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.

Feb 17 2014

Letter 44 4

letter 44 4

Today, Scott and Drew are discussing Letter 44 4, originally released February 12th, 2014.

Scott: Aliens are scary. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that alien lifeforms do exist somewhere in the universe. Until we make contact, we can’t know if they pose a threat to humans or our planet. They could be super friendly, but it’s foolish not to consider that they might want to destroy us, and that they could well have the means to do it. We simply don’t know what they’re capable of, and that unknown aspect makes them scary. Humans are a different story. We know exactly what they’re capable of. Greedy politicians with power — and, just as importantly, the motivation to stay in power — are capable of truly horrific things. Until aliens come knocking at our door, humans will likely remain the number one threat to humans. So, what’s scarier: a known threat or an unknown, potential threat? Letter 44 4 (say that five times fast) proves it’s a tough question to answer, but the aliens seem to have one edge: competence.
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Feb 17 2014

Batgirl 28

batgirl 28

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Batgirl 28, originally released February 12th, 2014. 

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Shelby: Not that long ago, we had a glut of vampires in popular culture. Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood: we were inundated. It didn’t seem that unusual to me, though; my high school into college experience featured a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellsing (the anime, not the awful movie), so “Vampires did it!” isn’t really that strange of a story for me. Outside of Legenderry and the occasional Halloween issue, though, vampires are not something I expect to see in the comics I’m reading. Needless to say, I was intrigued by the cover of this month’s Batgirl.

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Feb 14 2014

The Superior Spider-Man 27

superior spider-man 27Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 27, originally released February 12th, 2014.

Spencer: One of the most enjoyable aspects of a writer having a long run on a title is watching elements from earlier issues resurface in surprising ways later on down the line. I think perhaps my favorite example of this is in Jon Rogers’ pre-reboot Blue Beetle run, where Jaime Reyes managed to bring back weapons, plans, and allies from nearly every one of his earlier adventures to use in his epic endgame against the Reach. It brought a nice sense of closure and finality to the proceedings, not to mention made for a thrilling game of “catch-the-reference.” I got a similar feeling from this week’s Superior Spider-Man, where plot points writer Dan Slott has been seeding for the past 27 issues begin coming back en masse, both to Otto’s relief and to his detriment. Continue reading →

Feb 13 2014

Deadpool 23

Alternating Currents: Deadpool 23, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 23, originally released February 12th, 2014.

Drew: I like to think that I’m an open-minded guy when it comes to art, but I’m actually proud of the fact that I’ve never seen any of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s films. Frankly, the commercials alone embarrass me enough to scare me off. That’s not an embarrassment of prudishness — I can make dick jokes until the cows come home — but of intelligence: the grasping, desperately hackneyed pop culture references those movies are built on bring me closer to tears than laughter. Unfortunately, that brand of humor has dominated parody films over the past two decades, leaving only a few exceptions — like Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy — that even attempt to respect either the genre it’s sending up or the audience’s intelligence. Deadpool’s tendency to break the fourth wall has long made him the most likely source of parody in the Marvel universe, and that parody lived up the its potential for depth in the recent “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” arc. Unfortunately, this arc finds ‘pooly once again aiming for yuks in the cheapest ways possible. Continue reading →

Feb 11 2014

Ms. Marvel 1

ms marvel 1

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Ms. Marvel 1, originally released February 5th, 2014. 

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But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan.

Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

Drew: We all know the story, but have you ever actually read Hans Christian Andersen’s original The Ugly Ducking? It’s beyond dark. Before he realizes he’s actually a swan, the ugly duckling has embraced suicide as his only escape from a life as an outcast. Even without that particular detail, the ending has always struck me as grim. The happy ending stems from the ugly duckling actually being classically beautiful, after all, not from any kind of acknowledgement that looks aren’t everything. This particular duckling happened to be a swan, but what of ducklings that are actually ugly? I guess those end up actually committing suicide. In spite of this straight-up “difference is awful (unless it happens to make you the same as someone else)” message, this story is treated as though it empowers different-looking children. Its contradiction is almost tragic. As I read through the letters column of Ms. Marvel 1, which praised the notion of a non-white heroine, I couldn’t help but feel that same tragic disconnect, as the heroine herself turns out to be, well, you can see for yourself after the jump. Continue reading →

Feb 10 2014

Lazarus 6

lazarus 6

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Lazarus 6, originally released February 4th, 2014.

Patrick: Matt Groening had been writing and drawing his comic strip, Life In Hell, for five years before The Los Angeles Way of Death caught the attention of James L. Brooks. Brooks had received a framed copy on the strip and the simple message of the piece eventually lead him to mentor Groening, ultimately developing The Simpsons together. That’s a Cliff Notes version of their history, but that specific Life In Hell strip is notorious for all the right reasons — a quick, clear series of images that expressed the existential slog of living and working in LA, but without being beholden to any narrative, save that which the reader projected onto it. There are clever observations throughout — like that “Gun” and “Cop” are basically the same drawing, or that “Sea” and “Air” are both true and elemental (come to think of it, Fire and Earthquake would also fit) — but the most poignant panels are the last two: “Failure” and “Success.” Both are prisons in their own right, and the uber class system at play in Lazarus makes the similarity between these apparent opposites explicit. Continue reading →

Feb 7 2014

Green Lantern / Red Lanterns 28

green lantern 28

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Lantern / Red Lanterns 28, originally released February 5, 2014.

Inigo: I do not think you will accept my help, because I’m only waiting around to kill you.
Wesley: That does put a damper on our relationship.
Inigo: But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top.
Wesley: That’s very comforting, but I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.
Inigo: Is there any way you’ll trust me?
Wesley: Nothing comes to mind.
Inigo: I swear on the soul of my father: you will reach the top alive.
Wesley: Throw me the rope.

-The Princess Bride

Patrick: Trust is a tricky intangible quality — often you don’t know it until you see it. There’s no magic switch you can throw to make someone trust you, and — more tragically — no switch you can throw to trust yourself. It’s both hard-won and easily lost. Robert Venditti and Charles Soule use the newly minted Red Lantern Supergirl to explore how issues of trust are slowly eroding the Greens, the Red and both of their leaders. Turns out all the Rage, Will and Hope in the universe don’t mean shit without Trust. Continue reading →

Feb 6 2014

Punisher 1

Alternating Currents: Punisher 1, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Punisher 1, originally released February 5th, 2014. 

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Drew: What defines a character? This is a question at the crux of many narratives, but takes on an added importance in comics, where characters may be written by different writers, and the grind of publishing stories into perpetuity may squeeze characters into ever stranger situations. Is Superman still Superman if he doesn’t wink at the end of his stories? What if he doesn’t wear a cape? What about Batman? Is it still a Batman story if it takes place in Iowa? How many of these details can change before the character is no longer recognizable as the character? Editor Jake Thomas acknowledges this phenomenon directly in the letters page of Punisher 1, where he suggests that Punisher is remarkably capable of being put in different scenarios while staying true to his character. Unfortunately, I see that flexibility as emblematic of Punisher’s lack of distinguishing characteristics, and this issue does little to convince me otherwise. Continue reading →

Feb 5 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 1/29/14

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 Avengers Assemble 23.INH, Thor: God of Thunder 18, Aquaman 27, Fables 127, Black Science 3, All-Star Western 27, and Green Lantern Corps Annual 2.

slim-banner4Drew: There are lots of decent marketing reasons for saddling an adult hero with a kid sidekick — it gives the hero someone to talk to, and younger readers someone to relate to — but few comics manage to justify that decision narratively. When Kelly Sue DeConnick and Warren Ellis decided to task the Avengers with wrangling the not-ready-for-prime-time Spider-Girl, they tapped into one of the most relatable reasons a hero would keep an eye on a teenager while Avenging: somebody has to. They add a bullet to that begrudging sense of duty in Avengers Assemble 23.INH by making that put-upon Avenger the surly old man Wolverine — the perfect foil for teenage enthusiasm. It’s hard not to read a bit of Ellis and DeConnick into these characters — he’s the time-tested sage, she’s the young hot-shot — but whatever the reason, the chemistry on the page is electric. That goes a long way to covering this issue’s shortcomings (in spite of several cool scenes, nothing much seems to happen here), but I’m such a softie when it comes to stories where kid heroes are schooled by their elders, I’m willing to give the whole thing a pass. Continue reading →

Feb 4 2014

Thunderbolts 21

Alternating Currents: Thunderbolts 21, Drew and Shelby

Today, Drew and Shelby are discussing Thunderbolts 21, originally released January 29th, 2014.

Drew: Life is complicated. It’s an axiom that we’re all familiar with, but in a vacuum, our own lives are pretty simple: we have basic needs that must be met, and additional wants that we try to meet. It’s only when people, with their own conflicting needs and desires, start interacting that things get messy. That’s the stuff narratives are made of — a hero encounters some opposition to what he wants or needs — but what if the team itself is a source of opposition? What if your heroes can’t even decide what their wants and needs are? That’s when thing start to really resemble the complexities of life, and is exactly the kind of situation the team finds themselves in in Thunderbolts 21. Continue reading →