#issue 44

[dailydccomics]

“They think I am hiding in the shadows, but I am the shadows.”

[borrelia]

[joannabookreader]

[aefward]

photography + direction. Benjo Arwas creative direction + fashion. Shalev Lavàn talent. Alycia Debnam-Carey casting. Alabama Blonde hair. Dallin James @ The Wall Group make up. Adam Breuchaud @ Forward Artists nails. Naoko Saita photography assistants. Christian Scutt + Tyler Gurd fashion assistant. Brigitte Shokouhi location. The Revery LA special thanks. Monica Wang + The Team @Cartier

[murasaki-kageyama]

ANYA HAS AN ANGEL-DEMON DUO TOO?!?!?!??

[imofftoneverneverland]

1992 Neil Gaiman taught us that even a single smoke 🚭 can cause a whole ass fire to burn you alive

[thegoldenreport]

FRINGE PRINCIPLE

I.

I teach fourth grade at an elementary school. I’m sure I do. I wake up every morning. I make coffee. I let my dog out and then back in. I jump in my car and drive down a street and then another street and then I park. I get out. There is a massive, stone-brick building in front of me. Obsidian black. The glass doors are left wide open so I don’t have to use my badge. But I do have a badge. It’s a white laminated card with my name on it and a sketched picture of a bird eating a snake.

II.

I’ve worked here for at least four years, maybe more. Nobody really talks to eachother, but I’ve grown to appreciate the solitude. The hallways remain dark most of the day. I can always hear the children; their shuffling feet, their bright laughter, their whispered secrets. I walk to my classroom and the hallway is empty. There is a flashing light which marks the number on my door. I enter and flick the broken light switch out of habit. I do not usually see anyone while enroute to my classroom. But I always hear the children. 

III.

There is a lesson plan already loaded on my computer. Something about rocks. Or other types of physical matter. It is the only light that penetrates the dark in here. I scroll through, observing how beautiful the rocks are. My students will love this lesson. It’s all images. The seats and desks are positioned in ways that seem haphazardous. Like they weren’t put back the last time we used them. Maybe we had a group discussion yesterday and I forgot. Maybe it was one of the after school programs. I take the next fifteen minutes to tidy up the desks into neat and even rows. And then I wait at my desk for the children.

IV.

Time for lunch already. It astounds me how quickly the day goes. I stare out at my empty seats. They must already be in the cafeteria. How eager they can be to spend time with their friends. I retrieve my own packed lunch from the mini fridge beneath my desk and head to the teacher’s lounge. The hallways remain uncaringly cold and vacant. Though I did run into at least one colleague. Her name escapes me. She seemed like she was in a hurry, so I didn’t say hello.

V.

Bell rings. The day is over. I hang back in my classroom for a few extra hours. My students are having an exam in three days. I wanted to make myself available for questions. But everyone appears to have left already, except for those after school kids. Sprinting down the hallways like their life depends on it. I stay late enough to watch my own computer power down by itself. They’re going to lock down the school for the night, so I grab my things and head out. I pull my jacket tighter around me. The glass doors remain wide open, swinging a bit violently in the outdoor breeze. I don’t see the security guard, so I close them, making sure the latch is firm. And then I go home.

I’ve done this for many years.

Many people depend on me. 

Why would I return if I didn’t have a job to do?

[ezralva]

This boy's glow-up with his new design in the Culling Game is gonna be ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 just you wait.

[herb-sherry]

I think about these a lot ☹️

[shoot-i-messed-up]

i was SUUUPER iffy on the long hair Hal but it's kinda growing on me... he's kinda pretty this way

[tealclover]

I don't think this scene gets talked about nearly as frequently as it should.

Poor Belle.

Thanks for looking out for her, detectives. Vector especially for being so kind to her.

[borrelia]

just a cute lil guy...

[rogunetocentral]

Rogue Origin Tidbits #3

Although there have been references here and there over the years to Rogue's upbringing, a majority of her origins remain relative cohesive.

-Rogue was born to Owen & Priscilla, partially raised by her aunt Carrie until running away as a young child. [Rogue vol 3.]

-Rogue meets Mystique and is adopted by her prior* to the activation of Rogue's mutant abilities. She is raised by Mystique and Destiny together. [X-Men Unlimited #4]

-Rogue's powers eventually activate and Rogue decides to join Mystique's brotherhood as a young teenager and remains with Mystique until she's 18 and joins Professor Xavier for help with her powers.

Over the years, there have been little stories and scenes to fill in the gap of Rogue's childhood some things have minor conflicts of timing, but nothing that directly contradicts her origin overall.

[spider-mand]

I'm up to the early 2000s Deadpool comics and they're hit or miss for me, but this gave me a good laugh.

"Wait time out you gotta show me how you did that cool kick" - "oh yeah sure, here try it."

[liliavalley]

On part 30 now and part 44 is still the fluffiest episode by far

[samobservessonic]

Next we return to Knuckles, who’s stuck in the never-ending Marxio Bros story

So we’re just not going to talk about that clown in the ticket booth?

DOn’t forGET … you’RE HEEERRREEeee foreeevvveEEEEeerrrr ! ! !! ! ! !!

The Marxios are convinced that Knuckles won’t try to attack the park while there’s people inside it and that, even if Knuckles does get in, he’ll have to deal with more badniks on the inside anyway. But Knuckles knows his island better than anyone, right down to every fault line…

…And he smashes the whole zone off the end of the island! That is incredible! Like damn, he’s literally willing to knock off a massive chunk of land to get rid of these intruders. I love how Knuckles isn’t messing about here. Bye, losers!

Also, one of the background Mobians has been coloured to look like Johnny, but since they’re just a random civilian, I really doubt that it’s him. Unless Johnny landed that bi-plane in the last story and decided he needed a Carnival Zone break

For the sake of having Knuckles not commit murder in this story, they say the Floating Island can still remain floating for a little while without the Emeralds’ power. But that doesn’t mean that the Marxio Bros are in for a comfortable landing

You have no idea how satisfying this retribution is to watch after enduring this whole story. I also like how Knuckles isn’t certain they’ll survive, he just thinks they probably will and that’s good enough for him. Yet, despite not putting these people at risk, he’s equally not going to let them stay on the island longer than necessary. Not even Discount Johnny or Porker-in-a-suit

I think we know where this is going

Get Flamingo Land’d, kid! Theme park right on your doorstep!

Also, these guys survived. I know we see them again, but for now I’m going to take their return to Super Marxio World as a victory. Let’s hope Budget Bowser keeps them occupied for quite some time

…Huh. Y’know, if these guys are like the Anti-World Mario bros, then does that make Budget Bowser a hero? …Nope, I’m not gonna devote more thought to them than they deserve

It’s over! It’s finally over!

And you can bet that those kids did write in to see more Knuckles stories, because he’s certainly not going anywhere. I’m looking forward to riding that wave of 90s Knuckles popularity

Now, I know I’ve been pretty blunt about my feelings on the Marxio Bros, but I just want to be clear that’s not a slight to Kitching’s writing. The guy has almost exclusively written stories I love. Him and Stringer are the strong backbone of the StC lore. I just don’t enjoy these particular villains, nor find their gimmick funny. “But it was the 90s console wars!” Yeah, but I read these comics during said console wars and I didn’t even care for them back then. And I was in the trenches on the SEGA team - I even owned a Saturn. Your mileage will vary for this, but I just feel I would’ve gotten more out of this story if it had been any other villain besides these guys. It also didn’t need to be six parts long. Hell, I don’t even think it needed to be three parts long. I know this gave Elson’s art room to flourish, but there were also a lot of scenes I cut out of the Marxios talking to each other that basically amounted to “I sure hope Knuckles doesn’t realise we’re evil”

But I don’t want to end this on a downer, so I will say that the ending sequence was so badass that it made up for everything else! Knuckles literally snapping a piece off his own island to get rid of the intruders! This was absolutely a scene that deserved Elson’s art to make it look so epic!