Category New 52

Jun 6 2013

Green Lantern 21

Alternating Currents: Green Lantern 21, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Green Lantern 21, originally released June 5th, 2013.

Drew: When M*A*S*H ended its 11-season run in 1983, it was one of the most beloved series on television. Its series finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” a movie-length victory lap, was more widely watched than that year’s Super Bowl — or any Super Bowl before or for twenty-seven years afterwards. Like I said, beloved. We don’t yet have sales numbers on Green Lantern 20, and while I doubt it will post Super Bowl-beating numbers (even by comic book standards), the similarities are striking: it was an extra-large conclusion to a beloved, nearly decade-long run. Point is, it was going to be a tough act to follow, yet Robert Venditti (who readers might recognize from his work on Valiant’s X-O Manowar) handles the transition with surprising grace, staying true to the spirit of Green Lantern while adding something unexpected to the mix: the spirit of the New 52. Continue reading →

Jun 5 2013

Aquaman 20

aquaman 20

Today, Shelby and Mikyzptlk are discussing Aquaman 20, originally released May 29th, 2013.

Shelby: An interlude is a mini bit of music, inserted in the middle of a larger musical composition. Like an intermission, except you don’t get to go to the lobby to stretch your legs and stand in the bathroom line for 15 minutes. If we’re talking a theatrical interlude, it’s a little play squished between acts of a bigger play; why we wouldn’t just keep watching the regular play, I couldn’t tell you. I may not see the necessity of an interlude as a member of the audience, but sometimes the entertainers just need a 15 minute breather, and I guess providing some sort of filler entertainment is considerate. But if you’re going to stop the action for something completely different that isn’t especially good, don’t be surprised if I walk out before the second act.
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Jun 4 2013

Justice League Dark 20

Alternating Currents: Justice League Dark 20, Drew and Taylor

Today, Drew and Taylor are discussing Justice League Dark 20, originally released May 29th, 2013. 

Drew: Comic books love team-ups, to the point that we rarely question their utility. Whether it’s random circumstance or a specific goal that brings the team together, once the team is formed, we kind of take it for granted that they will stick together. Who cares if Ocean’s 12 requires a ballistics expert (or whatever it is that Brad Pitt’s character does)? The team is the team — don’t question it. Unless, of course, you’re Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes, who devote Justice League Dark 20 to examining the utility of each team-up, from the random cameos to the team’s core members. The result is a fresh, surprisingly compelling argument for the team’s existence. Continue reading →

Jun 4 2013

Justice League of America 4

JLA 4

Today, Spencer and Shelby are discussing Justice League of America 4, originally released May 29th, 2013.

Spencer: I’ll be honest: from the very start, Justice League of America has seemed more concerned with putting pieces in place for the upcoming “Trinity War” than it has with telling a compelling story. Unfortunately, for a story so focused on getting its players from Point A to Point B, the way writer Geoff Johns does so strains credibility. He makes several attempts to keep this issue engaging, but its biggest failing is simply that the heroes come across as really, really dumb.

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Jun 3 2013

Talon 7-8

talon 7-8

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Talon 7-8, originally released April 24th and May 22nd, 2013. 

Shelby: We need to remember that the Talons are bad guys. I know, we’ve got Calvin here fighting the good fight against the Court, and we’ve got Mary working with the rest of the Birds; that makes it easy to forget that we first met the Talons as a sweeping wave of indestructible killing machines, hellbent on assassinating whomever they were pointed at. This title started out with Calvin’s unique position of being a Talon on the lam, a man with all the training needed, but unable to go through with the final process that would truly transform him into the Talon he was meant to be. In issues 7 and 8, all that is going to change; hold on to your butts, because things are getting complicated. 
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Jun 3 2013

All-Star Western 20

all-star western 20

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing All-Star Western 20, originally released May 22nd, 2013.

Patrick: If you go back and watch old Flintstones cartoons, you realize that there’s not much to them beyond their prehistoric trappings. The setting is to unique and weird that it totally trumps character or story or even the jokes. The same can be said of the Jetsons — neither of these shows had characters or relationships that would hold any water  if they were to be set in a modern day context. So the 1987 animated feature The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones was little more than the characters pointing out how strange the lives of their counterparts were… that and a convoluted time travel plot. The raw charisma of Jonah Hex and Booster Gold save All-Star Western 20 from a similar fate, but not by much. Continue reading →

May 30 2013

Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual 1

red hood annual

Today, Mikyzptlk and Patrick are discussing Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual 1, originally released May 29th, 2013. 

Mikyzptlk: Our past is a part of who we are. Often enough, it can be something that defines us if we let it. Now, that can either be a good or a bad thing depending on who you are. The last few issues of Red Hood and the Outlaws have focussed on Jason erasing his own past from his memories in an attempt to start fresh. Things haven’t gone as smoothly for Jason as he had hoped it seems as he is finding it harder to escape his past than he thought. Jason’s teammates are no strangers to a past they’d rather forget too, and this issue finds everyone looking back, when all they really want to do is look forward. The Annual is definitely another step in the right direction, even if I do have a bone or two to pick. Continue reading →

May 29 2013

Justice League 20

justice league 20 trinity

Today, Scott and Shelby are discussing Justice League 20, originally released May 22, 2013. This issue is part of the Trinity War crossover event. Click here for our complete Trinity War coverage.

trinity war div

Scott: What is the greatest threat to the Justice League? For a group with the power to make neutralizing powerful villains and preventing catastrophic events seem routine, maybe they should be looking at one another as possible threats. It’s hard for the Justice Leaguers to believe that one of their friends could let power get to his or her head or, worse yet, actively be working against them, but that’s a reality they must face. Justice League 20 explores different types of threats to the Justice League, those present, pending, and merely theoretical.
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May 29 2013

Batman Incorporated 11

Alternating Currents: Batman Incorporated 11, Drew and Tyler

Today, Drew and guest writer Tyler are discussing Batman Incorporated 11, originally released May 22nd, 2013.

Drew: I love one-offs. I don’t know if it’s the satisfaction of a self-contained narrative, or just their relative rarity in modern comics, but I’m always excited to jump into a single-serving adventure. Unless, of course, it falls in the middle  of the closing arc of an Epic I’ve been reading for years. I don’t want to hold the placement of this issue against it — especially since it likely afforded the creative team time to craft an incredible close to this arc — so I’ll do my best to put my expectations aside, but it’s a strange uphill battle that very few issues in comicdom are subject to. Continue reading →

May 27 2013

The Green Team 1

green team 1

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing The Green Team 1, originally released May 22nd, 2013.

Patrick: Ethan and I both live in LA, but since I live in Hollywood and he lives in Culver City, we don’t make the cross-city trek very often to see each other. To compensate for this totally-surmountable distance between us, we’ll send texts to each other that basically mirror the kind of nonsense conversations he and I will have in the comment sections of our articles. He sent me this link last Friday to a great Wondermark comic about Batman. (Totally worth the click, FYI.) Basically, the strip pokes fun at Bruce Wayne’s application of his vast fortune to fight crime through superheroics, and not through research and philanthropy and politics and charity. It’s not a totally fair assessment of how Bruce spends his money — he does invest a lot of money into Gotham infrastructure — but the point is crystal clear: aren’t there better uses of fortunes than outfitting a Batman? Art Baltazar and Franco’s The Green Team looks like it’s going to address this question head on, but then veers into dully familiar superhero territory.
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