#comictary

[littledead-ridinghood]

you couldn't strip Superboy Prime punching the universe and accidentally resurrecting Jason from even my dead hands: does anyone want to talk about how still no one knows anything about Jason's resurrection? They don't know he dug his way out of his big, thick, wooden coffin and 6 feet of dirt, in the pouring rain, with a belt buckle and his pulverized hands, desperate and screaming.

The bats probably still believe Jason had a fairly average resurrection like the majority of heroes sans Them most likely thinking "oh his body was stolen from his grave." But at least one where Jason would've been revived free of the physical harm marring him from his murder, built back up atom by atom, where he didn't need to drag himself back to being able to think...Being able to believe that he didn't come back by choice opposed to him being unable to find his way back home for a good couple of years prior to the pit.

And they could ask him. They could. The source is Right There: breathing and heart pumping blood and coherent. But asking Jason would ruin the fantastical cautionary tale they built up around his murder. Asking would mean Knowing more, the inability to claim ignorance and denial, and confronting the shame and horror of being wrong.

Frankly, I would never be the same either.

Batman #159; Hush 2

[itsblueberry13-blog]

#every 2-4 years they murk such a large swatch of heroes man#like maybe Maybe Just Maybe#mass death isn’t the most compelling trope they could use#especially since it all pretty much reads the same#and it’s so depressing like…shouldn’t comics have some kind of escape in them being so absurd#like yes reflect the turmoils of the times but also allow them to overcome; offer hope or something#like yes dark and gritty but can we just have A Little optimism#comictary

By @littledead-ridinghood

#where’s that post about making a good angsty character. something something your character cannot always be pure angst because it loses its#potency and instead you should offer respites that help the reader relate to something more grounded and understandable like ‘my happiest#days were when my father wasn’t home’ and then youre like wow he must have a shit dad. or show how they react to a genuinely positive#situation when all they’ve known was suffering. that stuff. but apply it to dc comics. the characters AND the readers need a fucking break.#otherwise all the trauma and battles.. that shock value just goes away and gets replaced by boredom and annoyance.

By @iinmysights

#these encompass my current problem very well#when it comes to DC#prev tags ->#its just....what is the point in giving a shit about anything when a month later its retconned?#like who cares about any of it when none of it matters?

By @distort-opia

Current dc canon is mad depressing. I mean it’s getting better and everything I’m not saying it’s all bad - I just hate the whole “everything’s shit and everyone’s sad and loads of heroes are dead” stuff that’s coming up. Maybe it makes for boring stories but dc should consider that I, personally, will be much happier if the next big dc storyline is “various groups of heroes all have a lovely time eating ice cream and going for a refreshing walk”. Not once has dc thought of how narratively compelling having a relaxing picnic is. I’m right and I should say it. Stop vaporising the justice league and start giving them very serious time-sensitive missions involving RSVPing to robin’s tea party in the nick of time

[graphicpolicy]

We all know someone who’s never seen Star Wars or doesn’t gets it when you say “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!,” it’s from Jaws by the way. Whenever I meet someone like that I let them know how they have a void in their life that needs filling. When it came to Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons Martha Washington I was the one who had a void to fill, but thanks to Dark Horse Comics for publishing The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century, this trade paperback collects every page of Our shero Martha Washington. My life is complete as I take a flashback to this visionary work from two of comics greatest storytellers.

The late 80’s- early 90’s saw a huge number of creators becoming so disenfranchised with the big comic companies that they struck of on their own or headed to smaller companies to form boutique labels. This new freedom allowed Miller the ability to further his critique on current events and society from the viewpoint of heroine Martha Washington.

Woman, soldier, leader, weapon, protector, explorer, Earth Mother all attributes and details that give you a very broad description of Washington. This black woman born in the slums of Chicago’s infamous Cabrini–Green Homes housing project, a maximum security “home” in this story, becomes the most influential person in history, saving the US and Earth from enemies foreign and domestic. Again the most basic, lay explanation of this book I could think of because Miller and Gibbons create a world that hits a little too close to home with a parody of US international and domestic politics, thankfully Washington is there to help them survive.

This edition collects every appearance of Martha, including the short black and white stories, now fully colored and remastering and has a great crossover with Miller’s other creation, Big Guy from Big Guy and Rusty. The trade is graced by a brief introduction from Miller but the true value is Gibbons insight for each stage of the various story arcs, backstory of the series publishing herstory in addition to pages of concept notes and design ideas.

Sadly the importance of this book is I feel more relevant in today’s world of 45*, ecological disasters on the horizon, Hydra-Cap, the seduction of artificial intelligence and America at a critical juncture for its collective soul. You won’t be able to not compare timelines and you’ll wonder if her version of the 21st century is better than ours, if only Millers crystal ball of social comictary could comfort us in knowing that we’ll make it through the next four years with only minor bumps and bruises.

If you’ve never read it go fill that void in your life like I did.

  George Carmona 3rd is an Artist/Writer, former Milestone Media Intern, former DC Comics paper pusher, current book lover, and lifelong comic geek. You can find his work at FistFullofArt.com or follow him on twitter at GCarmona3.

The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the 21st Century is more relevant today #comics #flashbackfriday We all know someone who's never seen Star Wars or doesn't gets it when you say “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!,” it's from…

[littledead-ridinghood]

I saw this panel and immediately all the synapses in my brain started lighting up like fireworks

Batman #159//Batman #428

[littledead-ridinghood]

Reasonable speaking, I shouldn’t jump the gun with my opinions but I also am so tired of DC creating new characters for a single arc rather than progressing the stories of the shelved ones they already have

Tom King is introducing Diana’s WHAT

[littledead-ridinghood]

Laughing--Jason why do you have your gun initialed?

batman #159

[littledead-ridinghood]

One of you guys are going to have to sedate me. I'm in shock. shambles. i feel insane oh my goodness "you'll die" "I wouldn't dare" with the little peck on the temple? I don't know how to convey to all of you that I can't stop grinning: it hurts. I keep re-reading it and I just break out into another round of joy.

The Authority (1999) #08

Side note: I was Not emotionally prepared for them to be just so casually gay? I feel like most queer stories and characters are about the character learning their queer and the growth, struggle, and self-reflection that comes with that. Which are very important, touching stories, don't misunderstand me. But the fact that them being together is written as "oh obviously they're together? Didn't you pick up on that before?" and it's not a shock to anyone (even after many of the others had made tongue and cheek jokes) that they're being affectionate to the other is Also important because it's just...them existing. And I feel so rarely do we just get to exist and have that captured in media. The others made "oh they're gay for each other" jokes not because they're two men attached at the hip and "oh haha gay" but because they are indeed in love.

I just haven't seen that in media in a way that resonates with me in so long that I'm just...happy. I didn't know if they built up to it or what, but the fact that Apollo and Midnighter just...Are and their relationship already is in a way that so many straight couples get off the bat....Guys, I'm so overwhelmed

[littledead-ridinghood]

Cryingggg--Angy >:( can''t even hug in peace smh

The Authority (1999) #08

[littledead-ridinghood]

:/

So Jason is gonna be written by zdarsky for Batman 900 😖 ohh this isn’t gonna be good

[littledead-ridinghood]

Guess who started reading comics yesterday after almost a year of not being able to stomach anything? Thank you, finals week. Everyone is sleeping on Apollo and Midnighter. I'm flabbergasted; I love them already to an absurd degree. They're literally if batman and superman were actually gay for each other, killed, and also better in every other conceivable way imaginable <3

[littledead-ridinghood]

oh.

The Authority (1999) #07

Bonus Jack:

It's not your fault jack that's just his lover don't take it personally :/

[littledead-ridinghood]

It's crazy. every time they look at each other they're smiling at the other.

also bonus little "he's so concerned :(((("

The Authority (1999) #07

[littledead-ridinghood]

Absolutely Frothing at the mouth over this and your tags. Now you get mine!

Your Sunk Cost Fallacy point is so true(ironically one of my fav devices to bring up in relation to Jason and his efforts to reconcile with his family but that’s a completely different post topic!). It kinda reminds me of the whole “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Bruce started out as Batman with the intention of being the only one. The idea that anyone would have to take up the mantle would be heartbreaking and horrifying to a Bruce still at the beginning of his career (this is actually why i don’t want any of his kids to take up the mantle permanently after him. It would symbolize another loss, another failure, another tragedy while also keeping said victim from being able to grow out from underneath the shadow of the Bat). Now, it seems to be expected that one of kids will become the next him. No matter how much time the mantle of batman puts into Gotham, nothing seems to be changing, but actually seems to be getting worse. They(the bats) keep doing the same thing, following the same moral compass, adding more sidekicks, continuing the Bat’s legacy, and yet nothing seems to be changing. 

Now, many argue that obviously nothing changes because at the end of the day, comics are forever moving meaning eventually they have to be reset to “the standard” and everything happens again and again and again (i.e. insanity) for the sake of story telling. Now, as readers we understand editorial will never actually let Bruce follow through, but that justification also severely takes us out of the story. So editorial never lets Bruce follow through on what he wants(rehabilitating the bad guys/stopping crime/fixing the city/etc. whatever you want to say). Yet, eventually, editorial or not, you have to acknowledge that, in story, Bruce is not accomplishing his goals. Suspense of disbelief, ya? We can extend that to the existence of child vigilantes, but that minute it extends to other plot devices, audiences can get fickle as we want to root for the good guy. The idea that Bruce is unequivocally failing through fault of his own and not due to “outside” measures is not...fun. That’s what makes comics wild. In movies and book series, the heroes can indefinitely win, but in comics, heroes can’t ever have a final bow as comics never stop. Therefore, his failures to achieve his goal keeps piling up and we, readers, have no push back that Batman+Co. are actually making a good, genuine, widespread difference in Gotham.

Furthermore, not only is Bruce wed to his moral compass, he’s also wed to his mission. He can no longer walk away because he’s so deep in believing he’s making change rather than, what can also be read as, him just holding off the inevitable where eventually something has to give. Remember when he was furious at Kate for killing Clayface not necessarily just because she killed but also because it hurt his ego? Undermined his power, control, and authority? it’s like that. Eventually the push back from “the other side” will be so great that everything will once again collapse (ergo: new major city crisis). 

It’s funny when people say Jason killing is unsustainable when Bruce’s way is also written as unsustainable. Especially because in RHatO, there are plenty of people Jason genuinely gives a new way of life to (like Duela Dent(which actually goes back to Pre-Crisis) and Suzy Sue) by helping them get out of the life they felt trapped in (heavy addiction and vengeful daughter of a crime family respectively). It’s ironic that Jason kills(going against Bat Code) while also upholding the values(Bat Code) that Bruce tries to push but fails to follow through on (i.e. rehabilitating villains. Also ironically, something Jason tried to teach Bruce about back as Robin with Penguin when the Mob boss was just a jewel thief) (Also is reminiscence of “I'm not talking about killing Cobblepot and Scarecrow or Clayface. Not Riddler or Dent... I'm talking about [Joker]” Jason still believes those rouges can be rehabilitated, but the joker is one of the exceptions that too far gone)

Also funnily, both of these factors, Bruce having no idea who he is without Batman and his rehabilitation of villains, play into each other. If Bruce helps these people become better and it doesn’t work then he’s philosophy’s wrong--he’s wrong--and he wasted all this time believe everyone can be “fixed”(in his own image of what is “correct”), seen so much death, to just be wrong. Or he does manage to rehabilitate the rouges, he manages to actually fix the city’s crime issue through lots of funding and elbow grease, and...it works. No more need for batman, no more need for him. And that scares Bruce because he’s been doing this for so long that he knows no normal outside of “the pursuit for justice.” Bruce is too paralyzed by his own fear to actually follow through on his own morals because either he’s wrong and that hurts both his ego & literally destroys the man he is or he can do what he started out wanting to do and then “the man is actually the mask” becomes obsolete. Batman--the man Bruce says he truly is--dies and who is he if he’s dead? Bruce’s weapon of choice has become his undoing. His paranoia only feeds his need for control which further push his lifelines(his family and friends, the real presence keeping him sane, not his no kill rule(see how he hasn’t killed anyone, but, in rebirth, how obsessive, destructive and ruthless he is when no family is around him)) away which further damages the city, sinking Gotham further into a crisis-ridden police state.

Parallel Bruce’s fear with Jason who scoff at the notion of fear. He finds fear unsustainable because what do you do when the most pressing group of terrorizers aren’t afraid of you? Jason, from living a life in survivor's mode, understands fear is a fundamentally flawed concept of ruling because if all you’re backing on is “people are too afraid to commit crime” that forgets about the population of people pushed into the life, no matter if their afraid or not, as they have to to survive.

At this point, I believe Bruce can’t actually step away from his “mission” as he doesn’t know who he is without it. (another interesting parallel Bruce shares with the rest of Jason’s parental figures: There’s always something more than Jason that they put in front of him. In this case, Bruce cares more about the job rather than his family and friends). But what truly can be extrapolated from all of this is that, in the beginning, Bruce had a choice, Jason did not. Bruce didn’t have to put on the cowl, he doesn’t even have to keep putting on the cowl (especially if he was given like...extensive therapy). Jason was forced to see the shit that shaped him as a child. They were always bound to butt heads in some manner over these issues (maybe not as violently) as their upbringings naturally will, and should, lead them to see the world in very different manners. 

Okay I might get devoured for this, but I'm gonna post it anyway, so please bare with me:

I feel like Bruce has this belief that Jason never understood why he can't kill right, but also I feel like Bruce also doesn't understand why Jason can. Like he looks at it as a moral failing in so many different iterations from writer to writer but like? Bruce, understanding is a two-way street.

Bruce thinks he'd never be able to come back from taking a life, but then you look down the line at Jason, and Jason can and does. He's not lesser because he kills when he thinks it's the right thing to do, he doesn't lose himself in the bloodbath like Bruce thinks he himself would. Jason doesn't go mad with power, he doesn't go around just murdering any random thug just because.

And I think that damages Bruce a little bit, because he doesn't want to admit that Jason's killing isn't as much of a moral failing as he thinks it should be. I think that Bruce, somewhere in his mind, wanted to believe that if he couldn't do it without losing himself, then nobody could. And I think he can't bring himself to admit to himself that in that regard, Jason has always had a better understanding of the world and his own person than Bruce ever will.

[littledead-ridinghood]

They just don’t slut men up like they used to huh?

Stormwatch (1997) V2 #04

[littledead-ridinghood]

"Do Not Be Afraid" character...his fall is damn near angelic too

The Authority (1999) #07

[littledead-ridinghood]

Awww he's sadistic <3333

Stormwatch V2. (1997) #04