SDCC 2026- Friday

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This post will be updated throughout the night. Friday means Eisner Award winners too, so it will be a lot to post today.

Trailers

Lanterns


Batman: Caped Crusader – Chronicles

Blade Runner 2099

DC COMICS

Batman of Two Worlds #1

DC Next Level

Batman: Bad Seeds

Rick Moranis makes an appearance at Spaceballs panel

Ignition Press celebrates their one year anniversary at SDCC, where it all began.

Eisner Awards

@cbccpodcast.bsky.social

Inductees into Will Eisner Hall of Fame

Colleen Doran, Denys Cowan, Mike Friedrich, Lee Marrs, Bud Plant, Mike Royer, Jeff Smith, Carol Tyler, Bob Bolling, Gerry Conway, Edwina Dumm, Oliver Harrington, Don Heck, Abe Kanegson, Paul S. Newman, Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Tom Palmer Sr., Go Nagai, Dave Sim, Jimmy Swinnerton, Akira Toriyama, Rick Veitch, and Chris Ware.

Awards

Best Short Story

“Blood Harvest,” in Brain Damage, by Shintaro Kago, translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)

“The Curse Room,” in Brain Damage, by Shintaro Kago, translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)

“Football Is Not War,” by R. K. Russell and Wilfred Santiago, in Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project (Stacked Deck Press)

“Red Snapper in the Rea,” by Michael D. Kennedy, in Milk White Steed (Drawn & Quarterly)

“trAPPed” by Anand RK, Suparna Sharma, and Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberg News)

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Best One-Shot/Single Issue

Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1, by Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren, and Meredith McClaren (DC)

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1, by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez (DC)

Assorted Crisis Events #4, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image)

Coin-Op no. 10: Wet Cement, by Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)

Ice Cream Man #43: “One Page Horror Stories,” by W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image)

Something Is Killing the Children: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar #1, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Continuing Series

Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and others (DC)

Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, and Mattia De Iulis (DC)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

FML, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez (Dark Horse)

The Power Fantasy, by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard (Image)

Storm, by Murewa Ayodele, Lucas Werneck, and others (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

Absolute Martian Manhunter, by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez (DC)

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring, by Patrick Horvath (IDW)

Bronze Faces, by Shobo, Shof, and Alexandre Tefenkgi (BOOM! Studios)

Crownsville, by Rodney Barnes and Elia Bonetti (Oni Press)

Everything Dead and Dying, by Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips (Image)

Out of Alcatraz, by Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook (Oni Press)

Best New Series

Assorted Crisis Events, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image)

Batman Vol. 4, by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez (DC)

Black Cat, by G. Willow Wilson and Gleb Melnikov (Marvel)

Exquisite Corpses, by James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh, Pornsak Pichetshote, and others (Image)

Ghost Pepper, by Ludo Lullabi (Image)

Temporal, by Stephanie Williams and Asiah Fulmore (Mad Cave)

Best Publication for Early Readers

All the Hulk Feels, by Dan Santat (Abrams Fanfare/Marvel)

The Faraway Forest: Wally’s Route, by Debbie Fong (Chronicle Books)

The Fire-Breathing Duckling, by Frank Cammuso (TOON Books)

Night Light, by Michael Emberley (Holiday House)

Steve, A Rare Egg, by Kelly Collier (Kids Can Press)

Best Publication for Kids

The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud (Scholastic Graphix)

Chickenpox, by Remy Lai (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Creature Clinic, by Gavin Aung Than (First Second)

Night Chef: An Epic Tale of Friendship with a Side of Deliciousness! By Mika Song (Random House Graphic)

Oasis, by Guojing (Godwin Books/Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

A Song for You and I, by K. O’Neill (Random House Graphic)

Best Publication for Teens

Angelica and the Bear Prince, by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House Graphic)

Clementine: Book Three, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)

Everyone Sux But You, by K. Wroten (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Hello Sunshine, by Keezy Young (Little, Brown Ink)

This Place Kills Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux (Abrams Fanfare)

Trumpets of Death, by Simon Bournel-Bosson, translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)

Best Humor Publication

And to Think We Started as a Book Club, by Tom Toro (Andrews McMeel Universal)

Ew, It’s Beautiful: A False Knees Comics Collection, by Joshua Barkman (Andrews McMeel Universal)

The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt, by John Allison and Max Sarin (Dark Horse)

Jeff the Land Shark, by Kelly Thompson and Tokitokoro (Marvel)

Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Spent: A Comic Novel, by Alison Bechdel (Mariner Books)

Best Anthology

Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, edited by Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz (Stacked Deck Press)

DC Pride 2025, edited by Andrea Shea and Jillian Grant (DC)

Noir Is the New Black Season 2 (FairSquare Graphics)

2000AD 2026 Annual Featuring Judge Dredd, edited by Oliver Pickles (Rebellion)

Best Reality-Based Work

Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance, by Ben Passmore (Pantheon)

Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, by Mimi Pond (Drawn & Quarterly)

Fela: Music Is the Weapon, by Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery (Amistad)

Globetrotters: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s World Tour, by Julian Voloj and Julie Rocheleau (Abrams ComicArts)

Muybridge, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Daschert and Rob Aspinal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832, by Wilfrid Lupano and Stéphane Fert, translated by Montana Kane (ABLAZE)

Best Graphic Memoir

The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief, by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)

My Life in 24 Frames Per Second, by Rintaro, translated by Montana Kane (Kana Manga US)

It Rhymes with Takei, by George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger (Top Shelf)

Precious Rubbish, by Kayla E. (Fantagraphics)

Raised by Ghosts, by Briana Loewinsohn (Fantagraphics)

Talking to My Father’s Ghost: An Almost True Story, by Alex Krokus (Chronicle)

Best Graphic Album–New

Cannon, by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)

Drome, by Jesse Lonergan (23rd St. Books)

The Fable of Erkling Woods, by Juni Ba (Goats Flying Press)

A Garden of Spheres, by Linnea Sterte (Peow2)

More Weight: A Salem Story, by Ben Wickey (Top Shelf)

Shadows of the Sea, by Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album–Reprint

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Storybook Edition, by Patrick Horvath (IDW)

Ginseng Roots: A Memoir, by Craig Thompson (Pantheon)

Goes Like This, by Jordan Crane (Fantagraphics)

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen: The Deluxe Edition, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)

Tongues, by Anders Nilsen (Pantheon)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, Book 1), by Tamora Pierce, adapted by Vita Ayala and Sama Beck (Abrams Fanfare)

The Compleat Angler: A Graphic Adaptation, by Izaak Walton, adapted by Gareth Brookes (SelfMadeHero)

Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition, by Sister Helen Prejean, adapted by Rose Vines and Catherine Anyango Grünewald (Random House)

Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel, by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Setor Fiadzigbey (Little, Brown Ink)

Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel, by William Golding, adapted by Aimée De Jongh (Penguin Classics)

A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel, by Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Buff Soul, by Moa Romanova, translated by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)

Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog, by Marc Torices, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

In the End We All Die, by Tobias Aeschbacher, translated by Andrew Shields (Helvetiq)

Nocturnos, by Laura Perez, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)

Raging Clouds, by Yudori (Fantagraphics)

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, by Anaïs Flogny, translated by Dan Christensen (Abrams ComicArts)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia

Hirayasumi, vols. 4–7, by Keigo Shinzo, translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash (VIZ Media)

Land, vol. 1, by Kazumi Yamashita, translated by Kevin Gifford (Yen Press)

Purgatory Funeral Cakes, by Sanho, translated by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)

Tokyo Alien Bros., vols. 1–3, by Keigo Shinzo, translated by Casey Loe (VIZ Media)

Yan, vols. 1–2, by Chang Sheng, translated by Vanessa Liu (Titan Manga)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Arthur Ferrier’s Pin-Up Parade Box Set, edited by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)

Barnaby, vol. 5: 1950–1952, by Crockett Johnson, edited by Eric Reynolds and Philip Nel (Fantagraphics)

The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1928–1930, edited by J. Michael Catron and Bill Blackbeard (Fantagraphics)

Rea Irvin’s The Smythes, edited by R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw (NYRC)

Terminal Exposure: Comics, Sculpture, and Risky Behavior, by Michael McMillan, edited by Lucas Adams (NYRC)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

AKIRA Volumes 1–5 Hardcover Collection, by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha USA Publishing)

The Atlas Comics Library No. 7: Girl Comics, edited by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (Fantagraphics)

Comics of the Movement #1, by Courtland Cox, Jennifer Lawson, Alfred Hassler, and Benton Resnik (Good Trouble Comics)

Hothead Paisan, by Diane DiMassa, organized by Anika Banister (NYRC)

Scream! The Specials 1985–2024, edited by Chiara Mestieri (Rebellion)

Weird Science Vol. 1 XXL, edited by Grant Geissman (TASCHEN)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comic Art in Korea, by John A. Lent (University Press of Mississippi)

Comics of the Anthropocene: Graphic Narrative at the End of Nature, by José Alaniz (University Press of Mississippi)

Graphic Narratives of Resistance, by Jennifer Boum Make and Charly Verstraet (Edinburgh University Press)

Latinx Comics Studies: Critical and Creative Crossings, edited by Fernanda Díaz-Basteris and Maite Urcaregui (Rutgers University Press)

Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989, by Andrea Horbinski (University of California Press)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

CANON, by Colin Blanchette and Alex Eklund

Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

Dummy, edited by John Kelly (The Dummy Corporation)

Shelfdust, edited by Steve Morris, http://www.shelfdust.com

SKTCHD, by David Harper, http://www.sktchd.com

SOLRAD: The Online Literary Magazine for Comics, edited by Daniel Elkin, http://www.solrad.co (Fieldmouse Press)

Best Comics-Related Book

Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life, by Dan Nadel (Scribner)

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)

How Comics Are Made, by Glenn Fleishman (Andrews McMeel)

Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narrative, by Eleri Harris and Shay Mirk (Abrams ComicArts)

Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, by Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)

Ooops…I Just Catharted!: Fifty Years of Cathartic Comics, by Rupert Kinnard, edited by William O. Tyler (Stacked Deck Press)

Best Publication Design

The Art of Manga, designed by Tessa Lee (Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco/VIZ Media)

The Essential Peanuts, designed by Shawn Dahl with Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)

Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set (Collector’s Edition #13), designed by Wendy Chan (Yen Press)

Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business, designed by Dan Goldman (Kinjin Storylab)

The Marvel Art of Michael Allred Slipcase Edition, designed by Kurtis Findlay (Clover Press)

Weird Science Vol. 1 XXL, designed by Anna-Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)

Best Webcomic

The Accidental Undergrad by Christian Giroux (Fieldmouse Press)  

Keeping Time by Kody Okamoto (keepingtimecomic.com) 

The Legend of Parvaterra by Raúl Arnáiz (WEBTOON)

Sable: A Ghost Story, by Ethan M. Aldridge (sablecomic.com) 

Superfish, by Peglo (WEBTOON) 

Terran Omega: The Ghosts of War, by PJ Holden (pauljholden.com) 

Tiger, Tiger by Petra Erika Nordlund (tigertigercomic.com) 

Best Digital Comic

DeadAss, by hakei (VIZ Media)

In the Real Dark Night, by Jimmy Gownley (G-Ville Comics)

The Lycan, by Mike Carey, Thomas Jane, David James Kelly, and Diego Yapur (Comixology Originals)

Overwatch 2: Against the Tide, by Brandon Chen and Velinxi (Blizzard Entertainment)

Practical Defense Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)

The World of Lublu, by Charbak Dipta (The Charbax Store)

Best Writer

Deniz Camp, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC); Assorted Crisis Events (Image); The Ultimates (Marvel)

Scott Snyder, Absolute Batman, Batman/Deadpool (DC); By a Thread: Book 2 (Comixology Originals), You Won’t Feel a Thing (DSTLRY)

Mariko Tamaki, This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare)

Kelly Thompson, Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey (DC); Jeff the Land Shark (Marvel)

James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of the Blood (BOOM! Studios); Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (Dark Horse); The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (Image Skybound)

Stephanie Williams, Street Sharks (IDW); Roots of Madness (Ignition Press); Temporal (Mad Cave)

Best Writer/Artist

Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)

Jamal Campbell, Zatanna (DC)

Jesse Lonergan, Drome (23rd St. Books)

Chang Sheng, Yan, vols. 1–2 (Titan Manga)

Linnea Sterte, A Garden of Spheres (Peow2)

Kazumi Yamashita, Land, vol. 1 (Yen Press)

Best Penciller/Inker

Elsa Charetier, The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY)

Sean Phillips, Giant Size Criminal #1, The Knives: A Criminal Book (Image)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC)

Chris Samnee, Batman and Robin: Year One (DC)

Hayden Sherman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman: Dark Patterns (DC)

Eric Zawadzki, Assorted Crisis Events (Image)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

Teddy Kristiansen, Black Hammer: Spiral City (Dark Horse)

Cathy Malkasian, Shadows of the Sea (Fantagraphics)

Qu, Slices of Life: A Comic Montage (Bulgilhan Press)

Martin Simmonds, The Department of Truth (Image)

Mika Song, Night Chef: An Epic Tale of Friendship with a Side of Deliciousness! (Random House Graphic)

Linnea Sterte, A Garden of Spheres (Peow)

Best Cover Artist

Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); TMNT Nightwatcher, TMNT Godzilla (IDW); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)

Nick Dragotta, Absolute Batman, Absolute Batman 2025 Annual, Batman #1, Batman/Deadpool (DC)

Francesco Francavilla, Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands (Dark Horse); Absolute Batman, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman: Full Moon, Nightwing variants (DC); Green Hornet/Miss Fury (Dynamite); Star Trek: The Last Starship, Twilight Zone (IDW); Dick Tracy (Mad Cave)

Mateus Manhanini, Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific: Year One variants (DC); Doctor Strange, Ironheart: Bad Chemistry, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Phases of the Moon Knight, Star Wars: The High Republic, Storm, The Ultimates (Marvel)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman & Robin: Year One #7, The New Gods #8 (DC)

Hayden Sherman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman: Dark Patterns #3-12 (DC)

Best Coloring

Jordie Bellaire, Absolute Wonder Woman, The Nice House by the Sea (DC); The Exorcism at 1600 Penn (IDW); Assorted Crisis Events, The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); GI Joe (Image/Skybound); EC Catacomb of Torment, EC Epitaphs from the Abyss (Oni Press)

Ninakupenda Gaillard, Chickenpox (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Jesse Lonergan, Drome (23rd St. Books)

Matheus Lopes, Batman and Robin Year One (DC); The Seasons (Image)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC)

José Villarrubia, This Ink Runs Cold (Alan Spiegel Fine Arts); Ghostbox (Comixology Originals); Dracula Book 2: The Brides, The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly (Dark Horse); Hunger (The Lab Press); It Rhymes with Takei (Top Shelf)

Best Lettering

Janice Chiang, Acro and the Cat, All Upon a Time, Beyond the Aural Vault, Republica, Solarblader (Sandstorm); John Carpenter’s Blood of the Taken: Next of Kin, Pause, Tales of Science Fiction (Storm King)

Clayton Cowles, Absolute Batman, Batman, Batman & Robin: Year One, Birds of Prey, Black Canary: Best of the Best, Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman, (DC); Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1-3 (Marvel)

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Ill Vacation, Stillman (Comixology Originals); Absolute Martian Manhunter, Challengers of the Unknown, DC K.O., The Flash, Green Arrow, Poison Ivy (DC); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Starship Godzilla, (IDW); Author Immortal (Image); Our-Soot-Stained Heart (Mad Cave)

Nate Piekos, American Caper #1, Archie Vs. Minor Threats, Black Hammer: Spiral City, The Brood, Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive, Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, The Umbrella Academy Plan B, Welcome to Twilight (Dark Horse); I Hate Fairyland (Image)

Ben Wickey, More Weight: A Salem Story (Top Shelf)

https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/

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Bill Finger Award: Jenny Blake Isabella

Russ Manning Award: Stipan Morian

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Books With Pictures in Eugene, Oregon

EYG Comic Cavalcade #213

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July 24

I picked up a bunch of back issues this week in several locations. At Comic World, Todd had a new small collection that included Machine Man #1,2, and a couple of older X-Men books (#143, #116). He also gave me a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey #2 (thanks Todd). At In This Issue, I picked up a bunch of Avengers Vol. 3 and Spectacular Spider-Mans. I picked up I Hate Fairyland Vol. 2 #1-7 off eBay.

Less than one week away from Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie. I will be watching it next Thursday at noon. I can’t wait. Spidey is my absolute favorite fictional character of all time. Very excited.

Comic of the Week

Dog Tag #3

This was another unexpected winner this week. I have enjoyed this Mad Cave book so far, but this week’s issue caught me off guard and I found myself reacting in an emotional way to the story. One scene in particular nearly had me tearing up. I am not sure I can recall a time when a comic book elicited tears from me, so it was unexpected.

Books this Week:

Amazing Spider-Man #33. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Ed McGuinness. Cover A art by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. I picked up variant cover C by David Nakayama (Bronze Medalist). Legacy number #997 means that the build to #1000 is underway. Spidey teams up with a new band from Damage Control and they take down some of the villains together. Meanwhile, May and her long lost son go for dinner. I sure hope they don’t just make May’s son a villain, but I suspect that is where this is heading.

Spider-Man: Long Way Home #2. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Arthur Hesli. The pursuit for the Cosmic Cube continued with Spidey, Punisher and the Hulk all after it for their own reasons. This has not been my favorite Spider-Man book out recently. Still, anything with Spidey is down for me.

Uncanny X-Men #32. “Mars Needs Mutants” Part 3. Written by Gail Simone with art by Rogê Antonio, Jim Towe and Federica Mancin. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. The Outliers step up their game and so Rogue and Gambit redub them “The New Mutants” and give them new outfits. However, the promotion does come with some bad news. Gambit and Rogue are leaving the group for awhile to take care of business. If Deathdream cries, we all cry.

Terminal #1. Written by Robert Kirkman & Joe Casey with art by Andy Kubert. I picked up a couple of blind bags celebrating this new series and got a couple of covers from Art Adams. The new series features all new superhero characters in an all-new superhero universe. I thought this was excellent and it gave me thoughts of Strikeforce: Morituri from Marvel.

Flash #35. “The Speed was Power, and the Speed was Joy-Part IV” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover art was done by Gavin Guidry & Adriano Lucas. Wally West was using his new power, flashes of insight, to predict future problems so he could save them before the events happened. I feel as if that has the potential for bad things in the long run, but we’ll see. I have enjoyed Flash since Ryan North took over the writing chores.

Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolfman #2. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Leomacs & Pip Martin. I also picked up variant cover B by Jacob Phillips. There is a classic feel to this book as our main character Adam struggled with a possible transformation into a werewolf when he massacred a whole college party. This has been an excellent book so far, fitting nicely into the Universal Monsters books from Image.

Void Rivals #32. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Conor Hughes. Cover art was done by Lorenzo De Felica. I have been excited for this book for a month and a half or so with the announcement that Rom is joining the Energon Universe and would make his official debut in this issue. Now, he only shows up at the very end, but I do believe that Rom is a burst of energy into Void Rivals that it has been needing for several issues now. I am looking forward to seeing Rom moving forward.

Sicko #1. Written by Tini Howard and illustrated and cover A art by Amilcar Pinna. Cover B art was done by Juliet Nneka. This is a brand new Ignition Press book featuring a character named Valentine. She has some kind of illness that she seemed to be able to weaponize. Why this is happening is still up in the air, but Valentine is not anxious to help out whomever is chasing her in the hazmat outfits. Ignition Press has had a bunch of winners in 2026 and this feels like another one.

Narco #5. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Dave Stewart. I have loved Narco and this ends the series in a satisfying way. I do think that I wanted more at the end, but that I think comes about because I have enjoyed this book so much.

Wolverine #24. “Master and Monster.” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine’s stolen healing factor is still a major problem as he has to face off with Dr. Murat Mor, who has transformed into a huge, hulking creature. Oh, and Alpha Flight is here remaining as a pain in the butt instead of a help. I have been having a lot of fun with this volume of Wolverine over the last couple of years.

Gambit: Wanted #1. Written by Chris Claremont and art by Robert Gill. Cover A art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Cover B cover art(foil) was done by Kris Anka (Gold Medalist) and Cover F (Wanted variant) art was done by Phil Noto. This takes out favorite Cajun back to pre-X-Men days and places him on the streets of New Orleans with the thieves he was leading. I am not sure who (or what) ‘Lil ‘ Ro was supposed to be. Obviously it was some form of Storm, but I do not know where she was or why she was in this kiddie form. Remy LeBeau is an awesome character and I am looking forward to seeing more of him and learning, perhaps, more info on his character that I did not know. Great covers for this issue as well.

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1. A who’s who of writers and artists participated in this book. Writers included Saladin Ahmed, Gail Simone, Eric Schultz, Jed MacKay, Eve L. Ewing with artists including Joelle Jones, Luciano Vecchio, Aaron Kuder, Tony S. Daniel, Mark Morales, Federica Mancin, Cory Smith and Dren Junior. Sebastian Shaw is out of prison and hosting the new Hellfire Gala. Little did he know that it would be his last party as Shaw is murdered. But by whom? Wolverine and Jubilee are on the case. This is a fun book, but it felt weird as a murder case, especially since the things that were going on at the Gala. I also picked up a cover by Skottie Young for this book.

Detective Comics #1111. “Flight- Part Five” Written by Tom Taylor and art and cover art by Mikel Janin. The story of Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary, dealing with the death of their former friend, Prion, and Prion’s brainwashed assassin daughter Arabella.

Something is Killing the Children #49. “All Her Monsters” Part Nine. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’Edera. We are one issue away from #50 of this series. This brought an end to the Erica as a young girl story that has been running most of this past year.

Bad Thoughts #2. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated and cover art by Dave Wachter. Jack is back from his mission, but things are not good. In fact, things are escalating massively. Everyone is dying around Jack and he is being pursued by the organization. This was a big step up from last issue and led to an amazing story.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6. “Midnight Sons” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Yen Nitro. In an attempt to save his friends, Moon Knight is out to recruit members of the Midnight Sons. This included Clea, Daredevil, Blade, and Robbie Reyes the Ghost Rider.

Tarzan Beyond #2. “Tarzan and the Siege of Paradise.” Written by Steve Orlando and art by Renato Guedes. Cover art is done by Agustin Alessio. Tarzan takes on Blackbeard. And it does not go well. Tarzan also now has to fight his ape father Kerchak. Oh, and his ape mother Kala is here too. Not sure how that is happening, but I am here for it.

Justice League Unlimited #21. “Escape from Powers Planet: Part Two” Written by Mark Waid and art by Dan Mora & Fico Ossio. The League is in search for the Brainiac Queen and Lex Luthor is not being helpful. Secret plans from Red Tornado and Batman are the play of the day.

Excommunicated #3. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Flaviano Armentaro. Josephine and her talking dog are heading to face off with a Father who has been possessed by some kind of demon. Excommunicated has been a lot of fun with this series so far and I am anxious to see where the next step goes.

Other Books This Week: Moonstar #5, Marvel Zero #1, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu #1, Godzilla Conquers the Multiverse #1, Estuary: A Ghost Story #4, Captain Marvel: Dark Past #4, Terrorbytes #8, and American Caper #9.

Quick Hits: We got a brand new Red Shirts book called Star Trek: Red Shirts-Ghost of the 21st Century#1. Interestingly, I was not into this book as most of the Star Trek books have seemingly lost my attention. Hello Darkness #23 had a bunch of great covers this week, including a silver medal for Jenny Frison. Odin #3 continues to be a weird and wild book. Gotta pay attention to it otherwise you are lost. Final Boss #8 is setting up something that feels new for the book. We’ll have to see where it goes. Bloodland #5 focuses in on the President more this issue than previously. Corpse Knight #4 saw Foy and her father finally make it to Joan D’Arc and it does not go quite the way she expected. I picked up a blind bag for the 300th issue of TMNT, which was also called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20. I used to buy the series, but left it at the same time as Jason Aaron did. I got a nice virgin cover by Laird & Eastman in my blind bag. Speaking of blind bags, I picked up the Boys Premium Mystery Variant Blind Bag, which included three issues of separate limited-edition variants of some of the key issues of the series with unique variant covers. Absolute Wonder Woman #22 was released this week too as Diana finishes up her trip to the Underworld. Another Absolute book out this week was Absolute Superman #21, which saw the end of the Superman/Absolute Shazam match up. The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #6 wraps up the Vertigo series with Ezra taking care of business. It looked like there will be another Ezra Cain book coming up later on. Three issue number fives brought their series to a close this week with Wonder Man #5, Imperial Guardians #5 and A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #5. Imperial Guardians was my favorite of those three and I will miss that book, but it was clear they needed Carol Danvers back on earth for what was going to be happening in Marvel soon. Finally, the next issue of Hidden Spring #3 sees our old folks trying to get the alien to its parent.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #75

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#75

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Released: July 2023

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: highly stylized, “2.5D” CG animation technique

Studio: Mikros/Paramount

It seemed that we finally got the Turtles in a full animated feature and, though I hated the trailers leading up to this, it turned out awesome.

Voice cast: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu,  Brady Noon, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, John Cena, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, Giancarlo Esposito, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube and Paul Rudd

Comic Con 2026- Thursday

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San Diego Comic Con for 2026 kicked off today with a series of events and news items. Here are some of the highlights from day one. I am not in attendance at SDCC so I will require the help of the internet and the wonderful websites for the news.

Hall H had peeks at upcoming series including:

  • The third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
  • Blade Runner 2099 live action
  • Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

Marvel’s Wolverine PS5 story trailer

Marvel Costumes- Latverian Witch

This costume reportedly caused quite a stir as it was included in the Avengers: Doomsday costumes. Many believed this was a thinly veiled hint toward the Scarlet Witch in Doomsday. Apparently, the costume switched from a green on to an orange one over night.

Avengers: Doomsday costumes display

Marvel.com

Marvel Comics

Iron Man– from marvel.com: “The journey to our epic IRON MAN #700 anniversary issue is so big that we had to split the book into two and double ship it,” continues [Joshua] Williamson. “Our amazing series artist Carmen Carnero will handle the even-numbered issues where Tony Stark is in prison. While the odd-numbered issues are taken over by the ‘War Machines.’ James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes puts together a new team of Armored Warriors to help take down Madame Masque, Adam Ware, and the new A.I.M. while Tony is locked up. For those issues we’re joined by my old partner in crime, Gleb Melnikov! I feel lucky to have two amazing artists on my team during this action-packed story!”

Avengers#1– Chip Zdarsky’s book that will follow the new team of Avengers that had been announced earlier this year.

Maximum X-Men #1– Storm steps up and recruits a new team of X-Men to replace the Avengers team that broke apart from the events of Avengers Armageddon. Strange that Wolverine is on both the new Avengers line-up and Storm’s new maximum X-Men.

Maximum X-Men will include a roster of Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice!

Avengers will include Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine and another character that has yet to be revealed.

Johnny Depp appears at SDCC as Scrooge! Promoting his new movie Ebenezer, out this fall, Johnny Depp appeared at SDCC and caused some chaos.

TMZ.com

Hadestown: The Musical

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I have been a big proponent of filming stage plays and releasing them as movies, like they did with Hamilton and Good Night and Good Luck: Live from Broadway. I believe this would be such an awesome thing, allowing those who may not have easy access to Broadway plays and the such to see the magic of a stage presentation, not just a movie with the story adapted into a movie script.

So when I saw that there would be a Tony Award winner was doing this, I wanted to make sure that I made my way to the theater to see it, even though it was a play that I had never heard of before.

Hadestown: The Musical was filmed in London and tells an updated story about the classic Greek myth with Orpheus and Eurydice. It kind of mixed that story in with the Hades and Persephone myth as well. and it is placed within the present day.

I did not recognize any of the actors involved, but they were spectacular, as was the overall presentation of the show. I loved the way they presented this story. The circular moving stage, much like they had in Hamilton, was such a fabulous tool to tell this story, especially when Orpheus was walking out of Hades, unsure if Eurydice was behind him. I heard some people in my theater gasp when Orpheus turned around.

The music is amazing. I had never heard any of the songs from this musical, but the music was fabulous.

The performances that stood out the most were André De Shields, who played Hermes and heavily a narrator of the film, and Patrick Page who played Hades. Patrick Page’s voice was absolutely tremendous as the God of the Underworld. Most of the time he would speak through the songs and it worked so well for him. He was amazing in this role. In fact, he was wearing a boot during the show and I came to find out that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon before the filming. He was able to do his performance with the boot and, apparently, a few adjustments. That speaks a lot to Patrick Page’s dedication to the show.

Reeve Carney was Orpheus and Eva Noblezada was Eurydice. Amber Grey played Persephone. They were all great. Nobody had a bad performance.

I had goosebumps after the opening number and some tears running down my face at the finale. It was able to present a classic tale in an emotional, powerhouse film.

I want more like this.

4.5 stars

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #76

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#76

Wall-E

Released: June 27, 2008

Runtime: 98 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: computer-generated imagery (CGI) with practical, handheld camera techniques

Studio: Pixar/Disney

Some consider Wall-E a classic. I did not like the movie on my first viewing, and listening to all of the people calling it a masterpiece made me want to give it a second watch. I gave a rewatch in 2022 and I found it much better than I remembered when I saw it at first. There are others who are still much higher on this than me, but it will still make my top 100.

Voice cast:  Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, and Sigourney Weaver. Fred Willard had a live-action role.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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July 22

Welcome back to the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. We have another very strong week of covers with some real winners.

Three variant covers this week in the medalists.

Also-Rans: Amazing Spider-Man #33, Wonder Man #5, Sicko #1 (A and B), Dog Tag #3, Terminal #1 (Die Cut cover), Terminal #1 (Arthur Adams variant blind bag cover), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20 (aka #300) Variant Laird & Eastman virgin cover, Gambit Wanted #1 (F cover), and Bad Thoughts #2.

Bronze Medalist

Amazing Spider-Man #33

Variant Cover C

Cover art by David Nakayama

I absolutely loved this moment in Spider-Man’s career, where he was forced into wearing an old FF costume with a paper bag on his head. The “Unknown Superhero!” This cover brought the nostalgia for me and one of my favorite moments of my childhood, which is why it gets the bronze medal this week.

Silver Medalist

Hello Darkness #23

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Jenny Frison

Hello Darkness continues to have some of the best covers. In fact, I believe I picked up three total covers for this book this week. Jenny Frison has had a great career making these kind of horror covers. The red is really a great standout cover.

Gold Medalist

Gambit: Wanted #1

Variant Cover B Foil

Cover art by Kris Anka

This is just gorgeous. The beautiful foil cover with the cards and the staff all charged up complements the dark background and the smile on everyone’s favorite Cajun. This new mini series had several awesome covers, with this being the top.

X-Men ’97 S2 E6

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Spoilers

“Danger.exe”

Polaris comes front and center as she was tossed out of X-Factor after a brutal encounter with Stryker. That led her to return to Xavier’s reformed school.

Polaris returned in a dangerous time, as the Danger Room began changing, becoming more inspired to make training all the more difficult.

That led to the creation of Danger. Danger was created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday in the comics and she became big during a Grant Morrison run.

The episode concentrated on Polaris and her acceptance of Magneto as her father. Her connection with him, through Charles Xavier, helped end the threat of Danger in the ruins of Genosha. It was a powerful moment for the character of Polaris. Honestly, I am not as big of a fan of Polaris, but she worked well in this episode.

This episode had a bunch of more in the episode, specifically at the very end. X-Corp is brought into the series with the X-Men behind it, and we get Apocalypse’s Death created for his new Horsemen, and it is Gambit.

I do think that there are some hints of Onslaught dropped in this season. I am not sure if we are going to get Onslaught or not because I think this is one of Beau DeMayo plans before he was let go from the show.

We are two-thirds through the season with just three more to go. Clearly, Apocalypse is our big bad for the remainder of the season. Could Onslaught happen in season three?

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #77

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#77

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Released: 2009

Runtime: 87 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: Stop Motion Animation

Studio: 20th Century Fox/3 Mills Studios 

This is a film based on a book by Roald Dahl and is an Academy Award nominated movie.

Voice Cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Wes Anderson, Brian Cox, Adrien Brody, Michael Gambon, and Owen Wilson

WWE Unreal Season 3

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I binged the third season of the WWE Unreal program on Netflix today. Five episodes that follow the WWE storylines behind the scenes, providing the viewer with a different look at their favorite WWE superstars.

The third season started off with the John Cena retirement tour, where Cena had announced he would have so many more dates with the WWE and then he would be retired, over the entire calendar year of 2025. It looked at many of the matches that Cena had during this run, specifically his match with CM Punk, AJ Styles and Logan Paul.

The five episodes featured several of the main wrestlers in background detail and stories that led them to where they were. The main superstars, besides John Cena, that had time allotted to them were CM Punk & AJ Lee, Liv Morgan, Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Stephanie Vaquer.

There were other WWE stars appearing, but these are the ones that stood out as characters they were following. One exception was when they went to Chelsea Green’s fully build house, which they had shown in process of being build in season two. We got to see Matt Cardona (her husband) and his toy collection.

There are a lot of good moments that the docuseries provided. Probably the most impactful was the relationship with CM Punk and his wife AJ Lee (aka April), and the dog Larry that was their longtime pet. Larry passed away during this time frame and the pain and grief were so apparent on CM Punk’s face and in his words that it was truly the deepest and most emotional moment of the entire five episodes.

I do think that there are things that could have been covered more that were either brushed over or ignored. John Cena’s heel turn was addressed, but I do not think that they went into a lot of specifics about how it did not work. They touched on it, but it was otherwise ignored.

Another one was Brock Lesnar’s retirement after the Wrestlemania match with Oba Femi. That was something that was not even mentioned, and I would have liked to have seen how the backstage reaction was to that. I understand that Lesnar was not one of the focused characters for the series, but I can’t believe that that incredible moment was not covered.

There was a fascinating section dealing with injuries and how they can blow up creative plans. Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed were all injured within a short time span of each other and seeing how that caused creative to flip around was interesting. My favorite moments were still going inside the writers’ room, and I would have like more of that.

The whole Pat McAfee controversy with the Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton title match at Wrestlemania was skirted around and it sure seemed like everyone involved was happy about it, but that clearly was not the case. There should have been a deep dive into this.

Still, I enjoyed the docuseries quite a bit, and every time the show focused on CM Punk, the show really soared.

The Muppet Show S2 E1, E2, E3

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Spoilers

Guest: Don Knotts

Guest: Zero Mostel

Guest: Milton Berle

Season two of the Muppet Show kicked off with some changes.

The opening theme came closer to what I remembered as the iconic theme. They removed Fozzie’s joke from the opening and added in Statler and Waldorf. However, my memory of Statler and Waldorf was them singing the next verse which started “Why do we always come here…” which was not what was in this season’s beginning. Kermit’s intro of the guest star is now at the very beginning of the song instead of the middle. It ends with Gonzo, no longer with a club, but with a trumpet. The opening had a much bigger feel to it.

It also featured the “cold open” where Scooter sticks his head into the guest star’s dressing room and gives them an update on how long until the show starts. This pre-theme gag would go for the rest of the series, if I remember correctly.

There were some weird things in these episodes as well. In episode one with Don Knotts, the Disney + version of the show was chopped up with things removed. Don Knotts’s finale, which was Knotts playing a bass with the Electric Mayhem on a song called “Lullaby of Birdland” was removed completely. I never figured out the reasoning behind the editing (sounds like it had something to do with copyright). They also chopped up the backstage segments between Fozzie and Floyd where Floyd gave Fozzie some sunglasses and proclaimed him a hip dude.

Episode two featured Zero Mostel, who actually died not too long after the show was recorded. This was a great episode with things such as Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major as performed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (I loved Animal screaming “Chopin” as he drummed), “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” by Rowlf and Zoot, and Mostel dressed as Henry the VIII performing “What Do the Simple Folds Do?” It also ended with some Lady Wrestling, as per request from Scooter’s uncle J.P. Grosse. Kermit couldn’t find anyone to participate (the scene where he asked Piggy to do it was hilarious), so he donned a wig and took on Granny the Gouger. Kermit got his butt kicked and tossed into Statler and Waldorf’s box. Miss Piggy did not like that and showed up and did the “hi-yaaaah” to Granny. As a wrestling fan, I remember loving this skit when I was younger.

Episode three featured Milton Berle in several tremendous skits. The standout of the whole episode (and perhaps the season so far) was Milton Berle vs. Statler and Waldorf. I was so impressed with him since he allowed the two old hecklers to get the best of him the entire routine. Uncle Miltie, a literal comedic legend, was willing to play straight man to a couple of Muppets and let them make him look the fool. It was really one of the funniest skits I have seen on the Muppet Show so far. Milton Berle also did a fantastic rendition of “The Entertainer” (which the show strangely followed up with Miss Piggy singing the same song too) and a great comedy-duet with Fozzie called “Top Banana.” Milton Berle worked beautifully with the Muppets here.

There were some classic debuts during these three episodes. This was the first time we have seen Beaker in the Muppet Labs sequence. Beaker would go on to become on of the most iconic Muppets of all time. We saw the first episode of Pigs in Space with Link, Dr. Strangepork and Miss Piggy.

I loved in episode one where Rowlf sings “What a Wonderful World” to a real living puppy. I love the Louis Armstrong song and Rowlf does it very well.

The second and third episodes of this season have to be considered some of the best of the series and it was a shame that the Don Knotts episode got as chopped up as it did, because it had the potential to be just as great.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #78

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#78

Rango

Released 2011

Runtime: 107 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: hyper-realistic, surrealist Western

Studio: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, and Industrial Light & Magic

Rango is a fun animated movie featuring a chameleon in a Western-type film.

Voice cast: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty, Stephen Root, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone and Timothy Olyphant.

Rick and Morty Season 3

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I watched season three of Rick and Morty on HBO Max throughout the day today. I have not watched many episodes of Rick and Morty over the years, but I have seen some. This season included a few of the episodes that I had seen before.

Specifically, I have seen “Pickle Rick,” “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender,” and, I believe, the season premiere “The Rickshank Rickdemption.” These were very strong episodes, but I remember the reason I did not consistently watch the show when it was originally on was because of the time it was on TV (Late night Sunday night).

The season long storyline of Jerry and Beth’s marriage falling apart saw the two of them planning a divorce, though they wind up back together at the end of the season. The last couple of episodes questioned whether or not Rick had cloned Beth and let her wander the universe to find herself. At the end of the finale, Rick claimed that Beth was not a clone. I am not sure I believe him. It feels like a storyline that could carry over the next several seasons even.

In “The Ricklantis Mixup” starts with Rick and Morty heading to Atlantis, but the episode did not follow them there as the show went to the new Citadel of Ricks and saw the struggles and conflicts between the Ricks and the Mortys. We see a new Morty elected president. It is another potential future arc for the show.

The “Morty’s Mind Blowers” episode was batshit crazy, using some old memories that Morty had erased from his mind. It was done as a replacement for the typically annual Interdimensional Cable episode that they had in both of the first two seasons.

One of the most iconic episode was “Pickle Rick.” I did not think that this episode, the one where Rick turned himself into a pickle in order to avoid family therapy, was this early in the overall series. I love this episode.

I did enjoy the battle between Rick and the President of the USA in “The Rickchurian Mortydate.” It was also funny how the conflict was resolved.

Overall, season three was tremendous. My favorite episode is “Pickle Rick” and my least favorite was “The ABC’s of Beth.”