koraesrambles

[koraesrambles]

[koraesrambles]

This comment was left on my post on Judd Winick’s Jason:

#i still dunno how i feel about jay showing up in star city to ~recruit mia (for lack of a better word)

by @natasharomanovofficial​ and I don’t really think he was trying to “recruit” Mia. But it’s a whole thing on its own, so, separate post!

This is going a bit into meta and character analysis, specifically around Green Arrow Vol 3 69-72.

While it’s not uncommon for heroes and villains to have team-ups and appear in each other’s books, aside from the fact that GA was written by Judd Winick at the time and he was one of the few writers at the time who actually liked Jason (why did everyone hate him so much? Just for replacing Dick who had kind of outgrown Robin? Jeez), on the surface, it might be confusing why Jason would bother fucking around in Star City with Brick and Ollie. Especially since, while very world-traveled, he has always been very Gotham-centered. And if he was just, y’know, doing weapons deals with Brick as was what was initially displayed (and apparently a cover) it could have been mentioned in passing in Batman or GA, no need for a whole story.

But while Jason is supposed to get weapons from Brick and teams up with him against Ollie and Bruce, (which I will now show you because it’s fucking hilarious)

the key, his goal, is Mia Dearden.

Now I am admittedly relatively new to my interest in the Arrowfam (and my interest has mostly centered around Roy and Lian with Dinah sprinkled in for flavor), so I am unfortunately no expert on Mia just yet. Doesn’t help that there’s been no hide nor hair of her since the reboot of the New 52. Come on, Rebirth era, bring her back!

However, I am capable of reading wikis lol. Also, context clues.

So, what makes Mia so special that Jason would take a crew and leave home just to talk to her? (which, in the end, is pretty much all he does)

Let’s break down the confrontation!

Jason is a dramatic bitch, but also in general inherently intimidating. He’s a big strong crime lord from Gotham’s worst neighborhood (which says something because it’s fucking Gotham) who has Bat-training, world-wide Talia-approved assassin training, and of course, was beaten and blown up by the Joker, revived through no known means(in-canon, but it was SB Prime because he punched the universe), and tossed into a Lazarus Pit. He’s scary.

But he doesn’t expect Mia will be scared. He knows she’s tough and brave and been through very familiar hell. He’s not locking her down and keeping her helpless either. She’s tied up and knocked out so she is forced to confront him alone, but as soon as she’s conscious, he lets her go and gives her her own weapon. Plus, she has home field advantage–not only is it her city, but her school gym. She’s in a familiar environment while he’s not.

This is partly a test and partly proving the point he’s always trying to prove: sometimes, lethal force is necessary.

He’s not even really trying to hurt her while making his point. When he manages to successfully break her weapon, he gives her his own swords. And he gives him her two blades while he keeps just his one flamberge-type dagger (which is so fucking cool btw why doesn’t he have that anymore? It’s so pretty!). And he takes off his protective helmet. He’s giving her advantage after advantage.

And then we get to his point.

“We’re not so different, you and I.” Really, Jay? That’s incredibly cliche even for you, you over-dramatic crumpet.

Except Jason is a detective by trade and he does his research. He does know about her.

So, obvious parallels out of the way first. Jason and Mia are both abused children forced to live on big city streets, surviving by any means necessary, and eventually being adopted by a wealthy playboy vigilante to escape from another abusive situation. They were also about the same age when they were left on their own. While Jason’s father was arrested or killed before that, he was on his own when Catherine died by the time he was 12. While I have no idea about her mother, Mia ran from her abusive father and was on the streets at age 11.

There’s also the drug history. Mia apparently “shot drugs” (which I honestly am not sure means she was an addict or a seller but either way) while Jason watched his addict mom die, and is now a dealer himself (with an explicit rule against dealing to children).

Another important thing to note: this conversation is part of the reason–well, most of the reason, honestly–that people think Jason might have been a child prostitute.

(one other entirely irrelevant similarity is, apparently, both of them like to read! neat little tidbit there.)

But there’s also a meta-textual similarity here.

Did You Know? Jason Todd was initially intended–sort of–to die from AIDS instead of explodified by Mistah J!

This is only because of Jim Starlin, known Robin-hater and writer for Death in the Family.

“Well, I always thought that the whole idea of a kid side-kick was sheer insanity. So when I started writing Batman, I immediately started lobbying to kill off Robin. At one point DC had this AIDS book they wanted to do. They sent around memos to everybody saying “What character do you think we should, you know, have him get AIDS and do this dramatic thing” and they never ended up doing this project. I kept sending them things saying “Oh, do Robin! Do Robin!” And Denny O’Neill said “We can’t kill Robin off”. Then Denny one night got this flash that “Hey, if we get this number where people call in and they can vote on it, they can decide whether Robin lives or dies.” So that’s how it started. I wrote up two endings and the readers came in and voted and I think it was 93 or something, it was this negliable amount, the difference for him to be put to death. And the death won out of course.”

Okay, first of all, fuck that guy. No “let’s have Jason retire” or “let’s make Jason grow up” or “let’s ship him off to boarding school” or something, just jumping straight to child murder. Coolcoolcoolcoolcool.

But also, here’s what Judd Winick had to say about that idea.

“I think it was a stunning, unbelievable thing. In the time of fears and epidemic, to have had a superhero have it, I was stunned and proud to hear about that. But they were not able to do it. I always forget to ask Denny [O'Neil] about that, about what happened.”

Which, fair. This is what he’d said just before that, when asked, actually, about Mia!

“The way that came about was actually a lot like how I ended up bringing Jason Todd back. […] …when it was my turn, I said ‘I think she should be Speedy, and I think she should test positive, and one should be about the other’. In the face of a potentially shortened lifespan, it wasn’t ‘I’m gonna die real soon’, it was ‘every little bit of it matters, should go towards something’. It was that she could give something, not about when she was gonna die. That was always my point. It made sense.”

So Judd Winick knew about the idea of Jason dying of AIDS when he decided Mia would be positive for HIV, and subsequently writing this Red Hood vs Speedy story.

Now a small science interlude because I too am a huge nerd who must know everything.

In the off chance you don’t know, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), if not treated, can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). They are, as the name suggests, viruses that attack the immune system of the host, weakening it and causing a whole host of problems.

Jason’s demise and the plotting thereof was in the 1980s. This was early in the epidemic, and there were certain perceptions regarding the disease. HIV and AIDS are transmitted through body fluids mostly. If Jason had got it, technically it could have been something as simple as accidentally getting a positive person’s blood on him in a fight. But the most well-documented means of transmission were injections and sexual contact. Now, there’s also the chance that Jason could have gotten it from a bad transfusion. A story also could have been made of him dealing with drugs, which I find less likely–though possible I suppose–considering his mom. Though he could have gotten it from her while caring for her. So many ways it could have gone. But it’s worth noting, it was especially common among not-straight men, hence the increased stigma against gay men. This is also a big and dumb part of why people have to not have had same-sex sexual contact for months prior to donating blood. I hate this fucking country.

Educational rant and theorizing over lol.

TL;DR for that part, Jason could have been given AIDS which is a metatextual parallel to Mia having HIV that was not purely accidental since the writer knew about the idea.

MOVING ON!

Getting to Jason’s point.

Jason has her on the ropes. He has her pinned down and immobile. He has her disarmed and his hands on her throat.

And then he backs away.

He connects with her. They have a common history. He knows first-hand that Bruce could never kill anyone no matter how vile, and Ollie has similar values (if not the same because, well…Ollie has killed people. But y’know.).

In my personal opinion, he sees Mia as potential for how things could have been. Robin is the light to Batman’s dark, but Jason is also the down-to-earth and wordly-aware from a harsh life compared to Bruce’s sheer privilege. Mia has the opportunity to be both for Ollie, and to make the hard choices he can’t.

But Jason doesn’t force her to do anything.

He lets her go.

(with a little explosion for flavor because he’s a dramatic bitch like that)

He just wanted to “teach her a lesson”. This was literally an educational venture. He extremely literally took her to school.

He schooled her oh my god I’m just getting that now holy shit.

Jason Todd, you absolute literary nerd, you are the fucking worst and I hate you and I love you.

This, to my knowledge, is the last we hear about it.

But Mia’s still thinking about it. Jason’s words got to her on some level. She knows he’s right about some things–they are very similar, and yeah, maybe some people deserve to die.

But Jason is so frequently used as a cautionary tale–the Robin that screwed up–that she is not going to become him.

But maybe that was also part his plan.

Don’t be me. Be better.

But I guess that’s just a theory.

A Comic Theory thanks for–

[koraesrambles]

Happy birthday Jason 🎉 (w. FADE)

[koraesrambles]

[koraesrambles]

Great Reading Adventure 2024 (now 2025) Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

This story made me sad. I have a lot of feelings about complicated relationships with parental figures, especially complicated relationships with parental figures who did horrible things. This book had me hooked from the beginning, and absolutely broke my heart.

The Writing

The pace was quick and easy to follow. I felt like Bechdel told her story very smartly and I was able to follow it very well. I enjoyed her descriptions of the small town she grew up in, as well as how she depicted her parents. Her struggles with gender and orientation and finding a place of belonging were all beautifully explored, as well as the complicated nature of her family.

Her dad's atrocities were a little odd though. He raped underage boys, and though the horribleness of this is alluded too, it's never directly condemned. I felt a little like she was uncomfortable to really say that what her father had done was wrong. She feels so much sympathy for him and his situation, and the writing of the story reflected that, but throughout the book I couldn't stop thinking, "Yes, his situation is tragic but . . . he literally raped teenagers."

The Art

The art was simple but poignant. Once again, I find that the simplicity added magnitudes to the story, rather than detracting from it. I was able to tell everyone apart, which is a big deal for me. I loved the way she drew her family. I loved how it all fit together and played out across the page like a movie I was watching rather than something I was reading. It was really, really great, and again, my heart broke for her and her family.

I loved her use of colors. How she used black and white and then the occasional shade of blue. That little amount of blue added so much emotion and poignancy to every page. It really made the pieces pop beautifully. The backgrounds were also beautifully simplistic, but also detailed and made the world feel fleshed out and real. I felt a part of her little world, and a part of the story she was telling. I can absolutely learn a lot from the way she expressed emotion and story telling with every brushstroke.

The Characters

Since this is a memoir/autobiography type story, the narrative of the characters isn't as important as it would be if it was just a fairy tale. Who cares if the father was likeable or had a believable story arc? We're talking about a real human person, who lived and loved and died. Who betrayed people and helped people, and loved literature but hurt the people who were learning from him. The *way* these characters were written helped me get a glimpse into their lives and how they worked as real people in this world, and I could feel the gravitas of every one of them.

Of course, the two that stand out are Alison and her father. They shined while everyone else kind of took a back seat. With the exception of Alison's mother. She managed to shine bright despite being relegated to a relatively background role. I felt like I got to know her and felt her strife very vividly just from the little dialogue and interactions the story gave her.

But Alison and her father were the real stars. Mirror images and yet complete opposites, the same struggle and yet one that's entirely different. A man who was "born too womanly" and a woman who was "born too manly". I haven't done any research about Alison outside of reading this book, but I wonder if she identifies as nonbinary or transgender now. I have a lot of confusing feelings about gender identity and what constitutes a man or woman, but I liked the simplicity it was shown in this book. She was a woman, no matter how many boy things she liked, and he was a man, no matter how many girl things he liked, and neither of them fit the mold, but both of them were exactly who they were supposed to be, and I think that's really special. Especially how their struggles were exactly the same and yet completely opposite.

I won't make a claim to know anything about anything when it comes to gender identity, so please don't misunderstand and think I am trying to condemn nonbinary people or transgender people who no longer identify with their assigned birth gender. I just found the way that it was explored in this book to resonate with my experience, and appreciated that.

Final Thoughts

This book is hard for me to judge, because it just felt very real to me. It effected me very differently than I thought it would, and gave me a lot to think about. Both about parents and forgiveness and even just my life. I'm really glad that Bechdel shared her story with us, and think that the nuance of that story is one we need as children more and more are growing up and seeing how their parents are flawed and broken, just like they are. It was a wonderful graphic novel, and I'm glad I read it, even though it made me sad.

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Adventure: Sin City

Well. That was thoroughly messed up.

The Writing

The writing was good, I can admit to that. It was well paced, and engaging, and kind of terrifying. I felt like throwing up most of the book, and I'm pretty sure that was the intent. I liked that he tried to be nice to those less privileged than him, though he was also a total tool and racist.

It felt a lot like Frank Miller just wanted to write a story about a serial killer who was a "good guy". And. Well. That really was the story I think. It worked. I kinda want to vomit, but it worked.

The Art

Honestly, the art is where the book is the most interesting. The things that the artist does with black and white and lighting is honestly inspiring. Like, that is a beautiful work of art, and the way they were able to express ideas with just a few lines was incredible.

I also had a really hard time following what the heck was happening a lot of the time. I'd get confused. I also thought it was annoying that if a woman was on page, then her boobs and nipples were out. Like . . . . dude. You know people sleep in pajamas right? You know woman don't just hang around nude all the time. You know that, right dude?

right?

The Characters

Marv was freaking creepy as hell and definitely a man suffering from psychosis. There's probably a ton of deeper dives into his character and arguments over whether or not any of what happened was real, but wooooooooooooow was he one messed up dude. One messed up dude who decides to go on a murder spree after a good lay where he lost his virginity.

Goldie/Wendy were interesting. Goldie was obviously just a plot device to start the course of the story, and Wendy was there to reward Marv at the end before he died. But their characters interest me outside of their narrative purpose. I appreciated that they were depicted as strong and intelligent and worthwhile people, without a moment of question of whether or not they deserved retribution because of their profession. They were probably my favorites, and the most interesting.

Kevin: This man will haunt my nightmares.

Priest guy: Why is everyone in this book so freaking creepy?

Final Thoughts

I'm once again asking the heavens if it is too much to ask for a happy book. A nice book. A book that has something comforting and sweet to say. This was definitely not that book. Can't say I liked it, but can definitely learn from it. I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight, but I can definitely learn from it.

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Adventure: Fables

Alright, this was cute. I like the concept a lot and the art was interesting and it wasn't boring, all huge praises in my book.

It also like . . . didn't really say anything to me? Which, maybe I'm just getting picky, but I really am leaning toward enjoying books that have things to say, that want the audience to know how they feel about the state of things, not just the details of the story.

The Writing

I didn't love the writing, but I didn't hate the writing. I thought the characters were all unique and they had unique and interesting subplots, but like . . . I didn't like that they made the mystery impossible to solve. Like the clues were there, but not really. You had to have insider knowledge to put all the pieces together. Which, I duno, maybe that's common in mystery novels and comics but it just kind of bugged me.

I didn't feel like any of the characters really grew or changed throughout the length of the story. They were all pretty much the same as when they started, which made them feel stagnant and made it hard for me to connect to them.

I'm super interested in who the adversary is who drove them out of their original lands, and since I was thinking at the beginning that those lands were just "europe" it was fun to realize that they were actually entire other worlds. I wish they'd played more with that, since it was definitely what I was most interested in.

The mystery itself and the way the plot played out was fine. I'm not a huge mystery person, so maybe that's why some of the beats didn't land for me. I thought it was a fine story, and I really liked the world the writers created. It's a really fun concept, and I'm sure they get to more of the fun stuff in the later issues.

The Art

The art was beautiful, expressive, and detailed. It was able to convey a lot of different characters without leaving me confused over who was who. All the different fairy tale people were unique and interesting, and the way the artist played with lighting and shadows was really good as well. I definitely could learn a lot from studying the layout of these panels and they way that they were used to tell the story. Definitely high quality and engaging art.

The Characters

Like I said before, the characters were all pretty stagnant to me. Wolf was by far my favorite, though I didn't mind Snow White. I kind of liked her being portrayed as a bit of a bitch. It was fun trying to match all the fairy tale creatures to their respective folk tales. Snow and Wolf were definitely the stand out characters to me, though Jack was interesting and I'm still interested in Bluebeard. I don't think I know the story that he's from.

The background characters didn't give me a lot, and Prince Charming was as douchy as they come. I wasn't expecting the romantic angle between wolf and snow, and I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. It was believable, but so was her utterly shooting him down at the end.

Final Thoughts

Alright, so, final thoughts. It was a fun little story and I can definitely see why people enjoyed it. There's plenty to be learned from the story, especially with its art style. But I found it a little lackluster and doesn't compare with some of the others on my list. Granted, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Preacher, but that's not a terribly difficult bar to clear.

[koraesrambles]

I don't see many people talk about it, but I actually really like the dynamic and the kind of relationship Jason todd and Rose Wilson have in the comics.

Execute me in a public park, drag through the streets if you want, I really like them together

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Challenge - Blankets

Okay. Okay. I've been getting a little burnt out of all the sad stories, and when I started this book, I did not have high hopes for it. It starts out extremely depressing, and what's worse, it starts out depressing because of children being abused which is a huge trigger for me. So I was fully prepared to dislike this book. In fact, I was trying to mentally prepare myself for being unable to finish it.

But it turned out to be really, really, really good. And now I'm feeling all emotional and sad but also hopeful and it was just really nice after some of the books I've been reading, okay?

Getting into it.

The Writing

The writing in this book was beautiful. The prose in it was lyrical and poetic, the way the story was framed and how it progressed was remarkable. Even though I was scared at the beginning that I wouldn't be able to finish the book, it hooked me from page one and made me want to keep turning pages until I trusted at least enough to hope for a, if not happy ending, then at least a satisfying one. My heart aches for the little boys in this story, and for the author's sweet love interest with too much on her shoulders.

I just really felt like I got to know everyone and the world was so amazingly familiar to me. I grew up in a very religious household as well. The way the author (Craig Thompson) talked about his struggle with faith and the way he read his bible diligently and studied and how he wanted to make God proud all the way up to when he decided he was done with the church but still had faith in God and even Jesus's teachings was just . . . so incredibly relatable to me. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I'm sure there are things to critique about this books writing, but I can't think of any at the moment. It was breathtaking for me.

The Art

The art was simple, but well done. The characters were really all very distinct, and I could tell who everyone was supposed to be, which is really nice since that can be such a struggle for me sometimes. I loved the artistic renditions of Craig's more ethereal thoughts. I loved how he played with religious imagery, loved how he super imposed his own lifes images on top of it. I just thought it was incredible.

The way that he drew Raina specifically was so breathtaking. And the way he showed his desire for her through artistic form was just . . . mesmerizing. So much of the story was told through the art. In fact, the most poignant parts of the book were from pages that had no words at all. I just . . You could study this book. You could study it for the symbolism, for the subtle way it does storytelling, for how beautiful the little sketch drawings are. It's just really really good, okay?

The Characters

I loved every character in this book. I loved Craig, with all his awkwardness. I love that he stuck to his principles and that this wasn't a story about how he learned that doing pot and drinking alcohol were actually really great and his parents were stupid for not wanting him to do that or whatever. I liked that he was so sincere. He reminded me of me in so many ways, which was odd since he's also so distinctly male. But his struggles, his thoughts about purity, his intense desire to please God, the way that he describes Raina and her family, the way that he sees the world it just . . .

It just spoke to me. It really, really did.

Raina was so beautiful. She felt like a real, flesh and blood character, and not just an object to be desired. Her struggles and interests and how they complimented Craig's were so beautiful. I knew that this was a story about a first love, and I knew that it probably wasn't going to end with them getting married and being happy for forever after, but man did it capture those first feelings of love so well. Raina's love for her family, her reluctance once Craig was back home, her gentle prodding trying to get Craig to be okay with what they both wanted -- it was all just so masterfully done. I really liked her. I really related to her. I thought she was so real.

Raina's family. Raina's family made me want to weep. Not because they're bad, or even because they're complicated, but again, because they felt real. My parents also divorced. I did not have the responsibilities that Raina had thrust on her. Add onto the stress with two neurodivergent siblings with cognitive regression and no wonder that girl needed an escape so badly. I love how much the family loved each other. I hated how the mom was abusing drugs, how the sister was taking advantage of Raina, how the dad's hope for his marriage was slowly being chipped away. There was so much about the story that if it had been a narrative, I would've hated that it never got addressed. But real life is not like a fairy tale, and things don't get set up just to be brought back later. Sometimes things happen and then that's it. Done.

Craig's family. Oh, Craig's family. Craig and his brother broke my heart into a million pieces. Craig being unable to protect him, when of course that was never his responsibility, but that he still felt that intense despair and like a failure. It seriously made me want to cry. They were the reason I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish the book. Child abuse is a really big trigger for me, and having all of that thrown on me at the beginning was rough. But the fact that Craig went home and reached out to his brother made me so happy. I'm sure it wasn't as simple in real life as it was in the story, but still. The fact was that they were two brothers who loved each other and grew apart, until they were drawn back together again.

His parents I am less happy with. I know them, I've seen them (metaphorically). they are every Christian parent doing their very best and blind to the mistakes that come with it. When Craig's dad put Phil in the cubby, when they confronted Craig about drawing a naked woman, they were so often doing their best, and their best wasn't enough. Also Craig's worry that his mother and father would never forgive him for leaving Christianity. Wow is that relatable.

Final Thoughts

This book was awesome. Go read it. It's worth the read.

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Challenge: Preacher

Alright, i'mma be honest with you.

I did not enjoy this book.

This book was the Game of Thrones book with all the hate and terrible people mixed in and leaving all hope behind. They try to save it, try to be like, "But look, it's okay! Our heroes are good people!" but they're not. They're all terrible and I don't like any of them.

That's not to say that the book wasn't well written. Or, hmm. The book was interesting, kept my attention throughout the entirety of its plot, had a cohesive throughline and consistent characters. Well written as in well crafted, even though there were plenty of writing decisions that I didn't particularly like. So let's get into it, shall we?

The Writing

Like I said, the writing was fairly consistent throughout the entire book. I was able to keep track of all the characters, knew who was who and what their goals and motivations were. I could see the character relationships and how they all matched up with each other. It was cool. The book was many, many things, but boring is not one of them.

That said, there are things that drove me, personally, insane. There is exactly one female character in the entire volume. She is there solely to be a will they/won't they with the main character and to fulfill the status of "girl character." I hate the way they talk about her, I hate the way they wrote her motivations, I hate how empty she feels.

I swear I don't know a thing about her. I know that she's Jesse's ex girlfriend and that she blew off a guy's jaw the very first appearance we see her in. She's got something shady going on, and she's trying to deny the fact that she wants to sleep with her ex. I just -- ugh. They made her all about him.

Which is a little unfair because there was a lot of her on the page that could've been interesting. It just never felt particularly relevant. She was either quipping with Jesse or standing around as a pretty decoration. It just annoyed me. I wanted so much more from her, and would it have killed them to have like . . . one other woman in the whole story?

Oh, I"m a liar, there's a woman cop. Forgot about her. They never interacted though.

The profanity. Now, I recognize that I sound like an old lady clutching her pearls when I say this, but the profanity was a bit much. Like, I don't mind swearing as a general rule. It's not a make or break the story thing for me. But they were throwing out curse words so often that they made the sentence actually difficult to read sometimes. It just got old. Yes, I get it, these characters are world weary and jaded. But maybe they need to expand their vocabulary.

The homophobia. Now, I get it, signs of the times and all that. But there's only so many times I can see people calling other people a slur and being a general jackass about it before I'm getting tired of it. Also the way they kind of made a spectacle of the canon gay character and made him into a kind of joke . . . I dunno. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Just didn't enjoy the reminder of how the world "used" to be I guess.

The Art

The art was kind of ugly. I didn't really like any of the characters appearances. There were times when something looked visually appealing, but the art style was very much patterned after the writing - meant to be rough around the edges and sharp. It did its job very well. The mood that is conveyed throughout the story is exactly what it needs to be, just meant that it wasn't a joy a look at.

A lot of panels were rotating heads, but they did it in such a way that the scene always felt intimate and compelling, so I could definitely study it a little more to help with those long conversations and exposition that're necessary evils.

The Characters

I already said I didn't like them, but lets break it down anyway.

Tulip: the girl character. First thing we see of her is her blowing away the jaw of some poor schmuck and then running for the hills, no explanation given. Not exactly a glowing recommendation of her virtue. Still have no reason to believe she's a particularly good person. Her reason for staying with the group is that she wants to know why Jesse ran out on her, but even the narrative calls out how weak of a reason this is. It tries to imply that she's still in love with him and that's why she stays. But she has nothing she wants for herself, at least that I can tell.

The Preacher: Asshole. The whole time. He pretends to be good but then does horrible things all the time. He doesn't feel any guilt at all about all the people Genesis murdered when it attached to him, which granted, he isn't responsible for, but he doesn't even give them a moments thought, like he doesn't care about their lives at all. It rubbed me the wrong way. He doesn't mourn them and he was supposed to be their preacher?

His pressure on Tulip to sleep with him even though she's said she doesn't want to. It's just creepy. He goes out of his way to say he won't use the word of God on her because that would be an unforgiveable sin, which would be a touching moment if the bar wasn't apparently, "Oh what a good guy! He won't rape you!"

He hurts so many people on the journey, and doesn't seem to care about any of them. He talks about the responsibility God has to the planet, while absolutely ruining the lives of so many of the people he crossed paths with.

He's just a Jerk and I don't like him.

Cassidy: He was at least interesting, but feels pretty shallow still. He has the most humanity to him, which is funny considering he's a vampire, but his character also feels like it's just about swearing and saying the most obnoxious things to get a reaction. I didn't like him either. The crudeness of him was just off-putting to me.

Oh, I forgot to mention the ableist issues throughout the book too. I did not enjoy that or the way they played disfigurement for laughs. It didn't feel "dark and gritty" it felt petty and mean.

Final Thoughts

Look, I get why people liked this book. I can see the appeal. Despite my distaste, I still read the whole thing and it was never a chore to do. It's a fun ride, and I'm honestly curious about how the rest of the story will play out. But I don't like so many aspects of it. It just wasn't written for me. It's very much a "welcome to the boys' club" book, and I'm just not included in that. All the sex, violence, profanity, blasphemy, homophobia, ableism, etc etc etc was just not a big draw. I'm all about pushing the limits and wanting to say something, but I don't think I really know what this book was trying to say. Which just . . . makes its message feel muddled and the extremism of the whole thing feel overindulgent instead of intentional.

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Challenge - Y: The Last Man

Well this one was a fun one. It was published in 2003 and the 2000isms were very strong. I felt transported back in time, it was kind of fun.

I really enjoyed this one. More than I did the last few that I've read. It's not exactly more light-hearted, but it definitely has more of a hopeful spin to it. We've moved on from the 80s and are entering the next century hoping for the best! Which is nice actually. I'm glad this one was a bit of a break from all the bleakness.

So let's talk about what would happen if every man in the world died except one.

The Writing

I didn't mind the writing too much. I wouldn't say that it was perfectly sharp, but it was clear enough and became interesting to read immediately. There were a lot of little things that as a woman in 2025 made me uncomfortable. Like the liberal usage of the "R" word. Also in today's political landscape, I'm really not sure of the group of Israeli's are supposed to be good or bad guys. At least they were shooting rubber bullets? O.O

There's a lot of casual sexism going on, early 2000s style. It was a little annoying at the beginning but I got used to it. I also feel like the story is planning on going into more nuance as it continues. Oh, the transphobia felt a little uncomfortable as well. I would actually be really interested in what happened to the transmen of this world and see that be explored, but I doubt they're going to spend much time with that. Misgendering a transman and saying he's not a "real" man felt really sucky to me though. I keep having to remind myself, "It's the 2000s."

The actual storyline is interesting, though I'm curious to see how it continues. This is definitely one of the series that I would like to come back to and finish after all my reading is done.

The Art

The Art!! Man am I glad to see early 2000s art! It's so much nicer to look at than the earlier stuff. The images are crisp and clear and look nice and are something that I would try to emulate. It was a relief to be reading it.

The difference in styles between the older books and those after the turn of the century is something I definitely want to look into more and learn more from. This felt more like a fun fantasy story instead of a critique of society, even though very obviously, it is also a critique. I had never previously heard of this book, so it's not famous like V for Vendetta is famous, but it's certainly entertaining and good, and the art is much easier for me to follow along and understand what's going on in the story.

I was actually surprised by how much easier it was for me to follow the new characters and keep everything straight in this book. The art really does add a clarity to things that I think I haven't been paying as much attention to. It looked good, and that definitely enhanced the reading experience for me.

The Characters

Yorick annoys the crap out of me so far. He's likeable enough, but definitely feels like a frat boy. He's annoying and thinks he knows better than anyone and bowls over the women around him as though the patriarchy had never fallen. It is exactly the way I'd expect a man to behave in this type of scenario. It was also fun showing that no matter how "manly" he was, he's now the one at a disadvantage. Sure he could probably do well against a single woman or two (with no training) but the fact of the matter is that he's the one that's outnumbered.

The monkey is really fun and I like the added mystery of why the male monkey also survived when everyone else didn't. He's a pain, but I like pets that are a pain.

Agent 355 is probably my favorite character. She's competent, interesting, and so far the smartest character in the room at any given moment. I don't mind following her around. It's annoying that she has to put up with Yorick, but if anyone was going to deal with the last man on earth and not lose her patience, it seems that it would be her.

Yorick's mom is interesting and I'm a little worried about her. I think she's going to turn crazy or something. Hero, Yorick's sister, is radicalized and I'm eager to find out why. Alter is interesting but still feels mostly like a villain rn. So we'll see how she develops as time goes on.

The characters all felt real enough to me and they responded to things happening fairly realistically. I was confused about the Amazons at first but when they showed their motivations I was more willing to accept their existence. There would absolutely be people like that in a world emergency where all the men died off.

I liked that they showed the women grieving. One of the most real, human parts of the story was when Yorick found out his dad had died and has a little break down. And they show little moments like that with the women at the monument as well. The signs saying, "I'll miss you daddy," absolutely broke my heart.

Final Thoughts

I will be coming back to this, because I want to see how it ends. There were some annoying things about the story that come from it being written when it was, but also that's the case with all the stories I've been reading, so I don't know why I'm even complaining about it. It's a really fun ride and was much more enjoyable than the super depressing comics I've been reading. I just needed something that was a little more adventure than doomsday and this delivered that for me.

[koraesrambles]

The Great Reading Challenge: The Dark Knight Returns

Yay a Batman comic! I really like Batman comics, so I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I like them a lot because I like the Batfamily, and they were extremely absent during this story, but I managed to find fun things about it anyway.

The Dark Knight Returns is an influential Batman story that influenced every story that came after it, and it was fun, I can see why people liked it so much. It was a little more fun than V for Vendetta, but still pretty bleak. Let's talk about it.

The Writing

The writing was pretty good, overall. I felt like it was succinct aBnd I could clearly tell who all of the characters were. I didn't think that they gave Carrie Kelly much time to develop as Robin, but she served the purpose the narrative needed her for and that worked out okay.

The plot was fairly easy to follow and once I got used to the formatting it was a breeze to read. It's pretty depressing and bleak, and everyone is sad, but it was at least clear.

I wish they'd spent more time on what happened to the Super Heroes and what they all did to each other to make them so mad and resentful. I really liked the feeling of veterans sharing old war stories, and I really liked seeing the Heroes at ages older than 35.

The whole feel of the comic was really well done, I think. And the writing conveyed that well. It was still a super hero comic, so there's plenty of weirdness going on, but it was fun, and what more can you ask of a comic than wanting it to be fun?

The Art

The Art's ugly! it's from the 80s! It expresses emotions extremely well, it is easy to follow and the characters are all distinguishable from each other. In other words, it did exactly what it needed to do. It just wasn't a joy to look at because I'm a grumpy lady.

The Characters

The characters were all really good! Bruce was a grumpy gus and I didn't love him, but I could enjoy his character for what it was. Carrie was delightful though again I wish she'd had more time to develop as Robin. I loved how much Batman cares about his Robins, even when he's just met them. Got some absolutely adorable Batman looking out for Robin moments that I really liked.

I thought Commissioner Gordon was very realistic and fun, even though he's kind of a sexist jerk throughout the comic. The new commissioner was really fun and I wish we'd gotten to see more of her. Clark and his interactions with Bruce were COOL and I can see where they got Bruce's big mecha suit from for the batman v superman film, haha.

Final Thoughts

It was good, for what it was. I didn't find it ground breaking, but that's probably because I've seen things trying to copy it for the last forty years. I wish they'd explored what happened with Dick and Bruce more. I wish they'd told us how Jason died and why Bruce retired. That's all stuff I"m emotionally invested and interested in, but not the story that they were trying to tell. It was weird that Dick wasn't the one to get Bruce's assets when Bruce died. I'm kind of salty about that.

But overall it was a well made comic that I don't regret reading! Did it blow my mind? Well, no. But it didn't bore me either.

[koraesrambles]

THE GREAT READING CHALLENGE: V for Vendetta

Alright! V for Vendetta, let's go!

Obviously, I've heard a lot about this book throughout the years. It is considered one of the best graphic novels in history for a reason. And it was excellent, as advertised. The story was interesting, the book had something to say, the whole nine yards.

So why didn't I like it very much?

That's kind of difficult to explain. On a purely academic level, this story is fantastic and instrumental and obviously inspired so many stories after it. It's a great book. But I found that it didn't really connect to me personally. Maybe it's because the book was written for a different time, but I feel like its message are just as relevant now, if not more so.

It's just so bleak and depressing. Which, of course, is the point, but maybe I'm just getting tired of these bleak and depressing books. Sandman was focused on how horrible humans can be, V for Vendetta was about how government is horrible and anarchy is the only freedom, Watchmen is about how the ideal of superheroes is misplaced, I just need something happy, dang it. All of these amazing books and all of them are depressing as crap.

Anyway, let's talk about the pieces of this story.

The Writing

The writing in this story was undoubtedly brilliant, but I found myself struggling to follow it a lot of the time. It could've just been my headspace, or maybe I'm not sharp enough to get all of the nuances of what was going on, but the story felt muddled to me.

There are a lot of things to be admired about the writing, and the scene where V blows up the buildings like pretending to conduct an orchestra was phenomenal. And the woman who wrote the letter's story absolutely gutted me. But it all felt a little hollow to me. Partially because despite using queer stories to garner sympathy, none of the main characters were queer, at least as far as a cursory glance could show me. It showed the desperation and pain of the queer experience while not allowing them to be the heroes of their own story.

Which, I mean, come on, credit where credit is due, this story was written in 1982. It's not like I'm expecting that it's going to have perfect queer representation, and the fact that the queer people in the story weren't villains is a miracle in and of itself. This book was instrumental in so many ways, and having positive queer representation was one of them. Portraying their discrimination as wrong and evil is not a small thing. But I found myself wanting more.

I also felt like Evy's story lacked the conviction that V got simply because her's was all orchestrated. The fact that she was being tortured and questioned by V the whole time, and yet somehow that resulted in her being on his side left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't feel like she was coming into her own convictions so much as being manipulated into becoming like V. Which, again, was probably the point, but the way it's portrayed just made me kind of . . . uninspired.

And I didn't see why V had to die. He was training Evy to be his successor, but why did he orchestrate his own death? Felt contrived to me, rather than like a master plan coming to fruition.

But whatever! The writing was sharp, just also muddled and hard to follow in places, for me personally.

The Art

The art was ugly. Like a lot of the comics from the 1980s, it's just not my favorite style. I had a really hard time telling people apart, and was struggling to follow any characters that weren't Evy and V.

Don't get me wrong, the art is so much better than anything I myself could produce, and I can tell that there are techniques and elements of the art that I didn't understand or have the background to appreciate, but it just wasn't to my taste.

Their use of colors and tones really set the atmosphere of the story, and was extremely complimentary toward the mood they were trying to convey. There are so many things to admire about the art. From its use of shadows, to the desaturated colors, to the clear expressions of the characters. It just wasn't the kind of art that made me want to look at it more.

The Characters

Evy and V were vivid and interesting to me. Some of the side characters were able to draw my attention, and I was interested in their motivations and side stories, but if you were to ask me who those characters were, what their names were, I really couldn't tell you. V and Evy where the only ones that are really distinct in my head.

There was the one guy, Ally I believe his name was, who had a really thick accent that I was kind of interested in. He was a horrible person, and I couldn't understand half of the stuff he said, but he was compelling at least.

But again, the characters were all just so depressing. And though I appreciated V's struggle and his desire to make things change, I didn't agree with how he thought he had to do it, which made me harder to convince and really get on his side.

Final Thoughts

There is no doubt that V for Vendetta was a marvelous book, extremely influential for its time and expertly crafted. It just wasn't something that hit home for me personally. I wonder if I'd appreciate the movie more, or if that would feel just as depressing to me. I'm very glad I read it, and I think I can learn a LOT from the way it told its story and the beauty of its craftmanship, but I think there are a lot of other books that will appeal to me more on a personal level.

[koraesrambles]

Grabbing sam's face in-between my hands and screaming you are not dirty or evil or wrong! What happened to you as a baby is not your fault and doesn't define you! Your actions define you and you are a good person who bad things keep happening to!!

[koraesrambles]

RETURN OF THE GREAT READING CHALLENGE

Don't look at me. I need to read the top 25 comics on goodreads before the end of September, so we are in go time people!

Let's talk about the Complete Persepolis.

The Complete Persepolis - by Marjane Satrapi 

Just finished Persepolis and wow what a different experience this was from the fantasy/dystopian comics I’ve been reading. The entire time I was reading, I kept thinking, “Good comics come from people who have something to SAY. 

Persepolis was beautiful for many different reasons, not the least of which giving me, and American westerner, a glimpse into a world so very different (and yet exactly the same) as my own. It was beautiful because it reminded me that no matter where you go, people are people. That people have their own thoughts and minds and that no matter how much you oppress them, you’ll never be able to completely crush that which makes them individuals. I loved that message. 

I also come from a fairly strict religious background, and so it was fascinating to me to see how Marjane handled the contradictions and restrictions of her culture. How she both cherished and resented the things that made growing up in Iran unique. Her special perspective on how inconsequential some worries are and the way that even horrible tragedy can become normalized was so interesting to me. I really enjoyed reading her story. 

But why is does her story make a good comic? Let’s find out! 

The Writing

The writing in this story was interesting to me in part because this isn’t a fictional story that she’s trying to weave. There isn’t a moral and theme she’s trying to push, so much as there is an ideology that she has experienced and is sharing with the world. Of course she couldn’t give us everything, and I’m sure many, if not all, the stories have been filtered through her own unique perspective, which by definition makes them biased, but she still has to work with what she has experienced, and that makes the narrative a little different than if she’d been crafting a work that was entirely fictional. 

It took a second to orient myself in her world when she first began describing it. I was assuming that growing up in Iran would mean a life of oppression and despair, that she’d be dealing with people trying to crush her spirit, overbearing parents, and tragedy after tragedy. 

I was immediately reminded of my own biases. Marji’s parents are extremely supportive of her, especially her father who I would have assumed would be more strict. They raised her with all the values that I was taught as a young child, and she’s given a freedom that I didn’t even have growing up in the United States. The beginning of the story does a good job of establishing who Marji is, how her family dynamics work, and the type of background she experienced growing up. It isn’t like she portrayed the changes in Iranian culture as easy. She talks about having to wear the veil and how frustrating it was, while also showing how easy it is to assimilate to oppression when that’s your normal. 

Why do they wear the veil? Well because if they don’t they’ll get hurt. But they’re just as annoyed by it as anyone else, and they rebel by wearing make up, or buying fancy shoes, or listening to western music and it’s just as important as any demonstration I’ve ever seen here. The courage that it would have taken to go to protests is beyond anything I can imagine. It made me a little ashamed of how blase I can be about the inequalities that I perceive. 

So the beginning sets up the story well, and the “darkest night” moment is ironically when she is living in the “free” world of Europe, when she sees that all the things she’d admired for so long have their own enormous flaws. 

I found her exposition to be easy to follow and the story to be engaging. I was never bored or feeling like I needed to take a break. The beginning was definitely the hardest part for me, and I was worried that it was going to go the same route as Maus and be one of those books that I loved but would never be able to read again. But luckily, the story wasn’t quite that sad, and she tells her story of being liberated no matter what country she is in extremely well. 

The Art

The art in the book was extremely simple. At the beginning, it was really difficult for me to tell characters apart. She definitely reuses character designs when a character isn’t important or is just coming up once or twice. She’ll use the same faces for a crowd and doesn’t waste her time on overcomplicated backgrounds. In fact, most of the time there isn’t a background at all. The characters are all little box people that are indistinguishable from each other. 

But then as you read on and get used to it, you’re able to tell the main characters apart from the others through tiny little details that make it easy to know who is who without a lot of effort. The art is by no means a majestic masterpiece that takes my breath away, but it is absolute proof that you don’t need to have that kind of magnificent art to tell a breathtaking and important story. The most important thing is to have something to say, and the strength of her story carried me through easily. 

The art was simple, but evocative. The expressions had to be extremely clear, especially because the women were so often covered. She’s able to make each woman wrapped in drapes an interesting and unique character, despite there not being a ton of distinguishing features between them. The art is simple, but it works, which I think is really impressive and encouraging to me specifically. 

I want my art to be beautiful, but if you tell your story well, focus on the important things, like the emotions you’re trying to convey and the message your giving, it will all shine through. The visual aspect of a comic cannot be understated, but we don’t always need beautiful anime features to portray the story we want. 

The Characters

The star of the show is obviously Marji herself, but her mother and father and grandmother are easily right behind her. 

Her love for her family shines through with every story that Marji tells, even when she’s frustrated or angry with them. It’s easy to see how and why Marji is the way she is by looking at her parents and her grandmother. It’s also a constant reminder and spit in the face to the stereotypical depiction of an Iranian family. Not only is Marji’s father loving, emotional, and dedicated to his daughter’s education and growth, but her family has been that way for generations. 

They speak to each other just as confidently as any American household discussing politics over thanksgiving dinner. They have to be careful, but her parents don’t stop Marji from trying to rebel and live. They want her out of the country because they know that the way they’ve raised her will not allow her to reduce herself to less than what she is, and they know that the laws and fundamentalists will try to crush her. 

I aspire to be as wonderful as her parents are portrayed. Their love for their daughter, their strength of will, their willingness to both protect their family and stand up for freedom is just inspiring 10/10 I loved it. I hope my children portray me in such a flattering light some day. 

Final Thoughts

It’s hard for me to compare stories like this with the fantasy and scifi stories that I’ve been reading. This feels like an entirely different section. I loved reading about how Marji read so much to broaden her horizons and learn more about the world, and she’s made me determined to read more about the middle east and from middle eastern women of all sorts. I want to understand the world more because I’ve been reminded that the media and portrayal of the countries our country has historically been hostile with does not show the full story, and in fact we are all on the same side. I need to confront my own biases, even the ones that I didn’t even realize I had. 

I thought I knew what this story was going to be like when I went into it. Turns out I was wrong.

[koraesrambles]

repeating myself bc it’s worth repeating:

you are responsible for curating your space in fandom, but you are not responsible for curating the fandom as whole

there’s always going to be someone with a headcanon you don’t like, who ships your notp, who interprets canon differently, who can’t stand your blorbo. it’s okay. i promise.

[koraesrambles]

"What do you want from a remake" I DON'T WANT THEM. I DON'T WANT ANOTHER SOULLESS NOSTALGIA-FILLED CASH-GRAB. I DON'T WANT ANY OF THEM. I DON'T WANT ADAPTATIONS THAT KILL THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE OF THE THING THEY WERE BASED UPON NEITHER THE SHOT-BY-SHOT DESATURATED RECREATIONS. I WANT ORIGINAL STORIES!!! NOT REMAKES OF MOVIES THAT AIN'T EVEN 30 YEARS OLD!!!​AAGGGGGHHH