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kiki-shortsnout · 3 years

Note

For intimacy prompts: #17 laying your head on someone’s shoulder for Frostiron! 💚❤️ Thanks!

I'm back!!! Sorry it's taken so long, but I'm back to answer my prompts! Thank you so much for this one! I enjoyed writing this!

***

Loki stumbled as the Bifrost set them both down, too exhausted to shake off Thor’s steadying hand on his elbow, his brother’s own exhaustion evident in the slump of his shoulders. Loki had no strength left in him to make a jest about Thor’s overprotective tendencies, instead looking around the Midgardian cityscape he’d come to think of as a second home, his limbs limp.

Part of his atonement for his war crimes was to take a more active role in defense of the planet he sought to enslave. His mother and brother’s pleas not to imprison him swaying his father from a harsher sentence. He was a…tolerated member of the Avengers, a proverbial thorn in the side for most. He’d formed a tentative, begrudging respect towards the Black Widow, but he was a constant source of irritation for the rest of them.

Well, someone needed to keep the Avengers on their toes.

Loki was still called upon to keep Asgard and the realms it protected safe, and that was where he and Thor had been, subduing marauders on Vanaheim, listening to whispers of an event called a Convergence was impending, a cataclysmic occurrence that had them all on edge.

It felt as though his very bones rattled as he trudged across the roof of the Avengers Tower beside Thor, like his skin was stretched too taut over the excruciating ache of his muscles. As they came into the hanger, they both looked around, used to having at least one member of the Avengers greet them after their excursions off world.

Despite being used to being treated with distrust and trepidation, the bitter sting of their rebuke still penetrated the fatigued miasma clouding Loki’s brain.

He’d managed to convince one Midgardian that he was not the nemesis that all perceived him to be, that it was an illusion he portrayed to hide the crippling weakness he felt. This one Midgardian had seen through Thanos’s manipulations of his mind, had shattered the deception he shrouded himself in. It was Anthony he looked around for now, bewildered as he was met with nothing but silence, not even JARVIS speaking to them.

‘Is Earth under attack?’ Thor questioned, wiping the grime from his eyes as he frowned, moving towards one of the huge windows. Loki reformed his daggers as he took a step forward, ears straining to hear, his body sluggish and unwilling to cooperate.

The door at the far end of the room creaked open, and Loki teleported beside it in an instant, flinging it open and pointing his dagger at their enemy.

‘Pepper?’ Lowering his dagger, he immediately noticed she looked as tired, if not more so than the both of them. Her usually glossy hair was dull and frazzled, wisping around her face in auburn tufts, her eyes encircled with grey smudges.

‘What has happened?’ he asked, his words curt despite how he’d promised Anthony he would respect this mortal. It was an easy promise to keep, treating the two people Anthony treasured above all with care. Loki genuinely liked Pepper, her attitude, her bravery, her fiery temper. He and Rhodes tolerated each other, their mutual like for Anthony the only thing stopping them from attacking each other, settling instead for snide comments.

‘It’s Tony, he…he’s been really sick, Loki,’ Pepper gasped, her lower lip trembling as she swayed into him.

‘Where is he?’ Loki demanded, catching her by her shoulders. It was as though his body had been invigorated with lust for battle, any fatigue he’d felt moments ago burned away. Instead of the adrenaline he usually felt under such circumstances, his body felt cold, terror seeping down the back of his throat, stroking its clammy fingers across his skin.

Why wasn’t I here?

‘He’s in his room now-’

‘Where was he before?’ Thor asked before Loki could even put words to the thoughts scattering in his mind, the guilt webbing in his lungs, tugging at him with every breath.

‘The medical bay downstairs…JARVIS has the most extensive anatomy files because of the arc reactor and-’

‘Thor, look after her for me,’ Loki ordered, teleporting away despite them calling after him.

Anthony was huddled in his bed, the numerous blankets piled on him quivering as he trembled. The sickly scent spiraling in tendrils through the air made Loki recoil. This…was not something he was comfortable with. He’d never cared about another enough to warrant any actions of concern from him, had never been able to see past his own arrogance and selfishness to consider others.

‘An…Tony?’ he called, scared at what he was going to find, at how sick his mortal was. He’d seen Tony sick before, seen him with what they called a cold, all snuffy nosed and demanding and clingy. This silent, still, Anthony frightened him. What ailed him so? What illness had made Pepper look like a shadow of herself? Why had he needed to go down to the medical bay? Loki had seen Anthony after a battle, had seen him spit venom at any who dared suggest he seek medical help when he was injured, only allowing Loki to tend to his wounds hours later when the pain had grown too much to bear. Even then, he’d pretended it was for his own sake, that he was the one who couldn’t bear to see Anthony in pain.

He took a step backwards, wanting to flee, wanting to escape the fear plucking at him. He’d been in countless battles, fought with odds against him, had stood and waited for punishment by his father. This, seeing someone he had grown to care about like this…why was this affecting him so?

Anthony had reached out a hand in friendship despite all the atrocities he had committed in both Midgard and Jotunheim, the countless lives he had taken and lasting repercussions, Anthony Stark had given him a home, a means to make penance for those he had wronged. He hadn’t forgiven him, not straight away, that had taken time and trust to develop between them.

It was that belief in him, an emotion that so few beings were unwilling to extend to him which made Loki fall in love with the Midgardian, a feeling he had not given life with his words yet. It was this unnamed feeling which made him shove all his selfish fears aside.

Anthony needed him.

‘Anthony?’ he called again, peeling back the covers, his breath hitching at the sheer heat radiating from the man.

‘Hey,’ his voice cracked, his lungs rattling as he drew in a breath, hands tightening from where they were wrapped around himself in a pitiful hug.

‘What…what happened, should you even be here?’ Loki asked, dropping to his knees by the side of the bed, his hands hovering over Anthony’s body, uncertain, scared to touch this fragile creature.

Anthony rolled over in bed, and Loki was horrified at the sunken look to his skin, the waxy grey pallor, the red-rimmed eyes.

‘Oh, beloved,’ Loki breathed out, his hand stroking through clumped together hair.

‘Not a pretty sight,’ Anthony wheezed out. ‘You should’ve seen me a few weeks ago.’

Weeks? He’d left him behind in a worse condition than this for weeks?

‘How did your health deteriorate so fast? You weren’t in this condition when I…’ Loki’s eyes narrowed when Anthony’s gaze dropped, one of his tells when he wasn’t telling the entire truth. ‘You were ill when I left.’ Loki didn’t phrase it as a question.

‘Honestly, Lokes, don’t-’ Anthony’s protest was cut off with a wracking cough, the sheer force of it scaring Loki, sweeping aside whatever anger that had been beginning to build a few moments ago.

‘Why did you not tell me? If I had known-’

‘Thor needed you,’ Anthony said weakly, sagging back into his pillow. ‘Besides, this isn’t…this isn’t what we do.’ He closed his eyes as if the mere act of breathing pained him.

He was correct in his assumptions. They laughed, talked, had sex…keeping everything light and frothy and pleasurable, avoiding anything that encompassed feelings, vulnerabilities, neither wanting to be beholden to the other. It was a foolish act on Loki’s behalf, wanting to keep a distance from attachments, fearful of what Anthony could mean to him.

‘Move aside,’ Loki commanded, shrugging off his cape and unfastening his arm bracers.

‘Loki, what?’

‘Unless me joining you is going to impede your recovery in any way?’ Loki hesitated, suppressing his smirk at Anthony’s interested, fatigued gaze on his now naked torso. Lying beside his mortal, Loki gathered him in his arms, arranging them so he was on his back, Anthony half on top of him, his head on his shoulder.

‘Listen to me,’ Loki whispered, the words delicate, but infused with such meaning that it made them hang thickly between them. This was a precipice on which he stood, a moment he had read about in countless epic sagas. The hero baring the depths of their love after a heroic deed, or a noble act of self-sacrifice… not holding a sickly mortal. ‘I am not…not very good at this,’ Loki finished, his voice trailing off pathetically.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,’ Anthony said instead, wriggling his body closer, enjoying the cooler feel of Loki’s skin. ‘I’m a shitty patient, and I didn’t want you to see me like this.’

That Loki could understand. Only his mother dared to face his wrath when he had been sick, her gentle hands and calming voice the only things he would tolerate. But there was a deeper meaning behind Anthony’s reasoning too, the unwillingness to reveal a weakness, the fear of being abandoned.

‘I am not angry you did not tell me. I am infuriated with myself for not recognizing the signs of your ailment, of leaving you behind for such a long period of time when I know you do not like seeking help.’

‘Then what-’

Loki clutched his mortal closer, resting one hand on his brow to both to measure Anthony’s temperature and to cool him down.

‘I have never felt this way towards another being, mortal or not. I am sorry that you felt as though you could not tell me you were unwell, that I acted as though my intentions towards you were not serious. You plague my waking thoughts, my unconscious dreams, beloved, there is none I would rather be with.’

Rather than receiving a heartfelt confirmation of Anthony’s own feelings, the mortal stiffened in his grip, his rattling breathing halting. Fearful his illness had gotten worse, Loki rose a little from his waist so he could look down, confused at the angry frown Anthony was displaying.

‘Anthony-’

‘This is going to keep happening,’ he interrupted with a snap. ‘My insides are completely wrecked, my lungs, heart… Christ my liver…they’re all damaged and I’m not as young as I once was. I don’t know about you, but this is a wakeup call for why we shouldn’t be fooling around…let alone catching feelings for me.’

‘It is not for you to tell me my feelings are wrong,’ Loki admonished gently.

‘Loki, look at me. I’m a mess. I got a simple cold and it morphed into pneumonia. I might be out of the medical bay, but it’ll take weeks to-’

‘More of a mess than I am? Loki, the God of Mischief who manipulated my brother into going to war with my birth world, who allowed myself to be manipulated by Thanos-’

‘Loki you were tortured…’

‘And I threw you from a window, killed innocent people.’

Anthony didn’t answer that.

‘I know my actions of New York were not wholly my own, that I agreed to invade under duress, that my thoughts were not my own. Anthony, those thoughts were not just placed there by Thanos. I had always regarded Midgard as a lesser race. Those emotions might have been warped and heightened, but they were my own. I tricked my brother into a war against Jotunheim because I was jealous of the attention my father bestowed on him. These are not trivial things to be forgiven. They are sins I will atone for the rest of my life, and still, you found a way to love me.’

Anthony’s breathing hitched, turning into a cough, and Loki ran a comforting hand over his back to calm him.

‘I care not if your body is injured, that you are more susceptible to illness. It does not make you weaker in my mind, it highlights the battles you have endured, the strength it takes for you to continue living,’ Loki told him, lifting a hand to place it over Anthony’s arc reactor, protecting it. Despite his earlier fears earlier, the words he spoke were the truth, and it pained him that he had waited so long to tell him.

Even as he held his sick mortal close, wishing he could create a spell to eradicate any vestiges of this illness, Loki was plotting. He wouldn’t let Anthony be snatched from him by something trivial like time or illness. Technically he needed his father’s permission for his plan, but he knew his mother would see his way of thinking, would be happy he had found another to share his life with.

‘Feels like you’ve been shortchanged here,’ Anthony grumbled, settling his head back down against his shoulder.

‘I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds like you are degrading yourself after I’ve confessed my feelings for you. This is meant to be a momentous occasion and-’

He laughed as Anthony silenced him with a hand over his mouth.

‘Alright, alright, you’re lucky, I’m a peach, I get it.’ Anthony burrowed closer, his sweat-slick hands wrapping around Loki’s middle.

‘Next time, promise me you will tell me if you are feeling unwell.’

‘You had to go- ‘

‘Nothing is more important to me than you. Father and Thor can protect Asgard. We have an army for that reason. I will always fight for Asgard, for its people, but not if you need me.’

Anthony squeezed him close, his legs twitching as he drew closer to sleep.

‘Thank you.’ Loki felt the words formed against his skin rather than hearing them, and he smiled, holding Anthony closer.

‘I love you too,’ he whispered when he was moments from sleep, and Loki didn’t respond, knowing his beloved needed rest, that he would be here to watch over him while he slept.

#writing prompt #fanfic prompt #thanks for the prompt!#thanks for the ask!#frostiron #tony x loki #tony stark #mcu loki #sick fic

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thegeekerynj · 3 years

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DC’s Future State: The Home Runs, Hits, and outright Strikeouts

(Or, how Politics and Comics Don’t Mix)

Greetings from somewhen along the fractured timelines, and somewhere in the newly reconstituting Omniverse! Tis’ I, your faithful, but recently missing Fat Guy, finding his way back to a Universe with a keyboard, Intel processor, and something as far from MyFace as possible!

Gentle Readers, when last I had the privilege of gracing these Interwebs, Death Metal #7 had not yet hit the shelves, nor had Dead Earth #6.

My spin down the ‘rabbit holes’, between the lunacy of the viral insanity that gripped the country, and then, the worries which came out of the COVID Pandemic, had me more focused on depressing issues, than the IMPORTANT THINGS in LIFE…

What DID happen with Wonder Woman? And, What came out of the lunacy of the Metal Saga?

Well, let’s touch on a few of those topics, the second, first.

What happened out of the Metal Saga? Well, we get a view of the Future, or a possible Future, if this is the Final State. We get to see some Characters grow, some disappear, some books remain the same, some will change DRASTICALLY.

We get to hear jokes about the Fifth Generation and how it is a marketing ploy for the Mothership, the United Conglomerated Moneygrab AT&T.

We get a name change from 5G to Future State, without a real concept change.

Oh, and Dan DiDio got fired. So did about half of DC’s regular staff.

But, I digress.

Anyway, the premise is really simple… It’s Baseball Season! That being the case, I’m going to engage in a game of hybrid game of Sewer Cap Baseball, with each group of books graded as a Single, Double Triple , Home Run, Out or Side Retired. This will not be an arbitrary judgment, as there will be some criteria to be followed.

The RULES:

Home Runs Well, a Home Run has to have outstanding artistry and story, the work being exemplary. Plot, characters, premise, everything is crisp, fresh and enjoyable. Writer and Artists have brought the reader to a place where they know the divergent reality is believable, in context.

Triples: If a Home Run is everything hitting on all cylinders, the Triple is the single knock in the engine. The pothole that nags at the Reader, the Idea that makes the Collector say, ‘This was really good…BUTTTTTT…’. Not the hook that leaves you wanting more, it’s the oversized hook that says’I just can’t swallow that’.

Double: A Double has a glaring issue that takes the reader out of the story… Frank Miller ‘300’ style Artwork on “Millie the Model’ type of ‘Well, that was a misfire!’ The story can be exceptional, or the Artwork wonderful, there’s just that GLARING issue that pulls the Reader away.

Single: The GLARING ERROR is extensive, pairing Yo-Yo Ma with Weird Al extensive. Both wonderful, but put together, and too much is lost in translation. The pairing of an ultra detailed writer with a 60’s style artist, who does no backgrounds, except for splash pages.

STRIKE OUT: Something is just BAD. 1985 Secret Wars BAD. Unfinished Kevin Smith Widening Gyre Cliffhanger BAD. Spider Buggy BAD. Not usually one to say something is BAD, I have said I didn’t like certain things. Not liking something does not make it BAD. Something horrifically wrong with it, that makes it BAD.

SIDE RETIRED: OK, this is a very special category, reserved for the Story That Has Been Done To Death, Didn’t Need To Be Done Again, Yet Here We Are, New Universe, Same Old CRAP!

This is the ‘Superman painted himself with invisible lead paint’ story, the ‘Bat-Shark Repellent in the Utility Belt Story (outside the 60’s camp stories)’…

So Gentle Readers, with all that said, the Pitchers and Catchers are set, the Batters are ready, the Managers are already bitching at the Umpire, sooooooo, Let’s Play Ball!

And remember, the Umpire reserves the right to continue the Game onto another day, as the Sun Goes Down…

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First Inning:

Batter UP!

Dark Nights: Death Metal #7

Writer: Scott ‘Skull Crusher’ Snyder Pencils (PP1-28) Greg ‘Constrictor’ Capullo, Inks: Jonathan ‘’Gut Punch’ Glapion; Artist (PP 29-36) Yanick ‘Yell Master’ Paquette, Artist (PP 37-38) Bryan ‘Hatchet Man’ Hitch

‘Tell me our shorts were not this short!

No way! They were MUCH SHORTER!

I will not die by pixie boot. I will not die by…’

———————————————————————————————————

This is it folks! The First Batter, or, the End of the Beginning, however the heck you want to look at it.

Gentle Readers, you can’t get to the Future State without first talking about the last issue of the series that brought you there… so, here we go!

Six issues, or, 23 issues, depending on your budget, wallet size, and ability to ‘Just Say NO!’, and here we are, the LAST ISSUE of the Death Metal Saga, which actually started way back in Batman #1 of the REBIRTH reboot, and carried through the METAL / Batman Who Laughs / Year of the Villain… so, the gift that kept on taking!

Anyway, this has been the Longest Long Game, and the Payoff has been SPECTACULAR!

Constantly swinging between the Battle of the Bat-Families, the Superman Fight Squad and the Last Son, and the one - on - one death match between Wonder Woman and The Batman who Laughs, we get the battle scenes we have craved all along.

Death, carnage, mayhem, and Jarro… who could ask for - - - What, you want more???? Well, we can add in the Totality, Diana of Themyscira, Goddess, ElseWorld, and finally finding out who was narrating this book for the last 77 years… Ya know, that’s enough.

Not that there isn’t more, I’m just not writing about it here…

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have left everything on the field with this book. No regrets, no punches puled, they finished this the way they started, unrelenting, unforgiving, and absolutely unstoppable.

As a fan, I can say this is one of the few books I really jonesed for over the last year. The months when there was a skip due to the ‘One - offs’, I think I really got the shakes. This was one of the three stories of 2020 that made this Reader sit up and take notice.

As such, I highly recommend this entire series. This issue was fantastic, a fine ending to lead in to a new phase of the DC Universe, and Frickin’ ELSEWORLD!!!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

First Batter - Home Run!

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Batting Second…

Generations Shattered #1 / Generations Forged #1

Writers: Dan Jurgens, Robert Venditti, Andy Schmidt

Artists: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, John Romita JR and Danny Miki, Kevin Nowlan, Rags Morales, Doug Braithwaite, Ema Lupacchino and Wade von Grawbadger, Dan Jurgens and Klaus Janson, Yanick Paquette, Bernard Chang, Aaron LoPresti and Matt Ryan, Mike Perkins, Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert, Paul Pelletier and Sandra Hope. Colleen Doran, Marco Santucci, Joe Prado, Bryan Hitch and Andrew Currie, Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan

‘I will not spend another day behind bars! Not on Tamaran! Not on Maltus! And not HERE!

Starfire! Don’t!

It’s RICOCHETING!

Not bored now!’

———————————————————————————————————

So, What happens when ALL the Timelines are SHATTERED by a Multi-Cosmic Level Event?

Naturally, you send Booster Gold out to recruit an army of tactically important individuals from across the Multiverse, is an attempt to repair and cement the Timelines back together.

And what happens when said Man with a Master Plan and a hovering supercomputer gets himself killed?

Well, that duty now falls to Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth!

Yes, this is where we start, in the Time After The Great Disaster, with Kamandi and Tuftan trying to outrun some Bat-Men, and the Great White Goneness (Crisis Energy, Take II), an aged Booster Gold trying to recruit him, then getting swallowed up by the Crisis Energy (™), and Kamandi and a Skeets bracer escaping into the Dimensional Void to continue Booster’s mission…

No, this isn’t a rehash of the Kamandi Challenge from a few years ago, this is the aftermath of Death Metal.

All the Time / Dimensional Lines are in flux, and they can either get repaired, or, if Dominus has his way, only his little pocket dimension will remain.

So, we have Kamandi and Skeets, Starfire (from 1983), John Henry Irons (Steel) (from 1993), Superboy (from the Legion Timeline), Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi (Dr. Light) (from 1987), Sinestro Korugar, the Green Lantern for Sector 1417, Booster Gold, Day 1 in Metropolis, and Batman, circa 1939 versus Dominus’ incarnation of the Linear Men… O.M.A.C, Liri Lee, Rayak the Ravager, Matthew Ryder, Ultra-Humanite, Knockout, Artemis, Eradicator, Major Force, and Nemesis Kid… A virtual Who’s Who of Evil throughout the DC Timelines!

The Goal? Survive, Win, Preserve the hard-fought victory brought by the sacrifice of Diana, or face Oblivion.

A very well written story, presented by some amazing artists, and showcasing others we will be seeing throughout the Future State event. Of some note, the gorgeous pages by Colleen Doran, the work of Kevin Nowlan, Rags Morales, Doug Braithwaite, John Romita JR, Dan Jurgens and Klaus Janson. Some of the pages… ehhh.

A neat tie in, a way to let readers new and old know there are things which need to be fixed, and there are plans underway to do so, and to once again highlight Rip Hunter’s Blackboard!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Second Batter - Triple

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In the Three Hole…

Future State: Kara Zor-El Superwoman

Writer: Marguerite Bennett Artist: Marguerite Sauvage

‘I’ve come so far to learn that I can’t control what others think.

And that was another thing i learned from you, my good, grand Greatest Boy, KRYPTO the SUPERDOG.’

———————————————————————————————————

The title of this story comes from a quote attributed to Confucius,’Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves’, implying in the seeking of vengeance, one loses themselves, as well.

‘Dig Two Graves’ takes place in the far future, long after the prophesied battle between Clark and Jon Kent, when the son suppliants the father.

Kara has taken those who sought Safe Haven to the Moon, to the Fortress of Solitude there, where she expanded, and reinforced, and made it habitable for those looking to escape the violence.

And she forsook the violence, herself.

No longer to be called upon as the Protector of Kal-El, a title long gone and forgotten, she has chosen to practice the ideals which her cousin, his son, and she should have been practicing all along. Consideration, kindness, respect…

And then the idyllic peace is broken.

Marguerite Bennett gives us an extraordinarily beautiful story, one of insight, growth, beginnings and ends. This is a masterful piece, which tells a tale on many levels, which appeals to the most cynical among us (hand raised here), and the youngest, most hopeful at heart.

Paired with the writing is the beauty of Marguerite Sauvage’s artwork, both delicate in places and frenetic in others, telling the tale of the Gardener, the Hero, and the Rescuer. Beautifully rendered, the art carries the words as a tune carries lyric, bringing the Reader through the rises and lulls of the storyline in a beautifully orchestrated dance

Most notable of the story is the coloring, or seeming lack thereof For most of the story, with some exceptions, the most vibrantly colored character is Kara, with the Colonists and the Visitors appearing as pale in comparison ( for the most part, they are white, with pale highlights).

This story is one of the true highlights of the Future State lineup…

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

AAAnnnnnnddddddd, It’s outta Here!

HOME RUN

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And in the Clean-Up Spot…

Future State: Green Lantern #1-2

Writer: Geoffrey Thorne Artist: Tom Rainey

Writer: Ryan Cady Artist: Sam Basti

Writer: Ernie Altbacher Artist: Clayton Henry

Writer: Josie Campbell Artist: Andie Tong

Writer: Robert Venditti Artist: Dexter Soy

‘My name is Beelu Kenz. You won’t have heard of my world.Bit of a Hellscape really. Everything there kills you. The air, the animals, even the dirt.

My people not only live there, we THRIVE. We ADAPT.We’re not the bloody fighters Khundia makes but we’ve got one thing over you. Two things, really.

We’re the BEST Weaponeers in the Spiral Arm. No one can touch us.

My Planet’s called IMSK and when an Imskian wants something to die—-

—-IT SPROCKING DIES!’

———————————————————————————————————

Two issues, five stories, one central theme carried through both issues… the Oan Lantern of Power has died.

We have John Stewart leading a cadre of Lantern Warriors, in the defense of a planet, against the militant worshippers of the God in Red, a god they believe wants warriors to commit slaughter and carnage in his name.

Stewart and Company teach them three lessons.

The story is marvelous, bringing in some great old names (Salaak, G’NORT!), while weaving a tale of great intrigue and detail which keeps the reader enthralled to the last page.

Next, the Sinestro Corps, taking the Green Lantern Outpost stations, invade the Station in Sector 023, only to find it defended by Jessica Cruz.

Story number three, well, there had to be a Warrior’s Bar Story, didn’t there? Which, of course gives us Guy Gardner.

The fourth story, a team story, puts Keli Quintela, the Teen Lantern and Mogo, the Living Planet, on a mission to find Jo Mullein, the Lantern’s resident detective, in the hopes of finding out the secrets of Keli’s overpowered, obviously alien ‘Power Gauntlet’.

Finally, and obviously necessary, for what collection of stories about the Green Lantern Corps would be complete without it, we get the story of Hal Jordan, and his search for the Lanterns, and the Guardian’s Homeworld of Oa.

And who he finds when he arrives there…

Every story on point, every character well written, all converging toward, well, we don’t know yet. But we will.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

The windup! The Pitch! The SWING! KRAAAAK! IT”S IN THE BLEACHERS!!

HOME RUN!

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Batting Fifth

Future State: Legion of Super Heroes #1-2

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Riley Rossmo

‘If I knew this was why you called me here, I would never have come! Not only should the Legion STAY DISBANDED —- The word should NEVER be spoken again!

T —- Tas —- GAKK! COFF!

***Listen, I stopped giving out Free Mood Stabilizers a long time ago*** But that wasn’t going the way you wanted!

_______________________________________________________________________

So, 31st Century, and the known galaxies are KA-Blooie!

RJ Brande is dead, the Legion has been disbanded, and BATTLE LINES have been drawn along loyalties…

Why, you ask?? How???

Well, it seems Post - Death Metal and the Restructuring, there was a traitor in the Legion.

Jan Arrah, Element Lad, has been branded with the label, a branding which carries to all his people.

The result of the treachery, the Planets of the Known Galaxies have been ruined, and left nearly uninhabitable.

Or, was it these people…

Brian Michael Bendis has given us a new future, one in the midst of upheaval, where the United Planets has been disbanded, the Legion is split along loyalties, and whether they want vengeance or redemption.

A well written, engaging story, wonderfully told through some different characters:

Chuck Taine, Bouncing Boy, taking the battle to the Khunds as they try to colonize the devastated worlds;

Imra Ardeen, Saturn Girl, trying to bring her beloved Legion back together to fight the real threat to the galaxy, and carrying a secret which is crushing her;

Luornu Durgo, once Triplicate Girl, now trying to find herself after one of her selves has been killed, and afraid to recombine because the pain of missing her is too great to deal with, and other characters we have come to know over the last year.

Where Bendis’ story is the blazing signal fire to light the way toward a stronger future in the DC Multiverse, Riley Rossmo’s Art is the Asbestos Blanket and Aircraft Fire Foam which induces all the cancers and kills it.

I’m sorry. There are times Riley Rossmo’s artwork really works for me. This chaotic styling is perfect within the framework of characters like Bizarro, Constantine, even the JLA, when there are magic or Lobo-like story elements involved. I especially liked his work on the Robin King, the frenetic, chaotic stylings appealed to my senses, made me giggle, and cringe at the same time.

Not here, though. Here, his work pulled me out of the story faster than if I had a tow hook jammed through my nether regions, and it was attached to a hiballin’ Peterbilt turbocharged tractor trailer.

This, Gentle Readers, was painful. It hurt my eyes, on a scale with the COVID News Conference from April 2020. I think I bled.

I might still be…

I know I cried, because no matter how good the story was, I could not enjoy it.

Out of 5 🌶🌶

OUT

Batting Sixth

Future State: Aquaman 1-2

Writer: Brandon Thomas, Artist: Daniel Sampere

‘Is she here?

Jackson?

AQUAMAN, IS SHE HERE?

AQUAWOMAN LIVES’

———————————————————————————————————

Oh GOD. OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD!!!

Have you ever heard that line, or an iteration of it? The Katz’s Deli scene in ‘When Harry Met Sally’, maybe?

This book was the equivalent.

I know, it was an Aquaman Book.

How often has an Aquaman Book been Original, or Relevant?

There was Craig Hamilton’s Miniseries in 1985, that gave us the really neat camo Aquaman suit, then there was Flashpoint, and Throne of Atlantis, and the introduction of Kaldur’ahm, or Jackson Hyde, the son of Black Manta.

Now, we have Andy Curry, AquaWoman.

This is a time where less is more.

Brandon Thomas has given us a two issue story which I have gone back and read 4 times, because it is that good! David Sampere’s artwork is crazy beautiful, so gloriously detailed it leaves the eyes wanting more.

This is the AquaPerson Story I have been waiting for since the movie… No dumb oversized seahorses, no force waterballs… carnage, and dimension hopping insanity, this makes a fantastic story!

All I can say is, if there is one story you MUST Read, it is this!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

And that ball is GOING, GOING, GONE! They’re gonna find that one out on Sheffield!

HOME RUN

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Seventh Batter

Future State: The Flash #1-2

Writer: Brandon Vietti Artist Dale Eaglesham

‘Focus on the Science.

Science reveals Answers.

Answers build Hope.’

———————————————————————————————————

NOOOOOOO!

After EVERY Time I picked up a Flash book over the last two years, and constantly getting assaulted with a NEVER-ENDING GODSFORSAKEN Redemption Arc story, what do i see here?

Barry Allen, in a REDEMPTION ARC STORYLINE!!!

The self-sacrificing hero of the Crisis, the overpowered, no the hero with the broken power structure, who turned Superman into an Anti-Life Zombie by VIBRATING THROUGH HIS ULTRA DENSE BODY, and leaving his fingers inside (uh, GROSS!!, but oh so cool!) now in a REDEMPTION ARC???

Nope! I’m done.

As Pretty as Dale Eaglesham’s artwork is (and it is pretty), This is a MAD Fail for me.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶 (if I split the grading this would have a 4.5 for the Artwork… the layouts are imaginative and well done, and the speed scenes are fantastic! This is how the Flash should be done, as artwork)

SIDE RETIRED.

As the sun starts to dip, and the street lights begin coming on, it’s time to call it a night.

At the end of the First Half of the Innings we have:

4 Home Runs

1 Triple ( a near miss, more for consistency of story and artwork… but points for Nemesis Kid and Major Force!)

1 Out (If I split it, it would have been a HR and a Side Retiring Art Fail)

And an Outright Side Retire

7 sets done, 15 more to do… We’ll start playing at Sunrise tomorrow, make a real day of it!

#dc comics #comics #batman #aquaman #wonder woman #superman #supergirl #ncbd #future state #dc future state

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