Category Marvel

Mar 28 2017

Captain America: Steve Rogers 14

Today, Ryan and Patrick are discussing Captain America: Steve Rogers 14, originally released March 22th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan: Sometimes, if a character is too interesting or too dynamic, they can take over a narrative. I call it the Dawson’s Creek conundrum, since that was a show that was hypothetically built around (and named after) the least engaging character.  It’s not always a problem. It can be fun to have a character enter the story, take over for a bit and then step out, as long as the story knows that it’s happening. In Captain America: Steve Rogers 14, writer Nick Spencer and artist Jesus Saiz have a character taking over, but don’t cede the entire book to her. Continue reading →

Mar 27 2017

Iron Fist 1

Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing Iron Fist 1, originally released March 22, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

“Chose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Confucius

Patrick: I’ve always been fascinated by this idea that one can recognize their own state of perfect happiness and fulfillment when they encounter it. How can you follow this ancient wisdom, and chose a job you love, if you can’t identify “a job you love”? After all, we engage in all kinds of activities in our day-to-day lives that may bring fleeting happinesses or that may dull the pain of the mundane world, but that’s a far cry from something we love. Iron Fist 1 opens on a Danny Rand who is very much mistaking one for the other, trying to find oneness in fights with petty criminals. That should fit the bill, right? Nah — Danny doesn’t love fighting, he loves the fight. Continue reading →

Mar 24 2017

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 3/22/17

We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Black Panther 12, Hulk 4, Invincible Iron Man 5, Ultimates 2 5 and Uncanny Inhumans 20. Also, we discussed Unworthy Thor 5 on Thursday, and will be discussing Iron Fist 1 on Monday and Captain America Steve Rogers 14 on Tuesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

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Mar 23 2017

The Unworthy Thor 5

Today, Taylor and Spencer are discussing The Unworthy Thor 5, originally released March 22nd, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Taylor: Over two years ago the Odinson lost his most powerful asset and was deemed unworthy to wield Mjolnir. The circumstances that made the Odinson shamed in the eyes of his hammer were shrouded in mystery. The only thing readers knew was that, as he lay dying on the moon, Nick Fury whispered something into Thor’s ear which changed everything. What those words were have been debated across the fandom but now the patience of Thor fans has been rewarded. In the fifth issue of the Unworthy Thor, we learn what makes the Odinson undeserving of the universe’s most powerful mallet, but is the reason given worthy or unworthy in the eyes of the reader? Continue reading →

Mar 22 2017

Deadpool the Duck 5

Today, Patrick and Michael are discussing Deadpool the Duck 5, originally released March 15, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

“Batman’s superpower is that he always wins.”

-Comic Professional, Traditional

Patrick: At this point, it might be difficult to trace this sentiment back to a singular source. So many creators and fans and critics have cited this as one of the defining characteristics of Batman. Whether by preparedness or wealth or training or his friends or sheer luck, Batman always wins. Leave it to Howard the Duck to present the antithesis of kind of magical thinking. Howard may, in fact, be the cynical scribe’s Batman, and his cheeky superpower is that he always loses. As Howard the Duck 5 clearly illustrates, nothing can stand in his way — not even victory. He’s always destined to lose. Continue reading →

Mar 20 2017

Weekly Round-Up: Comics Released 3/15/17

Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, we discuss Star Wars: Poe Dameron 12, East of West 32, Kill or Be Killed 7, and Sex Criminals 17. Also, we discussed Archie 18 on Monday, and we’ll be discussing American Gods: Shadows 1 on Tuesday, and Injection 11 on Wednesday so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS. Continue reading →

Mar 16 2017

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 3/15/17

We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Captain America Sam Wilson 20, Daredevil 18, Mighty Thor 17, Ms. Marvel and Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat 16. Also, we’re discussing Amazing Spider-Man 25 today and we’ll be discussing Deadpool The Duck 5 on Wednesday, so come back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

slim-banner4 Continue reading →

Mar 16 2017

The Amazing Spider-Man 25

Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Amazing Spider-Man 25, originally released March 15th, 2017. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

Spencer: As Aunt May herself points out this week, Peter Parker’s always been a busy guy. Add running a major international company to his already impressive pile of responsibilities and it’s almost guaranteed that something will start to give. The massive Amazing Spider-Man 25 digs into that dilemma from all angles, reminding readers of every task Peter’s got on his plate and what’s at risk if he fails at any one of them. It’s an almost overwhelming issue, a trait that effectively puts readers in Peter’s overstressed shoes. Continue reading →

Mar 15 2017

Silver Surfer 9

Alternating Currents: Silver Surfer 9, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Silver Surfer 9, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Drew: In this day and age, episodic storytelling isn’t particularly well-respected — particularly when the episodes might follow some kind of prescribed formula — but I think there’s a lot more value in formula than we tend to give credit. For one, long-gestating stories or deep character growth might not be the point of every story; sometimes you just want to see what new shenanigans Lucille Ball gets up to this week. But I think the bigger virtue of those episodic formulas is that they reflect the cycles in our everyday lives. Sure, audiences may not arrest a new criminal or annoy their spouse or teach an important life lesson to their kids every week, but the patterns are familiar enough (and cyclical enough) to reflect their lived experiences. I don’t mean to suggest that serialized stories can’t achieve this (honestly, I can’t think of a single example that doesn’t sit somewhere in between the abstract extremes of “episodic” and “serialized”), just that there are virtues to episodic storytelling that are often overlooked. Case in point: the formula of Silver Surfer 9 is undoubtedly familiar to longtime readers of this series, but with the formula as charming as it is, it’s hard to see that as a downside. Continue reading →

Mar 14 2017

Man-Thing 1

Today, Ryan M. and Ryan D. are discussing Man-Thing 1, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Ryan M: I read a lot of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books. At age 10, they struck the perfect balance between the somewhat goofy Goosebumps series and Christopher Pike’s darker take on teen horror. Horror is a genre that needs to offer an entry point that you can latch on to. In Fear Street books, the protagonist may not be perfect (I’m looking at you, cheating hero of The Boyfriend) but you are with them every step of the way as their world gets more and more terrifying. In Man Thing 1, Stine and artist German Peralta present their take on a man turned monster, but leave a hole in the center where a protagonist should be.

Continue reading →