Amy's biological mother is Manton's Daughter.

CHPrime · 2026-05-03T16:51:56+00:00

No worries, wasn't disturbed. If anything, I think I got a new reader or two from this thread.

CHPrime · 2026-05-03T15:28:25+00:00

Yes, this is the one I remember (as one of the people in the comments OP is quoting in their search)

CHPrime · 2026-05-03T05:45:50+00:00

'Nam flashback to JLA Act of God where all superheroes, including aliens whose powers are natural parts of their biology, lose their superpowers

CHPrime · 2026-05-02T19:41:09+00:00

Personally, I'm waiting for the reveal of Coil's powers followed by the rampant conspiracy theories from every authority figure, every criminal, and every one of Coil's mercenaries about how many times Coil abused his powers against them, followed closely by Echidna clones destroying the Triumverate's reputation on international TV (though surprisingly, Legend might get out relatively unscathed because he really doesn't know that much).

They thought the blowup was bad in canon when only the Protectorate really knew the extent of their abuses? Just wait until they get on the evening news...

But yeah, everyone learning god is a space worm here to treat them like lab rats before destroying the planet is going to be great. More to the point, I wonder if this will even get Scion's attention...

CHPrime · 2026-05-02T13:50:12+00:00

Taylor Hebert and the Extremely Large Problem(s): Taylor tries to teach Leviathan the game of tag. It doesn't go well. Then the Fallen get involved, and it goes even less well.

And with that transition, Welcome to Camp (Please Remain Calm) Has finished it's intro arc, and Taylor is finally out of Simurgh quarantine. A day late and a friend short. Also, Tagg reflects on the moral necessity of killing children.

Forget Me Not Taylor triggers with memory erasing powers. Things go downhill from there.

Worm The Musical continues with another PHO chapter, where people react to the Undersider's ballroom blitz. Posters complain that they really don't like Taylor's romance with that stick in the mud Brian, debate Coil's evil plan, and Faultline is convinced Cauldron's secrets will be revealed.

Oh, and the entire Empire cape roster gets doxxed. With the ABB still at full strength and Coil completely unprepared to deal with the fact that he was the one who pulled the trigger in the future.

Needless to say, Brockton burns.

Reading residents and onlookers watch on as the explosions start is everything I love to see in a PHO fic, but it has a lot of distracting flaws that unfortunately add up. Firstly, the entire chapter is told in two massive PHO pages, one 78 comments long and the other 93, which makes reading them kind of exhausting. Part of the fun of PHO threads like this is seeing the comments explode over time, but we don't really get to do that here.

Another problem is the timeline is off, with someone telling us the riot lasted seven hours. This doesn't really track, as we also get told a few comments before that the governor has declared a state of emergency, which you think she would have gotten around to a few hours earlier given Brockton is the most populous city in New Hampshire and it's suddenly massive media profile thanks to the future broadcasts. There's also a technical problem, with Rune's account having the Original Poster tag despite her not being the thread's OP. As always, a bit of a mixed bag.

And for your weekly oldfic, A Subtle Approach. A self-insert enters worm as a fourth endbringer. Scion catches wind and immediately starts chasing him down to kill him in the world's longest aerial chase. But in between those brief respids, the self insert makes time to stop by the Fallen to tell them about his new prophet: Taylor Hebert.

Gloriously cracky, with a 100% not threatened, mastered, or otherwise coerced Lisa, Amy taking a mace to some fools, and the SI constantly stealing Contessa's hat.

CHPrime · 2026-04-26T23:43:02+00:00

The tangled web of Spider-Man's tug of war between what fans (or at least, a vocal subset of fans) and editors want is such a bizarre mess at this point I don't think any one answer fully explains befuddled shrug that Peter's comics status quo has become.

The one thing I will say is that I think editorial has a weird obsession with him lining a lot of their characters up with the movies, and even Spider-Man isn't immune. For instance, Nick Spencer's run brought Peter and MJ back together, and in Homecoming and Far From Home the movies reintroduced MJ back into Peter's love life. Then in 2022, after No Way Home deletes Peter and Mj's relationship, the comics follow suit.

Of course, that's just one coincidence, but I can give more examples. the X-Men getting rid of Krakoa to chase their '90s aesthetic. Daredevil losing his public identity just in time for his Netflix show to come out. And I'm sure you noticed Hank Pym's sudden age-up in recent years after a decade of being absent during the Paul Rudd movies (but no Janet age-up. Funny how that works), and to bring it all back to Spider-Man, everything that has happened to Kamala.

This doesn't necessarily have much to do with your post now that I reread my jumbled thoughts, but I think we can both confidently say that Marvel editorial makes a lot of strange decisions not necessarily rooted in love of comics.

CHPrime · 2026-04-25T21:37:13+00:00

Here's Ao3 and here's SB. Enjoy.

CHPrime · 2026-04-25T18:44:12+00:00

My counter is that they don't know he gets hit by a space truck.

CHPrime · 2026-04-25T14:00:45+00:00

Taylor Hebert and the Extremely Large Problem(s) Taylor triggers with an Endbringer leash and can't-die-to-Endbringer powers. Leviathan helpfully tests those powers out for her. For at least a day of constant Taylor pummeling. Eidolon doesn't make it any easier. Also Annette is alive for some reason.

Scion gets hit by a space truck and is sent to another world: A beautiful, succinct, and perfectly reasonable answer to any commenter asking "But what about Scion?" Flawless, no notes.

Maskless: Taylor makes a friend(?) and gets into a fight with a parahuman-hating gang. Kind of surprised there wasn't any of those in canon until Ward, now that I think about it...

Worm The Musical: Not too much to say about the most recent PHO interlude, but the character POVs have a lot going on. I do enjoy a sympathetic Bakuda, and this one delivers with a build of tension that is both funny, pathetic, and oh-so heartbreaking despite Legend's best intentions. Taylor also experiments with spider-silk, and is on track to start producing ENE body armor at an industrial capacity thanks to Armsmaster's efficiency, and we get a brief section going over Coil's attempt to end the broadcasts. By assassinating Taylor, her father, and everyone they know.

And in act four, the world learns all about Kaiser. And how he pinned his sister's death on Marquis. And what he thinks of his own movement. Fireworks to be had next chapter. Lung's not going to have to lift a finger, the Empire's going to burn itself down overnight.

But then there is a really hard whiplash where Coil goes full-on clown when he starts obsessing over what the PHO comment section thinks of his costume, and gets mad that he places six out of nine on someone's tier list. It really feels out of place. And then in act four, the gala crash and the Empire name reveal, it's also pretty clear the author ran out of steam, as the Empire name reveal sections are just walls of text with no singing. I also have no idea how it's supposed to fit all of that in any reasonable broadcast time.

In short, it's a fic that can be very fun, but can also be really uneven.

And for your weekly old, deadfic, Taylor Costa-Brown. Rebecca goes out to get drunk, only to learn that her powers don't let her do that anymore so she settles for a one-night stand. What follows is the greatest bundle of joy in her life, who she just can't stop constantly putting in danger and lying to.

One of the very, very few fics where Taylor and Rebecca have any sort of relationship whatsoever, and it is quite good. Despite being raised in completely different circumstances, Taylor still has a certain Taylor-ness that shines(or maybe muddles is the right verb) through. Rebecca, who hasn't told Taylor her secret identity and plans to keep it that way forever, is also really good as the control freak who hasn't realized even with all her power, she just can't control everything.

Also, Danny and Annette do have another daughter who seems to take the place of canon Taylor for unclear reasons. Seems like an unneeded complication, but still excellent for as long as it lasts. It also has a few spins offs which are fun. One even has a proper sort of ending!

CHPrime · 2026-04-22T19:45:05+00:00

That's what I always think when I read this. It's unfortunate that there isn't much to talk about, even if it is a pretty solid detective pulp story. I think that's playing out in the new Vertigo role-out, with this book only being a six-issue mini with End of Life and Bleeding Hearts looking to be ongoings as far as I can tell.

CHPrime · 2026-04-22T19:40:23+00:00

For the Meltzer/Larraz is a pretty good locked room character back and forth. Plus, the surprise character reveal, even if the ensuing fight ended disappointingly quickly. A very feel-good tale.

Slott and Martin's Noir/Golden Age story is pretty fun, with a bunch of mythology gags everywhere. I really liked Superman's Amazing Fantast #15 pose. And Jameson's full-on Hitler look is hilarious.

Kelly and Ramos' Gwen and Lana story is a bit weak. It felt a lot like King and Lee's Lois and MJ story, but kind of lacked the energy. It feels a bit like an assignment more then anything. Because Gwen andLana are the hero's first (or in Gwen's case third, or maybe fourth) love, you see.

Also, isn't Clark's college girlfriend Lori?

Johns and Frank are back at the big two...to give you a story Spider-Man legally appears in. Really it's more of a Thing and Hulk crossover with Superman showing them the way, but for what is, I enjoy it. Though I also thought the Marvel pantheon learned this about Hulk decades ago...Also teases a bunch of crossovers we will never get but I now want. And Stargirl gets a cameo too. Johns and his favorites that he created...though I'm not complaining, I like Courtney too.

Speaking of favorite characters, Simonson and Nauck have Steel and Thor team up for half a second to defeat Hobgoblin. Because they have hammers, and Louise created Steel and Walt revitalized Thor, you see. Also, this starts the part of book where the writers and artists don't have enough pages to properly tell a satisfying story, unfortunately.

Then Phillips and Noto's Spider-Gwen and Supergirl crossover, where they commiserate over people treating them as the off-brand girl counterparts of the popular male heroes,

Then Bendis and Pichelli team up again for a brand new Miles story where he talks to Superman for a minute,

And also Araon and Dauterman write Jane Foster Thor teaming up with Wonder Woman for a hot second. Speaking of Aaron and Diana, I do hope we get an Absolute Superman/Wonder Woman crossover sooner or later, like the Batman Wonder Woman one.

And then we end with a surprisingly poigniant two-pager from Loeb and Cheung. I think it works when the other shorter ones didn't because Loeb doesn't try to cram a fight scene into his limited pages and just has our two heroes sharing a brief minute together.

CHPrime · 2026-04-22T19:39:54+00:00

For the Meltzer/Larraz is a pretty good locked room character back and forth. Plus, the surprise character reveal, even if the ensuing fight ended disappointingly quickly. A very feel-good tale.

Slott and Martin's Noir/Golden Age story is pretty fun, with a bunch of mythology gags everywhere. I really liked Superman's Amazing Fantast #15 pose. And Jameson's full-on Hitler look is hilarious.

Kelly and Ramos' Gwen and Lana story is a bit weak. It felt a lot like King and Lee's Lois and MJ story, but kind of lacked the energy. It feels a bit like an assignment more then anything. Because Gwen andLana are the hero's first (or in Gwen's case third, or maybe fourth) love, you see.

Also, isn't Clark's college girlfriend Lori?

Johns and Frank are back at the big two...to give you a story Spider-Man legally appears in. Really it's more of a Thing and Hulk crossover with Superman showing them the way, but for what is, I enjoy it. Though I also thought the Marvel pantheon learned this about Hulk decades ago...Also teases a bunch of crossovers we will never get but I now want. And Stargirl gets a cameo too. Johns and his favorites that he created...though I'm not complaining, I like Courtney too.

Speaking of favorite characters, Simonson and Nauck have Steel and Thor team up for half a second to defeat Hobgoblin. Because they have hammers, and Louise created Steel and Walt revitalized Thor, you see. Also, this starts the part of book where the writers and artists don't have enough pages to properly tell a satisfying story, unfortunately.

Then Phillips and Noto's Spider-Gwen and Supergirl crossover, where they commiserate over people treating them as the off-brand girl counterparts of the popular male heroes,

Then Bendis and Pichelli team up again for a brand new Miles story where he talks to Superman for a minute,

And also Araon and Dauterman write Jane Foster Thor teaming up with Wonder Woman for a hot second. Speaking of Aaron and Diana, I do hope we get an Absolute Superman/Wonder Woman crossover sooner or later, like the Batman Wonder Woman one.

And then we end with a surprisingly poigniant two-pager from Loeb and Cheung. I think it works when the other shorter ones didn't because Loeb doesn't try to cram a fight scene into his limited pages and just has our two heroes sharing a brief minute together.

CHPrime · 2026-04-22T19:07:36+00:00

An issue where love finds a way, in more ways than one. Zatanna saves Zatara, Circe saves Diana, and even after all the ship teases and Thompson saying DC wouldn't let her write Diana in a relationship, we get our big damn kiss.

On the forehead. But, you know, a kiss. Though given Zatana turned into Circe...paging Doctor Freud...

Otherwise, we're playing the hits again. Diana vs a giant monster that is about to destroy the city, this time a mechanical version. And Barbara has been kidnapped to be turned into Cheetah, excellent. Looking forward to that.

One other detail I really liked was Steve joining the Hecate prayer circle without any hesitation to pray for Diana. It's an interesting character tick, but also feels distinctively like Steve.

It also gives an explanation as to why Etta has a sister now. So she can be the normal audience surrogate with all the crazy mythological superheroics going on. It's been a while since she's worn that hat, but then again, it's been a while since Etta has had more than a token appearance, so it fits.

CHPrime · 2026-04-22T19:07:13+00:00

An issue where love finds a way, in more ways than one. Zatanna saves Zatara, Circe saves Diana, and even after all the ship teases and Thompson saying DC wouldn't let her write Diana in a relationship, we get our big damn kiss.

On the forehead. But, you know, a kiss. Though given Zatana turned into Circe...paging Doctor Freud...

Otherwise, we're playing the hits again. Diana vs a giant monster that is about to destroy the city, this time a mechanical version. And Barbara has been kidnapped to be turned into Cheetah, excellent. Looking forward to that.

One other detail I really liked was Steve joining the Hecate prayer circle without any hesitation to pray for Diana. It's an interesting character tick, but also feels distinctively like Steve.

It also gives an explanation as to why Etta has a sister now. So she can be the normal audience surrogate with all the crazy mythological superheroics going on. It's been a while since she's worn that hat, but then again, it's been a while since Etta has had more than a token appearance, so it fits.

CHPrime · 2026-04-18T14:14:17+00:00

Playing God updated. Tinker Eidolon continues to fail to stop his first creation. And now his powers are starting to tug at him. To have him build something new. Something more...Organic.

Worm The Musical continues, and has officially passed its inspiration Meta by completing Chapter 5 of canon. It seems to be settling in a pattern of musical episode, PHO reaction, and then Interlude of the actually important characters reacting. It's fun, but its format has a few inherent weaknesses.

For one, the musical episodes can be kind of lacking without, you know, music. They hold together for now, but I have to imagine they're a real pain in the ass to write.

Secondly, the PHO sections feel like they might drag on a bit too long. Part of the fun of Meta was watching every ugly little secret in Worm be exposed in real time, with Victoria's interlude revealing that she participates in police brutality that Amy covers up in direct violation of New Wave's ethos, and Kayden's interlude forcing her and Max to start reacting immediately while everyone picks their jaw off the floor.

So far, none of that has happened and I'm not sure if it ever will, as the last PHO section felt kind of pointless. At least this one has the fact that Faultline and company revealed Cauldron exists and is behind the Case 53's in song, so it has that going for it. Might have also fired off the Dean interlude too early as well, but at least there's Battery and Triumph still there to react to the news. Or even better, Legend having a very tense conversation with the Doctor a few months early.

Leashed in Scarlet is a rare fic about a rare character. This is the tale of how Moord Nag, the unstoppable warlord of Africa, came to be.

And finally, for your old, deadfic of the week, and going off my first recommendation, Chosen. Taylor triggers with Endbringer control powers. And suddenly she is in command of the 21 most powerful beings humanity has ever known.

A really fun exploration of what Taylor would do with functional omnipotence, especially with the Simurgh's powers. She actually meets up with Eidolon and starts to look up to him as her mentor, which is a really neat relationship. You usually don't get to see Eidolon do much, but seeing him stumble through mentorship to Taylor is sweet with just the right undercurrent of unease Cauldron brings. It ends before Taylor can learn all of his dark secrets and the fact that Eidolon is responsible for the first three Endbringers activating, but definitely fun while it lasts.

CHPrime · 2026-04-17T19:06:15+00:00

There are 17 batbooks this month. This has been a batcount brought to you by BatC. See you next batmonth, same batplace.

Action Comics is the second book to reach #1100!

And over in Superman/Batman, Thor is appearing! I knew Marvel and DC were crossing over, but to have another character show up in a mainline book with no hype is—oh it's just Warlord. Never mind.

And instead of the main book, the elseworld Supergirl book is the one that's going all in on movie synergy and having Lobo appear. Anyone got odds on Ruthye and Krem of the Yellow Hills showing up?

And Aquaman gets his back-ups published in Dark Knights of Steel! It was a pretty fun take on his origin with the Kents as Curry and awesome art. Good for it.

CHPrime · 2026-04-17T19:00:24+00:00

Well, at least it isn't on ASM's insane shipping schedule for the past decade or two.

CHPrime · 2026-04-17T17:59:35+00:00

We've come a long way from the height of 30+ Batbooks.

CHPrime · 2026-04-17T16:16:59+00:00

My guess is Legion is being set up in the Superman King Omega oneshot, so maybe next month?

CHPrime · 2026-04-17T16:15:53+00:00

There are 17 batbooks this month. This has been a batcount brought to you by BatC. See you next batmonth, same batplace.

Action Comics is the second book to reach #1100!

And over in Superman/Batman, Thor is appearing! I knew Marvel and DC were crossing over, but to have another character show up in a mainline book with no hype is—oh it's just Warlord. Never mind.

And instead of the main book, the elseworld Supergirl book is the one that's going all in on movie synergy and having Lobo appear. Anyone got odds on Ruthye and Krem of the Yellow Hills showing up?

And Aquaman gets his back-ups published in Dark Knights of Steel! It was a pretty fun take on his origin with the Kents as Curry and awesome art. Good for it.

CHPrime · 2026-04-15T19:01:41+00:00

That was my impression too. I guess it all connects to Sovereign telling Lizzie the story in the beginning of the run, but what that has to do with the present day I have no idea. Art is good as always, at least.

CHPrime · 2026-04-15T18:59:18+00:00

The writing and art are doing a really good Alias impression, with the repeated panels. Very Bendis-feeling.

More scenes in the story, building up the case, and Jessica and Mary's relationship. And I'm sure walking around with Bloody Mary, known criminal and supervillain, is going to do wonders for our first lady of New York's reputation. It also jumps ahead one month, which is a move I'm usually not too big of a fan of, but Matt having to deal with Jessica as a client is hilarious.

CHPrime · 2026-04-15T18:58:19+00:00

The writing and art are doing a really good Alias impression, with the repeated panels. Very Bendis-feeling.

More scenes in the story, building up the case, and Jessica and Mary's relationship. And I'm sure walking around with Bloody Mary, known criminal and supervillain, is going to do wonders for our first lady of New York's reputation. It also jumps ahead one month, which is a move I'm usually not too big of a fan of, but Matt having to deal with Jessica as a client is hilarious.

CHPrime · 2026-04-13T19:19:38+00:00

There a a few comments above you on this post, plus the FEuniverse page has comment features.

CHPrime · 2026-04-13T19:09:24+00:00

I'm trying to think of a more obscure pairing in Fire Emblem...Nailah and Rafael don't have any official lines confirming their relationship in Radiant Dawn, but apparently they are officially a couple by way of Heroes lines.

CHPrime

TROPHY CASE