#Dark Age of Comics

[grayrazor]

What's your favorite style of Batmobile?

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN COMIC BOOKS? -- WELCOME TO THE DARK AGE OF COMICS.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on a house ad for American comic books publisher, Image Comics, and featuring the faces of some of the premiere characters of the Dark Ages era. Now, for this roll call -- left to right:

Spawn (Todd McFarlane), Savage Dragon (Erik Larsen), Ripclaw (Marc Silvestri), Diehard (Rob Liefeld), Deathblow (Jim Lee), & Shadowhawk (Jim Valentino).

Source: https://forum.sanctuary.fr/t/page-s-de-pub/185608/137.

[thekillingvote]

🦞SAVE LARRY, KILL LARRY🦞

The 1988 poll to kill Batman's child sidekick, Robin, was inspired by an early example of interactive television: a 1982 Saturday Night Live stunt starring Eddie Murphy and a live lobster.

The April 10, 1982 Saturday Night Live show opened with a chef grabbing a live lobster from its tank, making it dance while humming the Star Wars theme, and then laughing while lowering it into a pot of boiling water. Just before the lobster was placed into the pot, Eddie Murphy appeared, grabbed the lobster out from the way of certain death, and turned to address the audience.

Rather than being boiled alive without protest, Larry the Lobster's fate was submitted to the arena of popular opinion and disposable money. The show's audience was presented with two premium-rate "900" phone numbers"—one for those who wanted to spare Larry, and another for those who wanted to see it boiled alive. Each call cost $0.50, and each caller could call multiple times.

The lobster's televised ordeal can be seen below in a compilation video. (Warning for human cruelty toward an animal.)

Updates on the vote count were given by other cast members throughout the live broadcast; by the end of the show, viewers had made over 400,000 calls. Ultimately the "Save Larry" supporters managed a narrow win against the "Kill Larry" supporters.

To kill a Robin

The SNL stunt stuck with DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, and he proposed to fellow editor Jenette Kahn that they could reserve a similar stunt for killing off a high-profile DC Comics character. By the time of 1988, Batman's colorful child sidekick Robin had been considered a divisive character among the creative forces behind Batman and among Batman fans. After Batman writer Jim Starlin's unsuccessful campaign to kill off Robin in a HIV/AIDS storyline, O'Neil decided the problematic Robin was the perfect candidate for a "Larry the Lobster" stunt. Sales manager John Pope began calling AT&T to secure the two 900 numbers on October 1, 1987; it took him until March 1988 to reserve them.

Like in Larry's case, the voting results were extremely close. Unlike Larry, the outcome supported Robin's death over his survival.

Fun facts!

Larry the Lobster predates Jason Todd's existence. "Larry the Lobster" aired on 10 April 1982. Jason Todd first appeared in the Batman comic in 1983, and he made his first appearance as Robin several months later. This might add credence to the idea that the idea for a DC Comics death poll wasn't specifically conceived with Robin in mind.

Within a span of a single SNL show, a total of 466,548 premium-rate calls were made to decide Larry's fate.

Within a span of 35 hours, a total of

At a cost of $0.50 per call, callers spent a total of $233,274.00 on Larry's poll. (After adjusting for inflation since 1982, this amount would be about $751,420.05 in 2023 dollars.)

At a cost of $0.50 per call, callers spent a total of $5,307 on Robin's poll. (After adjusting for inflation since 1988, this amount would be about $13,541.75 in 2023 dollars.)

Larry was spared by a margin of 11,644 votes. These votes cost a total of $5,822.00.

Robin was condemned to death by a margin of 72 votes. These votes cost a total of $36.00.

Both polls were decided by a margin of less than 1%.

A lobster's probable end

In the aftermath of the sketch, Murphy received letters protesting Larry's treatment. One letter made a racist jab at Murphy: "that man is sick, and I thought those people didn't like seafood."

To spite this racist comment, Murphy ensured that Larry's stay of execution was only temporary.

Credits

Thanks to the Internet Archive @internetarchive for access to old SNL episodes. https://archive.org/details/saturday-night-live-s-07-e-16-daniel-j-travanti-john-cougar-mellencamp

"Larry the Lobster" on Wikipedia

"A Death in the Family" (comics) on Wikipedia

CPI Inflation Calculator https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

[satoshy12]

A few moments of baby Danny having fun,

It all started when Danny learned he could change his age! Well, he took an item from Clockwork for this prank. But they are fun!!!

Red Hood lost his weapon to a toddler. Red Hood is trying to help the lost toddler talking about how he is a real hero with real Guns:" Come on, it's not a toy. It's the real deal." Danny: "No, no real!" Red Hood gets annoyed: "Fine, you don't believe it's real? Here, take it." Danny was surprised:" Ooo, real!" (holds the gun) Red Hood: "Yeah, yeah, it's real. Wait, what did I just do?" Danny teleports away: "Wheee!" Red Hood:" What the...? Oh, come on! Come  back, I'llbuy you candy for the gun!" +

John Constantine lost in a horse bet against baby Danny money; don't ask how or why he even bet with a toddler. He just lost money. John: (sighs) Bloody hell, lost again in a horse bet against you, Danny. Baby Danny: (giggles, waving a tiny hand) Horsie 2! Danny pointed at the empty wallet. John: There is no money left, mate. But, uh, how 'bout this?" John scribbles on a piece of paper and hands it to Baby Danny. JOHN (CONT'D) I owe you, alright?

Later, with the Justice League Dark, John summons a demon.

Demon: (roaring laughter)" Look who's here, the bloke who lost his soul to a toddler!" John: (bewildered)" What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Demon: (mockingly) That doodle on the paper. You handed over a piece of your soul to a baby. Now that's a first!" John: (facepalms) Bugges. I will later talk with Bat; I need money. around 10.000$" + Zatanna, while a magic show pulls toddler Danny out of her hat. Not a rabbit. Zatanna: And for my next trick... (pulls from her hat, has toddler Danny in her hand, not a rabbit) Zatanna: (confused) Wait, where did you come from? Danny: (giggling) Hat! Hat! Danny grabs her hat and suddenly disappears. Zatanna blinks in amazement, trying to make sense of the unexpected teleportation, as the audience applauds.

[dailydccomics]

Gotham's two redheaded anti capitalist queens Gotham City Sirens (2024) #4 / Batman: Dark Age (2024) #5

[dandylion-virtual-adventurer]

Look at herrrrr

Dragon Age: The Missing (2023) #1

[seilnakyle]

Batman Dark Age #2 - Batman (2016) #54

“Somehow, just by looking at me, Alfred knew...Or maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he just loved me. Which made me feel as if he knew.”

[tokyopewpew]

The pin you can get at the Dark Horse booth at SDCC! You do have to show proof of being in the BIOWARE (not dragon age!) Discord server!

Posters are also being handed out (good thick quality paper) and pins of the companions are free to grab.

[onlylonelylatino]

Blue Beetle and the new Justice League by Daniel Sampere

[stormingfrost]

Kinda obsessed with the historical context of Rise of the Guardians. Pitch wanting the Dark Ages to come back, which historically was the decline of culture and records. The Guardians rose at the same time as the Renaissance with the rise of culture, knowledge, and science. (Tooth in particular mentions that she hasn’t been out in the field for 440 years, give or take, which would put that smack dab in the middle of the Renaissance) 

The way Pitch doesn’t want the world to change, the way the Guardians change in tune with the world. The way Jack, who lived in has a human in the 17th or 18th century, who lived in the time after the Renaissance and lived witnessing the world all the way to the modern era, is there to show the Guardians how much they missed and how they can further change and improve for the more modern world. These characters are immortal beings who have so much power over the world, it makes so much sense that when they fall and rise in power it impacts the world that they want to influence, for better or for worse. 

[elevate-de]

doom the dark ages

possible W.I.P

[current-comix]

Steve Lieber

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE LORD OF THE JUNGLE MEETS HIS MATCH FROM ANOTHER WORLD -- THE HUNT IS ON.

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1985x2985 -- Spotlight on a killer house ad for "Tarzan versus Predator: at The Earth's Core," written by Walter Simonson & illustrated by Lee Weeks. The limited series was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1995, while this ad ran in January of 1996.

OVERVIEW: "In the center of the earth lies Pellucidar, the last bastion of primeval forest in the world. To Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, this is sacred ground. But to the Predators, it is hunting ground. Dark Horse Comics is proud to present Tarzan vs. Predator at the Earth's Core, by Walter Simonson and Lee Weeks. When Tarzan receives word that Pellucidar's greatest warriors and strongest beasts are being killed, and his friend David Innes, ruler of Pellucidar, has gone missing, there is no question that he must travel to the earth's core to investigate. The people of Pellucidar rest a little easier, knowing that their protector is coming. And in this land of eternal noonday sun, the Predators rest up for their greatest challenge yet!"

-- DARK HORSE COMICS, c. summer 1995

Source: www.reddit.com/r/predator/comments/9134ew.

[mistbix]

little dark age.

[dailydccomics]

just two men learning what they can from each other Batman: Dark Age #3 by Mark Russell, Michael and Laura Allred

[pxparkerr]

DARK AGES SPIDEYPOOL