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stxleslyds · 3 years

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MY THOUGHTS ON TITANS’ RED HOOD,

BEFORE WATCHING THE LAST EPISODE.

I will start by saying that I haven’t been able to watch the show, these are my thoughts after reading a very well-written and detailed review of the last episode. The review is also written by someone that enjoys the show, this is important because my thoughts don’t align with theirs.

I understand that Titans is known for being garbage, I know their writing is messed up, and I had no hope whatsoever for them to actually write a good Jason Todd/Red Hood story. I would also like to make clear that this post is in no way hate towards the actor playing Jason, this post is just my thoughts on Jason’s characterization.

What I really don’t like is these shows/movies taking the names of loved characters and making an “original character” out of them. Yes, there are different takes of the character and you can build their story differently but I do feel that what they did with Jason is beyond all that. They twisted every concept from his origin and his story, nothing really fits, but someway, somehow, they still managed to push all the wrong narratives when it comes to Robin Jason.

Two of the most horrible narratives that DC has decided to push are “Robin Jason was reckless and a troubled kid that never did what he was told” and “Jason Todd is to blame for his death”.

The show does push the one where Jason is reckless. Jason is consumed by fear, and Bruce Wayne pays attention to that but he doesn’t only do that, he also offers comfort and help, he tries to make Robin Jason go to therapy.

This is huge, they build up the perfect scenario for Jason to not become the Red Hood. But for some reason, they decided to make Jason reckless and too eager to prove that he didn’t need that kind of help. And then they didn’t help Jason’s case because they wrote their Bruce as a caring father that does not want to see his son get hurt or end up dead.

This Bruce Wayne is doing everything that comics Bruce Wayne didn’t. This Bruce cares, so once more, one would think that this Jason wouldn’t become the Red Hood. But, surprise! Jason Todd doesn’t take well the news of him not being able to be Robin anymore.

Here is the thing, if you were Bruce in this situation, would you let this Jason continue to be Robin when he is a danger to himself? I know I wouldn’t.

Here is where Titans’ terrible writing reaches its peak. They have a vulnerable and reckless Jason try to prove that he can still be Robin by working on *something* that can take his fears away. Jason Todd wants to make a drug, let that one sink in.

Jason Todd wants to make something that is basically a drug. Did Titans really erase the fact that Jason’s mother overdosed? Because that’s one of the most important things in Jason’s life and that built up his hate for drugs and what they do to people. His mother was in an abusive relationship and that led her to do drugs and later led her to her own death.

This might not sound too important to other people but to me, it’s something that has always been important to Jason’s character before and after his death.

Going back to the actual show, Jason goes to Scarecrow, willingly, and asks him to make him a drug that will make him don’t feel fear. I know that this Jason is vulnerable and that he probably thinks that therapy isn’t working for him, but why on earth would Jason think that making Scarecrow make a drug for him would be a good idea?

How does that make sense? The show is basically telling us that Jason had a support system and that he was going to therapy because Bruce wouldn’t want to lose his SON. Why does this show go far and beyond to make Jason look reckless and dumb?

This is not me comparing Comics Jason to Titans Jason anymore, this is me finding Titans’ logic unnecessarily stupid, they really went out of their way to write pure stupidity.

Why would they write Bruce as a caring father and as actively working so Jason can be in a better mental state so he won’t lose him as his son if they are also going to write Jason as an incredibly reckless man? Are we supposed to be on Bruce’s side? Because as of now, Bruce is the only one with brain cells.

There is absolutely no way to compare that to comics because in comics Bruce neglected Jason’s needs and refused to see that Jason had different morals even back then, and that neglect was key in Jason jumping onto the idea that he needed someone that he could call family and actually care for him. He wanted love and attention from a parental figure because he didn’t feel like he had one. Robin wasn’t everything that Jason was, he was also a kid with normal needs.

So, you build that completely different and actually give Jason the support that he also wanted in the show but for some reason, he is fiercely attached to Robin even though his fear comes from the fact that he almost died for being Robin. There is no logic to this Jason’s actions and that isn’t on Jason it's on the writers’ incredibly garbage writing. It is like they come up with ten different ideas and they put all of them but none of them are actually solid and well-developed concepts.

And you can’t tell me to get over it because “Titans has always had bad writing, there were two seasons of bad writing”. Listen, if you are happy to consume media that is badly written then that’s on you, Jason is one of my favorite characters, I don’t want him to be written badly just because that’s the show’s style. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with me wanting writers to actually care about the characters they are writing for, all three seasons have had different writers, is it really so far-fetched for me to want one of these people to write something that makes sense?

Jason's death was tragic in both comics and the show, and he was a victim in both of them, yes. But the show really pushes the limits of that, Jason wanted to take something to make him not fear, he looked for Scarecrow (not Dr. Jonathan Crane, Scarecrow, and he was an already established villain) to make him this drug when he couldn’t make it himself. He trusted Scarecrow (for some weird reason) and then as a test he went to fight Joker? It’s tragic because it ended with Jason dying but it's also tragic because the writing is just bad. It just is, and that is a problem for me.

From then on, we have the “big connection” to comics, the Lazarus Pit! Wow, you guys did it, yeah, everyone loves the Lazarus Pit, every time I think about Jason, I only think about that one time in which he was thrown in a Lazarus Pit to recover his mental injuries or all of his injuries after he came back from the dead.

This Jason has no training, there is no Talia, no League of Assassins, no Ducra or All-Castle, there is only Scarecrow and his new puppet, the Red Hood.

It changes everything and I don’t like it. Once again, I understand and know the concept of the multiverse, the various earths, and the Elseworlds, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like this take on Jason Todd/Red Hood along with its horrendous writing.

I don’t have to like it, just like I understand that others do like it because it is their first contact with the character or because they are fine, as fans of the character, with a new take. I am not gatekeeping Jason Todd or Red Hood; I am just saying that my being angry at this version and absolutely hating it is just as valid as liking this version of Jason.

Red Hood in Titans is just Scarecrow’s puppet, that’s how things are, and I just think that it is too big of a change from the original reasons for Jason to become Red Hood. And I will never get tired of saying this, Red Hood wasn’t only all about the Joker killing him and Batman not killing the Joker. The Red Hood was Jason’s way to make things work, to prove to Bruce that Batman wasn’t enough for Gotham. Red Hood came back to Gotham to stop bad people from introducing children to drugs and to make Gotham’s people feel safe.

He thought that Red Hood was the better version of Batman for Gotham and its people.

But I am not blind, I can see how Titans can twist it again to give us Red Hood as a protector of children and Gotham in general. I can see the “I used to do drugs and now I will fight so no other person goes through the same”, I see it and I am aware of it but it does also bring me to my other problem with Titans and DC in general: story swapping.

Story Swapping is something that DC loves to do, they thrive when they make change people’s origins for others and when they take character traits from one character to another.

And Titans’ Jason Todd is just that, he has characteristics and plot concepts from Dick Grayson and if what I just predicted happens then he will have some of Roy Harper's characteristics. And that is exactly what Lobdell did, but somehow, they managed to get different results. I cannot praise Titans for giving us a new Red Hood origin because they made his characterization with the help of other character’s origins and/or stories.

This is the first time that we see a live-action Jason Todd/Red Hood, was it really that hard to just stick to his origins as both Robin and Red Hood? There is so much to explore from Jason, there is so much between his death and him becoming Red Hood, from both before and after New 52.

Jason becoming Red Hood under the influence of Scarecrow in moths is lazy, bland and an insult to Jason’s character. They could have done things by the book and then explore things that we have never seen before in a show or movie.

Jason has had so much training outside of Gotham, why did Titans think that they could do acceptable work at bringing this amazingly complex character in a show that has nothing to do with him.

They could have had him killed in the Titans show and then wait and make a Red Hood show to actually tell a good story. What is Jason Todd doing in a show that is called Titans? Where are the Titans? They chose the most recognizable Titans’ line-up and they are not using it. They butchered Garth and Donna and for what?

DC gets away way too much with selling their stupid shows and movies by telling us that x character will appear but then when you watch the thing for that x character, they are nowhere to be seen. That’s exactly what they did with Cassandra Cain and what they are doing with Red Hood.

I don’t know how this tv show is doing, I only know that as a non-American that pays the same money for an HBO Max subscription, I don’t get to see any Titans content, not even a miserable trailer.

But I know that if non-comic readers are watching it, they will love it and if they actually were to start reading comics because of the show, then they wouldn’t find that Jason there. So, either that leads to Jason’s characterization being messed up even more within comics or it does nothing for Jason or comics.

To end this post, I just want to bring up the animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010).

That movie was widely praised and loved by critics, comic readers, and non-comic readers. It was fantastic, the story was amazing (even though it had differences with the comic, one might say that the differences improved the story), the voice acting was phenomenal, everything was done beautifully. Do you know what made it that way? The writing.

And you know who wrote the animated movie? The same person who wrote the comic the movie is based on, Judd Winick.

With that I am not saying that Titans should have had Judd write for them, what I am saying is that given the fact that they are using a pre-existing character they should chat with the Red Hood’s creator or even the writer that wrote for him for ten years after the character came back to comics.

This show obviously didn’t do that though, they preferred to write Jason Todd/Red Hood as if he were a Titans original character, but the thing is, from where I see it Titans didn’t give us an OC, they gave us an OOC.

So, to sum it all up, I hate Titans’ version of Jason Todd/Red Hood, I think that it is not only badly written but there is also no real logic to what they are trying to do so far. I am also tired of their bad and lazy writing in general. And I would have liked the Titans’ writers to actually respect the Red Hood lore because if they had I would have actually been excited about a Red Hood spin-off show.

Using the material that is available to you isn’t a crime, building from that material is the best thing that they could have done, but all they really wanted to do was use Red Hood’s name to get more money from a dying show.

It makes the show look cheap and actually not interested in giving us good stories, and no, I wasn’t expecting Captain America: The Winter Soldier levels of good writing or good changes to a very loved story/characters, I was actually expecting some Lobdell writing level and the way I see it we ended up getting something worse.

These are all my opinions. You can like, love, or dislike this version of Jason and the show as much as you want but you won’t find any form of love towards the show in this blog, at least not right now.

MY THOUGHTS ON TITANS’ RED HOOD,

AFTER WATCHING THE LAST EPISODE.

Well, I will start this part by saying: Sorry. I am sorry that I believed that Titans’ Red Hood was bad, it is actually worse than bad.

I was so wrong on many things, that review really made me think that things weren’t that bad but I still hated what I read. Now that I have watched the episode because I wanted this post to be extra honest and to stop myself from saying stupid stuff, I can also say that I hated what I watched.

This show really validates the two most horrible narratives that DC has been pushing for Jason: “he was a reckless Robin that didn’t think about his actions” and “he was to blame for his own death”

Jason Todd wasn’t a victim of Scarecrow, this Jason Todd took every single bad decision that he could, and those decisions led him to his death. No sympathy for this man.

Also, this Jason is like 19? He doesn’t look younger than that, but that’s not the point, what I am trying to point out is that this Robin is extremely underprepared, he lacks training and the mental capacity to stop acting like an edge lord every time he opens his mouth. He is annoying.

And I was wrong about Titans erasing the plotline of Jason’s mother dying of an overdose, she did die that way and this Jason spoke of her as if he hated her. What is going on? This Jason really doesn’t make me feel an ounce of sympathy for him. This attitude of “no one understands my pain” when everybody is trying to help you doesn’t make you look cool or anything of the sort, it makes you look annoying.

It is even worse because this Jason is so immature and reckless that he made his friend Molly (that is just a normal teen with no training) go after a thug with him, while he was not mentally well. He made that decision for them and put himself and her in danger. If that scene had gone any other way, then Jason could have been guilty of getting his friend injured or killed.

Jason Todd is so incredibly dumb; he is not a child but he acts like one every step of the way.

Nothing makes sense in his whole ass interaction with Bruce in front of the theatre, it’s like Jason refuses to listen to what Bruce tells him, well not that he refuses to listen it is more like a “Telefono descompuesto” I don’t know if you guys have that game but you basically have to tell something in someone’s ear and then the person repeats what they understood to the next and so on, what you said is heavily distorted by the end of the game. In this scene that is exactly what happens but it’s between two people.

When Jason accuses Bruce of not taking away Robin from Dick, Bruce says something along the lines of “I learned from my mistakes” and Jason says “so, I am a mistake now?”. Jason, use your ears, if Bruce says that he learned from his mistakes when talking about Dick, then his mistake was what he did with Dick. The writing is so bad, it's actually painful and it is even worse because the acting is bad, but I can’t blame the actors, it must really be hard to make a scene work when the writing is that bad. (Also, the unnecessary pauses, and the sounds that they play after they say something stupid, it is too funny).

Do you know what made me cringe? When they were having the chat in the theatre, in my mind all I could hear was “if you are nothing without the suit then you shouldn’t have it”, not me quoting Tony Stark in my head! I haven’t even watched that movie! But it fits perfectly for that scene.

The interaction with Scarecrow was more than dumb, if Jason was already acting like a child, now, he is basically acting like a toddler. Scarecrow saw right through him in seconds and just as fast decided that he was going to have fun with his new toy. He gave him a formula that wasn’t quite correct even though it looked like he knew exactly how to make the reverse version of his fear gas. This Jason has zero detective or survival skills but we already knew that when he made himself get captured and tortured by Deathstroke.

Anyway, all the interactions with Scarecrow were allowed to happen because this Jason can’t put two and two together. He convinces himself that everyone is out to get him, dude, Bruce is a detective and he also has eyes, Leslie didn’t tell him anything. If I were Bruce, you wouldn’t be able to be Robin anymore either.

I understand that Jason is not in a good mental place and that he wants to make his fears go away, but he had support, people around him were trying to get him help, trying to make him understand that he was hurting himself. His over-the-top anger and recklessness are unjustified when you refuse to take the help that is being offered to you.

He made terrible decisions for selfish purposes and that got him killed.

This is one of the last things I want to say, Scarecrow either didn’t need Jason at all to get out of Arkham or the writers made an oopsie because at the end of the episode he had someone helping him put Jason in the Lazarus Pit and then he was out of Arkham and he had a suit ready for Jason and everything. How did he manage all that? No idea.

The Lazarus Pit, yeah, I am sorry to be that person but the Pit can’t bring back people from the dead, it can only restore or heal physical and mental injuries (however grave they were), but Lobdell messed that one up already and Titans really didn’t have time to write a single good scene so what was I expecting?

Anyway, the last thing I wanted to say is that I know why Jason or Red Hood seems to not be affected by the drug when he sees Molly at the end of the episode, it is because the executive producer of the show is Geoff Johns! He loves making Jason fall for girls and get all mushy and dumb, do you guys remember how dumb he got when he left with Rose?

Jason being written as the kind of guy that acts like a love-sick puppy with a girl but also screams at her when he gets mad is peak Geoff Johns. So, if you were wondering where that came from, well, there it is.

Yeah, that is all I had to say, honestly if you have read this whole post then you are one strong individual, I am sorry I put you through all my thinking and rambling. You didn’t really deserve that.

I didn’t want to delete the first part of the post because I talked about so much more than the show and my thoughts before watching the episode still stand. I hope this post isn’t too confusing. As always you can think the complete opposite of me about the show or anything, I am just writing my thoughts.

Having said all that, I hope all of you, Titans’ lovers, haters, and people that simply do not care, have a wonderful week!

#jason todd #red hood #titans s3 #titans #anti titans

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eyebeastposts · 4 years

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Fan Fiction Road: The Altar of EyeBeast

SUGGESTION PHASE CLOSED

Driving down Fan Fiction Road in the dark of night, your car suddenly breaks down as you pass through a thickly wooded area. Devoid of phone service, you find yourself drawn to a strange light in the tree line. Pushing through the bushes you find yourself standing in front of an old church. The pictures and strange runes along the walls do not appear to come from any known religion. Peeking up at the stained glass window, you see a glimmer of the light that first drew you in. Steeling your nerves, you push open the imposing set of doors and step inside.

Your nose is assaulted with the scent of heavy incense. You find yourself in in the center chamber where dozens of hooded figures dressed in black robes are gathered. They don’t appear to pay much attention to you, even as the door shuts loudly behind you. The reason becomes evident as you look at the thing atop the grey, stone altar.

Its shape mimics that of a singular, human eye blown up to the size of a hot air balloon. Its grey sclera counteracts the void of black making up its glowing pupil and iris. The eye shifts gradually, to both observe its followers and maintain a glimmering cloud in the center. Mesmerized by the thing’s strange aura, you take another step forward to look into the anomaly.

Upon a closer look, you see dozens of images pass through the cloud. The images depict characters from various, popular franchises going through strange and unusual sequences. As off-putting as some of the scenes are, you can’t help watching out of either curiosity or genuine ��enjoyment. A tap on your shoulder brings you back to reality.

Turning your head, you are met with the soft gaze of a woman with a shaved head. The eye creature is drawn on her forehead in ink, surrounded by the same symbols from outside. “Hello traveler,” she says in a low voice. “I see you’ve stumbled upon our little gathering.”

Without a word, she leads you deeper into the crowd. “We are the followers of the All Seeing One, the deity you see before you. Their power is immense, able to alter space, time, and various realities to create pocket dimensions for its own amusement. From time to time, it gives us certain request. In return for providing a list of acceptable candidates, it demonstrates its powers to us by recreating the scene using the choices agreed upon by its followers.”

As soon as she stops talking the image at the altar disappears, making the rest of the hooded figures turn towards you. “If your mind is open and your desires forthcoming, feel free to join our group of worship under the eye of the All Seeing One. However, if you reject our offer we will have no choice…but to politely ask you to leave.”

Someone in the crowd purposefully clears their throat. “After you’ve helped yourself to the food table of course,” she adds. “Especially Stephen’s snicker-doodles, they are just divine.”

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For the past few years now, I’ve made it a tradition to have people vote on what kind of fan fiction story I write next. Typically, I would pick a subject (weight gain, transformations, etc.) and have people suggest various characters and scenarios that fit the subject. While I have enjoyed the previous sessions, I want to shake things up a bit in terms of how things are done and what kind of stories I get to write.

If you’ve read the above story, it sets the stage for what I want to do. I’m going to provide five different scenarios, each of which is a different request from the All Seeing One. For two weeks, your task will be to suggest offerings (characters) that will fit the criteria for each scenario. Once the suggestions are in, there will be a survey that will determine which stories you want me to write and with which characters. And yes, I said stories.

My plan with this session is to suggest ideas that can be told in relatively short stories. Using this method, I should be able to do multiple stories going in order of popularity. I can’t promise that I’ll do every single one, but I’ll try to do most of them. If you want to get involved and become a member of the Church of EyeBeast, take a look below at the guidelines and scenarios. Please read carefully.

Guidelines:

To suggest a character/characters, send the name of the character, what franchise they’re from, and which scenario you want them in. You can either use my ask box or message me directly

Regardless of method you use to suggest a character, no names will be attached to the candidates.

You can submit as many suggestions as you wish until I close the submission phase.

You are free to suggest any characters you want, but if you want to suggest one from something I know, you can refer to my media sheet: https://www.deviantart.com/eyebeast.....heet-819010665

NO CHILDREN

I will be looking just for characters, not scenarios.

The same character can be suggested for difference scenarios as long as they fit the criteria.

During the suggestion phase there will be no cap on how many characters can be suggested for a scenario. However, once the polls are made I will be narrowing down the character pools to no more than 10 entries each.

The suggestion phase will last for two weeks, ending on JULY 15TH. At that time, I will open up the survey for people to vote. After another week, I will close the survey and announce the results.

Scenarios:

A) Couple’s Feast- We have an issue of too many leftovers from our last meeting. The All Seeing One wishes to give them to one lucky couple. For this one in particular, they will be looking for one male and one female.

-General Idea: Male and female mutual weight gain.

-Criteria: Any male and female couple.

1. Joker (Persona 5) and one of the girls based on a poll

2. Breath of the Wild Link and Zelda

3. Andy and Mai (KOF)

4. Hiro and 02 (Darling in the Franxxx)

5. Chris and Jill (Resident Evil)

6. Tharja and Male Robin (Fire Emblem)

7. Shuichi and Kaede (Danganronpa)

8. Mulan and Shang (Disney)

9. Vincent (Catherine) and either Catherine or Katherine based on a poll

10. Kimihito (Monster Musume) and a Monster girl based on a poll

11. Ryu and Chun-li (Street Fighter)

12. Izuku and Ochako (My Hero Academia)

13. Ed and Winry (Fullmetal Alchemist)

14. Makise Kurisu and Houoin Kyouma (Steins;Gate)

15. Male Reader and Doki Doki Literature Club Girl based on a poll

16. Male Reader and Huniepop Girl based on a poll

17. Hisao Nakai and Katawa Shoujo Girl based on a poll

18. Joey and Mai (Yu-Gi-Oh)

19. Inuyasha and Kagome (Inuyasha)

B) Princess Makeover-The All Seeing One wishes to gift someone who is of lower class or rough around the edges a taste of the high life, specifically what it’s like to be a princess. They will be given an extreme makeover, giving them the curves, bountiful hair, and regality befitting someone of royalty. Gender of tribute does not matter.

-General Idea: Extreme hourglass expansion, hair growth, princessification, and, if applicable, gender swap.

-Criteria: Any character that could be described as being against traditionally girly things. Things like a tomboy, a warrior, etc.

1. Samus (Metroid)

2. Ryuko (Kill La Kill)

3. Sakura (Street Fighter)

4. Chie (Persona)

5. Korra (Avatar)

6. Aladdin (Disney)

7. Lady (Devil May Cry)

8. Tracer (Overwatch)

9. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) poll to decide between classic and reboot

10. Kazuma (Konosuba)

11. R. Mika (Street Fighter)

12. Rotty Tops (Shantae)

13. Ganondorf (Zelda)

14. Amara (Borderlands)

15. Asuka (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

16. Shinobu Jacobs (No More Heroes)

C) Royal Reversal- The All Seeing One wishes to teach humility to the upper class. The offering shall be given a complete reversal for their life. Skinny to fat, clean to dirty, intelligent to idiotic, male to female and vice versa. Obviously the offerings we are looking for must come from royalty or are suitably upper class.

-General Ideas: Weight gain, IQ loss, slob, and gender swap.

-Criteria: Royalty or upper class. Things like kings, queens, princes, princesses, and the fabulously wealthy.

1. Karin (Street Fighter)

2. Wonder Woman (DC)

3. Satsuki (Kill La Kill)

4. Sonia (Danganronpa)

5. Lucina (Fire Emblem)

6. Midna (Zelda) poll to decide which version

7. Hilde (Soulcalibur)

8. Peach (Mario)

9. Parasoul (Skullgirls)

10. Mary Saotome (Kakegurui)

11. Malty Melromarc (Rising of the Shield Hero)

12. Catarina Claes (My Next Life as a Villainess)

13. Emelia (Re:Zero)

14. Risky Boots (Shantae)

15. Starfire (Teen Titans)

16. Jasmine (Disney)

D) Pig Deity-The All Seeing One wishes for an ego boost. Provide to them the name of a god or holy person to wallow in the mud and become the patron saint of hogs.

-General Ideas: Weight gain and anthro pig transformation.

-Criteria: A holy person, either a deity or someone very religious.

1. Palutena (Kid Icarus)

2. Aqua (Konosuba)

3. Crim (Interspecies Reviewers)

4. Tiki (Fire Emblem)

5. Panty (Panty and Stocking)

6. Rosalina (Mario)

7. Azazel (Helltaker)

8. Venus (Huniepop)

9. Sophitia (Soulcalibur)

10. Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

11. Hestia (Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?)

12. Holo (Spice and Wolf)

E) Pokemon Fusion- The All Seeing One has become aware of a world inhabited by creatures called Pokémon. Its interest has piqued concerning the everlasting bond made between the creatures and their trainers. A test must be performed to see if we can further this connection by combining the two beings.

-General Ideas: Transformation and other effects based on the Pokémon chosen.

-Criteria: A trainer and a Pokémon, preferably one that they have some kind of connection with.

1. Roxie/Koffing

2. Whitney/Miltank

3. Bea/Hariyama

4. Flannery/Magcargo

5. Melony/Lapras

6. Sabrina/Slowbro

7. Nurse Joy/Chansey

8. Pokemon Breeder/Ditto

9. Fantina/Driftblim

10. Hilda/Scolipede

11. May/Slaking

12. Cynthia/Garchomp

13. Dawn/Spiritomb

14. Kiawe/Salazzle

15. Jessie/Arbok

16. Hex Maniac/Gourgeist

17. Officer Jenny/Arcanine

18. Lusamine/Buzzwole

19. Iris/Zekrom

#eyebeast #fan fiction #road

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davidmann95 · 6 years

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I haven't been able to tolerate a comics news site since ComicsAlliance shut down so what news out of SDCC is actually worth knowing about?

I’ve gotten so many questions regarding SDCC-related news that I figured I’d just do one big post, and this seems as opportune an ask to build that off of as any. To kick off, in terms of news that’s not for me but is a big deal, there’s a trailer for the next season of Doctor Who, and Star Wars: Clone Wars is shockingly coming back for a final reduced season years after the fact. Congrats to the fans of both franchises! Plus yesterday we got the announcement of Orlando and Foreman’s Electric Warriors for DC (as well as Orlando’s Dead Kings with Matt Smith at Aftershock Comics) and the Wonder Woman/Justice League Dark October crossover.

So first and foremost in terms of the reaction it picked up, OH MY GOD:

youtube

It’s like the Bat In The Sun team handed over their production to their shitty kids but made them work off a third of the budget. I kept seeing the jokes about it on Twitter, and I kept thinking they were surely hilarious exaggerations, AND NOT A ONE OF THEM EVEN SLIGHTLY WAS. At least it now makes sense why Hawk and Dove is here, given the Liefeld connection: this is 90s as helllllllllllllllllllllll, and while a part of me hopes it swerves unexpectedly in a couple seasons into Fun 90s DC with Starman and Wally West and an Electric Blue Superboy and Titans One Million, I can’t pretend I wouldn’t gleefully hatewatch this if it wasn’t behind a paywall. What it really comes down to is that, as I saw someone mention, the over-the-top content warning at the beginning isn’t actually by any means to get rid of anyone under 18, but specifically to appeal to them over anyone over it: there is nothing about this show not precision-crafted to appeal to teenagers watching something they technically aren’t supposed to, since anyone older than that will just laugh until the stars grow cold. And while it’s one line in particular that’s rightfully drawn all the attention, to me the clear defining moment is Beast Boy taking his big goofy dramatic leap, and you expect him to transform, but that ain’t happening (I fully expect he’ll just have claws and growl and do assorted Wolverine shit instead), because that kind of thing is for STUPID KIDS, whereas this is RAD.

RAD, dare I say…to the EXTREME.

Also, the pilot Robin’s scene was presumably drawn from was written by Akiva Goldsman, Greg Berlanti, and Geoff Johns. So was it the guy behind Batman & Robin, the guy behind the CWverse, or the recent President of DC Comics who ushered FUCK BATMAN into the world? Because all three of those possibilities are equally hilarious. In any case, the rubicon has been crossed: easily one of the top ten, probably one of the five or so most iconic superheroes of all time said fuck in a piece of mass media. Where we go from here, nobody knows. But at the very least I’ll take the L for my original certainty that this would take place in the CW DCverse, because that clearly isn’t going to be the case. Though boy, imagine if it was. Personally I like to imagine this is a totally normal DCU, and suddenly going full 90s and murdering a bunch of people is their universe’s version of normal teen rebellion.

Additionally, it’s now seemingly set in stone that the fourth DC Universe live-action show alongside Titans, Doom Patrol, and Swamp Thing will be a Stargirl show where Courtney Whitmore learns about her legacy and tries to track down the Justice Society, described as in the flavor of Superman ‘78 and Wonder Woman. Again, if it wasn’t behind a paywall I’d check it out.

And before turning to comics proper, we learned from WB itself that there are no plans to idiotically pour millions into making a functional Justice League Snyder cut a thing, unsurprisingly making some of the worst people on the internet be just the absolute worst (I’m interested myself in it artistically even if I don’t think it would be very good, but at this point it would feel like a validation of some really rotten people’s behavior if this happened). Meanwhile the first trailer for the Dragon Ball Super movie dropped, and yeah, I’m still happy to see Broly. This looks big in a way Dragon Ball for all its action rarely gets, and seeing Paragus suggests Toriyama understood what worked about the original flick, which is a very good sign. Did they swap out Vic Mignogna as Broly though? Wouldn’t blame him, I know he’s said he hates the part, but surprising nonetheless. And the Spider-Man game dropped another trailer, along with a ‘Velocity’ bonus suit designed by Adi Granov.

The big comics news of the day was of course the long-awaited confirmation that Green Lantern is being relaunched - apparently as The Green Lantern - in November by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. What’s surprising is that Morrison’s currently insisting that since the last decade or so of the franchise has dealt with constant upheaval and cosmic apocalypse, his run is going to scale back down to a character-focused study of Hal (“He’s a loner and a drifter and he’s an unreconstructed man. It was nice to do that and to go a little bit old-fashioned with it. He doesn’t belong here at all, you know? He’s longing for the heavens, and to be back up as a Green Lantern. We’re doing Hal Jordan where, you know he’s a good cop, but is he really a good guy? And we’re looking into his relationships and how he deals with people. And also the fact that, if you’ve got a job as a space cop, it’s hard to be stuck on the planet Earth. He has other lives on other planets.”) amidst him going about his duties and dealing with weird alien crimes and space threats, such as stopping aliens from ‘parking’ a planet-sized artificial megastructure near a sun and causing damage to nearby worlds, and solving the murder of a gaseous lifeform.

I doubt it’ll necessarily stay there forever - his Batman and Action Comics runs, after all, were both initially marketed as staying on the smaller side by his standards, and the one idea we know of Morrison having once had for the Green Lanterns back in the day was making them a multiversal force. But it’s remarkable how, well, normal this sounds coming from Morrison. Clearly this must be a passion project if he’s doing a monthly again for the first time in 5 years, especially since DiDio mentioned he had to be persuaded (ultimately persuading himself as his attempts to brush off the proposition led to him thinking about the possibilities and rapidly talking himself into it) to make time for this amidst an incredibly busy schedule of surely more profitable and creatively unshackled projects, but on the surface level? This sounds like the closest Morrison has come since his JLA days to writing a regular superhero comic. At this point in his career, I’m very, very curious what that’s going to look like. Just hoping he read the King/Shaner oneshot on whatever reread he surely went through to catch up on current continuity. And also hoping this guy was right that it’ll turn out “the REAL construct that was limited by our willpower and imagination all along was…REALITY.”

On smaller notes:

* Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha are taking over Aquaman, with an opening arc that shows him washing up amnesiac on an isle of forgotten sea gods. DeConnick seems to be like the Jeffs Lemire and Parker where my appreciation of their work is limited to very, very specific slivers: none of her Marvel superhero stuff I’ve read did anything for me even if I could see the talent behind it, but her Lois story in the last issue of The Adventures of Superman was pitch-perfect (and also had a great Aquaman bit!). This gets at least an issue from me.

* DC announced new titles for DC Ink and DC Zoom, including Cassandra Cain, Oracle, Dick Grayson, Creeper, and Wonder Woman books, while also announcing some artists for the existing titles.

* Geoff Johns is doing (ugh) Shazam with Dave Eaglesham, who showed off a really great, fun cover suggesting the possibility of a tonal shift away from Johns writing the absolute worst version of that character imaginable. On the likelihood of said possibility though, I think @intergalactic-zoo put it best. I might just check it out in trade if word of mouth is overwhelmingly positive, but then, lots of otherwise rational people liked or at least saw merit in his original crack at it with Gary Frank, and you were all deliriously, impossibly wrong back then, too.

* And finally, speaking of Johns, he’s doing Batman: Three Jokers as a 3-issue mini with Jason Fabok, a smart move given that is precisely as much as I’m willing to invest in this out of morbid curiosity. What’s really baffling though is that it’s being released under Black Label. It would seem to destroy the stated purpose of the line by immediately releasing Very Important Continuity Comics under it, but maybe this means Batman’s gonna follow in his protege’s footsteps and say a fuck. Anyway, I’m mostly just hoping it isn’t revealed Fun Golden Age Joker is actually not the original in order to rub out the prospect that he was ever truly anything but a terrifying sidekick-butchering murder machine at the center of very serious stories, because that feels to be like a real possibility. And absolute no question one of the three is gonna turn out to be the lost child of Marionette and Mime in Doomsday Clock.

#Comic Con #DC Comics #Titans #Green Lantern #Geoff Johns #Grant Morrison #Opinion

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Text

Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis disagree over Matt McGinnis’ future as Robin – Matt wants to prove himself, but Terry firmly believes he isn’t ready. Meanwhile, Commissioner Barbara Gordon finds herself in the center of a hostage crisis when one of the Jokerz goes from being a run-of-the-mill trouble-maker to someone far deadlier!

Batman Beyond #20 – Target: Batman Part One Writer: Dan Jurgens Penciller: Marco Castiello Inker: Mark Morales Letterer: Travis Lanham Colorist: Wil Quintana Cover: Viktor Kalvachev Variant Cover: Shane Davis & Wil Quintana Group Editor: Marie Javins Editor: Rob Levin

What You Need to Know: Matt McGinnis, Terry’s little brother, put on a Robin suit to save Terry from a new Payback, who blamed Terry for the death of his son, the first Payback. Dana Tan didn’t approve of Bruce’s using Matt in this way and wants Terry to quit being Batman. Melanie Walker, formerly Ten of the Royal Flush Gang, has returned to Terry’s life and is trying to prove that she’s turned over a new leaf by trying to aid Batman in his battles. Unbeknownst to her, Batman and Terry are the same person.

What You’ll Find Out: Jack Ryder is still giving the news in Neo-Gotham, with a co-host named Adalyn Stern. They start by talking about the arrest of Tommy Falcone, but the story is quickly derailed by some important breaking news. There’s an active shooter in progress at the GCPD headquarters.

Commissioner Barbara Gordon is on the scene, trying to get Scab to drop his weapon, otherwise, she’ll be forced to shoot him. Scab, one of the Jokerz who dresses as though he’s a distaff counterpart to Harley Quinn, has a hostage and is talking about how Batman is everywhere. Barbara wonders what he has to do with this – Batman isn’t even there.

At Stately Wayne Manor, Terry and Bruce discuss the fact that Terry thinks its a mistake to let Matt become Robin. Sure, Terry became Batman at a young age, but he was older than Matt at the time. Bruce points out that Terry took the suit w/out permission and went out on his own when he wasn’t prepared, but that Matt has Terry to help him, which is beneficial to him. Out behind the Manor, Matt is wearing part of a new Robin suit, using the wings to fly. Bruce tells him that Matt will be in the game, with or without Terry’s permission. It wasn’t Bruce’s call to make, but now Terry has to coach him.

Bruce sees a lot of potential in Matt. With their parents dead, Terry is Matt’s legal guardian, and he really wanted this cleared with him, but Bruce explains that Payback forced his hand.

Melanie visits, and she’s still unaware that Terry and Batman are the same person. Melanie wants to start over with their friendship, and she’s been working hard to show him that she’s changed. Yes, she did a little B&E recently when she swiped that photo of Terry, and old habits die hard, but she’s working on it.

Melanie asks why Terry lives there with Bruce when he’s not related to Bruce, and Terry explains that it goes back to his job in high school as Bruce’s assistant. He then tells her that he knows that’s not why she’s there and asks why. She tells him she wants to know why he never came after her after she left the Royal Flush Gang – after all, they’d had a nice thing going there, between them. Terry tells her it’s because of stuff, life, fear. Melanie tells him that she saw that he helped Batman and that she’s been trying to prove that she’s changed, by helping people.

While this is going on, Dana is on her way to the Manor. Terry hasn’t returned any of her calls, and they need to talk. She doesn’t like this whole Batman business, but she loves him, and she’s sure that he loves her, so hopefully, she can convince him to stop being Batman. Except, of course, she walks in on Terry and Melanie kissing in the woods and silently walks away, tears in her eyes.

Matt actually interrupts their time together, though, because Bruce needs Terry right away. He tells Mel they’ll talk later when he’s done with whatever Bruce needs. In the Batcave, he finds out that Scab is back, and that he’s unhinged, which isn’t like his usual self, since he’s a trouble-maker, but not a murderer. He’s taken out cops, civilians, and other Jokerz.

Terry starts to suit up, but Matt arrives with the prototype Robin suit, ready to charge into action with him. Terry tells him that he’s not ready, but both Bruce and Matt oppose him, Bruce warning him that if Terry continues to deny Matt the chance to be Robin, then he’ll strike out on his own, implying that things won’t end well if he does that. Terry has to be the big brother and teach his brother how to be a superhero.

Matt is a bright, exuberant Robin, and Terry tells him to stay behind him and follow orders, a directive that Bruce echoes.

Inside the GCPD precinct, Scab is losing it, believing that his hostage works for the Bat. Barbara tries to convince him that he’s hallucinating, but Scab is having none of it. Batman and Robin arrive on the scene then, with Batman going after Scab while Robin goes to make sure that Commissioner Gordon is okay. She’s surprised at Robin’s appearance there. Robin offers to get Barbara to safety, but Barbara tells him that she can take care of herself.

Seeing Batman there exacerbates Scab’s condition, and he reaches into a bag and pulls out a gun, firing everywhere. Batman is able to deflect the bullets and take Scab down. Angry at Robin for not being able to get everyone to safety, he tells him that he’s done as Robin.

Adalyn Stern returns home, glad that Batman took care of Scab, even though she hasn’t been a Batman fan since she was a kid. Unfortunately for her, waiting for her in her apartment is a fearsome visage of Batman, promising her a one-way trip to hell.

What Just Happened?: With the exception of Dick Grayson first becoming Robin in 1940, no one has ever had an easy time of slipping on that particular cape or mask, and the same holds true for Matt McGinnis, who fans have always surmised would eventually don the mantle of Robin. Matt proves to be just as exuberant as his fore-Robins – bright, eager to help, joyous. Jurgens is clearly setting up a struggle between Matt and Terry, and hopefully, his foreshadowing about Matt striking out on his own doesn’t lead to dire consequences.

The Melanie-Terry-Dana triangle is one that was never quite explored in the animated series, given Melanie’s few appearances, and while her appearance here works to further divide Terry and Dana, one hopes that Melanie will be put to more use than that. She’s a fascinating, conflicted, complex character when written correctly, and she should be given that chance to come into her own and complete her redemption arc. Her reward shouldn’t be Terry or Batman, but she also shouldn’t just be the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who derails a relationship. Though, to be fair, Dana has been cast in a thankless role of late, and so it’s difficult not to root for Terry and Melanie, who are better matched in many ways.

While it’s not clear who the Bat-monster targeting the people of Gotham City might be, there are a couple of options for whom it would make sense. The first villain to come to mind is the Scarecrow or someone who has found the Scarecrow’s fear gas to manipulate people and cause them to hallucinate an evil Batman. There’s also Spellbinder, who of late has been one of Terry’s villains. With hypnosis and mind control abilities, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that he’s behind this mess.

Dan Jurgens has set up some classic plots here – people disapproving of Bruce Wayne bringing children into his crusade, the fear that Terry has about his brother becoming Robin, the triangle between Terry, Melanie, and Dana. They’re not groundbreaking stories by any means – which ones are these days? – but they are solid, and it’ll be interesting to see where this takes the characters as they move forward. One hopes that Matt becomes a solid, capable Robin, and it would be great to see Melanie given some development and forward momentum that allows her to stand side-by-side with Batman as the hero she so clearly wants to be. Terry’s condemnation of Matt as Robin at the end of the issue feels as though it comes a little too suddenly, but at the same time, it’s clear that Terry wants Matt off the field as soon as possible, and this was likely his idea of the best, quickest way to do it – and that’s sure to backfire spectacularly.

Marco Castiello’s art is solid, classic comic book art, easy to follow, and appropriately emotive. His take on Barbara Gordon seems a little younger than other versions of the Batman Beyond incarnation of the character, but it works. His take on Matt as Robin is excellent – Matt’s enthusiasm really leaps off the page. If there’s one complaint, it’s only a minor one in that Melanie Walker’s always had something of a specific hairstyle, and that seems swapped out here for a far more basic style, which detracts from the personality that her hair used to give her, as well as the visual cue that told the reader that the character on panel is Melanie. Granted, she’s also trying to change as a person, and what is a hairstyle change but not expository for a direction that a character wants to go in?

Rating: 7/10 Final Thoughts: This incarnation of the Batman Beyond book is heading into a better place than it was when it started out – there are long-term plot threads being added, and the conflict between the characters are well-written. If you’re looking for a classic superhero adventure story that doesn’t wrap itself up in meta-textual narrative or isn’t some complicated event but is still a fun, fulfilling read, this book is definitely recommended.

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Bruce and Terry disagree over Matt McGinnis' future as Robin. Meanwhile, one of the Jokerz goes from being a run-of-the-mill trouble-maker to someone far deadlier! Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis disagree over Matt McGinnis' future as Robin – Matt wants to prove himself, but Terry firmly believes he isn't ready.

#Batman #batman beyond #Comics Review #dan jurgens #DC Comics #marco castiello #Robin

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