Category Darkhorse

Apr 8 2014

Veil 2

veil 2Today, Greg and Patrick are discussing Veil 2, originally released April 2nd, 2014.

Greg: I see a therapist regularly, and while it may be unhealthy to view therapy in a win/lose sports binary, I feel like I scored a big “victory” at my last session. She told me I seemed to be good at “living in the present,” that all-encompassing mantra that, to me, means the healthiest choice is to let go of what you can’t control in the “then,” and instead, find peace in the “now.” It’s something I’ve struggled with my whole life, which might explain why I responded so positively to the newest issue of Veil.

Basically what I’m saying is, if Dante needs to talk to someone, I can give him a number to call.  

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Mar 11 2014

Veil 1

Alternating Currents: Veil 1, Drew and GregToday, Drew and Greg are discussing Veil 1, originally released March 5th, 2014.

Drew: What is an identity? Is it a name you call yourself? Is it a series of values that dictate your actions? I think we often tend to think of our identity as some kind of immutable part of our being, but I personally believe that it changes with the context. Sometimes we’re outgoing, other times we’re shy. Sometimes we’re funny, other times we’re humorless. I tend to think that context-dependence means that we define ourselves — at least in part — by the way others treat us. I tend to be a pretty mature guy, but as soon as I go home to visit my parents, I’m a little bit seventeen again. I often find myself rising (or falling, as the case may be) to those expectations, but Veil 1 introduces a character who refuses to be defined by the way she’s perceived. Continue reading →

Mar 5 2014

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 2

Alternating Currents: Serenity 2, Taylor and ShelbyToday, Taylor and Shelby are discussing Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 2, originally released February 26th, 2014. 

slim-bannerTaylor: Rebooting a series is seldom a wise idea. With the rise of the internet, fans of cancelled or obscure media suddenly able to connect with each other like they never had before. This meant that those pining for the reboot of a beloved yet cancelled comic or show suddenly had someone to voice their opinion to. They found strength in their numbers and, surprisingly, studios began to listen. When Firefly was cancelled few seemed to care. But as more and more people fell in love with the show, it eventually gained a cult following, the strength of which is rivaled by few. Firefly got its reboot in the form of a movie, which by most accounts put an end to the story of Malcolm Reynolds and his motley crew. But the fans continued to clamor and now we have a comic book devoted to continuing the story. While this revival may stir feelings of sweet nostalgia the wisdom of its creation is still a question floating in space.

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Jan 30 2014

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 1

serenity 1

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 1, originally released January 29th, 2014. 

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Shelby: I recently finished the final book of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it here before; it’s a fantasy series I have been reading for 20 years, and I just finished the last book after re-reading the whole series. The ending was amazing, I cried like a baby: a hungry, angry baby. It’s not that it was sad, I cried because it was so perfect, and because it was over. This epic saga that I had read for so long was finished; it left a little book-shaped hole in my heart, a hole that not even my Wheel of Time tattoo could fill. Fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and subsequent movie Serenity know exactly what I’m talking about. As satisfying as it was to see Malcom Reynold’s ragtag crew of space cowboys aim to misbehave and deliver a crushing blow to the Alliance, there’s always been a little Firefly class-shaped hole in my heart since it’s been over. When I heard there was a new miniseries coming, written by Joss’ brother Zack Whedon, that takes place immediately after the movie, I knew there was no power in the ‘verse could stop me from reading it. Also, obviously, we’ve got major spoilers below, for the series and movie.
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Jan 28 2014

Mind MGMT 18

mind mgmt 18

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Mind MGMT 18, originally released January 22nd, 2014.

Patrick: I got back to the Midwest over Christmas – neither of my sisters live there anymore, but our parents do, so it made a handy centralized location for us to all be together. This means that I was also able to spend some time with my niece Leah; she’s four, tells people she’s fives, loves Spider-Man and independently started calling me “Silly Uncle Patrick.” One day, we went to downtown Chicago for high tea at the Drake Hotel. It was full-on Chicago-cold, so none of us were too eager to walk around the loop after tea. But, like, what else are you going to do? After much protest, we got Leah to bundle up in her jacket and mittens and hat and scarf and shuffled her outside. The adults all went into city-walkin’ mode; understandably, we wanted to minimize our time spent outside. But not Leah. She’d take three steps and then stop to crane her neck so she could see the tops of the tall buildings she was moments away from shouting about. My favorite observation of hers from that afternoon was “some buildings are churches, but others aren’t.” I lived in Chicago for four years, the buildings don’t impress me, and the cold is a familiar nuisance, but this kid was having an experience. Matt Kindt taps into that same childhood enthusiasm in issue 18 of Mind MGMT, letting the reader be excited for one girl’s experience – injecting a familiar concept with renewed vigor. Continue reading →

Dec 4 2013

Mind MGMT 17

mind mgmt 17

Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Mind MGMT 17, originally released November 27th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: I’m normally not the type to start a series with anything other than issue 1, but being an editor for Retcon Punch requires you to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. I started this series with issue 16, and since it was a one-shot, it felt like an interesting experiment. Analyzing issue 17 feels like an experiment too, but of a different sort. Today, I’ll be trying to figure out what’s going on underneath the surface of issue 17 of Mind MGMT while trying to piece together the events of the previous issues. Hoo-boy.  Continue reading →

Nov 11 2013

The Star Wars 3

star wars 3

Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing The Star Wars 3, originally released November 6th, 2013.

Patrick: When my friends and I first discovered that soda fountains existed, we became obsessed with creating new concoctions by combining sodas. I think this is a phase that we all go through: while the specific recipes and names change from friend-group to friend-group, we’ve all heard of ‘The Suicide” – an unholy mixing of all the options at once! (Even Diet? YES EVEN DIET.) Appropriately enough, my buddy Pete and I had both a Luke Skywalker and a Darth Vader in our recipe rolodexes. The Luke Skywalker was basically just the light sodas — Seven Up, Mountain Dew, Orange Crush — and the Darth Vader was basically just the dark sodas — Coke, Cherry, Dr. Pepper and Root Beer — and we loved coming up with those drinks based on our favorite Star Wars characters. But, as everyone eventually learns, this is silly: those individual sodas are delicious because they have strong individual identities, and the joy is lost when you just pile everything together and hope for the best. Darkhorse’s The Star Wars reveals the experimentation behind the original script to Star Wars. It’s a big nasty pile-up, but it makes me all the more happy we ever got the simplicity of the original trilogy. Continue reading →

Oct 29 2013

Mind MGMT 16

mind mgmt 16Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Mind MGMT 16, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Patrick: We’re conducting a little bit of an experiment today — neither Mike or I have read Matt Kindt’s well-regarded Mind MGMT series before. This is a series I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, and the solicit sold it as a one-off, so where better to hop on than here? This issue explores ideas of artificially constructed memories and the recursive nature in which we experience memories — falsified or otherwise. It’s dizzying and disorienting, and without a handle on what’s established and what’s normal in this series, I’m left in the occupy the shoes of our protagonist. As such, it’s a remarkable expression of identity, memory and fantasy and the inevitable intersection of all three. Continue reading →