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superman86to99 · 6 months

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The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special (November 2023)

Whoa! Some sort of chronal disturbance has thrown us from 1994 to the futuristic year 2023, just in time to cover this new special by the entire creative team behind "Reign of the Supermen"... minus Roger Stern and Dennis Janke, but PLUS Jerry Ordway (who left right before "Reign" started in '93). This is a lot like the Death of Superman special released last year, except that instead of featuring four standalone stories, this one has a framing device uniting all the tales.

In the framing story (written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Travis Moore), the Cyborg Superman comes back to Metropolis and starts attacking S.T.A.R. Labs installations, as if those places haven't been blown up enough times already. Since Perry White is currently in a coma (from, as far as I can tell, not knowing Superman is Clark Kent), it's up to current Daily Planet editor Lois Lane to put together a story on the Cyborg without her mentor's help. Or with a little bit of her mentor's help, since Ron Troupe conveniently pulls out Perry's old journal from the "Reign of the Supermen" days, including his thoughts about the Cyborg.

So, Lois and Ron start reading Perry's notes about the four Supermen who popped up in Metropolis after Superman's death, which leads us to...

"Speed" (by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove)

Despite the "Perry's notes" framing device, this story is actually told by Ron as he remembers the first time he saw Steel. Ron is leaving for work one morning and everyone in his neighborhood is talking about which of the four Supermen is the real deal. A lady called Mama Bess (who I initially mistook for Myra the Orphanage Lady because she's also big and black and surrounded by little kids) says they're all posers, including Steel, because none of them are around when you need them. Then some gangbangers drive by the neighborhood with a Toastmaster gun, and guess who drops by to save everyone's asses? Not Batman.

Mama Bess recognizes Steel's voice ("rich an' dark as Memphis honey") as belonging to that guy who was running around Metropolis helping people in crumbling buildings while Superman and Doomsday were tearing up the town, as seen in the Death special. While Steel fights the gangbangers, Ron calls Perry, who tells him to keep that lady talking so they can learn as much as possible about the mysterious armored Superman. Hey, is that Mike Carlin in the Planet offices below, to the left of adorably skinny Jimmy Olsen?

Steel prevails over the evildoers and the neighborhood kids rush in to proclaim him as the one true Superman. The best part of the story, for me, is when a little kid picks up a Toastmaster laying on the street and says he can use it to stop the bad guys, but Steel says that's a weapon for bad guys (he'd know, he designed them). Then he replaces it with an old school Game Boy and breaks the gun, Dark Knight Returns-style.

Steel tells everyone he's not Superman, he's just a dude trying to help, but Mama Bess still insists on making him a new cape to replace the one that got torn up in the fight. Ron concludes his report saying that this guy isn't the real Superman, "but maybe he was the next best thing."

"He Had Me Thinking He Was Superman" (by Jerry Ordway)

Jerry Ordway fills in for Roger Stern and Jackson Guice (who at least has a pin-up in this issue) and, man, I never knew how much I needed to see Ordway draw the Eradicator until now. In this story, Perry stumbles upon a standoff between Maggie Sawyer's Special Crimes Unit and the most violent yet Spock-like of the four Supermen, who's holding an armored goon hostage as he interrogates him.

Maggie kindly kicks Perry out of the active crime scene, but he sticks around and decides to solve this situation via the power of journalism. First, Perry talks to a warehouse worker (who kinda looks like an Amalgam of High Pockets and Lamarr) and learns about a nearby entrance to a rumored Intergang hideout. Then, he uses a radio scanner to find the frequency the goons' friends are using to communicate. He tries to tell Maggie about this, but the Superman Formerly Known As The Eradicator grabs Perry and flies off with him to find out what he knows. Perry says he'll tell him if he promises to stop being such a psychopath for a moment.

Thanks to Perry's information, the Eradicator finds the other armored goons, who are moving weapons from an abandoned Intergang cache. The Eradicator violently (but non-lethally, as promised) encourages the goons to renounce their criminal ways, and then locates the mastermind behind this operation, who turns out to be... no, not freakin' Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught, but close enough: Professor Killgrave! You know, that little twerp with the Moe haircut who once trapped Superman in an amusement park full of killer robots. Having seen how the Eradicator dealt with his hired goons, Killgrave eagerly gives himself up to the authorities.

As the Eradicator flies away from the underground base, he carelessly sends some debris flying off which almost hits some bystanders and ruins Perry's car. So, the Eradicator fulfills his promise to Perry that he wouldn't kill anyone, but Perry decides he can't keep his side of the deal, which was to tell the Planet's readers that "they have nothing to fear" from this dangerous maniac.

"The Metropolis Kid" (by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, and Doug Hazlewood)

This story provides the secret origin for several Superboy-related elements: the name "The Metropolis Kid" (which never made a lot of sense to me), that iconic pinup of Superboy saving a lady in a bath towel, and Mack Harlin, a recurring character who first appeared in the Superboy series in 1995. Turns out he was a Metropolis cabbie before he somehow became a truant officer in Hawaii. Note that Mack also counts as the second Mike Carlin cameo in this issue.

(Wonder if the ride was $6,50?)

In the story, Perry witnesses the moment when Don't Call Me Superboy saves that towel lady from a building fire (which she didn't notice due to her love of '90s rock, waterproof earbuds, and long, hot showers). Tana Moon's photo of that moment goes viral on Tweeter, FaceSpace, and, yes, even Insta-image, turning Not-Superboy into a social media sensation. The official story is that the Kid is Superman's clone, but Perry doesn't seem convinced. He uses his journalistic powers to find Not-Superboy at a local skate park where he hangs out. Interestingly, Perry briefly wonders if the Kid reminds him of his late son, Jerry, before dismissing the idea. I wonder if that's Kesel commenting on a certain 2000s retcon that made Superboy and Jerry biological half-brothers...

While Perry watches the Kid being a kid, he's suddenly attacked by Bloodsport -- the original one from John Byrne's Superman #4, who just busted out of jail, and not the racist wannabe. Instead of teleporting guns into his hands, this time Bloodsport is wearing a "weapons suit" that allows him to quickly assemble them on the fly. One of the guns hits Not-Superboy pretty hard, but the persistent little bugger gets up and somehow manages to disassemble Bloodsport's suit just by touching it.

As Perry later determines, Bloodsport thought the bullets would kill Not-Superboy because they were coated with a tiny bit of kryptonite, but it didn't seem to have an effect on him. That's when Perry realizes who the Kid reminds him of, with his brash attitude, big heart, endless energy, and massive potential: not Jerry (ouch), but Metropolis itself. Hence, the Metropolis Kid. Eh, I'll take it.

"Betrayal" (by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)

This one begins between the pages of Superman #79, after the Cyborg Superman saves the President from terrorists but before the Planet publishes Ron's soon-to-be-infamous front page proclaiming "SUPERMAN IS BACK!" How could Perry let that story through? As it turns out, at first he didn't wanna. Perry tells Ron he needs way more proof that the Cyborg is the real Superman. That proof sorta falls on his lap when the train Perry is riding gets derailed and the Cyborg heroically saves everyone. That, plus the Secret Service vouching for this guy, are enough to convince Perry that he's definitely Superman and not an evil impostor or something.

(Note that the story makes sure to mention the "living former presidents" happened to be at the White House when the Cyborg dropped by, explaining why the Planet's front page shows Bill Clinton and not, uh, whoever was President in the DCU "a few years ago.")

So, Perry goes ahead with Ron's front page story... only for the Superman he endorsed to turn around and murder 7 million people in Coast City. Whoops. Continuity quibble: this story makes it sound like the Cyborg was immediately revealed as Coast City's murderer, when in fact he fooled everyone into thinking it was the Eradicator for several days, but maybe Perry saw through it right away because he's just THAT good of a journalist.

Perry feels awful about that front page, especially when it emerges that the Cyborg and some big yellow guy called Mongul are turning Coast City's crater into a giant engine to turn Earth into a sort of Death Star. Just when Perry is at his lowest point, Lois tells him that another Superman showed up in a Kryptonian battle armor, and this time she just knows he's the real deal (because she made out with him, but she doesn't mention that).

We see the rest of the storyline (the assault on Engine City, the Cyborg's defeat) from Perry's perspective, and once Superman is back in Metropolis, Perry tells him how sorry he is for that headline. Superman's like "nah, don't sweat it, honest mistake" and actually thanks Perry for always reporting on him with honesty over the years. Moral of the story: trust Lois, double-check Ron.

"Legacy" (by Dan Jurgens, Travis Moore, and briefly all the others)

Meanwhile, in the framing story, Superboy, Steel, and a recently-rebooted, non-evil Eradicator (or his Phantom Zone ghost, anyway) show up to stop their old pal the Cyborg, since Superman is currently in space. We learn that the Cyborg has been hitting S.T.A.R. facilities because he wants to retrieve the DNA of his three astronaut friends who were mutated into freaks during the fantastic incident that gave him his powers, so he can bring them all back to life. The Supermen understandably assume that he's building some sort of weapon and try to stop him, but he's defeated all of them before and does it again.

Royally pissed that these meddling Supermen messed with his plans, the Cyborg notices their fight left some exposed gas lines in the middle of Metropolis and is about to use them to indulge in his favorite hobby: blowing up entire cities. Luckily, the Eradicator uses some of Steel's tech to make his hologram self solid enough to whip out a Phantom Zone projector and suck the Cyborg into his ghostly prison.

As soon as the day is saved, Superman flies down and reveals that he'd been watching all along but didn't intervene because he had confidence in his boys. Everyone shares a nice little moment, until the Eradicator makes it awkward with his talk of "Kryptonian purity."

The issue ends with Lois reading a passage from Perry's journal about how Superman inspired others to be better, even in his absence. She hopes she's able to tell Perry that the same thing is true about him, because "you are our Superman." Well, their other Superman.

Like the Death special, this is an excellent excuse for these legendary creators to play with their most famous toys again, and I wouldn't mind seeing one of these a year (Battle for Metropolis 30th Anniversary Special, anyone?). I kinda wish the Supermen had been introduced more gradually/dramatically in the framing story, building up to a grand reunion, instead of being like "oh hey, there they are," but that's a minor complaint and doesn't detract much from this massive labor of love. However, there's one thing I can't forgive: still no Bibbo. -1/10.

Fun fact, my co-host Don Sparrow and I agreed we'd make this post much shorter than the insanely long one we did for the previous special, and it ended up being... about 10% shorter. Woo! We did it! See Don's take after the jump:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We begin with the cover, and it’s a great piece from the formidable team of Jurgens and Breeding. We’ve mentioned in the past the rumour that there had been a falling out between this pencil and ink team in years past, so seeing their layouts and finishes together sure feels like a treat. The composition is reminiscent of the image we used to have as the background on this very blog. I must say, I’m not a fan of the colouring technique employed here by Elizabeth Breitweister, which looks a little flat and scribbly for my tastes. The sky in particular just looks like a photograph with the contrast turned way up, and then colour filled, and doesn’t really work for me. But that’s just my opinion, I’m sure the colouring approach to this cover has many modern fans.

Inside the main through-line story is by Travis Moore, and it’s mostly quite well done, if a little stiff in places. He has a great handle on Lois Lane, and the "Reign of the Supermen" splash on page 5 is a particular highlight. I’m less enchanted with the modern-day Cyborg Superman, particularly the torn sleeve on his right arm, and the missing belt buckle. There’s generally a simplicity to the complex robotic parts that doesn’t work as well as other incarnations we’ve seen of the Cyborg Superman.

The next sequence, a reminiscence of Steel’s early days is a great showcase of Jon Bogdanove’s late style, some of which we saw in the “Retroactive” throwbacks of 2011. While Bog still employs his cartoonish rendering, the figures are generally tighter and smaller on the page than his '90s work. Fittingly, given the extra attention paid to Metropolis’ diversity in the pages of Superman: The Man of Steel, this story makes good use of a predominantly black Metropolis neighbourhood. While I’ve never fully warmed to Ron Troupe as a character, this story does give him some background, showing his neighbourhood and living situation in a way that wasn’t covered by his appearances in the '90s. (As Ron is heading to work, he’s wearing a suit and tie, though I would have loved a callback to his famed JAM sweatshirt, first appearing in the story that THIS story refers to, where Ron is involved in the verification of the Cyborg Superman as the “one true Superman”). There’s a terrific image of John Henry Irons flying at the camera on Page 11...

...and another of him destroying a toastmaster weapon on page 16 that is a standout, featuring Bog’s unique method of hatching to denote the shine of chrome. Including something like a smartphone, as they do on page 16, is an effective way of moving the story up in time, so that Lois Lane isn’t in (at least) her fifties, having covered Superman’s return in 1994. The involvement of specific Presidents later in the book hamper that slightly, but overall they do a good job of keeping it nebulous.

It was difficult to pick a favourite sequence, but I have to give it to the Jerry Ordway Eradicator story. It’s interesting to see a story by Jerry with this character, who was mostly covered by other writers (indeed, Jerry was off the books immediately after Adventures #500) and artists. Ordway hasn’t lost much zip on his fastball, as the entire story employs the usual dynamic realism and well-observed textures that we’ve come to appreciate in his work. Perry looks like himself throughout, though he reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in the one panel of him playing with his analog walky-talky. The Eradicator’s costume has always been a terrific design, and he looks so cool as he searches for the rest of the baddies in an underground lair.

Later in the story, the image of the Last Son melting through the getaway car is an extremely tall order art-wise, and again Jerry doesn’t disappoint. As one of the two biggest fans of the triangle era, I was overjoyed to see an old-school villain like Killgrave in these pages as well.

We’re similarly treated to another original triangle era villain in the Kesel-Grummett-Hazlewood section, where Kon-El throws down with Bloodsport. While it may feel like rehash to some readers of this blog, it’s been decades since readers have seen “The Metropolis Kid” rescue Ms. Sheenan, so it’s an appreciated callback. Lots of great stuff here, but none I like more than Superboy shredding on a skateboard—a TOTALLY RAD moment, if ever.

The next section, like the cover, is something of a missed opportunity. Again, we have a stellar pairing of Jurgens and Breeding, but the art is let down by what I would say is incompatible colouring. Most of the tones are good, but the details begin to compete with the linework underneath, especially as the digital brushstrokes get scribbly, as they are on the arm of the Cyborg Superman on the title page, or perhaps worst of all, the should-be-impactful moment of the one true Kal-El emerging on Metropolis harbour. Superman is depicted red-nosed throughout, and the rendering is sketchy, where even flat colour might have given us a better look at the inks below. I get the feeling it’s all intentional—an attempt at a more painterly style, perhaps to denote that it’s a flashback. But it was a miss for me—even though I always love seeing Mongul kissing the Cyborg’s hand. [Max: He does have a very handsome hand.]

Next to Ordway’s chapter, the high point of the book is where the triangle era super-team switch, page to page, in order to tell the story. First with Jurgens and Breeding (with a less distracting colouring job), then Bogdanove, then Ordway, and finally Grummett and Hazelwood. Interestingly, the classic Superman plays no role in the fight, showing up only at the end, in an echo of the original storyline.

Finally, there’s a pin-up section, with some real standouts. While the Stern/Guice team didn’t get their own chapter in the book, that title is represented with a great image of the survival suit Superman taking flight in front of the Daily Planet. The comics logic part of my brain can’t help but notice he’s NOT wearing the Lexcorp flight boots in this image, and wasn’t able to fly under his own power in this suit, but I’m resisting pointing that out. The Daniel Sampere pinup is another nice, simple image but again I quibble, as the survival suit Superman had no cape. Is that maybe the Cyborg’s cape? It was also deeply cool to see all the trade dress and character logos at the back of that section. [Max: And the Kerry Gammill/José Luis García López promo image! Been a while since we've seen Gammill in this blog so that was a nice surprise for me.]

SPEEDING BULLETS:

I love that this story showcases Perry White’s regret about running Ron’s story that lent credibility to the murderous Cyborg Superman. They never really dealt with the journalistic repercussions of that within the story, so I love seeing an added dimension through this new narrative. They also absolve the Clintons more specifically, as the Cyborg notes that all Presidents vouched for his veracity, so it wasn’t just slick Willie who got it wrong.

I realize the Travis Moore pages are mainly a narrative device to set up the flashbacks, but there’s something off about someone as deadly as the Cyborg just aimlessly shooting up the city. As we saw when he took Doomsday’s body in Superman #78, with his power set, and technological ability, Henshaw can get in and out of a very secure place with speed and stealth, none of which do we see here. The dissonance isn’t helped by the art, which shows very empty streets for a usually crowded literal Metropolis.

The use of Perry White’s diaries as a framework for the flashbacks is a super idea, and puts a beloved character at the center of the issue, even if he’s physically absent in current day comics. (Having dropped the super-books during the Bendis run, I confess I was a little lost on that score.)

Not familiar with the skateboard term “Grommet” but it pays off on the last page of the section as Superboy gives a skateboard to “Tommy the Grommet” in a shoutout to artist Tom Grummett.

The idea of the Cyborg resurrecting the rest of his crew is an intriguing one, and it does make me wonder what an insane mirror image Fantastic Four would be like as opponents of Superman. Certainly it would even up the odds a little, as the Super squad we see in these pages had no trouble handling Henshaw on his own. [Max: I like that idea. Call them the Tragic Four.]

Overall I think I liked the Death anniversary issue a little more, as the story felt a bit more urgent than just window-dressing for flashbacks. But both are like meeting an old friend after a long time. This really was a high-water mark for Superman stories, and for comics in general.

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backmaskcd · 4 months

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🌺 Ridley - Sawyer

Send 🌺 to hear what my muse likes about yours

Her tenacity; it keeps Ridley motivated to keep up with her however they can and it's part of why they're so drawn to her in the first place.

#ridley kelley ; inspo #ridley & sawyer ; do you know how it feels to crave a body made of steel

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srstronci · 2 years

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Ok. WHY nobody said me to listen TYPE O NEGATIVE!!!!! I MEAN...WHY?! NOW I LISTENING "I DONT WANNA BE ME" FOR THE FIRT TIME AND IT CATCH MY WHOLE ATTENTION 🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️

#type o negative #pete steele #rock band #slasher community #bo sinclair #house of wax #vincent sinclair #michael myers #freddy krueger #michael myers x reader #halloween #texas chainsaw massacre the beginning #bubba sawyer

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thunder-spriggan-sorciere · 2 years

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AO3 Masterlist

List of all my Fairy Tail fanfics! Links are provided to AO3, but these stories are also available on FF.net, under the same names. Peruse at your leisure, I hope you enjoy them. And stay tuned, I’ve got more works in the making, including a multi-chapter Wahl Icht and Thunder Legion centric fic.

Failure is Not an Option

He was meant to be the greatest wizard in the world. No one could touch him. He couldn’t be defeated. Because then his father would be angry. And no-one wanted to make his father angry. Set before the Nirvana Arc.

Characters: Midnight/Macbeth, Cobra/Erik, Brain, Angel/Sorano, Racer/Sawyer, Hoteye/Richard

Aftermath

Many lives were saved in the instant time was turned back. But the memories of what could have happened still linger. Set some time after the Grand Magic Games arc.

Characters: Bacchus Groh, Rocker, Quattro Cerberus Guild

Family

Written for Day 1 of Crime Sorcière/Oracion Seis week. Prompt: Family. Jellal reflects on his new family.

Characters: Jellal Fernandes, Meredy, Midnight/Macbeth, Cobra/Erik, Angel/Sorano, Racer/Sawyer, Hoteye/Richard

Redemption

Written for Day 2 of Crime Sorciere/Oracion Seis week. Prompt: Redemption. If you wish to achieve redemption, you must first apologise for your actions.

Characters: Angel/Sorano, Aries, Lucy Heartfilia

Goodbyes

Written for Day 3 of Crime Sorciere/Oracion Seis Week. Prompt: Goodbyes. Midnight says his goodbyes as he lies dying on the back of Nirvana.

Characters: Midnight/Macbeth, Cobra/Erik, Brain, Angel/Sorano, Racer/Sawyer, Hoteye/Richard

Scars

Written for Day 4 of Crime Sorciere/Oracion Seis week. Prompt: Scars. Behind every scar, lies a painful story.

Characters: Cobra/Erik

Memories

Some people have more bad memories than good. Written for Day 5 of Crime Sorciere/Oracion Seis Week. Prompt: Memories

Characters: Racer/Sawyer, Meredy

We’re Going to be Friends

Erik finds a new friend in the Tower of Heaven. Written for Fairy Friendship Week. Day 1: We’re Going To Be Friends.

Characters: Erik/Cobra, Cubellios

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27574784

With a Little Help From My Friends

Midnight tries to keep his newfound interest a secret. Angel has other ideas. Written for Fairy Friendship Week Day 2. Prompt: With A Little Help From My Friends

Characters: Midnight/Macbeth, Angel/Sorano, Brain

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597863

You’re My Best Friend

Erik is the glue that holds them together. Written for Fairy Friendship Week Day 3. Prompt: You’re My Best Friend.

Characters: Erik/Cobra, Racer/Sawyer, Angel/Sorano, Midnight/Macbeth, Hoteye/Richard Buchanan, Jellal Fernandes, Meredy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27743152

Prison

The Oracion Seis have been defeated and locked away. Midnight is hurt, angry, and frightened.

Characters: Midnight/Macbeth

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35119246

Bring Him Home

When Freed is the only one left standing in the wake of Tempester’s attack, Laxus charges him with getting their friends back to the guild. Written for Freed Appreciation Day.

Characters: Freed Justine, Laxus Dreyar, Evergreen, Bickslow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607643/chapters/67540835

Saint and Saviour

Gajeel Redfox was once a young boy who lost his father. Later he earned the title Black Steel, top dog of the Phantom Lord magic guild. Now he haunts a scrapyard of broken parts, clinging to the past and slipping further into darkness, all while his colossal power seeks to consume his very humanity. Will Gajeel succumb to the shadows, or will a beacon of light guide him towards salvation?

Characters: Gajeel Redfox, Makarov Dreyar

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38985615

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barnabybugspeopleonline · 2 years

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posting a rough sketch because i crave attention. hi for the love of god hello

#art #my art #YOU MAY RB. IF YOU WANT.#scott the woz #heathers #uhhh. idk what to call this. scott sawyer au #steel wool #liza lotts #terry lesler #wozblr #stw

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roseunspindle · 1 year

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Southern

https://pin.it/2Gc5nVY (It’s a Southern Thing)

#Southern #Steel Magnolias #Sweet Home Alabama #Dead until Dark #sookie stackhouse #charlaine harris #Forrest Gump #It's a Southern Thing #The Help #the secret life of bees #sue monk kidd #kathryn stockett #the adventures of tom sawyer #mark twain #Gone with the Wind #Fried Green Tomatoes #o brother where art thou #remember the titans #a walk to remember

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sawyingthroughthewasteland · 1 year

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wake up besties, my Maxson fic finally dropped

Hi! Remember that fic I talked about like months ago about? Maxson redemption and all with the Warwick family and the Mechanist? Anyways its here! Happy holidays yall, hope you enjoy!

Steel Reforged - Chapter 1 - HawkoftheSky - Fallout (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Arthur Maxson/Liberty Prime, June Warwick/Roger Warwick Characters: Arthur Maxson, Liberty Prime (Fallout), Roger Warwick, June Warwick, The Mechanist | Isabel Cruz, Zeke (Fallout), Warwick family, mentioned OC, Brotherhood of Steel Character(s) Mentioned

Additional Tags: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, rating will change later, Whump, Recovery, Warwick Family as found family, Mechanist is given some well-deserved love, Post-Fallout 4, Railroad Ending (Fallout 4), My OC is mentioned but not a main character just standing in the background menacingly, Liberty Prime kinda developing a personality, exploration of Maxson and Liberty Prime's relationship, might turn to lovers who knows, Maxson severely injured and disfigured, Burns, Blood and Gore, Redemption, ss2 nightingales mentioned, original Roger was abusive, synth roger is baby, Medical Inaccuracies, Loss of Limbs, eventual cyborg Maxson and healing of inner child, Mechanist is Ace, Slow To Update, Slow Burn

Summary:

Longfic exploring Arthur Maxson and Liberty Prime's relationship, Maxson's healing post RR ending, and eventual coming to terms with his new cyborg body, stance on technology and healing of his inner child with the help of the Warwick family and a Mechanist set on redeeming herself as well.

Also! This comic by @homokommari inspired certain aspects of the Warwick family! That shit might be,,, canon I forgor but this inspired the setting in the first place so~ Feel free to go give the artist some love :)

#Steel Reforged #my ao3 works #arthur maxson #maxson #maxson fo4 #liberty prime #fallout 4 #warwick family #the mechanist #fo4 fanfic #for those curious Sawyer (OC) is mentioned but this aint about him #-slaps fic- this bad boy can fit so many headcanons #also so sorry for the ping homokommari and also hi o/

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nuka-goblin · 3 months

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reference sheets for some of my Fallout ocs! may add more of them later, but for now these guys are my main faves :)

Bios under the cut

Baron: A Pre-War pilot in the US Air Force. He met @sawyingthroughthewasteland 's Sole, Sawyer, while at a Navy officer school. After being shot down over Alaska he signed up for an experimental 'super soldier' program and frozen. The freeze was only meant to last one month, but that was before the bombs fell.

200 years later, the Enclave finds him in one of their labs, unfreezes him, and takes him to Raven Rock to perform experiments on him. Then, when Hannah happened to Raven Rock, he fled to the Brotherhood of Steel. 10 years after that, the BoS sends an envoy to the Commonwealth to find out what happened to the Prydwen - turns out, Sawyer happened. Reunited once again, Baron leaves the BoS and marries Sawyer. These days, he pilots for the Minutemen.

Dee: Born to a nuclear physicist and a Nobel prize winning biochemist, three years after being sealed in Vault 76 along with some of the most brilliant minds in America. Unfortunately, as Dee grew it turned out she wasn't brilliant - at least, not compared to her peers, the genius children and prodigies in her Vault classes. Her parents had high hopes for her, even naming her after the Hindu concept of 'dharma,' but she rebelled against expectation at every opportunity. She despised her know-it-all peers, her overbearing family, and the shit attitudes of every privileged asshole in the Vault. The Wasteland and everyone in it turned out to be much more fun.

Hannah: Ever since she was a baby, Hannah was the sweetest person you'd have ever met. (We don't talk about the toddler years.) Her father raised her Christian like her mother, but her innate sense of right and wrong always overpowered her respect for rules, God, or the Overseer - and that got her into trouble. When the Overseer made a poor choice, hurt anyone, or even said anything unkind, Hannah made sure to let him know. Many people saw her as a troublemaker for that reason - especially Butch, who hated that she always tattled on him. But she was the apple of her father's eye, and she was just as intelligent and gifted in both science and medicine as him. This served her well in the Wasteland. She's a pacifist, a paragon of virtue, and yet the Wasteland has done its damnedest to break her. Someday, it'll succeed, but her friends will do their best to delay it.

Pascha: From birth, Pascha was told she was the Chosen One. Her grandmother passed when she was young, but she knew she had big shoes to fill. Luckily, that suited Pascha (or Paz, to her pals) just fine. She always liked the power and respect. That's not to say she didn't do plenty to earn it - she was never one to sit still. She was constantly improving herself, waiting for the day she got to prove that she really was the Chosen One. Once that day came, she was eager to be a hero; but it turned out that while being a legend came naturally, acting like a hero just wasn't her style.

Peggy: Raised in a big family on a brahmin farm near Redding, but a woman with more pre-War sensibilities, Peggy left home shortly after her beloved father was conscripted into the NCRA and sent to the Mojave front. She enlisted to follow him; although she had no combat skills whatsoever, it was discovered that she had a rare and unique skillset that made her an excellent... secretary! She maneuvered to get assigned as Colonel Hsu's personal aide, hoping to leverage her position to get her father sent back home, but her father isn't the only man she ends up caring for.

Snake Eyes: Six isn't sure who she used to be before, but she doesn't particularly care. Fueled by vengeance and greed, Six kills, pays off and betrays whoever she needs to in the service of Mr. House, all in the interest of enjoying the luxury, power and respect that comes with the job. She isn't always proud of what she's done, especially to her friends, but the caps, chems and sex that she's paid in helps keep her numb to herself while the Mojave languishes around her. She goes by Six, but most people call her Snake Eyes, owing to perhaps her one scarred eye, her capacity for betrayal, or maybe her supernatural luck. That said, only the very stupid or the very brave will call her that to her face.

#my art #fallout ocs #fallout #fallout oc #oc art #oc: baron #oc: dee #oc: hannah #oc: pascha #oc: peggy #oc: snake eyes #courier six #chosen one #lone wanderer #vault dweller #f76 #f4 #f3 #fnv #f2

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gritsgigabits · 1 year

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Request: Head canons for a sadistic S/O with the slashers? Like- not sadistic towards them but towards victims/people that are a-holes. Sorry if this sucks I didn't know how to word it. Lol ps. Hope you're doing well!

Thanks for requesting (no request ever sucks<3)

Disclaimer: The headcanons presented here do not reflect my personal views on the treatment of assholes, mean people, or people in general.

Jason Voorhees

Jason is not a sadistic person, but he doesn’t possess much compassion towards his victims, either. Although Jason has an especially low tolerance towards assholes, mean people and bullies, he doesn’t find it amusing or worth his time to make his victims suffer.

His modus operandi is more like ‘swing the machete à bad guy drops dead à next’. Quick and effective.

Jason doesn’t like the idea of you having anything to do with (his) killing sprees in the first place. He would like to preserve your innocence and lock you up in your shared cabin when he has to go deal with some unruly teenagers.

When he learns that it’s hard to keep you out of his way and that you can be rather vicious when it comes to victims, he tries to shrug it off. If that’s how you roll, who is he to tell you to stop?

Jason wants you to be happy, even if it means allowing you to prolong the death of some unfortunate soul.

This doesn’t mean that Jason approves of it, though. But the problem is more about you putting yourself in danger by participating in killing than about you having sadistic tendencies.

Bubba Sawyer

Bubba hasn’t got a single sadistic bone in his body. He mainly kills people because he and his family need to eat, and that’s how he has been taught to procure food. Bubba probably wouldn’t kill people at all if not for his brothers influencing him to do so.

Bubba isn’t sadistic towards bad people any more than he is towards his victims. He doesn’t think it’s OK when someone acts like an asshole, but that doesn’t make him want to tear them to pieces.

Bubba is more likely to get confused as to why he is being treated in such a manner because he never tries to be anything but nice and approachable to everyone.

All that said, when Bubba gets to know you enough to learn that you are his opposite in that regard – a person who enjoys to watch victims suffer – he is taken aback. How could his sweet, loving s/o be such a scary and malicious person?

Bubba doesn’t approve of your sadistic ways, but he doesn’t tell you that directly. Instead of having a proper discussion about the issue, Bubba tries to either ignore it or direct your attention elsewhere when you’re about to have your way with a victim.

He will gently strip you of any weapons or sharp objects you might be holding and leads you away from the victim to do something else.

Bubba will think, Oh no, my s/o is about to kick that man in the shins with their steel toe boots – let’s go make cookies instead!

Bubba hopes that you come to understand that he doesn’t approve of pure sadism and that it makes him uneasy when you act that way.

Thomas Hewitt

Thomas has some slight sadistic traits himself. He doesn’t always have the patience to ensure that his victims are dead before skinning parts of them, but it’s not so much actual sadism but more like him not caring about whether someone is dead or not when he begins to work on them.

It’s also handy to stop his victims from running away by smashing their knees with a sledgehammer. But again, it’s for convenience’s sake, not because he enjoys to cause people pain (without a reason).

Because he has no regard for his victims, Thomas doesn’t care if you like to play with your prey. He doesn’t encourage you to do so, but he doesn’t stop you, either.

As long as you understand that victims are not only for torturing but for eating as well, then he lets you have your way with them. If it turns out that you like to rip people into such small pieces that there’s nothing left of them, Thomas will interfere and teach you that you shouldn’t waste food.

Thomas agrees with you that if someone is simply an asshole, then there is good reason to put them through a couple hours of prolonged suffering. ‘Bad people make rotten meals’, Thomas has been taught, so there’s no need to make sure their corpses remain in edible condition.

As long as you don’t target your sadistic preferences towards him or his family, Thomas is a-okay with the way you treat victims.

Michael Myers

Michael doesn’t understand what the point is in making people suffer. The point is to murder them to death, and if it takes more than a couple of well-aimed stabs, you’re not doing it right.

Michael doesn’t care about whether people suffer or not. He cares about effectiveness. What’s the point of torturing a victim if they just end up dead all the same?

If you’re more into the torturous side of things and enjoy slowly draining the life out of people, he thinks you’re wasting your effort but won’t stop you from doing your thing.

Perhaps you could sophisticate him on what it is about inflicting pain that you enjoy so much. He might discover a whole new side to killing, which, he won’t to lie, would be refreshing. The same ‘stab-stab’ routine that Michael has had going on for half a century gets a bit old at times.

It might actually be a good opportunity to deepen your relationship with Michael. Show him how you like to kill people, from choosing the victim to finishing them off. It would be like a bloody date you two could go on. Your own personal couple’s thing.

Billy Loomis

Billy lets you do whatever you want. As long as you make sure to get rid of all the evidence of your gruesome crimes, he doesn’t stop you.

Oh, you like to maim people before killing them? That’s cool and all, babe, you do you. Just make sure to wash the blood off your clothes afterwards.

He wants you to be happy and live the kind of life that you find most fulfilling. As a result, Billy has a habit of praising you when you do something that reflects your personality.

For instance, you could tell him about this great murder you committed the other night, where the victims was screaming for help for hours before you put them out of their misery, and Billy would tell you what a great job you’ve done.

He has no problem watching you torture people. Sadism isn’t his go-to way of dealing with victims, but he isn’t adverse to it and might engage in it himself on a whim.

Billy doesn’t really feel compassion towards his victims and wants killing to be something amusing and ingenious, if possible. If kicking people before they kick the bucket is amusing to you, he wants to encourage you to do it.

Just don’t get caught!

#jason voorhees x reader #bubba sawyer x reader #thomas hewitt x reader #michael myers x reader #billy loomis x reader #slashers x reader #slasher headcanons #slasher fanfiction #jason voorhees #bubba sawyer #thomas hewitt #michael myers #billy loomis

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mndvx · 7 months

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♫♪ Can't you see my family doesn't need my robot body! And me! ♪♫ DOOM PATROL — IMMORTIMAS PATROL (S04E09) ››› Riley Shanahan as Cliff Steele / Robotman ››› Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele ››› Brendan Fraser as Rory Steele / Oven Mitt ››› Aveena Sawyer, Marissa Rosen, Ishmael Gonzalez and Alex Gibson as The Singing Sex Ghosts

#doom patrol #brendan fraser #riley shanahan #cliff steele #robotman #dctv #dc #dctvedit #dcedit #tvedit #doompatroledit

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whitherwanderer · 8 months

Text

4 // off the hook

“Well, take it. I don’t have all day, kupo.”

Sawyer was jarred from her momentary fixation on the wax seal as the letter was foisted into her hand. She offered a muted thanks to the postmoogle, whose cap was politely tilted before he fluttered off with his comically large bag in tow. For some reason it occurred to her to check the plaza before she turned to make a swift stride for the privacy of the inn room, and though she didn’t see any overly suspicious onlookers, she felt compelled to hold the letter against her middle, hiding the seal from view.

She’d always dreaded this day. She knew it would only be a matter of time, but as all pasts do, hers was catching up with her in a moment where it had scarcely crossed her mind in moons. Hoping she’d simply mistaken the seal for another, she folded the letter back just enough to peek at it again. Familiar heraldry pressed into blue wax and brushed with gold paint caused the dread in her chest to rise into her throat as bile.

The Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine sends its regards.

The door behind her was closed abruptly, and now in the safety of her inn room, she tore through the seal with an urgency that would be unbecoming of her in any other setting, and it was only now that she realized her hands were shaking as she held the letter still enough to skim. Her eyes darted around the page, searching for alarming words or phrases—summons to appear before the Tribunal for inquest or a polite request that she surrender herself for gaol so that they wouldn’t have to send the Inquisition to retrieve her personally.

It was only when she did not see such demands that she finally read the letter in full.

To one Miss Sawyer Reeves, It was in pursuit of Her Holiest Ideals and the preservation of Decency, Justice, and Dignity that the Inquisition didst carry out the will of the Fury to what ends were deemed necessary to protect the Sanctity of Ishgard and her Peoples, but with such Revelations as were made known after the death of His Eminence, Archbishop Thordan VII, Reform and Restitution to what extent we are able have thus become the preeminent duty of The Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine and its constituents (henceforth referred to as “The Tribunal”). This correspondence has been sent to all parties of ongoing Investigations, Trials, and Inquisition of claims to Heretical Activity that have yet to be concluded, do not have sufficient evidence of such, or wherein interruptions did not allow the Tribunal to function as an extension of the Fury’s judgment in a fair and impartial Trial or did not allow a challenge to Trial by Combat to conclude with a victor on Record. As such, your challenge to Trial by Combat issued to ███████ ███████ on the grounds that he partook of Heretical Activity has been annulled and the charges leveled against Ser ███████ have been dropped from the Official Record, despite the inconclusive results after your unsanctioned withdrawal from the Tribunal arena. Though we believe your unsanctioned withdrawal to have been born of brazen cowardice and remains a slight against the Fury’s divine will, the Tribunal no longer wields Her judgment in the matter. As such, the trial record has been amended to have no conclusive victor and your criminal history has been expunged in the eyes of the Holy See of Ishgard and all official bodies therein. No further Investigation into your original claim will take place, and your status as a fugitive from the Inquisition has been annulled. Your previous standing as a ward of House Haillenarte has not been reinstated on the grounds that such patronage is only within the purview of the Lord or Lady of the House to grant, and will require correspondence with said Lord or Lady to reclaim. You are free to return to Ishgard without fear of repercussion, however we advise you to be minded of this most benevolent allowance and act with requisite decorum should you choose to return. Fury have Mercy upon your soul. - Auphent Gauvane Clerk of the Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine Records Office

Sawyer took a moment to breathe. Then another.

The fluster to get inside the door and the following silence roused curiosity from the raen that resided with her in the inn room, a pair of scaled arms winding around the hyur’s waist. “Hawk?” she called, wary and concerned.

“It’s… a letter from Ishgard. From home,” Sawyer admitted, though she wasn’t prepared for her voice to break over the final word as it did. She drew a shaking breath, then wrapped her arms around Amesha fully. “They’ll allow me to return without consequence. I am a free woman, but…”

“But…?” Amesha prompted her to continue.

Sawyer whispered. “Why am I terrified?”

#ffxivwrite2023 #[ ffxivwrite2023 ]#[ the steel hawk ]#[ drabbles; sawyer ]#my god it is so hard to write snooty ishgardian but it's fun to try #run on sentences for days

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superman86to99 · 1 year

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The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special (November 2022)

We take another chronal jump to the future because we CAN'T not talk about this special, which reads like it was specifically made for us. This 80-page book is made out of four stories by each of the creative teams who worked in the original "Death of Superman" saga back in '92 (minus editor Mike Carlin, inkers Denis Rodier and Dennis Janke, letterer John Costanza, and uhhh whoever did the lettercol back then). The stories are:

"The Life of Superman" (by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding)

The first official Jurgens/Breeding joint since... 1999, I think? I didn't realize how much I missed seeing their combined signature in that little circle; you know the one. This is by far the longest story in the book and, while I enjoyed it a lot, I kinda wish they'd made it shorter so that the others could have more breathing space (especially since the plot will continue in an upcoming miniseries written by Jurgens).

This one is set during the ??th anniversary of Superman's death, when a now adult Mitch Anderson (you know, the asshole teen who thought Superman was lame until a monster came crashing into his house and he needed someone to save him) visits little Jon Kent's school to talk about that historic day. This is a cool starting point because it parallels Mitch's first appearance being forced to sit through a televised Superman interview during class at the start of the "Death" storyline. The main differences are that these kids are much more polite than he was and TVs are way bigger now.

Anyway, Mitch's story is a huge shock to Jon, since the fact that his dad died and came back to life just never came up at home. Jon is upset with Lois for not telling him, so she spends a few pages recapping the entire "Death" storyline while walking Jon through Centennial Park, where Superman's empty (or is it????) (yes it is) tomb still stands.

Meanwhile, a mysterious creature has managed to demolish a whole building in Metropolis without anyone seeing it clearly, but reports indicate that it kinda looked like Doomsday. The Kents eventually come face to face with the creature right in front of the Daily Planet building, and it does look a whole lot like Doomsday, only with four arms... and, later on, wings. Jon names it "dOOmbreaker" (that's how they keep spelling it) but I kinda like his earlier suggestion of "Doomerang" better.

Superman is having a pretty tough time facing Doomerang, since not only is it as strong as Doomsday but it can also evolve and adapt while fighting, instead of having to die first like the original. While Superman fights the monster in front of a crowd of people who are standing way too close (do they want to get good phone pics if he dies again?), Lois goes off to use her journalism powers to find out where the hell it came from. She finds out Doomerang is actually a city worker who helped clean the debris left by the original Doomsday and then took one of his broken spiky bones home as a souvenir. Somehow, the bone has been mutating the guy into another Doomsday for years and conveniently finished the job on the day of Superman's deathiversary.

Lois brings the bone over to Superman, who decides to destroy it to prevent Doomerang from mutating even further. Blasting the bone with heat vision doesn't destroy it, but it does turn Doomerang back into a regular person, meaning that Superman manages to end this particular fight without killing the monster OR dying himself. The end! Until that mini I mentioned comes out, I guess, since it'll probably involve the magic Doomsday-duplicating bone wreaking even more havoc.

"Above and Beyond" (by Jerry Ordway, Tom Grummett, and Doug Hazlewood)

The sweetest story in the bunch, which is no surprise given that Ordway was always the best at pulling on our heartstrings. This is about Ma and Pa Kent having an understandably tough time watching their son getting pummeled to death on live TV. In order to take Ma's mind off the Doomsday fight, Pa pulls out her old scrapbook of Clark's exploits (which dates back to John Byrne's Man of Steel #1 in 1986) and they go over some other tough fights Superman has managed to survive. These include his tussle with Metallo in Superman #1...

...and the time he brought down Mongul in Warworld during his exile in space. Yes, THE BEARD IS BACK (along with the skimpy space gladiator outfit).

Superman leading a bunch of DC heroes to fight off Brainiac's invasion in "Panic in the Sky" also warrants a mention, which leads to has to be the first Agent Liberty cameo in decades. Side note: all due respect to Brad Anderson, who did a great job coloring the first story, but seeing Glenn Whitmore's colors in this one immediately makes it "feel" more like an authentic '86-'99 comic. (Note: see Don’s section below for a different take on Anderson vs. Whitmore.)

Back to the story, Ma reveals that she had a second, secret stash of Superman-related news clippings where she keeps track of the hundreds lives Clark has saved by quietly transporting donated organs across the country (without even charging for it! Hear that, Flash?). The point is that they reflect on how life can come out of death, unaware that that's literally what's going to happen to their son pretty soon. A beautiful observation illustrated via pictures of Superman punching villains. What more we possibly could ask for in a Superman story? (Other than it lasting more than 10 pages.)

"Standing Guard" (by Roger Stern and Butch Guice)

The Superman/Doomsday fight retold from the perspective of Project Cadmus' Guardian, filling in some of the gaps in the story and answering some questions only a massive Superman nerd could have, like "How long did it take Guardian to drop off Maxima at the hospital?" or "When exactly did he pick up Dubbilex?" Luckily, I am a massive Superman nerd, so I loved it.

So, we see Guardian learning about Doomsday's cross-country rampage and helping Superman in that small town that gets blown up, then in the tree city of Habitat, and then being too late to help him in Metropolis (not that he would have made that much of a difference). The story ends at the morgue where Superman is pronounced dead, when Dubbilex alerts Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin that Cadmus' Director Westfield is coming in to take the body for his experiments and Guardian says he's not letting that happen.

It didn't "end there," as you know (or Superboy wouldn't exist), but it's a nice moment. It's cool that, despite how much Guice's artwork has changed, this still feels like an Action issue from back in the day. Part of that is that Stern reuses a lot of old dialogue, but it's also due to his careful attention to detail when it comes to continuity and his knack for keeping characterization consistent -- Guardian, Dubbilex, Maggie, and Turpin are straight out of the '90s. Again: I wish this was longer.

"Time" (by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove)

Finally, this story shows us what John Henry Irons was doing right before and right after Superman's death. This one takes the opposite approach as the previous story: if Stern and Guice made sure to meticulously dovetail their scenes into existing continuity, Simonson and Bog play fast and loose with it to tell the story they wanna tell. In the old comics, we were told that John was buried under a building while trying to help Superman against Doomsday. This one retcons his origin so that John actually gets to see Superman's corpse.

This contradicts John's first appearance in Adventures #500, when he comes out of the rubble days later still thinking he can help Superman stop Doomsday (though he could be excused for being a little confused under the circumstances). However, this retcon provides a pretty strong ending for the story, which is mostly about John trying to reach Doomsday in his single-minded obsession with helping Superman, only to get sidetracked helping people trapped by the destruction in Metropolis. By the time he reaches the front of the Planet building, Superman and Doomsday are already dead. John is devastated, but then he gets up to continue "making a difference" and helping people, setting up the moment when he gets trapped under that rubble.

Yep, that's the psychic lady who later comes up with the whole "Superman's spirit possessed John" story; haven't seen HER in a while. This issue features other long-neglected characters like Keith the unlucky orphan, Myra the orphanage lady, and even Zoid, the kid with the glasses and the camo jacket who gets smoked by a Toastmaster™ in Steel's debut issue.

Overall, this special is like hanging out with old friends, and I love that it doesn't shy away from some aspects of the "Death of Superman" saga that usually get retconned away in all the retellings and adaptations. For instance, when Lois tells little Jon that Doomsday defeated the Justice League, we see the actual 1993 JLA including Bloodwynd, Booster Gold, and yellow ring era Guy Gardner, as opposed to Batman and Wonder Woman or something. One of the pinups even shows up long-haired Aussie Lex Luthor Jr., who is not a character DC seems eager to revisit (just because of how confusing he would be to casual readers, I guess).

This is a great labor of love by all involved and I'm glad it exists. However, I do have one major complaint: no Bibbo. 0/10.

And now, WAY more commentary from the great Don Sparrow after the jump!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and while I grabbed a few different covers, I think the most standard cover was the one with Jonathan Kent gripping Superman’s old cape with an image of Superman grappling with Doomsday set behind him (with further callback scenes on the foldout image). This centre image is a callback to a couple of famous images—of course, this scene is the very first image in the original Superman #75, but also reminded me of the (excessively airbrushed) cover of the Wizard Magazine Tribute Edition. Speaking of colouring, the colour throughout this issue is absolutely stunning, and the combination of the 90s style of art with the three-dimensionality of Brent Anderson’s colour is really really appealing.

THE LIFE OF SUPERMAN:

As we move into the story itself, I’m struck with how well the Jurgens/Breeding team can draw these kids looking like actual kids. We’ve covered it quite a bit in the Byrne era that comic artists can drawn young people as tiny adults, but here, all the students’ dimensions and faces seem accurate. There’s also a quiet effort at greater diversity among the Metropolis classmates, which is nice to see.

A few pages on, we see the modern Superman for the first time, and it’s wild seeing the Super-team of the 90s drawing the costume of the present age. Granted, the changes are small, just the movie-style cuffs, the three-dimensional s-shield, and slightly more angular belt-loops, but it’s interesting how familiar and new it feels. I also think Jurgens is drawing Superman to look a little bit older now that he’s a father.

A few pages after that, we see Lois for the first time, and unsurprisingly, Dan and Brett draw a great looking Lois Lane. Her outfit in particular says “urban working mom” in a stylish way, and I dig it. I’ve already mentioned Anderson’s colouring, but I can’t praise it enough—he treads a fine line, by ameliorating the underlying inks, without over-rendering. He uses largely flat planes of colour, rather than airbrushing every curve, and it’s a really nice marriage, the panel of Lois’ stray hairs leaving a shadow on her cheek is a great example.

As we intercut between Lois’ retelling of the Doomsday storyline, and Superman investigating the new “monster”, the fear in Superman’s eyes as he recognizes his assailant is really well done. So too is the emotion on Lois’ face as she retells the iconic “cape at half-mast” moment.

It’s a small thing, but I also like the sartorial choices they make for Clark, when he meets up with his family after Doomsday (somehow) scampers away off camera. Our first glimpse at Doombreaker is a very close recall of a drawing from this same team in the Superman/Doomsday mini (that we should be getting to soon on this very blog!). Superman taking flight to battle Doombreaker is a poster-worthy image (hurt a little bit in my opinion by the random Superman logo dropped in behind him for no reason). There’s not a wrong note in this entire portion of the story, so it’s hard—I want to highlight all the art! But the final panel of Superman flying away is an all-time great.

And to analyze the story a bit—it’s everything I was hoping for. I was surprised to see the young Jonathan in this book, as the near-adult Jonathan has been so front and centre in the modern stories. I’ll admit, I missed the dynamic between he and his parents that was done so well by Jurgens, and later Patrick Gleason, so to show this story as a flashback to when Jon learned about what happened to his dad was a really smart way to go. It also seemed like an antidote to the 1990s that brought us the Death storyline. This wasn’t a mindless slugfest, and despite the 90s-ness of the name “Doombreaker”, Superman didn’t solve this fight with brute strength. It took compassion, and investigative reporting on the part of Lois to solve that day’s dilemma. Right down to the title, it was an uplifting and hopeful story.

ABOVE AND BEYOND:

We are instantly transported back to the original 1993 story as we see the Kents holding each other in front of the television set. Grummett and Hazlewood certainly have not lost a step, as their art looks as crisp and detailed as all those decades ago. Glenn Whitmore’s colours are a bit of a comedown after the Brent Anderson chapter, but not distractingly so. It’s fascinating to see Tom’s interpretation of so many iconic moments of Superman’s career (the Gladiator costume is always a particular highlight because it was such a departure at the time!).

It’s a testament to both Jerry Ordway’s writing, and Tom Grummett’s rendering that this story featuring an elderly couple, and very little non-flashback action threatens to steal the whole book. The performances on the Kents faces tell a story as compelling as any action-adventure yarn, and it’s wonderful to read, and a very nice little PSA for organ donation, which is a legitimate way we can save lives through our own death, as Superman did.

STANDING GUARD:

Jackson “Butch” Guice inking himself here, and it’s a little scratchier and more textured than we’re used to seeing. Still has the long limbed, leanly muscled figures we know from his work, but it’s perhaps not as sharp as the work he did on Action Comics, or more recently when he teamed up with Bryan Hitch on a Captain American mini-series, which was some of the best work I’ve ever seen of his. The faces in particular seem under-drawn a bit, apart from the clearly-based-on-Tommy-Lee-Jones drawing of Dan Turpin.

And as Max pointed out, it seems like an odd choice to leave Bibbo out of a story in which he originally appeared.

TIME:

In a way, this was one of the most essential stories of the book, chronicling the exact first moments after Steel burst out of the ground in the wake of Doomsday’s rampage. I had always thought he was under the rubble for days, and only emerged after Superman was already dead, but this new story reveals his full actions that day.

The art is a bit inconsistent, but very Bogdanove. He copies older panels directly, which is effective, but sometimes jarring when they come before and after panels which are inked very differently than Dennis Janke’s hatching would have done.

The linework here reminded me of Kyle Baker, with its thin, precise minimalist line. As usual with Simonson and Bogdanove, it’s a more ethnically diverse corner of Metropolis, and Bogdanove excels at drawing a variety of facial types. At times the hulking John Henry looks a little wan, which again can be jarring with what we know of Bog’s version of the character.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Jurgens’ story is just about perfect, in the way that it calls back almost every element of the original Doomsday storyline, starting—as it did in the 90s—with a classroom setting, and students arguing about who’s the greatest hero. And how much do you love that Jon isn’t embarrassed of his dad, but rather argues he’s the greatest? What a kid.

I love Jurgens’ writing of Superman and Lois as parents. It’s a great moment when Jon voices his displeasure of having to learn about his own father’s death, even temporarily, in a classroom. To her credit, Lois immediately cops to the fact that they didn’t handle that properly, and apologizes. It’s the right move, and it’s great to see.

If I have one quibble about the art in the Jurgens’ story, it would be the lettering. I found the clearly-computerized font for the word “Doombreaker” to not look great in the panel, especially how often it was repeated, and some sound effects are handled better than others. The “Brakka-chak!” when Doombreaker shoves Superman into a building looks ok, but the “swit swit swit” earlier in the story where Doombreaker spins Superman by his cape just looks so computer-y and tacked on (besides being an odd transliteration—I kinda want to believe that it’s an excited USO show awaiting MASH star Loretta, chanting in anticipation). But seriously, I do miss the feel of hand-lettered sound effects.

My personal favourite moment is perhaps a weird one, but I’ll explain! My son’s name is Donovan, and since he was a little tyke, we have always called him “Dono” for short. So it was very cool to see Jimmy Olsen calling Jonathan Kent “Jonno” for short.

Not to nerd out, but honestly, what do you expect at this point?—there are a couple factual errors within this issue. One is in the first story, where Superman says it’s new for Doomsday to “speed-evolve” as Doombreaker does. But Doomsday did the exact same thing in 1994’s Hunter/Prey mini-series, as he speed-grew new bones to cover his ear canals, and also his knuckle bone spurs became weird ropes at one point. What gives, man? Also, in the John Henry Irons story, they erroneously have John giving Lois credit for naming Doomsday. But the first person to call him Doomsday was Booster Gold. Maybe John means she first used it in print? [Max: I took it as John simply not knowing Booster used the name first... though, if Lois used it in print and didn’t specifically credit its creator, knowing Booster, she’s got a lawsuit in her hands.]

GODWATCH: Been a while since I’ve focused on the faith elements in these stories, but this issue has plenty. First, when Lois tries to warn Superman, she invokes prayer. Then in the story with the Kents, their mention of sacrificial love read to me like a Christian concept, and Lee Weeks pinup literally references the cross.

CLAY MANN PINUP:

Anyone who reads this blog even semi-regularly knows I’m something of a connoisseur of “Lois-looking-great” art. As he showed in the Tom King Batman run, when Superman and Lois went on a double date with Catwoman and Batman (one of the best comics of the last ten years, if you haven’t read it!), Clay Mann draws a stunning, but realistically proportioned, Lois Lane. Clark’s tailoring is decidedly 90s, but it’s a corker of an image, and my second favourite of the bunch.

LEE WEEKS PINUP:

An absolute stunner from one of my favourite artists and comic people. The big red cape reminds me of a Bill Sienkiewicz piece, but it has that naturalistic, brushy feel of all of Lee Weeks work. Great concept, great layout and great drawing. My favourite of the bunch, actually.

WALT SIMONSON PINUP:

Unmistakably Simonson’s linework, with Laura Martin’s colours just lending a little bit of extra texture. While Simonson’s looking a bit looser than other days, it’s still a strong piece, even if I’ve never liked the ram-horned look on Doomsday.

FABIO MOON PINUP:

Naturally, Moon’s quirky style is going to be a departure from the dynamic realism we expect from Superman comics, but the style matches the mood very well, here. The concept of Jimmy using his signal watch for a Superman who will never come is a great and sad idea. I do find the unidentified extra Planet staffers a bit distracting, though. That might be Ron Troupe with his blazer over his shoulder (I guess his ”JAM” sweatshirt was in the laundry), and the mustachioed fellow could be Steve Lombard, as drawn in Superman stories from much later than the death storyline. The other two ladies? Not sure. Maybe Alice and Cat Grant? Or is it Daphne and Velma. But the fact that I’m debating about it shows that maybe they could have been left out. [Max: That’s definitely Alice for me, and therefore Cat next to hear because it’s just be weird to have an extra random person.]

BILL SEINKIWEICZ PINUP:

There’s Bill himself! He is such a master of energetic and photorealistic artwork that I have to wonder if he had someone dress up as Doomsday for this shot. Another interesting artistic take.

GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ PINUP:

A great circular layout, bringing the eye into the centre (and Superman’s face) both with the framing of Doomsday, and also the muted colours at the edges. Managing to include Jimmy and Lois is just the icing on the cake. Great.

JAMAL CAMPBELL PINUP:

Another powerful, if simple image, with Lois’ grief front and centre, and the “Reign” storyline that followed behind her. My only quibble is I prefer drawn lettering rather than computer fonts, but that’s a minor one.

CARMINE DI GIANDOMENICO PINUP:

I quite like the Superman movie inspired crystals as a motif, and the layout is well designed. Doomsday looks frightening, which is a strange contrast from the placid expression on Superman’s face. Buuuuuut, I have a few issues here. Generally, I think computer artwork can make an artist a bit lazier, and we see that here. The arms are literal mirrors of each other, which just feels a bit unnecessarily hurried. And one of my major pet peeves of the modern era is artists refusing to draw the actual Superman logo onto the figure. Here it is slapped on (with at least some colouring to denote his chest muscles) in my opinion too high onto the uniform. Lastly the planet Earth behind him (another thing modern artists often skip drawing) is not even a high-resolution image, and you can see the jagginess even in print.

CULLY HAMNER PINUP:

In my top three of these pinups easily, it’s exactly what I want from a pinup—seeing familiar and beloved characters from the story, looking as they did in the original story, but interpreted in the signature style of the artist. Terrific sense of motion here with unique, blocky colours in that Hamner style. Love it. On the whole, I was surprised and pleased with how worthwhile the issue was.

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