#most expensive comic book marvel

[disneytva]

Dynamite Comics Launches Kickstarter for GARGOYLES Classic Comics As Part Of The Show's 30th Anniversary.

Dynamite Comics and Disney Comics are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Gargoyles with the first-ever Kickstarter campaign featuring brand new graphic novels collecting long out-of-print Gargoyles comic books.

Dynamite Entertainment brought back Gargoyles as a comic series in 2022 to great acclaim. Now the publisher is crowdfunding a reprint of the classic comics based on the beloved animated series. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Dynamite is excited to offer three beautiful tomes collecting all of these previous tales for fans. The set is initially being offered on Kickstarter to reach and communicate with diverse fans of all ages directly.

“I’m honestly thrilled that these three volumes will finally give Gargoyles fans easy access to these great stories, including the canon SLG tales!” said Weisman. “I think the Dynamite Kickstarter is a great way for Gargoyles fans to get the word out and to reserve their copies. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I hope our fans don’t miss out!”

The first volume is the hotly anticipated compilation of the first-ever Gargoyles comic series from 1995. This 11-issue title was originally released by Marvel Comics and is set loosely between the first two seasons of the original TV show. The memorable first issue featured a jaw-dropping cover by artist Joe Madureira, one of the biggest superstars of the era from his work on Uncanny X-Men. The series was written by Martin Pasko (Superman) and Mort Todd.

The second and third volumes of the Gargoyles Classic Years will be an incredible treat. From 2006 to 2009, a new Gargoyles comic series was launched from SLG Publishing in association with CreatureComics — the first written by Weisman. The main series, often referred to as “Clan Building,” was joined by a companion title, Bad Guys. Issues #9-12 of Gargoyles and #5-6 of Bad Guys did not see release and were only printed in paperback collections with small print runs. They were produced at a smaller digest size and have been incredibly expensive for years on the secondary market. 

The three-volume set is available in multiple variations for different kinds of fans and collectors. Each is available as either hardcover or paperback. Deluxe hardcover editions with signed tip-in pages are being offered. For the Gargoyles diehards, the most premium option will be the Gargoyles 30th Anniversary Premier Editions limited to just 1,000 copies each!

In addition to the books at the center of this celebration, the campaign will offer several add-ons for backers, including lithograph prints of Jae Lee and Amanda Conner’s covers for Dynamite’s Gargoyles #1. The most premium art piece anyone can get will be a deluxe signed and remarqued giclée print of Lee’s Gargoyles art.

In addition to the reprint of the full series, fans can get special facsimile editions of the very first issue with gold or purple foil stamping. Sketch cover options are also available, as well as commissioned original art from Lee. Plus, collector packs of variant cover sets or premium limited editions and metal covers for Dynamite’s series can be added.

[roguestorm]

How To Start Reading Marvel Comics

Okay, so let's say you're a fan of the Marvel movies or games or you just saw Spider-Verse and you want to know how to start reading comics. Hi, welcome! This is one method of getting into comics; it is not the only one. We're going to be heavily relying on digital comics for this one, so if you prefer reading on paper, this might not be for you.

Step One: Pick a Character

This should be easy! Pick a character whose comics you want to read. It doesn't have to be your favorite character of all time; it just needs to be a character you're interested in getting to know a little better. A character is going to work better for this particular method than a team will, although there are plenty of team reading guides if you really want them.

Let's say, for the sake of example, that you just watched the Moon Knight Disney+ series and you want to read some stuff about Moon Knight.

Step Two: Find a Reading List

The very technically advanced way to do this is to Google "[Character] Reading List" or "[Character] Recommended Reading." For Moon Knight, Marvel has an official one that pops up right away.

The official ones are good places to start, but IMO, the best ones are usually from tumblr or Reddit. Comic fans can be very intense, but we also know more about the material than anyone, including Marvel. :) Here's one for Moon Knight.)

Step Three: Understanding the Reading List

Comic names are formatted one of two ways. You might see someone say Moon Knight (vol 7) or Moon Knight (2014). These refer to the same series of comics. They mean that the title of the series is Moon Knight, that it is the 7th series published under that title, and that it started publication in 2014. Moon Knight (vol 1) is Moon Knight (1980), because it's the first run of comics called Moon Knight and it started publication in 1980.

So, how do you know? That's where the wiki comes in. marvel.fandom.com is my best friend. So, when you type "Moon Knight vol 7" into the search bar, it brings up this page. See how it says (2014-2015) at the top? That's how you know that Moon Knight (vol 7) is Moon Knight (2014).

Step Four: Accessing Comics

Now we have to get the comics. We have a number of options:

For digital comics:

Buying digital comics. You can do this on Amazon or Marvel.com. However, this gets expensive real fast - for example, Moon Knight (1980) has 38 issues, and each of those costs $1.99. That's almost $80, just for volume 1.

Marvel Unlimited subscription. This is not a bad deal TBH. It's $10 a month, and they have quite an extensive catalogue. The only problem is that the site takes forever to load and is not easily searchable. Usually, I'll type into Google the name of the exact comic I want to access (e.g. "Moon Knight (1980) #1") and then click on the marvel.com link that comes up.

Piracy. This is the easiest and cheapest option, and thus the most popular. I'm not going to link any sites, but ask a friend or Google and you'll find one easily enough.

Physical comics are also an option, but they are more complicated. Groups of issues are collected in trade paperback collections, but finding which collections contain which issues can be a bit more of a hassle. And then buying those collections can get pricey very quickly.

If you like physical comics and have a public library card, I'd recommend checking out what they have on their shelves. On a Marvel comic, you want to look at the back cover, usually in the lower right-hand corner, and it will tell you which issues are in the comic (e.g. "Collects Moon Knight (2014) #1-6"). You might find some things that were on your reading list, or you might find some comics you'd never have read otherwise. A lot of public libraries (at least in the US) have a larger comic book collection than you'd expect.

Step Five: Have Fun and Be Yourself!

The most important thing to remember is that you are supposed to be having fun. There might be some frustration if you're not used to reading visual media (I know I wasn't), but it should overall be fun. If a comic feels like a slog, you don't have to read it! Maybe you and the person who made the reading list just have different taste. Try a different comic. Try a different character.

Also, remember that it's okay to be confused. You might be jumping around a little bit and so you might not know everything that's going on. This is kind of the perpetual state of reading comics. If you want to double-check the wiki or ask your friendly neighborhood comics blogger, that's totally fine.

[saphire-dance]

Welcome to the Transformers Fandom

Did you just see Transformers One? It was good, wasn't it? Do you want to be fannish about it? This post is for you.

First thing to know is we use the tag maccadam. This practice dates back to when the live action movies would flood the Transformers tag with actor pics. Maccadam is where you will find the robots. It is a reference to Maccadam's Old Oil House. A bar found in some continuities. You can still use the Transformers tag

Speaking of references. Let me introduce you to your new best friend: TFWiki. The Transformers Wiki is the place to go if you want to know anything about Transformers. Shows, Movies, Comics, Books, Toys. It's all there. We're spoiled with how good this wiki is. Thanks, guys.

Now you don't have to watch more Transfomers to be a fan. If you loved the movie you're already a fan. You don't have to ever watch another thing and you are still a fan and welcome here. But I'm betting you want to see more Transfomers. Here are some other continuities and where to find them. This is not an extensive list. This is a starter pack.

The Transformers (1984) AKA Generation 1 AKA G1. The original that started it all. Dubious 80s animation and some of the greatest voice actors of all time. Available on Tubi for free.

Beast Wars AKA TFBW. If G1 started everything Beast Wars is what kept it from dying out. Absolutely bleeding edge computer animation in the 90s. It's, uh, very dated, but the story and voice acting still hold up and I recommend giving it a chance. Available on Tubi for free.

Transformers Animated AKA TFA (yes we fought the Star Wars folks over that tag) Debuted the same year as the first Live Action Movie. It is very anime influenced and shows a very different side to our favorite characters. One of the more popular shows in the fandom. Available on Tubi for free. Also on Pluto

Transformers Prime AKA TFP AKA Prime. Another very popular show with the fandom. Part of the Aligned continuity which featured books, games, and other shows. This is probably closest to Transformers One in characterization and I would recommend making this your next watch if you can. The First season is on Netflix with the rest available on Tubi. Yeah I don't know what is up with that.

Rescue Bots AKA TFRB This is a Show for Preschoolers, but don't let that scare you away. It is one of the best Transformers shows. Somehow also part of the Aligned continuity. Season one is on Netflix and it is also available on Pluto

Transformers Cyberverse AKA Cyberverse AKA TFCV. A fun Bumblebee focused show. Very few humans. Season 1 is on Hasbro's YouTube channel, Season 3 (????) is on Netflix, Also on Pluto.

Transformers EarthSpark AKA TFES. The most recent show. Lots of new characters and a new side to Megatron that I love. On Paramount+ and YouTube premium.

Live Action Movies. There are 7 live action movies the first 5 are directed by Micheal Bay and are collectively known as the Bayverse The other two movies Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, are also sometimes lumped in with Bayverse. It is debated if they are reboots or prequels. Personally Bumblebee is my favorite. They are all available on Paramount+

Comics. Comics have been part of Transformers from the very beginning. First with Marvel and later with other publishers. Marvel Dreamwave and IDW are the best known publishers. IDW is still very popular in fandom. Currently comics are being published by Skybound. Unfortunately finding out of print comics can be very difficult/expensive and I recommend checking TFWIKI for summaries if you can't find them.

[rjmhereunderprotest]

Crossed Paths & Tangled Webs: Why I Ship SpiderCat

This is gonna be a controversial one through no fault of my own... but also it's all my own damn fault. A confusing contradicting statement to be sure, but when you're talking about Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy, that statement seems to ring the most true. Two people who are as perfect for each other as they are imperfect. In love through no fault of their own... and completely at fault for being so.

My poll for another ship to cover picked this... I'm more than happy to talk about it but we're dealing with volatile stuff right now. As I write this, Spider-Man and Black Cat actually ARE in a relationship with each other. Peter has recently stated that he no longer feels romantically for his long-time love-interest, Mary Jane, calling her more akin to a sister. MJ was apparently stuck in some post-apocalyptic Narnia situation where enough time passed for her to have kids with another guy. And if that wasn't enough... Mary Jane may be about to join Gwen Stacey in the fridge, if you get my meaning. As Zeb Wells is teasing the most shocking Spider-Man story since Gwen Stacey's death and the solicits for the story afterwards say Spider-Man is about to suffer a terrible loss. Felicia is on the covers of at least one of those issues. So unless it's a complete fake out and Wells is going to kill off a relationship he has stated he both prefers and spent a ton of time setting up at the expense of the preferred romance among fans... yeah it's not looking good for MJ. I mean he might kill off Aunt May again, but... well there's no guarantees in comics... ever.

This is a strange time period to be a long suffering SpiderCat shipper. I have held a torch for these two for such a long time it feels like almost second nature. I see Felicia, I want to see her with Peter. No one else, man or woman, will do. (Yes she's Bi, shut up, it's canon) Yet right now, a SpiderCat shipper is now writing the Spider-Man books and everyone seems to absolutely hate Zeb Wells' execution of it all. I've gotten what I wanted, at last, but fans are outright rejecting it. Not so much for Felicia and Peter being together mind you, as much as they're annoyed MJ is being thrown under the bus.

Which I get actually, I may have wanted this ship over Peter/MJ, but not at her expense. I don't want her DEAD or badly written. And given how Marvel has basically treated MJ and Peter over the years, it's hard to argue that these reactions are anything but justified. Even decades later, One More Day's shadow still looms large. Marvel has constantly teased and poked and prodded and snickered about the possibility of Mary Jane and Peter Parker becoming an item again. If not married, at the very least dating. But Marvel seems insistent on this point. "The Marriage was a mistake, we're never going back to it. And anything that is even remotely similar to that status quo is not allowed. Ever." The inability of Marvel's Spidey writers to craft a compelling happy marriage between Peter and MJ has been an albatross around the neck of the ship forever! Even when they did it in an ongoing, it had to be a different universe! One where the Civil War comics event wasn't a thing, so that was also a plus. And MJ had to get Spider Powers too in order to smooth over the whole thing for writers.

So, yeah, MJ's been blamed for making Spider-Books dull and kept at arms length from Peter as much as possible. Because if Spider-Man is EVER TOO HAPPY that can only spell DOOM for the character. His world must always revolve around misery. Linkara of AT4W has said it time and again, in the eyes of Marvel, Spider-Man can never be allowed to be happy.

And yet, despite all that, I still hold true to this maxim, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy are made for each other. If I ever had an OTP, if I ever had a ship I'd die for, if there was ever any romance I was forever evergreen invested in... it was SpiderCat. Despite whatever the world says, that it can't work, that it's a bad idea, that they don't need each other, that it will never be the way Peter/MJ were once... I don't care. I reject all of that and state proudly, without shame, every time that Spider-Man and the Black Cat are and always shall be perfect for each other.

So Let's Talk about Why that is...

Usually I'm inclined to give brief synopsis points about both characters in separate sections. But Spider-Man is so well known and Black Cat so simply explained in their initial set ups it feels almost... pointless. When you can describe at least one half of the shipping dynamic with a theme song from a sixties cartoon it's hard to honestly come up with anything new or original.

So yeah, Peter Parker, nerdy wimp who gets bitten by a radioactive spider, doesn't get cancer from this, but super powers. Thinks about using these great powers to enrich his life, but after letting a criminal get away because it's "not his problem" he learns a harsh lesson about responsibility. His uncle dies at the hands of said criminal, it's all his fault, and Peter proclaims that as long as he has these powers he will use them to help people.

And as a result, Spider-Man is the hero that always gets up because he has to, he needs to. Because people, strangers and loved ones, depend on him. This comes at the cost of a great deal of things that would make him personally happy. Because if Spider-Man is about anything, it's about personal sacrifice and responsibility. It has been a running theme since his first comic and will continue until the heat death of the universe. If you know nothing else of Spider-Man, this is the most important fact about him going forward for the rest of this essay. Spider-Man is Responsibility and Self-Sacrifice Personified. Whenever he doesn't live up to either aspect of himself, bad things happen, to him, to the people he cares about and New York City at large.

On the other side of that coin, Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat. Infamous thief. While her origins are more fluid throughout her incarnations, her general story is pretty much the same. Felicia is a thrill seeking thief, who lives for the daredevil rush only a well-executed heist can accomplish. The Black Cat persona is that of a femme fatale thief of the highest order. There's no question that she shares more than a few similarities to Catwoman of Batman fame. Save for the fact she might possess a slight passive power that causes bad luck to her opponents.

Different character of course, but that's just to establish that it is a superpower. Felicia uses it mainly to steal whatever she wants and get away scot-free. She, in general, tries to avoid personal consequences for these actions. While her motives may vary from one story or universe to the next, ultimately her purpose in life is the same. To live for herself, for her needs and how she wants. The Black Cat persona is just that, a means to indulge in her wants and desires to the fullest extent. She is, inherently, self-serving and selfish whereas Spider-Man is selfless.

On the surface this presents a dynamic akin to oil and water. Spider-Man is an avatar of personal responsibility. The Black Cat is the personification of independent self-interest. They are such opposites, such contradictions, that they should just not work. They should be enemies... and that is how they started.

Amazing Spider-Man #194, Black Cat's first appearance where she and Spidey come to blows over her illicit activities. Felicia has contracted a crew for a job to spring her terminally ill father from prison. Spider-Man tries to stop her, only to end up buried under the rubble of the exploding prison wall. Black Cat flees the scene with a quip about crossing her path and Spidey with a bad arm post-fight. The next issue sees Spidey deduce Felicia's real identity and that Felicia only broke her father out so he could spend his dying hours with his wife and her mother. Spidey and Cat come to blows outside arguing over the merits of what she's done. However in the struggle Black Cat starts to fall off a roof into a surging river below. Spidey catches her with his bad arm, trying to stop her fall... but can't hold on as Felicia seemingly falls to her death. He tries to return to the Hardy residence, only to see Felicia's mother in grief over the death of her husband. Not wanting to add to it... Spidey leaves.

Of course, this isn't the end for Felicia, issue #204 sees the Black Cat return. She's actually been watching him it seems, taking photos of him swinging around town. They get reacquainted at the museum where Cat manages to slip away again after another fight with Spider-Man. Felicia is annoyed though that he keeps fighting her, not understanding why she's doing this. And by the next issue it's revealed, the art pieces Felicia stole were meant to symbolize what she thinks of Spidey. Namely, that she has developed a crush on him. No doubt because, despite trouncing him almost every time they've fought, she's clearly enjoyed all of it. And Spidey hasn't exactly helped in that regard as he has routinely flirted with her. He can't help it, she is hot. Felicia claims she wants to leave thieving behind, at the behest of her mother and she would like Spider-Man to help her reform. Seeing a similarity to a current situation with a girl he's instructing, and that Felicia might be suffering a bit of a mental break as a result of her father's death, he promises to get her help.

These introductory stories set the stage for Felicia and Peter's on again off again relationship for years to come. Felicia is self-servingly selfish, desiring things that aren't hers. Yet her motives are more complicated than pure greed, it is always based somewhat around her emotional state. Her need to give her father and mother some closure before she passes, her desire for Spider-Man to lead her out of a life of crime, as per her mother's wishes. She isn't evil, she has noble intent, she just goes about it in very self-centered ways. Spidey, in the meantime, is selfless to a fault. He'll keep chasing her down, he'll keep trying to set her straight, keep trying to stop her crime sprees. He is drawn to her by his selflessness and sense of responsibility to prevent her from just getting away with whatever she wants. But he does genuinely want to help her and he will not take advantage of her fragile emotional state, even if he himself is somewhat into her. Hell, the first thing he thinks about when he first sees her is that he hopes she isn't a criminal because he'd like to ask her out. He is clearly drawn to Felicia, even if it only starts out as pure infatuation, but he will not take advantage of her interest in him because he knows better than to try to exploit that for his own self-interest.

Of course it's a lie, well partially. Felicia faked being crazy to more easily escape a psychiatric hospital than a prison. But she is indeed in love with him. After her escape, she invites Spidey to a masquerade ball via a sky writer. Ultimately revealing that she lied to him about her mental breakdown in a selfish bid to escape consequences for her actions. But she wants to make up for it now, because this masquerade ball is being hosted by mafioso she stole from and says Spidey can now arrest them all! Crime is too easy she thinks, superheroing is her next thrill seeking adventure and she wants to do it with him. And despite being tricked and more than a little bribed into this, Spider-Man decides ultimately why not give it a try? If she really does want to go straight for him... isn't the responsible thing to do with her to help her out even if her motives are a tiny bit selfish?

This is how their romance starts and sets up the ultimate tug of war dynamic. Spider-Man does want Black Cat, but is wary of her desire to push him into a more selfish mindset. Black Cat actually desires Spider-Man, but can't get over her compulsive selfishness. In this story alone she has to sort of trick Spider-Man into coming to a date that's actually a mafioso party that he can break up. It's a highly manipulative plan that appeals to her selfish infatuation and Spider-Man's selfless heroism. It is a constant push and pull between them at multiple points. By all accounts, they should not work and a good deal of comics past this point go on and on about why they can't work.

I could cover the lengthy relationship between both characters throughout the 80s, Spidey was actually dating Felicia for a long time during the Black Suit days, even after he gave up the Symbiote. And for the most part this dynamic does not entirely change. Peter wants to help Black Cat be a better person before he can truly commit to her. Felicia wants to be a better person and make things work with Spider-Man, but she has a hard time wrapping her head around selfless action over selfish indulgence. It's the roadblock between them truly working as a couple. And there are a ton of moments during this time period I could talk about, but frankly, they are ALL before my time.

None of them really prove my point either, all I've done is just explain why their dynamic as a couple is riveting. It's not exactly like Batman and Catwoman's, but its of a similar vein. The key difference is Spider-Man, being who he is, isn't as opposed to the idea at first as Bruce is with Selina. Catwoman plays a lot harder to get for a lot longer than Black Cat, she also doesn't become Batman's superhero partner. Felicia and Peter by contrast are much younger though, so their reasoning is frankly more in line with their age demographic. They're just quicker to jump in than most people. The only thing holding them back is Black Cat and Spidey's diametrically opposed ideologies, even though we'll see those two viewpoints somewhat crisscross soon enough.

If you want to know however where I actually came in on this, we need to hop over to another universe. The one firmly positioned in the decade that defines the pop cultural wasteland... the 90s.

In an effort to compete with DC's Batman cartoon, Marvel fast tracked a Spider-Man show into production. While not on the same technical/narrative level as the landmark Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series still did a tremendous job at capturing the essence of the character and is still a good series in its own. Even on a recent rewatch, I was surprised to see how well-thought out and true to form the series was. Yes, it's overuse of repeated animation and various other shortcuts was annoying, it certainly wasn't perfect, even by 90s standards, but it deserves recognition where it counts. Part of that was, in my opinion, the dynamic between Felicia and Peter Parker/Black Cat and Spider-Man. It certainly wasn't a slamdunk, I'm going to talk about where the writers fumbled it, but when it worked it worked and I think those parts where it worked so well were what cemented the idea in my head that this relationship, fraught as it was, COULD become something everlasting.

There's no hiding that Felicia's story is completely different from the comics. She actually knows Peter to begin with before she even becomes the Black Cat. They actually date for a while and despite the fact Peter is poorer than dirt, she is clearly interested in him and remains so for a good portion of season one. Peter's first kiss in the series is Felicia in fact. Even when MJ is in the picture, Peter is still torn between her and Felicia.

You might think we're dealing with a Betty and Veronica situation, but it never really materializes as such. Felicia and MJ never really meet this early and Felicia herself isn't really the rich girl stereotype. She's not particularly girlish or whinny. She doesn't really look down on anyone for their status. In fact she more often than not tries to rebel against the stereotype. She does a lot of charity work, she shows concern for the good of New York's citizens and she gives credit to those who deserve it, not just because they flatter her. She also gives Peter a lot of chances despite seemingly screwing up with her. She is reluctant at first to go out with him, but is not embarassed to be seen with him. The issue that arises is, from her perspective, Peter is never around when she gets in major trouble... but Spider-Man is. This become important later, but the thing to note is she is still close friends with Peter for a good amount of time and shows an interest in hm.

The only reason Felicia doesn't get with Peter is, again, Peter's terrible luck as a result of his responsibilities as Spider-Man. He accidentally stands Felicia up one too many times and she... ugh... ends up falling for Michael Morbius. Yes... that Morbius. No, we're not doing the meme. I only bring it up here because its one of the flaws in the show, Morbius as Felicia's love interest feels so incredibly out of place. It exists purely to prevent Felicia and Peter from getting together because nothing about it works. Morbius is hardly charming, he's somewhat of a creep, he's rude, abrasive and his petty rivalry with Peter just makes him unlikable. Its this petty bullshit rivalry, in fact, that causes Morbius' transformation into a Vampire monster in this continuity. Peter tries to claim responsibility for it because it was caused with his radioactive blood, but Morbius was an asshole and did it to himself. He's at fault and he sucks... pun not intended, not entirely. But because he's doing all this to stop a plague in his home country, and he saves Felicia this one time when Peter doesn't show, we're supposed to buy that she's smitten with him. And I do not buy it. In fact, I'd argue the show's writers didn't even buy it and were somewhat forced to do this so they wouldn't step on the iconic romance with Peter and MJ.

Morbius' subsequent flight into exile, as he basically becomes a mutant bat monster, starts an ongoing subplot with Felicia, the fact she has seemingly terrible luck with men. Early on, after Morbius has left her life, Felicia begins to develop a crush on Spider-Man, as at this point he's been there for her more than most other men in her life, saving her or her mother. Spider-Man, as a result, has become a very huge constant staple in her life, more so than any other man as far she can see. Peter, despite his messy love life, does care for Felicia, and is very quick to jump in to help her whenever she is in trouble. Partially because of his connection to her, partly because he still blames himself for Morbius' transformation. So Peter is spending a lot of time as Spider-Man with Felicia at this point, more so than MJ even who is dating Harry Osborn for a while. As far as Felicia is concerned, Spider-Man has become something akin to a knight in shining armor who is always there for her. She can't help but fall for him.

She reveals this by suddenly kissing him on the balcony, pulling up the mask half-way and everything. Peter, however, says he can't reciprocate, as much as he probably still has feelings for Felicia. He says he can't have a girlfriend though because it would put her in danger. It's bunk of course, he's still trying to be with MJ even though she's currently with Harry, but I imagine it plants an idea in Felicia's head. Regardless, for now she's crestfallen and this leads her into the arms of another man, Jason Phillips Macendale, a rich well to do playboy-type. Even still, she retains her feelings Spider-Man throughout their relationship. There is a scene at a carnival where Jason wins a stuffed Spider for her, which she remarks she finds spiders cute while he acts rather annoyed and jealous over it. Despite the fact she very clearly still wants Spidey to be with her, Felicia does agree to marry Jason when he proposes.

At the engagement party, which Peter attends with MJ as she has dumped Harry at this point, he changes into Spider-Man to spy on the Kingpin and Osborn over some business with the Hobgoblin. Annoyed he has to leave MJ to deal with this problem, he's interrupted by Felicia.

She asks if he's here to wish her good luck and Peter fumbles his words in saying as much. Which leads to this exchange:

Spidey: Do you really love this Jason Phillips guy?

Felicia: And why should you care about that? Unless you got a better offer?

Spidey: (Thoughts) This is crazy, I can't have one girlfriend as Peter Parker and another as Spider-Man! (Speaking) No, I don't... I just want you to be happy.

As Spidey swings away, Felicia mournfully says "So do I." It's a very clear statement, she's settling. Jason is rich and powerful and the person she's expected to marry due to who she is, but she's not really sure about it, or happy. Because the man she wants is currently swinging away. It's obvious that, in Felicia's eyes, she's missing something in her life that makes her happy and Spider-Man seems to be that something. Likewise, Peter, the paragon of self-responsibility, knows he can't abuse his secret identity to cheat on MJ, even though he seems very tempted to admit that he still has feelings for Felicia. But in the end, all he cares about is her happiness and if she can find it in this Jason dude, who is he to ruin that?

Well, he doesn't have to ruin it. Because we find out, shock of all shocks, Jason is the Hobgoblin and the revelation shakes Felicia to her core. The fact that this person she was dating, this man who she decided on because she couldn't have Spider-Man was a fraud, a criminal, a liar... it's a terrible thing to realize how poor your judgment is. Almost reaffirming that this was the wrong choice from the start.

Spidey of course once again comes swinging to her rescue and defeats the Hobgoblin. But Felicia has questions for her former fiancé. Jason relents that he used crime to create everything he is and get everything he has, including her. She's just another possession to him. What she deep down probably feared going into this, why her heart wasn't in this, why she wanted Spider-Man to give her a way out and save her again.

Felicia: I have to know, did you ever really love me?

Jason: I don't know. I love things about you. Your wealth, your beauty, your refinement.

Felicia: That's not love! I've experienced true love... and it's nothing like that.

And we don't get a flashback to Morbius, as this show constantly does because it's very not subtle, we don't see her talk about bat boy at all. She looks directly at Spider-Man as she says this and the camera zooms in on him as she speaks those words. This overtly informs the audience what love means in Felicia's mind. Love in Felicia's mind is being there for someone, who Spider-Man has been for a long time now. And more importantly, it's about wanting that person to be happy, which was all Spider-Man said he ever wanted. Spidey never asked anything of Felicia, he was just there for her and perhaps, in Felicia's mind, the reason he can't return it is because she can't be there in the same way. She is after all a damsel who he needs to keep saving and Spider-Man made it an issue that they can't be together because she'd be in danger.

In fact, this incident has given Felicia a complex that alludes to her future. "Every time I give my heart to someone, disaster strikes!" She sobs to Spider-Man. "I'm like a Black Cat spreading bad luck to everyone who crosses my path! Including my own."

By the next season things have taken a turn for the tragic, Mary Jane has vanished into realms unknown after mirroring Gwen Stacey's fall from a bridge into an interdimensional portal. As far as Peter knows though she's just gone, maybe forever. They can't say dead on this show, you know how it is.

This would probably leave the door back open for Felicia, but Peter is in no mental condition for another relationship right now and Felicia is smitten with Spider-Man, not Peter. Although he does wonder if she could help him with his grief as he swings over to her apartment. Not to say she doesn't care for Peter, but her heart belongs to his masked vigilante persona. In fact, so much so that she proclaims that Spider-Man is the only good thing in her life during that same visit. (Granted this is after an attack by Doctor Octopus, but the point stands) It's obvious that Felicia is now clinging to Spider-Man as one of the few constants in her life at this point, what with repeatedly being placed in danger by monsters and maniacs. The lack of control and helplessness is eating at her terribly.

However, this does lead into what we've all been waiting for, Felicia's transformation into the Black Cat and the start of the multi-episode season storyline, "Partners in Danger."

Felicia's father isn't just a cat burglar anymore. It turns out he got a peek at the formula for the Super Soldier serum back in WW2. He was almost tricked into giving it to the Nazis but managed to evade them. He was a kid at the time and was on the run for several decades. He's been in SHIELD custody for the past few years, until now when the Chameleon breaks him out only to hand him over to the Kingpin. Soon after, Doctor Octopus kidnaps Felicia and brings him to Fisk to reunite her with her father. And basically blackmail her into performing crimes for Fisk to test out the Super Soldier formula.

Yes, the Black Cat in the 90s Animated Series is basically a super soldier thief. It is suggested its not a complete process, but it grants Felicia more capability than she used to have. As the Black Cat she's now stronger, faster, more agile, versatile and has heightened senses. She's basically a mini-Captain America sans shield and a less patriotic aesthetic. Also, the Serum allows her to completely alter herself, her hair turns white and grows longer, while she also becomes more ripped and taller. This is so people won't really recognize her, an important detail for later.

While it's obvious Felicia hates being forced to go along with this to protect her father, she doesn't hate the new powers she's been granted and seeks to use them to eventually turn the tables on Fisk and save her dad. However, for the time being she gets in more than a few scrapes with Spider-Man, one of which leaves him knocked out in front of her. She considers pulling off his mask, but decides against it, preferring him to do it for her himself. She does plant a kiss though, the first of many as the Black Cat. The sequence is clear, Felicia is no longer the damsel but Spider-Man's equal and she hopes that this means things can change.

True, Felicia still gets into trouble and Spider-Man has to save her before the episode is out, but they actually do come together as partners by the end and effectively work together to defeat Fisk and save her father. Sadly, he has to return to SHIELD custody, of his own free will, to prevent the secrets he knows from ever getting out. I'd kinda like to to think they would give him a more witness protection situation than imprisonment for the guy, even if he did become a thief. It's SHIELD though, it's kinda expected they don't always do the sensible thing.

However this sets up the dynamic for the next few episodes as Black Cat and Spider-Man work together more and more. Spider-Man is reluctant at first, still mourning Mary Jane, but Black Cat manages to shake him out of that stupor. Reminding him not to close himself off in his grief. And Spidey himself remarks, as he and Black Cat work together, that he's actually having fun for once as Spider-Man. This is something to keep in mind, Black Cat actually challenges Spider-Man more often than not throughout their time together. Pushing him to remember why he does this job, stopping his pity parties cold, reminding him to not see his power as a burden that he so often does and as a gift he uses to help people. Even if she's not the same self-serving Felicia from the comics, as the Black Cat she embraces the liberated self her persona grants her. She's finally being able to do the things that her position as a rich socialite kept from her. Her stance is that Spider-Man can afford to think about what he wants and what makes him happy as much as his own responsibilities.

Frankly, it gets through to Peter. As time goes on, Spider-Man becomes more receptive to the idea that he should move on from MJ and be with Black Cat, a fellow crime fighter, on his level who can look after herself as much as him. This has been the problem Spider-Man has faced for a while, being able to protect the people he cares about despite his powers seemingly always getting in the way. In the same vein, Felicia's newfound abilities enable her to be Spidey's equal. Allowing her the opportunity to see him as a person and not just the superhero who saves her. This gives her the ability to challenge, as well as compliment him, as pointed out.

Their dynamic frankly rings more true and honest as a relationship. Even MJ never pushed Peter in the same way Black Cat pushes Spidey to be better. That's not to say MJ was a bad girlfriend, but on the show... she frankly resembled the comics version of Gwen Stacey personality wise. Black Cat may have been in love with Spider-Man, but that never stopped her from telling him off when he got something wrong. She had her own opinions and views on how this relationship worked and despite clashing with Spidey, they always seemed to be getting closer and more intimate every time she crossed his path.

That is until the goddamn Vampire comes back and ruins it all, because Felicia still has feelings for Morbius, I guess. In fact, he comes back so soon and suddenly, just as Peter is thinking of committing to Black Cat as Spider-Man, that it again feels like a mandate from on high. They're getting too close to each other, we can't have that, break them up by making Morbius a thing again. And quite frankly it feels forced because the only thing that seemingly prevents Spidey and Cat from sealing the deal is that neither of them have guessed at who the other is.

This is despite the fact that the Black Cat is obviously Felicia, given her very close relationship with Felicia's father that she doesn't even try to hide at all during her introductory episode. But Spidey has been consistently dense when it comes to secret identities, he couldn't even figure out Matt Murdock and Daredevil were the same person under similar circumstances. Using excuses THAT HE HIMSELF USES to cover his ass as Spider-Man. For being so smart, Peter is incredibly slow on the uptake when it comes to guessing Black Cat's identity despite how damn obvious it is. Not that Felicia is honestly much better, as both before and after this there are a number of clues to Spidey's true identity. Like... she kissed Peter AS Peter, she should know that mouth!

But the fact is, and this is where the forced editorial mandate thing comes in, that if they ever found out who the other was... that would be the end for any possible Peter and MJ relationship at this point. Felicia would finally realize why Peter seemed to never be around when she was in trouble, it's because he was Spider-Man. And given that Felicia's reasoning for being in love with Spider-Man is, again, the fact she feels he's always been there for her, she'd realize her most long standing intimate REAL relationship was with Peter all along! Peter in turn would realize that Felicia, the girl he first had a crush on, the one he was most conflicted about getting with before MJ vanished, a person he still has strong feelings for, is also the person who taught him to love again after MJ vanished. A friend he cares about who is now on his level and has also been there for him! There would be no way they couldn't get together at that point, or at the very least it would be very hard for Peter to decide between her and MJ from then on.

But no, the adventure with the returned Morbius leads to Felicia deciding to go with the creep Mutant Vampire and Blade to hunt other vampires and leave Spider-Man behind, just as he was about to be with her. Of course, Peter doesn't put two and two together that Cat is leaving with Morbius because as established he's an idiot when it comes to this stuff. If he was smarter, he'd have figured it out right now and probably revealed himself to her, and that would create a conflict and probably make her question this frankly boneheaded and nonsensical decision. So no, Felicia and Peter never find out each other's secret identities and she goes off with Morbius leaving Peter alone for no really good reason other than this felt like the fastest way to break them up so MJ could slide back in.

And MJ does slide back in, not long after this episode in fact and Spider-Man quickly fast tracks to proposing to her, revealing his secret identity, the works. However, Felicia isn't out of his life as MJ still keeps getting into trouble, constantly. At the wedding, Black Cat returns to make sure Peter's big day doesn't get ruined, because she does care about Peter even if she isn't with him. She does this again when MJ is seemingly kidnapped, first comforting Peter as Felicia reassuring him during a moment of hopelessness and then becoming Black Cat again to track down MJ for Peter.

And she admits aloud that she's doing this because she doesn't think she made the right call to follow Morbius and Blade, she still has feelings for Spidey, even though he's loyal and committed to MJ. Again, Felicia does not put two and two together given how gung-ho Spidey is for finding MJ. This also marks the only time MJ and the Black Cat meet, it's very quick, Peter has to answer a few obvious questions. After all that, Felicia decides to head back to Transylvania and once again Peter doesn't put two and two together that Felicia and Black Cat are back in town right at the same time. Because he's stupid like that.

What's important to note is that Felicia will drop everything for Peter, which suggests to me, on some subconscious level, she knows who Spider-Man is. And the fact she's still playing mental support coach to Peter, even outside of their secret identities, speaks volumes for their bond and connection. Even outside of the Black Cat persona and without directly knowing it, Felicia is there for Spider-Man when he needs her, just as much as he was for her.

But of course, all of this is for naught concerning Mary Jane's fate. Because... this is not Mary Jane. This hasn't been Mary Jane since she returned at the end of last season and conclusion of "Partners in Danger." Because we've been doing a random ass Clone Saga deal this whole time! This MJ, the one Peter married, shared his secrets with, probably most likely banged... wasn't his MJ. She was a clone created by Miles Warren who can use frickin water powers like Hydro Man because Hydro Man is an asshole ex who is obsessed with MJ and wanted his own version of her. But she wandered off, blah blah blah, point is her clone stability is breaking down and she's gonna evaporate. Cue one of the most gut wrenching screams in animation history.

So yeah, Peter never got the real Mary Jane back, only to be set up for heartache all over again. One could argue he probably loved this Mary Jane more. Sure he thought she was the original, but everything he experienced with her were steps he was unwilling to take with the real one. Similar to how Felicia has been feeling conflicted, one has to imagine Peter is even more so at this point on several other levels. Not that he has much time to mourn though. Madame Web has returned after a long absence from the series and she has war for him to fight, a Secret War.

In a very loose adaptation of the original Marvel Comics Event, Spider-Man is tasked by the Beyonder to lead a team of superheroes to liberate a planet that has fallen to villains he's plucked from Earth. This becomes a bit of a crossover between pretty much every Fox Entertainment Marvel Cartoon running at the time. From X-Men to Iron Man to the Fantastic Four, not Hulk though, Hulk rights are always a problem. But even after he's picked all the heroes he can afford to recruit, like any Gamer he can't resist modding shit to give him more stuff. And of all the heroes and allies he could pick to increase his ranks... he chooses the Black Cat.

It's a fairly odd choice honestly. Spidey has worked with a lot of heroes, maybe not as extensively as the Black Cat, but he's fought beside Doctor Strange, he knows other X-Men who are on Storm's level or at least just as capable. But he picks Black Cat. He picks her despite knowing that Madame Web knows the Real Mary Jane's location and promises it as a reward if he helps her. He picks Black Cat, despite knowing she is currently with Morbius and Blade. Makes one wonder... why?

Felicia isn't happy with this herself, because she just got pulled away in the middle of a vampire slaying fight. Don't worry, they're fine. It's Blade he'll manage without her.

...

What? Oh Morbius, yeah I guess he'll survive too just by being in close proximity to Blade. Have I mentioned I hate Morbius?

Anyway, the point is Black Cat is none too happy get pulled into Spidey's adventures against her will, like he can just do that on a whim. She's kinda right to be angry at him and she is for a good portion of the episode. When Spidey explains he picked her because he needs her support and they work good as a team, Felicia rightly says that he can't just rip her away from things because he needs to hold her hand. She'll be more than willing to do so on her own, he doesn't need to ask, he just shouldn't force her. It's a surprising role reversal, with Spider-Man being a bit more selfish than usual and Black Cat outwardly demanding to know when Spider-Man is gonna grow up. A question many comics fans wonder themselves to this day.

Spider-Man's ultimate ulterior motives are a bit more obvious though when he gets pretty jealous over Captain America and Black Cat bonding over her having the super soldier serum. And it doesn't help that Cap keeps kinda outshining him constantly when he saves Felicia a few times. But to be fair, Steve Rogers does that with everyone.

After the mission that topples the Red Skull ends, Spidey does apologize for taking Felicia against her will into this war. But she's no longer angry. Taking part in a mission bigger than even vampire slaying is important, a big deal, and if there is one thing Felicia has wanted its to not be left out of a fight for something bigger than herself. Plus, she get's to do it beside the greatest hero of all time. Spidey thinks she means Cap, but she corrects him, she's talking about the Web Head. Despite not being as perfect as Captain America, Spider-Man did prove himself out there as a leader to her and she admits she wouldn't want to miss this action with him for anything. Despite not wanting to be here initially, Felicia ultimately can't get over the fact Spider-Man wanted HER here with him. And given their last meeting had him coldly rejecting her advances, it says to Felicia that Spidey still feels for her and she clearly does too. Black Cat then kisses Spider-Man... and it's the last kiss he'll ever receive in the series. That's right, Peter's first and last kisses on this show come from Felicia. How do you not expect anyone to read into that?

No matter what lame line Morbius tries to give at the end of the episode, Felicia's heart doesn't really belong to him. It is very evident, crystal clear, painfully obvious, to anyone paying attention, that Felicia and Peter, on this series at the very least, were specially connected. Maybe not at first, but Felicia became someone who could match Spider-Man, physically and mentally, in many ways. And it's undeniable that, regardless of anything else, Peter held feelings for both Felicia and her Super Thief persona. Their banter was perfect, their partnership was top notch, the chemistry was amazing. The only thing keeping them apart was a story writing mandate from on high that they could not be endgame. Even though the writers took every chance they could nab to put them together. To shove Felicia back into Peter's life, even after she went off Slaying it up with Morbius. When I rewatched the series, it became painfully obvious who the writers seemed to prefer Peter with. None of this is to knock MJ as a character, on this show or in the comics, but it's hard for me to buy that there wasn't some kind of bias towards Felicia given everything that happens in this show.

Or maybe they just wanted an excuse to keep bringing Jennifer Hale back, I don't know! But I still choose to think that someone on that writing staff wanted a different endgame. It's been known to happen, creative teams aren't immune to shipping. Avatar the Last Airbender apparently had an ongoing tug of war between the executive producers and some of the writers over whether Katara would pick Zuko or Aang. It honestly feels like something similar happened here and as a result it comes across as the best evidence in my mind that this relationship could work. And the insane reality that less than a decade after Spider-Man TAS concluded, a show that did everything to ensure Spider-Man never got with the Black Cat because Peter/MJ were too iconic to not happen... One More Day drops and Peter has barely been with MJ for more than a single run out of several writers since. Said single writer being Nick Spencer, the Hydra Cap guy! Possibly in an effort to redeem himself from being the Hydra Cap Guy.

But I digress, as one can plainly see concerning this short retrospective of the series above, the 90s Cartoon has been over for a long time. Next year, it will be thirty years old. I can point out how it could've worked in that show, but that does nothing to prove Felicia and Peter ever have a chance now. All it shows is that I have a nostalgic attachment to this pairing because of an animated series. One with a highly different set of canonical circumstances between Spidey and the Black Cat that were crafted uniquely for this show alone. Circumstances that are worlds apart from the comics.

And that's because, as loathe as I am to admit it, Peter and Felicia's relationship has always had roadblocks in every piece of media involving them before and since. And I would be remiss if I didn't address any of those before I can start proving its viability now. If I don't I'll just have to do it later anyway. We'll look at how SpiderCat appears in other works as we go through this, but we need to head back to comic book land if we're really going to lay down what's actually keeping these two apart, and it's not the very weak contrivances preventing them from figuring out the obvious like in the 90s cartoon. No, it goes deeper than that. As you can see here.

90s Felicia wanted Spidey to unmask for her, but Comics!Felicia has had a hang up about that for a long while. This is the crux, the problem, with their relationship. The thing that always comes up when SpiderCat shippers argue for it. Comics!Black Cat loves Spider-Man... not Peter Parker. And mixing the two is too much for her to bare. This is what put strain on their relationship, Felicia didn't want her fantasy ruined by knowing the man behind the mask. Peter being an ordinary guy shatters her illusions about his prowess and ability. The phrase "Anyone can wear the mask" comes to mind and as long as Peter wears it for the Black Cat that is true. Take it off and Peter's normality leaks into things.

As a result, the main problem is Felicia can't love a man like Peter, who has a normal life outside of his superheroing. Felicia doesn't want normal, she likes what she is, who she is, doesn't want to go back to it. She wants to be the Black Cat because as the Cat she can do and get whatever she wants. Peter is, again, weighed down by responsibilities. While Felicia, once again, desires her independence from everything, including responsibility. Felicia would rather Spider-Man give up being Peter and just be the hero who swept her off her feet full time. To forever chase her across the rooftops and do what they want whenever they want. She's fine if that means fighting bad guys... so long as they're not tied down to normality. But Peter can't do that, he can never do that, not as long as he has ties to his life as Peter. And that's probably why Wells is considering severing a pretty big tie to that in order to make sure SpiderCat can't be reversed so easily. Can't really blame him for that though, given how comics are in constant flux. (Remember This)

This sort of issue is constantly reinforced. In the Spider-Man 2 video game, based off the Sam Raimi sequel, The "Spidey's loss of his powers" sub-plot is replaced by Black Cat trying to seduce him away into forever crime-fighting as his relationship with Mary Jane becomes strained due to her upcoming marriage to Jonah Jameson's son. Their dynamic matches the comics pretty well... and that means Spidey eventually breaks it off with her, saying he can't abandon his real life to forever play superhero with her. He needs a balance and that means he can't see her anymore. She leaves amicably, but it's sad to see happen.

In the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows game, Black Cat is revealed to still have feelings for Spider-Man and wants to be back together with him. This is pretty bad timing given the symbiote invasion going on. As the game is using the then popular trend of multiple choice endings there is one where you can have Black Cat be with Spider-Man at the end. It requires you basically healing her after a fight with your black suit, turning her into a Venomized version of herself. You can still pick the good ending after this where you defeat the Symbiotes, but all you know for sure is that MJ and him are on quits. You only see Felicia again if you pick the bad ending where Spider-Man breaks bad fully and decides to lead a symbiote army with Felicia by his side. Further emphasizing the idea that Peter can't pick being with Felicia without abandoning everything that makes him who he is.

There's also Spectacular Spider-Man, the other beloved Spider-Man animated series. Shorter-lived, but just as impactful. Where Spidey and Black Cat seem to hit it off during the start of Peter's whole symbiote storyline. Their banter is great, the chemistry fits, Felicia and Pete seem destined to be star-crossed opposite sides of the law lovers. However, when they meet up again Felicia is breaking her father out as she usually does... but the twist this time is Felicia's father is the one who shot Uncle Ben.

Naturally this completely wrecks any goodwill concerning Black Cat and Spidey's second meeting. As from here on out he's adamant Felicia's dad is not getting out. While it turns out Dad doesn't want to leave either and he decides to sacrifice his chance at freedom to stop a mass jailbreak of supervillains, that changes little. Spider-Man does not forgive Felicia's father and Felicia blames Spider-Man for infecting her dad with sentimentality. Even knowing he took an innocent life, all Felicia sees is her dad rotting away in jail. She declares she'll never forgive Spider-Man for this and rushes off in anger. The series ended shortly thereafter and this was never resolved. Greg Weisman, the show's creator, says if it had continued the relationship would've been "fraught." And once again this is the typical line concerning the fact Felicia's selfish desires run up against Spider-Man's heroic responsibility. And letting a criminal get away, especially one that killed his Uncle, is just something he can't do.

And I could go on, there are a ton of examples of this very problematic element of the relationship. It's the thing Marvel has consistently used to explain why Peter and Felicia aren't the right fit. Any romance would require either character to make sacrifices they are incapable of. Namely Felicia's independence and Peter's Responsibilities. Marvel itself decided to set this in stone to a degree with the usual question they ask... "What If?"

"What if... Spider-Man Married the Black Cat?" is the second part of a longer What If storyline answering what would happen if Peter and MJ did not get married. (HA! After OMD, one cannot help but laugh!) And as much as that cover paints wedded bliss... it's anything but. Felicia and Peter come to blows repeatedly, unable to reconcile their differences. Their goals are far too distant from each other overall and they just can't find common ground. By the end of the issue, Felicia lies dead, Spider-Man heart broken and the grim reality that this romance could never work is cemented in stone it seems. "What Ifs" aren't definitive statements about the only possible outcomes for the Marvel universe. But they are definitive statements from Marvel itself, a decree from on high that the current continuity, for all its faults, could be so much worse and we should be happy for what we have. And while the issue is loaded with nice panels that any SpiderCat fan would adore, the end result is still plain as day. Felicia and Peter are too oil and water to ever mix. And the end result would be the destruction of one or both.

How do you overcome the dreadful reality that your ship is declared doomed forever by the very company that in some sense set it in motion? Not just because Spider-Man can never be happy, but because the Black Cat is just too toxic a girlfriend to ever truly make him happy. Everyone argued that MJ and Peter's marriage was boring but they didn't want him to get with the next best option either because they think it's non-compatible, that they're just too different and of opposing thoughts to ever reach common ground.

And Marvel has tried to permanently set that in stone in canon once. To forever place SpiderCat as beyond possible, to sever their connection as decades long allies... and all because of an octopus in the brain.

The image above is not that of Peter Parker fighting the Black Cat. This is Doctor Otto Octavius, piloting Peter's body after jacking his mind. This is the Superior Spider-Man, and he does not care about Peter's past infatuations. He's here to prove he's the better Spider-Man and that means apprehending all criminals. In an otherwise re-affirming storyline that proves Peter Parker is the true Superior Spider-Man, Otto failing to live up to his lofty ambitious boasts, this scene... this one bloody scene, leads to the absolute low point period for all SpiderCat Fans. I call it the "Bitch Be Crazy" Era, an offensive title for a frankly offensively disgusting sub-plot in the Spider Run post-Superior.

Peter Parker informs all his Superhero buddies that Doc Ock had taken over his body for a long time, explaining his shitty behavior for the past year or so. Most everyone's response is "Oh, yeah, that's obvious in hindsight." Not Felicia.

The tables have turned, now Felicia has broke bad, but for real. And there is no way to describe what she becomes but extremely out of character. She doesn't accept Spider-Man's explanation, she doesn't even care. She is now obsessed with becoming the next Kingpin of Crime, a murderous, merciless mob boss who pulls the strings of supervillains, all in a bid to destroy Spider-Man and all he holds dear and it's absolutely, completely, stupidly, idiotically terrible. No matter how selfish Felicia can be, this is NOT her. Felicia has never shown any desire to be a crime boss, to be feared. Her desires have always been thrill seeking, shiny things and not being told what she can and can't do. She might be violent, but she is not a cold-blooded killer. She might be cynical, but she is not this petty. Every element of this terrible subplot makes no sense unless she's absolutely lost her mind or been replaced by a Skrull.

The only fun thing in this whole mess, was that Gwenpool's first in-universe story took place during this sub-plot and she crossed paths with her. And then did this.

I guess that justifies putting a Gwenpool tag below somewhere. Win for me!

Suffice to say, no one liked this change. Everyone hated it, even more than Superior Spider-Man. People came around on that, no one liked Felicia the Big Black Cat of Crime. Dan Slott could never justify it because it made no sense that Felicia would care this much about street cred because Spider-Man beat her up. As if there isn't a single crook in New York at this point who can claim Spider-Man hasn't knocked out one of their teeth. Others tried to explain it, to give it a more sensible face. There was an explanation in the Silk comic, but it didn't really stick as something that would drive her to this extreme. Regardless, it was a dark time for SpiderCat Shipping Fandom. And it took way longer than it should've to fix it all.

But it did get fixed and that brings me the counter to ALL of this stuff that stands in Peter and Felicia's way. And that is that no matter how much things stay the same, comics always inevitably change and so do the characters in them. We like to pretend that the way we see a lot of the characters in comics now has just always been them. But no, they're not. Batman used to carry a gun in his early days, Superman didn't always fly, Captain America, a WW2 Veteran, claimed he never killed anyone for a short time, Deadpool didn't always break the 4th Wall and Starlord used to be a lot more of a straight edged serious space hero and not a rock music lovin' dancin' fool of a rogue Han Solo. Tastes change, writers change, people change... and so has Felicia.

Felicia hasn't always been honest with Peter, she's tricked him into chasing her, played him to get away with a score, gotten superpowers from Kingpin in an effort to keep up with him which led to their first break up, she even dated Flash Thompson trying to make him jealous. But if one thing has been consistent, it's that Felicia can't help but cross back into Peter's life. And in the process, because she cares, even loves him, there are things she's had to accept, to admit to. And chief among them is Peter Parker is Spider-Man and Peter Parker's life is as if not more important to him than just being Spider-Man. She hasn't only loved Spider-Man for years at this point, for a long time. She loves both. and she is willing to accept both. If there is any problem, it's Peter accepting Felicia for who she is... which is a better person than even she gives herself credit for.

Spider-Man wouldn't be partnering up with Felicia so often if he didn't believe there was more to her than just a shallow thief. And the influence has affected Felicia, she's admitted as much. Maybe her shift to doing good was set off by a crush, but she owned that change and she kept pushing herself. She'll never have a strict moral compass, but she does know what the right choice is at the end of the day, what feels right. And when Spider-Man needs an ally, he can call on her as much as anyone. Spider-Man being in her life has only been a net positive for Felicia, Peter being with her has only been a net positive. And that brings us back to her time as a lame crime boss and how they fixed her. Because there's a better, deeper, actually meaningful reason for their schism besides Felicia's loss of street cred.

She forgot the man she loved and changed for.

Yep, we're factoring One More Day into this thing proper like. After an adventure with Venom and Spidey, dealing with some symbiote nonsense, Felicia is convinced to hash it out with the Wall Crawler. And she admits to him that she lost something, his face. When Spider-Man made the world forget who he was under the mask it affected Felicia too. All her memories, all the time spent with Peter post reveal, everything that she knew about the man behind the mask... it was either gone or in a fog. She can't remember all those times that Peter trusted her with who he was and it has been eating her up inside for years! And Spider-Man never thought about how that would affect her, a person he's loved, been intimate with, and at least now cares about. That was an important time in her life and it's just gone now. And it may be selfish to want all of it back and even demand it back... but she's right. Those memories were hers and Spidey took them away. And Spider-Man, being selfless as he is, can't just let that stand anymore.

Everyone says Felicia only loves Spider-Man, but that's not true. She may love the Spider... but she changed for the Man. She cherishes that time she had with that Man. And it's hard to believe that she doesn't love the Man as much as the Spider because, ultimately, they are the same person. That's the other difference between this and Bruce/Selina. Bruce Wayne is the mask for the boy who died in that alleyway, Batman is who he's been since that day. Peter and Spider-Man are the same person, it's why he can't leave either persona behind. And Felicia has long since accepted that, and that has never changed how she feels about him until she lost who he was beneath the mask. Now it's all back, the highs and lows of that tumultuous time in her life when she fell for a Spider and came to love the Man. It doesn't heal everything, but it repairs the bond that was broken so long ago and so unintentionally.

There is, however, another argument being floated around these days I have to address. That even if Felicia can accept the man beneath the mask, do either really NEED each other? I'd point to all the stuff above that shows how that's simply not true, but there's more to it than that. Love isn't always about what you need, it's just as much about what you want. And I'm not talking about a person or thing, not something material. What does Felicia want? What does Peter want?

Felicia wants to be more than what she is, always has been. She wants thrills, she wants to be her true self and I feel Spider-Man brings out those qualities more than any of her other boy or girlfriends, especially since he started her path to change and growth. She stops being selfish and reacts more selfless. His influence on her is undeniable and she knows as much as anyone. She'll never be a good girl, but she'll at least be a better one than she is without him in her life.

Peter wants to be at peace, to be happy with who he is, to not always feel burdened. Felicia has always been one of the ways he's released that burden, he's been happy with her. Sure he's been happy with others, but Felicia has met him on a level that none of them could, she's been able to be in the thick of it with him. She's been able to share the burden. She's been able to be an active participant. With her around, Peter's world as a superhero doesn't feel so lonely. And maybe, if Felicia could accept the man as much as it seems she has, so too could she accept Peter's regular life.

In Taylor Swift's song, Anti-Hero, she reflects on how exhausting for her it's been that she hasn't seemed to learn anything and keeps making the same mistakes over and over. And if you pay attention to the lyics enough, they start describing Felicia Hardy pretty well.

I should not be left to my own devices They come with prices and vices I end up in crisis (tale as old as time) I wake up screaming from dreaming One day I'll watch as you're leaving 'Cause you got tired of my scheming (For the last time)

However, just as much of it can sorta apply to Spider-Man as well. His heroic selflessness is frankly a very long depressing slog of him being unable to forgive himself for letting down Uncle Ben, placing all the blame on his shoulders and then repeating that process whenever his great power can never live up to his great responsibility.

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism Like some kind of congressman? (Tale as old as time) I wake up screaming from dreaming One day I'll watch as you're leaving And life will lose all its meaning (For the last time)

When it comes to Spider-Man and the Black Cat, a lot of the things that make them unhappy are self-inflicted. Lewis Lovhaug of "Atop the Fourth Wall" Fame has argued that the problem with Spider-Man in a lot of modern stories is that he never learns from anything. He hasn't done enough to improve himself as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker, he just keeps feeling sorry for himself that one gets in the way of the other. And frankly, the same curse has affected Felicia. Because a lot of what has prevented her from being with Spider-Man has been herself. Ultimately both will, as the song says, always look towards the bright sun of what they think they want, but never in the mirror. They'll hurt themselves, never realizing that they're the source of their own dissatisfaction with how their lives are. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero, especially when its yourself.

Maybe Peter and Felicia don't need each other, but they do need someone to set them straight and get them to stop believing their own bullshit. To make them stare away from the sun and into the mirror. Because they are each exactly the kind of person who would do that for the other, in fact they've been doing it for as long as they've been together. Their bond is stronger than people give it credit for.

Early on in their relationship, Black Cat was badly injured and has to be rushed to a hospital. Helpless to really do anything, Peter could only stand by her bedside and hope she'd be okay again. For all his power, once more, he can't do anything but just stay with her. And actually, that's enough.

But come now, would Felicia ever do the same for Peter you ask? Well... during a recent story event, Spider-Man was badly injured and slips into a coma. But there was one person constantly by his side throughout it.

This isn't derogatory, Felicia is clearly lamenting the fact that someone so good who does everything so selflessly despite no thanks or praise, is so constantly placed into situations like this. It's unfair to her. It's why she's here now, like he was for her. And just like before...

It's Felicia who gets the first response out of him. Claim all you want that Felicia doesn't need Peter, that she's moved past him, that Peter and MJ are too perfect for each other, that the Black Cat can't ever settle down like Peter probably wants or that Peter can never really be there for Felicia in the way she wants. But I don't buy it. And stuff like this is why.

No matter how much bad luck she is, Spider-Man wants and in some ways needs the Black Cat is in his life. And no matter how much she can try and say she's over it, The Black Cat will always find a way to cross paths with her Spider.

In the recent PS4 Spider-Man game, Felicia came back after a stint of going straight to prepare for a major strike back against Hammerhead and the Maggia families. She coerces Spider-Man into another of her games where she steals $50 Million worth of stuff and forces him to chase her around the city to find it all. She leaves the loot behind though, because it was all trick to break into the police evidence lockup and snag her old gear. But she did leave Peter a cool new suit, a reference to the time when Felicia made a new black suit for Peter after giving up his symbiote. You know, so they match.

Felicia's little game comes to fruition when "The Heist" DLC comes out. Felicia strings Spidey along, pretending Hammerhead has her son, strongly implying its his. Ultimately this is revealed to have been a lie of course, another game. Because this, to Felicia, is basically the perfect date night. Spider-Man chases her, they team up, she gets what she wants and runs off into the night. In this case the entire wealth of the Maggia after double crossing Hammerhead. This gets a target on her back instantly. Spider calls her to warn her, leaving Felicia more than a little surprised.

Felicia: I just conned you and here you are trying to save me. How can you be so damn nice all the time?

Spidey: It's not about being nice, it's about doing the right thing! You have so many talents, I wish you'd use them to help someone other than yourself.

Felicia: Yeah well, you should know by now that's not how I roll.

Spidey: People can change, Felicia.

Felicia: Love you, Spider. I'll miss you.

Felicia's penthouse explodes and she appears to die. But eagle eyed players would notice the puff smoke just before the bomb goes off. The Black Cat fakes her death more than Doctor Doom uses robots. Felicia got away, scot-free, with all the money she could ever need or want. She conned Spider-Man, Hammerhead and everyone. She won hands down and can do whatever she wants from now on. No one will be looking for her. Hammerhead's plans to utilize weapons of war to take over the city isn't her problem.

And yet...

Felicia comes back to help Spider-Man, knowing it will basically put her on the radar again given everything she's stolen. She doesn't stay, but she saves him and gives him the means to take Hammerhead down. No matter what anyone thinks of Felicia, especially herself, she is not nearly as incapable of being selfless as one thinks. And this is true of most of her incarnations. Perhaps because the Black Cat will do anything to get what she wants, even if it means turning over a new leaf for her Spider. It's how this all started after all. Selfish Selflessness, it's probably the best middle ground Peter can hope for. But at least it means he can count on her, to be selfish. And that's why she'll always be there for him. Felicia doesn't like to lose the things she has.

I think it also says a lot that many players felt that Peter and Felicia's chemistry was loads more interesting and compelling than his relationship with the estranged version of MJ Spidey has to deal with. And frankly, Felicia being in those stealth sequences would've made a million times more sense. There are some who have even speculated, with no real proof mind you, that Felicia was lying about lying about having a son. That she DOES have one, he just wasn't in danger. But of course, that's unlikely. For the same reason Peter remains hung up on Mary Jane in this game despite the fact most players seem apathetic to them getting back together. Spider-Man being a father out of wedlock is something that Marvel is not really prepared to sign off on. Just as much as they resist him being with someone other than MJ in other media, despite not wanting him to be with her in the comics.

It all seems so arbitrary to me, that they just can't be together because of the iconography of Peter and MJ. Or because she can't love the man the Spider is, which isn't true. Or Spider-Man can't change her or trust her, which also isn't true. If there has ever been a more consistent, sustainable, supportive and bonded character to Peter Parker it has been Felicia Hardy. Romantically or platonically, Felicia has dropped things to be there for Peter. And the idea that they are toxic for each other has never rung true. People can change, and this romance proves it. They just need to be given the chance to do so, and have the right person along for the ride. And the forced separation feels more arbitrary when you take into consideration, that Marvel has kept MJ and Peter apart for over a decades worth of comics and has never bit the bullet on simply just letting Felicia and Peter be together until now.

Some have claimed the new romance is out of the blue, that Spencer was setting things up to undo OMD, and that Wells just pulled this off out of nowhere. Well... no. Because those scenes where Felicia brought Peter out of his coma, the re-unmasking, the re-entry into his life through a number of adventures... Spencer either wrote those himself or they were written in conjunction with his run. People have confirmation bias, I'm no different, I don't claim to be. However, everyone has wanted OMD to be undone since the storyline first concluded. Marvel has played with fans' heartstrings that it will do so and it has prevented Peter from moving on because if he's not in a committed sustainable relationship, there's always hope that Mephisto's deal will be undone! And it has not helped anyone in the slightest to keep buying that horse crap.

The fact is I'm honestly sick of this "will they won't they" garbage from Marvel on undoing One More Day and I think more people should be by this point. Let me make this perfectly clear, even if they undo the deal... they're not getting remarried. Marvel simply is not interested in going down that road for Spider-Man again. Even with the new Spider-Verse movie showing Peter B. with a kid. Because the problem has never been they won't let Peter be married to MJ. The problem is they won't let Peter grow. The problem is they won't let him move on and change. They stick him in a misery spin cycle and just never let him out.

Why not just end the charade? Let Peter grow. Let Felicia grow. They both already want to. They both already desire to. And they both have already done so for the other. Felicia has been there to challenge and push him, while also protecting and supporting him. And Peter has undeniably changed Felicia as a person. She may never have the same moral compass, but she's no longer as lost as she once was. Her selfish cynicism is kept in check when it comes to Peter. And his selfless self-destruction is held back thanks to Felicia. Why deny them the chance to both be truly happy? Especially when they make each other better people. Why deny chemistry that is so perfectly balanced in its contradiction?

I don't begrudge people for preferring Mary Jane being with Spider-Man. I'm more or less at peace with the reality that some pairings are just thought of as the default and nothing is really gonna change that. I prefer Rogue with Deadpool, that doesn't change the fact she'll always be with Gambit. What I wanted to stress with this isn't so much an argument to ship it so much as the ultimate reason I simply can't let these two go.

For me, SpiderCat speaks on some primal level, more than wish fulfillment, but the idea of growth. That love can hold you up in your worst moments, or change you for the better. That it can make you look in the mirror and ask, who do you want to be? What do you want? What is worth changing for? Felicia found her answer, a nerdy, selfless, eternally tormented wall-crawler, who should know better than to go chasing her trying to save her from herself... but does it anyway. How could she not return the favor and be there for him? It's hard to say whether he caught her in his web, or if she just loves walking across his path. What is certain is they are bonded to each other, in one way or another. And that's the only thing about either character that I don't think can ever truly change.

Well this was a long one, and probably a lot more introspective and personally relatable than I thought. I think now have a better understanding of what has always drawn me to these two. And also now think I have discovered the song that describes them both so... thanks Taylor Swift! Whatever future this rekindled romance holds in the comics, we'll see how it shakes out. But I can enjoy the ride even if some of it has been rocky. Not the first time I've had to deal with that.

If you're still here, congrats, you've made it to the end. And I hope I didn't completely bore you all with this fairly overly comprehensive look at a pairing spanning various mediums and continuities. But I like to be thorough. So I hope you can appreciate the amount of work I put into this whole thing for you all. If I ever do this again I can only hope it won't be so... all encompassing. But I make no promises.

One thing I know though, I'm probably gonna be riding and dying these two forever. The Cat and her Spider, the Self and Selfless. Beautiful in the mess they are apart and the whole they are together.

[physalian]

On the one hand I am sick and tired of nostalgia bait trying to make up for shit writing to convince you that the movie is better than it actually is, but there is something special about Deadpool & Wolverine, No Way Home, and DOFP that the rest of the MCU just doesn’t have (did not actually see DP 2 and haven’t seen DP 1 since it came out).

I think the obvious dividing line is that these cameos serve a narrative purpose they’re not just there tossed in with the kitchen sink. I know Spiderman’s movies were by Sony but they fit the same vibe as what happened with Fox—these movies can only exist because they’ve been re-cast and remade and rebooted so many times, and because of the nature of these characters, and when the writers understand that that is the essence of a comic book character, that their story will never end, there will always be a new issue, a new evolution of them, so let’s embrace it instead of trying to fit it into an adaptation that dismisses it, it just works so well.

NWH does ride the nostalgia train a bit too hard, but Toby and Andrew still treated their roles, getting to be on screen again, play these characters again after their dismissal from the canon, regardless of what the actual story was about, that was special. The heart and soul those two brought to those characters was special.

DOFP is still regarded as one of if not the best X-Men movie, and it goes beyond the “nostalgia” of seeing the original actors working with the next generation, that movie felt like a passing of the torch in a way that didn’t crack jokes at the OG’s expense, like so many Marvel movies have done—laughing at themselves before the audience can laugh at them and making themselves really insincere and unable to embrace the cheesy corniness of what comic books are.

You could have a movie where every single iteration of Batman comes back in some DCU multiverse of madness, but so many of his adaptations are grimdark and serious that the only movie that kind of pulled it off was Lego Batman, and those fourth wall breaks were just a couple jokes, not literally having a script with tiny Lego Batman on screen acting across from the Bale Batman.

Not only that, these three movies didn’t just bring in cameos and toss their actors a sack of cash for a couple days of filming. It really felt like all these actors, who’ve all had if not awful adaptations, but less than thrilling ones, and even some great ones, are getting the chance to show the world/Hollywood/whatever that they were given up on too quickly, that they still had more left in them—and Hugh Jackman acting his ass off in DP&W just goes to show it. Dude has played the same character I think more than anyone else in comic book history? If not, he’s very close, or at least spans the most years in his role. He could have phoned it in, showed up and did the bare minimum, but he didn’t, and he gave a version of Wolverine that is both so like the character we’ve seen on screen for 20 years, and something new, because this isn’t our Wolverine.

And of course all the other cameos—the oldest Fox movie I’ve seen is the first Spiderman. I recognized Wesley Snipes and knew that Jennifer Garner was important, knew her weapons were significant, but I didn’t realize who she was until they said her name. I just know that her movie was pretty bad. The meta narrative of a Fox send-off victory lap, giving these characters and actors one last chance to give it all they’ve got just felt like it was done from a place of deep respect for comics, cinema, and the legacy of these movies—X-Men ran so the MCU could fly. It didn’t feel like assembly line MCU schlock at all.

So while I really, sincerely hope that the higher powers at Marvel don’t look and go “oh so they do like nostalgia bait,” this felt like so much more than “nostalgia bait”. I do not need more of it at all, but if this was the send-off that Fox never got when Disney ate it, then this movie and the end credits BTS montage was, at least I think, the best they could have done with it.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

hello! o/

not sure if you're still taking requests, but if so, i'd love to req. the bachelors with an artist s/o!

thank you for your time either way!<3

Finally! My reblog of that anon summoning post actually work- I mean hi, anon! ��� Yes, I'm still taking requests ☺️

I hope you don't mind if I write about SVE bachelors too. If you don't know about SVE mod, don't worry, I'll separate the bachelors' answer to vanilla game and Stardew valley expanded mod so you don't confuse them.

Thanks for the ask! Enjoy!

Stardew Valley Bachelors with artist!Farmer s/o:

Alex:

Alex knows that his partner is incredibly talented, so he wasn't surprised when he found out that the Farmer turned out to be a great artist. Another fact about Alex's partner, he will tell everyone and brag about how good his s/o is.

Sometimes he will joke that the Farmer pays so much attention to the object of drawing that he can even become jealous.

Alex doesn't hesitate to flex in front of the Farmer, showing his muscles and giving them a reason to draw him in all his glory.

Despite his pride, he blushes a little when he sees how beautifully his s/o drew Alex. Comment from s/o that in reality Alex will always be prettier anyway will turn the athlete into a tomato.

He really likes your summer seascapes.

It still remains a mystery to him how s/o manages to combine farming and painting at the same time.

Alex always supports your hobby, even if he doesn't understand some types of art like abstractionism.

Sam:

Wow, he didn't know that they draw so well, it's so cool!

Constantly asks for permission to look at the Farmer's sketchbook, if they don't mind of course.

Sam will be delighted with how beautifully and in detail his s/o draws the characters of his favorite comics and video games.

Sometimes Sam will ask Farmer to draw something funny on his hand. It looks like a beautiful tattoo. Jodi politely asks the Farmer to stop drawing in her eldest son's arms, as Sam refuses to wash his hands before eating, afraid to wipe the drawing off his skin.

He will hang all their drawings on the wall to admire during relaxation or musical rehearsal.

Some drawings he will keep in a special box as a treasure.

Please don't show him food and drink still lifes - their s/o paints food so beautifully and believably that he immediately wants to eat something. He laughs at Farmer's joke when they warn Sam not to inadvertently eat the painting itself.

Sebastian:

Cool

His s/o is full of mysteries and talents, isn't it?

Sebby will be interested to hear how and when exactly the Farmer began to get involved in drawing.

He'll be pleasantly surprised if his s/o shows him a science fiction comic they've drawn. If the Farmer wants to publish the comic and concept art on the Internet, then Sebastian will create a dedicated site for their publication.

His entire monitor is plastered with stickers drawn by his s/o in the form of cute frogs. No matter how many times Abigail and Sam tease him about it, he will not remove the stickers.

If the Farmer draws digital arts, Sebastian will always put them on the desktop of his computer.

For their s/o birthday, Sebby will give them a nice electronic sketchbook.

Sebastian sometimes gets nervous when Robin comes into his room, because he is afraid that his mother will accidentally throw out one of his s/o drawings. Robin seems to know that the drawing on Sebastian's desk should not be touched, but Sebby still sometimes hides them in the table, just in case.

Elliott:

Marvelous! Wonderful! Elliott didn't expect to meet another creative soul. The valley is indeed full of talented people!

Even the most ordinary sketch, which, according to his own s/o, is unremarkable, Elliott keeps as the apple of the Eye.

He will be happy if the Farmer offers to draw illustrations for his new novel he's writing.

While he is touring for his another book signing, Elliott will search for handmade sketchbooks and expensive paint sets as gifts for his precious s/o.

Elliott loves how beautifully they portray the landscape of their farm. He will hang this picture in a beautiful frame on the wall in the most prominent place in the house.

One day, after a few strong drinks, he will jokingly offer s/o to draw him half-naked. The poor writer will immediately blush if the Farmer seriously agrees to this idea. The portrait came out beautiful, but they both decided to keep the painting a secret. There are some paintings that are not created for prying eyes.

Elliott will put up a new closet in his room for all his s/o paintings, drawings, and creative figures.

Harvey:

Harvey isn't surprised when Farmer says they can draw. They are talented in everything they undertake.

Harvey is used to their doodles on his workbook and notes. The Farmer in the clinic is a frequent visitor, and sometimes they cannot restrain their creative impulse. Harvey doesn't mind, but please don't draw in his documents!

Every time s/o fills Harvey's lunch box for him at work, they leaves notes with cute and motivating drawings. Today is a note with a pun, tomorrow it is a painted kitten in a cup that wish Harvey a good day. Harvey smiles warmly every time at the sight of such small messages from his loved one, which set him up in a good mood.

He constantly massages his s/o hands when they starts to ache from frequent drawings and farm work. No hard work today, doctor's order!

Was very surprised when he found a whole stack of papers with sketches of his portrait. The Farmer says that Harvey is his main muse, so there is nothing to be surprised about.

He is amazed at how accurately they draw model aircraft.

A little embarrassed when his s/o asks him to pose for a portrait. The Farmer tells him to just be himself the way the Farmer loves him, and Harvey relaxes, once again noting how talented his s/o is.

Shane:

Heh, neat.

"Can you draw a dick on the wall at Joja Market?"

Shane please

He constantly smiles when his s/o shows him a book of sketches. Shane could listen to them forever.

Shane himself is not a fan of great art, but will listen with interest to the Farmer about different styles of drawing.

Stickers and funny pictures with farm animals are his favorites. He especially likes how they drew cute chickens.

What, this chicken sticker was inspired by Shane's favorite Charlie? Shane is about to die of happiness.

His s/o sat with Jas on more than one occasion and helped her with posters for contests and events. + into the piggy bank of good memories for Shane.

The Farmer always asks Shane for fresh sketch ideas. Shane usually says he's untalented when it comes to imagination, but he always comes up with a funny and crazy idea for new s/o drawings.

"So, you haven't changed your mind yet about drawing on the Joja wall di-?"

SHANE NO-

Stardew Valley Expanded Bachelors with artist!Farmer s/o:

Vicror:

:O

There is a whole book with Victor's portrait. And they are all so beautiful, why did his s/o hide it from him?!

Well, they didn't hide it, but Victor would like to know that his partner is the next Leonardo da Vinci!

Victor does not hesitate to give you a huge set of high-quality expensive paints, colored pencils and sketchbooks.

He is very glad that the Farmer and his mother have a common interest. Olivia and Victor's partner often arrange private drawing lessons at home, remembering to constantly call Victor and show him the paintings on the canvas. Great family time!

Although Victor is more knowledgeable in design and drafting himself, he doesn't mind getting some advice from his s/o.

He jokes and wipes the Farmer's hands and face if they don't notice they're covered in paint.

Usually, Victor is a little shy about asking the Farmer to draw something specific, such as landscape with a bridge. But his s/o seems to read Victor's thoughts and in a week gives Victor a beautiful picture with famous bridges. Victor will be surprised more than once how good and accurately they draw.

He also often shares his drawings of bridge designs with them and asks for their opinion.

Magnus:

Not to say that he is a fan of art, but the way s/o draws natural landscapes is very mesmerizing. The painting is like a window to another world!

With permission from his s/o, he casts a quick cleaning spell on them, as the Farmer always manages to stain themself and their clothes with paint.

Magnus and his s/o often go to the forest, where they find a beautiful scenic spot. The Wizard sits in the lotus position to meditate, and the Farmer sits nearby and quietly draws a new picture. It may seem unremarkable to some, but Magnus appreciates such calm moments more than anything.

"Can you pose for me please?" Wait, what? They want to draw him? Why not.

Magnus comments that he looks better on canvas than in reality. For which he receives an angry look from the Farmer and the answer that on the canvas they are unlikely to ever depict their favorite wizard as beautiful as he is in reality.

Merciful Yoba, Farmer, why are you so perfect in everything?

Lance:

Farmer, adventurer and artist... My my, their s/o is an incredible person.

He repeatedly notices how they buried their noses in the diary and make notes about adventures with beautiful illustrations.

A little jealous of his s/o time management: the Farmer has time to do farm work, protect the valley, and paint at the same time!

Nevertheless, he suggests at least sometimes to rest and not to overestimate their strength. Tired hands will affect the ability to hold a weapon firmly, which can end badly in a fight with monsters.

Lance is hard to embarrass, but when their s/o shows him sketches of Lance himself, the brave adventurer's cheeks turn a little pink. They painted him like an Olympic god.

"You are like an Olympic god, I could not miss such beauty and not draw you" Thank you very much, now Lance's cheeks are now rosier than his hair.

[alternativeminiatures]

Good video talking about the recent 'news' (?), of how gws has decided to stop allowing pre-ordering for independent vendors/third party shops, which means, in some cases, your local shop won't get new releases until a year later.

If this is true, soon you only will be able to get the new releases of gws miniatures from the gws web (unless you want to wait an indeterminate amount of extra time), or from your friendly scalper on ebay (for an indeterminate amount of extra money).

I have no idea how reliable or definitive these news are, but I know gws has wanted to get rid of third party vendors for a while. I already talked on another post about how two of my nearest local shops stopped selling gws products after gws refused to send any stock to my region for weeks, so this move is not news for me. (btw, my local shops didn't close, they are just selling other nerd stuff like merch, comics, board games and books).

I know many people would think this is a stupid move by gws, that will ruin them, etc. But I think they want to do a 'Marvel', and rely on their IP, not their product.

My theory is they expect Henry Cavill's series has a GOT effect, and get their IP broadcasted to the big public, and then sell more rights for series, movies, videogames, merch, toys, etc etc And selling miniatures will be some fancy novelty for collectors only, not a hobby for everybody.

Maybe they're viendo las orejas al lobo* of 3D printing, and think selling miniatures has no future. And you know what? That's fucking bullshit.

Why did streaming servicies have success when pirating is free? Because it's convenient. They gave a service in exchange of a fair amount of money. When it stopped working? When the amount of money started going through the roof, and gws is already in the 'through the roof' part.

If there is a convenient source of minis for a good price, you would buy from there most of the time, and only get bits and extra stuff from 3D printing services. But once the amount of money of a few minis is about the same of a decent 3D printer...

But probably, they are just greedy, as all corporations, and selling the IP is more lucrative with a lot less work expenses.

Anyway, I have a pile of shame big enough, and there are other games out there.

*Seeing the wolf's ears: a spanish expression meaning you see something (bad) coming.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@stickypersonaearthquake @imperiuswrecked @thealmightyemprex @themousefromfantasyland @professorlehnsherr-almashy

"This happens with John Byrne a lot. Most fans have just accepted that Byrne has one idea of continuity: his. If he returns to a book (such as The Avengers) that he previously wrote, expect all of the characters to immediately return to the characterizations and stories he was writing when he left, as if all of the ensuing continuity and characterization had simply not happened. Whether this is a good thing or a really terrible thing generally varies on the title, how Byrne wrote it originally, what happened since he wrote it, and whether you're a big fan of John Byrne or not.

When John Byrne took over Star Brand back in The '80s, he proceeded to launch one Take That! after another at the departing figure of ousted Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. Star Brand was one of the Shooter-initiated The New Universe titles, and was the one that Shooter himself wrote personally. Byrne not only took ad hominem shots at Shooter personally, but had exposition characters hang lampshades on how implausible the events of Shooter's run was, and how stupid the protagonist Ken Connell had been. Early on in Byrne's run, Connell's girlfriend (a major cast member) got killed off; Connell later broke down and tried to get rid of his powers, destroying Pittsburgh (the hometown of both Connell and Shooter) in the process. This was referred to slightly in the Untold Tales of the New Universe story "Tales of the Mulletverse".

In the '80s, John Byrne had grown tired of Magneto's status quo as an Anti-Hero, and wanted him to fall from grace and return to a life of villainy. To achieve this, he and Walt Simonson wrote a story where he did indeed turn back into a villain, and released the New Mutants from his tutelage to boot. Chris Claremont was not at all amused by this, so he responded by writing a story that revealed Magneto was only pretending to be a villain so that he would draw negative attention away from the other mutants of the world.

One reason there's bad blood between John Byrne and Peter David has to do with Lockjaw, The Inhumans' dog. As created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Lockjaw was just a very large, mutated dog with a normal canine intelligence level. Byrne later wrote a Thing issue in which Lockjaw spoke for the first time, begging that baby Luna not be subjected to the Terrigen Mists, since their effects weren't always pretty — implying that he was a full-fledged Inhuman like the others, and the Inhumans had always treated Lockjaw as an animal solely because he looked like one. Thus Peter David revealed that Lockjaw's "speech" had been a prank on Ben Grimm. (As he tells it, this was a request from editorial; David himself didn't have a problem with the scene and wrote his retcon so that it was possible it was Quicksilver that was lying.) This fixed the problems with Byrne's story, but now the Inhumans were Jerkasses for a different reason: pranking Grimm in the middle of an important debate, at Lockjaw's expense. Fans of the Byrne story remain sore about this... and others remain sore about the Byrne story.

When John Byrne took over as writer on the West Coast Avengers, a title previously written by Steve Englehart, he proceeded to undermine four years' worth of characterization. Hawkeye went from confident leader to sidelined jerk. The Vision and Wonder Man relationship, that had evolved into a bond of close fraternity, returned to one of jealous contention. Tigra went through almost the exact same story arc of losing control of herself and succumbing to her feline side that Engelhart had put her through and seemingly resolved. And the Vision and Scarlet Witch marriage... was altered. After the Vision lost his emotions, their children were discovered to be pieces of the devil, after which The Scarlet Witch went insane. For some reason Byrne decided to hit the Reset Button and return the characters to a status they had outgrown in over a decade of stories. Some have accused Byrne of wrecking a title that Englehart had arguably made a success out of resentment over how Englehart had written the Fantastic Four, a title John Byrne had made a hit, although it is just as likely a case of Creative Differences.

On the other hand, Byrne's portrayal of Iron Man in Avengers West Coast (and later in Shellhead's own book) stayed fairly close to how Bob Layton and David Michelinie had portrayed him, although he did remove the weapons-testing aspect from Tony's origin story. He also kept team newcomer U.S. Agent pretty much in line with how Mark Gruenwald wrote him in Captain America.

Byrne & Chris Claremont had a feud of sorts in the 1980's, which started when Claremont wrote X-Men #145 where Arcade basically punks Doom and the X-Men force him to apologize, followed by a later story where Lilandra of the Shi'ar gives Reed Richards a "The Reason You Suck" Speech for saving Galactus' life. Byrne responded by later revealing that the Doom that dealt with Arcade was Actually a Doombot, and had Doom admit that the X-Men weren't even worth his time. Later, in FF #264, Reed was on trial for saving Galactus and was told by basically every cosmic being in the Marvel Universe that yes, he was 100% right in saving his life."

(TV TROPES: ARMED WITH CANON/MARVEL COMICS)

[classicmarvelera]

Captain America: Making of a War Hero into a Symbol of Hope

We all know that Captain America debuted in a title named after him by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941. He was seen punching Hitler right in the face but many may not know that this was done well before the US had decided to enter World War 2. In fact, at the time, the US was more concerned about its Pacific theater than the Atlantic. Nevertheless, Timely publishes the issue and Captain America gets established as a war hero from the start, who alongside his sidekick Bucky, is fighting fascism in continental Europe which is falling to the Reich like a house of cards

Cap at the time is the symbol of Freedom, anti-fascism, or as he would later be called the Sentinel of Liberty but there was one thing missing at Marvel. The House of Ideas lacked an inspiring figure like Superman among its flagship characters. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Invincible Iron Man, and even the Avengers had issues with themselves as well as with each other but a figure whom readers can look up to was something not present. Cap remained a 'man out of time' when he gets discovered by the Avengers but it takes a decade for writers to get him accustomed to the realities of America that were haunting the country from the streets to the Oval Office (Thank You, Jack Kirby and Steve Englehart)

Well into the bronze age era of comics, and under Jim Shooter's reign of the bullpen, a young J.M. DeMatteis shows his potential for storytelling with his first assignment of Captain America no. 261 which would introduce Nomad to the readers for the first time. This issue was supposed to be a collaboration with the real-life Captain America TV movie starring Reb Brown but Jim had other ideas. Issues 261-263 would find Steve Rogers going to California to meet Galactic Films for the upcoming movie about him (in Earth-616) but his real mission was to investigate Nomad's activities on the streets of LA which would turn out to be a deep conspiracy by one of his oldest arch nemesis

After becoming a regular writer on the Captain America series, DeMatteis, Mick Zeck, and John Beatty wrote a story that was way ahead of its time. Today's resurgence of the far left in the world and in the US and the reactionary rise of the far right was being seen by comic book writers like DeMatteis way before many had thought of it. Surprisingly it was a feeble populist villain by the name of Everyman doing the talk, not the Red Skull

In the story, the disenfranchised youth who looked up to Everyman realize their mistake of choosing 'despair over hope' but what causes them to see this is the humility Cap showed despite being spit at multiple times (literally). His eagerness to listen to the young, to the future of the country and their grievances with America, the American Dream leads to a change of heart

This single-issue story would showcase Cap in a different light. Steve Englehart had given Cap a rude awakening that patriotism can't come at the expense of truth and justice in Secret Empire. He showed Cap's disillusionment with the powers that be in America. DeMatteis took the opposite route to show Cap what's corrupting the country's future, and giving rise to the 'enemy within' who can cause anarchy. It wouldn't be wrong to say that Christopher Nolan's Bane (Dark Knight Rises) reminds us of Everyman but what's important to remember is that it was J.M. DeMatteis who warned us before anyone else did

This story is just the tip of the iceberg. The entire run by DeMatteis is one of the most underrated as it gets overshadowed by the works of Jack Kirby, Steve Englehart, and Mark Gruenwald. Like his works for Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, his work for Cap remains one of the best runs ever

[starsapphire]

2, 3 and 4!

2. The most recent comic you got

rus @gretahayes sent me these! which was so so nice. and also extremely evil for reasons which rus knows and should feel bad about

green lantern (1990) #57, poison ivy #10 (part of rus' campaign to make me read this series), and the snoopy comic from this year's free comic day bc my store didn't have it 🫶

3. The comic you spent the most for

do you know i don't think i own any single issues i paid more than like $8 for... i suppose the most i've spent is on newer tpbs and apparently the most expensive one i own is ms marvel: time and again which was $26 CAD before tax. evil?? anyway i also own the penguin marvel collection for lee/kirby fantastic four which costs $38 but was a gift so. i mean i didn't pay for it

4. The comic you got the biggest deal for

dc pride special 2024 because i got it on free comic book day when a bunch of stuff was on sale and the cashier at the comic book shop was like "technically ur supposed to pay full price for this but idgaf so u can have it with the sale discount for $4" #ally

[larkwithme]

Baby's first ask game! (I've been here for five years idk what I was doing that whole time)

(Thanks @onioneyez, I am also suffering through the ao3 outage :) )

(UPDATE: IT JUST FIXED ITSELF!!)

Last song: I'm All Right by Madeleine Peyroux! Got its album on CD a few weeks ago (and just recovered my CD player from storage) so I've been playing it ooover and oooover

Favorite color: Whatever I'm wearing the most of that day! Today is all blue day so I'm going to see a nice deep blue or maybe faded denim color.

Currently reading: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell!!! My favorite book of all time ever, I needed something familiar and I've read this little guy maybe eight times so... yup. So pretty so sad the characters inspire me on the most basic human level UGH

Currently watching: I *just* started my yearly Fleabag s2 rewatch as of an hour ago so that will consume me for a week or so. Then I will finish X-Men 97 and then who knows what.

Last movie: Querelle! Very strange, very 80s gay. Extremely sexy lighting, everything glittered and glowed it was crazy beautiful.

Sweet, spicy, savory?: SAVORY <3 very salty with lots of allium and a medium-small amount of spice

relationship status: Flying solo for theee forseeable future

current obsession: X-Men!! My childhood obsession returns. I thought I was just going to watch a movie or two to prep for Deadpool and Wolverine, but it turned into a whole thing. Even got a subscription to the Marvel comic service, reading lots of Wolverine stuff, buncha random comics. I also have recently acquired a kitchen of my very own, so I've been cooking like crazy and I'm desperate to get some more ingredients and start making new recipes!! I need new recipes!!

Tea or coffee? Tea at home, a flavored latte (decaf) when I'm out. Golden milk is peak though. Really craving this honeycomb latte I had once but I hate spending more than 5 bucks on a drink mmm

last thing I googled: "din tai fung disney" went to a nice restaurant for my mom's birthday dinner, so naturally we discussed other restaurants (and my mom's a disney fan). Disney's too expensive as is so I will not be visiting that little establishment but goddd I want dim sum... preferably not at din tai fung prices...

If y'all want, no pressure :) @soupen-creature @goat-goth @allthatglitters-isgay

[vernard]

6, 12, 18, 24, 30 for the comic ask game!

6. The comic you were most excited to find

i know these comics arent Hard to find by any means but..! these are probably the ones i got the most excited about when i found them :-) for fantastic four #258: i dont know Why. but i assumed that issue was going to be really expensive so. i got really excited seeing i found a listing for it for cheap!! and for the ff hardback: i didnt expect to find many fantastic four comics at the store i scored this at, so i got super happy seeing a hardback book there!! and got even More ecstatic realizing. thats a comic with kristoff in it!!

12. Your favorite comic you have

i answered this earlierr with fantastic four #258 and spider-man blue but..! ill use this as an excuse to post my jthm book <3 probably my favourite. non-marvel/dc comic

18. The rarest comic you have

hm! im really not sure here...! i dont really know what makes a comic rare so i could be . really off base here but ill just show what. im Guessing is rare

i got theese two issues of tales of the zombie; and also, not pictured, i got raw volume 2 issue 3 :-)

24. The comic you have in worst condition

OK I HAVE A GOOD LOT OF COMICS I COULD SAY HERE... i have a plastic bag full of a few Really fucking shit condition comics i got from my dad that i havent looked at in a while

...and hey i looked through it, and pulled out an issue of threat! kind of . speechless i found this . since as i said in this ask ive been looking to buy some issues of threat.. i tihnk back when i first got this- i hadnt read threat so i just fully forgot about owning this. Huh!

AND. THATS BY FAR MY WORST CONDITION COMIC. covered in coffee stains, missing the cover and. A Fuckton of other pages.

30. Dealer’s choice: a random comic!

a tiny mars attacks comic!

(ask game)

[blazehedgehog]

How much have you read Marvel or DC comics? And if so, who were the characters or teams (X-Men, Avengers, Justice League) that you read?

I did not read a lot of traditional Marvel or DC comics growing up, and there's a few reasons for that.

One, those comics always felt very dense. They were always in the thick of some soap opera event and I'd never read the story leading up to it. And when it got especially bad, they'd spread an entire story arc out across multiple different series.

So Wolverine would hop between X-Men, Spider-man, and three or four other books... but I never went into comic stores, so my supermarket would only get the X-Men and Spider-man parts of that story. So on top of not knowing what was going on, they were telling me I had to track down and go into a specialty shop.

Two, I want to say those books were comparatively expensive. I almost exclusively read Archie's Sonic comics growing up, but even then I didn't always have the $2 for a single issue of those. Archie was known for being a lot cheaper than Marvel or DC. For example, here's pages from Sonic in the year 2001:

Pay special attention to how flat and simple the coloring is here. Meanwhile, Marvel was printing comics that looked like this:

But there was a reason for that: Marvel's books were also more expensive. And when you grow up so broke that even $2 for a comic book can sometimes be more than your mom is willing to spend, $2.25 or even $2.50 for a Spider-Man comic is out of the question. You paid for that extra production value.

Ultimately it never made sense. Marvel and DC comics had multiple barriers of entry that made them harder to justify versus something like Sonic that was comparatively more simple and more affordable.

To this day, most of what I've absorbed about these comics comes second hand from friends who are more well-versed.

[mthofferings]

Lady Gigi

See Lady Gigi’s existing works here.

Preferred contact methods: Email: jijikero@yahoo.com Twitter: LadyGigiArt Discord: LadyGigi#5001 DeviantArt: jijikero

Preferred organizations: - Anything from the list of approved organizations

Will create works that contain: Genderswap (F to M), MxM platonic/romantic relationships, Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters), canon, canon-divergent, historical/movie/books/no powers AU, mutual pining, miscommunication, angst, happy ending, domestic/slice of life, fantasy, getting together, established couple, love confessions, first kiss, first time, hurt/comfort angst, dark, mpreg, omegaverse, furry, dubcon, non-con, themes, most kinks/BDSM, incest, SFW, NSFW

Will not create works that contain: Genderswap (M to F), sexual acts with minors and animals (Rocket being the one exception), hetero pairings, FxF pairings, Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor Johnson), bodily waste kinks, food kink, dismemberment/extreme gore, death, mech/machinery, x-ray vision

  -- Art --

Auction ID: 1035

Will create works for the following relationships: Bucky Barnes/Any - Any Universe Logan/Any - Any Universe Loki/Any - Any Universe Peter Parker/Any - Any Universe Remy LeBeau/Any - Any Universe Stephen Strange/Any - Any Universe Steve Rogers/Any - Any Universe Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - Any Universe Tony Stark/Any - Any Universe Wade Wilson/Any - Any Universe

Work Description: I'll create one 1-6 panel(s) A3 size (11"x17") pencil comic page with digital lettering and simple backgrounds of two male characters (for Character/Any: one Marvel male from the relationships listed above and the other male from ANY universe even outside of Marvel if you want). Digital file will be sent by email. If the auction exceeds $75, then the comic page will be inked traditional (digital can be requested but will take longer to complete). If bids exceed $150, then a page will be added (additional pages added in $100 increments at $250, $350, $450, maxing 6 pages at $550). If bids exceed $350, then the pages will be colored in Photoshop. If somehow bids go over $550, then another male character can be added. References such as pictures, descriptions of the clothes/poses/settings, etc. would be extremely helpful but specifically noting the desired universe—while I specialize in comic/anime/manga/chibi, I can imitate other art styles. You can write the dialogue or you can leave it to my discretion. Also, I may be a smut creator, but I do enjoy drawing comedic and wholesome stuff too. After the auction, please reach out to me with a description of your request before the new year (when I will start the request). If this is won by a pod bid, then please have all the details (comics-wise, who's paying for shipping if they want a page and who gets what page) ready by 2024 as well. I will provide a very loose rough draft and allow one round of edits/revisions. After the pages have been completed, the original pencil/ink drawing can be mailed at the auction winner's expense if requested (cost to be confirmed).

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Art --

Auction ID: 2024

Will create works for the following relationships: Bruce Banner/Any - MCU Edwin Jarvis/Any - MCU Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier - Any Universe Hank McCoy/Any - Any Universe Howard Stark/Any - MCU Quentin Beck/Any - MCU Rocket Raccoon/Any - Any Universe Pietro Maximoff/Any - X-Men movieverse Ultron/Any - MCU Jeff the Land Shark & Loki - Any Universe

Work Description: I'll create one 1-6 panel(s) A3 size (11"x17") pencil comic page with digital lettering and simple backgrounds of two male characters (for Character/Any: one Marvel male from the relationships listed above and the other male from ANY universe, even outside of Marvel if you want). Digital file will be sent by email. If the auction exceeds $75, then the comic page will be inked traditional (digital can be requested but will take longer to complete). If bids exceed $150, then a page will be added (additional pages added in $100 increments at $250, $350, $450, maxing 6 pages at $550). If bids exceed $350, then the pages will be colored in Photoshop. If somehow bids go over $550, then another male character can be added. References such as pictures, descriptions of the clothes/poses/settings, etc. would be extremely helpful but specifically noting the desired universe—while I specialize in comic/anime/manga/chibi, I can imitate other art styles. You can write the dialogue or you can leave it to my discretion. Also, I may be a smut creator, but I do enjoy drawing comedic and wholesome stuff too. After the auction, please reach out to me with a description of your request before the new year (when I will start the request). If this is won by a pod bid, then please have all the details (comics-wise, who's paying for shipping if they want a page and who gets what page) ready by 2024 as well. I will provide a very loose rough draft and allow one round of edits/revisions. After the pages have been completed, the original pencil/ink drawing can be mailed at the auction winner's expense if requested (cost to be confirmed). For Rocket/Any, I would love to draw Rocket/Capwolf.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Art --

Auction ID: 3009

Will create works for the following relationships: Bruce Banner & Clint Barton & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark & Thor - MCU Frigga & Loki - MCU Madisynn King & Wong - MCU Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker - MCU Nick Fury & Talos - MCU Jeff the Land Shark-centric - Any Universe Bruce Banner & Hela & Loki & Thor & Valkyrie - MCU Edwin Jarvis & Howard Stark & Tony Stark - MCU Peter Parker & Peter Parker & Peter Parker - MCU, TASM, Spider-Man (Raimi trilogy) Floor & Lylla & Rocket Raccoon & Teefs - MCU

Work Description: I'll create one 1-6 panel(s) A3 size (11"x17") pencil comic page with lettering and simple backgrounds for ONE of the ten ships listed. Digital file will be sent by email. If the auction exceeds $100, then the comic page will be inked traditional (digital can be requested but will take longer to complete). If bids exceed $200, then a page will be added (additional pages added in $150 increments: $350, $500, maxing 5 pages at $650). If bids exceed $350, then the pages will be colored in Photoshop. References such as pictures, descriptions of the clothes/poses/settings, etc. would be helpful but not necessary. You can write the dialogue or you can leave it to my discretion. Also, I may be a smut creator, but I do enjoy drawing comedic and wholesome stuff too. After the auction, please reach out to me with a description of your request before the new year (when I will start the request). If this is won by a pod bid, then please have all the details (comics-wise, who's paying for shipping if they want a page and who gets what page) ready by 2024 as well. I will provide a very loose rough draft and allow one round of edits/revisions. After the pages have been completed, the original pencil/ink drawing can be mailed at the auction winner's expense if requested (cost to be confirmed). For the Jarvis & Howard & Tony prompt, I'll draw kid Tony.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 22 (12 AM ET) to October 28 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

[georgiapeach30513]

If you have read comic books before, you would understand that we WILL be seeing Chris Evans again in the future. Not only as Cap but as the Human Torch as well. Not a spoiler, just common sense if you know what’s coming. I’m still disappointed that we will not see Kang’s chaos like we should.

Even if you haven't read the comics I think it's just a matter of time in general. Marvel is flailing. We've gotten overloaded with content, but it just doesn't have the same impact as it did before. I feel they're missing the heart that set them above other comic movies.

I'm up for seeing Chris return, but not at the expense of Mackie. And I would just about bet that most people would agree with that. Can we give this man a good quality movie?

[thefreelanceangel]

To what degree do you use the OC creation process as a way of exploring your own strengths and flaws?

It's almost never a conscious decision, and I'm fairly sure I'd fumble badly if I tried to do something deliberately because I'd overthink it. (Esti. Yes, Esti, you have this too.) I do tend to spread a couple of specific traits to characters--all of them like books, if not love them, and all of them enjoy reading--but it's almost always something I discover after the fact.

Humor, however, is something I like to think about in terms of how it cushions or sharpens a character's experiences.

C'allie possesses a very robust sense of humor, is always ready to laugh, and can joke about herself freely. She's confident enough to find humor in life, even if she's the butt of the joke. It makes her a pleasant person to be around and someone people like to spend time with.

On the exact opposite end is Anna. Her idea of humor always has someone else as the butt of the joke and it's always a cruel joke. She also cannot laugh at herself. Anna won't "take a joke" well at all. And while she genuinely doesn't care about the opinions of people in general, she also won't endure being mocked. She'll just kill whoever can't keep their mouth shut.

And then there's Summer, who has a marvelous sense of humor, but that sense of humor is very... fae. It's funny to her to see people wander about in the fogs of Il Mheg, or to see people flail their way around in silly nightmares. A leafman with a funny hat is charming to her; she doesn't think of it as a person trapped for all eternity.

I find that how a character would respond to a joke--both at their expense and not--tells me a lot about them. As I've been comic relief my entire life, I think that's probably what I dig around the most to find when I make a character and start writing them.