Fount of all Knowledge, check my flow

robinless:

raeseddon:

robinless:

I wonder why, when people draw scars, they all mostly look like cuts. I’m talking about batfam characters here. They get cut sure, but they also break bones, get acid thrown at them, get burnt… The resulting scars wouldn’t look like a neat criss-cross pattern, they would look more like… Someone who got patches of skin burned on top of cuts on top of places where the broken bones protuded and broke the skin and so on. It’d probably be pretty striking to see.

I actually think about this a lot. XD

I think it’s because cuts are the “nicest” looking scars— burns, high caliber bullet wounds all leave seriously ugly reminders. My work in special effects make-up has given me a special appreciation as far as wounds go.  So in order to preserve their super-hot-and-sexy Batfam characters, a lot of artists—professional and not— tend to get as far the “pretty” scars and not go any further, because that would make them not as attractive. 

Scar tissue also acts differently than normal skin, so if you try to account for the more realistic wounds, their ability to perform their super-hero work would actually suffer. Scars to a certain degree are incredibly painful, no matter how healed the wound is, and if they’re extensive enough, require pain management via drugs more often than not.

TL;DR

Most scars aren’t pretty and too much realism is problematic. 

That’s really interesting! I guess in the case of coloured works it’d also make paiting the skin realistically way more complicated, since the colour of scar tissue is different and can be darker or clearer than the rest of the surrounding skin.

That too—it’s a lot of effort for something that is entirely ascetic and not really worth it unless it’s for shock value. I only remember once in the pre-reboot verse where they’ve hinted at just how bad Bruce’s scars are and that was during the Hush arc—Selena’s with him in the batcave while Alfred’s doing a patch up, and there’s a small glimpse of what Bruce’s back looks like. What really drives the scene home is Selena’s reaction to it: she’s completely horrified. I thought it was a nice way to address that issue.

robinless:

I wonder why, when people draw scars, they all mostly look like cuts. I’m talking about batfam characters here. They get cut sure, but they also break bones, get acid thrown at them, get burnt… The resulting scars wouldn’t look like a neat criss-cross pattern, they would look more like… Someone who got patches of skin burned on top of cuts on top of places where the broken bones protuded and broke the skin and so on. It’d probably be pretty striking to see.

I actually think about this a lot. XD

I think it’s because cuts are the “nicest” looking scars— burns, high caliber bullet wounds all leave seriously ugly reminders. My work in special effects make-up has given me a special appreciation as far as wounds go.  So in order to preserve their super-hot-and-sexy Batfam characters, a lot of artists—professional and not— tend to get as far the “pretty” scars and not go any further, because that would make them not as attractive. 

Scar tissue also acts differently than normal skin, so if you try to account for the more realistic wounds, their ability to perform their super-hero work would actually suffer. Scars to a certain degree are incredibly painful, no longer how healed the wound is, and if they’re extensive enough, require pain management via drugs more often than not.

TL;DR

Most scars aren’t pretty and too much realism is problematic. 

discowing:

Feelings aside, how are they even justifying killing off John, business-wise? JL was wildly popular, and even its young viewers are old enough now to spend their money on comics. I’m pretty sure that Ryan Reynolds movie flopped because gen pop had no idea who Hal was. When you say “Green Lantern”, I think John Stewart. What the hell are they trying to accomplish here?

This.

 Pretty sure the first words out of my mouth when the Green lantern movie came out were: “Wait, isn’t Green Lantern black?” Anyone who remembers the animated Justice League is going to go to John instead of Hal, and it’s just another case of DC erasing a POC character in favor of a white guy.

Because all know there aren’t enough white guys in comics.

Fuck you DC.

A minor frustration.

erikburnham:

DC Comics gossip has been kicking around lately due to Andy Diggle and Joshua Fialkov leaving (Action Comics and Green Lantern Corps/Red Lanterns, respectively) before the first issues have shipped.

That is not my frustration.

My frustration has been at the response. There are sides being taken, some supporting the creators, some the company. But too many people are wanting to know - some hinting, some outright saying that they have a right to.

No, you do not. Shut your mouths. All of you.

If a creator leaves a book, maybe it’s because they bit off more than they could chew. They liked the idea of working on a character more than the reality. Something else came up, personal or professional, and they needed to make a choice. Maybe they don’t get on well with an editor. Or their collaborators. Maybe they actively hate someone they’re working with. Maybe it’s passive aggressive high school level nonsense going on behind the scenes.

Or maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s none of the above.

Readers don’t have the right to demand any of that is made public. Do you have a right to know if a creator has left a book? Yes - but that’s all you’re owed as a reader. From there you can be happy or sad, vote with your wallets, encourage others to do the same, move on from a title or not, follow the creator to their next assignment, or not.

But the rest is still not any of your business.

Maybe teams shift for benign, friendly, no-hard-feelings reasons, and maybe it’s a war of egos. *Still* isn’t your business.

I know I’m hammering the point into the ground, and I’m sorry about that.

This.

With the advent of social media, there’s come this sense of entitlement that the celebrities we love be totally forthcoming with everything and it’s easy to forget that that is a choice these people make.  If they want to comment on it, they will, it’s really that simple. Having curiosity regarding something doesn’t entitle that curiosity to be sated in any way. I think we’ve gotten so used to pretending we have “relationships” with these artists and writers because they’ll occasionally respond to our tweets or facebook messages, but that’s a choice too. It’s easy to forget that. Easier than it should be.  We need reminders like that more often.

Plotbunny for adoption

robinless:

After Damian’s death, Talia commits suicide. A while after that, Damian’s resurrected by Ra’s to be used as his new body, but Damian ends up killing him and becoming the head of the League of Shadows. Damian goes a bit JasonToddesque because of the pit, but most of all he questions why his father didn’t put him into a Lazarus pit if he wanted him back. So he goes back to Gotham to face him, let’s say… eight years after his death.

Meanwhile in Gotham, Bruce’s getting old for the cowl but won’t let it go. Dick doesn’t dare step up but when Bruce gets really hurt one night, and after Jason confronts him and tells him to get into the big boots or get out he does go back to doing the Batman thing ”temporarily”. Everyone knows it’s not a temporary thing, though, even if Bruce won’t accept it. Dick passes the Nightwing mantle to Jason in a last attempt at closing old bounds, like he did with the Robin mantle.

When Dami gets back to Gotham, his father won’t leave the manor. He lives in a Batman Beyond style, playing Oracle. And he finds Dick in the suit

I’d enjoy playing with as a means of having Damian call Bruce out on his manpain a bit (especially after losing Talia). And while I can see Dick taking up the mantle again, I can’t necessarily see Jason actually accepting the Nightwing mantle so readily. I think he’d be really touched, but make some crack about big collars and it not being his style— “Who wants that fashion crime as a legacy?” Jason’s his own man, and that’s an important part of what Red Hood and the Outlaws and Batman Inc has tried to do. It also leaves Damian free to take up the Nightwing mantle if he wants it, since I think even if Dick were Batman again he’d seem himself as “too old” for the Robin costume. He would, I think, want to carry on the Nightwing legacy.

uwaaaah:

thenorwalkagent:

Unbroken full-size can be found here.

HE’S NOT EVEN DEAD YET

oh for fucks sake

why would you do this

why

(via rabbit-miza)

I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that any Robin was universally loved or hated

discowing:

teland:

coasterchild:

teland:

saphire-dance:

luanna255:

saphire-dance:

Dick may be the closest to being universally loved. But you need to remember Didio had to be blackmailed into not killing him off.

Jason is often called the worst. But even with the writer actively trying to make him unlikeable. The vote to kill him was close, and if it hadn’t been rigged things would be different today

Tim sure is great though. If you like rich, white, cis-het stalkers. Yeah I’ve heard people diss him for everything from having parents to not being athletic enough.

And everyone hates Steph, that’s why DC declared her toxic. Not the huge fan campaign that made her a feminist icon.

Then there’s Damian. One true son of the bat, or a baby assassin, murderer sullying the Robin name.

My point is that everyone has a different view of these characters. Some people love them all, some hate them all, some have mixed feelings. It’s not a one size fits all fandom.

And of course, what you also need to remember is that there’s a substantial portion of the Bat-fandom who simply cannot stand the concept of Robin in general. They don’t care who it is or the specifics of the character, they just don’t want any stupid, brightly-colored kid sidekick messing with the darkness and “realism” of Batman. And I’m not just talking about more casual fans who simply don’t know much about the Robins yet. There are hardcore fans who feel that way. There are even people in the industry who feel that way. If you’ve read Adam Hughes’ book (Cover Run), he outright states that he does not like Robin for that reason.

Which would be my counter-argument to “Dick may be the closest to being universally loved”, really. Not that DiDio wanted to kill him off (which was more or less because Dick was so loved, and he wanted to “shake things up”), but that when people blame Robin for ruining the Batman mythos in general, more often than not it’s Dick they’re pointing the finger at (which makes sense, after all). He’s the one who gets all the “that stupid kid with the bad puns” comments directed at him by people who think Batman works better as a dark loner. Dick may be the most beloved Robin, but in some ways he’s also the most hated, because when people criticize the concept of Robin, he’s the one they direct that hate towards more often than not.

Honestly, I doubt there’s any character, in any fandom, who could qualify as “universally loved” or “universally hated”. Human opinion is simply far too diverse for that. And when it comes to superheroes specifically, we all have a different idea of what makes a compelling hero. Where some people see inspiring idealism, others see sugary naivete. What some people interpret as fabulous snark and attitude, others interpret as abrasive brattiness. I don’t think there’s ever going to be universal agreement on ANY character, and it’s just simplistic to say otherwise.

Thanks for expanding on that point. I probably should have said more on it than “Some hate them all.” I didn’t chose this as a counter argument to Dick because while he does bear the brunt of it I did want something specifically tied to him. While it could be said the threat of killing Dick was out of desire to “shake things up” it is from someone who has an admitted dislike of legacy characters and sidekicks.

Yes, yes, yes. While it would make my world a happier place if everyone could just understand that NO YOU GUYS ROBINS ARE THE BEST ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN —

*slaps self*

The only universality when it comes to Robins — or any comic character — is that the people who make the decisions look at them and see stacks of money. If they think the stack of money will be bigger if they kill the character off — or completely change him/her/them around — then they’ll do it, right then and there, without regret or pause.

And then? If the backlash against it gets a little too annoying — and a little too close to endangering that stack of money — they’ll do everything in their power to beshit and cloud the issue.

Especially by going out and saying things like “well, nobody really liked him” and “she didn’t have much of a following when she was alive” and “there weren’t anymore stories to tell about him.”

And so on. And so on. And so on.

It’s only in fandom where these beautiful, wonderful, fascinating, and complicated people get to *be* people all the time, and I guess…

Well, that’s one of the reasons why character-hate in fandom wounds me so much.

We really don’t have to do these people’s work for them.

It also helps the powers that be in comics, that Robin is basically the stand-in for a romantic interest for Batman. And when you’re bad at story-telling, your go-to hook is “put the love interest in danger!!” Superman has  (or had? f you dc) Lois Lane, Spider-man has Mary Jane or Gwen or whoever he’s dating. And Robin has the upside (lazy-storytelling-wise) of being replaceable. I mean, they’ve gone through FIVE, and that’s just main continuity.

(And now I’m considering all the things Batman has in common with Henry VIII) (Poor, poor, misunderstood Jason “Anne Boleyn” Todd) (anyway!)

Robins aren’t really characters to DC at this point. They are perpetual Batman-pain machines.

Yes. THAT.

I agree with all of this, but the seriousness of the topic has totally been replaced by helplessly cackling at Jason “Anne Boleyn” Todd and and…

This is some of the best commentary I’ve seen on the Robins in a really long time. “Perpetual Batman-pain machines” is the most apt way I’ve seen that put in a long time.  It’s like they’ve forgotten the years of complex emotional interplay that exist between Batman and Robin (i.e their own rules as to why Batman Needs a Robin): and are now seeing these characters as nothing more as vehicles for Batman’s own perpetual motion-angst-generator. Robin was the counterpoint, the light, the humanizing force that actually made a lot of us (myself included) enjoy the character of Bruce Wayne. Because he could be kind, he could be vulnerable and raw in the presence of his Robins—all of them— because that’s what Robin allowed him to do. Each Robin served as an emotional counter-weight, balancing the scales a little and keeping Bruce from totally losing himself to the cowl.

The Modern Age, unfortunately, shifted the scales again, and instead of Robin being a counter-weight, the character has only added to the weight Batman bears, not helped alleviate it. And that just…makes me really sad. There’s a line at the end of the Batman Adventure comics that sums it up beautifully. After Batman confronts the Joker and hears his “This will never end” speech, Dick has a moment of hopelessness before he says, not to Bruce, but Tim, Alfred and the reader, “The tree doesn’t have to die if the branches are strong…” implying that despite losing his parents and the ceaseless pain that brings him, Bruce has created his own family. The roots are weak but as long as the branches can still flower and drop seeds of their own the tree is still strong. The Robins (and Batgirls) are those branches. They are are life and light and joy.

I wish DC would remember that.