Shell Senseless: January 2019

Shell's guide to... Huntress

The next installment of my guides to. Previously: Catwoman, Batgirl, Black Canary, Wonder Woman and Batwoman.

1. Helena Rosa Bertinelli or the vigilante known as Huntress first appeared in the late 1980s and was introduced as the daughter of a Gotham mafia crime boss.

2. She sees her family get killed in a mob hit and vows revenge. Initially Batman doesn't trust her as she is unpredictable and violent.

3. She gains the trust and respect of Nightwing and Tim Drake and after Batman helps her clear her name in a murder case he invites her to join the Justice League.

4. As a member of the JLA she grows her skills and confidence with the help of Superman.

5. Her violent temper was never far behind though and after nearly killing Prometheus, Batman makes her resign from the JLA.

6. In 2003, after helping Black Canary she is invited to join the Birds of Prey alongside Oracle at Dinah (Black Canary's) insistence. Oracle is hesitant at first, and has a strained relationship with Helena.

7. Huntress saves Oracle's life and is then invited to be a full time member of the Birds of Prey.

8. In 2016 DC Comics rebooted all their storylines with rebirth and Birds of Prey became: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey with Batgirl, Black Canary and Huntress forming and uneasy alliance.

9. Huntress knew of both batgirl and Black Canary's secret identities but they know nothing of hers. This series gives Huntress an updated back story that explains her troubled past.

10. Huntress is incredibly private and doesn't trust people easy. She was trained by her assassin cousin and her weapon of choice is a crossbow, and her transport of choice is a motorbike.

11. Huntress is incredibly unpredictable and can often go too far when it comes to violence.

12. Just to make things confusing there is another version of Huntress in DC Comics alternate universe Earth-2. This version of Huntress is Helena Wayne the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. This version of Huntress mainly works as a crime fighter alongside Power Girl.

Recommended reading...

1. Huntress: Year One (here) A mini series that tells the story of how Helena became Huntress.

2. Birds of Prey Vol.1 (here) The beginning of Helena's time in the badass gang of Birds of Prey

3. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey vol.1 (here) Huntress rejoins the BOP in the most current run of the series. This is a great starting place.

4. Huntress: Crossbows at the Crossroads (here) If you are interested in the alternate Earth-2 Huntress this is the place to start.

5. Worlds Finest Vol. 1 (here) Earth-2 Huntress teams up with Power Girl. This has five volumes in total.

If you want MORE Huntress then check out DC Bombshells, Batman Hush, Batman Animated series and Nightwing/Huntress.

That's my guide to Huntress. Next time: Poison Ivy!

Geeky pick ups.

I am a collector of things. Badges, top trumps, books, and especially toys and action figures. I am a big comic book geek and love a good bargain. So here is a load of geeky pick ups I've found. I've kept forgetting to do this post so this is stuff I've picked up over the last six months or so. I really enjoy finding bargains as sadly, I am not rich so I will include details of where I've found stuff too!

I've been getting into collecting mini mates as I tend to like smaller figures (just because I don't have masses of space to display stuff). They are also very cute! This set includes Hawkeye and Vision. Hawkeye is one of my favourite Marvel characters so I am happy to have found this and the below set cheap on Ebay.

This set is of the Abomination and his human form Emil Blonsky- one of my favourite Marvel villains. This is based on the Tim Roth Blonsky in the Incredible Hulk film which I actually quite enjoyed.

I've found lately that I tend to much prefer the Funko rock candy figures compared to the Funko Pops. This one is the Thirteenth Doctor who I already totally love. I especially like the way to coat hangs.

This little Funko haul is from Toysforapound(dot)com which are a great site for discontinued and cheap toys. They tend to get a lot of Funko, Marvel, DC Comics, TMNT and other geeky items but you need to be quick as they sell out fast. The Funko's were £5 each and the blind boxes were just a £1! I was happy because I got the Spider Gwen plush I wanted too.

I'm still not sure about these metal die cast figures.They are a strange design and the body is kind of weird. It also bugs me that Catwoman has red eyes... I got this for under a tenner on Ebay and am still glad to have this in my collection.

This one is an unofficial figure I got from Wish. I believe it's a rip of of the Q Pocket figures and cost around £8. It actually arrived broken in a few pieces so they ended up refunding me but after glueing it back together it's a pretty nice figure (although mine is missing her sword!).

Some more Mini Mates, this time loose ones I got on Ebay for a couple of pounds each of She-Hulk and Scarlett Witch.

New Top Trumps! This is the Infinity War pack and they are a really nice set.

More bargains, this time from B&M. I really recommend checking them out as they tend to get a lot of Funko, Marvel, DC Comics and other geeky stuff for cheap. The adorable Storm Dorbz was only £2.99! I also now have all the figures I wanted from The Batman Animated Series line (all bought from B&M) and a cute Wonder Woman pez for a £1.

These nano metal figs have become a bit of a new obsession too. The designs of these is way better than the big versions and they are small and easy to display. I have found quite a few of these in places like Asda and Ebay for under £2 and got a couple for my Birthday last year too.

Finally these Funko pocket pop keychains. These came in blind bags from Tesco and I managed to successfully feel the three I wanted! I am getting good at feeling blind bags now haha!

Etsy find: Bolin Cradley Art

Today I wanted to share with you an etsy store that I love called Bolin Cradley Art. This is my second purchase from them and I love their selection of pop culture illustrations.

I got four of these beautiful greetings cards featuring ink blot prints of Hela, Black Widow, Scarlett Witch and Wonder Woman. I am planning to put these in frames to put on the wall. There's lots of other characters I want to add to my collection in their Etsy store, but I especially love the Steve from Stranger Things card!

I collect pin badges so had to get the Thirteenth Doctor badge which is now happily on my jacket. The Iron Man badge was an extra freebie. I also got the Groot badge (in the top picture) for my niece as she has a badass biker jacket and I've been looking for some cute badges to get her to put on it.

I highly recommend checking out the store!

Bolin Cradley Art Etsy

Resolutions.

I hate the idea of new years resolutions. Putting pressure on yourself to change who you are or how you live. Of course sometimes, breaking habits or making positive changes is a great thing; but why leave it until the start of a new year? You can do it anytime. Of course though like any stereotypical person with bipolar disorder I am a heap of contradictions and as much as I hate new year and resolutions I love lists, goals and I am a total control freak. As such I have made a list of "goals" things I'd like to work at achieving or getting better at. I am personally glad to see the back of 2018- it wasn't a great year for me. There's a lot of things I want and need to work on this year and a lot of that involves my mental health. Here's the goals I have thought of for 2019...

1. Read only books I already own
2. No buying more books!!
3. Aim for a distinction in current uni modules
4. Continue to work on dealing better with anxiety
5. Get through my module exam
6. Be more mindful of how I am spending money(!)
7. Try and go to at least 1 place I have never been
8. Accept myself for who I am
9. Move more
10. Try and stick to a better sleep schedule

2018 favourites.

1. Reading...

I've posted about my favourite books and comics.

2. Films...

Here are my favourite films I watched in 2018.

3. TV...

My favourite shows of 2018 are Black Mirror, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Who, iZombie s4, Gotham s4, Strangers Things s2, Making a Murderer s2, Brooklyn 99, and Louis Theroux: Altered States.

4. Music...

Favourite albums of 2018: Empress Of- Us, Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer, St. Vincent- Masseducation, Let's Eat Grandma- I'm All Ears.

Also... New music from Ladytron, Rituals of Mine, Deap Valley, Hey Charlie, Angel Olsen, Garbage (obv), Alice Bag, Elliphant, Kelsey Lu.

5. Misc...

Seeing Garbage on their 20 years Paranoid tour, seeing Flight of the Conchords, Going to Wales, getting an end of year distinction in uni, opening my Etsy store, being more creative.

6. Instagram best nine:

Favourite comics & graphic novels I read in 2018.

As you can tell I read a lot of great comics and graphic novels in 2018! I loved every one pictured above but special mentions to the new Catwoman series which has the most beautiful art. If there's a comic that features badass girl gangs the chances are I'm going to love it (proof: Zodiac Starforce, Misfit City, Heavy Vinyl, Curb Stomp, Slam). I also finished Kill or be Killed which is a brilliant crime noir thriller. Saga is as always one of the best ongoing comics around, and if you are looking for a good horror comic I would definitely recommend Regression.