#comic theory

[capesnjapes]

Okay so because I'm insane I was thinking about the line that Batman says to tube-Joker in #7 "the devil's in his hole". This refers, I think, to the Led Zepplin song Achillies Last Stand, which was created when Robert Plant was in a wheelchair from a car crash. The lyrics to this song go like this:

It was an April morning when they told us we should go And as I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say no? With all the fun to have to live the dreams we always had Oh, the songs to sing when we at last return again Sending off a glancing kiss to those who claim they know Below the streets that steam and hiss, the devil's in his hole Oh, to sail away to sandy lands and other days Oh, to touch the dream, hides inside and never seen, yeah Into the sun, the south, the north, at last the birds have flown Shackles of commitments fell in pieces on the ground Oh, to ride the wind, to tread the air above the din Oh, to laugh aloud, dancing as we fought the crowd, yeah To seek the man whose pointing hand, the giant step unfolds To guide us from the curving path that turns our feet to stone If one bell should ring in celebration for a king So fast the heart should beat as proud the head with heavy feet, yeah Days went by when you and I bathed in eternal summer's glow As far away and distant, our mutual child did grow Oh, the sweet refrain soothes the soul and calms the pain Oh, Albion remains sleeping now to rise again Wandering and wandering what place to rest the search The mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth For the mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth From the earth I know the way, know the way, know the way, know the way Things to note: the dream references in this song and the Joker's references about how he can't tell dreams from reality. The line seems to also refer to Devil's Hole, in Jersey, UK (not New Jersey). There's not too much lore surrounding how it got its name other than a ship wrecked masthead was modified to look like a devil and placed there.

[windybluebelles]

Skimming through “Death in the family” and like- Shiva was so lying one the truther syrum????

Obviously I have the modern foresight of her being Cass’ mother (aswell as some other boy?) but it’s still so obvious that she’s telling a lie- even before Cass was a canon character.

The scene is:

Bruce asks- “Have you ever had a baby?”- and Sandra looks shocked, and kinda sad? It’s not an expression you make when you find a question ridiculous and funny, she looks genuinely surprised as if she was upset and worried. She then laughed and joked- “Oh yes, I’ve had a whole litter of babies”- which to me sounds awfully like she’s tryna cover something up, thats deflection and distraction.

Bruce then gives her some truth serum and repeats the question, her face shows that same shock as she mumbles (ELIPSIS GUYS!) “…no…” She doesn’t spit out the truth immediately, she resists the serum before seemingly saying the truth.

Guys… To me that reads so much like she succeeds in resisting the truth serum and lies about her answer.

Obviously this could all be chalked up to the bad writing that’s evident in the whole comic and mixed communication between artists and writers- but to me it reads so obviously that she’s lying.

Again, we know now that she was lying, but that wasn’t canon at the time cause Cass didn’t exist yet.

Long story short- I’m taking this as proof that Shiva is Jason’s bio mom and that Sheila just lied and said she was so that she could use him for her own gain.

[casualshardlegion]

So as i've been thinking about the first three issues and the more I do, the more clear one thing becomes. That being, Cheetah's stated goals do not align with her actions.

The opening scene ends with her swearing to break free from Urzkartaga's control of her. But the next we see of her, she's approaching Jade with the idea to steal the Power Bank. How does that help her with her curse? From what I can tell...it doesn't.

Then after stressing to Jade in issue 2 that they need to keep the team small, she dispatches Klarion to share knowledge with that group of villainous magic users led by Black Adam. Without letting the rest of the heist crew know about it.

So what's going on? My theory is that Cheetah is after something else entirely. I don't know what yet but i'm thinking it's in the so-called "trophy room" on the Watchtower. This room has been brought up at least once in every issue so far. In issue one Jade point blank asks if it's the target to which Barbara says it's "certainly part of it" (certainly is written in bold text, mind you). In issue 2, Cheetah uses it as a lure to convince Klarion to join, saying it's full of "not just grimoires. Artifacts, sources of arcane understanding, foci long lost". Then in issue 3, during the team meet-n-greet/briefing, she *again* brings it up saying it's "housing the League's spoils and those priceless artifacts they've deemed unsuitable or unsafe for the public...".

My guess is there's some magical macguffin that she believes can rid her of Urzkartaga and she plans to use the Power Bank heist as a cover. The only question is when and how will the rest of the crew figure this out (the cover of issue 4 shows Barbara Anne and Jade fighting so maybe sooner than I thought) and how this effects the stated heist.

[chanth-thara]

okay so i read x-manhunt: omega. haven't been keeping up much with the x manhunt stuff but like i figured why not. and. okay the comic was okay but like the conversation between scott and xavier's astral form/projection. and the truth nuke xavier dropped.

scott is setting himself up to martyr himself constantly. and jean won't let him die. and that got some wheels turning in my brain.

because scott is now set up to martyr himself. but jean won't let him. but when she comes down to save him or heal him or whatever after scott inevitably does martyr himself.

and there has also been that dynamic shake-up of xavier leaving earth to retire. and then giving scott basically his old role as the one everyone looks up to. which i won't add here bc i dont like that part but it's a status quo shake up (and like idk how long it'll last but let me believe it will actually do something please).

okay now. putting on my tinfoil hat.

who has just been introduced whose been set up to be scott's successor since her introduction?

that's right. dani. fucking. moonstar. and in whose comic?

illyana's. illyana rasputin, who is currently part of the main x men roster. are you guys picking up what i'm putting down.

i think they're finally fucking setting up dani to take over as leader of the x men from scott.

[wateroflifefrommountains]

Batgirl 2024: Hero's Journey

Background: This is a model made by Joseph Campbell to describe the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and returns changed or transformed. Discussion: The story of Batgirl:2024 follows this model quite closely as the first issue shows Cassandra Cain's "Norm". Cass is a Gotham vigilante who has built or joined a community. She distrusts Shiva, identifies as a Bat, and has a place and a role in Gotham. Granted, it is a heroic norm but a status quo nonetheless.

The "Call to Action" and "Meeting a Mentor" come in the form of her mother, Lady Shiva, informing her of The Unburied, the group they must face. As their presence in Gotham invites danger, Cass overcomes her hesitance to leave as her heroic nature compels her to go on the journey to avoid further civilian casualties. This happens in the second issue.

The Unburied are the source of the "Trials" of the Hero as the "generals" of the group prove too skilled to be defeated by Cass and Shiva as they are. The group also brings the supernatural aspect to the story in the form of the Blue Flower. On the other hand, by the third issue, the helper or helpers have been introduced to the story as Cass meets the Order of Shiva, Nyssa Al' Ghul, Angel Breaker, The League of Shadows, and Blood Guy.

The fourth issue presents the "Failure" portion of the "Trials and Failure" portion of the journey. It can be observed that even when Cass and Shiva work together, their abilities are not enough to defeat their foes. The loss of Shiva, the mentor figure, usually brings about the "Growth/New Skills" and "Death and Rebirth" stages of the journey. This is the scope of next week's run if my predictions are correct.

Musings: It must be noted that up until the last pages of the fourth issue, Cass has been a reluctant hero and has actively fought against the journey itself. When the call to action came, she tried to refuse by leaving her mother to her fate. She even refuses mentorship by presenting a different option, "The Batfamily and Baba"; however, the journey pulled her back in by presenting a threat to the mentors she actively cared about. When presented with helpers, her instinct is to fight, not to cooperate. I guess it can be argued that there was already "Growth and New Skills" to some extent in the story as Cass has grown to see her mother as more than a heartless killer and has shifted her thought process from "What will Batman do?" to "What would Shiva do?". The New Skills, I argue, are the possible uses of the Blue Flower as a healing agent as shown by Shiva. This then could be interpreted as a form of death and rebirth since Cass transforms from a reluctant protagonist to a willing one. Observations: The comics medium and the comics audience are not often presented with slower stories. These are usually dedicated to books as the former medium requires months before the story can be continued, and even when the story is continued, the effort required to make a comic slows down the progress. As such, comics prefer quick bursts of fast-paced stories to maintain the attention and interest of the reader. While I understand the qualms of comic book fans who expect a faster-paced story, I respect Brombal's decision to let the story breathe. This isn't an average comic story, it is an introspective look into the character of Cassandra Cain, what makes the character tick, what she believes herself to be, her opinions and thoughts about her previous actions, and her relationship with a parent who never raised her. It must be acknowledged that Brombal is ALSO tasked with establishing which stories are cannon for this run. I believe this to be necessary for the run as it solidifies in the reader's mind which Cassandra Cain they are reading about.

[rottenguppy]

Working on a wicked long essay/analysis/theory(?) for Titan.

This is a follow up to THIS analysis/theory about Wrathia.

I might actually have to do this in two parts if it gets too long.

It'll be a little bit before it's done (I have to reread the comic again to find the panels I need).

I'm curious if anyone has like, their own little theories about anything related to Titan.

(fun fact I had this idea in drafts for months, but remaking my OC for this comic just fueled me to redo it)

[lemonspades]

Hey all turns out having pages thumbenailed doesn't mean "They're done" it actually means "You're body is going to betray you when you least expect it and you're not gonna have em done on your deadline ya nerd-also it's YARD WORK DAYYYYY"

So yall get Behind the scenes instead. next page is coming next week.

Also this is more for me to talk about Comic theory.

So since Goemon In Hyrule is set in a videogame, I'm usually pulling it up and referencing it for color pallet, mood lighting and general layout of everything. It's been a fun practice at grid laying and value layout, especially in talking scenes where not much happens.

Grids are important because even if you don't have any straight lines it's a great way to keep track of eveything and where it is

Generally I do this in my head, but laying everything our on a piece of paper you can reference easily has a lot of merit especially when it comes to keeping track of what we would actually see in the world and what the characters are actually doing. I like using grid paper and separating things in different layers to play around with the layout.

Then with the loop fill i quick lay out the general value of the scene on a separate layer. It's been an amazing boon to digital comic work, though you can do this with markers too. It helps with reading the scene, making sure the characters stand out and also it's just nicer to your seld.

And then after it's all done you line art it.

Usually I throw my black spotting here too.

And then I color!