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Real Thing That Actually Happens in the original Teen Titans Run:

Garth is my favorite character in this btw. Poor dude is so done with everyone all the time. I'll make a post about dumb shit in this once I get through all the issues.

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Well, Jack's not wrong. :)

Dana: Let Tim explain.

Jack: You mean lie, Dana.

–Dana Winters and Jack Drake on Tim Drake (Robin #92 – A Leap of Faith)

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I love Preston and Carol so so much. And Iris and Lois. Brenda del Vecchio and Paco (from 2006 version Blue Beetle - don't know the later versions) are amazing. I like several of the Daily Planet crew - I wish Jimmy would be well-used, and not as a butt-monkey. I liked several of Ted Kord's supporting cast in the 1986 Blue Beetle, as well. Cassie Sandsmark's friend Georgia. I liked Dana and Jack there for Tim, too.

Does 1970s Cassandra Craft count for Phantom Stranger? Never read the modern one, so can't comment on her.

With the post about Dana Winters, i thought that most heroes now don't have a civilian support cast who is'nt necesseraly a love interest. Which civilian do you want back ? Your favorite civilian love interest ? And just give me your fave civilian period ?

For me I love Abigail Arcane, Lois Lane, Iris West, Linda Park and Silver St Cloud for love interest. I loved the Impulse support cast give back to Bart: Carol and Preston. I love the Daily Planet gang.

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Sleepover ask:

Chose between Chris being back in the Superfamily or Jon going back to being a kid

Ummm how about this option 😝

Sorry buddy but frankly I can’t choose between both of those fellas lol

@confusedhummingbird thanks for the asks anyways

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I need a backstory for Sindella in my headcanon reboot - any ideas?

Okay, so first I'm on the record as really not liking her original backstory.

So I need a new one. My rules are basically thus:

She cannot be thought dead, discovered alive, and die immediately thereafter. I'd prefer she be really dead from the time we meet Zatanna, but willing to change that for a good enough story. Zatara cannot be (even indirectly) responsible for her death - she did not die because of him. I don't want that kind of angst.

She cannot be evil - she can be an active magical hero, a co-worker in entertainment, a housewife, a different type of professional, etc. - just not a bad guy.

She is not from separate species/society and has no myths or prophecies about her. She can be special in the same sense that all heroes are special, but not not beyond that.

Zatara may lie to Zatanna about how Sindella died, but not when. Both because I don't want him to, and because he has an entire extended family that Zatanna will interact with on holidays and everyone keeping their mouths shut is unlikely and everyone being brainwashed is creepy.

For timeline reference, in this reality Zatara and Sindella are born in 1956 and marry in 1979. Cults are such a stereotype of the 1970s that I have considered the possibility. But that might be stepping on Arella Roth's toes.

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I was not a JLI fan. I totally liked Ted's 1986 series - particularly the first part, before they made it more angsty. Booster Gold's too, though not as much.

For my headcanon reboot, I'm trying to work out a set-up that has the JLI characters have certain relationship dynamics inherited from the series, while not making them buffoons. And not involving Batman. Don't get me started on what was done to poor Ralph Dibny - admittedly, it started back the late bronze age, but it got so much worse.

I want to tear out the throats of the JLI writers

especially when the fucker that mangled Ted's personality had characters lamenting in the Blue Beetle 2006 run that Ted never got the respect he deserved and just MOTHERFUCKER YOU'RE THE REASON WHY

like there's a reason why folks who liked Ted Kord b4 JLI got their mitts on him didnt fucking like what JLI was doing with him

the the JLI writers fucking mocked the fans who were upset with the changes and acted like the other writers who worked on Ted were being unfair to them when fuckers called out their bullshit

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I need a good job for Tawny (headcanon reboot)

I need a good job for the fellow. I don't want him rich, but I do want him to be able to afford the little house in the suburbs he got in the comics. I plan him to be more a magical thing than a real tiger, so the natural history museum isn't necessarily the best fit. But it's not like he has degrees or certifications. And I would expect his meat-heavy diet to not be the cheapest thing around - though he'll like organ meat, of course.

I will introduce him after WW2 both because he was introduced later in the comics and because I am defaulting to him primarily carnivorous and rationing would present a problem.

Anyone got any ideas?

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How do you feel about Billy being out of step with his generation?

This has to do with my headcanon reboot and characterization.

There are a few issues that Billy displays certain attitudes. I would not be at all surprised if this was wildly inconsistent, but I haven't yet seen any opposing characterization at this point (still haven't read anything close to all the stories).

One issue has Billy just dislike swing music (or at least, I'm pretty sure Sterling Morris referred to it as swing) and prefer a waltz. I believe this was 1947. But swing music has been in fashion since 1935 at the latest (I've seen some say 1931 or 1933, but I've never seen later than 1935), so this isn't even Billy not liking new music. In fact, swing music was past its heydey by 1947. I don't know, maybe he just hates dancing?

The other was when he told a scientist his car of the future was too futuristic - no one needed to go 200mph, etc. He modified to car to remove several features. Okay, you could think he just didn't like this particular car, and it was dangerous. But no, when confronted with the fellow's disappointment that it would only be marginally better than pre-war cars, Captain Marvel says that's the way change should be - slow and incremental.

That attitude is pretty at odds with what I know of mainstream 1950s culture in the US. While I do understand the era did tend to perceive itself as conservative in certain ways (retrenching gender roles, the comic codes authority, etc.), they were very into new technology. Plastics, of course. The whole look we call retro-futurism was from that era. Big hopes on atomic power (fears too, of course). Canned foods were popular, tv dinners were invented, and I understand synthetic fabrics became increasing popular over the decade. Also huge strides in racially-based civil rights that we more associate with the 60s, but that's a whole other thing.

Billy himself being different isn't bad, but I'm not sure if it works well with him becoming the beloved national news journalist if he's so out of step with the majority of society. Then again, objectivity was rather valued then, so maybe his personality/opinions/interests aren't that important. Just one thing that made me think of this is me previously calling him his world's Walter Cronkite, and then I read that Cronkite was actually quite into science and technology.

Of course, I've also mentioned characters changing with the times, so maybe Billy changes in that regard, too.

Anyone know of any other issues to reinforce or contradict this perception of Billy? I keep thinking there was a third story that made me think this way, but I don't recall what it was.

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Marvel living arrangements - why wasn't Mary with her mother?

I knew Freddy lived alone and then later moved to Mrs. Wagner's boarding house (though I haven't read but a couple stories in that era, I know those characters recur and last a long time). I've knew Billy was in a boarding house at some point too. But I've recently discovered Mary also lived there and then both moved into Mrs. Wagner's place. Why wasn't Mary living with her mother by then?

Also, does anyone know any behind-the-scenes sort of reason for why these creative decisions were made?

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40s futures Marvels

So, for my headcanon reboot where Billy gets powers in 1940 and they all actually age and grow up, I have to come up with futures for them.

Billy was easy - pure wish fullfillment and so everything goes right for him. Becomes this universe's Walter Cronkite. Marries Cissie, has a couple kids. So rich, successful, respected, and with a happy family life. Dealing with his kids and the changes in the 60s is going to be a bit of issue (Billy is not great with culture and technology changing, in at least a few issues), but all in all, everything's pretty great.

Freddy, of course, has to struggle and be poor for a few years. That's a core aspect of his character, though I do have to address why his rich friends (especially Billy, who has his own money that he controls - not in a trust or anything) don't help out. I do think it's important that Freddy be the type that can accept charity as gracefully as he gives it, because otherwise it's still a different flavor of looking down on those who need it. Probably college (he's canonically clever and he can't really earn a good living in a trade, given his handicap), then suburban upper middle class happy family life. I don't recall him ever having a supporting cast in his poor years when he lived in a slum. I thought about adding them - gives him someone to talk to and it would be an aspect of his character that he doesn't drop them when he improves his financial lot in life But then I thought about whether it's an important character trait that he doesn't make connections the way Mary and Billy do. At least until he moved later on in the comics.

But Mary is the issue. She's very much the kid every parents wants in the 1940s comics, and just pretty perfect. She has friends her own age, and I'd enjoy her maintaining friendships with Freckles and Pinky. Definitely see her going to college (probably a seven sisters school). But I don't really know what to do with after - a good plotline for her. It's a big back-to-femininity thing post-war. She could buck the norm by pursing a career, but honestly, if she has her own trustfund/money, it would be much easier for her to hero full-time without a job (like various millionaire heroes).

I guess it's about goals - I have Billy learning how to analyze information and package it for listeners and learning the skills to be a prestigious reporter and not just notable because of his age or Cap. For Freddy, I have him pursuing a financially comfortable life over all the years it will take. They have goals. But I need to figure out what I want Mary to want and how she will pursue it. So, any suggestions?

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Mary's fashion sense (1940s)

I've been reading about 1940s teen fashion and trying to get a handle on Mary's fashion tastes.

First, it depends on exactly how old she is. 14 was something of a transition age, as I understand it (admittedly, I saw that for boys, not girls). Some (not all) of her clothes seem too young if she is that age - I attribute it to them trying to sell her wardrobe to their audience, who is mostly younger than Mary, and it seem to drop off somewhere along the line the comics. But I do have to decide how to treat that in-universe.

The other thing that came up to me was baggy clothes. I understood from multiple sources that baggy jeans and baggy sweaters (and scruffy looking saddles shoes) were popular with teens in 1940s and early 1950s (though obviously that's casual-wear), with the slim cut jeans, tight sweaters, and sparkling clean shoes coming in later in the 1950s. But the only time I remember Mary dressing anything like that was the issue where she had juvenile delinquent double that dressed that way.

Now, I'm aware of the good kid/bad kid school fashions of the 1950s, but even besides that we see Mary a lot out of school, I'd never previously gotten the sense of the baggy sweaters and the like as indicative of juvenile delinquency in the 1940, though I did have a sense that it was a clothing style not really liked by some adults, and deemed a bit sloppy.

I guess anyone with more fashion history knowledge, can you help me out on what's niche v. mainstream for away from home, hanging with your peer group? And what's popular among teenagers v. among their parents. Does Mary live in the overlap (and how big is said overlap)? Because I can see her as the sort that parents swoon over. But what's her rating among other teens?

Then there's the trendy-vs.-timeless. Really, I don't know that you can even use "timeless" back then so much because there's a much shorter "modern" history of fashion by then and, while they are not without influence, it's not like there's much was really worn through-out the entire time period (I don't think). Plus, you had a stronger adhere-to-the-designers pressure then to be actively fashionable. Obviously, if you follow trends, someone of what was very fashionable will be deemed very unfashionable ten years later.

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Um, Spy Smasher, your order of actions seems a bit odd

The war is over and now you decide to turn over the plans to the navy? Wouldn't those have maybe been useful during the war?

I mean, I was kind just assuming it was just way too expensive to actually be useful on a mass scale during the war, but apparently, he just wanted to keep the tech all to himself until he was done with it.

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Johnny Dollar and non-bio kids

I only started with the Bob Baily episodes. I'm up to mid-1958, and I swear somebody had something against adopted/step/foster kids - they're practically all bad. The single episode I can think of where such a child was not the bad guy (killer or thief to their parent) was one where there were three stepdaughters and only one was a killer.

I have also been reading old DC comics, so I pictured Johnny Dollar in Smallville and suspecting Clark Kent for whatever bad thing is happening to the Kents, just based on his case history with kids like him. Because, damn, I hate this trend.

Seriously, I got to the Carson Arson matter and just skipped the rest of the episode after the daughter was revealed to be a step-daughter (so don't actually know how it played out). Why can't the bio kids be evil (seems like a very early Baily episode did have an evil daughter, but I kinda wonder if I re-listened, if it would turn out she wasn't his biological daughter, either). And even if they can't (maybe there were more bio kids that were evil - can't recall), then at least you could make the occasional non-guility kiddo adopted or step or whatnot.

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I did like A Real Grown-Up Name. Don't have any particular favorites, though.

Rewatched Dirty Dancing for the first time in at least a decade

Rewatched Havana Nights, too. I've seen the original mores time, but it's been at least a decade since I've seen either.

Of course, the story is a moment in time and ends there. But people like "what happened next" and I totally went to look for fanfic on it, I admit. Way too many "she's pregnant" stories - hell no. Johnny should not have trouble getting condoms at that time in history and given Penny's recent trauma, I just don't really buy them not using birth control.

But what do I think would happen? Well, I want my couples together. But what do they do, besides be in love? I will say Baby and Johnny are part of the formation and growth of each other and each other and the the events influenced their world views in ways that would linger forever, even if they didn't stay a couple. But I'd keep 'em together, because I'm a sucker for happy ending.

I admit to not watching all that closely this time around, so may have missed details telling us what they might want.

Did Johnny really truly love dance in the sense of wanting it as a career? I know Penny said it was all she ever wanted to do - not sure if she was being honest about it. If I made one really have success at it, it'd be her, I think.

I remember how Johnny felt about about Baby's father helping Penny. Now, yes, saying he's nothing is part of his own skewed view of his own worth. But would he like to be able to do something "important" because it's what he wants, instead of just for the regard it would grant him? That ability to help, and the willingness that Baby had to do so, are something he so admires, and doe he want to emulate it?

I do think Johnny has both desire and disdain for that upper middle class lifestyle (indeed, some of the disdain at, least, is envy-driven, though some deserved, as well). The security, the comfort, the women who take care of themselves and smell nice and all the "softness" and ease are have their appeals. I don't know if he could accomplish it - college isn't expensive then (well, depending on where you are), but affording to live while you are at school is an entirely different thing. And I'm not sure his pride or sense of "rightness" would allow for college-graduate wife Baby paying his way through later (and, of course, he'd be older). College is by no means a necessity, though. But what flavor of meaningful work would suit and please him?

Anyone else think his uncle might be better off than his own folks - union painter/plasterer would not be bad pay (though it depends on how many weeks work there are each year, and, of course, is blue collar).

Baby. Frances. She grew up so much. She went from viewing her father as almost perfect to realizing he was a (still good) man with his own flaws and biases. She learned you can't always change the unjust things, but trying matters anyway. But she's not as naive anymore. It's obviously important that she not give up wanting to help - to make the world a better place. But it's the method of it, I'm curious to. Will she be a lawyer or economist or something else? Certainly, I don't expect her to live in the same sort of "bubble" she grew up in - with the idea that "those people" are "other" - that it's good to help, but that they occupy different social spheres. So I do think she'd want a more mixed (economically, socially, racially) environment and social circle in her adulthood. Does she still go for the Peace Corps or for more mundane help at home? The world and youth culture change so much in the next few years (though we have to be mindful that the actual sixties had a whole lot boring, non-activist, traditional life-style young people), and how is she affected by those changes? Don't want her the cynic.

Then for Havana Nights, there's a whole other pickle with the political elements and consequences. Javier is hopeful for a brighter future. And Castro was quite popular for a quite a while, and there really were significant improvements in life for many. But he not a proponent of violence, and the executions, imprisonments, and setting folks up to spy on each other will not endear him. So how long until he leaves, and what does he do when he does? He's devoted to his family and is the major financial provider for his mother and nephew. Having dependents makes so much more difficult. Will he get leave for the US? Will he get his family there, too or just send remittances? And his brother is a whole 'nother can of worms. Even if he does come to the US, he absolutely not going to mesh well with the earliest/first-wave emigrants, who favor Batista like US influence over Cuba.

Katey is very much the typical teen in that she no idea what she wants to do with her life. She doesn't have a "direction" or dream job or anything like that. Still very much finding her way. Just with broader horizons after her experiences. And far more cognizant of of the impact of politics. Don't know what I'd have her do.

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Phoenix Squadron - headcanon reboot musings

I've been musing on the gang. They are minor characters and we know little about them. Which leaves room to invent. In case there is anyone out there who pays attention to this fandom:

Obviously, none of them seems to belong to any pre-existing real-world resistance group. They're just kids after all, no one would take them seriously. :)

But there is so much going on in some of these countries - things they obviously aren't directly involved in, but they may have families who are.

The only one we have any family info on is Hendrick. His grandfather was a member of the resistance. Dutch resistance, from the little I've read is a bit different than others - the communists were first out the gate, but it seems to have been spread among various groups (communists, churches, etc.) and the churches (Reform and Catholic) actually put aside their differences instead of attacking each other (Chinese and Greek come to mind here). So that doesn't give me much idea of what sort of family he comes from. His grandfather had a windmill and knew about the Black Mace - not sure what that makes him in terms of background, etc. I thought I'd make that his maternal grandfather (I don't recall it saying and people so often default to paternal). I was thinking maybe Hendrick's parents and siblings were killed in Rotterdam bombing and his extended family didn't live in/near the city. He then strikes out on his own - only trying to escape at first are determined to fight from day one? Either way, he leaves the country, so he can meet the others.

I was thinking of killing off his maternal grandmother due to malnutrition-related disease during the Hunger Winter. Two aunt and their kids are in the same area. Not sure where I'm going to have the paternal family live - I don't know how much people married people from different areas, but obviously people in different regions have different severity of effects. Hendrick can make contact with his family after V-E Day and before going off to the Pacific. After the war, he can go home. Fortunately, they soon become calorie-sufficient (before the war is over in the Pacific) so he only has to worry about a boring diet, not starvation (Mickey and Jerry can send a few treats and some clothes and shoes and such after rationing is lifted).

Pierre - his parents are dead and seems to have no siblings. Indeed, he, in telling his story, never even thinks about joining any relatives, so I wonder if he just doesn't have any extended family. Or they were just killed too, since he said his entire village was destroyed. After the war, I understand France to be short on food - not sure how long it takes until they have sufficient calories (and I read there was some violent resistance to rationing, price controls, etc.). Not really sure about the time in late 1944 when most of France is liberated, but not quite all. Mickey and Jerry can send him more supplemental calories, if needed. My perception was of his parents as farmers, but he won't become one. I'm thinking civil engineer - solely because he showed up in a story where a road was being built. The story itself is a no-go, but hey it's as good as job as any. I don't know the process for becoming a civil engineer in France at the time, but he's brilliant (planes from scraps), and I think it suits the wish-fullfillment aspect of the young characters for him to be able to pursue post-secondary education and actually get to help Europe rise from the ashes, as he wanted to do (by building).

Josef - Josef is from Poland. Poland got sacrificed. He won't be in-country when it happens, of course. I was tentatively thinking of the idea of his father being of a professional class, and him being away at some sort of boarding school (to separate him from his family). But I don't if that's feasible for Poland at the time. The idea was to have his area attacked by the Germans, but his family's home by the Soviets. Because, of course, the Soviets were Allies by time the US entered the war, so they didn't get any bad talk for what they'd done. I think it would be interesting to see how he reacts to them being treated that way after they invaded his country and killed so many. I had planned his father, brother and older sister to be killed very early on in invasion. Grandmother dies a bit later due to treatment (other three grandparents already deceased before). Mother and younger sister survive. There are some aunts, uncles, and cousins. One cousin old enough to have children herself. I'm not sure if or how many of them die. I mean, horrible as the death toll was, many more lived than died (he's not Jewish, BTW), and I've already killed off 4 family members.

Anyway, I'm considering him sneaking into the country after the USSR has control (I don't know quite where I want them to live or possibly be relocated to) at the end of the war and being able to find his mom and sister. If so (and because this is the comic where they could go rescue Jerry's dad out of Tokyo), he will take them out. This assumes they want to leave and are not in favor of a communist future. They can settle in the US due to some interventions by Spy Smasher and Corby (who totally know about Phoenix Squadron). But that's just the immediate family - there's still two extended families left behind. But some of them may have wanted to stay - don't know everyone's political beliefs.

Sven - He's from Norway and they had a relatively easy time of occupation. I was thinking of him as someone who left home of his own volition because he very much wanted to be involved in the fight (like Mickey). He has living parents and an older sister. His parents are neither collaborators nor resistors, but just trying to keep themselves and their children safe. No idea on socioeconomic class.

Nickolas - He's another interesting one to deal with because of how much Italy does not get attention in WW2 comics. And it was Italy that took so much of Greece. Of course, then joined the Allies and, like Josef, he has to deal with his invaders not being seen as the baddest of bad guys by the Allied leaders now. I understand Greece to have been quite agrarian at the time. Tentative plan of his parents as farmers, who died early on. Grown older brother had left home to make money in the city (Patras) a while before. I understand rural people were more likely to be communists and that communists absolutely dominated the resistance. This is relevant because (as with China) there was a significant amount of civil war-ish activity going on during WW2. Particularly towards the end, the sides are largely focused on capturing power after the war. Just nice to know how the family members feel as we lead into the civil war. Tentative plan that father was a communist (I understand the idea was for women to leave politics to men, but don't how much involvement was typical), and brother is left-leaning. Not sure if he'd actually be a member of ELAS, though - needs percentages because I don't want to give them families full of fighters in a place where most don't fight.

His brother has since married (his wife's family are city people) and has an infant son. He's thrilled that his little brother is alive. And that little brother can supply some food (and cigarettes that can be traded on the black market). There's a lot violence in Dec 1944-Jan 1945 and the ELAS is disbanded. If he fears reprisal, he might want to leave. If he doesn't want to participate in the civil war or raise his child in this kind of environment (the last several years being terrible, of course) or just wants to eat better, he might take a exit if offered. I was thinking (I've discussed this before with their search for the Golden Mace) of them as a group that wanted to win, and Nickolas wanted to free his country, but they also wanted peace on earth, and that ain't gonna happen. Originally I hadn't considered them leaving this early (had read civil war started in 1946, so was thinking then at earliest), but I hadn't realized how much violence was going on before or how much the government did to the civilian population they thought sympathetic. Of course, I understand many went to Canada and Australia and so forth - maybe one of those places would be more suitable. I was just thinking a city where you already had friend might be advantageous.

Hans - From Denmark (well, Free Germany in first appearance, but Denmark after). I was considering making him Jewish. But I'd want him to leave before the 1943 escape because I need him to have time to join up with other boys, then meet Pierre, then meet Mickey. Another true believer who wanted to fight evil. Oldest of three boys. Once he's on the airbase, he should be able to send letters to his folks in Sweden and let them know he is safe. I'd planned his family to be working class.

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I feel kinda sorry for Phoenix Squadron in the post-WWII era

Sure, they all suffered in the war - that's their origin story.

But then they spent a year of issues looking for a magical artifact to bring peace to the world. They were hoping for unity between all countries. Poor, naive kids. Still badasses, though.

When the war ends, Josef's Poland is reshaped and so much violence is carried out.

Nickolas is from Greece, and they've got a civil war going.

Pierre isn't bad, being from France, but their continued colonialism isn't exactly the bright future he was hoping for.

Mickey and Jerry get to see the cold war against a former ally (with hot bits), war by another name with Korea, and lots of state action where their own country does terrible things. Obviously, national power and economic prosperity are present, so it's not like life sucks for them. Reality just didn't live up to their ideals.

Gotta look up the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark, I admit, because I don't know what was going on in these places over the next decade or two. I have some idea of during the war, but not after.

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Does Mickey Malone have any family? And how old is he, anyway?

I've only read a few of his stories. I know Jerry had a dad that needed to be rescued, but no family was mentioned in Mickey's origin story. Were any relatives mentioned later?