February 23, 2023

So it is Thursday, which makes it NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!

Yeah, it was supposed to be Wednesday, but then there was ice. Enough ice to keep me at home form school for the last two days (although today was not too bad). It kept Comic World & Games closed on Wednesday, pushing me back until today to pick up the new books.

And when I did, there were a bunch of really great ones.

Amazing Spider-Man #20. This issue’s guest writer was Joe Kelly and the guest penciler was Terry Dodson. A group of three did the cover art: John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. Spidey and the Black Cat, along with White Rabbit, confronted a group of tech bros with some familiar tech. They were the Silicon Six. While they may not have been the most threatening danger, it was fun with the interactions between Spidey, Cat and White Rabbit.

Something is Killing the Children #29. “The Girl and the Hurricane Part Four” As we see the funeral of Gary, Cecilia speaks with the Dragon about the problems that face the House of Slaughter. Cecilia made a decision that meant she was going to be more directly involved. Meanwhile, Erica made her way out of the police station after the slaughter by Cutter. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’edera.

Harrower #1. Written by Justin Jordan and illustrated by Brahm Revel. This new horror comic from Boom! Studios had an excellent debut. There were some great tension in the book, with some frightening imagery. There were some really shocking moments in the town that has had a local legend of the Harrower for years. It does seem as if a legend is not the proper term. I really enjoyed this first issue.

Blue Book #1. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Michael Avon Oeming. What a fascinating book. I have to say, this is yet another awesome book written by James Tynion IV. I love his work on Something is Killing the Children and The Department of Justice and this fall right in with those. This is apparently real life stories of UFOs and UFO abductions. The first issue features one of the most well known stories of Betty and Barney Hill. There is a backup story as well about a certain encounter at Coney Island. The coloring of this book is spectacular, bringing a unique quality to the book. Looks like Tynion has yet another hit on his hands.

She-Hulk #10. Written by Rainbow Rowell and drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa. Jen Bartel did the cover art. Jack o’ Hearts regained his power, putting his developing relationship with Jen on the rocks. When Jack took off, Jen had to continue to go about her life because “life goes on.” I have to say that I am invested in the relationship between Jen and Jack and I hope it can work out, though I am afraid that we have sadness in our future.

Strange Academy: Finals #4. Written by Skottie Young and the art is done by Humberto Ramos. The Strange Academy has become one of my favorite groups of characters. Even those that I did not have as much of a connection with seem to be a lot of fun. When Iric returned to his brother after he realized that Emily was up to no good, his reconciliation with Doyle was especially powerful. Iric’s brother Alvi’s anger at his brother’s betrayal was not gone immediately, but provides us with even more drama to play towards. The students are working toward helping New Orleans with an upcoming ‘storm of the century’ and Emily and Dormammu are on their way. Exciting stuff.

Superman #1. “Voices in your Head” Written by Joshua Williamson and penciled by Jamal Campbell. I’m not a huge Superman fan, but this was an interesting new book. I am not sure how I feel about the new Lex Luthor vibe happening here, but it did keep my interest. I chose this because of this weird variant cover that I had no idea what it was about. Then, I was not exactly sure what happened at the end of the book either. I will admit to being curious.

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #4. “Shape and Nothing More” Written and drawn by Tradd Moore, this Doctor Strange book earns its name because this is extremely strange. Honestly, I am not sure I know what happened in the book. The artwork, however, is so unique and so artsy that it is an enjoyable read. The colors jump off the page and the work is beautiful. I still am not sure what I read, but I had fun doing it.

Black Cloak #2. Written by Kelly Thompson and penciled by Meredith McClaren. Phaedra wakes up in the morgue, surviving the potentially fatal stabbing form last issue. However, Prince Freyal did not survive, setting up our main mystery of this fantasy story. We get some flashbacks in the issue too and the coloring of the flashbacks are beautiful, setting up the mood for the book.

Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5. Written by Taboo & B. Earl featuring art from Juan Ferreyra. Spidey completes his trip to Los Angeles and his confrontation with the Demon Bear. This was one of my favorite of the current Spider-Man limited series as this felt more like Spidey and was actually happening in continuity. We also get the debut of Dream Spider.

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #1. “Defender of the Realm” Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Vasco Georgiev. Not sure how I felt about this. I have always enjoyed Captain Britain, but with his sister replacing him, I am a little uncertain. It did not help matters that I was not sure what was going on for much of the book. It felt like I jumped into the middle of the story instead of with a number one. It was good to see Rachel once again and I am intrigued by the Captain Britain Corps. I might have to give this one another issue to see how I feel.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1 & 2. Written by Tom King and drawn by Bilquis Evely. This was a couple of books that my friend Todd made me buy. This is another DC book that I am not sure how I feel. The first issue started off with a character narrating and I had no idea who she was. It was a little slow starting off, but once Supergirl showed up, the book picked up quite a bit. However, there are some questions I have. Mainly, did they just kill of Krypto? I love Tom King and trust him to give me a great story and this series is one of the books that James Gunn mentioned as the basis for one of his movie projects for the DCU. This variation of Supergirl feels different than I have seen before and I kind of like it.

February 22, 2023

As I mentioned earlier today, I planned on doing a second Comic Catch-Up today, since I was out of school because of an ice storm and lacked any sort of intriguing streaming movie or TV show to review.

I did get a bunch of the read books organized and into boxes (or at least as many as I could). This month has made a pretty good dent in the piles of comics I have around the room, but it is still quite a few and I just do not have the needed comic boxes to suffice. It is a continuous progression.

Here is the second post f the day…

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #8. “Pax Mohannda Part 3“. Captain America and Nomad move themselves into Mohannda in an attempt to bring the murderers of the Prime Minister to justice, but they find that there are plenty of explosive opposition. Meanwhile, Falcon has been transformed into something scary and he had taken off before he did anything drastic. Written by Tochi Onyebuchi and drawn by Ig Guara.

Moon Knight #6. “Horoscope, Part 2” After nearly being killed by Zodiac, Moon Knight received help from a source that he did not expect. The story included the origin of Hunter’s Moon, showing us how he would become another Fist of Khonsu. This was written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio. The cover art was done by Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz & Rachelle Rosenberg.

Black Panther #1. “The Long Shadow, Book One” Written by John Ridley and drawn by Juann Cabal. EYG Hall of Famer Alex Ross did the cover art. I have started the Black Panther series with number one. I actually do believe that I read this when it first came out, because there were some familiar aspects to it, but it was good to get a refresh on the book from the beginning.

Black Widow #15. “Die by the Blade Part 4 of 4” This was the conclusion of a Black Widow series that I had enjoyed but had not finished before. Natasha had her arm cut off. Whaaaa? Thankfully, she had some friend along for the ride and that didn’t seem to stop her. This was written by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Elena Casagrande & Rafael T. Pimentel. Jordie Bellaire did the cover art.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8-9. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and drawn by Carmen Carnero. With these two issues, I am now caught up with this series. Cap is joined by a new group of Invaders in order to try and reclaim Lower Manhattan from AIM. Issue eight featured a guest star appearance from Emma Frost.

The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #2. Written by Cullen Bunn with art from Leila Leiz. The book tour from hell continued as Olivia Cade. This point of the tour seemed to have switched form the violence to more of a engage in carnal acts. I will say that this issue was a little less interesting that the first one. I am curious as to where this will go though.

The Department of Truth #13. Written by James Tynion IV and featuring the artistic skills of Martin Simmonds. This issue really sets up the series to move in a different direction and flips our perception of what was happening. It seemed as if Hawk was a danger to Cole, but perhaps he is the good guy after all? Does that mean that Lee is no what he seemed? I cannot wait to find out.

The Thing #1. “The Next Big Thing, Part 1“. I was sure that I had read the first several issue of this series, but issue one had absolutely no moment that felt like I had seen it before. Ben Grimm is featured in this story at a time during his life. It was prior to his marriage to Alicia but it is not specific about when it is. It is written by Walter Mosely and drawn by Tom Reilly.

Strange Adventures #12. “Dedication and fanaticism” This series from the pen of Tom King had been a fun read for most of it, but I had never finished the last book. This was one of those things that I wanted to complete. I had enjoyed the maxi series, but I have to say that I was not a big fan of the conclusion to the book. A lot about Mister Terrific. The art was done by Mitch Gerads and Evan Shaner.

Basilisk #1. “Down from the Mountains, Chapter One” This was a comic that I remembered reading as I was re-reading this tonight. It was good to get a refresher though as I had not remembered much about it prior to tonight. I do like the character design of this character and she creates quite a mysterious tone. The book was written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Jonas Scharf.

February 22, 2023

Well, it has happened. Ice. I really do hate ice storms. Much more than snow storms.

Of course, this is Wednesday, but with Comic World & Games closed today because of the aforementioned ice, there will be no new comics today. Hopefully, tomorrow?

And there is no school yet again. At this rate, the June Swoon may be threatened.

Because I have all day and not much on streaming to watch, I may do yet another Comic Catch-Up later this afternoon or evening. I have sorted out some more series to start with as I wrapped up a couple of the other ones this morning.

That Texas Blood #16-20. Written by Chris Condon and drawn by Jacob Phillips. This is one of the series that I have now wrapped up. I saw an advertisement for this book in another comic and I decided to give it a chance and I absolutely loved it. Sherriff Joe Bob is one of my favorite characters no matter what age we are seeing him at. This conclusion to the Red Queen Killer storyline was tense, simple and rooted in character. I was so rooting for Lu to escape the clutches of RQK that I hadn’t been so nervous for a supporting character in a long time. I hope we will get more from That Texas Blood at some time in the future.

King Conan #5 & 6. The next book that I wrapped up this morning was Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar’s King Conan. King Conan was given quite an effective end, with his battle with Thoth-Amon being extremely dramatic and King Conan II giving a helpful gesture that aided his father extremely well.

Captain Carter #4 & 5. The third series that I finished off today was the Captain Carter series written by Jamie McKelvie and drawn by Marika Cresta. It was a nice finish of this arc for Captain Carter as she had to deal with a couple of vampires attempting to manipulate British politics. I do like this character although I have never been a huge fan of out-of-continuity stories.

Spider-Man Noir #5. Written by Margaret Stohl and drawn by Juan Ferreyra. This was the final book that I finished up this morning by completing the noir tale. I have to say that I found the conclusion of this five-issue story to be a little messy. I definitely preferred the first Spider-Man Noir story to this one. Still, it was fine and I am glad that I revisited the series to complete it.

The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Leila Leiz. This was one of the books that I organized up this morning. I have issues 1-7 to start with (not sure how many more there have been). This premise is very intriguing as it seems that there is a certain book, written by our main character Olivia Kade, that is bringing out the darker forces of people’s personalities. I am interested to see where this one heads.

Fantastic Four: Road Trip #1. Written by Christopher Cantwell with art from Filipe Andrade. Valerio Giangiordano & Tamra Bonvillain were the artist for the cover. This was a fun, side adventure featuring the Fantastic Four going on vacation as a family to the Grand Canyon, only to see Reed’s obsessive desires to study a meteor crater nearby in Winslow lead to the team coming face to face with their mortality. This was a fun read, featuring the FF in an excellent adventure.

A.X.E.: Iron Fist #1. Written by Alyssa Wong and featuring art from Michael Yg & Marika Cresta. Chris Sotomayor was the cover artist. When I finished the new Iron Fist series a couple of days ago, I saw that this one shot during the Judgment Day storyline continued the story of Lin Lie, the new Iron Fist. This was a very good story, featuring Loki too. I really like how the books have started to write Loki, and this was a great example of it. I do like Lin Lie in this role and how he is different than the Iron Fists that preceded him.

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #7. “Pax Mohannda Part 2.” Sam is dedicated into finding out who killed the Prime Minister and he is determined to lead a mission into Mohannda. The government sticks him with a new partner, since Falcon was “injured.” Look who it is… Nomad aka Ian Rogers, the kid raised by Steve Rogers while he was stranded in Dimension Z. The relationship between Sam and Ian was compelling and the ending with Falcon was shocking. Written by Tochi Onyebuchi and drawn by Ig Guara.

Moon Knight #5. “Horoscope.” This was a cool story with the tale flipping back and forth between Moon Knight pursuing his friend Soldier, who was looking like he was trying to kill Moon Knight, and Moon Knight in a therapy session with his therapist, diving deep into some of the reasons behind why Marc is as he is. There was a lot of good character work in this issue and it ends with a shock. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio.

February 21, 2023

Well, it is Tuesday night, which means tomorrow is Wednesday and…new comic book day! However, there is a drawback to the day. There is a strong possibility that there is an ice storm coming.

We have had a bad stretch on Thursdays lately. We have had no school for a few Thursdays in a row. It now looks as if there is a chance for that streak to be broken by moving the bad weather to Wednesday,

Now, I do not mind driving in snow. But ice? I hate that, As of this moment, it sounds like the ice will be more north than where I am. The problem? Comic World & Games, my comic shop, is north and in the area for the ice storm. I would hate missing the new comics, but I don’t know if it is worth the danger.

Comic World also closed during the previous storms, so the choice may be taken out of my hands. I’ll have to make sure to check Facebook to make sure that I do not risk a trip for no reason.

Anyway, with uncertainty about tomorrow, here is the books I read on Tuesday.

Grim #7. “Absolution“. Things got really dark in Grim. With Jessica’s father destroyed, things began to happen. Of course, Jessica’s father was Death and suddenly, there was no more death. People were surviving horrible things and the darkness of not dying was truly frightening. Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano.

Spider-Man Noir #4. Written by Margaret Stohl and drawn by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art by Dave Rapoza. The noir adventure was starting to pick up big time as Peter and the others head to the underworld and find a bunch of Spider-Man villains just ready to start causing trouble.

Thor #28. “Venom of Asgard Part Two.” Written by Al Ewing (from a plot by Ewing and Donny Cates) and drawn by Salvador Larroca. I think I am seeing a pattern here. We just had Thor get turned into a gamma enraged Hulk and now we have Thor and Venom combining into a symbiote Thor. However, in the end, the symbiote wound up finding Donald Blake and something wicked will be coming.

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #6. “Pax Mohannda Part 1” Captain America attempted to save the life of the Prime minister of Mohannda as she was being attacked at the U.N. Meanwhile, in the attack, the new Falcon was part of the victims, giving Sam even more of a motivation. Written by Tochi Onyebuchi and drawn by Ig Guara.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #7. “The Invader Part 1: On a Monday” Injured and potentially depressed over Bucky’s choices in connection to the Outer Circle. Steve Rogers looks for some help from his friends which includes Sharon Carter, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury.

King Conan #4. “Conan vs. Conan” This issue focuses on the part of the story that sees King Conan battling it out with his son, Conn. The story takes a twist that I was not expecting. King Conan tried to banish his son so his son could be hardened by the world, by Conn decided that there was another way. We also got some more interactions between King Conan and Thoth-Amoni. I actually think this was my favorite issue of this series so far. Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Mahmud Asrar.

Moon Knight #4. “Blackmail” Moon Knight reunites with an old teammate from the West Coast Avengers, Greer Nelson aka Tigra. Stuart Clarke tried to come after Moon Knight by going after his money. Mistake. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio.

The Department of Truth #12. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Martin Simmonds. The reality behind Hawk comes to the front and he has some plans for Cole. This issue was solid but it is always a tough read with so much dialogue and exposition. I do enjoy the weird world takes going on. And who doesn’t love black helicopters.

Stillwater #17. “Hearts and Minds” The penultimate issue of Stillwater takes things to a drastic level. Galen and his goons are devastating Coldwater and Daniel continues to want to try and win the hearts and minds of the people. Did not turn out well for him. The final issue is coming in March. Looks great.

Captain Carter #3. Written by Jamie McKelvie with art by Marika Cresta. Jamie McKelvie did the cover as well. Peggy discovered that there is some kind of double agent inside S.T.R.I.K.E. and begins to attempt to learn the identity of the traitors. We also get this universe’s version of Tony Stark joining the fun.

UPDATE: As I was working on this post, I got a message from my friend Todd from Comic World that the shop is going to be closed tomorrow because of the inclement weather. It is nice to have the decision taken out of my hands and I do not have to worry about risking anything. That just pushes the new comics back to Thursday (I hope). The only bad bit is that it kind of ruined the introduction to this post. 😦

February 20, 2023

Happy Presidents’ Day.

Not that the comics I am reading today have anything to do with that. Just thought it would be a nice thing to say.

Moving along…

Iron Fist #5. Written by Alyssa Wong and drawn by Michael Yg. This is the final issue of a five issue limited series featuring the new Iron Fist, who was the recent Swordmaster. I did like this new Iron Fist and I had been enjoying the beginning of this series way back when I first read it. I’m not sure how much of it that I have read, but I thought issue five was a nice jump on spot. Next, I think I have to find A.X.E. Iron Fist #1.

King Conan #3. “The Princess of Golden Ruin”. This is the third part of the arc Conan’s Last Stand at the Edge of the World. Conan came across a princess who was stranded on an island among the dead. She tried to manipulate Conan, but he was having none of it.

The Department of Truth #11. James Tynion IV was the writer and Martin Simmonds was the artist of this issue. This continued the bigfoot storyline that started last issue. This has been my favorite couple of issues of this series because I have always liked the bigfoot. This issue continued with the use of the handwritten journal entries throughout the book. It has been an interesting storytelling technique and is different than other books.

Stillwater #16. “For Eternity“. With this issue, we start looking back at how the mysterious town of Stillwater became the magical place it was. Apparently, it was all centered around Clara. And there turned out to be a dead body in Stillwater. The series is coming to an end and thing are gearing up.

That Texas Blood #15. “Bad News and the Radio Plea” So now we know that this arc, dealing with a serial killer who likes to decapitate his victims. He is known as the Red Queen Killer. The RQK is in Ambrose County and ready to taunt the area while a massive snowstorm is on its way. The look of the RQK is very creepy and makes a great villain for this arc.

Captain Carter #2. Written by Jamie McKelvie and drawn by Marika Cresta. Peggy Carter realizes that the British government may not be the most straightforward group she ever saw. There is a story that is connected to the issue of immigration. Captain Carter became confrontational with the Prime Minister. And there was quite the cliffhanger at the end of this book.

Spider-Man Noir #3. Much like the Iron Fist issue from before, Spider-Man Noir was a limited series that I had started back when it first came out, but did not finish it. This is a great opportunity to read the remainder of the series. I very much like the character of Spider-Man Noir. I hear Nic Cage’s voice as I read Noir’s dialogue. I enjoy this pre-World War II story and how Peter is involved in it. Written by Margaret Stohl and drawn by Juan Ferreyra and Dave Rapoza did the cover art.

Hulk #8. Written by Donny Cates and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, this brought the Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War to a conclusion. I was not a fan of this crossover. I am not sure whether or not this was really needed. I really am not a fan of the current iteration of the Hulk and so that makes this challenging to read.

Thor #27. “Venom of Asgard Part One” Recovering from the Banner War, Thor is hanging around Asgard. Loki arrives with some ideas on how to fix the Rainbow Bridge, that was destroyed by Hulk Thor. We get some kind of version of Venom in the story. Al Ewing wrote the script from a story with Al Ewing and Donny Cates.

Ghost Rider #10-11. Written by Benjamin Percy. Issue #10 was drawn by Cory Smith and David Cutler whereas David Wachter was the guest artist on issue #11. The Johnny Blaze and Talia Warroad pairing continued in the issues and they are able to get past Blackheart. Blaze and Talia take their relationship to another level.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and the artist was Carmen Carnero. The majority of this book was a huge throw down between Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Cap is trying to stop Bucky from doing what he was intending to do with the Outer Circle and they spent pages of a battle with little to no words. Just imagery. It was very cool and it set up the book I had read previously with Bucky joining the inner circle as the revolution.

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #5. “Homeland Part 5” Written by Tochi Onyebuchi and drawn by R.B. Silva & Julian Shaw, Sam Wilson and T’Challa take each other on over what Sam is trying to do. T’Challa wanted Sam out of Wakanda. Shuri arrived too and she and Sam had a tense staredown. This made one think of the old days of the isolated Wakanda, This was tense.

Moon Knight #3. “Two-Fisted” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio. Moon Knight #3 picked up the pace better from last issue’s okay outing. This was a big confrontation between Moon Knight and the new Fist of Khonsu, Hunter’s Moon. Moon Knight is kicking in this issue.

February 19, 2023

I got to sleep in a little this morning, which for me meant I was awake at around 7 AM. That was actually pretty nice for once, though I did wake up to use the bathroom and do Wordle in the middle of the night. The Wordle was actually really tough and turned out to be a word that I did not know/that I had never seen before. It was a miracle that I got the word in four moves.

Once I officially got up, I grabbed the comics that I had picked out from the night before to read today. I had plenty of time to read prior to heading to see a couple of movies today, but I did not have time to do the write-ups. So before it is time to watch The Last of Us tonight on HBO Max, I’m going to knock this out…

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #4. Writer Tochi Onyebuchi and artists R.B. Silva & Zé Carlos worked on the story of Sam Wilson’s Captain America and the new Falcon and their struggles with Crossbones in the nation of Wakanda. I do like the character of Sam Wilson and I do also like him as Captain America. Next issue looks like a big throwdown with T’Challa and Sam.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #5. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly featuring art by Carmen Carnero, this issue continued to dive into the Outer Circle story. It also answered a question I had after last issue of this book. I was wondering if Bucky had assumed the position of Revolution on the Outer Circle yet in continuity (because I had read another Cap book where Bucky had done so), but obviously that had not yet occurred. With the events of this issue though, it should be coming soon.

Moon Knight #2. “Strings“. Mr. Knight winds up in an apartment building, protecting a group of older people who were being mind controlled to do the bidding of a villainous janitor. Honestly, this issue was not my favorite.. It was fine, but I thought it was somewhat of a step down after a very strong issue #1. Looks like there will be more with Hunter’s Moon next issue so I expect it to pick up again. This just felt like an unnecessary issue. I hate the term “filler” but this is what it felt like.

Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #3-5. I finished up this limited series that had been written by Samira Ahmed and drawn by Andrés Genolet. I did like the path this story took as I was not sure of how it was heading. I thought I had an idea at first, but it was different than I had thought, which is always good. Kamala Kahn is always fun and the Kamala copycat took a cool twist and actually could have set up for future Ms. Marvel adventures. Nice guest appearance from Nadia, the Wasp too.

The Department of Truth #10. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Martin Simmonds, the Department of Truth was a bit of a snoozer last issue, but I was very excited with this one because it went into one of my personal favorite topics, Bigfoot. I was really looking forward to seeing how the weird, conspiratorial series was going to address the sasquatch and I was very engaged with this one. There were also several pages throughout the book of a handwritten (in a form of cursive even) of a diary of a kid whose father had seen a bigfoot and it drove him to suicide. These pages also included what looked to me sketches of bigfoots as well as other doodles and looked like pages had been folded and were, at times, difficult to make out. This was a really excellent way to tell this sotry. The bigfoot sotryline continues next issue and I am all here for it.

Stillwater #15. “Peace and Love.” Daniel has seemingly taken a step toward portraying himself in the Messiah role that some people saw him as, going as far as trying to refrain from any violent response to Galen and his forces. However, when Galen had Clara kidnapped and buried alive, Daniel begrudgingly agreed to save her, only to discover that Clara had some connection to the reason Stillwater residents do not age and that heal as they do. Could be some big reveals next issue.

That Texas Blood #14. Starting up another new arc, this time in the 1990s, we get a dramatic murder and some shocking imagery in the book to go along with it. Joe Bob has been sheriff for three years and something horrible has come to Ambrose County. Chris Condon was the writer and Jacob Phillips does the art in this “horror” book that is taking a page out of Silence of the Lambs.

Captain Carter #1. Written by Jamie McKelvie and drawn by Marika Cresta, Captain Carter, straight out of the What If…? animation show on Disney +, returned after being frozen in the ice during World War II. There were some immediate problems for the woman out of time as some of the governments tried to fight over who had the right to Captain Carter. Peggy Carter is an awesome character and I am looking forward to this book as it moves along.

Ghost Rider #9. “Slaughterhouse” Johnny Blaze and Talia Warroad continue their investigation, coming to Chicago, which turned out to be one of the five points in the nation where the supernatural events have been rising. They come across some of the worst scenes we have seen so far in this book and Ghost Rider has to come out to get some. Ghost Rider is written by Benjamin Percy and Cory Smith provides the art.

Grim #6. “Chapter Six: Devils and Dust“. I am just a couple of issues away from being caught up with Grim and it gets better every time. Jessica finds herself in even more trouble since her father, Death, revealed himself to her and then “died.” This issue starts off with a scene during World War I at No Man’s Land in 1917. Grim is written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano.

Thor #26. Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War Part Four of Five. I’m not sure how I feel about this book, or more accurately, this crossover story arc with Thor and Hulk. Thor has become a raging, out-of-control anger monster Hulk and Hulk has gotten the hammer and has gained the power of Thor. Weird, right? One more issue to see if this arc pulls out a strong conclusion, but, truthfully, I am not holding my breath for it. This is written by Donny Cates and has art from Martin Coccolo.

February 18, 2023

So, this was what I had intended to do this past Thursday, but the snow had a different idea.

I was going to the movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on Thursday, but we had a big winter storm that day and I decided to stay safe instead of trying to make my way through the snow. That meant that I would not see the movie until Saturday. I have my tickets for later this morning and I am excited to see it despite the middling reviews it has received from critics. I’ll have my own review posted later today.

In order to get into the proper mindset, I decided that I would do the Comic Catch-Up around a theme today… all about Ant-Man & the Wasp. There were several books that I have featuring the pair of them (also Kang, who is the antagonist in the new movie) and this would be a great opportunity to read these.

I have always liked the character of Ant-Man (or any of the variations of Ant-Man over the years) so this works nicely.

Wasp #2. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Kasia Nie. This is the most recent series featuring Janet Van Dyne and Nadia, and it came out this past Wednesday. I really have enjoyed how this series has tied the story into the past of Janet Van Dyne, and how it does a solid job of not pushing Nadia into the background. In fact, we see clearly how much of a bad ass Nadia truly is. The mother-daughter type relationship between the two Wasps make the book a personal read. And then I have no idea what happened on the last page, but I am thoroughly excited to find out what next issue.

Ant-Man (2022) #1-3. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Tom Reilly. We see several issue focused on the different Ant-Men from over the years: Hank Pym, Scott Lang and Eric O’Grady- all being used by a future Ant-Man to help battle a god-like Ultron. How does it turn out? No idea since there is an issue four and I do not have it (or have not found it yet). I really enjoyed how this book took each story from the timeframe of each individual Ant-Man and gave the same feel of that adventure. The Hank Pym issue (#1) felt like a story that would have been told in the 1960s.

Kang the Conqueror #1. “Only Myself Left to Conquer.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Carlos Magno. Mike Del Mundo did the art on the cover. Time travel is always a wild ride and anything to do with Kang can be a challenge. Here, a Kang goes back in time and meets up with a younger version of himself in an attempt to train the young Kang in the ways of power, to avoid the frustrations that he had suffered over the centuries. Kang putting the old conflict “Man against Man” to the literal test.

Ant-Man (2020) #4-5. Written by Zeb Wels and drawn by Dylan Burnett. Eduard Petrovich drew the cover. I remember this limited series when it first came out. I had read the first three issues but never got around to finishing it up. Scott Lang and his daughter Cassie were trying to stop the villainous bug-guy, Macrothrax and his attempt to take over the world with the bug army. The battle takes place in the Savage Land (no sign of Ka-Zar anywhere). This was a nice conclusion to an odd story. I love the interactions with Scott and Cassie and the conclusion is both awesome and gross.

The Darkhold: Wasp #1. “King Maker“. This story took place during the “Darkhold” event that happened in the Marvel Universe. I am not familiar with what happened in the arc, but the opening does indicate that Janet had read from the Darkhold and that the book showed her a darker, more twisted path her life could have taken. The story deals with a real horrible moment in the life of Janet and the moment that may have forever tainted Hank Pym, who was shown as a obsessive scientist who would smack his wife around. Written by Jordie Bellaire and drawn by Claire Roe.

Bring on the movie!!!

February 17, 2023

We had yet another 2-hour delay because of weather so I was able to do my reading in the morning before I went off to school. It was also a chance to go through a few of the piles looking for certain books and then…

I found Hulk #7!

I had started the Thor catch up but got stuck with The Banner of War which was a crossover with the Hulk series and I could not find Hulk #7, which was Part 3. That kind of brought that catch-up to a halt. However, I found it this morning and I can continue on.

I also found a bunch of the missing Moon Knight issues. I have been looking forward to the Moon Knight book and so I am excited when I was able to find the complete set of it.

On we go…

Hulk #7. So we’ll start with this one. Written by Donny Cates and drawn by Martin Coccolo, I have not been a fan of this new Hulk arc. The Immortal Hulk was as good as comics could be, but this new version just makes little sense. Having said that, this Hulk issue was tough and Hulk showed how much of a bad ass he was. And I truly worry about poor Tony Stark. He’s got a problem in front of him.

Moon Knight #1. “The Mission” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Steve McNiven & Frank D’Armata. This was a really cool new version of Moon Knight. He is taking care of the streets and the travelers of the night. This is also the first appearance of Hunter’s Moon. I am looking forward to continuing this series.

Ghost Rider #8. “Skeleton Crew” Johnny Storm and Talia out together trying to solve a case while Blackheart is causing trouble. Johnny and Talia have a good connection, but it does seem that Johnny’s Spirit of vengeance has some real problems moving forward.

The Department of Truth #9. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Martin Simmonds. I did not love this issue. There was so much in this book… the exposition of Hawk was just too much. It did not feel like a story. Instead, it felt like just a lot of details that was dry and hard to follow. I want more than this for this book. It is amazing how Tynion IV’s storytelling in Something is Killing the Children is so different than in The Department of Truth.

Stillwater #14. “An Appointment” Stillwater and the leaders of the town are taking the change of the borders of the town to expand their power into a neighboring city, Coldwater. This is a fascinating story and is, supposedly, the final arc of the series.

That Texas Blood #13. “What Buster Greer Got For Christmas.” The writer of this book was Chris Condon and the art was done by Jacob Phillips. This was the Christmas special issue with the group from the 1981 section being entertained at a Christmas party by a story by Sheriff Sam Cooper. Sheriff Cooper tells a ghost story from his own early days as a deputy. Another great issue from an exceptional book.

Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #2. We returned to Kamal just as Loki is riding an elephant and nearly tramples her. I had an initial thought about what was happening here, but, after reading this issue, I am not sure my idea holds water. There is another Ms. Marvel running around so I am not sure what the situation is, but I am onboard to find out.

X-Men #17-19. It has been quite a long time since I have read any X-Men books so I picked a spot and read some for flavor. There were some characters who I had no idea who they were. Gerry Duggan wrote all three while Joshua Cassara drew issues #17 & #19 and C.F. Villa drew issue #18. I thought the use of the Brood in issue 19 was great and the images of Corsair was shocking. I thought these X-books were decent and did not have a bunch of the things that I have not liked much in the X-Men franchise.

It was a slow afternoon. I started watching a movie, but I was bored with it so quickly that I just did not want to continue it. With all of that, I decided to go ahead and do another Comic Catch-Up.

Nightcrawlers #1. “Voices of Fire”. Written by Si Spurrier with art by Paco Medina. This is the next book in the Sins of Sinister X-Men storyline. I really disliked this one too. I was somewhat interested in the overall storyline, but this brought it to a sudden end for me. And I have always enjoyed the character of Nightcrawler, but this was not my bag.

Department of Truth #8. “The Man in the Black Helicopter” We return to the world of Cole Turner and the diving back into the conspiracy theory stories are fun. We were introduced to a new big guy. Department of Truth continues to be one of the more intelligent and confusing series around.

That Texas Blood #11-12. Creative team: Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. The second arc of the series comes to a close with a solid conclusion with Joe Bob finishing his story of 1981. I enjoyed this arc as much as the first one. That Texas Blood has been one of the most creative and original creations of the last few years.

Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #1. Written by Samira Ahmed and drawn by Andres Genolet. Kamala spends some time on vacay in Chicago. And then, something weird started to go down. Bollywood? Loki on an elephant? What is happening? I can’t wait to find out. I do love Kamala.

Wolverine #30. “Father Knows Beast“. Okay. Not sure what exactly is going on here. I have not followed the X-Men much over the last few years, so I was pretty shocked to see Beast being such a monster. Then, watching Wolverine kill Beast was unbelievable. I guess I should follow the X-Men closer than I have been. I do not collect Wolverine, but I liked the cover so I picked this up.

Grim #5. “Death & Dying in Las Vegas” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano. Jessica Harrow comes face to face with Death and discovered that Death was actually her father. It was a massive issue with some major events happening. I really have been enjoying this series catch-up.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #5 & 6. The Game of Rings came to the conclusion as the ultimate owner of the Ten Rings is determined. We also got the background of the Ten Rings.

King Conan #2. “Conan’s Last Stand at the Edge of the World.” Jason Aaron was the writer and Muhmud Asrar was the artist. This book continue the war with the zombies on the boat and then another section dealing with King Conan and his son.

Stillwater #13. “Some Sort of Miracle.” Chip Zdarsky wrote the book and Ramon K. Perez does the art. Things start to move toward what they claim is the final arc of the series. Galan is preparing to take the war to Daniel and the others.

February 16, 2023

Well, Mother Nature screwed up another plan.

I have my tickets for Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania later this afternoon and so I had planned on doing some comics for the Comic Catch-Up featuring Ant Man and the Wasp. I had pulled out a bunch of those issues, including the new Wasp #2 which was released yesterday and I was excited to see the movie. I had a personal day from school and everything.

Then, we wound up in a Winter Storm Warning, with multiple inches of snow forecast, including high winds. Travel is potentially dangerous. I am still waiting for a little later today to see if I am refunding my tickets and waiting until the weekend to see the movie, but it changed my plans for today’s Comic Catch-Up post.

So instead, of the theme of Ant Man and the Wasp, I decided to do another special edition of the Comic Catch-Up and do the whole series of Strange Academy.

Strange Academy was a book that I was always interested in reading, but never seemed to get around to actually doing it. I did read the Strange Academy: Finals issues 1-3 that are currently being released and I really enjoyed those, so that only emphasized the desire to read this series of books even more.

With the combination of the snow day and the lack of movie going experience today, I found Strange Academy to be a good compromise.

This morning I read Strange Academy #1-18, including Strange Academy Presents #1 (which was a part of the Death of Doctor Strange arc).

Some of the things I really loved about the series included the following :

• Doctor Voodoo made a perfect headmaster so Dr. Strange did not have to be involved in every issue.
• I loved the characters. Especially Doyle Dormammu, Iric and Alvi, Emily Bright, and Zoe Laveau.
• I found the relationship between Doyle and Emily to be really sweet and different.
• Love, love, love the character of Gaslight. His character design was just epic.
• It definitely had that Hogwarts/Stranger Things vibe to it.
• Cool use of some of the other magic users of the Marvel Universe as teachers.
• The writing was excellent. All of the issues were written by Skottie Young.
• The art was classic. As a fan of Amazing Spider-Man, I am very familair with Humberto Ramos’s work.

Some of the issues I had included the following:

• The story felt a little rushed at the end, as if they tried to get to a certain point before the final issue.
• The cliffhanger was not friendly at all.
• A couple of the characters were not my favorites: Shaylee, Dessy, Toth all were, at best, okay for me.
• The inclusion of Man-Thing was weird. I like that character but he felt out of place.

That was about it. I really liked this series and it is shameful that it languished on my shelves so long before I actually read it.

February 15, 2023

It’s Wednesday and that makes it…NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!!!

I actually got to see the books that were going to be in my pull box yesterday when went to Comic World. They always do the pull lists on Tuesdays, even though the new books do not become available for selling until the next day. So I knew that there was a pretty large bunch of books.

Here are the comics that I have read today from my pull box.

Spider-Man #5. “It’s a Spectacular Life“. Part five of the End of the Spider-Verse storyline from writer Dan Slott and artist Mark Bagley. Slott and Bagley are synonymous with Spider-Man, but the whole End of the Spider-Verse arc has not been one of my favorites. This story is an intriguing scenario involving Silk that was an okay read. I just have never been a fan of these alternate timeline/future tales. There is a more intriguing back up story featuring Photon.

House of Slaughter #12. Part Two of The Butcher’s Return continued written by Tate Brombal and drawn by Antonio Fuso. We see one of the kids that had been “rescued” by Jace, named Sunny, and his own progression toward the House of Slaughter. This book, along with the other books from the mind of James Tynion IV, are always so creatively designed and the layout of the pages and the panels are different and unique. The manner of the lay out helps infuse the story.

Mary Jane & Black Cat #3. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Vincenzo Carratù. MJ and Felicia are in Limbo, trying to retrieve the Soul Sword for Belasco. It is a weird story for sure, and I am not sure this would work if there was not such a fun chemistry between MJ and Cat. Black cat’s constant worrying over the secret that she and Peter have been seeing each other presents an uncomfortable dynamic for the two ladies. And S’ym’s presence does not help things.

Monica Rambeau: Photon #3. Written by Eve L. Ewing with art by Ivan Fiorelli and Luca Maresca. Photon has been fun so far in the short series and this issue is no exception. The story is confusing as we do not know exactly what is happening, but neither does Monica and that places us in a connection with Monica. And the final panel indicates that there may be something dramatic going on that we did not expect.

Fantastic Four #4. “The Baxter Initiative“. After three issues of the FF split apart without any indication of why, writer Ryan North and artist Iban Coello show us why. We discover that Reed made a split second decision in the heat of battle that affected the lives of Ben and Alicia dramatically, sending them off on their own. However, as always, the FF come back together because they are family and, even if they fight, family is there for each other. This new creative direction for the Fantastic Four has been very good so far and gives me hope that this quality can be maintained.

Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt #4. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and penciled by Eder Messias & Belardino Brabo as well as sections of the book drawn by Marguerite Sauvage and Travel Foreman. I find this book boring and I was very disappointed with it so far. I believe there is only one more issue and I’ll be glad when this one is done. I do like that Peter and Mary Jane are together (as it should always be).

Murderworld: Moon Knight #1. Written by Jim Zeb and Ray Fawkes with art by Luca Pizzari, Murderworld moves along with our final four characters attempting to survive the dangers in the game run by Arcade. Once again, our title ‘hero’ of the book does not actually appear. Moon Knight is just a facsimile from Murderworld. Our cast is whittled down to two remaining by the end, but a very real (or so it seems) cameo happens right at the end that promises to bring the excitement to the finale next issue.

Captain Marvel #46. Part Four of Revenge of the Brood. This has been a great return to form for Captain Marvel and shows how strong of a character she is, especially while interacting with her friends that are along on the adventure. Spider-Woman is great and Hazmat shows her power this issue. The dialogue is crisp and clever with a definite wit to it that works very well for these characters. This has been a consistently strong arc for carol.

Avengers Forever #14. “The Battle for the All and the Always” The seventh part of the Avengers Assemble arc rolls on with the battle with the multiversal Dooms taking center stage. We also have some strong moments from the groups of Steves. There is a fun interaction between Avenger Prime and Namor. The final panel brings the story into a new focus.

The Invincible Iron Man #3. “The Autobiography of Tony Stark Chapter Three” This issue features the background of the friendship between Stark and someone at Stark Enterprises, Zhong, who had killed himself. This backstory informed the main arc and brought us face to face with a second Stark (LMD, anyone???). The ending of the issue was nightmarish and sets up the next issue extremely well. This is written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Juan Frigeri.