July 18

We’ve got another big week at the Comic Cavalcade. I just might be buying too many comic books. I don’t know how long it will take me to read these books when school starts again at the end of August.

I pre-ordered a book from Amazon Prime and it arrived this week. It is called 10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir and it is from Jeff Lemire. I am a huge fan of Jeff Lemire as a writer and this is the story of his life. When I first ordered it in April, I thought it might be in graphic novel format, but it is more written than that. It was still listed in CLZ though so I added it to me graphic novel collection.

Todd also was able to get me a variant of Red Hulk #5. Last week I was reading Red Hulk #6 blissfully ignorant that I had not read #5 yet. As it wasn’t making sense, I pulled out CLZ and, sure enough, I was missing five. Thankfully, that is all taken care of now too.

Books this week:

Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Javier Garrón. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I also picked up a foil variant with art work by Leinil Francis Yu. Godzilla is on a rampage and the heroes of the Marvel Universe is trying to stop the King of Monsters. I did not expect this to be more than a one-shot, but as the issue was ending, I realized that they were nowhere near a conclusion. I don’t know if there is more than one more issue to the series, but I am here for it regardless.

“Let it Stand #1”. Written by Gerry Duggan, Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom with art by Jae Lee. Cover art, both A and B, are done by Jae Lee. This is better known as This Ends Tonight, but we had some fun with Todd, who asked me to look for the series Let it Stand, but he actually meant this one. He knew there were three words in the title. It was a lot of fun teasing him about it. As for the series, it is an intriguing new book from Image. It is not just another revenge story. Definitely more to it.

Spider-Girl #2. Written by Torunn Grønbekk with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover art was done by Nogi San (Gold Medalist). The new Spider-Girl takes on Lady Bullseye. We also get some more of the life of Maka Akana, the Hawaiian- born Spider-Girl.

Pinupocalypse #4. Written, art and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. This has been such a hoot from Massive Comics. Roxy and Foxy are desperately trying to survive the zombie apocalypse that has been brought on by aliens, but they are able to take some time out to address their relationship… perhaps in a way that Foxy was not pleased about.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen (Bronze Medalist-tied). Rennie is ramping up her brutality as the bodies pile up. Yet, she is hoping to save her friend, Sofie, who was sold into human trafficking by their teacher. Probably not the smartest thing to do when her best friend is a serial killer. One more issue to go in this very engaging mini series that makes you root for the serial killer as your main character.

They Choose Violence #2. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. No misprint in this issue. Only Laneka, Deidre and Karen celebrating Laneka’s birthday in the way that only these three could do.

Benjamin #2. Written by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Christian Ward. Benjamin J. Carp is a robot that has had his actual intelligence uploaded into… or is he? This three-issue series has been wild so far and I have really enjoyed the originality and the difference of the book.

Ghost Pepper #1. Written and art by Ludo Lullabi. Variant cover B by Stanley “Artgerm” Lu. This is a weird book. It is like a dystopian future world meeting up with a cooking show. Mad Max meets Top Chef. There is also a bad ass named Ash who just can never finish his bowl of noodles. It is another one of those original ideas that we are getting from independent comics.

Nightwing #127. “Other Part 2” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Adriano Lucas did the art for the cover. Titans Tower has been corrupted by Nitemite and Dick has to make it through to find Oracle. Wild and weird versions of some of the worst things from Nightwing’s past show up, including Deathwing.

Imperial #2. “Two” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Iban Coello & Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Marte Gracia. The future space epic continues with war between the Shi’ar and Wakanda Prime. Again, I have not been a fan of the futuristic stories like this, but Jonathan Hickman does a decent job of providing an intriguing story.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10. “Turtles on Trial” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferryra. Jorge Fornes did the cover art (Bronze Medalist-tied). The Turtles are on trial. Corrupt D.A. Hieronymus Haleis using his persuasion ability to make everyone hate the Turtles. What will come from this?

Phantom Road #14. “The Horrormen Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover by Gabriel H. Walta. The next arc of this series has reached its penultimate issue. It is a weird book for sure, but I love the style of writing done by Jeff Lemire.

Absolute Batman #10. “Abomination” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. A naked Bruce Wayne has been captured and is being experimented on. However, his determination still comes through strongly as he continues his efforts to escape. Bane is lurking though.

The Tin Can Society #7. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. After a long break, Tin Can Society returned. It was quite a few months since I saw the last of this book, but the reminder of what was going on came quickly as we see John is not dead, and we learn of his story.

Detective Comics #1099. “Elixir” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Lee Garbett. Mikel Janin did the cover art. I do love Tom Taylor. His take on Batman in this run in Detective Comics has been awesome and I love the use of Harvey Bullock and Penguin in the story. Big issue #1100 next month.

Redcoat #13. Creators are Geoff Jahns and Bryan Hitch. Cover art by Bryan Hitch and Brad Anderson. Simon Pure finally chooses a side! The Northerner plays a huge role in the story set during the United States Civil War. Then it looks as if the Northerner has another guest star role coming up soon.

New Avengers #2. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover art was done by Andy Park. Bucky, Black Widow, Namor, Wolverine and Clea have to team up to battle warped versions of the Illuminati created by the Jackal.

New Champions #7. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. We get the debut of a new character, another vampire, named Nightdrifter, who aids the New Champions in their search for Hellrune.

Los Monstruos #3. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. Perry Cutter continues his search for Yvonne Veil and the truth of what is happening. Seems as if the truth is finding him. I have really enjoyed this monster noir as we progress around Los Monstruos.

Exceptional X-Men #11. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Federica Mancin. Variant cover art by Junggeun Yoon. Our young trainee X-Men meet Ironheart in a Chicago park when all heck breaks loose. Meanwhile, Kitty, Emma and Bobby wait to celebrate with the kids.

Toxie Team-Up #2. Written by Stuart Moore and art by Ryan Kelly. Fred harper did the cover art. This is not as much a team-up as a fight between as we get the Toxic Avengers one-on-one with the Jersey Devil, both with connections to their bullied pasts. This was not as much fun as the Jesus Crist issue #1 team up but it still is an enjoyable read.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #2. “Part Two: The Host” Written by Joe Quesada with art by Priest. Cover art by Joe Quesada & Richard Isanove. Boy Joe Quesada sure knows how to stir up controversy and online rage. A white Black Panther??? Another one of those alternate future stories that do not have any footholds in the real Marvel Universe. Still interesting to see what outrage will be next.

Death of the Silver Surfer #2. “Pandora” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Variant cover art was done by Claudio Castellini. It must be the week for the alternate future stories as we get yet another one. This one is probably my favorite of the possible future stories with Silver Surfer and a Galactus who has seen better days.

Giant Size House of M #1. “A Sweet and Perfect World.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Francesco Manna and the variant cover art was by Martin Coccolo. Ms. Marvel continues her jaunt through the X-Men history, confronting Legion where she can. Again, I am not sure what this is intended to be. Is this a reboot of the X-Men past? If so, I am not happy. If this is just another possible story, why not make these What If issues? Cool variant cover though.

Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. This has been a really solid book so far as we focus in on the feelings and anxieties of Jason Todd. Jason goes as far as to cast aside his allegiances to Batman and Nightwing to join the other side and be more proactive in the battle against the evil forces of Gotham.

Far Down Below #4. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. The trio move along beneath the surface of the earth and they find Russians, dinosaurs and relationship troubles. The one thing we now know for sure… dinosaurs do not taste like chicken. Goonies meets Journey to the Center of the Earth continues here.

Other books this week: Catacombs of Torment #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1 (Peach Momoko variant), The New Gods #8, Star Wars #2, Zatanna #6, Endless Night #2, and Ultimate Black Panther #18.

Quick Hits: I am happy to welcome back Dynamite Comics! After several months of not getting any of their books (because of the ongoing drama surrounding Diamond), we got a flood of n ew Dynamite books, several that should have come out in April. These include Gargoyle: Demona #1 (Silver Medalist), Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness #3, Space Quest #2, and the new Red Sonja Noir #1. The Ultimate X-Men #17 continues on. I am curious if this version of the X-Men will meet the other Ultimate characters soon. Blood & Thunder #3 has been a fun sci-fi romp so far. Talking guns can’t be beat. The strange one shot Dread the Hall H #1 mixes horror with comic conventions. Makes sense. Past Time #4 brings more vampire baseball action to life. This series has had some of the best collection of covers of any four issues this year without a Mark Spears variant. G.I. Joe #9 has more action with Cover Girl and the Baroness in Paris. Shocking ending to the issue too. A surprise shark week celebration showed up at Comic World this week as Aquaman: Air Jaws Allies #1 popped up. It was so unexpected that it was not even on CLZ on Wednesday. I did try again on Thursday and it was on the app. Bring on the Bad Guys: Abomination #1 is the next step of this villain arc featuring Mephisto and Sister Sorrow. I got two versions of Be Not Afraid #2, one the cover A and the other a virgin variant. There are amazing pages in this book. Deadpool/Wolverine #7 has a variant cover by the one and only Walter Simonson. Definitely the highlight of that book. Red Before Black#6 was another book, this from Boom, that had a long break between issues… only for this to be the final issue of the series. WTF. Wrap up the week with a couple of DC books: Absolute Flash #5 and Krypto The Last Dog of Krypton #2. Krypto is adopted by the sad and cruel Lex Luthor. Pet lovers may not want to read this book as there may be some triggers inside it.