2. Singles in Your Area

3. Half Human Series

4. Wildest Dreams Series

5. Behind the Counter Series

6. Teaching Undercover Series

7. Going Places Series

8. Incognito Mode Series

9. The Impossible Game Series

10. Devil’s Deal Series

11. Project Prometheus Series

12. Rogue Gang Series

13. Man for Hirer Series

14. Ubers Series

15. Time and Time Again Series

16. Colorblind Series

17. My Bloody Classmates Series

18. The Lookalikes Series

19. Honeywood Series

20. Family Business Series

21. Therapy Sessions Series

And the rest of the stories I read are single story apps which are…

1. Havenless

2. Dangerous Fellows

3. Killing Kiss

4. Henri’s Secret

5. Uncoven

I do plan to keep this list and update it with time. But I am happy I have this list so I can update as I go and keep ya’ll up to date. But this is going to be hella fun. Feel free to have this list if you are also using the same app as myself.

[dw-flagler]

okay, so:

back in the 70s, Spider-Man's Clone Saga was a thing. A lot happened, but the long and short of it was this: Gwen Stacy was killed by the green goblin in Amazing Spider-Man 121. A while later, she seemingly comes back to life. This is revealed to be a plot of the supervillain The Jackal, who created clones of peter and gwen because he could just do that. Peter fights the clone, one of them dies, and they assume that the surviving peter is the original. There's another clone saga, which was widely panned, but the important thing for my post here is Ultimate Spider-Man (2000-2009).

We have to establish a couple things first, though. So in USM issue 31, Gwen Stacy's dad, John Stacy, is killed by a spider-man impersonator (for honestly some really stupid reasons but whatever), and Gwen is formally adopted by May, moving in with her and Peter in issue 32.

Now, shortly after this, the venom saga happens. It differs from most versions in that the symbiotes, in the ultimate universe, are not aliens, but instead human-made living organisms. They were made by Edward Brock Sr. and Richard Parker, and peter's parents are killed because Richard refuses to make the suits weapons. Eddie Brock Jr. (Peter's childhood friend, current college student, and pedophile) recreates one of the symbiotes, and eventually it bonds with Eddie to become Venom in issue 37.

Anyway, some other stuff happens, and then in Issue 57, Gwen finds out that Peter is Spider-Man. She confronts him in Issue 59, and eventually decides she's cool with him being spider-man. She calls him her "super hero little brother" in a conversation with Mary Jane.

Later, in issue 60, Curt Conners, the guy whose lab Eddie was working in, takes a sample of Peter's blood, and, working with a guy named Ben Reilly, creates another symbiote, Carnage.

Carnage, a symbiote cloned from peter, breaks out of the lab, killing a bunch of people, including Gwen, in issue 62. Peter, furious at this, tracks down the Carnage symbiote (which never actually has a host in this universe) and throws it in a fire, killing it. Later, in Issue 64, that other guy, Ben Reilly, steals a sample of the Carnage symbiote from Connors' lab, for unknown purposes.

Cut to issue 97, the start of Ultimate's Clone Saga. So Peter encounters this supervillain called the scorpion, who turns out to be a clone of him. He also encounters Jessica Drew(!), who is also a clone of him. Then, after jessica whooped his ass, he sees Gwen, who has miraculously come back to life!

So, the particular details of the ultimate clone saga aren't important for this post, but I'll describe them in brief anyway. The clones, including Scorpion, Jessica, and the others who i'm not mentioning, were made by Otto Octavius and Ben Reilly together, working to recreate Spider-Man for the CIA. Ben, as he already had a failed attempt to clone spider-man just sitting in his pocket or something, decided to do some fucky stuff to the carnage sample he had on him. He tries to recreate the full Carnage, but it doesn't work quite right, and it ends up kind of becoming Gwen Stacy. It's still carnage, but it's also her.

Anyway, Peter and Jessica beat the hell out of Doc Ock, who was responsible for this, all the clones other than Jessica and Gwen die, Peter gets back together with Mary Jane and breaks up with Kitty Pryde (who he was dating at the time), everything goes back to normal. More or less. Eventually, carnage Gwen gets attacked by Eddie "Pedophile" Brock and he steals her symbiote (despite the fact that she is a symbiote) and becomes Venom again, and she is completely normal now.

Anyway, by Vol. 2 Issue 1 (about 30 issues later), we're in a new status-quo. The important part is this: Peter has broken up with Mary Jane (again) off screen, and is now dating Gwen Stacy for some reason.

So, as I have exhaustively laid out, peter is, in fact, dating his own clone.

What's even weirder about this is that a few issues later, in Vol. 2 Issue 9, Johnny Storm (who was there during the whole clone saga but I guess he wasn't paying attention) goes and kisses Jessica Drew, who is also a clone of peter, and peter finds this extremely gross.

I don't really have a moral or anything to this. I just sort of recognized that gwen is technically a clone of peter and felt like i had to explain this to someone.

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! November 27 - December 3, 2023

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3.

The Heart of a Westown Cowboy - by Mya_Stone; WIP, 34/?, 37k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Trio of Towns Relationships: Female Farmer/Wayne, Farmer & Wayne, Wayne & Ford; Characters: Frank, Ford, Carrie, Brad, Megan, Hector, Colin, Daryl | Darius, Marlena, Lynn, Wayne, Miranda Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Guy Falls First, famiy drama, I Wrote This For Me But I'll Share It With You Summary: Wayne is Westown's perpetually single lady's man. He'd like to settle down but he just hasn't found The One and he's fairly certain he's met everyone in town. Then Melody moves in, taking a plot of her uncle's ranch to fulfill her dream of being a rancher. A college-educated business woman, Melody doesn't accept failure - especially not her own. As Wayne falls hard for her, she struggles to return his affections until she has what she came for - and when she continually comes up short at the cow competitions, she begins to wonder if Westown is really the place for her.

Vol. 1: The Egg Thief - by dicelady20; Complete, 20/20, 81k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence; Category: F/M Fandoms: Dragon Ball GT/Z, Friends of Mineral Town Characters: Trunks Briefs, Claire the Farmer; Additional Tags: Harvest Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Romance, Slow Burn, Martial Arts, Cussing, Crossover, city vibes, dark scenes, POV Multiple, POV Third Person Limited, Mild Gore, Supernatural Elements, First Meetings, story of seasons, Alternative Perspective, Don't copy to another website, Don't Have to Know Canon, To Be Continued, Adventure, Fae & Fairies, Dragons, Monsters, Coming of Age Summary: Dragons, fairies, and nightmares, oh my! Claire and Trunks are from two different worlds, but the both of them find themselves at a crossroad; West City, the hub for strange happenings. What could possibly go wrong?

Sugar and Spice - by Chibimiie; WIP, 60/?, 163k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Animal Parade Relationships: Chase/Molly the Farmer, Angela/Luke; Characters: Molly | Hikari, Angela the Farmer, Chase, Luke, Kasey the Farmer Additional Tags: Slow Burn, oh god how do you tag fics, mentions of eating disorders, alternating povs, Friends to Lovers, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, bumped up the rating because i honestly should have a little bit ago, burn so slow it's honestly a simmer, Mutual Pining Summary: Wanting to get away from past hurts of the city, sisters Molly and Angela decide to respond to a flyer advertising an abandoned farm on the faraway island of Castanet. Leaving behind their closest friends and brother Kasey, the two take a chance and move to the tiny island hoping for a new chance at life.

Under the Name - by ModernTsunami; WIP, 14/63. 163k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: Major Character Death; Categories: F/M, Gen Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationships: Elli/Doctor Trent | Torre, Elli | Elly & Stu | Yu, Elli | Elly & Old Ellen, Elli | Elly/Rick; Characters: Doctor | Trent, Elli | Elly, Old Ellen, Stu | Yu, Rick, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Jennifer Additional Tags: Character Development, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Co-workers, Roommates, Grief/Mourning, Smoking, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Strangers to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Medical, Implied Sexual Content, Illness, Injury Summary: When Trent accepted the offer to run a rural health clinic, he didn't realize he was taking on the part of small-town doctor and neighbor. The dual relationships he develops with the residents of Mineral Town begin to shape his ideas of who he is and who he wants to be. But growing closer to others always runs the risk of clouding one's judgment. While small-town life is nothing new to Elli, being caretaker to her younger brother and homebound grandmother is. There’s nothing she wants more than the confidence that what she’s doing for them is right, but as she strives to fulfill her growing obligations to her family, she finds it harder to hold on to what she wants for herself. Together they work in the clinic and learn the difference between what you do and who you are.

A New Beginning - by EEVEE300; Complete 33/33, 103k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: A New Beginning Relationship: Neil/Rachel | Rio; Characters: Neil, Rachel | Rio, Rod the Pet Shop Owner, Allen, Henry the Farmer | Haruto Summary: This is a story about Rachael's New Beginning in Echo Village and about how she fell in love with a certain Animal Dealer along the way.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Saturday 29 December 1832

7 ½

12

F40 ½° at 7 ½° a.m. – feel very bilious – could not do much – wrote out 2 or 3 notes into ii. Business Letter Book – brought up a little bile at 8 ½ which did me a little good – breakfast at 8 50/60 – could not take anything – came up to my room again at 8 20 and lay down till Holt came at 10 - told him I had agreed with Mr Jeremiah R- about the coal - read Holt the instructions for the lease that I had written - he thought they were very fair, and that the clause binding CR- his heirs etc under a penalty of £500 not to dam up or suffer to be dammed or cause or suffer to be caused to run into the colliery or coal works any more water than would neatly and of its own accord run that way - was very proper - but on his telling me that he knew they had from 100 to 120 yards pumped up below the old water head, I said they would be able to get the 10 acres probably without even getting into the conery wood so altered the instructions so that they have no right to go into the conery wood or conery Ing unless they cannot get 10 acres with it, and then that they are in no case to a ‘pass beyond the boundary’ of the south or upper wall of the road passing in front of Shibden Hall, and leading from H-x to Wakefield they are to take all that remains to be got in the Far Bairstow, and long field and upper Whiskam field (in the occupation of Robert Pickersgill) by measurement on the surface - all surface measure - surely the agreement will the strict enough – Breakfast in the drawing (my aunt had breakfast) at 11 – staid talking to her and Marian who came to us till after 12 – then came to my room – very bilious still, but better – altered and wrote out the instructions (3pp. of a ½ sheet) for Mr. Parker, and wrote all but the 2 first lines of all the above of today till 2 – rainy day – no temptation to go out – lucky enough – then wrote out letters and notes into vol. 2 Business letter book had just done when Cordingley came in at 4 ½ to say a woman had come down from Pickersgills’ to say the house was on fire – went there immediately – found the smoke issuing from the roof in a thick column – the cottages’ chimney had got on fire (from his wooll-combing stove let into it) and that end of the house being studding casing between 2 parpoint walls, the timber was on fire between these 2 walls, and we had to knock holes in the inner wall to get water down – John and James Smith gone with a cow to Sourmilk hall – only old William at home – Pickersgill out and Charles Howarth junior and his son James Howarth but sent John to H- to seek the 2 latter and they just as we had got the fire apparently out soon after 6 – Luckily James Greenwood junior of the Conery at home – the coolest and best man we had, and but for him we should not have got the fire under – the cottager almost too nervous to do much or he had run home at such a rate from H-x, and then poured 40 or 50 buckets of water along the roof till he was exhausted – Pickersgills’ deaf and dumb brother did all he could – these and William Greenwood and William Pollard from the Conery and William Green and 2 or 3 women were all the force we had till the fire was extinguished – home at 6 ¼ - ½ hour talking to them all in the little room – dressed – dinner at 7 5 – afterwards read over Mrs. Fergusons’, late Firth, late Bollands’ trust deed to be ready to send to William Parker – asleep on the sofa 20 minutes – then wrote the last 14 lines of today – no paper tonight – so windy and rainy would not let John go for it – then wrote out part of coal-lease instructions, and at 8 ½ received a note by Washington, 1 ½ page of half sheet in envelope from Miss Walker - I have had a  letter from my sister saying everything that is kind  but she strongly recommends our trying the plan before we decide she fancies your departure for the continent is not finally fixed and she advises our taking lodgings in York for the winter   going to visit her in the summer and then if we are both in the same mind make a tour of the continent next year    she adds that she believes I think at this present time that I shall never marry   but that it is very probable my sentiments will change    I have not courage to make my promises stronger  I dare not to trust myself to say more [:::] December 29 1832 I got over this morning rather better   went on with with writing out coal lease instructions then at 9 50 went into the other room and staid talking to my aunt till came to my room at 10 40 I have so often thought what on earth should I do with her that how to do without her is not difficult   well surely it is settled now and she will waver no more I will be off as soon as I can how little Mrs Sutherland guesses the real truth and how coolly she plans for us  her plan would never do for me have all the pother for nothing merely to take care of her till Mr Ainsworth was ready for her I am not quite so simple as that very rainy windy day and high wind this evening – F47° now at 11 pm  - well this Miss Walker business has been foolish enough but I have come off better than I deserved   surely it is a lucky escape  Mrs S- will be surprised at my being off so soon and at the little future intercourse between Miss W- and me? the latter shall perceive no difference in my conduct while I stay this time -

[cinenthusiast]

films watched in february 2024

39. "kolobok" (1956, davydov) / 1st viewing / file 40. when tomorrow comes (1939, stahl) / 1st viewing / file 41. "rendezvous" (1976, lelouch) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 42. "my name is oona" (1971, nelson) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 43. "back to the future predicts 9/11" (2015, alexander) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 44. "mondo elvis" (1984, corboy) / 2nd viewing / museum of home video stream 45. "the attitude factor" (1981, parker) / 2nd viewing / museum of home video stream 46. "the ugly little boy" (1977, morse / thompson) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 47. "invasion of the aluminum people" (1980, boone) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 48. passage à l'acte (1993, arnold) / 1st viewing / museum of home video stream 49. only angels have wings (1939, hawks) / 2nd viewing / dcp, brattle theatre 50. the talk of the town (1942, stevens) / 1st viewing / dcp, brattle theatre 51. the last picture show (1971, bogdanovich) / 3rd viewing / columbia classics 4k 52. the train (1965, frankenheimer) / 2nd viewing / kino lorber 4k 53. the lego batman movie (2017, mackay) / 1st viewing / blu-ray 54. no sex last night (1996, calle and shepard) / 1st viewing / le cinema club 55. barry lyndon (1975, kubrick) / 2nd viewing / 35mm, brattle theatre 56. ladies of leisure (1930, capra) / 2nd viewing / file 57. the raid (2011, evans) / 2nd viewing / 4K 58. misery (1990, reiner) / no idea what viewing / scream factory blu-ray 59. the whisperers (1967, forbes) / 1st viewing / file 60. thinner (1996, holland) / 2nd viewing / blu-ray 61. the song of the scarlet flower (1938, tulio) / 1st viewing / file 62. the curse (2024, fielder & safdie) / 1st viewing / paramount w/ showtime 63. red lips (1995, farmer) / 1st viewing / agfa blu-ray 64. video diary of a lost girl (2012, denniberg) / 1st viewing / agfa blu-ray 65. drugstore cowboy (1989, van sant) / 2nd viewing / criterion channel 66. "beanstalk bunny" (1955, jones) / 35mm, brattle theatre 67. "kit for kat" (1948, freleng) / 35mm, brattle theatre 68. "the bee-deviled bruin" (1949, jones) / 35mm, brattle theatre 69. "robin hood daffy" (1958, jones) / 35mm, brattle theatre 70. "daffy duck hunt" (1949, mckimson) / 35mm, brattle theatre 71. "piker's peak" (1957, freleng) / 35mm, brattle theatre 72. "wet hare" (1962, mckimson) / 35mm, brattle theatre 73. "now, hare this" (1958, mckimson) / 35mm, brattle theatre 74. "water, water every hare" (1952, jones) / 35mm, brattle theatre 75. "bill of hare" (1962, mckimson) / 35mm, brattle theatre 76. "knighty knight bugs" (1958, freleng) / 35mm, brattle theatre 77. muppets from space (1998, hill) / 2nd viewing / blu-ray 78. josie and the pussycats (2001, kaplan & elfont) / no idea what viewing / criterion channel 79. the big house (1930, hill) / 4th viewing / file 80. liar liar (1997, shadyac) / 2nd viewing / shout factory blu-ray 81. no country for old men (2007, coen brothers) / 2nd viewing / paramount plus 82. "the big snooze" (1946, clampett) / looney tunes golden collection vol. 2

[daisyneptune]

Hello, it’s Sunny! Good news, my Secret Santa gave me a visit yesterday. I like the fact we’re all classic rock blogs or fans. It does help us find something talk about and bond over. Other fandoms should do it too. So I see you like anime. I do too but I’ve been watching less lately. What shows do you like? Do you like Studio Ghibli films? I’ve watched quite a few of them myself starting with either Spirited Away or Kiki’s Delivery Service. They are so stunning visually. The music in them is wonderful too. As for shows, I didn’t watching them until I watched the original Fruits Basket show with my brother and then eventually Naruto and Naruto Shippuden (which I still haven’t finished). I’d like to hunt for new shows to watch so recommendations would be nice. :)

There’s another 60s band that reminds me of The Zombies called The Left Banke. They’re a lot more obscure but very very good. The lead singer also reminds me of Colin Blunstone a bit. They had good hits like Walk Away Renee, Pretty Ballerina, and Desiree. Shadows Breaking Over My Head is really good too.

I’ve never listened to 60s music from other countries besides US and UK. I’m curious to know what music in Japan sounded like. By the way do you have any favorite anime openings/endings or anime music in general? I really like the classic Pokemon theme song myself.

By the way, the types of history I love the most is US history, European history, and Ancient history (esp Greece, Rome, Egypt), film history, women’s history,and black history. This semester I took classes about The Holocaust, Modern Europe, and California History. Very interesting and but also very sad at times. How do you like your classes? What exactly do you learn in emergency management? My dad’s an EMT/Ambulance driver. I’m guessing you probably learn how to work with people like him. Anyways, I got class. Talk to you later! Bye! ☀️

I do like anime and manga! Most of the things I like are older, though. I'm pretty bad about keeping up with new things in all forms of media ;; I do like Ghibli films! Kiki's Delivery Service is probably my favorite. Right now, it's about the time of year I start wanting to rewatch Dear Brother, which is a gorgeously animated soap-opera-levels-of-melodramatic show from the early 90s. (It's based on a manga from the 70s, which is when shoujo melodrama was at its peak, so that explains it.) I feel like a grandma having to watch her "stories" when I put that one on. I can't stop watching!

Look at it! Even little moments like this just look so nice. :3

Ooh, I love the Left Banke and baroque pop from the 60s in general! Walk Away Renee was one of my favorite songs I heard on the oldies station as a kid, and Pretty Ballerina sometimes makes me legitimately emotional (but a lot of things do tbh).

Music in Japan in the 60s was a lot of covers of US/UK artists, but a lot of the time, lyrics were translated into Japanese. If you have Spotify, a few compilation albums you can check out are Monster A-Go-Go, Slitherama, Big Lizard Stomp!, and Sixties Japanese Garage-Psych Sampler. The first three have some weird interludes of music from kaiju films that the person who put the compilations together threw in, but they're still really good. Also, you can find whole albums by The Mops and The Tempters on there.

There are also some compilations put out a while ago called Nippon Girls (vol. 1 / vol. 2) and G.S. I Love You, which I found on YouTube. As far as music from all over, a compilation I really like is Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond. I found that one on CD on eBay so I listen to it in my car sometimes.

I was always interested in natural disasters and things like that when I was a kid (I was a nerd who would read the 'what to do in case of emergency' manual we had at home), so I thought emergency management would be an interesting thing to pursue. Basically, emergency managers are the ones who create response plans for disasters in their areas, coordinate the response when the disaster does occur, and keep everyone up-to-date with the latest information gathered from people on the front lines (like EMTs). I'm good with organizing information and things like that, so I thought it would be a good fit.

Now that I've gone on for way too long ... I hope you have a lovely Wednesday and the rest of your classes go well!

[revolutionarywarhistory]

"I never forgot that I was an American": the story of the Maryland Loyalist Regiment [Part 2]

Continued from Part 1

© 2017-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog.

Notes

[1] Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 422; Stuart Salmon, "The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783," Ph.D Dissertation, 2009, University of Stirling,p.94.

[2] Salmon, "The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783," pp iii-vii, 55.

[3] David W. Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake: A ‘Fool Idea’ That Unified Maryland (Blomington, IN: Archway Publishing, 2017), 64.

[4] Sina Dubovoy, The Lost World of Francis Scott Key (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 53; <Sabine, The American Loyalists, 410.

[5] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 633-634, 650; Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 336, 423, 428.

[6] The latter link cites James Moody, Lieut. James Moody’s Narrative of his Exertions and Sufferings in the Cause of Government, since the Year 1776, Richardson and Urquhart (London, 1783), 8-9.

[7] Siebert, Wilbur H. “The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 2, no. 4, 1916, pp. 473;Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 64-65.

[8] René Chartrand, American Loyalist Troops 1775–84 (US: Osprey Publishing, 2008), 8, 14, 16; Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 474. Seibert talks about PA Loyalists at entrance to harbor

[9] Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 476.

[10] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 204; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists, 36; Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Vol. III (Hereford: Anthony Brothers Limited, 1907), 87, 107, 280; Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 481.

[11] "Subsistence Due the Commissioned and Non Commissioned Officers and Private Men from 25th June 1782 to the 24th of August, all days included being 61 days," August 1782, British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - DOCUMENTS, p. 8. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada; "Abstract of 61 Days Pay for the Commissioned Staff and Noncommissioned Officers and Private Men from the 25th of June to the 24th of August 1782, inclusive," August 1782, British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - DOCUMENTS, p. 9. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. This calculation comes from 2016 US dollars according to Measuring Worth.

[12] Lorenzo Sabine, The American Loyalists: Or, Biographical Sketches of Adherents to the British Crown in the War of the Revolution; Alphabetically Arranged; with a Preliminary Historical Essay (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1847), 60-61; Robert S. Allen, Loyalist Literature: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide to the Writings on the Loyalists of the American Revolution (Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited, 1982), 44. Other units created at the same time included the Roman Catholic Volunteers unit and the First Pennsylvania Loyalist Battalion/Regiment.

[13] For more see Ford, Paul Leicester, ed. Orderly Book of the “Maryland Loyalists Regiment” . . . 1778. Brooklyn: Historical Printing Club, 1891. The book is also mentioned here, here (full book), and here.

[14] Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 482; Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 65; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists (St. Stephen, N.B.: Saint Croix Printing and Publishing Co., 1893), 38. The Provencal Archives of New Brunswick, Canada adds that "one unfortunate ship, the Martha, having on board detachments of the Maryland loyalists and of de Lancey's third battalion, was wrecked on a ledge of rocks near Yarmouth, and out of 174 souls about 100 were lost. The other vessels arrived safely after a voyage of from ten to twelve days."

[15] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 62, 634; Theodore Corbett, Revolutionary Chestertown: Loyalists and Rebels on Maryland's Eastern Shore (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014), 120; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists, 43.

[16] Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 65; Sabine, The American Loyalists, 118.

[17] Maryland in Prose and Poetry: Recitations and Readings Pertaining to the State, pp 222-223.

[18] Other sources include: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution (New York: Random House, 2016, paperback), 113-114, 155, 165, 182, 204, 215; issue 68 in 1973, article in Maryland Historical Magazine by Mayer and Bachmann titled "The First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists"); Murtie Jane Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1981), 16-17; Mary K. Meyer and Virginia B. Bachman, "Genealogica Marylandia: The First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists," Maryland Historical Magazine Vol. 68, No. 2, summer 1973, 199, 209; M. Christopher New, Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution (Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1996), xi, xii, 20, 45-46, 49-51, 57-58, 63, 65, 82-83, 89-95, 100, 151, 148; Albert W. Haarmann, "The Siege of Pensacola: An Order of Battle," The Florida Historical Quarterly 44, no. 3 (1966): 193-199; Timothy James Wilson, ""Old Offenders:" Loyalists in the Lower Delmarva Peninsula, 1775-1800" (PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1998), 116, 179-180, 182-183; Richard Arthur Overfield, "Loyalists of Maryland During the American Revolution" (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1968), 207, 214-215, 234, 237-238, 243; Robert Mann, Wartime Dissent in America: A History and Anthology (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2010), 15-17; David H. White, "The Spaniards and William Augustus Bowles in Florida, 1799-1803," The Florida Historical Quarterly 54, no. 2 (1975): 145-155; Major Walter Dulany, Maryland Loyalists to General Carleton, New York 13 April 1783, PRO 30/55/10078; nd Major Walter Dulany, Maryland Loyalists to General Carleton, New York 13 April 1783, PRO 30/55/10078. Sadly I can't access this, this or this.

[sleepycap]

I think I’m gonna do a media thread for this year and just make it #mediathread2023 or something

01. Surkin - Next of Kin (2008) 02. This Place Rules (2022) 03. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish  (2022) 04. Mere Notilde - Love Is Gonna Getcha (2022)   05. DJ Shadow - The Private Press (2002)   06. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)   07. Blade Runner: Director’s Cut (1992)   08. Cure (1997)   09. HEALTH - VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR (2019)   10. Yakuza 3 Remastered (2021)   11. OutKast - Aquemini (1998)   12. Titanic (1997)   13. Sun Ra - Strange Celestial Road (1980)   14. Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)   15. Hanayo - Gift (2000)   16. Gustavo Cerati - Boscanada (1999)   17. The Prodigy - The Day is my Enemy (2015)   18. Various Artists - Ed Rec Vol. 3 (2008)   19. Memories of Murder (2003)   20. Gorillaz - Cracker Island (2023)   21. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)   22. Beck - Odelay (1996)   23. TDJ - TDJ-182 (2021)   24. Cassius - Au Rêve   25. Cassius - 15 Again (2006)   26. The Man Who Knew Too Little  (1997)   27. BP - ゴールデンBP. (Golden BP.) (1997)   28. Blow Out (1981)   29. Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)   30. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES (2023) 31. Radiohead - The Bends (1995)   32. Steven Universe Future (2019) 33. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) 34. J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid (2009) 35. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless 36. RRR (2022)   37. Madreblu - Necessità (1999)   38. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels (2013)   39. The Mask (1994) 40. Resident Evil 4 (2023)   41. Resident Evil 4 (2023)  (2nd playthrough) 42. Unbreakable (2000) 43. The Chemical Brothers - Surrender (1999) 44. No Country For Old Men (2007) 45. Goodfellas (1990) 46. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) 47. The Departed (2006) 48. Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1991) 49. Jamiroquai - Synkronized (1999)   50. Yakuza 4 Remastered (2021) 51. The Godfather Part II (1974)   52. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 53. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication (1994)   54. Fugazi - Repeater (1990)   55. Cortex - Troupeau Bleu (1975)   56. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) 57. Get Out (2017) 58. Interstellar (2014) 59. Fatboy Slim - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby (1998) 60. The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023) 61. Django Unchained (2012) 62. The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 63. Batman: Year One (1987) 64. Paths of Glory (1957) 65. Apocalypse Now (1979) 66. Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991) 67. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 68. Hypnospace Outlaw (2019) 69. Portal With RTX (2022) 70. Resident Evil 6 [Leon & Helena] (2012) 71. Quake II (1997) 72. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) 73. Stalker (1979)   74. Twin Peaks: Into the Night Demo (2023) 75. An American Werewolf in London (1981) 76. Splatoon 3 (2022) 77. Chinatown (1974) 78. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 79. The Deer Hunter (1979) 80. 100 gecs - 10,000 gecs (2023) 81. Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE (2023)  

[northoftheroad]

Recommeded reading for Dick Grayson / Robin and Nightwing

This is an updated repeat of a couple of lists with reading recommendations with Dick as Robin and Nightwing (Pre-Flashpoint) that I've made earlier. But since I wrote them as answers to asks, the posts don't have a headline, and I find that they can be easy to miss (for me, when I want to look something up...) So I thought I might as well make a new, single post of them.

The stories are in what I imagine would be an in-universe chronology. They are from all periods, ignoring that the Golden age stories and Silver/Bronze/modern age stories have at times been considered two different universes. Most of them are stories that, at the time of their publishing, were canon and in continuity. None is explicitly Elseworld, so you can certainly imagine that they have happened ;-)

To be honest, not all of these comics are examples of great storytelling. Older superhero comics, for instance, are definitely something else compared to modern comics, for better and for worse. I've picked some because they are "the first time" or significant in some way (e.g. the first time Dick was almost killed, when Bruce has to fight to keep custody, an infamous fight between Dick and Bruce, the most well-known different origin stories, panels that are often quoted); others because they have a cute or fun moment. I have also included some books that I don't like myself but are well-known.

Storytelling has changed a lot since Dick was Robin. Back in the Golden and Silver age, with very few exceptions, comics were stand-alone short stories. In later decades, it's usually arcs that span at least a couple of issues and some stories have consequences for years.

Dick has been an active team member since the 1960s, and he has arguably been at his best in some team titles, but I still don't have a lot of team books here. I find it difficult to, off the top of my head, recall any "special Dick issues".

Obviously, these are very personal preferences, and the list is based on what I've read and remembered best.

Robin the Boy Wonder. Detective Comics # 38 (The original origin story. There has been maaany more since then – I've made a list just with origin stories....) (1940).

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436-439. (An origin story where Dick spent some time at a nice orphanage before he came to Bruce.) (1989)

Robin Annual vol 2 # 4. (Another origin story, where the Gotham authorities remove Dick him from the circus, and he is put in the Gotham City's Youth Center. Not my preferred but it's well known.) (1995)

The Gauntlet. The Batman Chronicles #1. (The test before Batman let Dick start out as Robin.) (1997)

Grimm. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #149-153. (A story set when Dick is new as Robin and still uncertain about his place. For a while, he wants to leave Batman and stay in a children's underground paradise.) (2002)

Robin: Year One. (Traumatic events during Dick's first year as Robin. He was nearly beat to death by Two-Face. When Bruce said he was not permitted to continue as Robin, Dick ran away because he didn't think there was a place for him at the Manor any more.) (2001)

The case of the honest crook. Batman #5. (1941)

The Batman plays a lone hand. Batman #13. (The first time Bruce ended the Batman and Robin partnership and left Dick to take care of himself.) (1942)

Robin studies his lessons. Batman #18. (1943)

Bruce Wayne loses the guardianship of Dick Grayson. Batman #20. (1944)

Clay. Batman Black and White #6. (2014)

Don't know where, don't know when. Batman Black and White #1. (2013)

Dick Grayson, author. Batman #35. (1946)

The Clocks of Doom. Star Spangled Comics #70.

The man Batman refused to help! Star Spangled Comics #88.

A birthday for Batman. Star Spangled Comics #91.

Robin, the Boy Failure. DC #145. (Dick gets amnesia, and Bruce tries to get him to remember that he’s Robin, without telling him outright.) (1949).

The killer-dog of Gotham city. Star Spangled Comics #100. (1950)

The trial of Bruce Wayne. Batman #57. (1950)

Race of the century. DC #157. (1950)

Dick Grayson, detective. Star Spangled Comics #111. (1950)

The strange costumes of Batman. DC #165. (Dick’s first time as Batman.) (1950)

The robberies in the Batcave. DC #177. (1951)

Partner for Batman. Batman #65. (1951)

Batman II and Robin, junior. Batman #66. (1951)

The plainclothes Robin. Star Spangled Comics #112. (Batman forbids Dick from going out at as Robin; he finds creative ways to use it in other ways.) (1951)

Operation Escape. Star Spangled Comics #124. (1952)

The new team of Superman and Robin. World's Finest Comics #75. (With Batman out of commission, Robin teams up with Superman. Batman is a bit apprehensive about Dick’s joy.) (1955)

Batman, jr. DC #231. (1956)

The grown-up Boy Wonder. Batman #107. (1957)

The last days of Batman. Batman #125. (1959)

Robin's new boss. Batman #137. (Dick wants to leave Bruce and get into a new partnership. Bruce is very distraught indeed.) (1961)

Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman #156. (Batman gets PTSD after participating in an experiment and he has to hang up the cowl becuase he is endangering Robin. Doctor Simon Hurt, who became a main villain when Grant Morrison wrote Batman, is the nameless doctor in charge of the experiment.) (1963)

The Olsen-Robin team versus the Superman-Batman team. World's Finest Comics #141. (1964)

The thousand-and-one dooms of Mr Twister. The Brave and the Bold #54. (The first team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad – the first step towards the formation of the Teen Titans.) (1964)

Teen Titans: Year One. (A retelling of the origin of the Teen Titans. The original version was told in Teen Titans vol 1 #53 from 1978, the last issue of the Silver/Bronze age comic book.) (2008)

Midnight raid of the Robin gang. DC #342. (1965)

The Round-Robin death threats. DC #366-367. (1967)

Batgirl breaks up the dynamic duo. DC #369. (1967)

The Nemesis from Batman's boyhood. DC #370. (1967)

Batman! Drop dead… twice. DC #378-379. (1968)

Geometry. Superman #700. (Dick goes out as Robin on his own, against Bruce's order. Superman has to fish him up out the harbour...) (2010)

Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders. Batman #202. (1968)

Operation blindfold. Batman #204-205. (1968)

Angel… or devil. Batman #216. (1969)

Prisoners of the Immortal world. World’s Finest Comics #200. (Dick had moved to Hudson University by now. Together with Superman and a pair of brothers, he's transported to a different world.) (1971)

Daughter of the Demon. Batman #232. (First appearance of Ra's al Ghul, who kidnaps Robin from Hudson as a test to see if Batman is worthy of Talia.) (1971)

Vengeance for a cop. Batman #234-236. (1971)

Night of the Reaper. Batman #237. (1971)

Earth - the monster maker. Justice League of America #91-92. (A story with characters from both Earth-One and Earth-Two, including the adult Robin from Earth-Two who is a member of the Justice Society of America.) (1971)

How many times can a Robin die? Batman #246. (A criminal sets out to revenge himself on Batman by setting up murders of lifelike Robin dummies; since he has kidnapped the real Robin, Batman can't know if the killings are the real thing.) (1972)

The return of the Flying Grayson. Batman #250. (1973)

Color me deadly. Batman #316. (1979)

The Iron solution. DC #487. (1980)

The Man in Black wears Green. DC #493. (1980)

The Lazarus Affair (plus). Batman #331-335. (Another story with Talia and Ra's al Ghul, but also about generation gaps and slum buildings. Robin is angrily opposed to Bruce being with Talia because he doesn't trust her; he seeks out Catwoman to help.) (1981)

Yesterday's heroes. Batman #339. (1981)

To kill a legend. Detective Comics #500. (The Phantom Stranger transports Batman and Robin to a parallel Earth where they have the chance to stop that world's Joe Chill from murdering the Waynes.) (1981)

Who is Donna Troy? New Teen Titans #38. (Dick helps Donna Troy, Wonder girl, to find out where she came from. A great detective story.) (1984)

The Judas contract (when Dick becomes Nightwing). The New Teen Titans # 39-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44, Annual #3. (1984)

Nightwing Year One. Nightwing vol 2 # 101-106. (I honestly don't care much for this story, but it's good to know that it's one of several retellings of how Dick became Nightwing.) (2005)

A Little Nudge, in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special. (An alternate take on Dick leaving Robin to become Nightwing, where Bruce and Dick don’t split on hostile terms – Dick is just a bit annoyed. It is very unclear in what timeline, if any, this is supposed to fit, but I like it a lot better than the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint versions.) (2020)

Trivial Pursuits. New Teen Titans vol 2 # 32. (A nice breather, when the Titans try just to relax together. It goes as well as can be expected.) (1987)

Wrath Child. (A story from when Dick was fairly new as Nightwing.) Batman Confidential # 13-16. (2008)

Batman # 416. (First post-Crisis meeting with Jason Todd) (1988)

The Cheshire Contract. Action Comics Weekly # 613-618 (Dick helps Roy find his daughter.) (1988)

The New Titans # 55. (Dick learns about Jason's death when the Titans return to Earth after a long period in space. He goes to Bruce to talk and what follows is the infamous scene when Bruce hits Dick, says he should never have had a partner and tells Dick to leave and leave the keys with Alfred.) (1989)

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436–439. (Flashbacks with a retelling of Dick's origin, during Bruce's third year as Batman. In the "now", Dick tries to reach out to Bruce and Dick's parents' murderer is about to be set free.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61. (1990)

The New Titans # 65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Total Chaos. (In issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, New Titans and Team Titans.) (Mirage, a woman from an alternate future and who has illusion casting powers, takes the form of Starfire and sleeps with Dick, who is shamed by his team members for being unfaithful to Kory, even though this is rape. So, an important fact to know but not something I would recommend to read.) (1992)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514 and three other titles. (1994-1995)

Nightwing Alfred's Return (Kind of fun, when Dick seeks out Alfred, who left Bruce's service because Bruce wasn't taking care of himself, in London.) (1995)

Nightwing vol 1 # 1-4. (I don't love this, but it is a milestone in that it's the first Nightwing solo series, Dick momentarily decides to leave the hero business, and gets his by now classic fingerstripe suit.) (1995)

Like Riding a Bike. (Donna checks up on Dick.) The Batman Chronicles # 7. (1996)

(Nightwing vol 2 began in 1996.)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 12-16. (Batman pays a visit and Dick makes his custom made car.) (1997)

The Flash plus Nightwing. (Dick and Wally on vacation.) (1997)

Then & Now. Teen Titans vol 2 #12-15. (The original four Titan boys find themselves fighting their past selves.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Detective Comics # 725 (A heart-to-heart between Bruce and Dick.) (1998)

The Technis Imperative. JLA/Titans #1-3. (1998-1999)

The Titans (1999) # 2. (The start of a new Titans team, Dick tells Superman to give them some room.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 32–34. (Dick at the Police Academy.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 35–39. (On a mission from Batman: To take control of Blackgate Prison. Afterwards, he recuperates at Barbara's when her place is attacked.) (1999-2000)

The Titans (1999) #15–16. (The original five Titans try to work out some difficulties.) 2000.

Transference. Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11. (2000)

Nightwing vol 2 # 45-46. (The Hunt for Oracle.) (2000)

Action Comics # 771. (Nightwing and Superman hang out and work together – what's not to like!) 2000

Gods of Gotham. Wonder Woman # 164-167. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 52. (Yet another example of sexual assault when Catwoman kisses Nightwing, in an effort to make Batman jealous.) (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 54-58. (Blockbuster, Nightwing's main adversary in Blüdhaven, hires an old enemy of Dick's to deal with the vigilante: Shrike. A character from Robin Year One.) (2001)

Matatoa. Batman: Gotham Knights # 16-17. (Bruce adopts Dick.) (2001)

Who Is Troia? The Titans (1999) # 23-25. (A visit from the Titan's children from the Kingdom Come universe.). (2001)

Retribution. Batman: Gotham Knights # 20-21. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 64. (Nightwing as Santa's elf.) (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (in several titles). (Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes friction with for instance Tim. Also, a big fight between Dick and Bruce when the latter says he is going to abandon his Bruce identity.) (2002)

Nightwing vol 2 # 75. (Flashback's to Dick's early years with Bruce. Plus the first appearance of Tarantula (Catalina Flores; a controversial figure in Dick's history, she straddled the line between vigilante and villain.)) (2002)

Hush. Batman # 608–619. (# 615 for Dick, but it might be confusing only to read one issue.) (2002-2003)

The Obsidian Age. JLA vol 1 # 68-75. (The Justice League members disappear, Dick leads a new team for a few issues. In # 73, Bruce is quoted: "The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."). (2002-2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (Donna is killed. Dick is devastated and declares that the Titans are finished.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 80-83. (Deathstroke is in Blüdhaven to kill someone close to Dick. Bruce asks when he will quit the force, Dick wants to stay as a cop, but when he saves Amy Rohrbach, she recognizes that Dick is Nightwing and fires him.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 86. (Dick, forced to rest after being injured, solves crimes on America's Most Wanted and drives Barbara up the wall.) (2003)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 1 (Roy talks Dick, who dissolved the Titans after Donna's death, into leading a new team, promising they will not be a family.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 87-100. (Definitely one of the darkest periods points in Dick's life pre-Flashpoint. Tarantula breaks up him and Barbara. Blockbuster destroys his circus, his home and kills people just for talking to Dick. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and Nightwing is too exhausted to prevent it, and afterwards, he has a panic attack and she rapes him (# 93). Not necessarily something I would recommend to read, but fans discuss it a lot.) (2003-2004)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 11 (Roy is angsting about going back to the hero business after narrowly surviving being shot to death, sparring and heart-to-heart with Dick follows.) (2004)

Under the Hood. Batman # 635-641, 645-650, Annual # 25. (2004-2006)

Supergirl (2005) # 3 (Supergirl has a huuuge crush on Nightwing... ) (2005)

Silent partner. The Outsiders vol 3 # 21-23. (Dick goes ballistic when he realizes Batman has been funding the Outsiders, Roy admits Batman has been feeding him information. Only it wasn't Batman – it was Deathstroke in disguise.) (2005)

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy  # 1-4. (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 107–117. (Dick leaves Nightwing, starts working for the mob and trains Deathstroke's daughter. I think the author has some kind of resolution to the crisis Dick had gone through the last years in mind, but Infinite Crisis got in the way. Blüdhaven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.) (2005-2006)

Infinite Crisis. (DC had planned to let Dick die, he is central to the story even if he's not very visible.) (2005-2006)

Targets. Nightwing vol 2 # 125-128. (Dick hunts for a day job in New York and gets buried alive, which leads to some retrospection on his behalf. There's also fights with a guy with a weaponized armour.) (2007)

The Brave and the Bold # 15. Nightwing and Hawkman. (Deadman, inside Hawkman, says that Dick Grayson is the one guy that every crimefighter trusts.) (2007)

Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Boomerang. (It ends with Batman telling Dick: "Go back to the good fight, Dick. Leave the bad fight to us.") (2007)

Freefall. Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146. (Dick starts freefalling as a new hobby; Bruce is not pleased. And he gets a new daytime job, as a museum curator. Oh, and there's Talia al Ghul, too.) (2008)

Robin # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

Superman/Batman # 55. (Batman has got Superman’s powers while Superman loses his. When Batman starts to get out of control, Nightwing tries to stop him.)  (2009)

The Great Leap. Nightwing vol 2 # 147–151. (Two-Face wants Nightwing to save a life.) (2008-2009)

Titans (2008) # 10. (Dick leaves the Titans because he needs to go back to Gotham and "take care of my other family." (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 152-153. (That time when Ra's al Ghul called Dick detective. And Dick packed up and left New York to move back to Gotham.) (2009)

Batman # 682. (Just for the line about how Dick made colour come into their monochrome lives ;-) ) (2009)

Detective Comics # 85, Batman # 684 (Dick mourning Bruce) (2009)

The Secret Six # 9. (Some of the members of the Secret Six feel they should be the new Batman.) (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (2009)

If you don't mind reading comics that are not in the main comic universe, there are also a lot of fun reading in comic books that are tie-ins to Batman The Animated Series, and in Batman '66 which builds on the tv show from 1966. There is also Dark Victory from 1999–2000 – and tiny Dick is adorable in Batman/Scarecrow: Year One from 2005. Dick has about two panels in Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier from 2004, but I think it’s kind of worth reading just for those. 

[teableeds]

“I’ve never much cared for flying.” She admitted, swallowing hard as the plane took off. She felt the weightlessness in her stomach, churning what she managed to scarf down in preparation of this adventure. Her anxiety tended to get the better of her, and she always had a bad feeling about travel. Mankind was meant to stay in one place, if they could help it. Travel was for the adventurous sort, of which she was decidedly not. Had she been born mortal, she would have stayed in her hometown and never left its borders. Alas, she popped an anti-nausea pill into her mouth and washed it down with overpriced water. So be it.

“Really?” The young man beside her asked, his attention drawn to the window, out of which the twinkling lights of a disappearing city could be seen - and, in Cait’s mind, the inevitable cracks in the glass that would shatter and suck out all the air and kill them all. Not that she’d ever witnessed such a thing, but Lord did she worry about it. The man turned to her, his NASA mask partially muffling his voice. “I would have thought you’d be quite comfortable with it. Especially air. Your people invented flight!”

Caitlyn nodded, politely avoiding looking at him by leading through the safety papers in the pocket in front of her. “Kittyhawk, Orville brothers, yes, I know. That doesn’t change my disposition against it. I was sick watching them on their little glider and I’ve been sick ever since. How anyone can stand such a contraption without heavy medication is beyond me.” She tapped her face with her fingertips. Not clammy yet. She wouldn’t throw up. Yet. But motion sickness was only one obstacle. There’s the image of their plane obliterating itself somehow that still plagued her thoughts. Crashing into another plane, a sudden engine failure, that damned window. Safest form of travel they called it. Ridiculous. A horse and coach was the safest. But no, the world needed to be faster than a horse could run these days.

The man shrugged, resuming his amusement with the terrestrial constellations. “Even so, I appreciate your company. I was really nervous about going to this interview.”

Caitlyn made the mistake of glancing toward him. Her stomach lurched. She quickly stared at the middle aisle, trying not to throw up. “Yes, of course. I’ve been assisting your family for generations. It’s only-“ She felt bile threatening up her throat. She forced it back down. “Ah, only fair that I accompany you in this endeavor. I’ve been to this town many times. Lived here for a while in the 60s, if you can believe that. They didn’t call it Rocket City back then. Cave City, I think, was the nickname. But it’s one of the best places to use an aerospace degree these days.” She took another breath, steadying herself. “I’ll take you to Marshall Space Flight Center myself tomorrow morning. What time was your uh-“

“Ten AM.” He supplied, not giving her a moment to guess.

“Right. Thank you. We’ll get there at nine. Gate nine can be backed up something awful in the mornings.” At least, that’s what she had heard. Or read. She couldn’t recall and her head was spinning anyway. How long was it until they landed? It was an hour from Atlanta…

“Do you think they’ll like me?” He asked, turning to her. “I mean, that I’ll get the job?”

Caitlyn paused, collecting herself. Must he keep talking? She’d much prefer to suffer in silence. “I’m sure they will.” The plane tilted to adjust and Cait’s head was filled with the sound of the wings cracking off and the whole beast crashing into the ground. Keep it together, Kitty! She gripped the arm rests beside her until her knuckles turned white. “You’re qualified, you’re charismatic, and you know which football team to support.”

“Tennessee?”

She gave him a disgusted look. “No. Whichever one the interviewer has on their desk. If you make it known that you’re a Vols fan, you won’t get a job anywhere outside of Rocky Top. You keep that to yourself.” She closed her eyes, leaning back against the headrest. The plane dipped up. Her stomach did not. “How much further is it?”

The man checked his watch. “We’ve been in the air for about ten minutes.”

She tried to think of happier things. Of landing. Where the wheels won’t pop out and the plane becomes a screaming, sparking, flaming mess on the tarmac. “Christ Almighty.” She hissed. “I hate flying.”

[longitudinalwaveme]

Nitpicking Articles About Flash Rogues

Here’s some mistakes I found in Internet articles about the Rogues.

Article #1: 

1. The Rogues did not make their first appearance in Flash #130. 

It’s an understandable mistake, given that five of them are on the cover, but really the only Rogue to do anything of note was the Mirror Master. The other Rogues’ appearances were just Mirror Master’s lawyer (whom he hypnotized) impersonating them. Their actual first appearance as a group was Flash #155.

2. This one is really minor, but it’s Heat Wave, not Heatwave. 

3. I think it’s a bit misleading to say that Captain Cold is the most powerful of the Rogues. He is powerful, no doubt, but Mirror Master and Weather Wizard have a considerably broader and more versatile range of powers than he does. Pied Piper and the Top are probably also more powerful than he is. 

4. This is another minor mistake, but the party in Flash Vol.2 #19 was celebrating Captain Cold’s release from the Suicide Squad, not really his retirement. 

Article #2: 

1. I wouldn’t describe the Rainbow Raider as the least powerful of the Rogues. He’s a bit of a doofus, but his ability to manipulate both light and emotions is quite impressive and would be an extremely potent weapon in the hands of someone other than Roy. By the logic this list is using, Weather Wizard should be much lower on the list than he is. While he uses his powers more effectively than Roy usually does, he doesn’t use his powers to nearly the extent that he could if he put more effort into them. 

2.  There is NO WAY that Roscoe should be listed as the second least powerful Rogue. He’s not just a master inventor who created an atomic bomb all by himself, he’s a telekinetic telepath with super speed who can also return from the dead via possession. Surely he should at least crack the top ten. 

3. Being a contortionist is impressive. Not sure how it makes Ragdoll more powerful than Roy or Roscoe, though. 

4. Golden Glider is confusing; I’d accept her being ranked fairly low in terms of raw power if we were just looking at her Pre-Flashpoint self. But since the picture of her is from the New 52, when she gained the power of astral projection. With that power, she seems like she should be a bit higher on the list than #17. 

5. “Still, she makes the list for being an iconic villain who, when partnered with her protective older brother, turned out to be fairly competent all things considered.” Lisa was competent all on her own, thank you very much. 

6. Considering Piper has canonically blown up a planet with his flute, #16 seems quite low. Even if we disregard that feat because it was from Countdown, he’s still pulled off some really impressive feats that makes me feel like he should be a lot further up the list. 

7. “His powers are pretty insane considering their potential for assassinations and surprise attacks, but he ranks fairly low on the list because he can’t really stay a villain long enough to be effective.” This list isn’t ranking the most dangerous villains, just the most powerful ones. Reforming doesn’t make him less powerful! 

8. I really like James, and his inventing prowess shouldn’t be understated. That being said, there is NO WAY he’s more powerful than post-Flashpoint Lisa, Hartley, or Roscoe. He’s probably not even as powerful as Roy! 

9. “After being tricked into helping the demon Neron and smooth talking his way out of hell, the Trickster fully succumbed to psychosis, becoming a goofy, rambling personality, accentuated by being brainwashed by the Top.” ????? When did this happen? What are you talking about, article? 

10. “After getting his nose broken three times in the course of a day by Batwoman, Deathstroke, and Batman, Trickster sacrificed himself to save Piper. And how did Piper thank him? By dragging his body through the desert before finally cutting the hand off his corpse.” What was Piper supposed to do? He was on the run from people who wanted to kill him and he almost died! 

11. #14 seems like an appropriate slot for Cicada, all things considered. I’m still pretty sure he’s not more powerful than Roscoe or Piper, though. 

12. Double Down should not be higher on the list than Roscoe or Roy or Piper (or Trickster or Lisa or Cicada, for that matter.) 

13. Capt. Boomerang is a talented, skilled fighter. That being said, he is not more powerful than Roscoe. Or Piper. Or Roy. Or even James and Lisa, really. 

14. Heat Wave as number 11 is fine. I still don’ t think he should be higher than Roscoe or Piper, though. 

15. “Wow, the character Heat Wave has not aged well. So much so that the CW’s Arrowverse has actively kept the character from having any perceivable depth because the little intrigue there is to mine from him is from a bygone era best left in the past.” ???? Stop being mean to Mick, article. He’s a great character! 

16. Magenta as #10 is fine. In fact, I would be okay with her being a little higher, all things considered. 

17. “Long after breaking up with Wally West, Frankie Kane developed her magnetic powers quite suddenly and accidentally killed her entire family as a result. Understandably confused and terrified, she was quickly folded into Cicada’s cult where she became a lieutenant with the moniker, Magenta.” Frances’ powers developed before she even started dating Wally, let alone before she broke up with him. Also, it wasn’t like she immediately joined Cicada’s cult after Wally’s broke up with her. There was like a decade that passed between those two events, and Frances made several appearances in the intervening years. She also didn’t get her code name from Cicada. 

18. WHY IS ABRA KADABRA ONLY AT #9????

19. “Originally debuting under the moniker of Mister Element, Albert Desmond adopted his better-known name after finding the legendary Philosopher’s Stone and gained the ability to transmute materials. The problem was that Albert Desmond wasn’t actually Doctor Alchemist and never was. Turns out the entire time he was a villain, it was as an alternate personality called Alvin Desmond, who is also his celestial, astral twin. And if the concept of a split-personality metahuman who can turn one substance into another with a fantastic macguffin sounds familiar, it’s because Doctor Alchemy is basically Firestorm except as a disheveled gremlin of a villain.Though that’s fairly impressive in its own right, but his true claim to fame actually comes from the CW Flash show, where he was played by Harry Potter’s Tom Felton and reimagined as psychic entity that remembered the Flashpoint timeline that Barry had accidentally created. His power was updated from simple transmutation to metaphysically crossing timestreams, allowing him to grant super human abilities to people who had them in Flashpoint, including the CW version of Wally West. Though he’s ultimately put down by a coalition of Flash’s crew, the ability to transcend time itself basically made him a veritable god. Pity only the CW could see the character’s potential for it.” No, article. Just no. First, CW Alchemy was considerably more boring than his comic counterpart. And he’s not Dr. Alchemist, he’s Dr. Alchemy! (That being said, Dr. Alchemy deserves to at least be at #8 on the list, so I don’t really have a problem with his ranking.) They also don’t describe the Albert/Alvin situation quite right, but that’s really confusing, so I can’t really blame them for that. 

20. “Well part of it is that his main goal hasn’t changed much since his first appearance: to devolve humanity back into apes, no doubt a novelty in the early '60s, but kinda boring today. The other reason? Turns out that Grodd has failed in this endeavor at least 18 times, a failing record among Flash’s villains.” How many comics with Grodd in them has the writer of this article actually read? Because I can think of at least four storylines off the top of my head where Grodd has a goal other than turning people into gorillas. Also, the fact that he’s failed in his attempts to do this doesn’t make him any less powerful; Joker and Lex Luthor also fail in most of their schemes. It’s what comes of being a comic book villains. That being said, Grodd being #7 on the list is appropriate (although I might personally rank him a bit higher.)

21. Captain Cold is cool. I like him a lot. But even if we give him his New 52 ice powers, does he really deserve to be #6 on the list? Also, there’s no way he’s more powerful than Abra Kadabra, Dr. Alchemy, or Grodd. Or the Top. 

22. No complaints with the Mirror Masters collectively sharing the #5 spot, or with Shade being at #4. 

23. Weather Wizard is really powerful; him being in the #3 slot isn’t too inappropriate. Though I’m not sure if he’s really more powerful than Abra Kadabra (who should really have been much higher than #9). 

24. Why is Godspeed specifically at #2? True, he’s a speedster, and speedsters are VERY powerful, but there are a number of other villains with super speed who I think are faster than he is. I also would argue that he might be less powerful than Abra Kadabra, Shade, the Weather Wizard, and the Mirror Masters, given that he’s not really all that experienced with his powers. 

25. Eobard Thawne is really, really, REALLY powerful. I would argue that Abra Kadabra might be more powerful than he is, but otherwise he definitely outclasses the other villains on this list. 

26. And where’s Hunter Zolomon, anyway? He should definitely be on this list, and no lower than #2. 

[daresplaining]

    It has been a year and nine months since we last saw Mike Murdock, and a full two years since we had any actual information about his whereabouts (as his last few appearances were a dream sequence). While I, personally, haven’t let him wander far from my thoughts in that time, I recognize that some people might like a refresher, or may even be new to the character. With that in mind, I’ve put together a little Mike primer in anticipation of his long-awaited reappearance in tomorrow’s Annual. 

Silver Age Mike Murdock (Daredevil vol. 1 #25-41)

[ID: Three panels from Lee’s Daredevil run, showing Matt Murdock changing into his Mike Murdock outfit.]

Matt: “The peculiar personality of mischievous Mike really began to grab me! I enjoyed playing the role of my hip, happy, hedonistic twin! Especially since it was so easy for me to make the change from mellow Matt to merry Mike! All I need do is ruffle up my hair-- change to some loud, sporty threads-- and switch my frosted spectacles for a pair of groovy sunglasses! Then, presto-- I become the coolest cat in town-- the zingiest, glitziest loudmouth you know-- the most fun-lovin’, frantic fraud of ‘em all-- the people’s choice-- marvelous Mike Murdock in person!" 

    The abstract concept that would become Mike Murdock first appeared in Daredevil #25, halfway through Stan Lee’s run. At this point, the Daredevil universe mainly consisted of Matt and Foggy, up-and-coming young lawyers in their very first law office, and Karen, their secretary and mutual crush. This early in his superhero career, Matt is still making it up as he goes, juggling his dual identity and grappling with a bizarre series of supervillains/Spider-Man (more on that in a moment). Matt’s primary strategy for keeping his Daredevilling a secret at this time is to create a meek, boring, stick-in-the-mud civilian identity for himself, so that there’s no chance of anyone connecting straight-laced lawyer Matt Murdock with Daredevil. He resists the urge to court Karen, he over-exaggerates his blindness, and he lives for the times when he can toss aside his civvies and let loose as Daredevil. 

    Into this situation swings Spider-Man, who accidentally reveals to Karen and Foggy that he believes Matt to be Daredevil. Matt is as yet inexperienced at dealing with secret identity slip-ups, and when his friends confront him, he tries to throw them off the trail by inventing another identity: Mike Murdock, his hip, loud-mouthed superhero twin brother. And it works... almost too well. Matt loves being Mike, and his “twin” quickly turns into an outlet for everything he has been suppressing in his Matt Murdock identity. He is loud and boisterous in the office, he flirts with Karen, he revels in bragging about his exploits as Daredevil. Mike becomes a coping mechanism, a source of freedom, a relief from all of the stifling secret-keeping, and a glimpse of the person Matt maybe wants to be. He even considers proposing to Karen as Mike and taking on that identity permanently. Eventually, though, the charade turns sour. Karen and Foggy grow fond of Mike and become increasingly upset by Matt’s blasé attitude about his brother’s dangerous superhero life. Finally, Matt decides it would be best to kill Mike off, and he fakes his “twin brother”’s heroic death during a supervillain fight. 

“Fragment” Mike Murdock (Daredevil vol. 5 #606-608)

[ID: Panels from Soule’s Daredevil run. Foggy is sitting at his desk, having a gun pointed at him by Mike Murdock.]

Foggy: “That is... correct. How did you...?”

Mike: “Because I ain’t him. I’m me. And now, Foggy... you need to call my brother.”

    Fifty years (our time) later, the Daredevil landscape looks very different. While Matt occasionally uses the “Mike Murdock” alias to go undercover, putting on that actual identity has never again been necessary. The stifling act he once wore as Matt Murdock is long gone, and he views the Mike period of his life as nothing more than a slight embarrassment. In an attempt to take down the Kingpin, he teams up with a group of Inhumans, one of whom has the power to bring words to life. While going through some of Matt’s files, this Inhuman stumbles upon some text about Matt’s fake twin brother, and accidentally uses his powers.  

    What follows is a psychological, philosophical rollercoaster. Mike Murdock materializes as something dubbed within the story as a “fragment”-- a person who believes themself to be real, who has memories of a lived past, who looks and sounds and behaves like a normal human, but... isn’t. This Mike is very much the same flirty loudmouth that Matt dreamed up in the 60s, while also being his own person, with characteristics and a “past” that don’t quite match up with the Mike we know. Matt is weirded-out and horrified to be confronted by this living, breathing embodiment of a fake identity he created, someone who fully believes himself to be his brother, and Mike is equally horrified to discover that he is fake, that his memories and relationship with his brother are fake, and that everything he thought he knew is wrong. Matt becomes determined to have Mike deleted back out of existence, and when Mike realizes this, he fights back, desperate to stay alive. In the end, Matt comes to accept Mike’s humanity and opens himself up to the possibility of having a new family member, but not before Mike becomes convinced that his brother wants him dead. He flees to the protection of the Kingpin, and the last we see of him, he is walking away with the Hood toward a dangerous and uncertain future. 

    The strangeness of Mike as a character and the massive change he presents to the Daredevil status quo mean that his continuing existence is full of exciting and unpredictable possibilities. The preview for the Daredevil volume 6 Annual, which will bring him back after his two-year absence, suggests that we will be getting a glimpse into his memories-- the fake version of Daredevil history that exists inside his head, in which Matt Murdock has always had a brother-- and that he will be seeking to reconcile the dissonance between those memories and the real world. What might happen from there is, at the moment, anyone’s guess.

[ickeyandmian]

On Ian’s Reading Choices and His State of Mind in Prison

Okay so I don’t know if this has been covered already but I was curious about what books Ian was reading in prison and how this relates to his character so I’ve spent more time than I probably should have trying to compile a list based on one blurry screenshot.

This information serves no purpose really and idk most of these books were probably randomly picked up by the props department but it’s still fun to read into!

I think it’s safe to say that the prison library probably hasn’t had any new material for a while so we’ll assume that these aren’t all necessarily books that Ian would choose to read in normal circumstances and has picked them up simply to pass the time (but who knows, maybe the guy’s super into romantic fantasy).

I have not read any of these so I’m literally reading multiple books by their covers but whatever. Here’s some pointless half thought out meta based on what Ian read in prison, enjoy!

Detailed thoughts at the end but from top to bottom, left to right we have:

1. Knight of Darkness - Kinley MacGregor (2006)

This is volume 2 of a fantasy romance series (have you read vol. 1 Ian? U following the story okay?)

2. Circumpolar! - Richard A. Lupoff (1985)

Pulp Fiction sci-fi fantasy action fun according to google!

3. Fifth Planet - Fred Hoyle & Geoffrey Hoyle (1963)

4. A for Andromena - Fred Hoyle & John Elliot (1962)

Some 60s science fiction thrown into the mix

5. The Bard of Sorcery - Gerard Houarner (1986)

Another Fantasy novel. Well who can blame him, dude’s in prison.

6. Demon 4 - David Mace (1986)

Set in a fictitious WWIII, dealing with disarming a nuclear bomb. Maybe it appealed to Ian’s old military leanings.

7. Damiano’s Lute - R. A. Macavoy (1984)

Another romantic fantasy sequel. How likely is it for prisons to have complete series’? Did Ian read the first volume and like it so much he picked up the sequel? Questions that haunt me at night.

Interestingly, in the synopsis we learn that ‘Damiano Delstrego has forsaken his magical heritage to live as a mortal man’ and I may be reaching but you can tie links between that and Mickey giving up his freedom to be with Ian in prison...

8. A Lonely Planet Travel guide for Cambodia (1992)

I have no idea what the significance of Cambodia is. Maybe Ian is simply fantasizing of being able to go on vacation with Mickey 😭. Perhaps ties into the whole escapism theme there seems to be with this selection of books

9. Out to Canaan - Jan Karon (1997)

This seems like a kind of slice of life, easy read type book. A bit of realism in amongst all the fantasy and sci-fi.

10. Science and Human Behavior - B. F. Skinner (1953)

This is an interesting one. Maybe Ian was trying to understand why Mickey shits at the same time everyday who knows.

Jokes aside, there’s some interesting excepts, notably on severe punishment and it’s effects on human behaviour, possibly a very interesting read for someone serving time.

11. Prisoners of Our Thoughts - Alex Pattakos (2008)

Another non fiction and another fascinating addition in terms of Ian’s character. This book takes the teachings of Victor Frankl and deals with the psychology of finding meaning in your life (something which Ian has often struggled with).

A significant quote being ‘everything can be taken from a man but the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances’

Let’s remember that in season 6, Ian lost his purpose for being entirely, he had no ambitions, no career, no Mickey (😔) but he found his purpose again when he became an EMT, a job which is perfect for someone like Ian who has proven time and time again that all he really wants is to help people. Now, significantly, he’s lost that job and with it that sense of purpose he’d gained. As someone with bipolar disorder, this could have potentially affected him significantly, so for him to choose to read a book like this is a nice insight to his character and I love to see evidence of him doing something positive to take care of his mental well being while in prison.

12. The Holy Bible

Such a minuscule reference to Ian’s Gay Jesus phase, I actually love that they included this though. So by now Ian probably recognizes that he went a little out of control but, idk he went full ham on the bible stuff, and maybe he got some comfort out of some of the verses in there, so it’s cool that he keeps a bible around as part of that storyline.

13. Another bible

(Ian, u good?)

14. Peace like a River - Leif Enger (2001)

The synopsis describes an ‘unusual family’ in search of their ‘fugitive older brother’. I imagine the actual story itself probably has no parallels with Ian’s story but that line stuck out for me.

Also ‘peace like a river’ is a phrase taken from the bible, so that ties in with Ian’s spirituality again. Maybe he recognised the phrase from memorising verses so the book caught his eye.

15. The very last one I’m struggling to decipher, it looks old, probably a classic from the style of the binding. It might be Othello but I can’t get a clear shot to read the title, hopefully someone else might have some clue.

*

So what does it all mean? I hear no one asking.

While they might seem random, I think we see a lot of Ian’s character in these books.

The sheer amount of fantasy and sci-fi here is quite telling. I think it’s clearly a form of escapism for Ian, he’s trapped in a tiny cell (albeit with the love his life but it’s still fucking tiny in there okay) he’s gonna need some light-hearted adventure somehow.

He’s a guy with a lot of energy, a huge savior complex who just wants to do good. He’s tough, he’s a fighter, but he also has a softer side to him, a gentle nature so I think the romantic fantasy genre is a perfect fit for his character. Maybe there’s a bit of wish fulfillment there as well since watching your bf use the bathroom every night is hardly the most romantic scenario (sorry Mickey).

The non fiction choices are probably my favourite indicators of Ian’s character. I think we learn a lot about him from those choices there; his remaining spirituality, his state of mind, his hopes for the future, his curiosity. I just love the thought of Ian reading travel guides, hoping to one day see more of the world idk. And him reading books on psychology in the hopes of understanding himself and his mind better? We love to see it 👏👏👏

All in all, I think they’re a good fit for him, and I hope he enjoyed reading them!

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this!