#i would recommend watching the episodes of justice league and then reading the issues and THEN reading this

[fairyroses]

Um Hi, So I'm super late to the party when it comes to shipping Brainy and Kara but I really enjoyed your writing and was hoping you could recommend some stuff if you don't mind, please? Even the actual comics if you know which have them romantically involved? Again, really loved your works and hope to see more. Thank you. :)

Hi!! Welcome to the ship! And aw, thanks, I'm glad you liked my writing! I'm sorry there isn't more of it - I'm really bad at finishing things. 😩

But hmm, okay, Karadox recs. I have a few things in mind. This is going to get kinda long, so I'm just gonna put the rest under a cut, I think...

Okay! If you're looking for fics, @cyclone-rachel has written a lot of great stuff for Kara and Brainy (mostly the CW versions). I'm sure Rachel can recommend some more fic writers, too.

If you're looking for comics, I'd suggest Supergirl Annual #2 (2010) as a nice (mostly) one-off comic that focuses on the beginning of their relationship. Also Supergirl (2005) #52, which is technically part of a larger "Last Stand of New Krypton" arc, but I suppose it can be read on its own, and it has a lot of great Karadox stuff.

There are also some comics that you might not expect to have good Karadox content in them that actually do, such as the Legion of Super-Heroes/Bugs Bunny Special (2017) and the "Sugar & Spike" story from Legends of Tomorrow (2016) #6. You can also read the "House of Kent" arc in Action Comics (2016) #1022-#1028 if you want, because Kara and Brainy are both featured in most of those issues. They don't interact as much as I personally would've liked, but they have some nice moments, and there was definitely some romantic setup happening towards the end.

Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes (2006) is another option, but be warned that Kara and Brainy are NOT romantically involved in that version of the Legion (Brainy was paired up with Dream Girl's ghost instead... it was a whole thing) so their dynamic isn't as good as it normally is. But they do at least interact a lot.

Honestly, the majority of Kara and Brainy's comic romance took place before Crisis on Infinite Earths (meaning pre-1985), and I haven't actually read most of those older comics yet, just bits and pieces here and there. Someone like @supergirltastic would be a much better person to ask for those specific comic recommendations.

Oh! You should also DEFINITELY watch the new Legion of Super-Heroes animated movie if you haven't yet! It's basically Karadox: The Movie™ lol, it was a lot of fun and had fantastic writing for both of them. Unfortunately it's not on HBO Max yet though, so to watch it you'll either have to buy/rent it or, uh, y'know... 🏴‍☠️

And make sure you watch the "Far From Home" episode of Justice League Unlimited (season 3, episode 10) too! It's basically a 20-minute speed-run of Kara and Brainy's relationship and it's veryyy cute. (It's also one of the only stories I can think of that gives them a happy ending.)

Anyway, that's all I've got for now! I hope this was helpful!! I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff, but in my defense it's almost 2 AM right now lol.

If anyone else has other Karadox things to rec, feel free to add on to this!

#karadox #supergirl #brainiac 5 #kara zor-el #querl dox #legion of super heroes #losh #karadox recs #dc comics #jlu #asks

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas. 

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

#The Untouchables #The Third Man #The African Queen #The Red Shoes #Kind Hearts and Coronets #Bluebeard's Eighth Wife #The Ghost and Mrs. Muir #Random Harvest #An Officer and a Gentlemen #Nothing to See Here #Kevin Wilson #This Time in Next Year #Sophie Cousens #The Lord of the Rings #Teen Wolf #Uncle Buck #National Lampoon's Vacation #Major League #SNL #Sister Act #RoboCop #Remember the Night #Round Up

[jadelotusflower]

March 2021 Roundup

Reading

Benevolence by Julie Janson - One of those books that caught my eye at the library (I’m a sucker for the “top picks” shelf) and I’m glad I picked up. The story of Muraging, given over in 1813 to the Parramatta Native School, but always trying to find a way back to her family and culture in the brutal early days of colonisation - resilient in the face of so much hardship. Janson is a Burruberongal woman of the Durag Aboriginal Nation, and Muraging is based on her great-great grandmother and Durag oral histories. An engrossing but often difficult read, about a period of history not often told from this perspective.

One Day by David Nicholls - A book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for so long I don’t even remember buying it. I vaguely recall seeing the movie adaptation on a plane once so must have enjoyed it, but can’t say I would recommend this book. Depicting St Swithin’s Day every year in the lives of two absolute character cliches, from one night stand, to friendship, romance and marriage. The concept is neat and the writing has wit, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care about Dex (insufferable twat) and Emma (not like other girls) or their love story. Okay, it’s not that bad. It kind of grew on me by the end.

Watching

Superman and Lois (episodes 1-5) - I’ve had reservations about this show because of this but am giving it a shot. I have not followed the Arrowverse/Crisis but a friend did her best to explain it to me, although honestly I found it this show works just as well as a standalone. The premise is simple - Lois and Clark return to Smallville with their twin sons for teen superhero angst part two. To be honest, it feels so much like a Smallville revival that...I kind of wish it was?  

Tyler Hoechlin makes a good Clark, but that padded Superman suit is an embarrassment - get rid of those fake muscles and show us some super collarbones! Elizabeth Tulloch is growing on me as Lois - she’s very...subdued, but imo lacking that spark Kidder, Hatcher, and Durance had. Honestly, subdued it how I would describe the show overall. Also the colour palette is sooo drab because gritty realism I guess.

I enjoy the family drama aspect of it, although I wish one of the kids was a girl. I mean, I understand why they’re twin boys - the son becomes the father and the father the son and all that - complete with both sons being named after both of Clark’s fathers (is there a name for the trope of the hero’s kids being named after his dead family/mentors as if the mother had no input??). The Captain Luthor/Morgan Edge plots are still in the setup stage so hard to comment on them. 

I sound harsh, I don’t dislike the show overall (and there’s some really good elements there). We’ll see, I guess.

Man of Steel/Batman v Superman/Zack Snyder’s Justice League - I’ve never really been a huge fan of the Snyderverse, and have been trying my best to avoid the Discourse about the Snyder cut over the past few years (from both sides). I have however been following what Ray Fisher has had to say, and can’t deny my interest was piqued by the idea that there was an entirely different film out there that did right by its characters. So I went back and revisited MoS/BvS before embarking on JL to give the franchise another shot.

While I still don’t really vibe with Snyder’s aesthetic (it’s just a bit bleak and muddy for me) I think these films are actually better when viewed together as one long story. I can appreciate that he made an effort to step away from the Donner nostalgia, and tell this epic modern myth of gods among men, and can enjoy it for what it is. The Snyder cut was entertaining enough, and I quite enjoyed aspects of it - Cyborg is indeed the heart of the film (but I honestly wish it had been explored in his own movie), and Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash break up the dreary tone.

It was nice to see the Amazons again (and I loved “Amazon’s, show your fear”/“we have no fear”). I like this take on Clark and Lois, even if most of the relationship happens offscreen, and there’s certainly more in the Snyder cut - even if I wish there was greater depth to Clark’s arc in particular, less of the god and more of the man.

I did however notice a pattern in these films in that I was interested/compelled by the first world building/character half, and having my eyes glaze over in the endless action cgi-fest of the second half (I have this issue with Marvel too). And the Snyder cut is indeed endless - it rivals Return of the King for number of endings but is much less cohesive, like Snyder was throwing everything at the wall since this might be his last chance. There’s a nice montage at the end with a bit of hope, and I was thinking well this is a nice uplifting note to end on, thank you! But nope, twenty more minutes of grimdark prophecising (in isolation, an interesting scene, but felt so out of place to show the team torn apart again immediately after we’ve just seen them come back together).

I also lol’d at David Thewlis getting a front credit for what amounted to his cgi face behind a massive helmet. Collect that paycheck, my man!

Coming 2 America - I watched the original as a teenager more times than I can count, truly iconic. Look, I dislike the sequel/reboot/remake merry go round when it dominates the scene, but to be honest I am a sucker for a sequel that’s lovingly made and really just an excuse to get the band back together and have fun. Worth it for the costumes and dance sequences alone (especially the En Vogue/Salt n Pepper/Gladys Knight mashup), but I really enjoyed this overall. There’s nothing groundbreaking and it doesn’t try to be. Was it necessary? No. But did I enjoy it? Absolutely.

Actually, scratch that. The costumes and hair are absolutely necessary.

The Prom (dir. Ryan Murphy) - Now I love a movie musical and this was...fine. It’s sweet and I enjoyed Meryl Streep doing her best Patti Lupone, and Nicole Kidman clearly having fun (even if she can’t Fosse to save her life) although I can’t say I found any of the songs memorable. James Corden, however, is pure cringe for reasons outlined here. But overall it’s light and fluffy, and not a terrible way to spend two hours of your life.

Superstore (seasons 1-6) - I’ve been binging on this for a while, and it’s a fun little show about the employees of a big box store - it’s nice to see America Ferrera back on screen (with producer credit). A great, diverse cast, but MVPs for me are Lauren Ash as Dina (you may recognise her voice as Scorpia from She-Ra), and Kaliko Kauahi as Sandra. While it did touch on some real-world issues - corporation malfeasance, unionisation, etc - ultimately it’s lighthearted and pleasant, especially the series finale that just goes full happy ending with a nice break from grim reality.

Allen v Farrow (dir. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering) - I’ve never watched a Woody Allen film, and the clips I’ve seen of Woody Allen films haven’t changed my mind on this point. But what struck me seeing the clips of Manhattan in this documentary is just how young Muriel Hemingway was - this is not the Hollywood standard 22 year old playing 17 (which is problematic in other ways) but an actual teenager with a baby face and childlike voice, in bed with a 40+ year old man and I am baffled that this film is so highly regarded - if nothing else it’s right up there on the screen.

But of course there is so much else, which makes this documentary hard to watch at times. To those who have followed these events there’s not much new here, but it does an excellent job of compiling the sources together and giving a timeline of events, as well as refuting many of the pro-Allen arguments, and giving Dylan a chance to speak for herself. There’s also a companion podcast which is worth a listen for added perspective.

Writing

I actually finished something, finally! Posted Debrief, a Smallville one-shot (3920 words). 1670 words done on my other Smallville wip.

Posted chapter 41 of Turn Your Face to the Sun (1865 words). Now that the Obi-Wan show is actually happening, I need to get this finished before it all becomes moot.

Total: 7455 words this month, making 23,962 for the year.

#monthly roundup #reading watching writing #long post

[thenightling]

I just saw "Justice League: Dark" last night and I absolutely LOVED it! What movies/comics would you recommend for more Constantine/ Zatanna/ Etrigan goodness? Do you know where I can watch Apokolypse (so?) War and City of Demons online? Speaking of Constantine, since when did he own the House of Mystery? I kept expecting Cain to pop up, presumably pissed at John for betting HIS house away, or having it be destroyed.

@americanparamedic Constantine owning The House of Mystery is a weird side effect of New 52 continuity.   He and Zatanna both “owned” it at different times.   The weird thing about the New 52 House of Mystery is Gregory was there but there was no explanation at all about Cain.   I think New 52 tried to quietly pretend he never existed while keeping his house and gargoyle in tact.   The Justice League Dark comics featured “Cain: Sire of all vampires” who mostly only appeared in the twelve issue reboot of “I... vampire” which started as a spin-off of The House of mystery in the 70s about a reluctant vampire named Andrew Bennett who resembled Count Dracula.   In this reboot he looked like a cross between Bill from True Blood and Edward Cullen and had several random shirtless scenes.  Thankfully it only had twelve issues.

Cain and Abel as Keepers of The House of Mystery and House of Secrets were restored to canon in 2017 after being decanonized in 2011.  Their first re-appearance was brief cameos in Scott Snyder’s Dark 

I don’t know why New 52 tried to erase The Sandman lore from DC Canon but thankfully late 2017 brought it all back.  It was very confusing for me because I only read Sandman for the first time in the summer of 2017.   

Justice League: Action (the animated series) had a nice compromise where it was Cain who gave Constantine the key to The House of Mystery in the episode Trick or threat, which featured Cain’s first animated appearance.  The episode was written by the legendary Paul Dini, who helped give us Batman the animated series.  I think Justice League Dark: Apokalypse, and CIty of Demons are on the DC streaming service and possibly HBO max.  I know you can buy them on DVD and Blu Ray on amazon.

#DC Comics #Justice League Dark #The Sandman #John Constantine

[scottsumrners]

did you read/watch The Boys? I tried to get into it but it was very :|

i read the boys when i was a teenager, because it was ~edgy~ and also because it had explicit gay (albeit homophobic) shit on it. i never got around to watch the show because it just...............doesnt vibe with me anymore. like, i feel like it was made ten years too late?

if they had made it 5-10 years ago people would have eaten it up. a gritty, realistic/grounded super-hero show?? but by now we have daredevil and jessica jones and luke cage and the punisher and all that mess that z*ck sn*der did with the justice league. a “gritty” superhero show is just....any superhero show that isn’t on the CW. even young justice s03 was “gritty” by any standards. the only difference it does different (if it’s anything like the comics) is the added violence, physical and sexual. i mean, the very first issue has the equivalent of wonder girl being forced to give a blowjob to aquaman, batman and superman, and wonder woman later telling her she should get used to it

there’s also the fact that it’s an amazon show, so to give money to jeff bezos is...nah. sure i could just download it from torrent, but then i would have to search for it, find a link, wait to finish downloading.......the fact that it come out at the fall of streaming service doesn’t help.

i mean, if it had come out 7 years ago, it wouldve been on netflix, and EVERYBODY wouldve watched it. a popular show on netflix was inescapable. even if you didnt set out to watch it, you’d be watching something else, and when it ended, you’d probably end up clicking on it because it was recommended. and then you’d spam everybody you knew about it until THEY watched it. that’s how i got like 5 people to watch Dark

but now? there’s 12 different streaming services, and each of them doesn’t have enough shows to hold an audience, so they just went back to dropping one episode a week, to keep people paying until they finish another show (like DCU did with titans/doom patrol and disney with the mandalorian). we basically just looped right back into cable.

[cyclone-rachel]

Hi! It's twohearts. I'm trying to get into Legion of Super-Heroes stuff and was wondering if you had any recommendations of what to read or watch for someone who only knows a bit about the Legion and really likes CW Supergirl's Brainy?

ooh.

So, I’ve actually read very little of the comics Legion? I’m so sorry I’m a very bad and lazy comics fan, I probably don’t even count as a comics fan, I should get on that and also I don’t have easy access to the comics that I do have because they’re in a different room and I have a broken leg, so I would go to @kara-querl for that kind of stuff. But what I have read:

Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga (features some of the Legion, a graphic novel)

Supergirl Annual #2 (the one from 2009 or 2010? written by Sterling Gates. a really fun standalone story)

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (graphic novel, also in Action Comics 858-862? 863? it’s 5 issues)

also there’s a new Legion run that’s just starting out, and I’ve heard mixed reactions from my friends? but you could try that maybe

alternately! this flow chart can give you places to start on this whole thing

and for things to watch, I’d first recommend the animated series! it’s 26 episodes, Brainy is a main character, he’s great. The show is a lot of fun, it gets dark sometimes and is also sometimes just kind of cheesy, but I still really enjoy it.

Also I love the animated movie JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, and I’ve only seen it once but Justice League vs the Fatal Five is good too.

And there are a few standalone episodes in different things featuring the Legion:

Smallville, season 8 episode 11 “Legion” and season 10 episode 4(?) “Homecoming”

Justice League Unlimited, I do not know the season or episode number, but the episode is titled “Far From Home”

I think that’s it

#papa don't look #rachel answers questions #anon

[modernsuperhero]

Happyhoganon: If Luthor and his Legion of Doom (Sinestro, Grodd, Black Manta, Cheetah & Joker) made it so that the universal dynamics of Good and Evil shifted in which Evil mostly triumphs over Good, how would the Justice League feel having to lose over and over again to the likes of the Legion? Let alone other villains? And do you think they could be able to change the universal dynamics back to how they used to be?

first off: holy shit. the potential here. your MIND. second: what KIND of universe are we talking about here? like, are we talking in the context of the live action movies, where everything is dark and gritty and adult-y, or the kid’s shows like the kid’s shows that make sure Good Always Wins, like Justice League: Action? OR are we talking about the kind of in-between area of stuff like the Young Justice: Outsiders cartoon? 

in the first context: there’s a good chance this will turn out to be a doomed universe. the justice league HAS been defeated before. the bat who laughs and shit, you know? it’s unlikely this would happen in main continuity, but possibly in a canon alternate universe, sure. it’s likely the more rogue-ish members of the justice league would start to break off first and try their own methods as failure after failure builds tension within the league. this of course would only further deteriorate the justice league’s ability to stand their ground. there would be a tipping point, likely some core member of the justice league dying/going crazy/joining the other side etc etc, that would cause the remnants of resistance against the legion to crumble completely.

in the second context: they would go into the fight with low prospects, for the most part, have one massive defeat that would probably lead to the COMPLETE dissolution of the justice league, one member after another leaving, in dramatic fashion, only for one member (almost definitely one of the big three, i.e. batman/superman/wonder woman) rallying everyone together again after each individual is defeated yet again, and with the power of FRIENDSHIP they FINALLY defeat the legion, likely by intentionally staging it so they by all rights should LOSE, only for that to, by the switched laws of the universe, mean they actually WIN and thus defeat the legion, and are somehow able to revert everything to its former state.

in the third context: it would either be a pyrrhic victory, or just a continuous series of not-quite-defeats (the latter of which is... kind of canon. no major villain ever STAYS locked away, so the forces of good and evil are always at a stalemate. otherwise, DC wouldn’t sell any comics!) 

in a META context: it would be a series of tragedies. just a bunch of Big Sad. the earth is certainly destroyed, somehow, by one of the many threats the justice league normally would protect it from. RIP earth-happyhoganon

i’d also like to note that the only DC comics I have actually read was the first seven pages of the first issue of Super Sons, and the entire crossover miniseries with Gotham Academy and The Lumberjanes! I have, however, watched the lego movie’s lego batman, lego batman family matters, the wonder woman movie with gal gadot, the suicide squad movie, the young justice cartoon up to the middle of outsiders, the live action Gotham show up to right around the time Riddler meets Penguin, the first season of Justice League: Action!, the classic animated teen titans up to the middle of season three, and the first season of Titans. i’ve played Batman: Arkham Asylum up to the point where you meet the riddler. all of my knowledge regarding batman comes from either these, pinterest, tumblr, or my friend jason, who named himself after jason todd (and thus led to me googling who the heck jason todd is, leading pinterest to recommend me some fanart, pulling me further down the rabbit hole...)

i’ve also seen extensive, but out-of-order episodes of various shows in Arrowverse. (alas, i have yet to see batwoman. i’m looking forward to it, though)

so... i’m not actually the most educated on the universe? most of my knowledge is from shows and such that take place in canon alternate universe or deviate from regular canon significantly. and, said knowledge almost explicitly pertains to gothamites. so, you know. apparently people ship hal and barry? i know literally jack shit about green lantern (there are multiple???????) but anything that isn’t barry and his own sister is good in my book

#justice league #lex luther and the legion of doom #anon #thanks for the ask happyhoganon! #jla #young justice #supersons #gotham academy #lego batman #suicide squad #titans #teen titans #batman arkham asylum #jason todd #arrowverse #green lantern???? #these are enough tags i think #happyhoganon

[otagen]

If I wanted to get into Hellblazer, what comics or whatnot would you recommend I check out first?

oh boy i’m probably the worst person to ask. BUT i will tell you how i started reading!

i’d say start with the original Vertigo hellblazer! or at least the first 13 issues written by Jamie Delano, which completely covers the “Devil You Know” arc (thats the name i like to call it). the fear machine arc and the family man arc are also pretty good, that’s where i stopped (because of attention span haha) i will warn you that the OG comics started in 1988 so there WILL but sensitive issues and heavy topics in this comic, but it was still pretty “progressive” for its time. of course it always changes with who is writing it but i looooove early constantine where Delano is writing it.

Constantine: The Hellblazer (by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV) is a short DC run that i looooove. the art style is beautiful and the story is rlly interesting and was finished in... 2015 i think? it’s only 13 issues long for the whole run. I also love this run because it really embraces John’s canon bisexuality and has a lot of interesting #magic lore takes.

All His Engines by Mike Carey is a oneshot that is a GREAT starting point for people who can’t slush through a bunch of issues. it really gets to the basics of how Constantine works as a character. if you’re looking for something quick and easy check that out. it’s a great story and those plot points carry into some other media like the TV show or movie.

if you’d rather watch stuff, Constantine: City of Demons is an animated movie whose plot is based off of All His Engines and also fits his backstory from the Devil You Know arc. it’s not super accurate to his comic backstory but it hits the bare bones basics and its still entertaining. Justice League Dark is also cool and is in the same universe.

Then there’s NBC Constantine, the TV series: one season, 13 episodes, canceled. unfortunately, it never finished its first season which... honestly pisses me off because... this tv show is SO FUCKING GOOD. like. it’s crazy how good it is. it takes a lot from the original comics and reworks them to fit in a more modern setting and i love seeing old characters into these new adaptions. and Matt Ryan is theeee beeest Constantine actor, i swear.

I also like watching Legends of Tomorrow. the CW show that’s part of the Arrowverse. Honestly... CW DC shows aren’t that good, and Legends is the only one i have watched. Constantine appears in season 3 and is a regular in Season 4. I’m not saying “watch this show just for this one character” but that’s what i did and I do not regret it. I grew attached to all of them haha.

ANYWAY. this is a bad list probably but this was MY process of getting into hellblazer. i’m still reading through comics and stuff. i’m no expert, there’s ppl who’ve actually read the entire OG hellblazer (all 300 issues x_x) like @twentiethree

#Anonymous

[urlbending]

Dear Yuletide Author 2019

Hi there, so glad we matched on one (or more?) of these great fandoms! I had such a fantastic first Yuletide last year, and I’ve been looking forward to this one since. I can’t wait to read whatever you write!

Before I go into my specific requested fandoms, here are some general likes and dislikes:

Likes: Tropes! Fandom specific and in general. I love AU, UA to see how any changes big or small effects these characters and the nature vs nurture of it all.  I love fluff and moments of casual intimacy, but I also really enjoy plot and world building (especially for my Cloak and Dagger prompt, more on that later)

DNW: Preferably not Christmas-focused and that the rating is a hard T at the max. Noncon/dubcon, first/second person POV, character bashing, die for our ship, A/B/O, Mpreg, songfic (though if you made a playlist while writing i would be delighted to listen to it!), needlessly grimdark (angst with a happy ending is fine!), torture.

Favorite tropes: Fake dating, pining, mUTUAL PINING!!!!!!,undercover, roadtrips, bed sharing, locked in a room, PLATONIC SHOWERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my term for two people with a bad case of UST being forced to shower together, usually in an emergency situation a la this chuck scene)

Requests for Birds of Prey(/Reply All maybe?), Cloak & Dagger, West Coast Avengers, and Teen Beach Movie, Cloak & Dagger, Sweet/Vicious under the cut. 

Birds of Prey

What I Like About The Characters: What an iconic relationship and team! I love Babs and Dinah’s banter and unwavering belief and trust in each other. They’re so competent and incredible at what they do, and everyone knows if, even if they don’t know who they are. I love that Dinah gets Babs to loosen up and have more fun (them hanging out together not on missions or even undercover is always great) but they can come to each other about anything. I also enjoy the other Birds (Zinda is so great!) and how changing the team dynamic challenged and deepened their relationship.

Gen Prompt:

In a similar vein to the Jason Todd/Buzzfeed Unsolved idea that was going around the fandom, I would love a fictional podcast episode/transcript about a deep dive True Internet Mystery related to the Birds.

Do they get close? How much do they get right? How much do they get wrong? What angle do they discover- Oracle, the hacker countless criminals and the US government is terrified of, or is there maybe a superhero 911 the Justice League isn’t telling us about?

The podcast I am thinking of specifically is Reply All. If you haven’t listened to it, I can’t recommend it enough! Great hosts with fantastic chemistry and edge-of-your-seat Internet mystery deep dives. They even did one about LiveJournal! That aside, using PJ and Alex would be super fun, but not necessary. Feel free to use your own characters!

DinahBabs Prompt:

I would love a fic of Dinah casually, boldly flirting with Oracle before they meet in person, and Babs shutting it down due to insecurities. Then, when they finally meet, Dinah goes Oh no she’s hot and falling in love as learns more about Barbara Gordon the person.

Cloak & Dagger

What I Like About The Characters:

What is not to love about these two? God, literal, actual slow-burn superhero soulmates! I love that they call each other out on their bullshit but are there for each other no matter what. They’ve done so much growing together. I love the smaller scale, real issues that not even superpowers can fix focus the show has.

Prompt:

After The Snap! Yeah let’s get some angst up in here. Do they both survive? What happens if one of them doesn’t? Do they say fuck that noise and go through dimensions/hell to find them? What happens to New Orleans/people on the ground after The Snap? How do they help, being called in to do some big leagues superheroing that they aren’t exactly ready for yet. Would love some world building here!

If the Snap is too heavy for you, then what about one of the alternate universes offered in Season 2? Would especially be interested in them getting together in the “Perfect Universe” (in their dream universe they’re best friends since childhood!!!!!! kill me!!!!!!)

West Coast Avengers

What I Like About The Characters:

What a fun book!!! I love the casual, laid-back, character-driven focus the series has, and the lineup is great. I am most familiar with the Hawkeyes and America, so I have slight favoritism there but I also love the Watts. I was not expecting to like Quentin and Gwen as much as I do, but they have a fun relationship! Jeff the Land Shark is my favorite though, no contest!!!!! What a good shark!!!!!

I enjoy watching Kate leading her first team while Clint roots her on, and the reality TV show aspect is fun.

I love the Watts and their sibling relationship! 

For ships, I like AmeriKate a lot but I’m also down for the current canon ships!! I like how Ramone can handle America’s bullshit and brings out her softer side.

Also, I am Californian, so any and all specific references/potshots at LA would definitely be welcome!

Prompt:

The team on their day off (while still being filmed, of course). How do they train?

More of the public reacting/interacting with the West Coast Avengers (Social media would definitely be fun here!)

A ridiculous plot! Maybe the bad guy of the issue is super far out (They’re attacking Van Nuys, Kate. Van Nuys! Can’t there be some sort of Valley Avengers?) or the team’s just being their usual disaster self. Open to it all!

Teen Beach Movie

What I Like About The Characters:

This is my second year requesting these characters, and for good reason! They’re delightful together, with great romantic chemistry and excellent opportunities for mutual pining. I like how they literally should not even exist in the same universe, but in doing so they learn from and help each other grow.

Prompt:

I think a tropey-AU would be really fun for these two. Maybe they’re rival spies! Or one’s a spy and the other’s a civilian that they meet by chance and should’ve never crossed paths with, but they somehow keep running into each other (coincidence, or by design?) and they fall in love.

It doesn’t need to be mentioned in the fic but I would prefer if they were both bi (no Tanner/Brady bashing, please!)

#yuletide #yuletide 2019 #it's not yuletide unless i request an out-of-the-box crossover #the nailed it meta crackfic i got last year....legendary!!!

[guardsticks]

r00 replied to your post: i just need something to focus on these days so i...

hey this is kind of related you wouldn’t happen to have any DC related things to suggest would you… I still havent done much past watch the 60s show + play Arkham because I’m not sure what else to start with :pensive:

OH well i think it depends on what you wanna get into tbh! i think if youre more interested in batman stuff you can check out comics that revolve around the members of the batfamily

for cartoons, i remember i watched some episodes of the batman and batman brave and the bold. also justice league action! maybe even the original justice league cartoon was good. 

movies i watched stuff like the scooby doo movies with batman, 1966 batman movie, son of batman, justice league war, justice league crisis on two earths, and lego batman movie. in general dc has a lot of really good animated stuff but sometimes theyre a miss

live action stuff, so far ive only stuck with like the cw shows, like the flash and supergirl. i watched the first season of arrow but i realized i just do Not like arrow, nor oliver queen. i also dont like gotham but theres also a lot of issues with that show in general so i dont recommend it

comics are a bit easier because you can usually find a reading list for a particular character or something online.

now video games, theres not really a whole lot i think? aside from the lego games which are really cute! ive played injustice and while i dont really like the story that much they are kinda fun fighting games. i also played dc universe online a few years ago too. i dont remember getting far though but the main story is free i believe? online games are confusing

but yea i think a good place to start is if you wanna focus on a specific character or something

#r00 #reply #SORRY THIS IS LATE i typed something and then i was like...i need to cut this down

[astrologista]

Acceptable Losses

for @starspatter

“Imagine Bruce confronting Clark over his son's death though...  And Clark being so far gone at this point that he's all "sacrifices must be made for peace" and Bruce being like "You really have gone insane" and storms out.”

---

((( This ficlet references events from the Justice League episodes “A Better World Pt 1 and 2″ and the Batman Beyond 2.0 issues 17-24, and the Justice League Beyond 2.0 issues 17-24. If you haven’t seen/read them, the Justice Lords AU may not make sense to you... I guess... sorry ‘bout it :^) )))

---

A day after Wally was taken from them, Bruce had started work on what he was tentatively calling the “bat-bunker”. 

It existed miles below the Cave, accessible by elevator only, in a natural cavern that had sat barren since he first began this mad game of cops and robbers.

The bunker was outfitted with sensors, with cameras, a complex ventilation system that promised fresh air for many years (none too simple to design), fresh water from an underground spring, and everything else needed to sustain life, for years, as necessary. It also happened to contain several of Tim’s favorite video game consoles, stores of shelf-stable snacks and canned food, stacks of comic books and a cabinet full of DVDs (mostly superhero movies).  It was designed to be nothing less than a gilded cage for a bird. A place where his child would be totally safe from the traumas the world had yet to endure. 

Wally West had been too young to die. Bruce wouldn’t see it happen to Tim. He’d lock him away and throw away the key first, no matter the misery or frustration it caused. Tim would thank him someday.

The plan, while well-intentioned (he thinks), never comes to pass. Lord Batman needs his soldiers, he needs everyone he can muster - and his family, most of all. The bat-bunker sits forever dormant, another awkward symbol of care that it’s better Tim never sees.

---

“We’re fighting a new kind of war, Tim.”

The new suit is safer, in some ways. The reinforced cowl (there will be no bullets in the brain), the bandoliers crossed over the chest (there will be no shrapnel in the heart), nominally treated against the worst effects of heat vision (not completely heatproof, but what else can he do against five-thousand-degree alien heat vision?). Multiple tracers, hidden in the lining, woven into the cloth. Every feature seems to be motivated by a fear, a worry - there’s love, there, too. Bruce had input into every Robin costume yet devised - but this was the first he had designed without input from a cheerful child, instead crafting it to his whims and catering to his neuroses in the process.

Bruce hands him the costume with an expression that brooks no argument. “You’re not Robin anymore. We’ll call you Red Robin from now on.” he tells him.

Tim takes the costume into his arms, holds it as if it’s fragile, something sacred. “Okay, dad.” he whispers reverently.

Lord Batman only nods, sharply. “Good boy.”

---

It’s easier to control Tim now, than it was before everything. With the onset of global war, Tim learns to be quiet, to be stealthy - as he always was, but in a somber way, in Bruce’s shadow, always, now.

They are the only resistance against Clark’s - Superman’s reign of terror, his iron grip upon the world. Those who do not agree can expect to be lobotomized at up to one hundred yards - or more - that is, if Superman decides that they deserve to live.

Dick and Barbara can no longer tolerate the stress, can no longer tolerate Bruce. They promise they don’t agree with Lord Superman, but that they can no longer remain on the side of the resistance. It’s a safety issue. Barbara is carrying Dick’s child, and it is safer for them to outwardly support the regime. Dick becomes a Commander, and Bruce is not allowed contact with their child outside of the photos and vids Barbara occasionally sends.

Oddly, the only one who stays - other than Alfred, of course - and Tim, now his good right hand - is Diana, but she is not the Diana he knew. This is the Diana from the other universe, the one where Wally did not die. She brings the strength they need, mother-hens Tim, and Bruce marvels at her undying determination in the face of total war.

He’s already fallen in love with her.

---

“Can I go?” The time had come - their tight knit group had begun to unravel. Perry White had been speaking against the regime through his underground newspaper for too long, and Superman, who had long since lost his mind in Bruce’s eyes, was prepared to deal with him once and for all. They had to put a stop to it - a man’s life was in danger simply for speaking his mind. 

The new costume fits Red Robin perfectly, but Bruce had been so sure that Tim had outgrown pleading and whining for inclusion. 

In his mind’s eye, he can see Luthor aim the gun - BAM - gone is the Flash, that bright, quippy young streak of red that lightened the burden in their hearts, hell, even made him smile just a few - 

“No.” It’s a final no, an end-of-conversation no. Tim should know by now that this is all for his safety. They live in a world where Clark has decided that the world’s citizens are his wayward children, not knowing what is best for themselves. Therefore, he appointed himself to be their savior, whether they want it or not.

Maybe he and Clark aren’t that different after all.

“Tim, I have another job for you, and it’s to be done right here.”

That earns him a pointed look, rebellion brewing low but buried deep under layers of loyalty, of love. As Bruce steps into the car, he prays that Tim knows better now, after all the close calls they’ve had, he should know to follow Bruce’s orders without question. The last thing they want is to lose another - 

---

They were too late to save Perry.

As per usual, Superman addresses the television cameras as what’s left of Perry is led out of the small shack that now constitutes the Daily Planet. He’s in cuffs, but there’s no need for them - he won’t be fighting back any time soon. “Mr. White will be cared for at a secure facility. We must do our best to keep our world safe, all of us. Spreading lies and defamation is poor stewardship, and will not be tolerated. Nor will a bad attitude... remember to report all incidents of poor sportsmanship, jaywalking, or misplaced aggression to the police. We will handle the perpetrators as necessary. ...There is no reason for anyone to be hurt. Citizens, good day.” Dispassionate, as usual. Robotic. (It may as well be one of his doppelgangers delivering the speech. Perhaps it is.) It’s a script Bruce has only heard a thousand times. And as the crimes listed become more and more trifling, he becomes more and more sickened by the Orwellian horror their world has become - and even more so by the part he played.

Diana comforts as always. “We gave it our best, Bruce. Someday, we’ll put a stop to this.”

As they retreat, Bruce keys his communicator. “Red Robin, report.”

“Eh? Yeah, Batman. I’m here at the Batcomputer... checking those samples... like you told me...!”

Clear sounds of a fight echo in the background audio and Bruce’s stomach clenches painfully. This is how it started with Dick, too - the lying.

“No... you’re not.” Bruce breathes, quickening his pace to a run while Diana flies beside. “You’re not...!”

---

Bruce has at least five main methods of tracking Tim. His boy is never hard to find. In the worst case scenario (and there is always a worst case scenario), he can even track Tim’s biosignature within a radius of twenty miles. Lucius is already overworked, but Bruce had insisted that that number be boosted to forty by week’s end. Tracers fail; and some methods are unreliable. He laughs at the days when he used to slip a mini-GPS into Dick’s utility belt and call that “safe”.

“Batman, listen to me. I’ve been working on this for months. I couldn’t tell you and you know why. I’m going to rescue Emil Hamilton and the researchers - we already know they want to join the resistance - that way Lord Superman will have a way harder time with R&D, as you know. He’s got a lot of scientists on his side, but only Hamilton’s team are the experts on Kryptonian technology -”

The words go through Bruce, as he pushes the car to its limit, honing in on Tim’s location. The boy is babbling - this shouldn’t be happening - he thought Tim had learned to be quiet - to work in the shadows - to keep himself safe.

Maybe there would be a use to the bat-bunker, after all. His heart couldn’t take much more of this.

“I can do this. I’m going into the central lab now where me ‘n the scientists agreed to rendezvous. Maybe I kept this secret for more than the fact that I knew you’d try to stop me. Maybe I wanted to make you proud.” Tim’s voice is small, sad. “But you’ll see. And you said I couldn’t do this all on my -”

The communication feed cuts and Bruce is running, full tilt, into the research facility. Heedless of alarms, of sensors set off. Diana follows, “Bruce! Wait!” Cursing quietly, she covers his back against the stream of guards that respond to their entry. This is the only situation in which Batman can’t remain quiet, stealthy.

Wally was killed in cold blood, and it could happen again. The youth, the brashness, the color red. The symmetry. And now, it was only red swirling in Bruce’s vision. Red, at the world, the Hell that Superman had constructed for them to live in.

It doesn’t take him long to find the lab.

“We knew Red Robin wanted us to join the Resistance.” Hamilton explains. “But we know what Superman does to dissenters.” The professor looked genuinely afraid. “We turned him over as soon as he showed.” 

Bruce growls and throws the man aside, throws him to the floor. A disgusting coward. But he knows. 

He knows the worst fears have now been realized. The world opens up, as if to swallow him.

“Batman, I’m sorry.” the scientist gasps. “He fought. So they dealt with him.”

---

There is no such thing as safety.

“It was unfortunate, wasn’t it?”

Clark is there, but Bruce wishes he weren’t. For the first time, Bruce wishes the man were dead. For doing this to him, to their family.

It’s their only ceasefire. Ever. Clark brings him his son’s body and places it - places him - into his arms. Now that Bruce looks, the costume is too big on Tim. 

It never should have been made.

Diana can’t hide her tears. Bruce is unable to look - instead, he looks to Superman; his friend, more than just a coworker, but a brother - they grieved together, when they lost the Flash. The old Clark would know what to say, would try and fail to ease his pain, but he would try.

“Acts against the government are intolerable and damage the integrity of the public order.” The same, mechanical voice of Lord Superman. As if he’s reading off cue cards. His face, a stony mask. No indication that he cares what Bruce has lost. “To discourage further criminal activity, we have a zero-tolerance policy. His sacrifice was necessary to keep everyone living here safe and sound.”

“Safe and sound?” Bruce hisses, his voice low and growling but tight with the fresh pain of grief. “Who are you protecting? Who are you really protecting, Clark?”

All the trackers and tracers in the world can’t save him. Tim is lifeless in his arms.

At some point Bruce thought that there might still be a chance. That the real Superman still remained somewhere within, knowing that his actions were capricious, unfair, and ultimately unjust. That maybe Tim’s death really would be a sacrifice, a catalyst, to save the world from tyranny. (And still it was too high a price to pay.)

The only indication that the real Clark still existed is the fact that he didn’t kill them where they stood.

Tim’s body is heavy, so heavy in Bruce’s arms. He grew so much, since everything changed. But now...

“Madness, Clark.” Bruce can finally look down now, at the slack jaw, the pale face (pale like an old joke) - the rigor of death setting in, he can feel it. Tim was always too brave, too determined to prove himself - and now he never could again. “It’s madness.” He can shed his tears later. Alone. Maybe in the bat-bunker.

“Stop this.” he begs Clark. Before anyone else gets hurt.

If there was a hole in Lord Superman’s armor, it’s been patched long ago. The red uniform on Tim is just as red as the one on the Flash. Bruce can tell this doesn’t go unnoticed by Clark.

Diana is silently mouthing a prayer. A prayer of her people, most likely, a prayer for Tim. 

Clark looks to the East, where the Sun is just rising. For half a second, he looks like their friend once more. The spell broken.

But it’s too late for that. They’ve already gone too far, the wedge driven too deep. In a year, Lord Superman would arrange for Batman to die, and succeed. And with a horrible sense of foreboding, Bruce even felt that he knew. Deep in his bones, he knew Lord Superman was now on a collision course with him. Set to destroy him... destroy them both.

“I’m sorry, Bruce.” And it’s Clark’s voice they hear, at last. Low. Ashamed. But there. Broken through the layers of contention between them, moved by the loss of the Robin he knew.

His final gift is to depart quietly, leaving them - physically - unharmed.

For all that’s worth.

---

Dick weeps when Diana tells him, and Barbara does too. Their son John is not told exactly what happened to his Uncle Tim, but it doesn’t matter. He’s too young to fully understand.

Bruce dresses the mannequin in the case in his son’s costume. It fits the mannequin quite well. This is where it will stay, where he can always see it.

“You made no mistakes, raising him, Bruce.” 

Diana’s words are soft, but to Bruce (and only to him), they feel somehow accusatory. Especially when he feels he has done everything wrong.

“You kept him safe.”

“Diana... there’s no such thing as safe.”

Not in this world. Not in this life.

Tomorrow he’d go to the bunker and sit among all of Tim’s belongings that he’d meticulously picked out for him, especially for an extended period of time, books carefully curated into a variety of genres such that he would be in no danger of going mad down there, alone, constantly watched, fresh air provided so he would not suffocate, food so he would not starve, every need attended for. An absolutely... safe... area.

An area, he would tell himself, was decidedly not a larger and fancier grave, nor the tomb of an Egyptian prince, taking his worldly possessions with him into the afterlife. 

It was safety.

Safety that Clark wanted to bring.

Safety, that Lord Superman had taken away from them.

An anguish that would never stop, born of a war that would never end.

#dcau #specs fic #jeeeez it feels good to write #yeah this one's dense #probably not easy to understand if you haven't read the issues #i would recommend watching the episodes of justice league and then reading the issues and THEN reading this #you might enjoy it more iunno #and yes... i wrote another story about the bat bunker and tim's reaction to it #but it's on my external hard drive at home so #yeah maybe one day ill get back to that one

[dipulb3]

HBO Max review: Great TV and theatrical movies, but not the best streaming value

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/hbo-max-review-great-tv-and-theatrical-movies-but-not-the-best-streaming-value/

HBO Max review: Great TV and theatrical movies, but not the best streaming value

Sarah Tew/CNET

HBO Max, HBO’s entry into the streaming wars, is a slick app chock-full of popular TV shows and movies. It’s got HBO’s entire catalog, along with favorites such as Friends, Rick and Morty, Sesame Street, the Lord of the Rings movies and almost every Studio Ghibli film. It’s also the only service to debut first-run movies, including in 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong, Dune and Matrix 4, the same day they’re available in theaters for no extra charge. And HBO Max has a solid streaming collection for children too, with the ability to control ratings on kids’ profiles better than most other services. 

Like

Large, varied content catalog that includes all of HBO

New theatrical releases from Warner Bros. Studios

Simple, easy-to-navigate interface

Lots of children’s shows and customizable rating settings

Don’t Like

High price

Few original series beyond standard HBO

Can’t import watch history or personalized recommendations

If you already subscribe to HBO, HBO Max is a no-brainer upgrade that gives you a shiny new interface and loads more content for the same $15 per month. But if you’re a brand-new subscriber, that price is at the high end — especially if you already pay for Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus or all of the above.

At launch HBO Max lacked compatibility with the popular Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices and 4K HDR streaming, but now apps for Roku and Amazon are now easily available and the 2021 Warner Bros. theatrical slate is premiering on the platform in 4K HDR (as are other titles, such as Zack Snyder’s Justice League).

Read more: Everything you need to know about HBO Max

Aside from HBO’s original series, the Max slate of exclusives remains relatively thin, especially with the delay of the highly anticipated Friends reunion special and no breakout hit such as Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian and WandaVision. That shortcoming will likely change over time, but for now, it remains the service’s biggest disadvantage.

If you’re a big fan of HBO, Elmo or Friends, or are simply running out of good stuff to watch during lockdown, HBO Max is probably worth your money. But if you’re looking to save money on streaming, its high monthly fee makes it easier to cut than many of its tough competitors.

Streaming compared

HBO Max Netflix Disney Plus Hulu Monthly price $15 Starts at $9 $7 Basic $6 with ads, Ad-free for $12, Live TV for $65 Ads No No No Yes, with basic tier Top titles Entire HBO catalog, Studio Ghibli films, DC films Stranger Things, The Crown, Breaking Bad, The Queen’s Gambit The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Avengers Endgame, Toy Story, The Simpsons Handmaid’s Tale, Catch-22, Lost, Bob’s Burgers Mobile downloads Yes Yes Yes Yes (on Ad-free plan only) 4K available Yes Yes (on Premium plan) Yes Yes HDR available Yes Yes (on Premium plan) Yes No Number of streams 3 1 (2 for Standard, 4 on Premium) 4 2 (Unlimited with Live TV and a $10 add-on)

A high price ripe for sharing

HBO Max costs $15 a month, the same as HBO’s traditional channel when you get it through most pay-TV providers. At some point HBO says the service will expand to include another tier that includes advertising. We don’t know anything about when that would happen or what it would look like, but it would likely be cheaper, or even free. 

Some people who already have a regular HBO subscription or HBO Now will get Max for no extra cost — but not everyone. It’s confusing, but you can check out our full HBO Max FAQ for more information on how it all works. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Despite the large catalog of movies and shows, HBO Max is at the expensive end of streaming services — Netflix’s basic plan costs $9 a month, Hulu’s plan with ads is $6 a month and Disney Plus costs $7 a month (soon to be $8 per month). Lots of people I know share account access with friends or family members and HBO Max executive Tony Goncalves told CNET that it will take a “fairly balanced approach” to this issue. 

With HBO Max you can have up to three simultaneous streams going at the same time. Plus, the addition of up to five user profiles, a feature not available on the HBO Now or HBO Go apps, makes it easier to share an account. 

HBO Max is available on Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV). It’s also on gear that runs Google’s Android operating system for phones and tablets, as well as Android TV devices, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices like Vizio TVs. Xbox and PlayStation consoles and recent Samsung smart TVs are also on board. As mentioned, Amazon Fire TV and Roku apps are now available. 

A strong stable of shows and movies

HBO Max’s biggest strength is its large, varied TV and movie catalog, with content for adults and kids. At launch, it had 10,000 hours of content to stream, including everything on HBO, plus a selection of high-profile TV shows like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty and South Park. 

HBO Max currently has just a handful Max Originals and the biggest are probably the romantic series Love Life starring Anna Kendrick and dark comedy The Flight Attendant starring Kaley Cuoco. Even a year after launch, nothing has stuck out or made the same pop-culture impact as Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit or Disney Plus’s WandaVision. And unlike Netflix, it will typically drop its originals once per week, the way regular cable HBO does. A number of originals — including the Friends reunion special, a spinoff of The Suicide Squad with John Cena called Peacemaker, a reboot of Gossip Girl and a revival of Sex and the City — are among the many titles in the works, so there should be more to choose from later in the year or in early 2022. 

HBO Max has six original series at launch — but the highly anticipated Friends reunion special has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sarah Tew/CNET

In the meantime, there are lots of movies, some new and many older. HBO Max has the full sets of The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogies (though only two of The Hobbits), DC movies like Joker and Wonder Woman, classic films like The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca, and newer hits like A Star is Born and Crazy Rich Asians. Not to mention almost the entire catalog of Studio Ghibli anime films that have never been released for streaming in the US before. And if you’ve been clamoring for more of 2017’s Justice League, HBO Max will be the home of director Zach Snyder’s cut on March 18.

Though HBO is known for its adult content, Max has a lot to offer kids too, including new Looney Tunes cartoons and Sesame Street episodes, and the Cartoon Network catalog. It’s also home to Doctor Who and the Lego movies. 

Parental controls are robust. You can customize kids’ profiles to decide which rating levels they can access, and create a passcode that locks them into their account, so they can’t jump over to their parents’ to watch anything inappropriate. (Your kid might be savvy enough to figure that passcode out, but it’s something.)

Studio Ghibli films are available to stream in the US for the first time on the platform.

Sarah Tew/CNET

A visually appealing interface…

Scrolling through HBO Max is similar to the experience on Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services. When you open your profile, you’ll find Continue Watching and My List at the top of the page, followed by topics like Featured Series, Featured Movies and HBO Series: Editors’ Picks. 

I like the look of the menus better than many other streaming services. It has a dark purple and black theme that allows the text and images to pop, and shows fewer tiles on the screen at once with more breaks between them, to give your eye a rest. One downside, however, is that it can be tough to figure out at first what text is highlighted in the menus so you can make selections.

In the middle of the page you’ll see a mini hub where you can access movies and shows from each of its properties: HBO, DC, Sesame Workshop, Turner Classic Movies, Studio Ghibli, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, CrunchyRoll and Looney Tunes. It looks kind of like Disney Plus’s hub at the top of its page, but with less familiar names than Disney’s Star Wars and Marvel. 

The HBO Max mini hub, where you can access content from different networks and studios.

Sarah Tew/CNET

You’ll also find curated collections of movies around a theme sprinkled through your homepage, like rom-com favorites and blockbuster franchises. Hit Browse at the top left corner and you���ll have the option to search by categories such as Series, Movies, Originals, Just Added, Last Chance and Coming Soon, along with genres like Action, Comedy, Crime and Documentaries. You’ll also find the mini hubs in this panel, too. 

Unlike on Netflix, you can easily see what’s coming and going on the platform and watch accordingly. Mobile downloads are also available, and the app’s format is largely the same across TVs, phones and tablets. 

When it comes to searching, HBO Max lets you use abbreviations (like “GOT” instead of “Game of Thrones”). On my Apple TV, voice search worked pretty well — when I said, “Watch Rick and Morty,” HBO Max opened the series landing page, giving me the option to choose which episode I want. After starting an episode of Game of Thrones and closing out, when I said, “Watch GOT,” it jumped me back into the episode where I had left off. When I said, “Watch Jaws,” the Apple TV opened all of the different options across other streaming platforms at the bottom of the screen as well. 

Selecting a show will take you to its landing page, where you can find every episode available in a clean format, and have the ability to add it to your list. When you start a show, the rating appears in the upper left corner. 

…but human recommendations are still MIA

One of HBO Max’s promises was that instead of solely using a recommendation engine to surface new content for users, it would also have curated content from celebrities, to bring a more human touch. These recommendations are still not available, however. It does curate content in ways that can be helpful — for example, highlighting the episodes of Friends that track Ross and Rachel’s relationship so you don’t have to go digging for them. 

You’ll find every HBO show on HBO Max — but you can’t yet stream them in 4K HDR. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Should you get HBO Max?

If you already subscribe to HBO Now (or, you know, have someone else’s login), the automatic free upgrade to HBO Now is a no-brainer — it’s lots more content for the same monthly price. Plus, you can make your own profiles now, which you couldn’t do on HBO Go or HBO Now. 

For brand-new subscribers, HBO Max is at the pricey end of the streaming service spectrum. But if you have $15 a month to burn and want to binge Friends, Game of Thrones or all of the Studio Ghibli movies, you’ll have plenty to choose from.

Here’s what HBO Max looks like on TVs, phones and tablets

See all photos

First published May 29, 2020.

[thenightling]

Films and shows to get you ready for Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is getting adapted into a series by Netflix.   Though this is a DC comics property, The Sandman is NOT like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman.  The Sandman is a gorgeous and surreal fantasy that only partially takes place in the human world.  A big part of it takes place in the fantasy realm known as The Dreaming. 

There is very little combat action though there is horror.   To give you an idea of what you are in for (Or if you are a Sandman fan already and want something to hold you off) here are twenty-five films and shows that share some of the traits (or atmosphere) you might find in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

25.   The Raven (1963 film).  This might seem like an oddball one to list since it’s a Gothic Horror fantasy comedy from the 1960s but it gets referenced in The Sandman by Matthew imitating Peter Lorre and later Matthew compared Cain to Vincent Price.  I think it’s safe to say Matthew was a Price (or Roger Coman) fan.  

24.   Death.   Death is a short animated film from DC and was featured as bonus content for the Blu Ray of the animated movie Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. 

Though she looks younger (appearing about nineteen-years-old) Death is the older sister of Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless, the main protagonist of The Sandman.  She was first introduced in The Sandman issue 8, The Sound of Her Wings.

23.   Stardust.

Stardust is a fantasy film based on the novel (and graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman.  Though there are liberties taken, this should give you some idea of what his fantasy writing is like.

 22.    Beetlejuice the animated series. 

If you want an idea of what The Dreaming (realm of Dreams) is like then I urge you to check out the surreal Neither (that’s not a typo) World from the Beetlejuice animated series.  The monsters that inhabit this realm are the stuff of fantasy and nightmares.  Some are living puns.  And they are ruled over by a broody Goth who makes it rain when he’s depressed and feeling melodramatic, much like a certain Dream Lord from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman...

21.  Bonus listing:   The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.  

One major antagonist of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is a nightmare entity known as The Corinthian who escapes into the waking world and becomes a serial killer.  Had Sandman been adapted in the mid-90s I think many would have loved a crossover with Freddy Krueger.  

20.   Return to Oz.

If by some weird chance you have never seen The Wizard of Oz or any faithful (read: Not 2010) version of Alice in Wonderland I would recommend those first.  But under the assumption you may have already seen those I would suggest watching Return to Oz.   Return to Oz features an adorable Jack-o-lantern headed character called Jack Pumpkinhead.   Jack Pumpkinhead was the loose inspiration for the grounds keeper dream entity character of Mervyn Pumpkinhead in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.  

19. Tales from the Crypt (TV series).

Issue 2 of The Sandman is called Imperfect Hosts because all of the characters introduced in that issue are former horror host characters from horror anthology comics.  Cain and Abel were DC’s answer to The Crypt keeper and The Vault Keeper.  For a good idea of who Cain actually is (assuming he’s in the show along with his House of Mystery) I strongly recommend checking out the TV show Tales from the Crypt.  

18.   Tales from the Cryptkeeper (animated series)

In the mid-1990s there was an animated series adaptation of Tales from the Crypt called Tales from the Cryptkeeper.  Season 2 featured the three original EC comics horror hosts of the Cryptkeeper, Vault Keeper, and the Old Witch.  These storytellers might give you an idea of who (or what) some of Morpheus’ Nightmare minion are in The Sandman.

 17.    Hocus Pcous.  

I chose to put this one here because the three witches of Hocus Pocus very much remind me of the Hecatae version of The Three-in-one from The Sandman Issue 2.   There’s also a powerful Grimoire that is a plot catalyst. 

16.   The 10th Kingdom.

The 10th Kingdom was a fantasy mini-series that aired on NBC in 2000.   It dealt with a twenty-seven-year-old young woman who discovers that her estranged mother is the evil queen in a faery tale world.   It is very much a story about stories (much like parts of The Sandman) and shows you the original dark and unvarnished versions of some classic faery tales as well as how those characters (and their descendants) carry on centuries later.

15.   Once Upon a Time (TV series.  Particularly seasons 1 through 3.)  

Much like with 10th Kingdom we have here a story about stories and those characters from classic stories trying to live in the human world with varying degrees of success.  You see how important their stories are and how carefully and intricately each tale was interwoven with each other.  (...Until around season 4 that is...)

Also it begins with a very powerful creature imprisoned and later undergoing an extremely long redemption arc and a sense of guilt tied to the death of his own son.

14.  Constantine:  City of Demons.

John Constantine appears in one issue of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.   Issue 3.   Constantine: City of Demons gives a good crash course on who Constantine is and where he comes from.  John Constantine’s ancestor, Johanna Constantine is a recurring character in The Sandman.

13.  Justice League: Dark animated movie.   

Justice League:  Dark is the first animated movie to feature The House of Mystery.  The House of Mystery is a building whose roots are in The Dreaming in The Sandman.

12.   Constantine (2014 series).  

 In 2014 Constantine got his own live action series but it only lasted for one season. 

11.  Locke and Key.

Only recently did I learn Locke and Key will be doing an official crossover with The Sandman Universe.

 10.    Lucifer TV series.  

The TV show Lucifer is an oddball thing since it was based on a comic that is actually a spin-off of The Sandman.  The storyline that introduces us to Mazikeen, where Lucifer quits ruling Hell, opens Lux, and takes up playing Piano all come from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

When Fox got the rights to Lucifer no one thought The Sandman was going to be getting an adaptation, at least not in the near future.  As a result several conversations and key pieces of dialogue that originally passed between Morpheus and Lucifer in The Sandman comics now went to Lucifer and his therapist, Linda, and his angel-brother, Amenadiel. 

Bonus: If at all possible check out the Crisis on infinite Earths event from the CW as the real Crisis on Infinite Earths (original comic event) eventually gave way to things like The Sandman.

9.   The Witches (1990) and Coraline (2009)   I couldn’t decide which one to put here so I put them both.

  The Witches is a children’s horror film based on the book by Roald Dahl. I suggest this here for its darker themes and you get a group of dangerous, child-killing witches attending a meeting at a hotel, much like The Corinthian’s Serial Killer convention in The Sandman.

Coraline is a stop motion fantasy / horror story for children and can give you some idea of what certain aspects of The Sandman are like, as it is by the same author.

8.    Pan’s Labyrinth.  

The Sandman is very much part fantasy and part Gothic horror and no director alive quite fits that criteria now better than Guillermo del Toro and possibly Tim Burton.   Pan’s Labyrinth has the surreal beauty and darkness you are likely to see in The Sandman.

7.   Doom Patrol.

Doom Patrol was the first DC show that made me have faith that yes, they CAN adapt Sandman respectfully and unafraid of the strangeness it might entail.  Doom Patrol seemed unafraid to tackle the strange, quirkiness of it’s own content.  From a talking roach, to gender-queer sentient street named Danny, Doom Patrol was not afraid to be strange.  

6.   Swam Thing (2019 TV series from DC Universe Streaming Service).

I mostly suggest this for one character in particular. Matthew Cable.  After Matthew died in The Sandman comics he chose to spend his afterlife as Morpheus’ raven.

Besides featuring a character from The Sandman Swamp Thing gives a very good Gothic atmosphere and supernatural content, giving you an idea of the sort of horror DC can do.  

6.  Justice League Action:   Trick or Threat.   And Justice League action: Supernatural adventures in Babysitting.

The episode of Justice League Action called Trick or Threat features Cain, a nightmare character from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, as well as The House of Mystery.   This was Cain’s first appearance in media.  The version of Cain in the TV show Lucifer is nothing like his comic book counterpart.  This cartoon is the first and only faithful adaptation of the character from the comics.

The episode of Justice League Action called Supernatural Adventures in Babysitting features the Magdalene Grimoire. This is the grimoire used to summon Morpheus in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.  It also features John Constantine.

    5.   She-Creature:  The Mermaid Chronicles (2001 film)

This is an odd from about some humans have a captured mermaid.  The majority of the film is about her escape and revenge on her captors.  You will see something similar to that with Morpheus in the very first episode of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.    

4.  The Company of Wolves. 

The Company of Wolves is a story about stories.  In the ontemporary world a pubescent girl sleeps during her first period. She dreams that she is Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother tells her horrific stories about werewolves.  The wolves become metaphors For puberty, masculinity, and waking sexuality.  Toward the end Rosealeen (the protagonist) becomes one of the wolves.   You get random stark reminders that this entire film is set in a dream world, and yet it’s still strangely easy to forget.

 3.   The Nightmare before Christmas.

The Nightmare before Christmas is a fantasy musical about the king of Halloween.  Though he’s adored by his subjects he longs for more.  The surreal landscape and strange creatures can be reminiscent of The Sandman.

2.   Labyrinth.

One of the earliest efforts to talk me into reading The Sandman entailed someone telling me that Morpheus was “Like a Goth Jareth.”   This effort (at the time) failed to entice me though I do love Labyrinth.   

1.   Over The Garden Wall. 

I only saw Over the Garden Wall for the first time about a year and a half ago and loved it very much.   This is a strange animated mini-series about two brothers lost in a forest called “The Unknown.”   The setting has been debated among fans as to if it’s purgatory (a place between life and death), a dream realm, or something else entirely.  I choose to believe that though it may be a place between life and Death that it’s also a part of The Dreaming, especially with so many surreal and Gothic visuals, and characters and creatures directly out of vintage seasonal cards.

#The Sandman #Neil Gaiman's The Sandman

[pandorra777]

Hi there! I really like your blog, and was wondering...I'm really new to Batman (super late I know lol) but would you be able to point me in any particular direction?? Like, where would be a good place to start, if I wanted to really learn about the storyline, characters, etc.? I'd really appreciate any help! Thanks!

Let me apologies for it took so long to answer this question. It’s mywork as I was very busy last days, but still. Sorry for that.

 Aaaaand to the topic.

Hello and I’m happy to welcome you on board of Batman fandom!

First of all, thank you so much for your warm words about my blog!

Second of all, it’s just the right time to be in Batman fandom, myfriend :)) Never too late for that.

Moreover, there are a lot of interesting events are happening in Batmancanon and fandom during these years. So welcome, feel comfortable and enjoy yourself!

As for your question, it’s quite funny. I am writing a long and largearticle for my other blog and the topic of it is just the same: Where to beginif you are a newcomer to Batman canon? Some of my friends were asking the samequestion the other days and it made me think of the right answer. As for me, Ieven do not remember my 1st Batman comic book, it was so long time ago. But itwas Arkhamverse and Arkham games series (4 of them) that gave me the secondbreath for my love. And let me recommend you all these awesome games (yeah, I’mhuge fan and can’t shut up about Arkhamverse). Even if you do not play, thereis an opportunity to watch videos and movies on youtube.

I don’t think of myself as of the best person to give advise, but I am readyto share my list of comic books and animated movies for the starter. Hope itwill help you and my choice won’t be the wrong one.

Also as I do not know your preferences (most favorite characters,topics, your OTPs, etc.), I tried to include more general books. Please, feelfree to ask specific questions.

As I do not know what you’ve already read or are planning to read, my listmay contain obvious things, sorry for that.

And to other amazing people out there in the fandom – please, feel freeto add and share you variants if you like.

Of course, there are some classical stories, which everybody advises toeverybody because they are “must read” ones.

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller - I recommend this thing with caution, because Miller is a specific writerand not all of Batman fans love him. But it’s a good story about the firstBruce’s steps as Batman, about his acquaintance with James Gordon and Selina.Practically every modern DC writer bases his version of Batman character onMiller’s.

And of course I highly recommend to pay attention to the very firstBatman stories of 1940s (Batman, issue 1, etc.) written by Bill Finger and BobKane himself. They are still fun to read.

Batman: The Long Halloween - One more must read and fan-favorite. This story is so to sayencyclopedia of the most famous Batman villains - a new villain each issue. Italso presents Harvey Dent as Two-Face. Plus noir and very interesting detectivestory. And it refers to the first Batman years again, still no Robin or JusticeLeague. Thought I doubt Batman’s character in this one, it’s not “my” Batman, Istill put it here for you to read and make your own opinion.

Batman: Strange Apparitions - A good collection of significant Batman stories from 70s in one place.Each of them is a classic.

Batman: Detective - One more good collection of Batman stories. I highly recommend itbecause they have very canonical Batman (imo, of course, but still) and agallery of famous villains.

Batman: The Man Who Laughs - In fact, it’s the story from Batman #1, rewritten in a new and fresh waywith some changes to the characters. The first meeting with the Joker, noRobin, etc.

Batman: A Death in the Family - Iconic story about Batman and the role of Robins in his life. The storywhich strongly effects Batman and all the batfam, has serious consequences andstars several new stories and titles including Red Hood And The Outlaws yearslater.

Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk - One more amazing story to know the Dark Knight better. Maybe it’snothing special, but here Bruce is shown as an intelligent, understanding,sympathetic hero who can solve the problem with the help of his resourcefulnessand proper analysis of the opponent. This is the hero who saves and not a herowho clenches his teeth and beats the shit out of an enemy, as in some of therecent issues. I miss such Bruce in comics.

Batman: Son of the Demon - I put it in here because of the very good story about Bruce and Talia alGhul, and this woman was important for Bruce once. Also she is mother of hisonly child. And in this story they are allies not enemies. And it’s a good storyto look at Ra’s Al Ghul, one of Batman’s enemies.

Batman: The Killing Joke - And one more iconic story here. Definitely must read.

Batman: Under The Red Hood - This book continues A Death in the Family to some extend. Jason Toddreturns to Gotham to deal with Bruce and Joker once and for all.

Batman Confidential - Good series, you can find amazing stories there.

Also Batman canon has other amazing, thrilling and interesting stories,but it’s better to read them later, not to start with them: No Man’s Land,Grant Morrison’s series: Batman and Son - Batman The Black Glove - BatmanR.I.P., A Serious House on Serious Earth, Batman: Europa to name a few.

Not only comics can help to know Batman. For example, I love to watchBatman The Animated Series, some episodes are just pure gold and based oncomics. And we have very good BTAS related comics as well: The Batman Adventures, Batman: Gotham Adventures, Batman Adventures(2003)

Batman animated movies seem interesting too.

Hope it’ll help. And thanks for the question, it made me remember somestories I definitely want to reread now.

#Q&A #anon replies #batman #batman comics #batman where to start #my english is still shitty

[stacks-reviews]

Tuesday Releases 6/20/17

Happy New Release Day! There’s a lot going on in books but not much (at least that I’m interested in) on DVD.

In Books

–Dorohedoro volume 21 by Q. Hayashida If you have never heard of it before Dorohedoro consists of a world made up of Sorcerers; who live in a separate world/dimension, and the humans who live in a place called The Hole. Every so often Sorcerers will travel to The Hole using their magic called Smoke to open a door there. Once there they experiment on humans to improve their magical abilities. Caiman was experimented on by Sorcerers and had his head turned into a lizard head. And as result he lost his memories of everything leading up to the transformation. Now he spends his days with the help of his friend Naikaido hunting down Sorcerers trying to find the one who transformed his head in order to fix it and hopefully regain his memories. I really like this series. It’s dark, it’s gory, and I enjoy the art style. The art style is similar to comic books than manga but it does have it’s problems. They did print some issues in color for a few pages at the beginning of different chapters but it usually comes out a little blurry. But I’ve heard that it isn’t a problem in the digital volumes. I often have to go back and reread the previous volume to help remember what will be going on in the new one. Sometimes even having to go back two or three volumes to understand it. But it has gotten better in the later volumes cause I think I’ve finally figured out what is going on so I’m a little less confused. It is a complex story line but I enjoy it. There is some nudity in the series so just be aware of that if that is something you don’t like to see when you read manga or comics.

–Erased omnibus volume 2 by Kei Sanbe The manga that the hit anime of the same name is based on. But if you are unfamiliar with either of them: Twenty-nine-year-old Satoru has a unique ability that he calls ‘Revival’ that allows him to travel back in time; sometimes against his will, to when he was eleven. When he was eleven there was a series of child-kidnapping in his hometown which resulted in the death of a girl named Kayo Hinazuki. By traveling back in time he hopes to be able to prevent the murder of Kayo and to prevent a tragedy that happens before he travels back in time. It’s a poor summary but the anime was very good and one of the hits of its season. The culprit was kinda predictable but the real charm of this series is watching as Satoru tries to save Kayo in more ways than one. I do have the first volume but I haven’t had time to read it yet. I did flip through it a little bit and from what I saw the anime seems to follow it pretty well. 

–Magical Girl Raising Project volume 1 by Asari Endou Another manga that inspire an anime of the same name. There is a game that exists that creates Magical Girls but one day the game decides that there are too many magical girls. Their numbers must be cut in half. So begins a deadly contest between them. I haven’t had the time to try out the anime yet but it is on my queue. I’ve heard good things about and would like to try out the light novels as well as the show. If you like dark magical girls I would give it the show or the light novels a shot.

–Management Style of the Supreme Being by Tom Holt The Supreme Being and his son decide that they no longer wish to be supreme. So they decide to sell. Our new owners; the Venturi Brothers, have a few ideas how the world should really run. They don’t care for Good and Evil and decide to rid the world of right and wrong. But one of the old gods didn’t want to move out and he needs to know if you’ve been naughty or nice. I was first drawn to the title and I like the idea behind it. That our universe is more or less run like a company and can be sold. Not really sure how Santa will play into or why. Especially considering that this comes out in June. Unless this is for the paperback edition. Which I forgot to check when I looked this book up. But it still sounds good.

–Motor Crush volume 1 by Brenden Fletcher “By day, Domino Swift competes for fame and fortune in a worldwide motorcycle racing league. By night, she cracks heads of rival gangs in brutal bike wars to gain possession of a rare, valuable contraband: an engine boosting machine narcotic known as Crush.” I haven’t heard much about this series but it sounds good. I wanna give it a try.

–Princess Jellyfish omnibus volume 5 by Akiko Higashimura In the bustling city of Tokyo there resides a place called Amamizukan, a safe haven for girl geeks (otakus of trains, jellyfish, Japanese dolls, and more) who are terrified of ‘stylish’ people. One such girl is Tsukimi who loves jellyfish. One night she meets a stylish lady who helps her save the life of a jellyfish at a pet shop. This chance encounter will result in an odd friendship (at first anyway) between the two and the rest of the residents at Amamizukan. But this stylish girl is actually a boy. It’s super cute shojo series that was made into an anime a while back. As well as a live-action film that according to one of my friends is very well done.  Though do note: Rightstuf has it noted as a release for today but it looks like B&N will not be getting it till 7/18/17, according to their website.

–Spell on Wheels volume 1 by Kate Leth, illustrator Megan Levens, and colorist Marissa Louise Three witches who head out on a road trip to retrieve their belongings that were stolen from them before whoever stole them does any damage to the items. I don’t know too much about this series but I enjoy magical stories. And I like the looks of the art style.

–Strange Attractors by Charles Soule and illustrated by Greg Scott Dr. Spencer Drownfield claims to have saved New York City from itself in 1978. Ever since he has been tinkering with the people of New York to keep the city afloat. A young mathematician is chosen as his successor. Is there truth to Dr. Spencer’s claims about how the Butterfly Affect and his complexity math applies to the city’s patterns. Or is it simply the raving of a broken man as he tries to make sense of the world around him. I like the idea of a person secretly ‘tinkering’ with people in order to save his city. And at first I thought it would be done on a real power but now I am not so sure. It may end up being more on a reflection of how we interact with the world and try to understand our place in it. Either way, the story sounds good.

–Tokyo Ghoul volume 13 by Sui Ishida In case you haven’t heard of this series yet. Tokyo Ghoul is about a world infested with human eating ghouls. One day Ken Kaneki goes on a date with a cute lady who turns out to be a ghoul and tries to eat him. Due to a strange incident the ghoul is killed and Kaneki is rushed to a hospital. Where they transplant the ghouls organs (who they don’t know is a ghoul) into Kaneki to save his life. Turning him into a half-ghoul.  I really like this series. There’s lots of action and it has an interesting story. It is an exploration of what really makes a person human (one of my favorite story types, especially if it involves robots; GitS). If you have seen the anime but haven’t read the series yet, you should. The anime started to deviate away from the manga around volume 5 or 6. But both are worth reading/watching. There is just one volume left after this before the first series is over. Tokyo Ghoul Jack will be released digitally only, but in full color if I remember right. Tokyo Ghoul: re volume 1 will be out in October. 

In Movies and Television

–The Big O Complete Collection Forty years ago the citizens of Paradigm City all lost their memories. Negotiator Roger Smith does his best to find resolutions for any troubles that Paradigm City finds itself in. With the help of his butler Norman, his android assistant Dorothy, and his giant robot (also called a megadeus) Big O. The classic anime is back and for the first time on blu-ray. I love this show. It has been a long time since I last saw it, back when it was still on Toonami. It’s a great film noir series with mecha’s. What’s not to love. Seriously though. It has been a long time since I last saw the full series. I don’t think I could explain it well enough to do it justice. I really recommend it. If I remember right the first season is more episodic while the second season has a more on-going story. Like GitS S.A.C. and 2nd gig. I do have the full series on dvd from Bandai but I would like to retire it someday for the blu-ray. Once you watch it, you too will start shouting out, “Big O! Showtime!”

–Sailor Moon S P2 The second part of Sailor Moon S, episodes 109-127. There is a gwp version on Rightstuf’s website that includes art cards.  Really excited to see part 2 out. Mine actually arrived in the mail yesterday. And now that I have both parts of S, I can finally watch them. I like to wait till I have both part of the Sailor Moon seasons before I watch them.

#dorohedoro #q hayashida #erased #kei sanbe #magical girl raising project #asari endou #the management style of the supreme being #tom holt #motor crush #brenden fletcher #princess jellyfish #akiko higashimura #spell on wheels #kate leth #strange attractors #charles soule #tokyo ghoul #sui ishida #the big o #sailor moon #sailor moon s #new releases #books #manga #graphic novels #sentai #yen press #kodansha #viz media #image comics

[great-kung-lao]

I'm personally not a huge superman fan, but I really wanna give him a chance. What would you recommend for me to watch and/or read to give me the best experience?

First of all: thank you for this question. Second of all: thank you for deciding to try and get into Superman mythology. 

I will try to do my best and give some proper advices.

1. What to read? Well, I guess it will be too long of a road if you try to get into main continuity, but there are some great self contained elseworld stories. “Elseworld” means that it happens in an alternative universe from the main continuity and you don’t need to read many years of comic books that were released before to understand those stories.

All-Star Superman. I would say that this book is almost a bible of Superman. This story contains pretty much everything that the character is loved for. It has amazing visual style and great narrative by Grant Morrison. Definitely number one to start with.

Superman: Secret Origin. This book might be called as a definitive version of Superman’s origin story that is told from Clark’s own perspective. It starts from his earliest years and leads to him discovering his full potential and true purpose on Earth.

Superman: Secret Identity. This is just really enjoyable book, that tells ridiculously fun story. It’s kind of real world mixed with fiction. In Secret Identity DC Comics exist exactly like for us: it is comic books with lots of things based on it from movies to toys. The main character is a simple boy who happens to have same name as the fictional character - Clark Kent. But one day he wakes up with Superman’s abilities…

Superman: American Alien. Another origin story about famous super hero, but is told with a different tone and style that the character and his fans haven’t seen before. Also a self contained elseworld story that should be considered to read.

But if you feel like you want to follow the character with the rest of the world in his main continuity, you might start with Superman: Convergence that has only 2 issues and tells about the survival of Superman of New Earth (the main canon version currently that started in 1986) after Flashpoint. Then it follows with a mini series called Superman: Lois and Clark that tells about Superman’s family life on Prime Earth (current canon Earth in DC universe, since their own universe that they originated from is no more after Flashpoint event). Then you can start DC Rebirth, the latest kind-of-reboot, where Superman of New Earth (also known as Pre-Flashpoint Superman) comes out of hiding and becomes a world known super hero again (since the New 52 version is dead, but you should not care about him, it was a mistake just like the entire New 52 reboot). While starting DC Rebirth, you need to read DC Rebirth #1 first and only then start DC Rebirth: Superman #1 and on to current ongoing issues. Superman is also a main character in Action Comics (which is also the second main ongoing series about the character after Superman: Rebirth), Justice League: Rebirth and Trinity comic books that are also part of DC Rebirth. He also makes some brief appearances in comic books of other characters such as Nightwing, Aquaman and Deathstroke as of the latest.

2. What to watch? Well, it depends on how much time you are ready to put into.

Smallville. The TV show that started it all - super heroes becoming famous on television. It consists of 10 season, each with +20 episodes and each episode is +40 minutes long. So it depends on you if you are ready to put that much of a time into a television show. But Tom Welling and Erica Durance are one of the greatest Clark and Lois portrayals in history of the characters and the show itself is simply legendary.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The show is really old and looks kind of silly by today’s standards. The main focus is the relationship between Lois and Clark, so if you are into long-time love stories, you might enjoy this show and it’s simply amazing to see Dean Cane and Teri Hatcher’s versions of the characters.

Superman Returns. This doesn’t have the greatest positive popularity, but I think you should give it a chance that it really deserves. This is definitely not the worst movie of all time, it has its ups and downs, but it all comes to your personal opinion that you will get only after watching the movie by yourself.

Man of Steel. The latest version of Superman’s origin story on the big screen. People might whine all they want about this movie, but I LOVE IT VERY MUCH, it did so much for me and Henry Cavill is definitely one of the best versions of Superman to date. He dedicated himself fully to literally become Superman, especially physically, just by looking at him in that costume you might actually believe that the character is real. And just like in case with the Superman Returns - it all comes to your own experience with the movie. Don’t let other people poison your opinion, you should form your own by watching Man of Steel.

It won’t be bad if you give a try to Superman movie of 1978, but it might be difficult to watch if your eyes got used to modern quality of pictures. Though the movie is considered to be classic and definitely is worth to watch. In my opinion this movie is immortal and Christopher Reeve’s version of Superman is a legend.

There is an animated movie based on All-Star Superman story, but I would suggest to read the visual novel first and then watch the cartoon version.

Superman: Unbound. All I need to say about this - the best latest animated movie about Superman. You better ignore all those based on New 52 atrocities that are presented in other latest DC animated movies like Justice League of 2014. Seriously, New 52 is so bad that you should not even know about its existence.

You might also want to give a try to such cartoon TV shows as Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

That would be just it from me. Hopefully this list will be helpful to you in one way or another and to other people who want to jump on the Kryptonian adventure.

#Superman #Clark Kent #Kal-El #Clois #Henry Cavill #Tom Welling #Dean Cane #Brandon Routh #Christopher Reeve #Justice League #Smallville