August 7

Good morning all. Here is the first August edition of the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Summer is flying by and I have been enjoying my time off. My friend Todd is off on an adventure to Connecticut to go to a comic convention in search of wild signatures ranging in price. Good luck, Todd.

This week saw a group of ashcans released at the comic shops and I picked up several of them. There was the Kai-Sei Era Preview: Godzilla, Dark Horse’s Canto: The Clockwork Chronicles, Any Given Smile/You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive from ID Dark, and Star Trek/Start Trek: Zero Point. Ashcans can be a fun little preview and, at times, surprisingly collectible.

Comic of the Week

The Omega Book #1

A new Mad Cave book came out this week with a couple of cool covers, both A and a couple of variants. Written by James Patrick and illustrated by Pauli Junquera, we have another new book that features a protagonist that is a priest. Of course, Ordained was a huge hit for Bad Idea, and if The Omega Book can reach that level of entertainment, we’ll be in great shape.

It feels very different from Ordained, however, as this deals more with a mysterious book that holds the secrets of the universe. There is a family tie in the story as well, grounding what could have been a wild cosmic ride.

Books this week:

Fantastic Four #15. “Somewhere, Something Incredible…” Chapter One. Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover A art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. I also picked up cover E by Kris Anka (Gold Medalist). IT FINALLY HAPPENED! THE REAL CELEBRATION OF THE FF’S 65 ANNIVERSARY… JOHNNY STORM GOT RID OF THE MUSTACHE!!!!!! I’ve hated that mustache and with Johnny getting rid of it, the FF book is perfect again. Okay, that may be a touch hyperbolic, but I am glad it is gone. Ryan North even used the end of the mustache as a major story bit. Hallelujah.

Endeavour #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art and cover art by Mark Laming. This might be the final DSTLRY book that started before the company’s troubles only to be delayed for months. This was one of my favorites before the shut down and I enjoyed this finale. This felt very much like Lord of the Flies on a deserted ship with a scary virus. The ending is nearly exactly like Lord of the Flies.

Uncanny X-Men #33. “Wild Ride,” Chapter One: “A Different Kind of Prison” Written by Gail Simone and art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. As Rogue and Gambit go to see Gabriel, Devil Hunter for help with the evil inside Remy, the New Mutants (formerly the Outliers) are struggling with the departure of their parental figures. Another strong new story arc from Gail Simone. Uncanny X-Men has been my favorite X-book for awhile now.

Queen in Black #2. Written by Al Ewing with art by Iban Coello & Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, & Frank Martin. After issue number one from last week, issue two followed up on the action with the Symbiote Intelligence. Dylan Brock is also front and center in this story as there is a coming of age arc inside the giant crossover.

The Smart Division #1. Written by Zack Kaplan and illustrated and cover art by John J. Pearson. A new mystery series from Dark Horse paired up an odd couple of FBI agents to investigate what seems to be the perfect crime. How does AI factor into this story? Set five minutes in the future, this is a clever book with a great premise.

Amazing Spider-Man #34. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. I also picked up Cover E by Simone Di Meo (Bronze Medalist). Spidey and Agent Griffyn team up again, this time to face off with Electro. Meanwhile, the new wrinkle in Peter’s life, Cormac, is getting closer with Aunt May as this series continues its march to #1000 Legacy.

Power Rangers: Green #1. “The Dragon’s Grave” Written by Paul Allor with art by Gustaffo Vargas. Cover C art was done by Chris Mooneyham and cover F foil was done by Tony Harris (Silver Medalist). I am not a big fan of the Power Rangers, but I did like the character of Tommy Oliver, so when I heard the green Ranger was getting the future apocalypse/loner treatment like Last Ronin did for the Turtles, I gave this a chance. Tommy was not as alone as I expected in the book, but it was a fun enough read to continue on with the Boom! Studios comic.

White Sky #5. Written by William Harms and art and cover art was done by JP Mavinga. Violet is in all kinds of trouble as she is in search of her father. The ghosts all around her are only getting more dangerous and the chance of a ghostly invasion increases. White Sky has been a great series so far and the personal note at the end of the issue from writer William Harms gives us even more insight into his mind when creating this story.

Chachu #1. Written by Iman Vellani and art and cover art by Marianna Ignazzi. Written by Ms. Marvel actor Iman Vellani, this is the story of a 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian girl who goes to California with Hollywood plans, only to meet up with her uncle, whose wife has disappeared. The pair team up to try and solve the mystery.

Minor Arcana #17. “The Lovers: Part Two” Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Jeff Lemire & Letizia Cadonici. The relationship between Teresa and Missy is investigated through a series of flashbacks as they search for Brad inside the Edgewater Hotel pocket dimension.

Ripcord #5. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Aneke. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Dillon has been searching the Australian Outback for her missing sister, Janelle, and trying to avoid the creatures that had been created by the drug called “Ripcord.” The series ended with this issue, leaving us on an odd final line from Dillon, insinuating that she was not going home despite saving her sister. Not sure what that was meant to imply, but the book has been a great read, especially with some of the best art/colors of any book on the stand.

The Deadman #3. “Helter Skelter” Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art and cover art by Martin Morazzo. Deadman takes a trip to Hell. The story is told in a remarkably original fashion very much in the style of Ice Cream Man. I have mentioned that before when talking about this series, but this issue is truly one that uses that style. Looks as if Deadman is heading in the opposite direction next issue, so there could be some fireworks.

Iron Man #8. “Attack of Whiplash” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. The villainous Whiplash is back to challenge Tony. There is a second Whiplash that showed up at the end of the book. And, who is the new Citizen V? Lots of things going on with the new Iron Man book which is also building toward Legacy #700.

Royals #5. Written by Derek Kirk Kim with art and cover art by Jacob Perez. Paul and Castor have been reunited in their attempt to rescue the other twins, Minah and Minee. Royals has been a lot of fun through five issues, and next issue will be the conclusion.

Ben 10 #4. “Man of Action” Written by Steven T. Seagle with art and cover art by Robert Carey. Ben and his family go to the circus. Nothing could happen there, right? Unless there is a giant scary clown as the main attraction of the circus… along with other weird bug type creatures. Add to the trouble that Ben is having his own struggles with the band and it all comes out with trouble.

She-Spawn #4. “How We Murdered Each Other” Written by Gail Simone with art by Ig Guara. Cover art was done by John McCrea. Our hero, Jessica Priest has to deal with the problem of the Terror Angels closing in on her and young Al. She also has to deal with the conversation of the future between the two of them. She-Spawn has been one of the biggest surprises for me this year as I never thought I would be this engaged in she-Spawn.

Fort Psycho #1. Written by Matt Kindt and art and cover art done by Brian Hurtt. An elite group of agents that had been formed by the government to prevent a major act of terror from the underground network called the Seven Seals, but the final conflict resulted in a terrible tragedy. Now the former operatives were sent to an island to serve their sentences. This was different than I expected, but I liked it a lot.

From Parts Unknown #4. Written by Adriano Ariganello with art and cover art by Daniel Caval. After the murder of Pietro, Bruno explodes and brutally attacks everyone around. However, this is exactly what the vampires wanted. Little did we know that death may not have held a finality for Pietro. The penultimate issue of this series was a bloody good time.

The Accessories #1. Written by David Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick with art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Cover art was done by Lukas Ketner. Igor is tired of being overlooked by Doctor Frankenstein. Renfield is trying again to escape from the clutches of Count Dracula. Can the pair team up and accomplish what they have always desired? This is a clever idea and I really like the art in the book.

Captain America #14. “Hell’s Angel” Part 3. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Steve Rogers and Victor Von Doom persist in their attempt to recruit an army to do battle with Mephisto in Hell. Cap gets the bad news in this issue that one of the head people in Mephisto’s charge is the Red Skull.

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #7. “Badpools–Part 2” Written by Benjamin Percy adn art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. Wade Wilson is fighting against his body pieces. This is a weird and wild arc for Wade. He is still dealing with his own loss which is the more interesting part of the issue.

Batman #12. “Verity” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. We have the debut of Verity Pennyworth, the niece of Alfred and Verity has arrived to take her uncle’s place beside Batman. She wins over Damian, which was never a certain.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #7. “House Hunting” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight recruited the new Midnight Sons to help him retrieve his friends and allies from the Mansion Ravenous. However, I guess you can never trust Moon Knight as he turned Daredevil, Blade and Ghost Rider over to Achilles Fairchild in exchange. I did not see that coming.

Absolute Superman #22. “Metallo” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Juan Ferreyra & Ulises Arreola. Superman must fight the Absolute Metallo, who was the former Peacemaker Christopher Smith and the Kryptonite in Metallo is causing all sorts of trouble for Superman. All this with Brainiac on the outside looking in. This was a strong issue with Superman having to use more than just his power to stop Metallo.

Neighborhood Watch #4. Written by Sarah Gailey and illustrated and cover art by Haining. Bianca and Val are trying to protect Jill as past lies and her abuser catch up with her. We learn that Jill’s husband Erik may have been abusing her and could be the reason she is in a coma now. Bianca got caught by him as she looked for evidence in Jill’s house.

What If…? Captain America #1. “What If Captain America was Revived in 2099?” Written by Marc Guggenheim and art by Ron Lim. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Steve Rogers was not found by the Avengers in this tale from Uatu the Watcher. Instead, he is revived in 2099 with the heroes of the time battling against Alchemax Stark-Fujikawa (the A.S.F.) and Steve faces off with the president of the United States… Red Skull!

Other Books this Week: Marvel Tokon First Strike #1, X-Men of Apocalypse: Omega #1, Marvel Rivals: Origins of the Hood #1, Lost Fantasy #11, 100 Bullets: The US of Anger #2, Bludwire #2, Conan & Dragonero #4, and Absolute Green Lantern #17.

Quick Hits: This week we saw the completion of the latest BBC Doctor Who book with Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker-Dawn of the Daleks #2. It featured the iconic Doctor villains, The Daleks, and their …origin? I’m not sure the time frame of this book, but I do like this snarky Doctor. Comics! The Magazine #6 is out this week with the Violence & Mayhem issue. The magazine featured an interview Matt Kindt and Brian Hurtt about the new Oni Press book Fort Psycho. The Other/Half #4 sees the reunion of Henry and Ethan. Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook #5 concluded with a group of characters from Hyde Street. I love the handbook style Ghost Machine gave us and this issue had an interior different than the others. It is 65 years of Fantastic Four comics so to celebrate, Marvel released the Fantastic Four: 65 Years of the World’s Greatest Comic Covers #1. It is an interesting book that does give us all of the FF covers from their first issue from the 1960s. There are several stories from the life of Mary Jane Watson in Mary Jane: Face It Tiger #1. MJ is one of my favorite NPCs so I love that she gets the respect that she deserves. Bad Idea is at it again with a weird book called ReALLIGATOR #1. I did like this one more than the banana one from a few weeks ago, but this is certainly weird. Queen in Black has only one side book this week and it featured Eddie Brock. In Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1 we follow Eddie in prison. There are just so many symbiotes in the Marvel Universe, I would not be opposed to limiting those down to one or two. Gotham Academy: First Year #6 ends its run with this book, which still sets Batman up as an antagonist for Olive Silverlock. MASK #3 was released, continuing the Energon Universe. Punchline and the Vaude-Villains vs. Violante #1 from Hero Tomorrow Comics is back, which apparently was a former book as well. Then, Babylon Cove #3 came out this week. The protagonist of this book, Heather, is not a very likeable character, and her hometown is getting a reminder of that. However, there seemed to be something more going down than just Heather’s rants. Dead Teenagers #5 wrapped its run this week with a “kind of” happy ending.