If that panel leak of Prime in redhood merch is real it would be like if Erin Hunter overheard you and your friends playing warrior cats on the playground and then made it the plot of next book
crazy thing is that comic books take months to write and draw so they were planning that in advance, we just collectively became physic and knew it was going to happen
DRIP, Crywolf / Where it Begins, Erica Jong / Crush, Richard Siken / Postcolonial Love Poems, Natalie Diaz / No Good Bloodsuckers, Emma Rebholz / Blythe Baird / Breezeblocks, alt-j / Zura.hell / dogperson, @sloppjockey / The Hour of The Star, Clarice Lispector / As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks 1964-1980, Susan Sontag
I have a few thoughts about Prime's relation to "the narrative" in this - in that I'm wondering if he's influencing it more than he might think. Perhaps his "reality-breaking" powers extend being his reality-shattering punch...
I posit that Prime is finally getting is "OP isekai protagonist" buffs. Or, he's able to influence reality enough that those buffs start getting applied. Because oh man - the stars really aligned for him this issue.
1 - The Obvious
Prime loses his temper fighting Ignition, we get a panel of him ripping Ignition's head off, and then... this. Prime thinks it was in his head, but.... was it really?
Prime is a character that can punch through time and space, as well as the actual pages. He breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to the audience.
So helpfully illustrated by the upcoming Superman/Spiderman crossover, he can do this -
Is it truly so absurd to think he could influence the author and artist to "undo" a writing choice? The pages haven't been completed before the decision is reverted.
Call me crazy, I don't think this was in his head.
2 - Wow, man, your very specific skillset sure is crazy useful
Prime has an encyclopedic knowledge of DC comics (and also Marvel, probably). In this issue, that benefited him twice - one, he was able to instantly recognise an obscure Superman villain (Ignition) and show off in the process. Two, he immediately landed his dream job - at a comic book store. Prime's work-hero life balance is perfect for him!
But interestingly, Prime's comicbook knowledge... well, it helped him. In-universe. In the DC universe.
Why does it look like this, and why is Prime able to correctly identify the authors of Flash #1 (why does that exist, and why are they the same authors)?
As Lois and Mr Terrific discussed earlier this very issue... the idea that their personal lives are portrayed as comic books is absurd, and Prime having that extremely unique and personal knowledge makes him dangerous.
You could say that there are comics about these heroes produced in-universe anyway, but... is that a Solomon Grundy comic? Yeah, press [x] to doubt.
Something's up. This job is (literally) too good to be true. It's Prime's perfect career. It shouldn't exist.
...what's he catching up on? Fictional stories, or...
...this universe's recent history?
I don't know what this is. I don't know if logic is warping to give Prime the perfect job, I don't know if he's sliding between realities and ending up in either his home universe or one very similar, I don't know if I'm reading into it too much.
But man it's weird.
3. Women Want Him
Look, I'm not saying this is impossible. Dan Mora draws Prime with as few clothes as possible at every possible opportunity, and Prime knows he looks good.
He even immediately catches the attention of his (female) neighbours when he's in his nerdy civvies (nice Legion shirt, dork. "I hate Legion!" until they let you join and suddenly you have merch, sure).
I'm not saying this is unrealistic, but I am saying that Prime is a young adult who's finally getting everything he wants, and a young adult male is probably going to want women fawning over him.
And oh boy...
4 - He's so cool and strong and whooaaaa
Potentially interesting panel. Prime is getting celebrated for kicking the absolute shit out of Ignition. He's not getting praised for his moral character or his heroics - he is getting praised, explicitly, for the ass-kicking he gave this issue's villain.
Well, he doesn't really have moral character. He's not doing this because he's a genuinely heroic character. He wants to "be like Superman"...
Why?
...to be Superman, or better. To get his fantasy team-ups. To get his own comic book run.
And, interestingly, he is immediately acknowledged as Superman by the people of Metropolis.
"Being Superman" doesn't come naturally to him, though.
Imagine wanting to be Superman and taking a minute to debate if you should save civilians from a falling building. The heroics are not his strong suit. But, what he does best, is inflict violence. This is the thing, explicitly, that the crowd praises him for.
This might be nothing, but it also might not be nothing.
My thesis, basically, is this - this issue is about wish-fulfillment. Prime has decided he doesn't want to go home just yet, and has chosen to make the most of his time in the DC universe.
The "isekai protagonist" is finally getting everything he wants. He finally gets to live out the cool heroic self-indulgent fantasy of a boy getting sucked into his favourite comicbook and getting superpowers. Superman is gone, so the Superman fanboy gets to be Superman for awhile. He gets female attention, he gets praised and rewarded for the skills he cares about.
He even gets to hang out with Lois Lane! Lois Lane! His BFF Lois Lane, the GOAT Lois Lane!
He gets to, after all this time, finally be the overpowered, revered and beloved superhero he's always wanted to be. Sure, the superhero community doesn't trust him yet, but they aren't turning on him yet either. This is literally the best possible scenario.
So far, everything's coming up primo. I bet he's going to make "Prime Time" happen.
...wonder if it'll stay that way?
...wonder what'll happen if it doesn't?
I am so glad he gets to throw a tantrum over something so petty.
TL;DR - this was a very well-rounded issue that establishes almost every important thing we need to know about Prime's character direction at the present... and, hopefully, lays the groundwork for a lot more.
One of Tim's main reasonings for becoming Robin in ALPoD is "we can't let villains think they can kill Robin", which is supported by Harvey, and later KGBeast assuming Tim is Jason. This means that it's likely most people in Gotham believe the robins are Dick, Tim, Steph, and Damian. Jason's deeds as Robin have been fully erased, retroactively added to Tim's tenure as Robin.
Except for one thing! Joker repeatedly says that he killed Robin. Calls it "It's the day I won", makes a big deal out of it. (yes, Joker is the only one that has ever made an effort to maintain Jason's legacy as Robin. no wonder he was mad)
So that's it right, the people do know Jason existed, right? Well no. Because of Batman 408. In it, we learn the post crisis reason for Dick retiring as Robin: Joker shot him, and Bruce decided to forcefully retire Robin. It's stated that the people think Robin is dead. And considering two issues later Jason calls himself the second Robin, that's unlikely to have been disproved.
So, when people hear Joker bragging about killing Robin, they're likely to assume he's talking about the first one. Even Jason's death gets added to someone else's legacy.
Tim stole Jason's life as Robin. Dick stole his death.
The fuckin' AIDS thing is so disgusting to me, it's the worst part of it all. The pandemic is in full swing, so many people were dying and losing loved ones, the government was failing them because they don't give a shit about gay people, and Starlin's response to hearing about an AIDS education comic is "omg a great opportunity to kill off a character I hate". AIDS is a punishment in his eyes. And to still brag about it, years later?
Honestly DC is also disgusting for holding a vote on which character should die of AIDS in the first place too, what the fuck is that, that's new info to me. Though I guess that's consistent with them being ghoulish and cynical at that time.
(Significant reason I'm on Team Jason and sickened by the whole thing and when people make the "they had the right idea killing him I wish I could have voted" I'm like, you're literally agreeing with people who saw AIDS as a punishment. Who used rape and violence against women as a plot device to make Jason "unlikable". Saying you'd put money in their pockets over a cheap publicity stunt. I don't think that's as progressive as you think it is.)
I FINALLY ARTICULATED WHY I LIKED JASON'S ARC IN FUTURE STATE
so the thing with future state is that jason becomes a peacekeeper for the magistrate, which is basically a rent-a-cop/bounty hunter for a deeply corrupt company that's trying to control gotham through an authoritarian police state. and at first, it's like wow, okay, jason has COMPLETELY given up on morality, right? but then we learn that jason is the only peacekeeper that doesn't kill. the peacekeepers act as bounty hunters, bringing in "criminals" like the masks/vigilantes, and the thing is that they have the option to bring them in dead or alive, and jason ALWAYS brings them in alive.
which, on the surface, is a breach of what jason does in a narrative, right? he is almost ALWAYS the voice advocating for more violence, more permanent ends. so then, why the fuck has he suddenly become this jim gordon figure who is trying to work within and reform this incredibly corrupt system from the inside?
but i think... i think that's the key of it. jim gordon, the one honest cop in the whole of gotham city, the man who championed a one-cop crusade against the unstoppable flow of corruption in her streets, is the blueprint here.
because jason is, in some ways, always the underdog. the scapegoat or the black sheep or the powder keg--however you want to frame it, he's usually a dissenting voice. he has no qualms about standing in opposition to everything and everyone around him. which is why his stance of not killing ANYONE in future state makes so much sense. when the whole world has become okay with killing indiscriminately, when there is basically a genocide happening in gotham's streets, of course jason is going to fight back against the complacency.
jason todd isn't a killer. it isn't that the red hood decided to kill in UTRH/lost days, and so that's his personality now--no, what he ACTUALLY does in a narrative is challenge it. when batman shows too much hope for the villains, when the bats refuse to kill them even though it would reduce the (high!!!) numbers of their future victims--THAT is when jason grandstands about killing rogues. but when there is no hope, and everyone in power is happy to wipe out whoever comes up on the naughty list... well, then that's when jason REFUSES to kill. it's not that he's contrary, or that he's wishy-washy, or that he has no morals--jason todd red hood is, in essence, a critique of the system. when the system forgives, jason asks why. when the system murders, jason asks why. and i think, looking at it through this lens, i can see why jason is the perfect jim gordon figure. after everything, it makes perfect sense that future state!jason has decided that there's been far too much blood spilt, and thus is trying to do something about it.
at the end of the day, jason todd is the voice of the victim. his role in the story just depends on which victim(s) need to be heard the most.
guy who has read 0 superboy prime comics: superboy prime brought jason todd back from the dead on purpose!
guy who has read 10 superboy prime comics: NO, THAT'S A MISCONCEPTION! SUPERBOY PRIME DID IT ENTIRELY BY ACCIDENT! HE HAD NO CLUE!!!!!!!
guy who has read all of superboy prime's comics 5 times: lowkey he did actually bring jason back from the dead on purpose it was just subconscious Wait guys don't leave No listen to me
someone on twitter said prime would vote to kill jason and it made me enraged so heres a little reminder from me
batman annual #25 and infinite crisis #2
prime did not bring back jason intentionally, BUT it is connected to how he punched the walls of reality out of rage that things were not "right". jason's death is a Key Moment for prime thinking that the current post crisis reality was NOT better than pre-crisis and that something is "wrong" with their universe. physically, he could Not have voted to kill jason because he was stuck in the crystal universe when it happened. mentally, he would not have wanted to. Thanks. Bye.
@arcade-confetti Dude you don't even know. I've seen at least FIVE people on twitter say (both in general and in my replies) that Prime wouldve voted for Jason to die and it makes me Upset because everything about Prime's character (even POST him becoming fully evil) goes against that claim it makes me so mad to think that people believe this misconception so thoroughly!! AUGH
someone on twitter said prime would vote to kill jason and it made me enraged so heres a little reminder from me
batman annual #25 and infinite crisis #2
prime did not bring back jason intentionally, BUT it is connected to how he punched the walls of reality out of rage that things were not "right". jason's death is a Key Moment for prime thinking that the current post crisis reality was NOT better than pre-crisis and that something is "wrong" with their universe. physically, he could Not have voted to kill jason because he was stuck in the crystal universe when it happened. mentally, he would not have wanted to. Thanks. Bye.
Bringing some more examples to this party because I'm back home from work and still am entirely baffled by any claim he'd vote for the death
Countdown (2007) #42
"To them, the concepts of heroes killing, of hero turning against hero-- of heroes actually dying while the results of their handiwork turned against mankind were abhorrent"
Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime (2007)
someone on twitter said prime would vote to kill jason and it made me enraged so heres a little reminder from me
batman annual #25 and infinite crisis #2
prime did not bring back jason intentionally, BUT it is connected to how he punched the walls of reality out of rage that things were not "right". jason's death is a Key Moment for prime thinking that the current post crisis reality was NOT better than pre-crisis and that something is "wrong" with their universe. physically, he could Not have voted to kill jason because he was stuck in the crystal universe when it happened. mentally, he would not have wanted to. Thanks. Bye.
Shout out to boston brand for not only trying to save jason, but being one of the few heroes to not blame him for his death (kinda hard to do when he was literally there)
(Dead man: dead again issue 2)
Most of the issue is boston trying to save jason. At the very end after he dies he blames bruce for not being there
Also here's are some of his thoughts where he's saying how strong and selfless jason was
Boston brand is jasons #1 supporter I need them to interact knowing that boston was there when he died and tried to save him
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