August 10, 2023

Whoa, I have been working hard on my comic collection. Bags. Boards. Boxes. It’s been insane. I decided the other day that it was time to dive into the piles of comics around here in an attempt to get everything boxed and boarded and organized. It is quite the chore.

I bought four short boxes at Comic World just yesterday and they are basically accounted for, though I am still filling one with completed series. The box I am working on right now has Web of Spider-Man (2021), Savage Spider-Man, Sinister War, The Conjuring: The Lover, Silver Surfer: Rebirth, Ben Reilly: Spider-Man, Namor, Heroes Reborn in it so far. The biggest challenge is finding these complete issues. I know I have them, but who knows where they are boxed.

I pulled out a short box last night and it had a ton of issues from other series in it, with no organization at all. I have a bunch of boxes to go through that are already bagged and boarded and some that are not.

When I get through with this, my hope it to go into the older part of the collection and re-box/bag/board those books as well. That however, is down the road. A long term goal, if you will.

Yesterday was also the last day this summer that I could go to Comic World on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and spend the afternoon reading and hanging out with the employees there. My friend Todd, who has been a regular character in the Comic Cavalcade, has made my Wednesdays a lot of fun. I’m going to miss it when I have to head back to school next Wednesday. Of course, I will head down to Comic World after school next Wednesday to pick up my comics. Still, it will not be quite the same.

Update: Good news this week because Haunt Your to the End #3 was in my box at Comic World. It was the most recent issue 3 that was out this week. It is a pretty decent horror story, with the characters in search of ghosts to prove their existence. However, the issue three trauma remains as I am still missing The Seasons Have Teeth #3. I have #4 in my hands right now, but three is still a mystery.

This week’s DC Knight Terrors issues were really good. Night Terrors #3 was really enjoyable despite one of the ugliest variant covers I have seem. Knight Terrors: Robin#2 was excellent with Jason Todd and Tim Drake working together. Knight Terrors: The Flash #2 was probably the weakest of the issues, but told a good story with Barry and Wall. Knight Terrors: Zatanna #2 was very good too. I liked the pairing of Zatanna and Robotman. Knight Terrors: Shazam #2 featured Mary Marvel and showed her strength. Finally, Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #2 was ok. Probably down with Flash this week.

By the way, the Marvel books this month are honoring the life of John Romita Sr. who passed away earlier this year. They have three pages at the beginning of their books highlighting some of his classic work. RIP John Romita Sr.

Here are the rest of the books this week…

Amazing Spider-Man #31. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by John Romita Jr. & Emilio Laiso. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. This featured the attempted wedding of Robbie Robertson to Beetle. Crime lords of New York all were in attendance and things only went to crap. Very good story. There are also a bunch of shorts at the end of the oversized issue (the Legacy number was 925 so I guess it’s time for a celebration. All the shorts deal with things that are going to be happening in the Spider-family books over the next few months. My favorite was the one with Ms. Marvel and Spidey talking about her death.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #1. “Chapter One: The Bad Death of Bill Barley.” Written by Chris Condon and featuring artwork by Jacob Phillips. Set in the world of That Texas Blood series that I loved so much, I was really excited to see this new issue and I was not disappointed. The time frame was earlier than the other series, but this moved quickly as we learned about the man known as Montgomery Enfield and the death of Bill Barley. The best part of the comic was the design. It had a definite feel of an old time comic. The pages seemed like I was reading an old comic. it even had the smell of old paper. It was a cool reading experience.

Barnstormers #2. “Chapter Two” Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Tula Lotay. Bix and Tillie find themselves in trouble after they were found by her former fiancée. Until this moment, they had been bonding and falling for each other as they continued their air show. Big trouble arrives at the end of the issue setting up for a dramatic conclusion next month.

Damn Them All #7. Written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Charlie Adlard. Elle and her bad behavior returned to search for the coins that possess the demons from Hell. A new wrinkle has arrived though in the form of angels.

Swan Songs #2. “The end of… a Marriage.” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Caspar Wijngaard. This anthology series about apocalyptic moments focused in on the falling apart of an actual marriage and how these two people fell in and out of love. And how they wind up fighting each other forever. Neat twist on this book.

House of Slaughter #16. “Alabaster Part One.” A new story arc for this book. I had a little difficulty getting into this one. Here’s hoping that I will be able to grab more of an interest as it moves along.

Ghost Rider Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance #1. “Sympathy for the Devil.” Logan and Johnny Blaze team up to pursue a child possessed by some monster/demon. The child had come to see Professor X, but was turned away as he was not a mutant. We get some look at Logan and Blaze’s past and their beginnings.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5. “Last Stand at Torment Pass” Written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by Kev Walker. Marco Checchetto did the cover art. The Guardians have come together and are trying to find a way to save Groot. Things do not look like it is going very well.

Ghostlore #4. Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Leomacs. Lucas and Harmony are heading their separate ways… or at least that is what Harmony has decided. As she was writing a letter to her father, Lucas is dealing with a spirit in his church that was tied to a witch execution in the past.

Silk #4. Written by Emily Kim and art by Ig Guara. Dave Johnson did the cover art. Cindy Moon is out of the movie-inspired dream world and is facing off with the monster that Saya Ishii has turned herself into. Silk is doing a dream storyline too at the same time as DC’s Knight Terrors is happening.

Red Goblin #7. Written by Alex Paknadel and drawn by Jan Bazakdua with Rafael Pimentel. Normie can not control his symbiote, Rascal, who is out of control in his attempt to save Tim. Can Miles Morales help out?

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9. “Spun Out Part Two.” Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Federico Vicentini & Federico Sabbatini. Dike Ruan & Alejandro Sanchez did the cover art. Miles and Starling go into a deep battle with Hobgoblin.

Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #2. “Part Two: The Spooky Case of the Girl with the Pocket Portal.” Carol Danvers and a group of kids try to survive in space as the new villain Nada and Nitro are trying get revenge on Carol.

Children of the Vault #1. “Tomorrow’s Children.” Written by Deniz Camo with art by Luca Maresca. Variant cover by Betty Cola. My variant cover featured Loki’s Miss Minutes, which was fun, but not tied to the book at all. We got a bit of a team up with Cable and Bishop along with a group of characters that I did not know at all. I liked the MIss Minutes cover, but the rest of the book was iffy at best.

Spider-Man Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part One.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Alberto Foche. R.S. Silva did the cover art. The Contest of Chaos is a storyline that will be carried over the annuals in Marvel. This one found a fight between Spider-Man and Wolverine over a mysterious orb. It is tied to the newly young Agatha Harkness. It looks to cross over with all of the annuals moving ahead.

Avengers #4. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Stuart Immonen did the cover art. The Avengers are facing off with the new force called The Ashen Combine, and they are being pushed to their limits.