Tag Archives: Michael Dialynas

Dec 30 2015

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 53

tmnt 53

Today, Taylor and Drew are discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 53, originally released December 23rd, 2015.

Taylor: One of the quintessential experiences of growing up is undergoing the trial of being picked for a team. Often times this happens on the playground at recess or even in gym class. Two captains (usually the biggest kids in class) are chosen to head teams and tasked with choosing which classmates they want to join their side. The captains take turns choosing from the class, each taking his or her turn and selecting the students who are best at sports first and the kids who are worst last. Being the last kid chosen for a team was a special sort of shame. You are branded in front of everyone as being inferior and essentially a cast-off. Almost everyone has experienced this minor trauma at some point, and for that reason, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 53  resonates with me. It explores what it means to be a cast-off, and in the process also asks what it means to be accepted by others. Continue reading →

Dec 9 2014

The Woods 8

woods 8Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Woods 8, originally released December 3rd, 2014.
Spencer: We’ve all liked someone we shouldn’t have, right? Crushes aren’t choosy, and it’s easy to shrug off or explain away someone’s ugly traits when you’re infatuated with them. Unfortunately for Isaac, this exactly describes the dynamic between him and Adrian in James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’ The Woods 8. I relate to Isaac a lot here, but while my particular brand of blind, tasteless crush just ended with a broken heart and some particularly sad relationship experience points, poor Isaac’s is a matter of life-and-death. Such is the fate of anyone who falls in love in a comic book, I suppose. Continue reading →

Jul 7 2014

The Woods 3

woods 3Today, Greg and Spencer are discussing The Woods 3, originally released July 2nd, 2014.

Greg: There was a constant problem in the percussion section of my high school band. Whenever we had concerts, it meant lugging lots of heavy equipment from our band room to our auditorium; the tympani, in particular, were awkward beasts of burden. Thus, when the concerts ended and us student musicians were worn out and ready to leave, it was too easy to duck out immediately, leaving the percussion in the auditorium without putting it back. This infuriated my band teacher, as he vowed to punish those who left early (in a full tux, no less). My response, as a habitual people-pleaser, was to take on the task myself, tirelessly hauling equipment to and fro, until the status quo was kept normalized. If it was that easy for me to seriously fall in line over something as silly as “moving percussion equipment”, The Woods 3 shows that I would’ve been a person of concern if monsters ever came to town.

Continue reading →

Jun 9 2014

The Woods 2

woods 2Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing The Woods 2, originally released June 4th, 2014.

Spencer: In narratives focused on teenaged characters, it’s common to pit the adults against the children in one way or another. Young Avengers recently took that conflict to extreme levels by making it so that the two groups literally couldn’t understand each other, but James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’ The Woods 2 plays things with a bit more subtlety; there is a major conflict between the faculty and the students of Bay Point Preparatory Academy, but the motivations of members of both sides seem to vary greatly. Continue reading →