Today I took a personal day from school so I was able to spend NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at my two stores. Started the morning at In This Issue in Bettendorf and spent the afternoon at Comic World and Games in Dubuque. Always fun spending time with others who appreciate the hobby.
Even more so, I got to do some reading, and I got all my new books on the same day so I do not have to wait to chose the cover of the week until Thursday night.
Also-Rans: The Thing on the Doorstep #1, Space Ghost #8, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1, Absolute Batman #15 (Second printing-foil), The Digger #1, and Bleeding Hearts #1 (foil virgin).
Bronze Medalist
DC KO #4
Variant cover G/Bracket Cover
Cover art by Dan Mora
This one reminded me of the Godzilla vs. Marvel Universe covers that I really liked from last year as they set this up like a fight poster, the match-up of the tournament front and center. I like how this builds this tournament up with the images of those that remain.
Silver Medalist
Hank Howard Pizza Detective: The Two Hollywoods #2
Cover art by Andrea Sorrentino
I love the shades of purple across this cover for Bad Idea’s new book. It has a compelling imagery across it as well, with the black standing out beautifully among the purples.
Gold Medalist
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1
Cover art by Geoff Shaw
There were some outstanding covers for the new Deadpool series, and the cover A is right up there with some of the best of them. Something has made Wade Wilson want to end his life, which is a difficult thing for him to accomplish. The look of Wade on this cover gives that feel of hopelessness and all-consuming anger despite not seeing his actual face. The cover does a great job of telling you what this new arc is all about.
Third season rewatch is underway with the team scattered about and everyone trying to face the possibility that Simmons was killed by being sucked into the monolith. Of course, Fitz never gave up and he was taking risk after even greater risk to prove that Simmons was alive.
I actually did not remember Simmons being brought back from the alien planet so quickly, but I know there is an episode coming up that is dedicated to the time she spent on the alien planet.
I am not 100% sure why May is doing what she is doing at the beginning of the season or why she decided to accompany Hunter on his mission. It has to be more than just the opportunity to kill Ward. However, the scene of May kicking the ass of the three brutes in a backroom of a fight club was awesome.
A new agency was formed by the President to deal with “alien” threats, meaning specifically Inhumans. The ATCU is led by Rosalind Price, and she and Coulson have some interactions.
Lincoln is being pursued by both the ATCU and Shield, and Daisy has her own personal feelings involved. It has been a rough three episodes for poor Lincoln.
Grant Ward recruited the son of Baron Von Strucker, Werner Von Strucker. I remember this character being a big piece over the seasons. Ward’s recruitment of Hydra agents does not seem to have gone very well so far.
We see the first appearance of the Inhuman named Lash. He was quite the powerhouse and a dangerous force.
Simmons struggled to readjust to earth, but she also seemed to want to go back to the planet. I do not remember why so I am curious to the answer.
Good start to the season and Dr. Garner even named dropped “Secret Warriors.”
I watched another block of episodes from the variety show featuring the group Sha Na Na. I remember as a young kid watching Sha Na Na, I was always mad when the guest stars or other actors made fun of Sha Na Na and/or treated them like they were no talented. It is funny because I can remember liking Sha Na Na was something that I did not like people to know about me. I wonder if the constant jokes against them affected how I saw them.
Fact is that Sha Na Na is filled with amazing musicians and some of the best voices you’ll hear. It has been fun catching up on this show, even with the limits of YouTube involved.
These shows continues the trend of Sha Na Na having country musicians on as they had Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Freddy Fender and Barbara Mandrel as guests. They also had Henny Youngman, who actually performed like a stand up comic would. That was definitely the right choice instead of trying to have him make smart remarks like they did with Milton Berle.
It was weird because once again they had a repeat song on one of the episodes. In episode 10, they ended the show with the Unchained Melody version that Sha Na Na performed. I know I had seen that one in a previous episode. However, it is one of the best performances the group did on this show, so it was good to see it again.
This block of episodes also seemed to feature Lennie singing quite a bit. Lennie had one of the best voices on the show, right up there with Johnny and Donny. Of course, Lennie was the sax master, but he could hit some solid high notes vocally too.
Lennie dressed up as Paul McCartney in episode 10 as well, along with Jocko as Ringo, Santini as George and Chico as John. It was an attempt to attract the Gatlin Brothers to their show, which begs the question, are the Gatlin Brothers huge Beatles fans and wouldn’t a Beatles reunion attract even bigger celebrities?
Episode 11 featured one of my favorite performances, “Hit the Road, Jack” performed by Jocko. I love this version of the song and the background dancers are great. I have to say, I always enjoy watching poor Donny try to keep up with the others.
When I saw Screamin’ Scott playing the stand up bass, I went to Google to see what instruments he could actually play. I have wondered whether when covering for Jocko, Scott or one of the guitarists, could they actually play that instrument or are they just pretending. Google told me that Scott could play the piano, the guitar, the banjo and the harmonica. My guess is that he could do the bass as well. He is clearly very skilled in the musical aspects.
Jerry Fox showed up a couple of times again (which is a character played by Donny sometimes during the comedy skits). He’s announced as from Cleveland, and I wonder what the origin is behind this alter ego. I have seen Donny play him probably around 6-8 times so far (including twice in this block of episodes).
Welcome to the Big Game Day! Patriots vs. Seahawks later today. Before we get to that, I want to get to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I am a Patriots fan so… good luck to them!
I have just about mined the full possible Marvel Team-Ups from the collection at In This Issue. I think there was one more available to me that I left behind because it was a little more expensive. I plan on picking that up next week.
Books this week:
D’Orc #1. “D’Orc Days Ahead” Story and art by Brett Bean. I picked up three covers. Cover A by Brett Bean, Cover B by Jorge Corona and Cover C by Jason Howard. This is my favorite new book of the week. This Image Comics book features the debut of D’Orc, a half-orc, half-dwarf, and he is hilarious. He has a talking shield and I really get a Groo the Wanderer vibe from this book. It is funny and written extremely well. It is really hot right now too. I love D’Orc.
Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1. “Tea Ceremonies, Masquerades, and Funerals.” Written by Murewa Ayodele with art by Federica Mancin. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Storm is back and she continues to show off how powerful she has become.
Avengers #35. “The New Universe” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Sergio Davila. Cover art was done by Russell Dauterman & Rachelle Rosenberg. The Avengers are on the precipice of a new universe in their struggle with Kang. Who knows where this cosmic tale is headed?
Amazing Spider-Man #21. Written by Joe Kelly and Penciled by John Romita Jr. and Todd Nauck. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. Norman Osborn has been taking his lumps as he tried to step into the shoes of Spider-Man. Fortunately for Norman, Peter Parker is back on earth!
Crescent City Monsters #1-4. Written by Newton Lilavois and art and cover art by Gian Carlo Bernal. This four issue series is also autographed by its creator Newton Lilavois. I saw an ad for this on TikToc with Lilavois himself selling it and it looked very interesting. The books are beautiful black and white, but I have not yet read them. I am looking forward to reading them as soon as I can find the extra time.
Batman #6. “Long Night” Written by Matt Fraction with art by Jorge Jimenez. Cover art was done by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey. Batman is back out after the tough date night from last issue. Things do not get much better. There are some nice scenes with Jason Todd and Damien.
Ultimate Endgame #2. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I also picked up cover C by Lee Garbett and cover D by R.B. Silva. The big Ultimates universe crossover event continued with the Ultimates, Spider-Man, Killmonger, and the Master. Does the Master take over Doom? Is that a bad thing? No polybags this time!
All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #7. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Gwen and Fabian sitting in a web.. k-i-s-s-i-n-g… that is until all the crap hits the fan. There is a very circular situation that seemingly happens in this issue that is a call back to Amazing Spider-Man #122. Or is it all Mysterio?
The Nice House by the Sea #7. Written by James Tynion IV with art and cover art by Alvaro Martinez Bueno. Cover C art is done by Javier Rodriguez. Here is another book that has been on the shelf for a long time. Issue six came out in March of 2025. Almost a whole year. However, this is tied to DC Comics new version of Vertigo so now is a good time to return to the comic shop, I guess.
Planet of the Apes Versus Fantastic Four #1. Written by Josh Trujillo and art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. A powerless FF arrive on the Planet of the Apes and have to face off with the classic characters. What does the Red Ghost have to do with this? This issue is a lot of fun as the Marvel vs. 20th Century Studios faceoffs continue.
Wolverine #15. “Alpha Flight” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Mike Henderson. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. After teaming up with Silver Sable and just before they engaged in a little noogie noogie, Alpha Flight attacked Wolverine in an attempt to capture him. Wolvie should know that Canada is not the friendliest place for him.
Superman: Chains of Love #1. “Creepers” Written by Leah Williams and art by Ig Guara. Variant cover D art by Ig Guara and Arif Prianto. I loved this book. The Creeper is one of my favorite secondary DC characters and his relationship in this book with Livewire is a lot of fun. Super heroes (villains?) as podcasters is a funny idea.
War Wolf #4. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Marco Perugini. Cover art was done by David Talaski (Silver Medalist). The truth about what really happened to Bear Bruin is coming to the front. What is the truth? It is coming to the front.
Magik & Colossus #1. “Bound by Blood.” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. The Rasputin siblings get their own feature in the Shadows of Tomorrow arc in the X-Men universe. I am not sure who it is behind the troubles for Piotr and Illyana, but I have a guess….
Knightfight #4. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and cover art by Dan Mora. Batman is going through all kind of trouble with his battles with alternate Batmen… all seemingly for him to get back involved in the KO tournament. Not sure how that is fir, but I guess we’ll find out in DC KO #4 next week.
Uncanny X-Men #23. “Where Monsters Dwell” Part One. Written by Gail Simone with art by David Marquez. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson (Gold Medalist). In what felt like an intervention for Gambit, we get Elsa Bloodstone and a bunch of monsters including Morbius, Mummy and others.
Ripcord #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Aneke. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Ripcord is a new drug that will transform the user into mindless killers. Dillon, however, will not give up until she finds her sister. Great first issue from Ignition Press set in the Australian Outback.
Absolute Superman #16. “This Universe Will Break Your Heart, Kid” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola did the cover art. We get the debut of the Absolute Hawkman and I really like this version of that character. Absolute Lex Luthor also shows up as Brainiac tries to recruit him.
The Twilight Zone #4. “False Bottom.” Written by Written, drawn and cover art by Nate Powell. I also picked up variant cover B art by Francesco Francavilla. This Twilight Zone issue is one of the more tragic examples of a story. It felt like a real Twilight Zone episode you would have seen, but the unhappy ending was tough to handle.
Other Books this week: Event Horizon: Dark Descent #5, Marian Heretic #4, Absolute Green Lantern #11, Godzilla #7, Eat Your Young #6 and DC KO Boss Battle #1.
Quick Hits: The final issue of Dark Horse’s Space Scouts #3 dropped this week as the whole competition came to a finale. Cullen Dunn had another book released this week, which was The Autumn Kingdom: The Wraithbound Queen #1. It felt like a sequel to something that I was unaware of, but it was pretty solid. Dunn is a top notch writer. Sam & Twitch Case Files #21 was the Bronze Medalist cover this week. Nova Centurion #4 showed off Richard Rider’s power and his intelligence as the last Nova. More conspiratorial action dropped in Department of Truth #35. Godzilla: Infinity Roar #1 sees the King of Monsters across the cosmos of the Marvel Universe. Maybe Godzilla is finally getting around to destroying the Marvel Universe as was mentioned in his previous book. The latest crossover comes to the forefront with Archie X The Army of Darkness #1. Archie Andrews and Ash Williams together? Seems like a match made in Hell. DC x AEW #1 brings the world of professional wrestling into the DC universe. High Strangeness #4 continues its weird story arcs through the decades. This one is especially odd. Ultimate Wolverine #14 is counting down until the end of the Ultimate Universe. One of the surprises of the week was Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck #1. I have been collecting Dynamite Comics Darkwing Duck book, but I did not think I would be buying this book moving on. It was way better than I thought it would be.
The Inhumans arc of Agents of Shield wrapped up with the last few episodes. Jiaying and the Inhumans tried to start a war with Shield only to find that things were not going to go in a positive way.
Lots of arcs were resolved in these episodes including:
Kyle MacLachlan’s run as Daisy’s father, Cal. His ending is kind of happy, even though the idea of mindwiping someone is iffy at best.
Skye officially began calling herself Daisy Johnson.
Raina, who had been an antagonist through most of the first two seasons of the show is killed by Jiaying in a way to keep her quiet.
Robert Gonzalez is murdered via the Terrigan crystals at the hands of Jiaying. See ya later Edward James Olmos.
Agent 33 and her crazed vengeance on Bobbi came to a close when Ward accidentally killed her thinking she was May.
Ward apparently is the new head of Hydra.
Post credit of the monolith swallowing up Simmons was creepy as all get out.
Coulson had his left arm chopped off by Mac to prevent the spread of the Terrigen after Coulson caught the crystal, preventing it from breaking and killing the rest of them.
Coulson talked about forming a small team of powered individuals (aka Secret Avengers)
Lincoln turned on the other Inhumans to help Daisy and the Shield agents.
Mac joined back up with Shield despite his initial doubts.
Fitz and Simmons were the Jin/Sun (from LOST) of this show, something always happening to keep them apart.
Kyle MacLachlan is a tremendous actor. He could bring unbelievable levels to a crazed killer. He was basically Mr. Hyde from Marvel Comics, but I could understand and relate to everything he did. I think he was a fabulous character and I was pleased that he had such a strong arc this season.
The whole Agents of Shield connection to Avengers: Age of Ultron with the arrival of the Helicarrier felt a touch awkward since much of the action around the reveal of the Helicarrier and the secrets Coulson was keeping played out in the movie. Because of that, the storylines felt a touch anticlimactic. Still, the season did a great job of wading through the stuff that was necessary and still created some tense moments of action and exciting scenes.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 