#comic rambling

[cicanddesist]

This is probably the fourth time they've tabled a discussion about Jason fighting a rogue when he isn't supposed to, only for the discussion to never happen. Starting to sense a theme here.

[rikitiki-infinity]

its a shame the "loki ruling jotunheim" got tossed out so quickly, it could have been a great segway into exploring jotun culture/fleshing them out and tackling loki reconciling with their internalized racism. I love Ewing as a writer but I am bummed he completely threw that possible plot away; i think its entirely possible to explore both loki as some sort of figure head for jotunheim AND loki as god of story. maybe the previous run had soured the idea.

[nerves-nebula]

sometimes i make a comic page and im like 

“oh this is bad. like this doesn’t look very good” 

and then i POST IT ANYWAY BABYYY cuz who CARES if that page is bad!!!

I NEED TO GET TO THE PARTS OF THE STORY I CARE ABOUT AND I DONT CARE IF MY ESTABLISHING SHOTS ARE WONKY CUZ THEY’RE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS ANYWAY 

and thats made me way more productive as far as comics go

[boost3roo]

Boostle Injustice

So we know how it started (Injustice 2 #5).

I wanted to say I’ll be there. At the end.

Any advice?

Put on your suit. Make a few of ‘em regret it.

I tried to stop this. Three times. I got put away. Three times. I’m a couple of years older than the last time you saw me.

I’ll be there. At the end.

I’m sorry. I tried to tear time apart for you, but...

And then we can see how it ends for Booster (Injustice 2 #33).

No more pretending, Teddy. Time to be a hero--

He said... You said, we can’t change this. I’m sorry.

But you said I’m allowed... That I should be here...

... At the end.

-

Traveling through time isn’t so bad. They were holding hands, neither of them died alone. (Just in case someone doesn’t understand how Ted was there if he had died before- this is a younger Ted. A younger version of Michael brought him there, to accompany him in his last moments.)

[catzgam3rz]

Me: oh yeah here’s the first half of this comic, the other half isn’t done yet so the next half should be out in a couple days

Also Me: colours and completes backgrounds for the remaining pages in one sitting

Listen I don’t know what’s going on either but they’re on my Wacom fully coloured so uh might be getting that second half by the end of the day folks

[cicanddesist]

One thing that's bothering me a bit is how Jason is expected to swallow down his emotions regarding Two Face. I'm not good with words, but there's just something about how the killer of Bruce's parents got put away, the killer of Dick's parents got put away, but Jason still has to face his dad's killer every other week.

I started thinking about it because of these two panels. Bruce is (rightfully) chastizing Jason about not letting his anger control him, when Jason points out the hypocrisy of that. It's a fair point, considering Bruce just tried to kill the Joker a few issues ago due to a lost temper. This conversation seemed like a good opportunity to discuss their similarities, how Bruce deals with it, morality in general and etc.

But instead, Bruce just... deflects.

Later, they briefly talk about it in the cave. But it's framed more as Jason letting his pesky emotions about Two Face interrupt their crimefighting, rather than the complex grief that it is.

Not to mention that other than the confrontation when Jason discovered Bruce keeping his dad's death a secret, they really haven't talked about how Jason feels over his parents. We see it, like when Jason is crying in bed all day, but there's no real conversation, at least not that I've gotten to yet.

Maybe the writers just didn't care to mention it, since there weren't any thoughts or flashbacks about his parents when he got fear-gassed, nor the two times he nearly blew up, when B lost custody of him, when he got beat up by that mob--nothing. It just makes me sad.

[cicanddesist]

Okay I thought more about it and I think what I'm getting at is this. Bruce let his grief consume him, turn him into Batman. He taught Dick to use his grief and channel it into crimefighting so that Dick wouldn't become like him.

But, while he tells Jason to do the same, he doesn't really re-reinforce the idea. When Jason's grief overcomes him, there are no galiant speeches about using his pain to help others, but rather a reprimand followed by them just... moving on. They don't talk.

The lesson isn't "Use your pain to help recognize it in other people", but rather "Repress your pain so it doesn't get in the way". Even if Bruce doesn't intend it this way, that is still how it reads.

I haven't read Dick's Robin comics so I could be totally wrong about this, but sometimes it feels like he's trying to stop Jason from becoming like Dick, while simultaneously expecting that he does. It's a difficult thing to put into words really.

[cicanddesist]

I do find it interesting how anytime the Titans talk about missing Dick, or getting him back, Jason stays silent. I figured at first that it was just the writers simply having more important things for the other Titans to say, but there are several moments where Jason joins the conversation. Only, he doesn't say anything about Dick:

That first panel is just after Donna goes to save Joey alone, telling the rest of them to stay on-mission to help Dick and Raven. The second one is in the same conversation where Kori had been talking about her worries over Dick. There are a few other talks like this as well.

Rather than joining on it though, Jason instead focuses on other notable parts of the conversation, like Donna's strength for choosing to fight alone or how the people don't seem to want their help.

It's this panel that made me think more about it. He sees an unconscious Dick Grayson being dragged away and, when Jason thinks about him, it's... unfamiliar. Because yeah. Dick is a stranger. They don't know eachother. I mean, up until this, the only real interaction I'd seen them have was when Dick showed up at the cave wanting to talk to Bruce, ignoring Jason's attempts to talk.

Hell, even in the previous NTT run, we find out that Dick moved out as soon as Jason was taken in. What, exactly, could Jason have had to say about him during any of this?

It's just wild to realize, I guess. I've seen posts and mentions in fics about them having little to no relationship, but it's so different and almost sad to actually read it happening, especially already knowing what's to come.