Is there anything more useless or unnecessary than the “Skip Intro” button on this series?
At the end of episode 2, we see double Jean Greys and, those of us who are comic readers, we know what that meant. Madelyne Pryor, aka The Goblin Queen, was a clone of Jean Grey from the evil Mister Sinister, and she was the mother of Cable.
This episode felt a little rushed for me, but I could understand why they did. There was so much packed into this episode, with the Inferno arc and the techno-organic virus which led to the Cable storyline.
This episode felt like a horror movie, almost body horror film in many ways, and in all the best ways. They did not need to do it this way, but so much of the body horror in the mansion included such character moments for the X-Men.
The animation continues to be great. One of the great things they have done was use specific X-Men classic covers as frames in the episode. Those are epic things that are like Easter eggs for the comic lovers of us.
This has been an amazing continuation of the X-Men animated show so far. With the Storm and Forge end, Lifedeath is on its way which is a classic X-Men story.
In episode six of Shogun, some big things happened.
We see some of Mariko’s back story, and see how tragic it actually was.
We go inside the best brothel and engage between John and Kuki, the top courtesan of the house. He was given this as a gift from Toranaga, a thank you for saving his life during the earthquake last episode. Of course, this was not what John had wanted, as he had asked once again for the return of his men and his ship. John wants to leave Japan, but Toranaga continues to keep him. He even promoted him to the head of his canon brigade.
An attempt to vote against Toranaga by the council failed, leading to the death of the regent who voted against the plan.
We continue to see the machinations of Ochiba no Kata, who has her own plans brewing clearly.
We learn of the plan called Crimson Sky, which is Toranaga’s forces launching an all out assault on Osaka, killing the regents and setting up a new form of government with Toranaga at the head. A Shogun. Toranaga rejected the plan at first, however, the death of regent Sugiyama changes his mind and we end the episode with Toranaga’s forces honoring their leader, preparing for their attack.
A fascinating episode as we dive into another aspect of the Japanese culture with the brothels. The manner in which sex is used is not what I am used to seeing. This show continues to be really great.
This is the fourth and final TV movie of the series, which was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis IV: The Disappearances.”
It is interesting that I remember this being one of my favorite TV shows when it was on back in the 1970s, but after watching the first four TV movies, I do not remember anything about them.
I enjoyed this fourth movie of Man from Atlantis quite a bit. In fact, it might be my favorite of the four.
According to IMDB, “Elizabeth is kidnapped, one of dozens of scientists held prisoner on the island of Felicitos, controlled by special mineral springs that render their victims completely happy and compliant. Dr. Smith is using them to build a rocket to take her away from our troubled planet in search of some better world, and Mark must find a way to counter the brain-washing and free the captives“
I really do like this show. There are problems, of course. The acting is not what I would call great, but for the 1970s TV, it is acceptable. They have the most conveniently placed cameras around the sub and areas where people can watch what is happening on monitors. That is just a weird bit that doesn’t really affect anything. In a show about a man with webbed fingers who can breathe underwater, having cameras in places that make no sense should not be the biggest drawback.
I did like the Dr. Smith villain of this episode. She was quite brutal and cruel, yet I could understand why she was doing what she was doing. It could be an episode that features a debate on climate change, even before it became a real thing.
Mark was a real hero in this episode. He came up with solutions for everything from the torpedo to the mind-control. I thought the look of Mark when he was trapped in the shed without water was great for the special effects of the time. His underwater scenes were excellent as they always are for this show. Those scenes underwater were well done and looked great. I am not a huge fan of the manner in which Mark always swam, but that would be the way a real person would swim. Today, he would be more CGI and could look like he was swimming faster. Still, I liked the realism of the shots.
Moving ahead, the show starts its regular series run of 13 episodes, which was all the show would get. This is actually a pretty decent sci-fi series and, despite some flaws, has been a fun watch so far.
This X-Files episode featured a really creepy villain, a cool paranormal effect that we have not seen before and another solid performance from our leads.
Unfortunately, as it seems to be the wont, Scully was put in jeopardy again.
The main villain, Gerry, as played by Taylor Vince, was great as the antagonist of the episode. His backstory really informed his psychosis and the fact that the paranormal aspect really did not have much to do with himself is a neat change for the X-Files.
But I am going back to the fact that Scully got taken again and had to be saved by Mulder. I understand that that could happen, but it sure feels as if that trope happens on too regular of a basis for this show. We need Scully to rescue Mulder more often, as she did in the previous episode, “Teliko.”
The whole concept of psychic photography was different and provided a cool effect for the show to play off. It was odd though considering that Gerry was not making it happen intentionally. That it was the side effect of the “howlers” in Gerry’s head (or at least that is the implication that I took from it).
This was a good episode featuring the monster-of-the-week story.
Did not expect to see this former character again. Did not expect to see him interacting with Jadis. I really thought he was going to buy it at her hands in this episode. I am glad how it worked out for him.
Jadis, however, met her fate at the hands of Rick, via a walker. She caught up with Rick and Michonne and their showdown was very intense. It was unclear what was going to happen. Yet, when the walker took a bite out of Jadis’s neck, the end of the major feud came.
Jadis showed her inner humanity after the walker bite by telling Rick and Michonne the truth about the dossier that she had on Alexandria.
The whole wedding proposal reaction between Rick and Michonne was a beautiful moment before they return to the C.R.M. in the finale next week.
This TV movie was actually titled Man from Atlantis III: Killer Spores. It is the third of four TV movie prior to the debut of the short-lived TV series.
For the second TV movie in a row, Mark, Elizabeth and Miller have to deal with something extraterrestrial as they were assigned to recover a space probe from the military. Mark can hear a horrible screeching sound that the others could not. When he arrived at the site of the space probe, Mark discovered strange, blue, intelligent spores covering it. They started spreading across the city, causing panic and problems.
This is a pretty good sci-fi episode. The spores are able to take over people’s minds and make them do what they want. The spores use the people to learn. Meanwhile, Mark is conflicted by his desire to not destroy the spores and trying to save his friends.
The best science fiction leads to moral quandaries and “Killer Spores” seemed to have that very conundrum.
This episode was better than the previous one, though the conclusion with the spores hopping a ride on a launching rocket back to space was iffy. There were a whole bunch of these spores, but it seemed as if Mark only transported a couple to the rocket. I got a feel of a hive-type group from the spores. It made me think about the Borg from Star Trek: A New Generation.
I just watched the original Road House on Hulu this morning. I wanted to have seen it before watching the remake on Amazon Prime tonight. I did not love the original. I did not hate it because I could see the appeal. The 2024 version of Road House I did not love, but I liked it more than the original.
Jake Gyllenhaal steps into the role of Dalton (who gets a first name in this movie, Elwood), this time a former UFC fighter whose career ended after a tragedy. Dalton’s name was enough to intimidate most people so Frankie (Jessica Williams), who owned a bar named Road House in Florida came to find Dalton and offer him a job to help clean up the bar.
Just like the original, Dalton discovered that the backwoods town had problems with certain individuals who want the Road House gone.
These people bring in Conor McGregor to try and kill Dalton.
I was actually more engaged with the character of Dalton immediately in this movie because of a scene with a train. I found him more interesting than the late Patrick Swayze version.
The villains were every bit as one dimensional as the original. Even McGregor was just the violent killer character.
This was just as violent as the original with Gyllenhaal being quicker to fight than it was with Swayze. The fight scenes were very brutal and displayed Dalton’s skills in mixed martial arts.
There were less involvement with the rest of the bar employees in the new film than the original, but they were there in the scenes.
Gyllenhaal is the star of the film and I thought he did a really solid job. The film is not brilliant, but I was entertained and I did find it better than the Road House I watched this morning.
The second of the Man from Atlantis television movies was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis II: Death Scouts.”
According to Wikipedia, “Mark investigates the disappearance of three scuba divers, two of whom are ‘replaced’ by waterborne aliens (Tiffany Bolling as Lioa / Dilly and Burr DeBenning as Xos / Chazz). The aliens assignment is to scout Earth and check its defense capabilities. They also give the impression that Mark may also be one of them, specially bred for Earth infiltration.“
I was not wild about this story. While I appreciate them trying to tie Lioa and Xos to Mark’s background, it all felt kind of muddied. It seemed to indicate that they were lying about Mark when they informed him that he was from their planet, but at the end, it sounded as if Lioa had confirmed that he was from earth.
It was a messy story. If Mark did not have a connection to these two, why did they both have the webbed fingers? The symbol on Mark’s trunks, was I to understand that it is not the same as he saw in the spaceship?
I hope that this was a lie because I feel as if making Mark an alien from another planet is just lazy writing. I do not know if they will ever go into further details on his past in the short season one, but I’m sure it could be handled more deftly.
There were just too many plot holes for this tv movie. There were some decent sci-fi shots, several of which actually reminded me of The Land of the Lost, but the writing of the story felt off.
However, the shots of Patrick Duffy underwater continue to just amaze me. I am curious how they shot these, especially those that seem to have Mark in a tank of water for extended periods of time while on screen. How much did Patrick Duffy do on his own? I would love to know the specifics of these shots because they are the best underwater shots I think I have seen and this was 1977.
I remember hearing about this film last year from Kevin Smith on his Fatman Beyond podcast. Smith raved about this from his friend David Dastmalchian. So I was excited to see this when I saw it coming out at Cinemark.
I can honestly say that I have not been as shaken or unsettled as much from a horror movie is quite some time. The creativity and originality of this film is off the charts and it strung me along in a beautiful manner.
The film starts off in a style of a documentary where the topic was a late night talk show in 1977 that wound up going off the charts. The main part of the film featured the Halloween episode of the Night Owls late night talk show and footage from behind the scenes recorded that night, which presented a picture of a tense and nerve-wrecking situation.
David Dastmalchian played Jack Delroy, the late night talk show host who was struggling to try and become the leader in ratings for late night shows, but who was always coming up short to Johnny Carson. The first fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie set up the background, much like a documentary might, including giving us details on Jack’s wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig), who had died about a year before.
Jack and the producers of his sinking show were looking for a way to recover from the dwindling ratings since the tragic death, and they were looking for this Halloween episode to really pull in the viewers. They stacked it up with some amazing people.
First, was the psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), who was clearly pulling the old tricks of a fraudulent psychic, saying names and looking for people who might fit into the category. However, there were a couple of things that happen that make us wonder exactly what was going on.
Then, he brought out Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a skeptic who would punch holes in the seemingly paranormal moments. Carmichael was a real jerk about it too, being very condescending and arrogant.
Things really picked up when Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and the young girl Lily (Ingrid Torelli) took the stage to talk about Lily’s demon residing inside of her.
From this point on, this film just took off, as you were never sure what was going on, what was real or what was about to happen. The ending sequence, which I will not spoil, was totally off the charts and absolutely stunning. I was completely floored by the third act of this movie, both in the story telling aspect and the way it made me unnerved.
David Dastmalchian is perfect in the role of Jack. You can suspect that there is more to Jack than what you see, but he is so likable that you really want to believe in him and root for him to make it back to the top. Ingrid Torelli is utterly creepy as Lily. Her looks, her voice, everything about Lily was distressing.
Jack’s sidekick (much like Jimmy Kimmel’s Guillermo or Carson’s Ed McMahon) was named Gus (Rhys Auteri) and you could tell that he was just not sure that they should be doing what they were doing. Gus spoke to Jack as the audience spoke, and he was rebuked over and again.
This movie has a definite retro feel to it, and you believe everything that happens. I really loved this movie. It built amazingly from the beginning until the ending sequence. I can see the end being something that some people will not like, but I was utterly engaged and shaken by it.
This is streaming on Shudder in April, and I would recommend everyone to search it out. It takes the old sub-genres of found footage and demonic possession and brings a new life to them. It is a really great film, one of the best of the year.
I love the Ghostbusters movie from 1984, and no Ghostbusters movie since has come anywhere close. That does not mean that every film since has been garbage. I had heard that the new film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was not very good. It lowered my expectations for the movie. I think that helped.
According to IMBD, “The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”
I did think the story was decent. I liked the idea of the villain and the powers made it very cinematic. There are some great moments with the cast, in particular McKenna Grace, who once again had the biggest arc among the new characters. Paul Rudd was playing Gary in the best Paul Rudd manner. Carrie Coon did not have much to do. Finn Wolfhard was a nice addition for comedic purposes.
However, there was way too many in the cast. There are too many characters who were just here because they were in the last movie, and they added several new characters who are performed by great actors. I do not think that any of the new characters were needed additions. I love both Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt, but they felt forced into the story.
And I hate to say it, but of the original Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz was the most important. Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson were there for no major reason and Annie Potts was just collecting a paycheck. It is nothing against any of these actors, because they are all great, but there was just not enough in the script for this many people to do.
Making William Atherton’s Peck the new Mayor of New York though is a stroke of genius. He is a perfect antagonist for the Ghostbusters and it makes sense why he hates them.
The special effects are great. They use them in the proper times and it does not seem to be overused.
However, the finale of the film was a touch underwhelming for me because of which characters were central in the battle, and I saw it coming a mile away.
I enjoyed the film for the most part, but it did feel as if there were just too much stuffed into the two hour run time, making the movie feel cramped. Very few of the new characters are developed. There were a couple that I did not even mention. Still, as a fan of Ghostbusters, this was a good time at the movies. It could have been considerably better.
As I was going to Amazon Prime yesterday, I saw that the new Road House movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal was now available for streaming. With the schedule, I plan on watching that later this afternoon or evening, but I thought I should watch the original 1989 movie starring Patrick Swayze first. I have never seen Road House even though it has a large cult following. I have heard a wide variety of opinions on the film. Everything from it is a favorite movie of all time to it is one of the worst. I found it on Hulu/Max so I watched it this morning.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, “The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton (Patrick Swayze) has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he’s more than capable — busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot-spot. But Dalton’s romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay (Kelly Lynch) puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara).”
Starting off, this is a silly, mostly stupid, film with poor dialogue and simplistic characters. It is not a very good film.
However, it is entertaining. It is one of those film that you need to approach knowing what kind of film it is and not to expect a lot. There is fun to be had in the mindless violence and one-note characters.
This is basically a 1980s-style Western, with two main characters, Dalton and Mason (Sam Elliott), who are the silent, gunslingers, who coming into the town to clean it up. They are Clint Eastwood-like characters coming face-to-face with the mustache-twirling villains. The story fits right into the genre of the Western, right down to the shootout in the finale.
I will say that the longer the film went, the more ridiculous it became. There is no attempt at realism and it felt much more a cartoon than anything else.
It was awesome to see the late Terry Funk in this film. Sure, he was not much of an actor, but he wasn’t supposed to be. As brutal henchman, he was right in his element.
The more I reflect back on this movie, I can see why people enjoy it, but it really is not a movie that I would recommend unless you are bored on a Saturday afternoon and looking for a really dumb film to pass the time.
Once again, there are parts of this new arc of stories on Twin Peaks that are decent and have its share of mysterious moments, and there are parts of the new arc of stories on Twin Peaks that are just horrendous.
Let’s start off with the good:
The creepiness factor of the Windham Earle chess game is just top notch. He feels as if he is a worthy challenge for Cooper.
Dick and Andy in search of info on Little Nicky. More on this later though.
Major Briggs and everything surrounding him. Project Blue Book? Giant Owl? The performance of Don S. Davis as Major Briggs in this episode was exceptional.
Crazy Ben Horne is the best Ben Horne.
Nadine beating the hell out of Hank and making out with Mike? Funny!
The return of a live and in person Leo. The final shot of Leo with food all over his face was just frightening.
Agent Cooper really has respect for everyone. His response to David Duchovny out of the dress was amazing.
Not so good
James. Everything with James. Falling into bed with Mrs. Marsh really tells me that James is not, nor ever has been, in love with Donna. She deserves way better than James.
Dick and Andy are more like bumbling boobs in pursuit of Little Nicky. Did they get out of the adoption office? The show did not tell us. I guess they did since Andy was at the showdown with Renault.
David Duchovny in drag at the end is silly. He’s pulling up his dress, wouldn’t Renault notice the gun too?
Bobby and Audrey still feels forced. Trying to find someone for Audrey besides Cooper.
Josie. That’s all I got.
They really wrapped up the Renault drug storyline quickly.
The overall feel of Twin Peaks during this time is that it could have benefited from some editing and tightening up the scripts. There were some good ideas here, but they were too inconsistent, not developed enough.
I recently purchased the entire run of comics of a short-lived series from the late 1970s called Man from Atlantis on eBay. I remembered being a fan of the series when it was on TV back in the 70s. Honestly, the comic was not great, but I was happy to have it in my collection.
As I was writing about it today in the EYG Comic Cavalcade #87, I mused about what I might think about the show if I could see it today. That sent me to Google to see if it was streaming anywhere I might be able to watch it. Amazingly, I found that the entire series was available for purchase on Amazon Prime.
The series included four television movies to start in 1977 and then a weekly show ran 13 more episodes. The show was canceled after the 13 episodes because of a dwindling viewership and high cost.
The series starred Patrick Duffy as Mark Harris, a mysterious man who had gills, webbed fingers and feet, but who could not remember anything about where he was from. Duffy would go from this series to his iconic role as Bobby Ewing on CBS’ Dallas.
The first of the movies, entitled “Pilot” featured the discovery of the mysterious man washed up on the beach, entangled in a fishing net. He was gasping and having terrible difficulties breathing. No matter what was done, no one seemed to be able to help him.
When Dr. Elizabeth Merrill was called in, she discovered his gills and took him to the ocean, where she had him placed face down in the water. This did the trick and he was taken back to the Foundation for Oceanic Research. Elizabeth named him ‘Mark Harris’ and the military became very intrigued by the possibilities of the water-breathing man.
I was very impressed by the swimming/underwater scenes. I am not sure how these were filmed because Patrick Duffy spent what seemed to be plenty of time under water. These scenes looked really well done.
Victor Buono, who was known as Batman villain King Tut in the 1960’s series, played the villain of the pilot, Mr. Schubert, who was set up as a reoccurring antagonist for the future of the series. Buono was a solid villain, with his line delivery.
I liked the pilot enough. I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the pilot and that I would not be happy doing this watch/rewatch (I know I used to watch the show, but I can’t say that I saw every episode), but I think things will be okay.
An unlikely and unexpected snowstorm on March 22nd led to a no school day today, and I was able to finish up this week’s new books. I knew that the snow was in the forecast, but I really did not believe that we would get any… or more correctly, I did not expect that we would get enough to matter. It sounds as if we may be around seven inches when its done, which is quite a lot for the end of March.
I have been active on eBay recently and I have several books that are intriguing to me. It is not just filling out series that I already have like Amazing Spider-Man, Groo the Wanderer or The Defenders (which, by the way, I purchased The Defenders Vol. 1 #14, 55,56 at Comic World this week. Todd tried to entice me to buy more, but I held my ground and would not succumb to his high-pressure sales tactics. :)), but also some rare and not as popular books too. I do like some strange comics at times.
This week’s books:
Man from Atlantis #1-7. One of the series I was referring to is this one from the late 1970s featuring the character of Mark Harris, a mysterious man with webbed hands and feet that could breathe underwater. It was based on a really short run TV show of the same title starring Patrick Duffy, before he made it big on Dallas. Honestly, these issues are not great, but it filled that nostalgia quota for me as I did like that TV show when I was young. I would be curious to see what I thought about it today. [EDIT: I found it on Amazon Prime for purchase. I am going to do a rewatch on EYG starting this weekend sometime. Very excited]
Lovesick #1-7. Written and drawn by Luana Vecchio. Another series that I picked up on eBay, Lovesick was quite the bizarre book. I was a little taken back by the overall concept. I am not sure how this wound up on my radar, but I have always enjoyed picking up these independent books (this one is from Image) and reading it through. I have had more success in my random choice (like That Texas Blood or Gideon Falls) than I have not, but Lovesick is one that I am not sure I would revisit or purchase again in hindsight.
Spider-Woman #5. “Sunday in the Park with Jess.” Written by Steve Foxe and art by Carola Borelli. Leinil Francis Yu & Sonny Gho did the cover art. This was a random encounter with Jessica Drew and Spider-Boy, and it was a fun little pairing. Spider-Boy could relate to Jess’s son’s current situation, as their stories are both similar. I thought this was a good use of character in this story.
Invincible Iron Man #16. “Splash Damage.” Written by Gerry Duggan and penciled by Creees Lee. Kael Ngu did the cover art. The Sentinel Buster Mark 72 armor is in full effect in this issue as Tony Stark takes on the crew of Sentinels along with Feilong. Some great art in this issue with a lot of full page panels. I have enjoyed Tony Stark’s involvement in the X-Men/Orchis storyline.
Tenement #10. Written by Jeff Lemire and featuring art by Andrea Sorrentino. The most recent book in the Bone Orchard saga comes to a close with this issue that paid off with a very satisfying conclusion for this leg of the story. I have enjoyed diving into Jeff Lemire’s writing over the last year or so and I will be excited to see where this heads next.
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6. Written by Brian Buccellato and including art by Christian Duce and Tom Derenick. Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajaroo Jr did the cover art. I am not a fan of how this series is going at this point. I enjoyed it more near the beginning of the book and next issues rematch between Superman and Godzilla is promising, but the overall book feels nothing more than a Elseworld story. Especially when Guy Gardner got squished by Gorilla Grodd, and am I to believe that Grodd could mentally control both Supergirl and Kong at the same time? I hope the finale next issue is better.
Cobra Commander #3. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. This makes me think that Cobra Commander is way more bad ass than I ever thought he was. He did always seem fairly cowardly in the animated series but watching him hold out against the torture of this issue, including the little smiley face on his helmet, was impressive.
Spider-Boy #5. “Best Friends Forever” and “A Highly Evolved Opinion” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina (1st story) and Julian Shaw (2nd story). Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado had a fun cover for this issue. Admittedly, these two stories feel as if they just transition into one as Spider-Boy has to deal with Madam Monstrosity and Hellifino.
Displaced #2. Written by Ed Brisson and illustrated by Luca Casalanguida. I am really a fan of this new Boom! Studios comic. I find it extremely fascinating and I love the feel of the book. It makes me think of TV shows like LOST which has a major mystery and we have to try and understand what is going on. The disappearance of the city of Oshawa and the dangers of the survivors of the town, who are in jeopardy of disappearing too, is just fantastic.
X-Men: Forever #1. “A Ghost.” Written by Kieron Gillen and including art by Luca Maresca. Mark Brooks did the cover art (Gold medalist). I loved this cover, but, if I am being honest, I had no idea what was going on in this book. I obviously have not read enough of the current X-Men storyline to actually recognize or understand what was happening.
Night Thrasher #2. “If You Don’t Know, Now You Know.” Written by J. Holtham and art by Nelson Daniel. Alan Quah did the art on the cover. Night Thrasher and Rage (referred to as the O.G.) had another confrontation, but things did not turn out quite how Night Thrasher wanted.
Fantastic Four #18. “The Secret of Franklin Richards.” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Alex Ross did the cover art. This was great as we discovered a little secret about Reed and Sue’s son, first born Franklin Richards. We have believed that Franklin had lost his ultimate powers, but it turned out that Franklin had used his powers to make it seem as if he did not have his powers any more so he could have a normal life.
Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #2. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. Hey look… Quicksilver is in his GREEN outfit. (Heh, heh, heh). The Wizard is here and he is in conflict with Wanda. She has to end up seeking help from her ex, Vision.
Web of Spider-Man #1. This is a compilation of examples of all of the major Spider-characters for the next several months including Spider-Man, Miles, Spider-Woman, Kaine, Spider-Gwen, Chasm, Spider-Society and the Spectacular Spider-Men. No Spider-Boy, which had me wondering what was up with that.
Black Panther #10. “Reign at Dusk: Finale” Written by Eve L. Ewing and penciled by Chris Allen. Taurin Clarke is the cover artist. Another volume of the Black Panther ends with this issue. It seems a lot of Marvel books are only getting ten issues and then they are moving along. It is the one creative team and then they leave and, instead of refilling the teams, the end the books, with a future new volume coming. Not sure how I feel about that.
Captain Marvel #6. “Genesis” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Ruairi Coleman. Bryan Valenza did the cover art. The villainous Omen still has control of Genis-Vell in the name of the Undone. Carol, Yuna Yang, Phyla-Vell, Hulkling and Wiccan take up opposition.
Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter #1. “The Monster Maker” Written by David Dastmalchian and art by Lukas Ketner. I saw an ad for this Dark Horse book in the Headless Horseman Halloween Special and thought it looked good. The main reason was that it was written by actor David Dastmalchian, who I do like a lot. I am going to see his new movie this weekend, Late Night With the Devil. This book was fun and I have the rest of the first series on its way and a second series, issues #1 & 2, waiting to be read.
Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3. “Soldier” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Davide Paratore did the cover art. This has been a interesting book since the death of Marc Specter and the appearance of the new, mysterious Moon Knight, whose very activity has been shining a negative light on the Midnight Mission. Soldier is front and center in this issue and is solid.
Something Epic #8. Written, drawn and cover art (Bronze Medalist) by Simon Kudranski. This series returned with a new arc, featuring paranormal investigator Noa Carpenter and a walking duck named D. Ducktive, who is ABSOLUTELY not Howard the Duck. I loved this first issue and the case of who murdered Sherlock Holmes looks to be very, if you excuse my pun, epic. Glad this book is back.
Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #2. “The Wolverine: Cutting Edge.” Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Edgar Salazar. Philip Tan & Sebastian Cheng were the cover artists. Wolverine, Captain America and Black Widow continue their adventure in Madripoor but things don’t go well for our trio of heroes.
Resurrection of Magneto #3. “Falls the Shadow” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Luciano Vecchio. Magneto and Storm team up in the after life to take on the Shadow King with the ultimate goal of bringing Magneto back to life. Does the cost go too high?
Blade #9. “Mother of Evil Part Nine” Written by Bryan Hill and including the art of Valentina Pinti. Elena Casagrande & KJ Diaz did the art for the cover. This sure seems to be another series that will be ending with issue 10, making this the penultimate issue of the run. Blade is working his way to try and find Adana, but the popular theory is that Blade ahs no chance against her. I guess we’ll see.
The Infernals #2. “Chapter Two: Trial” Written by Noah Gardner & Ryan Parrott and art by John J. Pearson with Lola Bonato. Nero finds out that he is not getting the big seat when his evil father kicks off. Instead it is Jackal. Or is that a major mistake?
Other books this week: Star Wars: Visions #1 (Silver Medalist), Bloody Dozen #4, Project: Crypid #7, Beware of the Planet of the Apes #3, Midlife: or How to Hero at Fifty #5 & 6, and Kill Your Darlings #7.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 