#vol 116

[everyrocklee]

[everyonehappy]

[princessofxianle]

Should I... should I say it...?

*inhales* WHICH HEAD!?!

[anamon-book]

演劇ぶっく AUG. 2005 vol.116 演劇ぶっく社 表紙＝大倉孝二 特集【20th Anniversary Vol.2】俳優という生き方

[animusrox]

TOP 10

Past Lives

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Poor Things

Oppenheimer

Barbie

BlackBerry

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Killers of the Flower Moon

MY LETTERBOXD Grade A 11.    The Killer 12.    Beau Is Afraid 13.    Dream Scenario 14.    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 15.    Godzilla Minus One 16.    American Fiction 17.    They Cloned Tyrone 18.     Evil Dead Rise 19.    Eileen 20.    The Artifice Girl 21.   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 22.    Talk to Me 23.    Reality 24.    Leave the World Behind 25.    A Thousand and One 26.    Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One 27.    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. 28.    Theater Camp 29.   Carmen 30.    Merry Little Batman 31.    Priscilla 32.    Society of the Snow 33.    Infinity Pool 34.    Enys Men 35.    Sanctuary 36.    Rye Lane 37.    Skinamarink 38.    Monster 39.    Anatomy of a Fall 40.    Landscape with Invisible Hand 41.    Reptile 42.    Sisu 43.    Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game 44.    No One Will Save You 45.    Tetris 46.    May December 47.    The Zone of Interest 48.    V/H/S/85 49.    Dumb Money 50.    El Conde 51.    Arnold 52.    Maestro 53.    Napoleon 54.    20 Days in Mariupol 55.    Influencer 56.    The Creator 57.    Origin 58.    Thanksgiving 59.    Next Goal Wins 60.    The Boy and the Heron 61.    Bottoms 62.    Wonka

[Press Keep Reading For The Full Graded List]

Grade B

63.   God Is a Bullet 64.    No Hard Feelings 65.    Joy Ride 66.    Fair Play 67.     Cocaine Bear 68.    NYAD 69.    Asteroid City 70.    Nowhere 71.    The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster 72.    Divinity 73.    The Equalizer 3 74.    The Last Voyage of the Demeter 75.    Venus 76.    Butcher’s Crossing 77.    Somewhere in Queens 78.    The Persian Version 79.    Boston Strangler 80.    Polite Society 81.    Miguel Wants to Fight 82.    The Color Purple 83.    The Royal Hotel 84.    Saw X 85.    All of Us Strangers 86.    Fallen Leaves 87.    Ferrari 88.    Elemental 89.    Peter Pan & Wendy 90.    Renfield 91.    Cat Person 92.    Scream VI 93.    The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 94.    BS High 95.    Blue Beetle 96.    Huesera: The Bone Woman 97.    When Evil Lurks 98.    Dark Harvest 99.    A Good Person 100.    Final Cut 101.    Knock at the Cabin 102.    Quiz Lady 103.    Leo 104.    Air 105.    The Super Mario Bros. Movie 106.    Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham 107.    John Wick: Chapter 4 108.    Beaten to Death 109.    The Wrath of Becky 110.    Passages 111.    Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 112.    Gran Turismo 113.    65 114.    Sick 115.    Sister Death 116.    The Blackening 117.    Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain 118.    Flamin’ Hot 119.    Nimona 120.    Cobweb 121.    Totally Killer 122.    What’s Love Got to Do with It? 123.     Sharper 124.    Unseen 125.    Dunki 126.    Bird Box Barcelona 127.    The Marvels 128.    Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Grade C

129.   Wildflower 130.    Freelance 131.    M3GAN 132.    Strays 133.    Sympathy for the Devil 134.    Creed III 135.    Chevalier 136.    The Marsh King’s Daughter 137.    A Haunting in Venice 138.    The Little Mermaid 139.    Silent Night 140.    Master Gardener 141.    The Flash 142.    Fast X 143.    The Pope’s Exorcist 144.    Saltburn 145.    Kandahar 146.    Stand 147.    Plane 148.   Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 149.    Fingernails 150.    Quicksand 151.    Fool’s Paradise 152.    Migration 153.    Rustin 154.    The Covenant 155.    Good Burger 2 156.    The Pod Generation 157.    Alice, Darling 158.    Insidious: The Red Door 159.    Missing 160.    Shotgun Wedding 161.    You Hurt My Feelings 162.    The Boogeyman 163.    Showing Up 164.    Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 165.    Champions 166.    Consecration 167.    The Nun II 168.    Biosphere 169.    House Party 170.    The Exorcist: Believer 171.    Big George Foreman 172.    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 173.    Children of the Corn 174.    The Beanie Bubble 175.    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Grade F

176.    Anyone But You 177.    Marlowe 178.    Paint 179.    Extraction 2 180.    It Lives Inside 181.    Deliver Us 182.    Trolls Band Together 183.    Finestkind 184.    Corner Office 185.    Wish 186.    Prisoner’s Daughter 187.    Pain Hustlers 188.    Foe 189.    The Mother 190.    Old Dads 191.    Ghosted 192.    Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken 193.    Haunted Mansion 194.    Mafia Mamma 195.    Five Nights at Freddy’s 196.    The Machine 197.    Justice League: Warworld 198.    We Have a Ghost 199.    What Comes Around 200.    Legion of Super-Heroes 201.    The Boys in the Boat 202.    Attachment 203.    Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre 204.    About My Father 205.    You People 206.    Meg 2: The Trench 207.    Pathaan 208.    Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire 209.    Assassin 210.    Dalíland 211.    Vacation Friends 2

Bottom 10

212.    Sound of Freedom 213.    Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 214.    When You Finish Saving The World 215.    Heart of Stone 216.    Family Switch 217.    Expend4bles 218.    Sweetwater 219.    Hypnotic 220.    80 for Brady 221.    Spinning Gold

[batbabydamian]

DC June 2024 Solicitations - Comics Featuring Damian! 🦇

BATMAN #148

6/4/2024

Written by Chip Zdarsky

Art and Cover by Jorge Jimenez

Variant Covers: Woo-Chul, Homare (1:25), Gabriel Dell'Otto (1:50), Yasmine Putri, Skylar Patridge (DC Pride Variant)

“DARK PRISONS - FINALE” It all comes down to this: Batman versus Batman! With Damian's life - and the future of Gotham - hanging in the balance, nothing can prepare either version of the Dark Knight for what's about to happen!

BATMAN #149

6/18/2024

Written by Chip Zdarsky

Art by Michele Bandini

Cover by Jorge Jimenez

Variant Covers: Belen Ortega, Dan Panosian (1:25), Steve Lieber (1:50)

“DARK PRISONS - EPILOGUE” When confronted with the totality of your life, and all the choices that led you to where you are, do you build on the ashes, or rise from them? The Batman who is left standing will have to answer this question quickly, as someone is already sifting through those ashes, with an eye toward saving the world!

BATMAN AND ROBIN #10

6/11/2024

Written by Joshua Williamson

Art and Cover by Simone Di Meo

Variant Covers: Gleb Melnikov, Guillem March, Sergio Acuna (1:25)

SHUSH RISES! Man-Bat's plans have been unleashed on Gotham. The only person who can help Batman and Robin save the city is... SHUSH?! Can she set aside her hate for the dynamic duo and help, or will she let her quest for revenge overcome her?

THE BOY WONDER #2 of 5

6/4/2024

Written by Juni Ba

Art and Cover by Juni Ba

Variant Cover: Chris Samnee

Jason Todd is the exile prince of Batman's kingdom, stalking Gotham's darkest alleys and eternally turning his face from the light of day-all because he cannot quench the burning flame of anger and retribution that consumes his heart. Can Damian learn from Jason's mistakes? Or is the reflective mask of the Red Hood doomed to be a mirror held up to his own future?

WONDER WOMAN #10

6/18/2024

Written by Tom King

Art and Cover by Daniel Sampere and Belen Ortega (Backup Story)

Variant Covers: Julian Totino Tedesco, Daxiong, Jeff Spokes (1:25), Phil Jimenez (DC Pride Variant)

This cat has claws! Cheetah enters the fray as the Sovereign recruits Diana's greatest foe to deal the killing blow! Meanwhile, the Wonder Girls may have promised their mentor that they'd stay out of her fight, but well-behaved heroes seldom make history. Will they reach Diana before it's too late? Plus, Trinity takes to the skies...literally!

BATMAN: WAYNE FAMILY ADVENTURES VOL 5

8/6/2024

Written by CRC Payne

Art by Starbite

Cover by Vasco Georgiev

Collecting the finale of season two of the smash-hit WEBTOON series! When your superhero life is just as busy as your personal life, there's never a dull moment in the Bat-Family. Bruce Wayne's young heroes are still learning to fight and live side by side, but they always have each other's backs. Whether it's teaming up to fight a massive villain or a massive head cold, Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, Spoiler, the Signal, and the rest know what it takes to smash that problem in the face! Collecting episodes 98-116 of the massively popular WEBTOON series, optimized for a brand-new reading experience in print!

BATMAN AND ROBIN VOL 1: FATHER AND SON

8/6/2024

Written by Joshua Williamson

Art by Simone Di Meo, Nikola Cizmesija, Mikel Janin

Cover by Simone Di Meo

The Dawn of the Dynamic Duo Isolated from their friends and allies, Batman and Robin have moved into a Gotham City brownstone to rebuild their lives, reconnect with one another, and, of course, fight crime. No sooner do they settle in when they are attacked by their most monstrous villains, led by the mysterious Shush. Whispering from the shadows, she is intent on revenge with a plot to turn one of Batman's greatest assets against him! With his father incapacitated by Shush, can Damian help solve the case before it's too late? Can he survive the tribulations of high school at the same time? A brand-new fun and exciting adventure begins for comics' greatest father-and-son duo, from DC Comics architect Joshua Williamson (The Flash, Knight Terrors) and superstar artist Simone Di Meo (Batman: White Knight Presents: Red Hood)! Collects Batman and Robin #1-6!

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

The Bat Family Timeline and Ages (Post-Crisis and New Earth) with Sources

Evidence

In Batman: Year One, Bruce is said to be 25 in the January he returns to Gotham. The 1976 DC Calendar puts Bruce's birthday on the 19th of February so Bruce is 26 during his first outing as Batman in April.

Marv Wolfman's Batman: Year Three (Batman vol. 1 #436) tells us that Dick Grayson's parents die in Bruce's third year. In Batman vol. 1 #441 (also by Wolfman) Tim says that Robin started appearing around 6 months after the death of the Flying Graysons. For Dick's age when he becomes Robin, see below.

Bruce joins the Justice League before Dick forms the Teen Titans. Both these teams form before Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl at 16 (Batgirl: Year One).

Barbara and Dick are each other's dates to their high school prom and so are less than 2 years apart in age (Detective Comics vol. 1 #871).

I suspect Dick, who was an emancipated minor, graduated high school and started college a year early, which allows Dick and Barbara to have some time as the new Dynamic Duo, as we see in Batman Family.

Dick Grayson is 18 when he forms the New Teen Titans, all of whom are also teenagers (Nightwing vol. 2 #137 by Wolfman, who also created the New Teen Titans).

Dick Grayson is 19 when he becomes Nightwing (Batman vol. 1 # 416).

21 year-old Helena becomes Huntress (Huntress: Year One #1), and interacts with Batgirl, meaning that Barbara is not yet Oracle.

Jason dies at 15, 4 months before his 16th birthday (Batman Files). This is before the New Teen Titans' third year anniversary (New Titans #71), before any of the Titans turn 22 (Deathstroke vol. 1 Annual 1), 2 years after Dick becomes Nightwing and almost 10 years before Dick's parents are killed (Batman vol. 1 #436). Dick is hence 21 during these events and 11 when he became Robin.

I also kinda like Dick being 17 years younger than Bruce because that's also the age difference between Adam West and Burt Ward from the 60s TV series.

After these events, Tim Drake becomes Robin and is 13-14 (Batman vol. 1 #441 and Robin II #1)

Soon after, Stephanie Brown is 15 when she becomes Spoiler (Secret Origins 80-Page Giant).

Stephanie is still 15 when she realises that she is pregnant (Robin vol. 2 #59) and Tim is almost 15 during this time (Secret Origins 80-Page Giant).

Cassandra Cain is 17 when she comes to Gotham during this time (Batgirl vol. 1 #1), during No Man's Land which lasts one year.

Helena’s family were killed when she was 8 and during Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood, Tim says the murders happened roughly 15 years ago, making her roughly 23 during this storyline.

Cass turns 18 in January (Batgirl vol. 1 #39), Tim Drake turns 16 (Robin vol. 2 #116), Jason would have turned 18 in August (Detective Comics vol. 1 #790), and Stephanie is 16 when she "dies" (Batman Allies Secret Files & Origin).

Personally I'd re-arrange Tim's 16th birthday to be the last of these events four events to accommodate him still being 17 late into the Batman: Reborn, see below.

Jason soon returns to Gotham as Red Hood, not long before Infinite Crisis, 52 and One Year Later.

Following the one year time skip, Dick says it's been almost 10 years since his misadventures with Metal Eddie and Liu as a 16-17 year old (Nightwing vol. 2 #133 by Wolfman), which makes sense because he would be 25 by my math.

Stephanie returns from her time as a medical volunteer in East Africa, finishes high school and begins university during Batman: Reborn. She'd turn 19 by the end of this year by my math, which is a typical age to be begin attending university (Gotham Underground and Batgirl vol. 3 #1).

Dick calls Damian Wayne a "10 year-old" before Stephanie attends university (Batman and Robin vol. 1 #2) and Steph still calls Damian a "10 year-old" while she's in her second semester (Batgirl vol. 3 #13 and Batgirl vol. 3 #17). He might have turned 11 before the reboot.

Batwoman: Elegy (Detective Comics #858), during the Batman: Reborn year, shows that Kate was 12 when she was kidnapped and saw her mother and sister killed. This incident is also said to happen "20 years ago”, making her 32 and hence 30-31 during her first appearance in 52/One Year Later.

Tim Drake is still 17 while Steph is in her second semester of her first year at university, and it's stated that he is meant to be in his senior year at high school (Batgirl vol. 3 #13, Red Robin #17 and Red Robin #25). It's possible he turns 18 before the reboot.

Mistakes I Made

Cassandra Cain is 21 in Year Eighteen.

The "Titans disbands" in Year Thirteen was definitely a year early but it's done.

[mjwatson-daily]

Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #116 Writer: Stan Lee, Pencils: John Romita

[heroesriseandfall]

Canonical Batfamily Birthdays

Here are all the birthdates I know of that are canon somewhere in DC, with a preference for the main comics continuities. I have included exact sources and image references when possible. I am not including character introduction dates, just actual birthdays.

If you find any other sources for Batfamily birthdays, please do share!

A moment of silence for Batfamily characters who don’t have canonical birthdays yet, so far as I know. This includes Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, and more. :(

Summary

Source images will be further down, but here’s an overview in roughly age order (I’m not sure of Kate vs Selina’s ages) with the dates the birthdays were introduced and used:

Tim Drake: July 19th (from 2003)

Jason Todd: August 16th (from 2004)

Cassandra Cain: January 26th (from 2002)

Helena Bertinelli: February 14th (in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold universe, from 2010)

Helena Wayne: September 7th (from 1984), potentially October 20th or the 22nd of unknown month or maybe October 22 or maybe Feb 28th (all the New 52 on passports from 2011-2012). These could also be New 52 Helena Bertinelli’s birthdays or nobody’s birthdays. who even knows.

Dick Grayson: March 20th (from 1995), October ~24th ish (from 1990), November 11th (from 1976), December 1st (on Earth-16 in animated Young Justice universe, from 2012)

Barbara Gordon: September 23rd (from 1976), sometime in fall (from 1987)

Selina Kyle: March 14th (from 1976)

Kate Kane: January 26th (in Batwoman TV series from 2020), March 21st? (word-of-god by J.H. Williams III from 2012)

Bruce Wayne: October 7th (from 2021), February 19th (from 1970s various to more recently), April ~7th (from the late 1940s)

Jim Gordon: January 5th (from 1976)

Alfred Pennyworth: April 8th (from 1976), August 16th (in the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, from 2016)

Note: in this post when I say “main comics continuity(s)/universe” I’m referring to anything that’s been a “home” continuity for the comics at some point. For example, pre-Crisis Earth-2, Earth-1/New Earth, and Earth-0/Prime Earth, as opposed to Elseworlds or DCEU earths that are still part of the broader DC multiverse but have never been the primary continuity of the comics.

Below are further details and source panels.

Details and Sources

Tim Drake

Tim has only been given one canon birthday. He turned 16 on July 19th in Robin Vol. 2 #116 (cover date Sep 2003).

Robin Vol. 2 #116 (Sep 2003)

Jason Todd

Jason turned 18 on August 16th in Detective Comics #790 (March 2004). This is his only canon birthday.

Detective Comics #790 (Mar 2004)

In post-Crisis/preboot (1986-2011) continuity, there was a gap of six months between when Jason died and when he was resurrected (Batman Annual 25). Jason died April 27th according to his death certificates in Batman Annual 25 and Batman Files 2011, so he would’ve resurrected near late October.

Batman Annual 25 (May 2006)

So, it could be that post-resurrection Jason is biologically 6 months younger than he chronologically should be. But honestly, do we even really know what multiverse-breaking resurrection punches and then a Lazarus Pit on top of that do to someone’s body??? Either way it’s just much more simple to just use his chronological age.

Cassandra Cain

Much like Tim and Jason, Cass has only ever been given one birthdate: January 26th from Batgirl Vol. 1 #33. With that birthday, she turned 18 in Batgirl Vol. 1 #37.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #33 (Dec 2002)

When Jan 26th actually comes, Bruce suggests David Cain could’ve lied about it, but Cass denies that idea and continues to treat the day as her birthday.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #37 (Apr 2003)

Why it's likely her real birthday: Bruce initially believes Cain must’ve lied because he doesn’t think Cain could’ve known her birthday. However, we later learn Cain had lied about her origins and was actually her biological father. Batgirl v1 #62 and #73 show he was there for her birth and could absolutely know the date.

On top of that, in Batgirl #37 Cass remembers celebrating her birthday with him as a child, so he did seem to actually keep track of it. I honestly don’t see any reason to believe he’d lie (Bruce is just a jealous spoilsport).

Helena Bertinelli + Wayne

I’m combining them here because the New 52 gives me a headache.

Helena Bertinelli celebrated her birthday on February 14th in a spin-off comic from the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. This is obviously not part of regular comics continuity and the characters differ from the usual comics in many ways. And yet, for reasons that will soon be clear, it’s my favorite for actually being about Helena Bertinelli the Huntress and for not being an utter mess.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14 (Apr 2010)

In a character profile at the end of Infinity Inc. #7 (Oct 1984), Helena Wayne’s birthday was September 7th, 1959. Calculating back from October 1984, that would make her 25 at the time.

During the New 52, Helena Bertinelli was initially portrayed as a long-dead (secretly alive but don’t worry about it) mobster’s daughter and replaced by Earth-2’s Helena Wayne who got stranded on Prime Earth. This H. Wayne stole H. Bertinelli’s identity in the form of several forged passports and IDs, which had hints toward birthdates. The question is, can we take any of those birthdates seriously, and if so, which birthdates and for which character? (Cue my headache.)

Skip ahead to Dick if overthinking fake passports sounds boring.

When comparing to a real Italian passport, the date on H. Wayne’s fake Italian passport appears to be a birthdate. Note that the fake name is Carol Bertinelli, not Helena. H. Wayne said her IDs were inspired by H. Bertinelli but clearly she’s taking liberties for the IDs so that’s a point toward these being useless for H. Bertinelli birthdays.

Huntress Vol. 3 #1 (Dec 2011)

I don’t recognize the month abbreviation as a real abbreviation, but from the visible letter O I’m going to assume it means October. If it is, then the date is 20 October 1985. Sidenote: a 1985 birthdate during 2011 could put her age at about 26, which is actually quite close to how old she could’ve been based on pre-Flashpoint! 1985 has been given as Helena Wayne’s death year before, so it’s an interesting choice of a birth year for her. (Thanks to DC’s sliding timescale, though, birth years don’t actually mean anything in the comics.)

They don’t show her complete US passport, but I can see a “22” in line where the day of the month should be for her birthdate. This already contradicts the previous passport. This one uses Helena Bertinelli’s actual name, though–does that make it more relevant than the Carol one or this all still ridiculous because of the discrepancies?

Worlds’ Finest Vol. 1 #1 (Jul 2012)

We can try to glean the US passport birth month from the passport number at the bottom. The first two digits (“12” here) indicate the agency that issued the passport. 12 means the Honolulu agency. Right after “USA” is supposed to be the birthdate plus an extra number, in the order of year/month/day with the year being the last two digits of a year. Here we encounter another problem. It says 810228. This would imply her birthdate is 1981/02/28. That’s February 28, 1981. Since the earlier line indicated her birthday fell on a 22nd, this already contradicts itself.

Interpreting a Machine Readable Zone (MZR) on a Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD)

However, I’d bet comic writers and artists aren’t always well versed in passport numbers (it’s already a stretch for me to bother checking it…). If they put the extra digit before the birthdate instead after, and the date is formatted month/day/year (the most common format in American English, so probably their first instinct), then we can drop the first 8 and it’s 10/22/8[?] with the last digit unknown. This would put her birthday as October 22, sometime in the 1980s. The 22 matches the earlier line, the October might match the previous passport if that really did say October (but contradicts the 20th), and the 1980s year could be 1985 to match the Italian passport.

At the end of the day I’m personally just going to let Helena Bertinelli be a Valentine’s born baby and call it a day, unless/until she gets a better one in the comics. For Helena Wayne I’d easily pick September 7th.

(My question is: did they give the crossbow vigilante a Valentine’s birthday as a Cupid joke??)

Dick Grayson

Dick has probably had the most birthdays of everyone (unless Bruce has more I don’t know about). All of them have their drawbacks.

In a main comics continuity, his most popular and most recent is “the first day of spring” so probably March 20th. This comes from Robin Annual 4 when his mom says she calls him Robin because he was born on the first day of spring. That presents some problems since there are other explanations given for the origin of “Robin,” including that his mom said he was “always bobbin’ along” (Dark Victory #12, page 17) or the original inspiration of Robin Hood (Detective Comics #38, p3).

Robin Annual 4 (Jun 1995)

Before that, in Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990), Marv Wolfman wrote a version of Dick’s origins where Dick turned 10 a week before his parents died on Halloween. That would make his birthday October ~24th (presuming that “a week” before Halloween literally means 7 days here).

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990)

The first drawback of the October birthday is that it’s tied to Dick being 10 when his parents die on Halloween. Dick’s age and the date his parents die change a lot depending on the writer (Nightwing Vol. 1 #1 says his parents died June 27th, Dark Victory #8-9 says May, etc.). The second drawback is that few people remember this version of his birthday even exists.

Dick’s birthday is November 11th in Super DC Calendar 1976. Note: Despite being a non-diegetic calendar from almost 50 years ago, this source remains well known and used among comic enthusiasts (including those working at DC). Generally, I would say it should mainly apply just to pre-Crisis continuity, but it is also useful for characters that haven’t gotten updated birthdays ever since (like Roy Harper, Barbara Gordon, or Selina Kyle, for example).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Sidenote: Since Damian doesn’t have a canon birthday, November 11th is favorite to steal for my own fan canon Damian birthday. Dick has plenty birthdays to share and I think it’s cute. @ DC, give Damian and Steph birthdays, they’ve been birthday-less for decades!

Indeed, DC writer Tim Sheridan and editor Mike Cotton debated whether Dick’s birthday was in March or November. They favored March 20th and wrote a birthday scene in Teen Titans Academy #1 (published March 23rd, 2021). The publishing time near Dick’s birthday was intentional, though the date isn’t mentioned within the comic itself.

Link to tweet

The above birthdays were all meant to apply to a main comics continuity at some point. However, Earth-16, better known as the animated Young Justice universe (therefore outside of main comics continuity), says YJ Dick’s birthday is December 1st.

Young Justice Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 2012)

Unlike Helena Bertinelli, Dick has plenty of comics birthdays to choose from, so personally I’ll only count Dec 1st as being the birthday for YJ animated/Earth-16 Dick Grayson until or unless it’s ever mentioned to apply to main comics continuity.

Barbara Gordon

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Barbara’s birthday is September 23rd.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Since then, the only time I recall her birthdate hinted at is in Secret Origins #20 when her adoptive mom says her birthday is in the fall. This could support her birthday being September 23rd.

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 1987)

Although she has celebrated her birthday on panel since then (the end of Nightwing Vol. 2 #153), she hasn’t been given any other actual birthdate. So I’ll keep September 23rd and call it a day.

Selina Kyle

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Selina’s birthday is March 14th. Once again, although it hasn’t been mentioned within a comic, it’s stuck around in popular consciousness (see: Catwoman actress Zoë Kravitz wishing Selina a happy birthday on March 14th).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Selina celebrated a birthday on panel in Catwoman (2002) #37 but the date was never mentioned. I don’t know of any other reference to her birthday, but my reading of Selina is thus far more sparse than my reading of the others.

Kate Kane

Kate’s birthday options all come from outside of the comics themselves.

In “An Un-Birthday Present,” season 1 episode 11 of Batwoman, a parallel version of her twin Beth had a driver’s license showing her date of birth as January 26, 1990. She and Kate later celebrated their birthdays on an episode aired Jan 26th, 2020. I don’t keep up with live action DC shows so I unfortunately can’t offer a screenshot (if anyone has one or the timestamp, please let me know!).

(I kinda wonder if somebody looked up Batwoman’s birthday for these episodes, saw Batgirl’s (Cass’s) birthday, and just ran with it. Batwoman and a Batgirl sharing a birthday is just. Ughhh.)

In 2012, one of her comic writers tweeted to choose a random date for her birthday and picked March 21st, which so far as I know has never been used as her birthday in comics.

Link to tweet

Bruce Wayne

Bruce’s most popular birthday is February 19th, but his most recent one is October 7th from the digital-only comic Legends of the Dark Knight. I believe that’s the only time October 7th has been referenced, but I’ve heard the animated show The Batman said his birthday was in October (can’t confirm, haven’t watched it recently).

Legends of the Dark Knight #10 (Jun 2021) - Note: two pages have been combined into one for this post

Still, even associates of DC seem to remember his February 19th birthday better. In February 2023, Warner Bro’s Gotham Knights game did a sale for Bruce’s birthday. I’ve also heard the birthday was used in the Gotham TV show, but again, I don’t watch much live action DC shows.

The February 19th birthday appears to come from the 70s and 80s. It’s his birthday in the Super DC Calendar 1976, and in Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (May 1977). Bob Rozakis (known as DC’s “Answer Man”) said Feb 19th was Bruce’s birthday in the letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980).

Letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980)

Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (Jun 1977)

Super DC Calendar 1976

Way back in the 40s, his birthday was in April, possibly April 7th. During a birthstone murder mystery, Bruce says his birthstone is a diamond, which is traditionally the April birthstone.

World’s Finest Comics #33/6 (Mar-Apr 1948): “The 5 Jewels of Doom!”

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949) might imply the exact date was April 7th but we’d have to assume the party is on his birthday and that “this month” refers to the publishing month of April. I believe this is where people get the April 7th birthday when they bring it up.

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949)

Early April also shines in Batman: Year One where it shows Bruce’s first night out as Batman being either the night of April 6th or the early morning of April 7th (Batman #405). So although the April Bruce birthday hasn’t been used in decades, it’s still a Batman birthday in a way.

I have also heard people say Frank Miller considered Bruce’s birthday to be in November. However, I have yet to find an original source of him saying that, and honestly (just like the “March 21st” birthday for Kate) if he never used it in any canon material I don’t put much weight in that.

Jim Gordon

The only birthday I’ve ever seen for Jim is January 5th from Super DC Calendar 1976.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred’s birthday in Super DC Calendar 1976 is April 8th.

Super DC Calendar 1976

In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe (an alternate reality where the video game of the same name is set in), they show Alfred’s birth certificate, where it says his birthday is August 16th, 1943.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Five #26 (Jun 2016)

Maybe you’ll notice that August 16th is Jason’s birthday. A little funny considering the issue features Alfred refusing to share his birthday only for us to learn it’s the same date as Jason’s. Still, annoying. There are so many days in the year! Stop choosing the same ones!

This Alfred birthdate runs into a similar problem Helena’s birthdates did: it’s not part of main comics canon, it’s an alternate universe, so it may not be applicable to the main comics universe.

Note: if we calculate that 1943 birth year from Jun 2016 when the comic was published, that’d make Alfred 72 soon to be 73. Does that mean anything in canon? Probably not, but oh well. Also...token British character born by Windsor Castle? …of course.

Personally, I would rather go with the April 8th birthday than the Injustice one, since Injustice is an alternate universe. Also, outside of the humor of it, the idea of Alfred and Jason sharing a birthday is a bit too much for me. Still, it’s up to people’s own cherry picking.

Chronology

The birthdays in publishing order alongside notable reboots. A soft-reboot refers to reboots that only changed a few details with minor consequences, keeping the overall continuity mostly intact. A major reboot has significant effects on continuity (too many to list).

1935-1986: Pre-Crisis era (Golden Age begins ~1946, Silver Age runs from late 50s--early 70s)

Mar-Apr 1948: Bruce’s birthday is in April

Apr 1949: Bruce has a birthday party on the 7th of “this month”

Skipping a good three decades because I barely even know what’s in there. Sorry lol

Mid 70s to early 90s: Bronze Age era

1976: the super dc calendar says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th, Alfred’s is April 8th, Dick’s is November 11th, Babs is September 23rd, Selina’s is March 14th, Jim’s is Jan 5th

Jun 1977: Bruce celebrates his birthday on February 19th

Sep 1980: letter collumnist says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th

Oct 1984: Helena Wayne’s birthday is on September 7th, 1959

Mar 1986: the major Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot (begins post-Crisis/New Earth era, many previous comics are now considered Earth-2 instead)

Nov 1987: Babs birthday is in fall

Aug 1990: Dick turns 10 a week before Halloween (probably October ~24th)

Sep 1994: Zero Hour soft reboot (Batman and Robin become urban legends so Robin is not allowed on video, Bruce’s parents’ murderer is changed to unknown instead of Joe Chill, Selina is no longer a once-prostitute)

Apr 1995: Dick’s birthday is the first day of spring (probably March 20th)

Oct 2002: Cass learns her birthday is January 26th

April 2003: Cass turns 18 on January 26th

Sep 2003: Tim turns 16 on July 19th

Mar 2004: Jason turns 18 on August 16th

Jun 2006: Infinite Crisis soft reboot (Joe Chill is restored as the arrested Wayne family murderer, Superboy-Prime's punch retroactively resurrects Jason)

Apr 2010: In the Batman: Brave and the Bold universe, Helena Bertinelli celebrates her birthday February 14th

Oct 2011: the major Flashpoint reboot (end of post-Crisis/preboot, begins the New 52 and changes the primary universe to Prime Earth; significant character/timeline changes and erasures)

Dec 2011: Helena Wayne’s fake Carol Bertinelli passport seems to list October 20th as a birthdate

Jul 2012: Helena Wayne’s fake Helena Bertinelli passport lists some 22nd unknown month, Oct 22nd, or Feb 28th birthday

Sep 2012: Batwoman writer J.H. Williams III randomly picks Kate’s birthday as March 21st on Twitter

Nov 2012: Earth-16/YJ animated Dick Grayson celebrates his birthday on December 1st

Jun 2016: In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, Alfred’s birth certificate says his birthday is August 16th

Jul 2016: Rebirth reboot (restores some pre-Flashpoint continuity, some characters regain previous histories but now semi-synchronized with the New 52 era)

Jan 2020: Batwoman TV show Kate celebrates her birthday on January 26th

Mar 2021: Writer Tim Sheridan says he & his editor chose March 20th as Dick’s birthday, between the March or November birthdays

May 2021: Infinite Frontier holds all previous continuities as potential canon, restoring more of pre-Flashpoint

Jun 2021: Bruce says his birthday is October 7th in a digital-only comic

Feb 2023: Gotham Knights game has a sale for Bruce’s birthday

[journeytothewestresearch]

WIP: Sun Wukong's Powers and Skills

I'm currently working on a comprehensive list of Sun Wukong's magic powers. Here is just a taste from chapters two to four.

Bold black = magic power Bold red = acquired non-magic skill Bold green = claimed magic power that is never actually demonstrated Bold orange = inborn talent?

Ch. 2

Early education #1: human skills - “[H]e began to learn from his [senior immortal] schoolmates the arts of language and etiquette” (與眾師兄學言語禮貌) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 116). - Note: We all know that Monkey failed his etiquette classes.

Early education #2: religious skills - “He discussed with them the scriptures and the doctrines; he practiced calligraphy and burned incense” (講經論道、習字焚香; i.e. ritual procedure) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 116).

Wukong’s knowledge of scripture and philosophy pops up a few times in the novel. For example, he subsequently becomes enraptured by Subodhi's lecture on the Dao and Chan (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 116).

Early education #3: gardening skills - “In more leisurely moments he would be … hoeing the garden, planting flowers or pruning trees” (閑時即...鋤園、養花修樹) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 116).

Immorality (1st category) [1] - This is achieved via oral formulas (口訣) and breathing exercises (自己調息) at prescribed times (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 120-121). - The stipulated Chinese hours are before zi (12:00-14:00) and after wu (12:00-02:00) (i.e. noon to midnight) (子前午後). However, historical real world practice is reversed: after zi and before wu (i.e. midnight to noon).

Adeptness (i.e. quick learning) - “But this Monkey King was someone who, knowing one thing, could understand a hundred!” (這猴王也是他一竅通時百竅通) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 122).

First learns the “Multitude of Terrestrial Killers” (地煞數; a.k.a. “72 changes,” 七十二般變化) - This requires oral formulas (口訣, a.k.a. “oral spells,” 咒語) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 122). - This sometimes requires a magic hand sign and a shake of the body (see below).

First attempt at “Cloud-Soaring” (騰雲) - Subodhi mockingly calls this “Cloud-Climbing” (爬雲) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 122).

First learns the “cloud somersault” (觔斗雲) - This requires a magic sign, an oral spell, a fist clinch, and a body shake (捻著訣，念動真言，攢緊了拳，將身一抖). It takes him 108,000 li (里) in a single leap (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 123). - 108,000 li = 33,554 mi or 54,000 km [2]

Multitude of Terrestrial Killers (i.e. 72 changes) - This requires a magic sign (捻著訣) and an oral spell (咒語). He transforms into a pine tree (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 124).

Cloud somersault - He flies from the Western Continent to Flower-Fruit Mountain (i.e. from one side of the world to the other) “in less than an hour” (消一個時辰) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 125).

First use of the “body beyond body” (身外身法; a.k.a. “magic of body division,” 分身法) (i.e. hair clones) - This requires chewing and a “change!” (變) command. Small clone monkeys are used to overwhelm and beat up a monster who is three zhang (三丈) (31.29 ft / 9.53 m) tall (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 128). [3] A passage explains: - “For you see, when someone acquires the body of an immortal, he can project his spirit, change his form, and perform all kinds of wonders [出神變化無方]. Since the Monkey King had become accomplished in the Way, every one of the eighty-four thousand hairs on his body could change into whatever shape or substance he desired” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 128). - 原來人得仙體，出神變化無方。不知這猴王自從了道之後，身上有八萬四千毛羽，根根能變，應物隨心。

Cloud somersault - He flies 30 or 50 monkeys and property (pots, bowls, utensils, etc.) home from captivity to Flower-Fruit Mountain (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 129).

Ch. 3

Martial arts (武藝) - He “teach[es his monkeys] how to sharpen bamboos for making spears, file wood for making swords, arrange flags and banners, go on patrol, advance or retreat, and pitch camp” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 131-132). - 教小猴砍竹為標，削木為刀，治旗幡，打哨子，一進一退，安營下寨  …

Cloud Somersault - He flies east from Flower-Fruit Mountain over “200 li of water in no time” (霎時間過了二百里水面) to the Eastern Continent (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 131).

Blows a mighty wind (陣風) - This requires a magic sign (捻起訣來), an oral spell (咒語), and taking a deep breath (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 131-132). A poem states that it puts the world into chaos: - Thick clouds in vast formation moved o'er the world; Black fog and dusky vapor darkened the Earth; Waves churned in seas and rivers, afrighting fishes and crabs; Boughs broke in mountain forests, wolves and tigers taking flight. Traders and merchants were gone from stores and shops. No single man was seen at sundry marts and malls. The king retreated to his chamber from the royal court. Officials, martial and civil, returned to their homes. This wind toppled Buddha's throne of a thousand years And shook to its foundations the Five-Phoenix Tower (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 132). - 炮雲起處蕩乾坤，黑霧陰霾大地昏。 江海波翻魚蟹怕，山林樹折虎狼奔。 諸般買賣無商旅，各樣生涯不見人。 殿上君王歸內院，階前文武轉衙門。 千秋寶座都吹倒，五鳳高樓幌動根。

Body beyond body (i.e. hair clones) - This requires chewing and a “change!” (變) command. The small clone monkeys carry an armory’s worth of weapons (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 132).

Magic of displacement (攝法) - This is a spell that carries the weapon-laden monkeys on wind (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 132).

Monkey claims to have a number of supernatural powers: - “I have the ability of seventy-two transformations. The cloud somersault has unlimited power. I am familiar with the magic of body concealment (身遯身, a.k.a. 隱身法) and the magic of displacement. I can find my way to Heaven or I can enter the Earth. I can walk past the sun and the moon without casting a shadow, and I can penetrate stone and metal without hindrance. Water cannot drown me, nor fire burn me” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 133). - 我自聞道之後，有七十二般地煞變化之功，觔斗雲有莫大的神通；善能隱身遯身，起法攝法。上天有路，入地有門；步日月無影，入金石無礙；水不能溺，火不能焚。

Magic of water restriction (閉水法) - He travels to the Dragon Kingdom (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 133).

Super strength - He effortlessly toys with a 3,600 catty (斤) (4,682.61 lbs / 2,124 kg) battle fork and a 7,200 catty (9,365.23 lbs / 4,248 kg) halberd (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 134). [4] 

Super strength - He lifts the 13,500 catty (斤) (17,559.81 lbs / 7,965 kg) iron pillar in the dragon treasury (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 135).

Opens a waterway (開水道) - He uses the magic of water restriction to return to Flower-Fruit Mountain (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 137).

First use of the “Magic Method of Modeling Heaven on Earth” (法天像地的神通), a 10,000 zhang (萬丈) (104,300 ft / 31,800 m) tall giant form - This requires bending over and screaming “grow!” [長!]. This form has: - “[A] head like the Tai Mountain and a chest like a rugged peak, eyes like lightning and a mouth like a blood bowl, and teeth like swords and halberds” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 138).  - 頭如泰山，腰如峻嶺，眼如閃電，口似血盆，牙如劍戟

Immorality (2nd category) - This is achieved by inking out his name from the ledgers of hell [生死簿子] (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 141).

Ch. 4

Cloud somersault - It is much faster than those of ordinary immortals (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 145).

Travel to heaven - Refer back to ch. 3-#6A (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 145).

First use of “three-headed and six-armed” (三頭六臂) war form - This requires a “change!” (變) command (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 155).

Staff multiplication - This is done millions of times over (以一化千千化萬) to face Nezha’s own countless weapons (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 156). - The multitude of armaments are said to “clash like horned-dragons flying in the air” (cf. Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 156).

Body beyond body (i.e. hair clones) - This requires a “change!” (變) command. Monkey creates an autonomous decoy to distract Nezha while he slips behind him to land a staff blow (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 156).

Immortality (3rd category) - This is achieved via heavenly imperial wine (御酒, a.k.a. “Immortal wine,” 仙酒 and “juices of jade,” 玉液瓊漿) (Wu & Yu, vol. 1, p. 159, 165, and 167). 

I'm currently on chapter 16, so it will take me a while to finish, especially since I'm simultaneously gathering info for several other articles, including mirrored essays for Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.

Once I've gone through all 100 chapters, I will put each instance of a particular power into its own category (transformation, super strength, hair clones/tools, etc.) and then analyze everything as a whole. The Google Doc containing the list of powers will be attached to the analysis.

This project was partly inspired by a previous effort made by @the-monkey-ruler.

I'm open to feedback.

Notes:

1)  In place of using “layer” or “level,” I’m choosing to designate his various immortalities as “categories.” This is because a new layer of divine longevity or durability would surely be added for each immortal peach, elixir pill, or cup/jug of heavenly wine consumed. Hence, eating multiple peaches would be one category, eating multiple elixir pills would be one category, and so on and so forth.

2) It’s important to note that 108,000 li is a metaphor for instant enlightenment (see section III here). Therefore, power-scalers should not use any instance of this as a feat. 

3) One zhang (丈) comprises ten chi (尺, a.k.a. "Chinese feet"), and during the Ming Dynasty, one chi was roughly 12.3 in or 31.8 cm. This makes one zhang 10.43 ft or 3.18 m (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi).  

4) During the Ming, one catty (jin, 斤) was 590 grams (Elvin, 2004, p. 491 n. 133).

Source:

Elvin, M. (2004). The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press.

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[weiwuxianismybae]

With all he had, he yelled, "Nie Mingjue, you motherfucker! You think I'm actually afraid of you?! I—"

Seven Seas vol. 5 p.116

I dunno why, but when I was rereading MDZS, I died laughing from Jin Guangyao's last words! I'm still laughing!!

It's just that, JGY build this very polite personna with his ever-present smile, but when he knew he was about to die he finally dropped the mask and finally said something true! I don't know. I just find this dissonance between his character and his true self very entertaining!

[ineffectualdemon]

Oh, so that was what he meant. Luo Binghe's clothes were black, but the clothes themselves matched the person; like the male lead himself, they were sophisticated, luxurious yet understated.

SVSSS Vol 2 p 116

Shen Qingqiu literally cannot shut up about how great and how pretty Luo Binghe is.

Like omg you fucking ho

Also light a candle for Gongyi Xiao because Shen Qingqiu murdered him in his mind long before Zhuzhi-lang got him

Obviously, Gongyi Xiao disapproved—wearing such a robe would only draw attention. But changing into a white robe that looked like it could belong to anybody would be more advantageous to their chances of escape. Such attention to detail!

SVSSS Vol 2 p 116

"could belong to anyone" your white knight coming to defend your honour is once again regulated to "could be anyone" 😭

Poor guy

[lungache]

Deities and demons alike bowed their heads to him, and all beings feared him... all but Zhao Yunlan.

Guardian by priest, vol. 1 p. 116

[dailycass-cain]

DC Comic July Solicitations that feature Cass. Cass appears in FIVE covers in July.

Birds of Prey #11 (regular cover) by Leonardo Romero.

Variant by Gleb Melnikov.

Variant by Serg Acuña.

1:25 variant by Chris NG.

Nightwing #116 variant by Rian Gonzales.

It's not a Batgirl Vol. 1 Omnibus, but the Joker Compendium (James Tynion IV) will release 9/10/24. will collect stories from The Joker #1-15, The Joker 2021 Annual #1, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1, and Batman #100.

Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Megadeath (collecting BoP #1-6) will be released on 8/6/24.

[batbabydamian]

DC March 2024 Solicitations - Comics Featuring Damian! 🦇

BATMAN AND ROBIN #7

3/12/24

Written by Joshua Williamson

Art and Cover by Simone Di Meo

Variant Covers: Derrick Chew, Kael Ngu (+ black/white 1:50), Simone Bianchi 1:25

FLATLINE RETURNS! Batman and Robin are on the hunt for Man-Bat and Shush, but their search is interrupted by the return of Flatline, Damian's crush from the Lazarus Tournament! But what has followed her to Gotham?!

BATMAN: WAYNE FAMILY ADVENTURES VOL. 4 TP

5/7/24

Written by CRC PAYNE

Art by Starbite

Cover by Vasco Georgiev

Season two of the smash-hit WEBTOON series continues here! When your superhero life is just as busy as your personal life, there's never a dull moment in the Bat-Family. Bruce Wayne's young heroes are still learning to fight and live side by side, but they always have each other's backs.

Collecting episodes 71-116 of the massively popular WEBTOON series, optimized for a brand-new reading experience in print!

[bookoftheironfist]

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #116 by Jim Owsley, Mark Bright, Julianna Ferriter, Jerry Acerno, and Janice Chiang

Happy New Year to those who celebrate!

2024 is a big year—the 50th anniversary of the first appearances of Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight—so get your party hats ready!