#originally posted: pre 2011

[koushirouizumi]

{D.N. Angel} ~ Bring Me To Life ~ Satoshi x Daisuke {SatoDai} + Dark (as {Platonic} Support to Daisuke & SatoDai) vs. Krad on AO3: Here!

By Young Me

Spoiler{s}: for the final battle.

Music © Evanescence/Amy Lee; also © Linkin Park (Backing Vocal Only) {This was made before the re-release of this song without them.}

{Do Not Copy} {Do Not Repost} {Do Not Reproduce my Works Under Any Circumstances Without My Permission!} NO $$$ is being made off this Fanwork D.N. Angel © Yukiru Sugisaki + T.V. Tokyo & Xebec

Notes: This is Old {10+ yrs old}. it’s my last early thing made for this series out of multiple. The footage used will reflect this, as it was made before widespread change into H. D. Please be understanding. [There may be intent for me to remake it someday!]

-This embed may randomly not display at times, Showing like it’s “down”, but it’s not at this time! {It usually happens late at night[s] or seemingly when the site is experiencing very high traffic} If that happens, please consider watching at another direct link here!

{I am NOT taking new AMV Requests (+for this series) at this time. Please DO NOT Ask!}

[achorusofnonsense]

The Pre-Timeline of Dimension 20

Just because I've seen a lot of confusion about this following the release of The Roll of a Lifetime: How Dimension 20 Sold Out Madison Square Garden, in which the story of how Dimension 20 got started is edited in such a way that viewers come away with an odd impression about the timeline, I thought I'd put together as clear and annotated a timeline as I can of how and when the Intrepid Heroes met, got into D&D, and got cast in Dimension 20, plus some of the greater context they were operating in. All of this is publicly available information, gleaned mostly from years of interviews, Adventuring Parties, NADDPod Short Rests, and social media posts.

1998: Noted science-fiction author Elaine Lee signs her ten-year-old son Brennan up for a Dungeons & Dragons game at October Country, a local comics and gaming shop, in order to provide him with a social and creative outlet after having to start homeschooling him due to pervasive bullying at school. Within weeks, he begins running his own games for fellow children.

December 1999: CollegeHumor.com launches, posting user-submitted funny and/or titillating content from around the web. Within a few years, banner ad revenue and merch sales have made its founders young tech millionaires. By 2004 they are hiring writers to produce original content.

August 2006: CollegeHumor is acquired by InterActive Corp. Shortly thereafter, Sam Reich is hired to produce video content on the strength of videos he'd posted online of his improv team Dutch West.

April 2007: CollegeHumor staff writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld begin posting videos of themselves performing absurdist sketches in their downtime at work; this inspires the long-running Hardly Working series, in which CollegeHumor staff appear as heightened versions of themselves in the office.

2008: Brian Murphy is hired to answer phones at the CollegeHumor offices. He soon begins writing for the website and appearing in videos, striking up a nerdy friendship with staff artist Caldwell Tanner.

2011: Emily Axford is hired by CollegeHumor as part of a wave of new talent as the original CollegeHumor cast moves on to bigger opportunities. She and Murph are memorably cast as romantic interests in Jake & Amir videos; some time later, they begin dating.

Early 2014: CollegeHumor's video team relocates to Los Angeles in order to establish themselves as a traditional TV production house, including shows like Adam Ruins Everything and the Jake and Amir series Lonely and Horny. Murph and Emily are among the cast who make the move. They marry in September and begin developing the TV sketch show Hot Date.

Early 2015: Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, and Grant O'Brien are hired to write and act in sketches for CollegeHumor as cast turnover continues. Emily and Siobhan become close friends, and Zac bonds with Murph and Emily over anime.

August 2015: Jake and Amir, having quit CollegeHumor earlier that year, start the podcast network Headgum, whose initial slate of podcasts is shows by other CollegeHumor alums.

November 2015: Brennan Lee Mulligan wins $50,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, pays back a loan for medical expenses, and begins the process of relocating to Los Angeles to pursue more opportunities in production and development.

July 2016: Siobhan throws herself a birthday party, inviting people she knows from doing comedy in New York and Los Angeles. At the party, Emily overhears Brennan talking about D&D and corners him to ask him to run a game for her and her friends. During the conversation, Zac turns around, asking what they're talking about, and gets invited too. Siobhan, Zac, Emily, Murph, and Adam Ruins Everything producers Jon Wolf and Travis Helwig start playing in a home game with Brennan DMing. Murph plays a paladin, Emily a druid, Siobhan a ranger, and Zac a monk.

Around the same time: Lou Wilson meets Brennan through Upright Citizens Brigade (where Brennan coaches improv) and begins playing in a different home game as a barbarian. Both of these games are played in 3.5, Brennan's preferred edition of Dungeons & Dragons at the time.

September 2016: Murph, Emily and Caldwell start 8 Bit Book Club, a podcast about video game adaptations, on the Headgum network.

April 2017: Ally Beardsley is hired (along with Raphael Chestang and Rekha Shankar) to join the CollegeHumor sketch-video cast, as Siobhan has left to pursue other opportunities and Murph and Emily are busy with Adam Ruins Everything and Hot Date. During this round of hiring, Brennan is considered but doesn't make the cut, although a few months later he is hired part-time to write questions for Um, Actually. Ally and Zac become close friends and perform improv together.

Summer 2017: Zac leaves CollegeHumor to write on a new season of Adam Ruins Everything. Rather than go through another round of auditions and hires, Sam bumps Brennan up to main cast.

Fall 2017: Wanting more of a return out of their investment, IAC insists on CollegeHumor starting its own streaming service. Existing staff are required to pitch original shows. Brennan is halfway through writing a pitch document for a TTRPG actual play, citing the success of The Adventure Zone and Critical Role, when he is called into a meeting and asked how he would feel about DMing an actual play.

October 2017: Brian Murphy guests on If I Were You, Jake and Amir's flagship podcast, and explains Dungeons & Dragons. Jake is intrigued, Amir not so much.

November 2017: Dimension 20 begins the planning stages. For the next three months, Brennan works with producer David Kerns, coordinator Ebony Hardin, director Michael Schaubach and designer Rick Perry to develop a unique set, feel, and pace for the show. After some chemistry test games, the initial cast is set as Brian Murphy, Emily Axford, Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, Lou Wilson, and Rekha Shankar, who has never played before.

December 2017: At a Headgum Christmas party, Jake Hurwitz corners Murph and suggests that they start a D&D podcast so that Jake can play.

January 18, 2018: Murph, Emily, Caldwell and Jake announce Not Another D&D Podcast on an episode of 8 Bit Book Club.

February 7, 2018: The first shooting day of Fantasy High, which will be the first season of Dimension 20. Only a few weeks before shooting, Rekha has a scheduling conflict and can't fit Dimension 20 in between her duties as head writer of CollegeHumor's sketches and developing other shows for Dropout; Ally Beardsley becomes her replacement at the Dimension 20 table. It is Ally's first time playing D&D at all; it is Brennan, Zac, Siobhan, and Lou's first time playing 5th edition. Earlier that day, Brennan shoots the first CEO video, which will net him viral notoriety and a vocal fanbase within the CollegeHumor audience, with an undercurrent of "finally, a straight white man" to the praise.

February 8, 2018: The first campaign episode of Not Another D&D Podcast is released. It releases weekly thereafter, and they are 32 episodes in and have done their first live show before Dimension 20 premieres.

September 26, 2018: The first two episodes of Fantasy High are available when Dropout goes live. It is the immediate breakout hit of the platform, so much so that the second season, The Unsleeping City, goes into production while Fantasy High is airing; but because it will take so long to edit before it's ready to air, a short "sidequest" is filmed in a weekend with Matt Mercer, Erika Ishii, Amy Vorpahl and Ify Nwadiwe from the online gaming world and Mike Trapp and Rekha from CollegeHumor to tide the audience over, establishing D20's production rhythms for the next several years.

[rivalsforlife]

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Announced

At the Nintendo Direct today, news I have been tirelessly waiting six years for arrived: The Ace Attorney Investigations games are coming to all modern consoles! This includes Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (now officially known as Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Gambit), after THIRTEEN YEARS of being a Japan-exclusive game!

Now everyone gets to experience Debeste Ace Attorney games! ... The Winner Ace Attorney Games!

Key Information

The collection is coming out on September 6, 2024 to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, XBOX One, Windows, and Steam. It will be available in Japanese, English, French, German, Korean, and Traditional and Simplified Chinese, with new voice dubs. Most of the information in this post will be coming from the official website, which you can check out for more details.

The reveal trailer is as follows:

There's lots of information here, so let's break it down:

New Features

Since these were originally Nintendo DS games, there's a massive jump in graphic quality to HD! This includes a new interface for Logic, the court record, and redone full-body sprites. But if you prefer the classic look, the AAI collection will let you swap between the sprite styles:

Similarly to the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and 456 Collection, the AAI Collection includes story mode, dialogue history, a gallery containing concept and special art, and music including orchestral arrangements of the soundtrack.

You can also change the in-game soundtrack to rearranged tracks! This applies to Confrontation - Allegro, Confrontation - Presto, Objection 2009, and Pursuit - Chase Down The Truth (commonly known as Lying Coldly) with and without the intro.

Pre-Order Bonuses

Much like the AAI tracks, AAI2 arranged tracks can play in game, but these are currently restricted to pre-order bonuses (though this might change in the future). This includes Confrontation - Allegro 2011, Confrontation - Presto 2011, Objection 2011, and the intro and non-intro versions of Pursuit - Uncover The Truth (commonly known as Wanting To Find The Truth).

That's all on the English side, but much like the 456 collection, Japan has a physical collector's edition called the Mitsurugi (Edgeworth) Checkmate Set. This includes an arranged mini-album of songs by other composers, and new album art by Tatsuro Iwamoto.

The new songs include "Objections of Different Eras" (seemingly a remix of Objections 2009 and 2011), "Raven that Pursues The Truth" (remix of Kay's theme), "It's Time for Action!" (remix of Gumshoe's theme), "Howling Echoes" (remix of Lang's theme), and "Unveiling the Truth" (remix of the Pursuit songs).

This collection also includes a diorama set:

The set has two backgrounds (the rooftop of the Grand Tower and Edgeworth's office), and has standees of Edgeworth, Kay, Gumshoe, Franziska, Lang, Gregory, and... Verity and Eustace.

Which is a good segue into:

Localization Differences

Since most AA fans will be familiar with the fantastic AAI2 fan translation, the new names will likely be an adjustment for all of us. Characters in AAI (like Kay and Lang) will not have their names changed, just characters that were previously exclusive to AAI2.

Known name changes include:

Yumihiko Ichiyanagi / Sebastian Debeste -> Eustace Winner

Hakari Mikagami / Justine Courtney -> Verity Gavèlle

Tateyuki Shigaraki / Raymond Shields -> Eddie Fender

We also know that Manosuke Naito / Horace Knightley's new last name is Knight, and Gai Tojiro / Ethan Rooke's last name is Rook, which isn't much of a departure from fan translation names. We also know that Mikiko Hayami / Nicole Swift's new last name is Lloyd. I will provide updates on more names when they become available!

Regardless of your feelings on the new names - it's going to be an adjustment for everyone used to the fan translation that has been around ten years now - let's all keep in mind that despite the new names, the characters behind the names will be the same. And personally, as a massive fan of AAI2, I think the adjustment will be worth it if it means that more people get to experience my favorite ace attorney game for themselves.

With this announcement, all canonical ace attorney games have been ported to modern consoles and given an English translation. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, this announcement is thirteen years in the making for AAI2! This is an unprecedented time for the popularity and accessibility of Ace Attorney.

(All we need now is the Layton crossover...)

Thank you all for joining me in this excitement and I look forward to collecting and sharing more updates as they arrive!

[midnightsslut]

A Guide to Red - The Quintessential Taylor Swift Album

After the release of The Manuscript, the role of Red and Red (Taylor’s Version) in Taylor’s life and discography has been highly discussed. A lot of people have referred to it as her magnum opus and most formative album. I have decided to compile a condensed list of about a dozen key interviews, performances, speeches, posts, and videos from 2011 all the way until 2024 that illustrate the importance of this record for Taylor’s personal life and career. I’m putting the list under a cut because it got pretty long. You don’t have to go through all of these, obviously, but I would suggest at least one per era. The bolded ones are essential in my opinion.

Pre-Red - These interviews hint at Taylor’s emotional state at the time and thus the content that will be explored on the Red album

2011 The New Yorker profile

Taylor Swift reveals new album is all about heartbreak - Extra TV

Bonus: an article going through Taylor’s arm lyrics on the Speak Now World Tour, which she described as mood rings for any particular show

Lover diary entries from the making of Red (credit to @cabincreaking for the scans)

- All Too Well lyrics first draft (February 2011)

- Random bursts of happiness and anxiety during the Speak Now Tour (June 17, 2011)

- Red (September 8, 2011)

- Holy Ground (February 2012)

- Nothing New (March 2, 2012)

- Working with Max Martin (June 10, 2012)

Red era - Listen to the original sixteen songs on the Red album at this point.

Red announcement livestream + Q&A

Red prologue

2012 Rolling Stone interview

2012 The Guardian interview

2012 Billboard interview

2012 Esquire interview

Sirius XM Town Hall - an hourlong interview from the day Red came out

Good Morning America - this is the first mention of the ten-minute version of All Too Well

Red track-by-track descriptions

Random interview where she discusses the connection between writing Speak Now and Red

I Knew You Were Trouble music video

Diary entry about how love is fiction and she might move to New York after all (January 6, 2014)

Diary entry from Grammy night (January 25, 2014)

Red Tour London performance of All Too Well - any performance of this song from 2013-14 will work here, but this one has a pretty comprehensive speech

Final performance of All Too Well on the Red Tour - just listen to the speech here

Post-Red era - Over the course of these interviews, you’ll see her relationship to the album evolve.

Taylor’s description of Clean (skip to 11:18)

2014 BBC Live Lounge interview

1989 World Tour interview where she mentions thinking she’d never sell as many albums as she did with Red before 1989 came out

Clean speech - a lot of these will work, but these two best describe her relationship with the Red era and heartbreak in general

All Too Well (The 1989 World Tour live)

2015 GrammyPro interview

All Too Well Super Saturday Night performance

Reputation Tour All Too Well speech

Red into Daylight performance - 2019 City of Lover concert in Paris

Re-recordings era - at this point, listen to the red vault

2020 Rolling Stone podcast

Red (Taylor’s Version) prologue

2021 Saturday Night Live performance

All Too Well: The Short Film + Behind the Scenes

Seth Meyers interview

2022 Tribeca film talk OR TIFF (both are equally good. I have a slight preference for the former, but there are some interesting new details in the latter). You could also watch directors on directors from the same year as a bonus, but it’s less comprehensive.

2022 Graham Norton - How All Too Well (10 Minute Version) came about + how the re-recordings inspired Midnights

Also listen to Midnights

The Eras Tour

All Too Well speech (Glendale Night 2 & Atlanta Night 1) - any of the speeches from March and April 2023 will work, but these two really illustrate how she feels about this time in her life now and how the fans changed the Red album for her. Obviously credit to @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes for the transcripts!

Maroon first ever live performance (‘This is a song about something that happened a long time ago, but it took place in New York’)

Aaaand finally listen to The Tortured Poets Department, especially The Manuscript

This is a lot, but it’s worth it. Enjoy!

[argoscity]

ULTIMATE SUPERGIRL READING GUIDE

since i've been asked a few times in the past for various reading guides for kara, i thought i'd compile them all into one post for the sake of convenience!

this guide has reading orders for supergirl comics in PRE-CRISIS (1959-1985), POST-CRISIS (2004-2011), NEW 52 (2011-2016), REBIRTH (2016-2021), and INFINITE FRONTIER (2021-present).

if you have any questions at all don't be afraid to shoot me an ask!

for each section bolded comics are required, italicized comics are recommended, and everything else is optional!

ORIGIN AND MIDVALE ERA (NOTE: you'll have to flip to the back of each issue to get to kara's section!) action comics (1938) #252, 258, 267, 276, 278-282, 285, 295, 309-310, 313, 317

STANHOPE COLLEGE action comics (1938) #318-319, 322-323, 332-333, 337, 339, 340, 350, 358, 359, 366-368, 369-370, 371-372, 374-376 world’s finest (1941) #169 adventure comics (1938) #381-382, 383, 384, 386-389, 391, 393-394, 395-397, 399, 400, 402, 404-405

K-SFTV REPORTER — SAN FRANCISCO adventure comics (1938) #406-407 action comics (1938) #402 (second story titled "superman vs. supergirl: feud of the titans") adventure comics (1938) #409-415, 417, 419, 420, 421-424

VANDYRE UNIVERSITY supergirl (1974) #1-10

STUDENT ADVISOR — FLORIDA (NOTE: every member of the superfamily has a story in the superman family (1974), so you'll have to flip through to find kara's section!) the superman family (1974) #165, 168, 171, 174, 177, 180, 182 justice league of america (1960) #132-134 the superman family #183, 184-186, 187-189, 191-193, 194, 196-198, 199, 200, 201-202, 203, 204-205, 206-207

ACTRESS — NEW YORK the superman family (1974) 208-210, 211-214, 215-216, 217, 218 superman (1939) #373 (second story titled “an eye (and ear) on the world!”) detective comics (1937) #508-510 the superman family #219-222

THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA (i recommend this storyline in it's entirety, but kara only appears in the last issue!) legion of superheroes (1980) #290-294

LAKE SHORE UNIVERSITY supergirl (1982) #1-12 (cw: nazi imagery in the brief interlude in #12)  supergirl (1982) #13-15 (cw: antisemitism, nazi imagery, depictions of the holocaust.) supergirl (1982) #16-23

LAST APPEARANCES AND DEATH legion of super-heroes (1980) #300-303 dc comics presents (1978) #28 tales of the legion of super-heroes (1984) #314-315 crisis on infinite earths (1985) #4-7

BONUS POST-COIE APPEARANCES christmas with the super-heroes (1988) #2 (last story titled “should auld acquaintance be forgot”) supergirl (1996) #49, 75-80 solo (2004) #1 (third story titled “young love”) convergence: adventures of superman (2015) #1-2

ORIGIN superman/batman (2003) #8-13  (or you can watch superman/batman: apocalypse (2010) instead which I recommend! the art is a lot more tasteful and it's a very faithful adaptation of the comic so you won’t be missing out on anything.)

KARA WITH THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES supergirl and the legion of super-heroes (2006) #16-36

LOEB AND KELLY HELL ERA supergirl (2005) #1-5, 9-10, 19 (you don’t have to read any of this since it gets retconned anyway, but if you’re interested in kara’s early characterization, the beginnings of her friendship with cassie sandsmark, or her difficulty fitting in on earth then you’re welcome to read what i’ve provided.)

KELLEY PUCKETT ERA Amazons Attack! teen titans (2003) #47-48  amazons attack! (2007) #3  supergirl (2005) #20  amazons attack! (2007) #4  teen titans (2003) #49

supergirl (2005) #21-22  teen titans (2003) #50, 51-55  supergirl (2005) #25-33

Superman: Brainiac  action comics (1938) #866-870

GATES AND IGLE HEAVEN ERA supergirl (2005) #34

New Krypton (new krypton is one of my favorite events and i recommend it in its entirety, but for the sake of brevity I’ll only be listing the issues relevant to kara.) superman: new krypton special #1  superman (1939) #681  adventure comics special featuring guardian #1  action comics (1938) #871  supergirl (2005) #35  superman (1939) #682  action comics (1938) #872  supergirl (2005) #36  superman (1939) #683  action comics (1938) #873

teen titans (2003) #66  supergirl (2005) #37-42

Friends and Fugitives superman: secret Files 2009 #1  supergirl (2005) #43  action comics (1938) #881  supergirl (2005) #45  action comics (1938) #882  supergirl (2005) #46-47

supergirl (2005) annual 1, #48-50

Last Stand of New Krypton  adventure comics (2009) #8  superman: last stand of new krypton #1  supergirl (2005) #51  superman (1938) #698  adventure comics (2009) #9  superman: last stand of new krypton #2  adventure comics (2009) #10  supergirl (2005) #52  superman (1938) #699  superman: last stand of new krypton #3 superman: war of the supermen (2010) #0, 1-4 

supergirl (2005) #53-57, annual 2, 58-59

END OF SUPERGIRL VOL 5 supergirl (2005) #60-64 supergirl (2005) #65-67

ORIGIN and SUPERGIRL VS THE WORLDKILLERS supergirl (2011) #1-7

SUPERGIRL and SILVER BANSHEE supergirl (2011) #8-11

SUPERGIRL and SUPERBOY superboy (2011) #6

SANCTUARY supergirl (2011) #12, 0, 13

H’EL ON EARTH superman (2011) #13 supergirl (2011) #14 superman (2011) #14 superboy (2011) #15 supergirl (2011) #15 superboy (2011) #16 superboy (2011) Annual #1 supergirl (2011) #16 superman (2011) #16 superboy (2011) #17 supergirl (2011) #17 superman (2011) #17

SUPERGIRL and POWERGIRL supergirl (2011) #18-20

CYBORG SUPERMAN supergirl (2011) #21-23 action comics (2011) #23.1 supergirl (2011) #24

KRYPTON RETURNS action comics (2011) annual #2 superboy (2011) #25 supergirl (2011) #25 superman (2011) #25

SUPERGIRL VS LOBO supergirl (2011) #26-27

RED DAUGHTER OF KRYPTON supergirl (2011) #28-29 red lanterns (2011) #28-29 supergirl (2011) #30 red lanterns (2011) #30 supergirl (2011) #31 red lanterns (2011) #31-32 supergirl (2011) #32-33

SUPERMAN: DOOMED (this is a whole storyline but I'll only be listing the issues that kara appears in!) superman/wonder woman (2013) #9 action comics (2011) #33 supergirl (2011) #34 superman: doomed (2014) #2 action comics (2011) #35 supergirl (2011) #35

FUTURES END supergirl: futures end (2014) #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED justice league united (2014) #1-5 justice league united (2014) annual #1 justice league united (2014) #6-10

CRUCIBLE supergirl (2011) #36-40

FINAL DAYS OF SUPERMAN (kara only appears in the issues i've italicized and bolded, but i put all the relevant issues if you wanted to read the full storyline!) superman (2011) #51 batman/superman (2013) #31 action comics (2011) #51 superman/wonder woman (2013) #28 batman/superman (2013) #32 action comics (2011) #52 superman/wonder woman (2013) #29 superman (2011) #52

KARA IN NATIONAL CITY supergirl: rebirth #1

supergirl (2016) #1-8 batgirl (2016) annual 1 supergirl #9-12

supergirl (2016) annual 1supergirl #13-20

world's finest: batwoman and supergirl #1-2

ROGOL ZAAR and THE SINS OF THE CIRCLE the man of steel #1-2, 3-6 supergirl #21-33, #34-36

LEVIATHAN and BATMAN WHO LAUGHS superman: leviathan rising special #1 supergirl #34-36 supergirl (2016) annual 2 supergirl #37-42

HOUSE OF KENT action comics (2016) #1022-1023 action comics (2016) #1024-1028

FUTURE STATE superman of metropolis (2021) #1-2 kara zor el, superwoman (2021) #1-2

action comics 2021 annual

WOMAN OF TOMORROW supergirl: woman of tomorrow (2021) #1-8

WORLD'S FINEST batman/superman: world's finest (2022) #2-6, 8, 12

A WORLD WITHOUT CLARK KENT and RED MOON (kara is featured in the back-up story! if you want the full context of this plot i recommend reading the full warworld arc in action comics [action comics #1030-1046, superman: warworld apocalypse #1]!) action comics (2016) #1044-1046, 1047-1049

DAWN OF DC action comics (2016) #1051-1053, 1055-1056 superman (2023) #1-3 power girl special #1 steelworks (2023) #1-3

KNIGHT TERRORS knight terrors: superman (2023) #1-2

DAWN OF DC (continued) action comics: doomsday special (2023) superman (2023) #7 hawkgirl (2023) #4 supergirl special (2023)

NEW WORLDS [this arc starts on action comics #1057—kara doesn't appear in that issue but I recommend reading it for context!] action comics (2016) #1058-1060 action comics 2023 annual

JOURNEY TO FERIMBIA powergirl (2023) #5, 6-7

HOUSE OF BRAINIAC action comics (2016) #1064 superman (2023) #13 action comics (2016) #1065 superman (2023) #14 action comics (2016) #1066 superman (2023) #15

UNIVERSE END action comics (2016) #1070-1081

MISCELLANEOUS RECENT APPEARANCES: justice league unlimited (2024) #1, 4-6 superwoman special #1 superman (2023) #21-22

SUMMER OF SUPERMAN superman unlimited (2025) #1-2

MISADVENTURES IN MIDVALE supergirl (2025) #1-2

UPCOMING: supergirl (2025) [monthly ongoing] new history of the dc universe (2025) #2 [out july 23rd] dc's kal-el-fornia love (2025) [out july 30th]

[batsimsposts]

Ok yall, i've seen a lot of misinformation on who was the first *insert superhero here* so here are some common superheroes who passed on their mantle and in what order each character was this hero. This post is meant to be informative.

This post has Batgirl, Robin, Flamebird, and Flash.

BATGIRL

- Bette Kane was Batgirl for seven years (1961-1967) and she was THE original batgirl. (Yup! Barbara was not the first!)

- Barbara Gordon was the most iconic Batgirl and most depictions of Batgirl in animation/live action are her. She was Batgirl from 1967-1988. (There are most recent depictions of her as batgirl but she was officially retired by DC editorial in 1988)

- Helena Bertinelli was Batgirl during the No Man's Land arc which ran through most of 1999. It happened for less than one year so if you don't want to count her that's fine. This list is more for educational purposes.

- Cassandra Cain was Batgirl right after Helena Bertinelli near the end of No Man's Land in 1999. She stopped being Batgirl in 2009 and came back in late 2010 with her new alias Black Bat.

- Stephanie Brown was Batgirl from 2009 to 2011 when DC launched the New52 timeline where she was reverted back to Spoiler.

- Tiffany Fox was Batgirl in 2014 during the league of Batgirls arc.

ROBIN

- Dick Grayson was the original Robin, his first appearance was in 1940 and his last appearance as Robin was in 1984, he was Robin for 44 years.

- Lance Bruner was Robin during a 1969 run of The Brave And The Bold. He died as Robin.

- Jason Todd his first appearance as Robin was in 1983 and he officially took over the Robin mantle in 1984. He died in 1988, being Robin for only four years.

- Carrie Kelley was Robin in 1986 during a Batman comic run. She later adopted the Catgirl mantle. (Alternate universe)

- Tim Drake became Robin after Jason died, his first appearance was in 1989. He became Red Robin in 2009 but got put back into the Robin mantle in 2019, he currently fills in as Robin when Damian is out of town.

- Stephanie Brown was Robin for three months (71 days) in 2004. She was only in a few issues and got nerfed like right after.

- Damian Wayne has been Robin since 2009, and is currently holding the Robin Mantle.

FLAMEBIRD

- Jimmy Olsen was Flamebird Pre-crisis

- Bette Kane was Flamebird post-crisis

- Ak-Var was Flamebird for a little bit

- a Kryptonian hero was also called Flamebird

- Kara Zor-El was Flamebird for a tiny bit

- Lois Lane used the Flamebird alias once

(aka Bette Kane was the one to use the Flamebird alias the most but the alias itself is such a small role that i cant even tell you dates or anything...)

THE FLASH

- Jay Garrick is the original Flash, his first appearance was in 1940. (Timelines are always messed up when referring to Flash so I'm only gonna out their first appearance.)

- Barry Allen was Flash after Jay Garrick, his first appearance was in 1956

- Wally West was originally Kid Flash, but became The Flash after some timeline shenanigans with Barry. His first appearance was in 1960

- Ivana Christina Molotova was experimented on and gained speed powers. She was Lady Flash for a while (1987) but changed her alias shortly before her death.

- John Fox is a Flash from the future (27th century) that went back in time to ask Jay Garrick for help. His appearance was in 1990

- Jesse Quick was The Flash after Wally West was integrated with the speed force. She had the powers of Liberty Belle as well as a connection to the speed force. Her first appearance was in 1992

- Bart Allen was first Impulse and then Kid Flash, he became The Flash after Wally West's disappearance. His first appearance was 1994 (as Impulse)

- Avery Ho became The Flash during DC's Rebirth era. She joined the Justice League Of China and was one of the best Flashes with Bart Allen and Wally West. Her first appearance was in 2016.

__________

This is all for now, let me know if theres a superhero alias you want me to do <3

[alicepooryorick]

Do you have Barbara Gordon comic recommendations for someone who's just getting into her as a character?? Like as Oracle OR Batgirl, preferably both if you can 🙏🙏

Ooooh absolutely I do! I'll admit I'm less versed in her as Babsgirl as I am Oracle, but I can try!

Batgirl:

The Batman Adventures (1992) issue 12 for her backstory. It's technically Non-canon but is basically the same motivation and characterization and everything and is really fun. I love it.

Batgirl 2016 I read as a pre-oracle Babsgirl fairly often. It's definitely a younger depiction of her which is unfortunate because it's after...

Batgirl 2011 (specifically the Gail Simone stuff) which is Gail desperately trying to save Babs from character assassination post new 52. It's probably the second best book on the list for Babsgirl after the single issue of Batman Adventures

Oracle:

I'm gonna say a take here, you don't need to read the Killing Joke. It's important to her story but genuinely you get the same depth from that book by reading it's Wikipedia page. Don't waste your time. If someone tells you to read the Killing Joke because "it's a classic", go read Kravens Last Hunt instead it is a million times the book.

Instead of TKJ tho, start:

Oracle Year One. The book that started it all. Thus is where Babs becomes a character unto her own. Its her real origin story.

No Man's Land the event is... Uh... Three omnis of comics but pretty important. I'd recommend it but even I haven't read it. I'd recommend the audiobook though as it is canon.

Birds of prey (1999) is basically THE Barbara book. It's Chuck "actual nazi" Dixon writing a disabled woman empoweringly, as well as a bunch of other authors later. Then Gail Simone's Ru gets broken up over multiple numberings and it's weird and I don't understand it.

Batgirl (2000) aka the first Batgirl Run. It's Cassandra Cain's run, but Barbara is a major character too. Plus you can't have Babs without Cass.

Finally, Batgirl 2009, which is again not a Babs book, but she's Steph's main supporting character and it might be one of DC's greatest runs.

[fantastic-nonsense]

I have a fun [citation needed] hypothetical for you. Say you have been granted the authority to make FIVE editorial directives for DC comics that will be followed for at least the next five years. What are you demanding?

No company events.

No major events with ten thousand tie-in comics.

No big crossover events.

No big gimmick events.

No event comics.

Okay, I kid, but only slightly. I'm actually going cheat slightly and give you five plus an extra one that needs a bit more explanation:

No company-wide crossover events or gimmick events that derail major ongoing stories in individual books shall be made. If an event comic is published, any tie-ins will be published separately from the character's ongoing/mini (for reference: like the Blackest Night tie-in specials).

Institute a lore consistency team within the Archives department. Mandate that every single creative team MUST read and utilize a character/story bible before writing any scripts. The scripts will be looked over by a member of the lore team as well as the book editor before being approved for publication.

The Young Justice generation is finally allowed to grow up and, where necessary, get new hero names. In particular, Tim Drake finally gets to age and stop being Robin. He picks 'Blackbird' as his new name, gets a cool new red-and-black costume, and stars in a rebooted Young Justice book alongside his friends.

Barbara Gordon has to formally retire from the Batgirl role and become Oracle full time again. This is handled in a way that is respectful of her character and her disability. Cassandra Cain will be Batgirl full-time again while Stephanie Brown goes back to Spoiler; Cass gets a Batgirl solo ongoing while Steph would join a rebooted Gotham Knights team book that includes her, Kate, Helena, Luke Fox, and Jean-Paul Valley.

Wonder Woman's established lore is acknowledged, respected, and re-emphasized. Diana is a clay baby again, Cassie is Zeus's daughter again, The Return of Donna Troy is acknowledged as the definitive explanation of Donna's multiple-choice backstory (while the fire origin stays the definitive origin), Artemis gets her original origin back, etc. Full acceptance of the Rucka Rebirth retcon to reset Diana's origins and childhood back to the post-Crisis status quo. No references to the Zeus origin or the New 52 Amazons are allowed to be made except in context of Rucka's "it was a lie" explanation.

In priority order, those editorial mandates probably fall out to be something like 2>1>5>3 and 4 in a tie; 3 and 4 are kinda interchangable since they collectively would fix a wide swath of what's wrong with the Bat books right now.

My "extra" mandate would be that writers must utilize existing characters where possible for their stories. No new "major" heroes are to be introduced unless a writer can prove that a book needs a new character to fill an identified gap. Prioritization should go to a) characters who used to be used on a regular basis in a given book but have not been seen in 10+ years and b) characters introduced within the past 5-7 years.

I'd want this one for two reasons: one, there's a ton of pre-existing characters who used to be staple or regularly recurring characters who have failed to get regular appearances since 2011, for a variety of reasons. Forcing writers to use them instead of creating new characters would allow DC to rebuild some continuity, bring back old favorites, and provide closure to lingering storylines that were cut short or never followed up on. Two, there's a hell of a lot of new characters have been introduced and discarded without actually building them out properly the last few years. I would honestly only put this one in place for around 3 years...long enough to force DC to actually flesh out the underutilized newbies and provide some closure and new beginnings for some old favorites.

[radioactive-earthshine]

If it wouldn't bother you to much could you please explain what the different times are for comics like golden age vs silver and whatever is going on with crisis? I am trying to get reading comics but when I see these words they mean nothing to me other than I know silver age is supposed to be pretty old. Thanks for helping a bro out

Hi!

Here is a basic breakdown of the comic eras and main reboots the way I understand them the best. Note - dates for Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages may be up to debate among some comic fans, but the dates I provide are the dates I see used most consistently.

Needless to say, this is specific to DC Comics.

Golden Age (1938-1956)

The start of comics, often citing Action Comics #1 in 1938 as the "true start of super hero comics" with Superman. Batman is also created during this time, as well as Wonder Woman, and many many other iconic heroes. Note: Superman is not the first superhero to be shown in comics in general.

Silver Age (1956-1970)

This era is known for creating characters like Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, it is also important to know that DC almost completely ended during this time and would have if not for The Flash. Comics Code of Authority and comic censorship was also heavily enforced during this era.

Bronze Age (1970-1985)

Diversification in the comics industry began to happen following the civil rights movement and feminist movement, but also permanent character deaths began to shake the narrative landscape and impact heroes, as well as aging side-kick characters into adulthood. The Comics Code of Authority was also being challenged and some areas were being relaxed as comic stories grew more complex.

Crisis on Infinite Earths "CoIE" (1985-1986)

The first "big reboot" of the DC Universe, where in an attempt to streamline the multiverse concept into just one reader-friendly universe, DC decided to kill off hundreds of characters in the process like Kara Zor El and Barry Allen. This event marks the end of the Bronze Age of comics and start the what is called the "modern era."

Pre-Crisis (anything before 1985)

Anything that took place BEFORE Crisis on Infinite Earths in the comics, that is 1985, is called pre-crisis. Sometimes, a character is referred to as "pre-crisis" to talk about who they were before this event, such as pre-crisis Kara Zor El, or pre-crisis Iris West.

Post-Crisis (anything after 1986)

After CoIE, titles got a relaunch with a new #1 issue. Anything that takes place AFTER 1986, as in Superman (1986) or The Flash (1987) is referred to as post-crisis. All 90s comics are referred to as post-crisis.

Zero-Hour (1994)

Almost not worth mentioning, another "reboot" that took place in 1994, but it did not have a wide-spread impact that it restarted the main universe. The main major reboot that took place during this time was The Legion of Super-Heroes which got a relaunch from #0 issues in LoSH (1989) and Legionnaires. This new Legion is referred to as the Post-Zero Hour LoSH. All reoccurring 90s comics got a special #0 issue, but it is not the true start for these titles, with exception to a seldom few. This event is largely not cited as significant in time-tracking comics, and anything after this event is still referred to as post-crisis. TLDR: this event it honestly mainly important for rebooting LoSH.

Flashpoint (2011)

Continuity a mess, and Dan Didio unhappy with the state of DC Comics, decided that a new true reboot was the answer utilizing Barry Allen as a nod to CoIE. This is the end of the post-crisis era of comics, which are also known as pre-Flashpoint, and gives rise to the new continuity known as...

The New 52 (2011-2016)

A total new relaunch of all titles with a brand new #1 issue in a new continuity. New origins were drafted for some characters, some of them drastically different from their original, and it opened up a new world for writers to do anything without having to worry about decades of continuity. This relaunch is largely regarded as a failure among readers, and it didn't last long until...

Rebirth (2016)

Signalling the end of the New 52 era, DC Comics restored the pre-Flashpoint continuity, with numerous elements of the New 52 continuity intact, to create what is today's current age of comics. New #1 issues were relaunched during this time as well.

...

Since Rebirth, DC has been slowly establishing a workable continuity but it is still a mess as we are uncertain which character remembers what.

Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint comics running from 1986-2011 are the most influential comics to modern comics, and if you have a favorite character it is likely their most formative comics are from this era.

I hope this helps.

[sensitivehandsomeactionman]

SPN & Jensen archive resources

This is a memory aid for my own reference, but it may be of interest to some of our more archive-oriented bloggers. I'll keep adding to it as I think of more.

thebreakfastpanel.tumblr.com/Timeline - J2 events index and photos from 2005-2016. Last active 2/2022.

@detailtilted - Enhanced J2 con videos. Currently active.

supernaturalwiki.com/Scripts_and_Casting_Sides

TV Writing (SPN scripts) mirror site

@fandomdebunker - confirms/debunks fandom claims if they can determine via evidence; run by Destiel-friendly bloggers. Last active 8/2024.

clairdelune-sb.tumblr.com/tagged/manip - an archive of side-by-side manips and originals. Last active 3/2019.

https://jensenackles.net/gallery/ - promotional photos, photoshoots, and candids

Recommendations by detailtilted:

https://www.youtube.com/@kirathehyrulian/playlists - YouTube playlists collecting all the con videos known to man that feature Jared and/or Jensen, in chronological order. It's still an active work in progress with 1,763 videos covering up to about 2011. There's also a playlist for general interviews/media/etc with 810 videos starting from pre-SPN and going up through more recent post-SPN interviews. https://www.tumblr.com/littlebeelife/701285083877900288/jared-and-jensen-in-conventions-throughout-the?source=share - Has photos from most of the conventions that J2 were at together in small thumbnails that make them easy to scroll through. Helpful for figuring out where the many unidentified photos and con video clips came from. Latest image is from Nov 2024.

[tacoma-narrows]

Tac Talks Coasters - Post 8: #163

Photo Sources: All photos are mine

Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure!

<- Previous | Start | Next ->

Opened: 1997 (Relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure in 2011) Closed: 2024 Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard Height: 154 ft (47 m) Speed: 63 mph (101 kph) Length: 4,155 ft (1,266 m) My most recent ride: 2017

A lot of my thoughts from my post about Vortex will hold true here because I just don't like standup coasters as a ride style. There are a few pluses to Green Lantern, which is why it lands a few spots above Vortex. Firstly, the layout was a lot more interesting. With it's big inversions and overall better forces, you can see that B&M honed their craft in terms of their layouts and ride designs between when Vortex opened at Carowinds in 1992 and when Green Lantern (originally called Chang) opened at Kentucky Kingdom in 1997. And secondly, with the bigger elements and better layout, the ride had stronger forces than Vortex, and I particularly remember the strong positive Gs at certain points of the ride.

Unfortunately, that's where the positives about Green Lantern end for me. Although the ride was taller, longer, faster, and overall more interesting than Vortex, it had one problem that was way more prevalent here than on Vortex: the roughness. I wouldn't call it brutally rough, but it had a very strong rattle all the way through which led to a lot of headbanging against the restraints. The bulky over the shoulder restraints that really boxed you in made the headbanging pretty much inescapable, even if you put your head forward. And then of course, the bicycle seat thing between your legs cause pain there as well. One of the times I rode this ride was in the front row in the rain. That was not particularly pleasant either lmao.

Overall, Green Lantern, and standup coasters in general are just not for me. There's one more you'll see in tomorrow's post as well. But like with several coasters we've talked about so far, Green Lantern was another one of Six Flags' victims this past year, getting removed with no pre-closing announcement and zero fanfare. It was a particularly bad year to be a green coaster at Great Adventure in 2024, considering it was not the park's only, nor the most notable, casualty.

Thanks for checking out today's coaster post! Keep an eye out for tomorrow's coaster!

[heroesriseandfall]

Canonical Batfamily Birthdays

Here are all the birthdates I know of that are canon somewhere in DC, with a preference for the main comics continuities. I have included exact sources and image references when possible. I am not including character introduction dates, just actual birthdays.

If you find any other sources for Batfamily birthdays, please do share!

A moment of silence for Batfamily characters who don’t have canonical birthdays yet, so far as I know. This includes Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, and more. :(

Summary

Source images will be further down, but here’s an overview in roughly age order (I’m not sure of Kate vs Selina’s ages) with the dates the birthdays were introduced and used:

Tim Drake: July 19th (from 2003)

Jason Todd: August 16th (from 2004)

Cassandra Cain: January 26th (from 2002)

Helena Bertinelli: February 14th (in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold universe, from 2010)

Helena Wayne: September 7th (from 1984), potentially October 20th or the 22nd of unknown month or maybe October 22 or maybe Feb 28th (all the New 52 on passports from 2011-2012). These could also be New 52 Helena Bertinelli’s birthdays or nobody’s birthdays. who even knows.

Dick Grayson: March 20th (from 1995), October ~24th ish (from 1990), November 11th (from 1976), December 1st (on Earth-16 in animated Young Justice universe, from 2012)

Barbara Gordon: September 23rd (from 1976), sometime in fall (from 1987)

Selina Kyle: March 14th (from 1976)

Kate Kane: January 26th (in Batwoman TV series from 2020), March 21st? (word-of-god by J.H. Williams III from 2012)

Bruce Wayne: October 7th (from 2021), February 19th (from 1970s various to more recently), April ~7th (from the late 1940s)

Jim Gordon: January 5th (from 1976)

Alfred Pennyworth: April 8th (from 1976), August 16th (in the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, from 2016)

Note: in this post when I say “main comics continuity(s)/universe” I’m referring to anything that’s been a “home” continuity for the comics at some point. For example, pre-Crisis Earth-2, Earth-1/New Earth, and Earth-0/Prime Earth, as opposed to Elseworlds or DCEU earths that are still part of the broader DC multiverse but have never been the primary continuity of the comics.

Below are further details and source panels.

Details and Sources

Tim Drake

Tim has only been given one canon birthday. He turned 16 on July 19th in Robin Vol. 2 #116 (cover date Sep 2003).

Robin Vol. 2 #116 (Sep 2003)

Jason Todd

Jason turned 18 on August 16th in Detective Comics #790 (March 2004). This is his only canon birthday.

Detective Comics #790 (Mar 2004)

In post-Crisis/preboot (1986-2011) continuity, there was a gap of six months between when Jason died and when he was resurrected (Batman Annual 25). Jason died April 27th according to his death certificates in Batman Annual 25 and Batman Files 2011, so he would’ve resurrected near late October.

Batman Annual 25 (May 2006)

So, it could be that post-resurrection Jason is biologically 6 months younger than he chronologically should be. But honestly, do we even really know what multiverse-breaking resurrection punches and then a Lazarus Pit on top of that do to someone’s body??? Either way it’s just much more simple to just use his chronological age.

Cassandra Cain

Much like Tim and Jason, Cass has only ever been given one birthdate: January 26th from Batgirl Vol. 1 #33. With that birthday, she turned 18 in Batgirl Vol. 1 #37.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #33 (Dec 2002)

When Jan 26th actually comes, Bruce suggests David Cain could’ve lied about it, but Cass denies that idea and continues to treat the day as her birthday.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #37 (Apr 2003)

Why it's likely her real birthday: Bruce initially believes Cain must’ve lied because he doesn’t think Cain could’ve known her birthday. However, we later learn Cain had lied about her origins and was actually her biological father. Batgirl v1 #62 and #73 show he was there for her birth and could absolutely know the date.

On top of that, in Batgirl #37 Cass remembers celebrating her birthday with him as a child, so he did seem to actually keep track of it. I honestly don’t see any reason to believe he’d lie (Bruce is just a jealous spoilsport).

Helena Bertinelli + Wayne

I’m combining them here because the New 52 gives me a headache.

Helena Bertinelli celebrated her birthday on February 14th in a spin-off comic from the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. This is obviously not part of regular comics continuity and the characters differ from the usual comics in many ways. And yet, for reasons that will soon be clear, it’s my favorite for actually being about Helena Bertinelli the Huntress and for not being an utter mess.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14 (Apr 2010)

In a character profile at the end of Infinity Inc. #7 (Oct 1984), Helena Wayne’s birthday was September 7th, 1959. Calculating back from October 1984, that would make her 25 at the time.

During the New 52, Helena Bertinelli was initially portrayed as a long-dead (secretly alive but don’t worry about it) mobster’s daughter and replaced by Earth-2’s Helena Wayne who got stranded on Prime Earth. This H. Wayne stole H. Bertinelli’s identity in the form of several forged passports and IDs, which had hints toward birthdates. The question is, can we take any of those birthdates seriously, and if so, which birthdates and for which character? (Cue my headache.)

Skip ahead to Dick if overthinking fake passports sounds boring.

When comparing to a real Italian passport, the date on H. Wayne’s fake Italian passport appears to be a birthdate. Note that the fake name is Carol Bertinelli, not Helena. H. Wayne said her IDs were inspired by H. Bertinelli but clearly she’s taking liberties for the IDs so that’s a point toward these being useless for H. Bertinelli birthdays.

Huntress Vol. 3 #1 (Dec 2011)

I don’t recognize the month abbreviation as a real abbreviation, but from the visible letter O I’m going to assume it means October. If it is, then the date is 20 October 1985. Sidenote: a 1985 birthdate during 2011 could put her age at about 26, which is actually quite close to how old she could’ve been based on pre-Flashpoint! 1985 has been given as Helena Wayne’s death year before, so it’s an interesting choice of a birth year for her. (Thanks to DC’s sliding timescale, though, birth years don’t actually mean anything in the comics.)

They don’t show her complete US passport, but I can see a “22” in line where the day of the month should be for her birthdate. This already contradicts the previous passport. This one uses Helena Bertinelli’s actual name, though–does that make it more relevant than the Carol one or this all still ridiculous because of the discrepancies?

Worlds’ Finest Vol. 1 #1 (Jul 2012)

We can try to glean the US passport birth month from the passport number at the bottom. The first two digits (“12” here) indicate the agency that issued the passport. 12 means the Honolulu agency. Right after “USA” is supposed to be the birthdate plus an extra number, in the order of year/month/day with the year being the last two digits of a year. Here we encounter another problem. It says 810228. This would imply her birthdate is 1981/02/28. That’s February 28, 1981. Since the earlier line indicated her birthday fell on a 22nd, this already contradicts itself.

Interpreting a Machine Readable Zone (MZR) on a Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD)

However, I’d bet comic writers and artists aren’t always well versed in passport numbers (it’s already a stretch for me to bother checking it…). If they put the extra digit before the birthdate instead after, and the date is formatted month/day/year (the most common format in American English, so probably their first instinct), then we can drop the first 8 and it’s 10/22/8[?] with the last digit unknown. This would put her birthday as October 22, sometime in the 1980s. The 22 matches the earlier line, the October might match the previous passport if that really did say October (but contradicts the 20th), and the 1980s year could be 1985 to match the Italian passport.

At the end of the day I’m personally just going to let Helena Bertinelli be a Valentine’s born baby and call it a day, unless/until she gets a better one in the comics. For Helena Wayne I’d easily pick September 7th.

(My question is: did they give the crossbow vigilante a Valentine’s birthday as a Cupid joke??)

Dick Grayson

Dick has probably had the most birthdays of everyone (unless Bruce has more I don’t know about). All of them have their drawbacks.

In a main comics continuity, his most popular and most recent is “the first day of spring” so probably March 20th. This comes from Robin Annual 4 when his mom says she calls him Robin because he was born on the first day of spring. That presents some problems since there are other explanations given for the origin of “Robin,” including that his mom said he was “always bobbin’ along” (Dark Victory #12, page 17) or the original inspiration of Robin Hood (Detective Comics #38, p3).

Robin Annual 4 (Jun 1995)

Before that, in Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990), Marv Wolfman wrote a version of Dick’s origins where Dick turned 10 a week before his parents died on Halloween. That would make his birthday October ~24th (presuming that “a week” before Halloween literally means 7 days here).

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990)

The first drawback of the October birthday is that it’s tied to Dick being 10 when his parents die on Halloween. Dick’s age and the date his parents die change a lot depending on the writer (Nightwing Vol. 1 #1 says his parents died June 27th, Dark Victory #8-9 says May, etc.). The second drawback is that few people remember this version of his birthday even exists.

Dick’s birthday is November 11th in Super DC Calendar 1976. Note: Despite being a non-diegetic calendar from almost 50 years ago, this source remains well known and used among comic enthusiasts (including those working at DC). Generally, I would say it should mainly apply just to pre-Crisis continuity, but it is also useful for characters that haven’t gotten updated birthdays ever since (like Roy Harper, Barbara Gordon, or Selina Kyle, for example).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Sidenote: Since Damian doesn’t have a canon birthday, November 11th is favorite to steal for my own fan canon Damian birthday. Dick has plenty birthdays to share and I think it’s cute. @ DC, give Damian and Steph birthdays, they’ve been birthday-less for decades!

Indeed, DC writer Tim Sheridan and editor Mike Cotton debated whether Dick’s birthday was in March or November. They favored March 20th and wrote a birthday scene in Teen Titans Academy #1 (published March 23rd, 2021). The publishing time near Dick’s birthday was intentional, though the date isn’t mentioned within the comic itself.

Link to tweet

The above birthdays were all meant to apply to a main comics continuity at some point. However, Earth-16, better known as the animated Young Justice universe (therefore outside of main comics continuity), says YJ Dick’s birthday is December 1st.

Young Justice Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 2012)

Unlike Helena Bertinelli, Dick has plenty of comics birthdays to choose from, so personally I’ll only count Dec 1st as being the birthday for YJ animated/Earth-16 Dick Grayson until or unless it’s ever mentioned to apply to main comics continuity.

Barbara Gordon

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Barbara’s birthday is September 23rd.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Since then, the only time I recall her birthdate hinted at is in Secret Origins #20 when her adoptive mom says her birthday is in the fall. This could support her birthday being September 23rd.

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 1987)

Although she has celebrated her birthday on panel since then (the end of Nightwing Vol. 2 #153), she hasn’t been given any other actual birthdate. So I’ll keep September 23rd and call it a day.

Selina Kyle

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Selina’s birthday is March 14th. Once again, although it hasn’t been mentioned within a comic, it’s stuck around in popular consciousness (see: Catwoman actress Zoë Kravitz wishing Selina a happy birthday on March 14th).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Selina celebrated a birthday on panel in Catwoman (2002) #37 but the date was never mentioned. I don’t know of any other reference to her birthday, but my reading of Selina is thus far more sparse than my reading of the others.

Kate Kane

Kate’s birthday options all come from outside of the comics themselves.

In “An Un-Birthday Present,” season 1 episode 11 of Batwoman, a parallel version of her twin Beth had a driver’s license showing her date of birth as January 26, 1990. She and Kate later celebrated their birthdays on an episode aired Jan 26th, 2020. I don’t keep up with live action DC shows so I unfortunately can’t offer a screenshot (if anyone has one or the timestamp, please let me know!).

(I kinda wonder if somebody looked up Batwoman’s birthday for these episodes, saw Batgirl’s (Cass’s) birthday, and just ran with it. Batwoman and a Batgirl sharing a birthday is just. Ughhh.)

In 2012, one of her comic writers tweeted to choose a random date for her birthday and picked March 21st, which so far as I know has never been used as her birthday in comics.

Link to tweet

Bruce Wayne

Bruce’s most popular birthday is February 19th, but his most recent one is October 7th from the digital-only comic Legends of the Dark Knight. I believe that’s the only time October 7th has been referenced, but I’ve heard the animated show The Batman said his birthday was in October (can’t confirm, haven’t watched it recently).

Legends of the Dark Knight #10 (Jun 2021) - Note: two pages have been combined into one for this post

Still, even associates of DC seem to remember his February 19th birthday better. In February 2023, Warner Bro’s Gotham Knights game did a sale for Bruce’s birthday. I’ve also heard the birthday was used in the Gotham TV show, but again, I don’t watch much live action DC shows.

The February 19th birthday appears to come from the 70s and 80s. It’s his birthday in the Super DC Calendar 1976, and in Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (May 1977). Bob Rozakis (known as DC’s “Answer Man”) said Feb 19th was Bruce’s birthday in the letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980).

Letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980)

Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (Jun 1977)

Super DC Calendar 1976

Way back in the 40s, his birthday was in April, possibly April 7th. During a birthstone murder mystery, Bruce says his birthstone is a diamond, which is traditionally the April birthstone.

World’s Finest Comics #33/6 (Mar-Apr 1948): “The 5 Jewels of Doom!”

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949) might imply the exact date was April 7th but we’d have to assume the party is on his birthday and that “this month” refers to the publishing month of April. I believe this is where people get the April 7th birthday when they bring it up.

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949)

Early April also shines in Batman: Year One where it shows Bruce’s first night out as Batman being either the night of April 6th or the early morning of April 7th (Batman #405). So although the April Bruce birthday hasn’t been used in decades, it’s still a Batman birthday in a way.

I have also heard people say Frank Miller considered Bruce’s birthday to be in November. However, I have yet to find an original source of him saying that, and honestly (just like the “March 21st” birthday for Kate) if he never used it in any canon material I don’t put much weight in that.

Jim Gordon

The only birthday I’ve ever seen for Jim is January 5th from Super DC Calendar 1976.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred’s birthday in Super DC Calendar 1976 is April 8th.

Super DC Calendar 1976

In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe (an alternate reality where the video game of the same name is set in), they show Alfred’s birth certificate, where it says his birthday is August 16th, 1943.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Five #26 (Jun 2016)

Maybe you’ll notice that August 16th is Jason’s birthday. A little funny considering the issue features Alfred refusing to share his birthday only for us to learn it’s the same date as Jason’s. Still, annoying. There are so many days in the year! Stop choosing the same ones!

This Alfred birthdate runs into a similar problem Helena’s birthdates did: it’s not part of main comics canon, it’s an alternate universe, so it may not be applicable to the main comics universe.

Note: if we calculate that 1943 birth year from Jun 2016 when the comic was published, that’d make Alfred 72 soon to be 73. Does that mean anything in canon? Probably not, but oh well. Also...token British character born by Windsor Castle? …of course.

Personally, I would rather go with the April 8th birthday than the Injustice one, since Injustice is an alternate universe. Also, outside of the humor of it, the idea of Alfred and Jason sharing a birthday is a bit too much for me. Still, it’s up to people’s own cherry picking.

Chronology

The birthdays in publishing order alongside notable reboots. A soft-reboot refers to reboots that only changed a few details with minor consequences, keeping the overall continuity mostly intact. A major reboot has significant effects on continuity (too many to list).

1935-1986: Pre-Crisis era (Golden Age begins ~1946, Silver Age runs from late 50s--early 70s)

Mar-Apr 1948: Bruce’s birthday is in April

Apr 1949: Bruce has a birthday party on the 7th of “this month”

Skipping a good three decades because I barely even know what’s in there. Sorry lol

Mid 70s to early 90s: Bronze Age era

1976: the super dc calendar says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th, Alfred’s is April 8th, Dick’s is November 11th, Babs is September 23rd, Selina’s is March 14th, Jim’s is Jan 5th

Jun 1977: Bruce celebrates his birthday on February 19th

Sep 1980: letter collumnist says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th

Oct 1984: Helena Wayne’s birthday is on September 7th, 1959

Mar 1986: the major Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot (begins post-Crisis/New Earth era, many previous comics are now considered Earth-2 instead)

Nov 1987: Babs birthday is in fall

Aug 1990: Dick turns 10 a week before Halloween (probably October ~24th)

Sep 1994: Zero Hour soft reboot (Batman and Robin become urban legends so Robin is not allowed on video, Bruce’s parents’ murderer is changed to unknown instead of Joe Chill, Selina is no longer a once-prostitute)

Apr 1995: Dick’s birthday is the first day of spring (probably March 20th)

Oct 2002: Cass learns her birthday is January 26th

April 2003: Cass turns 18 on January 26th

Sep 2003: Tim turns 16 on July 19th

Mar 2004: Jason turns 18 on August 16th

Jun 2006: Infinite Crisis soft reboot (Joe Chill is restored as the arrested Wayne family murderer, Superboy-Prime's punch retroactively resurrects Jason)

Apr 2010: In the Batman: Brave and the Bold universe, Helena Bertinelli celebrates her birthday February 14th

Oct 2011: the major Flashpoint reboot (end of post-Crisis/preboot, begins the New 52 and changes the primary universe to Prime Earth; significant character/timeline changes and erasures)

Dec 2011: Helena Wayne’s fake Carol Bertinelli passport seems to list October 20th as a birthdate

Jul 2012: Helena Wayne’s fake Helena Bertinelli passport lists some 22nd unknown month, Oct 22nd, or Feb 28th birthday

Sep 2012: Batwoman writer J.H. Williams III randomly picks Kate’s birthday as March 21st on Twitter

Nov 2012: Earth-16/YJ animated Dick Grayson celebrates his birthday on December 1st

Jun 2016: In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, Alfred’s birth certificate says his birthday is August 16th

Jul 2016: Rebirth reboot (restores some pre-Flashpoint continuity, some characters regain previous histories but now semi-synchronized with the New 52 era)

Jan 2020: Batwoman TV show Kate celebrates her birthday on January 26th

Mar 2021: Writer Tim Sheridan says he & his editor chose March 20th as Dick’s birthday over the November option

May 2021: Infinite Frontier holds all previous continuities as potential canon, restoring more of pre-Flashpoint

Jun 2021: Bruce says his birthday is October 7th in a digital-only comic

Feb 2023: Gotham Knights game has a sale for Bruce’s birthday

[necrotic-nephilim]

Hello! New to comics and I don't really feel like the New-52 comics are for me and would really like to read and understand Pre-flashpoint and all the dark and good stuff there. Is there an order or starting point you would recommend? Thanks for your time, and I hope you have a great day!

hi! i'm so glad you want to get into comics! i'd love to help with some recs! since you're here, i'm going to assume you're a Batfamily fan and most of my recs will cater to that, but i will try to encompass a bit of everything to help you just understand some big moments and all this mess that is DC canon. adding a cut bc jesus this got long.

so your starting point for pre-Flashpoint is going to be Crisis on Infinite Earths. the TLDR of this event is: DC had a big multiverse in the 70s and early 80s that wasn't friendly to new readers. to try to push their titles more and become a proper competitor to Marvel, they created an in-universe storyline that nuked the multiverse and gave a solid entry point for new fans going forward. this is why you hear terms like Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis. it refers to the comics canon before and after this event, in 1985. some characters had some big changes (for example: pre-Crisis Jason Todd was a circus kid whose parents were killed by Killer Croc) but most remained largely the same, just simplified. you don't *have* to start with Crisis on Infinite Earths if you don't want to. it's a *good* storyline, but it's a big one and a lot of big multiverse-scale stuff happens. so as long as you understand it as "big event that nuked DC's multiverse and gave the world a clean slate in 1985", then you've basically got the gist. also Barry Allen dies during it, but he comes back so don't worry about it.

in general, if DC has some big timeline/canon-altering event, they're going to call it a Crisis Event. the only Crisis Events that will matter to you, trying to get into pre-Flashpoint are

Crisis On Infinite Earths - the above, starts the Post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint timeline

Zero Hour: Crisis In Time - an event in the 90s that sought to fix some of the kinks that the above Crisis caused, like fixing the origins of the Legion of Superheroes and other Golden/Silver Age characters, not *super* important tbh

Infinite Crisis - this was a big event that brought back some characters who got nuked by Crisis on Infinite Earths, unfucked Power Girl's backstory, and set the groundwork to bring back the multiverse. if you've heard "Superboy Prime punched a hole in reality and it brought back Jason Todd" yeah, this is the story where it happened

Final Crisis - a big event that was partly meta commentary but heroes fought Darkseid, Batman died for a hot second, it was all a big deal about evil winning and all that

Flashpoint - the event that nuked this timeline, a big storyline to do with Flash and the timeline that would result in the New-52 in 2011

are you confused yet? good embrace the confusion it's going to become second nature of a comic fan. you don't need to read these events as a beginner. you really don't i promise. they'll sound big and important, but besides Crisis On Infinite Earths and Flashpoint, the start and end of this era, the rest you can just kind of breeze by so long as you understand the big plot points like Batman dying or Superboy Prime punching reality. unless you really care about a character central to these stories, skip 'em for now.

now for any character, if they have a Year One comic? that is a very safe bet as a place to start. it is what it sounds like. Batman: Year One is going to be Bruce's first year as Batman. same as Green Arrow: Year One, Batgirl: Year One, etc. when in doubt, if there's a Year One, start with Year One. (note: for Superman, his "year one" type story is called Superman: Birthright and it is worth reading if you like Superman)

for Batman, i am holding you by the shoulders when i say this: people will tell you to read The Killing Joke. they're liars. do not listen to them. it's a bad story. you don't need it. do not let the Joker fanboys lie to you. people will also say Dark Knight Returns. don't listen to *them* either. i *like* DKR, i talk about it a lot here. it's not a good intro to Batman. it's an AU story, it's not canon, ignore it for now.

now where you *should* start with Batman, imo, is as followed

Batman: Year One - as said above, Year Ones are good, this is solid to start with

Batman: The Long Halloween - this is an iconic story and it's a followup to year One

Batman: Dark Legacy - the followup to Long Halloween, also a very good story

Batman: Hush - this story is a solid starter if you want to understand the general vibe of Gotham, the typical characters you see in the Batfamily, and a good Batman villain

once you've got the basics down, you *can* get into the big boy storylines like Batman: Knightfall and Batman: No Man's Land, but don't worry about those right now. they're long and complicated and shouldn't really be your starting point no matter how good they are.

other very good pre-Flashpoint comics that are easy to pick up and iconic storylines

Death of Superman - this is a long arc in the Superman run that if you collect in trades, goes Death of Superman, Funeral For A Friend, Reign of the Supermen, Return of Superman, Doomsday. it's long, but a very iconic storyline

Wonder Woman by George Perez - this the run that helped define modern Wonder Woman within the pre-Flashpoint era

JLA: Year One - if you want a good Justice League story where you get characters besides Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman taking the shine, this is a great place to start

Green Arrow by Mike Grell - start with Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters and then go into Green Arrow (1988). this has the darker, very 80s vibes that gets a bit gritty and very realistic with the issues it faces bc Green Arrow comics tend to be more rooted

The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman - this technically starts before pre-Flashpoint, don't worry about it it's fine. a good run for all of these characters, can get a little confusing, it is okay to be confused do not be afraid to google shit

so, some big stories out of the way i'm just. honestly going to run down the line of the major pre-Flashpoint Batfamily members and give you comic recs for them that you can start with. (besides Bruce obviously, bc well. see above)

Dick Grayson

NIghtwing: Year One

Robin: Year One

Nightwing (1995)

Tim Drake

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying

Robin (1990)

Robin II: Joker's Wild

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress

Robin (1993)

Barbara Gordon

Batgirl: Year One

Birds of Prey (1999)

Jason Todd

Batman: The Cult (as Robin)

Batman: Death in the Family (as Robin)

Batman: Under The Red Hood

Red Hood: Lost Days

Cassandra Cain

Batgirl (2000)

Batman: No Man's Land

Jean-Paul Valley

Batman: Sword of Azrael

Batman: Knightfall

Stephanie Brown

Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma

Batgirl (2009)

Selina Kyle

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker

Helena Bertinelli

Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood

Huntress: Year One

Birds of Prey: Manhunt

Damian Wayne

Batman & Robin (2009)

there are other very important pre-Flashpoint stories for all of these characters, but these are starting points more than anything. figure out what characters you're interested and go from there. understanding the universe at large helps, do not get me wrong. but at the end of the day, comics are a choose your own adventure of who you want to give a shit about. you're *never* going to read everything "important" and you're probably not going to understand everything. that's okay. don't treat it like a media you need to "complete" like a tv show or a movie, but more like an open world game where you decide what characters/teams/stories you like the most.

pre-Flashpoint covers a lot of ground. some stuff will be darker and grittier, some stuff will be more light-hearted. it will all be about what titles you pick up and what characters you decide you want to read about. you're obviously going to get a much more grounded storyline out of Green Arrow than you are say, a JLA comic. i prefer the more grounded, "street level" sorts of characters. (if you like gritty detective stories, i will be biased and highly recommend the Question (1987) just because. i love him okay.) but you might find you like sometimes more worldly and big scale. at the end of the day: don't force yourself to love a comic you're not enjoying, even if you like that character. you can put that shit down. sometimes, "important stories" are by shitty writers that you won't enjoy reading and you shouldn't make this hobby a chore. i don't care how "critically acclaimed" it is, you don't have to like it if it doesn't click for you. and on the flipside, a comic might be considered "bad" but you may enjoy it (a personal example: Robin III: Cry of the Huntress is considered a very weak comic. don't care. i love it anyway.) accept the cringe, have fun, and enjoy yourself at the end of the day. none of it will make sense anyway so just read what sounds cool to you.

this was all over the place and rambly, but i hope it helps at least a little! welcome to comics anon! if you or anyone else would like more character-specific recs, feel free to ask! if i don't know, i can at the very least hopefully point you in the right direction <3

[somebodycallediris]

Why I think that a remake of II's S1 wont happen

Inanimate Insanity's channel, AnimationEpic, has recently posted a video titled "Inanimate Insanity (S1, 2011) - All Episodes" onto their Youtube channel, consisting of every episode that is in S1. Yet fans have currently been going insane over it due to the last few seconds of the upload that weren't originally in the first season:

Now at first glance, it seems like S1 may be remade due to the fact that this was shown in the last few seconds of the S1 compilation posted recently. Yet I want to prove here in this post that this speculation may not be true.

Now, let's first understand on what a remake could be. A remake, by definition, states that it is something on which would be made again or differently. Let's look into the "different" aspect of what a remake of II's S1 could be.

One thing different may consist of is the plot of it. Now, this may seem reasonable at first glance when you think of it. The plot was made by pre-teens and of course, their creations may seem a bit odd a first, so for the same show now to polish it up seems like an easy idea. YET, remaking the plot itself would be impossible to do without an entire remake of the entire series as a whole. Because S1, even if it may seem a bit sloppy, has a plot that shall not be tampered with unless AnimationEpic want some plot holes in their story. Which I'm sure that they would NOT want after all of these 14 years. Changing the plot of it would not make sense at all due to the fact that it was revealed in the II movie that the contestants were created by MePhone4, who was a child back then and possibly didn't know much about social life, possibly because of Cobs' sheltering him away, leading to the reason why S1 seems so stereotypical in a sense. And keep in mind that this was newly established. The writers at AnimationEpic could've felt the need of not adding that into the movie if they wanted to. Yet they DID! Leading me to believe that a S1 remake would only make the characters MORE stereotypical, which I feel like waters down the show as a whole, meaning that the potential S1 remake will HAVE to be as similar as possible to the original if AnimationEpic doesn't want to remake the other two.

Second of all, as of writing this, AnimationEpic had posted something onto their Community Tab on Youtube (Or what it's called now, "Posts.") a month ago, stating that "Inanimate Insanity will continue, 2025." Notice on how it says "Continue" and not any other word. The team specifically CHOSE that word for a reason. They will be CONTINUING the story of II based off the fact of that single word that they used. It says nothing about there being a remake at all, it just shows us the fact that there will be more original content of our characters soon.

And if you don't at all believe anything else that I've said up into this point: Think about the effort that is made when making a season of a show. The voice acting, animation, directing, writing, soundtrack, and everything else that I'm forgetting that is done when making a season of a show. It takes a LOT of effort when making it. AnimationEpic already has a S1 and if they decided to remake it, they would just be wasting time and resources if they at all did.

NOW, What could AnimationEpic be really hinting at? Well, looks look back at when fans are going crazy at, the last line of that message. "We may be due for an upgrade." Notice the fact that they say "Upgrade" and not "Remake" first off. And, by looking at the Oxford definition of Upgrade, which means "To raise (something) to a higher standard, in particular improve (equipment or machinery) by adding or replacing components." You may see what could be happening now. AnimationEpic will be continuing their story with a new season with an upgraded plot, meaning that it will be improved by the fact that AnimationEpic will no longer be doing a competition show, replacing it with a more cast-central theme to it. NOW HOLD ON, I know that you might be skeptical of my claim. But just think about it for a second. Does a new competition fit into the story of II? MePhone4 at first, in a sense, never wanted the show to end, but at the end of the II movie, it was clearly seen that MePhone4 was walking away, leaving the contestants behind. This shows that MePhone4 is clearly not a candidate for a host. Anybody else I feel in my personal opinion would be unfit for a role as major as a host. Plus the fact that there is no other way that someone can get a prize due to the fact that the prize money in S1 was clear to be generated by MePhone4, and also no clear need for money to them. Leading me to believe that II will no longer rely on the fact that it's a competition show.

Now, that is all that I have to say on this matter at hand. Feel like you agree, disagree? Feel free to let me know. Otherwise, this whole rant if you didn't feel like reading the entire thing which, is reasonable. Was about the fact that my personal viewpoint goes against the II fandoms' opinion that a S1 remake will be done. Which, keep in mind, is my opinion. I could be proven wrong, which I will be okay with! At the end of the day, II is coming soon. And it's up for us, the audience, to wait and see what brings new of II.

[jcs-study]

Some (More) Reflections on Casting

Hello, everyone! First, some recent updates to contextualize this post:

I've hung out my shingle! (For those who aren't American, it's a slang phrase that means one has started a business; it's commonly used by professionals like lawyers or doctors, and dates from the 19th century, when legend has it such pros would paint signs on the shingles of their house to advertise their new practice.) In my case, this means I'm opening my inbox -- both email and here -- to consult on productions of JCS as a published expert on the show, whether you want help with casting, dramaturgy, general advice, etc. Whatever your concept or your first impression of JCS, my efforts can help you make an incredible piece of theater that will satisfy your audience. The details are on the main page of my book (see pinned post), but I'm also reachable here. To date, Utopia Opera, Ltd. in Manhattan and Tumblr user @theredspecials can attest to the level of expertise I provide. I hope more will also be able to do so one day!

I've now sat in on the casting process for a JCS production. This means that I have some real-world experience in the screening and audition process for the show (in this case, Utopia's), and have some concrete advice to give for those casting the show in the future, which follows.

I've alluded elsewhere on this blog to the fact that there are two basic flavors of JCS, which I refer to as "pre-" and "post-1996." (This post breaks it down the most fully without getting too caught in the weeds.) Which version one was first exposed to plays a significant role in the type of JCS one wants to present, as one always remembers their first. This means every subsequent generation to 1970, or even to 1996, has had their own entry point with an established version. The Brown Album may not be the first version of JCS one experiences.

More specifically, each established version is "of its era." Popular music takes many forms, and these days, classic rock isn't exactly the lingua franca it used to be. Especially today, we're not trying to pull young folks who know how to sing this new-fangled rock stuff off the street anymore; theater kids typically know, and are maybe even trained in, some form of homogenized "contemporary musical theater" pop sound that is a lot like what you (mostly) get in post-1996 JCS. Not their fault, but still something you must deal with.

What this means for you, the prospective director/presenter/whatever: you have to decide early and firmly about what kind of JCS you want to do, because if you have the pre-1996 JCS in mind, your audition pool -- especially cis male vocalists primarily trained in this newer style -- will mostly sound like (and probably be most familiar with) some form of post-1996 JCS, and you must be prepared to adjust accordingly, whether that means familiarizing them with the form and breaking them out of their comfort zone (because you can't expect them to instantly "get" unfamiliar terrain) or re-setting your own expectations.

Post-1996 JCS Prep

If you're fully prepared to embrace the revival sound, you're fine. In fact, you have far less of an uphill climb. I might urge you in the direction of, say, the 2011 Vienna concert cast rather than the 2012 arena tour or 2018 NBC Live renditions so that some of the original flavor is retained, but that's up to you. Other than that, you're pretty much all set. You will find a satisfying audition pool and have a Great Mcfriggin Time.

Pre-1996 JCS Prep

Your audition pool will still be the same, and you may have to live with that. However, there are ways to get the sound you want, even from those with "professional training."

Cast outside your typical pool. This is the most obvious piece of advice: lean into the club world and look for classic rock cover bands or anybody in metal, especially if they're the (sadly now rarefied) Rob Halford variety of screamer. However, because this is typically a steadier paying gig than theater (as tenuous as live music can be) or because theater is an unfamiliar realm to them, don't be surprised if you get a lot of pushback and nos, in which case refer to points 2 through 6.

Don't be afraid to bend gender. Seriously. Especially with precedents like the Indigo Girls cast and She Is Risen, my experience with Utopia was that female(-presenting) performers were the most ready to "go there" and really stepped up to the plate. Don't be afraid to guide them in the direction of a particular sound, but first don't shy away from casting them!

Immerse them in pre-1996 JCS. There are several solid examples of what to do (Brown Album, OBC, original French cast [in places], definitely live Australian cast, '73 film soundtrack, Camilo Sesto, California Youth Theatre, Australian revival cast, Indigo Girls cast) as well as what not to do (Alan Caddy studio cast, 1992 20th anniversary cast) from the pre-1996 era in the "Listening" section of my Recommendations chapter. For some, it may be even more nuanced than that -- yes to this from here, no to that from there, etc. Either way, the point is the same: the more they are influenced away from the newer sound, the less they'll refer to it.

Steer them toward the right variety of post-1996 JCS. There are at least three at the above link (2001 Hungarian revival, and the Vienna 2005 and 2011 concert casts) that manage to recapture some of the original energy musically while also erring on the side of post-1996 sounds and abilities. It'd be a shame to blindly ignore it.

Emphasize volume. Legend has it that George Abbott, one of Broadway's greatest all-time musical comedy directors (he lived to be 107!), used to stand in the back of the theater with a sign that said "Loud is Good." In the days before electronic amplification, this was very solid advice; you got your chin up, you projected with good support, and you aimed for the back row. "Loud is Good" is similarly useful advice if you're aiming for a pre-1996 JCS vibe, not just because it gives the soundboard something to pick up with the all-important microphones, but also because "contemporary musical theater technique" only goes so far. If you're telling your cast that they can vary their intensity for emotional shading, but that they must stay loud at all times, sooner or later, something that sounds more like classic rock is going to come out of them the harder they push, just because they're exercising the muscle to its limits and then some. Don't encourage this to the extent that they endanger their vocal health, but work for the results you desire.

Immerse them in music from the period in which JCS was written. This is perhaps the most important step you can take. If they're unfamiliar with the form, then they need to understand how it works. Devote time in the pre-production process to creating targeted playlists of music from the pre-1996 JCS era for your potential audition pool to hear, and reinforce listening to it during the rehearsal period. If they're steeped in the sound, that's what they'll start to emulate.

Playlist Suggestions

The following are some artist recommendations for music that you can target at specific groups you're seeking out to audition. The casting call for the 50th-anniversary tour was a particular help here, mixed with some of my own intuition.

(Note that wherever influence lists are combined, this is designed partly with logistical considerations in mind; for example, most productions target their PETER group to understudy JESUS and their SIMON crowd for JUDAS.)

GENERAL PURPOSES: The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes (the "Soul Girls" in the title number in particular need this sort of tight pop-soul sound)

PETER/JESUS: James Taylor for the more tender moments, Rod Stewart or Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) for the real throat-shredding stuff

SIMON/JUDAS: Stevie Wonder, Murray Head, any Northern Soul or R&B artists of the era, maybe even a little gospel from the time

MARY: Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Gloria Jones, Janis Joplin

PILATE: Kind of a broad spectrum here, but think Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and especially Robert Plant for the big "Don't let me stop..." moment

Failsafe Options

Despite your best efforts, however, some performers just will not absorb this stuff. You get different turn-out for every show, and it's catch-as-catch-can. If you are specifically striving for pre-1996 JCS but have people who can't break out of post-1996 training, there are characters whose roles skew "typical theater" enough that they can probably get away with not quite matching the sound.

If you need to bury your "immovable theater kids" in the mix, the best spots are the authority figures: PILATE, CAIAPHAS, ANNAS, and HEROD.

PILATE -- Well, they cast Barry Dennen, after all, seeking an actor for that part as far back as the Brown Album. He didn't necessarily have to sound that rock.

CAIAPHAS -- With this one, you'll get a bass if you're lucky and a baritone if you're pressed, and as long as he can swing a little bit with the music, you're fine with a musical theater person.

ANNAS is a generic baritenor who's not asked to do anything too uncomfortable.

As far as HEROD is concerned, I mean… that's literally the old-fashioned brassy Broadway sound. That guy doesn't have to sound rock at all if he doesn't want to; hell, in many instances, he probably doesn't need to sing. This role is more about the comedy, and indeed a local production may be able to boost ticket sales by treating it as a revolving-door cameo for stand-up comics in the area, assuming a good director can break them of their tendency to be "on" and help them to improvise within the character's confines.

[starsapphire]

Is it okay to ask; I found a post today that listed the batfam's ethnicities and wanted to check if they were right? I am new to comics so I haven't gotten through enough yet to know the difference. It said Dick is Romani, Jason is of mixed heritage but didn't say which, that Tim was supposed to be of asian heritage, that Damian is Arabic and Chinese, Cass is half asian, and Helena is mixed Italian and African. Are those accurate? I don't want to get it wrong in future references bc I know DC would rather make the batboys blue eyed black haired white boys you can't tell the difference between ;-;

dick is romani! this was written into canon by devin grayson in the 90s and made official in gotham knights #20 in 2001. devin grayson wrote dick as being half-romani on his father's side, but more recently tom taylor has changed that to dick's mother being rom; i'll be honest that i don't actually know if his father is now non-rom or if both of dick's parents are now romani. dick was initially created as 100% generic white (it was 1939), but he has been explicitly (half-)romani for the last 25 years. (fun fact: according to pre-2011 comics, the grayson family are roma who have been in england for several generations.)

jason and tim are white, as in generic american unspecified white. tim explicitly calls himself white on panel, and jason has never been called anything other than white. (there's a case to be made that jason is part-chinese — in batman: a death in the family, lady shiva is considered as one of the women who may be jason's mother. however, i think that's just jim starlin thinking for some reason that shiva is white, not him thinking jason is chinese. jason has blue eyes and originally had red hair (which morrison brought back but we ignore that forever okay?).) of course everyone is welcome to come up with their own headcanons and personal views of the characters, but in canon specifically they're white and always have been. as far as i'm aware they were never intended to be anything other than white either.

damian is half-asian, half-white; his mother is arab and chinese like you said. talia's father is ra's al ghul, who is like. technically older than arab identity if we want to get pedantic. her mother was chinese. bruce is obviously white. (i'm 99% sure the waynes are old stock scottish american. since the new 52, bruce's mother has also been explicitly jewish.)

cass is also half-asian, half-white. her father, david cain, is afaik some brand of generic american white, and her mother is lady shiva, who, despite jim starlin's apparent best wishes, is in fact chinese-american.

helena's racial background was changed during the new 52; before 2011, she was explicitly 100% sicilian-american, but since the new 52, she's been black and italian. so it depends on the continuity.

tldr; the post was mostly right but jason and tim are canonically the ethnic equivalent of wonder bread so idk where that bit came from