#looking up Constantine's comics as we speak

[daesofthepen]

I'm loving fic where Danny and Constantine interact lmao I might just look into Constantine's comics to get a vibe of what the guy is like

[jesncin]

Chimera Constantine breakdown, refs & nods mega-post

Welcome to the master post of behind the scenes for the Chimera Constantine comics. In the style of the Sons of Mars ones I made, this post archives our research and process. So here we go! This will be a mix of showing references and personal anecdotes for how we cobbled this project together.

I'll be repeating some things I've mentioned across blog posts because I like having all this info in one place.

So! There's a lot of ways to go about re-interpretation and re-imagining a story, and one of my techniques is to not get overly attached to research. While it's good to be informed about a character, sometimes knowing every little thing about them can make one hesitant to innovate and try something different with them. So I'm purposely mindful about how much material I research.

But how does something like that work when the character in question has only 2-3 total appearances, one arc, and a quick revisit several years later? We play twin telephone.

For this project, Cin read the Hellblazer Golden Boy arc and vaguely retold it to Jes, who would then write a story based on assumptions and half-remembered memories of the story. Letting personal experience, influences and bias fill the blanks. We're inspired by how Naoki Urusawa wrote Pluto based on his mis-remembered memories of reading Astro Boy. Also when I was a kid I used to look at book covers and summaries and make up a story based on the limited information I was given. It's fun for me. Part of why I love obscure characters so much is that the lack of content about them lets the reader fill in the blanks about their lives and try telling new stories about them that aren't constrained by a saturated canon.

The original Golden Boy arc written by Jamie Delano (#39-40) is about John Constantine coming to the realization that he strangled his twin in the womb. After taking some 'shrooms, John...manifests into another reality, it's very surreal. There, John meets his twin from a universe where John had died, and his brother gets to live. The twin (taking on the name John Constantine, we'll call him Golden Mage to keep it simple) is John's opposite in every better way. They decide to merge their souls to restore...the universe. You kind of had to be there.

John's twin returns many issues later (#249) to wrap up a different arc, there he and the story are written by Andy Diggle.

The first panel of our full comic references the tarot cards John gets from his reading with Zed.

This panel is a direct reference to this scene where John sees his own shadow on a curtain after his reading with Zed. I like the imagery of this arc, even when the dialogue describing twins is really cringe. We changed it to a mirror to reinforce the mirror imagery throughout the comic. Speaking of which...!

Through Jes' reworking of the story, mirrors were streamlined to be the main way alternate universes were portrayed in the story. They'd be the main motif that paralleled the twins too. In issue #249 of Hellblazer, John uses the mirror to confront his twin who resides within himself after their soul-merge years ago.

The line "He's so beautiful, he frightens me." is spoken by a doctor witnessing the Golden Boy's birth in his universe. We repurposed it to be John's dialogue for when he's describing the man he sees in the mirror.

John's twin uses a sacrifice involving these candles to summon his sickly twin. Jes repurposed the use of candles to a magic salt circle that contains spirits like the Golden Boy (he's nicknamed "Goldie" in our take).

The Golden Boy! Even though he died in the womb, he's portrayed as a boy. Probably because a floating fetus wasn't what they were going for. We wanted to give him a distinct look that foreshadows how much he would grow his hair out. I like that his mouth isn't visible! We use the shape of his eyes and posing to get across how he's feeling. It gives him a vacant-toddler-stare I find really endearing.

We made some minor adjustments to the Golden Mage's design. Initially, we followed his canonical pulled back long hair. But since he was a challenging character to emote when we had one less arm to work with, we decided to part his hair so that it could carry how he's feeling. I like when I can get it to cover a part of his face for intense moments! If it was animated, it would 100% be expressive Ghibli hair.

Our main goal for Golden Mage's characterization is to make him feel like his own person. In the original arc, he's less of a sibling and more of an au of John Constantine himself. He doesn't get his own name. Despite gloating about having a better and more fulfilling love life than John, he also shared the exact same love interests John does. Being a twin is less about a family story and more a vehicle to talk about self hatred and potential here. Which isn't fair to the individuality of the characters!

(note, this is not how the panels look in the og comic, I've rearranged them so that they display on this post better)

So we characterized the Golden Mage to still have his canon charisma (albeit with the dialogue toned way down from his original appearance), but to have a thinly veiled temper under all that bravado to foil his con-man trickster brother. The Golden Mage was vaguely described as not being particularly attached to the love he receives. Golden Mage is also dismissive of his womb twin's death, saying it's something he shouldn't grieve since he never really knew him. We reinterpreted these lines as him being in denial over his brother's death, thinking himself as above his own feelings of grief.

Also as a tiny note, we kept the Golden Mage's name ambiguous to keep with the vibe of the original comic, but in my mind I headcanon his full name to be Marigold "Goldie" Constantine. The yellow flower is culturally associated with prosperity, but also grief and jealousy. It's perfect for him! So we made references to the flower in the cover and first panels of the comic. I also headcanon that as a kid he called John Constantine's ghost "Johnny".

My influences for how this whole beginning meeting scene is staged and played out is E.M Carroll's When I Arrived At The Castle. The "animated" panels of Golden Mage looking back at John and breaking through the mirror is a direct call back to the keyhole sequence in that comic! The premise of daydreaming about how your life could have been and not realizing that you're staring at an alternate universe is loosely inspired by Junji Ito's Hellstar Remina. I really like the concept of staring into the unknown and then something sentient staring back from that. "What if our day dreams are just other realities we're dreaming of" kind of deal. I don't see that sort of thing in the saturation of multiverse stories these days.

Next reference is the Dead Boy's Heart! While I like that this story's its own thing, I was surprised it wasn't linked to John's dead brother in any way. It felt thematically relevant, so we brought it over as a device to trap Goldie while the brothers merge souls.

Twins can be positioned in a bunch of ways in the womb. I think canonically, John and Golden Mage were positioned like they are in the cover for Hellblazer #39, ideal for strangling I guess! We changed it to echo the motion of yin and yang. I do think the inclusion of yin and yang is a little cringey in the original comic even though I get what it's going for (balance and all that, it's just kind of simplistic to the philosophy). But I do like it as a way to echo card imagery we established in this comic. We combined the imagery of the tarot cards featured in the Golden Boy arc and King/Queen/Joker playing cards. So it felt right to bring back that whole upside down twins in the womb thing. Special fact, this is how my twin and I were vibing in the womb.

The scene where the twins hit Ctrl + E to merge layers! It's a pretty iconic pose! I like how their heads peaked out of the panels so I brought it back for our comic too. In our version, the twins fail to merge their souls entirely. In the revisit to the Golden Boy character in the comics in issue #249, it's revealed that the merging "failed" in some way, trapping the Golden Mage within John's soul.

For John's ghost counterpart from Golden Mage's universe we took Dave McKean's portrayal of him very literally haha. I know he doesn't literally have one eye, but we thought it gave him a really distinct look for us to stylize. We decided to keep the ghost kids consistent with no mouth and vacant pupil-less stares. We gave ghost kid!John a sort of bedsheet ghost form to contrast against Goldie.

Speaking of one eye! That's another motif we decided to emphasize throughout the comic. It's not in the source material at all, but we liked it as a way to both hint at chimerism and visualize how the two brothers serve as incomplete halves of each other. Special fact! Heterochromia can show up in chimera twins. Of course in the case of identical twins like the Constantines, their chimerism isn't as detectable since they have identical sets of DNA. But! It's still fun to stylize in a supernatural way. For our take we show the glowing golden eye as the soul of the Golden Boy manifesting in his brother. I like to think that John takes advantage of how undetectable his chimerism is to have an upper hand in any soul-related deals he makes.

This stylized heterochromia is inspired by @ratblazer 's Constantine design! I made a subtle nod to it with young punk John's make up echoing the scar in her design too.

For John's dynamic with Goldie the Golden Boy, we built the conflict of the story around making him doubt his attachment to his dead brother. There's a line of dialogue in the revisited Golden Boy arc about John needing to "let go", so we repurposed it into the Golden Mage assuring him that his attachments make him weak.

Even though the Golden Boy doesn't show up nearly as much as I think he should in canon, John has been shown to be really sentimental about him. John wants to be the Golden Boy's friend because he's so beautiful John mistook him for Jesus as a kid. Canonically, the Golden Boy ghost rejects John's friendship, likely still not over the whole strangulation in the womb thing. It still breaks John's heart though, he's a sobbing mess about being owned by a dead kid.

We changed this whole dynamic! The twin murder in the womb felt very X-men Xavier vs Cassandra Nova, and it's hard to get behind babies having that much motivation before they're even born. In our version, Goldie is a vanishing twin absorbed by John, the sickly twin. Infants being accidentally strangled by umbilical cords does occur in reality. However, we changed their origin to being that of Vanishing Twin syndrome because it was more specific for the ideas we were going for.

I feel this crucial change is more in tune with the overall themes of Hellblazer. John always cheats death at a cost. People are constantly sacrificed for John's continued survival. But the Golden Boy's case would be special, because he sacrificed himself out of love before he even knew what it means to love. Unlike the other ghosts that haunt John Constantine, Goldie isn't resentful of John. I think it makes more sense for the Golden Boy to be attached to John because he's all the Golden Boy's ever known. As a chimera twin, John is like a horcrux holding his brother's soul in his body. This reaffirms survivor's guilt to be something John experiences since his birth.

Canonically, although the Golden Mage initially feels sorry for the ghost of John that haunts him, he rejects John as well. John's ghost in canon is like a nuisance that keeps bothering Golden Mage. There's an instance mentioned of Golden Mage trying to recreate his murder in the womb? It's cryptically written. But Golden Mage does keep using the phrase "banished" to describe his brother.

We took this and made it so that he performed an exorcism on himself to remove his supernatural chimera-bond to John's ghost. The Golden Boy arc is pretty unique when compared with how saturated multiverse stories are nowadays since it doesn't share the science fiction sensibilities. Grief comes up a lot in multiverse stuff, in these stories characters use parallel universes to save a loved one as they're bargaining with their loss. For our take, we wanted a character to use the alternate universes to hurt and lash out at the loved one they're grieving. I pulled influence from Everything Everywhere All At Once's concept of a self destructive character on a search for the one familial connection who could understand what they're feeling.

References! The first panel is a nod to issue #36 where John is sleeping with Marj. We changed her to Kit. The second panel is a direct callback to issue #67, an iconic visual for his break up angst era.

Trivia; this page was added at the last minute! I needed something to bridge the birthday cupcake page and the final panel of Golden Mage's breakdown, so I linked them through candles! In this weird case, I reference my own work! This is a callback to Birthdays, a short comic we made for John Constantine's canonical birthday. It sets the premise for his relationship with Goldie based on the habits and experiences of survivor twins. The pages referencing this comic are meant to re-establish that John shares meals with his twin.

I wanted this page to feel like John's lighting an incense for his dead brother, and to contrast it with the snuffed out candles from Golden Mage's flashback. The candle has a yellow and blue intertwined spiral pattern that calls back to the color of John and Golden mage's dialogue boxes and speech bubbles, along with how twisted they look when they merged. Implying that in this universe, they're together in some way. I really wish I did this intentionally but it was by complete coincidence of making the cupcake pink and balancing it out with pastel primaries. But I sure can acknowledge how cool it looks symbolically okay???

The dialogue here is a nod to John's monologue in issue #19 where John is comforting Simon Hughes. It's re-contextualized a bit to be about sharing grief together in our comic.

This is a really goofy one but- since Golden Mage is supposed to be the fully realized potential of John, we thought that he would have a successful career as a musician and singer where John didn't. I don't think Golden Mage would be a punk singer though, he probably does something he'd consider more elevated.

BUT-! In the 30th Anniversary edition of Hellblazer, Sting (the guy John's appearance is based on) wrote an introduction for the edition while roleplaying as the Golden Boy. Which is nuts. The Anniversary edition basically canonized Sting as being a Constantine variant in our universe with the soul of Golden Boy. Sting, as Golden Boy, describes himself as a musician and singer too. Absolutely bonkers for Sting to throw me a bone this late in the game since no one's touched this character in ages.

Another E.M Carroll influenced panel sequence. This is from the digital comic Out of Skin.

So that brings us to the end of the comic! We've had the ideas for this comic cooking for some time, and it's people's continued interest in our takes on these characters that gave us the chance to finally bring the story together.

I'm very fascinated by the Golden Boy story, not because it's particularly strong compared to other stories in Hellblazer's run, but because its intriguing premise is bogged down by its surreal take on typical Evil Twin tropes. og Hellblazer's strength was always in its raw humanity. John Constantine's character countered the sensational spectacle of his superhero contemporaries. He may be able to outwit a vampire but he's can't fight back against being brutalized by the police. In one of his most iconic arcs, he finds out he has cancer- not because of any supernatural shenanigans, but because he literally smokes too much. In another arc, John's long time girlfriend breaks up with him, and he lashes out by saying the cruelest things to her. When he hears that his abusive dad is murdered, John still cries about it.

I think the Golden Boy arc and the retcon that followed his brief return actively undermines what makes Hellblazer special. Suddenly John's having X-Men-level evil twin escapades in the womb. Suddenly, merging with his twin will help save the universe. Suddenly, it's not smoking that caused John to have cancer! It was actually because he merged with his twin and his twin became the cancer from inside him! Suddenly it wasn't a moment of lashing out that caused John to say all those cruel things to his ex upon their break up, that was actually the Golden Boy controlling him from within, so you see it's not really his fault! Also what followed the break up was extra devastating because of the Golden Boy, somehow.

Often I hear in fandom that when you change a character too much from their canon counterpart it's basically "just an oc" at that point, but in the case of characters who get to be re-imagined and passed through many creative teams, I think that kind of mindset is deeply limiting for transformative work. The line I draw between "just an oc" and an interpretation is if the changes involved engage with their source material in any way or if they're just superficial. Big changes and 180 flips can work because they still respond to the history of said character. It's why we see that kind of thing in canon a lot. These characters are inherently built to be passed through many hands in meaningful ways to varying degrees of success. So I hope that by showing all this process that goes behind big changes to a canon character, people better understand what can go into transformative creativity.

Our thesis for this re-imagining is to take what makes Hellblazer special and re-examine the arc that we felt undermined that. Despite the grief John has for many characters in his cast, mourning isn't brought up at all in the Golden Boy arc. It's dismissed by the characters in narration, and the Golden Mage himself isn't even recognized as a sibling by the narrative, no matter how many times John calls him "bro".

Survivor twin grief over dead womb twins especially is a real thing that's often dismissed because in the words of canon Golden Mage himself "I couldn't mourn for those I'd never known". This is not true to the experience of twins. They play with and remember each other from spending 9 months growing in a tight space together. So when one of them doesn't make it out with the other, that survivor feels a grief they can't comprehend. It can manifest in unresolved trauma, commitment issues, and survivor's guilt. All things that feel so relevant to the themes of John Constantine's character. I think that by integrating the real lived experiences of survivor twins, the Golden Boy arc could've been one the most human and personal parts of the original Hellblazer run. It's could've been a story that helped a community of people so rarely validated in their grief feel seen.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 6/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Six: Happy Trails (Jason's POV)

After my resurrection, I started seeing things and hearing voices, but they weren't talking to me. They were talking about me. After my dip in the pit, I knew I was stuck with them. Sometimes in the daytime, I would lie awake and listen to them talk. The spooky one would come and go, but the one in the weird Superman costume never left my side. Sometimes I felt like I knew him from somewhere. Sometimes he would sing songs to me when we were alone or talk as if he didn't know I could hear him. I wanted to give in and speak to him most times, but I was afraid that I'd lose my mind completely if I did.

I didn't realize how much I would need him until I found out about Tim Drake. "You all right?" Talia asked. Her voice was clear, calm, and tinted with a hint of concern.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be all right?" I lied. Once she was gone, I could hear the faintest whisper from my imaginary friend. I started to cry as I continued to try to ignore him.

"Jason, I'm so sorry," he said loud enough for me to hear. I looked away from the wall and directly at him. "Jason? You can see me?"

"What do you want from me?" I asked in tears. I finally succumbed to it. It didn't matter to me anymore if I was losing it or not. I just wanted to talk to somebody.

"Jason, it's me. Have you been ignoring me this whole time?" he asked. I nodded.

"I don't know who you are or if you're real. I just—. Can you sit down?" I asked. He nodded and sat at the table. I pulled myself together and sat back down. "Who are you?"

"Jason, it's me," he pleaded with me, "It's Laney. We're best friends. Why don't you—? Jason, don't you remember me?"

I shook my head and laughed. "No... I don't know who you are because you aren't real. You're not. This is just my brain damage and emotional trauma manifesting itself," I rationalized. Laney frowned. I pushed a hand through my hair and took a few nauseated breaths.

"This isn't who you are, Jason. We used to talk about it all the time... You said you wanted to tell Bruce you loved him, that he was a father to you. I know you're hurt, but has that changed?" Laney asked. I didn't answer him. "You don't believe me, do you? How can I prove it to you?"

"Prove what to me? I don't even understand what you're—."

"I'm a ghost. We were friends in heaven or the afterlife or whatever it was... And you disappeared, but Boston and I—. We uh—. I don't exist anymore, but you can do everything that I can't. You have a second chance, and Catherine wanted that for you," Laney whispered, "Jason..."

I started feeling panicked when he mentioned Ma, but I pushed the feelings back and went to bed. He stayed with me even after our conversation. When I woke up, Laney was still there, and his friend was back. "I'm not leaving him... Boston, I promised myself I would never leave him. So you can give me the address of the nearest person who can see ghosts, or you can come with us and help me prove that we're not just hallucinations," Laney snapped. I lay still and listened.

"The closest person I know isn't the kind of guy you ask for help. He's more trouble than he's worth—."

"Who is he, and where is he? Boston," Laney pleaded angrily through his clenched teeth.

"If he can prove that you two are real, I'm game... Actually, matter-of-fact, if you two are real, I'll do whatever the hell you want me to," I replied. Laney floated above the ground in a seated position, biting his nails. "Scout's honor."

"Jason, you were never a scout," Laney replied, "If we can prove that we're real, I want you to do just as we planned. Talk to our families."

I nodded, and Boston shook his head. "Jason, kid, you don't wanna go on and learn the hard way. Why can't you just take our word for it?" Boston asked. "Jay..."

I looked at Laney, and he softened up. "Jason, if you can't remember me, then you can't believe what I mean when I say that I know you in ways that you don't even know yourself anymore... And you won't be able to see that I just want to help you."

I wondered if he loved me. The way he spoke to me was like nothing I'd ever heard. I sometimes thought my mind made him up for comfort. Maybe he was real, and he was trying to protect me. I knew one thing for sure, everything he said was what I wanted to hear. I think that's what scared me the most. If he wasn't real, all I was doing was second-guessing myself.

They continued to argue back and forth, and I took my shower and got dressed before cutting out. Laney followed closely behind me. "Two choices. San Francisco, but you run the risk of seeing your brother or Louisiana meet this Constantine guy, and I hear he's more trouble than he's worth," Laney offered. Both choices sounded terrible, but I think he knew I'd pick anything over the idea of running into Dick. "Jason, I know you don't wanna risk seeing Dick if he's in San Francisco, but—."

"But nothing. I'm not risking everything I have planned. What happens if you're just my mind's way of sabotaging me?" I asked. He looked over my shoulder and waited for me to make eye contact.

"I don't want to sabotage you... I'd never do that. Jason, I know you're scared of what he'll say or think or do... But, just try to think. If this Constantine guy is as unpredictable as Boston says, don't you think you'd be safer if—."

I stopped just as I realized how crazy I must've seemed, talking to thin air. "Listen, on the off chance that you're real. Cool, great, good. But, on the chances that you're just a pretty little kindhearted and nurturing hallucination, my mind made up to change me back into the sweet boy you're saying I used to be... I don't wanna take any chances on screwing this up," I mumbled.

"You weren't always sweet. You were just as stubborn dead as you are alive. Either way, I promised your mom I'd find you, and I did. You're alive. I can't take that away from you, but I can look out for you," Laney whispered, "You don't have to talk to me out here. I know what it looks like. Just know when you find out that I'm not a hallucination and that there is actually someone on this planet that would move heaven and hell for you... I won't rub it in."

Secretly, I kind of hoped he was telling the truth. I needed him. Like it or not, I didn't know how I'd be able to bear the loneliness without him. So that was it. I was on my way to Louisiana to see a man about a ghost.

[orionsangel86]

Watching The Sandman again for the hundreth time and I know everyone always loves to focus on Dreamling, but can we talk about Rose Walker for a moment?

The Sandman is often applauded (and complained about) for being an extremely gay show, but I particularly love how even the characters who aren’t canonically gay come across as extremely gay.

Take Rose Walker. The main character of The Doll’s House story. Neither the show nor the comics ever give Rose a sexuality, but there are some very glaring factors that heavily support her being queer.

The first time we see Rose is in episode 5 24/7. Judy, the lesbian at the diner who has had a fight with her girlfriend Donna, calls Rose and asks if Rose knows where Donna is. We know that Rose considers both Judy and Donna close friends and has a picture of Judy in her apartment.

Rose’s only other friend that we know of besides Lyta Hall (who she got to know via proximity since they were neighbours) is her friend Carl who she clearly is close enough with to let him house sit for her (even though he has sex with The Corinthian on her bed!).

So her closest friends are a lesbian couple and a gay man. I know I know straight people can be friends with queer people but statistically speaking queers flock together. Its more likely that Lyta is the token straight in the friend group than Rose AND Lyta both being straight.

I also question her choice of seeking out accomodation in Cape Kennedy. Isn’t it interesting how she ends up in a very strange B&B also managed by a gay drag artist and filled with colourful characters including Chantal and Zelda (I know their relationship is supposed to remain ambiguous but imo the show also leans more into them being lesbians due to Chantal’s dream where she calls them “soul sisters” and “gothic brides” and I dunno I just think the fact she refers to them as brides is pretty telling!)

Of all your accomodation choices in Florida, this in particular seems like the kind of place one would go to if they were specifically looking for somewhere advertised as “LGBT friendly”. All the characters staying at the B&B are either canonically queer or heavily queer coded.

Gilbert/Fiddlers Green isn’t technically human, but his whole aura is distinguished older gay man - he’s played by Stephen Fry after all!

Also I could go on about Barbie (who I theorise found the accomodation for her and Ken) but without revealing any comic spoilers, she also later surrounds herself with basically all queer people. I know in the comics she is strictly heterosexual, but nah she dreams like a queer theatre kid on speed or something lmao. That girl is a bisexual disaster all the way and yeah I may be projecting on her as a fellow blonde overly dramatic dreamer and disaster bisexual but I claim her for my own okay just let me have this.

So yeah, the queer friendship groups, the specific seeking out of an LGBTQ friendly b&b in Florida, and the fact that she literally wears rainbows in her hair and I think its clear enough that that girl is a baby queer if ever I saw one.

Due to the merging of Rose and Lyta’s stories in the Netflix show, we should actually get to see more of Rose in future seasons. In the comics, after the Dolls House book, she doesn’t appear again (unless she turns up in the Wake since I haven’t read that far ahead), but by making her Lyta’s companion in the show, we know she will appear again since Lyta and the baby (Daniel not that he has been named yet in the show) are reoccuring characters throughout the entire Sandman comic run.

Maybe I just crave more lesbian and bisexual women rep in my fave shows, but sitting here watching this show again it just tickles me that in the entirety of season 1, it is so easy to view practically every major female or female presenting character as queer. Joanna Constantine and Rachel, Judy and Bette, Lucifer and Mazikeen (bring on the make out scene in season 2!), Chantal and Zelda, and in my opinion, Rose Walker, Barbie, Lucienne, and Gault are all queer coded WLW.

(Lucienne and Gault is just a ship I love okay but you can’t deny there was some flirting in episode 10!)

It’s been such a crappy year for lesbian rep with lesbian shows getting cancelled left right and centre. I just think lesbians should therefore claim the Sandman as theirs. if nothing else, claim it out of spite. It’s a fantasy show with a pathetic wet cat emo boy as a main character who literally surrounds himself with lesbians, is probably in love with his best friend, and considers a slutty gay serial killer with teeth for eyes his greatest ever creation. It just seems to me like the kind of show that should appeal heavily to WLW okay! Plus there are more lesbians coming in season 2! Encourage your lesbian and bisexual friends to go watch The Sandman now!

[thenightling]

Stating the Obvious: Morpheus has issues

I know I'm probably stating the obvious but I think Morpheus's one-hundred-and-six-years of captivity in The Sandman Netflix series (seventy-two-years in the comics and The Sandman audio drama) effected him heavily, psychologically speaking.

Now before you reply with the "You don't say" meme, I'll elaborate. We know the captivity changed Morpheus. We know it enabled him to reflect on his past and to grow. And it enabled him to feel sympathy for Calliope and act as avenging angel to rescue her from Richard Madoc but the experience also scarred him deeply and caused him to want to die. When they summoned and trapped Morpheus he was stripped of his clothes, his tools, his power, his dignity and his freedom.

"Time moves no faster for my kind than it does humanity and in prison it crawled at a snail's pace." - Morpheus in The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes graphic novel, issue 1 of The Sandman comics, Sleep of the Just, and Chapter 1 of The Sandman audio drama.

Unfortunately the line in the Netflix series doesn't quite make it clear that time doesn't move differently for him than it does for humanity and this probably should have been left in because a lot of people have this misguided idea that for immortals time moves differently and a century is nothing. And it is important to know that for Morpheus this was not nothing. He suffered. And unlike mortals he didn't even have the escape of sleep and dreams because he IS the embodiment of dreams. I feel that there were probably additional psychological side effects to Morpheus's captivity besides the obvious depression, self-reflection, and weakness. For example the trauma of his captivity may have left him claustrophobic. Notice how rare it is that we see Morpheus in any confined spaces for any length of time and when he is in a small space (i.e. rescuing Cluracan during that one story in The Sandman: Worlds' End) he seems more irritable and tense, like he wants to get whatever needs to be done over with as quickly as possible. This could also account for his behavior in Rachel's bedroom when he retrieved his pouch of sand besides casual assholary before Constantine made him realize how wrong his behavior was. Other impacts Morpheus's captivity may have had on him is effecting his ability to trust. He was always, at least a little cynical, but he believed Alexander Burgess when Alex said that if not for his father he would free him. Morpheus believed him and thought Alex would let him go but when Roderick died Alex just left him in there and that broke some aspect of Morpheus that was quick to trust.

Morpheus genuinely expected Alex to let him go. He looked forward to it and anticipated it, thinking it was just a matter of time to wait for Roderick to eventually die but then Alex dashed Morpheus's hope of over ten years because he was scared. Morpheus truly thought Alex would free him and then Alex failed him. Neil Gaiman has been asked, at least twice, on Tumblr if Alex had let Morpheus go, would Morpheus have still cursed him to Eternal Waking (An Endless series of nightmares where you think you're waking up but just enter another nightmare) / eternal sleep or shown mercy. And Neil Gaiman has answered that he would have shown mercy. Also earlier when Alex killed Jessamy for trying to rescue Morpheus- and Alex wanting to prove himself to his father, I think that wounded Morpheus. It made him see a sadism he didn't originally seem to acknowledge in humanity, or had forgotten about, likely because of his friendship with Hob Gadling making him see the better side of human beings. Morpheus seemed to think being captured was one thing, but the murder of his familiar- his raven, his friend (though he wasn't likely to realize it) was crossing some line for him. In short, Morpheus needed therapy. It's too bad he couldn't have met Linda from the Lucifer TV series. Morpheus probably had some form of Post Traumatic Stress. Morpheus needed therapy... Preferably not from Cain...

[a-wild-things-rambles]

you know what yall get my discord rant about the yassified constantine ya thing. [<-is edits->]

I'm just speechless[spoiler: i find my voice p quick] on the whole yasstantine ya thing and by speechless I mean disappointed to the bone and very close to cussing the house down. Also the story is so shite? like he has a mum and is part of a magical lineage but in a weird not John way? Like there's a good post about how two panels show the massive difference between the two. Also? How can u wright John Constantine without his mum dying as he was born? Like it affects sooo mutch. It's like rebooting Spiderman and not killing uncle Ben. It's the catalyst of all catalysts.

Also I'm not saying John ain't pretty when he's young, because he's decent looking in the first hellblazers, but he's scruffy there, also he's[yasstantine] a poser. Like John ain't a poser. Idk how to explain it but making John pretty and airbrushed and ticktoc alt is fundamentaly opposed to who the actual charecter is. Like they look at all the reasons ppl like him and changed them. John is a queer northern man who had dealt massively with childhood trauma and abuse as well as poverty, and stripping him of that is something I wish I could be surprised about DC doing but given how DC are already trying to downplay and flatten him

(don't get me started on the king shark thing or the flirting w batman. John may not have self respect but he does have a burning hatred for the rich and batman is not an exeption and the "oh John's such a slut he even fuked a shark" fuck off.) Ok speechless was a lie ^ pissed of queer and punk Londoner who has to many opinions on John Constantine and to many fights they want to pick with dc.

John is an inherently political charecter and that's where he is best. And you can't strip him of his context as a British punk queer man who lived through the aids crisis and Thatcher and the coalminers strikes and section 28. But DC want to strip him of his politics and so put him in America. No! John's story is important and speaks of things the government want to ignore. Issue 3 of hellblazers cover was taking the piss out of Thatcher. Hellblazer isent just a comic its a comic that calls out the bull going on in the world, and sits you down and forces you to empathize with people, and to show how bigots are pathetic. I read hellblazer and I can point to the things my parents have told me about, and more. Hellblazer is political, hellblazer is important and hellblazer tells me my history. Hellblazer is about people that I could know, and the horrors I have to face. Idk how to say it but hellbazer and John Constantine are so important to me in a world where most English language media is American. Where you learn all about America. And we have alot less media telling it how it is. England has a massive issue with putting old horrors under the rug.

And it's hard to explain to some people that didn't grow up with the horrors, or there parents didn't warn them if the horrors they lived thru, about the council estates, about section 28, about the privatisation of the verge, about all the British issues shoved under the bloody carpet. I read hellblazer and it tells me that these horrors do exist, the wounds that scar us still do exist, but people survive and people are good. [note- by horrors i mean the real life horrors, that are either played straight or allgorised]

Also from a story point of view, disregarding context, disregarding charecter, John's story is so fuking British. "The Americans want someone to succeed where they haven't, the English want someone to fail where they have," is a p good summary of the difference between the two countries media [i am heavily generalizing the common trends of american vs british media please dont @ me w outliers] We [brits] like watching someone else go through the shitter like us, to show that were not alone. We don't get happy ending. We know. We like morally complex arseholes who make bad choices. We don't want superman. We want our gritty hope that we may not be happy, but we can make choices that matter. We want to see people like us suffer and be absolved and be punished. We want the truth that is glossed over. We want to know that life sucks, and we take delight in watching other people go through the shit we do. Witch is why u need a British writer, not just because of knowledge of the context, but because the story is fundamentally different to American stories.

… ok I have alot more feellings and opinions on that than I thought

Tldr I hate it but it's inline w DC's attempts to de politicize John and in doing so showing they fundamentally don't understand the character and why people like him, and then ruin him in an attempt to make him "popular" when at the core of his character he is at his best when he isent popular with everyone [john is a character that should piss large groups of people off, and hellblazer is a comic that should make large amounts of people uncomfortable, but dc want to remove the discomfort, and defang the comic and character, selling out john. no the irony isent lost on me]

[achillesuwu]

I'm just saying that just after 1789 (or 1889 for the angst?) Dream should have amnesia, be as happy as he was millennial ago and discover his power like the first time.

Basically gremlin Dream running everywhere with Hob trying to hard to not lose him

Also : dream doesn't know his own name so they are basically

Dream : so you are my friend?

Hob : yeah!

Dream : wonderful!! What is my name?

Hob : so– hum—

WHAT IF Constantine is trying to catch them and dream just basically yeet himself and Hob through the window (Hob does not want to talk about his scream thank you very much) and dream make. them. FLY. with his SAND (which Hob find fucking awesome because HE IS FLYING!?!)

Dream creating his first little nightmare 🥺🥺 it's a very small spider that can steal your face and make you eat your own hand, he explains, he find it so cute 🥺🥺🥺 ( Hob disagree, that shit if fucking terrifying) He calls it Flower 🥺🤧

(hob very much want his old wizard friend back, he was never young enough to deal with a young wizard thank you very much but what the fuck.)

What if they go see a play about orpheus and dream began to silently cry :(

He doesn’t know why but he says things like : he was taller, his hair was lighter, his smile was larger, his voice shofter

Everything about this play feel so wrong but he doesn't want to go :(

But also, if it's after 1889 and if Dream gradually get his memory back (like first love & first betrayal of Desir (idk I didn't read the comic but I think Desir played with Dream feeling at one point), his marriage and then the death of his son (where Calliope said it's his fault))

Like, Hob and dream are talking one morning and then Dream suddenly seems to light up, his mouth open in amazement and he says to hob "Nobody has loved me enough to seek me out before but, but I remember know, someone does, my friend" then he gets up and Hob is SO confuse. His friend talk about someone he is in love with he seems so happy, he says he needs to go, he needs to find her.

(Dream power are blocked here, he can't go back go the Dreaming before getting all of his memory back)

Then he suddenly stop, joy is remplaced by pur anger and madness. He stop speaking, stop trying to get out. He just walk inside and stay 3 days in his room.

When he finally come out of his room, he acts like nothing happen. Like centuries happened in 3 days and maybe it's the case for him.

Anyway, time pass, then one day his friend smile again softly and said "I'm married, we have a son". He looks so proud, so pleased. Hob is happy for him (but a part of him wonder, if you are married, then why didn't they find you yet?)

((((to answer a part of this question Jessamy is trying very hard but she can't sense her lord anymore D: ))))

Hob is proved right the next evening, he sees a flash of anger passing through his friend's eyes, he sees chock, he watch as his friend's hands began to tremble then he sees sorrow, so, so much sorrow.

Hob knows that one well. He doesn't need to ask, he knows

Tears floods from his friend's eyes, "He is dead, she left" is all he says.

When Hob try to take his hands Dream steps back "You said you are my friend, you said you like me, how can you when I bring nothing but doom?" but just like before memory seems to come back to him, like a wave, anger (barely hiding the sorrow under it) flash "I do not need you" and then he is gone

Hob is very sad at the moment :( he understand (now he has 100 reasons to make his stranger knows that they are friends 😤😤) but also he is worried about his friend (even if he is more mature than his "young wizard version", Hob knows how hard it can be). Meanwhile Dream goes hidding somewhere, he stays there and he get his memory back. However it's Death that makes him come out and getting back to his friend 😤

Just imagine 🥺 : Dream knocking on Hob's door, not looking at him in the eyes at first then when they do, he does his micro smile and "I apologise, my friend" Hob smiles at him with relief.

[dailycass-cain]

DC Vs. Vampires #1-12 Final Thoughts

DC vs. Vampires concluded this week. It barely had Cass in it (a shadowy cameo). 

 So I guess she lived? 

Regardless I'm gonna talk about the series as a whole. What I liked about it and what I didn't.

First off I'm not gonna be posting pics of the issue or the main series for this finale.

  Why?

Well, the main artist of the series turned out to have done some questionable things when #7 hit (and hasn't addressed them or apologized for it).

I'll fully confess I highly enjoyed #1-6 (even with the art), along with DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #1-6 (a few of the secondary stories too) for the sheer absurdity factor. Not to mention hey Mary Marvel had a really good subplot going throughout this series.

But then the fill-ins (Hunter and forgot about the Harley one lol) occurred. Damian's wasn't too bad but it felt like a really missed opportunity to showcase how he was able to fight the vampirism while everyone else succumbed to it. Also I hated the shock deaths in it (and J’onn being turned into a vampire off panel).

We see it teased in #4 with John Constantine interrogating the vampire Zee. Like we get hints that the memories are there. But the drive to "thirst" is what breaks most (save apparently Kate/Damian). Heck, it was interesting to see that being a vampire brings a bit of clarity (Jean-Paul Valley) hence the urge to be one again.

I think that's when the "ball" was dropped on this comic for me. The ideas around it are more interesting than the actual main plot. Characters you want to follow are barely followed up on, for me the biggest crime for the main series would be Jayna.

It just feels wrong that the character barely gets any closure and she's reduced to a background character in #12. With all the build-up from #1-6, this is what we get? I think the only thing more disappointing...

Is Babs as a lead character.

I get it though, ever since #2 Dick was targeting her. But the payoff this issue felt so meh.

Dick tries to "reason" with Babs. Why he did do what he did when he turned. But really he wanted to send her lewd dreams of banging Starfire?! 🙃🙃🙃

Look I get it. Vampirism has this whole thing subtextual angle on sexuality.  That Dick/Babs relationship is the bridge to that.

Dick explains himself and Babs' "crumbles".

Her entire plan was to become the Vampire Queen? Then use Harley to kill Dick? Seriously?!

However, my issue is again the "payoff". Why didn't we get a panel of Dick biting Babs? We get the tease and next panel she's on the floor. Why are we that tame nowadays?

Literally, this is what the series has been leading up to and we don't even get that? Just her being turned? COME ON! We literally got in #6

Jason (and Damian) being turned. But not Babs?

And we the reader know humanity is far from "done" but I guess that's the point. Babs is "lying" to her vampire minions.

Speaking of which... yeah this second act was pretty bland in the main series. Even with the retreaded "evil" Superman trope in All-Out War, at least there was a villain to watch and act around.

Dick was barely in the main series after #6. We didn't get a full appearance of him until THIS ISSUE. That's kind of why everyone enjoyed vampire Hal. He was a force in #1-6. He was active in making people vampires.

  Here, we get the minions doing that but it just feels so-- hollow. Likewise, the "final" line protecting Dick is easily taken out (R.I.P. Duke) and honestly, that's another mess too.

Literally, we have Duke being jumped about to be bitten. The panel where he's jumped establishes Damian there. Along with Frankenstein (who exited with Cass last issue). But zero Steph?

Then Duke goes boom and for a moment I thought he accidentally killed Damian (until he showed up later on in the series). This whole issue was a clustered mess.

It doesn't help either that the series doesn't have an ending. Instead, a tease for more.  I HATE IT when the media does that. Never giving us a concrete ending instead teasing for another story.🤬🤬

It just goes to show me why I love DCeased and why this is leagues better than that.  Besides of course doing a better job with Cass. 😋

DCeased, DCeased: Unkillables, DCeased: Hope at World's End, and the current all feel like stories you can pick up and read in one sitting.  There are teases for sequels but never once does it override the main story.

Not to mention balances the cast perfectly throughout.

If you read all of them? It makes the experience all the better.  

DC vs. Vampires? It barely feels like that. We got sidequest stories of Steph, Ivy, and Black Lightning that sort of filled in some gaps but otherwise had little story beats.

DC vs Vampires: All-Out War? The end tied into #12 (and technically #11 too). But it feels like one massive reading. Not something like DCeased where you can pick any and just enjoy it for what it is.

Which brings me to Cass.  She appears in #2-6, and we get cameos everywhere else. The fact that we get confirmation Frankenstein and Vampire Grodd survived with a silhouette of Cass.

Is some straight garbage.

Show clearer Cass survived the attack last issue. Literally, you have Frankenstein there. Why not Cass?! Again, she literally was in issues before. Where's the presence of mind for her?

Yeah DC vs. Vampires #6-12 was a MASSIVE disappointment. The dropoff in a targeted ending for this was bad. Maybe it did? But I guess there's some blood to drain in the series.

I just feel utterly disappointed in the series as a whole. Anything #1-6 gave us and whatever side stories. The end result feels so lacking. So ironically without any actual bite.

I do think there's a way to save this "universe". The best way? Ironically? No sequel main series. Instead?

Focus on Cass or Mera. 

The stuff behind the scenes. of the main. Give us that filler that's needed. Add stuff from the previous series. That's it. Either character can do that. Cass showcase how utterly dreary Gotham became (or her mood set after Dick killing most of the family in #6. Maybe even showcase her and vampire Damian/Kate interacting). 

For Mera? Show how she became the new Black Manta and we find out if she survived her fight with Arthur?! 

Maybe this series as a whole could be saved. If not. Yeah, put a stake in it.

[esonetwork]

Sherrilyn Kenyon loves Dragon Con just as much as you do

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/sherrilyn-kenyon-loves-dragon-con-just-as-much-as-you-do/

Sherrilyn Kenyon loves Dragon Con just as much as you do

by Jen “Lil’ Bit” Schleusner

I had the pleasure of chatting a bit with Sherrilyn Kenyon while at this year’s Dragon Con. A beloved staple guest, she also began attending con as many of us do – as an attendee and then later, a track volunteer.

Q: I was wondering if you could speak to how you feel about how there’s just such this great big love for you here at Dragon Con and the stories that you tell.

A: Oh, because I grew here in Georgia, near the airport, and I attended Dragon Con many, many times. Because I grew up here, I never thought, I mean – I was what, I think I was number one on the New York Times – but they’re like, you should apply to be a guest. I was like, oh yeah, cuz I volunteered and I’ve done all kinds of stuff with Dragon Con until then. So I’m like, yeah, that’d be nice to have that badge. I think it shocked them, even though I grew up down in Riverdale with Titan Comics and I used to go in there all the time as a 14, 15 year old kid. And yeah, it, it’s been amazing to watch it grow and to be on this side of the table was so weird.

Q: You said you used to volunteer – what departments did you volunteer in?

A: Oh with Nancy Knight, I’ve known her since the 80s, so when she started doing writer’s track, when Storm Constantine was doing the horror track – whatever they needed, I’d be happy to do.

Q: I know you obviously enjoy horror and vampires, Greek mythology, all that. What were some of your favorite stories, either from the past or favorite movies, favorite properties? 

A: Oh god, There’s so many…

Q: Or do you have any new favorites? 

A:Oh, my new, okay. My shameful thing, Cocaine Bear. Oh my God, I’ve not laughed so hard in a movie. I wish my mother was still alive because she would so love Cocaine Bear. Oh, the Pope’s Exorcist was actually pretty good.

Q: I just watched that a few months ago. I was surprised how good it was.

A: Yeah, I was not expecting it. So yeah, that was a really good one too. And I just found a new one that was recommended to me on a panel that I’ve got to see – Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Yeah, cuz I made a joke: “I want to write a really slasher Winnie the Pooh book” and they said “oh, it’s been done.” I’m like, what? Okay, well I won’t do it, but I’ll go watch it. 

Q: Remember the very first time you were on the New York Best with your book? That feeling that you had then, do you still get that one over your books?

A: Oh yeah. When they first come out it’s like, “oh, my book!” – Yeah, no, that has not, thankfully, ever gone away. But interestingly enough, I was coming from here going home. I lived in Tennessee when I hit the New York Times and I got the call from my editor and we were at a gas station, and so we got out of the car and we were dancing around. Everybody’s looking at us! I still do my ugly spooky dance. And my son’s funny because like “I can’t believe you’re still like, look, it’s a real book!”

Q: What do you think about the technology side of the writing now?

A: I love it and I hate it like everything else. Interestingly enough, I was the first New York published author to do an ebook back in the nineties, and I remember having discussions with my publisher where he’s like“eBooks will never, it’s not going to be a thing”. And I worked IT at the time – I’m telling you buddy, watch out. They’re going to take us over now two years later he’s like, “God, they’re like 80% of sales.” Remember the discussion we had.

Q: I’ve read a lot of books – whether they’re written by men or women where they’ll describe a sex scene. But usually I’m just like, this doesn’t seem realistic or this doesn’t speak to me and I just want to gloss over those scenes. I don’t find it believable. But the way that you write intimate scenes to me, the details – It makes sense for those characters and it’s believable and I don’t want to skip over those scenes. 

A: Well, and to me, not all of them have scenes in them. So it really depends on the book. It depends on the couple. And yeah, like you said, it’s not like part A goes into part B. To me, it needs to come from the characters and each one has their own rhythm that they do. It just depends. 

Q: It’s honest. They’re honest scenes and it’s really easy to tell when it’s not written, honestly.

A: Well, everything when I’m writing is from the character, so if it doesn’t feel natural for the character, it’s on the cutting room floor. I want y’all to love the characters – I don’t even care if my name’s on the book. Just love the Characters..

Q: Archeron, Julian, Grace, Simi, love them all. So well-written that you can see each character that you’ve written. 

A: The funny thing is, I really don’t describe the characters that much. One to me was the biggest compliment I got was, “your characters are ethnically invisible.” I’m like, but I do that because I want whoever’s reading the book 

Q: To be identified.

A: Yeah, you put what you want. And if it’s important, like Ash’s eyes, I will explain that. But the rest of it, I may say it once, if you pick it up good and if you don’t – because I would rather the reader be able to insert, what to me, it’s such a great relationship with readers because their imagination, it’s the greatest tool. And so I give ’em just enough to let them fill in a lot of the details.

Q: Well, and there’s so many times where if somebody puts too many details, then you’re just like, okay, yep, there’s okay 20 pages telling me what the forest looks like or what somebody’s outfit looks like and now I’m no longer invested. 

A: A good example of that’s Bride or Brida, but everybody calls her Bride, so I do too. She’s a heavy character. I have a lot of characters who are heavy women, like Elena, Sunshine, Grace – is not small, but they don’t harp on it. Someone like me, I’m like, oh my God, I’m so big -I slipped on a copperhead and I shocked it. I know the Copperhead went back and said, “lemme tell you, I was minding my own business. I was comfortable in this house. A big old woman came and stepped on my head.” 

Q: With the character Asher, was that based on somebody you knew personally from the past?

A: No, I mean the characters, there are pieces of me in every character because that would be completely disingenuous to say, “no, they’re not.” We write what we know. But no, I really tend not to do that. The only character that really resembles somebody is Bubba, an homage to my older brother who passed. But yeah, normally the characters are just the characters.

Q: Do you like writing about the holiday season?

A: I do and I want to do more. We’ve got “Hebrew For the Holidays” coming out, which is some of my old stories being republished. Ironically, I was talking to my editor today about doing a Nick Christmas book, so we’re hoping to do that. And I want to do a semi Christmas with Simi. 

Q: I could see her just bouncing around and harassing Santa. 

A: So Much fun , handing out barbecue and oven mitts to everybody. 

Q: Going by and lighting Christmas trees on fire.

A: There you go, “I was trying to help it”

Find out more information about Sherrilyn and her career at: https://www.sherrilynkenyon.com

[neil-gaiman]

More casting news on Sandman...

Every afternoon I get an email telling me that there are “dailies” from The Sandman ready to be watched. It's the best bit of the day. Once every few weeks I get an email letting me know that there's a finished episode waiting for me to watch it. It's the best bit of the month.

The Sandman is being made, and it's... well, it's The Sandman. Which is the best thing of all.

You may know that The Sandman is based on my comic book series of the same name. A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.

You might already know that Tom Sturridge (he/him) is Dream of the Endless, Gwendolyn Christie (she/her) is Lucifer, Sanjeev Bhaskar (he/him) and Asim Chaudhry (he/him) are Cain and Abel, Charles Dance (he/him) is Roderick Burgess, Vivienne Acheampong (she/her) is Lucienne, and Boyd Holbrook (he/him) is The Corinthian.

But there are more parts to be announced. And I thought it would be fun to tell you about some of them, and the thinking behind them.

DEATH – Dream's wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister. Significantly harder to cast than you might imagine (well, than I imagined, anyway). Hundreds of talented women from all around the planet auditioned, and they were brilliant, and none of them were right. Someone who could speak the truth to Dream, on the one hand, but also be the person you'd want to meet when your life was done on the other. And then we saw Kirby Howell-Baptiste's (she/her) audition and we knew we had our Death.

DESIRE – Dream's sibling and everything you want, whatever you want and whoever you are. Desire is also trouble for Dream. Families are complicated. We had barely started looking when Mason Alexander Park (they/them) reached out on Twitter, and threw their hat into the ring. We were thrilled when they got the part.

DESPAIR – Desire's twin, Dream's sister. She is the moment when all hope is gone, the bleakest of the Endless. Donna Preston (she/her) will be playing her, and her performance is chilling and sad. You feel her pain.

JOHANNA CONSTANTINE – Eighteenth Century occult adventuress, John Constantine’s great-great-great grandmother. This Sandman character became so popular that she even had her own spin-off series. I created her to fill the role that John Constantine does in the past. When we broke down the first season, given that we knew that we would be encountering Johanna in the past, we wondered what would happen if we met a version of her in the present as well. We tried it and the script was sparkier, feistier, and in some ways even more fun. So having written her, we just had to cast her. Jenna Coleman (she/her) gave us the Johanna of our dreams – tough, brilliant, tricky, haunted and probably doomed.

ETHEL CRIPPS – Roderick Burgess's love, John Dee's mother, is a small but vital role in the comics, but she became more important as we told our story. In the 1920s and 30s, she is played by Niamh Walsh (she/her): a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. In the present day, now a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies, she's played by the brilliant Joely Richardson (she/her).

JOHN DEE – Ethel's son is dangerous. He was driven mad, long ago. Now he's out and on a quest for Truth that may destroy the world. We needed an actor who could break your heart and keep your sympathy while taking you into the darkest places. We were lucky that David Thewlis (he/him) took the part.

Now we're shooting The Doll's House, the second big Sandman storyline. It's the story of:

ROSE WALKER – a young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother, who finds a family she didn't know that she had, and a connection to Dream that neither of them can escape. We needed someone young who could make you care as she ventures into some very dangerous places. Boyd Holbrook's Corinthian is waiting for her, after all. Kyo Ra (she/her) achieves that as Rose.

LYTA HALL – Rose’s friend, a young widow mourning her husband Hector. Rose doesn't know that Hector has started showing up in Lyta's dreams, though. Or that strange things are happening. Razane Jammal (she/her) is Lyta, and she's terrific.

UNITY KINKAID - Heiress, Rose's mysterious benefactor. She has spent a century asleep. Now she's awake, having missed out on her life. She's played by Sandra James Young (she/her).

GILBERT – Rose Walker's debonair protector. A dab hand with a paradox and a sword cane. Stephen Fry (he/him) is a National Treasure, and we forget sometimes that he's also a remarkable actor. Seeing him in costume and make up on the dailies made me blink: it was as if the comic had come to life.

MATTHEW  – Dream’s trusted emissary. A raven. I expected our animals to be CGI, and was both taken aback and thrilled when the dailies started coming in, and there was Dream talking to... well, a raven. But ravens don't really talk. The question was, could we find an actor who could make you care about a dead person who was now a bird in the Dreaming – one who isn't certain what's going on, or whether any of this is a good idea? And could we find a voice performer who was also the kind of Sandman fan who used to stand in line to get his Sandman comics signed? The answer was, we could if we asked Patton Oswalt (he/him). And Patton was the first person we asked, and the first person we cast, the day before we pitched The Sandman to Netflix.

Of course, there are more delights and nightmares cast than I've listed here, and we have a few more secrets up our sleeves. I can't wait until you can start watching.

[aboutzatanna]

Meet Zachary Zatara! Zatanna’s Cousin

  I’ve covered Zatanna’s mother, father and now to complete my series of posts on the pairing, lets look at Zachary Zatara.   

Zachary is a magician just like Zatanna, making her one of the few female heroes with a male side kick. He was also a member of the Teen Titans during Geoff Johns run which the YJ show draws heavily from. 

I’ve included a recommended reading guide for him at the very end of the post including some lesser known, obscure stories so do check that out if you’re interested in wanting to read more about him.   

The inspiration for Zachary goes back to writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross Kingdom Come OGN.  KC was seminal back in the day and had a huge influence on the DCU both positive and negative. 

A big part of KC were the children of various superheroes and super villains whom Superman, freshly out of retirement, recruits into his new super powered army in order to fix a world ravaged by out of control anti heroes like Magog. 

One of them was John Zatara, the son of Zatanna and Constantine (the latter of whom was walled off from the rest of the DCU at the time). It’s not known what happened to Zatanna and Constantine in the KC timeline, Zatara being their kid was only revealed in the back of the Absolute edition of Kingdom Come.  

Zatara barely had a speaking role in the OGN, here is a couple of scenes where he shows up in:  

He also showed up as a supporting character in ‘Kingdom Come: The Offspring’ one shot by Mark Waid and Frank Quietly which focused on Plastic Man’s son Earnie a.k..a ‘Offspring’ where it was mentioned that he was dating Avia, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda. 

Also note that all of his dialogue was written backwards throughout the whole comic even during normal every day conversations: 

He also appeared as a background character in The Kingdom Special  as one of the many heroes trying to protect Superman and Wonder Woman’s kid from Magog.  

Given these minor appearances it’s really hard to get a feel of Zatara’s personality here. One gets the impression that Avia is the assertive one in their relationship whilst Zatara is the passive one. And...this is just my speculation here, but I think KC Zatara might be autistic or at least, on the spectrum.    

After  KC’s monumental success, DC began incorporating elements from KC into it’s main universe, and just to give you an idea of how immense and influential KC is and continues to be:

(feel free to skip past these bullet points if you’re not interested in KC’s influence) 

- Maxine Hunkel, Magog, Jai and Iris West first appeared in KC then later in the main DCU.   

-The concept of a Blue Beetle who wore mecha armor ended up becoming Jaime Reyes. 

-It also popularized the idea of Bruce and Talia having a son. The idea originated from ‘Son of the Demon’ where we first see their infant child given up for adoption. Then in KC we see him grown up and named ‘Ibn Al Xuffasch’ and later incorporated into the comics in the form of Damian Wayne. Xuffasch also had a romance with Nightstar (Dick and Kory’s kid) much to Dick’s chagrin. 

-Alan Scott’s GL armor was introduced in KC that later appeared in the main universe. 

-WW’s golden eagle armor which has appeared in both the main universe and in WW84, her being the one Trinity member being willing to kill in the series which also directly paved the way for Rucka’s Sacrifice arc in which she killed Maxwell Lord. Granted she killed once during Perez’s run but the context of how it happened in Sacrifice directly pertains to KC. This lead to the false perception of Diana being a blood thirsty warrior and her thus her characterization in early Nu52 era.      

-KC Superman even showed  up in the main universe and even talking to Diana about how the main universe was turning similar to his.   

-The concept of Diana being exiled from Themyscira. In KC universe she was exiled because of her failure to change Man’s World. In JLU, 2017 Wonder Woman and Bloodlines DTV movie, her being exiled would be incorporated into her origin story instead (not for the better, if you ask me). In the Golden Age, Post Crisis and Rebirth versions, she left voluntarily with the blessings of her mother and sisters and was later able to reunite with them.    

-Even the core concept of the Infinite Crisis event of older heroes trying to impose a nostalgic outdated view of heroism on a world they deemed too dark and cynical was clearly inspired by KC.

-JLU’s Cadmus arc and the paranoia about Superman turning the JL into a super powered army, the fight with Captain Marvel on the show, things turning out for the worst despite Superman’s best intentions and Batman disproving of Superman sentencing criminals to the Phantom Zone felt like they were directly drawn from KC.   

-CW’s version of Crisis on Infinite Earths where Brandon Routh’s Superman had a costume similar to KC Superman and even has elements of his backstory like Lois, Perry and his co workers being killed by a gas attack from the Joker.  

-Even CBR exists because of KC since the site started off as a fansite for Kingdom Come before turning into a forum and later a comic book news site. So yeah, good and bad influences on the DCU all round.   

1/3 Zachary Meets Infinity Inc & Black Adam

Anyway, back to Zachary Zatara, he first debuted in Teen Titans  Vol 3 #34 and was created by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniels.   Although his first published appearance was in Teen Titans, his first chronological appearance would have been in 52; a weekly series which covered the gap year in which Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were inactive and other heroes were filling in for them.  

Zachary showed up in 52 #21 as part of the Teen Titans team investigating the new Infinity Inc (a group of kids given super powers by Luthor).  

Note that’s not Big Barda. That’s Little Barda. A New God who takes after Barda and clearly based off of Avia.

Zach gets off on the wrong foot with one of the Infinity Inc members:  

Later, in the issue,  one of the Infinity Inc members was killed in battle (thanks to Luthor’s machinations) and Zach and Little Barda are seen at the funeral: 

Note that Zach is associated with Raven.  

Later in 52 #32 Zachary is among the crowds of young heroes gathered to fight Black Adam (he’s right next to the Superboy statues palm):

Among them is also a young, costumed Eddie Bloomberg aka Kid Devil whom we will see will be an important character for Zachary:

In World War III #3  we get a small glimpse of Zachary fighting Black Adam as well as Raven reacting to him getting hurt (these two always had a connection):   

And finally in the 52 #50  we see Zachary working with Zatanna and several other mages attempting to stop the rampaging Black Adam with the help of Billy Batson:   

Zatanna and Zachary don’t share any dialogue with each other in the issue but it’s cool to see them working together as well as seeing Zatanna and Billy effectively leading the magical side of the DCU and I love that it’s Billy who figured out how to defeat Black Adam.     

2/3 Zachary & Eddie + The Teen Titans

Zachary would make single panel appearances in Teen Titans #34-38, they were from bits and pieces from Cyborg’s recordings from when he was in a coma. The ‘present’ day of these issues were set the year after the events of 52  Zach complains about Raven’s powers affecting him and we also get hints of his personality:  

So Raven has gone missing and in between fighting super villains, the Titans go on search for her which leads them to meet Zachary.   

Zachary finally gets the spotlight in Teen Titans #39 in which we are also introduced to his assistant, Bunny and he and the Titans don’t really get along:  

We also learn from Cyborg that his powers were only awakened recently after the events of Days of Vengeance (long story short; Spectre went crazy, Nabu died, magic died and was reborn):    

Zachary is kind of snobbish, arrogant and rude but they are also a way for him to hide his insecurities and fears. 

As you can see he also has history with Kid Devil/Eddie Bloomberg and we finally learn about their history and Zachary’s role in Eddie’s transformation from the kid in the suit you saw in 52 to the humanoid devil in present day in Teen Titans #42.   

So, Eddie is a huge of Blue Devil aka Dan Cassidy and idolizes him much to the latter’s chagrin , this leads to him wanting to get powers just like BD. One day he gets a strange mystical candle from a stranger which he takes to Zachary for consultation:

So despite Zach’s warning, Eddie goes through with the deal and to no one’s surprise, his trust in Blue Devil is in fact broken, when Eddie learns that Blue Devil was indirectly responsible for his Aunt’s death.  (Long story short: Neron promised him a way to return to being BD if Daniel blew up a power plant, the latter did but the feed back ended up killing Eddie’s aunt who was miles away. Dan Cassidy kept it a secret until Eddie confronted him about it).   

So yeah,  Eddie is pretty much damned now but Zach tries to console him the best way he can, in Teen Titans #56:

This era of Teen Titans was heavily dependent on making the Titans into a Junior Justice League. Along with Zachary, this run also introduced Miss Martian and reinvented Superboy/Connor from a fun loving Booster Gold style glory hound to the angsty black t-shirt wearing Superboy we know today and Cassie Sandsmark from the tomboyish fangirl to the cheerleader archetype. Instead of a stand alone squad the Titans were now tutored by older heroes, at least initially.   Suffice to say, this run had a huge influence on the Young Justice show.  

As for the run itself, I wasn’t a fan of how Robin, Wonder Girl and the Wonder Twins were written. Especially under Sean McKeever post Infinite Crisis (though tbf he faced a lot of editorial hurdles) but the Eddie/Zachary stuff was a highlight for me personally. 

Side note, Teen Titans #52 also gave us a peek at a possible future version of Zachary, you can tell he is evil because he has a goatee:

Zach also showed up in Tim Drake’s Robin series (Robin vol 2 #166)  to help him out with some bad guys: 

There are so many dark haired caucasian costumed guys around, especially in Gotham that even the villains get confused.

There are some interesting parallels between Zachary and Donna Troy. They’re both the side kicks of female heroes, both of them debuted in a title that didn’t star said female hero and they operated independently for a while before actually getting to interacting with their female mentor.   

Despite Zachary being a ‘part time’ Titan, he would show up in the 6 issue Terror Titans mini in which the Titans took on Clock King who was running a meta human fight ring.  Zachary and the Titans were captured and mind controlled to participate in the tournament and somehow Zach lost to Terra in a straight up fight:  

 (I call bull shit, maybe he threw the fight) 

Also Zach being emotional about Kid Devil is what got him caught in the first place: 

Meanwhile, in the main Teen Titans Eddie has managed to beat his curse and returned to normal human form.  

Then in the follow up in Teen Titans #69,  he harshly turned down Wonder Girl’s offer for Zach and other teens held prisoner by the Clock King to train with the Titans.    

His next appearance in the Titans would be part of a back up title called Coven of Three which ran from Teen Titans #84-87.  The series starred Zachary Zatara, Traci 13 and Black Alice in which the Demon’s Three trapped them in a world that brought their deepest desires to life. All of it as part of a gambit to escape their imprisonment and threaten the world again.  

The series begins by showing Zach in the least flattering light as possible: 

Then drops this reveal on us when Zach’s dream world is shown:  

Yes, he had a girlfriend with unborn twins who died untimely deaths. How old is this kid anyway? Was it a teen pregnancy? Does Zatanna know? This is one of the many plot threads that could have been addressed in the Zatanna ongoing were it not for it’s untimely cancellation and the 52 reboot.    

Traci 13′s dream is a world where she is worshiped as a Goddess and Black Alice’s dream was a world where her parents were alive and they had a normal family unit. Of the three, she was the most reluctant to give up her wish. It made things more complicated because undoing the spell required the consent of all three individuals.  Zachary and Traci have relatively normal, stable lives to return to, Alice doesn’t.    

We also got this interesting scene showing the difference between a book worm mage and someone who has natural abilities but never studied actual theory:  

Zach also brings up Eddie again and he gets a moment with Kate (his dead gf) before helping Traci undo the spell:

The three managed to undo the spell and even agree to become teammates:  

But there is a twist at the end where we learn that oops, even though they ‘won’, it was all still a ruse on the Demon’s parts as they’re still playing right into the demon’s hands:

The ending also flips our view of the character. Zachary, whom in the beginning was kind of a jerk, ends up with the most sympathetic motivation of wanting to use magic to bring back his dead girlfriend and unborn child. Black Alice ends up more or less at the same spot she started in. Meanwhile, it looks like Traci 13 is on the path of actually bringing her dreams of being a goddess to reality as she keeps one of the magical items used to trap the Demons Three for herself.     

On the YJ cartoon, I wasn’t a fan of Mary being the corrupted one for various reasons. But given Traci’s characterization here, I would have rather she had been the one corrupted by power.  

It’s a neat twist and I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been any follow up to it.  Especially the part about Zach’s dead girlfriend. Zatanna and Diana need to have a talk about their respective side kicks going through all sorts of trauma in stories without either of them getting involved.  

NGL, I still find weird that the Young Justice show, which draws heavily from Geoff Johns era of Titans decided to deage Zatanna and put her on Dick’s team instead of using Zachary, who was already associated with the Titans. Plus it’s rare for a female hero to have a male side kick. But then, if Zatanna was with the adults on YJ, we’ll probably see even less of her.     

2/3 Zachary & Superman: World of New Krypton Era 

Sometime after his first appearance in Teen Titans, Zachary later showed up  in Superman #680 in which Superman fought the mythological Atlas and was getting his ass beat.   Supes realized that he needed help so he went to a magic show Zatanna was meant to headline but instead met Zachary there and the two got off to a rough start: 

I’ve mentioned this story in another post but lets cut to the chase; Supes is a little abrasive here but lets cut him some slack, the Man of Steel was forced to leave his dog to fight his battles for him.

After getting a super charge from Zachary, Supes managed to beat Atlas but he wanted everyone to credit Krypto instead.

Zachary would have a minor role during the ‘World of New Krypton’ era of Superman comics. This was imo, the most interesting era of Superman comics which was kicked off when Superman rescued the shrunken bottled city of Kandor and restored it to full size on.......earth. So now the inhabitants on earth are neighbors with a thousands of Kryptonians and not all of them are as nice as Superman.

This event was like a tide for the Superman books and supporting cast, I can’t think of another era (besides maybe Death of Superman) that elevated supporting characters like Supergirl, Guardian, Dr Light/Kimiyo Hoshi, Captain Atom while also reviving Silver Age characters like Mon-El, Flamebird and Nightwing/Chris Kent (hey, remember him? he was the proto Jon Kent).    

Zachary and Zatanna appeared in Action Comics #873 along with the ‘Sentinel of Magic’ where they cast a spell to ward off a group of hostile Kryptonians and we also get a peek of Zatanna mentoring Zachary:   

The Zatara’s and the Marvel Family should team up more, imo. Plus it’s cool to see them doing combos and this is a great follow up from their appearance in 52. Their team work is better here and they’re doing combos now.   

In Superman #690, Zachary is meeting one of his stage hands who has something important to tell him when they are suddenly interrupted by Parasite:   

Mark Merlin is an old Golden Age character, the writer, James Robinson (who also wrote Starman) is a huge fan of Golden Age characters.   

I’m normally not a fan of jerkass protagonists but Zachary is a little different. His arrogance and aloofness serves as a mask to hide his insecurities and cowardiance. Plus you know Zee would whoop his ass if he really crossed the line.   

In a sudden twist though, we learn in Superman #692 that the man Zachary was talking to was not Mark Merlin, but Mirabai; a sorceress who agreed to become an ally for General Sam Lane in his anti-Kryptonian war in exchange for him loaning her a brainwashed Captain Atom so she can rule her realm (called the Sorcerers World) with an iron fist.   

Zachary appeared in the Captain Atom back up series in Action Comics that ran from Action Comics #879-889. Zachary appeared in #887-889 as an unwitting slave to MIrabai. He doesn’t really get to do much here, the story is centered on Captain Atom who has managed to break out of the Mirabai’s mind control and joined the rebels to help them over throw Mirabai.  

He succeeds only to find out that one of his ally’s was actually the wizard Mordru (I’ve mentioned him before in relation to Dr Fate) in disguise who quickly banished Zachary back to the mortal world:  

But he is friendly with Captain Atom, telling him that the latter could come back to his realm at any time.    

This issue also came with preview pages for Zatanna’s solo series by Paul Dini and Stephane Roux which is where we meet Zachary next:   

Side note: Mirabai would make a good foe for Zachary and by extension Zatanna (’nobody enslaves my cousin!’).   

3/3 Zachary & Zatanna

Finally, when Zatanna’s own ongoing was launched in 2010, we finally got to see what their relationship was like.

Zachary showed up in Zatanna #04-06 written by Paul Dini and we finally get a little backstory on them including this flashback showing a teenage Zatanna teaching a young Zachary:   

Zatanna promises to show up for Zachary’ next show but fails because an evil casino owner who made a deal with a literal demon hypnotizes her to marry him so he can sell her soul in exchange for immortality.    

Zachary is at first, pissed when Zatanna doesn’t show up...

  but ends up helping  her escape from the evil casino owner while also bickering like siblings:     

The issue walks a fine line between not rendering Zatanna a damsel in distress, giving her agency in saving herself while also allowing Zachary to contribute to the story. 

At the end, she finally does manage to make it to one of his performances:  

He showed up next in Zatanna #14  written by Adam Beechen which starts out with Zatanna chewing him out for screwing up a joint performance:   

Zach, predictably doesn’t listen and ends up getting into trouble which his cousin had to bail him out of:   

Part of what makes the Zatanna/Zachary dynamic so fun is that both Zatanna and her father are often portrayed as heroic and selfless (even if they have some morally gray moments at times) but Zach is more self absorbed and arrogant which forces Zatanna to be more up front in dealing with her side kick.  It also gives Zach a character arc; his hubris is a cover for his cowrdiance and insecruities thus his story arc is one about overcoming them to become a better person.   

They also worked together during the Reign In Hell event which is set sometime before Zatanna’s series, I’m posting this here because I found Zach’s impudence here to be hilarious: 

You know you done fucked up when even Jason Blood is horrified.   

Post Nu52, Zachary disappeared but he did show up in Raven: Daughter of Darkenss, a 12 issue limited series by Marv Wolfman as part of the Nightforce:   

I haven’t read it yet and it’s the kind of thing that deserves it’s own separate post anyway.  

Finally, in 2021, a Suicide Squad book was among the titles in DC’s Round Roubin (basically, vote for whichever title you want to read the most otherwise it won’t see the light of day) with Zachary on the roster. The title never made it past the rounds and was never published but we did get some preview pages, Zach screwed up royally and has to work with the Squad to make up for it:   

Thank god this was never published, all I can imagine is Zatanna downing a whole bottle of alcohol and screaming after hearing this.   

That’s about it for his major appearances to this date. Now for some FAQ’s before wrapping this up and also check out the Recommended Reading List at the very bottom: 

Who Are His Parents?  

Zachary’s parents have never appeared on panel and has never been mentioned.  Sure, in Earth-22 Kingdom Come universe, ‘John Zatara’ is the son of Zatanna and John Constantine but as you can see there are differences between ‘John Zatara’ and the ‘Zachary Zatara’ here.       

Zatanna having an adult son either in the Pre Nu52 universe or the Rebirth timeline doesn’t make much sense timeline wise unless you go down the path of convoluted retcons involving aged up magical babies and false memories ala Pre Crisis Dinah Laurel Lance. You also have to consider the flashbacks showing teen Zatanna training kid Zachary, how they interact like cousins/siblings instead of mother/son and they refer to each other as cousins even when they are by themselves. .

That said, there is no indication in Giovanni’s backstory of him having any siblings either but not enough to completely rule out the possibility either. It’s possible that he had an estranged brother or Giovanni himself became distant from his own family or he had an uncle and Zachary is his cousin first removed.

Also, this is just my opinion, but I can’t really see Zatanna as a mom. Even with characters like I like seeing her dating (whether it’s Blue Devil, Joshua, Batman, sometimes Dick Grayson).  I can see Wonder Woman, Mera, Big Barda and Catwoman being mothers but never got that vibe from Zee. Sure she’s great with kids but I never got the ‘mom’ vibe from her character. She always struck me as a Helen Mirren type who would remain childless but fulfilled even into her old age.   

I have a few guesses as to who his parents could be in the pre Nu52 timeline:  

-Fulcanelli. A minor character that appeared in Fate #10 (click here for more). Zatanna initially introduces him as a friend of her fathers. He’s an alchemist who is burdened with the cost of magic. At the climax of the issue, right before he is turned into a gold statue, Zatanna calls him uncle while in turn he calls her niece.  Whether it was just an affectionate term, like she thought of him as an uncle despite not being related or if they were actually blood related was never clarified. Plus Zatanna has referred to people she isn’t blood related to as uncles or aunts, like the time she called Rose Psychic her Aunt during Reign In Hell.  

But suppose Fulcanelli and Zatara’s were blood related, Zachary’s father being an alchemist could explain why his power doesn’t work on anything organic.   

-Giovanni himself. 

Which would make Zatanna and Zachary into siblings as well which also fits their banter in the comic books. My theory in this case is that they share the same father but different mothers.  Giovanni has been associated with multiple women, both romantically and non romantically; Madame Xanadu, Charity from Starman and Tigress. He was smitten by Madame Xanadu and outright said he wanted to make babies with her but the latter turned him down since she was aware of his future. Their relationship never moved beyond friends with benefits but it would be interesting if she ever did take up on his offer after Sindella’s first death. 

The other option would be Tigress; the classic enemy-to-lovers trope. Tigress was a thief and a normal human who was Zatara’s main nemesis and sometimes-ally during the Golden Age. There are no stories where their relationship turned romantic but imagine if it did at some point but for whatever reason it didn’t work out, they divorced and Tigress had custody of Zachary. The flashback of teen Zatanna training a young Zachary could have taken place during brief visitations. It also fits Zachary’s stated origin that his powers were only awakened after the events of Days of Vengeance, especially if one or both of his parents are human.  It also explains Zatanna telling Flash that she doesn’t have a family in JLA: Crisis of Conscience, technically she wasn’t lying as this scenario involves Tigress separating herself from the Zataras. But then Zach got his powers and started following in his father’s footsteps and the two started to bond again. It also contextualizes Zachary’s ego; he is trying to reject his mother’s villainous roots and trying to embrace his father’s heroic side. 

Still, this is just what my speculation.  

Who knows what Johns, Robinson and Dini had actually planned though.  Maybe they were intending for him to be Zatanna and Constantine’s son and had a convoluted explanation involving wizards and genies and time travel involved.   

Is Zachary Queer? 

Zach has never been confirmed to be queer but I noticed that he does have a queer fanbase and his close friendship with Kid Devil aka Eddie Bloomberg can be interpreted as such. They just have that vibe to them.  He also does have a relationship with Bunny, his stage assistant but that could just mean he is either bi sexual or polysexual.  Folks are free to interpret him however they like.  

I’m supportive of the head canon that Zachary is queer and him being in a relationship with Eddie totally works.   

I hope Zachary returns one day. He would be perfect for JLD and I love his dynamic with Zee and an appearance there is long over due.  

Litnu txen emit! 

Recommended Reading

-52:  #21, #50  (also World War III #3)

-Teen Titans Vol 3:   #34-38, #39, #42, #52, #69 (after Terror Titans) 

-Terror Titans #1-6

-Robin Vol 2 #166

-Teen Titans #83-87. Coven of Three back up with Zachary, Traci 13 and Black Alice.  

-Superman #680,  #683 (which is followed up in Action Comics #873), #687    

-Superman #690 followed by #692 and the rest of the story is picked up in  Action Comics #887-889 Captain Atom back up.   

-Zatanna #4-6 and #14.  

-Raven: Daughter of Darkness #1-12  

If there is anything you would like me to add or remove, let me know.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

Introducing DC's 80 page Pride book!!

(yes, I know it's not a full rainbow, I don't have all the colors 😭)

(DC Pride cover, featuring Jess, Kate, Ivy, Harley, Dreamer, Midnighter, Apollo, the Question and Alan Scott!!!! Not featured but also present are Crush and Pied Piper!!!)

Notably, this marks Dreamer's first time being in the comics (she was first introduced in the Supergirl tv show as a descendant of Dream Girl). Dreamer was the first transgender superhero on tv and I'm very excited that she's here to stay!!! (Also apparently the actor who played Dreamer in the show wrote the story, which????? What the fuck, you go girl, that's awesome!?!? I wish I was that talented)

(Variant cover for DC Pride featuring the lovely Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Gotham's resident Bi-cons)

Extremely excited to see Jess again so quickly (pun intended). If you don't know who Jess Chambers is, they're my favorite non-binary Flash and they are absolutely wonderful. (I adore them) I loved their relationship with Aquawoman in Future State (it was one of the only things about Future State that I liked). Unfortunately, that's probably the last we'll see of Jess and Andy together, as Andy is a baby currently (unless they bring in an alternate universe Andy??). But honestly tho, I don't care if Jess is in a relationship or not as long as they are featured in comics.

(Variant cover of Superman #32, featuring Clark being wholesome af)

Love to see the Gay Dads™ being featured front and center in the Pride anthology. Alan Scott, the absolute legend, just came out to his kids recently and it was beautiful. Hopefully this story includes his lovely children and the JSA, because we love to see them being wholesome together.

(Variant cover of Nightwing #81 featuring a pole dancing Dick Grayson)

Midnighter and Apollo (the other Gay Dads ™) we haven't seen since DC's last Pride book (cough, cough, do better dc). Hopefully we get confirmation that their daughter still exists post reboot because I'm half expecting dc to pull a Lian Harper and I hate it.

(Variant cover of Wonder Girl #2, featuring a Yara who is possibly queer?? All signs point to yes but we shall see)

Speaking of gays that we love, I'm incredibly excited for the return of the Pied Piper. The first openly gay man in dc, Hartley used to be a main character in the Flash series. Best friends with Wally West, Hartley stopped showing up in comics the same time he did. Hopefully now that Wally is the main Flash again Hartley will retake his role as a series regular (and we can finally have Piper's long awaited wedding).

(Variant cover of Crush & Lobo #1 featuring Crush and Katie....... Please don't break them up dc)

We, of course, have our resident lesbians, Renee and Kate. The Question and Batwoman, back at it again with that gay shit. You love to see it. We also have Crush joining the ranks with her girlfriend Katie (it is unclear at this time what Crush and Katie's orientations are but I think it's fairly safe to add em to the wlw catagory).

(Variant cover of Harley Quinn #4, featuring.... oh, who am I kidding? They don't need an introduction)

You know em, you love em, Gotham City's resident Bi-cons are out here stealing the show. Excited to see their relationship front and center!! It's not often bisexual characters are allowed to even acknowledge their bisexuality (looking at you Wonder Woman and John Constantine). This is a nice change of pace!

(Ps, guys please let me know how to do more than like five colors on tumblr....)

[anxiouspotatorants]

It is time. It is finally time for the new Suicide Squad rant (and spoilers will be plentiful):

As someone who was into DC Comics and comics in the mid to late 2010s and had so much hype for the first Suicide Squad movie only to be let down, I was so nervous for this one. I knew it was going to be a roller coaster, but whether I would come out happy or disappointed was up in the air. Having just seen it I will say this: I have no idea if this was a good movie-movie. It was insane. The comedy. The violence. The high emotion. I’m still trying to take it all in. But one thing I do know is that this is an amazing Suicide Squad movie. Gunn and co took the best parts of the comic concept and went batshit with it and that is how this property should be handled (in my opinion). Screw edgelordisms, we need full on insanity free of aiming for shock-value or sexy brutality we want chaos baby.

Starting the whole movie as they did, with Savant as the POV for a mission (or part of the mission) that just goes to hell immediately and kills off so many before the title arrives is the perfect way to start this movie. Like the second I realized this was how they were doing it I was just smiling from ear to ear, this is the spirit of the property.

Part of me wishes we got more Amanda Waller, but what we had was impeccable. Then again, this is Viola Davis we’re talking about, and if she was born to play any character in a superhero story, it is Amanda Waller.

And points to her tech team, introducing them with the death bets was just a lovely way to show how regular this is and how awful everyone is in this movie.

I’m not going to pretend like Deadshot and Bloodsport didn’t have the exact same character- and plot premises… but I will say that Bloodsport felt better executed.

I love that they kept some of the past members and not just Harley. Rick Flag got to have a full personality and interactions with his team members and to be a true leader and it made me so happy for someone who initially did not give a single shit about his character. The Harley friendship? The Dubois friendship? The friendship with that guerilla leader? Amazing. The one American soldier in fictional media I genuinely like. You go Mr Flag.

The new members were… they were insane in the best way. Gone are the shitty stereotypes and present are some of the wackiest creations to ever grace the mainstream movie-sphere (aka the slightly less normal comic creations): A man who has to shoot out polka dots two times a day so as not to die from a space virus. A giant child murdering weasel. A guy who detaches his limbs and slaps people with said detached limbs. King Shark. The second person to command rats with a fancy gadget. They are all crazy and all weird and all more or less morally repulsive people and I love them.

The amount of times I did a double take over the soundtrack I swear. Jessie Reyez? The Pixies? It was so much fun to pick up on once I did.

Was the depiction of a vague Latin American country stereotypical? Yes. Was the secret American involvement predictable and felt mildly patronizing from a non-American, part Latina point of view? Yep. But damn it if I didn’t have a good time with those stereotypes and laugh my ass off at how well executed some were. I don’t know if it was meant as parody, but that one secretary has me thinking so — and if so I am pleased.

Speaking of Latino dictators Harley’s one day romance with one of the villains was something I never knew I needed. Like it was so perfect for Harley that when it happened I almost hit myself for not realizing that this kind of plot should be a normal thing for Harley. And the end of it? Perfect not only in this standalone movie, but also in conjunction with the first and with BoP.

The Taika Waititi cameo??? Oh my god??? I did not expect that and I love it?? Sir, What We Do in the Shadows is impeccable.

Rick Flag’s death actually surprised me. It shouldn’t as this is Suicide Squad, but I kind of expected him to be on Harley’s level of unkillable (because let’s face it, no one kills Harley). What I will say is that his death was good and his final words and actions made me love him all the more. I hope this spawns more Rick Flag content, or at least inspires me to look at what already exists, if he already is as this movie made him (it’s been ages since I read one of the Suicide Squad reboot comics okay).

Starro. How can a villain be so wacky and so terrifying at the same time? I did not expect a literal alien starfish to have more terrifying powers and a more tragic plot execution than Enchantress. But here we are. And that damn star just wanted to be floating in space, and instead it was stuck getting revenge by killing and puppeteering human corpses. Wow that thing was creepier the more you think about it.

I don’t know what I think about Polka Dot Man. I loved watching him on screen but also damn those mommy-issues were on a new level. Not just in his backstory but how he literally sees her in every person around him that was insane. Very funny but like also the kind that makes you laugh just because you’re uncomfortable and don’t know how else to releive the tension.

When Waller got knocked out by a staff member I immediately thought «oh my god Amanda Waller is going to kill half the staff for this», so I’m mildly surprised and disappointed that I didn’t get to see that happen. But also I should maybe expect something like this in a potential future Suicide Squad movie. We can’t have everything in a movie as packed as this.

Peacemaker was very horrible and worked really well. Don’t really have much to say about him, not because I didn’t enjoy him but because I already feel like the film itself has said it for me. But the planting and payoff for his death? Chef’s. Kiss.

Harley’s wardrobe was beautiful. Ratcatcher 2’s combat outfit felt like a steampunk plague dream. Bloodsport’s mask was supercool. Rick Flag’s t-shirt was amazing. But the best little outfit was the Mafalda-keychain and her red dress, hands down. Oh and King Shark’s fake moustache finger moment.

King Shark is shaped like a friend I don’t care how many people he ate alive on screen he looks so huggable. It feels like wanting to pet a bear. You know it will kill you but damn it look at those paws and those cute eyes!

I really need to give it to not just James Gunn but the entire production team for this movie. The aesthetic was perfect. The story was the right blend of whimsical and violent. The finished product was a literal rollercoaster and I mean that in a good way. If superhero movies have to be like amusement parks, I hope they’re more like this one and BoP.

I’ll finish on the note that while I think this movie was great and hopefully a step in the right direction for the DCU/DCEU (as in stop trying to play Marvel’s game and just do your own thing/ let your creative teams run wild and free), it is not the first step. Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey and the production team for it took a step first, and they deserve due credit and attention. If you loved this Suicide Squad movie and haven’t watched BoP yet, do so. Because they really are in the same ballpark while doing things in slightly different ways. And any good DCEU movie deserves more attention so the studios know that creativity and risks should be rewarded. I want more DC movies like this, not necessarily in genre but in creative risks. I want a Black Canary rock movie. I want Alfred in a reverse heist movie alone in the batcave against Gotham villains. I want Gotham Academy on screen play by play from the comics. I want a fully animated psychedelic-like Khalid Nassour as Dr. Fate movie. I want elevated horror movie Constantine. I want weird ass Lois Lane journalist movies with a heavy side of Superman. And I want DC movies I didn’t even know I wanted.

Support creativity in mainstream comic movies. Help me become a DC fan and happy about it again.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Five: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Laney's POV)

Do people in heaven get sick? I wished more and more with every passing day that there was Google or an encyclopedia of sorts for the afterlife. Jason started getting headaches a few weeks after the dance. He tried to hide it from Catherine and me, but we could see it in his eyes. Jason was fading.

After the dance, we sometimes flew over the ocean at the beach, and we'd do cannonballs into the water from the sky. Somedays, all we'd do was laugh and play like children. Other times, we'd sit in the meadow and tell each other all the things we'd say and do if we could live all over again. I told Jason about how I grew up, and he told me all about the things he swore he'd never speak of out loud. He told me about his birth father, about what happened to him after his parents died. He told me things no one knew.

By the time he'd gotten really sick, we were in the meadow watching the clouds. Jason didn't want us to see it, but he couldn't hide it anymore. All we could do was pretend not to see it. "I see a little dog where you saw your turtle," I whispered as I pointed to the sky.

"Now, how do you see a dog there?" Jason asked as he started giggling. "That's obviously a turtle. Lookit. See the shell?"

"Jason, no, he's like one of those short dogs with the wolf ears," I argued, "See, because those little wisps right there, those are his ears."

"We're pointing to two different—." He stopped speaking and sat up. I turned and looked at him, and he looked paler than usual. "Sorry, what was I—. We're pointing at two different clouds, Lane." He took a deep breath and came back to me.

I touched his cheek with the back of my hand, and he took my hand away. "You okay?" I asked. Jason nodded. "I still think it's a dog."

"A corgi? You see a corgi up there?" Jason asked. I nodded. "I guess I could see it... Think my ma's still out on her date?" Jason stood up and stretched out his arms.

I sat on the ground and looked up at him. "Yeah... Are you okay with her dating Boston?" I questioned. "I mean, he's really not that—."

"I know he's not that bad... I mean, I actually think I might like Boston for Ma. He makes her laugh, and he's good to her. He might be the first guy that was ever good to her," Jason replied as he pulled me to my feet. "If Ma's happy, I'm alright."

"Yeah, and you gotta admit he's kind of cool too... I mean, he gets to travel back and forth—."

"Laney, come on. Even if we could go back, I don't wanna leave my ma," Jason interrupted. I nodded.

"Jason?" I called as I walked on my hands just like he taught me. "Can I say that I love Catherine? Is that weird?"

Jason raised his brow and playfully tripped me up with his foot. "How do you mean it? Because if you mean it like that, we might have problems, Lane," Jason joked.

I stood up and pushed him with my shoulder. "No, not like that! I love her like—. I dunno, like how you love her... I think," I explained.

Jason offered to carry me home on his back. I rode on his back, and he let me rest my chin on top of his head. "Jason, were you this strong when you were alive?" I teased. Jason chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. I may not be the biggest guy around, but I trained hard. I coulda carried you if I wanted to," Jason replied, "Besides, you're Superman's kid. Of course, you'd be taller than me."

We didn't make it all the way home. He stopped to rest, and he stumbled on the way to sit down. "What's wrong?" I asked. Jason shook his head. "Let me carry you the rest of the way," I offered, and he held up his hand.

"I'm fine, just—. I'll catch up with you," Jason whispered. I wouldn't leave him, so I picked him up and carried him home. By the time we got home, he was fast asleep. I set him down on the couch and waited for Catherine to come back. We never slept, so it was so strange to see him unconscious.

He came out of it for a moment, and he chewed me out for carrying him home, but I didn't care. I knew he didn't mean any harm. He stormed out of the cottage, and I let him have his space. I regret that I didn't follow him.

Catherine and Boston came back around sundown, and by then, I was hysterical. "Catherine, I don't know where he went, but he was sick, and I—."

"What do you mean he was sick?" Boston interrupted me. "He can't get sick anymore." Catherine rushed out of the cottage, and Boston nudged me. "He can't—."

"He is! He's sick, and he's fading in and out. It's like he's a—..." I trailed off, and Boston asked me to take him to the places where I hung out with Jason. He wasn't there, so we circled back around to the cottage. Catherine was inconsolable.

"He's nowhere to be f—." She swallowed hard. "I can't find him," she sobbed, and Boston touched her arm and waited for her to collect herself.

"I'll find him," Boston promised her, and I stopped him before he could go anywhere.

"I gotta go with you. If Jason's anywhere on Earth, I can find him. If he's there, I can find him. Please," I pleaded. Boston looked at Catherine, and she nodded. Boston sighed and nodded.

Boston placed a steady hand on my shoulder, and he told me to remain calm. He was going to take me back to the world of the living as a ghost, and I was going to find my best friend.

[takerfoxx]

The Sandman, Season 1, Episode 3, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," First Impressions!

"Fuck it, let's go to Hell!"

Yeah, I know that line had nothing to do with the plot of this episode, but c'mon, what a stinger.

And hey, can we just take a moment to give it up for Patton Oswalt for getting to live the fanboy dream, no pun intended? A few years ago my sister and I attended a Neil Gaiman talk and autograph signing, and Oswalt was the host, and he started the night by basically confessing that he grew up as the biggest Gaiman fan ever, so much so that they basically hired Gaiman's stalker to host the show. And now he gets to play (well, voice) one of the most important characters in the long-awaited Sandman adaptation.

So anyway, this episode was surprisingly nostaglic, but for a different reason than what I was expecting. When I first graduated high school, I made a point to marathon all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, mainly because I fell in love with Firefly and wanted to see Whedon's other works (no, I am not going to talk about recent controversies). And I loved them deeply. There was just something about the whole gothic urban fantasy mysteries with pithy dialogue and corny jokes I found appealing. Never did move onto Supernatural for whatever reason, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Buffyverse.

This reminded me a lot of that, even if the source material, both Sandman and Hellblazer, predates Buffy by a good amount. Johanna's flashbacks to the Job Gone Wrong and the bit with the princess's possessed fiance were much in that same vein, and were a ton of fun. I can't help but wonder if that little girl in Johanna's nightmare is going to show up in Hell the next episode.

Even though I knew it was coming, I still popped hard when Mad Hettie basically stepped off the page. As much as I've enjoyed what's been changed, expanded upon, and updated, I still appreciate the parts where they went, "Nah, this is fine the way it is. Just adapt it word-for-word."

I would have liked to have the Mr. Sandman musical drops. It would've been funny. Wait, did they have it and I just missed it?

Speaking of which, while it would be neat to have the John Constantine, rights are what they are, and Johanna made for a very impressive replacement. She was exactly the kind of messy individual who's trying her best but has made a ton of mistakes, has hurt a lot of people, and is also just so done with everyone coming to her with their problems, and yet so can't look away. I wonder if they renamed her ancestor in the coming Men of Good Fortune episode. I guess we'll see.

Also, to everyone complaining about how changing the Constantine character female made the show even more gay, go and look into John Constantine's romantic history. There's a reason why making King Shark his ex in Harley Quinn actually isn't that farfetched.

I was bummed that the only rogue dream we got in Rachel's apartment was that reunion with the fake Rachel. It was very good, yes, but I was looking forward to the trippy house haunted by her dreams, with the rogue Nightmares pissing their pants when they realize that Dream is present and the inside-out guy on the walls. I did smirk when Johanna mentioned telling Rachel's father about her passing, because this version of the guy actually got lucky compared to his comic counterpart. Ouch.

And in regards to what I said earlier about Gaiman taking this show as a do-over, building up the tension between Dream and Matthew is actually kind of a nice touch, as the conflict with their relationship was mainly around Dream just being a little cold and standoffish with him because he's like that with everyone, but this has something for them to actually work out, along with a very good reason for Dream not wanting another raven along, given what happened to the last one.

The John Dee and Ethel Cripps stuff now fell more-or-less to how it went in the comics, albeit a bit more dramatic. And gory. I really like this depiction of him. He's both something sympathetic while also being rather horrifying. It just brings a human layer to the character that will serve to make the diner episode even more horrific. I also smirked at the sidelong references to Doctor Destiny that don't violate trademark but do wink at it.

Corinthian wasn't as active here as I was expecting, but he is still lurking in the background, nudging things around to fuck things up for Dream. I wonder if his end will be the same as the comics. I hear they spiced up the confrontation between him and Dream to make it more appropriate as a season finale, but it still would be really funny if after all of his attempts to basically assassinate Dream throughout the season, he still meets his end via Dream just crashing his Cereal Convention speech. Like, you try so hard to kill a motherfucker, doesn't work, and then you go to hang out with your friends to burn off steam, only for him to ruin your big moment with a, "I lived, bitch!"

Okay, time for the momentum to really pick up. Let's go to Hell!

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: I have always appreciated your thoughtful views on the defence of the British monarchy, and as a university historian it’s reassuring to see someone using history to make invalubale insights to a controversial institution. I wonder what are your own thoughts on the passing of Prince Philip and what his legacy might be? Was he a gaffe prone racist and a liability to the Queen?

I know you kindly got in touch and identified yourself when you felt I was ignoring your question. I’m glad we cleared that up via DM. The truth is as I said and I’m saying here is that I had to let some time pass before I felt I could reasonably answer this question. Simply because - as you know as someone who teaches history at university - distance is good to make a sober appraisal rather than knee jerk in the moment judgements.

Contrary to what some might think I’m not really a fan girl when it comes to the royal family. I don’t religiously follow their every movement or utterance especially as I live in Paris and therefore I don’t really care about tabloid tittle tattle. I only get to hear of anything to do with the royal family when I speak to my parents or my great aunts and uncles for whom the subject is closer to their heart because of the services my family has rendered over past generations to the monarchy and the older (and dying) tight knit social circles they travel in.

Like Walter Bagehot, I’m more interested in the monarchy as an institution and its constitutional place within the historical, social, and political fabric of Britain and its continued delicate stabilising importance to that effect. It was Walter Bagehot, the great constitutional scholar and editor the Economist magazine, who said, “The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people.” In his view, a politically-inactive monarchy served the best interests of the United Kingdom; by abstaining from direct rule, the monarch levitated above the political fray with dignity, and remained a respected personage to whom all subjects could look to as a guiding light.

Even as a staunch monarchist I freely confess that there has always been this odd nature of the relationship between hereditary monarchy and a society increasingly ambivalent about the institution. To paraphrase Bagehot again, there has been too much ‘daylight’ shone onto the ‘magic’ of the monarchy because we are obsessed with personalities as celebrities.

Having said that I did feel saddened by the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. After the Queen, he was my favourite royal. Anne, Princess Royal, would come next because she is very much like her father in temperament, humour, and character, so unlike her other brothers.

I have met the late Prince Philip when I was serving in the army in a few regimental meet-and-greet situations - which as you may know is pretty normal given that members of the royal family serve as honorary colonel-in-chiefs (patrons in effect) of all the British army regiments and corps.I also saw him at one or two social events such the annual charitable Royal Caledonian Ball (he’s an expert scottish reeler) and the Guards Polo Club where my older brothers played.

I’ll will freely confess that he was the one royal I could come close to identify with because his personal biography resonated with me a great deal.

Let’s be honest, the core Windsor family members, born to privilege, are conditioned and raised to be dull. Perhaps that’s a a tad harsh. I would prefer the term ‘anonymously self-effacing’, just another way of saying ‘for God’s sake don’t draw attention to yourself by saying or doing anything even mildly scandalous or political lest it invites public opprobrium and scrutiny’. The Queen magnificently succeeds in this but the others from Charles down just haven’t (with the exception of Princess Anne).

However, many people forget this obvious fact that it’s the incoming husbands and wives who marry into the Windsor family who are relied upon to bring colour and even liven things up a little. And long before Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle (very briefly), or Lady Diana Spencer, were the stars of ‘The Firm’- a phrase first coined by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II's father who ruled from 1936 to 1952, who was thought to have wryly said, "British royals are 'not a family, we're a firm,” - it was Prince Philip who really livened things up and made the greater impact on the monarchy than any of them in the long term.  

Prince Philip’s passing belied the truth of a far more complex individual: a destitute and penniless refugee Greek-Danish prince with a heart breaking backstory that could have been penned by any 19th Century novelist, and also eagle eyed reformer who tried to drag the royal family into the 20th century. At the core of the man - lost scion of a lost European royal dynasty, a courageous war veteran, and Queen’s consort - were values in which he attempted to transform and yet maintain much older inherited traditions and attitudes. Due to his great longevity, Philip’s life came to span a period of social change that is almost unprecedented, and almost no one in history viewed such a transformation from the front row.

Prince Philip would seem to represent in an acute form the best of the values of that era, which in many ways jar with today’s. He had fought with great courage in the war as a dashing young naval officer; he was regularly rude to foreigners, which was obviously a bonus to all Brits. He liked to ride and sail and shoot things. He was unsentimental almost to a comic degree, which felt reassuring at a time when a new-found emotional incontinence made many feel uncomfortable. Outrageous to some but endearing to others, he was the sort of man you’d want to go for a pint with, perhaps the ultimate compliment that an Englishman can pay to another Englishman. This has its own delicious irony as he wasn’t really an Englishman.

There are 4 takeways I would suggest in my appraisal of Prince Philip that stand out for me. So let me go through each one.

1. Prince Philip’s Internationalism

It may seem odd for me to say that Prince Philip wasn’t English but he wasn’t an Englishman in any real sense. He was a wretch of the world - stateless, homeless, and penniless. That the Prince of Nowhere became the British Monarchy’s figurehead was more than fitting for a great age of migration and transition in which the Royal Family survived and even flourished. That he was able to transform himself into the quintessential Englishman is testimony not just to his personal determination but also to the powerful cultural pull of Britishness.

He was born on a kitchen table in Corfu in June 1921. A year later in 1922, Philip, as the the great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and nephew of Constantine I of Greece, was forced to flee with his family after the abdication of Constantine. He grew up outside Paris speaking French; ethnically he was mostly German although he considered himself Danish, his family originating from the Schleswig border region. He was in effect, despite his demeanour of Royal Navy officer briskness, a citizen of nowhere in an age of movement. From a very young age he was a stateless person, nationally homeless. Indeed, Philip was an outsider in a way that even Meghan Markle could never be; at his wedding in 1947, his three surviving sisters and two brothers-in-law were not permitted to attend because they were literally Britain’s enemies, having fought for the Germans. A third brother-in-law had even been in the SS, working directly for Himmler, but had been killed in the conflict.

Even his religion was slightly exotic. He was Greek Orthodox until he converted to Anglicanism on marrying Elizabeth - what with his wife due to become supreme head of the Church and everything  - but his ties with eastern Christianity remained. His great-aunts Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine and Tsarina Alexandra are both martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church, having been murdered by the Bolsheviks; Philip’s mother went on to become an Orthodox nun and a “Righteous Among the Nations” for saving a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of Greece, spending much of her time in squalid poverty.

His parents were part of the largely German extended aristocracy who ruled almost all of Europe before it all came crashing down in 1918. When he died, aged 99, it marked a near-century in which all the great ideological struggles had been and gone; he had been born before the Soviet Union but outlived the Cold War, the War on Terror and - almost - Covid-19.

The world that Philip was born into was a far more violent and dangerous place than ours. In the year he was born, Irish rebels were still fighting Black and Tans; over the course of 12 months the Spanish and Japanese prime ministers were assassinated, there was a coup in Portugal and race riots in the United States. Germany was rocked by violence from the far-Left and far-Right, while in Italy a brutal new political movement, the Fascists, secured 30 seats in parliament, led by a trashy journalist called Benito Mussolini.

The worst violence, however, took place in Greece and Turkey. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, what remained of Turkey was marked for permanent enfeeblement by the Allies. But much to everyone���s surprise the country’s force were roused by the brilliant officer Mustafa Kemal, who led the Turks to victory. Constantinople was lost to Christendom for good and thousands of years of Hellenic culture was put to the flames in Smyrna.

The Greek royal family, north German imports shipped in during the 19th century, bore much of the popular anger for this disaster. King Constantine fled to Italy, and his brother Andrew was arrested and only escaped execution through the intervention of his relative Britain’s George V. Andrew’s wife Alice, their four daughters and infant son Philip fled to France, completely impoverished but with the one possession that ensures that aristocrats are never truly poor: connections.

Philip had a traumatic childhood. He was forged by the turmoil of his first decade and then moulded by his schooling. His early years were spent wandering, as his place of birth ejected him, his family disintegrated and he moved from country to country, none of them ever his own. When he was just a year old, he and his family were scooped up by a British destroyer from his home on the Greek island of Corfu after his father had been condemned to death. They were deposited in Italy. One of Philip's first international journeys was spent crawling around on the floor of the train from an Italian port city, "the grubby child on the desolate train pulling out of the Brindisi night," as his older sister Sophia later described it.

In Paris, he lived in a house borrowed from a relative; but it was not destined to become a home. In just one year, while he was at boarding school in Britain, the mental health of his mother, Princess Alice, deteriorated and she went into an asylum; his father, Prince Andrew, went off to Monte Carlo to live with his mistress. "I don't think anybody thinks I had a father," he once said. Andrew would die during the war. Philip went to Monte Carlo to pick up his father's possessions after the Germans had been driven from France; there was almost nothing left, just a couple of clothes brushes and some cuff-links.

Philip’s four sisters were all much older, and were soon all married to German aristocrats (the youngest would soon die in an aeroplane crash, along with her husband and children). His sisters became ever more embroiled in the German regime. In Scotland going to Gordonstoun boarding school, Philip went the opposite direction, becoming ever more British. Following the death of his sister Cecilie in a plane crash in 1937, the gulf widened. As the clouds of conflict gathered, the family simply disintegrated. With a flash of the flinty stoicism that many would later interpret, with no little justification, as self-reliance to the point of dispassion, the prince explained: “It’s simply what happened. The family broke up… I just had to get on with it. You do. One does.”

In the space of 10 years he had gone from a prince of Greece to a wandering, homeless, and virtually penniless boy with no-one to care for him. He got through it by making a joke of everything, and by being practical.

By the time he went to Gordonstoun, a private boarding school on the north coast of Scotland, Philip was tough, independent and able to fend for himself; he'd had to be. Gordonstoun would channel those traits into the school's distinct philosophy of community service, teamwork, responsibility and respect for the individual. And it sparked one of the great passions of Philip's life - his love of the sea. It was Gordonstoun that nurtured that love through the maturation of his character.

Philip adored the school as much as his son Charles would despise it. Not just because the stress it put on physical as well as mental excellence - he was a great sportsman. But because of its ethos, laid down by its founder Kurt Hahn, a Jewish exile from Nazi Germany.

Hahn first met Philip as a boy in Nazi Germany. Through a connection via one of his sister’s husbands, Philip, the poor, lonely boy was first sent off to a new school - in Nazi Germany. Which was as fun as can be imagined. Schloss Salem had been co-founded by stern educator called Kurt Hahn, a tough, discipline-obsessed conservative nationalist who saw civilisation in inexorable decline. But by this stage Hahn, persecuted for being Jewish in Nazi Germany, had fled to Britain, and Philip did not spend long at the school either, where pressure from the authorities was already making things difficult for the teachers. Philip laughed at the Nazis at first, because their salute was the same gesture the boys at his previous school had to make when they wanted to go to the toilet, but within a year he was back in England, a refugee once again.

Philip happily attended Hahn’s new school, Gordonstoun, which the strict disciplinarian had set up in the Scottish Highlands. Inspired by Ancient Sparta, the boys (and then later girls) had to run around barefoot and endure cold showers, even in winter, the whole aim of which was to drive away the inevitable civilisational decay Hahn saw all around him. To 21st century ears it sounds like hell on earth, yet Philip enjoyed it, illustrating just what a totally alien world he came from.

That ethos became a significant, perhaps the significant, part of the way that Philip believed life should be lived. It shines through the speeches he gave later in his life. "The essence of freedom," he would say in Ghana in 1958, "is discipline and self-control." The comforts of the post-war era, he told the British Schools Exploring Society a year earlier, may be important "but it is much more important that the human spirit should not be stifled by easy living". And two years before that, he spoke to the boys of Ipswich School of the moral as well as material imperatives of life, with the "importance of the individual" as the "guiding principle of our society".

It was at Gordonstoun one of the great contradictions of Philip's fascinating life was born. The importance of the individual was what in Kurt Hahn's eyes differentiated Britain and liberal democracies from the kind of totalitarian dictatorship that he had fled. Philip put that centrality of the individual, and individual agency - the ability we have as humans to make our own moral and ethical decisions - at the heart of his philosophy.

At Dartmouth Naval College in 1939, the two great passions of his life would collide. He had learned to sail at Gordonstoun; he would learn to lead at Dartmouth. And his driving desire to achieve, and to win, would shine through. Despite entering the college far later than most other cadets, he would graduate top of his class in 1940. In further training at Portsmouth, he gained the top grade in four out of five sections of the exam. He became one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy.

The navy ran deep in his family. His maternal grandfather had been the First Sea Lord, the commander of the Royal Navy; his uncle, "Dickie" Mountbatten, had command of a destroyer while Philip was in training. In war, he showed not only bravery but guile. It was his natural milieu. "Prince Philip", wrote Gordonstoun headmaster Kurt Hahn admiringly, "will make his mark in any profession where he will have to prove himself in a trial of strength".

2. Prince Philip and the modernisation of the monarchy

In his own words, the process of defining what it meant to be a royal consort was one of “trial and error.” Speaking with BBC One’s Fiona Bruce in 2011, Philip explained, “There was no precedent. If I asked somebody, 'What do you expect me to do?' they all looked blank. They had no bloody idea, nobody had much idea.” So he forged for himself a role as a moderniser of the monarchy.

He could not have had much idea back in 1939. Back then in Dartmouth in 1939, as war became ever more certain, the navy was his destiny. He had fallen in love with the sea itself. "It is an extraordinary master or mistress," he would say later, "it has such extraordinary moods." But a rival to the sea would come.

When King George VI toured Dartmouth Naval College, accompanied by Philip's uncle, he brought with him his daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Philip was asked to look after her. He showed off to her, vaulting the nets of the tennis court in the grounds of the college. He was confident, outgoing, strikingly handsome, of royal blood if without a throne. She was beautiful, a little sheltered, a little serious, and very smitten by Philip.

Did he know then that this was a collision of two great passions? That he could not have the sea and the beautiful young woman? For a time after their wedding in 1948, he did have both. As young newlyweds in Malta, he had what he so prized - command of a ship - and they had two idyllic years together. But the illness and then early death of King George VI brought it all to an end.

He knew what it meant, the moment he was told. Up in a lodge in Kenya, touring Africa, with Princess Elizabeth in place of the King, Philip was told first of the monarch's death in February 1952. He looked, said his equerry Mike Parker, "as if a ton of bricks had fallen on him". For some time he sat, slumped in a chair, a newspaper covering his head and chest. His princess had become the Queen. His world had changed irrevocably.

While the late Princess Diana was later to famously claim that there were “three people” in her marriage - herself, Prince Charles and Camilla - there were at least 55 million in Philip and Elizabeth’s. As Elizabeth dedicated her life to her people at Westminster Abbey at the Coronation on June 2, 1953, it sparked something of an existential crisis in Philip. Many people even after his death have never really understood this pivotal moment in Philip’s life. All his dreams of being a naval officer and a life at sea as well as being the primary provider and partner in his marriage were now sacrificed on the altar of duty and love.

With his career was now over, and he was now destined to become the spare part. Philip, very reasonably, asked that his future children and indeed his family be known by his name, Mountbatten. In effect he was asking to change the royal family’s name from the House of Windsor to the House of Mountbatten. But when Prime Minister Winston Churchill got wind of it as well as the more politically agile courtiers behind the Queen, a prolonged battle of wits ensued, and it was one Philip ultimately lost. It was only in 1957 that he accepted the title of “Prince.”

Even though he had almost lost everything dear to him and his role now undefined, he didn’t throw himself a pity party. He just got on with it. Philip tried to forge his own distinct role as second fiddle to the woman who had come to represent Great Britain. He designated himself the First Officer of the Good Ship Windsor. He set about dusting off some of the cobwebs off the throne and letting some daylight unto the workings of the monarchy by advocating reasonable amount of modernisation of the monarchy.

He had ideas about modernising the royal family that might be called “improving optics” today. But in his heart of hearts he didn’t want the monarchy to become a stuffy museum piece. He envisaged a less stuffy and more popular monarchy, relevant to the lives of ordinary people. Progress was always going to be incremental as he had sturdy opposition from the old guard who wanted to keep everything as it was, but nevertheless his stubborn energy resulted in significant changes.

When a commission chaired by Prince Philip proposed broadcasting the 1953 investiture ceremony that formally named Elizabeth II as queen on live television, Prime Minister Winston Churchill reacted with outright horror, declaring, “It would be unfitting that the whole ceremony should be presented as if it were a theatrical performance.” Though the queen had initially voiced similar concerns, she eventually came around to the idea, allowing the broadcast of all but one segment of the coronation. Ultimately, according to the BBC, more than 20 million people tuned in to the televised ceremony - a credit to the foresight of Philip.

Elizabeth’s coronation marked a watershed moment for a monarchy that has, historically, been very hands off, old-fashioned and slightly invisible. Over the following years, the royals continued to embrace television as a way of connecting with the British people: In 1957, the queen delivered her annual Christmas address during a live broadcast. Again, this was Philip’s doing when he cajoled the Queen to televise her message live. He even helped her in how to use the teleprompter to get over her nerves and be herself on screen.

Four years later, in 1961, Philip became the first family member to sit for a television interview. It is hard for us to imagine now but back then it was huge. For many it was a significant step in modernising the monarchy.

Though not everything went to plan. Toward the end of the decade, the Windsors even invited cameras into their home. A 1969 BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary, instigated by Philip to show life behind the scenes, turned into an unmitigated disaster: “The Windsors” revealed the royals to be a fairly normal, if very rich, British upper-class family who liked barbecues, ice cream, watching television and bickering. The mystery of royalty took a hit below the waterline from their own torpedo, a self-inflicted wound from which they took a long time to recover. Shown once, the documentary was never aired again. But it had an irreversible effect, and not just by revealing the royals to be ordinary. By allowing the cameras in, Philip opened the lid to the prying eyes of the paparazzi who could legitimately argue that since the Royals themselves had sanctioned exposure, anything went. From then on, minor members of the House of Windsor were picked off by the press, like helpless tethered animals on a hunting safari.

Prince Philip also took steps to reorganise and renovate the royal estates in Sandringham and Balmoral such as intercoms, modern dish washers,  generally sought to make the royal household and the monarchy less stuffy, not to have so much formality everywhere.

Philip helped modernised the monarchy in other ways to acknowledge that the monarchy could be responsive to changes in society. It was Prince Philip - much to the chagrin of the haughty Princess Margaret and other stuffy old courtiers - who persuaded the Queen to host informal lunches and garden parties designed to engage a broader swath of the British public. Conversely, Prince Philip heartily encouraged the Queen (she was all for it apparently but was still finding her feet as a new monarch) to end the traditional practice of presenting debutantes from aristocratic backgrounds at court in 1952. For Philip and others it felt antiquated and out of touch with society. I know in speaking to my grandmother and others in her generation the decision was received with disbelief at how this foreign penniless upstart could come and stomp on the dreams of mothers left to clutch their pearls at the prospect there would be no shop window for their daughter to attract a suitable gentleman for marriage. One of my great aunts was over the moon happy that she never would have to go through what she saw as a very silly ceremony because she preferred her muddy wellies to high heels. 

A former senior member of the royal household, who spent several years working as one of Prince Philip’s aides, and an old family friend, once told us around a family dinner table that the Duke of Edinburgh was undoubtedly given a sense of permanence by his marriage into the Royal Family that was missing from earlier years. But the royal aide would hastily add that Prince Philip, of course, would never see it that way.

Prince Philip’s attitude was to never brood on things or seek excuses. And he did indeed get on with the job in his own way  - there should be no doubt that when it came to building and strengthening the Royal Family it was a partnership of equals with the Queen. Indeed contrary to Netflix’s hugely popular series ‘The Crown’ and its depiction of the royal marriage with Philip’s resentment at playing second fiddle, the prince recognised that his “first duty was to serve the Queen in the best way I could,” as he told ITV in 2011. Though this role was somewhat ill-suited to his dynamic, driven, and outspoken temperament, Philip performed it with utter devotion.

3. Prince Philip’s legacy

One could argue rightly that modernising the monarchy was his lasting legacy achievement. But he also tried to modernise a spent and exhausted Britain as it emerged from a ruinous war. When peace came, and with it eventual economic recovery, Philip would throw himself into the construction of a better Britain, urging the country to adopt scientific methods, embracing the ideas of industrial design, planning, education and training. A decade before Harold Wilson talked of the "white heat of the technological revolution", Philip was urging modernity on the nation in speeches and interviews. He was on top of his reading of the latest scientific breakthroughs and well read in break out innovations.

This interest in modernisation was only matched by his love for nature. As the country and the world became richer and consumed ever more, Philip warned of the impact on the environment, well before it was even vaguely fashionable. As president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the UK for more than 20 years from 1961, he was one of the first high-profile advocates of the cause of conservation and biological diversity at a time when it was considered the preserve of an eccentric few.

For a generation of school children in Britain and the Commonwealth though, his most lasting legacy and achievement will be the Duke of Edinburgh Awards (DofE). He set up the Duke of Edinburgh award, a scheme aimed at getting young people out into nature in search of adventure or be of service to their communities. It was a scheme that could match the legacy of Baden Powell’s scouts movement. 

When Prince Philip first outlined his idea of a scheme to harness the values of his education at Gordonstoun by bringing character-building outdoor pursuits to the many rather than the fee-paying few, he received short shrift from the government of the day. The then minister of education, Sir David Eccles responded to the Duke’s proposal by saying: “I hear you’re trying to invent something like the Hitler Youth.” Undeterred he pushed on until it came to fruition.

I’m so glad that he did. I remember how proud I was for getting my DofE Awards while I was at boarding school. With the support of great mentors I managed to achieve my goals: collecting second-hand English books for a literacy programme for orphaned street children in Delhi, India with a close Indian school friend and her family; and completing a 350 mile hike following St. Olav’s Pilgrimmage Trail from Selånger, on the east coast of Sweden, and ending at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, on the west coast of Norway.

It continues to be an enduring legacy.  Since its launch in 1956, the Duke of Edinburgh awards have been bestowed upon some 2.5 million youngsters in Britain and some eight million worldwide. For a man who once referred to himself as a “Greek princeling of no consequence”, his pioneering tutelage of these two organisations (alongside some 778 other organisations of which he was either president or a patron) would be sufficient legacy for most.

4. Prince Philip’s character

It may surprise some but what I liked most about Prince Philip was the very thing that helped him achieve so much and leave a lasting legacy: his character.

It is unhelpful to the caricature of Prince Philip as an unwavering but pugnacious consort whose chief talent was a dizzying facility in off-colour one-liners that he was widely read and probably the cleverest member of his family.

His private library at Windsor consists of 11,000 tomes, among them 200 volumes of poetry. He was a fan of Jung, TS Eliot, Shakespeare and the cookery writer Elizabeth David. As well as a lifelong fascination with science, technology and sport, he spoke fairly fluent French, painted and wrote a well received book on birds. It’s maddening to think how many underestimated his genuine intellect and how cultured he was behind the crusty exterior.

He didn’t have an entourage to fawn around him. He was the first to own a computer at Buckingham Palace. He answered his own phone and wrote and responded to his own correspondence. By force of character he fought the old guard courtiers at every turn to modernise the monarchy  against their stubborn resistance.

Prince Philip was never given to self-analysis or reflection on the past. Various television interviewers tried without success to coerce him in to commenting on his legacy.But once when his guard was down he asked on the occasion of his 90th birthday what he was more proud of, he replied with characteristic bluntness: “I couldn’t care less. Who cares what I think about it, I mean it’s ridiculous.”

All of which neatly raises the profound aversion to fuss and the proclivity for tetchiness often expressed in withering put-downs that, for better or worse, will be the reflex memory for many of the Duke of Edinburgh. If character is a two edged sword so what of his gaffes? 

There is no doubt his cult status partly owed to his so-called legendary gaffes, of which there are enough to fill a book (indeed there is a book). But he was no racist. None of the Commonwealth people or foreign heads of state ever said this about him. Only leftist republicans with too much Twitter time on their hands screamed such a ridiculous accusation. They’re just overly sensitive snowflakes and being devoid of any humour they’re easily triggered.

There was the time that Philip accepted a gift from a local in Kenya, telling her she was a kind woman, and then adding: “You are a woman, aren’t you?” Or the occasion he remarked “You managed not to get eaten, then?” to a student trekking in Papua New Guinea. Then there was his World Wildlife Fund speech in 1986, when he said: “If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.” Well, he wasn’t wrong.

Philip quickly developed a reputation for what he once defined, to the General Dental Council, as “dentopedology – the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it”. Clearly he could laugh at himself as he often did as an ice breaker to put others at ease.

His remarking to the president of Nigeria, who was wearing national dress, “You look like you’re ready for bed”, or advising British students in China not to stay too long or they would end up with “slitty eyes”, is probably best written off as ill-judged humour. Telling a photographer to “just take the fucking picture” or declaring “this thing open, whatever it is”, were expressions of exasperation or weariness with which anyone might sympathise.

Above all, he was also capable of genuine if earthy wit, saying of his horse-loving daughter Princess Anne: “If it doesn’t fart or eat hay she isn’t interested.” Many people might have thought it but few dared say it. If Prince Philip’s famous gaffes provoked as much amusement as anger, it was precisely because they seem to give voice to the bewilderment and pent-up frustrations with which many people viewed the ever-changing modern world.

A former royal protection officer recounts how while on night duty guarding a visiting Queen and consort, he engaged in conversation with colleagues on a passing patrol. It was 2am and the officer had understood the royal couple to be staying elsewhere in the building until a window above his head was abruptly slammed open and an irate Prince Philip stuck his head out of the window to shout: “Would you fuck off!” Without another word, he then shut the window.

The Duke at least recognised from an early age that he was possessed of an abruptness that could all too easily cross the line from the refreshingly salty to crass effrontery.

One of his most perceptive biographers, Philip Eade, recounted how at the age of 21 the prince wrote a letter to a relation whose son had recently been killed in combat. He wrote: “I know you will never think much of me. I am rude and unmannerly and I say things out of turn which I realise afterwards must have hurt someone. Then I am filled with remorse and I try to put matters right.”

In the case of the royal protection officer, the Duke turned up in the room used by the police officers when off duty and said: “Terribly sorry about last night, wasn’t quite feeling myself.”

Aides have also ventured to explain away some of their employer’s more outlandish remarks - from asking Cayman islanders “You are descended from pirates aren’t you?” to enquiring of a female fashion writer if she was wearing mink knickers - as the price of his instinctive desire to prick the pomposity of his presence with a quip to put others at ease.

Indeed many people forget that his ‘gaffes’ were more typical of the clubbish humour of the British officer class – which of course would be less appreciated, sometimes even offensive, to other ears. It’s why he could relate so well to veterans who enjoyed his bonhomie company immensely.

But behind the irascibility, some have argued there also lay a darker nature, unpleasantly distilled in his flinty attitude to his eldest son. One anecdote tells of how, in the aftermath of the murder of the Duke’s uncle and surrogate father, Lord Mountbatten,  Philip lectured his son, who was also extremely fond of his “honorary grandfather”, that he was not to succumb to self-pity. Charles left the room in tears and when his father was asked why he had spoken to his son with so little compassion, the Duke replied: “Because if there’s any crying to be done I want it to happen within this house, in front of his family, not in public. He must be toughened up, right now.”

But here I would say that Prince Philip’s intentions were almost always sincere and in no way cruel. He has always tried to protect his family - even from their own worst selves or from those outside the family ‘firm’ who may not have their best interest at heart.

In 1937, a 16-year-old Prince Philip had walked behind his elder sister Cecile’s coffin after she was killed in a plane crash while heavily pregnant. The remains of newly-born infant found in the wreckage suggested the aircraft had perished as the pilot sought to make an emergency landing in fog as the mother entered childbirth. It was an excruciating taste of tragedy which would one day manifest itself in a very princely form of kindness that was deep down that defined Philip’s character.

When about 60 years later Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spin doctors in Downing Street tried to strong arm the Queen and the royal household over the the arrangements for the late Prince Diana’s funeral, it was Philip who stepped in front to protect his family. The Prime Minister and his media savvy spin doctors wanted the two young princes, William and Harry, to walk behind the coffin.

The infamous exchange was on the phone during a conference call between London and Balmoral, and the emotional Philip was reportedly backed by the Queen. The call was witnessed by Anji Hunter, who worked for Mr Blair. She said how surprised she was to hear Prince Philip’s emotion. ‘It’s about the boys,” he cried, “They’ve lost their mother”. Hunter thought to herself, “My God, there’s a bit of suffering going on up there”.’

Sky TV political commentator Adam Boulton (Anji Hunter’s husband) would write in his book Tony’s Ten Years: ‘The Queen relished the moment when Philip bellowed over the speakerphone from Balmoral, “Fuck off. We are talking about two boys who have just lost their mother”. Boulton goes on to say that Philip: ‘…was trying to remind everyone that human feelings were involved. No 10 were trying to help the Royals present things in the best way, but may have seemed insensitive.’

In the end the politicians almost didn’t get their way. Prince Philip stepped in to counsel his grandson, Prince William, after he had expressed a reluctance to follow his mother’s coffin after her death in Paris. Philip told the grieving child: “If you don’t walk, I think you’ll regret it later. If I walk, will you walk with me?”

It’s no wonder he was sought as a counsellor by other senior royals and especially close to his grandchildren, for whom he was a firm favourite. His relationship with Harry was said to have become strained, however, following the younger Prince’s decision to reject his royal inheritance for a life away from the public eye in America with his new American wife, Meghan Markle. For Prince Philip I am quite sure it went against all the elder Prince had lived his life by - self-sacrifice for the greater cause of royalty.

This is the key to Philip’s character and in understanding the man. The ingrained habits of a lifetime of duty and service in one form or another were never far away.

In conclusion then....

After more time passes I am sure historians will make a richer reassessment of Prince Philip’s life and legacy. Because Prince Philip was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life; a life intimately connected with the sweeping changes of our turbulent 20th Century, a life of fascinating contrast and contradiction, of service and some degree of solitude. A complex, clever, eternally restless man that not even the suffocating protocols of royalty and tradition could bind him.

Although he fully accepted the limitations of public royal service, he did not see this as any reason for passive self-abnegation, but actively, if ironically, identified with his potentially undignified role. It is this bold and humorous embrace of fated restriction which many now find irksome: one is no longer supposed to mix public performance with private self-expression in quite this manner.

Yet such a mix is authentically Socratic: the proof that the doing of one’s duty can also be the way of self-fulfilment. The Duke’s sacrifice of career to romance and ceremonial office is all the more impressive for his not hiding some annoyance. The combination of his restless temperament and his deeply felt devotion to duty found fruitful expression; for instance, in the work of Saint George’s House Windsor - a centre and retreat that he created with Revd. Robin Woods - in exploring religious faith, philosophy, and contemporary issues.

Above all he developed a way to be male that was both traditional and modern. He served one woman with chivalric devotion as his main task in life while fulfilling his public engagements in a bold and active spirit. He eventually embraced the opportunity to read and contemplate more. And yet, he remained loyal to the imperatives of his mentor Kurt Hahn in seeking to combine imagination with action and religious devotion with practical involvement.

Prince Philip took more pride in the roles he had accidentally inherited than in the personal gifts which he was never able fully to develop. He put companionship before self-realisation and acceptance of a sacred symbolic destiny before the mere influencing of events. In all these respects he implicitly rebuked our prevailing meritocracy which over-values officially accredited attainment, and our prevailing narcissism which valorises the assertion of discrete identities.

Prince Philip was Britain’s longest-serving consort. He was steadfast, duty driven, and a necessary adjunct to the continuity and stability of the Queen and the monarchy. Of all the institutions that have lost the faith of the British public in this period - the Church, Parliament, the media, the police - the Monarchy itself has surprisingly done better than most at surviving, curiously well-adapted to a period of societal change and moral anarchy. The House of Hanover and later Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (changed to Windsor), since their arrival in this country in 1714, have been noted above all for their ability to adapt. And just as they survived the Victorian age by transforming themselves into the bourgeoise, domestic ideal, so they have survived the new Elizabethan era (Harry-Meghan saga is just a passing blip like the Edward-Wallis Simpson saga of the 1930s).

There was once a time when the Royal’s German blood was a punchline for crude and xenophobic satirists. Now it is the royals who are deeply British while the country itself is increasingly cosmopolitan and globalised. British society has seen a greater demographic change than the preceding four or five thousand years combined, the second Elizabethan age has been characterised more than anything by a transformational movement of people. Prince Philip, the Greek-born, Danish-German persecuted and destitute wanderer who came to become one of the Greatest Britons of the past century, perhaps epitomised that era better than anyone else. And he got through it by making a joke of everything, and by being practical.

I hope I don’t exaggerate when I say that in our troubled times over identity, and our place and purpose in the world, we need to heed his selfless example more than ever.

As Heraclitus wisely said,  Ήθος ανθρώπω δαίμων (Character is destiny.)

RIP Prince Philip. You were my prince. God damn you, I miss you already.

Thanks for your question.