Jun 17 2016

Klaus 6

klaus 6

Today, Patrick and Michael are discussing Klaus 6, originally released June 15, 2016.

Patrick: My mother used to teach first grade, and just about every Christmas, there’d be some little shit in her class that insisted on telling all the other kids that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. Since she was their teacher – their trusted source of ALL INFORMATION – the question would eventually make it up to her. And never in private: kids would interrupt a math lesson to ask “is Santa real?” Now, if you don’t already know my mother, you should know that she’s got a kind of Midwestern / German stoicism that’s practically blinding and she’s got almost 40 years of experience avoiding difficult conversations with children. So she’d turn the question back on them: “some people believe Santa Claus is real and some do not – what do you believe?” And, naturally, the kids that are the most hurt by the notion that Santa could be made up chose to believe. My mother hasn’t crushed any little hopes, but she also hasn’t been dishonest either. She allows the power of the myth to be it’s own magic, just like Grant Morrison and Dan Mora do in Klaus 6.

Though, that’s probably where the similarities between Morrison and my mother end… Continue reading →

May 9 2016

Weavers 1

weavers-1

Today, Taylor and Mark are discussing Weavers 1, originally released May 4th, 2016.

Taylor: No matter the job, your first day always sucks. When you start a new job there are so many things to get acquainted with: coworkers, your work space, your boss, and of course the duties of the job you were actually hired to do. All of this newness is disorienting and the first day on the job is always long. By the time the clock hits five you can’t help but feel you’ve made a huge mistake. Luckily things get better as you get familiar with your new digs. Hell, you may even be so lucky as to eventually like this job. Point is, beginning employment anew is hard, even when your boss isn’t threatening you with your life or when you’ve had the (mis)fortune of gaining awesome powers due to a weird symbiotic organism. For Sid in Weavers 1, the first day on the job isn’t hard. It’s nightmarish.

Continue reading →

May 6 2016

Klaus 5

klaus 5

Today, Patrick and Michael are discussing Klaus 5, originally released May 4th, 2016.

Patrick: Joseph Campbell’s monomyth needs revision. Certainly, the concepts born out in his Hero With A Thousand Faces appear in every blockbuster action movie and comic book produced in the last half-century. But the proliferation of visual storytelling since Campbell’s heyday has added some colorful hallmarks to the heroic storyteller’s lexicon. I don’t know what we can really trace these recurring visual motifs to — Hollywood Westerns, anime, comic books, Saturday morning cartoons — but the fact remains that our heroes all share some common traits. They have costumes that give them either an instantly recognizable silhouette or an instantly recognizable color palette. They all move the same way: with a shocking grace, often over rooftops. In Klaus, Grant Morrison and Dan Mora imbue Santa with these same visual hallmarks, updating him from folk legend to comic book hero. Continue reading →

Mar 23 2016

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 3/16/16

roundup2

Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, we discuss Batman and Robin Eternal 24, Black Canary 9, Robin: Son of Batman 10, and Lumberjanes 24.
Continue reading →

Jan 25 2016

Lumberjanes 22

Today, Taylor and Spencer are discussing Lumberjanes 22, originally released January 20th, 2016.

Taylor: Freshness is key. Tell this to any chef and they’ll certainly agree with you. Fresh things just taste better, that’s just common sense. If you were to ask a critic the same question, they would almost certainly have the same reaction. It’s important for media to have a certain modern and unique feel to it. Certainly there are timeless classics that transcend the need to be fresh, but those are the types of media that come along once in a blue moon. Looking at the average comic book issue, freshness is hard thing to achieve constantly. The monthly demands and deadlines of a creative endeavor can be trying on the most talented of creative teams. Considering this, it’s interesting to read Lumberjanes 22. On its surface the comic is unique and fresh. That being the case, why then do I like it’s beginning to turn? Continue reading →

Jan 18 2016

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 0

Today, Michael and Ryan M. are discussing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 0, originally released January 13, 2016.

Michael: I’ll be honest, I don’t think we really need a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reboot movie, let alone a comic book series. Some people might argue that bringing the Power Rangers back to the forefront continuing adventures is no different than the continuing adventures of say, Batman or Spider-Man. I’m trying not to be a snooty nerd here, but I’d say that there is a difference – or at least a very fine line. Nevertheless the original Power Rangers are back; whether I like it or not. Continue reading →

Nov 16 2015

Last Sons of America 1

Today, Drew and Ryan D. are discussing Last Sons of America 1, originally released November 11th, 2015.

As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!

Action Comics 1, Jerry Siegel

Drew: I’m tempted to make the argument that world-building is an inherent aspect of comics storytelling — the environment that the characters inhabit literally needs to be created, line by line — but whatever the reason, world-building has been an integral part of comics at least as far back as Action Comics 1. Indeed, world-building has become increasingly important in modern comics, as characters are spun off into multi-platform franchises. It’s also become increasingly important for certain segments of comics readers, who catalogue every piece of continuity and police every perceived contradiction. Those readers tend to forget that the world is the setting, not the story, and that even the most intriguing worlds are nothing without compelling characters and an actual narrative. Sometimes that means a brilliant setting is relegated to the background, but when the story itself grabs you, as it does in Last Sons of America 1, that’s the right choice. Continue reading →

Nov 10 2015

Klaus 1

klaus 1

Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Klaus 1, originally released November 4th, 2015.

Michael: The minute I read that Grant Morrison was going to be doing a “Santa Claus origin story” I got super pumped. I hadn’t done a lot of research as to what the story was going to entail, nor did I gorge myself on every little bit of press that Morrison did on Klaus. All I had to go on was my favorite writer’s name and an image of the man who would be Santa Claus: a barbaric-looking figure accompanied by a savage wolf and covered in the blood of a freshly-killed deer, drawn by Dan Mora. That’s all I needed. Continue reading →

Nov 4 2015

The Spire 4

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Spire 4, originally released October 28th, 2015.
Spencer: Racism and discrimination are more complicated issues than I could ever properly tackle here, with or without a word-limit. What I do know is that, while good ol’ fashioned mustache-twirling racism is certainly still alive and well, a bigger problem may just be the stereotyping and “othering” of anyone perceived as different. It’s the persistent, false perception of black children as being “older” than their white contemporaries, for example, that leads to cases like Trayvon Martin, and that’s only one example amongst a nearly uncountable number. These kind of false perceptions can exist even in those who claim to be tolerant and open-minded. The ways that prejudice and oppression persist even in a supposed land of “equality” has always been a major element of Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely’s The Spire, but it takes center stage in issue 4. Continue reading →

Dec 15 2014

Escape from New York 1

Today, Taylor and Ryan are discussing Escape From New York 1, originally released December 3rd, 2014.

Taylor: A lot has been written about the Millennial generation and the good and bad (but mostly the bad) habits that make us unique. A common complaint is that Millennials suffer from a prolonged spell of adolescence, or at the very least. a desire to shirk responsibility and the traditional trappings of adulthood. Authors have suggested many reasons for this, but one that has always struck me as catching goes like this: because we live in times of relative upheaval, Millennials have begun to look to the past for comfort (think of our fascinations with the ’80s). With that in mind, is the latest comic based on John Carpenter’s Escape From New York simply a cashing in on Millennial nostalgia or something more?