Quote-o-rama: Comic Books S-Z


Quote-o-rama:
Comic Books & Graphic Novels:
S-Z

See also:

If you need more info on a source, drop me a line.


"My mother's always telling me how my brother got to see God. I wonder
 what she'll say when I tell her I got to see the Devil?"
					_Sanctum_

“Most characters in comics simply didn’t have any families, and it was
 something I loved. It was something I loved to write about. When I first
 came out to America, people told me that in _The Sandman_ I created a
 dysfunctional family, which was not a phrase I had heard before that in
 England. I talked to people about it, and I realized that what people in
 America called ‘a dysfunctional family’ was the same thing that we in   
 England referred to as ‘a family.’ You didn’t see a lot of functional 
 ones.”
					–Neil Gaiman, 2008

"That was the lesson. You don't get a second chance."
                                        -Thessaly,
					_Sandman: A Game of You_

"I think Hell's something you carry around with you, not somewhere you
 go."
                                        -Charles Rowland, 
					_Sandman: Season Of Mists_

"Makes you feel sorry for the gods and goddesses, doesn't it? After their
 temples fall apart. I wonder what happens to them?"
"Some of them die. Some of them change. And some keep going. Maybe some
 even get jobs as dancers."
                                        _Sandman: Brief Lives_

"I know how gods begin, Roger. We start as dreams. Then we walk out of
 dreams into the land. We are worshipped and loved, and take power to
 ourselves. And then one day there's no one left to worship us. And in the
 end, each little god and goddess takes its last journey back into
 dreams... and what comes after, not even we know."
                                        _Sandman: Brief Lives_

"So. Whatever happens. It was good being your raven. Really, I mean... It
 was good being your friend."
                                        -Matthew,
                                        _Sandman: The Kindly Ones_

"It has been four years since the repeal of prohibition - illusionary 
 legislation at best. Moral strengths cannot be governed. They must be 
 earned. The country now stands mired in a backlash of parties and 
 platitudes. Our collective heads are stuck in the sand. Nobody sees 
 what's coming."
					_Sandman Mystery Theater:
					the Tarantula_

"Innocence is dying in this sick and lonely world. Innocence is all that's 
 promised in the next."
					_Sandman Mystery Theater:
					the Tarantula_

"We are MANLY! Beware. Beware, for your world will fall before us and our
 explosive might! FEEL OUR WRATH! We will walk among your bones and smell
 the stench of your flesh! Your children will be our slaves and your women
 will ripen our pants. Your pets will be our food and we will walk upon
 your CARS!"
                                        -Chuck Brown, the Grittite
                                        _Scud: the Disposible Assassin_ 

"Do you guys really care if some money goes from some rich people to us,
 only to be replaced by insurance? Is that what Doom Patrol is about now?
 We're not worth you using your gifts, and you damn well know it. Didn't
 you used to, you know, save the world and such? Look... you all and us,
 we're in the middle. On the far end on one side, there's the Justice
 League, all shiny and sweet. On the other far end, there're people like
 Joker and Darkseid, who'd kill everything and everyone, if they could. 
 Us, we're in the grey zone. Neither side approves of either of us.
					-Catman, _Secret Six:
					 Six Degrees of Devastation_

[Re: Secret Wars II]
"The inherent fatal flaw in this is that no human writer can convincingly
 portray utterly omnipotent characters, and Jim Shooter proceeds to
 demonstrate this."
					-The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide

"An' Juston... ya can't just change the rules ta suit ya. That's the easy 
way out, an' I don't think I raised you guys ta be that way"
					_Sentinel: Salvage_

"You know, I keep looking through the piles of gears and parts and
 stuff...? And I think that maybe there's that'll tell me why everyone
 picks on me. Or why I'm stuck in this lousy town, or why we're not all
 that well off, or why our mom left us... but it's just junk, you know?
 It's just junk."
					-Juston, _Sentinel: Salvage_

"You're the man with the power of a million exploding suns... and one
 sordid little secret."
                                        _The Sentry_

"Look at the world about you crumbling... but you don't have the nerve to
 admit it's your fault, do you?"
                                        _The Sentry_

"As you always knew it would be, in your heart of hearts. You're the last
 line of defense, arriving always in the nick of time as the world
 breathes a sigh of relief. You're the eternal-beloved, with one second
 remaining on the clock."
                                        _The Sentry_

"The battle is a perfectly coordinated assault... a mixture of loud
 explosions and heroic rallying cries combined with the stench of cordite
 and ozone."
                                        _The Sentry_

"The fear among the heroes is so thick you can touch it - somehow, you can
 feel what they feel. It's a curious, familiar sensation... almost as if
 all the terror and trepidation are necessary."
                                        _The Sentry_

"This is a day that will live in the hearts and minds of every hero,
 whether they are to remember it or not. Their nights are never going to
 be the same. As they fall into sleep, from this day on, there will be a  
 short detour that takes them to a darker place where the Void will be
 waiting."
                                        _The Sentry_

"His fury this day is unimaginable - he must strike at the heart of all
 creation if he is going to survive. This world is everything he despises,
 this beast of impossible shadow... this monster of antithesis..."
                                        _The Sentry_

"It's the end of the story for this universe of marvels. We have turned
 the final page."
                                        _The Sentry_

"You remember what Dr. Finder said, Bob. 'You're not scared, you just
 think you are.' Fear's just a little black cloud, and when you think it's
 going to rain on you, you smile at it and all that light makes the cloud
 go away, okay?"
                                        _The Sentry_

[Blizzard tries to ambush She-Hulk in a bar. And fails.]
Blizzard: Crud. This is the part where you beat me to a pulp, isn't it?
	And then send me back to the Vault with all the other small-time 
	losers.
She-Hulk: Nah. Want a drink?
Blizzard: Um... okay. Sure.
					_She-Hulk: Single Green Female_

Jennifer: I mean, what's to stop any one of my rogues' gallery from
	attacking while -
Scarlet Witch: A rogues' gallery? Since when do you have a rogues'
	gallery?
Jennifer: Well... there's Titania, Ultima, the Man-Elephant... um...
	Titania...
Scarlet Witch: You said Titania.
					_She-Hulk: Single Green Female_

Dr. Strange: Confront him with the truth that you have uncovered, and this
	Cage of Cytorrak will keep him.
Jennifer: I thought the truth sets us free, Doctor.
Dr. Strange: The spiritual realm, Jennifer, is filled with ironies.
					_She-Hulk: Single Green Female_

"Sometimes standing up for your friends means killing a whole lot of
 people."
                                        _Sin City_, Frank Miller

"We're ice-hearted pistoleros from the murderverse, with chalk outlines
 round our souls!"
					-Finnigan Sinister, 
					_Sinister Dexter_

"Apply the brakes, amigo. Two things you should know... Your aftershave
 makes the senora heave. And I am a professional killer with little or no
 patience. Now bug off."
					-Ramone Dexter, _Sinister Dexter_

"Still... gotta admire a guy who brings a nuke to a gunfight."
					-Ramone Dexter, _Sinister Dexter_

"I bet we don't even get a proper teleportation booth. I bet we get one of
 those dogs with a tuning fork..."
					_Smax_

Robyn: Jeez. That must have been tough, your parents dying.
Smax: Yeah, it was. Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have killed
	them.
					_Smax_

Smax: I had to get a job.
Robyn: A *dragonslayer*? Jesus, Jeff. Couldn't you have, I don't know,
	just been a lumber jack or something? Why a dragonslayer?
Smax: Well, if I'm honest, it was mostly the damsels.
					_Smax_

Smax: It's sort of a mess. See, my dad, he was this ogre...
Robyn: Jeff, everybody says that about their dads. You've seen what mine
	can be like.
Smax: Nah. No, I mean, he lived in a cave, body parts hanging up
	everywhere and like that.
					_Smax_

"Jeff, I'm fond of you like I'd be fond of some big, irritating dog that I
 didn't really want."
					-Robyn, _Smax_

Robyn: The guys at the precinct said when I was under that rubble, you
	cried like a girl.
Smax: WHO? Dammit, who saw me do that?
Robyn: Nobody. I was just guessing.
					_Smax_

"Of course they do, Jaafs, you were never good at making up stories.
 Really, you're pretty stupid."
					_Smax_

Robyn: Wait a minute. Are you Death?
Lionel: *Hhahhhh* Well, I'm *a* Death, obviously, but I'm only the one who
	handles chess games with wily peasants. My name's Lionel. Nice 
	meeting you.
Robyn: Uh... likewise. So. I bet you're like, real good at chess?
Lionel: Me? God, no. I'm terrible. All those stories, the peasant always 
	wins, you'll notice. It's just I'm worse at everything else.
					_Smax_

Smax: Anyway, I'll be okay. I have a plan.
Robyn: Jeff, you totally don't. If there's one thing I know, you do not
	have, it's a plan.
Smax: Yes I do.
Robyn: Oh, what, is this the plan where you go in and hit things until
	they stop moving or you do? It is, isn't it?
					_Smax_

"I don't need closure? You know what needs closure? Your mouth needs
 closure."
					_Smax_

Aldric: Ah, balls. I expect I'll have to go in with her.
Smax: Yeah, she's little, but she's a bully.
					_Smax_

Smax: If we keep to these narrow tunnels, he can't follow us.
Morningbright: But, if that were true, why would I have narrow tunnels in
	the first place? I fear you're not taking me seriously. You see, 
	it's like this. In the beginning, God created me... Then he made 
	the universe, from what was left over. You will never forget this 
	next moment.
					_Smax_

"We all know how long Smith has waited for a presidential press pass and
 we definitely know what it means for all of us. If he beats my record  
 time for presidential luncheon ejection tomorrow he gets my parking place
 for a year and the highly opulent 'Feast of the Successful Ejection.'"   
                                _Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant_

"Research shows most humans ignore the unusual. To deal with it would take
 precious time away from figuring out what's on TV."
                                        _Smith Brown Jones:
                                        Alien Accountant_

Enigman: Exactly! I am mystery wrapped in an enigma, lightly frosted with
        a conundrum. I am Enigman!      
Smith: Enigman? That starts with an 'E'. How come there's a 'Q' on your
        chest?!                         
E: All part of the mystery! Orchestrated confusion, works every time.   
                                        _Smith Brown Jones:
                                        Alien Accountant_

[fixing his broken translator:]         
"2, 4, 6, 8... we will dominate. That's better."
                                        -Phtang,
                                _Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant_

"I'm not here to try out for the celestial debate squad."
                                        -Satan, _The Spectre_

"To put Spider-Man in perspective and show how important it is to me I can
 tell you this: when I made my first Holy Communion, when I was 7, I got a
 big, heavy, thick black marker and drew the lines of Spider-Man's mask on
 my face, including the big, bug eyes around my eyes. My plan was to color
 it in red, but then I got caught and my mom went crazy. She scrubbed my
 face but it just did not come off. In my Holy Communion pictures, which
 were a week later, you can still see the faint traces of Spider-Man's web
 and the eyes. If that's not a qualification for writing Spider-Man, then
 I don't know what is. That's how much Spider-Man means to me; that's how
 far back my love of the character goes."
					-Mark Millar

"If there's one thing the movies teach us, it's that alien technology is
 always conveniently flawed."
					_Spider-man Family_

"This was just between the bad guys. You shouldn't even be involved. You 
 wouldn't believe the stuff we get up to behind your backs. You wouldn't 
 believe the stuff we do that the super heroes never even hear about."
					-Electro,
					_Spider-man_ (Marvel Knights)

"And you didn't think I was this dangerous, huh? You didn't figure I'd 
 even think of stuff like sparking the gas in the fuel tank and all sorts 
 of crazy stuff like that? Well, prison gets you a lotta time to just sit 
 around and talk about new ways you can use these freaky powers of ours, 
 Spider-Man. Ionizing metal was Doctor Octopus' idea, by the way."
					-Electro,
					_Spider-man_ (Marvel Knights)

"This is a job... for somebody else."
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

"Absorbing Man - whew! He's tough. Good thing guys like the Avengers
 handle characters like - uh-oh."
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

Spider-Man: Okay... this is kind of embarrassing...
Hank Pym: You can't top my career in the embarrassment category. I mean,
	just for building Ultron alone...
Spider-Man: Somebody stole my wallet.
[Hank spits out his drink.]
Spider-Man: Thanks for being so understanding...
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

"You built an electronic device that interfaces with your arachnid 
 powers? Did you know how many years it took me to build that capacity 
 into my helmet? I don't know which is worse - that some kid is that much 
 smarter that me, or that he's wasting his talent on punching thugs."
					-Hank Pym,
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

[Peter picks up the phone at _The Bugle._]
Reed Richards: Parker? This is Reed Richards.
Peter: How did you find me here?
Reed: If I can track subatomic particles through the Negative Zone... I
	can get your work number.
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

The Owl: I can't believe I made all this money, but can't buy decent
	protection.
minion: I think we need to go after some real heavy hitters, boss.
The Owl: Like who?
minion: I'm thinking... Thanos. Or Loki.
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

SHIELD Agent: Gotta run. There's some nut in black leather and a cape
	trying to break into the Baxter Building, it's all over the news.
Spider-Man: Sheesh... I think that one's mine too.
					_Spider-Man: Wild Blue Yonder_

"I knock things down. That's what I do."
                                        -Rhino, _Spider-man's Tangled Web_ 

"Jeez, even Rocket Racer and the Gibbon are laughing at me."
                                        _Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"God save me, a supervillian with a midlife crisis."
                                        _Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"If there's one thing I won't ever get get tired of... it's running
 through walls."
                                        -Rhino, _Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"My life isn't perfect, Carl. Far from it. And I could do without the
 death-defying exploits and the colorful villians, if I'm completely
 honest with you. All I want is to do a little bit of good. Let's go."
                                        _Spider-man's Tangled Web_

psychiatrist: Let's talk about the relationship between you and your
	own son.
J. Jonah Jameson: Right, well he's kind of concentrating on his 
	recovery...
psychiatrist: Hmmm. Recovery from what? Alcohol, drugs...?
Jameson: Lycanthropy.
					_Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"There is a school of thought, Mr. Jameson, that says super heroes have
 replaced God in the social consciousness. They are who we call when our
 problems outweigh our abilities... How did you feel when men appeared
 that not only claimed to be heroes, but covered their faces? Did you see
 your father, Mr. Jameson? Did you convince yourself that these men had
 something to hide?... You had to know, didn't you, Mr. Jameson? You had
 to know what horrible secret these men were hiding. When did you stop
 believing in heroes, Mr. Jameson?"
					_Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"No one's a hero, doc. Especially not me."
					-J. Jonah Jameson,
					_Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"He's just a guy trying to buck the system. In a frog suit."
					_Spider-Man's Tangled Web_

"Every facet of my intelligence is being assaulted at once, and I can't
 look away. What kind of cultural sadist is in charge down there?"
					_Spider-man's Tangled Web_

"If you hadn't gone with the story, someone else would have. You're a cog
 in the machine. But then, so am I. They had their agenda. And I have
 mine."
					-Hyperion, _Squadron Supreme_

Blur: So what're you saying... That the world is gonna turn on us one of
	these days?
Hyperion: If they're smart.
					_Squadron Supreme_

"Smartest man on the planet, remember?"
					-Emil Burbank, _Squadron Supreme_

"You think I'd get into a small space with a freak show like this without
 figuring out how to protect myself?"
					-Emil Burbank, _Squadron Supreme_

"War is the implementation of policy by other means. We *are* that
 means."
					-Emil Burbank, _Squadron Supreme_

"I've never understood the point of world domination. I mean, once you've
 conquered the world, what do you *do* with it? I've given it a lot of   
 thought, but never came up with a solution."
					-Emil Burbank, _Squadron Supreme_

"Helmet's not much good anymore. Can't do much if you can't see straight. 
 Armor's a help, but all armor has flaws."
					-Bly, _Star Wars: Republic_

"I don't pretend to know what the Force is or how it works. Not something 
 clones deal with. Not a color I see. Not a sound I hear. Maybe it's like 
 the way the hairs on the back of my neck bristle before I first hear a 
 battle droid or incoming missiles. Maybe the Force is like that. Maybe 
 it's like the Jedi's armor."
					-Bly, _Star Wars: Republic_

"I remember the night you were born. Your mother holding you in her arms.
 'Our son will be an artist,' she said. But I looked in your eyes and I
 knew your destiny, then and there. I looked into your baby face and I
 knew. You'd be a hero. That's why I named you Jack. A hero's name.
                                        -Ted Knight,
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"Yes, yes. Me. The big, bad villian. The big, bad wolf."
                                        -the Shade,
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

The Mist: Is it me, then, growing old? Or do all the costumed do-gooders
        begin to blur into one annoying mess after a while.
The Shade: Don't worry. I get them mixed up, too. And I'm sure they say
        the same about us.
                                         _Starman: Sins of the Father_

Hope O'Dare: The Mist's hideout! You know where it is?
Shade: No, we met on park benches, like spies in a Len Deighton Novel.   
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"Superheroes, supervillians. It's all self-propogating kid stuff. A chance
 for grown men to put their underwear on outside their tights."
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"And as for those who'd ally themselves with the Knights old and young...
 kill them all. Be cruel that my name be feared all the more. In their   
 last moments, have them rue every moment prior."
                                        -the Mist,
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"Committed bad deeds? Of course I do. Not that I need to anymore. But it 
 goes beyond the desire for money and fine things after a while? ...
 Doesn't it? It becomes a need itself."
                                        -the Shade,
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"Why? Am I k-k-killing you? Because of h-hate. My father hates y-your
 father hates m-mine. Someone hate somebody e-e-else. It's the stuff of 
 w-w-war and opera. So-s-soldiers or the chorus, d-depending on your
 pre-pre-preference of metaphor. We do the killing. And the dying."
                                        -Nash, the Mist's daughter,
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

"You're Starman now? You're the man, right? Well, wait and see what I
 become."
                                        -Nash, the Mist's daughter,  
                                        _Starman: Sins of the Father_

Jack: So how does he keep you all here? What power does he have?
Octavia: The supernatural. He... isn't... isn't -
Jack: What? Man, talk about a pregnant pause. He isn't what? Presbyterian?
	Circumcised? A vegetarian? A Jackie Gleason fan? What?
Octavia: Bliss isn't human.
Jack: Oh. Well, that's certainly the big "isn't" when you boil them all
	down.
					_Starman: Night and Day_

"It's addictive, son. That alone is enough for some to don the colored
 costumes and run around like idiots."
					-Ted, _Starman: Night and Day_

Shade: He was a student of the occult... at some point this involved him
	summoning a devil... a demon... or something of that sort.
Jack: You seem so off-hand when saying it.
Shade: Jack, my life has been a... mosaic of such horrors. You see one
	demon, you've seen them all.
					_Starman: Night and Day_

"A drama is beginning. The players are gathered. And everyone will have a
 role to play. Tomorrow, on a day unlike any other. When what makes a hero
 will be defined in the thoughts and actions of each soul shown here. Or
 what makes a villain... what makes a villain... and an enemy for life."
					_Starman: Night and Day_

"One thing though. Going back to the Mist. She said that she and I are
 alike. I inferred she meant that we are both like players in a pantomime.
 She's bad, and I'm good, but we're just acting out parts. Nothing really
 matters. I didn't like hearing that, Davey. I'm going to prove her wrong,
 too, if I can ever think of a way."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"There are some cities where a vigilante such as Starman would be
 discouraged. And there are cities... Gotham springs to mind, where having
 a mystery man is considered something of an asset. Jim Gordon and Batman
 supposedly have a relationship. Which kind of city should Opal be? And
 which kind of commissioner should it have?"
					-Woo,
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

Ted: You become caught up in it. Not the danger. Not the public spirit.
	It's the rush. That delicious quiver in your stomach when you know 
	a battle is do or die.
Jack: You feel it too, huh?
Ted: I did. I outgrew it. Many of us do. Rex Tyler, on the other hand,
	never shook it off. He was a man who fought addictions and beat 
	most of them. This was the one he couldn't shake.
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"Hamlet's gravedigger said it. That his work began the day Hamlet was
 born. That the moment we're born we begin dying. I fear death. No. Not
 death, but dying. How. Not death and whatever follows, but the act of
 aging into nothing. Old actors. Movies show them young. Young. Sharp.
 Cool. They grow old. They lose everything they had. They grow weak.
 Sometimes I think James Dean did it right. Make three great movies then
 split on beautiful wheels. The world never forgets you. Linger on, get
 pushed around in a wheelchair like Cagney, get Alzheimer's like Rita
 Hayworth, and the world tries to forget you. It's just too painful
 otherwise."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination...

"I didn't know that much about Wesley Dodds. I know that when everyone
 else jumped into gaudy long jonhs he stayed in a three-piece suit and a
 gas mask. Have to admire him for that. I knew he was older and earlier
 than the others. And I knew... actually, that's all I knew."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"'Hmm, how queer,' the shadowy shadowy man muses, as he charges and leaps.
 'How utterly odd for me to be doing such a thing. This is how a hero
 acts... not one such as me.'"
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

[Seeing Wesley Dodds for the first time.]
"But I don't see him as small. No. I see the man who did it first. The man
 driven enough to begin it all. I see a giant. It didn't matter at all to
 me. Dodds, and his past. Then in a wave of emotion I can't begin to
 understand... it suddenly means everything."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

A thug: We've received word.
Merritt: From where?
A thug: Everywhere, Mr. Merritt. You know how it is. One person hears a
	rumor, and suddenly everyone's got the news on their lips.
Merritt: Well, no, I don't know anything of the kind. But if you say so.
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"Jack can't see Wesley's face behind the mask, but imagines him wildly
 laughing at fate... in grainy black and white."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"I don't know. If someone had told me I'd willingly dive through the gates
 of Hell, I'd say they were screwy. Why am I here? It seemed like a good
 idea at the time."
					_Starman: A Wicked Inclination..._

"[Jack] felt my generation's greatest crime was not realizing how
 beautifully designed our world was. We allowed things to become so
 streamlined and simplified that everything elegant went away."
					-Ted, _Starman: Times Past_

"Me, I'm no authority on the subject... but isn't that what makes a
 hero? Doing what's right because it is. Simple. No vengeful
 motivation. Nothing ulterior."
					_Starman: Times Past_

"I'm on first name terms with a ghost. A nautical ghost."
					_Starman: Infernal Devices_

"Batman's 'the dark knight'. Superman's 'the man of steel'. I'm I'm not
 careful, I'll be Starman 'the hero who gets knocked out and tied up a 
 lot."
					_Starman: Infernal Devices_

"Batman? He seems so wrapped up in his dark, dire persona... takes
 himself so seriously. He is everything I hate about today's heroes."
					_Starman: Infernal Devices_

"I feel so conflicted. And scared. What if this was indeed the end? But I
 also felt excitement... as I did every time Culp and I had met. This was
 life and death for two who seemed destined never to know the end of
 mortality's arc. And I felt joy. A strange contentment. Knowing this was
 my destiny. One reason I first drew breath. And through it all, a single
 thought in my head... how perfectly perfect. My one thought... until the
 moment I realized. I still had fight withing me... and Simon Culp had   
 none of it."
					-The Shade, _Starman_

"Somewhere, in our darkest night, we made up the story of a man who will  
 never let us down..."
					-Grant Morrison

"Imagine life on this world if some opportunistic alien vermin hadn't
 decided to dump its trash here, Kent. That's all I've ever asked anyone
 to do. Imagine how it was meant to be."
					-Lex Luthor, _All-Star Superman_

"Ever seen bullets actually bounce off a man, Mr. Kent?"
                                        _Superman_ #145

Jimmy: Don't you ever wonder what it'd be like working for a paper where
	we weren't covering stories about super-villians and 
	fifth-dimensional  imps?
Lois: To be honest...? I wouldn't have it any other way, kid.
					_Superman Adventures_

"Hey, I'm a big girl. I've punched Braniac in the face."
					-Lois, _Superman Adventures_

Marty: I used to think you had it made, but bein' Superman's th' hardest
        job in th' world.
Superman: No, Marty. Being a man is.
                                        _Mann and Superman_

"It gave me some time to think. Where does he go? When he's not Superman,
 I mean. Then I thought, man, maybe he never takes a break. Maybe he's on
 call 24-7. He's gotta be the loneliest guy on the planet. Then I figured
 out what he said about choosing being hard. It's like, every time he
 saves someone from a burning building - or rescues a cat from a tree -
 it's time he could have spent on himself. But he didn't. It's sacrifice.
 And, I suppose, it's what seperates the heroes from the rest of us."
                                        _Supermen of America_, #1

"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us
 all. Then... he shoots fire from the skies and it is difficult not think
 of him as a god."
					-Batman, _Superman/Batman_

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus."
					-Lex Luthor, _Superman/Batman_

Amanda Waller: There's been talk that you haven't thought this through -
Lex Luthor: On the contrary, I've thought of little else.
					_Superman/Batman_

Captain Atom: I need to speak to you, sir.
President Luthor: Captain, is your ability to pick inappropriate times for
	our discussions some sort of "super power" we don't know about?
					_Superman/Batman_

[Batman is standing in a half-dug-up grave.]
Superman: Some mess you've got out here.
Batman: I've seen worse.
Superman: Scary part is... I know you have.
					_Superman/Batman_

Superman: Your... butler guards the cave with a shotgun? You didn't have a
	spare Mister Freeze ray gun he could use?
Batman: This from a man who uses a dog with a cape to protect his
	fortress.
					_Superman/Batman_

"I know that Bruce thinks I'm being naive. The Kansas farmboy
 underthinking what is happening. Underestimating me. It's a common
 mistake."
					-Superman, _Superman/Batman_

Superman: We're surrounded, you know. I can hear them all.
Batman: I think we can take them. Do you think we can take them?
Superman: You always think we can take them.
					_Superman/Batman_

"I had to tell Clark. Nothing is ever simple. Even if you are they most
 powerful man in the world. Especially then."
					-Batman, _Superman/Batman_

Superman: Do you know what I was thinking about the other day?
Batman: No.
Superman: Magpie.
Batman: The criminal?
Superman: Do we know another "Magpie"? ...Whatever happened to her?
Batman: She died.
Superman: No... are you sure?
Batman: Reasonably.
Superman: Why is it the good villians never die?
Batman:  Clark. What the hell are "good" villians?
					_Superman/Batman_

"'Super. Hearing.' There are days when Clark never ceases to amaze me."
                                        -Batman, _Superman/Batman_

"I always thought if it were going to end, Clark would be there."
					-Batman, _Superman/Batman_

Metallo: I didn't want for it to go down this way, Superman.
Superman: When you got up this morning, Metallo, what way *did* you expect
        it to go?
                                        _Superman/Batman_

"He hates it... all of it. he hates what he has to do in order to do what
 he wants to do. All he wanted was to help people. To do something
 positive. And the price of that, it seems... the price of that is not 
 being able to trust anyone. To have your innermost dreams and fears
 seduced out of you for the world's entertainment."
                                        _Superstar_

Ubi dubium, ibi libertas
Where there is doubt, there is freedom.
					_Supreme Power_

"I called this country home. I was loyal. I believed. I believed all of
 it. And you have destroyed it. That is, you have destroyed it within the
 borders of the country I had come to love. Perhaps you did not stop to
 think that there are other countries, other nations, for whichthis would
 not be a problem."
					-Hyperion, _Supreme Power_

"You have done all this because you believe you have the power to act with
 impunity. You, who walk in the shadows, who play with lives the way a
 child plays with blocks. You have no idea what power is. By at 8:30
 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, your definition of power will become a bit
 clearer."
					-Hyperion, _Supreme Power_

"Look, you're new to this, but - as you can already plainly see - the
 system is fucked up. Justice can prevail... but sometimes it needs a
 little nudge."
					_Supreme Power: Nighthawk_

"Everyone dreams of changing the world. I only want to change it back."
					-Steeplejack, _The Surrogates_

"The problem with an Achilles heel is that you don't know it's there until
 someone strikes it."
					-Det. Greer, _The Surrogates_

"Do not make the mistake of trusting that because you have more power, you
	are more powerful."
					_The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone_

"...A little something I like to call Edison's Razor. Basically, the idea
 that is the most obvious, cliched explanation is probably not the right
 one. Clones and impersonator robots are so old hat."
					-Edison,
					_Tales from the Bully Pulpit_

Thomas Edison: I think you'll find that your machine is now fully
	equipped to travel through space as well as time.
Teddy Roosevelt: All you did was add little wings.
Edison: No, Teddy. All I did was add *science.* And a love seat.
					_Tales from the Bully Pulpit_

"Poor Richard's Almanack predicts a hailstorm of fists coming your way."
					-Ben Franklin,
					_Tales from the Bully Pulpit_

"Ich habe amassed un army the likes of which the world has never seen!
 Julius Caesar! Communism's poster boy, Chairman Mao! His interdimensional
 anthropomorphic counterpart, Chairman Meow! Die terror of Israel, Goliath
 of Gath! Your friend und mine, Saddam Hussein!"
					-Hitler, 
					_Tales from the Bully Pulpit_

Hitler: You're mine.
Lincoln: Bring it, Boy. I'm gonna emancipate your teeth.
					_Tales from the Bully Pulpit_

"Beast Boy. The first time I met him, all I could think about was how he
 smelled like a wet dog. I don't think many people notice his attributes.
 But I was trained to see subtleties. The way he scratches his ear. The
 way his eyes dart around. And he's always looking for approval. Whether
 it be from the public or the Titans. Is it his personality? Or the
 animals inside him?
					-Robin, _Teen Titans_

"Hell, I did a good ten years of Titans stories. Of course, they were
 spread out over a sixteen year run, but who's counting."
					-Marv Wolfman

Brainiac 5: ...Those vibrations, unfortunately, can be generated only by
	XS and Koko here.
Bart: My name is Kid Flash now. Koko was what you called your monkey.
Brainiac 5: Exactly.
					_Teen Titans/Legion Special_

[Brainiac 5 orders people around.]
Raven: That green guy is an ass.
Gar: God, I hope we're not related.
					_Teen Titans/Legion Special_

[Brainiac 5 gives Bart a shot in the arm.]
Bart: YEEOW! What the-? Who let Brainiac 5 have a nail gun? Brainy, don't
	shoot! It's me! Bart Allen! Don'y you remember me?
Brainiac 5: Are you joking? I drink to forget you.
					_Teen Titans/Legion Special_

Starfire: Well there is something definitly wrong with Beast Boy.
Wonder Girl: How do you know that?
Starfire: He normally just stares at my chest.
					_Teen Titans_

"Nah, Frankie. You're not stupid. In fact, I think yer the smartest kid I
 know. And yer dad knows how smart you are too. See, sometimes his
 ten-syllable words don't get through my thick skull. But he knew you'd be
 smart enough to say what hadda be said... in a way even I could
 unnerstand."
					_The Thing: Idol of Millions_

Irma: See, what it is, your "emotions," they're just part of your
        programming...
Joe Pi: And yours aren't?
                                        _Top 10_

"Father always said that every scientific discovery began with those two
 words: 'What If.'"
                                        -Machine Man, _Universe X_

"Yet there we were. Fighting madmen. Madmen who believed they were
 defending what was rightfully theirs. We beat our chests and closed our
 fists over our hearts and swore we'd fight to the death for the sake of
 freedom."
                                        -Captain America, _Universe X_

"And living our days in fears of futures now past is no way to live."
                                        -Angel, _Universe X_

"I swore that day I would never kill again, that to kill again would be to
 shame everything I'd ever fought for. To kill again would be my failure.
 But who ever heard of a soldier that wouldn't take a life?"
                                        -Captain America, _Universe X_

"It can be pretty scary to find out your myths are real."
                                        -Ka-zar, _Universe X_

"You can't stop me. Not unless I let you."
                                        -Captain America, _Universe X_

"You fail to know how old you are until you discover that you are never   
 going to die."
                                        -Gargoyle, _Universe X_

"We are a rare few, we who the world once called heroes. To a very real
 degree, Steve Rogers was, to those he protected and fought for... an
 unknown soldier. But aren't we all? To die so that others will live has
 always been our lot. Our definition. But where does this come from? Why 
 do we do it? Some say we do this for ourselves. For the thrill. To be   
 admired. To be looked up to. Yet here we are. Again mourning perhaps our
 greatest champion. A nomad in a world that no longer believed in the  
 America that made him what he was. It was not for this world that he   
 fought, but for the ideals of the world he hoped this one might become. 
 That was his example to us. He showed us the cost. Steve showed us that 
 blood is seed. We cannot forget. We dare not. And we must hope, for those
 of us still here, that this man who fought for God and country, has at 
 last finally been able to gain citizenship in that place. And that he's  
 making room for us."
                                        -Wyatt/Falcon, _Universe X_

"You read any Greek myths, puppy? The one bout the Gorgon Medusa,
 particularly? I used to wonder what could be so terrible that you
 couldn't survive even looking at it. Until I got a little older, and
 figured out the obvious answer. Everything."
					-Pullman, _The Unwritten_

"...The Vault is a dramatically-flawed idea - either villains escape a lot
 (which is what happened) and the result is that this supposedly-cool
 place looks like it's made of cardboard, or they don't, in which case
 villains get captured and vanish from the Marvel U. forever, since Marvel
 time mitigates against their sentences ever being naturally completed."  
					-Kurt Busiek, 2001

"I hear you. I'd love to know how the Raiders are doing. If there's any
 team that could survive this... it's them."
					_The Walking Dead:
					 Miles Behind Us_

"I been doing his job since I was fourteen years old honey, and I don't
 regret a single thing. How many people get to thirty-five and still able 
 to say that, huh?"
					 -Fox, _Wanted_

Rictus: Feeling a little guilty about swapping sides like this, Sucker?
Sucker: Are you kidding? We been hiding in the shadows way too long 
	already, man. What's the point of having all this goddamned power 
	if we don't let it go to our heads once in a while?
					_Wanted_

"The newspapers were just full'a freaky shit back in those days, man;
 villains that could walk through walls, villains dressed like crossword
 puzzles, villains who could travel through clocks and paintings. The
 papers just look so goddamn boring now with their presidential elections
 and Dow Jones indexes."
					 -Fox, _Wanted_

"The Illuminati is real - and God help us, they have superpowers."
					_Wanted_ (_Wanted Dossier_)

"Only difference between a dream and a nightmare is how big your balls
 are, bitch."
					-the Fox, _Wanted_

Wesley: What are you saying? That my dad was involved in whatever it is
	you people do?
The Fox: You mean was your old man one of the greatest super villians of
	all time? Yes, Wesley, that's *exactly* what I'm saying.
					_Wanted_

[Rictus shoots two parents, but not their son.]
"Leave him. With any luck, he'll spend the next eighteen years training
 himself to avenge these idiots and give me someone interesting to fight
 when I'm an old man."
					-Mr. Rictus, _Wanted_

"You were the scariest man alive one time. Can you believe that? The
 scariest man alive, and all they'll remember you for is the corny jokes
 and those silly nylon tights."
					-Mr. Rictus, _Wanted_

Adam One: You start taking cities apart with those toys and you'll have
	every cape in the multi-verse coming down on us, Rictus.
Mr. Rictus: Ah, who cares? After eighteen years counting money in the
	shadows, I'm afraid there's only one thing we've got to say to 
	that, Adam One: bring it on.
					_Wanted_

"Now go switch on your TV sets and take a look at the future, boys. No
 more peace, no more gritty realism. The good old days are back with a
 vengeance, only now we don't have the superheroes to hold back our
 wildest excesses."
					-Mr. Rictus, _Wanted_

"We didn't become super-villains to sit behind desks and manage this
 global conspiracy, Adam One. We donned these costumes, in the parlance of
 today, to start some shit."
					-Mr. Rictus, _Wanted_

"Others walk through walls, ride sound-waves or do freaky shit with
 mirrors and paintings. But my super-power is just killing people. My
 special gift is just stopping people breathing... And sometimes that's
 scarier than every other power put together."
					-Wesley, _Wanted_

"It was the perfect plan. What better way to keep control than making
 everyone forget there had ever been a revolution?"
					_Wanted_

"No one's going to be able to follow this."
					-Alan Moore, on his thoughts
					while writing _Watchmen_

"I'd have liked to have seen more people trying to do something that was
 as techincally complex as _Watchmen_, or as ambitious, but which wasn't
 strumming the same chords that _Watchmen_ had strummed so repetitively."
					-Alan Moore

"_Watchmen_ took the history of comics and used it as a template for
 examining the human condition in a way no one had seen before."
					-Joss Whedon

"This is the gun of the future. And our wars of tomorrow will be fought by
 remote-controlled animals, like these. Living weapons, senator."
					_we3_

"...What kind of a lunatic would teach a killing machine to talk?"
					_we3_

"First of all, thank you for bringing up my pelvis. I agree with you
 completely about Logan. Do you write a great emotional speech for Clint
 Eastwood? Not so much. Plus, [Wolverine]'s in EVERY BOOK. I think he
 just joined the JLA, and for some reason he appears in the revised
 Penguin edition of _Little Dorrit_."
					-Joss Whedon, SFX

Katie: So what brings you to the land of the rising sun?
Wolverine: Ancient samurai curse. You?
Julie: Wacky Japanese game show.
					_Wolverine and Power Pack_

Wolverine: Besides, real power don't come from mutant genes or magic
	spells.
Julie: Duh. It comes from alien horsies.
					_Wolverine and Power Pack_

"Paranoia is not the disease that keeps me incarcerated here. Like many of
 the old-line Stalinists, I suffer from a touch of megalomania."
					-Dr. Neutron,
					_Wolverine: Meltdown_

“When you need to stop an asteroid, you get Superman. When you need to
 solve a mystery, you call Batman. But when you need to end a war, you get
 Wonder Woman.”
					-Gail Simone

"Some people are like that. They carry their strengths inside, to be
 discovered with their secrets."
					_Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia_

"Greek tragedy is always a story of the insoluble. The conflict of
 personal desire versus the demands of society. And tragedies always begin
 long before the first scene is ever played... they are born often enough
 of actions taken in purity, be it intention or emotion... done no more
 often than not for the best of reasons. But all tragedies end the same
 way."
					_Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia_

Batman: Don't make me go through you, Diana.
Wonder Woman: You can't go through me, Batman.
					_Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia_

Laura: If I am the only person in the world who believes in doing what is
	good, then I'm abnormal. I can't believe that what's good is 
	abnormal. Ether I'm right and the world is wrong, or I'm crazy. I 
	don't really like either option.
Anne: Maybe you are right. Maybe the rest of us are fucked up.
Laura: How can I have a set of beliefs that is completely different from
	the rest of the world's, and yet still be right?
Anne: Maybe you're from Saturn.
Laura: Oh, yeah, right. Thanks.
					_Why I Hate Saturn_

"Kang, meanwhile, enjoys traveling through time and meeting his equally
 unsuccessful dopplegangers, so they can swap stories of failure."
                                        -Wizard magazine, #138

"The real problem with having mind-controlled zombies as my servants is
 that it's tough to get up a really sincere-sounding round of cheers when
 I've come up with a plan I think is worth cheering."
					-Maximus, _X-Factor_ Annual #2

Proteus: Don't engage us in pointless combat.
Iceman: Hey - pointless combat is what we do best, buddy!
					_X-Factor_ Annual #6 (1994)

"I didn't think you had hobbies, 355. Other than, you know, cleaning guns
 and sharpening knives and... well, generally fidgeting with things that
 kill people."
					-Yorick, 
					_Y the Last Man: Unmanned_

"Rest assured, when the game is over, the queen and pawn go back into the
 same box."
					-Victoria,
					_Y the Last Man: Unmanned_

"...Once you make it past the scales and the blindfold... Justice is a
 woman with a sword."
					-Victoria, _Y the Last Man: Cycles_

Yorick: I still don't understand why you can't just, you know, scrape a
	few cells from my cheek and do your clone war experiments without 
	me.
Mann: Yes, well, perhaps that's why you didn't receive the National Medal
	of Science.
Yorick: Maybe not, but I almost qualified for the President's Physical
	Fitness Award in sixth grade. Almost.
					_Y the Last Man: Cycles_

"Don't get me wrong, I still want to do whatever I can to help, but my
 motto's always been 'with little power comes little responsibility.'"
					_Y the Last Man: One Small Step_

355: It's a secret installation, Yorick. It's not supposed to look like
	the Pentagon.
Yorick: Yeah, but a barn? That's where bandits go to hide before they
	inevitably get shot to death.
Dr. Mann: John Wilkes Booth was killed inside a barn.
Yorick: Seriously, haven't we been through enough sieges already?
355: Well, seeing as we're neither old-timey outlaws or rebel assassins, I
	think we're in the clear.
					_Y the Last Man: One Small Step_

"Sorry, ladies, I guess that's our cue. We like to storm into town,
inflict maximum damage, and then disappear... like a KISS concert."
					_Y the Last Man: One Small Step_

"The point is, nobody knows who they are, where they came from, or why
 they're here. That's where we come in."
					-J. Jonah Jameson,
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

Liz Farrell: Okay, I'm sorry, but - who's Bucky?
J. Jonah Jameson: "Who's Bucky?"
Jessica Jones: Bucky was Captain America's sidekick during World War Two.
Jameson: How could you not know Bucky? How old are you?
Liz: It was World War Two. How old are you?
Jonah: I was extremely young back then, thank you for asking. Young enough
	- and naive enough - to want to be Bucky.
Jessica: You wanted to be Bucky?
Jonah: Every kid did. Until Captain America led a fourteen-year-old boy
	behind enemy lines... and got him killed. Suddenly, I didn't want 
	to be Bucky anymore. Nobody did. From then on, sidekicks only 
	showed up in comic books.
Jessica: Until now.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

J. Jonah Jameson: So. You'll find the kids, get their story, and practice
	your mothering skills all at the same time.
Jessica Jones: What mothering skills?
Jonah: Exactly.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

Jessica Jones: How'd you guys know I was here.
Iron Man: We have our ways.
Jessica: My boyfriend told you, didn't he?
Iron Man: Yes, he did.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

Jessica Jones: Is this a time travel thing? 'Cause I hate time travel
	things.
Iron Man: If it's Kang, it's a time travel thing.
Jessica: See, that's why I hate Kang. That and the conquering.  And his
	mask is weird, too.
Captain America: It's more like a helmet.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

A man who can rewrite history cannot be defeated."
					-Kang, _Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

Iron Lad: Because she wasn't part of the Avengers Failsafe Program.
Jessica Jones: There was an Avengers Failsafe Program?
Captain America: Not that I'm aware of.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

"I founded the Avengers because - at the time - it seemed like the world
 needed us... But the scale of our missions - and the team itself - became
 so huge that we got lost in it."
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

"Okay, this completely violates Growing Man continuity."
					-Asgardian,
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

"Do you have any idea how many people out there could use our help? We
 can't just stop because Captain America thinks we're too young."
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

Cassie: Now it's our lair.
Billy: We have an actual lair?
Kate: Right now we have an abandoned warehouse.
					_Young Avengers: Sidekicks_

"Ms. Jones, my dad was Ant-man. I never had a normal life. I never wanted
 one. Did you?"
					-Cassie, _Young Avengers Special_


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