Aug 14 2013

Green Lantern 23

green lantern 23

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Lantern 23, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Patrick: I moved out to Los Angeles because I wanted to be a television writer. If you want to be a lumberjack, you move to the forest, right? I don’t have much in the way of family on the West Coast, and I knew that distance from those that I loved was just going to be part of this bargain I was striking. The idea of giving up family for my art was romantic — I could live an idealized life of creativity and yeah I’d suffer for it, but I’d be suffering for a reason. When my older sister had her second kid, however, I was on a plane to Atlanta: I wasn’t going to miss out on meeting my nephew. It’s love, and it’s a primal motivator. No matter how much you will it away, love can dictate your actions. It’s the sort of thing that will make Hal Jordan drop the fight that he’s right in the middle of to check on the girlfriend he swore off to defend the corps. Continue reading →

Aug 13 2013

The Movement 4

movement 4

Today, Scott and Drew are discussing The Movement 4, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Scott: Think about your favorite comic book hero. What do you know about their past? Whether it’s every little detail or just the basics, it’s almost impossible to separate that hero from the event (usually a tragedy (possibly the death of a parental figure?)) that set them on the path to become a hero. In The Movement 4, writer Gail Simone makes time to explore the important events in the lives of a few main characters, while also trying to advance the story she’s established over three issues, and the effect raises some questions. It’s certainly important, crucial even, to develop a character’s past, but when is the right time to do it? And how many characters can you look back at at once? Simone overshoots, but not terribly — she’s not biting off more than she can chew so much as taking too many bites too quickly. It’s a climactic issue for this young series, but presented in a way that isn’t as seamless as previous issues.

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Aug 13 2013

Green Arrow 23

Alternating Currents: Green Arrow 23, Drew and Mikyzptlk

Today, Drew and Mikyzptlk are discussing Green Arrow 23, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Drew:  Last month, Count Vertigo articulated exactly why he’s such a perfect match for Green Arrow — Ollie needs to aim, while Vertigo stymies perception of space and motion. Ollie’s life has been such a mess recently, it’s easy to forget that archery is inherently very ordered. Even the quickest shot requires some pre-planning, some careful thought. In this way, the relationship between Green Arrow and Count Vertigo is one between order and chaos, a theme writer Jeff Lemire blows up in issue 23, as just about everyone has their plans upended. Continue reading →

Aug 12 2013

The Superior Spider-Man 15

superior spider-man 15Today, Spencer and Ethan are discussing The Superior Spider-Man 15, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Spencer: A comic book needs more than just a good hero to work; it needs a supporting cast, it needs villains, it needs a world that feels alive and fleshed out. While super-hero comics exist in a shared universe, the best titles manage to carve a little niche out of that universe for themselves to thrive in, and there are few books on the shelf right now that do it better than The Superior Spider-Man. Otto takes a backseat in this month’s issue as Phil Urich—A.K.A. the Hobgoblin—moves into the spotlight, accompanied by a hoard of heroes and villains alike who want to see him taken down. It’s a blast.

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Aug 12 2013

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man 2

Today, Taylor and Shelby are discussing The Superior Foes of Spider-Man 2, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Taylor: Comics inherently are a silly thing. Now, before you haul off and yell at me about how comics are a legitimate art form, cool your Rocketeer jets and let it be known I agree with you. But just hear me out.  The fact that comics primarily deal with people in goofy costumes running around fighting crime can’t be ignored. That in and of itself is pretty damning evidence that comics are a little bit absurd. However, this is but one element of what goes into the makings of a comic book, and as with so many other things, comics are more than the sum of their parts. Still, reducing comics down to some of their most basic elements can have comedic results, just as reducing a basketball game to the idea of giant men throwing around a sphere for an hour or so makes it seem especially silly. While comedic gold can result from the acknowledgment of the pulpy origins of comic books, there remains the question of how lasting this humor can be. Can it go on for an entire series? The Superior Foes of Spider-man has you covered.

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Aug 9 2013

Dial H 15

dial h 15Today, Ethan and Taylor are discussing Dial H 15, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Ethan: The week leading up to graduation from college can be a manic blur. You try to squeeze in all those conversations you never made time for before, you cram for those final exams, you put the finishing touches on that thesis paper hours before it needs to be bound and turned in, you book that flight home. Maybe your four-or-so years on campus jaded you a bit – the ceremony’s just going to be a fancier version of its high school equivalent; I’m going to have to smile at everyone’s parents; this place has grabbed me and changed me and turned me into someone new, but… I’m ready to leave. And then the day comes. You hear your name, you walk the walk, you manage to remember to shake with the right and take with the left, and then you wade into the sea of chaos as everyone tries to make that last connection before you never see each other ever again. The prospect of leaving China Mieville’s run of Dial H elicits a lot of the same emotions for me. There were highs and lows, and to be honest, I thought I was ready to set it down and move on, but the final issue goes out with a “shhhkaBOOM” and I’m wishing we didn’t have to say good-bye.

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Aug 9 2013

Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger 11

phantom stranger 11 trinity

Today, Mikyzptlk and Shelby are discussing Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger 11, originally released August 7th, 2013. This issue is part of the Trinity War crossover event. Click here for our complete Trinity War coverage.

Mikyzptlk: When Patrick covered issue 10 of this title, he brought up the movie What Dreams May Come. Okay, I know it’s not everyone’s favorite, but you’ve got to admit that it has it’s moments. I’m a fan of the movie myself, especially early on when we are first introduced to the concept of Heaven and its inner workings. Essentially, when you die you create your own Heaven. We get a similar description of Heaven’s mechanics in Phantom Stranger 11, which gives us a chance to peek into some of our character’s innermost desires. What happens, though, when all that is left for your main character to desire flies in the face of a Heavenly decree? Nothing good, surprisingly enough.  Continue reading →

Aug 9 2013

Swamp Thing 23

swamp thing 23

Today, Patrick and Scott are discussing Swamp Thing 23, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Patrick: Alcohol is weird. It’s dulls our senses, it shortens our lives, it gets us into trouble – and yet we engage with it time and time (and time) again. Why? Because it’s fun. Because when we dial back our inhibitions a little bit, we find the casual courage to do something we’ve always wanted to do. All of that freedom is great, until you cross that line. YOU KNOW THE ONE I MEAN. The moment in the evening where you don’t make decisions with your complete mental faculty. I’ve always had people tell me that drinking brings out who someone really is, but that’s faulty. If anything, booze dulls the prowess of the super-ego, allowing the baser urges of ego and id to take priority. But the id isn’t a person’s “true self” – the psyche isn’t a list of three psychic apparatuses, but the relationship between the three. What you are can more accurately be defined by how you deny the more destructive urges deep in your Freudian well. That’s the kind of thematic material Charles Soule mines in his story about a magician, a plant-man and a booze-tree. Continue reading →

Aug 8 2013

Avengers 17

Alternating Currents: Avengers 17, Drew and Spencer

Today, Drew and Spencer are discussing Avengers 17, originally released August 7th, 2013. 

“Bigger?” Look, it’s not for one of the new guys to say, but — feeling kinda crowded around here already.

Cannonball

Drew: In our discussion of Avengers 16, I complained that the bloated story and cast was collapsing under its own weight — far from making me excited, the sheer scope of the story was preventing me from fully engaging with any subset of elements. It’s a feat that writer Jonathan Hickman can keep all of these plates spinning (and these are only half of the plates he’s writing in this event), but that triumph of multi-tasking unfortunately precludes any real emotional connections. That is to say, the story here is already too big, but as this issue concludes into Infinity proper, we pile on even more Avengers, and widen the scope even further. And there are still only, like, two showers. Continue reading →

Aug 8 2013

Trillium 1

trillium 1

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Trillium 1, originally released August 7th, 2013.

Shelby: I would read anything Jeff Lemire wrote for good reason. He made me love a C-list hero I had never heard of before, and rescued not one but TWO books, taking them from bad to two of my favorite titles. Underwater Welder made me cry on the train on my way to work, it’s so beautiful. It’s no surprise, then, that I have been eagerly awaiting Trillium since it was first announced last October. I couldn’t possibly imagine how a botanist from 1800 years in the future and a World War I vet in the 20’s could possibly encompass “the last love story ever told,” but since Lemire was at the helm I didn’t bother sweating the details; I just assumed it would work and be incredible. One issue in, and I am already pretty sure I was right to believe.

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