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, Drew and Patrick discuss The New 52: Futures End 2, Avengers 29, and All-New X-Men 27.

Drew: With DC doubling- (even tripling-) down on weekly series, a lot of ink has been spilled on the benefits of a weekly format. While I certainly think the opportunity to sell four times as many comics is part of the equation, I’m more interested in the narrative benefits. Do you choose a monthly format to allow for more propulsive cliffhangers? To facilitate more nuanced decompression? To broaden the scope of the series? The New 52: Futures End favored this latter option right off the bat (much to the detriment of issues 0-1), but issue 2 begins to make good on that promise in earnest, placing its characters in the context of a larger superhero universe.

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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, Drew and Patrick discuss Batman and Wonder Woman 30, Uncanny X-Men 20, and Ultimate FF 1.

Drew: What is it that attracts you to superhero comics? Is it the incredible feats? The straightforward emotions writ large? Is it the insane, mind-bending concepts? Is it the complex mythology built collaboratively over decades of a shared universe? Obviously, different fans are drawn to different elements of the genre, but anyone looking for an issue that delivers on all counts might be happy with Batman and Wonder Woman 30. Continue reading →

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, Patrick, Shelby and Drew discuss All-New Ultimates 1, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 11, All-New Ghost Rider 2, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1, Shutter 1, Green Lantern Corps 30, and Astro City 11.

Patrick: We start our round-up in that most peculiar corner of the Marvel Universe, the Ultimate corner. All-New Ultimates 1 introduces the titular team — now comprised of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Cloak and Dagger and Bombshell — as they try to reclaim their claim in a post-Cataclysm New York City. Without S.H.I.E.L.D. to support them, or anyone with any managerial experience, it looks like the series is positioned to explore the way groups of teenagers function without central leadership. And while that’s sorta interesting, so much of it happens in costume, the only exception to that is a single scene between Jessica and Kitty Pryde (on whose couch Jessica is crashing). Continue reading →

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, Drew and Patrick discuss Pretty Deadly 5, Private Eye 6, Red Sonja 8, Red Sonja and Cub Magneto 2, Black Widow 5, and Swamp Thing 30.

Drew: We like thinking about comics on this site — it’s literally the only reason it exists — which often predisposes us to patience. We’re willing to put the time in to unpack a dense work of art or give creators the benefit of the doubt that this will all pay off because we know how rewarding those experiences can be. That patience means we may be willing to wait a little longer for answers — heck, it may mean we actually like waiting for answers — but there’s a point of diminishing returns on ambiguity. Indeed, the bliss of ignorance can obscure the conflict necessary to drive a narrative. Or, put another way: is it possible to appreciate a solution if we never understood the problem? Continue reading →

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, Drew and Patrick discuss Tomb Raider 2, Aquaman 30, Red Lanterns 30, All-Star Western 30, Fables 139, Manhattan Projects 19, George Romero’s Empire of the Dead Act One 3, Superior Spider-Man 30, and Indestructible Hulk 20.

Patrick: It can be sorta tricky to take the story of any modern adventure game seriously. Like, we can all cheer for Nathan Drake and have a hell of a good time watching him trade barbs with Sully and running through the jungle with Elena, but we have to keep some emotional distance as he straight-up murders dudes for treasure. That’s one of the defining flaws of the Tomb Raider narrative: Lara Croft agonizes over her first kill, but her second, third and fourth kills all come minutes later and they’re instantly common place. In issue two of the comic series, Gail Simone tries to retcon the end of the game as something of a murderous fever dream, revealing that Lara encouraged her surviving teammates to take treasure from the Solarii. It’s sorta fucked up, but then Lara’s murderama doesn’t feel right in the game either — I’m interested to see where this is headed and if Simone’s retcon sticks, or if some manipulative forces are continuing to prey on her naiveté.

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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, Drew and Patrick discuss Batman: Li’l Gotham 12, Batwoman 29, Secret Avengers 1, Green Lantern Corps 29, Manifest Destiny 5, and Daredevil: Road Warrior Infinite Comic 3.

Drew: In the face of increasingly daunting comic canons, I’ve become a pretty big proponent of “fanon” — a personal canon each reader cultivates to suit their own tastes. I hate to suggest that continuity and quality are mutually exclusive, but it’s hard to argue with the allure of Batman: Li’l Gotham, which has found the heart of the Batman universe without sweating the details. Then again, this week’s final collection reveals just how precise those details are. Effectively taking place in what the Timmverse would be if it had been created to reflect the pre-reboot continuity, writers Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen, treat their final installment as a retrospective on a universe that DC isn’t publishing anywhere else, revealing just how much potential it has. Also, every panel is somehow more adorable than the last. It’s more of the same, for sure, but when that same is this charming, I’ll gladly take all I can get (and hope for more down the line). Continue reading →

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, Drew and Patrick discuss Forever Evil: Arkham War 6, Green Arrow 29, Action Comics 29, Batman Superman Annual 1, Punisher 3, Nova 14, Uncanny X-Men 18, Starlight 1, Velvet 4, and Daredevil: Road Warrior Infinite Comic 2.

Patrick: The tagline for Alien Vs. Predator was “whoever wins, we lose.” It’s an oddly aware criticism of the film itself, but it’s meant to sound menacing — as though the only thing we liked about Alien and Predator movies was watching people die. As it comes to a close, it’s clear that Forever Evil: Arkham War suffered from this same problem. Even as Peter Tomasi attempts to ground Bane, by dressing him up as Batman, and tries to make monstrous the other side — Scarecrow et. al get doused with Venom — it’s still totally unclear who we’re supposed to root for. Who exactly the Talons are fighting for seems to switch on a dime, and the utter pointlessness of the whole conflict is underlined by the way Penguin is able to swoop in at the last second to gently request that the fighting stop. The whole journey has been fueled by such stupid shit, and I think Tomasi might be making that point by having the brainier villains turn into hulking venom-beasts for the finale. It’s hard not to take the Penguin’s side when shows up, sarcastically clapping for all the senseless violence. You’re right, Oswald, let’s move on. Continue reading →

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, Drew and Patrick discuss Manhattan Projects 18, Deadpool 24, Batman/Superman 8, Tomb Raider 1, Fantastic Four 1, All-Star Western 28, Daredevil: Road Warrior Infinite Comic 1, and Guardians of the Galaxy 12. 

Drew: I love tvtropes.org. Its snarky tone is a great salve when you’re identifying lazy stereotypes or tired scenarios in whatever you’re reading (which I’ve been doing a bit recently), but I also respect it as a catalogue for those tropes. Without that site, I would have never put a name to The Worf Effect (when a villain is proven a physical threat by making short work of a known physical threat), which means I wouldn’t have been able to so specifically identify what is going on in Manhattan Projects 18. Feynman and Einsteins alien Frankenstein might not exactly fit the definition of a “known” threat, but by the end of the first page, there’s no real doubt what he might be capable of. That Westmooreland then takes him down (adding the creature’s ear to his necklace) cements the general as perhaps the biggest threat the Projects have faced. That Groves then forms a partnership with Westmoreland feels a bit like a deal with the devil, but is quickly trumped by Einstein’s partnership with Oppenheimer. Continue reading →