Today, Shelby and Taylor are discussing A + X 10, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Shelby: I don’t expect a lot when I read A + X. I figure stupid fun at best, and just stupid at worst. Usually I’m dead on the money, but sometimes these stories give me a little more than I expect. It doesn’t happen every time, and it almost never happens twice in one issue, but I’m always pleasantly surprised when it does.
Today, Mikyzptlk and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern: New Guardians 22, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Mikyzptlk: As you know, all of the GL books have recently begun new directions with new creators. Kyle Rayner’s new direction involves babysitting the “New Guardians” and he’s recently run into some trouble. Sure, there’s Relic, but while I’m enjoying much of this book, the real trouble that Kyle has run into is that his book has been hijacked (again) by the main events of another book. Continue reading
Today, Patrick and Ethan are discussing FF 9, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Patrick: We recently decided to ax our coverage of the FF‘s sister series, Fantastic Four. Partially, we did this because Reed Richards is an insufferable asshole, but the series also suffered from its own apparent non-importance. The idea of the Fantastic Four’s totally episodic adventures through time and space sounded like an awful lot of fun, but they started to feel trivial pretty quickly. When you account for the Magic School Bus level of coincidence involved in some of their stories (“hey look kids, it’s Julius Cesar!”), it became clear that the story wasn’t for us. Or was it? FF’s stories have been pretty insubstantial too, but there’s something about the cast and the sense of humor we just liked more. With this issue, Fraction reveals that none of his stories have been irrelevant, and all of these threads are woven together into a single tapestry, telling personal, interested and interesting stories about the people touched by the Fantastic Four. Plus: POOL PARTY!
Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing 100 Bullets: Brother Lono 2, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Drew: What is it that defines us? Is it our thoughts or our actions? Can moral men have immoral thoughts? This is the stuff of middle-school philosophy debates, but it becomes a bit more practical when we talk about self-improvement. What does it mean to change? Is it our thoughts or our actions that change? Is the past we’re coming from a set of actions, or something more fundamental to our being? When I interviewed Brian Azzarello last month, he said that Brother Lono is “the story of a man trying to not be himself,” and issue 2 begins exploring exactly what that might mean. Continue reading
Today, Spencer and Mikyzptlk are discussing Batman and Catwoman 22, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Spencer: I’m probably in the minority among the Retcon Punch writers, but I’m actually a huge fan of Catwoman. When written properly she’s an unpredictable, fun character, but I’m particularly fond of her team-ups with Batman. Catwoman’s been a lot of things to Batman in the past: a villain, a temptation, an ally, and even a love interest, and each version brings out a new aspect of Batman’s personality. When you throw these two characters together you can never be quite sure how they’ll react, and their team-up in Batman and Catwoman 22 doesn’t disappoint; Selina even manages to make Batman smile.
Today, Ethan and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 13, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Ethan: Back in issue #7 of Deadpool, the writers and artists took us on a timewarp with a faux, never-before-printed “inventory special”. The issue was allegedly produced in the late 70s/early 80s giving the team an excuse to indulge in 10 times the saturation of pop culture references in the already saturated title. It was an entertaining issue in its own right and a nice break after the Zombie Presidents arc. Now that Vetis is taken care of, writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn and artists Scott Koblish and Val Staples are back to their tricks with another trip back to the era of disco. And if you think the bell bottoms and dated catch-phrases were flying thick and fast last time, you might want to sit down and hold onto something before you open #13. The hair is longer, the polyester is louder, and the racism is, if far from accurately depicted, at least touched on.
Today, Patrick and Taylor are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries Villains 4: Alopex originally released July 17th, 2013.
Patrick: You know what’s a weird feeling? Being really stressed out by work or relationships or whatever and then seeing an animal in the wild. The animal may need to fight for its very survival, but the expectations placed on the animal are clear: survive, hunt, gather, frolic, be free. Your life, on the other hand, is full of weird tests of abstract concepts: intelligence, loyalty, honor, decency. In one of the more twisted tests of loyalty, Shredder offers Alopex a choice — which ends up not really being a choice at all — between her old life as a wild animal, and her new life as a member of the Foot Clan family. Alopex makes it look like an easy choice, but only outwardly; readers get a more complete, and much sadder, tale. Continue reading
Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing Red Sonja 1, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Shelby: I love fantasy novels. I’m about half-way through re-reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series in preparation for the final book, and I’m loving every minute of it. Jordan had some interesting ideas about men and women, most of them boiling down to the fact that men and women are actually just all people, and very similar in many ways. It seems like a pretty straight-forward idea, but it’s pretty unique for a genre that may have a worse reputation than comics for its depictions of women. So a fantasy comic book with a female lead known for the least beach-appropriate swimwear in the history of bathing suits seems a risky venture in this day and age, one more likely to appear as the worst kind of dated than anything else. Luckily for us all, Red Sonja is in the ridiculously talented hands of Gail Simone, so we’ve got nothing to worry about.
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Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Justice League of America 6 originally released July 17th, 2013. This issue is part of the Trinity War crossover event. Click here for our complete Trinity War coverage.
Patrick: Did any of you guys ever play Warhammer? If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a table top war game where you assemble an army from your race of choice and battle against your friends’ armies. It’s the least pick-up-and-play game you could ever imagine – understanding the basic rules means reading a 100+ page manual, and keeping a cheat sheet with charts and tables with you at all times. And then there’s understanding your own army, for which you need yet other book completely dedicated to that race. Then you need the little metal figures to represent the members of your army (sold separately), and if you’re really hardcore you can paint them. Then you need a surface large enough to play on – one time my friends and I took a door off its hinges and used that when we were denied the dining room table. Ideally, this surface will be populated with trees and terrain and stuff like that. Setting up the Trinity War has felt an awful lot like setting up a Warhammer game. Everyone’s been reading extra books they don’t really want to read just so they can play in the big game. Now the event is actually here and I can’t believe I’m surprised that all the characters feel like pieces in a game. Continue reading
Today, Taylor and Scott are discussing Wonder Woman 22, originally released July 17th, 2013.
Taylor: Brian Azzarello certainly has a way of making us do a double take while reading Wonder Woman. The man has a talent for bending his plots in unlikely directions while also making us second guess everyone’s motivations with almost every new issue. It’s likely that when Wonder Woman was rebooted, some were similarly thrown for a loop when Azzarello depicted the gods as being petty, mean, and downright hostile to just about everyone but themselves. While anyone who has ever read a Greek myth recognizes the dickish mentality of the Greek pantheon, it seems likely that others might have been surprised. The popular conception of heaven and god(s) in today’s culture takes a much more touchy-feely approach with our deities. Instead of being something to be feared, we like to think of deities as being righteous, compassionate, and selfless. Azzarello seems to understand how these two forces are at odds and in issue 22 of Wonder Woman he asks us to compare the Greek gods with their New God alternates. The question is, are they the same or are they different?
Retcon Punch 
