Category Archives: Comics This Week

EYG Comic Cavalcade #198

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April 12

It is EYG Comic Cavalcade time. It was another fun week. I got some deliveries from Midtown Comics this week too, including some Daredevil #1 blind bags and some variants.

Comic of the Week

The Fury of Firestorm #1

Firestorm has always been one of my favorite DC characters. I enjoyed the original appearances of Robbie Raymond and Martin Stein, combined into one being with amazing nuclear powers. It was exciting to hear that Firestorm would be back in his own limited series. Then, the first issue was excellent with a mystery behind what is going on. Good stuff.

Books this week:

Amazing Spider-Man #26. Written by Joe Kelly with pencils by Francesco Manna & Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia. I also picked up the Spider-Gwen variant cover by David Nakayama. Death Spiral Part 7 is picking up the pace as the Carnage/Torment team-up gets even more dangerous as they are looking for a spiral for Spider-Man.

Neighborhood Watch #1. Written by Sarah Gailey and illustrated and cover art by Haining (Silver Medalist). The new book from Boom! Studios deals with a couple of neighboring towns: Willow Haven and Open Arms, and its neighborhood watch program. There is a murder that happens too.

Uncanny X-Men #26. “Careful What You Wish For” Written by Gail Simone and art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by David Marquez and Matthew Wilson. The kids of the Haven House are being grabbed and their histories are suddenly strange. And … the New Mutants? What is going on here?

Uncanny X-Men Annual #1. “The Rise of the Regulators” Written by Gail Simone & Mikki Kendall with art by Francesco Mortarino with Elisabetta D’Amico. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. This story was a great bit with the history of Haven House. That history is known as the Regulators and they have a tie to pre-adamantium Wolverine. I love when the history of the area folds in with the mutants.

D’Orc #3. “A Bit Light-Headed” Written, drawn and cover art by Brett Bean. D’Orc faced off with a powerful dwarf with a big hammer. I have truly been enjoying D’Orc. The humor of the book has been great and D’Orc and his crew are deep in action too. Solid book.

The Muppets Noir #2. Written, drawn and cover art by Roger Langridge. Kermit is still unconscious and the rest of the Muppets were trying to decide what to do about the show. Meanwhile, the detective Flip Minnow continued to try and solve the case and find Meringue Crustworth. The noir world introduced us to Staler & Waldorf, the Swedish Chef and Sweetums. Lots of Muppet fun.

Mad About DC #1. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Guest editor (for some reason) was Chip Zdarsky. I also picked up the foil issue of the same cover by Dan Panosian. This was one of the books I got from Midtown this week. It was a fun version of Mad Magazine focusing on the characters of DC. Tons of satire and humor.

Baby Garfield #1. “Baby Garfield’s First Word” and “Baby Garfield’s First Hairball” Written by Grace Ellis (1st) and Michael Northrop (2nd). Art for the two stories was done by Asia Simone and Rob Justus respectfully. This was another book I got from Midtown Comics. I was not the biggest fan of Garfield, but I considered picking this up on the shelf. When I did not get it, I got it and I liked it. I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this book.

Everyone Loves a Jewel Thief #1. Written by Aaron Campbell & Tim Seeley with art and cover art by Aaron Campbell. Ignition Press has been huge lately and has been very successful. We have yet another new book, this one compiling a team of jewel thieves.

Dead by Deadlight #1. Written by Derek Fridolfs with art by Dean Kotz. Cover art was done by Alex Horley. This is a survival online game adapted into the comic form by Titan Comics. There are some horrific imagery in this book and it is a compelling start. The killer is definitely scary and I am curious to see how this book progresses.

Cosplayer Versus Shark #1. “Part One: Up from the Depths” and “Part Two: It’s Always Shark Week!” Written by Pat Jankiewicz and art by Shaun “Spanky” Piela. This was a wild and weird one shot that reminded me of a Carl Hiaasen novel, specifically Chomp. This is a lot of fun.

Pretty Hate Machine #1. Written by Ryan O’Han & Tim Seeley with art by Paolo Armitano. Cover art was done by Todor Hristov. Another new horror series, this one based upon the album from Nine Inch Nails. The new Mad Cave book was very entertaining and the imagery was scary.

Something is Killing the Children #46. “All Her Monsters” Part Six. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’Edera. It has been quite a few months since we have seen Erica Slaughter. It was great having Something is Killing the Children back on the reading list. It is consistently one of the best books available when it is out.

Estuary: A Ghost Story #1. Written by David “DB” Andy & Tim Daniel and illustrated and cover art by Maan House. What is better than combining nun horror with aquatic horror… plus a ghost story of a shipwrecked Spanish vessel. Another new series from Oni Press.

Iron Man #4. “No Escape” Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Carmen Carnero with Jan Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Tony Stark is trying to find the winner of the Tony Stark Award, who has been grabbed by AIM. However, he comes across a different type of AIM… Advanced Iron Man.

Wolverine #18. “Clash of the Champions” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian (Bronze Medalist) . Wolverine faces off against Hercules, controlled by The Adamantine. It is a bloody and brutal war between Logan and Herc. And this will bring Athena to the fray.

Black Cat #9. “String Theory” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov and Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. MJ and Black Cat find themselves in alternate universe, living all new lives. Are their new lives what they really want?

Mortal Thor #9. “Inevitable” Written by Al Ewing with art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Gold Medalist). Sigurd has to deal with a threat from the Radioactive Man. Sigurd is preparing to launch an assault on Roxxon.

Space Ghost #10. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. Space Ghost faced off with something than no one can defeat…time. Specifically, Tempus the Time-Master.

Web of Venom #1. Written by Jordan Morris and art by Luke Ross & Ramon Rosanas. Cover art was done by Stefano Casselli & Federico Blee. We got another book featuring a symbiote and a new Venom form. This time is is Boomerang, aka Fred Meyers. I’m not sure why we need to have yet another symbiote anti-hero running around. The story was fine, but I am not sure why it is needed.

Twilight Zone #6. “Growth” Written, art and cover art by Nicole Goux. A sad story about a girl with a plant that was alive… an actual baby.. and the hatred that people who are different face. This one turns out tragic, much like many of the Twilight Zone episodes.

Bleeding Hearts #3. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Stipan Morian. The Vertigo zombie book is back this week and the Zombie boy is showing signs of being more than just another in the hungry horde. What does that mean? Bleeding heart continues to be one of the more intriguing Vertigo books.

Other books this week: Murder Podcast #6, Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #4, Blood & Thunder #12, Absolute Green Lantern #13, The Nice House by the Sea #9, and Alice: Forever After #3.

Quick Hits: Moonstar #2 was released this week as Danielle Moonstar is on the mission. I picked up two covers from Midtown Comics this past week. Both with the guest appearance of EYG Hall of Famer “Weird Al” Yankovic. The first one was World’s Finest #50 with Al and his accordion hanging out with Batman and Superman. The other was Bizarro: Year None #1 where Al is portrayed as the “Normal Al” Yankovic, with a briefcase. I love Weird Al so I knew I wanted to find these two covers for my collection. Hello Darkness #20 had a collection of fun horror short stories. My favorite of the stories was “The Thread” which was pretty gross in the end. Transformers #31 focused on Megatron taking the next step in his status, in a manner I would not have expected. One of my favorite books this week is one of the oddest team-ups I have ever seen. It is Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater Presents Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla #1. It is as wild as it sounds. Speaking of wild, the team up between Ash and Archie continues in Archie x The Army of Darkness #3 from Dynamite Comics. This one had a cool cover that nearly made the medal round. Sai: Dimensional Rivals #4 kept going into multiple worlds in search of the seventh stone. The idea of the different art in the different universes makes this book original. And finally, Speed Racer: Tales from the Road #1 which featured the winners of the Mad Cave Studios talent search.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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April 9

Here is the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week! Three A covers this week. Two from Marvel Comics and one independent.

Also-Rans: Archie x The Army of Darkness #3, Iron Man #4, Amazing Spider-Man #26 (E Cover), Murder Podcast #6, Alice: Forever After #3, Dead by Daylight #1, and Black Cat #9.

Bronze Medalist

Wolverine #18

Cover art by Dan Panosian

A cool, up-close and personal look at Logan in the brown costume. The claws are right next to his face. This is a powerful image of the Wolverine.

Silver Medalist

Neighborhood Watch #1

Cover art by Haining

A new Boom! Studios book has a very disturbing cover. Who is this lady and what is she cutting with that knife? Is that a heart? I like the color of the cover and the scary concept. I am very curious about this book.

Gold Medalist

Mortal Thor #9

Cover art by Alex Ross

The first year winner of the Best Cover Artist, Alex Ross, is back on top with his solid work on Thor books. The look of the Radioactive Man and his green color popped on the cover. A great Thor cover once again.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #197

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April 6

It is Monday and I am behind on the Comic Cavalcade. The reason was I spent yesterday binging a bunch of movies on streaming which left no time for the Comic Cavalcade. I was able to finish reading the books last night and early this morning and since I am still on spring break, today will be a good day to do this one.

Comic of the Week

Daredevil #1

The new Daredevil not only received the Bronze Medal in the Favorite Comic Cover of the Week, btu also the new Comic of the Week. The new start for Matt Murdock as a law professor at ESU was an awesome idea and I really enjoyed how Stephanie Phillips wrote this script. I picked up three of the variant covers too. I should have four more bags on the way from Midtown Comics.

Books this week:

Venom #256. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Variant cover B by David Nakayama. The Death Spiral continued with the Venom book. Torment attacked Dylan, but he is able to escape. However, everyone did not get out of the situation unscathed. One of the most hated characters in Marvel, Paul, who got between Peter and MJ came to his end as Torment killed him. A roar of happiness crossed over the entire Marvel Universe audience.

Deluge #5. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Marika Cresta. Cover art was done by Riley Rossmo. The cool Ignition Press comic Deluge ended with this issue. The creatures that have been coming after the prisoners have some troubles. I enjoyed this book so much because of the simplicity of the story. They do not go out of their way to explain what was going on and the very end of the book was great. Ignition Press has been quality over the last six months or so.

Groo: The Prophecy #1. Written by Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier with art and cover art by Sergio Aragones. Groo makes his return to Dark Horse with the new mini-series. It is a little different than previous Groo series as it started out with Groo, accidentally so, became a hero for a town that did not recognize him at first. Groo has been a favorite of mine since way back when he was in Marvel/Epic comics in the 1980s.

Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #1. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. This was an excellent new book with the character from the Netflix movie franchise Extraction (played by Chris Hemsworth). An action comic with this break out character. This was a really good book.

Royals #1. Written by Derek Kirk Kim with art and cover art by Jacob Perez. This was an interesting new series around a new pair of brothers who have a telepathy connection, making them very effective as a team in the world of poker. The story really started off strong as Castor and Paul showed off their con of their poker, even in the face of the criminals involved.

Wonder Man #1. “The One” Written by Gerry Duggan and penciled by Mark Buckingham. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg. A new series coming after the hugely successful and beloved Marvel Studios Television show Wonder Man. The comic had some special use of film in the art. It is great to see Hellcat making an appearance once again.

Kilroy is Here #1. Written by Joe Pruett and art and cover A art by Dalibor Talajic. I also picked up the B cover by Brian Bolland (Silver Medalist). This one-shot was the return of the character of Kilroy, who apparently had been in his only series years ago. I enjoyed how Kilroy was used in this book and the use of how Kilroy is perceived by the world around him.

X-Men #28. “Danger Room PT. 3” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The team known as Danger Room is taking it to the X-Men, or at least it appeared that way. How many of the X-Men are now dead? I don’t know, but Quentin Quire and Temper are not too happy and are out for revenge from the shooting of Glob.

Bizarro: Year None #1. “Chapter One: The Planet” Written by Eric Carrasco & Kevin Smith with art by Nick Pitarra. Cover art was done by Nick Pitarra & Michael Garland. So this story takes place in an early continuity, covering the origin of Bizarro, or at least a version of it. Bizarro takes Jimmy Olson and Perry White to his own world to be a part of the Daily Planet… and he made Jimmy the Editor in Chief.

All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #9. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Gwen has been dealing with a bunch of troubles and her friends and family are getting concerned. They should be concerned as Gwen is turning into a new Green Goblin.

Lion King #3. Written by Edwin Galmon with art by Edwin Galmon & Carlo Lauro. Cover art was done by Edwin Galmon. I have been enjoying this Lion King series. My personal favorite part of the book has been Simba and Nala who are in search of a missing baby elephant. The showdown between Mufasa and the leopards is tense, but not my favorite part of the story, though it is solid.

Captain Marvel: Dark Past #1. Written by Paul Jenkins with art and cover art by Lucas Werneck. It is good to see Carol back in her own book, dealing with a mystery from her past with memories that she had not recovered from Rogue. It is always fun to see Carol interacting with Tony Stark and Jessica Drew. The supporting characters were always one of my favorite parts of Captain Marvel’s previous series.

Batman #8. “Three Old Men, One Night in Gotham” Written by Matt Fraction with art by Ryan Sook. Cover art was done by Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey. Batman called on Alan Scott to visit him in Gotham for a cup of coffee. Batman is picking the brain of Scott, the original Green Lantern, for any ideas to deal with his Vandal Savage problem. I enjoyed the interaction between Alan Scott and Batman, especially in the coffee shop.

Absolute Superman #18. “King of the Black Land” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. A new story kicks off in this issue, featuring the debut of the Absolute Shazam. He was called King Shazam on the final page of the issue and he looked really cool. Shazam had a look much like Shazam combined with Black Adam.

Deadpool: April Pool’s Day #1. Written by Gail Simone and art by C.F. Villa, Robert Gill, & IG Guara. Cover art was done by David Baldeón & Rachelle Rosenberg. It is April 1st, Deadpool’s favorite holiday, and he is out trying to deal with a bunch of genre hopping. Several Marvel guest stars appear at the end as Deus Ex Machinas. I am a fan of Gail Simone and she does a great job on this Deadpool special.

Alien: King Killer #1. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Carlos Nieto. Cover art was done by David Yardin & Marco Menyz. The Marvel Alien series have been up and down for me. Some I have enjoyed and some have droned on. After the first issue of this one, I am intrigued and I am looking forward to seeing if this one can carry the mantel of the Alien franchise again.

Other books this week: Arcadia #4, Godzilla #9, The Autumn Kingdom #3, Marvel Rivals: Duel of Kings #1, and The Eternals: 50th Anniversary Special #1.

Quick Hits: It looked as if Nova: Centurion #6 is the final issue of this book starring Rich Rider. I was liking this take on the character so I am sad that it is going away, much like Planet She-Hulk is ending. A book that I never would have guessed that I would be collecting is Ursula #2, and yet here it is. I do like the way this story is unfolding and I think Dynamite Comics has done it again, giving me a book that I never would have bought. The comic magazine known as Comics! The Magazine #2 is out this week with an interview with Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley from the Invincible Universe. Image dropped Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook #1 this week, which had character info from the Ghost Machine universe of books from letters A-H. I picked up two of these, the A cover and the cover that is an homage to the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe. I love that Ghost Machine has become big enough to warrant a guidebook like this. The Gold Medalist in the Favorite Comic Cover of the Week this week went to a second printing of Narco #1. This cover, done by Daniel Hillyard is actually way better than the first print in cover work. Megalith #0 came out from Bad Idea, but it was actually nothing more than a preview for several upcoming Bad idea books. The Megalith preview only was about four pages or so. It looks great, but I am not sure this was worth the time. The final issue of another Dynamite book came out this week as the team up concluded with Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck #4. This was another Dynamite book that I had no intention of buying, but one that I found interesting to pick up. Doctor Strange #5 continued with the troubles in Asgard, though it looks like Stephen may be connecting back to Midgard and Clea next issue. Speed Racer #7 has more racing action. Finally, yet another Dynamite book, The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town #4, ends with this one.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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April 3

It is Good Friday. Last night, I came back from buying my comics in the Quad Cities, and I drove through a shelf cloud. It was something I had never experienced before. It was clear and then it was as if I had hit a wall as the rain fell. I can go a long time without doing that again.

Also-Rans: Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #1, Wonder Man #1, Alien: King Killer #1, and venom #256 (B cover).

Bronze Medalist

Daredevil #1

Cover art by Lee Garbett

The brand new Daredevil series kicked off with a great A cover and a bunch of blind bag variants. The variants I have at this point do not match up with this classic DD cover from Lee Garbett.

Silver Medalist

Kilroy is Here #1

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Brian Bolland

The variant cover for the new one-shot featuring Kilroy is a beautiful black and white version with our returning character. It is a compelling cover for a fun issue.

Gold Medalist

Narco #1

2nd Printing

Cover art by Daniel Hillyard

Typically I do not worry about picking up 2nd printings of comics, but this cover just was so awesome that I had to have it. This second printing of the Narco #1 cover is better than the original.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #196

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March 29

What a massive week. I got so many books this week. Then, there were multiple issues of Superman/Spider-Man books that I got, plus five of the new Mark Spears book. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a week if there weren’t as many variants this week.

Comic of the Week

Feral #22

Feral is one of the most consistently entertaining comic books every month. Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez have brought us one of the best horror series on the market and a thoroughly engaging and thrilling. And who would have guessed that? This issue is also huge as it ends with the shocking reveal of the upcoming crossover between Feral and Stray Dogs.

They continue to have the best horror movie themed variant covers too.

Books this week:

Superman/Spider-Man #1. “Truth, Justice and Great Responsibility” Written by Mark Waid and art by Jorge Jimenez. The big crossover between the two most iconic characters of their company is pretty cool. This first one is from DC Comics. There are a bunch of stories in the book that are all fun too. There are many covers to the book, of which I picked up seven of them.

MidKnight Man #1. Written, drawn and cover art by Mark Spears. The new comic from Mark Spears is all about a superhero who dubs himself the MidKnight Man. Again, I picked up five covers of this because I do love Mark Spears’s cover art. The book itself was okay. I was not as into it as I usually am for the Mark Spears Monsters books. There were several funny meta jokes in the book too, which I am always down for. The book says that #2 will be coming out later this year, which is funny too. When? Who knows?

White Sky #2. Written by William Harms and art and cover art by JP Mavinga. I also grabbed the Invincible special variant cover for this book, also done by JP Mavinga. Violet is removed from her father and she has to face the brutality and horrors of the world on her own. What is out there that she will run into? White Sky continued its compelling storytelling from issue one. There is a lot of visual storytelling in this book, which I enjoy tremendously.

Phantom of the Opera#2. Written by Tyler Boss and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. The latest Universal Monsters book from Image has some absolutely tense moments in it. I have to say, the artwork of Martin Simmonds, which is definitely unlike most artists, really works well for this series. It provides that sinister tone to it and you are never quite at ease.

Ripcord #2. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Aneke. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Bronze medalist). Dillion is in search of her sister, and she is not going to let any Australian rednecks get in her way. She shows the kind of bad ass that she is in this issue with some seriously graphic moments, specifically with a rail gun. Move over Arnold, Dillion is here now!

Amazing Spider-Man #25. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marte Gracia. While Spidey, Venom (Mary Jane) and Carnage (Eddie Brock) are trying to stop Torment, they are afraid that Torment is after their family members. They race to get to Aunt May and Aunt Anna in time… when they realize that it is not Peter and MJ’s family that they needed to worry about. Hey there, Dylan Brock.

The Punisher #2. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Jose Luis Soares. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Guru-eFX. Microchip and Frank are looking for a doctor to help figure out what is wrong with Frank. Hint… most everything. Jigsaw is making a move too.

Fantastic Four #9. Written by Ryan North with pencils by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The Fantastic Four is facing off with another dimensional Sue Storm and she is hugely kick-ass. There are a couple of scenes with our Sue having her head turn invisible by Invincible Woman and it is disturbing as can be. No thank you, please.

Uncanny X-Men #25. “Where Monsters Dwell” Finale. Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez & Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. The X-Men wrap up their fight with the monsters as Rogue stepped up big time as leader of this group. I loved the appearance of these monster characters that we do not get as much as we could.

Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1. Written by Peter Murrieta & D.E. Schrader with art by Ben Herrera. Cover art by Kit Wallis. This new series from Titan Comics features as character who is a member of a criminal organization as a henchman and he is looking to advance to an open position, more of a leadership role. This is the first ever henchman interview in comics. A fun first issue.

Is Ted Ok? #2. Clearly the answer is no. Written, drawn and cover art by Dave Chisholm. Ted is finding unexpected things at his work and they are playing on his psyche. Not 100% sure what is real and what might just be inside Ted’s head. And I like it that way. So far, this has been an entertaining read and I am curious to find out what is going on around Ted’s workplace. Why does he need to be watched? Questions abound.

Hyde Street #11. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Ivan Reis. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. We dive into the past of Pranky and we see how the Butcher of Hyde Street is freed from his prison. Things do not look like they are going to turn out well for the residents of Hyde Street. I loved cover A on this book and it nearly found its way into the medals this week. It just came up short.

The Flash #31. “The Speed was Power, and the Speed was Joy” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover ary was done by Gavin Guidry and Giovanna Niro. I wanted to give Flash a try this week. I have always liked the character and with Ryan North taking over the writing duties on the book, I thought I would give it a try. The book featured Wally West and it was really pretty cool, including a wild online campaign to cause trouble for the Flash. I love Ryan North’s work on the Fantastic Four, so I hope it is as excellent for the Flash.

Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #2. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Luca Maresca. Cover art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Wolverine, who is in search of a group of missing mutants, comes across David Colton, the unknown Captain America (which Zdarsky wrote about in the new Captain America series) and they have to face off with Nuke. Zdarsky has some excellent ideas about these characters and I think this is the most compelling that Nuke has been in ages.

Iron Man #3. “Forged in Fire” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Iron Man is trying to get MODOK to lead him to Madame Masque, while trying to keep the giant head alive from AIM. Not sure Tony really wants to find her.

Detective Comics #1107. “Flight Part One” Written by Tom Taylor and art by Pete Woods. Cover art was done by Mikel Janin. Green Arrow and Black Canary move into Gotham City and immediately cause problems for Batman, messing up one of his undercover operations. Tom Taylor is another of the great writers that I feel can do no wrong and this is a great example of his solid work.

The New Avengers #10. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. The Killuminati storyline comes to a close, as does this version of the Avengers. It was fun at the end to see Captain Marvel and Iron Man chastising Bucky for putting together this team and not letting them in on the clones running around. Oh, and we almost got Baron Zemo back. Sorry Zemo. No go.

Rogue #3. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Luigi Zagaria. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Rogue, whose powers are going bad, is in search of answers from her past. Those answers have led her to find Constrictor.

Final Boss #5. “Stage 5: Red Sands” Written by Tyler Kirkham and art by Tyler Kirkman with David Miller. Cover G art was done by Tyler Kirkman (Gold medalist). The first arc of this book ended with issue five. Tommy is in full battel mode where as he even discovers a fire wings power. I was given the G cover in my pull box for this series, which is a cool and very bloody cover with Tommy fighting Invincible.

Minor Arcana #15. “The Ballad of Budd St. Pierre: 1981-1983” Written, illustrated and cover art by Jeff Lemire. We get a back story for the character of Budd St. Pierre, told fully in a flashback to the early 1980s. It was a very difficult story with some tragedy in the tale. I like this type of issue as it helps flesh out some of the important supporting characters.

Justice League Unlimited #17. “Aftermath: Part One” Written by Mark Waid and art by Clayton Henry. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. The tournament participants return to the Watchtower, except Superman. Wonder Woman comes up with an idea… put some villains on a Justice League team. Batman ain’t too happy (course when is he…).

The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #2.Written by Chris Condon with art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. I also picked up the C Cover variant by Leandro Fernandez (Silver Medalist). Ezra Cain is investigating a couple of cases, one dealing with the missing husband of Mrs. Meyer and the missing artifact the Anvil of Hephaestus. This new Vertigo book is one of the best. Awesome noir style cover too.

Ultimate Endgame #3. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. Ultimate Carnage showed up and actually killed Peter Parker. I was shocked that they did this, complete with scenes by Mary Jane, but this certainly signals that the Ultimate universe is truly coming to an end.

Department of Truth #36. “Deviation 9: Beauty and the Beast.” Written by James Tynion IV and art by Ben Templesmith. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. We are in the early 1990s and the focus of the new arc of The Department of truth is cable TV and the media. There are some wild images through this book as we meet a character watching TV all day.

Wiccan: Witches’ Road #4. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Wiccan has lost the power of the Demiurge, but he has found himself a reunion with his mother Wanda, his brother Tommy and Storm (for some reason). Then, it looks like Kate Bishop may be on her way too for next issue. A Young Avengers reunion!

Absolute Wonder Woman #18. “Season of the Witch Part 3” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. Diana loses an arm again! And Zatanna comes to help her… leading to another conflict.

Other books this week: Dungeons of Doom #3, Inglorious X-Force #3, Marvel Knights: The Punisher #4, Fantastic Four: First Foes #1, Return to Sleepy Hollow #5, Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun #2, Generation X-23 #2, Absolute Martian Manhunter #10, and The Center Holds #2.

Quick Hits: I picked up Sherlock Holmes The Dark Detective Special: Doctor Nikola and the Soldier Legacy #1, from IPI Comics. It is always a challenge because it seems as if IPI Comics never puts a price on the cover and the shop won’t accept the fact that it means it is free. Their web site did not have a listed price either. I finally found proof of cost on the In This Issue Comics website. By the way, there is no Sherlock Holmes in this book either. Just Brutal #2 came out this week and I had pulled both the A and B covers for some reason. I must have messed up while putting it on my list, because there does not seem to be any reason why I wanted the variant cover for this. Liquidator #5 from Mad Cave ended with this issue. I had lost interest in the book a few issues ago. I read through Conan the Barbarian #30 this week. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It showed Conan’s strategy as well. Spirit of the Shadows #3 from Oni Press is such a weird book. Its art is very reminiscent of Steve Ditko to me. W0rldtr33 #19 resumed this week. It has a disturbing, yet beautiful cover that was another one that I heavily considered for the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. I watched the first three episodes of Invincible on Amazon Prime this weekend, and it feels like it is reaching the part of the story taking place in the facsimile of Invincible Returns #1, that I picked up this week. Void Rivals #28 sees part 4 of 6 in the Quintesson War story arc. Honor and Curse: Eternal #1 is new from Mad Cave. I have seen this cover several times and I was hoping it would still be on the stands. It was, and it was an interesting read. Godzilla Infinity Roar #2 sees Galactus eat Godzilla, but big purple does not have it go well. Get Galactus some Alka-Seltzer. Sai Dimensional Rivals #3 saw Sai continue to search for the Seventh Stone across the dimensions. And then, finally, it was Florida Hippopotamus Cocaine Massacre #2 which is a hugely satirical comic with lots to say about our political world these days, tucked away in this comic book.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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March 26

What a haul of comic books this week. I got over 50 books this week, though there are several variant covers involved. Last week, there were no variant covers int he medal winners, but this week there are two of the three.

It is also surprising because officially, I picked up like seven Superman/Spider-Man #1s, and five MidKnight Man #1s with Mark Spears, and none of them made the medal platform this week. Amazing.

A bunch of the also-rans, including one that I really wanted to give a medal to, but just came up short.

Also-Rans: Hyde Street #11 (this is the one that really came close), Superman/Spider-Man #1 (multiple covers), MidKnight Man #1 (Cover A was my favorite of these), W0rldtr33 #19, Feral #21 (cover A), Feral (Cover B), White Sky #2, Return to Sleepy Hallow #5, and Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #2

Bronze Medalist

Ripcord #2

Cover art by Jorge Fornes

What a beautiful cover with the wolf dominating the pink sky, blood dripping from its fangs. The shadowy figure standing in silhouette of the sun. All of this is just great. Jorge Fornes has been carving out a good year for himself.

Silver Medalist

The Peril of the Brutal Dark #2

Variant cover C

Cover art by Leandro Fernandez

Any time I spot a variant cover on the stands that just grabs my attention, it has a good chance of ending up on this list. I love the black and white cover that really gave me a noir vibe.

Gold Medalist

Final Boss #5

Variant cover G

Cover art by Tyler Kirkham

This book was in my box at In This Issue. I did not order the variant cover. I usually have the cover A pulled for me. I don’t know why this was in my box, but I am not complaining about it. What a bloody, brutal and awesome cover featuring Invincible.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #196

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March 22

It is the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It has been a busy weekend once again. I generally like to have this done before Sunday evening, but time got away from me.

Plus, it is taking a little longer because I am being distracted by season four of Agents of Shield, with the Ghost Rider appearing.

Comic of the Week

Dead Teenagers #1

Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Dead Teenagers follows a group of friends stuck in a time loop, reliving their high school prom night and dying repeatedly until something in 2026 might cause the loop to be broken. This was a great new horror comic and a fun read.

Silver Medalist

Books this week:

Amazing Spider-Man #24. Written by Charles Soule with Joe Kelly and guest artist Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Dean White. Death Spiral continues with this issue of Amazing Spider-Man that includes Spidey, Venom and Carnage wind up facing off with Torment. The dialogue between Spidey and Venom/MJ is some of the best of the book.

Exquisite Corpses #11. Written by Che Grayson with James Tynion IV with art by Gavin Fullerton with Michael Walsh. Cover art was done by Michael Walsh. We are down to Pretty Boy and Fox Mask Killer in the big tournament. Exquisite Corpses has been one of the best comics over the last year and it is building to its last couple of issues.

Wrestle Heist #4. Written, Drawn and cover art by Kyle Starks. The big pay per view event, Fightsgiving XIV is here and Sterling Steele and his crew are preparing to pull off their planned heist. However, there is a problem. Hanson knows the heist is coming because of the traitor in Steele’s team. Great kayfabe action.

The Sentry #1. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Christian Rosado. Cover art was done by Alex Maleev (Bronze Medalist). Bob is back, struggling to keep balance with his other side…the Void. After Sentry’s appearance in Thunderbolts MCU movie, the return to the comics was inevitable.

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #2. “Bad Omens” Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Geoff Shaw. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. Deadpool has suddenly someone providing him with info on future events.. and he has found a way to make money saving them. While it is still snarky Deadpool, the mystery of what happened to his daughter is creating a new emotional Wade.

Infernal Hulk #5. “All His Servants” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with penciled by Kev Walker. Cover art was done by Nic Klein (Gold Medalist). Bruce Banner has to come back. He tried to stay out of it, but he realized that he was not able to stay away. The Infernal Hulk is making thing tough.

Captain America #8. “Doom’s Shadow Part 3” Written by Chip Zdarsky with artist by Jan Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti & Frank Martin. Cap inside Latveria continues as he and Alina Von Doom are trying to find the weapons of Doom before anyone else does… including Thunderbolt Ross.

Nightwing #136. “The Crossroads” Written by Dan Watters and pencils by Denys Cowen. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. A new story arc kicks off in Nightwing entitled “Bludhaven Lore.” Nightwing picks up a woman on the freeway. That sounded much less dangerous than it turned out to be.

Geiger #22. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson. Geiger and the Northerner are on their way to Detroit to try and find answers about the Unknown War.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2. “Agency” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg. While Marc Spector and Zodiac are “teaming up,” Bushman is making his return, preparing to murder Marc Spector.

Cyclops #2. “Seeing Red Part 2” Written by Alex Paknadel with art by Rogê Antonio. Cover art was done by Federico Vicentini & Marcio Menyz. Cyclops is in the woods, being chased by the Reavers, and he has lost his visor. I have enjoyed the first couple of issues with Cyke.

X-Men #27. “Danger Room, Pt. 2” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons, and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The new group Danger Room is featured through this issue.

Ultimates #22. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. Ultimate Captain America and Ultimate Bucky and their story. This has a terribly tragic ending that was extremely surprising.

Mortal Thor #8. “A Tragic Tale of Asgard.” Written by Al Ewing with art by Juann Cabal. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. No Mortal Thor in this issue as we spent the time in Asgard with Magni and a strange rabbit.

Absolute Flash #13. “Mirror Master Part One” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Haining. Cover art was done by Nick Robles. Wally and Linda spend some time together… until they get pulled into a mirror. If you know Flash, you know what this is leading to.

Sam and Twitch Case Files #22. Written by Thomas Healy with Todd McFarlane and art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Raymond Gay with Steve Canon. A guy from a former case texted Sam and Twitch to come see him, only to be found by the pair, dead. Appearing to be a suicide, something did not fit together and Sam is in a dangerous place.

GI Joe #20. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. Cover art was done by Tom Reilly. Duke meets Optimus (no longer Prime). A truce between the two was a fascinating result between GI Joe and the Transformers.

Barbarian Behind Bars #2. Written by Elliott Kalan and art by Andrea Mutti. Cover art was done by Francesco Tomaselli. Darcor continued to be held in prison and the process moves along. The Mad Cave series is one of the strangest and most original on the market.

Planet She-Hulk #5. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Aaron Kuder. Cover art was done by Aaron Kuder & Sonia Oback. She-Hulk is fighting across Sakaar and it seems like she has taken a specific position… Queen?

Devil on my Shoulder #4. Written by Kyle Starks with art by Piotr Kowalski. Cover art was done by Piotr Kowalski with Brad Johnson. The final issue of the series finds our heroine finish her path of vengeance against the men who had assaulted her years ago.

Other Books this Week: Kill All Immortals II #3, Super Creepshow #1, Leprechaun Horror Comics #1, Ghost Pepper #9, Mary Sue #5, Ultimate Wolverine #15, Deathstroke the Terminator #1, and American Caper #5.

Quick Hits: Wanda vs. Agatha highlighted the story in Sorcerer Supreme#4. DC had a couple of new number one issues this week, Lobo #1 and Batwoman #1. Neither one was interesting enough for me to continue. Batwoman was the most intriguing one between the two, which was not what I was expecting. D’Orc #1 had a third printing this week. Another new cover by Brett Bean. Racer X #5 is back within the world of Speed Racer. X-Men of Apocalypse #3 is still in the Savage Land as Gambit and Rogue matchup again. The horror book The Thing on the Doorstep#2 is one of the books that I did not get to read yet. That also goes for End of Life #2, the Vertigo book. The Lucky Devils #7 is still one of the best and most beautifully drawn books on the market. New Titans #33 show the new team roster. The Last Day of Lovecraft #5 sees this series end. Finally, the one shot book from AWA Pick Up #1 has not yet found its way on to my CLZ app. Not sure what is taking so long for it to be on it.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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March 19

I am on time this week! YES!

It felt like a lighter week, book wise, but I do have several of the also-rans to get into. I thought there were some really good. Interestingly enough, all cover As this week. No variants.

Also-Rans: Cyclops #2, The Lucky Devils #7, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2, Absolute Flash #13, Captain America #8, The Mortal Thor #8, Lobo #1, and Leprechaun Horror Comics #1.

Bronze Medalist

The Sentry

Cover art by Alex Maleev

What a cool cover for the new The Sentry series. The shadowy hand that Sentry is looking at is clearly a reference to the Void, which is a clever and awesome image. I also love the colors of the cover, with the bright gold feeling around Sentry with the blackness around it.

Silver Medalist

Dead Teenagers #1

Cover art by Naomi Franq

The new hot book of the week is Oni Press’s Dead Teenagers and I love how we get the images of the teens in the cloak of the Grim Reaper. Of course, I have always loved the black background and the entire image makes this cover pop.

Gold Medalist

The Infernal Hulk #5

Cover art by Nic Klein

You do not usually see this kind of brightness on a comic cover, especially in an Infernal Hulk series. Infernal Hulk looks fabulous on the cover and, despite the colorful cover, there is a fearful feel to this cover.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #195

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March 15

I went to the bi-yearly sale at In This Issue Comics this weekend and stuffed three bags full of a bunch of comics. It was such fun going through the boxes, looking for those gems of back issues. I got a bunch of Thor books, Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1s, a run of Incredible Hulk with amazing covers that I had never seen before as well as a bunch of independent books. I wound up with over 250 books in those three bags. Great deal!

Comic of the Week

Alias: Red Band #1

This week’s Comic of the Week reminded me how much I enjoyed Jessica Jones as a character. The hard-drinking, rough housing, foul-mouthed character was having a difficult time fitting in as the First Lady of New York and the stress is causing some tension with her husband, Mayor Luke Cage. Not only that, but the murder in her old building that she has been forbidden to investigate is building that tension as well. I do love this noir style as Jessica Jones narrates the comic, giving you insights into her character.

Excited to continue this series moving forward.

Books this week:

The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #1. Written by Hannah Rose May and art by Kelsey Ramsay. Cover art was done by Kelsey Ramsay & Heather Breckel. It was not that long ago when we had an exorcism story set in the White House. Now we take the idea across the pond to Britain and Buckingham Palace as the soon-to-be King of England has his own demons to deal with. But are they just found in a bottle or is there more to this story. Great first issue and I am excited this concept is back.

Ordained #2. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Trevor Hairsine. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). It has been several months since Ordained #1 came out and was one of the hottest books at the time. This issue picked up right away from the long break back into the action and it is clear that Father Roy is not one to mess with.

Mark Spears Monster #9. “The Tell-Tale Heart… but why will you say that I am mad?” Written by Mark Spears and Lucas Spears with art and cover art by Mark Spears. Cover C (Bronze Medalist), Cover D (Gold Medalist). The Mad Hatter is being interrogated at the police station and that sounds like it is not going to go smoothly.

Crownsville #5. Writtenby Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. The mini-series closes with a cool wrap up. The killer kids are unstoppable, but, apparently not. I enjoyed how Crownsville finished up and left it open for a potential future.

X-Men United #1. “Welcome to Graymatter Lane” Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The White Queen is trying to reunite the X-Men. Cyclops ain’t happy about it. I’m not sure how this series affects Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, but it is intriguing to see these characters back together again. Even whiny Cyclops.

D’Orc #2. “Time to Die!” Written, art and cover art by Brett Bean. I was excited to see if D’Orc #2 would be able to maintain the huge momentum that the first issue. I am pleased to say that it absolutely continued its strength and thoroughly entertaining storytelling. This still reminds me of a combination of Eight Billion Genies and Groo.

Magik & Colossus #2. “Sisyphean” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. It has been too long since we had interactions between Illyana and Piotr Rasputin. The brother-sister vibe of this book makes it intriguing.

Tigress Island #1. Written Patrick Kindlon and art and cover art by Ephk. This was an intriguing new book. I am not sure what is going on with this book. It was not anywhere what I expected to be. I will be continuing to look at it, but I am not sure what this is about.

Comic: The Magazine #1. The next attempt and putting out a comic magazine came out this weekend. After the Zdarsky newsletter went away, this stepped up and I liked the first issue. I think there are a lot of different ideas that could wind up in this magazine.

Black Cat #8. “Fortress of Magnitude” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Adam Hughes did the cover art. Felicia and Mary Jane are inside the Negative Zone in search of a video tape. The pairing of MJ and Black Cat has always been fun, and with MJ now as Venom, it makes things all the more weird.

A Quiet Place: Storm Warnings #1. Written by Phil Hester with pencils and cover art by Ryan Kelly. This is a new story with the creatures from A Quiet Place and this is an interesting story. I liked the time they spent this issue building our human characters because they are a vital part of the tale.

The Other/Half #1. “Dinner and a Diamond.” Written by Jim McCann and art by Joe Eisma. Cover art was done by Joe Eisma. Henry is a private investigator and Ethan is a socialite and they are married. However, there is a mystery that is going to require them to get into roles that they are not used to. Interesting new book from Ignition Press. The key is the relationship between Henry and Ethan.

Venom #255. Written by Al Ewing with art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. I usually do not buy the Venom series (which is up to #255…wow, I did not think Marvel let books get that high any more). However, this is part three of the Death Spiral story where Venom and Spider-Man team up so I had to pick it up.

51 #1. Written by Curt Pires with art and cover art by Jok. Another book that was hot this weekend was 51 from Mad Cave. I like this one more than the Tigress Island book. This sends a group of individuals into Area 51 to try and maintain the secrets and clean up after they lose those secrets into the world. And what if it was the president’s son? This was fun.

Bleeding Hearts #2. Written by Deniz Camp with art and cover art by Stipan Morian. The first issue of this new Vertigo book did not win me over. It was fine, but I did not think it was great. However, you can throw that all out the window because I thought issue two of this series was fantastic. It was a real turn around for me and that made me very happy.

Absolute Batman #18. “The Seventh Kingdom-Part 2” Written by Scott Snyder with art by guest artist Eric Canete. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Batman’s conflict with Poison Ivy comes to a dramatic close and Batman does something that no one expects. It is taking this Absolute Batman on a distinctly different path. I am not sure how to feel about it, but it absolutely is a shocking step.

Transformers #30. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Speaking of shocking moments, there is one in the Transformers book too. The Transformers get themselves a brand new Prime! It is not Optimus any more.

Planet of the Apes Versus Fantastic Four #2. Written by Josh Trujillo with art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. I am surprised how well the Apes from Planet of the Apes and the FF mix together. This has been very entertaining so far in the first two issues.

Imperial Guardians #1. Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art is done by Sean Izaakse & Nolan Woodard. A group of space heroes reform the Guardians, through the Imperial banner with Marvel. We get Gamora, Captain Marvel, Darkhawk, Cosmic Ghost Rider and Brawn.

Other books this week: Godzilla vs. Portland #1, Harley Quinn X Elvira #5, Masterminds #4, Sonja Reborn #6, The Seasons #9, Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish #1, Marian Heretic #5, Absolute Green Lantern #12, and Blood & Thunder #12.

Quick Hits: Space Ghost #9 is the first book this week in Quick Hits. This is a consistently good series from Dynamite. Another Dynamite book this week is Archie X The Army of Darkness #2. The book is able to get Archie and his friends into a cabin in the woods. The final issue of High Strangeness #5 is full of weirdness. No Place #4 continues its Oz based story. Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #2 has been a bit over my head so far. I love Storm so I will be sticking to it moving ahead, but it is not the most interesting storyline so far. Another series that has come to an end as 1776 #5 is finished. It was a strange book with the Revolutionary War, but I like big swings. Escape from Skull Island #2 keeps the Kong action going. Doctor Strange #4 keeps up with the Asgard storyline. It is another one that I have not loved, but I think it is okay. I missed Where Does the Rainbow End? #2 when it came out so I picked it up this week with Where Does the Rainbow End ?#3 was released.

Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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March 15

It’s the Ides of March and I forgot to do this column this week. I had parent/teacher conferences on Thursday so it changed up when I picked up my books. I never even thought about it until about five minutes ago.

So here are this week’s belated Favorite covers of the week.

Also-Rans: Crownville #5, X-Men United #1, The Exorcism at Buckingham Palacce #1, Alias: Red Band #1, Space Ghost #9, Bleeding Hearts #2, and Transformers #30.

Bronze Medalist

Mark Spears Monsters #9

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Mark Spears

I do love evil clowns, especially those drawn by Mark Spears. There is a rolling pin in the middle of the page.

Silver Medalist

Ordained #2

Cover art by Jorge Fornes

We have been waiting for Ordained #2 for a long time. It was worth the wait. The bloody gun in the hand of Father Craig as he peaks around the corner of the brick wall really gives a strong story about what this issue is about. I love the darkness and how Craig’s clothes blend into it.

Gold Medalist

Mark Spears Monsters #9

Variant Cover D

Cover art by Mark Spears

Mark Spears art with 3D. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. However, how can you turn down out favorite monsters with 3D glasses on their faces? This is a lot of fun and grabs mark Spears another gold medal.

Clean Room #18

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Written by Gail Simone

Art by Walter Geovani

Cover art by Jenny Frison

“A Bridge to Nowhere”

The final issue of Clean Room Vol 1 came to an end and, thankfully, it wrapped up the story in a nice, tight roll.

I was very worried that the series would end without sufficient closure, perhaps canceled by the cruel fates, leaving the threads a dangling. However, my fears were unjustified as this brought everything to an extremely satisfying conclusion.

The finale found the final showdown between Astrid and Derica, which turned out to be more one sided than I expected. I should have guessed that Astrid was in complete control of the situation. Of course she was.

We found out even more proof that Capone is one bad ass m-fer. I am so pleased that she made it through the conclusion.

The story of Chloe made perfect sense and what Astrid had Chloe do at the end also worked for this story. I loved having Spark make his return and play a huge role in the finale. I also loved having the brothers Havelin on site and brandishing a big piece of wood. Avil returned too and the idea of some threesomes between him, Chloe and Killian is mind-blowing.

I’ve been reading this series for the past 18 days and I am very pleased with the ending. It was satisfying and placed the characters that I have grown to love in great places and it works as an ending.

Thanks to Gail Simone for her creativity and storytelling skills. This was a fabulous series that I truly enjoyed.

The Daily Read will pause now for awhile until the next series presents itself. This was a fun time with comics and there is little better than that.

Clean Room #17

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Spoilers

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Walter Geovani

Cover arty by Jenny Frison

“Waiting for the Stars to Fall”

The penultimate issue of this first series in the Daily Read category sees Astrid re-establish control over her #1 Fan, Artus. He spent the first half of the book making himself seem superior to the “critter” but he took things a step too far and Astrid decided that enough was enough and she brought this little creep down big time while coming to rescue Chloe and Killian.

However, the big throwdown is still coming as Derica is on her way to have a massive confrontation with Astrid. This is just after Astrid is informed by Artus that the way to destroy the Entities was to exorcise the child.

That sounds like a big war in the finale.

I have to say that I am worried that the series did not come to a clean conclusion. Was it canceled and so the storyline was left dangling? That would not be what I want.

Clean Room #16

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Spoilers

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Walter Geovani

Cover art by Jenny Frison

“Assisted Living”

Woah!

I know I mentioned that last issue was a filler issue, a look at someone outside of the main arcs of the book.

Man, did that change.

Issue #16 just went to town. Brutal. Violent. Vicious.

While Chloe and Killian are trapped in the memories inside the Clean Room, Artus Greenhand is calling for Astrid.

Then an assault was underway on the building. The creatures were after Capone, who just showed how much of a bad ass she is. They were after Anika, and Capone made it there in time to put an axe through the creature’s head. The Surgeon came to kill Duncan, but he got surprised by the Haverlin boys and some baseball bats.

Astrid’s crew was stepping things up, big time. Even with that, there was a feeling of hopelessness going on in the book.

Some of it may have come from the unsettling conversation between Astrid and the entity in control of the baby Derica. This was disturbing as it gets, with the baby reaching out and asking Aunt Astrid to hold it. Creepy.

This issue was packed to the gills with action and gore after a slower filler issue #15. This was a powerful issue with so many shout out loud moments. It was such a big time book and there are only two more issues to go.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #194

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March 8

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade once again. Each week I get a bunch of books from my two comic shops and it always takes some time to finish reading them. With the movies and TV shows I have to watch (oh, and work at school), I am happy when I get the chance to finish this up.

I am continuing the Daily Read with the Vertigo series Clean Room. I read issue #15 today, giving me just three more to read.

Comic of the Week

Narco #1

This week’s Comic of the Week is a book from Image. There were a couple of books that were in competition but this one is the one I liked reading the most. It was written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Marcus is our main character and he has a certain trouble…narcolepsy when he gets too excited. This was a really fun introduction to this character and I am in on what is happening.

Narco #1 is one of those hot chased after books and I do think it is worthy to be chased.

Books this week:

Sleep #8. Written, illustrated and cover art by Zander Cannon (Silver Medalist). Sleep has been one of the most entertaining series of the last year. This is the finale of the series and I have to say, I did not love the final issue. I was a little unsure about the ending of the story. I didn’t hate the end, but it was just not as strong as I had expected.

Nectar #1. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art was done by Francesco Francini and Annapaola Martello. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan (Gold Medalist). This was one of the books that was in competition with Narco #1 for the Comic of the Week. I really loved this book and I was fully engaged with the mystery going on in this book.

Amazing Spider-Man #23. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. The second part of the Death Spiral story continued with Peter finally learning that Mary Jane was the new host of Venom. MJ then finds out that it was not Peter who blew her off before. Will Marvel ever let Peter and Mary Jane get back together?

DC KO #5. “The King Omega” Written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson and art by Javi Fernandez. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez & Alejandro Sanchez. Well, I thought Lex Luthor had won the tournament, but it sure feels as if Superman has taken the position. I guess that this is the way they are going to send Superman away for a time.

X-Men #26. “Danger Room, Pt. 1” written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The X-Men are out on a mission from the town, but Glob Herman was left behind, working in his garden. Things did not look good for Glob. I sure hope that he was able to avoid what it appeared to have happened.

All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #8. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Mysterio is back and causing all sorts of trouble. The underworld of the Marvel Universe in New York is all over this book too with Hammerhead leading the way.

Avengers #36. “Assemble” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Russell Dauterman & Rachelle Rosenberg. The final issue of this run of Avengers as Captain Marvel goes around to all the team members that she had recruited and revealed that she was stepping down as team leader. They also had a big goodbye to Camelot. Not sure where the Avengers goes from here, but this is the final issue of Jed MacKay’s run and this super powered version of the team.

Wolverine #17. “Cold and Alone” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine and Silver Sable are out int he Canadian wilderness trying to help the group that has been dubbed the New Morlocks. Meanwhile, Logan and Sable are getting busy.

Exploit #1. Written by Tim Leong & Laura Hudson with art by Emiliana Pinna. A piece of satire directed at the tech oligarchy with journalist Kirby Kuo, who uncovered a secret about tech billionaire Cole Saxon and promptly published it. This leads to all kinds of trouble for her. A new Mad Cave book filled with fun.

The Twilight Zone #5. “Silent Warning” Written by L. Marlow Francavilla & Francesco Francavilla with art by Francesco Francavilla. Cover art was done by Robert Hack. We are back under the sea with weird creatures and dangers galore in the latest Twilight Zone installment.

Batman #7. “Kill Switch” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. A captured and hooked up Joker calls for Batman, to give him a warning of something to come… and to drop a surprise bomb at the end… Joker called him “Bruce.” There is a cool foldout section at the center of this book too that was awesome.

Hello Darkness #19. Another month of a variety of horror stories and a potpourri of creative folks. Cover art was done by Rebeca Puebla and cover B was done by Jenny Frison (Bronze Medalist). My favorite of the stories was “Imposter Syndrome” written by Tate Brombal.

Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice #5. Written by Frank Tieri and art by Inaki Miranda. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. This is the book to complain about this week. This was a five issue series, making this the finale. However, issue #4 came out September 17, 2025. The final issue was good, but how am I supposed to care that much when it has been nearly six months between issues.

X-Men Annual #1. “The Creationist” Written by Ryan Stegman with art by Steve Skroce, Sanford Greene and Ryan Stegman. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Arthur Hesli. Jean Grey aka Phoenix comes back from the cosmos to see the X-Men in Louisiana because there is a mutant using his powers to create monsters.

Daredevil & Punisher #4. “Slaughter in Sutton’s Place” Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Tommaso Bianchi & Mario Santoro. Frank Castle and Daredevil end their latest team up bringing down the villains they were aiming for, in their differing styles. DD & Punisher work together in a book like this because they are so polar opposite and yet only a step or two away from each other.

Moonstar #1. “A Path Unknown” Written by Ashley Allen and art by Edoardo Audino. German Peralta did the cover art. Following up on her guest appearance in the previous Magik series, Danielle Moonstar leads this new book trying to find her proper path.

Nova Centurion #5. “Grand theft Starship Part 2” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvaro Lopez. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. Richard Rider meets back up with Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord once again and the pair bring all kinds of trouble.

Absolute Superman #17. “All Together Now” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Superman steps up against a parasite that is using the people of Metropolis as a power source and Superman shows how inspiring he could be. Oh, and Hawkman may not be the great hero that we thought as he contacted Talia at the end of the issue.

Absolute Flash #12. “The War of the Flashes Part 2” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Nick Robles and Al Kaplan. Cover art was done by Nick Robles. The first year of this series comes to an end with Wally’s father sacrificing himself to save Wally’s life. Wally dedicated himself to finding his dad and saving him. And Grodd finds someone else like him… but without the positive attitude.

Other books this week: The Nice House By the Sea #8, Tales of the Shadowman #6, Lost Fantasy #8, Lands Unknown: The Skinless man #1, The Beauty #4, Bloodland #2, and The Autumn Kingdom #2.

Quick Hits: I grabbed another one of those hit Mad Cave series off eBay. I must have missed it when it was out in comic shops. It is called The Florida Hippopotamus Cocaine Massacre #1 and it is wild and weird and lots of fun. One shot Iceman: Omega #1 was not as much fun as I did not find myself interested in the book. I have always liked Iceman so maybe it was just the issue’s approach. I grabbed a copy of D’Orc #1 second printing. I loved D’Orc and it was a huge hit so the new cover by Brett Bean and Frank Williams was cool. After enjoying the Ursula book last week, I grabbed a copy of Gaston #1 (Bronze Medalist). I like Gaston the character way more than Ursula, but I did not like this book at all. That was strange. There is a reprint of Marvel Team Up #14 where Spidey meets Invincible. The book was fun and it is nice to get a copy of a book that I am sure is sky high in original price. Speed Racer #6 is back with more dangerous racing action. Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck #3 came out this week and the two sides to the cartoon world do work well together. Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #3 sees the return of Ming the Merciless. The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town #3 also arrived this week with some solid action and humor. Batman/Green Arrow/Question: Arcadia #3 is one of those books where I am not sure where it falls in continuity. The interactions between Batman and Green Arrow were tense. Finally Godzilla Kai Sei Era #8 brought us some big titan battle.

Clean Room #15

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Spoilers

Written by Gail Simone

Illustrated by Sanya Anwar

Cover art by Jenny Frison

“Interlude: All the Pretty Edges”

This series took a strange detour.

In what felt like a filler issue, we met Mary, a young woman whose husband Ian, was showing up to her after his death in a bungie jumping accident.

Mary wound up in the organization run by Astrid Mueller, but it really did not have anything to do with the story that we have spent the last 14 issues following.

It did take a side of the organization and looked at it in a different manner, with a different POV than what we have been used to. It was an interesting tale of Mary, but I am not sure the purpose of the issue.

We had a different artist, Sanya Anwar, doing the art, but it looked like this was the only issue that she had done in this first volume.