May 9 2013

Justice League of America 3

Today, Mikyzptlk and Patrick are discussing Justice League of America 3, originally released May 8th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: Justice League of America is a series starring the “world’s most dangerous” superheroes. However, since the start of this title, these dangerous heroes have mostly been sitting around, talking to one another. Some, like myself, didn’t mind this all too much, while others didn’t exactly feel the same way. Regardless, the last issue promised us some good old fashioned fisticuffs. This issue delivers on that promise, but it spends the rest of the issue in a virtual standstill as far as the overall plot goes. There have been some developments as far as the team itself is concerned, but is that enough to excuse the lack of significant plot progression? Continue reading →

May 7 2013

Green Arrow 20

Today, Spencer and Shelby are discussing Green Arrow 20, originally released May 1st, 2013.

Spencer: They say a hero is only as interesting at the villains he fights. That’s true, but I’m going to take that theory one step further: A hero is only as interesting as the world he lives in. World building is often overlooked, but Green Arrow writer Jeff Lemire clearly understands its importance, and he’s worked overtime to provide Oliver Queen’s world with a tangible sense of history. Magus only knows how that past will come to shape Ollie’s future.

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Apr 5 2013

Green Arrow 19

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Green Arrow 19, originally released April 3rd, 2013.

Shelby: You may not know this, but I studied art in college. My focus was photography, specifically black and white, silver gelatin prints; as much as I love taking photos, processing film and developing prints, my world exploded when I discovered some of the great photographers of history. There’s something about the process of reducing the world to shades of gray that is magical to me; it adds this richness, this luxe texture and depth to the image. It’s something I find very inspirational, so it’s really no surprise I like this title (especially the art) as much as I do.

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Mar 22 2013

Justice League of America 2

Today, Mikyzptlk and Michael are discussing Justice League of America 2, originally released March 20th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: Motivations, we’ve all got them. It’s what drives us to do whatever it is that we do. Geoff Johns is intent on letting us in on what drives his characters in his latest series. Not only that, but it seems that he’s using these motivations to drive the story forward. That leaves us with yet another issue that is mostly a bunch of characters yammering on. Fortunately, what they are yammering on about is fairly interesting, and the story that’s unfolding is getting more intriguing by the page.

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Mar 12 2013

Green Arrow 18

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Arrow 18, originally released March 6th, 2013.

Patrick: I love a good narrative twist. I think we all get a thrill of adrenaline when the facts, as we knew them, are turned on their heads, and we’re forced to re-examine our characters, our priorities. There’s also that split second where you, as a reader or audience member, need to decide whether you’re on-board with the changes that are presented in the twist — can you accept this new reality? Continue reading →

Feb 21 2013

Justice League of America 1

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Justice League of America 1, originally released February 20, 2012.

Patrick: Are you fucking ready? No, seriously: ARE YOU READY FOR THIS SHIT? Justice League of America has been hyped to high-heaven – apparently our appetite for books called “Justice League” and written by mega-creator Geoff Johns know no bounds (remember how he also wrote the Justice League International annual? You better remember that one; it’s referenced here.) So, okay, we’ve all done our homework as prompted by DC, right? We’ve looked at the line-up and been all like “whoa, Martian Manhunter’s going to make this group really strong” and “Catwoman’s really more of a bad guy” and ‘WTF is Vibe? LOL!” Issue one serves to put your questions into the mouths of Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller – almost perfectly emulating the experience of waiting for this series to come out.

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Feb 12 2013

Green Arrow 17

Today, Mikyzptlk and Shelby are discussing Green Arrow 17, originally released February 6th 2013.

Mikyzptlk: I’ve been waiting quite a while for this to happen. Finally, a talented writer with a clear and long term vision for Green Arrow has come to save us from the meandering mediocrity that has plagued this title since its New 52 inception. I was extremely excited when Jeff Lemire was announced for this book, and intrigued when he stated that much of his influence would be coming from Mike Grell’s run of the character. That book was an extremely adult take on the Emerald Archer, and would have easily been printed under the Vertigo banner, had it existed at the time of its publication. I was also excited to hear that Lemire’s intentions would be to take this character back to square one and essentially start over, fantastic news for anyone disappointed with the run thus far. I’m happy to say that Lemire’s first issue met both of those expectations, and delivered something that I’m extremely interested in reading further. Continue reading →

Jan 11 2013

Animal Man 16

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Animal Man 16, originally released January 9th, 2013. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage.

Patrick: The End of the World. Pretty bleak subject matter, right? But we can go bleaker. Let’s kill as many superheroes as possible, and then use their grotesquely reanimated corpses to attack our protagonists. Also, no one’s safe, so those protagonists themselves can get picked off at a moment’s notice. Still not grim enough? Then let’s keep flashing back to the putrid death of our hero’s family. These are the principal building blocks of Rotworld. So if I’m using the adjectives “grim,” “grotesque” and “bleak” so much, why is this issue so much fun?

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Oct 11 2012

Arrow – Episode 101: “Pilot”

Today, Patrick and Al Reiser are discussing the Arrow pilot (episode 101). Pilot originally aired October 10, 2012.

Patrick: Origin stories are basically a requirement for TV shows. And given the nature of TV’s serialized storytelling format, that’s mind-boggling. Think of any show you’ve ever seen in syndication ever — do you ever find yourself asking “hey, how did the governing principals of this show fall into place?” No, you don’t. You don’t say “Hey, why do these people all hang out at this bar?” and you don’t ask “How did Mulder and Scully get these jobs at the FBI?” But tune in to the pilot episode of any TV show (dramas in particular, but comedies do it too) and you’ll get a long boring explanation of… whatever. Arrow doubles down on this crime, flooding the screen with exposition.

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May 9 2012

The New 52 1 (FCBD issue)

Today, Patrick, Drew, Peter and Shelby are discussing The New 52 1, originally released on Free Comic Book Day, May 5th, 2012.

Patrick: Now that the dust has settled and we’re all able to calm down after a thrilling Free Comic Book Day, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. The issue that DC released was anything but an easy entry-point, packing in more characters and mythology than we’ve seen in any single issue since the relaunch. This book makes a lot of intriguing promises for long-time fans, but I doubt new readers were all that excited to spend 11 pages following a character they’ve never heard of.

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