Man, I am such a bad person. I have so many things I should do. Mostly fannish things. Like fanart I should draw, fanfic I should write (sooo much fanfic I must write.) Also my own stories and comics I should be doing. Youtube videos. I don't know where to start! So I'm working a little on whatever when I feel like it, but that's a big "when".

In the meantime, my roommate has emailed me back and she seems really nice! She was all enthused about college and getting to know me, and she says she's not a big party-er and she's a book nerd, so we should get along! Yay!

And then there's comics. I have tons to review:

I got last weeks Wednesday Comics and this weeks two days ago, so I'll review them both at the same time:

Batman: Definitely very pretty art, and definitely keeping some interest. I'm enjoying it so far.

Kamandi: Nice and old school, and the art is beautiful.

Superman: Cry moar, Big Blue. I rarely say this, but I agree with Batman. Get over it, stupid people are everywhere and earth is your adopted home, no one cares about your angst. Though I do appreciate the Ma Kent hugz. The art is definitely not my cup of tea.

Deadman: Oh, Boston. What more can I say? I'm enjoying it so far.

Green Lantern: Art continues to be very nice, story is okay.

Metamorpho: Two splash pages. The old comics at the bottom are amusing, (though the kids souless eyes creep me out) but I'd rather we get on with the story.

Teen Titans: Wow, well balanced and faintly self-deprecating Tim! It's been a long time. I actually like the art more as we go along. As for the story...we've got a cliched "hates-superheroes-because-their-fights-cause-so-much-damage" girl. I mean, it's a valid complaint but do they have to be so anvilicious about it? (Sorry for the TV tropes link, but I realized some might not know the term that is just a part of my vocabulary at this point) And who thinks it's good to bring this up when injured people need tending too? But hey, it's better than the current Titans stuff we're getting. And Tim's "I hate Wednesdays" gag is kind of amusing.

Adam Strange: Um, Zeta Beam. Right, that's good. Warrior girl in distress. Got it. I guess I should read Adam Strange or something, because I don't mesh with this.

Supergirl: Continues to be fun and adorable.

Metal Men: Okay. I have no idea why that security guard wanted to shoot at them though. Nice art, decent story.

Wonder Woman: Okay, sure it's very dense and complicated. But if you pay attention and reread, you can pretty much understand it, and it's very nice and mythic and faintly cracky. Garbage spirits? Who knows where that came from! And I appreciate Caldwell taking advantage of the size of the page to tell huge stories. Also how he takes advantage of the "wacky crazy myths abound" setting Diana does so well in. Though the "she wakes up, it's just a dream, back to sleep, OH WAIT NOT REALLY A DREAM GUYZ" is getting old, so I hope we get something different soon.

Sgt. Rock: Continues to get beat up. NO ONE CARES.

The Flash: Geez, Iris, when you married a superhero you should have realized he'd be off, you know, SAVING PEOPLE a lot and weird crap would happen. Don't be a whiner about it. Meanwhile, cute art, good taking advantage of space with the split format, and time travel ahoy!

The Demon and Catwoman: So wait, did this witch lady hire Selina for the job? Since when is Selina hired help? Or did she hypnotize her somehow? And now Catwoman is a cat, literally. 'Kay. Art's pretty.

Hawkman: Okay, Hawkman giving the thumbs up to that little girl was ADORABLE. But he killed more birds and apparently wants to take over the world, but this other guy wants to as well. So now they fight. DICK. Why did those birds think he was compassionate?

So far, this continues to be pretty cool.

5/5

Supergirl #43

Another quiet issue, with lots of nice moments. So looks like Lucy really was Superwoman, though I think Lois is jumping the gun with the funeral arranging. Kara writes to her father and tries to understand her mother, ending up joining the Science Guild to do just that. Like I said, lots of nice moments, especially between Alura and Kara, when Alura explains how she's trying to show Kara the different sides of all the Guilds, not punishing her, and Kara is all "and you didn't TELL me this why?" And I like how Kara clearly has an artistic interest. She's like me! I feel sorry for her, that she's not following her talent to it's fullest in her desperation to figure out Alura. And great Jamal Igle art as usual, with a very pretty Kryptonian gown.

5/5

Runaways #

Chase, you either killed someone or you made it up because your dad hit you. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Lots of Runaways complaining in this issue, but it didn't bother me too much, and I'm interested to see where it goes.

3/5

Legion of 3 Worlds #5

I KNEW DC BOARDS WAS EVIL. I KNEW IT. IT IS SUCH A PIT OF SUCK IT HAS ATTRACTED SUPERBOY PRIME. And does he have his powers or not? Because if he does, Earth Prime is screwed. Earth Prime is us, right? Man, we are screwed.

The Legion fights, Prime is mocked, Bart makes sure to mention Max again (I KNOW, Bart, I want him back too. NOW.) Bart and Kon get reunited with Titans! Cassie is like : D and Tim is like 0_o when this happens. By the way, this makes Tim's attitude even more inexcusable in Red Robin. His friends and ex-girlfriend are back. At this point he's lost no more than Dick has (parents, Bruce) so he can't complain "I'VE LOST EVERYTHHHHIIING!" And judging by recent events, he should just chillax and wait for Bruce to come walking through the door. Sure, Dick replaced him as Robin (which was OOC) but if he hadn't reacted with flaily rage he may have been able to salvage the situation. And the fact he complains he has no one to talk tooooo when he has an entire network of friends and support and his two BFF's recently back from the dead....WELL. I have no sympathy.

Oh yes, this issue. It was good. George Perez art and some decent jokes.

4/5

The Unwritten:

I just got this series, and it's fantastic. All metatextual and on the nature of stories and I just love that stuff. Lots of lit geek stuff and the HP references make me happy and eye- roll-y at the same time. I rec it. I'll talk a little more about it later.

5/5


I also bought from my comic shop Gail Simone's run on Action comics, which was entertaining and everyone from Superman to Lois and Jimmy was funny and awesome. Also a couple of 90's Superman issues Lois was awesome in. (One was right before the wedding where she went on a QUEST TO FIND HERSELF and bust up a drug racket and one during the honeymoon where she saves Clarks depowered ass from evil foriegn people with explosives, sleuthing and kung fu) Also a few 80's Teen Titan issues, which were good, of course.

Anyway, that's all my comic-y news! There's a sale at my lcs tomorrow that I'm going to, maybe I'll bring John. In the meantime, catcha later.

Okay, before we get into the comics I bought, let's talk about one I by all rights should have bought, but that I ended up not getting out of sheer disgust (and not wanting to waste money on a comic I wouldn't enjoy...) after reading at work.

Yes. Red Robin.

Okay, so I just skimmed the parts that weren't Steph-related. But the part I did read gave me a pretty good idea of the books tone, and it's one I'm very much not interested in. I'll just list my problems so we can all get on with our lives.

Tim is a complete ass. I mean, he kicks Steph in the stomach when she comes up to talk to him (and I'm really unclear to whether she was walking through the door to say hi and couldn't help but do it stealthily, because hey, Gotham vigilante- or if, as the art indicates, she was lurking in the corner. If the latter is it, what the hell? Did she get there before Tim did? Did she actively walk over to a corner so she lurk in the shadows for no reason and Tim just didn't notice this somehow? Did she borrow the JLA transporter and beam into that corner? What? WHAT? My head hurts)

And it's hard enough to make her want to barf, and he doesn't say "oops my bad" or even HELP HER UP when she asks. I don't care how upset Tim is, that is just rude.

But what really irks me is the continuity thing- Tim gets ragey ranty all over again about how he can't trust her to wear that costume and they already AGREED HE DIDN'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BE MAD OVER THAT IN GOTHAM GAZETTE. In fact, they had a perfectly amiable and in character parting where Tim wasn't a complete machismo filled jerk to Steph. I miss Fabian. This conflicts with that! It makes my head hurt.

But no, we're ignoring that and back to RAGEYTRUSTISSUES because THAT'S not getting old. And Tim continues to add to the creepy abusive trend by grabbing Steph's wrist when she tries to pat him on the shoulder, roughly enough that she winces and he doesn't let go for like, five lines of dialogue. Under Fabian, he just swatted her hand away, at least, no "look at me I can crush your wrist I so dominant".

And apparently another reason Steph can't be trusted is because...she said eveyone was worried about Tim and Tim guesses Dick asked her to track him down...and this makes her a lying bitch who can't be trusted. Because Dick was worried and so was she and they collaborated. Yeah! How dare you, Stephanie!

And despite the fact Steph is begging him to talk, he wishes he could talk to her, but he can't, because she's such a bitch! And he leaves. So emo.

Seriously, between Fabian and Yost, I guess the Bat Writers have a pact to dump abuse of Steph- whether physical or just lecturing her over what a lying hor she is. At least Fabian had the decency to give Steph a decent make-up with Tim- only to have Yost undo it. Brutally.

But I'm not really sad about Steph. It doesn't really affect her, though I consider it OOC she didn't yell at Tim to snap out of it- the whole scene made her look like some sort of whimpering pushover (I exaggerate, but allow me my rage)

Nah, it's Tim. He's been through a lot yes. (Though as Bart, Steph and Kon are now ALL back, he really hasn't lost any more than the rest of the Bat Family at this point) But I am really sick and tired of Tim being a grimdark raging mini-Batman. They've been doing it for OVER A YEAR and this was really it's apex- and I'm not interested in it anymore. It's made him unlikable, it's obscured all the qualities I enjoyed about the character. He's just gotten progressively darker and angrier and there's no sign of him stopping, and I am just BORED with it at this point. He's another generic angry "badass" character...and now he's treating his friends and family like crap. It's not Tim. It's not entertaining to me.

So I hope Steph and Tim don't get together again soon, until Tim snaps out of it (If that ever happens). All that happens when they get together these days is Tim yelling at her about what a untrustworthy screwup she is and Steph cringing and crying. Away from Tim is the best place for Steph to be right now. Hopefully Steph will have a fun role over in Batgirl and get to be her sunny self, along with being friends with Cass plzthx. Meanwhile, Angry!Tim can do whatever the hell he wants. I hope he gets better and likable again, but for now, I'm done with him.

Whew! Now that's over, I can talk about good comics! You know, other than Tim I'm pretty happy with DC these days. Assuming they don't mess the Batgirl thing up, I'm perfectly content to let Red Robin suck and enjoy all the other cool titles including...

Wednesday Comics #1:

This was pretty good, just like I expected. I enjoyed most of the features:

Batman: Big panels, nice art. I liked the dialogue between Batman and Gordon about how Gordon feels like he's failed when he turned on the Batsignal. And Batman's replying quip "I don't know how I should take that." Oh Bats! And I feel for Gordon, but seriously? You waited till 11:59 to call Batman and the guy is going to be murdered at MIDNIGHT? I don't think wounded pride is an excuse for that kind of crap. But nice cliffhanger!

Kamandi: is adorable. I'd date him if he were the last boy on earth! See what I did there? Very pretty art, old fashioned monologue, I've always like the scenario and setting behind Kamandi, so this is cool with me.

Superman: Thought this art was a little to dark for Superman, but that alien sure is wacky. Looks like Superman's going to bond with it over how allllooone he feels.

Deadman: I really like this one. Boston Brand is so kitschy and the art was pleasantly kitschy as well. Dead people solving murders are always fun.

Green Lantern: VERY pretty art, set in the late 50's, which is probably the area where Hal best works (New Frontier proved that) not much happening so far.

Metamorpho: Kitschy, 60's style, looks wacky and promising.

Teen Titans: Never been a huge fan of Cheeks art, but TT needs a dose of fun. Not much happening here, we'll see where it goes.

Strange Adventures: Okay. I found it pretty boring.

Supergirl: Adorable Amanda Conner art! Matrix costume! Super pets! Hopefully it won't all be one note gags about Krypto and Streaky destroying stuff, but lead to an interesting plot line. But it was certainly cute and awesome.

Metal Men: Not bad.

Wonder Woman: I actually found this one the most intriguing. A bit confusing, but Caldwell certainly took advantage of the space to put in lots of action and dialogue, and I dig the talking pigeons and Oracles. Definitely the most interesting start to a plotline, and Diana is very much an innocent about to go on an incredible journey.

Sgt Rock: He gets beat up a lot. Boooring. And the art ain't my cup of tea.

Flash: Barry and Iris are MARRIED and he STILL hasn't told her he's the Flash? Isn't that an important thing to tell someone before you take the vows? What a dick. And what a dimwit Iris must be if she doesn't know. Much as that annoys me, I like the gimmick of Iris having her own comic, and the art is cute. (Of course it is, it's Kershl)

The Demon and Catwoman: Oooh, this was cool. I loved the art. Yay Selina!

Hawkman: Somone should led Baker know "flap" is not a very dramatic word. In fact "And so we flap" being repeated so many times, so dramatically, made me giggle a whole lot. And Hawkman is making the hawks fly after them when the weaker ones are falling unconcious and SPLATTING on the EARTH? What a DICK. Filled with compassion, my ass.

5/5, very enjoyable.

Booster Gold/Blue Beetle:

The Booster Gold story was merely decent. How the hell did Starfire and Donna get killed by a grenade? Must have been a hell of a grenade. Nice to see the old school Titans though. Cyborg yelling his typical thing about his "decibels of white sound" and Booster actually being IMPRESSED made me giggle.

The BB backup however, was great. Norton's are really complements the title, I love Milagro's action figures and the quips are on as usual, and the plot has taken an intriguing turn.J aime forever!

Booster Gold 2.5/5, Blue Beetle: 4/5

New Krypton #5

This title is just consistently good. I loved the depth added to Zod, and I actually didn't see the ending coming. Also, more depth to one of the supporting characters, and Supeman being cuddly. And Pete Woods! Such a good title.

5/5

That be it for today! Hope you weren't to whiplashed by the NERDY FANGRRRL RAGE suddenly switching into NERDY FANGIRL LOOOOVE.

I shall review my comics in script form! Gotham Gazette in particular seems to be open to that.

( Tim is a sulky, sulky boy, Molly is adorable, and Wondy is a badass. Business as usual. )

So that's it! Overall, a good week. Did my graduation pictures today. I looked awful. But it's really coming up. June 11th! And my grandparents have already sent me a total of a grand. Soon I will be free of iron prison that is high school. But first I have to do my Alice Paul paper (We're supposed to do it on an influential woman. I wanted to do JK Rowling, but I figured that might not cut it. Seeing Iron Jaw Angels (which oddly enough, is appears to be completely accurate. Well, I doubt the masturbating in the bathtub with the lipstick on is, but other than that) made me decide to do Paul, because she's a badass.

Toodles!

HP is popping up everywhere. I've been spending way too much time on the backlog of HMS STFU reading badfic (and it's affecting my brain, I really need to stop, but I keep going back when I'm bored instead of doing something useful.) Then I see HP fanfic on my friendslist, then I go to Newsarama and see a clip from HBP!

www.newsarama.com/common/media/video/player.php

Poor Ron's a bit flanderized as usual (stealing Harry's food...though admittedly, he did do that in the first book while Harry was unconcious, so I guess that's not too much of a leap. But you know, they always make him out to be a goofball idiot in the movies more than he is in the books, poor guy, so I suppose my expectations are affecting my reading of the scene) and I always find it weird how Harry and Ron act a lot less close in the movies- but I'm very pleased to see this scene will be kept in, and it's hilarious . Especially Rupert/Ron getting really close to Dan/Harry and all lovestruck and Harry getting off the bed uncomfortably.

Though I did want to see flailylovepotion!Ron punch Harry for insulting Romilda like in the books. Mostly for Harry's WTF? reaction which would be priceless onscreen. But I'll have to settle for pillow throwing, it seems.

In other news, someone commented on my wiki that TD commented on the lack of Spoiler in BotC, (hopefully noyt offended I called Tony a liar as that was tongue in cheek)

Tony Daniel said in the comment section on his blog that Spoiler was originally suppose to be in Battle For The Cowl but editors took her out because they did not want to step on what Fabian was doing in Gotham Gazette. Tony says that he really likes Spoiler. You can find this in the comment section under Batman 688 cover. Tony's blog address in tonydaniel.blogspot.com.--

Once again, you ruin my life, Nicieza! Not really, I have no desire for Steph to be involved in that mess. You know it just would have been a silent cameo anyway, like with Cass.

*I go looking*

Because of the tie-in planning, I was asked to leave her out so someone else could use her. I'm not sure what happened after that. I like Spoiler. I was able to fill the void with Squire though.

Tony



Squire was a stand in for Spoiler! I KNEW IT! That explains Tim's weird comments about her. Replace one blonde for another, eh, Timmy?

Damn it, we could've seen Steph rescue Tim for once! (And get shoved aside by Damian, but win some, lose some) DAMN YOU NICIEZA! *shakes fists at sky*

Okay, maybe not that dramatic.

Switching gears at light speed, I feel like writing HP fanfic. I think I'll do some HBP missing moments after I finish rereading it, it's what I originally wanted to do when it first came out....

Well, we now know at least ONE of the titles Steph's appearing in...

( Those crazy kids! )

The Batgirl solicitation is missing for June. I don't know what this means. I hope it means, if they were planning to make Babs Batgirl, they thought better and decided to yank the title back and come up with a new plan (perhaps all because of my letter, while I'm dreaming. Mwahahaha!) Or that they're at least adding a Cass backup (a Cass and Steph backup??) But mostly that it means no Babsgirl.

Also, Sturges will be writing the Blue Beetle back up! And it's ten pages! Hurray!

Come June, I will definitely be getting Streets of Gotham and Detective Comics. Streets of Gotham, because it sounds neat, I like Dini, there will be (hopefully) Cass and Huntress, and I'm eager to learn more about Manhunter. I haven't been able to spare a dime for any of her trades, though I desperately want to, from the good stuff I hear. And because of that, I never got a chance to jump into the ongoing while it was around. Batwoman because it's Rucka, and the art is beautiful looking.

I'll flip through Red Robin and see if it's worth anything at the shop- from the descriptions, it's definitely Tim, and maybe he'll be written decently- I like the idea of him globetrotting to find Batman. And maybe Steph will show.

Judd Winick and Ed Benes on one book sounds like the failiest fail that ever failed, so even if I had been planning on getting that, I'm avoiding it like the plague now. Not interested in Batman and Robin.

I desperately WANTED to get Gotham Sirens, as I like all the characters,  but that cover turned me right off. I know a book with those three is bound to have some cheesecake, but Guilliem March needs to get it through his head those are antiheroines/villianesses, not stars in a very soft core porn shoot. I'm not buying a book with that type of art. No matter how good the writing is, having the titular characters showing me their asses instead of kicking ass, not to mention the barbie doll anatomy, will take me right out of the story.

The funny thing is I complained about it on Superdickery when I first saw the cover on the IGN video, they inundated me with good March art, and called me a crazy feminist and all that, and I was like "No, it's that idiotic cover and his idiotic Oracle covers I don't like" and they didn't seem to get it...until the cover came out in the solicits. Then it's all "Oh, I see your point, that's porn-tastic."

So those are my Bat-plans for June. Also, Sean McKeever is leaving TT. I hope whoever places him is decent. And keeps Cassie acting sane. But changes her costume, plzthnks. Though I'm not sure I'll keep buying TT. Ravager doesn't interest me enough to pay an extra dollar. Though I'll check it out.

First of all, I went crazy and made an insane amount of icons. It reminds me I need to download some new fonts for my computer, since I lost all the ones I'd collected for icon making when is crashed. But I haven't yet (I can't remember how, or where I got the fonts...) so apologies for low quality.

( icons! )


Yep, crazed.

Anyway, onto comics!

Booster Gold #18

Yawn, this title's getting pretty boring, I think I'm going to drop- what, a JAIME BACK UP! www.newsarama.com/comics/030912-Co-Features.html

HELLS YEAH I AM THERE! Awesome decision by DC. I love it. I hope they get Sturges to write it and Raf to draw it. (what is it with DC not announcing creative teams?) Oh yes, hurray Jaime! I'm only worried about all those stupid Jaime haters on 'Rama going to drop the book because of this. I hope this move is profitable for DC, and not the other way around. Because I need my Jaime.

Issue itself get a 2/5. But none of that matters anymore.

Battle for the Cowl #1

Meh. No Steph and very little Cass. It was decent. What confused me is how Dick is suddenly the "cutting his emotions off one". I thought that was Tim's job right now? Maybe since Daniel forgot that, he'll also forget Tim is mad at Steph, and he wont be a dick to her when she shows up! (If they interact). Nothing much happened. Todd is obviouslty the gun toting Batman, even if the summary hadn't said. Damien was way OOC, but since I don't like Damien anyway, I didn't care. Tim called Bruce his father, which was weird. Tim doesn't think of Bruce that way, and his real dad's only been dead a year. Bruce didn't raise him like he raised Dick.

But I'll keep getting this, because Steph and Cass will be in it. No matter how small the part, I follow those two wherever they go!

3/5

Action Comics #whatever

Man, this was a "meh" week. Nightwing and Flamebird are no one I care about. Barrows art is still hideous. Thus, I will not be following Action comics, Rucka or no.

2/5

But, the most important thing here? JAIME YAY! Also, I am doing Steph posts on the new s_d. Which allows a bajillion icons. So far I have thirty different ones. I find it hard to resist. I vow to make some Jaime icons too, to celebrate his Jaimeness.

So, it was a snow day today, and I've been reading Robin to mom, and being reminded of the happy fun times of the good ol' days. I also remembered boywonderiii and myself discussing that one of us should do a fic about the first time Tim took Steph to meet Jack and Dana, since they skipped over that in the comics.

In a good mood today, and I wanted to forget about the Steph and Leslie fic I started up on about her recovery in Africa, which, as you can imagine is pretty heavy and dramatic.

So, this is a very happy fic, with lots of Tim and Steph banter and kickbutt crimfighting action mixed in! I had fun writing it.

( Meet the Parents! )

Yup, tons of fun. Hope you enjoyed! Yay fluff!

Been reading Robin to my Mom lately, and it makes me a weird mix of happy and depressed. I'd forgotten how utterly adorable and likable I found Tim under Dixon. He's such a nerd! And he's always preoccupied with the latest teenage drama, and not angstangstangsting about every fifth person he knows dying. Granted, he's a dick about his secret identity, but that's just one of his lovable flaws almost.

But, onto modern comics.

Last issue of Blue Beetle came out! Much sadness. I did an review of the issue and a very long image packed overview on the awesomeness of the series at BSR: www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/4282

*sigh* It really is depressing that an awesome last issue had to be permeated by a really forced plotline and cliches the series always avoided. Also, ugly art. Barberi was good on Impulse, but he just plain doesn't fit here.

Wonder Woman #29

Now here's a title I can always count on. The only weirdness was Donna blaming Diana for Terry's death under Genocide's influence. How does that work? Genocide makes people think Diana is responsible for car accidents? Really odd.

Etta noooo! She'll be okay, she must! Really awesome scene between Wondy and Cheetah. Deflecting missles with Amazonian bracelets is always for the win. Steve showing up made me fangirl. Hi Steve!

Also, Zeus was well...Zeus. That is, a dick. He killed the hot god! Was probably jealous of his hotness. Diana has her work cut out for her. She has to restore Athena and the godly beefcake (at least, I hope she restores the godly beefcake) as well as defeat Genocide and the Olympian and rescue Etta and seek medical attention.

Love the "Son of Posiedon" splash.

Origins and Omens. Hmm, I wonder what Hippolyta's speech means. Is Diana using Tom? What's it he should beware? And when is it supposed to take place? I can't imagine Hippy going out from the Island and NOT helping her daughter. And isn't she supposed to be waiting for her Amazons or being threatened by Zeus or whatever?

The pregnant Amazon...well, there was a pregnancy also in Teen Titans O&O so I was worried about Cassie...but on second look Preggers Amazon appears to have either very short hair or none at all. So unless Cassie cuts her hair short or decides to wear it in a bun...pregnant silhouette in TT had long hair...

If not Cassie, I'm betting Alkyone due to the lack of hair. Would be interesting, considering how bad she wanted a kid. I HOPE it's that, and not Cassie. Please Gods above, not Cassie.

Anyway, solid issue nevertheless.

4/5

Teen Titans #68

Another decent issue. Cassie is supportive yet stern, Jaime is worried and supportive. I do wonder about Eddie's mental health, with what how quick he was to exchange an eternity of hellish slavery for three years of superheroing. I mean, just completely straightfoward this time! Who in their right mind would even consider the choice presented like that? Like Kid E said, what is WRONG with him?

Some funny lines, my particular fave being the super awkward hug.

For Ed Benes, Origins and Omens was surprisingly non-cheesecakey. One Cassie ass shot though, of course. The main part was again, decent (though I have no idea WHY they would even CONSIDER letting Bombshell on the team) but the last page has the pregnant silhouette that worries me and worse...Cassie kissing Jaime. Or possibly Black Beetle. What. the. hell. If it's Jaime, that's so many levels of wrong. IEven if it's not....I though Cassie was SUPPOSED to be getting better? I thought McKeever said he didn't want her defined by relationships? Is she going to mack EVERY GUY ON THE TEAM?

This had better be misleading! Or I'm dropping again!

3.5/5

S'all for now.

Woo! I just went to see Coraline. It was really good, just a good as the book. It stayed true to the spirit of the book but does it's own thing and it's spectacular. Like a kickass modern-day fairy tale.

I found a graphic novel of Coraline at Books a Million, and the art is super pretty so I wanted to get it, but I left it there and they moved it. I shall find it though!

In other news, I've been co-anchoring the school news and some random teacher cornered me in the hallway and told me my expressions on the news "look rude". Our school news is kind of crazy. The teleprompter will malfunction, I'm under hot lights and the co anchor who filled in for the day was Oliver, who is super annoying. He's constantly freaking out over everything not being perfect, and always plays music or Youtube videos really loud when we're working on the computers and has NO SOCIAL SKILLS AT ALL. I don't think he's malicious, but I cannot stand him. Anyway, he stole my line, and the camera stayed on me too long, so I looked all confused at him. Sometimes I look incredulous when my other co anchor (who is Jackie, she's nice) says something weird.

Apparently I'm not supposed to show any emotion at all. The teacher was all "I just wanted you to be aware of your expressions, one of my homeroom students thought you were rude." I think his homeroom students need to get a life, and clearly have been super sheltered. "Rude?" Are they cynical high school students or ARE THEY? I bet it was a freshman. This damn "Freshmen Experience" has ruined the Freshmen. They get this special "experience" or whatever so they think they're special and aren't ready for the real world. I'm glad I came a year before that started, otherwise I'd be ruined too. (Well, the Freshmen when I was a Sophomore were cool, because they knew the Experience thing was new and stupid. Freshmen year in high school is aBOUT being horribly confused and hating yourself. It toughens you up! You shouldn't have your hand held! It nearly drove me to suicide but I came out a better person! Now these kids will just have problems later in life, like being whiny little bitches who get offended at "rude people")

Where was I? Well, it was weird, since the teacher just cornered me. He was really nice about it (or pretending to be) saying he just thought I should know and I did a good job otherwise. But I think he was lying because he would NOT stop talking to me until I was like "Okay, I understand" (which led to us talking a long time, since I kept trying to defend myself and convey to him subtly his students were stupid little whiners). It was just WEIRD because I'd never MET him before and he just cornered me.

Anyway, we're switching off anchors on Monday, so it does not matter.

By the way, John did call me back the day after Valentines and was all "I can't have the stress of a girlfriend now and I just want to be friends, can we still be friends?" So that's that. He wants to hang out this weekend, so I'll call him tomorrow.

Anyway on to comic reviews

Robin #183

Meh. Shiva jobs to Tim. Somehow she doesn't check her food for poison despite being a master assassin. I'm surprised she managed to live past twenty. Also, I don't see her as a chocolate type, being super devoted to martial arts and all. I'd think she wouldn't eat sweets that much. Didn't she send Black Canary a special diet when she was training her? That forbade sweets? I imagine she's adhere to that diet herself as well, wouldn't you?

I'm really annoyed at Fabian for what he did to Steph because now she has like a dozen more haters on scans_daily and I have to defend her honor, but it's so HARD because what she did WAS stupid and horrible. (though no one seems to realize this is ALL BATMAN'S FAULT since he PUT her in that position she clearly wasn't suited for) I think Fabian's trying to win our war by making me stop loving Steph. Well IT WON'T WORK FABIAN OKAY I WILL ALWAYS LOVE STEPH YOU CANNOT CHANGE THAT YOU WILL NOT BREAK ME!

She better kick so much ass in Gotham Gazette, I swear to GOD. It had better be worth it!

Anyway, the moment with Jason was okay, and I like that Dick was nice enough to tell Tim they're gonna be okay. Awww. And I like that Steph snubbed Tim and kept her Spoiler costume out. She is clearly not going to listen to him. Fight the emo, Steph!

TotallyhardcoreminiBruce!Tim reaaaallly isn't doing it for me though.

I liked the backup though. Tim's mother being acknowledged! The Obea man bought to justice! Super excellent colors too! It was a neat little back up, and I like that Fabian chose Tim finally capturing his mothers killer as the cap to the series.

RIP Robin. Miss ya.

3/5

Birds of Prey #127

There is no meh "meh" enough to cover this issue. Just boring and contrived. Way to dump your charge on Huntress, Oracle! Super responsible! I don't blame Tony Bedard though. After all, there is no NON contrived way for Oracle to abandon the BoP.

The backup was worse and does not engender high hopes for the mini. As bluefall eloquently pointed out on s_d, NO version of Babs became Batgirl because she idolized Batman. She was always self made. And the emo about her wheelchair- GA! Stop beating us over the head with your inane plan to make Babs Batgirl again! It will never happen! *buries head deep in sand*

Also, Cass was supposed to be in this. Laaaaame.

Oh well, at least no one died.

1.5/5

Supergirl #38

Damn, this title is so awesome. We now know Superwoman is not a Kryptonian and the mystery deepens! Also, the Origins and Omens actually furthered the arc! Lana is sick! Intriguing! And awesome hints to the future. Only Origin and Omens look to the future that's really excited me. I wonder who Kara's kissing? And the dialogue and characterization were spot on as always with Sterling Gates.

And the art is great on the regular story AND backup! I will never stop adoring the fact Kara's wearing shorts.

5/5

Well, must run! But first, a Casstoon. Inspired by this little statue from the ami-comi line-

img24.imageshack.us/img24/5528/batgirlstatueyf8.jpg

Yeeeeahhh. As far as I can see, the purpose of the ami-comi line is to make superheroines look even more fetishy. I started thinking of what they would do to Spoiler. Her costume is just entirely practical and non fetishy (One of the reasons I love her), they wouldn't have anything to grab on to, not even like Cass's stitches! But I was sure they would find a way. And I doodled a bit and the idea took hold and turned into this little Casstoon making fun of stuff:

( C'mon Cass, they wouldn't do that to us! )

So I got done with the little Casstoon arc I did in response to Robin  #182.

( Behold! )

I'ma gonna post it on Scans_daily too, figure they'd appreciate it. Well, most of them.

So! That thing that I didn't like last post appears to have been miraculously taken care of! Frabulous day!

And comics this week weren't bad!

Reviews!

Wonder Woman #28

Man, this kicked so much ass. Aside from the random Tom stuff, I still don't fully understand it. There's a mystery about it though, and I think we'll get our explanation soon.

But who cares about Diana and Tom macking? What I care about is Diana, Donna and Cassie being a GLORIOUS TEAM OF AWESOME that LOVE EACH OTHER also. Hells yeah! It's about freaking time! Donna and Diana haven't been depicted as being close in...have they ever been? Not from what I've read. But in here, Donna is there for Diana and is all "Get the hell off of my sister!" when Diana is threatened. I LOVE it. And Cassie is a member of the team again, who is confident and wants to help.

Also they have matching armor. Sort of. Impractical wings aside (Gails said on s_d she doesn't like them either, but she came up with a use for them. I can't wait to see it) it looked really cool, especially on the splash page where it was revealed. Especially Donna's, which is all starry and pretty. And I really like the differentation. Diana is gold, Donna is silver, and Cassie is bronze. Not only does that go in order of their age and poweset (Diana's the first "age", Donna's the second "age" and Cassie's the third "age") Diana does tend to favor gold in her costume, while Donna does silver, and Cassie wears bronze. Also, Diana's the eagle, Donna's the hawk and Cassie's the dove. I wouldn't have known this if Gail hadn't told me, but at second look, the beaks of the birds are different. Oh, and Cassie's randomly bares her navel. Like bluefall said, I can only imagine she breaths through it, and that's why she always keeps it exposed.

I got distracted by the armor...there was also the creepy reveal of Genocide's eyes (making her silly spikey thing worth it) and Gorilla action. Also axe action. Diana/axe may be my OTP. And Cheetah was a badass.

Also, Zombie Jason and the Argonauts! What more do you need?

Can't wait for the next installment!

4.7/5

Teen Titans #67

A decent issue, if not a particularly exciting one. However, I wasn't scared off my renewed buying of the series, and Cassie is still a decent and confident person. I did a review on BSR fully exploring this: www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/3801

3/5

Blue Beetle #35

A step down from last issue in terms of quality (last issue being made of awesome). I can only imagine because Sturges is being forced to wrap up the series in a short time. Also, no Raf on art. Nooooo....

We did see Ted's notes on various villians, which were in his usual sarcastic manner. And apparently when dispensing advice of how sometimes your own personal needs can get in the way of your mission, he then apparently gave examples of all the times he'd had to bail Booster out, which Jaime believes are exaggerated. I can only imagine how hilarious these tales would be.

The weirdest thing about this issue is Jaime wondering if he'd be willing to purposefully march to his own death the protect people (he believes he would) when...he's kind of already put himself in that posistion. When he plugged himself in to the sattelite to keep the Reach from hurting anybody, he was willing to go foward with it even though he knew he would die. And not only that, when Booster came to the rescue, he actively tried to stay back to save the most horrible person he'd ever met. So why are you even wondering about this, Jaime, of course the answer is YES, you already DID it. Also he randomly wondered a few other things randomly, but nothing that didn't make sense as much as that little question.

Also, Jaime's secret identity was almost revealed (He tried to cover it up by doing the "Oops, I'm leaving...and two seconds later Blue Beetle arrives!" but no one bought it) until people saw him while he was still fighting the guys as Blue Beetle...so I can only assume that is some trick by Peacemaker or Hector or someone. Who knows.

Also, Nadia runs to fight people! I have a bad feeling she might be the one who "dies" next issue. Seriously, people, why does someone have to die? This is BLUE BEETLE, where senseless death does not happen. I'm only hoping the "die" thing is a metaphor or some random villian bites it.

3.5/5

In other news, I got my final Perez Wonder Woman trade in the mail and Robin: Violent Tendencies (the trade of Steph's return. I couldn't find it anywhere, of course, until I broke down and ordered it, then is magically appeared at my local Barnes and Noble).

What I learned from Wonder Woman is Hermes is a huge diva (All camera's trained on me! I'll give you money if you believe in me! Hey, don't turn that news off, they're talking about me!) and it is HILARIOUS. Oh, Greek Gods. 

Also, Julia has menopause. It's an issue not often tackled in comics (and by not often, I mean, I can think of no other instance EVER where it was reference seriously) so I applaud them for mentioning it, but I had to laugh when Diana said "Julia, I am sorry if I and Hermes made you angry" and Julia's all "No, it wasn't you. In a way it wasn't even Hermes. It was something that excacerbated an already tense situation. I suppose Amazons don't have to be worry about menopause." It was just not what I expected her to say at all. She led up to it really dramatically and everything. "The truth is, Diana, it was....menopause!"

And then Diana going "I've read about that!" Way to rub your everlasting youth in, Diana. And then Julia's response "So have I. But it really sucks having it. By the way, I think Hermes totally has a crush on you."

Diana: "Oh, he wouldn't do that."

Julia: "We are talking about the Greek Gods here, right?"

I addition, we got a nice little mini stories about the Amazons when Julia and Vanessa visited Themyscria. All of them were really neat, though they were all done by different artists considerably less skilled that Perez. (It was very odd, to go from Perez's extreme detail and generally believable anatomy to just...your average artist.)

I also liked Myndi better POST death, because her funeral revealed her backstory- she'd grown up in a very sexist and stifling family, who hated her for being more carefree and independent. Her mother worked herself to death cooking and cleaning, and her sister became 2.0 after she died as her father's favorite. She ratted out Myndi to her father about her wild sexual exploits, and Myndi was kicked out of the family. Myndi responded by becoming a successful and respected (if ruthless and tactless, as well as eventually drug addicted) PR Manager. She was close to her little brother, who was also kicked out of the family for being gay. Myndi was the only one who didn't care, and she encouraged her brother to come out. When he did and his bosses attempted to fire him, she sicced her lawyers on them and he was able to keep his job. She also used her influence to make her sister invite him to her wedding.

That alone makes her kinda awesome. I'm pleased and impressed at the title for commenting on the issue of gay rights. Considering people are still stupid about it today, they must have been even more stupid twenty years ago, so it took some gumption to include it.

Anyway, good trade.

I know Perez's work goes beyond these four books. Is there no trade collecting the stuff after this? Because I haven't seen one. I don't want to go scrounging in back issues...oh well.

I also reread the "Return of Steph" arc too. I forgot how...at home Dixon writing Tim felt. He was not grim and gritty! I miss Chuck. Say what you will, but he wouldn't have had Tim bitch at Steph and then release Jason. And he would have had Steph kick ten kinds of ass.

*sigh*

Oh well. S'all for now.

Many things have happened. I've (and by "I've" I mean Mom) figured out a shortcut to AB Tech. I have put off a monumental amount of homework. I've gotten a haircut, so my gold red locks are back to brushing my shoulders.

My rage over Robin #182 has abated to some degree. I still think it was a pretty bad issue. I didn't feel emotionally connected to any of the characters other than wanting to punch Tim in the face and punch Steph for not going after Tim and punching him in the face for me and also punch GeneralAnarky because he is really annoying. And the plot...well seemed to revolve around Tim being super...grim. Darn any logic that stood in the way, too! Which is not something I like for the character. Especially for his second to last issue, it should have really showcased all the awesome things about who Tim is and who Steph is, since when she's alive she's as much an integral part of the title as he is. Instead we got unbridled bitchiness and hypocrisy from Tim and tears and failure from Steph and kids getting blown up.

It's a matter of taste, I suppose. I didn't like it, because it's not the type of comic I enjoy historically. It's not the Tim I enjoy, or the Steph I enjoy. I don't care for the direction DC's taking Tim in, because the DCU has enough messed up dark characters. Tim started out being a unique Robin, a level headed yet positive little geek that was kind of full of himself. And he had a family, and a different persepective than everyone else. But they take away that family, make him all crazy and brooding, and all into manipulating people. Suddenly he's Batman 2.0. A retread.

And the main drama from this storyline depends on Steph and Bats doing something I consider OOC for both of them, as well as Nightwing and Alfred  randomly not noticing/ignoring how stressed and crazed Tim is getting (they comment on it and then...don't do anything about it. Especially Nightwing's "Hey Tim, you are real loopy, huh? Well gotsta motor, trouble in New York and hot babes to pick up!") and Cass is for some reason not in Gotham to help out. Everything is forced in to make the plot work. I don't enjoy drama I consider forced.

Also, Freddie Williams randomly changed Steph's sash and made it all white as well as her belt midcomic. Decide what you want the costume to look like, Freddie.

Nevertheless, I'm willing to see where Fabian takes Steph. Perhaps his direction for her will make her better somehow. I don't quite see how, but. Tim I can't see being really redeemed...but the poor boy's been screwed for years now.

Anyway, I'll give the issue a 2.7 or something. Oddly enough, I'm thinking of this dude who randomly posted on DC boards about fan reviews being so negative and the "ratings" they give only reinforce it.

Keep reading, man, you'll be as bitter as them all in a year. Of course, he was prolly just trying to suck up to Fabian.

I'm so cynical. Speaking of Fabian, here's his response to one of the questions I asked at the end of my charming rant:

>>So why did you think this direction for Steph WOULD please both her fans and detractors?


What do you mean by "THIS" direction? There is no direction yet. There is only the kick in the butt that gets her going there.

The status quo I am hoping to set up for Steph in Gazette is a little unlike anything she's had before and IMO far more in keeping with the kind of character she has been shown to be (pro and con, of which I think there's fair argument for both sides).

And if you think wrapping up a character arc that also sets her up with a new status quo is easy to do with a character who:
- got into the game to spoil her father's crimes
- fell in love with a boy wonder
-got pregnant
- had a kid,
-became a crimefighter
-then became Batman's partner
- got fired
- started a gang war in Gotham
- got tortured and killed
- lived in Africa for a year plus
-came home to have a slightly crazed Batman ask her to push Robin to the brink
- right before Batman died

AND to do it in 2 5-page chapters...

... well, I'd have to tell you you're wrong... but it sure is fun trying...

-- fabian

I have been SERVED. Okay, I get it, Fabian. Sorry I did not recognize your burden. (I find it funny that he's complaining about having to wrap up the last two items, when he's the one who wrote them) (Also, "slightly crazed", eh? He'd have have to been.) (And now I'm imagining a news headline "STEPHANIE BROWN KILLED! THEN LIVES IN AFRICA FOR A YEAR PLUS!")

Nah, I really did feel bad, but michealdark randomly apologized for me (he does that sometimes. I'd be annoyed, but I've known him too long, and Fabe responded)

As for taking offense to what Nev said, not in the slightest. Pro or con, I never take offense to someone's opinions about the material when its passionate and well-considered. I'm far too confident in my work in general, and with Robin in particular, to feel threatened by a contrary point of view.

Hear that? My material is passionate and well considered! Not at all like those nasty interview reviewers! *cough*

Aw, Fabe. I like you, even if your work does depress and infuriate me on occasion.

Where was I? Oh yes, nasty internet reviews!

Birds of Prey #126

Meh. Nothing special. Calculator does stuff, gets evil machine. Oracle's randomly in bandages again, even though she wasn't last issue. Well, there's Cass next ish! Hurray!

Oh wait, it's the last one. BOO!

2/5

Supergirl #37

Who would have thought Supergirl would be my best read of the week? Another solid issue, in art and writing. I especially loved Kara going up to the sun to greive and be in quiet. The Superwoman plot thickens!

4/5

Shit, I gotta do SOME homework today. I shall jet. Bye!

Those of you who read my s_d post know the depth of my anger. I wasn't going to bother Fabian about it, just seethe silently, since it's not like it would make any difference. But what the hell. The war is so back on.

***
Okay, I'm going to be honest here. I'm with jbramx2. I don't mind Tim being mad at Steph, them hating each other, whatever.

I do have a problem with him telling her what to do as if he's her boss. "Get out of my life" is fine, but telling her what she should do with HERS isn't.

You said you were going to try to take Steph in a direction both fans and h8terz would like. I don't really see that with this. What happened in this issue ticks off her fans and gives not-fans more reason to dislike her.

I wanted to wait for the arc to be finished before I judged it. It is. And this is what I think: I found Steph's actions to be out of character. She has a history of not following Bats orders when they make her uncomfortable, which these clearly did. Not to mention she employed the woman who helped create the situation that got HER fired as Robin, who she KNOWS is a murderer, to implement this plan. I can't see her doing that.

It is also out of character for Bats to give her such a task, after War Games. I posted a couple scans on s_d and I think someone put it rather humorously:

"Dear Spoiler: The last time you tried to follow my plans (involving deliberately starting a gang war, so don't tell anyone, least of all Robin) without me around, it caused a major disaster and nearly got you killed. That said, here are a new set of plans for you to follow (involving deliberately starting a gang war, so don't tell anyone, least of all Robin) without me around.
Yours, the Goddamn Batman"

I won't comment on the darkening of Tim. It dissapoints me, since I originally liked the character as a sweet, practical little geek, but it's been inevitable since Infinite Crisis. Sad, but inevitable.

Tim says he loves Steph this issue. You do not demean, threaten and insult people you love (neither do you manipulate them with master planz, but like I said, I don't support that either). What does he plan to do if he catches her in the Spoiler costume again? Beat her up? He's not her lord and master. No on gave her that costume, she made it herself.

My main problem is this is a rerun, and a step backward for Steph's charcterization. The "Steph screwed up and iz fired, also she haz cooties" has been done time and time again, increasingly ridiculous each time. I was hoping when DC bought her back, she'd be able to move past that. She'd have learned from her mistakes and matured, and would redeem herself to the Bat Family, and they'd at least reach some agreement. (I think that WAS the direction Dixon planned to take her in. The Robin/Spoiler Special made it seem that way). But it's always a step forward, ten steps back with her characterization.

Since you're writing her in Gotham Gazette, maybe this is some redemption thing. Maybe you plan to tear her down and build her back up. I certainly hope so. But you didn't need to. She was already torn down. She has been for years. Doing more of it just damages her character further.

As for the hypocrisy of Tim dissing Steph and then letting Jason off the hook...well, s_d put it better than I could, again:

***
s_d member :So in the same issue Tim decides that Steph isn't allowed to be a vigilante but busts Jason out of jail so that he can be?

...epic logic there, Timmers.

 in reply: But he never got anybody ki-

Well, he's better at following Batman's ord-

He's at least got less of a history of trying to kill Tim himse-

LOOK, HE DOESN'T HAVE ICKY GIRL COOTIES, OKAY?
***

I'm sorry to rant and to rag, and I know you did the best you could. But I'm a comic book fan, we're notoriously whiny.

I will be getting Gotham Gazette, and I certainly hope there's a bigger picture here, though I'm not sure I'll be completely happy even if there is. I'm glad you want to continue her story anyway, and hope you do it well, though this ish has made my optimism drop a bit, I'm sorry to say.
***

...I just realized I should have asked s_d peeps permission before quoting them. D'oh! I just couldn't express the ridiculousness myself!

It doesn't help that yesterday I took my  first college credit elective at AB Tech, and I was supposed to walk there from my high school. Well, I got lost on the campus. I kept asking for directions but got conflicting ones. It was to the point I was crying in frustration, yelling at myself "FUCK FUCK I AM SO STUPID I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" I finally got a ride to my building from a nice security guard. I was twenty mins late but the teacher said it was okay because it was the first day. She seems really cool, and the Psychology class will be fun. My feet hurt badly from running around in the wrong shoes (I was wearing brown loafer things with fake fur in 'em to keep my feet warm)

Well, after that, I was gonna call me dad to pick me up, but I couldn't find my new cell phone. I looked around frantically for it, even calling the security guard back to look for it in his car. I feared my parents wrath at me having lost it, even though I never wanted the damn thing in the first place. Fortunately, I just put it in an obscure side pocket

Then I couldn't find my Dad, he was in another parking lot, and there were a bazillion. When he found me I was nearly mad with frustration.

Then I got comics. And read Robin first.

I imagine I got far more pissed off than normal over it because of the rotten day.

Speaking of Psychology, I better go do the homework.

I got Hikieta today, and I'm glad. Reading the whole thing was a much better experience that reading it on scans_daily. Though Danielle's story didn't really move me on scans_daily, for some reason reading it in the trade almost made me cry .

(ALMOST. Okay, so I cry easily when it comes to sad movies/shows/stories. I cried during the second Aftershock ep of the Teen Titans for god's sake.)

Actually, let's make a list of comic related things that have made me cry to show how truly pathetic I am.

Teen Titans Cartoon: Aftershock Pt. 2
Teen Titans Cartoon: The End Pt.. 3
Gerts death in Runaways (oddly enough, the third time I read it. Probably because I was really sad already)
JLU: Solomon Grundy's death
That George Perez WW story about Nessie's friend who SPOILER ALERT killed herself.
War Games, those were tears of frustration and anger though. Purely. Not because the story was moving in anyway, but because I was just so WTF IS THE POINT GUYS??? The fact I banged my head against a table several times didn't help either. (Note this was the first time I read it, and I'd barely gotten into comics. I had no idea what the content would be, or what comics were capable of, so I was shocked. Also I was thirteen, and very naive.)

...Wow, I am pathetic. You know, I hated The Mist so much, because despite the fact it SUCKED the end made me cry really hard. And swear angrily. I was mortfied. I had to watch BTAS afterwards just to make myself feel better.

I also cry a lot in realy life I admit. They tend to be ANGRY tears, not wimpy tears though! Run away when I cry, odds are you've pissed me off and I'm about to beat the crap out of you.

...I'm not really helping the "women are emotional" stereotype am I?

I was talking about Wonder Woman, wasn't I?

Oh yes. So it was good. Batman is a dick. But we knew that. At least his dickishness made sense. His view on justice is black and white. Except for the supplication thing. That was almost unforgivably dickish. Way to disrespect your friend's culture, Bruce, you...you... culture disrespecter!

Poor Danielle. I would have killed those dudes too, were I in her posistion. Even without Furies. Seriously, yes. If someone did that to my cousin, not only would I have killed them, but I would have beaten the CRAP out of them first. It's not right, but it's what I'd do.


I ordered the trade online, because I got a 30 dollar Amazon gift card. I got it really cheap, so I was also able to buy the"Beauty and the Beasts" George Perez trade, as well as Mask of Phantasm and Subzero on DVD. I wanted to get Superman TAS but it was too expensive.

With my OTHER gift certificate, for my local comic shop, I got "Eye of the Gorgon" (I've read it from the library but I wanted to own it) and Robin #45. Which has the hilarity of Steph agreeing to quit being Spoiler after Tim tells her to the thousandth time and him being like "Oh...okay. That's...that's great. Really great." Then after hanging up the phone. "NOOO! I WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE HER ANYMORE! WHY DID SHE LISTEN TO ME, SHE NEVER DOES THAT!" Seriously. it was pretty much like that exactly. Since I'm missing a couple issues areound that time frame, I wouldn't be surprised if he called her and was like "Right, um, when I told you you shouldn't be Spoiler? I was really just kidding! Haha it was funny. Pleasecomeback, I miss you." Or else Steph got bored.

Oh Tim. Seriously, you are were hilarious. Go back to being happy and weird, please.

You may be able to tell I'm in a good mood. I am. I have taken my final and MATH IS OVER UNTIL COLLEGE! WOOHOO! NO MORE NUMBERS! NO MORE TUTORING SESSIONS! NO MORE SNIDE MR. ROSS! I AM FREEEE AS A BIRD!

Also, I think I did pretty good on the final too.Also Ross (one of the few nice things he's done) dropped out lowest quiz grade, which made mine for the second nine weeks jump from a C to a B. Yipee!

I'm more iffy about Art History, but I think it was decent. All my other finals are easy, so I'm free of study stress too. Frabulous day.


 

I realize in my best and worse Mcthing I forgot to include all the wonderful stuff that happened to me as a comic book fan! With links to pertinent posts!

Best


*I went to the Heroes Con, where I met Jann Jones, Dan Didio, Darwyn Cooke, Amanda Conner, Todd Dezago, Matthew Sturges annnnd Michell Poust, who did my lovely Steph commission.

* I got a lovely Steph commission.

(nevermore999.livejournal.com/17353.html#cutid1)

*And a less lovely, but okay one. And a cute chibi Tim sticker. nevermore999.livejournal.com/17760.html#cutid  

* Jann complimented me in her DC Nation column. (nevermore999.livejournal.com/22551.html )

*This blog took off, and I made a bunch of nifty internet friends. ( nevermore999.livejournal.com/14085.html )

*Looking at that post, I remember Gail Simone commented on a couple posts! That was so AWESOME.

*Also I got tagged several times on WFA. ( nevermore999.livejournal.com/tag/when+fangirls+attack )

*My Steph wiki expanded and is now ridiculously  comprehensive, despite the fact I had to do 99% of it all by my lonesome. That's the power of obsession, folks. And someone even added it as a source on Steph's actual wikipedia page! Without any prompting from me! So I did wikipedia a favor and kindly linked them back. (stephaniebrown.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page ) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Brown_(comics) )

* I got hired for Big Shiny Robot! ( nevermore999.livejournal.com/29332.html )

*I scored an interview with Fabian Nicieza! (nevermore999.livejournal.com/39539.html ) ( nevermore999.livejournal.com/43386.html )

Worst

Hardly any worsts, my comic fan existence has been super cool. But here's two, minor, minor things.

*Jann Jones never answered my letter. I'm worried she's mad at me for slying saying Adam Beechen sucks in my thank you note.

*Various internet arguments, whether at Comic Bloc, Superdickery or Scans_daily, have annoyed me. Oh, Internet.


Now that the year is totally in review...Reviews!

Teen Titans #66

It's a flipping miracle.

I enjoyed this issue of Teen Titans.

OH EM GEE.

Forced to pick it up because Spoiler is in it, I was pleased to see not only did nothing horrible happen to her, she got to be kind of  cool. First, of all, she sparred with Traci 13 and they became friends. Steph is awesome, and Traci is awesome and together they are almost too awesome for the world to handle. Which is why I want them to team up more. Now they have a precedent!

And the scene was neat in general, characterwise. Steph was nice enough to hold back on Traci, but once Traci says "Show me what you can do" she roundly kicks her ass...or bruises it, rather. A nice display of skill (and of course, as always, Steph goes for the face kick) even though, as said, Traci isn't an expert, relying more on magic and awesome than martial arts.

And Traci laughs and says nice one! And Steph helps her up all nice! Clearly, they like each other. This makes me happy. Steph must guest star in Blue- crap, I forgot...curse you cancellations! *sigh* My heart would stop if that happened anyway, from sheer joy, so maybe it's just as well.

And then Bombshell comes in and is all jerkish. She really annoys me, just another example of Teen Titans thinking DRAMA and CONFLICT is someone on the team being a jackass and others inexplicably putting up with it.

But I kinda loved Steph tensing up for the fight, ready to take on a girl with quantum skin. (She could win if she convinced Amy to depower, by calling her chicken a lot. And then, two seconds later, fight over) And then Misfit teleports in. Oh Misfit. I'm disappointed a little she didn't go all "Hey, saw your autopsy photos!" to Steph.

And I liked Wonder Girl being nice to Steph. Some read it as passive agressiveness, but I didn't see it. It was awkward, all right, but how could it not be? She seemes to really be trying.

In fact, I liked Wonder Girl in this issue a lot. It seems McKeever's sticking to this whole "the lasso made her a horrible person, now she's nice again" business.  And she's going to get to be leader! Oh, YJ flashbacks.

Tim bringing Steph along for "moral support"  for when he quits is weird. What KIND of moral support? This was partly why, when I looked back on Steph coming out of Tim's room and realized he was in his undies when Cassie came in, I was all "Wait. Did they have sex or something?"

But I doubt it. Tim is an eternal virgin. He just seems to like talking to his ex girlfriends in his underwear.

....

Okay, moving on. Jaime was cool this ish, despite his inexplicable not wanting Traci to join the team (probably he doesn't want her to die. I know, Jaime, I know). So was Kid Devil. And it is HILARIOUS no one wants to join the Titans. Because why would you? It's a death sentence!

Oh, and also hilarity in how Tim's quitting speech was essentially "This team sucks. A lot. So I'm quitting. Because...um, Batman's missing? You can handle it Cassie kthnxbye."

So....*drumroll*...I think I'll actually pick up this title again. Mostly to see how NewandImproved!Cassie does as leader. I'll drop it like a hot potato when/if it gets bad again tho.

Complaints though: Cassie's new costume is ludicrous. She's an Amazon without bracelets. Why? And how does she expect to deflect bullets and lasers and whathaveyou? And HOW does she move her arms with that metal thing? Come ON. Change costume now please.

The art in general sucked actually. Eddy Barrows cannot leave soon enough. His spines are made of silly putty, his anatomy is off, the girls lips look like they've been pumped with collagen and had glue like lipstick applied, and his boobs are all the same-perfectly round and moving as a seperate organism from the body. Also, the girls have a weird square pelvis thing going, especially apparent on Cassie in the old Titans picture. Oh, and all his clothes are impossibly tight. Not just the spandex, Cassie's outfit and Misfit's and Traci's too. AND, finally, the abdomens are impossibly concave and painful looking.

Yeah. Well.

4/5

Blue Beetle #34

AWESOME. As usual. I absolutely LOVE it. The Scarab's "Oops" and subsequent resuscitation, Jaime's one liners: ("Don't you guys ever stay dead?" "Not traditionally!"), attack of the immigrants, Brenda and Paco being awesome, Brenda being snarky, Jaime's family tackle hugging him and finally, an surprisingly nice resolution to the immigration issue, where Jaime finally gets to speak up and says he's not being dragged into the Border Patrol because he's supposed to be a hero for everyone, but he will follow the laws. And then, the most awesome afterthought "And all this? Caused by a rich white guy. Just sayin'." Oh, Jaime. MARRY ME.

Matt Sturges really has gotten his groove. I knew he would, he was nice to me at a comic convention!

They can't cancel this title. Whhhhyyy.

*cries*

5/5

Wonder Woman #27

A really enjoyable issue. Donna was awesomesauce, Genocide gets more threatening, Cassie was caring, and I LIKED Tom. Whoa.

Pretty art too. Excited for the next, as always.

4.5/5


Superman #683

Hi, Zatanna! Pretty art, but not much happening. Poor Kara, though. The punching page was pretty powerful. And nice fragment monologues from supporting heroes. (I could've done with one from Wondy, though).

3.5/5

Whew! Ending this post with a picture I did of Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Girl!

( I kinda like it, too. )
Also, did a review for a Marvel mini I really like, NYX, on BSR! It's written by a woman too! Yay, more women in comics!

www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/3308

It was long, but it is finished! And so I post it here, so people can see the whole thing in order w/o having to trawl through Superdickery. Shiva and Steph, the dynamic duo! I really enjoyed writing this.


( And we begin )

'bout time I got to reviews. Reviews, reviews, what the news!

The beginning of Christmas break may have made me unneccesarily hyper.

Since this is bound to be the longest, we'll start with...

DCU Holiday special!

After seeing the Huntress storyline on scans_daily, I knew I had to get this. And Oh my God, it was so worth it. It reminded me of why I love comics (something I desperately need these days) all the awesome characters.

The Huntress storyline was about Helena being socially aware and a good teacher and was drawn by Rafeal Albequerque, so naturally it was made of win. Sometimes it seemed a little after school special-y, but it was too well done to give it that overwhelming feeling it could have. I especially like that Hel pointed out how damaging the use of the word "retarded" is as an insult. I haven't used the word that way for years, and I reprimand people who use it that way. Same for "gay" as an insult, which generally means I'm reprimanding my fellow high school students ten times a day, but they'll thank me someday. Or not. Who cares?

A really cute Karl Kershel pin up with Kara playing Santa, then two stories featuring Aquaman and...super...Santa? That I found pretty "meh" so I won't comment on them. Then there was a rather beautifully illustrated short by Paul Dini to the tune of "Good King Wincelas". It was neat, because I played the song in my head while I looked at the art.

There was a story about no crime in Gotham during Xmas that was really sweet, even if it all turned out to be Oracle manipulating stuff.

And then there was Captain Boomerang and Tim both breaking into the balcony of "It's a Wonderful Life" (Apparently they can't bring themselves to watch the movie in civvies) cuz there dads like the movie and Nightwing delivering Tim a present. I totally love irony, and I totally love Nightwing and Robin's brotherly relationship. so I liked this, even if Owen didn't know his dad so it's innacurate. Maybe he's talking about his stepdad.

I liked the Blue Beetle one because it has Jaime being cute and nice (KAPOW!) and Ted saying "one punch!" even if the art made Jaime look fugly. I like heroic legacies.

Then there was the Teen Titans one, which I really REALLY liked, to my surprise. No, LOVED. First of all, the art was gorgeous (though it made Tim look hilariously emo) It reminded me of why I liked all these characters once (Well, I still like Jaime and Tim- despite the fact he's pretty batshit in his own book even right now...and of course Traci) Despite Tim's appearance (mostly in one panel he looked emo. Like, the style of clothes even) this story was like the anti emo.

Two characters started acting a little emo- Kid Devil (Jaime left him! All alone! How could you Jaime!) but in a funny way, then M'gann shows up to cheer him up (and it was completely adorable) and it turns out Jaime and Traci just abandoned him so they could buy him a ridiculous amount of video games for Christmas. (<3 Jaime and Traci. So much) Then Tim's all "The holdays remind me of all the people I've lost! Bart! (yay, he mentioned Bart. Bart is the new Steph in the DCU as far as being ignored by the ones supposedly mourning him) Conner! Dad! Ste-no, wait..."  Okay, he didn't say that last bit. But it wouldn't it have been hilarious if he did? Where was I...right, Tim just has to make the holidays depressing, and he's telling this to Cassie, who was just as close the Bart and Conner as he was, THANKS FOR REMINDING HER TIM. But then Tim's all like "Actually I'm grateful I'm still alive and able to do good, so I can like, honor their memories. That's really how the holidays make me feel."

Which IS SO ADORABLE. Cassie then hugs him, like I totally would.

Cassie is awesome in this by the way. She's all comforting to Tim, she digs apple sider, and she backhands a crook casually, going "Oh, SORRY, did that HURT?" I'm hoping this is a good sign, that her redemption will stick.

And the funny part is how Tim and Cass are all "Our team really sucks right now, doesn't it? "Yes it sure does." "Well, we seem to be sucking less right now." The story ends on a happy note, with Cassie and Tim more convinced the team will evolve into something better.

Teen Titans should be like this! This guy, Rex Cole, he should write Teen Titans.

Then we have a super cute and funny JLA story penciled by Kevin Maguire. It's great.

Then a Dr, Light (Kimiyo) story, which is really cool, with more amazingly beautiful art. I've always liked Kimiyo and she did a good show in this story. I especially like her explanation with taking on Dr. Light's name, that she wants to redeem it and show people that light can be beautiful.

Lovely, lovely special. So many warm fuzzies.

6/5!

Robin #181:

A good issue. Spoiler had a pretty good show, so I am pleased.

A couple things I'm annoyed with: Dick just leaving Tim all alone to handle a beserk Gotham WHILE HE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED. Way to go, Dick. I know there's like, Two Face in New York, but this is your little brother, who is clearly going batshit insane with stress (WE HAVE TO MANIPULATE THEM DICK ZOMG!!!) and has the WHOLE BACK OF HIS HEAD BURNT UP (seriously, Tim needs surgery or something. How will his hair grow back? At least the sideburns are gone. I'm no doctor, but burns like that don't magically heal on their own. Skin grafts, Tim. Lots of them.) IRRESPONSIBLE.

Of course, there's the logical argument Cass should be able to help, but she's busy getting harrassed by Dick. Maybe that's where he sped off to in such a hurry. "Look, I'd really love to help, Tim, but I have to go harrass Cassandra."

"Oh, okay. Tell her Steph said hi!"

Anyway, it feels like Steph's somewhat redeemed from the whole deception thing by this issue, since she further enforces it's Batman's crazy idea, and says she'll make it right. And then kicks people in the face. Steph kicking people always make me a happy clam.

And The General annoys the heck out of me. He's imitating Anarky AND Red Robin! Get a life! Fortunately, I think he's supposed to sort of suck. Still, I wanna kill him SLOWLY.

And now Tim get's his dramatic batlike showdown...wearing the Red Robin cowl. Fortunately, Fabian says the fashion choice is temporary. I HOPE it is.

4/5

Supergirl #36

Another good issue. I absolutely adore the cover. And Ingle's art in the interior.

Alura is a horrible person, but that's probably Kryptonite poisoning, and it's good conflict. Kara is a good person, and makes friends with the new Superwoman. What a twist! A good one, too.

4.5/5

Birds of Prey #125

No, Babs. Noooonoononononono...do not de-wheelchair and be Batgirl again. Do not! Bad Babs! Also, you didn't defeat the Joker because you forgot to turn on the security system, not because you're in a wheelchair.

Some nice Dinah and Babs interaction, and McDaniel's art is an improvement over O' Hares. The story was neat.

And I like the acknowledgement of how Babs has gotten sloppy lately, and at least some starting attempt to explain it.

3.5/5

Terra #4

<3 Amanda Conner. Lovely, cute art. The story...well, I kind of like the blood of the Astrogod myth. It's neat. The WIRness only gets worse, though it appears they are going to try to bring whatsername back to life...if cloning counts as back to life. But are they seriously going to erase Geoforce's memory of his time underground? WHY? I'll just pretend the panel never happened.

And I thought the interaction between PG and Terra was cute, if somewhat forced at times.


And I think it's always great to have a postive new heroine with a cool look, so glad I got the mini.

3.5/5

*Whew!* That's all!

My interview with Nicieza at BSR! is up!

www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/3091

I asked questions about "Created Equal" that y'all (My Carolinaness slips out!) might be interested in.

His answers. Well. Um. He sort of says the whole focusing on two men in a story supposedly about women wasn't his intention, but...he seriously thinks if women rules the world it would be a paradise with no war? Has he ever MET a woman? I don't mean to sound nasty since I'm very grateful he agreed to interview and gave such lovely answers to the questions, and I'm essentially talking behind his back BUT. Testosterone makes humans more agressive, this is true. This doesn't mean women aren't violent or angry. I myself am capable of GREAT anger. And violence. We're not perfect little pixies who live in eternal harmony. I honestly think saying that is almost as damaging as saying women are inferior. We're all human after all.

Fabian should really read Y:The Last Man.

Also:

I also think Clark and Lois being married, though as logical story a story progression in its own way as the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane was, hasn’t worked for either Clark or Lois as characters (just like it made things harder for Spider-Man writers).

I think the character loses more than he gains by being married. We’re actually bringing that up as a story element of Trinity in the upcoming issues, just from the standpoint of “metacommentary,” not that we’re changing the status quo or anything.

Let's just say I disagree. Mairrage doesn't close any doors to a character. If you're a good writer, it opens them.

Also also:

BSR!: On the DC message boards, back when the fanbase was not aware Robin was ending, you acted like you would be on the book a while, hinting at things like wanting to fit in a Batgirl and Spoiler reunion. Was that just to throw us off the scent because you were told to keep the cancellation confidential, or is there more for Tim to do post Battle for the Cowl?

FN: Yes and no. The truth is the final issue was coming, but which issue would be was not yet set in stone. There were discussions that varied from ending it with #182 and the conclusion of Search for a Hero or as high as #185 or #186. Within THAT context, I would have had a Batgirl/Spoiler meeting. As it stands, that didn’t work out, though I will continue to develop Spoiler’s story in Gotham Gazette a series of two one-shot issues that comes out during “Battle for the Cowl.

DAMN YOU DC! If you'd kept Robin going a little longer, I could have had my reunion!


Anyway, school out, hooray! I'm going to do reviews tomorrow. They might be pretty long, especially the one for the holiday special, because I absolutely LOVED it.

Edit: Since I really did feel like I was talking behind Fabian's back, I included these comments in my email sending the link, only nicer. Behold:


A few comments on you answers, mostly because, as you might have noticed, I just can't keep my yap shut. Or my fingers from typing, in this case.

...I really can't keep my mouth shut. If I wasn't me, I'd hate me.

I did include this though: