Yearly Archives: 2013

Oct 31 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 27

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 27, originally released October 30th, 2013.

Taylor: In high school I ran track, an activity which was probably the product of your typical adolescent masochistic need to fit in and be cool. Running isn’t a fun sport and for the most part it’s pretty simple. Run faster than the other guy and you win. Despite these simple parameters surrounding track, there is at least a little bit of strategy that can help you win a race, namely: pacing yourself. Begin the mile run with a sprint and you’re bound to lose. Save all your gas for the last lap and you’re equally doomed. Ideally, you run at a pace that feels good and which happens to be faster than those around you. Save some extra juice for the final push near the end of the race and you could find yourself standing in the winners’ circle. Point is, pacing  yourself is important, whether we’re talking running, boozing, or comics. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 27, puts on a clinic on how to pace a story wonderfully and the result is an issue that is enthralling from start to finish.

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Oct 30 2013

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 10/23/13

round upLook, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, Drew and Patrick discuss Nova 9, Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction 2, Indestructible Hulk 14, Justice League Dark 24, Red Lanterns 24, Talon 10, Velvet 1, and Unwritten 54.

slim-banner4Drew: With neither an Infinity nor Avengers title out this week, things were pretty light on the Infinity front. Thunderbolts 17 revealed that its current arc may be more linked to the events of Infinity than we initially suspected, but Nova 9 find Sam very much still on the periphery of the event. Continue reading →

Oct 30 2013

Pretty Deadly 1

pretty deadly 1

Today, Scott and Greg are discussing Pretty Deadly 1, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Scott: I tend to categorize the things I read. When you spend a good chunk of your time reviewing media like I do, it’s convenient to have have certain genre-descriptors at the ready. It’s not quite as simple as labeling something a drama, comedy, thriller or horror- most stories are more complex than that- but finding the combination of nouns to aptly describe the subject. Once in a while, however, something comes along that defies categorization entirely. Something that no combination of nouns can do justice. Something like Pretty Deadly. At first glance this comic looks like a Western, but the structure of this first issue says otherwise. I don’t know what to make of it. I can only categorize it as uncategorizable. As a reviewer, it’s a bit frustrating, but as a comic book reader, I love it.
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Oct 29 2013

FF 13

FF 13Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing FF 13, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Shelby: Uatu the Watcher refers to his home as his “inviolate domicile.” His digs on the blue side of the moon is a place wholly protected, whose inhabitants are guaranteed safe from harm. It could just be house rules, but I like to think there’s a little more magic behind it: something about the house or the Watcher’s presence that protects everyone. It’s a perfect setting for Scott Lang and the rest of the FF team to hide out and plot against Doom. Plus, space monkeys!

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Oct 29 2013

Young Avengers 11

young avengers 11

Today, Spencer and (guest writer) Suzanne are discussing Young Avengers 11, originally released October 23rd , 2013. 

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Spencer: You don’t just wake up the day you turn 18 or 21 and immediately become an adult. There’s no ceremony or initiation. Adulthood is subjective, and most of us spend the majority of our twenties trying to figure out just what it means, or even actively fighting against the idea of growing up. It’s a difficult transition period of our lives to navigate, and the only thing that could make it worse is throwing a multidimensional parasite and a league of evil exes on top of it. That’s exactly what Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie do in Young Avengers 11; while the issue mostly sets up the plot and characters for the final battle against Mother, it’s anchored by the various characters’ viewpoints about becoming adults. Continue reading →

Oct 29 2013

Mind MGMT 16

mind mgmt 16Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Mind MGMT 16, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Patrick: We’re conducting a little bit of an experiment today — neither Mike or I have read Matt Kindt’s well-regarded Mind MGMT series before. This is a series I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, and the solicit sold it as a one-off, so where better to hop on than here? This issue explores ideas of artificially constructed memories and the recursive nature in which we experience memories — falsified or otherwise. It’s dizzying and disorienting, and without a handle on what’s established and what’s normal in this series, I’m left in the occupy the shoes of our protagonist. As such, it’s a remarkable expression of identity, memory and fantasy and the inevitable intersection of all three. Continue reading →

Oct 28 2013

Thunderbolts 17

thunderbolts 17 infinity

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Thunderbolts 17, originally released October 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Infinity crossover event. Click here for complete Infinity coverage.

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Communism was just a red herring.

Wadsworth, Clue

Patrick: We’re used to seeing clues pop up in detective stories. Even when those stories are as farcical as Clue, we always try to sort through the bits the matter and those that don’t. Any piece of information that doesn’t pay off can be referred to as a “red herring” – a literary device so well-known, the characters within the story will be able to point them out. It’s superfluous information, dressed up as the key to understanding the mystery. Charles Soule has accomplished something quite the opposite with his Thunderbolts Infinity crossover: we’re told repeatedly that the alien invasion and the resultant war between the Avengers and Thanos’ army are of little concern to our trusty Thunderbolts – particularly Punisher, Venom and Elektra. But just as it seems like Punisher’s myopic obsession with taking out the Paguro family is about to payoff, Infinity intrudes on his plans in a way he just can’t ignore. Turns out that red herring was worth paying attention to in the first place.

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Oct 28 2013

Sex Criminals 2

sex criminals 2

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Sex Criminals 2, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Shelby:  Ok guys, I’m going to be frank; we’re going to talk about sex here for a bit. It’s not going to be weird, I promise. Well, actually, since we’re talking about Matt Fraction’s and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals, a book about a woman named Suzie who stops time when she has an orgasm, and her new gentleman friend with the same ability, it might actually get a little weird. Ok, so a lot weird. All joking aside, this a story about sex and sexytimes, and Fraction and Zdarsky have a refreshingly open approach to the matter, so consider yourself warned. Just a heads up, there are some potentially NSFW images below the jump.

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Oct 28 2013

Daredevil 32

daredevil 32

Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Daredevil 32, originally released October 23rd, 2013. 

Ethan: There have been a couple of times now that I’ve wondered aloud about whether this or that character in Daredevil is about to die. Sometimes with tongue in cheek, like when we saw the crooked judge take a pot shot at Matt in the courthouse, or with a little more concern like at the end of the last issue, where we saw something that looked like Foggy hanging from the neck in a darkened room. I don’t know if it’s just coincidence or a concerted effort by Mark Waid to always seem like he’s killing off one of his characters, but guess what: in Daredevil 32, I think he’s really done it. He’s gone and punched Matt Murdock’s ticket.

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Oct 28 2013

All-Star Western 24

all-star western 24

Today, Drew and Taylor are discussing All-Star Western 24, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Drew: The lone wolf has always been an alluring figure. Every continent has their tales of solitary, wandering soldiers — most often period stories (knights, ronin, cowboys) — but comics have always featured that notion pulled into the modern day. All-Star Western has always been about playing with that line, often in reverse, pushing our expectations of superheroes back to the old west, but the current arc makes that relationship explicit, pulling Hex into the modern day DC Universe. Surprisingly, he fits in quite well. Continue reading →