Legends of the Dark Knight #207

Just, holy crap. I have to make note of this.

The last storyline was all about Mr. Freeze and his wife's actions just before her death; turns out Thomas Wayne was her doctor near the end. Huh.

This one's totally different. The art is amazing. Some scans here. They're crappy, but the best I could come up with on the spot. Some people don't like the art, but I do. It's just so damn expressive, even for characters who don't smile at all the entire time. It's also very atmospheric in a way fitting to the tone of the story.

But like... it's comics Bruce Wayne falling in love. Not like infatuation with Catwoman love, but real, soul-warming gives-more-meaning-to-life love. I was almost shocked.

He's brooding and reflective. And enchanted. I can't wait to see how the story plays out, despite being dark; her sister, about to be married, has been kidnapped, and Batman is on the case with a vengeance.

Pretties!

yazzle did some wicked cool art from my story, a like, perfect drawing of Shadow and a sketch I will heart for the rest of eternity. Oh Shadow. :)

There's not nearly enough of Bruce hugging his Wally in the world.

Icons!

I've been making a bunch of these, and I don't think I'm actually ever going to use these ones, but I like them. If you like them, too, then by all means. Crediting me and stuff would be cool and all. :D

The Phantom Stranger

I love this guy.

I have the bulk of his big series from '69 to '76, the Mignola-cover 4 issue series from the 80's, his Vertigo one shot, in which we meet his lover and his love child; both demons living in Hell. Then there's Batman & The Phantom Stranger, another one-shot I just love because those two are awesome together.

As a mouse in Day of Vengeance, he was incredibly cool. Even just hanging out in Detective Chimp's pocket for the bulk of the story, only to reappear near the end.

Who is The Stranger? Nobody really knows. And that's awesome. No detailed origin, no elaborate drawn-out back story. He's one of the most powerful beings in the universe, ominpotent but unable to process everything he knows within its context; when made human, simple pleasures totally floored him, and he consistently struggles with relating to humanity; when his story even gets that deep. Which it almost never does.

And I like that. I'm also a little obsessed with drawing and painting him, heh.

In a strange way (heh) I really identify with The Stranger; he's a cosmic anthropologist of sorts, sometimes drawn to aid those he's watching, but usually, doesn't. He's bigger than humanity by spades, but he still cares about its fate. Not so much going out to do good like other comic characters, but to maintain balance.

merfilly asked me a bit back about my faith; balance is a big part of it. It's not all about good triumphing over evil; it's about having both keep each other in check. That's what The Stranger represents, and that's why I love him.

Edited to add this quote from The Phantom Stranger #17, 1972: Some call me The Phantom Stranger-- and it is said I walk a shadowed path, touching the lives of others-- yet never touched in return! They say I am cold, emotionless-- with eyes that hold secrets and nothing more! Perhaps they are wrong!



The whole issue that this is from posted in fullscans_daily, Gotham Adventures #33: World Without Batman.