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

Jun 24 2013

Green Lantern: New Guardians 21

new guardians 21

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern: New Guardians 21, originally released June 19th, 2013.

Jingle bells / Batman smells / Robin laid an egg / Batmobile broke its wheel / and the Joker got away.

-Traditional.

Patrick: I know there are variations on the above. There are the small variations, like the difference between “broke its wheel” and “lost its wheel”; and there are the big variations, like the difference between the Joker getting away and dancing ballet. We’ve all been that little shit – belting away over a chorus of vanilla Jingle Bells. While it’s mostly nonsense, there are a few simple truths buried in those lyrics. The first being that superhero stories are simple and repetitive, but the second being that that the superhero trappings are all it takes to make the story engaging. If the “police car” broke its wheel and the “bad guy” got away, it’s not the same story. A new creative team on Green Lantern: New Guardians trots out all the all the trappings of the Green Lantern universe and threatens to do something new with it, before doubling back to the space operatics we’ve come to expect. Continue reading →

Jun 21 2013

Age of Ultron 10

age of ultron 10 AU

Today, Drew are Shelby are discussing Age of Ultron 10, originally released June 19th, 2013. This issue is part of the Age of Ultron crossover event. Click here for complete AU coverage.

ultron-div

Drew: Age of Ultron 9 found Taylor asking “What is time?” It’s something so central to our perception of the world, yet something we barely understand. Issue 10 continues the trend of focusing on subjects at the edge of our scientific understanding, this time taking up the question “What is reality?” What really are these things we believe to be true? History, as they say, is written by the victors (and re-written by whoever beats them, and so on), suggesting that “reality” might be a bit more subjective than we like to think. But what if the victors could actually alter history, not just our retellings of it? What if reality was objectively malleable? That’s kind of the question this series has been asking all along, but its conclusion puts a finer point on it, making the very fabric of Marvel’s “reality” the focus of this issue. Continue reading →

Jun 21 2013

100 Bullets: Brother Lono 1

100 bullets 1

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing 100 Bullets: Brother Lono 1, originally released June 19th, 2013. Check out Drew’s interview with Brian Azzarello here!

Patrick: Revenge narratives are tough — in order to properly motivate a hero to undertake an immoral quest, the character needs to be severely wronged. We place so much moral capital on someone’s ability to turn the other cheek, that even when the protagonist is pushed to their limits, it feels a little icky to see the bad guy get what’s coming to ’em. I mean, they have to maintain the high ground somehow, right? But no matter how masterfully crafted, these stories are always ugly, always petty, and even in their moments of triumph, always revolting. Brian Azzarello and Eduaro Risso built a compelling story engine on the framework of revenge in 100 Bullets, and their new mini-series may have dropped many of the central conceits of the original, but that intensely repulsive element remains. I cannot wait to see the bad guys get what’s coming to ’em in this series. Continue reading →

Jun 20 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries Villains 3: Old Hob

old hob 1

Today, Taylor and Patrick are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries Villains 3: Old Hob originally released June 19th, 2013. 

Taylor: Cats always land on their feet. Or at least that’s what they do in the popular consciousness. While this old adage might not be as true as many believe, there does seem to be some serious science behind it. Youtube has a plethora of videos showing off the twists and turn cats go through while falling to ensure they land on their feet. Also, as a species, cats have proven to be fairly adept at landing themselves in fortuitous situations. Since the time of ancient Egypt cats have been man’s second best friend right after the dog. Wherever humans exist, there are bound to be cats in their homes and roaming their streets. Cats are survivors and because of this, none us should have been surprised when it was revealed that Ol’ Hob survived being double crossed by Baxter Stockman. But as we find out in the TMNT villains micro-series, this double cross is just one in a series of events where Hob is thrust into a bad situation, only to once again land squarely on his feet.

Continue reading →

Jun 19 2013

Batgirl 21

batgirl 21Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Batgirl 18, originally released March 13th, 2013.

Patrick: I used to live in an apartment in Uptown Chicago with Taylor and our friend Andrew. This is right out of college and none of us really knew what we were doing in that town – just that we had some friends in the area and where else were we going to find jobs? The later part of that equation proved more taxing that we had originally expected (hooray for economic downturns!), and living there eventually became an endurance match against the city. You’d spend the morning sleeping, the afternoon looking for jobs, the evenings trying to figure out what the fuck you’re doing with your life, and the nights drinking. It’s a vicious little cycle, and every phone call to your folks to ask for a couple bucks so you could cover rent, every email from faraway friends, piled up into this feeling of helplessness – like you were stuck in a make-believe life that bore to similarities to the life you knew before. Oddly, it was getting jobs that we all hated that grounded us – provided structure to our lives. It’s just when Batgirl feels that her old life has totally slipped away from her that regains her structure the old fashioned way: doing her job and punching a villain in the face. Continue reading →

Jun 19 2013

Thor: God of Thunder 9

thor 9

Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing Thor: God of Thunder 9, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Shelby: Religion, mythology, and fantasy: all three have slightly different connotations. Religion refers to a set of beliefs about where we came from and where we’ll end up, generally involving some sort of god(s) and a moral code. My rural Wisconsin, Lutheran upbringing means I tend to default to the Christian God, Three in One, etc., etc. Mythology is more folkloric, a collection stories about heroes and gods: the stories that fuel all religions, but a term often ascribed to the religion of the other. As in, “my beliefs are religion, yours are merely myths.” Fantasy is the imagination that fuels the myths, the crazy daydream that dreamed up the stories in the first place. Personally, I believe it’s the myth, the story, that ties these three together: the imagination creates the story, and the story fosters belief. No where is the connections between religion, mythology, and fantasy more apparent than in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder.

Continue reading →

Jun 18 2013

Manhattan Projects 12

Alternating Currents: Manhattan Projects 12, Drew and Patrick

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Manhattan Projects 12, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Oh my God. Oh my God! Oh my God! The whole time? The whole time, you were – THE WHOLE TIME?!

-Sally Field as Miranda Hillard
Mrs. Doubtfire

Drew: I love a good twist. Nothing is better than being surprised by a narrative — especially with something that fundamentally shifts the paradigm of the story. Of course, it’s possible to go too big with a twist — if you change the foundation too much, you run the risk of invalidating the emotional connections based on that foundation. Obviously, it’s difficult to bring up examples without spoiling some big twists, which hopefully explains the epigraph — by the climax of Mrs. Doubtfire Sally Field’s character is basically the only person that doesn’t know Robin Williams is her nanny, but that doesn’t negate her growing sense of betrayal as she realizes that this was the case THE WHOLE TIME. I had a similar reaction as Manhattan Projects 12 reveals that Fermi isn’t the character we think he is. When Harry reveals that he knows Fermi is an alien at the end of Manhattan Projects 11, Patrick and I were touched — we saw their friendship as the sweet story of two outsiders who found each other. In issue 12, Jonathan Hickman rips that still-beating heart out through our eye-holes, and lets us know that it was all a lie, anyway. Continue reading →

Jun 18 2013

Green Lantern Corps 21

green lantern corps 21

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Green Lantern Corps 21, originally released June 11th, 2013.

Patrick: Any comic series you’re going to read from the Big Two publishers is going to be something of a Frankenstein monster. In an editor-driven system, even the most auteur creators have to construct their stories by committee. And that’s great: there’s no way a single mind would have the time or patience to construct all these stories on their own. Plus, collaboration yields kick-ass art, and the one-man comic creation is the incredibly rare exception. The latest incarnation of Green Lantern Corps has a tall family tree, with prestigious branches like Peter Tomasi and Alan Moore, but it also has a confusing mishmash of fathers — after Josh Fialkov walked off the series, Green Lantern writer Robert Venditti (he’s credited as “co-pilot”) constructed a story  for which Van Jensen wrote the script. It’s no wonder that first issue for the new creative team is a jumble of interesting ideas and characters, impossibly focused on both embracing and escaping the past. It’s a mess, but sort of a charming one. Continue reading →

Jun 18 2013

Chat Cave: Man of Steel

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Between the commercial success of a near-constant stream of Marvel Studios Avengers movies and the critical success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there are impossible expectations for Man of Steel. Expectations like reigniting the public’s love for Superman; expectations like launching a blockbuster film franchise; expectations like being any good in its own right. Zach Snyder’s Superman slug-fest has a lot to accomplish. Does it achieve any of that? Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Drew: Like many comics fans, I was incredibly excited by the teaser trailer for this movie. In spite of the trailer’s own prominent reminder that Zach Snyder directed both Watchmen and 300, it felt like this movie got Superman. Indeed, the trailer trades in Snyder’s standard embarrassing music cues and slow-motion punches for meditative statements about Superman’s power as a symbol. Between story credits by Dark Knight Trilogy scribe David S. Goyer and director  Christopher Nolan, I dared hope that Man of Steel might be to Superman what The Dark Knight films were to Batman: an operatic drama that understands the defining nature of the hero.

Continue reading →

Jun 14 2013

Constantine 4

constantine 4Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing Constantine 4, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Patrick: For all it’s crude early-90s wordplay and carefully constructed explorations of popular culture, the greatest strength of the movie Clerks is Dante’s refrain “I’m not even supposed to be here today.” The indignity of living his life is made all the worse when we realize there’s no escape for the poor guy, even on his day off. It’s like the universe is only happy when Dante’s stuck behind the register at the Quick Stop. Just as the DC Universe is only happy when John Constantine is up to his neck in charms, angry wizards and grifter-assassins. It turns out magic doesn’t take a holiday, even when Johnny needs it so badly. Continue reading →