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thecruellestmonth · 1 year

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Jason "I'm the only one allowed to torment Bruce" Todd

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laufire · 1 month

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Your top 5 Lois Lane moments (off the top of your head).

I recently read Lois Lane (1986) "When It Rains, God Is Crying", a two-part story about Lois delving into children disappearances. It's less that there's one moment and more that I just like how Lois is written there. She had a professional fumble before this (indirectly cause by Superman, in part, and leading to the end of their relationship) and she's a bit in hot water, focused on the investigation while everyone talks about how she's getting too obsessed and should disengage etc. And Lois herself gets mean and dismissive and furious at others because she's so focused on the work in a way I really enjoyed reading. Like a moment where she's incredibly dismissive of Lucy's stewardess job, for example. I like when Lois's characterisation shows different facets.

It's similar for me with Amy Adams's Lois: it's less about an specific moment and more about what the iteration of the character brought. One moment I like is when she does find Clark on her own in Smallville (this is before Superman, but she's following the story of a man with powers) and drops the story, keeping the secret. In general, Clark and Lois being an actual team instead of how shitty some of the identity shenanigans have gotten over the years (and I'm saying this as someone who enjoys secret identity shenanigans) was something I liked on this version.

I haven't watched Christopher Reeves's Superman films (I intend to, at some point, but who knows when). I HAVE watched the deleted scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing himself by shooting a blank at him. I love it xD

It's been AEONS since I watched either Smallville or Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (neither of which I ever properly finished... it's on my list as well...). I'm cheating by picking each Lois introductory episodes (4x01 for Smallville, the pilot for L&C). I think they both, and their actress, made a superb job introducing the character, making her *pop* for the audience, showing us their "unstoppable force" quality.

This might be just because it's what I saw of her last LOL, but I LOVE the moment where she dumps Bruce in STAS!! It's a good moment for them both, period, and I like their dynamic and all, but outside that, I just really really enjoyed seeing someone basically tell Bruce "I love you, but this is where I get off." It was VERY satisfying for me.

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

#replies #thecruellestmonth #talking to the void #ty!#my thoughts #dc thoughts #dc #lois lane

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inksilvery · 1 year

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commission for @thecruellestmonth

#commissioned art #commissioned work #cassandra cain #jason todd

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crisis-on-infinite-batblogs · 4 months

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Help needed!!! Does anyone know what issue this is from?

UPDATE: It’s Justice League vs. the Legion of Superheroes #6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski.

Shout out to @trekkele and @thecruellestmonth and everyone who helped spread this around.

#I can rest easy now that I know the names of the criminals responsible for this

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roobylavender · 3 months

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hmm this may interest you, do you have thoughts on this subject matter character-wise or in a meta sense?:

https://www.tumblr.com/thecruellestmonth/740875315694501888/batman-turning-points-3-batman-under-the-red

personally i'm not a fan of bruce's disavowal of fatherhood much for the same reasons that i'm not a fan of his installing the good soldier plaque. these to me are both writing choices driven more by writers' desire to explore theoretical concepts than they are driven by a character study of bruce himself. the concept of robin as an occupation inherently equivalent to child abuse is interesting. the concept of wondering what right a father has to children he has adopted towards that end is interesting. that being said, exploring the former concept didn't necessarily demand eliminating robin altogether. exploring the latter concept didn't necessarily demand bruce completely disavowing himself of any accountability. and ultimately both writing choices ignore that a core aspect of bruce's relationships with the robins was wanting to be a good parent, or at the least a good guardian. certainly something more than a mere ally or friend. he took responsibility for these children because he wanted to help guide them towards a certain path in life where they would no longer be ruled by their trauma the way he was and is by his. allowing them to become robin to that end was obv more than questionable, but all too many writers forget and even go so far as to ignore that bruce knew that. he was well aware of his status as an enabler and he eventually hated himself for it deeply. he felt perpetually guilty and reluctant to ask dick for any support once the latter became an adult bc he didn't want to sanction and (in his mind) effectively require dick to do something that would endanger his life on his own orders. he could realistically never stop dick from pursuing vigilantism, but he could at least refuse to ask dick for that commitment any longer so that dick had complete freedom to make his own choices as to the matter. regardless, bruce had to live with the guilt of having enabled the existence of robin to begin with, and he intended to live with that guilt. it was his closest friend and his primary means of survival

if anything, that to me is precisely why his disavowal of fatherhood doesn't make sense. bruce is a poor communicator and he has a tendency to take upon all burdens at the expense of his loved ones feeling like he no longer values them or their support, but that doesn't negate the fact that he's quite hyperaware of his flaws. he's a far more relentless critic of himself than he is of others, and that stems as much from self-righteousness as it does guilt. he's supposed to be better. he's supposed to set an example. he's supposed to do the right thing. he's supposed to save the whole city even if he's only one person. and so on and so forth. bruce is possessive of highly unrealistic expectations for himself bc he's a ridiculously emotional person trying to tell himself to act like a robot. he repeatedly sets himself up for failure and then when he inevitably fails he kicks himself down like a dog. he is essentially a walking man-child simply because he cares too much and that often leads him to make stupid, emotionally driven choices: like taking random children into his home and teaching them how to channel their emotions through fighting crime, because if it worked for him it might work for them too, esp when they've got the added benefit of his supervision and well-intended (albeit awkward) companionship

all of bruce's circumstances and internalizations and traumas point to him taking what i would term excessive ownership of his crimes. he's a self-made pity puddle because he thinks everything is his fault. dick barely having a life outside of vigilantism is his fault. dick nearly falling to his death is his fault. jason failing to properly process his parental trauma is his fault. jason getting blown up by the joker is his fault. i simply cannot imagine a world where bruce isolates himself from caring or from taking the blame because doing the latter has been his modus operandi for so long. it makes more sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of not wanting to take the place that john and mary or willis and catherine will always occupy; it makes less sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of raising and loving dick and jason as if they were his own. it's very much a you don't have to call me dad but when i call you "chum" i mean "son" situation. he's never one to burden others intentionally (although we obv know this rarely plays out the way he wants it to), rather he intentionally burdens himself. that's precisely what knightfall as an arc is stellar at depicting, regardless of the fact that it coincides with the existence of the good soldier plaque. bruce in the aftermath of jason's death has to blame himself excessively because it's the only way he knows how to cope. i've never understood depictions of his grief with an emphasis on jason's share of the blame bc not only is it classist towards jason, it's also inconsistent with bruce's own character and tendency to believe that every bad thing that happens is his fault. it's why i'm not really a fan of gotham knights #43-45. a death in the family makes it clear that bruce blames himself for not allowing jason to have the space and time to process his trauma properly before throwing him into the suit. allowing him to have hope never even comes into the picture

and i'm not sure if anyone has ever considered this, but the disavowal of fatherhood really confuses me when you remember tim exists. why is bruce's disavowal with regards to jason even necessary when the crux of tim's entry into the mythos is precisely the fact that he isn't someone over whom bruce can similarly exercise responsibility and ownership.. it's far more interesting to explore the tightrope bruce walks with that partnership because he's easily in a place to deny responsibility and yet obv he ultimately can't because despite whatever reluctance he expressed initially, he eventually gave in. the tone of the grant/brefoygle run also helps with depicting that dilemma. we're not primarily privy to the bruce of old anymore, who while quiet and awkward nonetheless expressed a capacity for caretaking. there are remnants of that of course (esp after tim's mother dies). but the bruce of the 90s is more imperious and domineering because he's been hardened by trauma. he delivers grand speeches about vigilantism and justice. he sends tim across the pond because he needs proper training. the fact that they're neighbors and get burgers together sometimes doesn't detract from the physical divide present there because tim is ultimately someone else's son and possessive of a life entirely divorced of what he does in the mask. he can walk away without preamble in a way that dick (at least until adulthood) and jason never could. plenty of writers recognized that and personally i believe it's what made the 90s robin run interesting to read, but i also believe writers retroactively projected the necessity of an emotionally distant bruce to that narrative onto the bruce of old. it was progressively rewritten to be a constant rather than a development in the wake of a highly transgressive event. and unfortunately that's tainted every interaction and/or recollection that he has with/of jason afterward

#anyway. idek if this makes sense or feels coherent anymore i'm sorry :/ but the recording was definitely worse #and i also said some things on it that i don't actually think i believe. so #this was definitely a better means through which to organize my thoughts. however well i could #outbox

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dc-vs-marvel-tournament · 4 months

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Submitted by @thecruellestmonth

"Surviving death, this protective pup often hunts down his favorite food and is aptly named, Lucky the Pizza Dog."- Marvel.com

I thought it was to cute to leave out that description

#my moneys on ace but lucky is adorable #dcvsmarveltournament #dc comics #marvel #marvel comics #poll tournament #tournament poll #tumblr tournament #dcau #dcu #poll #polls #ace the bathound #ace wayne #lucky the pizza dog

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soliloquyjewelry · 5 years

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“April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.” 🔮🍂

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thecruellestmonth · 3 months

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Does the mass-murdering criminal Jason "Red Hood" Todd canonically support the death penalty?

No, I can't find evidence that Red Hood supports the death penalty.

There is a difference between murder (illegal) and state-sanctioned killing (legal). Red Hood commits unlawful homicide. The death penalty is lawful homicide. Jason is a murderer. The death penalty is not legally considered murder. Commissioner Jim Gordon is a decorated military veteran, not a murderer.

Committing violence ≠ wanting the government to have the right to commit that violence. Batman and his allies brutalize criminals; they don't necessarily support the state brutalizing criminals. Red Hood kills some criminals; Red Hood doesn't necessarily support the state killing criminals. Catwoman doesn't necessarily support the state committing burglary. Et cetera.

The death penalty is administered by the criminal legal system. Jason does not like the criminal legal system (see some of his run-ins with the police). He grew up as an impoverished child who didn't believe in the system, he was raised by Batman to believe that vigilantes can make a difference that the system can't, and he became an adult criminal who still doesn't believe in the system. He's not interested in using the criminal legal system. He isn't interested in giving more powers and privileges to an abusive system that has wronged him and the people he cares about.

When Jason started up his villain business, the death penalty was legal in Gotham City. (See Detective Comics #644, The Joker: Devil's Advocate, Batgirl 2000 #19, Punchline #1.) The death penalty was also in place during his Robin run. Jason didn't argue in favor of the state having the right to kill prisoners, and the death penalty never addressed his complaints about the status quo.

Jason has rescued people from wrongful* imprisonment and the death penalty. Again, based on his own firsthand experiences, he has many reasons to believe that the system is broken. *Some of us would argue that locking any people in prisons tends to be wrongful and inhumane by default, but we could choose to accept the standard premises of crime fiction as without endorsing it as moral instruction.

Jason Todd is a criminal: a mass murderer, a terrorist, a villain. He does evil. He doesn't represent or support the legal system. He probably has the least political capital out of all the Batfamily-associated characters. He doesn't promote the death penalty. He commits murder—illegally, as a criminal, state-unapproved.

Some recent comics related to the topic:

Gotham Nights (2020) #11 "One Minute After Midnight", written by Marc Guggenheim

Red Hood and Nightwing team up to investigate the case of a man wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed. Both of them disapprove of how the broken criminal legal system botched this case.

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8 (2023), written by Matthew Rosenberg

"You familiar with Hannah Arendt's concept of Schreibtischtäter? Desk murderers? It's people who use the state to kill for them, so they don't have to get their hands dirty."

#Jason Todd #Jason Todd meta #Batfam meta #Batfamily meta #Batfam #Batfamily #Robin II #Batkids #Batman Gotham Nights #DC Robin #Red Hood #Joker The Man Who Stopped Laughing #Matt Rosenberg #canon vs fanon #fanon vs canon #panels #RHATO 2011 opens with Red Hood saving somebody from being unjustly executed. Don't read it. It is bad. Just trust me.#Jason Todd is legally dead and not registered to vote.#I could make a much longer post about Jason's general contempt for authorities but let's limit it today.#thecruellestmonth #I know the 1992-2010 comics purists are going to come after me for using recent comics.#I could make a much longer post about Post-Crisis Jason Todd's attitudes about the police and the state.#But that longer post still wouldn't have much to say about the death penalty--#--because--AGAIN--there is NO evidence that Jason supports the death penalty! But there is plenty of indirect evidence that he doesn't.#Do the words ''system''‚ ''state''‚ ''criminal''‚ and ''legal'' look like real words anymore?#ID in alt text #described #image described #ID in alt #image description

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thecruellestmonth · 1 year

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Jason Todd + dogs

Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 "Bird Cat Love"

DCeased: Unkillables #1 // Batman and Robin (2011) #35 // Batman (2016) #33

Red Hood: Outlaw (2016) #35

RHatO (2011) // RHatO (2011) // RHatO (2016) #4

Robins (2021) #6

+ bonus kitties

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #43

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A Crisis of Imagination #12

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thecruellestmonth · 1 year

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Jason Todd + literature

RHATO (2016) #20

Become What You Are by Alan Watts

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8

Hannah Arendt, author of Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Batman (1940) #395

Detective Comics #573 // Detective Comics #1042

The Gotham Gazette, local newspaper

We Are Robin #7

Alexandre Dumas, author of The Man in the Iron Mask, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Robin Hood: The Outlaw

Batman: Legends of Gotham

La Bête humaine by Émile Zola

Batman and Robin Eternal #3

1984 by George Orwell

Batman Incorporated (2012) #7

Richard III by William Shakespeare

RHATO (2011) #6

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Batman and Robin (2009) #5 // Batman: Three Jokers #2

Getting the Best Out of Your Brand

Chronic Pain Management

Detective Comics #569

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville

Batman and Robin (2009) #23 //Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #31

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The Art of War by Sūn Zǐ

Batman #648

Batman #409 // Batman: Arkham Knight—Genesis #2 // Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #23

See also: lit nerd Steph by @our-happygirl500-fan, Shakespeare nerd Dickie by @luanna255

#Jason Todd #Red Hood #DC Robin #Batman comics #Detective Comics #Batman and Robin #Wayne Family Adventures #Josh Williamson #Grant Morrison #Batman Incorporated #We Are Robin #Joker The Man Who Stopped Laughing #Batman and Robin Eternal #Rosenberg #RHatO #bookshelf #panels #canon vs fanon #fanon vs canon #thecruellestmonth #Sources in the alt text in the pictures.#Your regular reminder not to read RHatO. I read early Rebirth but I nabbed that 2011 panel source from a Bleeding Cool article.#Wow Jason you poser--reading De Principatibus translated into English instead of the original Italian. 🙄🙄🙄 We are so unimpressed.#Even his book choices are edgy. Any edgier and he'll start spending his nights in black capes and eye black to brood over the cityscape.#I bet I'm missing some books and it bothers me. 🥲#This doesn't include references to Hamlet + Of Mice and Men + The Illiad + Icarus and Daedalus + Flowers for Algernon.#long #long post #ID in alt text #ID in alt

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thecruellestmonth · 2 years

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Standard disclaimer: It is perfectly fine to love Wayne Family Adventures, just like it's fine to enjoy Tiny Titans and Lil Gotham. It's even fine to prefer WFA to the main comics!

But I kinda disagree with some fans labeling WFA's representation of Jason's trauma as "correct" or "accurate" or "proper" or "realistic" or "faithful".

There is no one single "correct" way to represent trauma/PTSD.

Many don't have panic attacks. Many don't have logical or obvious triggers. Some respond in ways that are messy, difficult, isolating, angry, destructive, ugly, frustrating, exhausting, hurtful, cruel—bad.

The Red Hood from the original comics? The Red Hood in the animated movie and in the Arkham games and in Injustice 2? He responds to his trauma by trying to forcibly take control over his life, his home, and his parent.

His trauma is not nicely packaged. His trauma didn't make him a sweeter, more lovable person. His trauma prompted him to become ruthless and obsessed with taking control.

Jason's trauma response has been represented. Some versions are less pretty than others.

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thecruellestmonth · 1 year

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Jason's feelings about Sheila Haywood

Batman #427 (1988)

"God, it must have been hard for you."

"...I'll save you... Mom..."

Batman: Gotham Knights #44 (2003)

"...I love..."

Batman #428 (1988)

"He threw... himself... in front... of me... in front of me... He took... the main brunt... of the blast... Such a... good boy... Must have... really... loved his... mother..."

Deadman: Dead Again #2 (2001)

JASON: "It's weird--she betrayed me to the Joker. Got us both blown up--but I'm not mad at her. It wasn't really her fault--her whole life was screwed up. Things just... happened. [...] You gotta tell me--is she going to make it?"

DEADMAN: "She's fading pretty fast, kid--"

JASON: "No, I mean-- her soul. What's going to happen to her... afterward?"

DEADMAN: "That's not for me to decide."

SHEILA: "Jason tried to rescue me... We almost... made it... So close... He turned out to be such a good kid..."

JASON: "Thanks, Mom..."