Category Alternating Current

Cross-talks on individual issues.

Mar 21 2017

Green Arrow 19

Today, Michael and Spencer are discussing Green Arrow 19, originally released March 15th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Michael: Putting aside your differences and working together towards a common goal is such a simple idea to grasp, but not always as easy to enact. As human beings, we are complicated and fragile things and easily allow our emotions to stand in the way of progress. Sometimes it helps to have a third party tell us to get our heads out of our asses and just do the work. Continue reading →

Mar 20 2017

Archie 18

Today, Taylor and Ryan M. are discussing Archie 18, originally released March 15th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Taylor: There is an art to making conversation. If you deny this then you clearly have never tried to talk to me over the phone. When I attempt a conversation over the ol’ horn I feel like one of those poor dogs forced into booties. It feels unnatural and stilted and it’s not uncommon to endure long, awkward periods of silence. In person I’m better, but still not great, so I’ve come to appreciate those people who can make conversation. My experiences have taught me that talking truly is an art form where flow is supremely important. The same can be said for comics, where conversations and narratives alike need to flow easily. Archie 18 is a lesson on the importance of conversational and narrative flow, just perhaps not in the way it intended.

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Mar 20 2017

Green Lanterns 19

Alternating Currents: Green Lanterns 19, Drew and Mark

Today, Drew and Mark are discussing Green Lanterns 19, originally released March 15th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

What do you do?

Traditional

Drew: I know a few people who love answering this question, but the majority of my acquaintances hate it — they resent the implication that they’ll be defined by whatever it is they do to pay their rent. I suspect (or hope, anyway) that those attitudes might change as we settle into more satisfying careers, but for many young people, their job is just a responsibility they take on to facilitate the rest of their lives. The odd thing about responsibility, though, is that it has a way of giving us tunnel vision, focusing all our energy on the responsibility rather than the reason we take it on in the first place. It’s the classic modern tragedy (or O. Henry short story, depending on how extreme the sacrifice), where the salaryman sacrifices the life he wants in order to afford that life. Something similar is at work in Green Lanterns 19, as both our heroes and our villain grapple with the responsibilities that have reshaped their lives. Continue reading →

Mar 16 2017

The Amazing Spider-Man 25

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Amazing Spider-Man 25, originally released March 15th, 2017. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

Spencer: As Aunt May herself points out this week, Peter Parker’s always been a busy guy. Add running a major international company to his already impressive pile of responsibilities and it’s almost guaranteed that something will start to give. The massive Amazing Spider-Man 25 digs into that dilemma from all angles, reminding readers of every task Peter’s got on his plate and what’s at risk if he fails at any one of them. It’s an almost overwhelming issue, a trait that effectively puts readers in Peter’s overstressed shoes. Continue reading →

Mar 15 2017

Silver Surfer 9

Alternating Currents: Silver Surfer 9, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Silver Surfer 9, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Drew: In this day and age, episodic storytelling isn’t particularly well-respected — particularly when the episodes might follow some kind of prescribed formula — but I think there’s a lot more value in formula than we tend to give credit. For one, long-gestating stories or deep character growth might not be the point of every story; sometimes you just want to see what new shenanigans Lucille Ball gets up to this week. But I think the bigger virtue of those episodic formulas is that they reflect the cycles in our everyday lives. Sure, audiences may not arrest a new criminal or annoy their spouse or teach an important life lesson to their kids every week, but the patterns are familiar enough (and cyclical enough) to reflect their lived experiences. I don’t mean to suggest that serialized stories can’t achieve this (honestly, I can’t think of a single example that doesn’t sit somewhere in between the abstract extremes of “episodic” and “serialized”), just that there are virtues to episodic storytelling that are often overlooked. Case in point: the formula of Silver Surfer 9 is undoubtedly familiar to longtime readers of this series, but with the formula as charming as it is, it’s hard to see that as a downside. Continue reading →

Mar 15 2017

Wonder Woman 18

Today, Mark and Michael are discussing Wonder Woman 18, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Mark: One of the most compelling features of Greg Rucka’s Wonder Woman is its willingness to incorporate into real issues facing society, as we come to terms with our systematically poor treatment of women and grapple with how to resolve it. Like a proclamation of intent, the earliest arc in the book, “The Lies,” features Cheetah dealing with the devastation caused by abuse, rape, and victim-blaming. These are issues deeply entrenched in American culture made palatable to general audiences because the villains manifest themselves as mystical beasts and gods. But not all of the methods Rucka and his collaborators use to convey their message (for lack of a better term) are quite so foregrounded. For instance, every position of authority in Wonder Woman so far is held by a woman. This is a story about women, featuring women, that is in no way lacking because its pages aren’t filled with more dudes. Continue reading →

Mar 14 2017

Man-Thing 1

Today, Ryan M. and Ryan D. are discussing Man-Thing 1, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan M: I read a lot of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books. At age 10, they struck the perfect balance between the somewhat goofy Goosebumps series and Christopher Pike’s darker take on teen horror. Horror is a genre that needs to offer an entry point that you can latch on to. In Fear Street books, the protagonist may not be perfect (I’m looking at you, cheating hero of The Boyfriend) but you are with them every step of the way as their world gets more and more terrifying. In Man Thing 1, Stine and artist German Peralta present their take on a man turned monster, but leave a hole in the center where a protagonist should be.

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Mar 14 2017

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 18

Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 18, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Michael: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps has been surprisingly superb title from the beginning of Rebirth. The one thing that it has working against itself? Its title. Why the need to put Hal Jordan at the center of everything? Sure, Hal has been the focus of some of the issues but overall this is a team book focusing on the Corps. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 16 focuses that spotlight on everyone’s favorite vest-sportin’ loudmouth, Guy Gardner. Continue reading →

Mar 13 2017

Nova 4

Today, Spencer and Taylor are discussing Nova 14, originally released March 8, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Spencer: Love is never easy, no matter what your age. Still, as you grow and your relationships develop, the problems you face tend to change. The issues you deal with on a first date in high school are usually far different from those you’d deal with as an adult. In Nova 4, Jeff Loveness, Ramón Pérez, and Ian Herring chronicle both those romantic phases, and the results are just as genuine and heartwarming — and instructive! — as I’ve come to expect from this creative team. Continue reading →

Mar 10 2017

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 5

doctor aphra 5

Today, Taylor and Patrick are discussing Dr. Aphra 5, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Taylor: When I was young I didn’t want to be a firefighter or sports-star the way a lot of other boys did. Instead, I dreamt of becoming either a paleontologist or archaeologist. While I have to admit Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones played a role in this desire, I was also drawn to the sheer mystery of studying long gone civilizations and animals. There’s something incredibly tantalizing when confronted with ruins or fossils: they speak of a once great culture or animal that has collapsed and left behind only echoes of its stories. Before reading Dr. Aphra, I had never really considered that the Star Wars universe a place full of such mystery, but as issue 5 shows, not only is Star Wars capable of this, but it can excel at it, too.

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