Category Michael DeLaney

Apr 15 2016

Darth Vader 19

darth vader 19

Today, Taylor and Patrick are describing Darth Vader 19, originally released April 13th, 2016.

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Taylor: Clarity is something that is important to all narratives. One of the things that made the Star Wars prequels a shadow of the films that spawned them is that they lacked clarity. In Episode I, the script is muddled with confusing and distracting talk of trade negotiations and droid armies. In Episodes II and III it’s unclear whether we should be rooting for or against Anakin. The point is, it’s important to be clear when telling a story. Darth Vader 19, is ostensibly clear, but there is enough confusion in some key scenes to make me just wonder, hey, wha happened?

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Apr 14 2016

Moon Knight 1

moon knight 1

Today, Michael and Drew are discussing Moon Knight 1, originally released April 13th, 2016.

Michael: Superheroes do so love wallowing in self-doubt and self-reflection. Along with trading blows with supervillains and helping the helpless, self-reflection is one of the great pastimes of the American superhero. “Am I strong enough?” “Am I supposed to be this?” “Can I overcome this?” and so on, and so on. In Moon Knight 1 our hero is questioning himself (or selves) on a completely different level. The main question our hero asks is “Have I ever actually been Moon Knight? Or did I make that up?” Continue reading →

Apr 13 2016

DC Round-Up Comics Released 4/6/16

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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 Detective Comics 51, Harley Quinn and the Suicide Squad April Fool’s Special 1, Midnighter 11, New Suicide Squad 19, and Superman 51.

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Apr 11 2016

Star Wars: Poe Dameron 1

poe dameron 1

Today, Michael and Taylor are discussing Star Wars: Poe Dameron 1, originally released April 6th, 2016.

Michael: Poe Dameron is in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens just long enough for us to know that he’s cool and that we want to know more about him. There is no denying that Oscar Isaac’s brief (but memorable) role as Poe was a joy to watch. With his charm, wit, and optimism, Poe Dameron was a combination of Luke, Han and Lando. It’s no surprise then that Marvel chose Lando scribe Charles Soule to tackle another smooth talker in Poe Dameron. Does this first issue lay a foundation for further understanding the elusive cool guy Poe? Does this feel like a necessary addition to the strong Star Wars line? Continue reading →

Apr 7 2016

Justice League: The Darkseid War Special 1

darkseid war special 1

Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Justice League: The Darkseid War Special 1, originally released April 4, 2016.

Michael: Damn, in a few weeks “The Darkseid War” will have been going on for an entire year — roughly the same amount of time that Jim Gordon was the Caped Crusader in the pages of Batman. Whereas Gordon’s tenure as Batman felt like it was cut short, “The Darkseid War” almost feels like it has been going on for eternity. Though Justice League is still full of powerful superhero smash-em-ups and the League has seen its fair share of changes, “Darkseid War” has been crawling at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately for us all, Justice League: The Darkseid War Special 1 is more of the same. Continue reading →

Apr 5 2016

X-Men ’92 1

xmen 92 1

Today, Taylor and Michael are discussing X-men ’92 1, originally released March 30, 2016.

Taylor: For many Generation Y-ers, or Millennials, or basically anyone born in the ’80s, the introduction to the world of comics came from one of two sources. The first, of course, is Batman: The Animated Series, which solidified the Dark Knight in this generation’s hearts forever. The second is the well-known, if not quite so beloved, X-Men animated series. While both shows are fantastic in their own way, I remember frequently being frustrated by the X-Men series as a kid. Like a true comic book, this series told long stories over the course of several episodes which made watching the show in order essential, but during the age of syndication, nearly impossible. Still, I have fond memories of the show and to this day I can still sing its guitar solo theme song from memory. X-Men ’92 is cut from the cloth of this show and in doing so, the creators have made a comic that is both timely and nostalgic at the same time. Continue reading →

Apr 1 2016

Batman & Robin Eternal 26

batman and robin eternal 26

Today, Michael and Spencer are discussing Batman & Robin Eternal 26, originally released March 30th, 2016.

Michael: It wasn’t that long ago when Retcon Punch decided to pit me and Spencer against one another, reviewing Batman Eternal 52 with very different opinions. Now they’ve done it again as we go head-to-head on the finale of the semi-sequel, Batman & Robin Eternal 26. As we transition back to the status quo, does this particular Batman-less Batman tale add anything to the mythos overall? Continue reading →

Mar 28 2016

DC Round-Up Comics Released 3/23/16

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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 Batman and Robin Eternal 25 and Superman: Lois and Clark 6.

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Mar 25 2016

Batman 50

Alternating Currents: Batman 50, Drew and Michael

Today, Drew and Michael are discussing Batman 50, originally released March 23rd, 2016.

Drew: The owner of my old LCS, Paul, was not a Batman fan. In his mind, a billionaire using his resources to “punch bad guys” was so misguided as to be immoral. Couldn’t Bruce Wayne do more good resolving the root causes of crime by building mixed-income housing or running programs for at-risk youth? Admittedly, Batman’s “punch bad guys” solution to crime lacks nuance, and seems increasingly outmoded the more we understand what causes crime in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s kind of key to Batman’s appeal — he can be a philanthropist on the side, sure, but nobody wants to read a comic where a guy dressed like a bat subsidizes grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods. To writer Scott Snyder’s credit, he started his run on Batman by having Bruce turn his attention to exactly that type of socioeconomic solution, a goal that forces within Gotham actively worked against. It was a smart move, but the fact that the Court of Owls would allow Bruce to be Batman, but drew the line at him rearranging the economic structure of Gotham speaks to just how ineffectual Batman is at affecting systemic change. With Batman 50, Snyder offers a more compelling justification for Batman — one that just might be the definitive answer to Paul’s criticisms. Continue reading →

Mar 23 2016

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 3/16/16

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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 Batman and Robin Eternal 24, Black Canary 9, Robin: Son of Batman 10, and Lumberjanes 24.
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