January 25

It has been a cold weekend here in Iowa. I was finishing up reading my pile of books this week.

Books this week:

Exquisite Corpses #9. Written by Tyler Boss with James Tynion IV and art by Valentine De Landro with Michael Walsh. Cover art was done by Michael Walsh. I got variant cover B by Valentine De Landro as well. Exquisite Corpses continues to be one of the best books on the market. There are only four more of this series coming so things are ratcheting up.

Bloodland #1. Written by B. Clay Moore and art and cover art by Mack Chater. A new Ignition Press book featuring the collapse of America and vampires. Yes, there has been a lot of vampire books over the last few years, but this one felt very original and different. Ignition Press has been solid over the last six months or so and this feels like another winner.

Fantastic Four #7. “All Mankind’s Concern” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The FF are off earth to respond to a call from Galactus, but they expect an alien invasion. Their kids form a team, with some help from other heroes. Mad Thinker has an idea about this all.

Inglorious X-Factor#1. “A Force to Be Expected” Written by Tim Seeley and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Cable is back and he is recruiting a team of X-Factor once again. He pulls in Archangel, Boom Boom and Hellervine, which make a potent group of mutants. What is the true story here? And why is Domino ready to shoot Cable in the head?

Spider-Man ’94 #5. “Chapter Five: Resurrection” Written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. The mini-series that continued from the end of the 1994 animated series comes to an end with a final battle with Morlun and Kaine.

Wiccan: Witches’ Road #2. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Down, down, down the road…. Wiccan has to fight a dragon on the Witches’ Road… but not just any dragon… but Fin Fang Foom!

X-Men #24. “Three Thousand” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Tony Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The group known as 3K takes center stage as the Hank McCoy who actually went into the future, returned to the present with all the details of the Age of Revelation and the formula for the Mutant Virus.

Everything Dead & Dying #5. Written by Tate Brombal and art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. This Image book is one of the better books Image has put out recently as the final issue brings some powerfully sad moments. One of the most creative uses of zombies in any comic recently appeared in this book.

The Mortal Thor #6. “Hide and Seek” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist). Sigmund has to face off with The Cobra, showing off his skills with the hammer once again. There are a few people questioning what is going on with this guy.

The New Avengers #9. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover B art was done by Karen S. Darboe. Can we trust the Black Widow? That is what Bucky is trying to figure out, but it sure seems like the question he should ask is ‘Can he trust Carnage?’

The Beauty #3. Written by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun. Who is the Boogeyman? How does he fit into the world where everyone wants to catch the latest STD, which turns you beautiful? This feels as if something bad is about to happen.

Captain America #6. “Doom’s Shadow” Part 1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti and Frank Martin. I also picked up the foil version by Ivan Tao (Gold Medalist). Cap is approached by Nick Fury Jr. with an offer that Cap is not too keen on accepting. He also is trying to have a date with Sharon.

Rogue #1. Written by Erica Schultz with art by Luigi Zagaria. David Nakayama did the cover art. Rogue is here with her solo comic under the Shadow of Tomorrow banner. Though it is a solo book, she has Gambit appear as well as some of the other X-Men from her Louisiana team. She heads off to find Mystique and Destiny, and is shocked by what she finds.

Amazing Spider-Man #20. Written by Joe Kelly with pencils by John Romita Jr., Paco Diaz & Todd Nauck. Cover art is done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Dean White. I picked up another variant cover by Lee Bermejo (Silver Medalist). Norman Osborn continues to struggle in his replacement of Peter. Aunt May wants to talk to Norman. Ooh…

Nightwing #134. “The Game” Written by Dan Watters with art by V. Ken Marion. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy. Nightwing and Zanni face off in the Fifth Dimension where their effects dramatically cause destruction in Bludhaven. What can Nightwing do?

Assorted Crisis Events #8. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. One of the best books of the week. I love this creativity of this story, with our comic fourth wall breaking. Even the design of the book’s format is something that I have rarely seen, certainly not in the details of the format.

Redcoat #16. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Cover art was done by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson. Another book I loved this week. Albert has found Simon with a problem. Benedict Arnold is back. And… oh he is BACK! Great set up for the new arc. I am anxious to see how this moves on.

Gunpowder Prophets #4. Written by Justin Jordan and art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Huck and Harley are on the path of finding America, who has been taken. This is a fun series with two of the most violent characters you’ll ever get.

Planet She-Hulk #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Aaron Kuder & Sonia Oback. More outer space adventures by She-Hulk. There was a mention of She-Hulk in space in another book, which makes me happier. The cosmic continuity has bothered me and so I hope this is an answer.

X-Men of Apocalypse #2. Written by Jeph Loeb and art and cover art by Simone Di Meo. Alternate universal X-Men versus each other. Oh… and there is Phoenix too. This is an interesting book for what is is. Not sure if it means anything.

Cul-De-Sac #6. Written by Mike Carey with art and cover art by Jonathan Wayshak. This Bad Idea book wrapped up with this issue. It is another vampire book that has a lot of creativity and originality behind it. I have enjoyed the characters of Cul-De-Sac vey much.

Other books this week: Power Fantasy #15, Death to Pachuco #4, Psylocke Ninja #1, Ghost Pepper #7, Good as Dead #5, Nights #17, Ultimate Black Panther #24, and Star Wars #9.

Quick Hits: Cap has to face off with a surprise monster during WWII in Alien vs. Captain America #3. Flash Gordon is in a lot of trouble in Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #2. I was missing The Last Starship #3 so I picked it up off eBay, and then The Last Starship #4 came out this week. I mentioned earlier how strong Ignition Press has been. Murder Podcast #4 is another example. Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 provides more excellent sci-fi action. Terrorbytes #4 is an excellent sci-fi story this week with Mr. Brace. More trouble between Daredevil & Punisher #3. Can’t we all just get along? Spidey and Wolvie are still jumping around the multiverse in Spider-Man & Wolverine #9. There is some great crime action in American Caper #3. Mad Cave has been dropping a bunch of Speed Racer content over the last several months and the new one-shot Speed Racer: Tales from the Road #1. Green Lantern: Galactic Slam #1 brings Kyle Raynor into the world of cosmic wrestling. Finally, we got the time travel action of Liquidator #3.