April 5, 2023

Spring break has sprung. Yes, it is just a couple of days around a weekend, but it is that time of year where any break from school is welcomed.

Of course, yesterday was NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at Comic World and I picked up a cavalcade of comics to read. Most of them were pretty decent and continues my enjoyment of the medium. A couple of series came to a close and there were a few new issues.

One in particular.. Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I also learned how to determine if it is the cover A, cover B, cover C and so on with variant covers. I feel like a super spy with this knowledge.

I am Iron Man #2. “Chapter Two: The Man with the Bleeding Heart.” This may have been my favorite book of the week (top couple for sure). This Iron Man book saw Tony searching the ocean’s bottom for a radioactive asteroid with the help of a giant, mutated, mind-reading sardine. Yes, I said that right. It sounded silly, but I’ll be danged if it wasn’t a awesome read. Congrats to Murewa Ayodele, who wrote this story that was so compelling with a giant fish and the art by Dotun Akande worked beautifully.

Love Everlasting #6. Written by Tom King and drawn by Elsa Charretier. Joan Peterson has gotten so used to the routine that when something different happens, she is not sure what to do. This issue features the actual marriage of Joan to a guy whom she clearly finds ‘meh.’ Yet, the killer cowboy does not shoot her this time. What is going on?

Stillwater #18. Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Ramon K. Perez. “Chapter Eighteen” brings us the finale of the Stillwater series as the conflict within Stillwater and the neighboring Coldwater comes to a head. I loved the ending of this series with the last few panels really putting a surprise exclamation point on the book. Chip Zdarsky maintains his place near the top of my favorite writers list.

Code Name Ric Flair: Magic Eight Ball #1. Written by James Haick III with art by Rafael Loueiro. Ruben Cubiles did the cover art. In this book, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair, one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, is revealed to have had some special surgery after his infamous plane crash (which was real) and he became a special secret agent. This was pretty weird, with what seemed like a lot of stroking of Flair’s ego, but I had a lot of fun with it. My knowledge of wrestling and of Flair himself made it more enjoyable as I picked up on some of the jokes and traits that they were bringing into the story.

Amazing Spider-Man #23. Written by Zeb Wells and art by John Romita Jr. Peter finds himself back home, desperate to try and find his way back to MJ. Unfortunately, the FF and Captain America have some questions they want answered. Peter did not have the time. This is the continuation of the story about what Peter did that caused such a rift in his life and his relationships. I am still in on what is going down even if it is making me anxious.

The Approach #5. Written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley while the art of the book was done by Jesus Hervás and Lea Caballero. This is the second series coming to an end this week with this cool Boom! Studios book wrapping up with a huge blast. Now, there are several things that were not covered or dealt with in the series and I wonder if there will be more coming from The Approach eventually. It certainly left off on a cliffhanger.

Scarlet Witch #4. Written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Sara Pichelli. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. We get a back story on Darcy Lewis, who debuted as a character in the MCU Thor movies and met up with Wanda originally during WandaVision. Here, Darcy is being pursued by Hippolyta, who became the powerhouse Scythia. A powerful pair of females battling over Darcy’s life.

Joe Fixit #4. Written by Peter David and drawn by Yildiray Çınar. I finally determined that this book was taking place during the time frame when Bruce Banner was showing the Joe Fixit personality. Perhaps it should have been obvious to me, but I had not read Hulk books during the original Joe Fixit arc. I do love this series, especially since there is such a presence of Spider-Man in the book.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #11. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with the art by Carmen Carnero. Cap and the returning Invaders fought against MODOC while struggling to try to stop the Outer Circle, including Bucky Barnes. The death of the Destroyer last issue set up some major implications here. Then, at the end, Ian is reunited with his ‘father.’

Hairball #1. Script by Matt Kindt with art by Tyler Jenkins. The new Dark Horse comic that immediately gave me Stray Dogs vibes, even though it sure appeared that the black cat, called Bestie, in this series is anything but our hero. In fact, who could have guessed that the cat hairball that as coughed up would be such a powerfully gross weapon? This was a cool start to a new horror series and I am here for it.

Planet of the Apes #1. Written by David F. Walker and drawn by Dave Wachter. Cover art was by Joshua Cassara & Dean White. The first ‘official’ book under the 20th Century Studios Marvel brand, we get a book that is set after the events of the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. When I started reading the Alien books (which will now fall under the 20th Century Studios banner as well), I really enjoyed number one, but slipped off my interest quickly. Here, even though I do like these movies, I found this comic to be…fine. Nothing that blew me away, but I was not actively hating it either. I kind of expect this will be another book that I just am not that into if I were to continue to buy it. Still, it was okay.

Spider-Man #7. “Part Seven: Spider-Genesis” Written by Dan Slott and drawn by Mark Bagley. This classic creative team has been bringing the End of the Spider-Verse saga and, to be honest, I was not overly interested. This issue debuts a mysterious new Spider character in the 616 universe, specifically one called Spider-Boy. I do find the initial design of Spider-Boy to be cool and I would like to know more about him. With Peter Parker back as the Amazing Spider-Man, I hope this one picks up.

Order & Outrage #1. Written by Jim Starlin and drawn by Rags Morales. My cover art (which was the B cover, which I now know thanks to my unofficial lesson by my friend Todd), was done by Jim Starlin. This was a book that ended up in my pull list because someone (ahem, Todd) thought I’d like it. He usually does a decent job of picking out books that I should give a go, but I just never got into this book. I like Jim Starlin but Order & Outrage just never piqued my interest. It was a beautifully illustrated book (although there may have been too many shots of a penis, just saying).