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according-to-the-laura · 2 years

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StackedNatural Day 160: 1x20, 7x19

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

April 20, 2022

1x20: Dead Man's Blood

Written by: Cathryn Humphris & John Shiban

Directed by: Tony Wharmby

Original air date: April 20, 2006

Plot Synopsis:

After Daniel Elkins, a vampire hunter and John's mentor, is murdered, Sam and Dean are surprised when John himself shows up to solve the case. John discovers the vampires have taken an antique gun, which has the power to kill all supernatural beings.

Features:

Daniel Elkins, the introduction of the Colt, the non-extinction of vampires, Sam and John butting heads, an extremely horny pack of vampires, need-to-know parenting, a college fund’s worth of ammo,

My Thoughts:

This is a great episode in most respects - the hunt is interesting, the effects are great, and the relationships between the characters are expanded and complicated. Not to mention the Colt is going to be so crucial for so much of the series.

It is kind of funny in retrospect that Sam and Dean thought vampires weren’t real and John thought they were all extinct because they show up SO often as the series goes on. Either John was total shit at vampire hunting or vampires got REALLY busy turning people shortly after 2006.

It’s not this episode’s fault that Jenny, the random victim of the week, is the one that kills Dean in the series finale, but it does piss me off in retrospect. It actually works kind of well, especially given the line “Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life”. The problem is that the only think I remembered about this episode was the colt and the fights between John and Sam. Jenny didn’t make a big enough impression for me to have any reaction to her turning up in Carry On. I think Dabb just went through season 1 and picked the first monster that got away. In terms of theme, it’s shitty to end a show that tries to ask a bunch of questions about the morality of hunting by saying that letting a creature flee will kill you. But again, we can hardly fault this episode for Andrew Dabb’s sins.

The directing of this episode is great. Dean is visible literally between Sam and John while they fight, a buffer protecting them from each other. The eyeshine on the vampires and the rearview mirror lighting John’s face up are also great. I like the special effects on the kill with the Colt as well.

I love to hate John Winchester and this is a good episode for that. I do think he loves his sons, but that doesn’t make him a good father. The fact that it never occurred to him to consider what Sam wanted out of life is proof of that, aside from the fact that he treats his children like soldiers. I like the conversation between him and Sam - it helps show us his worldview, but even with all that he doesn’t apologize for cutting off contact with Sam.

Notable Lines:

“Hey Dean, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it.”

“Are you telling me you're cool with just falling into line, and letting him run the whole show?” “If that's what it takes.”

“You're the one who said ‘don't come back,’ Dad. You closed that door, not me.”

“Back in 1835, when Halley's comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo. They say Samuel Colt made a gun.”

“After your mother passed all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you...prepared. Ready. Except somewhere along the line I stopped being your father and I ... I became your drill sergeant.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.6

IMdB Rating: 8.5

7x19: Of Grave Importance

Written by: Buckleming

Directed by: Tim Andrew

Original air date: April 20, 2012

Plot Synopsis:

Bobby's spirit tries to help Sam and Dean as they try to find a missing friend inside a haunted house.

Features:

Foxhole trysts, more of Dean’s functional alcoholism, Bobby’s haunting efforts, a super duper haunted house, the mechanics of ghosthood.

My Thoughts:

Y’all, we found it. A Buckleming episode that is not only watchable, but enjoyable. The dialogue wasn’t even atrocious.

Annie appeared on screen and I straight up thought it was Ellen for a second, so apparently Bobby has a type. The Hemingway foxhole bit in the restaurant was actually so funny that I laughed out loud. Well-written and well-acted.

It’s nice to have a Bobby POV episode now that they finally confirmed that he was still around at the end of the last season 7 episode, and I like the ethical dilemma that it raises about the morals of killing ghosts. It would be better if that was followed up with any nuance in their later hunting habits, but we can’t have everything.

This episode made me know in my heart that 15x02 Raising Hell could have been handled better. The same writers seven years earlier did a ghost power struggle and it was interesting and had high stakes, rather than a union but evil.

It is funny that Bobby and Annie spent so much time looking for hidden doors in this episode. You guys are ghosts. Walk through walls until you find what you’re looking for.

Notable Lines:

“All right, now. I can kill werewolves, fix a Pinto, and bake cornbread. I will be damned if I can't get Zen.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.4

IMdB Rating: 8.5

In Conclusion: A whole day off tomorrow and I have no idea what I’m going to use my lunch break for.

<< Previous Day | Next Day >>

#Stackednatural #supernatural #spn #1x20 #Dead Man's Blood #7x19 #Of Grave Importance

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gothjeffskinner · 4 years

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My Hockey Recs for a Time Without Hockey:

Youtubers:

-Thehockeyguy (general hockey new and history)

-Steve Dangle (mostly leafs but it makes you feel good about not being a leaf fan)

-Jen95 (good compilations)

-Jillian Fisher (fun every team videos & such)

-zZCarolinaHurricanesZz (Canes as vines and such)

-On The Bench (how not to play hockey)

Instagrams:

-Taxen.tage (oskar lindblom's dog)

-Kartanbay (aesthetic nwhl player)

-Kurtis Gabriel (the only real ally)

Big sports media:

-Bardown (the fun part of tsn)

-SBNation (not hockey focused but it's there, please watch The Bob Emergency or Dorktown)

Music:

-hockey puc/nk (playlist on spotify)

-Hockey Hair by Pansy Division (gay hockey song)

-Hockey Dad (indie rock band with no actual connection to hockey but I love them)

Podcasts:

-Puck Bunnies (ladys covering actually hockey stuff, roasting everyone, and talking about the lack of personality in the nhl)

-Steve Dangle Podcast (good Toronto boys talking hockey and sometimes the bachelor)

Books

-Check, Please by Nogozi Ukazu (gay hockey webcomic) still updating

-Bad Boy by Diana Wieler (triple a small town player finds himself becoming an enforcer while learning his best friend is gay) 1989

-Citizen Jack by Sam Humphries (a comic book about a hockey player who sells his soul to become a politician. Gorey at times) 2016

Movies:

-Slapshot 1977(classic hockey movie that's funny and has well written women characters)

-Goon 2011 (Slapshot can I copy your homework? Sure just change somethings so it doesn't look like you copied)

-Breakfast With Scot 2007 (former hockey player has to confront his internalized homophobia after having to take in his gender-nonconforming nephew)

-Den Brother 2010 (Disney channel original movies I haven't watch since it came out)

Other:

-ned39 (hurricanes prospect Alex Nedeljkovic twitch streams fortnite)

-Letterkenny (Rural Ontario comedy with lovable idiot hockey player side characters)

#nhl hockey #nhl #hockey #carolina hurricanes #kurtis gabriel #national hockey league #alex nedeljkovic #check please #bardown #bulbul kartanbay #steve dangle #hockey recommendations #my recs

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thrakaboom · 3 years

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*Total: 93

+Books for School: 11

*Graphic Novels: 53

^Audio Books/Read Alouds: 35

I may have missed some bc I didn’t do a good job of keeping track of what I read illegally whoops, or things I read in floppies that may have gotten trades

^Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth

The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett

So You Want to Be a Wizard - Diane Duane

*Green Lantern: Legacy - Minh Le

^*Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight: Grimm - J. M. Dematteis

^The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie

^*Superior Foes of Spider-Man Vol 1: Getting the Band Back Together -Nick Spencer)

^*Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe - Cullen Bunn

^*Deadpool Killistrated - Cullen Bunn

^*Deadpool Kills Deadpool - Cullen Bunn

^*Wolverine: Old Man Logan - Jeff Lemire

^*Superior Foes of Spider-Man Vol 2: The Crime of the Century - Nick Spencer

^*Superior Foes of Spider-Man Vol 3: Game Over - Nick Spencer

^*Avengers: Rage of Ultron - Rick Rememder

*Will Eisner's the Spirit: The Corpse-Makers - Francesco Francavilla

^*Irredeemable Ant-Man Vol 1: Low-Life - Robert Kirkman

The Isle of the Lost - Melissa De La Cruz

+Hard Times - Charles Dickens

^*Young Avengers Vol. 1: Sidekicks - Allan Heinberg

^Magic for Liars - Sarah Gailey

Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

+The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde

*X-Babies: Stars Reborn - Gregg Schigiel

^*Uncanny Avengers: Unity Vol 1: Lost Future - Gerry Duggan

^*The Superior Spider-Man, Vol. 1: My Own Worst Enemy - Dan Slott

* X-Men: Children of the Atom - Joe Casey

^*Hulk: World War Hulk - Greg Pak

^*Moon Knight: From the Dead - Warren Ellis

^*Deadpool, Vol. 3: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Gerry Duggan

Dog Run Moon - Callan Wink

^The Science of Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen

^The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman

*Zatanna and the House of Secrets - Matthew Cody

^Girl in Hyacinth Blue - Susan Vreeland

The Hanging Tree - Ben Aaronovitch

+Kinky - Denise Duhamel

^*Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty - Greg Rucka

^*Batman/The Flash: The Button - Tom King & Joshua Williamson

Murder Past Due - Miranda James

* Archie Vol. 1 - Mark Waid

*Event Leviathan - Brian Micheal Bendis

^Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

^Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

+Hawksmoor - Peter Ackroyd

+American Journal: 50 Poems for Our Time - Tracy K. Smith

+Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems - Joy Harjo

*X-Men Noir - Fred Van Lente

*My Hero Academia Volume 1 - Kohei Horikoshi

+Waterland - Graham Swift

+Psychology in Modules: 10th Edition - David G. Myers

+England, England - Julian Barnes

^Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch

*Navajo Code Talkers - Blake Hoena

*Superman End of the Century - Stuart Immonen

*X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain - Fred Van Lente

The Science of Discworld II: The Globe - Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen

Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett

*Ultimate Comics X: Origins - Jeph Leob

Educated - Tara Westover

Secondhand Bodies and One-Winged Butterflies - Gwyneth Campbell**

*X-Men: Lifedeath - Chris Claremont & Barry Windsor-Smith

^*Superman: Secret Origins - Geoff Johns

^*Sandman: Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

^Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

^Sandry's Book - Tamora Pierce

^The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch

The Ghosts of Evolution - Connie Barlow

+Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare

*New Mutants Classic Vol. 2 - Bob Mcleod & Chris Claremont

*Wolverine Vol 1: The Four Sisters - Tom Taylor

*All-New Wolverine: Civil War II - Tom Taylor

*All-New Wolverine: Enemy of the State II - Tom Taylor

*All-New Wolverine: Immune - Tom Taylor

*All-New Wolverine Vol.5: Orphans of X - Tom Taylor

Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett

^*Alpha Flight Classic Vol 1 - John Bryne

^The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett

*John Constantine: Hellblazer, Vol. 1: Original Sins - Jamie Delano

*John Constantine: Hellblazer Vol 2: The Devil You Know - Jamie Delano

*John Constantine: Hellblazer Vol 3: The Fear Machine - Jaime Delano

*Essential X-Factor Vol. 1 - Roger Stern & Louise Simonson

*Essential X-Factor Vol 2 - Louise Simonson

*X-Terminators - Louise Simonson

*X-Force: Cable and the New Mutants - Louise Simonson & Dwight Zimmerman

*X-Force: Under the Gun - Fabian Nicieza

*X-Men: X-Cutioner's Song - Scott Lobdell, Peter David, and Fabian Nicieza

*X-Force: Assault on Graymalkin - Fabian Nicieza

Deep Wizardry - Diane Duane

^The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton

+Britt-Marie Was Here - Fredrik Backman

*Daredevil Vol 1 - Mark Waid

*Dial H for Hero Vol 2: New Heroes of Metropolis - Sam Humphries

**This is the book my best friend wrote!!

#hp's book list #books #long post #hp talks

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a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives · 4 years

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AN INTERVIEW WITH LUKE ARNOLD

Many people know actor Luke Arnold from the Starz TV show Black Sails where he plays the character, John Silver. But, to add to his extensive acting credits is his debut novel, The Last Smile in Sunder City. The first novel of the Fetch Phillips Archives series. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Sunder City, you should fix that ASAP. (Our review can be found here.) Sunder City is a little bit of fantasy, a little bit Sam Spade, and a whole lot of good writing. GdM got the opportunity to sit down with Luke and talk to him a bit about his writing, and what is happening in the future for Fetch Phillips.

GDM: Hi Luke. Thank you for agreeing to chat with me a bit about your writing, life, and The Last Smile in Sunder City.

LA: My absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me.

GDM: For the uninitiated, could you tell me a little about yourself and how you got into writing Sunder City? Have you always been a writer?

LA: I’ve been working as an actor for most of my adult life. When I started out, all my creative paths were intertwined. I’d write things, act in them, direct them, and collaborate with anyone on anything. Then I was lucky enough to have some success in the acting world, most notably on a show called Black Sails, and gave that all of my focus for a few years. After that wrapped up, it felt like it was time to dig back into my own writing, so I put away some time and punched out the first draft.

GDM: I know with acting, you must pull character creation and visualization from a creative space. How does that differ from character creation when writing novels?

LA: In some ways, they couldn’t be more opposite. When you act on film, you really have to trust everyone around you and hope that you’re in safe hands. You work off someone else’s material on a set that someone else built, in a costume that someone else made, while you listen to direction and hand your performance over to an editor at the end of it. It’s about doing your homework, preparing properly, and then committing to this brief window of time when you try to be in the moment and deliver a performance worth capturing.

GDM: With a novel, you are the entire crew, and the window lasts as long as you need it to. For the most part, there is no collaboration, no outside input, nobody rocking up with a ready-made set or a beautiful coat to put on one of your characters. For better or worse, it’s all you.

LA: To be honest, being able to bounce back and forth between the two makes me enjoy each of them even more.

GDM: The Last Smile in Sunder City was a remarkable story. I loved how the story is told through a series of interactions, both now and in the past. It was a compelling narrative device in describing how a character can change once crossing a pivotal moment in their lives. In Fetch’s case, it was the before and after the Coda. Did you plan for the story to be told in this fashion, or did the story change organically as you wrote it?

LA: When I started writing this story, it was only the present-day part of the story: a man-for-hire searching for a Vampire in a broken fantasy world. I thought maybe I would do a bunch of these short cases, stick them together, and then do an origin story one day.

I shared the story with some friends in the publishing world and while they really liked it, they informed me that collections of short stories are nearly impossible to sell, and suggested that a novel would be a better path. Thankfully, I took their advice.

I think the scars of that process can still be seen on this story, but I kind of like that. It’s the same thing that happened to Raymond Chandler (my biggest influence when it comes to this book). Chandler wrote short stories for a magazine called Black Mask. Most of his novels were an amalgamation of those shorter stories, tied together and padded out.

My second book, Dead Man in a Ditch, is more tightly constructed, but for the first story about a hopeless, wandering gumshoe who only begins to find his way, I think the creative journey added to the tone.

GDM: How did you create the after Coda world? What was the inspiration?

LA: A lot of the pre-Coda world (the magical time) was planned out before I started. I tracked the beginning of magic and thought about how it would seep into the world and create versions of all the magical creatures we’re familiar with. But in the post-Coda, a lot of it comes to life as I take Fetch around the city and see who he stumbles across. Rather than being inspired by any particular time or place in history, it’s more about a feeling. A bit of guilt. A touch of depression. A regular spoonful of self-loathing. Sometimes it’s about growing up. Sometimes it’s about living in the aftermath of mistakes. It all depends on where Fetch’s mind is at. He’s always struggling with some internal dilemma, and I love to make him bump into the perfect creature that will make things even worse.

GDM: Are you a big fantasy and science fiction reader? Which books have you been inspired by?

LA: I’ve always been a big reader, but I only dabbled in fantasy before this. I’ve been doing my best to catch up over the last few years. Most of the fantasy worlds that influenced me would have come from video games, anime, and film. I’ve been going through Final Fantasy 7 recently (remake, and replaying the original), and realized that it probably influenced Sunder City more than any book.

There’s plenty of Pratchett in my world, and I’ve stolen fantasy creatures from everywhere, but you’ll find more elements of Humphry Bogart than Hobbits.

GDM: One of the take-aways I had From The Last Smile in Sunder City was even under all the dark, the ominous, the despair, under the constant struggle to live, there is always a small shiny kernel of hope. As a reader, I am drawn to stories that have this; it helps me connect and want more as a reader. Was this always the intention?

LA: Sure. I love playing with the expectations we have of fantasy characters versus what we expect of ourselves. In worlds with magic spells, evil villains, and ancient prophesies, we want our heroes to find the special sword, kill the baddie, and restore peace to the land. When you’re younger, our world seems so different to the ones in books that it feels like escapism. But as you get older, you realise that there are actually these looming threats coming to destroy the us and villains who cause suffering for their own gain, but the bit that we struggle with (at least I do) is what we can do about it. Could we be better? Does anything we do matter? Or could we wake up tomorrow and actually make a difference?

I don’t know how to fix the world (yet) but I do know that a shared moment with a close friend or a perfect cup of coffee will help me get up tomorrow and keep searching.

GDM: Can you tell me a bit about Dead Man in a Ditch?

LA: The first book hints that the magic might not be completely gone for good. Of course, Fetch isn’t ready to believe that, but word has gotten out. Folks start arriving at Fetch’s door, asking him to find a way to fix things. That includes the police department, who invites Fetch to a crime scene where a guy’s face has been blown apart by a fireball.

With the stage set by the first book, Dead Man in a Ditch makes some big moves forward, though the shadows from the past are still hanging around.

GDM: Finally, I always like to end on a light-hearted question. The Dinner Party question. If you could have dinner and conversation with three figures from real life, alive or dead, or fiction, who would they be and why?

LA: Jim Henson. I think Sesame Street is the most important television show ever made and everything Jim brought into the world has made it a better place. Maybe I’d get to learn a couple of things but maybe I’d just get to spend a couple of hours in his presence.

David Bowie (Similar reasons to Henson, really) and Nina Simone (because she seemed really disappointed at Montreux that Bowie wasn’t there, so I’d die to see them hanging out). And there would be a piano tucked in the corner, as if by accident, but I’d never ask anyone to play (until the second bottle of wine, when I absolutely would).

I know they’re all creative, but then I would at least have a chance of joining in the conversation. If it was Nelson Mandela, Marie Curie and Martin Luther King, I’d be outed as an imbecile immediately.

- Grimdark Magazine (x)

#luke arnold #interview #the last smile in sunder city

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revisitedgrunt · 5 years

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Harley and Ivy.

A new fans thoughts on this relationship and the Harley Quinn comic: Part 1 of 4.

On a whim I picked up Harley Quinn: Volume 1: Hot in the City, last month. I thought it was fantastic and immediately brought volumes 2 - 6. I've just now read issue 63 and I'm caught up with the current run.

I absolutely loved the 2013-2016 run. It's probably the most consistently good run of comics I've ever read. Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti do an absolutely amazing job. I loved the way they wrote Harley, I loved the supporting characters, I loved the location and I loved every story.

Their time on the current run was also phenomenal. I had a great time reading issues 1 to 34. Frank Teiri's short run was fine and Sam Humphries work... I'll come back to that later.

I had heard that there were Harley/Ivy shippers, but, to be honest, I thought it was an unsubstantiated ship. Fan's shipping them because they thought they looked cute together and not because there was anything of substance there. I was very wrong,

Ivy is introduced in issue 2, very, very early in the series. In her very first appearance, her very first interaction with Harley is pretty flirty.

There's talk of kissing, Ivy being cool seeing Harley's beaver, seeming a but disappointed when it's an actual beaver. Bernie's sexual innuendo to Ivy, bearing in mind the things Bernie says are an extension of Harley's mind.

Yeah, that was a lot for one scene, their very first scene. I now understood why people shipped them. However, I wasn't fully on board yet.

Harley and Ivy have a fun adventure saving some animals from a shelter. Harley decides to adopt them all, and Ivy, thoughtfully, creates a park in Harley's building for the animals.

There's also this scene. Wow, this scene.

Harley and Ivy spend the night on the beach together, which, to me, seems inherently romantic. Ivy looking over at Harley and, being so overwhelmed by what she sees, can't help but kiss her and call her “My cute, little psycho.” That's pretty damn gay. I'm sure some could argue that it was plutonic, but, come on! No one does that to someone they only have plutonic feelings for.

This scene convinced me Ivy loves Harley. It also happens in Ivy's first appearance. It seems to me that Amanda and Jimmy wanted to establish this immediately.

In issue 3 we see that Ivy has left Harley some plants, which is very sweet.

Issue 7 gives us more flirting from Harley.

Issue 15 has a pretty interesting scene.

Harley's upset that she had to cancel her date with Mason and is worried the relationship is over. Ivy is really supportive and gives her some good advice. Things then turn pretty sexual, pretty quickly. “Is that your hand?” “Is that yours?” “Are you gonna get off?” “Are you?”. Oh my god! Sure, they'd both been drinking, but they weren't drunk. This scene would seem to indicate that, if nothing else, they have a physical attraction to each other.

The knock on the door is Mason. He and Harley reschedule their date and Ivy is happy for her. I was a bit confused at this point. Considering Ivy exhibits no hurt or jealously that Harley wants to date someone else, I thought that I was wrong about Ivy's feelings for Harley.

The Road Trip Special gives us this.

Harley seems very happy that Ivy has taken off her dress. It's more evidence that Harley is physically attracted to Ivy.

The Road Trip Special also has Ivy being really supportive. She gives Harley a photo album Harley's dead uncle had kept, and she regrows a dead tree on Harley's aunt and uncles grave.

The Annual has a pretty momentous scene. Ivy's been locked up in Arkham and Harley goes to break her out. Harley finds out Ivy has been brainwashed, and this happens.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time the two have kissed in the prime canon timeline. I'm a bit conflicted about this scene. It would seem to indicate Harley has romantic feelings for Ivy, The sound effect indicates it's a big, passionate kiss, not a peck on the lips. Harley also cups the back of Ivy's neck, which is an intimate gesture. In addition, Harley thinks this kiss will cure Ivy, which makes me think about Sleeping Beauty and true love. However, while it's amazing and romantic that Harley thinks this, Ivy isn't an active participant, the two aren't sharing a kiss, which is a little disappointing.

Harley and Ivy have a heart to heart in issue 25.

My immediate take away from this scene is that Harley has no problem whatsoever being naked in front of Ivy.

Ivy expresses a lot of care, concern and respect for Harley. She doesn't want her to break into Arkham alone, but she respects Harley's decision to do so. After the Joker, this sort of care and respect is exactly what Harley needs.

Harley talks about the Joker and how she still has some for love for him. At the same time, the reason she's doing this is she loves Mason. Harley jokes about Ivy loving her and asks if Ivy wants to feel her up. Ivy's response made me spit out my drink. How do they know where that leads? Just how physical have they got with each other? Anyway, there is a lot of sexual innuendo here, and with everything that's come before, reinforces the fact that these two are sexually attracted to each other

A later scene from issue 25 gave me clarity on Ivy's feelings for Harley.

The question “Jealous?” implies that Madame Macabre knows Ivy has feelings for Harley. This means I was right about Ivy loving Harley. However, it's also much more than I expected. Ivy has that special kind of love for Harley. The unselfish kind, where you just want the person you love to be happy, even if they're not with you.

I really liked Ivy before, this scene made me fall in love with her.

Ivy continues to be awesome in issue 29.

Despite having limited time, she finds the time to see Harley and make sure she's OK, demonstrating again how caring and supportive she is. Ivy's also all over Harley, something Harley does not mind.

In case I had any lingering doubts that Harley has a physical attraction for Ivy, she says two things here that confirm it for me. She expresses disappointment that Ivy can't stay overnight as she could “use the attention.” Shortly after she tries to convince Ivy to spend the night. Now, I may have a dirty mind, but it seems to me like Harley is after sex here. There are several ways Amanda and Jimmy could have worded this to make it less sexual, they didn't do that.

Interestingly, Harley also says she misses Ivy more than Mason. I don't think she's telling Ivy what she wants to hear, that's not the type of relationship they have. So, if we take her at her word, she misses Ivy more than a guy she was in love with. That would seem to be a pretty big hint about how much Harley cares for Ivy. This, along with the kiss scene in the annual, convinced me that Harley has romantic feelings for Ivy, not just sexual ones.

So Harley is polyamorous? Non-monogamous? She loved Mason and she loved Ivy. She had lines of dialogue that indicted she wanted to sleep with both of them. Harley and Ivy didn't talk about dating, but Ivy says several times how busy she is, so maybe it's just not the right time for them. Harley, being non-monogamous and caring about both of them, is happy to date the one who has the time to be in a relationship. Or I could be completely wrong.

Just a quick word about Mason. He was fine, obviously a better boyfriend than that Joker, but he was pretty boring and certainly not a standout character.

Issue 30, the last one in the original run, ends with Harley and Ivy sitting in a tree. They are sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Yep, Amanda and Jimmy went there. Subtlety was completely thrown out the window. Haley and Ivy, sitting in a tree. Also, Ivy knows Harley isn't furry. Wow!

I cannot express how much I love the 2013-2016 run. Every issue is so much fun.

It's pretty wild to me how caring, supportive and loving Ivy was the entire run. Amanda and Jimmy immediately establish how much Ivy cares for Harley. By the end of the run, it's clear to me that Harley has similar feelings. Given how popular these two character are, I have to salute DC for letting them write Harley and Ivy this way. I'm sure some people could argue that they are just really, really good friends, but when you actually read the comic, they act pretty damn gay.

Thanks for reading. Part 2 will be my thoughts on the current run

#harley quinn #poison ivy #harlivy

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co-mixed · 4 years

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Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde.

The couple, not the comic book.

It’s time for my favorite segment: What went wrong?

You can probably guess whose disaster romance I was following these past days.

If not, I’ll just tell you: Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde!

Spoiler - they both are jerks!

Also, this is very spoilery, and if you don’t want to know what happens, go aheas and give these books a read:

Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3 (2013)

Legendary Star-Lord vol.1 (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy & X men: Black Vortex Alpha

Guardians of the Galaxy & X men: Black Vortex Omega

Star Lord (2015)

If spoiler alert doesn’t scare you, let’s dive in!

Background:

These two met by what can only be described as an accident in “The trial of Jean Grey” event. What happens is teenage version of Jean Grey gets kidnapped by Shi’ar Empire to stand trial for crimes committed by her older self (Shi’ar justice!). X-men and Guardians team up (and invite Starjammers) and rush to her rescue. After Jean escapes with the help of all three teams, X-men return to Earth, and before Guardians leave, Peter gives Kitty a “space-holo-phone” so that she could call him any time. (Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3 #12).

The attraction

It starts with innocent flirting, but you know right away where this whole thing’s headed. Back when I’ve read this event for the first time, they were already together in the middle of Battleworld event. So at first I was very very much against this romance, and I couldn’t explain why exactly. It took me a binge read of every single issue with them together to finally figure it out.

They start holo-dating, and it’s all pretty adorable. The word “cute” comes to mind and rightfully so: it’s exactly how Kitty refers to Peter, so easy to see that she has a crush. She falls for his looks and probably a little bit for the idea of that carefree living, cruising around in space, and stealing stuff. Little did she know…

Let’s see it from her side first. She gets a crush and immediately starts questioning it (a very relatable thing to do). She’s basically weighing negative aspects against her feelings, because there is nothing positive whatsoever. We see that when she talks to Illyana.

Kitty herself even brings up the point that she has too much history with guys named Peter (I really hope it’s not because of a hamster, because this would be weeeeeird). So every rational part of her tells her not to date him, while everything stupid he does, actually gives him points. And he does a lot of stupid, so you do the math.

Now from Peter’s point of view, seemed to me like he was into her right away, and didn’t even hesitate. That was obvious when instead of going after a random girl in a random cantina, he chose to call Kitty. Pretty cute, and in the beginning of a relationship pretty much all you need.

Their first date was weird and incredibly uncomfortable, which makes it look like a sitcom, but also builds up on all the issues they are about to face (Legendary Star Lord vol.1 #6).

One of those issues is Kitty’s mantra “I hate space”, and Quill’s famous dislike for living on Earth (hard to disagree - why limit yourself to one planet, when you can have the whole galaxy?). But hey, Kitty has her reasons too, besides she has responsibilities as a professor and an X-man.

Regardless, she chooses space, and chooses Peter (Legendary Star Lord vol.1 #7). And even though her teammates/friends don’t bother her that much, she’s still running away. But come on, who wouldn’t with everything X-men have to endure?

Does Peter actually understand how much of a sacrifice it is for her? I don’t think that he does. At times he even disregards her issues and experiences, because Earth can’t compare to the whole galaxy.

The actual relationship

Kitty becomes friends with the guardians really fast, I don’t even think I can recall a single clash between them. She has her share of friendly banter with Angela, but that’s it. Other than that she fits in very well. I will say that at times she stays a little on the background. She’s playing a role of an incredibly supportive, albeit nagging girlfriend. Since I’m not a hardcore Kitty Pryde fan, I don’t have an issue with that.

Anyway, she’s up for heroic adventures as well as very questionable ones. The shady stuff is something that’s out of character for Kitty, but every once in a while even that is acceptable, especially considering that she herself says how tired she is of being reliable. Ironically, reliable is exactly what Peter needs, because there can’t be two unreliable partners.

What he deals with is… well. the same things he deals with any other day. Has multiple bounties on his head, a queue of enemies ready to kill him or deliver to someone who wants to, Thanos, Annuhilus, more Thanos, and his own father. Honestly, that’s so much crap, that I seriously think he can’t afford to be too serious about that. As a result, he doesn’t seem that serious about Kitty. He repeatedly tells her that he is, but there’s always a galactic threat. Black Vorteх is yet another one.

During and after that things are moving really fast. So fast that there’s an inevitable proposal from Peter, and a rushed “yes” from Kitty. (Guardians of the Galaxy & X men: Black Vortex Omega).

And that’s when it became obvious to me, the reason I had such a problem with them getting together. It was never supposed to be a lasting relationship. And when I say lasting I mean Jean-Paul/Kyle lasting. Obviously Kitty was eventually gonna be needed back at the school, and later Krakoa. Besides, is it possible to imagine Quill as a married man?

They could’ve used another few years of dating and proper relationship development. Not as a betrothed couple, not even as a living together on a spaceship one. So that’s what bothered me, their relationship was used as a tool to justify Kitty joining the team, and Peter being a president on Spartax. The latter obviously didn’t last and led to their breakup.

The breakup

The end of Kitty and Peter’s romance was not handled tastefully. Yep, we did get a funny storyline out of it, with the Collector and confessions about what has really happened (Star Lord 2015 #6-8). But in that case they both ended up being massive jerks. And all the things that made them cute together: all their jokes, awkwardness, earth references, chemistry etc. all of it worked against them. It even feels like eventual truce they achieved was build solely on the fact that they aren’t likely to meet any time soon.

The outcome, or actually my take on this

It’s not easy to sum up something this messy. But hey, that’s the idea: to review the relationship and figure it out.

If you take out all the heroic stuff and the fact that Peter lives in space, this reminds me of a romcom. Two college students with their respective groups of friends, and their own separate lives, meet each other and fall in love (I bet there’s a ton on fanfiction on the matter). If that had been the case, this relationship could’ve actually worked well. I think they do make a good couple. And if you just give such a couple some time to grow together, they will. In fact, I have a very good real-life example of a similar relationship. Sure, unlike Kitty and Peter, those two don’t have the weight of the galaxy and mutantkind on their shoulders, but underneath all that the problems are still the same. And it’s possible to work through them.

It’s the bigger problems (and I don’t mean Bendis or Sam Humphries) that break up Kitty and Quill. It’s their sense of what is important, and in a way their immaturity and pettiness.

Him forgetting her birthday? Her stealing his identity? Okay, I totally see where she was coming from. Ruling a planet is hard and all, but come on…

Regardless of how you imagine their break up really went (Kitty is an unreliable narrator), it did happen.

They’re over, and as far as I know, many fans prefer it that way.

To me, however, they’re a good example of two characters who seem like a good idea but don’t actually work. And you know what? These things happen in life as well, so I can’t hold a grudge against writers for throwing them together. Quite the opposite.

#star-lord #kitty pryde #peter quill #shadowcat #x-men #xmen #guardians of the galaxy #gotg #marvel #marvel comics #marvel ship #comics #comicships #long reads #kate pryde #star lord

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hellyeahheroes · 6 years

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Ten Winners and Losers of DC Rebirth:

DC has dropped the Rebirth logo out of their titles. That is usually the sing they consider that the transition period for their books is over. They have built their status quo and what they have built during it is the new DC Universe. While I doubt fans will stop calling DC books Rebirth titles from now on (same as they didn’t stop using New 52 name long after DC dropped it from the covers), I want to look at what they managed to fix and bring to new fresh in this period, this last 1,5 year and also on what has failed. What were the winners and losers of DC Rebirth. Enjoy:

Winner: Superman Family

Out of all lines, I don’t think any has made as much of an improvement as Superman’s. While there were good stories in New 52 Era, that time’s take on Superman has been generally seen with negative reception. Bringing back married Superman and Lois AND their son Jon has been a brilliant move, that quickly launched both Superman and Action Comics to some of the most popular in the era. The emphasis on Superman as a father made him more relatable to growing audience, several well-written Lois moments helped remind people why she is a belowed character and Jon quickly gained love of older fans and kids alike. That success was then quickly capitalized on with Super Sons, giving the spotlight to Jon and his new friend, Damian Wayne. The return of classic Superman villains like Eradicator, Metallo, Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, Mr. Mxyztplk, Manchester Black and General Zod with a new, interesting antagonist in Mr. Oz, helped make it an era that will certainly be remembered.

Adding to it three new books - Superwoman, Supergirl and New Super-Man only cements the lines’ status as probably the best quality-wise of the entire Rebirth. While Superwoman was sadly the shortest-living of them all, it still left us with Traci Thirteen and Natasha Irons as a couple, a move fans approved so much we now hope for Traci’s sexuality to be addressed in her upcoming show and Young Justice Season 3. Meanwhile, new take on Supergirl, taking clues from the show, but making Kara a high-schooler with adopted parents, has been well-regarded by the fans and New Super-Man became a minor fan-favorite, to the point DC took back the decision to cancel the series and let it continue as New Super-Man & the Justice League of China.

Loser: Blue Beetle

Poor Jaime. One of the few characters that Rebirth set to fix after New 52 made him into a hot mess. The premise was solid - Jaime getting a mentor in form of previous Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, written by Keith Giffen, who shaped Ted into a comedic character and helped launch Jaime’s 2006 book. It had the potential for success. But the creative team (which J.M.DeMatteis joining in the middle) clearly didn’t believe in it and tried to launch a stealth team book they should have pitched in the first place. This resulted in a chaotic story that has lead to Blue Beetle’s cancellation and many plotlines left unresolved.

Winner: Damian Wayne

Rebirth was a good time to be Damian fan. Between his appearances in not one but two books, leading new Teen Titans and forming great friendship with Jonathan Kent as well as having a handful guest issues, be it in Nightwing or Superman or Batman, Damian has received a tremendous push. While the quality of some of these titles remains debatable among the fans and some are unhappy with him not being pushed as Batman’s partner, it is undeniable they have a lot of fresh Damian content to choose from.

Loser: Tim Drake

By contrast with Damian, Tim Drake has spent most of the Rebirth imprisoned by Mr. Oz and presumed dead. While his spirit was hanging over his friends in Detective Comics and his perceived loss affected them greatly, he himself was almost not present at all, really having a chance to shine only in two stories, Rise of the Batmen and A Lonely Place Of Living. In a way it feels as if James Tynion IV even knew he likes Tim too much and moved him away to give everyone else the spotlight - spotlight they undeniably needed, may I add.

Winner: Batman

It’s bizarre for me to even put him on this list. Batman is the golden child of DC, the fortunate son, the star, the fan-favorite. He always gets best writers, the spotlight, the books, the guest appearances. And yet, DC Rebirth did something unbelievable, something I would never bet to see with Batman. They let him be weak. When over the years Batman has amassed reputation that earned him nicknames and memes like “Prep Time”, “BatWank” or “Batgod” over how perfect, always right and invincible he became, in Rebirth this feels toned down.

Batman in Rebirth was allowed to have flaws and vulnerabilities. His moments of super-competence are now contrasted with his emotional vulnerability. Batman was allowed to be a father who needs his children maybe even more than they need him, he was allowed to take serious beatings from Bane and Reverse Flash, to grieve after Tim, to seek happiness in marriage with Selina, to see his fears and regrets exposed in monstrous forms of Seven Dark Knights. All these things like tiny woodpeckers chipped little bits away from the image of BatGod and brought back Bruce Wayne, Batman the human. And boy did he needed to come back and remind people why this character is popular, to begin with. I mean, if even my bitter and cold heart started feeling a bit more sympathy for the guy whom last few decades made me despise, you know DC is doing something right.

Loser: Raven

One of the biggest mistakes of DC Rebirth was Marv Wolfman’s Raven book. Not the book itself, but the fact it was only a miniseries. Being limited to only six-issue format have visibly constrained the potential the story had and forced the writer to rush things. The fact that in January DC launches new Raven book only makes it that much more infuriating. DC had little faith in the character and while I’m grateful they were willing to try at all and they clearly are testing waters for her potential ongoing, I wish we could see how things would turn out, had she been given one in the first place. Or at least a twelve-issue miniseries, I’d rather have that than 12 issues of Chuck Dixon slamming his head against the wall in Bane: Conquest.

Winner: Green Lanterns

That was the book I doubt that many people believed in. Two relatively new members of Green Lanterns being given their title that early and made to work together. A book written by Sam Humphries, who didn’t gain that much of a good reputation for his works at Marvel. And yet...it worked. The series earned peoples’ love with an honest approach to subjects like anxiety disorder and extremely relatable portrayal of main characters. Jessica Cruz, in particular, seems to have grown into a fan-favorite to the point she’s going to be Green Lantern in DC Superhero Girls Universe and may even find a way into DC Comics Bombshells. This book opened a path of bright future to both Jessica and Simon, seeing how it still steadily continued as a bi-weekly series when other books with seemingly more famous character have been reduced to a monthly series. It opened Sam Humphries a way to his dream work at Nightwing. It thinks out of all Rebirth books this one might be one of the biggest breakout hits.

Loser: Gotham Academy

It feels cruel to put Gotham Academy in that category. The creative team truly gave their all to this title. But sadly, the second book they got managed only last for twelve issues, enough to wrap the dangling plot threads. While other DC books benefitted from a new beginning, this one seems to have suffered what restarts did to Marvel books - diminished sales. But I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again - the combined amount of issues Gotham Academy had is an impressive number of 38. Let the fans never allow anyone tell them this title failed. I need to also praise DC for the amount of faith they’ve put into this series and how hard they tried to make it take off and become popular. This effort is worthy of respect. And something that I’d never been expecting from Marvel, so kudos for trying to do better.

Winner: New 52 Wally West

When Old Wally West from before Flashpoint came back, many people feared this means his New 52 counterpart, now revealed to be a cousin with the same name, will drop into comic book limbo and never be mentioned again. Thankfully DC had a better idea - they kept both of them around. And through a string of writers who wanted to use him, Young Wally has not only been prominently featured as a supporting character in Flash but also joined Teen Titans, had appearances in his cousin’s book Titans and even managed to become a cast member in Deathstroke’s series. While I have complained his life probably sucks with an amount of bad stuff happening, he did leave his mark on larger DC Universe, had a chance to win fans’ love and established relationships with other characters. Hell, he even managed to send Raven’s heart...racing.

I’m sorry, no more puns, I swear, don’t hurt me!

Loser: Conner Kent and Bart Allen

Another case where it feels outright cruel to call them losers. Both of them were erased with the reboot and replaced with versions that can be respectively called a hot mess and an outright identity theft (no, seriously, New 52 Bart turned out to be some asshole using his name). Since Rebirth launched the books started to tease fans with their returns. First, it was who might be in Mr. Oz prison next to Tim Drake’s in Detective Comics. Then the very clear erasure of Conner from Superman’s memories of Reign of Supermen, with Clark noting something is missing on the same page. Then Batman of Tomorrow bringing up Conner and finding out present Tim doesn’t remember him. The Murder Machine telling Barry there was a Bart in his reality. James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson being very clear they want them back. And of course that Geoff Johns himself seems to want pre-flashpoint Conner back. And now the upcoming appearance of their evil future selves, Titans of Tomorrow in Super Sons of Tomorrow crossover. On the one hand, it appears DC wants to play a long game with setting up their return. On the other, many fans are probably having enough of constantly being shown a carrot on the stick and I hope DC will manage to bring those two back before fandom’s patience runs out.

Winner: Christopher Priest

If you read his essay The New Black Mambo, you will know that Christopher Priest has a complicated history with Big 2. After his successful, character-defining, run on Black Panther, he started to feel the publishers are seeing him as “black guy to write black people” and he felt they’re denying him their A-List characters and jerking him around whenever he tries to pitch a non-black book (he tried to launch an all-female Avengers series almost a decade before A-Force, for example). He also felt his books that do feature black and other poc protagonists are thrown to the assholes on the Internet, even back then ready to declare them a “black propaganda” and other bullshit, which killed his project the Crew before the first issue was even out. This had led him to reject offers on DC and Marvel books for nine years.

Thankfully, during Rebirth DC was pulling its collective head out of its collective ass so well, they finally noticed why he keeps saying no and pitched him a different character - Deathstroke. On that book, Priest not only managed to rebuild mythos destroyed by New 52, but also built around Slade a diverse cast of complex, multi-layered characters and showed exactly how much of an awful, destructive person somebody like him would be. This opened him the door to Justice League, which he is currently writing, glad he can finally get his hands on all those characters he was always denied.

Loser: Cyborg

The news on Christopher Priest taking over Justice League was quickly followed by reveal he will make Cyborg the new leader of the team. This sadly quickly became ironic, as DC announced the cancellation of Victor’s own series. Cyborg was another one of those characters DC tried to push even before Rebirth, during DC You, but to no success. Cyborg still retains his role in Justice League so his fans can see him there, but it’s a shame Rebirth didn’t manage to save his book.

Winner: Stjepan Sejic

Stjepan Sejic has become fairly popular on the Internet and in indie in the last few years. Yet, despite years of outstanding work and even solid portfolio of Image Comics books he worked on, he never managed to land a work for the Big 2 outside few covers for Marvel. In Rebirth DC has changed that by giving him not only an arc on Aquaman but bi-weekly Suicide Squad series as well. Hopefully, this will finally give him the spotlight and help land more prestigious jobs in the future, both of which he certainly deserves.

Loser: Frank Cho and Jonboy Meyers

Not all artists managed to capitalize on the success of Rebirth and made their own. Incredible talented Jonboy Meyers was on his way to make his art become the face of new Teen Titans, with his animesque style and modernized designs of the team members gaining a lot of attention. Yet he fell off the project due to “creative differences” after just a few issues. While creators leaving DC books and cursing the editorial was a common occurrence in New 52, it didn’t follow his departure. What’s more he also quickly had the same thing happen to his job at Marvel’s series Royals. I have not been privy to what were his reasons, but I just hope it wasn’t any serious health issues, as he gives an impression of a man too nice to lose two jobs due to acting like a primadonna, unlike some creators in the past.

Frank Cho, on the other hand, DID lose his Rebirth gig due to acting like a primadonna. Being put on variant covers for the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman, he has quit after just six, because Greg Rucka asked him to remove a pantyshot - a reasonable request especially during the time when DC tried to avoid controversies that haunted New 52. Cho, however, decided Diana’s underwear is a hill he will die on and threw a colossal temper tantrum that made him look extremely immature. Ever since his output involving Big 2 characters was a series of “fan” pinups of the same woman in different costumes with some characters screaming “OUTRAGE!” in the background, a sad attempt at pissing people off to feed his persecution complex.

Winner: Jack Kirby

In the seventies Jack “the King” Kirby gave DC several books and characters who maybe never rose to the popularity of their core heroes or his Marvel creations, but became iconic fan-favorites none the less. Were he still alive, 2017 would be his 100th birthday and DC went out of their way to honor him. Kamandi Challenge, Mister Miracle, Bug! the Adventures of Forager and Demon: Hell is Earth all are limited series that allowed some of King’s creations shine once again. Then DC gave others special issues that are now collected in a sweet trade. Not to mention some of those titles featuring Kirby’s heroes meeting each other (I mean, Forager outright went and resolved cliffhanger of Kirby’s original OMAC series) and his other characters and concepts are being featured in ongoing books like Superman or Green Lanterns. DC went out of their way to celebrate Jack Kirby during Rebirth. This is especially poignant at the time when all Marvel managed to do are some cheap variant covers and putting a bunch of his Monsters into one event because they were too busy spending most of the year shitting on one of his most beloved characters in Secret Empire.

Loser: Justice Society America and Legion of Super-Heroes

These two teams have been on everybody’s mouths ever since DC Rebirth Special teased their return. Yet outside of occasionally throwing us a bone here or there, teasing their returns in Batman and Flash, nothing had materialized out of this. I heard rumors there was a plan to launch JSA book, but it appears to have fallen through. Meaning currently both teams are in Comic Book Limbo with Shazam and Martian Manhunter.

Winner: Grant Morrison

Rebirth has become a time when you could notice more and more references to works of certain creator popping up - crazy Scott, Grant Morisson. Be it use of his characters like Aztek in Justice League of America or Doctor Hurt and Professor Pyg in Nightwing or concepts like Hypertime or his Multiversal ideas. With writers like Joshua Williamson, Tom King, Scott Snyder, Gerard Way, Tim Seeley or James Tynion IV it is clear that right now DC Universe is put in hands of creators who have been influenced by Morrison’s body of work and even others, like Gene Yang, while not directly touching on his ideas still add more pieces having similar feel. I’ve been saying Grant Morrison would be proud several times during this era and for a good reason. It feels he has achieved a similar position Warren Ellis had at Marvel for some time before 2015 - maybe not directly affecting the company, but having enough people who learned from or were inspired by him working on it, that he is present in spirit even when he isn’t writing anything.

Loser: Eddie Berganza

This might be a bit cheating since this has little to do with DC Rebirth itself. But it needs to be pointed out that during this era position of Eddie Berganza, an important editor and a serial sexual harasser who was seen as too big to be dealt with, started to tremble. Greg Rucka made DC ensure his new Wonder Woman book will not be edited by Berganza and neither he nor any member of his team will have to even interact with the guy. I like to see it as the first sing the industry was ready to deal with this pathetic, painful ulcer of a man. A thing that indeed has happened, when on the wave of allegations of sexual harassment in Hollywood his name has been brought up. DC and Warner decided to take a look at his case and he was promptly, in their own words, terminated. Good riddance.

Winner: Imprints, Crossovers, and Elseworlds

One of the greatest successes of Rebirth for me was that DC took serious attempts at bringing back Wildstorm and Vertigo characters, whom they have mistreated by forcing into one Universe with rest of DC in New 52. Warren Ellis’ Wild Storm rebooted the 90′s Universe in a new flavor, giving us a fantastic science-fiction take on their heroes.Gerard Way brought back the feel of early Vertigo in his imprint Young Animal with great series like Doom Patrol, Shade: the Changing Girl, Mother Panic, Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye and Bug! the Adventures of Forager. They are not stopping there, seeing how they are working on the return of Milestone Media, launching Dark Matter and working on an all-ages imprint.

At the same time DC launched an imprint for reinventing properties under their Hannah-Barbera license. Which, admittingly, gave us two baffling books in Scooby Apocalypse and Wacky Raceland but also fan-favorite Future Quest, Flinstones or new Dastardly & Muttley. DC seems to have enjoyed working on those books so much they made series of one-shots crossing over other HB characters with their heroes. And enjoyed THAT so much they did it again with Looney Tunes, which were much more entertaining I think anyone would have suspected. Speaking of which, DC has a blast with doing crossovers and you can always see them doing some sort of it - He-Man/Thundercats, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Shadow/Batman, Wonder Woman/Conan, Justice League/Power Rangers or several Batman ‘66 crossovers. It seems to have even rubbed on their games, with Hellboy and Turtles making their way to Injustice 2.

And finally, DC had a lot of fun with Elseworlds lately. Including Nightwing: New Order, Green Lantern: Earth One, Gotham City Garage, DC Superhero Girls, DC Comics Bombshells or Batman: White Knight. All of it contributed to a new image of DC as ever-expanding as both the world and the publisher. Which I feel greatly helped their success.

Loser: Marvel Comics

Oh come on, you’ve seen this one coming. When DC wins, Marvel is the biggest loser and vice-versa. But to say that DC suddenly cleaning their act caught Marvel by surprise would be an understatement. It might even be said that their own behavior allowed Rebirth to succeed - after all the big plot twist if Rebirth Special, the big reveal that could have easily turned people against DC, has been overshadowed by Marvel turning Captain America into a Nazi. Compared to THAT what DC did seemed much less outrageous and many people seem to be more open-minded to the Rebirth as a whole as a reason.

After consistently losing in sales for months, Marvel tried to desperately try to shift the blame on diversity, bloat their sales, copy Rebirth with Legacy, while also making a ton of fuckups and see their bad past decisions finally catching up to them. It is shocking how badly they took the beating, culminating probably with a kick to the balls in form of DC nabbing Brian Bendis, Marvel’s best-selling writer - and even he was just one of the many creators who jumped ships by that point. Things have gotten so bad at Hosue of Ideas they let go their Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso and replaced him with C.B. Cebulski. And even in that, they manage to come under fire.

While in general, both companies seem to be in the constant back and forth, when one is on top and the other starts fucking up, how drastically had the landscape shifted from New 52 era, when Marvel was seen as a dominant one even if DC was beating them at sales is, to me, a testament to how big success DC had with Rebirth. Now the question remains if they manage to keep it up going forward - which I sincerely wish to them. Because let me say something - DC Rebirth made me fall in love with so many aspects of DC Universe I didn’t care about before and it even made me seek some older DC titles. And that, I feel is the best testament to Rebirth’s success.

If you feel I have missed any winner or loser or just want to call me an idiot for something I’ve said, comments and reblogs are welcome.

- Admin

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kierantc-blog · 7 years

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DC Rebirth In Review - The Justice League

Welcome to part 3 of my DC Rebirth In Review series. DC are dropping the Rebirth branding in December and i thought i would reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the Rebirth initiative.

To recap, you can check my previous posts, Part 1 - The Superman Family and Part 2 - The Batman Family, but in this post i’m going to be looking at the Justice League titles. To be clear though, this will be about the League specific books as well as the solo titles for the core members.

Justice League - This has probably been the most controversial of all the Rebirth books because for a lot of people the series has been nothing but a downgrade on Geoff Johns’ epic run in the New 52, and in a way they’re right. Bryan Hitch’s story telling style is all over the place but i believe the narrative he’s trying to put across is very good. It’s like having a pot of the best tea in the entire world but not being able to pour it into a cup properly. Hitch has been teasing a new Crisis event, the Forever Crisis, and who knows if that’s the way Rebirth will end or if it’s something else but it should be more exciting than it is. Also the artwork on this book has suffered massively from the bi-monthly schedule. The best talent is currently on other books and it needs to come on Justice League sooner rather than later. With Deathstroke’s Christopher Priest taking over the title soon, we’re certainly in for an increase in quality but until then, Hitch’s Justice League is worth a chance, but if you don’t like the first arc you certainly won’t like the rest. - 4/10

Justice League Of America - This book came with a lot of promise, excellent Rebirth one shots and a hero team of promise, and so far it hasn’t really delivered on it but it does show promise and improvement with every issue. Steve Orlando is a great writer, he’s doing some nice work on Supergirl and his Midnighter books have been wonderful too, but he has been slow on the narrative with this team. Right now the series is concentrating on a Rebirth mystery that came up in DC Universe Rebirth #1 with The Atom Ray Palmer sending a message to his protege Ryan Choi about a problem in the Microverse, and so far it has been good with Batman, Lobo, Ryan and Killer Frost searching for Ray. It hasn’t had the most consistent artwork but it has had some beautiful work from Jamal Campbell (Vixen Rebirth #1 & issue 7) and the legendary Ivan Reis, which make it a step above the other JL title. A must buy if you want a different kind of Justice League book. - 6.5/10

Green Lanterns - When Rebirth was announced, many people were disappointed with Sam Humphries being the writer on this book but he has changed minds emphatically with some stellar work. Writing for 2 relatively new characters in Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz isn’t easy but Humphries has made these two people into humans you can relate to and want to see succeed while also showing a lot of respect and knowledge to the Green Lantern lore of old too. The series has unfortunately suffered from some inconsistent artwork but it’s still an incredibly good read that has expanded on the mythology of the series introduced by Geoff Johns. - 8.5/10

Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps - Just like with Humphries on Green Lanterns, people were disappointed to find Robert Venditti writing for Hal Jordan once again, but honestly i was hopeful as i enjoyed his post-Johns era work and thought he could get better, and it’s hard to argue against that given his run on this book. The biggest task he faced was combining a series of books into one, this series takes story beats from his previous Green Lantern book as well as Green Lantern Corps: Edge Of Oblivion, Sinestro and Omega Men and manages to combine them into one cohesive story, albeit a bit slower than some might like. My only problem with this series is the name of it, it suffers from the Birds Of Prey thing by them shoving Hal’s name on the front of it for no apparent reason. The artwork for this series is largely excellent for a bi-monthly title with Rafa Sandoval and Green Lantern veteran Ethan Van Sciver providing the bulk of the work. If you love the Lantern series you will almost certainly enjoy this one too. - 9/10

Wonder Woman - With a blockbuster movie on the horizon, the Wonder Woman series needed a big pull for Rebirth and DC more than delivered by bringing back legendary Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka. Mixing the old with the new, Rucka uses older elements of Diana’s story and mixes them in with the New 52 elements but also deploys a unique story telling tactic by using the odd-numbered issues as a current day story and the even-numbered issues as a story titled “Year One”, a re-telling of how Diana first met Steve Trevor. The use of this type of story telling only works because of the bi-monthly schedule, otherwise it would take 12 months to tell a 6-issue story, but it works perfectly. The artwork is split between Liam Sharp on the current day story and Nicola Scott on the Year One story, and each one compliments the stories with incredibly detailed pencils. They are later joined by the excellent Bilquis Evely to round up one of the best art teams on one run. Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman ended with the culmination of both stories meeting in the middle in issue 25, and my only complaint about it was that a lot of questions were left up in the air but hopefully they will be answered soon as new writer James Robinson is living up to Rucka’s run quite handily so far. A must read for fans both old and new. - 9/10

The Flash - Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico, Barry Allen witnesses a Speed Force Storm that turns random citizens of Central City into Speedsters like The Flash, and introduces the series to a new Speedster villain called Godspeed and a group known as Black Hole. While Williamson is often accused of exposition heavy writing, he also manages to make the story both easier to follow and also engaging at the same time and uses the supporting cast rather well. A later story starring Eobard Thawne AKA Reverse Flash is the highlight of the series so far, my only complaint story wise would be that Barry always seems miserable or down on his luck. Give the guy a break! The art by Di Giandomenico is rather sharp and frantic but it’s perfect for a book about a man who can run really fast. The latter half of the New 52 comic was a large disappointment for myself but Williamson and Di Giandomenico have brought the series back to prominence. There is a slow burn with the stories but i’m still engaged with them and interested as to where they might lead so that is always a positive. - 8/10

Aquaman - Of all the comics, this one feels more politicised than the others. The first 2 volumes deal with Atlanta’s relationship to the United States and how Arthur controls his kingdom, not to mention how the other members of the Justice League view him as a hero. One of the great things about this run is that it wasn’t afraid to come out of the gates quick, setting up a war between Atlantis and America with Black Manta manipulating both sides. Artwork duties are split between a group of artists such as French artist Philippe Briones, Brad Walker (Green Lantern: New Guardians) and Scot Eaton (X-Men), and they provide a similar, albeit simple style that allows for lots of action to be peppered into each issue. Aquaman is now a monthly title as opposed to a bi-monthly one but it hasn’t diminished in quality at all as it has popular artist Stjepan Sejic on art now, and together he and Dan Abnett are carving out quite the legacy under the sea. - 9.5/10

Cyborg - One of my favourite DC You books returns with a new writer in John Semper Jr. Semper is most famous for writing the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 so he’s not unfamiliar with comic book characters, but this marks his first foray into comic book writing itself and i must say, he’s doing a good job of it too. The problem with Cyborg in relation to other characters is that he doesn’t really have the supporting cast that the likes of The Flash and Batman have, so Semper has had to build him one, with new friends like Exxy the hacker and new Detroit hero The Black Narcissus. Part of the reason i like Semper’s work though is because he clearly has the Silver Age influencing him into writing big, crazy sci-fi stories. The move to a monthly has helped the book somewhat in the art department but i feel that the right artist on this book could make it a smash hit in the same way Sejic has on Aquaman. - 7.5/10

Green Arrow - Of all the Rebirth books, Green Arrow is one of only a few that kept its previous writer in the shape of Ben Percy. In Percy’s pre-Rebirth run he was accused of being a bit grim but his Rebirth series is more or less the opposite. Fan service is on display here as Dinah Lance AKA Black Canary is introduced, and for the first time since Flashpoint the romance between Oliver and Dinah is back. And that’s not the only thing as Oliver now sports his famous goatee. While the story is a bit more peppy and action orientated, Percy’s villainous Ninth Circle retain some of the grim that he had become known for but coupled with the wonderful visuals from Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra the Green Arrow book finds a perfect balance that has been missing since the Lemire run in New 52. - 9.5/10

Trinity - DC took the logical step of combining both Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman into a much better Trinity series. The series, while short, so far has 2 distinct runs on it. The first is by Francis Manapul who pulls off pure magic by writing, pencilling and colouring all of his Trinity issues, the only thing he does do is the lettering. Getting back to the core of what makes the Trinity special, he opens up the past of each member to the others, allowing them to experience each other’s lives a bit more and gain a closer understanding. The second run is one revolving the idea of Trinities in DC and was started by Cullen Bunn, but now being written by Suicide Squad writer Rob Williams, involving the classic Trinity meeting the Mystic Trinity of Constantine, Deadman and Zatanna, the Dark Trinity of Red Hood, Bizarro and Artemis, and the Evil Trinity of Circe, Ra’s al Ghul and a reluctant Lex Luthor. The latter story concerns a run in with the sister of the Lazarus Pits, the Pandora Pits, which want to unleash evil on Earth. Even though both stories are different, they don’t take away from the fact that Trinity is an excellent returning series for DC, one that allows them to tell more concentrated League-centric stories without taking over the main Justice League books. It’s a must buy for Manapul’s work alone, truly a work of art. - 9/10

Conclusions

With movies coming out in the DCEU slate relating to these characters, interest in them is at an all time high and DC have done a relatively excellent job of providing interested new readers with excellent content to peruse in titles like Green Lanterns and The Flash, as well as satisfy old readers too with some excellent fan service in series like JLA and Green Arrow.

While the majority is excellent, the flagship Justice League book should really be better. Christopher Priest taking over the book provides a glimmer of light though, as the series really should be one that leads the way for the rest of the DC Universe.

Thanks for reading!

Next Up: The Young And The Violent (Teen Titans, Suicide Squad etc. lol).

#Justice League #Justice League Of America #Wonder Woman #The Flash #Aquaman #Green Lanterns #Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #Green Lantern #Green Lantern Corps #Cyborg #Green Arrow #Trinity #DC Comics #DC Rebirth #Comics Books #Comic Books #Comic Book Review

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kierongillen · 7 years

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Writer Notes: the Wicked + the Divine 455

Spoilers, obv.

The specials have been quite the time, having several ways to stress everyone the hell out. The amount of work that goes into a special is far more than any single script can justify in cold commercial terms. It's lucky that I'm only choosing periods that I'm interested in researching to death.

I suspect (or at least hope) that in terms of background reading, 455 is the most. 1831 was hard, but is a relatively tight period I looked at in depth. 455 basically involved researching the whole of the Western Roman Empire. This means the work was a much broader sweep. In the same way I suspected the 1831 story would be about Frankenstein, I knew this would probably be about what happened at one of the sacks of Rome. Not definitely – I've always got room to change tack if something more profitable turns up in the research – but likely.

As I started work, I realised the main advantage of the sack near the end of the Western Roman Empire is that it means you can do a swan song for the whole thing. Everything has already happened, so you can use it all. Thus we've got something which feels a little like a Roman Greatest Hits story.

Simultaneously, there's the awareness that while I think a lot of this is relatively well known, even the most basic facts aren't. Early readers made me aware that even basic ideas like Julius Caesar being dead for 500 years by this period can't be assumed – a level of historical literacy equivalent of not blinking if Joan of Arc turned up in a WW2 story. That's just audiences, and the vague sense of “Rome stuff” fills about 1000 years of people's imagination. As such, that our story is acounter-history required the introduction of what the real history actually was.

As I knew this was coming along way off, the research was a slow boil. I knew Rome, in various periods, relatively well. From the Punic Wars to Augustus is stuff I've read about many times – Carthage is something I've always wanted to do a story about. What I was looking for is a long sweep across the whole thing, to live with it a while, and let me think along the way. The actual device I used was The History Of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan, which goes from legendary prehistory to about 20 years after 455. It's about 60 hours of stuff, by my rough match, which I worked into my listening routine – which is mainly when working out, running, travelling or doing the dishes. I listen to my podcasts at 1.5x.

That was for most of 2016. After that, it was digging down into specific texts, the majority which happened in December/January. Trying to play with various theories about the decline of the Roman Empire was paramount. Everyone has one, and be suspicious of anyone who gives you one reason. The book which generally was most influential in terms of how I chose to present Rome was The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History by Peter Heather, which basically forwards the idea that Rome fell due to trade across their borders creating increased population density of Barbarian tribes which (as opposed to earlier periods) the Romans were unwilling to integrate into the fabric of the Empire.

I went with my own counter-theory, of course, which was that an Old Lady Did It.

(The Old Lady Did It is a Roman Trope of long standing. I'm a proud owner of a Livia Did It T-shirt.)

Anyway – too much research, and I'll try and drop some things I'd wanted to use but didn't as we go through it. Suffice to say, there's nothing comforting about reading about Rome in the current political climate.

Anyway – Andre! I'd first encountered his work in Avengers AI, written by my friend Sam Humphries. That weird, neon-infused Cyberpunk vibe was a big part of the book's appeal for me, so I started following him. I believe we started talking properly around the time of his own Man Plus, which was is a Otomo-does-Akira-In-Portugal kick, and was another thing which made me file Andre in my “Sci-fi artist file.”

However, after we got talking, he showed me some of his other in-development pitches, which included historical and fantasy work. Which made me go “Hmm.” He's got a mass of gifts, but I had one image that I knew I needed for 455 – the Roman Triumph, with a God in the chariot. That demanded a certain sort of artist, namely one who was happy to actually draw a triumph in all its ludicrous glory. Andre, someone whose work had more than its fair share of city-scapes and crowds, seemed like someone who'd nail that – plus the confluence of European and Manga influences in the work would gel interestingly. We'd get Rome as a place, and that's what we needed.

He was working on Generation Gone with Ales Kot, but they talked, and Andre took as month off the preparation for that to do the special. Thanks, guys.

Colours are provided by Matt “Eisner For Matt” Wilson, and seeing how the two of them worked together was definitely one of the more intriguing parts of the process.

Andre's Cover

Done early, before the script was actually completed, which meant we were more conservative with the choice. The Laurel reef being lowered by elderly hands, the arrogance of it. A call back to the head-shots of the first year of WicDiv too. Also, compare and contrast Matt's colouring choices here with his ones in the issue. This is a much more subdued, chalkier mode. Or that's wot I think anyway.

Jamie's Cover| We were originally talking about statues of multiple gods, but as the script was still in process we didn't want to tie down any of the cast bar Lucifer. Equally, we leaned symbolic on the cover – the flames of Rome, the statue, the grafitti's Chi-Ro in paint (or blood)? Symbolic is good. We like Symbolic.

The Chi-Ro is an old Christian symbol. It's what they say Constantine had his soldiers paint on his shields to ensure victory. My fave thing of Constantine from the research was that while he was more responsible than any for the Christianization of the Empire, he didn't convert until just before his death. I enjoy the theory that it's because the idea that baptizing may have been a one-time “clear all your sins” opportunity. The idea of confession and absolution wasn't around as much. So if you convert and then commit a mortal sin, you're off to hell. But if you commit a mortal sin and then convert, you're fine. So Constantine may have just been gaming Christianity to ensure the best chance of a good afterlife.

IFC

Oh god. Looking at the last paragraph makes me think this could be eternally long if I just keep on stopping and telling you fun anecdotes from memory. Also, factually dubious, as they're from memory, and my memory cannot be trusted.

Jamie designed the icons, and had to work out what vibe to give it. I suspect he was grateful to me for having most the cast already being dead so saving him work.

The Inverted Chi-Ro isn't a real symbol anyone used, but our best way to make a Lucifer. The biggest historical cheat in the series is using any Lucifer figure like this in the period – as far as I'm aware, the idea of a singular satanic adversary in this mode simply wasn't around. But it dovetails with our mythology.

I get asked whether any special will happen earlier in the cycle. The tendency to lean towards the ends is basically the same urge which pushed towards a Roman Special at the fall. Ends let you write about the whole thing. It's only at the end where you can say with any hope of being correct what was really happening, and even then it's only a hope.

But the 1920s special is a little earlier than the end, if only because we've seen the actual end in issue 1.

(More on the 1920s special soon – there's been a few changes in my planning on that.)

The text on the page is the standard WicDiv one, but the final two lines, briefly explaining the history of the Vandal sack in 455 were added at lettering to provide the necessary context to a reader.

Page 1-2

Steady angle shot, three panels on each page. The issue has been compare to Uber by several readers, primarily for the volume of the violence and the detail of the historical focus. It's also a little like it in its storytelling like this – this lingering attempt to make a scene very normal. We don't see the battle against the Vandals – instead, we observe from a distance. We try and make it documentary, with us an observer.

The animal being gutted is a goat.

An example of an earlier tweak, the shepherd's first line was “Wh...who in god's name are you meant to be?” This could read as that our Lucifer actually is Julius. Changing it to “Dressed up as?” brings the artifice closer to the surface. While the nature of lucifer/Julius is explained in a few pages time, it's not meant to be a mystery. Creating a false uninteresting question is just a distraction for the reader.

I kind of laugh at the idea of Lucifer wandering around near Rome, trying to find an army.

Ave Atque Vale! Is a quote from Catallus, related to death. Originally was Ave in my first draft, which of course means “Hello!” so makes no sense to say when he's heading away to the shepherd. If you were generous, you could say he was greeting the Vandals.

The first pages which Matt coloured were these, and when I saw them, I knew it was going to be something special.

Yes, panicked sheep in the second panel of page 2 is a star.

Page 3-4

WicDiv is about many things, but “The fucking obvious” certainly rates highly. Triumphs are one of the big core Roman rituals we think of, when a general is given a personal parade. They're rare and hugely important. The slave whispering “remember you are only a man” to warn against hubris is the detail which everyone loves. Clearly, in WicDiv, the resonances are all kinds of fun.

In terms of how comics panels are not one moment in time, have a nose at the last panel. You read the line, then the Oh!, and then the response of the slave seeing something, and then you look at the miracle, the smug, painted face, of Lucifer, and his Heh. That's a little journey.

The red face paint is ceremonial, to be akin to Jupiter. Bear that in mind for later, obv.

The big triumph is the first issue money shot – after 3 pages of very low atmosphere, we have the sprawl of Rome. Choosing the direction of the march was key – I gave Andre the best guess route of the triumph, and he chose his angle. By luck, he would enter via the gate here Lucifer is dragged out at the end of the issue. The triumph also ends at the temple of Jupiter, which is yet more fun subtext for those who really like digging into it.

We tweaked the colouring on the crowds, to try and get more of the cosmopolitan nature of Rome. The majority of legionnaires are white, but that's because most were Germanic in this period.

The triumph was originally planned for a spread, but I decided I needed another page later in the comic.

Page 5

Title drop, and a bleak laugh. The idea of calling a story IMPERIAL PHASE which isn't in the actual Imperial Phase trade came from thinking of Julian Cope having his single World Shut Your Mouth not on the album World Shut Your Mouth, an idea he in turn got from some sixties band I haven't time to look up.

The date was tricky to decide exactly, due to the timeline of real world events I wanted to get in. Clearly, for full trash-Roman pulp, I'd have pushed this story March, so I could Ides of March it, but alas, no dice.

Page 6

Nice atmosphere in the first panel, in terms of going from the chaos of the Triumph to something a little more contemplative.

Enter Dionysus/Bacchus. Flashback colours and... one of the thoughts of Matt was that the SFX budget for God Stuff would be lower back here. So the god powers aren't quite as SFX-y as they are in the present day. Not that there's much here, but I'm reminded by how low-key this is. The intent here is that he's done his god thing on stage and come off... but he could just be an actor, which is about as close as WicDiv gets to a 1:1 thing.

The nature of art in Rome (or “Rome”) is key here, and talked throughout. Actors were the underclass. To act was to be disreputable. The “actress as sexworker” trope arrives in Rome, I believe. I reference Lou Reed in the panel descriptions, in terms of these being a Walk On The Wild Side Romans.

Falerian is a type of fine wine. Mithras is presumably one of the other gods – Scythia being a place.

The nature of Imperial Phase has been about women involved with women, which has nagged. Having the humanising part of the story be a love story between men felt timely. It was a place we could do it, so we should. Though more on that later, in terms of the specifics.

There was the obvious worry of doing it, of course – where Lucifer ends up. Lucifer is not good representation. I haven't seen anyone pick up on that angle. We spend a lot of time worrying about stuff no-one picks up on, which is why we spend all that time worrying about it.

The word “play” is, of course, loaded, as are the name changes. Story about identity, we are in it.

Page 7

The best thing about the specials is definitely getting a chance to write Ananke again. She is a fun time.

If I had more space, I'd have almost certainly done more with Lucifer's adventures during the day. It's worth stressing that by this point, I believe Gladiatorial fights were no longer actually happening in Rome, due to Christianisation. My research has went straight on from Western Rome and barged into Byzantine Rome, and the story of the chariot races there is a delight.

Page 7-8

These scenes are very much me getting my I, Claudius on. Very limited set, two actors going off at one another. Of course, all of this will resonate with anyone who's been following the main series.

Panels 3 and 4 on page 7 are the bit of tight acting I like most from Andre here – it's all about the actions, and the space, with us positioned a little back from it.

I smile at Lucifer referencing something that was said of 2014-Lucifer in the first arc. Ananke has been doing this for a very long time.

A quick buzz through various other gods' fates in the first panel on page 8. There's a lot of historical reference packed in there to unpack for those who wish.

The Inanna/Attila The Hun panel is, I think, the largest panel description in the issue. Well... not true. The Rome Triumph one is much longer, but that's a splash. This one included a potted history of a bunch of Hun-related information for Andre to play with, in terms of deciding the looks, etc.

It was also the most discussed panel at the stage of pencils – avoiding objectifying Inanna here was key.

Attila The Hun died on (one of his) wedding night in the real life.

The “As I understand” is pretty key in the captions, as is other distancing effects. Lucifer would not have been a god when Inanna did this. It is very early in this pantheon's time.

I think this may be a place to have a word about Pantheon times through history. 455 doesn't seem to fit in one of these 90 years, if you follow that strictly.

The short version is, as seen in the first scene of WicDiv which ends the 1920s pantheon at Dec 31st 2013 and we start our story about 6 months into the new Pantheon on January 1st 2014, the question of where the 90 years is measured for has to be (to some degree) flexible. Gods appear over a period of a year or so in our 2014, and die at their own rates. You can assume that the “true” length of a pantheon can wiggle a little – some would be less than a year, some could theoretically stretch across 4 calendar years. As such, it's hard to predict exactly on which year any given recurrence could occur – even from the data we have from 1831, 1923 and 2014, we know that.

I suspect before the end I may give hard dates for every Pantheon. I suspect, anyway. I know where it would appear.

Page 9-11

You know, I suspect Page 9 – for an action scene – is one of the most story-beat laden of the issue, in terms. Lots of great Andre stuff here – the casual-ness of both the burning and the brutal-ness of the kick. Matt goes to town on the colours too, the reds taking over. Obviously the fire is a key thing with Lucifer, and his flame grows and ebbs as we progress.

There's some difficult hard cuts here – page 10 to 11, for example. We just have the “Ananke leaving” beat there, then moving to Dio and Lucifer in bed.

There is a tendency when discussing the ancients to be a bit blasé in terms of writing about their sexual habits. This normally is based around us mapping our readings of sexuality onto the past, while erasing their own social mores. I've ran with some of the information on page 11 before, when doing THREE, specifically the politics of different sexual roles. Relevantly, the status elements Lucifer alludes to here – in terms of being a bottom is always dishonourable. I could ramble at this at length, but I'll spare you.

Lots and lots of stuff here, in terms of trying to set up thematic elements here, but let's just say none of it would matter at all if Matt and Andre hadn't nailed the last panel.

Page 12-13

Lots of historical bits and bobs here. Perhaps the implicit question we don't answer is “what happened to the last Emperor?” He was cut to pieces a few days before this and thrown in the river, because he'd pissed off the Vandals enough to have them invade.

You may notice how thin the senate is populated. That's because the majority of the population of Rome have fucked off to hide. Rome's population is artificially lower during this point in history, which is a thing which tries to lend a little credulity to the Ananke/Geiseric cover-up.

The main tweaks here was making sure the exact nature of Lucifer's slip was tricky. Someone getting mixed up in the time-line requires making sure the reader understands the timeline. I half wonder why I went with Crassus rather than Pompey.

Anyway, let's hope that Lucifer manages to keep on the straight and narrow.

Page 13-14

Well, that escalated quickly.

When planning the issue, you start doing maps of time and space, and I rapidly realised with 25 pages, and so many other essential scenes, there was no possible way to show a slow descent.

The story's structure immediately suggested itself.

While the Triumph was the image we needed to enter the world, this is the one that will be remembered. People reference my Crossed work here – which is true, to some degree, in that it was also about turning flesh into art. I suspect I was more thinking of Banks, and a certain beat involving a certain object of furniture. I say, dancing around spoilers.

The influence here which gets kind of buried is Domitian, who threw the most goth parties of all time. Have a nose at this here, in terms of Things Emperors Got Up To.

Page 15-16

We've already namechecked Caligula and here comes Nero, the other of the most famous Roman Bad Emperors. The elements about Nero here were the closest thing the research unveiled which made me want to reposition the story to a different period – Nero interacting with the gods would have been fascinating, for all the reasons described here.

We had a reader question the direction of Imperial Phase, in that the insanity-leading-to-murder trope that appeared to be coming and the inherent ableism in that. It was a usefully timed question, as it made me dig more sharply into the exact choices we were making in explaining the idea. This isn't about going mad. This is – as Dionysus puts it – about excess. I'm thinking of Bowie living off cocaine and peppers. We lean into it pretty heavily in this issue, and hopefully it delineates the aim.

Just looking at my script, and found the anecdote about the time I threw up a handful of blood slipped in there. I'd forgotten that this page was autobiographical. Comics, eh?

Look at what Matt's doing with the colours here – the whole panel is bloodshot as we progress.

Page 17-20

In terms of buried research in the comic, that a hole was knocked in the roof of the Temple of Jupiter during this sack of Rome is the one which makes me laugh. Behold! Let team WicDiv present the true story of how the temple of Jupiter got a dirty great hole in it.

(I also like that this makes the sack of Rome much more efficient for the Vandals.)

This is an actor making a soliloquy scene, perhaps obviously, recalling both the stage and the Passion. While this issue is heavily in the research, it's also doing ahistorical work. Shakespeare's fingerprints is all over this, to state another obvious thing.

The “Emerge like an Eagle” thing is very much Roman Pagan belief.

I mentioned Nero, Caligulia and Julius. The other Roman Emperor who is in the mix with Lucifer was Julian the Apostate who was the last Pagan Roman emperor, and tried to revive Pagan Rome before dying early. A “What if Julian had lived?” is a counter-factual history which is always a fun one to swill around your mouth. He's the one we don't reference, but much of Lucifer's thought comes from mashing Julian with someone of lower birth and more melodramatic tendencies.

This is the sequence which I cut the page from the Triumph earlier to expand. Clearly this could happen quicker, but we need to let the death sequence come out, in all its horror. Also, the collapse on the page turn seems essential.

I'm almost surprise Et Tu Jupiter reached the final page. We were always wondering whether it was too funny. In the end, it was decided it was, but in juxtaposition with the art, sufficiently bleakly to not break the mood. Especially before the collapse on the next page, which is very much human stripped by the divine.

Clearly this plot beat, is the biggest one for close followers of the book. I suspect at this point of the story, there would be strong suspicions that the “you die in two years” isn't true. Unless this sequence is deeply deceptive, it is true. You die in two years, by yourself. We place the specials pretty carefully, in terms of what they reveal, so this being half way through Imperial Phase underlines what could await our cast.

In terms of craft, going silent for a page after the monologuing seemed key. I mean, Ananke's fundamental disrespect in terms of how she's carrying Lucifer says everything.

Page 21-25

Out the gate towards the Tiber. The names listed are famous Romans whose bodies were thrown in the Tiber so that they could have no honourable end – and in the case of Marius, that there was no place for his followers to gather. The man who did that was Sulla, btw. Marius was dead, he dug them up.

The “Pagan burial, but a shit one” is very much Ananke at peak “I will tell you the truth, but you really have to pay attention to the details” mode.

And here's Geiseric! Looking good. The Vandals have been in Carthage for 20 years, but we decided to have him be kind of pallid so as not to confuse people. Stories like THREE were all about the pure-historical aspect and risked (and often did) lose people by doing things in line with the best research rather than common belief. WicDiv has a slightly different set of priorities, especially on secondary aspects like tanned Vandals.

Heh. Story starts with butchery of a goat, and ends with butchery of Lucifer. WicDiv is a very subtle comic.

Sulla's an interesting dude, and I think the use by Ananke here seems pretty fair. The future she's pointing towards never happens – the marriage is there. Germanic hands ended up ruling what came after the Empire, but that's not really what is going. Of course, Geiseric is also entirely right in recognising he's being manipulated.

They're a fun pair, actually, in terms of the fencing. I kind of realise this is the sort of conversation which is going to be key in Spangly New Thing, which makes me excited about writing it again.

I smile at the Vandal line. People have wondered why I didn't do the earlier sack, so I could have had the goths. Well, it didn't really work for the story, which is about the end of an era. But also it would have been perhaps too much. I did have a joke take, where Ananke is debating which Germanic tribe to manipulate into invading Rome. “The Goths again? No. No More Goths.”

But 455 isn't that kind of book.

The final image! Lovely, in its bleak and awful way.

Page 26

City of God being Augustine's book, written primarily in response to the crisis of faith in the Empire over the 410 sack of Rome by the aforementioned Goths.

Anyway – thanks for reading, and thanks for Andre for joining us on this beast. We're back (eek) tomorrow, with Imperial Phase II. Onwards, etc.

#WicDiv #the wicked and the divine #andre lima araujo #matt wilson #Writer Notes

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jcllyhclly-blog · 5 years

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Great Comics This Week: Ironheart, Gideon Falls, & More

Studying Time: 11 minutes

Like anything, studying comics could be one thing of a crapshoot. Typically you learn some nice comics—Ironheart, X-23, Gideon Falls, and Outpost Zero have been all standouts for us this week—however typically you get some actual stinkers. Typically books which are usually nice are simply mediocre. Whereas there’s lots to cowl on this week’s Comedian Guide Nook, I’m not gonna lie—we had some stern phrases about a few of these books.

Ironheart #2

Cowl of Ironheart #2

Author: Eve Ewing Artist: Luciano Vecchio Colours: Matt Milla Cowl Artist: Amy Reeder Writer: Marvel

Kay: HOLY. CRAP.

I hoped that Eve Ewing would sustain the tempo from her sensible first difficulty on Ironheart, and WOW OH WOW did she ship on this one.

Fast recap: Situation #1 noticed Riri struggling to determine easy methods to be Ironheart. She has a lab at MIT however can’t get together with the administration, and her go well with could be very a lot nonetheless a piece in progress. She reconnects with an previous good friend from Chicago, and sort of by accident creates an A.I. for her go well with that resembles her pal Natalie, killed by gun violence once they have been youngsters (again when Bendis was writing the collection).

It’s essential to me to watch out in speaking about this comedian, and for me to maintain within the entrance of my thoughts that I’m a white individual writing a few Black character that’s (now, lastly) being written by a Black lady. I do not know how the illustration reads to a Black individual, particularly a Black individual from Chicago. I do know that, for myself, it reads as recent and never the stereotypes that I’m accustomed to seeing, which makes me hopeful.

On this problem, we see a few of Riri’s childhood in highschool, together with Daija, an older woman she related with on the time. We see Riri fighting what appears like PTSD associated flashbacks of the violence that killed Natalie and Riri’s stepfather. And we see what seems to be a continuation of the primary plot arc—which now consists of Daija. Daija has gone lacking, and she or he’s not the one one…

The writing on this e-book is tight and the artwork is unbelievable. The plot hasn’t had a ton of time to develop, and to date appears secondary to character improvement. You already know what, although? I’m cool with that. Riri hasn’t had a whole lot of time to develop and stretch her wings, both as an individual or a personality. I’m prepared to attend and see a bit on the motion in an effort to hold seeing her as an individual. All in all, this ebook serves as an ideal instance of the facility of #ownvoices writing; Ewing understands her character in a means that I can’t, and I really feel like I’m getting a glimpse right into a world that’s completely not mine. That’s how empathy occurs, in any case.

Ironheart is certainly one of my favourite nice comics proper now, and I’m eagerly awaiting the subsequent difficulty.

Nightmare Knights #four (of 5)

Cowl A from My Little Pony: Nightmare Knights #four

Author: Jeremy Whitley Artwork: Tony Fleecs Colours: Heather Breckel Writer: IDW

Kay: This situation is a looooooooooooot of exposition. All the Equestrian ponies are trapped in nightmares, and some characters are speaking to the shadow-world ponies to know what’s occurring and what’s happening.

The backstory exhibits how the historical past of Ponyville parallels the historical past of this shadow-world, and the way one easy change—the ponies not with the ability to defeat Discord—might change all the course of Equestrian historical past. The parallels are rigorously related, so a younger reader ought to perceive what’s happening right here.

There are additionally some humorous moments; seeing that the Great and Highly effective Trixie’s nightmare is being in a continuing magical battle with Twilight Sparkle and by no means defeating her, for instance. There are some moments that really feel very courageous, akin to Luna convincing Stygian that he doesn’t need to make the identical decisions now that he did prior to now. However the bulk of this guide is shifting us from level A to level B in order that problem #5, the final situation of Nightmare Knights, will conclude correctly.

It’s an excellent guide, and can learn a lot better in a collected commerce than in a single concern. Whitley additionally sneaks in some wonderful sentiments which are very relevant to our trendy world as an alternative of simply Ponyville. For instance: “the thing about dictators is that they would take any opportunity to seize power, so they believe everyone else is the same.” The artwork is persistently good, because it usually is on the MLP franchise books. However as a standalone difficulty, it fell flat for me.

Gideon Falls #9

Cowl of Gideon Falls #9

Author: Jeff Lemire Artist: Andrea Sorrentino Colours: Dave Stewart Cowl Artist: Andrea Sorrentino Writer: Picture Comics

Luke: Have to make amends for Gideon Falls? The primary assortment is reviewed right here, and the newest challenge assessment could be discovered right here. It’s been a reasonably wild journey to date, and that is undoubtedly a collection that it’s troublesome to leap in on mid-story arc.

Our two major plotlines look like prepared to return crashing collectively. Within the small city of Gideon Falls, the priest and the sheriff are edging nearer to the belief that the Black Barn is on the coronary heart of the current spate of deaths, in addition to the disappearance of the sheriff’s youthful brother many years in the past. In the meantime, Norton is caught in a psychological well being ward on lockdown, and solely his psychiatrist believes his visions of a mystical door hidden within the metropolis are true. As bits and items of commonalities start to crop up within the totally different Gideon Fallses, what is going to unlock the door between realities?

This is the primary time I haven’t had at the very least a pair problems with Gideon Falls to learn collectively, and I’m realizing that it’d learn higher in chunks. Every concern ends with a cliffhanger, however the points don’t have a starting/center/finish construction to them. It was slightly disorienting leaping into this problem after a month.

The writing and artwork proceed to be robust. Particularly, I like how all of the individuals are starting to be tied collectively via totally different parts of their background. Clearly, Lemire and Sorrentino went into this collection with a plan, and they’re doing a lovely job unfolding it. As extra items come to mild, I’ll be curious to see the place they take this title.

Gideon Falls continues to be a strong learn, nevertheless it could be higher suited to studying in a set. Followers of off-beat, gritty science fiction with a heaping dose of delusions and ominous shadows ought to give this title a learn.

B Cowl of Blackbird #four

Author: Sam Humphries Artist: Jen Bartel Colorist: Trionna Farrell Cowl Artist: Essential cowl, Jen Bartel, Variant cowl, Sana Takeda

Kay: All my books are filled with mother points proper now, and it’s tremendous killing me. Chloe and Joyce in Life Is Unusual (see under), Kate and her mother in West Coast Avengers, and now this. Ugh.

To recap: on the finish of Situation #three, Nina has simply seen her mom, who she thought was lifeless. On this problem, she tries to confront her mom and converse to her, however her mom utterly ignores her, as an alternative chatting with Clint, who has been main Nina by way of the world. Clint’s father and Nina’s mom argue forwards and backwards about territory and cabals and alliances. Ultimately, Gloria seems to be at Nina and instructions her in a presumably magical voice to overlook her.

Like within the first problem, Nina doesn’t overlook; she lies and says that she does. The second half of this difficulty focuses on Nina’s misery over the entire state of affairs, and doubtless deserves a minor set off warning for suicidality. It’s not specific, nevertheless it’s there. By the top of the difficulty, Nina’s blowing stuff up and telling the witnesses to inform her mother that she needs to speak.

Whereas the artwork and colours stay distinctive on this ebook, I’m getting misplaced within the story. There’s an excessive amount of happening too quick, and I’m not understanding what’s occurring on this world. With out one thing to hold my hat on, all this speak of cabals and territory and the whole lot is simply complicated to me. I’m fairly good at otherworldly fantasy, however I’m having critical hassle following what’s occurring.

It might be that this story might be simpler to learn in commerce; till it’s accomplished, it’s onerous to make certain. However I’ve now hit the purpose the place I’m annoyed by single points. I refuse to learn each challenge—and would like to not need to learn final month’s difficulty—to know what’s happening. I hope that the story one way or the other evolves in a short time, or I’m going to surrender on a ebook that had me so excited I used to be bouncing in my chair. I don’t need that, however I’m additionally not spending $four a month on a e-book that is senseless.

Outpost Zero #5

Cowl of Outpost Zero #5

Author: Sean Kelley McKeever Artist: Alexandre Tefenkgi Colours: Jean-Francois Beaulieu Cowl Artist: Alexandre Tefenkgi & Jean-Francois Beaulieu

Luke: I jumped onto Outpost Zero with the primary assortment (take a look at my ideas right here), and I liked it. Fortunate for me, I didn’t have to attend lengthy for extra Outpost Zero.

Alea is pushing Sam to assist her comply with up on Steven’s final phrases earlier than he left the outpost and entered the storm. In the meantime, Lyss has the time off and resides it up as greatest as she will. However when the excavation group’s mission into the ice goes catastrophically flawed, all three of them have to determine how they’ll strategy their futures.

I proceed to like Outpost Zero. It’s such a robust instance of younger grownup science fiction that may attraction to adults as properly. The characters are absolutely fleshed out, each via their dialogue and the unbelievable artwork, and it’s these characters that carry the story. Outpost Zero has a science fiction setting and is definitely full of pleasure, but at its core, it’s a few group of youngsters making an attempt to outlive being youngsters in a strain cooker state of affairs.

Outpost Zero is very really helpful for readers curious about character improvement and drama. You’ll get hooked up shortly, and end up drawn into the story. Verify this one out!

X-23 #eight

Cowl of X-23 #eight

Author: Mariko Tamaki Penciler: Diego Olortegui Inker: Walden Wong Colorist: Chris O’Halloran Cowl Artist: Ashley Witter Writer: Marvel

Kay: So to briefly recap; Laura (X-23) and Gabby (Honey Badger. I’m not mendacity. This codename must die) are investigating one other potential clone-sibling when they’re attacked by troopers. Beast is engaged on getting them out with an X-Copter (I can’t make these things up), and the sisters are arguing about whether or not or to not deliver the clone with them as they escape.

It’s no secret that I principally adore all the things Mariko Tamaki has ever written. Her work at Marvel, first on She-Hulk and now on X-23, is clever with out being obtuse. Her fascination with sisters is almost as ridiculously intense as mine. So the interaction between Gabby and Laura is incredible. Cute moments like Gabby saying “Okay! I’m gonna go do the thing I do when there’s all the shooting people!” earlier than bounding in all places to take out the shooters. “Got your face! Flippee thing here! Ta-da!”

The sisters do convey the brand new clone with them, however whereas Laura is extremely suspicious of her (she repeatedly insists on calling the clone “it”), Gabby is fast to embrace her new sister. We study that the clone has considerably decreased to no therapeutic issue (enjoyable reality: Laura’s is claimed to be superior even to that of Wolverine) and that she is the product of experimentation by Medi-X-Tronics, yet one more firm that bought X-23 DNA for cloning functions. It all the time goes so nicely when shady corporations try to supply tremendous troopers.

What I actually recognize is that Tamaki makes positive to humanize Laura’s mistrust of the clone and floor it in her worry of her personal darkish previous. By means of the artwork, we see some essential moments of Laura’s killing, notably the second she killed her personal mom (Sarah Kinney). This highlights a lot of the distinction between Gabby and Laura; though Gabby and her different clone-sisters have been all assassins, they by no means needed to expertise Laura’s heartbreaks.

On the finish of the difficulty, Laura goes to sleep on the X-Mansion whereas Gabby sneaks downstairs to speak to her new sister, sharing her life story.

This situation blends motion, plot, and internalized emotion in the best way that makes Tamaki’s work so distinctive. It showcases how comics can inform tales in methods which might be distinctive to the medium. And it factors to “that new Sandra Oh show” which simply flat out made me go full on *coronary heart eyes*.

I’ll principally Stan for Laura Kinney ceaselessly, however this e-book is outstanding. If in case you have any curiosity in sisters, mutants, or simply rattling effective writing, you need to be studying it.

Lodger #three

Cowl of Lodger #three

Author: David & Maria Lapham Artist: David Lapham Cowl Artist: David Lapham Writer: Black Crown (IDW)

Luke: Eager to get caught up? The earlier situation of Lodger was reviewed right here!

Up to now, this crime comedian has been stellar. In what could be seen as a criminal offense comedian renaissance, Lodger has managed to face out from the pack. Does that development proceed this month? Let’s discover out!

Ricky continues to trace down the person she is aware of as Dante. Their twisted relationship from the previous continues to return into mild, whereas Ricky turns to her father—in jail for homicide—for recommendation on easy methods to cease Dante. Or, in need of that, some cash. As Ricky retains creeping nearer, will it push Dante over the sting?

Lodger #three suffers just a little from following two robust points to start out the story. Nothing jumps out as dangerous right here, by any means, however the story does appear to decelerate a bit. I’ll be curious to see how the Laphams swing this title into its penultimate challenge, and the way they draw each the current and previous storylines to an in depth. Based mostly on their work up to now, I don’t doubt for a second that will probably be deftly completed.

Regardless of being a problem that was good however not nice, I nonetheless strongly encourage followers of crime comics to leap on board Lodger. This story has a great deal of potential and creators who will be certain that to ship.

Cowl of Life Is Unusual #2 of four

Author: Emma Vieceli Paintings: Claudia Leonardi Colours: Andrea Izzo Cowl Artist: Claudia Leonardi and Andrea Izzo Writer: Titan Comics

Kay: As I stated once I learn difficulty #1 of Life is Unusual: Mud, I’m inherently suspicious of tie-in comics. They are often actually nice or actually horrible. I appreciated situation #1 and was intrigued to see the place the story was going. Concern #2 stored me glad.

To briefly recap, Chloe and Max are heading again to Arcadia Bay after Max has began to expertise flashes of alternate realities—particularly a continuation of the truth the place she allowed Chloe to die to keep away from the storm that destroyed Arcadia Bay. Challenge #2 begins as the women pull into city. Max is constant to expertise tiny skips. Chloe has oil on one cheek after which the opposite, for instance. There are a number of particular callbacks to imagery from the sport—a doe on the street, for instance, or the blue butterfly. The women go to two places that have been featured prominently within the recreation—the diner, after which Chloe’s home.

In each places, Max experiences prolonged flashes from that alternate actuality the place Chloe died and the place her mother lived. The second, the place Joyce and Max speak whereas Chloe seems on, unable to talk to her mother one final time, is completely heartbreaking.

The story in Life Is Unusual continues to intrigue me, and I’m to see the place this four-part collection finally ends up. There’s obtained to be one thing greater happening in Arcadia Bay, and I’m wondering if it may truly be defined in simply two extra points with out the ending feeling rushed. I’d like to see this guide proceed at this high quality; the next Life Is Unusual video games haven’t had something to do with these two women who I very very similar to.

I’ve one grievance concerning the artwork: Chloe is sporting a flannel shirt, like she did within the recreation. This is so badly achieved that I can’t stand it. The strains of the shirt are by no means affected by the form of Chloe’s physique, and even breaks within the material. I don’t know if the artists are utilizing screentone or what, however eliminate the shirt and discover her one thing else to put on. Please. In any other case, the writing is strong and evokes the voices of the characters, the artwork is completely lovable with out being twee, and the delicate colour decisions showcase the variations between destroyed and intact Arcadia Bay.

Transformers: Historia

Cowl of Transformers: Historia

Author: Chris McFeely Cowl Artist: Sara Pitre-Durocher Writer: IDW

Luke: IDW just lately concluded their Transformers universe, with the ultimate climax showing in Transformers: Unicron (evaluate right here). Few publishers can level to a product as properly constructed and completely developed as IDW’s Transformers, and its conclusion after 13 years of publication is critical. It isn’t an overstatement to say that this run of titles has proven extra storyline consistency and overarching plot than titles from Marvel and DC over the previous few years. I’m thrilled to see the place IDW takes their new Transformers universe when it launches due to how adept they’ve confirmed to be at managing this property.

To mark the event, IDW launched the one-shot Transformers: Historia. Historia is a beefy problem that recounts, in prose, the whole thing of the IDW Transformers universe. Following chronological slightly than publication order, the narrative is highlighted by pictures from comics throughout the whole thing of the IDW Transformers publishing line. Compressing over a decade’s value of comics into one problem’s value of textual content is spectacular, and that’s completed right here.

I see two downsides to Transformers: Historia. The primary is the quantity of content material smashed into this one difficulty. Whereas the title does a implausible job of masking an unlimited variety of points, making an attempt to do all of this in such a restricted area signifies that the motion and drama is totally eliminated, changed with what reads at occasions like a historical past textbook. Historia is informative and complete, however not all the time partaking.

Second, I’m unsure what the viewers is for this title. New readers doubtless gained’t discover numerous pleasure out of a dry recounting of a universe that simply ended as it should utterly spoil each title within the line. Present readers will discover nothing new right here, and the transition from comedian to prose doesn’t appear so as to add something to the fabric.

Transformers: Historia isn’t dangerous, nevertheless it doesn’t actually appear to be mandatory or a lot needed. Maybe value a seize for Transformers completionists or these wanting one final guided tour by means of a tremendous universe.

***

In order that’s what we now have for you this week, pretty readers. Not each week may be filled with rave evaluations, and we’d all the time moderately be trustworthy than flattering. And as all the time, if there are nice comics you assume we’re lacking out on, inform us within the feedback so we will examine them out!

Disclosure: Some comics have been offered to GeekMom for evaluation functions.

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Seraisis the final judgement part one

"Where am I?"I looked around shielding my eyes trying to get them to adjust to the blinding light which seemed to be coming from everywhere and was starting to make my eyes ache, I try to stand up and feel my legs give out from under me. "Hello I am Seraisis but you can call me ser, I assume you are confused you humans always are." I heard a deep voice say from behind me, I turn around and blink my eyes trying to get them to adjust to the dark figure standing over me. As they did I realised it was a man in a cleanly pressed Grey suit with dark Green eyes and short Brown hair he had his hand out reached to help me up, I grabbed it and pulled myself up off the floor. "Yes I am confused how did I get here the last thing I remember is." I stop trying to remember what happened my stomach turned and I started to wish I hadn't, the last thing I remember is standing on the roof of the eight story appartment building I lived in ready to end it all and with no one there to stop me i did. "Am am I in the hospital or a mental Institution or s'somthing where a I?" I stammered "You are dead and this is what I like to call the in between, the place where your soul comes to get judged by me Seraisis the almighty judge of those who are too stupid to value their lives, I get to decide what happens to your soul so you better have been good cause it's too late to change anything." he said "You decide where my soul ends up." I asked hoping he would say no and start laughing praying that this was some kind of joke or prank no such luck. "Yes I do with the help of Amari of course." while he's talking I look behind him to see a girl in her early twenties about the same age as me with long curly black hair and brown eyes appear standing next to him as if only becoming visable at the mention of her name. "There are three places your soul may end up the first is the pyrosphere located at the center of your planet, it is a place of eternal fire, hate and pain." he explained "you mean hell?" I asked frightened at the thought that hell might be real. "Yes that is one of many names given to it by you humans. The last place your soul may go is," "heaven." Amari barged in and finished his sentence for him. "Let me talk Amari its not your turn yet, that is also a false name given to it by you humans it's true name is Senova or in your language oasis in the clouds." he said looking at the white nothingness above. "The last place your soul may end up is the world of the living.""you mean I can go back?" I yelled cutting him off "You can but don't be mistaken being banished to the world of the living is a lonely existence, you will be completely alone forced to watch the world go on without you. Now if your done with the questions shall we begin Maria?" As he says this his eyes faded turning as white as the room around us. "Don't worry they're supposed to do that they'll change colors alot as we review your life we'll be starting with your first lie." the room around us began to warp and change into a familiar scene the apartment I grew up in "But mom it wasn't me!" I heard a kid's voice yell from the kitchen, I turn to see who it is and realise it's my own voice I heard looking down at my four year old self "Well if it wasn't you then who was it?" I heard my mom's voice yell back as I saw her I burst out in years I hadn't seen her since she died of brain damage from a bad car accident when I was fourteen, but here she looks healthy so different compared what me and my sister had grown used to visiting her in the hospital. "It was Sam!" I yelled pointing at my sister who is two years older than me. "Well well well a little white lie to avoid a whooping, your mother believed you cause she thought you couldn't reach the cabinet with your favorite cookies, but you stood on the counter didn't you?" Ser asked his eyes turning a blue and green color like a clear ocean with seaweed at the bottom. "Yes and I ate the cookies till my stomach started to hurt and got rid of the rest in the outside trash."I answered wiping away my tears "seems pretty normal to me." Amari said "I agree what's next?" Ser asked Amari "Next up there's a first cussword." the room started to shift and fall turning into a new scene my second grade class "Maria it's your turn to come finish the problem on the board." Ms.Tussey who was my teacher at the time told me "NO!"my five year old self replied "And why not young lady." my teacher said back"cause maybe I don't want to you bitch!" I yelled at her, some of my classmates start giggling I laugh with them. "Go to the guidance office right now young lady." Ms.Tussey told me "I know where you got that one," Ser started as he did his eyes began changing from the ocean color and swirling into A stormy grey color. "A drunken, verbally abusive father."he finished. "next we have marias first fight." Amari told him the room began to change again this time turning into the playground outside of my elementary school my sister was under the monkey bars fighting the school bully and her younger sister, I see my 11 year old self come running from the slide on the other side of the playground I grab the bully's sister pulling her off my sister and hit her in the face and chest as hard as I can her face began to bleed but she wouldn't give up she hit my chin I get dazed and passed out. The room around darkens into an inky black, the only thing I could see was ser's glowing eyes as they changed from the the stormy gray to a sky blue. "Loyal even when it can get you hurt that's a good and respectable quality to have."he said "This memory is kinda weird ser I can't tell what's wrong with it yet it but doesn't seem to be her memory." Amari said "It's fine lets get into it." he told her the began to light up and come back into color turning into my best friend Jordan's garage where his parents kept their stash of weed, I snuck out the house that night around 10:00 to meet him. "Here dude you go first." my now seventeen year old self said handing him back the box after he showed me the cool eyeball bong that apparently changes colors when you smoke out of it. "Alright here." he grabbed the sandwich bag full of weed and filled the bong up half way then he grabed the lighter and started smoking, I payed attention to see if I could figure out how to do it without choking up a lung. "Here your turn" he said handing me the bong letting out smoke, I put the lighter to the bong and took a deep breath in, my lungs started to burn immediately making me cough and choke. "Your supposed to pull it into your mouth first then inhale slowly it doesn't hurt when I do it like that." he said holding back his laughter. I tried again this time doing what he said it worked I got so high I couldn't even remember what happened after we finished smoking but the memory went on. "Well we should head back now, i'm kinda hungry." Jordan said stuffing the box back in it's hiding place but as he did he felt something hidden behind the shelf where he sat the box. "What's this?" he said pulling out a small black metal box. From behind the small shelf he brought it over to the workbench we were sitting at and opened it "Woah is this thing real?" I asked grabbing a small revolver out from the box "I dunno maybe." he answered reaching for it, I pull the further from his hand and tried to check if it was loaded like they do on tv, but I couldn't figure it out so I just gave up and instead tried to have alittle Jordan with it. "This is the Sheriff put your hands up your surrounded." I said playfully holding the gun up to him. "Alright alright you caught me just watch where you point that thing sheriff." he said putting his hands up. "I'm taking you in Jordan Humphries the most wanted man this side of the west." I said gesturing to the door leading outside into his back yard his parents were out of town so we had free reign over the entire house, half of which was under construction so some places just had rebar supports and pipes that would make for a perfect jail cell, I was walking him across the yard to one of these rooms when he quickly turned around and yelled. "You'll never take me alive copper." he grabbed for the gun and I instinctively pull the trigger and made gun sound with my mouth but it was drowned out by the sound of the gun actually going off the bullet flew hitting Jordan in the stomach. "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh jordan are you okay oh God oh God please be ok." I run and bend down next to him covering the wound as best I can with my hand. "Come on you can't die on me please." I beg crying harder than I ever had trying to stop the bleeding, But it was no use Jordan slowly stoped breathing. "This is where the anomaly begins ser the memory changes into someone else's." Amari said pointing at my younger self. "Well what is it Amari?"he asked sternly "I think it's another personality ser." she replied "Another personality what are you talking about this can't be real it can't I don't remember any of this." I said confused about what I just saw "Just listen." she said "But I don't hear anything." I told her but then I realised it my younger self stoped crying and began dragging Jordan's body toward The Unfinished pool. "No this isn't real Jordan isn't dead he just ran away." I said "Uh oh it seems Jessica has been very bad." ser said chuckling under his breath "Jessica?" I asked "Yes that is way your other personality named herself." Jessica made it to the giant hole and droped Jordan's body in he hit the bottom with a loud thud, she then went back into the garage and grabbed a shovel and began burying him under a thin layer of dirt, she then wiped the gun off on her shirt and dropped it on top and covered it in another more thick layer of dirt. By the time she was done it was about 3:40am we continued to followed her as she went back to my house and stripped down to her underwear in the back yard she then threw the clothes onto the grill and covered them in lighter fluid. "Your pretty smart aren't you?" ser asked as his eyes changed again this time to a dark orange color. "That isn't me." I replied angrily "Why of course not I was talking to her I guess I have two souls to judge now." he says pointing over my shoulder I turn around to see myself as if I were looking in a mirror but it wasn't me it was her Jessica standing right here with us. "I'm sorry I tried to protect us." she said lighting a match I look back to see my younger self set the pile clothe's on fire

#story #horror #reading #writing #writen by me #short story #horror story #creepypasta

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