Category Contributors

Jun 22 2012

Wonder Woman 10

Today, Drew and (special guest writer) Siri Hellerman are discussing Wonder Woman 10, originally released June 20th, 2012.

Drew: Fantasy is always going to have an exposition problem. It’s hard enough establishing who everyone is and what their motivations are elegantly without having to explain the rules of various magics or the politics between various races. This is especially true of myths, where the stories are often distilled down to their essence, such that any details (which could otherwise be written off as just adding color) bears obvious narrative significance, as if Chekov himself were pointing them out for you. Brian Azzarello manages to side-step this issue both by relying on pre-esstablished myths (voiding any need for exposition), and by mirthfully keeping us in the dark regarding much of those telling details. Continue reading →

Jun 21 2012

Red Hood and the Outlaws 10

Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing Red Hood and the Outlaws 10, originally released June 20th, 2012.

Patrick: Red Hood and the Outlaws is a kitchen sink sort of series. There are aliens, there are mist-women, there are secret races of warrior people – and at the heart of it is a trio of heroes that don’t really make sense in each other’s worlds. Whenever the series teeters on the edge of a metaphysical discovery of the ancient mystical world, a spaceship flies in, or some classic Batman villain makes an appearance. So much of the series’ appeal comes from the way our core group of heroes interacts and adapts to these insanely diverse (diversely insane?) scenarios.

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Jun 19 2012

Before Watchmen – Silk Spectre 1

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Silk Spectre 1, originally released June 13th, 2012. Silk Spectre is part of DC’s Before Watchmen prequel series. Click here for complete Before Watchmen coverage (including release dates).

Shelby:  Silk Spectre has never been one of my favorite characters from Watchmen. I got the point of Sally’s role, but I didn’t care much about her, and Laurie always…irritated me. Because I have the advantage of being outside the Jupiter familiy, I can more easily see the things Sally has done for her daughter, which has always left me with little patience for Laurie’s whiny attitude. I never thought I would be the most excited for the Silk Spectre issue of Before Watchmen, but after I heard Amanda Conner talk about it at C2E2 (and more importantly, after I saw a sneaky peek of the art), this immediately became the title I am most excited about.

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Jun 18 2012

Batman and Robin 10

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Batman and Robin 10, originally released June 13th 2012.

Drew: What defines us? Is it our best qualities, our successes and moments of pride; or is it our worst qualities, our failures and our weaknesses? It’s a question that plagues all of us at one time or another, and one that is front and center in Peter Tomasi’s run on Batman and Robin. Damian is a character who seems to have nearly infinite capacity for both good and evil, but how exactly he’ll chose to use that capacity remains in question. What defines Damian has been a driving question of this title, and in this issue, Damian reflects the question outward, delivering what promises to be an affecting character study on all of the former Robins (sorry Stephanie Brown fans — it seems her stint as Robin has been written out of the canon for sure). Continue reading →

Jun 18 2012

Deathstroke 10

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Deathstroke 10, originally released June 13th, 2012.

Patrick: Writer and artist Rob Liefeld is an interesting dude. He’s been a huge figure in american comic books since the 1990s, was one of the founding members of Image Comics, and currently writes and/or draws more comic series than the average person is reading. He’s a prodigious talent, and even when he’s mired by controversies about misogyny, late work or even plagiarism, the man sells a ton of comic books. There’s a legion of critics that absolutely loathe his contributions to the medium, but the legion of fans that support his efforts far outweigh the nay-sayers. For all the content the guy produces, he somehow manages to keep up a very active, incredibly aggressive public persona (the man’s twitter appetite is insatiable). He’s boastful, and likes to remind critics that no matter what they say, he’s always going to be successful. Besides, Liefeld frequently asserts, he’s not writing for the critics he’s writing for the fans. So if the artist is so interesting, why is his art so boring?

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Jun 15 2012

Green Lantern 10

Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing Green Lantern 10, originally released June 13th, 2012.

Patrick: Before the relaunch, Blackest Night and Brightest Day cast a enormous shadows over the entire DC Universe. While much of that shadow receded in September, with most of the lingering vestigages hanging around the Green Lantern books. Understanding the existence of any non-green, non-yellow lantern corps requires knowledge of the Night and Day but writers have been cagey to reveal how much of that old mythology remained canon. With the events of Green Lantern 10, it would appear that we’re heading for a big exploration of those events as the universe makes the same mistakes over and over again.

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Jun 14 2012

Batgirl 10

Today, Peter and Drew are discussing Batgirl 8, originally released June 13th 2012.

Peter: We are now out of the Night of the Owls. Babs is back in action fighting crime in Gotham. We get a new storyline and tons of new possibilities from here on out. Babara is an incredibly dynamic character so far. Gail Simone has been writing this character for a long time, from Oracle to Batgirl, and has done an incredible job getting Barbara back on her feet. The amount of time and detail that is going into this story is continuously setting it apart from many of the other books in DC’s current line-up.

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Jun 14 2012

Batman 10

Alternating Current: Batman 10, Drew and Patrick-NoOToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 10, originally released June 13th, 2012.

Drew: There’s a moment, right in the middle of this issue, that finds Bruce sitting in his robe, idly handling a pair of shell casings. How these clues fit into his current case isn’t apparent, but as the scene plays out, it slowly becomes clear that these were the casings of the bullets that killed Bruce’s parents. This kind of shocking, resonating reveal first introduced as something innocuous is a microcosm of writer Scott Snyder’s current run on Batman; a magic act he’s able to pull off time and time again, to impossibly greater and greater effect. This issue is an exemplar of that skill, cashing in on a set-up not just 10 issues, but 73 years in the making. Continue reading →

Jun 12 2012

The Vault – Batman Macbook Sticker

The Retcon Punchers spend an awful lot of time looking for ways to celebrate our nerdy obsessions. This means a lot of time sunk into scouring Etsy, Deviant Art, Think Geek or whatever. Sometimes we see things so great we just have to share them… and then clutch them fiercely to our collective chest. Throw it in The Vault.

Batman Macbook Sticker

Website: Etsy

Who Would Love This: Macs that need to show the people of Gotham that they don’t have to be afraid

Price: $3.99

So with Apple announcing yesterday their new line of Macbook Pros, I’ve been drooling over them. I am planning on getting one, since I’m due for a new laptop, and what better way to trick out your Mac than to make it a BatMac? There were several different Batman stickers, but I like this one the best. Also, the chest logo glows, just like our Green Lantern sticker. Also, I like the idea of a BatMac.

Jun 12 2012

Worlds’ Finest 2


Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing Worlds’ Finest 2, originally released June 6th, 2012.

Patrick: Last month, I had a great time with the Earth-2 books. The giddy thrill of watching Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all eat it, coupled with a handful of details that were just different enough from the main world, really sold me on both Earth-2 #1 and Worlds’ Finest #1. But now that we’re settling into the actual stories that these series wish to tell, it becomes apparent that Worlds’ Finest is stuck on some dull details, even if there is a compelling narrative buried below the surface. Continue reading →