Category Patrick Ehlers

Patrick Ehlers, Co-Editor-In-Chief
patrick@retcon-punch.com

Location: Los Angeles

History With Comics: Patrick came late to the comics game. After enjoying adaptations of Batman, Superman and the Justice League, he was finally tricked into picking up a set of graphic novels after seeing Robert Rodriguez’ Sin City. Naturally, this lead to further exploration of Frank Miller’s work, specifically with Batman. But it was not until an unexplainable desire to read Blackest Night that Patrick began purchasing the trades of Geoff Johns’ run Green Lantern. With a convenient new entry point and a handful of friends to follow him into the madness, Patrick began reading monthlies with the New 52’s Justice League #1.

New 52 Favorites: The Flash, Swamp Thing, Batwoman

Other Favorite Comics: Usagi Yojimbo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saga

Jul 2 2013

Deadpool 12

deadpool 12

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 12, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Scott: You can’t avoid the inevitable. Throughout Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan’s Deadpool run, there has been one constant: no matter how much Wade Wilson has to suffer, he always kills the guy he sets out to kill. As a result, Deadpool comics are more about the thrill of the ride than the destination. As individual episodes, Deadpool is light fun, with humorous characters regularly being introduced and killed in humorous ways. So when it comes to a villain who has been around for several issues, should we expect his death to be several times as much fun? Deadpool 12 says so long to a character who has defined the series’ second major arc and, aside from some structural problems, Posehn and Duggan deliver an epically fun, albeit inevitable, farewell.

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Jul 2 2013

Justice League 21 / Justice League of America 5

justice league 21 JLA 5

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing Justice League 21 and Justice League of America 5, originally released June 26th, 2013. These issues are part of the Trinity War crossover event. Click here for our complete Trinity War coverage.

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Spencer: A team doesn’t become a team just because a group of characters are assembled together. These characters truly become a team when they can put aside their individual goals, combine their distinct talents and work together as a cohesive unit, and doing so usually takes time and practice. Both of Geoff Johns’ Justice League books this week feature groups that are finally learning to be real teams; the real surprise is that the Justice League-proper isn’t one of those groups.

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Jul 1 2013

All-New X-Men 13 / Uncanny X-Men 7

uncanny x-men 7 all new x-men 13

Today,  Patrick and Drew are discussing All-New X-Men 13 and Uncanny X-Men 7, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Patrick: There’s a character in Final Fantasy VI named Terra. You’d be hard pressed to call her the main character, but it’s Terra’s struggle to understand and control herself that  propels the story and motivates just about every other character in the game. Terra has untold power because she is the result of a marriage between a human and a magical creature known as an Esper. As the humans wage outright war on the Espers, her magic side gets harder and harder to control. This is a weirdly recurring character in science fiction and fantasy: the woman of immense power, who proves to be a danger to herself and others, and who must be made less powerful. Enter: Jean Grey and Illyana Rasputin. Continue reading →

Jun 28 2013

The Wake 2

wake 2

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing The Wake 2, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Patrick: Michael Crichton made a career out of crafting exposition that was interesting in and of itself. Starting with Congo in 1980, all of his books hinged on impossibly high-concept ideas that were so close to being fact that reading his books felt like learning something. You know that moment in Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum’s character edges forward in his seat as he listens to Mr. DNA’s explanation of the cloning process? That’s what 90% of the experience of reading Crichton’s books is like. The science, the history, the psychology — it all manages to contain just enough truth to spark a reader’s imagination. Reading the book becomes an act of discovery, both in terms of the fictional world and your real world. The effect is propulsive, and makes even a simple dinosaur adventure seem revelatory. Scott Snyder employs the same trick as he anchors his monster in myth and evolutionary science. Not a whole lot happens on the page, the story instead plays out in your own head. Continue reading →

Jun 27 2013

Daredevil 27

daredevil 27

Today, Mikyzptlk and Patrick are discussing Daredevil 27, originally released June 26th, 2013. 

Mikyzptlk: I’ll just come right out and say it, the conclusion to Age of Ultron was a huge disappointment to me. It felt less like a conclusion, and more like a setup to a bunch of other books that I may not even be interested in reading. I’m not saying I won’t be reading any of them necessarily, but it’s a pretty annoying to see a story “end” by telling me I have to read all of these other books to learn about any potential consequences of the story I’ve been reading for 10 issues. So, what the hell does this have to do with Daredevil you ask? Well, I get that comics, by nature, are supposed to get you to come back month after month. The thing is, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that. And, with the conclusion of the latest Daredevil arc, Mark Waid proves he knows how to do it right.  Continue reading →

Jun 27 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 23

tmnt 23

Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 23, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Patrick: One of the most beautiful things about IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is the relationship it has with the franchise’s past. And that’s an insane past. TMNT have been rebooted and re-imagined so many times in their 30-year history, there’s really no such thing as a definitive take on the characters. You’ll never be able to get two TMNT fans to agree on what constitutes canon for them – there are just too many movies, video games, comics, television shows and elaborately staged action-figure set-pieces played out on my bedroom floor. More than Superman, more than Wolverine, who these characters are at their core is left to the individual reader. The second issue of CityFall takes that concept of subjective history and makes it arrestingly explicit as Leonardo is forced to recontextualize the adventures we’ve been reading for the last two years. Continue reading →

Jun 26 2013

Anti-Hero 1

anti-hero 1Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing Anti-Hero 1, originally released June 26th, 2013. 

Spencer: Superhero comics have been around for over 70 years now. In that time, they’ve amassed quite a pile of tropes that writers return to time after time. One thing I’ve always admired about Jay Faerber’s writing is the way he takes these tropes and plays with them, using our intimate knowledge of them as a kind of shorthand to effortlessly familiarize us with a situation or character. In Faerber’s new series, Anti-Hero, he combines superhero and crime tropes to create a world that shares the best—and worst—of both genres, all while creating a hero who might just be lost in either world.

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Jun 26 2013

New Avengers 7

new avengers 7

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing New Avengers 7, originally released June 19th, 2013. 

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Spencer: The more responsibility you have, the harder it is to find time to yourself. I consider myself fortunate to have a job that I can ignore completely on my days off, but if I was, say, a CEO or the president, I just wouldn’t have that luxury; there are no days off when you’re that important. As the self-appointed protectors of our universe, the Illuminati fall firmly into that camp. Even as the threat of the Incursions recedes for the moment, they’ve still got more than their fair share of life-or-death, morally gray decisions to make.

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Jun 25 2013

Birds of Prey 20-21

birds of prey 20-21

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Birds of Prey 20-21, originally released May 15th and June 19th, 2013.

Patrick: Fun fact: when Family Matters debuted in 1989, Jaleel White had not been cast on the show. Instead of being the adventures of Steve Urkel and the neighbors he loved to annoy, the show was a simple spin-off of Perfect Strangers – the story of a middle class working family in Chicago. But Steve Urkel made his appearance in the twelfth episode and was so well-received that it changed the DNA of the series forever. For better or for worse Steve Urkel had taken over Family Matters, and suddenly he was the only thing mattered. As Birds of Prey struggles to find it’s own audience and its own direction, it receives an Urkel of its own: The Court of Owls. Continue reading →

Jun 24 2013

Invincible 103

invincible 103

Today, Patrick and (guest writer) Zach are discussing Invincible 103, originally released June 19th, 2013.

Patrick: Invincible is a series that resits being discussed on any terms but its own. Robert Kirkman has built up such an extensive cast of characters, and such a rich history, that nearly every new thing that happens can find its origin in previous issues of this series. There are three different editors’ notes in this issue, the first refers me back to to the Death of Everyone story (which I actually read), but the next note refers to issue 37 which came out seven years ago, and the other to the spin-off series Guarding the Globe. I always used to get the feeling that an editor’s note was in place to be helpful, assure you that there was some precedent for the thing that was happening. Failing that, the editor’s note was just trying to sell me some related material – a slightly-less-altruistic kind of helpful. Invincible editor Sean Mackiewicz uses them for another reason altogether – to identify moments of fan-service. It’s like Kirkman writes in all these winks and nudges to his long-time readers, only to have Mackiewicz let us newbies know how clever he’s being. Continue reading →