August 31, 2023

Yesterday was a busy day, so I only had the chance to gets some of the books from NEW COMIC BOOK DAY read tonight. There will be another EYG Comic Cavalcade later this weekend (probably), but kicked it off.

There are also a few back issues in this week’s post. Some fun books…

The Tick #4. “A Big Fight.” Written and penciled by Ben Edlund. This was a great pick up by my friend Todd. These New England Comics books are unlike a lot of books. Black and white. Larger sized comic book. I know some of the basic stories told with the Tick but this included a lot of characters that I have never heard of including Paul the Samurai. It felt as if I missed some story beats too as I wasn’t sure why The Tick was doing some of the things he was doing. Still, enjoyed this a lot.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1. “New Normal.” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and drawn by Carlos Gomez & Adam Gorham. Cover art by Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson. Our newly resurrected MUTANT Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel is back in her own limited series, co-written by the actor Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala in the MCU. This was a lot of fun as Kamala head undercover for the X-Men inside a college summer program that is sponsored by Orchis. Ms. Marvel appears in her new X-Man outfit and gets a taste of the hatred given to mutants. There are some wonderful scenes between Kamala and Bruno in this book and I loved the use of Kamala as a narrator. Good stuff.

Secret War #3-4. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Gabriele Dell’Otto. I am enjoying this series so far, even if some of the time jumps and the confusion of the characters involved make me a bit uncertain about what is happening. Nick Fury is causing all kinds of chaos and the super heroes are struggling to remember what happened in Latveria. Meanwhile, Captain America is back and he is ticked off.

Ultimate Invasion #3. Written by Jonathan Hickman and penciled by Bryan Hitch. We’re getting a bunch of variations of different heroes here and the Maker is more involved than is good. There are some shocking moments, including an appearance by Reed Richards in a Doom mask and an armored up Kang.

Knight Terrors: Night’s End#1. Written by Joshua Williamson and Art by Howard Porter. The two month run through the nightmares of the DC characters come to an end as the combined heroes of the DC universe and Deadman and Sandman helped stop Insomnia after 45 previous issues of horrors. The nightmares are beginning to make people feel scared of superheroes in the DC world, and they introduced a new character called Doctor Hate. The ending was fine. The overall series has its ups and downs, but I was happy I bought it.

Marvel Age #1000. A compilation of short stories from some of the top creative forces of the genre that spanned the history of the Marvel universe. It included the original Human Torch, Spider-Man, the original X-Men, the Mighty Thor, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Silver Surfer and a cut little story with childhood versions of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. A celebration of the entire line and history of Marvel Comics.

The Plot Holes #1. Written and illustrated by Sean Gordon Murphy. Honestly, this is one of the more original and way out there ideas I have seen in comics in a long while. This issue spent a lot of time building up the world these characters existed within and that truly required some serious build because it is a touch confusing. Still, I am curious to see where this goes.

Incredible Hulk #3. “That Old-Time Religion: Part Two” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. The Hulk is out of Banner and is as brutal as ever. The young girl named Charlie was, at first, shunned by Hulk and then, after she proved herself, was allowed to tag along. They had to face the zombies of Brother Deep. More horror in the world of the Hulk and I am here for it.

Moon Knight Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Four.” This annual featured the battle between Moon Knight and Korean hero Taegukgi of the Tiger Division. I loved the resolution of this fight as Moon Knight realized what they were doing and just said, “I quit.” We also start to see what Agatha Harkness is after in the final few pages of the story.

Blade #2. “Mother of Evil.” Written by Bryan Hill and penciled by Elena Casagrande. Blade and Tulip meet up as Blade saved her life. This leads to a lot of trouble for both of them and leaves Blade in a bad state. So far this has been different than I expected, definitely in a good way.