Category Taylor Anderson

Oct 31 2017

Violence Can be Funny in Despicable Deadpool 288

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

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Deadpool has always had an interesting relationship with violence. Its titular hero is one of the more bloody characters in the Marvel pantheon, yet he’s also one of the funniest. This means that at the same he’s committing atrocities, Wade Wilson is also cracking jokes. This relationship is easier to write than it is to draw. After all, how are you supposed to draw someone being killed and have it be funny? Scott Koblish seems to have figured that out, turning a bloody issue into one that somehow retains its humor in spite of (if not because) of its violence. Continue reading →

Oct 30 2017

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call 1: Discussion

by Ryan Mogge and Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Ryan M: Beginnings have a sense of weight to them. Readers expect that the moment has been chosen with care, to best set up the story that follows. When readers enters the world, they are especially sensitive to the status of the characters. This is the point where a creator can offer a lifeline in the form of a point of view character. Alternatively, we can begin in a state of flux, so that the reader naturally finds the “new normal” along with the plot. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call 1 starts the series with the main characters in a comfortable rhythm with each other and their world. By not challenging their status quo, Kelly Thompson and Corin Howell let the Ghostbusters remain entertaining but not affecting. Continue reading →

Oct 26 2017

The Universal Immigrant Experience in Daredevil 28

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

For a long time, America celebrated the fact that it was a country made up of immigrants. People pointed to visionaries such as Albert Einstein, John Muir, and Hakeem Olajuwon to show that immigrants not only contributed to our country, but led it. However, the narrative around immigrants has changed lately, and, like all things these days, has been politicized. The result of this is that America has forgotten the value of immigrants, and with that has forgotten to care about them as human beings. This, in turn, is what drives Sam Chung to betray Daredevil, but it’s also why it’s so easy to understand why he did it. Continue reading →

Oct 24 2017

Mythology Bites in Lumberjanes 43

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

I recently read an article which argued the point that serialized tv is a “disease.” Perhaps a bit hyperbolic, but the author had a good point. In some cases, TV shows forgo quality in the name of developing mythology. My ever-treasured LOST was cited as a prime example of this, and I had a hard time disagreeing with it being so characterized, as I remembered scenes of a church filled with the dead spirits of the show’s main characters. This got me thinking: I’ve always treasured mythology building in my narratives, but does that mean its always good for the story or content? As if to answer this question, Lumberjanes 43 was published and the answer seems to be a mighty, no.

Continue reading →

Oct 23 2017

Discussion: Mighty Thor 700

by Taylor Anderson and Patrick Ehlers

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Taylor: Midway through the extra large, special 700th issue of Mighty Thor, Karnilla, Queen of the Norns, asks which ingredient is the most essential in the makeup of a Thor. It’s a good question, and one that writer Jason Aaron has been exploring ever since he took over the reigns of Thor some 60 issues ago. While Aaron has posed various answers to this question multiple times, he’s never come outright and revealed to readers what exactly makes a Thor Thor. That is, he’s never done that until now. Using the 700th issue as his podium, Aaron waxes poetic on the nature of Thor, presenting us with not so much a new Thor narrative, but a grand tapestry that relishes in pondering what Thor has been, currently is, and what it will always be. Continue reading →

Oct 19 2017

The Art Makes the Issue in All-New Guardians of the Galaxy 12

By Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Going to a comic convention can be a dangerous thing. No, I’m not talking about the festering cesspool that is the men’s bathrooms at C2E2 — I’m talking about artist alleys at present at all cons. With so many talented artists in one place, it’s easy to spot at least twelve pieces of art that catch your eye, which are a feast for the senses but a pain for your wallet. The thing is , it’s just hard to say no when you see a piece of artwork that appeals to you. Luckily, sometimes a monthly roles around that’s as easy on the wallet as it is on the eyes, as is the case with Guardians of the Galaxy 12. Continue reading →

Oct 16 2017

Doreen Inspires Good Once Again in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 25

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

There are some superheroes who are more good than others. Superman and Captain America are your prototypical heroes who have the reputations for always doing the “right thing.” Other heroes are more nebulous when it comes to how they carry out their heroing. The Punisher, for example kills people, and while Batman isn’t that extreme, he operates in the shadows in more ways than one. If you had to peg Doreen Green into one of these two pigeonholes, she would definitely fall in the former, and while that predictability risks being boring, with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, it never is. Continue reading →

Oct 13 2017

Despicable Deadpool 287: Discussion

by Patrick Ehlers & Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

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Patrick: There’s a principle in screenwriting called “save the cat.” That phrase refers to the act of unambiguous good a character needs to perform in order to win the audience’s sympathy. To use the idiom’s namesake as an example, as long as our hero has rescued a cat from a tree branch, any other morally dubious behavior can be forgiven. One shred of evidence that he’s a good guy is enough to trick our brains into believing that he must actually be good. This may sound like kind of a hack technique, but writers use it all the time, particularly since the rise of antiheroes. Our boy Wade Wilson gets them all the time — the audience can recoil at 95% of his actions, just so long as he protects a kid, helps and old lady, or saves a cat. Despicable Deadpool 287 throws that convention out the fucking window. This isn’t the hero Deadpool, this is the cut-throat, single-minded, merciless merc with the mouth. Continue reading →

Oct 12 2017

FOMO Sucks in Runaways 2

By Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

There are a lot of reasons to dislike social media, but perhaps one of the best is that it propagates FOMO, or “fear of missing out.” In in a nutshell, FOMO is when people generate anxiety over the fact that something cool is happening right now and they’re not a part of it. What with friends and such sharing all their awesome experiences virtually all the time, it’s not hard to see why this is now a problem. This fear though, must be nothing compared to Gert’s, given that she was dead for two years and resurrected only to find the world completely different from what she once knew. Continue reading →

Oct 11 2017

Temptation Lurks in the Shadows in Astonishing X-Men 4

by Taylor Anderson

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Being human, we are all slaves to our desires. True, most people are able to keep their impulses in check and only give in every so often. However, the urges are always there and it is only through self control that we’re able to be productive members of society as opposed to fleshy hedonism bots. So ingrained is desire in our culture that it frequently presents itself in pop-culture, usually as a dangerous temptation for heroes as they struggle to achieve their ends. For the X-Men, who are more than human, will temptation prove too great in their fight against the Shadow King? Continue reading →