Category New 52

Jan 29 2013

Sword of Sorcery 4


Today, Taylor and Nate are discussing Sword of Sorcery 4, originally released January 23rd, 2012.

Taylor: Corporations have had it hard lately — at least as far as PR goes. With the rise of the Occupy Movement, people became more sensitive and informed when it comes to the doings of some of the mega-businesses that manage our economic future. Never before in history have these companies been scrutinized with such skepticism on their ability to create a fair and profitable world. The CEOs and chairmen who run these cash cows similarly have a problem when it comes to how they are perceived. When most people envision a CEO they picture a greedy W.A.S.P. sitting atop his sky scraper, caring only about the bottom line. Whether warranted or not, powerful businessmen have been demonized by the public at large and in all likelihood will continue to be as long as they exist. But what if those who run these companies were actually actively involved with the very demons we make them out to be? Sword of Sorcery 4 explores this question and since demons are involved you know an appearance by John Constantine is required.

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Jan 28 2013

Supergirl 16

Alternating Currents: Supergirl 16, Drew and MogoToday, Drew and guest writer Mogo are discussing Supergirl 16, originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Drew: Supergirl really drew the short straw on this crossover event. She very quickly aligned herself with a villainous cipher whose motives and methods have yet to be fully explained, which makes her gullible at best, downright stupid at worst — traits we generally don’t associate with heroic figures. We could excuse some of this based on her desire to return to Krypton, but each moment she spends with H’el without asking for just a little more information strains credulity that much further. Supergirl 16 does well, then, to give Kara time away from H’el, reasserting that this character — and this series — might just have some agency after all. Continue reading →

Jan 28 2013

Wonder Woman 16

wonder woman 16

Today, Shelby and guest writer James D’Amato are discussing Wonder Woman 16, originally released January 23rd, 2012.

Shelby: Gods, gods everywhere. Brian Azzarello does not take a “less is more” approach when it comes to the pantheon; we’ve got old gods, older gods, demigods, new gods, and non-gods. Not to mention ice giants and cyborg women. If it all sounds a little confusing, well, it is; Azzarello is juggling a lot of chainsaws with Wonder Woman. On top of it all, we’ve still got the $64,000 question that everyone seems to have forgotten about: where is Zeus?
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Jan 28 2013

Green Lantern: New Guardians 16

new guardians 16-3rd

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing New Guardians 16, originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Shelby: It’s finally time for Kyle Rainer to learn to master the power of love. He’s saved it for last because it is the most difficult, but why is that? Surely rage or greed or even fear would be much harder to command and control. While the more negative end of the emotional spectrum is difficult to control, it is easy to feel. I know I feel ready to puke red-hot plasma just about every morning on the commuter train to work. The difficulty of love lies in the challenge of letting yourself experience love. It’s an emotion that be very painful to the person feeling it; sometimes it’s just easier to block it out entirely. Kyle learns the hard way: you can’t master an emotion you are afraid to let yourself feel.

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Jan 25 2013

Green Lantern 16

green lantern 16-3rd

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern 15, originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Patrick: At the beginning of this issue, Simon Baz takes a thorough tongue-lashing from (adorable) veteran Lantern B’dg. The little guy is all about the accusatory questions: “Who are you?” “Where’s your lantern?” and, my personal favorite:

b'dg thinks Baz is a bad green lantern

But Baz isn’t bad; he’s just new to the position. Everything from fighting bad guys to trusting his powers to meeting the Justice League is new to him. And in a medium so caught up in what is old — and especially caught up in the task of making old things new again — it’s interesting to see what such a fresh character is capable of.

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Jan 25 2013

Green Lantern Corps 16

green lantern corps 16-3rd

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Lantern Corps 16, originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Patrick: When they’re working properly, the Green Lantern Universe of comics is a breathless machine that pumps out fun, exciting narratives. But that’s it: the only speed these series know is HIGH. But when these stories abandon all pretense of depth or intelligence, they simply have to be fun. Otherwise, what’s the point? Oh, let me go back, that’s how I want to start this review: “What’s the point?”

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Jan 24 2013

Batwoman 16

Today, Drew and Jack are discussing Batwoman 16, originally released January 23rd, 2013.

Drew: The notion that myths gain their power from our belief in them has been a primary focus of Batwoman in the New 52. It’s a theme that has come up explicitly in the text — as Maro conjures the myths that haunt our dreams, and as Kate seeks out the myths that inspire us to greatness — as well as implicitly in our analyses. Indeed, we’ve made the case that comics are modern mythology so often, I’d forgotten what “myth” might mean besides “story.” It’s parsing that very detail that makes Batwoman 16 such a pleasure to read, as J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman remind us of the pleasures of form afforded to modern storytelling. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2013

Nightwing 16

nightwing 16 DoF

Today, Mikyzptlk and Scott are discussing Nightwing 16 originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Mikyzptlk: “BOOOM” “KAKOOOM” “BOOOOOM” That is the “sound” of the Joker blowing up this series to smithereens. I’m sorry, have I gotten ahead of myself? Let me explain. A good fictional narrative will take one or more characters from point A, to B, and eventually to, you guessed it, point C. If we, the audience, are lucky, we’ll get a few good themes tossed in along the way as we watch our characters grow and progress throughout the story. A big theme behind Nightwing of late, has been “you can never go home again.” In Dick Grayson’s case, “home” was Haly’s Circus, and his recent life has been consumed with rebuilding it. It’s too bad then, that in the course of two issues, The Joker has not only destroyed Haly’s Circus, but made the series practically pointless and completely lacking of any payoff.

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Jan 23 2013

Batman and Robin 16

batman and robin 16 DoF

Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Batman and Robin 16, originally released January 16th, 2013. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Michael: A series is generally more gratifying when it subverts expectations without betraying our understanding of the characters. In a New 52 series like Batman and Robin, this balance is difficult to achieve; readers demand a basic level of fidelity to beloved genre tropes and character traits, but expect narratives that stand up to the scrutiny of a savvy, cliche-fatigued audience. This issue doesn’t drop any groundbreaking twists, but it works deftly within a familiar framework

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Jan 22 2013

Superboy 16

superboy 16 HelToday, Patrick and Drew are discussing Superboy 16, originally released January 16th, 2013. This issue is part of the H’el on Earth crossover event. Click here for complete H’el on Earth coverage.

Patrick: Drew had to fight pretty hard to find some meaning in last month’s issue of Superboy. I’m not saying his assertions are wrong, but they certainly meet Tom DeFalco more than half-way. Shelby was not so kind. This issue, by comparison, brings some strong characterization of Superboy, non-stop action and an interesting theme (with clever call-backs). This issue isn’t going to start any Superboy-revolution, but it is a tonally consistent, exciting story. Maybe I’m setting the Superbar pretty low at this point…

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