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.

Oct 10 2016

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 10/5/16

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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 Shipwreck 1, TMNT Universe 2, Autumnlands 13, Cannibal 1, and Paper Girls 10. Also, we discussed Black 1 on Thursday and Shade the Changing Girl 1 on Monday, and will be discussing Moonshine 1 on Tuesday and Green Valley 1 on Wednesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Oct 7 2016

DC Round-Up: Comics Released 10/5/16

dc-roundup56How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Batman 8, Nightwing 6, Green Arrow 8 and Green Lanterns 8. Also, we’ll be talking about Midnighter and Apollo 1 on Tuesday so come back for that! As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

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Oct 6 2016

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 10/5/16

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We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing All-New Wolverine 13, Amazing Spider-Man 19, Death of X 1 and Doctor Strange 12. Come back on Friday for our discussion of Cage! 1 and on Wednesday for our discussion of Jessica Jones 1! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Oct 6 2016

Black 1

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Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Black 1, originally released October 5th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Patrick: Representation is a remarkable thing. From my position as a privileged white dude, it can often appear to be one of the more superficial qualities of a work of art. I’m so used to seeing my race and gender portrayed in fiction that diversity is a welcome garnish, rather than the main course. I like to see different races, genders and sexualities represented in my movies, TV shows, comics and games, but that’s not the sole reason I seek them out, or even one of the primary reasons. But again, I never need to look too hard (like… at all) to find myself on the screen or on the page. Kwanza Osajyefo, Tim Smith 3 and Jamal Igle’s Black 1 makes a case for representation as a reason for existence, mapping the specifics of modern Black American culture onto an otherwise unremarkable superhero origin story. But those specifics make a world of difference, and the blackness of Black ultimately convinces both the reader and the protagonist that this is a story that needs to be told. Continue reading →

Oct 4 2016

Deadpool Annual 1

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Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing Deadpool Annual 1, originally released September 28th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Taylor: As a kid, I was a cartoon addict. I would wake up at 6:00 am every day for the sole purpose of watching cartoons for an hour before school. Needless to say, Saturday morning cartoons were like manna from heaven for me. Being young, I watched these cartoon shows for hours on end indiscriminately. In retrospect, much of the shows I watched were truly awful, sporting low production values and shoddy writing at the best of times. Still, I fondly remember these cartoons, and I’m willing to bet most children of the ’80s look back on these cartoons through a rosy lens like myself. In the Deadpool Annual, writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn take a look back at these shows and wonder what would happen if the Merc with the Mouth had gotten his own crack at Saturday morning.

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Oct 3 2016

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 9/28/16

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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 Captain Kid 2, Star Trek Waypoint 1, Outcast 21, Snotgirl 3, and Surgeon X 1. Also, we discussed Josie and the Pussycats 1 on Monday and will be discussing Descender 15 on Tuesday and Star Wars 23 on Wednesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Sep 30 2016

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 9/28/16

marvel-roundup50We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Sam Wilson Captain America 13, Steve Rogers Captain America 5, Deadpool 19, Ms. Marvel 11, Spider-Gwen 12 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 12. Also, we discussed Spider-Woman 11 Thursday and we’ll be discussing Deadpool Annual 1 on Tuesday so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Sep 29 2016

DC Round-Up: Comics Released 9/28/16

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How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Action Comics 964, Batgirl 3, Detective Comics 941, The Flash 7 and Hellblazer 2. Also, we’ll be discussing Wonder Woman 7 on Friday and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 5 on Wednesday so come back for those! As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

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Sep 29 2016

Spider-Woman 11

Alternating Currents: Spider-Woman 11, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Spider-Woman 11, originally released September 28th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

The five stages — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. But they are not stops on some linear timeline in grief.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Drew: As a psychological heuristic, Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief is arguably as well-known as Freud’s id, ego, and super-ego structural model. However, that may make it one of the most misunderstood, as Kübler-Ross explains in the quote above. We often talk about those five stages as if they fall into a prescribed linear order, but it was never really meant to be understood in that way. Which is to say: someone experiencing grief may feel any or none of these feelings in any order or any combination. Grief is a remarkably complex phenomenon that everyone experiences differently — some might feel mostly depression or mostly denial, while others, like Jessica Drew in Spider-Woman 11, feel mostly anger. Continue reading →

Sep 27 2016

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 9/21/16

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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 Britannia 1, Empress 6, and Jem and the Holograms 19. Also, we’ll be discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 62 on Tuesday and The Wicked + the Divine 1831 1 on Wednesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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