Tag Archives: Jack

Mar 22 2016

All-New Inhumans 5

all new inhumans 5Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing All-New Inhumans 5, originally released March 16th, 2016.

Spencer: By this point in my life, I’ve consumed plenty of media where the main characters weren’t in the right, or perhaps where the audience is even meant to root against the protagonists. Still, despite all that experience, I tend to give my main characters the benefit of the doubt; I like to believe I should be rooting for them, and that they at least believe they’re doing the right thing, until I’m unequivocally proven wrong. Things haven’t gotten dire enough yet to turn me against the Inhumans by any means, but All-New Inhumans 5 does mark the point where I’m starting to question, if not their motives, then certainly their methods. Continue reading →

Nov 10 2015

Miracleman 4

Alternating Currents: Miracleman 4, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Miracleman 4, originally released November 4th, 2015.

Drew: What is religion for? Having not grown up with religion, I’ve never really understood. I can appreciate the origins of religion as a kind of pre-scientific way of explaining the world, but what’s the appeal nowadays, when most reasonable people accept that these stories aren’t literally true? I honestly have no idea, and religious friends can only give vague answers about community and faith. I suspect different people will have different answers, but for me, it seems that religion scratches an itch I just don’t have. That sentiment is sometimes met with pity from those who genuinely believe that a religious life is more fulfilling. I’d never be willing to dig through the stories and traditions that define any one faith, but what if faith wasn’t part of the equation at all? Miracleman 4 asks exactly that, looking into the life of a woman who has no doubt about the validity of her religion. Continue reading →

Feb 24 2015

Fables 149

Alternating Currents: Fables 149, Patrick and Drew

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Fables 149, originally released February 18th, 2015.

Patrick: We tend to look at foreshadowing as somewhat virtuosic — especially in serialized stories. The foreshadowing itself is kind of like a promise to the readers, and the payoff is the storyteller keeping that promise. That’s immensely rewarding, because it sorta proves that the creators were as invested in the ending of the story as the readers. But why does that really matter so much to us? In fact, isn’t it more impressive if ideas are creatively recalled from earlier in the story? Like, what’s the real virtue in planting a seed you’re only going to pay off later when anything could be a seed? Fables 149, takes this “everything is a seed” approach, asking questions about what is planned, why it was planned, and whether it matters. Continue reading →

Jan 28 2015

Fables 148

fables 148
Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Fables 148, originally released January 21st, 2015.

Once upon a time…

Traditional

Drew: Where would you say your story begins? Your first memory? Your birth? Your conception? Your parents’ first date? Their births? It’s easy enough to trace that back ad infinitum, as the circumstances that allowed you to become the person you are were set in motion at the very dawn of time. The same could be said of when your story ends. Is it your death? The death of the last person who knew you? Perhaps your mere existence influences events until the very end of time. Obviously, the scope of an individual story tends to be a bit narrower — infinite context is rarely necessary or informative — but what about the scope of all stories? The folklore origins of Fables have always given the characters a certain vintage of origin, and the modern-day setting gives them a certain end-date, but issue 148 finds important context stretching further in both directions, effectively widening the scope of the series to the narrative arc of the entire universe. Continue reading →