Category Michael DeLaney

Oct 19 2016

Daredevil 12

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Today, Spencer and Michael are discussing Daredevil 12, originally released October 12th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Spencer: What is art? I suppose if I had to answer that question, I’d say that art is something one creates that’s intended to elicit some sort of emotional reaction, but even that incredibly broad statement doesn’t cover the full spectrum of what art is, or isn’t, what it can or can’t do. What truly is or isn’t art is subjective, yet the debate rages on; in a way, it even defines the conflict between Daredevil and his new villain, Muse. Muse just wants Daredevil to like his work, while, of course, Matt doesn’t because his work is murder. Can murder be art? Muse certainly seems to think so, and in his mind, that justifies everything he does. Continue reading →

Oct 16 2016

Detective Comics 942

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Today, Michael and Ryan M. are discussing Detective Comics 942, originally released October 12th, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

Michael: The “Night of the Monster Men” comes to a conclusion in Detective Comics 942. Though I haven’t been the biggest fan of this storyline, I’d argue that its resolution came too fast, too soon. After four issues of monster mayhem and catastrophe, Hugo Strange is defeated and cuffed as quickly as he arrived. Continue reading →

Oct 14 2016

DC Round-Up: Comics Released 10/12/16

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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 All-Star Batman 3, Doom Patrol 2, Gotham Academy Second Semester 2, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 6, New Super-Man 4, Supergirl 2, and Wonder Woman 8. Also, we’ll be discussing Detective Comics 942 on Monday, so come back for that! As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

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Oct 12 2016

Green Valley 1

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Today, Michael and Ryan are discussing Green Valley 1, originally released October 5th, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

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Michael: After reading Superman: American Alien, I came to the conclusion that Max Landis needs to write more comic books. Imagine my delight when I discovered that Landis had written one of the books I was covering this week: Green Valley 1. The first issue of this medieval tale is front-loaded with just the right amount of exposition before Landis and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli descend a shining kingdom into chaos. Continue reading →

Oct 10 2016

Shade, the Changing Girl 1

Alternating Currents: Shade, the Changing Girl 1, Drew and Michael

Today, Drew and Michael are discussing Shade, the Changing Girl 1, originally released October 5th, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

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Drew: Last week, I saw a program of animated shorts at a local film festival. I’ve always loved shorts, but seeing a dozen back-to-back highlighted just how effectively vastly different worlds could be established in just a few short minutes. This is especially true of animation, where the “rules” of the world — from its physics to the question of whether animals can talk — can often take unexpected turns. Indeed, I think discovering those rules is one of the joys of cartooning; examples from the shorts I saw include “oh, this is a world where a crow in a shirt and tie might become a young boy’s step-father” and “oh, this is a world where someone’s bomb shelter might be at the top of an impossibly tall tower“. That’s a joy that’s just as true of comics, and creators that take full advantage of just how weird their worlds can be often come up with something magical and unexpected. Cecil Castellucci and Marley Zarcone are clearly willing to go weird in Shade, the Changing Girl, and issue 1 suggests that they might be on to something very special. Continue reading →

Oct 5 2016

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 5

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Today, Michael and Spencer are discussing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 5, originally released September 28th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Michael: One of my cardinal sins of writing about comics is leaving the artwork by the wayside in favor of a heavier focus on the narrative of a comic book issue. Similarly, I think we tend to primarily associate iconic superheroes with a specific writer instead of an artist. And while he’s worked on many different projects, I will always associate Ethan Van Sciver with Green Lantern. Continue reading →

Oct 5 2016

Star Wars 23

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Today, Patrick and Michael are discussing Star Wars 23, originally released September 28, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Patrick: There has been a lot of digital ink spilled on the subject of the predictable nature of the structure of the Star Wars films. Whether we’re talking about the Campbellian Hero’s Journey or some kind of impossibly orchestrated ring-based super structure, or just the fact that Force Awakens hits all the same beats as A New Hope, everyone likes to image that they know how a Star Wars story is going to go. Hell, even the interquel nature of the Star Wars comic book series forces the reader to apply all kinds of knowledge about how they already know the story ends. There are — presumably — no surprises to be found between the 4th and 5th episodes of a ubiquitous series based on the culturally omnipresent mono-myth. But writer Jason Aaron is aggressively mucking with structure in this story arc, “The Last Flight of the Harbinger,” and issue 23 finally starts to marry disparate story threads and character beats into genuinely harrowing conflict.

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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 28 2016

Vision 11

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Today, Ryan D. and Michael are discussing Vision 11, originally released September 21, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan D: One of the best teachers I ever had, a high school English teacher who also directs theatre, always urged us when starting a new book to think of the first page as “curtains up”; in other words, what is the first thing the audience sees when beginning a work. Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta craft their opening panel beautifully:

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Continue reading →