Category Marvel

Jul 15 2013

Young Avengers 7

young avengers 7

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing Young Avengers 7, originally released July 10th, 2013. 

slim-banner

Spencer: Teenagers are a tricky bunch to write. They speak, think, and communicate in their own unique ways, and it’s glaringly obvious when adults try to imitate these patterns without knowing what they’re doing. Fortunately, Kieron Gillen isn’t a writer who falls into these traps. Gillen has a remarkable knack for writing teenagers, and this is more apparent than ever in Young Avengers 7, where he uses these kids’ relationships (and social networking accounts) to show us how the team has progressed since we last saw them.

Continue reading →

Jul 12 2013

Daredevil 28

daredevil 28Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Daredevil 28, originally released July 10th, 2013. 

Ethan: There are some classic tropes we associate with The High School Reunion. The kids who used to be ugly are now the fit, glowing, underwear models; the jerky jocks are flipping burgers; the nerdy punching-bags all own their own companies and are rolling in dough. So when Matt Murdock comes face to face with a childhood bully in need of some help, it’s no surprise that the bully is now down on his luck while Matt’s strutting around in a suit. On the other hand, maybe things are a little more complicated. Maybe there’s a little more virtue in the dirtbag and a little more dirt in the virtuoso lawyer-superhero than we knew about before? Writer Mark Waid and artist Javier Rodriguez continue to keep us on our toes as they shuffle our expectations in Daredevil #28. Continue reading →

Jul 11 2013

The Superior Spider-Man 13

superior spider-man 13

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 13, originally released July 10th, 2013.

“What we leave behind is something we each determine, through the way we live our lives. Whether we achieve something we can be proud of, or fall short, we have only ourselves to blame.”

—The Superior Spider-Man, Otto Octavius

Spencer: From Ghost-Peter’s laments about how Otto was tarnishing his good name to Otto’s annoyance over his future inventions all being credited to Peter, legacy has been a reoccurring concern in the Superior Spider-Man since its very beginning. After the events of this issue Otto is ready to create a new legacy, free from the influence of Peter Parker, but without Peter’s guidance and memories, can he truly live up to the high moral standards of Spider-Man? Otto said it himself: if he leaves behind a legacy of failure or terror, he’s only got himself to blame.

Continue reading →

Jul 9 2013

Avengers 15

Alternating Currents: Avengers 15, Drew and Patrick

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Avengers 15, originally released July 3rd, 2013. 

Drew: I have a buddy who doesn’t like Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films — but it’s not because he doesn’t like fantasy. In his mind, the story is a too simple escalation of “then they fought an even bigger villain” repeated ad nauseam. He has a point: that narrative is particularly focused on building to the final boss battle, but I’d argue that that focus is exactly what prevents each encounter from feeling routine. We understand the importance of Frodo’s quest, so there’s actual tension to be garnered from any obstacles that might pop up along the way. More importantly, having that goal laid out offers direction after each villain is defeated — there’s none of that “wander around the woods until you find something else to fight” RPG bullshit. Unfortunately, Avengers 15 lacks that kind of focused direction. Continue reading →

Jul 5 2013

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man 1

superior foes of spider-man 1

Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing The Superior Foes of Spider-Man 1, originally released July 3rd, 2013.

Ethan: It’s easy to make snap judgements about people when you’ve only known them for a short time, whether it’s a new face at a house party or a new coworker or neighbor who’s just moved in. Once you get to know someone better — say you decide to start renting with your partner, or you share a cubicle with the new guy long enough that he’s no longer the new guy — your opinion of them shifts, often for the better and the worse all at once. You learn about their ambitions and family and past experiences, and little things you didn’t even notice at first become pet peeves or endearing quirks. In Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1, writer Nick Spencer is betting the farm on that phenomenon with a more personal look at the day-to-day lives of the latest Sinister Six.

Continue reading →

Jul 3 2013

Nova 5

nova 5

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Nova 5, originally released June 27th, 2013.

Beru: Owen, he can’t stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him.

Owen: I’ll make it up to him next year, I promise.

Beru: Luke’s just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him.

Owen: That’s what I’m afraid of.

-Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

Patrick: It’s not uncommon for our space heroes to have impossible family legacies to live up to. Luke Skywalker would come to define himself by how he chose to respond his father’s every action. Darth Vader isn’t evil — he’s over zealous, he gets in over his head and uses his considerable powers to get what he wants. He’s an old man in need of redemption, and Luke’s the only person to see that — because they’re so much alike. This conversation between Luke’s adopted aunt and uncle holds the perfect amount of mystery and specificity to tease some meaningful depth about the character. In Nova, Sam’s father’s reputation looms similarly large, but no one has anything nearly so interesting to say about him. Continue reading →

Jul 3 2013

Fantastic Four 9/FF 8

fantastic four 9 ff 8Today, Shelby and Ethan are discussing Fantastic Four 9 and FF 8, originally released June 19th, 2013 and June 26th, 2013, respectively.

Shelby: Everyone makes mistakes. There’s no way around it. Personally, I think it’s a better judge of character to see how a person deals with their mistakes, and less so that the mistakes were made in the first place. It’s important to admit when you’ve messed up and take responsibility fr your actions, but the gesture rings a little hollow when you don’t actually expect to be held responsible. Or if you can just go back in time and undo what you did: how will you learn from a mistake if you can just erase it? Moreover, if you aren’t going to be held responsible for what you did, and you can’t undo it no matter how badly you may want to, can you really forgive yourself?
Continue reading →

Jul 3 2013

X-Men 2

x-men 2

Today, Patrick and (guest writer) Matt are discussing X-Men 2, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Patrick: Until you see it in action, a movie-monster isn’t that scary. You can hear whisperings about the monster’s insatiable appetite, and come across the ruins of the encampment that it has savaged, but it doesn’t really mean anything until you see the Alien burst violently out of your buddy’s chest. Remember how Scream started? With the killer toying with and brutally murdering the biggest name on the marquee. Whatever else was going to happen from that point forward, the audience knows the killer means business. Last month, we got an abstraction of a conflict – a storied shitty history between cosmic siblings. Faster than we can really deal with it, the conflict is in our laps, and everyone gets a good look at what Arkea can do. Consider me convinced: she’s a problem – one X-Men might not be up to solving. Continue reading →

Jul 2 2013

Deadpool 12

deadpool 12

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 12, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Scott: You can’t avoid the inevitable. Throughout Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan’s Deadpool run, there has been one constant: no matter how much Wade Wilson has to suffer, he always kills the guy he sets out to kill. As a result, Deadpool comics are more about the thrill of the ride than the destination. As individual episodes, Deadpool is light fun, with humorous characters regularly being introduced and killed in humorous ways. So when it comes to a villain who has been around for several issues, should we expect his death to be several times as much fun? Deadpool 12 says so long to a character who has defined the series’ second major arc and, aside from some structural problems, Posehn and Duggan deliver an epically fun, albeit inevitable, farewell.

Continue reading →

Jul 2 2013

Hawkeye 11

hawkeye 11

Today, Ethan and Shelby are discussing Hawkeye 11, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Ethan: Heroes often have a fundamentally different way of perceiving the world than the rest of us – a unique challenge for the artists who have to bring them to life in comics. We’ve seen Iron Man’s in-suit view, cluttered with dozens of HUD displays showing vectors, power levels, and incoming angry phone calls. Spider-Man suffers an attack of Wavy-Line-Halo when he’s in danger. Daredevil’s world of radar-sense is one of the most foreign: wireframe surfaces instead of color, ripples of information spreading from source to receiver. In Hawkeye #11, artists Matt Hollingsworth and David Aja gives us our first close look at one of this title’s new heroes, along with his fascinatingly alien way of experiencing his surroundings. Lucky, the Pizza Dog, is pretty out of this world. Continue reading →