#waid gets all the credit

[sarahreadstoomanycomics]

I think most can agree they should not hire writers who hate characters to write them. You can always tell and it only ever hurts the characters. However sometimes characters benefit from a writer that bullies them. Saying this as a Wally West fan, who will forever appreciate William Messner-Loebs for seeing the asshole that both Wolfman and Baron had left him to write and went you know what I’m going to beat that out of him.

[pluckyredhead]

so what did you not like about worlds finest teen titans? There were a lot of dropped plot threads and bits I expected Waid to develop more (Roy and Ollie conflict, Roy, Garth and Wally never resolved their sleepover argument, Karen's reaction at the con to nearly being unmasked, Wally's parents, ect) and also the queerbaiting with garth (and his eyes changing colour halfway through???) was annoying. I thought it was cute overall but maybe I'm not familiar enough with some of the characters?

I held on to this ask because I was going to reread the miniseries to answer you more accurately, and then I decided to not put myself through that, so...hopefully my memory is accurate lol.

(I should note before I get into it that none of my quibbles are with Emanuela Lupacchino's art. She's a treasure and we're thrilled that she's here.)

But yeah, you've put the nail on the head with a lot of it. It was just terribly paced, like Waid didn't know how many issues he had or something. Aside from all the dropped threads you mentioned, it felt like the main bad guys were...pretty much hastily introduced, or at least assembled, in #5? There didn't seem to be any kind of...well, point to this miniseries. There was no theme. There was nothing Waid was trying to say, as far as I could tell, except "Fuck Roy Harper." (Oh, we'll get to that.) It wasn't an origin story for the team. It wasn't about adolescence or coming of age or learning who you are, except maybe a little bit for Garth. It was just...there.

And I want to be clear here: Mark Waid is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time. When he hits, he hits. The regular World's Finest book and his Shazam are wonderful. I just think this wasn't the right match of writer/characters, because he didn't handle these very well. Taking them one by one:

Dick: DC is fully in their "Dick the unbearable Mary Sue" era and this book is no exception. If I never see another comic where a whole team of experienced superheroes with major league powers and training stands around like incompetent jackasses until a Bat comes along and tells them what to do, it'll be too soon. I'm here to read about an ensemble book where everyone is a three-dimensional character, not The World's Most Perfect Boy and his loser sidekicks. Not only is it unfair to everyone else in the cast, it's doing a disservice to Dick, who is a much more interesting character than this book (or Tom Taylor, ahem) gives him credit for.

(There's also something very weird and inconsistent Waid is doing across his books with Dick - WF, WFTT, and BvR - where sometimes he's throwing a tantrum because he doesn't get to be a circus star with everyone looking at him all the time, and sometimes he's screaming at Roy for filming them, and both feel utterly arbitrary to me as well as contradictory.)

Donna: Donna's characterization in this was just...bizarre. I was a little worried about how Waid would handle her, since he has a tendency to turn more quote unquote "wholesome" female characters into the Mom Friend (see: his Champions run, where he tries to get away with it by having Kamala announce that she's not going to be the Mom Friend because she's the only girl on the team...and then immediately becoming the Mom Friend), and Donna's already very much a Mom Friend, and I didn't know what Mom Friend Squared would look like. But instead he went for this...Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl approach? Where she's really into bungee jumping and monster trucks? I'm not offended by it, it's just so utterly random. This isn't who Donna is? It's never been who she is? Baffling.

I am offended (I mean, mildly, but still) by the fact that she and Garth are shoehorned together in this. He's the only boy on the team she's never been romantically linked to, even in dreams/hallucinations/whatever, so completing the set feels very much like Donna's only narrative worth is in being a love interest, which...gross.

Garth: Garth probably got the best treatment of the bunch, to be honest. He was in character as the shy little weirdo he was in the Silver Age and in pretty much every flashback we've ever seen. He's smart and perceptive and bad at saying what he wants and generous towards those who have hurt him, all of which is very Garth. I have no complaints about him except the weird queerbaiting, and I'm not blaming Waid for that because from what I understand, solicits are written by editorial working off of a pitch, potentially before the comic is even written, so who knows what happened there? It might have been a stupid joke that didn't land, it might have been a story that was pitched and then a higher up vetoed it, it might have been a story Waid was going to write and then changed his mind. I'm not going to say it's his fault when I have no idea if that's true. Otherwise, I think he handled Garth well.

Wally: Wally was another one where I was just like ??? the whole time. He didn't feel like Wally, he felt like Bart. But, like, fanon's innocent child version of Bart and not the actual canon character, who has a lot more backbone. Why is he hero worshipping Dick like that? Why is he so docile? What was up with that weird line where Dick's like "you're the youngest?" Yes, historically Dick had already dropped out of college while Wally was still in high school, but otherwise they've always been portrayed as the same age. And if it's a reference to debut year, Donna's the youngest. It's such a random throwaway line dumped in at the very end for...why? Confusing me personally?

The worst, though, was whatever the hell was going on with Wally's parents. Wally's parents are not an idyllic suburban couple! They are not the Kents! Rudy West is only not classified as a supervillain because he doesn't have a costume! Even if he hadn't tried to kill Mary, sold the Earth out to alien robots, faked his own death, or run a deadly labor camp for children at this point in the timeline, he definitely hit Wally and, uh, poisoned Wally's Little League coach. I don't think Mary is as bad as some of fandom does, but she's certainly a difficult person. Wally was desperately unhappy at home as a child, which is why he latched on so hard to Barry and Iris. And Waid knows this, because he wrote a lot of that canon. If it's a retcon, it's such a strange, pointless one that makes all of them a lot less interesting. Just baffling.

Karen: I think it was a very smart choice to add Karen to the founding roster and make the team slightly more gender-balanced and not all-white. It's kind of a wasted choice, though, when she's so aggressively sidelined. All she does in this book is hang around with Mal and the support staff. She isn't looped into any of the major emotional conflicts - Garth and Donna, Dick and Roy, Roy and Wally and Garth. She's not treated as a headliner in the same way the others are, and that really sucks.

Roy: Hoo boy.

When Waid was announced as the writer of Batman vs. Robin, I was worried, because I had a feeling he didn't like Damian. I couldn't put my finger on why, it was just a feeling I had. And boy howdy, was I proved right! Damian is treated like shit in that book.

I had the same feeling with this book and Roy, and...let's just say I'm two for two, okay?

Here's the thing. I'm okay with Roy being written as kind of shitty, especially during his period of his life. Teen Titans: Year One writes him as an utter fuckboy, and I love that comic. The Mal and Karen issue of The Other History of the DC Universe retells the Bronze Age Titans era from their perspective, and it pulls absolutely no punches regarding Roy being, well, kind of an asshole...and it's right to do so, because it's drawing very directly from those 1970s comics, and he was often awful in those.

But Waid writes him as a generic 80s movie villain. He's a human popped collar. He's a stereotype of a bully. My problem isn't that I need him to never do anything wrong, it's that nothing in this book is specific to Roy, his history, or his established personality.

For instance, all of his bragging about how much money he has? He comes off like a kid who was born into wealth and has never known anything else, but that isn't true. He was at best middle class before Ollie, probably more likely working class given the economic situation on most reservations - but there's no indication that he's responding specifically to that shift in circumstances. He's just, like, Draco Malfoy with arrows. Also, Dick has a nearly identical history but none of the same issues. He even says "Roy and I have the same background but he sucks." Why is one of them a perfect angel untouched by filthy lucre, and the other is Bradley Uppercrust III?

And then there's the subplot with Ollie neglecting Roy, which fizzled out to a real wet fart of a resolution. But honestly, at no point did I know where Waid was going with that, because...well, if you know Roy's history, you know Ollie neglecting him is what leads directly to Roy getting into drugs. And like...first of all, the timeline here is off, because historically Ollie didn't ditch Roy until after he lost his money, and he still has it here. (How interesting would it have been to have Roy pretending he was still rich in addition to pretending Ollie was around?) But also, this comic ends on an "and now everything is fine!" note, but it isn't! It really, really isn't. So Ollie showing up at the end and being like "I'm here for you, buddy" doesn't ring true, because he is demonstrably not in this very comic, and we also know he won't be in the future. And Roy getting what he wants doesn't feel like a satisfying resolution either because we don't actually get to see changed behavior from him, and again, we know this won't last. (Again, TT:YO handles this dynamic very well, where we see that Ollie is an affectionate but negligent guardian who Roy is learning some very bad habits from.)

And to top it off, constantly contrasting Terrible Roy to Virtuous Dick and simultaneously pretending that Ollie was at this point a responsible guardian has the (I hope unintentional) effect of implying that Roy will eventually become an addict because he's just a bad and weak person, instead of a struggling teen who needed support and didn't get it. I would have actually preferred a story that hinted at the beginning of Roy's addiction and how he hides it from the Titans, because we've never had that story told in comics, but I don't think Waid's the one to write it. Instead we get a conflict that's out of character for Roy, a resolution that doesn't feel at all earned, and the looming threat of Roy's immediate future which Waid refuses to address.

In conclusion, this book was a mess, and you should all read Teen Titans: Year One instead.

[blackbatcass]

If it’s okay could you recommend comics for the flash fam? I really want to start reading them but I have no idea where to start 😅

YES I ABSOLUTELY CAN ANON!! reading flashfam comics can change your life for the better fr, unlike batman comics which usually change your life for the worse. Flash comics are honestly very simple to get into? for the most part you can just pick which era you want to start with, hop on that mainline ongoing and read from there.

this got kind of ridiculously long (i ramble about flash sorry)

i am not by any means a well-read silver age fan so I'll just skip right over those LMAO. if you want to read barry's run i assume you can just read flash v1 up until crisis. if you're interested in reading wally as kid flash he's featured in backups throughout a lot of v1 iirc!

unsurprisingly, my number one rec for the flashfam would be the flash volume 2 (1987). it's got pretty much everything you need. it introduced the speed force, basically created what we think of as the flashfamily, reintroduced & created beloved characters, and built up wally into the loser we know and love today<3 at its core it's the story of wally's journey from the very start of his career as the flash, learning how to fill barry's shoes and be a grown-up. it starts when he's this insane cringe 20 year old loser and ends with him as a full adult who's married with two kids LOL. it does soooo much work for wally as a character it's unreal.

but to keep it real flash v2 is......very long. like Incredibly long. it is 200+ issues and ran for over 20 years. so i can break it down into some smaller pieces & try to provide a roadmap so it's maybe a little less intimidating

the bad news is that the first guy to start out on the run fucking HATED wally for some reason lmfao and it shows. it's painful to read. the good news is he only stayed for the first 14 issues lol so honestly you can just skip those and start at #15 where william messner-loebs took over. now......the messner-loebs era is also not perfect and can be a bit of a slog. I love it in the fond 'wow wtf was all that' kind of way but it is definitely not a masterpiece. there are a lot of unmemorable, bland (occasionally batshit & ridiculous) arcs and he introduces a whole army of mostly forgettable side characters. credit where credit is due there is a lot of good stuff in there, he set up some stuff that is foundational to flash lore (like LINDA!! and hartley!) but it's not for everyone. if you want you can jump in at #31, where wally moves to keystone, or if you read some of it and it's not for you it's honestly fine to just skip to #62 where waid's run begins. #62-65 are a flashback retelling of wally's origin story (basically flash year one) and it's sooo good. essential wally reading.

the waid run is definitely the best section of the comic. it's classic it's iconic it builds the flashfamily it creates the speedforce it introduces bart allen. it's phenomenal. if you are interested in characters like bart, the garricks, johnny & jesse quick, and max mercury they are all integrated into the flashfam over this run. if nothing else i would recommend reading this part. oh and SPEAKING of bart allen, he gets introduced in issue #92! he hangs out in flash for a bit, zero hour happens, and pretty soon after his impulse series starts in 1995.

this is my #2 flashfam rec! if you have been in these tumblr circles at all then you've heard us rave about impulse 1995. it's simply Thee comic of all time. everyone on earth needs to read it im not kidding. it follows bart's life living with max mercury and his daughter helen, trying to adjust to normal life in the past. it's just. it's the best. it's 89 issues long, but honestly it goes by SUPER fast. i would recommend doing what i did and reading impulse and flash in parallel, just to get that organic experience & context. they cross over several times until impulse eventually ends.

ok back to flash v2. once geoff johns takes over..... i mean i won't say it ruins the comic and there is definitely stuff worth reading but i love waid infinitely better. it's really up to you. waid also comes back now and then to write a few chunks.

the flash series doesn't end until 2008. the next big thing after would be flash: rebirth, which. i am not a fan of for obvious reasons (get back in that coffin barry) but it's essential to understanding the plot so i have to include it lol.

i honest to god have no idea wtf was going on during flashpoint & new52. I will not pretend to understand that era. however if you are interested in the modern flashfam & the introduction of characters like ace west and avery ho, there are a couple good places to start! if you want to read williamson's run, you can start at the rebirth flash run (flash v5 #1). wally is eventually reintroduced (thank god) during this run.

if you want to start at the jeremy adams run (which features lots of members of the flashfamily) you can start at flash #768, which runs all the way to #800.

I would personally recommend the current flash ongoing written by si spurrier! it is kind of a lot and I'm in the minority in my love for it but it's interesting, thoughtful, has a role for pretty much every character, and has a lot of really cool cosmic horror elements. i will concede that it is VERY complicated and technical but you can tell spurrier has things to say and honestly it's so rare that a comic makes me think these days that i'm eating it up.

there were also two recent flashfam miniseries that just finished, speed force and jay garrick: the flash! i enjoyed both. they're short and fun.

aaaand that's my list! it is by no means comprehensive and it is very possible i got some things wrong so I apologize in advance. if you have any more questions I will be happy to try and answer them. I hope this was at least a little bit helpful and not even more confusing lol!

[royboyfanpage]

I am considering checking out World's Finest: Teen Titans and after seeing couple pages and moments i was wondering if Mark Waid captured Roys personality from that period of his life correctly or if it's something he decided to do himself? With the cocky spoiled rich kid thing?

Hi anon, thanks for the ask!

In short, no, I don't think that WF:TT is good characterisation of teen Roy. I've already made a post about this comic here, it does focus on Rudy West and Garth and not just Roy but it does also explain my thoughts on how Roy's presented. I'm not gonna reread all of the original 1966 Teen Titans run but I don't remember anything in it that references Roy holding himself at a higher standard because of class (in fact, the majority of that run took place after Ollie lost his money I believe), and just in general that doesn't really fit with who Roy is as a character or his backstory. It's also not particularly canon that Ollie ever spoilt Roy- there are numerous pre-Teen Titans comics where Roy's seen having to work for money, such as when he wanted to buy a sailboat or when he wanted to get Ollie a birthday present.

I'm not gonna say don't read it, it does absolutely have its merits and deserves credit where credit is due, but it's not that good for characterising teenage Roy. I'd highly recommend reading the original Teen Titans run if you're looking for stuff from that era, or if you're looking for other modern retellings I'd recommend Saved by the Belle Reve's story 'Earn It Back', which focuses a lot on Roy and Ollie's relationship in a very sweet and realistic way, or Teen Titans: Year 1, which isn't perfect but is still pretty accurate to Roy, and the main conflict (between him and Donna) is definitely more realistic than the spoilt rich kid angle (though, I will say I wish it was followed up in the actual comic rather than in Titans (2008)- I really didn't like the conclusion to that story.) Hope this helps!

[augustheart]

one thing i dearly love about wally's flash run, and something that can primarily be credited toward messner-loebs, is the portrayal of people experiencing homelessness and poverty as people who help and care about each other and deserve respect and dignity. it comes up a lot with hartley--see the issue that heralds what he'd become under messner-loebs and other later writers on the book, where wally is unfairly treated and discriminated against and it's only other people in the same situation as him that see him and help him and not only bring him to hartley who's distributing food but attempt to protect him from a dominator--but my favorite example of it is in #58 when we find out about hartley's friends who live underneath keystone.

the whole issue is great, honestly. it opens skewering people who only want to get rich in order to suit their own ends and finishes with someone deciding to genuinely change their life to help people after being forced to snap out of their own reality and see that people are people no matter their situation. ("some of these people are here because they are too young or too old... or HIV positive and no one will give them work. but a lot of them are here because they're metahumans [...] these people had their homes destroyed in the alien invasion... others lost everything in the war of the gods. or to the manhunters. that man's business was vaporized in the battle between the titans and brother blood. he's been on the wayne foundation's waiting list for five years.") it's a damn good issue and i like that it isn't just about doyle learning a moral lesson but about wally, the protagonist of the entire comic, remembering that he is quite literally always going to have more in common with the people around him than about the rich class he so badly wants to join. he's part of the problem as long as he continues to ignore it.

i think that's part of what makes me so frustrated about a lot of interpretations of wally's character and his original run in general. wally is wrong a lot. all the time. under writers like messner-loebs and waid, that was the point.

[drasnianfrank]

Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping? Credit due to @the-forest-library (I have been thinking about this list for like a week straight)

Guardians of the West by David and Leigh Eddings - any of the Belgariad/Mallorean series frankly. I read these series I don't know how many times as teen. Yes, they are a problematic. Yes they are trope-y as hell but I love them.

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold - inching just barely above Miles in Love or Mountains of Mourning.

Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - This is a book that always makes me cry.

Whale Talk by Chris Cutcher - A swim team comprised of various kids with disabilities and are deeply flawed but are also attempting to do good things? I wish this was on every book list for teens.

All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells - I mean all murderbot series is great. Funny story, I told my mom to read this book eons ago and she only read it after a librarian recommended it.

Return of the King by JRR Tolkien - though technically LotR is one book and I don't have single copies of this anymore. But the scouring of the shire just hits me in different places when I read it.

A Child's Anthology of Poetry edited by Elizabeth Hauge Sword and Victoria Flournoy McCarthy - My textbook of poetry when I was young.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Another a book that makes me absolutely sob.

The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce - I love the Wild Magic Series the most of all Pierce's series. And yes, I recognize the problematic relationship. But also, talking badger.

Sabriel by Garth Nix - I'm sorry the far superior goth necromancer with bells.

First Truth by Dawn Cook - If had I pick one of the truth series. I have an unnatural fondness of a book series that combines magic with Punnett Squares.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Narrowly above Midsummer Night's Dream. But the tomorrow speech is an absolute banger.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot - Any of the Herriot books. I read these almost to pieces.

Double Whammy by Carl Hiassen - It was this or Squeeze Me. But Skink really deserves to saved.

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski - Post Modern Horror.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - More Poetry of my childhood.

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson - specifically The Possibility of Evil.

Daredevil vol 6 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee - Graphic Novels count and I will fight you. This has one of the first individual issues I picked up.

Sandman vol. 8: World's End by Neil Gaiman, Micha Allred - Sandman holds a near and dear place in my heart. It was a close call between this and American Gods or Preludes and Nocturnes. But I will have echoes of Crements in my head.

Hawkeye vol. 4: Rio Bravo by Matt Fraction, David Aja - Pizza Dog! Also any of the volumes are fantastic and visually gorgeous.

I did take the prompt literally, but here are five more books I either always buy on kindle/can only get as an ebook. I would pay an extraordinary amount of money for these in print.

Toad Words and other stories by T Kingfisher - I was following her when she was still writing fantasy!

I Reap You Not by Catelyn Winona - Second Person done right.

True Porn Clerk Stories by Ali Davis - This causes me to giggle, rage, and cry.

The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan - Brothers Sinister series is the standard I compare all Regency Novels to.

Night Shift by Stephen King - Specifically Quitter's Inc. But frankly any collection of Stephen King is gold.

Tagging @thatoldstandby, @msfehrwight, @raventycho, @timemachineyeah, @theneptuneviolin and anyone else. And of course you can include pictures too.

[dailycass-cain]

Batman vs. Robin #5 concluded this week and after four prior issues, it decides to bring a certain someone into this. So how did Cass fair in the final issue? Well, let's get into my thoughts.

I'll be honest starting off and say this mini wasn't the best. I just feel the whole series has been rather meh save for a few moments sprinkled here and there (Bruce/Alfred in #1 and Talia in #4).

The whole stuff with the magic users Nezha does to them (particularly Black Alice) was quite unsettling. But I get it as a writer you're upping the stakes from the prior story with the character. I get that the Robins fight against Batman in #3 was more Bruce having to deal with all of them being OOC with one of the mystic weapons and Nezha.  Though noticeably absent physically Cass was mentioned in the issue just not to be counted as backup.

A theory that proved right as the entire issue was Bruce fighting former Robins (or one current in Tim). Still, I had my fun poking at Cass for having to sit out entirely (along with Duke) not having to job for the issue.

Once that tie-in came out, I was kind of surprised to see in this issue Cass was in it.  Artist Mahmud Asrar didn't have to go this hard for Cass but he did. Like hearing about this page and then reading it. I admit it. I smiled at the art spread alone.

Course the inner fan in me is like, "Where's Duke? And what happened to Kate? She was literally in #3!" To be honest the inner fan is right. Kate should've been called as mystical problems is her forte.

Course the counterpoint as to why she wasn't, "Right the series would've ended sooner and Kate hasn't dealt with spooky shenanigans since Gotham City Monsters THREE years ago."

Cass's reason to being there is a solid Damian plan though as he brings in the "big gun" to stall more.  Plus the panel alignment near Cass. Nice.

Yes, Cass jobs to Nezha (as does the rest of the family). I'll allow this jobbing since this "the big bad" took out a bunch of heavy hitters between this issue and Lazarus Planet.

The fact that writer Mark Waid kept showing her landing blows and being an active thorn in Hezha's side until he powers up to knock all of them save Tim out? I'm not gonna be critical of that.

This is how jobbing is done. The threat is big and Bat-Family (and Monkey Prince) here is buying time. Time for the DC Magical users to get their revenge on Nezha and boy do they.

I'm satisfied with that because that's what it was building toward. So that leads to the second thing Cass contributed to this issue and again I'll give Waid credit on.

So when Damian reveals the second stage of his plan (aka the one he told no one in sacrificing himself to save his father). Enchantress offers another option.

Honestly, even out Cass would make that sacrifice too. Really, all of them would. But I'm not gonna be all, "HEY! Give Cass this moment." This is Damian's story with a Cass appearance.

This isn't bad for once, but then this is following Gotham: Future State and I've yet to recover from reading that garbage.

This appearance was just a fun nod to Cass and gave me a good bone which I happily gnawed on. Now am I going to go how this appearance makes sense given where Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 left Cass? Cause I feel at this point explaining it would be like this.

Does this save the entire series? Eeeeeh not quite for me. But hey this series got me twice (that gorgeous Zatanna variant for #1 and this issue).

Still, I'm willing to begrudge the issue hit all the right notes. Save for Kate being brought in to buy more time. I think Babs would've been better suited for the Oracle section.

Though final side note unrelated to Cass. Babs hardcore this issue. Everyone is going hand to hand to smack Nezha-possessed Batman. Barbara Gordon on the other hand:

Geez Babs! 😲😲😲😲

[kitausuret]

So, out of curiosity, I went through all my fics and picked out the ones that were inspired by specific comic series, arcs, or issues. I then took a tally to see who inspired my fics the most, either out of spite for what they wrote, or out of love - sometimes a weird combination of the both.

Robbie Thompson tops the list with 18. This didn't surprise me - I write a ton of stuff directly inspired by Venom: Space Knight.

Dan Slott is in second place with 16 - mostly spite-writing but also this is what happens when you write on Spider-Man for 10 years. He'd also written Venom Inc. with Mike Costa so that skews things a little in his favor.

Brian Michael Bendis was surprisingly third at 8 works inspired, mostly for his work on the Planet of the Symbiotes arc during Guardians of the Galaxy and just having Flash/Venom as Guardians in general.

Mike Costa is still pretty high up here at 7, since he worked on Venom Inc. I almost feel like he should get more credit from me though since Dust to Dust is so heavily influenced by Venom vol. 3.

Cullen Bunn and Rick Remender are both at 6, but like Mike Costa, Bunn was a big influence on DTD so I feel he should actually get skewed higher LOL.

Len Kaminski and Donny Cates each have inspired 5. I was honestly expecting there to be more for Cates.

Paul Jenkins, David Michelinie, and Tom DeFalco are all tied at 4. I always assumed Michelinie would've influenced my works more, given that he created Venom, but also his stories are just so strong I guess I typically don't feel the need to build on them much? But also you can assume with me that I'm always trying to channel Michelinie when I write Eddie.,

Gerry Conway, J. Michael Straczynski, and Roy Thomas (for some of my older fics) are all at 3. Again, I'm surprised by the low number for Conway since I do like his work so much.

Christian Cooper, Marc Guggenheim, and Zeb Wells all sit at 2. I always assumed Wells would be higher since he helped create Scorn but I also haven't actually written her that much.. hmm...

And lastly, Fred van Lente, Howard Mackie, Brian Reed, Ben Acker & Ben Blacker, Christos Gage, Larry Hama, Mark Millar, and James Robinson each inspired a single fic from me. Of these I'm most stunned by Larry Hama because he actually wrote.. a lot of 90s Venom.

Looking at this list is really interesting for me though because it also kind of makes me realize where I pull so much influence for how I write characterization and dialogue and such? Obviously Robbie Thompson is a huge inspiration for how I write Flash - but I also approach his character with the writing of many many others in the back of my mind. When I write Eddie Brock, it's usually some amalgamation of how my favorite writers for him (Michelinie, Kaminski, Bunn, even Conway) have depicted him.

Notably absent from the list, at least for me I think it's notable, is J. M. DeMatteis, considering how much I've gone on about how I love his writing. But I think it's because a lot of his comics I've read touch on some pretty dark subjects that I don't always feel comfortable addressing myself.

Taking a peek at some of my current WIPs and the comics that directly inspired them, I could add the likes of Stan Lee, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Ann Nocenti, and yeah, definitely JMD to the list.

I do feel it's worth mentioning that if I've ever written anything with Peter and the Venom Symbiote, though, you can bet that I've got Louise Simonson's Web of Spider-Man #1 in mind. Every single time.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

rezonan asked: What did you think about Ultimate Invasion #1? I thought it was pretty good and just barely justified the 9 dollars. 6160 man so excited

A great week all around for comic books! How nice to read good stories featuring both of my two favorite guys, Superman and Hulk.

Superman #5 - Another great issue, particularly for Jimmy who came off cool and competent, loved the shot of him donning his own jet pack and flying off with Superman to save the day, that's my pal! Williamson managed to win me over on a Silver Banshee who isn't a villain (for now). I've been leery about "redeeming" villains lately. Don't really see the point since all it does is further cut down on Superman's Rogues Gallery when he desperately needs for them to get used more not less. Banshee and Jimmy are cute enough together, and Marilyn Moonlight seems cool enough to stick around and take Banshee's place, that I've decided to get on board. Really it was seeing Banshee wear a bow tie on a date night with Jimmy that did it, who can resist the bow ties?

World's Finest #16 - Enjoyed this issue more than the rest of the arc, the Green Arrow/Batman banter was funny.

Nightwing #105 - A fantastic art showcase for Redondo. Oh hey and Heartless does actually show up again finally, so credit to Taylor for showing he isn't just sitting around doing nothing.

Wonder Woman #800 - Picked this up just for King's story and I'm on board for his WW run. First WW issue I've read in ages that left me eager to get my hands on the next issue. Nice feeling to have with regards to WW, haven't felt that way since Rucka.

Superboy #3 - Interesting twist to have the Cosmoteers potentially be new villains for Conner rather than friends. Forcing Conner to fight an evil/amoral version of the archetypes he was teammates with on YJ is a cool creative decision.

Vigil #2 - Another great issue even if it leaves me with more questions than answers. Love getting details on Indian conspiracy theories, that's an aspect of other cultures that you don't get in Western textbooks.

Cyborg #2 - Dropped. Take a look at the list, at this point I need a book to either be great or have a personal investment in the character to justify the cost, and Cyborg doesn't check either box.

Black Adam #12 - What an odd, odd book this ended up being. A story all about how there is no redemption for Black Adam, greenlit for synergy with The Rock's movie which starred an Adam who could barely be called a "villain", now ends long after the Adam movie flopped and killed the DCEU. The Adam parts I liked a lot, the Malik parts I didn't enjoy anywhere near as much. Much like the movie, I don't see this book leaving much of a legacy, but Priest did at least write a believable way for Adam to transition out of his anti-hero era and back to being a villain. Will the next writers to tackle Adam acknowledge what Priest did? Maybe Waid will.

Ultimate Invasion #1 -

This was the good shit my fellow Hickmaniacs. Not HoX/PoX tier but absolutely reminding me of Hickman's Avengers and Ultimates. Of course I grinned at seeing "Earth 6160", perfect number designation, if that's the Earth which will be the one Hickman is using for the relaunch then this is indeed a proper reboot for the Ultimate line. Theory time: Maker chose this Earth because this is a world that doesn't have a Reed Richards. Hickman might even make it the Earth that Doom got his Sue from in Secret Wars, their origin had Dr. Franklin Storm in Reed's place, and I could see Maker wanting this Earth partly to spite 616 Reed for crying over that Sue on Battleworld. Maker's already prevented 6160 from having a Spider-Man, and it looks like he's going to prevent the other heroes from forming too. I'm dying to know what he's going to do to the Sue, Johnny, and Ben of this world if my theory is correct.

I predict that the ending of Ultimate Invasion will be 6160 getting rebooted to undo Maker's changes, and 616 Reed is going to fold Maker into this Earth's history somehow, rebooting him back to being Mr. Fantastic. The problem the Illuminati have with Maker is that they can't kill him and they can't keep him locked up, meaning they have to find another way to deal with him. Given this was kicked off in part by 616 Reed admitting he would like to erase Maker, I think the ending will be 616 Reed realizing that's the wrong approach and instead opts to try and redeem Maker. That would also explain rumors that there's going to be a lot more interaction between 616 and 6160 than there was with 1610. 6160 becomes Maker's prison, and the 616 Illuminati keep watch to ensure he doesn't fall back into being a villain again.

Incredible Hulk #1 - Shocker I know but I liked this. Great Southern Gothic atmosphere thanks to Klein's art, and PKJ is directly following up on Ewing while also taking advantage of the Banner/Hulk reset that Cates did. Seeing Betty under Eldest's control was surprising, I did not expect her to be in the first issue but I'm happy she's back. Eager to dive into this monster mythos surrounding the Mother of Horrors that PKJ is creating, Hulk vs. Man-Thing is a fantastic matchup that I don't think has ever been done before.

Scarlet Witch Annual - Orlando handled the MCU synergy very well. Agatha is straight up MCU-ified now, no real way to avoid that after the popularity of Wandavision, but he did a good job acknowledging Agatha's previous history with Wanda and at least tried to reconcile the differences between the two takes.

Avengers #2 - Plotwise this remains great, characterwise it's clear McKay is still finding his footing in terms of juggling the cast. Writes a great Black Panther though, so at least T'Challa is finally getting treated with respect. Too bad that only happens outside his solo.

[brettsinger]

Three Jokers and More

This week Mario Pisano returns to the podcast! What was Williamsburg Comedy Club originally called? What are Brooklyn audiences typically like? What's the deal with The Three Jokers? Why is Mark Waid so good? Is World's Finest an all ages book? (Not technically but it feels like it. Your mileage may vary, parents.) Shoutout to Caitlin Cass and her mail order comics. What are some superhero comics you can suggest to someone who isn't familiar with superhero comic books? Who is Riri Williams? What is the Old Man Logan universe? What happens in the original Old Man Logan comics? Who is The Maestro? What characters are in Avengers of the Wasteland? What was on the Wastelanders podcast? Do you have to have seen all of the original X-Men: The Animated Series in order to watch X-Men '97? What cool thing did the Jessica Jones Netflix series do? Who are Brett's top two villains? Why can't they get the Fantastic Four movie right? What was Superior Spider-Man about? Who's a better villain, Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus? What is a SteamDeck? What's happening with Star Wars? What is Gotham Nocturne?

Reading list: Batman Three Jokers World's Finest and spin-offs like Teen Titans Old Man Logan (free with Kindle Unlimited) Old Man Hawkeye (free with Kindle Unlimited) Old Man Quill (free with Kindle Unlimited) Avengers of the Wasteland (free with Comixology Unlimited) Chainsaw Man One Piece Jessica Jones: Alias House of M Superior Spider-Man Gotham Central Gotham Nocturne

Watch list: Logan X-Men '97 Honest Trailers - X-Men: The Animated Series One Piece Marvel Netflix shows: Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones The Incredibles Obi-Wan Kenobi The Mandalorian Tales of the Jedi

Video game list: Marvel's Avengers Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Mario Super Sluggers Wii Sports

Old Man Logan Universe links:

OId Man Logan universe reading order (Google search)

Another suggestion

Marvel's Wastelanders podcast

On Spotify

Image credit:

By Own Work (screenshot) but it does not belong to me. It is DC's., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65924174

Check out Comics Who Love Comic Books!

[diogenescynic2288]

I posted 5,139 times in 2022

That's 239 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (1%)

5,082 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@diogenescynic2288

@kohak-u

@rinrinlovee

@dogkin

@imaveryevilgirl

I tagged 2,632 of my posts in 2022

Only 49% of my posts had no tags

#nifty artwork - 532 posts

#bog tuesday - 149 posts

#beautiful pictures of beautiful people - 75 posts

#youtube - 48 posts

#unreality - 47 posts

#i like asks - 35 posts

#nifty pictures - 32 posts

#comics - 27 posts

#entrapta - 23 posts

#cute - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#the monkees are basically a precursor/ancestor to all a producer at a record label hired three+ people of one gender to sing groups

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Happy Saint Valentine's Day.

I unironically love this song and think it has something to say about love.

I don't know why, but I like this cover by the this pop duo particularly well.

"I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar."

"I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does."

4 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

#4

tbh sometimes i forget you aren't one of those super advanced AI's

That is an interesting thing to see, and I wonder what prompted this.

I'm not an AI. I'm not even sure I'm a natural intelligence here sometimes.

8 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

#3

happy belated Bog Tuesday!!

i kinda drew something for it

idk it just spurred out of my mind

anyways enjoy :D

It's awesome!

14 notes - Posted April 20, 2022

#2

Please Interact

I was thinking of doing one of those joke dnis but my brain no creative funny now, but I thought I'd create an honest, not joking please interact.

Please interact if you know what Robotech was, if you read any of the similarly long-titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles parodies, if you have an opinion on Swamp Thing vs. Man-Thing vs. The Heap, if you have a favorite superhero TTTPG, double points if it's over thirty years old and not Champions, if you like Addams Family Values better than the first 90s Addams Family movie, if you ever owned a pet gerbil, hamster, mouse, or rat and really loved it, if you own a Misfits t-shirt, if you've ever painted your nails blue, if you generally try to be nice to people.

15 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Diogenes's Reading Log for 2022

I just realized it’s a whole nother year, and it’s not even still January. I think I’ll publicly track the things I read this year here.  I’m only going to log a work, once I’ve completed it. I have some other rules that I might mention later, but that’s the main one: no work in progress tracking, just complete reads:

Another reread of JLA Year One seems to be the first thing I finished so far (late February). This is a work by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, all credited as storytellers. I'm willing to bet Mark Waid was the primary scripter of dialogue and suchlike, but I'm wondering if he and the penciller worked plot summary/Marvel method on this.

I keep thinking I'll write a review.

16 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

Things I Loved About Black Widow (2021).

*Spoilers*

Yes it’s been almost two weeks since release. Yes I’ve seen it almost three times now. Yes, all my thoughts are still a jumble. Somewhat ordering them for this post will be difficult.

Honestly, the entire first 53 minutes of this movie is perfect to me. Everything about it. The dialogue, the action, the way it’s able to convey so much without words, how it’s just Natasha, Yelena and Mason, everything is just *chef’s kiss*. (This isn’t to say the remaining 1hr 21mins is bad, it’s just not as perfect as the first act imo)

I have a thing for scores and god bless Lorne Balfe he really understood the assignment on this one. If you haven’t already, take a few minutes to listen to his composition, specifically ‘Natasha’s Lullaby’. I love when you can hear a story in music and I think this score does that really effectively.

Nat speaking Russian! Nat speaking Russian! The way she reverts back to it in the opening scene when she’s scared! I wish we’d gotten more of it honestly, especially in the family dinner scene, even something as simple as ‘pass the salt’.

Also, her Russian accent in the Budapest flashback! It was quiet but definitely there, and it showed that her American one was something she had to train herself back into once she defected, which I appreciated.

“I stashed that like five years ago” Is this a canon hint that Nat hoards her food? Maybe?! I’ll take what I can get to satisfy my headcanons thanks.

Natasha and Yelena’s fight sequence in the apartment is the best fight scene in the movie. No arguments.

So much of my inner monolgue while watching was just ‘imsogayimsogayimsogay”. That much leather and that many piercings??! The BRAIDS?? This movie is for the wlws.

Mason you absolute icon I love how much you care about Natasha I love that you’re sleeping everywhere because same. (You deserved better than to be a Taskmaster misdirect). Please turn up in more MCU properties as Yelena’s contact or something.

“But you’re not a mouse, Melina. You were just born in a cage, but that’s not your fault.” THIS LINE!!!

AND THIS ONE. “You took my childhood, you took my choices and tried to break me. But you’re never gonna do that to anybody ever again.” The emphasis on choice vs children, how it’s always been about bodily autonomy instead of the romanticised horror of sterilisation that Whedon went with. 

“I never let myself be alone long enough to think about it.” I GASPED.

HONOURABLE MENTION: “You didn’t work in the shadows, you hid in the dark,” (or something). There’s something really satisfying about that line. 

Everything about this film is so inherently female, I love it when things don’t reek of testosterone.

I’ve heard some critics say this movie felt really ‘isolated’ and ‘disconnected’ from the rest of the MCU because of the time jump and how many new characters there were and I have to hard disagree there. The appearance of Secretary Ross, name-dropping Tony Stark, and the continued references to the Avengers were not only realistic but also really cemented this oneshot in-universe for me. 

*cue me flapping my hands and opening another draft because every separate point is eliciting another two paragraphs of analysis that I absolutely cannot include on this post or it will never end*. Man I love this movie. See the read-more because this is getting longgg.

Similarly, how it actually carries through on a lot of previous set up, mostly from Avengers 1, like with ‘Dreykov’s daughter’ and “thank you for your co-operation”. I got very nervous when they announced they were going to tackle Budapest because a) I didn’t think anything they came up with would ever live up to the hype people gave that line so it would only end in disappointment and b) I’ve never particularly cared, to be honest. (it was a throwaway line in Avengers 1 that was repeated for nostalgia in Endgame in a context that now makes no sense, forgive me for being indifferent) but I actually loved how it tied everything together.

The way it reclaims her from every male creator that’s handled her (fuck the Russos and M&M) while simultaneously keeping the best of what they managed to foster (again, Avengers 1 is a heavy influence, and rightly so, but it gives a fat middle finger to AOU, also rightly so).

How competent Nat was shown to be without being unbeatable. She fully got her ass handed to her a couple of times, and yes, it’s very unrealistic that she was able to go through two car accidents, fall off that bridge, out of that window and then out of the sky without being seriously injured, but we finally got to see the physical manifestations of some of that pain! She was holding her ribs when she got out of the water, the bruises on her back, the dislocated shoulder, and the blood splatters were actual splatters when she broke her nose rather than delicate dabs.

This might be an unpopular one, because I know this was what a lot of people were expecting more of, but I was glad Natasha’s youth in the Red Room was confined to the opening credits. The aftermath of that training and Natasha as a product of it has always been more fascinating to me than the actual event.

As an older sister myself, the dynamic between Natasha and Yelena really struck home for me. Yelena’s pride in Nat and need for approval and validation from Natasha in conflict with realising Nat’s flaws, wrestling with her disappointment, seeing how human Nat is, were perfectly portrayed by Florence Pugh. I could completely relate to Nat, who, despite trying to convince herself otherwise, couldn’t fight her fierce protective instinct and specific brand of unconditional love that only an older sister will ever feel. 

A diverse set of Widows!

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of comics references in this movie. The frame where she jumped through the fire from the Waid/Samnee run, the pheromonal lock.

Now I have my problems with Scarlett Johansson, but I came out of this movie with a lot of respect and a little bit of pride in her. It’s clear that she put her everything into this movie, both as an actor and executive producer. She obviously cares immensely about Nat and how she’s portrayed, and it’s clear from interviews that the things she loves and finds fascinating about Nat are the same as the fans. (I also feel a little bit sorry for the way she’s getting brushed over in the coverage in favour of a new and shiny Florence Pugh, so this is me expressing some ScarJo-as-Natasha appreciation).

A big question I had going in was, ‘Natasha’s always reflecting the people around her, but what’s she like when she’s alone, and has only her own mind for company?’ and this movie really answered that for me. Seeing her out of her suit and wearing clothes that were for her, not for a cover or a mission, seeing her drink beer and eat ice cream and let her hair dry while watching a Bond film she’s obviously seen many times before, it was all perfect. The scenes in the caravan were a huge step for humanising women in action movies. 

I’ll probably be adding to this post a lot because this movie will not leave my mind and new things are occurring to me at the most random points. 

See my ‘Things I...didn’t like as much about Black Widow’ post here.

[blackhillverse]

BLACKHILL 101

i posted this on my twitter but i thought that people on tumblr will find this helpful as well. so, welcome to blackhill masterpost!

ೃ⁀➷ blackhill 101

a helpful guide for people who have just learnt about blackhill and wish to expand their knowledge on their new favorite sapphic ship.

ೃ⁀➷  disclaimer

✧ ideas presented in this thread are considered to be fanons which means, they are headcanons accepted by the blackhill community

✧ they're essential to know since they're the stem of the ship

✧ the existence of fanons does not forbid you from creating your own headcanons

✧ fanons help us to unify the core information since the whole ship is based on our presuppositions

✧ once again, it is rather important to at least get familiar with the core ideas, because fanfiction authors often use them in their works

ೃ⁀➷ maria hill

✧ born on april 4th, 1982

✧ there are two ways of picturing her family background:

⋆ her mother died while giving birth to her which caused her father to display abusive behavior towards maria (canonical information from the comics)

⋆ her family is big and supportive (fanon, might have developped from ‘the perfect girlfriend’ by thetruthaboutlove fanfiction) 

✧ she is considered to be either of:

⋆ an american descent - might be canon 

⋆ an italian descent - a very important fanon which developed from 'the perfect girlfriend' by thetruthaboutlove fanfiction

⋆ a canadian descent - it refers to cobie smulders' descent

✧ she used to be a marine

✧ most of the fanons are based on the comic maria hill so it is recommended to read at least some of them

✧ most people visualize and portray maria hill as cobie smulders in their works however she can be also pictured as in phil noto's comic artworks

✧ maria hill is considered to be a canonical lesbian. even cobie smulders herself agreed that her character is tired of men (thanks to @blackhillthings  on twt for making cobie say this)

ೃ⁀➷ natasha romanoff

✧ natasha can be perceived in many ways, in my opinion, everyone has their own portrayal of her character in their head

✧ in blackhill universe, natasha's character tends to be a mix of a mcu natasha and comic natasha

✧ it is highly recommended for you to read the comics

✧ natasha is usually portrayed as scarlett johansson in fanfictions but it is also very common to picture her as in phil noto's comic artworks

✧ personally, i recommend you to read the 'fearless' by elle1991 fanfiction for natasha's background story

ೃ⁀➷  a list of suggested movies & series to watch for a better blackhill experience

✧ the avengers (2012)

✧ captain america: the winter solider (2014) - this movie is considered to be the core movie since it provides the longest amount of screentime

✧ the avengers: age of ultron (2015)

✧ jack reacher: never go back (2016) - for a marine maria hill experience

✧ the avengers: infinity war (2018)

✧ the avengers: endgame (2019) 

✧ stumptown (2019) for a marine maria hill experience

ೃ⁀➷ comics to read

✧ comics are a very important part of the blackhill universe

✧ the most essential comic series, in this case, is black widow (2014) by nathan edmonson and phil noto, it features lots of core information as well as characters like liho, the cat

✧ another comic series to read is black widow (2016) by chris samnee and mark waid

✧ the last series that provide blackhill essential content, as well as maria's backstory, is invincible iron man (2008), issues: #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #22

ೃ⁀➷ essential fanfictions to read

✧ gone to the dogs by avesnongrata and woodface

✧ the perfect girlfriend by thetruthaboutlove

✧ by baby steps by thetruthaboutlove

✧ weekend plans by avesnongrata

ೃ⁀➷  other things to know

✧ blackhill was created around 2011

✧ there are two peaks of blackhill popularity: 2015 and 2019

✧ the 'do you have any gum?' 'no gum' quote comes from 'gone to the dogs' fanfiction and is one of the most popular thing to say in the community

✧ clint is a very close friend of maria and natasha but when referring to him, we mean comic and avenger's assemble (cartoon) clint

✧ blackhill # on tumblr is a great place to find useful stuff like manips (i'm one of the creators on here), art, fanfictions, and fanons

✧ if you decide to repost someone's artwork on any media platform, make sure that the author gave their consent to that (usually you can see the information about that on their profile). we respect the creators in the blackhill community

✧ always credit the author when reposting

✧ keep in mind that due to maria's and natasha's troubled past, blackhill is a very deep and tough ship. some things might be as considered out of the character if you forget about that

ೃ⁀➷ thank you for attention

if you have any questions about blackhill, feel free to pm me or other people form the community. we’re all very helpful so don’t be shy! 

[doctorofmagic]

Strange Academy #9 Review

It’s bonding time with two of the sweetest characters in this comic book!

We get started with Calvin’s nightmare with one of the many foster parents he had throughout the years. I don’t believe he has done it, but there’s something about his jacket. Hold that thought, more on that later.

Wanda and her terrible outfit wakes him up and says that Mr. Sheridan will cover the matter about dreams in Nocturnal Architecture: The Study of Dreams during the second semester. For those you who don’t know, she’s talking about Rick Sheridan, the Sleepwalker’s vessel. At this point, I’m not that excited about mentions because, as we know, Rintrah was also mentioned but never made an appearance. On the other hand, Dead Girl showed up last issue. We’ll have to wait and see. In case you’re interested, Stephen has met the dream entity once in Sleepwalker #7 (1991). Next, Wanda reveals that it’s Family Day at Strange Academy.

Both Calvin and Doyle are quite uncomfortable with the event. Calvin had issues with foster parents while Doyle is, well, Dormammu’s son. They’re not getting any parents or guardians. I can’t help but feel that Clea should be there, except freaking Waid erased her memories so she isn’t aware of Stephen or his little school. Clea would make such a lovely cousin. YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME, WAID. When will this nightmare end? I mean, at some point, Dormammu will knock on her rebel door and mention him, right? And she’s gonna be like: “Who?” But I digress, I’m sorry.

Next, we’re introduced to some of the parents/guardians. Emily’s mom is... something. I found her rivalry with Loki absolutely delightful. I checked “Gudrun” on Marvel database and found out she was Volstagg’s daughter? That would make Volstagg Iric and Alvi’s grandfather. So Loki wouldn’t be their original uncle. It was just a pet name. But hey, I’m not into Thor lore, so if anyone knows what’s going on here, I’d appreciate a little help.

BUT WAIT. Did I get it right? Does Zoe have a crush on Dessy? OTP CONFIRMED. Absolutely loved their relationship development. Zoe used to find Dessy a creep, keeping her zombie secret to herself, but Dessy showed her that it’s okay and learned a lot about human emotions and boundaries. It’s quite sweet. Magic lesbians!! And speaking of which... Lucky S’ym Illyana wasn’t around. She’d kick his ass for sure.

I have no reasons whatsoever to mention Stephen but I will because this is my blog and it’s devoted to Stephen. So yes, have a random panel with Stephen because I can. I love the fact that he spent the entire issue levitating like a diva he is. Delicious food.

Meanwhile, Calvin and Doyle decide to break into the storage room. Doyle is looking for a gift for Emily, which is SO sweet ugh even though it’s called the Rose of Despair, which is probably bad news. I love how they talk about vulnerability and how it’s such a normal thing, especially for male characters. Boys out there, do talk more about your feelings. It’s really important and only makes you even more beautiful. Also... He got all flustered again!!! He’s so sweet!!! And oh, is he in love!!

Calvin accidently activates the Lightning Gauntlets, hitting Doyle. He’s okay but they’re interrupted by Mindless Ones. We finally learn why Doyle is uneasy near them. He feels bad for what Dormammu did to them, and they can’t help but see Dormammu when Doyle is around, triggering memories and traumas even for mindless beings. It’s the very first time I’ve read about the traumatic experiences behind those creatures, which is great! It explains why they’re made out of pure anger and even Dormammu is afraid of them. I also loved to learn that Doyle is not like his father. He probably wants to change the Dark Dimension when his time to rule comes (that is, assuming Dormammu will let him, which I find hard to believe).

Doyle is overwhelmed by them, so Calvin unleashes the power of the monster in his jacket. For a moment, he loses control, but Doyle brings him back. And that’s a very interesting point.

I apologize in advance, I don’t know if someone told me this or I wrote it before, it’s been a very long time (and for that reason, please let me know in order to give due credits). But there’s this theory that Calvin’s monster is actually Mr. Misery, which makes SO MUCH sense. Remember when Mr. Misery embraced Stephen before his final fight with Empirikul? And when he possessed Wong? What was the difference? I’d say there are two important points. 1) it depends on the user and their willpower to resist Mr. Misery and 2) Mr. Misery’s size.

Let’s say, the more the pain, the bigger and stronger he gets. And he was reduced to a small portion at the end of v4.

Besides, Calvin’s jacket has eyes and it’s quite gooey. It’s very similar to Mr. Misery. Not to mention how he can get a hold of its user.

I can’t help but wonder if Calvin’s jacket is actually Mr. Misery hiding its true form in order to grow stronger through Calvin’s pain. Remember, he never had good parents, is victim of bullying and is usually alone. That kid knows pain. And that makes him the perfect victim for Mr. Misery. Thoughts on it, anyone?

Moving on... Doyle and Calvin share a bonding time, which is precious.

But they’re not free from the cheesy games!!

Emily’s mother beat a god and she’s lousy about it. Emily introduces them to her family and boi, is it mutual or what? She’s blushing too. I’m sorry but that’s another OTP.

Lastly, Stephen shows the campus to the parents while the kids are racing again. It says “to be continued”, which means the parents will stay a little longer, I suppose.

Overall, I loved their interactions and how young and fresh the children are, figuring out their feelings and fears. I’m so relieved Doyle is back. But they’re still doing dangerous things like sneaking without supervision. They should’ve learned from the last issue.

Well. It was not bad. I enjoyed it, even though the story didn’t move forward. A nice reading.

[davidmann95]

How'd you like the new Death Metal special (and, more broadly, this week's comics)?

pretenderoftheeast said: Comics this week (12/9/2020)?

Batman: Black and White #1: The first of a platter of anthologies today:

* The Tynion/Moore story is predictably fire.

* JHIII is JHIII. Also he does a really nice surprising story about how Batman’s relating to this moment of the time, but let’s be real, you’re here because JHIII, and be assured he is JHIII as helllll here and it’s great.

* Dini/Kubert plays as the former building a story around accommodating requests by the latter, but that’s not a bad thing, and glad to see Kubert’s kept up the pace since his DK3/Up In The Sky creative rejuvenation.

* Ok I’m a philistine who has no idea what that Emma Rios thing was about but it was certainly pretty.

* Wilson doing Batman is surprisingly disappointing, but Smallwood doing Batman definitely isn’t.

DC’s Very Merry Multiverse: Not a very merry time! I hate to say it given this should be so geared to my interests, but this is the weakest overall effort we’ve gotten from one of DC’s quarterly anthologies in a good long while, at least among those I’ve picked up. Not to say it’s a dud, there are several nifty little stories in here including the much-hyped first appearance of Kid Quick (destined to become the Flash of Future State) and really almost everything here reaches ‘pretty okay’. But for $10, and a creative space that should reach so much more than ‘pretty okay’, I don’t know that this is a justifiable recommendation unless you’re understandably desperate for all the President Superman content you can get your hands on.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Flashpoint: I’m surprised I got it too, but the preview grabbed me and in practice it was a fun, mean little high-concept adventure of Reverse Flash being a total cock.

Wonder Woman #768: Credit where it is due, this has been getting a bit better in its closing stretch.

Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe: This ruled. Obviously there was the one story folks are most interested in, but almost all of the tales in here lived up to being a ‘final’ story of sorts for their leads.

* The Titans bookenders were pretty nice even if it’s hilarious that their big rallying cry basically amounts to “by god, our book may be shit, but we’re valuable IP so we’ll never be cancelled!”

* Green Lantern is basically an epilogue to Johns’ run sans the baggage of bringing back Johns (that we get in two weeks with Secret Origin and god forgive me I’m so looking forward to that), and definitely one of my favorite efforts from Lemire.

* Wonder Woman’s the stinker in what’s nominally her own event. I can parse the roots of most bad Superman stories one way or another, but I just can’t understand what’s behind most bad Wonder Woman stories beyond that the people handling it simply don’t give a shit.

* Astonishingly, the Green Arrow and Black Canary chapter in here might be my favorite of the bunch? Simone at her best, a really sweet slice of playful, sincere romance about two characters I’m not by default invested in but ended up quite caring for here.

* This Aquaman story is everything I generally hate in Aquaman stuff, a big long maudlin speech about the weight of the world as he swims through a black featureless ocean, except here between the real heart Sebela brings to the script and the mood artist Christopher Mooneyham manages to evoke, it all clicks together.

* The Batman Family story feels like it can’t quite make its pacing work, but it’s still a heartfelt little ode to the theoretical power of the concept.

* Hey, that Mark Waid guy? Turns out he can write him some Superman. It’s not perhaps the total barnburner you might have expected - I imagine he’s saving his biggest hits for later - but it’s a very solid execution of a gangbusters concept, and Manapul steals the show with absolutely sensational, gorgeous scenic Superman imagery. I’mma say 60/40 in favor of them doing a Superman project together on either a main book or Black Label (I know Manapul was supposed to be locked into a creator-owned thing with Scott Snyder but that was ages ago), because this is a paring that’s yielded some immediate results and I imagine everyone knows it. And given my upbringing, nice to see a big, iconic, beautiful Superman story with him rocking the mullet.

Anonymous said: Haha holy shit Crossover is literally Cates taking that page where Spawn meets all the corporate heroes locked up and spinning it out into a series

Anonymous said: Does Crossover #2 hold the crown for the funniest, dumbest, most baffling opening page ever?

Crossover #2: Readers I’m not too big to admit I laughed my ass off at the first page, and at least a little bit for the actual reasons intended. The sense of homaging that Spawn scene in the context of a book about “Gosh, isn’t IP the best folks?”, or Cates’ dialogue...(shall we say) proving why he likes the concept of ellipses enough to name a character after them aside though? That it’s already crossed the line with its central metaphor from “indefensibly insensitive in its ridiculous self-centeredness” to “out-and-out cartoonishly offensive” somehow actually makes it more rather than less palatable; there’s no longer the secondhand embarrassment of waiting to see how bad Cates is going to handle this, it simply is the worst it could possibly be and readers have to accept and perhaps revel in the sight of him stepping on rake after rake. I cannot wait for him to finally give an interview on this book where he explains what the hell he thinks this looks like, and I hope my dad keeps somehow enjoying it forever because I totally wanna see what pit this descends to next.

Penultiman #3: This is absolutely agonizing and probably the most relatable take on a ‘superman’ ever.

Home Sick Pilots #1: A new creator-owned book from Dan Watters (whose big two credits include the stupendous “Afraid of America” with John Paul Leon in the last Batman Secret Files, and the upcoming Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman) and Peter Cannon’s Caspar Wijngaard, this new book set against the backdrop of a Californian high school’s punk scene in 1994 describes itself as “Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really)”. The former influence isn’t much in play yet, but thus far this is a book that merges building tension and freewheeling dopey teen bullshit to an extent that’s subtly impressive as hell, and seems likely to proudly take a place among the current horror comic renaissance.

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #3: Ok again I don’t have any experience with this franchise but you’d better believe that cultural osmosis was enough that I popped for BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

King in Black: Namor #1: Kurt Busiek’s return to Marvel...sucks? Such is the power of Knull I guess even if he doesn’t manifest within the actual story here, this is a complete nothing of a comic and I’m not tuning in for issue #2.

Avengers #39: Eh, I’m not liking Aaron Avengers when it gets remotely serious nearly as much as when he’s doing stuff like having them finally help Blade with all those vampires or Captain America assisting with the delivery of an exploding space-baby in the back of a muscle car.

Anonymous said: That new Guardians of the Galaxy was something else. What do you think the odds are that Comic Books, with a decade or two of hindsight, recognizes Ewing as one of the best to ever do it?

Guardians of the Galaxy #9: I lack much context here beyond recalling from an interview that this is Ewing’s way of grappling with the ideas from Steve Englehart’s original unrealized vision of Star-Lord’s character arc, but wherever it stems from this is a hell of a comic.

S.W.O.R.D. #1: This is everything I’ve wanted from the non-Hickman X-books since the moment HoXPoX ended, and so much more, and also it is basically hilarious that Ewing is all but explicitly using his clout to force Marvel to let him to Ultimates3 under a currently cancellation-proof banner. Most importantly of all, Ewing has already mastered the subtle art of writing not merely Magneto, but the infinitely superior Jonathan Hickman Magneto. And good lord Schiti and Gracia, I already knew they were top-tier but these pages’d make a grown man cry.

[longitudinalwaveme]

How Not to Write the Flashes and Their Rogues, Part 1  (Pre-Geoff Johns)

I’m a big fan of the Flashes, the extended Flash family, and the Flash Rogues. There are many, many, many writers who handle these characters really, really well, and even writers whose handling of the characters I often dislike usually have at least one character whom they write really well. That being said, certain writers just don’t seem to get certain characters. This post is a list of some examples. (Keep in mind that this is all subjective!) 

-I (fairly or otherwise) tend to give comic books from before Crisis on Infinite Earths a bit of a pass in terms of strange narrative choices. Are there certain Silver and Bronze Age Flash issues where some of the cast is out-of-character? Absolutely. However, the comic industry at that time was very different from the modern comic industry, and it feels wrong to hold those older issues and writers to the same standards. So John Broome, Gardner Fox, Robert Kanigher, Cary Bates, and the other writers of that era will not be a part of this list. That being said, I have to give a mention to Flash #109, which featured Barry using the Mirror Master’s tech to trick Iris into believing that she was seeing him in various reflections so that she would agree to date him again. (The Silver Age, everybody!) Not cool, Barry. 

-Mike Baron didn’t really feature any of the original Rogues. In fact, I think the only pre-existing villain in his run was Vandal Savage, who he handled pretty well. Baron also established Wally’s personality well. That being said, he may have overplayed his hand in making Wally an unlikable jerk to some extent. As big a Wally fan as I am, even I find him a bit hard to swallow during a lot of Baron’s run. 

-William Messner-Loebs used the Rogues primarily as sources of comedy. Personally, I like his take on the Rogues, but I do think it may have played into the perception of the Rogues as not being legitimate threats, which in turn lead to most of the problems that occurred with them later down the line. No complaints with his handling of Wally or the Pied Piper. He also had one of the best supporting casts of any run on the Flash. 

- Mark Waid did a fantastic Wally. I love his Wally so very much, and his Linda is quite good as well. He does a good Jay, he does a good Johnny Quick, and he does a good Jesse Quick. He invented Bart and basically invented Max Mercury too, both of whom were great under his pen. His Barry, when he got the chance to write him, was also really good, and his Reverse Flash, though different from the Pre-Crisis version, was terrific. He’s hands-down the best Abra Kadabra writer, gave the Trickster his greatest triumph, wrote a good Magenta, and handled Piper well. 

That being said, his handling of the other Rogues was rather hit-or-miss. To his credit, he did acknowledge the fact that he wasn’t good with writing them and seemed to avoid them whenever possible. However, when he did write them, things sometimes went sideways. Besides killing them off in Underworld Unleashed (which he later had the good grace to admit was probably a mistake), probably the best example of his difficulty in writing them can be seen in his handling of the Top and the Golden Glider. 

@gorogues‘s favorite character is the Top, and she has expressed a distaste with the way he was handled in the arc where he tried to become president, mostly due to the way in which he was treated both as something of a joke and as a substantially nastier character than most of the other Rogues. Now granted, the Top has a history of being somewhat more prone to putting people in danger than the other Rogues (he did try to blow up Central City during the Bronze Age), but there was never any particular implication that he didn’t get along with the rest of them or that he didn’t like the Piper in particular. This story implied both, and thus set up further problems with him later on down the line. 

The way he wrote the Golden Glider was rather more annoying. He clearly didn’t know what to do with her, so after a few brief appearances where she seemed uncharacteristically unhinged, he had her killed off to prove how dangerous the brown-haired Chillblaine was. It wasn’t exactly fridging (yet), but she was still killed off for one of the worst possible reasons (especially since that Chillblaine would promptly cease to be a threat about two issues after he killed her). It was not a good way to kill a character, even a comparatively minor one. 

Another thing I’ve noticed with Waid is that he didn’t seem to have a good grasp on the second Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch. Grant Morrison, who created the character, generally wrote him as good-natured and affable; someone who was a graceful loser and would work with the heroes when it suited him. He was definitely still a villain, but he was a surprisingly light-hearted one on the whole. In Flash vol 2 #105, Waid wrote him as an angry, mentally disturbed character who’s stalking his ex-girlfriend and was generally unstable; very different from Morrison’s take on the character. After that, he basically wrote McCulloch as though he were still Sam (just with an accent now), one of the goofy Silver Age Rogues Wally couldn’t believe could ever be serious threats (in spite of his violent stalker tendencies in #105). Either way, his McCulloch was never as memorable as Morrison’s in terms of personality (though the Mirror Realm was a brilliant idea, so kudos for that).