#grant morrison really messed things up

[zedreh]

You know, looking back at old issues from before Grant Morrison's run, I just want to say that I really like Talia as one of Bruce's main loves. The pages below come from Batman Adventures Vol. 1 #13, in which a priceless statue was stolen from Ra's and so Bruce goes with Talia to Paris to get it back. Before they start searching, they have time to go sightseeing together.

After their time is cut short, they go looking, and they fall into a trap set by an old rival of Ra's who bought the statue, who then locks them in a burning hut.

Of course, they get out, take down every one, and get the statue, after which Batman let's on that he knew the statue itself isn't what's valuable.

There's just so much about them that works so well. I'd go into it more, but I think these pages speak for themself.

Also, I like this one panel of them greeting each other.

[positivelybeastly]

Characterisation

This is just a collection of notes regarding the way I play Beast and the few deviations from canon that I have. For the most part, probably 90-95% of what you see on panel that Hank has done, my Hank has also done, because I love the fact that this man has gone to the Dr. Seuss dimension and hung out with a Transformers character in canon, but there are one or two exceptions.

Feline Hank

Grant Morrison's New X-Men and the fake coming out. I write Hank as bisexual demiromantic, meaning he enjoys sex with more than one gender, and will engage in romantic relationships with anyone he has a strong emotional connection to. I personally read Hank as somewhat closeted during the early stages of his life, and Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, was something of a wake-up call to the fact that he was not entirely straight.

As a result, if you bring this up with my Hank, he came out as gay around about seven years ago (current Hank is 37, for context), and clarified his bisexuality to the press not long after. I love Morrison's characterisation of Hank, but the fake coming out was just gross on many levels and I genuinely believe not only that it hurt Hank's character, but that it's a misread of his sexuality. If you want more on this, please check here.

Post-Intervention

This is a whole messed up ass situation because I'm one of the few people who genuinely thinks that Hank wouldn't have done the whole time travel thing to begin with (really just not his style), but there's some good conversations to be had about it, so you can assume that everything that happened on panel happened, just less - Bendis-y.

Also, this Hank knows magic because unlike every other damn X-writer, I actually remember that he's meant to remember everything baby human Hank did while he was in the present.

Avengers

He's my funny goodtime boy, no notes.

X-Force

This is the big one.

Ben Percy's version of Beast sucks balls and while I would have loved it if we could have avoided going full supervillain, we're here now, and while I don't like how it happened, Hank is not a saint and it's interesting to grapple with his psychology, so we're doing it but different.

This version of Beast is essentially undergoing a long, stable, controlled dissociative episode and is not what you would call sane. It's the only real way his characterisation makes sense.

In my headcanon, Abigail Brand, his longtime girlfriend, died and was resurrected while pregnant during the events of David Haller's X-Men Legacy, losing the child in the process, and finding out that his offspring had essentially been wiped from existence before he even knew about it has drained Hank of all his remaining warmth and optimism. He fundamentally does not believe that the world, or people, or life, is good anymore.

This is not an excuse.

I'm not here to give you some 2012 Loki apologism or say that he didn't do anything bad. He did. But going from where he was last in canon, in Rosenberg's Astonishing X-Men and Uncanny Avengers, to X-Force, it's the only justifiable reason he changed so much and so hard, and it's the only way the snap makes sense to me with existing canon information.

Your character does not know about this. If Hank has his way, your character will never know about this because it's not your damn business.

This version of Beast does not consider himself to be Hank McCoy anymore. He does not immediately answer to Hank, and he will never refer to himself as Hank in his internal narration. He has completely separated himself into Hank (dead) and Beast (alive - just about) because it simply hurts less and allows him to exert some degree of control over his life. He does not care what happens to him, his body, or his reputation anymore. There is only making sure that everyone else in his life is safe. Everything is expendable in pursuit of that goal.

The Irredeemable Beast

Naturally, this is going to lead to conflict.

It's also worth noting that while this version of Hank is on the plumper side, he is still physically able, agile, and a danger in a fight. I'm tired of Hank being written as useless in combat just because he's smart and smart people aren't good at fighting, which feels like it's been the case for a while now. He isn't a jobber for Kraven the Hunter.

My fic covering what this version of Hank is like, what he's doing, and what he's about.

In a nutshell, he was psychically reset back in Wolverine #35 by Jean Grey, and came back . . . mostly whole, just before the Hellfire Gala massacre. He knows he's beyond redemption, but he's going to try and do good anyway.

His mutation has changed once more, this time into a grey furred form with an accelerated, Wolverine-esque healing factor, and while he is stable, he still has underlying issues and psychological problems that will make him not the Hank you may know.

Dark Beast and Battle of the Atom

Pretty much exactly what you see on panel, though Dark Beast is obviously not a head in a jar on Sinister's desk when we interact because well yeah he wouldn't be.

No matter how sexually charged that is.

This is the basic gist of it! There are obviously a ton of other details and headcanons and such that I haven't mentioned because there's just so much, but these are the main canon divergences I can think of. If I think of anything else, they will be added to this post.

[cynassa]

I am going to comic con tomorrow and you follow DC comics closer than I do. Jim Lee has a panel and I am only familiar with some of his art. Do you know anything about him as publisher?

Hello anon! I hope you enjoy Comic Con!! I've never been and I'm so jealous. I hope I saw this when you sent it, because Tumblr continues to be a hot mess.

Idk how helpful I can be, I'm not fond of Jim Lee in any sort of creative control position tbh. He's done some wildly interesting stuff as an artist, including Hush, some bits of Gotham Knight, and I used to follow WildC.A.T.s way back when, so it really isn't nice to have to say that he should have stayed in his lane. But. He really should have.

Short summary of his career as a publisher/creative editor because I don't know how much you know: Image Comics was formed in 1992 and Jim Lee joined them to create WildStorm. Lee then sold it to DC in 1998 but continued to exert some amount of editorial control from time to time. God knows how much or when, because he is all over the place with it. (This is a theme with him. He was supposed to collab with Grant Morrison on WildC.A.T.s in this period but that fizzled out I guess?) You might have read Warren Ellis' The Authority, which was one of my absolute favorites, and was one of the few good things to come from this.

Now, in 2010, when DiDio took charge, Jim Lee was named co-publisher with him. At the same time, Wildstorm got shelved. And after that is when shit hit the fan imo.

I've got two major issues with him, and one minor gripe which I am putting under a readmore bc no one wants that naked on their dash lmao.

Major Issue 1. The New 52. I'm not going to go on a rant here, because we all have our own opinions about the New 52, and it was what it was. The thing is, Dan DiDio keeps getting blamed for it (rightfully, the abusive, predator-shielding asshole) but Jim Lee was also there!! Because DiDio was a loudmouth who kept giving his opinions whether or not they were asked for, everyone forgets that this was Jim Lee's idea too. And when Johns was booted in 2018, he was Chief Creative Officer too. Either he was fully onboard and had no fucking clue that they at least should tell the writers what backstory their characters have, or he was just.... MIA. Too busy dealing with Batpenis, maybe.

In the last 2 years since Jim Lee got complete creative control, sales of DC stuff have tanked, continuities now make no sense, and I don't read Green Lantern but from what I've heard, they still haven't recovered entirely from the Geoff Johns/DiDio/Jim Lee era. The usual suspects blame 'wokeness' for it, but that's absolute nonsense. I will not get into what I think the real problems are, but there we go. Jim

Major Issue 2: DC killed WildStorm. I don't know if they intended to, or whether they never bothered reading a single comic before buying it up and trying to grab Alan Moore any way they could. I'm just going to quote Bleeding Cool's summary from 2010 here:

Minor Gripe: He keeps trying to shove together WildStorm and DC legacy characters. It doesn't work, they don't need to share an universe, and if this is what he wanted to do, why did he try to go for creator-owned comics in the first place. The New 52 reboot of backstories was the worst in many ways, but making WildC.A.T.s characters share the same universe as the actual Justice League was........... A Choice.

Mark Millar would grab news headlines around the world and cause Paul Levitz to personally intervene, changing dialogue and finished art because they offended his sensibilities. It would cost editor John Layman his job. Mark left for Marvel and went exclusive. He would not write for DC or Wildstorm again.

Alan Moore wrote a number of books for Wildstorm, including WildCATS and then his ABC line. DC just managed to keep Moore on board by the skin of their teeth when buying the company, and indeed he would do his first work for hire for DC in ages on the Albion book as a result. However conflict, especially over V For Vendetta and League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Paul Levitz would see him leave, taking League with him. It would cost editor Scott Dunbier his job. Moore would not write for DC or Wildstorm again.

[twinhood-2dot0]

My Favourite LGBTQIA+ Characters

It's Pride Month! I scheduled 2 posts ahead of time (Yes, I'm that bored. No mobile, no laptop, and mediocre books, so I have nothing better to do.) and now I realised it's Pride Month :P. Anyways, I could go into the history of Pride month and stuff, but you could read that anywhere, but you can't read about my opinions anywhere else, so this is what you get.

HarlIvy

What better bi representation than a psychopatic-psychiatrist-who-fell-in-love-with-the-Joker-and-became-his-sidekick-and-stuck-in-an-abusive-relationship-then-broke-up-and-found-another-woman-who-has-even-less-regard-for-human-life? Harley Quinn has been a fan favourite ever since her appearance in Batman: The Animated Series and became probably more loved than Superman and possibly Batman too. The Harley Quinn series is a morbidly hilarious series and I love their relationship in it. Kinda sad that she didn't really have a WLW relationship in the DCEU though. Actually, is there even a Poison Ivy? I think her last appearance was in Batman & Robin and wouldn't we all wanna forget that movie ever existed. Harley and Ivy had ties even in BTAS but it wasn't much explored. In the comics, they were also part of the Gotham City Sirens along with Catwoman. The romance only continued to blossom since then, and they've even wed in the Injustice (fighting video game series, in short, Superman becomes a dictator after Lois and his unborn child dies and Batman works to stop him) universe.

I love this art so much.

YumiHisu

YumiHisu is the ship of Ymir and Krista Lenz from Attack On Titan. I don't want to spoil much, but this is the closest thing to a couple Attack On Titan has, and I love it for it. I hate romance in most stories, so I really love that Attack On Titan has so little of it, and the one they do is a really cute one. Ymir and Krista aren't really a focus, but their interactions we do see are very cute, and their story in S2 was awesome.

Batfam characters

Yeah we're back to DC again. A lot of these are going to be DC :P. What can I do? DC has a lot of great representation.

Tim Drake is the 3rd Robin, as I've probably burnt into your memory by now. I didn't really care about him for a long time, because he's surrounded by so many Robins who are all so memorable. I mean, he's competing with Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne, so :P. Although after reading more I've come to like him. He's the biggest nerd, his origin story is him figuring out Batman's identity, and he has a great sense of humor. He's not the usual Uber smart character who forgot to invest in the charisma skill. He also canonically has( had? DC's timeline is a mess) a low self esteem, which is why he was never Robin in the New 52 Universe, so I can relate :P. He has dated Stephanie Brown, the 4th Robin and Spoiler and Batgirl and it has been hinted that he had something going on with Conner Kent, Superboy. It was made official in Batman: Urban Legends where Tim agrees to go on a date with a guy he rescued.

Tim comes out to Batman.

I sadly haven't reached that part yet because I'm still at 2018 :P but I've read the Pride one-off comic, and wanna see more of it. Jonathan Kent, Superman's son, also Superman, is also bi, and has a cute boyfriend. I don't care much for Superman so I guess I'll be skipping that tho :P.

Batwoman, Kate Kane was one of the highest-profile LGBTQIA+ comic book superhero. I, regrettably, haven't read much of her, I think I've only seen her in Detective Comics (2016) and Grant Morrison's Dick Grayson Batman run. Although, her character arc in Detective Comics was pretty cool, so I hope to someday remedy that.

Alysia Yeoh, while a pretty minor character, as a trans person, I love Gail Simone so much for her character. Alysia is Barbara Gordon's (Batgirl) roommate in the New 52 run of Batgirl and was such a badass character. She's a professional activist, and she's also the first trans character in comics to get married.

Alysia in DC Pride.

Huh, funny, Killer Moth was also Batgirl's first supervillain in Batgirl: Year One. Don't think that's a coincidence.

Okay, that's enough DC.

Solangelo

Literally the only one of two couples I cared about in Riordanverse. Percabeth is bleugh, even the ship name is bleugh, and Jasper is, well, they ended up breaking up, sooo, need I say more? Sadie and Anubis and Walt seems like a polyamorous relationship? That one is interesting, at the very least. Magnus Chase and Alex is also meh, I love Alex, but the relationship I couldn't care less for. Let's also talk about Alex. Alex is the first genderfluid character and oh do I love them. They're badass and I love their humor so much. Solangelo is such a cute couple and I love that a sun of Apollo is dating a sun of Hades. I just finished reading Sun and The Star today and I loved it so much. They're just perfect for each other. Nico has always been such an intriguing character, and Will's contrasting personality is fun.

Rosa Diaz and Captain Raymond Holt

Bi and gay characters from Brooklyn 99. Rosa was initially shown dating just men, but later comes out as bi and has a whole arc with her parents. Holt has always been gay is also married, and they break up and get married again. I love Rosa's badass character and deadpan humor and basically her whole personality. Holt conforms to 0 gay stereotype. He's not flamboyant at all and not very effeminate. He's deadpan, hates humor, and takes no crap.

Typing on phone is hard and I'd like to stop now thank you, so here's a rapid fire honorable mentions.

Cam and Mitchell from Modern Family, Princess Bubblegum and Queen Marceline in Adventure Time, Nia Nal (trans-woman, played by an actual trans-woman), Stargirl in Supergirl, okay, that's it.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Let me explain a Batman thing to you! Spoilers for Batman #126 under the cut.

In the 50's, Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was introduced as an otherworldly Batman, who teamed up with Earth's Batman to defeat some baddies on his home planet. It's a fun lil story with some great sci-fi elements, and B-man of Zur-En-Arrh had superpowers like Superman!

This story was largely forgotten, until the early 2000's when Grant Morrison took over the main writing duties on Batman.  They introduced Zur-En-Arrh as a concept. A little like the Bad Wolf in RTD's Doctor Who run, where the words Zur-En-Arrh kept appearing on walls and graffitied around Gotham to manipulate Bruce.

It's revealed that Zur-En-Arrh is a backup personality that Bruce created if he ever happened to be mentally or emotionally compromised. Zur-En-Arrh is unhinged, violent, and will get the job done without all of Bruce's pesky *feelings.*

Doctor Hurt used the Zur-En-Arrh trigger along with a whooole bunch of drugs to fuck Bruce up really really good. He was left on Gotham's streets confused and with no memories. He started hallucinating Batmite (whom I will explain at some point), and was generally a violent mess.

So seeing Zur-En-Arrh pop up like “SURPRISE BITCH!” in the latest issue of Batman was an experience. I literally laughed like a hyena and yelled “CHIP WHY?!?!?!” 

Poor Tim has no idea what he’s even looking at.

Mostly because Zur-En-Arrh? 

Looks like this: 

[lightdancer1]

One of the things that I have with my backstory of the Endless relates to my take on the 'chaos and pain' mentioned in A Winter's Tale:

And to the Source Wall, and how that bit of DC cosmology interacts with the rest, as well as Death's role as 'the one who defines and trumps all existence' (there's a phrase that might need to be written out of the English language).

In a metaphysical sense the Source Wall is the 'Fourth Wall' in the Morrison approach but I dislike everything Grant Morrison does with that. I view it as an Iron Curtain ringing the DCU and a means to entrap lesser-powered hostile entities and to fence the *real* wolves out.

Death leaving her function for that time shattered the elements she does to hold Reality together, meaning the entities sleeping within the wall, a few of them, woke up. And in that time a few of the wolves, to speak, penned out by the wall got loose and got in and started having a merry old time.

Hence Death gets her first task to repair this thing and re-solder it back together. And in the process it also established one of the fundamental realities she does not least by consciously refusing to dwell on it. Her presence holds her functions cohesively together, in a setting where so many beings are, deep within them, ultimately living beings (including the very literal stars themselves).

The Source, incidentally, is also the Presence and the being of Christianity (mostly, with a smattering of Jewish and Islamic elements) in question, from whom the New God chieftain Highfather nominally draws powers the comics keep forgetting he has to fluff Darkseid. How that connects to the wall is a thing that's had a few dozen explanations, really.

This is not canonical, the nature of the 'chaos' is never entirely explained and that works perfectly for canon as it's a backstory that doesn't need an in depth explanation to work. For stories that center on Death as the protagonist instead of Dream it gives the decision she made, which in my view would be one of the hinges of her own identity and self-perception not least from the one time we hear her speak in her own voice in that one story, actual tangible results at the level mortals would register.

And it is that kind of result that also led to the Parliament of Stars in the first place, because the one Endless that really did leave her job in the time before the rules set limits on how much damage that could do broke reality in the process. It left lasting scars and memories on those entities old enough to know it happened and to set those rules.

Death refusing to attend the Parliament at all is why she gets saddled with being the sole person to repair the Wall, in a case of 'you refused to attend the thing caused by the thing you broke, then you get to clean up your own mess you made alone'.

[joemerl]

A Short Summary of Every Book that I Read in 2022

Here I am on Goodreads if you want more elaborate reviews.

1.) Dark Moon (Wereling/Changeling #2) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Two stars in terms of quality, three stars for personal enjoyment. That whole storyline with Philippa was annoyingly pointless, though.

2.) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown, Vol. 1 Author/Artist: Brayn Q. Miller, Lee Garbett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I knew Stephanie was supposed to be "the fun Batgirl," but this also turned out to be surprisingly deep and serious.

3.) Gravity Falls: Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun! Authors: Rob Renzetti, Shane Houghton, Alex Hirsch Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It doesn't add much to the lore, but it's enjoyable.

4.) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown, Vol. 1 Authors: Brayn Q. Miller, Grant Morrison Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Less serious but more fun than the first volume. Unfortunately, editorial issues messed things up near the end.

5.) The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl #5) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my favorite AF book yet! I hope the rest of the series is this good.

6.) Team Human Authors: Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I expected a parody of Twilight, but this is more like a reconstruction. Cathy is what Stephenie Meyer thinks Bella is like.

7.) The Invasion: A Graphic Novel (Animorphs Graphix #1) Authors/Artist: Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant, Chris Grine Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quite good, but I think it works better in prose. I should reread the original to compare.

8.) The Visitor: The Graphic Novel (Animorphs Graphix #2) Authors/Artist: Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant, Chris Grine Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

One of the few Animorphs I never read before. I think Grine did a better job smoothing over some of AppleGrant's edges, but the original does a better job conveying emotion.

(reread) 9.) The Invasion (Animorphs #1) Author: K.A. Applegate (Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant) Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some of the flaws are actually worse than I remember...but it's a really strong start, showing how dark and complex this series will be.

10.) Blood Wolf (Wereling/Changeling #3) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐

So Philippa's pointless storyline continues...but the A-plot is actually worse!

11.) The Visitor (Animorphs #2) Author: K.A. Applegate (Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant) Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The story isn't quite as strong as book #1, but it's still a good first look into Rachel's mind.

12.) Mort (Discworld #4) Author: Terry Pratchett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pretty good, though I feel like some of the characterization is confused.

13.) The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl #6) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Well. This was a stepdown from the last one, wasn't it?

Stop writing about environmentalism until you understand it, Eoin.

14.) Demon Games (Wereling/Changeling #4) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The best in the series. I almost gave up after how bad the last one was.

15.) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice #1) Author: Lewis Carroll Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A little too pointlessly weird for me, but it sort of perfectly captures what dreams are like.

16.) The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐

Well, this was a stepdown from the last one, wasn't it?!

I've given up hope for actual character development.

17.) Zombie Dawn (Wereling/Changeling #5) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

The main character's arc is realizing that he's genetically superior to everyone else.

18.) Alice Through the Looking-Glass Author: Lewis Carroll Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A little better than the first book, since the world is a bit more coherent and Alice has an actual goal.

19.) Giants, Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend and Myth Author: Carol Rose Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

A good reference source, but man, are there a lot of uninteresting giants in French literature.

20.) The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl #8) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐

UGGGHHH.

21.) The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) Author: Rick Riordan Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I need to start reading more than one of these per year.

22.) Sourcery (Discworld #5) Author: Terry Pratchett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Wow, the main plot is so cool! If only Pratchett would FOCUS ON IT!

(reread) 23.) My Brother is a Superhero (My Brother is a Superhero #1) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not quite as good as I remember, but not bad by any means.

24.) Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It's less annoying than the movie, but it throws out so many interesting concepts that it winds up a confused mess.

25.) A Tale Dark and Grimm (A Tale Dark and Grimm #1) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I saw the Netflix adaptation first. It fixed some problems and then created new ones.

(reread) 26.) My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord (My Brother is a Superhero #2) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one is better than I remember. Solomons' strong suit is taking goofy premises and using them for legitimate drama.

27.) Castle in the Air (Howl's Moving Castle #2) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kinda un-PC and its characters aren't as interesting as in the first book, but the story is more coherent.

28.) My Evil Twin is a Supervillain (My Brother is a Superhero #3) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Possibly sillier than book two, but even more dramatic.

29.) In a Glass, Grimmly (A Tale Dark and Grimm #2) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It'd be five stars if the last chapter hadn't had so many problems.

30.) Changeling (The Oddmire #1) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don't know if the author's seen Over the Garden Wall, but he would definitely enjoy it.

31.) House of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle #3) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

For most of the book I assumed there wasn't even going to be a main plot, just a bunch of subplots. It might have been better that way.

32.) My Arch-Enemy is a Brain in a Jar (My Brother is a Superhero #4) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

It's cool that Solomons didn't go with the cliché body-swap plot, but unfortunately he didn't think of another one to replace it with.

33.) Something New (Blandings Castle #1) Author: P.G. Wodehouse Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not quite as good as Leave it to Psmith, but that's a high bar to reach.

34.) A Grimm Conclusion (A Tale Dark and Grimm #3) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

The fairy tale retellings feel perfunctory, and the overarching plot gets really dumb near the end.

35.) The Unready Queen (The Oddmire #2) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It's like the dumber themes of Artemis Fowl, except better written.

36.) The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains Author: Frederick Marryat Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A short story (technically a chapter from a longer novel), and one of the first literary werewolves. Nice and creepy.

37.) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight/Pearl/Sir Orfeo Author/Translator: Anonymous, J.R.R. Tolkien Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Much like Tolkien's own writing, it's brilliant but barely comprehensible.

38.) The Were-Wolf Author: Clemence Houseman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This could have been an amazing book if it was longer and the ending wasn't so heavy-handed.

39.) The Vampire and the Wandering Jew Author: Barak A. Bassman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

This could have been several amazing books if it was longer and the ending wasn't so ambiguous.

40.) My Cousin is a Time Traveler (My Brother is a Superhero #5) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

If I had a nickel for every book I read in October where the author wrote himself into the story to interact with the characters, I would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

41.) Dracula Author: Bram Stoker Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

I liked Dracula Daily more than I liked Dracula.

42.) Julius Caesar Author: William Shakespeare Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think it would have worked better as two plays, one dealing with the assassination and aftermath, another with the civil war. Still brilliant thematically.

43.) Grace and Gravy Pirates: A HEINZ Thanksgiving Story Illustrator: Aaron Cushley Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

At least the art is kinda cute.

44.) An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving and Other Stories Author: Louisa May Alcott Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The eponymous story was fine, but also the weakest of the three.

45.) Deepest, Darkest (The Oddmire #3) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Probably would have been four stars if the climax hadn't been so good.

46.) A Christmas Memory, One Christmas and The Thanksgiving Visitor Author: Truman Capote Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pro-tip: you can read the Thanksgiving story first and the other two still make sense.

47.) Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown Author: Pat McHale Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Me when I found this on OpenLibrary:

48.) Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (Blandings Castle #2.5) Author: P.G. Wodehouse Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blandings Castle makes better novels, and the other stories are kinda iffy.

49.) Young Star Travelers Editor: Isaac Asimov Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

All of the stories were good, but I think they almost all would have been better expanded into full novel(la)s.

50.) The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas (Austin Family Chronicles #0.5) Author: Madeleine L'Engle Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

L'Engle usually can't make her high-concept ideas into coherent stories, but this low-concept slice-of-life idea came out mostly okay.

51.) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus Author: L. Frank Baum Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Great as a kid's fantasy story, kinda weird as a Santa Claus origin story.

52.) Chestnuts from Mrs. Claus Author: Ellen Fischbein Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The source for all those Yuletide quotes I posted around Christmas.

53.) Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins Author/Illustrator: Eric A. Kimmel, Trina Schart Hyman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finally found a nice Jewish fairytale.

54.) The Christmas Pig Author/Illustrator: J.K. Rowling, Jim Field Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What if Toy Story was Coco, but it was Christmas? (Also, mix in some Inside Out.)

55.) A Boy Called Christmas Author/Illustrator: Matt Haig, Chris Mould Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Add this to my list of Christmas Media That A Lot of People Really Love But I Just Don't Get the Appeal Of.

56.) The Artemis Fowl Files (Artemis Fowl #1.5) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

There. I'm done.

Admittedly, it was better than the later books.

57.) Horrible Histories: The Big Fat Christmas Book Author: Terry Deary Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

A lot of interesting facts, but some was incomplete or outright fake just in the name of "horribleness."

[unnerving-presence]

Oh I finally have an idea for a request.

Headcanons of The Oni, Ghostface, Michael and Frank getting brutaly killed by the survivor reader because they were fed up with being the hunted one. To the point were the entity doesn't let the reader in trials anymore

this is by far the coolest idea i’ve ever seen thank you for requesting anon!

i’m gonna guess reader isn’t dating them because i imagine that they would rather talk to them about it then… kill them lol.

i’m don’t know how to write murdering people in a cool way because i don’t murder people so i’m sorry if this isn’t that good 💀

this is quite a long chapter, so be aware

Kazan Yamaoka/The Oni:

The last thing he ever expected a survivor to do to him was kill him. He thought that nobody would dare oppose him, considering his large stature and deadly equipment. Though it seemed he was wrong.

He’s very surprised at first. His careless grip on his sword allowing you to easily knock it out of his grasp and take it for yourself. He makes a mental note to never make a stupid move like that again.

He may have had his kanabo, but he couldn’t grab it fast enough as you quickly slashed and stabbed at his body, slicing tendons and breaking skin. It’s obvious you didn’t know how to properly use a katana, but somehow your blind rage made it hurt all the worse.

It was like when he died all over again. Like the mob surrounding him again. Beating him, stabbing him, calling him names. And it seemed you knew exactly where to make it hurt also. Even reopening wounds. It’s quite pathetic that’s he’s dying like this, he thinks. All because he underestimated a survivor and let them catch him off guard.

After the Entity revives him from the dead, he gets quite angry that he even let a survivor lay a finger on him. He takes the time that he has alone to go thoroughly trash his realm. Crushing statues, ripping the foundations off some of the shrines. He messed it up so badly that he had to go to his granddaughters realm so the Entity could fix his up.

He seeks you out after finding that you’re not even allowed in trials anymore. As much as he wants to, he knows he can’t kill you outside of trials. So he takes you to Rin’s realm with him so he can talk with you about why you did what you did.

He can’t speak much english or really understand it, so he has Rin do the talking for him. After you tell him why, he sort of understands. He was like that at some point in his life. Tired of being targeted and treated like an animal. Just don’t do that shit again and you guys will be on pretty good terms. Hes still kind of angry at you though

Michael Myers/The Shape:

It takes a lot to kill someone like him. He’s not an easy target. He’s been burned, beat, shot, stabbed, bit. He’s been through it all, so when you manage to get your hands on something sharp, Michael didn’t really think much of it. How greatly he underestimated you.

He’s not one to visibly show emotion, but damn can you tell that he is angry. How can a shard of glass do this much to him? Why can’t he move his arms? What are you doing to him?

You stab every place you possibly could. His wrists, his neck, his arms, his stomach. Pretty much everywhere. You even stab his eye. The good one i mean. Until you know he’s dead, you’re not stopping your attacks.

He puts up quite a fight, managing to get his hand around your neck before you can stab it. He can’t really do much though, most of his limbs aren’t even functional at this point from how much you’ve stabbed them.

When he’s sent back to his realm alive and well, he quickly seeks you out. He’s going to make you suffer, no matter what the Entity says. Unfortunately the Entity says he can’t hurt you outside of trials. That’s not really stopping Michael though.

Definitely tries choking you to death the second he sees you but a quick stab in the arm from the Entity makes him rethink his actions. Now he just sort of.. stares at you. He probably doesn’t stop until he’s taken into another trial just to make you uncomfortable. Yeah he’s petty like that.

He can only assume that you’re not allowed in trials since he never even sees you in them anymore. This makes him ever the more angry since he can’t even kill you back. He forever holds a grudge against you. Prepared to be stalked from afar until Michael decides to stop being a petty bitch.

Ghostface/Danny Johnson:

I guess this is what he gets for being cocky all the time huh? He’s pretty confident in himself and thought this ‘game’ was well played on his part. The Entity even granted him the favor of killing a survivor. Until he was the one that was being killed.

He does give you a few punches and tries to get you under him, but a quick slash to his abdomen has him on the ground, holding himself up with one hand and desperately trying to search for his knife with the other. Damn it, you have it don’t you?

It takes more to kill him than you thought, but he’s not as tough as most killers. Finally thrusting the knife in through his neck quickly puts him out of his misery. Knowing he’s dead doesn’t stop you from stabbing him a few more times in his chest though.

Apparently he hadn’t studied you as much as he should’ve. He’s very impressed, he has to admit, but he’s been humiliated. In his eyes he has atleast. Looks like he needs to put you in your place and show you who the real killer is here.

Though finding out soon after that you haven’t been seen in any of the other killers trials, he sort of pissed. He can’t even get payback! He’ll probably whine to the Entity about it though he knows she won’t listen.

He’ll keep his distance for now. He’s sort of embarrassed that you, a puny survivor has killed him, a killer. It doesn’t sit right in his head and he’ll probably get a laugh or two if he tells the other killers so he just keeps it to himself.

Still pissed though. If he ever sees you wandering around he might insult you a bit but it’s all he can really do. I wouldn’t get too close though. He might have the courage to give you a stab in the chest if he’s feeling rebellious.

Frank Morrison/The Legion:

I imagine it goes how his mori would. He would try to swing at you but misses as you quickly duck to avoid the attack. He manages to stab your arm as you shove him back. Unlucky for him, his grip loosened on the knife and was now deep into your arm.

The pain didn’t seem to stop you from yanking the knife out of your arm, and giving him a taste of his own medicine, stabbing him in the shoulder and throwing him to the ground. Before he even has a chance to recover, you’re on top of him dragging the knife through his stomach before ripping his mask off and impaling him straight through his mouth.

He doesn’t have much of a chance to fight back. Your anger far surpassing his, caring about nothing more than making him suffer. In the little time he has to think, he wonders why the Entity is even allowing this. More importantly, why are you so damn strong?

He’s sort of scared of you to be honest, and it takes a lot for him to be scared. That look on your face as you clambered on top of him. You looked like you didn’t have even an inch of humanity left in you. Atleast in the moment you didn’t, not when you were so fed up with dying over and over again. He really felt like he wasn’t coming back after knowing you were going to kill him.

He might tell his friends about it, but nobody else. He trusts them enough to take it seriously and to comfort him. As much as a tough guy he is, he’s really just shocked about the whole thing. He’s never the one that has to die, so he’s never thought much about it, but when you’re in a situation like that, he understands how the survivors feel.

He’s sort of glad you aren’t in trials anymore. He doesn’t want his friends to be hurt, and he definitely doesn’t want himself to be hurt if that’s how you’re going to act near him. Though if you do manage to get near him and talk with him, he will start to understand why you did what you did. He’s not sure if he entirely forgives you, but atleast he knows you won’t hurt him again.

[vinyls-and-valentines]

Anyways, idk who needs to hear this, but if you ever wanted the full context for the "BL/i and the killjoys are on equal footing, morally speaking, because they've both done fucked up shit" (paraphrasing) quote, here it is:

[Start transcript.]

Gerard:

“If there’s any rebellion in the record, it’s a rebellion, um, against ourselves and kind of against being— definitely against being assimilated into modern rock culture; cutting your hair, and looking respectable, and getting into your 30s and like “alright, we’re going to be this kind of rock band”. Because that’s what people are grooming us to be, um, it’s a rebellion against that very thing, and so...there’s, like, no rebellion against the corporation, though— I feel like— I see the killjoys really like survivalists and I like to think of them that way, and I also like to think that Better Living Industries isn’t necessarily the bad guy and neither are the killjoys. Like, they both do really messed up things, y’know? I think, uh, maybe in the second or third video we’re going to be shooting cops, I think— I mean, so it’s kind of like, y’know, you don’t— it-it-no. 

It’s pretty— it’s pretty colorful in that way; there’s no- there’s no black or white, um...yeah, so I don’t feel like they’re really fighting against anything, but, y’know, I guess we could talk about some of the characters [he turns to look at the others], it’s um. Uh, Grant Morrison plays a character called Korse, and he’s-he’s basically the chief exterminator, and he goes into the desert and he cleans it up ‘cuz there’s this city called Battery City where everything is really nice and clean, and they send people like Korse into the desert to...to exterminate basically the insects and the filth, and he has this unit of, uhh, soldiers with him called draculoids, which are basically a higher unit than police even and it— literally we’re making this up as we go. [the others chuckle]”

The shot pans out to show the whole band again and a person behind the camera asks, “Right now?”

Gerard:

“Some of it, yeah!”

[End Transcript.]

The rest of the interview which this transcript belongs to can be found here on youtube (sadly I can't include a full transcript alongside it, as I've had to put it on hold for the time being)

[stxleslyds]

Also, the writers' failure to understand, every crime Jason committed had a motive. Attack other criminals? Holy warrior destined to purify the world of evil. Attack Bruce? Joker's still alive. (Oh, Jason, it's much worse than that.) Attack Tim? A parody of what he once was. He wasn't just a "bad boy". He was dangerously insane.

Hi, Anon! Yup, there seems to be a lot of things that writers have gotten confused about Jason Todd/Red Hood and the biggest one is his motivations to kill certain criminals.

Let’s be honest, Judd Winick set a golden path for the upcoming Red Hood writers. But each and every writer that used Red Hood in their stories completely missed the point of Jason’s character. All of them. It’s so incredibly wild to me that every other writer read UtRH and came up with whichever version of Jason they came up with.

Let’s list the writers that completely missed the point.

Geoff Johns in Teen Titans vol.3 #29.

Geoff Johns was one of the first to completely mischaracterize Jason, why on earth would Jason go to the Titans Tower to beat up Tim? This is not me saying that Jason would never do that because Jason thinks of Tim as his brother or a friend or the person that he can trust the most from the Bat-Clan (can you believe Lobdell tried to sell us that one?), this is me saying that Jason wouldn’t have done that because he couldn’t have given less of a fuck about Tim’s existence.

When Jason found out that Bruce had another Robin he wasn’t bothered by his “replacement” he was mad at Bruce for having another child playing hero after he lost his life as a fifteen-year-old. Jason didn’t even think of Tim as his replacement as fandom likes to make us believe, Jason called Tim “pretender”. And that was that, but to go from minimal recognition to go out of his way to beat him up at Titans Tower is a massive mischaracterization.

Paul Dini in Countdown (to Final Crisis).

Paul Dini in Countdown did absolutely nothing with Jason, I am sorry but that’s all he did. Him writing Jason was like watching a dog trying to catch their own tail. He started with a pretty basic take on UtRH Jason, then he added a bit of Jason being an annoying man with Donna, then we had the jealousy arc because apparently, Jason had the hots for Donna but she didn’t want anything to do with him and he was all angsty when she paid attention to Kyle instead of him, and then, later on, he had that whole Red Robin bullshit (I am sorry about this, but I absolutely hated that, it was so dumb, I am so glad it didn’t last long because it was just too bad), and after all that mix of just not interesting stuff he went right back to the Jason that he had at the very start. It was a waste of time, but I guess that he had to be there because he was an anomaly and all that. I just think that was DC’s first try at making Jason Todd/Red Hood something more than just a street-level vigilante and they failed miserably.

Tony S. Daniel in Batman: Battle for the Cowl.

Even though the first two did make mistakes with Jason’s characterizations, this man was the first to just throw UtRH out of the window and make up his very own version of Jason Todd. And his version was horrendous, that Jason had no problem with attempting to kill children and innocent people, he also really wanted to be Batman because Gotham needed a Batman and he wanted to be the person to wear the Cowl and he was looking for a Robin for himself.

I know, the whole concept is the perfect opposite of what Jason Todd and Red Hood were in UtRH. Every aspect of BftC Jason is based on nothing.

Jason wanting to be Batman because Gotham needed Batman is just the beginning of what’s wrong in this book. Jason became the Red Hood (in part) because he believed that Batman and his ways weren’t what Gotham needed so he made a better version of Batman with Red Hood (according to him) because Red Hood did what Batman refused to do. Another thing that is just wrong is Jason wanting, Damian, Tim or Dick to be his Robin, there is just so much wrong with this, first of all, Jason wanted Batman to stop having Robin because child soldiers ran the risk of dying at a very young age and that’s exactly how he saw the whole thing because that was what had happened to him. Second, if Jason was mad at Bruce for getting another Robin why would he now want one of his own to team up with his Batman? Damian was a child, Tim was someone that apparently Jason hated (because Jason beating Tim was mentioned in this event), and then Jason actually asked Dick Grayson, Nightwing, to be his Robin? Listen, there is no way that was Jason, nothing about him makes sense, even taking into account that Jason had beaten Tim already in this event Jason actually tried to kill both Tim and Damian (it might have been just one of them but yeah, it still doesn’t make sense).

I just don’t think that Tony S. Daniel knew who Jason Todd was, maybe he got confused but the thing is, his “villainous” and deranged version of Jason Todd allowed a villainous and deranged version of Red Hood to happen with the next writer that I will be talking about.

Grant Morrison in Batman and Robin vol.1 #3-6.

This was the birth of the villainous, deranged and bloodthirsty Red Hood. There is absolutely no trace of UtRH Jason here, not even if we are looking at the opposite of things like we could do with Daniel’s Jason. Grant Morrison wanted Dick and Damian to have a villain to match their Batman and Robin and they decided to give us a red-haired-pill-headed-red hood. Everything from Morrison’s characterization of Jason is crazy, from the red hair (hello pre-crisis) to the awful Joker’s Red Hood looking suit, everything was just weird.

I still don’t believe that was Jason, to be honest, I would rather think that version of Jason was actually a rouge Skrull that came all the way from the Marvel Universe and lost his way in Gotham City. Maybe when he made the jump between universes, he got too much information and got confused and took the form of the wonkiest Jason Todd he could come up with.

This Jason was absolutely deranged, he knew exactly what he was doing and he didn’t care if innocents died. This Jason was the one that got locked up in Arkham. This is the Jason that Dick put in Arkham for Jason and everybody else’s safety.

Dick putting that Jason in Arkham wasn’t a bad thing or something that anyone can use to shit on Dick Grayson (not on this house). This Arkham was reformed and that Jason knew that if he stayed in that new Arkham he would stay away from trouble, but here is the thing, that Jason loved trouble, so he took all the tests to prove he wasn’t insane and asked to be transferred to Blackgate (where all the Red Hood’s enemies were). That Jason didn’t ask to be sent to Blackgate because the Joker was a cell away from his in Arkham, he did it so he could go on a killing spree in Blackgate (which he did when he got there).

Skrull Jason was just bloodthirsty and nothing like UtRH Jason, he had no motive other than just killing for fun or whatever. He didn’t want to protect Gotham and he couldn’t have cared less about the drug trade in Gotham. In Batman and Robin vol.1. Jason Todd was unrecognizable. And luckily, we never saw him again.

Scott Lobdell in Everything that he ever wrote about Red Hood.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Lobdell was the king of overpowering Jason, he was the one that drove Red Hood farther and farther away from his street-level vigilante status. He continuously added more to him, he was a big deal because he was meant to take down Ra’s al Ghul, he was a big deal because he was the only human to train in the All-Castle and learned to summon the All-Blades.

This Red Hood’s morals and ideals were kind of gone, there just wasn’t any kind of interest in Jason to get rid of drugs or try to control its trade in Gotham, he just had no interest in street-level threats, everything was extraordinary in both New 52 and Rebirth. If he wasn’t in space he was in some mystical land. His friends and allies became even more and more powerful, his level of power was completely off compared to the others. His personality was ever-changing and quite honestly you could barely see the Jason that he once was.

This Jason also was very inconsistent in the way that he felt towards people (obviously because Lobdell is a shitty writer), he wanted to follow Batman’s rules and was shown as someone that still had fond memories of his life with Bruce before he died but was also willing to let those memories go, to move on? Maybe? I don’t know. But he changed his mind about Bruce and following his rules or not for a very long time. Jason was also a little bitch about Dick, and he was a little bitch because he (Lobdell) never gave the reader or anyone a concrete reason as to why he hated him so much and then in Rebirth he decided that Dick wasn’t that bad. Also, Jason went from “Willis Todd, abusive husband and father that deserved to die” to “Willis Todd abusive husband and father but he sent me letters when he was in prison and Penguin had him killed so now, I really want to avenge him”. Yeah, I don’t really know why that happened and like most of Lobdell’s arcs and stuff it was never really completed or well thought out.

Lobdell’s Jason characterization was a mess for ten years and that’s the prime reason why Jason is a character with no solid background, story or future.

James Tynion IV in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

Tynion’s Jason Todd was a hero, he was like a mini Tom King Batman. Everything he did was right and there was just no way that you could bamboozle him. This Jason was able to hold to Blades that drained his soul as well as hosting the Untitled in his body (that were able to drain his soul too) and on top of all that he completed his journey of the Chosen One by making those ancient martial arts moves that he learned before he was Robin even though Talia hadn’t been able to master it yet.

Scott Snyder, Tim Seeley in Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal.

A mess, this was pure New 52 levels of bullshit and they all just wanted to push the “Batfamily” and while Dick was gone, they were trying to make Jason fill the void that Dick left in Batman events. It didn’t work at all and all they did was mess around with Jason’s characterization more.

Geoff Johns in Three Jokers.

I have talked enough about Johns’ takes on Jason Todd and Red Hood, but let me tell you something real quick, if a writer thinks that the best they can do with a character is make them give up their morals/ideals for an unrequited love interest, then they can keep that idea for themselves. Geoff Johns wrote a book that was absolutely not needed and then proceeded to butcher every characterization that he could, Three Jokers was three issues long and he managed to add more trauma to Jason’s torture, push the narrative of Jason being at fault for his own murder and make Jason’s motivations to be the Red Hood weak enough to make him want to give up his work for a woman that he barely knows (and doesn’t like him at all).

Joshua Williamson in Future State: Red Hood and Robin #5.

Now, with Williamson I have issues only when he writes Jason, not because his stories are bad, don’t get me wrong, I would have completely enjoyed FS: Red Hood if it weren’t for the completely unnecessary Rose/Jason side plot he had going on. Jason was clearly working undercover for some people that he hated working with. He had to arrest or kill “masks” (vigilantes, just like he “used” to be) for the Magistrate.

His ideas were pretty solid, Jason did the job but he never killed the masks and actively didn’t trust the Magistrate but he was working there to tear them apart from within, and that’s amazing if Williamson had given us Jason Todd/Red Hood working undercover to dismantle an organization I would have been really happy.

But that’s not all he gave us, even if I just forget about his failed attempt at giving Jason a relationship, I can still see that Williamson is the kind of writer that wants (or is just following DC) to make the “Batfamily” happen no matter how dumb and out of place it looks in comics’ canon. So, I am a little bit weary, any writer that leans too much towards making Jason and Bruce work together and become a family makes me want to scream, but I do understand that is just me, many people want those two to be buddy-buddy, I, personally, would love to see Jason kick Bruce in the balls and tell him to lose his number.

Chip Zdarsky in Urban Legends: Cheer.

Ah, yes, I remember the days in which I thought that this could have been something good. Well, I was utterly wrong and I suffered all the way through this mini. I feel like now I can safely say that Zdarsky only wanted to write a Batman book but DC told him, “Hey you can write Batman but it has to be within a Red Hood story, but don’t worry, you don’t have to know much about the Hood guy, just come up with something and write Batman around that”.

I know that’s what happened because I read that story and all we got from it was horrible characterizations for pre-Robin Jason, Robin Jason, Jason Todd and Red Hood. I don’t know how he did it but yes, he managed to mess it all up.

From Jason not really wanting to be Robin and acting recklessly every step of the way, to secret desires of a perfect family with Bruce and so many other people that he couldn’t care about, Urban Legends: Cheer is the perfect book to avoid at all costs if you believe that the concept of “Batfamily” is the biggest lie, DC is trying to profit off this time around.

Zdarsky also nerfed Jason in ways that I thought DC only wanted to nerf Dick Grayson. But I was able to see that I was wrong. Zdarsky’s run also pushed some of the most disastrous narratives that DC really wants readers to believe like: Robin Jason wasn’t good at his job, he was too reckless and ultimately his death was his own fault. Yay! I want to cry!

I will give Zdarsky two points for at the very least showing that Red Hood wants to protect children and that he has a huge issue with how the drug trade is controlled and abused in Gotham City, it had been a while since we had seen that aspect of Jason’s Red Hood make an appearance.

-

It’s just too many writers completely missing the point of Red Hood’s character or simply writers agreeing to destroy Jason’s uniqueness in the DC Universe so DC (as the publisher) can further push the abomination that is the “Batfamily” in comics’ canon.

I do agree with you Anon when you say that Jason isn’t just a “bad boy” but I also don’t think that we can call UtRH Jason “dangerously insane”. Personally, I will only use that last description for BftC and Batman and Robin Jason, those two were dangerously insane indeed.

UtRH Jason was very meticulous in who he wanted dead and who got to live. He entered Gotham’s most dangerous world and he had to make a big entrance, he invited the eight most prosperous street dealers to a meeting, showed up with the decapitated heads of each of their right-hand men and an AK-47 and said:

“I am offering you a deal. I will be running the drug trade from now on. You will go about your business as usual. You will kick up forty percent to me. That is a much better deal than the Black Mask will give you. In return, you will have total protection from both the Black Mask and Batman. The catch? You stay away from kids and schoolyards. No dealing to children, got it? If you do, you’re dead.”

This was Red Hood! Red Hood wanted to control the drug trade in Gotham because he knew that Gotham is far too corrupt and filled with drug lords for him to just want to eradicate drugs from Gotham. If he had tried that he would have been a dumbass, but he wasn’t. He didn’t want to start a gang war and get innocent people killed because of it, he wanted to set the rules of his new Empire and he had to start with the street-level drug dealers, from there he grew until he became a major pain in Black Mask’s ass.

We went from Jason wanting to control the drug trade and take over Gotham’s underworld so people like Black mask couldn’t have people work for him (or being dependent on him) when they were still in high school or were in a vulnerable position, to Jason fighting a war for a mystic land because he was their “Chosen One”. DC really wanted to do something grand (yet boring) with Jason instead of sticking to a street-level vigilante that could have become a Drug Lord to control the drug trade of a city that is so filled with crime and corruption that it can’t be saved by anyone.

Batman doesn’t eradicate crime, he “controls” it, puts a blank it over it, lets it nap up until it wakes up once more to make more mess.

Red Hood had other plans, certain criminals didn’t get to nap, or, better said, they would get to nap forever.

So, no. I wouldn’t call that “dangerously insane”, I will call that “vigilante that believes himself judge, jury and executioner” of a city that is drowning in crime and corruption.

Anyway, I hope you have a really nice week Anon and thank you so much for sending me this ask!

[frank-a-mori-son]

“Extremely detailed character sheet template”

Character Chart

Character’s full name: Frank Daniel Morrison Reason or meaning of name: The name Frank is after his Grandmother, Francesca and Daniel is his Fathers name. Character’s nickname: Killer, Frankie, “Hey asshole!”  Reason for nickname: First for obvious reasons, second also, last one is just heard enough for it to be. Birth date: February 14th 1977

Physical appearance

Age: 19 years old How old does he/she appear: he could be confused for someone down to the age of 16. Weight: 65 kg/ 130 pounds Height: 173 cm/ 5′8′’ Body build: Lithe but athletic Shape of face: Heart Shaped Eye color: Brown Glasses or contacts: None, but he’ll need it once older Skin tone: White with neutral undertone Distinguishing marks:  2 visible facial scars, beautymark under right eye Predominant features: Large neck tattoo Hair color: Brown Type of hair: Straight Hairstyle: Currently an undercut Voice: Tenor voice Overall attractiveness: He’s got rouge-ish charms, so pretty attractive Physical disabilities:  Hypermobility in his joints, unknown condition. Usual fashion of dress: Pretty casual, borderlining grunge and punk rock Favorite outfit: band tshirt, faux leather jacket and jeans Jewelry or accessories: He’d love piercings but has none, always wears some type of gloves.

Personality

Good personality traits: Resillient, loyal, brave and charismatic Bad personality traits: Bad temper, snarky, self critical Mood character is most often in: Agitated Sense of humor: Dick jokes and slap stick Character’s greatest joy in life: Making decisions for himself Character’s greatest fear: Becoming his parents Why? Due to how they ruined not only their lives, but that of an innocent child too. What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? At this point that has already happened, making a grave mistake with unthinkable consequences...  Character is most at ease when: With people he trusts/cares about or if completely unnoticed Most ill at ease when: Overwhelmed by attention from strangers, feeling judged by peers. Enraged when: Made fun of, harrassed, hit or when someone he cares about is hurt. Depressed or sad when: Thinking of past mistakes, regrets and worrying about present/future. Priorities: Himself and those closest to him Life philosophy: Enjoy while it lasts, they or you won’t be around forever. If granted one wish, it would be: Freedom for those he cares for. Why? They do not deserve to be trapped in this realm, but he feels he does. Character’s soft spot: Quentin, Susie and dogs. Is this soft spot obvious to others? Quentin is very obvious to most Greatest strength: His will to keep fighting Greatest vulnerability or weakness: His own mental health and trauma Biggest regret: Dragging his Legion down with him Minor regret: Failing at ending himself Biggest accomplishment: Accepting his own sexuality Minor accomplishment: When he made it onto the basket ball team Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: The one time he got himself roofied on accident Why? he was trying to impress some older kids and failed badly. Character’s darkest secret: The fact he killed someone. Does anyone else know? His Legion and Quentin knows

Goals

Drives and motivations: Motivated to keep himself and those he cares for safe in the Entity realm. Immediate goals: Spend as much time with his boyfriend as possible, get many smooches Long term goals: Somehow, find a way out of the Entity realm. How the character plans to accomplish these goals: He has no idea, but he knows he can count on Quen to help How other characters will be affected: Hopefully, it’ll be a positive effect

Past

Hometown: Calgary, Canada Type of childhood: Rough and unstable Pets: None First memory: Being locked in his bedroom, the stench of sweetened smoke coming through the door crack and loud angry shouting from below. Most important childhood memory: His Grandma coming by on Christmas morning with a gift for him Why: because it was the first time he got a gift for xmas, it was sadly also the last time he saw his Grandma. Childhood hero: He really looked up to one specific foster dad, a good man. Dream job: Veterinarian  Education: High School Dropout Religion: Christian but not practising Finances: Shaky at best, below poverty line.

Present

Current location: Ormond, Canada Currently living with: Foster dad, Clive Anderson Pets: None unless you count house flies Religion: Agnostic Occupation: Unemployed Finances: None existing. 

Family

Mother: Lorraine Beatrice Morrison Relationship with her: Strained, disconnected Father: Daniel Patrick Montgomery Relationship with him: Tense and disconnected Siblings: Step-sister, Step-brother (both Fathers side) Relationship with them: None, he doesn’t know about them. Spouse: Quentin is his boyfriend Relationship with him/her: Good! very good, they’re very much in love. Children: None Relationship with them: Nothing Other important family members: Grandparents (Mothers side) who are still alive and miss their grandson.

Favorites

Color: Red, black and green Least favorite color: Pink and yellow Music: Death metal, Rock, Punk, retro Food: He’ll eat pretty much anything, has a huge sweet tooth Literature: He’s not a fast reader, so he doesn’t read. Form of entertainment: out with friends, listening to music, exploring and sports. Expressions: “Well, fuck” and “heck!”  Mode of transportation: Other people’s cars, otherwise, his own two feet. Most prized possession: His faux leather jacket, as it’s bought with money he earned honestly. 

Habits

Hobbies: Basket ball, art and climbing Plays a musical instrument? No, but he would’ve loved to learn Plays a sport? Basket ball! How he/she would spend a rainy day: Probably at a friends house or at their usual hangouts. Spending habits: he spends very little money as he rarely has some, but he does shop lift often. Smokes: Yes Drinks: Oh yes Other drugs: Usually just weed, though he has tried a few other things once or twice. What does he/she do too much of? Getting in trouble, drinking and smoking What does he/she do too little of? Eating, sleeping, bathing, just generally taking care of himself. Extremely skilled at: Most physical activities Extremely unskilled at: Reading, writing, maths....  Nervous tics: Foot bouncing, pacing, lip biting Usual body posture: Looks relaxed, but shoulders tensed. Mannerisms: Talks with his hands a lot Peculiarities: He’s a basic bitch in secret, he likes the big ass, sugary, cllorful and extra frappes but he’ll get them in secret like they’re illegal. 

Traits

Optimist or pessimist? Pessimist, or realist as he would say. Introvert or extrovert?  Ambivert! He can go both ways, depends on situation. Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil!  Logical or emotional? A little bit of both, though most often ruled by emotion. Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? More like Disorderly neat, he doesn’t have enough stuff to make a mess and though he doesn’t enjoy it, he’s often the one to do dishes and laundry at home. Prefers working or relaxing? He really likes relaxing, but if he’d like working if he got a job he enjoyed Confident or unsure of himself/herself? He’s faux confidence most of the time. Animal lover? Yes. Very, very much so. Especially dogs.

Self-perception

How he/she feels about himself/herself: he considers himself damaged, unworthy and incabable of love. One word the character would use to describe self: Survivor One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: Out loud he’d call himself “a badass free spirit”  What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? His ability to get up even when knocked down. What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? His insecurity What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? He thinks he’s got a pretty nice bod, all things considered. What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? His scarred hand, his big ears and his slight buck teeth. How does the character think others perceive him/her: As a bad boy, rebel, problem child and misfit. What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Many things, though he really like to be taller 

Relationships with others

Opinion of other people in general: They just want something from him and they’ll leave once they’ve gotten what they wanted. Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? Often until he trusts them, then he’ll start opening up. Person character most hates: Clive, his parents, Ghostface Best friend(s): Julie, Joey and Susie Love interest(s): Quentin Smith, but Steve is handsome too. Person character goes to for advice: Depending on what it is, Quentin or Susie Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Susie is like a little sister to him Person character feels shy or awkward around: Jeff, it’s all very complicated Person character openly admires: Jeff, again, complicated Person character secretly admires: David. He’ll never say why. Most important person in character’s life before story starts: Nobody. After story starts: His Legion and, the light of his life, Quentin.

Snatched from here

[whetstonefires]

I just read Grant Morrison's earth-3 story and like. I was really expecting something better from all the acclaim. It doesn't hold a candle to your earth-3.

💕✨ Aww, thank you! :D I had a lot going for me like lack of deadlines, editors, and needing to care whether people wanted to buy it, and also the extant versions to riff on and learn from their fails.

...

...but also I was impelled in a great deal of that worldbuilding by spite about elements from canon mirrorverses, including specifically ones introduced in Morrison's Antimatter Earth version lmao. So I am pleased by this complimentary comparison in a smug way as well as just awwww.

I don't know why you would make Evil Superwoman be Lois, especially while also making Ultraman be some rando. Like okay it served a narrative purpose, I guess, at least within the meta ouroboros of that moment in comics and the itch for 'originality' and 'familiarity' in one mouthful. And you can't argue it wasn't a complexity improvement on the deeply irrational system of 'backwards' elements in pre-Crisis Earth-3, which was basically just Bizarro World with the nonsense dial down a few notches.

The Antimatter Earth story adopting the position 'this universe in inherently destined to let evil triumph, in the inversion of New Earth being destined to cause good to win, so you just have to give up on beating them' is such a fucked-up moral but I admit that within the demands of comics it at least permits a strong ending? There's splash to it, which I think is why the story made the impact it did.

Which is one of Morrisson's specialties. I'm mediocre at bombast I could never cut it at that narrative scale lol.

But. I don't like that one either lmao high five thank you very much.

The idea that heroes are destined to win in the the DCU because the fabric of the universe says so is 1) such a cynical cheap way to be meta about it being a hero universe wtf 2) really hard to buy considering the whole. Grimdark era of comics 3) really like. Weakens the ethical elements of the hero story??? Don't tell these people to their faces they're destined to win because they're good that is never a healthy message for anyone ever?

And it's such a dehumanizing way to handle the story and particularly the everyone in the antimatter earth. I think it's messed up to ascribe inherent moral natures to things in general but writing off the inhabitants of an entire universe based on some kind of abstract principle of ethical polarity is real fucked. Not a heroic message! Hrm.

That's one of the grand things about this kind of fandom though, is we're frequently presented with a menu of options and like 'ehhhhh cool concept poor execution on all' and then we just. Do it over again.

Like imagine you went to an all-you-can-eat buffet and didn't like the food and you just set up a hot plate at the table in the corner and kept taking things from the buffet and the salad bar and pulling spice bottles and raw onions out of your pockets, and cooking a whole new meal from these ingredients. In the Old Country Buffet or wherever. That's our process here. 😂 Salad bar rebels.

[arabian-batboy]

If talia became an anti-hero what do you think her alias would be?

You mean if she became an anti hero again? Since she was an anti-hero up until Grant Morrison put their sexist/racist hands on her.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel like this is what’s happening currently? DC already teased that Talia is going to be leading a spy organization and referred to her as a superspy (which is 100X better than calling her a terrorist like some racists have done), and in just the last Future State issue she was seen helping Bruce and post-Future State we saw her hugging Damian in the preview of his solo book where he came to her to be comforted.

I’m really crossing my fingers so hard for Future State to be the starting point of Talia finally returning to her pre-Morrison self and for DC just to stop going along with the butchered characterization mess that Grant’s created.

Now when it comes to what title she’s going to use, then the possibilities are endless. A part of me wouldn’t be mad if she joined the Batfamily, there was this fanart of her wearing a Batsuit-inspired outfit and it looked great (I suggested names like DemonBat, Lady Bat and Al Khofasha in the tags) and someone the other day suggested that she can be the next Batwoman, which I lowkey kinda like the idea of? Because then you would have Batman and his wife Batwoman and their son Robin all working in the same city. But I only want that to happen without screwing Kate over, maybe if she got a better role to fill than being Batwoman, then that can happen.

And if she didn’t officially join the Batfamily and just did her own thing, then I would love it if her new identity was the name of historic Arab queens/warriors like maybe Mawia, Zenobia, Arwa, Khawlah, Yuthiaa, Balqis or my favorite Sayyida al Hurra “lady of freedom” AKA Lalla Aicha the pirate queen of Tetouan.

[sebastianshaw]

In your opinion, when did this idea of "Shaw is Emma's antagonist" thing start?

Because, obviously, it's not there even slightly in the early days. They used to just throw a Frost sister at Emma when they needed an "old rival" vibe for her, and Shaw would just pop up in anybody's story.

So is it all post-retcon or what?

Short answer: Yup. Long answer: Yup. It's not there in the 80s, when they're allies, it's never even mentioned in the 90s Gen X days, and while Grant Morrison *did* retcon Shaw as having been her mentor/lover in the early 2000s, he didn't make him abusive to her, nor is Emma angry at him, and Emma even expresses pity for him for thinking she loved him when actually she just wanted a cruel father figure. Morrison also made her be a stripper who learned everything about business from him, which is some absolute sexist bullshit. There's nothing wrong with being an exotic dancer but there's everything wrong with taking a capable intelligent woman who also happens to be sexy, and deciding "you know what she only became an intelligent successful businesswoman because of a MAN and she got there by being SEXY" which like. Pretty much sets the tone for the rest of my disgust with the later additions. Same for how Morrison's Emma claims she became "the dominatrix from Hell" because Shaw wanted it, went under the knife because he wanted it. . . basically her entire personality and appearance are now "my man wanted it" like just fucking really? Her hating Shaw comes in 2009, with Uncanny X-Men (second series) Annual #2, which establishes Shaw was not only in a relationship with Emma but also a dick to Emma in the Hellfire Club (neither of which we ever saw in the 80s, I frankly would have loved to see him try) and her backstory with Namor in said past, then in the present Emma faking Shaw's death and kidnapping him to put him on Utopia, with obvious hostility on her end, Shaw being STUPIDLY horny for her so he falls easily into her trap despite there having been ZERO sexual innuendo between them in the 80s *except* the time she was IN STORM'S BODY, and Emma saying she was going to be the queen he trained her to be. It gets expanded on in another flashback in 2011, wherein Shaw was apparently training three ladies, Emma among them, and as a test, asked Emma to choose who lived and who dies, and when she said she couldn't care which, he beat them both to death while Emma sipped wine. What was that about always helping other women, Duggan? But the one time, to my memory, we actually see Shaw violent with her is in X-Men Origins: Emma Frost, which came between these, in 2010, in which he introduces himself to her by slamming her face into her dresser for messing with his mind and then forcibly kisses her. So yes, all of the animosity between Emma and Shaw has been post-2009, which is the first time that it's "revealed" that Emma and Shaw DIDN'T have a good relationship in the Hellfire Club (and also makes that incredibly dumb "Emma's memory was wiped about the Sentinels!" retcon I mentioned) so that Emma would have a good reason to cheat on him with Namor then, which set up the Namor/Emma/Scott love triangle that was going on then in the present. Because DRAMA! Before that though? The worst thing between them was that after Magneto joined the Hellfire Club in the 80s, Emma ceased being partners with Shaw and started playing the men off each other, eventually leading to her, Selene, and Magneto voting Shaw out of the Club. I don't remember her exact reasons but it was politics/power, not personal. I'm certain he wasn't pleased with it, but curiously he never tries to get vengeance on her and barely mentions the incident after, being more focused on Magneto (wonder why) while she never mentions him negatively at all til, again 2009, when suddenly she hates him and we get the whole Namor story flashback. Admittedly, the OTHER reason she's giving for suddenly loathing him is that he funded Sentinels and Sentinels destroyed Genosha, so like, that's fair enough , but everything else is totes post-retcon.

ETA: Also he never even initiates any combat/antagonism with her TIL MARAUDERS. Even post-retcon, he only ever attacks her when she comes at him first. I’m not trying to defend him just that’s literally what happens, he’s meant to be her “enemy” but he can’t seem arsed to ever actually fuck with her!

[thevindicativevordan]

Metallo

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

Let’s talk about Metallo.

Metallo’s Background

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enter John Byrne:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How I would use Metallo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[rpsocsandcanonohmy]

Out of Favor

Summary: The Walker family rules Austin with an iron fist. Having Stan Morrison as DPS chair was one of the ways they did that. But he’s betrayed them and they cannot let that stand.

Rating: Gen/Teen

Pairing: None

Tags/Warnings: Crime Family AU, Death Threats, More like Death Promises, Death Mention, Implied Torture, Betrayal, Undercover Missions

WC: 1,142

@walker-bingo Square Filled: Free Space

A/Ns: May or may not make this into a bigger thing later. 

-----

Stan Morrison was one of the luckiest people in Austin. He wasn’t rich or popular. He didn’t have a beautiful wife or loving children. No, he wasn’t lucky for anything like that. His luck came from being in the favor of the Walker family.

It was Austin’s biggest open secret that the Walker family owned the city. It wasn’t terribly obvious and he imagined there was a decent portion of the population that had no idea. But the Walker family had eyes and ears and hands in just about every corner of the city. It was thanks to their support that Stan was able to secure the DPS chair and hold it for so long. In exchange, he dismissed cases that concerned their various enterprises and gave them information on the North Side Nation, their first serious competitor in decades.

He should’ve known their favor wouldn’t last forever.

The moment Liam Walker announced his intentions to run for District Attorney as his opposition, Stan knew his time was up.

Liam didn’t want the position. That’s not how the Walker family operated. Since they first started growing way back in the early days of Texas, the Walkers gained, and kept, their power by not aiming too high on the totem pole. They took positions that granted them enough power and influence to get what they wanted but not so much that people would get suspicious. It was why Bonham never ran for anything higher than president of the local rancher association and Cordell never tried for Captain. He doubted Liam would make any serious attempt at a campaign. The message was clear: they no longer wanted him where he was.

The reason why didn’t matter. Maybe they knew about just how deep in he was with North Side Nation, deeper than they wanted him to be. Maybe they knew about what really happened with Emily. Maybe something deeper was brewing and they needed a scapegoat. Or maybe they just wanted someone newer in his spot. Regardless, his time was limited.

It all came to a head on voting day. Stan’s fear that they knew what he was up to off the clock was confirmed when Micki told him Cordell was going to talk to Carlos Mendoza. He called his contacts within the North Side Nation to warn them; he didn’t think he had to tell them not to threaten a Walker. Apparently, he gave them too much credit. Or maybe they'd gotten too cocky during their time in Austin. Either way, running Cordell off the road was a death sentence of their own making.

He didn’t see a point in lying to Cordell. He was already in deep shit as it was. He didn’t doubt the whole Walker family knew anyway. What was surprising was Cordell not killing him on sight. He knew the usual way Walkers dealt with those that crossed them; he’d helped cover it up more than once. Then again, he’d gotten a bit softer after Emily’s death. Maybe this really was a new leaf. He could always hope, right?

“Thank you,” Stan said on the drive to the trial.

“Pardon?”

“For giving me a second chance, I mean.” That’s what this was, right? “I know I messed up but I learned my lesson. I-”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding.” Cordell’s tone was colder than he’d heard from the man in a long time. “You aren’t alive because you’re getting a second chance. That was never on the table. You’re alive because we still have use for you. North Side has been a pain in our neck for far too long. We were willing to work peacefully alongside them until this whole mess. You know more about them and their major players than any of our other informants. Once you provide your testimony at the trial, you will have served your purpose.” Cordell turned to Stan with a glare that could stop a bear in its tracks. “And then I will enjoy making you scream the same way Emily did when you killed her.”

Stan swallowed hard and looked away as they arrived at their destination. Perhaps he should’ve known better than to assume.

Getting shot was almost a blessing. A few more days to live, get his affairs in order. It was just delaying the inevitable, but the less time he spent seeing a Walker in full psycho mode, the better. Anyone who made the mistake of crossing the Walkers knew that.

He looked up when the door to his hospital room opened unannounced. Ranger Ramirez entered and the door softly clicked behind her.

"Ranger," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

An FBI badge flashed in front of his face. "Tell me everything you know about the Walkers," she said coolly. "I can't save you from them but you can help me take them down. That can be your legacy."

He stared at her, wondering how much she already knew. "If you know enough to know I know something, you know this is a risky move. If they know you're here…."

She shrugged. "I was just personally seeing to your safety given the attempt on your life today. May as well ask you some questions while I'm here. I know you are- were in the Walkers favor. You must know a lot."

"Only as much as they want me to know."

"Like?"

"They have informants- eyes, ears, and hands- in every part of this city. Nothing goes on without them knowing. They have everything in an iron grip and half the people in this city don't even know it."

"I know that," she said, eyes narrowed. "What else can you tell me?"

"I could tell you a lot of things," Stan said. "But I won't. I can't. I've betrayed them enough as it is…."

"You can't be serious. They're going to kill you and you won't even try to help me?”

"I am. Deadly. Because I know this city wouldn't be what it is without them. If they weren't here, North Side Nation and others like them would be running the show and they aren't nearly as altruistic as the Walkers. They have my loyalty, regardless of the mistakes I've made."

Ramirez glared at him. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

"No." He leaned back on his pillows and sighed. "I can tell you this safely: they're onto you."

"I- what?"

"You heard me." He reached over and pressed the button for a nurse aid. "Get out of here before someone sees you."

Ramirez huffed but left without argument, slamming the door behind her. Stan sighed and closed his eyes. There was some comfort, at least, in knowing this would all be over soon.

He just hoped Ramirez didn't repeat his mistakes. She could do well with the Walkers if she chose to.