It felt like a lighter week, book wise, but I do have several of the also-rans to get into. I thought there were some really good. Interestingly enough, all cover As this week. No variants.
Also-Rans: Cyclops #2, The Lucky Devils #7, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2, Absolute Flash #13, Captain America #8, The Mortal Thor #8, Lobo #1, and Leprechaun Horror Comics #1.
Bronze Medalist
The Sentry
Cover art by Alex Maleev
What a cool cover for the new The Sentry series. The shadowy hand that Sentry is looking at is clearly a reference to the Void, which is a clever and awesome image. I also love the colors of the cover, with the bright gold feeling around Sentry with the blackness around it.
Silver Medalist
Dead Teenagers #1
Cover art by Naomi Franq
The new hot book of the week is Oni Press’s Dead Teenagers and I love how we get the images of the teens in the cloak of the Grim Reaper. Of course, I have always loved the black background and the entire image makes this cover pop.
Gold Medalist
The Infernal Hulk #5
Cover art by Nic Klein
You do not usually see this kind of brightness on a comic cover, especially in an Infernal Hulk series. Infernal Hulk looks fabulous on the cover and, despite the colorful cover, there is a fearful feel to this cover.
I went to the bi-yearly sale at In This Issue Comics this weekend and stuffed three bags full of a bunch of comics. It was such fun going through the boxes, looking for those gems of back issues. I got a bunch of Thor books, Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1s, a run of Incredible Hulk with amazing covers that I had never seen before as well as a bunch of independent books. I wound up with over 250 books in those three bags. Great deal!
Comic of the Week
Alias: Red Band #1
This week’s Comic of the Week reminded me how much I enjoyed Jessica Jones as a character. The hard-drinking, rough housing, foul-mouthed character was having a difficult time fitting in as the First Lady of New York and the stress is causing some tension with her husband, Mayor Luke Cage. Not only that, but the murder in her old building that she has been forbidden to investigate is building that tension as well. I do love this noir style as Jessica Jones narrates the comic, giving you insights into her character.
Excited to continue this series moving forward.
Books this week:
The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #1. Written by Hannah Rose May and art by Kelsey Ramsay. Cover art was done by Kelsey Ramsay & Heather Breckel. It was not that long ago when we had an exorcism story set in the White House. Now we take the idea across the pond to Britain and Buckingham Palace as the soon-to-be King of England has his own demons to deal with. But are they just found in a bottle or is there more to this story. Great first issue and I am excited this concept is back.
Ordained #2. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Trevor Hairsine. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). It has been several months since Ordained #1 came out and was one of the hottest books at the time. This issue picked up right away from the long break back into the action and it is clear that Father Roy is not one to mess with.
Mark Spears Monster #9. “The Tell-Tale Heart… but why will you say that I am mad?” Written by Mark Spears and Lucas Spears with art and cover art by Mark Spears. Cover C (Bronze Medalist), Cover D (Gold Medalist). The Mad Hatter is being interrogated at the police station and that sounds like it is not going to go smoothly.
Crownsville #5. Writtenby Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. The mini-series closes with a cool wrap up. The killer kids are unstoppable, but, apparently not. I enjoyed how Crownsville finished up and left it open for a potential future.
X-Men United #1. “Welcome to Graymatter Lane” Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The White Queen is trying to reunite the X-Men. Cyclops ain’t happy about it. I’m not sure how this series affects Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, but it is intriguing to see these characters back together again. Even whiny Cyclops.
D’Orc #2. “Time to Die!” Written, art and cover art by Brett Bean. I was excited to see if D’Orc #2 would be able to maintain the huge momentum that the first issue. I am pleased to say that it absolutely continued its strength and thoroughly entertaining storytelling. This still reminds me of a combination of Eight Billion Genies and Groo.
Magik & Colossus #2. “Sisyphean” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. It has been too long since we had interactions between Illyana and Piotr Rasputin. The brother-sister vibe of this book makes it intriguing.
Tigress Island #1. Written Patrick Kindlon and art and cover art by Ephk. This was an intriguing new book. I am not sure what is going on with this book. It was not anywhere what I expected to be. I will be continuing to look at it, but I am not sure what this is about.
Comic: The Magazine #1. The next attempt and putting out a comic magazine came out this weekend. After the Zdarsky newsletter went away, this stepped up and I liked the first issue. I think there are a lot of different ideas that could wind up in this magazine.
Black Cat #8. “Fortress of Magnitude” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Adam Hughes did the cover art. Felicia and Mary Jane are inside the Negative Zone in search of a video tape. The pairing of MJ and Black Cat has always been fun, and with MJ now as Venom, it makes things all the more weird.
A Quiet Place: Storm Warnings #1. Written by Phil Hester with pencils and cover art by Ryan Kelly. This is a new story with the creatures from A Quiet Place and this is an interesting story. I liked the time they spent this issue building our human characters because they are a vital part of the tale.
The Other/Half #1. “Dinner and a Diamond.” Written by Jim McCann and art by Joe Eisma. Cover art was done by Joe Eisma. Henry is a private investigator and Ethan is a socialite and they are married. However, there is a mystery that is going to require them to get into roles that they are not used to. Interesting new book from Ignition Press. The key is the relationship between Henry and Ethan.
Venom #255. Written by Al Ewing with art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. I usually do not buy the Venom series (which is up to #255…wow, I did not think Marvel let books get that high any more). However, this is part three of the Death Spiral story where Venom and Spider-Man team up so I had to pick it up.
51 #1. Written by Curt Pires with art and cover art by Jok. Another book that was hot this weekend was 51 from Mad Cave. I like this one more than the Tigress Island book. This sends a group of individuals into Area 51 to try and maintain the secrets and clean up after they lose those secrets into the world. And what if it was the president’s son? This was fun.
Bleeding Hearts #2. Written by Deniz Camp with art and cover art by Stipan Morian. The first issue of this new Vertigo book did not win me over. It was fine, but I did not think it was great. However, you can throw that all out the window because I thought issue two of this series was fantastic. It was a real turn around for me and that made me very happy.
Absolute Batman #18. “The Seventh Kingdom-Part 2” Written by Scott Snyder with art by guest artist Eric Canete. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Batman’s conflict with Poison Ivy comes to a dramatic close and Batman does something that no one expects. It is taking this Absolute Batman on a distinctly different path. I am not sure how to feel about it, but it absolutely is a shocking step.
Transformers #30. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Speaking of shocking moments, there is one in the Transformers book too. The Transformers get themselves a brand new Prime! It is not Optimus any more.
Planet of the Apes Versus Fantastic Four #2. Written by Josh Trujillo with art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. I am surprised how well the Apes from Planet of the Apes and the FF mix together. This has been very entertaining so far in the first two issues.
Imperial Guardians #1. Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art is done by Sean Izaakse & Nolan Woodard. A group of space heroes reform the Guardians, through the Imperial banner with Marvel. We get Gamora, Captain Marvel, Darkhawk, Cosmic Ghost Rider and Brawn.
Other books this week: Godzilla vs. Portland #1, Harley Quinn X Elvira #5, Masterminds #4, Sonja Reborn #6, The Seasons #9, Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish #1, Marian Heretic #5, Absolute Green Lantern #12, and Blood & Thunder #12.
Quick Hits: Space Ghost #9 is the first book this week in Quick Hits. This is a consistently good series from Dynamite. Another Dynamite book this week is Archie X The Army of Darkness #2. The book is able to get Archie and his friends into a cabin in the woods. The final issue of High Strangeness #5 is full of weirdness. No Place #4 continues its Oz based story. Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #2 has been a bit over my head so far. I love Storm so I will be sticking to it moving ahead, but it is not the most interesting storyline so far. Another series that has come to an end as 1776 #5 is finished. It was a strange book with the Revolutionary War, but I like big swings. Escape from Skull Island #2 keeps the Kong action going. Doctor Strange #4 keeps up with the Asgard storyline. It is another one that I have not loved, but I think it is okay. I missed Where Does the Rainbow End? #2 when it came out so I picked it up this week with Where Does the Rainbow End ?#3 was released.
It’s the Ides of March and I forgot to do this column this week. I had parent/teacher conferences on Thursday so it changed up when I picked up my books. I never even thought about it until about five minutes ago.
So here are this week’s belated Favorite covers of the week.
Also-Rans: Crownville #5, X-Men United #1, The Exorcism at Buckingham Palacce #1, Alias: Red Band #1, Space Ghost #9, Bleeding Hearts #2, and Transformers #30.
Bronze Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #9
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Mark Spears
I do love evil clowns, especially those drawn by Mark Spears. There is a rolling pin in the middle of the page.
Silver Medalist
Ordained #2
Cover art by Jorge Fornes
We have been waiting for Ordained #2 for a long time. It was worth the wait. The bloody gun in the hand of Father Craig as he peaks around the corner of the brick wall really gives a strong story about what this issue is about. I love the darkness and how Craig’s clothes blend into it.
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #9
Variant Cover D
Cover art by Mark Spears
Mark Spears art with 3D. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. However, how can you turn down out favorite monsters with 3D glasses on their faces? This is a lot of fun and grabs mark Spears another gold medal.
The final issue of Clean Room Vol 1 came to an end and, thankfully, it wrapped up the story in a nice, tight roll.
I was very worried that the series would end without sufficient closure, perhaps canceled by the cruel fates, leaving the threads a dangling. However, my fears were unjustified as this brought everything to an extremely satisfying conclusion.
The finale found the final showdown between Astrid and Derica, which turned out to be more one sided than I expected. I should have guessed that Astrid was in complete control of the situation. Of course she was.
We found out even more proof that Capone is one bad ass m-fer. I am so pleased that she made it through the conclusion.
The story of Chloe made perfect sense and what Astrid had Chloe do at the end also worked for this story. I loved having Spark make his return and play a huge role in the finale. I also loved having the brothers Havelin on site and brandishing a big piece of wood. Avil returned too and the idea of some threesomes between him, Chloe and Killian is mind-blowing.
I’ve been reading this series for the past 18 days and I am very pleased with the ending. It was satisfying and placed the characters that I have grown to love in great places and it works as an ending.
Thanks to Gail Simone for her creativity and storytelling skills. This was a fabulous series that I truly enjoyed.
The Daily Read will pause now for awhile until the next series presents itself. This was a fun time with comics and there is little better than that.
The penultimate issue of this first series in the Daily Read category sees Astrid re-establish control over her #1 Fan, Artus. He spent the first half of the book making himself seem superior to the “critter” but he took things a step too far and Astrid decided that enough was enough and she brought this little creep down big time while coming to rescue Chloe and Killian.
However, the big throwdown is still coming as Derica is on her way to have a massive confrontation with Astrid. This is just after Astrid is informed by Artus that the way to destroy the Entities was to exorcise the child.
That sounds like a big war in the finale.
I have to say that I am worried that the series did not come to a clean conclusion. Was it canceled and so the storyline was left dangling? That would not be what I want.
I know I mentioned that last issue was a filler issue, a look at someone outside of the main arcs of the book.
Man, did that change.
Issue #16 just went to town. Brutal. Violent. Vicious.
While Chloe and Killian are trapped in the memories inside the Clean Room, Artus Greenhand is calling for Astrid.
Then an assault was underway on the building. The creatures were after Capone, who just showed how much of a bad ass she is. They were after Anika, and Capone made it there in time to put an axe through the creature’s head. The Surgeon came to kill Duncan, but he got surprised by the Haverlin boys and some baseball bats.
Astrid’s crew was stepping things up, big time. Even with that, there was a feeling of hopelessness going on in the book.
Some of it may have come from the unsettling conversation between Astrid and the entity in control of the baby Derica. This was disturbing as it gets, with the baby reaching out and asking Aunt Astrid to hold it. Creepy.
This issue was packed to the gills with action and gore after a slower filler issue #15. This was a powerful issue with so many shout out loud moments. It was such a big time book and there are only two more issues to go.
It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade once again. Each week I get a bunch of books from my two comic shops and it always takes some time to finish reading them. With the movies and TV shows I have to watch (oh, and work at school), I am happy when I get the chance to finish this up.
I am continuing the Daily Read with the Vertigo series Clean Room. I read issue #15 today, giving me just three more to read.
Comic of the Week
Narco #1
This week’s Comic of the Week is a book from Image. There were a couple of books that were in competition but this one is the one I liked reading the most. It was written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Marcus is our main character and he has a certain trouble…narcolepsy when he gets too excited. This was a really fun introduction to this character and I am in on what is happening.
Narco #1 is one of those hot chased after books and I do think it is worthy to be chased.
Books this week:
Sleep #8. Written, illustrated and cover art by Zander Cannon (Silver Medalist). Sleep has been one of the most entertaining series of the last year. This is the finale of the series and I have to say, I did not love the final issue. I was a little unsure about the ending of the story. I didn’t hate the end, but it was just not as strong as I had expected.
Nectar #1. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art was done by Francesco Francini and Annapaola Martello. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan (Gold Medalist). This was one of the books that was in competition with Narco #1 for the Comic of the Week. I really loved this book and I was fully engaged with the mystery going on in this book.
Amazing Spider-Man #23. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. The second part of the Death Spiral story continued with Peter finally learning that Mary Jane was the new host of Venom. MJ then finds out that it was not Peter who blew her off before. Will Marvel ever let Peter and Mary Jane get back together?
DC KO #5. “The King Omega” Written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson and art by Javi Fernandez. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez & Alejandro Sanchez. Well, I thought Lex Luthor had won the tournament, but it sure feels as if Superman has taken the position. I guess that this is the way they are going to send Superman away for a time.
X-Men #26. “Danger Room, Pt. 1” written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The X-Men are out on a mission from the town, but Glob Herman was left behind, working in his garden. Things did not look good for Glob. I sure hope that he was able to avoid what it appeared to have happened.
All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #8. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Mysterio is back and causing all sorts of trouble. The underworld of the Marvel Universe in New York is all over this book too with Hammerhead leading the way.
Avengers #36. “Assemble” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Russell Dauterman & Rachelle Rosenberg. The final issue of this run of Avengers as Captain Marvel goes around to all the team members that she had recruited and revealed that she was stepping down as team leader. They also had a big goodbye to Camelot. Not sure where the Avengers goes from here, but this is the final issue of Jed MacKay’s run and this super powered version of the team.
Wolverine #17. “Cold and Alone” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine and Silver Sable are out int he Canadian wilderness trying to help the group that has been dubbed the New Morlocks. Meanwhile, Logan and Sable are getting busy.
Exploit #1. Written by Tim Leong & Laura Hudson with art by Emiliana Pinna. A piece of satire directed at the tech oligarchy with journalist Kirby Kuo, who uncovered a secret about tech billionaire Cole Saxon and promptly published it. This leads to all kinds of trouble for her. A new Mad Cave book filled with fun.
The Twilight Zone #5. “Silent Warning” Written by L. Marlow Francavilla & Francesco Francavilla with art by Francesco Francavilla. Cover art was done by Robert Hack. We are back under the sea with weird creatures and dangers galore in the latest Twilight Zone installment.
Batman #7. “Kill Switch” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. A captured and hooked up Joker calls for Batman, to give him a warning of something to come… and to drop a surprise bomb at the end… Joker called him “Bruce.” There is a cool foldout section at the center of this book too that was awesome.
Hello Darkness #19. Another month of a variety of horror stories and a potpourri of creative folks. Cover art was done by Rebeca Puebla and cover B was done by Jenny Frison (Bronze Medalist). My favorite of the stories was “Imposter Syndrome” written by Tate Brombal.
Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice #5. Written by Frank Tieri and art by Inaki Miranda. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. This is the book to complain about this week. This was a five issue series, making this the finale. However, issue #4 came out September 17, 2025. The final issue was good, but how am I supposed to care that much when it has been nearly six months between issues.
X-Men Annual #1. “The Creationist” Written by Ryan Stegman with art by Steve Skroce, Sanford Greene and Ryan Stegman. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Arthur Hesli. Jean Grey aka Phoenix comes back from the cosmos to see the X-Men in Louisiana because there is a mutant using his powers to create monsters.
Daredevil & Punisher #4. “Slaughter in Sutton’s Place” Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Tommaso Bianchi & Mario Santoro. Frank Castle and Daredevil end their latest team up bringing down the villains they were aiming for, in their differing styles. DD & Punisher work together in a book like this because they are so polar opposite and yet only a step or two away from each other.
Moonstar #1. “A Path Unknown” Written by Ashley Allen and art by Edoardo Audino. German Peralta did the cover art. Following up on her guest appearance in the previous Magik series, Danielle Moonstar leads this new book trying to find her proper path.
Nova Centurion #5. “Grand theft Starship Part 2” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvaro Lopez. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. Richard Rider meets back up with Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord once again and the pair bring all kinds of trouble.
Absolute Superman #17. “All Together Now” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Superman steps up against a parasite that is using the people of Metropolis as a power source and Superman shows how inspiring he could be. Oh, and Hawkman may not be the great hero that we thought as he contacted Talia at the end of the issue.
Absolute Flash #12. “The War of the Flashes Part 2” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Nick Robles and Al Kaplan. Cover art was done by Nick Robles. The first year of this series comes to an end with Wally’s father sacrificing himself to save Wally’s life. Wally dedicated himself to finding his dad and saving him. And Grodd finds someone else like him… but without the positive attitude.
Other books this week: The Nice House By the Sea #8, Tales of the Shadowman #6, Lost Fantasy #8, Lands Unknown: The Skinless man #1, The Beauty #4, Bloodland #2, and The Autumn Kingdom #2.
Quick Hits: I grabbed another one of those hit Mad Cave series off eBay. I must have missed it when it was out in comic shops. It is called The Florida Hippopotamus Cocaine Massacre #1 and it is wild and weird and lots of fun. One shot Iceman: Omega #1 was not as much fun as I did not find myself interested in the book. I have always liked Iceman so maybe it was just the issue’s approach. I grabbed a copy of D’Orc #1 second printing. I loved D’Orc and it was a huge hit so the new cover by Brett Bean and Frank Williams was cool. After enjoying the Ursula book last week, I grabbed a copy of Gaston #1 (Bronze Medalist). I like Gaston the character way more than Ursula, but I did not like this book at all. That was strange. There is a reprint of Marvel Team Up #14 where Spidey meets Invincible. The book was fun and it is nice to get a copy of a book that I am sure is sky high in original price. Speed Racer #6 is back with more dangerous racing action. Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck #3 came out this week and the two sides to the cartoon world do work well together. Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #3 sees the return of Ming the Merciless. The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town #3 also arrived this week with some solid action and humor. Batman/Green Arrow/Question: Arcadia #3 is one of those books where I am not sure where it falls in continuity. The interactions between Batman and Green Arrow were tense. Finally Godzilla Kai Sei Era #8 brought us some big titan battle.
In what felt like a filler issue, we met Mary, a young woman whose husband Ian, was showing up to her after his death in a bungie jumping accident.
Mary wound up in the organization run by Astrid Mueller, but it really did not have anything to do with the story that we have spent the last 14 issues following.
It did take a side of the organization and looked at it in a different manner, with a different POV than what we have been used to. It was an interesting tale of Mary, but I am not sure the purpose of the issue.
We had a different artist, Sanya Anwar, doing the art, but it looked like this was the only issue that she had done in this first volume.
Astrid’s #1 fan has arrived at the Clean Room with supposedly information on the baby Derica, who spent the first several pages of this issue being horrendous. The imagery of the bridge with the human faces was nightmare fuel if I have even seen any.
The new duo of Astrid and Chloe split apart as Chloe went to see her brother Peter. Meanwhile, Chloe and Killian tried to voir dire the #1 fan.
Artus Greenhand is the name of the #1 fan and he is a piece of work. With hair just like Astird, we discover immediately that this guy is dangerous. He is a serial killer and looks on women as “critters.”
He also seemingly can control the Clean Room, which is not a good thing, as he left Chloe and Killian in a memory facing himself.
I have to say that the relationship between Astrid and Chloe seemed to take a sudden switch here and I am not sure that I think it is earned. Chloe, in particular, had real anger toward Chloe and it does not feel as if that was as resolved as it is being shown to be. However, I do think the relationship between Chloe and Killian worked extremely well and feels as if it makes more sense.
Of course, the whole “intercourse” bit was really funny.
Interestingly enough, we got a new artist for the book. Walter Geovani is the new artist replacing Jon Davis-Hunt. I had not seen an announcement in issue #12 that there was going to be a change. I did not look closely though so it could have been there.
We see a side to Astrid this issue that we had not seen before. She was ready to punish Killian and Duncan in the Clean Room because of their betrayals last issue. However, at the last minute, she reconsidered and rushed back to them. I was surprised by Astrid’s change of heart, but I did like it very much.
Then, Astrid went to Chloe and asked her to join her as one of her rooks. Chloe demanded the truth from Astrid, and… she gave it to her! I couldn’t believe that either.
Then, Astrid brough Chloe to the Clean Room where her niece, the daughter of her brother who had shot her, was at, and the little girl showed off her own evil possessed power, killing a guard. The final shot of the toddler was creepy as heck as she says to Chloe that Philip says hello.
Philip was, of course, Chloe’s fiancé who had shot himself in the head after reading Astrid’s book.
I feel that Astrid and Chloe are forming a bond, at least to work together. I am still not sure if I should trust Astrid, but I have to say I am getting there.
I had a tough choice this week that I wussed out of. I was down to four covers for the three medals and, once again, I decided to have there be a tie. Oh well…
Last week we did not have any variants in our medalists. This week, there are two of the four covers.
Also-Rans: Narco #1, Avengers #36, Batman #7, Moonstar #1, The Twilight Zone #5, Bloodland #2,
Bronze Medalist
(TIE)
Disney Villains: Gaston #1
Cover art by Milena Ciccarello
Variant Cover C
I loved this cover, helping me decide to pick this Dynamite Comics book up. I love how we get Gaston and LeFou running inside the outline of Gaston’s body. The black background makes this standout all the more.
Hello Darkness #19
Cover art by Jenny Frison
Variant Cover B
Another variant that I saw on the shelf and decided to pick it up. I have been enjoying Jenny Frison’s work on the Clean Room Vertigo series that I have been reading on the Daily Read and I think her touch really helps make these horror comic covers effective.
Silver Medalist
Sleep #8
Cover art by Zander Cannon
I have been waiting for the finale of this series for quite awhile now and I was excited to see the book come out this week. The covers of Sleep have been consistently excellent and this one is no exception. The black and white background with the blood red running down creates an exceptional contrast for the cover and really makes me want to see what the finale has in store for me.
Gold Medalist
Nectar #1
Cover art by Chris Shehan
Another new hot book has a beautiful cover featuring butterflies. How does that fit into the story? I am very curious about this book. The orange color of the butterflies and the title jump off the page, especially with that big white moon behind them.
I love this issue. We get a couple of major face offs and sets our two main protagonists on a course for each other.
Astrid video called into the board meeting, revealing that she was very much alive. The confrontation with Mr. Wenuka was like the worst Zoom call ever. Astrid sure showed that even on a mountain top, she had everything under control. I loved how she dealt with Todd, who was the assassin who attempted to kill her on the mountain. She treated him way better than I expected.
Meanwhile, inside the Clean Room, Chloe embraced her ability to control the Clean Room and to show Spark his past… something Spark did not want to see. There were some horrible scenes with Spark possessing a little girl and the tragedy around it. Chloe seemed to be in control as much as Astrid was during the video conference. Killian was shocked since she only knew of one person, Astrid, who could activate the Clean Room.
Both of the assassins, Todd and Duncan, were shown to have been hypnotized and the people around them forgave them quickly. I like that very much. It also seems as if Spark may have taken a step back from the evil that it had looked to reclaim last issue.
Astrid’s brother’s baby was discovered by Astrid’s people. They told her the baby was normal. Of course, Astrid is able to see things differently as the last shot shows the baby with the monstrous head.
Every issue has a twist that I did not see coming. I love how this series feels like a roller coaster that is just flying without me knowing where it was going.
There is a meeting of the Honest World Foundation Board, called by Wenuka, to try an take control away from Astrid.
Meanwhile, Astrid is still in the mountains with Capone, trying to gage her loyalty. Astrid believed she could be a traitor, sent to the mountain to try and finish her off.
It was shown clearly that Capone was loyal as she prevented a sniper from killing Astrid, though the sniper that was sent seemed to lack any real skills in the subject.
Chloe was able to get herself into the Clean Room with Killian to try to save Spark. While inside the Clean Room, the real traitor was revealed… Duncan.
The battle between Duncan and Killian was dope. However, in the end, it took Spark controlling the Clean Room to stop Duncan.
The only way Spark could do that was to reclaim the darkness. The final shot of Spark with an evil grin plastered across it was both scary and sad at the same time.
Things are moving quickly with this book. Only 7 more issues to go.
So, what I wrote about last issue is a touch different now.
It appeared that Spark is not dead. The electricity that was sent through him last issue did not turn him into a pile of ashes. That is what I thought happened, but we see Spark this issue, still alive, still in the Clean Room and being tortured for information. The panel where Spark spoke for Chloe Clim Clam, begging for her to help him, made me worry that Spark is going to resent her for leaving him.
In fact, Chloe knows Spark is alive and I wonder why she left him in the first place. We see her investigating Mueller holdings, and she called Astrid all kinds of nasty names, but why did she leave in the first place?
We return to the scene several days later and Astrid has left the Clean Room and gone to a mountain retreat. Killian sent Capone to retrieve Astrid, but Astrid does not seem to be planning on coming back. Suddenly, there is some feeling for Astrid, a character who I called cold and sent straight t team bad guy last issue. I had some pity for her as she dealt with the idea that her brother shot her through the heart. I am such a manipulated mark.
We also have a new pair of horrendous individuals to fill that villain role. Wenuka and Pete are Jesus-loving corporate businessmen who are looking for a takeover of Astrid Mueller’s followers. We met them earlier, but this issue, we discover that they are darker than we imagined. They had their own “Dark Room,” which made me think it was similar to the Clean Room, and they seem to be ready to torture a poor couple. Weirdos.
I was sure of how I felt about these characters after issue #9 and then #10 flipped it over again. I love that this series is able to play with my emotions. I just hope Spark does not turn angry after his suffering, blaming Chloe.
So bringing Spark into the Clean Room by Chloe was a strategy to try and save Astrid’s life from the gunshot wound that she received from her brother. It was a highly controversial idea that Killian was not a fan of, but Chloe seemed to have the drop on everyone.
As Astrid is coding, Spark possessed her to try and save her. He is able to remove the bullet and save her. As Astrid was coming around, she ordered Spark to be destroyed with 60,000 volts.
Whoa. I did not see that coming as the electricity shot through Spark and left it ashes on the Clean Room floor. Right in front of Chloe, who had promised Spark, who did not want to save Astrid, that she would protect him. Even Killian was surprised by the move… how cold, seconds after your life is saved, you kill what had saved you.
Astrid’s brother, who was the person who shot her, claimed that Astrid had killed their father, which was why he had shot her. So it looks like the questions I had about Astrid’s motivations are gone now and that she is nothing more than a cold-hearted monster.
Does this mean that I have to look at the people in this book and re-evaluate their motives? How about the Surgeon? Do I owe him another look?
Okay, so Astrid is currently planted herself on team bad guy. Is that where she is going to end up? Or is there something more that we don’t know?
