Category Contributors

Mar 3 2017

Batman 18

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Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Batman 18, originally released March 1st, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Patrick: Two weeks ago, Drew made a pretty convincing argument that Tom King’s Batman is attempting to synthesize all canonic and non-canonic versions of Batman. References to both Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on A Serious Earth and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy seemed to suggest that all of the Batman franchise’s greatest hits were implicitly in play, even during the main-continuity run in DC’s flagship series. With all of those connections freshly in-place, Batman 18 starts to negate some of the commonly held beliefs about the character, hinging almost all of the real-time drama of the piece around Batman’s simple utterance of the word “No.” Continue reading →

Mar 2 2017

DC Round-Up: Comics Released 3/1/17

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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 Green Arrow 18, Green Lanterns 18, Midnighter and Apollo 6, Shade The Changing Girl 6 and Superman 18.  Also, we’ll be discussing Batman 18 on Friday, so come back for that! As always, this article containers SPOILERS!

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Mar 2 2017

Once and Future Queen 1

Alternating Currents: Once and Future Queen 1, Drew and Taylor

Today, Drew and Taylor are discussing Once and Future Queen 1, originally released March 1st, 2017. As always this article contains SPOILERS.

Louise: Say I taught them chess instead of English. Every conversation is a game, every idea expressed through opposition — victory and defeat. You see the problem? If all I ever give you is a hammer…

Colonel Weber: …everything’s a nail

Arrival

Drew: Man, I loved Arrival. That movie is particularly good at crystallizing its themes in single moments — there’s a ton of them in the film — but the one quoted above is my absolute favorite. It’s a key turning point for the plot, but more importantly, it reasserts the notion that language influences the way we think; a key concept that had only only been playing in the margins before that moment. Of course, it may just be that “everything’s a nail” is a favorite pet theme of mine, explaining a good portion of human interactions, from minor conversations to declarations of war. It remains to be seen whether that theme will be important to Once and Future Queen, but I couldn’t help but remember this quote as this issue puts the welfare of the planet in the hands of a chess prodigy.

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Mar 1 2017

Spider-Woman 16

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Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Spider-Woman 16, originally released February 22, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

“…as for Ellen and me, we were finally joined into a new element — much, much bigger than anything we had ever known. We didn’t know what the future had in store for us, but what did it matter? We fulfilled our destiny.”

“Day of the Dot” The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Patrick: Action movies and will-they-won’t-they romanic stories have a lot in common. Both rely on the promise of something big and meaningful just on the other end of the narrative. It’s a sense of longing — either for a pair of soulmates to recognize each other or for explosions and motorcycle chases — that drives like 90% of the story. When the lovers get together, or the fists start flying, that means we’re just about at the end of the thing. The Adventures of Pete and Pete got its two teenage leads together in a special before the series even got started, which made for a weird transition to a regular serialized romance. It was kind of neat though, to actually see the glory of their romance (in all of its innocence) before having it awkwardly revoked a few episodes later. Spider-Woman 16 moves us to those goal posts on both the romanic and action fields, showering the reader in destinies fulfilled. Continue reading →

Feb 28 2017

Black Panther 11

Alternating Currents: Black Panther 11, Drew and Ryan D

Today, Drew and Ryan D. are discussing Black Panther 11, originally released February 22nd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Drew: Comics is a medium of juxtaposition. We derive meaning from seeing two images next to one another, understanding some causal link that only exists in our minds. The magic, then, is crafting those images such that the reader can piece together the causality in a natural, intuitive way. That includes both the content of the images and the arrangement of those images on the page, which is remarkably complex. Indeed, in his seminal Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud points out that arranging panels is so complex “that even seasoned pros will sometimes blow it.” While the clarity issues in Black Panther 11 have more to do with content than layouts, I feel this sentiment is particularly apt, as the issue was drawn by not just one, but a veritable army of seasoned artists. It’s odd to argue that this artistic team failed to make this issue clear, but I’m afraid that’s really the lynchpin upon which all of this issue’s problems turn. Continue reading →

Feb 28 2017

Justice League of America 1

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Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Justice League of America 1, originally released February 22nd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Michael: Sometimes I’m a tough customer to please. When it comes to storytelling, I like to get my bearings on the landscape and characters, but I don’t want to be spoon-fed all of the important details. With regards to Justice League of America 1 it nails some subtle world-building but is less successful when handling the stars of the book. Continue reading →

Feb 27 2017

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 2/22/17

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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 The Fix 8, Jughead 13, Slam 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe 7, and Outcast 25. We discussed Belfry on Friday and Curse Words 2 on Monday. As always, this article contains SPOILERS. Continue reading →

Feb 27 2017

Curse Words 2

Today, Ryan M. and Taylor are discussing Curse Words 2, originally released February 23rd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan M: Is morality a choice? A person’s ideas of right and wrong come from a combination of outside forces and inner drives. The outside forces are more easy to trace. An examination of societal and family norms can lead to a fairly good prediction of an individual’s understanding of morality. There is more to it than that, right? I want to believe that there are things that cross the boundaries of moral relativism and are inherently on one side or another. In Curse Words 2, Charles Soule and Ryan Browne explore morality through the lens of Wizord as he attempts to clean up his mess.

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Feb 24 2017

Belfry

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Today, Taylor and Michael are discussing Belfry, originally released February 22nd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Taylor: One of my favorite bits of trivia about the very first Alien movie is that the titular monster doesn’t appear in its full form until an hour into the movie. Even after this first appearance, the alien is on screen for less than four minutes total. This trivia caught me by surprise when I first heard it. After all, the alien scared the hell out of me and has become a symbol of sci-fi horror. But the dread the xenomorph inspires is precisely because of how unseen it is. Not knowing where, or exactly what a xenomorph is, is exactly why it’s so terrifying. These thoughts on Alien and what makes a good horror story were in my mind after reading Gabriel Hardman’s  Belfry both because of its triumphs and in shortcomings. Continue reading →

Feb 24 2017

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 2/22/17

marvel-roundup71We 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 Amazing Spider-Man 24, Deadpool the Duck 4, Extraordinary X-Men 19, Hulk 3, IvX 5 and Spider-Gwen 17. Also, we discussed Captain America: Steve Rogers 12 on Thursday, and will be discussing Spider-Woman 16 on Tuesday and Black Panther 11 on Wednesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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