#two panels today because of narration

[daily-spinner]

Chapter 239: Successor

[heretherebeturtles-comic]

⭐

ALRIGHT! I told myself I would write this as a reward for finishing today's tasks, so lets go!

Here There Be - Director's Commentary :D!!

Starting with Chapter 1 part 1 (pages 1-4)

First of all, everyone say a big thank you to my friend and editor OurLadyOfCoffee for double checking the spelling and grammar for this comic.

Any mistakes in the writing are my own fault for making last minute changes and not showing her before posting. If she had gotten her hands on this page "missing in all the time in this city" would never have happened ( u_u)... I'll go back and fix the page eventually.

Pages 1 & 2 (and 20) did not exist in the original draft of the chapter. I made it to the lineart/inking stage and the page flow was not working. April's narration felt too cramped and boring. I completely redid the whole 4 page section, and the end the final result is so much better!

Page 1 - Panel 1 had two purposes! One, the establishing shot, introducing our setting. Two, to show that NYC is rebuilding after the Krang. Its been a few months and thanks to cartoon logic, they have made significant progress fixing everything.

I love to experiment with colour as a storytelling device. I use red/orange multiple times at specific points throughout the chapter. It simply morning in NYC or is there something dangerous on the horizon... (figuratively)? The good ol' "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning."

Page 1. Panel 2 has a little 1987 April reference with the lady in the jumpsuit on the right. I was really excited to see a few folks point it out, even if it's not quite the iconic yellow jumpsuit. The colour had to be muted or the bold yellow would pull attention away from April (the focus of the panel).

Hello Junior, what do you have there? Something that won't get context for a while? These panels almost didn't make it into the final cut due to page/panel limits. I was very happy that the added pages gave space for it.

Page 2 - someone sent an ask a while back confused about what April was saying, so to explain the text in a more straightforward way: "the mutants that started out as humans have been going missing, but no one knows how long it has been happening or who has taken them. April has figured out that the non-human based mutations disappeared first."

that orange again, this time over the spots where the now missing mutants used to be :)<. I have no idea if this sort of thing is too subtle or not subtle enough, but it makes me go eheehehee and rub my hands together like an evil mastermind.

Page 3 - I debated whether or not to have them move after the movie. How much structural damage did the Krang do on their way through? What are the chances of the lair being discovered because of this? Would the city be too focused on cleanup elsewhere to bother finding it? Do I really want to design a whole new lair when this one is cool and we barely got to see it? In the end I decided that it was more important to have a familiar visual that the readers can instantly identify as the turtle's home. We'll see if there are consequences for remaining in a potentially compromised lair. :)

Despite only showing two rooms in the page, I spent several hours gathering references and building a layout for the entire station lair. I do not control the hyperfocus, it controls me.

Did you know that there are two different designs for this one archway in the main room? I love seeing stuff like this! If an animation studio with multiple background artists can have small inconsequential inconsistencies like this, then it's completely ok if it happens in my own work. It's relieving in a weird way.

PAGE 3 - panel 5 is another way I tried to show that a few months have passed since the movie. They have put some work into unpacking some of those boxes stacked in the back.

Page 4 - Hello Two Phones Jones <3

The Jones Duo! They both have a little outfit change :D! CJ has a rough edged jean vest calling back to the 1990 movie with 03 colours. Casey has a base outfit colour change to match and a cropped hoodie reminiscent of 1987, in pink ofc.

I do not yet have the skills to show the fight that happened in that shipping yard, so I decided that this comic would begin in the tense quiet after it. This also starts us closer to the actual plot instead of dilly dallying. Maybe I'll eventually make a prelude comic to show what all went down.

Aaand that's pretty much it for April's 03 style narrated opening sequence! This is where the intro theme would start playing~

Thank you for the star, I hope this was interesting! I make so many small decisions per page, it's nice to share some of my thoughts. :)

[gentrychild]

BNHA 407 : AFO is a lying liar who lies

Today is a very sad day because I am about to do something I genuinely dislike: I am about to defend All for One. In order to cope, I shall make fun of him the whole time.

AFO and Yoichi's backstory is finally out, with AFO narrating it, and there are two possibilities: he is either completely lying about it (boring) or he is lying a little about it (very in-character for him) because he is also lying to himself.

Lie number 1: AFO was born evil.

The narrator (AFO, seriously, it's AFO) says things such as "The baby drained the lifeforce of both his mom and his brother.", "It was born an arrogant baby." and such but it really reads at AFO villifying himself to add to his own legend.

That's what babies do. Children, before they're born, kinda have to take their strength from their mother. That's why pregnant people aren't supposed to do anything taxing.

AFO and Yoichi's mother didn't die because baby AFO drained her like a vampire. She died because she was a homeless woman who had access to nothing and had to go in labor alone.

Same thing here: during twin birth, a twin is often bigger than the other (well, probably not to extent of Yoichi and AFO, but you get my point).

Lie number 2: AFO, as a demon baby, is shown killing for no reason, just because he can.

(First slaughter by Baby AFO shown in that chapter.)

There are two things that are strange in this scene (apart from... you know.... a baby murdering people...)

AFO had no reason to go after them because they don't have any quirks to steal.

It makes no sense for someone to attack a group of people with nothing to gain. I doubt that's the kind of behavior you have when you're in survival mode as you're barely surviving in the street.

However, a previous panel points at some context we might be missing.

The same panel that indicates that those guys don't have a quirk to steal also shows that they are wiling to do some "preventive attack" on a bunch of quirked people who might or might not be those who assaulted a protest group (reminder that in this context, that protest group are protesting the rights for quirked people to exist).

I could be wrong but odds are that they did something to be qualified as a threat to All for One and we are missing the additional context.

(Second slaughter by Baby AFO shown in that chapter.)

Now, the poor souls who just got absolutely wrecked by a toddler wearing what I suspect to be a garbage bag have quirks, which makes more sense than the previous scene.

However (and thank you for @aimportantdragoncollector for pointing that out to me), we also have this panel.)

Yoichi is shown with bruises on his face and might be broken teeth.

Probably because those same people AFO is shown killing attacked him.

Lie number 3: AFO never loved Yoichi because he can't love, he just considered that he was his. That's all. Nothing more.

(Just... Just ignore the rats.)

AFO didn't care about Yoichi so much that the very conscious first act of his life might have been to swim a river upstream while dragging his brother above the surface with what must have been the deathgrip of all deathgrip.

AFO didn't care about his brother so much that Yoichi was fed and clothed by an AFO who was malnourished enough for his ribs to show and who wore what's basically an improvised toga.

But he just keeps sacrificing what little he has for someone he doesn't care about one bit, that's just his first possession. Nothing more.

Okay, I am going to be clear: anyone who sees that panel and thinks that it's the proof AFO didn't like his brother... You just outed yourself as an only child.

Siblings punt each other for no reason. (There is a reason why the first recorded murderer was an older sibling.) In this case, the reason was Yoichi throwing a can at him.

AFO: "You're not inviting me to a fun activity? You're leaving me out, in the cold, unable to partake in brother bonding activity? Oh, vault for Little Brother! Vault for Little Brother for one thousand years!"

AFO: "Nevermind, we're reading together. All is well, I guess."

Lie number 3: AFO killed the glowing baby for power, because he could, or because the Glowing Baby didn't deserve it

Still laughing about AFO's flawless reasoning... "Comic books heroes' life suck. Better to be a villain. I already did the whole struggle thing, I want an easy life."

AFO killed the glowing baby because he was jealous. It's as simple as that. The glowing baby was considered the first official quirked individual (even though it's not true), was protected by his family (if I remember correctly, the mother of quirks was his mom) while AFO and Yoichi had no one but each other (EDIT: I was wrong, the Mother of Quirks was Destro's mother. thanks to the people in the tags), and had a ton of people following him (while, for some strange reason, people start running away screaming when AFO shows his quirk... What a mystery...).

The last panel was basically AFO saying "I want to be loved' but not having the frame of reference to even know what love is.

In conclusion...

While AFO is definitely a bad guy and a monster, he didn't begin his existence as one. He just wants people to believe that. Because his pride and his ego can't allow him to admit that he lived a childhood full of horrible trauma where he was a victim abandoned by society (to an even greater extent than the LOV) or he would probably combust out of rage and mortification.

Ergo facto, AFO is a lying liar who lies, especially to himself.

[fractualized]

I don't know anything about RWBY, but a couple panels from DC/RWBY #7 were brought to my attention today that indicated it might have some batjokes content, so I took a look and UH YEAH.

Long story very, very short, the RWBY leads show up in the DC Universe, which starts to adapt characteristics of their universe. This includes Joker merging with an enemy of theirs because of course that's what he does.

To gloss over some more, Batman stays behind to cage Joker/Nuckelavee, and when RWBY get back, they discover he ended up getting possessed by a grimm.

While RWBY were away, the plot got into how storytelling affects people and how that might affect the grimm, which leads to Ruby deciding to fight Batman by freeing Joker and delivering this line:

And when Batman and Joker fight, Ruby gives this narration: "Gotham was a city of eternal night guarded by a lonely, orphaned prince. There was a beast within the city, and whenever he slew one of its heads, two more grew in its place. But it grew so huge, the city itself was carried upon its back, and if the prince were to slay it, the city would fall. Yet if the beast were to eat him, it would cease to grow and would wither and crumble under the weight of the city. They needed one another. And if they have not yet died, they are living happily today."

Ruby then proceeds to get in the middle of the fight so that Joker's attack will strike both her and Batman.

And after Ruby is healed, Wonder Woman delivers this line (featuring more naked Joker):

I'm fine, I'm great, it's just Joker has enough of a heart to be broken, and Batman slaying the beast means the city will fall, and Joker can't eat the prince because he would wither, I'M WONDERFUL 🫠

[homestuckreplay]

has anyone else noticed that homestuck is getting kinda long?

(page 1145-1148; some thoughts on pacing and accessibility)

Jade’s bass playing to grow or move the lilypads works, and was well foreshadowed – in addition to both her bass playing pages where the garden atrium grows because of the amp in there (p.822, 1026), Jade captchalogues the bass (p.823) and the narration specifically notes ‘You take the PORTABLE AMP from the WALL SOCKET too.’ It feels like Act 3 has been entirely leading up to Jade entering these ruins.

In ‘[S] Jade: Pester John’ (p.1073), Bec guards the mystic ruins on Jade’s island, and a glowing white spirograph in the ‘same’ location mapped onto Prospit. So it’s a fair guess that the white spirograph was also present on ancient Earth, and may have been the cause of the ruins’ construction. And that means it might still be within the ruins, and could act as a portal to Skaia, which would allow Jade to go there while she’s awake. If she did that, could she travel to Prospit and find her own dream self? Or is her dream self only present on Prospit when her waking self is asleep? Either way, I think these ruins will be Jade’s backdoor into Sburb.

I love all three of these Jade pages for the visuals – 1145 because it’s cool when two panels match up into one bigger one (and interesting to think about why this was chosen instead of one bigger panel – maybe because one is Jade and one is the amp, and they’re two separate focal points?) and 1146 because Jade imagining herself as a frog as she jumps over lilypads is so fun and silly. I checked Wikifur and apparently amphibians such as frogs are classified under scalies, which is different to her interest in a ‘proud snout’, ‘the hunt’ and ‘claiming the night’ (p.797) but still fits with her desire for ‘a more visceral sapience’ and escaping the confines of humanity. So I feel like Jade doesn’t have one specific fursona, and wants to keep her options open with different animals.

And 1147 is just incredible – the glowing green symbols look like something from a hacker movie, like Jade’s entering a digital space, but at the same time we know this is physical stone and ancient hieroglyphs. Those things being meshed is very cool to me, and it makes me wonder just how much of all human technology was originally from Skaia. The mesmerizing soft glow gives the page a dreamlike quality, a reminder that Jade doesn’t have a plan, she’s just following instructions from her dreams and acting on faith.

John told Dave ‘i think you should use your copy of the game to help [rose]!’ on page 294, and it has taken 854 pages and over half a year in real time for him to install the game and help, but they are finally making this transpire. I was saying yesterday how Jade challenges Rose, and today I’m saying that Dave doesn’t challenge Rose at all. They have great banter, but Rose always has a leg up on it – and I think she types and/or thinks faster too, as she gets in her ‘Go on.’ before Dave can finish his ‘where making this’ sentence, when usually he’s the one to send a bunch of messages in a row.

Here’s the thing. I am speaking directly to Rose Lalonde here. Hi Rose, I understand that your house is burning down and things suck right now and you should not have to be the person who has to micromanage all your friends and deal with this entire situation alone. However. You are being dumb as shit by not giving Dave some basic instructions on exactly what to do the second he loads the game. You know that kid is not gonna read your GameFAQs. You know he can dish out those giant long monologues but he cannot take them. Please Rose, for your own safety and possibly the future of humanity or something, give the guy like three bullet points.

...no? Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff reference instead? Okay then.

This update also comes with a newspost, which I’m going to quote in full below.

That's my cue to disappear. Time for me to vanish into the animation abyss for a while. Let's give it a week, tops. If you're one of those people who has trouble keeping up with all the updates I bury you with, maybe now's a good time to catch up. And if you're one of those people who's finding everything going on in the story to be somewhat confusing and overwhelming, then maybe now is a good time to go back and reread it all. I'm pretty sure about 95% of all MSPA readers huddle somewhere beneath this umbrella. (/news 8 January 2010)

I have been thinking about the update frequency, and thought I was projecting because I definitely put an above average amount of time into Homestuck, but maybe this is a bigger issue. People only have so much time in the day, but some people do have more time than others. Relative to other webcomics, Homestuck asks readers to put a lot more time into it, a lot more frequently – both because the updates come fast and because the story is complex. It rewards people who do put a lot of time into it, because the small details, patterns and parallels, time loops, etymologies, and opportunities to predict and even influence (via user commands) the story encourage people to stay up to date, to read closely and reread often. The more effort you put into reading Homestuck, the more you get out of it, and that’s incredible, but it’s definitely made by and for people who have a lot of leisure time. So, young middle class people, especially teenagers and college students who don’t need jobs, and people who are socially isolated for whatever reason, will be way overrepresented. (I do this project because I love it and I do it by choice, but balancing this with work and school and relationships and my other major hobby is not easy especially with what’s felt like a recent increase in update frequency!)

This quality also makes it more competitive with other webcomics – someone might have time to keep up with, say, 20 webcomics that post a once per day or three times a week strip that stands alone or is part of a relatively simple story. If that person wants to follow Homestuck, they might have to drop down to 15 or even 10 other comics, because this one takes up such a disproportionate amount of space. This idea of creators putting out constant content to stay afloat on a transient internet, such that it could be a full time job to keep up with it (and sometimes is – there’s franchises that have in-house lore experts because creators themselves struggle to keep track of stories) will become huge in the future. And when we can all only pick a couple pieces of media to stay up to date with, life gets harder for smaller, newer and part time creators, who can’t provide that yet. And yeah I’m probably part of that problem.

I might also disappear for a few days to work on end of act 3 stuff! or I might not! if I have anything to say in the meantime or any fun asks then I will post. but at the absolute latest I will post on the day EOA3 drops and if I don’t do that then send an ambulance to my house.

> John: Ascend to First Gate.

[cass-danny-weekend]

Cass/Danny Weekend - Fun Fact! Day 5

These next two posts are going to look a little different. We're going to focus on Cass and Danny's relationships with their families. However, with topics like these, there are a lot of mixed feelings and different interpretations amongst fans about these relationships. For the purpose of these posts, I will try to be as objective as possible and present the information as it is.

Before we start, I do want to begin with some trigger warnings. In today's discussion about Cass we will be discussing child abuse, character death, some very heavily implied suicidal ideation, canon-typical violence, blood, and graphic injury. Please proceed with caution.

We will be focusing on Cass and her relationship with her birth parents in particular, because while I would love to rant about Cass and Bruce's dynamic, I do want to focus on aspects from canon that may not be as well known. Because that's what we're here for! We know how hard it can be to find comic books, so we'll bring the comics to you.

Let's begin with David Cain. As mentioned in Day 1, David raised Cass from birth to be the perfect living weapon. We know from Batgirl (2000) (and actually, pretty much our entire discussion about David will come from this comic series) that David had previously trained infants to fight, honed for violence at a young age, but Cass had been the first (and quite possibly only) student taught since birth. He did not allow her to speak or read, so instead she would have to interpret the world through muscle movement. He trained her through brutal exercises to hone her reflexes and instincts. One memorable example is showcased in issue #65 of Batgirl, where Cass tells Tim about a "game" she used to play with her father, where he would shoot at her (and at times injuring her), to train her not to flinch.

And like many abusive relationships, there were… softer moments too. When she was young, Cass would watch the stars with her father. Though it does get a little confusing when we consider Issue #50, where Cass tells Bruce how her father "never let me touch him… hold him… just fighting… and hurting". Though we can contribute this to unreliable narrator and their twisted perspective abusive relationships bring. For example, in Issue #65, Cass returns to visit her father in prison to ask about her mother. After a rather violent, rather bloody, fight where David refuses to reveal the truth about her mother due to a promise he'd made in the past, Cass leaves his cell disappointed but not before tossing him the gift she'd brought for him, a little note that simply said "Dad" along with a flower. As she departs, he says he loves it.

And that's the thing about David Cain. Despite his absolute brutality, he seemed to really love Cass. His own, horrible version of love, that is. He kept a scrapbook of her accomplishments, recorded footage of her fights including her first kill. And also stole the autopsy report of her kill to put in said scrapbook. He admits in Issue #5 that his decision to have her kill Faizul was a mistake, saying, "Too young. Too soon. My fault." (I believe he also breaks out of prison later on just to give Cass a birthday present, but since I can't figure out the comic issue, I'll just give it a passing mention here.)

Of course all of this does not negate or subtract from the abuse and horror from her childhood. There's a lot more that can be said about their relationship, but we do need to move on. If you want to learn more, please do pick up a copy of Batgirl (2000) if you ever have the chance. It's been a very enlightening read on her character. However, in the meantime, you can always take a look at this poetic piece that blends various written works with comic panels.

Now let's talk about Lady Shiva. Sandra Wu San. Fun fact: it's heavily implied in Issue #65 of Batgirl that Cass was actually named after her mother. Cassandra. Sandra. It's a moment of clarity for Cass in the comic, don't come at me about it.

So this is where it gets tricky~ because there have been so many pieces of media that cover their relationship, I wouldn't even know where to begin. First, we should establish that Shiva had Cass after David murdered her sister, lured her into a trap with the League of Assassins, fought and defeated her, and offered to spare her life if she birthed him a child. She had little to no say or control about what would become of Cass.

If we went to the most basic display of their dynamic, Cass briefly leaves Barbara and Bruce intending to fight Shiva to the death (it's also heavily implied she believed she would die in this fight, leaving videos for Babs and Bruce to watch later). And for the record she does die, when Shiva stops her heart through a special martial arts technique, though Shiva does restart her heart. She believed that death would bring Cass clarity. After that, Cass attacks her again when Shiva proudly displays her "trophies" (read: kills). In the end she is victorious, but refuses to give Shiva the satisfaction of death. This will be a common theme between their characters.

What I find more fascinating, though, is how this exchange happens before Cass finds out Shiva is her mother. You see their fight happens in Issue #25, but she learns about her mother 40 issues later. (For all you wider Batfam fans, this comic series also brings back how Shiva had previously been a possible candidate for Jason's birth mother.) For context, Cass also fights Shiva before Issue #25, but due to Cass just recently losing her sharp, fighting edge after a meta with psychic powers tries to help reorient or "fix" her mind, that exchange doesn't last very long.

While there are many explorations of Cass and Shiva's relationship, there is one memorable deviation. The Young Justice cartoon. In the series, rather than be raised by David, Cass is instead raised by Shiva. Rather than prevented from learning how to read or speak, Shiva damaged her vocal cords so she would never be able to speak at all. It's a very large divergence from main or common continuity, which is pretty par for the course when it comes to Young Justice.

If you would like some quicker reads, I would suggest Batgirl (2024) as it specifically focuses on Cass and Shiva as they are targeted by a mysterious, deadly group of assassins who hold special abilities. It's six issues long, I've only been able to get through the first half due to irl obligations but the art is stunning, and includes a glimpse and something of a character study into Shiva's complex morals. Read it for the angst implied in this scene if nothing else.

If you want a bit of a longer read, Batman and the Outsiders Vol 3. is 17 issues long, which allows it to have a more dynamic story. While Cass and Shiva's relationship does hold its weight on the narrative, it is a very busy plot so if you don't want all that noise, then I won't hold it against you. I will leave you with this parting panel, though.

Because I had to. We hope you enjoy~

- Mod Halfa

[amageish]

People seemed to like my post chronicling the queer history of Felicia Hardy, so I'm going to do something similar to that... Let's chat about the queer history of Marvel's unwitting power couple, Ellie Phimister and her girlfriend Yuki Ohara.

Let's dive in!

Content Warning: This summary will include discussion of anti-mutant hate crimes and genocide, as that is part of Ellie's comic book story.

Like a lot of queer X-Men stories, this one begins with queercoding in the 80s.

While Jim Shooter famously prohibited any queer storytelling in Marvel Comics during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the company and, on top of that, the Comics Code Authority also banned it, Chris Claremont, the architect of the X-Men as we know them today, never really followed those rules - and neither did his editors, artists, and co-writers. There are so many queer-coded relationships throughout his runs on the X-Men and the modern X-Men stories are still playing catch-up to this day, canonizing the intentions of him and his collaborators one character at a time. Mystique and Destiny are probably his most famous pairing nowadays, as that is canon now, but he also wrote the Juggernaut as being with Black Tom Cassidy, Kate Pryde as being bisexual for most women she encounters in her life, and, the topic for today, Storm being in a romantic relationship with the Japanese assassin Yukio.

Yukio is, to put it mildly, a risk-taker. She runs through life with seemingly no self-preservation instincts whatsoever and, for some reason, always gets by nonetheless. She and Storm have a fling while Storm is in Japan (Uncanny X-Men 172-173) and this leads directly into Storm's famous punk era, which certainly does recontextualize some of the vibes of her having suddenly gotten a mohawk and a taste for leather.

Their later reunion in Uncanny X-Men 311-313 is extra funny to me - both because of the narration textually referring to them as "more then friends" and because of Yukio justifying her daredevil attitude by suggesting it would have been "politically incorrect" of the villain to have attacked them in public.

These two "kindred spirits" hang out for a bit, but Yukio is ultimately a Wolverine character and not a larger X-Men team member, so they naturally split off as time goes on. Their last appearance together was during the 2014 Death of Wolverine event - though their affair was mentioned by an angry Kitty during the Storm flashback mini earlier this year.

That said, Yukio is obviously a Sapphic and I guess when the team behind the movie Deadpool 2 decided to give their version of Negasonic Teenage Warhead a girlfriend, they looked at the list of queer-coded characters and decided she was the right one for them...

Now, as for Ellie...

Eloise Phimister AKA Negasonic Teenage Warhead debuted in Grant Morrison's New X-Men, but her name was not said on-panel until after she was already dead. She was one of Emma Frost's students, a gothic woman with telepathic powers that foretold the death of her and her classmates at Genosha... and yet she died nonetheless.

This is a very tragic character. She has a silly name, but that is part of the heartbreak of this moment. Ellie is a child who died as a result of a genocidal desire to kill all mutants. Her silly name emphasizes her youth... which makes it REALLY tonally dissonant when it played for comedy from here-on-out.

She was briefly brought back by the camp gay villain Selene when she revived horrific versions of many deceased mutants as part of X-Force... and then she was revived for real with a new design fter the release of the first Deadpool movie. She maintains her precognitive abilities and future-sight here, but otherwise... Well, she's now a comedy character in a Deadpool book. She also can warp reality now, partially as an explanation for why she looks/acts different then her first appearances.

She paled around with Deadpool for a bit, but didn't do anything explicitly queer in the comics until 2022 (good god) where she kissed an unnamed woman, causing Wolverine to wonder if she'll one day lead a X-Men team that is exclusively made up of her multiple girlfriends. This comment is also a subtle not to the implied status quo of the Krakoa era, where Wolverine himself has two partners - dating both Jean Grey and Scott Summers.

This is a funny moment, though I do wonder why it took so long for her to be queer in the comics - Marvel comic books are generally the most queer media Marvel puts out, so I do wonder if it was something specifically about her being a Deadpool character that caused people to hesitate to greenlight queer stories about her.

Finally, in 2023, Ellie got her first solo series in the form of an Infinity Comic.

This series uses the increasingly-popular approach of having "fate" be a stand-in for "the concept of being a loyal adaptation in a multimedia landscape," as she is fated to kiss a girl named Yuki Ohara or else the fabric of reality as we know it will be destroyed.

While Deadpool is only in it for a bit, it is a very meta narrative, with a lot of commentary on the way that female characters are written in comics in general and female reality-warpers specifically, with Ellie having a lot of anxiety about the risk of her becoming like Jean Grey or Scarlet Witch - not helped by the TVA chasing her down and declaring her a threat. However, in the end, she meets her girlfriend-to-be and pauses time itself to get know her properly before having their universe-saving kiss. Good for them!

Since then, she has appeared exactly once - in a Pride issue fashion show - but I imagine she and her girlfriend Yuki are just in a little reality-warp bubble, hidden away as Fall of X finishes up.

Synergy is a dirty word in the comics landscape, but I personally like Ellie and her romance with Yuki - and I'm very relieved that they introduced a new, younger Yuki O. based on the movie for her to date instead of just retconning the established Yukio into becoming Eloise's girlfriend... Storm doesn't deserve to have her girl stolen away like that!

Also, Yuki has a giant mech and electricity powers. Maybe a little cliche for a Japanese character's powerset, but it is badass...

I hope we see more comic book stuff with these two eventually... There is potential there that is as of yet untapped - especially as they are probably two of Marvel's most notable queers by virtue of being in wildly popular movies, even if their comic queerness is a relatively modern thing.

[rcbirdy]

So yesterday was Hourly Comic Day and I actually remembered to do it this year! I posted these on Bluesky as I drew them (because I have a Bluesky now), but here they are all together for Tumblr.

[ID: Six images showing the life of the artist. Individual image descriptions follow.

A two-panel comic showing the hours from 12:00 to 7:00. First panel shows the artist in bed with very wild hair, looking determined. She thinks, "I forget every year. Well not this time!" Second panel narration says "Recently started playing Wordle and comparing results with family. Got it in 5 today!" The image shows a text conversation between Aunt, who guessed the word in 3 tries, and Me, who guessed the word in 5 tries.

Three-panel comic showing the hours from 7:00 to 10:00. First panel narration reads "Breakfast," with a side note reading "(cranberry-orange muffin)." The art shows the muffin surrounded by glitter. Second panel narration reads "Shower," the art shows the artist behind a shower curtain washing her hair. Third panel narration reads "Social Media," and the art shows the artist sitting at a desk with her hair wrapped in a towel, eating the muffin. A thought bubble reads "oh yeah I should post these." A splash in the lower right corner reads "RIVETING!"

A two-panel comic showing the hours from 10:00 to 3:00. First panel narration reads "I did a few Productive Adult Things TM…", art shows the artist folding laundry, framing a poster, and cleaning a fountain pen. Second panel narration reads "…and got a treat." Art shows the artist sitting at a table wearing a jacket, drinking a boba tea. Dialogue on the side of the image reads "boober <3".

A one-panel comic showing the hours of 3:00 to 6:00. Narration text reads "Comic drawing and podcast listening." The art shows an over-the-shoulder view of the artist sitting at a computer, drawing a comic about some sort of wormy creature. Off-screen the podcast is playing, and speech bubbles read "Perhaps so we do not get lost, we should hold onto each others' tails."

A two-panel comic showing the hours from 6:00 to 9:00. First panel narration reads "Lunchbossed too close to the sun and now I have a tummyache." The art shows the artist leaning back in her chair with a tired look on her face, her stomach is grumbling and she is weakly saying "nooooo." Second panel shows the artist reaching towards a bowl, saying "Save me, ice cream!"

A two-panel comic showing the hours from 9:00 to 12:00. First panel narration text reads "Finishing off the day with some BG3!" The art shows the artist sitting at her computer and playing the game. Second panel narration text reads "It's my second playthrough so I'm going after Gale this time. (I still think he's a dipshit but now it's /affectionate)." The art shows Gale eating a magical cloak while the halfling player character looks on, thinking "ohhh I can't NOT fuck him."

End ID.]

[hollow-keys]

I saw Wonder Woman #2 today and I decided to read it out of morbid curiousity, so mamma mia, here we go again:

I read Tom King's Wonder Woman so you don't have to, round two (link to round one here).

First off, framing. Yet again, this issue is narrated by the Sovereign, but this time it's narrated to someone. And that someone is Trinity, Diana's daughter that Tom King created. She gets no lines and she doesn't appear on panel, but given the Sovereign refers to Diana as "your mother," there's only one character it could be. First of all, this is Diana's book, it should be told from her perspective. We get no insight from her, nothing from her perspective, she shows even less emotion than in the last issue. This is not the treatment Tom King gave Batman. Second, I do not care about the OC daughter. I do not want to hear about her.

But on to the actual story. So, it starts with Diana on an open field being approached by Steve Trevor, who is acting on behalf of the US government and is telling her to stand down because she can't win.

Look, I didn't think I'd ever complain about Steve Trevor, incredibly basic WW supporting character, being mischaracterised but. Isn't he meant Wonder Woman's staunch friend who pretty much always takes her side? Hasn't he seen Diana in enough battles to know she doesn't just lose? She's fought gods, armies from outer space, the forces of Apokolips, why does he think the US army is beyond her? He's underestimating her for no reason.

And more importantly, because she is the title character, why doesn't Diana seem to care that her long time ally is being a coward?

And why does Diana care about the soldiers wellbeing at this point? Why is she trying to get them to go home with no consequence and no hint of anger about how her or her fellow Amazons have been treated when they've already made their stance quite clear? People are dead! They've already made their decision, you already tried to extend them mercy. Now you fight. The thing about Diana is that mercy is always her first port of call, but when the other side has made their choice she meets them and she does have anger about the injustices they've committed. Here, she just doesn't seem to care.

Also, Diana's nihilism about the ways of men, that they will always "crash upon the rocks" is at odds with her optimism. She knows that humanity contains multitudes, some crash, some don't.

Anyway, the whole issue parallels her fight against the army with flashbacks to her final fight on Themyscira to prove herself worthy of being the Amazon's champion and Wonder Woman. This parallel makes no sense to me. Those fights were completely different.

One is against an army to defend herself and her people from enemies who want them dead, the other is against an ally in a tournament, a battle where no one's in real danger. Or at least, that's how it should be. Usually when this moment is shown, it's a good faith tournament to find out who the most qualified person to serve as champion is, they're all allies who respect each other. Here, the opponent is shown to be hateful towards Diana, genuinely seriously injure her and there's no sense of camaraderie between them.

While Diana and her opponent are trading barbs before their fight, the other Amazon gives her a chance to surrender. Diana responds "Honour is won with swords, not surrender," which is incredibly out of character for her. Yes, there are cases where Diana would consider surrender dishonourable, but it's not an absolute rule. She believes in compassion and peace, which means surrender is sometimes the right course of action. The framing of it as an absolute here does a disservice to her.

Steve Trevor would not fucking say that, Amazons do not fucking act like that and the last panel makes no sense. It's said by present Diana but only makes sense as a continuation of past Diana's sentence. present WW just said "To tell me who I am." with no words before that. To parallel these conversations, present Diana talking to Steve would have had to have said "Neither you nor anyone else has ever earned the right..." in the fifth panel so the seventh panel made sense for both sides. The composition here was thoughtless. Yes this is a nitpick, but details matter. Where are the editors? Sidenote: her mask is ugly.

Anyway, then we get these choice narration boxes from the Sovereign.

It's just. So bad. I want to make it clear that at no point is the Sovereign framed as an unreliable narrator, despite being the villain who's diametrically opposed to Diana. This just appears to be, Tom King's genuine take on things. I would ask if he understands that you cannot believe in peace and do nothing in the face of violent status quo, but I don't have to. Of course he doesn't. And of course he calls her an idiot while he's at it. Remind me, did he ever call Batman anything like that?

We then get more pathetic "Of course I want Diana to win, I'm still gonna serve with her enemies though" Steve Trevor. I should make it clear tho that he's not actually fighting against her, he's just watching the fight and updating Sargeant Steel.

Anyway, then we get a bit of narration that says:

"Infantry. Be it conscripts or... Well it's always just conscripts. If you can't do it from afar...Or with haste... Then get the grunts to rush in close and kill and die in what you will tell their children was a patriotic mission."

Tom King, stop processing your war trauma here. Any one of these soldiers could have stood down, they chose to enforce a genocidal policy. It's on them. Stop framing them as victims who were taken advantage of, they're grown adults who chose to be there.

Anyway. Another caption box from the still-inexplicably-narrating-this Sovereign:

"...And prepared to meet the onslaught of angry men with the grace of a princess born and proven."

I ask this again, did he ever treat Batman like this? Does he ever emphasise Batman's grace and frame him as being above anger? Why does Diana need to be like this?

And now for an unnecessary Macbeth reference.

"For some time the missiles rained down. No man of woman born could have survived such a salvo. But of course. She was neither a man nor born of woman. She was Amazon. Forged first of clay. Then steel."

I don't think this reference makes sense considering the line in Macbeth is a prophecy, a warning that Macbeth missed. But here it's a measure of power. She's powerful enough because she's not a man of woman born, which makes no sense because that has nothing to do with power. I'm nitpicking. Again. I know. But the Macbeth reference is such a shallow attempt at being badass. And as a sidenote, it should say "She was AN Amazon."

"Potty train." "A pup." God this dialogue is so bad. Amazons do not fucking speak like that.

Then Diana smashes a tank with another tank and there are cartoon stars on the impact sight. This is meant to be a serious battle, why are they there?

"Many people lie about your mother. About her family, her origins, her abilities, her wants her needs. Every tale of the great Wonder Woman provides us with more insight into the teller than into their supposed protagonist. They faithfully project their own fears onto her with the aspiration that her legend can ease their daily panic."

So close to self awareness and yet so far. It's so ironic.

"Men in the field, I admire your courage! I honor your service and your loyalty! I do not wish to harm you! But if you proceed... I will... Over and over... Drop a 55-ton abrams tank on your pathetic little heads!"

Again, why does she not seem to care about the violence they've committed against her and her people? Why does she continue to respect them and wish no harm upon them? Where's her sadness, her righteous fury? And the bit where she says she'll drop a tank on their "pathetic little heads" is so out of character and it's such bad dialogue. When Diana makes threats, it's not like that.

Anyway, y'know the flashback fight? Yeah, well, the issue ends with the reveal that her opponent is the Amazon that committed the massacre which kick started this whole thing, which is such a cheap retcon it makes me roll my eyes.

After all this, I think I put more thought into this post than Tom King puts into any of his writing. I hope the next issue isn't bad enough that it inspires me to do this again. I'm tired.

[jezmmart]

Chamomile Comic Trivia #30

#155 - Headphones

I admit, I came up with this joke almost as soon as I decided to have a character who wore a hijab, but I kept it in my back pocket for a good few years because I didn't want her to do anything to suggest she should be defined by the fact so soon.

Layla and Cammie are meeting up at "Café Cake" today, which is a reference literally only for myself.

For some reason, renaming Café Francis to Café Cake using 3D word props in a single stop-motion Kirby movie I made in 3D Movie Maker as a kid was of great amusement to myself and my older brother. It became a tradition that the café must always be renamed that in future projects, and I would be called out on it whenever I didn't bother to in future projects where I began to care a little more about "homebrewed props" being more inconspicious where possible.

#156 - Omelette

A slightly strange one in the grand scheme of the series, as I've never done quite an "out-of-fiction" entirely narrated one like this before or since. It's less obvious if you weren't there at the time, but this was due to the comic going up on Easter Sunday - every year I think "oh I can do an Easter comic this year!" before remembering that Easter moves and there is an opportunity to do an Easter comic EVERY year.

Here's the third panel without the text boxes, so you can see all the lovely things there are to put in an omelette!

#157 - Still

It took a few years but I eventually found myself able to bring myself to walk into a Subway to eat there again after quitting my job at one. Vienna's sentiments here more or less echo mine - I miss being able to make my own perfect sandwich! Just... just lemme go back there, I still remember all the food safety stuff, it's fine!

I can neither confirm nor deny whether I relate to Vienna not paying for her staff meals.

It's fun to see how much my standards for low detail blurry backgrounds increased in scope for this same location in the early comics too. Look at Cammie's table floating in a gradient void there! Simpler times!

#158 - Say

Just a silly cute one (that last panel of Cammie came out just as precious as I imagined it, I'm so glad!) that came from personal musings. It's confirmed here that Vienna has a cat but we've never seen them in the comic! She actually has two and I do have comics planned with them but they're a bit too written with us "meeting them for the first time" in mind, when all the characters have definitely met them at this point since they go to Vienna's on halloween comics and for Daydreams and Dangers sessions. I just need to figure out how to rework them a bit, we'll meet those cats one day.

It's visible in the comic but here's the book Cammie is reading:

[Trivia Archive | Browse from most recent]

[exoid-the-locomotive-monarch]

I think since today’s the day, I should get off my chest what I think about Homestuck and the epilogues: the former is good and the latter is like an uncooked steak covered with diahhrea.

To elaborate, Homestuck is a cake that used too much baking soda and cooked in the oven for too short, its the same size as a cake but the outside is too airy and the inside is mushy and liquid batter, disgusting.

But there’s this middle part, between the layers that’s delicious as all hell, it uses grandma’s secret recipe and the chef was running a rush order, it’s a miracle he used the perfect ratio of egg to sugar to flour and milk, you can’t deny most chefs wish they could prepare a cake this good, and when one ingredient is off and it was underbaked, many critics would absolutely drop a solid 9 to a 5/10. It’s still good in my heart.

Now leaving the metaphors, I love this comic to an autistic degree. Its art direction and narration perfectly mix the feel of a strange adventure game published by some studio pushing the boundaries but had no budget so they end up reusing assets from stock images for most of its run, and for the second half abandoned jpgs for minimalist bean shaped heroes.

It has multiple flash animations, interactive walkarounds, and plenty of callbacks and reference to its own story beats and panels, it’s really good and even the secondary characters have a lot of dimension to them! The big issue was the pacing, and by god did Act 5 Act 2 cone out the miracle it did, balancing troll to human conversation perfectly, never abandoning the kids, and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the mess the trolls were about to make for themselves.

I even like act 6. Yeah I said it. Caliborn is funny, Calliope is eh, Roxy is the obvious character with the most going for her, Dirk has a good arc about his own struggles, but between him and the alpha kids, not so much. Jake had an arc for him to realize who he can be and his linits and how he should stand up for himself, and Jane was learning to trust her friends while being able to sleuth out manipulation or bad actors. Some of these words are in past tense because Hussie was now ping ponging to the boring 3 years where the kids are separated by dream bubbles and a long yard, almost never interacting with each other’s side of the 3 year journey (minus one DISTACTION by Rose and John hammering Bec’s head in with COOL NEW BREATH POWERS)

The pacing was a whole lot and openbound was a waste of time for 10 characters the fans could play with as dolls, but Act 6 Act 6 united both alpha and beta parties to actually do stuff.

But Hussie was also developing a (STILL UNFINISHED) adventure game(s) for his two new kidsonas that were going to give Alternia more breathing room and two new kidsonas an adventure to expand on the lore of Beta earth Roxy, Jake Harley, and a dead flighty broad.

After delaying when the comic should have ended by one and a half years, Hussie says “fuck it” and drops an awesome flash where everyone fucking dies. I was sad a little bit but remembered the comic had to end with the good guys winning so I just slogged another 500 pages watching a cool concept unfold: alter the timeline to unfuck the doomed timeline and fix the time paradox that would cause Lord English to not exist. Cool yeah?

The problem was after undoing 2000 pages of characterization Hussie needs to redo those 2000 pages and give characters worthwhile new arcs to solve, make everything both hunky dory on our way to the finish line but also start a new problem from railroading the characters into this new chance to win the game, and are clearly still coping or ignoring their other timeline’s struggles.

The best Hussie could do was 750 pages.

Build the new universe, kill the bad guys, save the troll race, finish Dave, Dirk, and Roxy’s character arc’s, we’ll finish the rest in a new timeline, the epilogues stuff. Drop in some vague shit at the last minute like “Ultimate Selves” “Aspect design and destiny” and some lip service to how these aren’t the same kids John knew, the look like them but they’re ever so different.

Then for like 6 months that was it, then the credits explained what happened to them and where they are now, and what’s unfinished.

Bonus updates we see a human cosplay space fish horns Hitler, a troll cosplay an immortal time demon hellbent on wrecking the corpse of every Universe he is aware of, and a carapacian cosplay a teleporting radiant dog demon that killed 3 parents. This was for Halloween.

Jane gets kidnapped by the goons you loved back when the comic only had 4 kids 3 adults a dog, some 4 chess friends, Jack, the midnight crew and the felt, and then she mind controls Jack and says she is going to get political.

Also the woobified side characters Wayward Vagabond and Oeregrine Me dicant are no longer “the deterrent of the original bad guy” and “silly marketable plush character who was once a veteran of the bloodiest massacre in Sburban history” they’re dead.

So what an ending huh, that was overwhelming, also unfinished. That epilogue should really tie in loose ends and end the narrative stakes of a work of fiction to a calm and satisfying pace like a traditional narrative does, boy oh boy can’t wait to expect that from the postmodern work of Homestuck hahahahahahahaha.

[beyondthetemples]

{{ Note to self while I'm getting ready to view the solar eclipse (half hour to go!):

I have to figure out how Dove would respond to seeing one herself.

I don't think it would be as bad as a thunderstorm/fireworks, but still, it would make her Nervous.

Because I don't think she would've seen one in Azarath. Certainly not the way it would happen on Earth where it darkened the whole world. (I headcanon Azarath to have two suns and three moons, the latter being based on a comic panel showing their sky. Based on the way it's narrated, I also headcanon their skies had never darkened before they did on the day of Raven's birth.)

But more interestingly: There was a total solar eclipse right before The End of the World on EARTH!

This is CANON. It's very subtle and mostly shown visually, but it was in the old Cartoon Network (dot) com's description for the episode ("the sun is in eclipse"), and you can see it happen in End pt. I.

The shadow comes over the sun...

...and the whole world goes dark for a minute.

Right before Raven goes all glowy and they figure out "today's the day".

Dove was hiding on Earth when that happens. (Probably just beginning to move through the forest, because it's so shortly after Azarath was destroyed, and thus shortly after she fled that destruction.)

Granted, there's a few hours between the eclipse and when Trigon actually arrives (given the day was bright enough to Get Dark during the eclipse and it's nighttime when the Titans are fighting off Slade and the fire-demons), but it would be something Dove had Seen, and probably Sensed, her precognitive sense would've been blaring all sorts of alarm bells, and maybe it was even part of the prophecy as they tell it on Azarath?

(I doubt the prophecy was only those four lines chanted by the spirits/statues. Given the way Azar talks about the prophecy in the comics...)

Well, for now I have to get ready to see it for myself! (If nothing else, living in Ohio is perfect for being in the path of totality today!)

But I definitely want to come back to this at some point. I think it would be one of those things she'd be Very Nervous about, but if someone showed her Its Wonder and It's Okay Now, she'd come to admire it.

[androxys]

Androxys Reads... Batman #402 and #403

Welcome back to Androxys Reading Comics! If you’re just joining, all my reads can be found under #androxys reads comics. Today’s sampling: Batman #402 and #403, both collected in Batman: Second Chances. Let’s get right into it.

[Batman #402]

I think it’s so dramatic to put Batman’s logo in the middle of the melodramatic narration boxes, but also, it’s kinda camp. Go off king. Seek your “human target.”

I see our hapless victims are literally named Dick and Jane, because of course they are. You have to conjure up the image of youthful innocence, right before you slap them with the narration that “they’re slumming tonight – because they’re into Rock ‘n’ Roll.” In this case, I guess “slumming” means going to a rock show in a poorer part of town? This street of Gotham they’re on doesn’t look any grimier than any other?

Gratuitous 80’s violence is gratuitous… The man’s teeth are knocked out and the woman is threatened by the lecherous man, because as we all know, terrible violence only exists in poorer communities because poor people are bad. Ronald Reagan told me so.

A silhouetted Batman strikes, snapping the two muggers’ necks, because again, it’s the 80’s.

[Batman #402]

This little segment is interesting because in some ways, we sure have been using this same plot forever as a foil to Batman, huh? “Your way doesn’t fix things, so I have to Cross The Line to make it matter.” This is just the second Batman comic of New Earth, and yet here’s this theme already. I think Under the Red Hood will do it better, of course, but it’s worth calling out where this thread pops up.

[Batman #402]

Wait a minute! You’re not Bruce!

Because the murder was committed by That Guy in a Batman suit, GCDP supposes that Batman just went off the deep end and is killing now. They lure him to the rooftop by way of Batsignal, and I really like the narration here:

“Three A.M. – Late for the familiar yellow beam to pierce the sky – but the Batman doesn't think twice when summoned by his old friend. He doesn’t even think once. He just goes.”

What a sweet way to portray the depth of his relationship with Gordon: when he sees the signal, he assumes Gordon needs him, and he doesn’t hesitate. That speaks volumes, especially knowing who Bruce will become.

[Batman #402]

It is a trap, though, and his little “whoops” is hilarious to me.

Bruce notes that he didn’t see Gordon on the rooftop, but he did see Deputy Commissioner Barnes, leading him to muse that they’ve both been betrayed. Frankly, I think the fact that they shot on sight is evidence enough for that– Gordon is a special comic character, if only because he knows what Miranda Rights are.

[Batman #402]

I can’t keep highlighting every time Bruce and Jim are friends, but I will do it until they drag me away from my keyboard. They’re precious to me, your honor. The other thing in this panel is how to Bruce, crime is crime. Muggings are never “simple,” something to be trivialized. He should know.

[Both from Batman #402]

Okay… I know in my last post I hunkered down as a Jason Defender, but I have to play it evenly. There’s the panel here where Jason asks Bruce “what would be so wrong if you did [kill those muggers]?” Bruce and Jason have a conversation after that, Bruce emphasizing that “murder is the line we must not cross.” Jason counters that Bruce has killed before, which Bruce notes was in self-defense. I have to assume this is a pre-Crisis element that was folded into the New Earth continuity, in the same way that we’re accepting that Jason is Bruce’s ward already, rather than all comics starting at the beginning of the timeline. We’ll have flashback comics to flesh out that timeline (like the upcoming Year One) but this is still a bit in media res, with some Pre-Crisis stuff still being on the table until proven otherwise. See, this is the sort of confusing comics stuff that drives people nuts.

Bruce ends this conversation by saying that “if we’re no better than the lice who snuff out human life like it’s worth nothing at all, then, well – then it’s time I hung up my cowl.” Jason replies “I guess. But I’m still glad those guys are dead.'' Bruce admits that he agrees, though he’s not proud of it.

If the Batman comics right now are utilizing a blend of Pre-Crisis elements and a nebulous, still undefined New Earth continuity, Jason is really getting a raw deal. Because any/all of his old Pre-Crisis cheer and magic is still potentially there, but at the same time, I feel like we’re seeing the seeds for the death of Felipe Garzonas here. Jason asks the question, “is it so bad if you did kill them?” and doesn’t seem convinced by the answer. Bruce is empathetic to Jason’s sentiment, but Bruce has demonstrated that his sympathy to that idea does not extend to action. His ideals are too strong. Jason, on the other hand, is still in a more precarious spot.

Bruce goes out to interview the widow of a woman who was killed by the same muggers, who admits to Bruce that he’s also glad that they’re dead. The theme of this comic seems to be apathy towards human life.

Hmm… don’t like the quotes around “police brutality” there, Gordon. I feel like what you’re describing is pretty clearly misconduct by one of your cops, actually.

[Both from Batman #402]

Another Jason moment here… another instance of him not seeming to have a clear eye on what it is that they do, what the mission is about. I feel you can tie this back to Batman #401, which was all about establishing what that mission is. We the reader are being guided here, to make our own decisions on what Batman is about, and if we agree more with Bruce or Jason.

[Batman #402]

Batman is on the hunt for the suspect, and he muses that he wants this to be an underworld conspiracy rather than a “good cop gone bad” situation. We know that Batman believes in the cause of justice, but I feel this tiptoes a little closely to the idea that there are people for whom it’s more of a tragedy for them to succumb to crime, rather than taking the position that it’s tragic for anyone to become a criminal. I don’t know, there just seems to be an implicit writing off of criminals that once they’ve become criminals, well, that’s all we can expect of them. But this good cop, this good and decent man, oh how awful.

Bruce also acknowledges that the similarity in this imposter’s mission is to take on crime, just as Batman’s is, and he even recognizes why Jason makes that connection. But it doesn’t clear the insurmountable hurdle that is the sanctity of human life, which separates them. One distinction, but a huge one.

Batman races to save a mob assassin who’s getting immunity and witness protection in return for testimony, which he seems none too pleased about.

[Batman #402]

Just last issue, I spent a lot of time talking about how one of Batman’s great virtues was that he empathized with the criminals he fights, even as he brings them to justice for their crimes. Yet here, he obviously holds no love for Snuffer. What gives? If pressed, I’d say it’s the difference between Magpie’s crimes being rooted in mental illness (however poorly portrayed) versus Snuffer’s being a killer for money. There’s a disregard for human life (again, that theme) that Snuffer has calculated and accepted, versus Magpie who is portrayed as more “helpless” against herself.

The imposter drops down, screaming that Snuffer doesn’t deserve to live… and sentiment that Bruce doesn’t seem to disagree with, but again, the whole point is that life is sacred, no matter how scummy the person is.

Robin drops in and distracts the guy long enough for Bruce to lay him out, leaving only the police to come by and pick the imposter up.

[Batman #402]

This panel drives me a little bonkers. “Who am I but just another guy who thinks he’s Batman?” Bruce you are Batman! You invented it! But it’s also a recognition of Batman-as-idea, Batman-as-symbol. Bruce’s invention has gone on to mean something, and people are interpreting their own meaning from it just as fast as he can do actions under its banner. This idea especially drives me nuts when thinking about all the legacy characters and proteges who will take up this banner with their own flair, and what it means to them–to stop crime, to bring justice, to value life–though each with their own lines.

Also, let's all appreciate another moment of Small Jason.

Batman #403 starts with the imposter escaping police custody. I realize I never stated his name; his name is Tommy Carma. I guess there are only so many Batman villain names. Anyway, after Tommy breaks out of Arkham (oh hey, is this the first Arkham appearance in New Earth?) we get a smash cut to Bruce on a date with Vicki Vale. Vicki is dragging Batman for filth, which is made even funnier when she admits that what attracts her to Bruce is that he has “broad shoulders and millions of dollars…” and that he doesn’t wear a mask. Sis.

Interesting geography note, Arkham is listed here as being to the north of Gotham City, out in the county, and not too far from Wayne Manor. We learn this because Tommy is headed there, looking for Bruce Wayne. When the police later search for him, it seems that it’s actually easy to accidentally cross over from Arkham property to Wayne property. I don’t know if this is because they’re right up next to each other, or because the Waynes own large tracts of Kane County. My gut would say the latter. 

In their car, Bruce and Vicki are discussing Carma–Vicki wonders if the mob’s killing his wife and kid caused his mind to snap, leading him to become this murderous Batman. Bruce, who also suffered a tragic loss that made him Batman, tactfully asks if Vicki wonders if the real Batman ever suffered something similar. Smooth, Bruce. Really though, I read this as another point in the long string of “people have Bad Days and some people handle them well and some people don’t” moments that Batman comics like to use. Anyway, did you know this was published a year and a half before The Killing Joke? I wonder what that writing to publication timeline looked like.

[Batman #403]

Fortunately, Bruce doesn’t seem too put out by Vicki’s putting Batman down. He and Jason go down to the Batcave, only to discover that the Batmobile is missing! This is because when Tommy Carma was hiding from the police, he ducked into a natural opening that ended up being connected to a larger cave system. He followed that cave into the Batcave, which really just makes me concerned about Bruce’s security. (Glances in Bruce Wayne: Murderer)

[Batman #403]

I also want to point out now that until he dons a Batsuit, Tommy Carma has been running from the police in this little crop top and sweatpants. I love the look.

Bruce, Jason, and Alfred use actual detective work to deduce that somehow, Tommy Carma got in the cave, and that he must have taken the Batmobile. I love seeing these three find clues and make inferences–it sounds like a gimme, that they’ll do detective work in Detective Comics Comics’ Detective Comics, but you’d be surprised.

Batman heads out on the Batcycle to find Gordon and let him know that Carma jacked his ride, where Gordon then tells Batman that really this is all Bruce Wayne’s fault. Smooth. Batman doesn’t seem too pressed, and jumps off a building.

[Batman #403]

Batman has realized that to kill the hitman, Carma would have had to know the address, so he finds his mole. They spat back and forth for a bit about the difference between a sin and a crime, and there’s a little dash of cop-moralizing in there.

[Batman #403]

Maybe more than a dash. I’m sure there’s an essay in me about these two panels, but it drives me crazy that these “good busts” are getting lamented when it sounds like part of the blame is being placed on… civil liberties? Police brutality is not a shortcut! Civil liberties and peoples’ rights are not roadblocks to cops, or at least they shouldn’t be viewed that way. They are things that protect us from systemic abuse and overreach of power. That’s part of what carves Batman out–he’s not systemic! He was not created by a government or a representative out of some social contract. He is not beholden to the same expectations and guidelines as the police. That’s part of the whole point!

Carma is a critique of an overzealous Batman, and how there are moral lines that Batman can’t cross. At the same time, they’re saying “if [Carma] hadn’t idolized you, he’d have made a fine cop.” Because he would have stayed in bounds? The cop Batman’s shaking down seems to regret that Carma was violent and disregarded procedure, but it’s just not clear if he hates that because Carma violated people’s rights, or just because it meant they couldn’t put the bad guy away. There’s a difference.

[Batman #403]

I don't really have anything to say here, other than that Bruce canonically talks to his car.

[Batman #403]

This is the end, and no notes. Just everyone read these two panels and burn them into your mind.

I’ll see folks next time for Year One!

[theatricuddles]

[ID: A comic of Sans and Toriel speaking through a door.

The first image is Sans speaking to Toriel, telling a story as a joke. Sans narrates “This is kind of a long one. So there are these two siblings, a five year old and a seven year old.  One day they wake up and the 7 year old decides they’re old enough to swear. The 5 year old agrees. So they go downstairs to eat breakfast, and the 5 year old asks for “some god damn cereal”, and gets grounded on the spot. Then the parents ask the 7 year old what they want for breakfast, to which they reply “I don’t know, but definitely not fucking cereal”. As Sans continues speaking, Toriel listens intently, then looks sad and pained, then looks baffled, then pounds on her side of the door saying “Hey! Language!”

In the next panel, Sans and Toriel are drawn so their faces and eyes are obscured. Both are sitting with their knees pulled up to their chest on opposite sides of the door. Sans’ text is on Toriel’s side of the panel, and Toriel’s text is on Sans’ side of the panel. Sans says “You sound like someone’s mom. k, I got another one” Toriel answers, “You think that I sound like someone’s mother?” Sans says “uh, no offense?”, and Toriel answers, “No, no, I am not offended...”

In the next panel, Sans’ words are still on Toriel’s side of the comic, and Toriel’s words on Sans’. Sans’ next comment, “You good?” is overlaid over a picture Toriel is holding, a picture of Chara and Asriel holding flowers in front of their faces. Toriel answers, “Yes, I apologize. I am just not very awake today.” Sans says, “Nah, I get it. Work get you down?” The bottom part of the panel shows Toriel tending to a field of flowers opposite Sans falling asleep at a stand. Toriel continues, “No, that is not the reason. Life has just been... getting to me a little bit lately. It has been making me tired.” The words “it has been making me tired” are placed just over Sans falling asleep. Sans answers, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

In the next panel, the conversation takes place on the left, while the right side of the panel is a machine covered by a sheet and Sans’ hand holding a photo of three figures. Toriel says “Ah, but that is neither here nor there.While I think of another one, tell me how you are doing! How is your ever-mysterious “personal project” coming along?” Sans answers “actually, I kinda stopped working on that.” Toriel answers “Oh.” Sans says “yeah”. Toriel asks, “Did you stop enjoying it?”

The next panel shows Toriel making a bed, putting in a lightbulb, and dusting a room with a flower painting on one side, and the conversation continuing on the other. Sans says “Honestly, it was more of an undertaking than I initially bargained for. I got a job to sleep on, y’know. And I mean, it was the kind of thing you do more out of... obligation rather than enjoyment.” Toriel answers “Obligation like... guilt?” Sans replies “Uh... yeah, I guess.” Toriel answers, “I apologize. I think I know how you feel, is all. ...I am very sorry about your project.”

The next panel is the same split panel, but solid black on one side, and white on the other, with no figures or text.

The next panel shows a conversation with no figures. Toriel asks “Are you still there?” Sans says “yeah.” Toriel asks “What did the king think of his new sofa?” Sans says “Huh? Oh, uh, what.”

Toriel, smiling says, “He thought it was sofa-king comfortable!” Toriel smiles wryly as, opposite her and unseen, Sans grins.

The last panel shows the two of them looking happier as they converse. Sans is burying his head in his hands as he trembles with laughter, and Toriel is grinning. Sans says “HA! Hahahaha, wow, didn’t know you had it in you.” Toriel says “I’m glad you enjoyed it! Because I am never going to fucking do that again.” Sans says “STOP!”]

obligations, guilt, and the inherent catharsis of saying fuck

[homestuckreplay]

If WV And PM Have No Fans I Must Be Dead

(page 1032-1039)

The mirroring of Jade (Prospit; dreaming) and Jade (Earth; robot) has been expanded to also mirror PM (Earth; years in the future) and PM??? (Prospit; now) with more identically-composed panels. It is actually a really smooth transition, and I do think that having time to sit between updates makes it easy to keep track of different versions of the same character, where and when they are, and how they can interact. I’ve seen in forum threads that some people have blasted through the first 1000 pages in a day as they discover the story which must feel like a very steep and confusing learning curve (even if it’s technically more accurate for representing the kids’ story, which for them is still a single day).

The imps in John’s house all look similar enough that this could be a fakeout, and this Prospit white chess piece is not PM, but they have the same build and eyes (see above from pages 723, 844 and 1033). Whether or not this is PM, I love their design. The blue/green stripes hippie two piece with matching hat feels like something I would see on a middle aged woman at a music festival who turns out to be the loveliest person I’ve ever met. But back in Homestuck the angle on page 1033 makes it look like PM(?) has boobs which, cmon, they are a bug/chess piece and I’ve never seen a busty chess piece and this is the laziest possible way to indicate a character is female.

I really do love these futuretime folks like WV and PM, I think their story is so interesting. They’re aliens, they’re bugs, they’re chess pieces, they’re video game NPCs, they’re time travelers, they’re irresolute wanderers through the wasteland, they’re the fabric of freedom and democracy and they’re carrying out the orders of a mysterious thirteen year old girl from a different species who lived centuries ago. That’s fascinating, and all their quirks and strangenesses put them in contrast to the kids who – while pretty weird themselves – are fundamentally just humans on the internet, and so are more grounded much easier to relate to then WV and PM.

I don’t know if they are fulfilling time loops or trying to actively change the past, but they seem naturally drawn towards these bunkers, like they instinctively still interface with the video game world after leaving it.

The narrator also talks directly to WV again on page 1036, something they did a lot while WV was commanding John in Act 2 (p.258, for example), though this hasn’t really happened with PM (yet). In fact it better parallels Jade, the character who most often speaks to the player. Today she actually tries to command WV, using several ==> commands in her note – I wonder if he is programmed to respond to these in any context, not just via computer terminal.

But for real, it must be so hard for WV not to eat those tasty greentext envelopes Jade has made him. And Jade absolutely called this right down to the position of the clouds and the fact that PM would be wearing the postal hat. (I guess Jade doesn’t need to feel guilty about causing the bunker to explode if she knows PM will survive, and that has interesting implications for her perspective, if she thinks it’s okay to cause harm in the moment because she definitively knows it won’t have a major, long term impact). But her predictions are eerily specific, not only in their detail, but also in her knowing exactly what guidance WV (Mister Mayor!!) will need to carry out this plan. Her ‘the freedom of your people depends on it’ is a really good way to manipulate WV, as I’m sure she knows he would never neglect his critical mayoral business no matter how tasty the letter is.

So, there’s going to be an important gift exchange, and it might be relevant that this page drops six days before Christmas. These two were on different sides of the Prospit vs Ominous Planet war, but the hearts and spirit of giving in the note suggest a peaceful exchange, two sides transcending a former antagonism. PM reaching for their sword on page 1039 isn’t a good sign, but I’m sure that as soon as they see the mail, the critical mail business will take precedence.

A more dangerous antagonism comes from the mysterious Aimless Renegade, whose gun remains pointed at the other two. I don’t think either WV or PM has noticed them yet. More importantly, has Jade seen them? They’re not mentioned – or warned about – in Jade’s note, and so could be somehow invisible to her powers. This isn’t unheard of; Jade has ‘never had any sort of feeling about [the trolls] or what they want’ (p.1000) and says that ‘if [Bec] wants to be found, he will find [her]’ (p.942), so the trolls and Bec both have some defenses against her. AR could be associated with either the trolls or Bec, or immune for a secret third reason.

Either way, I’m nervous. I like this beautiful WV-PM friendship predicted by Jade’s note, and I don’t want either of them to get blasted with an assault rifle. So whether or not this element has been accounted for by Jade, I’m hoping for some sort of holiday miracle.

> PM: Draw sword; look upwards.

[quietbluejay]

Spotlight: Galvatron

you know what you guys get an extra one today because I got reminded that Spotlight Ramjet exists and I wanna get to it

gosh they're cute but also they have a problem

Narration: I am the emissary

Narration: The harbringer of the unlife, the word of those once and now forever

pseudo-religious tone, interesting

Robot 1: we are attacked, species unknown, intent...unknown

Robot 2: structural integrity at seventy-two percent

alien orders them to activate the barriers

since they're made to pulverize comets, they should keep this guy out

meanwhile, he floats closer

welp

uh oh

"...we may learn something about the anomaly itself"

so we know they don't know what Cybertronians are

also in retrospect, the whole practice of infiltrating planets only really works if the planets aren't in contact with the rest of galactic civilization

Galvatron's hand clenches around a robot limb

"However, your presence here is causing...unrest"

"and therefore will not be tolerated" he says as he smashes them both into each other

narration: I do his bidding

he walks through a hole in the wall

"...Cybertron"

and wow that's a cool explosion

Over on Cybertron

at thunderhead pass

someone is complaining that "this is a nowhere position..."

hi sideswipe

Sideswipe strides off

Sideswipe: ...but do it after I send this pulsewave

also this feels very 80s

Optimus isn't there, they don't know where he is

Sideswipe just wants him to reconsider his request

he feels like he should be on Earth with them rather than "babysitting stasis-locked Decepticons"

Hound comes in, his arms on his hips

Hound: sign off, now

uh oh, mom's here

Sideswipe: Right, yeah. Sideswipe off

back on Earth, Jimmy says Sideswipe sounds like their kind of dude

Verity complains that they aren't doing more looking for Hunter and Sunstreaker

verity and jimmy walk off (also what is up with ratchet's colouring) (and design)

he's uh, in charge of one important thing here sideswipe he's in charge of you

sideswipe, how long have you been in the military, again

"fine, whatever," says Sideswipe walking off

"but it changes nothing…"

"before chaos..."

"before factions..."

he steps on a Decepticon symbol

"Cybertron..."

more scenes of desolation

"The Ark was about destiny!"

"Prime felt it first, a resonant tug from somewhere deep within the Matrix he carried"

Galvatron: my destiny

in the present, Leadfoot looks over

"Who-?"

Galvatron grabs his neck

Galvatron narration: curiously...

Galvatron drops Leadfoot's lifeless body

Galvatron narration:...I feel something like remorse

"both for the life taken...and for all I myself have lost"

??: Leadfoot?

Galvatron turns

Galvatron narrating: the time though, for such introspection...

"...is clearly later"

Sideswipe is running at him with a glowing fist

Sideswipe: Leadfoot!

Sideswipe: what have you done to him!

with a single punch, Sideswipe puts Galvatron to the ground

"you…are going to pay!" says Sideswipe

Galvatron thinks about how he should just kill him

"'Leave nothing alive,' he said"

but he goes for incapacitate instead

he fires and Sideswipe jumps back

"Others come..."

Galvatron: I let them do their worst…

he tanks shots

blue guy points out that uh, he's not wearing a sigil, what's up with that

no real concept of Neutrals huh

Sideswipe sits up, clutching his head

as they say, a real bad dude

Sideswipe pushes the slider on his blaster to max

Hound: eh? No - don't!

the shot goes right through Galvatron's head and his eyes pop out

Galvatron collapses on the ground

Hound starts yelling at Sideswipe because what's a corpse supposed to tell them??

Sideswipe yells back that he had it coming

however one of the other guys shakily says that he's not dead

Galvatron gets up

narration: Wrong

galvatron starring as: the thing that would not leave

tank guy fires at him again. Of course it does nothing

the next panel is of Galvatron standing over their unconscious bodies

Galvatron: I leave them alive. The others need not know

Galvatron: I see it as a small rebellion, as a reminder that my destiny...

oh no how dare you give me galvatron feelings

huh

i think this was setting something up that never got used

anyways that's Galvatron!

i really like this version of him, a lot more than Barber's Galvatron lol