Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 11

Sheep Might Fly: The Bromancers Episode 15

EPISODE 15: Sage & the Bro Trip

It’s the end… but Sage still has a song to write, a band to unite, and some bromantic goals to unlock.

Get the episode here.

Yes, this is the final episode of the epic witchy rock band music festival bromance adventure podcast extravaganza. The Bromancers is COMPLETE. There will be more Fake Geek Girl shenanigans next year. Next week, you have questions! Ask me anything and I will reply in a special Tansy Writing Q&A episode of Sheep Might Fly.

My patrons will receive The Bromancers ebook in early September, and the general public will be able to purchase it in October. Thanks for listening.

If you missed them:

EPISODE ONE: Hebe Plans For Failure

EPISODE TWO: Sage Says 10 out of 10, Would Break Up With Again

EPISODE THREE: True Bromance, Mei-Style

EPISODE FOUR: Hebe Is Unexpectedly House Proud

EPISODE FIVE: Whatever Happened To Miss Juniper Cresswell, gentlewoman and cellist?

EPISODE SIX: Sage To The Rescue!

EPISODE SEVEN: Mei Makes a List!

EPISODE EIGHT: Hebe and the Very Big, Completely Fine No Big Deal

EPISODE NINE: The Secret Diary of Miss Juniper Cresswell, Under New Management

EPISODE TEN: Sage Can’t Solve All His Problems With Coffee

EPISODE ELEVEN: Holly’s Resting Witch Face

EPISODE TWELVE: Sage Has Never Taken A Boy Home Before, But Don’t Start Thinking This Means Anything, OK?

EPISODE THIRTEEN: Hebe & the Fangirls

EPISODE FOURTEEN: The Intimate Thoughts of Miss Juniper Cresswell, cellist and committed Bromancers fangirl.

You can listen to the first two Belladonna University stories, Fake Geek Girl & Unmagical Boy Story, on the Sheep Might Fly podcast.

Fake Geek Girl (Belladonna University #1) is also available as a free ebook.

Unmagical Boy Story (Belladonna University #2) is available for sale from Kindle, Kobo, iBooks & more.

You can sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards and exclusive stories.

In July, all Patreon supporters at $2+ per month received a download of an exclusive Fake Geek Girl prequel story, The Alchemy of Fine! New supporters can download this story at any time.

Comment on this post with any questions you want Tansy to answer in an upcoming Q&A episode of Sheep Might Fly!

Sheep Might Fly: The Bromancers Episode 14

EPISODE FOURTEEN: The Intimate Thoughts of Miss Juniper Cresswell, cellist and committed Bromancers fangirl.

Finally it’s time for the housemates & the band to take a break and watch the finale of their favourite geeky show. Will shirts come off? Will ships be sunk? Who’s getting kissed?

Our favourite witchy rock band, Fake Geek Girl, are road-tripping to a magical music festival in a wi-fi free zone on the same weekend that the season finale of their favourite TV show drops. Can they avoid spoilers? Can Hebe, Holly, Juniper & Sage camp in tents for three days without murdering each other? Can coffee really fix EVERYTHING including missing band members, messy relationship drama and obsessive fan shenanigans?

Friendship is magic, but if you pile too much friendship on top of too much magic over one weekend, the results are bound to be explosive.

If you missed them:

EPISODE ONE: Hebe Plans For Failure

EPISODE TWO: Sage Says 10 out of 10, Would Break Up With Again

EPISODE THREE: True Bromance, Mei-Style

EPISODE FOUR: Hebe Is Unexpectedly House Proud

EPISODE FIVE: Whatever Happened To Miss Juniper Cresswell, gentlewoman and cellist?

EPISODE SIX: Sage To The Rescue!

EPISODE SEVEN: Mei Makes a List!

EPISODE EIGHT: Hebe and the Very Big, Completely Fine No Big Deal

EPISODE NINE: The Secret Diary of Miss Juniper Cresswell, Under New Management

EPISODE TEN: Sage Can’t Solve All His Problems With Coffee

EPISODE ELEVEN: Holly’s Resting Witch Face

EPISODE TWELVE – Sage Has Never Taken A Boy Home Before, But Don’t Start Thinking This Means Anything, OK?

EPISODE THIRTEEN: Hebe & the Fangirls

You can listen to the first two Belladonna University stories, Fake Geek Girl & Unmagical Boy Story, right here on Sheep Might Fly.

Fake Geek Girl (Belladonna University #1) is also available as a free ebook.

Unmagical Boy Story (Belladonna University #2) is available for sale from Kindle, Kobo, iBooks & more.

Thanks for listening to Sheep Might Fly. You can sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards and exclusive stories.

In July, all Patreon supporters at $2+ per month received a download of an exclusive Fake Geek Girl prequel story, The Alchemy of Fine! New supporters can download this story at any time.

Comment on this post with any questions you want Tansy to answer in an upcoming Q&A episode of Sheep Might Fly!

Galactic Suburbia Ep 173: Show Notes

In which Alisa & Tansy keep the home fires burning for Alex with Hugo chat, Aussie politics and more.

Get new episode here!

WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET/WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT THIS WEEK?

Huuuuuugoos!

For the stat badgers among you: The Nomination Stats & The Winner Stats

Patterns Around Octavia Butler (Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler)

CULTURE CONSUMED:

Alisa: Politics abroad & at home; The Wanderers

Tansy: Torchwood The Aliens Among Us (Big Finish Audio); The Worst Witch (Netflix)

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon – which now includes access to the ever so exclusive GS Slack – and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

Justice League America 31: Crossed Wires (Oct 1989)

THE PACKAGING: We’re up to Volume Six of the JLI trades… and sadly the last of this series. I’m gonna be elbows deep in flimsies by next month. Trades kick in again in 1992, but until then we’ll be digging through my filing cabinet. This last JLI trade alternates between JLA & JLE (as does this blog) because of the Teasdale Imperative crossover that begins with this issue.

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), INTRODUCING ADAM HUGHES (Pencils), Joe Rubenstein (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor) Kevin Dooley (Assistant Editor)

CROSSOVER ALERT: I forget what the actual plot of the Teasdale Imperative is, probably because I read these all in the wrong order originally, but also maybe because the interesting bits in this issue have nothing to do with the crossover.

It’s an excuse to do stuff across the JLA & JLE and means that we get some Sue, Catherine & Power Girl drawn by Hughes instead of Sears occasionally though so yay!

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: J’onn J’onzz the Martian Manhunter, sometimes Batman, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner,) Fire, Ice, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle (Scott Free) with Maxwell Lord & Oberon in civilian support. Introducing (re-introducing?) The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli apparently) & Dr Fate (Linda Strauss) as regular members. No Big Barda damn it, they’re still pretending she’s not on the team.

GUEST STARS: From the JLE: Sue Dibny, Catherine Cobert. The Spectre & the Gray Man being mysterious, sinister and cloak swishy.

THE STORY: There’s some stuff that The Spectre is really ominous abut it’s not that interesting. Gray Man pfft.

Otherwise it’s just business as usual at the JLI. Fire & Ice have redesigned their costumes. The new Dr Fate drops in to join the team, startled Fire, and sets off all the fire alarms, leading to comedy misunderstandings between Oberon and some firemen.

Over at the Secret Sanctuary/Justice League Cave, Beetle, Booster & Mister Miracle add some new upgrades to the shuttle, while bemoaning that Max has rented out most of the cave to the Doom Patrol in their absence.

Mostly everyone is chilling out until the emergency call comes in from the JLE… or rather from Sue and Catherine who are freaking out because the JLE have all disappeared mysteriously, as have the dead bodies resulting from several destroyed villages. JLA to the rescue!





THE CHARACTERS: This one is pretty much all character work, as it’s a gentle prelude to the crossover proper. We get to see our team on their day off, tinkering and rebranding themselves, or in Guy’s case being randomly obnoxious. It’s a very good jumping on point to get to know who the JLA are right now.

THE COMEDY: Very few outright jokes except for the extended banter between Beetle & the boys about the comics based on their adventures. “You just don’t like the fact that they write me wittier than they write you” is still one of Beetle’s all time best lines.

The humour comes entirely from character in this one — it’s people who know each other well poking fun at each other, sharing in jokes and filling the silence with random silliness. I’m very fond of this issue!

THE ART: So begins the era of the JLA that I am perhaps most firmly nostalgic about — I started reading JLI comics in 1992, and collected back issues like crazy. I had not realised until this re-read that Adam Hughes was the artist I most associated with several JLI characters, especially Guy Gardner, Fire and Ice. (I never used to pay attention to who the artists were because I knew nothing)

Fire and Ice both have a major design overhaul with this issue, with costumes that actually reflect their personalities rather than the generic ‘flying bikini rando’ look they had been sporting since they joined the Justice League. Fire (who apparently designed both costumes) now wears a fairly classic (and for her character, iconic) Black Canaryesque short jacket over bustier & leggings, which was to be a fairly common costume type for DC women over the next decade. (In particular, one of the biggest ever changes to Wonder Woman’s costume was almost identical to what Fire wears here, but with different colour combos & bike shorts instead of leggings) Her hair is especially MTV, long and spiky with a head scarf.

Ice, meanwhile, is now wearing an extremely flattering and modest costume (for something clearly made out of spandex) which would be even more iconic for her character than Fire’s more changeable costume. The blue and white reflects her ice powers, but particularly the short tank over full body leotard seems more in keeping with a superhero character who doesn’t want to throw her boobs at everyone she meets. (I’m reminded of the recent developments in sporty actionwear for Muslim women, and how popular the burkhini became with Western women too because self consciousness had been preventing them from taking part in sporty activities)

It’s interesting that the dialogue has Tora still protesting the costume as being too modern and different for her, considering she was literally wearing a bikini into battle before now, while Fire is the one teased for wearing clothes too small for her, which is not untrue, but she’s still wearing more than in previous issues.

And hey, Adam Hughes. This is actually his DC debut, and he’ll be on the title for 2 years. I’ve always enjoyed the way Hughes draws women — he might have a reputation for “cheesecake” but his female characters are usually drawn with great respect. He’s a fantastic example of a comics artist who draws women as glamorous, athletic and sexy without resorting to demeaning poses, or gratuitous sleaze.

Also hey, we get Mister Miracle with his shirt off in this issue.

Hughes does a lot of great character work in this issue — Beetle and Booster have squishy comedy faces, J’onn appears in his natural format, and Oberon spends a lot of time beating his head against a wall. I’m not convinced by Hughes’ Huntress (who looks like she’s been taken straight from Earth 2 – this isn’t our snarky Helena Bertinelli at all) but his female Dr Fate is glamorous, mysterious and statuesque.

Most of all, his Guy Gardner is fantastic, Hughes has captured his weird crunchy rugged angry dude lack of charm very effectively.

THE KITCHEN SINK: Tora is so cute in this issue I can’t even tell you. Finally, she looks like herself!

So no bigs or anything but in a team of officially 10 superheroes, we have 4 ladies. Just sayin.

BONUS CHARACTER HISTORY: Dr Fate (Linda Strauss)

We already looked at Dr Fate’s character history back in JLA 6 though I’ll admit Linda herself got short shrift in that one, so here’s a little extra to tide you over.

So Kent Nelson and sometimes his wife Inza were Dr Fate, for ages, and the power kept them young until it didn’t any more. After Inza’s death, Kent was kept alive unnaturally by his spiritual guru/mentor Nabu, who had taken up residence in his body (remember that recent Blue Beetle being un-brainwashed issue? Yeah, that dude.)

Anyway, Kent finally died after discovering that Dr Fate was always supposed to be a triad: man, woman & Fate. Only with two humans combined can they access the full Dr Fate powers. Before Nabu allowed him to pass on, Kent had to find his replacement, and he chose Eric Strauss, son of an abusive and wealthy entrepreneur who had recently died.

Nabu aged Eric to adulthood (CREEPY) and they later realised that the woman destined to be part of their triad was Linda, Eric’s stepmother (SO CREEPY).

At this point in the story, Linda is Dr Fate solo because Eric is unwell, but only a couple of months after this appearance, Eric will die in a battle on Apokolips, leaving her stranded as the demi-powered solo Dr Fate.

It’s not gonna end well for Linda either, don’t get attached.

Sheep Might Fly: The Bromancers Episode 13

EPISODE THIRTEEN: Hebe & the Fangirls

It’s party central at the Fake Geek Girl campsite! Time for Hebe to ask the all important question: what’s been up with Juniper (and Holly) all weekend?

Get the new episode here.

Our favourite witchy rock band, Fake Geek Girl, are road-tripping to a magical music festival in a wi-fi free zone on the same weekend that the season finale of their favourite TV show drops. Can they avoid spoilers? Can Hebe, Holly, Juniper & Sage camp in tents for three days without murdering each other? Can coffee really fix EVERYTHING including missing band members, messy relationship drama and obsessive fan shenanigans?

Friendship is magic, but if you pile too much friendship on top of too much magic over one weekend, the results are bound to be explosive.

If you missed them:

EPISODE ONE: Hebe Plans For Failure

EPISODE TWO: Sage Says 10 out of 10, Would Break Up With Again

EPISODE THREE: True Bromance, Mei-Style

EPISODE FOUR: Hebe Is Unexpectedly House Proud

EPISODE FIVE: Whatever Happened To Miss Juniper Cresswell, gentlewoman and cellist?

EPISODE SIX: Sage To The Rescue!

EPISODE SEVEN: Mei Makes a List!

EPISODE EIGHT: Hebe and the Very Big, Completely Fine No Big Deal

EPISODE NINE: The Secret Diary of Miss Juniper Cresswell, Under New Management

EPISODE TEN: Sage Can’t Solve All His Problems With Coffee

EPISODE ELEVEN: Holly’s Resting Witch Face

EPISODE TWELVE – Sage Has Never Taken A Boy Home Before, But Don’t Start Thinking This Means Anything, OK?

You can listen to the first two Belladonna University stories, Fake Geek Girl & Unmagical Boy Story, right here on Sheep Might Fly.

Fake Geek Girl (Belladonna University #1) is also available as a free ebook.

Unmagical Boy Story (Belladonna University #2) is available for sale from Kindle, Kobo, iBooks & more.

Thanks for listening to Sheep Might Fly. You can sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards and exclusive stories.

In July, all Patreon supporters at $2+ per month received a download of an exclusive Fake Geek Girl prequel story, The Alchemy of Fine! New supporters can download this story at any time.

See you next week!

Sheep Might Fly: The Bromancers Part 12

EPISODE 12 – Sage Has Never Taken A Boy Home Before, But Don’t Start Thinking This Means Anything, OK?

Sage has some tragic backstory to unpack, and a broom to ride.

Our favourite witchy rock band, Fake Geek Girl, are road-tripping to a magical music festival in a wi-fi free zone on the same weekend that the season finale of their favourite TV show drops. Can they avoid spoilers? Can Hebe, Holly, Juniper & Sage camp in tents for three days without murdering each other? Can coffee really fix EVERYTHING including missing band members, messy relationship drama and obsessive fan shenanigans?

Friendship is magic, but if you pile too much friendship on top of too much magic over one weekend, the results are bound to be explosive.

If you missed them:

EPISODE ONE: Hebe Plans For Failure

EPISODE TWO: Sage Says 10 out of 10, Would Break Up With Again

EPISODE THREE: True Bromance, Mei-Style

EPISODE FOUR: Hebe Is Unexpectedly House Proud

EPISODE FIVE: Whatever Happened To Miss Juniper Cresswell, gentlewoman and cellist?

EPISODE SIX: Sage To The Rescue!

EPISODE SEVEN: Mei Makes a List!

EPISODE EIGHT: Hebe and the Very Big, Completely Fine No Big Deal

EPISODE NINE: The Secret Diary of Miss Juniper Cresswell, Under New Management

EPISODE TEN: Sage Can’t Solve All His Problems With Coffee

EPISODE 11: Holly’s Resting Witch Face

You can listen to the first two Belladonna University stories, Fake Geek Girl & Unmagical Boy Story, right here on Sheep Might Fly.

Fake Geek Girl (Belladonna University #1) is also available as a free ebook.

Unmagical Boy Story (Belladonna University #2) is available for sale from Kindle, Kobo, iBooks & more.

Thanks for listening to Sheep Might Fly. You can sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards and exclusive stories.

In July, all Patreon supporters at $2+ per month received a download of an exclusive Fake Geek Girl prequel story, The Alchemy of Fine! New supporters can download this story at any time.

See you next week!

Justice League International Annual #3 (1989)

THE PACKAGING: This is the last issue that appears in JLI Volume Five.

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), Mike McKone & Tim Gula (Pencils), Pablos Marcos (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor)

THE PITCH: Two stories! No waiting

[Story 1: “Around the World with the JLI”]

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: Maxwell Lord, Oberon, J’onn J’onzz the Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle (Scott Free), Metamorpho, Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny), The Flash (Wally West), Power Girl, Animal Man.

GUEST STARS: Herb & the Chief, KooeyKooeyKooey.

THE STORY: On a distant South Pacific Island, young Herb tries to convince his uncle the Chief that instead of letting a foreign power set up a military installation on their vulnerable but strategically significant island, they should instead offer themselves to the Justice League International as a site for one of their embassies, which would mean far less threat to the preservation of their traditional way of life.

The Chief agrees finally, and sends Herb off to make the deal.

In New York, a delegation made up of members from both the JLA & JLE set off on a teleportational “road trip” to check in with the various international embassies.

In Tokyo: Herb arrives and states his case but is teleported directly to New York because of a sensitive project about to be undertaken by Dr Light.

In Brazil: the liason tries to convince the JLI to take up permanent residence in their luxurious embassy, his argument supported by Beetle’s admiration of the swimming pool, and Fire’s admiration of being admired by her fellow Brazilian citizens.

In New York: J’onn reluctantly agrees to take Herb on to connect with Max and his magical mystery tour, rather than wait for them to return.

In Tokyo: Max and Dr Light have a frosty reunion and she shares her sensitive/secret project with him: they are attempting to revive the comatose Rising Sun.

In Brazil: J’onn & Herb missed Max’s team by *this* much but are in time to hear the commotion as the Brazilian liason shouts at everyone for their unprofessional behaviour, and most of his staff quits around him.

In Moscow: Wally West experiences is sexually harassed by a large Russian woman, who shows the JLI the most impressive part of their embassy: the bathroom.

In Tokyo, J’onn & Herb have just missed them…

In London: the embassy here is being run by the officious Michael Morice and his wife Lisa who are QUITE CLEARLY Basil and Sybil Fawlty.

In Moscow, J’onn & Herb have… you get the idea. At least they decide to skip Australia to try and get ahead of the tour.

In Australia, the team note the damage still being repaired from the Invasion, and Blue Beetle fumes about Captain Atom’s “betrayal” at being a government spy among them.

Finally they all converge on the Paris Embassy – and Herb finally gets to make his pitch to Maxwell Lord. They all end up enjoying the sun and surf of the brand new KooeyKooeyKooey island embassy, then end. OR IS IT?

THE CHARACTERS: It’s hard to know exactly when this one is supposed to fit in — clearly after the first JLE plot, and also after the Invasion. But is it before the Blue Beetle Brainwashing saga?

In any case, there are still tensions between Captain Atom and the JLA that are yet to be relieved.

Herb and the Chief are… well yeah. I’m not an expert on Pacific Islander culture but I suspect this is pretty thinly drawn. I appreciate some of what this storyline is trying to achieve — like pointing out that both these characters have been educated abroad and aren’t just “stock footage natives” but… yeah. It’s all a bit uncomfortable from the vantage point of the 21st century.

The Chief is pretty funny in a Dumbledore kind of way which is to say he is a massive troll. Herb’s earnestness makes him reasonably compelling and sympathetic. But um. The whole thing still feels super racist.

THE COMEDY: For what feels like a comedy of errors, this one isn’t especially amusing, more exasperating — but it’s reasonably fun. And it was eye-opening to me when I first read this issue, long after a much later appearance of the Morice character, to realise the Basil Fawlty joke.

THE ART: Well it’s not Sears, so I’ll take it.

THE KITCHEN SINK: Despite the uncomfortable racial overtones, I do have a fondness for KooeyKooeyKooey as a hub of JLI plots, mostly because that represents peak Beetle & Booster shenanigans to me. I’m pretty sure this is the only time we actually get in depth characterisation of the Islanders themselves, though.

[Story 2: “The Man I Never Was” ]

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: Batman & J’onn J’onzz the Martian Manhunter with a little bit of Oberon, Max & Guy Gardner.

THE STORY: Batman finds J’onn in his neighbourhood, back to his old tricks of pretending to be a private detective from the 1950’s. J’onn is investigating the suspicious death of his old partner, and he & Batman finally connect via their shared interest in being miserable. Batman discovers that J’onn’s old partner died thanks to a random mugging, not a conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Guy Gardner is horrified to discover that no one told the comics people that his second traumatic brain injury restored his asshole personality, and literally nothing happens with this subplot.

THE CHARACTERS: The main purpose of this story seems to be acknowledgement of some of the changes to J’onn’s backstory as established in a recent (1988) Martian Manhunter mini-series, also written by J.M. DeMatteis.

In particular: that J’onn’s real Martian form is very different, much pointier and less humanoid — the standard form that he takes is a compromise based on his mentor Dr Erdel’s expectations of how a Martian should look. Also, the beam which brought J’onn to Earth displaced him in time as well as space; his race is long dead, including his wife and daughter.

Here we see a few important character notes that will define J’onn in the future: his need to periodically meditate in his native form, as well as a reiteration of his love of Oreos.

THE COMEDY: Not funny, but poignant!

THE ART: Scratchy and slightly alienating. (Ha, no pun intended)



THE KITCHEN SINK: This is a good character piece for J’onn but ultimately feels a bit rushed and not a great tonal fit with the other story in the annual.

Galactic Suburbia 171

In which we revisit a favourite old space station to see if it totally holds up, and get angry about superhero girlfriends.

Download or stream the episode here.

WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET

WFA Shortlist

Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Kickstarter

Defying Doomsday Award – last call for nominations

Let’s talk about Titania, brand new imprint of Twelfth Planet Press, coming soon.

CULTURE CONSUMED:

Alisa: Deep Space 9; The Wanderers, Meg Howrey; Voyager S1

Tansy: The Refrigerator Monologues, Catherynne Valente; Once Upon a Time S5, Erased.

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon – which now includes access to the ever so exclusive GS Slack – and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

In which we revisit a favourite old space station to see if it totally holds up, and get angry about superhero girlfriends.

WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET

WFA Shortlist

Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Kickstarter

Defying Doomsday Award – last call for nominations

Let’s talk about Titania, brand new imprint of Twelfth Planet Press, coming soon.

CULTURE CONSUMED:

Alisa: Deep Space 9; The Wanderers, Meg Howrey; Voyager S1

Tansy: The Refrigerator Monologues, Catherynne Valente; Once Upon a Time S5, Erased.

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon – which now includes access to the ever so exclusive GS Slack – and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

Sheep Might Fly: The Bromancers Episode 11

EPISODE 11: Holly’s Resting Witch Face

Holly is completely on top of this whole kidnapped bandmate situation. She’s going to sort it out any minute now, just as soon as she can prove to everyone that she’s not crazy. Look, she made a list!

Download the new podcast episode now.

Our favourite witchy rock band, Fake Geek Girl, are road-tripping to a magical music festival in a wi-fi free zone on the same weekend that the season finale of their favourite TV show drops. Can they avoid spoilers? Can Hebe, Holly, Juniper & Sage camp in tents for three days without murdering each other? Can coffee really fix EVERYTHING including missing band members, messy relationship drama and obsessive fan shenanigans?

Friendship is magic, but if you pile too much friendship on top of too much magic over one weekend, the results are bound to be explosive.

If you missed them:

EPISODE ONE: Hebe Plans For Failure

EPISODE TWO: Sage Says 10 out of 10, Would Break Up With Again

EPISODE THREE: True Bromance, Mei-Style

EPISODE FOUR: Hebe Is Unexpectedly House Proud

EPISODE FIVE: Whatever Happened To Miss Juniper Cresswell, gentlewoman and cellist?

EPISODE SIX: Sage To The Rescue!

EPISODE SEVEN: Mei Makes a List!

EPISODE EIGHT: Hebe and the Very Big, Completely Fine No Big Deal

EPISODE NINE: The Secret Diary of Miss Juniper Cresswell, Under New Management

EPISODE TEN: Sage Can’t Solve All His Problems With Coffee

You can listen to the first two Belladonna University stories, Fake Geek Girl & Unmagical Boy Story, right here on Sheep Might Fly.

Fake Geek Girl (Belladonna University #1) is also available as a free ebook.

Unmagical Boy Story (Belladonna University #2) is available for sale from Kindle, Kobo, iBooks & more.

Thanks for listening to Sheep Might Fly. You can sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards and exclusive stories.

This month, all Patreon supporters at $2+ per month received a download of an exclusive Fake Geek Girl prequel story, The Alchemy of Fine! New supporters can download this story at any time.

See you next week!

Justice League America Issue 30: Teenage Biker Mega-Death! (September 1989)

THE PACKAGING: JLI trade vol 4

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), Bill Willingham (Pencils), Joe Rubenstein (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor) Kevin Dooley (Assistant Editor)

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: Big Barda, Mister Miracle, Fire, Oberon & Maxwell Lord

GUEST STARS: The Huntress is starting to make a habit of this.

THE STORY: A biker punk has seized the all-powerful mega-rod that Big Barda left in her car. Overwhelmed by the psychic force of the dark energies of Apokolips, he starts a wave of destruction that takes out his friends, a dozen police officers, and a good chunk of the Bronx.

Mister Miracle and Big Barda put up a good fight, trying to convince the kid to surrender the weapons which is warping him as much as empowering him, but he takes them out — eventually it’s down to an uncertain Fire, still figuring out her new powers, and a passing Huntress, to take him out.

Scott is dismayed when the mega-rod destroys what’s left of the “punk” but is impressed with the Huntress’s work. He convinces Max to give her a shot in the League despite her loner status… and when Helena turns down Max’s offer, he whammies her with his superpower, giving himself a bloody nose as well as a brand new member of Justice League America.

Max, do we need to send you to the harassment seminar on consent in the workplace again?

THE CHARACTERS: We learn quite a bit about Barda in this one — that the reason she can be trusted to wield the sinister mega-rod is because her training and strength of will allows her to resist the call to serve Apololips. But it must be a temptation for her, every time she uses it.

Fire meanwhile is finding out her own limitations and lack thereof – in a shocking twist, she discovers that her body is insubstantial when she is in her fire form, something that I’m pretty sure is never ever mentioned again.

Yay Huntress! I love all forms of this character, and a cynical Helena Bertinelli may be exactly what this comic needs.

THE COMEDY: The usual sly wit undercutting the heroic narrative, just how I like it.

THE ART: I’m not generally a fan of Willingham but I like his Helena a lot, and his Big Barda is a lot more powerful looking than she was under Templeton’s pencil. Fire looks great on these pages, even if there’s a lot more attention paid to the buildings than the people

THE KITCHEN SINK: Make Barda a regular teammate already.