Aggregator Bastardator

October 18th, 2011

OR: MINDLESS LINKBLOGGING, SPECIAL “ALL BASTARDS MUST BE AGGRAVATED!” EDITION!

As you hopefully noticed, we spent a large part of last month bringing you the best in bastardry.  We’ve got some spooky Notes From the Borderland coming up in time for Halloween, so right now seems like as good a time as any to collect all of our bastardly musings together and to celebrate the cruel simplicity of the banner The Beast Must Die created for the event:

Hopefully you’ll be able to forgive me for indulging in a little bit of back-patting here while I take you through AN INDEX OF BASTARDS!

DARKSEID IS… looking pretty fucking slick, actually! Click here to experience MAXIMUM BASTARDATION!

cloak and dagger origin

So, I said in part 1 that Cloak & Dagger’s origin needs revisiting, that’s because, like almost everything to do with C & D, it’s undercooked and under-exploited. For a start kids don’t just run away from home, something or someone pushes them. Whether it’s physical or emotional abuse, a catastrophic problem like drug addiction or mental illness, or some other insurmountable situational hurdle, the roots of homelessness usually run dark and deep, but with Cloak & Dagger what’s there on the page doesn’t really add up to much. Tandy was spoilt rotten, and neglected by her rich, socialite mother, so she bought a one way ticket to cardboard city? That doesn’t cut it for me. Not only does it feel inadequate, it lacks drama, and, crucially, fails to tell us anything much about the character. That’s the big crime. This stuff should be at the heart of who C & D are beneath all the eternal darkness and white-hot knives. Their histories unlock them as living breathing people, and, I’ll argue, augment our understanding of their transformation, and consequently open up all kinds of storytelling possibilities.

More after the jump

We might be mindless monstrosities from the underverse, but like all geeks we’re convinced we know how comics should be written. We’re just self-involved and dumb that way. Hence this column, which I strongly suspect will be a staple of the blog for a long time to come. Blessed are you, the reader.

Now then, Disco…
Cloak and Dagger 1
Horror
Cloak and Dagger 2
What’s disco horror?

More after the jump