Dramatic Persona

I’ve talked previously about our creative process and how it is definitely creative but not really a “process.” Most of our inspiration comes almost verbatim from conversations that we’re having, whether in person or virtually on IM or Twitter. One of our friends and readers has pointed out previously that he usually gets a pretty good idea of upcoming comics and blog posts based on our Twitter feeds mine and Kris’s. Earlier this week we were having a Twitter discussion on the dramatic qualities of goldfish which led to Wednesday’s comic. Our awesome friend Shablis pointed out that parrots were way more dramatic than goldfish. Today’s comic pretty much wrote itself after that.

Later that same day, Kris was commenting on Twitter about how a lot of the crap comics and stories coming out of DC surrounding the JLA in the past year can be completely blamed on James Robinson starting with Cry for Justice, continuing through the Rise & Fall mess, running Bill Willingham off of JSA (making that book go downhill as well), and culminating with the current JLA run with a JLA nobody cares about and stories that are even less interesting. If you’re going to make a big deal about bringing back Eclipso, a villain that we haven’t seen in three to four years, you have to tell us why we should be excited he’s coming back. Granted, they didn’t do that with Doomsday for the current Reign of Doomsday storyline either.

Kris was posting pictures of various comic panels to illustrate his point and Shablis (still our awesome friend), who does not read comics, started captioning them. It got to be so amusing that Kris decided the world must know about this and thus we present Ret-conned’s sister website Comics Minus Context. Once a day, Kris is posting a different comic panel completely out of context with a caption from Shablis. He has a backlog of random images to get them started and then will probably start pulling panels from a given week’s comics and we’ll see Shablis’s captions the following week. Should be loads of fun.

Travis, what’s on your pull list?

• Atomic Robo & The Deadly Art of Science #4 - I really enjoyed this issue as we’re starting to get back to wise-cracking Robo that I love from previous volumes.
• Gotham City Sirens #20 - This issue was excellent. After Dini abandoned this book, my interest in it had waned but I love what Calloway is doing and can’t wait for more.
• Teen Titans #92 - The second half of a cross over with Red Robin. Very well done and a lot of fun.

Kris, what’s on your pull list?

• Action Comics #898 - A great issue with a good twist. I’m falling in love with Robot Lois Lane. I also liked that the cover advertised Luthor vs. Larfleeze and we got an actual fight between them, not a two page filler fight.
• Detective Comics #874 - An amazing issue, I’ve never been a big fan of Jock, and was happy to see someone else take over the reigns in such an impressive way. Francesco Francavilla really impressed me with both pencils and color. The story was excellent, creating a real feeling of suspense with the new villain and continuity with Dick still feeling the after effects of the last arc and his run in with the dealer.
• Doom Patrol #19 - A generally weak issue that gained nothing from the presence of the Secret Six. The writing felt weak with them there and picked up significantly once they left. Still sad this book ends in May.
• Fantastic Four #588 - Wow. I think Hickman captured the grief felt from the sudden loss of a family member. The silence of the main story really beat home why Johnny’s loss might be the worst thing that could have happened. I especially loved Valeria’s reaction, showing she is the product of all four members of the Fantastic Four. The Spidey/Franklin back up was just as amazing.
• Gotham City Sirens #20 - This was a great week in comics. Peter Calloway really proved himself to me with this issue. He showed Harley is a true genius and a capable villain, while at the same time making us feel for the people she was taking out.
• Green Arrow #9 - Finally something is happening. This book has felt stalled for a long time. It almost felt as if Krul had a six issue arc planed, but had to wait for Brightest Day to finish before he could actually play it out. I love the use of the Demon and Jason Blood as well.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #20 - Is Max Lord sympathetic? No, but he’s crazy, and his parents are dead, so it’s kind of okay. I guess.
• Justice Society of America #48 - The weakest book on my pull list this week. I don’t think it’s really bad writing so much as bad story telling. The book is compelling, but it feels like he’s ratcheting up the tension simply because he can. I feel like Guggenheim has no care for these characters or the fact that they will continue to be used after his run. AND WHAT THE HELL WAS WITH LIBERTY BELL AND JESSE QUICK BEING IN THE SAME SHOT ON THE LAST PAGE?
• Power Girl #21 - Sami Basri has really started to show his A game. The shots of Ted Kord as well as the side by side Batmans showed he cares about his art and the characters he is drawing. Anyone who wants to use Dick or Bruce should look to this to see how to portray them as being similar but clearly to different people with different body and facial types.
• Teen Titans #92 - Georges Jeanty is a fine artist, but some of his stuff looks too similar. There is shot of Wonder Girl here that looks EXACTLY like he draws Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Otherwise this is a decent issue that develops Damian and Tim as well as the original Young Justice boys.
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 - Toby Henston is a great character. I love him and hate him at the same time. I feel like he’s a young Amanda Waller, in that he’s completely amoral, except he does his job, which just happens to be for the Higher United Nations.