One thing I like about Into the Spider-Verse that really puts it above all the live-action superhero movies is that characters don’t have “justify” how their costumes look.

What I mean is, ever since superhero movies started becoming a thing, iconic characters have had their outfits re-designed to be more “realistic”. Just look at the X-Men and how their transition from comic to cinema took their costumes from “colorful and iconic” to “black leatherpalooza”. Which I can sort of understand- when watching a live-action film, it’s harder to suspend your disbelief that an actual human being would willingly dress up in a “silly” outfit than if you were watching a cartoon. In fact I’m pretty sure they make a joke about Wolverine’s original yellow outfit in one of the X-Men movies.

As time went on and the Marvel Cinematic Universe expanded, they slowly grew more bold about their costumes looked, though personally it always felt like they were “holding back” in a way I can’t adequately describe, like they’re still afraid that general audiences will dismiss superheroes as being too silly (which frankly feels like it misses half the reason superheroes are fun).

But in Spider-Verse? Everyone’s costumes look like they came straight out of a comic book, and it’s all the better for it. Look at the Prowler- a live-action Prowler couldn’t get away with that high collared cape, glowing boots, or even the vibrant purple color scheme. His outfit would be all stitched kevlar in dark, muted tones like a motorcycle outfit. Nobody made jokes about how he looks, either in the movie or in the media. He’s allowed to just... be the Prowler.

I love it when a superhero has different powers that come from completely unrelated sources and necessitate multiple unconnected origin stories. Somebody did not get the memo that the “secret origin” part of the form was not meant to be a “check all that apply” deal.

Sometimes life’s a slowburn, sometimes it’s a dumpster fire. 

And sometimes, it’s just perfect. 😍 

Order your copy of Flash Fire by TJ Klune today!

Hi just want to say your story about the superhero was incredible. It broke my heart and I loved it

AN ASK ABOUT AN ORIGINAL THING I WROTE? 🥺

I wrote two superhero stories but only one has been getting likes in my activity feed recently so I think you mean my construction superhero short story. (checks the post) oh uh wow that’s getting more traction than I realized. Shit. So that’s why a bunch of people followed me recently.

Anyway, I don’t know if you are still watching my blog anon but since you liked my story have another snippet I whipped up just for you.

--

Excerpt from an interview with prisoner #4598, also known by the code names “Constructor,” “Destructor,” and “the Architect.” Transcript incomplete due to being salvaged after the attack on the prison records. Interview conducted by Mitchell Newman.

---

MN: Okay, well, since our memory experts can’t see anything in your head but muck and have established we’re not going to get any information out of you, anyway…

4598: Lethe is very good at memory stuff.

MN: Right, yes, of course she is. So since you’ve forgotten all useful information and I have to visit you at least for two hours a week just so this doesn’t count as solitary confinement--

4598: Could I talk to Sandy?

MN: Ms. White hasn’t asked to speak to you.

4598: Right.

MN: Anyway as I was saying, since I have to be here anyway why don’t you just tell me about yourself? Give me the whole manifesto.

4598: (no answer).

MN: Right. Well. Let me just continue then and you can answer if you feel like it. Sound good? Good. So, here is my question. What do you think about what people call you now? The first time you got arrested, you didn’t escape for months. Why?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Everyone thought it was because you needed to know the makeup of the material in order to shape it. When you stayed put they thought they’d gotten you with their Akonite walls. But it turns out you never needed to know that and you were just… sitting in there anyway.

4598: Right.

MN: What stopped you from escaping?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Did you think that you’d be let out if you played along, since you had good PR then?

4598: No.

MN: Okay. Was it that you still believed in the justice of the system?

4598: No.

MN: Second thoughts about trying to stop the construction of that stadium?

4598: Uh, no.

MN: Alright then. Why?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Is it related to your apparently still-developing powerset? Are you hiding some ability or--

4598: Depression.

MN: What?

4598: I was depressed.

MN: Ah.

4598: Everyone I had looked up to wanted me in jail. I thought no one would agree with me, so there was no point.

MN: Right.

4598: Uh, that’s something Sandy taught me. It doesn’t really matter what powers you have. If you want to get things done--big things, like building cities--you need lots of people. The things I’ve done, rebuilding… It's always because people have helped me. Cleared away poisons so I could go in the area. Gave me materials. Helped me learn.

MN: And without those people, you decided you couldn’t do anything?

4598: Yeah.

MN: So what changed your mind and made you decide to enact the largest villain breakout in history?

4598: It…

MN: What’s that?

4598: I had to try. It wouldn’t be right to just give up immediately. I couldn’t do it alone so I decided to find people who could help.

MN: And those villains--many of them serial killers and terrorists--these people shared your altruistic goals?

4598: (no answer).

MN: Right, sorry. That was a bit blunt on my part. I just mean it must have been a difficult group to work with.

4598: Hm.

MN: You’re pretty famous for not killing anyone yourself, even now. I really believe you don’t want people to die if they don’t have to. How do you reconcile that with working with, oh, Inferno. You know, the one that burnt innocent congressmen alive?

4598: (no answer).

MN: Some of the villains who escaped that day went on to kill innocent people, even if the ones you became friends with didn’t. Do you have any regrets?

4598: ...Skinner killed three children before we caught him. Toxica got… one, but made 48 people very sick for a while. Um, the others--I counted it all up. The amount of people who died due to the actions of villains that escaped because of me was 28.

MN: So you--

4598: The attacks your heroes do on other countries have casualties that number in the hundreds. Thousands sometimes.

MN: We were tracking down a highly dangerous villain with a power that could--

4598: That could not do half of that damage. They never can. The serial killers and terrorists--they’re hideous people. But there has never been one with the power to do what American “heroes” do every year.

MN: That’s because we kill them first.

4598: And then there is the damage afterwards. The sickness. People who die in the rubble. People who have their entire homes destroyed only to be turned away as undesirables when they try to find a home somewhere else.

MN: That’s not equi--

4598: You asked me if I have regrets. Yeah, I do.

4598: I regret every single fucking base I built for all of you.

---

The rest of the transcript is unsalvageable. Prisoner #4598 escaped shortly after, as containment measures on the subject once again failed. Future heroes are advised to use lethal force on sight, as containment has proven impossible and these transcripts indicate de-radicalization is unlikely.

I finally had time to get these bad boys out!! Here’s some Superpower AU concepts based off of the DSMP Bench Trio and c!Dream! I refined the old Tommy and Dream costumes and added some potential powers.

I don’t have their story all the way fleshed out but I’m working on some short comic stuff set in this AU :D

OG starfire

“Mommy, are you a superhero? I'm a black woman in America, baby. Superheroes ain't got nothing on me.” Hunters (S01E08)

My favorite alien princess in her alien attire 

to see more of my art you can always check out my Instagram! www.instagram.com/gretlusky/

there’s three types of heroes:

Concept: a superhero team whose shared origin story is that they’re all exes of this angsty sadboy wizard type who has a penchant for inadvertently getting his significant others killed, cursed, or otherwise magically befuckened as collateral damage to his various misadventures (and who is definitely not a transparent John Constantine expy), and their uniting high-level mission statement is their shared desire to track this guy down and just comprehensively beat the shit out of him.

we've all gotten so used to superheroes being mainstream and with sprawling connections across the globe that i think we've started treating them like extensions of law enforcement - not in the way that, like, green arrow would help break up a picket line or superman would protect private property from the homeless, but that we've forgotten that what theyre doing is illegal

i think it would actually be more interesting to focus on that aspect of it. like, the gotham police are supposed to be the most corrupt in north america, jim gordon has the batsignal because he cant trust most of his officers. flash has a good relationship with his rogues a lot of the time because he can afford to, he's a vigilante, he's not forced to arrest them by anything except his own moral compass. wonder woman is an amazon, she literally has only the gods to answer to! she isn't gonna turn someone in for stealing food - she would be more likely to just give that person a random sack of coins and sent them on their way. the lanterns technically dont actually have jurisdiction if earth police dont recognize it, wouldnt that make a lantern popping in illegal? And if so, wouldnt that make a great fucking comic book??

i dunno i just see a lot of fanworks and media where there's cops n shit who barely bat an eyelash at heroes and vigilantes dropping into investigations and maybe its just the marxist in me but, realistically, cops would hate superheroes and vigilantes and would probably not cooperate with them one bit. yknow how CADMUS acts in the dcu? the cops should basically be the same but in the public eye, with less experimenting on metahumans and more systemic rascism. the police force is the armed body of the state, designed specifically to keep the oppressed masses in line; barring exceptional outliers like the mentioned jim gordon, why on EARTH would they do anything but try to shoot dc level vigilantes on sight????

and since im also a sucker for heroes and want them to still do good and for people to look up to them, how about more stories about ordinary people helping them out, realizing they help more than the police do, loving them because they're not law enforcement and that's a good thing!! because no way is green arrow gonna do anything but protect that picket line from the cops, and superman would sooner give a homeless guy the shirt off his back than help anyone remove him from private property for trying to find shelter, and batman's going to take his rogues down so they can get help and he still shows empathy for them even when they've done horrible things, he's going to talk to drug runners and thugs working for the mob and give them a business card, and then bruce wayne is going to give those guys a job to help them leave crime behind.

give me stuff like this over zombies or alien invaders any day!!!

A couple of overdue New Year’s things! I feel like we all could use a Lazarus Pit to resurrect our desiccated bodies and souls left from 2020...I know I could. Here’s to hoping 2021 will be better.

Cliche but still valid Villain x Hero trope:

Villain and Hero going round after round until Hero finally slips up and Villain gets the upper hand, pinning them hard against the wall. Hero’s panting, bruised and bloody, eyes narrowed and defiant, daring Villain to do their worst. And Villain can’t help but give in to impulse and kiss them. 

Bonus: Hero freezes up, completely shocked, and does nothing to stop them.

Bonus bonus: Hero freezes for just a moment and then melts, kissing back.

Bonus bonus bonus: Hero kisses back with purpose and then uses the distraction as a chance to finally stun and capture Villain.

I’d never be able to maintain a secret identity if I had Superman-style invulnerability -- there are far too many drivers in this city who would rather straight up kill a pedestrian than arrive at their destination three seconds later, and the temptation to assert the precise letter of my right of way would be overwhelming.

THOR RAGNAROK (2017) dir. Taika Waititi

Find someone who looks at you the way Dick looks at Kory.

“It’s too late to be drawing... how many stripes do Spidey’s left elbow have?”

Ted the Animator: “Um... same as his right?”

Carl the Animator: “Yeah, but, like... is it all blue on the front?”

Ted the Animator: “I don’t remember, just check the–”

Carl the Animator: “Or is there a blue stripe on either side?”

Ted the Animator: “Uhhhh... that feels right to me.”

Carl the Animator: “...orrr, are there no stripes?”

Ted the Animator: “...”

Carl the Animator: “...ehhhh, I’ll hedge my bets use only one for a frame.”

Ted the Animator: “...wait, are these all live frames?”

Carl the Animator: “Yeah. Best way to learn is by doing, or... something like that.”

Ted the Animator: “...I don’t think that practice applies to elbows, Carl.”

Concept: the old “two characters who frequently team up in their superhero identities also know each other in their civilian identities, but inexplicably never realise this” cliché, except instead of a goofy love quadrangle or what-have-you the superheroes in question are literally parent and child.