#he writes Batman Year One tales not stories that involve Dick

[zahri-melitor]

Rebirth is going okay but I’m pretty busy between uni and work right now so I’ve switched over to reading more Matt Wagner stuff and. uh. hmm.

The man is interested in the grotesque and the internal-external expression of horror. Which 100% translates to what he's worked on over the years: Batman stories about the Monster Men, about Two-Face, about Riddler. Sandman Mystery Theatre. The Demon. Madame Xanadu. Doctor Mid-Nite. House of Mystery.

(Honestly amazed he got to write a Trinity story, but the contents of that story now make more sense to me in context).

But reading it can be a bit, well, this comic story, Faces, was written in 1992, wasn’t it? (LOTDK #28-30).

It's not that it's badly told, but the themes of body horror surrounding Two-Face and that very late 80s/early 90s ugly art style aesthetic (the wider cartooning style one, not the Liefeld/Image one) are a lot to take in and it's somewhat callous in how it portrays the humanity of the Monster (TM).

I really, really disbelieve that, Wagner. My understanding is that they largely died out around the 1950s or so, and your story here is more reacting to the early 1990s revival scene and the discussion surrounding the future of circus at that time in terms of the decrease in animal acts, the increase in physical feats and the ethics of it all.

It's interesting. But the approach to the interrogation of the topic is going to catch modern readers off guard.

[a-reader-and-a-writer]

Is it's okay to ask for some wip list?

Hi anon! I would love to share my WIP list..... though I warn you it is long 😅 I have ADHD and I tend to have a hard time focusing on one idea for too long at a time. But I would also love to hear what people are most interested in and it can help me focus on specific projects 😊

I am going to group it by character in the order on my Masterlist but the order does not correspond to the order I am working on them. Also, not mentioned is about 20 requests I still have in my inbox that I have not forgotten about and am actively working on!

Batman/Batfam (generic/comic book version):

More parts of One Bad Day….. I have a one-shot about how Bruce and batmom met, and a one-shot set after chapter 3 where they discuss some of the more sensitive topics they avoided in the last chapter. I am also working on chapter 4.

More one-shots for Questions. I have at least three more planned, but I am open to more ideas if there is anything someone wants to see with these two.

A Dick Grayson x Reader songfic based on the musical Hadestown.

The final part of Seeing Red and Seeing Green.

A reaction piece of all the batfam after what happened in Wrong Place, Wrong Time.

Part 2 of I Have Missed You. This was a request and will involve more Ra's and Talia than the first part.

A Jason Todd x Villian!OC series where they meet out of costume without realizing who the other is. I have at least three parts planned for this and possibly four.

The Batman:

Part three and beyond for Some Wounds Leave Scars. It should be out in the next few days.

A Batman x GCPD!Reader series where the reader is new to the force and Gordon takes her under his wing.

Rick Flag:

A Rick Flag x Reader AU which is basically a Suicide Squad/A Knight's Tale crossover. I am really excited about it and have it planned, but I am still hesitant about writing AUs so I have been reluctant to start it.

Promises part 2. This is about 2/3 of the way done, but I got distracted with other things.

A Rick Flag x Next Door Neighbor!Reader pure fluff piece. It is about half complete.

Expanding on this drabble where Rick and Reader have a daughter. It is years after Corto Maltese and Rick thinks he has left that life far behind him. However, that is easier said than done.

Adrian Chase (Vigilante):

Part 2 and 3 of Just a Normal Guy. I have part 3 done, but now I have to finish part 2 😅.

Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier):

Part 3 of Nightmares and Time to Wake Up. This would be the final part.

A Bucky Barnes x Reader 2-part fic I have been working on/teasing for months (I'm sorry!). It is set just before/during Captain America: Civil War.

A Bucky Barnes x Reader fic/possibly 2-parter where the Reader was the first Black Widow and was assigned as the Winter Soldier's partner. Now, years later once they are both free from HYDRA and reunited, she is once again captured and has to try to find a way out.

tasm!Peter Parker (Spider-Man):

I have a request I am working on for Peter and Reader with a family. and having breakfast in bed.

Frank Castle (The Punisher):

Part two of Deliriously in Love. This was requested by a few people so I am working on it.

Poe Dameron:

The final part of All That Remains and Nothing Remains. Finally. I am putting the finishing touches on it now and it should (🤞) be out tomorrow.

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian):

A fic set during episode 5 of TBOBF right before Din leaves to rejoin the other Mandalorians.

Takeshi Kovacs:

Expanding It’s Still You and It’s Still Me into a series. I have a lot of it written out already, but it is trying to tie these pieces together I am having trouble with.

Stephen Holder:

Holder's partner gets trapped in a collapsing building and he tries to find her. This is a little over half completed.

A Holder x OC series set back when he is still working for the narcotics division. I have the story completely outlined but I need to start writing it.

[chernobog13]

No, this isn’t Jon and Damian having a hissy fit.  It’s actually Clark Kent Jr. (aka Superman Jr. or Superman ll) and Bruce Wayne Jr. (aka Batman Jr. or Batman ll) in their first appearance as the Super-Sons, at least as a semi-regular feature in World’s Finest.  There had been plenty of “imaginary stories” involving offspring of both Superman and Batman before this, but those stories were generally one-shots, and the children were much younger.

In the Super-Sons story series Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. (writer Bob Haney thankfully dropped the “ll” from their names after this initial appearance) were portrayed as typical rebellious teens, tired of living in their fathers’ shadows.

The sons looked almost identical to their fathers, especially in costume, although artist Dick Dillin would occasionally draw Superman Jr with mutton chop sideburns (which were popular at the time (1973).

The boys’ mothers were never identified, and when they appeared their faces were always drawn in shadows so deep it looked like their heads had been dunked in India ink.  Superman’s wife was shown with black hair (leading everyone to assume she was Lois Lane).  Whoever she was, she was definitely a normal human, because we’re told repeatedly that Superman Jr. half-Kryptonian/half-human.

Batman’s wife was usually drawn with red or auburn hair (which meant she could have been anyone, including Vicki Vale, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl).

Being half-Kryptonian, Superman Jr.’s power levels are only half of his father’s.  In this first story, he is shown being unable to fly, but he can leap up to 100 miles in a single bound.  Bullets don’t hurt him, but they leave nasty bruises (a trait he shared with Marvel’s Luke Cage).  And while bombs don’t kill him, they render him unconscious.  A hallmark of Bob Haney’s writing was lack of consistency, and Superman Jr. was no exception; by his second appearance he was flying effortlessly, although a strong headwind could slow him down.

The Super-Sons proved popular enough that thy appeared ten more times in World’s Finest over the course of the next three years.   Writer Haney treated the stories as actual tales from the future and, in his mind at least, it was canon that Superman and Batman would have namesake sons who would embark on these adventures.

Haney’s final Super-Sons tale was in World’s Finest #242 (Dec. 1976).  Not too long after that he was no longer the regular writer on the title, and by the end of the decade had pretty much stopped working for DC.

The Super-sons made one final appearance in World’s Finest in issue #263 (July, 1980), written by Denny O’Neil.  The boys showed up in the adventure, much to the surprise of their “fathers.”  It was revealed that the sons had never existed; they had been simulations Superman had run on his computer in the Fortress of Solitude to show Batman and him what it might be like if they had children.  A bizarre accident had caused the computer simulations to come to life, but an energy they gave off was threatening to destroy the planet.  Convinced that they weren’t real and posed a threat, the boys sacrificed themselves by diving into Superman’s disintegration pit* and saved the world.

This version of the Super-Sons has returned a few times since, either in Elseworlds tales or stories depicting different Earths in the multiverse.  The last time I checked, versions of these Super-Sons were living on Earth-16, but they may have, or probably did, change with the introduction of the DC Omniverse.

* Superman described the disintergration pit, a regular feature in the Fortress at the time, thus: “It’s a sort of atomic cauldron, really, fueled by radioactive Kryptonian elements I obtained from the bottle-city of Kandor long ago.  It’ll dissolve almost anything which is dropped into it back into its molecular components within an instant.  And that would include yours truly, if I were feeling suicidal.”)

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

They're sort of a fandom but Batfam!

thanks guys!!! this got so long omg, I’m so sorry dsjkfhdskajh

my favorite female character: CASSANDRA MFING CAIN. She is simultaneously one of the most badass characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing about, while also being just……….so adorable. Like, I love that she can be the scariest and most competent Bat (she is absolutely 100000% the next Batman I do not take criticism) but also, she’s such a sweetheart. She really loves people (Steph and Duke especially so), she’s an amazing friend and sister, and she is just so authentically herself and does what she wants when she wants, and she works so hard for everything, and I just. Oh my god I love her so much.

my favorite male character: this is so difficult but I have to say Dick Grayson. I Must. He’s basically what started all of this!!! I mean yeah okay Bruce was first, but Robin/Dick is what made Batman interesting and was the first member of the batfam, the one that made it a real family. In addition to that, Dick is just??? So interesting?????? He was the first kid sidekick, he lead the Teen Titans teams, he’s always kind of existed in this place of being the lighthearted one with the Batfam, but the serious one in most other contexts. HE REBELLED FIRST. Nightwing is a fuck you to his dad!!!! I love that! Plus he’s beautiful and has some of the best love interests (I’m talking about Kory and Roy here folks). He’s imperfect and has such depth and I love him kdsjfhjkdshfah

my favorite book/season/etc: I actually really like all the stuff that comes after Bruce “dies”? Seeing them all struggle and fight with each other and everything is really interesting. I love Tim here especially, just bc he’s so fucked up and such a teenager. When characters seem to be having two totally different conversations are SO INTERESTING and that’s what was kind of happening here with Tim and Dick – Tim feels betrayed and hurt, Dick feels stressed and like Tim is ready to move on. And Damian is just an adorable little asshole ksdjfshkjhakjh

my favorite episode (if its a tv show) issue: look I’m a sucker for Dick & Jason feels and I really enjoyed their moments (however few there are) in NTT/Tales of The Teen Titans/etc. They’re pretty small but so cute – it’s really nice to see them trying to figure out how to be brothers!!

my favorite cast member: David Mazouz!!!! Perfect perfect perfect Bruce. I also did like Batfleck, more for the look of exhausted 40 year old man than the story/characterization, but David takes the cake. He does all the different facets of Bruce – traumatized child, obsessive teenager, Brucie the party animal, etc – so well, PLUS THEY HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY. It’s meant to be yall

my favorite ship: most of my Batfam ships are one batfam member/one non member (like Dickkory/Dickroy, Dinahbabs, Timkon, etc). the only one fully in the fam would be Bruce/Talia. When written correctly, they are so sweet and so tragic. The star crossed lovers trope has never looked so good as it does when its them. 

a character I’d die defending: Damian!!!! Admittedly I do get annoyed by him,,,, a lot,,,,,, but really. He’s a child who’s been abused and manipulated and lied to. He was raised in such a dangerous, traumatic environment, and I fucking hate when people act like he’s always going to be the annoying, murderous brat he was when he was first taken away from that environment. He has to heal, and he IS healing. He loves animals so much, he learns to love Dick (and at least get along with the others), he makes friends, he doesn’t kill anymore. He is doing better. There’s no fucking way he ends up as cruel and cold-hearted as some people insist he will. If you don’t like him, just shut the fuck up

a character I just can’t sympathize with: Babs. It’s not that I can’t sympathize with her, it’s more that I just don’t like her lol. I find Batgirl!Babs really boring and regressive for literally everyone involved. The way Babs became Oracle was gross but it gave her such GROWTH and she got to be her own character as Oracle (and also tell people off for pitying her bc she’s in a wheelchair). Batgirl was passed on to Cass, who is both Asian and disabled rep, then to Steph, in a way that was much healthier for the Batgirls than how Robin was passed down. Babs being Oracle gives even more rep to disabled children/girls in wheelchairs, and she isn’t stuck in Gotham! She isn’t part of the Batfam, she’s a Bird of Prey!!!! So much more interesting!!!! Plus D*ckB*bs is boring as fuck and does a disservice to both of them. Let them grow and be their own people and stop making me see Batgirl!Babs alongside Robin!Damian. DC, that’s illegal!!!

a character I grew to love: Talia. I was sadly infected with the Grant Morrison bullshit when I first joined the fandom and I hated Talia. But I’ve read more comics and metas about her and I just. I LOVE HER. She is such a badass and I find her motives (when well written) to be really interesting!!! She’s loyal to her dad but wants the best for Damian, and does have genuine affection for Bruce and Jason. She’s not the heartless woman some people/writers make her out to be, she has compassion and drive. She doesn’t care what people think about her. I want to marry her sdkjhfjksah

my anti otp: Jason/Roy. In any context other than RHaTO, it makes no sense and does a disservice to both characters. Jason and Roy would not want to be together in most reboots of DC, because of the connection with Dick. Would you want to date your asshole older brother’s ex/best friend? Would you want to date your ex/best friend’s little brother? Would you like to date a man with that history who is also struggling with severe trauma/addiction issues (respectively) and doesn’t get help for it because of bad writing? Imagine Roy looking Dick in the face and saying “yeah, I’m fucking your little brother, who I sort of knew as a pre-teen”. In RHaTO, this is mostly fine bc Roy and Dick have no relationship at all, and Jason needs someone to take care of, and Roy is so incompetent that he fits that bill. But ANYWAYYYYY point is, I refuse to read fics with this ship in it thank you goodnight

send me a show/movie/fandom and I’ll answer these questions!!

[comicsnsuch]

Tales from the Dark Multiverse

Hi! Thanks for finding this tumblr. The plan is to share and write about comic books, comic book art, other things that interest me and such, thus the name of the tumblr. Maybe you share some of the same interests, or maybe you’ll discover something new.

I’m going to try to post as frequently as possible, but that frequency will vary depending on what real life is like week to week. On slow weeks, there will be more stuff, on busy weeks less.  You get it.  Hopefully if you check in now and then you’ll find some new content.

I work (worked?) in a comic book shop, but as I have been recently reminded, due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus epidemic, I am non-essential.  Thanks State Government! Always good to have a self esteem boost! 

Anyway… I love comic books, reading them, talking about them, (thinking about) making them and so on. Always have, always will. I wanted to have an outlet for sharing that while I can’t be in the shop doing it face to face with customers and random strangers. 

I’ll be writing short reviews for what I’ve been reading, new stuff, old stuff, posting pics, etc.  

 Feel free to comment, but please keep it friendly. Assholery will not be tolerated.

To start with I just finished reading all of DC Comics Tales of the Dark Multiverse one shots. 

                                     I made this in MS Paint!

These started coming out in 2019 and the last one was released in early 2020. The idea behind each is Tempus Fuginaut, a sort of Watcher type character for the DCU (who I think debuted, or at least I fist remember seeing in the Sideways ongoing, a Dark Nights Metal spin off) observing the multiverse and introducing a story that takes an important moment in DC history and asks “what would have happened if things had gone differently?” DC’s version of What If?  in a nutshell.

       That’s Tempus Fuginauts big ol’ head in case you were wondering

 As the “Dark” in Tales of the Dark Multiverse might imply, these are not happy stories.

The first one shot that was released was Tales of the Dark Multiverse Batman Knightfall by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgens with art by Javi Fernandez.  

This was probably my least favorite of the five issues. Since the “No Justice” mini series event I’m over Scott Snyder. I feel he has so many ideas rattling around in his head that he begins one story, gets too excited about the next one and leaves you underwhelmed with the current arc but dying to read the next. (That being said I of course checked out Batman Last Knight on Earth, having read his and Capullo’s entire New 52 Batman run I didn’t want to miss their “final” word on Batman, but have not read his just wrapped run on Justice League which I hear was quite good). 

I read this one right when it was released a few months ago, so my memory of it might not be the best.  

This one centers around the Knightfall event where Bane breaks Batman’s back and Jean Paul Valley/Azrael takes on the role of Batman. In this reality Bruce never recovers and Jean Paul remains Batman becoming Saint Batman, a Bats Azrael mash up. Javi Fernandez does a great job on the art and Snyder loves chopping people up. 

                                                      Gross.

Definitely worth the read if you’re interested in it or are a fan of Batman or just the Knightfall era. If you grab this series in collected format it’s not so bad that I recommend skipping it, just not my favorite from this batch of books. 

Next up is Tales of the Dark Multiverse Death of Superman by Jeff Loveness with art by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I really enjoyed this one, it was a good quick read and had a nice arc to it. One of the better issues from this series if you’re asking me.

Right after Superman dies defeating Doomsday in the Death of Superman story arc, the rest of the Justice League shows up, literally as the blood is drying.Ten seconds too late. Lois Lane blames Supes’ death on the heroes for not being there to aid him. 

She makes her way to the Fortress of Solitude and thanks to the Eradicator gets herself all the powers of Superman. She then goes about dishing out justice, with extreme prejudice, to the villains the heroes normally let the revolving doors of the DC justice system handle. This involves a couple of great scenes with Batman and Lex Luthor. Loveness nails the dialogue and the character arc he puts Lois on is great to read. 

                                  Walker and Hennesey do it again!

There’s more to this story than I’ve put here, but I don’t want to say too much and ruin your enjoyment of it if/when you read it.

Special shout out to the art team of Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I feel like they don’t get enough love. They killed it on the Demon Hell is Earth mini, and from what I can tell are crushing it on Detective Comics. Dudes can draw. Spread the word!

Then we move onto Tales of the Dark Multiverse Blackest Night by Tim Seeley and Kyle Hotz. 

This one was a bit wordy, but a lot of fun! I would put this one in the middle of the pack. 

Seeley brings together an interesting bunch of characters including Sinestro, Dove, Lobo and the New Gods! The plot is a little complex, but basically after the Color Corps lose the battle against Nekron in Blackest Night, Sinestro is looking for a way to undo the damage done and becomes a pawn in Scott Free’s plot to do the same. 

Give Seeley a Lobo book or a Hawk and Dove book, or a Mister Miracle book!. He gives each character a unique voice which makes their joint travels through the plot that much more fun to read.

Kyle Hotz’s  art in this issue reminds of a 90’s Image Comic in the best possible way. Lots of detail and cool poses. I also see a lot of Bernie Wrightson in there with Hotz’s heavy use of black and the sinewy musculature of the characters. The book is worth the price of admission to see his renditions of Dove and Mister Miracle. 

                                                          kewl!

 I’m glad to see Hotz working more or just seeing more of Hotz’s work. I don’t know if he fell out of the industry after drawing the original The Hood mini for Marvel with Brian K. Vaughan, working with Eric “The Goon” Powell on Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Odditys, doing art on Carnage Mind Bomb and more I’m sure ( I just can’t remember it all), or I just wasn’t paying attention to what he was working on. If it’s the later, shame on me, if it’s the former, welcome back Mr. Hotz, you’re crushing it and I look forward to seeing more from you. Check out more Kyle Hotz work by following him on Instagram @kylehotzcomics.

Let’s not neglect the oft overlooked inkers! I’m not sure who inked what, but on a guess, Dexter Vines and Walden Wong brought a smooth, cleanness to the proceedings with lots of nicely tapered lines. Again just guessing here, because I don’t know for sure, but Danny Miki used a finer line bringing a scratchy-ness the others didn’t but also amazing detail and clarity on some of the portraiture in the later half of the book. 

Who’s next? Why it’s Tales of the Dark Multiverse Infinite Crisis!

This one may have been my favorite. When the original Infinite Crisis series came out it was a period  where, due to personal lack of enjoyment, I wasn’t reading much of DC’s output, but I did read the Countdown to Infinite Crisis one shot this issue takes as it’s jumping off point. After having read this issue, it makes me want to go back and read Infinite Crisis. I would say that’s the sign of a good issue.

In this alternate reality Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, kills Maxwell Lord instead of vice versa, making himself the head of Checkmate. He then goes about trying to prevent the coming crisis. It’s kind of a tale about absolute power corrupting absolutely, it’s also an underdog tale about getting in over your head.

                Sorry if these images aren’t the best, I’m new at this!

James Tynion IV does a great job catching you up on any old DC continuity plot points you may have forgotten or never knew about in the first place.If you’re reading Tynion’s current run on Batman, or his work on Detective Comics and Justice League Dark, you know he can handle a complex plot like this and does a great job condensing it all down to a single issue.  Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan handle the art and they do a great job. Always happy to see Lopresti’s name on a book I want to read.

Bonus points: You can never have too many Ted Kord, Blue Beetle comics, especially when Booster Gold pops up, even if only momentarily. 

If this series leaves you wanting more Blue and Gold action may I direct you to Booster Gold (2nd series) #32 thru about 38ish for some quality comics.

Final one, Tales from the Dark Multiverse the Judas Contract!

I’m not as old as my writing may imply so I had to read the Judas Contract in collected format about 20 years after it was originally released and after having seen it on many a fanzine’s (Wizard) best of list.  When I finally got to read it I wasn’t super familiar with the Titans of the era and already knew the big twist in the story, so it just washed over me without any great effect. None of the shock that someone who was reading it fresh in the 80’s might have experienced. 

I ended up liking this twisted take on the Judas Contract much more than when I read the original. “Sacrilege!” I know, I know, but like I said there was no surprise when I first read it, while this one zigged instead of zagging multiple times and kept upping the ante in scale. 

Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom do a great job reinventing a classic that I’m sure many people had high expectations for. This was a fun faced paced tale.  I enjoyed the hero moments Dick Grayson and Wally West were given. Like the Knightfall one shot Higgins co-wrote with Snyder there’s no shortage of dismemberment and disfiguration, which is neither a plus or minus in this situation, just thought it was worth noting.

Tom Raney handles the art chores here and he does a fine job.  Some of the figures seem a little squat, and their heads are too big in certain panels. Could I do better? No, so who am I to say anything? I just noticed it, here and there, it took me out of the flow of the story every now and then. That’s all. Big fan of his work on Stormwatch and Outsiders with Judd Winick. I also hear he’s super nice, so if you’re ever at a convention where Tom Raney is, seek him out! 

                                      They seem squat, right?

It’s worth mentioning these books are all done in DC’s prestige format and are extra long at about 48 pages each. All covers are by the fantastic Lee Weeks. A nice way to spend the afternoon.

There’s the first post. A little longer than I thought it would be. If you made it this far, I hope it was clear and you understood what I was saying and I hope you liked it and want to return for more. 

Until next time!

[tessatechaitea]

Black Condor #5

Five issues and five pure cheesecake covers.

Crud-for-brains? I'd wager my life savings that Brian Augustyn was an early Adventures of Pete and Pete fan.

The guys on the cover are just four young dude-bros stealing from drug dealers. They burn the drugs and take the money to give toward good causes. And probably also to buy cool shit for themselves. They're only human! Probably. I haven't read far enough along to know what they're really doing with the cash. Black Condor will find out after he beats the shit out of three of them. Sorry. I've been gone for awhile. You wouldn't have noticed since my long absence fell between writing the previous paragraph and this current one. And unless you ran off to take a desperate shit right at the same moment, the time between these two paragraphs was negligible, minuscule (I decided to use both words because I'm so proud of my ability to spell my native language (I considered misspelling "native" and "language" but decided that was a boring old joke which has carried more water than Capri-sun (that's a new joke and it's not very good because it doesn't make sense. But at least it's new))). But I was caught up in playing a stupid computer video game about dungeon delving dice trapped in a horrific game show. Spoiler: the dice never get to fuck. But I'm back now because this is blog is the only thing that keeps me sane anymore. You might think that because this blog was my link to sanity, I'd be more earnest. You might think I'd want to be grim and serious and discuss political, social, and environmental matters with the gravity and seriousness they deserve. But that's all the stuff that's doing my head in. So I'd rather pretend that I'm angry at comic books. Here's a secret for the few of you reading this who made it to this specific paragraph out of all of my paragraphs: I wish I were friends with Scott Lobdell. I bet he's kind of an asshole but he's the kind who, if he was getting his ass kicked at a bar for being smarmy and pretentious and smug (smug because he's a rich writer whom a lot of thirteen year old boys (and men with thirteen year old boy minds) think wrote some of the seminal X-men stories), he'd completely understand if you didn't step in to defend him. He feels like the kind of guy who knows what he really deserves (a righteous ass beating) and wouldn't think the world unfair should he ever receive it. Then he'd probably buy drinks for the people who beat his ass, and I'd look him in the eye and shrug, and he'd laugh, and we'd continue to not mention that time we jerked each other off when we were fucking wasted on single malt scotch and peyote. Black Condor and Ned decide they need to find the girl with humongous afro before she hurts people who don't deserve it the way the color changing white supremacist Nazi rapists did.

What does he mean by "completely autistic"? In 1992, I'm guessing that meant nonverbal with loads of stimming and maybe the ability to play any piano concerto immediately after hearing it once.

Karin was experimented on by Black Condor's grandfather's Society but she failed to gain the ability to fly. She did, however, gain mental abilities as powerful as his own. He's concerned that, being autistic, she'll hurt people with her mind rage. Please. She almost certainly just wants to be left alone by everybody in society expecting her to think and act in a specific way that she can't think and act, nor would she want to if she had the ability. Just leave autistic people alone, normals! They don't need help. Just because your autistic kid isn't giving you the kind of unconditional love you were looking for when you decided to have a kid that you would eventually love only conditionally based on how they loved you doesn't mean the kid needs to change. That's on you and your needs. Maybe just find a way for the kid to express themselves (or not! Who knows sometimes?!) and let them do and act as they please. Unless what they want to do is fuck the dog. I'm not saying autistic people fuck dogs but I am saying we're all individuals, you know? Use your common sense! And if your kid is fucking the dog, autistic or not, don't let them near the dog! The Merry Men on the cover (oh hey! There were Merry Men in the Sky Pirate issue! Brian Augustyn either loves old tales of daring adventure or LSD) have been robbing drug dealers to help fund a homeless camp run by a priest named Gamble. The priest isn't involved in the theft; he chastises them about their plans to get money illegally. But they assure him the money isn't tainted and he decides to believe them when they dump thousands of dollars on his desk. Doing the right thing is hard when doing the wrong thing will solve all of your money issues. If you're a weak minded jerk, that is! I totally would never sell out for thousands of dollars so hopefully nobody embarrasses themselves by offering me loads of money to write positive comic book reviews for their publications. Father Gamble refuses the money because he just can't be sure it was honestly come by. I would be less suspicious of the money and more suspicious of the white college kids trying to donate thousands of dollars to a homeless camp. What's really going on in this camp?! Why are these young men so interested in keeping it funded so it doesn't get shut down? Four probably rich white boys risking their lives to help the downtrodden? Sorry but this is the most aggressively fantastic comic book I've ever read. And I'm not using the informal definition of "fantastic."

"Which member of this organization could possibly be giving all of this information to these white boys and why am I exposing my plan to kill them before plugging the leak?!"

Maybe that's racist suggesting that the white guy in the gang is giving the information to other white guys. But this comic book has already asked me to believe too many fanciful plot points so I'm glad Augustyn decided the white guy was absolutely the inside man. The white guys name is Herbie and his boss, Mr. Soto, already knows he's the leak. I'm glad Mr. Soto is as smart as I am. Or as racist. Probably smart though! They follow him as he's trying to meet up with the college Merry Men to warn them that they're in danger. Luckily for Herbie, Black Condor happens upon the scene as he's searching for Karin. And even though Black Condor doesn't give a shit about this guy and his problems, he figures even a reluctant hero wouldn't just stand by and watch some jerk get what's coming to them. After Black Condor saves Herbie, he has to take him to the hospital because he was pistol whipped. Meanwhile, the rich white kids aren't warned that they're about to die so they drive off into the trap to steal more money that Father Gamble won't be accepting for his charity.

What a dumb asshole! Even the most ignorant of ignorant jerks knows there were only three musketeers! Unless he's so familiar with the book that he's including d'Artagnan along with Porthos, Mythos, and Harpos.

I never read The Three Musketeers because I was born in the late 20th century and exciting stories to thrill young boys wasn't a popular genre anymore because we had Batman and Green Lantern. Although I did once play the text adventure version of the book. When I did that, I poked fun at the idea that the author of it was writing the game so that people would remember Alexandre Dumas and yet it's the only reason I know anything about him! Although now I know a little bit more about him because I Googled his name to make sure I was spelling it correctly and now I know what a fancy lad he was!

Now I want to listen to an audio version of his book where every few sentences, the person reading it just says, "Oooooooh, my!"

The Musketeers (maybe I was wrong to assume they were more like the Merry Men?!) manage to get away with only one of them shot in the ankle (the others weren't shot at all, if that wasn't clear). They decide the best way to save their own lives is to lead the gun men on a chase through New York back to Father Gamble's homeless camp. They already know he doesn't want any trouble so why are they taking this gunfight back there?! What is Father Gamble's hold over these young men?! Luckily for everybody in the homeless camp, Black Condor is there still searching for Karin. He'll save everybody's lives reluctantly! Unluckily for everybody, Karin is also there and the gunfire and chaos freaks her out so much that she has a mind-storm! That's the thing she had before that killed four of her attempted Nazi rapists. And that's where the comic book ends! Lucky for older me, younger me bought the next issue so I wouldn't be stuck with this cliff hanger! Lucky for younger me, older me doesn't have a time machine so that fucker has gotten away with some pretty abhorrent behavior which I couldn't correct by going back in time and punching him in the nose. Unlucky for him, he's going to be a virgin for a long, long time! Ha ha! Take that! Ow. Older me just hurt older me's feelings. Black Condor #5 Rating: B. A solid rating that I probably wouldn't have given this comic book back when I was twenty-one. I don't think I understood just what this comic book was doing and wound up only remembering it as a comic book about a reluctant hero. I didn't realize how much of it was Black Condor trying to live his now much more complicated life while also continuously doing the right thing. Even when he just wants to hole up in the woods and say "Fuck it!" to everybody and everything, he still shows the heart of a hero when he's needed by people nearby. And he's fucking sexy hot too.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of March 27th, 2019

Best of this Week: Detective Comics #1000 - Various Writers and Artists

Possibly more controversial than I'm thinking it'll be, I'm glad Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo did the job of reintroducing Slam Bradley into the DC Universe. Slam Bradley, of course the way I choose to remember him, was one of DC's first characters and the precursor design to modern day Superman. He was a 1930s dick (detective in this case) who made his name in infamy with racist depictions of Chinese people being swung by their braids with toothy grins. He's likely the reason DC won't reprint some of the early Detective Comics works in a compendium.

This is without a doubt, a great celebration for one of the greatest comic book characters of all time, if not THE greatest. The difficulty in reviewing something like this, much like Action Comics #1000 (if I reviewed that one, I don't remember) is that so many stories have their ups and downs, hits or misses and there's so much ground. But some of these were so good that this book is getting an entry all on it's own this week.

He's been made better in recent years with a badass run as a side character in Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke's Catwoman (2001) as a cool former police officer with a son by the name of Slam Jr. on the force. He was probably some of the best parts of his short time there and was very compelling in interactions with Selina.

Kevin Smith and Jim Lee have arguably done some of the best and WORST Batman projects ever, but through the good and the bad, both have immense talent and their tale “Manufacture for Use” added a beautiful layer to the significance of the metal plate that his emblem is made out of.

The book is simple enough, a montage of Batman fighting his greatest villains shows in the background while his alter ego, Matches Malone, has a conversation with a merchant peddling in the various pieces of gear left by villains. He has Harley hammers, crazy quilts and even freeze guns, but there's only one weapon Malone is interested in; The Gun belonging to Joe Chill. The weapon that killed The Wayne Family.

He and others had been leaving Batman clues since his first days as a hero to have him join a guild of detectives, solving unsolvable or very difficult cases and knowing that Slam is one of the detectives along with Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, The Question, Detective Chimp, Elongated Man and his wife, Sue Dibny is relieving and fantastic.

I'm glad DC hasn't shied away from him given his past history. Even his inclusion in Superman of China based on his former character, warts and all, seemed like DC was kinda ashamed of it, but here he is, as awesome as he was later in life!

Upon seeing it, Alfred questions why Bruce would keep it as a trophy, nothing the ridiculousness of The Penny and the Dinosaur, he sees the gun as strange or even perverse. Batman, however, wishes to never see it cause anyone pain again, melting and forming it into an oval adorned with the symbol of a Bat.

Batman has dedicated his life to stopping crime in Gotham at all costs, but not everyone see his methods as being right or just. Doctor Leslie Thompkins has been looking over Bruce since his parent’s murder and oped that he would take his pain and do something productive with it, actually fix Gotham, but instead she sees how vengeance has consumed him, turning him into something of a violent monster himself and she’s not wrong. They meet each other on the anniversary of his parent’s murder in Crime Alley and are beset upon by a group of teenagers whom Batman viciously slaps the hell out of. Dr. Thompkins stops him out of fear and Batman looks like the real villain here.

If that isn't chilling...

Brian Michael Bendis is a GREAT Batman writer. Checking out his 15 pages in the Batman Walmart 100 Page Giants, much like Daredevil, Batman is a character that is PERFECT for him. “I Know” drawn by frequent Bendis collaborator, Alex Maleev, is amazing. Penguin started becoming disillusioned with the meetings put together by villains like The Joker on how to finally get rid of The Batman, Penguin begins to muse about who had the money to fund Batman. I believe he proposed the idea to the others, but they all shot him down, citing times Batman showed up when Bruce was a hostage or how he “blubbered like a baby.”

Penguin didn’t let it go, however, and prepared Suicide Bomb Penguins to attack Wayne Manor while Bruce was hosting a ton of high profile Gothamites. It would have been the end of Bruce Wayne.

Warren Ellis writes some very character driven stories, but when he has to get technical, he is a master as good as any. In “The Batman’s Design” he goes over Batman’s methodology when taking on criminals, treating things like a chess game that he’s already won. He leads the criminals to a trap and plays them like a fiddle, setting off an explosion that knock out or send some flying, determining a sniper’s location and just being so terrifying that the leader just hands him a bomb switch before his ass gets destroyed.

Becky Cloonan does a great job of alternating between cool and warm tones for when Batman is in the shadows vs contending with explosions he’s setting off. Batman looks slim, but imposing regardless. This is definitely some of her best art so far!

Now… if you ask any of my friends from when I was in The Navy, they’ll tell you about how I waited in line for Batman: The Arkham Knight. I was excited. I was elated. The conclusion to an amazing trilogy of games that shaped a newfound love for the character for me! And it bloody sucked. I HATE Arkham Knight with a passion. If it’s not The Batmobile, it’s the Joker, if not the Joker, it’s the Knight himself, if not him, then Scarecrow as the shitty final villain.

I really loved the noir tone that was set by Elizabeth Breitweiser’s colors over Steve Epting’s art. Things are very dark and cool. Batman is shrouded in shadow and Doctor Thompkins acts as a small light by comparison. There is great contrast when action happens with warm tones as Batman slaps the teens and Batman standing in the shadows as Leslie and the kids are under the one light is powerful.

Suffice to say, I was not pleased when it was said that The Arkham Knight would finally be appearing in comics different than his video game counterpart, but… I dunno, I kinda like him here.

His characterization seems to be that of someone who has lived in Gotham and has seen Batman’s methods of treating the poor citizens, the weak and the sick. He sees Batman as a cancer, a darkness that needs to be exterminated for Gotham to truly thrive. The best thing, there’s precedent for this kind of character.

One of the first few arcs for Detective Comics involved a cool set of villains known as The Victim Syndicate, people who have been hurt or grievously injured in Batman’s relentless pursuit of crime. These guys put Batman’s team through the ringer, almost turning Stephanie Brown against him completely as Tim Drake had been presumed dead at the time. Another casualty of war. If I remember right, The First Victim noted that there was someone or something coming for Batman soon and if that’s the Arkham KNight, then I am excited.

The Victim Syndicate was one of James Tynion IV’s best ideas during his run and I really hope whoever the creative team is for Detective Comics thus forth lives up to the quality. Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke are both amazing, so I have high hopes if its them.

But Penguin had an epiphany. Ending Bruce Wayne would not end Batman. Batman would become focused. Driven. Possibly to the point of killing. Bruce Wayne is the only thing keeping these villains alive, so Penguin relents and never reveals what he believes he knows, until years later when Bruce is old and mute… but who says that Bruce has lost a step? He zaps Penguin who is taken away as Bruce tells him that he knew, pretty much calling him a “coward ass bitch” as he’s taken away.

Overall, while there were few misses, this collection of stories had great ideas, great characterization, heart and was just fantastic. Looking forward to another 80 years!

This one was just cute. The Batfamily interacts with each other and take a FANTASTIC family photo drawn by Tony S. Daniel. Starring, Batman, Alfred, Nightwing, Batgirl, “Robin” Damian Wayne, Red Hood, Batwoman, Catwoman, “(Red) Robin” Tim Drake, Spoiler, The Signal, Cassandra Cain Ace the Bathound and Huntress. It’s a well put together double splash page and everyone, even Bruce seems happy.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1315

Monday, March 1, 2021

 Hi folks. Long time no write.

 I have been mostly isolating at home during the pandemic trying to keep myself and my family safe from Covid-19. I do go out and walk around our neighbourhood to get fresh air and exercise. I don't wear a mask outdoors like I do when I absolutely have to go into somewhere other people will be, like the drug store or my dentist's office. I get anxious when people come too close to me masked or not, but I also get angry when there is plenty of space to keep a safe distance and people don't move away. I have verbally admonished someone for being too close but have decided that I will keep my big mouth shut from now on and just get away from them myself. I don't know if I can keep my trap shut if I was confronted by the guy my brother did at work. This young guy came into the liquor store wearing a mask with a swastika on it. That would make me very angry. Angry enough to confront him? I don't know. I would like to be brave enough to ask him "are you for real with that mask?". Or "are you a Nazi?"…"you know the Nazis lost, right?". My brother would not serve him. It could have been worse though. That racist could have gone through his check-out without that ugly symbol on his mask and he wouldn't have known he was serving a bigot. I think it's better when you see them coming.

 My thanks to Doug for lending me his comic books to read.

 Daredevil #26 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) with Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This book may have been put into Doug's sub my mistake but it gave me a chance to catch up with what's happening with the Man Without Fear. This is part 1 of "The Black Kitchen" which ties into Marvel's "King in Black" mega event. Knull is now on Earth and is wreaking havoc. Kinda reminds me of the "Maximum Carnage" event back when I was reading on the regular. Here we have Venom symbiotes running amok in Hell's Kitchen. What I found interesting was the current situations of the main characters. Matt is in prison after being convicted of murder. He can still wear his mask to conceal his secret identity inside. Not true to life but hey, it's comic books. Elektra is now protecting Matt's turf as Daredevil and she's got super scary horns. Wilson Fisk is still mayor with Typhoid Mary as his head of security now. The big shocking ending is that symbiotes get into the prison and one bonds with Matt. Another symbiote bonds with Mary and she attacks Elektra. This sets up overwhelming odds for the good guys as any good comic book will do. Stay tuned.

 Action Comics #1028 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Bendis closes out his run on this title with so much schmaltz you're going to need a shovel to get through it. Jimmy Olsen is the new owner of the Daily Planet. What the nique? Conner Kent goes to the farm team. Jonathan Kent goes back to the future and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I don't know if a new art team is going to come on board but I sure hope so.

 Detective Comics #1033 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Dave McCaig (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The art on the first page with Batman and Robin tumbling in the foreground with flashback panels behind gave me goosebumps. It's why I will always love reading comic books. Batman beats Hush by giving him a good old fashioned beat down. The rest of the Bat Family is saved and Bruce can take a breather. Now that the Wayne fortune is lost to him I'm curious to see where Bruce ends up after he moves out of the mansion.

 Batman/Catwoman #2 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The jumping back and forth in time is a little confusing for me but I really like this Black Label story. The relationship between these lovers is more than complicated especially where the Joker is involved.

 DC kicks off 2021 with a plethora of comic books taking their characters 10 years into the future with their "Future State" event. Doug decided to check out the following.

 Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Steve Pugh (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). The story opens with a meeting of the United Planets inner circle. They are debating the inclusion of the planet Lexor which is lorded over by Lex Luthor, the supreme anal pore that we all know and loathe. Lois Lane is Earth's representative and she votes to reject Lexor's membership until Superman lobbies to allow his arch foe's planet to join so that the poor inhabitants don't suffer from Lex's villainous ways. It's a morality tale of Unity, Progress and Compassion.

 Future State: Robin Eternal #1 - Meghan Fitzmartin (writer) Eddy Barrows (pencils) Eber Ferreira (inks) Adriano Lucas (colours) Pat Brosseau (letters). In this future Gotham City the Bat Family has been decimated. Bruce is dead, Dick is in Arkham and Jason now works for the law enforcement agency that killed Batman. No mention of where Damian is. I have a feeling that the son of Bruce will show up later as a big surprise. Tim's the last man standing and he's vowed to continue the tradition of keeping Gotham safe. Too bad he doesn't live long fighting against the super cybers. The last panel reveals why this book is called Robin Eternal. Hint: the Lazarus Pits are involved.

 Superman: Worlds of War #1 -  This $7.99 US anthology of four stories starts off on Earth and ends up on Warworld.

 "The Many Lives of Clark Kent" by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (writer) Mikel Janin (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) is my favourite one simply because I loved the art so much. This is where we find out why Superman is missing from Earth.

 "Time and Effect" by Brandon Easton (writer) Valentine De Landro (art) Marissa Louise (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) features the new Mister Miracle poking around Warworld. Why? We don't know. Guess we'll find out if we keep reading.

 "Midnighter: Future State" by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad (writers) Gleb Melnikov (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Travis Lanham (letters) has Midnighter running around creating a bloody mess everywhere. It could have just as easily been Lobo or Wolverine in this piece.

 Finally "Do Not Go Gently" by Jeremy Adams (writer) Siyam Oum (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters) features the new Black Racer trying to free the slave labour on Warworld. Unless you're a Jack Kirby Forever People fan you wouldn't care.

 As a fan of Mikel Janin's art I would have felt ripped off having to pay for the three fillers in this comic book just to have his work in my collection.

 Future State: Catwoman #1 - Ram V (writer) Otto Schmidt (art) Tom Napolitano (letters). Selina is still Catwoman ten years down the line as she attempts to rescue Gotham City citizens being transported to a reformatory by train. Similarities to Nazi behaviour is an easy way to make the bad guys evil. All the previous Batman related Future State books say that Batman is dead but this one has a surprise at the end. Hey, it's Bruce in shackles.

 Future State: Dark Detective #1 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This title blows the whole Bruce/Batman is dead plot device clear out of the water. I can see why the bad guys controlling Gotham City wants the populace to think that, but how are they going to keep up the charade when Batman is clearly running around fighting crime? I like that Batman has lost the cape in this one. This $5.99 US book has a back-up story by Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Carmine Di Giandomenico (art) Antonio Fabela (colours) & AndWorld Design (letters) that I liked even more than the feature. It follows Cole Cash AKA Grifter as he tries to dodge the law. He gets arrested and meets up with Luke Fox AKA Batwing and a whole lot of fun ensues. The Huntress showing up at the end makes this more appealing.

 Future State: Dark Detective #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This issue explains how Bruce Wayne/Batman "dies" and how Bruce continues to fight crime. I was disappointed that the back-up story didn't follow up on Grifter and Huntress but was a different story about Jason Todd/the Red Hood now working for the bad guys as a bounty hunter capturing masked vigilantes. It starts with him bringing in the Vigilante and ends with him teaming up with a ruthless Ravager to stop an old school Red Hood gang leader stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Rose has no qualms about killing their bounties but Jason brings them in alive, that's why their nickname is "dead or alive". Har. I like Jason's Akira bike.

[studentsofshield]

A Hypothetical Mapping of Marv Wolfman’s Teen Titans Run Into Omnibuses

I tried to figure out what would be decent cutoff points for New Teen Titans omnibuses based on the size of the three new editions released/solicited. This also doubles as an abridged chronicle of the run.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 1 - already released DC Comics Presents 26, New Teen Titans Vol 1 1-20, Tales of the New Teen Titans 1-4 The big kickoff to one of the best superhero runs of all time. All Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Introduction of Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Deathstroke, and more.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 2 - coming in February New Teen Titans Vol 1 21-40, Tales of the Teen Titans 41, Annual 1-2, Batman and the Outsiders 5 The main developments here are Brother Blood and Starfire's Tamaran connections. Terra and the Vigilante get introduced.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 3 - coming in July Tales of the Teen Titans 42-58, New Teen Titans Vol 2 1-9 The Judas Contract, shit goes to 11 for the Teen Titans, Terra, Deathstroke. Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing. Jericho is introduced as a new core member. The series gets so popular that it gets the Baxter treatment. Which means getting printed on nicer paper with less ads. Which came with a renumbering I guess. The opening of that volume seems to resolve Raven's plotline (which was also the genesis for the team in the first place). The Titans defeat her father and she disappears.

George Perez also ends his continuous run as penciler for the series with Vol 2 #5. Most of the major plots up to this point are resolved. These are the only solicited volumes right now. So this is actually a good jumping off point.

So what might come next?

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 4 New Teen Titans Vol 2 10-25, Annual 1-2, Teen Titans Spotlight 1-6, Omega Men 34-35 Classic DC artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez follows up Perez for a short stint. Kole is introduced. But then quickly killed alongside Aquagirl and Dove in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Which will impact some Titans history for a while. Starfire is forced into a political wedding, which pushes away Dick. Roy Harper discovers he has a daughter with the villain Cheshire. Among all this chaos, Donna Troy tries to assemble mismatched pieces like Jason Todd to lead the Titans.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 5 New Teen Titans Vol 2 26-49, Annual 3-4, Infinity Inc 45 Eduardo Barreto is now the consistent artist on the book. The team finds Raven again and defeats Brother Blood again. They encounter the Wildebeest Society, which will factor heavily into the book as time goes on. An annoying kid named Danny Chase joins the team. They help out Dial H for Hero and Red Star.

Besides those JLGL issues and a few major plot points for characters, this chunk is a valley rather than a peak, but it’s not really bad. Wolfman has claimed in interviews that he was suffering from writer’s block for a few years. So there are some repetitive plots.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 6 New Titans 50-69, Annual 5-6, Batman 440-441, Secret Origins Annual 3 Eduardo Barreto is gone. But who better to replace him than the return of George Perez? The side effects of the Crisis are really starting to be felt across the DCU. First on the docket is to fix Donna Troy's continuity for the second time in the Who is Wonder Girl story. She becomes Troia. The next issue addresses some Titans West stuff. Then the Secret Origins Annual recaps and fixes the entire Titans continuity post-Crisis. Perez drops off from drawing the book and then from co-plotting. He's still writing Wonder Woman and gearing up for the War of the Gods crossover, so maybe he was too busy. Bat fans should recognize those issues as half of A Lonely Place of Dying, which handed the Robin mantle to Tim Drake.

Again, another stopping point. Perez is now 100% done with the Titans besides drawing the cover for the final issue of the series. The stability of the book is about to be all over the place too.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 7 New Titans 70-92, Annual 8, Team Titans 1-3, Deathstroke 14-16 Two huge controversial storylines here. Tom Grummett (Superboy, Robin) is now the artist, with a more cartoony but also 90s style. The original Titans Hunt featured the Wildbeest Society hunting the Titans. Spoilers for a 30 year old story, but Jericho is revealed to be leading them. His father (Deathstroke for the clueless) kills him and helps the Titans in the finale. Some D-listers like Red Star, Pantha, Phantasm, and Baby Wildebeest join the team. Raven and Cyborg are constantly changing. Titans Tower is destroyed. Then right after that insanity, a team of weird Titans from a future timeline appear. One of them seems to be the long dead Terra. They want to kill Donna Troy because allegedly her baby is basically the Anti-Christ. Turns out that's not true and these alternate future peeps just stick around for a while.

Depending on who you ask, Titans Hunt and Total Chaos are 90s trash or an exciting uptick in the history of the Titans with a blockbuster story and lots of status quo changes. However, past this point the book officially devolves into standard 1990s fare and loses a ton of focus. 

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 8 New Titans 93-114, Annual 9-10, Sell-Out Special, Showcase 94 11 The book is kind of shit now, but not absolute shit for some of this. A major editor left and Wolfman is running out of ideas. Roy Harper comes back and becomes Arsenal. Nightwing and Starfire get engaged, only for their wedding to be absolutely ruined by Raven. Tom Grummett leaves and is replaced by a very 90s nobody. Everyone you care about leaves the team at the end of this.

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol 9 New Titans 0, 115-130, Annual 11, Deathstroke 48-49, Green Lantern Vol 3 65, Darkstars 32, 34, Damage 16 And we reach the end of the journey with the final volume. With a broken team and Zero Hour allowing for soft reboots, Arsenal assembles a new one. Featuring characters you like such as Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Impulse, Damage, and Terra (the fake one). Or at least you liked them if you were still reading comics in 1995 for some reason. That shitty 90s artist is even gone and replaced by someone tolerable. But it's totally lost the flavor that made the book so genius 10-15 years before. Fans were completely burned out from the direction and the industry at large, so the book was canceled.

My divisions are based mostly on natural cutoff points and also shooting for similar sized volumes. The three existing volumes all sit around that 24-27 issue mark.

So depending on what kind of Titans fan one is, the options would be 1-3, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, or 1-9. It seems like each omnibus is about 3 trades, with some wiggle room.

Addendums:

Teen Titans Spotlight is a 21 issue spinoff series created so that Titans related characters could have solo stories that wouldn't work in the context of a team book. Wolfman only wrote 1-6, an arc about Starfire dealing with South African apartheid and a Jericho arc. No other issues are really integral to the main plots. So these are the only ones that make sense in these collections, if at all.

Other semi-significant Spotlight stories though: -7-8 - Hawk in the period after his brother's death but before Dawn Granger pops up -9 - Changeling (Beast Boy) doing some more reconnecting with his Doom Patrol past -10 - Aqualad, technically does continue from a main series plot, but who cares -13 - JMS' first comics work on a Cyborg vs Two-Face story -15 - picks up on some Tamaranian plots, but effectively a minor epilogue to the 80s Omega Men series -21 - a Silver Age throwback issue from Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle 

Team Titans is the book starring the alternate future characters that no one cares about besides Terra. First three issues are part of Total Chaos. The damn book somehow lasted 24 issues though. Wolfman was involved in the writing of the first half. There is really no reason to include those other 9 issues. And the series is totally pointless and bad.

New Titans ends in 1996. Also when Wolfman's other ongoing Titans work ends. That being Deathstroke Vol 1, which lasted 60 issues. Giving the Terminator his own book was majorly inspired by the success Marvel was having with the Punisher. The first 34 issues are all drawn by the same artist, Steve Erwin. Past issue 40, Slade is framed for murder and all kinds of DCU characters try and take him down. His daughter Rose is introduced here.

Just like the main Titans book, sales were lagging hard near the end. So they did some stupid thing where Slade literally walked out of an explosion a changed man. He was de-aged, had amnesia, a dumb new color scheme, and a new artist. It was stupid and didn't help sales.

DC has been reprinting this Deathstroke series alongside New Teen Titans. They're up to four volumes, getting to #25. The early half of this run is actually good and a decent companion piece to Titans. And obviously people are digging Rebirth Deathstroke now. Wolfman did a major plot with Batman before Christopher Priest. Avoid all N52 Deathstroke junk.

Marv Wolfman's Titans run is just over 15 years. A couple years short of Claremont's legendary X-Men run. Though Claremont also wrote and maneuvered around a wider line of closely related spinoffs. Claremont also maintained a higher average. Those first five years of NTT with Perez can rival the heights of Claremont though. Maybe blasphemous, but I find Perez more interesting than Byrne. Then there are occasional highs for another seven years or so.

For comparison, Claremont's complete original X-Men run sits at a similar 10 oversized hardcover volumes or so. Though they're a little larger on average. 1. UXM Vol 1 2. Vol 2 3. Vol 3 4. Eventual Vol 4 5. Mutant Massacre/uncollected gap 6. Fall of the Mutants 7. Inferno Prologue 8. Inferno 9. Claremont and Lee Vol 1 10. X-Tinction Agenda/Claremont and Lee Vol 2

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Recent conversations have inspired me to make a big ass list of Marvel creators stances on the marriage.

 This isn’t definitive as it’s me going off memory.

 Bear in mind some of this is inferred from other stuff they’ve said and is more a representation of whether these people there is anything wrong with Spider-Man being married in general not necessarily their thoughts on the marriage as it actually played out.

 This isn’t a list of every Marvel creator ever, just the ones who to my recollection have expressed an opinion about whether being married was appropriate for Spider-Man in general.

 Half and Halfs

Steve Ditko: Co-creator of Spider-Man. According to Marv Wolfman in an interview published (but possibly not conducted) in 2004, when he spoke to Ditko decades ago Ditko felt it was a mistake for Spider-Man to have ever aged beyond high school. However bear in mind this comes from typed up notes of a one-to-one interview (presumably done face to face, but we do not know) and it is giving us someone’s recollections of what someone said decades ago about a character that that person had ceased working on at least 10-15 years beforehand. Hardly the benchmark of reliability.

 Gerry Conway: Author of the Death of Gwen Stacy who’s run also turned Harry Osborn into a villain, a frequently adapted plot point in other media. Has said it was a mistake because Spider-Man should never have aged beyond age 21. However he has had four runs in which Spider-Man has been 22 or above. Three of those have featured a married Spider-Man, the latest of which very deliberately so. Has also admitted that part of his apprehension regarding the marriage when he was writer was that he was dealing with his divorce at the time.

 Ron Frenz: Acclaimed artist and part of one of the most well received Spider-Man runs and Spider-Man spin-offs ever. Has stated that when he was doing Spider-Man in the 1980s he felt that if Peter was ever to marry he’d have to give up being Spider-Man. However has also done a whole run featuring a married Spider-Man as a supporting character where he shared a poignant quote about why the relationship is very interesting.

 Howard Mackie: Despite his early work being more positively received, is regarded as one of the worst Spider-man writers ever. Stated in the early 2000s that the marriage was too difficult to write. However in the 2010s stated that he saw the arguments from both sides.

 Roger Stern: Author of one of the most acclaimed Spider-Man runs ever. Stern has said Spider-Man is about youth which you would imagine means that he feels Spider-Man cannot work whilst married. However Stern has actually said that he feels Peter Parker could possibly get married, his problem was that it was with Mary Jane specifically (and that’s neither here nor there).

 David Michelinie: Author of a run with a mixed reception. Some people like it whilst others hate it. The run however included the introduction of popular villains Venom and Carnage as well as introduced the marriage itself via editorial mandate. He didn’t like the idea of writing a married Spider-Man when he got the job as ASM writer because the Spider-Man he knew had been a student. Bearing in mind that at the time Spider-Man hadn’t been a student for three or four years and had graduated from his college education and was undergoing studies for a Master degree before dropping out. Michelinie however has alternatively stated his apprehension was due to a lack of experience with romantic relationships and that in taking the assignment he endeavoured to write it as well as possible. In a 2007 publication he stated that he felt there was nothing wrong with Spider-Man being married because Spider-Man was about responsibility.

 Brian Michael Bendis: Acclaimed author of Ultimate Spider-Man which depicted a moderinization of teenage Spider-Man’s adventures, creator of one of the most popular Spider-Man spin-off characters Miles Morales. Well known for writing a teenage Spider-Man and stated that Spider-Man is supposed to be a kid instead of an old divorced guy. However he wrote Peter and MJ in his teen drama Spider-Man series as a pseudo married couple and even used such terminology more than once in-story in reference to their relationship. Has expressed a fondness for the Peter and MJ relationship.

 Danny Fingeroth: Author of a handful of Spider-Man stories with at best mixed receptions, at worst panned receptions. Instituted the infamous robot parents subplot with no clear direction in mind. Clashed with David Michelinie and led to his departure from the series.  Hasn’t ever come out and said it was a mistake for Spider-Man to be married or that Spider-Man shouldn’t ever be married but has stated that around the time of the Clone Saga there was the thought that being married made him too unrelatable. However other accounts have indicated that that was not the original genesis of the Clone Saga and that the original long term plan (which he was in on) was to eventually have Spider-Man become a father as well as husband (with the single Ben Reilly becoming a spin-off character).

 Mat Fraction: Acclaimed author. Wrote an Eisner nominated Spider-Man story specifically celebrating the marriage but also stated he was not certain if marriage was right for Spider-Man.

 Todd Dezago: Acclaimed author who cut his teeth on Spider-Man. Has never stated anything about the marriage one way or the other but learned to write comics during that era in the Spider-Man office.

 John Romita Junior: Acclaimed artist. Allegedly felt the marriage was wrong but I do not recall seeing or hearing him ever explicitly state this.

 John Romita Senior: Acclaimed artist, regarded as pseudo co-creator of Spider-Man because so much of his run helped to define Spider-Man. Co-creator of Kingpin, Rhino, Shocker and Mary Jane. Inker of the Death of Gwen Stacy. His depiction of Spider-Man became the in house style for Spider-Man and all of Marvel for several years. I forget, but I seem to recall he expressed mixed feelings about it as opposed to a clear cut opinion one way or another.

  Those against the marriage

Mark Waid: Eisner award winning writer. Has written one acclaimed Spider-Man story which is praised because it plays well upon classic tropes. Essentially his big claim to fame is writing a good paint by numbers Spider-man tale. His other Spider-Man works have included writing Spider-Man and Daredevil’s relationship in correctly by portraying Daredevil as disliking Spider-Man despite this egregiously contradicting older stories, and a story where Spider-Man was a mentally ill person with some form of split personality but when regular Peter Parker would routinely bully J. Jonah Jameson.

Dan Jurgens: Wrote 7 good issues of Spider-Man starring Ben Reilly as the titular character. Feels that Spider-Man is about suffering and that marriage is thus in appropriate.

Marv Wolfman: Wrote a good run of Spider-Man despite some characterization problems. Feels Spider-Man being in a relationship with someone too attractive like Mary Jane is wrong and that marriage is wrong because Spider-Man is about having the rug pulled out from under him and that being a high schooler was the true state of the character. Bear in mind he is also famous for agining Dick Grayson from Robin the Boy Wonder who was created to be Batman’s child sidekick into the distinctly adult Nightwing who at one point almost got married. He actually did this with multiple other teen character sidekicks who were part of a team called the TEEN Titans. It got to the point where the series name was changed to just Titans. So...seems a tad hypocritical no?

Kurt Busieck: Wrote a well received run on a series set in the Ditko run. Has never written a Spdier-Man story set in the modern day where Spider-Man is the main character with said story getting particularly good reviews. Began reading in the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run

Steve Wacker: Has no formal writing experience whatsoever. Was editor of an era of Spider-Man where the title character deliberately withheld knowledge of his identity from one of his loyal friends and confidants whom he knew had romantic feelings for him all for the purposes of having mask sex with her in hotel rooms that they’d illegally broken into together. Did I mention this person was also an active criminal whom Spider-Man routinely let go? Also oversaw a story he personally expressed pride in that involved child cannibalism. And another storyline in which there was a strong implication of rape by deception.

Dan Slott: Wrote a story where Spider-Man acted as a paparazzi despite the character being fully aware of the dangers of invading someone’s privacy, since the previous year his identity was public knowledge. Most acclaimed Spider-Man work is Superior Spider-Man which is literally not about Peter Parker but another character. In the course of this story major plot points involved the lead character trying to rape an innocent woman, possibly succeeding in sexually violating Peter Parker himself, probably sexually violating a different innocent woman and playing the Green Goblin’s identity as a mystery before revealing it to be Norman Osborn all along, thus rendering it an entirely pointless mystery. Maintained the status quo of his acclaimed Superior storyline through objectively large plot contrivances such as the Avengers scanning his brain without bringing along anyone who could read the results.

Jim Shooter: EIC of one of Marvel’s most critically acclaimed and financially lucrative periods

Erik Larsen: An artist who wrote one vaguely well received Spider-Man issue. All his other Spider-Man writing work has been panned or rarely mentioned.

Terry Kavanagh: Regarded as one of, if not the, worst Spider-Man writer of all time, responsible for the critically panned FACADE storyline.

Joe Quesada: Wrote literally the two most critically panned Spider-Man stories of all time which character assassinated Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

John Byrne: Drew and wrote Spider-Man Chapter One, a critically panned rebooting of Spider-Man’s history from the acclaimed and iconic Ditko run. Wrote one critically panned (by those who remember) issue of Web of Spider-Man. Wrote 2 issues of the critically panned Gathering of Five/Final Chapter storyline. Has said that the acclaimed Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies were poor adaptations. Was responsible for the sickening scene wherein an underage teenage girl kissed the then-recently widowed and very much adult Peter Parker. Seems to think that by making Superman someone who doesn’t see himself as an alien at all, has never lost his parents and doesn’t pretend to be a mild mannered or bumbling fool as Clark Kent but rather an upright and confidant person didn’t change the character of Superman. Did I mention he regularly ships underage teenage girls with adult male characters?

Jordan D. White: Has only ever edited a few Deadpool projects which have involved Spider-Man.

Jason Aaron: Has written one well reviewed mini-seires involving Spider-Man and Wolverine, which is more of a Wolverine storyline

Bob Harras: Edited just one Spider-Man story. Was the extremely controversial editor of X-Men who’s actions were part of the reason well received X-Men writer Louise Simonson left the X-Men franchise, something her husband Walt Simonson has not forgiven him for to this day. Gave the editorial mandate to bring Aunt May back to life and undo the milestone and acclaimed Amazing Spider-Man #400. Also gave the editorial mandate to kill off the highly popular character of Mary Jane in order to end the marriage. The move was critically panned and even disagreed upon by Howard Mackie and John Byrne who wrote and drew the issue in question. The story took the series in a direction that greatly lowered sales and led to even more critical panning, indeed it was regarded as one of the worst eras of Spider-Man ever. EIC of DC and overseer of the critically panned and sales decreasing New 52 era which led to the DC Rebirth era as an antidote.

Bill Jemas: Co-plotted Ultimate Spider-Man #1-7. Is one of the most heavily criticized Marvel EIC’s ever. Sole writer of Marville one of the most panned Marvel stories of at least the 2000s.

Christopher Priest: Edited a strong era of Spider-Man and has written a few decent-great one shot Spider-Man stories including the acclaimed Spider-Man vs. Wolverine storyline. However he has also stated that the reason that Spider-Man shouldn’t be married is because it ruins the wish fulfilment factor of young boys who don’t want to be tied down. This is patently not true given the raw number of male Spider-Man fans who began reading during the marriage and the higher sales compared to the post-marriage stories. It also obviously doesn’t take into account female fans or fans identifying by something other than strictly male or female.

  Those in favour of the marriage

John Semper Junior: Showrunner of the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon which was at it’s time acclaimed and has gone on to influence other media adaptations.

Greg Weisman: Acclaimed writer who’s work includes Gargoyles, Star Wars: Rebels, Young Justice and the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, regarded as THE best adaptation of Spider-Man ever.

Tom DeFalco: Former Spider-Man editor during the acclaimed Roger Stern run. Former EIC of Marvel. Wrote one of the most popular and well received runs of the character in the 1980s. Went on to have 2 more runs in the 1990s and co-created possibly the most popular Spider-Man spin-off character ever in Spider-Girl who is the female marvel character with the longest unbroken run to date. Helped institute elements which have remained part of Spider-Man lore to this day including the iconic black costume. Author of at the time the most definitive Spider-man information book. Began reading Spider-Man in the early 1960s with Amazing Fantasy #15 itself.

Peter David: Acclaimed writer, who’s acclaimed comic work has included runs on X-Factor, one of the most popular Spider-Man spin-off characters (Spider-Man 2099) and a well recived run on Spectacular Spider-Man. He also penned one of the most acclaimed Spdier-Man stories of all time, the Death of Jean DeWolff.

Jim Salicrup: Editor of arguably the most financially successful period of Spider-Man ever, including Spider-Man #1 which sold in the millions.

J.M. DeMatteis: Has had 3 runs on Spider-Man, 2 of which were well received. These included the well received Spectacular Spider-Man #250, the acclaimed Harry Osborn Saga, the best Vulture story of all time and the acclaimed Amazing Spider-Man #400. He has also written the acclaimed Spider-Man: the Lost Years and Spider-Man Redepmtion as well as Kraven’s Last Hunt, regarded as one of the best Spdier-Man stories of all time, possibly the greatest. Many of his works are regarded as the height of literary fiction about Spider-Man.

J. Michael Straczynski: Critically acclaimed Emmy award winning writer, creator of Babylon 5, wrote the sometimes controversial sometimes acclaimed Amazing Spider-Man run, which included the relatively well received characters of Morlun and Ezekiel, the well received 9/11 issue of Spider-Man, the acclaimed direction of having Aunt May know Peter’s secret identity.

Tom Beland: Wrote the well received I (Heart) Marvel: Web of Romance

Todd Nauck: Well received artist of Spider-Man: the Clone Saga, Mr and Mrs Spider-Man.

Roberto Aguirre Sacasa: Acclaimed playright and writer of the well received Spider-Man stories, the Book of Peter, The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock and Sensational Spider-Man #32-34 which were character studies of Mary Jane, Aunt May and Black Cat.

Ryan Stegman: Acclaimed artist of Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Man Renew: Your Vows.

Stan Lee: Co-creator of Spider-Man who worked on the first 100 issues of the character. Also co-created other iconic comic book characters. His advocating of the marriage led to it happening.

[totesmccoats]

Doomsday Clock #3

The opening to this issue, which recreates some of the first pages of the original Watchmen comic perfectly illustrates the biggest problem I’ve had with this series’ art since issue one: the coloring. This isn’t to say that Anderson is doing bad work, just that the aesthetic he chooses for the Watchmen universe undercuts what Watchmen is, and makes its position relative to the DCU awkward.

What the “realistic” colors of the Watchmen universe in Doomsday Clock tells me is that the team behind the book forgot, or are ignoring that Watchmen is – first and foremost – a satire. It’s not parody, but it is heightened all the same, and Higgins’ oversaturated colors – like the red in the original Comedian murder sequence – help the reader understand that they are reading a heightened universe. And where the original Watchmen is a heightened version of the real world and the universes typically expected of comic books at the time, Doomsday Clock, in its coloring as well as its text, seems to position the Watchmen universe as a more realistic take on the superhero genre than the DCU, which, it’s not. While Watchmen ostensibly takes place in a universe that superficially more closely resembles the real world, it is and always has been exactly as fictional as the comics it deconstructs. Right now, the impression I’m getting from Doomsday Clock is that the DCU is some sort of cartoon world that the Watchmen characters are jumping into when that really shouldn’t be the case.

Doomsday Clock corrects this course with the characters of Marionette and Mime, whom represent probably the single best part of the story so far in terms of originality while also fitting perfectly into both universes; and whom have the best scene in this issue that also answers one of the most pressing questions the series has introduced.

Other than that delightful scene, this issue concerns the reunion between Comedian and Ozymandias in Lex Luthor’s office which favors mirroring their earlier fight for references’ sake rather than meaningfully add to the story this book attempts to tell. Rorschach gives Kovak’s journal to Batman to learn about, well, Watchmen; while we learn a bit more about the new Rorschach. And Johnny Thunder, still stuck in assisted living, waits for his children to rescue him while this book’s version of “Tales From the Black Freighter”, a noir movie, plays on a TV in the same room. There’s a lot going on this issue, seemingly lots of thematic set-up with the introduction of the noir movie parallel, but right now it’s mostly lots of scrambled pieces. Not necessarily a bad thing this early in what is ostensibly a mystery story; but a little frustrating that Doomsday Clock still doesn’t feel like it has a point to it beyond crossover appeal.

  Nightwing: The New Order #6

Well, it’s a happy ending, at least. Shades of Kingdom Come, for sure.

In exchange to make Jake no longer a target of the state, Dick leads the Crusaders to the Titan’s Metropolis hideout; but Jake refuses to just go home with his father. Managing to convince his father to switch sides – yet again – Jake and Dick return to try to turn the tides in the last stand between the resistance and the Crusaders by restoring the greatest hero of all to power.

I don’t know, there’s something about having Dick flip-flop one last time for the end of the story that feels unearned. And then the actual end of the conflict involves everyone suddenly dropping everything to fight a new third thing, and it feels like the book drops the ball on actually resolving it’s central conflict of fascism vs. antifa for something more easily digestible.

  Wild Storm #11

Skywatch and IO both continue gearing up for all out war, pushing the limits to get the other to cross the line first. Bendix tells Lauren of the last time the two fought head-on to prepare her for what might come this time. Spicia upgrades herself. Lucy warns Cole that things will get much worse than he expects.

The stand-out part of this issue is Bendix’s flashback, which presents itself as a black-and-white 50’s sci-fi B-movie, with fake looking flying saucers and cold-war panic included. Other than that though, the book continues it’s slow build up to…whatever it’s building up to.

  Amazing Spider-Man #794

It’s been exactly a year since Spider-Man threw Scorpio, the leader of the Zodiac syndicate, a year into the future to prevent him from using future knowledge to conquer the world; and he and Horizon are preparing for his return. Meanwhile, in a secret underwater vault, some Goblin agents retrieve a world-threatening object for their boss.

We’re three issues out from Slott’s last arc of Amazing Spider-Man, and judging from this issue, the next two are also going to be one-shot stories that also set up that last story. And, as long as they’re all as tight as this issue, that should be fine. This issue’s A-plot feels like a distraction in kind of the worst way, but it’s also fine; it’s a short, low-stakes Spidey story that Slott can probably write in his sleep by now. And Immonen, Grawbadger, and Gracia are still delivering some gorgeous art to go with it.

  Black Panther #169

I hope this issue’s cover didn’t get you too excited for a huge Black Panther, Avengers, X-Men team up because none of those characters are even in this one. As Klaw, Stane, Faustus, and Zenzi prepare to sacrifice Ayo to revive Klaw’s sister using a process that unleashes enough sonic energy to render everything else in the issue completely silent; Aneka frees herself from Klaw’s guards, breaks her chains, and goes to rescue her lover.

It’s fine. Basically an issue long action sequence with a sneaky conceit that makes Aneka’s ability to stealthily go through Klaw’s base more believable. That cover is bound to set people up for disappointment though. Heck of a final page tho.

  Marvel Two-in-One #2

Ben and Johnny return to the site of their first adventure, Monster Island, to look for the device Reed left them to explore other dimensions. But instead of the device, they find themselves in the middle of a political dispute between Mole Man and the monsters over who gets to rule the island. Instead of an election, they agree that whichever side kills the interlopers will rule. And, there’s one more visiter to the island who could prove friend or foe.

Zdarksy starts the issue off with Ben in an uncomfortable place, having just told a huge lie to one of his best friends, and having to keep it going to keep that friend in high spirits. Luckily, Ben hides it well, and is able to pal around with Johnny as the latter discusses how he hasn’t showered or brushed his teeth since getting his powers. By the end of the issue, though, while he’s kept up the lie to Johnny, he’s also found a piece of deeper truth to hold on to from his friendship with Reed, a poignant memory regarding one of their other early adventures.

As with Howard and Star-Lord, Zdarsky settles nicely into his protagonists’ melancholy while also digging up what keeps them going. While Johnny is in this to rescue his sister and Reed, Zdarsky makes it clear that Ben is doing this for Johnny. He hates that he has to lie to the kid, but the responsibility he feels to keep Johnny going is also what’s pulling him back into the Fantastic Four swing of adventure.

  Sex Criminals #21

Six months after the break-up Jon grew a beard! Also, he works at the now Apple-Store themed Cumworld sex-shop, full of Zdarsky’s trademark hilarious background jokes. It’s fine, he’s fine. Suzie started dating a museum director whose fine and moved back in with her mom. Again, fine. Not great, but fine. And then they see each-other at a party, and are wearing the exact same outfit. Also fine. It’s fine. He’s fine. She’s fine. Everything’s fine. It’s fine.

Gosh this is a rough issue. Because if you can’t tell, everything’s not fine. Both Jon and Suzie have settled, and neither is happy with it. Not completely. Things are fine, and that’s a problem, because they could be better. On the bright side, Dr. Glass and Dr. Kinkaid seem happy together.

Comic Reviews 1/24/18 Doomsday Clock #3 The opening to this issue, which recreates some of the first pages of the original Watchmen comic perfectly illustrates the biggest problem I’ve had with this series’ art since issue one: the coloring.