Tag Archives: Batman

Oct 18 2012

Justice League 13

Alternating Currents: Justice League 13, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Justice League 12, originally released October 17th, 2012.

Drew: We’ve talked a lot about the five year rule here at Retcon Punch, and while we certainly have our gripes with how it affects continuity, I think we all understand why they did it. Giving every character some past allows them to maintain certain aspects of their pre-relaunch history, but does so without committing to anything specific. This gives writers a great deal of flexibility, without shutting the door for any future writes. Having a mysterious past also allows writers to pull out unknown details to add emotional weight to the proceedings. Doing this runs the risk of coming off as clumsy or cheap, but in Justice League 13, Geoff Johns provides an excellent case study in how to pull it off. Continue reading →

Oct 15 2012

Batman and Robin 13

Today, Drew and Shelby are discussing Batman and Robin 12, originally released October 10th 2012.

Drew: Peter Tomasi has a pretty thankless job. Titles like Batman and Robin and Green Lantern Corps often take a back seat to their flagship counterparts — both in popularity, and narrative. Those kind of supporting titles are often bound to crossover events, requiring their writers to absorb, implement, and embrace plot developments they didn’t come up with themselves, and which may be disruptive to their own plans. In the collaborative, editor-driven world of comics, following such dicta is par for the course, but Tomasi has found himself particularly bound by crossovers, as Death of the Family kicks off the third he’s been involved in since the relaunch. It’s a testament to Tomasi’s skill, then, that he’s able to incorporate details of Death of the Family so elegantly into this issue, while still finding the emotional through-line that has made is work on Batman and Robin so enjoyable. Continue reading →

Oct 9 2012

Detective Comics 13

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Detective Comics 13, originally released October 3rd, 2012.

Scott: My former boss created a “Law and Order” cheat-sheet, a minute by minute breakdown of every plot point, twist and reveal that occurs over the course of an episode. Each episode follows this same format, almost down to the second. Even more impressive though, is that the show still manages to captivate, and even surprise the audience. Even though the format is totally predictable, they withhold just enough information that we still feel like we’re solving the crime along with the detectives, and revelations that we might have known were coming are completely satisfying. Withholding that information is key, and it’s also where Detective Comics 13 falters; what could have been an interesting mystery ultimately lacks intrigue because it gives away too much at the start.
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Oct 2 2012

Teen Titans 0

Today, Shelby and (guest writer) Zach Kastner are discussing Teen Titans 0, originally released September 27th, 2012. Teen Titans 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Shelby: We’ve all done dumb things to try to impress someone. Whether it’s a boss, friend, or member of whatever sex you prefer, everyone has at one point thrown common sense out the window and acted like an ass to earn their favor. Usually, though, the average cry for attention doesn’t involve stealing millions of dollars from a mob boss psychopath to simultaneously make your parents proud and to get a masked vigilante to take notice. Tim Drake is obviously far from average.

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Sep 27 2012

Batman Incorporated 0

Alternating Currents: Batman, Inc 0, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman Incorporated 0, originally released September 26th, 2012. Batman Incorporated 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: Up until the relaunch of Batman Incorporated, I had read the entirety of Grant Morrison’s Batman Epic in trades. At the time, I lacked the resources of a comprehensive guide to the entire run, so I didn’t exactly read the whole thing in order. I’d start in the middle and work my way in either direction; I’d hop to another trade and need to close the gap between the two. That non-intuitive reading order only exacerbated Morrison’s famous obliqueness, leading to some incredibly disorienting reading experiences. Since then, I’ve re-read everything in proper order, allowing me to understand the current run with surprising ease. I was happy to be conversant in what Morrison was doing, but a little part of me missed that sense of suspended animation, waiting for things to click into place. I was a little happy, then, to find a few fleeting moments of that confusion in this issue, though I suspect not everyone will be.

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Sep 24 2012

Red Hood and the Outlaws 0

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Red Hood and the Outlaws 0, originally released September 19, 2012. Red Hood and the Outlaws 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: Back when we started reading this title, Patrick and I couldn’t believe how much we liked it. We were wary of this title, famous for it’s leering depiction of Starfire, but Scott Lobdell’s charming characters and Kenneth Rocafort’s distinctive art won us over. The title was a blast, and we couldn’t understand all the ire that was directed at Lobdell — he seemed like a great writer to us. Our love affair started to wane a bit as Rocafort left, and branching out into Lobdell’s other titles left us unimpressed, leading us to question Lobdell’s prowess as a writer (perhaps unfairly). Is Lobdell the clever writer we thought, or the hack so many were making him out to be? In Red Hood and the Outlaws 0, Lobdell seems to address that question head-on, counting on our writing him off as pedestrian in order to better shock us with a earth-shifting twist in the epilogue. Continue reading →

Sep 20 2012

Nightwing 0

Alternating Currents: Nightwing 0, Drew and ShelbyToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Nightwing 0, originally released September 19, 2012. Nightwing 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: The past is complicated. Or rather, our relationship with the past is complicated. Time has a way of changing our opinions of events, placing even our emotional attachment to our own memories in flux. That shifting relationship to the past is made exponentially more complicated in the comics world, where the actual events of the past are open to revisions, reboots, and retellings every few years or so. While those changes are often jarring for the characters, they’re particularly difficult for the audience, who may be attached to previous iterations of the story (not to mention the fact that they may be particularly anal about continuity). Like I said; shit’s complicated. It’s impressive, then, that Nightwing 0 isn’t just a successful retelling of Dick’s origin, but a compelling essay on the value of such retellings. Continue reading →

Sep 18 2012

Batgirl 0

Alternating Currents: Batgirl 0, Drew and HesperToday, Drew and (special guest writer) Hesper Juhnke are discussing Batgirl 0, originally released September 12, 2012. Batgirl 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: Batgirl is pretty unique among the New 52. Where most titles opted to return to an earlier time the the characters’ history or just plow ahead like the reboot never happened, Batgirl 1 found Babs in a very different position than when we last saw her, throwing a big question mark over her past in the DCnU. It quickly became clear that at least some of what we know is true, but writer Gail Simone cleverly left just enough out to make her past a tantalizing mystery she could tease out as the series progressed. The thought of a zero issue was bittersweet, then, as my desire to know more about Barbara’s past came into direct conflict with my desire to see these answers slowly revealed in the series proper. Simone cleverly side-steps this issue by avoiding those question marks altogether, effectively broadening the mystery by introducing new unknowns.

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Sep 14 2012

Batman and Robin 0

Alternating Currents: Batman and Robin 0, Shelby and Peter

Today, Shelby and Peter are discussing Batman and Robin 0, originally released September 12, 2012. Batman and Robin 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Shelby: Damian Wayne is a new character for me, and I don’t like him. I’d call him a brat, but he would probably kill me; he’s cold, ruthless, and not even a teenager yet. He’s like no character I’ve encountered before. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason on this my third Batman zero feature. What I didn’t expect was … no Batman ’til the last page. It worked out better than I thought it would; Tomasi gave me a chance to get to know Damian a little more, and after seeing what kind of childhood he’s coming from, I’m impressed he hasn’t just killed everyone else in this title simply because he can.

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Sep 12 2012

Worlds’ Finest 0

Alternating Currents: Worlds' Finest 0, Peter and Drew

Today, Peter and Drew are discussing Worlds’ Finest 0, originally released September 5, 2012. Worlds’ Finest 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Peter: There is something to be said for the best-friend formula for dramas. You see it all the time with things like buddy-cop dramas and best-friend roommates. However, there are some basic formulaic elements that must be present for it to work well. Up to this point, Worlds’ Finest has been lacking. Trust me, I know. Hell, we all know. We constantly talk about what could make this book better, and what it’s specific issues are. No matter how long that list is, it must start with the basic components of friendship and duality.

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