Monthly Archives: October 2015

Oct 23 2015

Back to the Future 1

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Today, Spencer and Michael are discussing Back to the Future 1, originally released October 21st, 2015.

Spencer: Back to the Future is my family’s favorite movie. Every member of my family has, at one point or another, mentioned how they can watch that movie over and over without ever getting tired of it. Parts II and III are also great films — if not as effortlessly perfect as the first — and together they create a rather complete, fulfilling story. Despite my profuse love for the franchise, I’ve never once clamored for more because, well, what would more Back to the Future even look like? It’s a question that even the trilogy’s writer Bob Gale asked himself when first approached to work on IDW’s Back to the Future mini-series. Ultimately, he chose to use the series to answer fan questions about the characters and explore new aspects of their backstories. Given the book’s audience, it’s probably the right move. Continue reading →

Oct 23 2015

Weirdworld 5

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Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Weirdworld 5, originally released October 21st, 2015. 

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Patrick: One of the reasons people like genre films so much is that you never really need to guess what their values are. Are you watching a Western? Great: we value tough, honest men. Are you watching a teen drama? Great: we value cleverness and beauty. Jason Aaron and Mike del Mundo’s heart-stoppingly beautiful Weirdworld wears its chief value on its sleeve (and in its title): weirdness. That may sound like a shallow value, like when someone criticizes South Park for being all about “shock value,” and that may be the case. But even if we want to call weirdness a “shallow” value, it is startling how persistently it presents itself in this series. Even a little thing like The End of the World isn’t going to stop it from expressing itself as thoroughly — and as weirdly — as possible. Continue reading →

Oct 22 2015

Karnak 1

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Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing Karnak 1, originally released October 21st, 2015.

Taylor: We live in a highly litigious society. If you make a claim about something — anything — you better be able to prove it. While there’s no one point in history that can be marked as the beginning of this litigiousness, the nadir point just might be that fateful morning in 1992 when a hot cup of McDonald’s coffee was spilled on the lap of an elderly woman. While it might seem obvious to most people that coffee is hot and should be handled with care, the fact that the cup didn’t say so opened up an avenue to lawsuits. Since then, many of us have bemoaned the state of our society, where a person can sue for the smallest of reasons. If you’re like me, then Karnak, both the man and the comic, is a breath of fresh, if not stiff, air. Continue reading →

Oct 21 2015

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 10/14/15

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Look, 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, we discuss Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire 3, Jem and the Holograms 8, The Wicked + The Divine 15, and Sex Criminals 13. Continue reading →

Oct 20 2015

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 10/14/15

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We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing A-Force 5, Civil War 5, Guardians of the Galaxy 1, Marvel Zombies 4, Spider-Gwen 1, and Uncanny Avengers 1.

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Oct 20 2015

Sam Wilson: Captain America 1

sam wilson 1Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Sam Wilson: Captain America 1, originally released October 14th, 2015.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the republic for which it stands:
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

-The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America.

Patrick: Have you ever considered how weird it is that the Pledge of Allegiance is a common fixture at the beginning of the school day? From my first day of kindergarten, until the last day of my senior year of high school, I either recited this thing, or stood silently with my hand on my heart while hundreds of other kids recited this thing in unison. Even without that “under God” jammed in there by Eisenhower, the pledge feels more like prayer than anything else — offering oneself up in the service of a singular benevolent entity. Of course, it’s not quite that simple: liberty and justice are pretty nebulous terms, and what they mean can vary hugely depending on your perspective. I think when I was a kid, I would have just as easily swapped out “liberty and justice” for “law and order” and not given it a second thought. But that’s not the country is really about: we’re founded on revolution, on challenging the status quo, on fighting for what we believe in. In Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuña’s Sam Wilson: Captain America, Captain America embraces the more revolutionary aspects of his mantle, and while he’s certainly fighting for liberty and justice, he is decidedly anti-establishment. Continue reading →

Oct 20 2015

Ms. Marvel 19

Alternating Currents: Ms. Marvel 19, Ryan and DrewToday, Ryan D. and Drew are discussing Ms. Marvel 19, originally released October 14th, 2015. This issue is a Secret Wars tie-in. For more Secret Wars coverage from the week, check out our Marvel Round-Up.

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Ryan: As you may already know, Ms. Marvel is a delight to read. I, personally, have not had so much fun reading a comic since Vaughn’s Runaways, with all of its silly and earnest characterizations. The comic being discussed today features the same amount of oddball quirk and spirited dialogues, but also does not shy away from the heavier side of human emotions, making Ms. Marvel 19 a joyful kick to the gut. Though it may seem a little odd reading a Secret Wars tie-in dealing with the Incursion about five months since Hickman took us to Battleworld, the this issue offers a completely fresh, focused perspective on the cataclysmic event, wherein our titular character does not even don her tights. Instead of sweeping battle scenes, Wilson and Alphona treat audiences to a pay-off of inter-personal relationships and redemption in the face of confusion and helplessness. Continue reading →

Oct 20 2015

Superman: Lois & Clark 1

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Today, Michael and Mark are discussing Superman: Lois & Clark 1, originally released October 14th, 2015.

Michael: Many of my early pieces for Retcon Punch consisted of me complaining about The New 52 and comparing it to the old DCU that I knew and loved. I’d often go off on tangents about the way DC does business and neglect the book I was actually covering. I loved and missed the pre-Flashpoint DCU and I still do. Enter a book like Superman: Lois & Clark 1, which allows me to cheat by writing about the old DCU and the book in front of me. Continue reading →

Oct 19 2015

New Avengers 1

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Today, Spencer and Taylor are discussing New Avengers 1, originally released October 14th, 2015. 

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Spencer: I love “team” books. There’s just something fun and exciting about throwing a bunch of heroes — be they A-List or Z-List — together and seeing what happens. Despite the potential for almost endless variations, though, many team books find themselves repeating certain familiar combinations, tropes, and ideas over and over (look how many books started using the “traitor” plot once Terra first popped up in the Teen Titans, for example — and even she was a riff on Kitty Pryde’s role in the X-Men). Thus, my favorite part of Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval’s New Avengers is how quick they are to acknowledge and subvert many of those tropes. This book is clever, fun, and gets right to the point; it’s pretty much everything I look for in a team book. Continue reading →

Oct 19 2015

DC Round-Up Comics Released 10/14/15

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How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Batman and Robin Eternal 2, Batman Superman 25, Catwoman 45, Justice League of America 4, and Starfire 5.

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Continue reading →