Chengxian AU where there's no war BUT WWX gets de-aged Detective Conan style and while the two of them are freaking out over it and have to present a cover up for why JC's roaming around the jianghu with a child that suspiciously resembles WWX. So on one hand you have the de-aging villain conspiracy, on the other hand you have Madam Yu getting closer to a heart attack from a wholly different set of rumors.

Today in Lines I Loved Writing

From the end of the first chapter of Stardust:

“How was it?” Skeets asked, after Booster landed on the balcony and let himself back into the fifth story room in the pretty-okay DC hotel.

He’d flown without his forcefield activated because he wanted the cold air on his face; after that, coming back into a warm room was almost too much.  He pulled the curtains closed, though he left Skeets a crack to ‘look’ through, and then started peeling out of his uniform, trying to figure out how to answer that.

Skeets knew his whole sordid history -- who else did Booster have to talk to? -- and it was still curiously hard to tell the ‘bot about the rejection he just got.  He opened his mouth three or four times to start, then just-- couldn’t.

It was weird.  Equal parts newly humiliating and familiar.  He hadn’t seen it coming until he was already under the gun, but then once he was, it was like the worst case of deja vu.  And it wasn’t the first time that had happened since landing in this time.  He’d be trying to do something -- chase a criminal, save people from a burning building, the usual hero fare -- and he’d get the feeling he’d done it a thousand times before.  Even though he’d only been in this game for not quite five months.

The whole thing was starting to make him feel like he was going crazy.

“Sir?” Skeets prompted again, pulling him back to the moment, half undressed.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Booster said, looking at the marker on the back of his hand. The bright spot in all of that: Laughing with Ted.  Trying to weigh it now felt all kinds of wrong, because even the gut-turning shame of the League’s rejection (and the hows) seemed somehow less important, and that just didn’t make any sense.

He’d gone there looking for membership or networking, not friendship, even if he was lonely.  Instead of the first two, maybe he’d gotten the last.

“I-- uh--”  He shook out of it and finished getting out of uniform, leaving it in a heap on the chair, then headed for the bathroom.  “They didn’t want me.  They know about us hacking ATMs.  And, um, what I do for a living currently.  I don’t know how I feel about it.”

Aside bad, anyway.  And tired.  And still pretty lonely.  But weirdly grateful for the phone number and name written on his skin in a marker that’d last for a few days, too.  It was all a mess.

Skeets gave that little hum of his like he was thinking, but Booster didn’t wait to hear what the ‘bot might have had to say before firing up the shower and getting in; he turned it up hot as it would go and scrubbed himself clean, lingering on it long enough to feel a little more human again, then blow-dried his hair and brushed his teeth before flopping on the bed in some cheap Walmart PJ pants and a loose t-shirt.

He wasn’t there too long, staring at the ceiling, before Skeets hovered over and then slowly settled down in the crook of his arm.

It had happened a handful of times now, though usually Skeets only did that on the really rough nights where all Booster wanted to do was crawl into some dark hole and have someone kick enough dirt over him to constitute a mercy-killing.  He wasn’t sure this night qualified, because while he was in the hole, he wasn’t in any great rush to be buried there, but he still tucked the ‘bot in close to his side, fin under flank, and let the proximity chase some of the heartache away.

After a bit, after the ‘bot’s cool metal skin had warmed where they were in contact, Booster reached over and pulled his phone off of the night stand.  He put Ted’s name and number in his contacts -- now four whole numbers deep! -- then on a whim held the phone up and smiled and took a selfie before sending it over so that Ted would have his number in turn.

The answer back was quick: Oh, I see something shiny and pretty!  Are you sleeping with one of your football trophies?

There was a split second there where, in some other lifetime, Booster would have started preening on the assumption that he was the shiny, pretty thing being complimented.  Or made a joke about the lack of eroticism contained in a football trophy.  In this one, though, he looked down at Skeets tucked against his side and found himself chuckling before texting back, If he knew you called him a football trophy, he’d be offended.  Then he added, And if he knew you called him pretty, he’d be insufferable.

He??????  Is that a robot????  And you should send another selfie and do duck face this time.

Booster blinked.  “Skeets-- what’s a duck face?”

“An exaggerated pout used in selfies, where the person taking the selfie pushes their lips outward, thereby unwittingly imitating the bill of a duck,” Skeets answered, with his usual speed and accuracy, because he could surf the internet faster than any human could think. “It’s largely fallen out of fashion, but is still considered a humorous meme.”

“Huh.”  Booster mentally shrugged to himself, then took another one, this time pouting.

And the robot?  You have to tell me about the robot!

Then: aNYWAY, that’s not duck face, that’s just sultry.  Now this is duck face.

It took several seconds for the picture to load, but then Ted’s face popped up, unmasked, making the most-- ridiculous kind of expression at the camera, lips and chin jutted out, eyes half-lidded.  Behind him was some elaborate-looking instrument panel.  It was such a goofy expression that you couldn’t help but laugh at it.

Booster thought about firing something back about blackmail.  Or maybe about Ted needing to practice his flirting, though that had some dangerous implications.  But after he got done snickering at Ted’s goofy look, he just ended up writing, His name is Skeets.  And yeah, he’s a robot.  And my friend.

That is SO COOL.  When do I get to meet him?

There was that issue again; what there existed of a future.  What there didn’t.  Despite being from several centuries into it, Booster still couldn’t see past the next day, the next meal, the next shift, the next patrol, the next motel room.  Trying to stretch whatever he could earn long enough that he didn’t have to live like this anymore.

In all of that it seemed pointless, trying to plan for a when he couldn’t even imagine.

So-- he didn’t answer that.  He just texted back, Night, Ted, and muted the phone and set it back on the nightstand.  “Wake me up when we have to fly back to New York?” he asked, like he wasn’t going to wake himself up however many times, as he got halfway under the covers and even managed to do so without letting the ‘bot go.

“You might do better to avoid going in tonight, Michael.  But I will.”

If he could have afforded to avoid it, he might have.  But since he couldn’t, he just rolled to his side and cuddled Skeets against his chest and tried to sleep.

--

Why I loved writing them:

It's been like-- fifteen years since the last time I wrote in the DCU. A lot of the stuff I loved about these characters back then remains the same, but I'm a hell of a lot older and more experienced in general life than I was back then.

So, it was especially interesting tackling Booster in this context, at this age, on the other side of two universal resets he can't remember. Particularly because he can't remember them, but alllllll those years he originally survived (and all that shit he went through during them, which was a LOT) are still influencing him on a subconscious level and slowly but surely wearing away at his mental stability. And like, Booster's a resilient guy and he has some stuff going for him in this timeline he didn't originally (like a Ted who doesn't knee-jerk no-homo on reflex, like a Skeets who is hella protective more openly, eventually even a variation of the JLI as teammates), so it's a slow process, but it's a thing that's happening.

And you can kinda see it here. There're a few scenes in his first solo book where you really did get to see this twenty-year-old guy being every bit as lonely and lost as he would be, though he covers it up quickly with bravado and sometimes reckless dumbassery.

But in this timeline, after everything, he is-- just twenty. By not even three weeks, at this point. He's been alone absent Skeets since August. He's a lot less proud than his original incarnation, a lot more aware of how isolated and lonely he is. He doesn't have the glitz and glamor of the mid-eighties to leverage and exploit, he's just this collage-aged kid who landed hundreds of years out of context with almost nothing, aside a 'bot and a costume and a genuinely brave heart. He doesn't even have his ill-gotten credit card because it woulda been expired.

So, I loved exploring what kind of person he is in this go-round when he's got his shields down, and that particular scene above does an especially good job. He's painfully aware of being rejected. He's touched as hell that Ted reached out. He's a guy who grew up in, as Dara put it, grinding poverty and therefore probably hasn't been out of some form of survival mode since he was too young to understand why he needed to be in it in the first place. He's been built up, then torn down; exalted and exploited both.

And he's still young enough to cuddle his 'bot like a stuffed animal. And he's also got a hell of a lot of years he can't remember living and feels far more tired than anyone his age should, which comes across keenly in this scene.

Plus, I had a ton of fun writing him and Ted texting, because even with this scene being heavy, Booster asking Skeets what a duck-face was made me happy. (As well as Ted calling him sultry.)

And that's your ramble for today.

Reviewcaps: X-Men Evolution: Strategy X

I take my first look at X-Men Evolution the second and less famous, but no less loved, cartoon about everyones faviorite mutant outcasts. In our first episode Scott blows up a gas station, Nightcrawler finds what it feels like to have a home, Toad tries to join the x-men and both of the latter two end up nearly dying because Chuck forgot to teleport proof the one room in the house with deadly lasers. All this and football under the cut. 

A few days ago I realized something weird: I hadn’t reviewed any superhero cartoons on here. What makes that weird to me, is that I realized when writing this that Superhero cartoons are what MADE me a superhero fan in the first place. I grew up as a little kid watching the spider-man and x-men animated series, and watched most marvel shows that came about as I grew, and became a lifelong fan of Green Lantern and the Flash thanks to Justice League , the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles thanks to the 2003 cartoon (another franchise I absolutley adore I haven’t covered on here for some reason) and the Teen Titans thanks to well.. Teen Titans, not to mention all the great original superhero shows at the time like the legendary Danny Phantom (even if butch heartman can take a short walk into a cave full of bears lately), My Life as a Teenage Robot, El Tigre.. the list of good shit goes on. So being on an X-Men kick again lately, I decided to revisit what turned out to be one of the first of this wave, and a show I’d had the opporoutnity to binge for a while , first on hulu and then on D+, and wanted to revisit to see how it holds up, while, if not as fast as I watch them, reviewing them here to combine my two intrests. And it probably wont’ be the last marvel animated series I binge or cover here, nor the last superhero show I cover so if you have any, Marvel, DC, from other companies or completely original, shoot me an ask or reply to this and i’ll see if I can get to it. For now we’re starting the evolution.  Evolution was the first X-Men cartoon, and somehow one of 5 overall not counting the hulk vs wolverine movie, pryde of the x-men pilot and various crossover apperances in other cartoons, to follow the 90′s one, which as you probably know was a huge hit that defined the x-men for a generation of young fans, was a huge sucess and launched the mostly great sorta shared cartoon universe with classics like Spider-Man the Animated Series (Which not concidentally is what made me a lifelong fan of the webslinger), The Incredible Hulk, and the second season of Iron Man and Fantastic Four.. and yes only the second as the first seasons were both by entirely diffrent creative teams and gave us things like this. 

Yes that is Johnny Storm doing an objetivley terrible hip hop song, no it dind’t cause that building to sink into the earth, and yes it is so bad it’s delcioius. Sadly the rest of hte series is more flat and boring than “bwahahahaha” but my point is made. The point is Evolution had a steep hill to climb, and with the previous cartoon compressing most of the decades long Chris Claremont era and some of what came after into 5 seasons of good if cheesy stuff, the creators clearly, if only because Ic an’t find a making of, decided to go in a diffrent route, making their own unique take on the characters and world of the x-men instead.  For starters rather than being vetrans with years of experince, either from being an x-man or just from general life experince like the comics were since the 70′s aside from the ocasinal exception like Kitty Pryde and Jubilee, they’d be teens, grappling with hormones alongside blue fur, head lasers and not being able to touch anyone. This wasn’t something x-men had shied away from, New Mutants and Generation X existed, but it was the first time in decades the X-Men themselves were kids. Sure Storm and Wolverine weren’t aged down, but there were just as many missions that were just these teenagers hoping to surivive the experince and keep mutants a secret till the world was ready.. and then dealing with the fallout when an unready and hateful world found out anyway. And I honeslty like the direction: The previous series had done the mostly straight adaptation bit, there wasn’t anywhere to go and aging scott and jean back to teens, and having nightcrawler and rouge get to be ones for the first time though, was an intresting idea, as was having Kitty Pryde be a teen alongside them instead of their plucky teenage member  Another intresting direction was, while Xavier’s still existed and was where the cast lived and learned to use their powers, the X-Men also went to regular high school. While it’d take till season 3 for them to actually have to deal with being out mutants in the setting, it was still an intresting tactic: The X-school in the comics, while no less studious is still an isoalted boarding school and when the New Mutants met some friends in town, most had only heard whispers about the old Xavier Mansion and were delighted to visit for a slumber party.. granted this being an x-men schindig our heroes ended up having to deal with an alien who eventually became one of their closest friends that night but still, for the x-men having the robot, or technoorganic in this case, NOT try to murder them on purpose and be a loveable 80′s sidekick instead is an easy night. While i’ts not done perfectly here from what I can remember, the main human characters we see are nightcrawlers love intrest amanda (who is thankfully NOT his adopted sister this time around thank christ), local stock blond football bully and flash thompson impersonator Duncan, and Scott’s nondiscript friend paul, who I can’t think of without thinking two things; one , what do you WANT paul: 

I mean a man so vauge just can’t be trusted. The second is that paul looks a lot like Doug Ramsey and i’m suprised they didn’t just.. make him Doug and have him go through a similar arc from the comics:A crush on kitty and the rest of the team finding out he’s a mutant and eventually bringing him into their world. For those unaware Doug Ramsey is a mutant with the ablility to translate any languge, including computer code from the get go and body laungage when he came back, an easy fix to him being the non-combatant of the group no one thought of, who died tragically in story sacrifcing himself to save his girlfriend’s life and out of story because the artist tricked the writer into killing him off. Thankfully he did come back about two decades later, took a level in badass thanks to a combination of the body language thing above meaning he could anticipate moves and dodge and computers having advanced to the point that part of his powers was now 80 times more useful, and has recently become a key part of the dawn of x relaunch. He’s also a faviorite of mine as you can probably tell and given how much the early 2000′s loved their computers, it’s weird to me they didn’t think of this and it’s even weirder he didn’t show up with the lions share of the other new mutants next season, along with Karma and Warlock which somehow has become a recurring theme thanks to the movie saving them for sequels that ended up not happening because fox stupidly put the movie in Limbo where it remains until maybe next month.  But yeah even if muted a bit the idea of the x-men going to a public school alongside their training is a decent one.. sure a hero going through high school is again a cliche, but it’s a thing the x-men hadn’t done in this way before or sense, and was intresting to see in action. Most high school scnees in x-comics are usually some poor mutant having their powers manifest and either hurting someone by accident, being treated like crap for it by their class or hunted down for accidently hurting someone before the x-men show up to kick their asses and welcome this youngster. Or getting rejected by family and friends then coming to the x-men.. there’s a lot of angst directions to go in. My point is we’d never seen the x-men try to blend in and have a more standard school experince, and combining that with them hiding their powers instead of being out in the open at first made for a unique dynamic for the x-men that makes well tread ground nice nad fresh even 20 years later. 

So that’s our basic setup going in: The X-men wake up, go to school, then save the world or train to save the world while harnesing wonderful and dangerous powers and protecting the helpless agaist less charitable mutants. The basic x-setup with a 2000′s era superhero high school show flavor. Good stuff. But we’ll see what it does with this premise, how good it holds up and what’s still delightfuly cheesy about it as I take a nice look at the first episode Strategy X

We open at night and

Yup Scott and Jean are at the football team where the aforementioned Duncan, guy voted most likely to peak in high school in last year’s yearbook poll, is playing some foot ball and trying to flit with Jean Grey whose the first X-Man we meet and is somehow receptive to this despite his radaiating douche and is lucky this Jean’ , unlike say the time transfered one from the comics who thought the best approach to helping Bobby Drake come out of the closet so he could help his older self do the same and be his best self, was to just blunty say he’s gay and refuse to let him explore thtt for himself or get someone more quliafied to help her. And yes that did indeed happen and yes the original x-men were brought into the present for a while and yes it was weird Moving on. Still i’m pretty sure duncan’s thoughts would read like  “Man she looks good.. I want to bang her so hard she uh.. wakes up sideways.. yeah that’s it. Your a legend duncan, a total legend. “.  As you can probably tell I don’t have fond memories of this character or this sorta but not really love triangle, and question why they couldn’t of just had spyke be the other man in the triangle if they wanted to do this. Granted Spyke himself is kinda annoying, but it still makes more sense to have him fill in for angel or wolverine in a jean-scott love triangle than this walking burnt end. The warren, scott one worked, as much as a 60′s love triangle could because warren was conventionally handsome and had angel wings while scott has to keep glasses on just to not murder anyone he looks at, so there’s a bit of contrast there, while with WOlverine it’s straight laced dependeble scott versus unhinged manly man Logan. You know before recently where they just decided to all bone in a pile and wolverine even goes on vacation with them. And that’s not a joke I made up, that’s actual canon. Both make logical sense while Jean would be intrested in both in the former case, as Scott was still a kind and dependable leader, and tempted in the latter case if never acting on it before recently and with her husband’s full consent and either watching from the closet or taking one up the ass for jean to watch. Duncan in contrast is just wholly unlikeable and it makes me question why use him as the third in this love triangle, ESPECIALLY since the show would later introduce another scott and jean based love triangle with Rogue wanting scott that’s way more intresting, and even people wanting those two to hook up don’t want Jean with Duncan! Instead of creating a vitable alternative to make a later love triangle more intresting or create some shipping wars or anything of value any hint jean may be intrested just wastes screentime and tests my patience and is thankfully breif here.  As for why Jean’s here sh’es taking pictures for the school paper since the Daily Bugle wasn’t intrested in photos that weren’t of spider-man and they already had a teen photographer for that. Porker or something. Anyways this episode ofa low rent friday night lights knockoff is interuptted when one of duncan’s buddies on the team spots local trouble maker and ,judging by context, bully punching bag Todd Tolansky, aka Toad which is a cruel nickname turned slightly lesss cruel code name here, pick pocketing the people in the stands, and sensing a flimsy context to punch a nerd, Duncan goes to tell the coah he’ll be busy for a moment totally not carving someone’s face in again. Coach says as long as he leaves him breathing, and through a straw still counts and since their so far ahead as long as he’s back for the celebratory rampage anything goes.  Also spotting Toad’s stan pines approved sticky fingers is Scott Summers, leader of x-men and all around cool guy. Scott here is a bit more emotive than he was int he comics at a time, a trait he’d have later on in the late 2000′s and even currently and a version I prefer to the “has something shoved so far up his ass you can see it when he opens his mouth” boring straightman of the 90′s cartoon. He’s a bit more impulsive, a bit more emotivie but still a good and well thought out leader and the tactical genius, at least as far as I can remember, that he’s known for being. IT’s a good portayal so far, it reminds me of 2k12 leonardo: he’s still growing into being a leader in some way but clearly has the talent and drive for it and a deep sense of heroism> That deep sense is shown here as Scott leaves to go confront toad.. and then confronts Duncan and buds when he finds them about to squish Toad. Unlike Duncan, whose “heroism” consits of a filmy excuse to beat a third hole into todd’s head, Scott wanted to stop Toad because it’s the right thing to do, and wants to stop Duncan because his actions are just as wrong: Sure Toad is stealing stuff, but it’s clear from the way he and his buddies grin widlly at seieng toad pick pocket that they just want an excuse to pummel the kid and not get in trouble for it. It’s confirmed when Scott makes a resonable offer: Since Toad still has the money and most of the lifted wallets, he can return what he stole, which Toad not wanting to die today agrees to, but Duncan refuses. Scott however gets the three thrown to the ground and while Toad escapes, with the two other idiots in persuit, an enraged duncan attacks. But since Scott Summers, even teen scott summers has batman level judo, it’s an even fight despite Duncan being bigger and more muscular.. until Jean runs in shouts scott no.. despite you know Duncan starting this and Scott merley defending himself, distracts Scott long enough for him to get shoved to the ground.. and loose his googles, sending an optic blast out before he can clamp his eyes shut, knocking duncan over and igniting a nearbye propane tank. Toasty! Also yikes.  Cue the opening theme and credits. While the opening Creidts are very 2000′s, they aren’t half bad but the main draw is the theme song which.. honestly I feel is great and very close to the 90′s x-men theme in quality, only not being AS good because that one’s one of the best theme songs period. but this one’s no slouch as it’s fun, energetic and will get stuck in your head. Good stuff.  After the theme we cut back to the credits where Scott is closing his eyes despeartly holding his powers in. It was a good opening and a great way to show off the premise of the show and just how dangerous mutant powers can be even accidnetally, with this followup showing it’s not inetentional. it was even shown before as while scott’s eyes flash, he notably never uses his powers in the fight and they only came about accidnetally. We also get some JeanScott ship tease as she finds his glasses ,and with Duncan having a concusion and not remembering anything, a bit that hasn’t aged well, things seem well.. except the cop seems to notice something supscious.. before help arrives in a rolls royce. Charles Xavier, voiced by the icomprable David Kaye who I feel is one of the best daviers and does a great job here and quickly makes the guy see nothing supscious, a classic use of his powers and an understdanable one: while yea going into someone’s mind isn’t a great tihng to do.. scott being possibly outed as a mutant this way would only land the poor boy in a jail cell, as it did for Bobby Drake in the comics when his own powers activated and hurt someone. We also meet storm who unlike the others isn’ aged downa nd is one of two senior staffers for the school, a touch I like as she was a great mentor figure to kitty pryde and the comics and the roll suits her, while evolution also tones down the ham 80 degrees so she’s even more like the comics; reserved but utterly confident and badass and a good #2 to xavier. Xavier also likely wiped Duncan’s memory of scott’s power triggering I figure.. I mean he could’ve got concussed but I wouldn’t be suprised if chuck manipualted that too. Jean comforts Duncan for.. again some reason. Like he was just in a fight with her best friend and she’s a telepath.. I get she’s being respectful but time and place. Scott is naturally Jelly, but Toad.. genuinely thanks Scott for the help while Scott brushes it off. It was the right thing to do and Toad is still a creep, but it’s still a nice gesture. Also toad eats a fly to show that yep he too is  a mutant.  Xavier and Storm go to the train station and pick up a mysterious teen clad all in robes. Ohohoo hominus.  Meanwhile somewhere in the westchester area, Wolverine comes in! Snkity sknikty snoik. He’s voiced by, and dresses exactly like, Scott McNeil, a vetran and awesome voice actor who I honestly think does a better job than his prdecessor. Not that 90′s wolverine is bad, it’s just McNeil has more of a range even while keeping the gutteral growl of hte former and can tur it off at times while his previous acto rwas pretty much on snarl mode constantly. He wasn’t bad, all the 90′s voice actors were at 100 most of the time and undersndably given the hamm nature of that cartoon, but its’ still a ncie change of pace and one we’d see again with steve blum in the next cartoon. More on that obviously when i inevitably cover Wolverine and the X-Men He picks up a paper about the explosion, and sensing he must go his people need him, cuts the top off the water he ordered, because you can’t get beer on a childrens cartoon, and thanks the clerk who wonders what the fuck just happened. And it’s a weird ass scene especially because in this series the x-men are trying to keep a lid on mutants and Logan’s just .. causally cutting off a water bottle because fuck it. It fits the character a LITTLE but it’s still just weird and out of place. Speaking of weird and out of place sabertooth is stalking logan on a mountaintop because.. 

Thank you wrestlecrap. He dosen’t show up again and is apparently introduced several episodes from now, and sports a design similar to the 2000 movie which isn’t a terrible look apart from the long lead singer from Creed haircut. The next morning at Xavier’s scott’s annoyed at jean taking her time in the bathroom because “women amirite?”.. yeah... 

On that gag. Before the two dart off for school Xavier calls them in to meet the new kid: Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, whose blue and fuzzy as ever, though without the fully yellow eyes he usually sports, though I figure it’s less because they wanted to make him more humanoid, though his Kelso from that 70′s show hair certainly helps with that too, and more because that way his human disguise he’ll get in a bit can just be an easily just recolor and redres his civlilan design. Though why he couldn’t just have the yellow eyes in elf form and give him regular ones in transducer form, epsecially since they had to make a whole new outfit and ears for his non elf form anyway is beyond me, but whatever. At least he’s a full part of the team here and oh so adorkable.  As you can probably wager by the fact there’s only 3 x-men and one asshole here, Evolution takes it’s time introducing everybody, the first few episodes using the debut queue style of storytelling and introducing the main cast about one or two per episode.. which I like a lot as it gives each of the x-men room to breathe and get a proper introduction, while usually doing the same for the latest addition to the brotherhood. IT’s a godo way to ease us into a decently sized main cast and let each get their own origin story of sorts. Good stuff. 

Jean and Scott are shocked by the poor boys three fingers, but Charles helps asuage kurt.. by pointing out scott’s fuckup then berating him. Both don’t come off great: Scot whines about having two cannonballs under his eyes, which while fair is something he knew going into a situation where they might get knocked off and didn’t prepare for, while Charles lambasts him for “not having more control”.. and his tone implies it’s more about his POWERS. If it was about self control fine, that’d be godo character stuff but if it’s of his powers..  Scott didn’t use his powers at all during the breif scuffle and was only let loose by pure shock, and something you easily covered for minus the explosion part. It could just be both having a point but I dunno. But with that Xavier does show kurt that even human passing mutants like Scott have huge struggles and he no longer is alone. Jean is curious what his power is and Kurt demonstrates his teleporting, impressing both and bonding the three a bit. Xavier sends them off to school, and they’ll talk more about kurt tonight.  At school Toad is getting dressed down by principle darkholme, aka mistque whose apparently also his boss.. yes while the founding x-men are two upstanding well trained, if one a bit hot headed youths, Mystque got.. a guy who pick pockets because as we later see the house she got for them looks like the ghosts of the frat who used to live there did a number on the place. Yeah easy to see why your guys later become the comic relief villians Raven. Anyways she plans to have Toad use his newfound leverage with scott to try and sneak in with the x-men before shapeshifting into a knockoff brood to scare him because she’s a dick. Also how the hell would she explain that if someone walked in and DIDN’T comically walk right back out and just explose her posing as a monster for the student body to see. Not a bad show of her powers but a really goofy and nonsenical one. Also yeah unlike the comics raven can change her shape further than just humanoid.

Back at the school Kurt is excited to see his spacious and luxrious room, his parents, whoever they were, having sent him here, and is even more excited when Xavier gives him a gift; an image inducer. This is something that actually comes from the comic: it’s a device disgused as a watch that holographically makes Kurt look like your standard human. Kurt in the comics of course used it to look like errol flynn.  Naturally Chris Claremont eventually realized the implications of a person of a minority who looks diffrent masquerading as someone else to blend in and Kurt later decided to go without it, as he shoudln’t have to hide himself. Evolution does use it better though: For starters when Kurt says he’s finally normal, Ororo assures him he always was, this is just to help a bit and the idea of him needing to blend in makes sense since the x-kids are going to public high school and mutantkind is more hidden to avoid prosecution. It’s sitll a BIT shaky, but it’s at least trying to avoid a lot of the pitfalls of the concept and modernizie it a bit and I can give them credit for that. 

Back at School scott’s preparing to lunch, telling paul to save him a seat. Good old Paul, when Toad comes up to him thanking him again and revealing his own mutant powers and stealing Scott’s glasses because that’s how you charm someone. Toad offers to hang but Scott wisely refuses and moves on though he does use the cafeteria pay phone to call Charles, who already found out about todd via Cerebro and despite Scott’s understandable reservations about letting a literally slimy pick pocket who talks like goddamn j-roc , know what i’m sayin, into the team, Charles in a very charles xavier move says they can’t turn their back on ANY mutant, even the assholes. Now read that in a patrick stewart voice. Your welcome. Scott wonders if he should ask Todd over to play fooseball and ask about joining his teen militia but Chalres said no need, he’ll take care of the audition himself. He then explains Cerebro to a curious kurt, global telepathic mutant tracker basically, and prepares for the audition. 

That night Toad goes to the mansion.. with a costume already. And rather than evaluate all the costumes up front i’m going to do so as they show up in series. As such.. toad’s is REALLY good, a nice armor look with a small part peaking up resembling a collar of some sort , a nice update of his silver age costume’s collar. It really feels frog like and really is neat. Storm, who is watering her garden a detail I like, heads out and rains on his parade. Her costume is fine, a standard storm outfit, nothing really outstanding but still not bad. Storm then sends lighting at him to see what happens when a Toad is struck by lighting.. probably the same as everything else before he runs inside and runs into kurt. 

Kurt then shows up, and while I’d forgottten this, he was already in costume from earlier having gotten his at the same time as the inducer. His costume.. is about the same as the comics except hte gloves and boots are yellow, i’m somehwat eh on it but I get doing so to have him fit with the black and yellow color scheme of most of the other x-men in some way. Though i’d love to see a black and yellow redesign of his classic oufit someday that’d look spiffy. But yeah it’s pretty good and one of the standouts of the evolution costumes. The two trade barbs thanks to toad being kind of a dick about nightcrawler and end up having a petty squabble and tussle for a bit around the mansion. Xavier still considers Toad x-men material while Storm considers not missing with lightning this time. In all seriousnes this is more good character stuff for Charles, as it shows that no matter how troublesome, he’ll welcome any mutant child in with open arms. Though I question why neither questions the fact that a mutant they just met somehow brought his own top of the line uniform, but I chalk it up to that probably not having been written into the episode and either being an error or execs wnating to show off his battle suit to have a proper superhero tussle to close out the episode.  However said tussle, which is really more a hilarious fight between an asshole and a dork, is interupted when Kurt accidnetly ports them into the danger room, an x-men staple.. no really “new mutant accidently enters or finds the danger room” is old hat at this point, most iconically with Kitty in the comics shortly after she joined. 

Naturally not wanting to have to clean up another set of teen corpses, he just got the Vulcan smell out of there, Xavier dispatches Cyclops and Jean to go deal with it.. since Jean dosen’t have a code name here since marvel forgets to try and get her a non phonenix one better than marvel girl and it annoys me. Anyways fashion show time again, and yes i’m aware these aren’t from strategy x, but I didn’t want to just use hte model sheet shots from the wiki so I combed for decent action shots. Scotty’s costume is decent, a bit bulky with the very 90′s shoulder pads and boots, but otherwise looks pretty good, a nice combination of his 90′s uniform and his second x-factor uniform. Even with the bulk it looks really good. On the oppsite end.. we have Jean, who easily has the worst outfit of the main x-men by a mile, with a weird lime green stripe for some reason. Maybe they were going for phonenix colors I dunno, but it just looks half assed in comparison to the rest of the gangs outfit. The gold rings and fingerless gloves are a nice touch, but this one’s still just bland in comparison. Like they couldn’t figure out how to update jeans 90′s outfit so they put her in a jassercise outfit instead. 

Scott and Jean arrive with Jean saving nightcrawler, Kurt asking if sh’es an angel, she asking if he’s a demon and me asking if I can get a trashcan to vomit in. It didn’t work for George Lucas a year before this why did you think it’d work here? Anyways Kurt realizes their not in xavier’s snuff dungeon, as far as he knows and it’s simply a trianing room and tries to disarm it, but it instead nearly blasts toad who nopes outta htere, scott too injured to follow. And while when watching the episode yesterday It hought it was a bit abrubt.. it really fits. Toad is a bit of a coward from memory, bosatful and cocky.. till reality reminds him he’s freaking toad as seen with the bullies earlier and mystique after that. So of course he’d run the minute things looked dicey and it looked like xavier reguarlly put his students through the hunger games to thint he herd. Xavier bemoans that Toad simply isn’t ready.. sure he’s a mutant and xavier likely senses mistque’s involement.. but he genuilly WANTED to help todd and give him a real home and support.. its just Toad/Todd dosen’t WANT it or to put in any real work to be better, and you have to WANT help to get it.  Kurt blames himself and ports out feeling he dosen’t deserve to be there and Scott goes after him while out front Toad runs into a returning Logan, whose ready to add another dead teen to the pile out back when Xavier insists he let him go... he’s not an actual threat, and as we find out later Xavier removed the schools location from his mind and probably gave it to toad in the first place, so while Logan says he’ll be back.. he has no way of coming back and there’s no sense roughing up a teenager, when that’d just draw more attention to them and give Toad an angle to work. That being said Charlie still gladly welcomes Logan back though both smell trouble on the horizon.. and also toad. He tends to leave a scent that one. 

We then get what I feel is the best scene in the episode: Cyclops finds Kurt in the room with the blackbird, which this show remembers is an actual type of plane and that the x-mens is simply a souped up version of , though I can’t tell you what version he’s saying it’s superior to because I don’t know planes THAT well. But Scott comforts Kurt, saying it’s OKAY to fuck up: the entire point of this place is so they can afford to make the mistakes they can’t make out there and learn and grow as people. Everyone screws up, as Scott himself did rushing in without a plan at the start, but the point is you learn from it and do better next time and Kurt decides to stay. Welcome to the X-Men Kurt, hope you surivive the experince. Also Scott decides to show him where they hide the sodas.. which either Chuck is a dick about their pop or that’s code for booze.. or possibly both. I could see Logan really liking root beer alongisde his nightly 6 pack. 

We close out with Mystque berating toad for running the hell away and for you know, getting mindwiped.. the latter is far from his fault, but the first part.. yeah Toad kinda sucks at this and Raven screams for him to get out, with her turning back into her natural form for the first time.. and then being confronted with HER boss with Magneto, from.. somewhere.. he appearas as a spooky projection but I don’t know if he’s using a device to amplfy himself or he just hides in the closet of her office all day for when he needs to consult her on their evil schemes. Probably the latter. Anyways Erik wisely consults her to be a bit easier..while toad is a bit of a dipweasel.. they can’t afford their ranks being thinned.. and really he’s not wrong. The x-men currently have them 6 to 3. Even if he’s the weakest of the three of them, they can’t afford to spare him. He then ominously says htis is only... THE BEGINING.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  Strategy X is a decent start for the series but not without it’s problems, with one or two questionsable moments like the whole angel and devil exhcange or the entire “Storm stalks toad as he goes to the mansion” scene as a way of testing him, which makes both her and charles come off bad and makes me wonder how the hell that was an actual test of anything. But it’s held up by good character: While Jeans kind of a bit of wallpaper here, the rest of the x-men and our three villians are all given great character moments that show them off to the audience well and really show the writers get the characters while taking their own spins on the younger ones: Nightcrawler, who could be a bit of a dork in the comics, see here his seduction tequnique. 

I mean damn if that shit isn’t still Sexy but still. They just ramped it up a bit since this version is younger and more naive, while Scott is likewise a bit more rambunctious and likely to question Xavier, while still being a good hearted guy who knows how to lead. It’s good stuff. While the quality isn’t PERFECT, it’s a good start and I look forward to watching more and EVENTUALLY reviewing more on here. If you liked this be sure to let me know and like I said above if there’s any other marvel show or any dc ones you want me to cover, and any specific episodes at that, lemme know. Comics too. And until we meet again, courage.  PS.. what the hell is up with the title of this episode? No really it has nothing to do with anything. Is it Mystuues’ inflitration plan? 

         ... claws my way up from hell once more and vomits onto the dash.... hello. its nora. i used to write rory bergstrom, but if u were here before that u might remember me as greta or alma putnam or..... som1 else.... an endless carousel of trash children..... this is finn, who i actually wrote for an early version of this rp abt 5yrs back now...... grits teeth..... so forgive me if im rusty i havent written him in a long time but seein honey boy gave me a lotta finn muse n im keen to get Back On The Horse yeehaww...

DYLAN O’BRIEN / CIS-MALE — don’t look now, but is that finn o’callaghan i see? the 25 year old criminology and forensic studies student is in their graduate year of study year and he is a rochester alum. i hear they can be judicious, adroit, morose and cynical, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet he will make a name for themselves living off-campus. ( nora. 24. gmt. she/her )

shakes my tin can a humble pinterest, ma’am....

finn has a bio pasted at the bottom (n written in like.... 2015.... gross) but it’s long  so if u don’t wanna read it here’s the sparknotes summary..... anyway this was written years ago n a lot of it seems really cliche and lame now but..... we accept the trash we think we deserve

grumpy, ugly sweater wearing, tech-savvy grandpa

very dry sense of humour and embraces nihilism. 

if ron swanson and april ludgate had a baby it would be finn

he was raised in derry, just south of dublin.

from a big family. elder sister called sinead. he also has a younger sister (aoife), a younger brother (colm), and a collie named lassie because his father lovs cliches (finn hates cliches but loves his dog). 

his father was a pub landlord and his mother worked at the market sellin fruit n veg when they met but got a job as a medical receptionist when she had kids cos it meant she cld be there with them in the day and work nights.

his parents met when they were p young and fiesty and rushed into marriage cos they were catholic n just wanted to have sex. his family were literally dirt-poor, but they had a lot of love i guess

hmmmmm his relationship w his father wasn’t the best cos i can’t write character who have healthy relationships w their parents throws up a peace sign. yh, had a pretty emotionally distant, alcoholic violent father n so gets a lot of his bad habits i.e. drinking as a coping mechanism and poor anger management from him BUT anyway

as a kid he was never very motivated in class, he always had a nervous itch to be off somewhere doing something else. struggled under government austerity bcso there just wasn’t the resources to support low income families where the kids had learning difficulties n needed support. fuck the tories am i right 

his mum suggested he try sports to help w his restless energy but he was never any good at football so he took up boxing and tap dance instead. he took to tap dancing like a fish to fuckin water. as adhd n found this as a really good way to use his excess energy in a creative way

had a few run ins with the police in his early teens for spray painting and graffiti, but he straightened himself out n now actually considering becoming a detective inspector??? cops are pigs.

he had a youtube channel where he posted videos of him tapdancing and breakdancing as a kid, basically would be a tiktok boy nowadays, n had like... a small fanbase in his early teens. attended several open auditions unsuccessfully, until he was finally cast in billy eliot when he was fifteen.

during billy eliot he began dating an italian dancer called nina. they became dance partners soon after and toured across the republic with various different shows (inc riverdance lol the classic irish stereotype). their relationship was p toxic tbh, they were both very hot tempered people and just used to argue and fight all the time.

he went semi-pro at tap dancing, and nina couldn’t stand being second best so she moved back to italy with her family. ignored his texts, phone calls, etc, eventually he was driven to the point where he used his savings to buy a plane ticket, showed up at her house and she was like wtf?? freaked out and filed a restraining order accusing him of stalking.

he was fined for harassment and then returned home to derry, but after the incident with nina he quit dancing for good and finished his leaving cert before heading to university in the US to get as far away from nina and his past life as poss. and basically since he quit dancing to study forensics (death kink. finn cant get enough of that morgue. just walks around sayin beat u) he’s become a massive grump and jsut doesn’t see the good in people any more.

u’ll find finn in an old man bar drinking whiskey bc he is in fact an old man at heart or sat on his roof smoking a joint, drawing wolves and lions and skeletons and shit, playing call of duty or getting blazed or at the corner of the room in a house party ignoring everyone and scrolling through twitter. is a massive e-boy. always up-to-date on memes and internet slang. has reddit as an app on his phone

not very good at communication. rather than solve his issues by talking, he’d prefer to just solve them through fighting or running away from his problems hence why he has come halfway across the world to get away from an issue which probs cld have been solved w a few apology emails.

takes a lot to phase him, but when his beserk button gets pressed he can become a bit pugnacious like an angry lil rottweiler. in his undergrad he was in a few fist fights but doesn’t really do tht any more as he doesn’t condone violence.

 in the previous version of this rp he was hospitalised like 5 times. pls, give my son a break. stop tryin to kill him. he literaly got a bottle smashed over his head and bled out all over his favourite angora rug that was the only light of his life

works at the campus coffee shop n always whines about how he’s a slave to capitalism. always smells of coffee

lives off campus with an elderly woman named Marianne, and basically gets reduced rent bcos he makes her dinner / keeps her company. they have a great bond

fan of karl marx. v big on socialism

insomniac with chronic nosebleeds

cynical about everything. too much of a fight club character 4 his own good n has his head up tyler durden’s sphincter

always confused or annoyed

statistics

basic information

full name: finnegan seamus o'callaghan nickname(s): finn age: 25 astrological sign: aries hometown: derry, ireland occupation: phd student / former street entertainer fatal flaw: cynicism positives: self-reliant, street smart, relaxed, intelligent, spontaneous, brave, independent, reliable, trustworthy, loyal. negatives: hostile, impulsive, stubborn, brooding, pugnacious, untrusting, cynical, enigmatic, reserved.

physical

colouring: medium hair colour: dark brown, almost black eye colour: brown height: 5’9” weight: 69kg build: tall, athletic voice: subtle irish accent, low, smooth. dominant hand: left scar(s): one on the left side of his ribs from a knife wound that he doesn’t remember getting cos he was drunk distinguishing marks: freckles, tattoo of a wolf howling at a moon allergies: pollen and the full spectrum of human emotion alcohol tolerance: high drunken behaviour: he becomes friendlier, far more conversational than when sober, flirtier, and generally more self-confident.

psychological

dreams/goals: self-fulfilment, travel the globe, experience life in its most alive and technicoloured version, make documentary films, help the vulnerable in society, grow as a human being.

skills: jack-of-all-trades, very fast runner, good at thieving things, talented tap dancer, good in crisis situations, dab-hand at mechanics, musically-intelligent, can throw a mean right hook and very capable of defending himself, can roll a cigarette, memorises quotes and passages of literature with ease, can light a match with his teeth.

likes: the smell of the earth after rain, poetry, cigarettes, shakespeare, whiskey, tattoos, travelling, ac/dc, deep conversations, leather jackets, open spaces, the smell of petrol, early noughties ‘emo phase’ anthems.

dislikes:  the government, parties, rules, donald trump, children, apple products, weddings, people in general, small talk, dependency, loneliness, pop music, public transport, justin timberlake, uncertainty.fears: fear itself, drowning alignment: true neutral mbti: istp – “while their mechanical tendencies can make them appear simple at a glance, istps are actually quite enigmatic. friendly but very private, calm but suddenly spontaneous, extremely curious but unable to stay focused on formal studies, istp personalities can be a challenge to predict, even by their friends and loved ones. istps can seem very loyal and steady for a while, but they tend to build up a store of impulsive energy that explodes without warning, taking their interests in bold new directions.” (via 16personalities.com)

full bio (lame as fuck written years ago..... pleathe...)

tw homophobia

born in quigley’s pub on the backstreets of sunny dublin, young finnegan o'callaghan was thrown kicking and screaming into the rowdy suburbs of irish drinking culture. the son of a landlord and a fishwife, he never had much in the way of earnings, but there was never a dull moment in his lively estate, where asbo’s thrived, but community spirit conquered. at school, finn was pegged as lazy and unmotivated, though truly his dyslexia made it hard for the boy to learn in the same environment of his peers and only made him more closed-off in class. struggling with anger management, finn moved from school to school, unable to fit the cookie-cutter mould that school enforced on him, though whilst academic studies were of little interest to the boy, he soon found his true passions lay in recreational activities. immersed into the joys of sport from as young as four, finn was an ardent munster fan and anticipated nothing more than the day he could finally fit into his brother’s old pair of rugby boots.

his calling finally came unexpectedly, not in the form of rugger, but through dance. to learn to express himself in a non-academic way, he began tap dancing, finding therapy in the beat of his soles against the cracked kitchen tiles (much to his mother’s disgrace). it wasn’t a conscious choice, finn just realised one day that dance was something that made him feel. a king of the streets, finn made his fortune on those cobbled pavements – dancing and drawing to earn his keep. by default, finn became a street artist, each penny he earned from his chalk drawings saved in a jam jar towards buying his first pair of tap shoes. though many of his less-than-amiable neighbours called him a nancy and a gaybo, finn refused to quit at his somewhat ‘unconventional’ hobby, for the young scrapper found energy, life, and released anger through the rhythm of tap. soon he branched out into street dance, hip hop, break dancing, lyrical, his days spent smacking his scuffed feet against the broken patio into the night.

when he was thirteen he took up boxing, and as expected, his newfound ‘macho’ pastime conflicted with his dancing. the boxers called him ‘soft’; the dancers called him ‘inelegant’. he felt like two different people; having to choose between interests was like being handed a knife and asked to which half of himself he wished to cut away. he couldn’t afford professional training in dance, with most schools based in england and limited scholarships available. instead, he made the street his studio, racking up a small fanbase on youtube. when he was fifteen he made his debut in billy eliot at the olympia theatre in dublin. enter nina de souza, talented, beautiful and italian; ballet dancer, operatic singer, genius whiz kid, and spoiled brat. she was selfish, conceited, hell bent on getting her own way, and every director’s nightmare. finn fell for her like a house of cards. he’d always had a soft spot for girls who meant trouble. and so their hellish courtship began.

by the time they were seventeen, the two young swans had danced in every playhouse across the republic. they were known in theatres across the country for their tempestuous personalities, their raging arguments with one another, their tendency to drop out of shows altogether without any notice, yet the money kept rolling in and the audiences continued to grow. for three years, their families continued to put up with their hysterical fights followed by passionate reconciliations. he was too possessive, and she was too wild. their carcrash of a relationship finally came to a catastrophic halt when nina broke off the whole affair and returned to italy with her family. for months finn tried to contact her, yet his phone calls, texts, facebook messages were always ignored, until finally he was driven to drastic measures and used his savings to get a plane to her home town. when finn turned up uninvited at nina’s house she freaked out – and rightly so – she contacted her agent, accused him of stalking her, and had a restraining order placed against him. finn was arrested, held in a station overnight, and charged with harassment before he was allowed to return to dublin.

after the incident with nina, finn lost the fight in his eyes. he became far more hostile, far less likely to retaliate with his own fists, and picked fights not for the thrill of feeling his own fists pummel another into a wall, but for the sensation of his own brittle bones cracking. he dropped his tap shoes in a dumpster, stopped talking to his friends, followed his father’s advice and went back to school to complete his leaving certificate. a few short months later, and finn was packing his bags, saying his bittersweet goodbyes, and travelling half-way across the globe to be as far away as possible from his past self, his mess of a life, and most of all nina. it seemed somehow ironic that the boy who had been cautioned by the garda so much during his youth for spray painting, busking without a liscence, and raucous parties would become the grumpy, aloof overseas student studying a degree in criminology; that his once reckless spirit could be crushed so easily. 

of all things that finn could be called, straightforward would never be one of them. ever since his first days in atticus, the boy was pegged as hostile, hot-headed, cynical, rude. he seemed to spend more time in his thoughts than engaging in conversation. like a ticking time-bomb, finn’s anger was of the calm kind, liable to explode without a moment’s noticed. his unpredictable personality make him something of an enigma to those who aren’t amiable with the lad, though hostile as he may appear, he harvests a good heart. loyalty lies at the centre of his affections, and whilst his friends are few in number, he makes a lifelong partner. somewhere within finn, there’s still some fight left, but mostly he has recognised that his hedonistic lifestyle did little to leave him fulfilled – mostly, it just emptied him out – and over his three years at university has resigned himself to a nihilistic predicament.

        if u wanna plot with me pls pls pls im me or like this post!! i am always game for plots i love em so excited to write with you all here r some ideas

study buddies. finn is now a phd student so has to start takin shit seriously. he gon be in the library every day doing that independent study. if he had ppl who were also regular library goers n they get each other coffees to save time.... tht wld be sweet

ppl who love techno dj sets and going super hard on the weekends!!! fuck yea

friends with benefits. exes on bad terms. ppl he tried to date but couldnt because he’s always emotionally hung up on someone else. spicy hook up plots

ppl he met touring?? maybe ppl who were also in the entertainment industry..... anyone got a character who is ex circus hit me up

does anyone else study criminology / forensics / criminal psych / law? phd students sometimes lecture so he cld be an assistant lecturer / tutor if ur character is in a younger year

gamers !!! social recluses !!! hermits !!

finn goes to the skatepark and all the young boys there think he’s a gradnpa which he is! 

Duke Reviews TV: Smallville 1x13 Kinetic

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews TV Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville By Talking About Episode 13 Of Season 1, Kinetic...

This Episode Sees Whitney, Falling Into A Bad Crowd After He Loses His Football Scholarship. Given Tattoos That Give Them The Ability To Walk Through Walls, They Put Chloe In The Hospital And Blackmail Lex. Will Whitney Be Able To Get Out Of This With The Help Of Clark And Lana?...

Let's Find Out As We Watch Kinetic...

The Episode Starts At The Luthor Mansion Where Lex Is Doing An Interview With Chloe While Clark Films It But When Lex Gets A Phone Call From Lionel, Lex Makes An Abrupt Exit Leaving Chloe And Clark Waiting...

But While They Look Around The Mansion, 3 Burglars Appear To Go Through Lex's Vault And I Mean Through Lex's Vault Like They Literally Walk Through The Wall And Into Lex's Vault...

Honestly, Why Does Lex Not Have A Security System In Place Whenever He's Not In The Vault?, That's Just Stupid Especially For Lex Luthor...

Taking Whatever They Want From The Vault, They Eventually Find A Red Disk And Decide To Take It With Them, But In Leaving The Vault, They're Discovered By Clark And Chloe, Who Have Returned To The Library Of The Mansion To Discover Their Money Bags...

With The Crooks Grabbing Clark (Who's Unable To Due Anything Due To The Crooks Kryptonite Tattoos) He Tells Chloe To Run Which She Does But Unfortunately She Gets Caught By One Of The Crooks Who Tosses Her Out Of A Window...

Hanging On By A Thread...

The Crooks Leave With Their Loot So Clark Can Go Rescue Chloe But He Arrives Too Late As Chloe Falls To Her Death...

Yeah, She's Dead...From A Fall That High You Are Deader Than Dead And Any Chance To Save You Would Be No Less Than A Miracle...

The Next Day At The Hospital, We See That Chloe's Alive?!? HI, How Is She Alive After That Fall!?!

(Start At 0:24, End At 0:37)

Broken Arm And Concussion, My Ass?!? Unless The Best Doctor In Metropolis Is God No Doctor On Earth Could Possibly Help Her, She Is Dead, Plain And Simple, She Has Kicked The Bucket, She's Shuffled Off The Mortal Coil, Run Down The Curtain And Joined The Fricken Choir Invisible! THIS SHOULD BE AN EX-PERSON!

With Clark Blaming Himself For What Happened To Chloe, Lex Tells Him Not To As He Explains That These Crooks Have Hit Places All Over The County, Getting In And Out Of Places Without Breaking A Single Lock, They Even Tried Breaking Into The Smallville Savings And Loan But The Alarm System Went Off...

Not Hearing About That Robbery, Lex Tells Clark That The Banks Don't Publicize When They've Been Robbed As It's Bad For Their Image...

Asking If The Police Can Trace The Stuff They Stole From Lex, He Tells Clark That Nothing Was Stolen, Despite Clark Knowing That They Had 2 Bags That Were Filled But Saying That All That Matters Now Is Finding Them And When Lex Does He Tells Clark That He'll Deal With It Accordingly...

Meaning...

Running Into Whitney Outside Of Her Aunt's Shop, She Asks Whitney Why She Didn't Meet Him At The Hospital Only For Him To Tell Her That He Forgot...

Noticing Something Wrong In His Tone, Lana Asks Whitney If Something Is Wrong And If It Involves His Dad To Which Whitney Blows Her Off By Saying That He's Got To Do Inventory At His Dad's Store...

Karate Chopping Wood To Let Off Some Steam...

Jonathan And Martha Tell Clark The Same Thing Everyone Else Has Told Him And That Becoming An Adult Means Learning A Lot Of Hard Lessons One Being That You Can't Save Everyone No Matter Who You Are...

Telling Them About Feeling The Same Effect As The Meteor Rocks But He Just Didnt Know Where It Was Coming From, This Leads Them To Suggest That Clark Go Out And Discover What He Can Instead Of Feeling Sorry For Himself By Karate Chopping Wood...

Oh, I'm Sorry According To Martha Here, I Played The Wrong Song When Clark Was Karate Chopping Wood Instead It Should Apparently Be This...

Packing Up Inside The Talon, Aunt Nell Asks Lana About Her Sudden Interest In The Talon Which Leads Me To Show This Clip From The Last Episode...

(Start At 0:28, End At 1:00)

But Nell Tells Lana That One Screen Can't Compete With A Multiplex And The Fact That Nell Wants To Be Able To Send Lana To Any College She Wishes...

However, Not Willing To Give Up So Easily, Lana Asks Who The New Owner Is So She Could Possibly Convince Them To Renovate, Telling Lana That It's Lex, Lana Realizes That She Might Have An Opportunity Since They're Friends...

Going To The Smallville Savings And Loan With Pete As The Criminals Tried To Hit There, Clark X-Rays The Vault To Discover An Arm Inside Of The Vault Door...

Meanwhile At The Criminals HQ, Their Leader, Wade, Looks For News About The Robbery But Unfortunately, There's Nothing On Any News Channels About It To Which Another Member, Scott Believes That Lex Hasn't Reported It Because He Doesn't Miss It As Even Though They Took Stuff He's Still Rich To The Point He Even Compares Him With Scrooge McDuck Saying That He Probably Has A Pit Full Of Money That He Probably Swims In...

Only Problem Is If They Had Stuck Around They Would Have Ended Up Dead As The Energy From The Tatoos Only Lasts For Short Periods And What's Worse They're Dying From It...

Believing They Need New Meat To Keep Their Dream Alive. They Eventually Figure Out Why Lex Didn't File A Report With The Police, Turns Out Lex Has Hacked Into Daddy Lionel's Computer, So, Paying Lex A Visit, They Want...

From Lex And Mention That If He Tells Anyone About This, They'll Upload The Disc To The Internet. Handing Lex A Mobile Phone, They Leave...

Running Into Whitney At His Dad's Store, Clark Like Lana Knows That Something Is Wrong With Whitney Which Leads Whitney To Tell Clark That He Lost His Scholarship...

But While Talking With Whitney, Scott Interrupts Asking Whitney If Some Shoes They Sell Come In A Size 12. With Clark Noticing Scott's Tattoos He's Like (Like Biff Tannen) What're You Looking At, Butthead?...

Showing Scott Some Shoes, Whitney Runs Into Wade Who's An Avid Fan...

(Start At 1:45, End At 2:26)

Inviting Whitney To A Party Tonight After He Closes Up, He Shows Up To Which Wade Gives Him A Tour And Offers Him The Chance To Join Them Saying That Guys Like Them Have To Stick Together...

That's Evangeline Lilly, Wade Is Kissing After Taking A Shot, The Way I See This Is That This Is Hope Van Dyne In Her Rebellious Teenage Years Before She Became The Wasp Or Her And Ant-Man Are Involved In An Undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. Operation Involving These Guys...

Well, A Guy Has To Try To At Least Get Marvel And DC To Work Together In Peace Instead Of Fighting Like Children Over Whose Films Are Better To Which Marvel Wins By A Infinity Gauntlet Snap...

Showing Whitney To A Back Room, He's Not Exactly Interested In Getting A Tattoo...

(Start At 1:03)

The Next Day, Chloe Is Awake At The Hospital (Don't See How Since...But I Digress) And Clark Goes To Visit Her Where She Notices All The Flowers She Got Including The Ones From Lex That Make Her Feel Like She Won The Kentucky Derby...

Asking If She Remembers Anything, Chloe Mentions The Tattoo Of An Octagon To Which Clark Tells Her To Sit Tight While He Does Some Digging...

Meanwhile At The Talon, Lana Tries To Convince Lex Not To Bulldoze The Talon Into A Parking Lot But Her Reasonings Aren't Good Enough To Change His Mind...

Talking To Whitney At His Dad's Store About Scott, He Tells Clark That He Doesn't Remember A Guy With Tattoo But When Clark Accidentally Hits Whitney's Tattoo, Clark Questions Him On It And Tells Him That If He's Involved With Them To Stay Away From Them...

But Unwilling To Take Advice From Clark, Since He Spends Most Of His Time Going After Lana, Whitney Tells Clark To Get Out...

Calling Lana On This, She Tells Clark That When She Asked What Was Going On, Whitney Told Her That He Went Out With Some New Friends Yesterday, Blowing Off Some Steam And When She Confronted Him On It He Got Mad At Lana The Same Way He Did At Clark, So, She Decided To Back Off...

This Leads Clark To Tell Her About Whitney's Scholarship (Even Though It's Not Really His Place To Tell Her, But When The Girl Of Dream's Boyfriend Goes Cuckoo, All Bets Are Off) Searching The Torch, Clark Finds Yearbook Pictures Of Whitney's New Friends...

(Start At 2:00, End At 2:39)

Telling Clark About What Happened With Lex, He Suggests That What Lex Said To Lana Wasn't More Of A Rejection But A Challenge To Give Him More Of A Business Reasoning Like He Wants And Less Of An Emotional One...

Closing Up His Dad's Store, Whitney Goes With Wade, Scott And Derek For A Little "Fun", And By Fun Wade Means Meeting Lex To Make The Exchange...

(Start At 1:10, End At 2:37)

Taking Whitney Back To Their Base, Whitney Tells The Others That He Didn't Join Them To Kill People, With Wade Believing Whitney Wants Out, Whitney Lies Telling Them That That's Not The Case He Just Doesn't Think That Lex Is An Idiot To Which Wade Tells Whitney Not To Worry About Lex As He Has The Fear Of God In Him...

Standing Up For Whitney, By Telling The Other Members That It Was Basically Just A Case Of The Jitters, Wade Tells Whitney To Not Screw Up Again Or Else...

Asking What Lex Was Doing With Those Guys, He Partially Tells Clark The Truth, By Saying That They Blackmailed Him For Money In Exchange For Confidential Luthorcorp Information...

(Start At 2:15, End At 2:36)

Yeah And You're My First One, Buddy, Congratulations...

Wondering What Lex's Next Move Is Going To Be, He Tells Clark Not To Worry Because They'll Soon Discover That No One Robs From Lex Luthor...

Asking About Whitney, Lex Tells Clark That It Depends On What Side He's On...

The Next Day At The Hospital, Pete Visits To Give Chloe Her Laptop Computer, Which Even Clark Knows Is A Bad Idea As Chloe Should Be Resting (Six Feet Under) But Tired Of Rest, She Asks Clark To Let Her Do This And To Not Cut Her Out...

Asking What She Has, She Comes Up With The Theory That The Meteor Rock Tattoos Are Speeding Up Their Metabolism Making Their Molecules Move At Hyper Speed, Causing Them To (In SpeedForce Terms) Vibrate Through The Wall...

Comparing It To An Ultimate Rush, Chloe Points Out That One Or Another It's Not Good For Them Either As Their Bodies Can't Handle The Stress For Long Which Explains Why They're Dying...

Confronting Lana At The Talon, Whitney Tells Her Everything As For The First Time In His Life, He's Scared...

(Start At 1:53, End At 2:29)

Taking Clark Into The Gang's Loft To Find It Empty, Clark Finds The Disc Using His X-Ray Vision, But Unfortunately Wade And His Crew Return Where Wade Is Like...

So, Having His Boys Grab Whitney, Wade Tells Clark To Give Him Back The Disc To Which Clark Turns It Into Dust So, Wade Puts His Hand Into Clark's Chest To Cause Him Pain Even Though Again, It Should Kill Him...

I Mean If The Reverse Flash Can Phase His Hand Into Cisco Ramon To Kill Him, Then That Should Kill Clark In The Same Way It Killed Cisco...

But With Clark Surviving, They Leave Derek To Guard Him, Only For Lex To Use A Taser On Derek To Stun Him...

At Least He Didn't Do It The Selina Kyle Way...

And All I Can Say About That Guy Is That He's Getting A Lot More Cowbell In Hell...

(Start At 2:15, End At 3:05)

Now....Life....Has Killed The Dream I Dreamed...

With Derek And Scott Arrested By The Cops, Lex Tells The Police That They Broke Into Lex's House And Both Whitney And Clark Figured It Out And Tried To Be Heroes. But Before Scott And Derek Pull Away In Their Police Car, Lex Tells Them That If They Keep His Secret, He'll Keep There's And If They Don't They'll Find Out That They're Not The Ones That Can Phase Through Walls...

Later That Evening, Chloe Is Released From The Hospital While Lana Gives Her New Proposal To Lex...

(Start At 1:25, End At 2:30)

And That's Kinetic And Despite My Complaints That 2 People Should Have Died In This Episode, It's An Okay Episode...

Yes, It Has It's Flaws And It Makes Feel Happy That I Don't Have Any Tattoos But While The Story Was Okay, The Characters Were Decently Written And The Episode Sees Lana And Lex Becoming Partners In The Talon So That Sees Progress In A Storyline So,I Guess I Say See It Just Don't Go Swearing On Your Tattoo That You'll Get A Good Episode...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

MARTIN SAMUEL: Derby County and Wayne Rooney are just playing the game… so lay off 

Jermaine Jenas started his new job as columnist for the daily newspaper this week. He was revealed thanks to a deal with footie5 from thepools.com.

& # 39; Download the app and play … & # 39; said a mistake at the bottom of the page. So we can't have it in all ways. Wayne Rooney Wayne Rooney Does it, but a legitimate source of income on this page and beyond.

Must, that's what it's all about. The media – print and electronic, websites, radio stations, television broadcasters and also this publication – will not reject valuable advertising at a time when rates and revenues are falling.

Wayne Rooney & # 39; s move to Derby County has been criticized for moving the way it occurred

And Derby is going to find a way to recruit and reward Rooney that allows them to bypass the Football League's tax on ambition, in the form of financial fair play regulations.

It is not only, as said, that Derby Rooney could not pay without sponsoring a gambling company; they would not have allowed Rooney either.

Buying him, paying him the usual rate given his talent and profile, could lead to an FFP infringement and a crippling fine. However, if the sponsors of Derby, 32Red, open the tab, it's different. Every club in the championship with an eye for promotion will look at ways to bypass the system.

Derby did that before. Last season they were threatened with legal action by Middlesbrough president Steve Gibson Mel Morris bought the Pride Park stadium and then rented it back to the club.

This enabled Derby to post £ 14.6 million profit on their accounts. Challenged, Morris pointed out that the sale of fixed assets is legal and that in 2016, in order to comply with FFP, the club chose to sell the football club's tax loss to its parent company, thereby generating income. This too was cool at the time. That club was Middlesbrough.

So everyone is working on it. Not in a way that is crooked or illegal, they do it because running a business often requires investment from the owner and promotion as well, but the Football League are not friends for clubs that think big.

Rooney participates on the side of Phillip Cocu and takes on a player-coach dual role at the club

They have numerous rules to prevent owners from jumping up, not so much to guard against those bleeding dry clubs. Now the Rooney deal has shed an unhelpful light on a different revenue stream.

Tim Crow, an expert in sports marketing, says gambling ads on shirts will be banned within five years. So the League Pass rules the prohibition of one form of investment and the Government Pass rules the prohibition of another.

From this season on, 30 clubs have gambling companies as their primary sponsor source and, since the market is competitive, exposure rate is undoubtedly high. If that is forbidden, other sponsors may not feel compelled to pay that much.

Morris is not the perfect owner, but he has ambition for Derby. He gave Frank Lampard the job of the manager last season – a smart, forward-thinking idea that almost raised Derby's profile and almost paid off with promotion – and made another splash by signing Rooney as a player-coach since January.

There is no guarantee that Rooney will have an impact from Midfield in the championship, which is of a higher standard for Major League Soccer.

But no matter how he makes a player, Rooney is the coach a fascinating proposition. He has long been an undervalued game analyst and has ambitions to manage.

Sir Alex Ferguson recalls that he tried to guess the first XI on the eve of competitions and often got some nuance or tactical change correctly.

Rooney will make the move in January when his MLS season with DC United comes to an end

Roy Hodgson often praised his interventions with England, even as Rooney & # 39; s growing confidence in his unilateral decision to remove Harry Kane from middle service .

Rooney & # 39; s return to English football would have garnered almost universal praise, were not for the involvement of 32Red.

Instead, critics stood in line. The mediocre spirit of Iain Duncan-Smith spoke contemptuously about the amount of money gambling companies made, undoubtedly as part of the new corporate strategy of the conservative party under Boris Johnson.

Carolyn Harris, Chairman of the Parliamentary Gambling Group, asked: & When will celebrities realize that involvement in gambling is not right or moral? & # 39; as if the famous, not the governments, were responsible for Britain's lax gambling laws.

Clinical psychologists and academics and anti-gambling campaigners – and victims of addiction – are all confused with disapproval of what a sponsorship agreement has been made necessary by the over-regulation of football.

Yet, the reason that every newspaper now has a special pull-out in the week of the Cheltenham Festival is the placement of advertisements for gambling.

It is tempting to bet, odds, and prizes that fund it all. For example, transfer deadline for daily news on many newspaper websites was sponsored by Betway.

So even if Rooney didn't wear No. 32, the paying company would still find an outlet for their product – most likely on the pages of the publications in which the Derby deal becomes convicted.

Boron also happens to have the same sponsor "class =" blkBorder img-share "/>

[1945908] Middlesbrough (left), Leeds (right) and Preston are also sponsored by 32Red like Derby County

Nobody claims that the modern shift in gambling habits – watching sports with gambling on it, via in-play- apps – is healthy. Yet it is a major simplification to hope for the problems of the industry on one player and his club.

& # 39; We see players' names becoming synonymous with gambling brands & # 39 ;, said shadow minister Rosena Allin-Khan.

No, we are not. There are too many gambling companies to remember them all and most football fans would not know their Dunder from their Dafabet, their 32Red from their Fun88.

It is a hugely successful but flooded market, so Rooney will become synonymous with his club, Derby, as always, and the most publicity his sponsors will get out of this deal is now, with so much pontification that the makes headlines.

Interestingly enough, however, after last season's friction, there is a very subdued reaction to Derby's rival of their championship rivals.

Perhaps because Middlesbrough, Leeds and Preston are also sponsored by 32Red, while Birmingham, Blackburn, Bristol City, Charlton, Fulham, Huddersfield, Hull, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke, Swansea and Wigan also have gambling companies as shirt sponsors and kick themselves for not thinking about it first

Woodward earns credit for the hard sale of misleading Lukak u

As usual, the transfer window with fans of Manchester United ended up in arms over Ed Woodward. Still, the £ 72 million from Inter Milan was a decent thing for Romelu Lukaku. The Italians wanted to pay nearly £ 20 million less, but United persisted – and the impact of Lukaku on Old Trafford was so overwhelming that they could even make a profit.

Part of Lukaku & # 39; s deal upon joining Everton was that United would have to pay £ 5 million each time if he has scored 25 league goals in his first three seasons, so with a total of 16, 12 and a day for everyone, that has already saved £ 15 million.

[1945908] Romelu Lukaku finally got his move on deadline day, with Man United set to receive £ 72m

The reality is that Lukaku arrived with the reputation of being destroyed against smaller clubs and left intact.

In his time with United, he scored goals against West Ham, Swansea, Stoke, Everton, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Bournemouth, West Brom, Huddersfield, Brighton, Burnley, Watford and Fulham, but pulled blank spots Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. The only top-six club he found against was Chelsea on February 25, 2018.

This does not only apply to his club form. In the World Cup year, he scored against Greece, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Panama and Tunisia, but not against Japan, Brazil, France or England. His movements suggest that he is a big club player – but not necessarily against big clubs. Woodward did well to come back.

Open Relaxation Therapy

Hinako Shibuno & # 39; s Women & # 39; s Open was the perfect example of why it is sometimes better to relax in a tournament

Shibuno admitted that he came to Britain to taste the food and see the sights, instead of having any ambition to win the tournament.

Hinako Shibuno admitted he came to Britain to taste the food and see the sights

She was so under-prepared that she thought she would play a left lane instead of Woburn, about 160 miles inland. Her manager, Hiroshi Shigematsu, also seemed to be doing very well – costumed in the course every day.

On Friday he went to Mount Fuji, on Saturday in a kimono with an electric blue clown wig and plastic Samurai sword. On other occasions he dragged a supporting cast of hugs. Maybe Trevor Bayliss should try.

Moeen needs rest, but Smith is not afraid of Leach

Everyone agrees that Moeen Ali needs a break from the pressure of international cricket.

In the past, the time away from the English scene has led to a recovery in its form. Certainly, his appearance at Edgbaston approached a call for help.

But while leaving him out of the Lord's mind seems inevitable, the assumption that Jack Leach's answer is dramatically overplayed. In the past month, Leach threw waste three times for 26 points against Ireland. The call for his selection is largely based on the idea that Steve Smith is weak against the orthodox spider left

England's performance at Moeen Ali in Edgbaston was approaching a call for help

This idea grew in South Africa last year when three of Smith & # 39; s first four were fired for Keshav Maharaj and Dean Elgar.

Smith takes an average of 34.9 against orthodox bowlers on the left, as opposed to 48.77 against leg spinners, 65.28 against fast bowlers on the left, 68.38 against fast right bowlers, 92.85 against off-spinners and 119 against left-wrist spinners

Still a large number of his layoffs against left-arm orthodox supplies are against Rangana Herath and Ravindra in Sri Lanka Jadeja on tours of the subcontinent. Leach will not only have to bow much better than Ali, he will also have to bow considerably better than with the last time of the Lord.

Smith is vulnerable to good leftists, not cake holders.

Why save Bury after £ 4million blunder?

The day of the transfer limit reached its peak when the Football League was announced that Bury & # 39; s Carabao Cup match with Sheffield Wednesday was out.

Under the circumstances, it is easy to make comparisons between football matches and equipment; the fraction of the transfer costs of Harry Maguire who would keep the football 10 miles away. How much leaked out of the game to agents when Bury and Bolton were dying.

United still paid the excessive rate for a sought-after center half, or an agent who insured his compensation for a complex sequence of transfers, is not the reason why Bury is struggling. They spent money that they did not have to pay for a promotion that they could not afford.

Bury misunderstood it terribly. That is the story of football through time. Clubs rise and fall due to good and bad decisions. These decisions are made in the field, by managers and coaches or in the boardroom.

Bury spent money they didn't have the financing they couldn't

The gradual decline of Huddersfield from a club that won three straight titles between 1924 and 1927 can be deduced from the decision to buy a second-hand stand from Fleetwood for £ 170, at a moment that Arsenal invested many thousands of infrastructure. There are a hundred minor appraisal errors that have put Bury at risk – and they were made long before Maguire left Leicester for £ 80 million.

Nigel Clough said the Premier League was responsible for wrestling in the lower division clubs, but how would that work? Bury spent while other clubs did not. Bury won promotion due to £ 4.2 million in debt while other clubs kept the budget and remained in League Two. And now that Bury receives a Premier League rescue fund? Does that not reward financial carelessness?

Dodi Lukebakio left Watford for Hertha Berlin in a deal of nearly £ 20 million, arrived for £ 1.5 million and played 17 minutes of soccer from the first team. This seems like madness. Yet elite clubs are moving into a completely different market. The amounts of Bury are correct, not their business activities to ensure that Bury is managed correctly. Bury has two weeks to solve this problem, and the answer must come from within.

A number of Chelsea fans are saddened by the departure of David Luiz to Arsenal. They miss the bigger picture.

Think about it. This is now a defense with Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi in his heart, protected by Granit Xhaka.

It is time to take a seat, to break open the popcorn and to start the comedy.

David Luiz signed for Arsenal on deadline day but it remains to be seen whether it will be the answer

Source link

The comics that will be available during Halloween ComicFest 2019 this October were officially revealed today, including 19 full size and nine mini comics, featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Boba Fett, Ghost-rider, the kid-slasher parody Junior High Horrors (pictured above), and many more.

Read on for the full press release and the complete list of 2019 titles, and then enjoy browsing through our photo gallery of all the Halloween comic covers coming your way for the 8th annual Halloween ComicFest.

This year, Halloween ComicFest (HCF) features a whole new selection of 28 comic book titles for the industry’s most anticipated fall event taking place Saturday, October 26, 2019 at participating comic shops worldwide.

Of the 28 titles available, 19 are Full Size and 9 are Mini Comics for fans to pick up and enjoy. All will be available for free at participating comic shops on Saturday, October 26th, with the Mini Comics also available for purchase in packs of 25 for $4.99 at the beginning of October—a perfect item to give to trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

“This year’s Halloween ComicFest is poised to be bigger and better than last year!” said Halloween ComicFest spokesperson Ashton Greenwood. “The comics available this year are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes, from the all-ages Mini Comics featuring popular properties like Archie, DC Superhero Girls, Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, and Pokémon, while the Full-Size Comics feature well-known characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Boba Fett, Iron Man, and Batman. Halloween ComicFest is the perfect time to discover the wonders of comic shops and experience them as premiere destinations for Halloween fun!”

Read on for the complete listing of all Halloween ComicFest 2019 comics and our gallery of the covers for each.

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2019 FULL SIZE COMICS AfterShock Comics | Dark Red #1 Halloween ComicFest B&W Edition – Charles “Chip” Ipswich isn’t one of those coastal elites with a liberal arts degree and a job at a social media start-up who knows where all the best brunch places are… No, Chip is one of the “forgotten men.” He lives in a rural area in the middle of the country where Jesus still has a place at the dinner table and where factories ship jobs to Calcutta. Chip is also a vampire. Stuck working the last shift at a gas station, Chip is lonely and bored…and then his dull, bleak life is turned upside down when SHE comes to town. SPECIAL BLACK AND WHITE REPRINT. Tim Seeley (BRLLIANT TRASH) and Corin Howell bring you a contemporary and horrifying tale of vampirism in the heart of America — one that’ll make you jump right out of your boots. Aspen Comics | Aspen Mascots and the Portals of Doom – When Wormier and Griff accidentally open multiples portals from another dimension, the Aspen Mascots must band together to stop their own doppelgängers from wreaking havoc in our world! In this new jam-packed activity-coloring book featuring Aspen’s most popular critters and oddities, readers must solve puzzles, mazes and more in order to finish the story and save the planet! Benitez Productions | Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte – After suffering a tragic loss, Lady Mechanika takes a trip to a small Mexican village just in time for their Día de los Muertos celebration. But the festivities turn truly deadly after the arrival of the Jinetes del Infierno, the mythical Hell Riders! Includes the first chapter of the Lady Mechanika Day of the Dead special, collected in the La Dama de la Muerte TPB.  Dark Horse Comics | House of Fear: Attack of the Killer Snowmen! – A group of kids throwing around a football on a pleasant winter afternoon are suddenly set upon by snowmen with jagged grins and twisted limbs instead of cute button eyes and corncob pipes. They’ll need to think quick in order to defeat these frozen foes! A spooky scare for young readers!House of Fearis the perfect comic for monster hunters young and old. DC Comics | DCeased #1 HCF Special Editon – A mysterious techno-virus has been released on Earth, infecting 600 million people and turning them instantly into violent, monstrous engines of destruction.The heroes of the DCU are caught completely unprepared for a pandemic of this magnitude and struggle to save their loved ones first…but what happens to the World’s Greatest Heroes if the world ends?New York Times best-selling writer Tom Taylor (INJUSTICE) returns with a terrifying new tale and is joined by artists Trevor Hairsine (LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT) and Stefano Gaudiano (The Walking Dead). DC Comics | The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid / Black Canary: Ignite HCF Special Edition IDW Publishing | Sonic the Hedgehog #1 HCF Edition Keenspot Entertainment | Junior High Horrors Halloween Special – Halloween is here! But Mikey, the boy that’s always ready to dress to impress, has changed his tune and wants nothing to do with costumes this year. The gang gets together to change his mind, but will they succeed? This original story drawn by series creator Rob Potchak is the perfect jumping on point for anyone wanting to see why Robert Kirkman may have said this All-Ages Horror Parody was “Awesome!” This comic also features dyslexic reader friendly fonts, a first in the industry! Kodansha Comics | Tales of Berseria Preivew & Other Game Manga Mad Cave Studios | Battlecats: Halloween ComicFest Special Marvel Comics | Ghost Rider: King of Hell #1 Marvel Comics | Iron Man: Road to Iron Man 2020 Marvel Comics | Miles Morales: Spider-Man #0 Marvel Comics | Star Wars: Boba Fett #1 Random House Children’s Books | Doodleville/ Aster and the Accidental Magic Exclusive First Look Source Point Press | The Adventures of Cthulhu Jr. and Dastardly Dirk Vertical Comics | Bakemonogatari (Monster Tale) Exclusive HCF Edition VIZ Media | The Drifting Classroom/ Smashed YouNeek Studios | Iyanu: Child of Wonder

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2019 MINI COMICS Albatross Funnybooks | Spook House – A spooky book for kids of all ages! This Albatross Funnybooks anthology features works by William Stout, Eric Powell and Gideon Kendall! American Mythology | Under Dog Halloween Hijinks – There’s no need to fear! Underdog is here! Its an extra special Halloween treat as we present a mini comic adventure of everyone’s favorite superhound, Underdog! We’ll have you singing the Underdog theme as you trick or treat this year, “Speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who rob or plunder, Underdog!”  Don’t let Simon Bar Sinister ruin your holiday, join us for Underdog hijinks this Halloween season! Archie Comics | Archie’s Madhouse Magic – Get ready for magic and mischief in this fun collection of Halloween stories! Archie and everyone’s favorite teenage witch, Sabrina, are proud to present two enchanting and bewitching tales from Archie’s Magical Madhouse–sure to leave you spellbound! BOOM! Studios | Just Beyond: Horror at Happy Landings – THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WOODS. Family camping trips are already a drag for Annie and Parker, especially with their cousin Clark tagging along, but when strange things start happening, they’ll discover startling secrets out of this world! When a pair of Martian siblings find themselves stranded on Earth, they must take over Annie and Parker’s bodies to retrieve the tracker that can signal Mars to bring them home. Can the Martians make it home safe, or will they be forced to become Annie and Parker forever? DC Comics | DC Superhero Girls: At Metropolis High Halloween ComicFest Special Edition – When Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Bumblebee, and Zatanna are continually late to class because of their crime-fighting, they are sentenced to finding an after-school club for a whole week … or else they’ll be suspended!But finding a club is not as easy as it looks, and when the girls keep finding themselves kicked out of the clubs they like, they must think outside of the box and go outside their comfort zones to avoid suspension. This first chapter from the DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: AT METROPOLIS HIGH graphic novel is perfect for ages 6-10 and a great entry point into the DC Universe. Golden Apple Books | Blastosaurus Halloween Special IDW Publishing | Usagi Yojimbo HCF Mini Comic Papercutz | The Loud House: “A Very LOUD Halloween” VIZ Media | Pokémon Adventures

(Click an image to enlarge and view in gallery browser.)

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

  For more Halloween news, follow @HalloweenDaily.

Halloween ComicFest 2019 Comics Announced The comics that will be available during Halloween ComicFest 2019 this October were officially revealed today, including 19 full size and nine mini comics, featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Boba Fett, Ghost-rider, the kid-slasher parody…

NFL coaching carousel: Rumors, firings, and hirings

It’s firing season in the NFL! We’re keeping track of all the news and rumors here as teams make moves.

The NFL regular season is just about over. By the end of the day Sunday, Dec. 30, all 12 playoff teams and the seeding order will have been decided. It’s a new season for those dozen teams. More than a few of the league’s other teams will embark on a second season too — firing and hiring season.

Two teams, the Browns and the Packers, already fired their head coaches. As many as six others, maybe more, could join them within 24 hours. Some of those teams will be replacing their general managers as well. Even more of the NFL’s 32 franchises could be spinning on the coaching carousel looking to replace coordinators and assistant coaches.

It’s going to get real busy, real fast, so we’ll be keeping track of the latest news and rumors as teams start making changes. Keep checking back.

Arizona Cardinals

Steve Wilks is going to join the illustrious group of NFL coaches fired after one season, a group that includes Jim Mora, Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly and more. Wilks’ fate was decided before his team’s Week 16 loss to the Rams, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

If Wilks goes, the question is whether or not general manager Steve Keim goes too. He’s been the team’s GM since 2013, presiding over some shaky drafts and ruinous free agent decisions (Hi, Sam Bradford). Keim is not expected to be fired, according to Kent Somers of Arizona Central. Fans are not pleased with the possibility of Keim’s return.

Dec. 24: Peter King reported that the team has interest in recently depose Packers coach Mike McCarthy, and McCarthy reportedly has some interest in the job himself.

Baltimore Ravens

After slumping into their Week 10 bye after a 4-5 start, rumors about John Harbaugh’s future with the team started to swirl. Since then, the combo of Harbaugh and rookie QB Lamar Jackson have turned the Ravens into a playoff contender, saving Harbaugh’s job in the process. The Ravens put out a statement prior to their Week 16 win over the Chargers that Harbaugh would be back in 2019, the final year of his contract with the team. So far, there’s been no talk of an extension, and a lot of people think Harbaugh would be fine playing out his final year in Baltimore then seeing what the market holds in 2020.

Dec. 22: PFT speculated that the Ravens’ announcement could signal the team’s willingness to trade Harbaugh, should a team that coveted him want to offer up draft picks, etc. The Broncos and Jets were two teams said to have been interested in Harbaugh if the Ravens gave him the boot.

Atlanta Falcons

Head coach Dan Quinn isn’t expected to go anywhere, but there have been rumors that both coordinators, OC Steve Sarkisian and DC Marquand Manuel, could pay the price for the team’s disappointing season.

Dec. 27: Or maybe not. ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported that the team’s rash of injuries on both sides of the ball could give the coordinators another shot next season.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers were on fire during a 6-2 start to the season, and then the wheels came off. Riverboat Ron’s team lost seven straight games headed into Week 17, fueling speculation that new owner David Tepper might use the occasion to find a new coach.

They fired a pair of defensive coaches in early December, and Rivera took over the defensive play calling duties.

Dec. 23: Head coach Ron Rivera is expected to keep his job for 2019, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Cincinnati Bengals

The reality is that Marvin Lewis is probably never leaving the Bengals until he wants to, no matter what the team’s record is. That doesn’t change the fact that there’s speculation about his future in Cincinnati as another losing season winds to a close.

Dec. 27: ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports that the Bengals’ injuries this season are likely to help give Lewis some cover. She expects him to be coaching there in 2019.

Cleveland Browns

Hue Jackson was fired in October. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams got bumped up to be the interim head coach, and Freddie Kitchens went from coaching the running backs to running the offense. It worked too, raising questions of whether or not the pair might stick around or if another team could snap up Kitchens for their head coaching job.

Dec. 27: One name that has popped up in connection with the Browns is Patriots OC Josh McDaniels.

Denver Broncos

Vance Joseph made a pretty good case for why the Broncos should fire him back in Week 9 when he made one of the worst coaching decisions of his short career (and there are a lot to choose from). But then the Broncos went on a three-game win streak and had the easiest path to an AFC Wild Card bid. That would have made it impossible for John Elway to fire him. Nope. Joseph’s Broncos went out and lost the next three, kicking them firmly out of postseason contention.

Dec. 17: It says a lot that someone let it be known that the Broncos almost hired Mike Shanahan a year ago.

Dec. 22: The Broncos had been one of the teams said to be interested in John Harbaugh should the Ravens fire him. That hope got shot down when the Ravens announced he’d be back.

Detroit Lions

Matt Patricia’s first year in Detroit has been disappointing enough to make people think that maybe Jim Caldwell wasn’t such a bad coach after all. But Patricia isn’t going anywhere. He’s only in his first season, and he and the general manager, Bob Quinn, are both former Belichickians.

But there could be changes among the coordinators, most likely offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, who predates Patricia and whose contract is up after this season.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers fired Mike McCarthy after an embarrassing home loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13. Joe Philbin took over as the interim coach. Whoever they end up hiring inherits a pretty good situation, one ripe for a quick turnaround in 2019. However, that person is going to have to do more for Aaron Rodgers than McCarthy did.

Dec. 3: Is Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in the mix? He could be, according to Yahoo’s Charles Robinson.

Dec. 24: Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was mentioned by MMQB’s Albert Breer as another possibility in Green Bay.

Dec. 26: The team got a pair of early interviews out of the way, sitting down with former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell.

Jacksonville Jaguars

No team disappointed more this season than the Jaguars, a play away from a Super Bowl bid last place in the AFC South. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. But really, is anyone surprised that this happened when the team decided to sign Blake Bortles to an extension? The team’s performance in 2017 likely bought head coach Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell another season, at least. Both are expected to keep their jobs for 2019, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

But there will be some coaching changes in Jacksonville. The team fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in November, so they’ll be in the market for a prodigious offensive mind (hopefully) to help turn things around ... hopefully a new quarterback too.

Miami Dolphins

Despite a 7-8 record through Week 16, head coach Adam Gase is expected to be spared. The team is expected to move on from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, giving Gase the chance to start over with a signal caller of his own choosing. Who that will be is another question entirely.

Dec. 26: Instead, the Dolphins will be making changes in the front office. Mike Tannebaum, the vice president of football operations, is expected to be fired, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

New York Jets

It’s hard to believe, four seasons later, that Todd Bowles won 10 games in his first year (2015) as the Jets head coach, thanks in part to a little bit of the old FitzMagic. Little did we know that the team’s choke job in a Week 17 loss with the playoffs on the line that season would set the tone for the rest of Bowles’ 24-39 tenure there. The opinion of the league’s most well-informed insiders is that Bowles is as good as gone as soon as the season ends.

It was reported on Saturday, Dec. 29, that Bowles will be fired right after the team’s Week 17 game on Sunday.

Dec. 24: There is apparently some concern among coaching candidates that the structure of the Jets’ leadership, i.e. with Mike Maccagnan staying around as GM, could scare off some potential replacements.

Dec. 24: Chris Johnson, the son of owner Woody Johnson, shot down rumors that the team was interested in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

Dec. 27: The team has interest in both Mike McCarthy and Jim Caldwell, according to Sports Illustrated, two former head coaches who have experience grooming young QBs, something the Jets value as they look to build around Sam Darnold.

Dec. 29: Maccagnan isn’t going anywhere, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dirk Koetter was hired in 2016 as part of an organizational overhaul to salvage a team that hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2007. It was the same year the team drafted quarterback Jamies Winston, expected to be another cornerstone of a contender. Now, both men could be working somewhere else in 2019. The Bucs are 19-28 under Koetter.

In another strange twist, all of Koetter’s assistant coaches have contracts that expire after this season. It makes it increasingly likely that Koetter will join them. He sounded reconciled to his fate during a Dec. 29 radio appearance.

Dec. 24: McCarthy’s name has been mentioned as a possibility in Tampa too.

Dec. 27: It’s not out of the question that Koetter might be back next season.

Mexico Fans Expected The Worst. Mexico Nearly Gave It To Them.

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/mexico-fans-expected-the-worst-mexico-nearly-gave-it-to-them/

Mexico Fans Expected The Worst. Mexico Nearly Gave It To Them.

WASHINGTON — Five years ago, the Mexican national soccer team needed a dramatic late goal from the United States to secure its place in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On Wednesday, El Tri once again found itself requiring help from someone else after a 3-0 thrashing from Sweden in the final group stage match of the 2018 World Cup.

And once again, Mexico got it. South Korea scored twice in stoppage time to win, 2-0, over defending World Cup champion Germany, sending Mexico into the tournament’s single-elimination knockout stage for the seventh consecutive time.

Mexico entered the match having won its first two group stage matches and needed only a draw to lock down its spot in the knockout rounds. The early wins, which included a defeat over Germany to open the World Cup, inspired Mexican striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernández to urge the nation’s snake-bitten fans to “imagine amazing things.”

Instead, the Mexico fans who gathered at Public Bar in Washington on Wednesday morning entered the match fearing Hernández and his teammates would find a way to blow it all ― no matter how celebratory the atmosphere was outside. 

DC bar where El Tri fans are gathering for the World Cup, 20 minutes before Mexico-Sweden kicks off. pic.twitter.com/05DWS8UB6d

— Travis Waldron (@Travis_Waldron) June 27, 2018

“You hope for the best but expect the worst,” said Hector Acevedo, a Mexican-American who was among the hundred or so El Tri fans in attendance, before the match. “That’s how it goes when you’re Mexican.”

That sort of World Cup fatalism ― encapsulated in the expression ya merito, frequently used by Mexico fans ― is not unique to El Tri, but the sense that Mexico is only “almost just” good enough permeates the side anyway, thanks to the devastating string of World Cup defeats it has suffered.

It was that sense of ya merito that Chicharito was trying to wish away with his calls for Mexico fans to believe; it was that sense of ya merito that returned immediately when Mexico took the field against Sweden and delivered its worst performance of the tournament ― exactly the sort of effort Acevedo and his fellow fans had feared.

El Tri was sloppy from the beginning. Defender Jesús Gallardo earned a deserved yellow guard just 13 seconds into the match ― the fastest in World Cup history. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa conceded a free kick just a minute later after handling the ball outside of his own penalty area. Mexico dominated possession over the match’s first half hour, but rarely threatened to score; the best chances went to Sweden, with Mexico’s first good opportunity a shot from midfielder Carlos Vela that curled just wide.

“This is fucking tense,” a green-clad El Tri fan said as the halftime whistle blew, with the match still scoreless.

It would only get worse from there.

Mexico opened the second half once again in control of the ball and the game’s pace. But it was Sweden that struck first ― and second, and third. The first goal came from Swedish defender Ludwig Augustinsson, who found himself alone on the back post and pushed a shot past Ochoa. The second followed 10 minutes later, after Mexico’s Héctor Moreno conceded a penalty. The third was an Edson Álvarez own goal, after a deflected shot squirted off his shin and past Ochoa in the 74th minute.

It was the disaster scenario Mexico fans had prepared themselves for but were not ready to deal with. A single German goal, against a team that had lost both of its World Cup matches and was among the tournament’s lower-ranked sides, would send El Tri home.

So all eyes turned away from the projection screen and toward the smaller ones showing Germany repeatedly batter South Korea’s keeper, Cho Hyun-woo. He saved a German shot in the 68th minute; a second later, German midfielder Toni Kroos blasted an open shot over the bar. Another chance in the 71st, another desperate save, this time on a dangerous cross, in the 78th. Now the minutes, which had already dragged by like hours earlier, felt like days.

In the 81st minute of Mexico’s match, the bar patrons broke out in chants of “Si se puede” as Vela ― to that point, El Tri’s player of the tournament ― stood over a free kick. He blasted it into the Swedish wall, and it was, in all likelihood, the last kick of their match any Mexico fan saw.

A minute later, the chants changed: “Co-RE-a,” the Mexico fans screamed, urging the world’s 57th-ranked team forward as two players barged out, alone, on a counter-attack against the top-ranked side. There were gasps of excitement when South Korea approached the goal; cries of desperation as every chance went awry.

JOHAN ORDONEZ via Getty Images

A football fan holds a flag of South Korea as thousands watch the World Cup match between Mexico and Sweden on a screen in Mexico City on June 27, 2018.

Finally, it came: a deflected shot fell to South Korea’s Kim Young-gwon, who lifted the ball past a diving Manuel Neuer and into the German net. Mexico was surely through now ― except that the assistant referee had raised his offside flag, voiding the goal. The Mexico fans swore and cursed and buried their heads in their hands … until the referee signaled that the call would go to video review. He came back a minute later, having correctly determined the Korean player was onside, and declared the goal good.

South Korea was on the brink of its biggest World Cup win since 2002, when it reached the semifinals of the tournament it hosted. Germany was minutes from becoming yet another defending champion to fail to advance past the group stage.

But it was Mexico’s fans who might have enjoyed the goal most.

Mexico fans when South Korea’s goal was given. pic.twitter.com/hImsTAFOt8

— Travis Waldron (@Travis_Waldron) June 27, 2018

It was a fitting end. Mexico was bad on Wednesday, but Germany has been worse since the tournament began. The right team is going through. And besides, for all those expecting the worst this morning, Mexico rarely delivers the heartbreak so soon.

El Tri entered this World Cup hoping to break its “curse of the fifth game,” praying for an end to its 32-year World Cup quarterfinal drought and its failure to ever play more than four matches at soccer’s biggest spectacle. There is still time for ya merito to return, and it may yet arrive on schedule: Mexico’s loss lines it up for a Round of 16 meeting with pre-tournament favorite Brazil.

“It was too tense. But we get to keep playing,” Rogelio Granguillhome, a Mexico City native who lives in Washington, said as he grabbed his chest and exhaled. “We have never played that fifth game. Costa Rica has, Colombia has, even the U.S. has. We haven’t.”

Thanks to South Korea, the dream of snapping the World Cup’s most ignominious of streaks is still alive. Mexico fans can “imagine amazing things” for a few more days. The worst hasn’t arrived quite yet.

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘1621685564716533’); // Edition specific fbq(‘init’, ‘1043018625788392’); // Partner Studio fbq(‘track’, “PageView”); fbq(‘track’, ‘ViewContent’, “content_name”:”Mexico Fans Expected The Worst. Mexico Nearly Gave It To Them.”,”content_category”:”us.hpmgspo” ); fbq(‘trackCustom’, ‘EntryPage’, “section_name”:”Sports”,”tags”:[“@health_depression”,”@health_ibs”,”@health_models”,”mexico”,”south-korea”,”sweden”,”2018-fifa-world-cup”],”team”:”us_enterprise_culture”,”ncid”:null,”environment”:”desktop”,”render_type”:”web” ); waitForGlobal(function() return HP.modules.Tracky; , function() /* TODO do we still want this? $(‘body’).on(‘click’, function(event) HP.modules.Tracky.reportClick(event, function(data) fbq(‘trackCustom’, “Click”, data); ); ); */ );