Category Ethan Andyshak

Sep 24 2013

The Superior Spider-Man 18

superior spider-man 18

Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 18, originally released September 11th, 2013.

Shelby: I think Otto Octavius would be a terrible scientist. I know he’s brilliant, but he’s so arrogant he thinks he’s always right. He’s got no curiosity about anything because he believes he already has the right answer. He doesn’t ask questions or believe he can learn anything from anyone else. It’s a classic villain’s trait, really: the inability to think of the myriad of ways your latest scheme will fail because you are so convinced that you have all the answers. It looks like Otto is finally going to pay the price for his hubris, as his actions today could both kill him and all his friends (or, Peter’s friends, anyway), as well as destroy the future.

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Sep 20 2013

Daredevil 31

Alternating Currents: Daredevil 31, Ethan and DrewToday, Ethan and Drew are discussing Daredevil 31, originally released September 18th, 2013. 

Ethan: The latest issue of Daredevil delivers a some shocking moments. A respected lawyer calls for blood in the streets after an unfavorable verdict, Daredevil pistol-whips a policeman, a swarm of ants controls the weather… and the final panel delivers a heart-dropping twist. To those of you who haven’t picked up this issue yet, here thar be Spoilers. Seriously, no joke, don’t read this if you plan to read this issue but haven’t gotten the chance yet. A revelation at the climax of issue has the potential to shake Matt Murdock — and we the readers — to his core. Continue reading →

Sep 16 2013

Indestructible Hulk 13

Alternating Currents: Indestructible Hulk 13, Drew and EthanToday, Drew and Ethan are discussing Indestructible Hulk 13, originally released September 11th, 2013.

Drew: Hulk is indestructible. It’s a fact so indisputable, Marvel went ahead and put it right in the title of the series. That is to say, there isn’t much tension to be garnered from the question of whether something might destroy him. Like Gloria Gaynor, Hulk will survive. He’ll also likely smash whatever tries to destroy him. There aren’t really going to be any surprises on his part, so much of the interest in the failed attempt to destroy/successful attempt to get smashed must come from the other side of the equation — the one attempting to harm the Hulk. Fortunately, writer Mark Waid is no slouch when it comes to coming up with interesting villains for Hulk to face. Continue reading →

Sep 13 2013

X-Men 5

Alternating Currents: X-Men 5, Ethan and TaylorToday,  Ethan and Taylor are discussing X-Men 5 originally released September 11th, 2013. This issue is part of the Battle of the Atom event. Click here for our complete coverage of Battle of the Atom.

atom dividerEthan: If you’ve ever run away from home, or snuck out in the middle of the night to dodge your curfew, or even just stormed off in the middle of a fight, you know the feeling. The conviction that you’d rather be ANYWHERE but where you just left; an undirected need to get away; but the nagging little awareness that your escape is only temporary. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to turn around and confront whatever it is that pushed you away — finish the conversation with your parents, make amends with a friend or significant other — in short, come home. In X-Men #5, we find Jean and Scott on the outbound leg of this sort of journey, and contrary to their fears, they might not have to go home quite as soon as they think.

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Sep 9 2013

All-New X-Men 16

all new x-men 16 atom

Today,  Shelby and Ethan are discussing All-New X-Men 16 originally released September 4th, 2013. This issue is part of the Battle of the Atom event. Click here for our complete coverage of Battle of the Atom.

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Shelby: 

“I think that you X-Men are so used to the space and time and life and death craziness in your lives that you don’t even notice how crazy it is anymore.”

-Triage, All-New X-Men 16

“And which of our numerous, terrible mistakes are you referring to?”

-Wolverine, All-New X-Men 16

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Sep 6 2013

Infinity 2

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Today, Ethan and Patrick are discussing Infinity 2, originally released September 4th, 2013. This issue is part of the Infinity crossover event. Click here for complete Infinity coverage.

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Ethan: Space operas tend to share a few common traits. The first is that they usually happen in space (surprise!). Next, they make some assumptions about technology, concerning themselves with the adventures that take place between the stars rather than the history of how their characters came to be able to travel across the galaxy. Some involve enormous space battles, and many feature a tightly knit band or bands of characters fighting back against monolithic forces of evil. I’m still trying to decide if the Infinity arc fits the bill of a space opera rather than just a standard sci-fi story, but Infinity #2 certainly provides a lot more evidence towards the former than the previous issue did. The heroic attempt by the galactic alliance of good-guys to halt the Builder onslaught didn’t pan out so well, so now they’re licking their wounds and trying to find a new way to survive.

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Sep 2 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25

Today, Taylor and Ethan are discussing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25, originally released August 28th, 2013.

Taylor: What does “epic” mean to you? Does it mean battles involving thousands of combatants? Does it mean something that lasts a long time? Or maybe it just means a truly huge hamburger? Whatever the word “epic” may mean to you personally, it’s almost certain that you’ve been exposed to it with more frequency in recent years. Ever since the Lord of the Rings came out, people have been thirsting for media that is more epic in scope and publishers and producers have been more than happy to supply them with it. After all, more media means more money, so why not provide the masses with their epic fix? But not all franchises really need or deserve the epic treatment, despite what many fans may think. The Hobbit movies, which will have a final run-time equaling its Lord of the Rings predecessor (speaking of movies here), is evidence of this enough. Considering this, we have to wonder if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with its ambitiously sized cast of characters and numerous storylines, can handle the “epic” mantle. The 25th installment of this title seems to give leverage to one side of this argument so this question is: is TMNT epic or not?

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Aug 30 2013

Thor: God of Thunder 12

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Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Thor: God of Thunder 12, originally released August 28th, 2013.


Ethan: Religion is a funny thing. The effort and complexity inherent to trying to establish a useful way of thinking about where stuff comes from and how we should keep it going forward is difficult to wrap your head around. We humans are bundles of passion and logic, of guilt and pride, of doubt and certainty. Whether you think that’s thanks to some awkward midpoint of evolution, or intrinsic tension between physical and spiritual existence, it’s a heckuva weight to walk around with, and religions (or opposition to them — a kind of religion in itself) is seemingly one of the only ways we’ve got that get our species through each day and each millenium. Rather than a denial of the tension between our daily life and the unthinkable bigness of space and time, religions find ways to incorporate the vast distances that are out there into our miniscule doings. In the issues of Thor, God of Thunder leading up to #12, we’ve mostly focused on the Big, Godly Conflict; this issue takes its time to let us steep in the Small, Human Cares and to explore how those two scales are linked.

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Aug 26 2013

Avengers Assemble 18

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Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Avengers Assemble 18, originally released August 21st, 2013. This issue is part of the Infinity crossover event. Click here for complete Infinity coverage.

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Ethan: Ever since the birth of the film industry, it’s been a race for the technology and craft to keep suspending our disbelief as we become desensitized to each decade’s best special effects. Every once in a while, a filmmaker pulls off an innovation that jumps way ahead of our expectations, and the medium feels special again. And even while fancy visuals can surprise us, if the movie forgets that it’s supposed to have a plot and just chucks those visuals at our eyeballs for two hours without going anywhere, it feels like a waste. We talked about the long build-up to the Infinity arc, and then the first issue felt like a much more violent version of the grand finale at a fireworks show. With so many pyrotechnics and most of the characters strapped in to acceleration harnesses, it would have been easy to become distracted by the spaceships and forget the people inside of them. To balance out our view of that battle, Avengers Assemble 18 rewinds all the way back to the pre-launch scene and tells the story all over again from the perspective of one character: Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman.

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Aug 23 2013

Indestructible Hulk 12

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Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing Indestructible Hulk 12, originally released August 21st, 2013.

Shelby: “Whatever happened, happened.”

“Save the clocktower!”

“Dust. Wind. Dude.”

Time travel in stories can be heavy, paradox-laden stuff. When I first saw the episode of LOST with the [SPOILER ALERT] photo of Jack and Hurley on the island in the seventies, my brain imploded; the “it happened this way because it always happened this way” approach to time travel is somehow both the easiest and hardest explanation to understand. You can also go back in time to change the future, though as a real-world solution it is far too dangerous. Who knows the web of effects your actions will have? Just ask anyone in the Marvel universe, they’ll tell you. Or, time travel can be utterly meaningless: no paradox, no consequences, just “we traveled in time and it was neat!” Mark Waid’s Indestructible Hulk takes a slightly different approach; Hulk and Banner-bot have gone back in time to save the present, but not from things that did happen in history, from things that didn’t happen in history. And when the time stream is as broken as it is, a little more time travel can’t really make things any worse.
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