August 15, 2024

Welcome back to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. This is the last Comic Cavalcade before I go back to school. I have, once again, truly enjoyed the summer break when I could head up to Comic World every Wednesday and spend time reading the new comics in the afternoon. I looked forward to every Wednesday and I will miss it.

One of my favorite parts of going to Comic World on Wednesday is seeing my friend Todd. He is a former teacher who has been collecting comics since the early 1960s. He was not at my last day this summer because he took off for Terrificon, a comic convention held in Connecticut. There are a ton of comic luminaries in attendance (from Walter Simonson to Chris Claremont to Jim Lee, among others). Todd and a friend was driving up to the convention that started on Friday. Good luck at the con, Todd. Drive safely.

Comic World was featured in an article in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald this past Sunday, including a picture of Ben, Pat and Todd. The article was about graphic novels and it was a fun read. It also featured comments by Loras professor Kenny Loui, ho himself had written two manga-inspired graphic novels, which I purchased on Amazon after reading the article. The graphic novels included books called Life Lessons from a UFO Catcher: An Autobiographical Manga and There is No Shrimp… And Other Lies My Mother Told Me. Telegraph Herald article can be found online at the following link: https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/features/article_b24a7f7a-4f78-11ef-98ba-83149323b470.amp.html

So, here are the books this week:

Werewolf By Night: Red Band #1. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. Cover art was done by E.M. Gist. Marvel has been playing around with “red band” comics during the Blood Hunt. This issue came in a polybag to keep the gimmick going. The red band was just to draw more blood than you would see in a normal Marvel Comic, but you see more blood in an episode of The Boys or Invincible. I do like the character of Jack Russell so this was fun, but I see no major reason for the red band label.

Fantastic Four #23. “Johnny Storm Gets Choked By an Alien in this One.” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art is by Alex Ross. The best title of a comic this year. It was also a focus of the issue as Johnny Storm served as the issue’s narrator and told the story of the FF shrinking down and heading into a microscopic dimension with aliens of course. The FF is one of the most consistently enjoyable books of the year.

Amazing Spider-Man #55. Written by Zeb Wells and art by guest artist Emilio Laiso. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz (Silver Medalist). Peter Parker goes on a date, but we know the Parker luck means that that date was due to be interrupted by super villains. Peter takes an unconventional step. This was a fun, palate-cleanser after the Blood Hunt stuff.

Jonny Quest #1. Written by Joe Casey and drawn by Sebastian Piriz. Variant cover C art by Tom Raney (Bronze Medalist). I had not intended on picking this up, though I was somewhat interested in the book, especially after enjoying the take on Space Ghost this year from Dynamite Comics. So when there was an issue available at Comic World yesterday, I picked it up. And wouldn’t you know it, it was epic. I have never been a Jonny Quest fan, but this was truly fun and enjoyable and filled with a really compelling story.

Judgment Day #1. Written by Aubrey Sitterson and line art and cover art by Megan Hutchison. This book is 2024’s White Savior #3. What I mean by that is I had ordered this awhile ago, but it just never arrived or it went to other people or whatever. I got issue #2 and #3, but never this one. I was joking that this issue did not exist. Finally this week, Judgment Day #1 arrived in my pull box to a minor celebration. Archie Andrews in a world overrun by demons. Sounds right.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #3. “Haunted Part 3” Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Federica Mancin. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen is in universe 616 and an evil doppelganger is running around causing trouble, and Gwen is showing some new and unsettling powers.

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #1. Written by Matthew Rosenberg and art and cover art by Otto Schmidt. This was another book I picked up off the stands yesterday as DC has their very own Blood Hunt, I guess. Except, of course, this is not normal continuity. I was curious about issue number one, but I do believe I have had my share of superhero v. vampire for the time being.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #23. “Birds of a Feather Part One” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Federico Vicentini. Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Miles struggles with his new bloodlust since becoming a vampire in the Blood Hunt. The new emotions are coming out of Miles in unexpected ways as he is becoming angrier and more violent.

Elric the Necromancer #2. Adapted by Julien Blondel & Jean-Luc Cano. Script by Julien Blondel and art by Valentin Secher. Elric and the Queen confront Arioch. Though this may be my least favorite cover of the year, the story inside is excellent and the tale of Elric continues on strongly.

Spider-Society #1. Written by Alex Segura and art by Scott Godlewski. Pete Woods was the cover artist. A group of Spider-men from across the Spider-verse join together to try and find Miguel O’Hara, who has been taken by someone. But beware, there is a traitor among the Spiders.

Spider-Boy #10. “Spider-Boy Versus the Spider-Verse!” and “A Bailey Reminder” Written by Dan Slott and art by Nathan Stockman and Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Median & Edgar Delgado. Miles is still lost among the Spider-verse as Madame Web is trying to find him and bring him back. There is a funny one-page “ad” as Miles gets caught in a Mostess ad (a parody of the old Twinkies ads from comics).

X-Factor #1. Written by Mark Russell and drawn by Bob Quinn. My goodness, what an unexpected issue this was. They introduced the new team of X-Factor working for the government, but, at the end, killed off some of them. I had to read over it a couple of times just to make sure I saw what I saw.

Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1. Speaking of surprises, this anthology issue featured the final story for Danny Rand. At least, it sure looked like the final story for Danny Rand as they killed him off on the final page. Then the waxed about the character at the very end with the writers and editors. I know Danny has not been Iron Fist for awhile now, but this was still an unexpected and not necessarily happy result.

The Butcher’s Boy #1-3. Story by Landry Q. Walker and Pannel Vaughn. Script by Landry Q. Walker and art by Justin Greenwood. Greenwood with Brad Simpson did the cover art. This Dark Horse book was one that I missed earlier, so they all arrived yesterday. It is the story of a group of friends and their trip to a ghost town, plagued by a serial killer. I was surprised how much interaction there was between characters and I certainly found this fascinating.

Sensation She-Hulk #10. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Andres Genolet. Dee Cunniffe did the cover art. The final issue of the Sensational She-Hulk saw Jen decide about her career as an Avenger and her relationship with Jack of Hearts. I have enjoyed She-Hulk over the last few years and I am sorry to see her book go.

X-Men #2. “Invasion” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Scott, Magik and Psylocke head after a new mutant whose powers are developing much later in life, a trend that they had been seeing lately. This group of X-Men do work well together, especially with the Juggernaut-cannon. It was like the ultimate fastball special.

Wonderland: Return to Madness #2. Written by Alec Worley and art by Giulia Pellegrini. Cover art was by Guillermo Fajardo (Gold Medalist). The adventures inside Wonderland continue with Violet, in search of a way to resurrect her mother. Can Violet protect the human girl Bonnie, who has some connection to the fate of Wonderand?

The Ultimates #3. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. This was my favorite Ultimates book so far as Iron Lad, Thor and Sif go to an island that had been devastated by Gamma radiation, the site of the Ultimates Hulk. The issue was more emotional than I expected and is setting up an awesome confrontation.

Geiger #5. Creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover. Another unexpected emotional issue with the glowing man and his dog. Very powerful. In fact, the cover of this book was really missed during the cover of the week contest. It probably should have placed among the medalist, if not actually won it. This one was really strong and the entire book is one of the best of the week.

Ultraman x Avengers #1. Written by Kyle Higgins & Mat Groom. Art was by Francesco Manna and cover art was by Dike Ruan & Neerja Menon. I got this because it was a Marvel #1, but I found myself unexpectedly enjoying this issue a lot. Perhaps because it focused on Miles Morales and included Peter Parker Spider-Man as well. This was fun and I want to see more.

Transformers #11. Written by Danie Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art was done by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. Optimus Prime launches a rescue mission to save Cliffjumper and Jazz. Things do not go well.

Immortal Thor #14. “The Wheel” Legacy number 775 for Thor. Written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor vs. Zeus. ‘Nuff Said.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8. “Three Moments” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Davide Paratore did the cover art. Marc Spector returned to the Midnight Mission after his resurrection in the Blood Hunt.

Other books this week: Anansi Boys #2, Domain #2, Napalm Lullaby #6, Gilt Frame #1, Wolverine Annual #1, and Venom War: Spider-Man #1