#anti john byrne

[wanderingmind867]

Marvel is better to me because it's cohesive. Stan Lee and his team made something very interconnected and easy to understand. DC was too confusing from the beginning. Way too confusing. But marvel is easy to follow. This is why I want to just restart DC from scratch. Why do you think DC is where most of my idea output seems to go? It's because they need the most help, in my brain's opinion. Don't get me wrong. Marvel did things I disagree with (like I don't like chris claremont's x-men or john byrne's fantastic four or frank miller's daredevil or the death of captain mar-vell or hank pym's court martialing, etc), but at least they have a solid base I can always go back to with their stuff in the 60s and 70s. DC doesn't have that. Not to me. And that's a problem.

[disneyprincessbuffyannesummers]

So, in the 80s John Byrne a comics writer for Marvel (well for The X-Men), had the idea of making Mystique, Rogue & Nightcrawler's father. Making her male all along. Which rubs me the wrong way. However, there is a theory, that she is Rogue and Nightcrawler's father. Which I find quite interesting.

I'm thinking about writing a fic for it. However, I don't want to seem Transphobic. Because John Byrne is a transphobe. And I really love Mystique and I wanna explore this idea. Should I or not?

[orange-s-mario]

I hate john byrne

(actually I'm pretty sure he thinks Android human torch is more human because he's portrayed as white)

again I'll say I hate john byrne

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

For someone who was born in Britain, raised in Canada, and emigrated to America, it is amazing how opposed John Byrne was to Superman being an immigrant, going so far as to have him literally born in the USA with the whole birthing matrix. The writers who initially replace Byrne may not have retconned that (it remained canon until the 2000s), but they certainly didn't waste time pushing back against the idea of Superman only identifying as American and just dismissing his Kryptonian heritage.

[donospl]

Europe Jazz Media Chart - Marzec 2024

Wybór nowości muzycznych, które pojawiły się w bieżącym miesiącu, dokonany przez grupę czołowych europejskich magazynów i witryn jazzowych. A selection of the hot new music surfacing across the continent this month by the top European jazz magazines and websites. Miklós Lukács Cimbiosis Trio & Ligeti Ensemble Responses to Ligeti  (BMC Records) Krzysztof Komorek, Donos kulturalny,…

[racefortheironthrone]

With how much focus she has received since the beginning of the Krakoa era, what are your thoughts on Storm ? And do you agree on the perception that she's becoming something of a Mary Sue?

I’m going to start with a mini-rant about the Mary Sue.

To the extent that there is any validity to the term at all, it is solely and exclusively within the realm of fanfiction. A Mary Sue is an OC (original character) whose supposed annoying omni-competence is really secondary to the main problem with the character, which is that they warp the narrative away from the main characters of the source material - Kirk and Spock or Picard and Data stop doing things that drive the plot, and instead just stand around asking "where's Poochie?"

Outside of fanfiction and in the realm of the media that gives rise to fanfiction, a prominent character who is incredibly talented and powerful and who makes the plot center around them is called a fucking protagonist - so no, Rey isn’t a Mary Sue, Carol Danvers isn’t a Mary Sue, Katniss Everdeen isn't a Mary Sue - none of them are Mary Sues and anyone who claims otherwise is showing that they have deep-seated Issues with female protagonists in their fiction.

Is Storm a Mary Sue?

Even if we weren't talking about the most prominent black woman character in fiction, I would consider this question pretty damn offensive, both because no one would ever ask this question about a male character and - in a franchise packed to the gills with hyper-powerful women who make the plots revolve around them and who even get the complementary Love Triangle - no one sends me asks about any of those (white) women.

But to answer your question: no, Storm is not a Mary Sue - she's the main character of the X-Men.

See, when Chris Claremont took over X-Men in 1975, he did so with a brand-new cast of characters, the so-called "All-New, All-Different X-Men." In no small part because they were far more diverse and more colorful than the O5 (suburban WASPs one and all), most of these characters would become break-out stars and the core of the X-Men from that day to this.

However, Claremont didn't vibe with all of the All-New X-Men equally: he had Sunfire quit the team (repeatedly), he killed off Thunderbird for shock value (a death that has only been reversed this last year), he would have killed off Wolverine if John Byrne hadn't stopped him (Claremont would later turn around on Logan once he worked out his voice), etc.

But one character that he vibed with right from the beginning was Ororo Monroe. From the very beginning, Claremont's Storm is the most powerful of the All-New X-Men, both in terms of her powers and in terms of her personality, being the only person who can face down Logan. At the same time, she's complicated by her struggles with crippling claustrophobia caused by the Suez Crisis-induced trauma of her childhood.

After a few years, Claremont tired of the African Nature Goddess routine and had Storm experience an almost total transformation that nonetheless was completely grounded in her character. Feeling overly limited by the total emotional control required of her powers, Ororo undergoes a subtextual lesbian awakening in Tokyo's underground punk scene and emerges out the other side a free spirit, leader of the X-Men, and Queen of the Morlocks.

In his most audacious move in LifeDeath I and II, Claremont had Storm lose her powers thanks to Forge's anti-mutant tech - and then defeat Cyclops in a duel for command of the X-Men without her powers - and then regain her powers in an epic cycle that saw the X-Men die and be reborn as outlaw heroes in the Australian Outback.

In sum, Storm was clearly Claremont's favorite character and, as a result had the most interesting character journey over his 16-year run on X-Men.

Storm in Krakoa

And then Storm basically lay fallow for almost thirty years. In no small part due to the pioneering work done by Claremont with this character, later writers were frankly too intimidated to touch the character and so starting in the 90s, Storm was increasingly sidelined in the comics in favor of the characters that were commercially "hot" at the time - Wolverine and Gambit, especially.

In the 2000s, the most significant thing to happen to Storm was her marriage to T'challa. While I think Reggie Hudlin had mostly good intentions with this decision - he wanted to create a black power couple at Marvel and thus put together Marvel's most prominent black man and black woman into a relationship - the result was to make Storm a supporting character in Black Panther comics, rather than a main character in X-Men comics.

I would argue that it is only recently with the advent of Al Ewing as a major writer in the X-office with S.W.O.R.D, X-Men Red, and Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants that we've gotten a writer who's not afraid to write Storm as she deserves to be written - as the most powerful of the X-Men, the Regent of Arrako and the Voice of Sol, the standard-bearer of Magneto's legacy, and a woman trying to balance the demands of two planets and her own desires.

[fishyfletch]

Valorant Agents' Names and Their Meanings

I spent more than an hour and Tumblr deleted the draft. Thanks, Tumblr. Anyway I wrote some things I found interesting at the very bottom.

Astra

Astra: the accusative plural form of the Latin word astrum, 'star'

Efia Danso: Efia, meaning 'born on Friday.' Danso, from Ghana, Akan origin, means 'one who is reliable.'

Breach

Breach: make a gap in and break through (a wall, barrier, or defense).

Erik Torsten: Erik, Old Norse meaning 'ever or eternal ruler.' Torsten, a Scandinavian given name. The Old Norse name was Þórsteinn. It is a compound of the theonym Þór (Thor) and steinn "stone"

Brimstone

Brimstone: sulfur.

Liam Byrne: Liam, an Irish name meaning "strong-willed warrior" and "protector." Bryne, burning, fire; flame, heat, burn.

Chamber

Chamber: a private room, usually a bedroom. or to place (a bullet) into the chamber of a gun.

Vincent Fabron: Vincent, from a Latin word meaning “conquering.” Fabron, surname of French origin meaning 'young blacksmith.'

Cypher

Cypher: a secret or disguised way of writing; a code.

Amir El Amari: Amir, a name of Arabic origin meaning 'prince.' Amari, meaning 'moon.' His name means 'prince of the moon.'

I'm not sure about this translation so please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Fade

Fade: to gradually grow faint and disappear.

Hazal Eyletmez: Hazal, a Turkish name meaning 'autumn flower' or 'fallen leaf.' Eyletmez means to 'not let something happen.'

Harbor

Harbor: a place on the coast where vessels may find shelter, especially one protected from rough water by piers, jetties, and other artificial structures. or to keep (a thought or feeling, typically a negative one) in one's mind, especially secretly. It also means to shelter or hide a criminal or wanted person.

Varun Batra: Varun, a name derived after an ancient Hindu deity, Varuna, a water god. Batra is an Indian Hindu and Sikh clan of the Arora Khatri community of Punjab.

Jett

Jett: a jet engine.

Sunwoo Han: Sunwoo, a name of Korean origin meaning 'kind friend.' Han, a Korean surname meaning "King”, “Kingdom”, “country" or/and “Korean people.”

KAY/O

KAY/O: Kill All Your Opponents or Kingdom Anti-Yield Operative

If we're following the theory that KAY/O's mental blueprint is Brimstone's fallen comrade, Tariq Porter, here's what that name means.

Tariq Porter: Tariq, derived from the Arabic verb طرق‎, (ṭaraqa), meaning "to strike", and into the agentive conjugated doer form طارق‎, (ṭāriq), meaning "striker". Porter, originates as an Old French occupational name, portier (gatekeeper; doorkeeper), or porteour ("to carry").

Yes, you can make gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss jokes now.

Killjoy

Killjoy: a person who deliberately spoils the enjoyment of others through resentful or overly sober behavior.

Klara Böhringer: Klara, the feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus which meant "clear, bright, famous". Böhringer, a habitational name for someone from any of three places in Baden-Württemberg called Böhringen.

Neon

Neon: fluorescent lighting or signs (whether containing neon or some other gas).

Tala Nicole Dimaapi Valdez: Tala, Tagalog for 'star.' Nicole, a female name of French origin meaning "people of victory," or "victory of the people." Dimaapi, I can't find the meaning online but it's similar to the Tagalog phrase 'Di maapi' meaning 'can't be abused.' Valdez, a Spanish toponymic surname of Asturian origin. Its appearance has been dated back to the times of the Reconquista in the municipality of Valdés, Asturias, where the eponymous lineage began. The area around the current town of Luarca was known as Val de Ese, "valley of the river Ese", as attested in medieval documents.

Omen

Omen: an event regarded as a portent of good or evil.

John: derived from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning “graced by God.”

Yohan: the Syriac Aramaic meaning is "God is merciful". It is also shortened version of the Hebrew word "Yohanan" meaning "Yahweh is gracious".

Fred: a masculine given name meaning "peaceful ruler". It is the English form of the German name Friedrich. It also means 'elf or magical counsel' and 'a sage' (Ancient Greek: σοφός, sophos), in classical philosophy, is someone who has attained wisdom.

Marcus: a name of Ancient Roman origin meaning 'dedicated to Mars.'

Dimitri: a name of Russian origin meaning "follower of Demeter."

Phoenix

Phoenix: in classical mythology, it is a unique bird that lived for five or six centuries in the Arabian desert, after this time burning itself on a funeral pyre and rising from the ashes with renewed youth to live through another cycle.

Jamie Adeyemi: Jamie, a name of Hebrew, Scottish origin meaning "supplanter" which means someone or something taking the place of another, as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like. Adeyemi, a Yoruba name that means "The crown befits me".

Raze

Raze: completely destroy (a building, town, or other site).

Tayane Alvez: Tayane, a name of of English origin and means "star". Alvez is patronymic, that is, it is a surname derived from the first name of a male relative. In this case, the surname is derived from the Portuguese/Spanish first name Alvaro, which is ultimately from the Germanic (Visigoth) words "all," meaning all and "wer," meaning true.

Reyna

Reyna: Spanish for 'queen.'

Zyanya Mondragón: a female name of Aztec origin that means 'forever, always.' Mondragón, a habitational name from Basque Mondragoe ('dragon mountain'), a place in Gipuzkoa province.

Sage

Sage: an aromatic plant with grayish-green leaves that are used as a culinary herb, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Ancient Greek: σοφός, sophos, in classical philosophy, is someone who has attained wisdom.

 Ling Ying Wei: In Chinese, Sage's name is 魏玲瑩. 魏 Wèi is her surname. In very old Chinese, it would mean a "tower over a palace gateway", but that meaning has fallen off and now usually refers to the country of Wei in Ancient China (220-265 CE). The country of Wei was founded by the legendary general 曹操 (Cáo Cāo). 玲營 Líng yíng is her given name. 玲 (líng) generally refers to the tinkling sound of Jade or an onomatopoeia of that, but can also mean: exquisite, ingenious, delicate, nimble. (The radical in this character is 玉 and means Jade. Basically it means that this character's meaning would have something to do with jade.) 營 (yíng) has a lot of meanings. It can be a noun, in which it means a camp, battalion or barracks, or it can be a verb where it can mean to build, operate, manage or to seek.

Skye

Skye: a gender-neutral name of Scottish origin meaning 'island of clouds.'

Kirra Foster: Kirra, used by various Aboriginal Nations around the border regions of Queensland and NSW. To the Yugambeh people, it is said to mean 'leaf' or 'dancing leaf.' Other meanings from surrounding nations include 'Beautiful woman', 'to live' and even boomerang. Foster, "one who keeps the forest."

Sova

Sova: night owl, night person. 'Owl' in many Slavic languages.

Alexander 'Sasha' Novikov: Alexander, the Latin variant of the Greek name Alexandros, meaning "defender of men." Sasha, short for Alexander. Novikov, derived from novik - a teenager on military service who comes from a noble, boyar or cossack family in Russia of 16th-18th centuries. or patronymic from novik 'newcomer.

Viper

Viper: a venomous snake with large hinged fangs, typically having a broad head and stout body, with dark patterns on a lighter background.

Sabine Callas: Sabine, meaning "woman of the Sabine people", the Italian tribe from which, according to legend, the ancient Romans kidnapped their wives-to-be in order to populate their newly-founded city. It is the French and German form of Sabina. Callas, the short form of any of several compound surnames composed with the first element kalos 'good', 'beautiful.'

Yoru

Yoru: Japanese for night, evening.

Ryo Kiritani: Ryo, meaning excellent, excel, succeed; distant; fact; dragon. Kiritani, a name of Japanese origin meaning valley; ravine.

Things to Note:

2 of the agents' names mean 'light.' Namely, Tayane (Raze) and Neon (Tala).

4/5 of Omen's aliases have something to do with gods. 2 of which mean being a follower of a god and another 2 meaning the same thing. Another name means 'sage.'

If I missed anything or put something wrong, please correct me!!! that's all thank yaur

[apanwithnoplan]

Agent Names (Updated + Harbor)

Brimstone: Liam Byrne

Viper: Sabine Callas

Raze: Tayane Alves

Chamber: Vincent Fabron

Omen: John, Fred, Marcus, Yohan, or Dimitri [nothing has been confirmed]

Sage: Ling Ying Wei

Cypher: Amir El Amari

Neon: Tala Nicole Dimaapi Valdez

Breach: Erik Torsten

Sova: Alexander (Sasha) Novikov

KillJoy: Klara Böhringer

Jett: Sunwoo Han

Skye: Kirra Foster

Fade: Hazal Eyletmez

Pheonix: Jamie Adeyemi

Yoru: Ryo Kiritani

Astra: Efia Danso

Kay/O: Kingdom Anti Yield Operative ( or Kill All Your Opponents)

Reyna: Zyanya Mondragón

Harbor: Varun Batra

Brb gonna cry-

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Kaplan at MMFA:

The social media and messaging platform Telegram is allowing numerous QAnon and far-right channels to monetize their content on the platform with revenue from its newly launched advertisements program, a Media Matters review has found.

In late February, Telegram’s CEO and founder Pavel Durov announced that the company would be launching advertising on the platform, “allowing channel owners to receive financial rewards.” Specifically, owners of public channels with over 1,000 subscribers would receive “a 50% share of the revenue Telegram earns in connection with the number of valid impressions of sponsored messages displayed in eligible channels you own” — an arrangement the platform has called “one of the most generous reward systems in the history of social media.” Ads are described within the app as “help[ing] the channel creator.” [...]

As for where these advertisements are winding up, a Media Matters review found them running in nearly three dozen QAnon-affiliated and far-right channels, suggesting that the owners of these channels have financially benefited from the new feature. These include multiple channels associated with QAnon figures and shows such as Nicholas Veniamin, Jacob Creech (known online as “Clandestine”), “Pepe Lives Matter,” John Sabal (known online as “QAnon John” and “The Patriot Voice”), “StormyPatriotJoe,” “Enoch,” “TheStormHasArrived17,” “Shadow of Ezra,” Paul Fleuret (known online as “Absolute1776”), Jeffrey Pedersen (known online as “intheMatrixxx”), David Hayes (known online as “Praying Medic”), Jordan Sather, X22 Report, Patriot Streetfighter, Woke Societies, and Zak Paine. The review also found a channel called “Q NEWS OFFICIAL TV #WWG1WGA” with advertisements.

[...]

Outside of QAnon, far-right figures who have promoted white nationalism, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and/or Holocaust denial — Vincent James Foxx, Laura Loomer, Stew Peters, Nick Fuentes, and Keith Woods — also had advertisements on their channels. Other far-right figures and entities had advertisements on their channels as well, including Patrick Byrne, Sidney Powell, David Clements, and former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn, who have pushed election denial; Sherri Tenpenny and Larry Cook, who have pushed anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories; conspiracy theorists Roger Stone and Karli Bonne; conspiracy theory channels Disclosure Hub and “Covid Truth Network”; and Tracy “Beanz” Diaz, who played a key role in QAnon’s early spread.

Telegram coddles far-right extremists and QAnon conspiracists with its new ads program that allows monetization of their content.

[bookoftheironfist]

hihi!!!

what do you think of an asian danny (comics) ? i know we have pei (whom i adore) but how do you think danny as a character would change? (personally i feel like danny would feel less isolated in kun lun, maybe only dimensional differences, but would face more racism back in america. i think white danny is a better concept, to be torn in half between your nature(america) vs nurture(kun lun) yknow)

<3

Hihi! Thank you for asking!

A few key points, just to start off:

I am not Asian myself, therefore I feel like my opinion on this topic doesn't really matter. (I also don't work for Marvel, so my opinion really doesn't matter.)

At the end of the day, this conversation comes down to the desire for more and better Asian representation across the Marvel Universe, which is obviously something we should all want.

Okay, now, on to the in-universe, Danny-specific stuff:

I would be perfectly happy with an Asian Danny, and I understand the arguments for making that change. I don't personally feel like it's a necessary change in this case, but I do get it, and I do think that the introduction of the Iron Fist legacy was very important; back when he was the first and only person to have defeated Shou-Lao, it was certainly much more uncomfortable that he was an outsider. (I will also point out that the feeling of being pulled in two directions--America and K'un-Lun--is something that he would still experience if he were Asian. Probably even moreso due, as you mentioned, to anti-Asian racism and anti-immigrant sentiments in the US.)

For me, the question is more about whether Danny should be of K'un-Lun descent specifically. Just making him Asian wouldn't make him not an outsider there, and that was the main cause of his alienation as a child. The thing that baffled me about Lin Lie being chosen as the next Iron Fist to presumably "fix" the "problem" of Danny's non-native status was that Lin isn't from K'un-Lun either. He's just as much of an outworlder as Danny, and at least Danny grew up in the city and had family there. (And obviously, that's not even touching on the fact that we already had Pei, who was born K'un-Lun.)

Tucos: "You dare aspire to join the ranks of the immortals of K'un-Lun--!?!" Danny: "I dare nothing, Tucos--I merely am. If I am Iron Fist, it is because the gods--thru Yu-Ti--will it so...and if I become an immortal--it is because they will that as well!" Merrin: "Is that so, outworlder--? How pleasant to see an Earther mortal adopt our ways so...fervently." Iron Fist vol. 1 #2 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Michele W., F. Chiarmonte, and Joe Rosen

Kheng: "Stupid orphan couldn't stop a bunch of dogs from turning his mother into breakfast...how were you ever going to face an immortal?" Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #3 by Kaare Kyle Andrews and Joe Caramagna

Yang Yi: "The next Iron Fist should have been one of us. Any of us--even Mei Min. It should have been me." Lin: "I--I didn't call Shou-Lao to me on purpose." Yang Yi: "That's even worse! You stole something that belongs to K'un-Lun and you don't even know its worth. The last Iron Fist was an outsider. So was the one before him. Special enough that the dragon chose them...or callous enough to rip its heart out without respect." Iron Fist vol. 6 #2 by Alyssa Wong, Michael Yg, Sean Chen, Victor Olazaba, and Jay David Ramos

If Danny had been Asian but not from K'un-Lun, the bullying might have focused less on his appearance (he gets called "Snow Pea" and "Snowflake" in Living Weapon), but he still would have been an outsider, an Earther mortal freak, and his bullies would still have been angry that he became the Iron Fist instead of them. If Danny had been of K'un-Lun descent...honestly, I still think he would have struggled to fit in, since he wasn't raised in the culture. Wendell as we know him didn't teach Danny anything about K'un-Lun, and unless we considered the idea of changing Wendell's personality or past experiences, I can imagine that would still be the case if he had blood ties to the city. It would still have been something Wendell spent most of Danny's life trying to put behind him, and Danny would still have been arriving massively traumatized, and even with the knowledge that his ancestors had been from K'un-Lun, I'm not sure how much that would have fixed for him, or for his peers' perception of him. This is a dimension that is extremely difficult to access, and thus a very insular society. They don't get a lot of outworlders, regardless of their race or ancestry.

For the record, it would be easy to give Danny blood ties to K'un-Lun without changing a single thing about his backstory, due to the simple fact that we have no idea where Wendell came from. He was just some random orphan Orson stumbled upon in the Himalayas. It would be very easy for a writer to do a story arc in which Danny found out that his father (possibly even unbeknownst to Wendell) was born in K'un-Lun. Rather than retconning Danny's backstory to make him aware of this from the beginning, I feel like it would be a more interesting approach to have Danny discover a blood connection later on, in the present day. I am always a big fan of explorations of Danny's relationship to K'un-Lun, and this would certainly present new territory in that regard.

Ultimately, though, I agree with you in that I don't feel like this change is needed, or even that it would change much about Danny's character or journey (which I suppose could be an argument either for or against). He would still be that same guy caught between two worlds and not fully at home in either. My personal feeling is that I would rather see characters like Colleen Wing, Pei, Sparrow, Miranda...heck, even Steel Serpent...given more of a spotlight. As I mentioned at the top, what's most important is having strong Asian representation throughout the Marvel Universe, and there are a ton of fantastic, under-used Asian characters within the Iron Fist sphere who I hate to see buried under ongoing debates about this one guy's ethnicity, especially when those debates too often seem to contain incorrect information from people who haven't actually read many of the comics.

Again, thanks for the question! Obviously, this is a very layered and sensitive topic, and having lived through the heated conversations surrounding the Netflix show, it's something that is always on my mind.

[luthwhore]

I loved Maggins Quora answers and how wholesome it was that redemption is always posible and that everybody in the canon of Superman had different religions and kinda got along despite it (plus I loved Superman being Jewish as Maggins and the original authors). But now Im kinda confused about Lex religion. In the current continuity is he supposed to be jewish or atheist or something else? I have not read any DC comic book since Forever Evil (tho I want to catch up with the lasts days of luthor) and I'm not too much into American supes to know how DC cannon realy works, asides the fact that there are like several authors and retcons, so I wanna really know what its the deal with lex religion. Sorry for sounding like if I have three braincells or I'm trying to offend Jewish or atheist people (I respect all faiths), I'm just very intrigued/confused. Also sorry for my ugly English I'm still trying to learn it ;_;

you’re good! the last time i can remember lex mentioning anything about religion was back in paul cornell’s action comics run, where lex self-identifies as an atheist. imo i don’t think anything from the last few decades has ever coded him as jewish.

pre-crisis on infinite earths, back in the silver/bronze age, lex’s character was fairly different than the lex in the comics now, though the lex in mark waid’s “the last days of lex luthor” is about as close to the bronze age lex luthor you’ll find in any modern comic book. originally he was a scientist, first and foremost. this is how elliot maggin wrote him, and is generally the era when you’ll see jewish coding applied to the character.

in 1987, after the crisis on infinite earths event, john byrne and marv wolfman rebooted superman and made a lot of changes to lex in particular, which was when he was reworked from a mad scientist to a corrupt billionaire ceo. john byrne’s luthor is a lot more overtly evil, and is primarily motivated by greed, compared to the silver/bronze age luthor, who more fueled by envy and insecurity.

i’m not sure if anyone in canon other than paul cornell ever referred to lex as an atheist in so many words post-crisis, but i would agree that is generally the vibe that most modern versions of lex give off. (paul cornell’s action comics specifically says that he is an atheist but still believes in hell, which to me very much implies he was raised christian.)

with the way that the character has evolved over the last few decades, i think making him textually jewish would probably read as playing into a lot of anti-semitic stereotypes, so it’s probably for the best it didn’t carry over into current continuity, but i do imagine it’s probably frustrating for maggin, given that, from what he’s said about him, he clearly put a lot of himself into his version of lex.

tl;dr: silver/bronze age lex was implied to be jewish, but in the modern comics he self-identifies as an atheist and was likely raised christian.

[wanderingmind867]

John Byrne made Marvel's first gay Superhero with Northstar. Did you know he also did this as a college kid:

Yeah, now I don't trust those 80s stories he did. I always thought Northstar seemed mildly stereotypical (most of Alpha Flight seems stereotypical, to be honest) and coming from a man who wrote that, I don't have any faith in his writing abilities now. Why is it these writers who became famous in the 80s seem worse than those who wrote in the 60s? How does that work? Idk, but that's a topic for another post.

Edit: Actually, Alpha Flight might be okay. I think they started stereotypically, but I think they have potential and stuff. They're not awful. I can come around. I just think it's a shame this guy created them.

[marnie1964]

Thanks for tagging me, @ryanxross <3

Rules: Spell your url with song titles and then tag as many people as there are letters.

Glycerine; Bush

On to the next one; Jay-Z

Right down the line; Gerry Rafferty

Ever fallen in love (with someone shouldn't've); Buzzcocks

Voyage voyage; Desireless

I live now as a singer; Julie Byrne

Dollar bill blues; Townes Van Zandt

As long as I have you; Garnet Mimms

Love is a losing game; Amy Winehouse

Straight tequila night; John Anderson

Call the police; LCD Soundsystem

ATLiens; Outkast

Lucretia my reflection; Sisters of Mercy

Is it a crime; Sade

Graceless; The National

Up the creek; Tori Amos

Legs; ZZ Top

Anti-hero; Taylor Swift

I'm tagging: @flashbulb-memory @hoodienanami @whorelandoflorida @alienfuckeronmain @buildaballroom @courtesyname @eggtrolls @whorevidal @bluestockingbaby @queenofnots @commonpigeon @frodoshaggins @wolfalicesilk @katharine-hepburn and @findmeinthealps

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #304: "... Yearning to Breathe Free!"

June, 1989

Vs. the U-Foes! Special guest appearance by the pouncing PUMA!

Look at the roster box trying to pretend Reed and Sue are still around. You can't fool me.

And, hey, the U-Foes! They're a quirky miniboss squad that hasn't fought the Avengers so far, at least not in the Avengers book. Which feels weird!

The Avengers should fight all the quirky miniboss squads. They're practically made to fight all the quirky miniboss squads.

Well, now they get to fight this one.

And Puma is a guy. I don't really know the guy. He's a mid-80s Spider-Man book guy.

Also also, this is very clearly a fill-in issue. I mean, so was the Super-Nova arc. But that had the goal of writing Reed and Sue out of the Avengers, which it couldn't even manage.

This one seems to be more in the style of one and done, spin the wheels until John Byrne takes over.

... That's happening a lot lately.

Last times in Avengers: long story short, the team broke apart but a new team formed during the X-Event Inferno. And then after fighting a big guy from space, 2/5ths of the new team fucked off.

This is a fill-in, you don't gotta know a lot.

Huh. The opening splash waxes poetic about Ellis Island and the title is a line from the New Colossus poem that was written for the Statue of Liberty.

Will this be a Very Special Episode about immigration? I'm sorta not confident in this era of Avengers to do a Very Special Episode.

Least surprisingly of all, the terrific trio of Avengers are at Ellis Island because it's being renovated and a Department of the Interior pal got Captain America permission for a special preview visit.

Steve Rogers is, of course, a huge fan of Ellis Island and immigration and just all the good America stuff. He loves America so much.

And being a huge nerd, he invited Thor and Gilgamesh along as a kind of casual relaxing activity after all that Super-Nova biz.

Thor: "I, myself, Steve, am an immigrant of sorts -- from eternal Asgard. I share much in spirit with those who passed through here."

Dammit, Thor. I don't think your situation is really the same since you retain whatever counts as citizenship in Asgard and freely go back and forth whenever you want to live in a giant castle.

Also, you have a fake identity set up by the American intelligence community which most immigrants don't get.

Gilgamesh calls Ellis Island meager compared to the cool architecture that the Eternals are used to. But adds "there is an aura of greatness all about" which may or may not have just been to cushion the insult.

While the heroes in civilian duds wander around and look at construction, they overhear one of the workmen muttering anti-immigrant sentiments to himself.

Charles Little Sky: "'Noble immigrants.' Hah! Nobody wants to admit the real truth."

Oh, no, we are in for a Very Special Episode.

Captain America being Captain America even when he's being Steve Rogers, decides this is an invitation to a conversation and asks the guy to elaborate on his thoughts.

Charles Little Sky: "Yeah, I've got a beef, mister, why shouldn't I? I'm an American Indian!" Thor, in glasses: "And...?" Charles Little Sky: "And my people were here long before anybody. These 'immigrants' who came through here were just another group to come and take my people's land... Just like foreigners, starting with the Mayflower, have always done! This place should be called the Museum of Theft!" Captain Steve: "I understand your bitterness, son. Injustice was done to your people. But those who came through here certainly weren't to blame. They were just looking for a refuge from poverty and oppression themselves."

Captain America makes bold stand: pilgrims bad, immigrants good.

I hope the Avengers don't just bother this dude all day.

Thor, in glasses, asks why Charles works here if he hates it so much but, c'mon, everybody needs to eat and not everyone has a palace in a magical sky realm or gets paid $1000 smackeroos a week by Tony Stark.

Charles also mentions that he can't afford to be choosy about jobs that don't ask a lot of questions. Then realizes he's oversharing with strangers and just teal deers it as he needs the job and he's gone once he has enough money saved up.

Then he spots HIM! He's been found by HIM!

And runs off, to the Avengers' confusion.

Then a sharp-dressed man in a bolo tie tells them its none of their business, stay out of it, and yells for Charles to stop running away because he means him no harm.

Then the man transforms into some kind of furry and chases after Charles.

Pretty much guaranteeing the Avengers are going to get involved after all. Because a dude turned into a furry right there in Ellis Island and chased after a terrified young adult.

Also, the dude is Thomas Fireheart, aka Puma.

But do the Avengers know that?

Yes. And they don't know if Puma is a hero or a threat or a menace. So definitely decide to get involved.

Thor slams his hammer to put on his working duds while Cap duck behind something to change his clothes.

He shouts at Puma to hey maybe explain what he's up to. And since Puma ignores him, Thor throws his mighty hammer. And when Thor throws his mighty hammer, its because he's done with the yammer. Or something.

Since Thor wasn't throwing at 'turn Puma into salsa' force, the cat man is able to jump over the hammer and yell that Thor better not delay him!

That's not an explaining himself though so Captain America throws his mighty shield. But instead of yield, Puma catches the shield and throws it back.

What a jerk!

Gilgamesh, who I guess hasn't decided whether he's going to get involved or not because he's just standing around, jumps in front of the shield so nobody else less tough gets hit by it. And Cap catches it when it bounces off Gilgamesh's gilgapecs.

With this exchange of violence exchanged, Cap asks Puma again to explain things.

Since Thor and Captain America are standing in his way, he actually does.

Puma: "The youth and I are both of the same tribe. He possesses great power -- power that could unleash itself at any time! My uncle -- our tribal shaman -- realized this. He sent me to retrieve Charles, so that he could be trained in the power's use... for his own -- and for the world's -- good."

See, was that so hard?

The two Avengers happened to catch Puma right when he was like five feet from catching Charles Little Sky because the young adult is just right there. In the scene.

He insists that he doesn't have powers, that the elders are just making shit up to prevent him from leaving the tribe.

And sure, he has headaches sometimes and they make him act weird sometimes but that doesn't mean he has powers!

Thor and Cap pause to ponder this. Charles Little Sky is clearly hiding something. And Puma is a dubious source because while he very heroically fought the Beyonder once, he's also a mercenary who has worked for some shady customers.

But while Thor and Cap ponder what to do, Puma makes the decision, in his mind a tough decision but for the greater good, to escalate the conflict and endanger by-standers. Rather than risk the Avengers deciding against him.

So he rushes off (while Thor and Cap just watch) and topples one of the tall scaffolding towards a crowd.

Sure that the Avengers will jump to deal with that and backburner him. Which they do. Good job saving lives, the heroes!

Thor wind-blasts the scaffolding toward Gilgamesh, who catches it. Cap ushers civilians towards the exit.

Leaving Puma free to pounce on Charles Little Sky.

Puma again states that he's just here to be a helpful helper man but Charles says crock to that. He tries to punch Puma but only hurts his own hand.

Apparently, breaking a knuckle punching a cat man is one of the triggers for Charles' great world-threatening power.

Light and kirby crackle burst out of Charles and he feels as if he's being torn apart.

Then, he's blasted back as a rift in space opens.

And out of the rift in space-time strolls the U-Foes!

Not a surprise, since they were on the cover, but hey! The plot is here!

Real quick: The U-Foes. They're like an evil Fantastic Four. In that there's four of them and they got their powers from cosmic rays. By explicitly copying the Fantastic Four's space trip. Two of them are even siblings. Do these guys fight the FF a lot because they're a better evil opposites than the Frightful Four.

Vector: the one with all the lines and suns on his design. He has telekinesis, which often manifests as repulsing lasers.

Vapor: she's a gas lady, made of gas. She can turn into any kind of gas.

X-Ray: he's pink and looks like a really weird bunch of perspective lines. A guy made out of energy. Can blast various kinds of heavy radiation.

Ironclad: big tough guy made of mineral. He's a pretty blatant the Thing or a Colossus but he can increase or decrease his weight so he's at least got that going on.

So, why did the U-Foes pop out of a portal?

Why, the power of retcons and a shared universe!

Sometimes, a book writes out a character. Has them die or depowers them or just puts them in a situation where they're not available.

And then another book will go "and here's how they got out of that one."

It can be interesting to trace a character through various books, trying to figure out what the hell has been going on with them.

In the U-Foes' case, the Hulk trapped them in different dimensions that counteracted their powers. And possibly killed them.

But they all survived and managed to assemble in the dimensional crossroads to luckily get brought back to Earth by one random portal.

Nothing like a classic contrived comic coincidence.

Anyway, having just gotten back from tailor-made space exile/death, Vector is quite enraged when the Avengers propose to just capture the U-Foes and send them to jail, for being dicks.

Vector blasts Thor, Gilgamesh (still just in his civvies) Captain America, Puma, and Charles Little Sky outside through a window.

Puma is worried because he heard from TV news that the U-Foes were powerful enough to knock around the Hulk. They might kill the Avengers and any civilian in their way!

Buuuuut... he is only here for Charles Little Sky. Opening a random portal that random supervillains fell out of proved to Puma that portal kid is the biggest threat.

Maybe he should just let the U-Foes kill the Avengers!

Is his thought process.

Dammit, Puma.

Anyway, Thor tells the U-Foes that they brought the inevitable beat-down on themselves by blasting him through a window.

So X-Ray blasts Thor. Ironclad slugs Gilgamesh, figuring that if he's hanging out with the Avengers, he's probably one. And Vector blasts Captain America.

Puma goes wow sucks for them that they're getting their asses kicked but at least now nobody will get in my way.

Except Vector and Vapor notice him running away and decide, nah.

The U-Foes have deduced that Charles Little Sky could portal them back to the dimensional crossroads so they need to do something about him. And that means getting him before Puma can.

Vapor turns into carbon monoxide and gives Puma carbon monoxide poisoning.

Vector tells Vapor to turn to chlorine gas and just murderify Charles Little Sky.

Puma belatedly realizes that the better idea would have been to team up with the Avengers to beat the U-Foes. Womp womp.

He decides he needs to buy time for the Avengers to recover from their asses getting beat by getting his own ass beat for a while.

Puma tries to jump between Charles and Vapor.

... But she's gas. How does that work? I mean, it doesn't, in this case. But that's because Ironclad shows up and starts trying to bear-hug him to death.

Then Ironclad get's KLONG! by Mjolnir slightly before Puma gets crushed to death.

It's Thor! Turns out one blast of radiation isn't enough to put him down, obviously.

And he whirls Mjolnir really fast to blow Vapor away from the unconscious Charles Little Sky.

Charles regains consciousness to see X-Ray try to french fry him, only to be stopped by Captain America tackling him.

Even through (or around?) Captain America's mighty shield, he can feel the burn from the radiation X-Ray is putting off.

Vector decides he'll kill the kid himself but Puma jump kicks him towards Thor who clobbers him.

Charles is so freaked out by all of this that his powers start going off again, opening portals to random dimensions, some filled with aaaaaah, real monsters!

Gilgamesh deduces from earlier that Charles' powers don't work if he's unconscious so he eye beams Charles Little Sky unconscious.

Cool contribution, Gilgamesh.

Wait, you have eye beams?

Ironclad tries to throw a Big Rock on the again unconscious Charles Little Sky but Gilgamesh uses his eye beams again to blow up the Big Rock.

Ironclad decides fuck this actually and runs away off-panel.

Vector and X-Ray try to double-team Thor and they have him stalemated by blasting him full power. He can't advance but he's not retreating either.

But in secret, Thor is just face-tanking Vector's telekinesis blasts and using Mjolnir to absorb X-Ray's radiation. Not just the radiation X-Ray is blasting but all the radiation in his body. And when X-Ray passes out from too drained, Thor blasts the radiation at Vector who also falls down.

Possibly with turbo cancer now.

Puma's puma senses detect an invisible lethal gas floating towards Charles so Thor blasts the spot with lightning until Vapor passes out.

Ironclad is still running away

So Captain America trips him with his mighty shield and Gilgamesh decks him in the face BWOM!

With the U-Foes kicked firmly in the butt, Puma rerails the plot to him definitely taking Charles Little Sky back to the tribe.

Captain America says that Charles might be a mutant and there's just a bunch of mutant teams that could train him to control his powers. The tribe isn't the only place he could learn control.

Rather than drag him back against his will, Charles should be given the choice where he will go.

Puma: "And if he chooses no training? If he chooses to continue on the run? It is a danger to the world I cannot allow. Nor can I risk strangers training him incorrectly. Allow me to take him... or I will fight you to the death."

Gilgamesh points out that the death would be Puma's death. There's two god-tier dudes here. And Thor says that Charles will decide for himself.

Charles wakes up and he decides for himself to flee.

Puma tries to leap at Charles but Captain America tackles him.

Thor instead jumps in front of Charles to cut him off but Charles shouts that he's not anyone's property and he wants to be free.

IN A RANDOM DIMENSION IF HE CAN'T BE FREE ON EARTH.

Yeah, he fucks off through a portal.

Despite being a character created for a fill-in story, Charles Little Sky has a small pile of appearances.

Danny Fingeroth brings him back for a bunch of Darkhawk issues but he gets roles beyond that.

Puma: "Thor -- you fool! You've let a being of untold power get away! He could be anywhere now, hurting or being hurt, frightened, alone. Most probably, though, he'll soon be dead!"

Thor points a finger right back. Saying this all happened because Puma decided he was in far too much a rush to explain the situation to the random superhero bystanders.

That relentlessly chasing the kid is obviously what triggered his portal powers going off and letting the U-Foes come through and cause trouble.

Puma retorts that, hey, hindsight is 20-20 but he still thinks he did zero things wrong and that it's all the Avengers' fault.

Captain America says they only have Puma's word that his intentions were good and Puma has a really mixed reputation so it's really hard to take him at his word.

Thor suggests they beat up Puma and Puma fucks off through the broken window, yelling they'll have to catch him first.

Except, the Avengers don't even bother.

There's no charges against him and he eventually helped them against the supervillains.

Left behind to deal with sending the U-Foes to super jail, the Vault, Captain America muses how Charles Little Sky "who was so bitter about immigrants... ended up being, himself, an immigrant in a new dimension. And he entered it through Ellis Island."

That's really deep, Cap. Really makes you think, probably.

Thus ends a Very Special Episode of the Avengers.

Follow @essential-avengers because next East Coast Avengers issue, its Byrne time. Like, reblog, comment, maybe.

[thecomicsnexus]

He only laughs when I hurt!

SUPERMAN #16

April 1988

By John Byrne, Karl Kesel, Petra Scotese, and John Costanza.

Superman faces a new (reintroduced) foe... the Prankster!

SCORE: 9

This was always a bit of an incomplete story, but when it comes to other plots, it's just amazing. There is so much going on that certain things (like Alice always being the first in the office) may or may not have been an actual plot at this point.

Of course, the main plot here is not so much about the reintroduction of The Prankster, but about Morgan Edge and the rise of Intergang. And that is a very special kind of menace... because Edge owns a media company and throws anti-superhero propaganda all the time, just to ensure his criminal empire... That is not so far from the real world. That's not different at all.

But this is also the beginning of the end of Byrne's run, with the "introduction" of "Supergirl". Of course there's more to this, but in less than half a year, Byrne will be gone and he will be very successfully replaced (that perfect succession is what makes this Superman era so great).

[bedtimestoriesforbrokengirls]

I’ve been watching some of the older —read: my age— comics creators over on Twitter bemoaning “virtue signaling” in today’s Marvel/DC books. And I’m like… what? Were you motherfuckers reading the same shit I was reading when we were twelve?

Let’s put aside the Lee/Kirby/Ditko ‘60s, with their anti-racism metaphors, community-first preaching, and backhanded swipes at the military-industrial complex, and just look at the ‘80s.

John Byrne is not what one would call a “progressive individual”, but in FF #245, he began a years-long rehabilitation/development of Sue Richards. He would eventually have her switch from “Invisible Girl” to “Invisible Woman” —she’d been a mom for a decade at that point— but right there, in 1982, he planted his flag. The first few pages involve Sue and a journalist debating the character’s place in her family and the larger Marvel universe, giving her a chance to voice her own narrative. And then —because comics— Byrne spends the rest of the book exploring the ways that Sue’s powers can be used offensively, allowing her to strike rather than simply shield or hide, her primary options in years past. In one issue and with little fanfare, JB flipped her from the FF’s go-to damsel-in-distress to the most powerful person in the room.

So yeah, modern comics’ tendency to do wholesale, “clean” replacements of classic characters can seem kinda lazy. But speaking to and advocating for the better angels of human nature —as well as deepening the inner lives of characters— was always part of the deal. It’s never been “virtue signaling”… it’s the fucking Marvel Way.