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:

May 9 2012

The New 52 1 (FCBD issue)

Today, Patrick, Drew, Peter and Shelby are discussing The New 52 1, originally released on Free Comic Book Day, May 5th, 2012.

Patrick: Now that the dust has settled and we’re all able to calm down after a thrilling Free Comic Book Day, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. The issue that DC released was anything but an easy entry-point, packing in more characters and mythology than we’ve seen in any single issue since the relaunch. This book makes a lot of intriguing promises for long-time fans, but I doubt new readers were all that excited to spend 11 pages following a character they’ve never heard of.

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May 9 2012

Cram Session: Batman 1-8

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

Scott Snyder’s current run on Batman in both character- and author-defining work. It also manages to rope every other superhero in Gotham into its orbit, and the Night of the Owls sweeps through 11 different series this month. Batman is the hub. It’s also the strongest title in the bunch. Read every issue twice, then read them all again six more times, then watch our video recap.

May 8 2012

Cram Session: Batgirl 1-8

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

Gail Simone’s excellent Batgirl series will be crossing through the Night of the Owls on Wednesday. If you missed Barbara Gordon struggling against Mirror, Gretel, Grotesque and her mother, you can check out our video recap.

May 8 2012

Swamp Thing 9

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 9, originally released May 2nd, 2012.

Shelby: I love non-traditional stories. While there is definitely comfort to be found in stories that go exactly as you imagine, it’s those twists that can turn a story on its ass that make things really interesting. And when those twists give the finger to time-honored and traditional story-telling tropes, that’s when I sit up and take notice. Swamp Thing is an awesome embodiment of the non-traditional. Our hero is a monster (unless you compare him to the villain), and in this issue after he rescues the damsel, she turns right around and rescues him back.

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May 4 2012

Animal Man 9

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Animal Man 9, originally released May 2nd, 2012.

Shelby: We’re all getting pretty wrapped up in the Night of the Owls. We’ve got a lot of really talented writers and artists working on it, and with Scott Snyder at the helm, well, it’s easy to get wrapped up in it. One could almost forgive me for forgetting about some of these other story arcs DC has going on right now. I say ‘almost’ because there’s obviously no way to forgive not thinking about The Red, The Green, and The Rot. This month’s Animal Man reminds me of why that is; the title page features Buddy, traveling through the Red after dying at the hands of the Rot and literally unraveling. Organ by organ, muscle separating from bone, bone separating from other bones.

God damn, I love this title.
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May 3 2012

Earth-2 1

Today, Peter and Shelby are discussing Earth-2 1, originally released May 2nd, 2012.

Peter:  We have officially reached the Second Wave of the New 52. With it, we see the reintroduction of the DC Multiverse, and thus alternate versions of some of our favorite super heroes. We begin here with Earth-2 #1, which will then lead us into the rest of this brave new world.
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May 2 2012

Chat Cave: A DC Team Movie

In 2008, Marvel Studios introduced Tony Stark to the big screen in “Iron Man.” 4 years, one sequel, and new Thor and Captain America franchises later, we are a week away from “The Avengers.” This is the first time a studio has created separate movies for each team member, leading into a full-fledged, comic book team movie. Will it work? More important, could it be done for a DC team? What would it take for a full-fledged Justice League movie? Retcon Punchers sound off.  Welcome to the Chat Cave.

Patrick: Oh, it’ll work. I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind that The Avengers is going to work. It’s release geniusly coincides with the weekend of Free Comic Book Day, so fans of the movie may find themselves wandering into their local comic shop. Once inside, they’ll inevitably stumble on Marvel’s big cross-over series: Avengers vs. X-men. We laugh at the corporate buzz-word “synergy,” but this is some impressive fucking synergy.

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May 1 2012

The Vault – Justice League Movie Poster Set

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: Art fans, gritty superhero movie fans, gritty superhero movie art fans

Price: $70.00

My love for secret nerd art is well documented. No one should be surprised that I like these. NO ONE. These prints look like old concert posters whose colors have run in the rain, or slapdash grafitti: they’re old, messy, and kind of dirty-looking. The artist, who goes by Harshness on Etsy, has a ton of very minimalist and graphically striking posters, any of which I would love. This full set of Justice League posters is probably my favorite, although he has a X-Men set that is also awesome. Plus, apparently he’s having a buy one, get one sale right now! So, if you don’t really have the wall space for the whole League, you can get Superman and Batman for the low low price of Superman alone! What a deal!

May 1 2012

Cram Session: Detective Comics 1-8

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

If you’re already reading Batman, then you might not see the point of another series featuring the characters as the hero. Or, you could be like the Retcon Punchers and have read every issue and still don’t see the point of this series. Well you don’t have to read it to find out what happened in issues 1-8.

Apr 30 2012

NEW FEATURE – Cram Session: Batwing 1-8

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

Our first video recap, or “Cram Session,” covers the events from Batwing 1-8. That way you’ll be all caught up and ready to read Batwing #9 – his cross through  the Night of the Owls event.