#( photos ; declan foster . )

[an0ther1]

Two Is Always Better Than One pt.2

Leah x Alessia

A/N: This is the “2nd” chapter of a 3 part short series I have on AO3. Thanks for all the dog name suggestions.

“LEE! LEAH! Swear I need to put a tracking device on you in this house.” Leah could hear from down the hall.

“In the study, love.” Leah was setting up their football photos throughout the room. They had been in the house for 3 weeks now. They had some custom built-ins made for the study and painted a few rooms before all their furniture and personal items were moved in. They still had a few things to unpack.

“That Martha woman got back to me!” Alessia started before she crossed the threshold. When she entered the room and saw the confusion on Leah’s face she continued. “The lady with the foster puppies the shelter told us about. Remember, the shelter we went to on Tuesday told us about those puppies that had been found by the pond in London Colney, they nicknamed them the Gooners.”

“OH YEAH!”

“Want to go meet them?”

“Right now?” Leah was still on the step ladder trying to hang an enlarged print of Alessia’s back heel goal against Sweden.

“YES! Before someone else takes the puppy that is meant to be with us!” Alessia smacked her hands against her thighs like a child that was utterly frustrated with having to explain themselves. However this was the first time they had talked about this litter of foster puppies aside from the initial mention of them at the shelter. “You promised me I could have a dog.” Alessia whined.

Leah finally got the picture on the hook in the wall and straightened before descending the small ladder. “Of course we can go see them.”

“YEAH?”

“Yes beautiful” Leah walked over and dropped a kiss to the top of Alessia’s head. “Let me just change my shirt.”

Alessia squealed. “I’ll get the keys and meet you in the car!” Then she was off down the hall, leaving Leah just standing there.

“Never again.” Leah muttered to herself.

15 minutes later they were in a village a stones throw from the training center. “These puppies are Gooners born and raised. One of them is definitely ours!” Alessia bounced in the passenger seat as Leah pulled the car over in front of a small white cottage. She had the door open before Leah even got the engine shut off. The defender could only laugh at her girlfriend's excitement. Alessia at least waited for Leah to catch up before she knocked on the door.

A few puppies could be heard yapping behind the door as well as a woman trying to calm them down. “Saka, get off of Declan. Leah! No, stop pushing Kai around. Little, get a handle on your team.”

Leah and Alessia just looked at each other. The door opened a moment later to reveal an older woman with dark hair that was graying around her face. She had her head turned back towards the dogs in the house when she first greeted the couple. “Hello, sorry for all the yapping. But trying to control 10 pups is-” She stopped mid sentence when she finally turned to face the blondes. “Bloody hell, you’re Alessia Russo and Leah Williamson.”

“That’s us!” Alessia said cherrily. “I emailed you about meeting the foster pups.”

“Really?”

Alessia glanced over at Leah for a moment. “Ah, yeah. I mean, are you Martha?”

“I am.”

“Then I do believe you were the one I was emailing with.”

“Oh. Yes, yes. Sorry. I just. You’re Alessia Russo.” The women then turned to Leah. “And your-” The woman shook her head. “Sorry, I just can’t believe that you two are standing at my door. And clearly my manners have completely left me. Come in. Please.” The woman stood back in the entryway to allow the footballers in. “I have 2 real life Gunners here to meet my Gooners.”

Leah laughed. “It would seem that way. And thank you for letting us come meet them.”

“Oh yes, of course. So, umm.” The woman pointed towards a couch in the living room. “Please have a seat there, or on the floor if you like. So yeah, I’m Martha.”

“Hello Martha. So did you say you have 10 puppies right now?” Leah asked.

“Yes. There are the 6 Gooners that were found near the pond. And then I have 4 others from a pregnant foster I took in. They were born about a week before I took the pups. Since no mother was found with the Gooners, Emilia stepped up and took the 6 in with her own. She’s in the garden right now having a bit of a break.” Martha smiled.

“I thought I heard you say a few names as you came to the door?” Alessia lowered herself onto the floor in front of the couch, which got the attention of several puppies who came bounding over to inspect the new person.

“Oh yes.” Martha chuckled. “All of the pups are named after players. So that one there is Kaka, and that’s Kai. The blonde one is Leah.”

Alessia scooped that one up first. “Well don’t you have the perfect name, pretty girl.” She cooed.

“The one with the long skinny legs is Stina. The dark one is Declan. And then,” Martha looked around the room and continued pointing and naming pups as she saw them. “There is Frida, Foxy, and Victoria.”

“I thought I heard you say Little, and that’s only 8.” Leah pointed out just as there was a crashing sound from somewhere in the house.

The older woman huffed. “That would be McCabe. And I’m sure Little is right behind her trying to get her to stop whatever mischief she has gotten herself into. I’ll be right back.” She headed out of the room.

“She can’t be serious.” Leah said quietly.

“Oh I can’t wait to tell the girls about this.” Alessia said as she rubbed the bellies of 2 of the pups.

A moment later Martha returned with a dog under each arm. A black one who was squirming in an attempt to escape, and a caramel colored one who seemed satisfied the other one had been captured. “These two, are Little and McCabe.”

“Do we need to ask which is which?” Leah chuckled.

“Your guess will be correct, I promise you.” The woman laughed as she set them both down.

McCabe shook like she had just gotten out of a bath before realizing there was someone new sitting on the floor and taking off like a tiny rocket. She barrelled through 2 other puppies before slamming into Alessia at full speed. “You are true to the namesake I see.” Alessia said as she picked the puppy up.

Little sat in the middle of the room for a moment, watching and observing all the other dogs before she seemed to decide everyone was where they should be and wandering over to Leah. She sniffed the defender's outstretched hand before sitting up on her hind legs to be picked up. “Well aren’t you a well mannered little thing.”

“She is definitely the responsible one of the bunch. We think she was the one that kept all the puppies together at the pond as she always seems to be rounding them up and checking on everyone. And then that one.” Martha pointed at McCabe. “Well her and Little are now connected at the hip because she’s always getting into something and Little is always trying to pull her back. Which is funny because McCabe is not one of the 6 Gooners.”

“Yeah, McCabe seems a bit bigger. But she’s younger, yeah?” Alessia asked.

“That’s correct. But, Little is her keeper. So much so that I’m hopeful they’ll find a home together.”

“Awe, aren’t you a sweet one.” Leah had Little on her back in her lap rubbing her chest. “Any idea what they are? Like breeds? They’re all kind of small”

“Well Emilia is part Dachshund. But she is mixed with something a bit heftier too, like a corgi maybe. And then I would guess the Gooners are Dachshund as well, but mixed with something smaller like another terrier. They have rounder snouts too.”

McCabe started getting feisty in Alessia’s lap and immediately Little rolled over from her relaxed position in Leah’s lap and jumped to the floor. She snipped lightly at McCabe’s ear causing the black pup to stop immediately.

“See. Little runs things.”

Alessia was giggling as she picked up McCabe close to her face. “At least you listen to your captain.” The puppy began squireming wildly until the footballer set her down, before taking off across the room full speed, Little hot on her heels. “Those two are adorable.” Alessia began calling over the other puppies who were happy to gain the blonde's attention.

Without a puppy in her own lap Leah pulled out her phone and began taking photos of her girlfriend with several of the pups in her lap, a bright smile on her face. She took several more photos over the next 20 minutes while Alessia rolled around on the floor with the dogs. Every so often you could hear a small bark from across the room and then McCabe would wander back to the middle of the room under Little’s watchful eye. And each time Little seemed satisfied that McCabe was going to stay with the group, the caramel colored pup sat itself at Leah’s feet.

“Kindred spirits it would seem.” Alessia said after the 3rd time.

Leah leaned down and rubbed the dog's ear, causing Little to slump over into her leg. “So it would seem.” She smiled softly.

Slowly one by one the puppies started to lose momentum and began curling up together throughout the room. Little was still settled next to Leah’s feet when McCabe came over and nudged the other dog. When she got no reaction, she crawled up into Alessia’s lap just above Little and plopped down.

Martha smiled at the footballers. “Looks like they’ve taken a liking to you.”

Alessia leaned her head back against the couch looking up at Leah. The look in her eye told Leah everything the younger woman was thinking before she even said anything. “You know, two is always better than one.”

“Is that so?” Leah smirked.

“One is so lonely.” Alessia pouted.

“I spend enough time yelling at McCabe as is.” Leah paused. “We are not keeping that name.”

“REALLY?!” Alessia squealed, waking several of the puppies. All except McCabe it seemed. “Martha, if we wanted to make these 2 ours?” She turned to the older woman.

“I would expect regular Instagram uploads to see how they are doing.” The woman smiled. “This is a private foster situation, so there really isn’t any paperwork or anything to be done if that’s what you’re asking. There are just some questions I like to ask.”

“Fire away!” Alessia hugged a sleeping McCabe to her chest.

“Do you have a fenced yard?”

“Yup! A big one! With lots of things to explore.” Alessia answered.

“Do you have a vet lined up?”

“Beth and Viv said they would give us the information for their vet. Said they highly recommend them. Especially for puppies.” Alessia played with the still sleeping dogs' ears.

“Wonderful. You two do travel. Do you have care lined up for when you are away?”

“We have several people willing to stay at the house with them.” Leah answered.

Martha took a deep breath and exhaled. “Well then. After seeing the four of you together, if you would like to take those babies home with you, I think you would be a great fit for them.”

Alessia spun around on the floor with McCabe in her arms, bright blue eyes looking at Leah. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Leah bent down and picked up the sleeping puppy at her feet. Little only opened her eyes slightly, clearly not caring about being handled. “You want to come with us and keep an eye on that little bugga for good? Hmm?”

Martha stood up. “Well then, let me get their things. They each have a toy and blanket. I’ll also give you a bag of the kibble they currently eat. You can keep them on the same brand or change it. You’ll just want to mix this one with whatever you get to help ease their body into the change. And then I have quick info care sheet.” The woman exited the room.

“Are we really taking them home Lee?”

“Yeah Lessi.”

Alessia rose up from the floor to sit on the couch next to Leah. “Thank you, Leah.” She kissed the other blonde softly. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” Leah smiled as she leaned in for another kiss. “I did promise we would get a dog when we had a home with a garden, and I keep my promises.”

“That you do.”

“Alright. Here we are.” Martha reentered the room. “These belong to Little.” She held up a gray blanket and stuffed rabbit. “And these belong to McCabe.” She held up a red blanket and. . .

“Is that a shin pad?” Leah asked with a twisted face.

“It is. I honestly have no idea where it came from. Might be an old thing that belonged to one of my boys that she pulled from a closet.” She shrugged. “But as you can see from the teeth marks, she loves it.”

“She is going to need a new name before we introduce her to any of the girls.” Leah shook her head.

“Do we? It just seems to fit so well.” Alessia whined.

Leah leveled her with a glare.

“Fine.” Alessia rolled her eyes. “Martha, do you take donations or anything to help take care of these little ones or other fosters.”

“I personally don’t. I’m fortunate enough to be able to have a few fosters at once and manage. But if you would like, please donate to the shelter that sent you my way. They’re the ones that need the most help.”

“I will do that then.” Alessia smiled. “Alright McCabe. Are you ready to go see your new home? How about you, Little?” She scratched behind the ear of the pup in Leah’s lap before standing up with McCabe in her arms. Leah followed suit with Little in her arms.

Martha handed the items for each puppy to the footballer that was holding them. She leaned in and placed a kiss on top of each dog's head. “You behave.” She said to McCabe. “And keep her out of trouble.” She said to Little. “Right. I’ll get the door.”

Leah and Alessia followed Martha to the door. “Thank you so much Martha. It was a pleasure meeting you. And we’ll be sure to post plenty of pictures to keep you updated.” Alessia started.

“Yes, thank you very much.” Leah echoed.

“I can’t wait to see the official announcement with the names you pick.” Martha opened the door. “It was lovely meeting you both. Take care.” She remained on the porch and waved as the couple drove away.

On the way home, they made a stop at the pet shop for essential supplies. Mostly. They got a playpen to help contain the pups in the kitchen, or outside until they were a bit bigger, pee pads, puppy training treats, collars, harnesses and leads, and half the toy aisle. Alessia wanted to let the dogs have anything they picked. So every single toy that McCabe picked up and thrashed about went into the trolly. Little had picked up a single toy and carried it throughout the entire shop and car park as she sat in the trolly.

“We should have got that carrier that holds the dog to your chest like a baby.” Leah said as she held tightly to a wiggling puppy. “McCabe, seriously.”

“Here.” Alessia grabbed one of the toys they had purchased and handed it to Leah, which was swiftly snatched by the black pup who began thrashing in the defender's arms. “Calm down Stitch.”

Leah stopped walking. Alessia stopped the trolly a few steps later, turning back to her girlfriend. “What?” The striker asked over her shoulder.

“McCabe is Stitch. And Little is Lilo.” Leah looked at each pup as she said the names.

Alessia looked between the dogs and Leah. “Oh my gawd, Le! They are!” She scooped the caramel colored puppy out of the trolly. “What do you think Little? Hmm? I think Lilo would be a perfect name for you. And she.” She turned towards Leah and the other pup. “Is definitely Stitch.” Alessia took a few steps to Leah. “Lilo and Stitch, yeah?”

“Lilo and Stitch.”

Alessia gave Leah a quick kiss. “Come on. Let’s get the car loaded.”

The couple continued through the car park and loaded their items into the boot. Each pup still holding on to a toy. When they were settled into their seats, Alessia pulled out her phone. “Hold Stitch for a sec, Le. I want to send a pic to the girls.”

StarGirl23: jpeg.

StarGirl23: Anyone want to come over and meet Lilo and Stitch?

[bluntforcefem]

Also for the ask game, Alyssum and/or Briar with 💌☄️🌈🚲🎤📸 ? I know its a bunch of emojis but I really want to know if these men can ride a bike. Because everything about Declan screams that his fathers were cyclists. No offense. Also bc whenever they have things in common with Declan it makes me cry.

💌 LOVE LETTER - do they like love letters? what kind of messages do they leave for their partner?

briar isn't much of a writer; his affection largely bleeds through his actions, but he appreciates anything alyssum writes for him all the same. alyssum thinks they're cheesy, which doesn't stop him from leaving little notes all over the house for briar anyway (a habit that he has with his work that just kind of... leaked over into how he shows love. dec got a lot of paper-towel notes in their picnic boxes.)

☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

people tend to get their personalities switched on assumption. aly looks like the reclusive distant bitch type & briar seems friendly enough. however briar is a master of the passive-aggressive southern hospitality and does NOT like leaving the garden; aly is the one who actually makes friends with people and goes places for work and makes small talk and such. still a bit reclusive though.

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

it would be the same for them both, by agreement on their regrets. "take dec into the city for school, make sure he makes friends, don't let him go off alone until you know he's settled."

🚲 BICYCLE - can they ride a bike? what do they remember from learning to ride a bicycle?

alyssum learned how to ride a bike as a kid. pretty much as soon as he learned, he was hauled off to use it to get to school and back by his parents, who really really did not want to drive him back and forth. he did it in bad weather a lot. he got used to it quick enough.

briar didn't actually learn to ride a bike until high school - he was homeschooled until then, for a certain definition of homeschooled, and lived in the middle of fuckoff nowhere with approximately 0 surfaces to learn to bike on. aly taught him about halfway through freshman year so they could go places together. he distinctly remembers eating shit, a lot, and feeling like he was too old to be fucking up so bad and getting embarrassed about it. but he also remembers when aly bought him the old secondhand bike he used for the rest of school, so.

🎤 MICROPHONE - are they good at singing? what is their go-to karaoke song?

alyssum is decent at singing for someone who's never learned and never wants to! can't hit high notes, will try to anyway especially if in good company. his go-to karaoke song has been welcome to the black parade for ages.

briar's a good singer! often sings while he's out working in the garden or doing other things, but doesn't really love doing it otherwise (mandatory choir in high school fostered a deep resentment for doing it in public especially). go-to karaoke song is don't stand so close to me (the police)

📸 CAMERA - do they enjoy having their picture taken? what's their go-to pose? do they like taking photos? what do they take photos of?

briar saw a polaroid camera once and got deeply obsessed with them. takes a lot of garden pictures. hated having his photo taken until a couple years after he moved in with aly, though, and didn't let aly take pictures in earnest until dec was born and he got a massive soft spot for letting aly take pictures of them both. of course this was flipped around onto aly but aly LOVEEES getting his picture taken. likes to get dressed up for no reason and pose for briar. briar kind of does the 10 stare by default until aly or dec yells at him to smile. aly loves throwing up double peace signs or bunny-ears'ing the other people in the photo with him

[userarchive]

Unexpected Circumstances Ch 12

Warnings: Language, talk of the job.

The heavy knock at the door caused you to stir, body trying to fight the urge to wake up as Olivia’s voice gently called through the room.

“I know you’re tired, but it’s time to get to work.” Thankfully, she dropped a pair of NYPD sweats and hoodie on the cot next to you while you groggily unwrapped yourself from Sonny’s arms, giving him a soft shove with your elbow to wake him up. You tugged the sweats on half under your dress, pulling your mussed up hair into a top knot, not even caring about your feet, not wanting to shove the heels back on, padding out to the squad room. You were more than thankful at the Starbucks that Kat handed you, giving her the brightest smile you could muster, humming in satisfaction over the taste of the latte.

“Okay.” You started, “Obviously they fucked up by busting the ring tonight, we would’ve had a lot more people on cuffs on the 31st, but at least we have the books.” You shuffled through them, handing one to Fin, one to Kat, and one to Olivia.

“These are huge.” Benson commented, amazed at the attention to detail.

“Yeah.” You replied, “Everything’s colour coded in that one. Perps who got violent have the black dot beside their ID, ones that we kept on a short leash are red, the ones who wanted underage girls are pink, dirty cops are orange, undercover cops are green. Pimps are marked with stars, underage girls are pinks, trafficked girls are yellow and the pros are purple.”

“You did all this?” Sonny looked up at you as he leafed through the book.

“Thank Theresa for dragging me to that scrapbooking class.” He practically snorted at that, knowing how much you despised spending an entire weekend cutting out little photos and decals with his sister.

“These are all suppliers…” Fin commented, looking up from the book you’d handed him. You knew he used to be in narcotics, figured he’d be the best to start tracking down those leads.

“Manhattan royalty. Can’t have our drugs laced with garbage, we refused to deal with dealers or buy off the street, we needed the purest product a supplier could get.”

“That Martinez’s idea?”

“Nah, I convinced him to switch over after I started. Said I didn’t want any dead bodies turning up on my hands ‘cause of the spike in Fentanyl.”

“We could shut down at least a third of the drug operations in the city with this.”

“You’re welcome.” You smirked, turning back to Olivia, “I’d start focussing on the stars, pink, yellow and black from there. Find whatever evidence you’re gonna need for arrests or warrants, we’re in this for the long hall.”

“This one’s all arms dealers.” Kat commented.

“Yeah, it’s not as much, we didn’t deal much with ATF type stuff, but I figured I may as well document it too.”

“Martinez was okay with you taking all this down?” Sonny asked, shocked that anyone was willing to give you this much information if they were coming to a party, you had drivers licences scanned into the book for more than a few people.

“It helped us keep track of everything, especially people we didn’t want coming back to another party.” You shrugged, “Besides, the more people in the book, the more people we could flip on if we were ever arrested, these things are a fucking gold mine. Alejandro was more than okay with having someone else to throw under the bus.” Elliot’s voice was the next to break through the room, much to your annoyance.

“Well he’s not about to flip on anyone. 6 hours and he’s not saying a word.”

“He lawyered up?” Olivia asked.

“No.” He sighed, “Just refuses to talk.” You groaned outwardly, knowing just how damn stubborn the man was, knowing the only way out of this. You tugged your dress down over your hips, kicking off the sweats, shoving your shoes back on, hands extended in front of you to Stabler.

“Let me talk to him.” He cocked his brow at you, “As a perp.” You insisted, “Trust me. He’ll flip.” Elliot shrugged, reaching for his cuffs as you turned to Sonny. “Please…remember anything I say in there is not true.” His brows furrowed at your comment, watching you give your body a shake as you slipped into character, Elliot leading you to the interrogation room. 

Alejandro’s head shot up at the motion of the door opening, nearly jumping up from the table at the sullen look on your face, not to mention the split lip and well forming bruise from the pistol whipping he’d witnessed. 

“What the hell did you do to her?” 

“I’m fine! Please.” You calmed him quickly, urging him to sit back down.

“She just wanted to talk to you.” Elliot folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the wall, watching the way you nearly timidly sat down at the table, your eyes softly meeting Alejandro’s. 

“I need you to talk…please…” The shake in your voice was convincing enough even Stabler would’ve fallen for it, “Alejandro they’re threatening me with fifteen years.” Tears had sprung into your eyes, his hands grasping yours across the table, your voices hushed, as if that would make them not heard by the ones you knew were watching.

“Chiquita…just throw a couple names out, they’ll let you walk like they always do.”

“It’s not like that this time, they’re not offering me a deal. Organized crime is here too, there’s no escaping this, they’re throwing me in jail!”

“You’ll be okay, trust me.” You nearly choked out a sob.

“Please…I can’t go to jail! Alejandro… I’m pregnant…”

“What?!” His eyes shot up to you, full of worry and concern, watching the tear roll down your cheek. “I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

“I just found out….I swapped the champagne for sparkling cider at the party. “He…he was a new guy, I’d only seen him a couple of times…” You sniffled back a cry, “I…I can’t go to jail..the baby..child services’ll take it away right away and I’ll never see it again. All I ever wanted was to be a mother…you know that. I ca—I can’t lose this baby…” You did the best to wipe your face with your cuffed hands, “I already gave them the books, but they claim they want your confession.”

“You gave them the books?!”

“I had no choice.” You sobbed into your hands, Alejandro quickly moved around the table, a hand softly rubbing against your back.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, they can’t put you away.” He looked up to Elliot, “Get your lawyer in here, we’ll make a deal.” The sergeant smirked at his words, watching him move back around the table, tapping the glass for Sonny to come in. 

“Mr Martinez. What exactly do you want?”

“You keep Rose out of jail.” His arms folded over his chest, “I’ll give you anything you want, anyone you want. She stays out of the trial, out of jail, charge her with a misdemeanour fine if you must and let her walk. She just did the books, she had nothing to do with the ring.”

“And the gun?” Sonny replied, you had to give it to him, he was doing a good job at keeping your cover.

“It wasn’t hers! It was Declan’s!”

“Oh and the drugs also happened to not be hers?”

“Her Dad died of an overdose, she’d never touched the stuff. I’ve known her seven years and never seen her even go near any of it.  It’s all mine. Let. Her. Go.” Sonny looked between the bodies in the room, 

“We’ll keep her here until you’ve given us enough information to make that deal, you understand that?” Alejandro begrudgingly sighed at that, nodding in response, giving you a soft look. 

“Thank you.” He nearly flinched at the rough way Elliot tugged you up from the table, leading you from the room. You were thankful he waited until the door was closed before he spoke.

“Where’d you go to acting school?” He half joked.

“NYU, double majored.” You shoved your wrists in front of his face, “Now un cuff me.” He rolled his eyes at you, undoing the cuffs, “You’re welcome…” You teasingly replied, heading back into the squad room.

**

You were thankful when Alejandro’s case went to trial quickly, and that Sonny didn’t need you to take the stand, not that you’d be able to do anything other than plead the 5th on the off chance the jury found him not guilty. The trial was set to start today and you were currently leant up against the wall of the courthouse, one knee bent, heel on the wall while you scrolled through your phone. 

“What’re you doing here? Is the defence calling you?” Sonny’s soft voice rang through the space as he approached you. You gave him a cold once over,

“Mr. Carisi…” He then realized you were definitely here undercover, which he should’ve realized with simply the way you were dressed. “I’m simply here for moral support. He is offering time in jail to save me and my unborn child from having to go.” He chuckled at your joke, moving closer to you, dropping his voice to not be overheard.

“Ya know, you’ve got a weird relationship with Martinez.” You laughed, 

“And you’ve got a weird little relationship with Carl Rudnick, don’t you?” You smirked at his baffled reaction, “I’ll see you in there Counsellor. Nice suit.”

**

“Hey, how’d it go?” Amanda asked as you and Sonny made your way into the bull pen.

“Guilty.” You replied,

“He’ll do 15 for promoting prostitution, 8 for the drug charges, served concurrently.” Sonny spoke, placing his briefcase down into an empty chair.

“That little for all those drugs?” Fin questioned, 

“He flipped on nearly all of the suppliers in the book, gave us proof that he bought from them regularly.” You dropped down into your chair, pulling out the pile of papers while spinning to face the whiteboard. “Where are we with the rest of ‘em?”

*

All in all it would end up taking months to track down enough substantial evidence to arrest as many people as you could from the books, focussing on collaring the most dangerous ones. It was overtime for nearly everyone, finding placement in shelters, foster homes, low cost apartments for the girls, helping those who would admit to needing it to find the proper therapists. Grilling perps, and dealing with one hell of a lot of defence attorneys, everybody was ready to try and throw someone else under the bus, problem was, you already had everyone. You ended up having to testify in multiple trials, some of them simply pleading the fifth, some of them you were able to give your true testimony, explaining in explicit detail about the work you’d done undercover, and everything you’d witnessed. The trials took even longer, some of the higher privileged clients sure to pull out every stop possibly, dragging things out as long as they could, using their status and power in the city to try and get out of the charges. The entire squad was not only exhausted but on edge, careful to watch their backs, Sonny had insisted on a protective detail on you, especially once you started testifying. (Which of course you rolled your eyes at). You knew it would take ages to work through the books, and there were still a large number of clients you had yet to nail that were still out there, able to target a new group, a different girl, and at this point there wasn’t much you could do about it.

*

It was the original night of Alejandro’s trial that you got home, later than expected, not surprised to find Sonny in the kitchen, spatula in one hand, pen scribbling on a legal pad in the other. You greeted him with a soft kiss on the cheek, knowing his scrunched face meant that he was at least attempting to concentrate, before moving down the hall to change into comfier clothes.

“Sorry I’m late.” You started, taking a seat across the island.

“S’okay, I didn’t get out on time either.” He scribbled something out on the pad, giving a hefty sigh as he tossed it aside, returning his attention to the stove.

“You did great today, really crushed it in there. You’ve grown into such an incredible lawyer Sonny.”

“Thanks.” He tossed you a warm grin at the praise, “Can’t say I wasn’t worried, that Martinez sure is a smooth talker, there was definitely more than one sympathetic juror.” He paused to pull down two wine glasses, passing one over to you, “Doesn’t help that they all think he took the fall to protect his pregnant co conspirator.” You cocked a brow, sipping on your wine.

“I did what I had to do to get him to talk, and that’s what we needed.”

“You couldn’ta just told him you were a cop?” 

“And blow my cover? So when he gets out, probably in less time than his sentence and goes straight back into the sex ring world we won’t have an immediate in?”

“You really think he’ll go straight back into what got him thrown in jail?” You shrugged, 

“It’s all he knows. He grew up surrounded by that world, took over the ring when his Dad died, he was barely 25. Deems himself too good to deal drugs, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already wrangling up new customers at Greenhaven.”

“Too good ta deal drugs, but he’s fine selling women for sex? Seems a bit outlandish.” You gave a small laugh, knowing just how ridiculous it all was, “You exchange a lot of personal information with each other?” Carisi stopped briefly, plating up dinner.

“I was working with him for seven years, we couldn’t exactly keep the conversations to the weather and local sports teams…I padded my story as thick as I could before I went under.”

“Ya told him about your Dad…” Your eyes darted up to meet Sonny’s, 

“Felt like it was an big enough excuse to stay away from the drugs…” You sighed, “Listen, when you’re under that long, little bits of the truth end up slipping out, you can only lie about so many things before you start to forget details. It’s easier to just let the real you shine through into your character.”

“Well you two certainly seem comfortable together.” You froze your movements at that, waiting for him to meet your eyes across the island.

“What exactly are you insinuating Dominick?” You felt a ball of rage slowly building in the pit of your stomach.

“I’m just sayin’, seven years working sex rings together, lavish vacations in the downtime, you never once slipped up? Slept with your mark?”

“Dominick!!” You rolled your eyes, “If I WAS to have had sex with anyone while under it certainly wouldn’t have been a federal criminal!! Where the fuck is this coming from? Just cause I went to the trial?”

Sonny had been annoyed at that fact all week while Alejandro’s trail went on, he somewhat understood your intent behind it, but he didn’t like it. He also didn’t like the way Alejandro’s eyes lingered on you in the court room, the way that he was so quick to flip for you in interrogation, the way that he’d comforted your tears, things simply seemed a little to close for his comfort. He knew that he technically couldn’t blame you for anything that happened while you were under, thinking you were dead, he’d tried to move on a few times, but it was a punch to the gut watching the way the two of you interacted.

“More like because that prick is going to jail for you! He’d face 15 years just so you wouldn’t have to? There’s just somethin’ there that doesn’t seem just as black and white as coworkers.”

“We had separate rooms at that penthouse, in opposite wings. The closest thing you could compare it to would be if he was my, non-sexual, sugar daddy!”

“That man is wrapped around your Goddamn finger so tightly I can’t just ignore it. There’s no way he doesn’t have some kind of feelings for you!” His anger was building up, he hadn’t wanted to fight about this, just wanted a straight answer, “Are you telling me you never once slept with him?”

“Never! He takes care of his company, but not like that. He nearly always had a pro on his arm!” You huffed, mirroring his position of folding your arms on the counter, “Are you telling me you never once slept with Rollins?” He faltered at that, should’ve known better than to attempt to fight about this with you.

“I—no.” He hung his head ashamed, “There was one time that we…almost..but-“

“I already know about West Virginia…she told me, long before you even thought about it.” You pushed off the island, moving to stand, “You had a thing with your partner, who’s now my partner, at least now I know which one of you has my back!”

“You’re tellin’ me that in seven fuckin years you didn’t once touch anyone?” He was standing now too, anger consuming him as he watched you grab your coat.

“Sonny! I was working in a fucking sex ring! The things I had to deal with, the things I saw?! Those poor girls getting beaten, getting raped on a regular basis, the ones who were so young they’d barely hit puberty being forced to have sex with men three times their age! Getting hooked on fucking drugs?! You know how many I saw turn up dead of overdoses ‘cause they’d gotten a bad score? You know how many times I personally had to pull a John off a girl ‘cause they were being too rough, ‘cause they weren’t doing what the girl had consented to? How many times I’ve had to drop off Jane Doe’s at the E.R. cause they were on the brink of alcohol poisoning, needed a stomach pump for all the drugs they’d shoved up their nose? Or the ones I had to bring in to get treatment for internal bruising or tearing in places I didn’t even want to think of? Do you really, seriously think that while I was witnessing all that horror that my mind even wanted to THINK about sex in a intimate way? I was just doing my best to keep those poor girls alive!!” You wrenched open the door, 

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” 

“Amanda’s! We’ll finish this when you’ve got your head on straight.” With that the door was slammed shut and you were gone. 

You knew that coming out of undercover wasn’t going to be easy, especially after such a long stint, and especially with the baggage of your past. You’d been slightly amazed that Sonny hadn’t moved on, that he wanted to work things out, that he was still able to love you as much as you loved him. He was a true gem, always had been and always would be, and you knew he belonged in your life, otherwise why would it have thrown you back together like this? 

Sonny dropped back into his seat at the island, sighing heavily he shoved the plate of food away from him, opting instead to top up his wine glass, taking a hefty swig. He’d been so pent up and distracted at Martinez’s behaviour towards you, knowledge of all the gifts he’d gotten you, he’d forgotten about the other side of the op, the side of actual heinous crimes. You’d probably seen more horrible things than half of SVU combined, and while they dealt with the aftermath, you dealt with it in real time, witnessing the crimes, and then still attempting to piece back together the broken girls afterwards. Only thing was, you weren’t putting them back together to stand trial or to press charges, they weren’t getting any justice, you just needed them back in working form as fast as possible. It was probably complete torture for you, every single one of the upcoming cases from this bust was probably weighing you down so heavily you were barely afloat anymore.  

[joshslater]

Grimsby pt. 5

Similar stories and bonus material (like the photo tumblr blocked) on my Patreon.

Declan greeted us with an “Oi, lads” as he walked past us to the kitchen. He took me completely by surprise. The beer, the weed, the fatigue, the everything had me zone out and only concentrate on what was immediately in front of me. The beer, the weed, the heat and smell of big Jace next to me, and the FIFA game I was slowly losing. I had completely forgotten the possibility of Declan. He returned from the kitchen, Stella in one hand and a Lidl bag in the other.

“O'Rourke down at 2 lit the grill. I bought some bangers for us. You coming Jace?” “Always”

He threw down the controller on the table and got up. I still wasn’t grasping what was going down. Jace looked down at me as I aimlessly was moving my team around while trying to comprehend what was happening.

“You’ll lose. Come.”

I accepted what he told me, pressed pause and got up to join them outside. The afternoon sun made everything too hot and too bright, after smoking weed in front of the TV for hours. Jace and Declan talked about something as we walked down the street to number two. I was too buzzed to try to comprehend. I could see a small group standing at the end of the street, in front of us. They looked young, all dressed similar to us, perhaps with less shirts on, and everyone holding a can or a bottle in one hand.

“I got one left” “What?”

I looked at Declan, followed his eyes towards his hand. He was holding out a nicotine patch towards me. I took it, removed the package and stuck it up inside my T-shirt, somewhere on the chest. Fuck, I’m still wearing the track suite from work, I realized. The one that didn’t smell like weed. Didn’t.

“This is Chayse. Lives in 10. He’s cool” “Cheers mate!”

I took a swig out of the bottle of blue wkd in my hand and nod towards the group. Where the fuck did I get that from? Who drinks that kiddie stuff? Just how fucked up am I, really? If they could tell I was high as a kite, which of course they could, they didn’t appear to give a fuck. Everyone was busy chatting, having a beer and whatever else they were doing. This wasn’t so much a party as it was a bunch of lads having a beers on the street, spilling out into the main road. A white, plastic outdoor chair was placed outside the door of number 2. An extension cord snaked its way from the house and was draped over the arm rest, with nothing plugged in. The BBQ setup turned out to be a couple of single use grills, coal on aluminium trays, probably bought at the nearest petrol station. Declan got a pack of vacuum packed hot dogs from his Lidl bag, tore it open, and dumped the sausages on one grill. One of the unfamiliar guys I’d just greeted turned towards me.

“Aight, did you catch Chelsea Arsenal?” “Of course”

It was one of the games I watched with Declan, and I wasn’t even drunk or debilitatingly high, like now, when I did it. I even remembered some of what the commentators said.

“What you think about the first score?” “It was his first for the season, was it?” “Was it? You might be right, mate. What’d you think about it?” “I can’t even describe it.” “With you, mate. Fucking epic doesn’t cut it”

I shocked myself that I could string together some commentary fragments with empty statements and pass them along as conversation. Not wanting to press my luck I tried to be as agreeable as possible through all the footie talk.

“Oi! Bun!”

Declan threw a hot dog bum at me, which I didn’t catch, but quickly scooped up from the ground. Not trusting my dexterity I put down my blue wkd next to the plastic chair. I stepped over to the grill and grabbed one of Dec’s sausages in the bun. I realized I was starving, as I bit into the hot dog.

“This is fucking great, mate!” “Lidl deluxe onion pork bang. Best there is. Farewell bang, innit” “You’re leaving?” “Want to beat the traffic. It’s been fun.”

I didn’t know what to feel. Most of all I was annoyed he’d drop the news on me like five minutes before he’d drive away. Communication wasn’t his thing though. But it felt like I was going to miss him. Without him I was back to knowing no one here. No, I knew Jace, I immediately realized. It’s like a relay, where I’m handed over, moving further and further away from where I started. Declan didn’t know who I was, but he knew I wasn’t Chayse Brown, at least not this version. Jace only knew what I was now.

Someone from the group took a seat in the white plastic chair, and another one connected a clipper to the extension and started to buzz his head. I couldn’t see a difference, as it was short to start with.

“Hey, Declan. Thanks for everything.” “Safe. Keep your phone charged.”

He walked away towards the car, stella in hand. I stepped back to the chair and grabbed the blue bottle. I took a swig out of it, and almost choked on my big gulp. It wasn’t my blue wkd but something far stronger. I looked at the label and saw a bottle of MD 20/20 blue raspberry. Still fucked up, apparently, because those bottles are nothing alike.

“Hey, are you stealing my shit!” shouted the boy in the chair, jumped up and started to puff his chest. “No, I’m... mistaken” “It fucking looks like you are stealing.” he was staring right at me, just inches away when he suddenly relaxed. “I’m just messing with you. That is yours?” he pointed at the blue wkd still standing next to the chair. “Yeah, I think so.” “Here, take over from Liam” “I don’t know how to... I’ve never used a clipper before.” “Nothing to it. Just move it around until it looks even.”

Liam handed over the clipper to me as the boy got back in the chair. He was right. There was nothing to it. In a few more strokes, though probably much slower than proper, he looked “even”. Not that I would know.

“Here, take a seat and I’ll fresh you up for Friday. Yours looks pretty mint, but I’ll fresh the sides for you.”

I had no idea what he meant, but took a seat to go with the flow. He lathered the sides of my head all around with shaving foam, and then picked up a Gilette razor from a kitchen plate and started to shave my head. It was all bizarre to me.

“You do this a lot?” “What?” “Hairdressing” “Just taking turns freshing up the lads for Friday. It happens.”

Someone new came up to me and stuck a can of Fosters in my hand. “Oi. I’m Connor”

I could feel the headache pulsate with my heartbeat as UK Bounce blared out of the phone’s alarm app. I was in my bed, no, on my bed, again without remembering getting there, and fully dressed. I would take the bus to the dock, I already knew that. Should I snooze or bother with a shower?

As I walked to the bathroom the door to the second bedroom was open, and I was reminded that Declan left yesterday. I wondered if he brought the plastic bag with my old clothes with him, or if he had already binned them. I looked into the room. A couch and a cheap home gym. I’d forgotten that it was even here, since I hadn’t looked into the room since the first day. Fuck, that was only days ago.

My eyes were red and I looked like I was decomposing. By contrast my skull was shiny, like a doorknob with a round little carpet on top. The slits in the eyebrow were more pronounced too. Apparently someone touched them up, though I had no memory of it. What was the name of the guy? Liam?

I took a shower, and some of the magic was back. It felt so good. I was hoping that some 3-in-1 would wash off some grease, and make me less shiny. I didn’t really do much, but then the people at the dock didn’t appear to give much of a fuck. I put on the the clothes I had on me when I entered the bathroom, lit a cigarette, and left the house. I felt like a zombie shuffling to the bus stop in the morning darkness.

I’d finished my cigarette by the time I got there, but still craved more, so I lit another one and inhaled deep. Why didn’t I bring a morning beer? Because that’s not what actual humans do, a little voice in my head whispered. Still, would have been fucking nice right now. Luckily the bus peeked around the corner, so I didn’t have to wait for long. I should probably learn the time table.

There were a few people on the bus, but not many. They were all staring like I wasn’t welcome. I guess I didn’t look my best after what I’ve been through. Saturday couldn’t come fast enough. I decided to sit at the back to avoid the glares of people. It wasn’t until I was just about to stomp out my cig I realized I was smoking on the bus. Fuck. And no one told me not to, not even the driver. In fact, I just realized, I hadn’t even paid fare. Why didn’t he tell me?

One glance at my reflection in the bus window, and I had my answer. I looked like trouble, and he didn’t want any. I felt guilty all the way to the dock, and plonked down two pounds at the driver as I exited the bus. Regardless what Liam, or whatever, said I did not intend to become a thief.

Drudge time.

[tabloidtoc]

OK, April 13

Cover: Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford’s 18-year love story 

Page 1: Contents 

Page 2: Contents 

Page 4: Hannah Brown and Tyler Cameron’s reunion 

Page 6: Prince Harry wants to come home in his father Prince Charles’ time of need with coronavirus infection 

Page 7: Cindy Crawford begs daughter Kaia Gerber to help her older brother Presley Gerber amid his rebellious streak, Chris Hemsworth has amassed a ton of star power and is now requesting that all of his movies film in Australia, while Miley Cyrus is holed up in quarantine she launched a live Instagram talk show and she’s enjoying her project so much she thinking of bringing it to TV

Page 8: Khloe Kardashian and ex Tristan Thompson are quarantining together with daughter True and her family hopes that the alone time brings the two back together except for Scott Disick who thinks Tristan is bad news and hasn’t changed at all, Billie Eilish is music’s current golden girl but the teen singer’s string of success has her inner circle worried that she’s running herself ragged, Katy Perry is doing things backward by marrying Orlando Bloom after the birth of their first child together and surprisingly her strict preacher parents have given their approval 

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- orange -- Logan Browning, Kate Bosworth, Issa Rae 

Page 11: Kathryn Newton, Florence Pugh, Kristin Cavallari 

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Hailee Steinfeld vs. Bella Hadid, Dominique Tipper vs. Alesha Dixon

Page 13: Duchess Kate Middleton vs. Elizabeth Chambers 

Page 14: News in Photos -- A Breath of Fresh Air -- Jeannie Mai 

Page 15: Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green and kids Noah and Journey and Bodhi, Olivia Wilde, Simon Cowell, Wells Adams and dog Carl 

Page 16: Joel McHale, Myleene Klass, Maya Rudolph and Alec Baldwin 

Page 18: Bailee Madison and boyfriend Blake Richardson, Colin Hanks

Page 19: Brooke Burke and a dog, Alessandra Ambrosio walks her dog, Minnie Driver 

Page 20: Book Smart -- Mayim Bialik reading Embrace Your Weird, Lena Dunham reads A Year Without a Name by her younger sibling Cyrus, Nicole Kidman reading A Good Marriage 

Page 21: Emma Roberts reads We Wish You Luck, Reese Witherspoon reads The Jetsetters, Emma Watson and Little Women, Mindy Kaling reads In Other Words 

Page 22: Natural Beauties -- Gabrielle Union, Bella Hadid, Charlize Theron and her dog Johnny Utah, Lady Gaga 

Page 23: Gwyneth Paltrow and Alexandra Grant and Demi Moore, Tracee Ellis Ross, Salma Hayek 

Page 24: Quarantined in Luxury -- Keanu Reeves, Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell, Brad Pitt, Amal and George Clooney 

Page 25: Kate Winslet, Jessica Simpson, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger 

Page 26: Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich’s divorce is off 

Page 27: Julia Roberts’ husband Danny Moder has always been an outdoorsman but she’s worried he’s turning into a full-blown adrenaline junkie, Lea Michele and Zandy Reich just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary but the two are still on cloud nine as they play house, though the global health pandemic has forced David Foster and wife Katharine McPhee to postpone their joint tour they were able to find a silver lining -- they’re taking advantage of their freed-up schedule to start a family 

Page 28: Kelly Ripa has no qualms when it comes to gushing about her and husband Mark Consuelos’ sex life but he would prefer she left a little to the imagination, Evan Peters and Halsey have called it quits and she may be back with Dominic “Yungblud” Harrison, Love Bites -- Meghan McCain and husband Ben Domenech are expecting, Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail married, Nina Dobrev and Shaun White dating 

Page 30: Cover Story -- Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford’s untold love story -- how the longtime couple built one of the most solid marriages in Hollywood 

Page 34: How Reese Witherspoon does it all -- she makes balancing life as a mom, wife and business mogul look easy 

Page 36: Sandra Bullock has finally tied the knot with her boyfriend of five years Bryan Randall in a small and ceremony at her Hollywood Hills home 

Page 38: Farewell to Modern Family 

Page 40: Kim Kardashian’s new reality -- she opens up about her first year of law studies, her family and her new documentary 

Page 46: Style Week -- For the premiere of Westworld Evan Rachel Wood directed her glam team to make her look sleek AF

Page 49: 5 Minutes with Audrina Patridge 

Page 50: Cinched Denim -- Shailene Woodley 

Page 54: Entertainment -- Mrs. America

Page 55: Q&A with Declan Laird of Green Rush 

Page 58: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas heating up 

Page 60: Hollywood Heat Meter -- Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish are expecting their second child together, Taylor Swift’s feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian is not over, Tokyo’s Summer Olympics will be postponed, another publisher released Woody Allen’s memoir, The Bachelor’s Madison Prewett split from Peter Weber and has been linked to Connor Saeli, Doing Their Part -- stars are helping out every which way they can during the coronavirus crisis -- Bethenny Frankel, Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell, Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams, Rihanna, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively 

Page 61: Sound Bites -- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Kylie Jenner, Justin Timberlake 

Page 62: Horoscope -- Aries Paul Rudd 

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Liam Hemsworth

[verycoolartist]

Joseph for the playlist thing

J ❀ Just Smoke - Mumford & SonsO ❀ Obstacles - Syd MattersS ❀ Sit Next to Me - Foster the PeopleE ❀ Every Night I Dream of Dancing - Andrew HuangP ❀ Photos from When We Were Young - Nana GrizolH ❀ Humongous - Declan McKenna

send me a name, word or phrase in my ask box and i’ll make u a mini playlist based on it !

[ramajmedia]

10 Marvel Comics You Need To Read Before MCU Phase 4 | ScreenRant

With so many Marvel Studios projects in development, it might be time for a refresher course. Between sequels, new properties, and a handful of new television series on the way, Marvel fans have plenty on their plate. However, if you have a few blind spots in your Marvel knowledge or simply don't read comics,  this list should help fill some blanks. For this list, we've compiled some landmark Marvel comics that correspond to the next few Marvel projects.

Never read a Moon Knight book? Who are the Eternals, anyway? Don't worry, here's some recommended reading to prepare you for the onslaught of content that Marvel Studios has up its sleeve. Here are 10 Marvel Comics You Need To Read Before MCU Phase 4.

RELATED: 10 Characters Who Should Probably Retire From The MCU Soon

10 Black Widow: The Finely Woven Thread

Based on photos, casting, and rumors, there isn't any one Black Widow book that the film is based on. Seeing as the movie is setting up to be an amalgam of trademark Black Widow elements, this modern-day classic might be a great spot for new readers to jump on board.

The Finely Woven Thread by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto is the gritty spy thriller that fans of the movies have always wanted. Between Edmondson's compelling mystery and Noto's painterly art, this is a must-have for Black Widow fans and new readers alike.

RELATED: 10 Characters Who Should Probably Retire From The MCU Soon

This story probably won't reflect the plot of the movie, but it shows just how compelling a Black widow solo adventure could be (and has been in comics for decades now).

9 The Mighty Thor: Thunder In Her Veins

With Natalie Portman's Jane Foster gearing up to wield the hammer, fans should probably pick up Jason Aaron's work on Thor. She has her first adventures as Thor in Aaron's Thor: The Goddess of Thunder, but for a while, her identity was a secret. However, the reveal of Jane Foster as Thor has created a new fan-favorite for many and one of the most compelling character arcs in Marvel's recent history.

RELATED: 10 Other MCU Characters Who Might Be Worthy Of Wielding Thor's Hammer

The Goddess of Thunder is a great starting point, but fans that want to skip the mystery should pick up The Mighty Thor: Thunder in Her Veins. This story arc begins a true epic that fans will want to read in full. Not only will it have you in tears by the end, but it also helps set up one of the better recent crossover events, War of the Realms.

8 Moon Knight: From The Dead

Moon Knight, arguably the most underrated Marvel character in existence, is finally getting his own series on Disney Plus. If you've never heard of him, let Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey's From the Dead be your introduction.

Who is Moon Knight? He's an ex-mercenary with multiple personalities possessed by a moon god. He fights anything from mobsters and robots to vampires and ninjas. The Marvel universe is a crazy place, and From the Dead shows how Moon Knight can tackle any corner of it with style and brutality.

This run is an anthology of different Moon Knight stories, and between Ellis' trademark wit and Shalvey's kinetic artwork, it'll hook newcomers with ease. If you feel compelled to read further — and you will — check out the runs by Charlie Huston and Jeff Lemire.

7 Neil Gaiman's Eternals

For most movie fans, the Eternals are a bit of a mystery.  The Eternals are essentially evolved humans — ancient prototypes of humans created by Celestials, which fans will remember from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Marvel legend Jack Kirby created the characters, but for a modern introduction, check out Neil Gaiman's Eternals.

RELATED: 10 Ways The Eternals Movie Might Connect To The Wider MCU

His series contains the cast of the upcoming film as well as the official (retconned) backstory of the Eternals. It's quite likely that this book is the basis for the movie as well, so definitely pick it up.

6 Hawkeye: My Life As A Weapon

My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction and David Aja is the basis for Marvel's upcoming Hawkeye series on Disney Plus, right down to the show's title card. It deals with Hawkeye's life outside of his career as an Avenger, as well as the training of his apprentice, Kate Bishop.

RELATED: Hawkeye Disney Plus: 5 MCU Characters We Want To See Return (And 5 We Don't)

Hawkeye's somewhat-but-not-so ordinary life is a lot more compelling than you might think, and once you read this series, he'll likely become your favorite Avenger. It's got great action, witty humor, and some pretty innovative issues — entire books are told through sign language, and one issue even stars his dog.

5 All-New Captain America

Now that Cap has passed the shield to Sam Wilson in Avengers: Endgame, fans won't being seeing him again until The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney Plus. Can Sam Wilson fill Steve Rogers' shoes? Well, he already has. All-Captain America by Rick Remender is Sam Wilson's first adventure as the winged Captain America.

In the first arc, Sam Wilson must thwart an emerging Hydra threat while living up to his new mantle. This series is proof that Sam is the man for the job, even if fans aren't ready to let go of Steve Rogers.

4 Ms. Marvel: No Normal

As a nerdy superhero fan from Jersey City, Kamala is so familiar with the Avengers' antics in New York that she even writes fan fiction about her favorite heroes. When she acquires Inhuman powers, she names herself after her idol, Captain Marvel.

RELATED: 10 Things You Should Know About Ms. Marvel

Kamala is already a well-established character with plenty of different appearances and team-ups throughout the comics, so where better to start than from the beginning? Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona contains her origin story and is a must-read for any Marvel fan.

3 She-Hulk: Single Green Female

She-Hulk is more than just female Hulk. Jennifer Walters is a character that not many people are familiar with, but unlike her cousin Bruce Banner, she actually enjoys being the Hulk. A great entry point before her Disney Plus series is Dan Slott's She-Hulk: Single Green Female, where Jen must balance her life as the Hulk with her very demanding career as a lawyer.

RELATED: 10 Storylines Disney+'s She-Hulk Series Could Use

She's not a scientist like Bruce, but a lawyer in the emerging field of superhero law. Naturally, superhero lawsuits come with plenty of cameos and crossovers, but this is very much a She-Hulk story that manages to stay breezy and fun while distinguishing Jen Walters as her own unique character.

2 House of M and Vision

The Disney Plus series WandaVision is a head-scratcher for most fans, so this entry cheats a little to give readers the best primer.

The concept of the show seems to be based on a combination of two different books: House of M by Brian Michael Bendis and Vision by Tom King. In House of M, Scarlet Witch loses control of her powers and alters reality for the worse. In Vision, the titular hero tries to settle down and have a family, until everything goes horribly wrong.

Concept art for the series depicts Wanda and Vision in an idyllic, sitcom-esque lifestyle, but everything is not what it seems. This suggests influences from both of these excellent stories, so definitely check them out.

1 Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird

The last two Avengers films prove that Stephen Strange has come a long way since his solo film in 2016. Since his next film is said to be the MCU's first horror movie, it might benefit fans to pick up a comic where Strange is experienced and more than familiar with the scariest aspects of magic.

The Way of the Weird by Jason Aaron is Strange is his absolute strangest. For him, protecting reality is just another average day, despite some of the creepiest and most grotesque threats always knocking at his door. Chris Bachalo's art makes this an especially unique read — if you want to see what a Doctor Strange horror movie might look like, then look no further.

NEXT: 10 Scenes That Define The MCU

source https://screenrant.com/marvel-comics-read-mcu-phase-4/

[reeceba3a]

http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/interview-with-mural-artists-the-bogside-artists/

After visiting Derry earlier this year and seeing the murals in the Bogside, I really needed to find out more about the works and more about Northern Ireland. Created by the Bogside Artists (Thomas Kelly, William Kelly, and Kevin Hasson), these murals depict a living history. Powerful and emotive, the images resonate, however, their message transcends the Bogside and Northern Ireland, leaving a greater hope for universal peace.

Q&A with Tomas Kelly:

Firstly, Tom can you tell me about yourself? How did you first get into painting, etc? And what made you, William and Kevin start collaborating artistically? I had been working with Declan McGonagle in the community Outreach program for ten years, doing murals etc. Collaborating with my brother William who had a degree in painting from the NCAD, Dublin and my good friend Kevin Hasson was a natural development when I got the notion of turning the Bogside into an open-air gallery of murals commemorating the history of the Troubles.

I find the Murals powerful, emotive and striking; can you give me a history of how and why you decided to make art on such a massive scale depicting the Troubles? We paint what we think is important. Our first mural, however, was the result of a general need on the part of the people living in the Bogside to have something with which to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of The Bogside. We did all of the murals without pay. Because we could not find public funding especially from the arts councils both North and South we had to go around the doors with a tin can collecting pennies from the citizens. You can find this in our BBC documentary but we have no copies of that left. Content and style are thrashed out between us in a spontaneous collaborative effort some people call “brain storming.” We begin with knowing WHAT we want to express. The HOW comes later. Also, we invariably change features and repaint as we go along. That means the work is not still-born and has consequently some life in it.

Today, Street Art has connotations associated with graffiti, but your work takes on more traditional techniques, can you give me an idea of your technique? I am glad you asked that as a great many people think we used computers and overhead projectors and such like. We didn’t. We used the same techniques used by Michelangelo by squaring up the image and tracing it out on a grid prepared with chalk and plumb-line on the wall. The wall is rendered with sealer and given a base coat of outdoor emulsion in the appropriate tone of grey for the image. The image itself is built up on stages from thin to thick in the highlights using acrylic with emulsion for the larger areas. The palette is kept simple as we are not in the decorating business but trying to convey the seriousness of the content we are depicting. It is art, first and foremost that concerns us, – to express something while keeping out egos out of it. Easier said than done. That we are able to do it at all in perfect harmony says something for us as artists whose egos are notoriously rampant and often irrational.

When it comes to starting a Mural, what does the process involve? Logistically in terms of the scale, but also mentally and emotionally? How do you decide what to paint? Brainstorming. We can take days and many coffees figuring out what is appropriate but having a defined story to tell makes it easier. The key events are the substance of the story. Inspiration comes slowly and usually at the point when all hope is gone.

Your murals are telling a story and pay homage to the difficult times, how do you feel that they are connecting communities and provided an outlet for peace? The murals have endowed the area and the people who live there with a sense of pride. It is their history after all that is painted. The murals also bring in many visitors into the area. Before the troubles there were so few visitors into the city that the local tourist board did not even bother to keep records! Now, there are thousands. And many of them come to see the murals per se. That brings revenue to the city, to both sides of the community and especially in the tourist and hospitality sector. Jobs and a decent standard of living foster peace, peace and hardship do not. Also, if the murals were not there you would find the walls festooned with graffiti and political slogans. It would resemble a typical warren of Glasgow or Liverpool. In brief, the murals ( in the words of ex-Mayor Gerry OHara) have been a “boon to the city as a whole”.

On a recent visit to Derry, I went on a tour around the city, I understand that the there were some changes to Death of Innocence from its unveiling in 1999, can you tell me more about those changes and why? Have any of the other Murals changed and why? At the time we painted the mural peace was not assured do we left the butterfly at top left unfinished for that reason. A new beginning or resurrection for the community had yet to be achieved. When it finally was, we completed the butterfly.

Petrol Bomber is a powerful image and incredibly moving on many levels; can you tell me more about this piece? It actually depicts a cousin of William’s and myself – Paddy Coyle, on our mother’s side. We had to get his permission to use his image! The following is taken from our book: “This was our first mural and thought to be our best. It was lifted, but not entirely, from the front cover of a Magazine. The photo was taken by Clive Limpkin. As soon as we painted it we knew we had captured something of the spirit of The Bogside. Young people were very much involved in that particular struggle between the RUC, the B-Specials and the campaginers for civil liberties. It was painted in warm greys and white because we wanted to allude to this image as journalism, as an event in the past. It was painted in 1994 as commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of The Bogside. It was painted in emulsions and has survived quite well. The child in the gas mask is a cousin of two of the artists.”

Many of your Murals were painted in the 1990s about events from the 1960s and 1970s, as a member of the Bogside community, how did it feel to illustrate these events decades later, and on such a large scale? At first, what was the reaction of the local community? You do what you have to when you are living in our situation. What was the alternative…do nothing? People in the area knew what we were trying to do and fully supported us. They understood the work and still do. Adverse criticism came only from people who did not understand them or who lumped them in with political propaganda of the sort you find in Belfast. Other adverse criticism came from the loca arty wannabes who were jealous of our achievement and still are. Unfortunately these people have connections in high places, which is why we find it such a struggle to survive as a group. Such funding as we have received over the years we have had to fight for, tooth, nail and claw. We have not since 1994 received a single offer of help or even a phone call from our incumbent Arts Officer.

Can you tell me more about your “Encouragement Programme” and how it is developing / nurturing young artists in the area? What are the hopes and aspirations? We have had many exhibitions to date and will have many more showcasing young talent. Getting a start in the commercial art world is well nigh impossible for unknowns and our feeling is the sooner you get a start the better. So, we give them a leg up. We get no funding to do this and take nothing from whatever the exhibitor may earn. We enjoy helping. They have only to take care of their own publicity. It is a useful service to the community and a fingers up to the money-grabbing curators of galleries everywhere who can take up to 50% of an artist’s earnings. People are in jail for less, in our view.

Do you have any plans for any future Murals, if so; can you give me some details? We have some ideas for other murals but we cannot divulge. The wannabes compete with us and if they got wind of any or our project they would be burning the midnight oil to try and upstage us. Sad but true. We, on the other hand, compete with nobody but we do like peace to be able to get on with what we do best.

For visitors to Northern Ireland, Derry and the Bogside, what would you like them to take away? Hope in the innate species-goodness of the human race and the fact that suffering has meaning.

You can book a tour around People’s Gallery with the artists – visit their website for more details: www.bogsideartists.com

Images used with kind permission. Petrol Bomber © the Bogside Artists

Posted on 2 September 2010

[comicsxaminer]

IMAGE COMICS AT NYCC 2018

#WeBelieve in creator-owned panels, con-exclusive variants, and signings with your favorite comics talent

Image Comics will return to New York City this year for NYCC on Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th.

Please note: updates to the schedule may appear online during the show. Please refer to the http://www.imagecomics.com post for the most up-to-date information.

LIMITED* CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES SOLD AT THE IMAGE BOOTH (#1444): * Quantities will be limited by customer and per day on a first come, first served basis. Please ask at the Image booth about availability.

Blackbird #1- $10 + tax

Dead Rabbit #1 – $10 + tax

JesusFreak Ashcan – $1 + tax

Deadly Class #1 – FREE with any purchase at the Image booth

Exorsisters #1 Ashcan – available at Artist Alley table #D16

Infinite Dark #1 – available at Top Cow booth #AA-G20

God Country HC – Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw – $35 + tax

A.D. After Death HC – Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 2 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 3 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Kill or Be Killed HC – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips – $35 + tax

Seven to Eternity HC – Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña – $35 + tax

Ice Cream Man HC – W Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo – $35 + tax

VS HC – Iván Brandon and Esád Ribic – $35 + tax

MERCHANDISE: * Limited quantity available for sale at the Image booth. 

BLACK SCIENCE statue, $150 (+tax)*

“I Believe in Comics” T-shirt, sm-xxxl, $24.99 (+tax)

“I Believe in Comics” tote bag, $12.00 (+tax)

DEADLY CLASS lapel pins, $10 (+tax)

PANELS HOSTED BY IMAGE COMICS:

Thursday, October 4 @ 6:30 – 7:30 PM, Room 1A18 Image Comics: We Believe in Horror Image Comics has ushered in a new era of horror with cerebral writers and visceral artists elevating sequential-art dread to claustrophobic heights. From W. Maxwell Prince’s suburban doom in ICE CREAM MAN to Pornsak Pichetshote’s reflective haunted house boiler, INFIDEL, comics are evolving terror to new personal, socially minded levels. Join a roster of the most sinister storytellers including David F. Walker (BITTER ROOT), Matthew Rosenberg (WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?), Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS), and Will Dennis (editor on MOONSHINE, WYTCHES, GIDEON FALLS) to discover how they’re altering an entire genre.Friday, October 5 @ 2:45 – 3:45 PM, Room 1A24 Image Comics: We Believe in Vision Since its creation, Image has remained a bastion for creators to foster their biggest, boldest ideas. Join a vanguard of storytellers as they walk through their most daring projects and how they arrived there—including a surprise announcement. Join panelists Jason Aaron (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, THE GODDAMNED), Kieron Gillen (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, DIE), Stephanie Hans (DIE), Gerry Duggan(ANALOG, DEAD RABBIT), Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD), Joe Casey (MCMLXXV, JESUSFREAK), Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY) and special guests for an introspective dive into the comics defining the future of the medium.Saturday, October 6 @ 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Presents Deadly Class 101 In 2014, writer Rick Remender and artist Wes Craig unleashed a relentless tale of brutal vengeance and discipline in DEADLY CLASS, where the homework is homicide and the lectures are lethal. The neon-drenched world of Marcus Lopez Arguello and King’s Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts will soon debut as an original television series on SYFY, as the comic series continues to crank the pressure on a group of teens training to be career assassins. Join the creators of this groundbreaking comic as Remender, Craig, editor Sebastian Girner, and colorist Jordan Boyd recount the origins, development, and future of their transformational epic.Sunday, October 7 @ 3:45 – 4:45 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Live Draw: Art Jam with Todd McFarlane, Wes Craig, and Mirka Andolfo Join us for a special live draw session, where a trio of Image’s most imaginative trailblazers each collaborate on one exquisite corpse-style illustration. Image co-founder Todd McFarlane (SPAWN), Wes Craig (DEADLY CLASS, THE GRAVEDIGGERS UNION), and Mirka Andolfo (UNNATURAL) will each contribute a segment to a kinetic digital canvas, while also discussing their work process and expansive histories. An experience designed to show off the sheer skill of Image’s line-and-shape maestros, stop by for an unforgettable experience.

SIGNINGS* AT THE IMAGE COMICS BOOTH (#1444): *TICKETED denotes signings require wristbands. Wristbands will be given out at the booth as soon as the convention floor opens on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets will be available for attendee badge holders only. There will be a limit of 3 items per person for ticketed signings unless otherwise noted. No CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE!DIE!DIE!, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED]12:00 – 12:45 PM Joshua Williamson (BIRTHRIGHT, EVOLUTION, NAILBITER) Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)1:00 – 1:45 PM Michel Fiffe (BLOODSTRIKE BRUTALISTS) Alison Sampson (WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD)2:00 – 2:45 PM Kickliy (PERDY) Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS)3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos***]

5:00 – 5:45 PM Ram V (PARADISO)

5:30 – 6:15 PM Sean Lewis, Caitlin Yarsky, Hayden Sherman (COYOTES, THE FEW)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE DIE DIE, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED] W Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran (ICE CREAM MAN)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Carla Speed McNeil, Alex De Campi, Vita Ayala (TWISTED ROMANCE) Bret Blevins (STELLAR)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti (INFINITE DARK) Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Zack Kaplan, Andrea Mutti (PORT OF EARTH) Sean Mackiewicz (GASOLINA)

3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.]

5:00 – 6:00 PM Dean Haspiel (THE RED HOOK)

5:30 – 6:30 PM Marjorie Liu (MONSTRESS) [*TICKETED]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, David O’Sullivan (ANALOG) Donny Cates (REDNECK, GOD COUNTRY)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Anthony Del Col (SON OF HITLER)

1:00 – 2:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.] Brenden Fletcher (ISOLA, MOTOR CRUSH)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Tee Franklin (JOOK JOINT, BINGO LOVE)

3:00 – 3:45 PM Pornsak Pichetshote, Aaron Campbell, José Villarrubia (INFIDEL) Andrei Bressan (BIRTHRIGHT)

4:00 – 4:45 PM Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE) [*TICKETED] Simon Stalenhag

5:00 – 5:45 PM Joe Casey, Benjamin Marra (JESUSFREAK) Nikos Koutsis (ERRAND BOYS)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 10:00 – 10:45 AM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, John McCrea (DEAD RABBIT) Simon Stalenhag

12:00 – 12:45 PM Jason Aaron, Jason Latour (SOUTHERN BASTARDS) [*TICKETED] Steve Orlando (CRUDE)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Lee Garbett (SKYWARD) Cliff Rathburn (THE WALKING DEAD)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Iván Brandon, Esad Ribić (VS) [*TICKETED] Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD) [*TICKETED]

3:00 – 3:45 PM Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)

3:00 – 4:45 PM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

IMAGE COMICS’ CREATORS IN ARTIST ALLEY: 

Aaron Campbell & Pornsak Pichetshote L-18 Alex De Campi H13 Alison Sampson F35 Amy Reeder H11 Babs Tarr D2 Bengal J22 Brandon Montclare H12 Bret Blevins H16 Brett Weldele I30 Cat Staggs I2 Charles Soule K31 Dan Panosian J32 Daniel Warren Johnson A16 Declan Shalvey K1A Donny Cates K22 Ed Brisson A22 Emi Lenox L19 Erik Larsen K10 Fábio Moon L2 Gabriel Bá L1 Geoff Shaw A15 Gerry Duggan A27 Gisèle Lagacé D16 Greg Capullo L36 Greg Tocchini H30 Jen Bartel E7 Jeremy Haun G36 Jerome Opeña L10 Jim Mahfood I17 Jim Zub A21 Jock L34 Jody LeHeup I26 Joe Casey K6 Joe Eisma E6 Joe Harris I27 John McCrea A28 Joshua Williamson L32 Klaus Janson J21 Kyle Higgins K28 Leandro Fernandez J20 Matt Hawkins K9 Matteo Scalera J30 Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss K27 Meredith Finch L33 Michael Garland A25 Mirka Andolfo L27 Nathan Fox & Sebastian Girner I25 Ronald Wimberly G11 Ryan Browne K32 Ryan Cady G20 Ryan O’Sullivan H32 Sanford Greene I29 Scott Snyder L35 Sean Gordon Murphy J1 Stephanie Hans H4 Steve Orlando L24 Steven Seagle K8 Tee Franklin D8 Tim Seeley B25 Tradd Moore E1 Tula Lotay D1 Vanesa Del Rey D39 Wes Craig I28 Zack Kaplan I24

IMAGE COMICS OFFSITE EVENTS:

Midtown Comics Signing Date: Thursday, October 4, 2018 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT Location: Midtown Comics Downtown • 64 Fulton Street, New York, New York 10038 The greatest creators from Image Comics join us from Midtown Comics Downtown on Thursday, October 4th to celebrate the release of tons of sensational new series! Meet Joe Casey, Gerry Duggan, Mirka Andolfo, David O’Sullivan, John McCrea, and Tee Franklin during our biggest signing event of the year! This is an open signing and we recommend showing up early, just to be safe. Purchase of at least one Image Comics title required. Limit 6 items signed per attendee, max 2 items per creator. See you there!NYCC@NYPL Keynote Address – Marjorie Liu Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Location: New York Public Library – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Marjorie Liu  Marjorie Liu, the superstar creator of MONSTRESS and first woman ever to win the title of “Best Writer” from the Eisner Awards, gives the keynote speech for the NYCC@NYPL Library Day events.NYCC@NYPL Panel – Deconstructing Graphic Novels to Design Classroom Curriculum with Marjorie Liu’s Monstress Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers:  Dr. Katie Monnin, Chloe Ramos-Peterson, Adam Kullberg Presented by Pop Culture Classroom, in partnership with Image Comics, this post-keynote workshop will highlight how educators and librarians can start to deconstruct Marjorie Liu’s MONSTRESS in order to build their own teaching guides and curricular resources to support teaching the title to diverse student populations.NYCC@NYPL Panel – Currents of Inspiration: From America to Europe and Back Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Celeste Auditorium Speakers:  Kickliy, Mikael, Andrew C. Robinson, JD Morvan, Sean Gordon Murphy Moderator: Heidi McDonald European and American comics are often described as two distinct branches of sequential art, which have, however, been influencing each other for decades. As more and more European creators get a star status in the US, we present a rich panel of US and EU creators who have been strongly influenced by their overseas counterparts.NYCC@NYPL Panel – Horror Comics – The Other Narrative Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Aaron Campbell, Sanford Greene, Pornsak Pichetshote, José Villarubia, David Walker Moderator: Chloe Ramos-Peterson Comics creators working in the genre of horror, thrillers, and suspense discuss how their books tackle real-world issues like racism, xenophobia, and otherism. Subjects include how creators telegraph topics, how satire can revitalize tropes, why these genres are so perfect for examining sensitive issues, why the time is right to tackle these problems through graphic literature, and how you can use these books to have productive conversations in your branch through bookclubs, lectures, and more.

NYCC@NYPL Creator Appearance – The Librarian is in Booth Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – The Librarian Is In Booth Speakers: Gerry Duggan Modeled after the Peanuts ‘Doctor is in’ stand, the ‘Librarian is in’ is NYPL’s Reading Recommendations service–with its own podcast and super cool events booth! Librarians will be offering reading recommendations and suggestions to event attendees all day, and from noon to one, special guest Gerry Duggan will be offering his own hot takes on what to read next!

NYCC@NYPL Panel – A Hero with a Thousand Faces: From Ms. Marvel to Spider-Gwen Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Location – NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Joe Schmidt, Amie Wright, Jason Latour As different iterations of classic superheroes emerge (Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen), what remains consistent is the archetypal journeys of so many heroes in comics. Using Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces this panel will discuss the universal appeal of comics and how so much of that appeal is based on readers seeing themselves in the work and following along on the hero’s journey. Using this framework, educators and librarians can incorporate the hero’s journey in teaching and discussions of classic works—like the Odyssey—into present day. CTLE credit available for eligible attendees.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Hip-Hop, Comics, and Culture Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Berger Forum Speakers: Andre LeRoy Davis, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Ron Wimberly, Stacey Robinson, Eric Orr, Deirdre Hollman Hip-hop culture emerged through a lexicon of urban folklore, graffiti art, and comics. This panel features comic creators whose work helped define the mythos and the aesthetics of hip-hop comics. Presented by The Black Comics Collective.

GNCRT Pop-Up Library Signing/Live Draw – Kickliy Date: Saturday, October 6th Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Javits Center – Booth #1A100 Speakers: Kickliy Come meet the creator of PERDY! Kickliy will be signing and doing a live-draw session at the Pop-Up Library.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Image Comics Announces Panels, Signings, And Variants For NYCC ’18 IMAGE COMICS AT NYCC 2018 #WeBelieve in creator-owned panels, con-exclusive variants, and signings with your favorite comics talent…

[graphicpolicy]

Image Comics will return to New York City this year for NYCC on Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th for New York Comic Con.

Please note: updates to the schedule may appear online during the show. Please refer to the http://www.imagecomics.com post for the most up-to-date information.

LIMITED* CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES SOLD AT THE IMAGE BOOTH (#1444): * Quantities will be limited by customer and per day on a first come, first served basis. Please ask at the Image booth about availability.

Blackbird #1- $10 + tax

Dead Rabbit #1 – $10 + tax

JesusFreak Ashcan – $1 + tax

Deadly Class #1 – FREE with any purchase at the Image booth

Exorsisters #1 Ashcan – available at Artist Alley table #D16

Infinite Dark #1 – available at Top Cow booth #AA-G20

God Country HC – Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw – $35 + tax

A.D. After Death HC – Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 2 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 3 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Kill or Be Killed HC – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips – $35 + tax

Seven to Eternity HC – Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña – $35 + tax

Ice Cream Man HC – W Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo – $35 + tax

VS HC – Iván Brandon and Es��d Ribic – $35 + tax

MERCHANDISE: * Limited quantity available for sale at the Image booth. 

BLACK SCIENCE statue, $150 (+tax)*

“I Believe in Comics” T-shirt, sm-xxxl, $24.99 (+tax)

“I Believe in Comics” tote bag, $12.00 (+tax)

DEADLY CLASS lapel pins, $10 (+tax)

PANELS HOSTED BY IMAGE COMICS:

Thursday, October 4 @ 6:30 – 7:30 PM, Room 1A18 Image Comics: We Believe in Horror Image Comics has ushered in a new era of horror with cerebral writers and visceral artists elevating sequential-art dread to claustrophobic heights. From W. Maxwell Prince’s suburban doom in ICE CREAM MAN to Pornsak Pichetshote’s reflective haunted house boiler, INFIDEL, comics are evolving terror to new personal, socially minded levels. Join a roster of the most sinister storytellers including David F. Walker (BITTER ROOT), Matthew Rosenberg (WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?), Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS), and Will Dennis (editor on MOONSHINE, WYTCHES, GIDEON FALLS) to discover how they’re altering an entire genre.

Friday, October 5 @ 2:45 – 3:45 PM, Room 1A24 Image Comics: We Believe in Vision Since its creation, Image has remained a bastion for creators to foster their biggest, boldest ideas. Join a vanguard of storytellers as they walk through their most daring projects and how they arrived there—including a surprise announcement. Join panelists Jason Aaron (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, THE GODDAMNED), Kieron Gillen (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, DIE), Stephanie Hans (DIE), Gerry Duggan(ANALOG, DEAD RABBIT), Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD), Joe Casey (MCMLXXV, JESUSFREAK), Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY) and special guests for an introspective dive into the comics defining the future of the medium.

Saturday, October 6 @ 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Presents Deadly Class 101 In 2014, writer Rick Remender and artist Wes Craig unleashed a relentless tale of brutal vengeance and discipline in DEADLY CLASS, where the homework is homicide and the lectures are lethal. The neon-drenched world of Marcus Lopez Arguello and King’s Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts will soon debut as an original television series on SYFY, as the comic series continues to crank the pressure on a group of teens training to be career assassins. Join the creators of this groundbreaking comic as Remender, Craig, editor Sebastian Girner, and colorist Jordan Boyd recount the origins, development, and future of their transformational epic.

Sunday, October 7 @ 3:45 – 4:45 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Live Draw: Art Jam with Todd McFarlane, Wes Craig, and Mirka Andolfo Join us for a special live draw session, where a trio of Image’s most imaginative trailblazers each collaborate on one exquisite corpse-style illustration. Image co-founder Todd McFarlane (SPAWN), Wes Craig (DEADLY CLASS, THE GRAVEDIGGERS UNION), and Mirka Andolfo (UNNATURAL) will each contribute a segment to a kinetic digital canvas, while also discussing their work process and expansive histories. An experience designed to show off the sheer skill of Image’s line-and-shape maestros, stop by for an unforgettable experience.

SIGNINGS* AT THE IMAGE COMICS BOOTH (#1444): *TICKETED denotes signings require wristbands. Wristbands will be given out at the booth as soon as the convention floor opens on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets will be available for attendee badge holders only. There will be a limit of 3 items per person for ticketed signings unless otherwise noted. No CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE!DIE!DIE!, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED]

12:00 – 12:45 PM Joshua Williamson (BIRTHRIGHT, EVOLUTION, NAILBITER) Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Michel Fiffe (BLOODSTRIKE BRUTALISTS) Alison Sampson (WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Kickliy (PERDY) Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS)

3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos***]

5:00 – 5:45 PM Ram V (PARADISO)

5:30 – 6:15 PM Sean Lewis, Caitlin Yarsky, Hayden Sherman (COYOTES, THE FEW)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE DIE DIE, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED] W Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran (ICE CREAM MAN)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Carla Speed McNeil, Alex De Campi, Vita Ayala (TWISTED ROMANCE) Bret Blevins (STELLAR)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti (INFINITE DARK) Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Zack Kaplan, Andrea Mutti (PORT OF EARTH) Sean Mackiewicz (GASOLINA)

3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.]

5:00 – 6:00 PM Dean Haspiel (THE RED HOOK)

5:30 – 6:30 PM Marjorie Liu (MONSTRESS) [*TICKETED]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, David O’Sullivan (ANALOG) Donny Cates (REDNECK, GOD COUNTRY)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Anthony Del Col (SON OF HITLER)

1:00 – 2:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.] Brenden Fletcher (ISOLA, MOTOR CRUSH)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Tee Franklin (JOOK JOINT, BINGO LOVE)

3:00 – 3:45 PM Pornsak Pichetshote, Aaron Campbell, José Villarrubia (INFIDEL) Andrei Bressan (BIRTHRIGHT)

4:00 – 4:45 PM Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE) [*TICKETED] Simon Stalenhag

5:00 – 5:45 PM Joe Casey, Benjamin Marra (JESUSFREAK) Nikos Koutsis (ERRAND BOYS)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 10:00 – 10:45 AM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, John McCrea (DEAD RABBIT) Simon Stalenhag

12:00 – 12:45 PM Jason Aaron, Jason Latour (SOUTHERN BASTARDS) [*TICKETED] Steve Orlando (CRUDE)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Lee Garbett (SKYWARD) Cliff Rathburn (THE WALKING DEAD)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Iván Brandon, Esad Ribić (VS) [*TICKETED] Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD) [*TICKETED]

3:00 – 3:45 PM Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)

3:00 – 4:45 PM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

IMAGE COMICS’ CREATORS IN ARTIST ALLEY: 

Aaron Campbell & Pornsak Pichetshote L-18 Alex De Campi H13 Alison Sampson F35 Amy Reeder H11 Babs Tarr D2 Bengal J22 Brandon Montclare H12 Bret Blevins H16 Brett Weldele I30 Cat Staggs I2 Charles Soule K31 Dan Panosian J32 Daniel Warren Johnson A16 Declan Shalvey K1A Donny Cates K22 Ed Brisson A22 Emi Lenox L19 Erik Larsen K10 Fábio Moon L2 Gabriel Bá L1 Geoff Shaw A15 Gerry Duggan A27 Gisèle Lagacé D16 Greg Capullo L36 Greg Tocchini H30 Jen Bartel E7 Jeremy Haun G36 Jerome Opeña L10 Jim Mahfood I17 Jim Zub A21 Jock L34 Jody LeHeup I26 Joe Casey K6 Joe Eisma E6 Joe Harris I27 John McCrea A28 Joshua Williamson L32 Klaus Janson J21 Kyle Higgins K28 Leandro Fernandez J20 Matt Hawkins K9 Matteo Scalera J30 Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss K27 Meredith Finch L33 Michael Garland A25 Mirka Andolfo L27 Nathan Fox & Sebastian Girner I25 Ronald Wimberly G11 Ryan Browne K32 Ryan Cady G20 Ryan O’Sullivan H32 Sanford Greene I29 Scott Snyder L35 Sean Gordon Murphy J1 Stephanie Hans H4 Steve Orlando L24 Steven Seagle K8 Tee Franklin D8 Tim Seeley B25 Tradd Moore E1 Tula Lotay D1 Vanesa Del Rey D39 Wes Craig I28 Zack Kaplan I24

IMAGE COMICS OFFSITE EVENTS:

Midtown Comics Signing Date: Thursday, October 4, 2018 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT Location: Midtown Comics Downtown • 64 Fulton Street, New York, New York 10038 The greatest creators from Image Comics join us from Midtown Comics Downtown on Thursday, October 4th to celebrate the release of tons of sensational new series! Meet Joe Casey, Gerry Duggan, Mirka Andolfo, David O’Sullivan, John McCrea, and Tee Franklin during our biggest signing event of the year! This is an open signing and we recommend showing up early, just to be safe. Purchase of at least one Image Comics title required. Limit 6 items signed per attendee, max 2 items per creator. See you there!

NYCC@NYPL Keynote Address – Marjorie Liu Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Location: New York Public Library – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Marjorie Liu  Marjorie Liu, the superstar creator of MONSTRESS and first woman ever to win the title of “Best Writer” from the Eisner Awards, gives the keynote speech for the NYCC@NYPL Library Day events.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Deconstructing Graphic Novels to Design Classroom Curriculum with Marjorie Liu’s Monstress Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers:  Dr. Katie Monnin, Chloe Ramos-Peterson, Adam Kullberg Presented by Pop Culture Classroom, in partnership with Image Comics, this post-keynote workshop will highlight how educators and librarians can start to deconstruct Marjorie Liu’s MONSTRESS in order to build their own teaching guides and curricular resources to support teaching the title to diverse student populations.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Currents of Inspiration: From America to Europe and Back Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Celeste Auditorium Speakers:  Kickliy, Mikael, Andrew C. Robinson, JD Morvan, Sean Gordon Murphy Moderator: Heidi McDonald European and American comics are often described as two distinct branches of sequential art, which have, however, been influencing each other for decades. As more and more European creators get a star status in the US, we present a rich panel of US and EU creators who have been strongly influenced by their overseas counterparts.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Horror Comics – The Other Narrative Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Aaron Campbell, Sanford Greene, Pornsak Pichetshote, José Villarubia, David Walker Moderator: Chloe Ramos-Peterson Comics creators working in the genre of horror, thrillers, and suspense discuss how their books tackle real-world issues like racism, xenophobia, and otherism. Subjects include how creators telegraph topics, how satire can revitalize tropes, why these genres are so perfect for examining sensitive issues, why the time is right to tackle these problems through graphic literature, and how you can use these books to have productive conversations in your branch through bookclubs, lectures, and more.

NYCC@NYPL Creator Appearance – The Librarian is in Booth Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – The Librarian Is In Booth Speakers: Gerry Duggan Modeled after the Peanuts ‘Doctor is in’ stand, the ‘Librarian is in’ is NYPL’s Reading Recommendations service–with its own podcast and super cool events booth! Librarians will be offering reading recommendations and suggestions to event attendees all day, and from noon to one, special guest Gerry Duggan will be offering his own hot takes on what to read next!

NYCC@NYPL Panel – A Hero with a Thousand Faces: From Ms. Marvel to Spider-Gwen Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Location – NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Joe Schmidt, Amie Wright, Jason Latour As different iterations of classic superheroes emerge (Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen), what remains consistent is the archetypal journeys of so many heroes in comics. Using Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces this panel will discuss the universal appeal of comics and how so much of that appeal is based on readers seeing themselves in the work and following along on the hero’s journey. Using this framework, educators and librarians can incorporate the hero’s journey in teaching and discussions of classic works—like the Odyssey—into present day. CTLE credit available for eligible attendees.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Hip-Hop, Comics, and Culture Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Berger Forum Speakers: Andre LeRoy Davis, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Ron Wimberly, Stacey Robinson, Eric Orr, Deirdre Hollman Hip-hop culture emerged through a lexicon of urban folklore, graffiti art, and comics. This panel features comic creators whose work helped define the mythos and the aesthetics of hip-hop comics. Presented by The Black Comics Collective.

GNCRT Pop-Up Library Signing/Live Draw – Kickliy Date: Saturday, October 6th Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Javits Center – Booth #1A100 Speakers: Kickliy Come meet the creator of PERDY! Kickliy will be signing and doing a live-draw session at the Pop-Up Library.

#NYCC 2018: Image Brings Panels, Exclusives, and Signings! #comics #nycc18 #nycc2018 Image Comics will return to New York City this year for NYCC on Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th for…

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Image Comics will return to New York City this year for NYCC on Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th.

Please note: updates to the schedule may appear online during the show. Please refer to the http://www.imagecomics.com post for the most up-to-date information.

LIMITED* CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES SOLD AT THE IMAGE BOOTH (#1444): * Quantities will be limited by customer and per day on a first come, first served basis. Please ask at the Image booth about availability.

Blackbird #1- $10 + tax

Dead Rabbit #1 – $10 + tax

JesusFreak Ashcan – $1 + tax

Deadly Class #1 – FREE with any purchase at the Image booth

Exorsisters #1 Ashcan – available at Artist Alley table #D16

Infinite Dark #1 – available at Top Cow booth #AA-G20

God Country HC – Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw – $35 + tax

A.D. After Death HC – Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 2 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Monstress Volume 3 HC – Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda – $35 + tax

Kill or Be Killed HC – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips – $35 + tax

Seven to Eternity HC – Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña – $35 + tax

Ice Cream Man HC – W Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo – $35 + tax

VS HC – Iván Brandon and Esád Ribic – $35 + tax

MERCHANDISE: * Limited quantity available for sale at the Image booth. 

BLACK SCIENCE statue, $150 (+tax)*

“I Believe in Comics” T-shirt, sm-xxxl, $24.99 (+tax)

“I Believe in Comics” tote bag, $12.00 (+tax)

DEADLY CLASS lapel pins, $10 (+tax)

PANELS HOSTED BY IMAGE COMICS:

Thursday, October 4 @ 6:30 – 7:30 PM, Room 1A18 Image Comics: We Believe in Horror Image Comics has ushered in a new era of horror with cerebral writers and visceral artists elevating sequential-art dread to claustrophobic heights. From W. Maxwell Prince’s suburban doom in ICE CREAM MAN to Pornsak Pichetshote’s reflective haunted house boiler, INFIDEL, comics are evolving terror to new personal, socially minded levels. Join a roster of the most sinister storytellers including David F. Walker (BITTER ROOT), Matthew Rosenberg (WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?), Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS), and Will Dennis (editor on MOONSHINE, WYTCHES, GIDEON FALLS) to discover how they’re altering an entire genre.Friday, October 5 @ 2:45 – 3:45 PM, Room 1A24 Image Comics: We Believe in Vision Since its creation, Image has remained a bastion for creators to foster their biggest, boldest ideas. Join a vanguard of storytellers as they walk through their most daring projects and how they arrived there—including a surprise announcement. Join panelists Jason Aaron (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, THE GODDAMNED), Kieron Gillen (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, DIE), Stephanie Hans (DIE), Gerry Duggan (ANALOG, DEAD RABBIT), Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD), Joe Casey (MCMLXXV, JESUSFREAK), Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY) and special guests for an introspective dive into the comics defining the future of the medium.

Saturday, October 6 @ 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Presents Deadly Class 101 In 2014, writer Rick Remender and artist Wes Craig unleashed a relentless tale of brutal vengeance and discipline in DEADLY CLASS, where the homework is homicide and the lectures are lethal. The neon-drenched world of Marcus Lopez Arguello and King’s Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts will soon debut as an original television series on SYFY, as the comic series continues to crank the pressure on a group of teens training to be career assassins. Join the creators of this groundbreaking comic as Remender, Craig, editor Sebastian Girner, and colorist Jordan Boyd recount the origins, development, and future of their transformational epic.

Sunday, October 7 @ 3:45 – 4:45 PM, Room 1A21 Image Comics Live Draw: Art Jam with Todd McFarlane, Wes Craig, and Mirka Andolfo Join us for a special live draw session, where a trio of Image’s most imaginative trailblazers each collaborate on one exquisite corpse-style illustration. Image co-founder Todd McFarlane (SPAWN), Wes Craig (DEADLY CLASS, THE GRAVEDIGGERS UNION), and Mirka Andolfo (UNNATURAL) will each contribute a segment to a kinetic digital canvas, while also discussing their work process and expansive histories. An experience designed to show off the sheer skill of Image’s line-and-shape maestros, stop by for an unforgettable experience.

SIGNINGS* AT THE IMAGE COMICS BOOTH (#1444): *TICKETED denotes signings require wristbands. Wristbands will be given out at the booth as soon as the convention floor opens on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets will be available for attendee badge holders only. There will be a limit of 3 items per person for ticketed signings unless otherwise noted. No CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE!DIE!DIE!, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED]12:00 – 12:45 PM Joshua Williamson (BIRTHRIGHT, EVOLUTION, NAILBITER) Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Michel Fiffe (BLOODSTRIKE BRUTALISTS) Alison Sampson (WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Kickliy (PERDY) Dennis Culver (BURNOUTS)

3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos***]

5:00 – 5:45 PM Ram V (PARADISO)

5:30 – 6:15 PM Sean Lewis, Caitlin Yarsky, Hayden Sherman (COYOTES, THE FEW)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 11:00 – 11:45 AM Robert Kirkman (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, DIE DIE DIE, OBLIVION SONG, OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA) [*TICKETED] W Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran (ICE CREAM MAN)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Carla Speed McNeil, Alex De Campi, Vita Ayala (TWISTED ROMANCE) Bret Blevins (STELLAR)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti (INFINITE DARK) Daniel Warren Johnson (MURDER FALCON, EXTREMITY)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Zack Kaplan, Andrea Mutti (PORT OF EARTH) Sean Mackiewicz (GASOLINA)

3:30 – 5:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.]

5:00 – 6:00 PM Dean Haspiel (THE RED HOOK)

5:30 – 6:30 PM Marjorie Liu (MONSTRESS) [*TICKETED]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, David O’Sullivan (ANALOG) Donny Cates (REDNECK, GOD COUNTRY)

12:00 – 12:45 PM Anthony Del Col (SON OF HITLER)

1:00 – 2:00 PM Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) [*TICKETED. Limit ONE item per person; no CGC, CBCS, or other witnessing/grading; 13+ age limit; no sketches; attendee badge holders only; no photos.] Brenden Fletcher (ISOLA, MOTOR CRUSH)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Tee Franklin (JOOK JOINT, BINGO LOVE)

3:00 – 3:45 PM Pornsak Pichetshote, Aaron Campbell, José Villarrubia (INFIDEL) Andrei Bressan (BIRTHRIGHT)

4:00 – 4:45 PM Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE) [*TICKETED] Simon Stalenhag

5:00 – 5:45 PM Joe Casey, Benjamin Marra (JESUSFREAK) Nikos Koutsis (ERRAND BOYS)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 10:00 – 10:45 AM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

11:00 – 11:45 AM Gerry Duggan, John McCrea (DEAD RABBIT) Simon Stalenhag

12:00 – 12:45 PM Jason Aaron, Jason Latour (SOUTHERN BASTARDS) [*TICKETED] Steve Orlando (CRUDE)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Lee Garbett (SKYWARD) Cliff Rathburn (THE WALKING DEAD)

2:00 – 2:45 PM Iván Brandon, Esad Ribić (VS) [*TICKETED] Jen Bartel (BLACKBIRD) [*TICKETED]

3:00 – 3:45 PM Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST)

3:00 – 4:45 PM Benedict Wong [*TICKETED]

IMAGE COMICS’ CREATORS IN ARTIST ALLEY: 

Aaron Campbell & Pornsak Pichetshote L-18 Alex De Campi H13 Alison Sampson F35 Amy Reeder H11 Babs Tarr D2 Bengal J22 Brandon Montclare H12 Bret Blevins H16 Brett Weldele I30 Cat Staggs I2 Charles Soule K31 Dan Panosian J32 Daniel Warren Johnson A16 Declan Shalvey K1A Donny Cates K22 Ed Brisson A22 Emi Lenox L19 Erik Larsen K10 Fábio Moon L2 Gabriel Bá L1 Geoff Shaw A15 Gerry Duggan A27 Gisèle Lagacé D16 Greg Capullo L36 Greg Tocchini H30 Jen Bartel E7 Jeremy Haun G36 Jerome Opeña L10 Jim Mahfood I17 Jim Zub A21 Jock L34 Jody LeHeup I26 Joe Casey K6 Joe Eisma E6 Joe Harris I27 John McCrea A28 Joshua Williamson L32 Klaus Janson J21 Kyle Higgins K28 Leandro Fernandez J20 Matt Hawkins K9 Matteo Scalera J30 Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss K27 Meredith Finch L33 Michael Garland A25 Mirka Andolfo L27 Nathan Fox & Sebastian Girner I25 Ronald Wimberly G11 Ryan Browne K32 Ryan Cady G20 Ryan O’Sullivan H32 Sanford Greene I29 Scott Snyder L35 Sean Gordon Murphy J1 Stephanie Hans H4 Steve Orlando L24 Steven Seagle K8 Tee Franklin D8 Tim Seeley B25 Tradd Moore E1 Tula Lotay D1 Vanesa Del Rey D39 Wes Craig I28 Zack Kaplan I24

IMAGE COMICS OFFSITE EVENTS:

Midtown Comics Signing Date: Thursday, October 4, 2018 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT Location: Midtown Comics Downtown • 64 Fulton Street, New York, New York 10038 The greatest creators from Image Comics join us from Midtown Comics Downtown on Thursday, October 4th to celebrate the release of tons of sensational new series! Meet Joe Casey, Gerry Duggan, Mirka Andolfo, David O’Sullivan, John McCrea, and Tee Franklin during our biggest signing event of the year! This is an open signing and we recommend showing up early, just to be safe. Purchase of at least one Image Comics title required. Limit 6 items signed per attendee, max 2 items per creator. See you there!NYCC@NYPL Keynote Address – Marjorie Liu Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Location: New York Public Library – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Marjorie Liu  Marjorie Liu, the superstar creator of MONSTRESS and first woman ever to win the title of “Best Writer” from the Eisner Awards, gives the keynote speech for the NYCC@NYPL Library Day events.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Deconstructing Graphic Novels to Design Classroom Curriculum with Marjorie Liu’s Monstress Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers:  Dr. Katie Monnin, Chloe Ramos-Peterson, Adam Kullberg Presented by Pop Culture Classroom, in partnership with Image Comics, this post-keynote workshop will highlight how educators and librarians can start to deconstruct Marjorie Liu’s MONSTRESS in order to build their own teaching guides and curricular resources to support teaching the title to diverse student populations.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Currents of Inspiration: From America to Europe and Back Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Celeste Auditorium Speakers:  Kickliy, Mikael, Andrew C. Robinson, JD Morvan, Sean Gordon Murphy Moderator: Heidi McDonald European and American comics are often described as two distinct branches of sequential art, which have, however, been influencing each other for decades. As more and more European creators get a star status in the US, we present a rich panel of US and EU creators who have been strongly influenced by their overseas counterparts.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Horror Comics – The Other Narrative Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Aaron Campbell, Sanford Greene, Pornsak Pichetshote, José Villarubia, David Walker Moderator: Chloe Ramos-Peterson Comics creators working in the genre of horror, thrillers, and suspense discuss how their books tackle real-world issues like racism, xenophobia, and otherism. Subjects include how creators telegraph topics, how satire can revitalize tropes, why these genres are so perfect for examining sensitive issues, why the time is right to tackle these problems through graphic literature, and how you can use these books to have productive conversations in your branch through bookclubs, lectures, and more.

NYCC@NYPL Creator Appearance – The Librarian is in Booth Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – The Librarian Is In Booth Speakers: Gerry Duggan Modeled after the Peanuts ‘Doctor is in’ stand, the ‘Librarian is in’ is NYPL’s Reading Recommendations service–with its own podcast and super cool events booth! Librarians will be offering reading recommendations and suggestions to event attendees all day, and from noon to one, special guest Gerry Duggan will be offering his own hot takes on what to read next!

NYCC@NYPL Panel – A Hero with a Thousand Faces: From Ms. Marvel to Spider-Gwen Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Location – NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Bartos Forum Speakers: Joe Schmidt, Amie Wright, Jason Latour As different iterations of classic superheroes emerge (Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen), what remains consistent is the archetypal journeys of so many heroes in comics. Using Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces this panel will discuss the universal appeal of comics and how so much of that appeal is based on readers seeing themselves in the work and following along on the hero’s journey. Using this framework, educators and librarians can incorporate the hero’s journey in teaching and discussions of classic works—like the Odyssey—into present day. CTLE credit available for eligible attendees.

NYCC@NYPL Panel – Hip-Hop, Comics, and Culture Date: Thursday, October 4th Time: 2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Location: NYPL – 476 5th Avenue – Berger Forum Speakers: Andre LeRoy Davis, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Ron Wimberly, Stacey Robinson, Eric Orr, Deirdre Hollman Hip-hop culture emerged through a lexicon of urban folklore, graffiti art, and comics. This panel features comic creators whose work helped define the mythos and the aesthetics of hip-hop comics. Presented by The Black Comics Collective.

GNCRT Pop-Up Library Signing/Live Draw – Kickliy Date: Saturday, October 6th Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Javits Center – Booth #1A100 Speakers: Kickliy Come meet the creator of PERDY! Kickliy will be signing and doing a live-draw session at the Pop-Up Library.

Image Comics at NYCC 2018 Image Comics will return to New York City this year for NYCC on Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th.