June 29

June is almost gone. It went really quickly as it always does during the summer months. I have just over a month and a half before I have to go back to work.

This past week my official comic collection count broke 18,000. I am so pleased that I can actually tell you what my number is. I am so happy about getting my collection organized a few years back and EYG was a big motivation. I love my CLZ app which puts the books in order and counts them.

Books this week:

Nightwing #78-100. This is the pack of books I got from eBay that officially put me over the 18,000 number. I decided to start picking up the Nightwing book and I went back to grab as much of the Tom Taylor written books as I could. I actually love Taylor from his work on a short series called Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It was like 14 or 15 issues and it was some of the best Spidey writing I have ever read. Tom Taylor understood Spidey so well that I was sad when the series ended. I really enjoyed his take on Dick Grayson too and I was really engaged with this book and the great villains Heartless and Blockbuster.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #34. “God War Part III” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Miles continues with his war in the name of Anansi against Ares. Honestly, this storyline has not been my favorite one so far. I do like Hercules guest starring, but this all feels just too much.

Predator vs. Spider-Man #2. Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Ven Nitro. The Predators are on earth looking for their rogue predator and Spider-Man is in the middle.

Don’t Forget Your Briefcase #1. Written by Eliot Rahal with art and cover art by Phillip Sevy. A new Mad Cave book dealing directly with the “nuclear football” carried by the President of the United States. It had a thriller feel to it and I loved this one. Another hit from Mad Cave for me.

Spider-Boy #20. “Chapter 3: With a Little Help From My Friends.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy’s book comes to an end with this issue. Spider-Boy and Spider-Man make up from their forced fight last issue. A bunch of guest stars make appearances in Bailey’s final issue.

Dark Pyramid #4. Written by Paul Tobin and art and cover art by PJ Holden. The Dark Pyramid book has really gone weird and wild. This is the penultimate issue of the series and I am just not sure what is going to happen. I never would have guessed the bizarre twists this book would take back when Hooky Hidalgo disappeared in issue one.

Minor Arcana #8. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jeff Lemire. The big reopening falls flat and Teresa is out and about. And who is this Wayne fella? I do love Jeff Lemire’s work and this has been very consistent.

The Thing #2. “The King of Yancy Street Part Two.” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Justin Mason. Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Bullseye arrived on Yancy Street and is taking on The Thing. Hammerhead is here too. Aunt Petunia’s baby boy is taking on the criminal empire with Kingpin as well.

Justice League Unlimited #8. “All Hail Grodd.” Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. The Gorilla Grodd storyline comes to an end with a bunch of Justice League members from across time coming to help stop the Legion of Doom. It seemed as if those out of time JLers are stuck in this timeline. What is going to happen?

Moonshine Bigfoot #3. Written by Mike Marlow & Zach Howard and penciled by Steve Ellis. Moonshine Bigfoot is such a fun book. It is the X-Files meets Duke of Hazzard. This has been one of the more enjoyable Image books lately. Such a creative idea to put a bigfoot in a car as a moonshiner. This is also a penultimate issue.

Incredible Hulk #26. “Soldier and Flame.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Kev Wilson. Cover art is done by Nic Klein. Bucky Barnes gives Charlie a warning that the Hulk is dangerous and that she needed to find Banner. Hulk and Charlie had some disagreements and split apart. How will the Hulk take this?

Rocketfellers #6. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art and cover art by Francis Manapul. Rae gets suddenly sick and has to be rushed to the hospital. And the big takeaway from this issue is that you should just not mess around with Rex, the Rocketfellers’ dog.

Void Rivals #20. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Conor Hughes. Lorenzo De Felici did the cover art. Solila is facing Darak’s father and the rest of his guards. Darak was there conflicted as heck.

Hyde Street #7. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Pranky wanted to capture the one and only Matinee Monster. Pranky can turn into a werewolf I guess. Hyde Street has been a fun horror themed book over the last seven issues and it looks to be continuing on.

The Department of Truth #31. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. This felt like a totally different issue of Department of Truth as the main focus was a monster/killer called The Hatman. This did feel outside of what we were used to for this series, and it was kind of refreshing. James Tynion IV is another writer that I trust completely.

Out of Alcatraz #4. “Whiskeytown.” Written by Christopher Cantwell and illustrated and cover art by Tyler Crook. Yet another penultimate issue this week as there are five issues in this Oni Press story. It is enjoyable every week as we follow along with the escapees from the inescapable prison.

Assorted Crisis Events #4. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. This being an anthology series, some issues do not work as well as others. However, I can say that this was definitely my favorite issue of this series so far, and possibly my favorite issue of the week. Time flies. I loved the color design of this issue and the story was tremendous. I hope more of this series is as high quality as issue four was.

Universal Monsters: The Mummy #4. Written and drawn by Faith Erin Hicks and the cover art was done by Faith Erin Hicks and Lee Loughridge. The latest of the Universal Monsters mini-series closed with the end of the Mummy. The look of this comic worked really well for the tone they were going for, but the story was not my favorite of the Universal Monsters so far. Still, it is a solid four issues and I am excited about the upcoming Invisible Man.

Feral #14. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Cover A art was by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner. I also got Cover B which had art by the same pair (Silver Medalist). Our cats have found their way into the pet shop but have realized that there is a whole new society inside that they have to adapt into. Not sure it will last for long.

News from the Fallout #1. “Chapter One: Red Snow.” Written by Chris Condon and art and cover art by Jeffrey Alan Love. Oh, I loved this new series from Image Comics. More story about the possible nuclear fallout of a bomb, and what exactly would happen to the people who had been exposed. This is beautifully designed and the black and white made this feel special.

Ultimate Spider-Man #18. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Checchetto. Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Peter Parker is once again reunited with harry Osborn. Harry comes to see Peter with news and the pair return to New York to take care of business. Little did Peter know that Richard hitched a ride with them to see Black Cat. A perfect example of hormones getting a teenager in trouble.

Sleep #2. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. I also picked up the cover B which was done by Tim Seeley (Gold Medalist). Sleep has been a great book so far as the mystery of what is going on in this town when Jon is asleep is excellent. Jon gets himself arrested so he can be in the jail cell when he sleeps. I am guessing that will not prevent anything in particular.

Spider-Man & Wolverine #2. “Spider-Man vs. Wolverine.” Written by Marc Guggenheim and art and cover art by Kaare Andrews. Earlier I talked about how Tom Taylor really understood the character of Peter Parker (and hence Spider-Man). Here seems to be a book that has zero clue about Peter. Spider-Man and Wolverine fight over the possibility of Logan having killed Peter’s parents. Peter goes quite feral in this book, screaming that he was going to kill Logan. I just kept thinking that Peter would never do this and that, even if he would have gone after Logan, he would not have been trying to kill him. Very disappointed with this book.

Fantastic Four #33. “Fantastic Four Hundred and Thirty-Six Quadrillion.” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Cory Smith. Cover art was done by Joshua Cassara & Dean White. Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state, then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started, wait... Bazinga. The FF head back to the Big Bang to try and fix Ben’s powers cause it… It all started with the big bang, bang!

Uncanny X-Men #16. “The Voice of Darkness.” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez & Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. The Dark Artery story comes to a close with this issue as the X-Men face the people of the dead city, Penumbra. Thanks for coming Man-Thing!

Deadpool #15. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antonio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. This is Legacy number 350 for the Merc with a Mouth and served as the final issue of this run for Deadpool (who will be back very soon in a series called Deadpools and Wolverines). There is also a back up story here with Deadpool Samurai by writer Kasama Sanshiro and artist Uesugi Hikaru. It is from the back of the book forward like the anime that it followed.

Other books this week: Dark Honor #2, The Seasons #5, Conan the Barbarian #20, Absolute Martian Manhunter #4, Blade Forger #4, Green Lantern Dark #5, When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #5, and Mr. Terrific Year One #2.

Quick Hits: The Doctor Doom storyline continues with both Superior Avengers #3 and Doom Academy #5 coming out this week. Doom Academy is the final issue of that said book. I do enjoy the Strange Academy kids so I look forward to them returning in the future. Crush Depth#4 is another penultimate issue as this undersea story gets even crazier this issue. Absolute Wonder Woman #9 keeps diving into Greek mythology as Diana finds herself facing off with a minotaur. Two of these are now over as In Bloom #5 and Who are the Power Pals #4 end their runs with fun issues. DC, looking for brand new ways to get us to buy Absolute #1 issues, have reprinted Absolute Superman #1, Absolute Wonder Woman #1, and Absolute Batman #1 once again, but this time with a Mark Spears connecting cover on each (Bronze Medalist). The three covers together are a thing of beauty without a doubt. There is also a New History of the DC Universe #1 out this week with all kinds of cool little tidbits. This is the NEW history. Wouldn’t that be an oxymoron? More serial killer action with You’ll Do Bad Things #4 came out this week. Ms. Marvel and Legion continue their romp through the X-Men history (could this be like the NEW history DC is talking about?) with Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse #1. Not sure how I feel about any of these books with Ms. Marvel. I do love me some Kamala, but this feels, at best, meh. I did pick up the foil variant of The Death of the Silver Surfer #1. It was just a pretty looking cover. Finally this week, We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #4 has some explosive realizations inside.