Tag Archives: Jim Gordon

Jul 28 2014

Batman 33

Alternating Currents: Batman 33, Drew and ShelbyToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Batman 33, originally released July 23rd, 2014.

Drew: The Riddler may not have seemed like the most intuitive choice for a retelling of Batman’s origin — he’s in no man’s land, much more specific threat than those posed by organized crime in Year One, but he’s also not Batman’s biggest villain. Of course, that ignores the specific nature of this origin story, one that openly acknowledges how well-known the story is — or at least how well we think we know the story. That is, in order to not be a total retread, it requires the type of surprise ending we typically associate with riddles. It’s the kind of ending that recontextualizes the three-part story we’ve been reading as one emotional arc with a focus on something we may not have been expecting: Bruce’s relationship to Alfred. Continue reading →

Jun 30 2014

Batman 32

batman 32

Today, Shelby and Spencer are discussing Batman 32, originally released June 25th, 2014.

Shelby: I prefer playing games where everyone knows the rules. Sure, there are some PC games out there where you’re just dumped in the game universe and have to figure out what to do and how to do it (Myst, I’m looking at you), but that’s different. That’s more me trying to solve a puzzle than not knowing the rules. If I’m going to play a game with other people, I want everyone to know the rules; what’s the fun in beating someone at a game they don’t know how to play? In Zero Year, Scott Snyder has had a very young Batman pitted against the Riddler in a game our hero has consistently lost. Personally, I think there are two big reasons Batman has been losing this fight: he assumes he knows the rules of the game, and he assumes the bad guy will actually abide by them.

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May 29 2014

Batman 31

Alternating Currents: Batman 31, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 31, originally released May 28th, 2014.

Drew: Between comics, movies, tv shows, video games, radio serials, and children’s imaginations, Batman is arguably the most prolific fictional character in history. With that long, multi-media history comes a secondary history of reinvention. I’ve seen it said that each generation redefines Batman, but in my mind, he’s revamped far more often than once a generation. Each new iteration brings changes, some more superficial than others, but what is it that actually defines Batman? What is his immutable core? The thing that would actually make him a different character if it was absent? With Zero Year, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have already given lie to what many people would assume were givens — grimness chief amongst them — but issue 31 finds them asserting an essential element I hadn’t expected: masochism. Continue reading →

May 2 2014

Batman Eternal 4

Batman eternal 4Today, Shelby leads a discussion on Batman Eternal 4, originally released April 30th, 2014.

Shelby: Last week, Spencer referenced the breakneck speed at which the Batman Eternal crew was giving us our story. While I do think this story is progressing along at a pretty good clip, I think it has more to do with us adjusting to a weekly story instead of a monthly one. Each issues gives us as much story as we’re used to, but now we’re getting 4 times the dosage every month. The weekly release schedule makes the story so much more effective — like Bruce, we are astounded and somewhat alarmed at how quickly events unfold.

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Apr 25 2014

Batman Eternal 3

batman eternal 3Today, Spencer leads a discussion on Batman Eternal 3, originally released April 23rd, 2014.

Spencer: I’m impressed by how quickly Batman Eternal is moving along. A year-long story with new chapters releasing every week could easily fall into the trap of being slowly paced, or even worse, of using filler to stretch out the story to fit into 52 issues, but if anything, the creative team of Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, Tim Seeley, and Jason Fabok seem to be speeding through the story at an alarming rate. I’m starting to think that “the end” teased back in issue one may come sooner than we think; at the speed they’re throwing out ideas, the end may very well be the beginning of the story. Continue reading →

Apr 22 2014

Batman 30

batman 30Today, Drew and Scott are discussing Batman 30, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Drew: Adults are very good at pretending to know what they’re doing. Indeed, they’re so good, most folks don’t figure this out until they’re already in the midst of pretending to know what they’re doing themselves, and by then, they’re already adults. It’s almost a secret that there’s basically nothing that qualifies us to have jobs, pay rent, get married, have kids, and whatever else it is that grownups do. You’re not going to be adequately prepared for these things by the time you start doing them, and you’re only going to get better through trial and error. It’s that “error” part that’s scary — nobody wants to lose their job, home, spouse, or kids — but fortunately for us, the stakes of any single mistake are relatively low. Batman, on the other hand, has always played for much higher stakes — typically the wellbeing of his hometown — and Batman 30 explores just what happens when he isn’t up to the challenge.

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Apr 18 2014

Batman Eternal 2

Alternating Currents: Batman Eternal 2, DrewToday, Drew leads a discussion on Batman Eternal 2, originally released April 16th, 2014.

Drew: What do we expect of this series? Grand world-building? Serviceable (if maybe uninspired) Batman stories? When we discussed the first issue, I argued that the way this series addresses our expectations — the way it fulfills some but defies others — may be its most distinctive characteristic. Indeed, issue 2 is so drastically different in form and focus, it’s easy to see defiance of expectations as this series’ unifying trait.

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Apr 11 2014

Batman Eternal 1

batman eternal 1Today, Patrick leads a discussion on Batman Eternal 1, originally released April 9th, 2014.

Patrick: I love Batman, but I’ve been exposed to so many books and games and movies and TV shows (plus one Stunt Show Spectacular at Six Flags), that very little in a Batman story can genuinely surprise me. The writing team on Batman Eternal acknowledges this familiarity, simultaneously leveraging those emotional beats for everything they’re worth, and suggesting that there are still some surprises out there. Continue reading →

Mar 13 2014

Batman 29

batman 29Today, Shelby and Scott are discussing Batman 29, originally released March 12th, 2014.

Shelby: It can be really hard to admit you’ve been wrong. Especially when you’ve gone out of your way to show everyone how right you are. The only thing to do is own up to your mistake and try to fix it. It’s a painful admission to make, and the bigger the consequences of your mistake, the more painful it is. In his own take on the iconic Batman origin story, Scott Snyder has given us a Bruce Wayne who is young, brash, and very confident. Whether through an inflated sense of self or the independence forced upon him at the death of his parents (probably a bit of both), this Bruce is even more reluctant to accept help from others than we’ve seen before. Finally, as the latest arc of Zero Year wraps up, the pieces begin to fall into place, and Bruce finds himself with some mistakes to own up to and a very hard lesson to learn. Problem is, it looks like it might be too late.
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Feb 4 2014

Batman and Robin Annual 2

batman and robin annual 2

Today, Greg and Mikyzptlk are discussing Batman and Robin Annual 2, originally released January 29th 2014.

Greg: My friends often make fun of me for liking everything, and they have a good point. If one of them asks me for a movie recommendation, I’ll give twenty, and get at least one “I heard that was terrible” in response. If someone rags on the recently cancelled and critically reviled Sean Saves The World, I’ll pipe in and counter that it was actually one of the best new comedies of the season, prematurely put down. The new Paramore album? On repeat, in my car stereo, no apologies. Sometimes I’ve been criticized as not having enough cultural taste or filtration. My counterargument is that the consumption of media and storytelling fundamentally stems from love and positivity. It behooves a consumer to like things, because of the positive feelings you get. So, whenever I do genuinely, fully, through-and-through dislike something, not only do I mean it, but it pains me to say it out loud. It blots out my blinding sun of naive media love. I’ll put it frankly, no matter how much it hurts me to say: Batman and Robin deserve better than this issue.
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