Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, we discuss Archie 7, Darkness Hope One Shot, Last Sons of America 4, Rough Riders 1, and The Woods 21. Continue reading
Today, Patrick and Ryan M. are discussing Black Panther 1, originally released April 6th, 2016.
Patrick: It’s tempting to believe that we live in an era of non-localized revolutions. People may be demonstrating in Ferguson, but images of those demonstrations were tweeted and shared and broadcast all over the world. Through media (both social and vanilla), I am able to experience the revolution. That is privileged belief: at most, I can only pretend to participate by engaging with those television broadcasts and facebook posts. I can always offer myself an emotional distance because I am physically removed from the actual chaos and momentum of revolution. The people actually swept up in those demonstrations aren’t so lucky — energy of the revolution pushes them ever forward, without time to craft their think-pieces about the most effective way to express their dissatisfaction. Black Panther 1 finds Wakanda on the brink of civil war, and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Brian Stelfreeze expertly propel the chaos forward, while constantly reminding the reader how badly the powers that be wish they were only dealing with static, distant images on a screen. Continue reading
Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Justice League: The Darkseid War Special 1, originally released April 4, 2016.
Michael: Damn, in a few weeks “The Darkseid War” will have been going on for an entire year — roughly the same amount of time that Jim Gordon was the Caped Crusader in the pages of Batman. Whereas Gordon’s tenure as Batman felt like it was cut short, “The Darkseid War” almost feels like it has been going on for eternity. Though Justice League is still full of powerful superhero smash-em-ups and the League has seen its fair share of changes, “Darkseid War” has been crawling at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately for us all, Justice League: The Darkseid War Special 1 is more of the same. Continue reading
Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, we discuss Darth Vader 18, Faith 3, and Jem and the Holograms 13.
Continue reading
Today, Patrick and Taylor Drew are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Deviations 1, originally released March 30th, 2015.
Patrick: Iterating on mythology is common practice for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles team. You could even argue that iteration and exploration of the franchise’s mythology is not only something that IDW does incredibly, but is the whole point of the series. There are so many fan favorite characters, stories, locations and details taken from decades of comics, TV shows, movies, video games and action figures, all melded into one gracefully grotesque whole. So what happens when the team iterates on itself, looping back to re-examine a pivotal moment in their own history through a “what if” lens? The result is an insightful look at our heroes, but perhaps more importantly, it shows us just how delicately balanced all that mythology has been over the past five years. Continue reading
Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Captain America: Sam Wilson 7, originally released March 30th, 2016.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana
Drew: Perhaps its ironic that I never knew the origin of the oft-paraphrased quote above, but it actually comes from the first volume of Santayana’s The Life of Reason, published in 1905. In its original context, the quote seeks to balance progressivism with retention of the past. Of course, it’s possible to take that too far, and some might argue that superhero comics are too obsessed with their own history to make any meaningful progress. It’s a difficult balance that I certainly don’t envy trying to strike — fans want new stories, even as they want their favorite stories and characters celebrated — but its one that Captain America 7 aims for. Marvel assembles one hell of a creative lineup for this celebration of Captain America’s 75 year history, but circumstances may have put them all in a no-win situation. Continue reading
A galaxy far, far away is a busy place, and a long time ago was a very busy time for said galaxy. We can’t always dig deep on all the goings-on in the Star Wars Universe, but we can round up ’em! Today, we’re discussing Obi-Wan & Anakin 3 and Star Wars 17.
Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 56, originally released March 23rd, 2015.
Patrick: I love the first two-thirds of most horror movies. That’s where the filmmakers have to establish an honest sense of both danger and mystery. That’ll all presumably pay-off in the final act, but it’s sort of remarkable how much more engaging the set up has to be than the pay off. Honestly, by the time a horror flick gets to that pay-off, you’re lucky if the characters do anything more than scream, run and die. So that tension must be expertly wound in order to make that climax mean anything. If you were to watch it in isolation, that scene of Ripley strapping herself in to blow the Alien out the airlock can be slow and almost drama-less. But after two hours of steadily unspooled threats and a growing list of unnerving questions, the scene is masterpiece of suspense. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 56 finds our storytellers quietly gathering those questions, slowly bringing its internal mystery to a fever pitch. Continue reading
We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Astonishing Ant-Man 6, Captain Marvel 3, Deadpool: The Mercs for Money 2, International Iron Man 1, Power Man and Iron Fist 2 and Uncanny Inhumans 6.
Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing All-New Inhumans 5, originally released March 16th, 2016.
Spencer: By this point in my life, I’ve consumed plenty of media where the main characters weren’t in the right, or perhaps where the audience is even meant to root against the protagonists. Still, despite all that experience, I tend to give my main characters the benefit of the doubt; I like to believe I should be rooting for them, and that they at least believe they’re doing the right thing, until I’m unequivocally proven wrong. Things haven’t gotten dire enough yet to turn me against the Inhumans by any means, but All-New Inhumans 5 does mark the point where I’m starting to question, if not their motives, then certainly their methods. Continue reading
Retcon Punch 