July 26

The last Comic Cavalcade of July is another biggie. There are a bunch of books this week that were A covers from Marvel books from last week that had not been delivered to Comic World. I had picked up most of them with variant covers last week. These included New Avengers #2, Ultimate Black Panther #18, The World To Come #2, Exceptional X-Men #11, Death of the Silver Surfer #2, and Spider-Girl #2.

Books this week:

Mark Spears Monsters #6. “No Such Thing as a Superhero.” Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears. So, technically, this is one of next week’s books. This does not release until July 30, but I got it from Keenspot directly. This is ironic too because when I ordered #4 and 5 from Keenspot, it took FOREVER to receive the package of these books. With number six arriving early, it was such a neat surprise. I got the A, B, and C cover in the package.

Amazing Spider-Man #8. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. with Todd Nauck. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. I also got the retro vision variant version by Dan Panosian. Spidey’s battle continued on with Hellgate as Spidey struggled to try and stop the powerhouse.

Six Shots #1. “It’s Inside All of Us.” Written by Brian Phillipson & Jordan Lichtman with art and cover art by Alex Cormack. I got this via eBay this week. It is from a small time comic company called Bliss on Tap and Todd could not find it in Des Moines at all. It is a fascinating story involving a six gun and a demon. It is only a two part series so this is the first issue and the penultimate one.

X-Men: Age of Revelation #0. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia. Doug Ramsey is the heir of Apocalypse and this is a potential future that sees Doug, aka Revelation, joined the X-Men and seeing how things went badly quickly. This is leading to a huge X-Men crossover event in a few months. I will say, this was an interesting start.

Rocketfellers #7. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art by Francis Manapul and Siya Oum. Cover art was done by Francis Manapul. I also got the FF homage variant with art by Ramon Bachs. This story was a flashback…to the future??? Yes, this was a story that mostly took place in the Rocketfellers’ past, which would be the future to where they are now.

Runaways #2. “Think of the Children Part Two” Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Elena Casagrande and Roberta Ingramata. Cover art was done by Stephanie Hans. Chase is back and he brought the drama with him. Honestly, I found this to be an epic issue as the troubles between the Runaways was all over the place. This reminded me of the best of the Runaways.

Godzilla: Kai-Sei #1. Written by Tim Seeley with art and cover art by Nikola Čižmešija. Godzilla has been on fire in 2025, and this is yet another fun series from IDW. Tim Seeley has done some of my favorite books over the last few years and I am looking forward to seeing this progress. It feels like anew twist to a Godzilla story that we haven’t seen before.

Wolverine #11. “Only a Mother.” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo and Bryan Valenza. Wolverine vs. Sabretooth brutally battles over Logan’s mother. The question about how Logan’s mother could be here was answered in a heartbreaking manner.

Look Into My Eyes #1. Written by and art by Rubine. Cover art is done by Rubine Francesco Segala. Suzie has disappeared. Conspiracy-obsessed teen RJ Nguyen wants to find out where she went. I love these weird small town stuff (like Twin Peaks, Stillwater etc.) and this was exciting. It also has several QR codes throughout to expand the storytelling. Creative new book from Mad Cave, who has been excellent lately.

Moon Knight #10. (aka LEGACY #300). “God of Gangsters.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was by Davide Paratore. Big Moon Knight issue as the comic reminds us how much Moon Knight kicks ass.

Sleep #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. Sleep has been exceptional so far and this issue shows us the chaos that happened while Jonathan is asleep. The brutality across the town is causing Jonathan to be anxious and scared about what exactly is happening to him. Sleep has been a great book so far and this is one of the more beautifully art designed books around today.

Minor Arcana #9. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jeff Lemire. Theresa, against her better thoughts, opened the psychic store to the public and a line of people wanted to contact those who have passed.

Geiger #16. Written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Eamon Winkle. Cover art is done by Gary Frank and Brad Anderson. The Glowing Man is in bad shape and there are some major explosions. Still, this felt like a mid-issue preparing for the big trial starting out next issue.

Space Ghost Annual #1. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. This annual seems like it ends the first group of issues while leading into the next series. Space Ghost has been a solid book for Dynamite and I am a fan of it.

West Coast Avengers #9. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanovas. I have really enjoyed this team of West Coast Avengers. The group of heroes that they have brought together have been intriguing and mix nicely. The idea of a heroic Ultron is awesome. I have heard this one is ending with #10, but I hope that is not the case. This has been really good.

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1. Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Megan Levens. Variant cover art by JJ Lendl. I like Star Trek, but I would not call myself a fan. However, this idea of having the lead of this book be part of the “red shirts” which was the canon fodder of the show, those that would die on missions, made me interested in seeing what this would be about.

Feral #15. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Variant cover art by Trish Forstner and Passalaqua (Bronze Medalist). Feral has been very tense and filled with some of the best horror writing in comics. There are amazing scares in this book even with the main characters being cats.

Blue Palo Verde #2. Written by Ray Fawkes and art and cover art by Rimanti. Kris is back from prison and trying to contact her father, who is on a sick bed. However, the town seems to want her to leave. This has been very compelling so far. Like a couple of the other books this week, the weird little town is one of my favorite sub-genres and this one is playing right into it.

Exquisite Corpses #3. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with James Tynion IV and art by Valentine De Landro with Michael Walsh. I got three different covers for this book. Cover A was Michael Walsh. Cover B by Valentine De Landro. Cover D is the stealth variant also by Valentine De Landro (Gold Medalist). More excitement from the tournament. This has been one of the best books of the month every month since it had been released.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers #2. Written by David Pepose and art by Eman Casallos. Cover A art was by Chad Hardin while cover B variant was done by Jae Lee & June Chung. We spend some more time with the Planeteers as they are starting to discover their powers. I do like this book quite a bit so I am glad it seems like it is finally on a regular release schedule.

TexArcanum #1. Written by Christopher Monfette and illustrated by Miguel Martos. Who is cowboy arcanist Avery Belle? He has traveled the land in battle with ghosts, demons, spirits and gods. Another new book with a really creative concept. This is a Dark Horse book and it was a fun read.

Hero Hiro #1. Written by Jeff McClelland with art by Michael “Gecko” Adams. Cover art is done by Michael Adams. I had not known anything about this book from Keenspot and, when I saw it on the wall in Bettendorf, I gave it a shot. The main superhero is called The Hero and my first thoughts of that character was that he reminded me of Captain Amazing from Mystery Men. Interesting premise for this book too with a power transfer from The Hero to a kid named Hiro. This felt lighter than some of the other independent books lately and I thought it was a good change of pace.

The Voice Said Kill #1. Written by Si Spurrier and art and cover art by Vanesa Del Rey. Speaking about the darker independents, this is an example of that. Murder and bloody violence in the Louisiana Bayou. This is a crime story with an intriguing protagonist.

Uncanny X-Men #18. “Corn Dogs and Carnage.” Written by Gail Simone with art by Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. New Orleans and friendship… what would be better than having a carnival! This was a fun switch as the city is starting to celebrate the mutants instead of what we are used to.

Ice Cream Man #44. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art by Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran. Okay, so I think, this was an origin story for the Ice Cream Man himself. It was an intriguing story of Craig Alabaster and the troubles he faced at his job.

Storm #10. “Thunder War Begins” Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Lucas Werneck. Cover art by Mateus Manhanini. The last two pages of this book is what rally stands out. Man Storm is a kick ass right now.

Phoenix #13. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Cable is here with his step-mother Jean with the truth about the supposed resurrection of Jean’s sister and why it is a terrible thing.

Hornsby & Halo #8. Storytellers for this book are Peter J. Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Cover art is done by Peter Snejbjerg & John Kalisz. Zach and Rose join a school play. This was a fun story that was featuring the characters. I liked this as it felt like a break from the book.

The Last Boy #4. Written by Dan Panosian and illustrated by Alessio Avallone with assistance by Alberto Canale. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Peter Pan is out to make new allies and lead Captain Hook’s old crew? Whoa? Oh and it looked like Peter may have lost a hand.

The Department of Truth #32. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. More about the mysterious Hatman. Another original style to tell this story. The Department of Truth has experimented with different ways to tell a story and this one is new again. I love the way this book keeps you on your toes.

Justice League Unlimited #9. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. This is listed as the “We Are Yesterday Epilogue”. I think I am ready for this time travel story to be over. They are able to save Air Wave.

The Great British Bump Off: Kill or Be Quilt #4. Written by John Allison and art by Sarin. This is the final issue of this Dark Horse book. It was a silly book with a mystery that was kind of fun. It had some humor and funny writing, but it turned out to be nothing major.

Other books this week: New History of the DC Universe #2, Blade Forger #5, Fantastic Four Presents Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius #1, Seasons #6, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #3, Dark Honor #3, Absolute Martian Manhunter #5, and Mr. Terrific Year One #3.

Quick Hits: Insurgent Iron Man #10 brings that series to an end. Iron Man sounds like he will be back in the Age of Revelation event with a book with Emma Frost. Speaking of Emma, Emma Frost: White Queen #2 is also out this week. A story back in the old days prior to the Dark Phoenix saga. Things are getting messy in Eddie Brock: Carnage #6. Predator versus Spider-Man #4 brought this new Predator mini series to an end from the 20th Century Studios imprint. Vanishing Point #3 continued the sci-fi anthology book. The silver medalist cover winner this week was Vampirella Armageddon #1. Mark Spears did the cover with his characters from Monsters on the cover. Vampirella took her place on Monsters #6 cover C in an exchange. Mark Spears also had a 3rd printing of Mark Spears Monsters #2 this week. How many reprints will there be? How many will I keep buying? With the big movie coming out this week, Fantastic Four Fanfare #3 was released and had some Thing-centric stories. Silverhawks #5 finally returned after several problems from Dynamite and Diamond. Last night, Absolute Wonder Woman won the Eisner Award for Best New Series so Absolute Wonder Woman #10 is out this week. Absolute Wonder Woman also made news at San Diego Comic Con when we learned that this book was going to feature the first meeting of Wonder Woman and Batman in the Absolute universe. Doom’s Division ended its five-issue series with the return of Sunfire. Psylocke #9, Lost Fantasy #3 and Void Rivals #21 wrap up the week. Wooooo what a week.