Category Alternating Current

Cross-talks on individual issues.

Dec 18 2015

The Mighty Thor 2

mighty thor 2

Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing The Mighty Thor 2, originally released December 16, 2015.

Patrick: I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars. They were just sort of always on when I was a kid – like E.T. or the first Back to the Future movie. I do, however, remember the first time I paid attention to Star Wars: it was the scene in A New Hope where Luke and Ben meet Han and Chewie in the Cantina. I knew there were spaceships and explosions and epic laser-sword fights in the other movies, but the Cantina scene uniquely made me question the nature of the Star Wars universe. Who are all these crazy looking dudes? Why are they all having a drink together? What’s the deal with this band? No one minds that Obi-Wan just sliced a dude’s arm clean off? I rewatched that scene more times than I can count, and every time, my imagination ignited with what I could only guess their individual stories to be. My imagination isn’t that obsessively active anymore, but a handful of details can still make me feel that a fictional world is real, vital, and bigger than what we see on the screen or page. Jason Aaron and Russell Dautermann’s The Mighty Thor 2 is so packed with these details, it’s like an entire universe unto itself.

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Dec 18 2015

Limbo 2


Today, Ryan M. and Ryan D. are discussing Limbo 2, originally released December 9th, 2015.

Ryan M.: There are few things as irrationally irritating as watching someone else flip channels. Each person has an internal rhythm to their choices and since it is such a solitary activity, there is usually no time for discussion before another channel is passed by. No other person is going to press up at the same time that you would, knows which station to linger on or which weird movie moment deserves a press of the “Info” button. Channel surfing puts you into a sort of trance, a disconnection from the world outside of the screen. In Limbo 2, Clay is forced into experiencing the channel surfing of a mystical creature and it transcends mere irritation to become terrifying.

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Dec 17 2015

Superman: American Alien 2

american alien 2

Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing Superman: American Alien 2, originally released December 16th, 2015.

Spencer: As a rule, Superman is the last character I want to see explored in a “realistic” fashion. Superman is at his best when he’s larger than life, inspiring others by word and deed, making us believe a man can fly, not when getting bogged down by explanations of how he can fly or arguments about his inherent goodness being unrealistic. That said, there’s an exception to every rule, and I think Superman: American Alien is my exception to this rule. It helps, though, that in his exploration of a how a more down-to-Earth Clark Kent grows up to be Superman, writer Max Landis discovers that normalcy and Clark Kent just don’t mix — he transcends the reality of Smallville itself. Continue reading →

Dec 15 2015

Secret Wars 8

secret wars 8

Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing Secret Wars 8, originally released December 9th, 2015. 

secret wars div

Spencer: I recently got into a bit of a debate with the AV Club’s Oliver Sava on Twitter about whether Doctor Doom is the hero or the villain of Secret Wars. Sava argued that he’s the hero because he saved the universe — I argued that he’s the villain because he then proceeded to rule his salvaged universe as a brutal tyrant and dictator. In a way, we’re probably both right, and writer Jonathan Hickman seems less interested in laying blame at any of his character’s feet than he is in exploring their motives and varying levels of morality. Secret Wars 8 is a full-on action issue, but each confrontation changes the rules a bit in terms of who’s right and who’s wrong, who wins and who loses.  Continue reading →

Dec 14 2015

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1

batman tmnt 1

Today, Michael and Taylor are discussing Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 originally released December 9th, 2015.

Michael: To be perfectly honest, I have been putting this write up off. I’m a cynical, curmudgeonly sort of critic. I actively try to fight it but sometimes my nature gets the better of me. People are super excited about Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’m happy that people are super excited, honestly. Personally I wasn’t wowed by the limited series’ first outing.

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Dec 14 2015

We Stand On Guard 6

we stand on guard 6
Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing We Stand On Guard 6, originally released December 9th, 2015.

Taylor: We are a society that loves to understand why people are the way they are. Go to any bookstore or read a small amount of investigative journalism and you’re bound to find something dissecting the reasons why a particular person has done a particular thing. While there is a fair amount of literature dedicated to the study of why people do amazing things, there’s almost an equal amount examining those famous for more nefarious reasons. Murderers, terrorists, and dictators are fascinating to many for the reason that it’s interesting to examine what would drive someone to do something truly awful. We Stand On Guard 6 explores this issue but does so not by studying a villain. Rather, it does this by examining its hero. Continue reading →

Dec 14 2015

Batman 47

batman 47

Today, Drew and Mark are discussing Batman 47 originally released December 9th, 2015.

Drew: I’ve complained before about the prescriptive nature of Chekhov’s Gun — that our awareness of Chekhov’s “rule” necessarily gives away elements of the ending. A great example of this is the first season of The Killing — I enjoyed it quite a bit, but Chekhov’s gun dictated that something must tie the mayoral campaign that features so heavily to the titular crime. The specifics can still surprise us, but we know we’re not being shown that stuff just for fun. Of course, the predictability of Chekhov’s rule loses its stranglehold on narratives that aren’t driven by plotting — say, a character study or a situational comedy. In those cases, we might actually be shown things just for fun (or nuance, or detail, etc). We tend to think of superhero comics as plot-driven narratives, but B-stories can often take on less plotty structures, as we learn more about a character, or are amused by their situation. It can be difficult, then, to know if a given element of a B-story represents a gun that will eventually go off, or just a portrait of someone who has a gun. These are the questions in my mind as Bruce grapples with his own obscured history in Batman 47. Continue reading →

Dec 10 2015

Deadpool 3

deadpool 3

Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Deadpool 3, originally released December 9th, 2015. 

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Patrick: The book responsible for shaping most modern improvised comedy is titled, simply Truth in Comedy. The title comes from the idea that the most honest reactions to unusual stimulus are going to be the funniest – essentially espousing that the truth is the ultimate punchline. That’s surprisingly poignant in a medium that could so easily be — and so frequently is — desperate performers mugging for a laugh. Real, sustainably funny scenes can only come from emotionally honest performances. But the title of the book actually implies something else: that the greatest truths can be found through the vehicle of comedy. I have yet to really come to a meaningful conclusion about why that is, but laughing with a character for long enough makes me sympathetic to them, and forges a connection between them and the audience. Deadpool is a fine case study of this phenomenon – through thousands of gags, and a handful of vulnerable turns, the audience is trained to trust and love him in a way we simply cannot extend to his facsimiles in the Mercs for Money. Continue reading →

Dec 9 2015

Midnighter 7

midnighter 7

Today, Mark and Spencer are discussing Midnighter 7, originally released December 2nd, 2015.

Mark: Well, shit. After complaining about the anti-climactic fight between Frankenstein and Superman in Action Comics 47, writer Steve Orlando does not make the same mistake in Midnighter 7′s climactic matchup between Midnighter and Prometheus. This is a knock down, drag out battle that serves as an appropriate follow-up to last issue’s shocking reveal. Continue reading →

Dec 9 2015

Paper Girls 3

paper girls 3

Today, Ryan D. and Michael are discussing Paper Girls 3, originally released December 2nd, 2015.

“Don’t trust anybody over 30.”

-Jack Weinberg

Ryan D: The Free Speech Movement, originally born out of the turmoil roiling in the belly of an America committed to both the Vietnam War and the tumultuous Civil Rights Movement, gave youths protesting a mantra regarding who is trustworthy and who is not. The original quote, spoken first in 1964 when an interviewer accused Weinberg and the Movement of being backed by Communists or some other nefarious group, asserts that people over a certain age always have an agenda. Though Paper Girls takes place twenty years after the FSM, this most recent issue’s reveal proves that the saying holds true, even in the far future, or alternate universes, or wherever it is that is invading the Earth in this ripping read. Continue reading →