Tag Archives: Chris Bachalo

Aug 22 2018

Connection and Humanity in Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man 308

by Spencer Irwin

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man 308

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

It’s been fascinating watching Chip Zdarsky evolve as a writer. While I once thought of him primarily as a humorist, over the last few years it’s become apparent that his greatest strength is actually his ability to find the humanity in any character he touches, even villains. Throughout his run on Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Zdarsky’s turned that into a strength of Peter’s as well, having him “defeat” several of his opponents (J. Jonah Jameson, The Tinkerer) by connecting and empathizing with them, by appealing to their shared humanity. Issue 308 pulls off the same feat with a particularly tricky character to humanize: The Sandman. Continue reading →

Jun 21 2018

Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 1 Offers a Secret History for J. Jonah Jameson

by Drew Baumgartner

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 1

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

All fictional characters — especially in the compressed world of superhero comics — start as types. It’s only as we spend more time with them that they can be fleshed out into more fully-realized, nuanced characters. But, of course, being a type is often all a given character may need to be. And so, for decades, J. Jonah Jameson was little more than the irritable, muckraking editor of the Daily Bugle. That’s not a failure — it’s all he really needed to be to move the story forward, and he was still plenty entertaining. But as with any character that’s around for the better part of a century, those little glimpses we got of him started to add up, and creators started exploring who he was behind all of that bluster, giving us the JJJ we all know and love. He’s still that irritable muckraker, but we understand that there’s more too him. Indeed, there’s enough there that Jameson can anchor a story himself every now and then, as he does in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 1. Continue reading →

Jun 28 2016

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 6/22/16

marvel roundup36

We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Doctor Strange 9, Gwenpool 3, Ms. Marvel 8, Power Man and Iron Fist 5, Rocket Raccoon and Groot 6, and The Ultimates 8.

slim-banner4 Continue reading →

Jun 1 2016

Marvel Round-Up: Comics Released 5/25/16

marvel roundup32

We try to stay up on what’s going on at Marvel, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of Marvel Comics. Today, we’re discussing Daredevil 7, Deadpool 12, Doctor Strange 8, Hyperion 3, Mockingbird 3, Mighty Thor 7, Patsy Walker a.k.a. Hellcat 6, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 8, Uncanny Inhumans 9, Weirdworld 6.

slim-banner4 Continue reading →

May 3 2016

Doctor Strange 7/Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic 1

doctor strange roundupToday, Spencer and Taylor are discussing Doctor Strange 7 and Doctor Strange: Last Days of Magic 1, originally released April 27th, 2016.

dr strange div

Doctor Strange 7

Spencer: Science vs. magic, in one form or another, has been a debate since the beginning of time. Those fighting this battle defend their side vehemently, probably because the conflict taps into a number of elemental aspects of the human condition, such as the origin of life, the idea of a higher power, and perhaps most fundamentally, the balance between order and chaos. The thing most people lose sight of, though — especially the Imperator of the Empirikul, villain of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Doctor Strange 7 — is that it isn’t an either/or proposition. Science and magic can, and should, exist side-by-side. Continue reading →

Mar 14 2016

Doctor Strange 6

doctor strange 6

Today, Spencer and Drew are discussing Doctor Strange 6, originally released March 9th, 2016.

Spencer: I’ve never really been able to get into stories about magic. Part of that is just my upbringing — they were strictly forbidden in my household growing up — but I also have trouble getting invested in the stakes. So many characters who use magic are capable of doing anything, of solving any problem effortlessly, and so many stories about magic are obsessed with defining the rules of magic while never establishing why those rules are worth caring about in the first place. Thankfully, Doctor Strange has managed to avoid both of these problems, and issue 6 especially stands out in this regard. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo have crafted a story about the “End of Magic” that actually shows us why the loss of magic would be a tragic blow to the Marvel Universe. Continue reading →

Nov 11 2015

Doctor Strange 2

 

doctor-strange-2 reduxToday, Mark and Spencer are discussing Doctor Strange 2, originally released November 4th, 2015.

Mark: Do comic books—straight up comic books—make money? Like, remove the merchandise licensing, remove the blockbuster movies and animated releases, are comic books a profitable business? Both DC and Marvel operate under the umbrella of their corporate parents (Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Company respectively), and while the publishing of comic books probably continues to bring in a tidy sum, these books are really just generating intellectual property that the real money makers (the aforementioned merchandise and blockbusters) can continue to exploit. It’s with that lightly cynical viewpoint that I approach the relaunch of Doctor Strange. Like Ant-Man earlier this year, Jason Aaron’s Doctor Strange feels like a timely relaunch intended to bring Stephen Strange to a more prominent role in the cultural landscape after years of languishing on Marvel’s bench. Continue reading →

Nov 9 2015

Uncanny X-Men 600

uncanny xmen 600

Today,Taylor and Drew are discussing Uncanny X-Men 600, originally released November 4th, 2015.

Taylor: In my junior year of college I took a creative writing course that required each student to have at least one of their stories workshopped. This involved everyone in the class reading your story and then picking it apart in front of you during class. All the things your peers thought about your story, both good and bad, came out during this process. I remember it being a humbling and somewhat traumatic experience. It’s hard to put something you created out there in the world for everyone to scrutinize and it takes a thick skin to not let the negative comments beat you down. In Uncanny X-Men 600, the final of writer Brian Michael Bendis’ run on the series, Beast is put on trial by his peers for actions. In doing so he attempts to defend his actions and those of the author who gives him life. Continue reading →

Apr 21 2015

Uncanny X-Men 33

uncanny xmen 33

Today, Taylor and Michael are discussing Uncanny X-Men 33, originally released April 15th, 2015.

Taylor: When watching any of the Star Trek series you quickly become aware that every episode centers primarily on one character. Depending on how important the character to the series, they’ll have more episodes than others. For example, Picard generally gets about five to six focus episodes each TNG season while Troy gets two to three. Generally, this means you know if an episode is going to be good or not. Picard episode? Yes! Geordi episode? No. With as cast that numbers somewhere in the thirties (at least) it comes as no surprise that Brian Michael Bendis would try this technique with Uncanny X-Men. This way, every character gets a taste of the limelight and most readers leave satisfied. The question though, is does this doom the series to a Star Trek-like cycle where some issues are great and others are not solely based on stars in them? Continue reading →

Mar 31 2015

Uncanny X-Men 32

uncanny xmen 32

Today, Taylor and Michael are discussing Uncanny X-Men 32, originally released March 25th, 2015.

Taylor: In the modern world revolution has become sexy. One has but to look at our continued fascination with James Dean and Che Guevera to realize this. One reason for this obsession with revolution is that we always love new things and, if nothing else, revolution promises something new and different. However, strip away the romanticized version of revolution and you’re left with something much less appealing. In particular, the likes of the ongoing war in Syria comes to mind. In the end while we appreciate the fruits of revolution the actual process of it turns out to be quite messy. Uncanny X-Men 32 explores the difference between the perception of revolution with the reality of it to mixed results. Continue reading →