I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me. I’ve been following Helena’s comics since the start of World’s Finest and there has been nothing as pleasing to read as these panels. It showcases (FINALLY) the fact that she is strong, that she is talented, that she can absolutely kick ass. Helena Wayne is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, she is a detective, she is the Huntress, she is the heir to the Batfamily Legacy...and she is a wonder.
yall are familiar with the hanged man tarot card i presume?
“The Hanged Man is one of the most mysterious cards in the tarot deck. It is simple, but complex. It attracts, but also disturbs. It contradicts itself in countless ways. The Hanged Man is unsettling because it symbolizes the action of paradox in our lives. A paradox is something that appears contradictory, and yet is true. The Hanged Man presents to us certain truths, but they are hidden in their opposites.
The main lesson of the Hanged Man is that we “control” by letting go - we “win” by surrendering. The figure on Card 12 has made the ultimate surrender - to die on the cross of his own travails - yet he shines with the glory of divine understanding. He has sacrificed himself, but he emerges the victor. The Hanged Man also tells us that we can “move forward” by standing still. By suspending time, we can have all the time in the world.”
Due to recent events, I lost a ton of inspiration and motivation. Thankfully, working on commissions and this fun series helped me get centered again and ready for whatever may come in the new week. Also, for anyone wondering, Barbara’s suit is based on the Young Justice one. SEASON 3 IS COMIIIING
This mostly wraps up the main set, but I maaaay have got some more on the way…
Batfam Fight Club! Or Let’s Draw Flying Pieces Of Broken Stuff.
Just a set of daily sketches I’ve been doing over the week. Also, as a small note because I know it’s confused a couple of people before: I don’t fill in skin tones for fast stuff like this.
The faraway boom jerked her conscious and dark blue spots bloomed in her vision as she brought her hands up to her head in the dark. Somewhere she could hear a drumming, steady, firm…too distant to be close but her sensitive ears picked it up so it joined in with the harsh beat of her throbbing temples and she let out a soft groan of pain. The sound was muffled, contained around her and Helena lowered her hands slowly feeling them brush a hard surface not too far above her.
Where was she?
Another boom, followed by a faint rumbling had a familiar shiver run down her back, her body recognizing the sound of thunder before her mind could process. She took in a slow breath to steady herself and felt pain flash to life on different parts of her body making red spots join in with the blue in her vision. “Fuck.” Helena arched her lower back a bit, trying to relieve the pressure of her own weight pulling at her spine, her ribs and tried to curl her knees upwards, a soft thud joining in with her pained noises as her kneepads hit against whatever was above her, restricting her movement.
What had happened?
“Bats and birds go hand in hand. Though I’ve gotta say, the bat partner I’ve seen you pal’ing around with is awfully chatty, doesn’t really do the name justice.”
Her hands trembled once as the voice came to mind, denial sweeping through her like a sickness.
“You’re not a Robin, but I bet you know how to get me a reaction from ol’ Batsy, don’t you? The young always lead you to the old, wrinkled and brooding~”
There was a sound she had only imagined hearing in her nightmares, of metal bar slamming into flesh before she realized that she was so far from a dream that the surprised scream bringing her out of a drug induced haze was choked off by a kick to her chin that had her mouth filling quickly with blood.
“Shh, shh little girl. I didn’t have time to soundproof the place. Don’t ruin the surprise too early! I want you to be unwrapped at just the right time!” A slow laugh that turned harsh, deafening was joined by another sickening sound, this time against her back as she curled her knees in against herself protectively.
“No.” Helena said the word aloud, in disbelief, the sound still muffled as she brought her hands up in front of her and pressed them into the wood above her.
“Where does he pick up you kids anyway?” Crack. “I really need to meet his dealer, pick myself up some spunky spandex sidekicks.”
“No!” Nausea rolled through her as fear slicked down her body in the form of cold sweat, her hands pressing upwards harder and she fought violently against something she had rarely felt in her life.
“If you tell me something nice little girl, maybe I’ll lose the old fashioned finish, less boom and more…” He made choking and gagging sounds above her, wheezing and then the crowbar smacked against the back of her head and she blacked out to his soft “Oops” followed by a cackle.
“Ter…” Helena started to say the name as her hands balled into fists and before she could stop the tears they were pouring hotly down her cheeks, dampening the dried blood in her limp ebony hair. “No, no!” Hysteria began to bubble up as she tried to move her shoulders and found herself fairly wedged, as she tried to suck in air and finally smelled the damp earth around her and her pushing hands became uselessly beating fists.
A coffin, she was in a coffin. For how long? How much air did she have left?
“Get me out of here!” The scream tore from her throat, terrified as she felt her lungs clutch in her chest as she imagined she had used up the last of her oxygen and her head began to swim as she hyperventilated, glove fingers coming up to tangle roughly in her hair.
‘Calm down.’ Not even her father’s voice in her head could stop the shaking that gripped her, could stop the way her lungs burned for air no matter how much she took in and Helena squeezed her eyes shut as she let out a sob, body arching upwards again in hopeless anguish.
She’d die, like this? After everything? Taken out by the one person…the one monster on this planet she would ruin herself to kill?
The rage tangled in with the hysteria, burning through her so vividly the sound of her father’s voice in her head roared hate to life. If he would have killed him, if he would have taken care of the Joker when Jason had been lost? “Fuck…” Helena wheezed out the word as she slammed her knee up into the box as hard as she could, but lacked the room to do any damage. “Fuck…!”
Hands were moving then, down to her waist, ignoring the way the front of her suit had been cut open all the way down to her navel and then she was screaming again when she felt for the utility belt that wasn’t there.
“Fuck you!”
“Are you with me, little girl?” Her eyes came into focus slowly as she heard the fabric of her suit ripping, felt her body being tugged with it. “Oh good! Look boys, she’s awake…! Now I’m going to write a little note, okay?” She could smell a sharpie and felt it press in firmly against her stomach. “You make sure old man bats gets it, okay? Oh don‘t worry, I‘m sure your partner will pass it along, I hear the Batfamily likes to share all sorts of things...” There was more laughter, not just the clown as she blacked out again.
Fingers clawed at the glove to her right arm, stripping it off harshly as she arched once again, determination searing through her with the pain of her movements as more tears ran down her face and she yanked her cape out from under herself and struggled to bring it over her body, to tie it together at the ends with shaking hands.
Was it going to end in a pine box? Buried alive? With no way to get her own message across to the people…the person she cared about? ‘Unless you scratch it into the roof of the coffin.’ The sarcastic thought finally broke through the devastating fear and Helena let out a hollow laugh.
“Like hell I’d leave proof of my weakness behind.” She whispered the words this time and wrapped the cape around her head, tying it around her neck as well then brought her arm across her body before slamming her bare elbow up into the lid of the coffin, hard.
Pain wracked her body and she clenched her teeth hard as she did it again, then again before flinching as she heard a loud pop and freezing cold water began dripping down onto her body. Buried alive, and if she couldn’t claw her way to the surface, it was going to be less buried alive in a pine box, and more suffocated by mud.
The choking of the Joker made her shiver hard and Helena held her breath as she brought her elbow up again and felt the wood give way more completely as she pulled the splintering pieces inside of the box and without hesitation dug her fingers into the soft dirt roof above over, collapsing it down onto her face.
It smacked down hard, and she felt her bruised cheek, her cut eyebrow, her split lip and realized that one of her eyes was probably swollen shut and she shuddered before shoving at the mud, pushing it down along her body into the coffin. ‘Breathe.’ Helena told herself, alternating her pushing movements with the ever collapsing mud around her with the short, shallow breaths she was allowing herself. When she thoughts she could, she pushed herself up, wiggling slowly until she could sit up and allowed herself a frustrated cry of pain then fought more against the mud, listening to the sound of the rain get louder, the sound of the thunder scaring her less and less and giving her more and more hope of breaking through.
‘Don’t stop.’ She begged silently to the noise as she felt her fingernails cake with the mud of her exposed right hand before breaking under the strain of her digging. ‘Don’t stop.’ She begged silently to herself as her lungs began to burn once again as she moved to crouching and then she felt rain drops on her finger tips.
There was a moment, a pause of disbelieve, of hope and then she was standing, forcing her body to obey as she crawled her way from the hole up to her waist then grunted as it collapsed in on her and she landed on her back, fingers scrambling at her neck to rip off her suffocating cape. When the rain began to splash down on her face, and she looked at the flash of light in the sky Helena forced herself to continue to breathe in and out evenly and then she began to laugh.
It was a slow chuckle at first that turned into body shaking laughter that caused more pain than she ever knew it could as tears mixed with the rain.
“I’m going to kill you.” Helena laughed out the words without humor and then began to free her legs slowly.
annaxmalina
titsay
