#11 Days of Comics!

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 12/11: Image Firsts: Astro City #1 (2022) “In Dreams”

Twelve out of eleven? Did I miscount again?

No. And how dare you doubt me. So rude. Having one more comic than expected is basically a tradition for these X Days of Comics, isn’t it? So I threw this comic on the bottom of the stack.

Let’s end stronger than Ford Fairlane, y’know?

Astro City is a comic I’ve always wanted to get into but trades have a tenuous relationship with being in print. The comic shop where I bought this reprint issue said they’d let me know if they get the omnibuses in stock and I haven’t heard back in months.

Some day, though. I like Kurt Busiek as a writer. 

The issue starts with Samaritan, sort of a Superman type guy, having a glorious dream about flying that gets rudely interrupted by an emergency alarm about a tidal wave threatening Manila.

Weird that a Superman type guy would be so annoyed that a flying dream was interrupted when he can just fly around whenever he wants. Except, the issue takes us through his day and he can’t. Fly around. Whenever he wants.

He goes from one crisis to another and he’s so fast that to Manila and back only got him seventeen seconds of flight time. At the end of the issue he tallies up the total amount of time in the air and thinks that 56 seconds is the best he’s had in months.

Between various crises, he also has to show his face at his civilian job - proofreader for the Astro City Rocket. Where he does his proofreading behind a locked office door because he actually sneaks out to deal with more crises while an alien computer does his job for him AND tells him where all the crises are.

He stops in to meet with the Honor Guard - the Justice League-ish team to his Superman-ish guy - to talk shop and compare notes and go fight a bank robbery. 

He has to attend an awards ceremony with the Firefighter’s Association, to accept an award for being just a great guy. Samaritan would love to skip the award ceremony but snubbing these kinds of events just offended people so he makes the time because it just makes it easier to superhero if people don’t think you think you’re better than them. (And he still sneaks out during the ceremony twice to deal with more crises).

You get the idea. From one thing to another all day. Seconds or fractions of seconds of flight time from place to place.

After everything, he just collapses into bed and instantly passes out. And off into another flying dream he goes.

The comic is a deconstruction and reconstruction of superhero tropes, using expies of popular characters to examine those tropes. This one, obviously, looks at how harried someone with Superman’s abilities and desire to protect as many lives as possible would be.

The Superman comics have played with him try to be this active in saving people but without being able to live his civilian life even a little, I think he burned out pretty quickly.

Anyway, teal deer, this issue of Astro City is good, what I’ve heard about other parts of the series are fascinating, and I’d like to read more.

With that, another X Days of Comics has come to an end. I hope someone enjoyed this all.

[gaylactic-fire]

The Curse Part 2

[welcometogrouchland]

♫ I do what I want/Crying in the bleachers and I said it was fun/I don't need anything from anyone ♫

(ID in Alt) you guys ever think about your own posts and get upset?? Anyway Damian Wayne I love you I'm so sorry your life is like that

[pink-onyx-au]

Episode 11: One Bad Day

Page 11 of 28

[Return to the Hub]

[this is] [what you want?]

[wigglebox]

Destiel Pride - Day 12; Doing it scared

[ruporas]

asking and receiving (bonus below readmore)

[ID: A black and white, digital Trigun comic of Vash and Wolfwood. In the first panel is a close up of Wolfwood's mouth as he says, "Vash". Accompanying it is a close up shot of Vash's eye, widen and cheeks flushed. Wolfwood presses a knee against the open space between Vash's legs and says, "Tell me everything you want from me." Wolfwood's face is equally as flushed. He continues to say, "I'll give it to you. Everything." As he talks, a wide shot shows the both of them in white space. Vash is sitting, leaning a little back with both hands pressed against the surface he's sitting on. Wolfwood is in his white dress shirt, stripped of the blazer. He's still leaning in with one knee in between Vash's spread legs, his right hand touching Vash's lips and his left hand behind his back.

The shot closes in on Vash's mouth and Wolfwood's hand against it, pressing down on the lower lip as he says, "You have to ask though. Go on." His hand moves down to Vash's chin, gently holding it. With a shy and uncertain expression, Vash hesitantly asks, "Um... K... Kiss... Please?" Wolfwood, without wasting a second, leans in and kisses him and indulges by pressing deeper, eliciting a small noise of surprise from Vash.

Wolfwood moves away from Vash first and with a smile, asks, "What else?" Vash tugs on Wolfwood's left sleeve, wordlessly budging Wolfwood to give him his hand that was still behind his back. In the next panel, Vash utters, "Hold me..?" He's holding Wolfwood's left hand with his own while his right hand is reaching for his waist. Wolfwood complies, moving his left hand to Vash's shoulder and his right hand continues to touch Vash's cheek. Wolfwood asks again, "What else?"

More comfortable now, Vash leans in to kiss Wolfwood. Wolfwood catches him immediately, pressing his thumb against Vash's lips to stop him before demanding, "Hey. Ask." Vash looks back in surprise and Wolfwood meets his eye with a quiet, insistent look. They're quiet for a moment before Vash leans in again and curtly requests, "Kiss. Me." Wolfwood says "Good", smiling as he lifts his hand away, and meets Vash's lips. In the next shot, Wolfwood had adjusted his position, sitting on Vash's thigh. The hand that was once on Vash's cheek has moved its way to Vash's nape, pushing away the collar of his jacket with his pinky. His other hand continues to grip on Vash's shoulder. Still kissing, Wolfwood asks again, "What else?"

In the next shot, Vash is starting to turn, moving Wolfwood with him. Vash asks, "Let me on top of you?" Wolfwood says, "Mhm" before asking again, "What else?" The next panel shows a close look of Vash's face. He's looking down, flushed and shy just as he had been at the beginning, but now, more decisive. Vash asks, "Wolfwood... Let me have you..?" A panel of Wolfwood taking Vash's hand into his, pulling it towards his chest. The next panel shows Wolfwood lying down where Vash had laid him. Vash's hand is on Wolfwood's chest, covering the cross of his rosary while Wolfwood's hand lingers against his, loosely pressing Vash's hand in place. He looks up at Vash with a shy smile of his own, flushed cheeks. He says, "All yours."

A panel shows a close up of Vash's tender gaze before he leans down to be closer to Wolfwood. The final shot is a front view of their positions, Vash's face turned away from the viewer; Vash is leaning over Wolfwood who's lying down with his right leg draped over Vash's legs. Wolfwood's left hand holds onto Vash's left arm. With finality, Vash says, "...Mine." End ID]

[ID: A follow up bonus comic in a looser, sketchier style. They're laying comfortably in bed when Vash asks, "What was that earlier?" referecing to the start of the previous comic. Wolfwood glances away and says, "To get you used to it. Asking. And getting what you ask for. Since you're alwasy hesitant about it." Vash's eyes widen, tight lipped. Wolfwood continues, "Knowing you, it'll be a tough habit to break..." When he says this, Vash can't help but laugh, unable to deny it. Wolfwood slowly brings a hand to Vash's cheek and continues to say, "So I'll keep trying -- whatever ways I can... to get it through your thick skull." Vash takes Wolfwood's hand with his, kissing the the palm gently. Wolfwood's eyes soften and holding onto Vash's cheek, he leans in to try for a kiss. Vash says, "Hey..." before stopping Wolfwood's lips with the back of his hand, a smug look on his face, "Ask." Wolfwood's embarrassed and with little irritation, asks, "Really?" Vash smiles, saying, "You're in need of practice too." They pause for a moment, Wolfwood looking contemplatively, before he's leaning in again, asking, "May I please kiss you?" Vash looks him in the eyes and says, "Yes." The comic ends with a "chu", indicating an off-panel kiss. End ID]

[chacerider]

For this Ultraman Day, returning to a feeling I had some years ago...

Thank you, Ultraman, for everything 💖

[meplusuhoney]

i heard today was spiderman day or something and rushed to finish this

[psicheanima]

[dragonpyre]

Just. Fem Jason

Commission info ko-fi

[sisaloofafump]

*assume 6 pm sunset and 6 am sunrise. No major attacks, just standard minor street crime.

Poll about patrol end time.

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 2/11: Star Trek Special #2 (1995) "Raise the Defiant" and "A Question of Loyalty"

It's a Star Trek! Published through DC!

It's kind of funny that Star Trek and Star Wars, sci-fi sorta rivals, ended up at DC and Marvel, comics rivals.

Although, that's drawing random points of time to make the dichotomy. Although Star Wars is published through Marvel now and when it was first in theaters, there was a middle span where they were with Dark Horse instead.

And a time where Star Trek had a Marvel comic. And even crossed over with the X-Men.

Fun fact: even before Patrick Stewart was cast as Xavier in the Fox-Men movies, the Star Trek/X-Men crossover had people comment that Xavier and Picard looked alike.

This has been: random thoughts about not much.

This special has two whole stories in it. The first "Raise the Defiant" relevant to the TOS episode "The Tholian Web" apparently. And the other "A Question of Loyalty" relevant to the in-universe reason why Saavik was replaced by Valeris on the Enterprise before Star Trek VI.

It can be fun to expand on stuff.

"Raise the Defiant" has the Enterprise sent on a very dangerous mission to raise the Defiant from the fracture in space it fell into.

Dr. Juram comes to the Enterprise to oversee this mission and tries to throw her weight around to have everything done the way she thinks it should be, including keeping the crew in the dark about the mission.

Tries. Kirk just refuses.

It is revealed/retconned that the Defiant didn't just fall into a random negative space wedgie. It was testing a dangerous piece of technology, a phase inverter.

The phase inverter would allow a ship to see right through a cloaking device. By messing with the fabric of space-time.

The test didn't work out. See also the way that the Defiant fell into a negative space wedgie. But the phase inverter was never turned off so it's threatening to bork both Federation and Tholian space.

So the Enterprise will have to recreate the experiment successfully and retrieve the Defiant.

Long story short, they do.

But it turns out that Dr. Juram is an imposter. A Romulan who wants to sabotage any attempt to make the phase inverter technology work.

She sabotaged the Enterprise so they couldn't stop her and stole a shuttle to attack the defenseless Enterprise.

But whoops, Scotty suspected her the whole time from various clues and sabotaged the shuttle. When she tries to fire on the Enterprise, she blows up.

Then the Enterprise tugs the Defiant back to its home universe.

Its interesting that most of the story is discussing the problem and how they'll get the solution to work. Kirk even tells the Tholians the whole story to get their cooperation to recreate the original conditions of the incident.

The action of the story is only three pages. It adds some suspense but its not the focus.

Its also interesting that this story goes back and explains something that was originally just a negative space wedgie into being a big Federation whoopsie.

I don't know how big Star Trek fans feel about that.

I also can't believe that the writer said "hey you know what pop culture juggernaut I should reference? Raise the Titanic!"

The second story "A Question of Loyalty."

Ensign Valeris is on a training cruise with the Enterprise, supervised by Lieutenant Saavik.

Valeris is like stereotypically jackass Vulcan. Calling everything that's not strictly her duties as illogical and anyone not Vulcan as inferior.

Saavik: "Humans do not like to be called inferior." Valeris: "Then they should endeavor to improve themselves."

She pretty much rubs everyone the wrong way except Spock who is following her career with interest.

In a maybe illogical move of her own, this includes being pretty racist at her supervisor Saavik, who is half-Vulcan and half-Romulan.

After an incident where Saavik risks her life to save people on another ship from a radiation leak, Valeris tells Saavik that she's no Vulcan and she objects to her claiming the heritage.

Because of Spock's own esteem for Valeris, Saavik gives the ensign a favorable performance review despite all her everything.

But the whole thing makes Saavik realize that her loyalty to Spock over is holding her back in some ways. That she's clinging to the familiar instead of growing.

So despite Spock wanting Saavik to succeed him as Science Officer on the Enterprise, she puts in a transfer for a deep space mission.

Spock feels some kind of way about her doing this but when Bones needles him about this, he pretends to feel no kind of way.

Thaaaaaaat's Spock.

And Valeris went on to join a conspiracy to sabotage peace talks with the Klingons.

If only someone had given her a brutally honest performance review when she was an ensign?

[didilovesdick]

Day 11 - Babysitting

[autisticrosewilson]

Talia even being called an assassin gives me the ick because when she was first introduced she hated killing, felt immense guilt the few times she had to, and most of the time if it looked like she killed someone it turned out to be anaesthesia or a tranquilizer or something. Like she was literally studying to be a doctor when her and Bruce met and she was based off of the stereotypical Bond Girl because it was the 70's. Like I know it's basically her entire character now that she's an "assassin mom" or whatever but that was not who she was intended to be and I hate how it's done most of the time because it's ALWAYS a way to point and say "look at the evil brown woman! She's a cold blooded killer who forced/passively allowed her son to kill as well! It's a good thing that the feral brown boy is now with his good white family so he can learn the value of life and art and how to exist in civil society!" And it's actually really pissing me off. You guys don't even read a characters introduction comic before you start writing the same regurgitated nonsense steeped in racism and misogyny. Damian's whole character as it stands is basically character assassination for Talia and in order for me to be able to engage with him he'd have to be entirely rewritten.

[pink-onyx-au]

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[peanuts-comics]