#Lucy A. Corbyn

[deschainartnerd]

The queen

[saveugoodmadam]

drafting out a comic for @screams-of-the-damned84's swap au! rachel at the corbyn estate asking auntie lucy for money for establishing the society :3

[folklauerate]

how does prince gregory meets lucy in the royals au?

ljasdlkfj;alsdjfklajs;dlkfj oh anon

I would answer that but that would be a HUGE spoiler for the in-universe OTWTTW oneshot I'm planning on writing.

Instead, I'll leave you with this--the prologue of said oneshot;

Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the abbey, casting a gorgeous glow on the flower arrangements. The seats at St. Paul were filled to bursting with people dressed in their finest attire and most ridiculous hats. 

But Gregory barely paid any attention to it. 

His only focus was on the woman in white at the end of the aisle. 

“Stop!” He screamed and heads swiveling shock, watching as he raced down the aisle. A bead of sweat trickled down his neck, his hands were shaking, and he was out of breath but the words came anyway. 

“Don’t do it, Lucy, don’t do it, don’t marry him--”

Greg was surrounded by a sea of gasps as he came to stand in front of Lucy, who looked close to tears, and Larry, who seemed mildly amused. Behind him, the crowd was aflutter. 

“Prince Greg? Here?--”

“Bloody hell--is that Prince Colin?!--”

“Oh my god--”

“Adele’s gonna be so mad she skipped this--”

“I’m texting DeuxMoi right now--”

“Fuckin royals--”

That last one was, unmistakably, their PM, Jeremy Corbyn, and Greg knew vaguely that he’d likely be hearing about this from Anthony at some point soon; Corbyn already thought that they were a rather large waste of taxpayer money. In all honesty, he’d likely be hearing about all of this from Anthony soon; interrupting a wedding at St. Paul’s--not to mention the wedding of the year--was hardly what Anthony had meant when he’d last lectured Greg about making something of himself, of finding a purpose. 

But he knew better now. He had a purpose. And he was looking at her, resplendent in white, about to marry another man. 

“Don’t do it,” he said again, his voice breaking. “I love you. Marry me.”

“Greg, I--” Lucy bit back a cry. She looked at Larry, who shrugged. She looked at Hermione, whose jaw had been firmly on the ground since Greg’s entrance. She looked at the crowd. Then, she looked at Greg again. 

“No,” she said, shaking her head. 

[f-ngrl]

news

i have no time but what fun is blogging following a schedule! scrolling through ig:

(sic)boy released a mv for “afraid??” and i already love the song but the mv is also beautiful. gif later. watch it here it has beautiful city shots and such a lovely color palette and interesting looking ppl so cool!

i thought colde debuted an idol group under pyrat lol but it’s just a bunch of self-producing good-looking young guys. the only thing it has in common with kpop is the inconsistency between verse (soundcloud trap) and hook/chorus style (singing but idk). they’re called 0wave (young-wave, young=영=0). here’s their song. they sound too raw to be signed, idk what colde has planned but interesting.

owen, who seems to make everyone work with him, asked hongwon, who never officially features with anyone anymore, for a featuring lol. maybe as a joke idk

corbyn released a new song+mv “cold”

kitsyojii released ollaganda 2 and i didn’t even know!! btw he’s my #1 artist on wrapped. also released a song + mv with since! & it seems he’s still on smtm, going up fr this time maybe?? i wonder if hd bl4ck and marginchoi are not allowed to produce outside of lbnc haha i was worried but it’s hecop so all good! he’s kind of as productive as leella, making a full album with each producer friend and a collab album with each rapper friend!

luci gang released “seoul survival tips” v oldschool you should listen to her if you haven’t!

i’m not following smtm, there are some snippets but they sound like pop songs and funk and i’m so sorry i don’t like funk hmm but i’ll just keep listening to other music

the quiett and gist are in qatar being sponsored and just hanging out (also watching soccer i guess)

pretty much everyone is working with baund/the:rise now but i’m too lazy to see what it’s all about. croco91, nfl, ranchia&m3chvnic, friemilli, bando boys, mighty lynx + someone i forgot (they really collected any underground crew who agreed huh :D)

ASIAN PIRATES(RAU DEF, SKOLOR) "NO REST" ft. Tade Dust & Bonbero (Prod. D3adStock)  single & mv released! subs in japanese and korean. skolor has better connections in jhiphop than khh now good for him :D don’t always love his solo songs, but jhiphop collabs always! remember only!

big naughty won some award and hongwon hating in the comments lolll when he’s on insta he’s so the opposite of the person who writes his lyrics xD also funny that everyone just ignores him when he attacks ppl here & there now & then :D

another smtm snippet, it sounds like a nice pop song with rap elements well khan is doing really well! i’m glad ppl are finally seeing his talent!

apparently there’s a trend where dudes wear a tight black shirt / is it a sports bra the wrong way around?? / that shows their boobs

rm released an album and some khh ppl are on it, but i’m not interested enough to go listen

ateez ep came out. some japanese songs, remixes that kind but it’s really nice. guerilla rock version, but i didn’t even notice the original guerilla wasn’t rock it’s so nice and strong :D eden says they have a new producer too.

d.ark went on mic swg and he’s really so good! i’m glad that even though everyone has been giving him hard times since forever, his skills are growing wonderfully <3

hiphople interviewed ek who got signed to some label. cmon like by now we know he’s problematic in all kinds of ways, why... anyway

today until here, 1 hour passed like this and i should be sleeping already :D

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Long-Running Panel Show Friday: February 17, 2023

The News Quiz: This felt like a very old school episode; Hugo Rifkind, Angela Barnes, Zoe Lyons, Nish Kumar, and Andy Zaltzman were all people you’d expect to see in any given episode of the Miles Jupp era. They even threw in a Sandi Toksvig reference at one point. Aside from old school News Quiz, the Nish-Andy dynamic made it feel a little Bugle-like at times. And Angela Barnes throwing out whatever topical one-liners she’s come up with about the last few days, and then defending them when other panelists are surprised by her take, felt like Mock the Week.

As much as I liked this lineup, it did seem like a shame that they had their all-Scottish lineup last well, leaving an all-English one this week to discuss Nicola Sturgeon. It was nice, though. The Corbyn discussion was a bit contentious, and reminded me that that’s the one subject on which I don’t always love Hugo Rifkind’s perspective, but I see his points. There were a couple of particularly nuanced issues on the agenda this week, and I think the people they had were good ones for that.

QI: This is the second time in a couple of months that Ahir Shah has been the highlight of a panel show episode for me, the first being Catsdown. And that is impressive, because Rosie Jones is always great on panel shows and was on top form this episode. I’d really say Ahir Shah and Rosie Jones were competing to be the highlight of this episode, and being on the same side of the table made them both better. They paired really well, 40 minutes was not nearly enough for me to get tired of the way Rosie Jones would say something vaguely shocking, usually for a combination of being filthy and non-sensical, and he’d look at her incredulously.

Honestly thought, I’ve liked Ahir Shah for a while but I think this episode cumulates with a few other things to make him one of my favourite current panel show people. I think he’s one who got especially fucked over by the cancelation of Mock the Week; he’d just started to establish his status as a regular on there, and should have had more seasons to keep that up. But he’s been really good when I’ve seen him on other things. He has this sort of self-loathing cynicism about him that I really like (this is the sort of thing that highlights the clear distinction between self-loathing in comedy and self-deprecation, as Ahir Shah’s style is clearly the former), that feels like an undertone even when he’s on QI just talking about teaspoons. QI’s a good format for him, as it gives him some opportunities to show off his extensive knowledge, after running it through a lens of cynicism. Throw in a penchant for getting annoyed about things around him, and a competitive streak when it comes to points, and he is also working his way quickly onto my list of dream Taskmaster contestants. Incidentally, his stand-up special Dots is very good and everyone should watch it.

Would I Lie to You: Anything with Desiree Burch and Lucy Beamont is a strong lineup, and they were both great on this, but I felt like this episode was another one where Lee and David really carried it. They can set each other up so well, but also surprise each other, and have so many years of history to reference and draw on, that has comedy chemistry down to perfection. I think it’s been really strong all season, even more than the previous couple of seasons.

Having said that, Desiree Burch and Lucy Beaumont did not disappoint. I’ve always thought Jon Richardson pairs very well with Lee Mack on panel shows, and it turns out his wife does that almost as well. Lucy’s ability to crack Lee up was a delight to watch every time. Also, she is really good at playing her ditzy persona. Really good. That persona was perfect for WILTY, where all she had to do to get away with stuff was make people believe she’s really like that. Which worked on me repeatedly, even though I’ve seen enough of her to know how her persona works, and that would be why I finished with a terrible 2-3 record in the guessing. In my defence, I thought her story about the neighbour and the chicken couldn’t be true, because why would they have not used it on Meet the Richardsons?

I guessed correctly on Desiree for the opposite reason, actually. Desiree told her lie really, really well, but I also know she’s ridiculously intelligent, and was pretty sure she’d be able to come up with a lie that good, that fast.

It was the only one I got right aside from the last one, which was just a free point because obviously David was lying. That was a clear case of something that often gets overlooked on this show, which is the fact that the people on it are famous. A lot of these fake scenarios would not happen this way to a famous person. I remember one David story from an early-ish season, that involved him getting stuck on a diving board like Mr. Bean for a long time. They argued about it for so long, until finally a guest pointed out that if David Mitchell were stuck on a board in a pool full of witnesses, someone would have filmed that shit and put it on YouTube. So of course it was a lie. Similarly, if a restaurant had David Mitchell as a regular and he agreed to let them name a meal after him, they wouldn’t leave out the name “Mitchell”, missing out on the obvious marketing opportunity.

Anyway. I might be getting a bit too caught up in my own game with this show, and that isn’t supposed to be the point. It was a bad episode for my guessing, but a really good actual episode of television. Great back-and-forth among the regulars, great guests, great chemistry between guests and regulars. I’d happily watch many more episodes with this lineup.

And that’s it. No Last Leg this week, due to the Channel 4 comedy awards. Where, on the subject of what I just described, they agreed with me about Lee Mack still being excellent on Would I Lie to You, even after all this time. A bunch of those results were interesting. I mean, some were obvious. I recently made a Tumblr poll to find out people’s favourite panel shows, and I left Taskmaster off it because if you include Taskmaster, there’s basically no contest. Taskmaster just wins every time (seriously though, good for Alex Horne and everyone else). Though actually, they had Taskmaster in the entertainment category, meaning their panel show category did excluse Taskmaster, and Catsdown won. Though actually, according to the much more scientific poll on my Tumblr blog, that should have gone to WILTY.

My main takeaway from reading the list of winners is I was pleased to see Joe Lycett’s latest stand-up show got an award, given that it’s absolutely excellent and everyone should watch it.

[pennydreadfulrpg]

—Guarda un secreto a alguien muy cercano, tal vez a su marido, sobre quien yace una sombra oscura —dijo, siendo tan clara como le era posible—. Usted proyecta esa sombra, pero ha de tener cuidado. Es posible que esté provocando a las personas equivocadas. Todo cuanto está tratando de lograr, podría venirse abajo si no actúa con prudencia. Revisó de nuevo las cartas. No eran un método adivinatorio claro, sino críptico. Solo se podía atisbar señales que podían o no ser acertadamente interpretadas, pero a Lucy le habían enseñado desde jovencita. —Siento cierta inquietud respecto a esa persona del pasado. No sé si puede o no ser un peligro para sus planes, pero rara vez las personas que dejamos atrás regresan para bien. Era normal albergar dudas tras una lectura, y quizá las preguntas pudieran aclarar el mensaje de las cartas. Lucy A. Corbyn

[shmunter]

married ppl 💙❤️💚

@glass-scientists

[your-sweetest-nightmares-blog]

There's no denying it... We all know it's true.

[bansheeoftheforest]

Anyways have some Queen Lucy to soothe your gay soul while I continue to try to find a good pic of Jasper <3

All wallpapers are 1080x2220!

Please like and/or reblog if you use, or just want to support my work <3

[This is v.1]

[v.2]

[deschainartnerd]

The cutthroat queen

[realfakebrit]

I saw this pointed out in the recent update’s comments and I found it really interesting so I had to share...

Lucy may think Hyde is an idiot, but she doesn’t want him to get hurt.

She saved him from the wrath of the blackfog merchants by giving him time to get out of there, while not getting on their bad side.

I mean, Lucy pointed out how Hyde can just.. disappear. Maybe she hoped he could do that again to escape.

I doubt she likes him. He’s annoying and has a MASSIVE amount of unearned self respect and somehow thinks they’re on the same level. But Hyde getting beat up in front of Rachel would probably not be fun.

I respect Lucy quite a bit.

[teen-heart-throb-mr-hyde]

the way u people think lucy is somehow ~problematic~ because she’s literally just black and poly is insane

[chilling-seavey]

the sweetest

[glowy-green-potions]

Lucy Corbyn my beloved<3

[f-ngrl]

KHH MBTI types!

(Sources in the links. Be aware that some sources may be unreliable. Click the link to judge for yourself. Only sources that show the artist's own confirmation/announcement of their type are 100% reliable.) Ahn Byeongwoong: INTP Apro: ENFJ Ash Island: INFJ Ash-B: ISFP-T Avin: ENTJ B.I: INFP new: INFJ Baegie: ENFP Bang Chan: ENFJ Bang Yongguk: INTJ-A Basick: ISFP Be'o: ENTJ new: INTJ Beenzino: INFP BIBI: ENFP Big Naughty: INFP Bigone: ENFP Blacknut: INFP Blase: ENTP Bloo: ENFP BLNK: ENTP Bobby: INFP Boycold: INTJ-T new: ISTJ-T Brown Tigger: ENTP-T Bryn: ENFP C Jamm: INTP CAMO: INTJ Carspace: INFP-T new: INTP Changbin: ENFP new:ESFP Changmo: INTP Cheetah: ESTJ Chillin Homie: INFP new: ESTP CHOILB: INFP Choiza: ENFP Choo: ENTP Chorda: INTP-T Cloudybay: INTP Code Kunst: ENTP Cold Bay: ISTP; ISTP Colde: ENFJ-A Coogie: ESFJ Corbyn: ENFP Cri de Joie: ESTJ-T Crush: INFP D.Ark: ENFJ Dbo: ENFJ Deepflow: INFP Do Han Se: INTP Don Malik: INTJ Don Mills: INFJ DPR +IAN: INFJ DPR LIVE: INFJ DPR REM: INFJ E SENS: ENTP eaJ: INTP Futuristic Swaver: INFP G-Dragon: INTJ Gaeko: ESFP Gamma: INFP-T Gemini: ENFP new: INFP George: ENTP Giriboy: INTP-T (posted in stories) new: INFP new: INTJ Gist: ESFJ, it changed from INFJ recently (ig live 2022.03.25) GOLDBUUDA: ENTP GongGongGoo009: INTP Goosebumps: INFP Gray: ENFJ-A Groovyroom Gyujeong: ENTP-A Groovyroom Hwimin: ENFP-T Gyu Hyuk: INFJ h3hyeon: ENFP Han: ISTP new: INTP new:ISTP Han Yohan: ENTJ Hanul Lee: ISTP HAON: INTP-A Hash Swan: INFP hdbl4ck: INFP-T new: INTP-T Heize: ISFJ Heo Daniel: INFP Hongjoong: INFP Hoody: INFP/INFJ Huckleberry P: ENTJ Huh!: INTP IGNITO: ISTP IU: INFJ Jaedal: INFP JAM1E: ENTP JAY B: INFJ Jay Park: ENFP Jayci yucca: INTP Jerd: INTP-A Jessi: ENTP Jhnovr: ENTJ J-Hope: ESFJ Jimmy Paige: INTP Jinbo: ENFP Jo Gwangil: INFP Jooyoung: INFP-T JUSTHIS: ENFJ-T new: INFJ Juto: ENFJ new: INFP-T Jvcki Wai: INTP kaogaii: ENTP Khakii: ENFP Khundi Panda: INTP Kid Milli: INFP-T new: INTP-T new: ISTP Kid Wine: ISTP Kim Nongmill: ISTP Kim Ximya: INTJ kitsyojii: ENFJ Kleine: INFP Layone: INFP Lee Youngji: ENTP/ENFP Leeyoungwoong: ENFP Leellamarz: ENTP lilboi: INFP lil bemo: ENFP Lil Cherry: INFP Lil tachi: ENTP-T LiTrilla: ENFP Loco: INFJ Loopy: INFP Los: INTJ Luci Gang: INTP-A M3CHVNIC: ENTJ Mckdaddy: ISTP Meenoi: INTJ Mingi: ENTP Mino: ENFP Mirani: INFP Mudd the student: ENFP Mushvenom: ENTP nafla: ISFJ new: ESFJ nobbaggu: ENTP Nochang: INFP northfacegawd: INFP Nucksal: INFP/ENFP O.Dion: ??F? OLNL: INTP Omega Sapien: ENTP Ourealgoat: INTJ-T oygli: ENTP Paloalto: ENTJ Panda Gomm: INFP Park Hyunjin: INFP pH-1: INFP-T new: ENFP new: INFP Posadic: ENTP Pullik: INFP-T punchnello: INFP Queen Wa$abii: ENTP Ravi: ENTJ Reddy: ISFJ Rhody: ESTP RM: INFP new: ENFP Rohann: ISTP ron: INFP saewoo: ENFP-A Simon Dominic: ESTJ new: ESFP Since: ENFP Skinny Brown: INFJ Sleepy: ENFP Sleeq: INFP Slom: INFJ SMMT: ISTP So!YoON!: INTP sogumm: ENFP Sokodomo: ENTJ (ig live 21.04.05) new: INTP-T Son Simba: ENTJ Soo-Yeony: INFP Stella Jang: INFP Suga: INFP new: INTP Sumin: ENTP Suran: INTP Sway D: ENFP Swervy: INFJ Swings: ENTJ Tablo: INFP Takuwa: ENFP The Quiett: INFP TOIL: ISTP Touch the Sky (Lil Nekh): ENTP TRADE L: ENTJ Tukutz: INFP twlv: INFP Ugly Duck: ENFP Unofficialboyy: ESTJ Viann: ESTJ Vinxen: INTP Way Ched: ENTJ Wetboy: ENFJ Wonstein: INFJ Woo Wonjae: INFP Woodie Gochild: ENFP Xydo: ENFP Yami Tommy: INFP new: INTP YANGHONGWON: INFP YoBoy: INFP YongYong: 60% INFJ / 40% INTJ Yourbeagle: ISTJ Yugyeom: INFP Yumin: INFP YUMMDA: ENTP Yung Chens: INFP-T Yuzion: INFP Zene the Zilla: ENFP new: INFP-T Zico: ENTJ Zion.T: ENTP Zior Park: ENTP-T new: INTP-T -- 70/30 Thank you to @freyja-333 @dutchannanas @bemoreobscene @makeawave @vangochild @music-is-a-painkiller for your help! ♥ (Please reblog the original post because it's regularly updated!)

[thevindicativevordan]

Metallo

I wanted to talk about one of my favorite DC villains, a guy who I’ve always thought was incredibly cool. A guy who I’ve thought makes a really awesome contrast for Superman. A guy who has never been in stories that have utilized his potential in my eyes:

Let’s talk about Metallo.

Metallo’s Background

He’s one of Superman’s oldest Rogues, and also one of the Rogues who has gone through the most revamps. The Golden Age Superman fought a guy called Metalo aka George Grant who created a suit of armor made out of the strongest metal on Earth (something that would resurface in the Grant Morrison revamp during the New 52) and a super strength serum that made him Superman’s physical equal. In an odd way he was an evil proto-Iron Man/Post Crisis Lex Luthor:

The John Corben take wouldn’t show up until the 1950s, created by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino. This was the foundation for the modern conception of Metallo:

Right off the bat Corben was positioned as an Anti-Superman, predating Bizarro who wouldn’t show up until later. Corben worked as a journalist to cover up his real activities as a murderer and thief. An accident that nearly killed him and crippled his human body, forced him to accept a deal with a scientist to transfer his mind to a new artificial body. The scientist transferred his mind into an android body covered in synthetic bulletproof skin, gifting Corben with super strength. The synthetic skin idea would be used in Byrne’s revamp and the DCAU incarnation. He was initially powered by uranium, but was told he would need Kryptonite to fuel himself permanently. Corben would also act as a romantic rival for Clark via wooing Lois with his pretense of being Superman’s secret identity.

Ultimately John Corben would die in his debut issue, after mistaking a museum prop for the actual Kryptonite he needed to power himself. I often wonder if the character might have been better off if he had not been killed off in his debut, similarly to how the Joker was saved from dying in his debut by editorial. There were many intriguing ideas present in Corben’s creation: He was a romantic rival for Clark Kent, he used his journalism in a similar if villainous way as Superman did, and he was powered by the very thing that could kill Superman while still possessing enough raw strength to stand on equal terms with the Man of Steel. If they had kept him around, fleshed him out more, might Metallo have enjoyed more long term respect?

 Regardless, Corben’s death paved the way for the third Metallo: His brother Roger Corben.

Roger likewise had a lot of interesting ideas that would eventually get folded into the modern Metallo. He was not a petty thief, but had a personal vendetta with Superman over the death of his brother. Superman accidentally caused the very accident that crippled Roger, adding to the man’s feud. Roger was also a leader within the Skull organization, rather than the small time criminal his brother was. This Metallo’s design would form the basis for the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank revamp during Secret Origin, and I suspect the Johns conception of Metallo as a member of a wider organization and whose transformation was caused by Superman has it’s roots here.

Sadly the take on a more fleshed out Metallo would not last. The Roger Corben version of Metallo would meet his end with the rest of the Pre-Crisis Superman Rogues Gallery in the seminal Alan Moore story Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Enter John Byrne:

During his Post-Crisis revamp of the Supermythos, Byrne returned to the John Corben take of a petty thief injured in an accident, who is rebuilt by a mad scientist Professor Vale. Byrne added his own twist though, with the scientist believing Superman to be the first scout in a full blown Kryptonian takeover of Earth, and specifically crafted Metallo to be an Anti-Superman weapon powered by Kryptonite. Metallo was to be humanity’s defense against the threat of Superman, an idea that would be revisited in Johns’ and Morrison’s revamps. Unfortunately petty thieves don’t make for great heroes, and Metallo killed Vale, ultimately coming into conflict with Superman not over any desire to protect humanity, but to simply eliminate a thorn in his side.

This incarnation of Metallo has basically served as the basis for his appearance in outside media, with a design that blatantly draws on the popular Terminator films.

This version of Metallo would also acquire a variety of powers thanks to making a deal with Neron that included the ability to transform parts of his body into weapons, transfer his consciousness into any technological or mechanical device, and manipulate his size:

Personally I’ve always loved that powerset upgrade, and think it’s crucial it sticks. It let him kick the shit out of Superman AND Batman in Loeb Superman/Batman, which basically solidified for me that this dude was a badass you didn’t want to mess with. Shame he’s never come close to matching that initial impression since.

The DCAU mostly used the Byrne revamp’s take, but they did change a few aspects which would end up carrying over to the mainline version. Most important was the replacing of Vale with Lex Luthor as the mind behind Metallo’s creation, something that would be incorporated in both Johns and Morrison’s later revamps.

One aspect that they introduced that didn’t carry over, that was still utilized to great effectiveness in the show, was that Corbyn’s transformation had robbed him of most physical sensation. He couldn’t taste, smell, touch, all the little things that made us human, and that drove him nuts. Ultimately he would learn that Lex was responsible for what happened to him, and he would swear a grudge against both Lex and Superman. Malcom McDowell was a fantastic choice to play Metallo, and is still the guy I “hear” when I read Metallo’s dialogue.

Now we come to the guy who crafted the next big revamp of Metallo: Geoff Johns.

This version of Metallo incorporated a ton of aspects from the multiple revamps that had preceded it, in much the same way Secret Origin did to Superman as a whole, while also adding a few new twists that I consider essential to the character now.

Like the DCAU, Luthor was the one who transformed Corben into Metallo. Like the Roger Corben take, this John Corben was accidentally crippled in a fight with Superman that gave him a personal vendetta against the Man of Steel.  Similar to Byrne, this Metallo was created to be an Anti-Superman weapon. Corben and Lois had had a brief romantic relationship, similar to the original debut of Corben. Johns even incorporated some of the Golden Age Metallo by having Corben suit up in a mech suit made of “Metallo”, the strongest metal on Earth to fight Superman before the accident. Johns also added a key bit of lore that I love, that Corben served as a soldier under General Sam Lane, and became the man’s surrogate son, the child he always wanted as opposed to Lois and Lucy. Here Corben is motivated to fight Kal-El by a mix of xenophobia, need to impress his father figure, desire to impress Lois, and a simple dose of blood lust.

The last major revamp came from Grant Morrison during the New 52:

Morrison kept a lot of the Johns revamp: Corben was a soldier serving under Sam Lane, he had a brief romantic relationship with Lois, he was distrustful of Superman’s heroics, and his transformation into Metallo was connected to Lex. However Corben was a much more sympathetic figure under Morrison than under Johns, genuinely believing Superman to be a threat, he volunteered to be merged with the Metal-0 superweapon (another callback to the original Metalo) to defend humanity, but Brainiac hijacked his cybernetics and turned him into a weapon. 

While Metallo would get another visual revamp for Rebirth, posted in the first image, Corben has more or less stayed within the confines that Byrne/Johns/Morrison established.

How I would use Metallo

I said earlier that Metallo is a guy I loved that I’ve never thought has lived up to his potential. He’s a villain with a lot of cool ideas, he’s a villain who has been continuously used by a lot of my favorite writers, but he’s never lived up to the Anti-Superman characterization that’s baked into him. Too often he’s just been a glorified henchman, or a petty thug, rarely if ever challenging Superman except in the most basic physical sense. I think that’s a great disservice to the ability of the character to be a much more important Rogue. That writers so often refuse to focus on him or any of the Rogues beyond Lex also hasn’t done him any favors. Instead of creating countless new OCs that are tossed aside by the next writer, someone needs to come on board with a passion for revamping the classics.

A lot of Superman’s Rogues suck not because they aren’t cool or don’t bring any interesting ideas, but because the ideas don’t do a good job in contrasting with Superman’s attributes. Metallo is a great example of this, look at all the interesting ideas creators have crafted around him, yet none of them have really been able to push those ideas as a way to explore and contrast Superman, so we get basic “Metallo tries to kill Superman, fails, Superman sends him back to jail” stories. That’s a failure of creativity in my eyes. I think that by choosing from some of the revamps listed above, a better, cooler, more interesting Metallo can be crafted.

The basics as established by Byrne/Johns/Morrison are great! The essential ideas that should be incorporated from all of the revamps listed above are:

1. Corben needs to have a military background as in Johns/Morrison. The petty thief origin is too dull, there’s nothing really to be mined there from a characterization standpoint. As a soldier Corben can serve as an interesting critique and contrast of Superman as an icon of America. The “American Way” has always been a dicey add-on to the original “Truth and Justice” motto. Often it’s been used to cast Superman as an obedient stooge of the government, as he was in The Dark Knight Returns, a characterization that has dogged him ever since. I think Corben can serve as an interesting character to explore Superman’s relationship with the American military-industrial complex. I would have Corben be what said complex wants Superman to be, at least in the beginning: A human WMD they can aim and fire, who will always follow orders no matter how reprehensible they are, who has a firm “America First” mindset. That way you can contrast the mainline Superman, and show that Superman is not that while also establishing what “The American Way” means in his eyes. Or you can have Superman drop that aspect of his motto in-universe, out of disgust for how his government perverts it. Either option is fine with me, I didn’t mind when Superman renounced his American citizenship.

2. If Lois often has to end up working with Clark’s exes, whether it’s Lana, Diana, or whoever, I think it’s only fair that Clark has to end up facing down an ex from Lois’ past. It’s important to show that Lois had a life before Clark showed up, and I think Corben is a good way to explore some of that. He’s the possessive ex-boyfriend who doesn’t respect Lois’ personal space and is convinced he can “win her back” via sheer determination. You can also compare and contrast the way Clark courted Lois, did Clark occasionally make the same pigheaded assumptions as Corben did? Corben debuted as a romantic rival for Superman, and I think that aspect still has merit. I also like his status as Sam’s surrogate son, it adds for some nice tension with Clark’s father-in-law that the guy he actually wanted to marry Lois was transformed into a weapon to kill the guy who ended up being his son-in-law. 

3. Corben is a true believer in the threat Superman poses, and is willing to take on the transformation into Metallo to protect humanity. It’s xenophobia yes, but with all the Evil Superman stories going around, it’s hard not to sympathize at least a little bit with Corben’s viewpoint, which tie into a deeper attribute of Corben’s I think needs to be brought up: Corben should be a sympathetic villain. I wouldn’t make him a bloodthirsty psycho, Superman has plenty of those. Corben should have villainous valor, willing to tackle on whatever threats to humanity are out there, whether Superman or others. I would make Corben instead someone who has the genuine desire to protect humanity, but lacks Superman’s concern for collateral damage. In that way you could contrast the two’s brand of “heroics”, Superman’s loyalty to humanity as a whole over one nation, and concern with protecting lives first and foremost, Corben’s desire to protect humanity’s future for the “greater good” even if it costs a few lives in the here and now and loyalty to America above all else. 

4. I like the idea of Superman being inadvertently responsible for the accident that cripples Corben and mandates his transformation. It adds to his sympathy, helps justify why Superman might continue to believe Corben could find redemption (he wants Corben to change and also wants to find a way to earn Corben’s forgiveness one day), and provides a good personal reason for why Corben would hate Superman, blaming Supes for his current state. I would also have him blame Sam and Lex as well, but he would subdue those resentments for as long as he remained working for the military. Only after he finally snaps would he target those two.

5. Finally I would keep the ability to shapeshift his body into weapons, and to manipulate technology. I would have Corben emulating Adam Jensen from Deus Ex, able to “hack” tech around him for his own purpose, armed with a variety of weapons that make him a huge threat not just to Superman but to everyone. Finally I would get rid of the Kryptonite heart. I’m tired of every battle with Metallo going the same way: He shows up, blasts Superman with kryptonite radiation, Superman lies on the ground gasping in pain, Metallo stands around gloating like a moron instead of finishing Supes off, Supes beats him by tricking him or by someone else intervening. I want to see Metallo as an Anti-Superman weapon realized beyond jus the Kryptonite. How about incorporating the DCAU version’s lack of feeling, so that Metallo doesn’t feel pain from Superman’s blows or his powers? How about giving him an internal temperature controller, so he can’t be melted by heat vision or frozen by arctic breath? How about an invisibility cloak that hides him from Superman’s vision, sound mufflers that let him sneak up on Supes even with his hearing, basically go WILD with his Anti-Superman status, let us see a real fight between someone who can counter each of Superman’s powers! You have Kryptonite Man and Lex for the villains who mainly make use of Kryptonite against Superman, I think Metallo should go in a different direction. Morrison making it so that “Metal-0″ was already powerful enough to hurt Superman is all the justification you need as to why he still poses a threat in my opinion.

I’ll go over the basic arc I’d want to see him undergo and the kinds of stories I think he’s positioned to tell in another post.