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:

Jul 20 2012

Justice League 11

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Justice League 11, originally released July 18th 2012.

Shelby: Losing a loved one is beyond difficult. It can be the most trying, emotional, painful experience we’ll ever know. Whether it’s a sudden death or a prolonged illness, the grief of loss is a heavy burden to bear. It’s one thing to forever carry the memory of a loved one with you, but something else entirely to carry that burden of grief, never letting go, never moving on. Justice League features a villain literally doing just that; Graves constantly carries with him the souls of his family, and his grief will not abate until he exacts his revenge. You would think with such a heavy and universally relatable idea, this issue would garner something stronger than “meh.”
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Jul 19 2012

Before Watchmen – Silk Spectre 2

Alternating Currents: Silk Spectre 2, Drew and Shelby-B4WToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Silk Spectre 2, originally released July 18th, 2012. Silk Spectre is part of DC’s Before Watchmen prequel series. Click here for complete Before Watchmen coverage (including release dates).

Drew: This Before Watchmen thing must have been a hard sell to creators. Sure, they’d have the opportunity to work with some of comicdom’s most interesting characters, but they’d also be competing with some incredibly beloved source material, written by one of the greatest comic writers of all time. Hoping to improve on Watchmen would be beyond unreasonable, so the best anyone could really hope for is a competent expansion of that universe. That’s not exactly the world’s most rewarding job. Writer Darwyn Cooke and artist Amanda Conner have the additionally arduous task of being saddled with everybody’s least favorite character from Watchmen, which they handled dazzlingly in last month’s debut, managing to take Silk Spectre in a totally unexpected direction. This month’s issue subverts our expectations yet again, taking a step that can’t so much be described as forward or backwards, but sideways. Continue reading →

Jul 18 2012

Chat Cave: Nemeses

In October, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman series will be reintroducing the Joker to the New 52 continuity, reigniting one of the greatest rivalries in comics history. But what does it mean for a hero to have a nemesis? Are nemeses important to the identity of a superhero? Who are the best nemeses? Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Shelby: A nemesis is an important character in a comic book. It’s an opportunity for stories to explore the dark side of our heroes. Very often, the nemesis represents the “flip side of the coin” of the hero; they are what the hero would be without the sense of morality and justice. The nemesis tests the hero to find his limits, and tries to push the hero past them. Also, the nemesis is an easy trick to pull out of the bag when you’re stuck for a plot.

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Jul 17 2012

The Vault – The Flash Tie Clip

The Retcon Punchers spend an awful lot of time looking for ways to celebrate our nerdy obsessions. This means a lot of time sunk into scouring Etsy, Deviant Art, Think Geek or whatever. Sometimes we see things so great we just have to share them… and then clutch them fiercely to our collective chest. Throw it in The Vault.

Website: Etsy

Who Would Love This: Geeky, well-dressed men, geeky women who love geeky, well-dressed men

Price: $18.00

We’ve kind of fallen off the wagon for The Vault, so I decided to find a special geeky object to bring us back on track. So, what’s so special about a Flash tie clip? Duh, look at it; clearly it’s what you need when your tie is traveling at tremendous speeds. There are a number of clips to choose from, as well as belt buckles, hair bows, and other assorted jewelry. This Etsy store is extra special to me, because the gal who makes this stuff lives in Chicago, and I do love supporting local nerds. On top of that, I already own a piece of jewelry from here; alert reader Taylor got me this awesome Wonder Woman necklace for my birthday. Now, instead of just thinking about comics all the time without anyone else the wiser, I can advertise to the world that even my jewelry is nerdy.

Jul 16 2012

Before Watchmen – Minutemen 2

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Minutemen 2, originally released July 11th, 2012. Minutemen is part of DC’s Before Watchmen prequel series. Click here for complete Before Watchmen coverage (including release dates).

Patrick: Darwyn Cooke is going to make the absolute most out of his Minutemen mini-series. The first issue served as an effective mission statement, nodding politely to the series’ legendary origins but striking out boldly with its own voice. But now with all that business out of the way, Minutemen 2 is able to start telling stories. STORIES! Can you believe it?

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Jul 12 2012

Batgirl 11

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Batgirl 11, originally released July 11th, 2012.

Shelby: I recently finished Frank Herbert’s Dune (highly recommended if you like old-school science fiction), and one of the prevailing ideas is that of plans within plans within plans. The idea is that your enemies, or your allies, are never what they seem: that every plan you see is part of another more intricate plan, and so on and so on. The only way to survive is to think the same way, to create plans upon plans until even your closest allies aren’t sure your motives. I’m beginning to feel the same vibe from Batgirl; enemies and allies are telescoping inward, and every motive revealed is another motive for another plan.

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Jul 10 2012

Worlds’ Finest 3

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Worlds’ Finest 3, originally released July 4th, 2012.

Shelby: Often, the hardest review to write is for the really good issues. All I want to do is gush, “IT’S SO GOOD!!!” and I have to force myself to find something intelligent to say. It’s not unpleasant, by any means; it gives me an excuse to spend more time with something I really enjoy, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. The really bad issues, though, are much easier to talk about. I can compose a laundry list of reasons why I don’t like it, and usually don’t have to spend much more time with it than a couple of readings. This month’s Worlds’ Finest falls firmly into that latter camp, and I’m really glad I don’t have to read it anymore than I already have.
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Jul 5 2012

Before Watchmen – Ozymandias 1

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Ozymandias 1, originally released July 4th, 2012. Ozymandias is part of DC’s Before Watchmen prequel series. Click here for complete Before Watchmen coverage (including release dates).

Shelby: So far, Before Watchmen has been largely a success. Minute Men 1 didn’t really offer anything new, it merely fleshed out character traits we were already familiar with, and that was just fine. Silk Spectre 1 took character traits we knew and crafted a narrative to show us their origin; it was a new story based on old facts, and it was very good. Comedian 1 took that a step further by taking what we thought we knew and twisting it around, without losing sight of Moore’s original intent; I thought it was exceptionally good. Nite Owl 1 was a huge step backwards; it invented a narrative which didn’t match the character traits it was meant to originate. The whole thing felt forced and unnecessary. Ozymandias 1, happily, is a step back towards Minute Men; we don’t learn anything new about Adrian Veidt, and that’s completely ok.

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Jul 3 2012

Green Lantern: New Guardians 10


Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern: New Guardians 10, originally released June 27th, 2012.

Patrick: Last stands are interesting. Planet-wide last stands are fascinating. Basically any science fiction alien-invasion story comes down to Earth’s last heroes staging a nearly-impossible attack against the alien aggressors and winning. I mean, you can’t end  your story with the world ending – that’s like the definition of a bad ending. But the Green Lantern universe is so rich with worlds that when one of them is in danger, there’s a genuine possibility that that world could end. So when the Reach set their sights on Odym, there was no guarantee of any specific outcome. Dramatically, anything is possible.  Continue reading →

Jun 29 2012

Batman Incorporated 2

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Batman, Inc 2, originally released June 27th, 2012.

Shelby: I wasn’t totally sold on the first issue of Batman, Incorporated. I hadn’t read any of the pre-relaunch Batman, Inc stuff so I was pretty clueless. And, blasphemy though it may be, I’m not the biggest fan of Grant Morrison. I may have to take it all back, however, as this trip into Talia Al Ghul’s backstory, while not wholly surprising, is interesting and a lot of fun to read. Continue reading →