Category Jack Ehlers

Feb 13 2013

Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special 1

young romance

Today, Patrick, Mikyzptlk, Shelby, Michael, Drew and Jack are discussing Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special 1, originally released February 6th, 2013.

It’s Valentine’s Day, which means that we here at Retcon Punch are going to do our best to pretend we’re not angry, misanthropic nerds for one day to discuss the six love stories laid out in the oddly titled Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special. As we like to foster as much conversation as possible here, we’ve pulled in six of our sappiest, most sentimental writers to hit these stories one at a time.  Continue reading →

Feb 1 2013

Hawkeye 7

 

Today, Patrick and Jack are discussing Hawkeye 7, originally released January 30th, 2012.

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Patrick: Last time we were hanging out in fuzzy pants as discussing Hawkeye, we were reflecting on the Christmas issue (complete with Clint in a Santa hat). This month, we’ve got in our hands another Very Special Issue of Hawkeye, one that should feel a little less celebratory. Yes, it’s the end of October 2012 on the eastern seaboard, and the subject of our latest Hawkeye adventure is Super Storm Sandy. Never one to rest on a gimmick, Matt Fraction builds two tales for two Hawkeyes, one fun and the other touching, while staying emotionally and factually true to the event that inspired him. Clint and Katie are always easy to identify with, and their reactions to the storm echo our own in a dazzling display of artistic empathy.

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Jan 24 2013

Batwoman 16

Today, Drew and Jack are discussing Batwoman 16, originally released January 23rd, 2013.

Drew: The notion that myths gain their power from our belief in them has been a primary focus of Batwoman in the New 52. It’s a theme that has come up explicitly in the text — as Maro conjures the myths that haunt our dreams, and as Kate seeks out the myths that inspire us to greatness — as well as implicitly in our analyses. Indeed, we’ve made the case that comics are modern mythology so often, I’d forgotten what “myth” might mean besides “story.” It’s parsing that very detail that makes Batwoman 16 such a pleasure to read, as J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman remind us of the pleasures of form afforded to modern storytelling. Continue reading →

Jan 16 2013

Thor: God of Thunder 4

 

Today, Jack and Patrick are discussing Thor: God of Thunder 4, originally released January 9, 2013.

Jack: I’d like to start by saying that I knew a guy named Thor once. He was (and probably continues to be) a gentle, mild-mannered Army logistician of short stature, broad shoulders, and profoundly Scandinavian heritage. Most of his behaviors were marked by a kind of good-natured exhaustion and an uncomplicated gratitude for peace and merry-making. It was from him that I first learned the Ben Franklinism, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” I mention this not because it has any particular relevance to this issue of Thor, but because I am a creature of anthropocentric narratives; I require a certain amount of character development before I can engage a story, and it has become clear to me that in this case I will only get that character development if I bring it to the table myself, because Jason Aaron isn’t going to do it for me.  I don’t really have a good grasp on who or what any of these characters are, both literally (I was never good on Norse mythology) and philosophically (what is a god?). I don’t much understand why any of them do the things they do, or what that has to do with the nature of the consciousnesses that I’m likely to encounter. That’s a particular and personal fixation of mine on storytelling, and I recognize it’s not everybody’s. In other regards, the craftsmanship is more than adequate. Continue reading →

Jan 15 2013

Fantastic Four 1-3

fantastic four 1-3

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Fantastic Four 1-3, originally released November 14th, 2012, December 12th, 2012, and January 9th, 2013.

Shelby: Family stuff is hard. There’s something about the family dynamic, this group of people you’re stuck with, for better or for worse, for the rest of your life, that makes everything a thousand times more difficult than it would be otherwise. The Fantastic Four has the perfect storm (no pun intended) of layered family dynamics: husband and wife, children, an actual uncle, and the family friend you can call uncle, all going on a little trip. On top of all that, you’ve got the fact that all the adults are super-powered saviors of the universe, and the little trip involves traveling the very folds of time and space. Will Matt Fraction be able to balance the mundane family dynamic with the crazy space adventures? More importantly, is Reed Richards always such a dick?

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Dec 31 2012

Hawkeye 6

 

Today, Jack and Shelby are discussing Hawkeye 6, originally released December 19th, 2012.

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Jack: Do you remember the moment you realized that Kill Bill: Volume 2 had only one fight scene? I think I watched it at least three times before I realized that it was about 80% less violent than its famously gory predecessor, because somehow the two films were so beautifully of a set. In some way like that, Hawkeye 6 features almost no action at all, yet it is decidedly cut from the same cloth as every issue in which Clint crashes out of a tenth-story window. The difference, though, is that in this case, the order is flipped.  It is the mundane, domestic story of Clint trying to learn how to take a few days off and enjoy the holidays which more nakedly exposes the question that all of the smash-smash-punch episodes have been driving at, ie, “What if this super-hero really were just a pretty cool person?” Continue reading →

Dec 20 2012

Batwoman 15

Today, Shelby and Jack are discussing Batwoman 15, originally released December 19th, 2012.

Shelby: Speaking in the broadest of terms, there are a couple ways to define a person: in relation to the other people in their lives, or based solely on who they are as a person. So far in Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer has largely been defined as a character through her relationships, with Kate, with her daughter Jamie, even her relationship with her job and the missing children. This issue, we get a glimpse of just Maggie, and it looks like she’s starting to come apart at the seams. She’s got a job that’s pretty terrible even on the good days, a girlfriend who just isn’t around often enough, and a stubbornly independent streak which prevents her from asking for help. The batshit crazy she’s had to deal with these last 15 issues is catching up to her in a bad way; I have faith in her, but I worry she won’t make it through to the end.

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Dec 10 2012

Hawkeye 5

Today, Jack and Shelby are discussing Hawkeye 5, originally released December 5th, 2012.

Jack:  Not for the first time, we begin an issue of Hawkeye with Clint Barton falling headlong out of a freshly smashed umpteenth-story window, privately conceding that this situation is, perhaps, suboptimal.

hawkeye 5 this looks bad

 

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Nov 28 2012

Hawkeye 4

Today, Drew and Jack are discussing Hawkeye 4, originally released November 21st, 2012.

Drew: Back in issue 2, Clint assured us that “work’s work.” The very notion of considering the Avengers a day job says a lot about his character, but the notion that he could separate his personal life from his professional one is laughable. Hell, my mom can’t even do that, and her job doesn’t involve killing people, saving the world, or supervillains bent on exacting revenge (at least, I don’t think her job involves those things). The first three issues of Hawkeye have brilliantly explored what a guy like Clint might get up to when he has nothing better to do — fighting local crime and righting small wrongs just for the hell of it — but issue 4 brings reality back to Clint’s doorstep. It just so happens that, for Clint, reality comes in the form of a  floating aircraft-carrier filled with superheroes. Continue reading →

Nov 23 2012

Batwoman 14

Today, Jack and Patrick are discussing Batwoman 14, originally released November 21st, 2012.

Jack: When we left off, Batwoman and Wonder Woman had just sought the assistance of Pegasus, who, confusingly, was not a winged horse, but an exceptionally grizzled, disheveled, and unhappy-looking man of purpleish complexion. In this issue, we start to get a grasp on why.  Pegasus is “dying” (or experiencing some not-yet-fully-explained immortal analog for death), and it is not a pleasant picture. Batwoman examines his wounds and mentally outlines a brutal altercation with Falchion, for which Pegasus is distinctly the worse.  He explains Falchion’s complicity in Medusa’s sadistic, misanthropic, world-domination plans. He says that if Wonder Woman will cut off his head so that he can die “a warrior’s death,” he will point them in Medusa’s direction. Batwoman is appalled, but Wonder Woman agrees. Unsurprisingly, he sends them back to Gotham. Wonder Woman kills him, then quietly agonizes over the decision. Continue reading →