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to-a-merrier-world · 4 years

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TEDDY HI okay I think I'm late but I would love to hear about DC Spiderman, love and other ways to die (the jay one at the end), aaaaaand Zuko accidental baby acquisition!!

LYSS! hi! lol

ok, so, DC Spider-man is, essentially, what it says on the tin--an AU where the powers of the multiverse that be decide to stick a Peter Parker into a DC universe, and things go a little differently for him. He still gets bit when he’s 15 and his uncle still gets shot, but Ben doesn’t die--instead, he goes into a coma for a few months. During that time, Peter takes on his Spider-man persona to deal with his guilt (and the fact he doesn’t know if his uncle will die or not). Eventually, Ben recovers, but Peter continues to be Spider-man. Ben and May find out a year later, and while things are tense for a while, they eventually accept it and help him out (such as with his webshooters).

Anyways, the beginning of the fic partially follows some points of the “Justice League: War” movie. Peter ends up meeting Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern when they go crashing through New York fighting each other. At the time, Peter is 18 and a senior in high school. I also get a huge kick out of Bruce being younger than people expect, so he’s only 22. Here’s a lil excerpt I wrote:

“Spider-Man, don’t fight him,” the man in black growled.

He glanced back at him and saw he’d climbed back to his feet. He was holding a weird, glowing box that basically screamed ‘Danger, Will Robinson!’ But the man himself didn’t set Peter’s sense’s off.

He was in a get up similar to Superman’s, but in all black and with a mask that covered half his face. The mask had little points on top and he had an emblem on the front that looked like a…

Oh, Peter thought, eyes widening behind his mask.

The Batman.

Well, that saves me a trip to Jersey, he thought. And then—holy shit, the Batman knows about Spider-Man!!

and another, cause i think these are funny lol:

“Well?” Superman asked. His question was clearly addressed to Batman, but he was glaring daggers at Lantern.

Yeesh, Peter thought. If looks could kill… Wait. Superman has heat vision. His looks could actually kill! How does that even work, anyway? Does he just stare really hard, or is it like flipping a swi—Wait, stop, I need to pay attention, Batman’s talking.

“—antern and I chased it into the sewers. It exploded before we could find out anything, leaving this box behind. We deduced that both the creature and the box were likely of extraterrestrial origin. We agreed to reach out to you,” Batman gestured towards Superman, “to find out anything you knew, and tracked you here.”

“Because he’s an alien?” Peter asked, cocking his head.

“Uh, obviously?” Lantern replied. “Who else is going to know anything about aliens?”

Peter ignored him, carrying on with his line of thought.

“Is that, like, speciesism? Or racism towards aliens? Cause, I mean, I don’t know a lot about non-humans, but I feel like they probably don’t all know each other.”

Superman snorted, and when Peter looked, he was definitely suppressing a smile. Probably.

anyways, the fic is an elaborate excuse to force a friendship between Spider-Man and Batman (and Superman) and would basically follow them through the years (and possibly lead to romance between them? i hadn’t decided lol). Oh, and last 2 tidbits before i move on: Peter is trans, cause why the fuck not, and i was also seriously considering titling this “Spidey and the Bats” to only be read like the Elton John song “Bennie and the Jets”.

ok, on to the Ajin!Jason Todd AU

so, idk what you know abt ajin, so i’ll explain a bit. Ajin: Demi-Human is a manga/anime about Ajin, people who possess extreme regenerative abilities that trigger upon death or mortal injury, allowing them to completely recover from their wounds in a matter of seconds to such an exceptional extent that not only can missing limbs be restored, but Ajin can fully regenerate after being turned into literal meat patties. Additionally, Ajin can create "black ghosts", which are highly dangerous combat-oriented entities that are invisible to normal humans and only visible to other Ajin.

I tweak the idea, somewhat, because in this AU, the amount of time it takes you to come back can vary--especially the first time you regenerate. It gets faster the more times you do it, but it starts off slower. Jason is an Ajin, so when he dies by the Joker’s hand, he later regenerates--only, he does so much slower and more incomplete than other Ajin. His body is restored to how it was prior to dying, but somehow his mind got locked inside his black ghost. He ends up wandering around Crime Alley with his black ghost trailing him until another Ajin stumbles across him.

This new Ajin, Kay, realizes something’s wrong with Jason and tries to help by... “resetting” him aka killing him again. It ends up working, but it doesn’t exactly engender feelings of friendship between him and Jason. Kay is pretty weird, though, and doesn’t seem to mind Jason not trusting or liking him, and despite killing him like it was nothing, is actually a kind person. He’s also determined to explain Ajin to him and ensure the kid understands the potential danger he’s in (he’s very vague about it, though, cause Kay has Secrets lol).

Anyways, it turns into this whole superheroes (mostly the Bats) vs the government vs rogue Ajin, and Jason ends up thrown into the middle of it all. The beginning of the fic deals more with Jason and his family’s grief/guilt/trauma and Kay sorta just hangs out until shit starts hitting the fan and he’s forced to reveal some things about himself :3c

OKAY on to the last one, Zuko Accidental Baby Acquisition AU!

this one starts off write after Zuko Alone when Zuko is leaving that town where he met the little boy. He ends up coming across another town, but this one has been destroyed by the Fire Nation--it’s a literal battle ground. There are the bodies of Earth Kingdom soldiers and civilians left to rot in the sun with only the broken weapons and armor of Fire Nation soldiers to explain what happened here. Zuko is horrified and wants to leave, but he’s starving, so he has to go into the town to try to find something to eat.

The fires from the battle are still burning low when he starts searching the town, and eventually he hears the cry of a baby. he runs to investigate without thinking and comes across a woman with her eyes closed and so severely burned Zuko automatically assumes she’s dead. In her arms is a crying baby, red-faced and distressed, but otherwise looking unharmed. Zuko approaches and as he reaches for the baby, unsure what the hell he’s even doing, the woman opens her eyes. She can barely speak, but she asks Zuko to take her son--Kyo--and to bring him somewhere safe. Zuko agrees without thinking, wanting the woman to pass on with some amount of peace.

The woman dies and Zuko is now left with a baby. The story goes on with Zuko seriously struggling to care for a baby, not to mention his inner turmoil and the trauma of seeing that town and watching the woman die from burn wounds. Zuko, like in canon, follows Azula’s tracks, but because of Kyo he’s slower and ends up arriving just as Azula shoots Iroh. This time, while Zuko wants to say no to Katara’s offer of help, he’s stuck b/c he can’t care for Iroh AND Kyo, so he ends up accepting her help.

Which is also when the Gaang find out that Zuko, somehow, now has a baby. Katara also helps look the baby over, and it’s basically a really weird time for all parties. Eventually, the Gaang help Zuko, Iroh, and Kyo get settled in an abandoned house to recover, Aang insisting on leaving blankets and food behind (mostly for Kyo and Iroh’s benefit).

Anyways, the story goes on and Zuko, who had planned to just leave the baby at an orphanage in Ba Sing Se, ends up wanting to keep Kyo (he gets attached and feels responsible for him, and can’t just let him go). Things, obviously, go differently with a baby involved, and Zuko doesn’t end up betraying the Gaang/Iroh like he does in canon because of Kyo.

but yeah, that’s it lol, sorry this is so long, i got carried away

#i'm sorry this is way more than you likely expected alsdknf #wip #mine #ask #jason todd #ajin #peter parker #batman #spider-man #zuko #atla #lookforaspookynewangle

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kgstoryteller · 4 years

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LOVE in the time of corona-possible prologue for “killing justice: the taste of knives”

Either you learn to live with paradox and ambiguity or you’ll be six years old for the rest of your life.-Anne Lamott

At 5:55 pm, on 3/30/2020 I do hereby declare, under penalty of perjury, that I am a child of chaos, and that my true name is scared kel. Strike that. May the record reflect that for the past 56 years, since my adoption in the spring of 1964 at the age of eleven months, my true name has been scared kel.

Of course I was scared. I had just been kidnapped from the only home I’d ever known, and taken away by two strangers to their little yellow house in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. I cried, and cried, and cried, from dusk until dawn, but as the sun slowly began to rise, and I had not yet been returned home, I finally stopped crying. I would have to adapt to this strange new world, it seemed.

Paradoxical New First Name

These two strangers kept calling me by this strange new name I’d never heard before: “Kelly”. I resisted this name for the longest time, and kept calling myself Toddy instead. I would later learn that my oldest half-brother, who was born shortly after I was adopted, is named Todd. Go figure.

I would also later learn that my new name, Kelly, means “brave warrior.” But wait, that can’t be right. After all, my true name is Scared Kel. Put the two together, and it would seem that my complete true name must be Scared Brave Warrior. No wonder I was confused. No wonder I am a child of chaos.It seems that I have been wrestling with paradoxes and ambiguities like these my whole life.

Yet my adoptive parents were conservative Christians, and my mom in particular seemed especially concerned that I learn the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong. And it seemed that a lot of my childhood was spent doing what was evil and wrong, as what I heard mom say more often than anything else to me was “Your will must be broken young man.” In other words, her will must be good. My will must be evil. How else to explain the fact that I’d been given up twice in the first year of my life? I knew that because, at the age of three and a half, on a ferry boat ride to go get my baby sister, I’d asked my mom why we weren’t going to the hospital. She had gently replied, “Because we’re choosing to adopt your baby sister, just like we chose to adopt you from a foster home when you were eleven months old.” Being “chosen” was a double-edged sword, it seemed. I would have to be really, really good if I wanted to make sure that mom #3 wasn’t going to give up on me too.

We moved around a lot in the first few years after I was adopted. Three times during my first six years with them. Every time we’d move, mom would say “Look how much I’ve sacrificed for you.” If my will was evil., then all Mom’s sacrifices must be good. If I was a child of chaos, it was clear that mom’s world was a world of order. And that mom’s God was a God of order. Once again it seemed as if I was just going to have to adapt to this strange new world.

If my true name was Scared Kel, but my new name meant Brave Warrior, I would simply have to bury my chaotic true name, and adapt myself to my orderly new name.

Now as luck would have it, (and with our first of many visits to my mom’s Irish dad, my grampa Bob, and Norwegian mom, my gramma Myrtle, I would learn that my mom was half-Irish), my new mom and pops not only gave me a new first name, they were kind enough to anoint me with a new middle name as well.

Paradoxical New Middle Name

Now what sort of middle name might you expect a young conservative Christian couple to choose for their newly adopted son? Perhaps they would name me after one of the Gospel writers, and I would be Matthew, Mark, Luke or John? Maybe they would aim higher, and I would be Michael, named after the archangel? Going Old Testament was another possible option, as Joseph may have been the name they settled on. Had I been the one to choose a biblical character to be named after, I would have gone for Moses, the tragic hero who was adopted by Egyptian royalty.

Going for the obvious was never Mom and Pops’s style, however. In fact, I have a theory that my practical joker Pops chose both my names, and then convinced mom to go along for the ride. Since I never thought to ask, I grew up believing they’d named me Kelly because it was a good Irish name. Mom was half-Irish, after all. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I finally learned that my new name was inspired by them having adopted me from a foster home on Kelly Street. Go figure.

But Pops outdid himself by coming up with Darwin for my middle name. Who knows, maybe he was secretly preparing me for a lifetime of wrestling with paradoxes and ambiguities. God knows how many of their conservative Christian friends they had to patiently explain to that no, they had not abandoned their faith in a Creator God, but instead had chosen the name so that I would challenge Darwin’s theories. At least that’s why mom said they chose it. Pops’ said they chose it because he’d heard that Darwin had converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Even though that story has now been widely dismissed as an urban legend, I still like Pops’ reason for choosing the name better than mom’s. Mom’s was a world where you had to be a brave warrior in the battle for truth in order to survive. Pop’s was a world where even the most hardened materialist like Darwin could be redeemed in the end.

My way of living out this Darwinian paradox was three-fold. First, when I would later become an adopted American, I chose to add Einstein, but keep the Darwin. The cover story I told anyone who happened to ask was that was my way of honoring my parents. The real reason: I just thought the initials K-EDG sounded way cooler than KEG.

Second, rather than challenging Darwin’s theories, I chose instead to defend my namesake against the blatantly false charge that his worldview amounted to nothing more than “survival of the fittest.” Bullshit. That worldview belongs to Thomas Hobbes, a seventeenth century English philosopher. According to Hobbes, the state of nature is a "war of all against all," in which human beings constantly seek to destroy each other in an incessant pursuit for power. Life in the state of nature is "nasty, brutish and short."

The third way I chose to live out this Darwinian paradox was to adapt. For Darwin explicitly rejected the Hobbesian “survival of the fittest” when he declared that “It is not the most intellectual or the strongest species that survives, but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt to or adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”

Fear and Love in the Time of Corona

As the coronavirus races madly around the world, in seemingly unstoppable fashion, from the way the mainstream media and the political establishment are chronicling its assault, it would appear that Hobbes was right. For the coronavirus appears to be primarily laying waste to the weakest members of our species, to those whose advanced age or compromised immune systems make them especially susceptible to its deadly rampage.As someone who’s been forced to wrestle with paradoxes and ambiguities his entire life, however, I have learned from painful personal experience, time, and time, and time again, that things are rarely as they seem to be on the surface of things.

My personal paradoxes and adaptations

As a terrified little eleven month old, I learned that crying would not take me back home to my mommy.

One way I adapted was by becoming a scared brave warrior, so my new mommy would see what a brave warrior I was and love me for it.

Another way I adapted was that despite mom’s best efforts to raise me as an anti-Darwinian Christian fundamentalist, after leaving home at the age of seventeen, I adapted and eventually became the Darwinian Christian mystic that I am today.

How my healing journey has helped prepare me for the Time of Corona

One of the most frightening things about the current coronavirus pandemic is that it is forcing our human species to finally begin to humbly acknowledge that WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL.It is a lesson that I have been forced to learn, and re-learn, time and time again, over the course of the past fifty six years, ten months and eight days.

When I was torn away from my birthmother Adele after nine months spent blissfully swimming in her amniotic sea, I WAS NOT IN CONTROL.

When I was torn away from my foster mom Grace, after eleven months of being pushed up and down on swing sets by her and my First Nations/Native Canadian foster sister Diane, I WAS NOT IN CONTROL.

When I told my adoptive mom Pat, when I was sixteen years old, that I’d learned in my careers class that day that I’d be a great hotel manager, and she said that I didn’t need to go to college for that, I WAS NOT IN CONTROL.

When I had a near nervous breakdown in my first semester at Pepperdine Law School at the age of twenty one, after I’d blown my scholarship, and was so driven by despair that I ended up taking three or four sleeping pills a night to get an hour or two of sleep, I WAS NOT IN CONTROL.

When my beloved adoptive dad Pops, who’d saved my life four years earlier after my near nervous breakdown, suffered a traumatic brain injury from a near-fatal car crash and was left with the cognitive capacity of a twelve year old, when I was twenty five years old and halfway around the world in London at the start of the first semester of my last year of law school, and I couldn’t come home that whole semester because I’d taken two years off to recover from my first year from hell, and once you start you must finish law school in five years, I was left with the emotional capacity of a terrified six-year old, better known as scared kel, because I WAS NOT IN CONTROL.

When I trusted a friend of twenty years and he betrayed that trust, and the life I’d tried to create for myself out of the ashes of Pops’ traumatic brain injury for those same two decades came crashing to the ground when I was forty six years old, I was left once again with the emotional capacity of a terrified six year old, whose true name is scared kel, because I WAS NOT IN CONTROL

For the past ten years, five months, and fifteen days, I have been attempting to love and parent scared kel, my terrified six year old self, back to life.And for the last eleven days that Los Angeles has been under lockdown, I’ve been wrestling with the question of why this coronavirus crisis has been so triggering for me.

And then just a few short days ago, my performance poetry instructor Rachel Kann hosted an online poetry crawl in which she performed her poetic masterpiece “Kindness/The Murmuration of Starlings”, in which a single stanza left my weeping and gasping for breath: “Behind every protective wall of defensiveness is a frightened child fearing for their very life.”

And then the masks slipped away, and it became so clear that for all those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that can understand, and turn, and be healed (Matthew 13: 15b-16) that we hold this truth to be self -evident: we are now living in a world made up entirely of terrified six year olds.

The Time of Corona has Revealed a War for the Soul of Humanity

While the fear of God may be the beginning of wisdom, the love of God is the end of wisdom, and the spiritual journey is the journey from fear to love. The coronavirus pandemic has torn away the veneer of civilization to reveal that a war is now raging for the soul of humanity. This war however, is not the war that the mainstream media and the political establishment are trying so desperately to frame it as.

The war is between fear and love, between Hobbes and Darwin, and between chaos and order. But it is not about one defeating and destroying the other. It is about learning to live in the tension of opposites between fear and love, and between chaos and order. For as Solzhenitsyn wisely wrote: “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

While the mainstream media and political establishment are painting this war in Hobbesian terms, as a winner take all duel to the death between the forces of fear and chaos, that frame is far too small, and an illusion at that, the illusion of power and control.

For in one corner, we have the hypocritical legalists on the right. They are convinced that Trump and the forces of order and goodness must destroy the Deep State, which represents all that is chaotic and evil in our world. Yet the rules the hypocritical legalists insist we all must follow, so that order and goodness might triumph over chaos and evil, they are unable to fully follow themselves. For as Jesus reminds us, there is no one who is truly good but God alone.

In the other corner, we have the amoral rebels on the left. They are equally convinced that only the Deep State can defeat and destroy Trump and his followers, in order that chaos and freedom can finally emerge victorious over order and slavery. Yet the freedom the amoral rebels proclaim as the key to victory is simply a fear of order which is the mirror image of the hypocritical legalists’ fear of chaos.

In other words, both the hypocritical legalists on the right and the amoral rebels on the left are prisoners of fear. They simply cannot see the bars of their prison. As a result, both sides believe that their only option is to engage in a Hobbesian war of all against all. If Hobbes were right, then there would truly be no hope for our survival as a species. Nor, quite frankly, would we deserve to survive.

Spoiler alert: the war has already been won

However, the hope that sustains me, which I have seen embodied by my fellow deep souls time and time again throughout the course of my life, and time and time again over the past eleven days, is that even if two thirds or more of humanity have surrendered already, or will surrender at some point during the time of corona to the forces of fear, there will always be a remnant of deep souls, who will go to our graves knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that LOVE IS STRONGER THAN FEAR.

We are the Principled Rebels, my fellow terrified six year olds of planet earth, and this is the hope that sustains us: we shall never lose our humanity, no matter how much it may look like the forces of fear are going to strip it away from us.

For as I’ve been constantly reminding my own terrified six year old self for the past eleven days in the time of corona:

“Be still, and know, that you are loved.

Be still, and know, that you bring joy.

Be still, and don’t, abandon yourself.

Is the stillness, at the heart, of your chaos.”

So be of good cheer, my fellow terrified six year old principled rebels, for greater is the love that is in you, than the fear that is in the world. So please, please, please know that YOU ARE LOVED, please, please, please FEEL YOUR FEELINGS, and hopefully you won’t have to make all the mistakes I made by so often forgetting that I was loved, and by so often being too afraid to feel my feelings. For the hope that sustains me, and the hope that will enable us to survive as a species in this terrifying time of corona is that WE ARE ALL GOD’S BELOVED CHILDREN, and God does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.(2 Peter 3:9b)

#coronavirus #love #fear #charles darwin #thomas hobbes #memoir #order #chaos #resilience #adaptability #trump #deep state #hope #grace #trauma therapy #ptsd therapy

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gokinjeespot · 4 years

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off the rack #1298

Monday, January 27, 2020

It's the Year of the Rat man. I hope it's a happy one for you and yours. I had the pleasure of spending time with the newest member of the Jee Gang toting baby Ashton around while he took in the happy chaos at our Chinese New Year gathering yesterday. His wonder at the world makes it a happier place.

Conan Serpent War #4 - Jim Zub (writer) Ig Guara & Vanesa R. Del Rey (art) Frank D'Armata & Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This bizarre adventure teaming up Conan, Solomon Kane, Agnes and Moon Knight concludes with the demon Wyrm chopped up into fish food. This story won't matter to anyone other than fans of those four heroes but it sure was fun to read.

Batman #87 - James Tynion IV (writer) Guillem March (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I'm happy Catwoman and Cheshire are in this story. I love how Guillem March draws women. There are a lot of players in Gotham City right now so please pay attention as the mystery unfolds.

Once & Future #6 - Kieron Gillen (writer) Dan Mora (art) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). That's two fantasy stories that ends with the death of a serpent. Must be a common theme this week. One of the bad guys gets away and the story of Duncan and his Granny will continue. I don't know if I'll read the next arc since this one didn't conclude very well. I felt that Zombie King Arthur was defeated too easily.

Detective Comics #1019 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Scott Godlewski (art) David Baron (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). And so the winter solstice passes and the mystery of the Nordic cult ends. I'm glad this story about a creature from the nether regions was short.

Atlantis Attacks #1 - Greg Pak (writer) Ario Anindito (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). I picked this off the rack to read because I wanted to see what Namor was up to these days. He's back being the angry ruler of Atlantis pissed off at the air breathers. This time he's mad at all of the Agents of Atlas. That Jimmy Woo sure hangs out with the weirdest heroes of the Marvel U. If you're a fan of all those Agents you'll want to add this 5-issue mini to your subscriptions.

Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #2 - James Tynion IV (writer) Steve Epting & Javier Fernandez (art) Nick Filardi (colours) Travis Lanham (letters). Cool. It looks like Lex Luthor is going to be the one to save the world this time. I like who he's asking for help. I'll give you a hint: har.

The Amazing Spider-Man #38 - Nick Spencer (writer) Iban Coello (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Here's the latest twist to the life of Peter Parker: J. Jonah Jameson is helping Spider-Man now instead of vilifying the hero. Jonah is also working for a new media firm and the old fogey does not like what he sees. We're back to the Chameleon storyline where Peter and his spy sister Theresa are trying to get back all the S.H.I.E.L.D. tech that was stolen. All the dangling plot threads are starting to get annoying.

Superman #19 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado, Danny Miki, Julio Ferreira & Oclair Albert (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) AndWorld Design (letters). I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop after Superman's big secret identity reveal. All of his Earthly super villains haven't taken advantage of the news so let's head out into space shall we? This is where Mongul attacks the new United Planets. The Superman versus Mongul fights have been epic and this new one won't disappoint.

Fantastic Four #18 - Dan Slott (writer) Paco Medina, Francesco Manna & Carlos Magno (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Now I get the point of this "Point of Origin" story. When Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben launched all those years ago, the Overseer of the planet Spyre saw a threat to his perfect planet and shot cosmic rays at the ship to kill the FF. We know how that went off the rails. So now we have the Fantastic Four returning to Spyre and basically screwing up the whole planet like the Overseer foresaw. Hey, you don't mess with Destiny. I wonder why Reed is so pissed off in the next issue teaser.

Batman Superman #6 - Joshua Williamson (writer) David Marquez (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) John J. Hill (letters). Well that was a whole lot of yakkity-yak. This issue takes place before Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #1. Batman and Superman find Wonder Woman to tell her the bad news that Donna Troy has been infected by the Batman Who Laughs. Then they continue to try and find a cure for the infected. The issue ends with a surprise appearance of two super villains making the next issue a "must read" for me.

Marauders #6 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Matteo Lolli & Mario Del Pennino (art) Erick Arciniega & Federico Blee (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Kitty (call her Kate) saves the day but is sunk in the end. I've been ambivalent about reading this title of political intrigue and this issue made up my mind to bench this book. The subject matter is mature but the dialogue is juvenile so I'm outta here.

Kill Lock #2 - Livio Ramondelli (story & art) Tom B. Long (letters). The search for the key to disable the Kill Lock continues. I care about the plight of these four condemned droids.

The Old Guard: Force Multiplied #2 - Greg Rucka (writer) Leandro Fernandez (art) Daniela Miwa (colours) Jodi Wynne (letters). The team goes to rescue victims of human traffickers and get a surprise when they open the container. This book will blow you away.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 - Al Ewing (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Federico Blee (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Call him Racoon, Rocket Racoon. Rocket's gone from looking like road kill in the last story arc to quite the fashion plate in this new run. And his guns have gotten a lot smaller. The team is recovering from the Universal Church of Truth massacre but their respite is short lived. Zeus and his Greek gods have returned and they're all evil now. You can tell because they're dressed in black. Nova asks the Guardians for help but only Starlord, Rocket, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell/Captain Marvel join the fray. I like that Marvel Boy is back and when the mission goes FUBAR, a surprise ally makes an appearance. The art alone makes this worth picking up off the rack.

Basketful of Heads #4 - Joe Hill (writer) Leomacs (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Poor June, she keeps meeting up with bad men. You can't blame a girl for defending herself. Now there are two heads in the basket. Basket head number three just introduced himself. This is just too weirdly fun.

Ruins of Ravencroft: Dracula #1 - Frank Tieri (writer) Angel Unzueta (modern day art) Stefano Landini (flashback art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This is the last of the one-shots leading into the 5-issue Ravencroft mini. It's going to have lots of Marvel heroes and villains if this issue is any indication. In the first few pages alone we have Man Wolf, Misty Knight, Mr. Fantastic, the Falcon, Power Man and Iron fist and the Winter Soldier who introduces the flashback where Captain America fights with Dracula. When we return to the present, new inmates are being incarcerated into the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminal Insane. I could only identify Mr. Hyde but I didn't recognise the others. The consultant hired to work with these inmates was a surprise and may entice you to pick up Ravencroft #1 when it hits the racks on January 29. Imagine if the Joker were hired to work at Arkham Asylum.

Wonder Woman #750 - I read all 9 stories in this $9.99 US anniversary issue to see where Princess Diana was at right now. Nothing much has changed since I stopped reading her book regularly so I won't be picking up #751. I've read other comic books aimed at young female readers, the Unstoppable Wasp is a good example, but this one doesn't spark a renewed interest in me to follow Wonder Woman's adventures.

Birds of Prey 100-Page Giant #1 - Now this is more like it. There are 3 new stories and 3 reprints that I've not read before so it's a great value at $4.99 US. The core team of Batgirl, Black Canary and Huntress are joined by Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman, all fabulous females ready for action. Almost makes me want to see the Birds of Prey movie that hits theatres Friday, February 7.

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songsandquotes · 5 years

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Cute song lyric Instagram captions for couples.

My girl, Dylan Scott: “Man her eyes really drive me crazy. You should see her smile when she holds a baby. I can honestly say that she saved me. My girl.”

Beautiful crazy, Luke Combs: “Beautiful, crazy, she can’t help but amaze me the way that she dances, ain’t afraid to take chances and wears her heart on her sleeve. Yeah, she’s crazy but her crazy’s beautiful to me.”

Halo, Beyonce: “I found a way to let you win, but I never really had a doubt. Standing in the light of your halo, I got my angel now”

A thousand years, Christina Perri: “I have died, everyday, waiting for you. Darling don’t be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years, I’ll love you for a thousand more.”

All I want, Kodaline: “You took my soul and wiped it clean, our love was made for movie scenes.”

Close to me, Ellie Goulding ft. Diplo: “So don’t let me down, keep me in trouble. Born to be wild, out in the jungle.”

First aid kit, Maddie Poppie: “I know there’s a chance I’ll still get burn, I’ll take it all, I’ll take your worst”

Best Shot, Jimmie Allen: “There’s no doubt because of you I’m better then I was before you, I’m not saying that I’m perfect, Oh, God knows I’m not. But I’ll love you with everything I’ve got, I’ll give you my best shot.”

Guiding light, Mumford and sons: “Well I know I had it all on the line, but don’t just sit with folded hands and become blind. ‘Cause even when there is no star in sight, you’ll always be my only guiding light.”

Whatta man, Salt-N-Pepa: “I know that ain’t nobody perfect, I give props to those who deserve it, and believe me y'all, he’s worth it. So here’s to the future 'cause we got through the past, I finally found someone that can make me laugh.”

This love, Taylor Swift: “This love that’s a permanent mark, this love is glowing in the dark oh, These hands had to let it go free, And this love came back to me.”

I don’t care, Ed Sheeran ft. Justin Bieber: “Cause I don’t care when I’m with my baby. Yeah, all the bad things disappear, you’re making me feel like maybe I am somebody”

Speechless, Dan + Shay: “You already know that you’re my weakness, after all this time I’m just as nervous every time you walk into the room. I’m speechless”

Once in a life time, Londan Austin: “Don’t you know you stop the room? and all that I can see is you. I’m standing where the lightning strikes, I know this doesn’t happen twice, you must be my once in a lifetime”

Colors, Halsey: “You’re dripping like a saturated sunrise, you’re spilling like an overflowing sink. You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece. And now I’m tearing through the pages and the ink.”

Eyes on you, Chase Rice: “Don’t matter where we’ve been no, there ain’t no better view than you in my arms, with my eyes on you with my eyes on you”

I’ll love you always forever, Donna Lewis: “I love you always forever, near and far, closer together. Everywhere I will be with you, everything I will do for you”

Yours, Russell Dickerson: “The worst me is just a long gone memory, you put a new heartbeat inside of me. You make me better than I was before, thank God I’m yours”

Teenage dream, Katy Perry: “Before you met me, I was alright but things were kinda heavy. You brought me to life, now every February you’ll be my valentine, valentine.”

You are my sunshine, Jimmie Davis: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey, you’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away. ”

Mine, Bazzi: “Oh, I just had to let you know you’re fine, running circles 'round my mind. Even when it’s rainy all you ever do is shine, you on fire.”

I like me better, Lauv: “I like me better when I’m with you. I knew from the first time, I’d stay for a long time 'cause, I like me better when, I like me better when I’m with you.”

Sunflower, Post Malone: “ Then you're left in the dust, unless I stuck by ya. You're a sunflower, I think your love would be too much.”

I’m in love with you, Domo Wilson: “ Cause I dreamed of you, I prayed for you, I'm grateful for your presence, I do not understand but I felt like I'm in heaven. Because you, baby you, you are my heaven on earth.”

Turning page, Sleeping at last: “I've waited a hundred years, but I'd wait a million more for you. Nothing prepared me for what the privilege of being yours would do ”

Starlight, Taylor Swift: “The whole place was dressed to the nines, And we were dancing, just like we're made of starlight.”

Cross that line, Joshua Radin: “For you I'd break these walls, and I'd choose to fall, I'm gonna cross that line for you. The sun is down thought you'd be gone by now, didn't you?”

Love somebody, Maroon 5: “You're such a hard act for me to follow Love me today don't leave me tomorrow. But if I fall for you, I'll never recover, If I fall for you, I'll never be the same”

In case you didn’t know, Brett Young: “In case you didn't know, baby I'm crazy 'bout you, and I would be lying if I said that I could live this life without you. Even though I don't tell you all the time, you had my heart a long, long time ago.”

Call it what you want, Taylor Swift: “ ”

Bad Lair, Selena Gomez: “What could possibly happen next? Can we focus on the love? Paint my kiss across your chest, If you're the art, I'll be the brush.”

Power over me, Dermot Kennedy: “You've got that power over me, my my, everything I hold dear resides in those eyes. You've got that power over me, my my, the only one I know, the only one on my mind.”

Lose it, Kane Brown: “I don't think you know what you're doing to me, you got my heart skip-skipping a beat. You're not close enough so that space between you and me, let's lose it.”

Beautiful soul, Jesse McCartney: “You're the one I want to chase, you're the one I want to hold. I won't let another minute go to waste, I want you and your beautiful soul.”

All of me, John Legend: “ Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you, you're my end and my beginning, even when I lose I'm winning.”

Greatest love story, LANCO: “ ”

You make it easy, Jason Aldean: “You're my sunshine in the darkest days, my better half, my saving grace. You make me who I wanna be, you make it easy.”

Better place, Rachel Platten: “ It's a better place since you came along, since you came along. Your touch is sunlight through the trees, your kisses are the ocean breeze, everything's alright when you're with me”

Wanted, Hunter Hayes: “Cause I wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips, I wanna make you feel wanted. And I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever, and never let you forget it. Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted.”

Hard to love, Lee Brice: “I'm hard to love, hard to love, oh I don't make it easy, I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love, you say that you need me, I don't deserve it but I love that you love me.”

Happier, Marshmello ft. Bastille: “Then only for a minute I want to change my mind, 'Cause this just don't feel right to me. I want to raise your spirits, I want to see you smile.”

Rainbow, Kasey Musgraves: “You hold tight to your umbrella, darlin' I'm just tryin' to tell ya, that there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head. Oh tie up your bow, take off your coat and take a look around, Everything is alright now.”

Dibs, Kelsea Ballerini: “So baby I'll take whatever it is you've got to give. Yeah, I'll callin' dibs, on your lips, on your kiss, on your time, yeah, I'm callin' dibs, on your hand, on your heart, all mine.”

Fresh eyes, Andy Grammer: “So suddenly I'm in love with a stranger, I can't believe that she's mine, now all I see is you with fresh eyes, fresh eyes.”

Unconditionally, Katy Perry: “Come just as you are to me, don't need apologies, know that you are all worthy. I'll take your bad days with your good, walk through this storm I would. I'd do it all because I love you, I love you.”

Pretty brown eyes, Cody Simpson: “And I said, hey there pretty brown eyes, whatcha doing later tonight? Would you mind if I spent a minute with you?”

Kiss me slowly, Parachute: “Stay with me, baby stay with me, Tonight don't leave me alone. Walk with me, come and walk with me, to the edge of all we've ever known.”

Marry Me, Train: “Together can never be close enough for me, feel like I am close enough to you. You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you, and you're beautiful.”

No One, Alicia Keys: “You and me together, through the days and nights. I don't worry 'cause, everything's going to be alright. People keep talking they can say what they like, but all I know is everything's going to be alright.”

Like I'm Gonna Lose You, Meghan Trainor ft: John Legend: “No, we're not promised tomorrow, so I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you, and I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye. Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when we'll run out of time, So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you.”

God Gave Me You, Blake Shelton: “'Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs, God gave me you for the days of doubt, for when I think I've lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it's true, God gave me you.”

Stay a Little Longer, Brothers Osborne: “I tell myself I'm not in love But one more time is not enough, one last kiss and then you're a goner And I'm here wishing you could stay a little longer.”

Call it what you want, Taylor Swift: “All the jokers dressin' up as kings, they fade to nothing when I look at him. And I know I make the same mistakes every time, bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right, I did one thing right.“

Bless the Broken Road, Rascal Flatts: “Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars, pointing me on my way into your loving arms. Now, this much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road, that led me straight to you.”

Just the Way You Are, Bruno Mars: “When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change 'cause you're amazing just the way you are. and when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while 'cause you're amazing just the way you are.”

Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper: “If you're lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time.”

Perfect, Ed Sheeran: “When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath, but you heard it. Darling, you look perfect tonight.”

Fine by me, Andy Grammer: “I’m just saying it’s fine by me if you never leave. We can live like this forever, it’s fine by me.”

#these are cute songs #look them up #go through the lyrics #and pick ones you like!#song lyrics #goals #in love #ships #couples #lists #might add more later #playlists

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kansascityhappenings · 4 years

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Google unveils top searches of 2019

https://newsource-embed-prd.ns.cnn.com/videos/newsource-video-embed.js

NEW YORK — In 2019, people across the country turned to Google for all the answers. Now, Google has unveiled its 2019 Year In Search, a look at the top trending searches of the year.

From the viral sensation of Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road” to Billy Porter’s extravagant red carpet ensembles, the year’s most popular searches have been laid out for all to see, giving us a glimpse of what America really wants to know.

The list includes everything from news and entertainment to the classic, “What is…” query.

As a farewell to the 2010’s the search engine has also provided insights into trending searches across the decade.

Remember the “Pants on the Ground” song? Yeah, neither did we until we saw it on the list.

Below, we’ve laid out the top ten overall searches of the year to refresh your memory, as well as every category in Google’s Year In Search.

1. Disney Plus

The hottest streaming service of the year claimed the top spot in Google searches this year. The concept is by no means revolutionary, but its almost never-ending list of nostalgic and new titles appeals to many.

And don’t forget, Disney Plus gave us the give that keeps on giving — Baby Yoda from “The Mandalorian.”

2. Cameron Boyce

The sudden death of the 20-year-old actor Cameron Boyce struck a chord with many searchers this year.

Boyce was found unresponsive in his California home on July 6. An autopsy confirmed he died in his sleep after a seizure related to epilepsy.

He starred in the Disney Channel show “Jessie” from 2011 to 2015. He also appeared in “Mirrors,” “Eagle Eye” with Shia LaBeouf and “Grown Ups” with Adam Sandler, and in the Disney Channel’s “Descendants.”

3. Nipsey Hussle

Influential rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed in front of his clothing store May 31, sending waves of shock through the rap community.

The rapper had founded his own record label, All Money In, in 2010, according to IMDB. He had also worked with dozens of successful artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Drake, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Meek Mill and Young Thug.

4. Hurricane Dorian

It’s been a whirlwind year for extreme weather, and Hurricane Dorian was no exception. The storm slammed the Bahamas, United States and Canada in September, killing at least 30 people in the Bahamas.

Numerous cities up the coast declared states of emergency and issued mandatory evacuations as hurricane-force winds battered the coast. The storm left extensive damage in many places, especially the Bahamas.

5. Antonio Brown

The former NFL player was released from the New England Patriots following accusations by two women of sexual misconduct, including rape. Brown denies the allegations.

The Patriots were the third team to let go of Brown in 2019. Days after being released, he said on Twitter that he “will not be playing in the NFL anymore.”

6. Luke Perry

Former “Beverly Hills 90210” star Luke Perry died March 4 after suffering a massive stroke.

Perry was launched into fame as the wildly popular character Dylan McKay. He also had roles in the hit television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Riverdale,” and appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which premiered after his death.

7. ‘Avengers: Endgame’

The Disney and Marvel film shot past “Avatar” to become the highest-grossing film ever. The film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, made more than $2.789 billion worldwide by the end of July.

8. ‘Game of Thrones’

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” released its final season, sending fans into a downward spiral of unmet expectations and withdrawal. Many felt the storylines were rushed and sloppy, while others were just going through it without their beloved show.

9. iPhone 11

iPhone dropped their iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, outfitted with updated cameras and flashy new colors, leaving users to decide whether or not they would upgrade for the minor new features it offers.

10. Jussie Smollett

The “Empire” actor became embroiled in controversy after the actor reported a hate crime attack in January which investigators later concluded had been a false claim meant to boost his public profile.

The City of Chicago later filed a lawsuit against him, seeking to recover more than $130,000 to cover police overtime during the investigation.

That’s the end of our crash course on 2019’s top searches, but take a look at the rest of Google’s trending searches by category below.

News

1. Hurricane Dorian

2. Notre Dame Cathedral

3. Women’s World Cup

4. Area 51 raid

5. Copa America

6. El Paso shooting

7. Sri Lanka

8. Government shutdown

9. Equifax data breach settlement

10. California earthquake

People

1. Antonio Brown

2. Jussie Smollett

3. James Charles

4. Kevin Hart

5. R. Kelly

6. 21 Savage

7. Lori Loughlin

8. Jordyn Woods

9. Bryce Harper

10. Robert Kraft

Actors

1. Jussie Smollett

2. Kevin Hart

3. Lori Loughlin

4. Felicity Huffman

5. Keanu Reeves

6. Rami Malek

7. Joaquin Phoenix

8. Kate Beckinsale

9. Halle Bailey

10. Maisie Williams

Athletes

1. Antonio Brown

2. Bryce Harper

3. David Ortiz

4. Andrew Luck

5. Myles Garrett

6. Megan Rapinoe

7. Russell Westbrook

8. Zion Williamson

9. Melvin Gordon

10. Alex Morgan

Diets

1. Intermittent fasting diet

2. Dr. Sebi diet

3. Noom diet

4. 1200 calories diet

5. Keto ultra diet

6. Golo diet

7. Dubrow diet

8. Sirtfood diet

9. No carbs no sugar diet

10. Endomorph diet

Home Styles

1. Farmhouse style

2. Colonial house style

3. Cape Cod house style

4. Spanish style house

5. Art deco style

6. Japanese style house

7. Craftsman style home

8. Transitional style

9. Prairie style homes

10. Modern style homes

Outfit Ideas

1. EGirl outfit

2. Eboy outfit

3. Soft girl outfit

4. Biker shorts outfit

5. VSCO girl outfit

6. Dickies outfit

7. White jeans outfit

8. Fila outfit

9. Champion outfit

10. Leather pants outfit

Fashion Styles

1. Camp style

2. Egirl style

3. Eboy style

4. Steampunk style

5. Harajuku Style

6. Preppy style

7. Yankii style

8. Vintage style

9. VSCO girl style

10. Emo style

Recipes

1. Shepherds pie recipe

2. Chicken parmigiana recipe

3. Ham glaze recipe

4. Charoset recipe

5. Snickerdoodle cookies recipe

6. Chaffle recipe

7. Chicken cacciatore recipe

8. Popeyes chicken sandwich recipe

9. Tater tot casserole recipe

10. King cake recipe

Trip to…

1. Trip to Maldives

2. Trip to Japan

3. Trip to Bora Bora

4. Trip to Vegas

5. Trip to Mexico

6. Trip to Alaska

7. Trip to New Orleans

8. Trip to California

9. Trip to New York

10. Trip to Costa Rica

Movies

1. “Avengers Endgame”

2. “Captain Marvel”

3. “Joker”

4. “Toy Story 4”

5. “Lion King”

6. “It Chapter Two”

7. “Frozen 2”

8. “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood”

9. “Midsommar”

10. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”

Passing

1. Cameron Boyce

2. Nipsey Hussle

3. Luke Perry

4. Jeffrey Epstein

5. Tyler Skaggs

6. Beth Chapman

7. John Witherspoon

8. John Singleton

9. Eddie Money

10. Elijah Cummings

Weddings

1. Miranda Lambert wedding

2. Jennifer Lawrence wedding

3. Justin Bieber wedding

4. Miley Cyrus wedding

5. Chiquis Rivera wedding

6. Chris Pratt wedding

7. Joe Jonas wedding

8. Elvis Duran wedding

9. Zoë Kravitz wedding

10. Jake Paul Tana Mongeau wedding

Musicians and Bands

1. R. Kelly

2. 21 Savage

3. Billie Eilish

4. Lil Nas X

5. A$AP Rocky

6. Mötley Crüe

7. Lizzo

8. Gladys Knight

9. Tekashi 69

10. Joy Villa

Professional Sports Scores

1. Washington Nationals

2. Boston Bruins

3. St. Louis Cardinals

4. Dallas Cowboys

5. St. Louis Blues

6. Milwaukee Bucks

7. Chicago Bears

8. Minnesota Twins

9. Toronto Raptors

10. Tampa Bay Rays

Songs

1. “Old Town Road”

2. “7 Rings”

3. “Shallow”

4. “Sunflower”

5. “Truth Hurts”

6. “Lose You To Love Me”

7. “Sicko Mode”

8. “thank u, next”

9. “Act Up”

10. “Bury a Friend”

TV Shows

1. “Game of Thrones”

2. “Stranger Things”

3. “When They See Us”

4. “Chernobyl”

5. “The Mandalorian”

6. “The Umbrella Academy”

7. “Euphoria”

8. “Dead to Me”

9. “Surviving R. Kelly”

10. “The Boys”

People of the Red Carpet

1. Billy Porter red carpet

2. Cardi B red carpet

3. Lady Gaga red carpet

4. Amy Schumer husband red carpet

5. Jenny McCarthy red carpet

6. BTS Grammy red carpet

7. Caitlyn Jenner red carpet

8. Richard Madden Golden Globes red carpet

9. Brie Larson red carpet

10. Brienne of Tarth red carpet

What is…?

1. What is area 51

2. What is a vsco girl

3. What is momo

4. What is a boomer

5. What is quid pro quo

6. What is camp fashion

7. What is disney plus

8. What is bird box about

9. What is a mandalorian

10. What is brexit

Where is…?

1. Where is Sri Lanka

2. Where is the Super Bowl this year

3. Where is Area 51

4. Where is 21 Savage from

5. Where is the hurricane now

6. Where is Xur

7. Where is Clemson football team from

8. Where is Gonzaga University located

9. Where is Stranger Things filmed

10. Where is Pebble Beach Golf Course

Babies

1. Baby Yoda

2. Baby Shark

3. Royal baby

4. Kim Kardashian Kanye West baby

5. Cardi B baby

6. Trey Songz baby

7. Andy Cohen baby

8. Shawn Johnson baby

9. Amy Schumer baby

10. Hoda Kotb baby

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/12/google-unveils-top-searches-of-2019/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/12/google-unveils-top-searches-of-2019/

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gokinjeespot · 4 years

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off the rack #1311

Monday, September 28, 2020

Thanks to my buddy Doug I am able to catch up on these four DC titles.

Action Comics #1023 to #1025 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). We have chapters 2, 3 and 4 of "The House of Kent" story where Superman teams up with Conner Kent/Superboy, Jonathan Kent/Superboy and visiting from the 31st Century, Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes, to take down Metropolis's Invisible Mafia crime syndicate led by the new owner of The Daily Planet, Marisol Leone and the super villain The Red Cloud who is Daily Planet reporter Robinson Goode. Got all that? Need more? Then how about Kara/Supergirl joining the fray. Issue #1023 has Superman saving Jimmy Olsen from being killed by The Red Cloud and Lois Lane meeting Conner for the first time. Issue #1024 has Supergirl showing up to help and the Kent clan flush out the bad guys. Issue #1025 introduces the big bad that is going to kill the Kent clan. He's a Parasite from another Earth who was successful in killing the Superman of his Earth. I wish the art was better. John Romita Jr.'s work has lost a lot of appeal for me. As much as I enjoy the way Brian Michael Bendis writes I really am tired of his expositions and recaps. I get that it's great for new fans and makes it easier for them to jump on board a series but I just find all of it boring and repetitive. I'm also getting tired of stories where a super villain comes close to killing Superman like this new Parasite and The Red Cloud before him. It seems like DC only wants to do these types of Superman stories ever since Doomsday "killed" Superman in 1993. I'm at a point where I'm "been there, read that". I will continue to read this book as long as Doug keeps it on his sub list but even he is thinking of dropping it.

Batman #98 & #99 - James Tynion IV (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). In parts 4 and 5 of "Joker War" Batman recovers from Punchline's toxin with the help of Harley Quinn (IRL) and the dearly departed Alfred (in his mind's eye). The Joker's plan to kill as many citizens of Gotham City as possible nears its conclusion. Just like Superman versus the Invisible Mafia in Action Comics, Batman calls in reinforcements to help defeat Joker. Red Hood, Nightwing (getting a new costume), Signal (I still think this is a dumb super hero name), Orphan (ugh), Spoiler (meh), Red Robin, Batgirl, Harley Quinn (on the side of the angels now) and Batwoman answer the call of duty. I liked the argument that Batman has with Harley just before he goes to confront the Joker. The Joker's bat suit is a scream. Meanwhile, Catwoman, the Penguin and the Riddler team up to pull off a major heist. Lots going on and I can't wait to read Batman #100. Kudos to Jorge Jimenez for the fantastic art throughout both issues.

Superman #22 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Kevin Maguire (art) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). I missed reading this issue with the first batch of comic books that Doug loaned to me and I almost didn't read it except that it was the conclusion to the Superman versus Mongul fight and Kevin Maguire did the art. Yes, Superman wins again and Mongul is sent home with his tail between his legs. The interaction between Lois Lane and FBI Special Agent Chase back on Earth was much more interesting than the space brawl.

Superman #25 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Julio Ferreira & Danny Miki (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Introducing Synmar! Pretty sure he's going to be a bad guy what with "sin" in his name. Synmar or Eisno Alkor is the protector of his planet, also named Synmar. These aliens have been monitoring Superman's progress since he left his exploding home planet of Krypton as a baby. At the end of part 1 of "Mythological" it looks like Synmar has to do something because his planet perceives a threat from Superman even though Superman doesn't even know about the existence of the aliens. I hate these kinds of made up crises that pits Superman against another powerful alien. He just got through having a big fight with Mongul. If it wasn't for Clark reuniting with his high school crush Lana Lang this extra-sized anniversary issue would have been ho-hum.

Detective Comics #1027 - This $9.99 US, 144-page mega spectacular is the epic 1,000-issue anniversary of the Dark Knight. With 12 complete stories you do get your money's worth. The list of writers include: Peter J. Tomasi, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, James Tynion IV, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marv Wolfman, Grant Morrison, Tom King, Scott Snyder, Dan Jurgens and Mariko Tamaki. The artists are: Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy, David Marquez, Chip Zdarsky, Eduardo Risso, Riley Rossmo, John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson, Emanuela Lupacchino & Bill Sienkiewicz, Chris Burnham, Walt Simonson, Ivan Reis & Joe Prado, Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan, and Dan Mora. Colourists are: Nathan Fairbairn, Alejandro Sanchez, Chip Zdarsky, Eduardo Risso, Ivan Plascencia, Arif Prianto, Jordie Bellaire, Nathan Fairbairn, Laura Martin, Marcelo Maiolo, Hi-Fi and Tamra Bonvillain. Letterers are: Rob Leigh, Joshua Reed, Aditya Bidikar, Tom Napolitano, AndWorld Design, Troy Peteri, Carlos M. Mangual, Steve Wands, and John Workman. Sounds like an awards show acceptance speech.

The stellar line-up of creators did an excellent job of presenting a mix of emotional family stories and thoughtful mysteries needing some detective work by Batman and his allies to solve. There's a standout story about a GCPD rookie police officer and two stories tied into the current storylines in ongoing Batman and Detective Comics. If I could buy only one Bat book this month, this would be it for it's great art and stories.

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