Category Shelby Peterson

Shelby Peterson, Editor, Designer
shelby@retcon-punch.com

Location: Chicago

History With Comics: While the X-Men will always hold a special place in her heart, Shelby’s first love was Batman. Between Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy, she fell hard. Like many, her first graphic novel was The Watchmen in college, followed by a handful of the Batman must-reads. Fast forward to last year: Shelby discovered the awesomeness of the DC universe through Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern Rebirth and Blackest Night. She once again fell in love with a comic book character, but this time it was Neil Gaiman’s Morpheus from his Sandman series, and now all her thoughts are translated into 8 or 9 panels per page with the occasional 2-page spread.

New 52 Favorites: Batgirl, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Batman

Other Favorite Comics:

Jun 25 2013

The Superior Spider-Man 12

superior spider-man 12

Today, Ethan and Shelby are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 12, originally released June 19th, 2013.

Ethan: When I sit down to write about an issue, I tend to start by flipping through my digital copy to grab the panels I want to include in the post. As I was looking through Superior Spider-Man #11, I ended up with about 10 separate images. That obviously won’t fit into a single post, but it’s a credit to writers Dan Slott & Christos Gage and artist Camuncoli that so much of the issue struck a note with me. A flashback to the worst day of J.Jonah Jameson’s life, further insights into Otto’s and Smythe’s psyches, a surprise cameo – there’s no time to waste!

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Jun 25 2013

Batwoman 21

batwoman 21

Today, Shelby and guest writer Suzanne are discussing Batwoman 21, originally released June 19th, 2013.

slim-banner4

Shelby: Story breaks are a tricky thing to manage when you’re dealing with a serialized form of media. In the case of comic books, the writer already has to contend with a month of time passing between story points; I like to think I’m a pretty attentive reader, and there are times I have to go back and skim over last month’s issue to remember what all we’re dealing with. But to interrupt your own on-going story with a mini-story takes a lot of confidence in both your on-going work and your interlude. J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman have that confidence for good reason, as they interrupt out regularly scheduled Batwoman programming for a touching look at Gotham’s scaliest villain.

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Jun 24 2013

Green Lantern: New Guardians 21

new guardians 21

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern: New Guardians 21, originally released June 19th, 2013.

Jingle bells / Batman smells / Robin laid an egg / Batmobile broke its wheel / and the Joker got away.

-Traditional.

Patrick: I know there are variations on the above. There are the small variations, like the difference between “broke its wheel” and “lost its wheel”; and there are the big variations, like the difference between the Joker getting away and dancing ballet. We’ve all been that little shit – belting away over a chorus of vanilla Jingle Bells. While it’s mostly nonsense, there are a few simple truths buried in those lyrics. The first being that superhero stories are simple and repetitive, but the second being that that the superhero trappings are all it takes to make the story engaging. If the “police car” broke its wheel and the “bad guy” got away, it’s not the same story. A new creative team on Green Lantern: New Guardians trots out all the all the trappings of the Green Lantern universe and threatens to do something new with it, before doubling back to the space operatics we’ve come to expect. Continue reading →

Jun 24 2013

Indestructible Hulk 9

hulk 9

Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Indestructible Hulk 9, originally released June 19th, 2013.

Ethan: Given time, life is going to throw us a curveball that we can’t quite hit, no matter how on top of our game we are. The politicians most on-message always seem to make the inevitable career-ending gaffe; level-headed Olympians of spotless character waver in a moment of weakness and shoot up to get the gold. When we’re at a pivotal moment, the people around us can help encourage (or goad) us on to success, or inject a much-needed grain of reality into our head with a well placed word. We’ve seen Banner in a mentoring role with his researchers, but in Indestructible Hulk #9, writer Mark Waid and artist Matteo Scalera take a look at the interactions Banner has with his peers, Director Maria Hill and Daredevil, and how they each keep him going in their own signature ways. Continue reading →

Jun 20 2013

Wonder Woman 21

wonder woman 21

Today, Shelby and Scott are discussing Wonder Woman 21, originally released June 19th, 2013. Check out Drew’s exclusive interview with Brian Azzarello here!

Shelby: I recently bought PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a button-masher fighting game that’s a whole lot of fun. It’s basically Super Smash Brothers, but with characters like Nathan Drake, Sly Cooper, Kratos, etc. I think this game is great because it’s all about mindless smashy smashing; you pick your character and then try to punch the other characters as much as possible. Loads of fun, but nothing much in the story department. I also recently played through Heavy Rain, an interactive-drama game where you play through a series of quicktime events to find the killer before he strikes again. Not a lot of action, mostly “press triangle to ask a question, press square to sit at the table” sort of stuff, but the story and character development is breathtaking. It had me on the edge of my seat, and the ending totally caught me by surprise. I like both of these games, and I’d recommend either of them, but they take very different approaches to entertainment: one mindless and awesome fighting, the other slower paced, but with incredible character moments. Brian Azzarello is not one to be content with one or the other; Wonder Woman 21 manages to give us both big action and quiet character development, and is wholly satisfying on both counts.
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Jun 19 2013

Batgirl 21

batgirl 21Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Batgirl 18, originally released March 13th, 2013.

Patrick: I used to live in an apartment in Uptown Chicago with Taylor and our friend Andrew. This is right out of college and none of us really knew what we were doing in that town – just that we had some friends in the area and where else were we going to find jobs? The later part of that equation proved more taxing that we had originally expected (hooray for economic downturns!), and living there eventually became an endurance match against the city. You’d spend the morning sleeping, the afternoon looking for jobs, the evenings trying to figure out what the fuck you’re doing with your life, and the nights drinking. It’s a vicious little cycle, and every phone call to your folks to ask for a couple bucks so you could cover rent, every email from faraway friends, piled up into this feeling of helplessness – like you were stuck in a make-believe life that bore to similarities to the life you knew before. Oddly, it was getting jobs that we all hated that grounded us – provided structure to our lives. It’s just when Batgirl feels that her old life has totally slipped away from her that regains her structure the old fashioned way: doing her job and punching a villain in the face. Continue reading →

Jun 19 2013

Thor: God of Thunder 9

thor 9

Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing Thor: God of Thunder 9, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Shelby: Religion, mythology, and fantasy: all three have slightly different connotations. Religion refers to a set of beliefs about where we came from and where we’ll end up, generally involving some sort of god(s) and a moral code. My rural Wisconsin, Lutheran upbringing means I tend to default to the Christian God, Three in One, etc., etc. Mythology is more folkloric, a collection stories about heroes and gods: the stories that fuel all religions, but a term often ascribed to the religion of the other. As in, “my beliefs are religion, yours are merely myths.” Fantasy is the imagination that fuels the myths, the crazy daydream that dreamed up the stories in the first place. Personally, I believe it’s the myth, the story, that ties these three together: the imagination creates the story, and the story fosters belief. No where is the connections between religion, mythology, and fantasy more apparent than in Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder.

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Jun 18 2013

Chat Cave: Man of Steel

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Between the commercial success of a near-constant stream of Marvel Studios Avengers movies and the critical success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there are impossible expectations for Man of Steel. Expectations like reigniting the public’s love for Superman; expectations like launching a blockbuster film franchise; expectations like being any good in its own right. Zach Snyder’s Superman slug-fest has a lot to accomplish. Does it achieve any of that? Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Drew: Like many comics fans, I was incredibly excited by the teaser trailer for this movie. In spite of the trailer’s own prominent reminder that Zach Snyder directed both Watchmen and 300, it felt like this movie got Superman. Indeed, the trailer trades in Snyder’s standard embarrassing music cues and slow-motion punches for meditative statements about Superman’s power as a symbol. Between story credits by Dark Knight Trilogy scribe David S. Goyer and director  Christopher Nolan, I dared hope that Man of Steel might be to Superman what The Dark Knight films were to Batman: an operatic drama that understands the defining nature of the hero.

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Jun 14 2013

Suicide Squad 21

suicide squad 21

Today, Mikyzptlk and Shelby are discussing Suicide Squad 21, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: Ales Kot completely blew me away with issue 20 of Suicide Squad, giving fans of the original series a taste of what made it so great, while completely reinvigorating the New 52 version of the book. With issue 21, Mr. Kot has blown me away again (along with a few security guards) and has delivered another absolutely thrilling entry. Best of all, Kot manages to continue his course correction of the character Harley Quinn by brilliantly using her to fix yet another troubled character of the New 52: Amanda Waller.

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Jun 13 2013

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

guardians of the galaxy 3

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Guardians of the Galaxy 3, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Shelby:  I AM GROOT!
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