Author Archives: Doc

The White Lotus S3 E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Meaning of Dreams”

I do think this episode was a slow burn. There was some interesting conversations and what felt like a lot of set up.

There was a robbery that was surprising and exciting.

I am pleased that Gary is truly Greg, from the previous two seasons. I would love to see this rat bastard get his comeuppance for his involvement in Tanya’s death from season two.

What is happening with the Ratliff family? There is a plethora of storylines stuck within this group of characters.

Rick is a mystery for me and I am intrigued by who he is.

There is a lot of humor and curiosity going on with this season.

Dark Matter S1 E8, E9

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Jupiter”

“Entanglement”

I’m conflicted over the last two episodes of Dark Matter.

On one hand, I like the sort of happy ending for the characters… at least, it seemed like a happy ending.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of the League of Jasons that suddenly formed with hundreds of doppelgangers coming together. All apparently able to find their way to the same universe.

I was so confused when Jason 2 killed that first Jason right off the bat in episode eight. Then, there were Jasons coming from the woodwork. There were Jasons everywhere you turned.

The entire time, I kept wondering how we were going to know if the Jason who wound up with Daniela and Charlie was the OG Jason. I suppose they all were OG Jasons, but I mean the Jason that we have been following since the beginning of the series. Not an alternate version because Jason made a choice.

Overall, I am not a fan of how this ended. The multiple Jasons just did not do it for me. I just wanted Jason and Jason 2 to be the final conflict, but Jason 2 even helped them out at the end. That character changed his tune too much for my tastes and I just did not know what was going on.

The X-Files S8 E6

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Redrum”

This was a very interesting episode of the X-Files. Actor Joe Morton was the main protagonist of the episode Martin Wells, as he was in jail, arrested for the murder of his wife, something that he did not remember. He was murdered by his father-in-law as they were transferring him to a more secure location.

After dying, he awoke and it was the day before he is killed.

The episode is told backwards for the rest of the time and Martin was trying to figure out what was happening to him.

Martin was friends with John Doggett and Doggett and Scully would make appearances throughout the episode.

I found this plot very clever and intriguing. I liked everything about the episode. I saw some criticism that Morton had too much exposition during his monologues, but that did not bother me at all.

Scully and Doggett did not appear a lot in the episode, as it was definitely focused on Martin Wells. Still, I thought the use of them was well done considering the plot that they were using.

I thought this was another good-to-great episode from season 8, which I did not expect. What I expect is that I had a poor mindset about the season when it first came out because there was no Mulder. Looking at it now, these have been much better than I remember.

Dark Matter S1 E7

Posted on by

Spoilers

“In the Fires of Dead Stars”

This was a great episode that has seemingly set the show up for a huge final two episodes.

Jason finally found his way back to his universe.

Jason 2 returned Ryan from The Box after the police started looking for him. Was this a different Ryan from a different universe?

Amanda had decided to stay in a universe instead of continuing on with Jason.

Jason tried to buy a gun, after seeing Jason 2 with his family in his home.

Jason 2 came into the gun shop right after Jason left and Jason 2 discovered that Jason was there.

Jason 2 had cracked open the cement covering the Box, leaving it open for Jason make his way through.

Jason 2 had a disagreement with his therapist version of Amanda, telling her that he wants to leave.

There is so much in this episode and it feels as if the next two will be insane. Episode eight is the penultimate episode of the first season.

The White Lotus S3 E1

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Same Spirits, New Forms”

I wanted to have season one and two pf The White Lotus completed before season three kicked off, but I found out that the first episode had debuted last week and I was still in season two. So this week, I made it a goal to get through season two so I could follow along with season three as a weekly show.

I did complete the second season earlier this week so today I watched the first episode of season three.

The White Lotus for this season is set in Thailand and the exteriors and the surroundings are absolutely stunning. They have always looked great, but there is something both beautiful and mysterious about the set up for this season.

The opening of the season is as dramatic as always, with gunfire breaking up a young African-American’s one-on-one meditation session. We learn that he was at The White Lotus with his mother, but we do not have any ideas whom that is. However, I did have an idea whom that MIGHT be. I knew coming in that Natasha Rothwell would be resuming her role as Belinda Lindsay from season one, and so I could assume that this was her son. Maybe I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that is the case.

I do have more of a connection to this new group of characters in the first episode than I did in the season two introduction. That’s not to say that these characters aren’t rotten jerks, because clearly they are, but I have more of a connection to these. Why? I am not sure.

Actors in this season, along with Natasha Rothwell, include Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Aimee Lou Wood, Nicholas Duvernay, Lalisa Manobal, Tayme Thapthimthong, Lek Patravadi, Christian Friedel, Shalini Peiris, and Jon Gries.

New episodes are on MAX every Sunday night at 8 PM CST.

Invincible S3 E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“This Was Supposed to Be Easy”

Invincible and Eve form their own protection company. Invincible Inc., and they take the contract to protect the prison after there was an attempt to break out Paul.

Invincible takes on the dragon form of Mister Lu at the prison, and that does not go too well for him. The dragon is extremely formidable, but ends up disappearing when Mister Lu is killed by Machine Head.

This was all orchestrated by Titan, whose family was being threatened by Lu in order to get Titan to bust out Paul. Paul tried to recruit Invincible to help him out, with the idea that the Order is much better when Titan was in charge than when these other killers were. Mark did not buy that, but does inadvertently helped him.

Meanwhile, Mark and Eve decide to start to take things a little slower. They had considered getting their own place, but Mark eventually decided to stay at home with his mom and Oliver. Oliver had been sneaking out of the house to go see friends in the night to skateboard and Mark and his mom were worried.

This episode did feel like a step back, but it was still entertaining and it did cover an area that had not been addressed for awhile now.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #5

Posted on by

February 23

“Crossroads”

This episode of Band of Brothers moved through time, showing us different moments in the life of Captain Winters, from his last command in the field in Holland to his promotion to Executive Officer (XO) of 2nd Battalion. This would mean that he was no longer in command of Easy Company.

We see his response to all the paperwork that his new position entailed and how he returned mentally to the front lines. This is juxtaposed with a memory of his final shots of his command when he shot a young German soldier. The moment when the young German, who was kneeling, smiled, only to have the smile leave his face in realization, was haunting and stuck with Winters moving forward.

Fredrick “Moose” Heyliger is the person that Winters suggested to take his place, but Moose is shot by a twitchy Army sentry. Moose does survive, but he does not return to Easy Company after his injuries. What a scene this was with the young Army sentry actually shooting someone on his side.

We saw a cameo with Jimmy Fallon as Lt. George Rice. This was an episode that was directed by Tom Hanks, and he does a great job with the non-linear storytelling.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #140

Posted on by

February 22

Another big week of books, both from Comic World and eBay.

One of the books that I picked up off eBay was Come Find Me, which was a one shot from DSTLRY. I have become a big fan of this company, but I have one major problem. The books do not come out on a regular basis. There are great issues and then it feels like months before the next issue comes out. A one shot like this is nice. It is also an anthology, so there are a variety of stories within it.

Other books this week:

Bug Wars #1. “The House of Slaymaker” Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Mahmud Asrar. Cover art by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. I picked up this issue off eBay because it was sold out so quickly across the comic book shops. I’m not sure why it was this hot, but it was a really great issue form one of the best writers in the business in Jason Aaron. Lots of fun.

Behemoth #1. Written by Grant Sputore & Ryan Engle and art and cover art by Jay Martin. Another great new comic, this time from Dark Horse. What a wonderful concept this book has. A bus load full of people wind up getting eaten by a giant monster and they have to survive inside. This was more fun and I am pleased that I was able to get this issue after a bit of delay.

Amazing Spider-Man #68. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason and Richard Isanove. Peter gives up his remaining life power up thingies to save Aunt May, Randy and Shea… and some other guy… who got killed because Peter was having his crisis. I will be happy when this arc is over since I do not feel as if this writer has a good enough grasp on Spider-Man.

Ripperland #1. Written by Steve Orlando & John Harris Dunning and art and cover art by Alessandro Oliveri. Ripperland is another new banger from Dark Horse. I have always been a big fan of Jack the Ripper (I know that doesn’t sound right…) so this hit a sweet spot for me.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine #3. “The Devil in Me- Part 2” Written by Erica Schultz and art by Giada Belviso. Cover art is done by Elena Casagrande & Edgar Delgado. Laura and Elektra, aka Wolverine and Daredevil, are out battling the forces looking to hurt mutants. Laura and Elektra are a good pair and a lot of fun.

Green Hornet Miss Fury #2. Written by Alex Segura & Henry Barajas with art by Federico Sorressa. Cover art was done by Francesco Francavilla. I have been liking this pairing of two classic noir characters. Dynamite has been doing some fun books lately and this one works so much.

Kill Train #1. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and art by Martina Niosi. Cover art was done by Skylar Patridge. Another good new series, this one was from Mad Cave. Todd grabbed this one for me in Des Moines. I have to say that this series did a great job of setting up the story f these trains.

Uncanny X-Men #10. “Off the Leash” Part Two. Written by Gail Simone and art by Andrei Bressan. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. I was worried about Deathdream because he surely looked dead last issue. Thankfully, he was able to survive the event and this issue gave us the chance to get to know our new characters more. And I liked them.

Dust to Dust #2. Written by JG Jones & Phil Bram and art and cover art by JG Jones. The dust storms are still causing trouble. I still love the look of this book. It is one of the most interesting looking books on the market right now. Very dramatic cover too.

Mystique #5. “Compromised” Written, art and cover art by Declan Shalvey (Silver Medalist). This series came to a great conclusion. This series had a really great series of covers. Declan Shalvey did a great job on this series, considering he was doing most everything on the book.

Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #3. Written , illustrated and cover art by Luana Vecchio. Another book where the writing and art are done by a single person. Luana Vecchio also did multiple variant covers for this series. Doll Parts has been a wild story so far and this issue takes it to another level. This has so much adult content among these young characters that it can be unnerving to read at times. Still very much compelling though.

Zatanna #1. “A Tilnoom Edalb” Written, art and cover art by Jamal Campbell. Weird. Third straight book where the creative did all of the writing and art. This felt very different than the previous Zatanna series from late last year. She sure took a bad blow near the end of the book. Of course, she will not die. I mean, it is her book. I’m not sure if I will be a long term reader on this one, but I will mot likely give it another issue or two before I decide.

Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #1. “A Doomed Man.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Tommaso Bianchi and cover art was from Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Bucky and Black Widow are the remaining Thunderbolts trying to face off with Dr. Doom. Things do not go well for them, nor does it go well for residents of Shelbyville, Indiana.

Doom Academy #1. Written by Mackenzie Cadenhead and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Pablo Villalobos. Strange Academy gets a face lift and a new location. Latveria! I have loved the Strange Academy characters and to see them in the new place spices things up as they have some new learning to do. I love the new character of Scoop.

Daredevil #18. “Introductory Rites” Part Eighteen. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Matt Murdock returns to a court of law… only to get his butt kicked by the possessed Foggy Nelson. Can DD get through the case while still stopping these demons?

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #1. Written by Justin Jordan and illustrated and cover art by Chris Shehan. This is a new independent book from Oni Press and it was a good read. Harley Creed is a bad man. Someone placed a hex on Harley and he has seven days to try and reverse it or he will die in twisted, screaming agony. This was a good week (or weeks) for new independent books. Long title though.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz #2. Adapted, illustrated and cover art by Otis Frampton. Based on the novel by Oz author L. Frank Baum. I was surprised how much I liked the first issue of this, which I was not expecting in my pull box. I am sure it was a book that I asked for, but just did not remember it. However, I have had a lot of fun with this book and this issue gives us our first glance at the Patchwork Girl. She looks awesome.

Daredevil: Unleash Hell #2. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Valentina Pinti & Jose Luis Soares. Paulo Siqueria & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Our new Muse is being led along by the ghost of the original Muse and it is great. I loved the character of Muse and seeing a new form of the serial killing artist is epic.

Infinity Watch #2. Written by Derek Landy and art by Ruairi Coleman and Enid Balám. Salvador Larroca & GURU-eFX did the cover art. Avery Zavala is a stone bearer from another timeline and he pretty much kills all of the Infinity Watch. I’m not completely sure what is going on, but it feels as if there are shenanigans.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Luigi Zagaria. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. The Miles Morales and Deadpool showdown continue don from the previous Deadpool issue as Miles comes face to face with Princess.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3. Written by Christos Gage and art by Eric Gapstur. Leonardo Romero did the cover art. This prequel series to the Disney + animated series continued with Peter trying out for football. This book has been fun, but the animated series was one of the best Spidey animated series of all time. You should check it out on Disney + for sure.

Ultimate Wolverine #2. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio and Frank Martin. Ultimate Wolverine has only had two issues so far, but it is right there beside Ultimate Spider-Man as the best Ultimate book so far. This is full of action and having the Winter Soldier version of Logan? Epic!

Let This One be a Devil #1. Written by James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe with art by Piotr Kowalski. Gavin Fullerton did the cover art. Another banger from Dark Horse this week. A new horror series from James Tynion IV gives us a couple different time lines, including a horrific birth. I do love me some Tynion IV.

NYX #8. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art done by Francesco Mortarino. Laura Kinney faces off with Julian in a massively emotional conflict. Can she stop him without popping her claws? Is that what he really wants her to do?

Exceptional X-Men #6. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art by Carmen Carnero and Nolan Woodard. We are introduced to Sheldon Xenos, a mutant who has a job for the young mutants being trained by Kitty and Emma. Does he have their best interest at heart? Axo believes so. I disagree.

Weapon X-Men #1. “The Real Thing” Written by Joe Casey and penciled by Chriscross. Alex Ross did the cover art. Wolverine. Deadpool. Cable. Thunderbird. Chamber. Sounds like a huge team up. However, one of them will betray another. Which one will it be?

The Question: All Along the Watchtower #4. “The Great Escape” Written by Alex Segura and art by Cian Tormey & Raul Fernandez. Cover art by Tormey & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Cyborg Superman has taken over the Watchtower and only The Question can stop him. Or can she? Things do not look good for our detective.

X-Factor #7. “Terms of Use” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Cover art was by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata. Angel returned to take the mantel of leadership as X-Factor heads to Genosha to try and prevent Dr. Doom from getting his hands on a special weapon.

G.I. Joe #4. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and cover art by Tom Reilly. The Joes are captured by Cobra after Duke surrendered. Why does it seem like Duke believes that they have got Cobra right where they want them?

Werewolf by Night Red Band #7. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. E.M. Gist did the cover art. Jack Russell is in serious trouble, but thankfully, Elsa Bloodstone is not dead and on the case. She is building her own group to help Jack and it features her own Werewolf by Night (Jake) and Reptil.

House of Slaughter #30. Written by Sam Johns and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes and Werther Dell’Edera (Gold Medalist). I have been very down on this series recently, though the covers have been fire. I believe this arc, “Azure” is done with this issue and I hope the next one is more engaging for me.

Incredible Hulk #22. “The Skin of Charlie Tidwell” Part One. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Things are still bad off for Charlie, as she is becoming more of a monster than Hulk expected.

Other books this week: X-Force #8, Ultimate Black Panther #13, W0rldtr33 #13, Shazam #20 (Bronze Medalist), Creature Commandos #5, Challengers of the Unknown #3, Seance in the Asylum #3-4, Aliens vs. Avengers #3, The Power Fantasy #6, and New Gods #3.

Yellowjackets S3 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Them’s the Brakes”

The Showtime series continues to ramp up the strangeness and the tension in both time frames with some weird events (a talking llama?) in the cave that the Coach had been living as well as the troubles between the survivors back in the present day.

The wild and psychedelic events in the cave caused by some poisonous gas (maybe?) was one of the weirdest segments this show has sprung on us in any of the three seasons, and that is saying something. In the end, the girls were able to capture Coach despite going through some bizarre situations (again.. a talking llama?)

In present day, Shauna had a blow up with Misty when her brakes go out on her mini van. Shauna blamed Misty, but it seems clear that someone else is stalking Shauna. Shauna also blew up at Lottie. While Van’s cancer seems to be in remission, Taissa thinks it is because the restaurant worker died chasing them… you know, as a sacrifice to “It.”

I have to say that there are still a ton of moments where this feels like LOST. This episode had a big one as we heard Mama Cass’s song  “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” which played in one of the most iconic scenes in LOST’s second season with the Desmond reveal. Add to that the potential connection of The Wilderness in Yellowjackets to The Island on LOST, well, it is clear that the creators of this show were inspired by LOST.

The Man with no Eyes made a couple of appearances this episode too, including a potential explanation of where he came from. The show continues to give two potential explanations, one supernatural and one normal for the main mysteries of the show. I’m not sure which one I prefer.

The Monkey

Posted on by

Horror/comedy movies can be difficult to do. At some times, the tones between the two genres do not mix well and may feel all over the place. However, when they work, you get some highly entertaining moments, and that is what I feel the latest film from writer/director Osgood Perkins (director of Longlegs) accomplished.

The story tells of a winder-up, toy grinder monkey that wound up in the closet of the father of twins Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery). It does not take long for the twins to realize that when the monkey’s key in its back is wound, someone near them dies in a shocking and quite gruesome way.

After a close tragedy, the twins decided to drop the monkey down a well to get rid of it forever. Little did they know that this would not be the end of the monkey.

Many years later, the monkey returned to the lives of the now estranged brothers and continued to amass chaos in it wake.

I enjoyed this movie a great deal. I heard some critics claim that the tone was too scattered, but I found the tone to work extremely well. It felt somewhat campy, but I thought that worked for the film.

The design of the monkey was creepy, in particular with the smile that would cross its face just before it started drumming. I thought the creepiness factor was just the right amount to keep this unsettling. I would not call the film scary, necessarily, but the kills of the film absolutely turned in some gory moments. Gore is usually not my favorite type of horror, but it felt like it worked so well with the humorous tone that the gore did not bother me.

Theo James, who played the adult versions of the twins, and Christian Convery did amazing jobs playing the two different characters. They played them with their own original styles that I was not sure they were actually the same actor or if it were just an actor that resembled each other really well.

It was also awesome to see Tatiana Maslany appear as the twins’ mother, Lois. She did not have a long role, but her scenes were very impactful and helped create a feel for this character. Elijah Wood had a brief cameo in the film in a role that really could have been expanded more.

The more ridiculous it became, the more I embraced the silliness and repelled at the kills. I really found this to work well together. Sure the story itself may not have been as deep as one might expect, but that worked within the context of the film too. Maybe I would have wanted a little more depth to the characters, specifically, why Hal and Billy were never close as children. I understand the anger directed as adults, but why did the twins never have the type of relationship one would expect?

Either way, I was entertained by The Monkey and I thought the performances were all really strong, the film was a hoot, and the kills would be appreciated by any horror aficionado. The Monkey was originally based on a short story by horror master Stephen King.

4.2 stars

The White Lotus S2 E6, E7

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Abductions”

“Arrivederci”

Season two of The White Lotus wrapped up with these final two episodes, and I feel kind of empty.

Madame Butterfly died at the end.

The reveal of who the body was in the water was heartbreaking and several of these stories turned out tragic.

I never would have guessed that Tanya would have been the one who drown. Even more so… the plot surrounding her death was crazy, but, seemingly, not just paranoia. The worst part of everything was Greg gets away with all of Tanya’s money, and we never see him again. The whole Tanya and the Gays story was a heavy part of these last two episodes and had such a tragic twist at the end that it hit me like a punch in the gut.

Tanya’s death was not the only story that I thought ended sadly. The whole storyline with our two prostitutes was terrible. Lucia turned out to be scamming poor, naive Albie to get money… in the end 50,000 Euros. Albie thought it was to get her out from under a crazy Italian man, but that guy was just part of the scam, as we see in the final moments of the show. I feel disappointed in myself because I had started to come around on Lucia and Mia after spending the first part of this season disliking them quite a bit. I should have stuck to my opinions, but the show played me good.

There was so much toxicity in the relationships of Ethan and Harper and Daphne and Cameron that I had soured on that story already. Watching these four being so horrid was my least favorite storyline. Did Ethan and Daphne have a sexual encounter on the island? Did Cameron and Harper do more than what Harper confessed to? My one favorite part was Ethan going to nearly murder Cameron in the water. I would never see that guy again if I were Ethan, but that was not the implication that I got. However, Ethan and Harper seem to have gotten past their troubles and are, apparently, happy once again.

These last two episodes were extremely well done, but they did not go out of their way to give us a happy ending. Maybe in the end it will turn out okay for Albie and Portia, who reconnected at the airport (even though Portia had no idea about Tanya’s fate… or at least, only suspected).

There was a lot of things left ambiguous, which does not bother me. I have a good idea what happened. I just would have liked something more positive than the scamming hookers being the big winners.

The first episode of season three of The White Lotus is out and I will get that one done before the next episode Sunday night.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E9, E10

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Hero or Menace”

“If This Be My Destiny…”

The finale two episodes of the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are absolutely amazing!

In episode nine, we get a big showdown between Spidey and Scorpion, with Lonny smack dab in the middle. Lonny gets exposed to a gas that gives him super strength (and will eventually turn him into the Tombstone we know in the comics). Spidey and Lonny defeat Scorpion.

In episode ten, we have a big battle with Dr. Strange and the symbiote and we are shown that this battle is what would lead to the battle from the first episode at Peter’s school, and the spider that bit Peter was the spider that Norman had created with Spider-Man’s blood that they had collected. I loved that adjustment in the story. It made everything work for me.

The writing on this series has been excellent. It has developed more than just Peter Parker. I feel like they built the supporting characters around Peter so well, especially Lonny who could arguably be considered a co-lead character. They show us the beginning of several villains in the Spider-Man world, like Otto Octavius, Scorpion, Norman Osborn, Venom etc.

With Spider-Man’s actual suit debuting in episode nine, Spider-Man looked sensational. The animation of these episodes were so great with some amazing shots. I have not necessarily loved the animation prior, but this seemed to really be something special.

The voice acting did great all season long. Everything was excellent, especially Coleman Domingo, who was so epic. I would love to see Domingo play Norman Osborn in the MCU. The show has done a great job of slowly building Norman into who we expect he will become. And yet, it feels very justified.

I did not expect this series to be great because recent Spider-Man animation has been more directed toward very young children. This series was right up there with the best Spider-Man series and right there with X-Men ’97. I am happy that this series has a three season order so there are at least two more to go.

I love Spider-Man.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

Posted on by

February 19

Big week of books this week. Lots of choices for the medals and it was a real tough decision. I had five books that I had narrowed the list down to and I considered doing a tie for both the bronze and silver medals. However, I made a final decision on the books and found my final three.

Ironically, a book that I saw on the newsstand at Comic World and grabbed because I loved the cover, did not make the cut. It was a beautiful foil cover of Ultimate Black Panther#13. There was also Amazing Spider-Man #68 which nearly made the medals.

So here are the three medalist this week.

Bronze Medalist

Shazam #20

Variant Cover D

Cover art by Mark Spears

I do not collect Shazam, but the opportunity to buy this book fell into my lap (thanks Todd) and I couldn’t pass it up. Mark Spears has been a star this year so far.

Silver Medalist

Mystique #5

Cover Art by Declan Shalvey

The Mystique series has had some extremely intriguing and attractive covers, including this issue. With the skull on Mystique’s body, and a mask in her hand, this gives us a insight into the concept of Raven. This is an amazing cover.

Gold Medalist

House of Slaughter #30

Cover art by Jorge Fornes and Werther Dell’edera

I love this one. The contrasts with the black and blues on the cover are awesome. This is such a interesting cover that it beat some really great ones. It is simply a standout.

The White Lotus S2 E4, E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“In the Sandbox”

“That’s Amore”

It was two interesting episodes that seemingly flipped my opinions on some of the characters from the first three shows of season two.

This was the first time that I was interested in the two prostitutes who had been hanging around the White Lotus, Mia and Lucia, had been a distraction for much of the first three episodes, but, for some reason, I started to enjoy their presence in these two. Mia’s relationship with Albie felt sweet. I was a little uncertain because it felt like she might be taking advantage of him. Then Lucia’s accidental poisoning of the piano player led to her to gt a chance to play the piano.

Tanya, whom I already like, was able to get out of her depression over Greg’s leaving when she came across a group of gay men who invited her into their circle. I’m still not sure about the overall positiveness of this though. The end of episode five made me wonder. Still, it was nice to see Tanya apparently happy for a bit at least.

I was rooting for Portia, but her hooking up with Jack felt beneath her, and I was not sure I liked that storyline piece.

This was also the first time that I got into the story with Dominic and his father Bert. There was a scene between the two of them at dinner that brought this troubled relationship to light, making me understand these two way more than discussions of The Godfather ever did.

Aubrey Plaza’s Harper, who had been my favorite character up until these episodes, found a condom wrapper in the apartment and became extremely unhappy with Ethan. This entire arc has done nothing but make me dislike Harper and make me feel sorry for Ethan. It feels at this point that Ethan is way better than any of the people he is with, whether it be Harper or his best friend, Cameron, who is just a creep.

I do think that the show has begun to hint at who the bodies are going to be and we had a couple of characters go out to the water in moments of melancholy and close their eyes. It was both Dominic and Harper at different points during these episodes. I do not know if this is meant to be red herrings, but these two are easily the most depressed characters on the canvas right now, even lower than Tanya.

Two more episodes to go before I start season three.