For an issue with more characters than Logan’s got chest hairs, how does artist David Marquez get into individual minds without the clunky “Meanwhile” caption? How do we leap from a big scene featuring 9,000 gawking X-men and go super-personal …
… into the head of a wily thief who’s about to make the biggest decision of his life?
This post thinks through how Marquez creates a sense of a character’s subjectivity by paneling and composition—in Remy’s proposal scene. The 21st century has made us expert visual readers, and we pick up these cues unconsciously. My goal is to make those cues explicit, so it’s clear how much work we actually do when we read comics.
The Riddler hijacks the local TV airwaves and appears onscreen holding a comically long roll of paper. After dramatically clearing his throat, he proceeds to read from it.
“The following is a list of people who can suck it. Number One: The Joker. I don’t think I need to explain that one. Number Two: Cluemaster. Fuck you, you stole my bit, and I will be like a plague unto your house. Number Three: King Tut. You also stole my bit, but did it while killing people and got me arrested for murder. Also, I’m, like, 93% sure you’re a white guy and your costume is racist.
“Number Four: The Scarecrow. I know you ate my leftover Chinese, Jon, even though I wrote my name on it. I was saving that for lunch. I had to eat a goddamn peanut butter and jelly sandwich like a five-year-old. It was all you had in the hideout. For fuck’s sake, go shopping, not all of us can live like a bridge troll.
“Number Five: The Penguin. You- No, no, wait, wait… That one should be crossed out. He replaced that and apologized. Never mind, Oswald, you’re fine. Drinks at 7:00 tomorrow, right?
“Anyway, where was…? Ah, yes. Number Six: The Mad Hatter. You carded me and left me like that for six hours because I, and I quote, ‘would not stop talking about Mythbusters.’ Well, excuse me for trying to make intellectually stimulating conversation on a level you could understand. I suppose every time you prattle on about mome raths and borogoves it’s goddamn Shakespeare? Well… Well, it’s Carroll, but… Oh, you know what I mean!
“Number Seven: Catwoman. You left me hanging by one hand from a ledge five stories up and holding a twenty-pound bag of jewels and very pointy
objets d’art while you ‘distracted’ the Dark Knight. I know you were making out with him, Selina. You were gone for fifteen minutes. My shoulder almost dislocated. Very unprofessional.
“Number Eight: Kite Man.”
Here the Riddler pauses, lifting his narrowed gaze to glare at the camera, voice dropping to an ominous tone.
“You know what you did…”
His demeanor shifts quickly, and he’s back to reading from his list almost cheerfully.
“Number Nine! Th-”
He’s interrupted by a crashing noise in the background and looks over his shoulder just an instant before a deep voice angrily growls, “Riddler!”
“Oh, for the love of-” He turns to glare at the camera, speaking quickly. “Number Nine: Batman! Interrupting me while I’m on television making very important- Hm-mmph!”
He’s reduced to muffled curses as a black gloved hand covers his mouth and pulls him out of frame. The camera tilts, a cracking noise is heard, and the broadcast turns to static.
KITE MAN’S CRIMES WERE NUMEROUS AND TERRIBLE
If I were batman I’d give him like a five minute warning, because this actually sounds theraputic.
Batman: Riddler, you’ve hijacked the TV airwaves and you know that’s wrong but I think this is actually theraputic. So I’m giving you five minutes, and then I’m taking you to Arkham
Robin: Geez get a facebook account for this crap, hell if you wanna vent to millions of strangers just get youtube.
“RIDDLER YOU CAN’T JUST GO ON TV AND SCREAM AT PEOPLE
THAT’S WHAT YOUTUBE IS FOR”
Riddler takes this advice. He gets his own youtube channel called RiddleMe_Th15. It starts out as being purely therapeutic, a platform for publically calling out those who have annoyed him. Then someone leaves him a pathetically easy riddle to solve in the comments, and he spends his next segment ranting about it, and then posing a better one.
This starts a dialogue with a number of other youtube users who both attempt to answer his riddles and pose their own riddles in return.
Riddler has found his people, and his hit count is climbing.
Seriously, Riddler would KILL IT (metaphorically speaking) on YouTube. He just does those weird animated puzzle videos where he poses lengthy, overly complicated puzzles, game theories, and riddles, then gives away…fuck I don’t know…Amazon or iTunes cards to whoever gets them right.
“Riddle me this: How can I ensure there are more videos like this one? The answer, my little quest solvers, is simple: Like and subscribe, and consider donating to my Patreon! Which isn’t much of a Riddle, but seriously I’m down to eating crackers and ramen right now and YouTube keeps demonetizing my videos because I used to be a supervillain.”
Bringing this back because “YouTube keeps demonetizing my videos because I used to be a supervillain” has to be shared and because I have some followers who have not experienced The Riddler Post.
Seriously, if you ever need a good time, just read all the responses in the notes. This post still ranks as one of the best things I’ve ever done.
It goes by really fast in the movie, but when Proxima shoots Wanda and Vision out of the sky, Vision reaches out to grab Wanda as they’re falling, flipping them over to take the brunt of the fall and protecting her head in his hand (while Wanda is softening their landing with her magic).
In his last moments he is comforting Wanda. Before he closes his eyes, he smiles at Wanda to let her know he is at peace and that she is not hurting him so she doesn’t feel guilty after he’s gone.
You gave Stark your word. I’d rather give it to you.
How can this man make the typical “be with me…unless you don’t want to” seems charming and sweet and respectful all at once?!?! (Instead of the usual way it comes off: insecure and undecided).
Let me guess. Your home? It was. And it was beautiful. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Another reason thanos is stupid he could just go back in time to save titan.
Just imagine this dumbass going to the HR department on Titan and suggesting his plan to kill half of the population to solve a food problem.
Thanos was the 1%
comics!Thanos’ motivation was he was in love with Death
it made so much more sense than this
Exactly @tygermama. Especially since the Russos have said the snap eliminated half the plants and animals. Soooo everything is still the same?
lmaooo….so he deleted half the food supply too….Kevin Feige confirmed it.
Thanks Thanos, you did nothing.
They literally had Hela the GODDESS OF DEATH in the movie immediately prior to IW and she didn’t even die-on screen she could have survived the explosion of Asgard bc LITERAL GODDESS, MORE POWERFUL THAN THOR, like
They didn’t miss the opportunity to make Thanos a devotee/lover of Hela they STUBBED THEIR TOE ON IT IN THE DARK ON THE WAY TO THE BATHROOM, GOT MAD, AND KICKED IT DOWN THE STAIRS
Hela: Did you do it?
Hela: What did it cost
Better movie.
THANK YOU FOR AGREEING WITH ME AND ALSO THIS IS AMAZING
Yeah it’s the opposite of sustainability to kill half of the plants and animals too. Like we would all die with that so the Hela ending is soooo much better
RandomFandom 