The 2023 Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year

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2023saw a bit of a decline in the subgenre of the comic book movie… at least in the eyes of some.

Personally, I enjoyed most of the comic book movies of 2023, and while there were none that were unbelievable, I do not subscribe to the theory of the narrative of the “comic book movie fatigue” that some have been pushing for nearly a decade now. It is not a theory to which I would agree as it just feels like more toxicity than anything else.

So among the films this year, I have a few that I considered for the Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year. Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania fielded a lot of hatred, much more than it deserved. The Flash had some good moments (but not the baby-hospital rescue part), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was one of the best movies of the year.

Previous winners are as follows:

The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year

Previous Winners: Batman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Crow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), Men in Black (1997), Blade (1998), Mystery Men (1999), X-Men (2000), From Hell (2001), Spider-Man (2002), X2: X-Men United (1993), Spider-Man 2 (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Captain America: First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy [tie] (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Logan (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

So in 2023, the Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year is…

Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a tremendous conclusion for the James Gunn-led trilogy. The emotional backstory of Rocket informed the whole film and we truly got a chance to see how vital that character was to the overall franchise. There were some beautiful moments in the film, including many of the moments between Rocket and Lyla.

Guardians Vol. 3 was able to blend humor and tragedy together into a wonderfully epic tale.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie

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I was both excited and anxious about the new movie on Peacock + called Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie. I loved the TV show Monk and the character of Adrian Monk, as played by multiple EMMY winner Tony Shalhoub. But the title of the movie implied something that I did not want. A last case? It sounded too final for my tastes. I certainly was not ready for a permanent goodbye.

So the Defective Detective fell right into place as the film started. Adrian Monk was still suffering from his compulsions, trying to make money writing a book to pay for Molly (Caitlin McGee),Trudy’s (Melora Hardin) daughter’s, wedding. However, the book was a failure, and we discovered that Adrian Monk was feeling suicidal.

And, once again, I was fearful of how this movie was starting to go.

With the return of Natalie (Traylor Howard), Randy (Jason Gray Stanford), Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), and Dr. Bell (Hector Elizondo), the show pulled no punches when it came to nostalgia. These actors all slipped easily back into these roles that they spent so many years playing on the TV show Monk. You could feel the connection between them and you were excited to see them.

Still, the key to all of this is Tony Shalhoub, who was perfect as Adrian Monk. He was able to portray both the silliness and depression of the character. He could easily switch from anguish to anxiety at a moments notice. It was as if he had not missed a beat after all of these years.

The story itself was okay at best. I’ve seen better Monk episodes, but this was fine, and the key to this movie was the return of the characters. The film which was very much like the show, a howdidit, much like Columbo episodes. We knew the killer, but Monk was trying to figure out how it happened.

I thought the ending of the movie was just tremendous. I felt as if I was emotionally connecting to the story and came just short of tears filling my eyes.

I really found this Peacock film a pleasure, a treat. These are great characters and it was a welcome return.

4 stars

Who is NO/ONE?

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I am taking a class for my educational license renewal on podcasts in education. I started it yesterday and one of the assignments was to basically try out a podcast. I was considering the Wolverine one, but then I remembered. The podcast that went along with Image Comics’ series No/One. I saw the ads for it at the back of the comic and I always wanted to give it a try. This gave me the perfect opportunity.

Starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt, I only had to listen to the first episode for my class. I was hooked. By the end of the night, I had gone through the entire six episodes that are currently available.

I have been loving the No/One comic series. This podcast was a remarkable compendium to that book. Listening to the podcast, I had that background knowledge from the books and so when the podcast would describe something that I remembered from the comic, it was as if I was a special insider.

Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt were great in telling the story of the Richard Roe murders and the copycats.

The comic series is ten issues so I assume there will continue to be a podcast episode for wach issue. This was a fun listen.

2023 Confirmed…or it it?

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In the world of the internet, sometimes stories gain a life of its own. Thus, the award called Confirmed… or is it?. This is the former winner.

Confirmed… or is it? Award

Previous Winner: Mephisto is in WandaVision (2021), Fantastic Four has been cast (2022)

I was originally going to give this award to the story that CM Punk, fired from AEW earlier this year, was going to show up in Chicago at Survivor Series and return to the WWE. It sure felt like a ridiculous idea considering the way that Punk had left the WWE almost ten years before.

And then he showed up.

So much for a Confirmed.. or is it? Award for that. It’ll probably show up in the WWE awards later.

That meant I needed a new winner. So … looking back at last year’s I see a nearly repeat potential winner:

Winner: Everyone is cast as Reed Richards.

People have been crazed about the casting of Mister Fantastic in the upcoming Fantastic Four MCU movie. It kicked off as John Krasinski. He was a fan cast and appeared in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Then there was Adam Driver. It sounded as if this was a sure thing. Then, it wasn’t. Then there was Penn Badgley from You. Ryan Gosling was speculated. So was Jake Gyllenhaal. Matt Smith.

The most recent actor signed for Reed Richards unofficially is Pedro Pascal.

Well… we’ll see.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #72

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December 7, 2023

I was able to spend this past NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at Comic World as I used a personal day from school. Once again, it was wonderful. I was able to sit at the back table at Comic World and read most of the new books this week. I do love being able to do this.

It also appears that the curse of the number three in independent books is officially over. I have five #3s this week and they were all in my pull box. Mercifully, the long nightmare is finally over!

Books read this week:

Fantastic Four #14. Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Alex Ross did the cover art. The Fantastic Four returns to the site of the Baxter Building with the expectation that it would reappear after it was sent into the future. They discovered people (super villains actually) constructing something on the location.

Thunderbolts#1. “Worldstrike” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and art by Geraldo Borges. Terry Dodson did the cover art. A new team of Thunderbolts head out to take on the Red Skull. Included Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, Val and Red Guardian. I liked the interactions between these characters.

Amazing Spider-Man #39. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Gang War is underway! There were some awesome interaction between Spidey and She-Hulk. Tombstone is up. This is a great arc so far.

Daredevil #4. “Introductory Rites” Part Four. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by German Peralta. John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Daredevil confronts the Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich. We fins out why Ben has been acting as he has been.

The Sentry #1. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Luigi Zagaria. Ben Harvey did the cover art. The book had me immediately when Jessica Jones showed up. She is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe. The recently murdered Sentry’s power seems to have been split up among a group of other people. Intriguing for sure.

Invincible Iron Man #13. “The Mysterium Marauders” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Juan Frigeri. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Ironheart. Starfox. Tony Stark and Emma Frost. On the way to find the mysterious metal called Mysterium.

X-Men #29. “House of Doom.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Joshua Cassara. X-Men head into Latveria to attempt to recruit the Latverian mutants. They end up having dinner with Dr. Doom.

Blood Commandment #2. Written and drawn by Szymon Kudranski. Vampires, werewolves and absolutely beautiful art work. It is a shocking book filled with some amazing imagery. It is a remarkably designed book.

Transformers #3. Written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Big battle between Optimus Prime and Starscream. Watching Optimus beat Starscream with his own removed arm was epic. And a shocking moment with Spike.

Nights #3. “Never Knows Best.” Written by Wyatt Kennedy and art by Luigi Formisano. Vincent started off the book with a bit of a stain… it surprised me when I saw it. This book is a oddball coming of age story that looks at some supernatural as well.

Alpha Flight #5. “Divided We Stand Part Five” Written by Ed Brisson and art by Scott Godlewski with David Cutler. Leonard Kirk and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. The conclusion of Alpha Flight as they come together to save as many of the mutants from Krakoa North. I liked this book.

Avengers #8. “Twilight Dreaming” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. The Avengers have to confront Nightmare in order to get back to Vision and Scarlet Witch who were battling the Twilight Court. I loved what Thor does near the end with Nightmare. Otherwise, I do not have a great connection with the Twilight Court.

Other books this week: Destiny Gate #3, Midlife (or How to Hero at Fifty) #3, Project: Cryptid #3, The Avengers Voices #1.

For All Mankind S1 E4

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Spoilers

“Prime Crew”

For All Mankind is back up tonight as I watched episode 4.

After the tragic events at the end of last episode, NASA struggled to continue the female program. Under questions about potentially pulling the plug on it, Deke goes against orders to announce the four women who were now astronauts. Then, he removed Gordy from the Apollo 15 flight and replaced him with Molly Cobb.

Shockingly, I just discovered that Molly Cobb was played by Sonya Walger, a name that I recognized. Watching her in this episode, I knew she was familiar, but could not place her. Once I saw the name, I was able to place her. She played Penny on LOST! I love her and I was really a fan of the character here too.

NASA put the females on the fast track, even as Nixon was preparing to kill the program to focus on the Moon base.

The episode focused in on the reactions of the different characters in the show. Not only in the astronauts but also with their families and wives.

The film ends with the astronauts heading to the moon.

2023 EYG Kurt Russell De-Aging Award

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The Kurt Russell EGO De-Aging Award

Previous Winners:  Robert DeNiro (The Irishman), Mark Hamill (The Mandalorian), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things season 4)

Technology has been changing every year. Taking an older actor and de-aging them is a huge step forward instead of just putting a funny wig on them.

Runner-Up: Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). I expected this to be the winner this year. I even made a comment on last year’s award that this was going to win in 2023. And it was great work, but the winner just looked that much better.

Winner: Samuel L. Jackson (Secret Invasion)

There was not a lot of great coming out of Secret Invasion, but the look of Nick Fury in flashbacks was just astounding. It was even better than his appearance in the movie Captain Marvel. These flashbacks made Nick look like he absolutely did in the past.

If only the rest of Secret Invasion was as excellent as this de-aging technology.

2023 EYG Star of the Year

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The EYG Star of the Year crosses many areas of content. We’ve had several winners over the years such as:

EYG Star of the Year

Previous Winners:  Gal Gadot, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel Studios, J.J. Abrams, Josh Brolin, Damon Lindelof & Regina King, Netflix, Andrew Garfield, Tom Cruise

This is the first year where we get a straight singer as our EYG Star of the Year.

But first, we have one runner up.

Runner-Up: Pedro Pascal. I considered him as the choice considering his roles on the Mandalorian and The Last of Us are iconic. Had Pedro been officially announced as Reed Richards, which he is rumored to be cast as, he may have aced this award. However, that official announcement has not yet come.

Our EYG Star of the Year is very worthy this year. She has the most successful tour in years (grossing about 2.2 billion in North American tickets alone) and parlayed that tour into a massively successful concert film ($96 million opening weekend domestically) that brought tons of fans back to the theaters. In fact, this very week, she has been named Time’s Person of the Year.

EYG Star of the Year: Taylor Swift

Picket Fences S3 E15, E16, E17

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Spoilers

“When in Rome”

Paranoia and hysteria engulf Rome, Wisconsin in one of the most uncomfortable episodes of Picket Fences.

Adam Wood came to Rome. Adam Wood had spent 16 years in prison for child molestation. By law, he had to announce himself to his new neighbors, which just happened to be the Brock household.

The town rallied against the man. Fear of what could happen with the children of the community sent the people of Rome into a tizzy. While completely understandable, it put the people of Rome’s prejudices front and center. It made some normally good people look unfair and bloodthirsty.

This show is not afraid to make their main characters show their warts and their own dark sides. It is quite amazing.

To throw yet another twist, Adam Wood was revealed, after his own suicide on the steps of the court house, to be the son of Judge Bone. Ray Walston gives a wonderful performance as a grieving father, shamed of his response to his son.

By the way, Ed Lawson is still in the freezer.

“Heroes and Villains”

The Dancing Bandit returned to Rome to wish Zack a happy birthday. The FBI was able to capture her. Marlee Matlin comes back to the show to reclaim the role of Laurie Bey, and she went to trial for the bank robbery she committed in season one.

Marlee Matlin brought a remarkable charm and charisma to this character. She was a trigger for a fight between the Brocks, of course, because this is Picket Fences.

Jane Kaczmarek appeared as the prosecutor for the federal government who, for some reason, wanted to try the case in Rome. She had some of the best moments of the episode, reacting to Wambaugh and looking perplexed when so many of the past things from Rome popped up during the trial (cows giving birth to humans, anyone?).

Though the jury found her not guilty, Judge Bone threw that verdict out and assigned Laurie 3000 hours of community service, meaning Marlee Matlin would be sticking around the town.

Oh, and Ed Lawson is still in the freezer.

“Changing of the Guard”

Hey! They finally pulled Ed Lawson out of the freezer!

Laurie Bey started her community service when Jimmy asked her to help find Ed Lawson, thinking that he had run off with his wife after murdering George the massage guy. They had no idea that Ed’s wife Marsha had killed both men.

When Laurie wanted to go see the Lawson house, they finally found the freezer with a lock on it. Freezers in Rome have now claimed three victims.

When Marsha returned from her trip, she put on an act that she did not know what had happened. Wambaugh was front and center in her defense. However, when she told him that she had killed both men and wanted to get through the trial without testifying so she could avoid perjury because she had book and movie deals waiting for her story, Wambaugh had a crisis of faith in himself and his job.

This case was used to look at the character of Douglas Wambaugh and it gave us dimensions that we may not have seen before. He has always been portrayed as a shyster, a character as he always said. This looked at the toll taken by defense attorneys and how difficult it could be to put guilty defendants back on the street. This is a theme David E. Kelley has used in several series, including The Practice and Boston Legal.

Meanwhile, Laurie Bey was asked to be the mayor of Rome, a job with a short life span. In not even three full seasons, we have had multiple mayors including Bill Pugen, Howard Buss, Rachel Harris, Jill Brock (and the guy who was a temporary co-mayor with her), and Ed Lawson. Three of them are dead now.

Moonlighting S2 E16

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Spoilers

“Sleep Talkin’ Guy”

I’m not a big fan of this episode. It did the cardinal sin. For most of the episode, it split David and Maddie apart.

It has actually been happening a few times lately, but this one of my least favorites from the last year of shows. David and Maddie had some scenes together, and they were great, but there was just too much separate without it being necessary.

The episode made David look bad. Made him look like a jerk. An opportunist taking advantage of a situation for nothing more than monetary gains and sticking it to Maddie.

I found much of this episode put David in a corner, a corner that did not fit his character.

A prostitute has a regular guy who talks in his sleep and just happens to talk about some of the criminal activity that he is involved in. The prostitute went to Blue Moon and came across David. She told him about the fact and he dismissed her. When he saw that the crime was done, he decided to try and cash in on it. He paid her to let him know when the sleep talkin’ guy would say something else.

David became really successful and apparently very much in demand.

The whole end to the episode was a mess as it ended up in a bar fight and Maddie, discovering the truth, punches David too.

Did not like this one and it is even lower for me than the Miss DiPesto episode. At least that one kept the characters the way they were supposed to be.

Picket Fences S3 E14

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Spoilers

“Close Encounters”

It’s Valentine’s Day and the heart is playing tricks on those from Rome, Wisconsin.

Carter pronounces a singer dead, but she comes back to life.

Aisha senses that Littleton was attracted to her… and he was, but could not act on it.

Max and Kenny have sex, and they fight over what it meant.

Unfortunately, none of these stories really worked well for me. I found the Carter and the singer to be the best one, but Carter said that he was not attracted to her and I found that totally incorrect.

Max and Kenny is the only one of the couples who are trying to keep it going, but they were also the ones that were the worst to each other.

Loretta Devine guest starred as Marla Melrose and she was very charming and fun. Carter had to be out of his mind to reject her.

Top 12 YouTube Shows of 2023

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YouTube has become a land of content providers and I loved plenty of shows that pop up on the site. Here are my top 12 choices for 2023.

#12. Late to the Party. A reactor channel. Like most of these reactors, it depends on what they are watching. The thing is… there are dozens if not hundreds of reaction shows and this is one of the best.

#11. Ashleigh Burton. The second reactor of the list. Ashleigh is very entertaining and fun to watch. It still depends on what she is watching if I watch it, but I loved watching her watch the Marvel stuff this year.

#10. Fatman Beyond. Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin star in this show. I used to watch this more but the show is always very long, which makes it more difficult to watch with all of the other content. I do love the pair though.

#9. The Hot Mike. Scoops galore. The show from John Rocha and Jeff Snyder is always fire because they are both very opinionated and not afraid to speak their minds, even if what their minds are saying is very controversial.

#8. Alex Hefner’s TV & Movie Vault. Another reactor channel and he has watched some really fun films and TV shows this year. Watching him see the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time was epic, even he was more surprised at the reveal of Luke and Leia as brother-sister than he was for Vader being Luke’s father.

#7. Reel Rejects. Citizens of the Reject Nation… Another of the reactor channels, this includes Greg Alba and John Humphrey, as well as other guests. I loved watching them react to Loki season two, One Piece, and even the weaker Secret Invasion. John and Greg have some excellent analysis of the shows and give strong opinions.

#6. FYC. Stands for For Your Consideration. It is an Oscar preview show featuring Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff, and Jeff Snyder. They discuss the potential nominees and whom they believe will win. The trio’s chemistry is clearly the glue that holds this show together. They also did Emmy Awards this year and more the merrier.

#5. The Geek Buddies. AAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY! John Rocha, Michael Vogel and Shannon McClung do reactions, reviews and a weekly show where they talk about the biggest news from pop culture. Again, the key to the show is the chemistry between the Geek Buddies.

#4. Preview’d. This was last year’s number one. It did slip a touch because they decided to stop much of what they did this year for the actor’s strike. Even still, the reaction to Jeopardy Masters was hilarious.

#3. Settle the Score. Host Matt Knost and musical director Andy Merryweather bring a weekly show featuring well known movie and YouTube personalities competing with musical trivia. Merryweather is truly an amazing talent and the show is always a lot of fun.

#2. Ups & Downs. Simon Miller from What Culture Wrestling has the finger of power and he watches wrestling shows and gives the good bits an up and the bad bits a down. While I only watch WWE Ups and Downs, he does one for RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and the Pay Per Views (premium live events). Miller is a great host and brings a definite “Positive Pete” energy that makes me feel warm and fuzzy in my tum tum. A big up for Simon Miller!

#1. Bonus Action Vol. 1. It seemed a strange idea. Jay and Adam from Preview’d had been planning this out for quite a while and it came together this year. Eight episodes (although there were three prequels too) of the two of them playing D & D with their group of comedian buddies. Who would have thought this would be as compelling as it turned out. There were six brilliant characters that were played to the hilt by the six players. David Armstrong is the friendly neighborhood DM and Jay Schmidt and Adam Lash are joined by Je-ron Young, Jason Speena, Amanda Nicholas, and Josh Hurley. This is the show where friends don’t let friends adventure alone.

Bonus Action Vol. 1 E8

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Spoilers

“A Homecoming Most Good”

Bonus Action’s first season ended tonight with a fantastic finale filled with some great character moments and some fun action.

This group of players worked so well together, and brought the emotion and humor throughout the eight episodes plus.

Tonight’s highlights:

  • Clearly, the final justice for Victor. Delivered beautifully by Adam.
  • Marlon hitting that 18 early on the jump on the volcano.
  • Speaking of Marlon, finally getting that pocket picked…
  • Bric’s pain and anguish over his perceived failure, his self-doubt felt real and his scene with Alistair was excellent.
  • Adam and Jay having their own moment with their characters.
  • David’s work weekly has been sensation, with his voices and descriptions.
  • Paying off Jay’s use of Flame last week with …dragons?
  • The Star Wars-like celebration at the end.
  • Just everything about Rory.
  • Bar’B and Todd adding so much color to the campaign.
  • The map/board once again showing that extra step that made this so enjoyable. Cool volcano.

This is such a fun show with an amazing group of players and characters. Jay teased something with Bonus Action later in the week. Excellent.

Picket Fences S3 E11, E12, E13

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Spoilers

“Freezer Burn”

Another murder in Rome. This time, the victim has been shoved into a freezer, much like Ginny. Except Ginny’s was accidental and this was intentional.

The victim turned out to be a special masseuse who was giving sensual massages to the women of Rome. He kept a book that indicated which women he would give the “Squiggly.” The mind races.

Turned out that Ed Lawson, who was the main suspect because he had threatened the man, was married to the woman who killed the masseuse. She was in love with the man and mad because Ed had chased him off. She then whacked Ed in the back of the head and shoved him into the freezer too.

This was a great episode and I remember the moment it happened, and it was shocking.

“Frogman Returns”

The Frogman returned to Rome, signing and dancing about frogs, and his son, the same son who had shot Kenny in season one, sued for emancipation from his father.

The other story was really strong too. Matthew, in trying to move the car from the driveway, accidently hits Zack and injures him. Thankfully he did not injure him as badly as he could have. However, Jill arrived on the scene and hit Matthew in anger over the accident.

This unseated some deep feelings from Matthew, believing that Jill did not love him as much as she did Zack or Kimberly.

Justin Shenkarow, the young actor who played Matthew, did a tremendous job playing the anger and the pain of his belief his mother did not love him as much as his brother. He was not just mad, there were times when he portrayed the anger extremely well, with a glance or an expression. It was a very solid and, at times, subtle performance.

“Mr. Seed Goes to Town”

Family drama continues in the Brock house. When Lydia arrives asking for permission to use Jimmy’s sperm to become pregnant, she throws the entire Brock clan into chaos. And just like holidays in the Brock house, it always becomes about more than the overlying situation.

Judge Bone, who was tired of the weird cases he had to rule upon, decided to place Jimmy, Jill and Lydia under house arrest until they could come up with a answer without the court having to make the ruling.

So he put them all together and guaranteed fireworks. Deep hidden doubts and motives come crashing out from everyone, including Kimberly, Matthew and Zack. Zack actually had one of the more brutal moments when he wished that Lydia was dead. Zack and Matthew also had overheard Kimberly saying how she was intrigued with the idea of having a ‘real’ sibling, which made them feel terrible.

This type of episode has happened several times over the run of this series, from “Thanksgiving” to “Buried Alive.” There is always something more under the surface in Rome, Wisconsin.

Oh, and by the way, Ed Lawson is still in the freezer. I mean, he was the mayor. Has no one checked on him?

EYG Comic Cavalcade #71

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December 4, 2023

Another good week of books. I got a chance to read some of the back issues that I have as well.

Books this week:

Ice Cream Man #7. “My Little Poltergeist” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art is by Fabio Moon. This was an excellent issue featuring a little girl named Lucy whose best friend had died of cancer, and she was dealing with grief over it. I really enjoyed this one.

Planetary #8-10. Written by Warren Ellis and art by John Cassaday. This is an interesting series. Seriously, the books are unlike any series I can remember. One of the issues had characters killed that were basically Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. It was a strange issue.

Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War First Strike #1. Written by Zeb Wells with Cody Ziglar and featuring art by Joey Vazquez with Julian Shaw. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. I am excited about the start of Gang War. Bringing Spidey back down to street level is a great idea, as is matching him up with the list of street level heroes involved in this series. Then, the return of Madame Masque was well done and surprising.

Predator Versus Wolverine #3. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Ken Lashley, Hayden Sherman and Kei Zama. Cover art was drawn by Marco Checchetto. This book continues following Wolverine’s life and seeing how the Predator fits in to the situations.

Howard the Duck #1. This is a celebration for the 50th anniversary of Howard the Duck. There are several short stories falling under the “Waugh If…” (aka What If…) with a variety of writers and artist. Things like Howard as President of the US, Howard as a mutant, Howard as a Guardian of the Galaxy.

Captain America #3. “Stand” Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Jesus Saiz & Lan Medina. This series continues to be very compelling. I really do enjoy how the story goes back into the past to see Steve Rogers before he became Captain America.

Spider-Woman #1. Written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Carola Borelli. Leinil Frances Yu did the cover art. The new Spider-Woman series is involved in the Gang War story. And something else has happened with Jessica’s child.

Luke Cage: Gang War #1. Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Ramon F. Bachs. Caanan White did the cover art. Mayor of New York, Luke Cage, is looking for form a new super team. In order to skirt the anti-vigilante law in place from Wilson Fisk, Luke Cage got a new costume and a mask to hide his own identity.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #4. “What it Means to Be a Mutant” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada with art by Carlos Gomez & Adam Gorham. Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson as cover artist. The mini series wrapped up with Ms. Marvel taking on the Stark Sentinels.

Moon Knight #29. “The Final Hours of Moon Knight.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Federico Sabbatini. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight and Black Spectre are facing off in the final struggle.

Something is Killing the Children #35. “Showdown at the Easy Creek Corral” Part Five. The confrontation between Erica and Cutter comes to an end with tragic results. I have to say that the resolution of this story was very surprising and emotional.

Other books read this week: Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12, Marvel Zombies #2, Local Man #7, X-Men Blue: Origins #1, Swan Songs #5, Slow Burn #2, Alien #1, Grim #15, The Schlub #4