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denimbex1986 · 9 months

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'Cillian Murphy just might be the definition of magnetic on-screen. He can pull the viewer in with his intensity, vulnerability, or good old-fashioned charm, whatever best fits the role he’s playing. Whether he's an apocalypse-surviving reluctant hero or a quietly intimidating comic book villain, a brave rebel leader or a troubled soldier, Murphy can captivates with his performance.

Born in Cork, Ireland, Murphy got his start in theater in his hometown, and had his first professional acting role in the play, Disco Pigs. He later starred in the film adaptation of Disco Pigs, just before his breakout role in the zombie horror film, 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle. As would become a trend with Murphy, once he found a collaborator, he would often reteam with them: He once again worked with Boyle on the sci-fi thriller Sunshine.

Perhaps no director has been a bigger fan of Murphy than Christopher Nolan has been. The filmmaker first cast the actor in Batman Begins, a role that Murphy reprised briefly in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. They worked together again for Inception and Dunkirk.

Now, Murphy stars in the filmmaker's historical thriller, Oppenheimer, in theaters July 21. In an impressive ensemble cast that includes Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Florence Pugh, Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist and "father of the atomic bomb," whose work on the Manhattan Project during World War II led to the invention of the first nuclear weapons.

With this highly anticipated film coming out, below, A.frame takes a look back at 10 essential films in Murphy's body of work.

1. Disco Pigs 2001

Murphy already had several films under his belt by the time he starred in Disco Pigs, a romantic crime drama based on the play of the same name — which Murphy also starred in. Here, he plays Pig, a youth in his late teens who has shared an intense friendship with Runt (Elaine Cassidy) his entire life. On the precipice of their 17th birthday (they were born on the same day in the same hospital), Pig develops feelings for Runt just as she’s starting to be interested in another boy. The intensity of Pig and Runt’s relationship worries their parents, and Runt is sent to a boarding school. Pig does not take this well, resulting in a tragic outcome for both of them. Disco Pigs gave audiences a glimpse of the intensity Murphy could bring to a role, and that he had the makings of a star.

2. 28 Days Later 2002

28 Days Later is not only the movie that gave mindless zombies (or infected technically) terrifying speed, it’s the movie that put Murphy on the map. Oscar winner Danny Boyle’s horror thriller stars Murphy as Jim, a man who wakes up from a coma to find that the U.K. has been destroyed after the "rage" virus swept through the country. Alone at first, he meets other survivors, played by Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, and Oscar nominee Brendan Gleeson, and the group struggles to survive the hordes of the infected monsters that remain. Murphy was a total standout in the small but stacked cast, easily establishing himself as a star.

3. Batman Begins 2005

Murphy entered his villain era when he was cast as a Batman supervillain in Nolan's first Batman film, Batman Begins. He plays Dr. Jonathan Crane, an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who wears a burlap mask and utilizes a fear-inducing hallucinogen to terrorize his victims as the Scarecrow. Batman himself falls victim to the Scarecrow at one point. He’s not the final bad guy in the movie, but he's an important antagonist who pops up again in cameos in both sequels, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

4. Red Eye 2005

This Wes Craven-directed thriller takes place almost entirely on a plane, and part of what makes it work so well are its two leads: Rachel McAdams as everywoman Lisa and Murphy as the charming but threatening Jackson Rippner. Jackson reveals himself to be a hitman mastermind, attempting a political assassination by forcing Lisa to rearrange things at the hotel she runs to achieve his goal, threatening to kill her father (and many others) if she fails. The interplay between Murphy and McAdams is top notch, with Murphy playing another truly memorable villain in the process.

5. Breakfast on Pluto 2005

Breakfast on Pluto, based on a novel of the same name, stars Murphy as Kitten, a trans woman searching for her birth mother after being abandoned as a child. Kitten navigates a wide range of circumstances in 1970s Ireland and London, from the IRA to magicians to sex work, all while maintaining her kind and optimistic nature. Murphy’s portrayal of Kitten is thoughtful and hopeful, as the character wins over people with her innocent honesty and self-acceptance.

6. The Wind That Shakes the Barley 2006

One of Murphy’s most defining roles thus far is the one that takes him back to his home country and its tragic fight for independence. In Ken Loach’s war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Murphy plays one of a pair of brothers who end up on opposite sides of the Irish Civil War after fighting together in the war for Ireland’s independence. It's a heartbreaking film, and features an incredible performance by Murphy as he goes from idealistic rebel to leader in the fight for Irish independence, with a devastating ending reflecting the ongoing conflict in Ireland.

7. Sunshine 2007

Sunshine reunited Murphy with his 28 Days Later director Boyle for a sci-fi thriller about a group of astronauts on a mission to restart the sun and prevent the Earth from freezing. Murphy is part of an incredible ensemble cast including Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, and Troy Garity. Sunshine almost feels like a suspenseful play in outer space, led by Murphy as the physicist who created a device that will hopefully save the world, or doom it if it fails.

8. Inception 2010

Inception marked Murphy’s second major collaboration with Nolan, appearing as the target of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dream heist crew. Murphy is the heir to a business empire, who the team plans to "incept" with the idea to dissolve his father’s company. Though secondary to the main action and the dream landscapes, Murphy delivers a powerful performance, going through an emotional arc with his father despite the manipulations of DiCaprio’s team (including Elliot Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy). The film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and went on to win for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.

9. Anthropoid 2016

Anthropoid, based on a true story, stars Murphy and Jamie Dornan as a pair of Slovak and Czech soldiers, respectively, participating in Operation Anthropoid, the real life assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the principal architect of the Holocaust. Murphy and Dornan are both excellent as they struggle to complete their mission, caught between the need to make an important blow against the Nazis and the potential fallout if they’re caught.

10. Dunkirk 2017

Reunited with Nolan for a fifth time, Murphy joins another ensemble, including Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, and Barry Keoghan, in the war epic Dunkirk, about the real life evacuation of thousands of British troops from a beach in France early in WWII. He’s credited only as "Shivering Soldier," the sole survivor of a U-boat attack rescued by one of the civilian boats headed for Dunkirk to rescue soldiers. Murphy brings all his intensity to the role, a man mentally destroyed by his experiences in the war, and terrified at the thought of returning to a battlefield. Dunkirk received a total of eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Directing, and went on to win for Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.'

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imekitty · 1 year

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Hello! I’m SUCH a huge fan of your work, and I just had a question for you! How do you keep everything straight when you’re writing multiple fics at once? I feel like it would be so easy for the details of different fics to get scrambled. Do you ever forget where you were going with something or mix up things between the different plots?

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my fics. <3

I am indeed working on multiple fics at once and honestly, it's not as hard as you might be thinking. Like it's no different than remembering the individual details of hundreds of different movies or TV show episodes. The human brain is pretty amazing in that regard!

I generally remember where I'm going with something and never mix anything up, but I also frequently write notes and full outlines if I'm afraid that I might forget something. When I was a kid, I used to carry a mini notebook around that I would just take out and jot ideas down in. Now I just use the note app on my phone or sometimes I even send myself a text that I leave on unread until I have time to address it.

But I do have to keep track of the different versions of my characters. Like in all of my fics, Maddie loves Danny fiercely and is pretty open about him being her favorite child. But in Disparaged/Dissembled/Disillusioned, The End of Danny, Driving, Magnetized, and Objectified, Maddie is antagonistic but not villainous while in Planned, she is actually villainous. So there are little things like that that can sometimes be tricky if I'm having to switch between the mindsets (i.e., if I end up writing for both Planned and Disillusioned in the same night).

I also use the Find feature a lot in my documents when I'm making sure that a particular detail is in fact present in the current fic I'm writing. Because every now and then, I remember something wrong or I realize "oh Maddie didn't say that particular line in this fic, it was the other fic, guess I can't use that idea after all..."

But bottom line, detailed notes and outlines are crucial to staying organized and remembering important ideas and plot points!

#imekitty ask #mysticalgothweasel #writing tips #well not really much of a tip but I'll tag it as such anyway lol

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ladydarklord · 3 years

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The Mighty Boosh on the business of being silly

The Times, November 15 2008

What began as a cult cocktail of daft poems, surreal characters and fantastical storylines has turned into the comedy juggernaut that is the Mighty Boosh. Janice Turner hangs out with creators Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and the extended Boosh family to discuss the serious business of being silly

In the thin drizzle of a Monday night in Sheffield, a crowd of young women are waiting for the Mighty Boosh or, more precisely, one half of it. Big-boned Yorkshire lasses, jacketless and unshivering despite the autumn nip, they look ready to devour the object of their desire, the fey, androgynous Noel Fielding, if he puts a lamé boot outside the stage door. “Ooh, I do love a man in eyeliner,” sighs Natalie from Rotherham. She’ll be throwing sickies at work to see the Boosh show 13 times on their tour, plus attend the Boosh after-show parties and Boosh book signings. “My life is dead dull without them,” she says.

Nearby, mobiles primed, a pair of sixth-formers trade favourite Boosh lines. “What is your name?” asks Jessica. “I go by many names, sir,” Victoria replies portentously. A prison warden called Davena survives long days with high-security villains intoning, “It’s an outrage!” in the gravelly voice of Boosh character Tony Harrison, a being whose head is a testicle.

Apart from Fielding, what they all love most about the Boosh is that half their mates don’t get it. They see a bloke in a gorilla suit, a shaman called Naboo, silly rhymes about soup, stories involving shipwrecked men seducing coconuts “and they’re like, ‘This is bloody rubbish,’” says Jessica. “So you feel special because you do get it. You’re part of a club.”

Except the Mighty Boosh club is now more like a movement. What began as an Edinburgh fringe show starring Fielding and his partner Julian Barratt and later became an obscure BBC3 series has grown into a box-set flogging, mega-merchandising, 80-date touring Boosh inc. There was a Boosh festival last summer, now talk of a Boosh movie and Boosh in America. An impasse seems to have been reached: either the Boosh will expand globally or, like other mass comedy cults before it – Vic and Bob, Newman and Baddiel – slowly begin to deflate.

But for the moment, the fans still wait in the rain for heroes who’ve already left the building. I find the Boosh gang gathered in their hotel bar, high on post-gig adrenalin. Barratt, blokishly handsome with his ring-master moustache, if a tad paunchy these days, blends in with the crew. But Fielding is never truly “off”. All day he has been channelling A Clockwork Orange in thick black eyeliner (now smudged into panda rings) and a bowler hat, which he wears with polka-dot leggings, gold boots and a long, neon-green fur-collared PVC trenchcoat. He has, as those women outside put it, “something about him”: a carefully-wrought rock-god danger mixed with an amiable sweetness. Sexy yet approachable. Which is why, perched on a barstool, is a great slab of security called Danny.

“He stops people getting in our faces,” says Fielding. “He does massive stars like P. Diddy and Madonna and he says that considering how we’re viewed in the media as a cult phenomenon, we get much more attention in the street than, say, Girls Aloud. Danny says we’re on the same level as Russell Brand, who can’t walk from the door to the car without ten people speaking to him.”

This barometer of fame appears to fascinate and thrill Fielding. Although he complains he can’t eat dinner with his girlfriend (Dee Plume from the band Robots in Disguise) unmolested, he parties hard and publicly with paparazzi-magnets like Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse. He claims he’s tried wearing a baseball cap but fans still recognise him. Hearing this, Julian Barratt smiles wryly: “Noel is never going to dress down.”

It is clear on meeting them that their Boosh characters Vince Noir (Fielding), the narcissistic extrovert, and Howard Moon (Barratt), the serious, socially awkward jazz obsessive, are comic exaggerations of their own personalities. At the afternoon photo shoot, Fielding breaks free of the hair and make-up lady, sprays most of a can of Elnett on to his Bolan feather-cut and teases it to his satisfaction. Very Vince. “It is an art-life crossover,” says Barratt.

At 40, five years older than Fielding, Barratt exhibits the profound weariness of a man trying to balance a five-month national tour with new-fatherhood. After every Saturday night show he returns home to his 18-month-old twins, Arthur and Walter, and his partner Julia Davis (the creator-star of Nighty Night) and today he was up at 5am pushing a pram on Hampstead Heath before taking the train north to rejoin the Boosh. “I go back so the boys remember who I am. But it’s harder to leave them every time,” he says. “It is totally schizophrenic, totally opposite mental states: all this self-obsession and then them.”

About two nights a week on tour, Fielding doesn’t go to bed, parties through the night and performs the next evening having not slept at all. Barratt often retreats to his room to plough through box sets of The Wire. “It’s a bit gritty, but that is in itself an escape, because what we do is so fantastical.”

But mostly it is hard to resist the instant party provided by a large cast, crew and band. Indeed, drinking with them, it appears Fielding and Barratt are but the most famous members of a close collective of artists, musicians and old mates. Fielding’s brother Michael, who previously worked in a bowling alley, plays Naboo the shaman. “He is late every single day,” complains Noel. “He’s mad and useless, but I’m quite protective of him, quite parental.” Michael is always arguing with Bollo the gorilla, aka Fielding’s best mate, Dave Brown, a graphic artist relieved to remove his costume – “It’s so hot in there I fear I may never father children” – to design the Boosh book. One of the lighting crew worked as male nanny to Barratt’s twins and was in Michael’s class at school: “The first time I met you,” he says to Noel, “you gave me a dead arm.” “You were 9,” Fielding replies. “And you were messing with my stuff.”

This gang aren’t hangers-on but the wellspring of the Boosh’s originality and its strange, homespun, degree-show aesthetic: a character called Mr Susan is made out of chamois leathers, the Hitcher has a giant Polo Mint for an eye. When they need a tour poster they ignore the promoter’s suggestions and call in their old mate, Nige.

Fielding and Barratt met ten years ago at a comedy night in a North London pub. The former had just left Croydon Art College, the latter had dropped out of an American Studies degree at Reading to try stand-up, although he was so terrified at his first gig that he ran off stage and had to be dragged back by the compere.

While superficially different, their childhoods have a common theme: both had artistic, bohemian parents who exercised benign neglect. Fielding’s folks were only 17 when he was born: “They were just kids really. Hippies. Though more into Black Sabbath and Led Zep. There were lots of parties and crazy times. They loved dressing up. And there was a big gap between me and my brother – about nine years – so I was an only child for a long time, hanging out with them, lots of weird stuff going on.

“The great thing about my mum and dad is they let me do anything I wanted as a kid as long as I wasn’t misbehaving. I could eat and go to bed when I liked. I used to spend a lot of time drawing and painting and reading. In my own world, I guess.”

Growing up in Mitcham, South London, his father was a postmaster, while his mother now works for the Home Office. Work was merely the means to fund a good time. “When your dad is into David Bowie, how do you rebel against that? You can’t really. They come to all the gigs. They’ve been in America for the past three weeks. I’m ringing my mum really excited because we’re hanging out with Jim Sheridan, who directed In the Name of the Father, and the Edge from U2, and she said, ‘We’re hanging with Jack White,’ whom they met through a friend of mine. Trumped again!”

Barratt’s father was a Leeds art teacher, his mother an artist later turned businesswoman. “Dad was a bit more strict and academic. Mum would let me do anything I wanted, didn’t mind whether I went to school.” Through his father he became obsessed with Monty Python, went to jazz and Spike Milligan gigs, learnt about sex from his dad’s leatherbound volumes of Penthouse.

Barratt joined bands and assumed he would become a musician (he does all the Boosh’s musical arrangements); Fielding hoped to become an artist (he designed the Boosh book cover and throughout our interview sketches obsessively). Instead they threw their talents into comedy. Barratt: “It is a great means of getting your ideas over instantly.” Fielding: “Yes, it is quite punk in that way.”

Their 1998 Edinburgh Fringe show called The Mighty Boosh was named, obscurely, after a friend’s description of Michael Fielding’s huge childhood Afro: “A mighty bush.” While their double-act banter has an old-fashioned dynamic, redolent of Morecambe and Wise, the show threw in weird characters and a fantasy storyline in which they played a pair of zookeepers. They are very serious about their influences. “Magritte, Rousseau...” says Fielding. “I like Rousseau’s made-up worlds: his jungle has all the things you’d want in a jungle, even though he’d never been in one so it was an imaginary place.”

Eclectic, weird and, crucially, unprepared to compromise their aesthetic sensibilities, it was 2004 before, championed by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company, their first series aired on BBC3. Through repeats and DVD sales the second series, in which the pair have left the zoo and are living above Naboo’s shop, found a bigger audience. Last year the first episode of series three had one million viewers. But perhaps the Boosh’s true breakthrough into mainstream came in June when George Bush visited Belfast and a child presented him with a plant labelled “The Mighty Bush”. Assuming it was a tribute to his greatness, the president proudly displayed it for the cameras, while the rest of Britain tittered.

A Boosh audience these days is quite a mix. In Sheffield the front row is rammed with teenage indie girls, heavy on the eyeliner, who fancy Fielding. But there are children, too: my own sons can recite whole “crimps” (the Boosh’s silly, very English version of rap) word for word. And there are older, respectable types who, when I interview them, all apologise for having such boring jobs. They’re accountants, IT workers, human resources officers and civil servants. But probe deeper and you find ten years ago they excelled at art A level or played in a band, and now puzzle how their lives turned out so square. For them, the Boosh embody their former dreams. And their DIY comedy, shambolic air, the slightly crap costumes, the melding of fantasy with the everyday, feels like something they could still knock up at home.

Indeed, many fans come to gigs in costume. At the Mighty Boosh Festival 15,000 people came dressed up to watch bands and absurdity in a Kent field. And in Sheffield I meet a father-and-son combo dressed as Howard Moon and Bob Fossil – general manager of the zoo – plus a gang of thirty-something parents elaborately attired as Crack Fox, Spirit of Jazz, a granny called Nanageddon, and Amy Housemouse. “I love the Boosh because it’s total escapism,” says Laura Hargreaves, an employment manager dressed as an Electro Fairy. “It’s not all perfect and people these days worry too much that things aren’t perfect. It’s just pure fun.”

But how to retain that appealingly amateur art-school quality now that the Boosh is a mega comedy brand? Noel Fielding is adamant that they haven’t grown cynical, that The Mighty Book of Boosh was a long-term project, not a money-spinner chucked out for Christmas: “There is a lot of heart in what we do,” he says. Barratt adds: “It’s been hard this year to do everything we’ve wanted, to a standard we’re proud of... Which is why we’re worn to shreds.”

Comedy is most powerful in intimate spaces, but the Boosh show, with its huge set, requires major venues. “We’ve lost money every day on the tour,” says Fielding. “The crew and the props and what it costs to take them on the road – it’s ridiculous. Small gigs would lose millions of pounds.”

The live show is a kind of Mighty Boosh panto, with old favourites – Bob Fossil, Bollo, Tony Harrison, etc – coming on to cheers of recognition. But it lacks the escapism to the perfectly conceived world of the TV show. They have told the BBC they don’t want a fourth series: they want a movie. They would also, as with Little Britain USA, like a crack at the States, where they run on BBC America. Clearly the Boosh needs to keep evolving or it will die.

Already other artists are telling Fielding and Barratt to make their money now: “They say this is our time, which is quite frightening.” I recall Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who dominated the Nineties with Big Night Out and Shooting Stars. “Yes, they were massive,” says Fielding. “A number one record...” And now Reeves presents Brainiac. “If you have longer-term goals, it’s not scary,” says Barratt. “To me, I’m heading somewhere else – to direct, make films, write stuff – and at the moment it’s all gone mental. I’m sort of enjoying this as an outsider. It was Noel who had this desire to reach more people.”

Indeed, the old cliché that comedy is the new rock’n’roll is closest to being realised in Noel Fielding. Watching him perform the thrash metal numbers in the Boosh live show, he is half ironic comic performer, half frustrated rock god. His heroes weren’t comics but androgynous musicians: Jagger, Bowie, Syd Barrett. (Although he liked Peter Cook’s style and looks.)

“I like clothes and make-up, I like the transformation,” he says. Does it puzzle him that women find this so sexually attractive? “I was reading a book the other day about the New York Dolls and David Johansen was saying that none of them were gay or even bisexual, and that when they started dressing in stilettos and leather pants, women got it straight away with no explanation. But a lot of men had problems. It’s one of those strange things. A man will go, ‘You f***ing queer.’ And you just think, ‘Well, your girlfriend fancies me.’”

The Boosh stopped signing autographs outside stage doors when it started taking two hours a night. At recent book signings up to 1,500 people have shown up, some sleeping overnight in the queue. And on this tour, the Boosh took control of the after-show parties, once run as money-spinners by the promoters, and now show up in person to do DJ slots. I ask if they like to meet their fans, and they laugh nervously.

Fielding: “We have to be behind a fence.”

Barratt: “They try to rip your clothes off your body.”

Fielding: “The other day my girlfriend gave me this ring. And, doing the rock numbers at the end, I held out my hands and the crowd just ripped it off.”

Barratt: “I see it as a thing which is going to go away. A moment when people are really excited about you. And it can’t last.”

He recalls a man in York grabbing him for a photo, saying, “I’d love to be you, it must be so amazing.” And Barratt says he thought, “Yes, it is. But all the while I was trying to duck into this doorway to avoid the next person.” He’s trying to enjoy the Boosh’s moment, knows it will pass, but all the same?

In the hotel bar, a young woman fan has dodged past Danny and comes brazenly over to Fielding. Head cocked attentively like a glossy bird, he chats, signs various items, submits to photos, speaks to her mate on her phone. The rest of the Boosh crew eye her steelily. They know how it will end. “You have five minutes then you go,” hisses one. “I feel really stupid now,” says the girl. It is hard not to squirm at the awful obeisance of fandom. But still she milks the encounter, demands Fielding come outside to meet her friend. When he demurs she is outraged, and Danny intercedes. Fielding returns to his seat slightly unsettled. “What more does she want?” he mutters, reaching for his wine glass. “A skin sample?”

#I hadn't seen this one before so I thought I'd share #noel will never dress down #ah yes the patient boyfriend Julian Barratt

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brokehorrorfan · 4 years

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Free as a Bird: The Devil's Rejects at 15

Rob Zombie has been one of the most polarizing figures in the horror community since making the leap from musician to filmmaker. He made his feature writing and directorial debut with House of 1000 Corpses in 2003 - after being purchased by Lions Gate when its original studio, Universal, shelved it three years prior due fears of it receiving a dreaded NC-17 rating. Corpses fell victim to many issues faced by first-time directors, but the end result remains potent. It's apparent that Zombie was unsure if he'd ever get the opportunity to make another movie, resulting in an anarchic melange of ideas and influences.

Despite the troubled production and an unfavorable critical response, the film turned a healthy profit, giving Zombie the sinister urge to make a sequel as his sophomore effort. The Devil's Rejects was released via Lions Gate 15 years ago today; July 22, 2005. It introduces a realism to the previously exaggerated world created in Corpses. The horror elements are present, but the follow-up also incorporates aspects of exploitation, western, road movies, and even comedy. Zombie’s refined approach allows him to blend the tones more smoothly this time around.

The Devil’s Rejects kicks off with a literal bang. Set in 1978, the murderous Firefly clan introduced in House of 1000 Corpses - collectively responsible for more than 75 deaths - have been tracked down by the vindictive Sheriff Wydell (William Forsythe, The Rock). A shootout between the family and state troopers ensues, with Baby (Zombie’s wife, Sheri Moon Zombie) and Otis (Bill Moseley, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) narrowly escaping. They meet up with Baby’s estranged father, local celebrity Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig, Spider Baby), who helps them flee from the law. The fugitives’ reign of terror continues on the lam.

Zombie creates a fascinating and challenging dichotomy between protagonist and antagonist. Although the Fireflys' actions are reprehensible and Wydell’s vengeance is justified, the former villains are presented as heroes for whom the audience is encouraged to root. Boldly set to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” the poetic climax is among the most effective uses of a popular song in cinema, as far as I'm concerned.

Captain Spaulding is still a vulgar curmudgeon but spends most of the movie sans his iconic clown makeup, as the desperate times have forced him to assume the role of patriarch of the Firefly clan. Otis is no longer the gangly albino introduced in Corpses, instead portrayed as a deranged, bearded, lunatic in the mold of Charles Manson, leading to a career-best performance by Moseley. Similarly, Baby's sweetly sadistic tendencies are presented in a more grounded manner. The ironically named Tiny (Matthew McGrory, who passed away shortly after the film's release) doesn’t have much screen time but plays an important role in the story.

In addition to the characters evolving, several changes were made on the casting side between Corpses and Rejects. Mama Firefly was recast with Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy) after cult favorite Karen Black reportedly demanded too much money to reprise the role. While Black's magnetism is impossible to match, Easterbrook admirably sinks her teeth into the unhinged matriarch. The hulking Rufus was recast from one former professional wrestler to another, as Tyler Mane (who went on to play Michael Myers in Zombie’s Halloween films) took over the role originated by Robert Mukes. Grandpa Hugo was written out of the script due to actor Dennis Fimple dying before production. The mad Dr. Satan (Walter Phelan) appeared in a gory scene that was deleted because Zombie - rightfully - felt the character was incongruous.

As he’s known to do, Zombie populated the Rejects cast with cult actors in roles both large and small, including such recognizable faces as Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Elizabeth Daily (Pee-wee's Big Adventure), Priscilla Barnes (Three’s Company), Geoffrey Lewis (Double Impact), comedian Brian Posehn, Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn), wrestling icon “Diamond” Dallas Page, Tom Towles (Night of the Living Dead), Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie), P.J. Soles (Halloween), Mary Woronov (Chopping Mall), adult film star Ginger Lynn, and an uncredited Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th Parts VII-X).

Whereas Corpses drew influence from 1970s horror classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, Rejects adopts a gritty tone akin to the era’s exploitation movies. It’s matched with a grainy aesthetic and a lot of handheld camera work, with cinematographer Phil Parmet's (Zombie's Halloween) documentary background proving useful for emulating the cinéma vérité style. Zombie is careful to balance the brutality - such as the intensely uncomfortable motel scene, which initially earned the picture an NC-17 rating - with levity. Supporting characters, such as those portrayed by Foree, Berryman and Posehn, are the primary sources of comedic relief, but even the Firefly family earn a few laughs (“Tutti fucking fruity!”).

Zombie has continued to make interesting, if divisive, choices as a filmmaker, but I believe The Devil’s Rejects remains his strongest work on the whole. (The Lords of Salem is vastly underappreciated, but that's an article for another day.) The film is relentless and emotionally draining, but it’s also entertaining and endlessly quotable. In striking that unique tonal balance, the characters were cemented as bona fide horror icons. While Zombie undermined his own efforts with last year's superfluous 3 from Hell, The Devil's Rejects saw the filmmaker acting as free as a bird.

The Devil's Rejects is available on Blu-ray and DVD via Lionsgate.

#the devil's rejects #the devils rejects #rob zombie #sid haig #bill moseley #sheri moon #sheri moon zombie #article #review #horror #house of 1000 corpses #3 from hell #captain spaulding #william forsythe #otis driftwood

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jahveedap · 4 years

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Mand1ngo Lingo ☆(Raw from the Jaw Octane to Drive Cleopatras Insane) ©2O2O -Epic Exotica Poem By Jah-Ví da P. (Poet) aka SJS

Mighty Mandingo with mo chips than Pringle; Savvy J. Smoove known ta kick the asphalt-jungle prism lingo; {or kick a chick out my Regal}... Fingertips savored like a winding Jamaican ragga-lady's hips, or Ecuadorian cuisine, I'm in Quito! Sold the old-school on OfferUp, heem pullin up in laptop limousines with twins- no Danny Devito. Suited & booted- El Jefe fit, throwback Denero/"Ace" in Casino. Mon$ter mashin witta passion for riches & rations. Uselessly, was usedta thuggin it up wit my Cuzzinz and kindred, barbaric breadren in trenches where da streets get drenched by villainous shower posses- Civilians much shook... Turned the page of a new & improved playbook. Reversed course, returned from the drawing board in full force. '17 Spring saw a ninjah spread wings over the Mississippi Riv...

& begin to ball like Bocce. Flanked by dime piece from the Far East plus a platinum purse wearin wet nurse struttin tipsy off some sake- Like Whoa Kimosabi!- Sportin Starburys with travel Visa in hand. VIP soapy-land, bathed by generous geisha-graced gaias in Japan. Covered by MasterCard & Visa full tilt to the hilt, as much green as the Grinch. Heem's covertly carryin an Amazon's cloaked fire-stick which got more kick than Shotokan karate or Sensei Miyagi. Bounty huntin the sexiest, diamond-studded pedicured toes & bossy but bravehearted siren-esque souls for flavin finesse, non-duress & impressed dirty mind-control. Papí privy to Acapulco Gold- Evergreenz 4-Ever. 🌲🌲🌲~ Doin it for homiez who went while wet, or was wetted up in the wettest weather up north, tribal ties too deep to sever; yet for progress, it's Now or Never. Hot Desert Eagz for the sleaze of thieves, slick serpentine Eves & tuff-guyz who might wanna try me, trynna snuff my light years out, the trap star route; Meet meat-eating hollow tips from I-R beams 0n-Pt. Executed schemes and skirted off into 💯 or more starry nights of Colorado heights; whether wrong or right, The Law Was Club & Fang. Respect- the Yin, & Power- the Yang. If OG gauge shells sing execution before Hustle & $chiest can map a solution- Unleash charm to unarm. My vocals spit Lit like firearm spray- Automatic & autoimmune to vixen perfume. Golden Rose-Up outta asbestos walls/Same-gender concentration camps called correctional centers where many an anti-intellectual may enter. Best believe prayers are for players, as well; To the blade, run and do tell/more props to him- $lim Jim forsook crook life trials to boycott the cleanest or filthiest county jail- Yep, A Negus made bail! Homeboy 4 Life came & got me out that hell. Lawyered up with wiggle-room to boom. Court date not til next moon. Dapper Daddy- a daredevil dandy hypnotizing then magnetizing arm-candy. Hungrier hunter back out & about. Guaranteed to shout louder and prouder than Jump-off joy at knockin’ a high-heeled stunner in Stiletto-Summers; IT-Talented 10th Wonder, high standards & high maintenance-type, Wimbledon trophy azz booty queen. Found her hurtin the Wall St. scene. We made plans for New Orleans & ended up in the Philippines. Gangsta lean in the foreign like the tower of Piza. Like Nipsey & Lauren on ivory horses; Astons & Jags vs Benzos & Porsches. Newly divorced, porcelain face- No acne. Don't @ me, in season for slayin, playin $ugar daddies for sport... The Don of the Dance & Belle of the Ball. V8 smashin down olden silk roads, Middle-fingaz to All of ya'll.

Priceless advice dispensed out the mouthpiece of a modern urbanite prince- kissed by flavor & fortune; was once just a horny toad. Bad kittiez in beast mode, temptress and enchantress trained to go. Determined fa sho'. Liquid-glass paint job. Dressed like Yakuza mob. Cuz executive salaries & suites treat my sweeter ambitions & Bossprenuer intuitions. Pretty brown-eyed Forza models in prime or mint condition; fun-size & amazingly tall, dangerous dolls scaling walls of inhibition. Germany capital hunger pangs. Amsterdam plan excursions, quasi-nervous to strike gold, in Go-go-getterz South Afrikin Cashmere glam. Angelic cobras trained in ruff-rydin Supernovas. Grindin to go legit, elevate a seedy trade & split, then get- tight fisted as cutthroat casinos! For Virgin Islands vacays, groovin on a Sunday and bucket-naked baby makin in Cocomo sands. No mo dim-witted dame distractions, entitled misses interjecting irritating interruptions, or destiny date disruptions. Nor peasantry class destructions like goin back to 3×5 concrete closets, er cells, on some dumb shis, while missing out on wasted clout. Overpursuing trife scams for a hunid grams, as time's too swift to monger cheap Sex, Pills & Trap Rap forever, all the while poofin pale pearl dust a la whispy, amped up poisonous inhalants- an oft-devastating & pulsating perversion named 'Crissy'. And likely a lil pow-wow baggie of blonde sniffie got brought along too- Dat snow-toe ho that'll damage A Pro, Also. That Michele Pfiefer in ya piff, promo-primo and still illegal/whyte liger aka dat blow- drastic drift of Yao Ming, and a faint opium den stench in her Harley Quinn handbag. At the beachfront bungalow sippin Hen, outta Molly so doin snow toe lines on her tummy's tan lines. Ski camp vamp, a mid-toxic dragon chasin the nitro night's dreams. Though testing out swings on Alpine- At the extreme of excess, the apex, Mr. Mannahorn of granite intentions, shapen by gritter Griselda's game-lessons learned. Hence groomed by the realest with the illest access to top strategies of Ginormous success.

Grabbed the bull by its horns. Saw my crown turn to thorns. The crowd stillborn started to shake their heads in scorn. Rebellious daughters' mothers mourn. Tired hearts torn. Took her through shit-storm. Came out above the norm. Exceeding Exotic. Drake said- Do Right And Kill Everything, but my tongue worked beyond any diamond ring. Trust she was sprung off K1ng ding-a-ling. Mighty long thing. Me & Ming Lang Gang/Tru Hef & Heifahz - YaddadaMín. Poohn-Tang Clan porno van. Mean-stroke, deep throat. Lust boat afloat just offshore on shallow waters. 2nite I dine on Purrl Harbor, Tick-tock hotties and sexpots dominated by a despot. However, it's Girlz Nite Out all night @ the Hotel Sweet-Spot. Siraq on the rocks when I dock, crush G-Spots on the dot, with enough left over for the rest of the flock, the felines who jock. Talk money & her ears go pointy upwards like Spock. Adult Star Trek and in the lifestyle up to him's neck- Killin the Playboy mansion for Czech brothel expansion. Space-Age Polished Inspirational Maccadocious Politickin got trix clickin on 6-figure cam-girlz who be ghostin. Coastin past the 69th parallel; private jetstream parade/ just a global campaign of erotic starcade to get paid. So the Po-Pimpology Playbook taught- to Never wife a thot. Tha hell if she icy-hot. Not even if she got Cleopatra's Twat. If she walk to the bank, then 1'mma' have her trot. If she like it a little, she will luv it a lot...

JEWEL THIEF

... Caught thee most slippery, yearning Siamese cat-eyed twenty-somethin unlearned, twin sistren going through my pockets that morning, quiet as kept while I slept. Both crept upon my wallet similar to Eve stepping toward that apple and the winged king cobra's forked tongue- In a flash, mommis dropped it like fried catfish grease tinged her skin. A serious sire inquired while ne'er surprised in the least: "Hey! Wtf are you doing with that!?" From the corner of my eye, they wished they were sly, (Too high off bezels and altitude to watch for viper pit boss, thought I would take a loss. Must've figured I was all gassed and passed out cold due to Int'l rock-star partyin hard the night before witta trio of Singaporean & Thai honey, bare buttocks bartered/mucho moistened delicacies/hard-knock chicks who practice licks that insinuate intimacy with Koh Phangan Island's more salacious, insatiable and super soaked, salivating hot rod's wap.) Ran out a ninja's room at 6:09am on the dot...

With an eyelid open, I spotted Ms. fox.

86'ed all 3 of em out the spot.

They could've gotten shot.

Instead made off with empty jewelry box.

-SJS©️2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣

#EroticaLit #epic poem #adultlit #long poem #spokenword #poetry #exotic #ExoticDiction #storytotell

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rebeccalouisaferguson · 4 years

Link

“Stepping on a set like that as a new character felt very liberating and also very childlike. I was laughing a lot,” Ferguson tells The Hollywood Reporter. “[Flanagan] made an exact copy of [Danny’s] small [tricycle]... We got to cycle around the corridors. When it was my turn, the lights would turn off because… the gaffers wanted to go home. We put our mobile phones on, and we ran around like little children... It’s fun to let the child out, be geeks and enjoy moments.”

There's the cliche that villains think they're the hero of their own story. Similarly, actors often say that they have to find a way to justify their characters' actions, no matter how bad they might be. With that in mind, did you find a way to humanize Rose, or did you just embrace the evil?

No, I didn’t embrace the evil at all because the evil was so well-written and displayed on a plate; it was all there in her actions. Playing that would have just been over the top and villainesque. I think, for me, it was all about finding the reason why. I love Rose, but I think what she does is absolutely horrendous. She does it in necessity to feed her tribe, and equally, as much as we love our children and our family members, she loves and supports hers.

When we last talked, you were just about to fly out for your costume fitting as Lady Jessica. Now that Dune has wrapped, can you share your very best adjectives to describe the experience?

Sand… hot… chains… grand… closeups… flying.

How soon did you realize that “I deeply love it” is Denis Villeneuve’s highest form of praise?

I want to get that tattooed on my arm. (Ferguson imitates Villeneuve.) “I deeply, deeply love it. I deeply, deeply love it.” I love him. I deeply, deeply love him. He is magnetically wonderful and humble. He’s such a good director. I feel very lucky with all the directors I’ve worked with.

(read the whole interview under the link above)

#rebecca ferguson #doctor sleep #interview #doctor sleep interview #dune interview #reminiscence interview #mi7 interview

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ghostbsuter · 7 months

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Ghostbsuter's Masterlist!

Every prompt and idea (outside of the multiple parts: section) is free to use! Have fun. Feel free to credit me as well when you do.

Hey, want to support/commission art? See my etsy shop!

Want different content? Look at this !

・゜-: ✧ :-

Multiple parts:

Batclan and Catband

Selina is Danny's mom, recently got engaged to Bruce, and now they're meeting!

[ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 ]

The house of Nightingale & Constantine | #the house of Constantine and Nightingale have infinite beef

Batman called for help.

Now, with Phantom's help and Constantines, they might have a chance. If only he knew those two were rivals and enemies in terms of dark houses.

[ chapters: 1 | ] [ao3] (soon!)

[ snippets: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 ]

[ chap 1 snap-shot ]

Wonder MOM

Danny is a godling, born from the stars and son of Diana. Batman rescued him from abduction, and that's how the JL finds out about the son of WW.

[ part 1 ]

Twins, minus the Demon

Demon Twins Au, Damian and Danyal are the sons of the bat, demon and cat.

Implied and referenced past/current Bruce/Selina/Talia throuple.

[ part 1 ]

Magicians way

Danny is the son of Zatanna and John, member of the Young Just us and well... sometimes things don't go as planned.

[ part 1 | 1/4 ]

Team effort

Danny is a member of the Teen Titans!

[ part 1 | part 2 soon! ]

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Stand alones:

Birthday present (read the reposts!) | (Martian appreciation)

High on fear (read the reposts!) | (ghosts really like emotions)

Joker's Jr. or not? | (danny being the son of joker and harley)

He's Danny | (Joker's Jr. or not? continuation)

Titan missing! | (phantom is teen titans member and amity got kidnapped)

Wingman | (steph x sam)

Dog-napped | (cujo at it again ft. baby assassin)

One way to crush | (Dani crushing on Lian)

Speed running romance | (Dick x Jazz x Babs)

The Fries | (Nora going ghost)

Arson and consequences | (Roy!!)

Babysitting trouble | (baby yeti outside!)

Visitation | (Sam and young justice)

Syn eclipse | (being chased)

Elephant | (beast boy trolling)

Sibling rivalry | (just dan and danny things)

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Bats!!

Prompts and snippets of adventures Danny has with various Bats.

College student shaped stray | (dami befriends teen dad danny)

Mom!cass | (time shenanigans end with conspiracy theories)

Calico (read the reposts!) | (nighttime activities as family bonding)

Paranoia | (bonding activity between Duke and Danny)

Harsh truth | (the plans start the moment Ra's fell)

Meta-child | (dick centric)

Villain magnet | (just danny being danny)

Sweet revenge | (danny and bruce)

Diplomatic immunity | (danny in gotham)

Little Brother | (Danny is a drake)

Another Cain | (Danny Cain)

Buying your own mercenary! | (Danny in his deadpool arc)

Grayson's stray | (one police officer picks up a kid)

Robin manifestation!Danny | (child of gotham)

Governmental shit that is (read the Reblogs!) | (dead tired)

1 (+3) new child | (scooby doo but its Danny-Johnny-Kitty-Ember and shadow)

Cell buddies | (Dami and Danny)

Its not a habit | (Tim and danny)

Keeping up with the waynes | (wes theories and denial)

.・゜-: ✧ :-

WONDER W

Prompts and snippets with the one and only! Wonder Woman!

Spiderman meme | (featuring Dani and Diana)

.・゜-: ✧ :-

SUPERS

Prompts and snippets with the local superfam

Metropolis | (hiding)

Twitter beef | (ft. Superman)

Super representative | (confused Clark kent)

New kid dropped | (they're so confused)

Fake it till u make it | (Jon dug his grave)

Civilian life | (danny is just trying to live)

.・゜-: ✧ :-

SPEEDSTERS!!!

Prompts and snippets of adventures Danny has with various Speedsters.

Bart & Danny | timetraveler & immortal (read the reposts!)

Bart & Danny | playdates

Barry & Danny | Found family via Villain

Bart/Danny | Crushing

Bart & Danny | displaced

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Godly shenanigans | #Billy and Danny are brothers in crime and losers in costumes

Prompts and snippets of Billy and Danny trying to survive in the world of adults.

JL's own trouble kids

Double the trouble

Pranksters in disguises

Grounded

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Anything with Connie

Prompts and snippets of various ways of Danny interacting with John Constantine.

Troubled and Dad shaped

Imprisoned but not dead?

Breaking in

Hell adventures

Zones

Rush hour

He when (head wanted, not alive)

Haunted menace

Nail polish

#masterlist #subscribe if ya wanna!#dcxdp #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #writing prompt #dc x dp prompt #fic prompt

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ryanmeft · 4 years

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Movie Review: Doctor Sleep

The best works of Stephen King stir up a sense of existential dread using very non-existential monsters---the idea that the veneer of our safe world is regularly threatened by horrible things that usually look perfectly normal. Man’s best friend is really a demonic killer; a resurrected cat is not all that it seems; a malevolent alien hides in the guise of a man. In this tradition is Rose the Hat, a mystic woman who opens Doctor Sleep sitting on a stump and luring in a young girl. What she does with her we are not immediately shown, but it’s a cinch it’s nothing good.

The tone is set, for Rebecca Ferguson is a gorgeous woman, and as Rose is bedecked in the appealing clothes of a traveling peddler, or perhaps a wizard: a jaunty top hat is the centerpiece of a changing wardrobe that mostly adheres to loose-fitting clothing which adds an air of allure to her wherever she moves. Also she kills people and eats their souls. She’s an extremely horrible thing in an extremely appealing package, and we will find she is in charge of a coven of odd vampires called the True Knot. They feed on the “steam” of people who have special powers, like those of Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor). He’s grown up now after his experiences at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, but being an adult doesn’t mean you’ve got it all figured out. He’s an alcoholic who gets in pointless fights and has pointless flings, all to try and tamp down the constant threat of the Overlook’s ghosts.

They still haunt him, you see, and with powers taught to him by the spirit of the Overlook’s former cook Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly ably stepping in for the late Scatman Crothers), he has managed to trap them inside boxes in his mind, though they always want out, which is just kind of how ghosts be. He runs from his demons and take refuge in a small New Hampshire town where he befriends Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis) who works with local kids to build a miniature train set in the town square and sponsors Danny for AA. Things are looking up. Then a message is forcefully etched into Danny’s wall. It’s telepathy, coming from a teenage girl named Abra (Kyliegh Curran) who also “shines”, or has powers. It’s so forceful because she’s felt the torturous death of a young baseball player (Jacob Tremblay) at the hands of Rose and her followers.

Enough of the book report. King is a plot, rather than feeling, based author, but the important thing about his plots is not the details but how they unfold. The movie takes its time. It is 152 minutes long, and is patient in re-acquainting us with Danny and giving him time to work through his troubled adulthood, and with introducing Abra and making her a character we can care about. This is the first major role for 13-year-old Curran, and sadly the movie’s not doing well enough that it will get her in the minds of audiences, but it should. She’s neither a victim nor a magical child; she neither spends the movie running, nor being always right while the adults inevitably stumble. She gets scared, and she gets fierce, and Curran displays a range of talent that should serve her career well. She and Danny eventually team up, of course, for a twisty showdown with Rose and friends that takes nearly an hour, is thrilling all the way through, and can only end in one place. The highlight is easily a bit where Danny takes possession of Abra’s mind, and Curran manages to effectively sound like a 40-something-man is speaking through her mouth.

The key element of the film, though, is the villain. No matter how engaging a protagonist is, they are dull if the villain isn’t a threat or isn’t magnetic. Rose is both. There is never an explanation given for her, and one is indeed thematically impossible: like any truly great horror, she is inexplicable. This is Ferguson’s best role to date, which is saying something; clearly, director Mike Flanagan gets the most out of all his cast, but none more so than her. Can people still get award nominations for genre films? There are few female performances this year as engaging. Credit must also go to certain equally unsettling members of her cabal, especially Emily Alyn Lind as an opportunistic young con artist who previously preyed on pedophiles, and Carol Struycken as Grandpa Flick, who really challenges the idea that you should trust your elders.

It was probably unreasonable to expect a sequel to The Shining that measured up to its predecessor, given all the factors going into it. Stanley Kubrick was a singular artist who can’t be replicated, author King hated his version of his book and desperately did not want it to be replicated, and Flanagan had to balance the expectations of audiences with those of King, while working in a very different time and market for film. We may not have gotten a classic out of it, but we did get a highly engaging supernatural thriller with one hell of a villain.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

You can follow Ryan's reviews on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/ryanmeftmovies/

Or his tweets here:

https://twitter.com/RyanmEft

All images are property of the people what own the movie.

#stephen king #rebecca ferguson #Ewan McGregor #doctor sleep #movies #horror #kyliegh curran #mike flanagan #Stanley Kubrick #The Shining #cliff curtis #emily alyn lind #carol struycken

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years

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God Loves, Man Kills

MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #5 JANUARY 1983 BY CHRIS CLAREMONT, BRENT ANDERSON AND STEVE OLIFF

SYNOPSIS (FROM MARVEL DATABASE)

Prologue Two young mutant runaways named Mark and Jill are fleeing from a group of religiously motivated anti-mutant group known as the Purifiers. They chase the two children into a playground where they are executed with guns and strung up on a swing set with a sign labeling them as "Muties". Their bodies are found by the X-Men's long time foe Magneto, who vows to make those who have killed these children, and many others, pay for their crimes.

In New York City, the leader of the Purifiers, the popular televangelist Reverend William Stryker finishes reading a Bible passage from Deuteronomy 17:2-5, before getting a call from his operatives. They report to him their findings about the mutant group known as the X-Men, providing him information of their members, powers, and the well guarded secret that they operate from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. When his aid enters his office to get him ready for his evening broadcast on the ABC network, Stryker hints that he is about to destroy the X-Men.

Chapter 1 At the dance school of Stevie Hunter in Salem Center, Kitty Pryde gets into a fight with one of her fellow students after he makes an anti-mutant comment. The fight takes them right out into the street and Piotr "Peter" Rasputin and his sister Illyana try to break it up. When Stevie goes outside to see what the commotion is about, Kitty's fellow dance student Danny tells them that Kitty attacked him when he was talking about how he and his parents were members of the Stryker Crusade and went on an anti-mutant tirade, and called Kitty a "Mutie-Lover". With the situation straightened out, Stevie sends Danny away and tells Kitty to calm down because they are only words. Kitty becomes even more upset that Stevie can be so tolerant of such hatred asking her if she would be just as tolerant if Danny called her a "Nig***-Lover" before storming off back to the Mansion. Stevie thinks Kitty was right.

When Peter and Illyana follow after her to make sure she gets home safe, Stevie considers Kitty's words and realizes that Pryde was right. Visibly upset, Stevie goes back into her dance studio, unaware that Purifiers have been watching the whole confrontation. Further still, she is unaware how close they were to killing her, the only thing saving her life being the fact that she is human.

Arriving at the Mansion, Kitty tells Logan about the scrap she had, and also tells him that she did not have the heart to win the fight because she was not fighting a super-villain or evil mutant, but a kid like her. Later, the X-Men gather to watch Nightline on ABC where their teacher, Professor Charles Xavier appears next to Reverend Stryker in a debate about the danger of mutants in their society. While Xavier maintains his long standing stance that mutants are merely the next step of evolution, Stryker airs his religious belief that mutants are an abomination before God and must be exterminated. When the interview ends, Kitty and the other X-Men are angered by Stryker's words and decide to change into costume and practice in the Danger Room to blow off some steam.

While the X-Men are training, Stryker's aid, Anne, bumps into Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe at the television station, marking them as the X-Men Cyclops and Storm. Anne approaches her leader and tells him that they will be striking the three X-Men when they approach Central Park. Just as planned, when Xavier's Royals Royce drives past Central Park they are attacked by the Purifiers, who gun all three mutants down with tranquilizer guns and blow up the Royce. When the police call the mansion later, they inform Kurt that the Professor and the others have died in a car accident, much to everyone's sadness.

Chapter 2 The next day while the other X-Men are in the city, Kitty spends some time alone outside on the Xavier state when she is joined by Illyana. Illyana tends to the grieving Kitty and the two decide to talk a walk. Along the way they come across some strange scanner device that has been setup and directed at the Mansion. Wondering who had set it up, Kitty shorts it out with her phasing powers and the two lay in hiding to see who comes to investigate.

While in the city, Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler investigate the supposed accident site. While Logan and Peter examine the wreck, Kurt surveys the area in secret. When Wolverine identifies that this was no accident, Nightcrawler notifies them that two men in a car have been watching them the whole time. Wolverine decides that they should get the men and change into costume. Despite the men's attempt to flee, the three X-Men manage to disable their getaway vehicle. However these Purifier members are ready to fight using their special armor. They only get one shot in when they are stopped by Magneto, who uses his magnetic powers to destroy their armor and use it as a containment.

Back at on the Mansion property, Kitty and Illyana watch as Anne and other members of Stryker's Crusade arrive to repair the device that Kitty damage. Ariel decides to try and sneak up on them by phasing through the ground. However as she is working herself through, they activate the device and detect Illyana's proximity to them due to her mutant nature. They knock her out with a tranquilizer dart and take her hostage. When Kitty attempts to sneak into their getaway vehicle by phasing through the trunk, Anne detects it and fills the trunk with gas to knock her out as well.

Shortly thereafter, Magneto and the X-Men take the captured Purifiers back to the X-Mansion where Wolverine attempts to interrogate them by threatening to use his claws. When this does not work, Magneto tortures them with is magnetic powers and they learn that Stryker intends to use Professor Xavier to achieve his goal of complete eradication of the mutant race.

Chapter 3 At Stryker's headquarters, Charles Xavier is being put through brainwashing wherein he lives the illusion of being crucified on a cross and being attacked by the various X-Men, who torture him and maim his body until he is saved by Reverend Stryker. This brainwashing is for the purposes of bending Xavier's will and making him loyal to Stryker so that the Reverend can use Xavier's mental powers to further his goals. Stryker then goes to check on Cyclops and Storm who are also his prisoners and have been restrained and tortured in deprivation tanks. Releasing them temporarily, Storm asks Stryker why he is doing this. Stryker replies that it is because their existence "is an affront to the Lord."

Stryker explains to the two mutants why he started his crusade to eliminate Homo superior. He says that, thirty years ago, he was a soldier working for the military during nuclear tests. He was married and his wife Marcy was pregnant with their first child. When visiting Marcy's parents on the holidays their car crashed outside of Phoenix. As Anne went into labor, William helped her give birth. When he saw that his son was a mutant, he was horrified and killed his newborn child and then his own wife. He put their bodies in the wreck of their family car, which was leaking gasoline, climbed in next to them, lighting it on fire. Miraculously, Stryker survived the explosion while his family was burnt beyond recognition. After the funeral, he turned to the bottle and ultimately got removed from the military because his drinking caused him to lash out on his trainees. After hitting rock bottom, he would find new direction when he read about mutants and found God. Believing that mutants were godless abominations, the work of Satan, he began his crusade which he helped boost his popularity with the help of his newly established televangelist career.

Stryker tells his two captives that he began focusing the first part of his crusade on destroying the X-Men, and learned all about them when one of his devoted followers -- a member of the FBI -- provided him with a file on the X-Men that was prepared by one-time government liaison Fred Duncan. He concludes that he does not plan on killing the two captured X-Men yet. When Anne calls in and reports that she has Illyana and Kitty captured, Stryker orders her to bring Illyana to his offices, but to kill Kitty, much to Storm's horror. When Ororo pleads that he spare Kitty's life, he recites scripture that justifies his decision and fully imprisons them once again.

Anne and her Purifiers drive to the South Bronx, where they place a "Mutie" sign on its trunk and open fire on it. When they check to make sure that Kitty is dead, they are shocked to find that the trunk is empty. Anne orders her men to go out and track the girl down. Ariel, who had phased as soon as she heard the gas jets, tries to find her way out of the Bronx when she runs into a gang of thugs in a back alley. They are about to mug and rape her when the Purifiers arrive and demand that they turn the girl over to them. When the punks refuse, Anne shoots one of them, leading to a gun fight in the alley. Kitty manages to slip away with her phasing powers, however the Purifiers pursue her. She manages to call the Mansion and tell the other X-Men where she is before she has to flee again, this time phasing onto a passing subway train. When a police officer comes to see if she is okay, the Purifiers smash through the roof of the train. When the cop goes to her aid, they shoot him down in cold blood. Before they can kill Kitty, Magneto arrives and levitates the train, deflecting the Purifiers' bullets and energy blasts with his magnetic powers. The X-Men arrive and make short work of Kitty's attackers. With Magneto's help, the X-Men remove the bullet from the police officers chest and take him to a hospital.

A short time later, Reverend Stryker checks on Xavier and is happy to see that the brainwashing has worked and that Charles is now a willing follower of his cause. To prove this, he has Xavier to use his mental powers to seemingly slay Cyclops and Storm, as a Purifier doctor announces that their vitals signs have ceased. With the two senior X-Men seemingly slain, Stryker orders the preparations for his giant rally at Madison Square Garden.

Meanwhile, the X-Men manage to capture Stryker's head doctor and learn what Stryker is attempting. Sneaking into Stryker's office tower, they collect Storm and Cyclops's body and recover Illyana in disguise. However when they are found out by Anne, she tries to shoot them, but proves unable to stop them. As the elevator bursts through the roof through Magneto's powers, Anne jumps out onto the Stryker Building. On a rooftop, Wolverine confirms that Cyclops and Storm are not physically dead and have just had their brains shut down and vital signs reduced. Magneto manages to jump start and revive their minds with a jolt of his powers, and they learn of Stryker's full plot.

Chapter 4 At the Square, Stryker has Xavier hooked up to a machine that will allow him to detect mutants in the audience and kill them with his mental powers. As the rally begins, Stryker begins his harshest sermon yet, verbally calling out for the destruction of Mutantkind. This does not sit well with the security guards, as well as a prominent United States senator. Behind the podium, a Purifier activates the psi-scan device connected to Professor X.

Outside on a nearby building, the X-Men start bleeding from the ears and having headaches. They notice similar effects on some of the pedestrians below. Meanwhile, Magneto enters the rally through the roof and confronts Stryker. Stryker compares Magneto to the devil, and directs the psi-scan device at him to knocking him down. While the X-Men fight the Purifiers, Ariel tries to save Professor X, but he blocks her with a mindblast. As the fight carries on all the mutants -- including the Senator and Stryker's loyal minion Anne -- begin to get nose and ear bleeds. When Anne realizes this, she begs the Reverend for mercy. However, he refuses to compromise his beliefs, pushing her off the balcony and, as television cameras roll, falls to the ground and snaps her neck on impact.

While back stage, the X-Men find the Professor and are forced to knock him using simultaneous attacks. Cyclops then smashes all of Stryker's machines. Rallying his teammates, Cyclops points out that the only way to stop Stryker's organization is to take down Stryker himself -- no matter what it takes, a decision all the X-Men agree upon. They appear on stage and plead their case for mutants, debating their opposing view with Stryker on live television. When Stryker attempts to use Nightcrawler's demonic form to prove his point, Ariel pipes up and tells the audience that, despite Kurt's physical appearance, he is kind and generous and tells them all that if she had to choose between her friend or Stryker's god, it would be her friend. Stryker then pulls a gun and is about to shoot Kitty when one of the police on security detail shoots Stryker instead. The crowd is soon dispersed and the X-Men, who in the eyes of the law have done nothing wrong, are allowed to leave.

Epilogue Later, back at the mansion, the X-Men watch the news and see that public opinion of Stryker has pretty much been destroyed due to the fact that he almost shot a teenage girl on live television. With Xavier back in his right mind and the threat of Stryker's bigoted campaign over, Xavier and the X-Men offer Magneto to join the X-Men. However, Magneto cannot bring himself to join after everything that has happened. Magneto offers Xavier the chance to join him in his cause, but Xavier refuses and Magneto departs. Xavier thanks his students for saving him and their work that day. Alone with Storm, Cyclops points out that only through love and acceptance will humanity and mutants be able to live side by side together.

REVIEW

It is hard to say where this story goes in term of continuity... but it definitely happened (as the characters returned). The most interesting thing about this issue is how Cyclops gives better speeches than Xavier (I worry a bit when this happens, as sometimes it ends up being the writer and not the character, preaching). And while the conflict in question is believable (because we see these maniacs on tv all the time), as a piece of fiction, it offers very little for the reader to understand. We already know they are wrong in their way of thinking, but it is a better experience if we doubt it a little bit. Having the purifiers trying to kill humans as well as mutants... doesn’t do much for the antagonists. In fact, it takes the security guards a lot of time to react to Stryker’s homicide.

This novel explores Xavier’s dream, and ponders if Magneto was always right. In the end it doesn’t matter. Xavier is committed to his dream, and so are his X-Men (even Colossus), even if Magneto was right.

And of course Magneto is not right. But at least he made them think about it.

I do not like the coloring of the time for graphic novels. For some reason it looks too much like an illustration. However, I found the flashback sequence more believable done this way.

Lastly, I do not like the title of the novel. Which god loves? It was a safe title for Claremont, but it is not really implied in the story that “God” loves everyone. It is mentioned by Cyclops that Mutants have to be God’s creation as well... but the reverend talks about the old testament and the book of revelations most of the time... it seems to me like the new testament was omitted for effect. But never mind, I am an atheist.

I give this issue a score of 9

#brent anderson #x-men #marvel graphic novel #god loves man kills #marvel comics #comics #review #1983 #bronze age #magneto

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gokinjeespot · 5 years

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off the rack #1276

Monday, August 26, 2019

Sorry for the lateness. I went fishing this morning with my buddy David and he brought his fly rod that he got recently. He's a novice but he caught two sunfish using it. That made me very happy as they were the first fish that he caught that way. Penny and I went to see a matinee at our local theatre earlier and I had to have words with a teenager who talked and then took out his phone during the screening. The second time he turned on his phone after I had asked him to put it away the first time he showed me no respect so I went and got a staff member to deal with him. By the time we got back to the theatre he had left with his friend but he still abused me verbally while standing at the exit doors. The kid couldn't have been more than 13. The language and disrespect was what upset me the most. I suspected they snuck into the theatre and the fact that they left before staff could deal with him confirmed my suspicions. I didn't care that they snuck in. If this kid had just sat and watched the movie I would not have had a problem with him. I must be an asshole magnet because the kid and his friend were the only other people in the theatre and they sat close to us.

I picked up a copy of Marvel's "Heralds" trade paperback while working at the store last week and while reading the credits I see that it was lettered by Virtual Calligraphy's Clayton Cowles. So that's what the "VC's" stands for.

Batman #77 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin & Tony S. Daniel (pencils) Mikel Janin, Norm Rapmund & Tony S. Daniel (inks) Jordie Bellaire & Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). A death in the family and this issue is in super high demand because of it. Damian tries to fight Thomas Wayne/Batman while Bruce is recovering under Selina's care. The prospect of the Bat Family gathering has me all excited.

Daredevil #10 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Jorge Fornes (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). We get a glimpse of real Daredevil action when Detective North is threatened by corrupt cops in his own precinct while Matt is there. Matt gets a visit from an ex that had me chuckling on the last page.

Fearless #2 - This is an excellent anthology for young readers, particularly young female readers.

"Campfire Song" part 2 by Seanan McGuire (writer), Claire Roe (art), Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) & Cardinal Rae (letters) sends Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the leadership camp where Captain Marvel, Storm and Susan Storm/the Invisible Woman are going to give keynote speeches. Something nefarious may be afoot.

I liked "Night Nurse: A Cape of Her Own" by Karla Pacheco (writer), Iolanda Zanfardino (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) & Cardinal Rae (letters). It's always a treat to see Night Nurse mending super powered people.

To help get over the end of X-23's book Eve L. Ewing (writer), Alitha Martinez (art), Rosenberg (colours) & Cardinal Rae (letters) show us what Laura and Gabby are up to now.

Ghost-Spider #1 - Seanan McGuire (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Ian Herring (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). So Spider-Gwen is now Ghost-Spider. She has dual dimensionship between Earth-65 and Earth-616. In her own dimension of Earth-65 everyone knows that she's Ghost-Spider but in Earth-616 where her secret identity is safe, she's just Gwen Stacy, freshman at Empire State University. Peter Parker helps to get her enrolled and now she can go back and forth taking classes and fighting crime. This is a good place to start if you're looking for another female super hero to follow but there wasn't anything really special in here to make me add this title to my every burgeoning pile of comics books that I want to read.

Strayed #1 - Carlos Giffoni (writer) Juan Doe (art) Matt Krotzer (letters). In this new Dark Horse science-fiction book military scientist Kiara Rodriguez invents a device that allows her to talk to her cat Lou. The cat is special because it can astrally travel through space. Kiara's superiors are using her cat to conquer other planets and exploit their resources. They're the bad mans. This sounds familiar to me with Kiara's race being like Galactus and Lou like the Silver Surfer. I'm not much of a cat person so I'll pass on the rest of this story.

Guardians of the Galaxy #8 - Donny Cates (writer) Cory Smith (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Rocket's back and we even get a mini origin story for the little furball. This issue also reveals what the Universal Church of Truth's very bad plans are. I loved seeing the cocoon. With the impending battle with Death, I'm wondering if Thanos is going to show up. This would be a cool way to bring the Mad Titan back.

The Avant-Guards #7 - Carly Usdin (writer) Noah Hayes (art) Eleonora Bruni (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). The one and only basketball based comic book on the racks and it's a three points shot at the buzzer to win the game. I love the message about team work in this issue.

Powers of X #3 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva (art) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This issue clears things up for me. Nimrod is the big bad guy and Apocalypse is a good guy in this story. I'm so glad they took last issue to explain Moira's character and her mutant ability because she's crucial to everything going on. If you're not reading this and House of X, you're missing out on a major event in Marvel Mutant History.

Marvel Action Spider-Man #7 - Delilah S. Dawson (writer) Fico Ossio (art) Ronda Pattison (colours) Shawn Lee (letters). Introducing Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat. Her bad luck powers have Peter, Gwen and Miles all tangled up. They're going to have to learn to work together to keep her from stealing again.

The Superior Spider-Man #10 - Christos Gage (writer) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Man, Spidergeddon sure did cast a wide net. So the super villain for this story is revealed to be the Norman Osborn of Earth-44145. He wants revenge for being humiliated by the Superior Spider-Man during the debacle with the Inheritors. But first Norman is going to kill everybody that Otto cares about. It's a tried and true basis for many a comic book story but it still works great.

Superman Year One #2 - Frank Miller (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Danny Miki (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) John Workman (letters). Okay, so Clark trains to be a Navy Seal so that Frank Miller can set it up for him to meet and fall in love with Lori Lemaris and clash with her father Poseidon. It was a slog for me to read through this issue. I think Miller was trying for something epic like The Odyssey by Homer. I found that Clark's time in the navy was contrived, which soured my enjoyment.

Valkyrie #2 - Jason Aaron & Al Ewing (writers) Cafu (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Why is it that the death in Batman #77 is bigger than the death in this comic book? Bullseye somehow got his hands on Valkyrie's sword Dragonfang and Jane Foster has to take it away from the killer or else a heck of a lot of innocent lives will be forfeit. The last line of this issue made me groan.

Year of the Villain: Sinestro #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Yildiray Cinar (art) Julio Ferreira (inks pages 21 - 26) Hi-Fi (colours) Steve Wands (letters). A solo story of Sinestro doing Lex Luthor's bidding. This story uses sentient nanobots which to me was a silly concept. I thought they did a good job showing how smart and arrogant Sinestro is but unless you're a Green Lantern fan you don't need to read this.

Year of the Villain: Black Mask #1 - Tom Taylor (writer) Cully Hamner (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Wes Abbott (letters). This is a good origin story and sets up the villain for what's coming next. These Year of the Villain one shots are a good way for new fans to learn about these characters which should give them a better understanding of their involvement in the big picture.

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thedcdunce · 5 years

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Blue Devil

“Killing demons has kept me plenty busy.” - Blue Devil

Real Name: Daniel Patrick Cassidy

Aliases:

Kid Devil

Gopher

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 8″

Weight: 385 lbs (175 kg)

Eyes: Yellow

Hair: Bald

Skin: Blue

Powers:

Demonic Physiology

Abilities:

Acrobatics

Acting

Martial Arts

Mechanical Engineering/Gadgetry

Weaknesses:

Weirdness Magnet

Technological Reliability

Equipment:

Blue Devil Costume

Blue Devil Trident

Devilmobile

Trident of Lucifer

Universe:

Earth-One

New Earth

Base of Operations:

Oblivion Bar

Metropolis

Los Angeles

Malibu, California

House of Weirdness

Citizenship: American

Marital Status: Single

Occupation:

Special Effects Artist

Stuntman

First Appearance: Firestorm Vol 2 #24 (June, 1984)

Powers

Demonic Physiology: In his original superhero form, Blue Devil's abilities were largely the result of the technological devices built into his costume. Danny was reborn as a genuine demon after he was defeated by Neron in Hell.

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Agility

Superhuman Durability

Accelerated Healing

Enhanced Senses

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Vision

Abilities

Acrobatics: Danny was an experienced stuntman. The Blue Devil suit then enhanced his strength and agility dramatically.

Acting: Danny worked in the film industry as an actor, stuntman, and special effects artist. He starred alongside Wayne Tarrant and Sharon Scott in the film, Blue Devil, as the title role.

Martial Arts

Boxing: Dan was an amateur boxer who retired undefeated in his last twenty fights, and was able to hold his own against Van Vanucci.

Mechanical Engineering/Gadgetry: Danny's greatest technical achievement was building the original Blue Devil suit and rocket propelled trident.

Weaknesses

Weirdness Magnet: After being fused into the Blue Devil suit, Norm theorized that Dan's fusion of science and magic made him a "weirdness magnet" that attracted abnormal activity to him. This was dismissed as a joke until until Dr. Kylburn had the statisticians at S.T.A.R. Labs substantiate the claims. They even gave him money to put his uncanny probability to the test in Las Vegas. The theory became conclusive upon meeting Cain, who confirmed the existence of such a concept, even pinpointing the positively charged force radiating from his abdomen. It's unknown if this phenomenon was caused by the magic of Nebiros or Danny's family history which has faerie blood on his uncle Seamus' side.

Technological Reliability: Although the suit was organically grafted to Danny, it was still mechanical in nature and vulnerable to being hijacked by the the correct frequency. His former friend and fellow stuntman Larry Bolatnsky managed to remotely control Blue Devil to fight Firestorm.

Equipment

Blue Devil Costume: Blue Devil's powers originally came from a highly sophisticated stunt suit Danny built for practical in-camera effects. The techno-organic exosuit disappeared when he was reborn as a true demon.

Superhuman Strength: Increased Danny's strength at least twenty times the norm.

Super-Leaping

Superhuman Durability

Accelerated Healing: After being grafted to Cassidy's body, the costume became organic and gained the ability to self-repair at an extremely fast rate.

Superhuman Agility

Enhanced Senses

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Vision: Infrared night vision.

Enhanced Vocals: Voice modulator.

Amphibious: The suit had "mini-gills" built into it, allowing Danny to breathe underwater.

Explosives: Exploding bubble effect from cuffs.

Blue Devil Trident: The trident had cybernetic relay connections to the suit, allowing it to be summoned and controlled remotely. In his original superhero costume, Blue Devil relied on the rocket-powered trident he had created to fly into action. It was built to support the weight of at least 20 people and traveled at approximately 60 mph.

Flight: Though mostly used enhance his super-leaping, the rockets could also provide sustained flight.

Flame Effect: The trident could be used to shoot fire.

Devilmobile: Danny's civilian vehicle was converted overnight by Jack Edison and James Jesse into a themed Devilmobile. Its gadgetry included an oil slick, a mist bomb, an anti-gravity disk, an ejector seat, booster rockets, and pyrotechnic and explosive features. It also had a reclining "make out" function.

Trident of Lucifer: Allows him to find demons on Earth and banish them to Hell.

Reluctant Hero

Dan Cassidy was a special effects wizard and stuntman whose credits had included The Battle of the Las Vegas Showgirls and Space Ninja when he was hired by his friend, film director Marla Bloom, to create and play the title character in the Verner Bros. monster movie Blue Devil. Cassidy's specialty was somewhat unusual - rather than create optical effects that would later be applied in post-production, Cassidy specialized in "in camera" mechanical and cybernetic effects. To that end, Cassidy created a full-body costume for Blue Devil, complete with a powered exoskeleton and built-in pyrotechnic devices. Cassidy also created a rocket-powered prop trident which was, among other things, capable of flying.

During location filming on the mysterious Ile Du Diable, Wayne Tarrant, the "hero" of the film, and his co-star Sharon Scott, accidentally freed a demon named Nebiros. Though Cassidy faced incredible odds and a near-death experience, he was able to effectively use the devices built into his costume to drive the demon back to its home dimension. Unfortunately, he was blasted with demonic energy in the process. After the fight, Cassidy found that the blast had permanently grafted the Blue Devil costume to his body. Cassidy, a devout Irish Catholic, was stuck in the "skin" of an unholy Blue Devil.

While trying to find ways of escaping his costume, the newly-named Blue Devil soon found himself involved in conflicts with super villains such as Metallo and The Trickster. Nebiros, who now had an affinity for his "little brother," would return time and time again to harass the Blue Devil, and just as often Cassidy would banish him to his own dimension. Cassidy's friend Norm Paxton, a cinematographer, theorized that the blast that had made Cassidy a Blue Devil had also turned him into a sort of "weirdness magnet." Though he initially insisted that he was no super hero, it took him little time to adapt to the realities of his existence. While he continued to seek a way to regain a normal life, Cassidy became more comfortable in the role of hero over time, and even gained an unwanted sidekick in the form of Kid Devil - actually Eddie Bloomberg, Marla Bloom's nephew.

Blue Devil would spend the next few years working with superheroes as diverse as The Creeper, Black Orchid, the Omega Men, and Superman. Later, he would also encounter Cain and Abel, who would go on to rent Blue Devil a room in the other-dimensional House of Weirdness, sister structure to the House of Mystery and House of Secrets. That house contained mystical doorways into a Malibu beach house, a house outside of Metropolis, and several other places.

Retirement and Comeback

After joining the rest of the heroic community in fighting the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Blue Devil found that he was attracting less and less weirdness to him and his friends, and went into semi-retirement as a hero. Though his younger sister Frankie was later revealed to have been a sleeper agent of the Manhunters, Blue Devil did not publicly participate in the Millennium affair or any of the subsequent major events during which the super-hero community banded together.

After a several-year period during which Cassidy's and Marla Bloom's careers suffered a downturn, Blue Devil resolved to help both himself and his good friend. Sensing an opportunity when the Justice League instituted an open-door membership policy, and sponsored by the mysterious organization known as the Arcana, Blue Devil came out of retirement and joined the team in order to make a "comeback" as a celebrity. Though he was only barely tolerated by some of the more serious members of the team, Cassidy's heart was in the right place, and he embarked on a quest to increase both his powers and his fortune.

Shortly after Blue Devil joined the team, the demon Neron took control of Hell and began seeking souls on Earth. Recognizing Cassidy's sense of thwarted ambition, Neron approached him with the chance to be a movie star, which the latter eagerly accepted. Cassidy had no way of knowing, however, that the true cost of his bargain would be the death of his close friend Marla Bloom. After performing the seemingly innocuous task of destroying an automatic electrical substation far in the desert, a chain of events was set in motion that would result in Bloom and her pilot dying in a helicopter accident. Blue Devil got his wish - sympathetic movie offers began to pour in - but the price was too high.

Guilt-ridden, Cassidy made the ultimate heroic sacrifice: he cheated Neron of his soul, but died in the process. Soon after, he was reincarnated as an actual demon, with an increase in power.

Demonic Existence

After the JLA disbanded and reformed again, this time with an invitation-only membership, Cassidy found himself without a team. Having long before lost the companionship of his movie-studio friends, he joined a new "Justice League of France" consisting of himself, Firestorm, the second Amazing Man, the surviving Crimson Fox, and a woman who claimed to be Icemaiden. Unfortunately, the latter was in fact the villainous Nash in disguise, and she killed nearly all of her erstwhile teammates. Again, the Blue Devil was destroyed, and again, he was restored to life, this time by the magician Faust, who used the Devil's bones to reanimate him. Facing Nebiros for the last time, Cassidy was granted the demon's Trident of Satan. Controlled by Faust, Blue Devil joined the Sentinels of Magic, where he worked alongside Ragman and Enchantress among other supernaturally powered beings. He was finally freed from his obligation to the team when Faust restored his last bone to him - however, Blue Devil soon lost his life a third time while fighting Hermes Trismegistus.

The Shadowpact

The Blue Devil did not remain dead long, however, and was soon seen roaming the Earth and banishing demons back to Hell. Cassidy began working as a bouncer at the Oblivion Bar, working for Nightmaster. There, he joined with Ragman and Enchantress once again, as well as Nightshade and Detective Chimp, in battle against the Spectre, who had declared war on all magic. He soon became the strong-man of the newly-dubbed Shadowpact, able even to wound Eclipso, and has since decided to stay with the team. He now helps his new teammates to contain the wild magic set free by the Spectre's actions.

Shortly after the Infinite Crisis, Blue Devil and his teammates were trapped inside a "blood shield" that grew over the town of Riverrock, Wyoming. While inside the town, Cassidy met a member of magic-based villain group called the Pentacle named Jack of Fire. Jack, who wore a bandana over his mouth and wielded pyrokinetic abilities, claimed that he was Cassidy's brother, and that Cassidy's deal with Neron had cursed the entire Cassidy family to Hell. In addition to becoming demonic himself, Jack claimed that Blue Devil's late parents had been pulled out of Heaven, and that his "sisters" Mary and Frances were also cursed. The veracity of these claims is questionable - though Cassidy does have a sister, Mary Frances, he had never before mentioned a brother or another sister. Oddly, Blue Devil claimed to have no recollection of having any siblings at all - a mystery that has yet to be solved.

One day, Blue Devil's former sidekick Eddie Bloomberg, now a true demon himself, came to Cassidy inquiring about his aunt Marla's death. Blue Devil admitted that he had not been honest with Eddie regarding the circumstances of her demise, and the teen responded hastily in shock. Before he could explain the truth to Eddie, Cassidy was told by his former sidekick to stay far away.

Cassidy then found himself under threat by the former Justice League member Zauriel. Because of Blue Devil's popularity as a demon, he had unknowingly given hell and demons a better image, prompting others to make their own deals with demons. As a result, Zauriel was tasked with killing Blue Devil and doing away with his bad influence on the populace. However, when Zauriel realized that Blue Devil wanted nothing more than to combat hell, Zauriel agreed to give him some time to repair his mistakes. Blue Devil is currently in hell bargaining for his soul with a lawyer. After briefly resuming his human body with a more powerful exosuit, Cassidy is given back his Trident and demonic powers by Jack of Fire, but as a "demon with a soul".

His most recent appearance was with Zatanna and the Phantom Stranger at the desecrated grave of Batman in Blackest Night. In typical fashion, he cracks that the Stranger brought them there to "hold hands and sing Kumbaya." That changes when black rings take control of Crispus Allen. While Zatanna was sent to gather the Justice League, Blue Devil and the Stranger attempt to stop the Black Lantern Spectre, failing miserably. He and the Stranger head to Nanda Parbat, where the Stranger helps Deadman remove the black ring from his body. Blue Devil is then tasked by the Stranger to protect the body, being told that it is of "singular importance".

Fun Facts

Blue Devil's body gives off the aroma of brimstone.

Danny's an Irish Catholic and therefore has prayed at times of great need or during Mass. He still burns whenever he sets foot on holy ground.

#blue devil #daniel patrick cassidy #daniel cassidy #Shadowpact #justice league of america #jla #Justice Society of America #jsa #sentinels of magic #Spirit Squad #dc #DC comics #thedcdunce

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