Tag Archives: Steve Orlando

Nov 30 2016

Batman Annual 1

Alternating Currents: Batman Annual 1, Drew and Michael

Today, Drew and Michael are discussing Batman Annual 1, originally released November 30th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Drew: A few years ago, fellow Retcon Puncher Patrick Ehlers suggested that deconstruction had become so commonplace in Batman stories that they had come to become inseparable from the character. That is, deconstructing the character had become as essential to the telling of Batman stories as Batmobiles and gimmicky villains have become essential to the stories themselves. It’s a compelling argument — especially when you consider the fact that modern interpretations of the character are all informed by Frank Miller’s famous deconstructions of the character — but I maintain that it’s largely incidental to his existence. To me, the key fact is that Batman has been around (and beloved) for 75+ years, so of course creators that grew up with the character are going to relish playing with that history. I can expound on why I think that negates Patrick’s point in the comments, but for now, it’s enough to say that I think the deconstructions have more to do with nostalgia than anything intrinsic to the character. Nostalgia is certainly a central theme in Batman Annual 1, an anthology issue that brings together some of Batman’s most famous stewards, past and present, for a walk down memory lane. Continue reading →

Nov 11 2016

Namesake 1

namesake-1

Today, Mark and Patrick are discussing Namesake 1, originally released November 9th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Mark: I come from a large, mixed-race family. All of my siblings are adults now, and as everyone has scattered across the country to forge their own paths, one thing that hasn’t changed is our fierce loyalty to each other. When a family member needs help, the Mitchells circle the wagons. That’s the power of family.

The idea of fealty to family is central Steve Orlando and Jakub Rebelka’s Namesake 1. In the future, once every seven years Earth and Ektae overlap for a week of bacchanal. Humans and Sidhan mingle, party, and, of course, bone (luckily, Sidhan venereal diseases are only active during the alignment). Sidhan are humanoids with strange runes on their bodies and some of them have The Blood (the ability to wield the Typhic Force—magic on our world). Continue reading →

Oct 16 2016

Detective Comics 942

detective-comics-942

Today, Michael and Ryan M. are discussing Detective Comics 942, originally released October 12th, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

Michael: The “Night of the Monster Men” comes to a conclusion in Detective Comics 942. Though I haven’t been the biggest fan of this storyline, I’d argue that its resolution came too fast, too soon. After four issues of monster mayhem and catastrophe, Hugo Strange is defeated and cuffed as quickly as he arrived. Continue reading →

Oct 11 2016

Midnighter and Apollo 1

midnighter-apollo-1

Today, Mark and Spencer are discussing Midnighter and Apollo 1, originally released October 5th, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

slim-banner

Mark: The creative pinnacle of Midnigher and Apollo 1 for me is the moment Extrano makes an appearance. Extrano is one of those embarrassing gay characters introduced in the 80s. Limp wrists heavy with scarves, Extrano played the part of perfectly inoffensive gay best friend for everyone, called himself “Auntie,” and, don’t worry, contracted HIV (because of course he did). He may be the first openly gay superhero, but there’s a reason Extrano was shoved shamefully to the back of the comic book closet. Extrano was a character defined by his gayness, one note played over and over until he was inevitably given HIV, because what else are you going to do with a gay characters in the 90s but make him a victim of the gay plague? Continue reading →

Sep 22 2016

Batman 7 and Nightwing 5

batman-7

Today, Patrick and Spencer are discussing Batman 7 and Nightwing 5 (aka, parts one and two of “Night of the Monster Men”), originally released September 21, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.

Patrick: If I had to guess conservatively, I’d say that we’ve covered a billion crossover events over the last four years on Retcon Punch. These kinds of stories always beg the narrative question “why?” The commercial question is a lot easier to answer: I’m reading Batman, and I’m certainly not going to skip an issue of Batman, so I might as well pick up the attendant issues of Nightwing, Detective Comics, and whatever else might be participating in this story. The result is usually a tonal mess, superficially tying together the storytelling styles of a disparate set of teams with some arbitrary commonality. “Night of the Monster Men” cuts a different swath through the series bearing its banner, uniting them under one writer, the always excellent Steve Orlando, and a unified artistic vision. Continue reading →

Sep 8 2016

Supergirl 1

supergirl-1

Today, Patrick and Mark are discussing Supergirl 1 originally released September 7, 2016. As always, this article containers SPOILERS.

“It’s like you feel homesick for a place that doesn’t even exist. Maybe it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I don’t know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”

Garden State

Patrick: I know, I know, I know – Garden State is a flick that’s ultimately too twee for it’s own good. But underneath all the cloying “you have to listen to The Shins!” moments and hackneyed beats of artificial quirk, there is a compelling universal truth. Concepts like “home” and “family” are so easy for the young to grasp, but they are nearly impossible for adults to hold on to. That’s because they’re both inextricably linked to our own personal origin stories, and you only get one of those in a life time. A superhero — especially one with as oft a rebooted history as Supergirl — runs the risk of trivializing the potency of that transition from origin to adult life, but ace writer Steve Orlando trots out countless examples of a better life on Krypton to genuinely sell Kara’s newfound loneliness and frustration. Couple that with Brian Ching’s Marvel-esque design work, and you’ve got one of the most sympathetic new series in DC’s stable. Continue reading →

Aug 23 2016

Supergirl Rebirth 1

supergirl rebirth 1

Today, Spencer and Mark are discussing Supergirl Rebirth 1, originally released August 17th, 2016. 

Spencer: Ever since the character was reintroduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC has had a hard time figuring out just what, exactly, to do with Supergirl. Remember the time she was an angel, or a blob of protoplasm, or a Red Lantern, or Darkseid’s minion, or simply an obnoxious brat in a belly shirt? Supergirl Rebirth 1 finds Steve Orlando and Emanuela Lupacchino soft-rebooting Supergirl once again, and while they take some obvious inspiration from her current television series, they thankfully seem to be cherry-picking the show’s best qualities, particularly Supergirl’s ability to empathize with and inspire others. Unlike some of the other directions I mentioned, this take on Supergirl doesn’t feel like a gimmick or a phase, but a genuine attempt to give her a place in the DC Universe all her own, while still honoring the Superman mythos. Only time will tell if this is the take that sticks, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Orlando’s Supergirl catch on fast. Continue reading →

Mar 7 2016

Midnighter 10

midnighter 10

Today, Spencer and Mark are discussing Midnighter 10, originally released March 2nd, 2016.

Spencer: I was a little know-it-all as a kid. One of my earliest memories is interrupting a lecturer on a field trip to a planetarium to correct him about outer space trivia; “well, actually” might as well have been my catchphrase in elementary school. Even as an adult with decidedly screwed-up self esteem, I still occasionally find myself falling prey to the snare of overconfidence; in many ways, I think it’s just human nature. Supreme confidence has always been presented as one of Midnighter’s most charming attributes, but after suffering yet another loss, Midnighter 10 starts to explore whether that confidence is an asset or a hindrance, and one of the most effective ways it does so is by comparing it to the overconfidence of the rest of the cast. Continue reading →

Feb 8 2016

Midnighter 9

midnighter 9

Today, Spencer and Mark are discussing Midnighter 9, originally released February 3rd, 2016.

Spencer: Who is Midnighter? It’s clearly a question writer Steve Orlando wants to keep on his readers’ minds, as most issues of Midnighter feature its titular character explaining his life story to someone (this month, his documentarist Robert). Any conclusions we can draw about who Midnighter really is deep inside from that information, though, are complicated to say the least. Who is Midnighter? He’s a contradiction. Continue reading →

Jan 18 2016

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 0

mmpr 0

Today, Michael and Ryan M. are discussing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 0, originally released January 13, 2016.

Michael: I’ll be honest, I don’t think we really need a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reboot movie, let alone a comic book series. Some people might argue that bringing the Power Rangers back to the forefront continuing adventures is no different than the continuing adventures of say, Batman or Spider-Man. I’m trying not to be a snooty nerd here, but I’d say that there is a difference – or at least a very fine line. Nevertheless the original Power Rangers are back; whether I like it or not. Continue reading →