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

Feb 6 2012

Animal Man 5-6

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Animal Man 5-6, originally released January 4th, 2012, and February 1st, 2012.
Patrick: Animal Man 5 and 6 serve absolutely opposite-end-of the-spectrum purposes for Animal Man, so the fact that we’re discussing them together is unfortunate. But hey, schedules get busy, bloggers get lazy and we’re not exactly clairvoyant. So, the fact of the matter is that we are looking at one issue that carries on in the very strict serialization of the four issues that came previously and then one issue that nests a story within a story to deliver keen character insights, but essentially ignores the on-going war against The Rot. As we’ve been writing a lot about Swamp Thing and his travails with The Rot, I’m gonna breeze through issue 5. Drew, if you want to spend more time with it, be my guest.   Continue reading →

Feb 5 2012

Chat Cave: Before Watchmen

This summer, DC Comics is going to offer seven mini-series featuring characters from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen.  The announcement has the comic book community up-in-arms.  As part of that community, the Retcon Punch staff has weighed in with their opinions. Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Patrick: I understand that the prospect of “More Watchmen” is getting everyone’s ire up. Don’t we all wish we had a machine that let was travel back in time to get the Simpsons cancelled in 1999? Don’t we wish George Lucas stopped producing movies after Last Crusade? Legacies tarnish so easily, why subject the idealized form of graphic novel to that same treatment?

Continue reading →

Feb 2 2012

Swamp Thing 6

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 6, originally released February 1st, 2012.
Drew: Patrick and I try to avoid talking about comics outside of these write-ups in order to keep the conversation on the blog and open to everyone, but when he was catching up on Swamp Thing for our initial, epic write-up on it, he sent me a message betraying how good he thought Scott Snyder’s writing was. This break of form is entirely justifiable, given that Snyder’s awesomeness on Batman and Swamp Thing aren’t so much opinions as hard fact, but it also reveals just how flashy Snyder’s writing is. It isn’t just good: it’s remarkably  good. Continue reading →

Jan 29 2012

Justice League 5

Originally Published January 27, 2012

may nobody question our nerddom againDC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Patrick Ehlers and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Patrick’s Blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Justice League, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of The Flash.

Drew: Last month, we talked a lot about our own expectations for the Justice League, and how they might be leading us to judge the title unfairly. After that discussion, I felt I had successfully re-calibrated my expectations for an action title with an ensemble cast, and was even looking forward to seeing the team come together against Darkseid this month. Overall, I’d say that I did enjoy this issue a bit more than the previous four, but it also put a finer point on what’s been bothering me about the title, as well as taking what I consider to be one huge character misstep.

Continue reading →

Jan 29 2012

The Flash 5

Originally Published January 27, 2012

DC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Drew’s blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of The Flash while Drew is hosting the discussion of Justice League.

Patrick: More than just about any other series we’re reading, I believe that The Flash is excited about being part of a “relaunch.”  Everything about the character seems so new and unexpected, which is remarkable considering versions of the Flash have been around since the Golden Age.  Barry can do some incredible stuff by tapping into the Speed Force, but he’s constantly learning the limits and consequences of using this amazing powers.  Both Iris and Patty are active players in Barry’s life, but neither has settled into the roll of “The Flash’s Girl.”  There are frequent teases of obscure villains (like The Folded Man, Girder and Tar Pit), terrifying assertions of old villains’ power (Captain Cold laid Iron Heights to waste), and still the most sinister moment belongs to the brand new villain invented for this run.  It’s like there are limitless possibilities in all directions when it comes to this run of The Flash. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Swamp Thing 1-5

Originally Published January 24, 2012

When fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I decided to drive head first into DC Comics’ New 52, we didn’t count on there being so many series that we’d like – never mind this many series that we loved.  To make up for lost time, here is a special Tuesday BONUS Edition of Patrick and Drew and the New 52.  I’m hosting the discussion of Swamp Thing while Drew is hosting the discussion of Batwoman.

Patrick: So frequently when we do these write-ups, I want to give my perception of the character before reading comics about them.  It’s sort of a way of communicating my base understanding to make sure the reader and I are on the same page, and it usually allows me to draw some parallel between what I expected of superheroes as a kid and what I expect of them now.  I have yet to determine if this approach is welcoming or narcissistic.  Certainly, it’s no more narcissistic than wasting a paragraph writing about my writing process Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Batwoman 1-5

Originally Published January 24, 2011

BONUSWhen fellow blogger Parick Ehlers and I decided to drive head first into DC Comics’ New 52, we didn’t count on there being so many series that we’d like – never mind this many series that we loved.  To make up for lost time, here is a special Tuesday BONUS Edition of Patrick and Drew and the New 52.  I’m hosting the discussion of Batwoman while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Swamp Thing.

Drew: It’s a blessing and a curse that Batwoman’s origin story (or at least part of it) won’t be able to stand the test of time. Sure, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is a big step towards the equality and acceptance of gays in America, but it also dates Kate Kane in a way that I’m sure will require a revision in a few year’s time, just to keep her from seeming too old. This is truly lamentable, as Kate’s origin — both why she devoted herself to fighting international crime and the circumstances that forced her to don a mask to do so — is one of the most compelling of any superhero. In spite of it’s complexity, her origin story is actually summarized quite succinctly by the origin copy that runs the title page:

Kate Kane survived a brutal kidnapping by terrorists that left her mother dead and her twin sister lost. Following in her father’s footsteps, she vowed to serve her country and attended West Point until she was expelled under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Now she is many things: estranged daughter, grieving sister, proud lesbian, brave soldier, determined hero. She is Batwoman. Continue reading →
Jan 24 2012

Wonder Woman 5

Originally Published January 20, 2012

DC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Drew’s blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Wonder Woman while Drew is hosting the discussion of Batman.

Patrick: I gotta say, I’m more than a little bummed out about the artist change for this month’s issue of Wonder Woman.  Tony Atkins by no means does a bad job with penciling this issue, but I was already so attached to Cliff Chiang’s versions of the characters that the switch is unsettling.  Aktin’s style embraces some of the cartoony qualities of the first four issues, but lacks the brutal charm Chiang milks out of his simple, more angular designs.  The issue gets by well enough, but the visuals in the earlier issues could have carried whatever material Brian Azzerello wrote, instead of dragging it down, as it does here. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Batman 5

Originally Published January 20, 2012

may nobody question our nerddom againDC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Patrick Ehlers and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Patrick’s Blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Batman, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Wonder Woman.

Drew:  I recently made a claim on my blog that, for me anyway, it is impossible to “spoil” a work of art by giving away the narrative. Part of this claim comes from the general predictability in the plotting of most stories, and part of this comes from the fact that I’m much more interested in how the story is told than the details of the story itself. What I hadn’t considered is that there could be benefit in not knowing how a story is going to be told; that the methods of the storytelling could be spoiled. It’s understandable that this hadn’t occurred to me — very few art forms feature methods that could have the kind of surprise visceral impact I’m talking about here — but after reading Batman #5, I’m going to be much wearier of spoilers in comics. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Green Lantern 5

Originally Published January 13, 2011

may nobody question our nerddom againDC Comics recently relaunched their entire series, giving curious but uninitiated nerds a convenient entry point.  Fellow blogger Patrick Ehlers and I are two such nerds, and we’ve decided to jump in with a handful of monthly titles.  We really wanted to pull out all the nerd stops, so we’re also going to be writing about them here and on Patrick’s Blog (which you should all be reading anyway) every Friday.  This week, I’m hosting the discussion of Green Lantern, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Batgirl.

Drew:  Sinestro is the worst. Which is to say, he’s the best, but he’s such a dick about it that you can’t help hoping he loses, or resenting the hell out of him when he wins. He’s always ahead of the curve, and is always a smug asshole about it. His manipulations run so long and deep that you can’t help but be surprised when you finally realize you’ve played exactly into his hand, which is always revealed with an attitude that takes the “ain’t I a stinker?” grin to a whole new level. He’s the worst. Continue reading →