DCU Holiday Special

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

As requested by ladymirth, scans from last years DC Holiday Special.



In A Day Without Sirens, there are posters up advertising a day without guns, knives, etc. Despite Jim Gordon's complete disbelief, there are 24 hours without a single 911 call and a downtrodden Jim is much cheerier when he meets Batman, who seems quite happy himself.









In It's a Wonderful Night, Dick runs into trouble while trying to hand deliver a special present for Tim. He then discovers Tim with Owen Mercer at a showing of 'It's A Wonderful Life'.









In The Night Before Christmas, the Teen Titans take a christmas break and go hang out. Tim is a bit emo and he and Cassie reflect at Rockerfeller Centre.









In Party Animal, John Stewart (Green Lantern) and Roy Harper (Red Arrow), are late for the Christmas party, which even Batman is attending. They bring Shaggy Man along to give S.T.A.R labs a break, who gets spooked by the singing. Let's face it, you would too. It all ends with a good partying.

Comments

[ladymirth.insanejournal.com]

Thanks for putting them up!

Huh. Not what I was expecting. The first two look promising (OMG, BATS CAN MAKE JOKES!), but um, Robin and Owen Mercer watching "It's A Wonderful Life" together? (What, they couldn't catch it on TV?) THAT was Captain Boomerang's favourite movie? Wat? It's like some sort of super-cheesy and bizzare fanfic.

Love the colors on the TT one. Although, is Tim supposed to be that much shorter than Cassie? He looks downright tiny.

The JLA one is precious! Beware Dinah's fruitcake! THEY HAVE A DISCOBALL! Wonder Woman bumpin' hips with Hairy guy! DINAH AND ZEE COMPARING FISHNETS!

Wait...who's Arsenal snogging?

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

I think it was Tim missing his Dad and wanting to be close to him, so he goes to a mostly empty movie theatre late at night to watch it and happens to run into Owen. While the favourite movie thing is cheesy as hell, I think it just about pulls together because it's Christmas and because it's meant to rot your teeth. Plus, it's nice to see Dick giving Tim one of his Robin suits, as he did it with Jason. It's a nice little tradition, especially with Tim's feelings on Robin in general.

Tim, I think, it actually pretty small. Not as small as depicted here, but I believe he's about 5'6", though don't quote me on it.

I loved Dinah and Zee dancing together.

Kendra (Hawkgirl). They were dating, I believe. He did say "pretty bird" when he saw her, which I found very funny.

[pepperspray101.insanejournal.com]

I'm not sure dinah and zee are dancing together as much as they're comparing fishnets...

[thehefner.insanejournal.com]

At first, the thought of Boomerbutt loving IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE filled me with WTF too... but the more I think about it, the more I love the idea. Even sleezy skeezeballs can have a nugget of gooey sentimentality buried in their slimy hearts.

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

It does add to the humanity of the character and show losses deeply effect both sides, especially when they're not total psychopaths.

[ladymirth.insanejournal.com]

I can buy Boomerang loving that movie. I can't buy Tim voluntarily watching his Dad's favourite movie with the guy who's wearing the costume of the man who killed him. Not that I want Tim to be a total dick to Owen until the end of time or anything, but in that time, in that place, no. Season of forgiveness or not. *shrug*

We saw Tim grieving for his Dad, but we never saw him actually healing. And now it's like he's totally over it, move on. >(

Maybe I'm just grouchy because the Batboys didn't hug. I was so sure they'd hug! Who doesn't hug at Christmas? =(

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

I swear I remember Tim doing a whole 'I won't judge him for what his father did' thing at one point, so it made a little sense. They were just two boys missing their fathers and that's what it boiled down to.

Over it? No way. Not after Red Robin #1 last month.

[ladymirth.insanejournal.com]

I swear I remember Tim doing a whole 'I won't judge him for what his father did' thing at one point

Well, if he did, it sure wasn't in his own book (or Teen Titans either, because I marathon read the entire v3 recently). In fact, in Robin #152, his own words were: "If I can't beat the hell out of his Dad, Junior would be the next best thing." Granted, the animosity cooled down after they worked together in the next issue, but after promising not to try and turn Nightwing against Boomy, he refused to even shake hands. "Civil is one thing, but you'll forgive me if I'm not ready for the other stuff yet."

Btw, does Owen know that it was Robin's father that his Dad killed?

Over it? No way. Not after Red Robin #1 last month
Huh? I thought it was a sign that he was way over his Dad's death to be able to take Bruce's name for himself like that.

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

To be fair, when was the last time opinions were kept the same in all the different books? It's like a yo yo of emotions with people half the time. That said, it could have been reading between the lines.

He didn't at the time, no.

His massive breakdown over everything that's happened to him that resulted in him smashing a bunch of stuff said otherwise to me. He hasn't dealt with it as he should and now he's paying for it. "Tim Drake wouldn't have made that mistake, oh god, I'm Tim Wayne, oh god, what happened to me" doesn't sound like he dealt with it. Paraphrased of course.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

No, AFAIK Owen doesn't know Robin's identity, so would have no reason to know why Tim was being so down on him. I also just can't see Tim being the sort of blame Owen for his Dad's actions, he doesn't judge Raven or Superboy for the actions of THEIR father's.

[ladymirth.insanejournal.com]

Their fathers didn't kill his Dad. That kind of thing doesn't easily submit itself to rational reactions. Tim's fair-minded, so he'd probabably try not to be a pillock to him on principle, now that he knows he's a good guy, but everytime he'd see that uniform he'd remember who it originally belonged to and it's established in canon that Tim now hates boomerangs the way Bruce hates guns.

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

Huh? I thought it was a sign that he was way over his Dad's death to be able to take Bruce's name for himself like that.

I didn't take it as that. Though I honestly don't understand why with Tim writers seem to get into this whole "Wait, he's adopted by Bruce now...so he must be Tim Wayne!" when they've got the example of Dick Grayson never changing his name after he was adopted.

But I think in the Bat-family they generally just make it an ongoing thing that's actually more interesting for me. He's Tim Wayne because Damian makes him feel insecure about his place in the family, and he feels insecure about this sort of thing to begin with because of what happened to his parents. In Tim's case his dad issues were also always bound up in affirming his loyalty to one or the other and all that.

So yeah, I didn't see him over his dad at all, since most of his reaction to Bruce's death was guided by the way he's been reacting to deaths in the past. I would say the big step-forward moment on his dad for Tim, though, was in the Resurrection of Ra's storyline where he was tempted at the Lazarus Pit and Dick told him he had to let go and accept death. Now with Bruce he's found another way not to accept it (though he's also correct that Bruce isn't dead).

[lipsofpoison.insanejournal.com]

I think I love you just a little bit.

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

It's the spirit of Christmas!

[superfan1.insanejournal.com]

Indeed!

[thehefner.insanejournal.com]

No, I hear that. One of the reasons I hate death in comics is that no one ever treats it like death. They only use it an an excuse to angst or swear vengeance, and then poof, next issue it's back to status quo. We rarely ever see characters realistically mourn, heal, or reflect (like the way the Birds did so wonderfully over Ted Kord).

As such, while I too share your frustration at them skipping that crucial step in Tim's recovery, I am heartened to see that they actually included this kind of moment, which would usually be ignored right alongside it! If that makes any sense.

Because ultimately, I'm sure Tim would get to this point with Owen eventually. And I think the awkward team-up with Owen in Robin's own book also laid the groundwork for this moment. Maybe someday someone can retcon in some inbetween healing to really sell his development to this point.