August 23, 2023

Happy Birthday, Todd!

It is another NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and, with school underway, I have less time to read. I came back from Comic World tonight and, since the Dodgers game was in a rain delay (and eventually postponed) I was able to get some of them read. I hope to get another post later this weekend with the rest of the new books.

Plus, I picked up a series of back issues at Comic World today. Some back issues of The Avengers during Avengers Dissembled, a series called Planetary from Warren Ellis, Bendis’s Secret War, Neil Gaiman’s Black Orchid three issue series, and World War Hulk issues of Incredible Hulk. I hope to get these read over the next week or so as well.

The books I started reading first this week included:

The Schlub#1. Story by Ryan Stegman & Kenny Porter with art by Tyrell Cannon. Freaky Friday meets The Boys. Roger Dalton is a down on his luck loser whose dentistry business is in jeopardy from his own brother. When a super hero named Cirrus crashed into his dentist office during a fight with villainous Wyrm, thing get strange. Roger winds up with a mysterious artifact that flips the consciousness of Roger with Cirrus, giving Roger the power that he had been lacking for so long. This was an interesting start that I am curious about movie forward.

The Immortal Thor #1. “All Weather Turns to Storm.” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Martín Cóccolo. Alex Ross is the cover artist. A great new arc for the Thunder God as we get Loki, some frost giants, and some amazing creatures from the Utgard dimension. There are some utterly gorgeous images in this book, in particular the art near the last third of the book. The arrival of Toranos are breathtaking. I am more excited about Thor than I have in quite a while.

Amazing Spider-Man #32. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Patrick Gleason. Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Kraven the Hunter is back and causing trouble, heading after Norman Osborn. Spider-Man is to the rescue, but things go awry for Spidey. Kraven may have actually %$#%ed up badly.

Unleashed #1. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Jesus Hervas. The cover art was done by David Baldeón & Israel Silva. This is a combination of the DC League of Super Pets and Strays. It did feel better written than Strays (the movie) though (maybe Stray Dogs-comic series is a better comparison). Marvel animal characters are teaming up with such animals as Lockjaw, Goose, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Redwing and, apparently, Throg. And another appearance of Kraven the Hunter. The dialogue between the animals threw me a bit, but I think I am going to continue to give this a try. It is silly, but harmless.

Invincible Iron Man #9. “The End of Iron Man.” Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Juan Frigeri. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Tony Stark and Emma Frost are at their lowest. Stark has to give up his Iron Man armor and Emma just discovered about the massacre on the night of the Hellfire Gala. With their back against the wall, they take some drastic steps in their battle with Feilong and Orchis. The characterization of Tony Stark in this series has been top notch.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #3. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Nick Robles did the cover art. Christopher, Jordi (aka Dracula Boy) and Viv are in trouble and things are only getting worse. They all believe themselves to be monsters and the ghosts chasing them are making matters even more problematic.

Jean Grey #1. “Mind Maze” Written by Louise Simonson and drawn by Bernard Chang. I got a variant cover with Miss Minutes on it. Not sure what happened here. The book started with Jean’s latest death, but then went back to the time when Jean and the other original X-Men came to the present. They went back to their own time, but kept their memories of what happened in the future and suddenly Jean was becoming more drastic in her actions. It felt like a What If issue that is extending on. It was fairly engaging though.

Fantastic Four Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Three” Written by Zac Gorman and featuring art by Alan Robinson. Francesco Manna & Erick Arciniega did the cover art. The back up story with Clea, Spidey and Jessica Jones was written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Alberto Foche. The Contest of Chaos continues on, this time with Johnny Storm vs. Johnny Blaze. Human Torch vs. Ghost Rider. I have enjoyed these annuals so far as I am intrigued by what Agatha Harkness is up to.

No/One #5. Written by Kyle Higgins & Brian Buccellato. Art is by Geraldo Borges. The mystery behind No/One continues to enthrall me. In this issue, Aaron Kern, the man convicted for being No/One, recanted his confession and wound up being released. Things are heating up again as we reach the halfway point for this series.

Captain America Finale #1. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Carmen Carnero. The Outer Circle storyline comes to an end as Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes bring the manipulators to their Doom (literally).

Tenement #3. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. They are to Floor Seven. Not sure where Isaac had went, the group continue to explore this spooky building. The comic art is beautiful, but I have been having a tough time following everything so far. I have loved the previous Bone Orchard work so I am ready to continue this.