July 13, 2023

Welcome back to EYG Comic Cavalcade, our fortieth edition. This past NEW COMIC BOOK DAY was the largest pile of new comics that I have ever gotten in a single day. There are still seven books and a trade paperback that I have yet to get to since Wednesday afternoon. I have completed 24 books for this edition of EYG Comic Cavalcade.

UPDATE: The Independent Conspiracy of the Missing #3s seemed better this week. I received the missing Hairball #3, and Deep Cuts, Ghostlore, Something Epic, and Star Signs all had third issues out this week and I got them all. I am still missing Neighbors #3 (and 4), Blue Book #3, and No/One #3. Here’s hoping that the Issue three curse is now over.

This is the second week of the Knight Terrors books from DC Comics. I have committed to purchasing all 46 issues of this event series and we are now about a quarter of the way through it. So far I have enjoyed it for the most part. I have never been a huge DC fan despite liking most of their characters. This was quite the commitment for me. This week we had Knight Terrors #1, Knight Terrors: Robin #1, Knight Terrors: The Flash #1, Knight Terrors: Zatanna #1, Knight Terrors: Shazam #1 and Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1. Of these books, my favorite this week is probably the Knight Terrors#1 since they have focused in on Deadman and I have always liked that character.

I did enjoy Shazam, Robin and Zatanna quite a bit. Green Lantern would have been next and Flash was the low of the week, but they were all enjoyable. I do like the Insomnia villain that is behind the trouble and I have found this very creative and visually stunning.

Six more next week.

Other books in this massive pile…

Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1. Writers included G. Willow Wilson, Mark Wai & Saladin Ahmed. Artists included Takeshi Miyazawa, Humberto Ramos and Andrea Di Vito. Kaare Andrews was the cover artist. This was a beautiful issue featuring a service for the loss of Ms. Marvel and Kamala Khan. Yes, they are the same person, but they have separate khatam ceremonies for them keeping the secret identity intact. There is a QV code on the last page that takes you to another comic page, featuring Cyclops, who is late to the ceremony and he implies there is a reason. My guess is that he is working on a way to use the X-Men resurrection ability to bring Kamala back. Despite that I have no doubt whatsoever that she’ll be back alive sooner than later, this was a lovely issue with some real emotion.

Fishflies #1. Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. I loved this issue. I saw this during Free Comic Book Day and I have been a big fan of Jeff Lemire, so I have been anticipating this new book. And this just knocked it out of the park. It has beautiful art, a story that moves at a perfect clip and a mystery that is totally compelling. This one was a great read.

Antarctica #1. Written by Simon Birks and art by Willi Roberts. Hannah Curtis loved her father but when he was lost somewhere in the Arctic, her life took a distinct change. This was another awesome new book with a story that was so easy to read and beautiful to look at. If not for Fishflies, this would be the best new book of the week.

Groo In the Wild #1. Written by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier and drawn by Sergio Aragonés. Groo is back with Rufferto in search of food to eat while everyone who comes in contact with him immediately panics and is afraid that Groo is going to cause their lives to be destroyed. While Groo is always fun, the plot of this book seems to be similar to all of the other Groo books out there. Still love him though.

Amazing Spider-Man #29. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by Ed McGuinness. Doc Ock’s old arms are looking to bond with Spider-Man and, since Otto and his new arms have captured Norman Osborn and this is the only way Peter can come up with to find Norman, he is going to let them. However, Otto may have another horrible idea involving Norman Osborn.

Dark Ride #7. Written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Andrei Bressan. Joshua Williamson is the main mind behind the Knight Terrors series at DC and he brings the horror vibe to the front here at Devil Land the amusement park. Arthur Dante and his children have a big time conflict and things get heated. Dark Ride continues to be an excellent read each issue.

Haunt You to the End #2. Written by Ryan Cady and drawn by Andrea Mutti. The investigation into the haunted house begins on the mysterious Isla Lodo. This book does an excellent job of creating a mood and keeping the reader a little shaky. Horror comics are hitting some great strides recently and this one fits right in to the club.

Moon Knight #25. “Danse Macabre.” Written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Partha Pratim, Alessandro Cappuccio and Alessandro Vitti. The cover was drawn by Rachelle Rosenberg. Listed as “Enormous 25th issue” this Moon Knight book is very large. It includes Black Spectre (at least the new one), Zodiac, 8-Ball among others. Moon Knight has been outstanding in this series and this 25th issue continues that excellence.

Scarlet Witch #6. Written by Steve Orlando and featuring art by Lorenzo Tammetta & Sara Pichelli. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. Wanda takes a monk of the Archsisterhood named Ganymede to see her son Wiccan and his husband, Teddy aka Dorrek-Vell, the King of the Skrull/Kree alliance.

Hairball #3-4. Written by Matt Kindi and art by Tyler Jenkins. This story concluded with Anna first trying her best to murder the cat Bestie because she believed it was a demon and then trying to find it again when she believed it was not dead and was an ancient demigod. This series took a weird twist, but I loved it.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8. “Spun Out Part One.” Miles and Starling come across and get into a battle with the Hobgoblin. Miles has been taking a beating lately, coming out of the Carnage storyline and this is the worst time to come across a goblin. The cover pays homage to the classic Amazing Spider-Man #238.

Blue Book #2. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Michael Avon Oeming. This cover art (which is the B cover) was done by Josh Hixson. Betty and Barney and their UFO encounter takes center stage again as we see how this alien encounter affected their lives. I do love Tynion’s work.

Something Epic #3. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. Something Epic continues to live up to its name every issue. This book looking at the life and imagination of Danny is utterly gorgeous and may have the best art work on the market currently. There is also a time shift near the end of the book, taking the series into a darker path. Love this book.

The Great British Bump-Off #4. Script by John Allison and art by Max Sarin. This is also Cover B so the art on the cover is from Benjamin Dewey. This extremely fun and funny series comes to a close as we discover that Shauna is actually a better detective than we thought. Good thing too because she is not a good chef.

Ghostlore #3. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. Harmony and her father are trying to use their ability to talk to the dead to talk to Emily, her mother and his wife, who died when they gained this ability. No luck, but there are other spirits that come to talk t them. Harmony is more ready to listen and help than her father is. But there is something horrible coming…

Loki #2. “The Liar: Chapter Two.” Loki survived last issue’s apparent decapitation but finds HERself in trouble again. Loki heads off in search of the rest of the pieces of the cursed ship Nagliar. The ship is apparently the narrator of this story too.

What If…? Dark: Loki #1. Written by Walter Simonson and penciled by Scot Eaton. Walter Simonson & Laura Martin did the cover art. This definitely felt like an old school What If…?. Dark and tragic, with characters dying that would never actually die in the actual Marvel Universe. Loki brings about the destruction of everything in this issue.