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.

Dec 19 2013

Daredevil 34

Alternating Currents: Daredevil 34, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Daredevil 34, originally released December 18th, 2013. 

Drew: We tend to associate soapbox speeches with masturbatory lectures important only to the speaker — it’s an annoyance when someone gets on their soapbox — but at one time, soapbox speeches were actually considered a form of entertainment. I’m not entirely sure if the audiences tended to agree with the speeches, or if there was more of a morbid curiosity factor in play (the same type that might keep you up late watching youtube clips of The O’Rielly Factor), but the point is: there was a time when somebody would literally be on a soapbox, and people’s reaction wasn’t to just tell them to get of of their damn soapbox. I was reminded of this as I read Kirsten McDuffie’s soaring call for levelheadedness in Daredevil 34. Continue reading →

Dec 18 2013

Weekly Round-Up: DC Comics Released 12/11/13

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, Patrick, and Spencer discuss Batman Black and White 4, Green Lantern Corps 26, Justice League 3000 1, Justice League 25, Nightwing 26, Li’l Gotham 9, and Forever Evil: Arkham War 3.

slim-banner4Drew: We tend to talk a lot about auteurism around here — it’s a fascinating subject as far as working with company-owned characters goes — but anyone who still needs convincing on the power a given creative team can have over a character need look no further than Batman Black and White 4. DC has once again put together a stellar (and eclectic) lineup of creators, all seemingly defined by their distinctive styles. The result is a very diverse collection of Batman stories, touching on everything from the nature of heroism to the routine of fighting crime every single night. Continue reading →

Dec 18 2013

Weekly Round-Up: Amazing Spider-Man 700.1-700.3

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, Patrick and Drew are discussing Amazing Spider-Man 700.1-700.3

slim-banner4

HE’S DEAD!

Dan Slott, writer of Amazing Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man

Patrick: I loves me some Superior Spider-Man. For my money, it’s the most dangerous and courageous thing Marvel could do with their most popular franchise. It’s un-fucking-precedented and it explores amazingly complex themes and concepts. Morality, immorality and amorality, and the relativism of all three, are forefront without making the audience feel like they’re somehow culpable for some heinous crimes. We are allowed a certain distance from Otto because he’s Otto, but we’re also invited to empathize with him because he’s Spider-Man. I know that balance has caused a lot of people to tap out, and others to demand Peter Parker’s return. With no Parker in the Ultimate Universe either, Marvel’s trotting out these Amazing Spider-Man 700.whatever issues, as if to say “you want your Peter Parker stories? Here are your fucking Peter Parker stories.” Continue reading →

Dec 16 2013

Manifest Destiny 2

manifest destiny 2

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Manifest Destiny 2, originally released December 11th, 2013.

Drew: I love a good creature feature. I could actually take or leave the shock cuts, the gore, even the monster — for me, it’s all about what keeps the victims from simply dispersing at the first sign of trouble. Whether it’s a remote village, arctic research station, or a towing ship in deep space, writers have to get inventive with keeping otherwise relatable characters from simply escaping from the monsters trying to kill them. Or, at least, they should get inventive — I think we’ve all seen the fuel line cut a few too many times to give all writers a pass, and horror movies are notorious for characters whose actions are unrelatably stupid, pressing on to the cabin, haunted house, or foreboding castle in spite of the obvious warning signs. After three readings of Manifest Destiny 2, I’m still not sure if the characters are dumb, or actually stuck. Continue reading →

Dec 16 2013

Uncanny X-Men 15.INH

uncanny x-men 15 INH

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing Uncanny X-Men 15.INH, originally released December 11th,  2013.

Taylor: The wonderful thing about monthly comics is that you get to spend a lot of time with the characters you love. When you think about it, these characters become part of your life for months and sometimes even years. The massive amount of space and time allotted to authors to bring these characters to life is full of potential and can pay off in unexpected ways. By not being constricted with set schedules and the need to develop a plot quickly, authors have the chance to tell us stories with characters that are as real as the people we meet in everyday life. In Uncanny X-Men 15.INH Brian Michael Bendis shows us the limitless possibility of character development in comics as well as some of its pitfalls. It’s a fascinating read — and fun to boot.

Continue reading →

Dec 13 2013

Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives 1

Alternating Currents: Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives 1, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives 1, originally released December 11th, 2013.

“Spinoff!” Is there any word more thrilling to the human soul?

Troy McClure, “The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase”

Drew: Spinoffs are a strange beast. They’re designed to cash-in on the success of another series, giving them a fine line to walk, creatively. They can’t be the same as the parent series, or things will get stale quickly, but they also can’t be too different, or they’ll risk losing that borrowed audience. This can obviously fluctuate over time — series might drift away from their spinoff origins as they find their footing, or might rely on cameos from the parent series when things start to go south — but my experience dictates that, while a carbon copy may result in flash-in-the-pan success, changing things up dramatically is the recipe for longevity. Unfortunately, Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives 1, may rely too heavily on it’s miniseries aspirations, delivering up a Holmes story minus the Holmes. Continue reading →

Dec 12 2013

Lazarus 5

lazarus 5

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Lazarus 5, originally released December 11th, 2013.

Shelby: With family dramas like Lazarus, it seems to always come down to loyalty. With family, a certain amount of loyalty is assumed; they’re your family, you have to be loyal to that. Greg Rucka really tests that with the Carlyles; the first issues are rife with schemes and betrayal. Poor Forever is stuck with the task of not only remaining loyal to the back-stabbingest family, but also not really having a choice as the family’s Lazarus. Despite her unwavering facade, there’s that tiny seed of doubt planted by the anonymous message that she’s not actually a part of the family. If blood ties are the driving force behind her loyalty, what’s she to do if those ties don’t even exist?
Continue reading →

Dec 11 2013

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 12/4/13

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 are discussing Batman / Superman 6, Green Arrow 26, Earth-2 18, Superior Spider-Man 23, Amazing X-Men 2, Indestructible Hulk Annual 1, and Guardians of the Galaxy 9.slim-banner4

Drew: Greg Pak’s Batman/Superman charged out of the gate with a fascinating study of Bruce and Clark, using the funhouse mirror of Earth-2 to show us who they are — and importantly, who they aren’t. Batman/Superman 6 manages to continue to demonstrate who the characters aren’t, which unfortunately means an issue full of super-powered Batman and rage-fuelled Superman. Aptly titled “Boss Fight,” this issue casts aside all of the hard-earned emotional intelligence of the first arc, favoring an insanely overpowered punch-em-up. This may read better for those with a fondness for the tropes being sent-up, but for the rest of us, this issue largely approximates the experience of watching your friend play video games. Continue reading →

Dec 11 2013

Avengers Annual 2013

Aternating Currents: Avengers Annual 1, Drew and DanToday, Drew and guest writer Dan Jones are discussing Avengers Annual 2013, originally released December 4th, 2013. 

slim-bannerDrew: Superheroes are a lonely bunch. They’re generally unlucky-in-love. Many of them are orphans (or had other close loved ones die). They also have isolating responsibilities and power-sets that can make them difficult to relate to. Unless, of course, they’re trying to relate to other superheroes. Characters like Iron Man and Captain America seem peerless when surrounded by everyday schmucks, but they act as serviceable peers to one another. That emotional support can be lost in stories that attempt to justify their team-ups with ever-bigger baddies to punch (coughInfinitycough), but can be a goldmine for savvy writers. Kathryn Immonen goes a step further in the Avengers Annual 2013, making the subtext of superhero loneliness the text, and giving the Avengers a reason to team up besides a giant bad-guy. Continue reading →

Dec 10 2013

Green Lantern 26

Alternating Currents: Green Lantern 26, Drew and Mikyzptlk

Today, Drew and Mikyzptlk are discussing Green Lantern 26, originally released December 4th, 2013.

Drew: Any 8th-grade social studies student can tell you that colonialism is a sticky subject. Many decry the loss of indigenous cultures, but how do you weigh that against the boon of western medicine? Are we morally obligated to preserve human culture at the cost of human life, or vice versa? That question only gets stickier when you take those other cultures into account — perhaps they value these things differently than their would-be colonizers. These are questions that have tormented philosophers for centuries — exactly the kind of thing Hal Jordan might blunder into unwittingly. Green Lantern 26 finds Hal struggling to impose his rule on Dekann and while he succeeds, his victory suggests a disturbing new status quo within the Green Lantern universe. Continue reading →