I began my Agents of Shield rewatch this afternoon with the first three episodes, bringing the team together.
These first three episodes reminded me why I loved this show so much. One of the biggest reasons was Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. He is so charming and funny and a joy to watch. They set up the mystery of Tahiti (it’s a magical place) right away and they do a fine job of teasing that something was going on.
I love Melinda May, aka The Calvary. She is such a bad ass in this show and her chemistry with Coulson and everyone in the cast is spectacular.
Fitz and Simmons are such cool characters. They are not the type of characters that you would expect in a spy show like this, but their presence is extremely awesome.
Chloe Bennett, who played Skye (at least Skye at this point…. one day to become Daisy Johnson) is another great character who is so easy to root for. There is just enough of uncertainty about Skye to make you wonder what is going to happen.
Grant Ward, on the other hand, is more difficult because I know where his character goes. Watching him in these first episodes, knowing that he was in Hydra, was much more difficult. I wonder when they knew, as a creative team, that Ward would be betraying the team as a Hydra agent. There does not seem to be any signs or hints at this point.
These first episodes are used to bring these characters together in a team, something that did not seem likely to happen in the early part of the show. They were arguing and fighting and did not trust each other, but their plan to sabotage the Shield plane bonded them together.
The Samuel L. Jackson cameo as Nick Fury was awesome too as he yelled at Coulson. Fury’s question about Lola, Coulson’s flying car, was both funny and telling.
I know that this show winds up having to slosh along until the Hydra reveal in Captain America: Winter Soldier, but it has started off strong. I wish that the show had more continuity to the MCU as I would love to see Melinda May appear in MCU films or shows.
I finished up Sha Na Na’s first season on YouTube this morning with three pretty good episodes. I do believe that some of the errors that the show did in the first half of their first season were addressed midway through and it did seem better.
Episode 22 kicked off with Blue Moon, which was strange because I am almost certain that that song has already been done on the show. I don’t think that it was just the pilot episode either. I didn’t go back through my reviews to see, but it felt very familiar. The last song of the season was sung by Dirty Dan, and it was Dream Lover, which, again, I thought I had already heard this season. I’m not sure it was a good sign if they were repeating songs just during their first season.
They continued with the musical acts as guest stars instead of comedians or actors. Dion, Marth Reeves and the Vandellas and Bobby Vee all were able to perform and added so much to each episode. The poor comedy was kept to a minimum and the show became more of a musical variety show.
Martha Reeves stuck around after her song and did some jokes with Bowzer and Lennie, both of which were funny. You can do that if it is written well.
Sha Na Na does a fantastic job of finding the right voices to blend together. They had the song Charlie Brown sung by Screamin’ Scott and Jocko, and they sounded great together. Then, they had their best singers< Johnny, Bowzer, Donny, Santini and Denny doing Remember Then, which is sensational.
In episode 23, they did one of the comedy bits where they all dress up and they called it Swine Lake. At first, I thought to myself, “What am I watching?” but as it went on, I started picturing it as an act on the Muppet Show. Had this been the pigs from the Muppets doing this “ballet” I wouldn’t have blinked at it. So, by making Sha Na Na human Muppets, I found much more enjoyment in the skit than I would have before.
Avery Schreiber, who has been a cabbie all season long, came into the diner and did a skit/song where he danced like a robot. It was a bizarre moment. It was another that kind of grew on me and I liked the effort of him doing something different than just drive his cab onto the set and bring the guest star. Apparently, the song was called Mechanical Man and it was a song Avery Schreiber wrote the song as a way to express his unhappiness over how he was being seen as an actor.
Dirty Dan had several songs in this block of three including Dream Lover, Da Do Run Run, and part of the Mexican skit in episode 22.
The comedy bit song in the 24th episode was Ahab the Arab, which was a song b Ray Stevens. I was surprised, since I thought this was too recent for Sha Na Na to do it. However, I did a quick Google search and it said that the song was released in 1962, meaning it fell right into Sha Na Na’s wheelhouse.
This brings to a close season one of the variety show. I am curious to see if there are any changes from season one to two or if the changes they made in the middle of season one will just continue.
Composer (season 2-5): Hugo Montenegro (Season one composer was Richard Wess. The season 2-5 theme is the one on this list. It is the one that everyone knows)
And everyone knows this theme. I did not watch a lot of I Dream of Jeannie as a kid, but I watched enough to know how iconic this theme is.
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), Mikey Madison (Anora), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
Our final acting award is for our BEST ACTRESS which we named after Elizabeth Taylor, aka The Liz. We do have one two-time winner of The Liz, that being Viola Davis for her roles in Fences and in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. This year there are two possible actresses who could join her as a two-time winner.
#20. Cate Blanchett (Black Bag)
#19. Terri Apple (Strange Harvest)
#18. Hassie Harrison (Dangerous Animals)
#17. Carey Mulligan (The Ballad of Wallis Island)
#16. Margot Robbie (Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey)
Some newcomers in this first five. Terri Apple and Hassie Harrison were both in movies that surprised me with how awesome they were. The other three actresses in #20-16 are never a surprise.
#15. Elle Fanning (Predator: Badlands)
#14. Olivia Colman (The Roses)
#13. Renate Reinove (Sentimental Journey)
#12. June Squibb (Eleanor the Great)
#11. Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Again, some consider Rose Byrne a favorite for the Oscar for her movie. She was good, but I can’t see that happening. Elle Fanning has now appeared on both Supporting Actress and Lead Actress this year. I always LOVE Oliva Colman.
#10. Rachel Brosnahan (Superman)
#9. Emma Stone (Bugonia)
#8. Julia Garner (Weapons)
#7. Sophie Thatcher (Companion)
#6. Sydney Sweeney (Christy)
Rachel Brosnahan was a perfect casting for Lois Lane and she was front and center in that movie. Emma Stone is one of the previous winners of The Liz so there will be no two-time for her. One more possible on this list. Sydney Sweeney got a lot of heat because Christy flopped. Her performance was stunning anyway.
#5. Florence Pugh (Thunderbolts*)
#4. Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good)
#3. Vanessa Kirby (Fantastic Four: First Steps)
#2. Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Cynthia Erivo won the Liz last year so there will be no one joining Viola Davis as a two-time winner this year. I am sad that I have a feeling that the Academy will be overlooking Kate Hudson’s performance in Song Sung Blue. She is absolutely spectacular and only an all tie performance kept her from winning the Liz this year. Florence Pugh is so charming and engaging as Yelena that I am excited to see her in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday. Vanessa Kirby was a perfect Sus Storm casting.
And #1… winner of 2025 The Liz Award
Jesse Buckley (Hamnet)
Jesse Buckley’s performance in Hamnet is quite literally the BEST performance I have seen this year over any medium or any forum. TV. Movies. Lead. Supporting. Male. Female. Other. YouTube. TikTok. You name it! Anything. It was a generational performance. The first half of Hamnet was not that good, and her work kept that film afloat until the second half of the film when her performance transcended the film into legendary statis. If she does not win the Oscar this year, no one should. She certainly has won The Liz at EYG.
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), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown).
We come to the BEST ACTOR award that we have named in honor of EYG Hall of Famer Peter Sellers and his multiple roles in the movie Dr. Strangelove. Again, no actor has won this award more than once. We do have one possible two-timer on the list and we will see if he can reach the top of the list.
#20. Austin Baker (Caught Stealing)
#19. George Clooney (Jay Kelly)
#18. Paul Mescal (Hamnet)
#17. Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)
#16. Cooper Hoffman (The Long Walk)
Our first five on the list all have nice performances. Cooper Hoffman was the biggest surprise of these five as his work on The Long Walk was exceptional.
#15. Brad Pitt (F1: The Movie)
#14. Daniel Craig (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
#13. Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)
#12. Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams)
#11. Pedro Pascal (Fantastic Four: First Steps)
Big names in this part of the list. Pedro Pascal I expected to be higher until I stated to compile the list. I loved his portray of Reed Richards. Jeremy Allen White did a great job as Springsteen. Daniel Craig was down further than I thought too. His performance as Benoit Blanc is always sensational. Some are saying Joel Edgerton has a chance to be nominated for an Oscar. I am not sure I would go that far, but he was good in Train Dreams.
#10. Channing Tatum (Roofman)
#9. David Jonsson (The Long Walk)
#8. Russell Crowe (Nuremberg)
#7. Matthew McConaughey (The Lost Bus)
#6. Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Some think Leonardo is going to win the Oscar this year. I have already said that I was not a fan of One Battle After Another. He was fine there. Heck, he was better than fine as I have him at #6. David Jonsson in The Long Walk was exceptional and extremely moving. Russell Crowe playing Herman Goering is hard to give a lot of affirmations. He was great as the Nazi.
#5. Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
#4. Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
#3. Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue)
#2. Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine)
Timothee Chalamet won this award last year when he played Bob Dylan, so no two-time winner this year. The Rock gave his best performance of his career. It is a shame it is being overshadowed by the failure at the box office of Smashing Machine. Hugh Jackman is brilliant in Song Sung Blue, a film I just saw yesterday. Josh O’Connor did the impossible… stole the Knives Out movie from Benoit Blanc.
And #1…Strangelove winner for 2025
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Michael B. Jordan played twins in Sinners and he did such a great job, there were times that I wondered if it was actually him playing both roles. Both characters, Smoke and Stack Moore, were individual people and had their own traits and personalities. It was a tour de force performance from a man who has only been getting better every movie.
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), Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora)
Our theme so far with the awards tonight have been potential two-time winners. However The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor has already had an actor win it twice. Robert Downey Jr. won it for Oppenheimer and Avengers: Endgame. We do have one past winner on the list to possibly join RDJ in the two-time winners club.
#15. Joseph Quinn (Fantastic Four: First Steps)
#14. Keanu Reeves (Good Fortune)
#13. Stacy Keach (Jay Kelly)
#12. John Lithgow (The Rule of Jenny Pen)
#11. Michael Shannon (Nuremberg)
Well, there was not much suspense about that as Michael Shannon, who previously won this award for Nocturnal Animals, is in at #11. The other interesting story in the #11-15 was Keanu Reeves, who I thought was terrible in the trailers for Good Fortune, but was so much better with context in the film.
#10. Peter Dinklage (Roofman)
#9. Jeremy Strong (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)
#8. Josh Brolin (Weapons)
#7. Ben Foster (Christy)
#6. Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly)
Another great group of actors. Adam Sandler is not usually on my lists, but he was excellent in Jay Kelly. Peter Dinklage is always great in whatever role he is doing. Ben Foster was extremely cruel in Christy, making a character that is truly hated.
#5. Jack O’Connell (Sinners)
#4. Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
#3. Delroy Lindo (Sinners)
#2. Josh Brolin (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
Look at that. Josh Brolin appeared twice on this list. He is at number two and eight. He had two great performances in two awesome movies. The Sinners movie had some great performances too. Jack O’Connell will show up on a different actor list later on. Jacob Elordi brought a new life to Frankenstein.
And #1…
Mark Hamill (Life of Chuck)
Mark Hamill won the I Am Groot Award this year too. His performance in Life of Chuck was not long, but it was impactful and gave us the emotional wallop for the film. Mark Hamill has had a fantastic 2025 and I am pleased to give him this award.
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), Ariana Grande (Wicked)
With Best Supporting Actress, we have two past winners who are up for the award this year. It happened in the Best Director category… could we have the first time 2-Time winner of The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress?
Let’s find out…
#12. Erin Kellyman (Eleanor the Great)
#11. Jennifer Lopez (Kiss of the Spider-Woman)
#10. Chase Infiniti (One battle After Another)
So the first three are all roles that were not winning this, but were solid performances. Chase Infiniti has a chance to be nominated for an Oscar, but I think her days are still ahead of her.
#9. America Ferrera (The Lost Bus)
#8. Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)
#7. Laura Dern (Jay Kelly)
#6. Rebecca Ferguson (A House of Dynamite)
Four solid women in this stretch of the list. Rebecca Ferguson, America Ferrera both did underrated work in their movies this year. Elle Fanning stood out in Sentimental Value.
#5. Hailee Seinfeld (Sinners)
#4. Emily Blunt (Smashing Machine)
#3. Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)
#2. Glenn Close (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
So no double winners in the supporting actress category this year. Emily Blunt had won previously for A Quiet Place and Ariana Grande won last year for Wicked. We have a new winner this year. Glenn Close nearly snuck up and snatched this away with her amazingperformance in Wake Up Dead Man.
And #1…
Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Amy Madigan was thrilling and cruel as the witch who needed to kidnap a group of kids to save herself. She was creepy and eerie. She had the strangest, yet most deserving ending to any villain this year. Her performance made this movie work. It gave us all someone to hate.
“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), Robert Eggers (Nosferatu)
We have some top of the line directors up for this award this year. We have never had a repeat winner in this award before, but we definitely have some possible 2nd time winners among our list.
Honorable Mention: Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor the Great), Jafar Pasnahi (It Was Just an Accident), Rob Reiner (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues), Francis Lawrence (The Long Walk), Joseph Kosinski (F1: The Movie).
#15. Kathryn Bigelow (A House of Dynamite)
#14. Mike Flanagan (Life of Chuck)
#13. Yorgus Lanthimos (Bugonia)
#12. Jon M. Chu (Wicked: For Good)
#11. Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Discussion: Many Oscar pundits have PTA leading the pack for Best Director, but I did not love One Battle After Another. There is no argument that he did a great job as the director. Jon Chu and Mike Flanagan had dance and musical numbers to deal with. Kathryn Bigelow had to show multiple POVs in her film and Yorgus had to direct one of the most crazy scenes of the year.
#10. Chloe Zhao (Hamnet)
#9. James Gunn (Superman)
#8. Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)
#7. Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*)
#6. Matt Shakman (Fantastic Four: Final Steps)
I thought Matt Shakman, fresh off WandaVision, created a great tone in FF: First Steps. Thunderbolts was a great ensemble and Schreier managed the group extremely well. James Gunn had a lot of pressure choosing to direct the first DCU film himself and he did a great job. Josh Safdie won the battle of the Safdie brothers this year. Hamnet had a remarkable ending, but the first half was too slow.
#5. Paul Greengrass (The Lost Bus)
#4. Zach Cregger (Weapons)
#3. Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein)
#2. Rian Johnson (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
With this group of directors, Rian Johnson’s brilliant story was presented in a perfect manner. Del Toro brought a stylish version of Frankenstein to Netflix. Zach Cregger’s work on Weapons was great, again with a style of differing POVs. The directing job done by Paul Greengrass with the fire and the stunts in The Lost Bus should not be overlooked, although it does feel as if it has been.
#1…
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
Here is our first two-time “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director winner. Coogler won a few years ago for his great work on Wakanda Forever and he absolutely took the next step with Sinners. This movie was such an epic that you can’t help but be impressed by his amazing work. Vampires. Music. Dance routines. Bloody standoffs. Sinners has everything.
Previous Winners:Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Inside Out 2
We had a really great year for animation this year. In fact, I usually connect this with the Worst Animation movie too, but I could not find one that I hadn’t given a fresh review to so I am just giving the Frame Award out. All positives here and that is great.
(Of course, I did not see Smurfs, which probably would have been that place.)
2025 Animated Movies: There are a couple of films that I would not put on the list which would be Elio and Stitch Head. Both are acceptable films. Elio might be considered weak if you used the Pixar metric to judge it, but other wise, it was decent.
Top 9 animated films of 2025.
#9. Dog Man. I did not like the trailers for this, but the film itself was decent.
#8. Ne Zha 2. This made almost 2 billions worldwide, but almost nothing in the US. Fun flick though.
#7. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Loony Tunes Movie. This was fun, but I would have rather had Bugs Bunny than Daffy and Porky. Still, it was Loony Tunes goodness.
#6. In Your Dreams. A good film on Netflix that deals with family issues (specifically divorce).
#5. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. One of the most recent animated films that surprised me with how funny I found it. Mark Hamill always helps.
#4. Bad Guys 2. A sequel that was just about as good as the original with some fun characters in wild situations.
#3. Predator: Killer of Killers. The Hulu animated film in the Predator franchise. It really was a solid film and led into the badlands films brilliantly.
#2. K-Pop Demon Hunters. A film that should not have been this high on my list, but it had exciting story, great music and beautiful animation.
and #1….
Zootopia 2
This is possibly the highest grossing film of the year (we will see how Avatar ends up), but Zootopia has broken the billion dollar club and is just a really awesome story as well. The voice acting is tremendous and it is a really solid film in the Disney studios.
We are up to the final Comic Cavalcade of 2025. The next NEW COMIC BOOK DAY is New Year’s Eve and, even with a smaller pull list as it looks to be, there is no way to finish it up before the clock strikes midnight.
2025 has been a great year for comics. With this last week’s load of books, I passed 20,000 comics in my personal collection. That was a cool thing. It was just a few years ago that my collection was in such a mess that I had no idea how many comics I had. Now, after several years of work, my books are all bagged, boarded, boxed, and counted. Sure, there are books where I am unsure where they are still, but it is certainly progress.
I received my order of Mark Spears Monsters #8 this week. I picked up 24 blind bags from Keenspot and I wound up with 19 new covers. I only had 5 duplicates, which I am considering a huge success. I also got three foil covers and three glow-in-the-dark covers in the blind bags. I am pleased with the delivery, even if it felt as if the package was never going to get here.
Books this week:
Sleep #7. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. The penultimate issue of Sleep came out this week and it continues to be one of the best, most creative books on the market. I am anxious to see what surprises we are going to have in store for us in the finale next month.
Red Book #3. Written by James Tynion IV with art and cover art by Michael Avon Oeming. More UFO stories from the Soviet Union and, setting up, China for next month. Tynion IV writes this as if it is the truth and that it is out there.
The Will of Doom #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by CAFU. Cover art was done by Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimarães. Dr. Doom is gone (yeah, right) but the Doombots are causing trouble. One issue with the Doombots is that they always believed that they were the true Doom. This one-shot feels important as Chip Zdarsky is heading toward the big event next summer. How will this fit into that?
Orla #5. Written by John Lees with art by Sally Cantirino. Cover art was done by Sally Cantirino & Dearbhla Kelly. Orla was a fun book that seems to believe in true love, even over that desire to murder and eat your lover. This is the final issue of this Mad Cave series.
DC KO: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1. Written by Scott Snyder & Joshua Williamson with pencils by Dustin Nguyen & Giuseppe Camuncoli. Cover art was done by Jorge Corona & Sarah Stern. I also picked up cover C by Guillem March (Gold Medalist). This was the most interesting of the first round match-ups in the KO tournament because of the history between Red Hood and Joker. Many of the other match-ups did not have much background to them, but this one was firing on all cylinders.
Gunpowder Profits #3. Written by Justin Jordan with art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Marley and Huck got in trouble for their murder of the motorcycle gang last issue, but it seemed as if the gang was not going to let death stop them. Just an excuse for Marley to be even more violent. Meanwhile, America has been snatched away.
Sisterhood #5. Written by Maytal Zchut and art by Leila Leiz. Cover art was done by Leila Leiz with Alex Sinclair. The final issue of this Hyde Street story sees the weird end to the friendship as one person is arrested for the crime. Was it the right person though?
Rocketfellers #11. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art and cover art done by Francis Manapul. The Rocketfellers have been running through time to avoid Raina Rocketfeller, Roland’s sister. However, Raina has caught up with the family which lead to, apparently, a tragic result. I did not see this coming.
Justice League Unlimited #14. Written by Mark Waid with art and cover art by Dan Mora. The Terrific Ten storyline continues as yet another of the out-of-time heroes bites the big one here. That means that they are down to six.
Absolute Superman #14. “Son of Nowhere, Nothing and No One” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Big finale between Superman and Ra’s Al Ghul. The last panel brings the character a little closer to his true look. Thanks Ma.
Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #6. “What’s the Point of a Corgi?” Written by Tom King with art and cover art by Belen Ortega. With the time travel shenanigans going on in this series, we now have Trinity gain a chance to meet her father, Steve Trevor. Admittedly, it is only via the clay molding manner which does not sound nearly as fun.
Justice League Red #5. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Clayton Henry. Cover art is done by Clayton Henry & Arif Prianto. Black Adam is throwing shade to Red Tornado. Is the mind behind the Justice League Red actually plotting against them? As I am not as much of an aficionado of DC, am I supposed to know who the Crimson Cloud is?
Tama #5. Written by Adam Schlagman & Doug Pasko with art by Daniel HDR. Cover art was done by Ashley Witter. Tama continues his brutal path of killing people. Can the video game creature be shut down before it becomes the ultimate monster? Spoiler: Answer is no.
Detective Comics #1104. “The Courage That Kills Part Four” Written by Tom Taylor with art and cover art by Mikel Janin. Batman is in a race against time as he has now become symptomatic with the virus that he has been fighting against. How does the Scarecrow fit into this?
Amazing Spider-Man #18. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. I also picked up the variant cover by Simone Di Meo, featuring Mary Jane. Norman Osborn and J. Jonah Jameson sit down to talk about their connection to Peter Parker.
Spider-Man ’94 #4. Written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Spidey and Kraven take on the powerful Morlun. Somehow, it sure looked like Morlun turned into Swamp Thing on the final page. Marvel should watch out for copyright lawsuits.
X-Vengers #3. Written by Jason Loo with pencils by Sergio Davila. Cover art was done by Mike McKone & Morry Hollowell. The X-Vengers X-ssembled! Or something like that. This is another of the Age of Revelation books that was fun, but felt unneeded. It just gave a flavor to the rest of the Marvel Universe.
Cloak or Dagger #3. Written by Justina Ireland with art done by Lorenzo Tammetta & Edoardo Audino. Cover art was done by Mike McKone & Rachelle Rosenberg. This was another fun book as we get a chance to see Cloak and Dagger’s daughter kick some butt during the Age of Revelation.
Undeadpool #3. Written by Tim Seeley with art by Carlos Magno. Cover art was done by E.M. Gist. I liked this book at first, but I am not sure if I enjoyed its conclusion during the Age of Revelation. Deadpool got himself got it appeared. Still lots of death X Years Later.
1776 #2. “Our Sacred Honor” Written by J. Michael Straczynski with pencils by Sean Damien Hill. Pete Woods did the art for the cover. Okay, Spidey and Cap together with the revolutionary war soldiers is a hoot. I love their little hats. Clea vs. Morgan Le Fey is a bigtime throwdown.
No Man’s Land #4. Written, drawn and cover art by Szymon Kudranski (Silver Medalist). This awesome story of a murder mystery that could lead to major troubles between the US and the USSR comes to a close. While the mystery is not a great one (considering we did not really have a list of suspects), the resolution is epic. The scene with the showdown was amazing and I actually had my jaw drop with the presentation of it. I loved this four-issue series.
Hello Darkness #17. Variant cover art was done by Jenny Frison (Bronze Medalist). Another strong issue with multiple horror stories. There is always a great deal of variety in this Boom! Studios book.
Absolute Wonder Woman #15. “The Mark of Hecate” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. After over a year of publications, the Absolute Universe has finally crossed over. In this book, we get the first ever team-up between Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Batman. The story will continue in the next Absolute Batman book.
Other books this week: Masterminds #3, Godzilla Escapes the Dead Zone #5, Blink and You’ll Miss It #4, Titans #30, Absolute Martian Manhunter #7, Fire and Ice; Nekron #1, Event Horizon: Dark Descent #4, Gray Lady #1, Immortal Legend Batman #5, Return to Sleepy Hollow #2, and Red Vector #5.
Quick Hits: Final Boss #2 is back with more hand to hand fighting in the style of the classic video games. In the spirit of the awesome blind bag trend, I picked up an Image Christmas Blind Bag that was supposed to guarantee me a incentive comic of one of Images books. I got the 1:25 version of Assorted Crisis Events #5, which was a cool cover. Hornsby & Halo #13 featured a battle with an angel and devil in search of our heroes. The crime comic called American Caper from Dark Horse is, once again, a very enjoyable book. Dynamite put out The Lion King #2 as Simba was on the case of a missing elephant baby. The Marvel Winter Break Special #1 follows up the Marvel Swimsuit special from earlier this year. Still silly, but some fun art. Expatriate X-Men #3 was my least favorite of the Age of Revelation books this week. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #6 sees our heroes and the big titan monsters in bad shape. Is that supposed to be a monster version of Cheetah? The Quintesson War has begun in the pages of Void Rivals #25. Ignition Press comics gave us Voyeur #3 this week as we get even more adult comic action. I received Hero Hiro #2 from Keenspot this week along with the Monsters book. While this is a little young, I do like the story that they are telling. Finally, it is Star Wars #8 as Luke is doing his best Spidey under the rubble routine.
The final two episodes of The Pitt were great, making this one of my favorite, if not my favorite, medical dramas ever. Admittedly, medical dramas and me do not necessarily mix. However, this was worth the moments of being uncomfortable.
The mass shooting patients slowed down in the fourteenth episode. Things were unbelievable with this show during this mass shooting story arc. I am also happy that David turned out to not be the shooter. Admittedly, he did make the eliminate list, and I liked the fallout from that.
Robby was discovered by Whittaker on the floor. He did a nice job handling Robby, but Robby was still very off-balanced. He seemed to be so angry over the last several episodes. His confrontation with Langdon in the parking lot was tense and sharp.
The end was wonderful, filled with hope and light among the darkness and depression. Robby looked as if he was going to make it through and they show did a nice job of tying up the different dangling threads that were out there. Some of them were simple mentions, but I do believe everything that the show had set up or hinted at was covered.
This show was really strong and became epic during the mass shooting event. The show did a great job with characterization and giving us specifics on the different characters. With a large cast, the show was great at giving each individual something specific about them. I feel like I know most of these characters now, and not just the main two or three.
Season two will start on HBO Max on January 8 and I will be watching it weekly after that instead of the way I watched this first season.
It’s been a good year for documentaries, but there has not been one that really jumped out as the best of the year. In past years, there have been some apparent choices.
Best Documentary
Previous Winners: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Scientology Movie, Tickled, Finding Neverland, Tiger King, The Beatles: Get Back, Lights & Magic, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Many of these were so obvious that you could just pencil it in and plan the rest. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was as good as it got. The Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve movies brought so many feels to my tum-tum that they were clear choices.
This year, I have a bunch of good ones, but none that really demands to be the winner.
Runners-Up: I have not seen the John Candy doc, which I think will be pushed to the June Swoon at this point. I watched the Wick is Pain doc this year prior to Ballerina, and it was an enjoyable time. Being Eddie was funny, but not incredibly deep. Unknown Number: The High School Catfish was an improbable story, and those always make an enjoyable doc. Peacock had the Wrestlemania IX: Becoming a Spectacle, which had a lot of background info on one of the worst Wrestlemanias of all time. A doc on the artist behind Maus, Art Spiegelman, was a nice doc. Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse goes into detail of the iconic cartoonist. My most recent doc was The Secrets We Bury on HBO Max, about a man who found his father’s bones buried beneath his house. I just finished Billy Joel: And So It Goes as part of the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Becoming Led Zeppelin was a rocking good time. The Perfect Neighbor was another story of a Karen-gone-wrong and almost got this win. The actual second place doc this year went to Titan: The Oceangate Disaster.
Documentary of the Year
WWE Unreal
I know there were a lot of people trashing this as being set up, that the backstage stuff was scripted more than it professed. I don’t care. I found this to be utterly fascinating and engaging. When the agent Chris Park was upset because the Punk-Rollins match was going too long and he kept apologizing to Bruce Pritchard, who sure seemed to be one big jerk about it. Park was consoled by William Regal. That scene was absolutely not scripted and it showed the amount of pressure the backstage agents can feel.
This was four episodes on Netflix and is leading to a second season in January.
Interestingly, Billy Joel: And So It Goes Part 1 ended with a cliffhanger of sorts. Billy Joel had just had a motorcycle wreck and the doc made us think this was a huge event to Billy Joel.
Then, the second part of the doc started and the motorcycle accident was brushed aside with a mention about how his hand did not bend like it used to. That was it.
Even with that little sideline, I thought I enjoyed Part Two more than I did Part One. There were more about this that I did not know. There were more personal information than just details about the songs and why he wrote it.
The doc interviewed Christie Brinkley, famously Joel’s second wife, who was a huge inspiration with a lot of the hits of the 1980s. Hearing about the marriage and eventual divorce was very interesting.
It also spoke about the time when Billy was not active. There was a large stretch of time when he wasn’t making anything new and hearing about that time was fascinating.
The doc has a ton of individuals speaking about Billy Joel. We saw Paul McCartney, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Pink, Garth Brooks, Nas, and Jackson Browne.
This was a really strong doc, even if it was too long. It was comprehensive and covered most of his biggest hits. This was amazing.
One Day at a Time is another of those catchy, 70s/80s themes that sticks in your head after you see it. I watched One Day at a Time, but I did not love it. It was fine. The theme sticks with me more than the show did.
Dr. Robby kept saying in episode 11 that there was only two hours left in the shift, but I knew there were still multiple hours of episodes remaining. I did not know what was going to happen.
And then all hell broke loose.
Some of the most unbelievably intense, stressful stretches of television that I have ever seen. The whole active shooter storyline came back around and slammed everyone at the ER in one massive blast.
I get the feeling that David, the boy who had the hit list back at the beginning of the day was not the culprit of this shooting. It may seem a bit contrived, but I believe it is all coincidence. When David strolled back to the hospital to pick up his mom, he did not seem like someone who just shot dozens of people.
Either way, this series of episodes was amazing, in the most difficult and painstakingly horrendous ways possible.
Who would have thought that the high pressure baby delivery in episode 11, with Dr. Collins working it after suffering her own miscarriage, would be the low stress scene of these three episodes. That whole baby thing was just anxiety-filled and I was begging the screen to save the baby.
Then, it went crazy.
Watching the hospital prepare for the mass shooting before the victims arrived was fascinating. I wonder if that is the way most/all hospitals respond to an emergency like that? They knew what had to happen and they turned their ER into a MASH unit. I have never quite seen anything like it.
Then, Robby cracking at the end of episode 13 brought one more scene for Noah Wylie’s Emmy roll, with all the weight of the deaths of the day, compounded by this horrible triage situation, and trying to explain to his step-son (of sorts) how he could not save the girlfriend.
I can’t imagine what would be going through the minds of those doctors and interns who were having their first day on the job before everything went to crap. They all were having their moments during the chaos.
The first season is down to just two episodes remaining, which does not seem to be enough to manage everything that the show has set up. This makes me feel that there will be plenty of things dangling at the end of the season, when this day finally comes to a close.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 