Author Archives: Drew

Feb 6 2014

Punisher 1

Alternating Currents: Punisher 1, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Punisher 1, originally released February 5th, 2014. 

slim-banner

Drew: What defines a character? This is a question at the crux of many narratives, but takes on an added importance in comics, where characters may be written by different writers, and the grind of publishing stories into perpetuity may squeeze characters into ever stranger situations. Is Superman still Superman if he doesn’t wink at the end of his stories? What if he doesn’t wear a cape? What about Batman? Is it still a Batman story if it takes place in Iowa? How many of these details can change before the character is no longer recognizable as the character? Editor Jake Thomas acknowledges this phenomenon directly in the letters page of Punisher 1, where he suggests that Punisher is remarkably capable of being put in different scenarios while staying true to his character. Unfortunately, I see that flexibility as emblematic of Punisher’s lack of distinguishing characteristics, and this issue does little to convince me otherwise. Continue reading →

Feb 5 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 1/29/14

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 Avengers Assemble 23.INH, Thor: God of Thunder 18, Aquaman 27, Fables 127, Black Science 3, All-Star Western 27, and Green Lantern Corps Annual 2.

slim-banner4Drew: There are lots of decent marketing reasons for saddling an adult hero with a kid sidekick — it gives the hero someone to talk to, and younger readers someone to relate to — but few comics manage to justify that decision narratively. When Kelly Sue DeConnick and Warren Ellis decided to task the Avengers with wrangling the not-ready-for-prime-time Spider-Girl, they tapped into one of the most relatable reasons a hero would keep an eye on a teenager while Avenging: somebody has to. They add a bullet to that begrudging sense of duty in Avengers Assemble 23.INH by making that put-upon Avenger the surly old man Wolverine — the perfect foil for teenage enthusiasm. It’s hard not to read a bit of Ellis and DeConnick into these characters — he’s the time-tested sage, she’s the young hot-shot — but whatever the reason, the chemistry on the page is electric. That goes a long way to covering this issue’s shortcomings (in spite of several cool scenes, nothing much seems to happen here), but I’m such a softie when it comes to stories where kid heroes are schooled by their elders, I’m willing to give the whole thing a pass. Continue reading →

Feb 4 2014

Thunderbolts 21

Alternating Currents: Thunderbolts 21, Drew and Shelby

Today, Drew and Shelby are discussing Thunderbolts 21, originally released January 29th, 2014.

Drew: Life is complicated. It’s an axiom that we’re all familiar with, but in a vacuum, our own lives are pretty simple: we have basic needs that must be met, and additional wants that we try to meet. It’s only when people, with their own conflicting needs and desires, start interacting that things get messy. That’s the stuff narratives are made of — a hero encounters some opposition to what he wants or needs — but what if the team itself is a source of opposition? What if your heroes can’t even decide what their wants and needs are? That’s when thing start to really resemble the complexities of life, and is exactly the kind of situation the team finds themselves in in Thunderbolts 21. Continue reading →

Jan 30 2014

The Flash 27

Alternating Currents: The Flash 27, Drew and Scott

Today, Drew and Scott are discussing The Flash 27, originally released January 29th, 2014.

Drew: As a society, we emphasize “truth” above all else — even as we often acknowledge the necessity (or at least convenience) of small lies. We tell lies to beg off of social invitations, or to save face after doing something stupid — I once even made a fake email account just to avoid having to explain a too-complicated truth. These lies are generally pretty transparent, but we feel compelled to maintain the facade because “actually, your band sounded terrible,” just feels cruel. Of course, all of those lies flying around make it possible for people to get a false sense of themselves (or at least a false sense of how interested coworkers are in looking at pictures of their cats), that is, those little lies can become a bigger truth, upon which someones own sense of self might be based. Its those kinds of truths that seem to be in play in The Flash 27, as Barry begins to chip at the finish of his candy-colored world. Continue reading →

Jan 29 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 1/22/14

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 Batwoman 27, Batman and Two-Face 27, Justice League 27, Avengers 25, Indestructible Hulk 18.INH, George Romero’s Empire of the Dead Act One 1, and All-New Invaders 1.

slim-banner4Drew: History is complicated. That’s not exactly the message of Mark Andreyko’s Batwoman 27, but it might as well be. His run, with it’s abrupt start after an aborted arc by the previous writers, was always going to have a complex relationship with the series, which he sets to address directly in this issue. Only, he addresses it in a dream sequence, so not only is it not clear what is memory and what is dream, but he doesn’t do much besides show it to us. We see Bane reciting lines from that previous arc, but it comes alongside talking rabbit skeletons. More distressingly, we see Colonel Kane expressing profound shame in Kate (“I wish it had been you who was killed”), which flies in direct opposition to Greg Rucka’s version of her coming out story. Is that a nightmare fantasy, or an accurate memory (or somewhere in between)? This series has never truly addressed its pre-New 52 history (which we might have assumed meant it hadn’t changed), but this at least suggests that we might not actually know anything about Kate’s past. Continue reading →

Jan 27 2014

Pretty Deadly 4

Alternating Currents: Pretty Deadly 4, Drew and Greg

Today, Drew and Greg are discussing Pretty Deadly 4, originally released January 22nd, 2013.

Drew: One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever received was from our very own Patrick Ehlers: exposition doesn’t feel like exposition if the audience wants that information. He may not have been the first writer to observe that, but I certainly wasn’t the last who needed to hear it. Narratives should draw us in, not simply parade across our consciousness. One of the most direct ways to make the audience curious is to pose a question — it can be as central to the story as wanting to know who killed Laura Palmer, or as inconsequential as wanting to know who’s supposed to call whom Ishmael. Of course, it’s possible to overdo it with the questions — if there are too many the story stops being mysteriously alluring and starts becoming frustratingly confusing. Pretty Deadly has spent a significant time in that latter category, and while issue 4 may not fully succeed in changing that, it certainly takes some steps in the right direction. Continue reading →

Jan 23 2014

Animal Man 27

Alternating Currents: Animal Man 27, Drew and Scott

Today, Drew and Scott are discussing Animal Man 27, originally released January 22nd, 2014. 

But as a Go game progresses, the possibilities become smaller and smaller. The board does take on order. Soon, all moves are predictable.

Maximillian Cohen, Pi

Drew: Do you ever find yourself wondering exactly how apt an analogy is? Or that it might be more apt than we realize. One of my favorite moments from Darren Aronofsky’s Pi finds Sol positing that the unlimited possibilities of a game of Go reflects the chaos of life, and Max not quite refuting his point with the quote above. Maybe life simply becomes more predictable as we move through it. That’s certainly true of narratives — what starts as a completely open field often falls into a well-worn pattern as it winds to a close. Take Animal Man: as a series, it has been as original and unpredictable as they come, but as Jeff Lemire sets up his endgame in issue 27, some of the beats feel a bit more familiar. In fact, this issue seems to employ just about every tension-goosing tool in the box, building to what promises to be a pretty spectacular two-part finale.  Continue reading →

Jan 20 2014

Velvet 3

velvet 3

Today, Drew and Greg are discussing Velvet 3, originally released January 15th, 2014.

Drew: It’s amazing how easily gender-bending a trope can force us to confront ingrained assumptions about gender. No matter how progressive our views are, watching a female character rescue a male, or seeing a guy in the kind of revealing clothing women are expected to wear as a matter of course, continues to feel incredibly alien. Spy stories, with their own unique set of gendered tropes, are a particularly ripe subject for gender-bending, and Ed Brubaker struck upon a brilliant one with Velvet‘s premise: what if James Bond (or any other beloved british spy) was a woman? It has allowed him to subvert many of the stereotypes we often accept as part of the genre (and its period setting), but issue 3 reveals that it also allows him a fresh perspective on the collateral damage of all that spying fun. Continue reading →

Jan 16 2014

Daredevil 35

Alternating Currents: Daredevil 35, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Daredevil 35, originally released January 15th, 2013. 

You never attack from a direction I could guess. That’s why you don’t lose.

Matt Murdock

Drew: With that line, Mark Waid reveals exactly what has made his run on Daredevil so memorable: he’s always delivering the unexpected. I’ve repeated time and again that Waid’s work on this series — like Daredevil himself — is absolutely fearless, and it’s thrilling to see Waid suggest that that eschewing of safety or predictability is exactly what makes this series a success. The boldness of his writing throughout this run speaks for itself, but by having Matt rely on outside help from Elektra and Kirsten to implement that unpredictability, Waid reminds us that even the man without fear needs the support of equally fearless friends, highlighting the work of Waid’s own collaborators. Continue reading →

Jan 14 2014

Sex Criminals 4

Alternating Currents: Sex Criminals 4, Drew and Kyle

Today, Drew and guest writer Kyle are discussing Sex Criminals 4, originally released January 8th, 2014.

Drew: The first stage of the hero’s journey, according to Joseph Campbell, is the call to adventure: the moment where the hero is tasked with leaving the comfort of home behind, and heading off into the unknown. Of course, most stories spend a good deal of time in that “known” before any real action is taken — we need to be introduced to our hero, their values, and what’s at stake before any threats can really take hold. Often, the action they’re called to sounds MUCH more exciting than the quiet comfort they’re leaving, but every once in a while, I find myself so enamored of a fictional world that I don’t want to move on to the adventure. Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky have created such a world in Sex Criminals, so while I’m sure many folks are excited to move into the plot proper in issue 4, I find myself wondering why we can’t keep sitting around and sharing embarrassing sex stories. Continue reading →