Comics Matter Zack, Richard C. Meyer and The Grift-Vengers: poorly explained

 

"they got it backwards.

Zack actually moved on, and he's not wrong that the Grift-vengers are suspended comfortably in 2018-2020 but his own reasoning ability did indeed get worse and his ex-wife hate boner makes his coverage of said "birthday party clowns" (ook?) perpetually suspended just like them.

Difference is their content has better production value & they have & show receipts; they are drama kings yes, but they're not lying about the industry as a complex.

⛔Their problem is they often  Project that reality on mediocre projects that in fact doesnt fit their narrative. Thats where they get it wrong.

⚠️But Our Boi zack? He moved on, but he didnt evolve.  And the reality of the industry didn't just disappear because Zack chooses not to see it or doesn't realize it or chooses to ignore it because he prefers things to be better than they are. Zack will actually still criticize things from the media but if certain people do the exact same thing he does, then its a problem.

Anyone who speaks the contrary is the enemy; If you're the wrong Messenger, You're the enemy.👈

*4 times out of 20, Zacks criticism has applicable weight beyond "dur, you're old (said zack, the spry 19yr old male)"*

(ex. Nerdrotics pearl clutch tweet over Karen and Matt screenshot, which in reality was a hallway walking shot that barely lasted 3 -5 seconds, that was a valid criticism on zacks part)

majority of the time its bro confusing obsession with  accountability.  clownish. Even worse, Lolcow-ish on his part.

Comics Drama Matters era.🌭

_For the grifters: almost everything new is a threat to be wary of,  And if you do happen to catch yourself excited for something, You have to have just enough cyncism & "maybes" to keep anyone from unsubbing_ (just ignore the fact that they On occasion do report things that they like & the subs resonate with it)

And for Zack, everything the grifters report as bad is actually good in La La Land even if it's dog shit and he himself likely wont watch it 3 months from now, a year, if ever again.

🎉If the industry complex says so, then we "enjoy" it & forget about it or dont like it, but its ok when Zack doesnt like something.

🎉If the griftvengers or the wrong ppl says its bad or mid, then we rebel and say its secretly good (self tell) or just a childrens movie ( Not an argument) or they're just old and will die anyway (get therapy). And when they praise something, we simply ignore that, conveniently. Or? Turn even that into a problem.

Very simple formula, bros channel is a dated time capsule in itself.

same insults, same talking points, stuck. what year? current, moving, no evolution, stuck anyway.

so that guy had it backwards but they are not wrong entirely.  And while it is unfortunate, it's definitely not not entertaining. 

Just remember & take with a grain of salt, that toxic positivity is more potent, because you don't need to blame it on anything, nor need an argument nor a reason, its far easier to bliss and consume. But be wary of extremes on either side of the binary.

 There's no good or bad guys, you either have an argument or you don't.

/re "Ya Boi Zack has his own RULES that Destroyed his channel-" | "Who Cares?" | What happened to Ya Boi Zack?

"I don't agree with everything he says, but he's the sharpest, funniest, most insightful YouTuber out there. He was dead on with the woke stuff years ago, and he's right about the birthday party clowns for the most part. Yeah, he should stop rationalizing his own lateness, but he's right that I would rather have quality than a crap book that's "on time." And who cares that he's losing subscribers??? The channels that consistently grow are all pandering, crap factories that just hit all the same cynical beats designed to feed the algorithm. And who cares that he's losing subscribers??? The channels that consistently grow are all pandering, crap factories that just hit all the same cynical beats designed to feed the algorithm.
And who cares that he's losing subscribers??? The channels that consistently grow are all pandering, crap factories that just hit all the same cynical beats designed to feed the algorithm."

Mixed bag. 

Him losing subs actually has legitimate implications, the main one i'm noticing is his unhealthy obsession with drinker, nerdrotic & the like. Like a bitter ex-girlfriend levels of resentment. 

Which is actually playing the algorithm game anyway, controversy & hate videos is sloptubing. 

Because he's leaning into an audience that agrees with him simultaneously as people are leaving in greater numbers (hence how ppl are noticing the dip). Thus that "Haha 50yr old manbaby, anti-wokes R stoopid  dur" talking point & the comments just echoing what he says Aka he's a pandering crap factory. Just with less effort & production value.

So perhaps he's just a shite youtuber, maybe it's something else.  

More importantly, *Zack used to be that rebel, he used to be special, but now he's dancing the fine line of a Lolcow.*

And maybe.....25%/ aka a quarter of his nitpicks are valid. Like Nerdrotic's idiotic tweet about Karen being infront of Matt in a still shot from Daredevil Born Again, stupid, Zack was on point.

_Otherwise, if you're confident in what you say, then how many times do you need to say the same thing? That goes for them and Zack._ (And that's coming from me, the irony isn't lost.)

 I'm subbed after 6+ years and STILL subbed just because I'm entertained by his downward spiral. For me it's more noticeable, because I sat on his channel for 3+ years came back and dude is on something different, something slightly off. 

If it weren't for his rambling I wouldn't have ever watched drinker or nerdrotic, Im not subbing to them permanently but broadly thats partly why he's losing subs. 

I repeat::::::: I actively AVOIDED those guys for years, him raving about them constantly got me curious, im not one of those ppl that just takes your word for it, I scope it out. 

And what I heard from them directly DID NOT align with his rhetoric, at least not enough to warrant the vitriol he possesses. He doesn't bring attention to when they praise something, he highlights to his audience  only the side of the party clowns he wants to pretend is the only canon event that exists of those people. 

And that's not how that works, that's where he's getting this all wrong. ZERO NUANCE.

TL;DR he's like an anti-woke NPC going off an article's title for 30 minutes but for him, he's going off a thumbnail or title for 20minutes and given he's Zack with all his turtles pace verbal eccentricities, a 3 minute statement will indeed be 20- 30 minutes.

It's only now in 2026 that I typed his channel in google to confirm if I'm hallucinating this dude's derailment arc only to find out people 3 years+ prior have noticed the same thing I did. Which is what I didn't want to see.

I couldn't believe it,  Reddit posts and everything. Zack used to be that guy--- Underground comics gem, but now he's here, and everyone's asking "what happened?" 

Losing subs is very VERY relevant. That rabbit hole is how I found this video. Full circle. This bloat comment of mine is mapping out just one reason he lost subs, just one. Cause he almost lost mine, but I'm curious as to where he veers off to next, he could clean it up over a week and he could bounce back without compromising himself. Imagine the glowup, one of the best character arcs, but he has to want it.

Problem is if he thinks he's the "good guy" & his internal narrative is "Me (Zack) vs Them (Anti Wokes)" then he's really just re-packaging Anti-woke vs Wokes. Othering.

Everyone's got an "Other" that they think it's their job to fight, where Zack goes wrong is not realizing his participation in it or he does, hence the obsession. Creating enemies where none exist, aka purpose, aka content, aka feeding algorithm.

Losing subs is very VERY relevant. That rabbit hole is how I found this video. Full circle.

This bloat comment of mine is mapping out  just one reason he lost subs,  just one. Cause he almost lost mine, but I'm curious as to where he veers off to next.

So  "who cares" is just  deflection, it's more about "why?" it's not like he takes 5 year breaks. 

So if he's still here and losing subs, there's a reason. 

Otherwise regarding the pandering crap factories--- cynical beats, better editing, longer videos for viewer retention, organized playlists, articles/tv clips cited/got receipts, better energy; memes, doesn't take them 20 minutes to get through a damn sentence,  bringing up cultural staple moments in entertainment history I never knew existed, they're consistent, i don't agree with everything they say either but they're also not wrong on a lot of beats regarding the cultural corrosion etc. etc. etc.

I don't know everything about these dudes, they're not my internet uncs, their content i turn on and press ESC on when I got better shit to do. So if they're on some crazy shit Zack & only Zack knows about, then he needs to go to Youtube Execs or the authorities; otherwise he needs to calm down.

Because I repeat, if it weren't for ZACK acting like a crazy ex-wife, I wouldn't have ever watched those other guys.  

Waaaay more to it than just anti-wokes being cynics and Zack is the valiant Anti Anti-woke here to save us all; Just like there's more to Zack's videos than just him belaboring points, getting lost mid-thought, filibuster and coughing in our damn ears. 

/re "Let's Fix ISOM #2: I Confess Ignorance!" | do cosplayers know who it is they're cosplaying?

100%, for a lot of women, cosplay is a vehicle for attention seeking than it is knowing the character, embodying the character, maybe even watching some of the show just to know what they're representing; tho for some it is standard practice to do just that, but for most? It's optics. It's about them, not the mask they're wearing. The joke applies to men too, however it's important to note that most ppl (regardless of sex) just like aesthetics or what's easy to make or if an anime or show is trending and then a character from that trending show is what they go with. RARELY will someone show up as a character from a 70s anime or an indie comic from the 90s that no one knows about, it's about attention. For guys, they mainly dress up as childhood heroes or anything they grew up with, usually its about a bond. For women it's mainly a seasonal thing, very unlikely for there to be attachments to any of every character they slap on. And i'd go so far as to hypothesize that women cosplay more than men, could be tho (too lazy to look it up) So it applies to men, but hits harder as a fact bomb if it's a woman because women know cons are hubs for male attention; only to then go online to cosign complaints & hit pieces about "male gaze" when it's convenient. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I would argue for some it's not even safe to cosplay due to weirdos, but a lot of women just post pictures than commit to cons. A lot of variety in the same attention seeking mindset. Positive note, even tho a lot of cosplays just boil down to *ass shot angle #4,596 --- much of the craft, materials, etc. takes some serious effort (depending on the elaborate nature of the costume), it's only fair to acknowledge that much. The "*sigh, of course" could've been cut out tho, sometimes the cut off to a face palm or just awkward silence to paused frames of a glare (my personal preference) to let the irony sink in: that adds more weight for me than blunt sass.

reddit re: " Is Susan Storm a scientist?" - Susan Storm's occupation retcon (aug 2024)

Excellent question, apparently she is now. More subtle in 1610 because that wasn't a retcon, that was the point.

Cause I swear she was a fashion designer or a model in 616 (edit: She had a brief time as an Actress, originally, which Is cool), kinda wish they go back to those roots seeing how even now, Sue doesn't lean into the hero scene like Johnny does. So why not go back to what is ALREADY established.

Otherwise She's rambling on about pocket universes being her "pillow talk" in VOL6 #48, and she does NOT sound like Sue:

Sooo while OT Sue was vanilla, she had personality. Now she's not even her own character anymore, she's just Reed lite with more sass, because "equality" to some writers means a mirror match. 

• Because she heard him talk about theories in bed and somehow without so much as an Associates in the study, she somehow understands it. Riiiiiiight, okay.
• They didnt need to turn her into an offshot of him to make her his equal, nor to make her more competent. That's the issue. They "Scienced" her to promote her stake, and it's shallow.

Cause I'm pretty sure this wasn't the case pre-Civil War. Don't quote me

overtone being women in the science is paramount, despite what most human women are ACTUALLY interested in on mass. (spoiler alert: It is not STEM. Hence why you don't see that Girls in Stem propaganda as much anymore, they gave up because girls don't care and will make their own decisions. #Respect) 🧪🧫

The lack of nuance in that regard is just sheer pandering (pandering to who? Don't ask me. I don't fucking know bud), and lack of competence.

Why lack of competence? Cause there's more than one avenue of "smartness", you need a degree of competence to know that you don't have to condense women/characters into a universal standard of all being the same type of scientist or intelligent or attitude for them to be "smart".

See Sandy Cheeks was always a buttkicking Scientist, they didnt retcon her into one in Season 7 because "the times" say girls cant have any interests differing from the "right /correct interests", she's a subversion done right.

In fact Sue being plugged into the celeb or business showbiz scene as a BUSINESS presence vs Johnny's showboating, would not only harken to her roots, but make more sense seeing how she is the boss of the team (always has been the most mature of the bunch in terms of decision making) and thus technically always has been the chief in a sense. So why not be where you'd have connections to philanthropy, finance backing or networking.

Don't have to be behind a desk to run shit, but you see, this is how some view women being "in charge"; Zero scope or moreso, lack of diverse life experience to even think of such avenues.

Do these writers not realize theres more professions for women/that women do in the world besides "The Science", granted its likely most women don't read comics enough to even pick up on a retcon like this (good on the sisters for having better things to do):

For me, just have her be an architect; since she can shape her constructs with her mind right? lead her down a career/ a passion where she could take advantage of her powers, where she can shape anything she wants,exercise that muscle to where she's getting stronger with more intricate designs, strengthening her focus capability while making money, and expands FF real estate. And revolutionize how NewYork builds future cities aka a pioner in her own field, aka: USE YOUR IMAGINATION Writers, think. Ladies don't have to be geniuses to be brilliant or change the world, & if you are, go kickass. That's a much better overtone. So much better.

Either women have to vomit pretentious Scientific mumbo jumbo, or be "the" at something or else they dont exist. Nice.

Can't be an actress and be a hero, "Activist" sounds more current. (FF VOL6 #47)

I really, really hate that crap, not that she's smart (I'd hope she picked something up after all these years), but there's more realms of being smart that's so underrepresented.

L Lawliet is smart but the guy doesn't have a beaker laboratory, that's not his realm of intelligence; that's Dexter, that's Sandy, that's Banner.

And again they didnt need to do that to make her more useful, nor to make her smart, nor to make her capable. Painful lack of imagination.

In trying to make her more utility able, you turn her into a dated schtick- even more than what she was back then, because at least back then her stake was authetic & genuine aka coming from the creators and not some torch bearers.

In fact her not being as IQ savvy, a normie and still keeping up with "Reed-A-Book" Richards as a partner (general), wife, mother, business peer, superhero Co-captain/captain would be even MORE impressive if she was a regular showbiz tycoon; Just happens to be one of the most powerful characters in her universe (And trust and believe, she is, that's non-debatable**)- that is actually more impressive than rambling on about pocket universes being your "pillow talk", cause anything less is possible heresy to the dominating narrative in the workplace, Christ.

Writers in general really need to let go of the 'Women in science' fetish and let some actual diversity of interest in, cause this seems to be specific to the ladies. As far as I see, I don't scope this move happening to Johnny or Ben.

Are they spontaneous geniuses now?

Otherwise this wouldn't be that deep if they weren't retconning in order to do this, if they cleverly fit it in, fine. But lke this, I ask what are you compensating for?

Same goes for those hax abilities of hers & the realistic labeling to make it sound legit when it's borderline magic, it reads less like she earned the expanded strengths of the abilities with training & homework vs the inherent nature of her power is what always carries her & damn near unbeatable: which is weaker for characterization, why? I kid you not-- Superman has more weaknesses than Sue Storm does.👁️👄👁️

 TL;DR the writing is booty, Sue deserves authenticity, ten-fold.

Surprised they didn't turn Walters into a string theory Professor yet, A Lawyer? Pffft. Women aren't Lawyers, 🌈The Science however🌈 

The difference between most Manga & Comics is "message"

https://youtu.be/FnqXIqzkVBE?feature=shared

With American Comics, it suffers a political zeitgeist sickness due to matriarchal sensibilties not being kept in check, and yet its not hard to find good reads, the issue & advantage is different writer visions. 

With Manga, its not a patriarchal mindset, its a PeterPan syndrome, writers refusing to grow up. You have one writer at the helm, one vision, GREAT ..until we realize that vision is ass. So stoll you have to hunt for a competent story because if that one author is good, then its good, but if majority of mangaka are bad writers but good artists then the story will be bad despite how it looks. 

Thats the price, you get a complete, crap story vs an amalgamation of different minds per few issues (good & bad) making one character great or mid, but rarely ever bad. 

Why? Because theres ALWAYS a writer(s) that did it right at some point in history vs all the chapters being shit because one author couldn't get it together. 

Example: a Superman Joe Kelly run vs that crappy Bendis run 

If it was manga rules, Bendis would've had Superman at his mercy for 4 decades. 

Thats why My Hero failed before the turn of Kamino arc, the entire story was at the mercy of a bad writer. 

For Manga, all people care about is optics, Mangaka are great artists moonlighting as authors. You're lucky to get competent these days let alone "good" or great or new standard. 

Zack is right, some of the best Manga are more closely Western in concept. (ex. Gundam, The Hard, Desert Punk, Vinland Saga, Berserk (first few arcs), GITS, Blue Gender, & some Kamen Rider) 

Manga & Anime is majorly a child mindset genre, suspension, few evolution of story. 

You get titles like this these days: "It's Fun Having a 300,000 Yen a Month Job Welcoming Home an Onee-san Who Doesn't Find Meaning in a Job That Pays Her 500,000 Yen a Month" 

What the actual hell, thats an every other average manga. 

Comics are the step up because they have both complete books (TPB editions), What-Ifs, Elsewords, and interconnected stories. Variety of storytelling. 

People saying comics aren't complete have never read Watchmen, a hard cover edition,  or a single Annual and they're full of horseshit & need to sit down. 

You wouldn't have gotten My Hero if it weren't for American /western comics. And the west takes some notes from Japan, but there's a reason why Japan keeps copying the wests homework and when they dont they make another fetish simulator, they're creatively bankrupt and frankly pathetic sometimes.

Japan made My Hero Academia copying the west & badly; America made JL: Kingdom Come. Its not a contest. 

The difference is one writer was immature & making shit up on the fly and the other was a mature mind that had something to say, but didnt preach to the audience to say it.

Manga is generally mediocre to bad because the vast majority of mangaka are inexperienced or sex manic children with no substantial life experience to pass on, & the struggles they do have that they're projecting they dont seem to realize its not a good thing; whose biggest resource is women, children, fetishes & self-inserts. Same with anime, and why its also trash.

American Comics have a double edged sword called "message", for Stan Lee's Spiderman its responsibility, for Watchmen its mainly (but not exclusively) the state of man, and the governing powers that puppet your lives; for a woke writer its men are bad, politics, girls rule, or trans visibility. 

Fact is, for better and worse, what makes Manga semi-preferable to woke narratives is also why Manga sucks: 

Mangaka have something to show, much to display but nothing to say- no experience to share, no message, no real story. Just safe mode formula, projecting fetishes 24/7 rehashing whats been done. No message, no theme, just escalation of plot with no story, rule of cool or depravity.

Ideal for pandering to children and Man-children. 

Its why your Vinland Sagas are flukes instead of the standard. And its also why "Makina Sans a love-bot?" garbage gets pumped out by the week, Japanese media industry is not totally lost, but its garbage, people on both sides are too lazy to look deeper to find the diamonds. 

Theres just more diamonds in the west,  there's a reason why Japanese copy the westerners even in filmmaking.

Some to few Manga is a good time, but its not vintage. No one's looking to Japan to make a All-Star Superman, Superman 755, 300, Kick-Ass, or a Spawn, Infinite Crisis, Inifinity Saga, Flashpoint, a Jaws, or a Robocop, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park novel, Alien. 

West West West. 

The bar for Manga/Anime Japan is actually pretty low, its why they oveework their teams but they produce the same crap over & over again. They know foreigner NPCs will settle for anything that aint woke, even if its bad. 

See Japan knows how to polish old property like Shin Gojira (god tier practical effects & lore), they know how innovate animating drawings in autistic fashion, acting aint half bad, but they don't go hard like that in the story department. 

The criticism for the wests obsession with politics is warranted but Japans Manga/anime game is brutally overrated.

Ms. Marvel Volume 2 #9-10 (recommended reads) 2007-2011

Solid side-plot introducing the extensive trauma after what Rogue did to Carol, an alternate Carol that sunk into depression, failed her world, lost it and went on a warpath killing Rogues.

The 616 Carol does questionable things as well, a lot of conflict and baggage here. Good stuff. This encompassed the Civil War era.

Don't let this progressive/& unnecessary modern audience "Captain" rebranding of Danvers gaslight you into thinking she wasn't always that beast, she really was. Even if Marvel likes pretend she only became badass when she got called Captain Marvel, nah, she was always a unit, even when she was girly, especially when she was girly- especially back when she was written better.

Even back then Carol ain't no girl next door prop in a skirt, she will fuck yo ass up. She'll be nice, once, then she won't.

Ghost Rider - Final Vengeance #1-6 (TL;DR "A whole lotta nothing")

 

Shame about Parker, and it's really a waste how he didn't even make a dent in the Marvel landscape when he had the power. Someone on #1's comments mentioned him pulling up on Strange or the Avengers or he should do that, i was actually hoping for that but he didn't even do 1% of that.

His ambitions were so small, he didn't even realize the scope of Zarathos himself, what exactly he was capable of. Truly a loser, had all that might, no respect, even his ex-wife pulled away, tragic.

Story itself was a waste of time, especially 90% of Issue 1 wasted on stupid contrived side plots that didn't matter, and the one's the writer gave the most panels to were the LEAST interesting of the prospects, so time was wasted on mediocrity instead of giving the reader the best possibilities to stew on. An expected end, nothing was really was lost (Robbins didn't really do anything when you think about it) or much was gained beyond Z & Blaze are on the same page. Back in the same place.

Not recommended for a serious read but it's good to skim through.

Making It Plain To Konkret Comics Colorists About Isis' Skintone (Shawn's defense for bashing a book because the main heroine didn't date a black man))

I get it, Shawn's dissent of Luna is both aesthetic but more so substance, fine.

And Isis in practice is more pro-black, easily a better character from how he described; so the whole core of this counter-argument is she's pro black & there's lore behind her look despite her looking more latina than an actual traditional black woman of healthy darker complexion which would be better. *Yet technically still she's not a BW by our standards nor entirely human, so she's an outsider assimilating someone else's fight,* playing savior with good intentions essentially but she's not white so she gets to be an honorary black woman despite having no stake in the struggle, so she's an adoptee to the culture, an alien; Not a daughter of the community being a solution for the community. Which is an overtone in itself. W_hich i personally don't have an issue with, but the factor here is consistency to the agenda which Shawn harps on often with rhetoric like insinuating people self-hate or whatnot if their creative liberties are not how he likes them to be._

The only difference between her and luna really on a basic visual level is the hair. Because the only reason why these Konkret cats spoke on Isis is reactionary to what was said about their work to begin with. They didn't initiate this. *All this really says is that going-in on people's work not cause of merit but because of creative decisions/a character doesn't look black enough by hair (which is hypocritical because reddish hue isn't traditional either regardless of why) or dates who you want them to is just unnecessary no matter who's doing the BBQing. Case and Period.* Because naturally, I repeat- NATURALLY people are going to hold the other accountable by the same token of criticism they receive especially if it's inflammatory & over aesthetic instead of execution, and it's only fair, that goes for any topic. And no BW do not fear losing BM they push away or walk away from to begin with because of lack of humility & house training, which is not their fault, thats a parenting skill issue. Same goes for the brothas who do the same to the ladies. *They don't trust BM because the dysfunctional BM they have as options were raised by dysfunctional BW, plain and simple.*

The system has it's hand in sabotaging the community no doubt, regardless it doesn't make anyone commit to bad personal life decisions.

Blaming "supremacy" is just not holding BW accountable which is why women will always be the weaklink (of any race) if they're constantly told they're victims, and when you're forever a victim, the less agency you have, the less desire you feel to go out of your way to evolve or fix anything.

That's the curse of the black community. If you are victim 24/7, then the burden of evolution is on the oppressor not you, so you never change, but when things don't get better because YOU don't change, then you also blame that on the boogeyman. A Paradox of decline and failure.

like whether or not you give a dysfunctional man an heir anyway despite every reason not to, that's not on white supremacy, that's on her, that's on them. Gotta stop using that "white supremacy" term as a scapegoat when all people have to do is just be responsible and nut up & do better. And WANT their own community to succeed.

Because YES, light or dark the system sees a black person but more importantly better wake up and understand the system has it's biases but it doesn't about color that much, masses are the masses, if a nuke drops right now, it's not going to discriminate between whites and blacks, nuclear warheads don't care about your color bruv. I guarantee you that.

What If? - Planet Hulk (Recommended reads)

Put respect on Caiera's name.

One of my favorite heroines, period. Such a simple character, brief history, deadly, skilled, strong af, underrated.

 

Godzilla vs the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #4 (2022) #recommended

 It's only 5 issues, this shit is peak. Wow!

The artwork is consistently good, the plot is insane (Rita) been busy, and all kinds of retro/anime awesome goes down in here.

They got time to isekai the suicide squad but this hasn't been animated yet. What a crime.

Cassandra Cain is one of the more legitimate (not cheap- female knockoffs) in comic books and might've been the blueprint for X-23, another good spinoff character

 

Batman v1 567

Excellent debut for the character, you get everything you need to know about her and a good cliffhanger.
She (Like Superman-Prime) doesn't get the exposure she deserves, and that isn't entirely a bad thing, the worst thing that can happen to a character like those two is they get mainstream & enter the realm of overrated hype-culture for the wrong reasons.

At least in this respect, being obscure, under the radar: Less opportunities for a gem to be tainted or ruined by the larger sphere of normie-isms and political correctness.

The better examples of quality in a medium tend to be underrated one's anyway.

C.Cain is an underrated gem

Detective Comics v1 0734

And the best part about her being able to keep up with Batman, is it makes sense narratively, the entire point is she was drilled so hard, so intensively she wasn't even permitted a language to speak as a child- So for her to cut Batman's gauntlets with simple attacks, and it makes sense, for being so young? She is definitely unique as far as a Batman Family member goes, especially being one of his partners in the field. 

So she learns from him, mentored by Barbara & Batman ONTOP of everything she already knows. She has to be top 5 greatest fighters in DC, easily. Especially if /when she eventually rank above her own mother. Her origin story/ overall existence is really something special. 

Not sexualized, not second fiddle, no direct relation to Batman, her history is built upon that fact that she herself is interesting without riding coattails. Not a miracle blood relation or her being a glorified pin-up girl that's desperately been re-envisioned to be deep when she really is not. Cain suffers none of these issues, in the brunt of her first few volumes to say the least.

This is the execution Kara Bore-El is missing in every single respect & area in comparison. Thus it confuses the ever loving crap outta me how Supertoken gets so much push but Cain gets so little to work with- Overrated gimmick vs Underrated gem. Cassandra Cain is solid, her lore is intriguing and so is this 2 issue debut for her character (Batman 567 / Detective Comics 734)

The Issue with Anissa The Viltrumite, is not entirely what she did to Mark. It's how she's written after the fact.

The main issue with her character is not entirely what she did, the Viltrumites are bred to be intergalactic Vikings, Vikings raped people. It happened. And she’s a bad guy.

But the issue is, she didn’t stay bad: they tried the (she comes around) trope, that was problem #1 they tried humanizing her or contriving some redemption while she never directly or appropriately deals with what she did dehumanizing her baby’s daddy in any real believable way.

They tried to Omni-Man her WITHOUT doing what made Omni-Man’s turn work in the first place, narrowly so but it worked.

There’s no organic consequence to what she did. We’re not in Viking times, Invincible is supposed to be in a semi-modern era, if not beyond. So the handling of this was horrid.

She’s very oddly protected from backlash for what she did in-story.

And there’s no narrative point to her existence beyond being a means to birth Markus (which means little to nothing because he wasn’t instrumental in the war, just a DLC side plot post-event), which is hilarious that she’d name the boy after the man she raped (i wonder if that was before or after she miraculously had her little change of heart)

So she either named the boy after the dehumanized father (for some reason, cause it’s not she knew Mark, so why name him after someone she doesn’t know) or she became a good person and thought naming him after Mark was her being a good person or some shit. (stupid, lunatic)

• Either way, it’s stupid. She doesn’t work, because even by comic standards, it’s not realistic. At all. Even all these years later, it has not aged well AT ALL.

She just gets to rape someone, Mark protects her from consequence, she threatens him with more rape, she doesn’t suffer any long term consequences.

And no her death wasn’t a consequence of that directly, cause if she’s dead how tf is her character supposed to grow from a consequence by being dead.

The point is for HER to woman up & develop.

The point is she suffers consequence to become a better person organically, not change off-screen, and now suddenly she’s a good person. She tells Eve she’s “sorry” (ha, she’s sorry she brutally raped a person) but she doesn’t regret it.

Yeeeeah, sounds like a real sympathetic character with dimensions doesn’t it.

“Thomas” or KORR-El The 3,000 year old Daxamite raped Supergirl on the moon. When she confronted him about it later to fight, he threatened her he’d to do it again because her pressing him at the moment was turning him on....and she backs off.

Years later before he dies saving Kara’s partner in a battle he says to let Kara know he’s “sorry”, and because their Baby is a good kid, he doesn’t regret it.

Doesn’t sound so simple when it’s reversed huh? Guess what, it’s equally fucked either way. It’s beyond psychotic to think you can wipe something as inhuman as rape away because you’re sorry and the baby is a good kid.

And the fact that she gets a semi-honorable death, like she earned that shit?! HOLY MOLEY.

I think the story is confusing her with Nolan, or forgot that she raped the main character and actually enjoyed it. And told him to “Man up” afterwards !! lmfao.

No lack of Misandry here. Keeping the “men don’t matter” trope going strong, well done Kirkman.

Again, I’d love to see that shit reversed. Amazon would never ok The First season, it would never get greenlit if a man told a woman to “woman up/ man up/ grow up” after he rapes her in superhuman fashion to where he clothes are history.

• Now, they might change it, but since as of (March 2024) the cunt is already in Season 2, I don’t think they’ll course-correct at all.
• Cause this is their opportunity to fix her character, doesn’t mean don’t have her rape mark but she better feel the ramifications on-screen

But you see that right there is why she doesn’t work.

She doesn’t go through any due process or consequence that makes sense.

And now I’m here HOPING they fix her, because we live in a society where dehumanizing men is played as a joke, male suicide & rape is an afterthought like Men are second class citizens but telling a woman to stay in the kitchen is career suicide, in 30 years that might even put you in prison.

And no, i’m not joking. Women are that privileged.

But men getting raped is a non-issue.

Same exact energy here, she rapes a guy, and gets to have a good life, and only changes because she decided to: because of someone else, not that SHE grew as a person of her own accord. If I remember correctly, she didn’t even apologize to his face! Or no moment of closure for the two of them, it’s like the writers wanted the rape scene but didn’t know how to navigate the situation after they got their shock-factor.

Because notice how Nolan wasn’t out here notably raping Deb. Anissa did that shit, because Anissa wanted to rape someone after she was told no.

And we see the changes Nolan went through, Anissa? Nope.

Scumbag character because of shitty writing.

If you want to deal with a topic like rape? Treat with the same sensitivity if it were a woman, or don’t do it at all. Women are not special. Men are people. They build your goddamn cities.

This was another one of those Kirkman-isms where he just does edgy shit to be edgy and didn’t know what the fuck he was actually trying do or say with it or where he was going with it.

• We have characters like Vegeta who committed planetary genocide single-handedly, but he’s still somehow a beloved character nowadays with a following. (I’m personally not a fan, he’s too goddamn whiney but I was a fan a few years back so I get the appeal.)

IF THAT can happen for a genocidal lunatic, Anissa did not have to be handled the way she was, there was a way to do it properly.

And the most believable way? Is not revenge porn, not justice porn, but organic consequences.

The lack of that, is why she doesn’t work.

Rightfully hated character, but she didn’t needed to be hated this much, she could’ve been better.

All they had to do was handle her & the topic with more fucks to give beyond the actual fucking or just stay away from it if they didn’t have a plan for her to develop appropriately in the first place.

Iron Man: Extremis Director’s Cut #1-6 (recommended read)

 

This is story is what Ironman 3 took notes from, the book is better, it shows the Extremis in a much cooler/graphic way. Much more gruesome detail to the serum.

Tony is shown exactly how far he'll go to get the job done, no matter how drastic it is. It's a little dialogue heavy in the beginning, some typo here and there; The villain is weak in terms of ideals, or lore but he's strong enough to have been a problem for Captain America.

And it's not a long series, at all.