Category Ethan Andyshak

Oct 28 2013

Daredevil 32

daredevil 32

Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Daredevil 32, originally released October 23rd, 2013. 

Ethan: There have been a couple of times now that I’ve wondered aloud about whether this or that character in Daredevil is about to die. Sometimes with tongue in cheek, like when we saw the crooked judge take a pot shot at Matt in the courthouse, or with a little more concern like at the end of the last issue, where we saw something that looked like Foggy hanging from the neck in a darkened room. I don’t know if it’s just coincidence or a concerted effort by Mark Waid to always seem like he’s killing off one of his characters, but guess what: in Daredevil 32, I think he’s really done it. He’s gone and punched Matt Murdock’s ticket.

Continue reading →

Oct 23 2013

The Superior Spider-Man 19

superior spider-man 19Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 19, originally released October 16th, 2013.

Shelby:  Self-awareness is a very important strength to have. You need to know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, to exist in the world with other people. Sometimes you need to put your head down and push through a situation, and sometimes (more importantly, I think) you need to know when you can’t do something and ask for the help you need. The problem comes in when the help you need is in the form of erased memories of a man who used to be in the body you currently occupy.

Continue reading →

Oct 18 2013

Avengers 21

avengers 21 infinityToday, Ethan and Drew are discussing Avengers 21, originally released October 16th, 2013. This issue is part of the Infinity crossover event. Click here for complete Infinity coverage.

infinity dividerEthan: The Infinity arc has been many things: ambitious, epic, nail-biting, repetitive, crowded. The adjective that perhaps best describes the current bit of the story — Avengers #21 — is “compressed.” We’ve groused a bit about the many angles through which we were forced to watch the events of Starbrand wiping out a Builder fleet and an Avenger strike team freeing their teammates, so maybe this issue is a welcome departure from the exhaustive coverage of the previous battles. Yet I’d almost welcome an alternate perspective / re-hashing of the events of this issue, because it was anything but drawn-out. We get the meditations of supercomputers, hand-to-hand fighting across 6 different planets, absurdly dangerous decisions made by a handful of commanders far from the fighting. The brink of despair, total salvation, all in a couple dozen pages.

Continue reading →

Oct 14 2013

Thor: God of Thunder 14

thor 14

Today, Ethan and Shelby are discussing Thor: God of Thunder 13, originally released October 9th, 2013.

Ethan: If you’re like most people, when someone asks you what type of music you prefer, you reply “oh, most kinds” or “I’m not picky” or “pretty much anything except [insert genre name].” That said, no matter how coy you are about your favorites, when you find a band that really grabs you, that buzzes to your bones in just the right way – a way that feels a little bit like it must be unique, like it was kinda-sorta written for you specifically – it’s a wonderful thing. So for at least one tour cycle you’re set, maybe you see them live, maybe you wait after the show to get some autographs, and you hear the music in your sleep. But when the interval ends, when the band goes off the grid to put together their next album, there’s room for trepidation. What if their new songs don’t have that special texture that the old ones do? What if they sound EXACTLY the same and there’s no new magic? Well, as far as I’m concerned, Jason Aaron is facing off with a very similar situation in Thor: God of Thunder #14. His first God-Bomb arc knocked it out of the park with great big ideas like faith and deity, and the current question is whether or not he can do it again using dwarves, elves, and goats. Continue reading →

Oct 11 2013

Infinity 4

infinity 4-INFINITYToday, Spencer and Ethan are discussing Infinity 4, originally released October 9th, 2013. This issue is part of the Infinity crossover event. Click here for complete Infinity coverage.

infinity divider

Spencer: As children, most of us swear we won’t grow up to be our parents. Maybe we just hate the way they nag us, or maybe there’s a more serious fault of theirs we’re trying to avoid; either way, while it’s possible to avoid our parents’ faults, more often than not we end up repeating those exact same mistakes we once declared we’d never make. Poor Thane—the half-Inhuman son of Thanos—has more reason than most to endeavor to never become his father, but unfortunately, it turns out he may be more like the Mad Titan than he ever feared. Continue reading →

Oct 7 2013

All-New X-Men Special 1

all new x-men special

Today, Patrick and Ethan are discussing All-New X-Men Special 1, originally released October 2nd, 2013. This issue is part of the three-part Arms of the Octopus story.

Patrick: No matter how well superheroes puncture the zeitgeist, there’s always going to be a stigma around actually reading comic books. Both the medium and the genre have a ton of idiosyncratic problems, and even those of us willing to suspend our disbelief to read stories about muscly warriors putting on pajamas to punch each other in the face — a suspension which is largely worth it — struggle with the way stories are distributed. Extreme serialization leads to long epic, emotionally fulfilling stories, but it also means you get entire months where nothing really happens. On the flipside, extreme episodism leads to easily digestible stories that leave little lasting impact on the reader. Mike Costa’s Arms of the Octopus seems to have its sites set somewhere in the middle, combining the fun escapism of something like A+X, with the more meaningful stories from the series it borrows its titles from. Continue reading →

Oct 4 2013

Mighty Avengers 2

mighty avengers 2 infinity

Today, Ethan and Shelby are discussing Mighty Avengers 2, originally released October 2nd, 2013. 

infinity divider

Ethan: Push the envelope. Stand on the shoulders of giants. Rules are made to be broken. Going boldly where no one has gone before. Put 110% of your effort towards your goals. Ours goes to eleven. Etc etc. Our culture has gotten a pretty good handle on this concept, as evidenced by how many ways we’ve come up with codifying it into our tropes – the idea of taking everything that came before, acknowledging it, and then moving past it. Comic books – and fiction at large – LOVE this concept. Mighty Avengers #2 is no exception, and the one-upping writer Al Ewing packs into this issue is fun, if also a little bit silly by the end. Continue reading →

Oct 2 2013

Young Avengers 10

young avengers 10

Today, Ethan and Shelby are discussing Young Avengers 10, originally released September 25th , 2013. 

slim-banner

Ethan: Who do you trust? What does it mean to trust someone? I trust the people close to me to listen to me when I speak, to take care of me when I’m hurting. I trust the people I work with to give me sound advice, and I trust them to be polite when we’re talking at the water cooler; on the other hand, I DON’T trust them to leave an unlabeled lunch in the communal fridge intact (seriously, two instances of lunch-jacking this week, who does that). Enemies are in some ways easier to trust than loved ones or colleagues, as long as you’re trusting them to do bad things and put you in harm’s way. In Young Avengers #10, writer Kieron Gillen examines why we count on other people to help or hurt us, and what happens when our trust is betrayed. Specifically, how these questions apply to A) gods/goddesses of mischief, B) reality-warping demiurges, and C) all-consuming pan-dimensional suburban parasites.
Continue reading →

Oct 1 2013

Guardians of the Galaxy 6

guardians of the galaxy 6

Today, Shelby and guest writer Kevin are discussing Guardians of the Galaxy 6, originally released September 25th, 2013.

Shelby: In the real world, I’m a QA Analyst for a software development company, so my job revolves around dealing with mistakes. There are times when it’s important to take responsibility for your mistakes; if I misunderstand some software and call something a defect that isn’t, I always make sure to acknowledge I was in the wrong. It’s not easy, especially when I’ve made a big deal about it before being proven wrong, but I do it anyway. Sometimes, though, when I’m confronted with a mistake, be it mine or otherwise, the top priority is fixing it. It might feel nice to assign the blame, but at times it is just more important to figure out what we’re going to do about it.
Continue reading →

Sep 27 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 26

tmnt 26

Today, Patrick and Ethan are discussing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 26, originally released September 25th, 2013.

Patrick: The Foot Clan is already an army – that’s sort of their whole shtick. The Ninja Turtles are another story all together. They’re a family. Their list of allies is pretty long, but, well – not all of those allies are immediately combat-ready. Lucky for them, The Foot seem hellbent on ridding the city of all other distractions before taking down the three remaining Turtles and their Rat father. What they might not be counting on is just how varied and awesome the Turtles’ friends are. Super scientists? CHECK. Badass brawlers? CHECK. Spies all over the city? CHECK. A potential mutant army, armed to the teeth? CHECK and also CHECK. These teams are moments away from squaring off, and our heroes’ bench is starting to look awesome. Continue reading →