September 4, 2023

I hope everyone has had a happy Labor Day spent with friends, family or engaging in their favorite geek activities. I went to a movie, although saying that I ‘enjoyed’ it would be a gross overstatement.

By the way, it really feels like Sunday night to me right now. Have to keep telling myself that it is Monday.

Before heading out to the theater though, I did some comic reading this morning, finishing off the books from last week’s pull list that I needed to read and getting some of the new back issues that I recently purchased read as well.

My comic book shop sprung a super secret sale on Sunday out of nowhere. Literally, I saw a Facebook post about it on Saturday night and Todd called me wondering if I new anything about it. LOL. Anyway, I went and sprung for a bunch of comic bags and boards for my continuing goal of getting my full collection bagged and boarded, including replacing the old books’ protective materials with new ones. However, it was quite the depressing fact because I am almost done with the bags/boards that I bought and I made it through one long box with unbagged books. I have at least two more of these long boxes to go BEFORE I get into the books in the old boxes. Suddenly, I saw the expense that I would be looking at to complete this goal…

Definitely a LONG term goal.

I originally thought it would be about a year, but that seems impractical (and quite expensive). Anyway, it is still a process.

The books read…

Omega the Unknown #6. “A Tug of the Wrench” Written by Mary Skreenes & Steve Gerber with art by Jim Mooney & Mike Esposito. Cover art by Romita/Cockrum. I bought this at the aforementioned Comic World secret sale simply because it came out in 1977 and it would allow me to make my first post in the Facebook group that I recently joined, Old Guys Who Like Old Comics. I had never heard of Omega the Unknown. I just read it and I have to say that I loved it! I was totally in on everything happening in the book and I thought it was amazingly original and unlike most anything that I have read before. Looks like a winner for the first post.

Marvel Spotlight #24. “Walk the Darkling Road.” Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Sal Buscema. This featured Daimon Hellstrom, aka the Son of Satan. I have always enjoyed the character in his runs in the Defenders and such and I loved his involvement in the recent Hellcat series. He had a confrontation with his sister Satana, but he seemed too goodie-good for the Son of Satan. Still a fun read.

Local Man Gold. Creative team: Tony Fleecs & Tim Seeley with colors by Felipe Sobreiro. This surprised me to no end. I enjoyed the Local Man series that was recently out by Image, and this was a one shot involving him. However, there were other heroes that showed up from the past. Strangely enough, I did not recognize them and I thought they were just new characters in Jack Xaver’s life. Then, shockingly, there was Joan Petersen, the main character in Love Everlasting. I couldn’t believe it. Then, I got to the page that showed that all these characters that I thought were just new characters were actually from all kinds of Image books. It was a cool surprise.

W0rldtr33 #5. Written by James Tynion IV and featuring art by Fernando Blanco. I will be honest that I have been struggling with this book so far. However, this issue was really exciting and compelling and made me want to get the next issue immediately. Much like a lot of Tynion’s work, W0rldtr33 requires focus and is not designed for a quick skim, and that is not a bad thing.

Spider-Man: India #3. “Seva Part III.” This has been fun so far. Pavitr started selling videos making Spider-Man look bad for money. However, this is all playing back into his own self-image issues. I like Spider-Man: India and the character is interesting.

Justice League: Another Nail #1-3. Written and drawn by Alan Davis. This is an Elseworlds series featuring Superman as an Amish kid and Batman depressed over the death of Robin and Batgirl by the hand of Joker. I liked the resolution of the series, but to be honest, I did not like this that much. It felt like just a whole bunch of cameos by DC heroes that, while cool, did not service the story very well. I did not love the manner the story was told or constructed. Superman did not feel like he was Amish, with it being more in name than anything else. The Batman stuff in Hell was interesting. Overall, this was okay, but not much more than that.

Deadpool: Badder Blood #3. Story by Rob Liefeld, script by Chad Bowers and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Venompool takes on Deadpool… and Zabu? This is a great series that feels like a top notch Deadpool book.

August 31, 2023

Yesterday was a busy day, so I only had the chance to gets some of the books from NEW COMIC BOOK DAY read tonight. There will be another EYG Comic Cavalcade later this weekend (probably), but kicked it off.

There are also a few back issues in this week’s post. Some fun books…

The Tick #4. “A Big Fight.” Written and penciled by Ben Edlund. This was a great pick up by my friend Todd. These New England Comics books are unlike a lot of books. Black and white. Larger sized comic book. I know some of the basic stories told with the Tick but this included a lot of characters that I have never heard of including Paul the Samurai. It felt as if I missed some story beats too as I wasn’t sure why The Tick was doing some of the things he was doing. Still, enjoyed this a lot.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1. “New Normal.” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and drawn by Carlos Gomez & Adam Gorham. Cover art by Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson. Our newly resurrected MUTANT Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel is back in her own limited series, co-written by the actor Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala in the MCU. This was a lot of fun as Kamala head undercover for the X-Men inside a college summer program that is sponsored by Orchis. Ms. Marvel appears in her new X-Man outfit and gets a taste of the hatred given to mutants. There are some wonderful scenes between Kamala and Bruno in this book and I loved the use of Kamala as a narrator. Good stuff.

Secret War #3-4. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Gabriele Dell’Otto. I am enjoying this series so far, even if some of the time jumps and the confusion of the characters involved make me a bit uncertain about what is happening. Nick Fury is causing all kinds of chaos and the super heroes are struggling to remember what happened in Latveria. Meanwhile, Captain America is back and he is ticked off.

Ultimate Invasion #3. Written by Jonathan Hickman and penciled by Bryan Hitch. We’re getting a bunch of variations of different heroes here and the Maker is more involved than is good. There are some shocking moments, including an appearance by Reed Richards in a Doom mask and an armored up Kang.

Knight Terrors: Night’s End#1. Written by Joshua Williamson and Art by Howard Porter. The two month run through the nightmares of the DC characters come to an end as the combined heroes of the DC universe and Deadman and Sandman helped stop Insomnia after 45 previous issues of horrors. The nightmares are beginning to make people feel scared of superheroes in the DC world, and they introduced a new character called Doctor Hate. The ending was fine. The overall series has its ups and downs, but I was happy I bought it.

Marvel Age #1000. A compilation of short stories from some of the top creative forces of the genre that spanned the history of the Marvel universe. It included the original Human Torch, Spider-Man, the original X-Men, the Mighty Thor, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Silver Surfer and a cut little story with childhood versions of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. A celebration of the entire line and history of Marvel Comics.

The Plot Holes #1. Written and illustrated by Sean Gordon Murphy. Honestly, this is one of the more original and way out there ideas I have seen in comics in a long while. This issue spent a lot of time building up the world these characters existed within and that truly required some serious build because it is a touch confusing. Still, I am curious to see where this goes.

Incredible Hulk #3. “That Old-Time Religion: Part Two” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. The Hulk is out of Banner and is as brutal as ever. The young girl named Charlie was, at first, shunned by Hulk and then, after she proved herself, was allowed to tag along. They had to face the zombies of Brother Deep. More horror in the world of the Hulk and I am here for it.

Moon Knight Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Four.” This annual featured the battle between Moon Knight and Korean hero Taegukgi of the Tiger Division. I loved the resolution of this fight as Moon Knight realized what they were doing and just said, “I quit.” We also start to see what Agatha Harkness is after in the final few pages of the story.

Blade #2. “Mother of Evil.” Written by Bryan Hill and penciled by Elena Casagrande. Blade and Tulip meet up as Blade saved her life. This leads to a lot of trouble for both of them and leaves Blade in a bad state. So far this has been different than I expected, definitely in a good way.

August 28, 2023

Part of the fun of being a comic collector is not only what is coming out now, but what has come out before.

My friend Todd said to me once that I did not like old comics, but that is not true. Todd thought that because I would never get into the ‘new’ old issues at Comic World, looking through the boxes, that I wasn’t interested in the back issues. As I said, that is not correct.

Fact is it goes back to the fact that I do not know exactly what is in my collection. I have older books in boxes in the other room, but I have not been through them in ages. I want to get the book reorganized, re-boarded, re-bagged, but until I do, I am not sure what exactly is there. And I do not want to be spending money on books I already have.

However, lately I have found some books that I know I never had before, some books that I had no idea were ever published, and a couple of biggies that I know I have never read.

Avengers #500, 501. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Finch. This is the start of the Avengers Disassembled storyline. The first two issues of this was just amazing. Admittedly, some of the impact of the story was weakened since Scott Lang, who died in the early parts of the first book, is not dead as of today. Plus, some of the character interactions were different than I know, since this is during the whole Bendis period in Marvel. There were some fighting among the Avengers that I was not expecting. I need #502 but i have the remainder of the story and I hope to finish that up one day soon.

World War Hulk #1-5. Written by Greg Pak and drawn by John Romita Jr. Another story that I had heard about, but had never read. World War Hulk was brutal and seeing the Hulk run rampant over the Marvel heroes that he blamed for his love being killed was awesome. This is a beautiful book with amazing imagery and some massive battles with the Hulk and other heroes. World War Hulk was very satisfying.

Planetary #17, 18. Written by W.G. Ellis and drawn by Johnny Mac Cassaday. This was a book from Wildstorm that I had never heard of before and when I saw it in the box at Comic World, it piqued my curiosity. There were a couple of books and they all looked very different. I assumed that this was an anthology series. When I read number 17 & 18, I realized that this is not an anthology. There was a character named Elijah Snow that crossed into both. I liked both books very much (one had a character that had quite a bit of resemblance to Tarzan) so I decided to hold off reading more until I got some of the early books in the series so I could get a base behind what was going on with these characters.

Black Orchid #1. Written by Neil Gaiman and art by Dave McKean. Another book that I did not expect. I bought this on the basis of the name of Neil Gaiman. I did not know that this three issue series was set in the DC Universe. However, there was Lex Luthor making an appearance. There was a lot of exposition here and I am not sure how I felt about it. It was okay and I am sure I will read parts 2 & 3 eventually.

Secret War #1 & 2. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and featuring art by Gabrielle Dell’Otto. Yes, that says ‘Secret War’ not Secret Wars. Another series that I had no idea about. It is a five issue series that I have 1-4 of. I read the first two and it was not what I expected. Nick Fury, the original one, recruited a bunch of heroes in their non-hero identities to go into Latveria because the country of Latveria was funding the tech based villains such as Killer Shrike (who did not have a great appearance). I really liked this even though he approached Peter Parker and Logan was drunk and not acting like himself. I know some times the criticism of Bendis was that he had characters act in ways that they wouldn’t do. This did feel like that. But I let that slide because the concept of the series was pretty cool.

August 26, 2023

I have wrapped up the books from last week’s NEW COMIC BOOK DAY tonight as I read through a bunch of books.

There was a book that I had zero interest in and that I started, but chose not to continue reading. That was the Realm of X from the Fall of X storyline. My feeling of the current X-Men continue to be up and down.

Looks like we are down to the wire with DC’s Knight Terrors. There is just the finale (next week) remaining after six books this week. Two of them were books that I absolutely did not find interesting and that I skimmed through and pushed aside. Those are Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #2 and Knight Terrors: Angel Breaker #2. I continue to not be interested by the characters in this series that I do not know, which is the Angel Breaker and then I was not a fan of the Harley Quinn series.

The other four books though were all really good. My favorite this week was the Knight Terrors #4, followed by Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #2 (featuring James Gordon), then Knight Terrors: Titans #2, followed by Knight Terrors: Action Comics.

I wonder if next week’s finale is a larger, double sized book?

Rest of this week’s books:

Big Game #2. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Whoa. This series picked up big time this issue. I did not see this coming. The Chrononauts and the Ambassadors slaughtered! Westley Gibson bringing the doom. Hit Girl escapes the assassination. Watching the Ambassadors, who I just finished their new book a few months ago, get just destroyed was wild. Who knows what is next.

Deadpool #10. “To the Victor” Written by Alyssa Wong and drawn by Luigi Zagaria. Martin Coccolo & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. The arc with Deadpool, Valentine and his symbiote dog come to an end with this issue and it may be the end of this Deadpool run. I have enjoyed this volume of Deadpool so I wish there was more coming. Surely, the Merc with a Mouth will return to his own series somewhere.

Klik Klik Boom #3. Written by Doug Wagner and illustrated by Doug Dabbs. Another book that ended with a shocking cliffhanger. It sure seemed as if one of our characters bit the big one in this issue and it was a tragic end. I hope I misread that because I liked this character a lot.

Daredevil & Echo #4. Written by Taboo & B. Earl and featuring art by Phil Noto. This limited series ended with this issue too. Daredevil & Echo has been an okay read, but I would not ever go back and read it again. All of the characters involved seem more interesting in other books.

Moon Knight: City of the Dead #2. “Hearts on Fire.” Moon Knight and Scarlet Scarab are in search of the soul of Khalil inside the City of the Dead. A series of Moon Knight’s dead enemies teamed up to take him down. Now Marc Specter came face to face with someone he never thought he’d see again. The character of Moon Knight continues to be top line.

Newburn #10. “Chapter Ten: He’s Got History.” Things are looking bad for Newburn and the crime families as tensions are high. The crime families let Newburn know that they are thinking about changing the way things are done and Newburn let the crime families know that he has some surprising knowledge protecting him. Newburn feels like he is in the most trouble he has ever been in during the entire series so far.

Indigo Children #6. Written by Curt Pires and drawn by Rockwell White. The Indigo Children have reached their goal, but Director Rand stands in their way. Another shocking last few pages for this book.

Black Panther #3. “Reign at Dusk: Part 3” I’m not sure I know exactly what this book is about. There are a lot of pages involving characters from Wakanda that I do not know very well. The very end of this issue though looks as if it is about to pick up with Deathlok making an appearance.

August 23, 2023

Happy Birthday, Todd!

It is another NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and, with school underway, I have less time to read. I came back from Comic World tonight and, since the Dodgers game was in a rain delay (and eventually postponed) I was able to get some of them read. I hope to get another post later this weekend with the rest of the new books.

Plus, I picked up a series of back issues at Comic World today. Some back issues of The Avengers during Avengers Dissembled, a series called Planetary from Warren Ellis, Bendis’s Secret War, Neil Gaiman’s Black Orchid three issue series, and World War Hulk issues of Incredible Hulk. I hope to get these read over the next week or so as well.

The books I started reading first this week included:

The Schlub#1. Story by Ryan Stegman & Kenny Porter with art by Tyrell Cannon. Freaky Friday meets The Boys. Roger Dalton is a down on his luck loser whose dentistry business is in jeopardy from his own brother. When a super hero named Cirrus crashed into his dentist office during a fight with villainous Wyrm, thing get strange. Roger winds up with a mysterious artifact that flips the consciousness of Roger with Cirrus, giving Roger the power that he had been lacking for so long. This was an interesting start that I am curious about movie forward.

The Immortal Thor #1. “All Weather Turns to Storm.” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Martín Cóccolo. Alex Ross is the cover artist. A great new arc for the Thunder God as we get Loki, some frost giants, and some amazing creatures from the Utgard dimension. There are some utterly gorgeous images in this book, in particular the art near the last third of the book. The arrival of Toranos are breathtaking. I am more excited about Thor than I have in quite a while.

Amazing Spider-Man #32. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Patrick Gleason. Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Kraven the Hunter is back and causing trouble, heading after Norman Osborn. Spider-Man is to the rescue, but things go awry for Spidey. Kraven may have actually %$#%ed up badly.

Unleashed #1. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Jesus Hervas. The cover art was done by David Baldeón & Israel Silva. This is a combination of the DC League of Super Pets and Strays. It did feel better written than Strays (the movie) though (maybe Stray Dogs-comic series is a better comparison). Marvel animal characters are teaming up with such animals as Lockjaw, Goose, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Redwing and, apparently, Throg. And another appearance of Kraven the Hunter. The dialogue between the animals threw me a bit, but I think I am going to continue to give this a try. It is silly, but harmless.

Invincible Iron Man #9. “The End of Iron Man.” Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Juan Frigeri. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Tony Stark and Emma Frost are at their lowest. Stark has to give up his Iron Man armor and Emma just discovered about the massacre on the night of the Hellfire Gala. With their back against the wall, they take some drastic steps in their battle with Feilong and Orchis. The characterization of Tony Stark in this series has been top notch.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #3. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Nick Robles did the cover art. Christopher, Jordi (aka Dracula Boy) and Viv are in trouble and things are only getting worse. They all believe themselves to be monsters and the ghosts chasing them are making matters even more problematic.

Jean Grey #1. “Mind Maze” Written by Louise Simonson and drawn by Bernard Chang. I got a variant cover with Miss Minutes on it. Not sure what happened here. The book started with Jean’s latest death, but then went back to the time when Jean and the other original X-Men came to the present. They went back to their own time, but kept their memories of what happened in the future and suddenly Jean was becoming more drastic in her actions. It felt like a What If issue that is extending on. It was fairly engaging though.

Fantastic Four Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Three” Written by Zac Gorman and featuring art by Alan Robinson. Francesco Manna & Erick Arciniega did the cover art. The back up story with Clea, Spidey and Jessica Jones was written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Alberto Foche. The Contest of Chaos continues on, this time with Johnny Storm vs. Johnny Blaze. Human Torch vs. Ghost Rider. I have enjoyed these annuals so far as I am intrigued by what Agatha Harkness is up to.

No/One #5. Written by Kyle Higgins & Brian Buccellato. Art is by Geraldo Borges. The mystery behind No/One continues to enthrall me. In this issue, Aaron Kern, the man convicted for being No/One, recanted his confession and wound up being released. Things are heating up again as we reach the halfway point for this series.

Captain America Finale #1. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Carmen Carnero. The Outer Circle storyline comes to an end as Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes bring the manipulators to their Doom (literally).

Tenement #3. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. They are to Floor Seven. Not sure where Isaac had went, the group continue to explore this spooky building. The comic art is beautiful, but I have been having a tough time following everything so far. I have loved the previous Bone Orchard work so I am ready to continue this.

August 20, 2023

Fifty posts in the EYG Comic Cavalcade! Of course, when I reached fifty posts in the Comic Catch-Up, I rebooted into this current format. I am not going to do that this time. We will continue to push forward with the EYG Comic Cavalcade moving ahead.

It is a good time to reflect on what I have done over the last year or so. I have gotten through a ton of the piles sitting around my house. The books are being bagged, boarded and boxed. I am in the process of reorganizing everything, which is a massive chore.

The comics I read on a weekly basis are really some of the best I have read in my years of collecting comics. I still consider myself a mostly Marvel guy, but the increase in my independent collection cannot be ignored. I would guess that Something is Killing the Children was the initial emphasis of this new push, though one can not deny that Jeff Lemire’s Gideon Falls had a lot to do with it too.

Some of my favorite Marvel books over the last few years are more than just Spider-Man books. It was unexpected, but I loved Hellcat, a few of the variations of Jessica Jones, and Loki. It always seemed that when I really started to enjoy a book, it would end. Now, with the limited series being the norm, it is easier to deal with.

I am still not into DC much, but I will admit that I am enjoying the Knight Terrors event. This week there were only five issues as things are starting to wrap up. My order of favorites this week would be Knight Terrors: Nightwing, Knight Terrors: Superman, Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman, Knight Terrors: Catwoman, and then Knight Terrors: Punchline. Punchline has been one that I have had a hard time getting involved with since I did not know the character prior to the event.

Other books that I completed this week:

Void Rivals #1. Written by Robert Kirkman and featuring art by Lorenzo De Felici. Ryan Barry and Mike Spicer did the cover art. What an unexpected pleasure this was. I had no idea that this book was tied into the Transformers at Image thing that is happening. Yes, the cover looked like a Transformer, but I did not make the connection. This would not be the first character that looked like a Transformer. Not only was this a Transformer, but it was Jetfire. Jetfire was my favorite Transformer character on the 80s cartoon (he was called Skyfire on the show), but his appearance here caught me completely off guard. I was interested by the two characters the book introduced at first, but when Jetfire showed up, the book truly started to pop. Void Rivals made me interested in checking out Transformers #1 from Image, something that I had not been before.

What If…? Dark: Moon Knight #1. Written by Erica Schulz and drawn by Edgar Salazar. The new Dark What If series of books have been interesting and this new issue deals with Moon Knight… at least a little bit of Moon Knight as he does not last long in the story. The whole ending with Marlene becoming a luminary of Ra and being taken over by Ra was weird, but fit well in the nature of the What If series.

Loki #3. “The Liar: Chapter Three.” Written by Dan Watters and drawn by German Peralta. Dustin Nguyen was the cover artist. Remember when I mentioned that the limited series allow me to know a story isn’t going to last. This one caught me unexpected when the final page said it would be concluded next issue. Four issues was not what I thought. I did enjoy the reunion with Loki, Wiccan and Hulkling.

Something Epic #4. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. The latest issue of the book that does more to celebrate creativity and the imagination of comic books than just about any book out there came out this week once again. It is working on creating the mythology of this universe with the existence of ‘epics’ and has placed Dan into almost a video game like situation. Something Epic is continuing to be the most original book I read.

X-Men: Days of Future Past-Doomsday #2. The prequel to the major X-Men story from the 1980s continues here as we get several of the mutants dying and Colossus and Kitty Pryde taking the chance to express their love for one another. The series is dark, but I did appreciate how it took a moment to find the joy inside the grief.

Star Signs #4. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Megan Levens. The people with their star sign powers continue to join together, finding where they belong. It was a close call for the group to escape Mister Duke, and things look to be getting worse as we meet Libra.

Ghost Rider #17. “Part 2: Demonology” The team up between Ghost Rider and Wolverine is in full swing as they search for the young boy Bram. We get a flashback to where Logan and Ghost Rider meet for the first time too. The next part of the story takes place in the issues of Wolverine, which I do not get so I am not sure where this will go for me.

Marvel Voices: X-Men #1. This is a compilation of a series of shorts featuring the X-Men characters. I have to say I do not usually read these Voices books too closely, but I did enjoy this one and read it through. Bernard Chang & Marcelo Costa did the cover art.

Iron Man Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Two.” Written by Jason Loo and drawn by David Cutler. I had a variant cover drawn by Felipe Massatera. As we saw in the Spider-Man annual earlier this month, two heroes wind up fighting with each other and the winner winds up being taken. In this annual, we get Iron Man vs. Storm. There were some snipping going on through the book and it was a pretty solid fight between an X-Man and an Avenger. We also see a final few pages with Spidey and Jessica Jones heading to see Clea to look for answers.

Dark X-Men #1. “There is a Kingdom.” Written by Steve Foxe and featuring art by Jonas Scharf. Madelyne Pryor, the ruler of Limbo, returns to the forefront as she is helping some mutants escape the persecution of Orchis. She is also involved with Alex Summers, aka Havok. A bunch of interesting X-Men characters are in this book and it was a fun read.

Money Shot Comes Again #3. Written by Tim Seeley and drawn by Gisele Lagace. I have to say, this book is weird. I feel a little dirty reading it.

Here is to fifty more posts in the EYG Comic Cavalcade!

August 16, 2023

Things have changed. Yes, the summer is over for me. I went back to start school today at the middle school where I teach. No students yet. We have a week of prep, meetings and organizing to get ready. Because I was back at work, that meant I did not get the chance to go to Comic World and hang out and read a bunch of books today.

I went after school was over, but I was not able to do any reading at the store. When I got home tonight, I did some reading here, but it means that this post is not going to be as long as it has been after NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!

With the schedule busy lately, I will be working on finishing up the rest of the pile of new comics during the weekend. I wanted to get to this EYG Comic Cavalcade tonight anyway.

Starting off, I want to talk about Messenger. This is a graphic novel that I received in the mail from Amazon on Monday of this week. It deals with the life of Muhammad Ali. Written by Marc Bernardin and drawn by Ron Salas, Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali is an interesting book. It is a beautiful black-and-white book that is a fairly quick read.

Marc Bernardin is a personal favorite of mine. He does a podcast with Keven Smith called Fatman Beyond and being able to match the personality of Kevin Smith is a tall order. Marc Bernardin is one of the few who can accomplish it. I wanted to order this book when I heard him promote it on an episode of Fatman Beyond. He said on the podcast, as well as in the forward of the book, that some of what appears in the book was true, but a lot of it is made up, or mushed together. It is told more for the legend of Ali than the entire truth. It’s more of creating a feel of who/what Muhammad Ali was than being tied to a narrative of what actually happened. It picked out some of the biggest moments of Ali’s life and gave us an idea of how it affected The Greatest. If you are an Ali fan, you love this. I have only a passing knowledge of the champ and this was a fun read. Check it out.

Other books I have started off with this week…

Uncanny Avengers #1. “Truth & Justice.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Javier Garrón. Captain America has taken a step to try and help out mutantkind once again by re-creating the Unity Squad including Psylocke, Deadpool, Quicksilver, Penance, and Rogue in an attempt to bring the rogue Captain Krakoa to justice.

Antarctica #2. Written by Simon Birks and featuring art from Willi Roberts. Hannah comes face to face with someone who is an exact duplicate of herself. Is she from a different dimension? Not sure, but there are some really weird things going on in the Antarctic.

Groo: In the Wild #2. Written by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier and illustrated by Sergio Aragonés. Groo is still hungry and in search of the meat of the ortix. Sadly, it is extinct, but Groo does not understand that. And his very presence is causing all kind of trouble for King Putrio.

Daredevil #14. “The Red Fist Saga: Conclusion.” Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Marco Checchetto. Chip Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil comes to a close with this issue. Foggy, North and Elektra have been going on with their lives for the past six months, mourning the death of Matt Murdock. They see him everywhere. When Elektra wound up at a church, she found a certain blind priest there that will be setting up the next arc of the character of Daredevil. Chip Zdarsky has been one of the greatest Daredevil writers of all time and he will be missed on this series.

Spider-Man #11. “Marvel Tales” Written by Dan Slott and art by Luciano Vecchio. Mark Bagley & Edgar Delgado did the art for the cover. Spider-Boy tries to convince Peter that he is Peter’s sidekick. He tries to convince him by telling him about several stories that Spider-Boy claim have already happened, but that Peter has forgotten. It is a strange idea, but it really works well. I have enjoyed the character of Spider-Boy so far.

Something is Killing the Children #32. “Showdown at the Easy Creek Corral, Part Two.” Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’edera. Erica and Cecilia come face to face and share their mutual dislike for one another. However, there is someone they both hate even more, and that showdown is coming soon.

Alpha Flight #1. “Divided We Stand- Part One“. The Canadian super hero team has returned to dive directly into the whole Orchis-Mutant conflict engulfing the Marvel universe at the moment. One team of Alpha Flight members team up in order to try and capture Northstar and Aurora, as well as capturing any mutants still here. Or is there more to the story?

August 12, 2023

I picked up a trade paperback of the first four issues of Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour. I had heard plenty about this series and, with my recent entry into the independents, I wanted to check it out. I loved that trade paperback a lot. That sent me to eBay to look for the whole series. They arrived in the mail and I worked through issues #5-20 that remained.

However, when I finished issue #20, it was strange. There was no mention of it being the final issue and there was even a mention of #21. It did not feel like a finale issue as the story was not wrapped up in a truly satisfactory manner. Was this series not done? What was going on? I searched for #21 on eBay and found that it was not there. So I went to Google to search about the series and I discovered the ugly tale.

Apparently, co-creator and artist Jason Latour got himself in trouble with the way he handled himself, specifically with several women accusing him of sexual misconduct and harassment. He seemingly dropped off the map around 2020 and has only recently come back to do some conventions.

There have been hints that maybe the series would come back and I found a comment from Jason Aaron that implied that the fans should not forget about Southern Bastards.

Switching gears from the negativity surrounding the series, the actual story was sensational.

You have some of the most interesting and yet most horrendous characters populating this small county that apparently is run by the local high school football coach, Euless Boss. Coach Boss was a deep character with a horrendous back story which made the readers understand the violent choices that the coach made.

There were shocks throughout. The series introduced a character named Earl Tubb who absolutely felt like the protagonist of the series, only to kill him off in the fourth issue, by being beaten to death by Coach Boss in the street. We see a younger Euless Boss shoot his own father in the head for a local criminal in order to wind up as the coach. There was a black, blind man named Big, who was a sort of savant in football. He helped Euless when he was trying to originally make the football team and stuck beside him as his defensive coordinator until he blew his brains out.

I do not think that you need to be a football fan to enjoy this series. Football is at the center but it is also a deep character piece as well as a serious crime drama.

I do hope that they are able to return some day and put a finishing touch on the series so it does not end up with #20. Issue #20 was a good issue, but it did not serve as a sufficient finale for such a fantastic series.

August 10, 2023

Whoa, I have been working hard on my comic collection. Bags. Boards. Boxes. It’s been insane. I decided the other day that it was time to dive into the piles of comics around here in an attempt to get everything boxed and boarded and organized. It is quite the chore.

I bought four short boxes at Comic World just yesterday and they are basically accounted for, though I am still filling one with completed series. The box I am working on right now has Web of Spider-Man (2021), Savage Spider-Man, Sinister War, The Conjuring: The Lover, Silver Surfer: Rebirth, Ben Reilly: Spider-Man, Namor, Heroes Reborn in it so far. The biggest challenge is finding these complete issues. I know I have them, but who knows where they are boxed.

I pulled out a short box last night and it had a ton of issues from other series in it, with no organization at all. I have a bunch of boxes to go through that are already bagged and boarded and some that are not.

When I get through with this, my hope it to go into the older part of the collection and re-box/bag/board those books as well. That however, is down the road. A long term goal, if you will.

Yesterday was also the last day this summer that I could go to Comic World on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and spend the afternoon reading and hanging out with the employees there. My friend Todd, who has been a regular character in the Comic Cavalcade, has made my Wednesdays a lot of fun. I’m going to miss it when I have to head back to school next Wednesday. Of course, I will head down to Comic World after school next Wednesday to pick up my comics. Still, it will not be quite the same.

Update: Good news this week because Haunt Your to the End #3 was in my box at Comic World. It was the most recent issue 3 that was out this week. It is a pretty decent horror story, with the characters in search of ghosts to prove their existence. However, the issue three trauma remains as I am still missing The Seasons Have Teeth #3. I have #4 in my hands right now, but three is still a mystery.

This week’s DC Knight Terrors issues were really good. Night Terrors #3 was really enjoyable despite one of the ugliest variant covers I have seem. Knight Terrors: Robin#2 was excellent with Jason Todd and Tim Drake working together. Knight Terrors: The Flash #2 was probably the weakest of the issues, but told a good story with Barry and Wall. Knight Terrors: Zatanna #2 was very good too. I liked the pairing of Zatanna and Robotman. Knight Terrors: Shazam #2 featured Mary Marvel and showed her strength. Finally, Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #2 was ok. Probably down with Flash this week.

By the way, the Marvel books this month are honoring the life of John Romita Sr. who passed away earlier this year. They have three pages at the beginning of their books highlighting some of his classic work. RIP John Romita Sr.

Here are the rest of the books this week…

Amazing Spider-Man #31. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by John Romita Jr. & Emilio Laiso. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. This featured the attempted wedding of Robbie Robertson to Beetle. Crime lords of New York all were in attendance and things only went to crap. Very good story. There are also a bunch of shorts at the end of the oversized issue (the Legacy number was 925 so I guess it’s time for a celebration. All the shorts deal with things that are going to be happening in the Spider-family books over the next few months. My favorite was the one with Ms. Marvel and Spidey talking about her death.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #1. “Chapter One: The Bad Death of Bill Barley.” Written by Chris Condon and featuring artwork by Jacob Phillips. Set in the world of That Texas Blood series that I loved so much, I was really excited to see this new issue and I was not disappointed. The time frame was earlier than the other series, but this moved quickly as we learned about the man known as Montgomery Enfield and the death of Bill Barley. The best part of the comic was the design. It had a definite feel of an old time comic. The pages seemed like I was reading an old comic. it even had the smell of old paper. It was a cool reading experience.

Barnstormers #2. “Chapter Two” Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Tula Lotay. Bix and Tillie find themselves in trouble after they were found by her former fiancée. Until this moment, they had been bonding and falling for each other as they continued their air show. Big trouble arrives at the end of the issue setting up for a dramatic conclusion next month.

Damn Them All #7. Written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Charlie Adlard. Elle and her bad behavior returned to search for the coins that possess the demons from Hell. A new wrinkle has arrived though in the form of angels.

Swan Songs #2. “The end of… a Marriage.” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Caspar Wijngaard. This anthology series about apocalyptic moments focused in on the falling apart of an actual marriage and how these two people fell in and out of love. And how they wind up fighting each other forever. Neat twist on this book.

House of Slaughter #16. “Alabaster Part One.” A new story arc for this book. I had a little difficulty getting into this one. Here’s hoping that I will be able to grab more of an interest as it moves along.

Ghost Rider Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance #1. “Sympathy for the Devil.” Logan and Johnny Blaze team up to pursue a child possessed by some monster/demon. The child had come to see Professor X, but was turned away as he was not a mutant. We get some look at Logan and Blaze’s past and their beginnings.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5. “Last Stand at Torment Pass” Written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by Kev Walker. Marco Checchetto did the cover art. The Guardians have come together and are trying to find a way to save Groot. Things do not look like it is going very well.

Ghostlore #4. Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Leomacs. Lucas and Harmony are heading their separate ways… or at least that is what Harmony has decided. As she was writing a letter to her father, Lucas is dealing with a spirit in his church that was tied to a witch execution in the past.

Silk #4. Written by Emily Kim and art by Ig Guara. Dave Johnson did the cover art. Cindy Moon is out of the movie-inspired dream world and is facing off with the monster that Saya Ishii has turned herself into. Silk is doing a dream storyline too at the same time as DC’s Knight Terrors is happening.

Red Goblin #7. Written by Alex Paknadel and drawn by Jan Bazakdua with Rafael Pimentel. Normie can not control his symbiote, Rascal, who is out of control in his attempt to save Tim. Can Miles Morales help out?

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9. “Spun Out Part Two.” Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Federico Vicentini & Federico Sabbatini. Dike Ruan & Alejandro Sanchez did the cover art. Miles and Starling go into a deep battle with Hobgoblin.

Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #2. “Part Two: The Spooky Case of the Girl with the Pocket Portal.” Carol Danvers and a group of kids try to survive in space as the new villain Nada and Nitro are trying get revenge on Carol.

Children of the Vault #1. “Tomorrow’s Children.” Written by Deniz Camo with art by Luca Maresca. Variant cover by Betty Cola. My variant cover featured Loki’s Miss Minutes, which was fun, but not tied to the book at all. We got a bit of a team up with Cable and Bishop along with a group of characters that I did not know at all. I liked the MIss Minutes cover, but the rest of the book was iffy at best.

Spider-Man Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part One.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Alberto Foche. R.S. Silva did the cover art. The Contest of Chaos is a storyline that will be carried over the annuals in Marvel. This one found a fight between Spider-Man and Wolverine over a mysterious orb. It is tied to the newly young Agatha Harkness. It looks to cross over with all of the annuals moving ahead.

Avengers #4. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Stuart Immonen did the cover art. The Avengers are facing off with the new force called The Ashen Combine, and they are being pushed to their limits.

August 7, 2023

Hey, new banner! I really like this new one, with the yellow background. I wanted to debut this one so this is a light edition.

In fact, I only have one thing to talk about here, but it is a wild one. It is an Eisner Award nominated graphic novel called Ultrasound, by Conor Stechschulte.

I see that it is also a 2021 movie of the same title, which now goes on my to watch list. I found it on Hulu and I played it on my watchlist. I hope to get to it sometime this week.

What a wild book this is.

This is what was written on the back of the graphic novel. “Following a strange sexual encounter, Glen and Cyndi become entangled in a web of gaslighting, mind control, deception and political intrigue in this dizzying thriller.“

“Who can you trust when your own memory becomes a tool for manipulation.”

This story was amazingly challenging to follow as you are never quite sure what is going on and if it is actually happening. Glen and Cyndi are fascinating characters that are easy to root for, but who are they really? How much of what happened to them actually happens to them? I’m still not 100% sure. I love that kind of uncertainty in my books.

This is an absolutely adult-themed books, with some graphic scenes of a sexual nature. However, that sex scene is vitally important to what goes on in this story. The artwork is good, but the coloring makes it really stand out.

It is 376 pages, but it reads very fluidly. It definitely feels like a graphic novel that could benefit from a re-read. This was a very compelling tale.

August 4, 2023

Big week in the world of comics. I helped my friend Todd move his ridiculously huge comic collection from one storage unit to another that had more room. He needed it. I saw some amazing comic books in that collection that made it (basically) worth the hard work and sore back.

I do have to say that seeing Todd’s collection and the piles of comics that he had in his unit, I felt much better about my own piles.

Plus, I was able to pick up some back issues myself. I picked up Devil Dinosaur #1, 2, 3,4, 6 (yes, not #5) which was written and drawn by EYG Hall of Famer, Jack Kirby. I looked through the books, which were in really good shape considering that they were put out in 1978. I have always liked Devil Dinosaur and this was a fun group of books to add to my own collection.

There were five issues in the Knight Terrors series this week, all of them #2s. These books will continue through August and they continue to be pretty solid. The separate books are building toward the Knight Terrors #3 & 4. This week’s best issue was Knight Terrors: Batman #2. Then followed by Knight Terror: The Joker, Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy, Knight Terrors: Black Adam and then, bringing up the rear, Knight Terrors: Ravager.

Then, I picked up a trade paper back of Southern Bastards: Volume 1: Here Was A Man by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour. I had heard about Southern Bastards before but never picked it up. This trade paperback collected issues #1-4 of the award winning series. I knew I was in for something different on page one as we see a dog pooping. This was brutal and very well written. Earl Tubb came back to his hometown to wrap up his father’s old house because his uncle (who was living there since Tubb’s father had died)went to an old folks home. Earl Tubb cambe back into town to find that everything is being run by Coach Boss, the local football coach, and everyone is looking the other way. This was sensational and I might have to look into finding the full series, not just being happy with the trades.

Other new books this week:

Strange Academy: Miles Morales #1. Written by Carlos Hernandez and with art by Juann Cabal, Alvaro Lopez, and Guiu Vilanova. Nick Bradshaw & Edgar Delgado did the art for the cover. I love the Strange Academy, though this is a new creative team. I liked what I saw so far. Using Miles Morales in the book worked surprisingly well and who knew that the 2023 Multiversal Math Bowl would be so impactful.

Astonishing Iceman #1. “Out Cold Part One” Written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Vincenzo Carratù. Jesus Saiz did the cover art. I was afraid this was going to be one of those series that take place in the past (like another X-book I’ll talk about later), but I was happy to see that it was set after the Hellfire Gala. It seemed as if Bobby Drake had been killed in the Hellfire Gala book, but something else is going on here. It was interesting and I want to find out what is happening.

Fantastic Four #10. “The Long Way Home” Written by Ryan North and drawn by Leandro Fernandez. There is a page promoting the upcoming G.O.D.S. series that was written by Jonathan Hickman. The cover art was Alex Ross. This was a one-issue story arc with a group of aliens were aboard a ship and the Fantastic Four tried to help them out. The story was all about POV and it was nicely constructed.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Julian Shaw. I have the C variant cover of Wolverine (?) by George Perez. Not only do we see Hallows Eve back trying to get to Ben Reilly, but we also see this tied into the events of the Fall of X as Mary Jane’s Aunt Anna goes crazy from the poisoned medicine from Krakoa. RIP George Perez.

Love Everlasting #10. Written by Tom King and featuring art by Elsa Charretier. Joan Petersen has become an old woman in a nursing home. While there, she finds love and… after being in 1963 for a long time, she finds herself in a new place. And she does not take it well.

Moon Knight #26. Written by Jed Mackay (and Jonathan Hickman) and art by Federico Sabbatini. Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. We get a story centered around Hunter’s Moon.

Magneto #1. “Chapter One: Things Past!” I mentioned earlier about Astonishing Iceman taking place in current continuity… well, the new Magneto series does not. This takes place back with the New Mutants days when it seemed as if Xavier had died. I still am not a fan of these flashback series because they just do not feel important because if they were important, they would have told the story when it started. I do not think I am continuing with this Magneto series.

Nocterra Nemesis Special. Written by Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel with art by Liam Sharp. This looks to be setting this book up for the conclusion of the storyline with Nox and the darkness.

Warlock Rebirth #5. “Theory of Evolution.” Written by Ron Marz and penciled by Ron Lim. This flashback series finishes up with Adam Warlock and Eve Warlock teamed up to face off with the High Evolutionary.

Peacemaker Tries Hard #4. “Book Four.” Written by Kyle Starks and with art by Steve Pugh. Cover art by Kris Anka. Peacemaker vs. Snowflame (the cocaine-powered super villain). Nuff said. This book has the same awesome feel as the Peacemaker HBO Max series did.

Scarlet Witch #7. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta & Sara Pichelli. Russell Dauterman is the cover artist. Wanda gets a visit from her father’s clone, Joseph. And they go to Oz… off with the Wicked Witch of the West. Yeah, I’m not kidding.

X-Men #25. “From the Shadows.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Stefano Caselli. Joshua Cassara & Marte Gracia were cover artist. Heavily focused on Kate Pryde and her identity within the X-Men. Haven’t seen Kate this brutal before and it sounds like she is going by the name Shadowkat once again. X-Men is currently fire with the latest Mutant Massacre by Orchis.

What If…? Dark: Venom #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and featuring art by Jethro Morales. Philip Tan, Jay Leisten & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. What happens when the Venom symbiote, after Peter Parker gave it to Reed and the FF, wound up hooking up with an angry Ben Grimm? Lots of trouble. This has been my favorite of the What If Dark issues so far.

Doctor Strange #6. “Life During Wartime.” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Juan Gedeon. There is another page focusing on G.O.D.S. that was written by Jonathan Hickman. Alex Ross does the cover art. We find out that Dr. Strange spent thousands of years fighting for the Vishanti against the Trinity in the War of the Seven Spheres. This turned Dr. Strange into a wild warhound and looks to be leading into a face off between two Dr. Stranges. Intriguing stuff here. Jed MacKay has been providing some top notch work for Marvel recently.

The Mildly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #2. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart (based on an idea by James Tynion IV). Cover art by Nick Robles. There is all kind of weird stuff going on with Christopher Chaos. There is Dracula Boy. There is The Wolf. The Helwing Corp. This was been fun so far.

Black Cloak #6. Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Meredith McClaren. The first story arc comes to an end here as Phaedra uncovers the total truth behind the murder of Frey. The truth behind the city’s magical power is also revealed and Phaedra takes a step that will change everything.

Grim #12. “Lost for Life” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano. Jessica is still trying to save her friend, and she may have to claim the role of the Grim Reaper. And what about her mother?

August 1, 2023

This is a special edition of the Comic Cavalcade as I have several graphic novels that I have picked up that I decided to group them together for this post.

For the first time last year, I looked over the list of graphic novels nominated for Eisner Awards and I purchased a bunch of them because they sounded interesting. I have been becoming more of a fan of the independent comics and so I have been more intrigued by the story,

So I did once again look at the Eisner Award lists and picked out several that I thought were really exciting to read.

However, there was one graphic novel that was left over from last year that is going to kick off this Comic Cavalcade.

Monsters. This was one of the Eisner Award winners from last year and, when it arrived, it looked like a textbook, a thick and overwhelming textbook. This a was a passion project by Barry Windsor-Smith that he had worked on, in one way or another, for decades. The story involved a program called Prometheus that the US military was running, a genetics program that came from Nazi Germany, that was trying to develop a supernatural force. The story follows a needy young man named Bobby who applied to the military, ending up placed into this program. The art is beautiful. The book is amazingly constructed and the story bounces around time involving multiple intertwined characters. Though it is 360 pages long, this book reads extremely smoothly, with a lot of visual storytelling. Monsters is an exceptional book and it is understandable why it won the Eisner last year.

Eight Billion Genies. Now, this was not a Eisner nominated book and it is not, technically, a graphic novel. It is a trade hardcover that collected the Image series Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne. I purchased this last week at Comic World. I had picked up Eight Billion Genies #1 back when it first came out and I was not impressed. I was not engaged in the story so I did not pick it up as a series. All I heard about what how great this series was after that. Recently, I considered looking back into this series and give it a second chance. When my friend Todd showed this book to me at Comic World, I thought this was a great opportunity to give it a second chance. I’m glad that I did because this was considerably better than I remembered back when I read #1. I am very pleased with this group of characters and how this unbelievable situation provided a ton of conflict and entertaining interactions. One of the most creative ideas in the last few years.

The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night Book 1. Back to one of the Eisner winners this year, The Night Eaters is the new horror graphic novel from Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, the team behind Monstress. Another book that was a really quick read because of some tremendous art work that build amazing suspense. They do a nice job of introducing these new characters and a fantastic set up of a plot in the house across the street. It’s a story of family and of legacy. Book Two is scheduled to come out later this year so we’ll have to see where this goes from here. It is an enjoyable start.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense. I have always loved Alfred Hitchcock movies. This graphic biography is a fun book. Written by Noël Simsolo and with art by Dominique Hé, this is a graphic novel that felt very much like a couple of other books from the last few years such as Twilight man, the book focusing on Rod Serling, and Legosi: The Rose & Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula. These books are interesting reads because of the main focuses of the books, but I have to say that the dialogue of the characters in this book is simply not the way people talk. The dialogue is more about passing along information about the person’s history instead of developing the story. The time frame of this novel jumps around a bunch and can be challenging to follow. If you are a Hitchcock fan, this is a fun read and looks at the master director.

Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith. However, this graphic novel, a biography of author/comic book writer Patricia Highsmith is a much more impactful manner of storytelling, giving us a great story as well as just presenting info. This graphic novel was created by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer. It was one of the winners of the Eisner Awards this year and I understand why. I thought this was a great way to present the story of Patricia Highsmith. Highsmith was known to hate the comic book writing that she did, preferring to focus in on her novel writing, such as Strangers on a Train, which would become one of Hitchcock’s top films. It is ironic that a woman who hated the comic book format stars in an award-winning graphic novel. She was also an inspiration for the LGBTQ community and her sexual orientation is a major aspect of this book too. It is another of these graphic novels that read extremely quickly/smoothly.

But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust. Three stories of true stories about children in one of the worst periods of human history. Three creative teams are first, Miriam Libicki and David Schaffer, second, Gilad Seliktar and Nico and Rolf Kamp, and then finally Barbara Yelin and Emmie Arbel. The images in this book are beautiful, basically pieces of art. The stories are also well told and told in a variety of ways, including one of the tales being a basic interview with the Kamp brothers. The Holocaust is a horrendous time with stories of survival that show the human spirit and how vital life is.

I am still waiting on a graphic novel called Ultrasound from Conor Stechschulte. That should be arriving later this week and it’ll go into a future Comic Cavalcade.

July 28, 2023

Another big week of comics. It seems as if every week the pile gets bigger and bigger. Lots of good stuff too.

Update: Big shocker… just when it seemed as if the mystery of the number 3s was ending, IT HAPPENED AGAIN! This week I got the missing #3 of Neighbors. I got the missing number three of No/One. And I got number four of The Seasons Have Teeth, without having received number three. Unbelievable.

The Knight Terrors continued through the DC books for the third week now. I doubted myself when I decided to commit to all 46 books in the run, but it has been solid so far, with a few exceptions. This week, we got the first #2 in the run, with Knight Terrors #2 featuring Deadman in batman’s body. Sandman joined them as well. There was a frightening inclusion of Red Tornado too. I really enjoyed Knight Terrors: Titans #1, Knight Terrors: Action Comics #1 and Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #1. Night Terrors: Harley Quinn was okay and I had little engagement during Knight Terrors: Angel Breaker #1. I have no idea who this Angel Break was, and so had a real difficult time caring at all.

The rest of this week’s books:

Hellcat #5. “The Season Finale“. Written by Christopher Cantrell and drawn by Alex Lins. Cover art done by Pere Perez and Marte Gracia. One of my favorite limited series of the year came to a satisfying end this week with Patsy coming to herself. My friend Todd also surprised me with Miss America #67 from 1954, featuring Patsy Walker, pre-Marvel version. It was a cool collectible. It was also funny that Patsy’s friend form the Hellcat series, Hedy, had a short story inside this 1954 book.

X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1. “The Hellfire Gala” Written by Gerry Duggan and art provided by a bunch of artists. Phil Noto did the cover art. I knew Kamala Khan was not going to be dead for long, but who would have seen her being resurrected already? Wasn’t Funeral for a Friend #1 last week? We now know that Ms. Marvel was a mutant with an unreleased mutant power. She is still part Inhuman, making her one of a kind. I am glad to have Kamala back and the rest of this book was pretty engaging. We’ll see where this goes with the Fall of X.

No/One #3 & 4. Written by Kyle Higgins & Brian Buccellato and drawn by Geraldo Borges. I have really become a fan of this No/One series. I may still try to check out the podcasts that you can find by going through the QV Code in the back of the comic. This mystery is awesome and I really love this book.

Avengers Beyond #5. Written by Derek Landy and penciled by Greg Lano. This storyline with the Beyonder comes to its close, albeit a little anticlimactically. I’m glad this one is done and we can continue on with Avengers in their own book.

Daredevil & Echo #3. Written by Yaboo B. Earl and drawn by Phil Noto. Ghost Rider joins in with DD and Echo as it looks like poor Matt Murdock has to be sacrificed once again. Is this becoming a trend?

Indigo Children #5. “Chapter Five: Escape from Kabul” Written by Curt Pires & Rockwell White with art by Alex Diotto and Dee Cunniffe. This has been an interesting book, but I would absolutely like to know more about these Indigo Children than what we have gotten. It is difficult to know who is who at times. Still, it has been a good book so far.

Hallows’ Eve #5. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Michael Dowling. Janine wrapped up her first limited series by getting her masks back in a tough battle with the Beyond Corporation and Maxine Danger. This has been fun and it looks like Hallows’ Eve is going to continue on in Spider-Man books for the moment.

Newburn #9. Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jacob Phillips. Newburn is back! And he is trying to handle the family problems. However, the relationship between Newburn and Emily seems to be on the edge of trouble. Glad we get another arc of this book.

I Am Iron Man #5. “Chapter Five: The Real Iron Man” Written by Murewa Ayodele and drawn by Dotun Akande. This was a fun series that seems to be done now too. I am not sure where this falls in continuity, if it does at all, but it gave Tony Stark some wild things including a standing clone order.

Spider-Man India #2. “Seva Part II” Written by Nikesh Shukla and penciled by Abhishek Malsuni. Pavitr is finding that being a Spider-Man is not easy as he is trying to stop a rampaging Lizard while the city seems to be hating on him. Still like the Across the Spider-Verse design of Pavitr better, but other than that, this has been great.

Invincible Iron Man #8. “You Can’t Stay at a Party too Long if You Don’t Go to the Party.” Tony Stark is on a downward spiral as Feilong continues his plans against Stark and the mutants. Tony helps out Emma Frost against the Stark Sentinels. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Juan Frigeri.

Barnstormers #1. Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Tula Lotay. A noir style, post-WWI story featuring Bix and Tillie and their adventure. Tillie is running from her wedding and forces Bix to take her in his plane. Things go from there.

Tenement #2. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. We return to the Bone Orchard universe with seriously creepy imagery and storytelling.

Silk #3. Written by Emily Kim and drawn by Ig Guara. Dave Johnson did the cover art. Pirate Cindy Moon is here just as we learn that this is all in Cindy’s head trapped in a Dreamworld connected in a cinematic style. Silk has been exciting so far.

Incredible Hulk #2. “That Old Time Religio0n Part One.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and with art by Nic Klein. Hulk is heading back to its horror type roots as Bruce Banner and a young girl named Charlie comes across a horror-like cult and the Hulk comes out…

Avengers #3. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Stuart Immonen did the cover art. Lod Ennui is one creepy villain and he has unleased the Impossible City on the earth. However, there is the new Avengers there to meet them.

Moon Knight: City of the Dead #1. Written by David Pepose and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Rod reis did the art for the cover. Moon Knight tries to save the young boy Khalil. It is also the debut of the new version of The Scarlet Scarab, like we saw in the Disney + series. Big things are happening for Moon Knight around Marvel and this feels like a start for that.

She-Hulk #15. Written by Rainbow Rowell and drawn by Andres Genolet. Jen Bartel did the cover art. She-Hulk and her fight club try to stop the invasion of the city, while in search of a bomb set to detonate by Scoundrel. By the way, Jack of Hearts is a stud.

Amazing Spider-Man #30. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Ed McGuinness. Doc Ock battles Spidey-Ock. Doc Ock is trying to corrupt Norman Osborn and at the end of last issue is seemed as if he was going to do it, but Norman said, “Nuh uh!”

Ultimate Invasion #2. “Chapter Two: Down the Rabbit Hole” Written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Bryan Hitch. The Master recruits Howard Stark and brings him to the Immortus Engine. I was a little uncertain about what was happening here, but I liked what I saw.

The Neighbors #3-5. Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and drawn by Letizia Cadonici. This Boom! Studios series wrapped up with a tough story with the family. A story of sacrifice and anguish. It was a good script.

Wordltr33 #4. Written by James Tynion IV and featuring art by Fernando Blanco. This story is told with both current action and flashbacks (of sorts). Gabriel sister is the naked killing woman. This is a real mind-blowing series that is a challenge to read. I’m still processing it.

Klik Klik Boom #2. Written by Doug Wagner and drawn by Doug Dabbs. Sprout, the mute photo taking protagonist. Things are shaping up around this issue and it reads very quick and was very entertaining.

Ghost Rider #16. “Night Rider” Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Chris Campana. Bjorn Barends did the cover art. A new story starts with Johnny Blaze, Robbie Reyes and Danny Ketch.

What If…? Dark: Spider-Gwen#1 Plot by Gerry Conway and Jody Houser with script by Jody Houser. The art was done by Ramon F. Bachs. Cover art by Greg Lano & Frank D’Armata. A What If comic featuring Gwen Stacy not dying at the bridge with the Green Goblin, but Spidey dies instead. Listing this as Spider-Gwen is a bit off since she is never Spider-Gwen in the book. She does don a Spider-Man costume though. This was better than the Loki What If recently.

Deadpool #9. “Heart to Heart.” Deadpool and Valentine’s relationship is front and center but Valentine has a bit of a new look by the end. The new Deadpool series has been very fun so far and this story arc looks like it will be concluded next issue.

July 19, 2023

Forty-two is the answer to the question, “What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?”.

It is one of the numbers from LOST (4, 8, 15,16, 23, 42)

It’s the retired number across all Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson.

And today, it is the 42nd edition of EYG Comic Cavalcade on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY (which also happens on National Hot Dog Day!)!

UPDATE: We are down to two missing independent comic issues #3: No/One #3 and Neighbors #3 (got Neighbors #4 today, which was missing last week). Blue Book #3 was in the books this week.

There were only five Knight Terrors books this week, continuing the 46-issue run in DC Comics with the villainous Insomnia causing terrifying nightmares for the DC Heroes and Villains. This week the five issues included: Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman #1, Knight Terrors: Superman #1, Knight Terrors: Nightwing #1, Knight Terrors: Catwoman #1, and Knight Terrors: Punchline #1. Wonder Woman, Superman and Nightwing were all really good. The Punchline one was a character I did not know at all, but it was still okay. I did not like the Catwoman issue at all. So far, the overall enjoyment of the Knight Terrors event has been good. I have enjoyed most all of the 17 books so far, with Catwoman being the sole flop for me. Next week should bring us to about the halfway point.

Then… what a shock! I could hardly believe it…

A Vicious Circle #2. Written by Mattson Tomlin and art by Lee Bermejo. I can’t believe it. This large scale book from Boom! Studios came out after issue #1 was released on December 14, 2022. Yes, I said 2022. There have been a couple of times when I was looking at my pull list and I came across the title A Vicious Circle and I had no idea what t was. As I was reading #2 today, I could not tell you much of anything about #1. What do I remember about #1? I remember the spectacular artwork that it featured and that part of it was in black and white. I should probably re-read it at some point. However, issue #2 was phenomenal. The art, once again, was breathtaking. The story was awesome with two characters, Sean (who I do remember from issue#1-though I remember nothing about him) and some other guy and these two are jumping across time. Some absolutely stunning visuals in the book and, while I may not necessarily say that it was worth the wait, I am absolutely happy that it is finally here and I hope I do not have to wait until 2024 for the next installment.

Something is Killing the Children #31. “Showdown at the Easy Creek Corral: Part One.” Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’edera. It has also been awhile since we have gotten a new SiKtC issue too (while nowhere near as long as A Vicious Circle). It is setting up a huge showdown between Erica Slaughter and Charlotte Cutter. It was good to see this one again.

Deadpool: Badder Blood #2. Script by Chad Bowers and story/pencils by Rob Liefeld. Deadpool finds himself in a weird situation, fighting… Shatterstorm?… and then Killville (which is not “a hallucinogenic-torture chamber/fun house where super people with a price on their heads are taken to die.”) Fun Deadpool action.

Blade #1. “Mother of Evil: Part One.” Written by Bryan Hill and featuring art by Elena Casagrande. The Daywalker is back in his own series finding himself stuck in several plots that are meant to help save the world. And he’s not happy about it. Some fantastic artwork in this new issue with some wonderful full splash pages that jump off from the book.

Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #5. Written by Emily Kim and penciled by Kei Zama with Geoffo. This short series came to a close with all of the Spider-Gwen clones coming together to help. Fact is this issue did not keep my attention. I am not a fan of clone stories and this one is one that I am glad is over. I did not hate the issues leading up to this one, but I just did not find it engaging today.

New Mutants: Lethal Legion #5. “Vampire Heist II.” Written by Charlie Jane Anders and penciled by Enid Balám. Here was another short story where this finale did not grasp my attention much. I have struggled with knowing who these character were the entire series and this continued. I did kind of like their giant dragon that they took to Krakoa. Otherwise, this was a meh.

All Eight Eyes #4. Written by Steve Foxe and featuring art by Piotr Kowalski. However, this Dark Horse short series brought it to the finale. No ‘meh’s or lack of attention in this one. This had some great artwork, some visceral imagery and a very cool wrap-up to the story of Reynolds. Great conclusion.

Guardians of the Galaxy #4. “The Star-Sheriff.” The Star-Sheriff is Rocket and we find out where he has been and what he is trying to do to replace his connection with Groot (who has become the Grootfall). Looks like Rocket is reunited with the Guardians and they are teaming back up to help their wayward friend.

Big Game #1. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Pepe Larraz. The Mark Millar Universe of characters all come together for a five-issue series that is pretty fun. I did struggle with who some of these characters are, but I did know the Ambassadors and Kick Ass. This is an interesting beginning.

Black Panther #2. “Reign at Dusk Part 2.” Written by Eve L. Ewing and penciled by Chris Allen. Issue two of this new Black Panther series was a struggle to get through as well. There are a lot of characters that I am not sure about and not quite enough T’Challa. Still, I expect this to pick up as we go.

Blue Book #3. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Michael Avon Geming. This series has been weird to read. I read it in the following order: issue #1, issue #4, issue #5, issue #2, and then issue #3. It was all connected to the story of Barney and Betty and so the differing order messed things up a bit. Still, the individual issues were engaging and I do like UFO stories.

July 17. 2023

I was able to finish up that large group of comics that I got at last week’s NEW COMIC BOOK DAY. It was the largest week of new books that I can ever remember getting.

Kicking off with…

Killadelphia Vol. 5 There’s No Place Like Home. The trade paperback that reprinted Killadelphia issues 26-30 was full of shocking moments. The battle between the dark and light forces in Philadelphia claimed a huge amount of victims from out regular cast. I did not expect to lose everybody among the group of Detective Sangster, John Adams, Abigail Adams, George Washington, Jupiter, Toppy and Brittany was harsh. And then, to end the book with the arrival of Spawn…. Spawn? I thought issue #30 was the final of the Killadelphia series, but obviously there is going to be more with the guest star Spawn involved. Not sure how I feel about that.

Joe Fixit #5. Written by Peter David and with art by Yildiray Çınar. The cover art was by Cully Hamner & Jordie Bellaire. I discovered that this issue was missing from my collection. Perhaps it was among the exploding books from a couple of months ago, but I ordered a copy off eBay and it came today. I enjoyed this series quite a bit, mainly because of the inclusion of Spider-Man. This wrapped up with Spidey and Joe taking a trip to a Penn & Teller show.

Deep Cuts #3. “K.C. Blues.” Written by Kyle Higgins & Joe Clark with art by Diego Greco. The tales about the blues continue in Deep Cuts as we see a man who was at one point an amazing bassist, who now had to struggle to get by with a family of his own.

Superman: Lost #5. “The Republic.” Written by Priest and penciled by Carla Pagulayan. Lee Weeks with Elizabeth Breitweiser did the cover art. I’m not sure how I feel about how this series is seemingly taking the character of Clark Kent. This Green Lantern named Hope is not exactly what I feel works in this book. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Star Signs #3. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Megan Levens. The people with the powers from the missing constellations continue to show up and seem to be drawing sides. Mister Duke was revealed to be the Ares character with a bunch of power behind him.

Red Goblin #6. Written by Alex Paknadel and art by Jan Bazaldua. One of Normie’s friends has been taken by the new Goblin Knight, as ordered by the Goblin King, who seems to be having some physical trouble. Then, Normie and Rascal have been having their own issues since the whole Carnage thing.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Doomsday #1. Written by Marc Guggenheim and penciled by Manuel Garcia. Geoff Shaw and Edgar Delgado were the artists on the cover. This is a prequel to the classic X-Men story from the 1980s and expanded it into more of the Marvel Universe. There were some sad moments, even though I knew that this was all just a possible future. It was a decent read.

Warlock: Rebirth #4. “Soul Mates.” Written by Ron Marz and penciled by Ron Lim. This kicked off with a fun little scene between Spider-Man and Daredevil sharing a Turkey and cheese sub. Now, this scene had zero to do with the overall story, but I always love Spidey. The rest of the book was fine.

Rogue & Gambit #5. “Power Broke.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Carlos Gomez. Steve Morris did the art on the cover. The final battle with Power Broker and his mind controlling remote control. Things do not go well for Power Broker. However, Rogue does something at the end of the book to make me question her decision making skills.