Category Contributors

Jun 6 2012

Arkham City: Harley’s Revenge

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing the Arkham City DLC: Harley’s Revenge, originally released May 29th, 2012.

Peter: If you have not played Batman: Arkham City, or the new downloadable content Harley’s Revenge, do not click and read any more of this article. This is Retcon Punch’s reaction and review to the new content and our post contains LOTS of spoilers. We don’t want to be the people that ruin your gaming experience by spoiling anything. We love this game, and we love our readers, so we don’t want to hurt you in anyway. If you have played, or you just don’t care about spoilers, go ahead, click the link, and enjoy.

Continue reading →

Jun 5 2012

Op-Ed: Girls and Comic Books

Cosplay is a problem. I love dressing up, I love costumes, so naturally, I want to cosplay at the next con I attend. BUT I know I’m not in the kind of shape I would need to be in to make the costumes of any of my favorites work. I definitely don’t want to end up in some sort of “mistakes were made” cosplay photo gallery. Plus, if I’m going to go to hang out with friends at a con, I don’t want to be uncomfortably, impractically sexy!

Now, I am obviously old enough to not need superheroines to look up to as role models. I do, however, want to celebrate the characters I most enjoy reading; what with imitation being the highest form of flattery and all that, cosplay seems the way to go. Between Wonder Woman’s mostly pantsless state and Batgirl’s skin-tight…whatever that thing is called, my options are limited. Continue reading →

Jun 5 2012

The Vault – Dinosaur Batman iPhone Case

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.

Website: Society 6

Who Would Love This: Batman lovers, paleontologists, people with eyes to see how awesome this is

Price: $35.00

This was sent to me by alert reader and dinosaur fiend Taylor Anderson, and I don’t have the words in my vocabulary to describe how awesome this is, other than to just point and say “Look at it!” Don’t have an iPhone? No problem! Society 6 is one of those sites that puts artists’ images on pretty much anything, so you can get this as a t-shirt, art print, laptop skin, etc. And if, for some bizarre reason I can’t understand, you don’t want Batman riding a T-Rex on your phone, there are actually a TON of comic book related images at Society 6 to check out. I only picked this one because….well, just look at it!

Jun 5 2012

Captain Atom 9

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Captain Atom 9, originally released on May 16th, 2012.

Drew: Comics are an interesting medium for exploring time. We experience them from beginning to end, but we’re also able to flip back and forth between pages and issues to refresh and contextualize our reading. Combine that potential with the ability writers have to splice up their own narratives, and you have unlimited possibilities for explaining the impact a single moment can have. In Captain Atom 9, J.T. Krul and Freddie Williams II continue to explore these ideas both narratively and thematically, and continue to yield mixed results. Continue reading →

Jun 4 2012

The Vault – Green Lantern Oath Cross-Stitch

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.

Website: Etsy

Who Would Love This: Shelby.  Or, nerdy grandmothers.

Price: $3.63 (which is less than I spent on a blended chai this weekend)

Since the common man has long-since lost his ability to chisel his most solemn prayers and aphorisms into stone, we have developed the technology of “cross-stitch.” Normally, you’ll see the Nicene Creed on a pillow on your grandmother’s couch, or a pithy little statement about the value of family framed in your aunts den, but why not broaden that? Why not add the battle-cry of the Green Lanterns to that list? And at the low low price of “basically nothing,” what have you got to lose?

Jun 4 2012

Green Lantern Corps 9

Today, Peter and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern Corps 9, originally released May 30th, 2012.

Peter: The Alpha War is underway. John Stewart is on trial for murdering a fellow Lantern. Green Lantern Corps is the book that is currently sticking close to Oa and the Guardians. Their secret and mischievous plans to eventually get rid of the Green Lantern Corps may start here, and this could very well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Continue reading →

Jun 1 2012

The Vault – Retro Corps Recruitment Posters

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.

Website: deviantArt of Matthew Waite

Who Would Love This: Corps hopefuls

Price: unknown, contact artist

I have this thing for cool retro-style posters. I caught a glimpse of these when Shelby and I were at C2E2. They are really slick. I wish he had finished the whole set. The collector in me wants the whole set. That’s why I didn’t buy any at C2E2. (That, and I didn’t have a lot of money on me) These posters really capture what each Corps is about, and it gets the message across. Plus, they look fantastic. I especially like the worn/dog-eared effect. If Matt were to complete the set and add the rest of the posters in, and then maybe consider a package deal, I would be really happy. Or you could just buy your favorite, and keep it up in your weight room as inspiration for all the hard work you are doing.

Jun 1 2012

Animal Man Annual 1

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing the Animal Man Annual 1, originally released May 30th, 2012.

Patrick: All good modern-epics have have nearly bottomless backstories: histories that stretch on further than any of the characters can remember. “This has all happened before and it will happen again.” I do not quote the sacred text of Battlestar Galactica lightly; the war between The Rot, The Red and The Green has a history that literally (and necessarily) spans all life on Earth. Ever. We’ve gotten glimpses of this history in Animal Man and Swamp Thing, but this is the first time we’ve gotten an extended look at one of the previous incursions by The Rot. We don’t get the whole picture, but we do get some remarkable personal insight.

Continue reading →

May 31 2012

Batman Annual 1

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Batman Annual 1 originally released May 30th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.

Drew: Let’s talk about baggage. Comics (especially comics with 70+ year histories) have a lot of fictional history that fans have long demanded that creators adhere to. DC’s relaunch promised to shake that status quo up a bit, freeing up editors, writers, and artists to keep what works and jettison anything that doesn’t. Of course, Batman being Batman, damn near everything about him worked. Writer Scott Snyder has revealed a lot of new information, largely by focusing on things that aren’t Bruce (or his core relationships), but much of what we knew about Batman has remained true. This makes any changes that are made — like those revealed towards the end of Batman Annual 1 — particularly effective; especially when they play so brilliantly against what we expect. Continue reading →

May 30 2012

Cram Session: Batman: Dark Knight 1-8

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

We read a lot of good Batman books. We also read a lot of bad Batman books. This series falls firmly in the latter camp. It’s aggressively goofy and has more cameo appearances than a Robert Rodriguez movie. The Night of Owls issue was unremarkable, but not a total disaster. Catching up on the eight issues that came before it is totally unnecessary as there’s almost no over-lap in the characters, and a huge writer shake-up between issues 8 and 9. Still, there’s something charmingly dumb about this series, so it’s hard not to pay attention to it.