#i like to think villains rather get busted by superman than batman | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

highly-opinionated-ramblings · 4 years

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Batshipping masterpost

Sometimes asking yourself the question “what would it take for me to ship these two characters together?” helps you come up with really really good stories that you otherwise might never have thought of!

Very fun writing exercise. Do recommend.

ANYWAY. I like Batman, so I asked myself this question about him, and these were the results!

(Featuring: Catwoman, Riddler, Twoface, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Azrael, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Aquaman)

What would it take for me to ship Batman with that character? A few key ingredients:

If they are/were a villain, a redemption of sorts. A slow process of coming to terms and actively deciding “yeah, that’s not who I am anymore.”

A connection, a distinct moment where they’re able to talk to Batman as more than just an old enemy or a League ally. A spark that generates interest in developing the relationship further.

An establishment of explicit trust. This usually comes in the form of Bruce revealing his identity to the other and trusting them (maybe tentatively at first, but even so) not to give it away.

An introduction to the kids. I am one hundred percent positive that this is, for the vast majority, not a voluntary action on Batman’s part. But if you raise nine kids to be detectives, you can’t expect to keep secrets from them for long! And once they know you’ve been sleeping with that former villain, you’re going to have to justify that to them somehow.

Then the whole cycle starts again as the villain redeems themselves in the eyes of the kids and gains their trust and acceptance too. Good stuff.

Note: my interpretations of these characters are entirely my own and by no means do all of them line up with any sort of canon. I just sort of do whatever.

Also: some of the bullet points below address some of the mental health problems in the villains, so proceed at your own discretion.

Catwoman: I really like the Gotham tv show’s dynamic between Bruce and Selina, which is to say, they were childhood friends with an early attraction to one another, but had a falling out sometime around the very beginnings of Bruce actually becoming Batman. She spends a few years as a professional thief. He sends her to prison a few times. But eventually she settles down and opens up a casino or whatever, where she deals information under the table. Alfred and the kids know her these days as an ally rather than enemy. So it’s just a matter of her realizing that her attraction to Bruce is deeper than originally assumed, and that if she wants to be with him she has to really dedicate herself to that idea, and for him to realize that she’s being serious and that he needs to prioritize spending time with her over obsessing over his work.

Bruce takes his mask off dramatically, saying something along the lines of “it’s me, Selina” and she’s like “yeah I know.” “What?” “You do this thing where you pace back and forth and nod your head up and down when you’re thinking. Never known anyone else who did that but Bruce Wayne.” “...Oh.”

Childhood friends interpretation is also great because Alfred already knows her and likes her. And she has all these embarrassing stories about 14 year old Bruce to share, which means that even the most resistant of the kids warm up to her right away.

Riddler: the first line in his Arkham file is that he has an obsessive need for attention. And Bruce KNOWS that. But it takes years for it to occur to him, incredibly sleep-deprived and staring down one of Ed’s death traps that he really, really doesn’t want to deal with today....what would happen if he just, y’know, gives it to him? The attention that he wants? And the results are instantaneous. It’s like the floodgates are open and Ed just can’t stop talking. It starts out snide and derogatory, the same way he usually talks to Batman, but the longer it goes on the more it deteriorates into something oddly helpless and vulnerable. Bruce has been so used to cocky, swaggering Ed that it never really occurred to him that this was someone suffering, who needed help. So he sits down and does his best to convince Ed that he’s not going to take him in (how many times has he been sent to Arkham? And what good has it done him, really?) and they talk. He leaves out of necessity (bank robbery in progress, says Barbara’s voice in his ear) but he goes back the next day, and again after that. Ed gets attention from Bruce without having to resort to crime to get it. Bruce gets a break from head busting and an outlet for some of the stale energy inside his head. They tell each other riddles and play strategy games and get to know each other, for real this time.

Ed stops worrying so much about proving that he’s smarter than Batman. Instead he channels all that energy into uncovering Bruce’s secret identity. It’s just another one of their games. Bruce has kept that secret for a long time and he’s confident he can keep it up, but Ed’s always alert waiting for him to slip up, to leave a clue

Option 1 for how he finds out: he sets up an elaborate trap, making it seem like he’s in danger and the only way to save him is for Bruce to take his mask off, so he does. Ed is outraged. “REALLY? BRUCE WAYNE? FUCKING REALLY?” he yells, dropping all pretense of being in danger. The robots he made for this setup drop like puppets with cut strings. Bruce gets ready to Fight.

Option 2: Some other villain reveals Bruce’s identity before he gets the chance (Arkhamverse style). Ed is outraged. “HOW DARE YOU LET ANYONE ELSE BUT ME DO THAT” he yells while Bruce tries his best to ignore him and focus on calling the JL to fix the whole situation somehow

Option 3: Bruce just tells him. Ed is outraged. “I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE TO FIGURE IT OUT YOU IDIOT”

The kids are Not Happy about Bruce dating Gotham’s Most Annoying Super Villain

Twoface: again I gotta go with the whole ‘they were friends when they were younger and Bruce had a raging crush on him’ setup. Cause that adds a whole layer to Bruce’s part of the story, watching Harvey become Twoface and assuming responsibility for locking him up every time he gets out. One day something happens in Gotham- string of murders or something, it’s not important really what it is. Bruce goes after the person responsible and his trail leads him to Harvey. So he busts into the safe house, intending to intimidate anything Harvey knows out of him, and then throw him back in Blackgate. “Ohohoho, noooooo, you got this all wrong,” Harvey says when he figures out what Batman’s getting at. “That motherfucker put a dozen of my men in the ground. This is personal. You want me to tell you what I know, you’re going to take me with you.” And Bruce agrees. Cause he knows Harvey’s got a certain moral code that he can be trusted to stick to, and it’s the most painless way of getting what he wants from him anyway. Working with Harvey is weird, though. He shoots a couple of goons going after Batman and gives him that lopsided smile, says “I’ve got your back,” and suddenly Bruce is like 20 again and Harvey is bringing him a coffee, smiling. During their chase they have a dramatic rooftop showdown with whoever it is they’re chasing. Bruce turns around just in time to see one of the thugs push Twoface over the edge. He gets caught up in the moment and practically screams, “Harvey!” Of course, he’s able to dramatically swoop in and save him, though it’s a pretty close call. When Harvey comes to he sits up and says quietly, “It’s been a long time since anyone’s called my name like that, did we have that kind of relationship?” and Bruce panics and tries to brush it off as his imagination, but Harvey shakes his head and says “once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it, man. It’s you under there, isn’t it, Bruce?” And it turns out that knowing Bruce’s real identity turned out to be exactly what Harvey needed. Cause he can identify some of the duality he feels about himself in Batman, now. They spend some more time together, talking some of that out, and it doesn’t take long for Bruce’s crush to return en force.

Poison Ivy: He lets her go. He knew she was at that scene, and she knows he saw her, but he lets her go, cause it wasn’t a big deal. No one died, relatively little property damage, and that jerk deserved it anyway. The next day there’s a potted plant sitting on GCPD’s doorstep and they call Batman thinking it might be dangerous, but it’s just a lovely specimen of a rare flower, which he knows is her way of saying thanks. (He doesn’t let the police know that, though. He just puts it in the back of the Batmobile and tells them it’s nothing he can’t handle). He takes it home with him and treats it well. And she knows it, can kind of sense it, distantly. They have a few more run ins over the course of the next few months and they take it easy on each other, having this sort of mutually unspoken agreement. Eventually something happens for her to need to talk to Batman, so she digs her roots in deep and finds that flower...in the garden at Wayne Manor. She leaves a message for Batman and they meet up and talk about whatever she needed. She doesn’t mention the Manor, so he asks about it. She just shrugs and mentions something about Bruce Wayne’s recent efforts in protecting the environment. “Maybe we’re not as different as I thought, after all.” They give each other more little presents from afar. One day she sees him hanging around (where she knows he knows she can see him), and drops by to talk. He offers her a ride home and ends up spending the night.

This one I think he owns up to before the kids can figure it out. Pam’s a good source of information, and if he was desperate he’d call her even with all of them watching. They’d all think he’d been bewitched, of course. It’d take a while to convince them all otherwise.

Harley Quinn: all it takes is for him to get his first glimpse of the real her and decide that Joker victims need to stick together and help other Joker victims. After the breakup and the subsequent recovery, she’s living free (albeit under Constant Surveillance) in Gotham, and he checks in every once in a while, just to make sure she’s doing ok and not reverting to her previous, Joker-driven, rocket-fueled bad habits. One day there’s an incident in her neighborhood- maybe someone was going after her and Bruce was there protecting her, or maybe it wasn’t related to her at all. Regardless, it’s her who finds him after the explosion and takes him home and gives him first aid. He’s groggy and panicky when he first wakes up in a strange place (not a hospital, not the cave) with an IV drip in his arm (he’s not in a hospital, where did that come from!). It gets worse when he realizes that his mask was blown right off his face in the blast. It gets SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE when Harley appears in his field of vision, waving around a tablet pulled up to Bruce Wayne’s wikipedia page, in full psychologist mode, ranting about how he’s been going about dealing with his childhood trauma All Wrong. But they talk, and she promises not to give his secret away. “What would I have to gain from that? You’d stop coming to visit me then!” It takes a while for the two of them to figure out exactly what’s going on between them but once they’re both sure the others’ intentions are good, they develop a good, strong relationship.

Bonus points if, at any point in the above time space, she walks up to him one day and hands him an unmarked usb drive. “What’s on this?” “My daughter.” “What.” “My daughter! Her location and everything about her.” “Is she...Joker’s?” “I dunno. Could have been him or any one of a number of other guys. Mistah J threw some really wild parties. *shrug* The only part that really matters to me is that she’s mine. And if anything ever happens to me, she’ll need someone to look out for her, y’know?” “And that’s me???” “Well, helping people in need is one of your compulsions, after all. Especially kids, or else you wouldn’t have so many of your own.”

I usually imagine Jason as one of the ones kind of sticking up for Batman, citing how crime has all but disappeared since he started sleeping with whatever particular villain and that who are they to police who Bruce shares his bed with anyway (BONUS bonus points if he’s just entering the early stages of coming to terms with his own bisexuality and never realized that Bruce was bi, too), but that wouldn’t be the case with Harley. He’d feel pretty hurt about that, I think. On the other hand: Dick has been around since Harley’s debut on the scene, and has always thought of her as relatively harmless and even respected her to a degree, as a fellow acrobat, so he’s cool with her dating Bruce

Azrael: His JL team goes on hiatus for a little while, so he calls Bruce up like “uhhh, I don’t really have much of anywhere else to go, so can I come back to Gotham for a while?” And Bruce tells him that they’re actually experiencing a pretty calm stretch for a change, but yeah, he can come if he wants. At first he’s excited because he’s never been invited to the actual, og Batcave, but there really IS nothing going on. He meets Alfred, who offers him tea. He meets Steph and Tim, out of masks, lounging on the couch playing Street Fighter. They assure him that if literally anything happens, one of their gajillion alert systems will let them know. He goes off in search of Bruce, finds him sitting at the kitchen table making his way through a veritable mountain of paperwork. Eventually he admits that he doesn’t really know what to do with himself in the downtime. “I usually try to use time like this to do things for Bruce Wayne, instead of for Batman,” Bruce explains. “You should do something for Michael Lane, while you have the chance.” “But...but...but I’ve been Azrael full-time for years now...” “Alright, well, what did you like to do before you were Azrael?” “UHH...” Before he can short-circuit too much trying to come up with an actual answer to that question, Bruce puts aside his paperwork and takes his arm. They get in the car and Bruce takes him to like a hobby shop or something. They buy model kits and a cookbook and some yarn (”one of the kids can teach you”), and he promises that one of these days they’ll clear some space on the lawn to play football. Michael hasn’t experienced this level of anyone caring for his well-being probably ever? and all he can do is stammer something about “is there anything I can do for Bruce Wayne in return?” “You can keep me company while I file all my paperwork, I guess.” So he sits at the table across from Bruce and builds his little ATAT model kit feeling happier than he has in a long time. Bruce can tell that a little more attention would do him good, so they spend some more time hanging out which leads to having some deep conversations and building up feelings for each other, it’s all very cute

Right at the beginning of Michael developing his crush on Bruce he realizes that something’s different, but doesn’t quite realize what it is, and his mind jumps to the worst case scenario right away. He locks himself in his room, calls Bruce at work, panicking, and says he thinks his St. Dumas brainwashed obsession with Bruce might be coming back. Bruce tells him to calm down, they’ll run some tests. All the tests come back negative, but Michael is visibly shaken, so Bruce offers for him to hang around Gotham a little longer so they can monitor him, which is what leads to his extended stay in Gotham

Mr. Freeze: One day something changes. One day the realization finally, finally clicks into place. There’s a huge floating JL base in the sky and aliens living on Earth and people coming back from the dead and healing from miraculous injuries and plagues all the time. If it was going to happen to him, it would have happened by now. It’s over. Nora’s not coming back. That day he laces up his boots and loads his gun and walks over to the little diner on the corner and wrecks it. Batman gets the call, and obviously he knows that something’s different, this isn’t Vic’s MO, but he goes anyway, of course. Vic blasts away at him with his freeze gun, wildly, recklessly, screaming and ranting the whole time. Bruce dodges out of view, and Vic transfers his aggressions to the nearest object in sight: a table. He blasts that thing in half, and then in half again, and keeps going until it’s nothing but splinters and he’s just standing there, gasping for breath. “Victor,” says Bruce from behind him, “tell me what’s wrong.” “Nora’s dead,” Vic mumbles under his breath. Bruce comes around to face him and Vic is looking at him with THE SADDEST puppy dog eyes he’s ever seen. (I know what you’re thinking right now. “Mr. Freeze can’t do puppy dog eyes.” You’re WRONG, I’m telling you) “That’s the first time I’ve ever said that out loud, I think... I d-don’t...I don’t know what to do…” and Bruce is like, darn, I can’t take this fool to jail. So he brings him back to his chilly lair instead and sits him down and talks him through it a little. Leaves him with a phone number to call if it gets real bad again, but makes the first call to check up on him later anyway. This one is a sloooow burn, it takes Vic MONTHS to get over Nora, couple weeks to realize he MIGHT? be developing feelings for Bruce, couple more weeks to wrestle with the guilt of that. Learning Bruce’s identity is the thing that really brings all of it to a head. Maybe there’s an attempt on Bruce Wayne’s life and later that day Batman shows up with the same pattern of lacerations on his cheek, or broken leg, or whatever. Vic’s not an idiot. He can put two and two together. When Bruce finally takes off the helmet in front of him, it’s a huge relief. To be able to say “I know what it’s like to lose people” and for Vic to know he’s not just talking about heroing. They get closer and closer from there. Their relationship is a weird one, with a lot of compromises to make, but they do the best they can.

The kids don’t particularly mind Bruce going out with Vic. He’s not so much a villain as he is just a guy who’s been dealt a bad hand in life and done the best he could with it. But having around makes the already-cool cave soooo much colder, which isn’t so fun.

Clayface: There hasn’t been an incident with Clayface in years. He’s older, little calmer, little more mature (I like the New 52 plotline of him joining Kate’s crime busting team, but this little scenario works even without that part thrown in). Still, when Bruce hears he’s back in town, he figures he should probably pay him a visit anyway. Just in case he’s planning something. But he goes to the address he was given, some apartment building in Kingston, opens the door, and finds Basil. Not Clayface, Basil Karlo, sitting in a chair by the window reading a paper. “Haven’t seen that face on you in a while,” he says, still unsure if it’s a trick or not. “Oh,” Basil shrugs, unsure if he should be worried about being tossed in jail again or not. “Well, it’s my face. The one I’m most familiar with, takes the least amount of concentration to keep up with. I did make some changes, though, see? Few gray hairs, few lines on my face. Do I look older?” “Yes. It’s a good look.” He keeps checking in with him, cause you can never be too careful, and then because he actually starts to enjoy Basil’s company. Their relationship is one of the more light-hearted ones on this list. They get wine drunk and make out on the roof of the apartment building, very giggly.

“If I learned anything at Arkham, it’s that there are some things that you know are wrong with you, but there are also things that are wrong with you that you aren’t even aware of, and that you couldn’t identify or fix even if you tried.” “One of the psychologists told you that?” “No. I shared a cell with Tetch for a few weeks. That dude is so much more messed up than you realize.”

Superman: Clark calls him up saying something about a mystery in Metropolis that has everyone stumped, and maybe the World’s Greatest Detective wouldn’t mind helping him out? So Bruce drops by to lend him a hand. The ‘mystery’ turns out to be a group of unfamiliar aliens who’re out to get Superman (I don’t care why. Maybe they’re holding some kind of grudge, maybe they’re bounty hunters, maybe they want to sell him off into space-gladiator slavery, whatever). These antagonistic aliens have been very careful in their preparations- they’ve done all the math, and come up with special weapons specifically designed to hit Superman hard enough to knock him out. But they didn’t plan on Batman being there with him, which throws them off just enough that Superman is able to chase them off successfully. In the midst of that fight, though, Bruce takes a hit. A hit calculated for Superman. It breaks several of his ribs and punctures a lung. Clark panics, scoops him up and flies him to the nearest hospital at record speeds. They’re able to stabilize him at Metropolis, and then they send him back to the Watchtower for further treatment. When he wakes up he’s pretty disoriented and confused, but Clark (who had been listening for a change in his breathing and heartbeat from a couple rooms away) comes rushing in, ushering him back to bed and promising to explain everything. Bruce is woozy and wonky enough from whatever drugs they gave him that he lays back down and lets Clark hold his hand protectively without argument. He listens to Clark’s explanation, mumbles something about calling Alfred, and promptly falls back asleep. Clark feels so guilty about his injury that he won’t leave his side for weeks, even following him back to Gotham once he’s well enough to leave the Watchtower.

“God, when will they finally just kiss already,” Jason says, taking cover with the rest of the family in the cave. “I know, right,” says Steph while Tim, Cass, and Duke (and Alfred) all nod in agreement. “SHUT UP,” yells Damian, having a hard time adapting to the idea of his dad and his best friend’s dad getting together

Any Superbat is good Superbat but I enjoy it best in the context of ‘they’re old enough by now to be embarrassed about how angsty and competitive they were when they first met, and they both have huge extended families, and the rest of the JL has been watching them dance around each other for YEARS, JUST KISS ALREADY DAMMIT’

Wonder Woman: I don’t usually imagine Bruce as a flustered kind of guy, but Wonder Woman is everything he wants to be when he grows up and he can’t help it. She’s so effortlessly cool, calm, and collected. And she’s a natural charmer, the public loves her. She always manages to come at things with a fresh perspective that has helped unstick his too-logical train of thought numerous times. She paid him a compliment once and he sat in the batmobile in the parking lot thinking about it for like twenty minutes. One day they get assigned to a League PR thing together that turns into an assassination attempt (surprising no one), but everything turns out ok. Minor damage to the surrounding buildings, a few people injured in the mass chaos, that’s all. She goes looking for him after returning from talking to the local cops, and finds him with a toddler girl on his hip, holding hands with her six yo sister, helping them look for their parents. And she just has to stop and marvel for a minute at how soft his voice is??? How the toddler isn’t even crying??? He bends down to hug the little girl bye after returning her to her fam and Diana almost has a heart attack. “I see that the gods have blessed you with an affinity for children of all ages,” she says. By the time he straightens back up he’s Batman again. “What do you mean by that?” “I can never get kids to warm up to me like that in situations like these...I always thought it was because I was just too big and imposing. How did you do it?” “Oh. Well. You know. *gestures vaguely* You just gotta give them what they want.” “And what is that?” “Security. A promise of safety from an adult that they can trust.” She doesn’t quite get it but she watches him, and talks to his sidekicks sometimes. It amazes her how much kindness and love are hidden under that mask of his. When he smiles from the heart he could melt glaciers. So she starts to press, just a little, just to see how he’ll respond. And once she figures out exactly how flustered he can get, too, it’s all downhill from there.

Martian Manhunter: This one is literally one of the sweetest, most pure relationship dynamics I think I’ve ever written, which really caught me by surprise! The way I think of it is like this: When they first meet, Bruce is really, really uncomfortable with the idea of having J’onn in his head, so J’onn tries to keep telecommunication with him to a minimum. So when Bruce gets his attention during like a meeting or something and subtly lets him know he needs to talk, J’onn knows it must be important. So he opens up a private channel and helps Bruce deal with whatever it is (I don’t know exactly what that would be, only that it’d be some kind of sensitive topic best kept between the two of them). And over the course of that, all those one-on-one mind convos, Bruce starts to get used to talking like that with J’onn. In return, while they’re working together, he helps J’onn get used to human physical contact. It starts with small things- handshakes, little pats on the shoulder- until J’onn is comfortable returning them. One day J’onn has a bad day and it’s Bruce that comes to find him, to comfort him. He doesn’t really say anything, just puts his arms around J’onn and holds him close. Most humans- and hell, even most Martians- wouldn’t have done that for him. What else was J’onn supposed to do but fall in love with him?

I really liked the scene in JL8 where J’onn was trying to, like, share a memory with Bruce or something, and instead he ended up unintentionally stumbling into some of Bruce’s trauma memories, which freaked both of them out pretty badly. I think that little scene would fit quite nicely into this scenario. Bonus, if it happens in the really early days of the League, it doubles as the moment when J’onn first learns Bruce’s secret identity.

Flash: It’s been a longtime headcanon of mine that Barry is very active in the Central City community, not just as Flash, but as himself, too. Namely, he spends a good deal of his free time volunteering with the local homeless shelter slash food bank. I mean, come on, just by the very nature of his powers, is it any surprise that he has a vested interest in ending hunger in his community? One day he stops Bruce in the hall in the Watchtower, and clumsily explains that he needs to ask a favor. The shelter has been looking to expand their operations for some time, but right at the last second one of their backers pulled out. They’re short 7k for the payment on the property they needed to make tomorrow, and Barry didn’t know where else to turn to get that much money that quickly. He promises to pay him back, somehow, eventually. Bruce cuts him a check right there for 10k, and tells him to consider it a gift. Later he even publicly endorses the program on social media, saying he thinks Gotham should implement something similar. Barry invites him down to see the building he paid for, so Bruce rolls up his sleeves and spends the day volunteering with him. It’s a chance for both of them to see a side of the other that they’ve never seen before. Bruce watches Barry shine like a ray of sunshine, bringing light and laughter to a room full of people at their very lowest. Barry watches Bruce inspire trust and confidence in complete strangers, like magic. Not to mention, that smile- Barry tries not to use his powers out in the open if he can avoid it, but he discreetly flashes over to stop a tray or something from falling, and of course it doesn’t escape Bruce’s notice. He grins at Barry from across the room and Barry’s heart fully stops for a second.

I like to think of Bruce as a little older than Barry. Just a little, just a few years. Just enough that Barry always feels like an inexperienced, incompetent baby in the face of The Batman

This one throws the kids for such a loop once they find out about it. “THIS is what you’re attracted to, Bruce? THIS???”

Green Lantern: what I know about Hal is that he’s sassy. And what I know about Bruce is that if anyone he doesn’t have the ability to tell to go to their room is sassy with him, he gets snippy. So he and Hal butt heads a lot. One day Hal is venting to Superman in like, an elevator or something about how Bruce just Doesn’t Get It, Clark, He Doesn’t Understand Me, and Clark says, “well, Hal, can you honestly say that you understand him, either?” And suggests that maybe he should spend some more time actually getting to know Bruce before passing judgement. Hal takes that to mean ‘maybe I should go to Gotham and spy on Batman for a day’. When he spots him doing his best to hide inconspicuously on a nearby rooftop, Bruce rolls his eyes and ignores him. Dick spots him too, though, and invites him to the cave in hopes that maybe they’ll be able to settle whatever their argument was about (Jason, Tim, and Steph break out the popcorn and get themselves front row seats for the Drama). But in the end, an up-close perspective was exactly what Hal needed to realize that there was more to Batman than had been meeting his eye. He watches Bruce juggle ten different comm feeds while giving a press conference AND directing his kids’ efforts in the field at the same time, and he earns a new respect for Bruce. He gets where he’s coming from now, and why he’s always so cautious all the time. The guy has a lot to lose. So he mans up and apologizes. Bruce accepts the apology graciously, says he realizes that they’re fundamentally different people but that he values Hal as a comrade and respects his prowess with the ring, and Hal is like, ‘ah. We Are Friends Now.’ He spends more of his time on Earth with Bruce, and along the way he trips and falls headlong into a debilitating crush on him. Like, a visibly obvious crush. Bruce finds it adorable.

Green Arrow: Bruce and Ollie get invited to the same billionaire shindig one day and neither of them can think of a good enough reason to not go. Ollie’s recovering from a bad ankle sprain, and Bruce hasn’t slept in days, so instead of socializing with anyone else there they just sit in the corner and hang out with each other. Midway through the event Bruce closes his eyes and does this forceful little sigh through his nose. Ollie knows him well enough by now to know that small outward signs indicate big amounts of internal emotions with Bruce, and this is about as frustrated as he’s ever seen him out of mask. Normally his act is impenetrable. “What,” he asks, imagination running full speed ahead thinking about what might have happened, “what’s wrong?” “Firefly just broke out of prison,” Bruce growls, reaching for a refill of whatever he’s drinking. “Wh- Wait, who?” “Pyromaniac, serial arsonist in Gotham.” “How exactly did you learn this?” (read: do you have some kind of spider sense I don’t know about?) Bruce just gestures to his microscopic earpiece. Ollie offers, probably against his better judgement, to take a trip to Gotham and help catch Firefly. Bruce, barely able to see straight at that point (bad combination of sleeplessness and alcohol), accepts. So Ollie gets the full treatment, a trip to the cave and tea from Alfred and a haranguing from the kids and a trip to Blackgate with Firefly, even. In return he offers to have Bruce over in Star City sometime. Ollie is usually a little on edge around Bruce, but then he starts to see the real him and finds out that he does, in fact have a sense of humor. They have goofy adventures together and it’s all very cute

Aquaman: Arthur is hotheaded and when he gets in a Mood, the sight of Bruce and his stupid unmovable face just makes him angrier. But once during a mission, when Arthur is busy working himself into a panic, not knowing what to do, it’s Bruce that snaps him out of it. Grabs him by the shoulders and demands that he get a hold of himself. And it’s enough of a shock that it actually works- Bruce tells Arthur the plan, and Arthur does it without argument. No one is more surprised when it works than he is. He is SHOOK. Eventually he swallows his pride enough to go up to Batman and admit, “I think I’m still too emotionally invested in this, can you help me?” Bruce agrees, of course. He does his best to explain how he always keeps his emotions in check, especially when lives are on the line. It occurs to Arthur to wonder what kind of toll that takes on a person. He decides that Bruce could probably use a little vacation of sorts, and invites him to spend a day with him in Atlantis. A day in the life of a king, if you will. Bruce rolls his eyes and agrees, just to play along, but he ends up really enjoying it. Yes, there are a dozen-odd irons in the fire waiting for him when he gets home, but this time he finds that he actually has the energy to deal with them for once. Which is a good enough excuse to go back and do it again, and spend more time with Arthur in the process.

Dami is usually super resistant to Bruce dating anyone, but he would be ok with Arthur, I think. Like, “you bagged a king? Ok, respect”

Extra notes:

I feel like a lot of my thoughts about Clayface and Martian Manhunter specifically could also apply to Killer Croc, too, in a way. I mean, he’s not EVIL. He’s just never really been treated like a person, and so he embraced his image as Killer Croc instead of continuing to face that rejection. But if anyone can look past his exterior and see the needs of the man within, Bruce could. Feels a little weird to think about but maybe there’s something there.

Polyshipping is GREAT may I interest you in some ot3s??? SuperWonderBat is one of the more obvious ones, and I love it (cause Diana gets to play with TWO flustered boys) but BatLanternFlash is also top tier. And then there’s the villains! RiddleBatCat is one of my favorites! Also TwoRiddleBat and BruHarlIvy. The possibilities are endless!

I considered adding Lex and Slade to this post, but in the end I left them off. Cause it’s hard for me to see those as anything but weird, inherently unhealthy relationships. They’d make great black ships though : o

When talking about Bruce dating someone else from the JL, there’s DOUBLE the kids to embarrass. Can you imagine you’re like, Roy Harper or something, somebody’s sidekick, and you walk in and find BATMAN in bed with your mentor???? WILD

This post really got away from me, haha. Thanks for reading! Hit me up if you ever need someone to talk about Batshipping with (especially rarepairs, I got you fam)!

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britesparc · 3 years

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Weekend Top Ten #467

Top Ten Romantic Couples in Superhero Movies (& TV)

It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. Woo, I guess? I dunno. I’m not generally cynical about holidays but Valentine’s Day does seem to be entirely focused on selling cards without any of the associated pleasantries of, say, Christmas or Halloween. I’d rather just try to be nice to my wife all year round. At least because of the apocalypse all the restaurants are closed so we can’t be tempted to pay through the nose for a set menu. Anyway, it gives me a strained excuse to tie this week’s Top Ten to something vaguely romantic.

Superheroes are often horny. This seems to be a defining characteristic of the artform. Whether it’s their descent from ancient myths, or their creators’ origins in writing romance books, or just a function of genre storytelling in the mid-twentieth century, there’s quite a lot of romantic angst in superhero stories. Pretty much every superhero has a significant other; Lois Lane even got her own comic that was actually called Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane. It’s hard to conceive of many heroes without their primary squeeze, and often – as we get multiple media adaptations of characters – we can add diversity or a twist to the proceedings by picking a lesser-known love interest, or one from earlier in the character’s fictional history; for instance, Smallville beginning with Cark Kent’s teenage crush Lana Lang, or The Amazing Spider-Man swapping out Mary Jane Watson for Gwen Stacey.

Anyway, I’m talking this week about my favourite superhero couples. I’ve decided to focus on superhero adaptations – that is, the characters from movies and films based on superhero comics or characters. I find this a little bit easier as I don’t have a phenomenal knowledge of sixty years of Avengers comics, but I have seen all the movies a bunch. As many comics as I’ve read, and as much as I love various ink-and-paper pairings, I can arguably talk more authoritatively about the fillums than the funny books. And let’s be real here, kids: my favourite comic book romantic couple is Chromedome and Rewind in Transformers. Also if I split them in two I can talk about comic couples next year. Woohoo!

It really is hard thinking of these things nearly nine years in, folks.

So! Here, then, are my favourite movie-TV Couples in Capes. Obviously there’s a fair bit of MCU in here. And I’ve been pretty specific about “superhero” romances: so no Hellboy and Liz Sherman, sadly (and I do really like them in the movies, of which they really need to make a third). Some are civvies-and-supes; some are capes-and-capes. You’ll work it out.

Superman & Lois Lane (Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder, Superman, 1978): who else? The most famous romance in all of comics, a combo so strong it remains the focus of pretty much every interpretation of the character, but arguably never better than here; so good are Reeve and Kidder that their fast-talking banter and inherent goodness set the template for a huge swathe of other comic adaptations to follow. She’s sarky and streetwise; he’s gormless and good-hearted. She leaps in where angels fear to tread, he’s an invulnerable alien in disguise. They have buckets of chemistry and an utterly believable (tentative) romance. They’re perfect performances and the scenes of Clark in Metropolis for the first time (including Superman’s balcony interview with Lois) are the best bits of an already excellent film.

Raven & Beast Boy (Tara Strong & Greg Cipes, Teen Titans Go!, 2014): on a totally different register, we have the comedy stylings of the Teen Titans. Raven and Beast Boy had a flirtatious relationship on the original Titans series, but on this longer-running and much more demented comedy follow-up, they were allowed to make the romance more official (I nearly said “explicit” but, y’know… it’s not that). The jokes and banter – BB the love-struck, jealous suitor, Raven the too-cool partner who feigns nonchalance – build and build, but every now and again they’re allowed a moment of genuine heartfelt romance, and it hits all the more strongly amidst the ultra-violence and outrageous comedy.

Captain America & Agent Carter (Chris Evans & Hayley Atwell, Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011): the premier couple of the MCU, Steve and Peggy spend a whole movie flirting (she sees the goodness of him even before he gets all hench) before finally arranging a date that, we all know, is very much postponed. Peggy casts a shadow over the rejuvenated Cap and the MCU as a whole, founding SHIELD, inspiring dozens of heroes, and counselling Steve to her dying days. She remains Steven’s true north (like Supes with Lois, Peggy’s an ordinary human who is the actual hero of an actual super-powered hero), guiding him through the chaos and tragedy of Endgame, until they both get to live happily ever after. Even though he snogged her niece.

Batman & Catwoman (Michael Keaton & Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns, 1992): Pfeiffer delivers a barnstorming performance as Selina Kyle, all barely-supressed mania and seductive feline charm. The chemistry between her and Keaton is electric, and propels the film forward even when the Penguin-runs-for-mayor stuff gets a bit daft and icky. There are beautiful moments of romantic comedy when they’re both trying to cover up injuries they gave each other, and of course there’s “mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it” – a line that runs a close second to “dance with the devil” when it comes to Burton-Batman quotations (just ahead of “never rub another man’s rhubarb”). Burton, generally favouring the macabre villains over the straighter edges of the heroic Batman, nevertheless makes great play of the duality of the character, and how this is something he and Catwoman can share – both “split right down the centre” – but also how this means a happy ending for either of them is impossible.

Spider-Man & Mary Jane (Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2002): whilst a lot of this is really down to the sexiness of them kissing upside-down in the rain, there’s a nice duality to Peter and MJ seeing through each other too: he sees the wounded humane soul beneath her it-girl persona; she sees the kind, caring man underneath his geek baggage. This arc plays out beautifully across the first two films (ending in that wonderfully accepting “Go get ‘em, tiger”) before sadly getting all murky and unsatisfying in the murky and unsatisfying third film. Still: that kiss.

Wonder Woman & Steve Trevor (Gal Gadot & Chris Pine, Wonder Woman, 2017): probably the film that hews closest to the Clark-Lois dynamic of the original Superman, to the point where it includes an homage to the alleyway-mugging scene as Diana deflects a bullet. Steve is Diana’s window into man’s world, showing her the horror of the First World War but managing to also be a sympathetic ally and never talking down or mansplaining anything. He’s a hero in his own right – very similar to another wartime Steve on this list – and very much an ideal match to the demigod he’s showing round Europe. And, of course, Gadot’s Diana is incredible, both niaive and vulnerable whilst also an absolute badass. There is an enduring warm chemistry to the pair, with a relationship which we actually see consummated – relatively rare for superheroes! The inevitability of his heroic sacrifice does nothing to lessen the tragedy, and no I’ve not seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet.

Hawkeye & Laura Barton (Jeremy Renner & Linda Cardellini, Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015): I love these guys! I love that Hawkeye has a relatively normal, stable family life. He has a big old farmhouse that he wants to remodel, he’s got two kids and a third on the way… he’s got something to live for, something to lose. It humanises him amidst the literal and figurative gods of the Avengers. And they’re cute together, bickering and bantering, and of course she is supportive of his Avenging. I hope we get to see more of Laura and the kids in the Hawkeye series, and I hope nothing bad happens to them now they’ve all been brought back to life.

Wanda Maximoff & Vision (Elizabeth Olsen & Paul Bettany, Avengers: Infinity War, 2018): theirs is a difficult relationship to parse, because they’re together so briefly. They cook paprikash together in Civil War before having a bit of a bust-up, and by Infinity War they’re an official couple, albeit on the run (and on different sides). That movie does a great job in establishing their feelings for each other in very little screentime, with their heroic characteristics on full display, before the shockingly awful tragedy of Wanda killing Vision to save the galaxy, before Thanos rewinds time, brings him back to life, and kills him again, and then wins. Their relationship going forward, in WandaVision, is even trickier, because we don’t know what’s up yet, and at times they’re clearly not acting as “themselves”, defaulting to sitcom tropes and one-liners. Will Vision survive, and if he does, will their relationship? Who can say, but at least they’ll always have Edinburgh, deep-fried kebabs and all.

Batman & Andrea Beaumont (Kevin Conroy & Dana Delany, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, 1993): woah, Batman’s back but it’s a different Batman, say whaaaat. Animated Batman has had a few romances, from the great (Talia al-Ghul) to the disturbingly icky (Batgirl, ewwww), but his relationship with Andrea Beaumont is the best. Tweaking the Year One formula to give young Bruce a love interest that complicates his quest is a golden idea, and making her a part of the criminality and corruptiuon that he’s fighting is a suitably tragic part of the Batman origin story. Conroy and Delany give great performances, him wringing pathos out of Bruce, torn between heart and duty (“It just doesn’t hurt so bad anymore,” he wails to his parents’ grave, “I didn’t count on being happy”), her channelling golden age Hollywood glamour. The tragedy of them rekindling their relationship years later, only to wind up on different sides again, is – again – so very Batman. It’s a beautiful, earnest, very Batman relationship, a great titanic tragedy of human emotions and larger-than-life ideals. And they both look good in black.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell, Harley Quinn, 2020): this one’s a little bit of a cheat, as I’ve only seen the first season of the show, where Harley and Ivy don’t even get together. But in the wider, non-canonical sense of these being characters who are part of the pop-cultural ether, Harley and Ivy will always be a couple, I feel; and there’s definitely enough in there already to see the affection between them, not yet consummated. They adore each other, are always there for each other, and as the season follows Harley getting out of her own way and acknowledging the abuse of her relationship with Joker – and finally getting over it in the healthiest way possible for a bleached-white manic pixie in roller derby gear. And all through this, holding her hand, is Ivy. They’re utterly made for each other, and I’m glad that they do get together in season two. I hope that Margot Robbie’s rendition of the character can likewise find happiness with a flesh-and-blood Ivy. Hell, just cast Lake Bell again. She’s great.

Just bubbling under – and I’m really gutted I couldn’t fit them in – was Spider-Man & M.J. from Spider-Man: Far From Home. Like Batman, I’m comfortable including multiple continuities here, and those cuties offer a different spin on a classic relationship.

#valentine's day #romance #top ten #love #superheroes #comic book #movie #films #dce #mcu #marvel

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loverofoptimus · 5 years

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The Less Eventful Of Days: DCAU Superman X Reader

Figured I’d make a fic to go along with the relationship headcanons I typed out https://loverofoptimus.tumblr.com/post/183845680514/dcau-superman-x-reader-headcanons

Your sleep came to an abrupt end at the feeling of lips on your neck but just about any annoyance at the sudden interruption was gone at the wonderful sensation especially when your mind finally had time to process of the one person it could possibly be.

Turning around you saw Clark giving you just the grin you were expecting which you returned with one as well. He leaned in closer and pressed your foreheads to each other.

“Good morning, beautiful”. he said.

“Good morning, Superman”. you answered.

The two of you brought your faces level to level and kissed deeply. He worked his great wonders on your lips with his own and pulled you tight against his chest while your hand made it’s way onto his head and started playing with the S curl of his hair.

His hands rubbed and massaged along your back and his tongue traced your lips asking for entrance which you took very little time to oblige. Your own tongue slid against his as it explored your mouth.

Breaking from the kiss, he looked you over and said. “Even with that bedhead, you’re still more alluring in life than you are in my dreams”

“Why, thank you.” That comment though made you react by trying to fix your hair as best as your hands could manage.

He chuckled and gave your lips a peck. Then he uncovered himself from the sheets and threw his legs over the side of the bed you two shared.

“Well, time to start another day”

“Do we have to?” You moaned. “Can’t we just stay like this all day?”

Clark just gave you a smirk and shook his head. You sighed knowing he was right, as much as you didn’t want to leave the bed. He then wrapped his arm around your torso.

“If it helps, I’ll go make breakfast.” He said.

That did sound really good right now. With that motivation, you managed to pry yourself from the bed while he made his way to the kitchen.

After the mundane task of preparation, you headed to the kitchen taking in the lovely aroma of pancakes. Clark had just set up your spots at the table and beckoned you over. You obliged and once comfortably seated, began to eat

There was that satisfied smile he loved so much no matter how many times he’s seen it.

“I’ve never known a man who could whip this up so fast and efficiently before you.” You complimented.

“Well, Wally can do it quicker but he tends to leave a big mess behind.” He answered then took a sip of his coffee.

“At least he can clean it up just as quickly.”

“But not the most efficiently.” He then chuckled. “Bruce almost busted an artery in his head when he found signs that Wally had been going through his equipment.”

You giggled at the thought of what Batman must have said to Flash after that. You sure didn’t envy that poor kid.

Clark stopped eating and got out of his seat then gave you a hint of what his next move was going to be.

“I don’t think Perry would like me walking around the office like this.”

He then went upstairs to dress and tidy up. You were almost finished with your breakfast when he came back down fully dressed. His hair combed down and is face now sporting the glasses that he had no need for other than helping his facade as just an ordinary citizen.

It was strange at first how the similarities between Superman and Clark Kent didn’t click immediately to your mind. But then again, very few people knew that Superman even had a secret identity, let alone who it was.

Honestly the more you thought about it, the more surprisingly brilliant it was.

Clark took his seat and finished up his pancakes while you did the same. He took the dishes to the sink then turned to you.

“We have a little time before we need to leave.” He walked over to you and planted a sweet kiss to your forehead.

“What do you have in mind, Clark?” You asked with a smile. Of course, you already had an idea of what it was.

You arrived at the new Italian restaurant that you and Clark had been planning on trying for lunch that day. Standing by the entrance, you decided to pass the time with your thoughts while you waited for him and your mind started with the city around you.

Although Metropolis was always a nice place to look at, many people agree that it looks it’s best from above rather than at your current street level. But where most people would think of that from a view from one of the skyscrapers, you have something even better.

Your boyfriend.

No building or plane could ever give you the spectacle that Superman could. You love it when he takes you on his one woman flight. Any fear of falling was completely gone in the comfort of his strength and speed should anything go wrong.

The air also felt crisper than it did down on street level with fewer people to distribute between and fewer machines giving off smog. It was all just a grand experience.

You were suddenly pulled out of your trance when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around your torso followed by a pair of lips pressing against your cheek.

“Need an escort?”

You giggled and replied “I don’t know. Maybe I’d like going solo.”

Clark released you from his embrace and led you into the restaurant.

The two of you spent time talking about the new ideas Clark had in mind for the Daily Planet and if Bruce and Diana were ever going to finally become a couple until your meals arrived.

“Now to satisfy my belly”. Clark said in anticipation.

“If it tastes as good as it smells, we should come here more often.” You added

A bit way through the meal Clark decided to start up the conversation again.

“Anything exciting happened at work so far?” He asked before taking a bite of his pasta.

“About as much excitement as calculus.” You answered honestly. There was a good reason why you’d have rather spent the day in bed. “How about you?”

“Well, Lois went on quite the rant and she was so furious about it I didn’t even catch what it started with.” He chuckled. “It’s usually best to just keep to the sideline until she can think straight again.”

“Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable working in the same place as your Ex?” You asked quieter knowing this was a public place.

“I told you before, Y/N. There were no hard feelings or maliciousness. We agreed it just didn’t work out.” He then took a good look around, checking for any prying eyes or eavesdroppers before he continued in a whisper.

“Besides, as far as she still knows, Clark and Superman are two different people.”

While you and Lois weren’t enemies by any means or even had any true personal distaste for each other, you always couldn’t help but feel that she had a habit of either getting herself into a great deal of trouble all for a shot at a story or else just bring trouble to any situation.

Granted she was a reporter but she really could stand to use more caution.

Still, she kept Clark happy for a good while till he started dating you and if he’s still on good terms with her, she couldn’t be all bad.

“Did I ever tell you about the time she almost married Bruce?” Clark asked.

“No, but I’m sure it’s a story I’d like to hear.”

You arrived home first which meant Clark was either held back a bit by the press or somewhere, something was amiss that needed the help of Superman.

Even though you went over in your mind time and time again that there was very little that can actually threaten his life, there was always that tiny hint of worry anyway.

After all, despite his great power, Clark held most of it back in the fear of hurting innocent lives, even when his own well being was at stake. He’s such a selfless soul.

You knew that this was going to be something you’d have to accept when you became his girlfriend.

All the same though, you also settled in your mind that you’d rather take that chance than just spend your life dreaming of what could have been and you’ve never regretted it.

You found ways to keep yourself preoccupied until it lead to checking the TV guide for a good movie.

It was then when you heard the front door open. You made your way to the entrance of your home and standing there was indeed your one true love.

He was wearing his suit. The blue and red one with the trunks and cape. The one that just about everybody in Metropolis and most of the world would instantly recognize him in.

“What happened?” You asked concerned.

“Nothing too serious. Just a few burglars I caught trying to ransack a jewelry shop.”

“You’d think the non-super villains would have learned by now.”

Clark laughed and pulled you into a hug. You nuzzled your face into his chest and embraced him back. He gave you a sweet peck on the head

After he released you, you took the opportunity to check his spandex figure. You may have seen it countless times before but it didn’t look any less dull than it had the first time.

“I can keep it on for a while.” He said, fully knowing you loved the way it felt. Not to mention how good he looked in it.

“What can I say? I love a man in uniform.” You replied with a shrug.

He chuckled then followed you into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and pulled you into his lap. You reacted by snaking an arm around his torso.

“Beauty and the Beast is coming on in about 10 minutes.” You said. His face lit up at that information

“I haven’t seen that movie in ages.”

After reliving what might be the greatest animated movie of all time, your stomach (as well as the growls from Clark’s) reminded you of what it was time for.

You got off your boyfriend letting him get up as well then you both made your way to the kitchen.

“Feel like having those chicken breasts?” He asked while fishing through the refrigerator.

“The way you can cook and season meat, I’d be fine with spam.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll throw in mashed potatoes and dessert for that.” He started gathering the cooking tools and ingredients.

“That’s too much work for you alone, big guy. Let me give you a hand.”

“Too much work? Have you forgotten who I am?”

“You mean besides the man of my dreams?”

He chuckled as he placed the chicken on the oiled pan he set up. Rather than turn on the stove top itself, he let his heat vision do the work and added spices to the sizzling meat.

All the while he was whistling to the tune “Be Our Guest”

You meanwhile set the table as that was just about all you were going to accomplish before Clark would insist he’d take over from there.

“I’m just glad that the man of my dreams was both of the men I fell in love with. I already spent too many sleepless nights trying to decide which one I was going to pick.”

“It sounds like a good foundation for an upbeat musical. Maybe we should send it to Disney.”

You laughed as he brought the cooked chicken to the table.

With dinner finished up, you were now in the bathroom stripping down and about to take a shower.

The door opened and in he stepped unclothing as well. It was almost funny how the big boy scout wasn’t even remotely bothered by the naked figure of the woman in the room with him or that he was exposed in front of other eyes too.

Of course, it’s certainly wasn’t like you two haven’t seen each other like this before.

Clark stepped into the shower and you followed suit as he turned the head on and adjusted the water’s temperature. You took the soap off its holder and started lathering up your body.

Halfway through your cleansing, he placed his hands on your waist.

He had a cocky smirk plastered on his face and you knew exactly where his mind was.

“Feeling amorous?”

“Very, yeah.”

“Good. So am I.”

It went on for a very long while even long after you both were done washing.

As always, you were completely worn out but couldn’t be any more satisfied. With the little energy you had left along with some help from Clark, you dressed into your nightwear and crawled into bed.

He came around the other side and did the same. You then cuddled against his body warmly while he pulled you into an embrace. Now relaxed, you let out a sigh.

This had honestly been among the less eventful of days since you two started dating and it was still more pleasant than just about every day you had spent alone.

Clark made everything that much nicer. He always had. Thinking over it, you thought it was rather unfair how much effort he put into this relationship when you felt you’ve haven’t contributed the same.

“Clark?”

“Yes?”

“I really can’t say enough how much I appreciate everything.” You said. “You’ve given me so much and I just can’t help wondering how I can ever return the favor.”

His hand caressed your cheek and he gently turned your face towards his own. He gave you a warm smile and leaned in closer.

“Y/N, just being with me is enough to return the favor. You really think you don’t do enough for me? You lift my spirit. You reinforce my hope. You gave me love in my life when I needed it the most. You’re everything about humanity that I love.”

He pulled you closer and gently but passionately kissed you.

“The only thing I could ever ask you for is the promise that you’ll stay with me and one day, we’ll start a family. Help me rebuild the life that my kind lost.”

“There’s nothing more I want than that.” You said, returning his warm smile.

“I’ll give you much more than that anyway. Just wait until you see what I have planned for us on the weekend.”

You laid your head on his chest as his heartbeat soothed you to the core. His body was so comfortably warm that you wouldn’t mind if the sheets were suddenly removed.

He ran his hands along your back and held you against his body as tight as he could without making it uncomfortable. He took a deep inhale of your scent and kissed your forehead. God, this felt so wonderful.

“I love you, Y/N.” He muttered

“I love you too, Superman” You answered before drifting off into sleep.

You know in your heart, you couldn’t leave him if you tried.

Thanks for Reading! If you enjoyed, please like and reblog!

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davidmann95 · 5 years

Note

This weeks comics?

So much to cover, and just so we’re all clear upfront, SPOILERS ahead.

Sideways Annual #1: I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive the cover for simply reading “All-out Action, guest-starring Superman” rather than the declaration of “The Champion of the Oppressed is BACK–JUST WHEN THE WORLD NEEDS HIM MOST!” it demanded, but otherwise what a delightful comic. It’s a mess in so many ways given Morrison’s working with what DiDio laid down for him (which he seems to demonstrate hilarious contempt for when he almost literally drops a bridge on the no-hoper who’d been set up as the arc villain before he can do anything) and jumping on mid-stream to boot, but it’s basically just an extended excuse for him to put dialogue in Superman and the Seven Soldiers’ mouths again and remind everyone how rad his takes on them are, and thereby shame us for abandoning the former. Plus give us a taste of what his voice for Spider-Man would be, which it turns out is a perfectly fine one in spite of his past professed skepticism that he could pull it off. And above all to assure us with a smile and the proper send-off (a particularly satisfying one for me personally given my arachnophobia) we never got before that even if we never see our pal cop-punching, bank-busting, casual Fridays Superman again, he’ll be out there, along with all the other cast-off good Superman ideas, helping out wherever he can.

Also, who else caught the nudge and wink about the Tailor, and how that tells devoted Seven Soldiers fans just how much of role Morrison really played in saving his take on Superman?

Batman #60: Batman is…Batman is weird lately. I honestly don’t have anything else to say about this issue, except that the bit with Alfred cleaning was obviously killer.

The Unexpected #6: So Ronan Cliquet is bad, right? Like, we can all agree that dude is just bringing nothing to the table? I’ve never seen pages so plain look so simultaneously cramped and barren. This book has been such a damn disappointment: clearly promises were made about how much space Orlando would have to work on this that have been entirely broken, he’s cutting past what was clearly intended to be dozens of issues of buildup and fleshing-out of the concept to the grand finale, and he’s already obviously and understandably checked out. This should have been one of those “hey, you never heard of _____, but it was quietly one of DC’s best books for awhile there!” titles you learn about 20 years after the fact, but it was stillborn and unable to explore even the slightest sliver of its potential. It’s almost reached a point where it can make me think its coming conclusion is a mercy killing, but then, said conclusion is the problem.

Justice League #11: The debut of the Super-eyepatch! Otherwise, while it’s definitely not my favorite issue thus far of Snyder’s Justice League, it might be the one that feels the most well-realized in terms of getting his vision on the page thanks to Francis Manapul. I desperately hope he sticks on the book past Drowned Earth, because as much as I absolutely love what Jorge Jimenez and Jim Cheung are doing, his vision feels the most in line with the, as Snyder put it, ‘magisterial’ tone this title is going for a lot of the time.

The Green Lantern #1: Not my favorite Morrison title of the week in spite of its lack of clutter and outside influence, to the point where I’d honestly say it initially left me pretty cold, but much as with Morrison’s last major #1 in Action Comics, a reread did wonders for me once I knew what sort of tone I’d be grappling with. I do think it was oddly structured in a way that didn’t benefit it, leading with the mundane-flavored-with-cosmic with the alien beat cops rather than Hal’s more grounded perspective leading into the awe-inspiring, but given it sets up an immediate contrast with his ‘civilian life’, I’d call it a calculated risk that didn’t quite pay off. Hal himself is interestingly realized, this blunt, bored dude who only really comes alive when he’s on the clock, who’s as hyper-competent at his job as you’d think the Greatest Green Lantern Of Them All would be but almost seems to be sleepwalking through his days. It’s when we reach Oa with the mission statement for the Corps that the book really comes together, meshing up the beautiful design sense, an evocation of some of Morrison’s past recurring themes and elements, and raw high concept into the most powerful evocation of the basic idea of Green Lantern’s Deal I’ve ever read. And Liam Sharp mostly does justice by it; I know some find his style off-putting and his anatomy wonky, but he sells the what-if-GL-was-a-2000AD-strip sensibility, and his work has a framing and structure and a tangible, doughy 3Dishness that recalls the flavor of some of Morirson’s best prior collaborations. Not that, to be clear, I don’t think plenty of those prior collaborators couldn’t have done a much better job with this, but I think this’ll pan out just fine.

On top of that a couple minor notes: I suspect David Uzumeri might have been right regarding the possibility that this could be the book where Morrison delves into the basic question of whether superheroes are by nature cops, and thereby police brutality (Maxim Tox and Hal himself both have some startlingly severe moments in here) and the moral feasibility of the whole business. Rather than rethinking his process in his time away, Morrison’s storytelling tics are as prominently on display here as just about anything he’s ever done. And I was genuinely shocked to see the acknowledgement of Manhattan in here - a landmark chapter in The Last War In Albion in the making if ever there was one - right alongside addressing Snyder’s Justice League, making this to my knowledge the only book in the company’s lineup to acknowledge both contenders to the throne of DC’s current actual Important Cosmic-Scale Story. I suppose Lantern is the place where that makes sense, but both bring interesting elements of their own, as with the Source Wall Morrison’s going right on in and acknowledging how other creators have brought his ideas and spirit to the forefront of the DCU in the last several years, and with Manhattan, having a Grant Morrison DC Comic acknowledge the presence of Watchmen characters as parts of the grand scheme of things makes that whole bizarre business feel real in a way even Doomsday Clock itself hasn’t for me.

Adventures of the Super Sons #4: What a charmer! I harped a lot on Pete Tomasi by and large sucking on Superman, because by and large he sucked on Superman, but put that dude on just the right project to play into his strengths and he absolutely shines.

The Dreaming #3: Wound up in my pull file since I’d unsubscribed so recently, and decided to give it one last chance. It’s pretty and confident in what it’s doing and I’m sure lots of people are rightfully getting a lot out of it, but I’m not one of them and it won’t be getting another shot.

Border Town #3: It feels odd to think this given how much positive attention it’s been getting and how well it’s sold for a modern Vertigo book, but Border Town absolutely still feels like the sleeper hit of 2018. It so feels like the sort of comic that I usually can acknowledge the quality of but doesn’t do it for me personally, so I keep picking it up expecting to not quite gel with a given issue, but each time I’m dead damn wrong. It’s brimming with energy and personality on every level, and it’s still early enough that I can’t possibly recommend enough that anyone who hasn’t given it a chance yet jump onboard.

The Wicked + The Divine: The Funnies: Speaking of titles that I can acknowledge the quality of but rarely do it for me, I’ve followed W + D from the beginning on the understanding that the fairly subdued joys I take from it on a month-by-month basis will be eclipsed by the scale of my love for it on a full reread, as was the case with the team’s Young Avengers. But boy did this one buck that trend, because it was a hoot. Honestly couldn’t tell you which was my favorite short, because like half the book is made up of front-runners.

Death of the Inhumans #5: Because Death of Some Inhumans, But Don’t Worry Not Any of the Good Ones, Other than Maximus wouldn’t have shifted as much copy. Donny Cates is establishing himself as a solid mid-tier superhero writer alongside your Tim Seeleys and James Tynions, and Ariel Olivetti’s a treat, but I have to call this one a miss.

Shatterstar #2: As I expected it didn’t grab me as much as the first issue since the tenants aren’t front-and-center, but I’m still digging it to a truly startling extent!

Marvel Knights #1: Okay? I mean, I liked it (aside from the unbelievably poorly-chosen ‘I can sort of see even though I’m blind’ line - had to be a dozen better ways of putting that), but aside from that it’s gritty and involves some of the characters with notable history in the imprint, I have no idea why this is the Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary book as opposed to just a random Marvel miniseries that I suppose could be published under that imprint if you wanted. The conceit feels so odd for the intended purpose.

The Immortal Hulk #8: This book is SO FUCKING GOOD ALL OF THE TIME AT EVERYTHING AND YOU ALL NEED TO BUY IT AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IT. CHRIST. Still the best super-shit on the stands.

DC Nation #6: Yanick Paquette needs to write Batman explaining science so as to teach us how to better fight crime for as long as he lives, if not in fact longer.

#Grant Morrison #Superman #Green Lantern #The Unexpected #Border Town #DC Comics #Marvel #Liam Sharp #Week's Comics #Opinion

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darkspellmaster · 5 years

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Young Justice Theory: Connections to the Crisis Quartet....

So about this rather interesting spoiler I discovered thanks to the CBR board... Better safe than sorry on this one because if this turns out to be true then it’s a doozy of a situation that the crew is going to be put into. So a fair warning before you dive in...there are spoilers below to several DC comic events: Identity Crisis, Count down to Infinite Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis, Crisis on Infinite Earths, 52, Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis.

These stories contain: Death, some gore, and at least one has a rather unpleasant factor of rape being involved as part of it’s story. Because I’m going to be discussing the above things partly in this and there will be pictures that might upset some people I just want to give people a heads up. You have been warned going in.

Okay so what the hell am I going on about and honestly when I was reading this I was freaking out. So a post of so ago I mentioned some theories about this season and talked about the possibility of the Anti life equation factoring into the story. Thanks to the gallery for the next three episodes, this wonderful post here from Spitfire or Bust, the Behind the scenes footage from this season on the DCUniverse, a post on CBR’s forums, and a link to young justice.tv spoilers, I can almost 90% say Seasons 3 and 4 and possibly 5 will be dealing with the Crisis Quartet, or at least three of them, from DC’s main comics.

We know that this is going to be a thing as Greg already confirmed in season 2 that season 3 was going to deal with Apokolips, just not how much directly (as this story can’t be told in 26 episodes, no way in hell it would be horribly paced).

We also know that the names of the episodes have been pretty much confirmed as Episode 11 is Called Home Fires and the Behind the Scenes image confirmed the title in the image that we see with Iris and Bart.

The site in question has it as episode 9, however this confirms it as Episode 11. However they have the others right so far, so either BTS got the number wrong or the site did. Doesn’t change the factor that there’s some thing interesting in the titles.

Take each of the first letter of the first word of the names of the titles, and you get:

Prepare the Anti Life Equation.

This little message, has ties not only to Apokolips and Darkseid, but it also has ties directly to the Crisis Quartet and the fall out that happened after.

So first what is the Quartet? Well it is a group of four Crisis that happened in DC comics, three of which were between 2004 to 2010, while the first happened in 1985 -1986 and affected all stories that followed going forward after it.

So to simplify things. Here’s a fast rundown on the important factors about these Crisis and their connections to YJ Season 3, 4 and maybe 5 if things go well.

So Way back in the 1980s DC was having issue with keeping up with it’s own continuity because there was so many books and worlds. Because of this and their own anniversary coming up they tasked then Teen Titan’s writers Marv Wolfman and artist/co-writer Jorge Perez, to come up with an event that would solidify the DCU’s continuity. These two came up with:

Crisis on Infinite Earths:

Now this story while really important as the backbone in the main DCU going forward doesn’t have as much to do with YJ in the long run as of yet. But it does have some important factors that will be coming into play I think later on, and we already saw a part of this happening in Season 2 with Walley vanishing. So bullet points ahoy for only the things that are important in this story for later in comments.

Short and long of it is that a being named the monitor trying to stop another creature named the Anti-monitor from destroying the Universe. All the different DC worlds come together to fight him, Super-girl dies, along with several other characters, during this event where all the worlds in DC merge into one world with a over all collected history. (This collection is still in print and you can find it at your local bookstore or comic shop.)

- Barry Allen vanishes as he’s running from the future or from an event that is coming from the future to warn Batman and the others an disperses into the speed force.

We’ve already seen this with Wally in his run where he vanishes in season 2 following a pattern of what happened to Barry.

- Superman from the Golden age, his Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor (son of Lex Luthor from another earth where the Villain versions of the JL resided and Lex and the others there are heroes), and Superboy Prime ( a superboy that is the lone hero of his world) all are put into a pocket dimension as the worlds are merged into one.

We haven’t had that yet, but it’s an important point in later stories. The reason I bring these guys up is because of their role and how other characters can easily fill in for them in the coming events.

Fast forward several years. The DC Universe has been remade and during the later part of the 80s and into the 90s we saw the whole “let’s go dark and gritty” thing happen. Characters like Batman had their back broken, Superman died and was reborn, Wonder woman had to figure herself out. There were light spots, JLI for example and parts of the Teen Titans, but a lot of things grew darker. Like the Outsiders and the whole Judas contract. While things did lighten up a lot in the late 90s and into the 2000s, we got Lois and Clark married by then, Jason died and came back to life, Babs got shot by Joker, YJ and a lot of other books that were more upbeat came about in the mid to late 90s, However DC decided that there was still a lot of things that could be fixed and decided to create, basically for the upcoming Anniversary of CoIE, a new set of crisis to happen.

This started with Brad Meltzer’s quasi thriller:

Identity Crisis

This story actually has importance. While not as exact as the other stories in regard to what’s happening there are enough key things going on here. The major plot point is that someone has murdered Elastic man’s wife, and the JL has a dark secret revealed that rocks every one. (Again you can find it still in print.)

One of the main reasons that there is significance to this story is not only does Batman leave the Justice League but also there is some tie in to characters in the past and their actions. What’s interesting here is how this narrative can be woven into the recent events of Season 2 and could become significant in season 3 and 4 given what’s going down now.

-Zantana mind wipes Dr. Light and several other villains, and does the same for Bruce when he discovers what’s been going on and is against the altering of Dr. Light’s mind.

Connections here may not be obvious as its clear the story line is taking Bruce leaving from the creation of the Outsiders. However there is significance here in that Batman doesn’t trust the league at this point, which adds into his paranoid view of the world at times.

While it’s clearly not Zantana in this case, Megan has been showing similar actions in season 2. We saw her changing Conner’s memory in the past season, and we know she did the same to Psimon, and Kaldur. We can’t be sure if these were the only cases, as Greg does like to play with expectations.

It would not be too much to buy into the idea that Psimon could play the part of Dr. Light in this story and eventually come back to form a group of villains that were mind altered by M’ggan. Now while I don’t think it will be exactly the same I feel like there’s going to be backlash from people when they find out what she did two years ago. As shown when Gar mentioned that it wasn’t cool what she did to Conner when he found out. And you know that Batman will be pissed by this, wondering if she did the same to Dick, not to mention Kaldur and wondering if he’s compromised.

-Deathstroke takes on the League and beats them by himself.

Deathstroke is known for being a bit OP at times, but in this story he outdid himself when he took down the whole league. We haven’t seen this happen yet as he’s only been in a handful of scene’s but given that there are hints of him returning, what with Tera missing, it wouldn’t be that hard to buy into the idea with the titles we have of one of them leading to a defeat of the whole YJ team, and pretty much protecting whatever investment he has been hired to protect.

Not sure how he’s going to fit in or who’s he’s protecting as of yet, because he was hired by Dr. Light in the original, but I feel certain that he’s going to end up causing a lot of issue for others in this case, more than likely Aquaman and possibly Geoforce.

-Events cause Batman to create Brother Eye, leading to the OMAC project

So because of the fact that Bruce figured out he was mind wiped by Zee, he decides to create the Brother Eye satellite that eventually goes rogue because of Maxwell Lord and Alexander Luthor mucking about with it. The main goal was to have the Satellite watch Metahumans because of the mind wipe that Batman and other had had.

Now we recently saw the appearance of Brother Eye, don’t believe me, just look at Oracle’s eye at the moment. It’s purple and it’s the same shape as the Omac logo. Thing is, Omac’s colors, along with Brother Eye’s are purple, Oracle’s are traditionally green.

This means that Bruce already may have built the Brother eye set up, since we don’t know if Babs could have built that sort of set up. This seems more like a Bruce thing. In addition to this, if he already has the Brother Eye project going this means that he probably knows about M’ggan doing her mind things, but isn’t telling anyone that he’s keeping an eye on them. Why? Well it’s Bruce, he’s paranoid.

So what would this mean for this season and upcoming ones? Well...

Countdown to Infinite crisis

In this case the story line was covering Ted Kord -Blue Beetle, who had tracked down a mystery which ended up getting him killed by his former friend Maxwell Lord who had taken over the Omac project and brother eye.

-OMAC project lead to the death of Ted Kord via Maxwell Lord and then this allowed Checkmate to take over Superman and have him nearly kill Batman and Wonder Woman and the other JL members. Leading to Wonder Woman to snap his neck and kill him to stop the whole thing from going down.

So one key thing here, Maxwell Lord was sort of the “Charlie” to the JLI’s “Angels”. He sent them on missions and the like, and while he wasn’t exactly a bad guy, he wasn’t exactly a good one either. By the end of the series he had realized a lot of his own faults and dealt with some issues that would take a while to discuss, so let’s say that he redeemed himself...

Then DC said screw it, we need a villain and made him become the head of Checkmate, a black ops/Shield like organization in the DC universe. He killed Ted Kord when he found out that Max was going to basically use a bunch of cyborgs and take over Superman’s mind.

Now while we know that Ted died when he stopped Sportsmaster and Deathstroke from obtaining the scarab, and we assume it was the Light that sent them to get it in the first place, there may be some connection to this part of the story given that we may see the play out of the mother box and possibly Ted having found out info prior to his death about certain things happening. I don’t think they will go for the “Wonder woman snaps necks” but it’s possible that something else will take it’s place.

(Okay strike that...given what happened recently with Halo in episode 6, I can see them allowing this if it’s within the reasons for the story.)

It is important though to note that if Brother Eye is involved this could lead to an additional army for Darkseid. Brother Eye and Omac did eventually control Superman, which could be something that may happen in YJ as an option. They also became a dangerous group that attacked everyone on earth trying to protect them from Metahumans.

And what are we seeing a huge backlash against in Markovia? Metahumans.

-During events prior to Infinite Crisis several events happened that caused a lot of issues. Among them being a point where Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El) was triggered by Lex to attack the Teen Titans at the time.

While this hasn’t happened yet, we do know that Conner has DNA that links to Lex, and in this story line Lex allowed for the triggering of his DNA to basically cause Conner to shave his head and become a villain that went on to try to decimate the teen Titans.

It’s not that hard of a guess that this could be something that could happen to him given that we’ve seen them pair up Brion with Superboy and it seems if anyone can take him on head to head in regard to raw power it’s Brion. This could lead to a moment of Brion trying to help his mentor.

-Following Identity Crisis and during the lead up to Infinite Crises we had Day of Vengeance, where the Rock of Eternity that housed the powers of Shazam was shattered by the Specter due to breaking from Hal Jordan.

Here it’s less about the Specter as we have not seen him in YJ proper, but the idea that someone could attack the Rock of Eternity is a rather big thing. Remember we have two powerful geological users here, and it could come down to Terra doing that over Specter in this case. Either through use of her own powers or possibly enhanced by New God equipment.

Reason I at all bring this up is the focus on Billy in Episode one and how no one yet knows his secret ID. This may become important later as if that Rock breaks, Shazam and all his power are gone and Billy would be revealed to be a kid. This would be something Greg would do to weaken the JL and lead to Superboy having to take on something more powerful without the Big Red Cheese to help him out. (For those that don’t know that’s the nickname of Captain Marvel -Shazam.)

Billy falling from the sky leads to the start of Infinite Crisis, which would be a very strong opening to possibly season 4 or towards the end of season 3.

Villains United

The reason I bring this up is because this group seems to be likely the new Light. Humor me here for a moment. In Villain’s united,follows a series of events where an individual by the name of Mockingbird groups together the organization that will be later known as the Secret Six to stop the Secret society of Super Villains that seems to be run by Lex Luthor. The story goes on to have ties to the events of Infinite Crisis, but also build up to some very interesting revelations in regard to Lex and Alexander Luthor. (You can still get this run at the book store.)

The thing about this mini series is that there’s a lot of things going on in there that could easily show up in the next few seasons of YJ.

-Lex Luthor who is the president amasses an army to stand against the super heroes.

We’re already seeing that Lex as Secretary has plans and is playing against the Justice League with the UN. We’re also seeing that there’s an army being made for fighting via Darkseid, but it’s clear that there’s more to it than just them giving him kids. We’re also seeing the Lex is helping to get others to dislike the Metahumans, the JL and possibly heroes.

Now while there is no Alexander Luthor (as far as we know), we also know that Lex, like Ra’s isn’t a man that just would let Darkseid walk all over his world. So I’m curious about this. If he’s playing up the dislike for Metas and heroes as a means of using them against something bigger.

-the Secret Society of Super Villains consists of Dr. Psycho, Deathstroke, Talia al ghul, Black Adam, Calculator.

Of these characters we’ve seen at least three on the show so far. Talia was just shown this season, though I don’t know if she’s going to have any role working with the Light. She could easily be replaced by Queen Bee, DeathStroke we know is probably connected to the League of Assassins and could be representing them for the Light group (though that could be another person as well) and was on the show in season 2, Black Adam was shown in Season 1 and as for the other two, we know Count Vertigo is working with them still, so you can take out Dr. Psycho, and since we now have Oracle, I would expect them to get Calculator to counter her at some point in time.

-Cheshire, Vandal Savage’s daughter and other characters that have played parts in YJ play a part in this story and here we learn about opposing groups in that story to the villains group. More importantly we learn that Lex may be playing more than one side.

We’ve seen last season that Lex is willing to play around a lot in regard to the side he’s on. This story line could be used as an explanation to where Cheshire is at in YJ and maybe show that there’s more going on that the kids and the JL doesn’t know about. It would certainly fit into the idea of more information in coming seasons and also could be used to push Luthor into becoming President. Which is honestly where I think Greg is going with this.

With all the new information coming out with these last three episodes, I think there’s more clues showing up for the option of Infinite Crisis happening and how that is connected into Final Crisis.

Infinite Crisis

This long event series, written by several of DC’s best writers at the time, covered various events that had linked to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This story was coinciding with the anniversary of COIE, and heavily mirrors it but also acts as a book end to the after math of the more hopeful ending of that one with a mixed bag of an ending with this one. Several well known character’s end up dead, we get a new villain, and some massive changes happen to the characters that it would take another Crisis to undo.

The important thing about Infinite is it’s sort of the middle event, or Empire like story, for these Crisis. It also plays a role in leading up to events in Final and setting the ball rolling for Darkseid to make his moves.

We have a number of important characters that play a huge role in Infinite Crisis and then later Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis itself already on YJ and it seems like this story has aspects that could easily fit in with this season or the next.

-Actions taken by the main trio of bad guys in this lead to the destruction of the Watchtower, and the trinity fighting with one another. Superboy Prime kills several people including Superboy, Kal -L (Earth two Superman) tried to get batman on their side but he refuses, They’re trying to use earth as a tuning fork to create a paradise and reshape the many different worlds.

While there are a lot of things in this story that I don’t see happening, I do see a few that can be used to effectively lead into Final Crisis. For one thing having M’comm replace Superboy Prime and also have him act as the instigator in various fights and wars by having the Martians go and pretend to be other characters.

We’ve already seen that Conner is engaged to M’ggan and her brother try to enlist her the same way that Kal tries to get Batman to join him. We’ve also seen the images of brother eye in the form of Oracle’s set up, and that the Mother boxes are being used in some way. M’comm is arguing for a revolution to make a paradise like world and we know that he is extremely strong and could easily play the part of Superboy Prime if he wanted too. We also see he’s willing to kill, something that SBP was more than willing to do, and blamed others for his actions.

These smaller items could lead into more dramatic moments later in the series, including Superboy’s death as a possibility.

Important events by the end hint that Bruce goes off with Dick and Tim to train, Diana returns home to find herself, and Clark has to lay low and rest to get his powers back after the events in the story. Given what we’ve been seeing with the recent episodes, we may be seeing similar things going on here. Bruce leaving to train with Dick and Tim seems likely as the story line seems to be invoking Judas contract as well and probably will be affecting Dick, who more than likely will have issues with the fall out of Brion and Tara, and Tim is going to be dealing with whatever happens with his new little crew.

Diana is a hard one as we don’t know her relationship with Cassie or Kaldur, so it’s up in the air, but Kal may take Diana’s role of leaving to find himself after the events in the story. And if Superboy doesn’t die, then he may step up for Clark in this case, or we’ll see other Super’s come into that role. Unless Conner is the one to lose all his powers.

52, World War III, and One Year Later

Following in the wake of Infinite crisis there’s the story of 52 which covers the time span of the 52 weeks between the end of the Crisis and the start of the countdown for Final crisis. While I don’t think 52 and the companion piece One year Later, is going to feature in this season I do think that we may see it feature in the next building up to the idea of a Final crisis like story and eventually into another time skip.

-52 worlds come out of the Infinite Crisis and Booster Gold learns about it with another time traveler Rip Hunter, oh and his robot friend goes evil.

It’s unknown if Booster is going to show up in this season, but there have been rumors. However, if he doesn’t show up this story line could go to a number of different characters, including Traci 13, Impulse, Flash, or even one of our new characters.

-Cult of Superman

While the story line regarding the Cult will probably drastically change, I do think that there are a few things that may come about from it. I think that it could be Zee working with Fate to deal with Neron, and Faust if he becomes involved.

-The Everyman project that Lex creates, which leads to Steel and Natasha Irons playing a large role.

This I can see happening in the wake of us losing members of the JL that depart for various reasons. Either because of the fight or they have to step down for some reason. I could easily see Lex using this in later seasons to grow his own mini power struggle with the Light and it would fit in with the idea of the Government wanting to regulate the Metahumans that are now showing up. Though I feel like this would be next season over this season.

-Jason Todd taking over as Nightwing and Supergirl returns from the 31st Century.

We already can assume a Red Hood story will come out of this recent revelation with Jason showing up, and we have Wally missing much like Supergirl was, and it’s not that hard to buy into the idea of Wally returning from the future feeling completely unsure of himself and talking about things that can happen due to what’s going down now. Jason, more than likely, could take over Dick’s costume and screw with stuff just because he can and probably feels a bit left out of things.

-Donna Troy takes over as Wonder Woman and Arthur becomes the Dweller of the Depths.

In the actual story there are reasons for both, but I think that Donna may take on the role if they have Wonder Woman kill Maxwell Lord. On the other hand I think Arthur may have saved Sub Diego during the two year jump and the reason we don’t have him is because he’s become this creature known as the dweller of the Depths. This would have lead Kal to becoming a leader while Mera acts as ruler underwater while Kal acts as leader in place of Arthur.

-J’onn comes to a different conclusion about being a martian on earth after being mind linked to Black Adam.

While I don’t see this coming into play during this season or during the time skip in the future, it may explain where M’ggan’s new look comes from. Maybe she’s changed to her new look due to some sort of event that plays with what happened to J’onn. While I don’t think that it will happen exactly as in the comic the precedence is there as an option for the two year time skip.

Other aspects that could play into the story and season 4 as a possibly: the trinity step down from their roles, Aquaman allies himself with Dweller of the Depths and King shark, New Doom Patrol, Hawkman goes missing, Jason and Dick both are Nightwing, New Birds of Prey is formed, Oliver Queen becomes the Mayor of Star City, New crew of Teen Titans, Vandal Savage starts up plans to regain his immortality, New JSA, Bart becomes the Flash, Tim Drake tries to clone Superboy to bring Kon back....

Not all of this will happen, but a number of these seem like givens.

Given how the UN is treating Meta humans, I can see the Trinity being forced out of their roles for a period of time. Kaldur may have to make deals to protect his friends if Apokolips is setting up for something dark and in doing so he may get in over his head. I can easily see Greg building up a new Doom Patrol in a one year later situation, and we don’t know where Hawkman is as of right now since he’s in the Rann shot.

Babs forming the Birds as a means of dealing with the Light and the League would make sense, Oliver could step into role of Mayor allowing for Conner Hawke to come into YJ as the new Green Arrow, and we know that the younger crew of YJ is going to come more into play. We also know that Vandel is working with Darkseid and into whatever plan he has for the Anti life equation. Bart becoming Flash could be an option if Wally isn’t brought back till later, and I have no doubt that should Conner die M’ggan will more than likely try to pull off Tim’s clone game to bring him back.

Would be interesting in lieu of Conner coming back we get Kara and have her show that there is more than just Superman.

Countdown to Final Crisis

So now we have come to the part where things become interesting. Countdown to Final Crisis covers the events that were supposed to lead to Final Crisis, but some of it doesn’t go anywhere. So I’m just focusing on Darkseid in this case, and if any hints of other stories shows up later in the show I’ll point it out.

-Darkseid is planing on being the Architect of the universe, and his brother Drax, aka Infinity man (who can be summoned by the Forever people) is killing the New gods.

Given the images we have so far and what we’ve seen in the episodes, it seems that this could be something that could play out in some way. We know Darkseid is working on creating something, probably the Anti life equation. We have Forager who comes from this story showing up in the show so far. The thing is that in this case we know that the with Infinity Man killing off the New Gods this leads to events in Final Crisis.

Honestly I can see some of this playing out here slightly. We do have the Forever People around and it would fit into the possibility that a New God is the one that is inside Halo.

I think for the sake of lenght that I’m going to tackle Final Crisis as it’s own thing over going forward with this one as it’s already really long.

See Final crisis theory of YJ for the rest. :)

#yjo spoilers #yj season 3 #yj #yj spoilers #yj:o #young justice #young justice: outsiders #young justice season 3 #young justice theories #young justice theory #darkseid #final crisis #infinite crisis #identity crisis #dc universe #dc comics

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kayura-sanada · 6 years

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Finding Shadows (SuperBat)

Title: Finding Shadows Fandom: DC Comics Pairing: Clark Kent | Superman/Bruce Wayne | Batman Rating: T Words: ~1800

Summary: Clark Kent had a soul mark of a bat on his chest.

He read the papers. Hell, he wrote articles in them. So he was one of the first in Metropolis to hear about the new vigilante going by the name of Batman.

The moment he’d heard, he’d reached up to the mark on his chest, where a perfect artist’s rendition of a bat sat with wings unfurled. He tapped mindlessly at it as he read the paper, then again as Lois spoke with a group of their peers about the possible meaning of two high-exposure vigilantes showed up in two major cities at around the same time. “Clark?” she asked, pulling him from his near-stupor. “What do you think?”

He had to think back to recall just what it was she’d been talking about. “I don’t know that there’s any link between the two of them,” he said. “The link may instead be to the rate of crime, and the power of the criminal class. The rise of vigilantes may just be another effect of the same cause.”

She pursed her lips. “True,” she said, and turned back to the others. He looked back down to the paper and its small message. Gotham had seen so much darkness in the past years, it was no surprise that someone had decided to take the law into their own hands. And he certainly knew Superman had no link to this person – well. No known link. Not even to Superman himself.

He tapped at his chest. It had always been a source of wonder for him; apparently his body had normalized to the idea of being an Earthling, at least enough to create the picture-perfect rendition of a bat. Most soulmate markings were stylized, no more than black or red or blue lines, more like a tribal drawing than anything else. His parents had been surprised to see anything pop up on him; it had been a great concern of theirs, the idea that he wouldn’t have any sort of marking at all. Perhaps, they’d said, it was normal all across the galaxy, and the pictures on people differed from race to race. Either way, he’d ended up with a Terran bat – specifically an American vesper bat. From what he’d learned through his own research, several species were known to reside around northeast America. Around Metropolis.

Around Gotham.

He snapped the newspaper closed and stood. “In any case, someone should look into it and see if there’s a story.” Lois cocked an eyebrow at him. He tried to give her an easy smile, as if he wasn’t thrumming in anticipation. As if he didn’t feel like he had to go. “If you want, you can take him. But you’ve been so interested in catching up with Superman, I thought you’d rather have his story than this Batman’s.”

Her lips thinned again. He fixed his glasses. She sighed. “All right. You can have him. It might turn out to be a bust, anyway.”

He nodded. Inwardly, however, he disagreed. If there was anyone who had a chance to find this “shadow of the night,” it was Superman.

He may have been slightly overestimating himself. The Batman was more a rumor than anything else; no one even truly believed him to be real. During the morning and afternoons, he would search people out on the street to try to find out anything. He’d gone to the police, only to get vague news of bound thugs and anonymous messages of where to hit when, but otherwise, none had apparently seen the Batman – though Gordon seemed a bit tetchy on the subject, and Clark had to wonder if the man wasn’t protecting Batman somehow. Most of Gotham treated the news of the vigilante the same way much of Metropolis had treated him in the beginning – as something to shoot first and worry about later. Those who didn’t, he found, thought of him as some sort of avenging angel.

Around midday, he would search the newspaper reels for anything he might have missed. Turned out there had ben several stories about the Batman before anyone knew it was the Batman. Countless stories of villains being dropped off in front of the police station, or left in front of alleyway, or knocked out on the back streets of Gotham. Eyewitness reports of a “man in black” rescuing them from muggings, robberies, assaults. Reports by villains of a “flying nutjob” cornering them as they made drug deals or attempted to sell weapons. He went through months of backstory in those first couple of days, and managed to appease his boss with an article that referenced these accounts.

But when it came to actually finding the man, he came up short. Over and over again.

He figured out quickly that the man operated at night, and he forewent sleep for the first couple of nights in order to try tracking the man down. Gotham, however, was not his first home, and he wasn’t as familiar with its twists and turns as this Batman – someone who must have been raised in the city, for him to know it so well. That, however, still left countless people to consider.

His third night in Gotham, he kept himself to the shadows of an alleyway, his eyesight pressed to its limit to search for any and all signs of life. From most of the eyewitness accounts, the Batman had arrived from the sky – from the top of a building, or from its ramparts. But though he searched every night, he found too many people out, even past midnight, and far too many places where a single person or small group of persons ended up being those the Batman was trying to stop. With him refusing to put on his flashy Superman costume, he wasn’t able to mete out justice the way he would have preferred. Instead he hid a block or two down and sent anonymous tips to the cops, then skirted away to continue his own hunt.

He was about to turn in when he saw someone standing alone on a building merely five blocks down. They were difficult to make out, only there because he could see a plethora of small explosive items packed up within the crouched form of their body. He couldn’t hear anything odd coming from that area, no screams or shouts or laughter. Yet, as with every other small, insignificant chance, he took it, anyway. He only had to go down three of those five blocks before the person moved.

For an instant, he thought the person was turning away from him. But then they swooped around – swooped around – and headed back toward him. For an instant, his heart fluttered wildly in his chest. Could the Batman fly? He looked up as the figure landed on a building just overtop him.

“Why are you following me?” the man asked, and Clark blinked.

He hadn’t thought he was close to the Batman at all. Yet, apparently, the reason he’d thought he’d been failing had been because, somehow, this man had known he was being hunted and had stayed one step ahead of Clark. For there days, the man had known. Had he been watching Clark as he fumbled around these back alleys, struggled to find even a trace of this man? What had he been thinking as he’d watched Clark’s sad attempts?

Clark grinned. This man was incredible, wasn’t he?

Without bothering with any level of formality, he reached down and tugged off his shirt. With his thumb, he pointed to the symbol on his chest. “I thought this might be referring to you.”

The man stood hunched on top of the roof for what felt like several minutes. His entire form was black, likely to help him hide in the shadows as he hunted. The eyes behind his cowl, however, looked almost luminescent. They stared unblinking until, finally, the man spoke again. His voice, this time, seemed almost raw. “Is that your soul mark? Are you really showing that to a stranger?”

Clark shrugged. “Why not? It seems to make sense. There aren’t that many people that I know of that are represented by a bat.” He looked the man up and down. The cowl with pointed ears, the cape with that specific cut at the end. “Not like you.”

The man stood. He was tall. Muscled. Even beneath that tight, black armor, Clark could see the dark ripple of muscles along his thighs and arms. His mouth went dry. “That would make you Superman, then.” At Clark’s jolt of surprise, the Batman harrumphed. “You aren’t the only one with a definitive marking.”

Did that mean this man sported a symbol as detailed as Clark’s? Or was it something that clearly marked Superman as his soulmate? No, that one had to be it, or else how would he have known? And it made sense, didn’t it? Because Clark wasn’t Clark. He was an alien, not human, and inside, he knew that very well.

Batman swooped down. (Swooped again.) His cape flared out behind him, and those cuts at the edge looked distinctly bat-like. He cut an imposing figure as he glided, his feet catching easily as he came to a stop. He stood almost to Clark’s own height, only perhaps an inch difference between them. He looked… imposing wasn’t quite the word, but it was certainly correct. Stunning might have been better. The cowl hid those eyes until they were little more than gleams in the darkness, but Clark’s enhanced vision caught the long lashes that framed them. In this dark alley, he couldn’t be certain of the color, but he knew it was light, like his own – green, perhaps, or blue. And those lips.

“You didn’t come looking for me,” Clark said, watching the man stalk up to him with a heart beating far too fast. Energy thrummed through him. The marking on his chest almost seemed to burn. If the stories were true, the Batman would be feeling the same sizzling sensation. If they laid hands on one another’s marks, they would know for sure. And make the first tenuous bond between them.

“I don’t know if you’re someone worth looking for or not,” the Batman said, and Clark was surprised. He shouldn’t have been. All the stories he’d found that referenced this man made his sound shady, but his actions spoke louder than that. Broken arms and legs at times, men scared out of their minds. But there hadn’t been a single casualty, and every wound had been recoverable after, at most, a stay in the hospital. He used fear to garner control, unlike Clark, who flashed his power as a deterrent. But it seemed like the man had a very similar goal to his own.

“You don’t trust me, then,” Clark said. He was all right with that.

“Your power.” The Batman’s eyes narrowed. “I have a feeling you’ve only showed a fraction of it.”

He shivered. This man was perceptive. “If I gave you a way to defeat me, would you consider getting to know each other better tonight?”

The man looked him up and down. “You’re not exactly dressed for the occasion,” he said, and Clark could detect the faintest hint of curiosity in that deep voice. He grinned.

“That won’t be a problem.”

#superbat #superbat fanfiction #fanfiction #15 untold loves

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superman86to99 · 7 years

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Superman: The Man of Steel #22 (June 1993)

REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN CONTINUES! Presenting John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Henry Johnson, a.k.a. Shaq-- uhh, STEEL. John is the big dude we saw emerging from the rubble of the Superman/Doomsday fight in Adventures #500. Now we find out more about his backstory: he was a military weapons designer who quit his job/whole life for some reason, and has been living in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum under an unfindable fake identity (he just switched his first and middle names around). A few weeks ago, John was saved by Superman after falling off a construction site -- so when the Doomsday battle broke out, John decided he should return the favor and save Superman. This didn’t go so well (for anyone), hence the whole “buried in rubble” thing.

(Note the “energy” being passed from Superman to John as he saves him. Artistic license, or something else...?!)

Anyway, once John is out of the hospital from that little incident, he sits down and tells the tale of his namesake John Henry to some Suicide Slum kids (including Superman’s pal, Keith the Unlucky Orphan, because this is a really small neighborhood). As the kids are leaving, they get caught in the middle of a gang fight and one of them is literally fried by some sort of hi-tech gun.

“You BASTARDS!” (Sorry.)

John chases after the gang members, and as they try to kill him for butting into their business, he recognizes their hi-tech weapons as his own design. When he gets out of the hospital (again), John decides to do something about it. With Superman dead, someone has to step up and protect the city, so John forges himself an iron-- uhh, STEEL armor designed for crime-smashing. John debuts his new heroic identity against the same gang from before after they come back to finish the job and firebomb his building.

John kindly asks the gang members where they got such sci-fi-esque weapons. Just as one of them is about to talk, he’s sniped by a mysterious lady with a big-ass gun, “The White Rabbit”. She seems to know John from before, and decides not to kill him because he might be "profitable” in the future. (I’ve got bad news for you, lady.)

Meanwhile, Metropolis is abuzz with news reports of John’s exploits. A psychic lady he saved when that building blew up explains that he’s not “a” man of steel but THE Man of Steel -- according to her, Superman’s spirit has returned from beyond and possessed the body of a man whose own spirit left him (John, after whatever happened that made him leave his old life). The still bed-bound Pa Kent seems convinced, while Lex Luthor Jr. is at least intrigued by the idea, and who knew Superman better than those two? No one. Welcome back, Superman!

Character-Watch:

The White Rabbit actually appeared briefly during John’s segment in Adventures #500, but I forgot to mention it. Here’s a gratuitous shot of her shorts to make up for it.

Plotline-Watch:

Futher evidence that John is the one true Superman: he says that when he was buried in the rubble, he saw "Fog. Angels and demons. I think my grandfather. He didn’t want me to die.” That sounds like a spot-on summary of what Superman’s soul went through in Adventures #500.

Poor Lois Lane’s life is bound to take a turn for the better now that the love of her life has returned: I mean Jeb Friedman, her douchey ex. To be fair, Jeb did wait like a week (comic book time) after Lois’ fiancee was presumed dead before putting the moves on her, so he’s not that bad.

I should also mention that Myra the Orphanage Lady has the hots for John -- she gets a new Halle Berry hairdo when she and Keith visit him in the hospital. You may now begin shipping them.

Lex Luthor Jr. orders his crony Dr. Happersen to find out who’s furnishing street gangs with futuristic weaponry. That’s his job, dammit!

And my job here is done, so click below to read the great Don Sparrow’s section:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

Probably the most abrupt change from the Funeral for a Friend storyline comes in the pages of SMOS, where we’re thrown into an almost entirely new cast of characters (aside from the much loved Myra and Keith), a great departure from the Superman comics we know. We begin with the cover, which features probably the s-shield closest to the official one, with some slick, great looking Walk-Simonson-esque shading on the chrome of the insignia—this pattern will be a theme throughout the run of this character.

Inside the first page we get our first full look at John Henry Irons in full regalia, and it looks great. The colours help a lot in selling the metallic look, and I love the elements of his costume that are a cheat—There’s no way a metal mask could so closely follow the contours of John’s face, particularly as he speaks and emotes. But it looks awesome so we accept it.

As I mentioned, we can feel a bit lost being thrown into this story with a wholly unfamiliar character, so they subtly let us know which character we’re supposed to be following by helpfully putting him in the familiar red and blue as we first see him.

To my eye, in this storyline, Bogdanove abandons his usual slick, fluid, Fleischer cartoon look for a much hatchier, urban feel. The faces are more caricaturized (sometimes, perhaps, to a fault) and the action a lot grittier. Indeed, I don’t remember so much violence in the first couple pages of story since before the Doomsday storyline. The effect is intentional I think—we’re supposed to be horrified by the destruction these toastmaster weapons leave behind, but man, that smouldering skeleton of a teenager on page 4 is tough to take, as is the brock wall smeared with Irons’ blood at the bottom of page 5.

Still, even in his first appearance, Bogdanove has this character’s physicality and wardrobe very well established and down pat. The parachute pants go a long way in suggesting his athleticism, and also hint at a possible inspiration in the sports world, as Shaquille O’Neal was just entering the NBA (and rap and video game worlds as well) at the time. It might be a chicken or egg argument, but I suspect some of Irons’ look is based on Shaq’s, for better or worse.

The flashback sequence of Irons’ inspirational meeting with Superman is well-told, and there’s some interesting imagery as there appears to be some sort of beam transferring between them on page 8, lending credence to the “spirit walk-in” spin this book put forward. The full page splash on page 11 is a good one, as you really feel the heft of his hammer in his body gesture—though maybe a little more time could have been put into the face.

The low point follows soon after—no, not dead teenagers (though there will be more of them), something worse—Jeb Friedman makes his obnoxious return to Metropolis. Worse still, Lois dives into his arms knocking off his cowboy hat. Oh, yeah, apropos of nothing, he was wearing a cowboy hat, by the way. [Max: He seems more like a fedora kind of guy.]

Page 15 has a great look at Irons’ mask, as he perches, Batman-style, on a rooftop before jumping in to bust the gun-runners. More dead torsos follow as one of the gang gets disemboweled (and then some) in order for the Toastmasters to blast Irons. The cracked image of Martin Luther King is an effective way of relating some of Irons’ guilt—his actions in the past certainly haven’t advanced Dr. King’s noble causes. Rather, they’ve just made the streets a deadlier place.

We get a good look at Irons’ array of weaponry in the story as well, as page 19 features his gauntlet, which, appropriately for his namesake, drives steel railway bolts (I’ll just accept that Irons is a great shot, and ignore how utterly deadly that would be as a weapon). We’re then introduced to the White Rabbit, our apparent villain, in booty shorts as revealing as a code book would allow at the time. [Max: See above.]

There’s a LOT of exposition to get through, and the issue does a good job of all of it—Irons’ guilt at having dedicated his life to weaponry, and donning a costume to atone (shades of the first Iron Man film), some interesting issues with power, race and inner-city crime (with both gangsters like the White Rabbit and big businessmen like Luthor trying to take full advantage) some history on Irons’ own tragic childhood, and also some upsetting scenes with Lois and Jonathan Kent dealing with the emergence of all these new characters.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Does John Henry have eyebrows? They seem to be missing in his closeup shot on page 4, and elsewhere.

GODWATCH: John Henry prays he’s wrong when he sees the what looks like an old weapon of his on page 4.

The story makes a couple mentions of Irons’ voice as being like Darth Vader, and later the voice of God. Emphasiszing someone’s voice is an interesting way to establish character in a silent medium like comics, but definitely does help us flesh out who he is.

I’ll admit, I’ve heard better pickup lines than “Superman is dead and Clark is dead.” Bizarrely, it seems to almost work.

I remember reading an article (I think it was in Wizard magazine) about the spirit walk-in idea, and either Simonson or Bogdanove saying that the psychic would decidedly NOT sound like Mike Myers’ Linda Richman character from SNL. In spite of their assertions (or maybe because of them), that’s how she sounds in my head, so they might have been better off not even bringing her up. [Max: Dang, now you’ve passed on the curse to me! Hey, maybe she was possessed by Mike Myers’ ghost?]

#superman #louise simonson #jon bogdanove #dennis janke #steel #keith #myra #jeb friedman #sydney happersen #pa kent #psychic lady whose name is given but i can't remember and i'm not even sure if she shows up again #linda richman #reign of the supermen

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