April 5

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade once again. I have to shout out to the comic company Mad Cave. I have really found that this independent company has been releasing some excellent books recently, picking up their game. I think this company is just behind Image (close to a tie with DC) for me on my current favorite company list. 1. Marvel, 2. Image, 3. DC, 4. Mad Cave, 5. Dynamite, 6. Boom! Studios, 7. DSTLRY (DSTLRY would be higher if they had a more consistent release schedule) 8. Dark Horse 9. Oni, 10. Keenspot. This list is consistently fluid, of course, as it may depend on specific books released.

Other books this week:

All-New Venom #5. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin. In the EYG Comic Cavalcade #143, I speculated that maybe Marvel was pulling a swerve and not making this all-new Venom one of the four suspects that they were promoting as the suspects. I had a gut feeling that they were pulling out a surprise and I was right about it. I am not sure how I feel about the reveal of the All-New Venom. We’ll see how it goes.

Spider-Boy #18. “Keys to the Kingdom.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Paco Medina and Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy has to face off with Mister Negative, despite Spider-Man’s objections.

Past Time #1. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art. One of those new Mad Cave books that I really liked. The story had a time frame from early days of baseball and the days of the first night game at Wrigley Field. There are a lot of things going on in this book and I loved it.

You Never Heard of Me #3. Written by Iolanda Zanfardino and illustrated by Elisa Romboli. Will is having a difficult time adjusting to his powers to see the best and worst moment of anyone’s life (which switches on a regular basis). He sees that a classmate Rory could die and he wants to figure out how it is going to happen.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #1. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art (Both cover A & B) by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen. Rennie has been accepted to the New York Fashion and Design Institute. She was after a certain thing, but it was not necessarily the reason one would expect. She is a serial killer. Look out, Sofie. I had to grab the cover B version along with the cover A because I loved the B, but I wanted A too.

We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #1. Written by Matthew Rosenberg and art and cover art by Stefano Landini. A brand new story that, when broken down, is really the story of a father and his daughter. Admittedly, there are more levels to this new Image book than that. This first issue was compelling though. We’ll see where it goes.

West Coast Avengers #6. Written by Gerry Conway and art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. We get some Avengers on Avengers violence in this issue as some members of the Avengers face off with the West Coast Avengers over the potential dangers of Ultron. I have enjoyed this series so far.

X-Men #14. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Variant cover D art by Woo Chul Lee. Piper, the young girl of the mutant-hating mother, was told that she was not a mutant and turned away by the X-Men. She has disappeared into the wilderness of Alaska and there was definitely something about the girl.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1. Dialogue by Charles Soule and art and cover art by Steve McNiven (Gold Medalist). I typical am not a fan of the possible future stories like this one. Throw that out the window. I loved this book. It might be the best book of the week. The future version of Matt Murdock is awesome and I loved everything about this series. Charles Soule is a great writer and you can see his skill here. Three issue series and it started tremendously.

Juvenile #5. Written, art and cover art by Jesus Orellana. This was the final issue of this Image series. I have enjoyed this book considerably. It has a Stranger Things meet X-Men feel to it and I think the book is set up to continue at some time in the future. Great stuff.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #32. “God War Part 1” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Miles finds himself in the middle of a bunch of Gods, from Thor, Hercules, Anansi to Ares. Miles has to be considered a big gun at this point.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #7. “Pool Party” written by Jed MacKay and art by Domenico Carbone. Cover art by Davide Paratore (Silver Medalist). Moon Knight has a plan to attempt to draw out Hank Pym. The plan involved Pym’s daughter, Nadia. There is a lot of connections between Moon Knight and Hank Pym that they can mine for goodness here. I love when they use the characters’ background.

Absolute Superman #6. “Son of Smallville” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Carmine Di Giandomenico. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. We get the back story of what happened when an older Kal-El, more teenage than baby, arrived in Kansas with Jonathan and Martha Kent. It was a little different than what we were used to.

Let This One Be A Devil #2. Script by James Tynion IV & Steve Foxe and art by Piotr Kowalski. Gavin Fullerton did the cover art. This “True Weird Story” continues with a look at the mysterious Leeds Devil. This reminds me of a horror version of Blue Book, a series from Dark Horse penned by Tynion IV. This has some scary moments inside that really work with his style.

Immortal Thor #22. “The Edge” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor and Skurge are joined by Hermod in their quest that may be leading to a major event in this series.

Those Not Afraid #3. Script by Kyle Starks and art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Cover art was done by Glenn Fabry. Turned out that out two serial killers, competing with each other for most kills, were able to squirm their way out of trouble from last issue.

Hyde Street #5. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Francis Portela. Cover art by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Miss Glee Goodbody is our focus this issue of Hyde Street. She was a horrendous woman. Very unlikable. Hyde Street still has that Twilight Zone feel to it and it delivers a strong story each issue.

The Lucky Devils #3. Written by Charles Soule and art and cover art by Ryan Browne. Charles Soule seems to be very busy lately with a bunch of Marvel books and this one that definitely has that Eight Billion Genies vibe to it. No genies, but demons from Hell instead. This continues to be a fun title with some of the more creative ideas you are going to find.

Pop Kill #2. Story by Jimmy Palmiotti & Dave Johnson and art by Juan Santacruz. Variant cover B art by ark Chiarello. What happens when you get James Bond fighting villainous agents over a pop formula? You get Pop Kill. Another new Mad Cave book that has a lot going for it. I love this cool variant cover too. Probably could have competed for the medal if I had gotten it earlier in the week.

Darkwing Duck #2. Written by Daniel Kibblesmith and art by Ted Brandt & Ro Stein. Cover art was done by Tad Stones. This issue of the Disney character Darkwing Duck featured Gosalyn and her school play. She is manipulated by a super villain posing as her substitute teacher. Ah, if I had a nickel for every substitute teacher who was truly a super villain.

Plague House #1. Written by Michael W. Conrad and illustrated and cover art by Dave Chisholm. Another good new independent book, but this time it is from Oni Press. An online ghost hunter group, looking to debunk the false houses, go into a house where it is anything but fake. There are some very dramatic moments in this issue.

Concert of Champions #1. Written by Jason Loo and art by Rafael Loureiro & Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Javier Garrón & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Dazzler, Luna Snow and Lil Cheney are putting on a concert. That means there will be trouble coming. Here in the form of a super villain heavy metal band. Hmm.

Hello Darkness #9. Variant Cover art by Jenny Frison. Once again, there is a group of intriguing horror/thriller stories inside this anthology series. “Teacher’s Pet” from Cullen Bunn is probably my favorite of the issue. That has some personal connection as a teacher.

Psylocke #6. “House of Ghosts.” Written by Alyssa King and art by Vincenzo Carratù and Moises Hidalgo. Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. What is happening to Kwannon? And can a trip to see the Uncanny X-Men, in particular Deathdream, help out. Will Rogue think it is a good idea? More conflict between the two X-teams.

Absolute Green Lantern #1. “The Black Hand.” Written by Al Ewing and art and cover art by Jahnoy Lindsay. Al Ewing is everywhere these days. How many books is this guy writing in a month? He hits another home run with this new version of Green Lantern. I love the way he weaves these other Lanterns into this story. Another strong Absolute DC book.

Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #1. “This Body Holding Me.” Written by Ram V and art by Anand RK and Jackson “Butch” Guice. Jeff Dèkal did the cover art. This is a solid book from DC Comics’ Black Label. I did not know this character before, though Todd said he used to love him. I am intrigued by what I read here and, with a grumble, will pick up yet another DC book.

Hornsby & Halo #5. Storytellers are Peter J. Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Zach and Rose are reeling from the things that have been happening to them so far, but this issue takes that to another step. Pinch each other to see if they are dreaming.

The Atom Project #4. “Catalyst.” Written by Ryan Parrott and John Ridley and art by Mike Perkins. Variant cover B art by Mark Spears (Bronze Medalist). Captain Atom vs. Zmeck. The Atom Project has been a solid series so far, and I believe it is coming to an end soon. It shows that you can have a good series with any characters as long as there is good writing.

Deadpool #13. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antônio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Deadpool and Daughters are on the path to find Death Grip. On the path, they must fight Solem, he with the adamantium skin. If you haven’t had enough of them together yet, Wolverine makes a cameo with Deadpool.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Dalibor Talajic. Cover is the April Pool’s Day Variant cover with all white. Remember when I mentioned earlier about how I usually did not like possible future stories but I loved the new Daredevil one? This is an example of the other way around. I did not care for this at all and liked it even less when I learned it was more than just a one shot.

Two-Face #5. “Roll the Dice and Die!” Written by Christian Ward and art by Fabio Veras. Cover art was done by Baldemar Rivas. Two-Face’s daughter? Die. Rolls her way into this issue, trying to find her father. This penultimate issue of the book sets up the next issue with Batman.

Olympians: Hades-Lord of the Dead Graphic Novel. Created by George O’Connor. I picked this up off of Amazon this week because my 8th grade class will be reading an excerpt from this graphic novel out of their HMH curriculum this coming week and I wanted to see the whole thing. I did the same thing with Monster: A Graphic Novel by Walter Dean Myers. I do like how this program includes some graphic novels in their units.

Other books this week: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 10th Anniversary Special #1, The Terminator #6, Red Before Black #5, Ironheart: Bad Chemistry #1, Rivals #1, Secret Six #2, Money Shot: Big Bang #0, Ripperland #3, Sam and Twitch Case Files #12, and Ultimate X-Men.