Category Archives: Comics This Week

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of August 19

We are a day late this week because I am back at school, getting ready for it to start, and we had our open house at the school. I couldn’t get to Dubuque for NEW COMIC BOOK DAY so I had to push that back until Thursday night (SAD).

Here are this week’s winners. I had a tough decision between gold and silver and then I had probably about four possible choices for the bronze. Good week for the covers.

Bronze Medalist

Redcoat #5

Cover art by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson

An exciting looking cover with Simon Pure in a lot of trouble with sharks everywhere around him. The blue of the water with the sharks look great. This is also a wrap around cover with more on the back.

Silver Medalist

Scarlet Witch #3

Cover art by Russell Dauterman

Wanda is on this cover looking dark and scary. The combination of the red and black really make this cover pop. There is a look on Wanda’s face that adds to the overall story of the cover.

Gold Medalist

Get Fury#4

Cover art by Dave Johnson

The red of this cover is sensational. forming the blood dripping down Nick’s face, and also forms his eyepatch. This is a stunning cover, using that color red jumping off the page.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #111

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August 15, 2024

Welcome back to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. This is the last Comic Cavalcade before I go back to school. I have, once again, truly enjoyed the summer break when I could head up to Comic World every Wednesday and spend time reading the new comics in the afternoon. I looked forward to every Wednesday and I will miss it.

One of my favorite parts of going to Comic World on Wednesday is seeing my friend Todd. He is a former teacher who has been collecting comics since the early 1960s. He was not at my last day this summer because he took off for Terrificon, a comic convention held in Connecticut. There are a ton of comic luminaries in attendance (from Walter Simonson to Chris Claremont to Jim Lee, among others). Todd and a friend was driving up to the convention that started on Friday. Good luck at the con, Todd. Drive safely.

Photo from Telegraph Herald, taken by Michelle London .

Comic World was featured in an article in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald this past Sunday, including a picture of Ben, Pat and Todd. The article was about graphic novels and it was a fun read. It also featured comments by Loras professor Kenny Loui, ho himself had written two manga-inspired graphic novels, which I purchased on Amazon after reading the article. The graphic novels included books called Life Lessons from a UFO Catcher: An Autobiographical Manga and There is No Shrimp… And Other Lies My Mother Told Me. Telegraph Herald article can be found online at the following link: https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/features/article_b24a7f7a-4f78-11ef-98ba-83149323b470.amp.html

So, here are the books this week:

Werewolf By Night: Red Band #1. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. Cover art was done by E.M. Gist. Marvel has been playing around with “red band” comics during the Blood Hunt. This issue came in a polybag to keep the gimmick going. The red band was just to draw more blood than you would see in a normal Marvel Comic, but you see more blood in an episode of The Boys or Invincible. I do like the character of Jack Russell so this was fun, but I see no major reason for the red band label.

Fantastic Four #23. “Johnny Storm Gets Choked By an Alien in this One.” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art is by Alex Ross. The best title of a comic this year. It was also a focus of the issue as Johnny Storm served as the issue’s narrator and told the story of the FF shrinking down and heading into a microscopic dimension with aliens of course. The FF is one of the most consistently enjoyable books of the year.

Amazing Spider-Man #55. Written by Zeb Wells and art by guest artist Emilio Laiso. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz (Silver Medalist). Peter Parker goes on a date, but we know the Parker luck means that that date was due to be interrupted by super villains. Peter takes an unconventional step. This was a fun, palate-cleanser after the Blood Hunt stuff.

Jonny Quest #1. Written by Joe Casey and drawn by Sebastian Piriz. Variant cover C art by Tom Raney (Bronze Medalist). I had not intended on picking this up, though I was somewhat interested in the book, especially after enjoying the take on Space Ghost this year from Dynamite Comics. So when there was an issue available at Comic World yesterday, I picked it up. And wouldn’t you know it, it was epic. I have never been a Jonny Quest fan, but this was truly fun and enjoyable and filled with a really compelling story.

Judgment Day #1. Written by Aubrey Sitterson and line art and cover art by Megan Hutchison. This book is 2024’s White Savior #3. What I mean by that is I had ordered this awhile ago, but it just never arrived or it went to other people or whatever. I got issue #2 and #3, but never this one. I was joking that this issue did not exist. Finally this week, Judgment Day #1 arrived in my pull box to a minor celebration. Archie Andrews in a world overrun by demons. Sounds right.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #3. “Haunted Part 3” Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Federica Mancin. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen is in universe 616 and an evil doppelganger is running around causing trouble, and Gwen is showing some new and unsettling powers.

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #1. Written by Matthew Rosenberg and art and cover art by Otto Schmidt. This was another book I picked up off the stands yesterday as DC has their very own Blood Hunt, I guess. Except, of course, this is not normal continuity. I was curious about issue number one, but I do believe I have had my share of superhero v. vampire for the time being.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #23. “Birds of a Feather Part One” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Federico Vicentini. Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Miles struggles with his new bloodlust since becoming a vampire in the Blood Hunt. The new emotions are coming out of Miles in unexpected ways as he is becoming angrier and more violent.

Elric the Necromancer #2. Adapted by Julien Blondel & Jean-Luc Cano. Script by Julien Blondel and art by Valentin Secher. Elric and the Queen confront Arioch. Though this may be my least favorite cover of the year, the story inside is excellent and the tale of Elric continues on strongly.

Spider-Society #1. Written by Alex Segura and art by Scott Godlewski. Pete Woods was the cover artist. A group of Spider-men from across the Spider-verse join together to try and find Miguel O’Hara, who has been taken by someone. But beware, there is a traitor among the Spiders.

Spider-Boy #10. “Spider-Boy Versus the Spider-Verse!” and “A Bailey Reminder” Written by Dan Slott and art by Nathan Stockman and Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Median & Edgar Delgado. Miles is still lost among the Spider-verse as Madame Web is trying to find him and bring him back. There is a funny one-page “ad” as Miles gets caught in a Mostess ad (a parody of the old Twinkies ads from comics).

X-Factor #1. Written by Mark Russell and drawn by Bob Quinn. My goodness, what an unexpected issue this was. They introduced the new team of X-Factor working for the government, but, at the end, killed off some of them. I had to read over it a couple of times just to make sure I saw what I saw.

Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1. Speaking of surprises, this anthology issue featured the final story for Danny Rand. At least, it sure looked like the final story for Danny Rand as they killed him off on the final page. Then the waxed about the character at the very end with the writers and editors. I know Danny has not been Iron Fist for awhile now, but this was still an unexpected and not necessarily happy result.

The Butcher’s Boy #1-3. Story by Landry Q. Walker and Pannel Vaughn. Script by Landry Q. Walker and art by Justin Greenwood. Greenwood with Brad Simpson did the cover art. This Dark Horse book was one that I missed earlier, so they all arrived yesterday. It is the story of a group of friends and their trip to a ghost town, plagued by a serial killer. I was surprised how much interaction there was between characters and I certainly found this fascinating.

Sensation She-Hulk #10. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Andres Genolet. Dee Cunniffe did the cover art. The final issue of the Sensational She-Hulk saw Jen decide about her career as an Avenger and her relationship with Jack of Hearts. I have enjoyed She-Hulk over the last few years and I am sorry to see her book go.

X-Men #2. “Invasion” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Scott, Magik and Psylocke head after a new mutant whose powers are developing much later in life, a trend that they had been seeing lately. This group of X-Men do work well together, especially with the Juggernaut-cannon. It was like the ultimate fastball special.

Wonderland: Return to Madness #2. Written by Alec Worley and art by Giulia Pellegrini. Cover art was by Guillermo Fajardo (Gold Medalist). The adventures inside Wonderland continue with Violet, in search of a way to resurrect her mother. Can Violet protect the human girl Bonnie, who has some connection to the fate of Wonderand?

The Ultimates #3. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. This was my favorite Ultimates book so far as Iron Lad, Thor and Sif go to an island that had been devastated by Gamma radiation, the site of the Ultimates Hulk. The issue was more emotional than I expected and is setting up an awesome confrontation.

Geiger #5. Creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover. Another unexpected emotional issue with the glowing man and his dog. Very powerful. In fact, the cover of this book was really missed during the cover of the week contest. It probably should have placed among the medalist, if not actually won it. This one was really strong and the entire book is one of the best of the week.

Ultraman x Avengers #1. Written by Kyle Higgins & Mat Groom. Art was by Francesco Manna and cover art was by Dike Ruan & Neerja Menon. I got this because it was a Marvel #1, but I found myself unexpectedly enjoying this issue a lot. Perhaps because it focused on Miles Morales and included Peter Parker Spider-Man as well. This was fun and I want to see more.

Transformers #11. Written by Danie Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art was done by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. Optimus Prime launches a rescue mission to save Cliffjumper and Jazz. Things do not go well.

Immortal Thor #14. “The Wheel” Legacy number 775 for Thor. Written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor vs. Zeus. ‘Nuff Said.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8. “Three Moments” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Davide Paratore did the cover art. Marc Spector returned to the Midnight Mission after his resurrection in the Blood Hunt.

Other books this week: Anansi Boys #2, Domain #2, Napalm Lullaby #6, Gilt Frame #1, Wolverine Annual #1, and Venom War: Spider-Man #1

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of August 12

We are back with the EYG Favorite Comic Covers from this week. Being honest, this week’s covers were, at best, okay. None of them really jumped out at me. I did find three decent ones and a handful of pretty solid ones. That is okay. We have a returning cover artist and a couple of new ones.

Bronze Medalist

Jonny Quest #1

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Tom Raney

I picked this up off the rack today because I so liked the Space Ghost book from Dynamite. This was the only cover out of a bunch that was remaining. I liked this one a lot. The variant has some great action and excitement.

Silver Medalist

Amazing Spider-Man #55

Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz

Comic World owner Ben was checking my order out and he stopped at this issue saying that this was one of John Romita Jr.’s best recent covers. He said the cover was filled with action, emotion and that it was more than just a pic of the characters. He’s right. This is an excellent cover showing off Spidey’s determination and heroism.

Gold Medalist

Wonderland: Return to Madness #2

Cover art by Guillermo Fajardo

A brutal looking cover with bloody bodies all over the place on the cover of this new Zenescope book. It really gives a message about what to expect inside this book.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #110

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Welcome back to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. We have a new banner this week. I do love putting together the new banners when it feels as if it is time. This one has several of the more recent books represented. This is the first non-special banner that did not have some variant of Spider-Man on it.

Books this week:

Refrigerator Full of Heads #1-6. This DC series was written by Rio Youers and drawn by Tom Fowler. I picked up a couple of these issues a week or so ago at Comic World because they looked interesting and I like horror books and then I filled out the remaining part of the six-issue series on eBay. This was a real hoot. I loved the story and the fact that there were decapitated, talking heads inside a refrigerator? What’s not to love. An awesome appearance by a chopped off shark’s head too. This was a lot of fun and shows a whole lot of creativity. One wonders if this series inspired the Plastics: Death and Dolls creators. By the way, the guy on eBay who I ordered the series from also sent me Heart Eyes #1 for free. It is from Vault Comics and I enjoyed it enough that I purchased 2-5 on eBay.

Uncanny X-Men #1. Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Cover art by Marquez and Matthew Wilson (Gold Medalist). I love Gail Simone. She is extremely engaging and entertaining on X and she writes a beautifully powerful story for this new iteration of Uncanny X-Men. It also contains perhaps the best lineup of all of the new X-books with Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Gambit and Rogue at the heart. This starts out hot!

Spider-Man: Black Suit and Blood #1. This has four stories contained inside and three of them are okay. The first story in the book, focusing in on a small time crook named Joe Face, is a wonderful story of redemption and humanity. The first story was written by J.M. DeMatteis, who always seems to have a really strong grasp on Spidey and the people in the web-head’s orbit.

Avengers #17. “Impact Part One” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Valerio Schiti. Joshua Cassara & GURU-eFX did the cover art (Silver Medalist). New regular artist joins the Avengers and brings along Storm! Sam Wilson goes to find Storm and asks her to be the mutant representation on the team while the rest of the team struggled with their successes/failures during the Blood Hunt.

Incredible Hulk #15. “Lament for a Fallen Crown”: Part One. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Danny Earles. Cover art by Nic Klein. I also picked up the Disco Dazzler variant cover by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg (Bronze Medalist). Not sure I cared much for this issue of the Hulk. I am not sure what is going on and I’m not sure I am enjoying the path this book has taken.

The Last Starry Night: Vincent Van Gogh graphic novel. Written and drawn by Jamison Odone. This is a lovely graphic novel detailing the final days in the life of artist Vincent Van Gogh in a style of The Last Starry Night, one of the artist’s classic painting. The graphic novel is beautifully illustrated and dives deeply into the last days of Van Gogh, a physical and psychological investigation. I’m calling it now. Keep your eyes on this one for next year’s Eisner Awards.

Spectacular Spider-Men #6. “Fulfillment” Written by Greg Weisman and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Peter and Miles continue to battle robots in Arcadium. The robots, now with hammerhead at the lead, are the crimelords of the world, including Black Cat, which makes Peter uncomfortable.

Space Ghost #4. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was by Francesco Mattina. This series has been awesome so far. It has done an amazing job of taking these characters that I only really know via the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast animated series, which made them all comedic, and turn them into serious characters. In this issue, we get Zorak and he is completely terrifying. He’s not just singing with Brak. He is monstrous and an epic villain that puts the fear of death into Space Ghost. Amazing.

Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time #1. Script by Cullen Bunn and art by Andrea Mutti. Cover art was by Rafael Albuquerque. This new Dark Horse book is the next horror comic and it was interesting. It started off feeling kind of like a noir/period piece, but the horror comes quickly near the end of the book.

A Vicious Circle #3. Written by Mattson Tomlin and illustrated and cover art by Lee Bermejo. To be honest, I have not read this one yet. I could not believe when I saw this advertised in Previews because #2 had been released so long ago that it was one of those that I just never thought we’d see again. In fact, I looked up the release date for #2 and it was July 2023. Over a year ago. That is quite the gap in publication. Because of that, I want to go back and look at the previous issues to recap what was going on. What I do know is that this has some of the best art I have ever seen in comics/graphic novels. It is breathtaking how beautiful it is and perhaps this is the reason the release date was so spread out. I am looking forward to reading this with some prior knowledge restored.

Doctor Strange #18. “Deathless“. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry . Cover art was by Alex Ross. This feels like the final issue for Doctor Strange as he was coming to grips with the fact that he is no longer Sorcerer Supreme, a title he had to give up to Doctor Doom in order to save the planet during the Blood Hunt. I assume Doc will be back at some point.

The Big Burn #1. Written by Joe Henderson and drawn by Lee Garbett. Cover B was done by Tula Lotay. Carly and Owen met one day as they were both trying to rob the same bank. They fell in love and began a crime spree together. When they were finally caught, the Devil showed up to offer them a way out, if they sold him their souls. When they agreed, they realized that selling their souls cost them even more than they expected. After a near death experience where the Devil taunted him, Owen decided to recruit a team of thieves for the ultimate heist, to steal their souls back from hell. This was a fantastic first issue from DSTLRY and I am excited to see the next issue.

Venom War #1. Written by Al Ewing and art by Iban Coello. Coello & Frank O’Armata did the cover art. This is the new giant crossover among the Venom books. I am not a Venom collector, but I did glance through this issue. There were some moments with Spider-Man that I found intriguing, but I do not plan on following this whole new crossover with Venom.

Ain’t No Grave #4. “Depression” Written by Skottie Young and art and cover art by Jorge Corona. This book literally has two words in it. The entire book is told visually with the stunning artwork from Jorge Corona. “Hello, Ryder” are the only words in the whole script. That is an amazing accomplishment, to keep the energy of the book alive without any words at all.

Daredevil #12. “Introductory Rites” Part Twelve. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove did the cover art. Daredevil has to square off with the possessed Kingpin in a violent battle for his own life and faith.

The Deviant #7. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. This has been a consistently awesome series as they take a look at a serial killer in the most original way. There is a lot of discussion among these characters but it is never dull. This is another classic Tynion story.

Blood Hunters #1. Written by Erica Schultz and drawn by Robert Gill. Cover art was by Ema Lupacchino and GURU-eFX. From the pages of Blood Hunt comes a group of heroes out to take out the vampires of the world… Elsa Bloodstone, Hallows’ Eve, White Widow and Dagger… adn their first target… Miles Morales?

Spider-Man: Reign 2 #2. Written and drawn by Kaare Andrews. Brian Reber did the cover art. Old Man Spidey is back in time trying to desperately save MJ. This continues to be compelling, but I am never a fan of seeing Spider-Man who is willing to kill. That is so opposed to the character that it just does not fit, no matter what he has gone through. Still, the story is gripping and I hope it leads to Peter facing what he has become and reclaiming his humanity.

Other books this week: Public Domain #7, Free Agents #2, Cruel Universe#1, Ultimate Black Panther #7, Wolverine: Deep Cut #2, and The Boy Wonder #4.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of August 5

Three medalists this week and they all come from the House of Ideas, Marvel Comics. I actually had a list of about six or so in the competition so it was a solid cover week.

Bronze Medalist

Incredible Hulk #15

Variant cover C

Cover art by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg

Disco Dazzler cover! What more could you want than a sparkly Hulk on roller skates? Like most variant covers, this has zero to do with the story, but this cover was a ton of fun.

Silver Medalist

Avengers #17

Cover art by Joshua Cassara & GURU-eFX

Storm joins the Avengers and she is a major force on this Avengers cover. The lightning from her eyes is extremely dramatic and the colors of the cover are perfect for Ororo.

Gold Medalist

Uncanny X-Men #1

Cover art by David Marquez and Matthew Wilson

With all the relaunching X-Men books, Uncanny X-Men comes with the cover art featuring the hands of the members of the new team…each extremely distinctly X.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #109

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August 1, 2024

We have another week of new comic releases, along with some back issues to look at here at EYG Comic Cavalcade. The Blood Hunt is coming to a close so there will be fewer vampires running around the Marvel Universe. This series was decent for a summer saga, but the major step with Dr. Doom really sets the world of Marvel in some challenging situations. I guess Doom is messing with the MCU now too, with the face of Robert Downey Jr.

I just received my copies of two books that I had supported via a Kickstarter campaign last year. As i was messing around at Kickstarter, I came across a project that I had funded last year, but had never actually done the final approval. I clicked on it, and everything went through. So today, I received the reward in the mail. It was issue 1 and 2 of Painkiller Jane: Beautiful Killers, signed by Jimmy Palmiotti. It was a cool surprise after such a long time.

I picked up a bunch of Eisner nominated graphic novels this week too. I actually had an order of four from Amazon that had not been delivered. On Saturday, after several late days and Prime indicating that the order may be lost, I re-ordered the books. Of course, then Monday, the missing package showed up. I was able to cancel the re-order before it was shipped so I did not have to deal with sending anything back. The standout book I go here was called A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll. There was also a multiple time Eisner winner, Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki.

Just a couple of week before I have to go back to school. We’ll see how that affects the time available for the Comic Cavalcade.

Books this week:

Saga #67. Written by Brian K. Vaughn and art by Fiona Staples. After a long break, Saga is back once again! It has not seemed as long for me as I just recently discovered the book and just got #66 recently so it felt as if it was not as long of a break. It is great to get back into this world with these characters that have been so awesome over the last sixty-six issues. I hope this can maintain its release schedule so I have Saga to look forward to every month for the extended future.

Amazing Spider-Man #54. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Ed McGuinness. McGuinness, Mark Farmer and Marcio Mentz did the cover art. The final showdown between Norman Osborn and Peter Parker takes place as the evil Goblin sins bounced back and forth between them. Zeb Wells has one more story arc to go before ending his run with ASM so we’ll see where that takes us.

Ms. Marvel Annual #1. Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada with art by Giada Belviso. Salvador Larroca & Guru-eFX did the cover art. The Infinity Watch story continued in this issue with Ms. Marvel coming across the possessor of the Soul Gem, Multitude, a young robot. There is also the next part of the Death Stone Saga, by Derek Landy & Sara Pichelli. I have liked this mini-saga at the end of these annuals. We’ll see where it takes us next.

Immortal Thor #13. “The Vengeance of the Gods“. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art (silver medalist). Thor meets up with Hercules and the pair go searching for the Goddess of Night, Nyx. I have to say though, I saw Hercules ask Thor if he knew about Nyx, and I thought, jokingly, that that was the new X-book with Ms. Marvel. Ha ha. I loved the interaction between The King of Asgard and the Prince of Power.

Blood Hunt #5. Written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was by Larraz & Marte Gracia. The big crossover comes to a close as the heroes are able to break through the darkness to bring forth the light… well, did I say the heroes? Maybe not all of them were heroes… and I am not referring to Dracula. We get a new Sorcerer Supreme here… and he is Dr. Doom. Bad things ahead in the Marvel Universe.

X-Force #1. “Where Monsters Dwell.” Written by Geoffrey Thorne and art by Marcus To. Stephen Segovia and Bryan Valenza did the cover art. A new X-Force is back, with Forge pulling together several other team members whose only caveat to joining was “No Deadpool!” Well, there was “some” Deadpool.

Fantastic Four #22. “Safe Once More” Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art was by Alex Ross. I have been a big fan of Ryan North’s work on FF and this is one more banger. Especially the scenes with Reed and Alicia in New York, struggling to save as many people from the vampires as they could. I had never seen Reed stretched so much that he was tearing. Ugh. Alicia stood out in this issue with her ability to keep Reed focused on what they needed to do. This was one of the better Blood Hunt crossover issues of the run.

Ultimate Spider-Man #7. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto & Matthew Wilson was the cover artist. Look at who is here. It is Otto Octavius. He is working with Osborn to discover the limits of their Stark suits. This all leads to the appearance of Iron Man at the end.

What If…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine#1. “Old Duck Donald.” Written by Luca Barbieri and art by Giada Perissinotto. Variant cover art was done by Peach Momoko (Gold Medalist). Yes, Donald Duck is Wolverine. Mickey Mouse is Hawkeye. Goofy is Grey Hulk. Pluto is Colossus. There is a bunch of What If fun with Disney and Marvel’s big mash-up.

Drawing Blood #4. Script by David Avallone and artwork by Ben Bishop. Kevin Eastman did the cover art. With trouble circling, Books has a place where everything is at an even higher elevation… a comic convention! With the SDCC just finishing the timing of this issue was spot on, and I found this perhaps the best, most interesting issue of Drawing Blood so far.

Black Widow: Venomous #1. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Luciano Vecchio. Leirix did the cover art. This issue dives deep into the partnership between Natasha and her new Symbiote. Natasha decided that her symbiote required the training that she went through in the Red Room in order for their pairing to work out. She asked for some help from her friends. I do think there are too many symbiotes running around the Marvel Universe, but this one with Black Widow has some possibility.

Sam and Twitch Case Files #5. Script by Todd McFarlane (co-plotted with Jon Goff) and art by Szymon Kudranski. Mirko Colak and Javi Fernandez did the cover art. The case that Twitch has been working on took a nasty twist, and Twitch is going to find himself in some serious trouble. I was shocked by the way this turned in the issue. I had to go back and read through it again to make sure what I thought happened actually happened. This has been a really solid Spawn universe series with no sign of Spawn. I love that.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #4. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg (Bronze medalist). This flashback series ended with Spidey facing down the Proto-Goblin and Gwen Stacy’s mother’s death.

The Department of Truth #24. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. The lead up to the Kennedy assassination continues as we see how things started to pull Lee into the world of the Department. This is a very tight story that requires every bit of attention and it is so worth it. I love that the Department of Truth is back on the comic stands after a long hiatus.

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #4. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Netho Diaz. Dotun Akande did the cover art. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! My prediction last time came true this time as Doug becomes the heir apparent to Apocalypse with a brand new name… Revelation. I like the redesign of the character and I am excited to see where Doug Ramsey takes us from here.

Ghostlore #12. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. Cover art by Reiko Murakami & Leomacs. This series wraps up with a dramatic final battle between the preacher and his daughter Harmony and Shane. It has a very powerful ending to this story.

Other books this week: Captain Marvel #10, Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt #3, Judgment Day #3 (even though I still swear Judgment Day #1 does not exist), The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #11, Grimm #19, Nights #9, and House of Slaughter #25.

EYG Upcoming Comics Preview Issue 2

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July 31, 2024

It was Previews day at Comic World today so I am back with some of the upcoming books that spoke to me. As a trendsetter, I want to be able to share with you some of the books I found as I scoured the pages of Previews. There was a series of books that felt Halloween specific.

I did not include any Marvel books last issue so I wanted to make sure I made up for that this time. One of my personal favorite X-Men character is getting her own series. Storm #1 features Ororo Munroe in her major new role as an Avenger. I love Storm and it makes me happy to see her in her own ongoing series.

An Image Comic series debuts with Hyde Street #1. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are the creative team behind this new title from the Ghost Machine imprint. Labeled as character-centered-horror, Hyde Street sounds like a street that you could find yourself on from any city or town. I do like a good horror comic and I am intrigued by what this book will be.

Dynamite has not been a company that I have purchased many books, but Space Ghost may be changing that idea as we get a new book based on the movie The Terminator. Declan Shalvey is the writer of The Terminator #1 and Luke Sparrow is doing the art. The iconic character could have a lot of great fun with this idea.

There is a one-shot from Zenescope Entertainment that I was so excited for. It was a one-shot featuring the Bunnyman, from Man Goat and the Bunnyman, one of my favorite duos. This book is titled The Bunnyman’s Furry Nightmare, and you can give me as much Bunnyman as possible!

There is another one-shot advertised in this Previews that was really interesting for me. Archie Comics released a book written by Cullen Bunn called The Nine Lives of Salem. Salem is a familiar for a family of witches. Books featuring cats and other animals are fairly hot right now and this looks to be a great.

Dark Horse has several interesting books this issue. There is a futuristic book called FML that i am not sure I am going to buy. It is one of those apocalyptic tales that I am not a huge fan of typically. I have considered looking at #1 of this issue to see what I thin of it. But the other ones available are Living Hell #1, the story of a demon named Jerome Jameel who escaped Hell and began a new life with his daughter (A family tale of Hell? I’m in) and You Never Heard of Me #1, showing a character with the power to touch someone and see the best and worst moment of that person’s life.

DSTLRY is a company to keep an eye on because there are some really great books coming out from them (although I do believe that they may be struggling with releasing things on time). This Previews had two books from DSTLRY that stood out: Come and Find Me: An Autumnal Offering #1, a one-shot horror anthology for Halloween, and Through Red Windows #1, from creators Ram and Joelle Jones.

When I first went through the Previews, I did not think that there was much new worth mentioning, but as I was writing down the lists, I realized that there were many more than I thought, as there were some on my list that I did not write about here. The fact that I want to let you know what books you should keep an eye out for. The one-shots seemed to be a plenty here.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of July 29

Here we are for the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. Three Marvel Comics this week, one variant and one of, probably, the artist with the most medals this year so far.

Bronze Medalist

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #4

Cover Art by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg

I do like white space. I also love the way the title is broken as Spidey and Proto-Goblin are falling down the cover.

Silver Medalist

The Immortal Thor #13

Cover art by Alex Ross

Alex Ross has been the most awarded medalist so far in 2024. This one is just a lot of fun with Thor and Hercules in an arm wrestling contest that does not seem to be too interesting for Thor.

Gold Medalist

What If Donald Duck Became Wolverine #1

Variant cover

Cover art by Peach Momoko

2024 Eisner Award winner Peach Momoko is awesome with the covers and this Donald/Wolverine mash up is so cute. It’s the standout cover of the new Disney/Marvel What If series.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #108

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July 25, 2024

This day is officially here! I have my tickets and I am just counting the hours until Deadpool & Wolverine, the latest MCU film with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. I have been dying to see this movie since the minute Hugh Jackman walked behind Ryan Reynolds in the promo. The review (non-spoiler) will be up on EYG later tonight.

This was another massive week of books, mainly because the group of books that I had missed from previous weeks. They all seemed to be here this week… except for Judgment Day #1. I’m still not sure it exists. I have #2 and #3 comes out next week (supposedly), but that #1 is just the white whale.

Some cool books this week:

Hello Darkness #1. Hello Darkness is a new anthology horror book by some of the greatest writers of the current comic world, and this is awesome. Some were better than others, but it was a surprise when there was a short story (which will be continued) by James Tynion IV about Erica Slaughter coming into a bar. I was surprised to see it in the book. Paolo Rivera did the cover art on this book.

Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #3. Written by Joe Kelly and art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Kubert & Frank Martin. The short series concluded with this issue. Deadpool takes the idea of regeneration to a whole new level as blood from Deadpool that had gotten inside Wolverine and then grew out of Logan’s back. I’m not kidding.

Man Goat & the Bunnyman: Beware the Pigman #1. Written by Joe Brusha and artwork by Jordi Perez. Cover art was by Guillermo Fajardo. They’re back!!!! I was really excited about this when I saw the new issue listed in Previews. I don’t know what it is about Man Goat and Bunnyman that gets to me, but it really is so much fun and filled with humor. I mean… Batsquatch? Love them.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. “Inmate” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Joelle Jones. Cover art was by Eric Talbot (Bronze Medalist). I saw this book on the shelf. Todd had made a reference to it and I was curious with the restart of this book, especially with Jason Aaron as the writer. So I picked it up just to see and I found myself loving it. I actually think this was my favorite story of the week. Focused in on the life of Raphael stuck in prison. I really loved this book and I am looking forward to seeing what Jason Aaron has in store for the next issue.

NYX #1. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and drawn by Francesco Mortarino. Cover art was by Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee. I love Ms. Marvel and I am excited to see her involved in this new X-book with some very intriguing characters. Laura Kinney as Wolverine showed up with a less than friendly encounter with Kamala. The first issue began setting things up for the future and i liked the way it went.

Profane #2. Written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Raul Fernandez. The cover art was done by Javier Rodriguez. This noir-style book is fantastic as a fictional character comes into the world of non-fiction to try and solve the murder of the fictional character’s creator. It is a exceptional premise and the noir style really works well for it.

Blow Away #4. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Nicola Izzo. Cover art was by Annie Wu. Things are picking up big time in this book as Brynne survived her own fall off Asgard and is recovered by the person she believed was the hunter/killer she recorded. This is the penultimate issue of this series and it sets up the finale well.

The Nice House by the Sea #1. Written by James Tynion IV and doing the art and the cover art was Alvaro Martinez Bueno (Silver medalist). This was another book that I saw on the shelf at Comic World and did not think much about at first. I loved the Nice House on the Lake by Tynion IV, but I thought this might actually be a reprint of that. When I realized that it was a sequel, I grabbed it and read it through. I loved this book and I have to say that James Tynion IV is right near the top of my current list of favorite writers. I am excited about seeing the rest of this Black Label DC book.

Moon Man #3. Script by Scott Mescudi & Kyle Higgins and art and cover art was by Marco Locati. This was another book that was missed a few weeks ago and now I have. I was not sure about this book at start, mainly because of Kid Cudi, honestly, but it has been a good read so far and I am enjoying the development of the characters around Moon Man and how things are going.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #7. “Incarnate”. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. David Paratore did the cover art. We get to see the resurrection of Marc Specter here and his reuniting with Tigra. That was all well done, even if the death of Moon Knight only lasted a few months.

Feral #5. “Chapter Five: Fall” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner. Variant cover art by Forstner and Fleecs (Gold Medalist). This first story arc of Feral ended with this issue in a dramatic and very tragic end. Fleecs and Forstner were able to build a connection to a group of cats as they are facing off with rabid animals and humans out of wipe out all those infected. The book will continue in a few months and I will be here for it.

Rook Exodus #4. Created by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson did the cover art. The battle with Ursaw is underway and things are looking bleak for Rook and his allies. Rook is able to save Pumba in one of the best moments of the issue. However, Rook sure looks like he should have learned how to fly…

Flash Gordon #1. Written by Jeremy Adams and art by Will Conrad. Cover art by Will Conrad & Lee Loughridge. This was another book I just picked up off the shelf. I had the Free Comic Book Day issue of this, and I was curious. I have to say that, while this was okay, I do not think that I was interested in it enough to read it every month. Fans of Flash Gordon may like this.

Wolverine: Blood Hunt #4. Written by Tom Waltz and art by Juan Jose Ryp. Cover art was by Guru-eFX. The Wolverine/vampire saga wraps up with the finale against Maverick.

Void Rivals #11. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Lorenzo De Felici. Mateo Cremona & Mike Spicer did the cover art. Void Rivals has started to become a little repetitive at this point. I would like to see this move along as it feels as the last few issues have been the same thing basically.

Captain America #11. “Trying to Come Home“. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Jesus Saiz. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Cap is dealing with Gods and Death. They return to the idea of flashbacks into Steve Rogers’ past.

Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #3. Written by Daniel Jose Older and art by Luigi Zagaria & Eric Gapstur. Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. I love the characters of the Strange Academy and seeing them stuck inside this vampire story works really well for them. I would love to see more Strange Academy in the future.

Version 1.0.0

Something is Killing the Children #39. “Road Stories Part Four“. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. This was a great issue of Something is Killing the Children. Erica Slaughter goes to therapy. I loved this issue with the one-on-one between Erica and this therapist. It really gave us a wonderful look at this character even though there was something going on besides just Erica needing therapy. Excellent issue.

Uncanny Valley #4. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. This has been a fun series so far. We get a backstory of Oliver’s mother and how she became pregnant and how she is the daughter of her animated father. One thing that was left out though was who Oliver’s father may be. Tony Fleecs has been very creative with some of the more original ideas in comics today.

No/One #10. Written by Kyle Wiggins & Brian Buccellato and art and cover art by Geraldo Borges. I have loved this series and I have been looking forward to this finale for awhile and to be honest, I found it a little underwhelming. The mystery of who is No/One is revealed…sort of… the issue implied heavily that the person revealed as No/One was not actually No/One and that was slightly disappointing.

Dracula: Blood Hunt #3. Written by Danny Lore and art by Vincenzo Carratù. Cover art was by Rod Reis. Another issue that I had missed before, I liked the use of Dracula in this Blood Hunt saga. It is also cool to see Blade’s daughter, Bloodline, in the front of the battle considering how important a character Blade is in this story. I can see the end of the road for Blood Hunt coming quickly.

Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon #4. Written by Dan Watters & Ram V and art by Matthew Roberts. Roberts & Dave Stewart did the cover art. I found this four-issue series engaging and exciting. The art is beautiful and the story was easy to follow. This was the first of the covers that did not receive a medal.

Local Man #12. Written by Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley. Fleecs and Seeley share sections of the art as well. Big confrontations in this issue as Jack, Inga and Sheriff Bucholz get into their own issues. Local Man was Eisner nominated for Best New Series, so congrats and good luck.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #2. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn and cover art by Javier Rodriguez. Once again, this is a very interesting take on the character of Zatanna. It seems as if Zatanna is in denial about her ability to do magic. I am not sure where in context this series is set, but I am enjoying it so far.

Something Epic #12. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. This has been an excellent arc for this series as Noa faces off with Set and Sirus in her apartment to the unhappiness of her downstairs neighbors. Honestly, there is a big reveal at the end of the book, but I am not sure exactly whom that is intended to be. It was quite dramatic though.

Self Help #1 and #2. Written by Owen King & Jesse Kellerman with art by Marianna Ignazzi. Jerry Hauser is a down on his luck driver, but he finds himself in a plot to impersonate self-help guru Darren Hart. This new Image series has had some ups and downs early, but I am curious to see where it goes.

X-Men #1. “Fire-Baptized Special” Written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Ryan Stegman. I have the virgin variant cover by John Tyler Christopher featuring Magik. I have been waiting for this issue for awhile as it was not sent to Comic World properly. This is a great X-Men team featuring Cyclops, Beast, Juggernaut, Magneto as well as several others. The X-Men set in Alaska sounds fun too. Because of the lateness of this issue, I also ordered the Peach Momoko cover off eBay.

Other books this week: The Six Fingers #5, Ultimate Black Panther #6, The Addiction #1, Project: Cryptid #11, Minor Threats #4, Blood Squad Seven #3, and Monsters are My Business #4.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of July 22

This week was a giant week of books, so there are a lot of choices for the best cover this week. Once again, there are two variant covers in the final three. One of which Todd selected for me and one that I beat him to.

Bronze Medalist

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

40th Anniversary Variant

Cover art by Eric Talbot

The brand new TMNT book was one that I picked off the stand and I had a choice of three different covers. This was labeled as the 40th Anniversary Variant with Raphael inside a red spotlight. This cover is so bad ass and it went very well with this excellent story.

Silver Medalist

The Nice House By the Sea #1

Cover art by Nick Robles and Hayden Sherman

Another book that I pulled off the stand. This book from DC’s Black Label is a sequel to another Tynion book called The Nice House on the Lake and the cover with the burning building in the background with this person in front with a skull creates a powerfully tense tone for this book.

Gold Medalist

Feral #5

Variant cover

Cover art by Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs

This is the variant Todd chose for me and it is exceptional. The way the cover makes these animals look so… feral… with the freaky shadows that make it look like a forest is beautiful. The bright sun in the background is a great contrast.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #107

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July 18, 2024

The summer is flying along. I have just about a month to go before I return to school for the next group of kids and I can no longer spend NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at Comic World sitting at the back table and reading my new books. I do love being able to spend the afternoon with the cool people at Comic World and getting time to read the new books out. I will miss it when I am back at school.

Until then, though, welcome to EYG Comic Cavalcade #107. Every year, I look at the list of Eisner nominated graphic novels and I purchase several of them to see what they were like. Most of them are books that I do not see during the year, but I look forward to reading after. I have several ordered via Prime Day on Amazon and I expect them to arrive any day. One of the nominated graphic novels was called Parasocial by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson. It was a really powerful read and I would recommend it to anyone.

New books this week:

The Change. Script by Whoopi Goldberg and Jaime Paglia with art by Sunkanmi Akinboye. Khary Randolph did the cover art. I saw this graphic novel promoted on The View by Whoopi Goldberg and I was curious. It is about a woman going through menopause who developed super powers. It may not necessarily be a story that I could relate to, but it was an interesting read. It was definitely left on a cliffhanger so we’ll see if it ever continues.

Napalm Lullaby #5. Written by Rick Remender and art and cover art by Bengal. This was the first time this series hooked me more than just a bit. This spent a good deal of the issue diving into the background of what was going on in this world with Sarah and Sam’s mother and her plans moving forward. It has always looked great.

Namor #1. “Prince of the Blood” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Paul Davidson and Alex Lins. Variant cover art by Alex Maleev (Gold Medalist). I have always enjoyed the character of Namor and this series starts off very strong. We see where Namor is currently at, seemingly depressed and having given up, but we also flashback to a young, arrogant teen Namor. I think this book has a ton of potential and Jason Aaron is always a solid storyteller.

Incredible Hulk #14. “The Hulkscape.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art and cover art by Nic Klein. The horror elements of the Hulk seem to be back with a vengeance as Bruce Banner tries to navigate the Hulkscape, trying to convince the Hulk to help him save Charlie. The Hulk appears to have some deep seeded trauma involving Banner.

Invincible Iron Man #20. “End of the Line“. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by Kael Ngu (Silver Medalist). This issue wraps up the marriage of Tony Stark and Emma Frost, with neither of them seemingly thrilled by putting it to bed. Emma also gave Tony a check for…. a lot of money, seeding his return to a company and … maybe the West Coast Avengers? This might be the end of this series. Not sure on that. It is definitely the end of the creative team. I have really been pleased with where this book has gone lately so I am looking forward to the next chapter of Tony Stark’s life.

Immortal Thor Annual #1. “The Idiot Abroad” Written by Al Ewing and art by David Baldeón. Variant cover art by the iconic Walter Simonson (& Laura Martin) [Bronze Medalist]. The Infinity Watch storyline continues throughout the series of annuals, with Powerstone (both the character and the actual infinity stone) making an arrival. Powerstone dealt with the Champion of the Universe inside, and then changed his name again… to Apex. The Death Stone Saga is here too from creative team of Derek Landy & Sara Pichelli.

Elric the Necromancer #1. Adapted by Julien Blondel & Jean-Luc Cano. Story and dialogue by Julien Blondel. The art and cover art was by Valentin Secher. Michel Moorcock’s iconic albino and his sword that thirsts for souls finds himself in this new mini-series from Titan Comics and it looks epic. I remember Elric from an early Marvel Graphic Novel and I have loved the character since.

Laura Kinney: The Wolverine- Blood Hunt #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Robert Gill. Bjorn Barends did the art for the cover. Another of the one-shot issues during the Blood Hunt, Laura is in battle with the vampires to save Gabby. What happens when vampires get ahold of mutant blood? Bad news for sure.

Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys #1. Story and words by Neil Gaiman. Script by Marc Bernardin. Shawn Martinbrough did the art. Cover art was by David Mack. I know there is a controversy with Neil Gaiman right now, but I have always tried to separate a person’s work from who they are. I do hope that Gaiman turns out to not be a worthless loser, because this first issue was extremely compelling and set up a real intriguing arc.

What If…? Aliens #5. Written by Leon Reiser and art by Guiu Vilanova. Phil Noto did the cover art. The finale of the mini-series focusing on Paul Reiser’s character Carter Burke comes to a close here with a solid finale and plenty of aliens running around the base. I would love to see other What Ifs of the properties Marvel owns like this one. What If for Planet of the Apes or Predator or Star Wars… those would all be really cool and would help continue the concept of What If. I do miss the Watcher though…

Fishflies #7. Written, drawn and art for the cover by Jeff Lemire. This story comes to an end as Jeff Lemire brings the story full circle. Fishflies has been another exceptional story from Jeff Lemire, who is one of my favorite writers in comics today.

Scarlet Witch #2. Written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Jacopo Camagni. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. Wanda is dead. Pietro and Darcy are trying to save the town from the Griever. And Wanda is seeing what her future holds. If she returns, will she and Pietro lead to the destruction of all?

Redcoat #4. Creators are Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. Gary Frank and Brian Anderson did the variant cover art. We get a glimpse into the past of Einstein as well as get introduced to our main, big bad of the series, The Grand Architect, who is revealed to be a very much living George Washington. Between here and the Killadelphia series, those Founding Fathers are pretty rotten.

Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Michael Dowling. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. Elektra is back on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen and is facing off with Crossbones. We also get a guest appearance from the new Punisher.

Plastic: Death & Dolls #2. Written by Doug Wagner and art and cover art by Daniel Hillyard. We get a little background on Edwyn’s past with dolls and removing their heads. This, of course, leads to his present day decapitations. I would think that keeping these heads in his refrigerator may not be the best choice.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #0. “Khonshu: Strikefile” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. E.M. Gist did the cover art. Moon Knight is alive again. This issue zero is to go over all of the details of the series: characters, location, villains that will be focused on in the upcoming new Moon Knight book.

Phoenix #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Yasmine Putri did the cover art. Jean Grey is in space, using the Phoenix Force to do good for once. This was a really good start to this series. I especially liked the mental scenes between Jean and Scott, showing that even the distance of space could not come between them.

Spider-Woman #9. “The Price of Liberty“. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ig Guara. Leinil Francis Yu & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. The new super team The Assembly is not as they look. Liberty from the group was ‘awakened’ by the scream of Angar and she and Jessica Drew head into the holding facility to try and get Angar free. Bad things happen.

Spectacular Spider-Men #5. “Contingencies” Written by Greg Weisman and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Miles and Peter slug it out, thinking that the other one is a robot. They are inside the new combination world designed by Arcade and Mentallo, while Hammerhead watches on.

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art was done by Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi & Rachelle Rosenberg. I loved this last issue here as Morbius designed a cure for the vampires that had been turned by Beyond Corp and Spidey helped save them. That is what Spider-Man would be doing… using science to help save people… not just killing vampires that had been changed against their wills.

Other books this week: Man’s Best #5, Ultimate X-Men #5, The Mammoth #2, Blood Hunters #4, and Lawful #2.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of July 15

It is that time once again to name our three medalists for the best covers of the week. There were some interesting covers this week, and I narrowed it down to our three. Two variant covers coming…

Bronze Medalist

The Immortal Thor Annual #1

Variant Cover-C cover

Cover art by Walter Simonson & Laura Martin

The legendary Walt Simonson, who wrote and drew one of the best runs of Thor’s comics, returned for one of the variant covers of this annual, which continued the Infinity Watch storyline. It is a classic.

Silver Medalist

Invincible Iron Man #20

Cover art by Kael Ngu

Iron Man and Emma Frost holding hands in their wrap up of their marriage. The cover represents how successful this marriage was for the plot with the armored hand of Iron Man and the diamond form of Emma. A fun design.

Gold Medalist

Namor #1

Variant Cover D

Cover Art by Alex Maleev

I love this cover. The awesome pic of Namor as he swims down into the water, with so much blue making the cover really stand out. The title of the book down at the bottom where Namor is swimming toward it. This is beautiful.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #106

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July 11, 2024

Welcome to EYG Comic Cavalcade, issue 106.

I would like to welcome anyone reading this column from the Comic World newsletter. I approached the owner of Comic World, Ben, on the Fourth of July and asked him about including this column as well as a couple others that I do, in his weekly newsletter. It needed some more comic references as it had a lot of game parts (it is Comic World and Games) and Ben thought it was a great idea. We started last week, but I had already written those columns so I was not able to welcome anyone new.

With the Comic Cavalcade, I include books that I have purchased recently. It is not necessarily a review per se. It is more about my own thoughts about the books. It is not only books released this week, although it may be that as well.

The look at eBay this week. I picked up some Groo the Wanderer books from his Marvel/Epic run. I loved Groo and I am working on getting that series filled out. It is not easy to find Groo, but eBay has been a great use.

There was another story at eBay. I was looking at finding a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #207 and I was looking through the different possibilities. Most had a range of $8-$20 for the book, before shipping & handling. However, I came across someone who had posted the book and had listed the price as $299.00. HUH? I could not believe it. Did someone actually expect anyone to pay that much for the book? I thought about making a “Best offer” of like $15 dollars to see what the response would be.

Books this week:

Amazing Spider-Man #53. Written by Zeb Wells and art by Todd Nauck & Ed McGuinness. McGuinness & Marcio Menyz did the cover art. The Spider-Man/Green Goblin showdown continues in this book and Osborn’s sins are anxious to get back to Peter Parker. I am not sure how this is going to wrap up, but I am excited to see. Plus, Ms. Marvel using Doc Ock’s arms? Yes, please.

Avengers #16. “Blood Hunt Finale“. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Josua Cassara & Guru-eFX did the cover art. This brings Cap and his Avengers crew that he recruited story to a close as Cap vs. Baron Blood ends. I really enjoyed the chemistry with this team, in particular, Quicksilver and his snarkiness. It was cool too to see Hazmat back involved with the Avengers. I loved the reference to Avengers Academy, which I loved as a series back when.

Spider-Boy #9. “The Lost Boy” Written by Dan Slott and art by Nathan Stockman & Paco Medina. Cover art was by Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy is involved in a new story, featuring the Spiderverse. With Bailey lost in the Great Web of Life and Destiny, I feel as if we are getting an answer as to why Bailey was forgotten by the entire world.

Ice Cream Man #40. “Decompression in a Wreck [Part Two]” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran did the cover art. I did not expect last issue’s story of a car crash to be expanded into a second part, but this book made it so. I’m not sure many books would be able to make this work in one issue, let alone two, but Ice Cream Man did it. Very impressive work.

Union Jack the Ripper #3. “Hunger” Written by Cavan Scott and penciled by Kev Walker. Cover art by Rod Reis. Violent vampire action from Union Jack. These three issues have bene fun as we get a look at a character that we do not get to see very often. This is a decent Blood Hunt crossover series that gives us an idea of what is happening in another corner of the Marvel Universe.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #22. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Brent Peeples & Daniel Picciotto. I have a variant cover by Ron Lim & Israel Silva showing Deadpool shooting Miles Morales with little suction cups. It is the Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Variant cover. My biggest question I had when I started this issue was… why does Miles’ mask get torn every issue? How many masks must Miles actually have at home? I swear every time I see Miles, he is having his masked shredded. Was this time so they could show Miles’ fangs? I don’t know, but I like Miles and Bloodline together.

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #3. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Netho Diaz. Dotin Akande did the cover art. I think last issue I commented on the deaths that was happening in this series. Here, of course, we find out that none of those characters actually died. That did feel as if it undercut the story that was being told. Still, I do like the use of Angel here as well as some of the others involved. My guess is that Doug Ramsey will wind up the winner here. He seems the least likely.

The Incredible Hulk: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Danny Earles. Nic Klein did the cover art. Bruce Banner arrives in an apparent Western ghost town that was spooky, but not what it seemed. The Hulk vs. scary underground vampires? That sounds like fun.

Transformers #10. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Johnson & Spicer did the cover art. The Image Transformers continues to be an excellent read. We get some action with Beachcomber and a truly shocking moment with the Decepticons and a whale. This has been the best Transformers we have gotten since the 1908s cartoon.

Geiger #4. Created by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Gary Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art for this Ghost Machine title. Barney, Geiger’s dog, has been taken and he is going all John Wick on everything in his way. We also get a strong help from Nate for once.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Written by Derek Landy and penciled by Ron Lim. Cover art was done by Salvador Larroca & Edgar Delgado. The Infinity Watch storyline continued in this annual as Overtime, the bearer of the time stone, meets up with Spider-Man in a very Groundhog Day-type story. The back up story with Coulson’s return from the dead with the Death stone is great too in the few pages it gets.

Daredevil #11. “Introductory Rites Part Eleven.” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. The cover, which had a huge closeup on Bullseye’s face, was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Elektra rescued Matt from his beating at the hands of the possessed Kingpin, and they prepare to face off with Wilson Fisk once again. Daredevil is one of the most consistently good comics from Marvel no matter who is writing it. Saladin Ahmed has taken the reigns of the book from Chip Zdarsky without missing a beat.

X-Men: Psylocke-Blood Hunt #1. Written by Steve Foxe and featuring art by Lynne Yoshii. Stephen Segovia & Alex Guimaraes did the art for the cover. This was one of my favorite of the Blood Hunt one shots so far as I enjoyed the action of the book while getting to know more about this Psylocke as a character. I do not know much about Kwannon as Psylocke but this issue would make me want to learn more.

Get Fury #3. Written by Garth Ennis and penciled by Jacen Burrows. Dave Johnson did the cover art (Silver Medalist). I am very glad that I decided to give this series another look after my first read of issue one did not hook my attention. After re-reading issue one, I was in on the story and this issue continues to showcase both Frank Castle and Nick Fury. Intriguing set up and I enjoy the use of the narration as a framing device.

Domain #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Rachel Scott. This is an original idea. This gives us the comic that is being created for Zdarsky’s Public Domain book, which returned for the next arc recently. Wildly, this gives us the comic story of the Domain, now a woman. I am curious to see where this goes from here, but Zdarsky is one of my most trusted writers around.

Kid Venom #1. Written and drawn by Taigami. Cover art by Taigami and Richard Isanove (Bronze Medalist). Very manga like, Kid Venom was not a book that caught my interest. I liked the look of everything, but I just did not find myself engaged with the story or the character. The last Kid Venom book was intriguing enough for me to give this a look, but I do not think it is something that I am going to keep buying after this week.

Giant Size Silver Surfer #1. “Hierarchy of Power” Written by Mat Groom and art by Tommaso Bianchi. Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. This featured Silver Surfer vs. Terrax where we see that the Silver Surfer is more than just a powerhouse. However, the cover is what bothered me. It made ask the question… does the Silver Surfer have toes? It sure looks like it on the cover and that made me question if he has just had bare feet this whole time. This cover needed Rob Liefeld to draw it (if you know, you know).

Ain’t No Grave #3. Written by Skottie Young and drawn and cover art by Jorge Corona. This comic feels about as much of a Skottie Young comic book as you will ever get. It reminds me very much of Middlewest in ways that is unexpected. Centered around a card game, this gives us some extremely dramatic moments for Ryder.

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #5. “Chain Gang”. Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Danny Kim. Juan Ferreyra did the cover art. This is setting up a big finale next issue as Johnny Blaze and Zeb are finding their way to the new Ghost Rider, The Hood. Chicago has already seen better days.

Crocodile Black #3. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by Som. Cover art is by Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart. The variant virgin cover art is by Gabriel Hardman (Gold Medal). This is a complex book that is dealing with mental illness, PTSD, and the rejection of family members in a dramatic and violent manner. Crocodile Black is an amazing story that gets better each issue.

Kill All Immortals #1. Script by Zack Kalan and art from Fico Ossio. Oliver Barrett did the cover art. This new Dark Horse book introduces us to the family named Asvald whom seem to have a special power and an understanding among them. This new series kicks off with a very fascinating and unexpected first issue.

Doctor Strange #17. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did the cover art. Bats, Doctor Strange’s loyal ghost dog, proves himself to be a good boy as he helps Mordo save Doctor Strange from his vampire curse.

The Ultimates #2. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art is by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. The villainous Midas takes on Cap and Iron Lad while wearing Iron Lad’s father’s original armor. Mind games galore as this fight takes place inside the White House. The Ultimates have been interesting so far, and the arrival of America may make things every more interesting.

Other books this week: Wonderland: Return to Madness #1, Werewolf By Night: Blood Hunt #1, Blood Hunters #3, Black Panther: Blood Hunt #3, Life of Wolverine, and Wolverine: Blood Hunt #3.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of July 8

Welcome back to EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. I want to welcome anyone reading from the Comic World Newsletter. I offered my columns from EYG to Ben, the owner of Comic World to help get some more info into the newsletter about comics. We started last week with the newsletter and we will continue for the foreseeable future.

For anyone who has never seen this column before, I pick my favorite covers of any comic that I purchase this week. I do not include back issues, but if I picked up a late book, it would be eligible. I give out medals for Gold, Silver and Bronze places. It is completely my opinion.

So the favorite covers of the week.

Bronze Medalist

Kid Venom #1

Cover Art by Taigami &Richard Isanove

I don’t know much about this book as I have not read it yet, but the cover is extremely intriguing with the sider in the middle, Kid Venom’s creepy face and the imagery in the web behind him. It is a very busy, but fascinating cover.

Silver Medalist

Get Fury #3

Cover art by Dave Johnson

The image of Castle broken up with several pics from the book is a really cool way to show what is happening int he book. Add to the overall aesthetic the white behind Castle and the red title, well this is a lovely title for a brutal book.

Gold Medalist

Crocodile Black #3

Virgin Variant Cover

Cover Art by Gabriel Hardman

I typically am not a huge fan of the virgin variant covers, but there is no denying that this is a beautiful piece of art, with the focus on these crocodile boots, reflecting in the pool of water. The black and white coloring makes it all the more appealing.

EYG Upcoming Comics Preview Issue One

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July 2024

Welcome to Embrace Your Geekness. I post a couple of different articles that deal with comics on my website site weekly, the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week and the EYG Comic Cavalcade, and I thought it was time to expand just a bit.

I have always joked about the fact that I am a trend-setter because of some of the weird books that I get. Ironically, there was once a time when I only bought Marvel comics nearly exclusively. I remember when that changed. I was heading to Comic World one night on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY after school and the owner, Ben, told me that I had to read this comic. He told me it was a horror comic and that it was awesome. He told me I did not have to buy it, but just to sit down and read it. I did.

That book was Something is Killing the Children #1 by James Tynion IV and it revolutionized my comic buying choices. I began to start looking at the independent market for books that might intrigue me as a comic reader. Instead of just focusing on characters that I love, I wanted to see stories that could engage me.

When I was a little kid, what interested me most of all was the artists in each book. I remember loving John Byrne and following him around to the different books he would draw. Now, as an adult, I am much more interested in the writer of the stories. I am more likely to give a book written by James Tynion IV, Jeff Lemire or Chip Zdarsky a chance than any current artist.

Anyway, I was looking through the Previews catalog yesterday and I got an idea for a new post for EYG. I want to pick out a few of the new books from the Preview catalog that I am intrigued by and highlight them here. Perhaps I can find a “Something is Killing the Children” for someone else like Ben did for me.

I plan on doing this column every month when the Previews catalog comes out. I will give a short summary and my own thoughts. I am not going to pick anything that I do not plan on purchasing myself just because someone else may believe it will be ‘hot.’ And there will always be a standing recommendation for “Man-Goat & Bunnyman.” Just sayin’.

Ironically, the first book I want to mention is Something is Killing the Children #0, which is the cover story of Previews. This is apparently the untold story that led to Erica Slaughter to the classic “Archer’s Peak Saga.” Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’Edera, this goes right along with the current run of Something is Killing the Children which has been telling untold stories from Erica’s past. I hope this gives us more specifics and details than a typic “0” comic would. Either way, this is a must have for all Something-fans. It is from Boom! Studios.

Another big thing I found in the Previews was the next comic written by Jeff Lemire. I mentioned him as a writer that I will give a chance to because of how much I have loved his past work which included Fishflies, Phantom Road, Gideon Falls, Sweet Tooth, Essex County and the Bone Orchard Mythos. The new book is entitled Minor Arcana and it says that it features Theresa, a daughter of a small-town ‘psychic’ fraud. Theresa returned home to take care of her mother who is ill only to find that the town may need more help than she expected. This is a book that I am looking forward to because of Jeff Lemire. It is also from Boom! Studios.

Those two were two of the major ones highlighted in Previews. I have a couple more that are not standouts, but that made me curious about. The first of these is entitled The Tin Can Society from Image Comics. Written by Peter Warren and art from Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry, The Tin Can Society tells the story of Johnny Moore, a tech mogul who had a disability. However, Johnny is also a vigilante inside a metal suit. Johnny is found murdered and his suit missing, which leads to his childhood friends come together to try to solve the mystery. I do love murder mysteries and, if done well, this could be a great medium for it to excel. Peter Warren is a screenwriter of a film called Kill Me so I am curious to see what he had to bring to this format.

Another Image book that I am looking at is The Moon is Following Us. This is one of those that I might not have given a chance to except that it is being written by Daniel Warren Johnson who is currently doing tremendous work on The Transformers at Image. This is a story about Sam and Duncan and their six-year old daughter Penny. Penny was taken by an evil force called the Cascade and her parents need to enlist the aid of magic creatures to try and save her. Magic books are hit and miss a lot of times for me, but Daniel Warren Johnson has earned the chance to purchase this book.

And then there is a book from the small company Afterlight Comics called Silence. This is clearly a book that I would never have seen without Previews and my mindset that there are great stories besides just Marvel. This is a three-part story described as psychological horror, which is some of my favorite horror stories. It is about a comic book artist named Stanley Kane who has cardiac arrest in a taxi. When he awakens at the hospital, his agent has arranged some R&R in a small town in Michigan named Silence. There appears to be more in Silence than expected. I love these type of small town stories. I loved the TV shows Twin Peaks and Eerie, Indiana as well as the comic series Displaced, Gideon Falls or Stillwater. This sounds as if it may fall into that category.

These are a few of the books featured in Previews this month that make me intrigued. I will return with this column in August for the next round of new books. Until then, read on.