January 21, 2023

I woke up early this morning. Much earlier than I needed to for a Saturday morning, but as I laid there not able to get back to sleep, I thought it was a good time to do my next Comic Catch-Up. I going to begin to number them as I move along into the daily time in February. I figure that is very much like a comic book so it works.

I have been working on trying to organize the piles into some form of order to attack more efficiently. That may be a fool’s errand because there are just so many books. My goal is to catch-up on the more recent stuff and keep the older books for another time. If I can catch-up on the recent books, every Wednesday, I can read new releases without continuing to build up more piles. Good plan, no?

Anyway, here are the books I read this morning…

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1. “Boogie Down Roller Rink” I liked this series when it first came out a few years ago during the huge Inhumans renaissance. Lunella is fun and I love the relationship with Devil Dinosaur. This new volume is written by Jordan Ifueko and penciled by Alba Glez. The book does seem targeted toward a younger audience than I am. I did like the cover art by Ken Lashley and Rain Beredo. Because of the previous series, I’ll be giving this a try for a few issues, but it may not be a long term book for me.

Gold Goblin #3. From the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, Norman Osborn has been cleansed of his sins and now trying to make up for his crimes as the Gold Goblin. I do like the characterization of Norman Osborn shown in this limited series. This was a “Dark Web” crossover book, but it is basically just a tertiary connection. Written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Lan Medina, Gold Goblin has been decent. I’m not sure I like the Gold Goblin costume design much though. I did enjoy the new version of Jack O’Lantern that appeared in this issue.

The Invincible Iron Man #2. “The Autobiography of Tony Stark Chapter Two“. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Juan Frigeri, Living Laser arrives with a grudge against Tony Stark. Stark and Ironheart have to join forces to challenge Living Laser. The downward spiral of Tony Stark continues in this issue and it is a fascinating look at the character in a different light. However, it does one of those shameful things. On the cover, it says “One-on-one with Ironheart” and the art implies that they fight in the story. However, that does not happen. Comics pull that bait and switch tactic quite a bit and it is annoying when they do. I must say though, i love the idea of Ironheart with the Mandarin rings (obviously a point that I missed).

The Avengers: War Across Time #1. Written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Alan Davis, this book was set back around Avengers #11 (back in the 1960s). I am not sure why they felt the need to set this in the past as they did. You’ve got an interesting group of Avengers battling Hulk (or are they?). Kang, who is going to be the next big thing in the MCU) is pulling the strings. This book had a retro/nostalgic feel to it, with even the style of the comic resembling the 1960s. Not sure how I feel about this and it may require a second issue to decide if I will continue with this.

Daredevil #4-7. There have been few comic runs as sensational as Chip Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil over the last few years. He spent months and months with Matt Murdock out of his costume and the book was one of the most compelling books I read. Now, Daredevil, along with Elektra, are involved in The Red Fist Saga and, without fail, the Zdarsky penned book is amazing. Zdarsky has taken some secondary villains of DD’s rogue’s gallery and given them some depth as Matt and Elektra try to take over the Fist. With the inclusion of Frank Castle, this story feels quite epic. I can’t wait for the Daredevil vs. Punisher throw down. It should be exceptional. By the way, I love the costume design of Elektra’s Daredevil outfit.