June 13, 2023

It is that time of the week once again as I am providing the EYG Comic Cavalcade!

This weekend, I am heading to a comic/toy show in the Quad Cities and I am excited about it. This is the same folks who put on the one I went to last September in Dubuque. I had a lot of fun at that one, and picked up some cool comics along the way. With my collection in a much more organized manner than last September, I will have a better knowledge of back issues that I need instead of just guessing and hoping that I do not duplicate myself.

Todd also got me several of the Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 books that I was missing. It seemed as if volume 2 was the stretch of Spidey books that I missed the most of. It would have been during the time when I did not have a lot of money, right out of college and subbing. Todd is continuing to look for back issues for me in Kansas City this weekend. Thanks again, sir!

Here are this week’s books:

Saga #55-65. After the shocking end of volume 9 (which I thought would be the end of the series only to find out that it was not), I went to eBay and found this run of Saga. It arrived this week and I dove right into it, consuming the content quickly. Such a great series! Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples are amazing together in this book.

Giant Size Daredevil#1. “The Devil You Know” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Paul Davidson. Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. This giant size issue focuses on the return of Kingpin to relevance in Hell’s Kitchen, often times a bloody path that he has taken. This leads into the next arc in Daredevil’s own comic.

Lawful #1. Written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Diego Galindo. Qistina Khalidah did the cover art. This new Boom! Studios book has a definite flavor of Saga to it, with one of our main characters having to never break the rules. He must follow them all at all times and his friend does not seem to want to do that. Interesting start even if it does not grab you the way Saga did.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #21. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Brent Peeples & Daniel Picciotto. This is a Blood Hunt tie-in and shows us how Miles happened to be turned into a vampire. Miles has a tough life for sure.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #3. “Eyes in the Night” Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. This issue focuses upon the Osborn section of this story, seeing both Norman and Harry and what happened to them during this period.

Incredible Hulk #13. “Doctor Voodoo and the Soul Cage Part Two” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art and cover art by Nic Klein. The Hulk and Banner are trapped inside the soul cage and they are continuing to try and find Charlie before it is too late.

Avengers #15. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Joshua Cassara and Guru-eFX did the cover art. The Blood Hunt continues here as Captain America’s newly formed squad of Avengers battle the forces of Baron Blood. I like this team of Avengers, but I always like Steve Rogers on the team. Just seems right to me.

Scarlet Witch #1. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Jacopo Camagni. Russell Dauterman did the art on the cover. The new Scarlet Witch series started off by introducing to us a new character named Mantor and then promptly killing him off. Or at least as dead as one may be in a magic book. I mean, Wanda did get eaten by a giant monster. That did not stop her.

Fantastic Four #21. “To Curse the Darkness” Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art is done once more by Alex Ross. This is another Blood Hunt tie in as Reed and Alicia wind up in New York facing off with “vampire-like creatures” as Reed put it. Reed used his stretching in creative ways to prevent the innocents from being attacked. Meanwhile, what is happening with the rest of the FF back in Arizona?

Transformers #9. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art was by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer (Gold Medalist). More exciting Autobots/Decepticon battles as led by Optimus Prime. Ratchet sacrificed himself to save one of his Autobot buddies. Is that it for Ratchet?

Blood Hunt #3. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Larraz & Marte Gracia did the cover art. The huge crossover continues as Bloodline (aka Brielle, Blade’s daughter) learned that her father is behind everything that is happening, Doctor Strange and the other heroes were able to control Miles Morales and Sam Wilson, aka Captain America gave a rousing speech. Inspiration everywhere!

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #1. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Netho Diaz. Dotun Akande did the cover art. Since he is heading to Mars, Apocalypse is looking for someone to take his place as the overseer of the ascension of mutants on earth and 12 mutants have stepped up to vie for the position.

Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #2. Written by Daniel Jose Older and art by Luigi Zagaria & Eric Gapstur. Edgar Delgado did the cover art. When the kids from Strange Academy discover that their friend Pia was already a vampire, they changed their tune about searching for the Darkhold so all vampires could be eliminated. Oh and a strange visitor arrives in the last few pages… Dr. Doom?

Spider-Boy #8. “Fun & Games” Written by Dan Slott and art by Jason Loo. Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado did cover art. After turning the Humanimals back to human (or at least those that they could), Spider-Boy heads back to NYC to retrieve a photo of himself with his mother. Unfortunately, Puzzle Man has some fourth wall breaking to do.

Deadpool #3. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antonio. This is a phot variant cover with a pic of Deadpool from the upcoming movie, Deadpool & Wolverine. Deadpool is reunited with his daughter Ellie in the middle of a battle with Crossbones. Wade discovered that he had more in common with his daughter than just blood.

Jubilee: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Preeti Chhibber and penciled by Enid Balám. Cover art was done by Erica D’Urso & Rachelle Rosenberg. Jubilee was once a vampire. That makes her an obvious but major player in the Blood Hunt. She teams up again with the Forgiven to battle vampires in this one shot in the Blood Hunt crossover event.

Ghostlore #11. “Tests” Written by Cullen Bunn (and Riccardo La Bella) and illustrated by Leomacs (and Francesco Segala). Reiko Murakami and Riccardo La Bella did the cover art. Lucas and Harmony come face to face with Shane and discover the secret of him… he is also a ghost.

Ultimate X-Men #4. Written and drawn (and cover art) by Peach Momoko. This is a beautifully illustrated issue with much of the story being told visually. We discover an important piece of information about where this dangerous shadow is actually from. Plus, we see these new forms of the characters responding. I do enjoy this new and original rendition of the X-Men in the Ultimate Universe.

G.O.D.S. #8. “The Fourth Axis” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Valerio Schiti. Mateus Manhanini did the cover art. Hickman’s latest epic comes to a close with a wild time traveling encounter with Wyn going all over the place. This has been a challenging read and it is not just another comic book. There was a lot of creativity and originality in the story and characters. I love the design of the In-Betweener here too.

The Deviant #6. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson (Silver medalist). This series has been excellent as there is such a intriguing mystery at its center. Could Michael really be the killer? Derek does not believe it. I forget that James Tynion does this book until I am doing the Comic Cavalcade write up, and then I realize why I love this book so much.

Deadpool/Wolverine: World War III #2. Written by Joe Kelly and drawn by Adam Kubert. Adam Kubert and Frank Martin did the cover art. Wade Wilson is in bad shape. So bad of shape that he even has some pity from Wolverine. They are in the battle for their lives.

Napalm Lullaby #4. Written by Rick Remender and drawn and cover art by Bengal. Sam and Sarah are struggling to survive their confrontation with Janitor. Still not 100% sure what is happening in this book, but it is lovely to look at. Love the character designs here too.

Geiger #3. “What are Books Good for Anyway?” Written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Gary Frank. Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art. Geiger finds a library and a certain book that takes him back to his past. When that book gets ruined, what will happen?

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Bjorn Barends did the cover art (Tie for Bronze Medalist). I was talking to another customer in Comic World the other day about Blood Hunt and he mentioned how he feels iffy about the heroes killing these vampires since they are basically humans who could be turned back from their vampire forms. Spidey expresses the exact same philosophy, which is exactly what Spider-Man would be thinking about. Spidey has always been about saving EVERYBODY and that has always been one of my favorite aspects about him as a hero.

Something Epic #11. Written, illustrated and cover art by Szymon Kudranski. Noa and her duck continue to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Zeus, and they head to meet Thor and also eventually to see Set. This series is spanning all across the mythological world and has amazing art inside.

Ain’t No Grave #2. “Chapter Two: Anger” Written by Skottie Young and art by Jorge Corona. More Western action as only Skottie Young can provide as Ryder head toward the boat Her Blind Majesty. Excellent art and some wonderful visual storytelling.

Crocodile Black #2. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Som. Cover art by Andrea Sorrentino with colors by Dave Stewart. This is an intriguing book, even though it is fairly confusing. Our main hero is named Danny, but he had taken on the life of a vet named Leo, but it seems as if he is possessed by some kind of crocodile creature. I like this book, but it may require a re-read to understand what is happening.

Other books this week: Torpedo 1972 #4, Night People #4, and Monsters are my Business #3.