Author Archives: shelbykpeterson

Aug 19 2013

Fearless Defenders 8

fearless defenders 8

Today, Shelby and Taylor are discussing Fearless Defenders 8, originally released August 14th, 2013.

Shelby: Another day in the life of the Fearless Defenders: tracking monsters, fighting crazy mystics, teaming up with alien parasites. All in a day’s work. It’s not all business as usual, with the whole Annabelle and Valkyrie sharing a body situation. While I’m intrigued by what that means for those two, and the rest of the team, I really found the art lacking; for the first time with this title I was really bothered by the way these awesome women are depicted.
Continue reading →

Aug 16 2013

Suicide Squad 23

suicide squad 23

Today, Shelby and Mikyzptlk are discussing Suicide Squad 23, originally released August 14th, 2013.

Shelby: How do you say good-bye? If you’re a regular person saying good-bye to another regular person, you would probably do it with a wave, or maybe a handshake or a hug. Tonight the 4-year-old daughter of the owners of my LCS said good-bye to me by jumping up and down and shouting; come to think of it, I think Patrick has said good-bye to me the same way. Like I said, these are all perfectly legitimate, regular person ways to bid someone adieu. If you’re comic book writer Ales Kot saying good-bye to Suicide Squad, however, the best way to do it seems to be with sociopath’s musings on the meaning of love, followed by a battalion of missile-wielding drones and some pie. Not a bad way to go.

Continue reading →

Aug 14 2013

All-New X-Men 15

all new x-men 15

Today,  Shelby and Patrick are discussing All-New X-Men 15, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Shelby: No one knows better than I the importance of taking a break every once in a while; heck, I took several writing breaks before I even started this post. But seriously, it’s important to take breaks to keep from getting burned out, and the same applies to comic books. Stories take little breaks with what we call “hang-out issues,” where the bulk of the plot consists of the characters hanging-out. The beauty of the hang-out issue is, when it’s done well, we get a story break AND character development. Artists take breaks too, but the obviously visual nature of art can make an artist break more jarring and disruptive. This month, Brian Michael Bendis gives us a story break as we wait for Battle of the Atom to start, and David Lafuente gives Stuart Immonen a break on pencils; the result is a story which feels very different from what we’re used to in All-New X-Men.

Continue reading →

Aug 8 2013

Trillium 1

trillium 1

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Trillium 1, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Shelby: I would read anything Jeff Lemire wrote for good reason. He made me love a C-list hero I had never heard of before, and rescued not one but TWO books, taking them from bad to two of my favorite titles. Underwater Welder made me cry on the train on my way to work, it’s so beautiful. It’s no surprise, then, that I have been eagerly awaiting Trillium since it was first announced last October. I couldn’t possibly imagine how a botanist from 1800 years in the future and a World War I vet in the 20’s could possibly encompass “the last love story ever told,” but since Lemire was at the helm I didn’t bother sweating the details; I just assumed it would work and be incredible. One issue in, and I am already pretty sure I was right to believe.

Continue reading →

Aug 7 2013

X-Men 3

x-men 3

Today, Shelby and Spencer are discussing X-Men 3, originally released July 31st, 2013.

Shelby: I hate a story that drags on too long. As a creator, it’s important to be able to edit yourself; you have to know where you want a story to go and be able to recognize when it gets there. At the same time, it’s just as frustrating as a reader when the story feels rushed. If I’ve settled in to savor a story as it unfolds, a sudden, “…andthenthegoodguyswinordidtheytheend,” is incredibly unsatisfying. A full-stop, wrap-it-up conclusion to a story arc just leaves me feeling confused, like maybe I missed an issue or something. As excited as I have been for Brian Wood’s X-Men, the end of the first arc has me feeling just that: confused and unsatisfied.
Continue reading →

Aug 5 2013

Indestructible Hulk 11

hulk 11

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Indestructible Hulk 11, originally released July 31st, 2013.

Shelby: I recently saw Pacific Rim, and I absolutely loved it. Plot-wise, it was nothing special; case in point, it was the same as every other world-ending, hail-Mary-play sci-fi action flick I’ve ever seen. But that didn’t matter in the least because it was just so much fun to watch. The sheer joy I felt at watching giant robots punch those deep sea monsters is what made the movie so great. It’s simple, well-executed, and a ton of fun. This month’s issue of Indestructible Hulk sets us up for the same sort of situation. It’s probably not going to be quite so simple (time travel never is), but it promises time travel shenanigans in a messed up version of history with a surprising team-up, so I expect a lot of wacky, fun adventure to ensue.
Continue reading →

Aug 2 2013

The Wake 3

wake 3

Today, Shelby and Spencer are discussing The Wake 3, originally released July 31st, 2013.

Shelby:  For me, Scott Snyder’s The Wake has been an exercise in scope. Considering our story seemingly encompasses all the oceans, large portions of space, and a span of time stretching over billions of years, it’s pretty safe to say that scope could be classified as “broad.” Just when it seems to be too much to take in, artist Sean Murphy steps in to remind us of the intimate character moments Snyder has sneaked in to this story. For every flashback 3.8 billion years in the past, there’s a quiet moment of a man hallucinating his coworker just tore his arm off and is eating it. Gotta love those intimate moments.
Continue reading →

Jul 29 2013

Constantine 5

constantine 5 trinity

Today, Shelby and Taylor are discussing Constantine 5, originally released July 24th, 2013.

Shelby: We’ve all heard the cautionary tale of the boy who cried wolf. He was a shepherd, and since watching sheep is a super boring job, he would shout that there was a wolf coming; everyone would run to save the herd, and he’d laugh and laugh because he was kind of a dick like that. After a few rounds of this, when a wolf actually appeared, no one believed the boy when he cried for help, and all the sheep got eaten. Lesson learned: if you’re going to be an ass and lie to people all the time, no one will believe you when you tell the truth. Now, who in the comic book universe do we know who’s a lying ass all the time…
Continue reading →

Jul 26 2013

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1

rocketeer 1

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1, originally released July 24th, 2013.

Shelby: As I mentioned recently, I’m a big fan of pin-up culture. I love the way pin-ups could be innocent and classy, but still extremely sexy. I also totally dig the style. The makeup, the hair, the clothes: if I weren’t so lazy, I would dress that way every day. I don’t know how Dita von Tease does it; that woman is my hero. If you’re not like me, though, and don’t have a love of pin-ups and the charming aspects of the 1940s, The Rocketeer & The Spirit might seem like nothing more than a remake of a dated style of story-telling. Luckily for us all, Mark Waid is in the driver’s seat, and he can balance historical charm with contemporary relevance with the best of ’em.
Continue reading →

Jul 25 2013

Steampunk Superhero Cosplay at the Bristol Renaissance Faire

It’s sad, but true; none of us Retcon Punchers were able to go to SDCC this year. I have avoided all those  galleries of incredible cosplayers at the convention, afraid they would make me She-Hulk-out in a jealous rage. Instead, my esteemed collegue Taylor and I attended steampunk weekend at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in southern Wisconsin and found ourselves surrounded by creative comic book fans in beautiful steampunk costumes. I appropriately geeked out, and got my picture taken with as many as I could find. Despite missing out on Nerd Mecca, I have my own, unexpected cosplay gallery to share with you all. More after the jump.

I loved The Flash. He had pistons on his legs, and the wings on his hat were exhaust pipes that actually smoked.

Flash Continue reading →