Flourishing Verdantly

I've been trying to write seriously for two weeks now and failing miserably. So I decided to say screw it and go with something dumb. chash, this isn't what you asked for but you're getting it anyway.

Title: A Fine, Fine Line
Series: Leverage/DC comics
Spoilers/warnings: Too dumb for real plot. Technically set in the second season for Leverage. DC has nothing it wouldn't retcon away if they could.
Wordcount: 1,470
Summary: Hardison learns some things even hackers shouldn’t try to get around.



( The internet is serious business )

Okay I haven't bought a comic from Top Cow since...probably that Batman/Darkness miniseries you can judge me for it, but you have to admit it was better than any of the other DC crossover titles at the time. But they have this awesome contest where six series get a first issue published, then the two titles that get the most votes by their readers go on to be produced into full-length series.

The nominees are fun. Some are relative newcomers, to Eisner nominees, to the president of Top Cow. There's standard fare for the company (that is hilariously on the bottom of the poll), some slice of life/supheroics, crime drama, sci-fi pulp and my personal favorite: Urban Myths.

That link takes you to the full first issue, fast and fun to read. The world is a mix of mythology and city living, where people in the present still believe in Greek gods. With good reason, since their presence is in obvious cohabitation with the normalcy of present day life. The little throwaway mentions of consumerism with these myths made me scrutinize each page for in jokes. Oh and I forgot to mention the main character of the story is the son of Medusa. And it's amazing how the offspring of someone who could turn people to stone manages to look kinda cute about it, even with the metal mask.

Jack Medusa manages to work the hard-boiled supernatural detective angle familiar if people read Hellboy, but at the same time keeps a lighthearted personality. A lot of it is from the art, which is gorgeous and vibrant without being excessively cartoony. Urban Myths stays far away from getting too dark or too absorbed in its quirkiness to work, which a real pitfall in this genre. I was surprised how simple the story is but wonderfully balanced between the plot at hand and the greater implications about the world and how Jack fits in it. It was the only one of the bunch I not only wanted to vote for but wanted to buy if it won, and that's exactly why I'm exhorting people to read it and then make sure it stays in first place. Because winning means more issues and more issues mean a greater chance of seeing Jack Medusa having to rescue adorable Greek myth-based kittens.

A very happy special birthday to chash!

Everybody who knows her go wish her a happy birthday and do embarrassing, dorky things to her on this happy day. For example, I do dorky things like SM♥MJ fan stuff on her behalf...

( Mary belongs to the words of a song... )

...yeah, the unfinishedbelatedly finished/sketchy nature of above gift is supposed to be made up by you getting actual stuff in the mail today.

So! I, uh, ended up buying that "Angel Spotlight: Doyle" one-shot comic, because I like Doyle. And I like comics. This is generally worth the $3.99 price for two great tastes that go great together (although seriously I was expecting it to be a buck less, jeez your cover is not that nice IDW). And then, because I love you guys but mostly my LAer friends, I decided to be stupid and scan the whole 22 page thing in case you can't find it because you're heathens and don't go to comic stores a lot. But Doyle is worth me doing something incredibly time-consuming and geeky right? Right.

( Summary and scans inside )

Got my Utena doujinshi shipment today. Rather disappointing compared to the previous finds, but the art in "Rose Garden R" was beautiful in the preview to pass up. Of course I didn't scan that one because it was also too pretty to submit to my evil scanner. In fact, none of the scenes were serious at all, which kind of shocked me because it was rather serious for the cover and such.

But to impart some of the funny scenes had a too-sexy-for-his-own-damn-good Ruka act like an evil supervillain by suspending Shiori and a locket over tree branches and telling Juri she could only save one. To which Juri hesitates and Shiori jumps down and kicks her. 0.o;; Another one had Miki freaking out because Juri was eating croissants and he later found out it was her curls.

There was some semi-serious stuff, but it was Anthy/Utena and thus I only skimmed over it. Although cute Nanami/Miki! Yay, a fandom nod to them. Also, Tswabuki/Mari. Will wonders ever cease? Oh, also got a nice shot of movie!Kanae and movie!Shiori duking it out. You go Kanae!

Of course the funniest scene came from the doujinshi (Pokemon/Utena...weird) with the worst art. I just thought the scene was too good to pass up so I colored some of it and scanned it...

( Since when did Utena become practical? )