#THAT ONE LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT PANEL

[martyrbat]

Bodies in Motion and at Rest – Thomas Lynch

[TEXT ID: It hurts so bad to think I cannot save him, protect him, keep him out of harm's way, shield him from pain. What good are fathers if not for these things? Why can't he be a boy again, safe from these perils and disasters? Lately I'm always on the brink of breaking.]

[daydreamerdrew]

All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (2005) #1

[nightwingcouldyounot]

Finished my Medieval Festival and Black Canary basically at the same time. 

The queue is over 100 and I have a couple days before I have to go back to work to try and smash out some reading so let’s go to what will be the first Long Run series I’ve done in a while and hopefully I won’t come to regret it: Batman Legends of the Dark Knight 

[luna-lovegreat]

Twilight and Legends relationship

...I love it

**in this post there's a lot of stuff I didn't notice before. I'm gonna resist the urge to write an essay on each point, and attempt to leave most of it up to the reader's interpretation**

Ok ok there's a ton of stuff here, starting with early character scenes

They're like the rest of the chain: They fight together and talk. Legend is close to Hyrule, and Twilight to Wild and Time.

We see some things Twilight and Legend have in common. One is their dislike of Hyrule knights, and-

As seen in the Gerudo clothes scene, both Twi and Leg like to mess around with pranks and have a lot of snark... wonder what would happen if they worked together

But there's something really important about how Twilight views Legend:

I wasn't aware this was before looking closely at their interactions but... Twilight didn't originally like Legend. This is shown a lot later on- in his facial expressions and words towards Legend. But from the start he didn't like him much, and here's why:

From the start, Jojo says this- Twilight judges Legend's actions as too harsh since his mannerisms come across as picking on someone. (Also Sky you are so so pure and cute 10/10 most huggable Link)

Legend is abrasive because he's had so many adventures- he's hardened to the point of being sharp. But it's wonderful that that character can still be so loved- his heart is good (hero duh)

Twilight has always been a big brother. It makes him well loved (rightly so). Jojo says he knows people can change- for good or bad. But because of his past Twilight doesn't like people picking on others "not even a little". It's complicated- we see it affect Twilight's attitude towards Legend a lot.

Anywho moving on to the plot

Wolfie, Aka twilight

Dark mirror stuff happens, and Legend finds out Twi's Wolfie- as we all know. But he can't just. Acknowledge it of course. He's gotta probe and tease, asking pointed questions (snark snark snark)

And in his attempts to be certain about the Wolf stuff, we were blessed with:

Bunny Legend

Welp. That investigation did not go as planned.

Animal forms:

Bunnies are soft, but Legends actions are not. He is guarded and sharp yet his form shows how sweet his true heart is

Wolves will love/protect their family yet are fierce, they have fangs and will fight. The root of who Twilight is is his kindness and family

Also (sarcastic) good job to Four and Wild for being SO SUBTLE with their emotions when Legend's asking questions hinting he knows Twi's secret

Legend: asking questions about the secret shhh

Four and Wild: Are having a freaking heart attack about it

Twilight: starts ranting about goats

...

Once Twilight gets over the shock of Legend like. Absorbing his crystal. He... well, looking at the harshness in his face and words, this is where Legend's attitude and his past with Colin being bullied biased him against Legend.

Look at his face in each panel through the progression- Twilight is more and more confused thinking legend is not who he thought he was...

And Twilight certainly sympathizes/relates to being hurt by losing someone he loved (in whatever form the relationship took)

And WHY is it always girlfriend trauma with these boys of COURSE it's girlfriend trauma that brings them together NOT SHARING A SPIRIT AND LOVE OF SWINGING GLORIFIED METAL NO THEY HAVE TO BOND OVER RELATIONSHIPS GONE WRONG

Twilight then thinks well that's a good reason to be pretty changed because from the start Jojo said he'll always understand people changing...

So they go, and make legend human again (with pink hair) and Legend is... surprised. And grateful...

Another few defining moments:

Legend's dialogue thanking him is the real start of them connecting like in Leg's original character description "the most reliable, you want him on your team"

And again Twi's face, Twilight is looking at Leg differently throughout this- contemplating to be honest. Considering...

And remember when I said these two both like to prank? Well the second they have a shared experience and get back to camp they immediately team up and start barraging Warriors with snark

Heaven help the chain when these two are on the same side

Legend has never been close to people outside of the few he's accepted as his (love him and hyrule's bond). After this? Twilight's one of his people. There's much more expression of caring and closeness towards Twilight- something we don't see with many.

And then, well, Twilight nearly dies. And Legend, he cares

Bunny boys puppy dog eyes are gonna kill me someday

Twilights pretty injured, he really doesn't see/remember all these moments showing how much Legend wants to help

And then we have this moment

this moment

Matters so so much

Look at Twi's face. Look at his surprise, realization, and acceptance- this is when he realizes- when he sees how much Legend cares for him

Twi woke from his deathbed for his family

and then in the next few updates it's really cute- he just is barely recovering and legend is just... beside him. Staying by his side

Animal forms later development:

Legend's bunny form is soft- but he is still not totally soft. Looking at Legends actions and facial expressions towards the others, while he's definitely closer to Twi now, he's still the snarky boy we know and love.

Twilight's Wolf form is loyal and loves family: Once he knows legends heart? Full on pack love.

And WHY were they so very intent on petting each other

Legend: I'm gonna go try and pet the wolf since I think he's my dude yes good plan

Twilight: I KNOW THIS IS WEIRD BUT IVE NEVER PET A RABBIT BEFORE LET ME TOUCH YOU

...

Here's a few random parallels of them to chew on because I love parallels (them snarky snarking each other, then some brother love parallels)

The thing with these two is their character bonding and whatever is not all sweet and lovey like some of the others. They have some REALLY sweet caring moments with each other. But snark plus snark equals double snark, meaning them together is the weirdest mix of kindness and teasing you've ever seen

And although at the beginning they were pretty harsh towards each other, it makes their getting closer and learning their similarities all the better.

[unexpectedstormy]

My thoughts on the new update

Nice double vanishing point perspective! (This is what I'm learning about in art class right now.)

So Sky WAS running all around and that's why he was out of breath going down stairs in the last comic.

Holy smoking Sonic the Hedgehog that guy is fast. Also, can confirm: running with knife-hands does in fact make you run faster.

Close up of that face ehehehe >,'C

XD this is so funny. But who do you think said it?

It looks to me like it was Legend who said it based on where Sky and Warriors are looking. Here, let me make it clearer with laser eyes:

Also Warriors is Mr. Grumpypants. He's probably in army-intel-and-strategy mode. Or he he's just irritable after getting no sleep, wrangling a bunch of hot-blooded teens, and watching his friend almost die and miraculously recover.

Eyyy! Wild's got his new sword! He was probably just showing it to Twilight. From this angle, it looks like he and Twilight are holding hands. Also, Time has humongous hands.

Loving these dark spooky forest vibes. I'll definitely be doing a panel-background repaint of one of these.

Yeah! You glow girl!

(Teeheehee I just wanted to make that joke. That's the only reason why I put this panel here tweeheehee)

My face when I saw this sword on the ground: 😳😃 because oh my Hylia I want that sword so bad. I love scimitars. In other news, you know what I don't see on the ground? The Shadow's cursed axe of Horrible Evilness. I wonder if Sky noticed.

Yup. Portal. There we go! No one's surprised except for Sky. But check out what's in the foreground. That helmet. Wasn't that the Shadow's helmet when it/he was in [giant metal knight] form? (I can't remember what the name of the monster type was. Something nut I think.)

This face. Enough said.

Oh boy. Wild's face when he realizes that he didn't 'kill' it--or it resurrected. Also Sky, you drink up that stamina potion. You deserve it.

Time looking rather fine. Or like he's in an anime title sequence. And he's speaking like he swallowed an 1850's fireside poetry book again. (I think it's endearing.)

And there we go! My first thoughts on this comic. Oh! JK! One more thought!! VV

It doesn't say 'Dawn Pt 8' so does that mean the next arc starts in the next comic? 👀

[saint-of-ossaville]

Oh we just remembered that the last thing Bruce said, at least on-page, to Jean-Paul and Azrael was no more deaths (see below cut), and then chronologically Arkham City: The Order of the World happens, and The System has Azrael go on this holy mission and…

— Arkham City: The Order of the World Vol 1 #2-3 (Jan-Feb 2022; 2021, DC Comics) by Dan Watters (W), Dani (A), Dave Stewart (C), and Aditya Bidikar (L).

(Under cut is Batman telling them no more killings, assuming that Azrael was the one to do them. Saying this again to avoid confusion: The below panels are prior to the above ones.)

— “Dark Knight of the Soul, Part One” of Batman: Urban Legends Vol 1 #8 (Dec 2021; 2021, DC Comics), reprinted in Sword of Azrael: Dark Knight of the Soul Vol 1 #1 (Aug 2022; 2022, DC Comics), by Dan Watters (W), Nikola Čižmešija (A), Ivan Plascenia (C), and Ariana Maher (L).

[fractualized]

hi!! i hope you don’t mind me asking this but i recently read harleen (specifically issue 1) and wondered if you might know of any other comics that have an outsider perspective of batjokes? thanks !!

I don't mind at all, anon! I also enjoy in-universe outside perspectives on Batman and Joker's relationship (and I've included quite a bit of it in fic). Harleen #1 does have a pretty great one:

The most common commentary on Batman and Joker from other characters is the ol' "why haven't you killed him yet?!" but that reflects more frustration than any inkling of the connection between Gotham's most famous nemeses. So with the help of @distort-opia, I wrangled panels from a couple dozen comics that show characters having a better (even if incomplete) understanding of what the heck is going on there.

Many of these may already be familiar if you've been around batjokes fandom long enough. Regardless, spoilers abound!

I've ordered these (mostly) in cover date order.

June 1996 - The Batman Chronicles #5

This is a flashback that takes place shortly after The Killing Joke. Barbara is understandably bitter about being fridged, and it's clear that officers who saw Batman and Joker laughing together have spread the word, because heyyyyy wtf?

October 1996 - Catwoman (1993) #38

Selina knows releasing other rogues is a good distraction; Batman is always more concerned about Joker than her.

May 1997 - Batman: Batgirl

Before this, Joker was firing his gun willy-nilly, hitting his own men, and he hit Batman accidentally. Barbara doesn't seem to think he fully understands the consequences of killing Batman, especially given the surprise he shows when Batman goes down.

Five years later, this story gets retold (with a worse rendition of Joker's fantastic oufit):

July 2002 - DC First: Batgirl/Joker 

In this version, Barbara more actively realizes she needs to get at Joker by laughing at him, because he's caught up in a reality where Batman is the only other real person. (Not sure if this is the first comic to posit that idea, but it has shown up elsewhere.)

February 1999 - Catwoman (1993) #65

Joker has been terrorizing Catwoman for Batman-related reasons for a few issues, and she knows that saying she's killed Batman will devastate him. (You know, the more stories like this I see, the more I see Tom King actually didn't have too far a walk to jokerize Selina.)

August 2001 - Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #144

Alfred has noticed that Joker's presence affects Bruce's behavior. 

September 2003 - Batman: Gotham Knights #43

This take from Barbara is set before TKJ and meant to foreshadow (aftershadow?) it. Here she shows a better understanding of Batman and Joker's relationship than Bruce does.

October 2003 - Outsiders (2003) #3

Luthor knows just how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Streets of Gotham #19

Hush also knows how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Gotham City Sirens #19 

Selina and Harley are thinking more about themselves here, but it's not hard to connect the dots. Joker is part of the criminal morass that Bruce is focused on fighting, and Joker's focus is constantly on how to best the Batman.

November 2011 - Batman: Noël

Bruce has been told that Catwoman has information about the Joker's whereabouts. Note that Selina isn't saying she's aware that Joker is up to something right now; she implies that Batman is always thinking about Joker. It's a fact she can bank on.

May 2013 - Injustice: Gods Among Us #4 (digital release #11) 

Perhaps the most infamous example. This is related to the "why won't you kill him?" trope, but Clark's accusation takes it further by directly saying it's because Bruce loves fighting Joker more than he loves his friends and family.

Clark says something similar about Joker being Bruce's playmate in another comic:

August 2014 - Adventures of Superman (2013) #14 (digital release #41

Even outside of the Injustice universe, Clark knows Bruce's priorities are out of whack when it comes to Joker.

January 2013 - Catwoman (2011) #14

Selina just stating the obvious here, again after a now-faceless Joker has tormented her for Batman-related reasons for a couple issues.

April 2016 - Batman (2011) #49

Heartbreaking example from Alfred here. He watched Bruce's obsessiveness and understood that Bruce, consciously or subconsciously, saw dying with Joker as his destiny. He probably suspects that Joker didn't really die either and knows they're going to end up back on the same track.

April 2016 - Batman: Europa #4

These panels sum up Europa. Bane, always looking for fresh ways to break the Bat, saw Joker as a clear catalyst (even if he had to make up a convoluted plot to make Batman see it first).

January 2017 - All-Star Batman #4 (backer)

Duke is pretty much repeating Bruce's soliloquy from Death of the Family here, so he's not saying anything Bruce doesn't really know, but he doesn't know that Bruce knows. lol Interestingly, this happens before Dark Days: The Casting, in which Duke watches Joker demonstrate his love in a more positive way by trying to stop Bruce from blundering into everything that happens in Dark Nights: Metal and beyond.

January 2018 - Batman: White Knight #2

White Knight is problematic from a batjokes standpoint (and other standpoints!) but poor Harley presents another infamous outsider perspective here.

October 2018 - Harley/Gossamer Special

She's right and right to say it!

August 2020 - Birds of Prey (2020) 

This take is interesting in how it posits that Joker already felt unfulfilled by Batman by the time he met Harley and that she was kind of a rebound.

August 2020 - The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

This is from "The Last Smile," in which Harley reveals Joker's recurring nightmare about Batman mocking him as he's put to death. Joker didn't picture Harley appearing to save him, but perhaps he felt like Batman's respect was "saving" him all the long.

September 2020 - Batgirl (2016) #47

Nooooo! That's the thing he's sensitive about!

April 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #3

I have… a lot of thoughts about Batman/Catwoman, few positive, but if you can push past the muddling storytelling technique (and the batcat if that's not your thing), Selina has a lot to say about Bruce and Joker's relationship, like in this and the following example.

May 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #4

Catwoman describes how Batman treats all his rogues and then equates that with how he treats his lovers. How much do you know, Selina? Who is Joker's main competition?? It's Harvey, isn't it?!

May 2022 - Detective Comics (2016) #1058 (backer)

Even newbie F-level antagonists like The Forgotten know what's up!

Well, that was a lengthy but surely not exhaustive account of what other DC characters think about the vibes between the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime. (May they be bewildered for years to come!) I hope you spotted some comics that caught your interest, anon.

[jewishcissiekj]

Star Wars comics read-through time but this time I finally got to The High Republic comics so instead of being Legends and from 20-10 something years ago they're only from 2 years ago

This is what I'll be discussing btw, highly recommended but you should read 3 books before you start it (Light of the Jedi, Into the Dark, A Test of Courage)

Keeve Trennis is so fucking cool why are women in Star Wars always perfect and can do no wrong Also, her lightsaber is cool as hell I love the long hilt

Favorite Avar Kriss panels to add to my previous point I need her

This was one of the very first pages and it's so stunning, this series started off strong and just kept on going, I love it

I know it's just one of the names but this is Jizz music erasure. Cowards.

Woah Keeve you are so me how'd you know this is what I would've said in that situation

Knighting! Hell yeah we love to see it

Ahhhh this book is so prettyyyyyyyyy and I love The High Republic so much already

Had no idea Vernestra and Imri would be here but it makes me so happy they are

The covers for this are fucking amazing I wish Women were real

love it when Jedi are 90% cape 10/10 no notes

Oh fuck. Fuck. Maybe leaving throwing the Drengir into space asn't such a good idea was it Reath Silas

Tiny Keeves!

This is Reath but I'm not sure who the other one's supposed to be. Dez? It sure doesn't look like Cohmac or Orla

Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi Jedi

(ง'̀-'́)ง

Ooooh her Lightsaber can be split into two that's so cool what a sick Asajj Ventress refren-

More Verenestra and Imri look at them!

Avar Kriss

Well shit guess I have to read High Republic Adventures before continuing to Issue #6

Star Wars: The High Republic #1-5

[scintillyyy]

what do jack and janet call tim?

it depends!

in batman #436, we can see janet call tim both 'hon' and 'timmy'

in batman #441, janet calls him 'timothy' and jack calls him 'tim'

the postcard to tim in detective comics #618 calls him tim (my guess would be janet wrote that, because i can't picture jack writing a postcard to tim). jack continues to call him 'tim' in detective comics #620.

and in batman #480

listen, i can't post every single panel, but consistenty through tim's robin series tim is referred to by jack as mainly 'tim'. we don't ever see 'timothy' too often from him.

when worried, he tends to default to 'my boy' as a term of endearment (from robin #72, robin #124)

in tim's dream sequence in the batman chronicles #4, janet teasingly calls him 'timothy drake'

and calls him 'timmy' again in batman: legends of the dark knight #100

in tim' hallucination of her in robin #183, she's not very nice (remember: hallucination, one specifically designed to hurt tim and not actually what she was like) but she calls him 'timmy'!

so all in all: jack is 99.9% likely to just call tim, tim. janet uses much more variety--sure she calls him timothy sometimes, but affectionately. i would say there's evidence with the postcard she calls him tim too. but she is actually pretty likely to use a term of endearment with her son like 'hon', or an informal nickname like timmy! she does not only formally refer to him as 'timothy' lol.

[dailycass-cain]

Cassandra Cain Reading Guide Part 1: General

So you want a reading list for Cassandra Cain? I'm gonna split this into various sections. So, if the urge increases of "I WANT TO READ MORE!" Then there are other tiers to help feed that great need.

And it all begins with this one.

Part II reading guide (Modern) you can find here.

Part III reading guide (Random) you can find here.

Part IV reading guide (Alternate versions) you can find here.

Part V reading guide (PAIN) you can find here.

The starting point is No Man's Land particularly these issues.

Batman #567 + Detective Comics  #734 - Mark of Cain aka Cass's first appearance and her intro arc (Puckett/Scott/Peterson).

Legends of the Dark Knight #120 - First as Batgirl.

Batman #569 - first solo story

Azrael #56-57, #60-61

Gotham Knights #2

Batman Chronicles #18

Robin #73

There are more appearances of Cass in No Man's Land than these and the one above, but these are highlighted by her interactions with Jean-Paul Valley, Bruce, Tim, and Leslie Thompkins.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #1-11, #13-25

The first half of the Kelly Puckett/Damion Scott run. If you're wondering why #12 isn't mentioned, it's a crossover issue for Officer Down (basically Jim Gordon is shot, and the aftermath is him stepping down as Commish). It's totally up to you completist wise if you want to go into that story.

For key portions, #7 is Shiva/Cass meeting for the first time, #11 is a spotlight on David Cain, #18 & #20 are her first actual team-ups with Tim & Stephanie, Not her first meetings (she first met Tim in #120, and Stephanie in Robin #88).

During #24 we have another crossover, this event being Bruce Wayne: Murderer? This leads into the next crossover which hits in #27 & #29 Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. Bruce is the main suspect of a murder leading the Bat Family to investigate it. It is optional BUT--

The primary antagonist of the crossover has a critical role in Cassandra's life. So if you want-- Batman #605 (reveal of the antagonist of Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive) Batman #606-607 (aftermath to the reveal) Cassandra only appears in #605 and has a two-panel cameo in #607.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #26-37

The second half of the Puckett/Scott run. Again, #27 & 29 are x-overs. #30-32 is an arc drawn by Scott but written by Chuck Dixon. #33-37 is the closeout of the run.

For issues going on while this run, there were four specials published that featured Cass.

DC First- Batgirl/Joker #1 (Cassandra fights the Joker.)

Batgirl Annual #1 (one linear story of Cass/Bruce on an adventure)

Batgirl: Secret Files & Origins #1.

Batgirl/Ghost: The Resurrection Machine #1-4.

It's up to you if you want to read the last one. It's Cass's only crossover comic, But yeah.. I’m not particularly fond of the story.

#38 features Stephanie exiting the supporting cast and features the first Batgirl issue by Andersen Gabrych.

Superboy #85 is where you need to read next. It has Cass teaming up with Conner Kent/Superboy. This issue helps leading into----

Batgirl Vol. 1 #39-57

Dylan Horrocks’ run.. #39-42 deals with Superboy and a villain called Black Wind (#39-40). Black Wind shows up again in #43-44 with Cass also tangling with an OLD Batman villain Dr. Death.

#45 is when Rich Leonardi arrives as artist for the comic. This is also the same issue Cass dons Babs' Batgirl costume. #46-49 continues the build-up of tension Cass has with Bruce (starting in #39) which leads to #50 Cass vs. Bruce! Horrocks/Leonardi's crown jewel of their run.

#51-52 Cass takes on Poison Ivy. #53 Stephanie returns to the comic as Robin. #54 sadly is when Barbara exits the title as a supporting character. #55-57 is War Games x-over resulting in Stephanie being killed off, and Barbara leaving Gotham, gutting Cassandra's supporting cast.

During this near the middle of this run, another maxi-series is published by DC that features Cass:

Justice League Elite #1-12

- Kasumi (Cass in disguise and spying for Batman). If you're looking for Cass tangling with threats beyond her usual street fare than by all means.

Nightwing #81

- features Cassandra's first encounter with Deathstroke the Terminator. A gorgeous choreographed fight by Devin Grayson and art by Rich Leonardi.

Detective Comics #790 - a War Games prelude with Cass helping Bruce on a mission while both reflecting on Stephanie Brown who is at a crossroads.

Robin #132

Batgirl #58

Robin #133

Batgirl #59

- the Fresh Blood story which features Cass teaming up with Tim both reeling from the fallout of War Games crossover event and their new status quos.

- #58 is the start of Andersen Gabrych's run on the comic.

-  An epilogue to this story occurs in Batman Allies: Secrets & Origins #1 in a tale (written by Gabrych).

Batgirl Vol. 1 #58-73

#60-62 is Cassandra's new status quo. Ale Garza/Pop Mhan provide art for most of Gabrych's run (save one issue). These three issues have Cass tangle with the Brotherhood of Evil and a "ghostly" Stephanie continues to shows up too!

#63-64 is Cass having a rematch with Deathstroke who brings Ravager along for the ride. This is basically Gabrych tying up a subplot introduced in Teen Titans comics happening at the same time period (i.e. Rose posing as Cass), but you don't really need to read that to understand the why. So I’m not going to give the issue # to that.

#65-73 is the Destructions' Daughter arc. Everyone who has history with Cass shows up in this arc. Bruce, David Cain, Babs, Black Canary, a few villains of her past (Shrike and Alpha), and of course Lady Shiva in #68.

It's here Gabrych has to juggle a lot of tie-ins. Infinite Crisis was looming on the horizon and Cassandra was dealing with parts since the beginning of her run. #66, and #69-70 are considered the "lowest" points of the run and the Vol. 1 series.

#71-73 is when the action ramps up again with Gabrych having to speed his way to the ongoing's conclusion in #73.

I know I left out appearances (Supergirl, Batman/Superman, Harley Quinn, Young Justice, Birds of Prey, Robin, and Gotham Knights). Also a mini (Batman: City of Lights). But they're just sprinkles. Added goodies to the toppings that is this entire run.  Okay, save the last one and maybe Batman/Superman... You will see them on other lists I have for Cass (mostly part 3 and 5).

 DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1

- contains TWO stories centered on Cassandra. Along with this neat variant cover by Artgerm.  "Sounds" literally feels like a story during or just after the Puckett/Scott run (#37) written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Marcus To.  

"What's in the Box?" is the other story that features Cassandra written/drawn by Dustin Nguyen. Though shorter than the prior one it is still a gorgeously drawn story. Not mentioned, but alluded based on the art/timeline Cass is in her Black Bat attire. So you can place this story after Gates of Gotham in the old canon.

Batman: Urban Legends #7 (Hunter or Hunted...)

-  The story/art by Guillaume Singelin provides a truly UNIQUE tale starring Cass.  The action is top-notch, we're given probably the best fight sequence from start to finish involving the character in a LONG TIME. The story is a literal  feast for the eyes.

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Episodes 32-33 "All Seeing"

- The second major arc that focuses on Cass showcases the many qualities of the character on why there are so many passionate fans of hers. A good starter or introduction for new readers on the character.

All season 1 episodes of WFA  are free and available here:

Episodes 90-91 "What I Want" 

 - The third major story arc focuses on Cass's comic origin while also giving us a team-up gone awry between her and Damian Wayne. Gives new readers a further understanding of Cass building upon Episodes 32-33.

Shadow of the Batgirl

- a Young Adults graphic novel written by Sarah Kuhn and drawn by Nicole Goux. Kuhn gives Cassandra a modern origin taking elements from Puckett and James Tynion IV/Scott Snyder’s Batman & Robin Eternal origin to give us something newly unique on it’s own.

A highly recommended story!

Batgirls #14

- The best issue of the Batgirls ongoing series. Artist Jonathan Case pulls off a masterclass of art, inking, and coloring in this special “silent” issue. There’s no need to read any prior issues. You can go in without reading the prior two arcs (Batgirls #9-12, 2022 Annual, and #13), but it adds to the payoff of this issue.

Yes, writers Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan cheat in the format, but the way they sneak the dialogue in is absolutely perfect. After years of being denied the special format, Cass gets it and showcases WHY the character just works so well. 

[martyrbat]

batman #428 / batman: legends of the dark knight #100

It's over. It's begun. The end of the training and the worry that he wouldn't pass the tests and make the grade, the beginning of a life with meaning. Jason smiles. A bright smile. The kind of smile Robin, The Boy Wonder should have. And he is Robin after all. For now and ever more.

‘Part of me recalls him putting on his costume that first time... the look on his face... his smile... as if it were yesterday. That first time, I must keep it alive... the memory of it. Alive in my heart so that the memory of this... here now... doesn't destroy me. We're together at least. One last time together... as it should be.’

[distort-opia]

How many times has the joker cried? I cant remember any times he did at the moment but im very curious in which situations has he allowed himself to be so vulnarable

The most famous time Joker has cried is in Batman: The Killing Joke:

The script describes his tears mixing with the rain. It's the most genuinely vulnerable Joker has ever been, since it didn't happen because some external factor forced him into sanity and regretting his actions-- a thing that's happened in comics like four or five times at this point. In TKJ, it was all him. If you're curious about a more extensive list of stories in which Joker's humanity is explored, you can find one I compiled a while ago here.

Obviously, Joker has faked crying multiple times to manipulate the people around him... Harley included. But there's one other time that Joker says he shed tears for real. We don't see it on the page, but I personally think Joker wasn't lying:

Batman: Secrets #3

Then there's the whole third part of Bad Night, Good Knight, with this specific highlight:

Legends of the Dark Knight (2021) #3

You could argue the tears are because of the vomiting, the almost-drowning, the pain. But the story implies it's more than that. I do recommend reading the whole thing.

And, well. It depends on your interpretation, but there's this more recent panel from Joker War:

Batman (2016) #100

Maybe they're tears of mirth. Maybe they aren't. Either way, I like it a lot as a choice on the side of the artist... it's a divorce in ways not even Endgame was, so it merits some tears.

Bottom line is, yes, Joker has cried more than once. For completeness' sake, I will also mention the time Joker cries in Joker (2008), Azzarello's graphic novel... but it isn't canonical, thank God. I really dislike this story, so if you're curious about that moment, I bid you the best of luck in making your way through it.

[hood-ex]

Heya Emily!

*slides into your askbox with recs* I'm sorry I'm level 100 fangirl and tryna share the joy 😅

Grimm from Legends of the Dark Knight anthology. Issues #149-#153

If you haven't read it already 😃

Dick's been Robin for, like, two months in this story, so he's a little green but he's still so smart! Smarter than Rebirth Nightwing

Also. It's one of the few modern day Dickbin stories I like, where he's allowed to be a child and allowed to make mistakes and no one demonises him

Bruce is amazing here too. A mess, but, still, it's Bruce we're talking about so...uh...yeah!

This panel stands out to me:

Another is Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla. Again, if you haven't already read it 😅

During this content draught I've been combing through older comics and I'm going around reccing stuff to people I follow😭

Don't ask me why. Idk😅

Ahsvajai! Byeee!

I remember someone (maybe it was you?) who recommended the Grimm story to me before, and I did read it, but I forgot to respond to that ask because of life and all.

Part 5 of the story was definitely my favorite. Dick had a lot of good dialogue and moments in that issue. Also, the way he got stabbed out of nowhere was alskdja.

In particular, I loved it when he thought:

I didn’t understand why Bruce Wayne would want to take me in as his ward let alone why he’d want to make me his partner in crime-fighting. I mean, being an acrobat was one thing… but this? I was way out of my league. At least I thought I was. But we don’t always see ourselves the way others see us.

I think that was the first time I saw myself—if only for a moment—the way he saw me… saw not who I was… but who I could be with the right training, the right guidance. And let’s face it, when it came to teachers, I had the best.

And then Dick and Bruce had a great conversation as well:

Bruce: I’ll take care of Cyanide. You go after Herbert.

Dick: You mean… after all I did… turning my back on you… joining up with Mother Grimm, you still trust me?

Bruce: I never lost faith in you, Robin, only in my own ability to be the mentor you need. Get that shocked look off your face—even Batman can have a few doubts now and then.

Dick: But not any more, right?

Bruce: No, not anymore.

And then said stabby moment I mentioned earlier:

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #153

Oh, oh, oh. And how Dick, even with a stab wound, tried to save Mother Grimm and Cyanide from the rushing river. And how Bruce smiled at Dick and then they had a cute little moment:

Bruce: Now, let’s get that wound taken care of. I’d hate to lose the best partner I ever had.

Dick: I’m the only partner you ever had.

Bruce: All the more reason not to lose you.

Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla is one I actually have read before. There's one moment from it in particular that cycles through my mind every now and again:

Now I know this is more of a mentor/mentee parallel but... what if it was a comparison between fathers and their sons 😌.

Think about it 😌.

Because I have 😌.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240121: the History of LEGO Castle day 021. 6067-1 / 10000-1 Guarded Inn (1986 / 2001, 256 pieces, 85 different parts) The Guarded Inn is a red and black building with blue, red, and yellow flowers around red corner walls with black lattice work, a sloped black roof, a blue door, and an attached light gray stable and a light gray guard tower. In front of the building, a black sign with two cups and cluster of grapes hangs next to the stable opening. The open back of the building has a yellow table with a bundle of yellow, red, and blue flowers and a blue wine goblet. The four minifigures in this set include two guards with red torsos and blue arms and the gold and black crossed axe pattern and black legs with red belts, a knight with a blue torso and black arms with a silver breastplate pattern and a black plastic cape with blue legs and a black belt, and an innkeeper with a blue plastic cape, red "princess cone hat", a white torso with two red string necklaces and a blue v-neck, and plain blue legs labelled as "maiden". The set also features a white horse with a yellow saddle. This set has a LOT of firsts and a lot of unique parts. The three most unique parts of this set are the black 2x2 hard plastic inn sign with two cups and a bunch of grapes, the red 3x3x6 corner wall with a lattice pattern, and the red 2x5x6 lattice panel castle wall. The blue door is also only found in four other LEGO sets, which makes it less easy to find "in the wild". While the original 6067-1 was released in 1986, the LEGO Group decided to re-release it as part of the Legends theme in 2001. The only real differences between the sets are: the shiny dark gary sword becomes dark gray swords, switching out the 1x1 plates with thin U clips to thick U clips, and switching out the one clip yellow saddle for a two clip. This set is the very first truly civilian scene in the History of LEGO Castle so far, as it features an inn. It really is too bad the knight got a little drunk and then a little handsy with the inn's "maiden" owner, and he really did have it coming when she hit him over the head with her frying pan and then had to drag him into the back while the guards yelled encouragement about what to do with the knight so he might wake up and learn from his mistakes. Insulting the inn's owner just because she was a woman? And then GRABBING her? He desperately needed to be taught some manners. His trusted white steed certainly had fantastic manners, happily munching on some flower petals and never being an arrogant, self-involved prick. Maybe they could convince the horse to drag him through the mud for a bit and then leave him at the local guard shack? The inn's owner definitely felt this plan had potential and the inn's guards offered to fill out the paperwork for local law enforcement. Parts lists for this set can either be found on BrickLink or Rebrickable, while scanned instructions can be found at ToysPeriod. If you want to know more about the designer, Daniel August Krentz, BrickSet did a really nice tribute and has a full list of everything he designed. Additionally, 10039-1 was included in a LEGO Legend Castle Collection (K10039) from 2003 alongside 10000-1 Guarded Inn (re-release from 2001) and 3739-1 Blacksmith Shop (from 2002).

[nightwingcouldyounot]

The guy in these panels beating a man with The Law and The Holy Bible is one of Bruce Wayne's direct ancestors.

(Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 027)

[earth90214]

Hi! Just followed your blog and I love your art. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for getting into Black Cat comics? I’ve mostly only seen her in Silk and wanted to get into reading her storyline more but don’t know where to start. Do you have any recommendations?

Ahh omg tysm!!! I definitely have recs for Felicia!! 😸 I’m not going to include every appearance she’s ever had but my rec list is gonna be pretty heavy bc she’s my fav 🫶🫶 I’m also gonna include some non-canon comics, miscellaneous media, and fanfics I enjoy because i have so many recs LMAO

Earth-616

I’m gonna try to keep these in order but no promises!! This begins with Fel’s first appearance and ends with her latest appearance.

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #22 (This is just a little background on Felicia’s creation and design, but to save you a little time you can read about it here.)

Amazing Spider-Man #194-195, #204-205, #226-227

Spectacular Spider-Man #74-79, #84-91

Amazing Spider-Man #246, #256-258

Spectacular Spider-Man #94-100, #112, #115-117, #119, #123

Amazing Spider-Man #288-289

Spectacular Spider-Man #128-129

Amazing Spider-Man #329-331, #341-343, #346-347

Web of Spider-Man #80

Spider-Man Unlimited #11

Amazing Spider-Man #369-371

Spectacular Spider-Man #204-206

Felicia Hardy: The Black Cat #1-4

Web of Spider-Man #113, #128

Sensational Spider-Man #29-30

Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12

Sensational Spider-Man (2006) #25-27, #33

Amazing Spider-Man #606-607, #612, #621-622

Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws

Heros for Hire #2-4, #6-8, #14

Marvel Divas #1-4

Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1-4

Amazing Spider-Man #630-633 , #648-651

Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws 2

Amazing Spider-Man #677

Daredevil (2011) #8 (This is the issue the “my super-villain origin story” panel comes from el oh el)

Superior Spider-Man #20

Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #1-6, #16-18

Patsy Walker a.k.a Hellcat (2015) #7-14

Deadpool: Back in Black #3

Silk #9-10

Spider-Man (2016) #5

Star-Lord: Grounded (2016) #1-6

Power Man and Iron Fist (2016) #10-15

Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2016) #15-21

Venom (2016) #159-160

Defenders (2017) #1-9

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #300

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #9-10, #16-17, #20

Symbiote Spider-Man #1-5

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #77-78

Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man #1

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #87, #89

Women of Marvel #1

Black Cat (2019) #1-10

Black Cat (2019) Annual #1

Black Cat (2020) #1-10

Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1

Iron Cat (2022) #1-5

Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #6 (She also is in #5 & #11 but I actually wouldn’t recommend this run and am only including #6 because it has the Peterfel B-day kiss that I thought that art of was cute 😿)

Mary Jane & Black Cat: Dark Web #1-5 (Only #1 & #2 are out atm but I’m including the next three issues for future reference!)

Non-Canon/Not Earth-616

Spider-Man Noir (2009) #1-4 and Spider-Man Noir: Eyes without a Face #1-4 (Obviously I wouldn’t be a Peterfel main if i didn’t suggest SM Noir. My user is literally Earth-90214 I basically have to.)

Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes (This one’s actually a tie-in with the Insomniac Spider-Man DLC: the Heist!!)

Spider-Gwen #5, #26, #33 (Black!Felicia is a pretty popular hc and one both me and my mutuals use so a canonical black Fel variant is definitely on my rec list.)

Exiles vol 3 #9 (Another WOC Felicia Hardy and probably one of my favorite Felicia variant suits! She’s not a major character but I like her panels so I’m including this on the list.)

What If…? #4 (1989) (Follows Felicia after Peter dies because of bonding with the symbiote suit.)

What If…? #21 (1989) (What if Peter married Felicia)

Misc Media

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, and Insomnic’s Spider-Man: The Heist/ Silver Linings DLC are all games that have Felicia in them!! I believe that the Spider-Man 2 (2004) game and TASM games from 2012 & 2014 also have Fel in them but I haven’t watched those play throughs so I can’t say for certain how much content there is.

There are some cut scenes from TASM 2 that feature Felicity Jones as Felicia working for Harry Osborn! Unfortunately we never get to see her in costume but she still does a great job and I wish we got her as Fel in TASM 3 🥲

Spider-Man: the Animated Series (1994): s1 eps 2-7 & 10, s2 eps 1-2/6-10, s3 eps 4-6/12-13, s4 eps 2-7, s5 eps 1/7/8-12

Spectacular Spider-Man: s1e10, s2e12

Spider-Man (2017) s1ep4, s2ep1 (I actually can’t stand this show, but its the only adaptation that portrays Felicia’s glowing, cat-like eyes seen in her first appearance so for that, it gets a pass.)

Fanfics

Felicia has a pretty small ao3 tag with <1,500 works, but there are some fantastic fics that I definitely suggest reading (and authors you should definitely follow)!!

@the-cat-and-the-birdie has a Post-NWH Peterfel/PeterMjFel fic that I’ve really been enjoying and is currently ongoing!!

@seek--rest !! Seek’s mostly an mcu/spideychelle writer but has some really fantastic Felicia-centric/Felicia appearance fics up that i definitely suggest.

Both of @traincat’s Insomniac Peterfel fics are great reads that are on my (very short) list of fics i regularly re-read.

@justmattycakes’s Insomniac Peterfel series is another series on my re-read list! 10/10

any fic in @splendidnothings’s peterfelweek ao3 collections/works. Going thru the @peterfelweek blog or tag in general is a great place to find fics and art.

Naturally I have to suggest myself as well 🤭 I just started a new Peterfel series that I’m looking forward to updating soon! It’s a comic au without a solid timeline and is mostly just interconnected oneshots that center domestic Peterfel. I’m also working on a Felicia-centric fic based on a really cool headcanon that @peterbwatsonparker sent me about psychic/medium Felicia that I’m hoping to post in the next few weeks!! I also have a decent amount of headcanons posted on my blog that never made it into full fics, but my most popular ones (and my personal favorites) are my Mutant!Felicia headcanons.

Obviously these are just my personal recs, so I’m definitely missing some stuff, but if you’d like a complete list of Fel’s mainstream comic appearances you can find that here!!