luke-jxrdan
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Latest Posts by luke-jxrdan
More like disheveled Grayson
Modern mulletwing
Clark and supes
Is this a problem?
Let's look briefly at the Coffee Bean in Spider-Man comics!
Contrary to popular memory, Peter's college pals initially met up at a diner called the Silver Spoon (ASM 44, but also 46, 52, possibly 125).
The spread at the top of this post takes a lot from this place's layout. But as newcomer MJ might have pointed out, diners are so fifties. The modern teen needed someplace cooler and edgier to hang out. Somewhere more underground. Literally.
Maps place The Coffee Bean alternately in East Village or Tribeca. The beret and glasses? The lowercase Dante's Inferno quote? The wall-hung guitar? So hipster. Wait, wrong decade. So beatnik.
The OG Bean didn't show up much more frequently than the Silver Spoon (ASM 53, 59, and 82, most notably), but it's the one that stuck in the cultural imagination. I enjoy Tim Sale's take in Spider-Man: Blue with the unfinished basement look and cult film posters.
In early modern flashbacks, the location is plagued by a specific continuity problem: "then [character] leaps through the WINDOW!" from new writers who missed the fact that it's below ground. In ASM Annual '96, JRSr complies by raising the ceiling a level!
The Sensational Spider-Man Annual's approach to the Coffee Bean makes me a bit sad. Dialogue repeatedly emphasizes its unique character and long history and how well MJ knows the place. But it's drawn aboveground and totally generic. (This from an issue with a dozen Silver Age panels directly traced!)
It's not the first time that happens, but here feels like a critical failure of show-don't-tell. The eventual window smash is worth it, but... I'd argue this would work better set at the Silver Spoon (where MJ actually met the gang, old in an uncool way, aboveground) instead.
Brand New Day reestablishes a solid sense of place for the Coffee Bean. Brick and glass entryway, a logo that's less beatnik and more Starbuck, and an interior that reminds me of a Panera Bread.
(If it's supposed to be canon that the new more corporate look is due to renovations by Harry, that's been lost in the shuffle. But it would make sense to me. His effort at impressing Norman with a plan to make the Bean a chain store circa ASM 569 would extend his trend of editorializing his own memories.)
While it still teleports between Astor Place and Tribeca, this version has now had more consistent (and just more) appearances than the original. And, of course, it has a beautiful bank of windows to—
Ah, that's more like it.
The Coffee Bean has become a symbol of innocent nostalgia and a happier past. It was also (as designed by Romita Sr) a virtual bunker: not until 1977 would superheroics be written to take place inside the Coffee Bean. (ASM Annual #11—Romita Jr's first ever penciling job on Spider-Man, interestingly.)
As a silver age icon, the location was physically safe and interruption-free in a way that even Peter's apartments and Aunt May's house couldn't be. The architecture—and how it's changed—has been a large part of that symbolism, underappreciated as it sometimes is.
Not me absolutely frothing at the mouth about this AU. Can we get an info dump on the Lore? It's making me want to abandon my current Spideypool WIP for this. Absolutely terminal brainrot for this boy
BEHOLD: MASSIVE LORE DUMP!
Peter B. Parker is a young troublemaker who has a problem with authority. He also has a knack for picking tech apart and putting it back together, which puts him on the radar for a small-time gang that needs someone to act as their alarm system breaker for a big score.
Unfortunately, said score had bad intel and what was supposed to be a simple robbery turns out to be manslaughter when the resulting fire that was supposed to cover up their tracks ends up killing two guards.
Peter is tried as an adult with the rest of the gang and sentenced to Rykers for 5 years.
Check out the full page HERE.
At Rykers, Peter meets Marko Flint, who takes Peter under his wing. and teaches him how to survive and thrive when wearing the orange.
Life goes on for 5 years. He learns the trade, gets some tats, learns how to make some great shivs, and becomes a better criminal all around. Yay prison!
Peter gets out at 21, and reunites with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He does his best to clean up his act, but normal life is hard for someone who spent their formative years in prison.
(He also makes questionable hair and fashion choices. What can I say, he's catching up!)
He goes from job to job, trying to pay back his aunt and uncle for all their support but is completely unequipped for the 'real world.' After a few months working/getting fired from soul-crushing menial jobs (HS dropout!), he agrees to take 'one last job' with Marko that is 'guaranteed to set them up for life'.
*cough*
This robbery goes off without a hitch! No one is hurt and they make off after hitting a heavily armored Oscorp Transport with a ton of documents/tech that they aim to sell to the highest bidder.
The biggest mystery is that one glowing vial of untested, experimental serum they found...
Unfortunately, Oscorp doesn't take robbery lightly. Marko finds out through contacts that the serum (whatever it is) is too hot to sell on the market, so he instructs Peter to get rid of it so it can't be traced back to them.
Peter, a rational 22-year-old ex-con, 'gets rid of it' by mixing the serum into ink and tattooing it onto his wrist, triggering the start of his mutations.
It takes a bit, but Peter get's all the regular spiderman benefits (webs are organic), plus one more. The serum was created from the venom of the Portia Spider, a hunting/jumping spider known to be uniquely intelligent among arachnids.
Alongside the speed/strength/spideysense, Peter also grows some fangs that secrete a powerful venom.
The venom speeds up the body's processes, working almost like an insane performance booster and enhancing an injected person's strength, speed, and senses for a few hours.
Unfortunately, repeated doses also eventually induce shock, paralysis, and, later, death.
He gives a few samples of it to Marko as an exit fee.
Uncle Ben was suspicious of how Peter suddenly got so much money, but took him on good faith. But, while he was watching the news that covered the Oscorp robbery, connected the dots and had a blowout fight with Peter that ended with him having a cardiac event.
Unfortunately, he did not survive.
Aunt May and Peter were estranged over this for several years.
This event crushes Peter, sobering him up immediately. He goes back and gets his HS diploma, and works on night courses in college.
However, he spends much of his days wandering, angry at himself and what he did. He beats up a mugger one day and realizes that he could be using his powers to back up the faith Ben had in him.
Spiderman is born!
Eventually, he and Aunt May reunite, and their relationship is slowly healing.
A few years later, Peter is on the up. He and Aunt May are close again! He's got a bachelor's in computer science, has a (semi) steady job, and is well-liked as Spiderman by the populace at large. His rogue's gallery is roguing- etc.
Unfortunately, a variant of his venom (developed by Kingpin) hits the streets as a drug. It's favored by both criminals for its performance-enhancing strength, as well as civilians, for the time-slowing sensation/high it gives them.
His girlfriend, Mary Jane, who has been sober for a few years, relapses. Peter, knowing that he can't stop her from getting it on her own, reveals his identity and becomes her main source.
At least, this way, he can control the dosage.
Marko (who sold Peter's venom to Kingpin) manages to fire off his only two brain cells and realizes that Spiderman IS Peter Parker.
Then he outs him to the world because Spiderman made it personal.
Peter's life catches on fire. The entire world is after him. His loved ones have to go into hiding because there's no shortage of criminals and psychopaths who want to get their hands on MJ and Aunt May to get to Spiderman.
Peter ceases to exist. It's not safe anymore. He spends days (weeks? months?) in the suit. Eventually, on the run and burnt out, he pleads his case to Dr. Strange in desperation. (Ala No Way Home)
"Everyone deserves a clean start."
Dr. Strange agrees, but the spell can't work with Peter still existing as part of the equation. So it fires him off into a reality where Peter B. Parker, and by extension Spiderman, never existed.
So how's an ex-con/ex-superhero (for now) supposed to carve a space in a world that never knew him? By finding somewhere that doesn't ask any questions.
And it just so happens, that St. Margaret's School for Wayward Children has a reputation for both being a bar of questionable repute and looking the other way.
Might as well start there.
~~~~~~~~~
Thank you so much for this lovely, lovely ask! I hope this massive lore dump wasn't overkill, but I'm having a lot of fun with this world and wanted to share.
And I offer this lore dump ONLY on the condition that you do not drop whatever you're working on. There is always space for more spideypool in the world, don't deprive us!!!
So wait are livestock guardian dogs to their flocks like… Clark Kent among the residents of Smallville? He’s been here since he was a baby, we all know him, and he’s… generally one-of-us shaped, uh, approximately. And then when something goes wrong he suddenly leaps into action and does some terrifying impossible shit none of us could do. And then comes back home and settles in like nothing happened and he’s one of us again.
I'm watching random youtube recommendations, and inspired by a video, I want to try something--
1 note = 1 pushup
post-crisis batkid canonical ages
“It’s impossible to figure out comic book timelines” - people who are not me and who I cannot relate to. I have crafted this, a coherent, canon-compliant timeline. A quick preface:
This is all for the Post-Crisis (i.e. New Earth/1986-2011/Pre-Flashpoint/pre-reboot/“preboot”/best) continuity.
My main principle here is diegetic evidence from comics >>>> evidence from supplemental materiel (like calendars, timelines from secret files & origins, character encyclopedias, etc)
Second principle is that mentions of ages, birthdays > mentions of time passed > non-birthday month placements (e.g. the start of school years).
We’re going to go youngest to oldest, because it actually makes more sense that way.
Damian is 10-11 at the end of preboot.
Damian’s birthday is not given in Post-Crisis.
Damian is 10 when he becomes Robin, per Batman and Robin vol 1 #1. He is still 10 in Batgirl vol 3 #17. That is the last time I am aware of where his age is said, so he may or may not have turned 11 in the short remaining time before Flashpoint.
Tim is about 7 years older than Damian. He is 17 at the end of preboot.
Tim’s birthday is July 19th (Robin #116).
Tim turned 16 in R#116, before the One Year Later event (where, as you may guess, a year passed), meaning he is at least 17 after OYL. Tim is still 17 in Red Robin #25. Damian becomes Robins between these events, meaning Tim is 17 when Damian is 10, and they are ~7 years apart.
RR#25 is the penultimate issue of Red Robin. Coupled with the significance of an 18th birthday and the fact that we never see one, there is virtually no chance that Tim turned 18 before Flashpoint. He’s 17.
Stephanie is <1 year older than Tim. Steph is 18 at the end of preboot.
Stephanie’s birthday is not given in Post-Crisis.
Stephanie was 15 when she first became Spoiler, per her recounting the story in Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. She is still 15 in Robin #59. In between these events, Tim is stated as 14 in Robin #43. Therefore, Stephanie is older. Stephanie “died” when she is 16, per the last story in Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins, between R#116 and OYL, meaning Tim was also 16. That makes her less than a year older.
She is also one grade above Tim, starting college in Batgirl vol 3 #1, shortly before it’s confirmed by Red Robin #17 that Tim (had he not dropped out) should be a senior in high school.
Stephanie starts college in Batgirl vol 3 #1, and we have every reason to believe she is starting at the “normal” time, making her 18. Since Tim is 17 at the end of Post-Crisis, and Steph is less than a year older, she can’t be any older than 18.
Jason is 1 year, 11 months, 3 days older than Tim. Jason is 19 at the end of preboot.
Jason’s birthday is on August 16th (Detective Comics #790).
No ambiguity here! Tim and Jason are exactly 702 days apart, unless Tim was born on or right after a leap year, making it 703. We know this because Jason’s 18th birthday is on August 16th in DC#790, which occurs after R#116 and Tim’s 16th birthday, but before OYL where Tim turns 17. This means Jason must have turned 18 when Tim was 16.
Jason’s age is never explicitly said after his return. But because his birthday comes after Tim’s, and Tim is still 17 at the end of preboot, we can be completely confident that Jason is still 19.
Cass is 6 months, 21 days older than Jason. Cass is 19-20 at the end of preboot.
Cassandra’s birthday is on January 26th (Batgirl vol 1 #33).
Cass turned 18 in Batgirl #37, shortly before both R#116 and DC#790, meaning before Tim turned 16 and Jason 18. This is well after No Man’s Land, so we can be certain Tim is long-since 15 (see below cut), and since her birthday is in January, we can also be certain Jason is long-since 17. This means Cass is less than a year older than Jason.
Cass’s age is also never said towards the end of preboot, but can be estimated via Jason (via Tim). Knowing Jason is 19 and Cass is 7 months older, we know she must be 19-20 at the end of preboot. However, since her birthday is before Tim’s, we cannot say if it’s passed to be more specific than that.
Dick is probably 6 years, 4 months, 26 days older than Jason (5 years, 10 months, 6 days older than Cass). He is 25-26 at the end of preboot.
Dick’s birthday is complicated, but imo the best bet for Post-Crisis is March 20th (see below cut).
Dick’s age is extremely messy, but here goes. Dick is 19 when Bruce fires him (Batman #419) and Jason is at most 12 when Bruce finds him shortly after (see below). Dick turns 20 while Jason is Robin (Secret Origins vol 2 #13 and New Teen Titans vol 2 #18). Dick is at most 21 in Deathstroke vol 1 Annual #1, after Tim is introduced. This means Dick is 20-21 when Tim is introduced at 13. The ONLY possible way to make all those ages work is for Dick to be ~6.5 years older than Jason, ~8.5 years older than Tim.
Dick’s age is not really said after that, except the vague mention in Nightwing vol 2 #134 that the time around his 17th birthday was “almost ten years” ago. This fits with what his age should logically be based on the difference to Tim, and we can confidently put him at 25-26 at the end of preboot.
A detailed timeline, references, and explanations of what was included or had to be ignored under the cut:
Keep reading
In 1987, when Spider-Man finally tied the knot and married Mary Jane, Stan Lee held a real-life wedding at Shea Stadium as a publicity stunt.
Stan Lee performed the ceremony and had other Marvel heroes in the audience cheering on.
Spideyvenom high school au
Peter Parker at age 20 and age 28 (he stopped using gel in his hair)
Jason Todd's not-Robin vigilante names
absolutely lost it over this fic by @neuro-psyche so. have this comic o(- (
go read it rn if u also love some Good identity reveal fic!!!!
I can't stress enough how much I miss StumbleUpon
Ah to be young and complicated
(I am young but very simple)
They freaky as hell!!
Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #381 Writer: David Michelinie, Pencils: Mark Bagley
My design for dick graysons batman with a little bit of Kon el superman to his left there peaking out
My design for dick graysons robin uniform during his mid teens
Batman and Robin.
Iceman costume concepts by Kevin Wada
nightwing being hurt in the field, and over comms he can’t get out what was wrong, nearly in shock, and jason puts on his best batman™️ voice and says “robin, report.”
and it snaps dick out of it enough to say concussion, possible broken ribs, and a gash in his side.
no one talks about it, and then a year later, damian does the same thing to tim
I drew @an-entity-i-think 's post
average friend group of ppl in their mid to late 20s consists of someone who just got married and bought a house, someone’s who’s already a divorcee with a kid, and someone who still hasn’t recovered from that one thing that happened when they were 12
Nightwing inspired outfits (gender neutral) pt2
Discowing inspired fit can be a sparkly or sheer or shiny shirt, black leather pants or any kind of skinny black pants, chains and boots.
the second fit is an everyday look based on a lot of things Dick wears so a leather jacket, jeans and sneakers or boots work well for that.
The last fit is inspired by his Young Justice character so a black tshirt, blue leather jacket/racing jacket, jeans or cargo pants and sneakers or boots work for this look.
he will use every chance he gets to be a drama queen and if he doesnt have one he will create one
Tools of the Trade Part 1: Nightwing's Costume
Nightwing has used six main suits over the years, as well as several up-armored variants. In general, his suit is a tri-layered, insulated, Nomex/Kevlar body armor. Most versions can heat up in the cold, resist bullets, resist flames, and electrocute enemies. Certain versions of the suit also included a glider function, such as the second blue/gold suit worn in the 1990s. The third version, which was blue/black and included the fan-favorite finger stripes, was made of "a controlled photo-chromic fabric" which could shift the colors of the suit from blue to navy for increased stealth capabilities. Nightwing also possesses up-armored variants of his traditional black/blue suits, seen in situations when he was facing threats of immense power, such as in Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day, and Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle. In a potential future in Nightwing: The New Order, Nightwing also designed a more high-tech, armored version of his suit. Most versions of his suit, including the original, the fingerstripes, and the New 52, use gauntlets to carry Nightwing's gadgets.
Brian Stelfreeze Fingerstripes Concept Art
Nightwing vol. 2 #36
Nightwing vol. 2 #54
Nightwing vol. 3 #18
Nightwing vol. 3 #19
Teen Titans vol. 3 #33
Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1
Nightwing: The New Order #5
Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #2
In the two DC events Dark Knights: Metal and Dark Knights: Death Metal, Nightwing wore specialized suits. The first was a thermal armor designed by Batman, which aided Nightwing in battling Mr. Freeze. The second was a Death Metal variant of Nightwing's armor, used to blend into the twisted version of Earth created by the Batman Who Laughs.
Nightwing vol. 4 #29
Justice League (2018) #53
The Rebirth/Infinite Frontier era version of the suit is reminiscent of his black/blue fingerstripes suit, but no longer uses gauntlets to store his gadgets. This incarnation includes an in-suit defibrillator, as well as a small backpack for Nightwing's sticks and other gadgets. The Fingerstripes 2.0 suit is similar, but has been upgraded by Mr. Terrific to be thinner and have more resistance to bullets and knives, as well as an in-suit glider.
Nightwing vol. 4 #36
Bruno Redondo Nightwing concept art
Nightwing vol. 4 #88
Superman: Son of Kal-El #9
In the Batman Beyond timeline, though Dick was no longer active as Nightwing, he did use a futuristic black and blue biker suit on occasion, which resembled his old Nightwing gear.
Batman Beyond #40
During DC's Future State event, which explored a possible future in which Gotham has become a police state, Dick has become the leader of the resistance fighters, and his suit reflects that. It retains the classic elements, but is more armored and cobbled together.
Future State: Nightwing #1
Later on in the Future State timeline, Dick escaped Gotham and joined his old Titans friends. During this time, the years of trauma, from the death of Batman to the collapse of the Titans Academy weighed heavily on Dick, and he switched to a modified version of his second blue and gold Nightwing suit, which included a combination of his and Deathstroke's mask, as well as a gun.
Future State: Teen Titans #1
The Mask:
Nightwing's domino mask attaches to his face with an adhesive, and has a built in radio, thermal vision, self destruct, night vision, and build in protective lenses. The mask of the red New 52 version of his suit could also pair with a syringe in his glove to perform chemical analysis.
Nightwing vol. 2 #103
Nightwing vol. 2 #133
Nightwing vol. 2 #147
Nightwing vol. 3 #5
Nightwing vol. 3 #15
Nightwing vol. 4 #4
In the event his mask was removed or lost, Nightwing also built a self destruct feature into it, and carried a spare in the lining of his suit, a habit he picked up as Robin.
Trinity vol. 1 #9
Nightwing vol. 4 #6
The Gauntlets:
Nightwing's gauntlets are a key part of his suit, replacing the need for a utility belt. Contained within them are many gadgets and tools, including a portable computer, communicator, GPS, 100,000 volt taser, laser cutter, rope launcher, and self destruct charges.
Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the DC Comics Superhero
This is part 1 of a series I will be posting, future installments will cover more specific gadgets and vehicles used by Nightwing.