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

Aug 30 2012

Aquaman 12

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Aquaman 12, originally released August 29th, 2012.

Peter: The multi-issue story arc is an ungainly creature. What should the first issue look like? How about the last? What shape does it take in the middle? I tend to read my comics the way I think DC wants me to: one at a time, the week they come out. But sometimes that episodic reading does a disservice to the story. That’s why someone decided to collect them into graphic novels. “The Others” is definitely one of those stories that I am going to have to go back and read as a whole from start to finish to get the full effect. Geoff Johns has crafted something that definitely will flow together better as a whole, because frankly, this is a roller coaster of emotion and story.

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Aug 29 2012

The Vault – Spoils of Patrick’s Birthday

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: N/A

Who Would Love This: Me. Also, you.

Price: 30 years of refusing to grow up.

I’m breaking the format a little bit today. I turned thirty-goddamned-years old last Friday. At the risk of alienating anyone over that age: that is old. But that doesn’t mean that two of the best women in my life can’t buy me presents with Batman on them. Continue reading →

Aug 27 2012

The Flash 12

Alternating Currents: Flash 12, Drew and Patrick

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing the Flash 12, originally released August 22nd, 2012.

Patrick: Bad guys don’t make for the best teams.  Hell, superheroes seldom make functional teams. 90% of team stories center around just how hard it is to put individual egos on hold and actually work as a team. Sometimes the group gels to confront a common, insurmountable enemy; sometimes they’re extorted into working together; and sometimes they seem to be the only people in the whole universe going through the same trials. But bad guys only get together for one reason: take down the hero. Right? Well, The Flash #12 has something to say about that. Continue reading →

Aug 24 2012

All-Star Western 12

Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing the All-Star Western 12, originally released August 22nd, 2012.

Patrick: One of the problems with dealing with 1890s Gotham City is that you know what that poor town has in store for it in the next 100+ years. It’s actually the same problem that plagues narratives about modern Gotham – nothing is every going to solve that city’s problems. Not Batman, not the GCPD, not Jonah Hex… oh wait a minute. Issue 12 actually closes a full year worth of stories, comprised of several multi-issue arcs. And the most surprising thing is that our heroes are successful. It’s almost unprecedented in this town, but the Religion is Crime is dealt a serious blow. Also unprecedented, Hex has developed an affinity for Gotham City and Amadeus Arkham.  Continue reading →

Aug 23 2012

Batman Incorporated 3

Alternating Currents: Batman Incorporated 3, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman, Inc 3, originally released August 22, 2012.

Drew: After catching up on the entirety of Grant Morrison’s “Batman Epic,” I’d gotten the impression that I knew Morrison as a writer, or at least as a writer of Batman stories. His every tic had become familiar to me, from his penchant for mind-bendingly baroque symbolism, spouted by even the most unlikely characters, to his general assumption that everybody knows what the fuck he is talking about. His work with Batman has largely served to place Bruce in an ever-deepening universe where everything is connected, and discovering how is essential to his survival. As the Epic draws to a close, however, and the connections become more apparent, Morrison changes his strategy, delivering a straightforward, nearly Platonic Batman story, complete with disguises, masked goons, and a double-crossing dame.

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Aug 22 2012

DC Universe Presents 12: Kid Flash

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing DC Universe Presents 12: Kid Flash, originally released August 15th, 2012.

Patrick: There’s always a risk when you pick up a new title. You never really know if the characters or the creative teams are going to meet your expectations. DC Universe Presents frequently shifts its focus, filling in gaps in the line-up and employing various creatives. I sort of have a hard time imagining that this title has a regular readership. I assume readers drift over to it when they see one of their favorite characters on the cover. Drew and I are enormous fans of the current run of The Flash and we’ve bemoaned the fact that there really aren’t other Flash books for us to read. So as this anthology series offers us a Kid Flash story, did we get what we wanted?
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Aug 22 2012

Chat Cave: New Sandman Story

At San Diego Comic Con this year, Vertigo made the surprising announcement that Neil Gaiman will be writing a new Sandman story arc, with Retcon Punch  favorite  J. H. Williams, III. Even though we don’t currently cover any Vertigo titles, Gaiman’s return to this game-changing, original, and incredibly unique title is definitely worthy of a discussion. What have been the fan reactions? What does DC’s current preponderance of prequels reflect of the current state of the industry? Are you incredibly excited for this dynamic artistic team-up? Retcon Punchers sound off: Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Shelby: I am stupid excited for a new Sandman story. When Patrick first started talking to me about working on this site, my response was, “DC Comics are great, when will we talk about Sandman?” The universe Gaiman created is unlike any other I have ever experienced, except maybe in other Gaiman books. He has a great way of blending multiple cultures’ mythologies; I never would have guessed stories featuring the Muses of the Greeks could exist next to stories of Odin and Thor, and that it would all work. What really intrigues me, though, is the comparison of fan reactions between this prequel (super positive) and the Before Watchman prequels (often negative).

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Aug 20 2012

Green Lantern Corps 12

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern Corps 11, originally released August 15th, 2012.

Patrick: “Don’t trust the authority.” It’s a theme that runs rich through the Green Lanterns mythos. And it’s not just the Guardians you can’t trust. Your mentors (Sinestro, to a lesser extent Abin Sur), your peace keeping force (the Alphas), even your greatest heroes (“Halallax” – which is what Shelby and I like to call Hal when he was infected with the yellow): everyone’s out to get you. For a series with such anarchist underpinnings, Green Lantern Corps has an unshakable belief in the fundamental goodness of their group. This issue kicks both of these conflicting ideas into high-gear.

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Aug 20 2012

Nightwing 12

Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Nightwing 12, originally released August 15th, 2012.

Peter: I feel like I’ve been let down a lot by comics lately. Most of the books I’ve read recently have left me feeling unfulfilled. Stories just don’t seem to be going interesting places, or aren’t very thought provoking. Nightwing has become one of these offenders recently. Dick is a great character that is capable of exploring so much. During the Night of Owls, he played a major role in the story and I loved it. There are some nice moments and a few redeeming factors, but overall, I am feeling very whelmed about this issue. Continue reading →

Aug 17 2012

Wonder Woman 12

Today, Patrick and Peter are discussing Wonder Woman 12, originally released August 15th, 2012.

Patrick: One of the biggest strengths of Brain Azzarello’s Wonder Woman is the richness of its details. The gods are reinvented for comics and the resultant designs are full of specifics that delight by their own virtue. It’s not uncommon in this series to meet a new character or a new creature just because it’s going to be really really really cool. I took Demeter’s introduction last month to be one of those knock-me-down detail-fests that I love so much, but that was shortsighted of me. In any other narrative, introducing a character at this stage in the game would automatically foreshadow that character’s involvement in the conclusion of the story. It turns out that was the case here, but I was too suckered by the writing to see the authorial gears grinding away behind it. That’s awesome.

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