Monthly Archives: January 2013

Jan 9 2013

Batman Incorporated 6

batman inc 6

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing the Batman Incorporated 6, originally released January 2nd, 2013.

Patrick: There’s a moment early in this issue when Batman realizes that Talia is going to put him through the Ten Ox Herding Pictures before being able to confront her directly. Batman asks, “Can’t we just have a conversation, like normal people?” to which, Talia replies, “We’re not ‘normal people.’ We’re special.” Batman’s got a point: Batman Incorporated is in ruins and Leviathan is everywhere. To make matters worse, Talia is moments away from making Bruce choose between his city and his son — with conflict so clear and so immediate, what room is there for a Zen parable about the process of becoming enlightened? Continue reading →

Jan 9 2013

A + X 3

Alternating Currents: A + X 3, Drew and Shelby

Today, Drew and Shelby are discussing A + X 3, originally released December 19th, 2012.

Drew: Size can dictate a lot about a narrative, to the type of tone it can sustain to the very form it’s hung on. We currently seem to be in an era fetishizing ever longer dramatic narratives, hailing television shows with season-long arcs (or longer), and pouring out in droves to see stories broken into multiple epic-length films (coughTheHobbitcough). At the same time, Adult Swim has found success with very short-form comedies, and youtube clips of cats saying “no” have racked up millions of hits. It seems we’ve decided that very short stories are better at supporting comedy, while very long ones are better for drama. A + X, as a kind of clearing house for extremely short-form stories, has largely borne-out this notion, mining a series of absurd scenarios for their comedic potential. A + X 3 carries on this trend in its latter half, but opens with on much more serious (but still fun) note.

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Jan 8 2013

All-New X-Men 5

all new x-men 5

Today, Patrick and guest writer Ethan Andyshack are discussing All-New X-Men 5, originally released January 2nd, 2013.

Patrick: I had to do a group English project in the first quarter of my Sophomore year in high school. We were on the Junior High / High School system, so this was actually my first year at the school, and sort of my first experience really having to work with new people. There were four of us, and because it was high school, we got together the night before the project was due to essentially do the whole project. I won’t bore you with the details of the project (gigantic literary baseball cards), but there came a point in the night where all three of my other group members thought we were done… but then I noticed that we had woefully neglected the assignment requirements and we actually had another night’s work ahead of us. This was around midnight, so we tabled the project for a second and had to decide which was worse: the unpleasant task of staying up all night or failure? We chose the former and still ended up just getting Bs.

This all relates to All-New X-Men, I promise.
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Jan 8 2013

Teen Titans 15

teen titans 15 DoF

Today, Scott and Shelby are discussing Teen Titans 15, originally released January 2, 2013. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Scott: “Joker is a psychopath like you’ve never seen before, but he usually likes to talk a lot before acting.” These are Batgirl’s words of encouragement that there’s still time to save Red Robin from the Joker. I’m not sure her inclusion of the word “but” is necessary; if the suspense thriller genre has taught us anything, it’s that being a psychopathic killer and talking for too long go hand in hand. But the Joker really takes it to a new level in Teen Titans 15. The lasting image of this issue is that of the Joker wheeling out a chalkboard to help explain the complexity of his evil plan to Red Robin.

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Jan 7 2013

The Flash 15

flash 15

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing the Flash 15, originally released January 2nd, 2013.

Patrick: Whenever a writer keeps up several narrative threads at one time, one of us will say that he or she is “spinning a lot of plates.” It’s an odd metaphor. I mean — “juggling” works just as well to express the same thing and it’s a much more common activity. My friend Pete Pfarr had a KLUTZ book that taught him how to juggle, but there sure as shit wasn’t any KLUTZ book to teach him plate spinning. So what makes that turn-of-phrase so useful in describing the storytelling in The Flash 15? Possibly because we get the sense that the stories continue (the plates continue to spin) even when we’re not watching them. But I think the real reason we use the metaphor — and the only reason we’d want to see someone spinning plates (because: boring, amirite?) — is because we can’t wait to see what happens when too many plates are spinning and they all come crashing down. Boldly, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato give us just that. Continue reading →

Jan 7 2013

All Star Western 15

all-star western 15

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing All Star Western 15, originally released January 2nd, 2013.

Taylor: What evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow, among many others, has asked this question and it is a query which each of us must face every day. Not only do we ourselves struggle to do the right thing constantly but we are more than aware of those who commit acts which most would label evil. Whenever someone does something terrible to someone else, the question always arises of where the impulse to commit that act comes from. While some might believe in the inherent evilness of man it seems much more likely that these impulses come from sort of rationalization process. This process is something we are all capable of and leads us to question how pure our own motives are. If so called “evil” acts can be rationalized doesn’t that mean we are all equally capable of committing terrible acts ourselves only to explain them away in some way? So then, if we are all capable of being “evil,” who would we be or what would we do if we followed our immoral urges? And what would happen if a potion is created that can make a seemingly good man do bad things? The fifteenth issue of All Star Western delves into these questions while at the same time indulging in some serious action.

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Jan 4 2013

Justice League Dark 15

justice league dark 15

Today, Shelby and Taylor are discussing Justice League Dark 15, originally released January 2nd, 2013.

Shelby: Science and magic. In the broadest of terms, they are the two sources of meta-humans’ powers in the DCU. Superman? He’s an alien being powered up by the particular wavelength of light from our sun: that’s science. Wonder Woman? She’s a demi-god, pure and simple: that’s magic. Green Lantern? Trick question, it’s will-power harnessed and weaponized: I’m calling it magic refined by science. Lantern Corps aside, there’s usually a pretty clear line between science (far-fetched and ridiculous though it may be) and magic in the comic book universe. Often times the two sides face off, refusing to see that they are kind of two sides of the same coin, but every so often science and magic team up and we get something extra special. Luckily for us, Justice League Dark gives us both options in one action-packed issue.  Continue reading →

Jan 4 2013

Talon 3

talon 3

Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Talon 3, originally released January 2, 2013. 

Mikyzptlk: Trust is both extremely hard to gain and to easy to lose. One can work for years to gain the trust of another simply to lose it all in a single encounter. The main characters of Talon, Calvin and Sebastian, have both been put in a position where they need to build trust between one another. In the world they live in, dealing with the enemies they deal with, that can be a very hard thing to do. It’s funny then that series writer James Tynion IV also finds himself in the position of building a trust with his audience. Getting new comic book characters to catch on with audiences is tough, especially considering all of the well-established characters that are out there. Convincing your audience that you have an interesting character with a story worth telling is essential for the success of  said characters. Even having Scott Snyder (who is, admittedly,  very hot right now) on board with a story credit doesn’t guarantee success, so it’s important that Tynion quickly builds trust with his audience and convinces them to stick around for the long haul. As for myself, I’m not sure if Tynion has convinced me quite yet, but this issue certainly goes in the right direction. 

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Jan 3 2013

Superman 15

superman15 Hel

Today, Patrick and Scott are discussing Superman 15, originally released January 2nd, 2013. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Patrick: The title page for Superman 15 contains the name of the series, but you have to really look for it. The title of the issue, “Because I’m a Scorpion” dwarfs iconic “Superman,” but it’s all dwarfed by the splash page of Superman and Superboy punching rockets out of the air. It’s symptomatic of one of the problem’s this series faces: Superman’s personality is being over-shadowed by that of artist Kenneth Rocafort.

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Jan 3 2013

Red Lanterns 15

Alternating Currents: Red Lanterns 15, Drew and Patrick

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Red Lanterns 15, originally released January 2nd, 2013. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Drew: Last month, Shelby and Mikyzptlk raged about how Red Lanterns 14 seemed to misunderstand the very concept of rage. While I’d love to suggest that that response was fully intended as a clever “you are there!” meta-text, that stuff is really only satisfying when the text itself actually works. When done well, the various corps should act as a shorthand for emotion, giving you a quick and dirty sense of the character’s motivations. Unfortunately for Peter Milligan, rage isn’t a particularly relatable emotion — in fact, its irrational nature makes it totally un-relatable. I don’t envy the task of pulling something compelling out of the Red Lantern corps, so I can almost excuse the fact that he wants to make his characters driven by something other than rage — except that it ultimately serves to make the characters less compelling by removing literally the only thing I know about them. This leaves Red Lanterns 15 populated by characters with no apparent motivation in situations I neither fully understand nor care about.

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