Category Contributors

Mar 14 2014

All-New X-Men 24

Alternating Currents: All-New X-Men 24, Drew and ShelbyToday,  Drew and Shelby are discussing All-New X-Men 24, originally released March 12th, 2014. This issue is part of the Trial of Jean Grey event.

jean gray divDrew: As much as I can understand the appeal of seeing your favorite superheroes fight, the strained justifications for why they were fighting in the first place always got in the way of it being any fun. Shouldn’t Superman have heard of Batman? Shouldn’t they know they’re on the same side? These problems are exacerbated in cohesive publishing universes where you can confirm that, yeah, every hero should basically have heard of every other hero by now. Brian Michael Bendis discovered a creative end-run around this problem in All-New X-Men — the time-displaced original X-Men ultimately missed a LOT of introductions to Earth’s superheroes — which finds its logical conclusion issue 24 as they face off against the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. I mean, honestly, how would they know they were on the same side? Continue reading →

Mar 13 2014

Batman 29

batman 29Today, Shelby and Scott are discussing Batman 29, originally released March 12th, 2014.

Shelby: It can be really hard to admit you’ve been wrong. Especially when you’ve gone out of your way to show everyone how right you are. The only thing to do is own up to your mistake and try to fix it. It’s a painful admission to make, and the bigger the consequences of your mistake, the more painful it is. In his own take on the iconic Batman origin story, Scott Snyder has given us a Bruce Wayne who is young, brash, and very confident. Whether through an inflated sense of self or the independence forced upon him at the death of his parents (probably a bit of both), this Bruce is even more reluctant to accept help from others than we’ve seen before. Finally, as the latest arc of Zero Year wraps up, the pieces begin to fall into place, and Bruce finds himself with some mistakes to own up to and a very hard lesson to learn. Problem is, it looks like it might be too late.
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Mar 13 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 32

tmnt 32Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 32, originally released March 12th, 2014.

Patrick: IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been something of a revelation for me. As an adult, I have been delighted to see the teenage-ness of these characters explored for the universal tragedy we all know it to be — isolation, anger, confusion. That’s hard shit that we all went through. These last couple issues at Northampton have allowed the creative team to meditate on those feelings against the quiet backdrop of some uneasy healing. But damn it all, they’re also ninjas. That means that part of their experience, part of the way they process their emotions, is through violence. Issue 32 trades in its quiet moments for explosive action beats, and while it’s harder to relate to that kind of resolution, the fact that it works so well for the Turtles reminds the readers that, for all we have in common with dorky teenagers, they are warriors and their salvation comes from making war.

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Mar 12 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 3/5/14

round upLook, 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, Drew and Patrick discuss Forever Evil: Arkham War 6, Green Arrow 29, Action Comics 29, Batman Superman Annual 1, Punisher 3, Nova 14, Uncanny X-Men 18, Starlight 1, Velvet 4, and Daredevil: Road Warrior Infinite Comic 2.

slim-banner4Patrick: The tagline for Alien Vs. Predator was “whoever wins, we lose.” It’s an oddly aware criticism of the film itself, but it’s meant to sound menacing — as though the only thing we liked about Alien and Predator movies was watching people die. As it comes to a close, it’s clear that Forever Evil: Arkham War suffered from this same problem. Even as Peter Tomasi attempts to ground Bane, by dressing him up as Batman, and tries to make monstrous the other side — Scarecrow et. al get doused with Venom — it’s still totally unclear who we’re supposed to root for. Who exactly the Talons are fighting for seems to switch on a dime, and the utter pointlessness of the whole conflict is underlined by the way Penguin is able to swoop in at the last second to gently request that the fighting stop. The whole journey has been fueled by such stupid shit, and I think Tomasi might be making that point by having the brainier villains turn into hulking venom-beasts for the finale. It’s hard not to take the Penguin’s side when shows up, sarcastically clapping for all the senseless violence. You’re right, Oswald, let’s move on. Continue reading →

Mar 12 2014

Green Lantern 29

Alternating Currents: Green Lantern 29, Drew and SpencerToday, Drew and Spencer are discussing Green Lantern 29, originally released March 5th, 2014.

Drew: We often talk about “close readings” in our discussions, but the most rewarding works of art are interesting from far away, too. When zoomed out, you can appreciate the broader form and plotting, while when zoomed in, you can appreciate the moment-to-moment mechanics that make those larger parts work. Indeed, it’s this scalability that allows stories to remain interesting in spite of our familiarity with Joseph Campbell’s monomyth — at some scales, the non-essential details don’t matter at all, but at other scales, they’re the only thing that matters. Any halfway decent discussion of a work of art needs to focus on multiple scales, but certain works of art strongly suggest one scale over the other. More formulaic stories — an episode of Law & Order, for example — tend to offer more rewards for those looking at the details (and certain boredom for anyone looking at form). I’d argue that the controversy of LOST‘s finale stems largely from confusion over the suggested scale — is this a show about a weird island, or about the people who encounter it? — which may have changed from episode to episode. I’d argue that that ever-shifting scale is part of what made that show so great, but there’s no denying that abruptly changing gears can bring discomfort, even if it reaps the kinds of rewards we see in Green Lantern 29. Continue reading →

Mar 11 2014

Trillium 7

trillium 7

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Trillium 7, originally released March 9th, 2014.

Time has stopped before us / The sky cannot ignore us / No one can separate us / For we are all that is left

  The Beginning is the End is the Beginning, Smashing Pumpkins

Shelby: While the execution is a little more angsty than I might prefer at my advanced age of 29, the lyrics to The Beginning is the End is the Beginning from the soundtrack of The Movie Which Shall Not Be Named very well match Jeff Lemire’s penultimate issue of Trillium. More than anything else, the song’s title (as well as its partner, The End is the Beginning is the End) seem to capture Lemire’s whole approach to time and the relationship of William and Nika. It’s an interesting love story that finds its beginning at the end of the universe, possibly at the end of time itself.
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Mar 11 2014

Wolverine and the X-Men 1

wolverine x-men 1Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing Wolverine and the X-Men 1, originally released March 5th, 2014.

“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

Patrick: I have a number of teacher-friends, my colleague and responder on this article, Taylor among them. The idiom above is largely bullshit, but it stings enough that I’ve seen links posted on facebook to articles decrying the attitude that it represents. The argument always follows that teaching presents its own specific challenges, distinct from the discipline being taught. (The follow-up argument, naturally, being that teachers are under-valued in our society, but like whatever: we’re all undervalued.) For my money, the hardest thing about teaching has got to be the shifting of priorities, from the betterment of yourself to the betterment of others. When I fail myself — write a bad article, perform as crummy scene, log something incorrectly in QuickBooks — I’m mostly just hurting myself. But when a teacher blows off their duties, there are a bunch of people, children even, that pay the price. Wolverine and the X-Men renumbers itself and zeros in on this burden of responsibility, just who can deal with it and who’s struggling. Continue reading →

Mar 11 2014

Veil 1

Alternating Currents: Veil 1, Drew and GregToday, Drew and Greg are discussing Veil 1, originally released March 5th, 2014.

Drew: What is an identity? Is it a name you call yourself? Is it a series of values that dictate your actions? I think we often tend to think of our identity as some kind of immutable part of our being, but I personally believe that it changes with the context. Sometimes we’re outgoing, other times we’re shy. Sometimes we’re funny, other times we’re humorless. I tend to think that context-dependence means that we define ourselves — at least in part — by the way others treat us. I tend to be a pretty mature guy, but as soon as I go home to visit my parents, I’m a little bit seventeen again. I often find myself rising (or falling, as the case may be) to those expectations, but Veil 1 introduces a character who refuses to be defined by the way she’s perceived. Continue reading →

Mar 10 2014

Loki: Agent of Asgard 2

loki 2Today, Scott and Spencer are discussing Loki: Agent of Asgard 2, originally released March 5, 2014. 

slim-bannerScott: The world is built on lies. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that anyone who’s achieved great success wouldn’t have gotten there without at least a little bit of dishonesty. We’re encouraged to lie on our resumes. It’s practically a requirement during job interviews. Can you imagine if politicians couldn’t make any false promises while campaigning? They wouldn’t be able to say anything. And it’s not always such a bad thing. We lie to be polite. We tell our waiters that everything tastes great even though we’ve only taken one bite. They smile and life goes on. It’s harmless. In Loki: Agent of Asgard 2, writer Al Ewing and artist Lee Garbett point out just how common lying really is. It may not be possibly for two people to converse for ten minutes without one of them lying. Now what if Loki, the God of Mischief, is put in a situation where he can’t lie? The outcome might surprise you…

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Mar 10 2014

She-Hulk 2

she-hulk 2Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing She-Hulk 2, originally released March 5th, 2014. 

slim-bannerShelby: There is something fascinating about the regular lives of celebrities. They can be doing the same, boring stuff I do every day, and I’m still going to be interested in it. In fact; it’s better if they’re doing regular stuff like me; it de-mystifies them, taking them down from the pedestal we’ve put them on. Celebrities are people, too, after all. I have a similar fascination with the regular lives of comic book characters. I love seeing the balance between their super lives and their regular lives. It’s extra intriguing when we’re dealing with a super who can’t look like an ordinary civilian; Scott Lang can blend into a crowd pretty well, but Ben Grimm is going to stand out no matter what he does. It’s really no wonder I like Charles Soule’s take on She-Hulk so much; it’s more about Jennifer Walters trying to live her life around She-Hulk, instead of She-Hulk smashing things. There is still some smashing, though; it wouldn’t be a [fill-in-the-blank] Hulk book without it. 

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