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.
Our first video recap, or “Cram Session,” covers the events from Batwing 1-8. That way you’ll be all caught up and ready to read Batwing #9 – his cross through the Night of the Owls event.
Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Lantern: New Guardians 8, originally released April 25th, 2012.
Patrick: After seven months of telling a fairly insulted story about a band of emotional misfits zooming across the galaxy, Green Lantern: New Guardians has to remind us that these characters don’t really work for the same team. They serve seven different masters, and most of that leadership is in various states of decay. So there are a thousand different motivating factors at play, and writer Tony Bedard handles what could be an incredibly complicated issue with aplomb.
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Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Aquaman 8, originally released April 25th, 2012.
Shelby: Geoff Johns first impressed me with Rebirth, the retold origin arc of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. His narratives combine epic, sweeping action with a much closer, personal look at the characters. He has a knack for writing emotion that doesn’t diminish the super-humanness of these characters. Lately, I haven’t been quite as impressed; both Justice League and Aquaman have felt a little….pedantic. It’s true, I have fallen away from Johns somewhat with the relaunch, but I feel like this Aquaman arc is beginning to get back to what it is I first liked so very much about his writing.
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Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing the Flash 8, originally released April 25th, 2012.
Check out Drew’s exclusive interview with Francis Manapul here!
Drew: Last month, Patrick voiced some concerns about objectively judging this title. Maybe we want to like it too much to say whether we actually do. After putting this issue down a little disappointed, but deciding that it was brilliant before starting this write-up, one could conclude I’ve already crossed the line of objectivity. However, I’d like to make the case for why this seemingly eventless and exposition-heavy issue actually carries the torch of thematic unity that has made this title so fantastic.
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: Anyone who would have to find street parking in downtown Gotham otherwise
Price: $3.00 (or a buck, if you buy it with anything else)
Look we all know that it’s fun to go to the park near Wayne Tower tower downtown. It’s such a hassle to take public transit (two trains and a bus or three buses) and driving isn’t an option because parking in a garage is damn-near unaffordable. Plus, you never know when there’s going to be some secret meeting or fist fight breaking out in one of those things. No, you’ve got to get this Wayne Technologies (a division of Wayne Enterprises, I guess) so you can park in the employee parking structure under the building. OR IT’S ALL FICTION and you could just jam this sticker in your windshield and wait your entire life and still not have anyone notice. Shelby, this is secret nerdery stretched to its logical breaking point.
Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Birds of Prey 8, originally released April 18th, 2012.
Patrick: Birds of Prey found such a strong, clear voice early in its run. I knew who Dinah was, I knew who Eve was and I understood their dynamic. They even had a cool villain that could control minds and make heads explode. As the team grew, so did my enthusiasm for the series. But the narrative waters are getting murky, and when my expectations grind so violently against the book that was delivered, my enthusiasm wanes. Continue reading
Today, Peter and Patrick are discussing Captain Atom 7 and 8, originally released on March 21st, and April 18th, 2012.
Peter: As we continue in the post modern world of Captain Atom, we are seeing a lot of references to time and not-so-intuitive nature of cause and effect. The running clock which accompanies every scene-change ensures that this theme remains pervasive throughout. Time is ever moving around us, but in the world of Captain Atom, it’s something entirely different.
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Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Wonder Woman 8, originally released April 18th, 2012.
Patrick: Last month, we were promised a trip to Hell. Given all the characters in-play in Wonder Woman, I foolishly assumed we’d get something of an Orpheus story. But that assumption proved too narrow and too literal: Brian Azzarello may have been given license to explicitly alter the Wonder Woman mythos, but he takes the same liberties with Greek mythology. The result is a trippy adventure through the underworld that is recognizably epic (in both the traditional and modern sense of the word) and wholly, boldly new.
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Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 8, originally released April 18th, 2012. This issue is part of the Night of the Owls crossover event. Click here for complete NotO coverage.
Drew: Batman 8 begins with a tight shot on a Gotham City manhole cover. As the camera pulls up and out, revealing the city around it, Bruce’s voiceover questions whether his attention to detail has prevented him from seeing the bigger picture. This attention to detail explains why Bruce could have been unaware of the presence of the Court of Owls in what he thought was his city, but it also acts as a cutting interrogation of our own experiences with Batman (and superheroes in general). I’ve long lamented the favoring of point-by-point plot details over “bigger picture” concepts like character and theme, but writer Scott Snyder seems to suggest that the devotion to the minutia may actually prevent us from truly understanding what is going on. It’s a bold suggestion, and one that would risk alienating fanboys if it weren’t so deftly handled. Continue reading
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: Zazzle
Who Would Love This: Blackest Night fans, deputy enthusiasts, people who thought The Flash wasn’t already over-powered
Price: $56.20
There are actually a bunch of products with this image on it. I chose this one specifically, because if you own an iPad and you’re on this website, you’re probably reading comics on that thing from time to time. ADMIT IT! This iPad cover depicts the single coolest moment of Blackest Night – the moment the rings seek out deputies on Earth to aid in the fight against Neckron and the Black Lanterns. It’s not likely that we’ll ever see these characters like this again – one of the few downsides of the relaunch… Immortalize this once-in-the-multiverse moment by using the entire emotional spectrum to protect your $600 tablet.
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