Category Spencer Irwin

Sep 21 2015

All-New Hawkeye 5

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Today, Taylor and Spencer are discussing All-New Hawkeye 5, originally released September 16th , 2015.

Taylor: Often times I wonder what my life would be like had I made an important choice, differently. When I try to make this abstract thought game more concrete, I think about the decision I made of where to go to college. My life would be incomparably changed if I had attended a different university. Different friends, maybe a different major, and most likely living in a different city for the past eight years of my life. Hawkeye 5 at first has us thinking big choices never affect the totality of our lives, but as events unfold, it becomes clear a single choice can affect your life greatly.

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Sep 17 2015

The Fade Out 9

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Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing The Fade Out 9, originally released September 16th, 2015.

Spencer: Those in power always prey upon those they consider “beneath” them. This is true in pretty much every aspect of life, but especially in the Hollywood depicted in Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ The Fade Out. Almost every character in this title is a victim in one way or another, and issue 9 takes a special interest in the damage those with power inflict upon those less fortunate than themselves.  Continue reading →

Sep 17 2015

Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl 2

phonogram 2Today, Spencer and Shane are discussing Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl 2, originally released September 9th, 2015.

Spencer: Quite a few people who know me in real life think that I’m very quiet and shy. I suppose that’s closer to the truth than I’d like to admit, but the reality is that if you get me talking about the right subject, I’ll never shut up. Sometimes, it actually scares me how I can only seem to relate to people if we can chat about comics or music or pop culture — especially as I grow older and my friends and family turn their attention more and more to falling in love and raising families. I have to wonder if there’s something wrong with me, if my hyper-intense focus on my hobbies makes me a lesser, “two-dimensional” person. The cast of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl seem to be dealing with the same kind of worries in issue 2, even if they’re not quite self-aware enough to articulate them yet. Continue reading →

Sep 15 2015

Secret Wars Round-Up: Issues Released 9/9/15

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Secret Wars is a mammoth event — Marvel has populated an entire Battleworld with Wolverines, Captains America and Spider-Men. There’s a lot in here that’s worth reading, but we don’t always have the time to dig deep into all of them. The solution? A quick survey of what we’re reading. Today, we’re discussing A-Force 4, Civil War 4, Red Skull 3, Giant-Sized Little Marvel AvX 4, Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos 4, Planet Hulk 5 and Siege 3.

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Sep 14 2015

DC Round-Up Comics Released 9/9/15

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How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Batman/Superman 24, Catwoman 44, Justice League United 13, and Starfire 4.

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Sep 14 2015

Ms. Marvel 18

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Today, Taylor and Spencer are discussing Ms. Marvel 18, originally released September 9th, 2015. This issue is a Secret Wars tie-in. For more Secret Wars coverage from the week, check back Tuesday for our Secret Wars Round-Up.

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Taylor: The old axiom says there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While I have my doubts that every person experiences grief in the exact same way as this, I do believe that most people go through something akin to this before arriving at the final stage of acceptance. When something truly traumatic happens it takes awhile for our brains to shift to the new reality of things. However, I think given time we all come to accept whatever bad thing it is that’s happened to us. Ms. Marvel 18 delves into this last stage of coping with grief and shows us that for everyone who undergoes it, it looks a little different.

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Sep 10 2015

The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows 5

Alternating Currents: The Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows 5, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows 5, originally released September 2nd, 2015. This issue is a Secret Wars tie-in. For more Secret Wars coverage from the week, check back Tuesday for our Secret Wars Round-Up!

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Drew: It’s rare that we ever put a spoiler warning up on the site. It’s been suggested more than once, but we usually come to the conclusion that it would be redundant — it would be impossible to have the kind of in-depth discussions we have about comics without acknowledging what happened within them. That’s always been enough to end the conversation, but I also tend to think that superhero comics are impossible to spoil — or maybe that it’s they’re impossible not to spoil. That is to say, we don’t come to superhero stories to be surprised at the outcome, but to be inspired by them. I mean, “Spider-Man saves the day” isn’t exactly revelatory, but it describes the majority of Spider-Man stories (though not necessarily each individual issue), and doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. Indeed, that we know Spider-Man will get back up to fight again is exactly what makes him such an enduring character in the first place. So when The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows inevitably lives up to its name, its predictability is a strength, not a weakness. Continue reading →

Sep 9 2015

DC Round-Up Comics Released 9/2/15

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How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Green Lantern 44, Detective Comics 44, Bat-Mite 4, and  Batman Beyond 4.

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