September 10, 2023

New banner!

Good Sunday to everyone. I am back with a new Comic Cavalcade after I spent some of my day at a special event that was held at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa. It was the Quad Con, a convention featuring all of the keys of pop culture, from comic books to toys to artwork and geek/nerd culture.

I had heard that this was a minor convention and that there would not be much there, but when I showed up at 10 AM this morning, there were quite a few people there and they had a lot of things set up. I am sure that it was not at the level of events that, say Todd, is used to, but for me, who had never attended a comic convention before, this had a ton to look at.

I will agree that comics made up about 30% of the overall exhibits on display and that there were also a ton of toys, but the comic vendors that I saw had a lot of choices and I was happy to get an opportunity to pick up some books that I normally do not see anywhere but, perhaps, on eBay.

My local comic shop from Dubuque, Comic World and games, had a presence at the show too as Pat and Jeff were here working. They had a pair of giant D & D dice to role to determine discount on what is purchased. That was fun. As always, I want to support Comic World so, even though I had seen most everything that they were going to have, I picked up a couple of things, including Action Comics #454, which Pat had said was his favorite cover of all time.

They also had some Ghostbusters cosplay going on with some cool looking set up, a Ghostbuster truck, a couple of inflatable Ghostbusters creatures, including the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and such. I think they were doing something special with the Ghostbusters later in the day, but I did not stick around for that.

I got a bunch of cool comics to go along with the experience of attending the con. I picked up my first ever CGC Universal graded book, Amazing Spider-Man #289, which was graded at 9.4. I thought having one of these would be cool and this was the ASM issue where they ‘revealed’ the identity of the Hobgoblin. I also pocked up Daredevil #12 guest starring Ka-Zar (which is now my oldest Daredevil book), three issues of a Hellcat series that I had never seen before (she is in a blue outfit), Not Brand Echh #1-3, What If… #61, 71, 97, 88, 92, 112 and What If Dr. Doom had Become Thing #1. Also Amazing Spider-Man issues 655-658. and 544 (Part 1 of One More Day). Ice Cream Man trade paperback (collecting #1-4). Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1 (from IDW)New Thunderbolts #17 (which was free on the table for coming to the con), Plastic Man #10, and issues #1 & 2 of American Vampire Anthology from Vertigo. There were a lot of fun stuff and the only thing keeping me where I was was my wallet.

Other books this week:

Planetary #2. “Island.” Written by Warren Ellis and featuring art by John Cassaday. Elijah Snow and Jakita headed to an island (that really resembled Godzilla’s Monster Island) to try and prevent a group of people from discovering the mystery of the island. We also see a giant green lizard’s carcass (which sure resembled Godzilla) on the island. Fun issue.

Omega the Unknown #2. “Welcome to Hell’s Kitchen.” Written by Steve Gerber & Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney. The mysterious connection between Omega and James-Michael continues as James-Michael is injured when something happens to Omega. Oh, and there is a Hulk too.

Dr. Strange #7. “Don’t Let Your Ashes Fill Your Eyes.” Written by Jed macKay and drawn by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did the cover art. Doctor Strange and General Strange come face-to-face and Stephen realizes what a challenge is ahead of him. And what exactly is going on with Clea?

Swan Songs #3. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Filipe Andrade. One of the most beautifully rendered books I have seen in a long time. This is simply an artistic masterpiece. Plus, a story of nuclear destruction and the survival of two individuals. Beautiful book.

Barnstormers #3. “Chapter Three.” Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Tula Lotay. This series wraps up with a somewhat happy ending… or as it seems. The fact that this book ends about half way through the book and the second part of the book is art and covers etc.

Black Panther #4. “Reign at Dusk Part 4” Written by Eve L. Ewing and penciled by Chris Allen and Mack Chater. Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Black Panther battles a controlled Deathlok. I am still struggling to follow this book with all the characters that I am not sure of.

Moon Knight #27. “Journey to the Center of the Mind.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Federico Sabbatini. Cover art by Stephen Segovia and Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight and Hunter’s Moon go inside the mind of Vibro’s mind to try and find out what he knows about Black Spectre is found.

Peacemaker: Tries Hard #5. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Steve Pugh. Cover art by Kris Anka. Peacemaker and Red Bee have to fight a bunch of Deathstroke clones, especially Teen Deathstroke and a bunch of baby Deathstroke clones. Fun series with the tone of the HBO Max show.

Silver Surfer Rebirth-Legacy #1. “Temptation” Written by Ron Marz and drawn by Ron Lim. Variant cover drawn by Frank Miller. Silver Surfer steals the time gem from Gamora to take Genis-Vell into the past to let him see his father, Captain Marvel. Everything is not as happy as it seems.

Void Rivals #3. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Lorenzo De Felici. Darak and Solila have to face off with a new villain as they try to return to the Sacred Ring. Void Rivals has been a fun and intriguing series so far and it looks like a betrayal is going to where we are moving forward.

Silk #5. Written by Emily Kim and drawn by Ig Guara. Cindy Moon goes into her brother’s dream to try and stop Saya Ishii from taking her revenge on Cindy through Albert.