#zorro takeover

[volnixian]

(@sneasedtomeetyou) Hi Zorro! What's going on right now with you?

nikusu hino desu

[inafieldofdaisies]

WIP Whenever (not me thinking yesterday wasn't Wednesday for a good chunk of it and then being too drained to post... just pretend I ain't late) | Tagged by @direwombat @adelaidedrubman and @nightbloodbix ❤️

I'm coming with Calahan and Mary May POVs for this week's check-in. All the feels, for sure. 💔

Light streamed into the living room of Mary May's place on the second floor of the Spread Eagle, making Calahan change positions and bury his face in the couch cushions in an attempt to get a couple of extra minutes of rest. The previous night, he had sneaked back into the bar with Leslie for a celebratory drink after they had successfully gotten Zorro and his clothes out of his Peggie infested cabin. Once they had parted ways, he had climbed upstairs as quietly as he could and crashed on the couch without a much craved shower, knowing Mary May would be out cold at the late hour and wouldn’t appreciate him barging into her bedroom unannounced. The first thing he heard that early morning as he did his hardest to stay asleep were her footsteps as she left her room and headed for the small kitchen. She was humming under her breath as she made coffee, the scent carrying over to him and teasing his senses. A few minutes later, a cup was placed at the coffee table next to him, and he could feel Mary May looming over the couch. When she didn't move, he reluctantly turned and looked at her with blurry eyes, "Is it an emergency?" He took a second to take in her messy blond hair and oversized t-shirt, ignoring the slightly annoyed look on her face. "Good morning to you, too, Rookie.", she rolled her eyes at his impatient tone before moving back to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. "I could feel you staring, you know.", he retorted and threw a hand over his eyes, deciding he would lay down a little bit longer seeing how for the past few days he had been running around the Valley on so many errands and barely getting any sleep. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, I was making sure you were still breathing. Can't have the Resistance lose its leader." Calahan let out a laugh at her dodging his flirting yet again, "Whatever you say, gorgeous."

Mary May took a seat on the small kitchen table that only had two chairs thanks to the tiny space she was using as living quarters. She bit into a piece of toast before asking, "So how did it go with John's doppelganger? What trouble did you get him into?" "He's got potential, that's for sure. Helped me get my shit from the cabin, and we had fun doing it. Remind me to have a word with Sabrina for hiding him." "And did "your shit" also include a certain raccoon?", she raised an eyebrow. Calahan peeked over the back of the couch, sending a smile her way that usually worked in convincing people to see things his way. With Mary May, sadly, all his tactics seemed to have the opposite effect usually. "Zorro will be on his best behavior, I promise. You won't even notice he's around. Plus… he gives mean foot rubs." "Rookie.", disbelief seeped into her tone. "Fine. The foot rubs were a lie. Though, I can take up on that task." "You ain't coming anywhere near my feet, Rookie." "Your loss. And Zorro?" "You really love gettin' on my nerves early in the morning." Calahan gestured around her living room, "He won't take up much of your space and he will be out with me, anyway." Mary May let out a laugh, the first sign he was getting somewhere, "It's like you're trying to sell me a piece of furniture." "I couldn't leave him behind, gorgeous. He's my son." A huff escaped her, probably at the pout he followed his words with, "He's a raccoon."

"Still my son. He was defending the cabin, you know. Costed one Peggie a finger. Scared the life out of Leslie, too, to the point he tried to flee the room like a bat out of hell. It was hilarious.", he couldn't help the proud smile that emerged at the memory. His words piqued her interest, "Did he now?" "Told you I was teaching him tricks before Joseph's takeover. He is one of us, just stuck in a raccoon body, unable to talk." Mary May rolled her eyes before saying, "Fine. He can stay. Just… keep "your son" in check. I find something in here destroyed, he gets the boot." "You love him, you just don't want to admit it. Thank you.", he blew a kiss her way before lying back down and shifting his gaze up to the ceiling as his mind ran over the potential tasks he could take on next. He was dying to take a drive and check up on Hurk and Sharky, knowing the two were probably in the deep with the cult, but he knew chances were less capable of taking care of themselves people needed his help in the Valley. "Have him scratch a Seed's eye out or something, and I might start to like him." Silence took over as Mary May finished her breakfast while Calahan closed his eyes, set on enjoying the precious minutes of peace, knowing with the County on lockdown that never truly lasted. Eventually, she got up and walked to the couch, her arms came to rest on the back as she leaned over to look at Hartley. "You're staring again.", he muttered before cracking one eye open and meeting her baby blues, "Not that I mind." "Whatever you say, Sleeping Beauty. It's rare that you shut up, forgive me for thinking you had fallen asleep on me." "Sleeping Beauty, huh? There's a proven method to wake me up then, gorgeous." "You say, 'a kiss', I'm banning you from the bar for a week, Rookie." "You're no fun.", he stuck out his tongue, before asking, "So… why did you need me awake?"

Mary May took a deep breath, for once looking uncertain, "I know you have enough on your plate as is and I don't want to join in with all the folks asking you for help…" Calahan rose up to a sitting position that brought him on the same eye level as her when he said in a serious tone, "Whatever you need, just ask." He was well aware only inches separated them to the point he could start counting the freckles scattered across her nose and she seemed to have realized the same thing as her gaze darted to his lips for a second. It happened so quick he could have missed it if he had blinked, but he didn't. You like me, Angel. Too bad you refuse to admit it, let alone act on it. But in a way Calahan was glad about her faking disinterest. He told himself it was for the best, that it would be an unwanted complication in the middle of a holy war, that the last thing he needed was to fall for anyone and he was certain with her it would be unavoidable and as natural as breathing. The biggest trouble I can ever get myself into. He had wholeheartedly expected Mary May to pull back and put more space between them, but as the seconds ticked by, she remained glued to the spot with an unreadable expression on her face. She finally cleared her throat, "I was wondering if you'd help get the Widowmaker back." "Your daddy's truck?" Mary May nodded, sadness swimming in her eyes, "John had his men steal it. And as you know, I was too "preoccupied" to chase after them.", a frown appeared as she added, "Bastard doesn't know how to keep his hands off my things, does he?" "We're getting it back, gorgeous. And the next thing of his I fuck up, you bet would be dedicated to you." A small smile that pulled at his heart erased the scowl, "Can I come with?" "Like you even have to ask me that.", Calahan booped her nose and got up, heading for the bathroom as he called out, "I'm going to put a word out, find where they're keeping the truck."

Mary May watched Hartley disappear into her bedroom and stayed put until she heard the bathroom door close behind him. The second it did, she took it as a sign to move and entered the room, trying to ignore the sound of the running water and the visuals that threatened to appear in her mind. She quickly changed into a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, wanting to not waste too much time in case Calahan decided to cut his shower short. She couldn't deny for some reason it had taken her a more than the usual amount of willpower to stop staring at his bare chest as he slept on her couch that morning. The fact he had called her lingering gaze out didn't help matters. Should tell him to find a new place to sleep at or at least shower elsewhere. Definitely to stop walking around shirtless and promise I'd throw him out otherwise. Yeah, he'd have a field day hearing that one. Mary May immediately hated the idea of making him leave, she had grown used to having his presense around the bar and how he was always willing to try to make her crack a smile or offer a distraction from the headaches John Seed was causing her. Calahan Hartley was a ball of chaos, but also a breath of fresh air and a helping hand to anyone that needed assistance at dealing with the cult. Days back John had spared no resources in taking over Fall's End, finally succeeding at closing down the Spread Eagle with her en route back to his bunker, to the hell she had barely escaped last time.

Or so the bastard thought. The victory hadn't lasted long. Just until Hartley had barelled into town in no other than a stolen Peggie truck and wipped out John's men like nobody's business. Then he had rushed at her with worry in his eyes, curse words directed at the youngest Seed spilling out of his mouth as he had cut her free. "Are you hurt, Mary May? 'Cause I swear to God, John won't know what's coming for him… I ain't losing anyone else.", he had asked while he examined her all over, his tone dead serious, promising of good old trouble headed John's way. As she, Calahan and Jerome had pried away the boards nailed to one of the only things her father had left her: the bar and reopened it, Mary May had been the first to offer the Deputy a place to stay when he needed it, feeling like it was the least she could do as a thank you for helping her keep her promise and her old man's wish alive. Off-key singing pulled her out of the memory and she found herself biting back a smile at the idea that the man that was rapidly turning into the Project's number one enemy and had somehow ended up leading a resistance against it, was currently showering in her very bathroom and acting like anything but a vicious vigilante. Not all heroes wear capes, alright. Some work as deputies that have broken more laws than the people they arrest and own a raccoon they consider a son. She quickly exited the bedroom and strode downstairs, set on preparing the bar for the day and putting any thoughts of Hartley at the back burner, where they belonged.

The first thing to greet her were small feet scurrying off across the wooden floors that made her release a sigh before she called out, "Zorro." Initially the name had no effect until seconds later when a head poked out from behind the bar and "Calahan's son" rushed at her, wrapping his paws around her leg in what his owner deemed as "greeting". "Morning to you, too, boy.", Mary May muttered as she stared down at the raccoon, then pointed towards the stairs, "Up to your father you go now. I have to open the bar. Can't have you chasing off paying customers." The raccoon made no move, dark gaze trained on her face, forcing her to repeat more sternly, "Up, Zorro." At the command Zorro finally sprung into action, waddling over to the stairs and sneaking a look her way to see if she was following as he began to climb up. He got half of the way and stopped, making Mary May shake her head, "What? Want me to come too? Fine. Guess I do need to open the door for you. Maybe he should teach you how to do that." The second her boots hit the first step, the raccoon resumed his ascend. "Bit off a Peggie's finger, did ya now?", Zorro's ears perked up as if he understood her words, "Good job.", then she frowned, "And I'm talking to a raccoon. Your daddy is rubbing off on me, Zorro." She pushed open the door that separated the downstairs area and her living quaters and followed him inside at the exact moment Calahan chose to emerge from her bedroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist as he dried off his hair with another.

"Jesus, Rookie.", the words left her before she could stop them, winning a laugh out of him. "Thought you headed down. Sorry.", Hartley explained sheepishly, while his smug smile was anything but apologetic and only widening at the fact she was most definitely gawking and yet to get anything else out, "Enjoying the view, gorgeous? For the record, I don't blame you for coming back for more." Pull yourself together. Mary May returned her narrowed gaze back to his face, and after a final look at him, she twirled around and said, "Make sure your son behaves." The door cut off his throaty laughter while she took the stairs two at a time and tried her hardest to stop her mind from wandering into a dangerous territory, of wondering what the small tattoo above his hip spelled. Sure as hell ain't asking him. He won't let me live that one down. Back down in the bar, she made it her mission to exorcize him from her thoughts, focusing on taking down the chairs and making sure everything was in place for opening and when she ran out of tasks to keep her preoccupied, she moved onto the small kitchen, arranging whatever Casey had left out of place. Mary May frowned at the knowledge her only employee was no doubt going to be late, that she had nobody to distract her with small talk.

She was used to Calahan's advances, to his casual flirting, had gotten pretty good at ignoring it all and having an array of reasons why she had to do it. Yet as the months passed and he stuck around, the list with reminders of why getting involved with him was out of the question had suddenly started to become shorter. She was starting to forget. To yearn. It was the worst idea to harbor. Especially now that everything had gone to shit. Maybe I should send him to sleep at the church… make him Jerome's problem. Then she'd be all alone again. Left to dwell on the past, on everything she had lost and regretted. Or she could continue laughing at Calahan's jokes. Have his devilish blue eyes be the first thing she saw each morning. Yes, keeping him around for the time being sounded like the better option. A car engine cut off outside, followed by the jiggle of the bell above the bar's entrance that made her poke her head in through the serving hatch of the kitchen, "We're not open yet." Her breath hitched for a second as her eyes settled on the person that had entered.

Phantom pain shooting across her chest inevitably came next, just like it had with his surprising arrival the day before. It was almost as strong as it had been in that awful moment she had found herself in John Seed's chair, teary eyes staring at him bathed in red hues, her blood becoming one with the room when he made true on his promises of immeasurable pain. Her hopeless screams filling the dead silence, drowning out his patient voice as the realization nobody would come for her sank in. She could still hear his sick reassurances how she had made the right choice by finally "saying Yes" after hours of torture, that the fact she had confessed her "sins" meant she was a step closer to his precious Eden. The twisted delight in his blue gaze still haunted her. The memory lingered just like the crude scar he had left he with. Seeing Hudson on screen anytime she turned on the TVs in the bar only reopened her old wounds. You're still standing. Free. Alive. The bar is open. He hasn't won. And never will. "Morning, Mary May. Should I come back then? Figured I could catch up with Cal before he runs off somewhere.", the apologetic tone and genuine smile were a quick reminder she wasn't facing the man that had made it his job to destroy everything she held dear. Not that she would ever actually confuse the two, but she had to admit the resemblance was quite jarring and she'd need time to get used to not wincing at the sight of his face.

"Ah, now, as the owner of this fine establishment, I can always make an exception, Detective. Anything to drink?" Leslie shook his head as he pulled out one of the chairs at the bar and sat down. "Still not at the stage where I'm morning drinking." "Stick around some more, and you'd get there, Les. It's a rite of passage for anyone settling down in the County ever since the Seeds came along.", Mary May retorted as she exited the kitchenette and slipped into her usual spot. Gary Fairgrave used to have those days where he'd throw back a glass of bourbon while cursing the Project to hell and back before heading off towards the bar after bidding her and her mother a goodbye. "I knew that family was rotten down to the root from the moment they got here. Shit smells like shit, no matter how much french perfume you spray on it.", it was what her old man used to say, taking pride in how his gut instinct had been right about the Seeds. Years later, she was the only one left from the Fairgraves to carry on his legacy and keep the deep-seated hate alive. Leslie gave her a sad smile, seeming at struggle with his own demons, "It all feels like a nightmare, yet my alarm for work is yet to ring and wake me up." A grimace pulled at her features, and her hands set back to straightening the pile of glass coasters at the bar, ignoring how many of them had Calahan's phone number on them, "Wish I could say things would get better…"

"Hope.", Leslie muttered with a strange look. "Hm?", she couldn't help her bitter laugh. "It's what we always have left. Hope. Sabrina would always tell me that. Tell it to any worried family we had to meet with." His words made her release a sigh, "You two are going to find her." Yet a part of her worried. That John had his claws deep into the bright-eyed Deputy. That Calahan was wrong about Sabrina's unwavering conviction. That maybe she had been a traitor all along, and all of them had just failed to see it. Whistling carried from the stairs accompanied by Calahan taking the steps quickly, and in record time, he was at Leslie's side. "My new partner returns.", he exclaimed in a greeting before playfully slapping his back and taking the seat next to him. "Come on, my boy.", Hartley reached down and picked up Zorro from the ground. "Chairs are for paying-" "-customers.", he finished her complaint as he set the raccoon down in one of the empty chairs, "Come on, gorgeous, how can you turn down such a cute face?" Mary May frowned at his puppy dog eyes and the fact they were working. A little. "Doesn't change the fact he's an animal." "A member of the Resistance. And… I was talking about myself." "You ain't cute, Rookie."

Leslie choked back a laugh as Calahan rubbed at his chest, groaning in pain for good measure, "One day, you're gonna realize what you're missing, gorgeous. And I won't be looking for payback for these insults. Too much." He sent a wink her way before clicking his tongue at Zorro in a signal, then turning to Leslie, "Shall we go then, partner? See what plans of John's we can sabotage?" The detective was the first to get up, followed by no other than Calahan's son on the way to the door. Hartley remained seated as he regarded her with a heated expression before leaning over the bar the same way he had earlier that morning and whispering, "I will see to locating what you need me to find. Try not to think about me too much while I'm gone." All she could seem to do was exhale and then involuntary inhale his scent while his baby blues stayed glued to hers. "Thank you for breakfast, by the way. I sure can get used to it." "You gonna start paying me rent, Rookie?", she finally managed to croak out, adding, "For two preferably." Calahan ignored her words and the fact he had someone waiting on him and observing the whole thing, "Can you feel this?" "Hmm?", she gave him a confused look, refusing to back away first and prove that he was getting to her. "How good we could be… if only you weren't so damn stubborn." He moved back, finally putting space between them again and with another wink was gone. Mary May stared at the door, willing for the pesky longing to go away and refusing to admit how for a second, it felt like he had taken all the oxygen from the room with him.

Tagging @clicheantagonist @josephseedismyfather @socially-awkward-skeleton @thesingularityseries @detectivelokis @aceghosts @madparadoxum @chazz-anova @theelderhazelnut @purplehairsecretlair @dumbassdep @shegetsburned @poisonedtruth @cassietrn @voidika @harmonyowl @v0idbuggy @strangefable @schoute @jacobsneed @strafethesesinners @g0dspeeed @trench-rot @nightwingshero @josephslittledeputy @euryalex @florbelles @neonneurons @simplegenius042 @vampireninjabunnies-blog and anyone with something to share ❤️

[ttoca]

1. Hua Tuo and Zang Ba

The travelling healer and the daring outlaw

Hua Tuo is a practitioner of medical properties and sciences of great patience and care who's experiments with early anaesthesia pioneer a new age of healing in China. Carrying a near-countless range herbs and oils on his person and writing on the go, he's a walking hospital in himself which nearly every warlord in the land wants solely on their side. Having been born in Pei, Hua Tuo begins work at Cao Cao's homestead, working with Bian Yuexiang and Wei Zi to collect his findings and help the less fortunate. As Cao Cao's influence grows, he remains Hua Tuo's patron but Hua Tuo himself becomes conflicted about aiding a man whose ambitions are in danger of growing out of control.

Zang Ba is fast becoming a legend throughout the mainland. Having broken his own father out of prison, Zang Ba assembles a band of renegades to rob from the rich and give to the poor, overthrowing corrupt officials and secretly aiding the interests of men they consider good and true. Settling in Xu Province, he initially makes an enemy of the invading Cao Cao. However, as quickly as they become enemies, Zang Ba agrees to aid Cao Cao's imperilled family when they're held prisoner and the ambitious but gallant warlord will come to owe Zang Ba a great deal.

2. All three of these men come to hold high positions in the court of Emperor Xian of Han. Yang Biao of the distinguished Hongnong Yang clan is one of the few fundamentally loyal and dedicated ministers left in the chaos of the Han court after Dong Zhuo's takeover and the fall of Chang'an. Dong Cheng, in stark contrast, is the last of the Dong clan, the clan of Emperor Ling's mother, and will part with what power that grants him over his dead body...or anyone else's. Violent, foul-tempered, suspicious and greedy, he is truly a picture of how far the Han have fallen after years of weak and unsuspecting Emperors. Zhao Nan, the oddball of the court, is the head of a secret society of esoteric practices, boasting the powers of soothsaying and prognostication, foreseeing a future for the young Emperor if his advice is heeded. Behind all the glamour and tricks, however, he's an avaricious confidence-trickster whose associates create any futures he predicts. What do all these men have in common? They're all in Cao Cao's way.

Hua Tuo I've already illustrated in the Mystics Group Page but for Zang Ba, I wanted to make him stand out from the average noble-hearted bandit so I gave him a full-on Robin Hood/Zorro vibe. He flies in via handy rope whenever he's needed and speaks in third-person. He's a lot of fun.

The three Han Ministers I had fun designing.

Yang Biao's beard I tried to model off the busts of Ancient Greek philosophers, sort of referencing his sagely but highly rigid conduct. Dong Cheng I hope I'm not making too similar to Dou Wu even if they occupy similar roles. Zhao Nan, I just all out with. In the Romance he's called Zhao Yan but there are at least two other Zhao Yan's so I changed the name slightly. In case you're wondering, his nose doesn't grow longer with each lie but it is meant to highlight his untrustworthy nature. The green beads between his fingers are meant to spell out 'Joy - Younger Son - Heaven', signifying a good future for Emperor Xian, the younger son of the previous Emperor.

[dhickey389]

What is coming to Netflix in November 2022?

What is coming to Netflix in November 2022?

A new month means one thing. There’s a brand-new Netflix lineup now hitting the streaming service. Below is a full listing of everything coming to Netflix in November 2022: November 1 Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 6  The Takeover — Netflix Film Attack on Finland The Bad Guys The Bodyguard Dennis the Menace Dolphin Tale Key & Peele: Seasons 1-3 The Legend of Zorro The Little Rascals The…

[d0ntw0rrybehappy]

lol @ a dedicated team of mathematicians and scientists finally cracking the second zodiac killer cipher in 2020 only to discover that, like the last one, he is just run-of-the-mill insane, going on about taking slaves to the afterlife or whatever, and just happens to be brilliant at writing ciphers. like the real lesson here is a deeply troubled man attempting a zorro-like takeover of the press thru lurid taboo acts & statements and repetitious symbolic imagery (sound familiar) and the complete failure of law enforcement to apprehend him while he becomes widely publicized as he wished

[littleeyesofpallas]

I don’t usually dwell on American cape comic shenanigans too much, because it’s a fast and loose kind of writing that doesn’t really play well with being scrutinized or really thought about at all, at least any longer than it takes to get through a page, but man... this whole Tynion IV Batman thing is still rubbing me the wrong way...  and what bugs me is how it’s definitely not all “bad,” and in fact a lot of the build up is great, but then the resolutions (or lack there of) are massive let downs, but then also he keeps skirting by with these loose ends that feel like they weren’t forgotten but that they might get picked up later.  It would almost suggest he has a real big picture planned as a through line across multiple stories...

So, when Tynion took over with issue 86 and Their Dark Designs, he actually provided a great premise: In the aftermath of City of Bane and Alfred Pennyworth’s death, Bruce muses over his apparent old habit of sketching himself little snapshots of an idealized Gotham he holds in his head.  We have a clear establishment of the theme of Design, and also the idea that Bruce has an end game in mind.  He’s not just reacting to crime as it happens, he has a long term plan.  This is a genuinely good angle to have for a Batman story.

To build on this, we learn that Lucius is working on some new tech for Bruce and he specifically marvels at how far Bruce’s war on crime has escalated.  The bat-gear hasn’t just been getting more sophisticated over the years, its development is beginning to outpace its practical applications.

Additionally, we get a weird kind of distraction of a B-plot with various master assassins convening in Gotham under a singular organized job, but among them the spotlight falls on Deathstroke.  Does Tynion talk about Deathstroke being one of the classic anti-batmen?  Does he talk about Deathstroke’s healing factor?  No.  He talks about Deathstroke’s augmented brain processing faster than Bruce can keep up with (a trait most authors tend to overlook with Slade); this means his only means of competing with Slade is to have a plan that puts him down before his super fast brain can think of a way out, because implicitly he will out think Batman given time, and if they’re both whittled down to adapting to one another in the moment, Slade wins.

Again, our theme is Master plans/Designs/end games.

Enter the heretofore unmentioned legendary, nigh mythical, Gotham villain named The Designer has reemerged after an indistinct time missing from the criminal underworld.  His claim to fame is planning 20 steps ahead, outpacing his adversary’s planning to snub any and all resistance utterly and completely.  

He’s brought up because he once mentored Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Joker in their early days(and in their 90s era outfits as a clever reference) and apparently the master plans he devised with each of them that were never enacted have been queued up by “someone.”  Designer is back, but he’s supposed to be dead; In a painfully uninteresting, cliche “twist” Joker was too KuHrAaZzY to handle and Designer turned on him rather than finish his tutelage, and in the ensuing firefight the 4 Gotham rogues killed the legendary Designer.

So, there are a lot of fun questions this raises, like who the apparent new Designer is, what his plan is, and what he wants...

Bruce has another run in with Slade and launches into an awkward, kinda whiny rant where he tells Slade that if only super villains hadn’t wasted so much of his time escalating the arms race of powers and gadgets and gimmicks, that he could have fixed Gotham years ago.  So, here we are again, this idea of plans, of reactionary escalation, and of the absolute need for a master plan that snubs the opposition before they can react and learn.  Batman beats Slade, of course, which just goes to show what we’re always meant to assume from Batman anyway, that he already had Slade beat from the get go.  He had a plan; Batman always has a plan.

So this is super cool!  It took us kind of a plodding 6 out of 9 issues of this story to get here, but this is a good place!  We know Batman has a master plan for Gotham, we know from what we’ve heard about plans/Designs as a theme that means he’s already got all his villains accounted for, and that he’s just going through the motions: turning the wheels to make the machine work.  It’s only a matter of time, now.

I’ll be honest, my thought at first when I was reading these?  I thought The Designer was Batman, or some part of Batman’s plan.  That he’d resurrected this mythical villain as part of his own master plan, to perhaps trick all his biggest adversaries to go all in on a singular massive criminal enterprise that Bruce had already designed from the get go to fail, and to take them all down with it once and for all.  It fit the profiles, and it felt like the natural direction this all was headed...

But then it was just The Joker.  Designer really was dead, Joker brought him back, stole his master plan and pulled it off himself.  He stole Batman’s money and gadgets, and took over Gotham (again).  That’s it.  It was a 9 issue/4 month long fucking prologue to Joker War.  And more importantly... NONE of these themes paid off, even a little...  And to be fair, if these had turned into something to be addressed and resolved in Joker War, I might have been okay with it...  But they weren’t...

Also there’s a (would be)great little moment towards the end here where we learn that The Designer’s original nemesis, a master detective whom he crushed and humiliated, once taught Bruce “how to lose.”  And this went nowhere.  But it could have been super interesting, because what exactly does that even mean?  Does it mean learning to accept loss and move on?  Does it mean letting the opponent’s plan succeed because if they put everything into the one plan, then it means they never actually had a follow through, so now the board is wiped clean and everyone’s back to square 1?  What exactly was the point of bringing back the Designer’s legacy if we just learned that the real Designer wasn’t even the master mind of this whole story?

So then we meander into Joker War, curiosity still piqued, but expectations drastically lowered...

Joker has all Batman’s gadgets: that’s actually kind of cool.  I like the idea of Joker having infinite resources and Batman being the one working underground.  It’s kind of been done before in pieces, but never quite as explicit as this.  It’s not genius, but its a solid premise.  Joker goes on a meta-rant about people watching “the classics” over and over, and audiences being content to see the same old story, provided it’s done right.  (A bold called shot, Tynion.)  

And we glimpse the mysterious future Batsuit that apparently Bruce doesn’t remember designing.  It’s kind of a throwback to the gray and blue look of the silver age Batman, when comics were a little more cheery and goofy and child friendly.  It’s a nice commentary on the idea that Bruce wants to make Gotham into a better place, not where he doesn’t need to be Batman, but where he can be a less grim Batman.  It speaks to Bruce’s character, his vision for Gotham, and Tynion’s nostalgia that is now being strongly established as a driving force of these stories...

Joker’s plan involves paying Gothamites, in the middle of this citywide takeover by clown gangs, to attend screenings of Zorro, at which point he’ll kill them walking out of the theaters.  Batman shows up at one theater, fights some Joker zombie things, get gassed, gets rescued by Harley and given an antidote that induces a hallucination chat with Alfred.

Laughably, in this talk Bruce admits “I failed...” when talking about letting Alfred die and letting Joker take over the city but then hallucination Alfred talks Bruce OUT of it.  So whatever it was Bruce learned about losing from the old detective, this apparently wasn’t it; this was the wrong kind of losing.

Joker mentions part of his plan was to make a new generation of heroes and villains with the massive shared trauma of the theater killings.  We’d been seeing bits of Clown Killer, but that’s it.  He actually seems pretty cool, but he wasn’t really doing much more than cameo in this.  No new villains* actually, not until the epilogue gives us the anti-hero GhostMaker.

*correction: there are a few retroactively established villains who are new to publication, but no new villains born out of the actual Joker War scenario.

The whole Batfam shows up to wrestle clowns.  For some reason Tynion or DC editorial in general went to GREAT lengths to contrive Dick being back in the old Nightwing outfit, Tim being Robin again, Cass and Steph being Batgirls, Babs being Oracle, and Damian having renounced the Robin title for this...  They don’t do jack shit; They wrestle clown goons in the background.

Yet, again one of Joker’s stupid genius plans ends with a fist fight between a highly trained martial artist and a guy in a purple suit and we’re expected to be excited about this.  Harley shows up to trick Bruce into leaving Joker to die, but of course he survives anyway...

So there are a few themes here that got heinously underutilized...  Joker’s super into this self-aware thing about this being just another Batman-v-Joker affair, and about recreating Batman’s origin, and we see this play out on the other side with the weird walk back on the Batfam’s costumes.  But we know Joker will lose, so ostensibly the bottom line here should be that, no, actually... doing the same old thing isn’t enough, and people aren’t as predictable as Joker thinks.

But if we’re acknowledging this idea that Batman-v-Joker is a thing that happens in cycles and it’s always kind of the same thing, and people are sick of it, then you know what one undeniable fact of continuity flies in the face of that?  That no matter how many times we reboot the universe and repeat this whole song and dance, Batman keeps accumulating more sidekicks.  I’d have loved if this whole thing had just climaxed with Joker “winning” in his over elaborate 1v1 grudge match only to have half a dozen extra bats bust in and kick his ass.

But more over, Batman NEVER had any sort of plan in this...  The whole lead up in Their Dark Designs, which took LONGER to set up Joker War than Joker War actually lasted, was about Bruce having this Design for Gotham...  And Joker War goes out of its way to remind us of this lingering concept, and doesn’t actually do anything with it, but tries to still dangle it over us, like... “oh no, we didn’t forget it, it’s just for later!”  And like, I’m still kind of on board for it, but less and less so the more this shit drags out without any satisfying benchmarks along the way.  And it’s just super frustrating to want to give Tynion credit for the genuinely good set up he seems to have here... Except is it still a “good setup” of it ends up not actually setting anything up?  or if what it sets up turns out to be disappointing and bad??

It’s just really bizarre to me that I honestly kind of desperately want to like Tynion’s Batman (Clearly I’m having a fucking field day digging my teeth into it) but in spite of the good that’s there, and the clear forethought that appears to have gone into it, he keeps tripping himself up somehow.

[aion-rsa]

Why Batman Still Matters: DC on 80 Years of the Dark Knight

https://ift.tt/2HWmob3

Detective Comics hits #1000 as Batman turns 80. We talked to Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, and more about the hero's legacy!

facebook

twitter

google+

tumblr

Feature

TV

Movies

John Saavedra

Batman

Mar 27, 2019

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

This Batman article contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1000. 

It all began with two shots in the dark, pearls spilling onto the blood-soaked cement. No, it all started when the bat crashed through the window. Actually, it was when the boy fell into the cave. Maybe it was that hostile takeover at Apex Chemicals? Dozens of stories have shaped the legend of the Batman over his 80-year history, tales that have made the Caped Crusader arguably the most iconic character in comic book history, rivaled only by Superman.

When Bill Finger and Bob Kane put pen and pencils to paper for 1939's Detective Comics #27, they had no way of knowing that they were creating a new American myth that would captivate readers and movie audiences for decades to come. They certainly didn't expect their first Batman adventure, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," to spawn 973 more issues of Detective Comics, let alone become a blockbuster franchise of movies, TV series, video games, and McDonald's Happy Meals. 

But here we are: this week sees the release of Detective Comics #1000, written and drawn by some of the best creators in the business. The giant-sized, 96-page issue features stories by legends such as Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Epting, Christopher Priest, Jim Lee, Kelley Jones, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Geoff Johns as well as the current custodians of the Bat-mythos -- Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Joelle Jones, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo. And that's not even including the excellent covers by Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrightson, Bruce Timm, Frank Miller, Jock, Tim Sale, and more. 

Batman is only the second DC A-list superhero to reach such a massive milestone, the other being the Man of Steel, who celebrated his own 80th last year with the release of Action Comics #1000, and the company is celebrating every era of the character in this Bat-themed anniversary issue, from one of his very first (and longest) cases as a young vigilante to his very last on the eve of a lonely birthday. 

In one story, we see Bruce struggling with a fateful decision that will change his young ward Dick Grayson's life forever, while in another, Batman's extended family of heroes gets together for a hilarious reunion on a rooftop. There's also Bruce getting some much-needed guidance from Leslie Thompkins as well as a story about the worst henchmen in Batman's rogues gallery that perfectly recreates the tone of Batman: The Animated Series. The issue's most poignant tale is about Bruce's search for the gun that killed his mother and father in a ghastly scene that's been retold through every generation of the character. All of these excellent stories are meant to explore both Batman's growth, from pulpy masked vigilante to modern symbol of hope (Zack Snyder movies notwithstanding), as well as the nature of the legend itself.

What is it about this story of a boy who suffers a terrible tragedy and grows up to avenge the death of his parents night after night that has kept it at the forefront of our pop culture? Batman has been able to outlive or overshadow many of the characters that inspired his own creation -- Zorro, The Shadow, Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom Detective, Dracula, among others -- but what makes him so special?

I was fortunate enough to speak to Batman writers Scott Snyder and Peter J. Tomasi, artists Bruce Timm and Jock, and the Caped Crusader himself, Batman: The Animated Series' Kevin Conroy, about why Batman still matters after all this time. Their answers showcase different aspects of the Dark Knight, from his flexibility as a character to just how damn good he looks in that costume.

But according to Conroy, who I spoke to at New York Comic Con in 2017 and 2018, Batman's continued popularity goes back to something way more primal than form and function. To the classically-trained actor who was immortalized as THE voice of Batman in the '90s cartoon, the Caped Crusader is a modern retelling of myths and stories humans have been passing down for thousands of years. 

"He's such a theatrical character," Conroy says, speaking of his initial hesitance to audition for the role. At the time, he was a theater actor who'd never done an animated role. But when he began reading the script, the character clicked. Conroy recognized this story. "They were absolutely right to cast a theater actor, especially one with a classical background, because this is Shakespeare. They're doing high drama. Batman is Achilles. He's Orestes. He's Hamlet."

The tragic Greek character Orestes is particularly on Conroy's mind when playing Batman. He's performed several plays as Orestes, a son who avenges his father's murder and goes mad because of it. By the end of the story cycle, Orestes has gone through hell and back because of his thirst for vengeance. Naturally, Conroy brought that familiarity with Orestes to his portrayal of Batman.

"He's a Homeric hero," Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. "I think of it often when I'm doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He's resurrected at the end. And I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents' murder. It haunts him through his life. It's transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a "classic character." Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology, according to the actor.

"He's come out of such a fire and instead of letting life crush him, he turns that metamorphosis into something even greater than himself. He overcomes the tragedy that is his childhood to help heal the world...They've been telling that story for thousands of years, in different cultures and this is our culture's way of telling those stories, and I think they're just as valid."

"I think what makes him deeply enduring is that it's a really primal folk tale," Snyder, who's been writing Batman stories since 2011, says on the phone. "It's a story about a boy who loses everything and turns that loss into fuel to make sure that what happened to him never happens to anybody else."

While most of us aren't billionaire playboys with the resources to fight crime on a global (and sometimes cosmic) level, we understand pain, both emotional and physical, and a need to rise above it, even if we can't always do that. And we sympathize with Bruce's biggest regret -- if only he hadn't made his parents take him to see that Zorro movie, if only he hadn't been scared at the opera, if only he'd been braver and faster as the thug pulled the trigger, things might have been different. For Bruce, his crusade to stop evildoers comes down to replaying that single fateful moment over and over again. If only he'd done something...

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder. 

"It's a story of triumph over your worst fears, worst tragedy, and about taking your loss and turning it into a win," the writer says. "There's just this kind of power to him that speaks to our own potential, the human potential, even when we're challenged by things that seem insurmountably horrible." 

Snyder has spent the better part of a decade showcasing Batman as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Gotham, putting him through the ringer, reopening old wounds while also making new ones -- the writer even killed the hero off at one point -- just so that he can pick himself up again and keep fighting. 

But the character isn't all tragedy, death, and knightmares. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years? 

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look. 

"I just think Batman looks great," Timm says during our chat at NYCC in 2018. "He's got the best costume motif in comics. Nothing comes close. He's dark and sexy and broody. It's really intoxicating and compelling in a way that almost no other in comics can come close to it."

He also admires the durability of the character through the different eras of comics, from the Golden Age, to the sillier '50s and '60s stories of the Comics Code era, to the darker takes we're more accustomed to today. 

"It is amazing to me how flexible he is as a character. That you could have something as silly as the Adam West show or the old '50s comics, and then you have stuff like Neal Adams and Frank Miller and what we did. And you know, even more extreme, [Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's graphic novel] Arkham Asylum and things like that. And yet their all kind of the same character. It's like that character can encompass all of those different things. He can do space aliens and serial killers, you know? Yet, it kind of works."

This flexibility has allowed plenty of writers and artists to experiment with the Dark Knight, creating different versions of the character over the years. There really isn't a definitive take on Batman. Undoubtedly, one of the big reasons he's still so popular and speaks to so many people is that there's a Bat story for everybody. You can love the Batusi, Bat-Mite, or Mr. Freeze's cool party and still be right on the money about the Caped Crusader. You'd be remiss to call the character stale. The guy has done it all.

"It's almost like he's a force of nature, in which stories can happen around him, and there's something primordial, maybe, about the character and the way he looks, as well," veteran Batman artist Jock, who is currently working on a six-part miniseries with Snyder called The Batman Who Laughs, says on the phone. "You could put Batman in a new pose, and he'd still flourish, and I think those kinds of characters are very rare."

Tomasi, who has the huge responsibility of ushering in Detective Comics #1000 as the current writer on the series, puts it best in our email exchange:

"He's a character who can work across all genres. Somehow, someway, he can simply fit into every story, be it a war story, a western, a love story, a comedic angle, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, you name it, and of course any detective story you can possibly imagine."

Detective Comics #1000 closes with a prologue to Tomasi's next arc on the series, which will be drawn by Brad Walker (The Demon: Hell Is Earth) and introduce the Arkham Knight character from the recent Batman video game to DC continuity. While Tomasi can't say much about the story, especially when it comes to who is underneath the imposing Arkham Knight armor, he did share that the villain "looks at Batman as a curse on Gotham City and will do whatever it takes to destroy Batman and bring light to a city drowning in darkness."

Tomasi previously wrote the Batman: Arkham Knight tie-in series that acted as a prequel to the game, so he knows this rogue better than anyone. It's very fitting that he's using a new villain to begin Detective's run to another 1000 issues and a new era of Batman.

Will we still be talking about Batman in another 80 years? Sure, superhero stories are enjoying a second golden age, but tastes change and trends eventually end. Superheroes won't always be at the top of our pop culture food chain. It's inevitable that many of the characters we love today will fade with future generations, just as the Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Scarlet Pimpernel did. We may eventually embrace new forms of familiar myths, becoming obsessed with new idols. But only a fool would bet against a character who's survived as long as Batman has. Remember, the Batman always wins.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

from Books https://ift.tt/2CHhHP1

[collectorscorner]

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday - 9/11/19

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday - 9/11/19 Complete list of items shipping to the stores, some items may be limited in availability. If you see anything you want to purchase on the list and are not a subscription member at Collectors Corner, just contact us and let us know if you want an item held at the stores. email - collectorscornermd@comcast.net Subscription Membership & Free Membership Card : Collectors Corner’s No Obligation (FREE) Membership Card or FREE (In Store) & ONLINE Subscription Membership saves you 10% Off ALL Bagged & Boarded Comic Book Back Issues, Board Games, Graphic Novels, Manga & Special Orders. Plus Never miss a comic again! Computerized and organized + you can add and cancel titles on your subscription list from home on your own time, or in the store when you pick up your comics at : Maryland’s Coolest Stores! Since 2001. 3 Convenient Locations - CC PARKVILLE HQ 7911 Harford Rd Parkville, MD 21234 CC BALTIMORE - OUTPOST 403 North Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21201 CC BEL AIR - OUTPOST 17 N. Main St. Bel Air, MD 21014 www.collectorscornermd.com NEW ARRIVALS : WEDNESDAY - 9/11/19 AFTERSHOCK COMICS Babyteeth #16, $$3.99 AHOY COMICS Hashtag Danger #5, $$3.99 ALTERNA COMICS Cyko Ko Volume 2 #1, $$1.50 ICYMI #8, $$0.99 It Came Out On A Wednesday #8, $$1.99 Midnight Mystery Volume 2 City Of Ghosts #2, $$1.50 Mighty Mascots #3 (Of 3), $$1.50 Red Koi #1 (Of 2), $$1.50 AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY PRODUCTIONS Beware The Witch's Shadow #1 (Cover A Puis Calzada), $$3.99 Beware The Witch's Shadow #1 (Cover B Rich Bonk), $$3.99 Beware The Witch's Shadow #1 (Cover C Puis Calzada Risque Variant), $$9.99 Zorro Rise Of The Old Gods #1 (Of 4)(Cover A Michael William Kaluta), $$3.99 Zorro Rise Of The Old Gods #1 (Of 4)(Cover B Puis Calzada Lovecraftian Variant), $$3.99 Zorro Rise Of The Old Gods #1 (Of 4)(Cover C Puis Calzada Pulp Variant), $$9.99 Zorro Rise Of The Old Gods #1 (Of 4)(Michael William Kaluta Black & White Century Edition Variant Cover), $$29.99 Zorro Swords Of Hell #1-4 Alex Toth Art Set, $$34.99 AMULET BOOKS Earth Before Volume 3 Mammal Takeover GN, $$15.99 ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie The Married Life 10 Years Later #2 (Cover A Dan Parent), $$3.99 Archie The Married Life 10 Years Later #2 (Cover B Jim Balent), $$3.99 Archie The Married Life 10 Years Later #2 (Cover C Andrew Pepoy), $$3.99 Best Of Archie Comics Deluxe Edition Volume 4 HC, $$19.99 Betty And Veronica Senior Year TP, $$14.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 (Of 5)(Cover A Veronica Fish), $$3.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 (Of 5)(Cover B Gary Erskine), $$3.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 (Of 5)(Cover C Victor Ibanez), $$3.99 World Of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #92, $$7.99 ASPEN COMICS Aspen Universe Decimation #1 (V Ken Marion NYCC 2017 Variant Cover), $$14.99 Aspen Universe Revelations #2 (V Ken Marion Fan Expo 2016 Variant Cover), $$19.99 Eternal Soulfire #1 (Alex Konat SDCC 2015 Variant Cover), $$14.99 Fathom Cannon Hawke Volume 1 TP, $$14.99 Idolized #0 (Rachel Clark SDCC 2012 Variant Cover), $$14.99 Soulfire Chaos Reign Beginnings #1 (Peter Steigerwald Wizard World Philadelphia 2006 Variant Cover), $$9.99 Soulfire New World Order #1 (Of 5)(Peter Steigerwald Aspenstore.com 2009 Variant Cover), $$14.99 Soulfire New World Order #4 (Of 5)(Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald Canadian National Comic Book Expo 2009 Variant Cover), $$14.99 AVATAR PRESS George R. R. Martin's Fevre Dream HC (Signed Edition), $$49.99 BBC BOOKS Doctor Who Resurrection Of The Daleks SC (not verified by Diamond), $$16.99 Doctor Who Tales Of Terror SC (not verified by Diamond), $$11.99 BOOM! STUDIOS Bone Parish Volume 2 TP, $$14.99 Ghosted In L.A. #3 (Cover A Siobhan Keenan), $$3.99 Ghosted In L.A. #3 (Cover B Sina Grace), $$3.99 Jim Henson's Labyrinth Coronation Volume 3 HC, $$24.99 Once And Future #1 (Of 6)(Jakub Rebelka 4th Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Ronin Island #6 (Cover A Giannis Milonogiannis), $$3.99 Ronin Island #6 (Cover B Ethan Young), $$3.99 Ronin Island #6 (Cover C Takeshi Miyazawa), $AR Rugrats Building Blocks Specials GN, $$14.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #23 (Cover A Ivan Shavrin), $$3.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #23 (Cover B Miguel Mercado), $$3.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #23 (Cover C Amelia Vidal), $AR Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #23 (Cover D Johanna The Mad Social Variant), $AR Something Is Killing The Children #1 (Dani 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1682, $AR DARK HORSE COMICS Art Of Gears 5 HC (not verified by Diamond), $$39.99 Black Hammer Justice League Hammer Of Justice #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Michael Walsh), $$3.99 Black Hammer Justice League Hammer Of Justice #3 (Of 5)(Cover B Nate Powell), $$3.99 Black Hammer Justice League Hammer Of Justice #3 (Of 5)(Cover C Ray Fawkes), $$3.99 Black Hammer Justice League Hammer Of Justice #3 (Of 5)(Cover D Tradd Moore), $$3.99 Black Hammer Justice League Hammer Of Justice #3 (Of 5)(Cover E Evan Shaner), $$3.99 Mask Omnibus Volume 2 TP (Second Edition), $$24.99 Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Comic TP, $$19.99 Orville #3 (The Word Of Avis Part 1 Of 2), $$3.99 Umbrella Academy Library Edition Volume 1 Apocalypse Suite HC, $$39.99 DC COMICS Batman #76 (Tony S. Daniel 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Batman #77 (Tony S. Daniel 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Batman #78 (Cover A Tony S. Daniel), $$3.99 Batman #78 (Cover B Clay Mann), $$3.99 Batman And The Outsiders #5 (Cover A Tyler Kirkham), $$3.99 Batman And The Outsiders #5 (Cover B Kevin Nowland), $$3.99 Batman Eternal Omnibus HC, $$125.00 Batman Hush TP (New Edition), $$29.99 Batman The Killing Joke Deluxe Edition HC (New Edition), $$17.99 Batman Universe #3 (Of 6), $$4.99 Batman Volume 10 Knightmares TP, $$17.99 Catwoman #15 (Cover A Joelle Jones), $$3.99 Catwoman #15 (Cover B Stanley Artgerm Lau Card Stock Variant), $$4.99 Collapser #3 (Of 6), $$3.99 Detective Comics #1011 (Cover A Guillem March), $$3.99 Detective Comics #1011 (Cover B Bryan Hitch), $$3.99 Dollar Comics Batman #608, $$1.00 Event Leviathan #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Alex Maleev), $$3.99 Event Leviathan #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Kaare Andrews Card Stock Variant), $$4.99 Flash #78 (Cover A Rafa Sandoval & Jordi Tarragona), $$3.99 Flash #78 (Cover B Paolo Pantalena), $$3.99 Gotham City Monsters #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Philip Tan), $$3.99 Gotham City Monsters #1 (Of 6)(Cover B Frank Cho), $$3.99 Hawkman #16 (Cover A Pat Olliffe & Tom Palmer), $$3.99 Hawkman #16 (Cover B In-Hyuk Lee), $AR House Of Whispers #13, $$3.99 Justice League Odyssey #13 (Cover A Will Conrad), $$3.99 Justice League Odyssey #13 (Cover B Lucio Parrillo), $AR Riddler Year Of The Villain #1, $$4.99 Transmetropolitan Volume 2 TP, $$29.99 Wonder Twins #7 (Of 12)(Cover A Stephen Byrne), $$3.99 Wonder Woman #78 (Cover A Jesus Merino), $$3.99 Wonder Woman #78 (Cover B Jenny Frison), $AR Young Justice #8 (Cover A John Timms), $$3.99 Young Justice #8 (Cover B Jonboy Meyers Card Stock Variant), $AR DYNAMIC FORCES Action Comics #1000 (Dan Jurgens Wraparound Variant Cover)(Jim Lee Gold Signature Edition), $AR Batman Prelude To The Wedding Harley Quinn Vs The Joker #1 (Tim Seeley Signed Edition), $AR Batman Prelude To The Wedding Master Set (Tim Seeley Signed Edition), $AR Detective Comics #1000 (Jim Lee Variant Cover)(Jim Lee Gold Signature Edition), $AR Detective Comics #1000 (Jim Lee Variant Cover)(Scott Williams Gold Signature Edition), $AR Fantastic Four #1 (Mark Bagley Midtown Comics Variant Cover), $AR Hulkverines #1 (Of 3)(Greg Pak Gold Signature Edition), $AR Vampirella #1 (Alex Ross Red Pencil Variant Cover), $AR Web Of Venom Carnage #1 (Midtown Comics Variant Cover), $AR Wolverine #1 (Joe Jusko Midtown Comics Variant Cover), $AR DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT Chastity #1 (Cover A Clayton Crain), $$3.99 Chastity #1 (Cover B Nick Bradshaw), $$3.99 Chastity #1 (Cover C Jay Anacleto Surprise Variant), $$3.99 Chastity #1 (Cover D Catherine Nodet), $$3.99 Chastity #1 (Cover E David Nakayama), $$3.99 Chastity #1 (Cover F J. Scott Campbell Carve-Out Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover G Jay Anacleto Sneak Peek Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover H J. Scott Campbell Carve-Out Virgin Tint Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover I Nick Bradshaw Black & White Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover J J. Scott Campbell Carve-Out Dressed Tint Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover K Clayton Crain Hellfire Red Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover L David Nakayama Black & White Variant), $AR Chastity #1 (Cover M J. Scott Campbell Black & White Variant), $AR Death-Defying 'Devil #1 (Cover K Riccardo Federici Virgin Variant), $AR Death-Defying 'Devil #1 (Cover M In-Hyuk Lee Virgin Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover A Amanda Conner), $$3.99 Red Sonja #8 (Cover B Joseph Michael Linsner), $$3.99 Red Sonja #8 (Cover C Khoi Pham), $$3.99 Red Sonja #8 (Cover D Katie O'Meara), $$3.99 Red Sonja #8 (Cover E Cosplay), $$3.99 Red Sonja #8 (Cover F Roberto Castro), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover G Bob Q Seduction Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover H Roberto Castro Virgin Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover I Cosplay Virgin Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover J Amanda Conner Black & White Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover K Amanda Conner Tint Dressed Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover L Joseph Michael Linser Tint Dressed Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover M Joseph Michael Linsner Black & White Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover N Khoi Pham Virgin Variant), $AR Red Sonja #8 (Cover O Bob Q Seduction Black & White Variant), $AR Vampirella #2 (Cover O Sanjulian), $AR EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS Battlestar Galactica Ships Collection Magazine #10 (Modern Raptor), $$60.00 DC Comics CW Flash Figurine Collection Magazine #1 (Flash), $$20.00 Doctor Who Figurine Collection Companion Set Magazine #5 (The Ninth Doctor & Jack Harkness), $$34.95 Star Trek Discovery The Official Starships Figurine Collection Magazine #16 (The Festoon), $$55.00 Star Trek The Official Starships Figurine Collection Magazine #148 (Jem Hadar Battleship), $$22.95 Star Trek The Official Starships Figurine Collection Magazine #149 (Krenim Warship), $$22.95 Star Trek The Official Starships Figurine Collection Magazine #154 (Klingon Rebel Transport), $$22.95 Star Trek The Official Starships Figurine Collection Magazine #155 (Vulcan Dvahl), $$22.95 Star Trek The Official Starships Figurine Collection Special Magazine #33 (LG Runabout USS Orinoco), $$75.00 Wizarding World Collection Magazine #2 (Voldemort), $$19.95 WWE Figure Championship Collection Magazine #6 (Braun Strowman), $$19.95 GRAPHIX Baby-Sitters Club Color Edition Volume 7 Boy-Crazy Stacey GN, $$10.99 Baby-Sitters Club Color Edition Volume 7 Boy-Crazy Stacey HC, $$24.99 Dog Man Epic Collection Boxed Set Volume 2 The Cat Kid Collection, $$29.97 Dog Man The Supa Epic Collection, $$59.94 Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants Volume 1 George And Harolds Epic Comix Collection TP, $$9.99 Mr. Wolf's Class Volume 3 Lucky Stars GN, $$9.99 Mr. Wolf's Class Volume 3 Lucky Stars HC, $$24.99 HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE Soft Wood #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Cedric Peyravernay), $$8.95 HUMANOIDS Bigby Bear Volume 2 For All Seasons HC, $$14.95 Ignited #4, $$3.99 Robert Silverberg's Colonies Return To Belzagor HC, $$24.95 IDW PUBLISHING Canto #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Drew Zucker), $$3.99 Canto #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Phillip Sevy), $AR Little Jackie Lantern HC, $$7.99 Night Moves TP, $$19.99 October Faction Open Season TP, $$29.99 Pandemica #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Alex Sanchez), $$3.99 Pandemica #1 (Of 5)(Cover B Alex Sanchez Black & White Variant), $AR Punks Not Dead Volume 2 London Calling TP, $$17.99 Star Wars Adventures #25 (Cover A Margaux Saltel), $$3.99 Star Wars Adventures #25 (Cover B Megan Levens), $$3.99 Star Wars Adventures #25 (Cover C Stefano Simone), $AR Starcadia Quest #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Aurelio Mazzara), $$4.99 Starcadia Quest #1 (Of 3)(Cover B Nicoletta Baldari), $AR Usagi Yojimbo #1 (Stan Sakai 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 IMAGE COMICS Analog #8 (Cover A David O'Sullivan), $$3.99 Analog #8 (Cover B Gerry Duggan & David O'Sullivan), $$3.99 Beauty #29 (Cover A Jeremy Haun & Nick Filardi), $$3.99 Beauty #29 (Cover B Greg Hinkle), $$3.99 Coffin Bound #1 (Dani 3rd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Coffin Bound #2, $$3.99 Gogor #5, $$3.99 Hit-Girl Season Two #8 (Cover A Goran Parlov), $$3.99 Hit-Girl Season Two #8 (Cover B Goran Parlov), $$3.99 Hit-Girl Season Two #8 (Cover C Claire Roe), $$3.99 I Hate Fairyland Deluxe Edition Volume 2 HC, $$34.99 Isola #9 (Cover A Karl Kerschl, $$3.99 Isola #9 (Cover B Mingjue Helen Chen), $$3.99 Kick-Ass #17 (Cover A Marcelo Frusin), $$3.99 Kick-Ass #17 (Cover B Marcelo Frusin), $$3.99 Kick-Ass #17 (Cover C Andre Lima Araujo, $$3.99 Man-Eaters #11 (Cover A Lia Miternique), $$3.99 Man-Eaters #11 (Cover B Lia Miternique), $$3.99 Oblivion Song By Kirkman And De Felici #19, $$3.99 Oblivion Song By Kirkman And De Felici Volume 3 TP, $$16.99 Outer Darkness #10, $$3.99 Postal Deliverance #3, $$3.99 Rat Queens #18, $$3.99 Reaver #2 (Becky Cloonan 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Reaver #3, $$3.99 Sonata #2 (Brian Haberlin 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Sonata #3 (Brian Haberlin 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Sonata #4 (Cover A Brian Haberlin & Geirrod Van Dyke), $$3.99 Sonata #4 (Cover B Brian Haberlin & Geirrod Van Dyke), $$3.99 Thumbs #4 (Of 5), $$4.99 Trees Three Fates #1 (Of 5), $$3.99 Unearth #3 (Cover A Baldemar Rivas), $$3.99 Unearth #3 (Cover B Kyle Strahm & Greg Smallwood), $$3.99 Unnatural Volume 3 Rebirth TP, $$16.99 INSIGHT EDITIONS Art Of Harry Potter Mini Book Of Magical Places HC, $$11.99 DC Comics Detective Comics The Complete Covers Volume 3 HC, $$11.99 DC Comics Wonder Woman The Complete Covers Mini-Omnibus Volume 3 HC, $$11.99 INSIGHT KIDS Harry Potter Film Vault Volume 1 HC, $$16.99 Harry Potter Film Vault Volume 2 HC, $$16.99 INSIGHT STUDIOS GROUP Songs Of Giants The Poetry Of Pulp HC (Limited Signed & Numbered Edition), $$29.99 JY W.I.T.C.H. Part 6 Ragorlang Volume 1 GN, $$15.00 KODANSHA COMICS Edens Zero Volume 4 GN, $$10.99 Fate Grand Order Mortalis Stella Volume 1 GN, $$12.99 LEGENDARY COMICS Lost In Space Countdown To Danger Volume 2 HC, $$17.99 MARVEL COMICS Absolute Carnage Symbiote Of Vengeance #1 (Cover A Philip Tan), $$4.99 Absolute Carnage Symbiote Of Vengeance #1 (Cover B James Stokoe Codex Variant), $AR Absolute Carnage Symbiote Of Vengeance #1 (Cover C TBD), $AR Absolute Carnage Symbiote Of Vengeance #1 (Cover D TBD Virgin Variant), $AR Absolute Carnage Vs Deadpool #2 (Of 3)(Cover A Tyler Kirkham), $$3.99 Absolute Carnage Vs Deadpool #2 (Of 3)(Cover B Mark Bagley Codex Variant), $AR Absolute Carnage Vs Deadpool #2 (Of 3)(Cover C Rob Liefeld Connecting Variant), $AR Age Of Conan Valeria #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Jay Anacleto), $$3.99 Age Of Conan Valeria #2 (Of 5)(Cover B Emanuela Lupacchino), $AR Age Of X-Man Apocalypse And The X-Tracts TP, $$15.99 Agents Of Atlas #1 (Of 5)(Valentina Remenar New Art 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$4.99 Amazing Spider-Man #29 (Cover A Ryan Ottley), $$3.99 Amazing Spider-Man #29 (Cover B Mark Bagley Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Avengers #22 (Stefano Caselli 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Black Cat #4, $$3.99 Captain Marvel #10, $$3.99 Daredevil #11 (Cover A Julian Totino Tedesco), $$3.99 Daredevil #11 (Cover B Khoi Pham Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Daredevil #9 (Lalit Kumar Sharma 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Doctor Strange #19 (Cover A Jesus Saiz), $$3.99 Doctor Strange #19 (Cover B Irina Nordsol Bring On The Bad Guys Variant), $AR Domino Hotshots TP, $$15.99 Fantastic Four #12 (Declan Shalvey 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$4.99 Guardians Of The Galaxy Prodigal Sun #1 (Cover A Mico Suayan), $$4.99 Guardians Of The Galaxy Prodigal Sun #1 (Cover B Philip Tan), $AR Gwenpool Strikes Back #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Terry Dodson), $$3.99 Gwenpool Strikes Back #2 (Of 5)(Cover B Nao Fuji), $AR Immortal Hulk #20 (Joe Bennett 3rd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Immortal Hulk #22 (Joe Bennett 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Immortal Hulk Director's Cut #3 (Of 6), $$4.99 Invaders #9, $$3.99 Invisible Woman #3 (Of 5), $$3.99 Ironheart #10, $$3.99 King Thor #1 (Of 4)(Cover A Esad Ribic), $$3.99 King Thor #1 (Of 4)(Cover B Adam Kubert), $AR King Thor #1 (Of 4)(Cover C Gerardo Zaffino), $AR King Thor #1 (Of 4)(Cover D Luke Ross Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Loki #3, $$3.99 Marvel Masterworks The Incredible Hulk Volume 13 HC (Book Market Edition), $$75.00 Marvel Masterworks The Incredible Hulk Volume 13 HC (Direct Market Variant Edition Volume 279), $$75.00 Marvel Monograph The Art Of Esad Ribic TP, $$19.99 Marvel Tales Black Panther #1 (Cover A Jen Bartel), $$7.99 Marvel Tales Black Panther #1 (Cover B Jen Bartel Virgin Variant), $AR Marvel Visionaries Jack Kirby TP, $$34.99 Miles Morales Spider-Man #10 (Cover A Mahmud Asrar), $$4.99 Miles Morales Spider-Man #10 (Cover B Humberto Ramos), $AR Miles Morales Spider-Man #10 (Cover C Ed McGuinness), $AR Miles Morales Spider-Man #10 (Cover D Ema Lupacchino Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Miles Morales With Great Power TP, $$12.99 Moon Knight Annual #1 (Cover A Philip Tan), $$4.99 Moon Knight Annual #1 (Cover B John Tyler Christopher Connecting Variant), $AR Moon Knight Annual #1 (Cover C Pasqual Ferry Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover A R. B. Silva), $$4.99 Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Dustin Weaver New Character Variant), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover C Mike Huddleston), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover D John Tyler Christopher Action Figure Variant), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover E Greg Land Character Decades Variant), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover F Skottie Young), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover G R. B. Silva Virgin Variant), $AR Powers Of X #4 (Of 6)(Cover H Jorge Molina Connecting Variant), $AR Punisher Kill Krew #2 (Of 5), $$3.99 Shuri Volume 2 24-7 Vibranium TP, $$15.99 Silver Surfer Black #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Tradd Moore), $$3.99 Silver Surfer Black #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Ron Lim), $AR Silver Surfer Black #4 (Of 5)(Cover C Peach Momoko), $AR Silver Surfer Black #4 (Of 5)(Cover D Alex Garner Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Spider-Man The Many Hosts Of Carnage TP, $$39.99 Star Wars Age Of Resistance Supreme Leader Snoke #1 (Cover A Phil Noto), $$3.99 Star Wars Age Of Resistance Supreme Leader Snoke #1 (Cover B Mike McKone Puzzle Piece Variant), $AR Sword Master #3 (Cover A Gunji), $$3.99 Sword Master #3 (Cover B Jack Chen), $AR True Believers Hulk Gray Hulk Returns #1, $$1.00 True Believers Hulk Mindless Hulk #1, $$1.00 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #48, $$3.99 Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 11 Call Your Squirrelfriend TP, $$15.99 Unstoppable Wasp Unlimited Volume 2 G.I.R.L. Vs A.I.M. TP, $$15.99 Venom #17 (Mark Bagley 2nd Printing New Art Variant Cover), $$3.99 Venom #18 (Cover A Kyle Hotz), $$3.99 Venom #18 (Cover B Will Sliney Immortal Wraparound Variant), $AR Venom #18 (Cover C Patch Zircher Codex Variant), $AR Venom War Of The Realms TP, $$15.99 War Of The Realms Spider-Man Daredevil TP, $$15.99 X-Men By Roy Thomas And Neal Adams Gallery Edition HC, $$39.99 MOONSTONE Kolchak The Nightstalker The Last Temptation Novel SC, $$9.99 MYTHOS COMICS Vamp #1, $$3.99 NBM Zombillenium Volume 4 Air Girl HC, $$16.99 NOBROW Americana And The Act Of Getting Over It GN, $$18.95 Gamayun Tales Volume 3 Tyna Of The Lake GN, $$16.95 Stig And Tilde Volume 1 Vanisher's Island GN, $$13.95 NOBROW - FLYING EYE BOOKS Hilda And The Mountain King HC, $$19.95 PAPERCUTZ Melowy Volume 3 Time To Fly GN, $$7.99 Melowy Volume 3 Time To Fly HC, $$12.99 Melowy Volume The Test Of Magic GN, $$7.99 REBELLION/2000AD Judge Dredd Ghost Town 2000 AD Digest TP, $$6.99 RED 5 COMICS Dark Age #2, $$3.95 SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS Shadow Double Novel Volume 144 SC, $$14.95 SCHOLASTIC She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power Rebel Princess Guide HC, $$12.99 Star Wars Jedi Academy Volume 8 Attack Of The Furball HC, $$12.99 SCOUT COMICS Mall #5 (Cover A Rafael Loureiro), $$3.99 Mall #5 (Cover B Rafael Loureiro), $AR Midnight Sky #1 (Cover A Scott Van Domelen), $$3.99 Midnight Sky #1 (Cover B Vince Locke), $$3.99 Midnight Sky #1 (Cover C Ralf Singh), $AR SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT Dragon Quest Monsters+ Volume 4 GN, $$12.99 How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom Light Novel Volume 4 SC, $$13.99 Made In Abyss Volume 7 GN, $$13.99 Magical Girl Site Volume 10 GN, $$12.99 Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka Volume 7 GN, $$12.99 Restaurant To Another World Light Novel Volume 2 SC, $$13.99 Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out Volume 1 GN, $$13.99 SOURCE POINT PRESS Monstrous Volume 1 Tales Of Valor And Villainy TP, $$14.99 SUBLIME Finder Deluxe Edition Volume 9 GN, $$14.99 TITAN BOOKS Harryhausen The Lost Movies HC, $$39.95 TITAN COMICS Atar Gull HC, $$24.99 Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor #12 (Cover A Veronica Fish), $$3.99 Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor #12 (Cover B Will Brooks Photo Variant), $$3.99 Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor #12 (Cover C Giorgia Sposito & Arianna Florean), $$3.99 Robotech #24 (Cover A Jeff Spokes), $$3.99 Robotech #24 (Cover C Nick Brokenshire), $$3.99 Santa My Life And Times Illustrated Authobiography HC, $$24.99 UDON ENTERTAINMENT Street Fighter Akuma Vs Hell #1 (Cover A Joe Vriens), $$3.99 Street Fighter Akuma Vs Hell #1 (Cover B Edwin Huang), $$3.99 Street Fighter Akuma Vs Hell #1 (Cover C Josh Perez), $AR VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT Bloodshot Definitive Edition TP, $$24.99 Livewire #10 (Cover A Stacey Lee), $$3.99 Livewire #10 (Cover B Katie Cook), $$3.99 Livewire #10 (Cover C Irene Koh), $$3.99 Livewire #10 (Cover D Elsa Charretier Pre-Order Edition Variant), $AR Livewire Volume 2 Guardian TP, $$14.99 VERTICAL COMICS My Boy Volume 5 GN, $$12.95 VIZ MEDIA Hayate The Combat Butler Volume 34 GN, $$9.99 Pokemon Sun And Moon Volume 5 GN, $$4.99 Radiant Volume 7 GN, $$9.99 Splatoon Volume 7 GN, $$9.99 Yo-kai Watch Volume 12 GN, $$9.99 ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Belle Oath Of Thorns #2 (Cover A Martin Coccolo), $$3.99 Belle Oath Of Thorns #2 (Cover B Igor Vitorino), $$3.99 Belle Oath Of Thorns #2 (Cover C Jenevieve Broomall), $$3.99 Belle Oath Of Thorns #2 (Cover D Ryan Pasibe), $$3.99 Watcher #2 (Of 3)(Cover A Marco Mastrazzo), $$5.99 Watcher #2 (Of 3)(Cover B Jan Anacleto), $$5.99 TOYS - T-SHIRTS & COLLECTIBLES 30 Minute Mission 01 EEXM-17 Alto White Model Kit, $AR 30 Minute Mission 02 EEXM-17 Alto Yellow Model Kit, $AR 30 Minute Mission Optional Alto Armor Set (Blue Version), $AR 30 Minute Mission Optional Alto Armor Set (Gray Version), $AR 30 Minute Mission Optional Alto Armor Set (Green Version), $AR 30 Minute Mission Optional Alto Armor Set (Orange Version), $AR Bandai SDCS Silhouette Booster (White Version), $AR Batman Super Powers Maquette, $AR Bioshock Infinite Elizabeth 3-1/2 Inch Collectors Vinyl Figure, $AR Classic Phantom Of The Opera Limited Edition Lifesize Painted Bust, $AR Cthulhu 15 Inch Plush, $AR DC Batman And Catwoman Salt And Pepper Shakers, $AR DC Comics Batman Pop Quiz Trivia Deck, $AR DC Comics Wonder Woman Pop Quiz Trivia Deck, $AR DC Designer Series Black Label Batman By Lee Bermejo Statue, $AR DC Essentials Red Hood Action Figure, $AR DC Gallery Dark Knight Returns Batman Cowl, $AR Disney Cinderella And Fairy Godmother Salt And Pepper Shakers, $AR Disney Rapunzel And Tower Salt And Pepper Shakers, $AR Disney Showcase Lilo And Stitch With Guitar Mini 2.5 Inch Figure, $AR Dragon Ball Z Legendary Super Saiyan Broly Figure-Rise Model Kit (New Package Version), $AR Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku Figure-Rise Model Kit (New Package Version), $AR Fortnite Aim 7 Inch Premium Action Figure, $AR Fortnite Ragnarok 7 Inch Premium Action Figure, $AR Fortnite Wild Card Black Suit 7 Inch Premium Action Figure, $AR Fortnite Wild Card Red Suit 7 Inch Premium Action Figure, $AR Gundam NT 227 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex HGUC 1/144 Scale Model Kit, $AR Halloween 2018 Michael Myers 1/4 Scale Action Figure, $AR Marvel Captain Marvel Poster T-Shirt LG, $AR Marvel Legends 80th Anniversary Comic Iron Man 6 Inch Action Figure Set, $AR Marvel Legends 80th Anniversary Comic Thor 6 Inch Action Figure Set, $AR Marvel Legends 80th Anniversary Grandmaster/Korg 6 Inch Action Figure Set, $AR Miss Mindy Wizard Of Oz Dorothy 6 Inch Figure, $AR Miss Mindy Wizard Of Oz Wicked Witch Deluxe Figure, $AR Mobile Suit Gundam Micro Wars 2 10 Piece Assortment, $AR Mobile Suit Gundam RX-78-02 Gundam 40th Anniversary Version G.F.F.M.C. Figure, $AR One-12 Collective DC Joker Clown Prince Of Crime Edition Action Figure, $AR One-12 Collective Marvel Netflix Punisher Action Figure, $AR Overwatch Ultimates 6 Inch Action Figure Assortment 201902, $AR Overwatch Ultimates 6 Inch Action Figure Dual Pack Assortment 201902, $AR Power Rangers Lightning 6 Inch Action Figure Assortment 201902, $AR Sailor Moon 1000 Piece Puzzle, $AR Sangoku Soketsuden Huang Zhong Gundam Dynames SD Model Kit, $AR Sangoku Soketsuden Xiahou Dun Tallgeese Gundam SD Model Kit, $AR Sangoku Soketsuden Zhang He Altron Gundam SD Model Kit, $AR Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Inch Sonic Sphere Figure Wave 1 Assortment, $AR Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Inch Basic Action Figure With A Collectible Coin Wave 1 Assortment, $AR Sonic The Hedgehog 7 Inch Basic Plush Wave 1 Assortment, $AR Sonic The Hedgehog Pinball Playset, $AR Star Wars R2-Q2 1/12 Scale Model Kit, $AR Star Wars Star Destroyer 1/5000 Scale Model Kit, $AR Street Fighter Vega S.H.Figuarts Action Figure, $AR Transformers Botbots Minifig Blind Mystery Box 201902, $AR Transformers Botbots Minifig Blind Mystery Box 201903, $AR Voltron Defender Of The Universe GX-71 Soul Of Chogokin Action Figure, $AR X-Force Legends 6 Inch Boom Boom Action Figure, $AR X-Force Legends 6 Inch Cannonball Action Figure, $AR

[thisisaschoolprojectfyi]

★★★☆☆ : 3 Stars

V for Vendetta is a film based on a dystopian future in England and the life of Evey Hammond, a citizen of the country with a stormy past. One evening, out past curfew, she encounters a bout of fingermen who plan to sexually harass her in return for letting her go without arrest. They are met with a force to be reckoned with, however; a Guy Fawkes masked, Zorro-like figure who easily defeats them in gun to sword combat. This is the start to their tumultuous relationship and governmental revolution. This was my second time around watching the film and the first time to be genuinely engaged while doing so, having grown so much in both political knowledge and interest from the two years ago that I watched it last. The symbolism and representation stood out to me a great deal more, specifically subtle things such as V’s signature logo looking a lot like the anarchy symbol and the specific decision to identify himself with a Guy Fawkes mask. After learning about the background information and person who actually existed, V’s plans became unoriginal in the best way possible, significant and packed with meaning. His broadcasts to the people of England during the Jordan Tower takeover question their opinions and real knowledge locked away on their government, asking them to stand with him during November the 5th to watch change happen within their nation. The notions, although understandable, presented me with the question of what exactly would happen after the entire ordeal. Although the Parliament building would be destroyed and many of the important yet extremely corrupt and unfair politicians of the country would be dead, the dramatic event of change would amount to being a sign, at best, of the country’s people coming together in order to support a revolution against a totalitarian society. The chaos that would ensue after the plan that was only thought out till Parliament’s building being destroyed, would result in chaos and no  order, presenting a possible hole in what they wanted to achieve. The film managed to give me a new outlook on what a totalitarian society would look like through goosebumps and anger, at how easily people can be emotionally manipulated (V and Evey’s relationship) and brainwashed.

[volnixian]

muon bida

[volnixian]

Ah shit, the Pokémon’s got the internet- is nyx dead then?

a

[aion-rsa]

The Legacy of Batman: Tom King, Kevin Conroy, and Scott Snyder on the Dark Knight

https://ift.tt/2JHaNx5

This year, we talked to Tom King, Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, Jock, and Pete Tomasi about why Batman still matters.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

It all began with two shots in the dark, pearls spilling onto the blood-soaked cement. No, it all started when the bat crashed through the window. Actually, it was when the boy fell into the cave. Maybe it was that hostile takeover at Apex Chemicals? Dozens of stories have shaped the legend of the Batman over his 80-year history, tales that have made the Caped Crusader arguably the most iconic character in comic book history, rivaled only by Superman.

When Bill Finger and Bob Kane put pen and pencil to paper for 1939's Detective Comics #27, they had no way of knowing that they were creating a new American myth that would captivate readers and movie audiences for decades to come. They certainly didn't expect their first Batman adventure, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," to spawn 973 more issues of Detective Comics, let alone become a blockbuster franchise featuring movies, TV series, video games, and McDonald's Happy Meals. 

But what bigger testament to the long-lasting appeal of Batman than March’s Detective Comics #1000, written and drawn by some of the best creators in the business? The giant-sized, 96-page issue featured stories by legends such as as Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Epting, Christopher Priest, Jim Lee, Kelley Jones, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Geoff Johns as well as the current custodians of the Bat-mythos -- Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Joelle Jones, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo. And that's not even including the excellent covers by Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrightson, Bruce Timm, Frank Miller, Jock, Tim Sale, and more. 

Batman is only the second DC superhero to reach such a massive milestone, the other being the Man of Steel. What is it about this character hellbent on avenging the death of his parents night after night that has kept him at the forefront of our pop culture?

“I think what makes him deeply enduring is that it’s a really primal folk tale,” Scott Snyder, who’s been writing Batman stories since 2011, says. “It’s a story about a boy who loses everything and turns that loss into fuel to make sure that what happened to him never happens to anybody else.”

While most of us aren't billionaire playboys with the resources to fight crime on a global (and sometimes cosmic) level, we understand pain, both emotional and physical, and a need to rise above it, even if we can't always do that. We sympathize with Bruce's biggest regret -- if only he hadn't made his parents take him to see that Zorro movie; if only he hadn't been frightened by the opera; if only he'd been braver and faster as the thug pulled the trigger. For Bruce, his crusade to stop evildoers comes down to replaying that single fateful moment over and over again and making possible a different outcome.

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder. 

"It's a story of triumph over your worst fears, worst tragedy, and about taking your loss and turning it into a win," the writer says. "There's just this kind of power to him that speaks to our own potential, the human potential, even when we're challenged by things that seem insurmountably horrible." 

Snyder has spent the better part of a decade showcasing Batman as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Gotham, putting him through the ringer, reopening old wounds while also making new ones -- the writer even killed the hero off at one point -- just so that he can pick himself up again and keep fighting. 

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years? 

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

Tom King, who recently wrapped up an 85-issue run on Batman and currently has a Batman/Catwoman miniseries in the works, looks back to the character's real-life point of origin as the reason he has stood the test of time.

"You have to go back to the moment of creation with him. You've got [Bob Kane and Bill Finger], the children of immigrants, so we're like, what, 1938, '39, we're in Manhattan. And at that time, I mean, go back and look at the pictures, Batman was created like 20 blocks from Madison Square Garden where they had a Nazi rally that attracted a hundred thousand people. They were marching in the streets."

These tumultuous times shaped the fabric of Batman, according to King.

"[Kane and Finger] were living here and their literal cousins and grandparents were getting killed in Europe, right? And they created something uniquely American. Batman succeeds because there's something genuinely beautifully American about it."

According to Batman: The Animated Series voice actor Kevin Conroy, Batman’s continued popularity goes back to something primal. To the classically trained actor who was immortalized as the voice of Batman in the ‘90s cartoon, the Caped Crusader is a modern retelling of myths and stories humans have been passing down for thousands of years.

“He’s such a theatrical character,” Conroy says, admitting he was at first hesitant to audition for the role. At the time, he was a theater actor who'd never done an animated role. But when he read the script, the character clicked. Conroy recognized this story. “They were absolutely right to cast a theater actor, especially one with a classical background, because this is Shakespeare. They’re doing high drama. Batman is Achilles. He’s Orestes. He’s Hamlet.”

The tragic Greek character Orestes, in particular, was on Conroy’s mind when playing Batman. By that point, he’d performed several plays as Orestes, a son who avenges his father’s murder and goes mad because of it. By the end of the story, Orestes has gone through hell and back because of his thirst for vengeance. Naturally, Conroy brought that familiarity with Orestes to his portrayal of Batman.

“He’s a Homeric hero,” Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. “I think of it often when I’m doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He’s resurrected at the end, and I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents’ murder. It haunts him through his life. It’s transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

“He’s come out of such a fire and instead of letting life crush him, he turns that metamorphosis into something even greater than himself,” Conroy says. “They’ve been telling that story for thousands of years in different cultures, and this is our culture’s way of telling those stories, and I think they’re just as valid.”

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look. 

"I just think Batman looks great," Timm says during our chat at NYCC in 2018. "He's got the best costume motif in comics. Nothing comes close. He's dark, sexy, and broody. It's really intoxicating and compelling in a way that almost no other in comics can come close to it."

He also admires the durability of the character through the different eras of comics, from the Golden Age, to the sillier '50s and '60s stories of the Comics Code era, to the darker takes we're more accustomed to today. 

"It is amazing to me how flexible he is as a character. That you could have something as silly as the Adam West show or the old '50s comics, and then you have stuff like Neal Adams and Frank Miller and what we did. And you know, even more extreme, [Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's graphic novel] Arkham Asylum and things like that. And yet their all kind of the same character. It's like that character can encompass all of those different things. He can do space aliens and serial killers, you know? Yet, it kind of works."

This flexibility has allowed plenty of writers and artists to experiment with the Dark Knight, creating different versions of the character over the years. There really isn't a definitive take on Batman. You can love the Batusi, Bat-Mite, or Mr. Freeze's cool party and still be right on the money about the Caped Crusader. You'd be remiss to call the character stale. The guy has done it all.

"It's almost like he's a force of nature, in which stories can happen around him, and there's something primordial, maybe, about the character and the way he looks, as well," says veteran Batman artist Jock, who most recently worked on a seven-part miniseries with Snyder called The Batman Who Laughs. "You could put Batman in a new pose, and he'd still flourish, and I think those kinds of characters are very rare."

Peter J. Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

"He's a character who can work across all genres. Somehow, someway, he can simply fit into every story, be it a war story, a western, a love story, a comedic angle, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, you name it, and of course any detective story you can possibly imagine."

Superheroes won't always be at the top of our pop culture food chain. It's inevitable that many of the characters we love today will fade with future generations, just as the Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, and the Scarlet Pimpernel did. Will we still be talking about Batman in another 80 years? We may eventually embrace new forms of familiar myths, becoming obsessed with new idols. But only a fool would bet against a character who's survived as long as Batman has. Remember, the Batman always wins.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Feature

TV

Movies

John Saavedra

Dec 18, 2019

Batman

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

Instagram

SDCC

SDCC 2019

Tom King

from Books https://ift.tt/2SsKpdl

[aion-rsa]

Batman at 80: Why the Dark Knight Still Matters

https://ift.tt/2JHaNx5

Batman turns 80 this year. We talked to Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, and more about the hero's legacy!

facebook

twitter

tumblr

It all began with two shots in the dark, pearls spilling onto the blood-soaked cement. No, it all started when the bat crashed through the window. Actually, it was when the boy fell into the cave. Maybe it was that hostile takeover at Apex Chemicals? Dozens of stories have shaped the legend of the Batman over his 80-year history, tales that have made the Caped Crusader arguably the most iconic character in comic book history, rivaled only by Superman.

When Bill Finger and Bob Kane put pen and pencil to paper for 1939's Detective Comics #27, they had no way of knowing that they were creating a new American myth that would captivate readers and movie audiences for decades to come. They certainly didn't expect their first Batman adventure, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," to spawn 973 more issues of Detective Comics, let alone become a blockbuster franchise featuring movies, TV series, video games, and McDonald's Happy Meals. 

But what bigger testament to the long-lasting appeal of Batman than March’s Detective Comics #1000, written and drawn by some of the best creators in the business? The giant-sized, 96-page issue featured stories by legends such as as Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Epting, Christopher Priest, Jim Lee, Kelley Jones, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Geoff Johns as well as the current custodians of the Bat-mythos -- Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Joelle Jones, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo. And that's not even including the excellent covers by Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrightson, Bruce Timm, Frank Miller, Jock, Tim Sale, and more. 

Batman is only the second DC superhero to reach such a massive milestone, the other being the Man of Steel. What is it about this character hellbent on avenging the death of his parents night after night that has kept him at the forefront of our pop culture?

“I think what makes him deeply enduring is that it’s a really primal folk tale,” Scott Snyder, who’s been writing Batman stories since 2011, says. “It’s a story about a boy who loses everything and turns that loss into fuel to make sure that what happened to him never happens to anybody else.”

While most of us aren't billionaire playboys with the resources to fight crime on a global (and sometimes cosmic) level, we understand pain, both emotional and physical, and a need to rise above it, even if we can't always do that. We sympathize with Bruce's biggest regret -- if only he hadn't made his parents take him to see that Zorro movie; if only he hadn't been frightened by the opera; if only he'd been braver and faster as the thug pulled the trigger. For Bruce, his crusade to stop evildoers comes down to replaying that single fateful moment over and over again and making possible a different outcome.

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder. 

"It's a story of triumph over your worst fears, worst tragedy, and about taking your loss and turning it into a win," the writer says. "There's just this kind of power to him that speaks to our own potential, the human potential, even when we're challenged by things that seem insurmountably horrible." 

Snyder has spent the better part of a decade showcasing Batman as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Gotham, putting him through the ringer, reopening old wounds while also making new ones -- the writer even killed the hero off at one point -- just so that he can pick himself up again and keep fighting. 

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years? 

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

According to Batman: The Animated Series voice actor Kevin Conroy, Batman’s continued popularity goes back to something primal. To the classically trained actor who was immortalized as the voice of Batman in the ‘90s cartoon, the Caped Crusader is a modern retelling of myths and stories humans have been passing down for thousands of years.

“He’s such a theatrical character,” Conroy says, admitting he was at first hesitant to audition for the role. At the time, he was a theater actor who'd never done an animated role. But when he read the script, the character clicked. Conroy recognized this story. “They were absolutely right to cast a theater actor, especially one with a classical background, because this is Shakespeare. They’re doing high drama. Batman is Achilles. He’s Orestes. He’s Hamlet.”

The tragic Greek character Orestes, in particular, was on Conroy’s mind when playing Batman. By that point, he’d performed several plays as Orestes, a son who avenges his father’s murder and goes mad because of it. By the end of the story, Orestes has gone through hell and back because of his thirst for vengeance. Naturally, Conroy brought that familiarity with Orestes to his portrayal of Batman.

“He’s a Homeric hero,” Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. “I think of it often when I’m doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He’s resurrected at the end, and I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents’ murder. It haunts him through his life. It’s transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

“He’s come out of such a fire and instead of letting life crush him, he turns that metamorphosis into something even greater than himself,” Conroy says. “They’ve been telling that story for thousands of years in different cultures, and this is our culture’s way of telling those stories, and I think they’re just as valid.”

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look. 

"I just think Batman looks great," Timm says during our chat at NYCC in 2018. "He's got the best costume motif in comics. Nothing comes close. He's dark, sexy, and broody. It's really intoxicating and compelling in a way that almost no other in comics can come close to it."

He also admires the durability of the character through the different eras of comics, from the Golden Age, to the sillier '50s and '60s stories of the Comics Code era, to the darker takes we're more accustomed to today. 

"It is amazing to me how flexible he is as a character. That you could have something as silly as the Adam West show or the old '50s comics, and then you have stuff like Neal Adams and Frank Miller and what we did. And you know, even more extreme, [Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's graphic novel] Arkham Asylum and things like that. And yet their all kind of the same character. It's like that character can encompass all of those different things. He can do space aliens and serial killers, you know? Yet, it kind of works."

This flexibility has allowed plenty of writers and artists to experiment with the Dark Knight, creating different versions of the character over the years. There really isn't a definitive take on Batman. You can love the Batusi, Bat-Mite, or Mr. Freeze's cool party and still be right on the money about the Caped Crusader. You'd be remiss to call the character stale. The guy has done it all.

"It's almost like he's a force of nature, in which stories can happen around him, and there's something primordial, maybe, about the character and the way he looks, as well," says veteran Batman artist Jock, who most recently worked on a seven-part miniseries with Snyder called The Batman Who Laughs. "You could put Batman in a new pose, and he'd still flourish, and I think those kinds of characters are very rare."

Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

"He's a character who can work across all genres. Somehow, someway, he can simply fit into every story, be it a war story, a western, a love story, a comedic angle, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, you name it, and of course any detective story you can possibly imagine."

Superheroes won't always be at the top of our pop culture food chain. It's inevitable that many of the characters we love today will fade with future generations, just as the Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, and the Scarlet Pimpernel did. Will we still be talking about Batman in another 80 years? We may eventually embrace new forms of familiar myths, becoming obsessed with new idols. But only a fool would bet against a character who's survived as long as Batman has. Remember, the Batman always wins.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Feature

TV

Movies

John Saavedra

Sep 21, 2019

Batman

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

Instagram

SDCC

SDCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/2SsKpdl

[aion-rsa]

Batman Celebrates 80 Years: Why the Dark Knight Still Matters

https://ift.tt/2JHaNx5

Batman turns 80 this year. We talked to Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, and more about the hero's legacy!

facebook

twitter

tumblr

It all began with two shots in the dark, pearls spilling onto the blood-soaked cement. No, it all started when the bat crashed through the window. Actually, it was when the boy fell into the cave. Maybe it was that hostile takeover at Apex Chemicals? Dozens of stories have shaped the legend of the Batman over his 80-year history, tales that have made the Caped Crusader arguably the most iconic character in comic book history, rivaled only by Superman.

When Bill Finger and Bob Kane put pen and pencil to paper for 1939's Detective Comics #27, they had no way of knowing that they were creating a new American myth that would captivate readers and movie audiences for decades to come. They certainly didn't expect their first Batman adventure, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," to spawn 973 more issues of Detective Comics, let alone become a blockbuster franchise featuring movies, TV series, video games, and McDonald's Happy Meals. 

But what bigger testament to the long-lasting appeal of Batman than March’s Detective Comics #1000, written and drawn by some of the best creators in the business? The giant-sized, 96-page issue featured stories by legends such as as Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Epting, Christopher Priest, Jim Lee, Kelley Jones, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Geoff Johns as well as the current custodians of the Bat-mythos -- Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Joelle Jones, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo. And that's not even including the excellent covers by Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrightson, Bruce Timm, Frank Miller, Jock, Tim Sale, and more. 

Batman is only the second DC superhero to reach such a massive milestone, the other being the Man of Steel. What is it about this character hellbent on avenging the death of his parents night after night that has kept him at the forefront of our pop culture?

“I think what makes him deeply enduring is that it’s a really primal folk tale,” Scott Snyder, who’s been writing Batman stories since 2011, says. “It’s a story about a boy who loses everything and turns that loss into fuel to make sure that what happened to him never happens to anybody else.”

While most of us aren't billionaire playboys with the resources to fight crime on a global (and sometimes cosmic) level, we understand pain, both emotional and physical, and a need to rise above it, even if we can't always do that. We sympathize with Bruce's biggest regret -- if only he hadn't made his parents take him to see that Zorro movie; if only he hadn't been frightened by the opera; if only he'd been braver and faster as the thug pulled the trigger. For Bruce, his crusade to stop evildoers comes down to replaying that single fateful moment over and over again and making possible a different outcome.

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder. 

"It's a story of triumph over your worst fears, worst tragedy, and about taking your loss and turning it into a win," the writer says. "There's just this kind of power to him that speaks to our own potential, the human potential, even when we're challenged by things that seem insurmountably horrible." 

Snyder has spent the better part of a decade showcasing Batman as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Gotham, putting him through the ringer, reopening old wounds while also making new ones -- the writer even killed the hero off at one point -- just so that he can pick himself up again and keep fighting. 

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years? 

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

According to Batman: The Animated Series voice actor Kevin Conroy, Batman’s continued popularity goes back to something primal. To the classically trained actor who was immortalized as the voice of Batman in the ‘90s cartoon, the Caped Crusader is a modern retelling of myths and stories humans have been passing down for thousands of years.

“He’s such a theatrical character,” Conroy says, admitting he was at first hesitant to audition for the role. At the time, he was a theater actor who'd never done an animated role. But when he read the script, the character clicked. Conroy recognized this story. “They were absolutely right to cast a theater actor, especially one with a classical background, because this is Shakespeare. They’re doing high drama. Batman is Achilles. He’s Orestes. He’s Hamlet.”

The tragic Greek character Orestes, in particular, was on Conroy’s mind when playing Batman. By that point, he’d performed several plays as Orestes, a son who avenges his father’s murder and goes mad because of it. By the end of the story, Orestes has gone through hell and back because of his thirst for vengeance. Naturally, Conroy brought that familiarity with Orestes to his portrayal of Batman.

“He’s a Homeric hero,” Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. “I think of it often when I’m doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He’s resurrected at the end, and I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents’ murder. It haunts him through his life. It’s transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

“He’s come out of such a fire and instead of letting life crush him, he turns that metamorphosis into something even greater than himself,” Conroy says. “They’ve been telling that story for thousands of years in different cultures, and this is our culture’s way of telling those stories, and I think they’re just as valid.”

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look. 

"I just think Batman looks great," Timm says during our chat at NYCC in 2018. "He's got the best costume motif in comics. Nothing comes close. He's dark, sexy, and broody. It's really intoxicating and compelling in a way that almost no other in comics can come close to it."

He also admires the durability of the character through the different eras of comics, from the Golden Age, to the sillier '50s and '60s stories of the Comics Code era, to the darker takes we're more accustomed to today. 

"It is amazing to me how flexible he is as a character. That you could have something as silly as the Adam West show or the old '50s comics, and then you have stuff like Neal Adams and Frank Miller and what we did. And you know, even more extreme, [Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's graphic novel] Arkham Asylum and things like that. And yet their all kind of the same character. It's like that character can encompass all of those different things. He can do space aliens and serial killers, you know? Yet, it kind of works."

This flexibility has allowed plenty of writers and artists to experiment with the Dark Knight, creating different versions of the character over the years. There really isn't a definitive take on Batman. You can love the Batusi, Bat-Mite, or Mr. Freeze's cool party and still be right on the money about the Caped Crusader. You'd be remiss to call the character stale. The guy has done it all.

"It's almost like he's a force of nature, in which stories can happen around him, and there's something primordial, maybe, about the character and the way he looks, as well," says veteran Batman artist Jock, who most recently worked on a seven-part miniseries with Snyder called The Batman Who Laughs. "You could put Batman in a new pose, and he'd still flourish, and I think those kinds of characters are very rare."

Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

"He's a character who can work across all genres. Somehow, someway, he can simply fit into every story, be it a war story, a western, a love story, a comedic angle, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, you name it, and of course any detective story you can possibly imagine."

Superheroes won't always be at the top of our pop culture food chain. It's inevitable that many of the characters we love today will fade with future generations, just as the Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, and the Scarlet Pimpernel did. Will we still be talking about Batman in another 80 years? We may eventually embrace new forms of familiar myths, becoming obsessed with new idols. But only a fool would bet against a character who's survived as long as Batman has. Remember, the Batman always wins.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Feature

TV

Movies

John Saavedra

Jul 20, 2019

Batman

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

Instagram

SDCC

SDCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/2SsKpdl