Category Drew Baumgartner

Drew Baumgartner, Co-Editor-In-Chief
drew@retcon-punch.com

Location: Milwaukee

History With Comics: Drew grew up with Superman pajamas. His best days were when he never had to change out of them. He fell in love with Batman the Animated Series when he was 5. He had never read a comic in his life, but started reading Batman trades when he was in high school. He continued to pick up trades and one-offs throughout the 00’s, but never got into the monthly swing. After almost a decade of being an outsider looking in, Drew seized upon DC’s relaunch to start picking up monthlies.

Apr 29 2014

Letter 44 6

 

letter 44 6

Today, Scott and Drew are discussing Letter 44 6, originally released April 23rd, 2014.

Scott: Season finales are a time for change. Stories that have been building over the course of many episodes finally reach a climax, and life for the characters will never be the same. Babies are born, elections are won, villains are sent packing, and that couple that was driving the show’s sexual tension finally gets married. It’s a time for heroes to get a victory, and those victories usually come as the result of personal growth by the characters. Letter 44 is often compared to a TV show, so the end of its first arc could be thought of as the season one finale. Both President Blades and the crew of the Clarke have defining moments that will alter their trajectories going forward. Unlike the most satisfying finales, however, the decisions the heroes make aren’t the result of personal growth. Everyone is playing it safe. Continue reading →

Apr 28 2014

Zero 7

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing Zero 7, originally released April 23rd, 2014.

Taylor: Beaches are memorable places. Most obviously, they are pleasant and warm — a veritable buffet of sensory delights. But beaches are also places of mystery and harbors of the strange. They’re the border between two worlds. On the one side you have dry land, man’s habitat and therefore a place of life. On the other side you have the wet desert of the ocean, a place that while beautiful, can’t sustain human life. However, long ago, man came from the ocean, making the watery depths paradoxically a place of life as well as death for mankind. For these reasons (and others) many gravitate to beaches around the world to enjoy scenery and delights as well as muse on the meaning of all things philosophical. Given these themes, it’s no wonder that Zero now finds itself musing on the sandy boundary. It’s the perfect setting for issue 7, which sees the tides of the narrative shifting in an unexpected and thought provoking direction.

Continue reading →

Apr 24 2014

The Flash 30

Alternating Currents: Flash 30, Drew and ScottToday, Drew and Scott are discussing The Flash 30, originally released April 23rd, 2014.

Drew: I lost a part of my innocence when Richard Harris passed away. It wasn’t an existential crisis brought about by confronting mortality, but the cognitive dissonance brought about by his role of Albus Dumbledore being filled by Michael Gambon. I’m sure for many young Harry Potter fans, that was the first time they were confronted with the notion that the identity of a beloved fictional character is so dictated by casting decisions, but looking at the differences between the two actors’ performances, it’s almost as if they were playing different characters. Harris imbued the role with a quiet, almost doddering sweetness, while Gambon’s take was notably sterner. Both takes are supported by the books, but it had never occurred to me before seeing Prisoner of Azkaban that an actor’s (or director’s) emphasis on certain traits could have such a profound effect on the final product. I found myself thinking those same thoughts as Robert Venditti and Van Jensen assert their own read on Barry Allen in The Flash 30.

Continue reading →

Apr 23 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 4/16/14

round upLook, 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, Drew and Patrick discuss Batman and Wonder Woman 30, Uncanny X-Men 20, and Ultimate FF 1.

slim-banner4Drew: What is it that attracts you to superhero comics? Is it the incredible feats? The straightforward emotions writ large? Is it the insane, mind-bending concepts? Is it the complex mythology built collaboratively over decades of a shared universe? Obviously, different fans are drawn to different elements of the genre, but anyone looking for an issue that delivers on all counts might be happy with Batman and Wonder Woman 30. Continue reading →

Apr 23 2014

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 3

winter soldier 3Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 3, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Spencer: Considering its Cold War setting, it’s no surprise that Rick Remender and Roland Boschi’s Winter Soldier: The Bitter March has been a story filled with pawns and masterminds, a story populated almost entirely by people who are being used and the people who are doing the using. What’s interesting about issue 3 is the way the players begin to transcend those labels. What happens when pawns tire of being pawns? And what role does Ran Shen play in all of this?

Continue reading →

Apr 23 2014

The Unwritten Apocalypse 4

Alternating Currents: Unwritten Apocalypse 4, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing The Unwritten Apocalypse 4, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Drew: What do we need to talk about when discussing a work of art? Obviously, the answer will vary quite a bit depending on the art in question, but in the abstract, virtually every discussion needs to touch on the art itself, the artist(s) that created it, and the audience that observes it. We tend to focus on the relationship between the art and the audience here, believing that meaning arises when art is consumed, and that interpretation is the most important end-product of art. It’s an approach that keeps us from getting too mired in concerns over what the artist meant or what they might believe, but it might also prevent us from fully appreciating the art itself. The Unwritten Apocalypse 4, raises some interesting questions about the relationship between art and the artist that creates it, presenting it in the much more alluring (and knowingly meta) form of a story ripe for interpretation.

Continue reading →

Apr 22 2014

Batman 30

batman 30Today, Drew and Scott are discussing Batman 30, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Drew: Adults are very good at pretending to know what they’re doing. Indeed, they’re so good, most folks don’t figure this out until they’re already in the midst of pretending to know what they’re doing themselves, and by then, they’re already adults. It’s almost a secret that there’s basically nothing that qualifies us to have jobs, pay rent, get married, have kids, and whatever else it is that grownups do. You’re not going to be adequately prepared for these things by the time you start doing them, and you’re only going to get better through trial and error. It’s that “error” part that’s scary — nobody wants to lose their job, home, spouse, or kids — but fortunately for us, the stakes of any single mistake are relatively low. Batman, on the other hand, has always played for much higher stakes — typically the wellbeing of his hometown — and Batman 30 explores just what happens when he isn’t up to the challenge.

Continue reading →

Apr 22 2014

C2E2 2014!

It’s that wonderful time of year when hordes of our fellow geeks descend upon the fair city of Chicago for C2E2. Our esteemed editors Drew and Patrick will be flying in to join Shelby for three days of con madness, and we’d love to see your shining faces there!

If any of you guys out there in the ether are planning on making the trek to the Windy City and would be interested in meeting up with us for a drink Saturday night (and who doesn’t need a drink after the second night of a con?), sound off here! Join us in celebration of the three editors being in the same time zone for the first time since we started this crazy blogging adventure. You’ll be able to find us at Plymouth, 327 S. Plymouth Court (near State and Van Buren). The con floor closes at 7:00, and that’s when we’ll head over to get our drink on.

If you can’t make to C2E2 this year, don’t fret; we’ll be covering the con all weekend, so tune in here for updates. Hope to see you there!

Apr 18 2014

Batman Eternal 2

Alternating Currents: Batman Eternal 2, DrewToday, Drew leads a discussion on Batman Eternal 2, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Drew: What do we expect of this series? Grand world-building? Serviceable (if maybe uninspired) Batman stories? When we discussed the first issue, I argued that the way this series addresses our expectations — the way it fulfills some but defies others — may be its most distinctive characteristic. Indeed, issue 2 is so drastically different in form and focus, it’s easy to see defiance of expectations as this series’ unifying trait.

Continue reading →

Apr 17 2014

Wonder Woman 30

Alternating Currents: Wonder Woman 30, Taylor and DrewToday, Taylor and Drew are discussing Wonder Woman 30, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Taylor: The internet is an amazing tool. The rhetorical nature of that comment is almost so great that it’s remarkable, but I think it’s occasionally a good exercise to step back and take stock of the amazing things that make up our world. In the recent past the internet has caused real social change given its ability to unite people behind a singular cause. In particular, the movement for gender equality seems to be gaining more and more steam, as both women and men are able to voice  their experiences with prejudice in their daily lives. Comics, being a reflection of the world of which gave them birth, are also picking up on this trend. It seems only natural that Wonder Woman, a title which features an empowered female lead, would eventually weigh in on this subject. However, the subtlety and grace with which it broaches this topic in issue 30 is both unexpected and wonderfully wrought, making for an memorably understated episode.

Continue reading →