We are sentimental suckers around here, but we are also forgetful. In that spirit: we celebrated our one-year anniversary… two weeks ago. It’s been a great ride so far, and boy howdy, do we have plans for the future. What kind of plans? Oh we gots a video to answer that question. It’s double-video Monday: truly an embarrassment of riches.
Yearly Archives: 2013
Cram Session: The Rise of the Third Army
It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.
Retcon Punch got you covered.
You’re planning to read the Wrath of the First Lantern, right? It’s Geoff Johns and company’s last hurrah with those characters, so you BEST to pick it up. But if you want to understand every second of that even — and we know you do — you’ve got to get a grip on what came before. If you missed any part of the Rise of the Third Army (and we pay attention to our analytics – none of you are reading Red Lanterns), we’ve got like 20 issues worth of dense GL plotting to catch you up on.
Superboy 17
Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Superboy 17, originally released February 13, 2013. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.
Mikyzptlk: Ah, the Ticking Clock. This dramatic device has been used countless times in probably every story telling medium imaginable. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s fairly simple. If you are a writer and want to add a bit more tension or urgency to your story, just introduce a countdown or time bomb element of some kind. The H’el on Earth event has been using this particular device since the Star Chamber threatening Earth was introduced. Superboy 17 introduces yet another ticking clock, and, as it turns out, it’s fairly effective.
Batgirl 17
Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Batgirl 17, originally released February 13th, 2013.
Patrick: Like 20 minutes into the movie Fight Club, Ed Norton’s character meets Brad Pitt’s character for the first time. [I’m about to spoil Fight Club – heads up.] Prior to this point, there’s almost non-stop voice over from Norton’s character, prattling on about life, work, commercialism, phonies, etc. But the second Pitt’s Tyler Durden is introduced, the voice over goes away and the two men have a conversation — the irony, of course, being that they’re the same person, so he’s kinda still talking to himself. But the effect of losing that trusty, comfortable narration is jarring, setting up this scene as a Scene That Matters. Batgirl 17 robs us of a similar comfort as it delves deeper into the broken Gordon family. Continue reading
Batman 17
Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 17 originally released February 13th, 2013. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage. If you missed any part of the crossover and want those events summarized, we’ve got a video for that.
Drew: They say a man is known by the company he keeps. For Batman, we might think of the bat-family — Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and the various Robins and Batgirl(s) — but we also think of his rogues gallery. Indeed, Batman has long been defined by the villains that he fights, but I’ve always thought of that as “Batman,” the idea, not Batman, the character. Indeed, the fact that Bruce is perpetually locked in battles with his nemeses has always seemed more a curiosity of circumstance than of design — Batman doesn’t kill, and they keep breaking out. Batman 17 puts that assumption under the microscope, asking just what his perpetual battle with Joker might say about Bruce. Obviously, SPOILERS after the jump. Continue reading
Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special 1
Today, Patrick, Mikyzptlk, Shelby, Michael, Drew and Jack are discussing Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special 1, originally released February 6th, 2013.
It’s Valentine’s Day, which means that we here at Retcon Punch are going to do our best to pretend we’re not angry, misanthropic nerds for one day to discuss the six love stories laid out in the oddly titled Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special. As we like to foster as much conversation as possible here, we’ve pulled in six of our sappiest, most sentimental writers to hit these stories one at a time. Continue reading
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day is a holiday that celebrates exactly two things: love and crummy puns. In that spirit: we made some fun superhero Valentines for you! Feel free to use them and share them with someone you love, more after the break!
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
The Superior Spider-Man 3
Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 3, originally released February 6th, 2013.
Patrick: You know, this series has been making us ask one question over and over again: How will this set-up change Spider-Man? Still super early in its run, the series has turned its gaze inward, exploring not only how this out-of-body affects Peter but Otto as well. Fighting crime may be a shortcut to glory, but it also means Otto turning on his friends. That makes for some startlingly compelling psychology. Continue reading
Dial H 9
Today, Ethan and Taylor are discussing Dial H 9, originally released February 6th, 2013.
Ethan: Remember the last time you woke up? You know, that thing you did this morning. You do it every day, you’re completely familiar with the experience, you know it like the back of your hand. And yet… do you really remember the instant of waking? Or is what you remember actually the moments or minutes of awareness after you actually became fully conscious — when the blur of color and sound and smell that you’ve plunged into begins to make sense. In that hazy cloud of stimuli, it’s possible to exist in a half-state — you aren’t completely “you” yet, so much as a body, breathing and shifting. It’s a physical echo of the conceptual strangeness that comes from waking up each day, year, decade, in the exact same body, but not quite as the same person as you were before. Dial H #9 continues and deepens the series’ exploration of identity, of what it means to be yourself, and what happens when that question becomes more difficult to answer.
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