Poetry- Poe’s Lament

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I have a second poem in as many weeks. This time, it is with my seventh grade class and I asked them if I should wrote a poem, too. They said yes, fairly excitedly. One student said I should do that author. She was referring to Edgar Allan Poe and I jumped at that chance. Much more of a fan of Poe than I was of four-wheelers.

I took a bunch of Poe’s works and made them a part of the story. I based it on the Raven, as you may know.

Here is the poem. It has the rhyme scheme of AABCCB

======================================================================

Poe’s Lament

1

Once upon a night so dreary

Edgar Allan Poe was weary

Sitting in his chamber all alone.

Dreaming of his lost Lenore

Or the lovely Annabel Lee some more

Spritzing the air with their favorite cologne.

2

Breaking the melancholic music of the score.

A gentle rapping, tapping came to the chamber door.

“What’s this?!” exclaimed Poe, flabbergasted.

“There’s something familiar about this,” he said.

As his broken heart was filled with dread.

Across the years of loss and fears, the gloomy feelings lasted.

3

Standing up from his writing desk, Poe cries, “By all that’s holy

If this be that blasted bird, I’ll kill it real slowly!”

Anger swelled within his breast as the irksome tap resumed.

Impatiently, the poet stormed across his chamber floor

Flinging open the door, Poe presumed a raven speaking ‘nevermore.’

No bird fueled Poe’s confusion of which he was consumed.

4

Nervous- very, very dreadfully nervous Poe became

The beating of his hideous heart was partially to blame

Poe was not calmed by the feathery fiend’s truancy.

“That tapping, the gentle rapping was coming from somewhere.”

Thought Poe, glancing around the hallway unaware.

Another creature had stalked past him with great fluency.

5

Cleaning its ebony fur upon the bust of Pallas

A slick black cat glared with eyes full of malice.

Poe covered his eyes and said, “What now?”

As the night was disrupted by the ringing of the bells, bells, bells

Poe screamed, “What do you want, creature of hell?”

And the black cat responded, “Meow.”

6

“Is that the best you’ve got, cat, one cliched word?

At least ‘nevermore’ was unexpected from the cursed bird!”

The black cat disregarded Poe’s raving, refusing to kowtow.

Poe poured himself a glass of amontillado wine.

“Why are you here?” said Poe. “You sent a chill down my spine.”

And the black cat responded, “Meow.”

7

“Creature! Are you a demon or is this but a dream within a dream.”

Poe’s words came out less like a question and more like a scream.

And o’er his heart a shadow fell as he found now

The feline sat on the bust stoically like the Red Death

“Will you lead to the fall of the house of Poe,” said he with a single breath

And the black cat responded, “Meow.”

8

Slumping back into his desk chair, Poe prayed for an end

From the torment and tempest of the works that he had penned.

“I would rather die at the hands of a raging orangutan, POW

Than suffer the indignities of your singular phrase.”

You fancy me mad, he thought, Madmen know nothing- just craze.

And the black cat responded, “Meow.”

9

Dark and brooding images throughout his mind did sprawl

Like disposal of this failure by burying it in the wall

Or tying it to a slab as a pendulum swings in this city.

At the peak of Poe’s macabre mind, in a dark blur.

The black cat leapt down, hopped on to Poe’s lap, and began to purr.

Taken aback, Poe slowly stroked the shiny fur. “Good kitty.”

10

Loss and grief can cause suffering and undo pain

And can lead to a darkness across your brain.

Loneliness can ravage your heart, here and now.

But Edgar Allan Poe and the black cat have each other.

Poe said, “Thank you for filling the hole in my soul left by another.”

And the black cat responded, “Meow.”

===================================================================

This is the works by Edgar Allan Poe that I either used lines from or took homage of:

Poems: The Raven, Annabel Lee, Eldorado, The Bells, A Dream Within a Dream

Short stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Upcoming Comic Preview

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So I have the new Previews and there are several intriguing new books coming somewhere around December. Let’s see what is available.

Honestly, the two books I was most excited about were from Dark Horse. Ripperland has Jack the Ripper involved and I have always been a Jack the Ripper stan. There is another Dark Horse book called Those Not Afraid, also involving serial killers. However, the book I am the most excited for is called Behemoth. It is a group of people on a bus that is eaten by a giant monster and then the story is living inside the beast. What an amazing concept. I can’t wait.

Image has several new books this month. Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale is one that I am not sure I can handle. Lovesick was a series I grabbed off eBay, but goodness, I am not sure I could handle it. It was very disturbing. Juvenile– kids with a virus, but some are immune. I have heard this concept before, but it sounds intriguing. Then, how about a one-shot called Mother Fu*kin’ Monster #1. How can you not want a book with that kind of title?

Dust to Dust is another Image book. Yes, there is another serial killer involved, but set in a dust storm in the past. This one looked solid.

Through the Boughs #1 is from DSTLRY, which has been doing so much lately that I have loved. This is a Christmas tale.

And how about a Marvel TVA book. Sign me up for that one.

More books in this Previews. I’m looking forward to them.

Agatha All Along E4

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Spoilers

“If I Can’t Reach You, Let My Song Teach You”

Whoa, this was a great episode.

Aubrey Plaza has returned, summoned to the Witches’ Road to replace the recently deceased Mrs. Hart (aka Sharon Davis).

Rio and Agatha certainly has a complicated history.

Agatha continues to show signs that she has feelings for Teen. Agatha thinks Teen is her son, you can tell. That is why Rio’s line at the end of the show about Teen not being her son hit Agatha so hard. I don’t know if that was true or just Rio’s vicious attempt to hurt Agatha.

When Teen looked like he was dying, Agatha was truly scared. Kathryn Hahn is such a great actress.

The new version of The Ballad of the Witches’ Road rocked hard. Lorna’s Ballad.

“We’re an album cover waiting to happen.”- Teen. The outfits for this trial were awesome.

The curse in demon form was very frightening too.

I am so curious about Patti LuPone’s character and the strange moments she has. It makes little sense so far, but I really love her so far.

This has been so enjoyable. The cast is tremendous and have so much chemistry with each other. There are so many questions to this story and I am into all of them.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of September 30

Welcome back to the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. It is a busy night (Agatha All Along is on!) and we’ll just jump into this.

Bronze Medalist

Daredevil #14

Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Richard Isanove

What a dramatic cover this was. The imagery of the DD mask being held up in the lightning storm with the rain coming down… excellent.

Silver Medalist

Plastic Man No More #2

Cover art by Alex Lins & Marcelo Maiolo

Plastic Man, trying to hold himself together, makes this an extremely attractive and intriguing cover.

Gold Medalist

Hyde Street #1

Cover art by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, and Brad Anderson

This is a cool looking new series from the Ghost Machine imprint from Image. The purple color of his face with the glowing green of the glasses just makes this stand out.

Bonus Action Vol. 2 E5

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Spoilers

“A Party Prepares”

This episode of Bonus Action was just chocked full of character development. It was really fun taking the time to give these characters the chance to shine.

  • Rory and the interns
  • Victor taking steps to be a leader
  • Bar’B dealing with her depression
  • Bric soulbinded his blacksmith hammer
  • Victor demanding practice
  • Bar’B’s father made a ‘deal’

This is such a fun time every week.

Only Murders in the Building S4 E6

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Spoilers

“Blow Up”

I loved this episode.

Like a found footage film, Only Murders in the Building went through the whole episode on cameras, which happened to be everywhere.

The Brothers Sisters were set up as a new suspect last week, but they are cleared this week after spending most of the episode trying to make them look guilty.

Best Zach Galifianakis cameo of the season so far as he was recovering in the hospital after being shot by a ricochet off Glen Stubbins’ metal plate in his head. The few seconds Zach was on were hilarious.

The discovery of two left shoulders in the ashes of Sazz was cool. The reveal that the second body from the incinerator being the mysterious Dudenoff was a great twist. I never thought that the Brother Sisters were the killers, but the way this used the reveal in this episode was tremendous.

The way the show used the narrative plot map (Inciting incident, Rising Action, Climax, Denouement) was unbelievably clever and worked so well.

There is still the emotional connection for Charles in Sazz’s death, even with the increased paranoia as it seemed that all three of our podcasters were the targets, as the Oliver crew were shot at.

And the discovery of the cameras and the text message to all three of them saying “I’m Watching You” was creepy.

Love love love this episode. I watched it twice. I love this entire season so far.

Sonnet writing- Four Wheeler

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In my 8th grade classes, we have been doing some study on sonnets. I said to my class that I wanted to write a sonnet too and I asked them to give me a topic. Most sonnets are love poems, but I did not want the eighth graders writing love poems, so I allowed them to do whatever topic they wanted. My topic was chosen to be Four-Wheelers.

The rules were that the poem had to have fourteen lines, follow the rhyme scheme of abbaabbacdcdcd and could have no more or nor less than ten syllables per line (which is kind of linked to iambic pentameter. Yes, I know there is more to it than just the syllable count, but it is a tough concept for 8th graders).

Here is my sonnet.

FOUR-WHEELER

The sun shines brightly in the midday sky,

The warmth on my face brings joy to my life.

It washes away the pain and strife

I am so excited, I want to fly.

Bursting forth with an exuberant cry,

Bouncing and hopping; excitement is rife.

Sharing this fun with my friend and his wife.

Suddenly, the fun ceases. Why oh why?

I cry as my body flies through the air.

My four-wheeler flipped when I hit a rock,

The oncoming ground gave me quite the scare.

Spiking my head caused me a state of shock,

The doctors placed me in intensive care.

Months and months to recover. What a crock.

Mr. McMahon E5, E6

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Spoilers

“Family Business”

“The Finish”

I wonder what this documentary series would have looked like had the lawsuits and the scandals of sexual misbehavior had not come out when it did. I have a suspicion of what it would have been.

There felt like there was a lot of positive Vince moments and that they would have outweighed the negative or the rumored scandals and this would have been like a fluff piece of the WWE Chairman.

Even now, I would say that most of this documentary felt like it was telling the positives of Vince McMahon and those things that were really bad seemed to be added into the episodes.

Bruce Pritchard was on the doc in episode six making a reference to seeing some of the earlier episodes and saying that it sucked, that it was a hatchet job going against Vince. I am not sure what episodes he was watching because they never felt like a “gotcha” episode to me. Pritchard was a close friend to Vince and so perhaps some of this ideas he formed came from being protective of him. Outside of the sixth episode, the first five felt so much more like a WWE doc.

I really think there are many more things the doc could have gone into with more specificity than what it did. It was an interesting doc, but it did not feel like something that was really worthwhile.

The Penguin S1 E2

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Spoilers

“Inside Man”

Boy, Oz is just a big time manipulator. He thinks on his feet better than anyone. He is so close to being revealed, but he just talks someone out of it by making them believe something else.

I am sure that I will never do one of these reviews without commenting on the unbelievable make up job Colin Farrell has. There is just no way that you could identify him as the actor playing Penguin if you did not already know. It is astounding.

I thought that Victor might actually be done when Penguin had him in the grave in the ground with the other two bodies. Penguin was teaching him a lesson, but was it just simply a cruelness in Oz?

This show looks great and it is a dramatic and tension-filled crime story of a manipulator who has goals beyond what some believe is possible.

Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is fabulous and borderline crazy. Okay, maybe not borderline.

I thought this was coming out on Thursdays, but, instead, it is out on Sunday nights. That works well for me. The Penguin is on HBO Max.

Grotesquerie S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“Pilot”

“True Crime Catholics”

I did not need another series on my watchlist. Currently, I am watching Agatha All Along, Only Murders in the Building, Bonus Action on YouTube, The Penguin, Mr. McMahon on Netflix, Raw and Smackdown, as well as coming to the end of season four of Bates Motel, preparing to start season seven of The X-Files, in the middle of season two of The Greatest American Hero and nearing the end of season two of Battlestar Galactica. The schedule is pretty tight at this point.

Yet, seeing the series entitled Grotesquerie pop up on Hulu (originally aired on FX), a series that I had seen intriguing trailers for at Cinemark, and a series by American Horror Story producer Ryan Murphy, I thought I could find a time to add this to the rotation.

The first two episodes became available together and it combines a vicious and brutal serial killer with the world of religious iconography.

Niecy Nash stars as Detective Lois Tryon, who finds herself at these horrendous crime scenes, really not wanting to be on the case. Still, the cases feel so very personal. Drinking heavily throughout both episodes, Lois is joined by a journalist who also just happens to be a nun, Sister Megan Duval. Sister Megan is an odd duck as a nun, unlike most nuns that you would see.

Lois’s husband, played by the incomparable Courtney B. Vance, is in a coma after being revealed as a cheater. Lois’s feelings toward her husband Marshall is complicated to say the least. However, she feels as if she needs to protect him from a nurse at the hospital, Nurse Redd, who has other ideas of what to do with Marshall. Nurse Redd is maybe the creepiest character on the show so far.

Showing on FX, Grotesquerie is available on both Hulu and Disney + the next day. I hope this is stronger than the last American Horror Story that we got.

Bates Motel S4 E6

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Spoilers

“The Vault”

The storyline between Norma and Chick came to a dramatic conclusion (or at least seems to have) as things came to a head. Chick had pressured Norma into telling him where Caleb was. Norma did not know, but she was able to find out. She met Chick on a bridge one rainy night, bringing out her gun. She had planned on shooting him, but she realized that she couldn’t do it. She screamed that she did not want Caleb hurt, but she could not kill him so Chick should just do what he was going to do… which was tell Alex the truth about Norma and Caleb as children.

This was a tremendous episode for Vera Farmiga, facing down Chick on the bridge and then ripping him a new one when he brought the window to her house. She ripped him a new one in front of Alex, which shocked him. He asked what was going on, and Norma told him the truth. All of it, about her teenage years and her brother. She expected Alex to leave her.

She told him to go pack his bag.

Alex said okay…. adding, “Where are we going?”

Such an amazing moment between these two broken characters, two people who found each other and have formed an amazing relationship. It was one that was unexpected, but they are truly in love. I have said it before, but this relationship between Norma and Alex is maybe my favorite relationship in all of TV. Maybe Penny and Desmond from LOST matches it, but nothing else in my head comes close.

Norma’s kids are going to be causing more issues soon. Norman, in his DID personality of Mother, is threatening Dr. Edwards in therapy sessions. Norman, as Mother, recounted a horrific memory of Norman’s father raping Norma. Norma has clearly had a terrible life, which makes the happiness she has found with Alex all the more special.

Dylan found the letter left with Norma by Emma’s mother and it has tweaked his curiosity. Bad tidings will be coming for this too.

I know there is not much more time left for Norma and every second of her time with Alex is precious, and will make the loss only all the more tragic.

Mr. McMahon E3, E4

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Spoilers

“Screwjob”

“Attitude”

The middle two episodes of the new Vince McMahon docuseries on Netflix are next up and, honestly, they were entertaining, but they felt totally like one of the documentaries that the WWE would produce about their own talent. There was not much more here than what was already covered many times about the Montreal Screwjob and the Attitude Era.

The interviews with present day Vince seemed as if they wanted to show him as reasonable, and I really think this is what the entire docuseries would have been like had real life not taken such a drastic turn on Vince McMahon in recent times.

There were several major incidents that were looked at during these two episodes, such as the Owen Hart death, taking the title off Bret Hart (as well as Wendi Richter a few years earlier), and the end of the steroid trial. None of them provided anything new or deep in an investigation. They were just presented as something that happened.\

They showed the creation of the NWO in WCW, the arrival of Stone Cold Steve Austin (without mentioning the Ringmaster), the heel persona of The Rock, and the ratings war between Raw and Nitro. None of this added anything to the already known narrative.

I sure hope the last two episodes kick it up some because as of now, there is not much meat on the bones of this doc.

Wolfs

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When actor David Hyde Pierce got the first script for the TV comedy Frasier, he thought it was terrible because they had written the same character twice. Frasier and Niles were basically the same character and he thought it would be a failure. Of course, Frasier turned out to be a hugely successful show.

The new Apple TV + movie, Wolfs, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, debuted this weekend on the streaming service and Clooney and Pitt play extremely similar characters, much like Frasier and Niles.

An accidental death in the hotel room of the DA leads to her calling for help. George Clooney showed up as a fixer (think Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction) to take care of everything. However, Pitt showed up too, with the plan of also taking care of everything. When they are forced to work together against their better judgment, they discover that this case has much more to it than they initially thought.

After seeing trailers for this movie, it was one of my more anticipated films of the remainder of the year. Now since seeing it, Wolfs is okay. It has its strengths, but it also has some glaring weaknesses as well.

The biggest strength of the film is easily the chemistry between Clooney and Pitt, whose characters are never named during the film. They have such wonderful comic timing during their interactions and their moments on screen stand out so well. They are basically playing the same character but the auras of both men create something different, unexpected. There is a third actor, Austin Abrams, who plays the kid who adds to the ambiance of the movie.

The biggest weakness of the movie, unfortunately, is the story. It is very messy and convoluted, and not in the good way. Everything that is happening around these two fixers lacks any real context to it and the story is chocked full of fixer cliches that we have seen in other films. The story has too many branches and the final explanation, which is done through exposition, of what was going on just does not work, and makes the film feel somewhat anticlimactic.

The film moves quickly and does have plenty of entertaining moments, especially between Clooney and Pitt. I wish there was a movie where these characters were together but it had a better script. Overall, I did like what was good about the movie more than what was bad bothered me.

3.2 stars

Mr. McMahon E2

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Spoilers

“Heat”

The second episode of the Netflix docuseries about Vince McMahon, the former head of the WWE, started off fairly minor, discussing Wrestlemania II and then Wrestlemania III. The stories behind these two event were interesting, and I did like hearing about the Hogan-Andre match, but the episode started kicking more when the scandals started coming out.

There were a bunch of scandals mentioned. The ring boy scandal where three executives were sexually abusing teens who were there to set up the ring. This was gross situation. Then there was the steroid scandal, first with the doctor, and then eventually from the federal government against Vince himself. They also touched upon the Jimmy Snuka girlfriend possible murder.

The words of the wrestlers about all these events were fascinating. Tony Atlas making reference to Pat Patterson grabbing his penis was disturbing.

There was also a lot about Hulk Hogan in here, including how he went to WCW and how it hurt Vince. It included how Hogan had to testify against Vince for the government. Hogan is not the best character over the years and he definitely did not look great here. They showed him lying on Arsenio Hall Show too.

The documentary spoke to Phil Mushnick of the NY Post, who has been writing columns about Vince and the WWE for years. Mushnick had plenty of negative words to say about Vince, specifically that he was a dirtbag.

The doc ended abruptly with a major cliffhanger with Vince’s steroid trial.

Overall, this episode was okay, and it really shows what kind of person Vince McMahon is. His clips from the Donahue Show are some obvious evidence of that. And I do not even think we’ve hit the worst part of his life.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #117

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September 28

New banner! Always enjoy making a new one of these.

Last weekend was Batman Day and there were some cool free comics given out. I picked them up which included Joker: The World #1, Batman: The Long Halloween Special Edition #1, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #1 as free books. I also picked up the book Batman/Elmer Fudd Special Noir Edition #1 too. These were cool, even though I am not the biggest Batman fan.

I also got the variant cover of Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #2 with art by Mitsuhiro Arita, which wound up as the Gold Medalist this week.

Here are the new books this week:

The Blood Brothers Mother #2. Written by Brian Azzarello and art and cover art by Eduardo Risso. It has been awhile since number one of this series so I was pleased when this new issue came out. This Western series continues to be a lot of fun and beautifully drawn. I have been enjoying several of the DSTLRY books.

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #2. Written by, drawn by and cover art by Michael Walsh. The story of Frankenstein’s Monster continues with new pieces of story mixed with the classic original story. These Universal Monster comics at Image have been exceptional and this one is right in line with this.

Saga #69. Written by Brian K. Vaughn and drawn by and cover art by Fiona Staples. The Saga kept going on with the continual story of The Will and Gwendolyn and their personal loss of their daughter and the pair dragging each other down. There is a surprise cameo within as well that shocked me. This is just always really epic every issue.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #4. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn and cover art by Javier Rodriguez. John Constantine is here and trying to bring Zatanna back to the world. This series continues to be weird and wild and Zatanna seems as if she may be ready to step back to the forefront of the DC Universe.

Avengers Annual #1. Written by Derek Landry and art by Salvador Larroca. Larroca and GURU-eFX did the cover art. Thanos is here in an attempt to reclaim the infinity stones from the current Stone Bearers have different plans. The Avengers (or at least Captain Marvel and Thor) try to keep Thanos from grabbing them all from the Infinity Watch. The storyline from all of these other annuals wraps up here as Coulson and the death stone meets up with the rest of the Infinity Watch.

NYX #3. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Francesco Mortarino. Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee did the cover art. The mutant Anole makes his way back to where he began… with the Morlocks. Meanwhile, there seems to be a traitor inside the team with Ms. Marvel and Wolverine.

Feral #6. “Patchwork” Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs. Feral is back after an hiatus and we see more of the spread of the rabies among some of the characters that we have come to know over the first five issues. This is a surprising emotional tale of a group of cats and other animals and the danger that they are in.

Amazing Spider-Man #58. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Morry Hollowell. Spider-Man and Tombstone begin what is to be advertised as one of the most violent fights in Marvel Comics. Spidey is trying to stop Tombstone from killing his own daughter for turning him in. It does kick off with some blood and more brutality than you would expect in ASM. This is the penultimate issue of Zeb Wells ASM run.

Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective #1. “Claws of the Chimera”. Created by Christopher Sequeira. Phillip Cornell, Dave Elsey, and Jan Scherpenhuizen. Cover art by Dave Elsey (Bronze Medalist). I saw this on the Midtown website and I was disappointed because I missed it in Previews. So I was really excited when I saw one copy of this at Comic World. I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes and was happy to be able to pick it up.

Chasm: Curse of Kaine #2. Written by Steve Foxe with art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Dean White. Druig is here, controlling the Mole Man, as Chasm and Hallows’ Eve try and get him loose, while Kaine continues to search for his ‘brother.’ This is an interesting series with several Spider-Man adjacent characters.

Uncanny X-Men #3. “The Inside Man” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. The four young mutants that arrived recently start their training, trying to retrieve a belt, held by Nightcrawler. Things do not go as expected.

Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Michael Dowling & Ivan Fiorelli. David Yardin & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. Silvermane and Nefaria face off with Elektra and end up sending her to attack the new Punisher.

Werewolf By Night: Red Band #2. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. Elsa Bloodstone is wanting to help Jack Russell discover why he may have started his brutal killings. Elsa went to the Midnight Mission to seek help from Moon Knight, or at least look for info from Khonshu. I really do not think this comic needs a “Red Band” label, nor the bag it comes in to prevent people from looking inside. Some heads cut off, but nothing too out of bounds.

Drawing Blood #6. “The Cat’s Meow.” Script by David Avallone and pencils by Ben Bishop. Kevin Eastman did the cover art. “Books” in Hollywood with all kinds of shenanigans going down.

Deadpool Team-Up #2. Written and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Most of this issue featured the hero vs. hero battle between Deadpool and Wolverine facing off against Crystar in Weirdworld. Crystar showed himself off as a bad ass in this battle. Then, at the end of the issue, with the three heroes together finally, a dragon requires the arrival of the Hulk!

Man Goat & the Bunnyman: Beware the Pigman #3. Written by Joe Brusha and artwork by Taylor Esposito. Cover art by Mike Krome & Ivan Nunes. Phil and Floyd wrapped up their battle with Baphomet as their latest mini series comes to an end. However, there was a clear cliffhanger at the end indicating that there will be more Man Goat & Bunnyman in the future (YAY!).

Ultimate Spider-Man #9. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Peter wants to change costumes so there is no question about Tony Stark being able to trace him. Otto Octavius, who worked for the Osborns, tries to give Peter a version of the Iron Spider outfit. Peter wants something less. Ultimate Spider-Man has been the most consistently good Ultimate books so far.

Hello Darkness #3. Once again, this is a horror anthology with a variety of stories by a group of writers and artist. Erica Slaughter returned this issue with a James Tynion IV penned continuation of the story. Cover art was by Paolo Rivera (Silver Medalist).

Phoenix #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Cover art was by Yasmine Putri. Jean Grey and Corsair takes on the Black Order over a group of exiled Asgardians who had attempted to overthrow Odin. I have enjoyed this cosmic Phoenix stories that we have gotten so far in this new series. I like Jean as Phoenix and not being seen as the villain.

Namor #3. “And God Moved Upon the Face of the Waters.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Paul Davidson & Alex Lins. Alexander Lozano did the cover art. More flashbacks to the past life of Namor as we see him very brutal as the avenging warrior of Atlantis. I am finding this series to be very well done. Jason Aaron has done some wonderful writing in this series.

Standstill #2. Written by Lee Loughridge and art and cover art by Andrew Robinson. This is such a cool comic. Spy action but what I really love about the book is the size of the panels in the book. These panels are extra large and it really makes the story jump off the page more than a typical comic.

X-Force #3. “The Walking Man” Written by Geoffrey Thorne and art by Marcus To. Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo did the cover art. X-Force vs. Nuklo. Nuklo is a giant and he was truly difficult to battle.

Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames #1. Written by Gerry Dugan with art and cover art by John McCrea. I really enjoyed this issue. It was an unsuspecting protagonist that the story seemed to imply had been around awhile. It made me think that there was another series featuring this Dead Eyes. I went to eBay and, sure enough, there was a 2019 series from Gerry Duggan. I promptly ordered it. I liked this one a lot.

Plastic: Death & Dolls #4. Story by Doug Wagner and art and cover art by Daniel Hillyard. We learn more about the dark and bloody backstory of Edwyn. There is a truly disturbing scene with his mother. I can certainly see why he cuts off heads and put them in plastic bags. This has been a really wild book.

Other books this week: Phases of the Moon Knight #2, Predator vs. Black Panther #2, Black Cloak #8, Moon Man #4, Kill All Immortals #3, Nights #11, and Self Help #4.