July 31

July has just about come to a conclusion. It the world of comic books, this week is the fifth week of the month which means that many of the companies use it as a skip week. They drop annuals or not many huge books. There were still some good stuff released.

Books this week:

Spider-Man & Wolverine #3. “The Savage Hunt” Written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Kaare Andrews. Cover art was done by Kaare Andrews. I am still not happy with the way this book writes Spider-Man. I just do not feel that they understand the character of Spider-Man. His dialogue and actions just do not fit Spidey. Still, Spidey and Wolverine in the Savage Land is always fun.

Nightwing #120-125. I was able to finish reading the remaining post-Tom Taylor Nightwing run that I had picked up after I started collecting Nightwing with #126. While they are not equal to the Tom Taylor books, these were decent. I do like the character of Nightwing a lot.

One World Under Doom: G.O.D.S. #1. Written by Ryan North and art by Francesco Mortarino. Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee did the cover art. I collected the whole G.O.D.S. series but it was never a book that made a lot of sense. It was a tough read and so I was never connected to it. This was the first time that I really loved the characters from that book. Wyn and Mia were brought to life in the best way so far by Ryan North. I kind of would like a book with Wyn and Mia written by North.

The War #1. Written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Becky Cloonan. This is a reprint issue of the story The War from Hello Darkness. That part of Hello Darkness was not my most favorite story in that anthology, but it is definitely a premiere story. The covers on these are just spectacular. I nearly bought the main three covers, but I thought it was just too much for a book that was just a reprint. I left the Cover A on the shelf. Cover B was by Jay Shaw (Gold Medalist) and Cover C by Tula Lotay (Silver Medalist).

Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Sixteen #1. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Phil Noto. Terry and Rachel Dodson did the cover art. Superheroes and supervillains meet Hulu’s The Bear. Invites to all of these characters to come to the opening night of a new restaurant. Will it be a chaotic night or are they all just hungry enough to be on their best behaviors? This was a strange book.

Ultimate Spider-Man #19. Written by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto did the art. Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Mary Jane is at her wits end and she is unhappy with Peter and Richard’s actions. She wants to be kept in the loop. That feels like some issue coming for the happy family.

Out of Alcatraz #5. “Boundary Bay.” Written by Christopher Cantwell and art and cover art by Tyler Crook. This has been a fantastic comic book from Oni Press. The fifth issue wraps up the story of the escapees of Alcatraz. It was an excellent conclusion, wrapping everything up in a satisfying manner, which is not always an easy thing to do.

Werewolf By Night: Blood Moon Rise #1. “Nail in the Coffin.” Written by Michael Giacchino with art by David Messina. Tyler Kirkham & Arif Prianto did the cover art. I guess this is not bloody enough for a red band, like the previous Werewolf by Night book (honestly, that last WBN book did not need to be a red band book either). I did not know that this book was written by Michael Giacchino, who is the composer of so many classic films and the director of the Marvel Studios special feature Werewolf By Night. This is always fun with the Werewolf By Night (and Dracula, btw).

Speed Racer #1. “Life in the Fast Lane” Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. Mad Cave is pulling it best Dynamite Comics imitation by bringing up an old cartoon IP in a new style. In fact, David Pepose has done a lot of those Dynamite books. I like this book because it brought a new feel to this character.

The Ultimates #14. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. We get the Ultimates debut of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It feels very much like their appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Great battle with the twins and Captain America and Hawkeye.

The Thing #3. “The King of Yancy Street Part Three“. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Justin Mason. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. The Thing is out to protect a little girl that is wanted by the criminal underworld. Thing fights off Bullseye and the Wrecking Crew. Thing looked kick ass in this issue, though trouble is coming at the end with an appearance by Juggernaut.

Incredible Hulk #27. “The Falling Down Tree.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and penciled by Kev Walker. Nic Klein did the cover art. This was one of the best Hulk issues we have had in a long time. It had a different feel to it and I really enjoyed the depth of the story. Hulk and little boy. Good stuff.

Space Quest #3. Written by Joe Casey and art by Sebastian Piriz. Cover A art was done by Mark Spears (Bronze Medalist) and Cover B art was done by Joshua Middleton. Crossover between Space Ghost and Jonny Quest continues in this Dynamite Comics book as the kids swap places. Lots of Space Ghost villains appear too.

You’ll Do Bad Things #5. Written by Tyler Boss and art by Adriano Turtulici. Tyler Boss also did the cover art. Penultimate issue of this book places out people where they need to be for the big finale. Looked like the questions about our serial killer have been answered. We’ll see how it turns out next month.

Justice League: Dark Tomorrow Special #1. Written by Marc Guggenheim & Mark Waid. Cian Tormey did the art for the cover. Time travelers are in trouble as the displaced heroes (and Jonah Hex) face the aftermath of the “We are Tomorrow” arc. I did like this crew together, including Plastic Man, Batman Beyond and Jonah Hex. This special did not feel like it wrapped anything up. In fact, it leaves things dangling for future books. We’ll see how things go for this group. I already get ore DC than I am used to.

Vision & Scarlet Witch #3. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta & Jacopo Camagni/ Russell Dauterman did the cover art. I like this book so far because it feels like a spiritual sequel to the Vision series by Tom King, which is one of my all-time favorite stories. With Vin Vision playing a role, this has some real emotion to it.

News from the Fallout #2. Written by Chris Condon and art by Jeffrey Alan Love. Cover art was done by Jeffrey Alan Love. What a great book this is. I love the mysterious story and the art absolutely keeps things uncertain and moody. Chris Condon consistently provides some original storytelling and books that are different than you are used to as this falls right into that category.

Nightwing Annual #1. “Death Trap.” Written by Dan Watters and drawn by and cover art by Francesco Francavilla. This annual spends time with Olivia Pearce and Commissioner Sawyer. No sign of Nightwing in the book, outside the final panel and some hints during some comics featuring the Grey Ghost. This was probably the best it was going to be without any sign of Nightwing.

Other books this week: Bring on the Bad Guys: Loki #1, Assorted Crisis Events #5, I, Tyrant #1, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III #1 Ashcan, and Missionary #3.

Quick Hits: The final issue of the Marvel/Disney What If…? books came out this week. What If…? Goofy Became Spider-Man #1 wrapped up this cute little crossovers. Anything but cute, Savage Wolverine #1 which is a one-shot (I believe) was very brutal and violent. Not the same as Goofy. The Terminator #9 returned after a length wait with a book that felt very much like T2: Judgment Day. Another returning book, but for different reasons, is The Lucky Devils #4. At the back of the issue, there was a conversation between Charles Soule and Ryan Browne about why the publication of this book stalled. Apparently, Ryan Browne suffered a stroke and was recovering. He still had trouble breaking the written word into a page to draw so they called in Zander Cannon to help with the art breakdown. Ryan Browne seems to be recovering, and they said the book would be released on a bi-monthly schedule to give them extra time. I certainly wish all the positive thoughts to Ryan Browne in his recovery. His art is still breathtaking and it was a shocking revelation. Get well soon! Moving on, Exquisite Corpses #1 released a third printing with an awesome cover, so I picked it up too. I am not sure I love this trend of reprinting books multiple times with amazing covers that make me want to spend more money on a book I already have. Diabolical! I picked up a book called 4th Rope #1 from a small company called Noir Caesar. It is about an intergalactic wrestling organization. Honestly, I love wrestling, but this issue did not appeal to me much. I am glad to own it. Crush Depth #5 and Dark Pyramid #5 both came to a conclusion this week with interesting issues. Both series from Mad Cave got weirder with each issue. Sam and Twitch Case Files #16 is pretty good as this arc seems to be coming to a conclusion soon. The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Children of the Night #2 featured the longest title of any book right now and included Dr. Jekyll. Zdarsky Comic News #13 came out, but I am missing #11 and #12. Not sure why they did not show up at my shop in Bettendorf. I’ll have to look again.