Season 4 episode 2 of Invincible shows a Viltrumite child that looks like young Illyana. Obviously not actually her. Is growing up on Viltrum better than in Limbo? Honestly a hard choice but I’d take Viltrum.
Very happy to pick up Uncanny X-Men 138 today. Did not expect to see an OJ sneaker ad.
Between the 2005 series, the New 52, and Rebirth which do you generally prefer? I have a complete set of the New 52 and want to finish my 2005 set at some point. I think own maybe two or three issues of Rebirth. Just wanted some input to see what’s worth trying to track down first. For what it’s worth I liked the opening arc for New 52, H’El on Earth, and the Red Daughter of Krypton the most from that run.
Detective Comics #647 published August 1992 by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.
Personally I’m partial to seasons 2-4. My most rewatched episode is almost certainly School Hard. If not it could be Fear Itself. I think one of my earliest memories is being scared by that episode. I have a much older sister so I was watching Buffy Season 4 at like 3 years old. Then if you count two part arcs it’s definitely Bad Girls and Consequences for me.
Guy said he was selling his deceased father’s collection. Nice guy, only asked $10.
Today Steph was in two main universe comics. Batgirl #19 and Batman #9. Both of these have done something I have heard many people complain about with her. Very rarely is she treated as a character. She is almost always treated as a foil or a prop for others. Most commonly for Cass and Tim. In Batgirl #19 she is there just to show up at the end and tell Cass she missed her. In the issue previous to this Steph is just there to be on the other end of phone calls with Cass, trying to cover for her being late to a family dinner. In Batman #9 she serves a purpose as a member of the Bat Family during a coordinated mission with Bruce, Damian and Duke. Her personal though line is centered around her feelings towards Tim being on sabbatical from crime fighting. This is no way shows her having any real agency or plot progression. She is just there as window dressing for other characters.
I find the case in the current ongoing Batgirl comic to be more acceptable. The book is centered on Cass as a main character, so obviously Steph would be a support if present. This issue of Batman and several issue from the last year have aggravated me. Matt Fraction’s run in Batman may have new numbering but it is a direct continuation of Chip Zdarsky’s run. The two of them are good friends and have worked together on many comics in the past, so it’s probable that they have some degree of collaboration on the current storyline.
In Zdarsky’s run there is an arc where Catwoman trains henchmen to become cat burglars. This creates a moral dilemma for the Bat Family because crime overall dropped and the burglars were doing a Robin Hood routine. I can’t recall the specific issue, but at some point Steph sees one of these burglars breaking into a house and does nothing to stop it. In this issue she runs over two police officers with her motorcycle. People will point out that Vandal Savage is the GCPD commissioner so it stands to reason that those cops may be and probably are corrupt henchmen of his. Steph does this because she was angry with Tim and wanted to physically lash out someone. There was no tactical reason for her to do this, she in fact goes out of her way to run them over. Oracle even asks her on comms what she’s doing. Perhaps this is a resurfacing of the mean streak tendencies that Steph had when she was Robin. If so that would be interesting. However, this in combination with letting criminals freely break into a home just doesn’t feel right.
Her reaction to new information about Tim is also concerning. Steph asks why he is not helping with the current mission and is informed by Damian that Tim has taken a sabbatical. Damian teases Steph about the fact that Tim is in a relationship and moved on from her. This is pretty on point for a Damian and Steph interaction. Her reaction to it is what stood out. Originally in the 2022 comic where Tim told Steph he was bisexual and dating Bernard she was incredibly supportive and overly nice about it. Many people at the time pointed out that this was not in character for her. Historically Steph has been rather jealous in these situations. This switch up feels out of place. Tim likewise is shown to be feeling apprehensive about his civilian life. Zdarsky has stated that Tim is his favorite Robin and did have him in a prominent role in his arc. This leads me to speculate this will be a large narrative point in the future. Based on the current status quo for how writers use Steph, I feel that any future development on this front will have her as a foil with no agency.
TLDR: Steph is being used way too much as a prop for other characters’ development. She’s also being written in a way that feels out of character. The current writers are messing with her established feelings in a way that feels reductive. And to make things worse I checked the solicitations and she doesn’t appear in Batman or Batgirl in the near future, so this won’t be resolved any time soon.
Was reading the Burnside TPB and found this. Obviously it’s just a throwaway joke from 2014. I find it funny that apparently Kanye West not only exists in the New 52, but also is willing to collaborate with low level costumed villain. Given his more recent antics that doesn’t seem out of place.
From Batgirl (2011) #37. The actual story is an art gallery has a bunch of photos of Batgirl. It’s not actually her and a modern art guy is impersonating her for money. Kinda weird but it has an interesting angle to it. >!There’s a photo of “Batgirl” in a wheelchair which is strange because nobody should know that Barbara is Batgirl. The guy dressing as her says that he has a benefactor who paid him to include that in the photo exhibit.!<