March 8

Big week here at EYG Comic Cavalcade. We had everything from weather to special sales to eBay orders. I have a bunch of books to enter into my CLZ app. I broke the 17,000 limit this week and, after today’s “fill-the-bag” sale at In This Issue Comics, I am nearly to 17,100.

I went to the comic shop In This Issue Comics in Bettendorf, which my friend James goes to for his Turtles books. There happened to be a special sale going on. It was a really nice little shop with terrible parking. It had a great variety of independents and variant covers. While I am always loyal to Comic World, In This Issue Comics was a nice shop that I might go back to some day, just to check it out. Certainly, I will go there before I go back to the other one in Davenport that I visited last month that made me think of an armpit.

Books this week:

What If…? Mickey and Friends Became Avengers #1. “The Coming of the Avengers.!” Plot by Steve Behling, script by Luca Barbieri and art by Alessandro Pastrovicchio. I started off with this because I got this cover A from Comic World, but picked up the Pluto variant at In This Issue Comics. This cool Pluto as Ant Man variant looks awesome and I just could not ignore it.

The Missionary #2. Written by Ryan Stegman and art and cover art by Jason Howard. This DSTLRY book continues with all kinds of demons and creatures battling their way through the pages. The character designs are really cool and well done. The imagery of the book works so well for these larger sized pages from DSTLRY.

Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1-4. Story and art by Gerry Duggan & Garry Brown. I picked up these four issues of this ongoing Image book off eBay this week and I have #5,6 & 0 on the way in another order. I have enjoyed this series very much as we cross genres between Western and Samurais. It is a mystical story with two characters stranded on an island. Always reminds me of LOST. This has been very enjoyable so far.

Hornsby & Halo #3. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art by Peter Snejbjerg. Peter Snejbjerg and John Kalisz did the art for the cover. I actually haven’t gotten this read yet, since it just arrived in the mail today from eBay. However, I had #4 last week and realized I was missing an issue. I am hoping to get to these two later tonight or sometime this weekend. They look cool.

Uncanny X-Men #11. “Echoes of Madness” Written by Gail Simone and art by Javier Garrón. Cover art was by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. The big crossover “X-Manhunt” started in this issue with Chapter 1. Charles Xavier is out and about, back to causing trouble, even if he does not intend to.

NYX #9. “Charles.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Francesco Mortarino. Variant cover B art by Peach Momoko. This is Chapter 2 in the “X-Manhunt” crossover event as Charles makes his way to New York. Mojo is also here ready to bring his own brand of problems.

Storm #6. “Thundercloud.” Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by Mateus Manhanini. Chapter 3 of the “X-Manhunt” happened in this issue. Storm faces off with the X-Men and she shows them that she is anything but a soft touch. Xavier came to Storm for help and boy does she give it. Poor Cyclops and Juggernaut.

The Spectacular Spider-Men #13. “Life and Limb.” Written by Greg Weisman and art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was by Emilio Laiso and Edgar Delgado. The Lizard stopped the Electros from finishing off the Spider-Men, but the Lizard was still in a crazed form. So Peter and Miles had to face off with the reptile.

Juvenile #4. Written, illustrated and cover art by Jesus Orellana. Juvenile has been an excellent book so far and this penultimate issue of the series is not the exception. The kids get together and attempt an escape from the institution. I look forward to seeing what the end of this book will bring.

Doctor Strange of Asgard #1. Written by Derek Landy and art by Carlos Magno. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Arthur Helsi (Gold Medalist). After losing his Sorcerer Supreme mantel for earth, Strange heads to Asgard to attempt to become the Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard. Thor says sure, but there are other obstacles for Strange to avoid. This is a cool new book featuring Dr. Strange while Doom is earth’s sorcerer supreme.

Jumpscare #1. Written by Cullen Dunn and art and cover art by Danny Luckert. This brand new Dark Horse book was a lot of fun. A new super hero is one the scene and she can summon weapons that she has seen from horror movies. Luckily, she is an aficionado of the genre. This is another cool, new Dark Horse book. I love the originality.

The Ultimates #10. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neera J. Menon. It is always great fighting Nazis. We wind up with an unofficial Invaders reunion… though Namor has seen better days and our villain is a surprise (though I guessed it right away) identity.

The Terminator #5. “Gemini Rising.” Written and cover art by Declan Shalvey and art by Joe Mulvey. Action in outer space with astronauts and a Terminator. This Dynamite book has given us multiple locations for these robot battles and this one makes me think about the Alien franchise instead. Still cool though.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #11. “Uncharted” Part 1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. Some of the answers as to why Gwen had to leave her dimension and how she got tied up with the TVA come out in this issue, as King Loki guest stars.

Space Ghost #10. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Variant cover C art was done by Bjorn Barends. Space Spectre arrives from the future with a mystery identity and a mission to prevent what is coming. Can Space Ghost stop someone so close to him?

Wolverine #7. “Ancient History.” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza. The mystery of the Adamantine rolls on as Wolverine goes one on one with Romulus. Things do not look good for our hero.

Spider-Boy #17. “Bug Brothers.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Nathan Stockman. Paco Medina and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Spider-Boy and Boy-Spider try to co-exist now that Bailey is back from his overseas trip with Daredevil. It is weird but it seems as if every Spider character has a monstrous sidekick nowadays. Bailey has Boy-Spider, Miles has Shift and Peter has Rek-rap. Hmm.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7. “The Sewers of Newark.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferreyra. Variant cover B art by Kevin Eastman. A new story arc begins with this issue, but the Turtles are certainly not on the same page yet. However, perhaps Donatello is not as crazy as he seemed.

Kill Train #2. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and art by Martina Niosi of Outclass Studios. Skylar Patridge did the cover art (Bronze Medalist-tied) We get introductions to some of the other people on the Kill Train and they team together to try and keep themselves alive.

Pinupocalypse #1. Written, art and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. This was one of the independent books I picked off the shelf at In This Issue on Friday and I was surprised how much I loved the book. It reminded me a bit of Love Everlasting crossed with a zombie book. The book was from Massive Comics and I really loved it. Those unexpected treats are the best.

Dust to Dust #3. Written by JG Jones & Phil Bram and art and cover art by JG Jones (Silver Medalist). Sheriff Meadows tried to convince people around him that the mysterious dust storm did not cause a family’s truck to burst into flames. He suspects foul play but no one else seems to buy into it. This was my favorite of the Dust to Dust issues so far as I was into the investigation.

The Tin Can Society #6. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. I swear Tin Can Society has the absolute best cliffhangers/last pages of any series out there. My jaw dropped at the last page of this issue.

The Immortal Thor #21. “Two Did Enter.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist-tied). We get a Executioner-centric issue as he faces off with Thor as they fight over who will go ahead to face the danger coming.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #6. “Shame.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Domenico Carbone. Davide Paratore did the cover art. I have to say that I was a bit confused by this issue and I do not remember much about it. I do love the cover from Davide Paratore and it was nearly a medalist this week.

The Fade #1-2. Written by Aabria Iyengar and illustrated and cover art by Mari Costa. Another fun independent book from the shelves of In This Issue. I liked this story and the way they brought the “Fade” into the book. Is it just all in their minds? This was a great couple of books.

Sam and Twitch Case Files #11. Written by Jordan Barel and Todd McFarlane with art by Thomas Nachlik (with special thanks to Magnus Arts). Cover art was done by Raymond Gay & Marco Failla. This issue focuses more on Twitch than we have gotten in the entire series.

Secret Six #1. Written by Nicole Maines and art by Stephen Segovia. Segovia and Rain Beredo did the cover art. It is another DC book that I liked a lot. I just grabbed this at Comic World this week because the heroes intrigued me and… dang it… I really enjoyed this one too. I have too many DZC books on my list. I don’t need another, but… it looks like I have another.

Parliament of Rooks #4. Written by Abigail Jill Harding with Richard Starkings and illustrated and cover art by Abigail Jill Harding. Things are taking a sharp turn for the worse with our mismatched lovers. There are a lot of monster fight going down this issue and it feels like it is building towards a conclusion.

Hyde Street #4. Storytellers are Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. This month’s tale is of an actor cast in the role of Frankenstein’s Monster in an Abbott and Costello movie and his problematic path, from hours in the makeup chair to injuries to his eyes. Hyde Street continues to be one of the more entertaining horror anthologies of the month.

Blade Forger #1. “Sakima.” Written by Inaki Miranda & Roy Miranda with art and cover art by Inaki Miranda. I liked this book even though it felt all over the place. It is told over the span of decades and feels like a mixture of current and fantasy storytelling.

Scarlet Witch #10. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Jacopo Camagni with Russell Dauterman. Variant cover C art by Corin Howell & Raul Angulo. This next run of Scarlet Witch books came to an end with this issue. It looks as if Wanda is going to have a new series coming up with Vision. I am not sure why they can’t just keep these as a Scarlet Witch book featuring the extra character. They did the same thing last year with Quicksilver.

Blade Red Band #5. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Federica Mancin. Cover art was by David Yardin & Romulo Fajardo Jr. This also brings this round of Blade books to a close. Only five issues for Blade this time. Blade is much like Wanda because they both come back for short runs in a book and then go away for a short period before they return in a new volume. I wish Marvel would not do that so many times or call it a mini-series and put the numbering on the cover (such as 5 of 5).

Two-Face #4. “The Trial of Harvey Dent.” Written by Christian Ward and art by Fabio Veras. Cover art was by Baldemar Rivas. This Two-Face series has been bat-shit crazy. All of the action inside Harvey Dent’s mind, but we are learning a ton about the character of Two face. It has been a great read.

Justice League: The Atom Project #3. “The Bond.” Written by Ryan Parrott and John Ridley and art and cover art by Mike Perkins. Captain Atom is in a difficult mindset and he is not quite in a state of mind for help from the other Atoms.

Other books this week: Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood #1, The Nice House by the Sea #6, Living Hell #3, Moon Man #7, Knights vs. Samurai #6, and Huge Detective #4.