October 8, 2023

Welcome back to EYG Comic Cavalcade. I started this week finally getting that final missing issue #3. I had a bunch of independent series that I missed issue #3 of and this week, I got The Seasons Have Teeth #3, which I then was able to read #4, that I had had for months. I did not even really believe issue#3 existed, even with Todd’s pics of the issue that he sent me. After reading it, I did enjoy these two issues.

Then, there was some intriguing events occurring involving signatures. First of all, Todd got me a signed copy of Local Man Gold, from creator Tony Fleecs. He went to a con last weekend where Fleecs was appearing. I have been a fan of his work on Local Man and Stray Dogs. It was a bit strange because he signed the book “AMF,” which is his initials. I guess it is just a quicker way to do it. Thankfully, he personalized it for me.

Then, I had purchased a copy of Howard the Duck #1 over eBay, and when I went to read it, I opened the first page and do you know what I saw? Two signatures at the bottom of the page. One was the writer Steve Gerber and the other was the artist, Frank Brunner. I was shocked as there was nowhere on eBay indicating that this was a signed copy, nor were there any pictures of the signatures on the site. The person had said that he was not an expert and that he had purchased this out of a large collection so my guess is that he never even opened the comic. I find this a treasure that I did not expect.

The rest of the books this week:

G.O.D.S. #1. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Valerio Schiti. Mateus Manhanini did the cover art. Jonatan Hickman’s newest creation for Marvel, deals with the mysterious Wyn and the world of magic in the Marvel Universe. This was an intriguing book with the typical Hickman convolution.

Parasocial graphic novel. Written by Alex De Campi and drawn by Erica Henderson. This is like the movie Misery meeting social media. A former TV star of show Rogue Nebula gets kidnapped by an obsessive fan and has to try to survive the situation. This was an easy read and quite the commentary on toxic fandom.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #3. “Chapter Three: The Rooftop Gambit.” Written by Chris Condon and illustrated by Jacob Phillips. How could you go wrong with a big standoff in the old West with a line gun? This book continues to be one of the more original books each month.

Doctor Strange #8. “The Doctor, the General and the Warlord.” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross does the cover art. Last issue it seemed as if Clea was betraying Stephen for General Strange. This issue, we see that she was not intending to betray him. Instead, she was going out of her way to try and help Stephen by going undercover. Looks like there is a big showdown next issue.

Red Goblin #9. Written by Alex Paknadel and penciled by Chris Campana. Kendrick “Kunkka” Lim did the cover art. The out of control Rascal takes on the Gold Goblin, trying to stop those things that make Normie sad. There is also a cameo by Normie’s father, Harry’s skeleton. Weird, I know.

Peacemaker: Tries Hard #6. Written by Kyle Starks and art by Steve Pugh. Kris Anka did the cover art. Peacemaker wraps up his series with the end of the story of the Red Bee and a birthday party for Peacemaker with a passel of special guest stars.

Ghostlore #5. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. This issue, we get a close look at where Harmony wound up. She finds herself with a group of people who can also see and talk to the spirits.

Transformers #1. Written and illustrated by Daniel Warren Johnson. A brand new series featuring the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. It wound up with what looked to be the death of Jetfire, which is sad for me considering he was one of my favorites ever. A new series from Image and a new shared universe.

Strange Academy: Amazing Spider-Man #1. “Solve for X” Written by Carlos Hernandez and art by Vasco Georgiev. Nick Bradshaw & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. This wrapped up the Solve for X storyline. Honestly, I did not find this conclusion that interesting and there was just not enough Spider-Man in it for me.

Fantastic Four #12. “Saur Winners” Written by Ryan North and art by Iban Coello. I have to say that I have really been enjoying this latest run on Fantastic Four with the team in Arizona. With this issue, the FF find themselves in an alternate dimension where everyone, including Tony Stark, Captain America etc. are dinosaurs.

October 1, 2023

It has been a busy week around EYG so I am just getting to the comics from this past Wednesday. I also have a few items coming from eBay.

Let’s go…

Howard the Duck #29. “Help Stamp Out Ducks!” Written by Steve Gerber and art by Will Meugniot. I have started to flesh out my Howard the Duck collection of his original series from 1976-1979. These are really fun and the satire involved is just top notch. This issue was based on a plot by Mark Evanier of Groo the Wanderer fame.

Omega the Unknown #7. “And Then Came Blockbuster.” Written by Scott Edelman and drawn by Jim Mooney. We get some more in the connection between Omega and James-Michael and Omega speaks! This late 70s comic is fascinating and has just three more issues to go.

The Devil’s Cut. This is a large compilation from a new comic company, DSTLRY. This, according to Todd, are a group of introductions to the different titles that the company is going to produce. I picked it up because there were stories inside by James Tynion IV and also Marc Bernardin. The different stories were very varied and fun to read. Will I buy any of them? Hard to say, but I did enjoy this book.

The Invincible Iron Man #10. “Sentenced to Life.” Written by Gerry Dugan and drawn by Juan Frigeri. Lucas Werneck did the cover art. The wedding of Tony Stark and Emma Frost takes place as they are trying to stop Feilong and Orchis. We also get a look at Rhodey, who has been in jail, but now has protection thanks to Wilson Fisk. Tony is having to do things he does not want to do to try and save his friend.

Ultimate Invasion #4. Chapter Four: “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.” Written by Jonathan Hickman and penciled by Bryan Hitch. This has set up what appears to be a new Ultimate universe and I am curious to see where this goes.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2. “Hiding in Plain Sight.” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and art by Carlos Gomez & Adam Gorham. Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Kamala Khan continues to struggle with the new way that the world looks at her because she is now a mutant. And why does she head into her own dream? To talk with Dr. Surfer, of course.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #4. Based on an idea by James Tynion IV, written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art was by Nick Robles. Christopher, Jordi and Viveka have a disagreement after being saved from their conflict, but they reunite at the end to go take care of their issues. This continues to be an enjoyable book with a lot of originality.

Moon Knight: City of the Dead #3. “Dead Reckoning.” Written by David Pepose and penciled by Sean Damien Hill. Rod Reis did the cover art. Moon Knight takes on his brother in an attempt to get Khalil away. However, little did Moon Knight know that Khalil has a bigger roles to play.

Spider-Man India #4. “Seva Part IV” Written by Nikesh Shukla and penciled by Tadam Gyadu. Adam Kubert & Brad Anderson did the cover art. Pavitr Prabhakar is in a lot of trouble with the Lizard and Giri Sahibi both coming after him. Things are not looking good for our hero.

Avengers #5. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Ivan Fiorelli Stuart Immonen did the cover art. The Ashen Combine continue to battle the Avengers separately as the Impossible City seems to hinting to Black Panther and Captain America that it did not want to be doing what it is doing, but there was nothing it could do about it. Things are building toward the Avengers coming together and kicking some butt!

Marvel Unleashed #2. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Jesus Hervas. David Baldeon & Israel Silva did the cover art. The team of animals are growing as this issue brings into the comic Throg, Frog of Thunder, and Bats the ghost dog from Dr. Strange. Throg vs. Blackheart? Yes, please. They join in an attempt to rescue Lockjaw with D-Dog, Redwing, Chewie the Flerken and Lucky the Pizza Dog. This is surprisingly fun.

Avengers Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Finale” The Avengers join up with Spider-Man, Jessica Jones and Clea in an attempt to stop Agatha Harkness and her team of controlled heroes as Agatha is trying to recreate the Darkhold. The running story from the annuals comes to a close here.

The Immortal Thor #2. “The Wisdom of the Fool.” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Martin Coccolo. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor tries to battle Totanos before the Odin sleep forces him into a slumber. Who knew it all would depend of Thor trusting Loki? Is that a good idea?

Blade #3. “Mother of Evil: Part Three” Writtenby Bryan Hill and penciled by Elena Casagrande and Valentina Pinti. Blade, Rotha and Tulip have problems to face, not the least is their interpersonal problems. And then, there is Dr. Strange.

Planetary #5. “The Good Doctor.” Written by Warren Ellis and drawn by John Cassaday. Elijah Snow goes to see Doctor Brass and the pair discuss the situation they find themselves in at Planetary. Doctor Brass certainly reminded me of Doc Savage. This issue handles Dr. Brass’s background in a cool and very pulpy manner.

Newburn #11. Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jacob Phillips. Newburn continues to try and find a way to solve the murder of the New York Yakuza boss without pointing the finger at the guy they know did it. Lots of trouble for Newburn, including from his old partner.

Void Rivals #4. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Lorenzo De Felici. Solila, who betrayed Darak last issue, and she returned to her people… but things did not seem to go the way she had intended. Plus… Soundwave.

September 26, 2023

Sixty posts in the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I have really enjoyed this part for EYG. Tomorrow is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and this is the remaining issues from last week.

Let’s go!

Planetary #4. “Strange Harbours” Written by Warren Ellis and drawn by John Cassaday. I guess this is not a comic from last week’s NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, but it was one of the Planetary back issues that I got. This is really a good issue and I am enjoying the strangeness of the whole story. And this one was wild with an alien ship and another dimension.

Grim #13. “Chapter Thirteen: Interlude” Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano. I have no idea what this was. I did not know who these characters were or what was happening. Grim has been slipping down the list for me, so I hope this will pick up again.

X-Men Annual #1. “Contest of Chaos: Part Seven.” I really enjoyed this issue as we got the conflict with Captain Marvel and Cyclops. They made a fascinating pairing with their dialogue during the conflict. Looks like there is one more annual in this Contest of Chaos summer arc.

Deadpool: Badder Blood #4. Story by Rob Liefeld, script by Chad Bowers and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Deadpool, Logan, Venompool and… Spider-Man team up to bring down Killville and now they are off to save Thumper. Yeah, sound ridiculous… and awesome. Great full page panels filled with some awesome art.

Guardians of the Galaxy #6. “The Hand-Dug Grave.” Written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by Alex Lins. The cover art was by Marco Checchetto. This is a weird issue as the Guardians are dead? I think? This has to do with the Grootfall and I’m here for it. Weird is cool at times.

What If…? Dark: Carnage #1. Written by Larry Hama and art by John McCrea. Cover art was by Philip Tan, Jay Leisten and Rachel Rosenberg. I do love What Ifs, but this just was not very interesting. Todd had poo-pooed this book before I read it and so I just kind of skimmed it. It did not feel like a What If.

Haunt You to the End #4. Written by Ryan Cady and art by Andrea Mutti. Ghosts. Storms. Frighteningly scary things. This series feels as if it is picking up for a finale. Especially with a terrifying Commander Gersh at the end.

Omega the Unknown #5. “Through the Rat Hole… Into the Cat’s Lair” Written by Steve Gerber & Mary Skrenes and art by Jim Mooney. I have now caught up to the first issue of Omega that I picked up and was so intrigued by. This one wraps up the El Gato storyline. There are four more of these before it wraps up with a two-issue arc in Defenders.

September 22, 2023

Several great new books this week. Going to jump right in…

Omega the Unknown #4. “Cats and No Dogs.” Written by Steve Gerber & Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney & Pablo Marcus. Well, actually, this isn’t a ‘new’ book this week. It is from 1976 and I picked up this whole series recently. I have been taking my time reading through the 10 issues, doing #4 today. These have been a really fun read and I love the mystery of what is going on with Omega and James-Michael.

Predator Versus Wolverine #1. Written by Benjamin Percy and with art from Ken Lashley, Greg Land, Jay Leisten and Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was by Marco Checchetto. There was not a book more surprising this week than Predator Versus Wolverine #1. I had zero interest in this and only picked it up because it was a Marvel #1. However, I loved this. They way they followed the battle between Wolverine and the Predator though the years and how they were both damaged as they went, well it was excellent. A lot of the story is told through the images of the art and I love that style. This was really enjoyable and I am looking forward to more.

Hexagon Bridge #1. Written and drawn by Richard Blake. This is a beautifully illustrated book with a new world that is very interesting. This first issue introduces us to several new characters and slowly gives out what is happening in this world. We meet Elena, Jacob and Adley in separate sections of the story. I am curious to see where this goes from here.

Captain America #1. “Beginnings.” Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Jesus Saiz. I loved this new take on Captain America. The look at his early life, prior to the Super Soldier Serum, is a fascinating look at this character and the present day gave me vibes like Matt Fraction’s run on Hawkeye. I enjoyed this book tremendously.

Amazing Spider-Man #34. Written by Zeb Wells and art by Patrick Gleason. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. This was the greatest cover of the week. One of the best Spider-Man covers I have seen in a long time. This whole dark Spider-Man run is tense and worrisome. I hope Peter does not do anything that he cannot come back from or that taints who he is. I surely do not want a long term Dark Spider-Man.

Fishflies #2. Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. This one was a little more difficult to follow that last issue. Todd then let me know that there was a misprint, where a whole page was reproduced in this issue. A full black page was in twice when it was meant to be only once. That was sad that I did not realize what had happened when I read it.

Nocterra #16. Written by Scott Snyder with art by Tony S. Daniel. The story of Nocterra comes to a conclusion with the darkness that has taken over the planet removed. While there are still some of the main antagonists still out there, this is a solid wrap up for the series. The note at the end indicated that there would be more to come from this world, but this could be a solid finish if they do not return to it.

Uncanny Spider-Man #1. “Park Life.” Written by Si Spurrier and art by Lee Garbett. Tony Daniel & Sonia Oback did the cover. I did not understand why this book was happening. I did not know why Nightcrawler would be dressed up like Spider-Man. I wondered why I should care about this. Then I read it. And I loved it. I was intrigued by the set up, I loved the reason why Kurt Wagner was dressed as Spidey, and I loved Spidey’s actual use. I thought this was way better than it had any right to be.

Loki #4. “The Liar: Finale” Written by Dan Watters and drawn by German Peralta. Dustin Nguyen did the cover art. Loki’s mission to reclaim the pieces of Naglfar, the cursed ship Loki created from the fingernails of the dead. The confrontation with Bullseye (plus the inclusion of Spider-Man) was cool. This series came to an end with this, making it appear as if Loki was heading back to his lying past.

Big Game #3. Written by Mark Millar and art by Pepe Larraz. This continues to be a shocking series, as characters are just killed left and right. I wonder if things will be retconned at some point. I have been enjoying what is going on. Come on, Hit Girl!

Tenement #4. Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Andrea Sorrentino. This horror series, a part of the Bone Orchard saga, is doing a great job of creating a tense and anxious story. The use of black and red is artistically wonderful images. There are some seriously creepy moments in the book too.

Something is Killing the Children #33. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Werther Dell’edera. This continues to be an excellent story, though I have to say that it does feel as if they are stretching out the story before the eventual battle between Erica and Cutter.

Rare Flavours #1. “Chapter 1: Masala Chai.” Written by Ram V and illustrated by Filipe Andrade. One of the most original new books from the week. Creating a documentary that follows Rubin Baksh around eating the most delicious foods. This new Boom! Comics offering is different and curious.

Antarctica #3. Written by Simon Birks and drawn by Willi Roberts. Antarctica has been a very good book so far. I am still learning who is who, but the story is compelling and the twists have been powerful. This has been a real exceptional book so far.

Strange Academy: Moon Knight #1. “Solve for X” Part 2. Written by Carlos Hernandez and drawn by Julian Shaw. Nick Bradshaw and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. I do love the Strange Academy, and their interactions with Moon Knight and Miles Morales is a ton of fun.

Klik Klik Boom #4. Written by Doug Wagner and drawn by Doug Dabbs. I was so happy to see Serena Biggs at the beginning of this issue because I was almost certain that she had been killed at the end of issue #3. Sprout, by the way, is just about as kick ass of a character as you are going to find.

Uncanny Avengers #2. “New Avengers.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Javier Garrón. The mutants involved in this issue seems to have a problem with Cap as the leader of this Unity Squad. Who would have thought that the voice of reason would come from Deadpool?

Alpha Flight #2. Written by Ed Brisson and drawn by Scott Godlewski. Leonard Kirk & Edgar Delgado are the cover artists. Alpha Flight is trying to get their way through the current world troubles with Orchis and the Box Sentinels. These are some cool characters that we have not seen a lot of and this series is a welcome change.

September 17, 2023

I have a plethora of intriguing books to look at this week, some from the NEW COMIC BOOK DAY last Wednesday, some back issues from the series I have been collecting, and some back issues from Quad Com from last week.

Here we go…

Spine Tingling Spider-Man #0. Written by Saladin Ahmed and featuring art by Juan Ferreyra. Two of my favorite things combining into one: Spider-Man and horror comics. This was a great combination of genres that was a lot of fun to read.

Daredevil #1. Written by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Aaron Kuder. Cover art by John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marco Menyz. Here is yet another volume of Daredevil, kicking off at the end of the run of Chip Zdarsky. Matt Murdock is alive and a priest, with uncertain memories of Daredevil. This is a fascinating start to the new arc of DD. Saladin Ahmed seems to be the hot new writer in Marvel and I am anxious to see where a new voice takes the character of Daredevil.

Werewolf by Night #1. Written by Derek Landy and including art by Fran Galan. Corin Howell and Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. A cool one shot involving Jack Russell’s Werewolf by Night and Elsa Bloodstone. The presentation reminded me of the Marvel Studios Special Presentation from last Halloween. The use of color and black-and-white art worked very well for the format of this book and helped to create the desired tone.

The Cull #1. Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Mattia De Iulis. This new Image Comics book featured a group of young people are investigating something that happened the year before, by entering a mysterious cave. Or is it an alternate earth? Or is it luminal space? Not sure, but it is a fascinating start.

Project Crypto #1. Three tales, one about a Yeti, one about a Mongolian Death Worm and one serial written by Grant Morrison. I liked the Yeti part, but the Death Worm was a stretch for me. This was a different sort of book that was a refreshing change.

Alligator Loki #1. Written by Alyssa Wong and drawn by Bob Quinn. This is a series of short bits, much like the It’s Jeff book from earlier this year. I believe these were released originally on Marvel Unlimited online. These were funny and cute. That’s about it.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #10. “Bad Blood: Part One” Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Partha Pratim and Federico Sabbatini. Dike Ruani and Alejandro Sanchez did the art for the cover. Miles has a therapy session with Doc Sampson (who is in Sasquatch form), has a confrontation with Hightail and comes face to face with Blade. A lot going down for Miles Morales.

Astonishing Iceman #2. “Out Cold: Part Two.” Bobby heads back to his hometown to confront the Sapien League, specifically Helium the Unfreezable Man. Bobby is sure that Orchis is behind this, despite the denials of Helium.

Avengers Inc. #1. “The Man Who Wasn’t There.” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Leonard Kirk. Daniel Acuna did the cover art. Janet Van Dyne is approached by NYC Mayor Luke Cage about the murders of a group of low level super criminals. However, Cage does not want costumed help. So Janet has to move forward without costumes. She finds the body of Whirlwind, and the others who were not dead. Whirlwind comes back claiming to be Victor Shade ( a name connected to Vision). This has an X-Files flair to it.

Incredible Hulk #4. “Riddle of the Man-Thing: Part One” In this new arc, we get some background on Charlie, the young girl following Banner around. The Man-Thing arrives to spirit Banner/Hulk off to the Nexus. I have always enjoyed the Man-Thing despite not reading a ton of his books. I like the use of the character in this more horror themed Hulk title.

Red Goblin #8. Written by Alex Paknadel and drawn by Chris Campana. Inhyuk Lee did the cover art. Normie ditches Miles Morales and heads off to save Tim. Normie and Rascal continue their struggle with each other, but that is seemingly over.

House of Slaughter #17. “Alabaster Part Two.” Written by Sam Johns and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. The cover art was by Javier Rodrigues & Werther Dell’edera. There is something creepy going on with the new boy they called Big Man. I have had some trouble following this arc so far. I hope I get better at it cause it looks cool.

Dark Ride #8. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrei Bressan. Sam is being attacked by weird creatures that resemble the park’s mascot. We see flashbacks to his youth at the time his mother died. It had been a long time since the last issue of Dark Ride but each one is a great book.

Planetary #3. “Dead Gunfighters” Written by Warren Ellis and featuring art by John Cassaday. A cop, murdered by his partner, comes back as a ghost to exact some revenge. Cool issue.

Something Epic #5. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. Daniel proves himself as an epic and is allowed to head into a meeting with the source of Imagination. This series continues to be beautifully rendered and creative beyond almost anything that I have read.

Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #3. “The Ferocious Occurrence of the Feral Five.” Written by Ann Nocenti and drawn by Paolo Villanelli. Mike McKone & Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Carol gets back to the kids, but they have already been changed into the Feral Five.

Ghost Rider #18. “Bad Education.” This issue gives us a back story for Talia Warroad. Who knew that back story would include Doctor Strange? Or the Cult of Mephisto?

Omega the Unknown #3. “Burn While You Learn!” We continue to see the connection between Omega and James-Michael, who is having troubles at his new school with bullies. Omega is taking on Electro in the meantime. I like how they are laying this out slowly in each book. James-Michael is a little robotic (I assume that is what he actually is).

The Enfield Gang Massacre #2. “Chapter Two: Pinned Down.” Written by Chris Condon and drawn by Jacob Phillips. This continues to be one of the more original books out each month. Just the feel of the book, the way it is presented like an old time comic, right down to the paper style is awesome.

Amazing Spider-Man #655-658. These are four books I grabbed at Quad Con. They were all written by Dan Slott. This is right around the time when Marla Jameson was killed and Peter started to adopt the idea of “No One Dies.” The Human Torch is also considered dead and Spidey has taken his place in the FF (not the Fantastic Four, but the Future Foundation). Reading these took me back to a different time for Spidey and it was fun.

September 10, 2023

New banner!

Good Sunday to everyone. I am back with a new Comic Cavalcade after I spent some of my day at a special event that was held at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa. It was the Quad Con, a convention featuring all of the keys of pop culture, from comic books to toys to artwork and geek/nerd culture.

I had heard that this was a minor convention and that there would not be much there, but when I showed up at 10 AM this morning, there were quite a few people there and they had a lot of things set up. I am sure that it was not at the level of events that, say Todd, is used to, but for me, who had never attended a comic convention before, this had a ton to look at.

I will agree that comics made up about 30% of the overall exhibits on display and that there were also a ton of toys, but the comic vendors that I saw had a lot of choices and I was happy to get an opportunity to pick up some books that I normally do not see anywhere but, perhaps, on eBay.

My local comic shop from Dubuque, Comic World and games, had a presence at the show too as Pat and Jeff were here working. They had a pair of giant D & D dice to role to determine discount on what is purchased. That was fun. As always, I want to support Comic World so, even though I had seen most everything that they were going to have, I picked up a couple of things, including Action Comics #454, which Pat had said was his favorite cover of all time.

They also had some Ghostbusters cosplay going on with some cool looking set up, a Ghostbuster truck, a couple of inflatable Ghostbusters creatures, including the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and such. I think they were doing something special with the Ghostbusters later in the day, but I did not stick around for that.

I got a bunch of cool comics to go along with the experience of attending the con. I picked up my first ever CGC Universal graded book, Amazing Spider-Man #289, which was graded at 9.4. I thought having one of these would be cool and this was the ASM issue where they ‘revealed’ the identity of the Hobgoblin. I also pocked up Daredevil #12 guest starring Ka-Zar (which is now my oldest Daredevil book), three issues of a Hellcat series that I had never seen before (she is in a blue outfit), Not Brand Echh #1-3, What If… #61, 71, 97, 88, 92, 112 and What If Dr. Doom had Become Thing #1. Also Amazing Spider-Man issues 655-658. and 544 (Part 1 of One More Day). Ice Cream Man trade paperback (collecting #1-4). Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1 (from IDW)New Thunderbolts #17 (which was free on the table for coming to the con), Plastic Man #10, and issues #1 & 2 of American Vampire Anthology from Vertigo. There were a lot of fun stuff and the only thing keeping me where I was was my wallet.

Other books this week:

Planetary #2. “Island.” Written by Warren Ellis and featuring art by John Cassaday. Elijah Snow and Jakita headed to an island (that really resembled Godzilla’s Monster Island) to try and prevent a group of people from discovering the mystery of the island. We also see a giant green lizard’s carcass (which sure resembled Godzilla) on the island. Fun issue.

Omega the Unknown #2. “Welcome to Hell’s Kitchen.” Written by Steve Gerber & Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney. The mysterious connection between Omega and James-Michael continues as James-Michael is injured when something happens to Omega. Oh, and there is a Hulk too.

Dr. Strange #7. “Don’t Let Your Ashes Fill Your Eyes.” Written by Jed macKay and drawn by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did the cover art. Doctor Strange and General Strange come face-to-face and Stephen realizes what a challenge is ahead of him. And what exactly is going on with Clea?

Swan Songs #3. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Filipe Andrade. One of the most beautifully rendered books I have seen in a long time. This is simply an artistic masterpiece. Plus, a story of nuclear destruction and the survival of two individuals. Beautiful book.

Barnstormers #3. “Chapter Three.” Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Tula Lotay. This series wraps up with a somewhat happy ending… or as it seems. The fact that this book ends about half way through the book and the second part of the book is art and covers etc.

Black Panther #4. “Reign at Dusk Part 4” Written by Eve L. Ewing and penciled by Chris Allen and Mack Chater. Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Black Panther battles a controlled Deathlok. I am still struggling to follow this book with all the characters that I am not sure of.

Moon Knight #27. “Journey to the Center of the Mind.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Federico Sabbatini. Cover art by Stephen Segovia and Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight and Hunter’s Moon go inside the mind of Vibro’s mind to try and find out what he knows about Black Spectre is found.

Peacemaker: Tries Hard #5. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Steve Pugh. Cover art by Kris Anka. Peacemaker and Red Bee have to fight a bunch of Deathstroke clones, especially Teen Deathstroke and a bunch of baby Deathstroke clones. Fun series with the tone of the HBO Max show.

Silver Surfer Rebirth-Legacy #1. “Temptation” Written by Ron Marz and drawn by Ron Lim. Variant cover drawn by Frank Miller. Silver Surfer steals the time gem from Gamora to take Genis-Vell into the past to let him see his father, Captain Marvel. Everything is not as happy as it seems.

Void Rivals #3. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Lorenzo De Felici. Darak and Solila have to face off with a new villain as they try to return to the Sacred Ring. Void Rivals has been a fun and intriguing series so far and it looks like a betrayal is going to where we are moving forward.

Silk #5. Written by Emily Kim and drawn by Ig Guara. Cindy Moon goes into her brother’s dream to try and stop Saya Ishii from taking her revenge on Cindy through Albert.

September 7, 2023

A whole bunch of back issues have come into my possession recently for several series that I just recently discovered. A big thank you to Todd for his efforts to find these books for me across his mountains of contacts.

There is also, of course, a NEW COMIC BOOK DAY in there as well, although this was actually a lighter week of new books for me. The whole DC Knight Terror series is done now, which is helpful in bringing down my total.

Oh, and I owe an apology to Todd for doubting that he had already found me Planetary #12 & 13, which I thought he had not. I did not recognize the pics that he showed me on his phone. He was sure that he had already gotten those two books, and he was right. My bad.

Books this post…

Avengers #502 & 503. “Chaos” Part three and four. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by David Finch. This is the Avengers Disassembled story arc that had seen some of the team killed (such as poor Scott Lang and Hawkeye) by Wanda Maximoff. The story arc is tense and exciting, if not a tad anticlimactic.

Avengers Finale. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by a plethora of people. The surviving members of the Avengers gather together to mourn Scott Lang, Hawkeye, Vision, while dealing with their anger/frustration over Wanda’s decisions. The book wound up with the Avengers just reminiscing over their biggest moments and felt like a minor wrap up of the more tense Avengers Disassembled series.

Kill Your Darlings #1. Written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan with art by Robert Quinn. This is a book considered hot, coming out of Image, and it is, of course, because I picked it out of Previewed months ago. I am a trendsetter. Seriously, this is really an engaging book with a young girl named Rose and her imaginary world… or is it imaginary? Beautiful art work and a gripping story.

Secret War #5. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Gabriele Dell’Otto. The heroes get together to finally discover what Nick Fury had gotten them to do the year before in Latveria. Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, steps forward to take Fury’s back. Honestly, this felt a little anticlimactic as well. I liked the whole series, but it just did not finish up that well.

Omega the Unknown #1. Written by Steve Gerber & Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney. Cover art by Hannigan & Sinnott. I picked up Omega the Unknown #6 at last weekend’s super secret sale at Comic World and I loved the issue, so I went to eBay and found the whole ten issue series. I started off with number one and it was decent. I was really curious about what has been set up in the story between Omega and James-Michael. Pretty good for a series that I had never heard of before.

Amazing Spider-Man #33. Written by Zeb Wells and featuring art from Patrick Gleason. Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Well… sure looked like Kraven done f@*ked up. Last issue, he stuck Peter with a spear that he intended to stab Norman Osborn with to make him return to his darkside, but instead, it turned Peter into something horrendous. The scenes at the end of this issue with Spidey and Kraven are as cold-blooded as I have seen. It always makes me unhappy to see Spidey look anything but his happy-go-lucky self.

Hunt for the Skinwalker #1. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Valeria Burzo. Cover by Martin Simmonds. Colm Kelleher and George Knapp wrote the original book that this was based on and was involved with the series. This included some weird things as the Skinwalker ranch took center stage. This is a fascinating four issue series with a strong beginning.

Scarlet Witch #8. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tannetta & Sara Pichelli. Russell Dauterman was the cover artist. Wanda heads to meet up with Loki in a battle of… the truth? I never thought two comic characters could show as much chemistry as these two did. This was written beautifully and showed something that you never thought you wanted.

Fantastic Four #11. Written by Ryan North and drawn by Iban Coello. Cover art by the legendary Alex Ross. I have really enjoyed this run on FF. It has had engaging stories with the team at the Grimm family farmstead in Arizona that feel very down to earth while still having huge stakes and action. This is a Thing-centric issue as he is joined by a little dog. Good stuff.

Void Rivals #2. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Lorenzo De Felici. This is another book Todd got for me because I was not aware that when I picked up issue 1 a few weeks ago that I actually was buying a second printing and that this series already had several issues released. I really loved #2 and I really liked this issue too.

Planetary #1. Written by Warren Ellis and art by John Cassaday. Another series I had never heard of before until I picked up issues #17-22 because they looked like an anthology series that was interesting. However, after reading 17 & 18, I realized that there was more to it than just an anthology series so I waited until I got #1 to continue reading. Todd got me a bunch of these and I did like #1 a lot.

X-Men #26. “Whack-A-Mole” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Jim Towe & Javier Pina. Alex Ross did this cover too. Kate Pryde heads to assassinate Firestar, unaware that she is a mole set up by Jean Grey just before she died. Plus, Tony Stark and Emma Frost wind up in a strange moment where it looked as if Stark was popping the question leading to their wedding??? I do like how Stark and Kingpin have become major players in the mutant storyline.

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.