July 2, 2023

I finished up the remaining books from last week’s NEW COMIC BOOK DAY tonight and I have to say that there were several of the books that were either disappointing or difficult to get into. That is a shame, but there were also a few that really stood out from this group of comics including yet another collection of past issues.

Which was, of course…

Killadelphia Vol. 4: The End of All. Collects Killadelphia issues #19-24. Killadelphia has been an awesome trip over the last month. Each week I have picked up another of the trade paperbacks collecting issues from the Image series. Each week I looked forward to sitting down and reading through some of the most original vampire storytelling I have seen in ages. In this volume, we have already seen John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, but now we get George Washington! I know this sounds cheesy, but it is anything but. And then, as all of the vampires, led by Abigail Adams, who I had become used to looking on as the villains, joined up with our protagonists (and the werewolves) this volume shook what I knew about this series. They also brought in the Haitian general Toussaint Louverture as an opposition to the vampire crew and everything is up in the air. Love it. Comic World was out of volumes, though, apparently Vol. 5 is out very soon and I have a copy of it ordered. Very excited to see where this goes. I am sure I will not expect it.

Damn Them All #6. Written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Charlie Adlard. The first arc of this series comes to a close here. While this was the one book this post that was not from last week’s NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, it was also one that did not disappoint me. It has Ellie Hawthorne as one of the least trustworthy protagonists around. She is manipulative and secretive and doubting her own morality. Damn Them All has been a tough read, but it is very much worth it.

Silver Surfer: Ghost Light #5. “Part Five: Secret Journey.” Written by John Jennings and illustrated by Valentine DeLandro. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Okay, so here is the first book that was not very entertaining this week. This entire short series has been disappointing for me. I have always enjoyed a good Silver Surfer series, but I just found this one to be lackluster. This is the final issue for this series and it is one that I will not be sad to see go.

X-Men-Before the Fall: The Heralds of Apocalypse #1. “Genesis and Revelations.” I had zero interest in reading this after the first few pages. I believe this is the set up for the next giant mutant crossover, but I hope it is more interesting than this because I just did not find it engaging at all.

Worldtr33 #3. Words by James Tynion IV and art by Fernando Blanco. Each issue of this has been a challenge to read. I have found it difficult to follow off the start, but I have liked what I have read. This issue was the one that I found the most understandable. I do love James Tynion IV’s work so I am sticking with this as it moves along. It might require a re-read at some point.

The Riddler: Year One #5. “Blinded By the Light.” Written Paul Dano and art by Steven Subic. This was one of the most original books I have seen in quite some time. Written more like a journal or a case file, this gives a glimpse into the mind of this version of The Riddler.

Thor #35. “Blood of the Father Finale” Written by Torunn Grønbekk and penciled by Sergio Davila and Juan Gedeon. Nic Klein did the cover art. This series of Thor comes to an end with this issue. I will admit that this Thor book has not been my favorite, so I am looking forward to the upcoming Al Ewing Immortal Thor series. This wrapped up everything nicely, finally sending Odin off to Valhalla.

Ghost Rider #15. “Dragged out of Hell” Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Cory Smith. Bjorn Barends did the cover art. Johnny Blaze has to take a huge risk in order to save Danny Ketch. He has to let the Ghost Rider head into Hell to retrieve the spirit of vengeance that had been torn out of Danny.