I thought I was done with new movies in 2024. I was working on the year in review stuff, organizing the best and worst lists when I decided to go to Disney + and see if anything was there. I couldn’t believe what I saw as the movie Nightbitch starring Amy Adams was available to stream. I did not expect Nightbitch on Disney + (it was through the Hulu subscription) so I decided I could watch another movie in 2024.
I am glad I did because I enjoyed the movie very much. It was a weird, unlikely story using dogs as a metaphor for motherhood and the struggles that it brings.
I saw Amy Adams with six nipples.
So that happened.
According to IMDB, Nightbitch is the story of “A woman (Amy Adams), thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a dog.“
Scoot McNairy played Adams’ unobservant husband and their relationship was at the center of the existential crisis Adams was going through. She was finding that she was losing herself in her attempt to be the wife and mother, including sacrificing her art to stay at home. The burden of motherhood weighed on her and her life became more and more out of control. Adams could only find release by transforming into a dog and running around the neighborhood.
Amy Adams does a great job in the lead role. I had no idea that the title of the film was intended to be literal. Although I believe that the whole dog stuff is really just in Adams’s head and that she was just doing these things. How much of this was actually happening and how much was an unreliable narrator in Adams’s character telling us what is happening?
I liked this movie a lot. I was surprised to see it at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes and even lower with the audience score. It does have a female lead and a message of struggles that the woman goes through so maybe it is one of those films that has been dropped down because of the anti-woke crowd who can’t stand a movie from the POV of a woman. I don’t know, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Previous Winners: James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
We are up to Best Actor, which in EYG land means we are giving out The Strangelove, in honor, of course, of EYG Hall of Famer, Peter Sellers.
Honorable Mentions: Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), John David Washington (Piano Lessons), Glen Powell (Hit Man), Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow), Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling), Channing Tatum (Fly Me to the Moon)
#10. Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night)
#9. Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu)
#8. Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)
#7. Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu)
#6. Andrew Garfield (We Live in Time)
#5. David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil)
#4. Ray Fiennes (Conclave)
#3. Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine)
#2. Hugh Grant (Heretic)
#1. Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
Timothée Chalamet was masterful as Bob Dylan, with his voice and his singing. He also played the guitar. An overall amazing performance. Hugh Grant played opposite his type in the awesome horror flick Heretic. Ryan Reynolds is now in the MCU with his brazen performance as Deadpool. Ray Fiennes is always awesome and Conclave is no exception. David Dastmalchian is perfect in his found footage horror film Late Night with the Devil. Andrew Garfield is a former winner of this award and is back with Florence Pugh in We Live in Time. Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård came out of Nosferatu. Sebastian Stan made this list and in honorable mention. Gabriel LaBelle played Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night!
Previous Winners: Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Emma Stone (Poor Things)
It is time for The Liz Award, given to the best actress from 2024. There are a bunch of excellent performances and I’ll kick this off with some honorable mentions and then go into the Top 10.
Honorable Mentions: Kirsten Dunst (Civil War), Jodie Comer (The Bikeriders), Lupita Nyong’o (The Wild Robot, A Quiet Place: Day One)
#10. Scarlet Johansson, (Fly Me to the Moon)
#9. Anna Kendrick (Woman of the Hour)
#8. Willa Fitzgerald (Strange Darling)
#7. Florence Pugh (We Live in Time)
#6. Lily-Rose Depp (Nosferatu)
#5. Alisha Weir (Abigail)
#4. June Squibb (Thelma)
#3. Demi Moore (The Substance)
And we have a tie for #1… just could not decide which one to give it to…so decided to give it to both…
#1. Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
#1. Mikey Madison (Anora)
Just could not decide between these two. Both performances were spectacular and absolutely key for their movies. So we have a tie for The Liz Award. Demi Moore was a solid number three and really seemed to revitalized her career with this ballsy performance. Love the fact that 90+ actress June Squibb led her own movie this year, and she was great in it. Alisha Weir is our first ever two-time I See Kid Actor Award winner and she makes this list because Abigail simply would not work without her. Lily-Rose Depp has a huge role in Nosferatu and carries plenty of the drama. Strange Darling was a weird movie with a great lead performance form Willa Fitzgerald. Florence Pugh, Anna Kendrick and Scarlet Johansson always do expert work.
I like what I see here. Teen Spider-Man in action. I like the animation. I like the quips. This is a promising trailer. January 29 is just a month away. Disney +
The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor
Previous Winners:Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ke Huy Quen (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
I have a much larger list of supporting actors than I did for the actresses, but I am sticking with a list of Top Ten. I will add a Honorable Mention for this category.
Honorable Mention: Samuel L. Jackson (Piano Lessons), Jeff Goldblum (Wicked), Paul Bettany (Here), and Richard Roundtree (Thelma).
#10. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nosferatu)
#9. JK Simmons (Saturday Night)
#8. Stanley Tucci (Conclave)
#7. Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)
#6. Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
#5. Cory Michael Smith (Saturday Night)
#4. Boyd Holbrook (A Complete Unknown)
#3. Chris Hemsworth (Furiosa)
#2. Hugh Jackman (Deadpool & Wolverine)
#1. Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora)
Mark Eydelshteyn does a remarkable job in Anora. The first half of the movie, you love him, root for him and relate with him. The second half of the movie, you hate him. He completely turns away any goodwill you had for him, and he doesn’t really change his character. It is a great performance. Hugh Jackman does not get award respect but he is excellent as Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine. He has some emotional scenes that give you specifics on the character that only Jackman can deliver. Saturday Night has a couple of actors here, including Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and JK Simmons as Milton Berle. A Complete Unknown as a couple of real life characters too with Johnny Cash, as brought to life by Boyd Holbrook and Edward Norton’s Pete Seeger. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does not get anything for Kraven the Hunter, but he showed what a great actor he is in Nosferatu. Kieran Culkin has been excellent for a long time, and his role in A Real Pain is one of his most complex yet. Stanley Tucci brings some great work in Conclave too.
The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress
Previous Winners:Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Supporting Actress is up first among the acting awards here at EYG Year in Review. This is the top ten recipients for Best Supporting Actress. Honestly, a bunch of these potential Oscar roles are from movies that I have yet to see, so they will not appear on my list. Maybe the June Swoon will be really good this year.
#10. Isabella Rossellini, Conclave.
#9. Joan Chen, Didi.
#8. Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
#7. Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez.
#6. Zendaya, Dune: Part Two
#5. Emma Corrin, Nosferatu
#4. Danielle Deadwyler, Piano Lessons
#3. Selena Gomez, Emilia Perez
#2. Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez
#1. Ariana Grande, Wicked
Ariana Grande was a revelation in Wicked. No one expected her to steal the movie, but she nearly did in almost every scene she was in. Of course, her voice was amazing as she blasted out her songs. The trio of actresses from Emilia Perez were powerful in the film and all of them made a spot on this list. Danielle Deadwyler is showing herself to be a master actor as she gives tremendous performances every time.
2024 saw me watch a lot of TV. Not only did I watch the active shows, I was doing rewatches or first time watches of classics such as The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Bates Motel, The Greatest American Hero, Moonlighting, Yellowjackets, and Picket Fences.
But we are not looking at those series. These are lists of the best series of the year. I decided to split them into four categories: Drama, Comedy, Genre, Animated.
Some of the categories were really difficult to rank and, of course, only feature those series that I watch. There is so much on TV these days that it is impossible to watch everything.
Let’s kick it off with:
Drama.
Drama had a top six list and featured some of the best shows of the year.
6. Bodkin (Netflix)
5. True Detective: Night Country (MAX)
4. Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
3. Squid Game 2 (Netflix)
2. The Penguin (MAX)
Shogun (Hulu)
Shogun was so good that it just out distanced The Penguin, which had an amazing run on HBO Max. I just finished Squid Game 2 in time for this list.
Comedy
4. The Bear (Hulu)
3. Shrinking (Apple TV +)
2. Agatha All Along (Disney +)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
This was probably the hardest one to judge. When I split these categories apart, I thought that Agatha All Along would be a shoo-in for Comedy winner, because I loved that show so much. However, Looking over the list of comedies, Only Murders in the Building jumped out at me and regulated Agatha into the second slot. This was an outstanding season of OMitB too with Steve Martin doing some excellent work with his grief over the death of his friend and stunt double Sazz. Number three is Shrinking and that is a genius show too. Harrison Ford is perhaps the biggest scene stealer on this list. The Bear is here because the Emmys list it as a comedy, but it is a stretch to call it that in my opinion.
Genre
#6. Walking Dead: The Ones Who Lived (AMC +)
#5. Echo (Disney +)
#4. Silo (Apple TV +)
#3. Fallout (Prime)
#2. Skeleton Crew (Disney +)
#1. The Boys (Prime)
The Boys had another great season with Butcher on the edge of death, Homelander in full revenge mode and everyone else trying to survive. Skeleton Crew has been extremely fun so far giving us some of the best Star Wars TV we have had in years. Fallout was a fantastic video game adaptation and Silo is top notch sci-fi on Apple TV +. Echo was better than a lot of people gave it credit for and it was nice seeing Rick and Michonne reunite.
Animated
#5. Masters of the Universe: Revolution (Netflix)
#4. Creature Commandos (MAX)
#3. What If…? (Disney +)
#2. Batman: Caped Crusader (Prime)
#1. X-Men’97 (Disney +)
X-Men ’97 was an amazing surprise. It had no right to be as good as it was. The old X-Men series was okay, but this took everything great about it and mixed it with amazing characterization and storytelling. And “Remember It” is one of the best episodes of TV this year, not just animated TV. Batman: Caped Crusader was another great series on Amazon with a new take on Batman and his rogue’s gallery. What If was a bit of a step down but still fairly entertaining and had a great Agatha/Kingo episode. Creature Commandos has been okay for me as some of the humor does not work for me. Masters was a good follow up from Kevin Smith.
“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director
Previous Winners: A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
The role of the director is a vital one in any movie. I have chosen the top ten directors of 2024 to present here. Some of these will be considered for Oscars, others on my list will have to settle for recognition from EYG as I will look at the genre films with a fairer view than Academy voters.
“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best DirectorTop Ten
#10. Francis Galluppi, The Last Stop in Yuma County. This was an outstanding independent film that I found on Vudu and was completely enthralled by. This was Galluppi’s first feature film.
#9. Coraline Fargeat, The Substance. What a tremendous job done by Fargeat on The Substance, the shocking, body-horror film that brought Demi Moore back into conversation for Oscar.
#8. Jess Eisenberg, A Real Pain. Eisenberg wrote and directed this film about two cousins on a Holocaust tour. Jesse is the only director on this list who also starred in the film which has to make this even more challenging.
#7. Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulus. Alvarez brought the Alien franchise back to its roots with this outstanding film. It was tense and frightening and beautifully shot.
#6. Sean Baker, Anora. The way this film was shot really highlighted the strengths of each of the characters and switched paths about half way through. Baker is exceptional.
#5. Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two. A gigantic sci-fi epic is not going to be easy to direct and Villeneuve does it spotlessly. His work with the CGI is some of the best you will ever see.
#4. James Mangold, A Complete Unknown. This Bob Dylan biopic was such a great film, with the use of music being front and center, Mangold has had a career of cranking out some excellent movies and this was one more.
#3. Shawn Levy, Deadpool and Wolverine. Shawn Levy has a real bond with Ryan Reynolds and you have to be able to manage that to give us one of the biggest hits of the year. He deserves more credit than he receives for this movie.
#2. Jon M. Chu, Wicked. Another epic film, this time an adaptation of the iconic stage musical. It was a rousing success and Chu’s handiwork is one of the main reasons why.
And the #1 Director and winner of the “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award…
Robert Eggers, Nosferatu
One of the great young directors in the horror genre released his most recent film Nosferatu at Christmas this year and it is completely stylish and gorgeously shot. He is able to get amazing performances from his cast and his visual storytelling is on par with the bests around. Nosferatu is a stunning movie and he deserves this award.
I finished up the second season of Squid Games on Netflix late last night and I have thoughts.
First, it sure ended at a strange place. It almost felt like this was a first part of a season like they did for Stranger Things and Cobra Kai. I have not heard any info on a second part to season two though. Perhaps it is just setting up for season three instead. If so, then season two would absolutely be the Empire Strikes Back of the Squid Games as things went oh so wrong for our heroes (PS… just looked at the end of the episode and it says season three will be back in 2025 so there is that.)
Gi-hun’s whole plan to take it to the people running the show by hijacking guns from the guards was wild and was never going to work. The pink suits had such a huge number of people that the handful of rebels were just not going to get through. However, it got fairly far and might have had a chance if they did not have a rat inside their team. Of course, that is In-ho, 001, who had been inside the game manipulating the situation. His eventual betrayal ended the uprising and led to the unfortunate death of Jung-bae. I had seen a spoiler about a death in the final episode that was shocking and this was the one. For a minute, I actually thought it was going to be Gi-hun instead. That would have been a shocker.
Defying all odds, Geum-ja has survived. I was sure she was going down after her son Yong-sik had changed his vote from X to O. I thought he was going to have to pay for his choice with his mother, but she continues to fight on. It did look like she was a goner during Mingle, but she was thankfully saved.
Speaking of Mingle, that was another game that was intense and very difficult to watch at times. The way alliances were tossed aside by some compared to those that were going out of their way to try and help the others.
Seeing Thanos get his final payment at the end of season six was very satisfying, and of course, brutal. Fork to the neck is not something I expected to see.
For a season that I was not sure was needed, this was a very tense and exciting seven episodes.
The final episode of What If…? dropped on Disney + and I would say that it was fine. It seemed as if it fit with the entire third season, which, to me, was fine. It was not great. It was not terrible. It was passing. Overall, probably somewhere around a C.
This started with the Watcher the prisoner of The Eminence and was going to have to face punishment for his breaking of the vow to never intervene with those he watched. They brought Peggy Carter in too, also captured. As we saw last episode, this is when Infinity Ultron arrived along with the Exiles (Storm, Byrdie, Kahhori) and broke out the Watcher and Peggy, leading to a huge superpower fight between the Eminence and the Exiles.
Sadly, this fight was a little dull. I’ve seen it before.
What I was hoping was going to happen was that The Eminence would put the Watcher on trial, and then they would bring in many witnesses from the three seasons to testify, leading to some drama and not just a big super hero fight. I remember in the comics when Reed Richards was put on trial in a galactic setting after he saved Galactus. That felt like something they could have used as a road map for this and really end What If…? on a theological high. Instead, we got the power bolts and such.
There were plenty of flashes of characters throughout Marvel during the episode, but they went so fast it was difficult to keep up with it. I need New Rockstars to do a break down video to show them all.
I loved the daily release schedule of What If…? the last two years. It gave me something to look forward to every day over the Christmas break. I hope they find another animated series to fill that bill in the future.
What If…? has been solid, if not spectacular. The seasons for me are ranked 2nd, 1st, 3rd.
Final Rankings forSeason Three
E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?
E7 What If the Watcher Disappeared?
E3 What If The Red Guardian stopped The Winter Soldier?
The Batman and Robin Award for Rottenness are the annual look at films that just were not good. Some even bad. Yes, I know that it is very difficult to make a movie, and it is something that I have never done. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie (probably) and I have all respect for the men and women who do this job.
Still there are times when the film is just rotten. These awards look at those times. They receive the coveted Batman and Robin.
Worst Movie: See the list at the end of the year. Honestly, there are about six movies competing for this title yet.
Worst Actor: Scott Chambers, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2. Not much anyone can do when this is your script.
Worst Actress: Sofia Boutella, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver. She never had a chance. This was worse than the last one.
Worst Director: Eli Roth, Borderlands. He clearly had no idea about this video game. This film is easily one of the worst of the year and Roth had a great cast that he did nothing with.
Worst Sequel: Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver. If only we got to see the Director’s edition first. I’m joking. I do not want to watch a longer version of this.
Worst CGI: Madame Web. There was not much about Madame Web that was good. CGI was no exception.
Favorite Rotten Movie: If. Ryan Reynolds’ first hit of the year wound up with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 50% making it rotten. It is a much better film than that. I liked it. I’d even recommend it.
Worst Movie I did not see: Megalopolis. It’s on the list for 2025 June Swoon.
Cashing a Paycheck: Russell Crowe, Kraven the Hunter. Fun little accent he was playing with. Not sure where he was suppsoed to be from. This guy won an Oscar.
Worst Reboot/Remake: The Crow. Why would you do this? The Crow did not need to be rebooted, and this movie did the original dirty.
Most Successful Bad Movie: Despicable Me 4. This made a ton of money dumbing down the youth of our country even more.
Worst Movie Based on a TV Show/Video Game: Borderlands. One of the worst films of the year, setting back video game adaptations just as they were making some progress.
Worst Superhero Movie: Madame Web. Why Sony why? Madame Web is, at best, a C or D level hero in the Spider-Man universe, and that is when she is with Spdier-Man.
Worst Trailer: Transformers One. Already mentioned this in the Logan “Hurt” Award. Almost made me not see the movie.
WTF: Kinds of Kindness. In risk of offending that guy on X who called me names after my review of this movie, I found this a mess.
Worst Performance by an Oscar Winner: Ariana DeBose, Kraven the Hunter. She was truly terrible in that movie after being brilliant in West Side Story.
Worst ADR: Madame Web. The villain in this movie barely moved his mouth. The voice over is noticeably bad and that should never happen.
Worst TV Show that I Watched: American Horror Story: Delicate. The second half of this season is some of the worst TV I have seen. I couldn’t wait for this one to be done.
Worst TV Finale: Grotesquerie. The final episode of this show for its first season was a jumbled mess and was simply unsatisfying.
The first two episodes of the season were character beats, setting up the characters we would be following in the Squid Game and developing them some. I found those episodes to be of great importance because we jump full into the games in episodes 3, 4, & 5.
The games themselves are always the most intense, stressful parts of this show. Even the Red Light, Green Light, which we saw in the first season and we know what to expect, was just insanity when it comes to execution. The show did a great job of giving us something different for us to stress over. In this case, Gi-hun taking the lead and almost directing traffic, despite several of the contestants not believing him or wanting to follow what he said. When Gi-hun ran back out to save the guy who had been shot in the leg, we saw what a heroic figure he had become from his days of season one.
The other characters all elicited some emotion from us as viewers, both positively and negatively. I hate Thanos, even if he does some funny things. I love Geum-ja. She is the ultimate mother figure in the games and she must be protected. There will be a time, I am sure, that the show will want to rip out hearts out and it will kill her. I do not want that to happen.
Player 001 turned out to be In-ho aka the Front Man (Captain). Much like last season, number 001 is a traitor, a man from behind the scenes inserting himself into the game. In this case, we are aware of the treachery unlike last year. In this case, In-ho is also a former winner of the Squid Game and his presence is curious. He sure seemed as if he was working with the group during the six-legged pentathlon.
By the way, that six-legged pentathlon was both the most invigorating and exciting game and the most stressful and horrendous game played. Watching the group of five try to make it through five children’s games in five minutes was unbelievably tense and suspenseful. It was also hard for the second game.
The show has done a tremendous job of building mood during the two votes we have had to try and end the games. The first vote coming down to the final player, 001, who voted to continue, and the second vote being more weighed toward the stay and do one more game.
I am afraid a bunch of the characters whom stated that they will play one more game and then leave are going to find their votes a tragic mistake.
I really thought doing a second season of this show was going to be a mistake, especially since the creators of the show had not intended on continuing the show past season one. However, this has been exceptional so far and it has taken an extra step in its exploration into human nature. It does not feel like a repeat of what happened in season one, and even when something similar happens, it is done in a totally different manner. The writing has been great so far as they have created a bunch of characters that I really want to see survive, even though I know they will not.
There are only two episodes left in this season, which I have heard ends in a cliffhanger, so I am excited about wrapping it up.
Well, here is the last EYG Comic Cavalcade for 2024. It was a year where my collection really took off. It got organized, rebagged and reboarded, and listed on CLZ. The Comic Cavalcade was right there for the entire thing, recording the books that I added to my collection.
Before I forget, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2025 is the best year yet. As for the Comic Cavalcade, I plan to continue to do this on a weekly basis as new comics continue to be released and as long as eBay keeps up the source for back issues.
Books this week:
X-Men #9. “Raid on Graymalkin” Part 3. Written by Jed Mackay and penciled by Federico Vicentini & Ryan Stegman. Cover art by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Marte Gracia (Bronze Medalist). The crossover between X-Men and Uncanny X-Men continues as the two teams fight with one another at Graymalkin, the prison for mutants that was once the X-Mansion. The shadow off Charles Xavier is all over the place….
Exceptional X-Men #4. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was by Carnero & Nolan Woodward. Iceman is here as the book keeps looking at Kitty Pryde and her past issues with her teammates and her own actions while trying to do something good.
Hellhunters #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Adam Gorham. Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimarães. World War II Ghost Rider teams up with Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos for some World War II action.
Iron Man #3. “Organized Crime.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Julius Ohta with Jethro Morales. Tony Stark uses his clever mind to finish off the Stark takeover attempt by AIM and Roxxon. I am glad that this arc does not seem to be moving forward as we just had a corporate takeover storyline recently. Guest starring the demon Belasco.
West Coast Avengers #2. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Ben Harvey did the art for the cover. Apparently, the Ultron we saw at the end of the first issue was not the same Ultron who is a member of the West Coast Avengers. That was a bit of a surprise.
Amazing Spider-Man #64. “King of Pain” Written by Justina Ireland and art by Gleb Melnikov. Ed McGuinness & Marco Menyz did the cover art. The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man marches on as Peter has to face off with one of the Twins. Peter is also attempting to find a way to win against some of these Scions without actually dying. I like this so far as the villains seem to be underestimating Spidey and are learning their lessons. You don’t see that much any more and it feels a touch old school.
Redcoat #8. Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch are the creators and cover B art was done by Brad Walker (Gold Medalist). A stand alone issue of the Redcoat that sees Simon take on a family of serial killers in 1873. The Northerner returned at the very end to set up the new story arc for 2025.
Metamorpho #1. “Mister 3, the Triple-State Man” Written by Al Ewing and art by Steve Lieber. Steve Lieber & Lee Loughridge did the cover art. This was a lot of fun. It had a very old school type flavor to the issue, perhaps because of the art stylings of Steve Lieber. It definitely feels as if they are trying to build nostalgia for the character prior to his appearance in the 2025 Superman movie. I have always liked Metamorpho-Meta-morph-o (there is an allusion for ya) and this is an enjoyable book. It does worry me that I am buying more and more DC books. I am concerned that I already buy more books a month than in any time in my life, and I shouldn’t be adding more DC to the list.
Black Canary: Best of the Best #2. “Round Two” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Ryan Sook. My point about the DC books. There are a bunch now. And Black Canary is awesome. I love this story as they intersperse the flashback of Dinah as a younger girl with the fights she is having with lady Shiva. I do love Tom King as a writer and Metamorpho was written by another favorite of mine, Al Ewing. Maybe it is the writing talent that has attracted me to DC. This one is great so far.
Justice League Unlimited #2. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. Another DC book and another great writer in Mark Waid. When I was young, I was a fan of the JLA, but I moved away from it, being more of a Marvel stan. I do like the idea of the Justice League being all the heroes around and I did like seeing Indiana Jones on page 5. He turned out to be Dr. Richard Occult, but that first shot of him was Indy all the way. I did like the mystery of what was happening to J’onn J’ones as well. Oh DC… what are you doing to me?
Absolute Wonder Woman #3. “The Last Amazon Part 3” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire (Silver Medalist). Yet another DC book, but this one is the Absolute line. Diana is very intriguing in this new take on her and I have been enjoying these new variations on the Trinity so far. Kelly Thompson is yet another awesome writer working with DC. Can’t argue with quality.
Uncanny Valley #7. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. Finally out of DC and into Boom! Studios. Oliver finds himself in a new and strange world. The world of his grandfather, Pecos Peet. Meanwhile his mom and Peet are in search for him. Uncanny Valley has been a consistently engaging book with one of the most creative ideas in a long time.
Blade Red Band #3. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Federica Mancin & C.F. Villa. C.F. Villa and Federico Blee did the cover art. As Blade is in search of Pontius, he has to question the loyalty of his current partner and vampire hunter Elena. This has been a very fascinating book full of betrayals and uncertainty. I’m not sure it needs the red band logo, but it has been a good story so far.
Sam and Twitch Case Files #9. Script by Todd McFarlane & Jordan Barel with art by Thomas Nachlik. Thaddeus Robeck did the cover art. A new story arc kicks off with Sam and Twitch as Twitch is in pursuit of a suspect and he shoots him. He was aiming for his shoulder, but the bullet went through his head/eye, killing him. I loved this issue because, despite how normal this felt, there is more under the surface. Good start for the next story arc.
Timeslide #1. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Cable and Bishop team up to go through time to try and prevent time from fraying. It seemed as if this book was used to show hints at what is coming in the future of Marvel Comics. It went as far as to provide a checklist about halfway through including titles of upcoming events. How many actually happen will be intriguing. Meanwhile, this book was okay, but nothing to write home about.
Kidpool/Spider-Boy#1. Written by Christopher Yost and penciled by Nathan Stockman, Jed Dougherty & Chris Campana. Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Spider-Boy faces his most dangerous and annoying threat yet… a young, female Deadpool variant who likes him. But does she like him like him? Might they hold hands? Or will their relationship be broken up by Stegron?
Mystique #3. “Sentinels” Written, drawn and cover art by Declan Shalvey. This is a different POV from Sentinels#3 where we think we see them fighting Magneto. Thanks to this issue, we know it is not Magneto that the Sentinels are fighting. It is Mystique. But how does she have the magnetism of Magneto? More questions here, and a lot of mutant fun.
Ultimate Black Panther #11. Written by Bryan Hill and guest artist Carlos Nieto. Cover art was by Stefano Caselli & David Curiel. This was actually my favorite issue of Ultimate Black Panther since the very beginning of the series. I liked how they prepared to set up the one on one battle between T’Challa and the Ultimate Moon Knight, and how all of T’Challa’s allies and friends wanted to keep him from it. Builds some solid stakes and tension for the throwdown next issue (I assume).
Geiger #9. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Paul Pelletier and Gary Frank. Cover art was by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson. Mr. Geiger turned on Nate as he lost control of himself. If not for Barney, things would have been very problematic. Geiger wants to change. The most intriguing part of this issue was the prologue where we see Simon Pure from Redcoat, Junkyard Joe, and what looked like the Northerner. Is it the Ghost Machine crossover we have been waiting for?
Spider-Boy #14. “Know Your Enemy” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina & Humberto Ramos. Cover art by Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado. The Dragon’s Challenge tournament begins with Daredevil and Spider-Boy teaming up to try and prevent Bullseye & Spider-Girl from winning. We get a Spider-Girl origin and Hulkette is hanging around until Spider-Boy loses so she can get her own revenge.
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #3. “Pathfinder” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Domenico Carbone. Davide Paratore did the cover art. The Midnight Mission is killed in this issue. What? The house died? This sends Moon Knight into an anger, but it feels very odd having killed off the Midnight Mission. Not sure why this was done as it felt like a great setting. I guess we’ll have to see.
Sabretooth: The Dead Don’t Talk #1. Written by Frank Tieri and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Adam Kubert and Laura Martin did the cover art. A flashback story about Sabretooth and the Ravencroft asylum. Bloody and violent, this is an interesting mini series.
Other books this week: Ultraman x Avengers #3, Lawful #6, Hello Darkness #6, Void Rivals #15, and The Creeping Below #2.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 