March 19, 2023

FINAL ISSUE!

Good afternoon. Welcome to the final issue of Comic Catch-Up here at EYG.

I know… it’s an odd thing, but I have been waiting to do this for awhile now. I made the mention of not starting over at a #1 a couple of times during this run, but now the time is ready.

Truthfully, I started this ‘Comic Catch-Up’ to inspire myself to work on reading a bunch of these comics that I have in piles around my room. I would be buying comics every week at Comic World & Games, my comic shop I attend in Dubuque, Iowa, but I would put the bag down and not even take the books out of them. I would read an Amazing Spider-Man every once in a while or something big, but I was so far behind on the books that I was just ashamed.

Honestly, I still have piles around the room, but they are all smaller and there are many of them that have been read, just not organized into boxes yet. In fact, of the books I buy on a weekly basis, I am nearly caught up with everything. I can ALMOST read everything that comes out on Wednesday and not be confused. I am still working on catching up with Moon Knight and Black Panther, but the rest of the pull list is up to date.

Really, this column has not been about ‘catching-up’ now for a bit. I have been picking up other series such as Gideon Falls, Middlewest, That Texas Blood, Primordial, to name a few, that I found an interest in during this time. I’m not catching up with those. I am adding to the read list with those.

So I decided that it was time to bring the Comic Catch-Up to an end and, with #50, coming up, I thought that was a perfect time for a reboot.

I made the choice to replace the Comic Catch-Up with a newly titled post. At first, I was going to call this EYG Comic Corner. I had done the banner for it even. However, then I found out that Coy Jandreau, Internet personality, had a YouTube/TikTok video/show that he called Coy’s Comic Corner, and I did not want to copy it. I mean… there’s no reason I couldn’t, but I just wanted something more original for EYG.

I went about looking for a new name and what I have come up with is EYG Comic Cavalcade. I do like it and I fixed the new banner and so everything worked out as it should.

EYG Comic Cavalcade is not going to change format much. It will be pretty much the same as what I have been doing. I will be reading new books. There will be books from the last few years that I have not yet read out of my piles that will be discussed. New independent books that I discover will be on the read list. I will be doing 3-4 EYG Comic Cavalcade posts a week, depending on how busy I am.

I just never want to go back to having piles of bags filled with unread comics from that week again.

EYG Comic Cavalcade will debut some point next week. However, we have one more Comic Catch-Up column to finish before that happens…

The Approach #1. Written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley with illustrations by Jesús Hervás and Lea Caballero. The cover was done by Jeremy Haun. This was an issue that I looked into because the premise sounded intriguing. It had a LOST flair to it, mixed with some mysterious Stephen King book. A plane that had been missing for years, suddenly reappears in the middle of a snowstorm at an airport. Surprises abound. This limited series sounds like it is right up my alley. I enjoyed the first issue.

Home #3-5. Written by Julio Anta with art by Anna Wieszczyk. Cover art was done by Lisa Sterle. This wrapped up the story of a young immigrant boy who had attempted to seek asylum in the US, but discovered he had super powers and wound up being chased by the government. Turns out a bunch of his family members had powers too. This was extremely political but comics have always been political. I did enjoy Home. It felt like it could have used another issue or two to space things out. It ended with a cliffhanger that made me think that they are not completely done with the book.

Moon Knight #17. “Home Game.” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. As I mentioned in the intro, I am still working on catching up with Moon Knight. I am just a few issues away and this was another banger. Moon Knight showed off what an advantage he has now with the Midnight Mission.

Ten Thousand Black Feathers #4-5. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. The first series under the Bone Orchard Mythos drew to a close with these two issues. While I did not love these like I did Gideon Falls, I did enjoy the story of Trish and Jackie. The ending was a tad weird, but that is okay. I am looking forward to where this shared horror universe goes next.

Black Cloak #3. Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Meredith McClaren. Phaedra continued her investigation into the death of her old flame, and royal family member, Frey. The book came to a close with Phaedra diving into the water to discuss things with the mermaids. Hmm.

X-Treme X-Men #3. “Things Get Worse.” Written by Chris Claremont with art by Salvador Larroca. I liked this issue much better than I did last issue. This battle with Ogun has been solid and I have enjoyed this group of mutants at the core of the team. And it looked like some of these X-Men may have to try and move on sans powers. I am interested.

Hulk #13. “Hulk Planet Part Five.” The creature Titan has taken over the body of the Hulk and he has brought the fight, practically wiping out the entirety of the Hulk Planet. Doctor Strange has been recruited to help, and he discovered that it was the villain, D’Spayre that was behind the magic to split Banner into separate beings. Why did he want to do this? He said that he was a servant, meaning that someone else was behind this. Everything is concluding, apparently, next issue. It is kind of sad that I finally start to become engaged with Hulk and it is ending.

Middlewest #2. Story by Skottie Young and art by Jorge Corona. Abel is out and about, traveling on a train before he come across a frightening creature that looked to eat him. He looked very much like Khonshu from the Moon Knight Disney + series. Abel met and followed an old man named Jeb. Turned out that Jeb was sent to retrieve the boy… by whom is the question. The art in this series is awesome, making me think of fantasy stories.

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #11. Written by Tochi Onyebuchi and drawn by R.B. Silva. Sam Wilson/Captain America comes face to face with the White Wolf in a final showdown over Mohannda. And Captain America kicks his bloody ass. Sam showed the brutal side of his personality and he had to be stopped by Nomad or else he would have killed White Wolf.

Avengers: War Across Time #3. Written by Paul Levitz with art by Alan Davis. This series continues to feel like an old throwback, with a story and art that seems to have come right out of the 1960s. There is the King of Dwarves, Lava Men and, of course, Kang. This was actually my least favorite issue of this series so far. I hope this one gets a touch better next time.

I Walk With Monsters #2. Written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Sally Cantirino. This book keeps flashing back from current day to the past with Jacey, looking at the horrific childhood she had with her father. She has also been talking with the strangest looking dog around. This has been very odd and I still think there is cannibalisms going on here. We’ll have to wait and see.

And with that, Comic Catch-Up comes to a close.