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EYG Comic Cavalcade #177

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November 9

Sunday night. I am hoping to get this done before IT: Welcome to Derry. We’ll see how it goes.

Books this Week:

Space Scouts #1. Written by Matt Kindt with art and cover art by David Rubin. I had no idea about this book. It was from Dark Horse and it was oversized, like a DSTLRY book. I grabbed it off the shelf and really enjoyed it. It was like a blend of Hunger Games/Squid Games/ Guardians of the Galaxy. Good stuff in issue one.

White House Robot Romance #2. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art and cover art by Rachel Slott. The romantic pairing of the two robots has lead to them on the run from the US government What will happen with this duo? Chip Zdarsky has brought us another solid story with some great characters.

Assorted Crisis Events #6. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawdzki. This anthology series has had its ups and downs. This issue is an absolute up. The premise of the book is sensational, as there is a new illness that causes the victim to jump back and forth in age. It is strangely tragic and emotional. Maybe the best book of the week.

Planet She-Hulk #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Aaron Kuder. Cover art was done by Aaron Kuder & Sonia Oback. I was not a big fan of the Imperial, so I was not expecting to be a fan of this book. I have big questions about continuity. However, I really liked this book and, despite the fact that I am not sure where it actually falls in the Marvel Universe, but it was an enjoyable read.

Wild Animals #4. Written by Ed Brisson and art and cover art by Andy Kuhn (Silver Medalist). Once again, Wild Animals has been fabulous. This issue has some things happen here that I simply did not see coming. Wild Animals has been one of my favorite mini series of the year.

Amazing Spider-Man #15. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. This gives us some story about Peter’s new costume… oh, it is a living organism again. And he did not know that again.

Crownsville #1. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. Another great new book this week, this one from Oni Press. The book features the story of a haunted state hospital called Crownsville. The art from Bonetti was the perfect tone for the story.

Laura Kinney: Sabretooth #2. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Valentina Pinti. Cover art was done by Elena Casagrande & Edgar Delgado. Age of Revelation continues X years in the future. Laura is facing plenty of troubles as Revelation ordered her to not allow the mutants to escape.

Longshots #2. Written by Gerry Duggan and Jonathan Hickman with art by Alan Robinson. Cover art was done by Ryan Brown. Who saw this coming? Three of our “heroes” are killed. Did not expect that, but it was a cool start.

Amazing X-Men #2. “A Duel of Truths” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Mahmud Asrar. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. Cyclops takes on the Darkchilde in an insult contest. It was strange, but was able to dive into character work for both of them.

DC KO: Knightfall #1. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art by Dan Mora. The biggest shocker of the year… Batman, who died in DC KO, IS NOT DEAD. Who could have guessed? He wound up in some strange world where there are a bunch of Robins and Dick Grayson has taken over the Batman mantel. Trouble everywhere.

Speed Racer #4. Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art by Alessio Zonno. More racing action with Speed Racer, Racer X trying to prevent the Tiger Syndicate from winning the race. Little did they know that the Tiger Syndicate’s racer is on the path to try and kill Speed.

Vanishing Point #6. Written by Mark Russell and art by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Cover art was done by Marcus To. This is the final issue of Vanishing Point, which I have enjoyed. There have been a lot of horror anthology books, having one with sci-fi was a great idea. The last story was not my favorite, but it had a great twist at the end.

Binary #2. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Giada Beluisa. Cover art was done by Richie Yagawa. Carol Danvers is shown how she is struggling with the Phoenix Force. The Age of Revelation moves on with the Marvel Universe.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #14. “The Haunting of the Wrecker Part Three” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Domenico Carbone. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. The Wrecker came to the Midnight Mission looking for help, and guilting Moon Knight for it. Oh, and Jake Lockley makes an appearance this issue.

Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #4. Written by Greg Rucka and art by Nicola Scott. Cover art was done by Nicola Scott & Annette Kwok. It never works out for villain team ups. Cheetah and Cheshire have a falling out over Wonder Woman and it places the job in jeopardy.

Batman #3. “Crown of Storms” Written by Matt Fraction and art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. The story has several lanes going right now including Vandal Savage making his move against Batman and Robin, The Riddler and his efforts, and Bruce Wayne trying to make amends.

Avengers #32. “Prodigals” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by CAFU & Moreno Dinisio. The Avengers take on Kang… as well as the Marvel Zombies. Things do not look good for our heroes, until the cavalry arrives.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #40. “Webs of Regret Part One” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Assessor is back. Miles is freaked out.

G.I. Joe #13. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Tom Reilly. Variant cover art was done by Mark Spears (Gold Medalist). The Dreadnok War kicks off this issue with Destro giving the Dreadnok’s info on Cobra Commander, who is now handcuffed to Duke. Lots of trouble starting here.

Ice Cream Man: The Mortal Coil Shuffle. Ice Cream Man has had some amazingly creative ideas, but this one takes the cake (with some ice cream on the side). This is a deck of cards, but, instead of having playing cards, there is a story on the cards. I have not read this story yet, as I just got the card sheets to space it out this night at Wal-Mart (it is a Pokémon card holder) but I can’t wait to get a look at it. As I was putting the cards into the sleeves, there are some funny one in there including normal playing cards and some that look as if they come from UNO. On the back of the container, it specifically tells you not to shuffle the cards. LOL!

Rook Exodus #8. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Jason Fabok. Cover A art was done by Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson. I also picked up Cover C by Kael Ngu. Um… spiders everywhere. Creepy for sure.

Star Trek: Red Shirts #4. Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Megan Levens. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan (Bronze Medalist). Man, the Red Shirts are dropping like flies. This one has some really solid work, making me care about the characters here just before they are killed. You’d think I would expect it.

Other books this week: Tales of the Shadowman #3, Impact Winter: Evenfall #1, No Place #1, Echo: Seeker of Truth #1, Alien vs. Captain America #1 and TexArcanum #4.

Quick Hits: I ordered another 10 pack of blind bags off eBay of The Monster and the Wolf #1. I wound up with 7 of the 10 that I did not have, which I was very excited about. Minor Arcana #11 keeps this story rolling along. I do love me some Jeff Lemire. Charlemagne Tha God Presents Illuminati #5 is the last issue, but I have missed number four. I am not sure how it slipped past me, but I have not yet read #5 because of it. In Gotham Academy #2, we get some time to spend with Olive’s mother, which is not a good thing. I grabbed Doctor Who: The Prisoner Paradox #1. I did love the fifteenth Doctor and this has him and Belinda Chandra in it. Ultimate X-Men #21 does feel like it is approaching the wrapping point for this book as the entire Ultimate Universe is up for a big crossover event soon. I need to find some new juice for Void Rivals #24 as I am really just skimming it as of right now. Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #4 has some good action and, unlike some of these other Godzilla books, has Godzilla in it. Eat Your Young #3 from Mad Cave feels kind of like Exquisite Corpses in a way. This was the first issue where I was into the book. Absolute Superman #13 also feels as if it is building to something big. We are making connections with Kal-El, Lois and Jimmy. Absolute Green Lantern #8 has been one of my least favorite Absolute books, but this issue was very curious. It caught my attention for sure. The UPC codes are all over Look Into My Eyes #4. I have not scanned one as of this moment. Finally, a team-up book from Dynamite Comics called Die!Namite #1 came out this week. Vampirella is here. So is Miss Fury. There are some other characters who I am not sure about.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #175

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October 20

Good day everyone. We are up to the #175 post for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Who knew this would last so long. I feel as if I am getting close to getting this back on track to do on Saturday or Sunday. This weekend, I was busy with the October 13, but I think soon the schedule will straighten out. Monday night are never good to do these.

Books this week:

The Monster and the Wolf #1. Written, art and cover art by Mark Spears (Gold Medalist). The blind bags arrived from Kinesport this week and I was able to open all eleven books that I got. Two duplicates. I thought that was pretty good. The covers were all awesome.

Endeavour #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art and cover art by Marc Laming. I have been waiting for this DSTLRY book for quite a while. The Endeavour was a ship sailed by Captain Cook and this current day version turns into a “Lord of the Flies” type situation. Looking forward to continuing this one.

Don’t Forget Your Briefcase #4. Written by Eliot Rahal and art and cover art by Phillip Sevy. The penultimate issue of this Mad Cave book came out this week. I have really enjoyed this book so far with this political thriller.

Blue Falcon & Dynomutt #2. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Pasquale Qualano. Cover art was done by Lucio Parrillo. Blue Falcon is on a rampage, looking for the people who killed his dog. However, Dyno may not be official dead. We continue with the origin of Dyno-Mutt.

Nightwing #131. “Cirque Du Sin. Part 2: Circus Music.” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Dexter Soy. Nightwing and Nightwing Prime are on a training mission but problems are happening. I am not sure if I am a fan of Nightwing Prime. It gives me those Spider-Man/Rek Rap vibes.

The Punisher: Red Band #2. Written by Benjamin Pearcy and art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. Punisher is back and he is out to kill everyone he wants. Kingpin is here too and things are nasty.

Unbreakable X-Men #1. “Guarding the Gate.” Written by Gail Simone and art and cover art by Lucas Werneck. I also grabbed the foil cover by Mateus Manhanini. This is a great story of loss and grief as Rogue dies and Gambit has to deal with his grief. I am very pleased that Gail Simone is continuing with one of the Age of Revelation books. I have been quite a fan of her Uncanny X-Men run so far.

Rogue Storm #1. Written by Murewa Ayadele with art by Roland Boschi. Cover art was by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The Age of Revelation continued with this book with Storm and.. Rogue? Wait, didn’t Rogue just die in the Unbreakable X-Men #1? A cool idea to be able to maintain Rogue in this world.

Sinister’s Six #1. Written by David Marquez and art by Rafael Loureiro. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. It is the X-Factor team, led by Havok, and they are dealing with Venom. I am not sure which Venom this is, but it was a fascinating book. It is unknown as to which ones are working for which ones.

Iron & Frost #1. Written by Cavan Scott with pencils by Ruairí Coleman. Dustin Weaver did the cover art. They were married once, but now we get to find out what the Age of Revelation holds for Tony Stark and Emma Frost.

One World Under Doom #8. “To Will the God” Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey was the cover artist. Doom seems to be winning, battling all of earth’s heroes, but an unexpected collateral damage stops Doom in his tracks.

Captain America #4. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Valerio Schiti. Ben Harvey does the cover art. The big slugfest between Cap and Dr. Doom comes to a conclusion here and the “new” Cap goes to the brutality.

Incredible Hulk #30. “The Requiem Plain” Part Three. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. The final issue of Incredible Hulk sees Hulk and Banner split apart (yet again) which leads to another, very frightening version of Hulk. This leads to the new series, The Infernal Hulk #1.

Artillery: Weapons of Art #1. Written, drawn by and starring Jimmie Robinson. A new book from a new company. The company is known by Invader Comics. This is an intriguing new book with the concept of art being magical. The writer/artist of the book is also a supporting player in this book. Cool stuff here.

Justice League Red #3. Written by Saladin Ahmad and art by Clayton Henry. Cover art is done by Clayton Henry and Arif Prianto. The plans of Red Tornado continues as they rescue Red Canary and bring in Deadman (YAY!). Now they are heading off to take on Black Adam!

They Choose Violence #5. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah (Silver Medalist). This book comes to an end with this issue. This was quite a violent book and was very much connected with race. The covers have been spectacular.

Terrorbytes #1. Written by Mark Russell and art by Felix Ruiz. Juan Doe did the cover art. I had no idea what this book was, but between seeing Mark Russell as a writer and being a new book from Mad Cave, I decided to give it a chance. It was an intriguing new book with a mysterious future with AI. Looking good.

Survive #2. Written by Robert Venditti and art by Doug Braithwaite. Cover art by Eduardo Risso. The Bad Idea comic company has been doing some good work and this thriller involving a sinking submarine is an exciting and dramatic book.

Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #4. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Paco Medina and Javier Garrón. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. We got giant Hulk vs. Godzilla. The Marvel heroes are pulling a whole Power Rangers concept with their giant robot to fight the King of Monsters.

Save Now #1. Written by Matt Kinot and art done by Tomas Giorello. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Another new cool book from Bad Idea. This was a story where one of the main characters can travel back in time to redo problems that he faced. It was pretty great.

Amazing Spider-Man #14. Written by Joe Kelly and pencils by Ed McGuinness with Todd Nauck. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason & Marcio Menyz. I also picked up the variant cover by Lee Bermejo. We are back with Norman Osborn on earth as he struggled to maintain the mantel of Spider-Man.

Hector Plasm: Hunt the Bigfoot #1. Written by Benito Cereno and art by Derek Hunter. Cover art was done by Ryan Ottley & Dave McCaig. I do love bigfoot stories and this is a fun combination of ghosts and more. Hector Plasm is an intriguing character and it feels as if he has had other books prior.

Sonja Reborn #2. Written by Christopher Priest and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Cover art was done by Stjepan Sejic. The new Red Sonja with the mind swap is a fascinating story.

Other books this week: Ghost Pepper #4, Return to Skull Island #4, GI Joe #12, 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #1, Good as Dead #2, The New Gods #11, Fantastic Four x Gargoyles #1, Superman #30, and Viking Moon #1.

Quick Hits: This week’s Bronze medalist was The War #3, which ended that reprint story from Hello Darkness. Speaking of that, Hello Darkness #15 had two covers this week that I bought including one by Jenny Frison. Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #5 was another final issue for a series. There was a new Christmastime story called Yuletide #1. Charles Soule’s The Lucky Devils #5 carries on as well. DC’s Absolute Flash #8 focused in on Barry Allen and his involvement in the project that led to Wally West becoming Absolute Flash. Everything Dead & Dying #2 continues its zombie story which is unlike most any other zombie story you’ll come across. Apparently, I got that a week late, though I did not realize it. We get some origin of Darkwing Duck in Darkwing Duck #6. Racer X #2 is a bit of a cross over with the last Speed Racer story, which was a weird POV shift. Tama #3 seems to be taking that character and making it antagonistic. The Tama character is very wild at this point. I picked up Titans #28 to give it a chance. I liked the Titans when they were being used in Tom Taylor’s Nightwing run, and I am giving this variation a chance as it moves into the big Darkseid return. Godzilla Escape the Dead Zone #3 finally gave us a shot of Godzilla in the book. Finally, there was Zdarsky Comic News#16 which is always a lot of fun.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #143

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March 15

We are just a couple of days from St. Patrick’s Day, so here is an early greeting for everyone to have fun and stay safe.

I finally picked up 20 Degrees Past Rigor #1 off eBay this week, but I have not yet read it. I had issues #2 and #3 already and I was waiting on #1, but it was a hard book to track down. I finally broke down and dropped some $ on eBay to get the book to me. We’ll see if it is worth the time.

Here are the other books this week:

X-Men #13. “Gods and Monsters” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia. The X-Manhunt storyline continues as the X-Men battle a mind controlled Storm in an attempt to get Charles Xavier back in custody.

Redcoat #10. Creators are Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. Hitch and Brad Anderson did the cover art. Simon Pure’s travels bring him into a meeting with Annie Oakley. The trick shot artist and the Redcoat put on a display of shooting and then need to help some people in trouble. Simon revealed some of his deep-seeded doubts to Annie.

All-New Venom #4. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Adam Kubert & Laura Martin did the cover art. Well, Rick Jones was revealed this issue to be the Sleeper Agent, seemingly eliminating him from the possible suspect list for the All-New Venom. With Madame Masque in this issue fighting against Venom, does this mean that Robbie Robertson is the one remaining possibility or does Marvel have a swerve coming? We are supposed to find out next issue.

West Coast Avengers #3-4. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. I missed these two issues so I had to get caught up. I got one on eBay and the other was backordered at Comic World for me. Ironically enough, I missed West Coast Avengers #5 that was released this week. It’s coming next week for me (Thanks Todd).

Darkwing Duck #1. Written by Daniel Kibblesmith and drawn by Ted Brandt and Ro Stein. Variant cover B art was done by Mark Bagley (Bronze Medalist). I saw an interview with Daniel Kibblesmith a few months ago on YouTube talking about this project and it intrigued me. I like Kibblesmith and I think Dynamite has been doing some excellent books of late so I wanted to give this a try. I enjoyed the book for the most part.

Amazing Spider-Man #69. “Acceptable Losses.” Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by McGuinness, Cliff Rathburn & Marcio Menyz. Peter Parker is back among the living thanks to Cyra’s change of heart. She helped him turn into the Spider-Juggernaut???? One more issue of this volume before a reboot for Amazing Spider-Man.

How I Became a Shoplifter #1. Written by Tom Breyfogle and art by Daniel Hillyard. I picked up issues #2, 3 of this in the bag sale last weekend, so I ordered issue one on eBay. I received a notice form eBay that the issues (I got all three versions of issue #1’s cover) had been delivered, but they were nowhere to be found at my house. I checked the tracking and it said that it had been delivered to Manchester, CT. This was, of course, nowhere near my house in Iowa. I contacted the seller at eBay and he responded that sometimes they scan the address incorrectly and that I should be patient and give it a few days. He promised that he would make sure I got my order even if he had to resend the issues. A few days later, the package arrived at my doorstep. I was grateful for the communication by the eBay seller, ih8jocks1692.

Deadpool #12. “Pools of Blood.” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Andrea DiVito. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. The Deadpool/Miles Morales team up/face off continued in this issue with Miles coming face to face with Princess.

X-Factor #8. “The Summers of Days Past.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Greg Land & Frank D’Armata did the cover art. The Legacy numbered 300 issue of X-Factor featured a battle between the X-Men and X-Factor over the custody of Charles Xavier. Xavier seems to be causing all kinds of trouble lately as X-Manhunt gives us chapter 5.

Power Man: Timeless #2. “No Time at All.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and art by Bernard King. Ario Anindito did the cover art. Luke Cage and Aeon have a massive cosmic battle and Power Man shows off his Hulk-side. Oh and… hey there Apocalypse. How have you been?

Phoenix #9. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Variant cover art was done by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg. Newly powered up and new costumed Jean Grey as the Phoenix is in search of Adani. Nova and Rocket Raccoon guest star.

Absolute Superman #5. “Ad Astra Per Aspera.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Rafa Sandoval. Sandoval and Ulises Arreola did the cover art (Gold Medalist). We see the flashback to the death of Krypton and how young (but not baby) Kal-El wound up on the earth.

Batman: Dark Patterns #4. “The Voice of the Tower Part 1” Written by Dan Watters with art and cover art by Hayden Sherman (Silver Medalist). This issue reminded me of the movie Dredd from 2012, except for the weird ending with the building looking to be alive. Not sure what this issue was. It was odd from the start.

Green Hornet Miss Fury #3. Written by Alex Segura and Henry Barajas with art by Federico Sorressa. Cover art was done by Francesco Francavilla. Silver Shrike is causing trouble and he has place Kato into all kinds of danger. This noir style book continues to be excellent.

In Hell We Fight #5. Written by John Layman and drawn by Jok. This was another book I picked up on eBay to complete a run of books I got in the bag sale last weekend. I enjoyed this book as it reminded me some of Hazmat Hotel.

Sister Imperator #1. Written by Corinna Bechko and art by Puste. Cover art was done by Mikael Eriksson. This is a series listed as from the world of Ghost, which I do not know what that is. However, this does seem to be the origin of the titular character and it was an interesting and tragic story. Dark Horse has been solid this last year or so.

Namor #8. “The Wrath and the Splendor.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Paul Davidson & Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Alexander Lozano. The new Namor series wrapped up with Namor taking control of the throne of Atlantis only to make some major, sweeping changes to it. I have enjoyed this Jason Aaron penned series considerably and I would welcome more undersea adventures from him with Namor.

The Nine Lives of Salem #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art was done by Dan Schoening and Ben Galvan. Cover art was Dan Schoening & Matt Herms. Salem the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch has his own one shot in the Archie Comics company. It was fun and fits right in with the other recent books with feline and/or canine lead characters.

Nick Fury vs. Fin Fang Foom #1. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Elena Casagrande. Cover art was done by Gary Frank and Alex Sinclair. This was a pre-WWII story with Nick Fury attempting to clear the Chinese skies of the “cloud” that turned out to be the dragon Fin Fang Foom. These strange Marvel team ups have been fun and I like seeing Fin Fang Foom featured prominently.

Geiger #12. Written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Gary Frank. Gary Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art. The Glowing Woman is trying to help out Geiger to control his powers. However, what is her true motivation? Not sure.

Hellhunters #4. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Adam Gorham. Declan Shalvey did the variant cover B. Zarathos provided a bit of a power boost for the Hellhunters. Logan, in particular, looks really cool with his horns and his flaming claws.

Iron Man #6. “The Insurgent Iron Man.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and drawn by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Yasmine Putri. Tony Stark is plotting to take down Doctor Doom… by supplying Doctor Doom with Stark weapons. Huh? This felt like a political thriller with the intrigue of spy action. I am not sure that things are going to go well for Tony.

Other books this week: The Moon is Following Us #7, Transformers #18, Void Rivals #17, Napalm Lullaby #9, and Warm Fusion #2.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #141

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March 2

It is Sunday morning and the EYG Comic Cavalcade is a little bit late. That was because much of Saturday was taken up for me with watching Last Breath, the Animated and Live-action Oscar nominated shorts, and the Elimination Chamber, where John Cena turned heel. It was an epically busy day and so, while I was able to finish reading the books Saturday morning, this write-up had to wait.

One of the things I received in the mail this week was a graphic novel that I had supported through Kickstarter. It was called Oxymoron, and I actually got two graphic novels. The second one was the most recent book entitled Oxymoron: Killing Time. The book is edited by Tyler James and he was the driving force behind the Kickstarter. Oxymoron is a killer clown type character going through time to wipe out those who deserved it… in his own warped opinion. It was a fun book that I am happy to have supported.

Still a pretty big week at Comic World this week. I had to take two trips up to Dubuque because of the shipment problems facing Diamond, but it was worth my time for sure.

Books this week:

Black Canary: Best of the Best #4. “Round Four.” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Ryan Sook. I love this series so far. I have never been a fan of Black Canary. I mean, she was always fine, but she was never anything special to me, but this series has taken her and made this book one of the first ones I read when it comes out. Black Canary takes a turn in her battle with Lady Shiva. Tom King is excellent at these story arc type series.

Amazing Spider-Man #68. DEATHS. “Cain is Able.” Written by Christos Gage and art by Mark Buckingham. Buckingham & Richard Isanove did the cover art. Spidey is dead, and the Juggernaut steps up. I still do not understand why Marvel wants to do these dot issues (.DEATHS). Why do you just make this #69 instead. I have not been a fan of the 8 Deaths of Spider-Man arc and I will be pleased when it comes to a close in a few issues.

The Department of Truth #28. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. Tynion’s conspiratorial series continues with a shocking return of Hawk at the end of another trippy episode. It is always difficult to know what is going down with the Department of Truth, but it is a lot of fun to try and figure it out.

Behemoth #2. Written by Grant Sputore & Ryan Engle. Art and cover art was done by Jay Martin (Bronze medalist). This Dark Horse comic has been awesome so far. Who knew the dangers that could be found after your bus has been swallowed by a monster. I mean besides digestion. There are all kinds of shocks in this book and I am here for it.

Ultraman X Avengers #4. Written by Kyle Higgins & Mat Groom. Art was done by Francesco Manna. This special crossover comes to a conclusion as the Avengers and Ultra Guard match up with Galactus in an attempt to save the universe. All of which ends in a karaoke party. Yup, that is true.

Sentinels #5. “Factory Settings” Written by Alex Paknadel and art by Jason Mason. Cover art was done by Jason Mason and Federico Blee. This mini series ends with this issue. Sentinels has been an okay book, but I am not sure that it will be a memorable one. Will I remember anything about it in a month or so? Not sure. I’m glad I own it though.

Silence #2. Written by Evan K. Pozios and art and cover art by Alex Sanchez. It has been awhile since issue number one came out and so it required some recollection on what was going on. A famed comic artist is in a small town called Silence and weirdness is going on. I do like the art style in this book, as it feels different than what I am used to. There is only one more issue remaining of this book from Afterlight Comics.

Hello Darkness #8. This anthology book continues to be highly entertaining from Boom! Studios. I do enjoy a horror anthology. This issue featured the continuation of James Tynion IV’s Erica Slaughter story has has been in three other issues prior. It also saw the end of the Garth Ennis story, “The War.”

Justice League Unlimited #4. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. Tefé Holland is recruited by Mister Terrific to do what she can to stop the inferno and save the Green. Batman and J’onn J’ones interact as well. The Justice League continues to be a solid read each issue with so many possible guest stars.

Ripperland #2. Written by Steve Orlando and John Harris Dunning with art and cover art by Alessandro Oliveri (Silver medalist). The mystery of the serial killer that has some ties to Jack the Ripper continues in the distant future.

Green Lantern Dark #3. “New Camelot.” Written by Tate Brombal and art by Werther Dell’Edera. Cover art was by Werther Dell’Edera and Giovanna Niro. I really enjoyed the Elseworld version of Green Lantern. This has been a fun and engaging series so far, even if the book reads like what if Erica Slaughter had the power of Green Lantern.

The Human Fly #3. Written by Christopher Sequeira and Jason Franks. Art and cover art was done by Jan Scherpenhuizen (Silver Medalist). This IPI Comics book is very intriguing so far. I like the superhero/super spy type feeling the Human Fly gives us and there are some interesting mysteries of what is going on.

Red Hulk #1. “Think Tank.” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Geoff Shaw. Variant cover B art by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg. Hot off his appearance in Captain America: Brave New World, Thaddeus Ross is back as the Red Hulk, under control of the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Doom. There is an eclectic band of other characters in the same Latverian prison as Ross, so we will be seeing a team up mving forward.

Captain America & Volstagg #1. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Bernard Chang. Terry & Rachel Dotson did the cover art. This is the latest issue in the whole Marvel teams up some characters that you would never expect to team up series of books. Cap and Warriors Three member Volstagg would not have been my first choice, but they worked together nicely. It made sense, which is an important factor.

Hellhunters #3. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Adam Gordon. Cover art was done by Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimaraes. Back in World War II, welcome to the Hellhunters… Bucky Barnes. Young Bucky is out to prove his worth and he joined up with Fury, Ghost Rider and the rest. Fun WWII action in this series, with plenty of supernatural flow as well.

Iron Man #5. “Destroy the Machines.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Jeremy Pina. Cover art was done by Yasmine Putri. Iron Man, Ironheart and Melinda May battled Lucia Von Bardas and her Stark Sentinel.

TVA #3. Written by Katharyn Blair and art by Pere Perez. Cover art was done by Pere Perez and GURU e-FX (Bronze medalist). Thankfully, Mobius survived his attack from last issue, even though he looked really dead, in a pool of his own blood. I have enjoyed the grouping of these characters in this issue so far.

X-Men #12. “Work Release.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Netho Diaz. Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Marte Gracia did the cover art. Helping out with the X-Men in this issue… it is Alpha Flight! I always loved Alpha Flight so it was cool to see so many of their classic characters back in the pages of the X-Men where they were originally born.

Ultimate Spider-Man #14. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson. I also picked up the variant (1:25) with cover art by Carmen Carnero. With Richard and Black Cat growing closer, there is a shocking death at the hands of Kraven. I did not expect this death, so maybe there will be some shenanigans coming with it.

Fantastic Four #29. “The Dream Team.” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Cory Smith. Cover art is by Joshua Cassara & Dean White. Welcome back as a special guest star this issue… She-Hulk! Jen, Ben and Sue team up to try and save some vampire children. There is a weird sentence.

Uncanny Valley #8. Written by Tony Fleecs with art and cover art by Dave Wachter. Oliver is still in the world of cartoons, and he is trying to find his way back to his mom and grandpa, while avoiding the First. There are a group of purple creatures that may bear some resemblance to the Smurfs (only not blue) that Oliver meets. Uncanny Valley is an entertaining and creative book every month.

Nights #13. “Viva Las Gray-gas.” Written by Wyatt Kennedy and art by Luigi Formisano. I thought Nights was done, but then I was surprised by issue #13 in the previews. I wonder how much the continuation of this series was based on the animated series that is in the works from Titmouse, the company behind Netflix’s Big Mouth. I’m sure Image is not above using the publicity to sell more comics. It is a smart idea. And this issue was a nice one to jump on to if you were unfamiliar with the first 12 issues.

Absolute Wonder Woman #5. “The Last Amazon Part 5 of 5.” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire. Diana takes some drastic steps to defeat the giant monster… she turned herself into Medusa. I do like how this series ties Diana to Greek mythology even more than before.

Metamorpho #3. “The Man from J.A.V.A.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Steve Lieber. Steve lieber & Lee Loughridge did the cover art. This issue is heavily including Java, who was once Rex Mason’s second hand. Java is now a secret agent. Oh and Metamorpho and Sapphire split up. And then there is Java, Java, Java, Java, Java, Java, Java and Java (Happy Todd?)

Hornsby & Halo #4. I started to read this issue from Image’s Ghost Machine imprint, but I was really confused. It felt as if I was missing something from this story because Hornsby and Halo were together and they both were using their powers together. I did not remember that so I went to my CZL app and found out that I was missing issue #3. So I stopped reading this one and put it aside until my order from eBay gets here.

Other books this week: In Bloom #3, FML #4, Women of Marvel: She-Devils #1, The Seasons #2, Rogue the Savage Land #2, Ultimate X-Men #12, and Milestone Universe: The Shadow Cabinet #4.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #140

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February 22

Another big week of books, both from Comic World and eBay.

One of the books that I picked up off eBay was Come Find Me, which was a one shot from DSTLRY. I have become a big fan of this company, but I have one major problem. The books do not come out on a regular basis. There are great issues and then it feels like months before the next issue comes out. A one shot like this is nice. It is also an anthology, so there are a variety of stories within it.

Other books this week:

Bug Wars #1. “The House of Slaymaker” Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Mahmud Asrar. Cover art by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. I picked up this issue off eBay because it was sold out so quickly across the comic book shops. I’m not sure why it was this hot, but it was a really great issue form one of the best writers in the business in Jason Aaron. Lots of fun.

Behemoth #1. Written by Grant Sputore & Ryan Engle and art and cover art by Jay Martin. Another great new comic, this time from Dark Horse. What a wonderful concept this book has. A bus load full of people wind up getting eaten by a giant monster and they have to survive inside. This was more fun and I am pleased that I was able to get this issue after a bit of delay.

Amazing Spider-Man #68. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason and Richard Isanove. Peter gives up his remaining life power up thingies to save Aunt May, Randy and Shea… and some other guy… who got killed because Peter was having his crisis. I will be happy when this arc is over since I do not feel as if this writer has a good enough grasp on Spider-Man.

Ripperland #1. Written by Steve Orlando & John Harris Dunning and art and cover art by Alessandro Oliveri. Ripperland is another new banger from Dark Horse. I have always been a big fan of Jack the Ripper (I know that doesn’t sound right…) so this hit a sweet spot for me.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine #3. “The Devil in Me- Part 2” Written by Erica Schultz and art by Giada Belviso. Cover art is done by Elena Casagrande & Edgar Delgado. Laura and Elektra, aka Wolverine and Daredevil, are out battling the forces looking to hurt mutants. Laura and Elektra are a good pair and a lot of fun.

Green Hornet Miss Fury #2. Written by Alex Segura & Henry Barajas with art by Federico Sorressa. Cover art was done by Francesco Francavilla. I have been liking this pairing of two classic noir characters. Dynamite has been doing some fun books lately and this one works so much.

Kill Train #1. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and art by Martina Niosi. Cover art was done by Skylar Patridge. Another good new series, this one was from Mad Cave. Todd grabbed this one for me in Des Moines. I have to say that this series did a great job of setting up the story f these trains.

Uncanny X-Men #10. “Off the Leash” Part Two. Written by Gail Simone and art by Andrei Bressan. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. I was worried about Deathdream because he surely looked dead last issue. Thankfully, he was able to survive the event and this issue gave us the chance to get to know our new characters more. And I liked them.

Dust to Dust #2. Written by JG Jones & Phil Bram and art and cover art by JG Jones. The dust storms are still causing trouble. I still love the look of this book. It is one of the most interesting looking books on the market right now. Very dramatic cover too.

Mystique #5. “Compromised” Written, art and cover art by Declan Shalvey (Silver Medalist). This series came to a great conclusion. This series had a really great series of covers. Declan Shalvey did a great job on this series, considering he was doing most everything on the book.

Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #3. Written , illustrated and cover art by Luana Vecchio. Another book where the writing and art are done by a single person. Luana Vecchio also did multiple variant covers for this series. Doll Parts has been a wild story so far and this issue takes it to another level. This has so much adult content among these young characters that it can be unnerving to read at times. Still very much compelling though.

Zatanna #1. “A Tilnoom Edalb” Written, art and cover art by Jamal Campbell. Weird. Third straight book where the creative did all of the writing and art. This felt very different than the previous Zatanna series from late last year. She sure took a bad blow near the end of the book. Of course, she will not die. I mean, it is her book. I’m not sure if I will be a long term reader on this one, but I will mot likely give it another issue or two before I decide.

Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #1. “A Doomed Man.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Tommaso Bianchi and cover art was from Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Bucky and Black Widow are the remaining Thunderbolts trying to face off with Dr. Doom. Things do not go well for them, nor does it go well for residents of Shelbyville, Indiana.

Doom Academy #1. Written by Mackenzie Cadenhead and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Pablo Villalobos. Strange Academy gets a face lift and a new location. Latveria! I have loved the Strange Academy characters and to see them in the new place spices things up as they have some new learning to do. I love the new character of Scoop.

Daredevil #18. “Introductory Rites” Part Eighteen. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Matt Murdock returns to a court of law… only to get his butt kicked by the possessed Foggy Nelson. Can DD get through the case while still stopping these demons?

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #1. Written by Justin Jordan and illustrated and cover art by Chris Shehan. This is a new independent book from Oni Press and it was a good read. Harley Creed is a bad man. Someone placed a hex on Harley and he has seven days to try and reverse it or he will die in twisted, screaming agony. This was a good week (or weeks) for new independent books. Long title though.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz #2. Adapted, illustrated and cover art by Otis Frampton. Based on the novel by Oz author L. Frank Baum. I was surprised how much I liked the first issue of this, which I was not expecting in my pull box. I am sure it was a book that I asked for, but just did not remember it. However, I have had a lot of fun with this book and this issue gives us our first glance at the Patchwork Girl. She looks awesome.

Daredevil: Unleash Hell #2. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Valentina Pinti & Jose Luis Soares. Paulo Siqueria & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Our new Muse is being led along by the ghost of the original Muse and it is great. I loved the character of Muse and seeing a new form of the serial killing artist is epic.

Infinity Watch #2. Written by Derek Landy and art by Ruairi Coleman and Enid Balám. Salvador Larroca & GURU-eFX did the cover art. Avery Zavala is a stone bearer from another timeline and he pretty much kills all of the Infinity Watch. I’m not completely sure what is going on, but it feels as if there are shenanigans.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Luigi Zagaria. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. The Miles Morales and Deadpool showdown continue don from the previous Deadpool issue as Miles comes face to face with Princess.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3. Written by Christos Gage and art by Eric Gapstur. Leonardo Romero did the cover art. This prequel series to the Disney + animated series continued with Peter trying out for football. This book has been fun, but the animated series was one of the best Spidey animated series of all time. You should check it out on Disney + for sure.

Ultimate Wolverine #2. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio and Frank Martin. Ultimate Wolverine has only had two issues so far, but it is right there beside Ultimate Spider-Man as the best Ultimate book so far. This is full of action and having the Winter Soldier version of Logan? Epic!

Let This One be a Devil #1. Written by James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe with art by Piotr Kowalski. Gavin Fullerton did the cover art. Another banger from Dark Horse this week. A new horror series from James Tynion IV gives us a couple different time lines, including a horrific birth. I do love me some Tynion IV.

NYX #8. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art done by Francesco Mortarino. Laura Kinney faces off with Julian in a massively emotional conflict. Can she stop him without popping her claws? Is that what he really wants her to do?

Exceptional X-Men #6. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art by Carmen Carnero and Nolan Woodard. We are introduced to Sheldon Xenos, a mutant who has a job for the young mutants being trained by Kitty and Emma. Does he have their best interest at heart? Axo believes so. I disagree.

Weapon X-Men #1. “The Real Thing” Written by Joe Casey and penciled by Chriscross. Alex Ross did the cover art. Wolverine. Deadpool. Cable. Thunderbird. Chamber. Sounds like a huge team up. However, one of them will betray another. Which one will it be?

The Question: All Along the Watchtower #4. “The Great Escape” Written by Alex Segura and art by Cian Tormey & Raul Fernandez. Cover art by Tormey & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Cyborg Superman has taken over the Watchtower and only The Question can stop him. Or can she? Things do not look good for our detective.

X-Factor #7. “Terms of Use” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Cover art was by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata. Angel returned to take the mantel of leadership as X-Factor heads to Genosha to try and prevent Dr. Doom from getting his hands on a special weapon.

G.I. Joe #4. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and cover art by Tom Reilly. The Joes are captured by Cobra after Duke surrendered. Why does it seem like Duke believes that they have got Cobra right where they want them?

Werewolf by Night Red Band #7. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. E.M. Gist did the cover art. Jack Russell is in serious trouble, but thankfully, Elsa Bloodstone is not dead and on the case. She is building her own group to help Jack and it features her own Werewolf by Night (Jake) and Reptil.

House of Slaughter #30. Written by Sam Johns and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes and Werther Dell’Edera (Gold Medalist). I have been very down on this series recently, though the covers have been fire. I believe this arc, “Azure” is done with this issue and I hope the next one is more engaging for me.

Incredible Hulk #22. “The Skin of Charlie Tidwell” Part One. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Things are still bad off for Charlie, as she is becoming more of a monster than Hulk expected.

Other books this week: X-Force #8, Ultimate Black Panther #13, W0rldtr33 #13, Shazam #20 (Bronze Medalist), Creature Commandos #5, Challengers of the Unknown #3, Seance in the Asylum #3-4, Aliens vs. Avengers #3, The Power Fantasy #6, and New Gods #3.

The White Lotus S2 E1

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“Ciao”

I started the second season of The White Lotus on HBO MAX and we found ourselves in Italy. I discovered that the White Lotus is a franchise across the globe. And, just like last season, we started off with a dead body. Actually, several of them in an apparent drowning.

Once again, the show started off in present day and then flashed back a week in the past to show how they got there.

We get a whole new crew of guests arriving on the boat. Well, not completely new as Jennifer Coolidge resumed her role as Tanya McQuoid, who was meeting her husband, Greg Hunt, who was also reprising his role from season one, at the hotel. Tanya does not seem happy with her life.

Audrey Plaza joined the cast this season. She is always great so I am excited to see where her character goes.

Much of this episode was spent just slowly getting to know this group of people. The hook at the beginning with the bunch of dead bodies definitely is a strong start. We’ll see how things go from here.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #137

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February 1

Hey, it is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Diamond still has not gotten things straightened out so it is a slighter week this week with no Marvel books. However, next week could be a massive week… that is if next week’s Diamond’s order can get there. I am not holding my breathe.

Today, before I went to see the movie Presence, I went to a comic shop in Davenport. I was curious and I googled to see what comic shops were in the Quad Cities. One seemed easy to get to so I picked it. The parking was horrendous, and the shop, to be honest, was like an armpit. It reminded me of Comic World when it used to be down on Central in Dubuque, only much smaller. There were boxes and piles of comics everywhere. It reminded me of Todd’s storage lot (hee hee hee).

I was hoping that there would be some smaller independent books that hadn’t been ordered at Comic World that I could pick up. There was not a ton of new issues, but there were some. For example, I picked up the Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger #2, which was a Spawn book that featured a beautiful Mark Spears cover. I had not intended on buying it, but since I saw it there for cover price, I picked it up. I also grabbed the Superman/Lex Luthor #1 book that I was not overly interested in and a foil covered Ultimate Spider-Man #13. I felt like I needed to buy something to make the trip worthwhile, and I think I picked up some fun books.

Books this week (minus Marvel):

Ice Cream Man #43. I do think my favorite horror series is Ice Cream Man and this issue has an awesome gimmick: One-Page Horror Stories. This was my favorite book of the week with very short stories by some of the greats including Grant Morrison, Patton Oswalt, Jeff Lemire, Zoe Thorogood, Geoff Johns, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Good Old Neon, Deniz Camp, and Frank Barbiere. The art for the entire book was done by Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran (except for three others: Good Old Neon, Zoe Thorogood, and Ashley Walker). The cover art was done by Ryan Quackenbush.

Silverhawks #1. Written by Ed Brisson and art by George Kambadais. I have cover A by Lucio Parrillo. There are only about 5 million covers for this book. That is hyperbole, but there are literally three pages at the back of the book showing all the variant covers for this book. I can’t imagine that there is any collector anywhere who can purchase all of these covers from Cover A to Cover ZZD (+ a bunch of retailer exclusives). Dynamite has been solid recently, and I enjoyed this book too, with a passing of the torch for a new era of Silverhawks.

Freddie the Fix #1. Written by Garth Ennis and art by Mike Perkins. Todd has been looking for this one for quite awhile for me, and he was finally able to get his hands on it. It has a cover quote from Stephen King saying, “It’s Crazy Good!” Part of the Ninth Circle imprint from Image, this was a fun story with a “fixer” in Hollywood trying to fix things for the monsters that worked in Hollyweird… and I mean monsters literally. Lots of fun.

Redcoat #9. Creators: Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch. Variant cover B art was done by Mark Buckingham & John Kalisz. We get a brand new character to interact with Simon Pure. A flashback issue featuring Johnny Appleseed. This was another really good comic from this Ghost Machine imprint of Image.

Blood Train #1. Written by Adam Glass and art by Bernard Chang. Another one shot issue from Ninth Circle, Blood Train reminded me very much of the Korean movie Train from Busan. A train and a virus that can turn someone into a creature… always a great story.

Mark Spears Monsters #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Mark Spears (Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalist). This book became the first sweep winner of the Favorite Cover of the Week for Mark Spears, with the Jaws cover winning going away. It is a beautiful cover. I love this series too as the fun with monsters continues.

The Seasons #1. Written by Rick Remender and art and cover art by Paul Azaceta. I am not sure what I thought about this book. It was a very strange book involving characters named after the seasons. This kind of reminded me of the Disney short Paperman.

Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective #3. “Arena of Darkness” Written by Christopher Sequeira and art by Philip Cornell. Sherlock and Watson seemed to have solved the Chimera mystery in this issue… so much that I thought this was the final issue, though the cover says that there will be a fourth issue.

Sam and Twitch: Case Files #10. Written by Jordan Barel & Todd McFarlane and art by Thomas Nachlik. Cover art by Jim Muniz & Jonathan Glapion. The case of Twitch’s officer shooting is getting even stranger than it was before. This new storyline is very interesting.

Hello Darkness #7. The other regular horror anthology series. Hello Darkness has been consistently good with some of the short stories inside being actually outstanding. My favorite in this issue was titled “Evermore,” written by David hazan and illustrated by Stefano Nesi.

Other books this week: FML #3, Book of Cutter #1, Knights vs. Samurai #5, Black Cloak #11, and Blood Squad Seven #6.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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January 23

A day late, but not a dollar short (Todd took away my four dollars, but that is a long story). So I did not have to go to Comic World twice this week, I waited for Thursday instead of Wednesday. It also helped that there was some snow in the weather. I definitely made the correct decision.

This week’s medalists:

Bronze Medalist

Mark Spears Monsters #1 (3rd Printing)

Cover art by Mark Spears

Mark Spears is hotter than anything right now. I bought a 3rd printing of the first issue because of the cover. This cover is the scene from Monster Squad too. “He’s gonna kill your son!” Cool cover once more.

Silver Medalist

The Tin Can Society #5

Cover art by Francesco Mobili & Chris Chuckry

So much happening on this cover. I love the reflection in the glasses as the other images around the cover stand out. The color of the cover is awesome too. Very stylish.

Gold Medalist

Mystique #4

Cover Art by Declan Shalvey

This is the one that stood out to me with the Mystique face on Nick Fury’s coat and the fire and smoke in the background. This is a truly awesome mash-up cover. Completely stunning.

Goosebumps: The Vanishing S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“Stay Out of the Basement Part I”

“Stay Out of the Basement Part II”

I was not that interested in the new Goosebumps series on Disney +. I had watched the previous one a couple of years ago, and I liked it enough, but it did not blow me away. It was clear that this was going to be a new cast in what appeared to be an anthology type show starring David Schwimmer of friends fame. I had a moment to watch episode one Sunday night so I gave it a shot.

Holy cow! I was knocked over with the show. I was able to watch episode two tonight and things only got creepier as the show seemed to go full Audrey II.

I loved these first two episodes. I was completely invested with the new characters and the new scary story.

It kicked off with a flashback to a group of kids who disappeared and were assumed to be dead years before. One of those kids turned out to be the brother of David Schwimmer’s character, Anthony. It is a family mystery that is still very relevant for them.

Anthony’s twin children, Devin and Cece, came to visit him for the summer, kicking off plenty of weirdness and wild encounters. Devin has had several issues immediately, trying to impress an old friend/flame, Frankie. She was dating Trey, a real jerk of a guy who lived across the street from Anthony’s place and kept parking his car in his driveway. It was a deal he had made with Anthony’s mom while she was there. Unfortunately, she has been taken to a home with dementia.

The family element was stronger than I expected with the actors involved playing things deeper than a show like this would normal have. Schwimmer was excellent with the sadness and the confusion on how to deal with the problems he is facing.

Anthony is a botanist and that leads him to find a spore (or so he thought) on his brother’s clothes, which had just now been released by the police. That spore turned out to be an animal and a carnivore. So Anthony did his best Seymour Krelborn imitation and started feeding it dead mice from the pet store. Guess what… it started growing. Feed Me Seymour.

Trey gets eaten too… or transformed… or something.

All of the episodes are currently on Disney +, but I do not have the time to binge the rest. Maybe some time in the next week I will get to the remainder of this show, and I am excited because I really liked the first couple.

MMS 7th Grade Short Stories

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I am a teacher at a middle school and I have assigned my class a short story writing assignment. As a way of trying to inspire them, I told them that I would publish their stories on my website when they were finished with them. I knew I had a section on the site for Fan Fiction and I decided that I could easily post these stories under that section.

These stories will not be perfect. These are 7th grade students who do not have a lot of experience in writing stories. They have been introduced to the idea of a plot map and they are working toward using thas as a tool when they write. The story assignment was supposed to have some connection to a sport or a sporting event. I was following the end of unit assignment from the HMH curriculum that we use.

The assignment is due this Friday, January 18th so I will start posting the stories some time that day and perhaps over the weekend.

The students will all have a pseudonym on their stories just as a way to protect their identities. I know my community here is great, but the internet itself can be a negatove place and I want to protect these kids as much as possible.

There will be a variety of writing. I know some are really working well on this while others are wasting time. I am sure the product will show this as well. However, please be kind to the kids. Most of them are working fairly well on their stories.

Thanks to everyone who gives this a chance.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #133

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January 4th

Because of the shipping issues that has been causing problems with the new comics over the last several weeks, I am back for the second EYG Comic Cavalcade of the week. It was a nice day today of just reading the books I picked up from Comic World on Friday.

It is mostly Marvel and DC this time, although there are a couple of other companies represented this post.

Books this week:

Sam Wilson, Captain America #1. “Better Angels” Part 1. Written by Greg Pak & Evan Narcisse. Art is done by Eder Messias with Valentine De Landro. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. A new Sam Wilson book opened up with a big cookout featuring Sam and a bunch of the black Marvel super heroes. It was a birthday party for Isaiah Bradley. It gets interrupted by vampires and then by Red Hulk.

The Spectacular Spider-Men #11. “Spider-What?” Written by Greg Weisman and art by Andres Genolet & Von Randal. Emilio Laiso & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. This was a weird issue with Peter and Miles getting shrunk down and having to face the Seelie Court. The new hero Elementary’s heart is judged. We also meet Cobweb. Strange book this month.

When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #1. Written by Gus Moreno and illustrated by Jakub Rebelka. One of the few independent books this week is from Boom! Studios and it is about a disgraced father named Manuel Barrera who is sent to learn the ability of the exorcism, and the weirdness that comes with it. I like the look of this comic as it is very dark and different than most other books out there.

Saga #71. Written by Brian K. Vaughn and art and cover art by Fiona Staples (Silver Medalist). Saga continues with the growing problems faced by Hazel as she tries to convince Emesis that they were still friends. Saga is constantly an entertaining book and there are things that happen that you never expect to happen. There is some excellent storytelling going on with this series.

Avengers #22. “The Casino Job” Part 1. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was by Valero Schiti & Federico Blee. The Avengers head into space to attempt to steal the data on the “Missing Moment” which is what Kang has been searching for for a long time. However, it seems that their attempted theft was spoiled by another thief getting to the data before they could… Black Cat! Of course, you knew that if you happened to look at the cover…

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #28. “Webs of Wakanda Part Two” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Danielle Di Nicuolo. Cover C variant art was done by Iban Coello (Gold Medalist). Miles is inside Wakanda and he must face off with Bast in a chance to cure the vampirism that has taken over the hero. It looked as if there is something unexpected that may block his path.

Werewolf by Night Red Band #6. Written by Jason Loo and art by Ton Lima. E.M. Gist did the cover art. Jack and Elsa Bloodstone are searching for a silver werewolf in an attempt to stop its massacring of people, much like Jack has been doing. The events do not leave Jack or Elsa in good shape and Lilith is here with her own motivations.

The Ultimates #8. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj J. Menon. The ultimate version of the Guardians of the Galaxy is here hoping to rescue America Chavez. Why? They have a long and futuristic story to share. I do like the formation of this new version of the Guardians and I hope they can make a return in the future.

Daredevil #17. “Introductory Rites Part Seventeen” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. The cover has Daredevil squaring off with Bullseye, but that does not happen inside this book. Instead DD is trying to face off with the demons out there possessing people and causing him grief. DD finds out that Matt Murdock still has his lawyer license, conveniently so he can go into court to face off with possessed Foggy Nelson.

X-Factor #6. “Traitors” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata. Havok and the remainder of X-Force grieve the loss of their teammate Oskar from last issue. This causes trouble among the people who are in charge. X-Factor does not feel like it has much longer in this form.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #9. “Haunted” Part 9. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen is in all kinds of trouble, facing her past choices in her own mind. Meanwhile, Black Tarantula is out working on stopping Mister Fear.

What If Galactus Transformed the Hulk #1. Written by Mat Groom and art by Lan Medina. Ron Lim & Israel Silva did the cover art. I really liked the story that we got of Galactus taking the Hulk and making him his new herald. The problem was, this book ended at a spot where the story felt like it was just getting ready to get to the climax. This is a one-shot so I do not think we will be getting a resolution to the story and that makes me feel like it shorted me a finale.

Justice League: The Atom Project #1. “Atomic Collision.” Written by Ryan Parrott and John Ridley with art by Mike Perkins. Cover art by Mike Perkins & Adriano Lucas. My friend Todd told me this was a one-shot, but he must be wrong about that. This included a couple of Atoms and Captain Atom trying to fix some of the wayward powers in the DC Universe. If this is a one-shot, then the story leaves off much like this month’s What If.

Two-Face #2. “The Deadly Divorce” Written by Christian Ward and art by Fabio Veras. Cover art was done by Baldemar Rivas. This mini series featuring Harvey Dent is very fascinating, especially since it seems as one of the big antagonists of the series is inside Harvey’s own mind prison. It is a cool flip on the courtroom story.

Absolute Superman #3. “Boy from the Purple Prairie.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola (Bronze Medalist). We get a full issue on Krypton, as we are seeing how the planet would eventually be destroyed. It is more than just that though as the issue is exploring a level of class among the Kryptonians and it does take the familiar story of the planet’s death and shake it up a bit. Krypto is here too.

Deadpool & Wolverine #1. “The Secret Lives.” Written by Benjamin Pearcy and art by Joshua Cassara. Cover art was done by Joshua Cassara & GURU-eFX. I liked this issue quite a bit because it takes Deadpool and does something different with him and sticking Wolverine in the story worked very well. It is not just a book that capitalizes from the movie. It has its own story to tell.

Other books this week: Creature Commandos #4, The Human Fly #2, Cable: Love & Chrome #1, and X-Force #7.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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January 3rd

It is the first EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week of the new year. 2025 kicked off with a delay in the delivery of the comics to Comic World, which pushed this post back from Wednesday.

Last year’s Cover artist of the year was Alex Ross and the Platinum Medal winner for cover was Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #2 (Variant edition). Can Alex Ross defend his win this year or will there be another cover artist who will overcome the champ? (psst…Mark Spears?)

So… here is the medalists this week…

Bronze Medalist

Absolute Superman #3

Cover art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

It looks like Krypton has seen better days on the cover of Absolute Superman #3. The glowing green is a really strong standout color and I love how the title card is outlined in green too.

Silver Medalist

Saga #71

Cover art by Fiona Staples

This cover’s colors pop out of the new cover of Saga with Emesis in he corner. The background makes it look like a colorful web, but with closer examination, this is a circus tent. A lovely cover that also is very foreboding.

Gold Medalist

Miles Morales, Spider-Man #28

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Iban Coello

Switched out my A cover for this one which I saw on the stand. I love this one with the background of Black Panther and the beautiful NY inside him. I also have a sweet spot for the white background.

Doctor Who Special 5: Joy to the World

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Spoilers

Doctor Who returned to Disney + with the fifth special, Joy to the World, a Christmas story featuring Ncuti Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan.

I believed Nicola Coughlan was going to be the next companion, Joy, but that turned out to be incorrect. She becomes even more as she becomes a star and it turned out to be a star shining over Jerusalem in the year 0001.

The Doctor had to figure everything out by rushing through the Time Hotel, where he had to spend a year waiting to be able to access the Time Hotel once again. During that time, he befriended a co-worker at the hotel, Anita, and spent the year befriending her and spending time with her in chairs, something he realized that he did not have on the Tardis.

I loved the section where the Doctor had to wait a year and then just went and told his old self the briefcase code, which he had been told by himself. It was a loop and I loved how clever it was to have him find out the code by having himself tell it.

The whole time travel idea can be difficult, but I did like how this episode removed the potential time paradoxes with the Time Hotel.

This was emotional, joyous and a treat during this holiday season. I have loved Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and I hope he has a good long run as the character. I am looking forward to the next season and the potential return, at least for some episodes, of Ruby.

4 stars

2024 Year in Review: Comic Cover Artist of the Year

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This year, we started a weekly post called Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. I wound up giving our Gold, Silver and Bronze medalist every week for the best comic covers (in my opinion) of the week.

I decided that we then could give out the Comic Cover Artist of the Year and use what we have done this year to determine our medalists.

I kept track of the medal winners each week. If they received a Gold medal, they earned 3 points. Everyone listed as working on the cover each got three points. If they received a Silver medal, they got two points and a Bronze would earn them 1 point.

If there was a tie, the number of gold medals was the first tie break and the second tie break was how many artists worked on the cover. A solo artist gets the edge over the duos.

Spoiler alert, both of those tie breaks came into play.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of December 2

Well, this was an easy week to pick the medal winners.

See, I got to Comic World today and a huge section of the shipment was missing. Everything from Diamond was not delivered. Okay, apparently, there was an attempt at a delivery with a holiday driver that turned out very badly.

Making a long story short, I only wound up with four books this week. Two weeks ago I had over 40. If the Marvel, Image, Boom etc. don’t come til next week, I dread the pile for next week.

Until then, we have two DC books and one from IPI Comics as the medalists this week.

Bronze Medalist

Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective #2

Cover art by Dave Elsey

This is a really creepy cover with Sherlock looking out a dark window. He sure seems to be a dark detective.

Silver Medalist

Two-Face #1

Cover art by Baldemar Rivas

I picked this one up off the rack because I did not have very many books this week. This is a cool cover with the focus on the coin being flipped. Again, I love the white background with the red of his face and title.

Gold Medalist

Absolute Superman #2

Cover art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

The cool new Absolute Superman looks great and the Peacemakers all around him make a great counter. The cover creates a great bit of what is going to happen. Looks excellent.