#Superboy prime icons
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Superboy Prime - Icons
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#Superboy prime icons#Kal-El icons#Clark kent icons#Superman icons#Superboy icons#Kalel icons#Kal el icons#Dc icons#Dc comics#Dc edits#Icons#Icons with psd#Superman prime icons#Superboy prime#Clark kent#Kal-El#Superman#Superman prime#Superboy
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January to April 2004. Fans of MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN would likely enjoy this poignant 2004 miniseries by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen, about a young man named Clark Kent in a world very much like ours, where Superman is a familiar — and fictional — pop culture icon. Clark grows up the butt of many jokes, but when he's in high school, he discovers that he really does have powers like Superman's, something that has no precedent in his world outside of comic books.
If this premise sounds familiar, it's because it's a lot like the origin of the Earth-Prime Superboy, before he became a way for Geoff Johns to mock comics fans (and for DC to play out its institutional hostility toward Siegel and Shuster). In the pre-Crisis era, Earth-Prime, one of editor Julius Schwartz's little jokes, was supposed to be our world, where comics artists, writers, and editors transcribed the adventures of the real heroes of the other Earths. In the afterword to the trade paperback compilation of SECRET IDENTITY, Busiek admits that the similarities were wholly intentional, and that while he didn't mention it in his proposal (and DC didn't advertise it as such), this was essentially his extrapolation of that 1985 concept by Elliot S! Maggin, Curt Swan, and Al Williamson.
After moving to New York City in his '20s, this Clark becomes a reporter — though not for the Daily Planet — and meets a young woman named Lois Chaudhari. To my knowledge, this was the first time a counterpart of Lois Lane was presented as an Asian woman (although of course she's not precisely Lois Lane).
Throughout most of the story, Clark uses his powers only in secret, but he does make himself a Superman costume. Eventually, he feels compelled to come clean with Lois:
Like Busiek's ASTRO CITY, SECRET IDENTITY is a very introspective story, less interested in action (of which there's relatively little) than in emotion and small observations of life with superhuman abilities. If you're expecting bigger dramatic stakes, you may find the series underwhelming — there are no supervillains or alien invasions, just Clark's reflections on his life and family, from childhood to old age — and the fact that the story never reveals why Clark has powers may frustrate. However, its autumnal wistfulness is appealing if you're in the right frame of mind for it. Immonen's art is gorgeous, and I can't think of a better artist for this story, which straddles the line between a real-world environment and the "heroic realism" of the modern superhero genre.
Fourteen years later, Busiek tried to do a similar story with Batman, BATMAN: CREATURE OF THE NIGHT, with John Paul Leon, which doesn't work nearly as well, wallowing in some uncomfortable attitudes about mental illness and an inappropriate though deliberately ambiguous supernatural element. Leon's art is interesting, but the story leaves a sour taste, and it does not succeed (at all) in doing for Batman what SECRET IDENTITY does for Superman, which is disappointing.
#comics#superman secret identity#kurt busiek#stuart immonen#earth-prime#superman#clark kent#lois lane#my adventures with superman#maws#elliot s maggin#curt swan#al williamson#eduardo barreto#julius schwartz#batman creature of the night#john paul leon#i don't think supernatural elements are necessarily inappropriate for batman#but putting that in a supposedly “real world” story about a man who is definitely mentally ill is in poor taste
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i’m sure someone has made this list before. but i’ve recently reread the robin (1993-2009) comics and realised how Batshit Crazy tim’s time as robin was. here’s a list of major events that happened during his tenure:
obeah man???: still not clear on exactly what happened here, but his parents are both poisoned, resulting in his mom’s death and his dad’s long-term coma.
knightfall/knightquest/knightsend: the iconic arc when bane breaks bruce’s back and azrael (derogatory) temporarily becomes batman then quickly goes off the rails and tries to kill tim, forcing him to go solo and work with huntress (hashtag girlboss) before bruce returns and handles azrael
contagion: the incurable Apocalypse Virus™ threatens to wipe out gotham city and tim naturally catches it and nearly dies before bruce returns with The Cure
the final night: a sun-eater tries to Eat The Sun. tim meets impulse! robin and spoiler defend gotham city on their own during the crisis! tim’s girlfriend’s crazy mafia uncle tries to kill him after finding them in bed together (not doing the sexy. but it looked like they were gonna do it.)
cataclysm: a massive earthquake levels half of gotham, throwing the city into crisis and causing some problems in tim’s personal life as his father relocates them to keystone briefly before tim’s misery convinces him to move them back to gotham
no man’s land (a personal favourite): gotham’s post-earthquake crisis worsens and the government decides that the best solution is to declare it no man’s land. shockingly, this causes Even More Problems. there’s a whole thing where tim’s dad realises tim snuck off into the city, and the news about it makes people sympathetic enough to gotham’s (cough a rich white family’s) plight that the government decides to actually help. cass becomes batgirl!
young justice/teen titans drama!: so much went on here. i don’t even know where to begin. the whole imperiex/our worlds at war apocalyptic crisis. tim quits young justice after the thing where the justice league discovers batman’s Super Paranoid Contingency Plans™ causes the team to distrust him. he returns to the team, which is disbanded after a team-up with the titans goes badly. the teen titans is formed. general fuckery involving tim’s civilian life!
unmasked: tim’s dad finds out he’s robin, confronts batman in the batcave with a gun and forces tim to quit. steph becomes robin and cuts off contact with tim. superboy tries to convince tim to come back to teen titans, but tim insists that he’s Totally Happy Just Being A Civilian, Kon. Really. He’s Less Stressed Now That He’s Not Dealing With Constant Crises! (lying)
war games: oh god. we all know this one. gang war! gotham in peril! steph dies! tim meets evil!future batman!tim who murdered the entire rogue gallery with the gun that killed bruce’s parents. tim seriously considers killing himself to prevent this future.
identity crisis: a Mysterious Villain begins targeting families of the justice league. because tim is not allowed to have anything remotely nice, his dad is murdered (by captain boomerang, which is frankly adding insult to injury). tim invents an uncle to avoid getting adopted by bruce (really, kid? really?). bruce finds out and helps him solidify the fake uncle's identity (bruce no)
robin: to kill a bird: jason todd returns all crazy and nearly kills tim at titans’ tower (dressed in a version of his robin costume) and signs his name in tim’s blood. theatre kid much, jason?
infinite crisis: c’mon dc, you’ve done like four world-ending crises in the last decade. chill your goddamn tits. the teen titans, doom patrol, and justice society of america team up to take down superboy prime. normal superboy dies due to the fight, despite tim’s desperate attempt to find a cure. also bludhaven got nuked and tim’s stepmother gets a traumatic brain injury and is permanently hospitalised. then bruce, tim, and dick go on vacation and tim accepts bruce’s offer to adopt him! yay!
one year later: cass is briefly evil! the league of assassins tries to recruit tim, who barely escapes with his life after turning them down. then he goes a little crazy with grief, tries to clone kon, and has a brief relationship with extreme violence before deciding to break it off.
the resurrection of ra’s al ghul: damian arrives in gotham! and tries to kill tim multiple times! ra’s tries to seduce tim to the Dark Side with the promise of resurrecting his parents! tim refuses! ra’s tries to force bruce to sacrifice either tim or damian to become his new host body! tim tries to sacrifice himself but is convinced by dick to Not Do That at the last minute!
batman r.i.p.: bruce dies, but not really! fun times!
battle for the cowl: i like to pretend this doesn’t exist, because it is Stupid As Fuck. jason nearly kills tim again, but damian (!) rescues him.
red robin: dick makes damian robin. the end!
but not really
and then of course the whole red robin series (which i love) is just like. tim is passively suicidal! tim loses an entire important organ while working with the loa! tim becomes ceo of wayne enterprises then blows up the loa and ra’s almost kills him! tim is nearly raped by one of ra’s’ daughters because ra’s really wants tim’s babies! this is not dealt with at all!!! love that for him
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thoughts on Superman: Secret Identity? I personally LOVE the art as well as it’s interpretation of Clark and family. It’s also a great rebuttal towards Zack Snyder’s claim that DCEU Superman is what a “realistic” Superman would be like
One of my all-time favorite Superman stories. If the story doesn't hook you the drop dead gorgeous art from Immonen absolutely will. Every time I read this all the wind gets knocked out of me when I see his amazing double page spreads.
Problem with most "realistic" Superman stories is that they all usually ignore the big caveat: if Superman was "real" he would grow up in a world alongside the fictional character Superman! Beginning as a pitch for a Superboy-Prime story (yes that Prime), Busiek set out to tell the story of "Clark Kent of Kansas", an ordinary kid who gets teased growing up because he shares a name with the most iconic superhero on the planet. Clark is a loner and an outcast who has trouble fitting in, and doesn't find the constant jokes about his name all that funny, nor does he actually like or care about his famous namesake. Then one day while out camping by himself, Clark wakes up from a nightmare to discover he can fly. Not just fly, he has all of Superman's powers: super strength, nigh-invulnerable skin, heat vision, enhanced senses, the whole works. What he decides to do with his gifts shapes the course of his entire life, and attracts the attention of the government.
At his core this Clark has the basic decency you'd expect from Superman, but he isn't a saint or morally unimpeachable. In line with being a realistic take, this is a Superman you could feasibly see yourself being, a Superman who is relatable. Plenty of folks who woke up one day to find they had Superman's powers would probably first use their powers for fun, but eventually I do think many would attempt to be a hero. After all our entire pop culture is built around the understanding that people with superpowers have a responsibility to use their powers to help others, and many would want to imitate the heroes they've seen in film and video games. Contrasting with so many other "what if Superman was real?" stories, Secret identity manages to stand out by it's level of maturity. It tries to reconstruct Superman rather than just mock him as being stupid or outdated. When Clark becomes a writer, marries a Lois, or dons a pair of glasses it feels believable because Bueisk acknowledges the criticism about those tropes, while still incorporating them. Glasses aren't going to fool anyone Clark works with daily, but perhaps they might throw off any government agents he unwittingly crosses paths with in the street.
Realism is often correlated with darkness and cynicism in people's minds. You might be surprised to learn that Secret Identity does have elements of both in how it explores human nature. Wendy Case blew up gas lines throughout the town of Pickettsville, in an attempt to force Clark out into the open, because she was so desperate to make it to the big leagues and he was her meal ticket. Yet Clark can't find it in himself to hate her for it, pitying her instead while still reserving the majority of his sympathy for her victims. Agent Mallory was willing to capture and imprison Clark for the "crime" of using his powers to help people. Mallory was so terrified of what Clark might do, that he was willing to actively push Clark into facing off with the government over their attempts to capture him. At the end Mallory proves himself to be decent, letting Clark walk away from helping the government and destroying all the information they had collected on him. Mallory even surprises Clark by letting Clark know that Mallory discovered his secret identity, but hasn't shared that information with anyone and will keep his secret.
Not that this story shy's away from letting you know that yes, there are some real bastards out there:
Scenes such as Clark discovering the victims of government experimentation, including a dead baby, hit me hard the first time I saw them. Usually Superman stories don't enter that kind of storytelling territory, but Secret Identity does and is all the stronger for it. Superman as a character is frequently said to only work in feel-good wholesome stories, stories that are only about how great he is or offer a rose-tinted worldview on human nature. I don't believe that hogwash because some of Superman's greatest stories are extremely dark, and this one of them. Here we see a perfect example of how Superman can work in a "dark and realistic" story. He comes face to face with the evil humanity is capable of, but he doesn't become evil himself. Torching the lab, but still carrying out all the soldiers who were attempting to stop his escape, Clark remains good even despite the efforts of the government to bend him to their will. Seeing that others can be bastards doesn't make him decide to be a bastard himself.
When it comes to Snyder this story is everything he wanted to do but actually succeeding. This is the story that manages to answer the question of "what if Superman was real?" in a way that doesn't break the character the way Snyder did. Clark never discovers that he's actually from Krypton, he doesn't meet Lex Luthor, he never publicly reveals himself as a "superhero", he comes into conflict with the government, and the story takes pains to acknowledge that there are costs to being Superman. Missing his wife giving birth to their twin daughters because he has to go rescue hostages is part of the deal that comes with being Superman for Clark. Whereas Cavill is utterly passive, hiding because Pa told him to, putting on the suit because Jor-El told him to, here Clark is the one who chooses to keep his identity secret, to keep saving people even when it would be more prudent to give up his heroics. Choices are made and consequences are dealt with, reaching an accord with Mallory and the government happens because Clark takes the initiative to make it happen. Compelling protagonists are ones whose actions shape the story, not protagonists who merely sit back and let events happen to them.
Another thing that struck me as I was reading this was how similar this take on Clark Kent is to Peter Parker. At the start he's a bullied outcast who can't even make friends with the "nerds". He's got his own Flash Thompson in Mike Aurie, who picks on Clark Kent but is enamored with the rumored "Superboy". After getting his powers, his first thought is to use them to travel, or to spy on girls. Eventually he uses them to help others, his first act of heroism being to save someone from drowning in a flood even though it's the middle of the day, but also plans on taking Wendy Case's offer to secure fame and fortune for himself and his parents by going public. Only after Case betrays his trust by attempting to take a photo of him without his consent or knowledge, does Clark back away from that plan. What separates the two is that Peter had let himself be warped by bitterness, he had all the hallmarks of a supervillain in the making until the spider bit him, whereas Clark didn't have Peter's entitlement issues.
In the final issue, as an old man who has been replaced by his twin daughters, Clark reflects on the meaning of the title: Secret Identity.
This right here is key to Superman's appeal, it's the foundation of the character, the part that comes directly from Siegel and Shuster's childhood experiences. Having different parts of yourself for different situations, and rarely does anyone outside of your immediate loved ones ever get to see the "whole" of you? Who can't relate to that on some level? We all have different personas, different "capes" we put on and wear at different times. Befitting his status as the Everyman+, Clark simply takes that to the next level, but that aspect of him is the way in for me and countless other Superman fans. It's an important aspect of Batman and Spider-Man too, even in stories where Clark has been outed I think on some level that separation of identities, manifesting in how he acts depending on "who" he is, needs to be there.
Beautiful story about someone with a remarkable secret life, this is an easy recommendation for newcomers or people who are already hardcore Superman fans but somehow haven't read this yet.
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#Stephanie brown#batgirl#spoiler#starfire#kon el kent#kon kent#superboy prime#young justice#teen titans#dc comics#dc#robin#batfamily#icons#dc icons#starfire icons#koriandr icons#Stephanie brown icons#batgirl icons#spoiler icons#superboy icons
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that kid’s poison.
Dark Nights: Death Metal The Secret Origin (2020)
art by Francis Manapul & Ian Herring
#superboy prime#dark nights: death metal#comic edit#was just gonna make icons but i made edits instead oop
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Superboy (kon) headcanons cause I’m bored and have a lot:
He’s bisexual
Obviously
I mean look at him
He always keeps his ‘fade’ even when his hair is short
He says it’s because it shows off his earrings better
He has a tongue ring that he refuses to take out
Even when both Lex and Clark told him he had to take out a majority of his piercings go fit in better
Because he is only half kryptonian kryptonite affects him differently
It only hurts him if he physically touches it or he ingests it
Being in proximity to it doesn’t do anything
However he does need to be in sunlight a lot more than Clark does
One night when Tim Bart Cassie and Cissie were staying at the farm for the weekend cissie decided she wanted to die strips of her hair fire truck red
Kon decided that the whole ‘time to change a part of my look so I don’t feel sad’ type beat was a good idea and that’s how he got the piercings
They very sloppily made a kryptonite needle
They all went to the store, bought hair dye and a crap ton of rings
Cassie and Bart did cissie’s hair and Tim (against his protests) did kons piercings
By the time he was done kon had 22 piercings
14 in his ears, 3 in his eyebrows, 2 nose rings, 2 lip rings (the fang piercings y’know) and a tongue ring
They lasted about a year except for the tongue ring 1 nose ring and the two in his earlobes
He kept those
When he came back from...well you know....dying he thought about going back to the iconic red blue and yellow colors since him and Clark were on good terms
Then he found out that Tim changed his colors for him and decided to keep the black and red
He just changed out his t shirts and jeans for an actual suit
He never gets rid of the leather jacket
He also takes it everywhere with him
It has been compared to a security blanket multiple times by multiple people
He bought it oversized when he was young so it has just kind of grew with him
It’s a total mess filled with pins, sloppy stitches to fix tears, patches, paintings and little accessories here and there
He’s sentimental
He was terrified of Jon when he first found out about him
Then he actually met Jon
And officially became the Cool Older Brother™️
He thrived off of the title
Clark almost immediately regretted letting the two hang out
He has curly hair
When his hair naturally falls it has the iconic Superman curl
He tends to pull his hair back with a hair band
He plays the guitar
It helps him with his anger
When he wants to calm down he plays the acoustic and when he wants to get the anger out he plays the electric
He only plays out in the barn though
The shyest he had ever felt is when he asked Dick to teach him how to play
Tim had said something off handed about Dick playing to help Damian fall asleep and kon almost immediately went to find him to ask if he could teach him
Dick was ecstatic and immediately bought kon his own guitar
Almost every weekend Kon was at the manor (it was the easiest) for lessons
They lasted a few months
And Dick very quickly decided to add him to his ever growing collection of siblings
Kon will never admit how validating that was
Unfortunately for Tim now Dick is on him constantly about asking Kon out so he can be in the family ‘officially’
Kon is considered an ‘outcast’ at school
He thinks it’s because people don’t like him but it’s because he’s actually really intimidating
I mean and of course that doesn’t cross his mind he’s never really hung out with people who would consider him intimidating
I mean the people he hangs out with have met and have close relationships with the justice league
Why would superboy be intimidating?
Well
Because he is 6’3 has a lot of muscle, tends to dress in all black constantly, never takes off his leather jacket with spikes on it, has a crap ton of piercings, also he has worn crop tops to school so his couple of nasty looking scars that sb prime gave him are visible
And yeah kon is an absolute sweetheart who wouldn’t hurt a fly unless said fly deserves it but when he’s not smiling he looks like he wants to kill someone
So no he doesn’t get approached much
He has no filter
Kon loves wearing crop tops
Especially if they are sleeveless
He likes showing off his muscle
He also has fishnets that he wears under his ripped jeans
And one (count *1*) skirt
It’s long and flowy and he bought it after seeing a picture of Kurt Cobain in a skirt similar
He however doesn’t wear the skirt or fishnets in smallville
Robin was the first reason he started questioning his sexuality
He refuses to tell Tim that even when they start dating
Kon is super stubborn and prideful
He won’t apologize unless absolutely without a doubt 100% means it
He is terrified of telepaths or anyone who can get into his mind
If anyone messes with his mind he will cut them off completely without hesitation and will under any circumstances let them back into his life
He is so incredibly insecure about who he is
He is constantly terrified the people around don’t like him
The only person he talks to about Cadmus, like in depth about the experiments, is Bart. Because Bart doesn’t look at him with pity, he actually understands what he went through
They become each other’s lifeline when it comes to the whole childhood experimentation thing
Him and Cassie are super competitive with each other. Like really competitive.
Him and Anita go shopping together because they have the same sense of style
Any Petty drama he has going on as Conner Kent he goes to talk to Cissie about.
He is scared that if he complains about small, ‘normal’ things to other masks, they will think he’s pathetic
Him and Lois have a phenomenal relationship
It really just radiates cool aunt and emotionally unstable neice/nephew dynamic
He encourages him to make fun of Clark or call him out
She once bought him an ‘I hate Superman’ shirt cause she thought it would be funny
Kon goes by He/They
#dc comics#conner kent#i love him#i think about him way too much#kon-el#90s superboy#superboy#i have more#but i got lazy#og young justice team
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Leap’s Guide to the Bats
Dick Grayson
- flippy boi
- circus child
- his parents fell from the trapeze it was very sad
- first Robin, chose bright colors and no pants
- known for his attrocious puns
- grew up to become Nightwing, went through several Bad Fashion Choices^TM
- tired, just trying to keep the family together and help people
- angrier than people give him credit for
- 10/10 best big brother I love him so much
Barbara Gordon
- the first official batgirl rn (I think)
- commissioner's daughter we love her anyways
- badass who dated Dick for a while and was generally just amazing
- got shot in the spine by the Joker and paralyzed
- became Oracle the best hacker on the planet
- hacks all the stuff, is in everyone's ear all the time
- is still a total badass and will kick your ass to metropolis if you cross her
- and then play innocent and blame it on Batman
- I love her so much
Jason Todd
- tried to steal Bruce's tires, Bruce pulled an uno reverse and stole him
- angery boy but also very soft
- died =(
- and then he came back to life
- either because Superboy Prime punched the universe (don't ask) or because Ra's felt bad
- was Lazarus Pitted back to life, zombie bat with white streak now
- (except DC won't give him the streak 'cause they're rude)
- started calling himself Red Hood
- spent some time as angsty murder boi trying to fight Bruce
- angry that the Joker's still alive
- still an angsty murder boi but he's in the family again and sometimes has friends! but dc also likes taking them away
- DC is very rude
Tim Drake
- stalker extraordinaire/j
- figured out Batman's identity when he was 10
- followed Batman and Robin around for years taking pictures
- after Jason died Bruce got hella self-destructive so Tim stepped in and was like "I am going to become Robin because you need to stop"
- we stan
- hacker child. also has zero self-preservation
- became Red Robin when Damian became Robin
- if you listen to fanon, sleep deprived coffee boi
- is honestly downright freaking terrifying when crossed don't do that
- seriously this kid frightens me he's a genius who does shit like figure out who Batman is, follow him for years without detection, beats all the criminal masterminds, at one point he managed to create an entire fake uncle to lie to bruce?? long story.
- basically he's terrifying and also he needs hugs I love him
Stephanie Brown
- became a superhero out of spite
- her dad's a villain so she dresses up as Spoiler to Spoil his plans
- ends up joining the bats
- becomes Robin at one point when Tim temporarily quits
- then she dies. except she doesn't. yes I'm confused too
- returns (leslie thompkins??) and goes back to Spoiler for a bit
- Babs makes her Batgirl
- waffle queen. an icon. I love Steph so damn much
- she's just so good okay
- she is a ball of sass and poor impulse control
- but also really smart and amazing
Cassandra Cain
- assassin child I love her
- easily one of the most terrifying bats
- really, really good at reading body language she knows what you're about to do before you do and will stop you
- was raised to read body language instead of speak basically it's complicated
- killed a man as a child under orders from her father, didn't realize what would happen and panicked and ran away after she did it
- Bruce and Babs both kinda adopted her and mentored her and made her Batgirl
- she became Black Bat and Orphan at some point but idk what's up with that love her though
- has trouble with words
- loves to dance
- I would die for Cass Cain I adore her
Damian Wayne
- another assassin child
- this one's Bruce and Talia's bio kid
- raised in the league of assassins until Talia brought him to Bruce
- had to learn not to kill people and that killing is not how we rise in the ranks here
- no you can't stab Tim and become Robin that's not how this works
- bit of a brat at first, grows so much as a character
- animal lover
- Bruce dies and Dick becomes Batman for a while. he makes Damian his Robin
- he also loves art and video games and he learns how to be a kid again
- when the writers aren't COWARDS
- I love Damian so much he needs so much love
- grumpy exterior, cares very much but will stab you if you suggest it
Duke Thomas
- glowy boi
- tried to beat the Riddler and save the city at nine. I love
- his parents were Jokerized when he was a teen and he ended up in the foster care system for a while
- joined a group of kids called We are Robin and was amazing
- I love We are Robin so much it's so good Duke is incredible
- look at him go he's leading a group of vigilante kids it's excellent
- becomes Bruce's foster son at some point
- becomes a vigilante named Signal. only one of the bats with common sense he has a helmet
- he can also turn invisible
- Duke is the only meta he can see... see light in the past? he can see light patterns a few minutes into the past and into the future
- so he can see what you did a few minutes ago and what you're going to do a few minutes from now
- also he has x-ray vision
- and shadow powers?? now???
- calls his ability to see light stuff ghost vision
- I love
- honestly best bat he's so good
- gets fanonized as the "sane" one. he is not.
- once jumped out of a moving police car and off a bridge
- Duke is by no means the sane one he's just as chaotic as the others
- what a dumbass. it's great
- represents light and hope and truth and I just have so many emotions about Duke Thomas
#batfam#dick grayson#jason todd#tim drake#barbara gordon#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#damian wayne#duke thomas#dc#wrote this at 1:30 am have fun
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SHAZAM! #13
written by GEOFF JOHNS
art and cover by DALE EAGLESHAM
card stock variant cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
He’s baaaaaaack!
The greatest kid superhero ever faces the worst teen supervillain as Billy Batson and the Shazam family confront Superboy Prime. Superboy Prime has the powers of Superman and none of his heroic morality—can even Shazam stop the most powerful threat he and his family have ever encountered?
ON SALE 05.27.20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
CARD STOCK VARIANT COVER $4.99 US
FC | DC
This issue will ship with two covers.
Please see the order form for details.
Okay, when you put it like this I can see the reason behind clashing Billy with Prime. The innocence of youth vs youth corrupted, idealism vs disillusionment and bitterness, altruism vs entitlement, one of the first, most iconic and oldest instances of a teen hero in comics vs personification of the idea teenagers are monsters. They could work as foils to one another.
But can I also say that seeing Prime again just makes me go uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh?
- Admin
#Shazam!#Shazam#! Billy Batson#Mary Marvel#Mary Broomfield#Captain Marvel Jr.#Freddy Freeman#Darla Dudley#Pedro Pena#Eugene Choi#Superboy Prime#DC
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BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
BATMAN #426-429
DECEMBER 1988 - JANUARY 1989
BY JIM STARLIN, JIM APARO, MIKE DECARLO, ADRIENNE ROY, MIKE MIGNOLA, ANTHONY TOLLIN AND OVER 10,000 PHONE CALLS.
Jason Todd finds out his biological mother may still be alive and he discovers there are three possible women that could be his mother. He then decides to meet each other to find out which one is the one. But at the same time, the Joker escapes Arkham and decides to make some quick money by dealing with terrorists. Both missions will collide into each other and change Batman’s life forever.
SCORE: 8
This story was a big deal when it came out, and for Batman fans, it still is. But it has been cheapened by DC’s decision to bring the character back from the dead. I assume this is not spoiler, as it is in the covers.
I will talk more about the plot in the spoiler section. I feel like in general there is a lot of lazy writing in this story. I think the idea was good, but there are many things in the story that didn’t need to be this way. I would have just removed everything about the middle east, and I would also tried to find an alternative to yet another “diplomatic immunity” plot.
Jim Aparo did his usual iconic style here, but that also means that many characters look too much alike, which is a shame. Especially when Jason doesn’t really look like a teenager.
So, something I can discuss outside of the spoiler section, is the whole gimmick of this story. The phone number vote.
From Wikipedia:
Jason Todd, the second character to take the Robin persona, was introduced in Batman #357 (March 1983). He was initially depicted with a personality and origin identical to that of predecessor Dick Grayson. However, the history-altering events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Batman: Year One allowed editor Dennis O'Neil, writer Max Allan Collins, and artist Chris Warner to revise his backstory and personality. The changes caused Todd to grow increasingly unpopular with fans during this period; unlike the cheery and optimistic Grayson, this new characterization of Todd was depicted as foul-mouthed, impulsive, and bad-tempered.
Aware of Todd's unpopularity, O'Neil and writer Jim Starlin began discussing ways to retire the character, and before long, began to consider killing him altogether. During an editorial retreat, O'Neil recalled the success of a 1982 segment of Saturday Night Live, in which Eddie Murphy encouraged viewers to call the show if they wanted him to boil Larry the Lobster on air. O'Neil proposed a similar idea involving Todd to publisher Jenette Kahn, who liked the idea. O'Neil would later state:
We didn't want to waste it on anything minor. Whether Firestorm's boots should be red or yellow ... This had to be important. Life or death stuff.
— Dennis O'Neil
On the back of Batman #427, an advertisement was run featuring Batman carrying a severely wounded Robin. In the ad, readers were warned that Robin would die of his injuries "because the Joker wants revenge", but that they could "prevent it with a telephone call". Two 900 numbers were given: one (1-(900) 720-2660) which would let Robin live, and another (1-(900) 720-2666) which would cause him to die. The numbers were active for 36 hours, beginning on September 15, 1988, at 8 A.M. EST and ending on September 16, 1988, at 8 P.M. EST. Readers were charged 50 cents per call. Approximately 10,614 votes were cast during this period. When tallied, the final results were extremely narrow, with 5,343 votes in favor of Jason's death over 5,271 for his survival—a margin of just 72 votes. O'Neil would later admit to having voted in Todd's favor, as he felt that Batman was incomplete without Robin and feared killing Todd would lead to backlash.
"A Death in the Family" was written by Starlin. The artwork was illustrated by Jim Aparo, inked by Mike DeCarlo, and colored by Adrienne Roy. John Costanza handled the lettering, and Mike Mignola designed each issue's cover. The four-part story line began in Batman #426 (December 1988), and concluded in Batman #429 (January 1989). Two versions of issue #428 were prepared: one that would be used if readers voted in favor of Todd's survival, and another to be used if he was to be killed; the latter version ended up being used. The story line was later collected in trade paperback and hardcover form as Batman: A Death in the Family after its conclusion.
When it was first released, "A Death in the Family" generated massive media coverage and backlash over the decision to kill Robin, a beloved comic book character and pop icon. Newspapers such as USA Today and Reuters published articles about it, the latter of which would state that "a group of comic book artists and writers has succeeded in doing what the most fiendish minds of the century... have failed to accomplish". Frank Miller, author of The Dark Knight Returns (1986), was highly critical of the story, describing the "toll-free" number voting as "the most cynical thing [DC] has ever done". O'Neil and his team were caught off-guard by the amount of attention the story drew; according to him, it lasted four straight days, and was unlike anything the team had previously experienced. The story line was a bestseller in both the standard single-issue and trade paperback format.
In retrospect, Hilary Goldstein of IGN called "A Death in the Family" one of the best Batman graphic novels ever written. He described the story as "worth the price of admission", and considered letting readers vote on Todd's fate to be one of DC's strongest decisions. Both Goldstein and NPR contributor Glen Weldon agreed with the choice of killing Todd, as both felt the character was poorly developed and inferior to Grayson. Screen Rant praised Aparo's cover for the collected version, describing it as "iconic" and perfect for showing such a grim, sad moment.
From DC in the 80s:
For Batman, we did Death in the Family -- which was their best-selling book that year -- but it turns out they had all these licensing (pajamas, lunch boxes, and stuff like that) and the licensing department was very mad, everybody got mad, and they needed somebody to blame -- so I got blamed. And within 3 months all of my work dried up - Jim Starlin
Spoilers after the break...
So one of the reason I say there was too much lazy writing in this story, has to do with all the coincidences. The Joker just happens to be in the same places as two of the possible mothers. And not only that, Joker even knew Sheila when she lost her license for doing abortions. I understand why Sheila betrays Jason (she was also taking money from the poor in Ethiopia and didn’t want any problems with the law), but it was never explained how the Joker and Sheila knew each other.
There goes mother of the year!
To be honest, while Jason’s death was brutal, I always felt it was the right thing. Being Robin was child endangerment, Starlin was right in that. But it also seems like Jason magically became Robin, without much thought to it. I tolerate the pre-crisis version more than this one, but the people to blame for how he ended up being... are Max Allan Collins and Jim Starlin.
There were two versions of issue #428, and the material ended up being used for Batman Annual #25 (Infinite Crisis tie-in... more lazy writing, by the way).
But to me the idea of using diplomatic immunity once again was ridiculous, and just the idea that the Joker would become ambassador and kill everyone in the council... while representing Iran... is also quite stupid, because it would be considered an act of war on all other countries.
There is also another idea happening in the last issue. That the Joker knows who Batman is. This would make sense as it was too much of a coincidence that Jason died in that same explosion (Batman even mentions Jason to the Joker). The issue may have been edited to remove all references from the Joker that he knows who Batman is, you can read more about it here.
Both Joker and Robin would drop off the radar for an entire year, a year that was quite important for the Joker, as the Batman Motion Picture created bat-mania around the world. In fact, I am lying, the Robin concept wouldn’t take long to start resurfacing (in just a few months we would have Batman: Year Three). But the consequences of this story were felt for years, until people at DC started basically publishing fan fiction, with reality-punching Superboy prime.
If I had to vote, I would vote for Jason to die. Mostly because I know now, how much potential him dying gave to the batman and robin mythos. Having that dead Robin there is a reminder that what they do is dangerous and has no place for amateurs. I wouldn’t vote for Jason to die again now, as it wouldn’t mean a thing. Like death in comics.
#mike mignola#jason todd#robin#batman#joker#superman#dc comics#comics#review#1988#1989#modern age#a death in the family#jim aparo
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HEADCANONS. ahead is a big ol’ whoppin’ topics surrounding depression, comin’ out, & the whole shebang surrounding Kon-El’s self acceptance & internalized homophobia & the process of it all.
First: understand that Kon desired financial and emotional independence from The League & most importantly, Clark. Clark himself was never abusive, at first maybe cold, a bit reluctant to accept someone who claims to be you of all things...Gradually, he accepted Kon in the sense of a brother. Kon himself doesn’t acknowledge Clark as his father, barely a brother sometimes. It’s a complex relationship where you strive to diverge from the original canvis, even though you’re the result of a different artist who just traced the original. He wanted to become someone else, so he crafted his own identity, first the Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, who would be eternally young, fresh, amazing, all the girls wanted him! He stayed young physically, but mentally he kept maturing, understanding, and experiencing. Sucks, right? Point is: like all things, Kon-El grows.
Physically, he remain unchanged until he and the team were hit with a aging device that warped him to the microsopic level. He now ages, but to only his prime. His cells won’t allow deterioration to a point where he falls out of his very best because there is no point. That persona of the Peter Pan dies, and eventually he reworks himself. He thought “A Heart Throb-Hero! Someone you look up to, someone that everyone wants, that everyone loves “ and realizing he’s envisioning Clark Kent of all people, he fells into a sort of defiant swing for a while. He denies Clark, hating his image for a year or so before understanding that he can’t fight who he is, and he can’t hate Clark because in essence he is Clark Kent. From that moment of acceptance he knew that it was fine. It’s fine to be made of his own genetic composition, but he was so much more than his essence.
He managed to half-accept himself after nearly a decade of being out of the pod. He was saught out by companies to try and trademark the growing collection of Superboy-themed products that were taking the market by storm. Of course, he was selling like fucking pancakes. He was the spotlight hog, he wanted the cameras, he fucking flexes for the camera. While the rest of the heros were greatly loved in their own right, none did the camera, thus, enteraining the public, as justice as Kon. He gradualyl becomes a public icon. Like in Reign of the Supermen? “Superman, if raised by the Kardashians.” He loves, loved, loves the attention. He lived for it and he thrives off of it. In that singular moment when his photo is taken, he’s untouched, remembered, and immortalized. His obsession with being loved by millions is solely rooted in the fact that he will outlive his loved ones. Everyone behind the cameras being interested and looking at him with glimmering eyes was his way to finding place holders, hopefully a permenant fix. He pushed away all his worries and dove into creating himself and even if he is a goof, he was implanted with stock market knowledge, economic PHD-level understandings and knowledge, and that’s just the stuff he found useful. With his fingers on the economic-pulse, he started his own modeling catalog, funded his own comic from the money he raked in from his own Superboy (tm) brand. He became a CEO of his own buisness on the side by pushing most of the work and power over to several board of directors.
Kon-El is a fucking genius in his own regard because he knew how to capture hearts, but that very same talent became a noose around his neck. After working with people for years, enjoying yourself, finding a happiness in them s you want. . . more. Several women, each helped him greatly to accept that he is, very much so, imperfect. The problem started when he found himself getting closer with men. First it started as late-night, hand-holding while drunk of soda and ungodly amounts of pizza, and proceeded to touches that shouldn’t happen, and then advancing more sexually and the post-regret eating away at him. He rationalized it as things that guys do when they’re pent up, or that it’s cool because his partner wants to please him, cause of course, he’s superboy. Anyone would be fucking greatful to be around him, especially be used by him.
His own agrrogance brought a lot of his friendships to the tipping point before he accepted that he had a problem and it wasn’t other people, but it was him. He couldn’t be one foot in, and one foot out of wanting sex, then wanting nothing, and thenw wanting something with more depth and romance, and right back to nothing. It was a dance that he grew tired of playing and he didn’t know why the fear of going public with this made him so fucking scared. That took a while, a lot of sneaking, a lot of fucking fights and tears. He realized that he was afraid of being hated, of going unnoticed, unloved. He grew so dependent of public approval that it scared him into a closet and locked it from the outside. Eventually, someone did help him gather his own balls and announce it at a press conference, with a very iconic, and enternally quoted:
‘ I makeout with dudes. I make out with girls. I probably made out with your girl. I probably still hit up your boy. Stay pressed. ‘
Yes, he did become a LGBT+ icon. Who wouldn’t after that?
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Every time my friends insult Superman by calling him boring I get so overwhelmingly frustrated because it’s like, they’re so wrong? They’re so wrong and they don’t even know it.
So here’s a beginners guide to why you should be stanning Superman quick stat:
he has a very good super-dog called Krypto who he takes on walks around the galaxy
he treats women right
has a villain called Eradicator which looks exactly like him but he’s like the Terminator and just wears dopeass visor sunglasses
will out-live everyone and thing he loves by thousands of years, and if that doesn’t hurt your heart then idek
bffs with a goth binch called Batman
has a way cooler base of operations than the batcave - it’s a crystal ice palace in the Antarctic called the “Fortress of Solitude”
He also has his biological dad’s consciousness stored on a Kryptonian USB drive and he talks to him sometimes.
spent a large portion of his childhood in the 31st century with the Legion of Superheroes. The Legion of Superheroes are basically a group of young heroes from Earth inspired by Superman’s legacy. They would frequently go back in time and nab teenage Superman from the timeline so they could hang out and do fun stuff together
he was created by two jewish guys during world war ii, hence why they wanted him to become a symbol of hope for the oppressed
once died and came back to life with a mullet and cute new black costume to match his goth bff, batman
Speaking off bffs, Clark is also bffs with Diana (wonder woman), and they once spent 1000 years fighting wars in Valhalla together
during this time, clark also wielded Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir. That’s right. He’s worthy.
He helped stop the KKK in real life
is technically an alien (human) fucker and thus, relatable to all you alien and monster fuckers out there
is a good noodle who collects endangered species in his Intergalactic Zoo in the Fortress of Solitude, for their own protecc
had a genetic love child with Lex Luthor called Conner Kent (Superboy)
visits children’s cancer wards and flies them to space to give them tours of the Justice League headquarters. He also organises the Justice League to put on scavenger hunts for the kids while they’re up there.
Lois’ and his son, Jon Kent, is bffs with the current Robin (Bruce’s son, Damian Wayne) and it’s rly cute. They hang out and even have an ongoing series called “Super Sons”
is supportive of Lois being a working mom and goes out of his way to teach his son about why it’s important that she gets to work as much as he does
is basically the fun uncle to the first Robin (Dick Grayson). When Dick grows up and becomes his own superhero away from Batman, he names himself ‘Nightwing’ after a Kryptonian legend Clark used to tell him about when he was little.
has a villain called “Superboy Prime” which is just an insane version of himself from Earth-Prime who’s world was erased during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Superboy Prime once punched the walls of reality so hard that it brought Jason Todd (the Robin that Joker beat to death) back to life. You’re welcome, Batman stans.
spent a year split into two different versions of himself called “Superman Red” and “Superman Blue”. He was pretty chill with it tbh.
Superman is such a dork with Batman that they actively call themselves “super-friends”. Can you believe this? Can you believe how much they love each other?
Is mortal enemies with a fourth-wall-breaking, trickster imp from the fifth dimension called “Mr. Mxyzptlk”. Mxy flies around just doing shit to annoy him, like turning his cape different colours and trying to out him as Clark Kent to his co-workers. The only way Clark can banish Mxy is by getting him to say his name backwards, which is “kltpzyxm”. But even then, Mxy can only be banished for short periods of time, and he always comes back. There’s no way to defeat him and clark is completely haunted by the knowledge of this.
anyways, in conclusion: he is very good and pure and I love him .
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He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse No. 1 (January 2020)
For over 30 years, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has been one of pop culture's most iconic franchises. We've seen a few cartoons, not to mention the famous movie starring Dolph Lundgren in 1987, all putting the character into the spotlight, reminding us of our affection for the Mattel toyline again and again.
In DC's He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse, a crisis erupts that strings together all of the He-Man universes we've been privy to, and in the process, it turns the series' lamest villain into Eternia's greatest threat.
This villain is none other than the Anti He-Man from the German audio cassettes of the '80s. The cartoon was released on records and cassettes in Germany in '85, comprising of 37 episodes more than 40-minutes in length, with an additional ten She-Ra: Princess of Power tapes, and six specials. These cassettes introduced the world of Anti-Eternia, complete with its own evil, alternate universe version of He-Man, and this is who Tim Seeley and Co. use as the main foil in this story.
The book opens up on an Eternia where Skeletor's knocking on Grayskull's door, seeking a confrontation with He-Man. Prince Adam turns into the titular hero but by the time he emerges, Anti He-Man has already murdered Skeletor and somehow, he's overpowered to the point that he goes on to slay this He-Man with consummate ease. Sorceress loses her power as the Anti He-Man claims Adam's Power Sword for his own collection while absorbing the mystical energy of Grayskull.
It's a high-octane reintroduction to the character, who has similar motivations to Skeletor's robot He-Man, Faker. However, the villain here is all black; clearly the antithesis to He-Man and Grayskull, boasting the power of Hellskull instead, and way more than a mere copycat machine. We eventually discover he comes from the Anti-Eternian realm where the Lundgren He-Man and cartoon He-Man from the '80s travel to in order to recruit Prince Keldor. Using a cosmic key, they've been hopping between realities and in this dimension, they relay a message from Gwildor that this Keldor isn't destined to become Skeletor like all other worlds, he's actually the Chosen One meant to bring balance and stop Anti He-Man.
But it'll take a lot of courage, and they do need back-up, as the Anti He-Man has unlocked the mysteries of the cosmos from the Nexus of All Realities (last seen in DC's He-Man/Injustice crossover from Seeley). The tyrant has since been using the Orb of Horrors to walk between realms, strip all Grayskulls and He-Men, and then move towards to Power Prime that feeds the Multiverse.
He's similar to Superboy-Prime, believing himself to be the alpha He-Man and all other pretenders must die. As for how he's stealing power, it's similar to Lord Drakkon killing off Green Rangers in the Power Rangers mythos, as well as Spider-Carnage from the Spider-Man animated series' Clone Saga where he believed he was the ultimate Spidey.
In Masters of the Multiverse, the gauntlet has been thrown down and so, Keldor, Lundgren He-Man and the classic version must all unite to find help across the galaxy because the Anti He-Man is proving to be more powerful than all of them combined, and he's only getting stronger.
Source: Comic Book Resources
Newsarama: Tim, how did you guys come up with the idea to incorporate all these different versions of He-Man into one story?
Tim Seeley: We were talking to Mattel about doing another He-Man series, and Rob David, who’s the brand manager at Mattel, said, we have so many cool versions of He-Man and there’s so many different fans, it’s now generational. And there’s people who come into it from all these different angles. And he kind of felt like we should justify and celebrate all of them.
So that was the original idea, was to make all of this stuff real - you know, New Adventures is real, and Tappers of Grayskull video game is real, and Masters of the Universe 1987 movie is real - and treat them all with respect and show them off again.
Nrama: So are all these different versions going to interact with each other?
Seeley: Absolutey! The first issue, you get Anti-Eternia Skeletor, which is Prince Keldor, interacting with 1987 movie He-Man. And you get little snippets of all kinds of different stuff.
There’s even stuff in there, in the first issue, I’m pretty sure most people aren’t familiar with, like Star Comics version of He-Man. So I try to make sure everything is available - we’re making sure that all of it is on the table.
Source: Newsarama
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Supposedly, there's a very large chance that Mr Oz, the cloaked muster man we had have been seeing since 'Men of Tomorrow', is actually Jor El, Supes' Kryptonian father. Now your said planets of times, Supes is better written as well Superman/Kal El as opposed to Clark Kent but also you've said Krypton should only really be mentioned as the birthplace for him but nothing else. Can you clarify this thinking for me please? Also your thoughts on this theory for Mr Oz?
He’s better I think as Clark, the nice but private alien from Kansas who shows aspects of himself through both Superman and Dorky Metropolis Clark, but if I have to pick one over the other I prefer Superman for reasons I’ve already talked about. For Krypton itself, it’s not that I think it shouldn’t be a factor at all, just that it’s only relevant insomuch as it impacts and foreshadows his (and Kara’s) life, and while I like a lot of what that’s given us, the more it turns out yet another 50 Kryptonians have survived or whatever the more the primal nature of it in that regard feels reduced. It’s also probably because, while obviously his status as a refugee first-generation American is foundationally, irreducibly important to his character, my personal frame of reference for his isolation is neurodivergence, which is a topic for another time.
As for Oz: yeah, they haven’t come out and said it, but he’s clearly Jor-El at this point. While it’s nice that means Dan Jurgens hasn’t had creative control over Ozymandias - and that this means there’s some slim chance he’ll gone by the time of Doomsday Clock or at least irrelevant to it (are they just gonna drop “also Jor-El’s been known to be alive for over a year in-universe” in the middle of book surely designed as a perennial like that?), since at this point I’m pretty good and goddamn well sick and tired of him dramatically intoning that ALL WILL SOON BE REVEALED, CLARK* - at the same time I’m pretty disappointed at the last vestiges of my hope he’d be Superboy Prime seemingly blowing away in the wind. Seriously, I will write a post formally forgiving Jurgens’ Action Comics run for consistently being total dogshit if next week’s issue opens with the debut of the Rebirth-era Risk, and Oz revealing his identity by showing up to tear one of his arms off for old times’ sake.
Anyway, having Jor-El come back as a villain does seem like the kind of dumb on-the-nose hyper-literal way of emphasizing that Superman’s really One Of Us that Geoff Johns would come up with, especially if it turns out there’s some crazy continuity reason for the Oz moniker. It’d just be following up on the Kryptonians-as-dicks stuff he established with New Krypton, and it could turn out his original prisoner is somehow Ma Kent so they’ll have an excuse to bring her back. He’s an iconic enough character that if they really do bring him into Doomsday Clock as a major player he won’t be out of place, and it’s so obviously a temporary and easily reversible thing - or at least ignorable in the aftermath given he’ll surely sacrifice himself nobly to save Kal or his grandson - that there’re not that many concrete reasons to dissuade Jurgens and Johns from going into all that Father Vs. Son, Grandfather Vs. Grandson, Jor-El’s Intended Destiny For Kal-El Vs. Who Clark Is business they’re no doubt going to be angling towards. And he’s smart enough, and powerful enough if he has Kryptonian abilities, that I can buy everything he’s done, up to and including imprisoning Mxy.**
So yes, I find the idea that it could be Jor-El quite believable. As for whether or not it’s a good idea? Well, either you find that obvious boring hack bullshit to prop up what’s in all reasonable likelihood going to be an unbearably rote and mediocre story that will in no way make up for the three years of dreary buildup, or you, uh…don’t, I guess? I suppose that’s a possibility. I will say that if Jor-El makes it into Doomsday Clock proper rather than purely being Jurgens feasting on Johns’ table scraps, there’s a slightly better than zero chance something vaguely interesting might happen with it. My fingers aren’t exactly crossed though.
* Someone suggested the end of Doomsday Clock will probably be him watching the aftermath of Manhattan’s defeat from his monitor room and muttering something like “And now…it truly begins”, and I find that gut-churningly plausible.
** Speaking of forgiving Jurgens, I’ll be willing to offer up a lot of goodwill if Jor-El routing a 5D imp is used as an excuse to mention him repelling the Multitude.
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Where Is ____?
Where is Kon-El?
Common to the Rebirth discourse, from the beginning, has been the question of “Where is Superboy?” Also common to Rebirth discourse, I guess, is the question of “If/When Conner comes back, what will he go by?”
I’m going to answer the second first, because I think it’s super funny that people don’t think there can be two Superboys. Guys, how many Flashes to we have? How many GLs have we had (who have gone by GL on earth and in the League, not in the entirety of the Corps)? My favourite Flash is Flash II, Barry (and how many time has mah boi got to sacrifice himself, anyway? once per Convergence event?), but Flash I is Jay and Flash III is Wally (my Wally, nerd Wally, redhead Wally, love of my life [number, like, six] Wally).
I digress. But I think Conner could just go by Superboy, and there can be two SBs, I and II. Anyway, how great would it be if they can be called “the Superboys” as a unit, the way kids get called “the boys” or “the kids” or whatever? Superfamily has Superboys. I love it.
But damn. DAMN. Geoff, when is the Superboy coming back? He’s been gone since the start of n52, and I get really emotional thinking about it? But, it’s a matter of when, not if, right? And I’ve seen the spread of Death of Superman/Return of Superman panels from Rebirth Action Comics, and the only person missing was Conner, bro. CONNER. (Hell, Supes remembered his 90s ‘do, so where’s Kon?)
Rebirth is... I care about Rebirth a lot, because it’s a capital-C Chance. They done right by me twice (at least), so far, in bringing back Nightwing (and putting him back in blue! HALLELUJAH!) and giving me back my Wally, the one they ruined in their attempts to be more racially diverse back in n52 (because that Wally was never the same character and never even pretended to be, except in name). My Wally’s back, Other-Wally’s still here, the Flash Family is bigger! I love it! I’m in love!
Well.
Except.
Where is Bart Allen?
I’m all for bigger families. I love the family unit thing that’s going on in DC, and I always have. Did I like Supergirl? No. But, uh, I never liked Superman, either, until a lot more recently. It’s the families I love. Dad!Supes. Aunt!Supergirl. The schtick. The whole thing.
So, where is Bartholomew Allen’s grandson of the same name? Where is my fav future kid (besides my beloved Braniac 5)? He, too, has been missing since the start of n52, since the n52 Bart was a friggin’ imposter and not an Allen and ugh. Spare me.
I think I almost entirely quit n52 after that reveal, and I was just starting to try it, at the time.
A mess. What a mess.
Look, I honestly couldn’t care less about Wonder Girl (unless it’s Donna Troy, or unless we get WG and Troia), but the quintessential trio is Tim Drake, Bart Allen, and Conner Kent. No matter how unfamiliar I was with 90s Titans, I knew that this was the basic trio where Dick, Kori, and Cyborg were the basic 80s trio (I wanted so bad to say Wally - but I’d have to go further back and say Dick, Roy, Wally, and that... other Aqualad? since Wally was The Flash from ‘85 to ‘08, roughly).
What’s the trio, now? Who are Dami’s side babes? I’m actually super irate that there’s no clearly defined third generation trio, ya know? Tim/Bart/Kon (+Cassie) is so classic, and Dick/Kori/Vic (+Troia?) is pretty classic (80s Cyborg tho, pfffft). But like What’s Dami got? Other Wally and... a bunch of original Titans (BB, Rae, Kori, Cy)? I didn’t think he was Dick 2.0. Why doesn’t he get his own, new friends the way Tim did?
I digress. Really bad.
Where was I?
Oh. Bring back the trouble trio! I want SB, Impulse, and Red Robin to tear it up in Rebirth. I want to see them working together, again. Heck, I’d lowkey kill to have Tim leading the Titans, again.
Speaking of Titans, there was maybe one n52 character I cared about, Titan-wise. And it wasn’t not-Conner. It was Bunker.
Where is Miguel Barragan?
Where is Virgil Hawkins?
Where is Red Tornado?
Where is The Question? (And I don’t even care which Question, I just kinda miss the faceless weirdo.)
And, fine, Where is Cassie Sandsmark?
Where is J’onn J’onzz? And what do you MEAN he’s not a founding member of the JL anymore? What?
And where is Billy Batson?
AND WHERE IS THE JSA?
I read a few lists of things missing from Rebirth, and I’m gobsmacked at how many things and people aren’t in Rebirth. Things I thought were integral to DCU stuff, as a whole. I mean, I don’t like Hawkwoman or whatever she’s actually called, but how is she not around? I find Plastic Man laughable, but he’s supposed to be there, isn’t he?
Next thing you’ll tell me is that Alan Scott is awol. (A short Google later) Oh god where is Alan in Rebirth? Tell me he’s there. Tell me he’s not dead. Look, I don’t cre about Jade (idk, I haven’t read enough of her to care, yet), but Alan is special to me, because of... reasons and things. I love this GL Prime type deal he has going on, I love the updated idea of him having a prototype ring or something.
But I’m just digressing more.
Just. Hey, DC? I love that my Wally’s home. And I love that Dick’s not traipsing around as a Secret Agent, anymore (but the wtf aspect of that remains, for me), but I... don’t think i can handle a DC universe without Conner in it. And I don’t really... want a DC universe without Virgil in it. (psa: his middle name is Ovid. How nerdy is that?? Virgil Ovid Hawkins.)
Virgil was important to me, in my childhood. I’m just a white boy, sure, but Virgil was one of my first favourite heroes (along with Spiderman and the X-Men as a whole), and I felt like I learned so much from his show. I’m still pissed I can’t find a box set (DC, get on it).
Nightwing is important to a... portion of my teen years that was otherwise really dark.
Conner was important to me because of his issues and stuggles with personal identity.
These are my heroes in a way that most other iconic heroes just aren’t. I get this thrill of happiness and sense of hope from each of these. I have a list of comics I need to purchase, and almost the entire list is at least peripherally about these characters (or Nightcrawler, of Marvel fame -- for similar reasons to why Conner is important to me). Hell, I got Death of Superman and World Without a Superman just so that I could properly appreciate Conner’s first appearance in Return of Superman!
I just. Even if Wally’s home. Even if NW is back in the blue. It takes all three of these characters to really make me feel at home in a continuity.
Plus Barry and Hal. Otherwise I’d just permanently make my home in 90s DC comics, haha. Nope, of course they’re dead in what is otherwise the perfect place for my comic home to be.
Whatever, I just needed to ramble.
#save#rambling#personal#also: I'm not dead#i came back mostly because i would explode if i didnt rant and ramble#haha
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So I read X-Men Prime, X-Men Gold and Generation X and oh man, I loved it. So much. So so much. X-Men Gold has that RIGHT feeling. Like it really belongs. Like it’s what really should be going on. Meanwhile, Generation X started off with the right mindset, considering Jubilee had some pretty hard tumbles between the last GenX book and this one.
Also I love anything that makes Quentin work for the praise. (no offence, but that sass queen deserves to be put to work sometimes xD)
And now, for the weekly scheduled DC stuff (I read Marvel first because, you know, less stuff). Wait for this month’s batch of Superboy icons~
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