Author Archives: Drew

Nov 27 2012

Nightwing 14

Alternating Currents: Nightwing 14, Drew and ScottToday, Drew and Scott are discussing Nightwing 14, originally released November 21st 2012.

Drew: As a former sidekick, it’s difficult for Nightwing to define his life without Batman. This is as true outside of the mask as it is behind it — just try to define Dick Grayson without mentioning Bruce Wayne. This makes Dick’s investment in Haly’s Circus (the one part of Dick’s origin story that doesn’t involve Batman) make a lot of sense — it’s his best shot at agency in his life. Dick seems poised to begin a new chapter in his civilian life, yet his costumed life finds him pulled inextricably back towards Batman, as some of Bruce’s oldest foes demand Nightwing’s attention. Continue reading →

Nov 23 2012

Supergirl 14

Alternating Currents: Supergirl 14, Drew and Patrick HelToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Supergirl 14, originally released November 21, 2012. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Drew: For being a site run by DC fanboys (and girls), we’re not great about covering Superman’s corner of the DC universe. In fact, aside from a few annuals and zero month, we’ve barely covered any titles anchored by DC’s oldest superhero. There’s plenty to not like about the way DC has handled Supes in the New 52, but our two biggest problems hinge around the increasingly strained explanations to superpower villains and the often lazy assumption that Krypton is automatically interesting. With Supergirl 14, the H’el on Earth crossover seems poised to give us an emotionally satisfying exploration of both of those ideas, which could serve as an important turning point for the Superman family.

Continue reading →

Nov 22 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

All of us here at Retcon Punch wanted to wish everyone a heartfelt happy Thanksgiving. Comic fans have so much to be thankful for this year, and we feel especially lucky to have such engaged, intelligent readers and commenters, so thanks for being so great, everybody! Cheers!

Because Power Girl was there, nobody felt comfortable asking for breast meat

Nov 20 2012

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries 8: Fugitoid

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries 8: Fugitoid, originally released September 5th, 2012. 

Drew: Creating compelling characters is hard. Simply conceiving of multi-dimensional, realistic, sympathetic characters is hard enough — driving many writers to make extensive biographical sketches before even attempting to include them in a story — but it’s even more complicated when you want to integrate those characters and their unique motives and traits into your world. For most narratives, the basics of characterization can be handled up-front, as the major players are introduced, but for ongoing serial narratives, introducing new characters often requires clunky exposition that slows the momentum of the story. With the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles microseries, Editor Bobby Curnow and crew have realized a clever work-around, offering a space to explore the motives of the characters without taking time away from the propulsive narrative going on in the main series. It’s a brilliant idea, and Fugitoid is an excellent proof-of-concept. Continue reading →

Nov 19 2012

Superboy 14

Today, Drew and Mikyzptlk are discussing Superboy 14, originally released November 14, 2012. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Drew: We read a lot of comics at Retcon Punch. One of the best thing about reading so many comics (besides, you know, reading so many comics) is that when we do pick up the odd issue of a title we’re not reading — usually for a crossover event — we still kind of know what’s going on. We may not get every reference to what has happened before, but because we’ve seen glimpses of, say, the Red Lanterns in Green Lantern: New Guardians, we kind of know what’s going on with them when we pick up Red Lanterns 13. This works well enough for stories set in Gotham or Oa, where our coverage of related titles is relatively robust, but it breaks down if crossovers are happening in our blind spots. The Superman and Young Justice groups happen to both be blind-spots for me, which makes jumping into a title like Superboy at issue 14 a particularly disorienting experience. Continue reading →

Nov 16 2012

Batman 14

Alternating Currents: Batman 14, Drew and Michael DFToday, Drew and Michael are discussing Batman 14 originally released November 14th, 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Drew: Batman and the Joker are timeless. That is, they shift and adjust to the times. It gives them longevity, but it also makes pinning down the true nature of their conflict difficult. The Joker has been everything from a harmless prankster to a genociding psychopath, and Batman can range from avenging creature of the night to kid-friendly crime-stopper, so the fundamental nature of their relationship must lie deeper than superficial proclamations about color scheme, or even “seriousness.” The Dark Knight tilted at the deeper levels, but left them as overtones to the physical conflict. In Batman 14, Scott Snyder takes that subtext and makes it the text, delivering a surprising rumination on the nature of both detective stories and humor in general. Continue reading →

Nov 8 2012

Animal Man 14

Alternating Currents: Animal Man 14, Drew and Scott ROTToday, Drew and Scott are discussing Animal Man 14, originally released November 7th, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. 

Drew: Last month, I couldn’t get over how openly writer Jeff Lemire was playing to our expectations in Animal Man. More specifically, he was setting up expectations with the express purpose of implying he was going to meet them at face value — all with an unblinking swagger that was kind of thrilling. Animal Man 14 finds him switching gears to the kinds of thwarted expectations we expect from (good) superhero comics, but that change actually makes the surprises even more surprising. Continue reading →

Nov 6 2012

Daredevil 18-19

Alternating Currents: Daredevil 18-19, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Daredevil 18-19, originally released September 19th, and October 17th, 2012.

Drew: You know that feeling where, for the life of you, you can’t remember where you put something you just had? When I was a kid, it was always my shoes; nine times out of ten they were right by the door, but every once in a while, they weren’t, prompting a lot of frustrated running around as we were rushing out the door to school. If it wasn’t your shoes, maybe it was your keys or your glasses — the point is, it’s a universal sensation, prompting the equally universal (though usually facetious) response of “Am I going crazy?” This is essentially the problem Matt Murdoch finds himself in as of Daredevil 18-19, only instead of the TV remote, he’s misplaced his father’s remains, his estranged wife, and his own body. Understandably, this has him — and those around him — considering his own insanity a bit more seriously.

Continue reading →

Nov 5 2012

Saga 1-6

Alternating Currents: Saga 1-6, Drew and ShelbyToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Saga 1-6, originally released March 14th, April 11th, May 16th, June 20th, July 18, and August 15, 2012.

Drew: Eight months ago, Patrick floated the idea of covering Saga. At that time, we weren’t really considering expanding our coverage outside of DCs publication line, so we tabled the discussion. Almost eight months later, we’re finally expanding our coverage, and Saga is still at the top of our list. We like it. The only problem is, so does everybody else. I’m normally not worried about agreeing or disagreeing with fans or critics, but with a comic as universally loved as this one, will we have anything meaningful to add, arriving eight months late to the party? Looking back on the density of Saga‘s first six issues, I realize that we’re in no danger of running out of new things to say. Continue reading →