#c: kyle rayner

[greenlanternblr]

Kyle Rayner in Green Lantern Vol. 3 (1990-2004), art by Darryl Banks, Paul Pelletier and Chris Batista.

[razielim]

yum.

[dctrfate]

when it comes down to it wally and kyle are pretty similar characters but i think that besides the obvious legacy issues THE uncrossable gulf between them is in how they react to the limitation of their powers. wally's superspeed is synonymous with his need for freedom, be it from his parents or from his own perception of self, and because his powers are so closely linked with that autonomy he will never willingly consent to having them be taken away from him. wally WANTS to integrate himself more with his powers even when they present a clear physical and or mental danger to himself. meanwhile, kyle has deliberately and repeatedly chosen to restrict his own powers for that same exact reason. he gives up ion because it was too much power for one man to have and at the end of his series he nearly does the same to his ring because of the effect the green lantern mantle had on his mental health. wally views his powers as an extension of his independence and is restricted from the lack of them, but for kyle, his ring is first and foremost a responsibility that he has to consciously decide to reign himself with.

[martyrbat]

jla: welcome to the working week

[ID: Kyle Rayner shown from behind in his Green Lantern costume. His arm is extended in front of him as his ring radiates a bright green circle of light around it and a horizontal beam of green energy as he's exploding an asteroid—causing a wreath of rocks to surround him. His legs are spread as his free hand and muscular ass is clenched in concentration. END ID]

[superman86to99]

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3 (September 1994)

Our eternal September continues as we reach Zero Hour #3 (the second issue), a.k.a. "The One With All The Elder Abuse." Putting Old Flash crying over Old Hourman's body on the cover was not false advertisement -- any '90s kids who bought this issue hoping to see some grandpas getting their asses kicked absolutely got their money's worth.

As seen in ZH #4 (the first issue), Superman has asked every spandex wearer in the DC Universe to gather outside the United Nations building so they can tackle the ongoing time crisis, but he's running late because he stopped to see his parents (all four of them) in Superman #93. Superman is further delayed when he hears screams coming from Keystone City, which turn out to come from a super-fast, video game-addicted child from the future fighting time-displaced dinosaurs.

Superman recruits "Don't Call Me Kid Flash!" here (a.k.a. Impulse) and reaches New York to meet the gathered heroes, including but not limited to: the Justice Leagues (including everyone's favorite founding member, Triumph), the Super-Family, the Bat-Family (including an able-bodied Batgirl), the New Teen Titans, the Team Titans, a few time-lost Legion of Super-Heroes members, the new Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), the new Darkstar (Donna Troy), a newly armored Guy Gardner, a newly unkempt and one-handed Aquaman, our old pal Agent Liberty (who's probably very thankful to be invited), and, of course, the protector of Metropolis: Alpha Centurion! (The rando with the orange helmet on the far left, who we'll learn more about in the next issue of Adventures.)

Oh, and that lady in the purple dress is Power Girl, who suddenly went from dressing like a sex goddess to wearing grandma clothes when her magical pregnant belly started showing.

The heroes quickly decide Superman should be their leader (even though Guy volunteered first), and he proposes trying to figure out where this mess even started. It turns out someone's way ahead of them: the Justice Society of America has already traveled to the time crisis' point of origin, Vanishing Point, aided by Waverider, the loose cannon among the DCU's time cops. Problem is, Waverider and the JSA's Hawkman and Hawkwoman got lost on their way to Vanishing Point and ended up in the latest issue of Hawkman, where all the various Hawkpeople get hit by "cosmic energy" and condensed into a single Hawkperson (a sequence I'm sharing mostly because it reminds me of Superman and the Eradicator getting hit by the kryptonite beam in "Reign of the Supermen").

Meanwhile, at Vanishing Point, the JSA meets the guy who seems to be behind the time crisis: Hank Hall, a former C-list hero who recently got a massive power upgrade and became the A-list villain known as Extant (well, "A-list for a single month in 1994," anyway). Extant has time-based powers, which is unfortunate for the JSA, who have been cheating time by looking young when they should all be in their 80s, considering they're old enough to have punched Hitler. Extant corrects that by turning all of them super old, instantly killing the Golden Age Atom in the process. Only the Golden Age Green Lantern is spared thanks to his power ring and remarkable blondness.

(No you're not, Hourman. You also die one page later.)

Anyway, RIP the JSA. Thank you for your service; off you go into "elderly supporting character" status for several years. Back in New York, the time anomalies are getting more chaotic and threaten to destroy entire cities. Speaking of destroyed cities, one interesting moment is when the heroes learn that a young, non-crazy Hal Jordan seemingly died last issue and Guy Gardner wonders if that means present-day, yes-crazy Hal is dead too, and whether they could use the time anomalies to save Coast City and prevent Hal's downfall. That's... a pretty good idea, actually. Maybe Guy should have been the leader instead of Superman after all.

Waverider eventually remembers he left the old geezers back at Vanishing Point and goes to check in on them, but he's too late to save them from getting Extant'd. The issue ends with Extant pulling out his mask to reveal that he's... another Waverider?! How?! Why?! I legitimately don't remember anything about that plotline, so we'll have to find out together next issue. TO BE CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR #2 (THE THIRD ISSUE)!

But first: a word from resident art expert Don Sparrow! Several words, actually...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

As with last issue, with this art team, both of them giants in my eyes, it’s hard to narrow down the best panels, because there’s not a bad one in the book.  So I’ll do my best not to just select each and every panel as a highlight! We start with the cover, and it’s kind of a jumble.  The art is great, but, almost every issue of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths had an iconic, eye catching cover—here’s there’s just a lot going on.  It’s certainly representative of the story within, but to me doesn’t make it feel like a must-read as you pass it on the shelf. 

The first splash is a great one, an emotional Jay Garrick clutching the uniform of still another (apparently) dead Flash.  On the very next page turn, we get a two page spread of the JSA, and it’s a stunner.

Though they’re all just standing around, the fact that they each have such distinct features and body types is a real feat—plus with Ordway’s DC work kicking off with these characters in the unfortunately monogrammed All Star Squadron, it’s always neat to see him work on WWII characters.  I’m especially entranced by the way Jurgens and Ordway render Hawman’s helmet.  The thatchy, mottled texture really gives a sense of how it would really look and feel.  In more recent years, they tend to depict Hawkman’s helmet as shiny, golden metallic, but this stiff, feathery look really makes it seem organic and solid.  Awesome stuff.

A recurring theme in this mini-series is the introduction of a new generation of heroes, and they’re helped out a lot by how great the art is—some of these characters, and their extremely 90’s looking designs will look far better here than they ever will in their own pages.  I read that Impulse’s first official appearance was in Flash #91, but his appearance in this issue was the first time I’d seen him, and with a design this simple and attractive, it’s hard to make Bart Allen look anything but cool.  Jurgens and Ordway’s natural realism still manages to convey some of the cartooniness that most defined Impulse, particular as he grins on page 5, phasing through a wall.

[Max: As a kid, as cool as Impulse looks here and in his early Flash appearances, it always bugged me that he looks older than he will in his solo series and Young Justice. My headcanon was that the accelerated aging mentioned in his origin was unstable and made him older for a while before settling on his real age.]

Page 8 has the showstopper panel, as the collected heroes rain down on the plaza in front of the United Nations building.  Booster Gold’s armour is probably the most glaring example of what I mentioned before—in these hands Booster’s costume is dynamic and functional—a far cry from how ugly the same costume will look in the upcoming “Extreme Justice” era.  Wonder Woman and Maxima look particularly great here, but it’s generally a great showcase for the characters who DC was pushing at the time.  Page 10 has a great panel for me personally, as I was (and remain) a huge Captain Marvel fan, so seeing the Big Red Cheese interact with Big Blue is a thrill. 

The arrival of the new Hawkman is a cool moment, and as truly awful as his own comic became around this time (so, so bad!), this costume design was one of the very best looks for Hawkman, in my opinion, though I admit owning the Total Justice action figure with that look helped. 

On the whole, this might be the least eventful issue of Zero Hour—apart from the editorially mandated wiping of the decks for the JSA, not a ton happens to move the story forward.  But it sure looked pretty!

SPEEDING BULLETS: 

Granted, a woman in the late stages of pregnancy isn’t supposed to look particularly dynamic, even if that woman is a superhero, but Power Girl looks pretty matronly throughout Zero Hour.  The lavender sweatshirt doesn’t help, I suppose.  We’ll get into it in subsequent issues, but Power Girl’s magical pregnancy is one of my very favourite Bad Ideas that Went Nowhere™ of this era, and perhaps all time.

I’ll admit, I had to reconsult old issues around this time to remember why Despero was responding to a summons from the Justice League (his body was possessed by L-Ron, the robotic assistant to Maxwell Lord, who was more or less a throwaway L. Ron Hubbard joke from the Bwah-ha-ha era of Justice League, who inexplicably survived several writer changes).

It’s small wonder I love this event so much—apart from the Super-team members writing and drawing it, it’s a very Superman-centric storyline.  I have to admit, I get a small thrill out of Superman being chosen as leader with Batman just standing there looking on in silence. 

Another instance where I had to look up old issues to understand what was going on was the short aside with space Hawkman (Katar Hol) merging with Earth Hawkman and Hawkwoman (Carter and Shiera Hall) and the weird giant Hawkgod, but the summary we’re shown is pretty much exactly what happened in the Hawkman books at the time.  All the many different Hawkmen would eventually pave the way for Geoff Johns’ excellent conceptual revamping of the character, explaining that the character was cursed to be reborn again and again. 

The ever-likeable Kyle Rayner winning over Guy Gardner by treating him with respect is a great moment (and a funny use of font size). [Max: Guy mostly behaves himself during this series, especially considering Ice just died. I wonder if they already told him and he's taking it remarkably well or if they decided to wait until the universal emergency was over.]

I went through Justice League stories from around this time, and I couldn’t find any reference to Maxima’s costume flickering of phasing—was this just a tossed-off line, or does someone else remember this coming up in a book other than this? [Max: I've skimmed through the issues, making careful note of Maxima's suit, and found no instances of this.]

I kinda like Ray Palmer and Guy Gardner being close enough friends to conspire together. [Max: Ray didn't seem very fond of Guy during Jurgens' JLA -- in fact, wasn't he so disappointed in seeing Guy fighting Superman that he mystically summoned a fascist alternate timeline JLA dreamworld? I kinda suspect Jurgens had Guy talking to him here because he'd be easier to fit into the panel than a regular-sized hero.]

While I’m an ardent defender of Zero Hour, I know a lot of JSA fans hate it, and from that perspective, it’s easy to see why—they really do go out like punks while fighting Extant, and it’s hard to watch.

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

[sniktx3]

GET TO KNOW ABC'S - MUN EDITION

TAGGED BY: @roquish o7

TAGGING: anyone! steal it from me.

A. AGE: 18+

B. BIRTHPLACE: the south (usa).

C. CURRENT TIME: 2.11 p.m.

D. DRINK YOU HAD LAST: ozarka water bottle...

F. FAVORITE CURRENT SONG(S: (ghost) riders in the sky — johnny cash.

E. EASIEST PERSON(S) TO TALK TO: online buddies, and my two irl best friends.

G. GOALS: motorcycle license..

H. HORROR YES OR HORROR NO: fuck yeah.

I. IN LOVE?: with yalls mothers.

J. JEALOUS OF PEOPLE?: mostly just a little envy when i’m frustrated.

K. KISSED SOMEONE RECENTLY?: besides a kiss on the cheek for my mama? nope.

L. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT OR SHOULD I WALK BY AGAIN?: who needs love?

M. MIDDLE NAME: legal or chosen? not sharing the first one and i haven’t picked the second.

N. NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: just one.

O. ONE WISH: for things to be better 👍.

Q. QUESTIONS YOU'RE ALWAYS ASKED: “what are you?” “are you really __?” “how much are you?”.

S. SONG YOU LAST SANG: great question. whatever i was listening to in the car last.

T. TOP 3 FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: this is a fucked up question. all of the wolverines count as spot one (laura, logan, aki, etc). red harlow maybe. i don’t know, uh… kyle rayner? maya lopez?

U. UNEXPERIENCED OR EXPERIENCED WRITER: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

V. VACATION: lmao. my days off count, right?

W. WHEN'S YOUR BIRTHDAY: march.

X. X-RAYS: i mean yeah, i’ve gotten an x ray before?

Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: ndn taco perhaps.

Z. ZODIAC SIGN: pisces.

[eyeballplanets]

This is a stupid question but do you have any tips to help understand a characters characterization better I have a hard time understanding character traits sometimes and was just wondering if you had any tips thank you

i'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply! i have a host of asks collecting dust, some of which i'll answer today, but i wanted to address this one first because i appreciate its sincerity and vulnerability.

this isn't a stupid question at all.

first, i'm sure you're selling yourself short. it's easy to encounter an exegesis that presents itself cogently and articulately enough that you feel your own read—however it diverges or otherwise misaligns—must be insufficient as a result. it happens to everyone.

second, largely as a result of the first part, the issue you've presented is broad enough that i worry my instinctual response won't actually read the root uncertainty.

with that being said, i think it would help to realize that there is no specific interaction that can confer absolute character understanding, nor is there even a singular coherent schema that defines criteria for character understanding.

i'll use some of my mutual's recent analytical posts as examples. one mutual posted about kyle rayner as a character whose relationships, self-assessment, and experience with education are defined by qualities that can be ascribed to adhd: this requires and reflects an understanding of psychology, within people and between people, and an understanding of the pitfalls of the education system and how it castigates the disabled. another mutual posted about how certain x-men have superpowers that make them disabled, but writers choose to elide these experiences because the eugenic thought processes encoded in the conceptualization of the normative body renders disabled experiences in an infantilized light: this requires and reflects an understanding of disabled experience and disabled reception, which is a scrutiny of medical systems as they are embedded in political systems. another mutual posted that mark grayson's resistance of a coercively applied masculinity can be read through a transfeminist lens, wherein he continually distances himself from this forced identity and instead finds comfort and similarity in women who gesture to past experiences of failing to conform to normativity. at this point, you see the pattern: this comes from understanding transfeminine experiences and the role transmisogyny plays in upholding the constructed gender binary.

this is oversimplifying their analyses and the processes therein, but one thing remains clear across all of them: none of these things come from fiction! all of these come from observation of real-world experiences or from engagement with other such analysis. in every case, it's a transferent process. every time you read someone analyze a character and find yourself thinking, ‘i haven't thought of that, but that's compelling to me!’ now you have the tools to apply that reception to other similar interactions, and can use the context within those interactions to elaborate on their differences.

to apply that to a straightforward read of your question, ‘why did x character do y thing’ can be dissected through any number of intratextual, metatextual, or extratextual lenses, and each of these lenses become more lucid as you experience more and more things and stories and see how other people apply those things and stories onto other things and stories. a ‘trait’ can be anything from ‘quick to anger‘ and ‘talks dramatically’ to ‘possessive’ and ‘fights using specific maneuvers,’ and all of these, even in their simplest form, can be discursively interpreted through history, through literary references, through cultural experiences, through genre convention, through psychological expression, &c.

i know this probably isn't helpful, which i'm really sorry about, but i do think this is one of the best answers i can give. expose yourself to people's analyses, think about the connections they make, try to reverse engineer those connections, and then make connections yourself.

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

I forgot that a) Kyle Rayner was the first Lantern introduced in the DCAU, b) that he's Jimmy Olson's pal, and c) that HE KNEELS ON THE MEN'S BATHROOM FLOOR TO PICK UP A RING HE THINKS IT'S FROM A CRACKER JACK BOX AND THEN PUTS SAID RING HE FOUND ON THE MEN'S BATHROOM FLOOR ON

[docgold13]

Is Dick Grayson-Batman not getting the opportunity to be on a big name JLA squad, (a la Kyle Rayner and Wally West take over for Hal and Barry during Morrison’s JLA era) a missed opportunity? Yeah, there was James Robinson’s “epic” C-list lineup, but I was wondering why you think DC seemingly weren’t interested in Bat-Dick having a bigger role in the wider DCU at the time? And in-universe, how would Dick function in a real Justice League, compared to Bruce? What would the dynamics with Clark, Diana, J’onn, etc. look like in your opinion?

I’m not sure if it’s a missed opportunity or not.  

One of the things that made Dick’s tenure as Batman such a captivating read was how much he did not want to be Batman.  He had ‘found’ himself as Nightwing and stepping in as Batman was a lateral movement in his own life journey made simply out of necessity.  

Wally, Kyle and Conner were each eager to take on the mantle of their predecessors.  Succeeding in being the Flash, The Green Lantern and The Green Arrow were their personal goals, whereas being The Batman felt more an obligation and cruel twist of fate for Dick.  

The narrative was only going to work if it had a terminus - a point where Dick could stop being Batman, stop wearing his dad’s clothes, and return to being his own man.  Could DC have made Dick’s time as Batman longer?  Certainly… yet in my opinion it still needed to end the way it did.  

Superhero comics can have aspects of tragedy in them, but ultimately need to revert back to hopefulness and resolution.  Failing to do so takes away the fantasy wish-fulfillment element that acts as a cornerstone of the appeal of superheroes in the first place.

[milfzatannaz]

Is Dick Grayson-Batman not getting the opportunity to be on a big name JLA squad, (a la Kyle Rayner and Wally West take over for Hal and Barry during Morrison’s JLA era) a missed opportunity? Yeah, there was James Robinson’s “epic” C-list lineup, but I was wondering why you think DC seemingly weren’t interested in Bat-Dick having a bigger role in the wider DCU at the time? And in-universe, how would Dick function in a real Justice League, compared to Bruce? What would the dynamics with Clark, Diana, J’onn, etc. look like in your opinion?

girl it’s the way that I can’t figure out what this has to do with me or my blog content

[pegasussomnus]

The lack of existence of, one-sidedness and toxicity of Tim and Steph's current "friendship"

So after Tim's UL thing many people are acting like he and Steph have now transitioned into "platonic besties" or something. Aside from the fact they have NEVER had this dynamic at all throughout their histoy, this write up will explain why the current 'friendship' of Tim and Steph after UL is pretty non-existant, one-sided and frankly kind of toxic.

The first thing to note which is what people use as "proof. Tim introducing Steph to Bernard.

People talk about how 'cute' or 'a sign of trust' it is, but they seem to be overlooking one crucial fact. Tim did it without even asking Steph first or telling her they would be meeting him.

Let's be honest introducing your ex to your new partner without telling your ex is a selfish move as while you may be over your ex, your ex may not be over you and it might be hard for them to see you with someone else so quickly, especially in this case as Tim just apologized for treating her badly via ghosting her and being a jerk to her. The fact the whole time Tim was planning to introduce her to Bernard even before he talked with Stephanie shows he was planning it without taking her into consideration at all and not giving her her own space to properly deal with things.

When Kyle Rayner met with Donna while with Jade after he and Donna's relationship ended on bad terms due to her ghosting him (it was because her son died BTW) and more or less ending the relationship in a way that hurt him a lot, he properly gave Donna a space to deal with it and didn't include Jade in it as he knew Donna as someone he loved a lot even if it was over needed his undivided attention here to deal with loose ends. He told Jade this before going to talk to Donna even.

So Tim comes off as incredibly selfish and unintentionally manipulative as he did this right after laying a lot on her with the apology, telling her why he ghosted her, and in public, doesn't give her really time to process things and puts pressure on her to just take it as a bad reaction in public would be bad but also after Tim laid this on her and they reconciled might alienate them even further which Stephanie didn't want as was shown by her attempts to mend things in UL and how much it hurt her.

And Tim not even bothering to even really ask her how she is doing or for her full perspective before doing this was also conceited as again he was ghosting her for a long time. All she did was just reiterate what we and the audience already know and he in the past has pushed Stephanie to express her feelings to him and be frank, so not even doing so and being satsified with her just saying what he already knew felt self-centered.

Not to mention Stephanie's entire reaction made her look like she has no self-respect as Tim:

A. dumped her without a reason

B. Acted like an asshole to her when she tried to help him

C, ghosted her

D. lied that she was ghosting him

E. Only apologized after he met her by accident (where he wished he wasn't there) and her life was in danger

F. Introduced her to his new BF after all this without asking her first while she is still getting over him as Batgirls annual showed

Like aside from clearly using her as a prop it is so bizarre. Introducing your ex to your new partner after all this and in the manner Tim did comes across as flaunting and Steph just taking it is so weird. Like knowing that she still isn't over him and combined with her normally low self-esteem (which Tim knows about) it makes it look like Steph feeling pressured (not necessarily by anyone in particular but by herself) to act supportive because she feels obligated to. Like the fact she hasn't even brought up she still isn't over him to Tim and just acted the way she does further makes it look like this, which again provides a pretty one sided dynamic that comes across as toxic.

This brings into how subsequent interactions again show Steph being this ultra supportive cheerleader but Tim not reciprocating anything really.

Like in issue 4 of Tim's solo, Steph ask's if things are okay with Bernard (of course she does will get to that later) and Tim doesn't even really reply and just moves things back to the case. In fact their interactions throughtout the issue are completely dry and strictly business related. Compared to when he interacted with Dick in issue 5 and opened up about his insecurities in branching out or Kate in issue 8 about the times they've bonded and other things, him being so dry with Steph feels odd. They have him say he "trust Steph and Cass" the most but everything is just business related and this "trust" is only vigilante wise it seems. Like he doesn't even ask Stephanie how she is doing or what's going on in her life. Given issue 2 Tim says he's worried about "ruining things like with Steph" or how in isuse 3 Tim claims he "loves that she's the most unpredictable person" (which was a pretty lackluster description/summation of her compared to how he summed up Dick as the "coolest person he knows" and Damian as his "brother" which fully captures what they mean to him. This description of Steph seems only like something vigilante related which is where her unpredictability comes from and again only an aspect of it) him treating her so drly and professional is just odd when he is more open with Kate than her and again like a friendly work acquaintance at best, which shows he is still keeping her at a distance.

Not to mention how in issue 8 we later see  Stephanie literally dancing over him and Bernard being together in the montage of him recounting he and Kate's bonding moments involving the Batfamily. it is implied this took place not too long after the whole introduction to Bernard which again was pretty bizarre for the reasons I said above. so her doing this after the whole thing again makes her look like she has no self-respect.

This ties into how Tim only seems to involve her in his life when it comes to Bernard/how the author only uses her as. Like the only non-vigilante thing she ask's about is Bernard in issue 4 and in that montage of issue 8 the ONLY time Stephanie shows up in his interactions with the Batfamily in this issue is with Bernard while, Dick who is the closest to Tim apart from Steph shows in two montages, but for Steph it's only this one. Like when moving on his boat in the montage with Dick, he asked Kate, Barbara, and Darcy over Steph for help despite it being a supposed important step in his life. Like he'll include her with Bernard related stuff but other important stuff he'll go to people who are less closer to him for? It makes Tim look like he's using her to validate his new relationship and Steph going along with it makes her just a pushover

It doesn't help how Tim in other instances says/thinks some questionable things about her and their history. Like in issue 1 he thinks about how he was 'settling' before Bernard and how Stephanie would hate his boat after thinking about how much he likes it there and what it represents to him in terms of branching. Like Stephanie was giving her own thought box and HATE was emphaszied while the other Batfamily were grouped together and no emphasis on their reaction and they seemed more like light hearted sentiments/commentary/jabs at their reactions especially with the use of the word hate which is pretty strong and how it was emphasized.

There was also how in DC YJ when "Batman" and "Wonder Girl" in the fake world said Tim should get back with Steph, in that stupid scene, they did so in a way that makes it look like Steph only likes Tim for his vigilante identity via saying she would want him back if he was Batman like she's hero equivalent of a girl who wants to date the most popular jock and painting her as shallow yet Tim doesn't defend her or even care about the slight against her.

Their is also way he talks about her to Connor in DC Pride 2023. Like in the Pride Special Tim claims says she was "everything he ever wanted and more" yet aside from saying he was settling before Bernard, here he says he was really avoiding her because she was a reminder of a past of letting other people define him and he was invested in the relationship on to avoid examining himslef on purpose......

only mentioning how she was a reminder of a past he wanted to avoid and only in a negative connotation and how hard it was for him to be around her and not the fact of how he hurt her in then process and not how she became supportive of him (really shows how Steph in supporting Tim being bi is just used to shill Timber) when he talked how supportive Bruce was when we haven't seen it and he wasn't to the extent Steph was (who he also didn't treat badly and also mentioned as part of letting people define him though weird how he didn't have trouble being around him, but it just shows how they are framing Steph as the 'closeted' past or a barrier to bi Tim....) makes Tim look unappreciative of her and incredibly self-centered.

And like the final point is how Tim again hasn't shown any kind of support for her at all or even tried to be there for her in any way. Like even his 'talk' with her in the Pride Special was all about him. So the lack of support and the way he is still keeping her at a distance makes him look really self-absorded. It makes their 'friendship' all give and no take.

TLD DR: Tim and Steph's current 'friendship' is basically non-existant, one-sided and comes off as kind of toxic due to Tim coming across as self-centered and Steph like a pushoever with no self-respect

[zahri-melitor]

Is Dick Grayson-Batman not getting the opportunity to be on a big name JLA squad, (a la Kyle Rayner and Wally West take over for Hal and Barry during Morrison’s JLA era) a missed opportunity? Yeah, there was James Robinson’s “epic” C-list lineup, but I was wondering why you think DC seemingly weren’t interested in Bat-Dick having a bigger role in the wider DCU at the time? And in-universe, how would Dick function in a real Justice League, compared to Bruce? What would the dynamics with Clark, Diana, J’onn, etc. look like in your opinion?

There was definitely a push during Batman Reborn to have Dick strangely isolated from his support systems, to a level that it seemed to have some level of editorial mandate.

Dick got to be Batman, but he had to do the loner thing in Gotham, even though the loner thing in Gotham is not actually what Batman is about, really.

But Dick was not allowed to ask for help, even if his friends who would normally check in on him were nowhere to be seen. Tim got sent away and Morrison actively worked not to use him. Barbara and Dick was arguing. Dick and Helena were arguing. Cass was sent to Hong Kong. Bruce wouldn't return to Gotham and went country-hopping with Batman Inc. And Dick only really had a half-hearted JLA turn, though admittedly the JLA was also in the middle of dramas between Blackest Night/Brightest Day and Cry for Justice.

In terms of what Dick would look like on a 'proper' (classic titles) Justice League lineup? Honestly, it really sort of depends whether it's Dick doing a Wally and having to step up as a colleague of their mentors, or if it's say Dick-Wally-Kyle-Roy as a core plus some of the older generation.

Dick's not afraid of calling JL members out if he thinks they're not behaving correctly and he's directed field ops in events before. I think the big thing if he had had to do a Wally and step into Bruce's shoes surrounded by Bruce's ordinary colleagues would be that he would have felt somewhat unready, but also gotten annoyed if anyone tried to empathise with his loss. He can do the job. It's everyone treating him as Bruce or as Nightwing that would be his issue.

In a lot of ways, especially if there are chunk of members who are in his age cohort, it would just be like a Titans team. Dick's got a good working relationship with all these people, he knows all their skillsets, and he's acknowledged to be one of the strongest team leaders in the community. However, he also knows how to fold and act as a lieutenant if someone more senior is leading (like Diana. Or Clark) and I suspect he'd get slotted into that role at least initially.

[ao3feed-superbat]

Compound C

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yWRqngB by somagni Clark has an allergy, though it doesn't make him sneeze, wheeze or get bleary eyed, the reaction he experiences is the compulsion to cuddle. Bruce tries to help Clark figure out the cause and how to handle it, that grows difficult when both men start thinking as far as allergic reactions go, this one doesn't seem so bad. Prompts: Bruce Wayne Week: Cuddle Pollen Clark Kent week: Allergies Words: 15566, Chapters: 6/6, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, John Henry Irons, Kyle Rayner, Michael Carter (DCU), Patrick "Eel" O'Brian Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Cuddle Pollen, Allergies, Kryptonian Biology (DCU), Cuddling & Snuggling, Cologne, Beekeeping, Trust Issues, Awkward Romance, Possessive Behavior, Photo Shoots, Anal Sex, Top Clark Kent, Bottom Bruce Wayne, Rescue Missions, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Love Bites, Fluff and Smut, Red Kryptonite (DCU), Science Experiments read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yWRqngB

[bi-bats]

im procrastinating so hard rn so c, i, o, z?

Waffle hELLO!!!!! THANK YOU FOR WAITING LIKE TWO WEEKS FOR ME TO GET TO THIS LMAOOOO 💖💖💖

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

oh that's tough actually, especially in DC. there really aren't any that I abhor wholeheartedly-

wait no wait. Supermartian. Sorry, both Kon and M'gann are a thousand times more interesting without each other in literally every instance I've seen them (for the record, I'm talking exclusively about canon because I don't consume fan content for this pairing, so there are probably people who are doing it justice out there but the canon content has put me so far off of it that I just. don't want it).

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

Oh interesting! See, I've been on here since like. 2011? not on this particular blog (though I do still have access to my old account) so. uh. I've been here since before superwholock. I was in and out, so thankfully I wasn't around much for Steven Universe, though I did watch that whole series and heard things about the fandom. I think it'd be more accurate to say it wasn't Tumblr specifically, but certain fandoms have put me off, though I am reluctant to admit my shame.

homestuck

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

Je te laisserai des mots - reminds me of DamiTim, possibly because I'm in that brainspace rn? but also I hc that Damian plays violin and Tim plays piano and the way that the two intertwine throughout the song is beautiful. Also the lyrics remind me of Damian, who I think is definitely one to hide his feelings and wait for someone else to make the first move!

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

Okay I'm gonna hit you with a take I see all the time but feel like talking about anyways. I read a lot of comics (not just for batfam, I'm actually a major flashfam enthusiast (esp Wally and Bart) and a MASSIVE Kyle Rayner and Jo Mullein fan, and I read plenty of superfam stuff bc I love Kon, and also Young Justice my belOVED) but like. if I could just. read a run that doesn't have Batman or the batfam in it, you know. Sometimes I just. It'd be nice! that's all! It'd be nice if I could just read a Kyle run that doesn't have any bats in it! Or Wally! Like, don't get me wrong, I actually love his relationship with Dick (they're in love actually but that's a story for another time) but like. HE DOESN'T REALLY NEED TO BE HERE IDK. or like the new run of Titans!! Sure, I want Dick to be in it but like. He's the main character!! Idk!!! I get that they're making him like, the face of DC or whatever but like. idk sometimes I want my other faves to get the spotlight.

Sorry if you weren't looking for me to whine about this 😂 and for the record I don't always hate it, I just want more of my other faves who have kind of been forgotten in favor of the bats again

[the-shinysnorlax]

The Green Lantern cycle: How DC uses and mischaracterizes their “forgotten” characters

As of me writing this, I just finished Green Lantern: First Flight, and it had me thinking: Just how many adaptations of different GL stories are there? (No, Justice League doesn’t count)

The answer? Not a lot. At least, not a lot of good ones.

Sure, you have First Flight, which is a pretty decent film. And you have the animated series, objectively considered one of the best adaptations of the GL comics to exist. And if you are a “hardcore” GL fan you might even remember Emerald Knights was a movie too.

But the animated series was canceled before it got any real potential, first flight got forgotten to time, and emerald knights is really just a bunch of shorts complied into a movie. And these were all released 10-15 years ago. What have we gotten since?

Well there’s that disaster that is the live action movie with that guy from Deadpool (And the equally as awful theme park ride that came with it which squandered the name “First Flight” for the GL franchise) and there’s Beware my power which pisses me off for reasons that I won’t talk about for this essay (Wasted potential of making a proper adaptation of Emerald Twilight)

And that’s about it really. DC has been hesitant to adapt any GL comics into movies/shows outside of the same old Hal origin rewritten for the millionth time and really just brings them out to put them as a JL member.

And that got me thinking. DC has done this before. Not just with Hal and his buddies either. The JSA, the aquafam, Arrowfam, young Justice and much more have been brought back only to be put back in the void and largely forgotten outside of their fanbase. Thus making me to dub this

The Green Lantern Cycle

It consists of these steps. I’ll be using its namesake as an example, notably Kyle Rayner (Because hes my favorite GLC member I’m sorry I have a bias)

1. A comic run or a hero gets a sudden resurgence

This could be more people reading the comics, or nostalgia catching up to the older audience and remembering how good it was to read the comic back then. More people are talking about it, and it gets popular again.

So hypothetically let’s say that Kyle’s original 90s run just. Suddenly gets popular again. More people are talking about it outside of his fans in their little circle, it blows up, more people read it, talk about it, all that.

It’s also during this part of the cycle DC starts to take notice and do minor things like, say, acknowledge him in a social media post, or put him in a comic issue in a major role, or even reprint his comic run again. This satisfies people, but it’s only a temporary thing. That’s where we move onto step 2

2. DC decides to make a movie/comic run of character

When I say movie, I mean their animated movies that take less time to produce, not a blockbuster theater movie.

So now that the character is mainstream (At least in comic fandom sense) DC announces they’ll do a comic run or in the very rare sense, a whole movie about them! Of course fans get excited because they’re getting a resurgence, and they’ll hype this up to no end.

DC being the bastards they are, don’t market this at all but the fans sure do. As the release date inches closer and more is being released, the more fans get excited. And then the big day comes and the comic/movie is out! And that leads us to step 3

3. The movie/comic is plagued with mischaracterization and bad writing.

Sometimes we can see the bad writing show as the first previews are out. Sometimes it’s not obvious until it’s out. But regardless, with DC being well. DC. It releases, it’s bad. The fans are disappointed.

The 2 main places we’ve seen this is with YJ2019 and Tim Drakes newest run. Both hyped up by fans only to crash and fall and ultimately getting cancelled.

It also happened to the injustice movie from 2021 as well.

Let’s go back to that Kyle example. Hypothetically, DC released a movie about Zero Hour or Kyle’s first few issues. Of course fans will be excited (Myself included) and then when it releases, it’s a hot mess.

Maybe they just completely disregard Emerald Twlight. Maybe they butcher Kyle’s origin hard. Maybe they mischaracterize him entirely. Regardless, the movie is bad.

But doesn’t sway fans that much. Sure, the hype has probably died down, but they’re still going to have loyal fans who can’t wait for the next time the character will appear.

But DC doesnt get the memo

4. DC assumes fans don’t care for the character anymore, and puts them back in the void

Instead of realizing they are in the wrong, DC instead thinks the fans just. Don’t care for the character. It wasn’t bad because DC fucked it up, it was bad because the fans just wearnt ready!

So what do they do? Well, DC puts them back in the void for multiple years and only brings them out for cameos and minor roles.

And rinse and repeat. Over and over and OVER again.

Of course, this green lantern cycle doesn’t happen to everyone. Kon-El is doing fairly well right now. Dick Grayson has gotten a massive resurgence (For better or worse). The Arrowfam is doing decent enough in the GA series.

But that’s very few and far between.

For the most part, any character that isn’t associated with the big 3 or was made in the 90s just keep falling into this cycle and rarely ever escape it.

And it sucks for the fans who just want more good content of the character. They just want to see the character break this cycle and quit being stuck in this purgatory till the end of DC itself.

[dramatisperscnae]

make a playlist using every letter of your url!  remember to repost NOT reblog   (multi-muse addition for added fun — specify which muse(s) each song makes you think of.)

D reams of Atlantis - Siren's Song [Arthur, for obvious reasons] R aised by Bats - Voltaire [Dick. Also Bruce, but Dickie mostly] A lone - Heart [TJ] M ove Along - All American Rejects [Dickie] A s I Lay Me Down - Sophie B. Hawkins [Odysseus] T ake Me Back To Eden - Sleep Token [Lucifer] I Got My Game On - Trace Adkins [Remy Lebeau] S angenshoku - Pelican Fanclub [Kyle Rayner; see also Studio Yuraki's English cover] P hotograph - Nickelback [Bucky. Fight me.] E verlasting Moon - Jimmy Buffett [Caspian] R ún - SKÁLD [Loki] S ekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana - SMAP [Conrad, and also Dick] C hameleon Boy - Blue October [Bruce] N o Son of Mine - Genesis [Conrad] A dvice to Young Magicians - Heather Alexander [Loki] E very Little Thing She Does - Lonestar [Remy, talking about Rogue]

tagged by stolen from: @identitysolved tagging: you, if you're bored enough owo