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Dec 2 2013

Pretty Deadly 2

pretty deadly 2

Today, Greg and Shelby are discussing Pretty Deadly 2, originally released November 27, 2013.

Greg: There’s a difference between something feeling “challenging” and “hard”. The way I visualize it – and be forewarned, this is going to be super dumb – a brain approaches a thing that’s “challenging” like a cocky knight approaching a dragon: he knows he will be tested, but he knows he can ultimately triumph based on his skills. Conversely, a brain approaches a thing that’s “hard” like a cocky knight approaching a titanium wall that goes on forever: try as he might, all he’s gonna be able to do is bash his head against the wall.

This issue of Pretty Deadly feels like a titanium wall. One that’s particularly pretty, mind you.

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Nov 25 2013

Sex Criminals 3

sex criminals 3

Today, Patrick and Greg are discussing Sex Criminals 3, originally released November 20th, 2013.

Patrick: We live in a sex-negative society. We’re all made to feel embarrassed by urges, our desires and our sexual failings. It sucks: movies and TV will evoke Gay Panic or Slut Shaming for laughs, assuming that their audiences all share the same puritanical views on sex. And then there’s smart sex-positive media, like the series we’re talking about today – and it gets filed away with the rest of “dirty” comics (and off iOS for a second month in row), to protect us from the filth within. Look, the signals are coming from everywhere: you should feel bad about wanting to read this comic. That’s why real, naked honesty is so important for sex – being able to express sexuality honestly is about as intimate as you can get. Sex Criminals 3 embraces all of it – the urges, the desires and the failings. [Ironically, I do feel the need to warn that there are some explicit images after the jump.] Continue reading →

Nov 22 2013

Zero 3

zero 3

Today, Taylor and Scott are discussing Zero 3, originally released November 20th, 2013.

Taylor: Tell you what, reading a Cormac McCarthy novel is a chore. This is by no means a criticism, merely an observation. I think anyone who has read any book by McCarthy would agree with me – the guy writes some pretty bleak stuff. Despite that, his writing is some of the most important to grace the written page in the past fifty years. He’s a master at his craft and his style and voice are so unique that one could argue they have become iconic. Still, reading the likes of Blood Meridian or The Road is far from a pleasant way to pass the time. These books are beautiful in their own way, but they are equally violent and incredibly depressing. Given this, it seems fitting that the afterward of Zero 3 quotes a passage from Blood Meridian. Like McCarthy’s work, Zero is bloody and disturbing, but also like McCarthy’s work it is thought provoking and occasionally beautiful.

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Nov 18 2013

Manifest Destiny 1

manifest destiny 1

Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk are discussing Manifest Destiny 1, originally released November 13th, 2013.

“(It is) our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.”

John L. O’Sullivan, New York Morning News, 1845

Patrick: The term “Manifest Destiny” is strange – I’m not totally convinced that those words make sense when put up next to each other like that. I mean, I see how you can make one’s destiny manifest: essentially just realizing one’s potential. My objection — I think — is that it’s redundant: both “manifest” and “destiny” can imply that what is going to happen is meant to happen. And maybe that’s all O’Sullivan was going for, he felt that the US was “supposed” to conquer all the lands between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The genius of the term is that it feels as though the right and responsibility to do so is innate – you’ll notice that he doesn’t say that any man, government or god has granted us this opportunity, just “Providence.” Whatever was out there, it was just ours. No question, no doubt, no reason. It’s already a dangerous and intriguing concept, so what happens when you add secret missions and monsters? You get the best kind of alternate-history comic – one that makes you chuckle in recognition and gasp in shock in the same breath. Continue reading →

Nov 15 2013

The Manhattan Projects 16

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing The Manhattan Projects 16, originally released November 13th, 2013.

Taylor:  You know that one picture of Einstein, the one where he’s looking at the camera and playfully sticking his tongue out at the camera? Of course you do — of all the hundreds of pictures of Einstein that exist, that particular portrait sticks out in our collective consciousness. There are probably several reasons for that, but perhaps one of the most powerful is that the picture portrays the author of the general theory of relativity in the way we would like to think he existed. With his frizzy white hair and iconic mustache, Einstein cuts a figure that is both endearing and intelligent. We like to think of Einstein, the grand scientist, as having a playful and childlike streak because it makes him lovable and human, rather than untouchable and superhuman. In this way, we all liken ourselves to Einstein. If that zany dude can revolutionize the world, why not me?  However, this disregards the real Einstein, who was often angry and frustrated with himself and the science he devoted his life to. But which of these pictures of Einstein is more accurate and, more importantly, does it matter?

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Nov 7 2013

East of West 7

east of west 7Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing East of West 7, originally released November 6th, 2013.

We would tell you to pray, but it wouldn’t do any good. You have earned what is coming to you.

-East of West

Shelby: What is it about stories of the apocalypse that we love so very much? It’s the end of everything, the last story, turn off the lights and lock the door on your way out; it’s scary and oppressive and anxiety-inducing. Will everyone die? What happens when you die, really? Can this be stopped? Do we really want to stop it? What is it that, despite those soul-searching questions, drives us to these grim stories? I know I eat them up; I love me a good apocalypse. Maybe it’s the chance for redemption, or the hope that this will be the moment that will bring people together, that  everyone will finally unite against the end and bring about change. Considering the character I’m rooting for the most in Jonathan Hickman’s East of West is the horseman Death, I suspect this won’t be that kind of story.

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Nov 4 2013

Saga 15

saga 15

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Saga 15, originally released October 30th, 2013.

Shelby: I don’t have any kids, but I assume parenting is hard. Not just because you’re trying to figure out how to keep this small creature safe and provide for it and raise it in a way that it doesn’t turn out to be a total douche (presumably that is a common parenting goal), you’ve also got to put up with a deluge of “help.” Everyone who’s raised a child, as well as no small number who haven’t, believe they know the best way to do it. And they are more than happy to give you all sorts of advice on the subject. No matter how sound that advice may be (like, “you should probably get a job”), if it’s unsolicited it will probably be poorly received.

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Oct 30 2013

Pretty Deadly 1

pretty deadly 1

Today, Scott and Greg are discussing Pretty Deadly 1, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Scott: I tend to categorize the things I read. When you spend a good chunk of your time reviewing media like I do, it’s convenient to have have certain genre-descriptors at the ready. It’s not quite as simple as labeling something a drama, comedy, thriller or horror- most stories are more complex than that- but finding the combination of nouns to aptly describe the subject. Once in a while, however, something comes along that defies categorization entirely. Something that no combination of nouns can do justice. Something like Pretty Deadly. At first glance this comic looks like a Western, but the structure of this first issue says otherwise. I don’t know what to make of it. I can only categorize it as uncategorizable. As a reviewer, it’s a bit frustrating, but as a comic book reader, I love it.
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Oct 28 2013

Sex Criminals 2

sex criminals 2

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Sex Criminals 2, originally released October 23rd, 2013.

Shelby:  Ok guys, I’m going to be frank; we’re going to talk about sex here for a bit. It’s not going to be weird, I promise. Well, actually, since we’re talking about Matt Fraction’s and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals, a book about a woman named Suzie who stops time when she has an orgasm, and her new gentleman friend with the same ability, it might actually get a little weird. Ok, so a lot weird. All joking aside, this a story about sex and sexytimes, and Fraction and Zdarsky have a refreshingly open approach to the matter, so consider yourself warned. Just a heads up, there are some potentially NSFW images below the jump.

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Oct 15 2013

Manhattan Projects 15

manhattan projects 15

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Manhattan Projects 15, originally released October 9th, 2013.

Patrick: Manhattan Projects is a series of many conceits. Writer Jonathan Hickman is a master at this sort of thing, distorting history and reality in a way that only he could. Every warped fact and twisted historical personage is filtered through his unique perspective. The very first issue of this series introduced the weirdest of all Manhattan Projects conceits — the devouring of Robert Oppenheimer by his brother Joseph. Any time we deal with that information, such as in the “part one” of the Finite Oppenheimers story back in April, that perspective gets EVEN WEIRDER. The whole of reality is reduced to the consciousness of one psychotic cannibal in the midst of a cognitive civil war. It’s exactly as crazy as it sounds. Continue reading →