Tag Archives: The Red

Oct 16 2012

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E 13

Today, Shelby and Scott are discussing Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E 13, originally released October 10th, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. 

Shelby: I liked the zero issue of Frankenstein. I already know the original Frankenstein story, so I just enjoyed this comic book take on it. Sure, I didn’t know anything about S.H.A.D.E., including what the acronym stands for, but it didn’t get in my way of appreciating the story being told. Knowing that we’d be covering the title at least through Rotworld, I foolishly thought I didn’t need to know anymore, that I’d be able to pick up issue 13 just fine. Apparently, I forgot how comic books work; even with the familiar faces of the Red and the Rot to guide the story, I have almost no idea what is going on here, so bear with me.

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Oct 4 2012

Animal Man 13

Alternating Currents: Animal Man 13, Drew and Patrick ROTToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Animal Man 13, originally released October 3rd, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. 

Drew: Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder are confident that they can surprise readers. They have every right to be — Swamp Thing 12 (which they co-wrote) saw the shocking reveal that Rotworld is not a place but a time — and that confidence lends their writing an assured sense of purpose. Their ability to surprise has made both Animal Man and Swamp Thing thrilling reads in their first year, and has leant the crossover a sense that anything could happen. Sure enough, Animal Man 13 is rich in surprises, but it also paints Lemire into a difficult narrative corner — to such a degree that I can’t help but see it as a cocksure statement that he can write his way out of anything. It would be annoying if I didn’t have every bit of confidence that he can. Continue reading →

Sep 17 2012

Ravagers 0

Today, Patrick and (guest writer) Zach Kastner are discussing Ravagers 0, originally released September 12, 2012. Ravagers 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Patrick: There are some story types that are fundamentally more compelling than others. Storytellers know these tropes well and trot them out whenever a) they’re also trying something new or b) they don’t have any better ideas. This is why most cop and detective shows put a child in danger in the first episode. We can all get on board with that: save the child – there’s no way not engage with that story. The trope on display in Ravagers 0 (and I suspect through most of the Culling story line) is a newer one: teenagers forced to fight each other to the death. Oh Hunger Games/Battle Royale/Ravagers, you do have one hell of an interesting concept. But while something like Hunger Games really finds itself in the details, Ravagers couldn’t be bothered with anything other than the broadest possible strokes.

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Sep 11 2012

Animal Man 0

Alternating Currents: Animal Man 0, Shelby and Freakin' Animal Man

Today, Shelby and (guest writer) The Freakin’ Animal Man are discussing Animal Man 0, originally released September 5, 2012. Animal Man 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Shelby: In the comments for the Swamp Thing 0 write-up, we talk briefly about respect. One of the successes of Swamp Thing is that Scott Snyder manages to create his own story while still being respectful towards the stories previous writers have told. Swamp Thing 0 takes the flaming-lab-in-the-swamp origin and folds it neatly into the Rotworld story Snyder wants to tell. Jeff Lemire has done the same thing with Animal Man 0; he maintains the classic Animal Man origin story (powers from aliens), and merely shows us the other side of the story, that it was the Red this whole time! That is smart story-telling.

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Sep 6 2012

Swamp Thing 0

Alternating Currents: Swamp Thing 0, Drew and PeterToday, Drew and Peter are discussing Swamp Thing 0, originally released September 5, 2012. Swamp Thing 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: One of the most interesting things to me about this zero month experiment is the diversity of types of stories we might get to see. Some titles have large, overshadowing histories that have only been teased. Others have managed to make revealing the origin of their hero a key element in the narrative at large. But what do you do if your title has followed the hero since before he was a hero? Scott Snyder has made clear through his previous work on Swamp Thing that he’s not afraid of telling an Alec Holland story (as opposed to a Swamp Thing story), but is that really necessary at this point in the narrative? Snyder manages to answer both questions in surprising ways, turning the focus to Anton Arcane’s history, and how it shockingly ties into Alec’s own past. Continue reading →

Aug 3 2012

Animal Man 12

Today, Drew and Peter are discussing Animal Man 12, originally released August 1st, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. Not caught up on Animal Man? No problem! Get up to speed with our video Cram Session. Also, we’re covering Swamp Thing #12, head over to get analysis on the second half of this story. 

Drew: One of my biggest pet peeves in comics is the assumption that “bigger is better” when it comes to threats the hero is facing. I understand the sentiment — if saving one person is good, saving one million must be a million times as cool — but in practice, it often turns the risks into abstract hypotheticals. Such abstractions lose the human connection that is so easily established by a single person in danger. In comics, a single loved-one in danger is just as cliched as when it’s the whole city, but when handled well — as in Animal Man 12 — the payoff is much greater. Continue reading →

Aug 3 2012

Swamp Thing 12

 

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 12, originally released August 1st, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. Not caught up on Swamp Thing ? No problem! Get up to speed with our video Cram Session.  Also, we’ve got Animal Man 12 coverage, supplying commentary on the first half of this story.

Shelby: I love seeing heroes working together. I don’t mean like in Justice League, on an established team (also, they aren’t really working  together anyway); I’m talking about the almighty Crossover Event. Swamp Thing and Animal Man’s Rotworld isn’t a traditional comic crossover, with multiple books dealing with the same issue and borrowing characters. Snyder and Lemire have instead told the opposite sides of the same story, and now those two halves have finally come together so seamlessly I had to check the cover multiple times to remember which title I was reading.  

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Aug 2 2012

Cram Session: Animal Man 1-11

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

A guy that channels animal powers? Yeah, okay, I can dig it. Didn’t expect to love it. Buddy Baker’s whole family gets drawn into a war between the very forces of life and death. PLUS THERE’S A TALKING CAT. Get all caught up so you can read the Rot World crossover with Swamp Thing.

Jul 6 2012

Animal Man 11

Alternating Currents: Animal Man 11, Drew and PeterToday, Drew and Peter are discussing Animal Man 11, originally released July 4th, 2012.

Drew: Animal Man’s power-set is weird. He can seemingly take any trait of any animal and apply it to himself. It makes sense for things like “the vision of an eagle” or the “strength of an elephant,” but the thought of taking on “the weight of a bumblebee” just seems to defy the laws of physics. Upon closer scrutiny, an eagle’s eyesight and an elephant’s braun are clearly related to their specific physiologies, and the thought that Buddy’s relatively tiny frame could contain the strength of a two-ton animal simply doesn’t make sense. To put a finer point on it: birds fly because they have wings, not because they have some supernatural abilities, so Buddy’s supernatural connection to them should only allow him to fly if it allows him to grow wings. As Buddy’s adventure into the Rot concludes, writer Jeff Lemire takes the opportunity to fix what I hadn’t realized bothered me until I thought about it. Continue reading →

Jun 26 2012

Birds of Prey 10


Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Birds of Prey 10, originally released June 20th, 2012.

Patrick: In a lot of ways, the New 52 incarnation of Birds of Prey acts as as one of only a few blank canvasses in DC’s library. The two founding members of the group are a brand new character — as in Starling — and one reformed in such a way as to be unrecognizable as the Black Canary of old. The rest of the team is rounded out by characters either not normally associated with the Birds of Prey or (in Barbara’s case) aggressively altered by the new continuity. My first dip into this world was so fresh and new and exciting, that I started to feel a little let down as writer Duane Swierczynski wrapped up one story arc, vamped for time, and then paid lip-service to Snyder’s Night of the Owls crossover event. I’m not going so far as to claim that those three issues (7, 8 and 9) were wasted, but now that Birds of Prey seems firmly set its own two feet again, it’s apparent that this series is at its strongest when its free to develop on its own terms. Continue reading →