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

May 21 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 5/14/14

round upLook, 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, Drew and Patrick discuss The New 52: Futures End 2, Avengers 29, and All-New X-Men 27.

slim-banner4Drew: With DC doubling- (even tripling-) down on weekly series, a lot of ink has been spilled on the benefits of a weekly format. While I certainly think the opportunity to sell four times as many comics is part of the equation, I’m more interested in the narrative benefits. Do you choose a monthly format to allow for more propulsive cliffhangers? To facilitate more nuanced decompression? To broaden the scope of the series? The New 52: Futures End favored this latter option right off the bat (much to the detriment of issues 0-1), but issue 2 begins to make good on that promise in earnest, placing its characters in the context of a larger superhero universe.

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May 21 2014

Justice League United 1

justice league united 1Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Justice League United 1, originally released May 14th, 2014. 

Patrick: My gateway to regularly reading comics was Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern from Rebirth to Blackest Night. That’s a lot of outer space nonsense, to be sure, but the series was so caught up with the spirit of invention and exploration that every new revelation was imbued with so much energy that I was never really overwhelmed with how silly it all was. I’m sensing some of that same untethered enthusiasm in Justice League Unlimted 1, but the connection I’m going to draw is far more literal — both feature the background conflict between the planets Rann and Thanagar. The Rann-Thanagar War is one of those dense hives of modern DC mythology, mired in conflicting histories and muddy storytelling. Hell, I’m not even sure Rann and Thanagar are two separate planets since the New 52 started. In this issue, Jeff Lemire tries to give identity to the characters and concepts that are notoriously bad at sticking to any one.

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May 19 2014

Captain Marvel 3

captain marvel 3Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Captain Marvel 3, originally released May 14th, 2014.

Yes, but what does it mean?

Traditional

Drew: We tend to talk a lot about the meaning of a given comic around here, but we’re rarely explicit in what we think “meaning” means. Or, more specifically, whose meaning we think we’re describing. Many folks are interested in authorial intent — who, after all would be better to speak to the meaning of a work of art than its creator? — but I’m personally more interested in the idea that meaning is created by the audience upon consuming a work of art. There may be objective truths about an art, but there are only subjective reactions. Of course, that doesn’t make me immune to the allure of monolithic readings of certain artworks — Virginia Woolf’s work is somehow inherently feminist, or Ernest Hemmingway’s work is somehow inherently macho. We like these readings both because they’re logical (they certainly reflect the character of the author), but more importantly, because they yield meaningful insights. But what about readings that buck those stereotypes? What about interpretations that strain against those meta-narrative to reveal something more meaningful? I suppose notions of “more meaningful” illustrate my point about subjectivity, but I firmly believe that Captain Marvel 3 gains a great deal by being very unlike what we’ve come to expect of this series.

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May 19 2014

Shutter 2

shutter 2Today, Patrick and Greg are discussing Shutter 2, originally released May 14th, 2014

Patrick: Do you remember the first time you realized your childhood experience wasn’t the same as everyone else’s? My Grandparents lived in Florida over the winter, and my mother made it a priority to spend at least a week with them every year. That meant that she pulled us out of school in Wisconsin for two weeks every year (incidentally, it means we also spent a weekend at Disney every year before finishing the drive down to Anne and Elmer’s place). I had grown up assuming that everyone’s mother gathered two weeks worth of homework for their children before forcing a vacation at the least opportune time for everyone. This was a normal occurrence for the Ehlers family, and while it’s a simple and trivial example, it demonstrates how no one thinks their childhood is strange — or even unusual — until they grow up. Still, I think there’s part of me deep down that still feels like I should be able to take two weeks off to go to Disney apropo of nothing every winter. Katie’s childhood is undoubtedly stranger than mine, but she too has that creeping inkling of assumed normalcy. Only, y’know, it involves cat-gangsters, ghost ninjas and flying saucers. Continue reading →

May 16 2014

Batgirl 31

batgirl 31

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Batgirl 31, originally released May 14th, 2014. 

slim-banner

Shelby: I love me a good, jovial villain. Any bad guy can be evil and cranky, but when they’re amiable, pleasant, flirty even, that is hands down the best. Those villains are unpredictable and creepy. Best/worst of all: you can almost find yourself liking them. They don’t fit into the standard good guy/bad guy dichotomy, which creates a far more complicated relationship between them, the actual good guys, and the reader. I love complicated relationships with fictional characters (what’s up, John Constantine), so I’m thrilled to see Gail Simone and Fernando Pasarin welcome Ragdoll to Gotham City and Batgirl.

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May 15 2014

New Avengers 18

new avengers 18Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing New Avengers 18, originally released May 14th, 2014. 

slim-bannerSpencer: As I’m sure most of us do, I love the big, climatic final battles that usually come at the end of superhero stories. That said, I’m perhaps even more fond of the moments before the final battle, the calm before the storm, the time where the heroes prepare and steady themselves for the horrors to come. Many heroes use this as an opportunity to reflect on what they’ve lost or to visit with their loved ones, but the Illuminati — as pragmatic as ever — mainly use it to steel their resolve and to prepare to do the unthinkable. After all, for them this is only the final battle if they lose; if they win, they get to continue on dealing with an infinite number of Incursions. No wonder they’re so grumpy. Continue reading →

May 15 2014

Fables 140

fables 140Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Fables 140, originally released May 14th, 2014.

Patrick: As Bill Willingham nears the end of his fairy-tale epic, it appears the writer has endings on the brain. By the time it wraps up early next year, the series will have been in print for over a dozen years and spawned numerous spin-offs, original graphic novels and video games. It’s an enormous, multi-platform franchise that needs a compelling conclusion. The problem, and one that Willingham articulates exceptionally well in the two-issue Boys in the Band story arc, is that modern audiences might not know what we want from endings anymore. A happy ending? A mind-blowing twist? A meaningful loss? After over a decade, any real resolution feels cheap, even dishonest. Time will tell how exactly Willingham pulls it off, but he uses this issue to identify all the pitfalls he’s prepared to avoid. Continue reading →

May 14 2014

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 5/7/14

round upLook, 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, Spencer, Patrick, Shelby and Drew discuss Earth 2 23, The Movement 12, The Woods 1, Magneto 3, Black Widow 6, She-Hulk 4, Red Sonja 9, Batman/Superman 10, Batman Eternal 5, Green Lantern 31, Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man 1, and The Punisher 5.

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May 13 2014

The Wake 8

wake 8Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing The Wake 8, originally released May 7th, 2014.

Drew: What would you say Hamlet is about? “Hamlet” is the obvious answer, but would you consider it a character study, or is it really “about” its themes of powerlessness and despondency? Is it about Hamlet himself, or the events that follow in the wake of his father’s murder? Obviously, these options aren’t mutually exclusive, but how a narrative emphasizes its focus on any of these elements establishes a contract with the audience, setting up expectations that encourage the appropriately interested fans to stick around. Confusion about that contract can lead to disappointment (it’s easy to think of all those LOST fans who would have liked the final episode to focus on the show’s mythology rather than its characters), but may be essential for a mystery. Between its radical shifts in perspective and steady build-up of questions, it’s hard to know exactly what The Wake is about — the monsters? the characters? the plot? — which may make it difficult to evaluate its chapters until we know how it ends.

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May 12 2014

Loki: Agent of Asgard 4

loki 4

Today, Patrick and Suzanne are discussing Loki: Agent of Asgard 4, originally released May 7th, 2014. 

slim-bannerPatrick: This issue borrows its title from one of our favorite / least favorite entries from TV Tropes. The trope is known as “Let’s You and Him Fight” and refers to the all-too-common occurrence in superhero comics that forces heroes to fight each other. Presumably, this stems from our desire to see our hypothetical “who would win in a fight?” conversations played out on the page. But it’s not like we ever really get an answer to that question — those hero-fights always end in ties — and the brawl is just prelude to a team-up. We may be watching Batman vs. Superman in 2015, but they’ll be chumming it up in Justice League of America in 2016. This is Loki we’re talking about here, so it’s not quite so simple. Take a look at that title again: it’s “Lets You and Him Fight,” conspicuously leaving the apostrophe out of “Let’s.” (Someday, I won’t care about the absence of apostrophes in titles, but that’ll have to be next week.) Al Ewing takes our understanding and expectations of this trope and subverts them by applying a handful of others, creating a truly innovative piece of fiction made up of all old pieces. Continue reading →