to be and not to be

Jack: What's all this about bees?

Luke: Hey, don't you laugh at me, Jack Chandler, not about this, hah. I have the god-given right to believe all living things can feel the warmth of joy and good eatin' and a perfect summer day. Even the smallest, buzziest of things. That's what it means to be alive, i tell you.

(present/narration)

Jack: I remember he was cold. that morning I lost him. My baby went cold. Warmest man I ever knew, gone cold, how 's that fair...? I got a vow to keep. ashes to ashes. and ill burn this whole damn world to the ground. The Lord and the laws of man never stop me before.

Everything Dead and Dying (2025)

written by Tate Brombal

art by Jacob Phillips

mother: ...and this one.. man i love this one.

son: mom...you might not know this, but that picture? dad took it the morning of the class trip... he snapped it at the zoo, just before the shooting started.

(insert scenes here of characters fighting odds they might loose)

mother: I know this picture is from that day,. That's part of why i love it.

son: I don't understand

mother: Well baby, when things are rough, believing you can make a difference? being hopeful? its not easy. But that's not what i see when i look at these pictures. Because no matter how hard things got, and they were rough sometimes, your dad stayed hopeful. But he was always at his most hopeful... about you

son: Mom? i keep having these nightmares... where you die.

mother: i will die one day, son... and you will, too... but not for a long time, it's okay though, I can take this one out if you want.

(reaches to remove picture from album)

son: no. leave it.

mother: okay, ill leave the picture in.

son: thanks mom, im going to bed now.

Absolute Batman (2025)

written by Scott Snyder

art by Nick Dragotta