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

Jan 24 2012

Batgirl 5

Originally Published January 13, 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 Batgirl while Drew is hosting the discussion of Green Lantern.

Patrick: DC loves to populate their version of the United States with invented cities.  Superman hails from Smallville and stomps around Metropolis.  The Flash protects Central City and it’s sister city Keystone.  Green Lantern calls Coast City home and has been personally responsible for both destroying it and rebuilding it (maybe a couple times by now).  Most of these cities act as generic New Yorks that can be scattered all over the country, and are generally unremarkable urban backdrops for our heroes’ great adventures.  But then there’s the wholly unique case of Gotham City. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Nightwing 4

Originally Published January 6, 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 Nightiwng, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Aquaman.

Drew:  The biggest problem I’m having with the New 52 is that whatever title I’ve just read is always my favorite. Don’t get me wrong — if I could have any problem with the relaunch, this would be it — but it does occasionally make me insecure as a critic. Is my love for comics in general getting in the way of my ability to view them objectively? This isn’t really an issue I want to get into here, so I guess this is just a way of saying that, like Animal Man, Batman, Batgirl, The Flash, and Wonder Woman, I’m enjoying the hell out of Nightwing. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Aquaman 4

Originally Published January 6, 2011

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 Aquaman while Drew is hosting the discussion of Nightwing.

Patrick: Aquaman is poised to make a comeback.  Stacked, even.  Writer Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reis know what everyone thinks of the character and they’re making a very specific effort to make him one of the great heroes in DC’s stables.  And these titans of the industry attempt to accomplish this by making Aquaman out to be a mighty force for good, a nearly invincible warrior that saves a seaside village from gang of roving fish-monsters. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

The Flash 1-4

Originally Published December 30, 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 The Flash, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Wonder Woman.

Drew:  Barry Allen is, in many ways, at the heart of the most convoluted parts of DC’s history. He played an integral role in Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC’s first universe-spanning event, sacrificing himself so he can stop the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter cannon from destroying Earth. This act apparently both turned him into the very lightning bolt that gave him his abilities as well as saving his spirit in the very speed force from which he draws his powers. As if this isn’t convoluted enough, Barry had spent much of the silver age chasing villains through time on a self-powered time-travel device called the “cosmic treadmill,” which meant there was the potential for his past self to show up in stories after his death. Being uninitiated in the Flash universe, that’s about as far as I can trace the history, but I know it goes on to include something called the god-bullet, as well as dealing with Superman-Prime before he PUNCHED REALITY. Needless to say, the Flash was very much in need of a reboot if there was ever going to be hope of gaining new fans. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Wonder Woman 1-4

Originally Published December 30, 2011

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 The Flash.

Patrick: The ladyfriend and I tried something new this evening.  I hooked my computer up to the TV and we read Wonder Woman 1-4 together.  She doesn’t read comics – I think the only thing she’s ever read was Batman: Year One, and if I recall correctly, I read it to her.  She’s not in to the whole genre, but she is a woman, and that’s a perspective that I think it always going to be important regarding whatever Wonder Woman series DC is running.  My point is, I got a little female insight into this character, expect to see it scattered throughout this write-up. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Justice League 4

Originally Published December 23, 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 Justice League, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Batman.

Drew:  When we wrote about Justice League last month, my main point was that, while I saw a lot of potential for the title, I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I would like. This month’s issue reaches the tipping point, delivering just enough on that potential to get me genuinely excited for next month’s issue. For me, his kind of delayed satisfaction has become the defining characteristic of Geoff Johns’ titles — I’m perpetually convinced the next issue is going to be awesome.  I mean part of that in a good way: Johns is pretty masterful with a good cliffhanger (though he seems to be relying pretty heavily on introducing a new character right at the end of an issue); and partly in a bad way: sometimes his stories seem to spin their wheels just so he can save the action for the next issue.  In a way, waiting until the end of issue four to introduce Darkseid builds up his entrance, but in another way (like, in the way that acknowledges the existence of dramatic irony), the fact that Darkseid’s involvement was made clear in the first issue robs his arrival of any actual impact. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Batman 4

Originally Published December 23, 2011

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 Batman while Drew is hosting the discussion of Justice League.

Patrick: I was having a conversation with my friend Taylor the other day.  He had been watching someone play Batman: Arkham City and he was excited by how much detective work the player has to do.  I think the modern popular perception of Batman has a tendency to forget the detective aspects of Batman’s character.  Sure, we all know that the character was born out of Detective Comics and bears the title “World’s Greatest Detective,” but the more marketable characteristics of the Batman mythos tend to overshadow this.  Check out Nolan’s Batman – he’s badass, driven to obsession by revenge, an instrument of justice that inadvertently creates super villains.  It’s a compelling way to characterize a super hero but it lacks this single element so fundamental to Batman’s being. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Batgirl 4

Originally Published December 16, 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 Batgirl, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Green Lantern.

Drew:  Let’s talk about Barbara Gordon. She’s had a rough go of things, but has always made the best of her situation. When the Joker shot her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down, she didn’t turn in her vigilante badge (sorry for the oxymoronic analogy); she became Oracle, the all-seeing, all-knowing information central to anyone wearing a cape or cowl in Gotham. The fact that this particular tidbit (or at least the part about the Joker shooting and paralyzing her) has been retained as part of her history in the relaunch made me take for granted that I knew Barbara’s life story, but what do I really know? In the old canon, Barbara was born to Roger and Thelma Gordon (Jim’s brother and sister-in-law), who died when she was thirteen. She was then adopted by Jim and Barbara (whose name is only coincidental as a result of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths retcon that made her not Babs’s biological mother), taking on the role of big sis to her young cousin, James (the Gordons were not creative namers). Jim and Barbara (sr) eventually divorced, with Jim taking custody of Babs, and Barbara leaving Gotham with James. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Green Lantern 4

Originally Published December 16, 2011

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 Green Lantern while Drew is hosting the discussion of Batgirl.

Patrick: We’ve discussed the problem with reading Geoff Johns’ books from week to week.  Basically, the biggest issue is an over-reliance on an impossibly serialized story.  This means there’s an awful lot of place-setting, and early issues in a series can snap under the weight of exposition.  This week saw both of our leads incapacitated and/or imprisoned the the entirety of the issue, which you’d think would force a lot of cool personal development.  And while Hal had some neat moments that successfully explored his character, I’m less moved by Sinestro’s plight. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Animal Man 1-4

Originally Published December 9, 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 Animal Man, while Patrick is hosting the discussion of Action Comics.

Drew:  I do not envy the writers of the New 52. They’ve been tasked with condensing and summarizing (and in some cases, excising large chunks of) impossibly dense and convoluted superhero history in order to appeal to a new audience. DC has incorporated so many universe-wide crossovers over the years that it’s impossible to fully understand any one character’s history without understanding the entire universe, which many prospective fans rightfully daunting. The degree to which the relaunch has hit the reset button varies from title to title, but all of the New 52 share the fact that the knowledge needed to understand what the heck is going on has been slimmed down considerably. This is great for giving newcomers like me and Patrick an entryway into the universe, but ignoring the history too much risks alienating DCs core fan-base, the loyal readers who have followed these titles for years, and who were invested in the story-lines leading up to the relaunch (these are also largely the people who review and sell comics, so it’s doubly important that DC not forget their needs). It’s a very fine line the writers walk here, hoping to reward long-term readers without losing the newbies, and hoping to familiarize the uninitiated without boring the die-hards. Continue reading →