Sherlock and Co's such a wild ride when you look at it through a Johnlock lens.
Like, this entire time the show's been like this quirky wholesome rom-com. A real opposites attract story about two goofballs, their weird friends and the adventures they go on. Sure dark things happened around the two of them, and occasionally to them, but it was mostly a nice time...
But for the past few adventures it's suddenly become the world's most stressful doomed yaoi story ever conceived and I was not prepared for it.
I know Impulse is quite a fan favourite around here. But I need people to understand how perfect Spurrier's Hellblazer is.
Hellblazer's political themes got downplayed quite a bit when DC were trying to integrate Vertigo more into their main universe, and this run is a fantastic return to form. It deals with the social issues in Post-Brexit Britain and Trump era America in a really insightful way whilst meshing it with some pretty dark urban fantasy .
Plus Aaron Campbell's art is so visually striking. Like, look at this:
in my ideal world rachel would adopt cy-cat and keep him around her apartment, making both jean and scott intensely uncomfortable (the cat can talk, btw. so can amazing baby)
Something I love to think about is the complete failure of the Night Island Coven. By the end of Queen of the Damned the supposed last vampires on Earth are brought together and become part of a new order under the new queen. And then literally a few years later they're all split up, mostly not on speaking terms, and even those that are like Louis and Lestat are separated. All without a real explanation.
Lestat suggests that perhaps it failed because vampires just can't stay with each other for a long time but we've seen that isn't really the case. At least not as quickly as that. The Theatre Des Vampires, with some rotations, managed to last for centuries, and even the Rue Royal family, with all their "locked together in hatred" lived to together for decades. And yet the Night Island didn't make it through the 80s.
So what really went down on Night Island? Why was it that made this specific set of vampires in that specific moment so hard to work out? Was it the lack of new fledglings? Was their specific mix of traumas too much to overcome? Something like Lestat not being able to get Gabrielle's attention while Marius yearns for Armand right next to them doesn't sound like an ideal setup. Nor is Louis trying to make things work with his ex whilst his other, arguably messier, ex is right there dating the boy who completely misunderstood his guilt.
It's such an interesting period of time for me to think about. Let me know your thoughts.
What happened is Night Island is owned by Armand, who canonically enjoys shoving cartons of cigs down the garbage disposal. That's what happened. That's all that needed to happen. I think Gabrielle left first, if I remember correctly - the moment she hears a blender, she's back in the woods eating panthers.
The bob was good, and worked for a 20th century Lestat, but the shoulder length hair just IS Lestat.
I heard that the reason for the change was because Sam's hair hadn't grown enough by season 1 and that the S2 hair was what they were going for originally. Which makes sense
Something I love to think about is the complete failure of the Night Island Coven. By the end of Queen of the Damned the supposed last vampires on Earth are brought together and become part of a new order under the new queen. And then literally a few years later they're all split up, mostly not on speaking terms, and even those that are like Louis and Lestat are separated. All without a real explanation.
Lestat suggests that perhaps it failed because vampires just can't stay with each other for a long time but we've seen that isn't really the case. At least not as quickly as that. The Theatre Des Vampires, with some rotations, managed to last for centuries, and even the Rue Royal family, with all their "locked together in hatred" lived to together for decades. And yet the Night Island didn't make it through the 80s.
So what really went down on Night Island? Why was it that made this specific set of vampires in that specific moment so hard to work out? Was it the lack of new fledglings? Was their specific mix of traumas too much to overcome? Something like Lestat not being able to get Gabrielle's attention while Marius yearns for Armand right next to them doesn't sound like an ideal setup. Nor is Louis trying to make things work with his ex whilst his other, arguably messier, ex is right there dating the boy who completely misunderstood his guilt.
It's such an interesting period of time for me to think about. Let me know your thoughts.
For people who read the books before watching the show, how did show!Daniel line up with your own vision of the character? Has the show's take on Daniel changed how you see him in the books?
I don't think show!Daniel's a perfect take on the character (although Luke Brandon Field is really close to how I envision him in the books) but he's an interesting reinterpretation. Don't get me wrong, I love what Eric Bogosian brings to the cast, and he's the right character for this reimagining of the story, but he's decidedly not the one in the books. He's more jaded and unimpressed by the idea of immortality, less of a pushover in some ways too. They play different roles too, one's just a listener, one's an interrogator.
I love both characters but they feel like two very different entities to me.
I do think he works really well as a "what if" though. He's very much what I think Daniel would have been like if he gave up on seeking out vampires and was allowed to have a normal life after the interview. Which I thought he would have done before reading the later books. He's who he would have been if he didn't become the Devil's Minion. And that's really interesting with the meta-narrative the show has about the books, its own deviations from them and the fragile nature of memory.
I know the tagline "Granny Goodness kills God" is a funny idea, but I've got to say, all 'DC has multiple dieties' aside...
The Presence is the parent of the entire DC Multiverse, everything exists and can cease to exist by their command. They've literally sent characters outside of the realms of creation before. If they had to fight anyone they could make it as though their opponent never existed.
I honestly do have a lot of respect for James Gunn not forcing the Reeves Batman universe to become part of the DCU.
It's really nice to see a studio head just let someone with a vision go off and create something great rather than tie it in with the story and style of the other films like the MCU does. And actually getting an experienced Batman with Robin in Brave and the Bold sounds great alongside the inexperienced, loner interpretation too.
The idea of a superhero film franchise that prioritises individual stories rather than building some grand continuity heavy event is exactly what I want more than ever.
But at the same time...
Until anything about Brave and the Bold gets revealled I'm just going to pretend these two exist in the same world together. Because just look at this. Everything about that Superman trailer made me think about how perfect a foil and other half for Battinson he'd be. So many people are thinking it, and it's for a good reason. It's two different types of hope for a better world and that's amazing.
After spending this week re-listening to the Riddler audio drama, these two being the finale is a funny coincidence to me
Anyway, it's outside the comics, but that podcast has me convinced Riddler should win. The fact DC made an official drama with some well-established actors that's mostly just Riddler getting thrown through windows, crawling around sewers and getting told he sucks by everyone for four hours sold me on how big a loser he is
So I reccently finished Tale of the Body Thief and it was a good read. Not quite as good as the original trilogy but entertaining enough and with some fun ideas. But the main thing I've enjoyed was the experience around the book.
Because I've been explaining it to people watching the series I've had to be really vague around major spoilers, so I've had to focus on explaining stuff like minor details. Instead of the David plot twist I've just been saying stuff like "Lestat loves Walmart", "Lestat goes to the toilet for 2 pages", "Lestat does not like spaghetti".
Okay so the unlettered solicit for the new Ultimates title came out reccently, and for some reason this side detail stuck out to me:
It's Clint Barton doing the classic 'Spider-Man No More cover', only for Hawkeye.
Cool easter egg aside, this means that Tony went to give Clint his destiny like he did for Peter Parker. Only it didn't work and Clint quit being a hero. That means the Ultimate Universe won't have Hawkeye. Not that Hawkeye at least. That's right...
It's time for Kate Bishop.
I had a suprising amount of thoughts about this so, I'll leave them below.
Whilst this is just my wild speculation, the possibility of it has me excited. The original Ultimate Kate Bishop (seen below) was really underwhelming to me. She was just a goth girl who dated, and was forced to betray, Miles Morales.
Maybe Bendis or someone was planning to make her something else later, but she's not the badass she is in 616. Earth-6160 has the chance to change that.
One thing I love about Kate Bishop is just how... individual she is. I think stuff like the MCU has made people see Kate as just Clint's protogee, when in actuality that isn't true. She was already Hawkeye when Clint was dead. And when they first meet, they don't even get along right away (they're besties later don't worry). She didn't really need help becmong a hero, and the same can be true in this world without heroes.
The thing is Kate didn't even plan on being Hawkeye. It just happened that she picked up his bow along with Mockingbird and Swordsman's gear to help the Young Avengers and, after Hawkingbird was shot down, the Hawkeye mantle stuck. It came out of necessity, not idolism.
And the same could happen in the Ultimate Universe. They're clearly okay playing fast and loose with character ages compared to 616, focusing on ages that make a good story rather than mirroring main continuity, and an older adult street-level hero is a great part of an Avengers team. So I could definitely see an older-than-usual Kate getting fast-tracked into taking up the bow to become this universe's main Hawkeye.
Anyway, that's enough of me hyperfixating on a minor detail in a comic preview. It could all be nothing and Clint could come back (wouldn't be mad, I love Clint) but in a line that's all about reinventing classic Marvel mythology I think this would work. And that's my case for why Kate should be this generation's Ultimate Hawkeye.
I like the concept of gemma doing magic even though no one wants her to. Like hell yeah, become a mage, make your uncles life even more stressful.
So like, I perfectly understand why people don't like John having a mentee. He's a mess, better not have a kid get stuck in the chaos that is his life.
But at the same time, I think (before Milligan's run) they'd given her some really good trajectory to be an exception. Like, it wasn't John going "alright kiddo, here's how cool magic is, btw I'm your new dad", Gemma basically came into it on her own when he couldn't stop her, and became, in her words, not quite as big a bastard as John. In a way, it's wierdly fitting that what he'd see as one of his biggest mistakes was something he wasn't involved in but instead part of a legacy he left. But since at that point she was kind of stuck in it, (and already refused to stop once) he'd just have to be sure she doesn't end up like Gary Lester. They're the only family they have, and despite how much he'd beat himself up, John would stand by his niece.
But yeah, enough waxing lyrical. If we do get Gemma back, I'd really like her to be more like an update on Carey's Gemma. Rather than having her denounce magic, having her go in deeper to overcome the pain. An upcoming witch in her own right, who does suffer for it, but isn't just John's sidekick. A prominent part of the Hellblazer mythos again without being part of the crowd. Just give the girl her mallet and nails back haha.
In the meantime, Si Spurrier's Damn Them All is basically telling the story of Gemma having her own adventure with different names (highly encourage people to read it if you liked his Hellblazer run btw). So clearly there's someone working in the industry who sees this potential. Maybe the next person to writer Hellblazer can take a leaf from his book.
