#(Archie notwithstanding)

[sage-nebula]

Whispangle moments big & small in IDW #61, complete with a canonical lesbian flag background. HAPPY PRIDE!!! 🧡🤍💖

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

I know Leo is your favorite. I am curious what’s your opinion on Raph?

I love him! I actually love all the guys pretty much equally, it's just that I love Leo a tiny bit more.

The thing about Raph, though, is in some of the iterations he is reduced down to a base "angry guy" personality; and I prefer it when the writers tell us why he is angry, and show more aspects of who he is.

For example, the "why" being, as Splinter put it in my story "Something Wicked", when Raph got angry and punches things after... well, that's a spoiler:

"I am sorry if someone has hurt you in their anger," he said, placing his touch on the teen's arm. "But I swear to you that Raphael would never do so. He is first and foremost a protector, and he believes at this moment that he has failed in that charge. Would you feel any different, if one person you loved was missing, and two others unwell?"

He wants to protect people; that is his primary personality trait, not "angry guy". That is doubtless why he became Nightwatcher in the 2007 movie. It wasn't because he wanted to go out there bashing heads in (that was just a bonus), it was because he wanted to protect people, and when Leo left they stopped doing that. Interestingly, the things that Leo found distasteful about the Nightwatcher were very much the same things that Leo himself was doing in the jungle in South America, but it seems that Raph was actually more conscious of not killing anyone in the process (you can't tell me that Leo let that guy in the Jeep actually live... not with that blood-curdling scream).

But, yeah, Raph and Leo are actually very much alike in that they are protectors of others, except that Leo goes about it very differently. The jungle example notwithstanding, in most versions Leo is the big brother that goes to his younger sibling's bullies and gives them a calm warning; Raph is the big brother that goes to his younger sibling's bullies and pushes them against the wall and tells them to back the hell off or deal with him... then he goes home and smacks the younger sibling across the head.

He can be very soft when he wants to be, though, so those soft moments have much more of an impact. Like in Tales Of Leo in 2k3, when he was the only one to cry when he told his story; or in both Bayverse and MM when he confessed his love for his brothers when he thought they were all going to die; or how well he got along with little Yoshi in TMNT 3; or when, in the 2007 movie, he told Splinter about Leo getting taken; or in Batman Vs. TMNT when he lectured Batman about the importance of family. But one of the most heart-wrenching moments had to be in Same As It Never Was when he was dying and used his last ounces of strength to crawl to Leo's side.

And as I said, I love it when his other interests are put on display. Like when he is shown knitting and carving in Bayverse, or working on his bike in 2k3, or playing video games with the guys in whatever iteration. In the future world of the TMNT Archie run, he is shown to be married and runs a restaurant where he is the chef. And though it is not an interest, knowing that he is afraid of insects makes him seem more down-to-earth and less of just the tough turtle.

Some of his "traits", I must admit, are simply headcanons to me. Because of his protective nature, I like to think of him as a gifted medic (albeit one whose bedside manner could use some working on), whose medical knowledge is second only to Don's. Also, I picture him being able to speak Spanish, which he learned by hanging out with people in the Bronx (also where he picked up his distinct-in-the-family accent). Both of those things, again, I wrote into "Something Wicked", which even has a whole chapter about Raph called "The Protector".

So, yeah, I think Raph is awesome! I just wish we could see more of it onscreen, you know? I am really looking forward to how Tales Of The TMNT utilizes him!

Anyways, thank you for the ask! Sorry the answer was so long!

[riverdale-retread]

Do you think Jarchie is a viable ship?

To answer the question with a question: What does it mean for a ship to be viable? Is unrequited love or sexual desire also 'viable'? If the love is unrequited but sexual activity happens between the lover and the beloved, does that make it viable?

My take is that Jughead is indeed in romantic and sexual love with Archie throughout most of the show, but that it's unrequited, because (sobbing for Jughead) Archie isn't attracted to what Jughead has to offer. They're at cross purposes for what they need and want from the other one.

Remainder under the cut because I couldn't stop talking.

Jughead is obsessed with Archie, but his love is very twisted and dark because it's the love of someone odds with his own longings. The one adult who actually understands what makes Jughead tick is his mother, so her assuming that Jughead has finally hooked up with Archie, then dragged him out of Riverdale to come running to her about it in Season 3 is a major clue to me. Jughead acting like she's being mean to him is another sign of that twisted complicatedness that he has about Archie. Jughead seethes about Archie when he's not actively imagining exactly how those abs flex when he's giving it to Veronica. As an adult, in the alternate universe, Jughead says "I love you" to Archie specifically when he knows he looks less than appetitzing at the fair - stuffed to the gills, crumbs all over his face, generally ridiculous lookin' - because he wants Archie to say, Even like this, I want you, but Archie isn't someone who would.

Archie consistently has an approach to sex, attraction, and touch that's uncomplicated, and almost polar opposite to Jughead - sensual, spontaneous, joyful. Archie moreover enacts noblesse oblige about being physically very beautiful - he just calmly accepts, without braggadocio, that people want to touch him and kiss him and look at him naked. If he wants to kiss a pretty girl - and he's had so many, omg, Valerie, Veronica, Betty, Josie - he just does, after he gets her permission. If a pretty boy wants to kiss him for being his adorable himself (Kevin, more than once), he accepts it with a smile.

If Jughead could have just made the move, the way Archie makes the move on people he likes or even in the This is a joke heeheehaha ... unless you want it for real way that Kevin kisses him in public, Jughead and Archie could have totally been a canon couple (Cold Sprouts' contract notwithstanding). But you see, Jughead isn't someone who can do that. Archie even tries to help him make the move - that's what I see the "East Village truck speech" being - but Jughead rejects the opportunity. There's too much pain there for Jughead, about Archie, in addition to the love and desire - envy, feelings of betrayal, inferiority and superiority, as well as competitiveness, frustration, possessiveness, and entitlement.

What Archie wants is what he had with S7 Reggie - have a fun sexual night together, be really pleased with each other about it, then afterwards watch a beautiful sunrise and reaffirm mutual affection. None of the Jugheads is capable of interacting with him like that, at all.

[thankskenpenders]

I somehow completely forgot today was the day, but today is, in fact, Archie Sonic's 30th anniversary. (TKP also turns 8 in a few days)

Well... maybe today's the day? The main Sonic wikis list November 24th, 1992 as the release date for issue #0 of the original pilot miniseries, while Sonic Retro lists November 4th as the date based on an ancient news group post about comic releases from that week, and Wikipedia lists November 22nd, which was... a Sunday? And of course the cover date is way off and says it was for February 1993. Whatever! It was 30 years ago this month, is the point. So I should say something

While this blog has become sort of a go-to source for learning about the many weird and bad parts of the series, Archie Sonic will always mean a lot to me. It was the first comic book I started actively following as a kid, and it was what really introduced me to the world and characters of Sonic. I might have joined during one of the worst eras of the series, but the expansive mythos that had been built up over the prior decade really grabbed me. I'd pore over Penders' bullshit character bios and take them as gospel. I'd trace over panels to make Shrinky Dinks. For a time I cherished the climactic 10th anniversary issue, #125, as my prized possession, keeping it in my parents' fireproof box meant more for things like, you know, the deed to our house. I fell out of following it in middle school, but it was pretty crucial in shaping my tastes. I can easily trace a direct line from the stuff I'm working on now back to Archie Sonic

It's been almost six years now since the series was canceled. At the time it was hard to believe this was even possible. Archie Sonic was an institution. Everything else came and went, but "those weird Sonic comics with their own continuity that were still using the SatAM characters" were eternal. At this point I've made peace with it, in no small part due to the existence of the IDW series. But even if they're gone and never coming back (continually delayed projects from a certain writer notwithstanding), they're definitely not forgotten. I still see people drawing fanart, sharing individual moments, coming up with AUs to fix things that didn't work, redesigning the cast to fit in with Sega's Sonic. And I'd be remiss not to mention that we just got the first mainline Sonic game ever written by an Archie Sonic writer. A game that has some surprising parallels with certain pre-reboot Archie material, intentional or not. (Given the lawsuits and Sonic Team's disinterest in Archie, I'm guessing "not," but it's certainly there.) The spirit of that series lives on in small ways, even if characters like Sally and Rotor are currently relegated to fanon

Archie Sonic remains one of the largest branches of the franchise, rivaled in scope only by the games themselves. And people are still coming back to it, either as returning readers or as new fans discovering it for the first time. I'm happy to have been a small part of that

[sholb]

all kinds of fucked up implications for wes's opinion on shiv and shiv's place in the project like she calls him the best agent and yet we see him get physically bested by pretty much everyone he encounters in close combat (and when archie insists that she COULD beat him, shiv simply tells her he knows). shiv is even defined by the mistake of shooting the wrong man (whether this is actually his fault notwithstanding, he is blamed by himself and others for it, the narrative places that weight on him). wes even says she's not sure she would have recruited him if he wasn't already a mutant. so it begs the question, what does wes mean when she says that shiv is the best agent they have? why does she recruit a teenager in the first place? why does she recruit him at the moment he tries to save his family (the conclusion of this attempt left ambiguous)? she says the one thing shiv has never been able to do is "live in the world" and she says this like it's a failing on shiv's part and not a consequence of what she actually truly values in shiv: his commitment. to the cause. to his own morality, which is conveniently molded by and now intrinsically tied to the project. she uses the words "naive, scared. arrogant" to describe him as a kid. was it naivete or arrogance that led shiv to try to save george on his own? is compassion just a synonym? it's about how wes doesn't take responsibility, not for shiv, not for turning back time. and how shiv takes responsibility even when there's nothing he could have done, even when everyone else is just as culpable.

[skaruresonic]

I've also encountered stray arguments online which call for people not to treat Nine the same as Tails because they're not the same person.

First of all, can Sonic get the memo?

Second, it only took Games!Sonic like three gentle nudges at most to get the memo that his friends' Storybook counterparts were their own people, some of his jokes notwithstanding; however, it seems Prime!Sonic still doesn't get it;

Third, then why not make Nine an OC? Why staple Tails' face on top? People are likely treating him like a wayward Tails because Nine's entire premise, IIRC, is that he is what Tails might have turned into had Sonic not been there to shape him into who he is today, which, Fourth, makes no fucking sense because it implies Nine had these latent genocidal tendencies all along, suppressed by Sonic's love and light uwu. And idk about you but that's pretty insulting towards Tails. The reason you have to pretend Nine and Tails are different is that you'd have to, by proxy, admit that Tails could potentially become genocidal without the grace of Sonic.

And I'm not about to subscribe to your Calvinist brand of bullshit. Didn't buy it back when Archie tried it with King Shadow, don't buy it now.

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #2 and Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) #25

Both of these issues were stand-alone Hulk and Spider-Man team-up stories. The Marvel Team-Up issue was published in September 1979 and was written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Sal Buscema and Alan Kupperberg, and inked by Jack Abel. The Marvel Treasury Edition issue was published in December 1979 and was plotted by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo, scripted by just Bill Mantlo, penciled by Herb Trimpe, and inked by Bruce Patterson.

I thought that both of these issues had a great Hulk voice and entertaining interactions between the Hulk and Spider-Man, who I think is the best character for the Hulk to be paired with in a team-up because they play off of each other so well.

The Marvel Team-Up issue also had a good amount of Bruce in it because it focused on nuclear bombs, which is a topic he's actually well-suited for as a character but one I haven't seen him used that much for since the 60s. He has been used in stories intended to tell readers important messages about other topics, but that always falls kind of flat for me because it feels disjointed as he's not really a 'person' whose opinion I'd value on other topics; it's not like Bruce really has his life together. In this story Bruce gets kidnapped for assistance in stopping a nuclear bomb threat to the United States, and he at first tells the man "If you're trying to kidnap me for the atomic secrets inside my head, you've bitten off more than you can chew," which I thought was interesting as I hadn't thought about someone attempting that before. Back in the early 60s, when Bruce still had his job as a civilian scientist specializing in gamma radiation in the U.S. military, it was common for his strange unexplainable disappearances from transforming into the Hulk to be taken as evidence that he was secretly a spy for a foreign power. Now he's well-known that that's not what was happening, but I could see him being loose as a fugitive from the government being thought of as a security risk, the Hulk notwithstanding.

At the conclusion of the story, Bruce talks about the usage of nuclear bombs as "the death of everything. The horror every nuclear weapons physicist has lived with since the first a-bomb test at Alamogordo… the horror which cost Bruce Banner his humanity." Bruce, of course, was transformed into the Hulk during the testing of a nuclear bomb he designed. I think it would be interesting to explore his changing perspective on his work with the military over time, as he presumably was more positive about nuclear bombs when he was actively working on them, and he actually kept his job after the accident and only fully left it when him being the Hulk was revealed. Even so, despite his fugitive criminal status he's had some friendly interactions with the military over the years. This story ends him questioning whether or not we have the courage to "rise up and say 'no more bombs'" and "learn to live in peace with one another."

Iron Man (1968) #12-14 and Captain Marvel (1968) #14

In this batch of solo Iron Man comics I went from January 1969 to March 1969. I also read that Captain Marvel issue- which was written by Gary Friedrich, penciled by Frank Springer, and inked by Vince Colletta- because it was mentioned explicitly in the endnote of Iron Man #14. Issues #12-14 of Iron Man were written by Archie Goodwin. Issues #12 and #13 were penciled by George Tuska and inked by Johnny Craig, and then issue #14 was both penciled and inked by Johnny Craig as a one issue stand-in for George Tuska. I haven’t had any complaints about George Tuska’s work so far, but I really liked the art in that one issue drawn entirely by Johnny Craig and I definitely would have enjoyed him penciling more issues of the book.

Tony and Janice's relationship in this batch of issues went from them seeing each other and being on positive terms to Tony questioning whether or not it was right for him to date when his emotions for her could effect his decision-making as Iron Man and when he could die at any time due to his weak heart and then ultimately deciding that, while he really wants to be with her, he can't. It's probably worth noting that Janice risked her life for Tony's sake back in issue #11. Something had to happen as Janice had been portrayed as this perfect girl that was always understanding and forgave Tony when his Iron Man responsibilities made him look bad (but not before we got to see Tony freaking out about it, of course) and that couldn't just go on in circles forever without getting boring. But I'm thinking (and hoping) that she won't be written out of the story completely since her company had been referred to as a competitor of Tony's and she could still appear in the book with that reasoning but as someone who Tony has uniquely conflicted feelings about. Though it's also worth noting how in the Captain Marvel issue, which took place right after the end of Iron Man #14 and so right after Tony's "How I long to take her in my arms, confide in her- tell her everything about me! And yet, I can't!" internal monologue, Tony was doing his playboy flirting with a random woman.

Iron Man gets mind-controlled to fight Captain Marvel in the Captain Marvel issue, a problem that is solved by Tony just having a heart attack in the middle of the fight and Captain Marvel telling the soldiers he'd been having a stand-off with before Iron Man arrived to get him to a hospital rather than continuing on. Tony wakes up in the ambulance and it was very amusing to me how he handled the situation by pretending that his very real heart attack was just him faking a medical emergency to get out of the fight because Captain Marvel was too tough for him.

The Avengers (1963) #1-5 and #1.5 (published in September 1999) and Fantastic Four (1961) #25-26

Within the original Avengers issues, all of which were written by Stan Lee and penciled by Jack Kirby, I went from from July 1963 to March 1934. Issue #1 was inked by Dick Ayers, issues #2-3 and #5 by Paul Reinman, and issue #4 was inked by George Roussos. The #1.5 issue of The Avengers was published in September 1999 and was written by Roger Stern and penciled and inked by Bruce Timm. And the two issues of Fantastic Four were also written by Stan Lee and penciled by Jack Kirby and both were inked by George Roussos.

This batch of issues was just me rereading what of the Avengers I'd already read back at the beginning of my Hulk readthrough before I continue on with them for the sake of my Iron Man readthrough. I'm in 1969 with Iron Man right now but have only been reading through his solo comics and not all of his appearances in order, and I've reached the point where it's actually really uncomfortable for me to not be getting the full context of his portrayal and characterization and relationships. I had decided to just stick with his solo comics when I first began with Iron Man because I wasn't as invested in him as I was with the Hulk and because I hadn't enjoyed these issues that much when I first read them. But I was really not that into Iron Man's solo comics when I first started them and then found how they evolved to be really compelling, so I'm hoping that these Avengers comics will also evolve into something more appealing to me, even though I'm not ordinarily into team books.

In this batch of issues it was the Hulk that had the most compelling portrayal, and behind him Captain America, and then Rick Jones. It might end up being the case that I get interested in Captain America too and/or uncomfortable reading through these issues and not getting the full context of his character, so this could spark me beginning reading through all of Captain America's appearances too. It'll also be good to be seeing the Rick Jones appearances that I missed because they were when he wasn't with the Hulk, though I don't think I'm interested in reading his appearances with Captain Marvel in the late 60s just yet, so I would at the very least stop there with him when that comes up.

DC Comics:

The New Champion of Shazam! (2022) #4

This issue, which was published in January 2023, was the final issue of a 4-issue miniseries that was entirely written by Josie Campbell and drawn by Doc Shaner. My feelings about this series are overall very positive, though I’ll say that this final issue didn’t quite stick the landing for me because the final big villain confrontation was a bit unsatisfying and, more importantly, the end of the series was a tie-in to an event, rather than a proper conclusion to this story. It’s not that this issue didn’t work as a conclusion to the series at all, but I think that the first issue (and, to an extent, the marketing before it) built up Mary’s away-at-college experience and then never delivered on that front. For example, aside from the cover of the second issue, Mary’s college roommates that she meets in the first issue are never seen or mentioned again. I would have liked to have seen Mary heading back to Vassar or at least making tangible plans to. I want to see this story that this book put in my head and made me want in the first place.

the Shazam Family story in Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods (2023) #1

This story, from an anthology one-shot that was published in January 2023, was written by Josie Campbell and drawn by Caitlin Yarksy. I was honestly not very happy with this story. The positive characterization of Billy didn't make an impact on me because I have no real attachment to this version of him. What did effect me though was the portrayal of the Wizard Shazam, in that it really bothered me. I think it's unfortunate that this negative characterization of him, which is so at odds with how previous versions of him were characterized, is not only being maintained in this new era for the characters, but is being emphasized in how he's built up here as an antagonist against Billy and Mary for the upcoming Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods (2023) miniseries. It was also, to a lesser degree, an issue for me that the Rock of Eternity was used in this story as an antagonistic force against Billy and Mary as well, even though it's partially because of the Lazarus Planet event corrupting things, because it's also partially because of how it was used back in the Shazam! (2021) miniseries. These are integral parts of these characters' mythos, and making gradual slight adjustments over the years from the post-New 52 reboot version of Billy's original harsh characterization in Shazam! (2013) doesn't change how the character's fundamental concept was based around rejecting the original's. And that's inherently still the case, because these elements aren't out of sight and out of mind, but still very present in how they're approaching this character and the stories they're telling with him. It's not that the character is forever tainted and I'll never be able to enjoy a main continuity story with him again, but that nothing that's been published in a comic book so far has been able to carry on my love for the classic character to this one. I would actually consider myself to be a lot less picky than other classic Captain Marvel fans, but I think that not portrayed the Wizard so negatively is pretty bare minimum.

Human Target: Final Cut (2002)

This graphic novel, published in May 2002, was written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Javier Pulido. While it follows up the Human Target (1999) 4-issue miniseries that I didn’t much care for, I was surprised at how much Human Target: Final Cut genuinely really worked for me. A driving reason for that was because Final Cut actually primarily focuses on Christopher Chance as the main character, whereas the preceding miniseries divided more of its time between different characters original to it, none of whom I was convinced to be interested in. I also thought that the approach Peter Milligan is taking with the concept of the Human Target as a character that impersonates people having identity issues was better executed here.

While I prefer Tom King and Greg Smallwood’s The Human Target (2021) as a mature take on the original 70s iteration of the character, outside of that specific context I find the characterization of Christopher Chance in Final Cut compelling. The reason why I prefer Tom King’s approach to Christopher Chance is that it expands on how that he specifically impersonates people who are slated to die and how his backstory of watching his dad be murdered in a degrading away as a child effects him; whereas Peter Milligan’s approach is in exploring an identity issue that, while based on the concept of the character of an impersonator, wasn’t suggested in the original comics and (so far) doesn’t make any use of his original backstory. Also, the usage of noir tropes and the art style in The Human Target makes it feel more like an evolved take on an older character, whereas Final Cut feels like early 2000s comic.

The bulk of this book is spent with Christopher impersonating someone he killed to try to figure out where they might have hidden a kid they kidnapped for ransom. At the very beginning of the book on a different job, we see Christopher’s skills in understanding the people impersonates (which go so far that he’s able to genuinely struggle to understand that he’s not actually them) presented in an almost supernatural way when he’s able to inexplicable replicate parts of a client’s life that they didn’t tell him about. Of course, impersonating a person that’s dead and that you’ve never met is a bit trickier, and I liked how the story approached Christopher trying to learn about them and then integrate himself into their life. But I particularly liked the conclusion of the story, which has Christopher have to impersonate another man which quickly goes awry as he did not actually understand him at all and the unexpected repercussions of his misdeeds are misdirected and catch up to Chris. There’s a part earlier in the book where Chris shows a bit of self-awareness and makes a lot of assumptions based off of a photo and then thinks to himself “For Christ’s sake, Chance. What horseshit! You can’t tell that from a photograph! You’re making it up!” But that self-awareness doesn’t last as he explains some later behavior to himself while impersonating the aforementioned misjudged man as “For a moment you thought you were in love with her. Because at that moment you were Frank White. But Christopher Chance isn’t in love with her. He’s just out of love with the rest of his life.” At this moment Christopher is trying to grapple with his concerning though patterns directly, but, while so much of this book is spent on the difficulty of fully understanding exactly what a person thought and did just from what was around them in their life, he can’t let go of the comforting belief that he actually becomes the people he impersonates, and then it’s his fixation on Frank White’s life and the belief that it’s ideal that creates problems for him.

Judging from the ending though, it doesn’t seem that Christopher learned his lesson from that harshly-presented revelation. I’m now very interested in reading the follow-up ongoing series. Though I’m not sure I’m going to be able to finish all of Christopher Chance’s appearances before the final issue of The Human Target comes out on the 28th.

Eternity Comics:

Spicy Tales (1988) #8-11

Spicy Tales was a series that has so far reprinted comic strips from Frank Armer’s line of pulp magazines, which otherwise primarily contained text stories that had some accompanying art. These comics were unique as the editorial by John Wooley in issue #6 explains, quoting Will Murray that “Sexy comics strips were a staple in the girlie pulps before the Spicies came along- in mags like Pep, Breezy Stories and College Humor. But they usually revolved around college girl situations, not genre stuff.” While the comics from the 30s contained many scenes of women in suggestive compromising scenarios, the action beginning as they happened to be in a state of undress or them being stripped and erotically tortured when kidnapped and such, the comics from the 40 and- starting with this batch of issues- the early 50s were noticeably less so; the content becoming more and more subdued over time in respond to outside pressure.

And the rest of this comics round-up is gonna be under a cut for the discussion of those 'spicy' comics, which also contained some racist depictions:

Sally the Sleuth

There was one 8-page Sally the Sleuth story, written and drawn by Keats Petree, from Crime Smashers (1950) #8, which was published in January 1952. A long way here from her days of regularly being chained up in her underwear, in this story when Sally gets kidnapped all of her clothes stay on. I wouldn’t say that there’s absolutely no sex appeal- she makes no unappealing poses when she’s restrained and there’s a nice close-up shot of her removing a gun from her garter holster- but that’s truly nothing in comparison to the kinds of scenarios and positions she used to end up in and only worth noting to make the comparison, it wouldn’t stand out to me otherwise. By this time the Chief is still appearing alongside (and saving) Sally, though there wasn’t any mention of Peanuts here. The end of the story genuinely startled me because it had the Chief interacting with Sally in a way I hadn’t seen before, with her saying “You often say I’m not too bright” and him replying “You’re a honey just the same, you little dumbbell.” While I wouldn’t say that the Chief shows a remarkable amount of respect for Sally and her work in the 30s or 40s stories, he’s certainly never insulted her before (at least, in the stories previously reprinted in Spicy Tales). Other than that, I really did like Keats Petree’s work on the character better than Adolphe Barreaux’s in the 40s, though Adolphe Barreaux’s work in the 30s is still my personal favorite Sally. The art style is nice and I wouldn’t mind reading more Sally the Sleuth work from him.

And there were three 2-page Sally the Sleuth stories, written and drawn by the character's creator Adolphe Barreaux, from the October 1937, December 1937, and January 1938 issues of Spicy Detective. The first two of these stories followed the typical pattern of Sally being saved by the Chief, but the one from the January 1938 issue broke the mold by having Sally save another woman instead. Not that that’s never happened before, but it’s still a notable occurrence. It has Sally go undercover at a college to catch someone that’s been “peddling dope” to “pretty co-eds.” She gets a “snowbird” to lead her to the buyer by pretending to do coke (it was really just powdered sugar) in front of her after seeing the student do actual coke herself, then saying that she was out and needed to buy more. But Sally fails to capture the crook when she first meets him and the criminal then tracks down the student that introduced them to make sure she can’t ever snitch on him again. Of course, this happens when the student is about to go to bed in a lingerie dress that then barely stays on for the rest of the story. When Sally comes across the dealer throwing the student off a cliff, she shoots him, and then sees that the student has managed to keep a hold of a branch. Sally, of course, takes off her clothes to use as makeshift rope for the student to climb up on. The story from the October 1937 issue had Sally found (in her underwear) while snooping on a ship and then thrown overboard to drown (though the criminals took the time to take everything but her garter socks off first). And the story from the December 1937 issue had Sally kidnapped (and stripped to her underwear) by a cannibal killer, which notably then had her chained up among the naked and dilapidated corpses of other women.

There was also one 2-part 4-page Sally the Sleuth story, which was also written and drawn by Adolphe Barreaux, from the February 1938 and March 1938 issues of Spicy Detective. This was the first 4-page Sally story from the 30s that I’ve seen, and it may have been the only one as she was traditionally kept to only 2 pages in this era. It’s unfortunate then that this longer story didn’t take the opportunity to do something more interesting with Sally’s character. While it draws out the mystery more than other Sally stories from this time are able to, it does so while making the Chief more prominent of a character than he’d ever been before, rather than letting Sally do more significant detective work. And the story still follows the standard format, just with a prologue, as the first story doesn’t have much of any sex appeal if you don’t count Sally fully dressed but in a v-cut dress and one panel that has a woman’s naked corpse barely covered up. But the second story has Sally kidnapped, stripped to her underwear, and found in an erotic position as the Chief saves her, as per usual.

Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective

There were two 8-page Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, stories- written by the character's creator Robert Leslie Bellem and drawn by Adolphe Barreaux- from the October 1949 issue of Hollywood Detective and from Crime Smashers (1950) #8 (published in January 1952) which was actually a reprinted story from a 1950 issue of Hollywood Detective but of the exact month I'm unsure. Dan Turner came across to me as a bit of a creep in these stories when he hadn’t made that impression on me before. The story from the October 1949 issue had him forcing a lady murder suspect into his apartment and seemingly extorting her so that he’ll help her while she notably only had a robe on over lingerie. Then in the course of his investigation he barged in on another woman in the shower. The story ends with him saying that he collected his “promised fee” from the first woman” and that he “spent some pleasant hours comforting” the second woman whose sister ultimately went to jail for the murder, concluding that “it’s nice work if you can get it!” And the story from the 1950 issue that I wasn’t able to find the exact month of publication of had him ripping off a piece of a woman’s dress while she was wearing it for evidence.

Ray Hale, News Ace

There were three 8-page Ray Hale, News Ace, stories- written and drawn by Newton Alfred- from the February 1950 to April 1950 issues of Super Detective. This is a new character in Spicy Tales, but to me the most interesting story of his was the one from the April 1950 issue because it sidelined him and instead prominently features the girl “sob sister” reporter Ruth Meridan, who didn’t appear at all in either of the other two stories. The story had them both assigned to report on the same case. They both end up chasing after a murdered, but only Ruth Meridan notices the clue as to the killer’s identity, which she doesn’t share with Ray Hale or the viewer. Instead, she decides to get more solid evidence on her own to use as a scoop in her story for the paper. Ray Hale supports her on this because he thinks she’s entitled to break the story. His big role in the story is interrupting when the killer comes after Ruth Meridan to try to steal back the important evidence, then the two of them are both instrumental in chasing after the criminal and getting them caught by the police. The story ends with Ruth Meridan explaining the case she solved, Ray Hale calling her a “smart girl… and a sweet one!” and the two of them planning to go on a date. This is a far cry from the way lady detectives were portrayed in the comic stories of Super Detective’s predecessor Spicy Detective. I’m referring of course to Sally the Sleuth, who generally just ends up kidnapped and then saved by her boss, the Chief, rather than properly solving mysteries herself. The other two Ray Hale, Ace Reporter, stories didn’t have the character Ruth Meridan in them at all. The one in the February 1950 issue had him solving a murder out of a pool of suspects and the one in the March 1950 issue had him solving a murder in Chinatown with the help of a local boy.

Gail Ford, Girl Friday

There was one 7-page story and one 8-page story about the character Gail Ford, Girl Friday- written and drawn by Gene Leslie- from the June 1949 and February 1950 issues of Super Detective. Another new character in Spicy Tales, this is the secretary of a police inspector, but she actually does detective work herself. The June 1949 story has her going undercover and pretending to be new to the city in order to catch criminals who are leading naive girls who just moved to the city into criminal work. And the February 1950 issue has her taking on the identity of a girl who was arrested on the way to picking up a supply of drugs in order to identity the top smuggler. In both stories it was presented that while she did this there was a police officer, Tim McQuade or “Mac”, nearby waiting to intervene if things went wrong. While he did have to intervene in both stories, there was an earlier point in the February 1950 issue where she shooed him away because she thought she could handle to situation and she didn’t want to tip off the criminal as to what was really going on. This seems to be the staple premise of the character’s stories, as there’s a bit of narration early in the February 1950 issue that says “And so, once again, under the watchful eye of Mac, Gail sets out on a dangerous mission.” It seems to me that she’s essentially a police officer, so I wonder if the reason she’s described as just a secretary is because women couldn’t be full police officers at the time. There does seem to be a bit of sex appeal to the artwork, but it’s not obtrusive to the story. There’s a part in the June 1949 story that has Gail and another women talking in the morning while still getting dressed, so they’re both just in their underwear. And a part of the February 1950 story where Gail is in a bikini at a pool. Still, again, this is a long way off from now Sally the Sleuth used to be depicted in this magazine’s predecessor.

Polly of the Plains

There were four 2-page Polly of the Plains stories, written and drawn by Joseph Sokoli, from the August 1937 and October 1937 to December 1937 issues of Spicy Western. Although the December 1937 doesn’t completely conclude Polly’s story, it was the last Polly of the Plains story ever published. Well, the August 1937 and October 1937 (as well as the missing one from September) largely conclude the storyline that had been going on since Polly’s very beginning by killing of Pancho, the villain that instigated this whole conflict. But then the November 1937 story had Polly, Jean, and Ken get sidetracked on their way home and stumble across a new plot which leads to Polly getting kidnapped in the December 1937 issue by a new villain (a stereotypical Native American Chief instead of a stereotypical Mexican bandit). It seems as though rather than continuing and concluding this new plot thread they’d just introduced, they decided that the original Polly storyline was enough. I’d say that out of all of the material in Spicy Tales so far, Polly of the Plains was the spiciest with the most sexually-charged torture scenes of them all. I’ll also say that I overall liked Joseph Sokoli’s artwork for the series.

Diana Daw

And there were thirteen 2-page Diana Daw stories, written by Clayton Maxwell and drawn by Max Plaisted, from the March 1936 to December 1936, February 1937, April 1937, and May 1937 issues of Spicy Adventure. Diana Daw has always been the one in Spicy Tales that’s able to do the most story-wise in just 2-page stories. It’s genuinely admirable. The plot is always moving and, like Polly of the Plains, there’s an overarching plot that is moved along in every story instead of just being a bunch of standalone stories starring the same character, like Sally the Sleuth. But whereas Polly of the Plains pitted a group of characters against one main villain in one main location, the Diana Daw stories star just one main character that is always going to new places and fighting off against new antagonists. At the beginning of this batch of stories Diana is captured and then sold in a slave market to a sheik named Tarafi who turns out to have been educated abroad and so doesn’t keep a harem. He doesn’t treat Diana poorly, but she still attempts to escape him though she is immediately captured by a band of criminals, who then also capture Tarafi as he had been following Diana. The criminals go to kill him, but Diana is able break free and save him. Then Diana and Tarafi get married and Tarafi instructs his followers that if anything happens to him then Diana is their leader. Tarafi is, of course, immediately fatally and his followers don’t actually respect Diana, so he gives her a secret gun that he had and has her lead a charge against a group of thieves. Among the captured survivors from that charge was Ted, who has previously betrayed Diana because of a love potion given to him by Rama, and Rama herself. Diana is still angry with Ted and keeps both him and Rama as prisoners, then tortures Rama to force her to use her knowledge to save Tarafi. But Rama ends up seducing Tarafi and Diana and Ted both have to flee for their lives. Then there’s a bit of a jump as there’s some missing parts, which I believe takes up to a point in the story chronologically before the Tarafi and Rama parts. We next see Diana in the desert with Ted right after he had been able to purchase her from a slave market (she’s been captured and sold in slave markets many times) and the two of them travel together until they’re captured by a band of bandits, which is interrupted by the bandits being overrun by French soldiers.

Then there’s another jump, this time back to after the Tarafi and Rama part, where Diana and Ted are back in the desert and still upset over what happened. Ultimately Diana is captured by bandits to be sold as a slave again and Ted is left to die in the desert, but Diana is able to seduce one of her captors in order to divide them and then defeat them to go save Ted. The two of them find the sea and buy passage of a ship, but the ship turns out to be a slave ship, and there’s a fight when they try to kill Ted in order to more easily take Diana. Ultimately Diana and Ted win but there’s a storm and they are shipwrecked on an island, which they discover is populated with slave girls as it had been where the men on the slave ship they had just escaped were keeping their prisoners. They free the slaves, but then the women all fawn over Ted, which frustrates Diana. In order to keep him to themselves, the women capture Diana and lock her up so that she’ll starve to death in a cave then tell Ted that she escaped on a raft because she was upset with him. Even with Diana out of the way, Ted rejects the women and intends to find Diana wherever she went, never considering that their story was a lie. He never gets to go searching for her though because a British ship arrived and because they are angry with Ted all of the women tell the soldiers that Ted was the slaver who captured them. The British take everyone off the island, but don’t find Diana. Eventually the other slavers return to the island and are frustrated to only find the now-decrepit Diana and are going to just leave her there until one younger slaver says that he’ll take the time to improve her health to sell her. That slaver then reveals to Diana that he was actually and undercover British soldier and that the two of them can work together to undermine the slave trade, though Diana is focused on wanting to find and reunite with Ted.

[msppanel]

using SMM Panel for Instagram growth Legal ?

Casual associations are ending up being an always expanding number of well known these days and Instagram is no exclusion. SMM Board are used for progression in casual networks. Pretty much, the SMM panel is a phase where you can buy lovers, preferences or points of view on notable casual networks. In this article, check out at the authenticity of such kind of organizations. What guideline says with respect to this electronic diversion instruments?

Is SMM Board Legal ? While including SMM Sheets generally speaking isn't prohibited by the law of any country, the setting of its usage expects to be a section here. For example, to assemble his redirection bundle people on Facebook or Wire it isn't unlawful. Notwithstanding, if one purposes it to disturb races on evident site, this can have a couple of genuine outcomes.

What guideline says in regards to assisting Instagram with SMM Board? A lot of inclinations, comments and allies is the dream of every single Instagram client. Regardless, are procedures for misleadingly extending inclinations and comments genuine?

To subsequently like posts, people use a SMM Board. The most notable of them is reasonable Instagress. Despite it, there are other like backers, as Crowdfire, Rango, Like Ally for Instagram or Archie. Various bloggers don't ignore the astounding opportunity to use them to fabricate the full scale number of inclinations and attract a horde of individuals.

The handiness of these electronic amusement instruments, but one of a kind, is for all intents and purposes something similar: they like and comment on fulfilled on the relational association, and some of them could follow your record. Notwithstanding, this isn't the exercises of real people, yet wise programming.

Like bots oppose Instagram rules Helping inclinations and lovers has been a significant issue for Instagram for a really long time, in light of the fact that it ignores the principles of the social stage. In April 2017, Instagram finally became dynamic in blocking such development and compelled the most famous bots to stop their work.

[theblogtini]

"Respectfully disagree with your view that Archie + Lili were taken away from a close family."

For the most part the Windsors are a close family. Had Archie and Lili not been taken to CA, they would still have had a chance to get close with the other children and even some of the adults due to seeing them at gatherings, assholery of their parents notwithstanding.

Yup yup. We see The Wales kids playing with their Phillips & Tindall cousins. And I’m sure in a couple years we’ll see them playing their Brooksbank and Mappelli Mozzi cousins.

The Sussex kids are missing out and it’s a huge shame.

[thetaoofbetty]

Hi! Would you rather see a bughead slowburn stretched over s7 as well or get them together early in the season and see them as a couple? Bc I want them to work through things (which they probably won't do properly anyways) but I also don't want them to get together 1 episode before the final if it's the end. I wanna see adult bughead as a couple. And get a good look in their relationships. I doubt a few episodes will do them justice

honestly i'm more interested in the rest of the drama this season over s7 right now. giving archie, jughead, and betty a plot as veronica is becoming single (allegedly) seems like a good way to ramp up the plot, bring in a mystery, and cause all kinds of trouble for the middle of season.

and sure, i'd like to see them talk and at least be friends during that time but do i think they will until the writers need that plot to move forward? eh. with the inclusion of whatever is left over from the vale and whatever new mystery they're going to get on top of whatever archie (and probs veronica) plot that's coming forth, my vote is that a lot of things all coincide near the end of s6, i somehow sort of have my doubts about them dragging out any of the vale stuff into s7.

and while we never know what's going to happen, i don't think any couple is going to get a one and done end of series anything tbh. look at how they treated varchie after the time jump (the last two eps notwithstanding): archie was all up in veronica's business even while hooking up with betty and with veronica being married. i think the rivervale event and the 180 change from the story 5x04-5x17 told along with the length of the hiatuses has let people forget how much story they gave varchie in s5, and to a little bit of a lesser extent, bughead.

historically, this show can and will put some effort into the relationships that they're invested in.

[crippleprophet]

Hey, do you have any recommendations for books or fics (if there are any that aren't in your chronic pain fics folder on AO3) with characters with chronic pain or a disability?

Bonus if there's a hurt/comfort thing and bonus if it's shorter stories but anything really would be appreciated

oh goodness i am very flattered but i don’t think i’ve read anything that meets your bonus requests so i’ll just link everything i’ve got (in no particular order) and hopefully something will interest you! as far as like published books i really only read research/theory lol, not fiction, but if anyone has recs feel free to mention them in the reblogs/replies!

the folder anon mentioned of fics i’ve written about chronic pain is here for anyone interested!

whatever here that’s left of me by asifnotbound

12.7k, explicit, joe/nicky from the old guard

"Nicky is making himself a coffee, bleary-eyed from a fitful sleep, and trying to recall if Joe is drinking it this decade, and if he is then does he take it with sugar?, and he’s also thinking about The Odyssey, which is sitting in amongst a pile of books in the next room.

He’s thinking about a question written in the margins, scrawled in Booker’s handwriting: how long does it take for a man to return from war? Does he ever return, can he ever return, what does it mean to return home, when home is not home and he is no longer the same man?"

After Merrick, Nicky's right shoulder starts hurting, and it doesn't stop.

i’m not the cruel type, but they are, and that’s the secret by postcardmystery

2.5k, mature, newt/hermann from pacific rim

The world’s on fire and it’s time to, as he says, go big or go home. It’s just a patella, a femur, a tibia. The whole planet’s an open wound, and it’s your job to stitch it back together. You fit. You match. You’re going to get through this surgery if it kills you. You’ve given them everything, and you’re right, you know you are. You’re a cripple, and a genius, and both things notwithstanding, you’re going to save the bloody world. Now watch, or get out of the buggering way.

anything by @brittlebutch but i’ll link and the punchline to the joke is asking SOMEONE SAVE US

5.8k, teen, good omens

The fact of the matter is that Crowley was the first bitter cripple to limp across the face of this planet.

It's been 6000 years and things don't seem to have gotten much better.

a little child shall lead them by zetared

26.5k, teen, good omens

One minor difference in the fabric of history means that, when the time comes, Crowley can’t bring himself to deliver the antichrist. This is a “Raising Adam fic”.

the theory of harmony by @r0b0tb0y

11k, explicit, din djarin/cobb vanth from the mandalorian

Din Djarin goes back to Mos Pelgo to lay low. Cobb Vanth asks Din to teach him Tusken sign language, and Din has to decide which of his secrets are worth keeping. Since swearing the Creed, Din has never told anyone he’s deaf.

umm this orphaned pacific rim fic theory and chalk - warning for some lateral aggression ableism in the autism department but i think it does a really good job exploring the tension brought about by the danger of not being The Only One when the world wants to tokenize you

2.2k, teen, it says 1/9 chapters but it decently works on its own

Newt and Hermann blunder their way through 3 Shatterdomes' worth of arguments, tensions and misgivings. The PPDC is a bag of dicks, the Earth has a chronic illness, and time stops for no man. Or something. From one cranky disabled scientist to another: I detest you, but nobody else understands about the shower chair.

not to actively recommend riverdale content but i read homemade dynamite by @gaycinema the other day & thoroughly enjoyed it, not disability-centric by any means but features HoH jughead

37.5k, teen, archie/jughead

He has nothing to write. It's like the words are all stuck inside him, pushing and pushing but they just—can't get out. Like build up in a pipe. Empty bottles piled in the trash can. Empty empty empty. He has nothing important to say, nothing to wrap up The Story or keep it going, so one night he gives up and opens a new, blank document.

In the document, he starts: I think there's something wrong with me.

or: a ‘jughead half-way joins a gang, finds himself, makes friends, has an argument with but ultimately finds a kind-of boyfriend, too’ story in five parts

[crusherthedoctor]

What would the pros and cons, from a storytelling standpoint, be of Knuckles/Rouge being done in the games or any official media?

None that would be worth the shitstorm that would inevitably ensue from a ship being made canon.

That stuff's all fine and dandy in fanfiction, but in a franchise that doesn't focus on romance (pre-reboot Archie notwithstanding), it becomes a much different ball game in canon material. You know what the shipping wars are like, I know what the shipping wars are like, and - most importantly of all - SEGA knows what the shipping wars are like. They know it's a fool's game to bother, because that's not what Sonic's about, and because the fallout wouldn't be worth it.

[petalsmooth]

Also they really need to get off the ratings kick since I was the one following the decline and cheering it on since 4-17 NOT them. They barely made note of it while she was sleeping with Archie because they didn’t want to draw attention to their Princess’ role in the show being dead. They even said it was good because she needed to get it out of her system or we were anti feminists for shaming her. They didn’t suddenly discover how bad the ratings were as a theme until Jughead fell in love with the black woman THEN the racists decided Jabitha killed the show. No you bigots...the two whitest characters on the show (KJ’s personal situation notwithstanding) did. Because no matter the actor playing him, ARCHIE is as white as snow as is Betty in the “perfect” suburbia middle class life. The cheerleader and the football jock. Mr Pureheart and Ms Ivy league. They so scarred the audience they fled in horror and aren’t returning.

[greenyvertekins]

I still remember when IDW Sonic first came out. Back then, Ian Flynn wrote the characters (including Sonic - releasing Metal Sonic like nothing ever happened notwithstanding - and Eggman) in a way that gave the impression he DID understand them, but as it approached twenty issues, it seemed like the education he accumulated about them over the years regressed, or his true methods got unmasked. Either way, in hindsight, his writing for this comic began on a deceptive note. Know what I mean?

Yep.

Hell, I was singing IDW Sonic's praises for the first 13 issues or so because it genuinely did start-out on a high note - Characters weren't stupefied to suit plot developments, canon foreigners weren't being portrayed as being inherently superior to game characters intelligence-wise and there wasn't really any shameless recycling of ideas to make the book seem like Archie Sonic V2.0

Then all that started happening.

[hopelessdreamer80]

I guess I’m confirming @fyeahmeninroyalnavy’s suggestion that I’m a masochist, because I’m sharing an Archie/Horatio fanvid to “My Immortal”. As you can imagine, it’s a DKU, so watch at your own risk 😅

I started this project months ago, then it got left behind because of lack of time and/or inspiration. I finally got back to it and I had almost finished it when the software decided to crash on me and I lost everything!! I had to start from scratch all over again, and even if it was an editing nightmare, I finally got it done. All of this notwithstanding, I’m quite happy with how it turned out. Hopefully you will enjoy it 😊

Also tagging fellow Indy Husbands shippers @ailendolin and @professorlehnsherr-almashy 

[thatiranianphantom]

If I was a casual viewer that didn’t pay close attention to a lot of interviews and I decided to tune in to the special I would be confused AF and probably just turn it off straight away. RAS made sure to say on his Instagram “iTs iN cAnOn!!!” Which probably perplexed a lot of people when they tuned in and saw Toni walking into the water to become a slimy ghost thing, the devil coming to rivervale etc. Again if I saw all that I would just turn it off and walk away immediately lol. He already had a lot of people on the fence after that shitty 5th season and the way he approached this “event” is head scratching. It honestly had some potential too. But I guess I say that for every Riverdale season and plot line, and I’m constantly disappointed.

LOOK. If they hadn't done that heel turn in the last two episodes we could have had something here. We could have had an enemies to lovers. We could have had an actual good vs. evil.

Were it not for the pairings, this would be giving me everything I wanted! Archie's dead! Toni's dead! The craziness is back (last episode notwithstanding). I feel like the writers and RAS have an inflated ego about this. It's super condescending. It's equal parts "observe our delicate genius" and "we'll have an audience no matter what", neither of which are in any way accurate.