Category Alternating Current

Cross-talks on individual issues.

Apr 23 2012

Captain Atom 7-8

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Captain Atom 7 and 8, originally released on March 21st, and April 18th, 2012.

Peter: As we continue in the post modern world of Captain Atom, we are seeing a lot of references to time and not-so-intuitive nature of cause and effect. The running clock which accompanies every scene-change ensures that this theme remains pervasive throughout. Time is ever moving around us, but in the world of Captain Atom, it’s something entirely different.
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Apr 20 2012

Wonder Woman 8

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Wonder Woman 8, originally released April 18th, 2012.

Patrick: Last month, we were promised a trip to Hell. Given all the characters in-play in Wonder Woman, I foolishly assumed we’d get something of an Orpheus story. But that assumption proved too narrow and too literal: Brian Azzarello may have been given license to explicitly alter the Wonder Woman mythos, but he takes the same liberties with Greek mythology. The result is a trippy adventure through the underworld that is recognizably epic (in both the traditional and modern sense of the word) and wholly, boldly new.
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Apr 20 2012

Nightwing 8

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Nightwing 8, originally released April 18th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Drew: Scott Snyder has said that, for Batman, the Night of the Owls is all about his relationship to Gotham. That singular focus on a theme so close to Bruce’s identity can be felt throughout that title, and all of our favorite books have a similar thematic focus; Wonder Woman on family, The Flash on time, etc. While these themes all focus on aspects of their heroes’ identities, Kyle Higgins has managed to refract the events of the Night of the Owls onto identity itself, Nightwing’s own pet theme. Last month’s reveal that Dick had been earmarked (okay, toothmarked) to be the next Talon struck a powerful blow to his sense of self, which was still on the mend from his recent costume changes (plus the inherent issues of being a kind of unmoored twenty-something). Continue reading →

Apr 19 2012

Batman 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 8, originally released April 18th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Drew: Batman 8 begins with a tight shot on a Gotham City manhole cover. As the camera pulls up and out, revealing the city around it, Bruce’s voiceover questions whether his attention to detail has prevented him from seeing the bigger picture. This attention to detail explains why Bruce could have  been unaware of the presence of the Court of Owls in what he thought was his city, but it also acts as a cutting interrogation of our own experiences with Batman (and superheroes in general). I’ve long lamented the favoring of point-by-point plot details over “bigger picture” concepts like character and theme, but writer Scott Snyder seems to suggest that the devotion to the minutia may actually prevent us from truly understanding what is going on. It’s a bold suggestion, and one that would risk alienating fanboys if it weren’t so deftly handled. Continue reading →

Apr 19 2012

Justice League 8

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Justice League 8, originally released April 18th, 2012.


Shelby: I love a good mystery. As a wee lass, I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys; though my tastes have strayed somewhat since then, I still believe there is nothing better than mystery (big or small) to hook someone into a plot. Apparently, Geoff Johns agrees with me, because this month’s Justice League is loaded with mysteries of varying height and weight. Even though I’m not crazy about the actual events that took place in this issue, the mysteries Johns is beginning to uncover are tantalizing to a curious cat like me. Continue reading →

Apr 17 2012

Batgirl 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batgirl 8, originally released April 11th 2012.

Check out Shelby’s exclusive Gail Simone interview here!

Drew: “Closure” is a word we hear with increasing frequency in modern narratives. Characters reunite with long lost lovers or otherwise return to their pasts in order to move on to the future. This can be a compelling motivation, but it often reduces those characters down to some defining moment or relationship, keeping them rather one-dimensional. Real life problems are much more complicated, forcing us to settle for smaller comforts over the kind of profound sense of closure promised in movies. Batgirl 8 illustrates that point beautifully, providing a return to The Killing Joke that only addresses some of Barbara’s baggage. Continue reading →

Apr 16 2012

Deathstroke 8

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Deathstroke 8, originally released April 11th 2012.

Shelby: Of all the titles of the New 52 I’m reading, I think the one that surprised me the most was Deathstroke. I started reading it at the recommendation of my comic shop; all I expected was a story with some hardcore, kickass action. What I got was an introduction to a character I like a lot, not only for his total badassedness, but also for the depth Kyle Higgins brought to the character. Peter and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Kyle at C2E2 this weekend, and we all shed a single tear at his leaving Deathstroke.

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Apr 13 2012

Batwoman 8

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Batwoman 8, originally released April 11th 2012.

Patrick: Every time I pick up an issue from this arc of Batwoman, I have to retrain my brain on how to read this thing. The defining characteristic of this story has been a fractured chronology that essentially demands to be re-read over and over again until the pieces fit. Whenever I assemble the pieces and take a step back, more connections become apparent and the complexity of the narrative grows.
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Apr 12 2012

Batman and Robin 8

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Batman and Robin 8, originally released April 11th 2012.

Peter: I recently went back and re-read the first sixteen issues of Grant Morrison’s run of Batman and Robin. This picks up right after the conclusion of Battle for the Cowl, with Dick taking over as Batman and Damian first appearance as Robin. Go read it right now, because it contributed to personal re-revaluation of Damian’s character. Combined with what we have seen so far in Tomasi’s run with Batman and Robin, Damian is proving to be an incredibly compelling and dynamic character. Baseline verdict: confused 10 year old ninja.

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