Teasing for Year

It won't be long before Descendants Year 5 will be upon us, bringing with it all new plots, characters and changes to the status quo in the Descendants Universe. So as I did with Year 3, I'm going to give you, the readers a sneak peek at the stuff I've got on tap that will likely (no promises) show up in Year 5.

Find out what I've got in store of you under the cut. POSSIBLE SPOILERS!

Commentary: Issue #45 Post-Game

It has been a loooong time since I made a post here and it's about time I got around to it. Luckily, I just finished Descendants #45 'The Gremlin and the Game', (link) so it does give me something to write about. And, as it turns out, there are a bunch of interesting things that came out of this seemingly standalone issue.

So let's get to it. The full lowdown under the cut.

LOL Deaths

If you're a comic reader, by now you're familiar with the concept of Women in Refrigerators.

For the uninitiated, this is a 'technique' used by some writers wherein they kill off a loved one (usually a woman) of the protagonist purely to get an emotional response out of them, usually to inspire them to go out and get revenge on the perpetrator and in the process move the plot along.

Gail Simone coined the term as the name of a website in response to a Green Lantern comic in which Major Force kills GL's girlfriend and leaves her body in the fridge for our hero to find―apparently because he wanted to catch a beating from someone whose power is to hit you with anything he can imagine.

The whole thing's been debated, pointed out, and overused for the past decade, so I won't dwell on it.

Besides, there is a new kind of lazy, disrespectful writing to bitch about. I call this phenomena 'LOL Deaths'. Find out what they are and why they need to be stopped under the cut.

SPOILER WARNING for Second Coming, Necrosha, and several older comics.

Post-Game: Descendants #43 and #44

As I often point out, some arcs and storyline take longer to come to fruition than others. The Ian/Alexis relationship arc is one of my biggest examples of this besides George (more on him later) and it's far and away the longest running non-core plot thread in the series.

Starting all the way back in Descendants #2 and getting at least two issues devoted to it each volume, the relationship has had it's ups and downs and hopefully meant something special to the readers. Descendants #43 “Love You Madly” and its follow-up, #44 “It's Official!” mark a sort of half time in their arc. Those familiar with comic book relationships may think you know where it's going. Don't count me out just yet.

In this post, I explore the history of The Descendants' alpha couple, from preconception to print. All that, under the cut.

Commentary: Rise of Morganna Mini-series

I wrote Rise of Morganna more than three years ago and until I went back to edit it, I hadn't read it since the day I completed it. In fact, when it came time to read it for my editing project, I dreaded it more than anything. Why? Well in a nutshell, I wasn't sure it was very good.

In this post, I talk about what I was trying to do with Rise, my misgivings, and mostly about the setting I sketched out in that series. All that under the cut.

Post-Game: Descendants #42: Metal X

This week, I concluded what is likely the story I've sat on for the longest time from inception to publishing. The story of the Metal X Saga spans all the way back to the early days of the Tink and Warrick relationship and is likely the most 'mutated' story that actually saw the light of day.

In this post, I'll talk a bit about the creation of Christina Carlyle and how it related to the development of the Metal X storyline. It all begins under the cut.

Commentary: Descendants Annual #3

I use all the annuals to basically touch base with the characters and remind the readers where all the pieces are on the board. It also lets me set up teasers for later plot points. Annual #3 also had the added duty of doing all this while getting the reader ready for a volume that looked like it had no general direction.

Discussion on the hows and whys under the cut.