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 Star Wars: Poe Dameron 2, Black Hood 10, Empress 2, Woods 22, Sons of the Devil 7 and Wolf 7. Continue reading
Today, Michael and Ryan D. are discussing New Suicide Squad 20, originally released May 4th, 2016.
Michael: One of the big draws to New Suicide Squad 20 was the writer Tim Seeley and artist Juan E. Ferreyra – the team who worked on the short-lived, but inspired Gotham By Midnight. While that series was firmly steeped in questions of faith and spirituality from the get-go, it’s interesting that Seeley and Ferreyra seem to be tackling those very same themes in a comic about (mostly) unrepentant killers. Nevertheless, New Suicide Squad 20 gives us a standard shoot ‘em up story framed by the beliefs and personal philosophies of its characters. 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 Injection 9, Outcast 18, Sex Criminals 15, and Velvet 14.
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 Obi-Wan and Anakin 4, Lumberjanes 25, Jem & the Holograms 14, Star Trek: Manifest Destiny 1, East of West 25, Huck 6 and Lazarus Sourcebook 1. Continue reading
Today, Michael and Ryan D are discussing House of Penance 1, originally released April 13, 2016.
Michael: Do you remember when you didn’t know how to read? It’s odd and interesting to remark on how we train ourselves to recognize the different combination of intersecting lines as letters and words etc. Likewise, we as comic book readers have been conditioned to read the language of comic books: panels, bubbles, captions and the like. One thing in particular that struck me about House of Penance 1 was its knowing subversion of a widely recognized comic book exclamation: BLAM! Continue reading
Today, Shelby and Ryan D. are discussing Empress 1, originally released April 6th, 2016.
Shelby: First issues of comics can be tricky to talk about, especially indie books that aren’t about a character we already know backwards and forwards. We’re faced with a completely new universe about which we know nothing, characters we haven’t met, and situations we don’t fully understand. I find myself thinking more about the potential I see in the issue than the issue itself. What sort of seeds is the creative team sowing, here? Where can this story go from this point? Most importantly, am I even interested enough in the world being created to want to see what happens next? Continue reading
Today, Drew and Ryan D are discussing Nova 5, originally released March 2nd, 2016.
Drew: I developed my love of analysis with music. I studied music at college, where we learned a number of analytical approaches, examining everything from harmony to orchestration to rhythmic saturation. My favorite, though, was always the study of formal structure — the shape a piece of music takes. What’s remarkable about form is that you experience differently in the moment than you can in hindsight. As a piece of music unfolds, you have no idea if this is really a repeat, or some kind of clever fake-out (don’t even get me started on sonata form), but it’s patently obvious after the music ends (or, if you happen to have the score in front of you). I believe narratives — and especially serialized narratives — have a similarly plastic form; it’s easy to break a television season into acts once the whole thing has unfolded, but picking THE inciting incident or THE lowest point might be a bit more difficult in-the-moment. This is even more true for superhero comics, where things can always get worse, often in totally unexpected, physics-defying ways. So it’s with some reservation that I call Nova 5 Sam Alexander’s lowest point (at least as far as this volume is concerned), but all signs point to this issue as the nadir of the pastoral life established in issue 1. 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 Outcast 16, Black Magick 5, Ringside 4, Jem & the Holograms 12 and Faith 2.
Continue reading
Today, Ryan D. and Spencer are discussing Daredevil 4, originally released February 24th, 2016.
Ryan D.: Sometimes, as a lover of comics, I feel like I need to make even my objective voice take a step back. A friend asked who my favorite superhero is. I answered with Daredevil. I love DD for the fact that he is very mortal in a multiverse of gods and supermen. His human story of a boy who grew up blind and parentless while still having the temerity to finish law school and start his own practice is just as compelling as his mask. I related to the Irish-Catholic-American guilt with which the character often struggles, and I love that, unlike many characters who guard the earth from cosmic threats such as Galactus, Daredevil just wants to keep his neighborhood safe. The noir-rich Brubaker and Bendis runs on the series opened my eyes to places I did not know superheroes could go, and the Mark Waid return to the swashbuckler proved to be a delight.
But we have a “new and improved” Daredevil now, one who has One More Day‘d away his previously very public identity, who now sits on the side of prosecution instead of defense and even totes a sidekick. Taking my step back and knowing that this run has no intentions of being the DD of yore, I have been interested in seeing when the character, plot, and art might all fall into their respective, complimentary rhythms, and I am unsure as to whether issue number four takes any steps forward or backward in this regard. Continue reading
Today, Ryan M. and Ryan D. are discussing Sex Criminals 14, originally released February 17th, 2016.
Ryan M.: Anyone can be charming at a dinner party. A sense of gaiety and a few well-placed bon mots, and you’re a hit! But dinner parties are not where deep connections are forged. That happens when you see beyond the public facade and get a deeper understanding of what a person is like when they don’t have anything clever to say. When they are struggling to articulate their ideas, but trust you enough to listen anyway. In Sex Criminals 14, writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky offer up that kind of vulnerability even as their characters struggle with it. Continue reading
Retcon Punch 