August is right around the curtain and the fifth week of July is finishing up with the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week.
Also-Rans: Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Ashcan, Exquisite Corpses #1 (Third Printing), Lucky Devils #4, The Terminator #9, Vision & Scarlet Witch #3, I, Tyrant (variant B cover), and News from the Fallout #2.
Bronze Medalist
Space Quest #3
Cover art by Mark Spears
I picked up the A cover for this Dynamite book today after getting Cover B yesterday. Once again, Mark Spears is hitting on all cylinders. Every cover he does is a beautiful piece of art. I wonder if we are taking him for granted because of his consistent talent?
Silver Medalist
The War #1
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Tula Lotay
This imagery on this cover is stunning. With the obviously pregnant woman front and center before an exploding nuke? What a powerful cover. This is the C cover for this short series featuring a reprinting of the story from Hello Darkness by Garth Ennis. This gives me a truly tragic feel about the story.
Gold Medalist
The War #1
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Jay Shaw
The War finished one and two this week, and I have to tell you that I had to struggle to resist cover A and a virgin variant of that same cover. I really almost bought them, but I decided that I did not need four separate covers for the one reprint book. They were all just spectacular though. It really could have been all three medalists this week had I picked up cover A. I love this black and white cover, though the tone of it does give me a different vibe than cover C does.
The last Comic Cavalcade of July is another biggie. There are a bunch of books this week that were A covers from Marvel books from last week that had not been delivered to Comic World. I had picked up most of them with variant covers last week. These included New Avengers #2, Ultimate Black Panther #18, The World To Come #2, Exceptional X-Men #11, Death of the Silver Surfer #2, and Spider-Girl #2.
Books this week:
Mark Spears Monsters #6. “No Such Thing as a Superhero.” Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears. So, technically, this is one of next week’s books. This does not release until July 30, but I got it from Keenspot directly. This is ironic too because when I ordered #4 and 5 from Keenspot, it took FOREVER to receive the package of these books. With number six arriving early, it was such a neat surprise. I got the A, B, and C cover in the package.
Amazing Spider-Man #8. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. with Todd Nauck. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. I also got the retro vision variant version by Dan Panosian. Spidey’s battle continued on with Hellgate as Spidey struggled to try and stop the powerhouse.
Six Shots #1. “It’s Inside All of Us.” Written by Brian Phillipson & Jordan Lichtman with art and cover art by Alex Cormack. I got this via eBay this week. It is from a small time comic company called Bliss on Tap and Todd could not find it in Des Moines at all. It is a fascinating story involving a six gun and a demon. It is only a two part series so this is the first issue and the penultimate one.
X-Men: Age of Revelation #0. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia. Doug Ramsey is the heir of Apocalypse and this is a potential future that sees Doug, aka Revelation, joined the X-Men and seeing how things went badly quickly. This is leading to a huge X-Men crossover event in a few months. I will say, this was an interesting start.
Rocketfellers #7. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art by Francis Manapul and Siya Oum. Cover art was done by Francis Manapul. I also got the FF homage variant with art by Ramon Bachs. This story was a flashback…to the future??? Yes, this was a story that mostly took place in the Rocketfellers’ past, which would be the future to where they are now.
Runaways #2. “Think of the Children Part Two” Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Elena Casagrande and Roberta Ingramata. Cover art was done by Stephanie Hans. Chase is back and he brought the drama with him. Honestly, I found this to be an epic issue as the troubles between the Runaways was all over the place. This reminded me of the best of the Runaways.
Godzilla: Kai-Sei #1. Written by Tim Seeley with art and cover art by Nikola Čižmešija. Godzilla has been on fire in 2025, and this is yet another fun series from IDW. Tim Seeley has done some of my favorite books over the last few years and I am looking forward to seeing this progress. It feels like anew twist to a Godzilla story that we haven’t seen before.
Wolverine #11. “Only a Mother.” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo and Bryan Valenza. Wolverine vs. Sabretooth brutally battles over Logan’s mother. The question about how Logan’s mother could be here was answered in a heartbreaking manner.
Look Into My Eyes #1. Written by and art by Rubine. Cover art is done by Rubine Francesco Segala. Suzie has disappeared. Conspiracy-obsessed teen RJ Nguyen wants to find out where she went. I love these weird small town stuff (like Twin Peaks, Stillwater etc.) and this was exciting. It also has several QR codes throughout to expand the storytelling. Creative new book from Mad Cave, who has been excellent lately.
Moon Knight #10. (aka LEGACY #300). “God of Gangsters.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was by Davide Paratore. Big Moon Knight issue as the comic reminds us how much Moon Knight kicks ass.
Sleep #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. Sleep has been exceptional so far and this issue shows us the chaos that happened while Jonathan is asleep. The brutality across the town is causing Jonathan to be anxious and scared about what exactly is happening to him. Sleep has been a great book so far and this is one of the more beautifully art designed books around today.
Minor Arcana #9. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jeff Lemire. Theresa, against her better thoughts, opened the psychic store to the public and a line of people wanted to contact those who have passed.
Geiger #16. Written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Eamon Winkle. Cover art is done by Gary Frank and Brad Anderson. The Glowing Man is in bad shape and there are some major explosions. Still, this felt like a mid-issue preparing for the big trial starting out next issue.
Space Ghost Annual #1. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. This annual seems like it ends the first group of issues while leading into the next series. Space Ghost has been a solid book for Dynamite and I am a fan of it.
West Coast Avengers #9. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanovas. I have really enjoyed this team of West Coast Avengers. The group of heroes that they have brought together have been intriguing and mix nicely. The idea of a heroic Ultron is awesome. I have heard this one is ending with #10, but I hope that is not the case. This has been really good.
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1. Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Megan Levens. Variant cover art by JJ Lendl. I like Star Trek, but I would not call myself a fan. However, this idea of having the lead of this book be part of the “red shirts” which was the canon fodder of the show, those that would die on missions, made me interested in seeing what this would be about.
Feral #15. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Variant cover art by Trish Forstner and Passalaqua (Bronze Medalist). Feral has been very tense and filled with some of the best horror writing in comics. There are amazing scares in this book even with the main characters being cats.
Blue Palo Verde #2. Written by Ray Fawkes and art and cover art by Rimanti. Kris is back from prison and trying to contact her father, who is on a sick bed. However, the town seems to want her to leave. This has been very compelling so far. Like a couple of the other books this week, the weird little town is one of my favorite sub-genres and this one is playing right into it.
Exquisite Corpses #3. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with James Tynion IV and art by Valentine De Landro with Michael Walsh. I got three different covers for this book. Cover A was Michael Walsh. Cover B by Valentine De Landro. Cover D is the stealth variant also by Valentine De Landro (Gold Medalist). More excitement from the tournament. This has been one of the best books of the month every month since it had been released.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers #2. Written by David Pepose and art by Eman Casallos. Cover A art was by Chad Hardin while cover B variant was done by Jae Lee & June Chung. We spend some more time with the Planeteers as they are starting to discover their powers. I do like this book quite a bit so I am glad it seems like it is finally on a regular release schedule.
TexArcanum #1. Written by Christopher Monfette and illustrated by Miguel Martos. Who is cowboy arcanist Avery Belle? He has traveled the land in battle with ghosts, demons, spirits and gods. Another new book with a really creative concept. This is a Dark Horse book and it was a fun read.
Hero Hiro #1. Written by Jeff McClelland with art by Michael “Gecko” Adams. Cover art is done by Michael Adams. I had not known anything about this book from Keenspot and, when I saw it on the wall in Bettendorf, I gave it a shot. The main superhero is called The Hero and my first thoughts of that character was that he reminded me of Captain Amazing from Mystery Men. Interesting premise for this book too with a power transfer from The Hero to a kid named Hiro. This felt lighter than some of the other independent books lately and I thought it was a good change of pace.
The Voice Said Kill #1. Written by Si Spurrier and art and cover art by Vanesa Del Rey. Speaking about the darker independents, this is an example of that. Murder and bloody violence in the Louisiana Bayou. This is a crime story with an intriguing protagonist.
Uncanny X-Men #18. “Corn Dogs and Carnage.” Written by Gail Simone with art by Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. New Orleans and friendship… what would be better than having a carnival! This was a fun switch as the city is starting to celebrate the mutants instead of what we are used to.
Ice Cream Man #44. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art by Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran. Okay, so I think, this was an origin story for the Ice Cream Man himself. It was an intriguing story of Craig Alabaster and the troubles he faced at his job.
Storm #10. “Thunder War Begins” Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Lucas Werneck. Cover art by Mateus Manhanini. The last two pages of this book is what rally stands out. Man Storm is a kick ass right now.
Phoenix #13. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Cable is here with his step-mother Jean with the truth about the supposed resurrection of Jean’s sister and why it is a terrible thing.
Hornsby & Halo #8. Storytellers for this book are Peter J. Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Cover art is done by Peter Snejbjerg & John Kalisz. Zach and Rose join a school play. This was a fun story that was featuring the characters. I liked this as it felt like a break from the book.
The Last Boy #4. Written by Dan Panosian and illustrated by Alessio Avallone with assistance by Alberto Canale. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Peter Pan is out to make new allies and lead Captain Hook’s old crew? Whoa? Oh and it looked like Peter may have lost a hand.
The Department of Truth #32. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. More about the mysterious Hatman. Another original style to tell this story. The Department of Truth has experimented with different ways to tell a story and this one is new again. I love the way this book keeps you on your toes.
Justice League Unlimited #9. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. This is listed as the “We Are Yesterday Epilogue”. I think I am ready for this time travel story to be over. They are able to save Air Wave.
The Great British Bump Off: Kill or Be Quilt #4. Written by John Allison and art by Sarin. This is the final issue of this Dark Horse book. It was a silly book with a mystery that was kind of fun. It had some humor and funny writing, but it turned out to be nothing major.
Other books this week: New History of the DC Universe #2, Blade Forger #5, Fantastic Four Presents Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius #1, Seasons #6, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #3, Dark Honor #3, Absolute Martian Manhunter #5, and Mr. Terrific Year One #3.
Quick Hits: Insurgent Iron Man #10 brings that series to an end. Iron Man sounds like he will be back in the Age of Revelation event with a book with Emma Frost. Speaking of Emma, Emma Frost: White Queen #2 is also out this week. A story back in the old days prior to the Dark Phoenix saga. Things are getting messy in Eddie Brock: Carnage #6. Predator versus Spider-Man #4 brought this new Predator mini series to an end from the 20th Century Studios imprint. Vanishing Point #3 continued the sci-fi anthology book. The silver medalist cover winner this week was Vampirella Armageddon #1. Mark Spears did the cover with his characters from Monsters on the cover. Vampirella took her place on Monsters #6 cover C in an exchange. Mark Spears also had a 3rd printing of Mark Spears Monsters #2 this week. How many reprints will there be? How many will I keep buying? With the big movie coming out this week, Fantastic Four Fanfare #3 was released and had some Thing-centric stories. Silverhawks #5 finally returned after several problems from Dynamite and Diamond. Last night, Absolute Wonder Woman won the Eisner Award for Best New Series so Absolute Wonder Woman #10 is out this week. Absolute Wonder Woman also made news at San Diego Comic Con when we learned that this book was going to feature the first meeting of Wonder Woman and Batman in the Absolute universe. Doom’s Division ended its five-issue series with the return of Sunfire. Psylocke #9, Lost Fantasy #3 and Void Rivals #21 wrap up the week. Wooooo what a week.
Another big week of books. It just feels as if I should not keep saying that since the comics are just on fire right now, artistically.
Plenty of awesome Also-Rans this week: Mark Spears’ Monsters #2 (3rd Printing), Blue Palo Verde #2, Look Into My Eyes #1, Sleep #3, Rocketfellers #7 (not counting the awesome Fantastic Four homage cover), Absolute Wonder Woman #10, Geiger #16, Space Ghost Annual #1, Death of the Silver Surfer #2, Captain Planet and the Planeteers #2 (Variant), Vanishing Point #3, and Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 (variant).
Three variant covers in the medal round this week.
Bronze Medalist
Feral #15
Variant Cover
Cover art by Trish Forstner & Allen Passalaqua
Another great horror movie homage cover (The Conjuring, perhaps?) for this series. The feel of this cover is scary and it gives the tone of the book extremely well.
Silver Medalist
Vampirella: Armageddon #1
Variant Cover
Cover art by Mark Spears
Mark Spears is back in the medal round this week with the great variant cover for the new Vampirella book. I do not usually buy Vampirella, but Spears makes me pick it up. Again, the Monster Squad monsters make an appearance on a Mark Spears cover. It does not have a lot to do with Vampirella, but this is worth it.
Gold Medalist
Exquisite Corpses #3
Stealth Variant Cover
Cover art by Valentine De Landro
Look at this amazing cover for the new series Exquisite Corpses. The covers for this book have been amazing, but this might be the best of the series so far. The creepiness that it exudes with the beautiful red windows behind the eerie creature. Just love it.
We’ve got another big week at the Comic Cavalcade. I just might be buying too many comic books. I don’t know how long it will take me to read these books when school starts again at the end of August.
I pre-ordered a book from Amazon Prime and it arrived this week. It is called 10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir and it is from Jeff Lemire. I am a huge fan of Jeff Lemire as a writer and this is the story of his life. When I first ordered it in April, I thought it might be in graphic novel format, but it is more written than that. It was still listed in CLZ though so I added it to me graphic novel collection.
Todd also was able to get me a variant of Red Hulk #5. Last week I was reading Red Hulk #6 blissfully ignorant that I had not read #5 yet. As it wasn’t making sense, I pulled out CLZ and, sure enough, I was missing five. Thankfully, that is all taken care of now too.
Books this week:
Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Javier Garrón. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I also picked up a foil variant with art work by Leinil Francis Yu. Godzilla is on a rampage and the heroes of the Marvel Universe is trying to stop the King of Monsters. I did not expect this to be more than a one-shot, but as the issue was ending, I realized that they were nowhere near a conclusion. I don’t know if there is more than one more issue to the series, but I am here for it regardless.
“Let it Stand #1”. Written by Gerry Duggan, Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom with art by Jae Lee. Cover art, both A and B, are done by Jae Lee. This is better known as This Ends Tonight, but we had some fun with Todd, who asked me to look for the series Let it Stand, but he actually meant this one. He knew there were three words in the title. It was a lot of fun teasing him about it. As for the series, it is an intriguing new book from Image. It is not just another revenge story. Definitely more to it.
Spider-Girl #2. Written by Torunn Grønbekk with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover art was done by Nogi San (Gold Medalist). The new Spider-Girl takes on Lady Bullseye. We also get some more of the life of Maka Akana, the Hawaiian- born Spider-Girl.
Pinupocalypse #4. Written, art and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. This has been such a hoot from Massive Comics. Roxy and Foxy are desperately trying to survive the zombie apocalypse that has been brought on by aliens, but they are able to take some time out to address their relationship… perhaps in a way that Foxy was not pleased about.
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen (Bronze Medalist-tied). Rennie is ramping up her brutality as the bodies pile up. Yet, she is hoping to save her friend, Sofie, who was sold into human trafficking by their teacher. Probably not the smartest thing to do when her best friend is a serial killer. One more issue to go in this very engaging mini series that makes you root for the serial killer as your main character.
They Choose Violence #2. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. No misprint in this issue. Only Laneka, Deidre and Karen celebrating Laneka’s birthday in the way that only these three could do.
Benjamin #2. Written by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Christian Ward. Benjamin J. Carp is a robot that has had his actual intelligence uploaded into… or is he? This three-issue series has been wild so far and I have really enjoyed the originality and the difference of the book.
Ghost Pepper #1. Written and art by Ludo Lullabi. Variant cover B by Stanley “Artgerm” Lu. This is a weird book. It is like a dystopian future world meeting up with a cooking show. Mad Max meets Top Chef. There is also a bad ass named Ash who just can never finish his bowl of noodles. It is another one of those original ideas that we are getting from independent comics.
Nightwing #127. “Other Part 2” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Adriano Lucas did the art for the cover. Titans Tower has been corrupted by Nitemite and Dick has to make it through to find Oracle. Wild and weird versions of some of the worst things from Nightwing’s past show up, including Deathwing.
Imperial #2. “Two” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Iban Coello & Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Marte Gracia. The future space epic continues with war between the Shi’ar and Wakanda Prime. Again, I have not been a fan of the futuristic stories like this, but Jonathan Hickman does a decent job of providing an intriguing story.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10. “Turtles on Trial” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferryra. Jorge Fornes did the cover art (Bronze Medalist-tied). The Turtles are on trial. Corrupt D.A. Hieronymus Haleis using his persuasion ability to make everyone hate the Turtles. What will come from this?
Phantom Road #14. “The Horrormen Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover by Gabriel H. Walta. The next arc of this series has reached its penultimate issue. It is a weird book for sure, but I love the style of writing done by Jeff Lemire.
Absolute Batman #10. “Abomination” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. A naked Bruce Wayne has been captured and is being experimented on. However, his determination still comes through strongly as he continues his efforts to escape. Bane is lurking though.
The Tin Can Society #7. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. After a long break, Tin Can Society returned. It was quite a few months since I saw the last of this book, but the reminder of what was going on came quickly as we see John is not dead, and we learn of his story.
Detective Comics #1099. “Elixir” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Lee Garbett. Mikel Janin did the cover art. I do love Tom Taylor. His take on Batman in this run in Detective Comics has been awesome and I love the use of Harvey Bullock and Penguin in the story. Big issue #1100 next month.
Redcoat #13. Creators are Geoff Jahns and Bryan Hitch. Cover art by Bryan Hitch and Brad Anderson. Simon Pure finally chooses a side! The Northerner plays a huge role in the story set during the United States Civil War. Then it looks as if the Northerner has another guest star role coming up soon.
New Avengers #2. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover art was done by Andy Park. Bucky, Black Widow, Namor, Wolverine and Clea have to team up to battle warped versions of the Illuminati created by the Jackal.
New Champions #7. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. We get the debut of a new character, another vampire, named Nightdrifter, who aids the New Champions in their search for Hellrune.
Los Monstruos #3. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. Perry Cutter continues his search for Yvonne Veil and the truth of what is happening. Seems as if the truth is finding him. I have really enjoyed this monster noir as we progress around Los Monstruos.
Exceptional X-Men #11. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Federica Mancin. Variant cover art by Junggeun Yoon. Our young trainee X-Men meet Ironheart in a Chicago park when all heck breaks loose. Meanwhile, Kitty, Emma and Bobby wait to celebrate with the kids.
Toxie Team-Up #2. Written by Stuart Moore and art by Ryan Kelly. Fred harper did the cover art. This is not as much a team-up as a fight between as we get the Toxic Avengers one-on-one with the Jersey Devil, both with connections to their bullied pasts. This was not as much fun as the Jesus Crist issue #1 team up but it still is an enjoyable read.
Marvel Knights: The World to Come #2. “Part Two: The Host” Written by Joe Quesada with art by Priest. Cover art by Joe Quesada & Richard Isanove. Boy Joe Quesada sure knows how to stir up controversy and online rage. A white Black Panther??? Another one of those alternate future stories that do not have any footholds in the real Marvel Universe. Still interesting to see what outrage will be next.
Death of the Silver Surfer #2. “Pandora” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Variant cover art was done by Claudio Castellini. It must be the week for the alternate future stories as we get yet another one. This one is probably my favorite of the possible future stories with Silver Surfer and a Galactus who has seen better days.
Giant Size House of M #1. “A Sweet and Perfect World.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Francesco Manna and the variant cover art was by Martin Coccolo. Ms. Marvel continues her jaunt through the X-Men history, confronting Legion where she can. Again, I am not sure what this is intended to be. Is this a reboot of the X-Men past? If so, I am not happy. If this is just another possible story, why not make these What If issues? Cool variant cover though.
Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. This has been a really solid book so far as we focus in on the feelings and anxieties of Jason Todd. Jason goes as far as to cast aside his allegiances to Batman and Nightwing to join the other side and be more proactive in the battle against the evil forces of Gotham.
Far Down Below #4. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. The trio move along beneath the surface of the earth and they find Russians, dinosaurs and relationship troubles. The one thing we now know for sure… dinosaurs do not taste like chicken. Goonies meets Journey to the Center of the Earth continues here.
Other books this week: Catacombs of Torment #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1 (Peach Momoko variant), The New Gods #8, Star Wars #2, Zatanna #6, Endless Night #2, and Ultimate Black Panther #18.
Quick Hits: I am happy to welcome back Dynamite Comics! After several months of not getting any of their books (because of the ongoing drama surrounding Diamond), we got a flood of n ew Dynamite books, several that should have come out in April. These include Gargoyle: Demona #1 (Silver Medalist), Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness #3, Space Quest #2, and the new Red Sonja Noir #1. The Ultimate X-Men #17 continues on. I am curious if this version of the X-Men will meet the other Ultimate characters soon. Blood & Thunder #3 has been a fun sci-fi romp so far. Talking guns can’t be beat. The strange one shot Dread the Hall H #1 mixes horror with comic conventions. Makes sense. Past Time #4 brings more vampire baseball action to life. This series has had some of the best collection of covers of any four issues this year without a Mark Spears variant. G.I. Joe #9 has more action with Cover Girl and the Baroness in Paris. Shocking ending to the issue too. A surprise shark week celebration showed up at Comic World this week as Aquaman: Air Jaws Allies #1 popped up. It was so unexpected that it was not even on CLZ on Wednesday. I did try again on Thursday and it was on the app. Bring on the Bad Guys: Abomination #1 is the next step of this villain arc featuring Mephisto and Sister Sorrow. I got two versions of Be Not Afraid #2, one the cover A and the other a virgin variant. There are amazing pages in this book. Deadpool/Wolverine #7 has a variant cover by the one and only Walter Simonson. Definitely the highlight of that book. Red Before Black#6 was another book, this from Boom, that had a long break between issues… only for this to be the final issue of the series. WTF. Wrap up the week with a couple of DC books: Absolute Flash #5 and Krypto The Last Dog of Krypton #2. Krypto is adopted by the sad and cruel Lex Luthor. Pet lovers may not want to read this book as there may be some triggers inside it.
Another big week of covers this week. I have a ton of variant covers, especially from Marvel. It is the third time where I had to have a tie for the bronze medalist. I even wished that I had more medals available because the also-ran section will be large this week.
Also-Rans: SpaceQuest #2, Be Not Afraid #2, Be Not Afraid (Virgin Variant Cover) #2, Red Sonja vs. the Army of Darkness #3, Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2, Red Sonja Noir #1, Krypto the Last Dog of Krypton #2, This Ends Tonight #1 (aka Let It Stand #1), They Choose Violence #2, Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1 (Foil Variant), Pinupocalypse #4, and Past Time #4.
TIE
Bronze Medalist
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10
Cover Art by Jorge Fornes
This is a wonderful cover with Raphael staring down to the street with the police showing up. The colors of the lights standout extremely well and illuminates the cover beautifully. This was one of the two that wound up tied for the bronze medalist. The other one was….
TIE
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4
Cover art by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen
These “Fashion School Serial Killer” books’ covers have been sensational, and I love the image of our character slowly ascending from the pool of blood. I love the red with the black background. Just beautiful cover.
Silver Medalist
Gargoyles: Demona #1
Variant Cover D
Cover art by Mark Spears
Our leader in the clubhouse for 2025, Mark Spears is back again, doing a specialty cover for Dynamite This is not a book I would have picked up if it had not been for the Spears cover. Shout out to Todd for picking this one up for me (he always complains when I don’t give him credit.)
Gold Medalist
Spider-Girl #2
Variant Cover C
Cover Art by Nogi San
Love this Spider-Girl variant cover. The black and white imagery on the cover is so great. There is just a little touch of red. I saw this on the shelf today and I grabbed it immediately.
Happy Friday to everyone. We had some big time storms last night. So much that my house had some leakage and water came in the basement. It nearly got to some of the short boxes of comics, but thankfully, I saw it in time to prevent anything more than a short box with a little damp bottom. I was able to switch the books to another that I had free and then I had to move all the boxes off the carpet to higher ground. Not an easy task and I am still not sure what will happen with them now. It could have been way worse than what happened though.
I went to Superman, the new James Gunn movie that kicked off the DCU at Warner Brothers. It was a tremendous film. It was a lot of fun with a version of Superman that we have not seen in awhile.
Books this week:
Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All #1. Written by Dan Jurgens and art by Bruno Redondo. Scott Koblish did the variant cover C art. In honor of the new film, Superman gets his own Treasury Edition comic original story with a large scale invasion of the earth. After Superman is sidetracked and held captive, the heroes of earth struggle to defend the planet. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, even though it is difficult to find a bag and a board to fit it. Go see Superman in theaters when you have a chance.
Detective Comics #1098, 1097, 1096, 1094, 1090. Tom Taylor has drawn me into Detective Comics after reading the Nightwing books he wrote. Taylor is one of my top five writers currently writing and this is a great couple of issues with Harvey Bullock and Penguin having to work with Batman. The three earlier books were from the stories that were reprinted last week in the soft cover book I picked up. Tom Taylor is the man.
Wild Animals #1. Written by Ed Brisson and art and cover art by Andy Kuhn (Silver Medalist). This was my absolutely favorite book of the week. The new comic from Mad Cave, who have been doing such great work this last year or so, is just emotional, powerful and I could relate fully with the character. This is a personal tale of retribution and revenge and it goes in ways that I did not expect. Loved this book.
Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob #1. Written by Kevin Smith and art by Fernando Ruiz. I picked up A & B cover and both had art done by Fernando Ruiz & Rosario “Tito” Pena. Archie Andrews gets a job at the Quick Stop and meets the cast of Clerks after Dante died (in Clerks 3). Archie then meets up with Jay and Silent Bob, the local drug dealers. Archie gets tickets for them all to go see Josie and the Pussycats. The book has that adult feel of a Kevin Smith movie as well as the silly fun of Archie. Weird and wild crossover event.
Planet Death #1. Written by Derek Kolstad and Robert Venditti with art by Tomas Giorello. Cover art by Tomas Giorello and Sunny Gho. Planet Death #0 was out in May as a preview of this new book from Bad Idea. This is full of action and excitement for a first issue.
Fantastic Four #1. “The Uncommon Era.” Written by Ryan North and art by Humberto Ramos. Mahmud Asrar did the gold foil variant. The Fantastic Four is trying to take advantage of the upcoming MCU film in a couple of weeks by restarting FF with a new number one. It is a fascinating story of time. How many families decide ahead of time what to do if they are lost in time? The FF does. I have become quite a fan of Ryan North over the last couple of years too.
Red Hulk #6. “Traitor” Written by Benjamin Pearcy and art by Geoff Shaw. Variant cover B (Retro Vision) art was done by Michael Allred and Laura Allred. I enjoyed this book, but as I was reading it, I thought to myself, why am I this confused. I thought Red Hulk was in Latveria. I after I finished reading, I checked CLZ and I was missing issue #5. I knew it felt confusing.
The UnChosen #1. Written, Art and cover art by David Marquez. This new Image book is like a fantasy adventure meets anime. There was a lot going on here and I will say that I did not love it. I do think it is interesting enough to give it another issue or so, but I expected to be grabbed more by this first issue than I was.
Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #2. Written by Deniz Camp & Cody Ziglar with art by Jonas Scharf. Sara Pichelli & Tamra Bonvillain did the cover art. Miles has arrived in the Ultimate universe and has teamed up with the Ultimates. They head to Wakanda in an attempt to find Miles’s baby sister who has also crossed over from 616. Cool final page of the book for sure.
Return to Skull Island #1. Written by Simon Furman and art by Christopher Jones. Cover art was done by Inityuk Lee. This apparently continues on from an animated series of the same title, btu I had never seen it before. I grabbed it because of Kong’s presence and a cool looking cover. I enjoyed the sotry quite a bit too and I did not find myself confused or lost because I had not seen the animated show.
Magik #7. “Beneath the Veil” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Pablo Villalobos did the cover art. Illyana is attempting to save Cal, who has been taken over by Liminal. Dani took them back to the Society of Eternal Dawn, which does not go as smoothly as it could have. Magik is not sure if there are any of them she could trust.
Doctor Strange of Asgard #5. Written by Derek Landy with art by Carlos Magno. Geoff Shaw & Espen Grundetjern did the cover art. Stephen Strange has gone to Asgard to claim the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme of that dimension. He has faced several issues, including a murder mystery. He made it.
Laura Kinney: Wolverine #8. “Honor Bound.” Written by Erica Schultz and art by Giada Belviso. Elena Casagrande and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Haymaker returned and Laura helped him to search for a young missing mutant.
Uncanny X-Men #17. “Murder Me, Mutina.” Written by Gail Simone and art by Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art (Gold Medalist). There is a new mutant in the spotlight. Her name is Mutina and she stars in the blockbuster movie, Murder Me Mutina. The X-Men are not pleased with the way the mutant community is being portrayed and they go to see Mutina. Fireworks come after that. This would have been my favorite book this week without Wild Animals #1. I love the concept of a big screen summer blockbuster being at the center of this story. Gail Simone has been excellent with this X-Men run. She was great at the beginning and I think she is only getting better.
Uncanny Valley #10. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. This fun comic that sees the combination of human story with cartoons comes to a close with this issue as Oliver takes his destiny and faces off with the First. Uncanny Valley has been creative and consistently entertaining. I like the originality of this series.
Trinity, Daughter of Wonder Woman #2. “A Corgi in the Family” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Belen Ortega. I also picked up a variant cover B that is an homage to the “Death in the Family” iconic cover. This variant cover was done by Ben Oliver. In her pursuit of the missing Corgis, Trinity winds up with Jason Todd. They were really cute together as it was funny seeing them sitting uncomfortably on a couch. Trinity also wondered what would happen if she let it slip that Jason Todd was going to be killed.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2. Written by Frank Tieri and art by Angel Hernandez. Cover art was done by Fero Pe. This issue had alien creatures, a giant robot named Jet Jaguar, and Mechagodzilla. It just was missing Godzilla. This book is fun and sets up a future battle well.
Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1. Written by Tim Seeley & Tony Fleecs with art by Nick Bradshaw. Adam Hughes did the cover art. This is not just like the old days with the Marvel Swimsuit Specials. This told a story as well. Roxxon is using AI to show the superheroes off in their scanties, so the heroes decided to do their own instead. Silly book, but a lot of fun.
Batman: Dark Patterns #8. “Pareidolia Part 2” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. This Dark Patterns book has been consistently engrossing so far and this new arch gives us something I am not sure I have seen before among Batman. Nice work showing us stories from Batman’s past.
Other books this week: Superior Avengers #4, The Power Fantasy #10, It’s Jeff: Infinity Paws #1, The Slasher’s Apprentice #3, Predator: Black, White & Blood #1, The Toxic Avenger #1, Transformers #22, and Life #5.
Quick Hits: Another book released this week to try and take advantage of the upcoming film is Fantastic Four: First Steps #1, which is the title of the film. This is a prequel and it was written in an interesting manner. I am really excited for the film. I picked up the Galactus popcorn bucket at Cinemark this week. It’s gorgeous. Absolute Superman #9 continues to be good. Again, Superman is in theater right now. The book from AWA that had a misprint and led to a recalling, They Choose Violence #1 came out with its corrected copy this week. Miles Morales: Spider-Man #35 (Bronze Medalist) continued their God War arc and I am not really liking it much. Cool cover though. FML #5 is back after several months. It is strange too because this cover, which is listed as cover A is not on my CLZ app. There is a different cover listed on CLZ as cover A. I did not understand why, but I did mark the cover A on the app as the one I have. The James Tynion IV short with Erica Slaughter wrapped up in Hello Darkness #12. That was my favorite in the anthology this month. Buried Long, Long Ago #3 kind of lost me last month, but this issue pulled me back in. Solid work on this one. Conan the Barbarian #22 from Titan Comics really does give me an old time Marvel feel. Todd made me buy Master of Kung Fu #60 this week as a back issue this week. I have always liked Shang Chi. Finally, Blood Type #2 is really a compelling vampire story. We get a lot of those right now, but this book with the main character Ada is different than we usually see.
I picked up my comics from Bettendorf this morning and prepared to head over to Cinemark to see the new Superman (review yet to come). It was a fun day, though we have storms going down right now.
No variants in this week’s medalists, though there are a few in the Also-Rans.
Also-Rans: Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #2 (B cover variant), Batman: Dark Patterns #8, Hello Darkness #12, Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1, Red Hulk #5 (B cover variant), Fantastic Four #1 (Gold foil variant cover), and Predator: Black, White & Blood #1.
Bronze Medalist
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #35
Cover art by Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon
This book gave a nice flavor to the story, drawing Miles, Ares, and Hercules in what looked like Ancient Greek artistry. It was a fun cover that helped a storyline that has not caught on for me.
Silver Medalist
Wild Animals #1
Cover art by Andy Kuhn
This is sort of a wrap-around cover too. This new book by Mad Cave was incredibly compelling and it started out with a cover that really grabs you as a reader. As I have said many times, I am a Sucker for whit backgrounds and this really stood out for me.
Gold Medalist
Uncanny X-Men #17
Cover art by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson
What a great cover for this awesome issue of Uncanny X-Men. The new character Mutina is shown on the cover, but the shadows and the blood make it seem quite sinister. The red and black background is great too. Plus, a cool tidbit was the film-like credits at the bottom of the page, which gives you an idea of what the story will contain. Strong work in the X-Men universe.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I know that the world is a difficult place these days with a ton of divisiveness in our country, but hopefully we can all stop for one day and embrace the wonder of being an American. That is what is really big and beautiful.
Books this week:
Nightwing #101-108. Continuing my dive into Tom Taylor’s run on Nightwing. I am stuck at this point waiting for #109 to arrive from eBay. I really am enjoying this book so far. I love how Tom Taylor gives Dick Grayson a distinct voice and how Taylor can give all of these secondary characters Dick’s orbit their own special voice.
Captain America #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Valerio Schiti. I have two covers for this book. Cover A art is done by Ben Harvey while Cover G is the Netease Games Marvel Rivals Variant. Steve Rogers is back in the 12th volume of Captain America as we see some of the story around his beginnings as Captain America. Chip Zdarsky is one of my favorite writers and I am excited to see what he can bring to Cap.
Batman: The Detective #1-6. I saw an advertisement for this mini-series in one of the Nightwing books and I went to eBay and ordered it. This is more of my deep dive into Tom Taylor and this book told a future story of Batman, seemingly around the Dark Knight time and it was just so good. I buzzed through this series quickly. Top notch Batman.
X-Men #19. “Revelation.” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Doug Ramsey had become the heir to Apocalypse last year and we have not seen him since. Here the story is devoted to Doug fully and is clearly setting up the next arc for the X-Men.
Detective Comics: Mercy of the Father softcover. Written by Tom Taylor and art by Mikel Janin. Remember when I just mentioned that Batman: The Detective was “top notch Batman?” Well, this collection of Detective Comics #1090-1096 is one of the best Batman books I have ever read. Tom Taylor is brilliant in this book and he developed such deep characters and amazing situations to toss the Dark Knight into. He uses the world so effortlessly that it feels as if I was reading Batman for the first time, incorporating history in ways that enrichen the story, not reframing it. This is really good stuff.
Avengers #28. “Masters of Evil” Finale. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Andrea Broccardo. Valerio Schiti and Federico Blee were the cover artists. Black Panther and Captain America are down to the final struggle against the Mad Thinker. I think this arc has helped revitalize the Mad Thinker as a top level villain.
Daredevil #23. “Rites of Reconciliation” Part Four. Written by Saladin Ahmed and penciled by Carlos Nieto & Jose Luis Soares. Taskmaster has been paid to take out Daredevil, the “dude version.” What happened when Elektra Daredevil showed up?
Immortal Thor #25. “The Twilight Kingdom.” Written by Al Ewing with art by Jan Bazaldua, Justin Greenwood & Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. So Thor’s dead, huh? Well, kind of I guess. This does finish the arc of Thor written by Al Ewing, which has been very solid, though perhaps not his greatest work (that is still Immortal Hulk, I believe). This is like the prelude to the next Thor series, The Mortal Thor.
All-New Venom #8. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Adam Kubert & Laura Martin are the cover artists. Mary Jane is the all-new Venom and she is taking on one of her ex-husband’s classic villains in Doctor Octopus.
Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story #1. Written by Maytal Zchut and art by Leila Leiz. Leila Leiz & Alex Sinclair are the cover artists. Sophie and Violet were lifelong friends who were drifting apart at college. When Violet drowns, Sophie takes some drastic measures that you just shouldn’t do on Hyde Street.
Grim #23. “Play the Game.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated and cover art by Flaviano. Jessica Harrow has three questions that she must ask and the supernatural being she wants the answers from is End. This issue really did feel like a series conclusion, as Jessica seems to end up in a very final place, but I guess there is another book in October. This was a solid read, but Grim coming out quarterly has hurt the flow of the series.
Absolute Green Lantern #4. “Chaotic Action.” Written by Al Ewing and art and cover art by Jahnoy Lindsay. Jo confronts Oa, which has to be right because it rhymes. Absolute Green Lantern has been intriguing because of the differences that this series has taken. I still like the arc for Hal Jordan so far.
Amazing Spider-Man #7. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Variant cover art was done by Doaly. Spider-Man faces off with the mysterious new “villain,” Hellgate. This issue reminded me of some of those old Spidey classics such as Amazing Spider-Man #229-230 where Spidey took on the Juggernaut and Amazing Spider-Man #269-270 where he battled Firelord. Spidey felt outmatched but never surrendered and found a way to win. Here, of course, it may only be temporary.
Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #15. “Uncharted” Part 5. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Von Randal. This is the final issue of this volume of Spider-Gwen before she gets an official restart in August. This issue does everything I wanted… got rid of the Cosmic Cube, the symbiote costume, over-powered Gwen and returned her to her original statis. I am very excited about that as I have not been liking the powered up Gwen character the last few issues.
Ultimate Wolverine #7. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Alessandro Cappuccio and Frank Martin were the cover artists. Logan reunites with his old mates, though several of them are a little suspicious of the former Winter Soldier. Illyana is making her machinations.
Sam & Twitch Case Files #15. Written by Jordan Barel with additional script by Todd McFarlane and art by Thomas Nachlik. Marco Failla & Don Aguillo are the cover artists (Silver Medalist). Things are not looking good for Sam and the investigation into the shooting case against his partner Twitch takes a deadly turn.
You Never Heard of Me #5. Written by Iolanda Zanfardino and illustrated by Elisa Romboli. This was a difficult book to get my hands on. It was not ordered at Comic World, sold out at In This Issue and nowhere to be found in Des Moines (thanks to Todd for turning over every rock he could think of). I finally went to eBay to pick up this issue, which was the finale for this series. It does feel like a happy ending for this book.
X-Men: Hellfire Vigil #1. Cover art by Luciano Vecchio & Nolan Woodard. A massive group of writers and artists worked on this book, which saw all of the major mutants of the world coming together as a vigil for Krakoa. It felt like a book giving us ideas on where the stories of the mutants were heading over the next year plus. I did not expect to be as intrigued by this book as I was.
Wolverines and Deadpools #1. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antonio. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Marte Gracia. I have been feeling tired of Wolverine & Deadpool team ups in the comics. I have been skipping some of the latest Deadpool books too. It was just tiring. So I was truly shocked when I read this first issue and found it to be exceptional. I really enjoyed the banter between Laura and Ellie, and Wade did not feel as out of control as he has in the past. Logan and Wade bonding over parenting? More of that please.
Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice #2. Written by Frank Tieri and art and cover art by Inaki Miranda. John has no intentions of returning to his life as Crimson Justice. However, Mayhem has a different plan. This has been a good Mad Cave book with some excellent world building going on basically without a main hero.
Pop Kill #1. Yes, this is a second printing of number one with yet another new cover. The cover art was done by Dave Johnson. This series has been known for some of the best variant covers of the year not drawn by Mark Spears.
Other books this week: Lady Baltimore: The Daughter of Medusa #2, Conan the Barbarian #17-18, Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #4, Uncanny X-Men: Prelude to a Future Past #104.5, Plague House #4, Bug Wars #5 and Storm #8.
Quick Hits: I was at the shop in Bettendorf and I saw Charlamagne Tha God Presents Illuminati #1 on the shelf from AWA. The cover was appealing, but I did not grab it at first. I tried to resist, but I eventually succumbed and grabbed it. AWA has had some interesting books recently. The
Chamberlains #2 was out this week from Keenspot. It is a solid horror book. Another book that I picked up for fun was Ghostbusters: Dead Man’s Chest #2. I had picked up number one and I have always liked the Ghostbusters and this issue captured some of the humor of that franchise. It has been a huge week for the King of the Monsters, Godzilla! Godzilla vs. Thor #1 (Gold Medalist for its variant cover), two covers for Godzilla Heist #5 (Cover B a Bronze Medalist) and Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 all came out and were all a lot of fun. It was nice to see a book from DSTLRY once again as Warm Fusion #3 came out. I did not remember anything about that book sadly. The release schedule for DSTLRY has been a major drawback to some of these awesome books. Todd made fun of me for picking up Comics of the Movement #1 this week. It is a historical comic and is presented in an original manner. What is not to like? I grabbed two covers of the Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin #1 book this week. I have the A cover and the cover featuring Sister Sorrow. Finally, I grabbed a back issue from Comic World of Sergio Aragones The Groo Chronicles #4. I had no idea this series was out and I may need to search the rest of these down.
Welcome back for the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. Everybody have a great Independence Day tomorrow.
Also-Rans: Immortal Thor #25, Charlamagne Tha God Presents Illuminati #1, Amazing Spider-Man #7 (Variant Cover D), Captain America #1 (Cover A), Pop Kill #1 (2nd Printing Cover T), Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin #1, and Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #15.
Bronze Medalist
Godzilla: Heist #5
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Pablo Tunica
This was a homage to the movie poster for Inception. The imagery of Godzilla walking through the city was awesome. I love the movie poster inspirations some of these variant covers have been doing.
Silver Medalist
Sam & Twitch Case Files #15
Cover art by Marco Failla & Don Aguillo
This is an impressive cover with the red shadow of the man with the knife and Sam and Twitch running toward a victim. This one truly stood out from the pile.
Gold Medalist
Godzilla vs. Thor #1
Variant Cover E
Cover art by Mitsuhiro Arita
Big week for Godzilla as the King of Monsters has a gold medal and a Bronze medal. There were some really great covers for this issue (Cover A, which I have not gotten yet, is beautiful too). This is truly compelling with Godzilla and Thor sharing this cover.
June is almost gone. It went really quickly as it always does during the summer months. I have just over a month and a half before I have to go back to work.
This past week my official comic collection count broke 18,000. I am so pleased that I can actually tell you what my number is. I am so happy about getting my collection organized a few years back and EYG was a big motivation. I love my CLZ app which puts the books in order and counts them.
Books this week:
Nightwing #78-100. This is the pack of books I got from eBay that officially put me over the 18,000 number. I decided to start picking up the Nightwing book and I went back to grab as much of the Tom Taylor written books as I could. I actually love Taylor from his work on a short series called Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It was like 14 or 15 issues and it was some of the best Spidey writing I have ever read. Tom Taylor understood Spidey so well that I was sad when the series ended. I really enjoyed his take on Dick Grayson too and I was really engaged with this book and the great villains Heartless and Blockbuster.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #34. “God War Part III” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Miles continues with his war in the name of Anansi against Ares. Honestly, this storyline has not been my favorite one so far. I do like Hercules guest starring, but this all feels just too much.
Predator vs. Spider-Man #2. Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Ven Nitro. The Predators are on earth looking for their rogue predator and Spider-Man is in the middle.
Don’t Forget Your Briefcase #1. Written by Eliot Rahal with art and cover art by Phillip Sevy. A new Mad Cave book dealing directly with the “nuclear football” carried by the President of the United States. It had a thriller feel to it and I loved this one. Another hit from Mad Cave for me.
Spider-Boy #20. “Chapter 3: With a Little Help From My Friends.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy’s book comes to an end with this issue. Spider-Boy and Spider-Man make up from their forced fight last issue. A bunch of guest stars make appearances in Bailey’s final issue.
Dark Pyramid #4. Written by Paul Tobin and art and cover art by PJ Holden. The Dark Pyramid book has really gone weird and wild. This is the penultimate issue of the series and I am just not sure what is going to happen. I never would have guessed the bizarre twists this book would take back when Hooky Hidalgo disappeared in issue one.
Minor Arcana #8. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jeff Lemire. The big reopening falls flat and Teresa is out and about. And who is this Wayne fella? I do love Jeff Lemire’s work and this has been very consistent.
The Thing #2. “The King of Yancy Street Part Two.” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Justin Mason. Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Bullseye arrived on Yancy Street and is taking on The Thing. Hammerhead is here too. Aunt Petunia’s baby boy is taking on the criminal empire with Kingpin as well.
Justice League Unlimited #8. “All Hail Grodd.” Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. The Gorilla Grodd storyline comes to an end with a bunch of Justice League members from across time coming to help stop the Legion of Doom. It seemed as if those out of time JLers are stuck in this timeline. What is going to happen?
Moonshine Bigfoot #3. Written by Mike Marlow & Zach Howard and penciled by Steve Ellis. Moonshine Bigfoot is such a fun book. It is the X-Files meets Duke of Hazzard. This has been one of the more enjoyable Image books lately. Such a creative idea to put a bigfoot in a car as a moonshiner. This is also a penultimate issue.
Incredible Hulk #26. “Soldier and Flame.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Kev Wilson. Cover art is done by Nic Klein. Bucky Barnes gives Charlie a warning that the Hulk is dangerous and that she needed to find Banner. Hulk and Charlie had some disagreements and split apart. How will the Hulk take this?
Rocketfellers #6. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art and cover art by Francis Manapul. Rae gets suddenly sick and has to be rushed to the hospital. And the big takeaway from this issue is that you should just not mess around with Rex, the Rocketfellers’ dog.
Void Rivals #20. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Conor Hughes. Lorenzo De Felici did the cover art. Solila is facing Darak’s father and the rest of his guards. Darak was there conflicted as heck.
Hyde Street #7. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Pranky wanted to capture the one and only Matinee Monster. Pranky can turn into a werewolf I guess. Hyde Street has been a fun horror themed book over the last seven issues and it looks to be continuing on.
The Department of Truth #31. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. This felt like a totally different issue of Department of Truth as the main focus was a monster/killer called The Hatman. This did feel outside of what we were used to for this series, and it was kind of refreshing. James Tynion IV is another writer that I trust completely.
Out of Alcatraz #4. “Whiskeytown.” Written by Christopher Cantwell and illustrated and cover art by Tyler Crook. Yet another penultimate issue this week as there are five issues in this Oni Press story. It is enjoyable every week as we follow along with the escapees from the inescapable prison.
Assorted Crisis Events #4. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. This being an anthology series, some issues do not work as well as others. However, I can say that this was definitely my favorite issue of this series so far, and possibly my favorite issue of the week. Time flies. I loved the color design of this issue and the story was tremendous. I hope more of this series is as high quality as issue four was.
Universal Monsters: The Mummy #4. Written and drawn by Faith Erin Hicks and the cover art was done by Faith Erin Hicks and Lee Loughridge. The latest of the Universal Monsters mini-series closed with the end of the Mummy. The look of this comic worked really well for the tone they were going for, but the story was not my favorite of the Universal Monsters so far. Still, it is a solid four issues and I am excited about the upcoming Invisible Man.
Feral #14. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Cover A art was by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner. I also got Cover B which had art by the same pair (Silver Medalist). Our cats have found their way into the pet shop but have realized that there is a whole new society inside that they have to adapt into. Not sure it will last for long.
News from the Fallout #1. “Chapter One: Red Snow.” Written by Chris Condon and art and cover art by Jeffrey Alan Love. Oh, I loved this new series from Image Comics. More story about the possible nuclear fallout of a bomb, and what exactly would happen to the people who had been exposed. This is beautifully designed and the black and white made this feel special.
Ultimate Spider-Man #18. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Checchetto. Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Peter Parker is once again reunited with harry Osborn. Harry comes to see Peter with news and the pair return to New York to take care of business. Little did Peter know that Richard hitched a ride with them to see Black Cat. A perfect example of hormones getting a teenager in trouble.
Sleep #2. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. I also picked up the cover B which was done by Tim Seeley (Gold Medalist). Sleep has been a great book so far as the mystery of what is going on in this town when Jon is asleep is excellent. Jon gets himself arrested so he can be in the jail cell when he sleeps. I am guessing that will not prevent anything in particular.
Spider-Man & Wolverine #2. “Spider-Man vs. Wolverine.” Written by Marc Guggenheim and art and cover art by Kaare Andrews. Earlier I talked about how Tom Taylor really understood the character of Peter Parker (and hence Spider-Man). Here seems to be a book that has zero clue about Peter. Spider-Man and Wolverine fight over the possibility of Logan having killed Peter’s parents. Peter goes quite feral in this book, screaming that he was going to kill Logan. I just kept thinking that Peter would never do this and that, even if he would have gone after Logan, he would not have been trying to kill him. Very disappointed with this book.
Fantastic Four #33. “Fantastic Four Hundred and Thirty-Six Quadrillion.” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Cory Smith. Cover art was done by Joshua Cassara & Dean White. Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state, then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started, wait... Bazinga. The FF head back to the Big Bang to try and fix Ben’s powers cause it… It all started with the big bang, bang!
UncannyX-Men #16. “The Voice of Darkness.” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez & Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. The Dark Artery story comes to a close with this issue as the X-Men face the people of the dead city, Penumbra. Thanks for coming Man-Thing!
Deadpool #15. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antonio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. This is Legacy number 350 for the Merc with a Mouth and served as the final issue of this run for Deadpool (who will be back very soon in a series called Deadpools and Wolverines). There is also a back up story here with Deadpool Samurai by writer Kasama Sanshiro and artist Uesugi Hikaru. It is from the back of the book forward like the anime that it followed.
Other books this week: Dark Honor #2, The Seasons #5, Conan the Barbarian #20, Absolute Martian Manhunter #4, Blade Forger #4, Green Lantern Dark #5, When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #5, and Mr. Terrific Year One #2.
Quick Hits: The Doctor Doom storyline continues with both Superior Avengers #3 and Doom Academy #5 coming out this week. Doom Academy is the final issue of that said book. I do enjoy the Strange Academy kids so I look forward to them returning in the future. Crush Depth#4 is another penultimate issue as this undersea story gets even crazier this issue. Absolute Wonder Woman #9 keeps diving into Greek mythology as Diana finds herself facing off with a minotaur. Two of these are now over as In Bloom #5 and Who are the Power Pals #4 end their runs with fun issues. DC, looking for brand new ways to get us to buy Absolute #1 issues, have reprinted Absolute Superman #1, Absolute Wonder Woman #1, and Absolute Batman #1 once again, but this time with a Mark Spears connecting cover on each (Bronze Medalist). The three covers together are a thing of beauty without a doubt. There is also a New History of the DC Universe #1 out this week with all kinds of cool little tidbits. This is the NEW history. Wouldn’t that be an oxymoron? More serial killer action with You’ll Do Bad Things #4 came out this week. Ms. Marvel and Legion continue their romp through the X-Men history (could this be like the NEW history DC is talking about?) with Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse #1. Not sure how I feel about any of these books with Ms. Marvel. I do love me some Kamala, but this feels, at best, meh. I did pick up the foil variant of The Death of the Silver Surfer #1. It was just a pretty looking cover. Finally this week, We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #4 has some explosive realizations inside.
Big week of covers this week. There are several this week that could have placed in other weeks, but they all came out on the same week.
Also-Rans: Dark Pyramid #4, News from the Fallout #1, Sleep #1 (Cover A), Minor Arcana #8, Hyde Street #7, The Thing #2, The Department of Truth #31, Out of Alcatraz #4, and Assorted Crisis Events #4.
Bronze Medalist
Absolute Batman #1 (7th Printing)
Absolute Wonder Woman #1 (6th Printing)
Absolute Superman #1 (5th Printing)
Cover art by Mark Spears
Okay, so this is cheating a bit. I put these three together since they are connecting covers by Mark Spears. They really look the best when together which is why I put them together. It also speaks to the quality of this week since these could easily have been the gold medalist. If I were choosing one of them, it would be the Superman cover.
Silver Medalist
Feral #14
Variant cover B
Cover art by Tony Fleecs & Trish Forstner
Another awesome movie homage cover for Feral. I love the black and white cover. When I saw this cover on Wednesday, I thought this would be the gold medalist this week. However, found another winner today.
Gold Medalist
Sleep #2
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Tim Seeley
The Sleep #2 A Cover was wonderful, but I saw this on the stand and I immediately grabbed it to buy as well. This cover really gives you the feel of this book, with the dark lines in the back and the red “sin” in the shadow. This is a great cover.
Hey. It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It seems like I should stop saying that it is another big week this week since it seems as if every week has a ton of books any more. It’s lots of fun.
I have dived into Nightwing and I am awaiting an order from eBay where I picked up the Tom Taylor run (#78-113). I also picked up a few back issues from the Bettendorf shop, all at cover price. Awesome.
I’m trying to stay focused but there is a cricket cricketing like crazy in my room right now and it is driving me nuts. I do hate crickets so I may have to pause to go murder it soon.
Books this week:
Toxie Team-Up #1. Written by Mark Russell and art by Richard Pace. Cover art was done by Fred Harper. Blasphemy at its finest! Toxic Avenger teams up with the one and only Jesus H. Christ. This was such a lot of fun, even if I’m going to Hell. There are some really funny moments in this if you have a sense of humor.
Wolverine #10. “All Happy Families” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza. Logan goes into his childhood house looking for Sabretooth. This is actually one of my favorite issues of the week. Logan’s “voice over” is really great and I loved the script.
They Choose Violence #1. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. Fun new series by AWA. Interestingly enough, this has been recalled by the company because one page is reprinted, I assume, accidentally in the story. I am not sure if there was a page missing where the one page was there again. It was weird when I read it, and then I saw the recall.
Emma Frost: White Queen #1. Written by Amy Chu and art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. This story took place in the past of continuity during the time when Emma Frost was in the Hellfire Club as the White Queen. I would have rather this book tell a present day story of Emma Frost, who we have come to love over the last several years. Still, there is a fun X-Men appearance.
Psylocke #8. “Into the Snow.” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Moises Hidalgo. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. Kwannon goes to the land of where she was born. We have some major flashbacks going on.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Children of the Night #1. Script by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art is by Noah Dao. This feels like a re-introduction of Christopher Chaos and the rest of the Monster Club.
Iron Man #9. “Part Four: Great-Power Competition.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Michael Dowling, Julius Ohta & Guiu Vilanova. Cover art by Yasmine Putri. Bucky, Black Widow, The Winter Guard guest star as Iron Man faces the challenge of providing weapons for Doom.
Vatican City #3. Written by Mark Millar and art and cover art was done by Per Berg. The vampire storyline comes to a dramatic conclusion with this three-issue story. Vatican City has been a pretty fun run and this wraps up nicely.
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #9. “Clinical Trial” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. Moon Knight and his group are reforming, getting ready to go after Fairchild. This sets up the major battle next issue, I am guessing.
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #3. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Michelle Madsen. This has been a great book so far. This issue initially left me with hope that Rennie would be able to get away from her killing, even though it was clear the signs were pointing at she could not do it.
Blood & Thunder #2. Written by Benito Cereno with art by E.J. Su. Cover art was done by E.J. Su & Msassyk. We get more in this issue of the relationship between Akeldama and her gun, including some background on her father. This has been a fun series so far and I do like how they have developed relationships moving forward.
Past Time #3. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Baseball and vampires go hand in hand, don’t they? It really works in this series and sets up a dramatic end for the issue. Very creative using these two story types in one.
Avengers #27.“Masters of Evil” Part 3. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art by Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee. Black Panther and Captain America have to team up against the new Masters of Evil while the Mad Thinker sets his true plan in motion.
Vanishing Point #2. “The Tomorrow Family: Life in the Year 2100. Tonight’s Episode: You Leave Me Breathless.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Robert Hack did the cover art. Any fans of Hanna-Barbera’s classic cartoon, The Jetsons? This parody issue is for you. Vanishing Point is an anthology sci-fi series and it has been great so far.
X-Men #18. “Invitation” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Emilio Laiso. Ryan Stegman & Marte Garcia did the cover art. 3K is making some major moves in this issue, including making an untimely offer to Beast. Lots of mutant shenanigans going down here.
Godzilla vs. Avengers #1. Written by David F. Walker and penciled by Georges Jeanty. Lee Garbett did the variant cover art (the versus cover). This takes place in the New Avengers time so we have Luke Cage and Spider-Man and Spider-Woman in the Avengers along with Cap and Iron Man and Wolverine. It is kind of a fun way to tell the story as we also get an Ultraman type character.
West Coast Avengers #8. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Ben Harvey did the cover art. It was a bad day to be an Avenger. The West Cast Avengers try to take on the cult of Ultron. Things don’t go well.
Los Monstruos #2. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. The noir story continues as our werewolf lead, Private Investigator Perry Cutter, heads into the Egyptian section to deal with mummies! Los Monstruos has been excellent so far, feeling very much like an old time movie from Universal.
Benjamin #1. Script by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. The cover art was done by Christian Ward (Bronze Medalist). I loved this issue, as we dive into a mystery and the issue spends time trying to figure it out. Who is this writer and how is he not dead? Create use of the medium.
Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1. “Chapter One: Krypton” Written by Ryan North and art by Mike Norton. Jae Lee & June Chung did the cover art. Ever want a deeper dive into the origin of Krypto? Well here you go… all told by Ryan North, a writer whom I have loved from Fantastic Four.
Exquisite Corpses #2. Written by Michael Walsh with James Tynion IV and art by Marianne Ignazzi with Michael Walsh. Cover A art by Michael Walsh. I also go Cover B by Marianne Ignazzi (Gold Medalist). I love how this series is setting things up. Where it could have dived into a huge battle and slaughter fest, this book is taking things slow, with just one more death. This has been a huge winner so far.
Amazing Spider-Man #6. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz. Spidey and Black Cat find themselves working together on a potential heist… at least that is what Black Cat wants. They run into Hellgate, the new Spider-Man villain on the final, massive page.
The Ultimates #13. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. There are a lot of things going on in this issue, but everything feels as if it is building to something huge. The Ultimates has become on of the best Ultimate books around.
Absolute Flash #4. “The Trials of the Flash” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by A. I Kaplan. Nick Robles did the cover art. The Absolute Flash has become one of my favorite of the Absolute run. Probably a big reason being Jeff Lemire. I am a Lemire fan and his work on this book has been top notch.
Nightwing #127. “Other Part 1” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy and Adriano Lucas. I am just starting to learn about Nightwing. For example, I did not know Dick Grayson had a sister. I have been enjoying starting to learn more about a character that I always liked before.
G.I. Joe #8. Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Andrea Milana. Cover art was done by Tom Reilly. The Baroness is tired of the training, and so she needs 48 hours for a personal trip to Paris. They send Cover Girl with her. And they get in trouble right away.
Other books this week: Aliens vs. Avengers #4, The New Gods #7, Weapon X-Men#5, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #2, Doom’s Division #4, and Bloodletter #1.
Quick Hits: I finally got the new Sam and Twitch Case Files #14 after missing it a couple of weeks ago. Shout out to this book for still only being $2.99. More comics should be cheaper to try and help build the hobby. Bytch Craft #1 came from Mad Cave, but this one was not one of my favorites. I was not interested in this Mad Cave book. Another new mini series that I think I will be skipping is Jeff the Land Shark #1. I have picked up the It’s Jeff one shots over the last year or so, but this one does not interest me either. Power Man: Timeless #4 brings this short mini series to a close. I had kind of lost interest in this one too, after being really excited about the early couple of issues. The Keenspot book Don’t Run With Scissors #2 is really a weird book and has some art that keeps with that tone. Phantom Road #13 continues with the weird world of Jeff Lemire. The first of the new Marvel one-shot series called Bring on the Bad Guys: Doom #1 came out too. I have a cool Dr. Doom cover but there is a fun variant cover featuring the new villain Sister Sorrow. Connected with Dr. Doom, he goes to Valera’s birthday party in Fantastic Four Fanfare #2. There are three stories inside this book. Bug Wars #5 is, I believe, the big penultimate issue of this series from Jason Aaron. Another penultimate issue is the Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #3. This is actually pretty funny this issue. Finally I have Zatanna #5. Honestly, I am having a harder time getting into this than the last Zatanna book, but I do love the art by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna must think she is She-Hulk as we get a big meta moment in the middle of the book.
It is Thursday again and this week I remembered immediately about the Favorite Comic Cover medalists. I got a huge list of books this week and there were a multitude of “also rans” this week.
Also Rans: Zatanna #5, The Ultimates #13, Absolute Flash #4, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #9, Bring on the Bad Guys: Doom #1, Vanishing Point #2, Godzilla vs. Avengers #1 (Cover D), West Coast Avengers #8, and Los Monstrous #2.
Bronze Medalist
Benjamin #1
Cover Art by Christian Ward
New book from Oni Press features a cover with a lot of different imagery that is meant to draw one in. I have no idea what the book is about but there are so many neat possibilities. I do love the background of the book sa well.
Silver Medalist
Past Time #3
Cover art by Mark Chiarello
This baseball themed book has had some really great covers so far. This one with the blood on the baseball card and the newspaper behind the hand is very compelling and makes me wonder what this story is about. The color scheme makes me think this is taking place in the past as well (of course, the title may have something to do with that as well).
Gold Medalist
Exquisite Corpses #2
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Marianna Ignazzi
Loved this cover. The white background with the pool of blood is spectacular as is the gold and white outfit blending into the aesthetic. I was surprised when I saw this variant on the stand and I felt the need to add it to my collection. Beautiful work on this… are I even say… EXQUISITE?
Happy Friday the 13th to all of the horror movie fans out there. It has been awhile since I was able to get the EYG Comic Cavalcade out on a Friday, but summer’s here and some extra reading time is available.
I also have a brand new computer chair that I put together (with only some swear words) last night. It is nice and comfy as I type this week’s Cavalcade post.
Books this week:
Death of the Silver Surfer #1. “Chapter 1: Here” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan. As readers of the Comic Cavalcade know, I am not much of a fan of alternate future stories and this is a new one from Marvel. However, this book, written by Greg Pak, who I do like a great deal, is really decent. I was very engaged when I was reading it and I think this will be one of those future stories that will work for me.
Star Hunters #1-7. This is a group of seven books, the full series, that Todd made me buy. JK. He did recommend it. I have not actually read the full series, just skimming the first issue a bit, but I am happy to have it. Issue one had cover price of $0.35 which jumps up to $0.50 by the final issue.
Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #1. Written by Jeff Lemire with art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. Jeff Lemire is the reason I picked up this number one, and I am very pleased that I did so because it is an exceptional story involving the eventually tragic Robin, Jason Todd. I have always been a fan of Robin and, while Jason Todd is not a personal fav, this book takes that character into a new level.
Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga #1. “Marvel Girl“. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Rod Reis. Ms. Marvel and Legion insert themselves into the Dark Phoenix Saga after being in the recruitment of the new X-Men in the last issue. I am not sure what this Ms. Marvel group of books is meant to do, but the stories have been fine.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9. “The Way of the Rotted Rat.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. With Donny behind bars, the remaining Turtles try to keep from killing each other in an attempt to save their brother. Things are not going great for them.
Lost Fantasy #2. “Book One: A World Beneath.” Created by Curt Pries & Luca Casalanguida. A new hunter comes into play while Henry fights for his life. Lost Fantasy has been a great read so far and the ‘giant size” regular book is awesome. More books should provide more pages of story than what they have been doing recently.
Nightwing #126. “By the Book- Finale: Bad Cop/Good Cop.” Written by Dan Watters and art by Francesco Francavilla. Cover art was done by Adriano Lucas. I have been a fan of Nightwing since his debut in Teen Titans, and Dick Grayson prior to that as Robin. I decided to give Nightwing a chance and grabbed this issue off the shelf. Of course, it was a finale of a story arc, but even with that, the story was understandable and interesting.
Something is Killing the Children #42. “All Her Monsters Part Two” Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. I also picked up cover B variant with art by Tyler Boss (Gold Medalist) which was a glow-in-the-dark cover. Erica is back as we continue to see into the past of the young monster slayer.
Far Down Below #3. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. Brian, Jeff and Brian’s grandfather continue their trek beneath the surface of the earth and find all kinds of dangers and obstacles. And they found someone else!
The New Avengers #1. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Tony Lima. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. The New Avengers … or The Thunderbolts! Bucky and Black Widow are on a mission and they need to find some “team members.” They start off with Laura Kinney Wolverine and Namor. More to come.
Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1. “Crisis on Infinite Corgis.” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Belen Ortega. This was a fun, little time travel story with Trinity along with a couple of other versions of her from different times, are out to retrieve a group of time traveling corgis. Weird book, but always fun thanks to Tom King.
Avengers Academy Assemble #1. Written by Anthony Oliveira and art by Carlos Lopez and KJ Diaz. Steven Byrne did the cover art. This looks like it is collecting the Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #1-6, which I believe is on the Marvel Unlimited digital series. This is my preferred way to read comics, with the floppy copy. I do like a lot of these young characters and I was a fan of the old Avengers Academy books, so this was fun.
By the way Todd, that is not Squirrel Girl. It is Molly Hayes.
Runaways #1. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Elena Casagrande. Cover art by Stephanie Hans. I also picked up a variant cover by Elena Casagrande with a wrap-around cover of the original Runaways. I was a fan of the Runaways and Doombot was one of my favorite characters so with Dr. Doom running the world, it was just a matter of time before he tried to reclaim his property.
One World Under Doom #5. Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey did the cover art. Doom and the Avengers find themselves on the same side against the dread Dormammu. Of course, this is something that the manipulative Doom will take advantage of as he groomed his reputation and image as a world wide savior.
Geiger #15. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson. The battle between the Glowing People comes to an explosive finish in this issue. Geiger continues to be high quality in the Ghost Machine imprint.
Spider-Girl #1. Written by Torunn Grønbekk and with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover B art was done by Peach Momoko. From the pages of Spider-Boy, we get the new heroine who had teamed up with Bullseye to fight in a tournament. Here she has to face Vermin.
Amazing Spider-Man Giant Size #1. Four separate Spidey stories written by Kevin Smith, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky and Mitsuyasu Sakai. The four artists involved were Giuseppe Camuncoli, Mark Buckingham, Cafu & Gerardo Sandoval. Spidey is out looking for a fix for his torn costume, he meets Wyn from G.O.D.S., and they introduce the new character Rapid, who can slow down time.
Conan the Barbarian #21. “Slaves of the Magi” Written by Grim Jim Zub and art by Ferocious Fernando Dagnino. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Another book I grabbed off the stands to give a try. I used to collect the Conan books that were recently at Marvel and I thought I would try this Titan book. It was fairly decent. Certainly looked great.
New Champions #6. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. The young New Champions team up with the Avengers in a battle against a new Super-Skrull. Oh, and Moon Knight shows up and scares Moon Squire.
Exceptional X-Men #10. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero & Federica Mancin. Cover art was done by Carmen Carnero & Nolan Woodard. Kitty, Emma and Iceman are here to help their trainees, but Axo has to come to the rescue instead. I thought this might be the end of this series, but I am glad it looks like it is moving on.
Jumpscare #3, 4. Written by Cullen Bunn and art and cover art by Danny Luckert. I finally got Jumpscare #3, which was a suddenly difficult book to find. Todd was able to find it in Des Moines (although he then tried to hid it from me…. ). I was starting to believe that issue three was just a urban legend. I do enjoy this book and I am glad I am currently caught up.
Absolute Batman #9. “Abomination Part One” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. The Absolute Universe debut of Bane. And Bane is badass!
Eddie Brock: Carnage #5. Written by Charles Soule and art by Juanan Ramirez. Cover art was done by Iban Coello & Frank D’Armata. Carnage and Eddie are having their internal struggle for control as Eddie is trying to help a crashed plane’s passengers. Misty Knight may be in over her head.
Phoenix #12. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck (Bronze Medalist). This issue spends most of the time with Sarah Grey, in both present day and flashbacks. It sets her up as a possible mutant, but Cable does not seem too pleased.
Batman: Dark Patterns #7. “Pareidolia” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. The new arc of the Dark Patterns series kicks off here and it continues to be an exceptional take on an early Batman.
Star Wars #2. “Smoke” Written by Alex Segura and art and cover art by Phil Noto. Luke takes off, leaving Rynn behind and winds up in search of a Jedi artifact called the Crown of Verity. This issue featured Luke’s travels and his confrontations as he searched for the McGuffin.
Magik #6. “The Road Back Home.” Written by Ashley Allen and art by Jesus Hervas. Cover art was done by Pablo Villalobos. Trouble brewing in Limbo, so Illyana meets up with Madelyne Pryor to cause sparks to fly between the two powerful Limbo masters.
Other Books this week: Frankenstein New World: The Sea Forever #4, The Loose Ends #4, Huge Detective #5, Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #3, Marvel United: A Pride Special #1, Marvel Rivals Ignite #1, and Deadpool/Wolverine #6.
Quick Hits: Todd had gotten a group of Superman Unlimited #1 issues signed by Dan Slott through Midtown Comics and I was able to get one of those. It was cool because I swear, Dan Slott is the only comic book creator whose signature is readable. Optimist Prime is still in some bad shape in Transformers #21. EC Blood Type #1 was another off the stands book to try out. It wasn’t bad even though there are a surplus of vampire stories right now. Blue Palo Verde #1 is also new and I had never heard of it before, but I feel as if Mad Cave deserves the benefit of the doubt right now and I did love this book. Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #8 is one of the least regularly released books currently coming out that is not from DSTLRY. No Black Panther in Ultimate Black Panther#17, but it might have been better with the focus on Killmonger and Okoye. Sister Imperator #4 closes that series out. I am not sure if I will miss it. W0rldtr33 #15 has the silver medalist this week for Fernando Blanco. Hello Darkness #11 continues to have great covers too and a potpourri of horror short stories. Finally Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men #16 is here and is still the most original Ultimate books available.
Busy day. I almost forgot to do the medalists. I remembered just before I was going to go to bed. So I pulled the computer up and got to work.
Also Rans: Started the covers that did not make the medal round but were in consideration. Another great week of covers. The Also Rans included Batman: Dark Patters #7, Conan the Barbarian #21, Hello Darkness #11 (Cover D), Exceptional X-Men #10, Death of the Silver Surfer #1, and Resurrection Man Quantum Karma #3.
Bronze Medalist
Phoenix #12
Cover art by Lucas Werneck
What an unbelievably beautiful cover focused in on Jean Grey’s face and her fire bird in her hand. This is just an outstanding cover that makes you understand the power Phoenix brings to the book.
Silver Medalist
W0rldtr33#15
Cover art by Fernando Blanco
A close up on a face that looks like it has seen better days. It is a powerful image that makes you wonder what is going on in the story. The red blood stands out as does the green around the eyes. Jumps out at you.
Gold Medalist
Something is Killing the Children #42
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Tyler Boss
This may be another gimmick, but the glow in the dark cover of Something is Killing the Children is just beautiful. The black background makes the greenish-yellow color stand out all the more.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 